View from our window.........there is no view at the moment

We have a male cardinal that keeps seeing itself in the windows and thinks it's another cardinal.  As they are very territorial it keeps attacking it's reflection and it's driving me potty.  So the woman at the bird store in Orangeville suggested I put up newspaper on the outside of the windows for a couple of weeks to see if that stops him.  You have to put it on the outside as he can still see his reflection if you put it on the inside.  I'll let you know how we get on.

Not sure if you can see these, but we also bought some stickers for the large window as the birds are forever flying into them.  Again you have to put them on the outside of the window.

 I have also made a start on putting on the orange borders on dd quilt, so it's starting to "pop."  There are still the borders between the rows and the outside border to do.

Just so flipping cute...

I was barbecuing on Thursday night and these two were busy on the ground below feeding.  I know a lot of people hate squirrels but you have to admit they are cute.

Mind you these two pictures show that yes the grass needs cutting and yes its more weeds than grass!!  At least it's green, so that's good.

Photos and music for a Friday.....

Here is a lovely photo of our Little Princess:

 

Was busy sewing on Friday and I enjoy listening to music as I sew.  I listened to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack:

I enjoy this Neil Diamond song, "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon" from the soundtrack, although it was sung by Urge Overkill for the soundtrack, not Neil Diamond:

Another song I really enjoy from the soundtrack is"Teenage Wedding," by Chuck Berry.  This You tube video has John Travolta dancing in it!!


The second soundtrack I was listening to was "O Brother, Where Art Thou," so very different to Pulp Fiction.

My favourite song is "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow," by The Soggy Bottom Boys:


Followed very closely by "Down by the River to Pray," by Alison Krauss, who has the most fantastic voice:


It made for a pleasant day listening to those soundtracks while I was sewing:

Garage called yesterday and home of the week..

The car had stopped starting AGAIN.  So they have now ordered a "fuel pump pig tail," as that MIGHT be the problem.  Dh still as mad as hell, me totally clueless............so I am guessing I won't be seeing my car until after the long weekend.

Funny thing is with this heat I have been hibernating, so other than bringing the rental car home from the garage and calling into the grocery store, the rental car hasn't moved since last Saturday.  Feel a bit guilty about having it at home, but it's better than not having a car at all.

This week's "Home of the Week," is not awful, but just too modern for me.  My dh would die to have a garage like that, even I would LOVE a garage like that and the back yard is nice and private, but is it worth $5.5 million?  Again its all to do with location.  The interior just doesn't feel warm to me; what do you think?

The "Cottage of the Week," is MINE!!!!!  At just under $330,000 it is finally something we could afford; if we sold this house.  It would make a lovely retirement home and the grand kids would love the Bunkie.  It is also really a cottage, not one of these monster mansions advertising itself as a cottage.  Just love it.

Although I couldn't afford the $2.3 million price tag or the $1,700 + per month maintenance fees, this week's "Condo of the Week," isn't too bad.  Pretty neutral and a workable floor plan.  Always wanted one of this recliner leather chairs in the living room with the footstool, but they a very pricey.  The views from the property are no too bad, other than that red building opposite.  I would even ask the folk to leave the furniture if I bought it.

Quite impressed with this week's choices as I don't actually hate any of them.........which makes a change!!

Update on car....AGAIN!

The car is still at the garage as of Wednesday morning.  I spoke to them on Tuesday and they had got it going, but were not 100% sure if they have fixed it?  They have reprogrammed the Gem Mobile, what ever that is?  They have performed a recalibration, what ever that is?  They had also reprogrammed the computer last week.

I am none the wiser with any of this and dh is far from happy about it all.  I did offer to go in and try the car, as it seems I have the magic fingers for not making it work, but they said they'll let me know.  So that is where we stand.

Weather a little cooler this morning so have had the windows open to let in some fresh air.  It get so stuffy in the house when it closed up all the time doesn't it?  May even attempt to cut some grass as it doesn't feel as humid.  Otherwise it is going to be another quiet day around here.

By the way is anyone a member of KLOUT?  I'll be honest with you although I have joined I really don't understand it all.  I did however get a free product coupon the other day thanks to them.  Here is a link to what it's about.  If anyone is more of an expert on this, please share what you know?

