I finally gave in........

and went to the doctors.  It got to the point that breathing was/is painful.  Took him all of two seconds to announce I have bronchitis.  So hopefully the horse pills he gave me work wonders and I will be feeling as right as rain in a couple of days.

It was spring maintenance time for the shopping carts in Wal-Mart today when I stopped in to fill my prescription:

It looked as though all the dodgy wheels were being changed......Hallelujah!  Don't you hate it when you pick a cart with those horrible dodgy wheels, that go every other way than the way you want to go?

I updated and have closed out my grocery totals for April.  Quite surprised on how well I did considering.  Spent: $353.01 and had coupon savings of $61.37.  Hoping for better numbers in May.

Trying to get blood out of a stone.

That is what it is like when I have bloodwork done.  I mean they've even taken to using the children's needles to get blood.  Finding a vein is a long painful process as well.  So last Friday when I had to have blood work done, I was not looking forward to it.  We were however using a different clinic in the town where we have moved too, so I was praying and hoping things might be easier.

It was, thank goodness, the only thing that hurt was the tap, tapping trying to find a vein.  I was so pleased and thankful I came out of there smiling.  Never thought anything more, until Monday and I was talking to my dad on the phone and he mentioned he was going for bloodwork.  So I told him my story and looked at my arm.

 Now that photo doesn't really show you what it is really like, but I am all bruised.  I was puzzled as she didn't hurt me?  My dad said I maybe lifted something heavy, well I carry my handbag on my left arm and she took blood from my right?   Otherwise I didn't lift anything heavy that day.  Very puzzling.

I knit my first dishcloth and will gift it to dd, as she never has any dishcloth's at her house.

I went to the knit and sit despite being sick as I wanted to make a start on knitting a hat. I only stayed a couple of hours though. The pattern is "knit in the round," which although I knew what it meant, I couldn't get my head around it as how to do it.

Now I am telling you, without the ladies help I would never have been able to do this.  Now that I have done this, it's pretty easy.  I am using this pattern, except no stripes and it is for a toddler.  I am also a follower on their blog as it's so good.  I was telling dh that there is hope for me with this knitting!

Finally thank you everyone for your great comments yesterday.  It was really interesting to read why people blog, don't you think?  If I didn't comment back on your blog, my apologies.  

Why do I blog?

People have blogs for various reasons.  For me it's an online diary to share with folks what I have been up to and what I plan on doing.  For other's it's a way of earning an income.  For other's they want to help with various causes and this is a way of getting the word out.  For what ever reason you do decide to blog you do it because it interests you first and foremost.

People ask how do you get more comments and traffic to your blog.  There is no magic formula to do that but a couple of things do help.

Visit other people's blogs and comment on them and if you like what they are talking about follow their blog.  The more you comment the more likely people will comment on your blog.  HOWEVER, I will say I have left comments and followed a number of blogs for a while now and they do not comment on my blog.  BUT what they write about does interest me, so I'll carry on commenting regardless.

I will say I have become a little more picky about commenting on everything I read about, as every blogger writes posts that sometimes you have no interest in, so why would I leave a comment?

I follow a blog and have done for a while, and it has changed over the last few months, as the lady's life has changed (as everyones does).  I don't like the way she is writing now and what she is writing about, so although I still follow her I rarely comment; as I would rather have something positive to say than negative.  That happens to us all.  

There are trolls that are out there, who love nothing more than leaving negative comments.  That is why I moderate all comments, you don't need to see what these idiots write.

Having a blog is a commitment, but how big a commitment depends on you.  Some people blog once a week, some every day.  Some of the blogs out there are fancy dancy, other's are as basic as they come (mine!)  At the end of the day it's as good as you want to make it.

If you look at the left hand side of my blog page you will see list of popular posts.  As you can see they are all recipe posts.  My blog is not an overly busy blog as I only average around 250 visitors a day.  Some people attract thousands of visitors per day and hundreds of comments.  I probably average about a dozen comments per day.  

