Friday, August 31, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday

How is it Friday again?  Holy.  Seriously.  I swear ever week goes by more quickly than the last.  Pretty soon the week will seem one day long.

This week I got lots sewn - which is always a good thing - but not much else done. I am going to post about that on Sunday - I am going to try to get myself organized into a bit of a schedule and post certain things of certain days - like Tootie Tuesday and Fill in the Blank Friday...  What do you think, good idea or not?

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. Over this labour day weekend I will be going swimming (weather permitting), sewing, doing some cooking to freeze for the upcoming busy weeks - school and the kids (mostly Penelope's) activities starting. More than anything this will be a Suzy Home-maker kind of weekend for this busy working Mum. :o)

2. With the political debates going on right now, my thoughts are Huh? I am Canadian, I couldn't care less what is going on down there as long as they do not blow us up, or get themselves blown up because I live pretty close to the boarder!

3. Today I am worried about my earning potential for the Autumn. I need to make some decisions and decide what I want to do with myself to make money to support my family and still do what I love. My friend Rita's Facebook status the other day read "I feel like I'm at a cross roads in my life. I know what and where I want to be, just not sure how to get there." I commented " I wish I were at the crossroad - I am still wandering around trying to find it!! :p"  If I could sew and blog for a living that would be my dream come true - I just do not know how to get there, so perhaps I am closer than I think!


Bacon eggs toast and hashbrowns - yummy!

4. The best thing I've cooked recently was roast chicken with all the fixings - mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn - yummers. The Little Man's friend was over for dinner and he said "Wow, this is like Thanksgiving!". I was going to make chicken stew - chicken pot pie without the pie - but I ran out of time this week. I wanted to try to make these little biscuit things out of the left overs.

5. The last thing I bought was breakfast for me and Nag! $2.95 for eggs, toast, hash browns and two slices of really delicious bacon. I would have paid that just for the bacon. :o)

6. The best movie I saw this summer was ParaNorman - I don't even remember any of the the other movies I saw but that was at the theatre (which I rarely go to), in 3D, and with the shorties so it was memorable. And the movie was pretty good - it was like a horror movie for little kids. Penelope turned to me at one point and said "This is going to give me nightmares for sure!"

7. The best book I read this summer was hmmmm. I think the best book I read was The Glass Castle - which I just finished and am going to blog about for tomorrow's post. I read Half Broke Horses both are written by Jeanette Walls) in the spring and loved them both. Overall last summer's reading - Any Known Blood, The Book of Negros, Middlesex, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, and Water for Elephants.

So I am leaving you for now, but I have lots of other posts for you soon.  Promise.  :o)  Tina

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, I know its lots of words.  But it is funny and it is SO me!

Source: via Tina on Pinterest

:o) Tina

Friday, August 24, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday

It's Friday and I am tired and have a headache - I hope it is not a sign as to the rest of the weekend.  I am going to bed when this post is done. Well maybe I will.  I took an Alive and if I feel better in a bit I will sew until 2 am as usual.  Why I do that to myself is beyond me.

Holy mopy Batman.

Fill in the Blank Friday
1. My favorite thing to do on Friday is go to Tim Horton's for tea and then set up at Trail's Market. It have to get up a bit earlier than the other days - which I do not like, not one bit, but the rest is all good.

2. This Friday I am looking forward to Saturday so that I can sleep in (at least a little)!

I'm the one with the crazy smile.  In the back of my
boyfriends care, looking for trouble with my much
loved friend Pam. :o)
3. The best thing about a weekend is that it feels like you have endless possibilities and lots of time to waste - the feeling of not having to rush is a treat. I also enjoy the slurpee/Mrs. Vicki's potato chip/watch a movie/late night sewing ritual that CH and I have almost every Saturday night. Woot! I am such a party girl! You would never know that I once was - thank Goodness!

4. Now that summer is almost over, I'm feeling a little jipped. The weather this year was not what we are used to - we did not even put the AC in the window on the main floor.

5. The best thing I did this summer was a we thing rather than an I thing -  we bought a little trailer - but we did not use it as much as I had hoped. There is always next year and I WILL be making plans. :o)

My summer kitchen.  :o)
6. The thing I'm looking forward to about fall is being able to wear more of my wardrobe - I don't have to stick to solid cotton so that my clothes do not stick to me. :o) I guess a small part of me is also looking forward to a more scheduled schedule. A small part.

7. If I had to be stuck in one season for the rest of my life, I would choose autumn...the weather is sunny, but not too hot and I love the colours and the warm rainy smell. The autumn here is amazingly beautiful. It is also my favorite season because it feels like a fresh start. Last year, when Penelope was in grade one, we spent days trying to convince her that March was the third month, not the seventh and that the year started in January rather than September. :o)
Trail BC in Autumn
This is my neighbourhood from across the Columbia River.
A cup of Teltley, a Blog post, and some drugs and I am feeling better.  Still tired.  Still going to bed earlier, but feeling better.