Multitasking

"Watching Swagbuck TV," and earning points while trimming up the mini blocks before sewing them into the main blocks for dd quilt.

Too hot and humid to do anything else!

Some photos and bits and bobs......

As it was stinking hot on Sunday I went down the basement to my sewing room and put together my June block of the month.  It's another Pinwheel variation.  This was all cut on the bias, and I thought the most difficult one yet, not helped by the fact one of the fabrics they provided wasn't enough, so I subbed my own for the rectangle piece.  Not to fond of the colour way but still pleasing to the eye.

Dh decided to treat me to a Tim Hortons coffee; though due to the heat I had a frozen lemonade.  While in town we called in Zehrs where I picked up the three hair dyes, they were on clearance for $2 and I had $4 worth of coupons, so all three only cost me $2.78 and I have enough dye to last me the rest of the year.

We also called in at Sobeys as I had a free product coupon and a $1.50 coupon for the Dempster's Garden Vegetable bread. Personally I think it's an expensive product even when it's on sale at $2.99 a loaf as it's only a small loaf.  However with the coupons I only paid 75 cents a loaf.  I also had a $1 coupon for the sausages, and with cashing in $5 worth of points I only paid $1.96 in total.

Mind you I have managed to spend $288.58 this month with savings of $146.38.  So in theory I only have $11.42 in my budget for the rest of the month.

Not sure if you can see them in this photo but here are four of the baby squirrels.  I couldn't get the other three in the photo.  They are getting more and more adventurous and moving a little further afield.  

Couple of good deals this week.

If you have a Rexall store near you they have Swiffer products on sale for $3.99 this week.  Both the dry and wet clothes and the dusters.  If you got your Procter and Gamble coupons, there are $1.50 coupons that you can use.  They have a three day special on Tide laundry detergent for $4.99 and again there were P & G coupons for $2 off.

At No Frills I saw and bought a 500 gram bag of shredded Silani Cheddar Cheese for $3.  I did not see this advertised in the flyer. So check your store as that is a super deal.  I may go back later in the week and get some more, as it freezes no problem.  Also in this weeks paper was the Smart Source insert and there was a $1 coupon of 2 packages of Christie Cookies, and No Frills have them on for 2 packages for $3; with the coupon making them $1 a package.

I picked up the rental car on Saturday, although I am not paying for it.  It's a Ford Fusion and is a very nice car. Still want my Betsy back though and fingers crossed she comes back to me all mended and happy!!

Will be hibernating this week as it's going to be stinking hot and humid.

By the way anyone have any ideas on how to stop a male Cardinal from constantly flyer into our window attacking his reflection?  It's driving me potty!

{{{SIGH}}} {{{SIGH}}} {{{SIGH}}}

Friday I cancelled the Toronto Star newspaper.  I am fed up to the back teeth of fighting on with them every three months having to negotiate a discount with them.  Why not give me the best price from the beginning.  Last three months I got a 30% discount, next three months it will be a 20% discount and the following three months it would only be a 10% discount.  I am not that desperate to read the paper, and figured that by the Fall they will be on the phone offering me a big discount after three months of not having the paper.

Bell Canada is no better but I have very few alternatives with those services, due to where we live, so have to put up with it, and luckily I only have to "negotiate" with them once a year, and then spend the next three months sorting out the mess they made!!!  LOL

Then there is my car.  Called them on Friday lunch time and they said they had reprogrammed the computer and it was fine.  Told them I would pick it up around 4pm.  Got a call at 3pm and when they tried to start it it wouldn't start {{{SIGH}}}

Told them I need a loaner car as this is crazy, so picking one up on Saturday.  Went in to talk to them about this, as we are really frightened that once the warranty is over and we still have problems what then?  Also with a normal car repair it's black and white; you take your car in the garage repairs it, and you take it home.

In my case, it's proving to be a problem repairing my car.  How long do we fight on with this before something is done?  Will say I have Googled Ford Fiesta and the transmission seems to be a HUGE problem with them, which is also frightening me.

On a more positive note, the new lawn tractor works like a charm.  Loving the power steering, makes life so much easier and the bigger cutting deck makes cutting the grass faster.

Saga of the car continues........

