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We are back from the Island, Bill's appointment went well. We had a nice visit with family and now we are home but tired...............................  that's it.

It's Decembeer

Life is very busy but I am no longer Babysitting everyday......................  Now I need a few days of recovery.  Teething babies who take 20 minute naps require a lot of time.  Tomorrow is a speedy trip to the Island. Bill has an appointment with a specialist in Victoria and from there we are going to Duncan so see Mum and Frank then home on Tuesday. Jill, Shelby and Elizabeth are going with us as Gran hasn't seen her new Great Grand-daughter...............
I will take my knitting as I am still working on my Christmas knitting................... what else is new. Every year in January I vow to start Christmas knitting in September and every year guess what happens ..........
 ....................... Nothing that helps with Christmas knitting.  Maybe I should start in January.

Well I have been knitting from my stash for the gifts this year so that is good. A few weeks ago I was looking for a specific yarn and found a filing box full of sock yarn that I had forgotten I had................ now I need to knit more socks as DH wants another pair and wonders of wonders the "they're nice Grandma but I wouldn't wear them" DGD Shelby wants a pair.  Now to get her to decide on what yarn she wants.

Today

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 This wonderful parcel arrived in the mail today.  It was my parcel from Auchgan (Holli) and the theme was Hansel and Gretel. I pulled a large bag out of the mailing envelop and this was what I saw. ................... all kinds of goodies.

 When I unwrapped everything I found many lovely things not just the wee socks.  There was a cooking kit for Shelby and I to do together.  A lovely card, chocolate, candies, candle, a witch, house ornament , paper decorations, and other things.

 There were TWO socks one for Hansel and one for Gretel. There was a little bag with a bird button and inside was another bag with four very cute "Ginger Bread "stitch markers.

 This is the witch, her house and the gingerbread stitch markers.   She is too cute to be a scary witch.

The little one and her Mum were here today but Elizabeth was not her usual cherry self. She is cutting teeth and chews on everything with in reach. She is fun to watch anyway. The latest thing is she has discovered her toes and likes to hold on to them.

Her big sister Shelby was very happy today and got lots of smiles from the baby. Tomorrow they come again for the day. it is wonderful to see the baby grow and learn.

I can't believe it is almost here

Christmas ......................... as usual I am in panic mode as I don't have everything done. Not only that but I don't know what everything is. What will I make for some of the family.......... I sometimes think I should just make a whole mess of things and let people pick out what they like......... then I have to worry about ................ what if they all want the same thing ......... what if they want something but in a different colour. I visited this site this morning that had cards for knitters. One of them said " Yes I made this for you. If you don't like it just pretend you do" I could put this on every tag and not worry about whether they like the gift but I hate giving people something that will just sit in a drawer. I would rather they give it back to me or give it to some one who does like it.......................

So what has been happening around here. Well I finished my "Leafy Hug Shawl " for myself. Finished a square for a comfort afghan and need to finish another; Sent a wee sock swap parcel to Australia,started a scarf for some one and made a mess allover the living room floor trying to sort patterns.

Last weekend we had friends over for dinner and a visit. We had a very nice evening which was good because the day did not start out that way. Charlie has ear problems so I try to clean them every day if they need it. I got out the peroxide and cotton balls and started to clean his ears.. Part way through cleaning the second ear I wondered why my fingers were feeling sticky .................. look at the peroxide bottle .................... the label says GRIPE WATER ................. yes it says GRIPE WATER .................. how did I manage that ............... not only are the bottles a different shape but they are a different colour ............... now to start over ............. clean out the gripe water and put in the peroxide. Poor Charlie he hates to have his ears done at the best of times but I notice they have been much better this week. Either the gripe water helped or gummed up everything. He is rather deaf anyway and like every male has selective deafness when it is convenient.
Jill and the girls have been here every day this week but they aren't coming today ................ I am exhausted so they are giving us the day off. Bill has a cold and is not feeling very well so it is a good thing I didn't invite friends for dinner this weekend. Now to hope he doesn't share the cold with me.
Oh yes we had a couple of young fellows over to move furniture in the ROOM ......... then Bill actually sorted some of his stuff. My side of the room is more of a mess than ever but hopefully I will be able to sort some of it soon as I can't get around in there much less find anything. Here is a photo of the door that we couldn't close before because of the "STUFF" leaning against it followed by a photo of the pantry cupboard and the clear floor.

