A bird in the hand...gets thrown out into the cold!

It's never easy having an outsider living with you. They are invading "your space" and messing with your style of living. Well, today our border moved out after being with us for over 4 months. The hallelujahs rang loud and clear. It wasn't that he was a hard guy to have around, he was just there. Though he was good about keeping his stuff to his own room, his room was something else again! He had a wardrobe and a drawer but they never seen any of his clothes!
Meanwhile I decide to start re-arranging my basement which was very crowded, what with having stuff in the little kitchen that used to be in said borders bedroom...also part storage room. I huffed and puffed and moved furniture around and decided the little freezer needed moved to another area. The problem was that the cord to the freezer would not meet the plug-in. So I asked hubby if he had a heavy extension cord I could use. He said no but he did have one with only one end on it that he could repair for me. After about a half hour of patiently waiting for him to fix it, he brings it to me..and yes, he had repaired it..but now it had two male ends on it!!!
Got me laughing anyway and patiently waiting another while for it to be brought to me , ready to use.
We went shopping today and were gone all afternoon. Upon returning home, I found a message from Brandi to give her a call. I had already discovered that someone( I was sure it was her) had been in the house to borrow my cake decorating supplies. I called her and she told me to look at my camera as she had taken some pictures. Lo and behold when she came into the house she discovered a woodpecker in our livingroom.

She phoned Kore and he and some friends came over and finally cornered the noisy fluttering beast and some brave friend man-handled him out of the house. You just never know whats going on in your house when you're not home. Still don't know how the critter got in the house. Brandi even called her mother in Prince George to make sure we did not have a pet bird that they were throwing out into the cold!! Like my choice of pet would be a red-headed woodpecker!

A pill a day...

Well, what a month this has been. It all started with a trip to the doctor because I was having some pains in my chest. So..time for a physical... first a trip to the doctor, then a trip to the lab, then back to the doctor to hear that my thyroid is acting up.(and what a good excuse for gaining weight..I grabbed at that!)..and on to the druggist for pills. Then on to a bone density test. Another trip to find the results of that..the outcome of that is..take calcium pills and get more exercise..yea, right!! Then to the hospital to get a bolster monitor on for 24 hours. This measures the heart to see how it puts in its day..and that made for an uncomfortable nights sleep. Next day back to the hospital to return the monitor. Then in the afternoon, on to the mamography clinic. I'm guessing one more trip to the doctor for results and then I should be done...And I'm not even sick! I have added to my stash of pills tho', what with baby aspirin and primrose oil and Dicetal...and on and on. Sure great to be healthy!

All by myself....

Well, I got a very rude awakening this morning, as hubby got an early call to go to work. So it seems I have the day to myself! That means a fun day of guilt-free quilting for me. Its a dull grey day and the garden is all put to bed for the winter so there is nothing pressing to do.


I am going to spend the day thinking about and praying for my daughter as she undergoes a biopsy on her breast. I know everything will be fine as I have asked God to make it so, but a mother still must think about it.


The grandkids are coming for supper but don't have to do anything about that for a few hours yet.


Hubby is off to go quading for the long weekend. Its always nice to have a time for ones self, just not to think about meals and just to do as one wants ......just for a little while. I don't mind being alone....just for a little while. To contemplate being alone for the rest of my life is unthinkable. Okay I know we are never alone because God promises to always be there for us, but you know what I mean! There are times when its nice to be in our own little bubble!

How much Salsa is enough Salsa?

Yes, its that time of year again..Salsa making time. The tomatoes and hot peppers are plentiful this year and are ready to do something with.I dragged myself out of bed the other morning ( this was early, like 9am or something) and hubby had all the vegies cleaned, sliced and diced ,and the jars all washed . I mean, how blessed could a girl be than to have a man like that around the house? The only thing we squabble about is the amount of hot peppers to throw into the pot..I lean toward the mild side and he likes it hotter than hell. Now, its not that we eat that much salsa ourselves but I have a large family that always wants at least what they consider their "share"so now after 73 pints I think I may have enough to get us thru till the next tomato growing season. Course the garden is still producing many more tomatoes so can I interest anybody out there in a bushel or two or three? Next its on to apples and pears ! Will the blessings never end?

Quadin' ain't just for the young!