As of Thursday night the car is still at the garage.  I called a couple of times to see how things are going.  It's not starting now for them so that is good news.  However they can't figure out what is wrong with it.  The garage is in contact with Ford Canada to see what they say/suggest.  However the gist of the situation is we are no further forward than we were on Monday.

As I said to them at some point I do have to have my car back.  As it was dh had to take Thursday afternoon off of work to take me to an appointment.  Also it's not like we live in town, I do need a car to go anywhere.  So we'll see what today brings.  If we're not getting anywhere I am going to see about them giving me a car to use.

On Thursday morning we took delivery of our new lawn tractor.  No we haven't come into money, we have had to finance this, but when we have paid off the mortgage we will get this paid off.  This is not what we had planned, but there's not a lot we can do about it. The grass won't stop growing just because our lawn tractor broke down.

Are we fed up in this household, heck yes, but we have to keep going.........

Update on the car............

The garage has had the car since late Monday afternoon.  Every time they try it, it starts right away.  So I tell them I am going to pick it up on Wednesday afternoon as no one can find anything wrong with it.

Dh takes me there and I go to start it and of course it won't start for me.  So get the mechanic there and a service guy and to cut a long story short, left it at the bloody garage.  Do I have the magic touch that makes my car not want to start?  How many ways can you start a car?  One as far as I know.

Meanwhile dh is having to take this afternoon off work to take me to Brampton for a hospital appointment, as even if we had got the car back he doesn't want me driving any distance in case the car breaks down.  This is becoming very annoying.

I even suggested what Maa had said to them and reboot the bloody computer in the car.  They have never seen this before. (SIGH)

Glad to get yesterday over with, mind you the nightmare continues...........

Yes it was our 30th wedding anniversary yesterday, and thank you for all your good wishes but what a rotten day it was.

Betsy has been giving me problems over the past week.  Betsy is my car and you can see a photo of her here  As you can see Betsy is just over a year old, so Betsy shouldn't be giving me any problems at all, but she is.

It all started last Thursday.  I had to go to my monthly quilt club meeting, got in the car, went to start it, the car kept turning over but wouldn't start.  So called the garage, who called the tow truck.  When the tow truck driver came he tried the car and it started first time (rolling eyes).  So it was decided I wouldn't take it to the garage but just monitor the situation.  Drove the car Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.  Saturday night dh and I decided we would have a Subway sandwich, drove to Subway in my car, got the sandwich, came back to the car and turned it on and it did the same thing.  Luckily this time dh was with me, so he was a witness to it. Managed to get it going and brought it home.

Called the garage on Monday and they told me to bring it in on Tuesday.  We decided to drop it off on Monday afternoon to save me from having to wait for a ride.  Got in the car and yet again it wouldn't start.  We went to the garage as I wanted dh to explain things to them and arrange for them to have the car towed in.  Came back home and of course it started, so cancelled the tow truck and drove it to the garage.

Called them a couple of times on Tuesday and the car starts no problem and when put on the computer no faults have shown???  Told them to keep it today to see what happens, because unless it won't start they have no idea what to do.  Meanwhile I now own a car which is iffy to say the least.  I hate to say this but fingers crossed the bloody thing doesn't start so they can at least do something about it.

As it was a nice day on Tuesday I decided to tackle our "hay field."  It's growing so long and thick with all the rain we have been having that it took me forever to get it done.  I still had a bit to do when the tractor wouldn't go either forwards or backwards when I put my foot on the pedal.  It turns out I have done something that requires a new chassis in it, along with maybe a new gear box.  Which means I need a new tractor..................I could cry at this point.

The poor tractor wasn't made to cut five acres, and so we have been lucky it has lasted as long as it has.  That being said a new lawn tractor will cost between $8 to $10 THOUSAND.   There is little to no point in us buying a cheaper one, as it won't last any time.  As it is I have just spent $124 on the old one as it broke down a week or so ago.  We have a regular gas push lawn mower so I guess I will be using that to cut around the house, the rest will have to wait until we figure out what we are going to do.

We are reluctant to go second hand as we don't want to inherit someone else's problems and trying to find one at a good price and getting it home is also an issue.

