July In A Nutshell

Whew.....when I last posted I was getting ready to go and do some sewing with our sewing group.  I made a couple of quilt tops for a girlfriends daughters new babies and I finished the binding on my tumbler quilt (LOVE!!) (now to get the quilts quilted!!)

Then we had company come........Jude and his Mommy, and Lyla. 

On Sunday we went to the Discovery Wildlife Park in Innisfail.

Fun day!!  The kids could run in the wide open spaces!!!!  

Son1 arrived from his motorcycle trip that night and Monday we were off to Calaway Park to celebrate Jude's 3rd birthday!!  Fun was had by ALL!!!!

I have a bazillion pics of this day but this is a picture heavy post so I am narrowing it down!  LOL

Son1, Jenna and Jude stayed for a few more days.  What a great visit!  Then on the following weekend he had a birthday party at his house! So off Papa and I went with Lyla and Daughter1.

Jenna always has cool picture ideas.  Judes shirt in the pic with his cake has "dirty 3rd-y" on it!  

One of the EAs that I worked with sent a group text one morning asking if any of us wanted to come for a visit and see her baby goats.....OMG cuteness!!!!!!!!!

I had a great visit with Tina, Leanne and Diane!  We have to all get together again soon.  (I did go to Diane's for a visit yesterday morning....had coffee and got my farm fresh eggs!...She's my supplier!)

On one rare sewing room day, I dug out an OLD project and got it sewn and cut....a chenille denim rug.  I have to take it to the laundromat to wash and dry....I don't want to risk completely destroying my washing machine!!  I have to find out exactly how old a UFO it is!

No post can be complete without a kitten up date!!  These two are doing VERY well!  They still sleep in their "cage" at night with no complaints.  They play together and cuddle together......they are so dang cute!!

Hubby was to go up to our hometown and start on a project there with the company he had been working with but they are delayed and he may not be needed until November!!!  So panic has set in and we hope he can find something to pay the bills around here in the meantime......the joys of self employment......UGH!  Fingers crossed and praying something comes up soon.

My friend Pam will arrive tomorrow for a visit!!!!!!  I cannot wait and look forward to solving the worlds problems (right Pam??) and doing some shopping (her not me...I will be the chauffeur!!) and maybe some hand stitching like we did last year!  I think this beautiful weather is to hold up!!  She will notice a huge difference in these kittens!!!  

Off to get laundry done and all my other chores to prepare for my visitor!!!!!  

July!

Happy July!!!!!!  Well, it's only the 3rd but it's been busy.

Last Thursday these cuties arrived and have been doing sooooooo well!

I put them in their huge tiered cage at night and it has been working wonderfully!  No ripping around tearing up the place during the night.  It's great having the two of them as they play together and I have a lot of toys around for them to play with.  So far they haven't caused too much havoc but they are still young....and small.  😝

We had Miss Lyla since Friday evening of last week....she went home yesterday morning.  She wore me out!  They are moving to a new place so Mommy was packing and then moving and thought it would be much easier without Lyla underfoot.  So nice to have her but we enjoy the peace and quiet once she goes home.  LOL 😆

Gotta love Snapchat filters!  

She will be back on Saturday and so will Jenna and Jude!!!!!!!  (I think they arrive on Friday!!!)  Can't wait!!!!!!!

We don't have alot of lawn here......small patches here and there....and my garden was so crappy last year and with just the two of us we don't need much....lots of Farmers Markets around to get what we need anyway.  So Hubby planted grass and he took the fence down this weekend.......it still needs to fill in and get a bit hardier but he was anxious to do it so it happened.  haha  I have two flowerbeds we put mulch on to define them.......we will see.  It will be nice to have the extra lawn to roam around on!

I had my "beauty day" yesterday....nails then hair.  I love the chats I have with both gals!  It was a good day.

Well, this isn't getting laundry done and I have to prepare for my sewing day tomorrow with the group!  I know I will do more visiting than sewing but that's okay.  It's to rain a lot so a perfect day to sew!!!!  

The Sun Is Here!

Good sunny Saturday!  Finally!  The forecast doesn't look very sunny after today so we will enjoy this for as long as we have it!

