Some things I am whining about.......

Had a run in with the garbage man, as he wouldn't take my green bin as it contained yard waste as well as food waste.  I thought if the green bin wasn't full you could top it up with yard waste.  Have done this time and time again and had no problem.  Things have changed so he said and no yard waste is allowed???  He then said in loud slow words; "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

I thought to myself, I speak English and I am not deaf......should have said it out loud, but couldn't be bothered to argue with him anymore, so walked off.

Went through the MacDonald's drive through and ordered a couple of coffee's, a couple of muffins and asked for butter.  There is one woman who works there that has a problem with my accent.  By the time I had gone through the order numerous times and two other cars had gone through the other lane with their orders, we got it right.  By this time I was ready to bang my head against the dashboard.

By the way, the way I pronounce "butter" was the major stumbling block in all of this.  Canadians pronounce it "BUDDER."

At the beginning of the month I sent a 11 1/2 " by 15 " envelope to New Zealand.  I sent the same envelope with the same stuff in it to Prince Edward Island in Canada on Friday.  Not only did it cost more to send to PEI, it will take bloody longer also!!!  Not sure what to say other than Canada Post sucks..........

Finally I own a delightful Ford Fiesta.  Great little car, other than the bloody transmission.  There is a known problem with the transmission and I have had mine replaced.  I have also had it reprogrammed twice and I feel there is still a problem.  They have told me I have to live with it, but after "juttering" around town yesterday I had, had enough.  So I marched into the dealership and told them they HAVE to do something.  I take it next Wednesday for them to test drive it with the computer?  What that will do who knows, but at least they are doing something.

I think they probably knew by my demeanor I wasn't in the mood to be fobbed off again!

Now a bit of good news after all that moaning.  I "think" we have a guy lined up to do the drywall in the basement.  Dh has to go over the fine details with him, but it should be a go; I am hoping by the end of May.  The guy seemed alright and his price was not the cheapest, but not the dearest.  So fingers crossed it all works out.

This is getting ridiculous.......

This is what our front lawn has looked like since December of 2015:

Back when they originally built the subdivision/estate the builders ran a pipe from the old water pumping house to where a second one would be built.  Fast forward x amount of years and the new pump house has been built just down the road from us.  So that both pumping houses "talk" to one another electronically, a fibre optic cable has to be fed through the pipe.

That's when they ran into a "situation" and the pipe was bent or something??  So they dig up our front lawn, then promptly fill it back in again, then decide that was a mistake and dig it back out again.  There is a big man hole and a smaller manhole under that plywood, plus around a foot drop in grade.  They filled it part way up with "stuff," not sure what but it's not soil.  

Since then nothing has happened.........absolutely NOTHING!  I have asked various people and they seem to think we are still waiting for the fibre optic cable to be fed through the pipe.  I have sent the property management an email, waiting to hear back from them.  

We have the "big" boss' son moving in opposite us, so I need to watch out for the boss and grab him and see if I can pry some information out of him.  The gardeners are back for the season and you know if you have followed the blog for a while what a love/hate relationship I have with them.  However, even they can't make the garden look any worse at this point???

Anyone who asks me about the hole in my garden I tell them I have renters in there and I charge a lot!  Meanwhile the dogs love going past there as there are chipmunks hiding out in the hole.........as I said this is getting ridiculous....

Our Little Munchkin's things I have made her......

First, thank you all for your lovely comments.  I really appreciate them.  

Our Little Munchkin was two in November and is growing so fast.  Since she moved up a class in school, her talking has improved ten fold.......to the point she never shuts up!!!  She is so funny and comes out with the funniest things.  Her latest is, "I'm tired," said in a whining voice when she doesn't want to do something.  Then for extra effect if her mother is about she will snuggle into her and suck her thumb, which she does when she is tired.  However........if you wait a minute or two she forgets she said she is tired and is running around like a crazy person again!

