Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Blue

I am sorry I have not written.  My house is packed to the rafters and I have been working toward cleaning it up.  I have also been sitting around (in the family room where there is room to sit) feeling kind of, well, blue.

I am sure my giddy-up will come back to me.  Just give me a few more days... I am working on something new with my beloved sewing machine and that usually cheers me up...

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

What I Have Been Up To...

First of all, I gotta tell you I am still pretty pooped.

This last couple of weeks has been chaotic for me.  Both of my kids have been sick with strep throat (which I luckily did not get even though it is the one thing I am prone to) - Penelope was home all last week and The Little Man all this week.  CH has been having a really hard time with a migraine pretty much non-stop since we went to Calgary for Thanksgiving. The shop has been packed up (we are almost done!) and brought home - which in itself is a huge job that I have ahead of me, but one I am looking forward to. I worked in Castlegar and at Brost Auto last week, but this week I skipped Castlegar.  I value my sanity more than a pay cheque.

Anyway, I have, in all of that, still found some time to sew.

Brost Auto Worx Machine Embroidery

I did some machine embroidery for work. Me, who cannot chew gum and do anything else at all.  Machine embroidery and sewing with my other sewing machine making little zipper pouches at the same time.  Two sewing machines going at once.  Life is fabulous!


I made this one a while ago but I am surrounded by too much stuff to take good photos of the ones I made this week.  They are in what I think of as "adult" fabrics - black and whites, leopard print, and a red swirl.

On the weekend I finished up two bucket bags from a pattern I bought here.

Bucket Bag

I am not posting the picture of the other one because it is terrible!  The picture - not the bag.  It is pink with a blue floral pocket and I am considering keeping it for myself.  As with every pattern I purchase, I purchased it for the templates only and made it my way.  What I learned - and I think it will apply to all the bags I make from now on - fusible fleece on the outside makes for a better structured bag. :o)

K.  My goal for next week is to get some stuff onto my Etsy store - which is in a sad state of affairs.  Nag has been keeping up the shops Etsy store, thank God for that.

Gonna go and do some sewing.

:o) Tina

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Pooped

That is what I am not what I did.

CH and I went out last night and had a GREAT time! But I am pooped out. Too much dancing, walking, talking, and drinking. Not so much that I am hung over or anything, just enough that I am pooped!

Thank you Trail Smoke Eater Executive for putting on this fun event! You can count on us being there next year - see you then!

:o) Tina

Friday, November 9, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday

Did you know that a Blue |Whale's tongue weighs as much as an elephant and that it's heart is the size of a car - does that mean an Austin Mini or like a full sized car?  Crazy!

So Friday again.  Can you even believe it?  I have had a bonkers week, as usual.  The shop is getting close to being packed up.  Sigh....  Still feeling a little sad about the whole thing but I am, truthfully, looking forward to brighter days ahead.  That being said, I got a call from one of my dear sweet Aunts today expressing how proud she was of me for taking this step.  Expressing that I was not failure... I am not sure that I feel like a failure.  Just like the end of my marriage to H1, I can honestly say that I gave it my best shot and I only stopped because it was time to stop.  Time to move on to something better.

In other news, I have had a crap filled disastrous kind of day and Penelope has decided she is going to be a vegetarian until 'she can forget where meat comes from'.  Aye-carumba (sp?)

Okay, enough serious.  Let's fill in some blanks. :o)

Fill in the Blank Friday
{via}


1. I like to laugh, to feel loved, to feel like someone cares how I feel, to know that my family (near and far) has my back, the smell of summer rain, the way my daughters nose turns up just a little and the small smattering a freckles on it, my sons beautiful greet eyes and sooty eye lashes, CH's caterpillar eye brows, the colour pink, rainbows and ice cream and rainbow ice cream, fabric, Tetley tea, potato chips, being married, being a Mum (love it, actually), the colour green, strawberries, Haagin Dazes strawberry ice cream, my Uncle Roy's quiet chuckle, my FIL's shit eatin' grin (that he has passed onto Penelope and The Mouth!), spending time with PITA, likes on Instagram and Facebook (makes me feel special), hugs from some and kisses from others; when people I don't know, know my name... just off the top of my head...

2. A life goal of mine is to have a horse and a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle, preferable pink.


3. The last thing you would ever expect me to like (even though I secretly do) is smoking. there I said it. I would love to smoke. Right. Now. But of course, I won't.

4. Some wise words that I love are "I love you Mum(my)." Wise? Oh, because they know how to work it! :o)

5. Most mornings you will find me rushing around trying to make up for lost time because I am the slowest waker upper ever and should always get up and hour before I need to but I never do. I am late almost everyday!

