What's happening?

 First off, just a few words about my wordless Wednesday.  Last year Jackie, from In the land of the Living Skies II, shared that she had knit up several scarves for donation. (I think it was last year...or maybe the year before). In any event, she inspired me to get off my duff and use some of my extra stash of yarn to make up scarves that I donated to a warming center here in Regina. This year I started a little earlier, but still didn't make any more than I had last year. There are nine scarves and four headbands. The latter are made of double strands so they ought to be nice and warm. I typically don't follow a pattern, I just knit until I run out of yarn or until I reach a length I think is reasonable. It was a good way to use up some of the stash and as Patty said, to keep my hands busy.

I washed and dried them on Tuesday to get rid of as much cat hair as possible. After folding they were placed in a bag and the bag tied up. It was my plan to drop them off the same day, but with the slightly warmer weather we got, came snow! I did make a trip to the closest grocery store for a few items, but turned around and came directly home. I put things away, had a bite to eat and then I was back outside to shovel the snow that fallen. Two to three inches maybe? It took about 45 minutes to clear the driveway and sidewalks. 

We had more snow overnight into Wednesday, so I cleared the driveway again of the 1/2 inch or so that had accumulated. I had forgotten my grocery list the day prior, so headed out to Walmart to pick up the last few items. It was bitterly cold -28C (-18F) but I decided to make a fast trip to the Dollar store as well. I did pick up a couple of things, but nothing particularly exciting.

The excitement for the day though, was hearing from my brother R, that sister-in-law P tested positive for Covid. Later in the day, he let me know that their daughter L tested positive as well. L had a couple of friends out around New Years, had driven her friends home the next day, and the following day both friends tested positive. L had been testing every day since and had always had a negative test. It was only when P started showing symptoms that L's test came positive as well. R had been at work when he got the call so he immediately called his boss and headed home to isolate for a few days. P has planned to isolate at the lake house, but as R said, if he tests positive in the next day or so, she may as well come home. (Update: L tested negative this morning, has completed her quarantine of 5 days, and returned to work today. P is still isolating at the lake house...I think she's enjoying the quiet time.)

The stupid cold weather continued into Thursday - it was -36C (-33F). It had "warmed up" to -34C (-29F) by the time I went out to feed the birds around 9 a.m. We're expecting slightly warmer weather over the next four days. I will get those scarves to the warming center soon.

Since I had no plans to leave the house, I set up a batch of dough for buns. We have leftover chili from the night before so dinner was figured out early in the day. While the dough was rising, I caught up on blog reading and then turned to Ancestry. When I signed in for the first time after the new year, I found a couple of messages.

One was from a young woman seeking information about my maternal grandmother's family. Unfortunately I wasn't able to give her much assistance. My grandparents married in 1899, moved from Quebec to Saskatchewan in 1904. My Dad had mentioned that his mother went back east (Ontario) to visit family members - however, I was just 8 years old when she passed away so did not hear the stories first hand. This contact indicated both her mother and grandmother were adopted, and her grandmother was a niece of my grandmother's. 

The second was from a gentleman, someone my mother would call a shirt tail relative. To be honest I haven't quite worked out where he fits in on the family tree. But his family and my father's families are entwined through several marriages. He indicated that I had incorrect information for one of the daughter's of my great grandfather's brother's. I guess that makes her a niece of my great grandfather. To correct the error (I'd copied from other trees), I had to delete a large branch of the family, and then add in the correct information. This is what can happen when cousins have daughters who have the identical name and are born within months of one another. I've been working my way through that branch. I've been able to identify some additional information that Doug did not have so have shared that with him in an e-mail. It was kind of him to reach to me, it's the least I can do.

On Friday, the temperatures started to improve, though the wind was still freaking cold. -28C/-18F with windchill of -44C (-47F). You can bet I didn't stay outside for long when I fed the birds. It appears the hares have found a way under the new gate and are bunking down in the back yard, along with the Hungarian partridges. The latter are scraping at the snow and getting down to the frozen grass below. Too bad they won't do the same on the driveway. Especially since, with the warmer weather came another dump of snow. 

I went out to the garbage bin mid-afternoon and spent another hour clearing the driveway and sidewalks of the snow. I don't think that much fell, but the blowing snow blew in nearly 6 inches at my garage door. It always seems to pile up there. 

I've been puttering in the craft room in between chores and playing on the computer. I repaired a couple of items that got damaged over Christmas and finished a set of coasters. I had picked up the cork pieces on my day trip in November in one of the small towns we've visited. I've never seen them in the craft stores here in the city. I used scrap book paper and modge podge to finish them off. I think I'll tie them in a ribbon and they'll make a nice small gift for some one. (I made the crocheted peppermint candies for myself). I'm currently working on a new wreath for summer - it's made of clothespins and will be painted to look (somewhat) like a sunflower. I'll share a photo when it is finished...assuming it looks decent. :)

Today, I needed to run out to do an errand for D, and pick up bird seed. With this cold weather they're going to eat me out of house and home. I shovelled the path to the back yard (I didn't get that far yesterday), as well as cleared the driveway of the snow that had blown in overnight. The pile on the east side of the driveway is a good four feet tall now! Again, with the wind it was freaking cold out there. 

The snow plows were out on the main roads nearby when I went out. They're moving the snow into the center of the road, so that what is normally a two lane street is now a 1 1/2 lane street. The piles are almost up to the roof of my car so it makes for some fun driving as one nears corners especially. They will eventually have the snow removed by trucks and taken to a snow dump. Meanwhile the wind is doing a lovely job of polishing the remaining snow on the road into ice. Have I mentioned recently how much I hate winter?

When D called this morning, she told me she'd had an e-mail from the school that there was a confirmed case of Covid in the pre-K class. She had kept Eli home this week because of the rising number of cases, and intends to keep him home this week as well. He has a couple of appointments that she doesn't want him to miss. He is missing his friends so she is arranging a Zoom playdate with a friend K for later this week. Her family is currently in quarantine as most of the family members have Covid, thankfully most with relatively mild cases.

