Monday

It is a miserable rainy cold morning here. K is out of town, so I had to walk J to the bus this morning - oh how I miss my nice warm bed. Brrrr!

I just wanted to remind everyone that I write for PayPerPost - that is what the previous post is about. A client will post information about a site they want bloggers to post about - and in turn we get paid.

Just wanted to clarify, in case you wondering when I suddenly developed a fetish for police uniforms :)

Wanna dress like a policeman?

Well you can! Heck your spouse and kids can too!

Check out tactical gear

Ever been watching your favorite police show and wonder where you could get some of those cool threads or sunglasses or other cop paraphernalia?

This place has it all! They have flashlights, coffee mugs, boots, and all sorts of police clothing.

Check it out!

I want one of these!

Mr Bento compartmentalized lunch box.




Amazon.com - Mr Bento

It is SO cool! The bottom two containers are microwavable and will stay hot inside the bottom compartment and the top two containers will stay at room temperature.

Look at what it can hold!



There is even a Flickr group for Mr Bento lunches.

Of course buying one of these would make more sense if I actually had a job to take it to - I will one day and then I will buy one.

The only problem is that I can't seem to find them in Canada so will have to order from Amazon.com.

Oh well - but they are SO cute - aren't they?

Works for me Wednesday - Laughter

At the end of a long and stressful day (or even on an unstressful one) nothing makes me feel better than a good belly laugh.

We have all heard how laughter is the best medicine.

Here are two of my favorite websites that make me laugh and that work for me!

I can has cheezeburger - great pics of cats with hilarious captions.

Cute Overload - If you love baby animals....

If you have any funny sites you recommend - please leave the URL in a comment.

For more great tips - head over to Shannon's place.

Sometimes, life is just like that.

see more crazy cat pics

Interesting Links

Some fun stuff :)

I just installed StumbleUpon - neat idea - install it, select the categories you like and then click the Stumble button to be taken to random websites that match those categories.

Here is one I got: List of unusual deaths.

This one I used to visit a lot when bored at work :) News of the Weird. Trust me it is weird!

Then there is The Darwin Awards - haven't we all known someone who should be listed here?

I can spend hours at Cute Overload :) if you like cute baby animals, so will you.

Always fun - top 15 strangest coincidences.

Amazing sidewalk chalk art - this guy blows me away!

One sentence stories - some are funny, some are sad, some are so true. I SO want to write one of these now :)

Hope you have as much fun checking these out as I did!

Latest quilt project

First a couple pics of my kid at the Science Centre on friday - he was in this thing that simulated a tornado - you can see it better in the 2nd pic.

Oh and next a lovely picture of how messy my sewing room gets while I am working on a project.
This was actually just after I picked up a couple bags of fabric from a person on Freecycle - so I was sorting :) although, most of that mess is of all my previously owned fabric.
Ok on to my new project - I mentioned buying some cloth napkins the other day right? well this is what they have become so far.

First I tacked a flannel receiving blanket to the wall to simulate a quilt design wall - works pretty well actually.

The first picture is just the squares on the wall - they all didn't fit - the bottom row is there, but the sides and top are not.
Then this next picture has the bottom rows sewed together.
And the last picture has all the rows sewed up but not yet sewed to each other- which should be nice and finicky - trying to get all the squares to match up - I see a bunch of seam ripping in my future :)

It is still missing the center square - I haven't decided what to put there as yet. My son thinks it should be something drastically different like a shocking red. Opinions?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wow I haven't posted for a few days. Last week was March Break here so my son was home and keeping me busy most days.

We took in a movie on Monday. Had a library visit and walk though our lil town on Wednesday and spent the day at the Ontario Science Centre on Friday. It was fun but it went by quickly.

A trip to Value Village yesterday scored me 3 sets of 4 cotton napkins which I have already cut into 5' squares to become a lap quilt. I should have taken pictures before I cut them up - oh well.

I also bought so blue fabric to edge the argyle quilt with and some green teal to use as the background for the new floral 9 patch quilt. I will post updated pictures hopefully later today or tomorrow.

I have finished my tote for the Tote swap I joined over at Down to Earth. I can't yet post a picture as my swap buddy might see it. I will once she has received it.

For those that asked, my brother is doing better, the blood thinners have started to work. He has to get his blood checked once a week to maintain proper levels. We are still waiting on more tests for my nephew to see if he can have the surgery.

Works for me Wednesday - Word Association

Whenever my son has to remember something we try to come up with a word association to help.

