LAST DAYS

In the next couple of days I will be moving to a new village within the province of Manitoba. I have enjoyed living where I am right now, but I am thoroughly in love with my new house on my new cul-De-sac. When I open my windows I hear meadow larks, robins, those darn pesky grackles, and a whole bunch of birds who I had forgotten existed. I will miss my daily visit with the foxes, coyotes, deer, rabbits etc. that take their early morning trek through my back yard on their way to the local watering hole, which is a farmers dugout. As I am right on the edge of town and farmers fields, I am going to assume many animals will trek through. Where I am right now, these animals and I had come to the point of having eye contact. They would stop and stare at me through the window and I in turn would stare back, sometimes very quietly saying something I knew they could not hear through the glass and even saying a prayer for their safety. Yes, where animals are concerned I am a big old softy. It comes because I grew up in what I call the silent house. My parents - when they chose to both be living there -  never talked to one another - at least not in my presence. I know the communicated, they each knew where each other were and what was up. The farm animals and so some extent the wild animals became my world. God used them to teach me many lessons in life and so when I got to school and learned about the life cycle I could already envision it in my mind. God in his infinite wisdom did that for me with regard to a lot of things. I could watch my aunt create a quilt, hook a rug, work on embroidery and just by watching I got the general idea and so could go on to create and understand the process. Same with cooking, I was a natural. At a very young age I could read a recipe and then just do it. My mother did get me going on the terminology and she had a wonderful cookbook/etiquette book/everything else book that I read almost cover-to-cover. In one of our moves it went missing and I often look at junk-jumble-garage sales and antique stores looking for a replacement. I have never found one. It had all the terminology, recipes, how wash clothes, how to get stains out - almost everything you could imagine. When it came time for brownie badges, well, that is where I learned to set a breakfast table, a luncheon table, and a formal dinner table. Got that badge in good time. Because of what I learned, I have always been an experimenter in the kitchen. I have always had a love for crystal, china - all the fancy stuff. Both my brother and I did a bit of growing up in our community. By that I mean there were times where we had to find shelter for the night. One lady Mrs. Gaskell who often took us in was a lovely woman whose descendants had come from England. She set her table in a marvelous way every day and was a stickler for etiquette. For the most part that is where both B. and I got our manners from. Came to good use when we had to go to business dinners, weddings etc. Her and her husband came very close to being our parent models and they performed admirably. There were other people in the community that took us in when needed and taught us both other skills. The saying that it takes a village to raise a child was certainly true in our case and I am hoping that all these people were truly blessed for what they did for us.

Anyway, once I move, I may or may not be able to have internet. The usual ways are not available out in the boonies. I do have a list of options though. The problem is that I have three blogs and both google and blogger are not great when you change providers. For instance google will only allow me to sign in under an email I had three years ago. I have attached my present email and tried to make it my main one but to no avail. Long story short - if you don't see anything here in a long while, it will mean I have had to start a different blog. Not sure what it will be called. My other two Fleming Fun In The Sun and Living life in the.....Seniors lane will also need to be restarted. I so loved my title for my general life blog. Will have to see what I can do to fix it. Have contacted google and asked questions on blogger but as you all know there appears to be no help. I will try to set up new ones today and will do a post tomorrow about new names etc.

QUILTING

This morning I started a Jean quilt. On this one I will not be using any leftover jeans, as the ones I have need to go into quilts for my kids. The jeans were all my husband's and so I need to dole them out wisely. This quilt will be for someone else. My jean quilts are meant mostly for use as picnic blankets, so I put a ripstop nylon on the back in case there is any moisture on the ground. I use mine also for on picnic tables or on the benches - depending how grungy/dirty they are. I saw somewhere where they made a couple of those short bed quilt runners that people are putting at the end of the bed, again out of jean material and voila you don't have to worry about what the kiddies are touching or sitting in. It will be a slow process as I just sold my house. I need to be out by June 28th and I still have not found a place. I probably will need an quick possession date so if there is anything I need to do before I move in, well it can get done without a lot of stuff in the way. I actually had a tiny look a couple of months ago - found one, saw it again on Monday, then saw a few more and found one more possibility, but I feel I need to have about three up my sleeve as they still have those bidding wars up here and I have set myself a stick price limit. Bidding on the second one is Tuesday, so will see what happens. I really don't want to have to stay in my son's unfinished basement if I can help it. Though I wouldn't turn it down. We have a 0.001% rental rate up here, so there are no rental units available. We have two universities here and the kids either don't give up their apartments over summer, or their parents have bought houses and they rent out rooms. Markets are very tight. I saw one place on Monday where they had 72 couples go through, and they knew at least 6 offers were coming in. They changed the house buying rules up here, so fewer people are moving and there are fewer buyers, but not enough to go around.

Anyway, have a great week.

Jean

NOTHIN' DOIN'

That is what I feel like and that is exactly what is going on right now. I have been busy, but sad to say no creativity at all. It has been birthday after birthday after birthday. Right now we are caught up until mine in August - which we don't celebrate at all - too busy time of year. So, the next big birthday will be for little P who will be one the end of September.

Other than that, I live in a construction zone eight houses being built and mine is for sale. I am sure you can envision just how hard it is to keep on top of the tracked in mud, the dust and all the crap flying around and landing in my yard.

So, from here on in until who knows when - hopefully tomorrow - there will be no creativity going on in my life.

Have a great week each and everyone. Enjoy the beautiful weather we now have.

Jean

THE LEAP

Today, I started a new blog. It will be about being a senior and widowhood. It is called Living in the .....Seniors lane. Every time I start a post where I want to describe or show pictures of my stitchy things, it always ends up being life related. I want to keep the two separate. In the past few weeks, I have been working at finishing my UFOs - all ??teen of them. I also hope to get into some other types of creativity and may showcase them there also. In a couple of weeks it is my daughters 35th birthday and I have been working on a scrapbook of her and her dad. She is not aware of this project, so please don't spoil the surprise. I will take pics before I give it to her, but won't show them on here until after her special day. Right now I am working on a sweater for the middle grandson. He will be 4 this week and I need to get it done before we have our special birthday day together. I try to take each grandchild out just me and them for a day to do something special. This is a hard one this week as two of my grandsons are born on the same day, but 8 years apart. So, pictures to come and maybe I will get a picture of the granddaughter in he sweater I made for her birthday. Stay tuned for the excitement!

