What a day!

All sorts of odds and ends today--and all of them cost money.  I went out to buy some beads for the second of my Milky Way series. We found some lovely white beads and I even bought a small container of Swarovski chrystals-bicone shaped.  Then we went to get a new camera card.  We were dreading that, as the last one cost us over $60! But not this time--$11.99!  The young fellow told us that not only is the technology much cheaper, but that the card is a much larger one and I should have no problem with high resolution pictures.  While we were there I stepped into the large woman specialty store next door.  This is one I rarely ( once very two years??) get into.  Well--I bought my new clothes too soon!  However, I showed marvelous restraint and only bought a pair of nice grey cords.  We got them home and discovered that she had charged me incorrectly, so David insisted that we go back and get it fixed.  So we decided to finish the Christmas shopping while we were out.  Luckily I was able to put supper in the oven on delay timer, so we came home to a hot meal.

 Now we have to get the house ready for Christmas before Amber and the girls come over for supper on Sunday.  David got the tree out and it's set up ready for decorating--a quick job that may just wait for the little ones to help me.  Next on the list is the Christmas dishes--always a bit of a chore and one I always need help with. We've also decided to make some cookies this year.  I had planned to do it tomorrow, but we both need haircuts so that may take precedence.

And--I'm keeping myself very busy in the studio.  It is so great to have projects on the go again.  However, not eveything goes well.  A couple of days ago there was a bit of a crash and when I investigated I found a plastic jar--about a 1 quart size-- of beads had fallen out of the corner cupboard where I keep them.  The lid had broken and there were beads everywhere.  We are still cleaning them up.  They were "junk" beads, and some I will probably never use, so we found another jar and off they go to the thrift store.  The basement bookcases have been sorted out yet again, and there are more books for the library, to be delivered tomorrow.

The bonus with all of the new energy I seem to have is that I am busier and working harder so sleep a little better.  So for today, I'm grateful  for having had a good night's sleep yesterday, that allowed me to just about finish the Christmas shopping today.

What you get, we get....

In middle of severe storm over last two days with intermittent power outages so will write a message while the power is on and I can have computer access. Was shovelling snow all morning and Harry just walked up to the mail as there is no way he could get the van out. His brother was to come from Kirkland this morning but that was cancelled soon enough. He will have to pick another day in next week to come. We have planned to go to Mike's home for Christmas day this year – we will cook a nice meal and have a good visit there. Mike thinks it is a nice idea. Every year he has come here (which I loved) and then to Mothers for the day – it was so hot for him he mentioned that he won't miss that aspect of Christmas now that tradition is no more. Anyway – must run and do more shovelling. Take care

Excellent!

That is wonderful news Pati. I am so excited for you. My month from Hell is just about over now. The craft sale was yesterday and surprisingly it went really well. Considering it was being organized by 4 people that had never done it before. I was feeling a bit better by yesterday. I think Friday was my worst day. Our instructions were there, and I am sure they were clear to the people writing them, but "Put out signs.... be sure to check strings" Okay, where? Check the strings for what? It all came together and even the changes we made seemed acceptable. I ended up talking on the mic all the time. They must have been sick of my voice by the end of the day. We didn't have to change the music all the time because Rrain put over 6 hours of music on her i-pod and just let it roll through the sound system. If we do it next year at least we will know what we are doing (I hope) Today is the Dicken's reading. 1 to 4 pm and we are done. I was in bed by 8:00 pm last night and I think I must have fallen asleep as soon as I turned out the light and I think tonight might be the same. Now I can focus on Whitemud and the spring production which is 2 weeks before we host the ACT Festival. What were we thinking!

Happy happy

There is happy dancing from me as well for your great news Patty. Doesn't it make you wonder about your "sabbatical" and how it has played out – perhaps not to you, but to me it seems you have relaxed and concentrated on creating some wonderful pieces of art and your credibility justified by others and proven by their purchase of same? Just my two cents worth. Your happiness shines through in your message and I am so joyful for you.

Happy Dance

I was out in Selkirk today ( horrible drive in snow and icy roads) to volunteer in the gallery.  It was the last day of the show, and we were to pick up our pieces.  One piece sold earlier, and today a woman walked in and bought my other large piece!  OMG!  Selling one was phenomenal, but selling two is downright unbelievable!!