A blog is also as personal and intimate as you want it to be, as remember everyone is reading it.  I have thought about making mine private as then I would be able to write more things but have decided to keep it open and only write what I don't mind the world knowing.

I have been blogging for nearly 7 years......wow 7 years, time sure has flown by.  Here is a link to my first post.  The one thing that is priceless about blogging are the friends I have made over the years.  One of the first people I "met" through blogging was Denise, she started blogging around a similar time, if I remember rightly and here we both are still blogging.  You can find a link to her blog here; An English Girl Rambles.  

Do I ever regret starting a blog; no as the older I get I love looking back at older posts seeing what I did when.  Certain things I have posted have been used against me and members of my family by vindictive people, so that is why I am careful on how much I write.  I am a naturally open person and would write more openly about things, but once burnt, twice shy as they say.

At the end of the day, I love my blog and to the people who read it thank you.  I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to spend a few minutes reading what I have to say that day.  I appreciate your advice, as we all know we all need advice from time to time.  I try to comment back on your blog that day if I can as I love reading what other people have to say and see what they are up too.  Gosh there are some really creative people out there and I have learned a lot from them over the years.  Overall I have to say that blogging has been a positive experience.

Now it's your turn.  Do you blog?  If you do, how long for?  Any advice for the newbie bloggers out there?  

Oh and what would you like to see more of on my blog????  What would you like to see less of?

(P.S. still bloody sick with this cold, I swear it's hanging on like a bad smell)

New Light Fixture.....

Picked up a new light fixture for the breakfast nook on Saturday and dh hung it on Sunday.  I wanted a fan in there as it gets rather warm in that area, despite being open plan.  We got this fan at Home Depot and it is a LED light, so energy efficient.  Mind you I bought it for the fan rather than the light!!  The chrome matches the fixture in the kitchen itself, which I like and have no plans to remove.

As it was from Home Depot it didn't cost us the kids inheritance to buy!!  I also wanted one with a remote control so there are no strings hanging down.  I like the clean look.

I bought some herb plants on Saturday and wanted something to put them in.  I found this Victoria and Albert herb planter at HomeSense.  It features a William Morris print.  I have five herb plants to plant though and I could only find one of these.  Too pretty though to pass up.

Dear Hubby and the Creativ Festival.......

As I mentioned in yesterday's post I went to the Creativ Festival with my dear hubby.  Not your usual day out, as it is a mainly woman's event but there were a number of men there as well.  To  keep dh happy I do need to feed and hydrate him.  So by 12 noon he was ready for a rest and to be fed.  So he found a seat and I lined up for some food.

There was another lady sitting at the table and as I was gone a LONG time waiting for the food, they got chatting.  Turned out she was a retired nurse who now was a sale rep for a couple of fabric manufacturer's.  So dh got all his "medical" issues sorted out and they were best buddies by the time I got sat down!!

She was telling us a funny story which I wanted to relate to you all, as if you don't sew this will make sense to you.  She was standing next to a man outside a fabric booth.  His wife was inside the booth purchasing fabric.  He turned to this lady and said in all seriousness:

"They buy a yard of fabric, cut it all up into little pieces and then sew it all back together; why?"

When you think about it it is a puzzle isn't it?

Now I do think dh ended up being injured while at the show, due to a lot of ladies bumping into him with these:

(image credit)

Turns out they are dangerous little suckers and hurt when they hit you in the ankles!!  And some of the ladies were women on a mission!!!

Would I take dh to one of these shows again, yes as he is a great guy to be with.  Would he go again he said yes, he met some interesting people and as long as he has his mobile phone (with full internet service) he has plenty to keep him out of mischief in those quiet moments.

Art Gallery and the Creativ Festival

We went to the Art Gallery function on Thursday night.  I was determined to go, regardless of how I felt.  We'll get back to that later.

Lot of different people there; new people.  We have been going for I think five years, and the price has gone up from around $150 to $225 per couple.  I think the price hike has put some people off, but regardless it is a good night and worth the money.  I was pleasantly surprised at how many pieces I liked in person, and chose 14 for my list. 