Jean

GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT

Yup, that is what I am. It is spring (well sort of) and in this lovely season and in fall, I always, always have a major arthritis flair. So, what did I do today? Offer to take three of my four grandkids for the afternoon and then give said grandkids and their father supper. Mom had a wedding shower to attend. We had fun though....except for little P. He is at the make strange stage and I almost had to stand on my head to get him warmed up to me. As I put on my facebook page - They came - they destroyed - they ate - they left. Such a whirlwind of activity, but wonderful activity. They have such great imaginations and a fort became a scary cave. Of course little Mr. 4 y.o. had to keep asking Miss 7 y.o. - Koda I'm not scared of caves right? Of course little Miss 7 had to let out a cackle and tell him no, them commence to torment the child with tales from the crypt or what she perceives as such. Next was bath time. Mr. 4 always has to have a bath at my place as I have the deepest tub. He can "swim" from one end to the other and not a drop of the "waves" hit the floor. If I was a lot lighter, I may be tempted to try that one, love playing in the water, just not baths. I am a shower gal all the way. Now I have to do the dishes, sweep the floor and put my bed back together. I believe grandmoms should always let a bit of mischief take place. It makes the best memories. Then I will be off to the medicine cabinet for another round of Advil and then hopefully my back will allow me to sit in bed and read. Tomorrow, will be a true day of rest, I don't think I could stand to sit in the chairs at church, so will listen to a few radio programs. I got rid of my satellite service. I don't watch much TV and I believe I will use that money in a more worthwhile way.

If any of you out there are widows, well heck even if you aren't a widow/er go on over to The Widows Mite: Encouragement for Widows. Virginia is an awesome person who puts a lot of thought and prayer into her writing. The same for Ferree over at Widows Christian Place. If you are just starting out on this journey or if you have progressed some of the way through are maybe stuck, or just to know someone is out there and rooting for you, please visit both blogs. They both offer encouragement, advice, music and sometimes some silliness - which we all need regularly. I visit them almost daily and really appreciate this ministry of theirs. God has used them both at times where I was struggling and voila my answer was through them.

I am not even going to rant today about the long winter we are having. Spring will come, it has to, the sun is getting so much higher in the sky and I saw my first Robin today. He was bobbing along the fence at the back. I am really glad my neighbours feed the birds. I would love to, but with a small back yard and I would have to shovel a path all the way from the front to the back. I don't think old Arthur would be able to take that much action. I will sleep with my window open tonight cause if there is one robin there is more and I so look forward to listening to them sing in the early morning. If I am lucky, Mr. Meadowlark will have arrived back and I may hear a song from him also. I think I am going to figure out a way to feed the birds next year (if I am still in this house).

Son #1 and his lovely wife have bought property way out in the boonies. They will have to clear between 200 and 300 trees just to build the approach and the house. It is such a beautiful property and I can hardly wait to watch it take shape. Glenn would have been in there like a dirty shirt, working  on anything he felt he could do and then some. When we first found out they got the property, we all had the same thought of Glenn. God is good and though we had a day of grief, we now talk freely of what Glenn would have done and what Glenn would like for them to have on this property. Now we are excited and we will see what they integrate of what Glenn would have wanted for them. The littles saw the property for the first time yesterday. Koda was quite put out - it's all trees. Grandmom told her we are building a giant tree house for us all to live in. Mr. 4 thought that would be quite cool. Guess Geoff will have his hands full trying to convince them that grandmom was just teasing, but that he will build a small tree house for them. I know I shouldn't do or say things like that, but in my world that is part of making memories. All the fun and banter we have.

Well, I best be getting to the dishes and then make a nice cuppa. Maybe I will knit instead of reading. Another birthday - another sweater.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Jean

WATER WATER EVERY WHERE AND NARY A DROP TO DRINK

Today's flood forecast has also included a small bit that said our two major rivers here would probably not peak until Labor Day weekend. That is September in case you forgot. This means that there will be no boating, no tubing, no walking on the river trail and no water taxi this summer. Earlier in the week they thought it might turn out to be the same as the 2009 flood. Not so! After having their meetings with there North, South Dakota and Minnesota counterparts, our flood forecast has been upgraded. Ours though still will not be as bad as Fargo North Dakota. They had already placed one million sandbags and this week they are placing another 500,000 or more. The one million would have covered a once in 400 year flood (same as the 1997 flood), but now they had to change everything. And thanks to the way God made the world all waters from those states as well as Saskatchewan flow into our great province. Guess when they settled this area they did not realize it was a huge lake bed. The lake at that time was call Lake Agassiz which slowly dried up and became two large lakes and many smaller ones. By the way all this water will eventually flow into James Bay and then on out to the Arctic Ocean. It actually is very interesting to watch a flood progress from all that snow, to water everywhere, to really full rivers, to nothing. As I said in a previous post, there are still a lot of people displaced from previous floods and now this will make even more have to give up their life long homes.

This week has certainly been a hard one for those in the US and I would like to remind you all to continue to pray for them all. I cannot imagine the trauma that those bombs caused and how those people were really enjoying the day and the race and then poof - life changed in an instant. It is hard to fathom in ways, but it is one of the many ways God uses us to remember to pray not just for ourselves and our family and small world, but to get out there and pray for everyone. Then with that fire and fireball in Texas. Those poor people in that area tomorrow will be remembering the Waco killings of years before and then now this. God really does use tragedy to bring beauty from ashes. I will look forward to seeing how his glory shines through the things all these people went through this week.