For instance – he is studying the human body. He told me that arteries and veins take the blood to and away from the heart, but he kept forgetting which did which. We looked and saw that is was the arteries that take the blood away from the heart, and the veins that take it to the heart. So I told him to remember that A goes with A – artery and away. The arteries take blood away. If he can remember that, he just needs to know that what is left go together. He finds it so easy to remember now.

Sometimes there aren’t words that start with the same letter and it is not so easy, then try having them in alphabetical order or with a rhyming word.

Another example – I always confuse stalactites and stalagmites (cave formations), one hangs down, one grows upwards. Now I remember the one with the double T (stalactite) is on the top/roof. So Double T=top, I now remember stalactites are the ones that hang down from the top.

Another – there are so many types of fat out there today and it is hard to remember which are really bad for us versus, those just kinda bad and then those that are ok for us.

So what I did, I read that monounsaturated fats are acceptable for us. As apposed to saturated which is bad for us. So my way of remembering is – m for monounsaturated, and M for Mother. Mother is good, so monounsaturated is good.

I know kind of weird – but it works for me and I never forget which is which once I set up word associations.

For more grewat ideas stop by Rocks in My Dryer.

A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away....

ok so not far far away - right here on earth......I used to paint. Yup. Watercolour.

Then I had a kid and life just sorta whizzed right on by. You blink and 10 years have past. Wow.

The last time I painted was 2 summers ago. My sister and I spent 4 days at my brother's cottage - just us and her dog. I took pictures of stuff, mostly flowers and then put them on her laptop and then painted from them - well I started two paintings. Never did finish them. I'm like that - I start lots of stuff - one day I will finish. I started this quilt at least 12 yrs ago but it is done now :)

It is time I got back to painting. I have a LOT of paintings to finish.

Here are some of my paintings. I haven't tried anything other than flowers yet. As you can see I have a lot to finish before I start a new one.

Oh and a photographer, I am not - sorry for the poor quality of some of them.

This one is dated 1989.

No date on this one but I am pretty sure it is from 1985 - I was still living at home with my parents when I did this one. Was from a greeting card.

1989

Inspired by this - a print I got at LewisCraft.
So the one above I painted - this one I did not.I think this one was for a watercolour class I was taking. Dated 1986.

Not sure when I started this one- sometime in the late 80s I would assume.
It is not yet finished.

This is the inspiration -a greeting card - I decided not to include the cat as I figured it would end up looking like a mutant - I am not so good with people or animals :)

This one is only half done - no date.

Again no date and not finished.

The inspiration for the one above - another print from Lewis Craft.

Another no date - could use a bit of work to finish it off.

Another print - inspiration for one above.

Dated 86. I think the inspiration was a magazine photo.

This is one of the two I gave my sister - actually no that isn't true. She has one like this, so does my other sister, and as you can see below, I have painted it 3 more times too.

The original print from LewsiCraft.

Another painting of same image but large than the others.
And finally another, not yet finished.
This is one of the ones I started 2 summers ago.

This is a photo of the same garden but different shot - a painting from this is below.
You may notice, in the 1st painting I didn't notice the holes in the pot - in the 2nd one, I did :)

Needs to be finished too.
I couldn't get a good shot, so I scanned it - even worse I think.

This is a painting I did for my sister in 1987. It was one of two I gave her.

Done about 8 yrs ago - inspiration -garden catalog.

This one did about 8 yrs ago - inspiration - a kleenex box :)

One of my goals is to finish some of these and get them framed and hanging in my house. Two of them were actually painted for my brother about 20 years ago, maybe I'll finally give those to him :)

Catch up post

March break started for my son on Friday. My DH took Friday and Monday off so we all had a nice long weekend. Most of it was spent indoors due to the storm that started Friday afternoon and lasted until Saturday evening and left us with about 25 cm of snow. Good thing DH has a snowblower :)

We went to see Alvin & the Chipmunks yesterday - it was cute. We had planned to see 10,000 BC, but it got horrible reviews. Oh well - we'll catch it when it comes to DVD.

Have been working on my new quilt - I have 9 of the 12 blocks complete. I will have to get out sometime this week to look for a background fabric. I still need a border fabric for the argyle quilt too.

