Sewing is a family thing

Sarah is recovering nicely although the nurse visits daily to change the dressing.  Her next doctor`s appointment is in two days time, hopefully she will get the okay to return to school.   This past weekend there was a whole lot of sewing going on in both households.  While I worked on the bunny blocks and the blue quilt, my daughter and grand-daughter worked on their own projects. There is nothing like sewing on a Saturday to bring joy to a house.   Compliments of my daughter`s Flickr site,  here are a couple of photos .

Sarah sewing a teeny case for her teeny MP3 player.  Plus she will get bonus points for school.

Thank goodness my grandchildren are blessed with the sewing gene.  I know my daughter Andrea definitely has it.   Whenever she needs a new purse or when the mood strikes, she simply sews one.  This is Andrea`s latest creations.   Doesn`t it make  you think of  the sunny days ahead.    This would also make a lovely Mother`s Day gift ….HINT, HINT!

Sarah

My grand-daughter visited the doctor today to have the staples removed from her incision.  Unfortunately the doctor discovered an infection so Sarah will continue to recuperate at her mom`s for awhile longer.   Starting tomorrow a nurse will visit to dress her incision.

With a round of antibiotics and Andrea`s care, Sarah should be right in no time.  Other than the occasional cold, Sarah has not been sick before.  So this is quite concerning for our family.  Good wishes and prayers sent her way would certainly be appreciated.

Little things

Enjoy the little things, for one day, you may look back and realize that they were the big things.”    - Robert Brault

Yesterday morning I left the house at 6:00 a.m. to be driven to Fredericton.   Shortly after 8:00 I met my husband and we drove another hour and a half to Saint John to attend the funeral of my aunt`s long time companion.   My aunt Gina and her boyfriend Al dated  for 17 years.   They met at a Christmas party that neither one wanted to attend.  A year before each  had lost their spouse.  With the Christmas season approaching their respective children thought a night out might cheer them up.

For the next 17 years they dated.   Each kept their own apartment.  They would meet at Gina`s in the morning, go out for lunch, bowling  or a walk at the mall returning to her place for supper.  Their evenings were spent watching television, talking on the telephone to their children (15 children between the two of them). At 10:00 o`clock Al would kiss her good night and return home.

As Father Doug said in the eulogy, they were always together.  Sunday morning they went to church, always sat on the parking lot side pew, last row, first and second seat.  Saturdays were filled with yard sales, country drives or camping.  Last summer they spent a weekend camping  outdoors in sleeping bags under the stars.  No small event considering Gina is 72 and Al was 80.  On a whim they would drive from Saint John to Calais to visit Al`s sister and of course do a bit of cross border shopping.  Occasionally they would visit for a weekend on the Miramichi, bringing my parents along for the drive.   Shopping, yard sales, card games. laughs  and a lot of good cooking marked their visits.

Al was a tall, big, quiet man.  Gina is a firecracker at 5 feet. She loves to talk, he was a man of few words.

From the moment he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in November, Gina did not leave his side.  Six weeks ago he was brought back to his apartment, and there she stayed.

Al`s funeral was largely attended.  We sat with my aunt Gina at the luncheon afterwards and remembered a lot of good little things from the past 17 years.   We shared a few tears.   Gina said she would wait until she was home alone this weekend before she allowed the grief to consume her.    Gina said  she would have enough to keep her busy during the days, but 10:00 o`clock at night would be the worst.

They lead a life of little things and that was no small feat.

Pretty in pink

Inspired by this quilt,  I have been sewing a pretty little quilt for the newest expected member of our family.  My grandson Addison and his wife Kaytlyn are expecting their first child, a girl, in April.

I figure if I start it now I should have it completed by the time she graduates!

We have been sitting on the news since August, waiting until all signs were good.   Mommy and baby- to- be are fine, and Daddy is taking it in stride considering he has always lived in a house of girls, with his 3 sisters.

Here`s a sneak peek of  the pretty in pink blocks and the additional fabric I intend to use. I have been paying strict attention to the scale of the fabrics and the colours.  I want the quilt to be perfect for our expected princess.

And if it turns out,  she is not a girly girl, I have that covered too! I have a stash of  Bob the Builder and Finding Nemo fabric.

Twelve days of Christmas

There`s a noreaster bearing down on the Maritime provinces today and for the next two days with snow fall ranging between 30 and 50 cm.  So it is a good day to stay put and putter. I have a pot of vegetable soup simmering on the stove and plan to make at least two chicken dishes this afternoon.  In the event of a power failure we will be snug thanks to our propane fireplace and generator and our bellies will be full.  Who could ask for anything more?

We will pack up the few Christmas ornaments we set out this year, and put the Christmas china back in the tall cabinets.   And so the Christmas season will end at our home for another year.

When my siblings and I were very young we would go to bed on Christmas eve in a house completely void of Christmas decorations.  The next morning when we awoke the tree would be up, decorated, with presents beneath.   Lights would be wrapped around the windows, tinsel swags would be strung from one corner of the ceiling to the other. It was truly magical!    December 25th is the first of the twelve days of Christmas.

