Odds and Ends

An Etsy Find

So with all this talk of Etsy I thought I'd take a look and found this neat site - She does hand made beaded jewelry.  I particularly liked this necklace as I'm definitely into blue stuff.  :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cheriebeadle
 

Blogging for Scrapbookers - Laundry & Wine

Sounds like a good mix doesn't it?   No I don't have wine while I'm doing the laundry - but hey maybe that would make it feel like it was going faster.  Anyhow - that's how my day went - it started out real early with laundry & ended up with wine before dinner. :)

J's early rising for work never fails to wake me too (4:30 is not a nice hour to wake up) but this morning I actually got an extra hour in.  Once I was up and moving though it was attack the laundry (how can 2 people have this much stuff to wash?).  I always thought & still do that these front loading washing machines were really good - except for one small little detail - they take longer and today it seemed like it was a lot longer, maybe because I knew I had so much to get through..  Maybe it was just because I had a lot of laundry to get through  - I'm a bit (bit is an understatement) of a procrastinator when it comes to laundry and housework in general so when I do it there is usually a lot.

I slowly got through the laundry that could be done today (there's still 1 more load to go tomorrow).  I'm sure it wouldn't have taken this long with a top load but this is progress right - save water & detergent but run longer - Hmmm - does that mean I'm using more electricity?  I shouldn't complain as I really like the front load - things seem to wash better and they sure dry a lot quicker and like they say - it uses a lot less detergent.  Ok enough with the commercial for front loads.  :)   Talk about timing - I finished for the day just in time for J to get home and load up the van to go make some wine & bottle what we'd made last time we were there.  Yep that's where the wine comes in - we make our own and every so many weeks we have to load up the van with all our sterilized bottles and go bottle the current batch & maybe (who am I kidding - there's no maybe about it)  start another.  The only problem is we have to wait 5 more weeks to drink it.  :)  So drinking wine while doing the laundry just is not going to happen here. 

Would You Believe

I sure can't.  If anyone's familiar with our neck of the woods they'll know that this is not the usual for mid-November.  It actually feels feels like spring here.  The weather the past few days has been wonderful (21 Celsius yesterday in our backyard) and today is no exception although it is a touch cooler but not heavy jacket weather.  I'm taking advantage & have all the windows open up here and it sure is a nice feeling.  Hope it stays that way for the weekend.

Shimelle's Prompt #3

Ok, prompt #3 is to do a blog with a list of 5 favourite things.   Whoa - where to start.  Shall I stick to a specific subject or different ones.  I thought about listing my 5 favourite movies but my mind is a blank after the 1st 2.  Books?  Can't think of any favourites off the top of my head - I think I'm going to have to think about this for awhile.

Ok I think I've come up with it - my 5 favourite crafting tools/resources.  Some may not sound like they are craft related but they sure help me.   Now my 2 favourite crafts as if you couldn't tell from the addy of my blogs are scrapbooking and knitting, although both have taken a back seat to the computer lately it seems.  :)

Number 1 would have to be my Wishblade  - I love being able to cut out my titles in no time flat and use basically any font I've got on my computer so long as it's thick enough. When I used to cut titles or clipart out by hand I used to end up with really sore fingers using the x-acto blade and it took way more time than my wishblade does.

Number 2 would be my computer (although the way it's acting up right now I'm not sure about that - memory problems).  I can find practically anything on there from online courses to supplies to information on places we've been that I want to scrap about and most important of all the inspiration of seeing layouts & ideas that others share. 

 

Number 3 is my swift and ball winder - I count them as one thing because you need one to use the other.  They make winding a skein of yarn so easy and you only need yourself.  No more waiting for someone else to hold their arms out to hold the skein while I wind by hand or try & use the back of a chair - that never worked for me.  :)

Number 4 is my treasure trove of books and magazines with all the how-tos, ideas and/or patterns for both crafts.  My favourite scrapbooking magazine is Creating Keepsakes.  I used to like Simple Scrapbooks too but sadly they don't exist anymore.  As for knitting it's Knitters, Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits and Sandra.

Number 5 is our cameras.  The little point & shoots (Canon A700 & Canon SC1200Is) are so convenient for putting in a pocket or bag & snap a picture when we don't want to lug around lenses & tripod/monopod & camera bags for our Canon 40D & Canon Rebel XT.  Can you tell we're a Canon family - well not quite the video is JVC.

See I said some wouldn't sound the least bit like craft tools but......