I met a new friend today. I joined a tote swap on Down to Earth, that is where we each sew tote an d swap them with a partner. Well I just met Vickie via email - she is my swap partner. I will post her very interesting blog once I ask her permission :)

Update: I now have her permission - check out Frenchy Addict.
Frenchy is a thrift store in Vickie's area. Very cool blog - she has got me wanting to bake bread, garden and treasure hunt more in thrift stores :)

Ta ta for now

Frugal Fridays - Thrift stores

I LOVE thrift stores!

I mostly buy fabric at thrift stores. I find brand new fabric. I have gotten some really good deals.

Check out my finds here, here, here and here!

This quilt is made completely from fabric I got at value Village. Total cost of fabric is approx. $13.

When my son was younger I was able to get him clothing in good condition - but now that he is older, not so much.

My sister buys most of her wardrobe at thrift stores. She often finds item with tags still attached for only a few dollars. She is able to update her wardrobe each fall and spring due to the savings.

Even if we don't find a good deal at a thrift store, we always have fun checking out all the stuff and saying "wow didn't Mom have one of those?" or "I remember that!"

It's also a great place to buy books.

So if you haven't recently, go check out your local thrift store! :)

For more frugal ideas, go to Biblical Womanhood.

New fabric and new quilt

These came in the mail today - I bought them off eBay.

30 4x4 squares of different floral fabric. I bought 4 sets.

I need to stay away from eBay. I want to buy everything. I love pretty fabric. I want to live in a fabric store...no really I do.

This is what I have done so far - from about 2pm today.

6 9 patch blocks.

I just have them laying on the teal fabric for the photos, but I think they look really good on it. What do you think? This piece is all I have of it. I need to buy more.

Close-up of first 3 blocks

Close-up of 2nd 3 blocks

I even once again drew out a plan. You probably have to click it to see it better.

Works for me Wednesday - Backwards - Blogger ?s

Ok as today is a backward WFMW - I have two questions regarding Blogger.

1.) Can I set up a post to automatically post at a certain time - I mean write it in advance and then have it post on its own in the morning - without me having to manually post it?

2.) Is there a way to add pictures to my posts without them all appearing at the top of the post and me needing to rearrange them?

Hope that makes sense and I hope someone out there has answers for me.

For more questions on Backwards WFMW - go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Kitchen tip Tuesday - 4 Tips

1. Keep store bought French or Italian bread fresh longer.

You know how Italian or French bread comes in those paper bag wrappers from the store. If you have ever left it in that wrapper overnight, you know that it doesn't keep it fresh.
What I do, put it back into the paper wrapper but then place inside a grocery bag and twist the bag closed and wrap the handles under. This keeps the bread fresh for several days (not that it ever lasts that long).

2. Easy read recipe cards.

Place a fork, handle down into a tall glass - place the recipe card into the tines of the fork - now the recipe is right where you can read it.

3. For kids that don't care for milk.

I warm a glass of milk in the microwave, add a splash of vanilla and a smidgen (1/8 tsp?) sugar - mix and serve. My son loves this treat just before bed. (Make sure kids brush their teeth after the milk, not before).

4. Special coffee.

I drink instant coffee every morning - I don't drink enough to make a pot of real coffee. To make instant special, I add a tsp of hot chocolate poser to my instant coffee. Homemade Cafe mocha!


For more great Kitchen Tips, check out Tammy's Recipes.

Heck of a week

Well the week started out well enough. I got news on Tuesday that my oldest niece is expecting her first child in August. My brother (her father) didn't have my two sisters' emails and asked that we pass the news along to anyone he had missed. I forwarded it to my sisters.

Friday I got a response from my sister. She had news of her own - but not good. My nephew (29) has just been diagnosed with something called Moya moya syndrome. It is a rare condition that causes the arteries in his brain to narrow and cause strokes. An MRI showed scar tissue from at lease 4 strokes - 2 as recent as last week. His driver's license has been revoked, and as his job is driving truck, he cannot work. The only available treatment is brain surgery.We are waiting to hear if he is a candidate for it or not.

Later that night my brother called me.....from the hospital. He has been there since Sunday. He was having trouble breathing so finally went in. They have found 17 blood clots in his right lung - not sure about the left. He was put on blood thinners but wasn't responding to it, so the dosage was increased. The thinners will prevent new clots from forming but the existing clots still have to be removed/busted/dissolved whatever, as they can move to his brain and cause strokes, or if they stay put, cause diminished breathing capacity. He is waiting to see a blood specialist.

Man so much all at once.

For anyone out there that prays, your prayers would definitely be appreciated.

We are all doing our best to stay positive and informed.