On a happier note, I'm home with no plans to leave the house until Tuesday when the weather improves. There are several curling games on today, with the women's provincial tournaments being run in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I've got the first of a pair of mittens on the needles, a cup of tea beside me, and dinner is prepped and in the fridge.

Have a great week ahead, stay warm, stay safe, and be well.

Gratitude, cleaning and catching up

First, I must thank you all for your kind words of support and condolences on Sasha's passing.  It seems that most of us have lost a fur baby at some time or another and understand how painful it is to lose a special member of the family.  I've received a card from the vet clinic with some paw-prints they made for me.  At some point, I'll frame a photo of Sasha to include at least one of those prints.

After a quiet weekend, watching curling, catching up with television programs (I'm not done with these yet), and adjusting to the new normal without Sasha,  I needed to get moving on Monday.  The grocery shopping was taken care of and I stopped by the dollar stores to pick up a few more craft items in the morning. (I've told myself I'm done for this year.  There are enough projects to work on to keep me busy for a long time yet. Ha, we'll see how long that lasts!)  I spent the afternoon cleaning bathrooms and catching up on more television.

This week I finished another scarf and have pair of mittens almost complete for Eli. I need to pick the next skeins of yarn for another scarf to crochet when I need a break from knitting.  My right index finger gives me grief when I always knitting.

In the craft room I finished this glass snowman.  I've been picking up the pieces over the last few weeks.  One of the bowls came from the dollar store but the other two I found a Value Village along with the snowman and rocking horse.  Silly me, I didn't dry fit the pieces together so the middle one had to be placed upside down because the rocking horse was too high. As a result the middle bowl doesn't have the fake snow and another ornament.  I've used a piece of ribbon for the scarf but may knit something up at some point.  The little toque came off a plastic dollar store ornament.  This will be a piece that sits in the kitchen window so little fingers won't be able to reach it. Or I may literally be picking up the pieces again.

I spent a little time with this small crochet project.  I spotted the pattern for the peppermint candy coasters on Pinterest and couldn't resist.  A very easy project and it used up some yarn. 

However, housework was top of the agenda for a good part of the week.  I brought the stepladder in from the garage and cleaned off the top of kitchen cabinets.  Another blogger had shared her use of newsprint to cover the top of the cabinets to trap the dust (and in my case, cat hair). It definitely works but I learned I'll need to replace the paper more frequently.  The paper felt gritty and the cat hair flew.  While I was up and down the ladder I cleaned the blades of the ceiling fan as well.  Another spot I need to clean more often. Then I noticed that there were several grease spots on the ceiling stippling above the stove.  Out came the cleaning supplies and I took care of those as well.  It must have been a hot pan to splash that high.

I think I picked up a couple of small kittens in cat hair vacuuming the basement and upstairs.  I guess I'll see in a week whether one cat loses as much fur as two did. When I was cleaning the cat litter on Wednesday morning I realized it has been 21 years since there has only been one cat using the boxes.  Sasha joined us in July and Silver in October, 2000.  I won't go into detail as to the difference in output from then until now. :p

I've started another clearing out of cabinets and cupboards where things hide and get forgotten.  There is box to be delivered to the thrift store, but I'm going to wait until I've sorted through more of the craft room.  There are items in there too, that I won't use in my lifetime so it will be better to let it go for someone else to put to use than store it indefinitely.

The snow started falling on Wednesday evening.  It continued to snow on Thursday, Remembrance Day.  My son was off work, so it was quiet day.  He slept, I caught up on more television and watched curling.  I didn't (bother to) get out to shovel until Friday morning. The driveway had a layer of ice crystals under the snow that I hope will disappear in a few days as we are forecast for a few days of above freezing temperatures this week.  And more snow to follow.  I suspect winter is here to stay.

Every morning, when I talk with my daughter, she always asks me what my plans are for the day.  My answer is always the same, other than watching curling at some point, I'll just putter.  Some things will get done and others will get put off to another day. I need to pack away the fall decor and start pulling out things for Christmas.  D and Eli are putting up their tree today, but I'll likely wait until later in the week. Somehow when the snow falls, I feel the need to add sparkly things to my home.

Have a good week ahead everyone, take care and stay well!

Comfort and routine

First up, Eli tested negative for Covid. Thank goodness!  D sent me this photo the morning of his pre-K Halloween party.  He's pretty proud of his astronaut costumer.  It's large on him, so will fit easily over his coat on Sunday. It will only be just above freezing as a high that day.

And in response to comments from last week's post, I really don't mind if the squirrel eats some of the bird seed.  They are little piggies though so I keep an eye out when I see one at the feeder and will chase it away after a few minutes.  Gotta leave something for the birds.  The bird feeder I own is one my brother made and installed for me.  It will stay here, when and if I move, because it is attached to the stump of a dead spruce tree. Maybe then I'd get a squirrel proof feeder.

I was so proud of myself when I bought groceries last week because the cost was so much lower than a usual week's worth.  Well, I soon figured out it was because I didn't look to see what would be running out soon and only bought to replace items I'd run out of to that point.  As a result I was back at the grocery store on Monday to get some additional items.  Not many, and mostly staple items, but still I have to wonder at my foolishness. I should have enough to last us until next week.  Meal planning for Monday and Tuesday was especially easy.  My son's birthday was the 25th, and we ordered in pizza.  I'd picked up a bag of cut romaine so there was Caesar salad as a side.  Safeway had no ground beef - there was a sign indicating they had been shorted on their order, so I stopped at the Co-op.  That's the first I've seen for meat.

On Tuesday, I needed to run out to do an errand for D.  That morning I'd received an e-mail from the Costco West blog and saw that toilet paper and Reebok running shoes were on sale.  After the errand, I headed to the store to grab those items.  I'm pretty certain I have enough toilet paper now to outfit us for at least 3 months or more.  

