Crabs and Balls Insanity

This has been a cooking up a storm week for me because the weather hasn't been great and the house needed some warming up. Yikes - I can't actually believe I am saying that I had to warm up the house so early in the year! It has been cool, especially at night, and I really don't want to turn that furnace on. It goes against everything to turn it on before October. Almost blasphemy to think such a thought!

Hubby and I went over to our daughter's and picked a primary (a large vertical tub used for making wine) full of crabapples. We came home and I washed and topped and tailed them, then divided them between 2 primaries to make crabapple juice. I dumped in twice as much boiling water as there were crabs and a half a box of cream of tartar in each. I covered them with a cheerful checkered tablecloth and left them to soak overnight . Twenty-four hours later, I fished them out and moved the crabs to my big turkey roaster and then into the oven to cook through. I took the strained juice and simmered it until it was a mouth-watering, aromatic golden amber colour. Finally, I added some sugar until my tastebuds no longer imploded and it had a nice fresh bite. I poured the juice into 29 sterile sealers and let the sealers sit until the lids popped. Done.

Now, it was time to make applesauce from the baked crabs. I got out the Foley food mill and ran them through. I had enough sauce to make 9 trays of fruit leather, twice over. (I sweetened it with some warmed honey and added some cinnamon and nutmeg - all to taste.) They smell divine and taste pretty good - not super sweet but good- like eating applesauce. I gave the first batch of leather to my oldest for her lunches and some of the juice to take back home in return for giving me all those crabs. The rest I will wrap and freeze for later in the winter for our bag lunches. Now both the house and the garage smell great because of the crabs (the dehydrator is in the garage) doing their thing.

After finishing with the crabapples, I had about 140 apples from our tree to cook down. These I turned into applesauce. I stemmed, cored, and cut off the blossom ends and threw them into a pot with a bit of leftover crab juice and lemon juice to cook down. I ran them through the Foley food mill and have a lovely applesauce all spiced and ready to eat this winter.

I was happy I did all that because I still had four grocery sacks of apples to deal with from the church ladies. I made these into an apple pie filling that I make every year. It is so easy and so flavorful to use. It is especially nice during the winter for apple crisp, pies or whenever we have unexpected company for dinner because it is simply a matter of dumping the frozen apple pie filling into a bowl, zapping it to soften and spreading it into a dish with some oatmeal for a quick crisp that is comforting and good. I was able to make a huge (almost as big as my turkey roaster kind of huge) bowl of pie filling!

I only wish that my tomatoes were doing half as well as my daughter's crabs and my apples. I have so few that we have only eaten 5 - yes - only 5 tomatoes have ripened so far!!! This is just heartbreaking for me because I usually have enough to make salsa, chili sauce, spaghetti sauce and plain tomato sauce, besides enough to eat them everyday for lunch until November. I just cringe at the thought of having to buy pre-made sauces and hard tomatoes this winter. Groan. This darn global warming is darn chilly here on the prairies and the humidity has encouraged all sorts of blights that are attacking my plants...

So today I headed downstairs to grab a can of pineapple to make some pineapple sweet and sour meatballs for supper. No pineapple. I already had the meatballs cooking/browning in the oven. What to do? I went on the net and found a recipe for a sweet and sour that called for cranberries and chili sauce. Hmm. I knew I had some cranberry sauce left from that turkey the other day and some chili sauce that I had canned up last year. It sounded like the weirdest concoction to me but hey! who am I to doubt all the multitude of similiar recipes that professed its exceptional flavour? I mixed equal amounts of them together and it looked like someone puked in my bowl - really. It was hard to taste but I closed my eyes and ... it is actually really, really good! Now, I have to do a sell job on it - hopefully it will look much better once it cooks.

The cranberry chili sauced meatballs are a hit - everyone really liked them. Thank goodness! They were so quick to make and in the end, looked pretty good after they cooked for a bit and I didn't even have to do a sell job. Life is so good!

Turkey in August!

It was cool here today, with temperatures around 14 Celsius and the wind that sadly had that fall bite in it. It felt like a good day to roast something in the oven. After perusing the freezer, I discovered a small turkey left from the spring and decided that it was just the thing to cook. Thawing it was another matter -I felt like Dave on Vinyl Cafe trying to hurry it along so I could cook it today. Nothing like deciding to cook a frozen turkey in time for supper midway through the morning! I should have had my head examined... I did it though and it turned out just fine. We had a lovely supper and then the best part was I had a nice carcass to brown in oven to make some turkey stock for soup. The house smells great.

To make a nice stock, I brown the turkey carcass (uncovered and remaining meat removed) in the roasting pan for about an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until it is a nice golden brown. Roasting the carcass before adding the water and other ingredients makes a darker, richer stock that is delicious for making soup or just sipping on a chilly day.I then chop up some carrots and celery stalks, usually about 3 or 4 of each, along with some yellow onions (they give the best flavour), a dozen or so black peppercorns and a couple bay leaves. I add a good handful of Italian parsley and sage as well. After the hour is up I throw everything in, add water just to cover and then about another inch . Then I return it to the oven but lower the heat to 300 and leave it for about 2 to 3 hours depending how much time I have. I used to cook my stock on top of the stove but found that I like putting it into the oven better because it comes out super clear and wonderful without all the little splatter marks on the stovetop. The roaster is easier to clean as well because everything that is baked on from cooking the turkey or chicken dissolves and adds to the flavour. I usually adjust my salt near the end when I reduce the stock down.

Turkey sandwiches tomorrow! I am so glad I baked bread this morning because turkey sandwiches made with homemade bread tastes so good! I think I will take some of the stock and freeze it. The rest I will make a nice soup out of because my fridge is bursting at the seams with garden vegetables. Not sure what I will put in it yet but I know I have some purple beans, zucchini, onions, carrots, but the celery I will have to pick and hopefully a couple peppers are ready in the garden and of course I will have a little turkey meat to pop in as well. Looks like supper is already planned for tomorrow.

What are you planning on making for supper? Do you have a garden that is ready for picking?

Real Food or not?

I know I have said before (more than a couple times) that cooking has always been something I love doing. It is so relaxing even when chaos overtakes the kitchen. I know, I know, that is essentially an oxymoron. Consider this - when you cook you have to pay attention to what you are doing or it really doesn't turn out. Unless, of course, you are making fast food stuff that is heat and serve and that really isn't cooking or in truth, real food. I agree that it is simple to heat and serve but basically it is just sustenance or something to put in your gut along with all the chemicals that they need to preserve it or keep it from separating or whatever. Where is the pleasure in that? I don't mean to sound like a food snob, that is not how I mean it, I just mean that real food is just so good - good for the body and the soul as well.