So today there is happy dancing in the Findlay household.

my turn

It's so nice to hear from both of you.  I'm just up from a nice nap.  Have been trying to avoid them, but the devils sneak up on me.  The rental car we have is a Jeep Patriot and neither of us is comfortable in it.  David has complained in the past about the Seebring being small and close to the ground, but this thing makes me feel crowded on the road.  David says that it's because I'm up at the mirror level on other cars and it makes them seem closer.  I've ridden in a lot of vans and never felt as crowded. Tthe snow is just about gone with the warm days we've been having.  From minus 21 to plus 7--only in Winnipeg.  So ice is a big worry right now, especially in an unfamiliar car.  The repairs are going to cost us extra, as they found that the block heater cord had been chewed to shredds by "rodents".  Those cute little squirells wouldn't do that, would they?

I started  new class--sort of.  I found a group of ladies who are slowly working their way through a quilting /design book. I signed up last Thursday evening, only because I already owned the book.  Then I couldn't find the book, and had to order it off Amazon.  Did that Saturday, and was told it had been shipped on Sunday then received it Wednesday, just after the Tuesday night class.  So I've spent this morning working on the exercises, trying to catch up.  I'm not sure the first exercise is going well, but I'm probably the only one who will see it.  I plan to start the second exercise this afternoon, and get both of them to the point of hand stitching, before Saturday.  I have another day long volunteer session at the Gallery in Selkirk and will need something to work on.  The show comes down that day, and I would have had to go out  anyway to pick up my pieces.

Had a meeting postponed because of the Grey Cup, but David is interested. His parents used to have season tickets.  There was a lot of hoopla about the Eastern final being the very last game in the old Winnipeg Stadium. There was even mention in the Free Press about a lady who remembered seeing a football game in the old Osborne Street  Stadium.  I remember going to a circus with Grandpa McGrath that was in a big building on Osborne where the Great West Life building now is.  I wonder if it was the Osborne stadium?  I was very young, and can't remember a lot of detail, except Grandpa kept buying me food, until I was sick.

I wish I had been at the magazine sale, Beth, as I seem to be missing one of mine, and back copies are hard to find.  They now put them all on cd or dvd and sell them to you a year at a time.  If you ever see February/March 2010, please grab it for me. I've been a subscriber since the beginning, and know I had the magazine at one time, as I made something out of it.

We enjoy eating out once in awhile (--or maybe that's the "Royal We").  It's almost a little bit like a "date night", or as much of a "date night" as people who have been married for as long as we have would consider.  But the cost does add up.  I figured that our biking breakfasts were costing us about $150.00/month, and we really cut down this summer.  Of course, I was less enthusiastic about going out on the bike, if there was no breakfast involved, so we compromised on a drink each.  After the prices went up, the two drinks cost almost as much as the breafasts had, a couple of years ago.  But we've found the same thing at McDonald's, and only rarely eat there now.  I'm now noticing the lack of consistent biking this summer.  I'm probably in the worst shape I've ever been, and I'm not sure how to deal with that right now.  Although the way the snow is going, I could have been out on the bike today.

Any way, now it's down to the salt mine again.  Can get an hour's work in before worrying about supper.

Get well soon....

Isn't it great to take a sick day and stay at home and do nothing! Or was that housework you were looking at doing Cathy?

I spent a good portion of the day making out Christmas cards and just finished now. Harry came home from his Mothers about 10 am and went to bed. I guess he and his siblings actually got a lot accomplished yesterday. His brother left early this morning and has already telephoned to say he is safely back in Kirkland Lake (four hour drive). The plan is for him to return next Wed again to take another load back. He is taking some of the furniture so it makes a full and heavy load for him and thank goodness he has a truck.

Tomorrow we go to North Bay and hopefully will unload all these boxes of salt and peppers at that ladies home. Tonight at the local grocery store in town – Foodland - they are having their annual open house with draws and free samples of food etc so we will likely go over for 6 pm and see what we can see. Harry has been lucky on previous years to win gift baskets. We actually do not shop at this store because it is so expensive compared to the stores in North Bay, and the owners are not very friendly, but it is good to "be seen" as supporting locally. We have started to go to a local restaurant again after not going for about 2 1/2 years.  we went about once a month when I was working but then stopped when I was laid off. It seemed like a nice thing to do to start back again once Mother passed away and the food and service and ambiance is nice – Austrian /German food and German beer on tap and Viennese cafe so it is all good. A person could get too used to it though so must watch carefully because the costs can add up quickly.

Is anyone watching the Grey Cup this weekend and cheering on the Blue Bombers – I expect maybe Jim will so hope you enjoy the game – I can't get it on either of my two channels so will have to listen to CBC radio for updates. So long for now...... hope you get well soon Cathy haha