Then the UV light alarm was going off last week, the bulb had gone for some reason; never happened before.  We have turned it off and ordered a bulb from Amazon.  Luckily I had enough gift cards saved up to pay for that.  It's sitting at the post office waiting to be picked up.  Meanwhile we don't have the well water going through the UV light system and that make me nervous.  As our fridge water filter needs to be replaced as well and just haven't had the chance to go and get one in Barrie.

When the tractor broke down, it of course broke down at the far end of the field.  So to cut a long story short dh had to take his truck down there and we had to tow it back to the house.  By the time we had fiddled on with that and talking to the garage about the car, I was in no mood to go out to dinner for our anniversary, however dh insisted we go.

For some reason I decided to call the restaurant we planned on going just to make sure we didn't have to make a reservation.  Turns out they are closed until July for renovations (SIGH)   So in the end we went for fish and chips as we were both fed up with everything.  Will say the fish and chips were good; they always are, but it wasn't exactly the romantic anniversary meal we had planned, or hoped for.

I sat and did the Sudoku in the Toronto Sun newspaper and dh sat and read the John Deere lawn tractor brochure while we waited for our meal. 

These things can only make us stronger, right?

30 years ago this fresh young couple got married:

We're neither fresh nor young anymore, but we're still married.  As dh is always saying, it's better the devil you know than the one you don't...LOL  Still love my bouquet of red carnations, still enjoy my "Farrah Fawcett" hairstyle, not keen on my wedding dress though.  Still got it in the closet.

The kids surprised us with a night in a hotel dinner included.  Not just any hotel mind you we will be staying at the Prince of Wales hotel in Niagara on the Lake, and having dinner at the Pillar and Post restaurant, The Cannery.  We're not going until July for one reason or another, but must say we're looking forward to it.

We are going out for dinner tonight, but otherwise it's just another day; dh at work and me doing my own thing at home.  

Grocery Shopping and coupon policy.....

Another week of still trying to get as much as possible for as little as possible; and as always some hits and some misses.

My first stop was Zehrs as they had a no tax sale on Friday and Saturday.  Got this little lot:

I paid $38.37 for all that; only because I cashed in $40 worth of PC points, otherwise it would have been $78.37.  If I hadn't used $29.71 in coupon and tax savings it would have been $108.08, which is crazy.  I am not sure you can see, but there is a carton of strawberries on there.  There are four pounds of strawberries and I paid $4.99 for the four pounds.  They had one pound cartons of strawberries on for 3 for $5.  Are you seeing where I am going with this.......the amount of people who had the three cartons for $5 outweighed the people who had the four pound cartons.  Either people weren't thinking or just didn't care about getting the extra pound of strawberries for free!!!

My next stop was Sobeys.

As you see I didn't get much, but this proved to be a troublesome and slightly amusing experience.  The pizzas were on sale for $3.49 each and I wanted them as we were having the kids up for lunch and were having that with Cesar salad; an easy meal.  I had  a $5 off coupon for the Turkey Burgers from Websaver and there were $2 off Internet printable coupons for the bread, which brought the bread down to 50 cents per loaf.

I am always wary about using Internet printable coupons, so decided to print out Sobeys, rules and regulations regarding the use of home printed coupons and bring it with me.  So this is how it all went down.

Cashier: (The websaver coupon the company mailed to me) Did you print this out yourself?
Me: No, look at the back of it you'll see Websaver printed on the back of it.
Cashier: Looks a bit blurry to me.
Me: Well I didn't print it as its on their paper.

After another minute or two thoroughly examining the coupon she decides it's fine.  Hand over the two bread coupons that I had printed at home.

Me: Now these are printed at home, but I do have Sobey's rules and regulations regarding these coupons and they seem fine.  Would you like to look at the list of requirements to make sure the coupons are okay?
Cashier: No, I know all the rules and regulations.
Me: Oh, well I didn't that's why I printed them out; and from what I read everything seems right with the coupons.
Cashier: I have to check everything.

Cashier is still thoroughly inspecting my coupons as though her life depends on it.

Me: Would you like me to leave a copy of the rules and regulations for the staff, as I don't want them.
Cashier: We're not allowed to take that from a customer, and I know all the rules and regulations.
Me: Oh, I only thought maybe some other members of staff might not know them all.
Another Cashier then pipes up: Well I don't know them.
Cashier: Well I do and we can't accept the paper from the customer.