Had a wonderful afternoon out with my granddaughter last Saturday. It was the big 7th birthday. Her party with school friends is not until this weekend and our family get together was not held until this past Monday, I thought to myself what a perfect opportunity for us to have a tea party. Since she was less than 2 years old she has loved tea parties. I always put out all my fine china, my good linens, whatever flowers are around and of course the full nine yards for food - finger sandwiches, scones, goodies and tea. She would always sneak into the garage to invite granddad. Granddad loved food and so was delighted to attend the tea parties. Us gals always dress fro the occasion; dresses, jewelery and hats and along would come granddad in his grungiest jeans - the ones with the holes in the knees and thighs and his "outside" chore shirt. His shirt was a castoff golf shirt from golfer son. It has an array of paint, grease, sweat, grass stains and whatever else on it. He would show up in his finery and Dakota would feel mighty special that granddad came. This is the first tea party since Glenn passed away. I knew she would talk about him and I knew that I needed to do something special. I printed a picture of him at one of the previous tea parties where he was wearing all his finery. I also printed one off of Roscoe our Bichon that I had to put down just before Christmas. We went to a tea house in a town nearby and I had them set an extra place for granddad. We had sandwiches, soup for me, apples and chips for her. We were treated to the best Chai cheesecake I ever had. My tea was called Buckingham afternoon, and the little miss had granddad's favorite - Raspberry.  Dakota was so excited and in the end she declared it was the best birthday she had ever had. She is looking forward to our next adventure. I think I will call them our Tea Adventures and will maybe have to do a scrapbook for her. Of course there were presents involved which she loved. I did hold one gift back until the family party. It was a shrug sweater I knit. I can hardly wait to see her in it.\next week I have two grandsons birthdays which just happen to be on the same day. They are nine years apart. So, I need to come up with an adventure for a 12 year old who has Asberger's Syndrome and an adventure for a 4 year old. I will not do them on the same day as I think that each should have a special day.

Well, that is life this week. Hope you all are enjoying the new green grass, the birds singing, the early flowers and the smell of damp earth. I can hardly wait for my turn.

Blessings to you all

Jean

OVERLOAD

Not much blogging happening - way too much going on. Year end at work, computer issues at work, new equipment coming in at work, six feet of snow still outside and -25C windchill values, 5 birthdays this month with 2 grandsons from different parents on the same day then May will hit with about sixteen other birthdays, one wedding, a new baby due, still selling the house, son bought property, which will now change the areas I will be looking at - so new game plan....and on and on it goes. Next week should see a turn around in some things so am looking forward to that. Enjoyment in my life right now is actually planning a family reunion. I know, most people groan at that, but I am kind of enjoying it. Tomorrow should be the start of it being a bit warmer - at least we will be on the + side of zero. I think the last time we had winter for this long was first in 1979 when we got quite a significant flood and then one year when my aunt, my brother and I think his daughter came for Easter. They brought spring jackets and it turned out to be one of those years where the north winds were just a whipping off the two big lakes we had and it was soooo cold even if there was no snow. I am thinking that must have been early 80's. The mood disorders association compiled some statistics between the calls they have had, the doctors have had and the walk ins to the hospital seeking help for SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder). Those who usually suffer with it, still have it and now they are saying that there is a 46% increase in people seeking help for it because of our late, late spring. It is so cold, that the drains on the street are all frozen, so when the snow starts to melt this weekend, there is going to be a lot of flooded streets. I am so thankful for the operation department that take their propane tank and torch and thaw the drains and also for all the pumps they have going. Working in that cold water and ice has got to be really rough. The other stat that came out is that the garden shops are seeing unprecedented numbers in their shops - but no one is buying, they all are there just to see something green growing. Anyway, I will quit boring you all with winter in Manitoba!  Hope you all have a good rest of the week. Hang in there Spring always comes followed by summer - better known as mosquito season.

Blessings to all

Jean

FED UP

I see from the blogs I follow, that not much posting is happening. I am going to assume that with this cold weather just truckin' on, everyone is kinda down in the dumps. Today for the first time I can see that some snow has melted. I am very thankful that they took all of last week and hauled snow off the empty lots and from around the individual houses in our complex. At least it gives us a glimpse of what is to come. We are to get "flurries" the next few days. Having said that though, North Dakota and Minnesota are to get walloped with a large rain storm that will start out as a Colorado Low. We are hoping to only get a passing glimpse of it, but all the same both those states and us here in Manitoba as well as Saskatchewan are really, really hoping it somehow fizzles out. The new flood forecast has us at a pretty full fledged flood and now they are hoping to keep it a bit below 1997 levels. All we can do is pray for no more moisture for the next six weeks.

These are both pictures from January last year. Now, imagine the grass standing up straight and it covering it totally. The grass stands about 4 feet tall. The picture of my rock and spruce tree - well the rock cannot be found this year and the snow is up to where the very top branch is and that is after what melting has taken place. They have now taken some of the snow away so today I can just see the very top of the rock (height of 3 feet) and the tree has only about 1/4 of height under snow now.  I haven't ventured to the provincial park for a walk as I understand there is no where to walk but on the road. All that snow water when it melts flows downhill to my son's old place. I don't know how many hours Glenn spent out there pumping water and driving around the area to see where the drainage pipes had not been opened and then opening them. During the flood of 1997 his basement was full to the rafters of water. I feel for the guy who bought it. Geoff was told later that, the RM had not wanted that land to be built on as if floods every year - but boy did they ever have green grass afterwards and then Glenn spent hours and hours every week mowing it. They had five acres and half was grass. Thank goodness the neighbours used half of it for their horses, otherwise Glenn would have had to retire just to look after their yard, never mind our own.

I have a showing on my house tomorrow. My place has been for sale since last July. It is in the country and so will take some time to sell. Now is the busy time of year so am hoping that soon there will be some action. As I mentioned before there are a couple of people wanting to put offers in, but they have to wait to sell their place. After a couple of years of living first in a larger town and then in the city, my son and daughter-in-law are on the move back to the country. They are planning to come back out this way just more east and on higher ground. They have found a place where a widow is selling her land and it can be subdivided. The smallest they would go is 2 acres. So they are thinking maybe 10 acres and then having my daughter build on part of it - good thinking as she is their main babysitter. She works 12 hour shifts, has much time that accounts for overtime as well as other time that accrues, so she has lots of time off - hence the amount of babysitting she does. She works 7 shifts out of a 2 week period. I was kind of hoping to get in on the action, but today I realized that I don't want to become the main babysitter. I lived with someone my whole life till Glenn died, and even though I am terribly lonely at times, I do enjoy being able to come and go as I please. I don't think I am quite ready to give up that freedom as yet. After all, I still haven't figured out what I want or what God wants me to do with this season of life. I always was a stay at home type person and so now I need to figure out "what my crowd is" as my daughter says. Yes, when I was younger, and up until Glenn died, I did help out a church which I enjoyed, but now I feel pulled somehow elsewhere. Time will tell.

