Catching Up On April

Let's start with Easter.  We had a great Easter with all the kids and my Dad here.  The weather was great and the littles had a great time hunting and finding Easter eggs.

  

Dad with all his great grandkids

The hunt!

Little bunny foo foo

Then this little girl went in to have her tonsils and adenoids out....finally!  She has had problems for so long and she handled everything like a trouper!!!  No crying!  When they were discharged, the nurse told her she had been her best patient of the day....when Lyla told me that she was upset that she didn't even get a sticker!  😂

My Dad made a frame for my A is for Alphabet stitchery.  I think I am going to darken the outside border a bit.  He had complete freedom to design whatever and came up with the red border which I was leery about until I saw it and loved it. 

This is Block one of a stitch along with Julie Porter.  Can't wait for number two which should be out the end of the week.

A gift for some special people.  My friend Kim and her husband want to gift it to some very special patients of his and I pieced the top as my contribution to two people who are amazing and a great friends of my Dad.

This was a kit from my purging sale (many came back in!!)  I had two people interested but declined once I gave them the price for shipping.  So I whipped it up!  Easy peasy....the centre is a panel.

Look what I bought off of a Buy and Sell.....

I need more books so I can play more songs.....I'm not good and I play simply but I enjoy it.😃

I have started walking this week and tracking using MyFitnessPal app.  So far so good.  I know I have to keep busy during the day and it's working so far.  Now the weather has been nice so I hope I will still walk in the rain!  🤞

More restrictions announced today....I'm not sure the extent of it all as I "tuned in late" and then couldn't stand to watch anymore.....

 

Music!!

(again, not me!  LOLOL)

The best part of walking for me is the music!  Hubby got me a set of AirPods for Christmas...one of the best gifts yet!  Music helps take my mind off of my aching body (somewhat) and mostly revokes so many memories.

** there will be NO judging my choice of music!  😂😂😂

Sweet Caroline came on and I was reminded of when we lived in High River and our girls were in my vehicle...we were coming back from uptown and that song came on.  At the time I guess it was a "thing" for the young people....hahaha...so the girls were belting it out and doing the dum dum daaaa during that part of the song (after "sweet Caroline...dum dum daaaaa good times never seemed so good....etc)  Made me smile.....because they were happy.  Both girls are very stressed and distraught over this damn Covid and the restrictions.......

Then the song Houdini came on by Foster the People....I remember having Erica play that at the store while I was working....and then Jennifer came dancing over from the flower shop.  That memory made me smile.....fun times....and Erica was still with us.  💔

Well who can't do the arm motions when YMCA comes on??????  LOLOL  Memories of dances at school and even when it was played at hockey games!  Got my arm movements in too....yep I walk in the bush without an audience! 

 

Another Erica memory was when Brokenhearted by Karmin came on....she was the one that introduced me to that song. It reminded me of her, her store, working at the store and even when I was supposed to be packing up the house when we moved to High River and wasn't motivated, I would put that song on and I'd be on my way to getting stuff done!!!!!!

I only walked for 30 minutes...gotta start somewhere right?...there were other songs but these were the memory ones for me.

This weekend I had the joy of watching our grand daughter and her little brother......Lyla asked me to play the Chicken Dance on my phone.....she was dancing and her brother was dancing.  Made us smile for sure.  Isn't music a wonderful thing?????????  

Well I am having to move this aching body and will pop out to get the mail.  Next post will be filled with quilting projects and grandkids.....I promise!!  

 

My Walk....and Thinking.

(totally NOT me!  LOLOLOLOL)

 I'm going to do two posts today....hey why not?  I have almost missed April!  😆  First let me tell you about my walk........

After cleaning the house today, with the sunshine pouring in the windows (we haven't seen the sun in a couple of days) I felt motivated to start walking again....I know, you've all heard this before and who knows how long it will last.  But I have alot of motivation to get in better shape (any shape really, other than round!😳)

When I was REALLY good at walking every single day (almost a decade ago) I could work things out in my head while getting my heart rate up and listening to upbeat tunes.  It kind of happened today.  After reading and watching videos from doctors who are not paid for (and off) by the government, who have nothing to lose but want to pass on information the powers-that-be don't seem to want us to know, who aren't held back by any gag orders (what country do we live in???) I have made some decisions about life right now and possibly in the future.  