All in all despite the fact the cashier treat me as though I was stealing thousands from Sobeys.  I was able to use my $9 worth of coupons, so that little lot ending up costing me $13.97.  It also took me as long to complete that shopping trip as it did in Zehrs.  Also discovered I now have enough Sobey's points to cash in for $5 worth of free product next time I go in.

My final shop was in the same strip mall in Rexall.  It's not a shop I go into very often but they had a good deal on Deodorant:

It was on sale for $1.99 each and I had $3 off coupons when you buy two.  The cookies were on sale also for $1.77 a package and I wasn't sure if I would have time to bake.  So all in all I spent $6.55 there with savings of $6.

I spent a total of $58.89, with savings of $84.71, putting my monthly totals to: $164.28 spent and $122.38 saved.  Very little fresh fruit and veggies bought this week though, but have stocked up on shampoo and deodorant, plus have enough bread for a couple of week.

The three stores are within a two minute drive of one another, and it takes me a good ten minutes to drive to town.  It took me a good two hours to complete this shopping trip, plus I went to the bank and called in for gas for the car.

How long does it take to do your grocery shopping and do you go to multiple stores?

Coupons and quilting buys....

We don't get our flyers until Saturday now, which is a pain.  So I now look online so I can plan my grocery shopping trip. 

Sorting out what coupons I want to use:

Quilt club today, so picked out a few goodies for myself:

More things to keep me busy.......

Me and my Little Princess

Our Little Princess is 5 months old today.  She is growing up so fast and is such a good girl, very relaxed and laid back.  I noticed yesterday she is starting to touch her toys when she is in her chair.

The photo above shows us both "helping" her mum make lunch.  We did more talking than helping I think!

Here she is a couple days earlier with her Union Jack bib on:

Only another 25 weeks more or less until we say hello to our other grandchild.

Just noticed I really do need to dye my hair again!!

Photos of the kitchen.........

The first stage of the kitchen reno is coming to an end.  There are still jobs to be done.  The kick plate on the bottom of the cabinets is to install.  The stove plug is to rewire but dh has done most of that job already.  The kitchen cupboard to the right of the stove (not in photo) needs installing but that should be a doddle compared to the other units.  Need to put in a new window ledge as the other one was partly rotten.

You can see in this photo the difference in the colour and how it brightens it all up just by painting the cupboards.

A close up of the new hardware.  They also installed the soft closing door hardware as well, which is nice.

The new counter top is laminate that looks like granite.

I can finally see the top of our kitchen table.  What's left on there is to go into the last cupboard on the right hand side of the stove.

We hope to get the upper cabinets taken down and refinished in August/September.  Then the island and pantry cupboard in October and then I want a piece custom made for another area in November.

We then have to decorate and put up the back splash.  I have seen some new light fixtures that will look really neat.  They are $118 each and I need three of those, here is a link to them.  So far this kitchen reno has probably cost around $2,500. 

Of that $2,500 we paid $800 for the counter tops.  $900 for the cabinets to be refinished; that included totally rebuilding the sink unit, and all the new hardware.  Close to $250 for the sink and taps.  $200 or so for all the plumbing bits, as dh has had to put in total new plumbing both in the kitchen and in the basement for the sink.  At least $300 for the drywall, wood and insulation and other things related to rebuilding the walls and the work in the basement.  As dh had the cable for the electrics we only had to buy a few plugs and fittings, but probably another $50+ at least.  

I anticipate between another $3,000 to $4,000 to complete it all and the way things are going it'll be closer to the $4,000 than the $3,000 I bet.  And for those of you who are just joining me on this delightful kitchen reno adventure, we hadn't budgeted for any of this.  All I wanted was new counter tops, sink and taps, which we had budgeted for!!!

Just a quick thank you........

our son and his team managed to raise just over $3,900 for the Relay for Life.  For all of you who donated and huge thank you and for those of you who cheered him on, thank you also.

Tomorrow look for photos of our kitchen and budget break down.

Update on dd quilt....

As we have had some rain I have been making an effort to get some quilt blocks sewn for dd quilt.

I have 20 blocks more or less done.  They are to trim and square up and borders to be attached.