All this talk of flooding reminds me of some TV show that was on a few years back where the grandparents came for a visit. All the grandfather did was watch the weather channel and teach the kids what all those squiggly lines and arrows meant. He was always telling them what great entertainment the weather channel was. Guess we will have a lot of folk watching the weather channel over the next few weeks. So I ask your prayers for them. Some people are still displaced from the flood of 2011 and this may certainly mean they may never get to go "home" again. I know what that feels like as where I grew up, we are not allowed in there at all. People who have homes or have childhood homes where they can go back to visit are so blessed. There are a whole lot of people in the world and not just third world countries who get displaced and it leaves a huge gap in your life. It like a big chunk has been torn from your heart.

So, please pray for all the displaced people this week. They really do need our prayers.

Hugs and blessings to you all.

Jean

The Loveliest Couple

I met a couple today, through the sale of an item they purchased from me. They are of the Hutterite faith. I know very little of the people themselves within that faith base. I know some of how a colony works. I also know that within any group of people, you have the good eggs and the bad eggs. I was always taught that most Hutterites were of the bad egg ilk. Not so, people. This couple were the nicest and most down to earth people I have ever met. They had quite the sense of humour and it was such a blessing to see them interact as a couple. We spent about an hour and a half together. We shared many common interests. She is a great quilter, sewer, canner, gardener, just like I am. We shared some recipes for food and for healing oils and creams. She said her colony is just getting into more of the natural healing elements. They patiently explained about how their colony works - they each have their own home and look after that, they do their own families laundry and on occasion, they do their own cooking for their family. About the only things they do together is eat, the canning, gardening, the farm animals (in this case chickens and pigs), and the fields. They do have their own businesses - this couple have a cabinetry business that they share with two of their sons. She said that though they have teachers come in, the ladies over the age of 45 take turns teaching the kindergarten class and of course they share in looking after all the kids. They invited me to come visit whenever. I may take them up on it. We were able to share our faith, which when you think of it, there is no difference except what MAN has made of it. We will look for each other at the local Saskatoon farm. I truly hope I run into Mary and Levi again.

Today we have a melting pot - melting mud, melting snow, melting salt, melting snow. So nice except that I just washed my vehicle on Saturday. Oh, well I do have all those gift certificates for car washes to use up - so no worries. We will be into the plus side of temperatures by Wednesday and going further. That old Mr. Sun feels so wonderful on my winter dried out white skin. Maybe it will hit the magic +10C on the weekend. In which case, I will be sitting on my wicker chair, on the porch with a large glass of ice tea, watching the world go by. Oh joy! Life is good.

Nothing else new or newsworthy today. Did enjoy my dinner with my youngest son, my daughter and two of my grand kids. My middle grandson takes auntie out into the sun room and declares "Welcome to my summer home". He has such an imagination - gotta just love it. I wonder if he thinks he's moving in for the summer!

Take time to enjoy the weather and all that God has blessed you with.

Blessings to all

Jean

THE BIG NOTHING

Sorry, no posts this week. That stomach bug going around is to die for and I don't mean in a good way. I am told that some of us older folk will have lasting effects for a few weeks after. I thought I had protected myself pretty good. Wash hands - check, Use Hand Sanitizer - check, avoid people like the plague -- check --- NOT! My oldest son and family had it, I stayed away. They called for a babysitter, I thought they were over it until I got in their foyer and BOOOOOMMMM! Nicole says, Geoff got it back again this morning. I couldn't think of a polite way out of babysitting and by then I was in the contagious zone. Less than 24 hours later it was game over. I made it to work only one day last week. I still feel tired, and if I eat more than a few morsels at a time, my tummy gets quite bloated. I went to visit some friends yesterday and was so embarrassed as I could not quit burping. Enough sick talk.

Happy Palm Sunday. When I was small, some of the churches called it White Sunday and we all were to bring a tin of food. In those days we were told it would all go overseas to some needy country. Now, if churches still do that, I am certain it goes to the local food banks. I have always loved the story of Jesus riding a donkey. Was sort of disappointed this morning at church - no retelling of the Triumphant entry, no children waving palm branches and singing Hosanna. Just our regular service. Thinking about it, I think the little kids are too small and the medium size ones are too big now. If the parents took the little kids up front, there wouldn't be too many folk in the chairs. Yeah for growing churches. Now starts the march to Good Friday. I can hardly wait to read a bit every day this week, make notes and let the marvel of what God did for us sink in once again. This year I am working through a book by Kay Arthur called When The Hurt Runs Deep. It is one of the most awesome books I have ever studied.

We are going to get warmer temperatures this week - Yay - however, snow will accompany the warming trend three of the next four days. We really don't need more snow. As it is, the Weather guru's in the US have forecast another major flood for the Fargo ND area. If you live north of there you know that all rivers lead to Lake Winnipeg, then on out into James Bay. Needless to say all that water has to come our way and though a month ago, we had not a bad flood forecast, it will be interesting to hear what they say come the 1st of April. I really hope the folks in the western half of North Dakota won't have much flooding - they got hammered pretty good last year. I think it was Minot that most of the town was wiped out. It might be a good time to remind you all - DON'T BUILD WHERE IT USE TO BE A LAKE! Every year we get a bit of flooding. In the past it was usually a bit of over land flooding. It seems like the past 10 years or so, it is getting worse every year.

Back to church for a minute. We have a couple that if you didn't know they weren't related and married, you would think that they were brother and sister. They are married and have stair step boys. Six months, 1 1/2, 2 1/2, and 3 1/2. They all look identical. I don't know where she gets the outfits, but they all wear the same jeans, the same shirts and the same shoes - too cute. They are the best behaved little guys and such handsome little dudes. It will be interesting to watch them grow up. I think there may be quite a bit of mischief coming up. Mom is up to the challenge though.

Well, that was my week in a nut shell. Maybe some sewing or stitching may happen this week, if so good, if not well that will be okay too.

Enjoy the longer daylight hours, and the warmer temperatures. For you all in warmer climes that can be outside working in the yard - I am so jealous. Of course that jealousy will only last until the first couple of things I rake or dig and I realize just how out of shape I am.

Blessings

Jean

LUNCH

Taking a break and decided to make Hoisin Rolls for lunch. Very good, very healthy, and very low in calories, sugar, sodium, fat and the fiber you can make it as much as you wish. The calorie content is 16 each. Today I used 1/2 cup each celery, onion, red pepper, 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons of either sweet chili cause or the hot one, some garlic powder, ginger powder, left over roast beef, and butter lettuce leaves. With me using left over roast beef, the calorie count on each one went up to 20 calories. I made 5 for my lunch and I will be satisfied for the rest of the afternoon. My total lunch calories = 100.

