Family Day

We are celebrating Family Day here in Ontario today.  I believe it is President's Day south of us.  We had a yummy  family dinner yesterday with salad, roast chicken, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, corn-on-the-cob, potatoes and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  It was my turn to cook dinner.  I was busy all day!

I finished another block for Eleanor Burns' Applique in a Day quilt.  This one was very simple and easy.  But I like it and I am happy that I am getting these UFO blocks done!

It is cold right now.  These blocks make me think of spring.  That should be here some time soon.  Right?  So why is it still -10C?  Happy day off for anyone celebrating it.

Today is Wednesday, I Think

My day has held a lot of stress for me. I had to meet with my financial advisor to figure out how I will survive on my pittance of a pension for the rest of my life. He thinks he can do something for me, but I have been hit hard by our tax man. It seems I paid too much into my RRSPs and now I have to pay them back- the tax that is. This is going to take a huge chunk out of my new kitchen fund.

Then my DD phoned me to tell me that she was in a car accident on her way to work this morning. She is okay, but the car may not be. The couple that ran into the side of her car are okay too. Can't blame this on our winter. We had the most beautiful day today. The sun was shining and the temperature was not too bad. There was no ice or snow on the roads. DD thinks it was her fault.

I have been waiting for the guy from Home Depot to call me regarding my kitchen cabinets. We are supposed to okay the deal and order them tonight. Then the destruction work will begin. I'm dreading that. Just more stress.

I decided to make my own pattern for the paper pieced camel on the Block Party this week. I am not very happy with the way he turned out. But maybe amongst many other blocks in a child's quilt he will look okay.


And something I told myself I wouldn't do.... I fell for the cuteness of the Henrietta BOM. (You can find it on my sidebar) I decided to machine applique the blocks so that they would not take too long to make. I still have to finish them.

I have no pictures of my hexagon quilt. I misplaced one of the fabrics and spent most of my day looking for it. The good part is, I got my sewing room tidied up. And I found the missing fabric, so I will have lots to work on this evening, while I stay up late to watch 'Off the Map' at 10:00pm.

44 years? Is That Possible?

Where has the time gone? It was 44 years ago today that my DH and I got married.

There are not many photos of our wedding. The photographer (my uncle) was taking pictures all day long. At around 10:30 in the evening he came to us with a long, sad face and proceeded to tell us that the film in his camera had broken and all the photos of our special day were ruined. Being young and in the spring of our lives, we just took it all in stride. It was like an adventure. But we did want to have some photos to remember this important day by. So we took several family shots over. This one is of my family - my mother, sisters and brother. My father is in the top photo, just to the left of me.

We recreated the signing and ring ceremonies.

We even 'rebuilt' the cake because it was half eaten by that time. Luckily the top tier was still intact. We just put some cups under it and took a photo from the front.

And we all went back to City Hall on Christmas Day, even though it was closed, and took some more pictures of the entire family. It was very cold that day! With the wind it felt like -20C! But we made the best of things.

And I was happy.

A Volunteer Tea

The school where my daughter teaches is having a tea this afternoon, to honour all the volunteers who have helped out during the past school year. I am invited. I didn't do as much this year as I have in other years, but they invited me anyway. My daughter thought she would like to experience what it is like to bake a cake for such an occasion. Don't worry, she is not intending to quit her job and make cake decorating her career. She just enjoys baking cakes and decorating them. This one was a simple layer cake with butter cream icing. It measures 13in. by 18in. A couple of people expressed an interest in seeing the finished cake, so here it is.

Here she is putting on the finishing touches.

Convocation

I haven't blogged in a few days - been too busy convoking. Ha! I don't think I have ever used that word before. My DS received his Bachelor of Education with 'highest distinction' last Friday. It was a proud moment for all of us! The university he attended is not too far away from home - only about 40km. It's a relatively new university. UOIT stands for University of Ontario Institute of Technology. I'm glad he went there for his educational degree since he was able to learn a lot of new computer skills. He is currently working for the university, preparing some mathematics resources for future student teachers - using the skills he learned. That's him in the middle of the stage with the blue trimmed hood.
We had a lot of rain this past weekend. But we needed it. My garden was reduced to dust. I did not take any photos of my spooltjes (klosjes) or my hexagon flower garden. I have been working on them - a little. Hope to do some more in the next few days. Then I will post them.

