Another week is nearly over.

Wow not much blogging going on at the homestead this week. Its been a reasonably good week. Tuesday night was spent viewing Footloose, the old school version. Appies, good wine and good friends along with a trip down memory lane made for a very decent evening. The music in that movie just makes me want to dance, that is until I get up and discover that I am no longer as boogie ready as I once was. Crap.

Then on Wednesday night it was Footloose, the new version. Still a good movie and I am not one to look kindly on remakes of my old favorites. I liked the music in the first one better, the new version butchers Holding on for a Hero. IMO its brutal to have to listen to this slow moving, drawn out, painful, pitiful version,  asidefrom that the rest of the movie was good. I could not say which I liked the best but if pushed I would go all old time Kevin Bacon on you.

Tonight I cleaned the kitchen, noodled on the computer, chatted with Best Friend, worried about why my hair is falling out faster and faster each day, did some mending and tried to tidy the craft room. I have high hopes that I will get the new sewing table installed in here on Saturday, after groceries, laundry and household drudgery (that in truth I enjoy doing). I may go see The First Grader on Saturday night. Sunday is booked with the Banker. We are going to breakfast, the really really big craft show, then lunch and then who know where our whims will take us. Friday night will be spent with the No Cook Friday Group. So the week has rolled by. Bread and butter details fill in the hours and next thing you know the time is gone and its another weekend.




I did make a major score this week, well in my little world it was a score. I got a lovely little vintage fishing creel for 2/3 the original price. I didn't even have to bargain, the man gave me a deal without my even asking.

Isn't it cute?? You can't tell in the photo but the little catch is a tiny fish. The handles on the top are intact and its in really good shape. I will not be using it to keep fish in, I see its future as a little work basket.

I was rather pleased with my self at my find. I have seen them in magazines and now I have one. Have I ever mentions how much of a weakness I have for baskets??

This weekend will also see the making of the bumper pads to match the crib quilt. I have 80% of the top made for the raffle quilt for the office. Its all good. I need to get at the puppets and I am going to get at them one of these days because I am getting sick of hearing myself talk about it. The people that have ordered them will be wanting them sooner than later.

I have a new quilt all planned out in my head for one of the bedrooms upstairs. It will have to wait until after Christmas though. I can't wait to get at it, its going to make a big change in the look of the room.  Well I have wittered on long enough. I am for my bed and my book.

Toodles,

Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

"So where are you going to sit?"

Sunday Lazy Sunday

I mentioned in yesterdays post I was mosaic tiling a plant stand. Well its done today and I have the grout all over me to prove it. So here we go with a before picture. My Dad made this fern stand out of 3/4 inch plywood a long long long time ago. I had not finished high school yet, I may not have started high school yet but I needed a fern stand for my room. Over time its been many colours, its even been antiqued, and I have thought of getting rid several times but I am sentimental and because Dad made it, I kept it.

Yesterday I got some glass tile and took another round out of it, giving it yet another face lift in its old age. I am rather pleased with the out come. I am still polishing off the haze on the tiles from the grout but its coming along nicely.

I have a good chunk of the Christmas raffle quilt top finished. I will probably get it done today. I am not working on the bumper pads. I just don't feel like it today so I am going to give it a miss. Bumper pads are not my favourite thing to make so I have to be in the mood.

I am rather pleased with the fact that I packed up a box of donations for the local charity shop AND I actually delivered it today. I did not leave it sitting around for weeks and weeks until I got sit of tripping over it and finally hauled it away. To be honest I had a couple of things in there I was dithering over, so best to get it gone before I crumbled like a house of cards and fished them out again. I know me and my jelly fish will power.

I will spent the rest of my day sewing a quilt top, making soup and catching up on the things I have taped on the TV, maybe I will sneak in a nap before days end. Nothing unusual about this Sunday. Its quiet and relaxed. I am in the craft room puttering about, the cat is upstairs dozing and all is as it should be at the homestead.

Linda

Catch up

Only worked two days this last week and let me tell you I could get used to a short work week. It was fantastic. Best Friend and her husband Railroader came for a flying visit. They got here on Wednesday night and left again on Friday morning. I took both days off so we could have maximum goofing off time and once they left I did not have to go back to work. They had commitments for Saturday so they left in reasonably good time on Friday. We had breakfast, then it was hugs and goodbyes and off they went.