She had the biggest meltdown the other night, because her dad put toothpaste on her toothbrush and she likes to do it.  Dd sat her in her bedroom and dd sat on the bed watching her till it all blew over, then she got into bed and went to sleep for the night.  I would love to be able to understand a toddlers mind.  Our Little Man can go into full meltdown mode if someone else other than him puts his clothes into the laundry hamper???

As I said to dd, this is why young people have children, as us older ones would be worn to a frazzle with toddler's and their meltdowns!

Anyhoo, back to what I have made for her.  I did show you the apron, as she loves to help in the kitchen.  However don't ask her to wear it any other time, as she won't, it's specifically for helping in the kitchen.  When she tried it on to show me it fit, she was Facetiming me.  She promptly took the phone and popped it into the apron pocket and wandered off, with me shouting, hello, I'm still here!!

I also made her, her first handbag/purse, I used this pattern and altered it to suit me:

I did make a matching change purse to go inside of it, but didn't take a photo.

I also made all three grands little pixie baskets a while back.

Finally here is a photo of her taken at the beginning of the month for picture day at school.  Now her dad had to get her ready as her mum was at work, so her hair is straight forward, (actually not sure what dad did to it?), as dad like Nana doesn't have the expertise to do the fancy braids like her mum does.

The dress is from the Gap, as we bought it, and probably the rest of the outfit is as well.  We get great deals from the Gap when the sales are on.  She is super tall and is in a 3T and in some cases a 4T because of her height.  She is at least a head bigger than most kids her age.  Her dad is over 6 feet.

Photo heavy.....what I have been doing these past couple of days.....

A dear friend from Prince Edward Island's daughter is going to university in the Fall in Ontario; so I decided to make a couple of things for her.  She likes blue, so I am hoping she will love all of these.

I made her a hanging organizer.  The top strip has four pockets in it, the middle has three pockets in it and the bottom has two large ones.  This one is only 14 inches wide and I used the leftover material from Our Little Man's car organizer.  All the fabric I used for the pockets was doubled over and the yellow fabric has interfacing between the layers to make it stronger as those are quite large pockets.

 The blue fabric sort of reminded me of the sea, which I thought she would like.

 I then made a pixie basket, a key pouch and a pencil case/pouch.

 I lined the pencil case and key pouch with a bright green for a fun punch of colour.

 The pixie basket tutorial is here.  I warn you these things are addictive to make and are super useful.  I keep my clips I use for sewing in mine.

 There are plenty of simple pouch tutorial's all over the web, here is a good one.  I love that pop of green.

 I love this key pouch and it was pretty easy to make.  The tutorial is here.

Again I used that pop of green in the lining.

I have to admit I am finally getting a bit better sewing in a zip.  It just takes practice.  One thing about all these projects they are all fast and all use up scraps of material.  I know the key pouch will be on my list of things to make, as it is super useful.

Our Little Princess......

well she was 3 in January and so grown up for her age.  She loves her little brother and is a great help to her mum.  Her favourite colour is pink and then says Our Little Munchkin's favourite colour is purple.........whether Our Little Munchkin has said that is another thing...LOL  She should be a lawyer when she grows up, as she can argue the hind legs off a horse!!  Love her to bits though........just try not to argue with her...LOL  Again don't have a current photo, but will take one next week when I see her.  Like her brother I made her an apron, love this fabric and you will see more of it over the coming days.

Actually this is Our Little Munchkins apron, but Our Little Princess' is the same, I just made the binding to match on hers though.  The link for the pattern is on yesterday's post.

I also decided to make her a bunny bag, from the March issue of Pretty Patches magazine.  The fabric I used was leftovers from Our Little Munchkin's original nursery things.

 I personally found this bag a bit long, and if I made it again I would change up a few things.

 I followed the pattern to the letter.

I made a matching pink change purse to go with it for her.