Unfortunately our names was pulled 8th from the last.  There were around 100 tickets sold and so all our choices were taken.  However I do feel our choice is actually very nice and perfect for us.

 The artist is called Silvia Castellarin, and the piece is oil on canvas and the title is Nasturtiums.

I'll take another photo when I have hung it on the wall.

On Friday dh and I went to the Creativ Festival.  Dh actually enjoyed himself, and was surprised at how many guys were there.  I picked up a couple of things I wanted and had a good look around.

This is going to be the backing for dd quilt that I have been working on.  The binding on the quilt will be the orange so it will all work out nice.  I got it for $16.99 a yard and it is extra wide.

 This charm pack is gorgeous and I want to make a cushion with it, the tutorial for it is here.

 I picked up a yard of this material.  Not sure what I am going to make with it yet, but I will make something.

So all in all it's been a busy couple of days, so I am tired.  I am still full of cold and have a nasty cough.  I am better than I was but still a way off from being back to full health.

All about houses.....

I will catch you up with our night out at the Art Gallery tomorrow.

Today we will talk about houses.  

This week's home of the week, is a $2.2 Million semi; excuse me did I say a semi, for that money I want a detached house!!  Now this house may look Victorian from the front, but wait until you see what they did to the inside.  I am sitting here with my mouth open and the question WHY??? running through my head.  Suffice to say you couldn't pay me to live in this place with what they have done inside,  How on earth they got planning permission for the back facade boggles my mind!

Now the condo of the week is a delightful $1.7 Million; where do they get these prices from???  Plus you're spending over $1,300 a month on maintenance fees?  After through the photos I see you are paying for the view over the lake (Ontario).  Still way over priced for a 2 bedroom and I agree with the one comment, no curb appeal for me either.

I got this article in my inbox also, about off the grid homes.  I had a look through the photos and must say I was impressed with some of them.  1, 5, 8, 15, 18, & 25, are ones I would love to live in, just by the looks of them.  Living off grid seems like a great idea, especially with the cost of utilities rising all the time, but not sure if that is a feasible thing at our time of life?

We have all see yellow school buses on the roads; well in North America we have.  Never thought though of turning one into a cabin.  I love what this couple have done to their yellow school bus; as not only is it cosy, it's functional and bright too.  See more here

Finally, I am not happy with my baby blanket I am knitting, so I am pulling it all out and starting again.  I have mulled this over for a few days and the way it looks at the moment, I wouldn't want to give it to anyone.

To cheer me up I am knitting a dishcloth:

Nice n' Easy type of day.........

well this type of Nice n' Easy!!

With our big night out looming and with us mixing with all the "well-to-do's" figured I better make an effort!!!  There are a lot of high flying folks that attend this event.  One year I stood and talked to a CEO of something or other, and he went on and on about the bloody value of all the pieces and how he chose his pieces on how much money they would make him in the future.

Me; well I pick what I like regardless of how much money they are or will be!!  And to my mind that's the way it should be.

Back to the hair I have been writing and complaining about my hair I think from day one of this blog, or near enough.  Here is a post back in May of 2008 that has me whining on about my hair.  (sorry about the deleted photos on that old post) Fast forward to April 2015 and I am still whining on about my hair. {SIGH}

Finally updated my grocery total's for this month and I can see me going way over budget now {{SIGH}}  It's because of the over the counter meds I have bought this past week or so.  Just worked out I have spent over $60 on those.  Now granted some will last for a while, but others are already gone.  Oh well some months you win, some months you don't!!

Message, Smurfette and a little finish........

Got this message from the Property Maintenance office:

Please find attached the Garden Stake System notice regarding garden maintenance.

The wooden garden stakes can be picked up at the PM office, or from the garden guys directly. Please note that for safety reasons, the grounds crew should not be approached directly. Please ask for assistance from a worker wearing a shirt with a collar only.

My question is, are only the workers with collar's trained to talk to regular folks and the other guys not????  The message makes the poor guys sound as though they are wild animals!!! They are not, they are all lovely guys who just want to get on with their jobs, and what this message is trying to say, don't keep nagging at them as that way they can't get their work done!! 