We didn't do a lot, we talked, we shopped, we ate out. Railroader fixed my downstairs toilet so it now not longer keeps running when you flush. Lord I love it when a handy man comes to visit.:-) It saves me from having to figure out how to fix it myself. I could have but bless him, he did it for me.

I was sad to see them go. I always am when company leaves. Someone once asked me why, when I live alone, do I have such a hard time when company leaves. I am not sure. Is it because I am reminded how empty the house is, do I miss having someone to talk to and do stuff with? Could it be that the older I get the more lonely I feel? Probably a combo of all those things. It fades, the sadness does not linger overly long, the emptiness shrinks, the bread and butter details of normal life take over and I settle back down to what is ordinary and usual. Me and the cat rattlin' round the homestead.

So they left and the house echoed with an empty sound that not even the artificial sound generated by the TV can stomp down, I decided that I needed a treat. I took myself to the second hand stores.  Found a few things and by noon I was ready to face going home and getting back at the business of doing what needs to be done. I got a lovely milk glass pedestal cake stand, after I promised I would not buy any more milk glass. I also go a nice big yellow Pyrex mixing bowl and a cute little wooden Halloween decoration. The rest is not really worth mentioning, its just bits and pieces. I did however get Christmas presents for two people on my list. I am so excited. I love to find things I know people will like, for a really bargain price.

I finished the top secret baby quilt, I did dishes, went to the ballet with E. I love the ballet. I love the dancing. It astounds me at how strong they are, how effortless it looks, the fluidity and ease of movement has my jaw hanging open and I am pea green with envy. I can't imaging someone throwing me around the place like I was a feather. I cannot wrap my head around how that would feel. There has to be pain involved and yet you would never know it. I am even more boggled as time goes on and my own mobility is slowly decreasing and more and more painful each day. This two shall be addressed soon. I am a work in progress remember.

Today I FINALLY got the hazardous waste off my back step and to the depot. Our City only has only one each year and I missed last years. I have had paint cans and mystery stuff plunked on my back step forever and now its GONE!! I am so happy. I even scrapped the cardboard box it was sitting in, off the step and into the dumpster. After an hour at the depot. (with only one or two a year there is always a really big line-up to dump stuff) I came home, did a butt load of laundry, turned my hand to a little house work, boxed up some donations for the local charity shop and did some mosaic tiling on a plant stand I have had for years. No pictures because I need to go get some more tile, I ran out. Crap. I will go tomorrow and get enough to finish. Pictures later.

I am managing to stick to my "bring stuff in, then stuff has to go" out rule. I bought stuff yesterday and so I needed to find some things to get rid of. It keeps me from ending up on an episode of hoarders. Tonight I am going to work on the raffle quilt for our office. I promised to make them one for the Christmas raffle. I have some of it started and now I can get at it and maybe make most of the top before bedtime.  Tomorrow I will make the bumper pads for the crib quilt I finished today. I am also going to finish the plant stand tomorrow.

I may even put out the Halloween decorations tomorrow. I may leave it to next weekend I will see how the day goes. There is soup that needs to be made for next week's lunches sometime in the day. Right now I need to go and make supper. Comfort food from my childhood, Tuna Fish and Rice. Its rice (Duh!!) with a can of cream of mushroom soup and tuna fish poured over it. Mom used to make it and I still do once in a while. Its my substitute for someone else's Mac and Cheese.

Toodles,

Linda

Doing Everything Else But

I have company coming on Wednesday night, Best Friend and her Hubby are coming for a visit. I have a box of tomatoes that need to be processed and put in the freezer before they turn on me, spawn fruit flies and I go batshit crazy trying to get rid of those nasty annoying little critters. I have a litter box that sadly needs attention. I have mending to do for a friend. So what am I doing? I am reading blogs, watching the new Rosie show and blogging on my own blog. What am I thinking??? Not to mention that I have to watch Dancing With the Stars results show. I really wonder about myself sometimes.

I am amazed at how I can ignore the things that have to be done. I can leave it to the last minute and then totally panic, do the flight of the bumblebees and somehow it gets done. I will be bitching and swearing of course but it will get done. Best Friend will not notice what is done and what is not. She is one of those wonderful people who could care less what you house looks like, she has come to visit you. I care, although at this moment one could never tell that.

I need to get off this thing and get the night gowns fixed. If I do nothing else this evening I have to do that. I promised Miss Miles that I would do them for her Grandma.

Okay okay I'm going...............sheesh.