Big doings today. Started my spring house cleaning. It is amazing how many places you find dust, that you were certain you cleaned. Oh, well. Some of my walls are red. Don't get me wrong, I grew up with a lot of red clothing so my parents could find me in the bush. In most of my other houses I have incorporated a bit of red. In the short time I had to look for my present abode, I decided no more red. So, what did I end up with? Four red walls. The thing I really dislike about red walls is that every speck of dust you will see on them. I do dust the walls about every month to six weeks, but after today's dust, me thinks I need to do them once a week. I use to take and wash all the walls, ceilings, take everything out of the cupboards, drawers, linen cupboards and wash everything. Now I try to do it as soon as I seen something that looks a bit grimy. As for the walls, I learned that if you dust them regularly, then are diligent with wiping the fingerprints etc., then tada no major clean job to be done. I am still out on the ceilings. I usually go over them every couple of months with a mop that looks like the ones the hospitals use. Mine is a Vileda (sp). I like it as I can easily change heads mid job if it becomes too grimy. Also it swivels, so can usually get the baseboards and corners of the walls and ceilings very well. I am not one to use commercially available cleaning products. Good old vinegar, baking soda, dish soap, laundry soda and borax are it for me. All very inexpensive ways to clean and work like gangbusters. I did learn a trick last week about cleaning mattresses or whatever have gotten kind of smelly. First wet the area with white vinegar - I used 1/4 cup. Then over that I spread baking soda and rubbed it in. I let it sit for about 15 minutes, then I added 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide (3%), and let it sit. Then I took my Little Green Machine carpet/upholstery cleaner and sucked it all up. Then I neutralized it with a bit of water and sucked it up again. I went over it a few times. Then I used my hair blower to dry it a bit faster. You could also use a fan on it. Smells wonderful now. I would test an area first. This will work on anything, mattresses, carpets, upholstery,car upholstery, but because you are using hydrogen peroxide - test first. I want to get my big cleaning out of the way before it gets nice. After it gets nice, I probably won't spend too much time inside. My last chore will be the windows, but have learned that those micro fiber cloths really are worth their weight in gold as far as cleaning any glass, mirrors etc. I haven't tested the Norwex ones that have silver in them. I wonder if they can make the silver fine enough so that they don't scratch, and then if they make the silver fine enough, how would it stay in the cloths. Must be an answer, but I am more than satisfied with what I do now. Do wish I had a man about the house though, some of the furniture is very heavy to move.

In a bit I am off to #1 son's to babysit. Everyone there has been sick for about three weeks. This past week it has been the stomach bug. Daughter-in-law is in a wedding party later this summer and the social is tonight, so she is off to help set up and then help run it. Son #1 will be home around 4:30 but has asked if I will stay and help until little P goes to bed. I am almost certain they are not contagious anymore, so will take the chance. They tend to eat very healthy, so will bring some of my Hoisin Rolls along to add to whatever else I will be making for supper. For those of you who have no idea what a Social is it is an evening where you buy tickets for the event. With your ticket you will get music, food and silent auction prizes. There is usually a bar and so much partying going on. The money collected from the social is used by the couple getting married to help pay for their wedding, honeymoon or help with a down payment on a house. Couples usually get anywhere from $7000 to upwards of $15000. Manitoba and a couple of other provinces are the only ones allow socials. Social season generally runs from the beginning of November until Mid April at which it turns into Cottage season and no one is around to attend socials. Just about every young person and some older ones also go to one or two socials a weekend. Good cheap fun, and you can get some wonderful prizes. For my #1 son's his boss donated a cruise as a prize, and a furniture manufacturer donated a recliner chair, so you can see where the majority of the money comes from. For the silent auction you buy tickets - by the arms length. So, you will probably pay $5.00 for a set of tickets and end up with three or four arms length of tickets. Most people set aside $20 for tickets. The food is the other big thing. Certain nationalities put on fabulous spreads, others use the standard "Social Food". This would be Kielbasa sausage, Rye Bread, Cheese, Pickles and lots and lots of pretzels. Some people go all out and will almost do a three course meal. Those socials are always really popular. Mommas sometimes use it to practice for the wedding or shower food.

Anyway, I better run. We are to get a mini blizzard today and tomorrow with up to 20cm (8 inches) of snow. Hope I get home for #1's before it starts.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Blessings to all

Jean

WILL ... IT ... EVER....END?

Our blasted winter will not give up. We are to get snow yet again and the temps. are back down in the -25C area again. I see though that Alberta has it much worse, so guess I should not grumble. A friend put on his Facebook page that he had started his tomatoes, peppers etc. I told him he had a lot of faith. Wes came back with "Jean, it is only eight weeks till planting season". Guess I better bite my tongue. Here in Manitoba, we can have snow banks so high you can't see across the road and the next week it will be flooding and you really cannot tell there is land under that sea. Like when I first came to Manitoba and all I could see was water, water every where water. But I still moved here. Must have been nuts - nuts in love with my hubby. Though I am sure that if I had of really wanted to stay in Alberta my Glenn would have said okay.

My family will be having a reunion this year - nothing big only about 65 people. It will be a practice run for the Big One that is next year. I hear tell it is our branch of the family that is to host that one - may be interesting, if we choose to take it on. However, here I was sitting in my snowdrift, writing a newsletter regarding our reunion for July. Quite the feat to do when you cannot fathom warm weather or that there will be a day when there isn't an eight foot snowdrift blocking your view. Did get it done and in the mail. Yes, I used snail mail. Everyone changes providers so fast, it it hard to keep up with all the email addresses, but I did put out a call for them as it would be so much easier sending it with a push of the computer button instead of the push of the copier button, then push of the debit card button as I mail them off. I don't mind really, I myself am rather addicted to paper print rather than e-print. Though I do appreciate both. Will be fun. The date is set, but not the location. I do have some ideas even if it rains. My parents lived all over the place in Alberta, will be interesting to see what other people think. I have so many ideas going through my head, I am sure I could fill two or three notebooks. Since I don't need that many ideas, I will write them down and at some future date they may be used. One thing for sure - after the day is done - the cousins will be having the "After Party". I have an idea of a place for it, but I am almost certain it will end up being at Dave and Michelle's as they host wonderful get togethers. They have a New Years Eve party each year and this last one went till 6:00 a.m. They sure can sit and tell stories, play cards and other games and generally have a great time. My kids missed the party this year and consensus was - Not Ever Again. They put all the kids down to sleep in one or two rooms . The kids love sleeping together and don't mind sleeping on the floor. An adventure to be had - for sure.