Dd called me on Monday night to tell me Our Little Munchkin got into the pantry cupboard and got hold of the blue food colouring. Ran into the living room with it and got blue food colouring all over the ottoman. She also got it all over her face, so she looks like a Smurf. Luckily dd has got the food colouring out of her ottoman and son-in-law wisely took Our Little Munchkin downstairs out of dd way!!! 

I was trying so hard not to laugh, or say been there done that and have the t-shirt!!! Part of the cleaning kit she used had a fabric spray so she used that and said it smelled lovely. I told her it was some sort of calming scent to stop the owners having a melt down when something like this happens!!  So we should now rename Our Little Munchkin and start calling her Smurfette!!

(image credit)

I have been working on my little cross stitch project and finally got it finished on Tuesday.  It's not only cute but useful: 

I need to iron it when I next have the iron out to straighten it out a bit. 

It's a...........

not a boy, nor a girl, but another bloody sinus infection!!!!  It's more or less two months to the day since I had my last sinus infection.  I am not happy.  For those of you who have medical knowledge is it common to have sinus infections like this close to one another?

Good news though the weather is miserable, cold, wet and even the threat of snow this week, so no major plans to go outside.  I do have the art gallery fundraiser on Thursday night, and unless I am on death's door I will be going!!  If you want to have a peek at what's on offer this year click on this link; it looks as though there have been some other works added.

I rather like this one, not sure what sort of bird that is.

This one also caught my eye. 

One thing for sure I will not be getting the royal family one.

I was "talking" to a fellow blogger and mentioned a "quick" project that you can pick up and work on for short periods of time, English Paper Piecing.  I gave her the link to this post and this post.  Here are more links to my work, here and here and here.  I think it is time to do some more of this.  

One thing I enjoyed doing was re-reading my old posts.  Do any of you enjoy English Paper Piecing?

Message to my dear husband:

(image credit)

I may have mentioned this once or twice before but my dear husband does not cook.  He does lots and lots of other things, but does not go into the kitchen.  So unless I make a huge recovery soon, it will be basic easy to cook fast food this week.  So no menu plan this week, as it will depend on how I am feeling as to what we have type of week.

I finished off the quilt top on Sunday as I thought that wasn't too strenuous a job:

 I have to say this quilt does not photograph well.  It's much nicer in real life.

The border and any other plain cream is Free Spirit Designer Solid in Natural.
The orange is Architextures by Robert Kaufman in Tangerine.
The rest of the material is Dear Stella Piper line.  

I am hoping I have enough orange left for the binding and I still have to pick up the backing fabric.  It's around 55 inches wide and 74 inches long.  It's for dd for her family room.

I have been watching this Youtube video:




I got this far before I managed to get totally confused.  It's the way I am holding the yarn which is confusing me.  It doesn't feel natural to me.  So I need some one on one time with one of the ladies I knit with to show me what I am doing wrong.

I am on with ball four of five with the blanket.  My tension sucks and is very "holey" in places...oh well onwards and upwards as they say.

99% sure it's not allergies.............

Still not well.  Still feel as though someone have just run over me with a bus.  I am sleeping a lot and got a tickly cough that won't go away.

I did read people's blog posts yesterday but didn't comment.  I was supposed to go with dh up to son's yesterday and don't feel well enough to go to our daughter's today.  Mind you I also don't want to give Our Little Munchkin this, as touch wood she has been well recently.

She moves up to the toddler room tomorrow, so a big day for her.  It will do her good, as she is getting bored in the baby room.  Here she is watering the "garden!"

Good to see how green the grass is looking.

Here is Our little man he was 7 months old last week:

Not sure who he looks like, but I do think he will be tall,  He's a smashing little boy.

Here he is with his sister who is 27 months going on 20 years of age!!!

She said to me the other day:

"Nana I pooped in the toilet."

I said, "Well done, Nana also pooped in the toilet today!"

We "talk" to all three grands most days via Face Time.  Mind you both girls have the attention span of a gnat!!!    How great is modern technology?