It can't be November

Well I can't believe it but IT IS NOVEMBER and I forgot my Janice Sister's Birthday. This morning I noticed the calender in the hall was open to October. As I was about to change it , I realized I hadn't phoned Janice on her Birthday .......................... OH OH .................. WAIT ....... I am ahead of the game this time .................... way ahead because I sent her Birthday present North with my Niece-in- Law in the summer.................... I still need to phone ...............Sorry Janice as I know you read this.
I have been busy..................... really it is true............. I have been very busy. Doing what you might ask. Well it involves getting up and down off the floor (getting down is okay but getting back up off the floor is another matter), doing laundry, making formula, feeding a baby, rocking a baby to sleep ............... You guessed it BABYSITTING. DD Jill has been doing "call backs" for the Survey Service she used to work with. You can't do surveys and look after a 3 month old baby. The solution is - Go to Mum's and get her to look after the kids. Most days it is only the morning she works as Tiffany does the afternoons but there have been some full days. Sunday I woke up and thought ...........OOOOOOHHHHHH ............. A day off ................ that was wishful thinking ................. They were behind on the phoning because of Thursday. What happened on Thursday ........ well Jill went for her Heart Catheterization/ angiogram .................. She had to be at the hospital for 7:00 am. This meant we had to leave the house about 6:00 as it takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to get there during rush hour. I didn't get to Wednesday Night Knitting as dinner was late , the girls were going to stay the night and I had to get to bed early. Thursday morning Jill, Shelby(who wanted to go) Elizabeth and I take Jill to the hospital, come home, make coffee( DH doesn't seem to know how to do this), have breakfast, Take Shelby to school, Now I have decided that I can't make formula, feed the baby, change a diaper, phone someone on the survey list, change a diaper, do laundry, phone someone on the survey list, feed the baby, change a diaper, let the dog out, clothes in the dryer, phone someone on the survey list, rock the baby to sleep, phone re survey , change diaper, feed baby, let dog out, so I phone my friend Molly and she catches a bus to the Coquitlam loop ( their car is broken) Bill picks her up at the loop and drops her off with me before he leaves for the day. Some where in there I made breakfast for Bill before he left....................... YES HE LEFT after telling Jill that WE (please note the WE) would look after the kids and make the morning survey calls. So this man who doesn't change diapers, make formula, feed babies or make coffee..... didn't drive Shelby to school and didn't want to make the survey calls (said those phone calls would make him crazy) left the house about 10:00.
So Molly looks after the baby and I phone people on the list, most of whom aren't home ........great that puts everything further behind. Shortly after 1:00 Tiffany arrived to take over the phoning. After looking at the list she said " Is this ALL you did??? Two o'clock Jill phones, I can pick her up as she didn't have the sedative........ Okay I will get Shelby from School early and then go pick up Jill. It is now 3:00, I drop Molly off at her house head for home in RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. We arrive home at 5:30, YES THAT IS RIGHT FIVE THIRTY. DH arrives home at 6:00, looks at me and orders PIZZA for dinner.
Jill has to rest and isn't allowed to bend her hip very much or bend over so I look after every one. They all stay the night as Jill is supposed to be monitored for 24 hours ( or something like that). I have made up a bed for Shelby and brought in the buggy for the baby so Jill doesn't have to share the bed and we all have a good nights sleep.
Anyway that is what I have been doing for about two weeks now. Today Jill said there wasn't many calls to do so She is staying at home and I have a day off. I haven' done any spinning or quilting since the retreats but have made a Christmas list. Now I just have to figure out where I am going to find the time to make all these things.