Linda

P.S. I have managed to do 7 things on my list of 10 things that have to be done before my company arrives. I do not feel like such a slacker now. :-)

Monday Moment with.................Muffins?

Minou is still recovering from over indulging in tuna fish yesterday and does not feel photo worthy. You know how us girls don't like our picture being taken when we are all bloated and stuff. So she has declined to make her regular Monday appearance and has retired to the upper floors to  rest and return to her usual elegant self. In place of her exalted personage I give you.............Muffins

Pumpkin muffins to be exact, made by my own fair hand with a honkin' big dollop of cream cheese icing on top. I had to snap the picture quickly because they are right out of the oven and within seconds of me taking this picture the icing slid off both muffins. :-) I am not a patient person. The two things that are extraordinary about these muffins are that I actually got up and made them first thing, something I do not usually do and that they have only two ingredients.( Could be why I made them). A spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree. Mix together, bake at 350 for 20 minutes. The recipe makes a dozen and they are very good. The icing is not needed but any excuse for cream cheese is good with me. Add a pot of tea and one of my favorite piggy mugs and you have a really good Thanksgiving day breakfast. I think the next time I make them I will make mini muffins, that would be fun.

So I have only managed to make muffins, mess up the kitchen and get dressed so far today. Its nearly noon. Sigh. It was good to sleep in this morning though. This afternoon I have things to do. The rain barrels need to be emptied and put in the shed. The recycle needs to be hauled to the bin before I can no longer get in and out of my back porch. I have to cover the A/C unit before I am doing it knee deep in snow. Then I plan to spend the rest of the day quilting the baby quilt top I stitched up yesterday. Oh yeah I need to clean that kitchen and make another batch of laundry soap.

The last batch I made was in late June. I have enough still to do another wash day and I figure that it costs about $3.50 a batch. It works well enough. I have to spray my clothes but I had to spray stains with any laundry soap I have ever used. I have found an earth friendly stain spray that seems to do the trick. I could probably eliminate that with a little presoaking scrubbing action on my part but I usually forget, so I rely on the spray.  Now that I know I can get coconut oil in town here, my next plan is to try making hand soap. I have found a recipe that looks reasonably easy onto the internet so I am going to give it a whirl. :-) The laundry soap has no harsh chemicals in it and it is so easy to make.

Its raining here today, a typical overcast, gloomy fall day. I don't mind though. Its a good day to snuggle in and quilt. Must get the chores done first, or do I have to??????????? :-)

Linda

Thanksgiving

It has been a lovely weekend. My back is doing better thanks to ibuprofen being ingested by the handful. I still don't want to do anything too excessive like rake the leaves or clean out the shed but I have managed to get some things done, and I am grateful for that.

I spent most of today doing laundry and sewing the top for a crib quilt. I have the top finished and I can start quilting it after supper. I can't give any details because its a gender specific quilt and I am sworn to silence. The parents are keeping it secret so I cannot let out a peep about it. Its very cute and be sure that pictures will be shown once babe makes an appearance.

I did lots of laundry this weekend. All the cleaning rags, all the grocery bags, my clothes, blankets, towels. All are freshly cleaned an back where they belong. Dishes have been washed and the kitchen floor go mopped. All the while I was doing this I was thinking about Thanksgiving and being thankful. I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a house I love, a job I don't mind doing, food in the fridge, I can pay my bills, I have a wonderful circle of friends and I have the time to do all the crafts I love to do and the promise of learning how to do even more. There are a million more things, far too many to list here but all in all its a good life and I am thankful for it.

I miss timed dinner. I shall be dining like the rich people tonight. Turkey will be done around 8:00. I got sewing and totally forgot to get the dang thing into the oven. Oh well, its only for me so if I don't eat until late its fine. The menu tonight is turkey, hash brown casserole, green beans, stuffing and cranberry pecan pie. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Right now the house smells warmly of roasting turkey. Its a good homey smell. I also have a nice bottle of red to crack open for supper, thanks to one of those good friends of mine. Minou dined earlier on her special thanksgiving supper and like any other self respecting little gluten she is upstairs sleeping off the effects of over eating. Its her favourite treat. so on special days she gets a tin of real tuna fish.

Well I need to go fold the last of the laundry, get the hash brown casserole into the oven and find the corkscrew so I don't have to bite the cork out of the wine.:-)

Happy Thanksgiving one and all.

Linda