February....What????

Okay, where did this month go?  Like really, it's the last week of this month!!!!!!!!  Here's a month-at-a-glance:
Sarah and Jacobs wedding on the 7th which I didn't attend because I thought I'd have the nanny interview.  Here's a little something I have made them and need to send:

It was so fun to stitch!!!  I hope they like it.

No nanny interview (the family left for holidays but the little guy had some medical appointments beforehand) but I did have an interview for two EA jobs (educational assistant).  One in Blackie and 

one at a school I can see out my back window!  Well, guess who is starting a new job 

tomorrow???????  ME!! and at the school I can see out my back window!  I will be working with two 

different little boys.  Wish me luck!  

Valentines Day and Family Day weekend came and went.  Hubby was up north and the kids were all gone here and there.  Son1 and Jenna couldn't make it down either.    It was just me and the animals! Hahaha!  But my friend Sue and I went to Cochrane on the Saturday and hit some shops there.....stitching shop, quilt shop and a wool shop.......it was a beautiful, fun day!!

I did get some stitching done recently.  I started a rug hooking project that I've had for YEARS and am thinking practice makes perfect so I will struggle along.

Sue had ordered some punches to use like needle punch but they are bigger and use yarn or strips of wool. They sounded like fun so I bought them too! I decided one morning to play with the small one and made this:

I have since turned the edges and backed it.  SO fun and quick!!!!  There will be more of these in my future!!!

I also finished the March insert for the Live Simply hanging...I really like this one.  The April one is cute too so I will start that one right away to make sure I have it done on time.

And block 2 of Buttermilk Basins block of the month is done.....can't wait for March!

The colors aren't quite so bright...cell phone picture!

I joked with my friends that maybe I will never sew/quilt again now that I'm so into this wool stuff....then I laughed!!!!!!!!!  

February 19th was this little spoiled dogs birthday...she turned 4!

Daughter2 is finished hockey with her Warriors team.  They lost last weekend to Medicine Hat.  She is hoping the Coyotes need her (senior women's team she is affiliated with)....they are starting their playoffs for provincials and the provincials are in Grande Prairie!  

So it was a month full of stitching, new beginnings, wonderfully warm weather, some snow, more warm weather, more snow, hockey.....and it's almost over.  Wow.  Blink!

Jobs...and Binding

I mentioned in my last post about a job interview.....well, "backing the bus up", today was the wedding of a son of our friends up north.  Son2 is the bestman.  My intentions were to go up with my Ms Morgan (hairdresser) and her boyfriend (brother of the groom) Wednesday and come back here with them on Monday.  Well, last week I applied for a job as a nanny here in High River....two small children...fun!  Only three days a week so I thought a great way to re-enter the work force.  When I heard from the Mom, my interview was to be on Thursday.  Morgan and Jesse had to be up north in time to decorate Thursday so I decided I would drive myself.....then the weather changed and they were to get a ton of snow! (And they did!). So driving was becoming out of the question.  Wednesday Nanny Job Mom messaged me and asked if Friday worked as the little boy had a Dr appointment Thursday morning.  Sure, Friday would work!  In the meantime I hear about a job at a school in the area for an Educational Assistant for a three year old girl......four mornings a week.  Hmmmmm.  That sounded like fun too!!!  I'd love to get back into a school and maybe one day, once I had my foot in the door, I could get more hours.  Thursday night (11:30) I get an email from Nanny Job Mom saying they had more Dr appointments Friday morning and could we postpone the interview until after they get back from vacation....the end of February. I emailed back and said I hoped everyone was okay and just to let her know, I applied for another job as well and I would keep her posted.  She called my cell phone Friday morning (I need a new phone as this old one isn't holding a charge so I missed her call) and apologized and explained what was going on.  LONG (LONG) story short.....I hope to be an EA by the end of the month but if not, I may be a nanny!  Hahahaha!  AND I could have gone up to the wedding on Wednesday!!!!!!!  :-(  Hubby is representing us and making an appearance tonight for a bit.  I can't wait to see pictures!

Last night my neighbor Deb asked if I wanted to go to Lethbridge for supper.  Her son works as a bartender at The Keg and she wanted to surprise him....so off we went!  FIVE semi's were on their side in the ditch, blown over by the wind!  We didn't see any of them as they occurred but the wind was wild!!!!!  We got there with no problems, had a yummy supper, a bit of a visit with her son then home.  This morning she got me out for our long walk and then I came in and putzed around.  I decided to finish stitching the binding on a quilt I just had quilted....and tah dah, it's done!  Sorry for the bad picture/lighting!

Who's it for?  No clue!  Loved the fabric and the pattern!!  Fun to do and Kim did a great job quilting it!!  A finish.  Tomorrow Daughter2 has a hockey game in Calgary and I'm meeting up with Chris and Willi!  Yippee!!!!!!!  Go Warriors!

It's Friday!

Lol. Not that it means much to me....I'm excited for the people who work Monday -Friday and are preparing to enjoy the weekend!  I was to have a job interview today but it was postponed.......more on that another time.

Yesterday I wanted to get my Live Simply February hanging done and I did!  I re-decorated my entryway and took the frame down so I really need to find a new spot for it.

I don't know why I delay making these things....they are simple and quick and I could easily finish one in a day.  March is a nice one and so is April so I should prepare them for stitching.

Northern Alberta is getting dumped on with snow......we have wind warnings here for today and it's to get up to PLUS 11......this is what it looks like now:

Not crazy cold but very frosty....you could feel the moisture in the air last night while Deb and I were walking.  But +11?  Nothing surprises me in the weather department down here.......but.....  I'll keep you posted!