Celebrating Our 43rd Anniversary

Today we are celebrating our anniversary. We have been married 43 years. Does that seem like a lifetime to you? Gosh I feel old! I wish I could post a photo of our wedding day, but unfortunately, there are no photos. The ones we had taken by a family member did not turn out. The film broke (old days before digital) and all of our photos were gone! We did take a few more a few days later, but they are all slides. (I think that was the most economical way to take photos back then) Although we had several slides made into prints, we gave all those away. We always meant to make photos for ourselves, but it just didn't happen. So I am including a photo of the two of us on board a cruise we took to celebrate our 25th anniversary. I still have all of the wedding slides and after the holidays I will go through them and have some printed to make up a little wedding album for myself. I asked the guys at the photo place if they still make photos from slides. They told me it only takes one day to get the photos made. So how come it has taken me 43 years?

Sky Watch Friday - Berry Picking

I took this photo one summer a few years ago when we were camping in Algonquin Park. This is in the abandoned airfield. It is off highway 60 on the road that leads to Mew Lake Campgrounds. Not too many people know that this used to be a working airfield. During WWII planes took off and landed here, but the area has not been used as an airfield since the 1960s. It's a huge, flat, open space with lots of blueberries ripe for the picking. We have also seen numerous deer in this area. Bears have also been spotted here. The weather can change quickly in Algonquin Park. One minute it can be sunny and the next there can be a deafening thunder storm! I loved the clouds on this day. With the flat, open space, the sky looked as if it could just swallow us up. Oh, and by the way, we picked lots of blueberries to put in our pancakes the next morning for breakfast.

If you want to see more Sky Watch photos just click on the icon below.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Scroll down if you came to see Sky Watch Friday.

Last week LV of Thoughts From Meme's Corner awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award. At first I thought I would pass on it, but as I was looking through an old photo album, I realized that I have led a very interesting life. So I downloaded some pics and wrote a few comments and then I hit the publish button. To my horror, Blogspot was not working. I got an error message and my entire post was gone! My thoughts went back to just passing on the award.

But now I think I will post a few of the photos and maybe do a few more tomorrow and/or the next day. That way if I lose it all again it won't be so much to redo.

The rules are simple.

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and put it on your blog.

3. Link back to the nominating person's blog.

4. List seven things about yourself that people may not know.

5. Nominate other Kreativ Bloggers by posting it on your blog, linking to them and leaving them a message.

1. This was the building where I got my first job. It is the old CIBC building at 25 King St.W. in Toronto. I worked for a very large legal firm there. I was a clerk, messenger, receptionist and whatever else they wanted me to be. I didn't love the job, but I loved the old building I worked in. It is still standing even though many other old buildings have been demolished to make way for huge glass and marble office towers. This building had high ceilings, marble inlaid mosaics on the floor, elevator operators and it was the highest building in downtown Toronto at the time. (1966) I eventually left this job and became a keypunch operator. It payed more and I was able to get a job closer to home. But I eventually gave that up too, to become a stay-at-home Mom.

2. Here is a photo of my two munchkins. This was taken when they were about 3 and 1. I stayed home and totally dedicated myself to raising them. Those were the best years of my life!

3. As a family we have always loved the nature and the outdoors. Camping was one of our favourite summer activities. When the kids were young we had a small trailer, but as they grew up, our favourite summer activity was camping in Algonquin Park. Not just ordinary camping, but wilderness camping. We would go from lake to lake, setting up our campsite and taking it down the following day. We portaged our belongings over rugged terrains, sometimes for a couple of hundred meters to over a kilometer.

All our food had to be hung high off the ground so that raccoons and bears would not get it. We enjoyed lots of fantastic scenery, the odd moose, many deer, beavers and chipmunks. We could even hear the howling of a lone wolf on clear cool nights. The stars up there were fantastic. We experienced many meteor showers and also the magnificent colours of the Aurora Borealis. I hoped to pass the love and respect for nature onto my children and I can honestly say that I achieved this.

Stay tuned. I'll do some more tomorrow.

And if you are interested in seeing my entry for this week's Scenic Sunday, go to my other blog, here.

May the Force Be With You.......

First of all, a great big thank you to all those who offered me advice with the star quilt yesterday. I really appreciated it! I still have two more blocks to finish and then I am going to sew it together. When that is done I will probably take it to the quilt shop to see what I can put around for a border. I don't have much flowery fabric left, so I will probably have to buy some. I think I will go with a narrow first border in a dark blue - I have some of that.

