June Glorious June

June means a lot of things, including the first official day of summer, but to me it means the end of the school year and this year, my new grandson arrives (unless he waits until July!)!!!!  I am so ready for both events!  

I am home sick today....last week Hubby was home and it was a crazy week both physically and mentally and I think when I let myself get run down I catch whatever bug is going around school.  So I took a day to recoup and relax and get well.

My next Cotton Crates box arrived.  I love these fat quarters but have to decide if I am going to continue getting them as I haven't done anything with the two previous boxes and I do NOT need to keep adding to my stash!  In fact, I think I will be doing another kit purge and have a sale (or two) again.  I seemed to be starting new projects that aren't tucked away in my cupboard!

Thought I had better get making my new baby some burp cloths.  His quilt isn't quilted yet but he will need these first anyway.  So easy to make!

And of course my blog post wouldn't be complete without a pic of my girl.  She is enjoying my rendition of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" !!  She's so fun and (mostly) smiley!!!  I love her to bits!! 

Off to put my feet up and take some cold medicine.  Its a drab and windy day today........

Post #2 I Found My Sewing Mojo!!

I found my sewing MOJO!!!  I think when I would walk into my sewing room I felt overwhelmed by the clutter.  I didn't have messes everywhere but had a lot of stuff...decor, projects and containers....just stuff!  So, after cleaning the house Friday, I tackled the sewing room....until almost midnight!  It might not look clutter free to you, but it sure does to me. haha :o)

So then on Saturday, Sue and I went to Heritage Park Quilt Show....and headed straight for the vendors!  I bought 2 books and 2 charm packs....and that's it!  IF you know me, you know that is an amazing feat!  I never leave without many bags!!!  We looked at a few quilts and then headed for Out of Hand....a quilt shop in Calgary.  Well, my will power went out the window!  I bought a couple of patterns and a couple of books and some fabric for more cushions on the sectional.....and a whole kit from a BOM!!!  They had the finished quilt hanging on the wall behind the till and I....fell....in......love!!!!  Block 1: (that I made when I got home...except the stitching of the wool)

I love the Japanese cotton fabrics....and I love the wool of course!!!!!  Sunday, I got up and made the very funky and modern baby quilt for our grandson arriving the end of June/beginning of July that I had been procrastinating over.  Jenna loves it......and that's all that matters!  

I bought backing today and have to relearn how to get it on my frame so I can get it quilted!!!

Then yesterday I decided I needed a table runner for a lady who is part of the team we work with.  She is leaving the division and we are having a party for her on Thursday.  I emailed a friend of hers to find out colours in her house and was told she had black counter tops, grey walls and dark wood floors.  I hope she likes it (because she used to be a interior decorator!!)

Simple!!!!  So mojo is back!!!  (I hope to stay!!)

And look who is 4 months old already!!!!!!

I Love this little monkey!!!!!!!!!  I'm due for cuddles and will see her this week for sure!

It is to get hot this weekend.......and the countdown is on for the end of the school year....we are all ready for it!  LOL!  I hope the new arrival waits until I am finished the school year before he makes his arrival so I can be there quick!  It's going to be a busy summer!  <3

Lots Of Pics.......so Post #1

Almost a month....since my last post...again!  *Sigh.......  I have a lot of pictures so will break them up into two posts.  :)

First off, I survived Mothers Day!!  I didn't cry or feel bad too much...I didn't allow myself to feel too crappy.  My girls and I went for lunch on Saturday before our pedicures.  Oh I love a good pedicure....that massage!!!!!!  Heaven!!!!

Of course I thought about my Mom........and I did miss her but honestly, she would kick my a$$ if she knew my day was ruined because of me missing her to the point of extreme sadness......so I held it together.....this year.  On May long, Son1 and Jenna gave me a card with a $50 gift card to Michaels.  Last Thursday their decor items were on sale for 50% off...one day only....so I bought the HOME sign and red metal chalkboard.  When I cleaned I felt it was time to change up the mantle.  Again, pretty sparse but I like it.  :)

Son1 and Son2 got the deck done!  I'm sure it is being enjoyed!  

The furniture we had in our basement had been destroyed by Daughter2s cats.  Every time I walked by them it made me so mad!  I follow several buy and sell sites on Facebook and happened upon a sectional for $150.  Well, I went for it!  LOL  It's not perfect and it needed a good clean but it's comfortable and Daughter2 and her cats now have the old furniture!  (except the couch that wouldn't fit in her condo.....someone else is enjoying that!)