My house still has not sold and even though now is the time for "hot markets", in the country, not so much. I figure it will be a couple more months before I get an offer. In the country, it all gets backed up. I put my house up, someone puts an offer in, but then it is conditional to theirs being sold, then they get an offer and yup you guessed it another conditional offer. We might as well put our houses all in a draw and change place every two years, but continue to own our own. Would be cheaper and we would get a change of scenery and not have to wait.

I do have a stitching finish for this week. See below. I almost had two, but then found I had used the wrong colour in a very large area. Now I am deciding to just scrap it or take it out and re-stitch. It is one of those beads and buttons ones that is done on paper. If it was done on fabric, certainly I would have taken it out, but paper is so much cheaper.

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Small piece only about 12 inches long and seven wide

Up close of the satin stitches

The hardanger section.

 

 

 This week was boring - just work, household chores, sleep and my family having first the cold then the stomach bug. Went to their house today and my daughter was right all you smell is sickness everywhere. They hope to feel well enough to do a major house clean this weekend. Yes, I offered, but as it is till an ongoing issue - no sense for a day or two. My son's administrative assistant said her class had 11 kids missing on Thursday with it. Good thing it is report card week and hardly anyone had school today. I really hope it doesn't hit the hospitals or the nursing homes.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Blessings to all

Jean

WEEK OF MARCH 4TH TO 10TH

I am going to try an idea that Ilene over at www.the sunroseandthewindblue.wordpress.com does. She write on her blog all week then posts it near the end of the week. I think I will join her. She actually has two blogs now. This one will more detail about their move to Oklahoma and the changes they are making to the house they bought. The other blog www.rockwhisperersgarden.wordpress.com is about the challenges of gardening in what I would assume is much like we have up here in parts of Manitoba sort of a desserty/hardpan/rocky type soil with lots and lots of wind. Hey that could also be like the place I grew up in.

When I was younger, I would think about God's creation and I imagined that each area of the earth would be different and within each country each area would be different. By different I mean that each area would be extremely different - guess I had a wild imagination. God did do that to some extent, but he in his infinite wisdom has areas around the world that are similar. I now understand it has to be this way because of the jet stream, weather patterns etc. I also have experienced many weather pattern changes over the years I have been alive and for a short period of time I fell for the Climate Change idea. Now, I see it fits in with all the other things; wars, disturbances etc. I now believe it is another way God is using to get our attention. I am not knocking the Climate Change thing, but I do firmly believe that God made this earth and because he knows the beginning to the end, he would have taken into account all that human's were going to do to the earth. I firmly believe that if God chooses for the earth to be here for another 1000 years, he is going to be taking care of it and all of our needs and we don't need to worry so much and fight so much over who is wrecking earth. God Is Good - All The Time! I do believe though that to show respect to my wonderful creator, I must take care of my little area and be mindful of what may or may not be a good thing. As he chooses to provide for me, I need to be aware and provide and look after what he has given me. So, if I was living on a farm I would certainly do the grain farming etc, but I would first take a good long look at what God put there and needs to be protected the most. I think that as the world got settled in that those people did this otherwise how would we see and know about all the beautiful flowers, streams, grasses. Yes, some are gone and that totally is human fault. I think we can get back to living in a more down to earth friendly way. Didn't mean to rant about climate change - sorry.

This week was a week of looking back and forward. God has been having me go through a very hard season for the past six months or so. I love Widow's Christian Place and how so often God uses the daily post. Usually they speak to me about whatever God has on my heart. So comforting to know that he uses others in this way and the magical part for me is that these people write these bits sometimes months in advance and don't even know who their writing will touch or how it will work, but as they write and pray God knows who will be touched by their words. God Is Good --All The Time.

I heard a sermon about a month ago speaking on how God works though our layers. These layers will be all the things he wants to either remove or change in our lives. Before I heard this sermon, I couldn't quite figure out why God would touch on one thing and then in rapid succession touch on so many others. After the sermon I realized that he is working on my layers. These layers for me often hinge on the next level and so it just seems like everything is all wrong. I was beginning to doubt God and my faith. That also is a place I did not want to go. However, I prayed that he would continue to work through the layers no matter how much I squirmed. One of the layers is family and how ours seems to not be doing so well. God has brought me to realize a couple of things. One is that we pussy-foot around how Glenn was the buffer in our family. My kids are much like me in ways and we rub each other the wrong way. We need to learn to talk things out and so we are starting to do that. With this we also need to forgive. Saying "Sorry" is not the same as forgiveness and we are slowly learning the difference. Praise God for his mercies. We will be whole again. Another thing is that I had given up on all my dreams. Dreams Glenn and I had together. God allowed me to make some decisions, that I thought were important because they were ones Glenn and I shared. Then everything went wrong - way wrong and I chose to give up. This week there was an awesome post on dreams and goals and not giving up - but allowing God to change them into what he wants. He does have plans for everyone of us. When I look back on our dreams, they just need an adjustment and that is what God is showing me. The journey will go on and it will be good.

This week was also Glenn's birthday. What to do - so we all did nothing, choosing instead to reflect on him and his life. At some point we will all come together with our stories and it will be a wonderful time of sharing.

Back in mid December, I had to put my little buddy down. Roscoe had been with us for 13 years, but his kidneys were failing and he wasn't able to hold it very long. It was time. It was hard. It was a Glenn thing. We all remember him walking the dog, playing catch with him and on occasion taking him for rides. The biggest one was him walking Roscoe and taking the littles to the park. Such hard memories but so gentle at the same time. Fast forward to about six weeks ago, when I decided to get another dog - a puppy. A cute little Shi tzu cross Sheltie. Duncan is a wonderful little dog, so playful, so smart, so good. I was really hoping his fur would be hair and not fur. He got the Sheltie fur-not good for me. I starting getting the allergies right away and kept thinking, I will adjust. But I didn't, so then I took more asthma meds, more nasal spray, more eye drops then added the Reactine. By this last Wednesday, I felt pretty bad and by Friday I knew something was wrong besides the obvious. I checked my blood pressure and it was through the roof and my throat was feeling thick. So, it became my health or the dog. Yesterday, I gave him to his new forever family and I know they will love him to bits. I on the other hand will miss him, but have learned an important lesson and that is listen to what the spirit is saying and God was really telling me to not get a dog. Today I am starting to feel better. This week will be better and hard just as each week has been since Glenn went to his new abode in heaven. I need to remember God Is Good -- All The Time.