2 posts in 2 days

Can you believe it .................... I am posting again and no I am not sick. Maybe it has something to do with babysitting. Then Jill and I took the baby and the dogs for a walk. Not that the baby walked................ she rode in the stroller/buggy that has moved into our house along with many other things. The buggy part of the stroller/buggy serves as a bassinet, plus we have a baby seat, a highchair ( it is living in the back of my car for now with a few other strange things), a bright coloured thing ( I don't know what it is called) that you set on the floor with the baby. It flashes and plays music to amuse the wee one. There is also diapers, clothes, bottles ( in case Mum isn't around to breast feed), formula, soothers, baby blankets, spit up cloths ( they would be great if we ever remember to use them) and toys.

Anyway the reason I am posting this morning in Inge sent me photos of the quilt our group made for Brigit who loves Tinkerbell. So here they are.
Every one in the group made a block and some made more than one to help fill in spots. Brigit loves Tinkerbelle . She did the most wonderful thing when she say the quilt , the thing you hope to see when you make a gift for someone ........................... she cried TEARS OF JOY.

tons of photos

Well it is time to update this blog and I have a lot to say. October 15th Gail and I headed to Cache Creek for the Desert mesa retreat, which is hosted by Sheila and Donna............. see the photo below.These are the hosts of the retreat.............. our fearless leaders. They have to be fearless to be photographed wearing those hats ................... right!!!

The following photos are pictures of some of the show and tell at the retreat. There are many talented women in the group as you can see.
















Toni modeling the shawl Sheila made for her. It is the Peacock pattern but I am having a senior moment and can't remember by whom the pattern was written.
Some of the spinners and some of the different wheels.
The retreat ended on Sunday after much laughter, shopping at the vendors (four of them) and great company plus I did a whole bunch of spinning. In fact I spun almost everything I planned to do.
The retreat centre is now run by 4 Monks from the Phillipines. They had only been in Canada 3 or 4 months and were suffering a bit of culture shock. The Senior Monk, Father (I don't remember his name which is okay as I can't spell it anyway) told Sheila that he was amazed that there were 45 widows interested in spinning. Sheila laughted and said some of the women were widows but most were still married. He wanted to know who was home taking care of their Husbands....................... see what I mean about CULTURE SHOCK.......................LOL
The food was interesting as they served rice at every meal including breakfast. I guess it is a staple in their country like bread is in ours. It was good food though, mind you Gail said they could feed her peanut butter sandwiches for every meal and she would be happy as long as she didn't have to make them.

Sunday it was all over and after lunch everyone went home. Many hugs before we all left.

Monday was Shelby's Birthday and we went to Appleby's for dinner, complaints of DD, Cory.

Cory's friend Alaina and her son joined us for dinner. He had ribs............... can you tell????



Alaina after the waitress dropped her dessert down her back.
Jill and Shelby with the baby in the car seat................. can't see her? She is there sleeping in her car seat honest.
Shelby hanging on to her tickets to see Justin Bieber. Her Mom tool her on Tuesday. The tickets were from the whole family.
Shelby in the new outfit Cory bought for her to were to the concert.


So I unpack from the spinning retreat and pack for the Quilting retreat. You wouldn't
believe the stuff you have to take for a quilting weekend. I had books, projects, sewing machine, rulers, mats, snacks, wine, and clothes. Gail suggested I just go in my PJ's and not take any clothes at all. Fortunately I didn't follow her suggestion because we were told no PJ's at breakfast because there was a pastors retreat. Like they haven't seen women in PJ's. In fact my PJ' cover more than my clothes. The Father at the spinning retreat told me I looked like a Fairy in my long white flannel night gown.

This is Jocelyn who is always cold.
Inge makes the most amazing paper pieced blocks
Carol pausing for a photo.
Brigit being Tinkerbelles Grandmother and blessing all of us.
Margaret's Birthday Cake
Tracey's beautiful Cat quilt that taxed her brain.
Lisa finally finished her quilt for her Husband except for the binding. Margaret on the left and Lisa on the right.
This is the back of the quilt.
Tracey showing of the top of the wedding quilt for her son and his wife. She had the guest write on the white pieces. The pink, green and burgundy in the background is the backing for a quilt I am doing. I am just joining random pieces and it isn't working as well as I would like ..................
TOO MUCH PINK.
I won a door prize............... $15 at Wineberries, so I got this pattern that I really liked. Their fabric is getting more expensive all the time. Fifteen dollars won't even buy a metre of fabric.
I got 2 wonderful wee sock swap parcels. This one was from Gayle in Madison WI
This one was from Darcy in California.
This week I am looking after the newest granddaughter every morning. Usually she looks like this but ......................................