The borders will be orange so it will "pop."  I hope dd will like it, I think she will.

Dd is doing well with her pregnancy and is nearly 15 weeks along.  The morning sickness seems to have passed (touching wood) and the heart burn has kicked in.  Only another month or so until we will find out if she is having a boy or girl.  So I want to get her quilt done this month before I start on the baby quilt.

I found this site called Wall Pops and think it's really neat:

They only need $3 now.........

Will you be the one to donate the $3 to our son's Relay for Life team? Here is the link if you would life to do that: http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFL_ON_odd_?team_id=295756&pg=team&fr_id=12391  It will be a good $3 spent!!

Only need $113 to reach their goal.....

Not sure if you remember me asking begging the other week for donations for the Relay For Life Team our son is captain of?  Anyhow they are only $113 short of their goal of $3,750.  Their original goal was $3,000 which they achieved so they thought they would try to raise another $750.

So if cancer has affected you, your family or someone you know, please consider donating a couple of dollars to this worthwhile cause.  Here is the link to their team: http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFL_ON_odd_?team_id=295756&pg=team&fr_id=12391

Every little does indeed help.  Thank you.

Rudely awoken at 2:45 am this morning..........

by something being killed and not happy about it, along with a bunch of coyotes happy about catching their supper/breakfast and being VERY vocal about it.  I guess it didn't help that I had one of our bedroom windows open so it made the sound even louder; and it sounded as though they were doing it directly under the window.

Good news on the lawn tractor front I went to Barrie and picked up the parts and dh managed to put it all together again.  Cost $130 for the parts and while I was in the parts depot I met a guy who used to repair Sears lawn tractors for a living, and he informed me that the other side will go as well eventually.  Also told me it's a common thing to go on the tractor and our tractor is much too small for the amount of grass I cut.  So I felt better after talking to him.

Thank goodness dh is so handy as I dread to think how much this repair would have cost if we had, had to take the tractor somewhere.  As it was, the guy at dh's work had to "burn" off the locking nut to get it off.  Also some of you suggested that my dh cut the grass.  He has too many DIY projects to do that I can't do and I enjoy cutting the grass, so if I want the renovations done around the house, then I have to take care of the outside work.

I did manage to get the veggies put in the garden.  Will go out and check them later to see if I have any left.  I also spent a good 3 hours whipper snipper/edging - cutting the grass, and I managed to fit in a couple of hours of cutting the grass.  I must admit that whipper snipping does not do my hands any good at all with the vibrations.  They felt really strange for a couple of hours after I had finished it.  Never mind; I have been wearing my splints on a night, as all the cutting and trimming I was doing with the quilt on the weekend also killed my hands.

Would you believe I am coughing again and coughing up green and chunky (sorry TMI.)  I had stopped my inhalers, but I guess I had better start again.  Has anyone else had Bronchitis and the doctor told you to use inhalers?  How long did you have to use the inhalers for?

Going to spend the day outside cutting grass.  Got Kamikaze hill done last night along with part of the field; only a small part mind you.  So I want to see if I can get the rest done today before it rains.  Reckon I will have about five or six hours worth of grass cutting to do.  Enjoy your Wednesday.

Overrun with rabbits........

I am up to three rabbits and a baby one I saw this morning in my tomato patch (SIGH)

I have a live trap out but had no luck in catching anything.  I need to move it and see if I have better luck.  Read a couple of things on the Internet; they like peanut butter and hate blood meal.  So I guess I'll put some peanut butter in the trap and when I plant out my veggies today, I'll spread blood meal all over?

For those of you who had read this blog over the past four year will know I spend most of the summer in the dog house with dh, as I am constantly breaking the flipping lawn tractor.  Well I have done it again; this time breaking the Mandrel Assembly  It's something that is needed to make the blades go round on the cutting deck of the mower.  So a trip to Barrie is going to be in order to get the spare part from Sears today.  Dh has had to take the whole mower deck to work to see if they have the tools to loosen the main screw as he couldn't do it at home.

So it will be a favourite meal of dh's for supper tonight to make him happy.  Hash browns as I have no fries, fried eggs and baked beans.  Meanwhile I'll try and keep out of trouble!!