The shoes were on sale for $29.99, and while they're probably not the best quality, they're definitely comfortable!  I wore them around the house for an hour or so and I couldn't believe how cushioned they were.  (Perhaps that says something about the current state of my old pair?) I'm not sure why they have pink on the soles and I suspect that color won't last but they're cute. 

It's been hard to get my housework done this week - the curling started up again on Tuesday, and of course, so did the World Series.  With 3 draws of curling a day, I have been getting lots of knitting and crocheting done.  The scarf I showed you last week is nearly complete. I was so disappointed with the second ball of yarn.  It wasn't knitting up as nicely as the first, so I ripped it back and put the first half on a separate needle.  Then I tried to locate a section of the yarn where the colors were similar to where the first ball had started, it wasn't quite the same but was okay, until I ended up with a couple of knots in the yarn.  These happen when the manufacturer has breaks in the yarn and ties on another thread.  There is about a six inch piece where the pattern is markedly different, and then it changed again and knit up similarly to the first.  I have to sew the two pieces together so will keep it for myself.  

I've finished another scarf, crocheted, and have a knitted one about half complete. With all the sports to watch this weekend I'm almost certain I'll finish it by Sunday.  Next on the agenda are a pair of crocheted angels.  D was looking for Christmas gifts for Eli's teacher and E.A. and I offered to make up the angels.  

We had a lovely warm day on Friday, but today we're back into the cooler weather.  I went out and hung up the tape to (hopefully) keep the kids from running across the patio from the neighbour's house.  I'm not worried about the patio, but the step up from the patio to the sidewalk.  I have visions of some child tripping and falling with angry parents yelling at me.  It's hard to know how many children we'll have at the door.  I bought enough goodies for 50 kids, so if they don't show I guess C and I will be snacking on Halloween candy for a couple of weeks.

Okay, this post is boring me so I'm sure it's of little interest to anyone else. Time to get a few chores done before the curling starts in an hour.  Take care everyone and have a good week.

Getting things done and minor annoyances

As I was starting to write this post, thinking back over the week, I felt as if I'd lost a day.  Of course I didn't and looking at the notes on the calendar it was clear I hadn't.  After a bit of thinking (I'm a little slow on the uptake), I realized I was forgetting that my son had Monday off work - it was his regular, every two weeks, earned day off.  It threw me off kilter, though I do try to keep track of his EDO's because I've been known to wake him up some mornings (including on a weekend morning) when he doesn't have to work. Oops. He's generally not very happy with me on those occasions. 

It's been a regular week with housework, shopping, crafting and lots of sports.  I have yet to decide who I am cheering for in baseball but have decided I can't cheer for Atlanta. In light of the discoveries of unmarked graves at the residential schools here in Canada (and I suspect they exist in the USA as well), I can't tolerate the sound of the chant of the fans in the stands.  Call it political correctness if you like, but it seems so disrespectful to me, not only to the First Nations people but even to the settlers of the country who died at the hands of someone wielding a tomahawk.  If the LA Dodgers don't win this series, I'll have to cheer for the next team to face the Braves. 

The curling in Penticton, B.C. ended Sunday with a really great match-up.  I didn't care who won as both teams were playing well and either team would deserve the win.  An unfortunate miss in second to last end was the difference in the game.  This week's event is a Grand Slam - a world curling tour event. The top 16 men's and women's teams in the world are invited so this is truly the elite of curling.  Sadly, the broadcaster didn't air the earlier games in the week - it started on Tuesday but the games available on television started on Thursday.  And just to annoy me even further, the evening games weren't available either unless I purchased a special streaming service. At $14.99 a month, to be able to watch one or two curling matches is far too pricey in my mind. (They must have heard me complaining because Friday night's game was offered for free.) 

I'm glad I got my yardwork done last weekend.  All of the containers, ornamental pieces, tools, and hoses are tucked away for the winter. There is one exception, I left the pansies out on the front step.  They've looked a little sad early in the morning but so far are hanging in there.  

The chairs are stacked up on the deck, and the tables folded up and put away in the shed.  Everything looks so barren. It's gotten very cold for this time of year too.  Wednesday morning it was -7C (19F)!  It doesn't look like we'll have seasonal temperatures until sometime next week and the long range certainly doesn't look great.  I suspect the little trick and treaters on Halloween will require costumes to be worn over winter parkas.  Not unusual for this part of the world.  

This week I spent some time playing in my craft room.  One finish to show you is the rustic Santa.  I'd found a couple of boards in the garage that would appear to have been scraps from the replacement of the counter tops and sinks in the bathrooms. The ends of the board are rounded off so I added a couple of large blocks so it would stand on its own.  

Some paint, a piece of scrap fabric, a bit of ribbon, a couple of pom-poms, some Spanish moss for a beard, and the floral pick was all that was needed.  Since all of the materials were in my stash it was a pretty inexpensive project.  I'd guess overall I probably spent less than $4 for the materials that went into it.  

I've also completed two sets of dishcloths and a kitchen towel.  This set is for my daughter.  The dishcloths are a knitted seed stitch, while the towel is crocheted in a chevron pattern.  These are small projects and work up quickly.  I made the second set as a gift for my sister-in-law, though to be honest my brother does the dishes most often so I should just give them to him. :)  They're both getting books for Christmas, so perhaps I'll just package everything together.  

Another scarf is now on the knitting needles - and I like it so much I may end up keeping it for myself.  It's a variegated yarn and I love the pattern it is making as it knits up.  And one scarf won't matter, as I was sorting through yarn in my craft room and came across a bag of scraps from last years efforts - I won't be running out of yarn for scarves for quite awhile yet.  As long as I can match up the yarn weights I can make striped or block scarves out of the smaller balls.

D called on Friday evening; Eli has been identified as a close contact of another child who recently tested positive for Covid.  She had obtained rapid tests from the school before this, and will need to test him on Sunday as he must have a negative test before he can return to school.  While it is a concern, their contact was on the playground at school at recess so neither of us are too worried.  Fingers crossed, he hasn't been infected.