First I am going to avoid as much mask wearing as I can.  Not only do these Dr's say NOTHING will help in putting a stop to Covid 19 (it has to run it's course and will always be hanging around....which I have said from day one and I am not a medical person at all) they also say that masks do more harm than good (our body is made to expel bacteria and viruses and masks only make us suck them back in!).  So, to prevent having to wear a mask, I am going to start ordering my groceries for pick up (and anything else I might need).  Unfortunately for the stores I shop at, they will lose out on my impulse buys (which I am sure add up significantly over the course of a year!)  😄

Second, which involves my walking and eating properly, I am going to focus on my own health.......losing weight so I am comfortable and can play, lift, interact with my grandchildren without hitting bottom by the end of the day.  I am going to start taking vitamin D which I should have been doing all along but which ones to take?  So many brands out there are supposedly garbage so I will have to do some research there.  In the meantime, I will soak up the natural stuff when the sun is out instead of spending all day down in my sewing room, because these experts say it helps in the fight against Covid 19 and many other seasonal illnesses.

Thirdly, I will not change who I see and when I see them.  I meet with a friend every week and we do hand stitching, one week at my house the next at hers.  I will continue to see my family whenever they come for visits because these experts say other than protecting the vulnerable (long term care residents and people with lots of comorbities) there is NO reason to stay away from each other.  The chances of anyone in our age groups catching anything is slim to none and even if we do, IMMUNITY IS THE BEST DEFENCE!!!!  Our bodies are made to deal with this shit!  It was explained that this isn't a new virus per se but a different strain.  It's similar to the flu and cold viruses....just new.  So if we "get it" our bodies will produce anti bodies to fight it and they will always be with us.  Flu has variants because that's what viruses do and so will this one.  Nothing new! 

Fourth I WILL NOT LIVE IN FEAR of this.  The only thing I fear is what is being allowed to happen to our beautiful province and country.  I had read that Doug Fords networth went from something like 3 million to 50 million over the course of this "pandemic"....true?  Not sure.  But I was curious and went to see what Jason Kenney's was....well, I can usually use Google whatever I want and not necessarily have to be on wifi....but not so to obtain this info.......I didn't go on wifi so I don't know what his networth was and what it currently is.  I found that interesting and disturbing.......not sure why.  

Fifth I will not be getting an experimental vaccine any time soon.........maybe after the trial period is over in 2023...maybe.  I have never had the flu shot (and was really sick, but not to the point of being hospitalized because I was young and healthy, years ago...guess what?  I've NEVER been that sick again!) Does it worry me that I will be prohibited to travel? Shop? Go out without wearing a special symbol on my jacket or not having a "passport"?  Maybe...but I am hoping there are enough lawsuits won in front of judges that have a conscience and will not be swayed by government bullying that proves this is a complete and utter violation of our human rights. It is NOT selfish to want to protect oneself against something that has not been proven to work or that you don't know long and short term effects of...they say it can prevent you from catching Covid by XX% but how the hell do they know that????????? The vaccines are so freaking new!!!  AND if you are in the age group, are healthy and are not diabetic, have heart and lung issues then what is the point?????  By all means, get the vaccine if you are worried about or have any of those comorbitites....hopefully they will help you out.  🤷

I am not sure what the politicians and propaganda spreading news stations will do when it comes to the point where the residents in this country can no longer afford internet or cell phones or power or gasoline.....how will they spread their garbage then?  Maybe we will see the headlines while laying in a cardboard box using old newspapers as cushioning from the hard ground?  Okay, that's a bit dramatic but there is no prosperity in the future for the common folk.  Politicians and government paid people, all of which have never missed a pay cheque, can continue on as normal.  They can just get raises so they can afford the fuel to get to work.  😠

So I will continue to live my life feeling confident that there IS something going on within our governments and that I hope and pray the truth will come out one day and those people will be tarred and feathered.  Jason Kenney is to have an announcement tomorrow.  With over 20,000 active cases (supposedly) in Alberta (a whopping 0.45% of our population) and only 3% of those in hospital (0.013% of our provincial population), I'm sure he will be doing more lockdowns....which have proven time and time and time again NOT to work for anything but breaking small business.  I'm frustrated......because there is evidence against all of this....but the gov't keeps saying they are following the science.  Just because that shit comes out of their mouths does NOT mean it's true!  

