TidBits

Well another week has come and gone. Where the time goes I have no idea. I did not get everything done that I had hoped to this week but then when is that a big surprise?? The snow is gone and in its wake is all the trash and mess from last year. I should have been out doing yard work but I will get at it at some point. Aches and pains be darned, it needs to be done.

Yesterday  The Banker, KitKat and I went to a scrapbooking day in a little town close to us. It was a fun day. Its always a fun day when we get together and scrapbook or do anything.

I was not sure what I would work on but I decided to start my 2018 album. I got 22 pages made and am done to the middle of April. I never get the whole thing done on our scrapbooking weekend in November anyway. I did take some card making supplies with me just in case I ran out of scrapbooking material. No cards were made.

Today has been a bust. I did have plans to accomplish some stuff but I have slept a lot today. So tired for some reason and its not because I overdid it on Saturday. I did not get out into the yard. The closest I came was I moved the little bench I bought out onto the veranda then sat there and figured out where the tiles will go when I tile the top. Princess Diva gave me these beautiful tiles and they fit the top of this little bench perfectly.

So I have them placed into a pattern that pleases me. All I have to do now is silicone them down and grout them. This little bench will eventually live out on the little back patio as a side table. The patio is tiny but there is room for one chair. The Banker gave me a metal Adirondack chair when she moved out of her house. She had three, I got one and the Sailor got the other two. My little $5.00 bench will make a lovely little table once its tiled and painted.

I did not quilt, I did not get the quilt batt, I never got to Michael's for yarn. I was a couch potato today and I am still sitting here art 9:30 thinking all I want to do is go to bed. I hate not having any energy.
There is too much to do and I am the one that has to do it. Even if I had picked up the garbage that has blown into the yard I would have been happier. Yard work will happen. I will do it another day.

So in the mean time I make lists so I can remember what needs to be done, both inside and out. I love lists, I could not function without them.

I miss Feedjit, the little thing I had on my blog that told me where my visitors came from. I don't get a lot of visitors but it was fun to keep track. They have shut it down for a number of reasons and I have to admit I miss it. Oh well, everything changes.

Well I am going to go crawl into bed and hopefully feel more alert for tomorrow.

Toodles,
Linda

Spring Has Sprung at :LAST!!

My word I do declare that it maybe .....just maybe gonna be spring. The snow has finally gone, almost. Just lingering remnants  in the shadowed spaces, but on the whole, gone. The wind is warming and the sun is shining its little heart out.  I love this time of the year. Fall is my favourite but spring is second.

The back sidewalk, icy watery death trap is gone and I can once again navigate from the back door to the parking spot. In celebration of no longer taking my life in my hands to get to the car or the dumpsters, I dragged the garbage dumpster into the yard and right up to the back door. Then I proceeded to fill it with all the stuff I have been needing to get rid of. Oh it was so much fun. I now need to swap it out and bring the recycling up to the back door. I could fill it too. Its amazing to me how fast you can accumulate garbage and recycle when you are purging/cleaning and still the house can look full. Sigh.

Its been not a bad week, inspite of having a migraine on Tuesday. I have not had one for a very long time and I have to admit I had forgotten just how much fun those little bastards can be. I am hoping it was just a one off and not the start of them coming back. Yeesh.

I finally got the last of the repairs done on the car. The transmission is done, the brakes are done and I can once again can drive without the heart stopping tension every time I put my foot on the brake. Its lovely to drive about relatively care free. The repairs came in under estimate which is so nice. I was very grateful for that. They double entered something when they were doing the original estimate and one job did not take them as long as they thought it might. I don't care, its done and I am happy. All I want to do now is drive around with the windows down and BOB fm blaring on the car radio.

Not much else has been happening here. My quilt is ready to get quilted but I need to get the white flannelette still, oh yes and a batt. I drew up some quilting templates for it today. I am going for some serious quilting on this baby. Its for me so I am going to do a bit more. I finished the slippers and the dishcloths for The Banker. I have a lamb puppet to make and then I will start on the next quilt. Need to make a run to the fabric store and Michaels for yarn. I will do that in time.

The Banker and KitKat went to Regina this past week. KitKat went to a conference and The Banker went with to keep her company. The Banker bought Desi a new hat.

Look at my little home boy!! its too cute. Lucy was not as happy with it when I tried it on her

I don't think she wants to be part of the "eh" team or wear a baseball cap. Poor Lucy!! I may sleep with the lights on tonight.

Tomorrow I hope to continue on with the purge or I may just do nothing or I may go get some material and get my quilt going. I will see where the wind takes me. I really should be out cleaning up the yard but I am not that ambitious. Whatever I do, sitting on the veranda with a coffee with definitely take place.

