For the Love of All Things FINALLY

I have never really put much stock in the validity of astrological signs. I like to read my horoscope occasionally and I find it all sort of amusing but once in a while I think that maybe there is more to this than I am giving it credit for. I am, a Gemini by birth. and I will admit in my head there is always a conversation going on between two beings sometimes more but there is never just one in my inner conversation. Gemini's are twins so I will admit to having a bit of a split personality.

My other thing, is how I can feel one way and act another. Point of fact my hair. I am vain about my hair but know one but me would ever know that. I do not fuss with it, I do not pay it much attention but I am vain about it. I am vain about the fact that it is thick, fine and silky to the touch. In the 70's when I needed it to be. it was as straight as straight could be. It hurts me to no end that as I age its thinning and I do not have near the hair that I used to have. Oh well, its is what it is.  Now that I have confessed to my vanity, you would never know it because this is what it looks like most of the time

Yes really I do go out in public like this. What can I say its how I am. Well even I get to the point where this is not acceptable and something must be done.

A tidy trim and I am fit for public consumption once again. I was finally smart enough to make my next hair appointment before I left the shop this time. Hair appointments are something that I can easily put off and then I end up scaring small children. Just another small step in my hope to become a better person.

This weekend was sort of a busy one. I finally finished knitting a pair of mitts that I had been asked to knit a year ago. I am happy to be done with them. I did that sort of thing this weekend. I finished up some jobs that have been hanging about. I finished the mitts, crocheted a fix on a top for a work friend. The thing looks like a tablecloth so it snags very easy. I stitched a knitted collar back on a little knitted dress for Teddy Bear's granddaughter. The mitts and dress are both black so I needed sunshine to work on them. Old eyes find black hard to work with at night.

I got started Christmas, I did a little shopping, made lists decided what I wanted to craft and what I needed to buy and sorted through my "gift box". I do not have much to purchase this year as I do have some things left over from last year. Instead of doing it all at once I am doing it bit by bit. This saves my energy level and my blood pressure. I was out for a bit on Saturday and it was so crowded I turned tail and headed for home just as quick as I could. I used to love the crowds but now I just get irritated.

These two have the right idea. Stay home and snuggle up on the couch. I took their advice,  after my short shopping trip I mostly stayed home and did my odd jobs. Today I made a pair of puppets that were ordered from a lady who saw my work at a friend's place. A possum and a girlie owl are now ready for their new owners

I made finger puppets last weekend, They were my first try at them. I tried to crochet them but I did not have the right yarn. Felt was the next option. The lady I made them for was very pleased with them which made me happy

Next weekend I hope to start putting out the Christmas things. I want to purge out some stuff this year if I can. I am terribly fond of Christmas things and as a result I have far too many. The herd needs to be thinned.

This week I have something to do or make earmarked for each night of the week. I hope I can stay on track. Christmas is coming at breakneck speed and time seems to slip through my fingers like sand these day. So much to do and so little time. I was going to bake butter tarts this weekend but only just now managed to get the lard for the pastry out of the freezer. Next week it is then, Two dozen tarts are another thing I owe from last year

Toodles,
Linda

P.S. I do know there are spelling mistakes and punctuation errors. Does not seem to matter how many times I proof read they manage to escape me. I hope they amuse if nothing else.

Crafty Weekend with a Little Ballet Thrown In

So I guess it really was more than a weekend. I had two days off, a stat holiday and a weekend which means five days of not being at work. We all know how I like that!! I watched the Remembrance Day service from Ottawa from the comfort of my chair. I am not energetic enough to go to the big service here. Its at a sports place and the seats are made for people without hips and I don't need to have to have the jaws of life to  get me out of a chair, I have my own, comfortable, hip friendly chair in my house,  thank you. Staying home means I could also knit mitts that day. I have been putting off doing this one pair of mitts that should have been done before Christmas last year. Winter is coming, so I designated Wednesday as mitt knitting day. I just have the thumbs left to do.

Thursday KitKat and I did some last minute shopping for our scrapbooking weekend. We did lunch and basically goofed off for more of the day than we originally intended to. Imagine that!! Once I got home again I packed up all my supplies for a weekend of scraptastic fun. Friday morning, I made a snack run because a lot of the fun of the weekend with friends being crafty is connected to the snacks.  I cannot purchase them too early or I will be sneaking tastes and end up with no snacks for the weekend. We arranged do lunch first before we got down to business. The Banker, KitKat, KitKat's Sister and me. Teddy Bear was also on days off and thanks to the magic of texting, we discovered she was at a loose end, so we invited her to come along for Chinese food and giggles. We had a great time.