I'm settling in for a sports weekend - the first curling matches are nearing a conclusion.  There's been some highlights and definitely some nerves out there based on the misses.  These are the men's quarterfinals - four teams will be out of the tournament if they lose.  The women's quarterfinals are scheduled for this afternoon, and the semifinals tonight.  In addition, there are three football games, and our Riders play in the last game of the night.  They haven't been playing well, late in the season, so my hopes are not high.  Add in a baseball game, and my remote control may overheat today!

I'll leave you with this photo. 

I started feeding the birds this week, since we've had frost for several days in a row.  This morning when I went out to feed them, I discovered the squirrels (most likely) had chewed the handle off the lid of the container. They didn't get into the container though.  Later I looked out the window to see this cheeky little squirrel in the feeder.  It didn't even leave when I opened the window to take it's photo.  After a few minutes I went outside and chased it away.  I don't mind if it eats some of the food, but the birds need it too.

Take care everyone, and stay well.

Quiet week

 Another boring week for my readers, since I've done little except watch curling, crochet while watching curling, and fit in chores between games.  If you give this post a pass, I won't blame you. :)

The Brier has not disappointed, there have been some incredible shot making as well as some spectacular misses. If you have a minute to spare, check out the round the horn shot by the young Newfoundland skip.  They haven't had the best of weeks and were down 7-1 when he made this shot for his deuce.  They didn't win the game, but this shot made the sports news. Our Saskatchewan team had a couple of tough games, but made it into the second round robin, finishing second in their pool.  They placed third in last year's event, but will need to work hard to get there this year.  They split their two games yesterday and have two more today.

Meanwhile, when I was at D's last week she gave me a container of yarn she's gathered over the years.  She has tried to knit something but gives up readily as she hasn't the patience for it.  I get that, as there are lots of things I haven't the patience for either.  Among the yarn were three skeins of a variegated yarn.  I knew there wasn't enough to make a baby blanket, but after checking my stash, I added some additional yarn in three different colors similar to those in the variegated balls.  I'm calling it my Easter blanket.  I ended up with just a little bit of yarn leftover, which I rolled into a ball for Saku to enjoy. Once the threads are sewn in, I'll wash it and plan to put it on Facebook for sale.  

I've had no success on Varage sale - though there is someone who is "watching" my items. I suspect they think the blankets are over-priced...though in comparison to the others available I would say they are not.  I'll the FB Marketplace with the Easter blanket and depending on the success (or failure) I'll decided whether the others will get posted to FB as well.

Since there was no curling on Monday morning, I decided to make a run to Value Village as I'd received an e-mail with a coupon for 20% off.  I went looking for specific pieces to make a tiered tray.  I thought I'd use a pie plate, a pizza pan and some sort of candlestick.  I didn't find a pizza pan, but was even happier to find a tray. The candlestick appears to be real silver or at least plated so I decided I wouldn't be painting that!  

On the left (if blogger will co-operate are
the three pieces before and it will not...grrr!) and the after on the right below. I chose the blue because I think it will work throughout the year, with different decorations.  In addition, I have a good amount of blue in the house already so it fits in well.   You can see it also has a practical side - the salt and pepper are readily available.  Our meals are served up off the island - neither of us eat at the kitchen table except when D and Eli are visiting.  We got out of the habit when the kids were teenagers as the kitchen in the old house had no room for a table, and the living room was too small to add one either.  We've grown accustomed to eating our meals in front of the television or computer.  

Friday morning, there was no tie-breaker games so I had an opportunity to run out to pick up groceries, cat food and cat litter.  I did get a wee start on the spring cleaning. A month or so ago, I had pulled out the jackets, mitts, gloves, toques, etc. from the front closet and done a bit of a purge.  But, I hadn't pulled the shoe rack and the other items off the floor. When I did this, the other day, I found enough cat hair to make a small kitten.  Oops, I guess it's been awhile.  After cleaning that up, I washed the closet floor and put everything back where it belongs.  Note to self: clean the closet more frequently, I don't need another cat!

I'm off to spend a couple of hours on Ancestry.  I'm continuing to follow the branches from my grandfather's great-grandparents. The first two branches didn't a lot of time, as there isn't a lot of information available on either individual.  One, because his GGF changed his last name and cut ties with his family in Scotland, and his GGM may also have changed her name, as finding any family members has pretty much come to a standstill.  My relative who started this, has hired a professional to do some more research and hopefully he'll come up with something we have not been able to find.

Anyway, enough of that. We're having a lovely spring day here today, with sunshine so I'll be opening the sun room for the cats in the next hour or so.  To end off this post, I've got a couple of photos from the backyard this week. The squirrel would not turn and look at me, even when I tapped on the window.  Definitely into it's meal!

I believe this is a grosbeak but readily admit I'm not good at identifying birds.

Have a great week everyone, take care and stay well!

The countdown continues - 13 days to go

The weather was perfect for my drive to and from my daughter's home.  Just below freezing, the highways were clear of snow and there were periods of sunshine.  I thought about stopping to take a few photos but, to be honest, there isn't much to see besides fields, some trees, and a few small communities.  I noticed that the house I took photos of last summer has now lost its front wall entirely.  I guess the owners are simply allowing it to disintegrate naturally.

Visiting with Eli and D was good, although she's having a bit of time with it being winter.  She's definitely not a fan of cold weather and it affects her mood.  I think turning 39 was a bit of a downer too. She ran out on Saturday morning to do a bit of shopping by herself, while Eli and I tidied up the upstairs.  I vacuumed her bedroom, cleaned the bathroom, and together we picked up his toys in his room so I could vacuum that as well.  

I did convince her to go with us to the park on Saturday afternoon it had warmed up some - Eli and I had fun! He does enjoy the slide, the swing, and just running about.