We went camping at Duffy Lake last weekend. We went with Ted, Diana, Jack, Kevin and Will. Everyone that owned a Quad had it along and many hours were spend driving the many miles of trails in that area. Grandma, she got left at camp to contemplate what the next meal would consist of,and that was okay by her!
Grandpa was in his glory, so much so that the aches and pains meant nothing to him, till the next day..and the sight of his leg was not so pretty. He doesn't know what he did to it, he was having too much fun to realize he even hurt himself. oh yes, grandma did take a little short jaunt on the bike, but has decided that no, she doesn't need to own one!

Not your everyday wedding!

You're always proud of your kids but this past weekend made me specially proud of my daughter Liana. She did such a fantastic job of planning and organizing her son's wedding. Everything went off without a hitch and the weather was fantastic! All the guests seemed to enjoy a casual and fun-filled weekend at Vivian Lake. The food was fantastic and about as medieval as you could get without going out and slaughtering your own! Fireworks lit up the sky that night and were enjoyed by all the campers at the site. The Bride was beautiful and did not appear to be stressed at all, just happy to be married at last.If you want more info, go to Liana's blog posted at the right hand side of this blog.

It's GR-RR-REAT!

Yes its true...we are soon to be GREAT grandparents! Does that make me feel any older? NOT! It is exciting tho' and I tell everyone I know the GREAT news.
We had a GREAT visit with Jennifer this past month and was sorry to see her go. Connie was here for a week also so that meant we did a GREAT deal of shopping.
Also, hubby bought me a little old Nisson car, circa 1986, so now I am a little old GREAT grandma in a little old not so GREAT car.The thing is, now hubby does not think the car GREAT enough for me. He has driven it to work several times and the thing really is a GREAT piece of junk! Our neighbor just bought his wife a new little something or other Toyota and is wanting to sell his 1999 toyota Corolla and so we are frantically gathering up all our little bits of money that we have here and there to buy this GREAT, well maintained Toy. So you will probably not see me driving an old not so GREAT nisson any time soon and a GREAT big "for sale" sign will be going on the windshield. Some young teenage person would probably think its GREAT to be bombing around town in a car with no speedometor,a dull paint job and a moldy interior..oh, did I mention it has a GREAT stereo system?

Oh, my Angelina Lips!!...

I'm not a die-hard camper. Seems everytime we go camping, its cloudy, or raining or cold and sometimes all three at one time. This past weekend we went camping and, you guessed it, Friday night was freezing. We hunkered around the camp fire all night and the next day, it was the same thing..just plain ol' cold. But Sunday morning we woke up to the most glorious sunshine! And it was hot! I revelled in the sun, absorbing all of that beautiful heat. The next day did I pay for that, I was burned in splotches all over the place but the worst were my Lips! I am still suffering..I think the Lord is making my mouth pay for all the complaining about cold weather that I did..guess that will teach me to be thankful for the weather whether I like it or not!

Tools, Tools, get your tools here....

We had a garage sale yesterday. Did very well as far as garage sales go. Met some interesting people, neighbors mostly, but I think there was one there that wasn't too neighborly! What possesses some one to go to a garage sale and actually steal an item and take off. I mean, really, garage sales are pretty cheap but someone wanted it cheaper...like free! You never know what someone might want to buy, like broken down garden tools, rusty old bread mixing pans,garden knee pads or a half box of #2 coffee filters! Tools were the ticket item in this sale and Ed had a ton of them..made a lot of men very happy and they pulled in a lot of bucks. We actually had wives grabbing their hubbys arms and hauling them away...with hubby yelling, I'll be back, I'll be back!!
I didn't do as well, seems nobody wanted little bags of ribbon or a silver tray that needs yearly cleaning.Oh well, we can always try again with a fall garage sale.

Home is in the heart...

Good news! My baby daughter is coming home for a visit! We don't get to see her, maybe every two years. We sure miss her but since she chose to marry a Texan, she's a long way from home. Seems it doesn't matter where we live or how long we have been away from"home", there is always that one place that will always be "home". I guess I will always think of Prince George as "home" even though we lived in Kelowna longer than we did Prince George. I suppose that comes from having raised our children there, serving most of our working life there and then leaving our children there. I guess the heart always stays in the place where the people we love stay. Our family is stretching out over the province so guess that thought is going to have to change.We miss them all but seems the younger generation are building their own lives and I guess thats as it should be. After all it would be pretty crowded all living in the same house. Wouldn't that be one nightmare!