I understand that there are time crunches, especially when children have events they must be at or you have a meeting to attend. However, it really is easy to develop a few "fast food" meals that can be made when you are cooking on a non-rushed day and be frozen for later consumption. They are so much more satisfying and are just as quick as going through a drive-through without all the downsides to fast food.

I admit that I do queue up to a drive-through occasionally (very occasionally) even though I know that there are alternatives that are better. I feel guilty every time I am in a line because I don't find it particularly satisfying, food-wise. I also find it hard justifying all the additional gas that is burned idling through and the cost of the products. I never feel guilty about making or eating good food that is made from scratch at home.

I laughed to myself when I heard about the slow-cooking movement. I didn't know that what I did each day had a name, I thought it was just cooking. Over the years I have taken a lot of flack for all the care and time that I put into the meals I make for my family. Quite a few individuals didn't get it or felt that it was a waste of time, that my family was spoiled. They would ask me why I bothered going to all that work when I could just as easily go down to the grocery store to pick up anything I wanted already made up. Somehow, a lot of people have lost the desire to cook real food. I know that sometimes it can be cheaper to buy a store-bought meal but in terms of your health, it really isn't cheaper.

I am pleased to see that the process of cooking is changing and becoming a pleasure once again. It really is about sharing and savouring with the added bonus of getting real nutrition from the food that I have taken time to prepare. It is not just about getting our greens and carbs and being low fat, it is about enjoying the process and benefiting from it. The nutrition part just happens when all of us cook real food and the bonus is that we really don't have to keep track of the carbs/low fat/salt etc, it just isn't all that necessary if you choose recipes that don't use a lot of processed ingredients. The best part of taking your time is how it brings everyone together to enjoy one another's company at the table.

A number of years ago, a national food chain renovated one of their local grocery stores and discontinued a lot of the ingredients I needed to make certain breads and recipes from scratch. Instead, they stocked the shelves with a lot of pre-packaged foods. I shook my head and wondered how on earth I was going to be able to cook properly without them. I was quite disappointed that they had gone this route and made it more difficult to obtain basic ingredients. I have since sourced out these ingredients but still am disappointed to see our stores going that direction.

The basics give me more enjoyment that complicated foods. One of my little pleasures is walking out into the yard, picking a nice plump raspberry and popping it into my mouth. The smell and taste of it, softly warmed by the sun, is divine. When I was a kid, my mother would haul all of us out into the bush to pick fresh, wild raspberries. I don't remember if I was a very good picker when I was a kid (most likely not) but I do know I was a good berry eater and I always appreciated the wonderful taste and smell of those berries! I didn't even realize that my mother was providing us with organic food. It was just food. Along that same thought-line - who could ever deny that a fresh, sun-ripened tomato has the most incredible flavour when it comes to making toasted tomato sandwiches? My mouth is drooling just thinking about them. Both of these are the simplest of pleasures but offer fresh, healthy, organic food loaded with taste and all those vitamins, etc so vital to good health and no chemicals!

Protecting our National Parks - Environmental Water Issues

The environment is something that I try, in my very small way, to protect. I recycle, I try very hard to re-use, and to cut back on purchasing things that are over-packaged. I also garden without using fertilizers and use compost to nourish my soil instead.

I have talked about our cabin in Riding Mountain National Park and how very special it is to us. It is a big deal to have the privilege of being in such a beautiful park. I believe we should do everything we can to protect it and that includes the water bodies that are in the park.

We do not have running water in our cabin, nor do any other of the 500 cabins that are in the Old Campground. There is a movement to have water installed which would eliminate the need to for communal washrooms, shared water taps and the communal shower building. The vocal minority (only 13%) have a desire for running water. We feel that they want to follow Waskasu's lead in Saskatchewan and where the price of the cabins jumped up to 150,000. when water was put in. The other 87% of us love our sense of community which would be long gone big-time if the water happens. Most of us just want our cabins to retain some of that sense of community that we have cherished over the years and part of what makes that is the having and sharing of washrooms, shower building and cookhouses, for us it is not about the money.

It also so much easier not to have water because there are a lot of other issues that will develop if this happens. Our little cabins are very close together and any odours from a bathroom fan will vent onto each others air space. I know I would prefer not to smell my neighbours bm's while sitting on my little patio. (Sorry for being so blunt but we are that close together!) Washers and dryers will come in as well as dishwashers. All of these appliances use an incredible amount of water and promote use of non environmentally friendly products. The dryers will vent to the outside as well and again, who wants to smell bounce or similiar products when we have such a great quality of air right now?

There is also the issue of locking up and preparing water systems in the fall. All the toilets and tanks, etc. will have to have an anti-freeze product poured into them to keep them from freezing and bursting in the winter. In the spring these products will be drained into the system and you can't tell me that this doesn't effect the watershed area. When you take that times 500 plus cabins that is a lot of anti-freeze and laundry/dishwasher products that will go into the watershed area that are currently not.

There are other issues as well, including the fact that in order to put in the water systems they will have to remove most of our spruce and other trees and that it will look like a new subdivision and become almost devoid of trees. Who wants that? Our trees are a major part of what makes this area so beautiful.

Another issue is the fact that the campground will be a construction zone for at least ten years, if not more. And so many families can't afford to pay for the the added construction of adding on an addition to accommodate bathroom facilities. It would cost a minimun of at least 15,000. dollars if not more by the time the dust settles. This is a large sum that most people would have a hard time coming up with, especially new families and retired folks.

This is an issue that is very contentious and ultimately will create a huge division in our campground. It is sad that this has to happen when summer is meant to be enjoyed and this could ultimately mar it for years to come.

Plumbing Rant

We had a bit of a problem with drainage on our kitchen sink about a year and a half ago. It would give us a glugglug sound everytime we ran water or poured something down the drain. Hubby climbed on the roof and poured some hot water down the vent stack, thinking that it was frozen up. Problem solved. That year. This last winter it started again and the sink was having issues draining. Up the ladder with a bucket of hot water and voila the problem was fixed - or so we thought. Then it started again with a vengeance. I used vinegar and water, drano and some other non-environmentally acceptable methods. Everything worked, for awhile, and then it would start glugglug again and the sink would slow down. We called in a rotorooter guy to clean out the sewer to the street thinking maybe it was tree roots. He put down drop cloths around the sewer hole and proceeded to snake the drain. After he was done he cleaned it up and put everything back how it was. Did it help? He did produce some tree roots and maybe it helped for a bit.