See Archie The Alien, you will see my version of it, in another post  I am really enjoying Pretty Patches magazine.  I buy it in Chapters and it is a British magazine and quite expensive though at $13.99, but lots of neat things in it.  I am still using my gift cards I got for my birthday to buy them.

Is there a magazine you buy every month?

Our Little Man........

Our Little Man, turned 19 months in April and he finally had his first hair cut.  He had to wear it in a "man bun," which although fashionable, made him look like a girl.  He now looks like a true boy, thank goodness.  I don't have a recent photo of him, but will post one next week when I see them.

He is the shy, quiet type of boy and although not talking much gets his point over.  Mind you with his sister, who is affectionately called, Miss Chatterbox," he probably can't get a word in anyway!!

I have been sewing up a storm and have made Our Little Man a couple of things which I am hoping he'll love.  He loves to empty the dishwasher, so made him a Minion apron using this pattern.

I bought the bias binding for this one.  This is the third one I have made; will share photos of the other two over the next few days.

He has a lot of those little cars and so I thought I would make him something to store them in.

I used this tutorial as a guideline and added my own touches to it. 

I made it the width of the coat hanger.  I bought .85 of a metre of a cotton twill fabric as it had a bit more substance to it.  DO NOT use a lighter weight fabric.  For the pockets I used a cotton fabric.  I wanted to have a car fabric, but made the mistake of using a cheaper cotton; suffice to say it looks like I couldn't cut the fabric straight. It was a miserable fabric to work with.

I cut four inch panels of the car fabric and turned under a 1/2 inch hem top and bottom.  The pockets are around 2 1/2 inches wide each, but in future I will make them some of them a bit bigger to hold larger cars.  Adapt the pattern to suit your needs.

If adding embellishment's to the top, add them before you sew it all up!!!  I didn't and suffered for it.  I have enough of the blue fabric left to make a narrower version of this, using a bra hanger...........however I will adapt this as I want to make something for a teenage girl.

I have to say I am very pleased with how his projects turned out.  I have another thing planned for him, but not sure when I will get it finished.  I find there are lots of things to make for little girls, not as many for boys.  What do you think?

I know are you shocked, to see a post from me???

I know I am.  Can't believe it's been two months since I have last posted.  So I guess a catch up is in order.

The snow has gone..........well I hope so....there is a rain/snow mix forecast for Monday.  I had turned off the heating, but had to put that back on.

The count down has began for the babies.  One should be here within the month, the other a week or so later.  So I have been sewing up a storm for the new babies and the older grandchildren.  I will share over the next few days.

As far as renovating the basement goes I am ready to pull out my hair/hit my head against the wall with trying to find a contractor to drywall the basement.  So far this has what has happened:

1. First contractor showed up more or less on time, however a week and a half later we are still waiting for a quote?  Should have it by the first of the week.......
2. Second came, measured up and called two days later saying the job was too big for him?????
3. Via Facebook, promised to call two times, still waiting ........
4. Called a one recommended by a local hardware store, "he may call back when he gets time!"
5. Called another one again recommended by local hardware store.  Made an appointment never turned up and never called??
6. Facebook contact turned up, and discovered he hangs the drywall but does not do the sanding and taping??
7. Called another recommended by another local hardware store.  Didn't call when he said, but did two days later and turned up on time when he said.  He was actually nice and knew what he was talking about and can do it by the end of May/beginning of June; just waiting for a quote from him.

If people don't want the job, just tell me.  If you are going to be late, just call me.  If you have to cancel, fine just let me know..........that's not asking a lot in my opinion?

If I can get a quote from number 1 and compare it with number 7, we will go with number 7.  At this point I just want it done.  Dh is on doing the electrics and will be done by the end of May.

I have made a big pot of meat sauce using this recipe, so now to go and make a couple of things with it, including a lasagna.  The sauce does look good though:

Of course more has happened, will fill you in over the next few days.  If you are reading this thank you for sticking by me!!