Busy, Busy, Busy

Spring is here and I have been very busy trying to get everything that needs to be done done. Thus, the reason for not having been around to blog.

It all started with DH deciding to work on our unfinished sun room. We are putting imitation log covering and since we have had that wood for a long time, it had to be all sanded before he could put it on the walls. I did all of the sanding which was messy and took quite a while. I did do the sanding outside but it blew and landed on the outside siding of the house. Of course, because we got some rain in there as well, it stuck to the siding. Then, the vinyl siding had to be washed and so, I did that.

DH and I had to rake all of the lawn which had a lot of little broken branches from the high winter winds. DH has had to mow twice since then.

We took a couple of trips as well. We went to Moncton to visit my MIL for Mother's Day and wen to visit our Daughter and our Son-in-law after that for a few days. While there, DD and I went to shop at a quilt shop that was closing that week. DD had already purchased some fabric for me before we came to visit, but I couldn't resist going to the shop myself. Of course, I had to get more - it was too good a deal to leave it there.

The first picture shows the fabric I bought that will turn into a quilt. I love those colours together and the solid colour is going to be the backing. I only wish I could spend some time on it but due to other priorities, it will have to wait a while.

The second picture shows some of the other fabrics that was purchased. I still had more that I have already put away. In order to find room for all this fabric, I gave all the flannel fabric I had to my Sister-in-law.

This week has been spent housecleaning the RV getting ready for a trip to Coolsprings, PA in June. After I finished cleaning it, I loaded all the food that can stay in there until late Fall. Now all we need to do is put the everyday food and our clothing and we are ready to go.

Hopefully, I will not be as long this time before my next blog. Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

Finally Finished

I finally finished this queen sized quilt. It has been a long process as I have had many interruptions on this one. We had visitors and had to go away a few times as well and of course, Christmas holidays came in there as well. However, I wanted to do a bright blue and bright yellow quilt for quite some time so here it is. I had done one with those colors before but somehow it ended up with my daughter. Once she saw it, it was gone. I hand quilted this

quilt with white thread and I am pleased with the contrast.

I have also been busy walking almost every day for a couple of weeks now. I have progressed my walk to 7 km (4.2 m) now and that will probably stay. Today, however, it is raining here and I will have to use my treadmill which I don't like as well. The 7 km takes me to our post office mailboxes so I am able to pick up our mail the days I walk that distance.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Calais, Maine, and we went shopping at Wal-Mart. I found some Monk's cloth at a really good price so I bought 2 yards of white to start another afghan done in swedish weaving. I like to have something like that to do when we are travelling or camping. Now I have to find some yarn in colours that I like and I also have to sew the ends of the cloth and wash and dry it. Then I can start. I am also thinking about my next quilt - I am sort of leaning on making a scrap quilt like the old fashioned ones that our elders used to make. I do have enough materials here to do more than a dozen quilts, so I have to use some of it up before I dare buy any more materials.

Our snow is going quite fast now, especially yesterday when the temperatures reached 14C (about 58F). It was a beautiful day, so much so that after supper DH and I went for a bike ride. The hills were a killer on the legs but if we keep going every fine day, we should build up our legs in no time. When we were in Florida last year, we biked a lot. We have friends there that love to bike and lots of days, the four of us would go biking for the whole afternoons. It was fun.

Must go as I have a date with the treadmill soon. Have a great week everyone.

How Nature Works

When we got up this morning, we looked out the front windows looking onto the lake which is frozen right now and we saw a beautiful bushy tailed coyote walking across the lake. We watched him come fairly close to our shore where he stopped to feast on the carcass of a deer. We believe that he must have killed that deer last night. He stayed there for a while then proceeded to walk away. After a short while, the crows and ravens landed to have their turn to eat. They kept coming back all day. The coyote came back a couple of times, have a few bites and off again. To top it all off, a mature bald eagle came in for his turn to feast twice. He is one big bird and what a beautiful sight too.

We have had fairly decent weather the last two weeks. Actually, last week we did have above average temperatures and it was so nice. We have gotten rid of a lot of our snow but still have some more to get rid off.

In the last week, I have been quilting quite a bit and have been able to roll twice. I have 4 large blocks and their borders left to quilt. I will be so happy to get it done. Because of the size of this quilt - queen size - it has taken a long time to hand quilt. Of course, there has been many interruptions too, so that did not help on the time frame. The other day, someone asked me what I was going to do next. Well, I kind of think that maybe an old fashioned quilt with scraps of materials would be fun. I also have a lot of mauve and purple fabrics and someday, I want to make a quilt in those colours. The planning and assembling is always fun too.

This past week, I have been doing some genealogy as well. I always find that exciting, especially when I find some of my older relatives.

Take care and have a great end of the week.

How Could I Forget?

On Friday and Saturday nights, we usually get together with friends to play cards. So, as usual, on Saturday night, we did play cards at our friends' home and of course, munchies were served. Some of those munchies were nuts and bolts which I just love. Of course, I ate my share of them and forgot to ask if there was garlic added to these. Since they were homemade, I didn't give it a second thought. By the time we got home I was starting to feel sick and went right to bed only to get up an hour later to be sick to my stomach. At first, I thought I was coming down with the flu. I spent Sunday sleeping. Sunday night, these friends called to see how I was and that is when I asked and got the answer to the garlic question. Since I am allergic to garlic, I now know why I was sick. Lesson learned.