Grr-rr Now it has started in the summer and we are at our wits end! We decided to go with a professional and call a plumber. He came in a couple days later and went to work cleaning out the drain under the basement floor,thinking that was the issue. No drop cloths, no rags for mopping up. His phone rings and he answers it but it is dead. He starts again. The rings again and he answers it and has a short conversation. Hubby is instructed to fill the kitchen sink and release it when he yells. This he does but the plumber forgets to cap the pipe and water spews all over him and the basement as it gushes a couple feet out the pipe. He contines to snake it but his phone rings again and as he struggles to answer it there is crud splattered all over the wall, floor, and fridge. I got him some of my cleaning rags. He smeared it further and further up the wall until I told him to leave it. He headed upstairs and was going to snake it from under the sink. We removed some stuff but he said just to leave the rest. I wasn't keen on it but ok I would give him the benefit of the doubt (which was huge by now). Still no rags in sight. He snakes it down to the basement. His phone rings and he has another slightly longer conversation. It seemed to go well. Things were starting to look up by now.

The plumber then proceeds to feed the snake up the vent stack. There is a loud snap and some angry words from the plumber. I come back in the kitchen and find out that the snake has broken in the stack and is still up there. He makes a couple phone calls and has a couple conversations. Then he goes to get another snake to snare it and hopefully bring it down. No luck. I am not a plumber and please correct me if I am wrong but I would think that you would feel it when it is blocked - wouldn't you? I have to ask you - wouldn't you stop before it breaks?

The plumber then decides to check the drainage on the sink by filling it with water and letting it drain. His phone rings and he has a conversation. In the meantime, he forgot to put the plug back on the pipe and the sink full of water literally gushes out all over the inside of the cabinet and the kitchen floor. Hubby and I scramble for more towels and rags to clean up. As we cleanup, his phone rings and he answers it (6th time?). Eavesdropping his conversation, I hear him give advice to whomever is on the other end and say he will help him out in a half an hour. Things are taking a decided downturn again as he explains to us that he has to remove the dishwasher, cut the pipe and try to fish it out that way. !!!!?? I am getting a little stressed by now wondering what other destruction he is going to bestow on us. Then he is suddenly packing up and says he will come back Tuesday morning to finish. ??? We tell him that Tuesday does not work that he has to come Wednesday and why is he leaving when the job isn't done? Says that he has to go to another job. This job he volunteered for as he was working under my sink!!

After the plumber leaves I crawl under my sink to make sure the plumbing is where it should be and that everything is sealed back up. As I crawl out I realize that everything, including the cabinet is covered in black crud. I remove the rest of the stuff, fill the sink and wash down the cabinet and all the stuff that was under it. Grrr!

Now we have a snake with its head stuck up an already challenged stack, thereby reducing air flow even more and another day that will be tied up with plumbing. Now we have a dilemma - do we allow him to come back and correct his/our problem and probably wreak more destruction on my home or do I call someone else to clean up the mess left by this fellow?

I do have to add this - he was a very nice man which made it difficult to get angry with him but that does not excuse all the mess.

Argh!

Active Retirement

I had an interesting kind of week in mid-July when I was invited to go check out apartments suitable for a retiring person who is still active. No, it is not for me but it did give me a lot of food for thought when we went around looking at suites. It is amazing the variety of apartments out there and what they offer or don't offer for seniors. It gave me a whole new perspective on what is up and coming in the future when I look at retiring.

I think one of the most important things I came away with was how isolating being retired could be. Imagine moving to a new city where you only have a few relatives, no job and no car. I can't imagine anything more isolating. You have to somehow meet other people and set up a new life for yourself when everyone around you is already established into their lives and possibly have less time to socialize than you. It therefore becomes important that the place you choose has some sort of club or social area where you can meet other potential friends. These types of buildings are extremely few and far between or they are located in an out of the way locale.

You also have to find a new doctor in an already squeezed system. What with all the shortages of doctors in most locations, getting a doctor is like winning a lottery and almost as unlikely. As we age, most of us will require more doctoring than less, so finding a doctor is paramount.

Location becomes one of the most important factors in choosing an apartment - it has to be within walking distance of the mall so shopping is easier, otherwise you have to take our rather spotty public transit or depend on your relatives who are all working full-time (again spotty but heart-felt transportation). It also needs to be near that spotty public transit system or you are left with paying through the nose for taxis to get around.

You also have to think of the fact that you are getting older and that your living accommodations have to reflect this. Having an elevator in the building is a godsend when you are carrying groceries or if you later require a walker. Stairs can be a major obstacle to someone whose mobility is challenged. Then there is the issue of a suitable washroom with bars and a raised toilet. Unsavoury thought that it is but ask any senior whose mobility is challenged somewhat how far down a regular toilet can seem.

These are all things that are important - I just hope when I do retire and have to leave my home that there will be a nice place out there for me that is close to the mall, has access to transportation, and a good social center to meet friends. What a challenge retiring can be! I am glad I was given the opportunity, once more, to check out the facilities here. I am one step ahead of the game, only about 20 years or so early.

384 Square Feet of Pleasure!

I am still amazed that we own a cabin. I have just had the privilege of spending several glorious days at the cabin and am lucky enough to be headed back there this afternoon for most of the week!

We have a small (384 sq.ft.) cabin in Riding Mountain National Park in the "Old Campground" area. This is now our 16th year there and we have a yearly lease, no running water, communal shower building and log cookhouses where we can heat our water and cook when it is too hot to cook inside. Although we are building a cabin on a beautiful lakefront property at Tokaryk Lake - about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Brandon and 45 minutes from the Park, we will never sell our cabin in the park. It just has too much of our family history tied into it and if our children ever want to have a cabin there - there is no way that they would ever be able to afford to buy back into the park when they are old enough to want to as it would probably be financially too far out of their reach. I know we will spend time at both because they each offer different attractions but my heart will always be in the park. Besides, my daughters would probably never talk to me again if we sold it and I couldn't live with that.



In this day and age it may seem odd not having running water but it actually allows for more freedom and flexibility in the maintenance of the cabin. We don't panic if we don't get up there before everything freezes. (Did I mention we don't have heat either?) We can just flip the breaker, lock up the cabin and walk away. Granted, when it rains running to the washroom is a bit wet but coming back in where it is nice and cozy more than makes up for it! Although I am not a fan of getting up in the middle of the night to use the facilities, whether in town or not, you can't beat the walk up the hill to the shower building on a warm summer night. If it is clear, we have a wonderful view of a sky full of stars and if we are extra lucky, we will have northern lights. In my opinion, it beats using an in-house washroom any day! (Oh - Did I mention that I don't have to clean a bathroom up there anytime either?) (The picture of the wood-burning cookstove heating kettles of water is from the Clear Lake Cabin Owners Assoc. website. - it is our source of hot water for dishes, etc.)

