I got NOTHIN"

 Seriously I don't know what to blog about. Lock down? Well that means not really going anywhere that is not absolutely necessary. Too cold for veranda visits so not really seeing too many friends. Teddy Bear has dropped in once or twice, only because she stores her Christmas gifts over here. Keeps the presents away from prying little eyes. I think its a great idea. I'm happy to help out. The Banker stopped in to drop off a much needed mat for the kitchen door. It was on sale at Walmart so she got me one. I'm sick of mopping up mud and water at the back. The old one got worn out from washing the cat pee out of it, no backing left on it, so now I have a nice new one there to catch a multitude of sins.

Oh what else exciting is happening around here? I got groceries, ordered them on Wednesday but could not pick them up until Sunday. A sure sign we are back in code red. I did order a few staples.

Far from a hoard but at least I have a better stocked pantry this time around than I did when this first hit us. I am  more prepared. I did not even need to buy toilet paper this time. Not that you could because once again people are panic buying. Not a package to be found at Walmart according to the Banker. Honestly. I have been keeping the pantry stocked since I got it up to a presentable level during the first wave. I intend to keep it that way.  I have bleach, disinfectant and reusable paper towels on hand as well. I think we are going to see shortages and I want to be as prepared as I can be, with things I know I will need. I do like to have bread so now I will not have to worry.

Ok so now I am cooking more. Go ME!! I need to figure out what I want to eat and I need to work on getting a bit more colour into the mix. Most things I seem to be making, like my version of Busy's Chicken Almondine, are beige. Tasty but beige. Its a work in progress. Adulting is hard at times.

Yesterday I worked on yet another Canada Day runner. It will be the third one I have created this year. Maybe this time I will get to keep one for myself.

I was having one of those days yesterday when  I could not seem to settle at anything in spite of the numerous things that need doing around here. I finally got quilting on this and watched the last of Sons of Anarchy. Today I hope to get it bound and finished.

I have gotten a lot of the stuff hauled out to the back that needed to go. There is still a lot more to be moved. This too seems to be something that I cannot get on top of. My ability to gather things to be taken to the shed and the dumpsters far outstrips my ability to get it there. Just one more thing to keep working on. I could ask someone to give me a half hour of minion time and it would all be done. Well ..... lock down.........I can and should do it for myself.......... etc, etc. Sigh. Being my own worst enemy again. I have however conquered the Kitchen Mess. I am managing to keep it far cleaner and much more tidy now that  I have more time. Retirement is awesome. 

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I do want to get the autumn decorations taken in from the veranda. They look a little silly now that the snow has arrived and it looks like winter is here to stay. I'm not quite ready to put out the Christmas things just yet but Autumn needs to be taken in. Sort of cursing the fact that I did not bring the Lights and snowman up from the basement when I was down there. Oh crap, here we go again.

I did some scrapbooking on Saturday. Its not the same sort of fun that it is when I am with my fellow scrappers but I go 5 pages completed. There is much more to do but I was glad to get that taken care of. I am working on Thanksgiving and the family photos now. 

I am still on the lookout for projects to use my lovely new quilting material on. I want to make a Christmas wall hanging and a quilt with the fat quarters and layer cake I got on The Banker's and my last road trip. Nothing has lept out at me just yet. I will find the right project, I just need to be patient.

So I did my housework jobs this morning and now I am free to spend the afternoon crafting. I ordered some scrapbooking supplies from Michael's yesterday and its ready for pick up. I am not sure if I will go today or tomorrow to get it. That is the big decision of my day. Such first world problems!!

Toodles

Linda

One Step Foreward and Two BacK

 So we are back to the beginning again, businesses closed, restaurants reduced to take out, just like it was at the beginning. It gets me down this time round. We have been doing this for a long time now and no end is in sight. My heart tells me that this is going to stretch over Christmas and beyond if I am honest. I can't even think about that right now. I will say I am so very very grateful that I got to see my family  at Thanksgiving. I missed seeing everyone more than I realized.