May God Bless you all this week.

Jean

I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME

get this blogging thing down to every day or every week. I think I would be satisfied if it was twice a month, but this every few month thing has got to stop.

I am so, so tired of winter. Here in the peg, we have finally reached the point where the residential roads are melting and today I heard some hot bye byes as my darling daughter use to say to her daddy. Hot bye byes are hot cars. There is still far too much snow to hear the motorcycles out just yet. Motorcycle licenses don't take into effect till the end of this month. The way it works is that you pay a bazillion dollars to be able to ride from April 1st till the end of October. If the weather is good before that or after October, then I believe you pay an extra premium, from there you still pay insurance, but it is cut down somewhat cause the machines are in "storage" for the winter. These guys and gals pay a very high price for their insurance. Manitoba Public Insurance says it is because the amount of motorcycle accidents, but I am sure there are far fewer bike accidents than car accidents in Manitoba and I feel it is unfair to penalize them for the choice of transportation.

Birds - we don't have any yet, mind you the magpies were making some nests today as were the crows. In addition to those birds the majority of over winter birds are chickadees and sparrows. They tell us there are some thirty species that over winter - in my neck of the woods I do get to see the odd cedar wax wing and blue jays but that is it. As I live in a new condo development, we will not be getting very many birds here for a few years. There is bush near by, but they like some shelter and our trees aren't very big yet. I do love to hear the meadow larks, the Robins and the other birds sing and so end up going for a long walk to the older area of my community or to the provincial park that is only a couple of miles away.

Tonight though it is to go down to -20C with a windchill of -27C. For you in the US that is a bit colder than your 0F.  It won't stay like that only for the night and tomorrow and then we will get back up to -4 or -5C. Up until a few years ago, we usually got one day in March where we would reach the magic number +10C - 50F and then that meant that we wouldn't get temps. like we will have tonight. Now it is usually middle April or so before we get that high. The sun is warm though and I have been able to sit in my three-season sun room since the beginning of February - but only if it is sunny out.

Stitching- I have a few things almost finished, but started back at my bobbin lace class, so for the next eight weeks that will take all my free time. There are actually only two stitches in bobbin lace, but there is a myriad of ways to put the stitches together. It is very easy to get lost and this is only my third piece and the first time where I am using a cloth stitch, a whole stitch with twist and a half stitch. The half stitch is just half of the cloth stitch so not considered a stitch on its own. I need much practice. I need to take frequent breaks, not just for my eyes but also for my concentration. I concentrate so hard that I forget what I am doing and end up having to backtrack a lot. I am told this is the hardest lesson of all and after this it will get easier. I hope so, I have loved lace all my life - even if I don't wear it much, and I would like to be able to learn as many different kinds as I can.

Well I just wanted you all to know that I am still stitching and life goes on. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Blessings

Jean

AND A HAPPY WEEKEND TO YOU ALL

Yesterday, I had the privilege of looking after my two youngest grandsons, which was very a very enjoyable way to spend the day. Little P at four months has learned to put his soother in his mouth albeit upside down. He also is growing so fast, that a bit of cereal came into the mix this past week. Lunch was banana and rice cereal. The first few minutes were filled with odd facial expressions, then it clicked in his little mind and away we went. He is so filled with smiles, chuckles and belly laughs these days. When he goes down for a nap, well he just does it. Not like his siblings who fought sleep to the bitter end. Little Z and I had some fun playing on the IPad and doing some other quiet type things. At three he already knows that most of the games he wants to play on the IPad cost money. Mom and Dad have explained to him that the free ones are fine and they will not be spending any money for any more games. This makes the rest of us fair game in his eyes, so almost the first words out of his mouth was "Grandmom do you have any money today"? I did not cave and am very happy to see that my grandchildren are being brought up to understand that they will not get everything they ask for, that money does not grow on trees, how to break down their allowance into giving, saving, and then using a bit of it for their needs. Thank you Gail Van-Oxlade for your wonderful show that has taught all of us so much.

Today's mission is to find a child size Hawaiian shirt - in the middle of the prairies, in the dead of winter. At the best of times I have not seen any even in the Op. shops. I do have some fabric that will pass for a Hawaiian print, so may end up sewing one. I also need to get her sunglasses and a lei. Mom and Dad are away on their honeymoon - ten years later. It may be dicey trying to claw her from the clutches of her two most favourite care givers -- her aunty and her nanny. We'll see, it may be just grandmom doing all the running around.

This weekend I plan to continue my quest to get all my stitchy, quilty stuff organized. I have been working on this for a couple of years now. Some quilt fabric has been sitting on a table for a few months and I need to figure that out. Some of it, I have bundled it into how I will use it for quilts. The rest I just haven't got that far yet. On the stitching side. At one point I had the patterns, the fabric and the threads all together in project bags. That did not work as then when I needed the thread for some other project, I could never find it. Hence lots of doubles. Last year when Coni at Spinster Stitcher showed pictures of her studio, I kind of liked some of the ideas she had. Well, I high tailed it too Michael's and bought one of those things that has drawers and open cubbies to store items and a twirly round gizmo on top where you use those little clips with the S hook at the top to clip to the thread cards and then the thread hangs down. Nice to look at, not nice when most of the thread I have is too long to hang and thereby the hooks fall off all the time. In the past I used over the door clothing hooks. I put the thread cards on rings and then hung them on the hooks. For me that works the best and I will go back to that for some threads. I will use Coni's system for some of my silk threads that come in hanks instead of on cards. My issue was all that DMC floss. I don't understand why I have so much, especially when I am not a big fan of cross stitch. Can't stand all the thread changes. I am more of a hardanger, canvaswork type person. However, I do like mixed media type work so think that is why the floss collection grows. Anyway, I have gone to the stitchbow system where the thread is put in the bows, then in a plastic sleeve then into a binder. I have some 3" binders that Glenn had used for his hockey that I have re-purposed for the floss. All the perle cotton is safely inside some of those Martha Stewart paper holders that have lids. Works like a charm. I also use those for my Krenicke, Trebizond, etc. I am almost to the point where I feel I can actually allow myself to get back into working on the actual projects.