Fire and Heartbreak

We live in a very nice typical 60/70's style neighbourhood. Our homes and yards are lovely and the neighbours get along well. We have large mature trees and just the kind of ambiance suitable to a lovely stroll. Today, we were visited by a huge tragedy. A new neighbour - who just recently joined our neighbourhood about six months ago - had the horrible experience of witnessing her home burn down to the ground.

Around 3:30ish today there was the sound of a huge explosion and glass shattering. Shortly after, was the smell of something burning...It was our neighbour's home. She was not there at the time but her lovely orange and white cat and her little puppy was. The house is not salvagable. They firemen rescued the cat and sent it off to the vet but they were unable to locate her puppy. We are all hoping it escaped but when you see pictures of the house you realize that hope is slight. Our neighbour came when her home was half-way gone - what a devastating sight for her.

I have never seen a house fire in such close proximity. My initial reaction, and I noticed some of my other neighbours reacting in the same way, was to cry. It is so overwhelming. I cannot imagine how it would be if it had been my home. It is not so much the house but all the accumulated memories that you would lose. The lock of baby hair, the wonderful pictures, the old china given to you by your grandma, not to mention all your other treasures like handmade quilts or whatever. I realize that it is all just stuff but sometimes the stuff is the only tangible thing that ties us to those who have passed or a happy time that is no longer. My heart just broke for her and her family. I only hope in my heart that she can move on from this devastating experience. So sad.

She could hear the grass rustle quietly under her feet and feel the damp under it. Hot on top and damp underneath. There had been so much rain that the ground squished in some spots. She could feel them following her in moving clouds - a thousand pairs of eyes. She kept a hand over her face to shield herself. Pausing briefly she shifted her watering can and continued around the yard. She knew if she didn't finished her watering that she would have to fight even more later and the thought of it almost overwhelmed her.

Watering completed, she dragged her sticky carcass up the steps and sank into the papasan on the deck. Looking around the yard, she felt a satisfaction with how beautiful it was. Pockets of sun and shade shifted frequently in the wind creating a gently moving landscape that hid those millions of eyes - she could just sense them waiting... The heat was more bearable here because of how the Amur maples shaded the deck. With the shade they rapidly came in droves, her peace short lived as they pierced her thoughts. It was stifling hot and the counts were high but she didn't need CBC to tell her that. As she swatted the mosquitoes away, she admitted defeat, retreated indoors unhappily, leaving them to enjoy the beauty of her backyard.

Last laugh was on me!

Well, it looks like the weather had the last laugh on me this weekend despite my optimistic predictions of warm weather. It rained and was quite cool the entire weekend. The wind came up on Sunday, the only reasonably ok day, and blew over a huge (at least 40 ft high) poplar tree to the north of us. It damaged another cabin's eavestrouphing but was being held in place by all the other trees surrounding it. I have no idea how they are going to get that tree down without wrecking a cabin or two.
It was a usual type of may long with all the teenagers coming out of the woodwork and totally enjoying themselves. The party in the cookshack didn't shut down until about 4:30am on Saturday night - it was loud, noisy and totally full of life. The saddest part was they didn't invite anyone over 30...lol It would have been nicer if they had quit a bit earlier...my age is starting to show I'm afraid.
Wilma woodchuck was out fattening up on the clover across the street. She is already pretty plump - I am not sure if it is because she is pregnant or because she is just naturally gifted. Our little Kiwi, the dog, was fascinated by it and spent hours watching her munch away. She wasn't too keen on taking a quick run across the street at it though.
Our weather continues to be cool and raining on and off. It is supposed to go down to 6 degrees celsius tonight - brr. I still don't have my garden in. Hubby wanted to knock down part of one of our Amur maples -one of the trunks died and had absolutely no leaves on it. It was sad to see it go because it is part of such a beautiful tree.
Well, I think I am going to have to ask - I cannot seem to download pictures from the internet. I was able to before but not now. I have been trying for the past few posts but to no avail...any suggestions?

May Long Weekend!!!!!

Happiness is May Long Weekend at the lake!

It is now time to do the annual spring trek up to Clear Lake to our little cabin. I have already ventured up and changed all the bedding and cleaned our little winter buddies carcasses out in anticipation of another season at the lake. It is amazing how fresh it always smells in the park. I think that because it is a national park that there is not a lot of chemical spraying that takes place and the sheer abundance of pine trees keeps the air cleaner and fresher. It is truly wonderful and very beautiful. We are so privileged to own our little cabin and it has been a source of enjoyment for our family for over 15 years now. I can hardly believe that we have had it that long.
We have a clock at the cabin that hangs on the wall between the two south facing windows. I bought it at least ten or twelve years ago. It is the most unassuming looking clock - it has a light, semi-transparent turquoise round rim and the face of it has silver coloured numbers and hands. The thing that makes this clock so unique is the fact that it has never ever kept time since we took it up to the lake. It ticks, and the hands move but always stay between about 5ish to 6:30ish. We have replaced the battery once or twice. We have even considered replacing it because sometimes it is a nuisance not to have the correct time readily available. We don't get rid of it because we seem to have the notion that the clock shouldn't keep time because we are at the lake and should be on "lake time." I guess it epitomizes what being at the cabin is about - not following a clock or schedule.
It will be an unusual summer this year because we lost both our wonderful neighbours with whom we have shared patio space with since we purchased our cabin. You might say they came with the cabin - sort of. They were a wonderful, caring older couple who have both passed away this year. Their humour and gentle ways will be greatly missed. I am not sure what I will do during the Canada celebrations without them as we usually went down to the main beach and enjoyed the festivities together. I will miss my wonderful friends....
One nice thing this year will be the weather - it has been unusually cold and rainy for the last few years during May long. Last year it even snowed and the hubby had to rake the snow off the patio because we didn't have a shovel there.

Take care - drive safe and enjoy the long weekend!

