A surprise hit at Christmas....

I bought the older five grandkids, XL cross stitch kits for Christmas, as they looked simple and easy to make.  They are from Anchor and called Big & Easy Cross Stitch XL.  Here is a link to them on their site.  Now I bought them at Fabricland close to where I live and I got them on sale.

Here is the one that Jeina made, and she will be 8 at the end of May.  Hers was two cats kissing and she did a super job.

She was so proud of how neat and tidy her back was, as was I.  For the first time doing it she made an excellent job.

The two older girls got the London one on the site.  Sam got an "&" sign one in black to do and the two younger girls got the cats one.

I helped the Brampton crew start theirs off when they were up for a visit.  Nora did hers, as I had taught her how to cross stitch.  Not sure if Paige got hers finished or not.  

I would say for children aged 7+ they are a perfect way to introduce cross stitch.  Also it is a finished project, as it's already on a canvas so ready to hang.  Depending on what the canvas is of, these can be done in a weekend no problem.

A tip and a recommendation

At our 2022 Christmas party one lady gave us all her favourite body lotion as her favourite thing.  Here is a link to the Company, it looks as though it is Canadian based but you can buy this brand on Amazon as well.

This lasts a long time as it is so rich and creamy and a little goes a long way.  I find that during the winter with the heating on my legs get so dry.  I have been alternating between this product and the Body Shop's body butter.  The basd is a much more richer product for your body.

I am coming to the end of the tube.  So I cut my tube into three, like below.

I threw out the middle section and placed the top section over the bottom section and so I can get every last drop of the lotion out of the tube, by removing the top section.

It also help this product is creme brulee scent and creme brulee is one of my favourite desserts!!

Costco and cooking

Went to Costco on Monday morning to pick up a few things, as we are forecast for snow for the next few days.  Just renewed my membership, so going into my second year with the membership and very happy with it.  I did spend $75 on that lot, but there is 3 weeks worth of bread, probably the same with the yogurt.  Same with the fruit snacks.  There are ten pieces of garlic naan, so that will be part of five meals for the pair of us.  The hummus was a great deal at $6.99 for 24 mini containers.  I have one with rice crackers for my lunch every day.

Now one thing I did buy were these kitchen garbage bags.  It's the first time I have bought them.  They were $19.99 and they will last me probably just over 2 years.  I normally empty our kitchen bin a couple times a week.

This is our kitchen bin, it's under the sink.

It turns out that they are exactly the same as the ones I buy in Walmart and they are about a 1/3rd cheaper than if I were to buy the same quantity in Walmart, so a win, win situation.

Made a garden salad on Monday morning for a couple of days.  This is the before:

This is the after.  It's a bit heavy on the tomatoes, as they needed using up as they were going soft.

Also had some potatoes that needed using up.  Diced them up and put the dressing over them and will roast them in the oven while I bake a quiche.

Now granted prepping all those veggies took a while, but supper is now organized for the next couple of days.

Do you cook once and eat multiple times in your house?
 

One week down

 and here is the progress.  It is going to be blue's and greens this month.  We are actually having hotter than normal temperatures for this time of year.  I am just doing the daily high without the windchills.  In the summer it will be the same without the humidity.

I can't do the back stitch around each month until the month has finished.  However, I did a little so you can see it will pop when finished.

I don't have it in a hoop or frame as I am doing a little at a time.

Pulled out some more fabric and threads to start on another project for Christmas 2024.

I am also in the middle of a puzzle I got from Christmas.  It's proving harder than it looks!!

Love a good deal.........

I popped to the garden centre on Friday, as I knew they were having an end of season sale.  I picked up this puzzle at 50% off. 

I am struggling to read the signs on my cross stitch pattern, so I picked up this magnifying glass to see if that will help.

I bought three stems of these jingle bells before Christmas and I loved them on my tree.  So I picked up another 10 stems at 50% off

Now as an added bonus I have some garden centre points I had forgotten about, and so I got an added discount when I cashed in my points.  

I just read this book, got it at the auction house for $1,  It was really good and well worth reading.  You can read a preview here.

It was a good shopping trip!

Wednesday was a good day............

 I started off the day baking some Peanut Butter cookies, using this recipe.

Now the reason I made these; I was gifted a small box of Hershey Kisses for helping a neighbour with her garage door.  Honestly it was nothing, it wouldn't shut and I told her someone had moved her sensor, so moved it for her.

The cookies were okay, a little too sweet, but they made a nice change.

Later on in the morning Liam came to stay with us, as both his parents were working.

So we went to MacDonalds for lunch.  This location had just been renovated and it was really nice.  We got a gift card for Christmas and it came with a coupon for a free Big Mac.  So I had that for my lunch.  I don't know when I last had a Big Mac and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Liam had his usual kids meal.  Did you know that you can now order an "Adult Happy Meal," and that too comes with a toy.

When we got home Liam and I did some painting.  I will say I am not a fan of painting, even kids painting.  Liam was happy and it was educational, trying to remember what colours mixed together, made other colours.

Then no visit would be complete without watching Blippi and playing with lego.

If you're a parent of small children, or a grandparent of small children you know who Blippi is.  Hate is a strong word, but I am so very close to hating Blippi.........just saying!!  He is the most annoying person around......a rich one no doubt but still annoying.  His voice grates on me.

He was picked up around 3:30 pm a happy camper.  Thoroughly enjoyed myself, but will say I was tired.

"The List."

 

image credit

This time of year hubby and I always sit down and have a talk about what jobs need doing around the house.  I am a creature of habit and I like to plan out things ahead of time.  I will say this year our list is nice and short, as we have done a lot of the main jobs that we wanted to do over the past couple of years.

So this is our list for 2024:

• Re-sand the front walkway, as it has moved.  This will involve using a pressure washer and hiring a tamper from a DIY store.  It sounds like a big job, but it's pretty straight forward.  We did the back patio a couple of years back and it's still as good as new. Probably $200 for everything if that.  The most expensive thing will be hiring the tamper.
• Re-jig our closet.  Again not a huge job as I have figured a couple of things out.  I want to get the most use out of the space we have.  This will involve buying a chest of drawers and doing some drywall touch ups where we have to take down shelves and repainting it. So under $500 for everything, which will be cheaper than getting a company in to do it.
• Decorate the basement.  This is a HUGE job, only because it is carpeted and full of furniture.  This job will be done at the end of the year when hubby retires. No idea on the cost....hoping to be under $500 for all the paint and drywall compound; we have a lot of nail pops in the drywall.
• Finish off the laundry/storage room.  Again, a big job that will be started at the end of the year and may work it's way into 2025.  Again no idea on the cost at this point in time; I will estimate $2,000 as it's a bare space, so walls and ceiling are to finish and flooring to put down.

The last two jobs we are not in a rush to do, so they may be included in 2025 as well.

Not sure what other jobs will pop up through the year, but these are the main ones.