Random photos from Ikea

 Had to go to a doctor's appointment in another city the other day, so we popped into Ikea which was a 10 minute drive away to pick up some bits and bobs.  Here are some random photos from Ikea.

One reason I took this photo was that if we forgot where we'd parked I just had to refer back to this photo!!😉

I got a few things, some that I'll share over the next few days......

Niagara Falls (photo heavy)

 Had a night away on Friday.  We were in Niagara Falls.  We stayed at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, just along the road from Fallsview Casino.  The hotel itself is very tired looking, but for the price and the location it's great value for money.  It's a five minute walk to the casino.

The casino/resort is on the hill above the Falls.  If you go out the back of the casino, you look over towards the Falls.  The next few photos are from there.  By the time I took these photos, it was dusk around 5pm.

I am not an expert in casino's as this is the only one I have been in, but it does look lovely all lit up at night.  This was the main entrance area.

We're not big gamblers, but we went in to spend some time playing the slots.  I watch Brian Christopher Slots, every day while having my lunch.  Now our biggest bets were $1 a spin!!  I will say we left the casino after an hour, having a great time, out of pocket by $10 between us.  We would have been up by 55 cents, but we went back in and spent $10 between us on another game, and that was why we lost the $10.

Now the whole reason for going to Fallsview, was to see this show: Tina, Better be good to me!  This was in the Avalon Theatre.

She was pretty good; obviously not as good as Tina, but good all the same.  The show was around 2 hours long and we enjoyed it.  We saw The Tina Turner back in 2008, you can read about that here.

I will say I prefer going to see the shows downtown Toronto.  The acoustics are better, as are the productions.

I personally don't like Niagara Falls, it's overpriced.  It annoys the heck out me how they charge the tourist tax, just don't get it.  However it is a busy place and I do like to look at the Falls.

It made a nice change to go away, and Niagara Falls is only a couple hours drive from where we live.

Looking at booking tickets to see this show in Toronto next.

Christmas SAL

 Another week done with the Cross Stitch Sew Along.

Isn't he cute?  I am just loving the colours.

I didn't get much done on the border this week, and next week will be super busy.

This week's section, which will go to the right of the Santa.  Looks pretty simple and straight forward.

I know I have said this before, but I am loving how simple this is and the colours she chose.  This would be perfect for a beginner as there are no half stitches and no outlining.  Also each section could be used on it's own for ornaments, bookmarks etc.

Just press the bloody button!!

 We moved into this house 7 years ago last weekend.  We have moved numerous times over the years; but have to say this move was the worst one ever.  

Things were going well until it came to transfer our money to the vendor we were purchasing the house from.  We actually closed on our old home in no time flat as both of us were using regular banks.  But the folk we were purchasing our current home from was using some obscure credit union?

Anyhow long story short the movers cleared out our old home around 4 pm, so we contacted the lawyer, too see what's going on.  Back and forth we go and the lawyer confirmed they had sent our money but the credit union hadn't received it.  So all I can say to the lawyer, if you don't have it, the credit union doesn't have it, who does have it?

It was floating in cyber space.  By this time everywhere is closed. 

1. So now, we have sold our old house.
2. The movers have moved everything out of the house and they are sitting by the side of the road, waiting for us to decide where to go.
3. We can't close on our new house.
4. We are missing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Then the icing on the cake..........it starts to snow!!!

The movers took our furniture and parked the truck in their secure parking lot overnight.  We went and stayed at son's house overnight, because technically although the lawyer gave us the keys to the new house, we legally can't stay there.

The next day arrives.  We must have had a foot of snow overnight and can't access our snow blower.  So we borrow son's shovels and go round to the new house to try and shovel us out.  Thankfully one of our new neighbours came over and blew out the driveway for us.  We thanked him, over and over as we were just bone weary from everything.  By 10am that morning, the money arrived at the credit union and we legally owned the house.

We discovered, the reason for this nightmare, someone forgot to press the bloody button to receive the money at the credit union 😖😠  I was so upset, and discussed the situation at length with the lawyer, but was advised it was a total waste of time and money to persue this further and move on; which is what we did.

So here we are 7 years later, and I still cringe when I think back to that day.  The one good thing about it all is that I have no desire to go through that again, so am staying put in this house!!!

Do you have a horror story about moving house?

(Thanks for all the kind comments about my tree and decorations, I truly appreciate them.  Super busy at the moment, but will post some updates of what we have been up too soon!!)

Xmas Tree 2025

 We were away until December 1st last year, so didn't put up a tree or decorations last year.

This year daughter and I are hosting a get together at the end of November at our house, so this year I have to decorate the house.  As the rest of this month we are busy, I found time the other day to put up the tree.

So here is this year's tree.

Always have our British ornaments front and centre!

I found this decoration amongst my stash.  Do you remember 2020..........