:o) Tina

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Wordless Wednesday


This isn't us but it will be next weekend!

:o)  Tina

Sunday, August 19, 2012

My Block Swap Adventure

I joined a block swap - which I should have waited to do until fall but I am hoping that the recipients will love  the blocks I am sending enough that they won't be too upset with me.

The first block I sent was this one, you can read a posting about it on the Block Swap Blog. Lana (the recipient) was very complimentary.  :o) When I sent it I worried that it would be too bright and too much...

Iris Quilt Block Daffodil Quilt Block Block Swap

Daffodil Quilt Block Block Swap

Iris Quilt Block Block Swap

And then, I was lucky enough to received these beauties - I so badly want a scarp 54-40 quilt and I also grateful to be part of the swap because now I have others to add to my blocks, of which I have made none.

54 40 or Fight Quilt Block
This sweet block will be perfect in my quilt -
thank you Jen Dickson !
This bold and beautiful block was sewn for me
by Lana Dunkerley. Thank you Lana!

If I had blog addressed for these lovely ladies, I would link them up...  I looked, got side tracked for like an hour and found lots of other sites I might like to do block swaps with and then came back with nothing.  Hmmm. Anyway, this is the block I completed last night to return to Jen.  I hope she likes it - it was A LOT of work cutting all those little squares.  It took me three nights to cut and one to sew - granted I work at the speed of snail.

:o)  Tina

Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Weird Sisters

by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor BrownThe Andreas family is one of readers. Their father, a renowned Shakespeare professor who speaks almost entirely in verse, has named his three daughters after famous Shakespearean women. When the sisters return to their childhood home, ostensibly to care for their ailing mother, but really to lick their wounds and bury their secrets, they are horrified to find the others there. See, we love each other. We just don't happen to like each other very much. But the sisters soon discover that everything they've been running from-one another, their small hometown, and themselves-might offer more than they ever expected.

I enjoyed this book but I kept expecting something bigger to happen.  It kept me reading because I could see a little of myself in each of these women, I suppose that was the idea.  It was not read it again good, but I would pass it on to a friend.

Next I am finally reading the Glass Castle, by Virigian Wells who wrote Half Broke Horses, which I loved.

Happy reading -

:o)  Tina

Friday, August 17, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday

Ah Friday, how do I love thee, let me count the ways.

Since I started my new job and am not at my beloved shop very often, I love Friday even more because I am there and I get to spend my day visiting with Nag and feeling needed and I love it.  I am not sure, but I might go in tomorrow as well - I have a hard time motivating myself to go there and be alone... I am such a baby. :p

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. The best thing to do on a hot day is go to the beach or the pool and enjoy the hot while swimming your heart out. I love the water and love to spend the day with my shorties at the beach.  This is not news to you if you know me, or have ever read my blog; the beach is a recurring theme for me.

2. The best place to be on a hot day is the beach - see #1.

3. The best thing to eat on a hot day is nothing... I do not like to eat when I am hot. I suddenly feel like having a cigarette - weird, maybe that is what I want on a hot day... it has been so long.

Exclamation perfum
Image from Olimpia Writes
4. Hot days seem to start as quickly as they disappear. Even today half way through August it seems cooler. An end to summer means an end to freedom and the beginning of a schedule. Besides that, next summer I am going to be FORTY.

5. My go to uniform on a warm summer day is cotton shorts and t-shirt and flip flops - with my hair up and next to no make up.

6. The scent that reminds me of summer is Exclamation (hahahaha - I hope at least one of my friends from high school reads that and has a chuckle), river, hot summer night air, steak on the BBQ, beer (not that I even drink it any more but I sure did when I was wearing Exclamation!).


7. My favorite thing about summer is the complete and utter absence of a schedule (other than my own) which means my kids are home when I am home - all the time. We can do what we want when we want to do it, the only obstacle being my job. :(

Have a wonderful weekend!  :o)  Tina

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Thinking

Am I too old to transform my life?


:o) Tina

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday, August 10, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday

It is Friday and I am pooped.  All you are going to get out of me tonight is the blanks.


1. The age I will be on my upcoming birthday is 40. Lauren at the little things we do wrote: "28. Even typing that makes me feel old". To that I say shut-the-front-door 28 is SO young. I feel like I have live a thousand lives since I was 28.

2. The best birthday present ever would be a vacation to somewhere European - London, Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris....