Some times she looks like this....

Well I think that updates everything .

Done

I now have two giant slippers ready to felt tomorrow when the family is here. Now what to start??? I do have Christmas knitting to do but haven't decided what to make. .....................
needless to say this makes it very difficult to start anything. I do have a cotton sweater started and only have the short sleeves left to do so maybe I will do that. Oh shoot .............. this is made of recycled yarn and I spun it and plied it to get the grist I wanted. Guess why I haven't started the sleeves................... I haven't done the spinning.
I also need to spin the sisalwe gotat lastfall's DSesrt Mesa retreat...................... I readlly wish I could type so I didn't have to keep fixing everything I do........... maybeIwill do some spinning or maybe I will jsut make some hot Chocolate and go to bed. (I hope you can read this as I didn't fix any of the mistakes just as a demonstration of my poor typing skills).............. I don't seem to spell very well either.

My brain is on sabbatical

I am trying to do the second slipper from the pattern "Felt Clogs" by Fiber trends. I started the sole four times and the numbers did not come out right. I asked Doris and Gail if they had trouble when we were at Knit Night. Then I came home are read the pattern , including how to do the increases...........................DUH............ no wonder it wasn't working. I was doing kfb instead of picking up thread between sts............................. OKAY I am happily knitting away and every thing is fine. OR SO I THINK ........................... dun dun dun (scary music) ........................ I go to change colour and there are two strands together in the lighter blue ............................... OH SH@#$^T.
I read the pattern AGAIN and sure enough I am supposed to be using 2 strand of yarn ..... YES TWO................. NOT ONE BUT TWO!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH ........................ I need to do it AGAIN. Maybe the fifth time I cast on I will get it right. I want to have this done before Monday ........... next Monday that is Oct. 11, 2010

Want to see how big these are before felting????







I want to felt them when the family is here for Thanksgiving so my Son-in-law can see how big they are before I felt them and let him take them home.
Well time to try the slippers again. I have 2 DGD here one happy one and one who will never like me again. Their Mother and a friend are moving furniture in the living room and it is much easier with no dog and no kids under foot. Shelby wants to go home and is not happy with me
at all because I won't take her there.

aaaaaaawwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhh

It was a lovely weekend. Three of us gals from our dinner group went to Whistler for the weekend sort of. Margaret picked me up Saturday morning and we went to Sherri's house. From there we went to Sherri and Larry's condo in Whistler. Lisa could not join us as she was suffering the after-effects of oral surgery and a case of the flu. We did pull a photo of her up on the computer and then tried to take a picture of the four of us with the Iphone. This was fun as we couldn't see what we were aiming at. We finally got photos to e-mail to Lisa. The three best photos were the one above and the two below.

The following two photos were taken with my camera.

We drank wine, ate wonderful food, watched movies, visited, dyed my hair Burgundy.................. not that I wanted Burgundy hair but I had forgotten that colour comes out Burgundy on me........... I wanted RED hair like I used to have before this aging process. Anyway I am going to see if my daughter can fix it for me.
Back to the topic we also had a pedicure ; Sherri's toenails, Margaret's toe nails, My toe nails.
We wandered around the farmers market and got a few things, then lunch and home in time for Sunday dinner. All in all a wonderful restful weekend.

Below is a photo of the elephant I made for Shelby months ago. I borrowed it back to take the photos.

My socks in Opal yarn; Hidden Lace Socks by James G.Davis
I goofed on these as I made them in medium instead of small because when I initially tried them on the cuff was too tight. I should have done the foot in the small size. Am I going to frog them and redo the foot ................... are they that much too big???????? NO NO NO I DON'T WANT TO ........................... but I might have to DARN DARN DARN