The day is slipping away so I best finish this post and get on with today's life. 

Blessings

Jean

 

GOODNESS, GRACIOUS ME.......

I certainly did not think it had been so long since I blogged. Sigh! Lets see. Had a great Christmas and New Years. Had loads of family time, met up with old friends and had a blast. Had 18 days off over Christmas and first week of January. So technically now I am well rested and can go through the next few months with flying colours. Did have a visit to my GP just before Christmas, which of course included the yearly blood tests, stool tests etc. Turns out that my iron is way low. Now normally women my age should not have a problem with low iron, but since my iron has never, never, never been even remotely near normal, they don't worry about it. So back on a course or two of iron pills. I think, like most people, that I start feeling way more spunky and then I go off them. Of course I am still not anywhere near normal so then my body adjust to that level, I start feeling blah and tired again and it is time to move it up to the next level. I am not losing iron, I have just never got where I am supposed to be. When I had my first child, it was so low, I was taking eight iron pills a day. Boy did that wreck havouc with my stomach, so after that pregnancy, for the following pregnancies I opted to eat liver 3 times a week. Turns out my family really liked liver so it worked well. In today's world, that may not be an option as doctors are so concerned about cholesterol --- of which that is not a problem for me. The other thing found is that my sodium levels are low. Prescription for that?  Well, a big glass of V8 juice and a glass of warm milk each day. The V8 juice I like, milk I cannot do as I am lactose intolerant. I have never cooked with, nor do I add any salt to my food, so I only get what is naturally occurring in foods. People don't realize that most foods we eat naturally have sodium in them because of the salts in the earth. Then you add what some farmers put in to the mix, then what the processing adds and then you have a mixture that is not good for man nor beast. I tend to eat fairly clean, meaning I eat fresh (or as fresh can be in winter) fruits and vegetables. I don't eat processed meat very often. In fact I am becoming more of a fish person than a meat person. I also tend to use way more dried beans as added protein. So, I thought I was getting enough sodium in my diet - turned out not so. Now I have to be more conscious of what I eat. Enough of this old lady health crud.

January has been January in Manitoba. Meaning we are back to the coldest of the cold. Actually, it hasn't been too bad. Not like last year though when winter was cancelled. We did not have one day of -30C weather. This year it is slightly colder where we had lots of -30C weather before Christmas, then the January thaw that lasted a bit longer this year and now for the past two or three weeks we have been in the cold. They tell us that January 21st is usually the coldest day in Canada. This year it was yesterday for us. I think the mean temperature was -25C but with the windchill if felt as though it was -44C. The fourteen day trend is for it to slowly get warmer - yeah right. From experience, it is generally really cold until Valentines week, then we start having fewer consecutive days of colder weather. Meaning Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be unbearable, then Thursday and Friday will be warmer, then Saturday will be colder then Sunday and Monday will be warmer --- well you get the picture.

Oh, the other news. I ended up putting leetle Roscoe down on December 17th. His kidney function first showed low in some blood work last March. Since that time there would be more pee accidents. In October he had more blood work and same thing. They offered to do a scan or a biopsy of his kidneys - more money in their pockets - I opted not to, because there wouldn't be too much they could do anyway. He was also having periods which only lasted split seconds where you could tell there was nothing there. So his mind was starting to go a bit. He was a Bichon Frise and was 13. When we went on our trip out west, he only had a couple of accidents, however when we came back, it just got worse. Then he started pooping in the house and I knew it was time. The last weekend he was alive I washed my bedding four times, shampooed my mattress four times, shampooed the carpets three times, shampooed the couch a couple of times and washed the floor I don't know how many times. I did not want him to spend 23 hours a day in his kennel and it must have been hard and embarrassing for him. That was a hard day. I am still  grieving Glenn and now add Roscoe to the mix. I thought with him being "just a dog" that I would be sad for a couple of days then would be okay. I have since discovered just how much he meant to me and also how he was linked to Glenn in my mind. Will I get another dog? In my heart I very much want another one, but is it feasible? Time will tell.

With the cold weather, I have had more time to stitch. So I have been working on a cross stitch pattern from mill hill. It is the Cafe O Lait  one from a few years ago. I have it's mate done, but never did this one as originally they were both going to go in my kitchen. Since moving, I do not have walls in my kitchen that are conducive to hanging anything. Only two walls - open area - you get the drift. But now I have my house up for sale. I realized I am not a condo type person and so hopefully will move in the spring. So back to finishing it. I also have had a tree top angel that I have been working on for about five years. I only stitch on it in December and we all know how busy we all are that month, so have decided that it stays out and I am working on it in rotation with a few other things. There will not be pictures of that until it is done as white on white doesn't photograph very well. I also have been knitting a shrug sweater for my granddaughter, and have pulled out some quilts that need to be quilted and bound. I think my creative side is slowly coming back. After Glenn died, it took me about a year and a half to get back to being able to cook. It has taken somewhat longer for the creative side as he was my biggest supporter and he actually had a very good design eye - much to my chagrin at times. Now in hindsight I wonder how I will do without his input. I am hoping that his thoughts and input will come back to me and I will put them to good use.

Along with everyone else in Canada, I am looking forward to gardening again. So now is the time to figure out what to grow and what needs to be started in pots soon. We cannot generally put in too much in the garden before May 24th. Peas, onions, spinach, lettuce yes - tomatoes, and other hot type plants may not even go in till mid June some years. We do have a lot of heat here in Manitoba, but it is usually only from Mid June until mid September, so short hot growing season. Because it gets so dry and hot in the summer and less sun, September isn't too good of a growing month. It is more of a finishing off month and a "hope the tomatoes ripen" month. We do use the cardboard box with newspaper layers to ripen tomatoes though so usually can still have fresh tomatoes till around November. Wonder if my new place will have a garden - not to worry, I can still use my daughters garden.

Happy weekend and Happy stitching to all.

Blessings

Jean