That evening we ordered in Chinese food from a local restaurant.  It was an order for two - it could have fed four easily I'm sure.  D was able to stretch the fried rice the next day by adding some additional vegetables and some leftover chicken she had.  Eli decided he particularly enjoyed the "pink" sauce (cherry) and we caught him putting his fingers in the container and licking it off.  Stinker!

Eli and I played hide and seek a couple of times during the visit too.  He makes me laugh because he always hides in the bathtub.  There are two, one upstairs, one down.  If I don't find him quickly enough, think nanoseconds, he starts hollering "G'ma where are you?"  When it is my turn to hide, he'll give me those same nanoseconds, before he's coming to look.  I'm sure he'll get better at it the older he gets but for now, it's pretty funny. 

Before I left on Sunday, Eli and I went outside to play in the yard.  We found a big piece of ice that had developed from the vent in the bathroom.  He wanted so badly to bring it into the house but I convinced him it would be happier outside.  We did shatter it into some pieces and his mom was okay with us bringing in a small piece or two to show him how it would melt.  We cuddled on the couch (all three of us) and watched a bit of the animated Grinch movie before I left for home. We'll watch the rest when they come here for Christmas.  When I arrived home that afternoon, I was ready for a short nap, maybe 20 minutes or so.  

I brought home D's gifts to Eli - she's spoiling him rotten - those got wrapped and tucked away on Monday.  I did some vacuuming upstairs and used the Green machine to spot clean the living room furniture. I also put together this sign for my front hall. 

The frame was one I had tucked away after the glass was broken.  I used a sheet of scrapbook paper as the focal point, but it was a bit smaller than the inside of the frame and it was too thin to fit nicely. I had some foam board that I'd used for a cross stitching backer last year and had enough to make a piece to fit in the frame.  The edges of the board needed to be covered though and I used a partial sheet of scrapbook paper to do that. It's the thin red line (it's actually plaid) that you can see around the Holly & Jolly.  To dress it up a little bit more, I added the bow, greens and berries.  

I did a grocery run on Tuesday, mostly items for Christmas and a few things that we were low on.  I did a pick up at Walmart, and again, though I'd indicated I'd bring my own bags I ended up with several more plastic bags.  Just for fun I looked up the instructions to make a rug - this one a braided rug - I just need another 100 bags or so.  

Our Co-op store had sale on meat, and I was able to pick up ground pork for $2.99/lb, as well as sausages  and pork chops on sale.  The family pack of ground pork was split in five portions; I made taco meat with one portion and the rest went in the freezer.

I picked up C's gift to his sister for Christmas, a new charger for her I-phone, and stopped in at Staples for a black ink cartridge for my printer.  Apparently ink cartridges are in short supply.  There were none at the store nearby so I ended driving to the other store in the north end of the city to get what I needed.  What a ridiculous price these are - I paid more than half what I paid for the printer in the first place!  But it was needed as I have some printing to do.

Wednesday was a housework day, all the boring stuff like laundry, more vacuuming (basement), washing floors, and dusting.  In the evening, finished off a toque for D and started one for myself. 

I finished mine on Thursday morning - that's it on the left.  Both of these were made using the same pattern, hers with a slightly larger hook  (which Eli misplaced when I was at their house) and 9 more stitches.  I did modify hers to enlarge it so that it will fit over the bun she wears in her hair all the time. I got that far before I left on Sunday.  For some reason, unknown to me, the stitch pattern is different with mine looking almost vertical and hers horizontal.  I've started a third toque for Eli, modifying it again with fewer stitches and a size smaller crochet hook.  

I had to run to the grocery store on Thursday, to pick up some fresh vegetables and milk that I hadn't thought to put on the order earlier in the week.  I also mailed off a few Christmas cards.  Once at home I finished my toque, finished Eli's mitts and started on his toque.  It's such an easy pattern, just a circle of single crochets really, that I finished it early Friday monring.

What to do next? I have to keep my hands busy, right?  I have small amounts of the yarn I used for Eli's sweater, toque and mitts, so I started a scarf. This won't be for him, but rather for donation.  Another blogger, Jackie recently mentioned she had made several scarves this year and delivered them in secret to a local care home. I've decided to follow her lead and use up some of the leftover bits of yarn I have to make a few scarves between now and Christmas.  I'll deliver them after Christmas to a local charity that assists the homeless.  Thanks for the inspiration Jackie!

I did put down my needles/crochet hook on Friday to do a little more crafting.  I'd purchased these signs at the local dollar store (so in Canadian money that $1.25). I wanted the frames that the paper covered up.  The paper came off easily but the staples that held the paper and twine hanger were a little more stubborn, but I got it done.

I used some wood stain to finish the frames, and painted some small boards, I'd picked up on clearance at Walmart several weeks ago, white.  In the end I wasn't happy with the way these looked so I ended up adding scrapbook paper for the background.  The ornaments were also dollar store purchases, and I used a couple of small wooden blocks to raise them off the surface for a 3-D effect.

They are now hanging on the wall behind the television in the living room.  I'm pleased with the results but if I were to make them again (and I might), I'd use a flat canvas for the backing and glue the paper to it first before affixing the backing to the frame.  Live and learn.  

Today I slept later than normal, with my alarm clock cat Sasha yelling in my face at 7:15 a.m. After feeding them, I went back to bed and talked to my daughter on the phone for a half hour or so before starting my day.  There are two pans of buns rising on top of the stove, while a pot of chili is working away in the slow cooker.  I plan to watch some football, some PVR'ed programs, and knit for a good part of the rest of the day.  

One last thing before I sign off for the week.  The header above was taken one evening earlier this week.  My brother and I were on the phone when he said, you have to go outside and see the sunset.  We hung up, I grabbed the camera, and went to the end of the driveway. He was right!

Take care everyone, stay well and have a good week ahead.