After lunch Teddy Bear headed home, and we headed to the scrapbooking event. Its a great weekend. Its not a sponsored event, its just a bunch of friends getting together to spend a weekend crafting. |No company is there pushing product and we can do as we please, You are not packed in like a bunch of sardines. We each get a table and the lighting is really good.

In no time at all we had the tables set up and we were up to our elbows in pictures, paper, stickers and embellishments. Not everyone does scrapbooking.The first year I worked on a crocheted baby blanket off and on. Princess Diva, who organizes the event but does not scrapbook funnily enough,  does mosaic tiling

some of the ladies work on family history on their laptops and some make greeting cards. The majority of us are scrapbooking though. One lady who is a demonstrator for Stampin' up takes a good part of the weekend to organize her supplies. Whatever blows your hair back, we have fun doing it.

some are old pros and some are just learning, some check pinterest for inspiration and some of us wing it or borrow page layout ideas from others.

Its great fun to check on what others are doing and get some inspiration, exchange ideas and share supplies. I gave out some of my crocheted flowers and one of the gals made this with three of my little babies:

I had to leave Friday night because E and I had tickets to the Ballet. I did not want to leave but I also wanted to see the ballet. So I went and now I can finally say I have seen the Nutcracker. The Moscow Ballet performed here and it was amazing. Oh to be able to move like that. So fantastic. Sold out crowd. I have seen bits and pieces of the ballet over time but never have seen the whole thing. "Nother thing off the bucket list. I must say the Nutcracker guy had on the tightest white tights I have ever seen, they left NOTHING to the imagination. A little obscene in my mind but that was my own opinion. E and I had a lovely time, I dropped her home after it was all done and headed back to the scrapbooking fun.

We go to midnight the first two nights and then just until 4:00 pm on Sunday. It works out to something like 30 hours of crafting time.  I got 52 pages done. My Maritime trip is finished except for a few embellishments and my No Cook Friday book is almost complete except for three events. I am well pleased with my efforts. KitKat's sister has never scrapbooked before and she did really well. She was making a book of her favorite band the Scorpions. The Banker scrapbooks each year which is what I may start to do. She got 2014 finished.  Kitkat worked on her 50 things for my 50th year book.  We are already looking foreward to next year.

I need to get going on the Christmas crafts now.

Toodles,

Linda

In My Happy Place

I had a funny thought about how things are perceived on Friday. I stopped at the pharmacy/corner store to pick up some cat food. While I walked by the novels I spotted the latest Nora Roberts, book one of a trilogy so I snapped it up at it was 25% off. Then came the cat food and two bags of my favourite potato chips as they too were on sale. I took them to the checkout and got the saddest look from the cashier. Well I mean , she just had to be thinking "oh you poor sad thing" There I was gray haired. over weight, buying cat food, a romance novel and chips. She must have been convinced I was preparing for  a sad weekend at the end of my sad week. It made me chuckle as I headed to the car. Nothing could be further from the truth. A quiet weekend but far from sad. I needed a quiet weekend, after another week of having something on every night the previous week. This old girl needed a break from the social upbub. So just remember its not always what it seems. For two weeks now I have had something on every night. Far from sad if you ask me.

I spent the weekend in my happy place. I ignored the dishes, the house work, the yard work, and the errands that needed to be run. I did not do the book club email and I did not wrap the parcels to be mailed. The quilt hoops called my name and I happily lost myself in their siren song.

So I sat down on Saturday morning and indulged my quilting habit for most of the weekend. The end result is this:

I, personally, think its the cutest quilt I have ever made. The Teacher found it on Pinterest and we gave it a go. I am very pleased with the result. Grandma Busy has made the crib skirt an once I get some Owls applied to the Roman blind she will finish making that. I will do bumper pads and hey presto Wee Girl's room will be decorated. My house is a mess but I could care less. I so love quilting and when I get the chance I loose myself in it and don't come up for air until forced.

I am only working two days next week then I have some days off. I have the Nutcracker ballet to attend and a scrapbooking weekend which will be great fun!! I am trying to get organized for that. The Banker, KitKat and KitKat's sister are joining me for a scraptastic weekend. I want to finish my Maritime holiday scrapbook and do a No Cook Friday scrapbook as well. Then next year I think I am going to do a yearly scrapbook like the Banker does. It makes more sense.