Stepping off my soap box........

PS:  This is MY blog and the opinions are MINE and MINE alone.  I do not write this to make you think my way of thinking is the right way and yours is wrong.  Believe what you want to believe.  All I ask is that you do some research.....because there are alot of very reputable educated people in the medical field who have experience in these situation and are speaking out but get NO airtime on mainstream media.  Just question things you hear and read via mainstream media....and remember who finances them.  

A Man And His Dog

 Last day of March....I truly believed it was going to go out like a lion....a couple of days ago we had unbelievable winds and blowing snow.....but it's to be a beautiful sunny day for the next few days which can melt ALL the snow!!!!  

This dog....she really does smile....and when she is looking into her daddy's eyes, she is in love!  (ignore Hubby's chins....it's a family thing! 😆😆)

And two of my babies.....staring out the window at the birds:

FaceTimed this goof last night!  😍:

This little man is three months old already!!!!!!!!!  Oh he is so squishable!!!!  :

More projects getting done:

An oldie

This is a new one....Kim sent me a pattern I had to try:

Another oldie!:

An ancient one!  Kim worked her magic on the quilting....the binding got done a couple of days ago:

Made these for the grandkids to fill for Easter...the extra one is for Son2 girlfriends little girl.....did that make sense?  They are super easy to do!!:

I did my first Zoom class last Friday and this was the project.  A Cheri pattern of course!  I am doing another the end of April:

Busy weekend coming up!!!!!!  I have lots to do today and am sitting in my pjs!  Must get moving.....Happy Easter to all!  I hope you are having some sort of celebration!!

🐰🥚✟

Wonderful Visitors!

Good Morning!!!!!  The sun is coming around the trees and it's to be a gorgeous day and even nicer weekend!!!!  Melt snow, melt!!!!  We are sheltered in here so we still have a bit in the yard/trees.  I know I am rushing it but I am very much ready for Spring to arrive!!!!!  

I finished this top last week!!!!!!  A ton of work but I absolutely LOVE it!!!!!  I'm off to the quilt shop today to look for backing so I can ship it off to my BFF Kim to work her magic!!!!!!! 

This little dude turned one on Wednesday!  Gosh, time flies as I remember vividly the night he was born.....he's such a happy boy!  He and his sister are coming tomorrow for the night and I can't wait!!!!

It's been a busy week for company.  Son2 and his girlfriend Courtney (whom we met for the first time) came last weekend so too did Daughters1 & 2, Lyla, Brody and Ryan.  Full house but wonderful!!!!!  The Calgary peeps left Saturday and Son2 and gf left Sunday. 

Son2s hair was so long Daughter2 was braiding it!  😆

We had our own birthday celebration for Brody....do you think he likes chocolate cake?  😋

 Then on Monday Jenna decided her and the boys needed a break from the house so they came down from the north and spent a couple of days!!!  Here's my Captain America!!!:

This is only the second time I've seen and cuddled this guy and he had changed so much!!!!  💗

Jude gets here and immediately sets up his "arcade".  He turns that lamp on if the arcade is open....what a kid!!!!

I can now post pics of this pincushion I made for Kim for her birthday.  I really enjoyed making it for her and she loved it!!  I make it so it's attached with Velcro and it can be changed out if necessary.

I'm heading to BeaverCreek soon for backings and ?????  😁  I made a baby quilt with tumbler blocks and need a nice fuzzy backing for it so I can get it done.  I will quilt that one myself.  I also have another project or two I'd like to find fabric for...........I am going against my "no buy" rule for the year!!!!!!!!! I just feel the "need"!!!!!!  hahahaha!

I joined a swap in one of my Facebook groups and I showed the project I sent to my swap partner a couple of posts ago.  Well, this is the one I received from her and I LOVE it!!!!!!!!  It is hanging in our livingroom so I can admire it every day and as usual, the picture does not do it justice.  I am always nervous about joining these things....I feel pressure to have to make something but then when it's done and sent I worry about whether or not the recipient will like it!!!  

Well off I go to prepare for the day.....quilt shop and groceries!  