Mystery, memories, and passing time

 It's Friday as I start this post and I cannot tell you where this week went.  I know I walked every day, I did some housework, I stitched and knitted, and watched hockey, basketball, and a whole of NCIS. My cable provider has a free preview of the channel that the latter show airs on, so I've been bingeing it knowing that it will be gone at the end of this month.

The photos I shared on Wednesday were actually taken on Saturday afternoon after I posted for the week.  R had called and told me the colors were at their peak and we were expecting wind for the next couple of days, so I needed to get out there.  He and his family were at the lake, so I had the place to myself.  I climbed the trail closest to the house as it is least steep, though I didn't make it to the very top.  The last climb to the ridge is almost straight up and I wasn't trying that on my own.  I had visions of this roly poly body doing a Jack and Jill down the hill.

Relating to my blog title, late last week, I was contacted by a distant cousin (grandson of my maternal grandfather's brother) because he was looking for information on my grandpa's family.  He had apparently found me through someone from my home town.  But his initial e-mail went to my spam folder, and I generally delete these items so didn't see it.  He was able to contact my cousin H, who reached out to me.  After a couple of e-mails back and forth, I was able to provide some photos I found in a couple of old albums to him.  In my search I also located the  book from Grandpa's funeral in 1976 in my box of memories for mom and dad.  

Grandpa passed away when I was 17 and suffered from stroke-related dementia for several years prior.  I didn't recall a whole lot about his family, other than I had met one of his brothers, Dave and his wife Clara when I was a kid.  It turns out, in fact, that Grandpa was one of nine children (!) and also had an adoptive brother as well.  On Sunday I had quite the conversation with K, learning more about the family history. K told me he had been able to complete much of the family history, with the exception of Grandpa's side of the family.  It left me with more questions, especially about the relationship, or lack of one, between Grandpa and his siblings.

Something else K was able to tell me was that my great-grandfather is buried in the old cemetery in my hometown.  He passed away long before I was born in 1944, but I cannot recall my mother ever speaking about him or her grandmother, although she would have been a teenager when they passed away.  There is some uncertainty as to where my great-grandmother is buried too, either in my home town or somewhere in Manitoba.  I've promised K to visit the cemetery the next time I'm in the area and will try to find the graves and take photos of the markers if there are any.  Mysteries of the past!

On a different note, I spent some time out the yard this week too.  The lawn was mowed for the last time this year, and the mower moved to it's winter storage in the garage.  I miss my shed... the small playhouse on the deck holds a good amount of things and I might have squeezed the mower in, but that would have meant hauling it up onto the deck and I did not feel like doing that.  I did some weeding and Friday I cleaned about half of the containers of the annuals. It is going to get cooler this weekend, but the forecast is still above freezing at night for at least a couple of weeks. I've left about half the containers since the plants are doing well.  The ones I yanked were getting leggy and beginning to discolor.  I did bring in all the garden ornaments and most of the solar lights. I've left the chairs and tables out on the front patio and back deck.  Sadly, I found two birds on the deck that had flown into one of the sunroom windows, both dead. :(  While I would be lost without my sunroom, sometimes I wish it wasn't all windows.

While on one of my walks, I caught sight of this very active critter.  Once it settled in the tree it was quite happy to pose for my camera.  Check out the length of that tail!

I love all the colors in these shrubs.

The number of ducks are definitely far less than they were earlier in the month. While the geese are still thronging to the pond, the numbers are starting to decline.  One day I was without my camera and spotted two "things" swimming on the pond, diving every so often. They never came up above the water like the cormorants so I'm assuming there may be a pair of muskrats there.  I tried zooming in with my cellphone but they were just too far away to be certain.  Of course, the next time I had my camera they were nowhere to be seen. 

I made a trip to Costco one day, and picked up a few non-food items including another Christmas gift.  I stopped at Peavey Mart on my way home for birdseed but they did not have what I was looking for so I ended up at Home Depot.  I still did not get what I wanted but close enough.  I've started feeding the birds again, so you can expect to see photos taken from the sunroom soon.  While I was washing dishes on Friday morning, I laughed to see the birds using the bird bath, spraying water every which way.  

I'm getting closer to finishing Eli's sweater. The one on the left doesn't look much like a sweater, does it?  But when it is folded over, it does.  One more sleeve and then I'll decide whether to make the hood or a collar.

D and Eli will be here next week so I'll try it on him before I make my decision.  It's going to be big, but he'll grow into it. 

This morning, it was definitely cool out there, about 7C (45F), and breezy but I dressed for it and went out for my walk earlier than normal.  I didn't want to get caught out there if it rained. (It hasn't yet!) I'll end the post with a couple of photos from today.  

Take care everyone and stay well!

Catching the sun

Despite the rocky start it has been a good week.  The weather got cold again on Tuesday and Wednesday but it warmed up on Thursday to the freezing mark and above.  The long range forecast seems to be showing we're past the really cold weather so by the end of March I expect we'll start seeing some signs of spring.  Fingers crossed!  The longer daylight hours and lots of sunshine are certainly encouraging.

On Monday I made a run to several hardware stores looking for a replacement for the wand for the kitchen faucet.  When I was talking with my friend K about our plans for Tuesday, she asked me if the entire faucet needed to be replaced.  I took a look at it more closely and realized I could simply replace the wand portion.  Woohoo!  It took me three stores to find it - the first I went to because I have gift cards to use, no luck there, the second I was picking up birdseed and thought I'd check, and the third store because I looked it up on the internet before I went.  For just $36 I was able to replace the piece.  All I had to do was unscrew the old broken wand and screw in the new one.  Even I can do that!

On Tuesday, K picked me up and we went for one of our lovely long lunches.  She arrived about 11:30 and dropped me off shortly before 3.  We never run out of topics to discuss.  This visit revolved around their recent stay in Arizona, upcoming travels for both of us, recycling, my grandson, and a myriad of other topics.  She brought her camera so I could see the photos from their sightseeing - Arizona is another place I need to visit!