Today I feel so much better. The sun is shining, the temperatures are above freezing and I have done a lot of housework, including some quilting. Because of the cold nights and warmer days, the maple trees are already being taped and so, it won't be long before maple syrup and maple sugar will be for sale in the stores. I just love, love, love maple sugar. Thank heaven, it is only out for a short time - that way, I can have it and not have to worry about how much weight I will put on.

Around our area, there has been some people that have been asked to evacuate their homes for fear of flooding. Apparently, the Nashwaak River has developed ice jams and has caused the river to overflow its banks. It has not flooded homes yet and luckily, the weather is being predicted as sunny for a couple of days, so it has slowed down the snow melting. Hopefully, it will be enough to keep the major flooding away.

We are still thankful for where we live, especially since the awful disasters happening in Japan. It is hard to imagine the way those tsunamis and earthquakes happening to anyone. Those poor people! Our prayers are with them!

Must go as I rambled long enough. Take care everyone!

Dreaming

If one wants to dream, one may as well dream in technicolor. Right? Well, in Canada, we have a lotto that happens each Friday night. It is called Max Lotto. The jackpot climbs each week it is not won until it reaches $50 millions, and on top of that there is a draw for 20 tickets each worth $1 million. Well, guess what? Tonight is such a night.

DH and I often talk out loud as to what would we do if our ticket won the $50 millions. We like to think that we would not move from our present home as we love it here but it would be fun to change other things. We often say that our priorities would be in helping our relatives - yes, Cathey, you would be first on the list. LOL Actually, DH and I would not refuse the $1 million winning ticket either. It is fun to dream BIG!!!

Well we did get more snow this past week and it is getting ridiculous. The snow banks are so high and it makes it dangerous when people come out of their driveways as they cannot see what traffic is coming. They are calling for rain on Sunday with a +6 C for a temperature. Last night, it was a clear night but with a -26 C - that was cold. No wonder so many people are sick around here. The changes in temperatures are so great. I am feeling much better myself but I am still coughing. DH did catch my cold but he has not been as sick as me with it. With his health issues, I am happy that he was not that sick with his cold.

Have a Great Weekend everyone!

Not A Good Month

Usually February is a pretty good month for me. However, this February has not been fun at all. I started off the month by having to go to the doctor for a really bad cold which he put me on antibiotics to clear up the infection caused by this cold. Then, of course, we have had a snow storm after another after another with another big storm coming today. We have had so much snow that there is no place left to put what comes. DH even had to shovel off the roof of both the house and the garages. I don't think he ever had to do that before.

While I thought that this was the end of a bad month, on February 13th, we received a call from a dear friend that her husband D, who is DH's cousin and a close friend as well, had passed away early that morning. So, we packed up and went to Moncton for the funeral which happened on the 16th, a very sad day. February 16th is also my birthday - I know at my age I try to forget the birthdays, but I still wish the funeral could have been on a different day.

We came home on Thursday being very tired and emotionally drained. Guess what? On Friday, I came down with another nasty cold. Argggh! I am starting to feel better today so hopefully, things will not get as bad as the first one. I hate this February. The only good part of having to go to Moncton was that we did get to meet up and stay with my daughter and her hubby.

Enough of my woes for today. Last week, before I got sick, I bought myself a pair of Shape-Up sneakers. They are supposed to be the latest in sneakers and you have to wear them for short periods of time at first as they are supposed to correct your posture, tone your muscles and walk in a better form. Today, I am wearing them for a while in the house. They do feel really different on, I can see why they suggest wearing them for short periods at first. I do need to shape up so hopefully this will help.

The skies are getting dark and it looks like we are in for the start of our latest snow storm. It is supposed to start with rain, freezing rain and then a good amount of snow. I guess I will be doing my walking on my treadmill for a few days.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Snow Go Away

This is unreal. We just got another snow storm last night and they are calling for another one on Tuesday. The picture is that of a neighbour's cottage before last night's storm. The deck rails are four feet high and the snow is at least 3 feet high on the deck. Do you believe this? DH just gets the driveways cleared with his tractor, and here it comes again within a couple of days. Now I wish we had gone South for the winter. To top it all, we have had high winds with most of the storms. Last year, we did go South and in this area, they never had any more that four or five inches of snow after we left. Ah well, I guess we can't do anything about it.

I started walking last Tuesday. The road we live on is 4 km. long and is gravelled. Right now, it is snow covered but the plow has been keeping it clean and it makes it fairly good for walking. A bit slippery if one is not careful. Yesterday, I walked 3.6 km as I increase it everyday. Today it will have to be the treadmill. I don't enjoy it as much as outdoors as even with the TV there, I find it a bit boring. As I write this, the sun has just come out but we are one of the last roads to be plowed so it will still be the treadmill today.

I am back to working on my quilt that I have on the quilt frames. I really do enjoy hand quilting and find it relaxing especially since DH has set me up with the TV, receiver, and a hard drive that acts like a PVR. I have taped a couple of good movies and put them on while I'm quilting. I must say, that is one good thing about staying in the North for the winter. My quilt is queen size and so it does take a lot of time and a lot of quilting to get it done.

The little birds are coming in groves today. We have the white breasted nuthatch, the rose breasted nuthatch, the chickadees, the goldfinches, the redpoles, the downy woodpeckers and the hairy woodpeckers here today. They chased each other off the feeders. It is nice to see them though. At night, we still get the flying squirrels coming by every so often. It is a great life living in the country.

Must go as I have to go do the treadmill thing. Have a great week everyone. Stay warm.