Here are links to the book reviews I posted yesterday if you are interested:

http://thatbritishwomansbookreviewblog.blogspot.ca/2013/06/deadly-devotion-by-sandra-orchard.html

http://thatbritishwomansbookreviewblog.blogspot.ca/2013/06/that-certain-summer-by-irene-hannon.html

http://thatbritishwomansbookreviewblog.blogspot.ca/2013/06/stealing-preacher-by-karen-witemeyer.html

http://thatbritishwomansbookreviewblog.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-quarrymans-bride-by-tracie-peterson.html

 

Monday morning............

Had a busy weekend.  Dh was off all of the weekend which made a change.  He spent nearly all of it in the kitchen and he managed to get three bottom units installed, the counter top installed and the sink fitted.  I hope to have running water next weekend.  By the time dh gets in from work he is so stressed and tired, from the politics at work, he's fit for nothing.

One of the reasons it took so long to get just that done was that nothing was square or level.  However I am super pleased with how it looks so far and when he gets it all together I will take a photo.  I will say it's more luck than management that what I chose as finishes with everything matches ever so well!!!

With the weather being iffy (raining) on and off all weekend, nothing got done in the garden.  So I turned to sewing.  I have seventeen blocks all cut out ready for the final stitching .  Before I get to that point though there are a number of steps that have to be done.  All the mini squares have to be cut out.  Eight beige squares have to be sewn to eight patterned squares in two colours.  They have to be cut in half and pressed.  Then they all have to be trimmed and squared to make perfect 2 3/4 inch squares.  All that takes time; a lot of it.  I am planning on going to Bound To Quilt on Thursday where they have a come and sew session for $5 for the day.  That way I will be more likely to sit and sew for an extended period of time.

At the bottom of the main page you will see an icon that shows you how many Swagbucks I have.  Normally I have a lot, but I have cashed in for $50 worth of Amazon e-cards this month, so have depleted my total.  Normally I cash in just $25 worth, as that is normally all the Swagbucks I have, but I have been saving mine up.  If I remember rightly I think this will bring me to around $225 worth of Amazon e-cards since last December.  If you are already on the computer, why not earn some free Amazon e-cards at the same time?  If you do decide to sign up, I really would appreciate it if you could sign up under my link: http://swagbucks.com/refer/Appleby

If you already do Swagbucks write a comment and let other folk know how you find it, as it is a great way to earn free things.

Enjoy your Monday.

Jeanne Robertson "Don't send a man to the grocery store!"

Really funny, worth while watching, tears were pouring down my cheeks with laughter:


Enjoy your Sunday.

Garage/yard sale

I had volunteered to help out a friend with her yard sale on Friday afternoon.  Up here Friday is as good a day to have a yard sale as Saturday is.  I know unusual.  She had put a notice in the newspaper, and as usual got the timing wrong and instead of it saying Friday afternoon it said all day.  So people were there from first thing.  I turned up just before 1pm as arranged, shocked to see it all set up.

Now it was a billion degrees out there with the humidity and you all know I hate that sort of weather, but I stuck with it.  It wasn't that busy; had been busier in the morning she said but she got rid of a lot of stuff.  However, there is still more to get rid of and she has another friend helping her today.

My observations were that the strangest things sell.  Things that you would normally throw out.  She has some crocheted baskets that originally held tulle and almonds that you get as wedding favours; remember those?  She sold all those.  She had some old dogs toys from when they had a dog, sold those.  Old mason jars with the old glass lids, sold all those.  She sold a lot of Tupperware; I would have loved it, but have no where to store it.

I should mention my friend is in her 80's and never throws anything out.  She has a bedding set from the 70's drapes included, I bet they end up going.  She has ornaments and plated silver things coming out of her ying yang, I hope most of those go.  I will say she was quite the sales person, and a few people bought things they weren't even looking at thanks to her pointing them out and "making" them buy them.

I haven't had a yard sale in a while, and to be honest I don't have much stuff that I want to sell; other people may argue that point!!!   Are you holding a yard sale/car boot sale this year and what do you think sells the best?

To while away the time in between customers I did my cross stitch, so got quite a bit done, so not a wasted afternoon.  She has another friend helping her today, I hope they get rid of the rest of the stuff.  It's all set up in her garage, so the weather won't be an issue.