Toodles
Linda

Walmart Walk-a-thon

So the week is over, today is wonderful Saturday.  As it was Saturday I could not understand why I was laying in bed, wide awake at stupid o'clock this morning when I could have been sleeping. During the week I can hardly force myself up but on Saturday its a whole different story. As I lay there fuming I heard birds singing. My faith in the world was restored. We seem to be having the winter that never ends and bird song gave me hope that we would eventually see the last of the snow, and some green things once again. I have visions of what I want to do in the yard dancing in my head these days and I have high hopes that this year will be the year it actually happens.

On Friday when I dragged my butt out of bed and into the cold, I left this behind, sound asleep and snuggled under my covers, in my bed!!

Little paw tucked up by her face. At that moment I deeply wanted to be a cat. Instead I went to work.

Today I did something I have not done in more than a year. Awhile ago I get myself a goal and today I managed it.

I picked up my groceries (not part of the goal) and then took myself to Walmart. I actually went inside and bought myself some peppers and some chicken breasts. I only managed to walk to the chicken but that is  a milestone for me and my pinched nerve and arthritic knee ( one leg for each). I got the chicken, got through the till and back to my car. I was awash with excitement. My next goal is to make it to the garbage bags next time. (I live a wild and crazy life.) All kidding aside this is big for me. After Walmart I made it to Michaels. I wanted yarn for a blanket for Sweet Pea but they did not have enough of the colour I wanted.Its on sale all week so I will check back. I picked up some scrapbooking do-dads because a 50% off coupon cannot be ignored. After my walk-a-thon, I headed home. You know this means I walked the length of Michaels as well as my stroll through Walmart. Me poor old pinched nerve was screaming like a banshee by the time I got back to the car but I DID IT. This means I can start to get back some of my independence.  This is big I tell you, very big. I can keep working on this and get back to doing for myself.

I have decided I need one of those old people grocery cart thingys to get my groceries from the car to the house. Using the cane limits my ability to carry all the groceries at one time and making a number of trips may be good for me but it makes me grumpy and annoyed.  I want to get a cart. I can pile stuff into it and pull it to the house. Less gumpy making and I can get exercise in other ways.  I have added this to my "want" list. 

I purged the spice drawer!! I purged the bejeebus out of it. Here we go with the gratuitous before and after shots. Before

and now it looks like this:  After

Its a joy to close the drawer on the first try, not having to rearrange the spices at least three times before the drawer will slide shut.

I finally recovered Teddy Bear's chair seat!! I have had it to do for months. The grandchildren were a little hard on it. Before and After.

Super simple job and I am so happy I could do this for her.

More good things have been happening. I got the transmission fixed on the car, (drunken happy dance of joy)  the brakes will get done at some point in time, (some time soon). The guys at the garage agreed that this was the smartest thing to do first. Nice to know I can make the right decision once in a while.

What else is going on??  I am still working on the purge,/clean of the house. Every time I think I am gaining ground I look at the place and its doesn't seem to be any different. I continue though. I will win this battle, I am resolved to it. It will be so nice when the ice in the back yard melts. What does that have to do with cleaning the house .... well  when that happens taking out the garbage is not a death defying event. In fact. for a period of time at the end of winter, beginning of spring  I don't take it out the back. When the back sidewalk is at its icy watery death trap best, I take the garbage out the front, into the trunk of the car and I drive it round the block to the dumpster. It looks crazy but I would rather be crazy than end up with some part of me broken, bent or sprained.

This afternoon I have mostly been knitting. I wore the legs out on my big adventure this morning so I spent the rest of the day knitting. The Banker has asked for a pair of slippers and three dishcloths. I just have one slipper left to do. I did not knit that all today just two dishcloths. I have the second slipper started and will get back at it once I am done blogging. Tomorrow I am baking butter tarts for a coworker then I am going to try and get the backing sewn together for my quilt.

I have decided to use the flannelette I have on hand for the majority of the backing then I will get some white to go around the edges where it will be seen. I was going to buy new stuff but I have so much on hand, it really needs to be used. This way I will save myself some pennies and help with the purge at the same time. The top is all blue and white so I want it to look nice when its on the bed. White around the edge will work a treat.  I want to get quilting it and get it done. The matching curtains will be faded to the point of garbaging them at the rate I am going. The quilting is going to be the star of this piece so I want to get on it.

So that's about it for now. I hope all is well in your little corner of the world.

