Inspiration!!!!

It really is about time I got some inspiration!  I guess you could say that I have been a little out of sorts for the past two months.  This morning started off well for a change although I did wake up in pain and had to take my OXY again.  However, I managed to get in a few phone calls from friends and after coffee and a muffin, I was feeling almost motivated.  

The T.V. seems to be on 24/7 in my room, I even fall asleep to it and there are certain programs I actually enjoy watching.  I usually watch The Chew at 1:00 P.M. and then at 3:00 P.M. Best Recipes Ever and In the Kitchen With Stefano (both on CBC).  Well, this afternoon Stefano prepared this really awesome looking (sounding) pasta dish and that's what inspired me.....

Jonathan was off today so I made out my grocery list and off he went to Metro to get all the fixin's.  Here's the picture of tonight's dinner and even my son was impressed (not an easy feat).  I haven't been doing alot of cooking lately so this was a real treat.....

My Recipe (from Stefano's Recipe)

In a large saucepan, some olive oil, 1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped, about 6 slices pancetta (or bacon, but I prefer the pancetta) finely sliced or shredded.  Season with Italian Seasoning (he used sage, so up to you) Saute until cooked, add 2 chicken breasts sliced thinly and brown on both sides.  Add about 5 finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes.  In the meantime, while chicken is cooking, prepare linguini to package directions and add a full head of broccoli florets cut into fork size pieces. (I did the pasta and broccoli in one pot, as did he - why waste pots!).  Back to the chicken - once the chicken is cooked add a little chicken broth (or wine) to deglaze the pan, scraping all the little brown bits (the good stuff) off the bottom and sides. Then add a small container of whipping cream and bring to a boil.  This is your sauce.  Once the pasta and broccoli are done, drain (do not wash, the starch helps the sauce to thicken) and add to the saucepan, mix all together and let simmer about 5-10 minutes.  Serve in bowls and add grated parmesan to your liking.  Absolutely delicious and a great dish to serve to guests too!  Enjoy...... 

So, you ask what I have been up to the past month (it appears to be almost that long since I blogged).  I've been sleeping, taking pain killers, sleeping, taking pain killers, etc.....  I am really sick of this schedule and am ready to push on with my life.  

I have been able to get a few blocks done on The Farmer's Wife and tonight I worked on prepping the next 10 blocks to be stitched.  Here are the ones I've completed... 

 Block # 83 - Spider Web - 20 pieces

 Block #108 - Windmill - 8 Pieces

Block #97 - Waste Not - 12 pieces

I believe I already mentioned that I had finished another full row but nothing has been done with that yet.  Hopefully in the next few weeks I will get my act together and start doing some stitching.  In the meantime I am prepping blocks to be stitched so that's progress too.  I was suffering from a mental block for a couple of weeks with the prospect of having to choose fabrics for the next 10 blocks but I finally got over it, so off we go again!

Hopefully tomorrow will be another productive day and I will be up to continuing with this sudden spurt of inspiration.....

In the meantime, I'm off to bed again,

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

DAYS 9 & 10 - New beginnings!

Day 9 - Wednesday - was Chemo Day!  Liz picked me up at 8 a.m. and off we went to the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook!   We took the scenic route along Eglinton and got there around 9:15.  First stop, bloodwork - that was a breeze!  My veins do not usually comply but when you have experts working on you - there are no worries....  Then off to see Dr. O (Dr. Ray Osborne), the absolute greatest oncologist (gyny-oncologist) ever.....I adore this man!  Really, but he is so good that he is always running late so that took awhile - got out around 11:45.  Checked in at the chemo desk and then we went off to have some lunch at Druxie's downstairs with the pager on hand in case I got called for chemo.

Halfway through chemo they paged us so off we went, only to find out that they wanted my height and weight!  Seriously!?!?!  You have to understand I have been there 7 times since March with a previous attempt at chemo on 2 occasions which ended in a Code Blue the second time because I had an allergic reaction to the CarboPlatin (the first chemo they tried).  What exactly could have changed - did I shrink - not likely!  So I made my usual comments and she weighed me only to find out I had not gained or lost an ounce! Rocket science!  So again, the waiting game!  At about 1:30 they finally called me in to start chemo - this time it's the heavy duty one - Taxil!  This takes about 3 hours normally but they were a little wary because of my previous allergic reaction so they slowed it down a bit and with this chemo there are also pre-meds to fight off infection, steroids, and benedryl (my restless leg syndrome - oh yeah!)....so by the time we left it was 6:30 p.m. I told Liz that the cleaners would be taking out the IV and I was not far off, there were only two nurses left and they both had their purses on their shoulders as they were removing the IV..... We closed the Odette, literally last to leave!  It was a very long day.

What did we get done you ask!?!?!

Liz got 3/4's of the binding done on her wedding quilt for her nephew's wedding on Saturday.  I got some binding done and managed to cut out 4 of my Farmer's Wife blocks. The restless leg syndrome really does a number on me so I was kind of doing the dance for a while until it got bearable....but still I did make some progress!  Unfortunately I haven't done anything since!