On Sunday I went over to visit Nynke at The Life of a Dutch Purple Rabbit. She showed some Star Wars related things that she saw at a show in Essen, Germany on the weekend. I think I still have family who live there. I have even gone there when I was a child, so I found it interesting. And the Star Wars stuff - well, let me just say we have a love of Star Wars at our house. Not me so much, but my DS has his whole apartment decorated in Star Wars posters and figurines.

He was the one who dragged me to see a Sci-Fi show here in Toronto a few years ago. There were Darth Vaders and Storm Troopers everywhere! Here is a photo of me and a Storm Trooper. Can you tell which one is the Storm Trooper? Okay, good. This photo was taken just before the symptoms of my neurological disorder became apparent. You can already see how tired I looked. Anyway, that's my excuse for the wrinkles and age spots!

Lucky Me!

My sister dropped by unexpectedly this afternoon. She brought me this little crochet book called "Cute Little Animals". Isn't she the greatest? There are eight little critters in this book! And I plan to make them all!

An Applecake a Day......

Day 15 of Blogtoberfest. Second last day for the virtual quilt show.

Several people were asking about my health since I had to see the doctor yesterday. Let me just assure you that all is well. It was just a sort of after-the-fact appointment. Since my auto immune condition had such a horrendous effect on me, my doctor just wants to make sure everything is under control. Next month I have an appointment to see the neurologist who treated me last year. I am not really looking forward to that because it means another nerve conduction test. Ouch! Oh, well, I am sure I'll get through it.

Even though I'm okay, my DD isn't. She came over at lunchtime yesterday. (She teaches at a school very close by) She was complaining about pains in her stomach and abdomen. She already had those pains last Monday evening, but she had not seen a doctor yet. She went back to school after lunch, but came back to my house around 2:30pm. Her pains were no better. She spent the night on my couch because we just couldn't figure out what to do with her. I encouraged her to call in sick today and go to a walk-in clinic. (Her own doctor could not see her until next week) The doctor at the walk-in clinic was very nice. She suspects that my DD's pains are caused by food poisoning. DD ate at a Japanese restaurant last Sunday. 'Things' are being cultured at the moment to see if it is indeed salmonella or something similar. It would be very easy to pick up something like that where raw food is being served.

Not much sewing No sewing has been going on around here for the last couple of days! Hopefully we will get all the doctor stuff over with soon. I read a cute little joke that a commenter had left on someone's blog. Sorry, I can't remember who. It said, "What is the difference between God and a doctor?" The answer, "God doesn't think he is a doctor". I had to laugh. I am not a fan of doctors. And I often feel that I know my own body better than someone who spends a couple of minutes poking around and listening to my heart beat. I feel that way about my DD too. I don't think this is anything too serious. Nothing like appendicitis, for example.

While she was napping on the couch, I baked another one of my famous apple cakes! An apple a day.... you know! I set the timer and it should go off any minute. Yep! There it goes. It's ready!

Last Weekend of Summer

Today marks the unofficial end of summer. School begins tomorrow! Where did the summer go? Last June one of the teachers who works with my DD asked me to help with a felt 'quilt' her students had been making. Each student had designed a felt square and then those squares where supposed to be joined together to make a wallhanging. But their efforts to sew everything together had not resulted in anything that could be hung on a wall. The problem was that the 'squares' weren't square.

So I squared them up and decided to add a sashing. I used a quilt-as-you-go sashing. I think it gave the individual parts more definition. I also had to sew down some of the decorations, because the students had used white glue, paint and hot glue to add their decorations and pieces of felt and these were falling off. It was difficult to sew through them, but after much calculating, cutting, sweating and hand sewing, I came up with this.
I think it came out okay. And Mimi and Oscar seem to like it!

Mimi: "Meow! I'm not staying. I'm just passing through!"

"Thanks Mimi." I think Mimi just wanted to be sure there would be lots of white cat hairs on the quilt when I take it over to the school tomorrow.

Yesterday we took another trip up to Haliburton to visit my mother who is still in the hospital up there, waiting for a space in a nursing home. On the way up there, we stopped at a roadside picnic spot to eat our lunch.
I am pleased to be able to tell you that my Mom looked well - probably the best I've seen her since her strokes and other problems and ultimate admission to the hospital. We took her outside to sit and visit with her in the warm sunshine. It was a nice way to end the summer.
Our next trip to Haliburton will probably not happen until the Thanksgiving long weekend. And by then they could have snow up there!