6. Right now I am super into the idea that I will have a little more time and a little more money and a whole lot less stress. Pretty excited about that bit.

7. Right now I am super over AMERICAN politics. Seriously. I am CANADIAN. I realize that the United States dominates the world but there is nothing I can do about who their president is. Why are my friends posting about it on Facebook, isn't it bad enough that I am subjected to it all over TV and the internet. The Voice was postponed for it for crying in the sink. The Voice!

So tomorrow I am going out for the first time in like three years with CH. I am little nervous... liquid courage will help me get over it. I'll let you know how it went.

:o)  Tina

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Stupid Emotinal Me

I think I might be feeling a little sad about the shop.

I was so happy at first.  All I could think about was shedding the responsibility and moving into my new, less stressed life...

Now I am feel like I have lost someone.

Stupid.  I know.  It is a collection of things.  Not a person.

But I loved it.  I really did.

But it hurt me and made me sad - and really stressed.

I have to say goodbye.  For my family.  For myself.

Onto bigger and better things I suppose.... well maybe smaller and better, would be better...

Wish me luck.

:/  Tina

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Liebster Award Nominee!


Liebster Blog Liebster Award
I love getting comments on my my blog - love it - I think the fact that I hardly get any makes them so much more special when I do. Last The other night I was even more excited when I found that had been nominated for a Liebster Award - even though I had never heard of this before it was still very exciting. Thank you Living La Vida Holoka! The Liebster Award is given to up-and-comers in the blog world with under 200 followers - I don't know about up and coming but I sure qualify for the under 200!

So here is the deal:

#1     Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
#2     Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
#3     Choose 11 bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them to your post.
#4     Go to their page and tell them about the award.
#5     No tag backs!

So here goes...

11 Random Facts About Me 

#1     My family is the most important thing in my life.  I gave up my shop for them so that we could have a better life.  I would do anything for them. Anything.

#2     Do not lie to me.  I never forget and I will never believe you again. Ever. I will forgive you, though (please see #6).

#3    When some thing is really funny I laugh at the sky.  If it is really really funny no sound comes out, but lots of tears do.  It is the greatest feeling.

#4     I will do anything I can for you if I consider you my friend. I can always find a silver lining and I will do my very best to brainstorm and help you find a way out of your jam.

#5     I am an information hoarder.  Especially information in the form of books, recipes, and patterns.  Pinterest freed up so much space on my computer.  I have gone from 2500 bookmarks and 30,000 saved pdfs to 62 boards, 1740 pins and 950 likes (likes are the things I looked at on my phone waiting to become pins.)

#6     I am a wimp.  Physically, wimpy.  Emotionally, wimpy, but good at covering it up. ;)

#7     My husband was my next door neighbour before he was anything else to me.  The story is too long to put on this list, but I might write a Saturday Story about it one day. :)

#8     I am hands down the worse speller over the age of 10 in my family.  The older I get the worse it gets.  I have spell check everywhere!

#9     I secretly love country music... perhaps it is not that much of a secret...

#10   I loath competition.  It makes me feel sick to my stomach.  I don't know if it is why I don't play sports now or why I never really did when I was a kid.  Competition when my children are involved is even worse. Can't handle it.  At all.

#11   I have been married twice.  Right around the time H1 and split, my bestie, Surely, moved to London.  I miss her everyday and it has been 11 years.  I never miss him other than when I am doing housework as he was freakishly clean.

Okay so now...

Questions from Jessica.

When did you start blogging?
  I started blogging about 5 years ago but I have only really been making any effort in the last year and half or so.  I would love to grow it into something that has followers, maybe makes a little money... the problem is that I really do blog for me and do not try to attract an audience by being consistent with my content or frequency.  One day it might be something I tried that I saw on Pinterest, the next it might be a book I read or something silly one of my short people said or something I made. I have big plans for tutorials but they never seem to come to fruition.

With the holidays coming up, what are some of your favorite family traditions?  I don't really have any favourites.  I love the whole holiday season and being with everyone at their happiest.

What's your guilty pleasure? I don't even know what the means.  I am not Cathloic and do not feel guilt. :p

What's the last really good book you've read? I am not sure.  It feels like a long time since I read something that I really loved...  probably Secret Daughter, way back at the beginning of September.  I think that may have been the last book worth blogging about. :o)

What is something that has made you happy recently? I can't think of anything off of the top of my head.  I have been feeling quite happy and as if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders since I decided to close the shop...  so maybe that.  Even thought, that somehow seems kind of like a betrayal to the shop - as if it were a person...