D and Eli were here on Thursday, as she attended the funeral of her friend.  It was well attended and she saw a number of people she hasn't seen in years.  They didn't stay the night but went home after she got back to the house.  Eli was very adamant he wanted to go home to his treehouse.  He was very good for me while she was away; he even put himself to bed for an hour long nap.  


Eli loves Sasha, and while Sasha doesn't reciprocate, he does tolerate the little guy.  Here Eli was sharing his blanket.  It had warmed up by lunch time so I opened up the sun room for the cats and the kid.  Eli sat on the chair beside Sasha while he ate his lunch and chattered away at the cat.    

I've kept busy for much of the week with the curling and knitting.  I'm actually happy the men's Canadian championship won't start until Friday evening....my house needs some serious attention!  I did the bare essentials, laundry, dishes, and cleaning of bathrooms.  My son had to fend for himself several evenings as I didn't get around to figuring out what to make for dinner.  He didn't mind at all and is quite capable of making his own meals.  Dishes on the other hand.... not so much.

With all the time to sit and knit I managed a couple of finishes this week.  First up is the little lamb to go along with the blanket I made for my cousin's son and his wife.  Baby is due in April, so I made the blanket just big enough to cover a car seat.  The lamb was made with the leftover yarn.  By the time it was finished and sewn together, I had pretty much used up all the yarn, though  I did have to buy some additional cream yarn to finish the lamb.  I'm not showing you a close up, because although it's cute, my ability to sew knitting projects isn't the most professional.    

In addition I finished another baby blanket.  This one is also a smaller blanket. I'm using the yarn I purchased for a whopping $4 at Michaels (when I bought the cream) and I have a half a ball left.  I'll probably use the rest of it, along the cream for another blanket.  But I'll crochet the next one as I've done lots of the knitting the last few weeks. 

On Sunday I'm off to my brother's in between curling games to help my niece finish her top.  We're onto buttonholes and I've been watching videos to learn how to do it with my sewing machine.  I don't have a one step option, so it will be a little more tricky.   We'll practice with some additional material she has until we're both satisfied we're doing it right!  

I'll end this post with a photo from R's run along the river last week.  Maybe one day I'll go for a walk there too, though there will be no running.  

Wishing you all a week of sunshine ahead!

And so it goes

Another week is nearly past, and I'll gladly say goodbye to it.  We've had another death - a friend of my daughter's and another separation - C and N were back together briefly before he left again.  It's been an emotional time, more so for others, but I've spent a good amount of time being there for the three of them.  Unfortunately, my involvement and words between us have caused a rift between C and I, one I'm not sure can be mended.  At this point, I'm backing away as well, as the drama is more than I can bear.  Frankly, I have enough issues to deal with in my own life.

I did get the normal housework done, laundry and grocery shopping on Monday, floors swept and washed on Tuesday.  Wednesday I didn't do much, though did attend my stitch and chat group.  It was cold that day, -24C at noon with an extreme cold warning in effect.  Thankfully it didn't last long and by Friday we were up to the freezing mark.  It appears the weather will be up and down for the next couple of weeks.  Today it's cold again but sunny.

On a happier note, last Sunday I visited the farm very few photos were taken, as I was late getting away from the house and in a hurry to get home.  There was curling finals to be watched!  

I stopped on the hill road leading down to the valley to take these two photos.  I have never seen the valley with as little snow at this time of year.  It doesn't bode well for the spring.

I spent about 3 hours with my niece working on her sewing project.  She isn't working with a purchased pattern, but had hand drawn a pattern based on a Pinterest picture with careful measurements.  Thus the top is one piece, but the edges needed to be finished.  She had some binding tape that we used to do this one piece at a time.  She and I are both pretty particular so it took awhile to measure, pin, and sew the pieces to our satisfaction.  She learned the basting stitch and how to rip out stitches too.  We needed to make straps as well, and used the same wide binding tape.  That was as far as we got, the next time we get together she will finish sewing on the straps, and we'll figure out how to do button holes (something I'm horrible at even with the special foot), and hem the top.  Once the buttons are sewn on it will be ready to wear.


While we were working on it, this snowy woodpecker showed up at the feeder outside the window.  It's a poor quality photo as I had to zoom in with my cellphone and the glass in the old house distorts the photos too. 

I don't see these birds in the city so I was excited to see the woodpecker at the feeder.  He/she moved pretty quickly too so I had to be quick.






This week I also made my final payment for the June cruise.  When I received the final information from my travel agent, I realized that I'd booked the flights home a week too late!  I have no idea how I did it, but this error not only affected me, but L as well.  I called WestJet and learned that they had changed my flights (I hadn't received any e-mail), and since I wanted to re-book within the 7 days, all I had to do was decline the change and they were able to re-book me at no cost.  Next up, I contacted L and let her know as well.  We were doubly fortunate as WestJet had also changed her flights so there was no cost to re-booking hers either.  Phew!  I dodged a bullet there as I would have insisted on paying the change fee since it was my error.

Good thing too, because last night my kitchen tap went kerflooey. (That's the technical term for it broke!)

The piece on the top of the spout allowed me to switch between full stream and spray mode. The internal workings include a spring that lifted the valve in the center.  Around the valve was a piece of plastic.

 It was this piece of plastic that broke.  It sent the spring flying and the top of the faucet too.

I spent some time researching to see if I could find a replacement part - I can't.  This particular model is no longer made so I'll need to replace the entire tap.  I priced it out at between $250-$500 and then there is the installation costs on top of that. I did watch a video...but I'm not a plumber and it needs to be done correctly.  

I'll spend the rest of this weekend watching the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Canadian women's championship curling), work on my knitting project and researching London and the various ports we'll be visiting.  That will be my happy place.  

I know that for many of you, your week has been as eventful as mine.  Hope you all have a good week everyone!