Life Is A Whirlwind When Hubby Is Home

Life changes when Hubby is home on his week off.  I was on a roll with closet cleaning but that came to a halt.  It's all good!  The closets can wait.  I did stitch a new BOM Mystery block from Buttermilk Basin.....gosh, I love her patterns so I'm sure this mystery will be awesome!  Block 1:

I can't wait for the next one!

Here's my Ornament of the Month by Trish Harriman on our wool appliqué Facebook group.  I'm not sure if she will be an ornament or part of a wallhanging made up of the whole collection of them:

I have more wool stitching on the go and will post a picture of one I hope to have finished tomorrow. I haven't started a new needle punch project as first off I have to finish the last one!

Our dogs like me...alot.  I feed them, let them out, clean up after them.  But they LOVE Hubby!!  They are always surrounding him when he's home!

Especially when he's eating!

This one was from this morning.....I brought up an extra bed for when this happens! (Ignore the scruffiness of our old Daisy!)

And the last pic is of my after Christmas mantle.  It's simple....and the Love hanger and Be Mine is my ode to Valentines Day!

Nothing spectacular but I'm enjoying the simplicity of it.

I hope to get back to my closet cleaning now.  I did do some drawers in our bathroom today.

 Purge, purge, purge!

Closet Cleaning and an (almost) Finish

I feel as though I accomplished things today.  To start, my neighbor Deb asked if I wanted to go for a walk.  I needed more floss to finish my needle punch so we walked up to the quilt shop and back.  A great walk.  I went to her place for coffee and toast then home.  When I got home, I saw that a dear friend (and my former hairdresser) had called so I gave her a call back as we had been sort of playing phone tag since before New Years!  We had a nice chat.  At that point I considered sitting and finishing the needle punch but thought no, that will be my reward for getting some closets cleaned out.  The day before I went to put a spare pillowcase away in the hallway linen closet and it was stuffed!  So that was the first one to get done!  Some of those contents led me to our walk-in closet so I attacked that one next!  Boy did it feel good....even though they both still look full!  Almost 5 garbage bags later and a bunch of stuff for the garbage bin and I was done.  Now, the two closets in our spare bedrooms are going to be the biggest challenge, but they can wait until tomorrow....or next week.  I need some bins for those.  I should keep going since I'm on a roll!  Here's a stack out of the walk-in closet:

Then, after some lunch, I was able to sit down and finish my needle punch...well, the needle punch part anyway.  I still need to figure out how to mat/frame it. 

I really love this craft!!!!!  I think I learned quite a bit from this project and hope my next one is even better!

Hubby is home on Monday!!!!  I need to stay busy for the next couple of days and get more things done!  Maybe I will work on those closets tomorrow...off to Walmart in the morning I guess!

Quilting Goals for 2015

I was reading another blog this morning and she talked about her quilting goals for 2015 and I thought it would be fun to think about what I would like to accomplish this year.  Then I realized it's pretty much the same goal every year for me......working on completely the one million (slight exaggeration....slight!) kits and projects that I already have!  Also, using my stash of fabrics for borders, backings, etc and try, really, really, really try not to buy anything new.....at all!  I quite often start the year off well and then need a pick-me-up or the thrill of waiting for the arrival of a squishy package in the mail and I cave!  As you can see, I have enough projects, kits and fabric to last a lifetime......

And I have already added to both this year.  But today is a new day...onward and upward!

Last post I mentioned that I had purchased two old quilts from Airdrie on my trip home from up north.  I've taken pictures, poor ones, but you can see how I couldn't leave them behind.  The first one has been hand quilted and totally amazes me.  The rows of stitches make squares of about 1 inch so there's a lot of quilting!  I can't even machine quilt a quilt let alone hand quilt one! 

The next one is a child's quilt....it's long and narrow and consists of embroidered blocks.  Love and appreciate all the work that went into this one as well.

Sorry for the poor photos.  

Now I'm worried as I think I will have a new addiction.....I've been doing a lot of wool projects, instead of pieced projects and now I think I'm hooked on needle punch!!!!!!  I'm so tempted to pick it up and get "punching" this morning but I know I will sit and that's all I'll accomplish today! 

Thanks to Sue for this!!!!!! (But I guess it does fall into finishing or doing old, already purchased projects!!.....so it's all good!!!) It's a lot of fun!

The sun is shining, it's warm outside so it's a good day!!!!!

Organization

As I get older I find it kind of funny how when January arrives so do blog posts, advertisements, and magazine articles about organization.  Stores put bins and totes and other tools for organizing on sale.  So many articles out there on the how's and whys of being organized and clutter free.  And I do fall for it...a new year; starting off fresh.  I haven't got very far on my purging (or the exercise plans or weight loss program) but the house feels less cluttered especially once all the Christmas decor was put away.  But don't look in my closets.......

I found this printable on a blog I follow and I thought it was a neat idea.  Going through each room and listing tasks needed to be done.  For example, I have done some patching on the wall in a spare bedroom but it needs to be sanded and repainted....I never think of it until I'm in that room cleaning and once I leave the room it's forgotten.  Putting that task on this list will be a great reminder!  Looking at the list, room by room, will allow me to see, at a glance, what I need to do and what I can get done in the time I have to complete it.  Crossing something off a to-do list is very rewarding!  Here's the link to the blog.  The lists are called Walk the Room.
http://www.elefantz.com

Today was cleaning day and I worked hard!  Feels great to have it done but there are still many things to tidy up or put away.  I'm meeting a friend for breakfast tomorrow and it will be nice to catch up, put makeup on and get out of the house!  Sue and Deb are coming over tomorrow night for stitching but this time we are working on our own individual projects.  Not sure yet what I will work on.

This mornings sunrise was beautiful:

Love the colors and a great view to wake up to!