UFO Update and pictures

Today is our day to post our progress for the UFO challenge over at Blackberry Creek Home Arts hostessed by Sue. I am so thankful that Sue has once again allowed me to take up the challenge for 2012. I was a bad bad UFOer last year and finished maybe two items. I think she understood why as just a couple of years ago she too lost her husband. So thank you Sue for hosting the challenge. My goals for this year are along the same lines as last year - to finish off all, some, hopefully more than one item this year. I have three quilts that need to be layered and quilted, I have one that I am working on the hand quilting and I have about ten or more embroidery projects that I would like to finish. Along with this, I am also challenging myself to use up some of my mounds and mounds of yarn. To that end, I have finished three little baby hats.

I originally am from the Calgary/Banff Alberta area and one of my nieces works at the Canmore hospital. My sister has been knitting small hats for the newborns and the preemie babies for a few years. The hospital now has opened a new section and is expecting 500+ babies to be born durng 2012. Quite a few of these babies will come from the Stoney Nakota reserve which is actually where I am from. Before I was born, there was a coal tipple (processing and loading) station on the reserve which serviced a mine that was in the Kananaskis region. The mine closed down before I was born. There was still coal to be shipped, cleanup to be done and disposal of equipment and buildings. My dad stayed on to do all that and to keep an eye on both the mine area and the tipple area. So these babies are related to the aboriginals that we knew and in some cases hung out with when we were young. The reserve is in not good shape these days (as are most of the reserves in Canada), and so I am so proud of my sister M. for taking up this challenge given her by her daughter. I have decided it is a good way to use up the extra bits of yarn.

All three

The Beanie

The Squash

The skier

I am not sure how long I will do the hats, guess it depends on the amount of yarn I find hidden.

Now a few pics of the new abode. I now live in a small town just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is quiet and it is new - so nothing to breakdown in the near future. I do miss the character of the older homes, but for now this is my choice. I need to regroup and rest from the last few years of struggle. 

The dining "room" and kitchen eating area.

I haven't found a small table for the kitchen eating area yet, so am using my sewing machine table.

My kitchen

The "living" room

The house has the great room concept.

I will add the rest of the pictures in tomorrow as when I went through them, well they just need to be redone.

Have a great day!

Blessings

Jean









Welcome to this New Year! It will be a year of opportunity, of life enriching experiences, of lots and lots of love and filled with hope. Praise the Lord for all that he gave us in the past and it will be so exciting to go through another year with him. I look forward to all the life changing he will be doing in each of our lives. This morning He reminded me of not carrying our own burdens, but to take his yoke upon us--- which is light. Thank you holy spirit for reminding me that this journey through widowhood is not to be walked alone. It is to be shared with him and with others. I believe it may be one of the greatest blessings he has given me. Now, don't get me wrong here. I love my children and loved my husband dearly, but this is truly the first time I am all on my own. During the past year I ran kicking and screaming and basically hating every day - but this past week my children had a wonderful opportunity to go west to visit my siblings and their families in the Calgary, Canmore, Banff area. So I didn't have anywhere I needed to be. I didn't have anyone I needed to talk to and truly TV and radio are boring. With me being isolated in this way, God certainly used this time to talk to me. I watched and learned from Charles Stanley, Joyce Meyer, James Robison, and a few Canadian chaps. I immersed myself in the word and was rewarded with much that I had temporarily forgotten. I say temporarily, because I believe that each time we read or here the word, that it is retain somewhere in our being and at just the right time God brings it out. At the time of reading or hearing we may say well that didn't teach me anything, but be patient cause it will mean something down the line.

We had a good Christmas! Christmas Eve was held at my new abode, and then my charming daughter-in-law N. sponsored Christmas Day. From the minute my door opened, it was like a train ride. The three grandkids and one "pretend" grandchild all came roaring through the door, dropping boots, coats etc and running into the first room of my house (the guest bedroom). They start out by jumping on the bed. It is an old bed, so I don't mind. From there it is onto my bedroom where I have the "giant" bed and so they must try that one out. From there it is a quick tour of the living area to see if there really are presents and snacks, then onto downstairs where the toys are. After checking the basement out it is onto playing hide-and-seek which takes them a while, after all they have to be patient with those little people. Then it is a big game of tag at which time the head upstairs for snacks. This whole episode takes roughly half an hour then it's when can we OPEN THE PRESENTS Grandmom!!! It was a good time in spite of the madcap adventures it was peaceful. For dinner Christmas Eve we chose to do something different so we had cheese fondue. I|t was enjoyed by all until the pot blew up. I am a great fan of PC (President`s Choice) appliances. I always find them to be of good quality, so I am sure that it was the operators and not the pot itself. * Note to self, next time have a couple of people in charge. I was disappointed that this year there were no later church services. In my new town, two churches had 4:00 service, one was 5:30 and one church did not have any service. I know it was because of the churches having regular services the next morning, but I still missed them.

On to creativity. With none, or next to none being done last year, this year I hope to feel more like doing something. So with that in mind I will be hooking up with Sue over at Blackberry Creek Home <script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?owner=MaryJean&postid=1_1_2012&meme=6982'></script> for her UFO Challenge 2012. She said she got 12 projects finished to my 3. I really hope to do better this year. I think that the main reason, was that my Glenn was my biggest fan and supporter of my creativity and it just did not seem right to work on anything. Hopefully my blogging will be much more regular also.

Enjoy this first day of this wonderful New Year.

Blessings
Jean