Rain Rain go away...A rain rant

This was a rain rant that I wrote in the beginning of May and did not post - shame on me....lol
The sun has now been shining and it has been over 25 degrees Celsius for more than a week - so this does not apply weather-wise but I admit I still liked it and decided to post it apres rain:

It has now been raining steadily for three days too many. I know that it has been unusually dry here for a very long time but enough is just enough. If rain wasn't so life-giving I would truly hate it. As it is, it gives nourishment to many of the things that I enjoy in life; things that include kayaking, gardening, flowers, trees, reading books on rainy days, Clear Lake, and Tokaryk Lake. And I cannot argue with that wonderful smell after a rain!
I hate getting wet with my clothes on and as a result have a generous, all right - ridiculous, number of umbrellas. I have multiples of them at the cabin, at the house, and several in my vehicle. It wouldn't be so bad but I insist on carrying one with me the minute a cloud skims across the sky - never know, it might rain. It is a standing joke in our house about my addiction/dependence on umbrellas. My hubby has teased me over the years that I am like a cat in the rain and just as snarly. I can't see a way around it short of buying a rainsuit and that would be just ridiculous looking. Couldn't you just see short, plump me traipsing through the grocery store in a bright yellow slicker and rubber boots? In the middle of the prairies, where I live, it would be a somewhat odd thing to do. lol
I once had a boyfriend who thought that it was romantic walking in the rain holding hands - he didn't last long after that information surfaced! I have to give myself credit though - I did try it once, came down with a whopper of cold and decided that once was just too much and I would never do it again and haven't.

The students from the high school I work at put on a production that was performance art - it was called "Sanctuary: Hope for Darfur!" It was a very compelling piece that was written by a couple of or four(not 100% sure here) teachers from the school itself. It was one of those performances that make you hold your breath at times. The students were wonderful in the auditorium as they watched it - you could have heard a pin drop. The music was so incredible and the actresses and actors really put their heart into it. It was performance art that was astounding for its high standards, especially coming from school students.

I played a very small part in it and created a wallhanging that could be called wall art from just inspiration and a lot of hard work! The students in the Theatre Production class created large 3X5 paintings and ones double the size that were to be re-painted during the theatre production. The paintings the students did were so inspiring and wonderful that I went home and created a 3x6 quilted wallhanging and donated it to help them raise funds for Darfur. They auctioned it off and actually got $100(!!) Saturday night for it after the final performance. The woman who purchased it donated it back to the school to hang there. I was very pleased that it turned out as well as it did. It was supposed to have been an anonymous donation but the cat got out of the bag (probably because I am the only quilter on staff - lol) and everyone has given me far too generous compliments on it. I had a blast doing it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

I will post a picture of it as soon as I get one. :) I rarely take pictures of what I do so it is a challenge for me to remember to do that when I want to use it for my blog - I'm such a plank sometimes!

Happy Spring!

Another wonderful day is upon us and with it hopefully comes the unofficial start of spring. If today's weather is any indication of the onset -bring it on! It was lovely here when the wind died down somewhat and the clouds scuttled out of the way; even squirrely-magirly was busy running along the fence and swinging from tree to tree taunting Kiwi. She, of course, is absolutely delighted with this aspect of spring. She is less enthusiastic with her muddy feet we have to wipe off before she comes into the house and with her new haircut that makes her shiver with the slightest breeze.

My tomatoes are starting to poke their leaves above the soil - they look so small! I know that some of them will give me monsters (Omar Lebanese) and some will be prolific (Martino Roma) and others will be just plain good eating (silver fir leaf) but in the end they will be wonderful, red and delicious. My cucumber plants are also peeking their leaves up - I have never grown them before because of space issues but have decided to try to trellis them up my fence.

I got an unexpected Easter treat today when I won some seeds from CBC morning show! I was quite pleased with my little bounty which includes basil seeds and purple runner beans, both of which I have grown a lot in the past and haven't picked up my seed for yet.

Hope your Easter was pleasant.

OOPS!

I am breaking my cycle of blogging neglect because I have mud on my face and I have been duly chastised by my eldest daughter about mixing up Earth Day and Earth Hour. Yesterday evening was the Earth Hour from 8:30-9:30pm and on April 22nd it is Earth Day. It was Earth Hour that I was honouring. With a laugh at myself, I apologize for the rather blatant error I made yesterday.

On a happy note, I have been tagged by Laurita at Brain Droppings with a Happy 101 Award. The rules of the award are to list ten things that make me happy and then pass it along to five others. I haven't done a tagging before and I am generally very private about my feelings - so here goes me walking the plank:

1. Life makes me happy. Life has given me the gift of many challenges and between them I really appreciate how good my life actually is. There is just so much to love about it, especially just being here to appreciate it.

2. My husband, and two daughters all drive me crazy in their respective ways and I love them all because without them I just wouldn't be happy. My wonderful, caring friends who put up with me, for whatever reason, also make my world a wonderful place to be.

3. My pets: Mandy (because she is obnoxiously lovable- even when I am in a dead sleep or when I am trying to type on the computer - like now), Emma (because she is so gentle), Kiwi (how could I not love the little tyrant?), Tucker ( because he is a huge gallumph of a cat and truly gives the best hugs) and beautiful Bella (for her occasional lovely trilling in-between the raucous squawking she excels in).

4. I am a happy foodie - I love making and sharing food - I could cook until I drop.

5. Quilting relaxes my soul and I can share it when I am done. I love the colours, the feel of a hand-quilted quilt, the sound of my scissors cutting through the fabric and knowing that something good will happen when all this comes to together.

6. Planting seeds and seeing them sprout helps me to remember that life constantly renews itself and that there is always the joy of new life to sustain us.

7. Sunny winter days are divine - I love the crunch of snow under my boots, how the cold goes up my nose and pinches me, how crystal clear a winter day is, snow diamonds and the giggles of red-cheeked kids playing in the snow.

8. Reading - I am a true addict. Like Laurita, I love words; how they come together, how they sound and how many new and obscure ones I can discover. I, rather sheepishly, admit that I own many different types of dictionaries because I love to read them. Sad but true.

9. Learning is like winning a lottery for me - I love learning new things - it makes me smile inside.

10. My newest love is kayaking - the quiet, the smell of the water, the birds, the wonderful sunny yellow of my kayak and how it reaches down into my soul. (However, I have to figure out a way to grow a few more inches to make it easier to load it on top my van, only then it will be the perfect sport!)

11. I love to share. I just feel that we are all in this world together and we need to give to one another more - not necessarily material things - it just makes a happier place for everyone and it leaves me happy in a content sort of way.

I know I was only supposed to do ten but sharing is such a wonderful thing to do how could I leave it out?

I would like to pass this wonderful, happy reward on to:

Sarah at Cottage Garden Studio
Sinta at Pink Pincushion
Peggy Wojnarski
Barb at Bad-Tempered Zombie
Lauree Skinner

Have a good time with this...enjoy the reflection and the smile it will give you when you contemplate all your wonderful happy moments - I did it and survived! ;)

Enjoy!

Saving the earth - one act at a time

Happy Earth Day!

