Too busy having a good time

My DH and I were listening to CBC Comedy for Cancer while preparing supper this evening.  When our guests arrived we couldn’t remember any of the jokes as we were laughing so hard.  Our friend Donny remarked it had to be good if we couldn’t remember.

Sunday dinner was like that.  For the last while we have been sharing Sunday dinner with my good friend Jennifer, her husband, her sister and brother-in-law.   We were joined today by her nephew Brandon who is home for a month before heading to New Zealand.

And dinner was good.  So good I completely forgot to take pictures.   There was so much good food, so much talking, so much catching up with Brandon and his world travels, I completely forgot about the camera.

The menu consisted of new potatoes salad,  chicken oregano (one of my favourite recipes from the cookbook “Chicken” by James McNair), coleslaw, danish pickles, rolls, fried red and green peppers with onions and mushrooms.   Dessert was homemade angel food cupcakes with blueberry sauce.

Bonus Saturday

The weather was wet and dreary this morning.   Big bonus – I did not have any urge to go yard saleing.

When my DH went to pick up the Happy Saturday rose, the florist slip in a bonus rose.  She does this whenever she brings in a different colour or wants our opinions on a particular rose she is growing.

DH and I spent the morning cleaning the basement.   Nothing tests a marriage like spending a Saturday morning in the basement sorting through 12 years plus of clutter and ” I wondered where that went” boxes. Bonus – my husband is a very patient, gentle man, not a discouraging word was spoken.  We are one step closer to listing our house.

I made Retorte incredibly delicious chicken and chickpea burgers for lunch.   Another bonus as one large chicken breast (ground) and a half can of chick peas made enough for our lunch plus lunch tomorrow.

I took three large bags of clothing to the Salvation Army.  A big bonus of more closet space for me.

Did you have a bonus Saturday?

May be finished in time for Christmas

This week I was registered to attend a paper piecing class on Tuesday and Thursday evening at my favourite local quilt shop,  Pins, Needles, Fabric & Yarn.    Once again the very talented Julie patiently taught four of us how to paper piece the Trim the Tree pattern.  When I signed up for the class last month, two nights of quilting sounded like a plan.  That was before Win and I decided to sign up for training with Mark the Masochist.

After training with Mark on Wednesday and Thursday mornings I was lucky to make it through the day let alone go out Thursday night.

Win could only attend Wednesday’s morning session as she  had enrolled in a four day trauma class in Fredericton.   So Thursday morning it was just Mark and me,  mano to wimpo.  He put me through my paces without mercy, I had pain in muscles I didn’t know I had places.   In fairness to Mark, he did teach me a few stretching exercises to regain the flexibility in my left shoulder.   My vehicle was t-boned 12 years ago resulting in serious injuries to my left side.

Somehow I made it through the day but had to back out of the evening class.  Despite going on a walk with my DH to wake me up, I was ready for a long night of sleep by 7:30 p.m.

Trudy, the shop owner, graciously told me to drop by and finish the tree quilt sometime.  I’m hoping to have it finished in time for Christmas.  I’m quite sure It won’t be a gift for Mark.

More of the quilt show

I recently switched operating systems on my computers so I’m a bit slow in posting.  Still attempting to work out all the differences with ubuntu, especially picture editing.  Here is more of the quilt show we attended last Friday.

Memorial tupperware and letting to

On Saturday I was given the dubious task of helping my daughter sort through boxes of miscellaneous stuff which she had been storing for a long time plus boxes from Little Grampy’s apartment.   At the best of times it is difficult  to declutter, add memories and emotional attachments, it is even harder to let go.  Even Tupperware takes on new meaning when you remember family picnics, home baking and cookies sent to summer camp.   It is always easier if you tackle a job like this with someone else.  By box number 7 Andrea and I were tossing more in the garage sale pile then we were keeping.

Despite spending most of the day before and part of the morning sorting through clutter we went in search of yard sales.   Saturday was  the community yard sales day in both Centreville and Florenceville.  Usually one of the girls stay home on yard sale Saturdays as they like to sleep in. For the first time in a long time, my three grand-daughters were up, dressed and coherent enough to join Andrea and I in our quest.    It is never really about the bargains we find, it is about time well spent, together.

My oldest granddaughter Sarah heads off to Fredericton soon to work for the summer before starting college.  As we drove through the beautiful Saint John river valley, I realized that this will probably be one of the last time that she joins us in a Saturday morning search for sales.   Soon she will have new friends, new adventures and a busy life.