Shimelle's Class Prompt #2

Shimelle's prompt for today was to write about one of the most amazing days in our lives.  So here goes.  Oh, btw, the pictures are scanned from negatives and they're 19 years old so not too great.

We'll never forget it, even 19 years later, we were ever so nervous but looking forward to our very first hot air balloon ride, over the Napa Valley, Ha - that's funny I say our first - it's our one & only time. 

We woke to fog above the valley - oh no would our trip be cancelled?  We quickly dressed, had breakfast and left for the meeting place.  There was a lot of discussion between the pilots and ground crews while we waited for the fog to lift high enough for us to take off.  Finally it became evident that  wasn't going to happen anytime soon and it was decided that we'd all drive over the other side of the mountains to the Yolo Valley where there was no fog.  We were all assigned to crews and followed the truck bearing our balloon over to the new take off site.  Was this delay going to affect the rest of our plans for the day?

Wouldn't you know it - the way our luck was going - our balloon's truck broke down and those of us assigned to our balloon had to wait with it while a new truck & balloon were sent to meet us.  Finally we arrived at the take-off site to see some of the others already airborne and others almost ready to take off.   Our crew quickly got our balloon out of the back of the truck & started inflating it, with some of us helping.   Soon it was time for us to climb on board - John couldn't believe it when I was one of the first to clamber on (hey after all we'd been through the previous 3 weeks - this was a piece of cake) - he thought for sure I'd chicken out at the last minute what with my fear of heights.  There is only one word to describe it - breathtaking!  Our pilot decided that because of all the problems we'd had that we'd get a wee bit longer "flight" than everyone else which our whole group were thrilled about.

It's amazing how quiet & peaceful it is in a balloon - well except for when they use the gas jets - that can be pretty loud if you're right by the pilot and let's face it with the size of those baskets you're pretty close to him.  :)  We got up high enough we could practically see over into the Napa Valley and at other times we were skimming the treetops.

Finally though our wonderful flight was over and we landed in a farmer's field where we helped prepare the balloon & basket for packing up and then were taken to our cars so that we could drive over to the park where our champagne brunch was set up.  We were all presented with pictures and pins to remember the ride - as if we would ever forget it  :)  But too soon, the 2 of us had to leave everyone else for the rest of our planned day.   We're we going to make those plans in time?   But more about that in another post.

A Quick Message From Yesterday

I finally got the car back about 2:30 yesterday afternoon.  It is so great having my "freedom" back.  I was beginning to go stir crazy I think.   First thing I did was go get some groceries.  Relying on husbands to do that on their way home from work is ok at times but they always seem to buy stuff that's not on the list and that you don't need.  :)

I've Signed Up For Another Online Class

This one is "Blogging for Scrapbookers" at http://www.shimelle.com I remember being on a newsgroup or maybe it was a yahoo group with Shimelle a few years ago and was always inspired by her words & her scrapbooking talent so I'm really excited to be taking this class.   I got a late start on it (late Wednesday and it started on Monday) but I am slowly catching up.  First off, I want to say hi to all my new classmates that might be reading this.

Now here goes my answer to Prompt #1

I like to use my blog to help with my scrapbook journaling - by the time I get around to doing layouts it's usually months if not years later and I've usually forgotten much about the who, what, why, where, when of the pictures.   My intentions in taking the course are to get me to blog more often and not just about trips and the unusual but the normal stuff too.   I want them to be more meaningful too - not just the who what why where when stuff.  Lastly to learn more about what I can do with my blog.

So now I'm off to read up on Prompt #2

I hope you'll enjoy following my blog.

My Week's Been Thrown Out of Whack

It started out good, got my 300 pictures loaded into Costco for their discounted rate this week, got my H1N1 shot with basically no problem - in & out in 30 minutes after the horror stories we've been hearing about the lineups - that was Monday.