"Lord of the Dance,"

I have never heard this song in years......




Lyrics:
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem I had my birth.

Refrain

Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I'll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
But they would not dance and they would not follow me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
They came to me and the dance went on.

Refrain

I danced on the sabbath when I cured the lame,
The holy people said it was a shame;
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me high;
And they left me there on a cross to die.

Refrain

I danced on a Friday and the sky turned black;
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back;
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone,
But I am the dance and I still go on.

Refrain

They cut me down and I leapt up high,
I am the life that'll never, never die;
I'll live in you if you'll live in me;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

I guess I should have posted this on a Sunday?

Not sure if this is how I look?

But this is how I feel:

(image credit)

I can't decide if it's allergies or I am coming down with something.  My throat feels like it is on fire, and I am feeling cold; which never happens unless I am sick.  My head is all stuffed up.  Fingers crossed it's only allergies, as I will pick up allergy pills when I go grocery shopping today.

Onwards and upwards as they say {{{SIGH}}}

Shadows and reflections........

It was finally warm enough for me to open the garden doors in the back.  We hunted out the patio chairs on the weekend, but haven't sat out there yet.

 Reflections in the glass from the windows.

 You can see the actual colour of the glass here; they're from Pier 1.  I had just had a cool drink of ginger ale with ice.  Spent the rest of the day having the ability to burp the alphabet!!!  That is why I rarely drink carbonated drinks!!

 Look at all that sun shining in from the window.  Perfect place to soak up some rays!

All things creative today

How to make pinwheels:

How to make fruit roll ups....yummy!!


Here is where I am in my knitting, over half way through the yellow ball of yarn, two more to go after that:

Putting together a quilt top for dd that I started, ages, and ages ago.  First four rows done, it's a lot brighter in real life.  The blocks are a pinwheel variation, that I had done here.

Bought a ball of dishcloth yarn in an attempt to try and learn myself to crochet..........not holding out much hope though!!

I already have the crochet hooks, so it's not costing me a lot to see if I can do it.

I just posted another book review "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," by Lisa See if anyone is interested?  Great book I gave it a 5 out of 5!!

A Huge thank you everyone for your opinions.

I spoke to Frigidaire and got no where...no surprise there.  They said it was because I keep my fridge at 1 oC and that is why I have the problem; which by the way is a lot of bull.   As I pointed out there must be a heck of a lot of people who keep their fridge at the wrong temperature as there are a lot of people who have posted on the internet having the same problem.

I have the appliance repair guy coming over on Wednesday to deal with the issue and he is going to give my fridge a thorough going over so that we can make doubly sure that it's not something else.

I also have my secret weapon....DH....he brought home a gun thingy that measures the temperature of everything.  Very interesting, and I will make sure the appliance guy writes it all down.  I turned my fridge up to 3 oC as per Frigidaire and the different items in the fridge ranged in temperature from 1 oC in the "cool drawer" up to 7 oC.  That is quite a difference if you ask me.  This is not the end of the issue, I will keep you updated.

As far as the warranty situation goes, I have until the 12th of June to sort something out.  I have more or less made up my mind to take out an extended warranty on the fridge.  That is an expensive item and as we have had problems already I feel it would be prudent to take out the warranty.  I am undecided about the stove, again that was over $2,000 for that so it may be worthwhile.

I am also dealing with window issues.  Three on the main floor need adjustments, so not a big issue, it's the two sliders in the basement which I am very worried about.  I cannot open them at all.  Dh struggled to open them, he struggled even more to close them and they are not fully closed and therefore not locked.  Dh reckons the house has settled and has moved the windows out of square.  Goodness knows how they are going to mend them.

I would have normally left this to year end, but feel this is an issue that needs dealing with sooner rather than later.  I have a guy coming on Wednesday to go over any deficiencies.  I am not 100% clear about the ins and outs of this, but when filling out the forms we seemed to have a number of things to note.  So it should be an interesting day Wednesday, what with this guy, the appliance guy and I have the site super coming over to look at the basement windows.