Sarah also accompanied us to the quilt show.  Last week I emailed a triple Irish chain pattern to Andrea, stating this will be the next quilt I make.   While viewing the quilts, Sarah favourite quilt just happened to be the triple Irish chain

.

I’m taking the day off, you can never be too careful

If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises. Take two good friends to the nearest liquor store and purchase one or both of the antidotes – Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.

Busy, busy, busy

It has been a busy weekend.   On Friday we left at the butt-crack of dawn to head to Woodstock.  The local quilt guild celebrated their 10th anniversary with a  quilt show at the historic Connell House.  More pictures will follow in a later post.

Andrea planned a full weekend of fun and adventure.  We started at the quilt show just to butter me up.  After a visit to the Christmas Crab quiltery and lunch at the DQ, we returned to Andrea’s to begin the real reason she was so happy to see me.    Job 1 was the sorting of her craft room.

Before Emma was born Andrea operated a craft store.   Not only did we sort through boxes from the craft store, there were boxes of every project the four children made, plus boxes of patterns from most of the projects  belonging to Little Nanny.

We worked all afternoon and into the early evening.   By 7:30 I called it quits and went back to the hotel for an early bedtime.

Plank problems

Sometimes I question the friendship between Win and I.  On a good day we can talk each other into almost anything.  One thinks of the idea and the other one goes along for the ride.  There is no real leader in this friendship, we just take turns being coming up with harebrained schemes.

For the past fours years we have been going to the gym bright and early most mornings, attempting to rearrange everything that Mother Nature has allowed to droop, drop or roll.   We have been doing a few routines but the treadmill and a morning gab has been our most frequent form of exercising.

Last week Win decided it was time for a new routine.  Something we could do at home when weather or family or vacation or television or a toilet bowl waiting to be cleaned (you get the picture, any excuse) prevents us from going to the gym.    She made the arrangements with Mark the trainer to meet at 5:30 a.m. today, explaining our desire for a new routine.

Mark apparently is not a morning person.   He put on a good face, very professional, very knowledgeable, very soft spoken.  He wrote us a new routine, which in his words “is a bit unorthodox”, (translate that to read, “I’ll get you my little sweaties”).    This routine is so intense we will  be able to do it only once a week,  The other four days we will use weights and the treadmill.

The exercises I can remember included push ups, sit ups and the plank.  I think I’m suffering from post traumatic exercise shock,  Everything is a blur after attempting a push up in which I was to lift my body weight off the mat.  The last thing I clearly remember is muttering, “You know Mark, collectively mine and Win’s age is over a hundred”.   That man showed no pity.  Without much of a sweat, he showed us one arm push ups and a lot of “Rocky” style routines.   The only rocky I like is the only that ends with  road and is an ice cream flavour.  Apparently we agreed to meet with him again next Wednesday morning at 5:30 a.m.   Gives him a week to dream up even more torture.

According to Mark, one day we will be able to do these exercises with style and grace.

Pedometer challenge

At work we have enrolled a team in the provincial pedometer challenge.    The object is to log enough steps to equal a virtual walk around the province.   We keep track of our steps each day and register them on this web site.

During the cold months on a good day I’m lucky to walk around the block.  Now that the weather is much warmer, my goal is to walk 10,000 steps each and every day.   The mornings I go to the gym I rack up 4800 steps by 7:00 a.m.  If I decide to take it easy I have a rough time reaching 5000 steps in a day.   The only option I have is to move more.  The pedometer reminds me to get off my butt and move.

This morning Win and I walked on the tread mill.  This evening I joined my neighbour in a 20 minute walk.  Step by step I’m making progress.

Another basement treasure

This beautiful chest was also stored in our basement, wrapped lovingly in a flannel blanket.  Originally it belonged to my DH’s spinster aunt.   Upon her death 10 years ago at the age of 82, it was given to our Julia.  As Julia is still attending university on the other side of the country we have the chest in our care.

I decided to bring it out of the basement and into our bedroom.    As a young girl in the 50’s I can remember my aunt’s having hope chest or in some cases “hopeless” according to my grandfather.

According to Wikipedia, this type of chest is used to collect items of clothing or household linen, by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life. It is also known as a hope chest, dowry chest, cedar chest.  In the UK and Australia it was known as a glory box .    This type of chest was often inherited from one’s mother or aunt

The contents of  typically included clothing ( such as a wedding dress), table linens, towels, bed linens, quilts and occasionally dishware.  I think it is fitting that it now will hold quilts.