PUNS FOR EDUCATED MINDS

How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it....

Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!

A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool ...

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.

They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.

I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.

Jokes about German sausages are the wurst.

I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.

This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.

When chemists die, apparently they barium.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

All the toilets in New York 's police stations have been stolen. As of now, it appears the police have nothing to go on.

When you get a bladder infection you know urine trouble.

Broken pencils are pretty much pointless.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

I dropped out of the Communism class because of lousy Marx.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Velcro - what a rip off!

Fun Project for Cross Stitchers.........

 I saw this SAL (stitch along) on Facebook and I think I will join it....

I haven't heard of this person before, but it should be simple enough even for complete novice's if you want to follow along.  You can see more here.

Let me know if you plan on doing this?

Food Banks........

 The other day on the morning news was an article on Food Bank usage in Canada:

We are very fortunate that we don't have to use food banks, but many people have to use them.

Also on Facebook that morning I came across a new to me site called Dollar Tree Dinners.  She had a super idea where, put together a meal in cans or packages in a Ziploc/Plastic bag along with a recipe and it's a meal in a bag.  There are many examples of meal ideas on her site, all very doable, using what is available in your area/country.  These would be perfect to donate to food banks/food pantries.  This is one idea/recipe she posted:

She also has a You Tube channel called Dollar Tree Dinners.  As well as social media channels.  Well worth checking out her channels.

I also saw this article on Daily Mail UK, regarding Canned/Tinned "superfoods" you should always have in your pantry.  

As we are closing in on the holiday season I will pick up some extra cans of items for donation to the food banks.........

Seriously????

We have had our Patio set for many years and it has served us well.  The only issue we had with it, is storing it and how big the table is.  It seats six.

So we decided to get a smaller one.  I knew selling this one would be more hassle than enough, so decided to give it away for free.  I wanted to keep the chairs as there is nothing wrong with them.

I decided to advertise if for FREE on our local subdivision/estate Facebook site.  Sure enough a local guy said he wanted it.

He turned up and I sent hubby outside to help him lift it into the truck.  Thankfully I didn't go outside!!

As he said to hubby after looking at it in great detail, that no he didn't want it as it was scratched????

Not sure what he was expecting for FREE, but I can guarantee you won't get brand new for free!!

I posted it on our city's free site and it was gone the next day.

Meanwhile we bought this one on clearance in Home Depot.  It seats four and is big enough for us.

The audacity of some people........

Just makes you shake your head!!  Good for the guy standing up for himself.

Something a little different....

 This is so neat and different.......

Harry and Meghan....

We could all talk about those two until the cows come home and no one will know 100% what is going on in their heads......but I listened to what these guys said and have to agree when Eamonn Holmes says 'This is the biggest acting role she's ever had'

Like them or loathe them, it's a sad state of affairs.......

Fun one that you can join in with...

Saw this on Facebook.   What was the Number 1 song in your country on your 23rd birthday?

This was mine; it was number 1 for two weeks.

What is yours?

Crazy Lamp Lady

I have discovered this lovely lady on Facebook and Youtube.  She buys things at thrift stores and antique stores and then resells them for a profit.

I would love to do what she does, however it's not something I will be doing, so I watch her video's daily, and cheer her on from the sidelines!!

Do you have someone who you love to watch on Youtube or Facebook?

Still busy painting, so a shorter post today.

Goodness me......

 It's been forever since I last posted.  I am around, just didn't feel as though I have had anything worth sharing with you.  I have missed blogging though and I am finding the older I get the more I forget things 😊 so at least when I blog, I can look back on things and it reminds me.  I have to say that's one thing I like about Facebook, old posts pop up in memories and remind me of all sorts of things.

I have found since the covid pandemic things have been harder and even though we are all double vaccinated I am still not comfortable being out and about in crowds.  If people get close to me in the stores, even though everyone has masks on, I still don't like it.  I know people are travelling; but I am not happy doing that, though I would dearly love to go back to the UK for a vacation.  "R" and her family just came back from Mexico and the resort itself was fine, with only 25% capacity.  It was the travelling there and back that was stressful.  We are not willing to expose ourselves to those type's of situations yet.

We have gained another member of our family.  Our son and his wife had another gorgeous little boy back in June.  Evan James is growing like a weed and will be 2 months old in a couple of days time. He is our last grandchild.  Everyone has said their families are complete.

All the rest of the grands are growing like weeds also.  Nitara will be 9 in January, Nora will be 8 in November, Sam will be 7 in September.  Jeina and Paige were 5 in May & June.  Liam was 3 in May and Evan was born in June.  That's right I have four birthday's from the end of May until the end of June.