Toodles,
Linda

Staycation..............almost done

So I let myself sleep in a little this morning. Its almost over and I am starting to get sad. I am not going to dwell on it or I will end up whimpering in the corner and that would not be making the most of the next three days. Focus on the positive.

Ok so far this week I have been tackling jobs that have been left ignored far too long. The spare bedrooms have been put back in order. The poor green room got all rearranged when I decorated my bedroom. Yes I am aware that that was nearly a year ago,,,,,,,shut up. I moved the furniture back onto place and put some things away. It was good to get it done. The red room got the bedding all washed and was given a good tidy and is ready should company show up. The storage containers that have been in the tub for the longest time have been moved and will be purged of the eleventy million magazines I was saving for some unknown reason. Normally these containers live under my bed but once they are purged and refilled with more important stuff, they are going into my closet.

The upstairs floors have been given a bath and so have the stairs. The Banker fixed the crack in the stairwell wall. She did a a fantastic job. I have purged my sewing patterns. The container went from looking like this:

So full I could not stuff  them all into the container. It now looks like this:

Makes me so happy!!

I finished the house reno scrapbook and I never had to go to Michaels once. No that's not true I had to get adhesive, but I used a 50%off coupon. Other than that, I used all my supplies that I have on hand. This scrapbook did not get embellishments. Its just a record of the changes I have made to the house in the first 10 years that I have been here. I almost didn't bother doing it but since I had a lot of pictures already printed I decided to go for it. The album I put the pictures in was passed onto me by a friend. I am happy I made the choice to do it. You forget how the place looked at the start.

So basically my vacation has been housework focused. I did finally get an appointment for the car. I will do the repairs in stages. The transmission first then the brakes. I am so grateful to be finally getting this taken care of. I have left it go for far too long.

I am not sure what has been up with me for the last longest time but I don't like it. I am focused on getting myself out of this funk I have been in for far too long. Everyone has problems and things that get them down, I am no different. What is different is I cannot go on living this way. I have to just put on the big girl panties and deal.

To that end, the housework. Contrary to what it may look like I do not enjoy living in a mess. Clutter is fine, a mess is not. So I am dealing with that. Purge and clean, purge and clean, lather rinse repeat.I am continuing to work on the craft room. I am keeping up with keeping the paperwork taken care of and filed instead of piling up all over the place. The kitchen is next. The spice drawer and the cook books are first on the list.

The next on the list is budgeting. I need to tighten my belt and get back on track. Having no back up when something goes wrong is just not good. It gets you behind and once behind its pretty stinkin' hard to get back on track. First things I did was I reduced my cable down, even though my tv is super important to me, I don't need all the channels I had. I did not renew my magazine subscriptions this year. I only have two but its a luxury that I can give up for now. I am going to start paying more attention to coupons and sales. I have talked this talk before but I am starting to walk the walk. I am not giving up going out with friends. I can economize in other areas.

I am responsible for me, I need to start taking better care of me. So I am actually taking baby steps toward this goal, instead of just talking about it. Its a journey of a thousand miles but I have taken the first step or two. I need to get out from under this debt. I don't like it. I hate to no be able to look after my self.

Toodles
Linda

Call Me Monet

FINALLY, I got myself to a paint night. This is my third attempt. I was sick the first two times but this Thursday I managed to get there along with four other No Cook gals and a couple of extra people. It was SO MUCH FUN!! I had absolutely no expectations as to how well I would do. I may very well have been the only person that ever failed totally but I didn't. Inspite of not being able to hear the instructor, (think Charlie Brown's teacher). However through catching the odd word here or there and a lot of careful watching I managed.

We sat down and staring us in the face was this:

A blank canvas, four paint colours, three brushes, one que tip, a glass of water and some paper napkins. A little intimidating for one who has never painted a thing besides a wall and the odd bit of furniture. Grit teeth and prepare to jump in head first. In no time at all I had it looking like this:

Does not look like much yet but at this point I was incredibly please with the look and the blending. Then before you knew it, it was over and done and my first masterpiece was complete:

So happy with the end results. We all did a great job

One of our gang is missing, she was not finished with her painting so we took the picture without her. We all have paintings that are basically the same but very different. Most important, we had a fun filled evening. I have hung mine in the living room.

I am currently at the beginning of a week off. Its heavenly to be on days off. I have a mile long list of things to do of course. Yesterday I had a minion and "we" struck off 7 things on the list. I could not be happier. Things went to the basement (Christmas decor and trees), things came out of the basement (tons of old paint cans), all the garbage and recycling went out to the dumpsters, the old paint went to the actual dump!!  Desi got the matted hair trimmed off his back legs. I cuddled him and The Banker  my minion trimmed him until he got sick of us. She finished filling and priming the crack I put in the stair well wall. While she zipped about and did all this, I continued to work on the kitchen, my biggest enemy. I got a lot done and one more push today will see it finished She chopped ice on the back sidewalk and then we went for coffee and cheesecake,my treat. She took a wooden star home to have her Sweet Baboo trim  it down for me. Things flew off the list.