I really do not have much to blog about. The Banker and I got the donation money to the Safe and Warm Shelter along with a trunk full of food for the food bank.

I am so very glad that we could do something for them this year. Its not as much as we usually do but it was something anyway. I like that we can help them out.

The Hostess stopped by on Wednesday and there was no putting her off. She has been trying to do some yard work for me the last few times she has stopped by. I do have lovely generous friends.  She graciously raked the leaves in my yard and cut down the dead peonies. It was really sweet of her. I was not getting it done in spite of all my good intentions.

I did bag them up the next day. I need to do more of this because it gets harder and harder to do each time I try.

Oh yes I did promise to show Best Friend's quilt once I finally got around to taking a proper full length picture of it. I managed that the other day so here it is in all its glory.

She kept all of her father's ties after he passed away and gave them to me to make a quilt with them. I rather like the way it turned out.

We had our No Cook Friday last week but decided that we would put meeting on hold for now until things settle down again. I am really not happy about it because its the highlight of my week. That being said I would rather miss a few get togethers and get things back on track again.

Thankfully we missed the big snow storms that hit the prairies yesterday. I am grateful for that but I feel for the other places that got hit hard. Winter has come with a vengeance. 

I finally got my bedroom cleaned up. I have hauled stuff out to the dumpsters, I have cleaned the kitchen and got the weekly laundry done. There is always a million things to do and I still have a big list of tasks to accomplish. Bit by bit, piece by piece, I am getting things done. It will all happen, its just gonna take some time. 

I have been working on my Christmas shopping. I nearly have it done. Stocking stuffers are hard to get this year because I have not been in stores to get things. I will figure it out. Where there is a will there is a way. Amazon has been my friend this year, like I imagine it has been for lots of people in this pandemic year. 

Toodles

Linda

Just Under the Wire

 When the pandemic shut the world down, one of the big concerns this year, for me personally, was would we get to have our scrapbooking weekend at the end of October. This is an event I look foreward to each year. Its three days of crafting with my friends, guilt free and uninterrupted. Its lots of fun, laughter and creativity with people I really like. Well, in the end. our big group had to cave in and cancel. Heartbreak ensued all around.

The Banker, the Sailor, KitKat and I decided that if we could find a place we would have an event of our own. We have a core group of eight of us that get together for this event. We found a place, we organised it and we managed to have it. Just under the wire because as of this Monday we went back into code orange, basically lock down. No groups bigger that 5, quarantining if you travel for 14 days, etc etc.

I cannot tell you how glad I was that we got this accomplished before things went south again. 

We were at a local Senior Center, we had rules to follow and they treated us like royalty. So friendly, so helpful, so accommodating. They set up the tables and chairs, provided coffee and the room had super good lighting. 

I managed to get 78 pages together, I still need to do some journalling and add embellishments here and there but I got January to September done. 

The Banker's sister makes her own embellishments. I want to give this a try. I doubt I will be able to do the incredible job she does but I want to give it a try. Embellishments are a horrible price and if I could make them it would be a benefit.

We had a "True North Strong" gift basket put together and raffled it off this year instead of doing our quilt raffle. We raised $400.00 for the local Safe and Warm Shelter. Teddy Bear was the lucky winner of this lovely gift bag.

We also put a shout out for food stuff for the local food bank and the Safe and Warm Shelter. The Banker and I will drop this stuff off when we take the raffle money down. I think we did good.

We had three days from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm and the room rental was very reasonable. We brought our own lunches and ordered in suppers. The Banker brought us cake and we brought our own snacks and drinks. All in all it was a successful weekend, everyone was pleased and we are hoping at some point, early in the next year, we can do it again. Covid co-operating with us of course.

Today I went to run some errands and I noticed the lids on my garbage and recycle dumpsters were flipped open. On closer inspection I discovered some determined person had diligently torn open all of my garbage bags, rooted through them and transferred most of it from the garbage to the recycle dumpster. 