I have some time to do all the routine chores and get the place fit again. Housework happens all the time, Little girls only come round every so often. Its not a hard decision to make in my opinion.

Toodles
Linda

Almost

Just sitting about nibbling on cheese toast and drinking some iced tea. Its the first day of November and its grey, cloudy and mild outside. I know that because I did venture out to take down the Halloween decorations. I have not got the kitchen tidied but I do have the decorations down. That's me in a nutshell these days, Almost done all the things I need to do. Sigh Only 19 little hobgobblins last night. I never get a lot of children, I wish there were more. Very few people put their lights on for them on my block so I am glad we get what we do. The time changed to day and I have to say I love that extra hour we get. Its only an hour but its like a present.

I am nearly finished the quilt for the shelter. I have three more blocks to quilt, then its bind it, wash it, pictures taken and gt it delivered. I did get some coveralls mended for The Hummingbirds partner. they have lived on the floor in the entry for some time before I managed to get knees and bums patched. I always think of my Mom and her sister when I am mending. I am sure it would amuse them to no end to know that some of their considerable skill wormed its way into my brain. I am not anywhere close to their talents but I can patch a knee when put to the test. Apparently I was paying attention as I hovered around watching them make do and mend. As he has managed to put a hole into a third pair, I am sure he will be glad to have these two back, wearable once again.

Something I did not do this weekend was I did not make a much needed trip to the basement. There is a lot of things to be taken down there and I keep putting it off. It hurts my knee to shimmy up and down the basement stairs. I am being a big baby by putting it off. As a result the kitchen is once again a dump, filled with things that need to be put away. Its the song that never ends. I am having friends for supper and a movie on Tuesday night so I need to pull my finger out and get at it.

I have got quite a lot of quilting done this weekend. Once this one is finished, The Wee Girl's quilt goes into the frames. I will do the bumper pads, my part if  the roman shade and then they will be done. I will be happy to get them given to her. Grandma Busy is going to complete the shade.

I have composed many lists and have my plans and schedules in place and once again I endeavor to improve how I do things. I am a work in progress and sometimes the progress feels like its more work that its worth.

Toodles
Linda

Quiet Sunday

Its been a quiet weekend but that is ok. It gave me lots of time to work on the quilt for the Shelter. Our local shelter is always  looking for ways to fund raise. I decided to donate a quilt for them to raffle off. I should have had it ready for this weekend instead of just starting to get at the quilting. To be honest, It was to have been done earlier in this year but I was confined to the hospital and did not have access to my quilting stuff.  Oh well, its on the go now and this way they have a bit more time to sell tickets. I got it half quilted this weekend. My hands will give me the business tomorrow but I don't care, I so enjoy quilting. I watched tv, stitched and was in my happy place.

I did have a break from the hoop and needle, Saturday morning The Banker, KitKat and I popped over to a trade show that (lets call her Care Bear because she is the most tender hearted person) Care Bear hosted at her house. It was to raise funds for the Shelter. The three of us went and checked things out, I got some Norwex stuff because I like the product, bought couple of Sunset Creek Gourmet mixes, one for scones and one for cheesecake and some earrings that I may keep for myself. We snooped, shopped and had a great time. We all went for lunch and then hit for home. I love spending time, bumming around with my friends. However when I got home I got stuck into quilting and I did not come up for air again until now.

I got to have my usual lovely Sunday morning, sleep in, read, snooze, make breakfast, eat breakfast while binge watching Coronation Street and then shower and dress. Then Quilting and texting and wishing for someone to go for supper with.

Every once in a while I regret the fact that I am single. Well its more than once in a while but I am not miserable.  I have a very good life. It could be better but I have a good life. Lots of friends and lots to do. Every now an then I really miss not having someone. There are times when my friends are busy with their families and there stuff and I am on my own. Tonight I just wanted to go out for supper, sit and chat and have a lovely evening. Doing it on my own was not in my wheel house. Puts a bit of a pout on my lip when this happens but I will live through it. It is how it is and no pouting in the world will change what is this moment in time.

/Now it is time for bed. Another month end is looming and I need my strength to get through it.