The trees and the decorations would often stay up until Little Christmas January 6th. I  remember helping my grandmother Daly dismantle the tree on Little Christmas.  This was a good thing, as Nanny trimmed her tree with candy canes and someone had to eat them.

This time of the year I think of my grandparents more often.  Memories of huge real Christmas trees, tinsel, angel hair, bubbling Christmas candle lights, beautiful hand painted German glass ornaments, and angels looking down from the top of the tree.  Each year the amount of Christmas decorations I put up become fewer.  But the memories of Christmases past become more.

Merry Christmas

to you and your family.  May this season bring peace, joy and happiness.

Weekend highlights

Celebrating Emma`s 9th birthday

Spending time with Julia

Stopping to let a moose cross the road

Stopping to let a deer cross the road

Perfect driving weather to and from Woodstock

Julia wearing her lovely tea cozy hat

The three of us snuggled in the front seat, as the back seat of the truck was too stuff with presents

Dinner with the family

A snap picture of my granddaughter Meaghan with a smile on her face

A picnic lunch at Kilkarny Lake on the way home

Being blessed with children and grandchildren

Diddly squat done

My sewing room is filled with great intentions. Last month I found this fabric at my local thrift store. Great buy, 20 metres of fabric for $18.00. My intentions were to make a round the world Christmas quilt. I took the fabric to my daughter`s when we babysat last month. Emma even coloured this quilt, to keep me on track.  The fabric sat in the bag the whole trip.  My quilting mojo has gone south for the winter.

Inspiration was all around me.   I bought the felt to make these pillows.  You guessed it! The felt is still sitting in the bag in the sewing room.

Rather than make any new Christmas wall hangings, I purchased three at the local Christmas craft sale.

Inspired by the beautiful Scherenschnitte created in the past by my sister Wanda, I researched patterns on the internet.  Yesterday I found a felt Christmas paper cut at the Great Canadian Dollar store.  Hopefully it will be hung in the window by Ground Hog Day.

This year I refuse to put any pressure on myself.  Christmas will come and go whether my I am ready or not.

So I have diddly squat done, other than the Christmas gifts purchased.  Even those I  cut back on this year.  The ones I have not wrapped will stay in the bag from the store.  I plan to slap  a ribbon on the bag  and tell my grandchildren it is the latest in gift wrapping.

Next weekend we will visit my son and parents in Saint John.  The following weekend we will spend with my daughter and her family.   Julia arrives in 10 days  and plans to accompany us to Andrea.   Christmas day will find us at home, quietly celebrating a potluck dinner  with my brother and neighbours.  Good food, good friends, family, a good book and maybe a video.  Just like the t-shirt logo, all I want for Christmas is five minutes of peace and quiet..

Emma is right.  Christmas is not about how much money you spend on presents, how you decorate your house.  It is about spending time with the ones you love.  And that is exactly what I am inspired to do.

In memory of Private John T. Daly

The First World War began 95 years ago on Aug. 5, 1914, when Canada and the rest of the British Empire declared war on Germany. Canada mobilized 620,000 people out of a population of about 8 million, of which 67,000 were killed, while 173,000 were wounded. This photo was taken by Lieut. Harry W. Ferguson of Campbellton from the deck of the SS Caledonia, while the 26th Battalion (made up of New Brunswick men) left Saint John for England in 1915. Ferguson was killed by a sniper in 1916. The first Remembrance Day was observed on Nov. 11, 1919, and it now honours those who died in all subsequent wars.  From Telegraph Journal November 7, 2009

My great grandfather was a member of the 14th Battalion. He was a professional soldier.  From his birth place in England, he sailed to Ireland, to fight in a civil war.  He sailed from Ireland to South Africa as a member of the Lancashire Fusiliers to fight in the Second Anglo-Boer War.  He sailed from Liverpool to Quebec, then on to Saint John, New Brunswick.   He sailed to France from Saint John harbour, never to sail again.  On November 28, 1916,  he was killed in battle and is buried at Villiers Station, France.

Bonjour and we’re back

I’ve been off line since Saturday as my daughter moved the domain to a new server, to make things easier for her and the rest of the family.  The last two entries were deleted and the set up is different than before, but all in all, it’s a good thing.  Now various family members can set up their own blog without too much assistant.  She is also starting a new blog “Never trust a skinny cook”.  My grand-daughter Meaghan and I will be contributing old and new family recipes.  I’m also hoping with the help of my brother to start a family genealogy blog.

Two of my grandchildren celebrated birthdays this past weekend.  Addison turned 22 on Hallowe’en Day and Meaghan turned 17 on the 1st of November. I can’t believe how quickly the years fly by and how blessed I am with wonderful grandchildren.

We will celebrate with Addison on our next trip to Fredericton.  Meaghan we will see in two weeks time when Carl and I spend the weekend looking after the girls.

With the time change, this morning I was up at 3:45 ready to go to the gym.  Luckily I checked the clock before heading out the door.

Tomorrow I’m off to a conference in Tracadie so it will be a day or two before I’m back to normal posting. Take care and blog ya soon!