Quiltbuds...

I went on our annual quilting retreat this past week. What a blast we had!There are seven of us who get together every May for a long weekend to fabric shop, maybe take in a quilt show or two and sew all day in our jammies!.
This time we chose to go across the line to take in some quilt shops. Of course none of us adhered to the $50.00 a day shopping cross the line rules.The girls all decided that if someone had to charm their way back across the line then I was the one that had to "take one for the team". But we had no trouble getting back home..which was too bad because the border crossing guard was kinda cute!
Can you imagine what seven menopausal women are like all crowded into a 12x15 room? The poor back door nearly broke off its hinges, opening and closing all day..what a contribution we made to global warming and it gave new meaning to the term "sweatshop"!
We did have a lot of fun and spent a whole wad of money on fabric we just had to have, heavens knows that none of us own enough fabric yet to satisfy our fabric owning urges. A lifetime would not be long enough to sew up the yardage we have gathered in our coffers. Some day our daughters will inherit our treasures and by then they will be at the age that they too, will be wanting a 'hobby' to fill their retirement hours.

The Spirit knows...

Just had a birthday..a BIG one! Now I know that age is just a number,my head knows it,my heart knows it but the spirit says hey, where has the time gone?I don't feel this big number.I think as you get older the spirit grows stronger than the body and thats a good thing. After all we're headed where the spirit is the only thing that counts. That doesn't stop the aches and the pains and the body that doesn't want to move too fast but it makes life still very much worth living.Being retired is wonderful and even better when the government choses to support you.Just remember to keep smiling, it sure hides a lot of those wrinkles.

Cutting Clan Up-date...

This past month has been a very eventful month for the Cutting Clan. Don and Wendy got married last Saturday, Nastasha had a baby girl, Ron retired from McGavins this week and Harv and Doreen are off on a two week cruise to some exotic place. Dad had an operation, which we are thankful went quite well and Madeline is back home again. Ken and Jade have set a wedding date for the end of July and Justine and Chad have moved to Vernon closer to their great grandparents, whom I hope they keep in touch with. Andrea is expecting a new daughter fairly soon. Not sure whats been happening in Dan and Donna's life but hope its only good stuff. Thats not bad for a family that can cruise along without anything exciting happening for long periods of time. We are not having a family reunion this year as Dad and Gloria are going to Sask. the end of June for a nursing reunion for Gloria. Next year I believe its in Kamloops all things going well.
So I am off to Langley next week on a quilting retreat, looking forward to seeing family and friends that I only see once a year and having a great time of shopping and laughing, enjoying each others company.

I can see clearly now...

My hubby owns a lot of stuff..tho'he doesn't own a welder he owns several welding masks. Today he goes over to Ted's to get his trailer welded up and takes along a welding mask with him. Now this a pretty fancy mask, it darkens if the light of the welder gets to bright and lightens up when it isn't. Here Ted, try this new welding mask and see how you like it, he says. Ted gives it a try and ,No, its too dark for me he says. Ed then turns the little dial to adjust it some but no it's still too dark, Dad. Along comes Colin to help out and Grandpa says, here Colin try this mask out. Colin then got his Grandpa good, he tries it on, takes it off and looks at it and says its too dark but maybe if you remove the protective coating you could see thru it!
That gave his Dad and grandpa a good laugh at themselves!

My title says it all!

Okay, so I'm new at the blog thing, but I will tell you right now that I am an obsessive, complusive quilter..the faster I can get one done, the quicker I can get to the next one.

I teach a half dozen women from my church, who are all new to quilting . Everyone is different in their approach to the task at hand , and everyone tests my endurance and patience in different ways. Some are lefthanded, some are slower learners and one is even a perfectionist..but I think with patience I can change that!. They didn't know a rotary cutter from an acrylic ruler but they appear to be quick learners, and after 4 months of doing block of the month, some can carry on without me very well. None are as obsessive as I yet but I think I have a couple going done that road at a fast pace.

I could wish that I have the ability to make my blogs as entertaining as my wonderful oldest daughter does, but I don 't! On the other hand she doesn't quilt either so I guess we all have our own talents and thats what makes the world go round. I will try to come up with some quilty stories from our classes that amuse me and maybe you....