Can't believe it's already been five years.  This year is the first time I skipped my covid booster.  Got my flu shot though.  I am one of the lucky ones who has never had covid.  Hubby got it, but I never did.

This time last year......

we were in the UK for a funeral.  Our two children popped over as well for a few days to attend said funeral, as it was their Pop who had passed.

However one of the funnier stories of our time over there involved the kids.  They flew into and out of Manchester airport.  As no one (including us!!) wanted to be in Manchester for 7am to pick them up; as we were staying two hours away, so they decided to take the train up to Carlisle and we would pick them up from there.  It was relatively cheap and they got to see some of the countryside while traveling up.

They had only been on the train half an hour or so, when they pulled into Preston; which turns out to be a main hub.  There was an announcement on the train that they driver was taking his break ??????? (we were all stunned with this!!)  Okay, so the kids sit there, and a few minutes later there was another announcement that the train was now cancelled as they didn't have a driver....WTF????? (again this also shocked us)

Luckily the kids will talk to anyone and they got talking to a fellow passenger who was heading to Penrith, which is the stop before Carlisle.  Our daughter recognized the town's name, so knew we would come and pick them up from there.  They go with this guy to another train and get on board the train. (This guy also told them how to get a refund)  They are sitting there waiting for it to leave.  Then there was another announcement, that the original train was now running!!!!  

So back they go to the original train and they travel up to Carlisle.  Shockingly they were only an hour late.

So a few days later they have to travel back down to Manchester again by train.  The day they left they had booked seats for around 7pm, as they were staying overnight at the airport and flying out the next morning.  That day it was pouring down, torrential rain.  So by around 3pm we saying to them you'd best check the trains and see if they're still running.  At that point there were numerous cancellations, so they rebooked for the 4pm train that was still running and headed out to the station, as it was around half an hour away.  My brother and hubby drove them down.  As they were driving down to the station daughter received a cancellation notice for all trains running down to Manchester.  So brother and hubby drove them all the way down to Manchester.

This time it was a landslide that had closed the line at Lancaster.  Luckily with both these problems daughter got her train fares refunded.

Fast forward to this summer and again daughter and her family were in London and went to visit my mother and took the train up to see her.  We were all on pins and needles as to whether the trains would run.  They did with no issues I'm pleased to say.

The sad thing about this story and I am sure the readers in the UK will confirm none of this is unusual with the UK rail system.

I can't comment on the rail system here in Canada, as I have never used it.  If you have in Canada, please let us know how you got on.  Or if you're from another country, do you use your train system to travel around?

I'll take one please!

I was in Costco the other day and saw the viral Lindt Chocolate Advent Calendar.  I LOVE Lindt Chocolate.  It's around 5 feet tall and yes $249.99 CDN.  So of course I didn't buy one.  One, I am diabetic, and two, I have no room for those extra calories; but boy would I love to eat one of those!!!

We were at Ikea this week and I picked up this advent calendar for myself.  At $14.99 that seemed reasonable.  I am not an expert on Scandinavian  chocolate, so it'll be interesting to see what it tastes like.

Do you buy an advent calendar for yourself, and if so which one do you get?  I am going to pass this year.  I do enjoy the regular Lindt one though.

The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men

I was watching video's on Facebook, when an exercise video popped up using this music.  This song was one of the hits of April 1984 when our son was born, as I noted it down in his baby book.   You can see a list of all the top hits from April 1984 here.

Daughter turned 40 this past week, so this is one of the top 40 hit's from that week:

Here is more from that week.

Well that was a blast from the past for me!!!

"This song makes my depression have a depression,"

Thankfully, I didn't have any liquid in my mouth at the time I read that, as I snorted with laughter at that comment!!! Now be warned if you listen to this song, the "F" word is used in this song. So if you're offended by bad language make sure you don't listen to it.  This is the original version.

 

I will say I prefer this version, it doesn't use bad language.  Haley Reinhart is such a talented singer.

Sew Along

So another week has has gone by and this is the progress I made.  I finished the centre panel and the bottom border, so very pleased with my progress.

This week's section if the for top left side space, and look very easy.

I am getting into the groove with this sew along.  I am recognizing how this designer thinks now.  It's a very straight forward pattern with good repeats.  I am loving the colours she is using also.

This week I am hoping to complete the above section and a good chunk of a side border.

Quick and easy supper........

The older I get the less I enjoy preparing meals.  I would be happy to live off sandwiches or soup.  However, as I am more than capable of preparing meals, I feel like I should make an effort every now and them.  Oh and just in case you're new, hubby does not cook!

On a Saturday afternoon we go and watch the boys at their swimming lessons, and it's close to 5pm when we get back, so I like to have supper cooking in the oven so it's just to pull out when we get back in.  Also a warm meal is better when the temperature is cold out.

I made this tray bake last week and it was very tasty and super simple to make.