Liz and I decided we deserved a treat so off we went to the Swiss Chocolatier at Bayview and York Mills only to find they were closed.  Baskin & Robbins is right next door so I had a double scoop of Chocolate Mint Chip on a sugar cone (they've changed their sugar cones - not as good as they used to be) It was heavenly.....then home!

I had a pretty rough evening, running to the washroom a few times but all in all it went pretty good!

Yesterday - Day 10 - was a breeze!  I played computer games all day - wasted day but still I was able to enjoy my day and then in the evening while watching TV I did a bit of sorting and organizing in the living room.  Got rid of two unsightly boxes that had been there since we moved in (January 2012).  I also managed to sort through one of the bags from the store because I made that little space available.  The day after chemo (from memory of the previous chemo two years ago) was always a good one!  Because of the steroids there is no pain so I can usually get quite a bit done.

Today is the day the side effects should begin to kick in!  Joint and muscle pain, constipation, no feelings in feet and hands and I should start to lose my hair in about two weeks.  If things go according to plan I will be "comatose" until Monday and then life should start getting back to normal except for the neuropathy (sp.) (tingling and no feelings in hands and feet) and the hair loss.

You may not hear from me for a few days so have a great weekend everyone and I'll be back soon!!!!!

Jo-Ann

P.S. All comments are welcome!  I'd love to hear what everyone is up to too!  

News fit to print!

No pics today - just boring news!

Everyone stay off the roads - Jonathan got his license on Wednesday morning!!!!  So I have found the easiest way to spend $1,000.00 in 5 minutes - call the insurance company.  Luckily he is still working so this will be his expense.......hopefully he will keep this job!  He seems to like it although I have to say, Jonathan in bed by 10:00 P.M. most nights is almost scary!

I am still quilting the rail fence table topper and working on the Mystery Quilt pattern but hopefully tonight and tomorrow night will be enough time to finish them!  Can't promise anything - I get home and collapse most nights so nothing gets done.

Didn't really get a day off this week, just a few hours on Wednesday and it's been a pretty busy week.....alot of cooking too!  Of course that's not a bad thing really!  Tomorrow is Machine Quilting with Carolyn and there are 9 students!!!!  Cool!  ....and Sunday the girls are coming for their monthly Stitch 'n Bitch!!!!  Can't wait to see them.....and I really want to see Gail's Photo to Fabric piece.....

Better get going - the quilt store awaits!!!!  Lots to do - look for a long e-mail soon!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

It's the little things!

Tuesday's are my usual day off and luckily today was not exception.  Last week I only took 1/2 a day because I had a March Break student for Beginner Quilting so although I had a good day it was still not a "real" day off.

I was very excited about today because I was having company around lunch time.   Needless to say, even though I did not put the alarm on, I was awake at my usual 7:30 a.m..  That was good because I got up and made coffee and then began cleaning!  It was great, I got 90% of it done before I heard the knock at the door and knew Trudy had arrived.

Our original plan was to go out for lunch but I suggested we go over to Metro and pick something up.  After choosing two Cobb Salads (very good I might add), a small loaf of Belgian Bread (also very tasty) and a fruit salad which we shared - Trudy stopped at the Wine Rack (also in the plaza) and picked up a lovely Jackson-Triggs Pinot Grigio and we came back and enjoyed a beautiful lunch.....We had a great afternoon.  I made a small pot of coffee after lunch and Trudy left about 2:30 p.m.

Originally the plan was to meet up later and go to the YHQG meeting but I was just too comfortable at home and I had laundry to do....by 5:30 p.m. I had finished cleaning and laundry and done groceries.  I felt like I had accomplished conquering the world!!!!

It's easier to get everything done these days with Jonathan at work (yes, he is still gainfully employed).....I start with the kitchen -

 Then on to the living/dining room.....

 The office area - all sorted.....

 Finally - my bedroom and the bathroom of course......

 ....and my stash of projects, as messy as this may look, it is really very organized.

Once the laundry and cleaning were done I sat down and relaxed in front of the TV with the two bindings I have been trying to finish....I loaded up my Needle Dome with threads for both projects and alternated.....

I'll call this my "tool" of the week.  I love it, I have two now because one arrived damaged from the supplier so now I can keep one for my bindings and one for my hand project of choice.....(need to order more in for the store, we seem to be out of them)!

Tomorrow it's back to the store and loads of things to do including an e-mail to go out to everyone with lots of news!

Hope you all had a great day today and had the opportunity to enjoy this fabulous weather!

Jo-Ann

Stubborn.......

....that would be me!  As I mentioned yesterday, Barb and I had picked the perfect fabric for the sashings on my quilt but we both realized that there really wasn't enough so I showed you a second fabric I was going to introduce to alternate with and voila I would have my sashings.....

This morning I got creative (stubborn more like).  I was determined to get my sashings out of that fabric I didn't have enough of.  I measured and found that I had a piece that was 14-3/4" x 42".  If I had cut it the normal way I could have gotten 7 strips of 1-1/2" which would have given me 21 pieces 1-1/2" x 12-1/2" - I needed 31.  Soooooo.....I cut one strip of 1-1/2" which gave me 3 pieces and left me with a long piece of fabric 13-1/4" x 42.  If you divide 42 by 1-1/2" you get 28.....so that's what I did! 