Toodles,
Linda

Rounding Third and Heading for Normal

Or as normal as it gets around here. Now the craft sale is behind me I feel like I can focus on getting back to the normal routine. I can work on my quilts and I can get on with some Christmas crafts. I may even get some leaves raked and the yard cleaned up and ready for winter.

Went as saw the doctor today with fear in my heart that he was not going to be happy with me. I felt I had slide a little. After all it was Thanksgiving not so long ago and I had ice cream for supper last night because I am all mature and stuff, and that's how I roll when I am stressed (sometimes, not always, thank goodness). Pleasant surprise, he was pleased with me. Numbers are good and another 10 pounds are gone, gone, gone!! Sweet. I swear if my knees could stand it I would dance a jig.
He also worked his magic and I now don't have to pay as much for my meds as I was. Some were not covered and frankly the cost was making my knees buckle but its all good now. I am a happy, healthier bunny. So now the plan is I need to get doing some exercise. I need to get my stamina back. I have talked about it long enough, time to pitter patter.

This weekend I will be a quilting machine!! I have two quilts that need to be done asap.  Two new puppets have been ordered and I have Christmas stuff I want to make. I have scrapbooks to finish and scrapbooks to start. I am spinning with all the things I want to do. Which is how I like to be.

I meant to mention this in my post about Thanksgiving but somehow I missed it. I wanted to say how happy it makes me to see the Pilot with his Wee Girl. He is totally and completely enchanted with his baby girl and its a joy to see it. Makes my heart ache with happy when I see him holding his dream come true in his arms. She is as cute as they come, that is for sure.

Well I have flyers to look at and lists to make.

Toodles,
Linda

OHHHH Those are SOOOO CUTE!!!

( as promised this is the second of three posts I wanted to get up on the blog)

The blog post says it all, it was a phrase I heard time and again this weekend. 'Bout made my head puff up to twice its size. The reason was my puppets and I had them up for sale. On Friday night I packed up all my little critters, my dishcloths and some lovely hand knits from Birthday Twin and I set up a booth at the biggest craft sale my city has each year. When I say I packed them up I mean I had a butt load of help from a couple of those good No Cook Friday gals.

KitKat and Teddy Bear lent me some muscle and after our usual fright night supper we loaded down cars and schlepped the stuff to the venue. With lots of hard work we had the booth looking like this in short order.

I think it looks good. I love the little bushel baskets, I think the colours are nice and bright. It looks happy to me. I have done this craft sale thing several times now and I still have things I would tweak.

A garage sale baby bed and baby doll worked nicely to display the snuggle cocoons Birthday Twin knit. Sadly only one sold and one pair of mitts. I felt bad for her, she did a lot of work. I think these will be in big demand in a couple of years when people here figure out what they are for.

Whilst trapped in the hospital I managed to knit rather a lot of dishcloths. They were easy to do and I could do them in my sleep I swear. Ending up with way more than I needed, I took 54 of them with me and brought 14 home. Made me happy

This little puppet theater is another yard sale find and the "jumping off point" for my booth's colour palette. One of my future tweaks involves this theater, what I need is  to have a block of wood with some dowels in it to tuck behind the theater. That way the puppets would sit up higher and be seen better. I also want to add Aunty Linda's Critters to the front of it. So many people asked if I sold the theaters as well.

Something that made me supper happy was hearing people say they had purchased puppets from the first time I was at the sale, (several years ago) and the puppets were still good. That they were still being played with and were hanging in there. I am so happy to know they are durable, washable and stand up to kids.

What better way to announce my name but with a quilt!! It just seemed fitting for some reason.

Yes I took a selfie!! I am the Aunty Linda after all. I was so totally pleased with how well I did. I sold the most of my puppets and dishcloths. I had a lovely day. No Cook gals stopped by now and then to make sure I got to go the the washroom and to see if I needed anything. Teddy Bear helped me dismantle the booth and KitKat cooked us supper. I say people I have not seen for years, ran into some family and chatted up a storm.

I am thinking I may do more of this when I retire. I enjoy it, I like watching the people and it makes me happy that people love my little critters. I was invited to two more craft sales this year but I just don't have the stock. No time to make more either. I am ok with that. I do not want making puppets to become a job, I want to enjoy it. So I have made note of what I would do different next time and I will think about other craft sales, next year.

For now I have Christmas crafting to get at and quilts that still need quilting. Always something to do around here. Don't you just love it!!

Toodles,
Linda