I need new curtains but I'll find some in time.  :)

Oh hey.....I found my sewing mojo!  More in Post #2!!

The Month of May

Here we are approaching Mothers Day 2016.  I have vowed not to be down in the dumps this year....we have tomorrow off from work so we have a three day weekend.  Tomorrow Daughter1, Lyla and I will go and see Daughter2s new place; Saturday I booked pedicures for the three of us girls (Lyla not included....but one day!!) and Sunday I plan on spending the day sewing.  IF I start feeling glum, I will go out and maybe do some shopping.....who knows.  I WILL have a nice day!

We have another spray in our lake.....it's been three years since the flood and one day I looked out and saw this!  Oh I was sooooo happy.......I did chuckle though because the last time I posted about the spray it wasn't long after and we had the flood.  I'm confident that won't be happening this year!  This one is different....shorter, wider (just like me!!) and it is supposed to have lights although these ones are only on for a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon.....hopefully that gets fixed one day but it doesn't really matter.  The other end of the lake has the same spray although its a different shape (more symmetrical) and the lights are on all day.  It turns on at 8 am and turns off at 10 pm.

I had nice mail again today....my CottonCrates box came and I think these fabrics will come in handy:

Love the extra treats thrown in.  :)

My Dad was here this past weekend and we took the opportunity to have a quick 4 generations photo.  Very casual and not very fancy......

Taken in Lyla's bedroom as her Mommy said it has the best lighting.  hahahaha!!!!  Hubby was taking the pics and finally we had Lyla's daddy take it....first take!

I have one of my all time favourite scented candles burning right now.....gosh, I've had these candles for years and found this brand new one in my candle cupboard.  It was the perfect day to burn it as it was gloomy..but no real rain.  

Son1 and Son2 are building at deck at Son1's house.  Nice to see them working together....Jenna said they aren't even fighting!!  hahaha!  The old one was getting pretty rotten in places and they use it a lot.  Glad the weather is holding out for them to get it done!  

Before I close I have to say how I am thinking of the residents of Fort McMurray and know how they are feeling and what they are going through.  We had water which most of us were able to clean up and renovate from...but fire is a different ball game.  Knowing they are glued to news broadcasts and social media posts looking for any information that will give them even a small clue as to what condition their homes may be in.  Not sleeping because they are remembering all the things they have or may have lost.  Having people tell them "it's only stuff/things" and them trying to convince themselves of that too even though they want to scream "but its OUR stuff!"  I pray for rain and the fire to be put out so these poor people can have answers and know what they are up against and what they need to do to move forward.  I pray this happens soon and they are allowed back in shortly after so they don't have to sit in a camp or hotel or in a relatives home and be frustrated because all you want to do is go home....I will be donating money to the Red Cross as I have heard the federal government will match it and the provincial government will match it so the end result is threefold. My heart aches for these people....

Now so I don't end on a sad note, here are pics of my fur babies, Lyla and her fur babies:

Rain...Will It Happen?

"They" are predicting rain for this weekend and continuing into next week.  I wonder if it will happen?  We need it!  We drove by a grass fire being put out on the way to Calgary this afternoon.  The rain will make for a lovely sewing weekend.........that's my plan!

These beauties are in full force and I swear they are bigger this year.  I LOVE the colour of them.  I had to take a picture on my way to work one morning because unfortunately they don't last very long.  

One of my little guys had this stuffy attached to his belt loop the other day.....it had a hole and he wanted tape!  LOL  Well, I found a (big fat) needle and some thread in the office and stitched it back up.  The things we don't do for our students!  hahaha!  

Well our Lyla is three months old today.......already!!!  She's smiling a lot, cooing (<3)!!!!  

She's cooing in this picture her Mommy said!  Those lips!!!!!!  <3

Life is good......Hubby is home Monday night and Son2 might be home soon.  Now if we can get a few days of nice rain.....ahhhh perfect!  And baby cuddles.........uninterrupted sewing time........