I bought the star at the big craft sale and at the time I loved how big it was. I thought perfect for the veranda in the winter months after Christmas. I was going to decorate it and it would be lovely. Then the more I thought about it, the more I decided that it was just way too big. So cutting it down will be the ticket and I will have another bit of  veranda decor for the winter months.

Today I am getting a slow start but I will get moving eventually. The fridge is on the hit list. A complete clean out and scrub down. The laundry room floor is going to get a scrubbing while all the stuff is out of there for us to get into the basement. I have groceries to pick up this afternoon and I need to go Shoppers for a couple of things, cat food being the most important. Last thing that shold happen today is pick up some picture reprints. I am not sure what will happen after that. I may do some sewing or I may do some crafty stuff. I could also scrapbook because I will have pictures to scrapbook with.

The world is my oyster as long as it does not require me spending too much money. I was to have gone and had Easter with the family but it just was not something I could manage. So I miss them greatly and am pouting that I could not go but it was not meant to be. I will  make the best of it and hope they send lots of pictures so I feel like I was there.


Happy Easter one and all!!

Toodles
Linda

Scrapbooking Weekend

We had a plan. We being the Sailor, the Banker, KitKat and I were going to a near by town and join  a scrapbooking day. We had it planned for a long time and we were looking foreward. Then Mother Nature stomped back in with "And another thing" and pitched snow and ice all over the place. Saturday found the highways closed and the threat of freezing rain, high winds and flurries.

Semis and cars stacked up on the highway waiting for them to open the gates and ok travel. The Banker and I talked, fussed and then made the decision to stay in town. Travel was just not worth it for this. The Banker picked me up, we went and got breakfast and then headed to her place. Quick texts to the Sailor and KitKat with hearty agreement to the new plan. The Scrapbooking weekend was on, reduced participants, location change but much fun to be had. Everyone seemed to be relieved that we were staying put. 

We had a great day. I worked on an album that I had almost decided not to bother with. Tracing the renovations that have happened in this house from the day I moved in to the last room being done. I am glad I decided to do it anyway. I have forgotten how it looked when I moved in.

Its not fancy, just paper no embellishments. I have zoomed through it but I need to order some pictures. When I thought I would not bother, I stopped ordering reprints. I even  carried on working on it today. We had a lot of fun, We ordered in food and did not call it a day until 9:30. 12 hours of creativity. I so like days like that, time spent with friends, being creative, sharing ideas and teasing one another. My kind of day.

Today has been slow. I did more scrapbooking and I should have been doing other things but I just did not have the will. Yesterday I could keep all the everyday troubles shut up in the back of my mind and not let them out. Today they are out and banging away at my thoughts like tantrum pitching toddlers wanting into the bathroom with Mommy. Apparently they do not know that I have no answers, no solutions and no miracles up my sleeve. So continuously mulling over every little thing is not getting anywhere. Something will work out, one way or the other.

I am sad that I will not be able to get to spend Easter with my family. I just do not feel comfortable taking the car on the highway when it needs work and I just can't get the repairs done in time to go. I have asked them to send lots of pictures. I will stay here and maybe get somethings looked after. As usual I have taken the week after Easter off, I do every year. I have some projects on the list to do. I will divulge what they are, once they are done. I am not setting myself up with running off at the mouth about all I am going to do and then not getting a fraction done. I will brag the heck out of what gets accomplished.

I woke up this morning to the fact that I had no bread. I mentioned it on Facebook because I like to share my troubles.... Princess Diva showed up on my door step on her way to church with this:

Enough bread for breakfast this morning and tomorrow. I honestly know the nicest people. Toast and jam tasted extra sweet this morning.

I did get through some magazines that have been piling up around here. Well I did the best I could. Lucy felt that having a cuddle was much more important.

I got my knee brace and I have been wearing it. Its like a new pair of shoes, on has to get used to the thing. It turns me into a sweaty mess trying to get into the dang thing. 5 straps, super strong velcro and it all has to be done in the right order. I am just pleased that I can actually do it. 

I am hoping its going to make a difference. I find it makes my knee feel more secure and I have actually slept in the thing. The first night I had it I was afraid to take it off and then I could not get it back on. Hence the sleeping in the thing. All that is changed and so time will tell if it makes a change or not in how I walk.