3. My favorite birthday to date was my 25th. I went with H1 to Salt Spring Island, stayed in a bed and breakfast, and went kayaking (the one and only time) in the ocean.  Even though it was with the turd of a first husband it was an enjoyable weekend and I did things that I would probably never do again, somewhere I may never go again.

4. Birthdays make me feel neglected. I always hope that someone will make as big a deal over me as I do over them.  This year was probably the best ever.  PITA, got me a gift for everyday of the week, and a card that made me bawl my eyes out.

5. The worst birthday I ever had was my 20th. My Granddad had just died and I was feeling sad.

6. When I was born I am not sure how much I weighted or how long I was, but I was born in Trail, British Columbia at 5:25 in the morning while my Dad was at work. Back in the 70s fathers where not necessarily there. Mine was not. The thing is that if I were being born this week, my Dad would probably still be at work when it was happening. That kind of thing makes him uncomfortable, sweet as he is. :o)

7. So far my favourite age has been 19 - thin, gorgeous (as all girls are at that age) carefree and living with three of my friends in a double wide trailer. Good times.  It was seriously fun. 30-35 was also pretty great. The last few years have been a little financially challenging, between that and CH's health it has been less than fun a lot of the time. Not to say that I am unhappy, just a little stressed.

:o)  Tina

Thursday, August 9, 2012

A Walk to Remember

by Nicholas Sparks

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood.

This is the same guy who wrote The Notebook (which I have not read but have watched and it was SO good), it was pretty good but I expected to at least have a lump in my throat.  And although, I did enjoy it, it did not invoke any emotion. It was worth my time, but not making it onto my recommended reading list.

:o) Tina

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

War Brides

by Helen Bryan

With war threatening to spread from Europe to England, the sleepy village of Crowmarsh Priors settles into a new sort of normal: Evacuees from London are billeted in local homes. Nightly air raids become grimly mundane. The tightening vice of rationing curtails every comfort. Men leave to fight and die. And five women forge an unlikely bond of friendship that will change their lives forever.

I liked this book - it kept me reading and I was still thinking about it the next day.  Always the sign of a good book.  When I was finished reading, I was wanting to know more about the characters lives, but instead I had to move onto the next book.  I was, after all, camping. 

:o)  Tina

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday (Way Late!)

I was camping on Friday.  I never even took one photo to prove it. My bad.  I did have a really nice time, read two and half books (I'll post about them after this post), floated in the late, swam a little, worked on my tan...  it was nice, but too short.


1. I am proud of my wonderful amazing gorgeous super fabulous wonderfully amazing kind hearted children. Everything about them amazes me and makes me proud of them.

The littlest one is my nephew - PITA is his Mom.
2. This weekend I will was camping at Champion Lakes Provincial park, one of my most favourite places on earth.  I love it for its peacefulness - this weekend it was packaged and a little less peaceful but still a wonderful place to spend some quality time with my precious family.

3. A secret dream I have is write a book about my life (from 15 to 30) and to sing in a rock band.  Perhaps neither of these are especially secret... 

4. I can't handle shallow, fake people.  We have but one life, live it well.  Live it deeply.  Respect others.  Consider the feelings of others.  Consider the circumstances that have led others to act as they do.  Forgive.  Be honest.  And always, always be kind.

5. The most annoying thing in the entire world is mean people.  (And the sound of crinkling plastic - I hate that!)

6. The most relaxing thing in the entire world is crawling into my comfy bed when I have not slept in it for a few days or when I am really really tired  that 2 seconds (literally) before I fall asleep.

7. I think everyone should BE NICE!


That's the blanks.  :o)  Tina

Saturday, August 4, 2012

My Grandma

One of the things I miss most about my Grandma - who would have been 85 on July 26th - is her coffee.  I am not much of a coffee drinker but hers was yummy, especially with (gasp) Coffee Mate in it.  Yummy yummy.  I used to sit at her table with her when I was a young adult drinking coffee, sharing my "tailor made" (Gasp) cigarettes and listening to her stories late into the night.  I loved it.

I miss a lot of things about her.  She was a pretty interesting lady. She lived a lot in her youth - the day she died I found out that at one point she ran off with the circus.  I cannot even imagine that, I was wild when I was young so I can imagine me doing it but I cannot imagine my Grandma doing it! She is my Grandma!

It's a bummer she is gone because she would have gotten a kick out of my lovey short people.  She claimed to hate hugs - be we all knew it wasn't true. She just felt the need, for some reason I will never understand, to act tough.

Hey Grandma - I heard how you talked to Auntie Terry's dog. I saw how much you cared and pretended not too when I brought those stray kittens home. You are not a tough guy at all. You never fooled anyone who loved you.

Miss you lady.  xxoo T.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

This one is for the Little Man.

:o)  Tina