What is one of your favorite smells? Gardenia.  Love gardenia.  I also love the smell of breast fed baby breath, the ocean, the river near my home (especially on hot summer nights), and (my) clean laundry.

What is one food you probably couldn't live without?  I love food.  I am not sure that I could choose just one... maybe parmesan cheese - it just makes everything taste better! :o)

What is one of your best traits? I would have to say my sense of humour.  I think I am very funny.

How do you keep positive?  I don't really have a method.  I think that you are either a person who can remain positive, or not.  CH is a bit of a glass is half empty person but says that he is a realist. I am a glass is half full person and have been accused of wearing rose coloured glasses... I do have a knack for finding the silver lining. :)

What's something you would absolutely love to splurge on if money wasn't an issue? A European cruise.  I would love to go back to Italy and Penelope wants to go to Paris and I would love to visit Surely in London....  I would love to travel around Europe and the Mediterranean on a cruise ship more than just about anything.

What's something you love about where you live? My home:  The people in it.  My city:  Knowing so many people and the sense of community. My region:  The Kootenays are a wonderful, laid back place with a reputation for being friendly, beautiful and for growing pot.  ;)  My province:  Seriously, what's not to love.  British Columbia really is the best place on earth. My country:  Canada, sigh, beautiful, massive, kind, courteous, diverse, accepting...  there is a lot to love!

Okay, so now for my nominees....  this is where feeling like I lost the popularity contest haunts me...  I lack the confidence to reach out to people.  What if they ignore me or think I am stupid? What if they don't like my questions???  It took me a LONG time to find the right blogs to send the nominations to.  I wanted to send it to blogs that I legitimately enjoyed reading rather than the first 11 that I found mildly interesting, so...

The Nominees, In No Particular Order, Are... 

The Sewing Chick (she has 204 followers, 4 over the limit.  I am a ruler bender...)

An My Questions...

{one}     Have you ever seen a ghost?
{two}     What country (countries) are your ancestors from?
{three}   What is your favorite day of the week? Why?
{four}     Who is your Bestie? Why?
{five}      Who do you admire the most? Why?
{six}       What was the best road trip you have ever been on?
{seven}   Are you a night owl or do you go to bed with the chickens?
{eight}    What is the first thing you can remember?
{nine}     What achievement are yo the most proud of?
{ten}       Have you ever driven (or ridden on) a motorcycle?
{eleven}  Do you believe in reincarnation?

It's always nice to have some recognition from fellow bloggers... or anyone else for that matter.  While my blog is an outlet for my own thoughts and feelings - my rants really - I really do love sharing all of this with whomever stumbles upon it and decides to take the time to read it.  I've happily accepted this nomination (Thank you again)!

Have fun and pay it forward!

:o)  Tina








Friday, November 2, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday

Serious?  Friday again.  How can that be.  My blog is a sorry sight these days....  I have been pretty pre-occupied with closing the shop and the 99 million things that need to be done.  It isn't even that I have been doing too much but that I have been thinking too much.  I haven't been able to turn my brain off until like one or two every night and then the next day I am a zombie but unable to feel tired.

It's the pits, but at the same time I am very excited to be moving onto the next chapter in this little life of mine. ;) My dear friend Krista has been working on a new logo for me - I am very excited to unveil it here soon. :)


1. Something I swore I'd never do, but have ended up doing anyway is having a messy house. Before the shorties and the shop my house was always tidy and oh so organized. Now, sadly, not so much.

Buckskin quarter horse
{via}
2. Something I've always wanted to do is have a horse. I will one day. When.... when I am not so busy with 19 million other things I guess! I always tell CH (or maybe I just think it) that if you want something bad enough, you will find time for it.  The thing about the horse is that I want to have to time to savour it and right now it would just be one more thing I have to rush around and take care of. 

3. Something I have absolutely no desire to ever do is go scuba diving, bungee jumping, cliff diving, rock climbing, sky diving, ... you get the idea.

4. The best thing I ever did was become a mother. I always wanted to and it is just as amazing as I hoped it would be.

5. When it comes to trying new things, I am not very good at it. If it is a new activity I get all nervous and freaky. New food, forget it. Making new friends - not easy for me. New sewing technique, pattern, or book - I am all over it like a dirty shirt.

6. One thing I've never done is ...please see number 3.

7. My favorite thing do do is sew. Duh.

Here are a few things I finished this week.

Owl Bag
Two new owls bags

Lots of owls and a few whales

Grandmother's Flower Garden English Paper Piecing Hexis
Not finished - but worked on!
K. On that note, I am going, to sew.

:o) Tina