What are you doing for earth day? I always have some sort of grandiose plans but then real life takes over and squashes them. There is always so much we can all do, whether it is shutting off the lights, turning off the television, or recycling something or repurposing an object. I don't know if it really saves much individually but collectively it certainly does and it also raises awareness. Today I decided that I would do a number of things. I went through a pile of magazines and am donating them to the art room for projects/assignments for the students at the local high school. I will be turning off the lights and lighting my room with candles and having a nice cup of tea while I am at it. The bonus is a very relaxing hour or so that I could just sit.

My best earth day project was to re-upholster a small storage hassock I purchased off of ebrandon.ca. It was originally covered in a 1960/70's style of fabric that was totally dated. It just wanted to be recovered with something current and contemporary, preferably a little bit daring. Well,I went to the fabric store with my good friend and we found some wonderful black and white upholstery fabric that was just the ticket! Now my main goal was to get it done today because I could totally destroy the living room doing it without my poor hubby (who is thankfully away) stressing over the mess. I accomplished my goal and my youngest is the proud owner of a very nice hassock that she has decided to use to store her quilts in. I am very pleased how well it turned out.


As well, I found this great cake saver at Winners in the fall and it is perfect to store muffins, cookies, etc on the counter or table. It works great - I use less plastic and the cats cannot nibble at our treats. It keeps things from drying out and we don't forget about them - in our house it is always a case of out-of-sight out-of-mind.

I just had to add this really cute picture of of our Kiwi. She just had a bath and we put a nice ribbon on her. The ribbon didn't last long but it did make for a great photo-op.

Have a great day!

Winning at life

I am back - still trying to post as much as possible - which appears to be not as frequently as I would like.

We have been having such lovely weather here in Manitoba - the temperatures have been plus 2 and 3 and today it was even plus 6 celsius! So pleasant, especially since all the snow has melted from most of our streets and I am no longer driving through slush. I love the winter and spring except the melting part - I cannot abide the slush and dirty part of spring - pity we can't just skip over that time period. I am beginning to sound like one of my buddies who absolutely does not like winter. I am not going to hold my breath though - the odds of a snowstorm happening is still pretty high. There is the old saying for March "In like a lamb and out like a lion" and I think we are going to get a good one big lion coming our way. We do need the moisture though and everything would be a wonderful bright fresh white again...

Two weeks ago, my supervisor came to me and asked me if I would mind taking a student for her work experience every afternoon. The catch was that it is at a local greenhouse and I would be getting down and dirty along with the student. I haven't quit grinning since - I thought I had won a lottery and still think so. I had worked part-time at this particular greenhouse as a planter/salesperson/etc. for many years when my kids were small and it is something that I absolutely love doing! Imagine - going in from the cold and dull days into a bright, open space full of plants,fountains and ponds with koi fish, beautiful garden furnishings with accessories, and tropical birds chirping (they have an entire collection of lovebirds, budgies, finches and many other types as well) - hard to have a bad day there. The best part is that I still have another 3 weeks to go! STill grinning...


My vinegars - now plural are all doing well. I have now officially shared my mother from the red wine vinegar and bottled two bottles of it. It smells divine! I can hardly wait to try it on something!! I have started two types of white wine vinegars and still am waiting patiently for the apple cider vinegar to develop a mother - patience is definitely being learned in the process! It will be interesting to see how the mother I shared develops for the other potential vinegar makers. I wish you could just smell it! (But not too close - as my youngest's friend found that sticking your nose all the way in the jar is just a bit overwhelming.) lol

I have been trying to upload pictures but I am not able to for some reason - worked before but definitely an issue for this post and not sure why. I guess we will have to forgo the lovely pictures of flowers, birds and greenhouses today. I will try again the next post.

Take care - Have a great ST. Patrick's Day!!!

Birth of a mother!

I have now got a Mother!! Not a human mother - I already have one of those wonderful persons in my life. It is a red-wine vinegar mother!

I decided last weekend that I would try to make some of my own specialty vinegars as we tend to go through quite a bit around here. I went to one of our local health supplement/food stores, Hedley's Health Hut, and purchased a liter of Bragg's cider vinegar with the hopes that there would be enough of a residual mother in it to act as a starter for some of our own. Wonders to beat all wonders - I actually have the start of a full-bodied red-wine vinegar mother. I have yet to actually sample it - perhaps I will on the weekend. It sure smells great - tart with a bit of a fruity bite to it. The neat thing is that the hubby made the Bordeaux wine in 1989, so it is a joint effort. I am surprised that it happened so quickly as most of the instructions I read said that it would take 2 or more weeks for a mother to start and it has only been 6 days. I guess that cupboard above the refrigerator (a good 77F or 25C) is the perfect temperature for vinegar. Never really had a use for that cupboard anyway other than collecting junk...it can finally earn its keep.

Well, that's all for now - take care and maybe try your hand at a little vinegar as well.

February Frolics

It is finally February! I love February - the days are getting longer but it is still wonderfully cold and crisp outside. The air is always so fresh in the winter and the sky is so clear you feel like you can just see forever. We had a bit of a snow in the past couple weeks (the snow piles on the side of the driveway and roads are about 4 ft high now) and everything is white and sparkling and I can't get enough of it.

When I was a kid, I loved being out in the snow for hours. I hated coming inside because the thawing out started and the pain began! Ouch! My fingertips and ears always suffered the worst. I can't remember it ever stopping me though and I've lived to to tell the tale. Whenever I drive down our street I see a "little buddy" of mine digging a fort out of the snow piles on the side of the road - the child in me wishes she could jump out and join her. My little buddy always gives me the biggest, frost kissed smile and wave when she is out there.

I have been quilting like crazy - I have so many quilts to finish I am not sure when I will be done, if ever. This is when I have to pause, give my head a shake, and ask myself - why would I want to be done anyway? I always have a wonderful project to look forward to and the knowledge that I will be totally relaxed as a result. I can only see a win/win situation here...lol. I have completed two and a half quilts since the beginning of January. Two were belated Christmas presents/cabin warming gifts and I extended my hubby's quilt so he could tuck it around his feet a bit more. They were all rag quilts (not REAL quilts but I can live with that) and I was very pleased with how they turned out. They were all made of three layers of cozy flannel and all were from the same fabrics but with different backings and a few different blocks thrown in. As two of them went to my hubby's siblings, I wanted to connect them to him by having some of the same fabrics. Whenever I make a quilt for someone I like to think that I am sending those persons receiving the quilt a nice warm hug that just keeps hugging.