Dh is still working, in fact has never stopped during this pandemic, made no difference at all.  He will be having his annual vacation shortly thank goodness.  It has been hot and humid these past few weeks and it's really making dh weary.  We have no plans to go anywhere, but I do have plans for things that need doing around the house...he will be thrilled..LOL

I have stopped sewing for Appleby Lane, my poor hands are getting too arthritic to do a lot of sewing.  I just make odds and ends for the family and myself now.  So I have been busy making jigsaw puzzles and reading while hibernating from the heat.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.

So there you are a little catch up and I think I will start blogging again.  Keep an eye out for the next post.  Hope everyone is well and please stay safe.

Obsessed with these..

On a night I can sit for hours watching these video's on Facebook.  Love that they are using very short and all are so varied.

The one I watched the most was Gogglebox Fanpage  You can also watch them on Youtube here


 I also love Drew Binsky and all his videos on travelling all over the world, you can see them here on Facebook and here on Youtube Videos.  The following video is in Lebanon:


There are many more; that I will share with you over the next few weeks.

Today's Christmas song is an updated Christmas carol:

A few more photos of stock from Appleby Lane..

I made this pair of dinner plate cozies.  They are just like the soup bowl cozies but for dinner plates.  I have some large dinner plates that are 11 inches wide and they fit great on these.  They will be on my store site for $25 a pair.

 I made a matching pair of soup bowl cozies as well.  The back fabric is black on both sets.  They are fully reversible, washable, and they are 100% cotton, so are perfectly safe in the microwave.  The soup bowl set is $15.  If you take the matching pair of both the soup bowl and dinner plate cozies as a bundle it costs $35, so a savings of $5.  There is shipping on top of that, but I have a shipping special on at the moment.

I do have a couple other sets of soup bowl cozies ready to ship (see below).  I can make other's if you have a specific colour that you would prefer.  They make a perfect housewarming gift with a couple of soup bowls and some "fancy" soup mix........or make your own soup mix in a jar which is pretty easy. 

I am amazed these pouch and wristlet set's have not sold yet?  They are so useful and very versatile.  With the cork bottom and detachable wristlet/key ring they can do double duty.  Not sure which one I like the more?  How about you?

As not everyone goes onto Facebook, if there is something that catches your eye and would like more information about, or too order, please feel free to leave me a comment; I won't publish it and we can sort something out.  I have a "stash" of different fabrics, so let me know what you like and I can see what we can make for you.

Also if there is something you would like me to make let me know.  I am always open to new ideas.  Meanwhile if you click on this link it will take you to my Facebook Page.

Focus Gill..........

Must say my mind was all over the place on Monday.  Therefore I didn't achieve as much as I would have liked during the day.  Then I got onto the computer and time just flew by and everything came to a standstill.

One thing I was doing was looking for a lunch bag pattern with handles.  I found one, and set off to make one.  I found that the instructions were not clear and the further I went along with the pattern the more unclear it was.  It got to the point where it totally didn't make sense.  I was ready to throw the computer/sewing machine/me out of the window.  Then I had a light bulb moment 💡.......why don't I just sew it and take no notice of the instructions.  That is what I did and I made my first lunch bag.

 It's lined in waterproof material.

It's not perfect but now I know what I am doing, I will make more for the shop.

Busy few days

What with getting everything sorted out for the Facebook Shop and everything we have been up too these last few days have been a whirlwind of activity.

I picked up these two on Friday morning, Nora had a PD day at school:

Here they are having Kraft Dinner, and blueberries along with a YOP Yogurt drink and water for lunch...........all while watching Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Can you see the fabric on the bottom of the photo, got a big parcel delivered on Friday!!

Anyhow back to the girls.  You know if I could only bottle up a little of their energy and drink it I would be a whirlwind.  They never stopped all day, and neither did their grandparents.  I finally got them to sleep around 9pm.  Nana and Grandad were in bed not long after!!

Saturday saw them sleep in until after 7am.........which we were glad about, as it meant we were able to get up and have a tea before they materialized!!  We were having a bike ride around the block before 9am.  Though Paige's legs get tired peddling up the hilly bits so we weren't out long.  Grandad then had them to the park..............remember we live by the park...........such a blessing.  

At the beginning of Friday Nora could only manage getting across two of the bars on the monkey bars.  By Saturday she could do five of the six.  Next time I expect her to go right across.  When their parents picked them up before lunch, dd helped me with the Facebook Shop while their dad took them to their uncle and aunt's house for a pool party.  I dropped dd off there and they never left until after 6 pm.