I added 1lb of cut up baby potatoes, some frozen Brussel sprouts, a chopped up red onion and yellow pepper, a sliced carrot, and chopped up some Kielbasa Sausage.  I drizzled on some olive oil and seasoning and tossed it all until coated.

I buy this seasoning mix from Costco.

I covered it with tin foil, and popped it in a 375 oF oven for around 75 minutes.  It was really tasty.  Will make this again.

I lined the pan also with tin foil, so to make cleaning up a breeze!  Hubby washes up; that's his job!

Telephone Conversation.............

 Daughter: "I wonder if I should annoy your today?"

Me: "Why?"

Daughter: "I am in HomeSense and I am looking at Christmas Crackers for Boxing Day.  They have a set with Kazoo's in them and music so you can play tunes; do you think I should get them."

Me: "As we are not facetiming you can't see my face, but by the tone of my voice, can you guess what I think!"

Daughter........laughing her socks off.

Me: "If you can't guess, ask the girls what they think my reaction would be to them!!"

There will be four children, 12, 9, 7 and 4 there, plus an adult, who will encourage said children to annoy the crap out of me with those bloody Kazoo's!!!  The other adults, will have more sense!!

Update: Daughter bought other Christmas crackers......guess she values her life...just saying!

New Series for the $1House......

Yes she paid $10,000 for this one.  I am looking forward to following along as this is something I would have loved to do when I was younger.  I will say that basement is indeed creepy...LOL  I always thought the basement at the farmhouse was creepy, but this one was worse.

I am on Instagram but never use it, so won't be following along on there, but on the Youtube Video's.  Are any of you planning on following along with this series?  Did you watch her last series?

Here is a link to her Youtube Page: Tia Weston

Leonard Cohen recites “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae | Legion Magazine

Sugar Free Banana Muffins.....

 I got the recipe from here.  I had bought a bag of over ripe bananas so as we were plowing through them I figured I would use some of them in a muffin recipe to go with our morning coffee.  Now, I did replace 1/2 cup of flour with oats.  I would like even more oats in it, but not sure how that would affect the recipe?  I did sprinkle some regular sugar on the top, more for appearance than anything, as they were plenty sweet enough.

I made 6 larger muffins and baked them for 35 to 40 minutes.  Will make them again.  Super easy recipe.  I guess you could also add nuts to the recipe if you wanted to?

I got the strawberry tidbit plates from Kitchen Stuff Plus a couple of summer's ago, they are melamine and are perfect for a cookie, or a small treat.  

Then while I was in the kitchen I washed out the cutlery drawer and sorted it all out again.  The gap on the right hand side is where my knives are kept, I washed the holder and was waiting for it to dry.  Ever since I lined my drawers with the drawer liners, it has made it so much easier to keep them clean.  

I also washed out the under sink cupboard and straightened all that out.  I think I need to do a drawer or cupboard per day while making supper, as that way it's not a huge chore all at once?

I love it when I can get a couple of jobs done while doing other things!!  Now to tackle the fridge this week and strip that right down!

Turning 2 Tiny Dark Apartments into a Large Mountainside Villa

This one is also interesting:

I follow this lady on You Tube.  I love how creative she is with how she turns odd spaces, into more functional spaces.  I hope you enjoy this one.

Sew-along

 I mentioned in an earlier post I was going to participate in my first ever Christmas Cross Stitch sew-along.

Last week the designer released the first part of the puzzle and it was the border pattern of the finished piece.  I actually thought that was odd,  but what do I know?

I had a busy week with other things, so I only managed to get what I did below done.  However, I did manage to get the sections done which will be helpful.

So this week she released the first section, which is the middle section.  I have high hopes I will have time to get this completely done in the week.

Here is a link to the Facebook page of the designer Durene Jones Cross Stitch

Museum of Appalachia (photo heavy)

 While we were on vacation, we went to the Museum of Appalachia.  We have actually been before so figured we would revisit it, to see if there had been any changes.  Last time we visited there was a festival on with vendors selling things.  Plus crafts and lives demonstrations etc.  This time was just a regular Sunday.

I will say we had a good time visiting all the buildings, but I found the two museum buildings that housed artifacts very musty smelling and we were both rubbing our noses, as it was starting to bother us.

We ate at the cafe and we made poor choices that we found very rich, but that was our fault not theirs.  Here is a link to the Museum; it's less than an hours drive from Pigeon Forge.

The weather was beautiful the day we went.  Oh and we went round the buildings backwards, meaning we started at the end of the self guided tour.  I wanted to do the artifacts buildings last.

Do you remember the tv series Christy?  This was about her and the one room school houses.  I loved that series.

It's worthwhile going too, but it's even better when there is a festival or event on.  They even have RV parking right on the grounds of it.  I found the story interesting about the founder of the museum John Rice Irwin, well worth reading about.