Well, anyone who knows me knows that I am somewhat of a foodie. I love making food and trying all sorts of different types. I am also kind of a purist - if I can make it from scratch all the better. So, I got thinking about this and have decided to start posting food thoughts, food recipes and some my food adventures, including the misadventures. I think it will be a blast - feeding folks is something I absolutely love doing (my family and friends will be nodding their heads here - lol) and writing about it can only be all good.

The picture at the right looks like someone threw a bunch of stuff into a roaster and expected it to look good. It is actually the start of wonderful homemade chicken stock that is the basis of many wonderful soups we eat during the winter season. Watch for an upcoming post, with instructions, about how you can make this great broth with a limited amount of work!

Starting this weekend, I am going to be making wine and cider vinegars and will keep you posted on how they turn out. I sure hope they turn out better than my wine - but that is another story...


I almost forgot! I have my first follower - Sarah - welcome to my blog!

Take care!
Find you inner child and play in the snow!
Kathy

Well, I would say that today was one of my hardest, though not the hardest , days of my life. I was really dreading taking my mother to the local personal care home - it breaks my heart not to have her living a wonderful, independent life. She worked so hard all her life and truly deserved a good, healthy, happy retirement.

How many of you understand how overwhelming it can be to take the person you love and has raised you to be cared for by others? This is the third time I've had this role and it is one that gets harder with each time because I think I understand the implications of the destination so much more than I did the first time...It is not to say that a personal care home is a bad thing, just that it is so hard for everyone involved.

I wonder how I will be when I get to that age or infirmity? Will I go willingly or try to resist? I have already told my girls that when the time comes, I will go willingly because I understand how much it can affect a family in a negative way and burn-out the caregivers. I do hope I am of sound enough mind to follow through...I love my freedom and independence to the extreme but I love my family more...

What would you do if you had to go to a personal care home? Would you go willingly? Or not?

Alberta Clippers

I swear I take the prize for being the absolute worst blogger in history - I give my sincere apologies to all for being so remiss.

I went to bed last night and closed my eyes to the dreary brown of late fall and woke up to a magical white wonderland. Hurray for Alberta Clippers! We had about 3 or 4 inches fall overnight and everything - trees, streets, driveways, everything was coated in a fluffy jacket. God, I just love when it snows - there is nothing more refreshing or beautiful in the whole world.

I have been home with the flu for a couple days and had the privilege of enjoying the view of my backyard - and it was definitely something to enjoy. My husband is away to Grey Cup and was lucky enough to enjoy the snow before it headed our way. He is back tomorrow and I am truly looking forward to it. Sort of. Lol

My youngest is taking an Auto cad course at the local college in the afternoons and goes to the college in the evenings to complete her course assignments. I have been accompanying her and taking small UFOs with me to complete. I have finished two table runners and almost finished a Poinsettia Star table topper. I will post pictures asap as we are hopefully headed out to the college this evening, which means I will complete the topper. Yesss! Only two more toppers, and three more quilts to finish before Christmas! Can I do it? The race is on...

Take care - I will post pictures in a couple days.

Tomatoes!!!

Finally, we have had a ripe tomato from the garden. I cannot recall a summer where our first ripe tomato was picked on the 4th of September - sad but true. We usually start eating tomatoes in July and continue until November. This starting in September is just not right - why, it hardly felt like summer at all with all the truly miserable weather we had this year.

We actually thought we had a nice big ripe one last week but when I turned it over - it was rotten!! I am not sure who was more disappointed, Bruno or I.

Happy Anniversary Hubby!!

I realized that it was our 26th wedding anniversary yesterday when I signed into the medical unit to visit my mother. I was a little embarrassed when I realized that I had not even wished my Hubby a Happy Anniversary before sending him off to work in the morning. Then, I realized that he had not done the same and all was good. lol

We did our usual anniversary celebration: Ate supper, had a glass of wine and toasted each other...doesn't get better than that. We are definitely surprised at how quickly 26 years passes - it still feels like we are just getting to know each other. So much to learn yet! How lucky we are to have each other and be on the same wavelength most of the time. (You didn't think we were on the same wavelength all the time, did you? Close though...)

Would I marry him again if I had to do my life again? You bet, in a heartbeat! Guys like him are one in a lifetime, literally. I have been so blessed in my lifetime that I can hardly believe it sometimes.

For all of you out there with an anniversary coming up - enjoy each other - life is truly too short not too - otherwise - why did you marry the guy in the first place?

So - Happy Anniversary Hubby - I hope we have at least another 26...or more.

Wonderful Wedding Happenings

We have survived the onslaught of relatives of near and far - it was truly wonderful to have everyone stop in or stay here. I just wish I had more one-on-one time with everyone to catch up on what is going on in their lives.

Hubby's niece, Beth, got married to Tim at the Western Manitoba Centennial Hall and it was a beautiful wedding. When they made all the arrangements for the wedding they included a lot family to help do things - it made it so nice and so very personal. My sister-in-law, Barb, officiated and did a wonderful job; Beth's mother, Berni, did beautiful lily flower arrangements for the tables, Beth's two sisters and (now) sister-in-law stood up for her and I had the honour of making and displaying 200 cupcakes! (I have to add a huge thank you to my very generous friends for allowing me the use of their freezers- without them I am not sure what I would have done with the 200 cupcakes - they take up a huge amount of room!) Lots of fun was had by all and everything (thankfully) turned out!

I had a bit of an incident at the wedding. As the ceremony was taking place, a camera was handed down to me to take pictures. I thought it was my brother-in-law Gerry's camera and that he wanted me to take pictures of his wife, Barb, while she officiated the ceremony. I also thought the camera was a digital one -it certainly looked like one anyway - but it was not and to my horror it suddenly shut down and began to rewind! I handed it back to Gerry and apologized only to see him hand it further down the line to a lady I have no idea who she was. So, this unknown woman has many (about 10) wonderful pictures of my sister-in-law officiating, and lovely (half a dozen) headshots of my other sister-in-law Berni. I had a hard time not bursting out in embarrassed laughter when the camera made it into the rightful owners hands. OOps!

The next day there was a very nice brunch put on the by the groom's parents and later a barbeque at our house for family. Always fun and nice to just visit and enjoy everyone in a relaxed setting.

That was my weekend - what did you do on yours?

Purging the Past

Purging has taken on a whole new meaning in my house. Bruno is gone and I am literally burning, selling, and giving away a ton of stuff. I am a few years behind in doing this. When sorting gets overwhelming I come downstairs and check my emails or check what is in the fridge to recharge my flagging spirits and energy. It absolutely astounds me how much paper a household can generate and accumulate despite our efforts to keep it at bay. We are all pack rats in this house and it has finally come back to bite us (me, specifically) in the proverbial ass.