We had a dump run Saturday afternoon to get rid of a pile of garden waste, as we are putting in a garden.  Then we had errands to run.  I picked up fish and chips for supper and they settled heavy on both our stomachs.  The older we get the less we can handle greasy food.

I sewed this custom set for someone on Saturday night, while dh watched woman's soccer.

Sunday the sun was shining and I hung the laundry out and ironed it all outside as well. 

However despite the lovely weather the mosquito's were out in force.  I mean we have mosquito's here the size of small birds I swear.  Poor dh was bitten to death working in the garden.  I cut the grass and even I was bitten.  They even got into the house despite the screens.

So in the afternoon we hibernated as it was too hot for us.  I spent some time doing some sewing, trying a new to me project which I hope to sell in my shop when I get all the kinks worked out.

So here I am writing this on Sunday night wondering where the weekend went too?  Did you have a busy weekend? 

Appleby Lane is now up and running...........

As I mentioned before it is a Facebook only store.  The link to the store is on the side bar, but also here it is.

For the people who do not use Facebook, I will do a post once a week updating what I have added to the shop, and if you are interested in anything just post a comment (I WILL NOT PUBLISH IT) with your email and I will get back to you.

The search for the store you need to search Appleby Lane 64 on Facebook.  I am also on instagram @appleby.lane64  I will say I am very new to instagram and don't fully understand it all, so again a learning curve for me.

As you will no doubt understand this is a work in progress and there will be many updates and changes while I am doing it.

Things will settle down and get back to normal on my blog, hopefully in the next week, as you all must be getting fed up of hearing all about Appleby Lane...LOL

Again, I will say thank you for putting up with me regarding this.  I would love it, if you could pass on the info on my shop to your friends.  I will be holding a giveaway in July to thank everyone for their support.

Appleby Lane - Tote's......

I actually like making tote bags the best of all things, no idea why?

I am very proud of the knitting bags, as this is my own pattern and as I knit I think it will work perfectly for it's purpose.

The bag itself is around 17 inches wide by 13 inches high.  It's 100 % cotton fabric and has fleece interfacing on all the exterior fabrics and light interfacing on the rest.  They are $45 each, and are heavy duty and well worth the money in my humble opinion.  They are made with love, as I thoroughly enjoy making them.  I just love this fabric combination, the red just pops and red is my favourite colour.

 It has a magnetic snap and two big pockets on the inside for all your bits and bobs.  On either end of the bag there are two outside elasticated pockets that are around 8 inches deep.

 Closer look at the inside pockets.

 Exactly the same but different fabric.  Isn't this a fun fabric?

 Again a close up look at the pockets.

 This bag will hold a lot.

I do have a little of this yarn fabric to make another knitting tote.  It's yellow, coral, teal and grey.  I should be listing in the next few days, time permitting.

The Farmer's Market Foldable Totes, are made with an indoor/outdoor type fabric.  They are 16 inches high and 14 inches wide and fold down to around 6 inches square.  They are not lined but are durable, machine washable, and all the seams are enclosed with french seams.  These are so useful and so pretty.    They are $15 each.  Do you like the sunflower buttons, very Farmer's Market-isque!!  

Thistle Canvas Tote,  17 inches wide by 15 inches high.  Fully lined with a large pocket and a magnetic snap closure. $25  Heavy Duty, prefect to carry around everyday.  I could see this being used as a book bag.

 Green leaf cotton lining.  Matching large pocket.

I will be making more tote bags, I just haven't had time to make more before opening the shop.  If you have time check my Facebook Page Appleby Lane by mid-afternoon Canadian time on Saturday.

Appleby Lane...................

As I have mentioned before hand, I have been busy and had hinted in this post, something was "afoot."  So here you go, you all deserve a peek into what I have been doing and what is happening.

Welcome to:

I am opening up an online Facebook store called Appleby Lane.  The name has some meaning to it.  I lived in the town of Appleby, Cumbria for around 21 years; it's the town I grew up in.  I was going to use the Cumbrian word for lane which is LONNIN, instead of Lane for the name, but decided no one would have any idea what it was.  So Appleby Lane it is.

After listening to what a number of people were saying, both on here and in my personal life, I thought I'd give it a go.  I have decided to go the Facebook route to see if I can sell anything, as who knows if anyone will like any of my items?  Or be willing to pay for them.