Enjoy this Fri-yay!!!!!  👍😃😎

 

March Came In Like A Lamb

Happy March!  Can you believe it????  To think our world was almost normal last year at this time.....now it's gone to H-E-double hockey sticks in a hand basket!  Will we ever see normal again?????  I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, let's focus on the good in life!  My Dad finally got to meet his newest great grandson a couple of weeks ago.  Son2 also got to meet his new nephew and his oldest nephew was soooooo excited to see him (and the dog was happy too....Son2 was her first dad.😁)  Son2 lived with them since before Jude was born....they were best buddies but now Son2 moved north and they don't see each other often.  

Here Master Joey is at 2 months old the end of February:

Squeezable!!!!  😍😘

I've been spending time in my sewing area......I had finished these houses awhile ago.....an OLD UFO (BOM from Fat Quarter Shop when we lived in High River!)  LOVE anything Kim Diehl so it was great finishing the blocks.....but there aren't just plain borders on this thing.

These are the pieces that make up the borders.  There are 72 pieced strips in each stack!

Stars go in the corners.

This is what I have left to do!  I hope to get at it today and tomorrow.

I have company coming for the weekend so it will cut into my sewing time 😆 and alot of stuff to get done before then so we will see how far I get in the next couple of days.

You know how one thing leads to another??????  We got a double bed for the "kids" room and I had a three drawer chest of drawers in there but it was too big once the bed was set up.....it's a small room!  

In my sewing area I had my fat quarters in two, three drawer plastic units that were hard to pull out and get to everything with the weight of the fabric so I thought this other piece would be sturdier.......but three (bigger) drawers to fit 6 drawers worth of stuff!  Sooooooooo after purging ALOT I got it all in!

General fat quarters:

Batiks on the left, homespuns on the right (homespun yardage in the middle):

Collections/bundles:

I am not a fan of batiks but I have half a drawer full of fat quarters and this yardage!!!!!  (there was more added after this pic was taken!) What was I thinking???? That pastel piece was bought when Daughter1 was small (she is now almost 28!).

That re-organization took me a LONG time!!! But it always feels good to get things more functional and downsized.  

The sun is shining this morning and it's to be quite warm for a bit.  Melt snow melt!!  March came in like a lamb for sure...........I hope it forgets the lion at the end of the month!!!  

Off to get my cleaning done then to town for some groceries!  

 

Bread Baking, Valentine's Surprise and Stitching

Oh happy day!  It's warmed up a bit today and I think we are to get warmer and warmer....what a cold snap!!!!!  Today we are to get a bit of snow, which comes with the warmer temps, but that's okay!  I'm sooooooo over the freeeeezing cold weather!!

When I went to get groceries last week, I found some frozen bread loafs made by the bakery.  I thought I'd give it a go and it turned out quite well.....of course, I didn't have to do much except thaw and let it rise then bake it but I was impressed all the same.  😂  I didn't get a picture of it out of the oven but it rose a bit more and got a bit brown but it did taste good!!!😋

Hubby surprised me with a beautiful bouquet for Valentines Day. 💗 I think I am almost over the dread for this day after owning the flower shop with my Mom!!  😄  The lilies smell amazing!

On Saturday a friend and I met and we went to a local quilt shop together.  I went for pre-wound bobbins, which I got, but I also came home with this:

I'm hoping to make myself and my Dad a table runner.

I finished this on the weekend too.....it's a project for a swap I am doing in one of the Facebook groups I belong to.  It's called Grace.  I hope my swap partner likes it!

My friend Kim gave me two of these quilted pictures.  Lyla and I started one day and then her and her Mommy finished it yesterday.  I love it and will make it into a pillow.

This big dude turned 11 months on the 10th and he started daycare today.  😢  I guess he wasn't very happy when his Mommy left and his big sister was very concerned.  I hope they let her see him while they are there.......only a part day today but a full day tomorrow! 

And look at this little guys smile!!!!!  😍  We are so blessed to have amazing, wonderful and cute grand babies!!!  (Okay, at least WE think that they are amazing, wonderful and cute!!!!😆) 

Cleaning day today but first the dogs are going to get a bath.  I'm washing bedding (it's nice to have a new washer and dryer and not have to worry about whether or not I will break off a paddle from the agitator!) and want all of them to smell fresh and clean!!  Phoebe goes for her dental cleaning on Thursday...hope she doesn't need any extractions!  She will be freaked out being left there..........

Off I go!!  Enjoy your day!