Twenty Eight Years

Yesterday Hubby and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary.....well, we didn't really celebrate it as he is up north working but we would have if he was home.  :)  Twenty eight years....where has that time gone?  I guess it was made up of having kids, raising kids, great times, not so great times, crappy economy, family members passing, moving, renovating, moving again, surviving natural disasters, and currently enjoying the first grand baby.  Those things would make the time fly past quickly I suppose.  I think of young married couples today and the struggles they have, not unlike what we have gone through.  There will always be arguments....about money, about kids, kids' drama, money again.....but I think if you care enough and can get through it all, it's worth it.  When I was dating Hubby I didn't think I could love him anymore than I did at that time....boy was I wrong!  When you grow with a man who you see as a great dad, wonderful provider and loving husband...well, THAT is love!  It seems easy these days to separate and divorce.  We didn't struggle with infidelity or abuse.  I'm not sure how those things would have been to get through.......so I suppose in some cases there is no choice but to end a marriage.  But financial struggles, jobs, and kids are pretty much the norm, for us anyway.  We made it through.....and I'm sure there will always be arguments but they are fewer and farther between now.  There will always be struggles but we have proven that we are strong enough to survive them.  I'm hoping we can continue to grow old together..........

Hey I spent most of the day in my sewing room yesterday!  I had full intentions of starting an OLD project I had tucked away.....involved piecing, embroidery......but ended up starting something entirely different!  I'm making a table runner using a charm pack I bought at Lori's Country Cottage a couple of weekends ago.  Here is a picture of things all laid out on the linen background.  I have since pinned things down and have managed to sew one dresden plate to the background with my machine.  

The colours in the picture are not accurate.  The centre circles are wool....I figure this will never be washed being on linen so the wool was the easiest to stitch down!  I am still not sure how I will finish it....backing? quilting?  But it's a start.  Did I find my mojo?  Not sure really.....but I sure was enjoying the music I was playing while sewing!  Good thing my windows are quite high!  LOL!!!!  It did feel good to be productive.....but now I have to finish it!  Daughter2 and I are going to look for fabric for her today....she wants to cover some canvasses....Fabricland has a 40% off sale right now but we are popping into a quilt shop first.  ;)  Best go get ready for the day!!

April Showers....Are Needed!

Good day!  I'm still here and alive!  I survived my busy Easter week off.  The visit with my brother and sister-in-law was awesome despite my bad cold (see I knew it was a nasty one!).  Nothing Buckley's couldn't take care of most of the time!  They got to meet Lyla and we just had a good time catching up.

They arrived Friday night and left Tuesday around noon.  After they left I cleaned the house and washed bedding.  Wednesday I met a friend for coffee and a visit up town and just relaxed.  Thursday afternoon Daughter2 and I were off north for her hockey tournament.  They did well, winning Bronze, but that meant we weren't home until late Sunday night.....work the next day and Hubby was home Monday night.  We have today off for a PD day and I am babysitting!!  It seemed like a long short week!  

After cuddles today my plan is to try really hard to get any interest back in spending time in my sewing room as I have another baby quilt to make from a kit I bought at Lori's Country Cottage in Sherwood Park.  I'm worried......I truly cannot get into sewing again.  My instagram is full of quilty pictures of quilters I follow.....nothing.  I follow so many quilty blogs and people are making adorable things....nothing.  Any of you quilters out there have any suggestions on what I can do to get my mojo back??????????  I need my bff Kim here to have a sewing weekend!  Wish we weren't so far away....she would get me motivated again and we would have some GOOD laughs too!!!!!!!  *sigh*  Oh well.  Maybe if I rearrange and do more purging.........hahaha....I have threatened to get rid of everything......well, only I would be threatened by that! 

I have signed up to receive fat quarters every month (why?????) from Cotton Crates. www.cottoncrates.com

The first ones I received are so not my style.....you don't know what line of fabric they are going to send each month and I was hoping I was still in soon enough to get Lori Holt's new line but that was the previous month.  With this membership you also get about 5 free patterns throughout the month.  We will see how long I stayed signed up........;)

Work is going well.....it's a busy year for me this year.  I'm honoured they think I can handle two kids at once and it sure makes the days goes quickly....but it poops me out!  I'm no spring chicken and if I dropped even 20 lbs it would help.  I have to start working on that too.  But it's kind of the countdown to the end of June....which is also the countdown the the new grand baby!  Yikes!!!  and Yippee all at once!

Dandelions are out, perennials are coming up and everything is turning green!  Saw this little girl on the playground this week.....she's been busy!!  We sure do need rain though....but I am careful what I wish for around here....Monsoon June is just around the corner and I'll be wishing for it to stop!

Well, little Lyla Bean is down for a nap so I'm off to get some laundry done.  I'll leave you with a couple of pictures so you can see how blessed I am.  :o)