Over the years you will have seen what I am making, and over the next few days I will give you a preview of items and basically give you first chance of the things I have made to sell.

This "store" will be a work in progress and a learning curve for me, as I have never done this sort of thing before.  I do know I won't be making millions doing this.....truthfully I will be barely breaking even, but I enjoy sewing and especially love doing bags.  

I will not be selling the "fancier" bags, but the totes, etc.  I need to keep an eye on the price point.  Already, I had someone saying that they can go out and buy a tote for a couple of dollars in one breath and then saying "but yours are very nice," in another breath.  Talk about mixed messages!!

If anyone has any advice for me, I would welcome it and as I said over the next few days, I will share with you what I have made and what prices I will be asking.

The Facebook store should be open on Saturday afternoon/night I am hoping, until then, I will be setting it up with my daughter.

Owl Be Sewing..........

I have been following this company on Facebook for a while now and she has some really good tutorials on you tube.  While in Brampton on Saturday we popped by the store so I could see everything in person and what a little jewel it is.

There is a fantastic selection of fabric to gaze at.

Look at the vintage sewing machines on the top shelf.

Every where you turn there is more fabric.

These little Ariel Clam Bags are just precious.  I can see some of these being made on my sewing table soon.

The store is in an area where all the units are stores on the bottom and two storey homes above.  It makes for a really nice area.

Such a pretty tailors mannequin in the window.

Of course I had to buy a couple of things while there.  There will be some lovely things made with this fabric.

 She has a lovely clearance section and I picked up these two fabrics, I can see toiletries bags being made with this.

You can check out Owl Be Sewing's web site, www.owlbesewing.ca.  She ships her products all over.  I will be popping into the store every time I am in Brampton from now on that's for sure.

Busy day Sunday.......

We worked away all morning in the garden and got the rest of the side of the house finished, except for putting some gravel in the window wells; they are a little short of gravel.

Got the mulch on sale at Home Depot, 4 bags for $10.  Never bought black mulch before, it is quite stinky, no idea what they put on it?

 All seeded, top dressed and watered, so fingers crossed everything grows.

We have a large expanse of grass on the side of the house, and the previous owners had planted three pinky winky Hydrangeas there.  For anyone who cuts their grass you know as well as I do what a pain in the butt it is having to cut round small things like that. 

 So we took them out and covered the holes with sod and soil and grass seed. I put the hydrangeas on the front lawn, posted them on our subdivision Facebook page for free and they were taken within the hour. Can you see all the lovely yellow flowers we have?

I went out and bought a new dandelion/weed extractor.  It's a Fiskers one, this one and it is on sale at Canadian Tire this week for those in Canada.

It works great and is simple to use.  I am even going to get my 5 year old granddaughter to give it a go next time she is up.  Very worth while buying, especially if you hate dandelions like I do!!

Fitzroy, Australia and lawnmower's.......

 When we decided to move from the UK  dh had a job offer in Australia.  At that time in the late 80's the soap opera Neighbours was a huge hit in Australia.  We ultimately decided that Canada was the place for us and here we are nearly 30 years later.

We are watching the series "Offspring," on Netflix at the moment, it's about an Australian Obstetrician Nina Proudman and her extended family.  The series is shot around the suburb (town) of Fitzroy in Melbourne.  I love the series and the characters, but most of all I love the houses in that area.  They are so "just me," so bright and airy and so different.  There is even a Pinterest board that shows different locations where the series was shot, here.  You can see different photo's of the lead character Nina's house here, it's gorgeous.

Just found a blog post here about Nina's apartment, so bright and airy.  I then went and googled houses for sale in Fitzroy and had to pick my mouth up from the floor...........here you check them out.  Talk about bloody expensive, obviously I know nothing about Australia real estate.  The exchange rate between Australian Dollars and Canadian Dollars is more or less on par.  

There is even a guide here that tells you where to visit to "relive" where characters from Offspring, shot their scenes. 

Now onto the lawnmower part of this post.  Bet you're wondering what one thing has to do with the other right?

At our old house all the gardening was taken care of, here we have to do it ourselves.  So ds gave us back our old lawnmower.  We got this one, I think three houses ago, so it was probably 15 years old.

To cut a long and boring story short, it was toast.  Dh gave himself a near hernia trying to start it, so I decided to put it on Facebook to sell.  The guy who came to pick it up was from Australia and lived very close to Fitzroy and knew the area well............small world or what?  So he took the lawnmower.  We went out and bought this one from Canadian Tire.  Electric start, so all I have to do is press a button.  Now it just has too stop raining!!