I forgot to post a pic of my finished (almost) stitching/sewing/quilting project.  The background was both machine quilted (centre) and BIG stitch hand quilted (borders)  This picture really makes it look wonky but it's not....weird.  I have the summer stitchery hanging and have to put the hooks on the back of the autumn one but I still have to trace and then stitch winter and spring.  I loved doing them so they will get done.

These are pictures of a card a sweet little girl gave me on Thursday.....homemade of course (look at the staples!  LOL) but so very sweet.  The cover, inside pages and the back.  This is one of the things I am going to miss the most.  💖

Her mother wrote me a touching card and gave me a pair of beautiful earrings.  No this isn't the student I was hired to work with, but one of the precious hearts in the classroom I was in.  My heart fills when I know I touch the hearts of all the students in the classes I am assigned to....and it happens every year in every school I work in.  I love the children and they love me.  One day I will go back to working with kiddos again.😍 I think it's kind of my calling.

Son2 is here for the weekend and is out painting an old metal bed frame I will put in the kids room.  I still have to get a mattress for it....twin long.  Son2 is a great spray painter!!!!!  Daughter1 and her bf are coming out today too.  Sunshine, my kids....what more could I ask for??  (all the kids and grandkids but I will be content with the quieter day....for now)

Maybe I will get that stitching traced and started today.....hopefully my outside chair cushions dry up so I can sit outside.  I need that vitamin D!!!!!!

Stormy Skies

Hey Readers...can you believe it's past the middle of June??  We've had some wet weather.  The other night we got hail and it stormed all night long!!!

I had covered my plants but they got flattened by the weight of the hail.....I think they are better off then if they were pummelled.  We are to keep getting rain for a bit yet.......one day I know we will see the sun shine again!!!!!

Speaking of sunshine......look at these two cutie patooties!!!  I love these kiddos with every beat of my heart!  (ok corny but true!!)  😍😍

I have to STOP buying mugs but in anticipation of my soon-to-arrive babies, I bought this at Walmart last week:

life is purrfect!

Last Saturday I went to the Sylvan Lake Quilt Show and met a few gals from my old hometown there.  It was great seeing them again and I was happy they told me they were going to be in the area.  😊  I even won a door prize at the show!!!  💃 After looking at the quilts and shopping 😳 we went to a shop close by...which I had never been to but you can bet I will be going back!  Nuts For Bolts just outside of Sylvan Lake....in a red barn looking building....my dream shop!  Here the gals are posing in front of the shop for me before we went in:

I did more shopping there!  (hello!  They have a ton of Lori Holt!!!!)

A week from today these sweethearts will be delivered:

Oh I can't wait!!!!!!!  I really need kitten snuggles!  💗💙

I quit my job yesterday.  The co-worker I have been struggling with this year requested a meeting between her, I and the Vice Principal.  I should have refused, knowing it wouldn't end well, but I went along with it.  Well, it didn't end well.  The co-worker sat there and lied, exaggerated and was so phoney I couldn't stand it.  Today is my last day as I handed in my letter of resignation.  I will miss the rest of the staff but most especially the kids.  Yesterday was a hard day to get through but today will be even harder.  This would have been the last day we would be there with students so saying goodbye is always tough but knowing I won't see them around the school next year makes it even more sad.  I am really hoping tonight when I get home I will feel free.  My other co-workers are upset and I am hoping, if anything comes out of this, it will be that they will feel more compelled to voice their concerns and complaints about this woman too.  I just hope if/when they do that they have witnesses or photo evidence because this woman will lie until she is blue in the face.  

That is all I have to say about that.

So as I head off in this drizzly, rainy day to my last day at a job I love and am good at, I will try and enjoy each moment.  Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.  

Convocation and June

Our youngest had a busy day on Friday.  It was her 24th birthday AND her convocation from university.  We are very proud of her and hope she has a successful future doing what she loves!!  

It was a rainy day that day but it was all inside and then off we went to Julios for her birthday supper:

Mexican restaurant in Calgary....it was yummy!!

This little girl came home with us for the weekend:

She really cracks us up!  (she put her socks on her hands) Too bad the weather remained wet and grey as playing outside would have been fun but we have fun anyway.