I guess I should be grateful that they did not scatter it all on the ground. That thought did not stop me from cussing them out when I found it. Its all back in its proper spot and the dumpster is out for pick up tomorrow. It was just an annoyance. I cannot imagine rummaging about in stinky weeks old garbage. Yuck. I got enough of it having to move it all back to the right dumpster.

I was not home for Halloween, first time in years I did not hand out candy. I had already decided I would not do anything this year. I hardly get any children and most of the houses on my street don't bother. So I did not decorate, I did not put my lights on and it makes me a little sad. Numbers were down all around because of the virus but kids were out and about.

So now I need to work on putting the scrapbooking equipment back in its proper spots. Get at the next projects I have on the agenda and a million other everyday things that need to be done. 

Toodles,

Linda

WTF????

Ok what is up with these shenanigans? We got snow and its stayed. I was thinking it would come and go but the nasty snowflakes have parked themselves and are still hanging around, for a couple of weeks now for goodness sake. I can't even..... 

later the same day

This sort of stuff should not even think about happening until after Halloween and even then that is the earliest allowed.

Lets move onto more pleasant things. I totally did not include Mama Bug's visit in my last blog post. I cannot believe I missed it. I have not seen her in such a long time, it was really nice to have a chance to visit and catch up on her news. She popped in and stayed for supper. We watched a movie and then she scooted off to finish her shopping and get home. She lives on a farm. I was so very happy that she managed to fit me in. I hope we do it again before too long.I need to get my butt in gear and get Lady Bugs quilt blocks caught up. I am behind on them but I have not forgotten them.

The Banker and I did a little road trip this last week. She heard about an on line quilt shop that is close. The lady does have a physical store that you can get to see by appointment only. We set up a time and went for a visit. We had a shop, went out for lunch and then called it a day.( I have missed our little road trips).  Its a super cute little place. Quilt lady has it set up so nicely. I managed to find a thing or two to bring home.

No idea what I am going to make but its going to be something for me. I got some Christmas themed material, some autumn stuff and a layer cake of old looking prints. I'll have to cruse the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorials to find a quilt to make with the layer cake.

I have finally got quilting on the Dad's ties quilt for Best Friend. I have the top almost all quilted. In fact I have high hopes that it will be done and bound this week. Go Me!!

Its not a complicated quilt but I think she is going to like it. 

The other thing I have gotten busy and actually started to do is cook. I made chilli/soup/stew a while ago and since then I have made Lentil/potato/bacon soup otherwise known as "clean out the fridge" soup. Again very tasty.

Then on Sunday I actually roasted a chicken. It looks like its dry in the picture but it was nice and moist. Best of all there are left overs. Chicken Salad sandwiches yum yum.

Then today after getting home from getting groceries, I threw together some chicken noodle soup.

Seems to be a soup theme going on here but I love soup during the cold weather. Now that I have groceries I have some stuff to make some supper type items. Stay tuned I am beginning to learn that I can do this cooking malarkey.. I will never be a super cook but at least I can put a meal on the table that's edible. Its cheaper and healthier and I am glad that at long last I am doing something about it. 

Toodles

Linda

Thankful Thanksgiving

 In the midst if this pandemic, after careful thought and consideration, much planning and many calls some of my family gathered together in an isolated mountain condo to celebrate together. For me it was the first time in a very long time to see the some of the kids. I must say that I had no idea how much I missed every one until I saw them again. I thought long and hard before I agreed to go, Knowing that the kids looked for a place that would include me tugged at my heart strings and I decided to go.

We followed all the rules that we could. We were a group of 10. We socially distanced and some of us even got tested before we gathered. The place we stayed was lovely and there was almost no one around. We saw three people across the parking lot the whole weekend. 

The views were magnificent:

I have not been to the mountains in a very very VERY long time. We also took a drive to the site of the Frank Slide. Its been on my bucket list for many a year and now I have been to see it. 

Its a sad sight to see. Its hard to imagine a town is buried under those rocks. The little ones had fun climbing about. The weather was not the best but we managed to have fun inspite of it all.

We had a lovey time. Lots of chat, lots of good food, lots of laughs and the weekend slipped by before we knew it. I was so happy to have a week away. I felt like I had  lovely long vacation. Tater Tot, Wee Girl and Sweet Pea have all grown and changed so much.