A Big Thank You and a Couple of Blocks

Before I do anything else, I want to thank everyone who left me such wonderful, encouraging and understanding comments on my last two posts! It felt so good to know that others have gone through similar things. Having studied psychology and social work, I know the importance of peer groups. It is always good to hear what others, in a similar situation, would have done or would advise.

My sister and I went to Haliburton yesterday. We had beautiful weather, cool and sunny! The drive up was nice as we chatted about everything and nothing. We had lunch in a small town restaurant and we stopped to buy local blueberries to bring to our Mother.

Mom looked a lot better than when we saw her last weekend. Both my sister and I were grateful for that! We talked, fed her blueberries, sat outside in the sunshine, helped her with her dinner, and made her coffee in the ward's kitchen. She was lucid and able to talk to us most of the time, which was nice. She had just been complaining to the nurses that she was cold when we got there. I gave her the quilt and she was very happy - warm and happy. She loved it. She is now on a waiting list for a nursing home. She has resigned herself to staying in a hospital and being looked after. I guess we have all resigned ourselves to that fact too. The only thing we can do now is wait until a space becomes available.

I was tired today. Didn't do a lot in my sewing room, except tidy up a bit. This week's Friday Block Party block looked interesting, so I made it. It is called Mosaic 3. The instructions for this block were interesting. I had never done the flying geese pattern the way it was explained. It is good to sometimes do things a little differently. I tried the new instructions and liked the way the block turned out. It is an 8inch block.

I also realized that I didn't post my block from last Friday. It was called Queen Charlotte's Crown. It is a 12inch block and I really like it. I looked up 'Queen Charlotte' and found lots of information about her. She was the wife of King George III. If you are interested in reading about her go to the Block Party on my sidebar and look for my post.

Happy Weekend everyone!

de Blaauw - A Blue and White Quilt

I am planning another trip up to Haliburton to visit my Mom today. My sister is doing the driving. There is a lot of paper work to do right now. I also want to bring her this quilt. I made this a few years ago at a Bee Night that our Guild held. It is a very simple 6in. block repeat. The star-like pattern is a secondary pattern that just happens when the blocks are put together. I love patterns like that! It is machine pieced and quilted and measures about 40in. by 60in.
Although not too big, I think it will make a nice lap quilt to replace the tattered hospital blanket to keep her warm while she sits in her chair all day. I call this quilt "de Blaauw", which means "blue" in Dutch. That was my mother's maiden name.

Paintings to Remember

We drove up to Haliburton, in central Ontario, on Sunday to visit my mother who is in the hospital there at the moment.

She is doing as well as can be expected, I guess. She is suffering from dementia as well as a series of small strokes. These have left her left side weak. She cannot walk anymore. She slipped in and out of reality while we were there. In her lucid moments she was funny and bright, her old self, but in her cloudy moments she could not follow a conversation and kept asking unrelated questions. Her hand are gnarled by arthritis. Her fingers weak and twisted. She kept reaching up and holding her head, as if she could push her brain into submission and send signals to the rest of her body. It was useless. She even had trouble holding a spoon and feeding herself.

But those arthritic hands had once held a paint brush. Canvas and oils were her medium. In her spare moments she had created some beautiful paintings. I am lucky to possess a few of her works. My sisters and brother have many more. She lived in 'cottage country' and painted the world around her. The old homes and barns.


The trees and rocks of the Haliburton Highlands. The flora and fauna in her world.


I have no words to describe how I feel today. The long drive up and back took a toll on me. Physically I am exhausted. The sights and smells of a hospital are not what I associate with the gorgeous countryside of Haliburton. It was a very stressful visit for all of us, but especially for my kids. They had not expected to see their grandmother in the state she was in. I know it was a shock for them. Nothing could have prepared them for the sight of their Oma, slumped over in a reclining chair, covered in a tattered flannel sheet, sitting in the hall outside the nursing station. It was a shock for me too. That's why I have taken photos of the paintings that hang in our home.

I know that aging is a natural part of life, but right now it seems unfair. Her paintings are a better way to remember the contribution she made to our lives.

A Bitter Sweet Moment

This was the house my father bought in 1959, two years after we immigrated to Canada. His dream of owning a home had come true. He was so proud of the house that would provide comfort and shelter for his family. It was to become our family residence. See that little window to the left of the front door? That was my room.

The house sat on the corner of a quiet street. Very few of the other homes in the area had been completed. The side street was a little dirt path. But over time the city of Toronto grew up around it. The house now sits on the corner of a busy intersection. Huge trees line the street.