This and that, and even more

I won't call this a weekly wrap-up as it keeps getting later and later in the week before I post.  I did blog the other day about prepping for showings.  We have had eight showings in six times, three of them over the past two days and I'm exhausted.  There is the rush of adrenaline as I make sure everything is tidy and ready to go, as I hustle the cats into the car, leave the house about 10 minutes ahead of the showing, and park around the corner out of sight.  I've gotten pretty good at knowing which vehicles are the ones on their way to the house because there is usually two of them.  Then I keep an eye out for those vehicles coming out the crescent so I have an idea when we can go home. 

After the multitude of showings we've had since May, I have to say the cats are doing very well.  Neither even fusses now when I put them in the carriers and take them out to the car.  Saku is not a fan of a moving car, but he settles down quickly once I park.  Sasha sometimes gets a bit vocal but for the most part he's pretty chill about it all.  I buckle their carriers in the back seat of the car, and have found if I put Saku on the right rear seat and Sasha in the left rear seat then I'm out of Sasha's direct line of sight and he's settles right away.  

I was hopeful that the 9 a.m. showing would have resulted in an offer.  This was a second showing and they were in the house for nearly an hour.  The 11 a.m showing cancelled and the 5:45 p.m. showing were in an out of the house in about 10 minutes.  I have my fingers crossed that perhaps this morning's folks had to work on some financing or simply wanted to sleep on it and that there still might be an offer in the works.  I haven't heard a word from my agent - I'm sure I would have had it been a hard no.  

We had a big thunderstorm a week ago, with rain, hail and wind

Thankfully that's not all going on in my life.  A couple of weeks ago, I'd put in an application to volunteer with the local Canadian Cancer society office.  I got an e-mail asking if I would be willing to put in a couple of hours to clean up their flowerbeds.  Absolutely, that is right up my alley!  I spent two hours there on Thursday morning and barely made a dent though I'd half filled a large garbage bag.  The next day I was sore from the all the twisting, kneeling, and bending.  I had thought I might run down on the weekend but it was Monday before I made it back.  I did another 1 1/2 hours and the first bed is about two thirds cleared with another half bag of weeds pulled.  I plan to finish that bed tomorrow and get a start on the side bed.  It feels good to see it looking so much better than when I started.  No photos because I lock my cellphone and my purse in my car while I'm working.   I'll keep going back once a week to keep it up.

I finished crocheting a little girl's sweater using some leftover yarn I had.  It's not quite finished, as I need to add three buttons at the top, and I want to lace ribbon into the sleeves but it's close.  I tried it on my Eli the other day to gauge the size (it was a 4) and I'd say it would fit a four or five year old.  It buttons at the top and flows open and I shortened the sleeves.  I think it will look adorable over a little sundress or Sunday best.  Now I just have to find a little girl to give it too. 

On Tuesday, Eli and D came to visit.  She had a doctor's appointment in the morning so she brought Eli to stay with G'ma.  We had lots of fun, watching Paw Paw (Paw Patrol), reading books, eating blueberries, cranberries, and cookahs, and playing outside.  After D got back we tried feeding Eli a bit of lunch (bad idea considering what he'd eaten already) and then went shopping.  Since October she has been giving me a fixed amount of money each month to cover the mortgage, utility payments, insurance, and property taxes for her house with a little extra on top.  She found a table and four chairs at Jysk for just over $200 so we used some of that extra to pay for it.  It's a cute little table and fits in her dining room perfectly.  Tonight she sent me photos of Eli and his little friend Eli (Elias and Elijah respectively) playing and coloring at the table.

Later we took Eli to the nearby splash pad for some fun.  AND boy did he have fun! This castle was a real hit with him, with it's little slide and spurts of water.  He must have climbed and slid down several dozen times.  He did have to learn the lesson of taking his turn because the park was busy!!!  I don't how I quite managed to get a photo of just him, quite frankly.  

The park also has "dry" playground equipment (as described by one of the other children).  Eli did go and play a little bit on it but he far preferred to play in the water.  I don't blame him because it was hot and the mist off the spouts felt good to me. 

After an hour we headed back to the house and waited for Uncle C to come home from work.  He and Eli had a great time running around in the basement, tickling, and swinging in circles.  Meanwhile I'd had a call from my agent for a 7 p.m. showing so D and I hustled to clean up the debris left behind by a two year old.  They headed home, and before we left the house I'd washed the living room, hallway and spare bedroom floors.  (Remember how I said Tuesday was vacuuming and Wednesday was floor washing...yeah, it all got done on Tuesday!  I'm glad it did because I initially thought I had three showings today so I didn't have to put as much effort into the prep this morning).

I've had another visitor this week.  A fledgling robin must have tried to fly too early.  I initially found it on my front step just before a showing when I took out a bit of garbage.  He/she/it didn't show any real fear of me, and just stayed put.

When we arrived home, it was gone and I thought perhaps it had learned to fly.  But no, it showed up again two days later, this time on the back deck.  It's very cute and I sure hope it survives (I haven't seen the adults for a day or so), but it sure poops a lot!  I had brushed off as much as possible off the front step, but my back deck has a lot of it.  The radar indicates we've got another storm heading our way tonight so with any luck, most of it will get washed off.  Or I'll be out there tomorrow a.m. after I get back from weeding to clean it up.

This afternoon, I went over to the library for stitch,  make, and chat.  I've been meaning to go for some time but kept forgetting the date.  I finally thought to put a reminder into my phone.  Initially I had planned to take the knitting I'd started but that grandson of mine had pulled the needles out.  It's a funky type of yarn and I'm not sure how I would pick up the stitches so I grabbed a ball of yarn, a pattern book, and a crochet hook to take with me.  I met a nice group of women, all were stitching (cross stitch and embroidery), but were very welcoming.  I plan to go back as it was a nice place to sit, relax, and just have a bit of chit chat while I started a afghan.  

Well, this post went on much longer than I had planned. I can hear the thunder in the distance so I'll head outside until it starts to rain before I head back into the sun room to watch the storm.  Have a great rest of the week everyone!