Now its back to the ordinary routine. I have a mountain of photos to scrapbook. Our big scrap book weekend got cancelled but our little group of 10 are going to have a small get together anyway. We have found a space and are doing our own scrapbook weekend. I am so glad that we are not going to have to miss out. Its one of the highlights of my year.

The Banker and I have put together something we are calling our True North Strong basket for raffling off.

The funds raised will go to our local Safe and Warm Shelter. Ticket sales have been rather good so far. Its not going to be the same as the quilt raffle but its better than nothing.

Speaking of quilts. I have at last got onto Best Friends quilt, the one made with her Dad's ties. I think its coming along very nicely

I actually have the entire top sewn up but no picture taken yet and now once the backing has a bath and dry, I can get quilting on it. I am so pleased I can do this for her. I hope she likes it.

Christmas is coming and the shopping/crafting must begin in earnest. We did the name draw over our family weekend and now I need to buckle down to getting the shopping done. I have started on the Christmas crafting.

I happily spent yesterday knitting and watching movies. The perfect way to spend a chilly Autumn Sunday in my world. I even got all excited and cooked a big pot of something

I do not know if its chili, soup or stew. I started out making chili but it sort of went off track. Inspite of it not having a definitive name its tasty and there is a whole dutch oven full. I am determined to get a handle on this cooking thing. I cannot keep drifting along as I have. Its just not good.

I finally got the air conditioner out of the window today. Nearly did myself in but I managed it. I have a list of things that need doing around here and I am determined to get them done. Its a never ending round of needing to improve around here. Some times I wish I had an easier and more willing participant in this project but you work with what you have.

Toodles

Linda

Ups and Downs

Once I finally got  my printer up and running I happily printed off the clip art I needed to complete my last years scrapbooks. I got the last page done and filled in the missing bits.

 All done and ready for me to move on to this years albums. Just in time for Covid to cancel our weekend. Crap crap crappity crap. Our small groups is trying to find a venue that we can still do our weekend but its not easy in this pandemic world. Sigh. I so enjoy that weekend, I am not going to be a very happy bunny if things do not work out.

Finally and at long last I managed to take pictures of the last two finished quilts. I will be setting them aside to raffle off next year.

The butterfly applique quit is not super big. Its big enough to cuddle up under. The black and white Celtic knot is queen sized. 

Things went mad around here this last week. I actually made a pot of soup!!It was delicious if I do say so myself.

Chicken noodle. I am hoping this is the beginning of a trend for me. Soup and sandwich are my favourite cold weather lunch. I really have to get this meal making thing organized. Too lazy for my own good, that is my problem. 

I did manage to get somethings done around here that have been waiting to be taken care of. I got my new wall hanging put up.

I like it right where it is. I am not fond of blank walls in my house. Other people's houses, yes, but not in my own. Even I have to admit that I am running out of spots to hang things. 

I have gotten started on Best Friend's quilt. She passed on all of her father's old ties and wondered if I could turn them into a quilt for her. I have all the blocks made, just need to sew on the sashing and get it quilted.

I do think its going to be very cute. I hope she will be pleased with it

I spent today happily churning out blocks for the third Canada runner I will have made. Its going in a basket that was to be raffled at scrapbooking. The Banker and I do this every year. Once again I am not sure what will happen with it but I'm making it anyway. If we do a smaller version of the weekend we may raffle it off anyway. Fundraising is hard to do this year. Stupid virus is making us readjust all sorts of normal everyday activities.

I may use this pattern in autumn colours for the fall wall hanging I want to make for myself. I got material for it last monday. Not enough but a good start. I want autumn leaves and pumpkins on this hanging. I have a thing for pumpkins.

I also found this panel that I hope to turn into a wall hanging or even a quilt for myself one of these days.

So there are lots of projects on the roster. So many things waiting to be done and  new things keep popping up all the time. I am thinking that I will not find the winter long a boring.

Toodles

Linda