Now there is a new week starting. Month end to get through and then a week off. Hopefully it all goes smoothly.

Toodles

Linda

Snippets

Don't really have anything of great interest to blog about. I have a touch of the flu today but its easing up. The wee hours of the morning until about mid day was the worst. I am now just tired and shivery but feeling much better. So I thought snippets today for a blog post.

not a happy camper this morning

I get my knee brace tomorrow!! I am so excited and deeply hope that this is going to improve my mobility. If nothing else I am hoping for stability. No more walking along and then suddenly feeling like my knee has come apart. I really want to get back to being able to walk and stand for more than 25 minutes at the max. I get this knee under control I am going to look into physio therapy for the discs in my back and see if that can't be improved so the "stabbing my leg with an ice pick" feeling will be a thing of the past. I have high hopes!!

I managed to break a drawer in my fridge on Saturday. That poor fridge is on its last legs as it is and when I was putting apples and lemons in the crisper drawer, the already broken edging gave up the ghost and the drawer dropped to the bottom. Problem is, the door will not shut with the drawer in that position. I found a quick dollar store fix. I had a little plastic basket that fits the space perfectly and I can pull it out like a drawer and still get the fridge door to shut. Rather pleased with myself.

I got my patterned  scrapbook paper sorted, now its all into categories: Halloween, birthday, baby, etc and the stuff that is just pattern is now together by colour. I even made a list of what is in the box. Its a job that I needed to do for some time.

I am going scrapbooking next weekend. My plan is to put the house reno pictures into an album, which will not be a true scrapbook with embellishments and all fancy. Just pictures in a book. I made a stack of all the ugly patterned paper that I know I will not use in a fancy scrapbook. I will use to border the house pictures. The paper will not be wasted and this makes me happy.

I got my handicapped parking pass this week. Its something that I will only use if its really needed but I am very glad to have it. With my limited mobility I have had to leave shopping centers because there are no close parking spaces and I cannot get from the car, into the store and out again with my limited travel time. This pass will help that situation a lot.

I managed to get the four dish cloths that had been ordered all knit up for Hummingbird. That was until I had tea with the Hostess this weekend and she got two of them. I will have to zip up two more. I have the yarn so it won't take long. I am well supervised when I am knitting. The Watchers are usually on guard, either together or on shift.

Teddy Bear stopped in for coffee on Saturday afternoon. In fact she brought the coffee! Plus she brought me a book. Local author, its autographed and I am looking forward to reading it. There had been an article in the paper about it and we had discussed how it sounded like it might be good. A mystery set in Scotland. The author was doing a book signing at the mall, so Teddy Bear stopped and got us a copy. It will live at my house and its autographed to me but we are sharing it. I was thrilled. My friends are very good to me, have I ever mentioned that??

The Banker and her Sweet Baboo are back from another month with his parents. It good to have her home again. She brought me a treat as well. A new pig for the collection. She looks like wood but she is pottery. I love her, she is so funny looking she is cute. The Banker was in a pawn shop and  in the course of getting a lens for her camera, the owner threw in the pig for nothing.

Oh yes I got the baby blanket finished. It was finished a long time ago but I just never got around to posting a picture. Still not sure what I will do with it, save it for Sweet Pea or use it as a gift for someone else, time will tell. I still want to make another in more girly colours. This is lovely yarn to work with.  Speaking of Sweet Pea, The Pilot and the Teacher shared a video of the bump. You can see Sweet Pea moving, wiggling and pushing. No matter how many times I see it happen its still such a miracle. She will be here before we know it. SO EXCITING!!

Work on the craft room as slowed but it is not stopped. I did the last of the scrapbook paper and I have made great progress on it but there is still a long way to go. I will get back to it. The best of all is I am maintaining and keeping up with not sliding back into bad habits and undoing all I have done. Both the kitchen and the craft room have vastly improved.

I did get going on a job I have put off for sometime. I am mending my mattress cover. A tight budget these days dictates that I am not able to just run out and buy new so I am patching. My sewing machine will not sew it so I am doing it by hand. By mending this I can go to the scrapbooking weekend. Its all a trade off these days.

My Mom would be proud. I should have done it sooner. When I washed the thing this last time it rather shredded but its savable.

While I did ramble on and on but not really a lot of stuff to say.  I think I am going to go and lay down for a while. I still feel weak and iffy. I cannot tell you how much this getting sick every other day wears me down. I hate not feeling well and having this happen so often does nothing for my mental well being. Its just so annoying but its not something I can totally control either. Just another frustration.

Toodles
Linda