Yesterday, I made plans to meet Jean for our usual tea & crosswords and do a bit of shopping at Whole Foods.  Well, that all went out the window when I backed out of the driveway & had trouble getting the car to go in drive.  I checked that it was in gear and then noticed the engine warning symbol was on.   After checking the manual and talking to our mechanic I decided to have it towed over to him (thank heavens for CAA).  Ten minutes later he was here but it took him another 70 minutes to take it over to Burlington (a short at the most 30 minute drive if you take normal roads) -  has me puzzled as to how come so long.  Upshot of it is that there is a sensor not working that tells the car to go.   Now instead of just replacing the sensor they have to replace the entire peddle assembly ($800) and at the earliest Toyota might have it there by late this afternoon.   In other words - another day at least  without a car.  Sure has made us realize that this is not the time to go down to 1 car.  I was lucky that I was able to cancel my physio appointment and my usual get together with Janie has been tentatively put off to Friday.  The not so great stuff continued when John got some not so great news from the Endodontist (a possible root canal & crown with no guarantee he can save the tooth) BUT he was able to get his H1N1 as well and in less than 30 minutes too and that includes the 15 minute wait time afterwards.

Guess it's a good thing I only had made 3 arrangements for the week and it wasn't like last week.  :)

For Today

Last week I was inspired by Lee at Lemons 2 Lemonade and the Simple Woman's Daybook to do a weekly entry called For Today  - here's my second week's attempt  (this is the link to last week's).

Today - Sunday, November 1st

Outside my Window - it's looking cold and practically all the leaves are down.  Yesterday morning we were surprised that there had been one massive dump of them overnight.  This is the part of fall I don't like.

I am Thinking- what other pictures can I add to my discounted Costco order to make 300 (I'm at 257).  It's not often they offer the special deal & I definitely want to take advantage of it.

I am Thankful For - the fact that we were finally able to get our flights booked for the next cruise and at a somewhat reasonable price.  Also thankful that the renewed passports came through so quickly.

From the Kitchen - We're thinking it's time to replace all those round Tupperware containers.  They take up way too much room in the cupboards  - I need some square or rectangular ones instead.  It's time for a major overhaul of what I call the Tupperware cupboard as well.

We are Learning- that it's real difficult trying to get our H1N1 shots even though we are in the high risk category.

I am Wearing - navy slacks, my new Alaska sweatshirt, my old New Balance shoes that I wear in place of slippers in the house.  Navy slacks seem to be a running theme in my cupboard.

I am Creating - well it's the same as last week.  I'm still working on that video of the Alaska cruise and in the meantime I discovered that I still hadn't done one from the Caribbean cruise earlier in the year.  I don't think that new wool is going to see either the swift or needles this week.

I am Going - to take this laptop into the "computer hospital" to see what can be done about the RAM problem I've got.  Hopefully they'll be able to add more.  

I am Reading - still reading Julie & Julia.   I'll be glad when it's finished & I can move on to another book.  Can't say I'm taken with it.

I am Hoping - the same as last week - that all stays well with Lisa and the new baby and the last few weeks goes by with no problems.

I am Hearing- CHFI's Sunday morning show with Tish that I've got playing in the background on the computer.   Love listening to the oldies.

Around the House - happy to say all the outside stuff that can be done has been,   Now to just work on the inside, sometimes I think I need a cleaning lady but being retired how can I justify not having the time to do it myself - it's just I don't like it.  :)

One of my Favourite Things - looking back at old home movies that my Dad took and videos that we've taken.

Something That Really Made Me Happy This Week - Cheryl & Gary's new grandchild arrived last night.

Something That Bothered Me This Week- people in line for the H1N1 shot who aren't from the area and/or who are not high risk as this week was supposed to be only high risk people - it's one reason we haven't been able to get ours. 

A Few Plans for the Rest of The Week- try and get that H1N1 shot (wish that the Dr's office had them as I'm not looking forward to that long (3500+ people) lineup out in the cold), get the 300 pictures ordered from Costco and pick them up, meet up with Janie & Jean for tea and talk, work on the computer room, get rid of the candy we didn't give out last night (way down in numbers this year), stick to my Weight Watchers plan, finish up the last of the filing. 

A Picture to Share - Sorry I don't have one to share this week.  Guess I'll need to share 2 next week.  :)

Where Was I 16 Years Ago Today

It just dawned on me what today is.

Sixteen years ago today I was enjoying my last day at work before retirement.  And, no I am not that old - it's called down-sizing - you needed 25 years service to qualify for retirement & I had 27 while John had 25 so......

I spent the morning where I worked & then caught the GO train and went to where John worked and was retiring from and where I worked before we got married.  I must say it was a lot more fun there that day than downtown at head office.  So hard to believe it's been 16 years although I spent most of them taking care of Dad and his stuff.   It's only been the last 5 years that I can say I've been fully retired. 

I look back now and wonder - how did I fit work in, let alone the commuting on the GO train twice a day, all those years.