So today I am going to my sit and knit session to relax (I hope). I am on with the custard yellow colour now, so moving along nicely.  I do still however want to learn how to crochet.  I am also putting together another quilt top.  I will share photos with you on Wednesday.

Extended warranty on kitchen appliances; Yes Or No?

When we moved to this house we had to buy new appliances.  We Dh decided to go all out and buy "good" appliances, so we bought all stainless steel Frigidaire Professional in the kitchen and just the regular Frigidaire washer and dryer.  We paid a LOT of money for all of these and figured we would be set for a long time.

We bought this fridge, and paid a pretty penny for it and have to say I have never loved it.  For one thing it's too small..........I know what am I saying, but I am used to a larger fridge.  It has the ice maker and water dispenser which we love.  Back in January though the ice maker starting making a grinding noise.  So in February I called in for a service call and it was under warranty.  Turned out it was a gasket in the ice maker by the motor.  So changed that and all was well......for around a month.  By the middle of March the noise came back, not as noisy but the same noise.  Called the service lot and told them about it.  After a long discussion I was told to listen out for it (as it doesn't happen that often) and before my year's warranty was up to call them in.

Called in at the store where we bought the appliances as we didn't take out an extended warranty on these appliances.  Imagine my surprise when he told me that it would cost around $850 for another four years warranty on all my appliances.  It goes on the amount you paid for them.

I mentioned the problem with the fridge and his advice was to get the service people out as soon as possible and also give Frigidaire a call and tell them what's what.  I asked him if he had heard of this problem and he said no.  Dh looked up on the internet and there are a pile of complaints about this issue???

$850 seems a heck of a lot for extended warranty, but when you factor in $100 for just calling out the service people then the parts on top of that, I guess it could cost over $200.  I have little faith in this fridge standing the test of time.  The stove was also expensive and will probably cost a lot if it breaks down; but $850!!!

I have more or less talked myself into taking out the extended warranty just to be on the safe side; but I am so not happy with the cost.

There will be a call into the service people this morning to get them to come out and a call to Frigidaire to tell them I am not a happy camper!!

Do you take out extended warranties on your kitchen appliances?

Is it Birkenstock weather yet?

I spend all the better weather wandering around in a pair of Birkenstock sandals.  They are not cheap to buy, but they are so comfortable to wear.  I wear this style:

Now I have been known to wear socks and sandal's as well; which I know is a fashion faux pas!

Care tips for Birkenstocks (from this site)

Apply cork sealant
Your new sandals already have a light coating of sealant to prevent the exposed cork from drying out. If the cork no longer looks shiny, apply another thin coat of a flexible sealing material. Done periodically, this application will prolong the life of your Birkenstocks.
Clean and protect uppers
Apply water and stain protector to leather, suede and nubuck uppers before wearing and after each cleaning. Keep suede uppers fresh looking with a suede brush. When the upper becomes soiled, use mild soap suds or clean with a commercial suede cleaner. For nubuck, use a nubuck block. Clean and condition leather with high quality neutral leather creams; use matching leather polish to cover scuff marks. Wipe Birko uppers with a damp cloth.
The inside of the footbed may also be washed with mild soap suds and a soft brush. Dry slowly, away from heat, to prevent cracking!
Avoid extreme heat!
The Birkenstock sole has been carefully selected for its superior qualities. It is lightweight, flexible, durable and shock absorbent. However, both the cork and soles can be damaged by exposure to excessive heat. Keep your sandals away from radiators and fireplaces. Never leave them in a closed car on a very hot day, or on the beach exposed to direct sun.
If your sandals become wet, let them dry slowly, away from direct heat.
If the soles should become damaged or worn, they can be replaced. Ask your Birkenstock retailer for assistance.
Colorfastness
Although we only use the highest quality leathers and test them for colorfastness, any dyed leather may shed some color. Please be very careful with delicate or light- colored socks, especially when your footwear is new.
Repair
Birkenstock footwear has been constructed using only the highest quality materials and can easily be refurbished.
Protect your investment and prolong the life of your sandals with Birkenstock heel and toe taps. Repair your sandals with original Birkenstock soles before they have worn through the cork footbeds. Cracked cork is easily repaired as well. Remember, a stitch in time saves nine! Contact the nearest Birkenstock retailer or see your local repair shop.