If walls could talk. This house saw a lot in the last 50 years. There were first days at school and graduations. Birthday parties and Christmases. There were weddings and wedding receptions. There were births of children and grandchildren. It saw separations and divorce. It saw illness and death. It saw good times and bad times. We laughed. We cried. We played. We dreamed. We left the little house to make our own futures. So many memories.

My father passed away 14 years ago. His widow lived in the house until she died last summer. Then we put the house up for sale. We removed pictures from the walls. We painted. We cleaned. We emptied it of its contents until it was just a shell. And today the final papers were signed. The house belongs to someone else now. It's a bitter sweet moment.

Magna Cum Laude - With Great Praise!

I am a proud Mom today. That is not to say that I am not proud of my children every day, but today my DS graduated from York University. I always knew he could do it! He received an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He was the only one receiving that degree out of hundreds of other graduates! And he did it Magna Cum Laude!
I took this photo of the huge screen that was hanging in front of me. It was impossible to get any closer in my wheelchair. Those things that seem to be sticking out of his head...well they're microphones on the stage. I couldn't do anything about them. They make him look like an alien or something. All I can say is, "The Mathman has landed!"

Oh! Yes! I am a proud Mom! But I think I said that already!

Hey! Where's My MoJo?

I'm in a bit of a funk. Can't seem to decide what to do next. After finishing two quilts in one month, I am lost. I have lots of UFOs to work on, but nothing is turning me on. The garden is also calling me. I really have to go out and figure out how to pull all the weeds. We have had a very cool and wet spring. Everything is growing like crazy, especially the weeds. I don't ever remember my tomatoes being so tall before July.

And I just found out that we had a new addition to our extended family. My cousin became a grandmother! Her son and daughter-in-law had a girl! Here she is just shortly after she made her appearance into the world. Cute, eh?

I love making little pink things. I think I may just leave all my UFOs and start on something new for the new baby. Yes, I think that's it!

Maybe I will do this pattern that I found in the Fons and Porter Baby Quilts Magazine. I love those little lambs! I don't think I am going to piece all those little 1 1/2 inch squares in the inner border though. Nor am I going to make the outer border to look like a fence with ivy appliqued on it. I think if I just get some cute fabrics for both borders, I should be able to finish this little number in a short time. Yep! I think I am getting my MoJo back!

An Awards Ceremony for Academic Excellence!

I show you this photo with pride. My DS won a scholarship for his academic excellence at York University! They had the Awards Ceremony today and we all went. All of us, minus the furry felines, of course! It was kind of like another Family Day, but without the cats! There were only about 30 students who received awards - everything from writing essays to winning an entire scholarship. DS is doing his BS in Mathematics - so I am especially proud! When it comes to math, I know nothing, but my DS is very good at it! After the ceremony there were refreshments! And we had a chance to talk with the Dean and other important university people! I really enjoyed it.
For dinner we went to the Franklin Club. They were celebrating the Year of the Rat with foods from Singapore! Everything was delicious! I think you will agree with me that it was a great day!

Family Day Dinner!

A Family Portrait

Thanks to the current Premier of Ontario, we celebrated our first Family Day ever! It was nice to get an extra holiday in the middle of February. By this time of the year we are all feeling kind of fed up with winter. And in my case, I have 'cabin fever'! I only get out occasionally and then it is only for a short trip to the mall or grocery shopping or something similar!
But on Monday I had a wonderful day, my kids came over for dinner. My DH cooked everything! He made stuffing for the chicken and cooked some cranberry sauce from scratch! He peeled and cooked potatoes and made a delicious salad. He also steamed some green beans and carrots to perfection! The whole meal was fantastic and I didn't have to do a thing - just eat and enjoy it!
Even dessert was taken care of. I had planned to bake an apple pie in the morning, but it was not possible! When I told my kids that there would be no dessert, my DD jumped up and ran into to kitchen. She started peeling apples and quickly got an apple pie together. As soon as the chicken was done, she put it into the oven and we had the most wonderful apple pie, I have ever tasted, for dessert!
Too bad I forgot to take a photo of our happy get-together. But I did the next best thing! I drew a cartoon of our meal together! It's the first cartoon I have ever done! It took me two days to do it, mostly because I couldn't find my markers or pencil crayons. But once I had located them, in a nice safe place, I was off to the races! I like to think that my cartoon is better than a photo! What do you think?