Twelve more days of work and it can't go fast enough!  This week is usual but next week we have field trips and end of year parties!  I have so much to do before now and then!  The last four days we, in kindergarten, don't have any students but it will be busy with cleaning the room and new parent/student orientations.  I will meet the new teacher I have been assigned to work with for next year!!  (yes, I think I will return....only 2 days/week and a Friday here and there....my fingers are crossed for Tuesday/Thursday but I'm not holding my breath!)

THEN, on the last day of school, I get to meet with Pam and pick up my cuties (the two in the middle!!!)  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

I normally don't want to wish time to fly by but I do for the month of June!!!!!!!!  

Sweet Saturday!

I am writing this on the deck enjoying this perfect, sunny, warm day!!!  I have been doing a bit of laundry and still have to put clothes away but the dog blankets are in the dryer and that's the last load!  I had extra clothes this weekend because of Hubby being up north last week and my trip to Value Village yesterday!  😜  

Pam has been sending me pictures of my babies.  We named them last night!!!!  Introducing Heidi and Archie!

                                        

I can't wait to bring them home because it will mean the school year is over and I will have time to love them up ALL day long!!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking of school......Hubby and I talked the other night and I think I have decided not to return to the school next year......now MAYBE I will stay on a sub list but I don't even know about that.  It will give me the flexibility to travel with him if he has to work away and also to keep up on his book work and be less stressed!!!  I do LOVE being home but if this happens I will also have to make sure I get in some "people contact" as I can get myself into a slump if I don't.  

I love this saying....I have also seen one that said your job will be posted before your obituary or something to that effect.  

It makes me feel a bit happier and okay to finish out this year knowing that I will be free!!  Only 4 more weeks.....3 with students. I will miss (most) of the staff (LOL  You all know who I am talking about!) and I will miss the kiddos which makes me think I MIGHT sub......Anyway, I have to make a most definite decision within these next two weeks!  

The past two days have been super smoky here although I can't imagine how bad it is further north closer to the fires.  I didn't complain as I knew others had it waaaaaay worse.  Last night the wind picked up and there was some thunder and bam, the smoke cleared!  It's absolutely wonderful to see the blue skies today!  I'm thinking outside is where I am going to spend the day!  We have a tree in bloom and it smells AMAZING and my lilacs will be blooming soon.  Mosquitoes aren't too bad (more so in the evenings) so life is really good!  😊

Sewing But Not As Planned!

As I type I am sitting outside although the sun is currently hiding behind a big white fluffy cloud!  I was out a bit earlier and weeded my flowerbeds and it was beautiful!!  Hopefully I don't have to go back in for a bit!

I was busy yesterday....I went down to my sewing area and had plans of quilting the projects I showed you on yesterdays post but this pattern jumped out at me and I thought I'd give it a go!  It uses 10" squares....and I even had squares for the plain so I didn't have to cut them.  It went together quickly but I changed the pattern a bit so I could kind of do a bit of colour placement instead of making it all scrappy.  You might recognize the border fabric as the same fabric I covered my pressing mat with and made the curtains for my shelving cabinets upstairs!  I can proudly say, there isn't much left of this fabric now!!  

The layer cake was a Primitive Gatherings "Floral Gatherings" I believe, that I have had for a long, long time.  I think I bought it back when I worked at the quilt shop in High River.  I love it and because I only needed 16 squares, still have a bunch left for another project....someday.  😁

After sewing all day I had a late supper (after first watching the Blue Jays get thumped and then the exciting Raptors win to move onto the NBA finals!) and decided to get the house clean!  So, by about 10:15 pm the house was clean so off to the shower and hit the hay!  

I woke up at 6:15 am to let the dogs out and thought I should get up as the sun WAS finally shining and just laid back in bed, snuggled with the dogs for a minute.....well, next thing I know it's 8:30 and that is really sleeping in for me!!!!!!!!  I put laundry away (I didn't have the energy to do it last night!) and made my coffee.

This is one of the mugs I 'won' at an online silent auction from a rescue place in Calgary.  I love it!  The other mug says "You had me at meow".  😻  I'll take a picture when I use that one next.

Dreaming of my baby kitties!!  Seems so long away until I can bring them home but that's alright.  Will help be prepared and kitten proof the place again!  

Sun is out and I'm off to start stitching!  It's been a wonderful day!!!!  🌞🌷😊