What is your go too footwear when the weather is nice?

Nothing to say..

got a case of:

(credit for image)

Happens to all of us, right?

Will be back tomorrow, with hopefully something to say!!

Here is a neat video:

Yummy birthday present..

Called in to see Our Little Princess and Our Little Man the other day.  They have just come back from India and were away for my birthday.  Now as I am super picky when it comes to food.  Plus I have more scarves that I know what to do with, and I have a couple of handbags that I use all the time, "R" was struggling to find me something in India for me.

She came up with the perfect gift; something I have never had before.  Mango Cornflakes:

They are really good.  The other flavours you can get in India, are Mango, Banana, Strawberry, Honey and plain ones.  Where you live do get different flavoured cornflakes?

 I also got this lovely silk change purse; so pretty and so useful.

Tuesday's knit and stitch.

I attended my second knit and stitch session on Tuesday and I am pleased to say I didn't have to "stay behind" class to have Angie re-do my work.  Would you believe I managed to drop a stitch and decided in my wisdom to pull out the row and then put all the stitches back on backwards...........I know who knew there was a right way and wrong way to put on stitches????

I have now knit one full ball of yarn in dark gray and have started on the light gray ball:

I'll let you into a little secret, I have "lost" a stitch somewhere as I now have 124 stitches instead of 125........oops.  I bought some stitch markers and boy do they make things a lot easier I have discovered.

"Y" is knitting with some fancy dancy yarn, and I think she mentioned a shawl or something?  She is the best knitter ever and also weaves, crochets.  She also has the funkiest hair ever.

"J" was starting on a pair of socks.  She is fun and was telling us a story about a friend of a friend who has a fish called "DWAYNE," as when he dies that's where he is going...........down the dwayne!!   No matter how many times I hear that I laugh.

Then there is "A" an expert knitter and so quiet, and such a good help when I make a mistake; which believe me is often!  She is knitting a sweater using a yarn with YAK wool in it.  It's super soft:

Finally there was Angie our beloved leader.  Patience of a saint; well she has to have dealing with me.  She was knitting a tank top, but it wasn't going as planned, so she pulled it all out and started again.  Me, I would have cried and had a melt down if that had happened to me, but Angie took it all in her stride.  That is why she is the one in charge!!!

If you want to learn more about The Knitting Basket, Angie has a Facebook page/site, Google it under The Knitting Basket, Alliston, Ontario.

Can't wait until next Tuesday as it is The Knitting Basket's 2nd birthday and "Y's" birthday as well!!

New Plant Stand.....

We popped up to the garden centre on Sunday and had a look around.  I had some money left on a gift card I had been given for my birthday so decided to buy a plant stand with it for the breakfast area in the kitchen.

It's metal and all folds up when not in use.  I may put cookery books on the bottom shelf.  The African Violet is on an old Tupperware container.  Perfect size for it.  It's that orangey brown colour from the 80's.

A closer look at the birdies on top of the unit.  Can you see the little squirrel door wedge to the left of the plant?  We bought it for the last house.  

Our menu plan for this week is very basic, LEFTOVERS!!  Not sure how long I can make the leftovers stretch, but I think they will last most if not all of the week.

We had ham, mashed potatoes, salad and coleslaw on Sunday night.  Ham, mashed potatoes, salad and baked beans on Monday night.  Ham quiche and salad on Tuesday night, with the last of the mashed potatoes.  Tonight will be ham quiche and salad again, with maybe a baked potato.  So that only leaves, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

I will make a pot of soup with the ham bone, and see how much we have left on Thursday.  Not bad from a ham that cost just under $10.

Top done....

It's 66 inches wide, and 85 inches long.  Now to get the backing material and get it too the lady who will quilt it.  Should have it back by middle of May.

Now to sort out a partially made quilt top I started ages ago.