My goal this summer is to clean out, clean up and restore order to my house. Paper, as well as, clothes, trinkets and other items have taken over our lives -many of these objects whose use and origin is a complete mystery. I plan to have it complete by the end of August, including washing walls and cupboards, painting some and recovering some furniture. The square footage of my house is increasing with each trip to the recycle bin and secondhand shop. Yay!

I am enjoying how freeing it is - I had forgotten over the past few years. (literally!) It feels good already and I have barely started. Good thing Bruno is away though - he would freak out at the total disarray on the main level. I also don't have to worry about feeding him - that in itself is quite a change.

I have a wonderful kindergarten teacher that is the happy recipient of all the beads, and children's craft stuff that my daughters have outgrown eons ago. She is as pleased about getting all of it as I am about giving it to her.

Life is so good.

Glorious Summer Gardens

Today I decided that I am the luckiest person in the world. I was standing in the middle of the garden, barefoot (the only way to navigate in a garden), in shorts and t-shirt, with my new Tilley hat on and realized that life is pretty good when I looked at it from the middle of garden. I was surrounded by my favourite plants - eggplants,tomatoes and basil, and couldn't think of any place that I would rather have been on the day before the summer solstice. It was 31 degrees out at the peak of the day, it smelled of fresh earth, tomato plants and basil, and Friday was my last day of work for the summer - life doesn't get any better than that.

We have an absolutely beautiful back yard. It is this way mainly because my husband, Bruno, is a wonderful landscaper/maintainer. He waters, cuts the grass, moves flowerbeds and picks weeds constantly - the result is how gorgeous it is. I am the planter and alternate water girl/weeder. He has threatened many times to put my flower beds on casters so he doesn't have to redo them or enlarge the garden every year. lol

My eggplants are flowering! The bleeding hearts(not shown), chives and Iris' are in full bloom and being sassy about it. I'll post more pictures later as the plants fill out and add more colour. My garden is way behind where it should be because I planted so late this year - too much frost.

I had to laugh when I looked at the picture (above) of my garden because it looks like I am growing red beer cups this year. I normally use cut off 2 litre milk cartons but had none this year for the first time in 25 years. It offends my resolve to reuse things when I have to use something new with the intent of throwing it away at the end of season. However, if it is choice between the cutworms getting my plants and having to use new beer cups, the beer cups win hands down.

Happy Solstice!

Off to Clear Lake for May Long Weekend

Well, the mattress fit - hallelujah! And we had three wonderful sleeps on it. Almost hated to leave it behind...lol

I had heard that it had snowed at the lake (Clear Lake aka Wasagaming - pictures right - gorgeous isn't it?) but had not expected more than a skiff of snow around the bushes and stuff. It was everywhere! And deep! And...Bruno made it up there before we did - thankfully - and had to use the rake to "shovel" off the patio to get into the cabin. He is such a trooper! I was sure glad I brought my rubber boots... there was almost a foot of snow up there! What a beautiful sight - it was almost like stepping into a magical fairy postcard. There were icicles dripping in the sun, snowmen with solar light arms and sandals, trees laden with snow, a decorated Christmas tree with led lights - it was truly the most remarkable May long weekend I have ever seen.

Talking to various other brave souls and some of the older cabin owners who have been coming up since they were kids (at least 30 plus years) said they had never, ever seen this much snow on a May long before. The temperatures were great - I was out with just a turtleneck and quilted vest and was more than comfortable, until Monday that is - then we had a nasty, brutal wind that made being out quite unpleasant.

Got a lot of hand-quilting done this weekend. We even burned out (literally) one of our heaters. The smoke in the corner wasn't something that was supposed to happen - what a smell! Yuk. Glad it happened when we were in the cabin not down the street taking a shower - I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for a fire up there.

Bruno even took the kayak for a quick trip along the shore and checked out the ice floes on the lake. He asked if I wanted to join him but I am not that brave or (my usual excuse) experienced enough to brave the frigid waters yet - he said it was pretty exciting. lol

The cookhouse stoves were all stoked to the max this weekend. We have communal cookhouses (below right) in the "Old Campground" at Clear Lake. Although we have cabins and stoves or hotplates in them, the old camping cookhouses are still available for our use. It is such a unique setup here at the lake - our cookhouses, showers and bathrooms are all communal. Although it can be quite an adventure to head up the street to the washroom at the wee hours of the morning - it sure makes for more neighbourly type of co-existence - most of the time. I think there are a couple bonuses to having the communal facilities - among them - I never have to clean a bathroom up there, heat up the cabin when it gets brutally hot and you can't beat watching the northern lights and all those wonderful stars on your way down the street and back when you need to take that midnight call. Besides - how often have you had to run to the washroom at midnight, through the snow? Definitely a first for me this year! lol

Well, not much else new. Take care - hopefully the rest of May will be wonderful for all of us.

I woke up this morning and just felt happy -nothing else just happy. With all the changes in my life, the happy part of me has been more than subdued lately. I tell you, it felt wonderful! I even caught myself laughing a lot today - what a great feeling it was to have that back! I somehow think it is connected to the May long weekend and the fact that we are going to the cabin at Clear Lake for a couple days. This has always been my happy spot and when times get rotten I think about how wonderful it is up there and all the bad stuff just disappears. We even splurged and bought a new mattress for the lake! It is going to be pure bliss pretty soon if we make any more improvements. I don't know how I will ever get Bruno out of bed though - the only place he ever sleeps in is at the lake - the new mattress will never let him go. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to get it up there... If it doesn't fit in the back of the van, well, I guess it is definitely going to be a lo-o-ong weekend especially since Bruno already threw out our old mattress and the floor is going to be hard and more than a little cold.

I have been trying to figure out how to blend the remnants of two quilts and the large star block I made from my Dad's shirts into a special memory quilt for one of my uncles. I had an aha! moment when my daughter, Heather, came along and said "Why not just applique this cabin picture on top of the middle of the star? That'll tie it in." and voila it worked! I have all the pieces cut and ready to go - it is just a matter of sewing it together now. This quilt is for my Uncle Jim because he helped my parents so much while they were in The Pas and I really wanted to thank him and this is going to be a big cozy hug for him. I had taken some of my Dad's shirts and made a really nice Poinsettia Star from them - in blues, white and greens - not Christmas colours at all - it turned out really nice but I was finding it hard to incorporate the remnants from my Dad's quilt and his twin brother Frank's quilt into it as they had off-white/brown backgrounds and the shirt block was in the white/blue spectrum. I'll post pictures as I work on it.