 This is what I had left over - luckily there were no mis-cuts!!!!

 I stopped to make a fabulous dinner of left over corn, rice and veggies and fresh salmon....

I even had a fabulous dessert of Blueberry Crumble and ice cream......

 ....and then I finished the centre of my quilt!  I love it and I'm so glad I waited until this morning when I could mentally work out the strategy to get what I wanted.  Two more borders and I'm Done but I also have to fix the mistake - can you see it?????  It's good that I took the photo because it jumpted right out at me once I saw the photo......

I'm a little tired now so I think I'll wait until tomorrow morning to fix it but let me know if you've found it.....

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

I've been missing!

I can't believe that I've been off the grid for 5 days!  It really didn't seem that long but the evidence is the blog which shows the last posting as June 7th!  At any rate I have had some pretty good days - mostly doing alot of paper work which has been long overdue.

I was getting ready for a short visit from my friend Libby and her mom, Pauline, who are on their way to Mexico for a week.  They arrived last night at around 4:30 P.M. but more about that later.  I spent 3 days cleaning the house and even though it felt like it took forever it was well worth the effort......you can actually see the floor!!!!

                                       

 ....and the coffee table is finally clear of all kinds of stuff, because it's so big it tends to be a catch all for just about everything....just organizing everything was a chore!

 For me it was a major overhaul, getting all the projects sorted and put aside.....of course it's important to let you know that not everything got sorted but the floors all clean and clear and it just feels great.  I really would love to keep it that way.....Surprisingly, Jonathan has been pretty good about this, he's been keeping it pretty clean but it's early days yet.....

 Even the hallway is clear (can't wait to get some stuff up on those blank walls - soon!).......

 So, even though it's been cleaned, the boxes of paper work and bags with projects still needed a home and the office/den is not so clean looking......it soon will be though because those boxes are going to the accountant shortly......

 Unfortunately my desk still leaves alot to be desired!  Once Rich gets that Bulletin board up I will fix up the desk and get some great stuff up on the walls.... the house is still a work in progress but it's slowly coming along......

So in honour of Libby, since she went to so much trouble cleaning, cooking and doing laundry while she looked after me in May after my first chemo treatment I wanted her to know that all her efforts didn't go to waste.  They arrived yesterday afternoon and then came Suzi and Barb and the 5 of us headed out to dinner at Zets out by the airport!  The best food ever!  Chicken souvlaki, gyros, burgers, steaks and to die for Fish & Chips!  You can't go wrong - the food is amazing!  I've been going there for a number of years and I introduced Libby to it a couple of years ago - she never misses an opportunity to go there when she's in town.....

We all went back to my place for dessert, Strawberry Shortcake, and coffee!  Admittedly I was exhausted but it was an amazing evening spent with good friends.  Libby brought two quilts which she machined quilted for Suzi and they are both absolutely amazing.  Once Suzi has the binding on them I'll ask her if I can take some pictures......Libby is an extremely accomplished machine quilter, all this in one year, she took to it like a duck to water!

Speaking of quilting, I started my "Milestone Diary" today.  It's basically a list of the things I want to accomplish each day (the blog was #7 but so far I still need to do 2-6, I skipped ahead for the blog).  It's not that I have to accomplish everything each day - it's just a guide for me, but each time I tick something off I feel great! 

Barb took me shopping on Friday evening and it took me two hours to go through Metro - it never took that long before, I feel so slow moving!  The walking is a chore but I got everything I needed and that included quite a bit of fresh meat.  This afternoon, in two sessions, I prepped and froze what we're not using immediately.  That used to take 1/2 hour to an hour, today I had to split it up but still I got it done.  Learning my current limitations appears to be part of the process here.  Before I would just push on and then end up sick or just not feeling well.  Now, I stop as soon as I feel I've had enough....

So now I'm off to layer and pin two baby quilts, maybe set up the Bernina and/or the Janome and quilt or piece....I fgure I owe myself some "fun" time and relaxition and that begins with a Q for quilting!!!!!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-An

I'm mobile again!

After almost 2 months of relying on Rich to chauffeur me everywhere, the day finally came to go pick up the "new" wheels!  After much hullabaloo finding insurance I finally settled on CAA and all the papers were in order for the road trip and the licensing.....

Gillian picked me up at around 9:30 A.M. Friday morning and off we went to Niagra-On-The-Lake to pick up the car.  We arrived in town around 11:00 A.M. and decided to have a little lunch.  There wasn't much open so we settled on the Epicurean which I have to say I do not recommend.  I ordered Cream of Cauliflower Soup and Salmon Dill Quiche.  The soup was very salty and had a large amount of ham in it.  The quiche was also very salty and had an overload of dill.  The coffee was passable.....  I know, I sound like a food critic but since I do alot of cooking and serving I figure when I sit down to someone else's table and I'm paying for it - it should at least be decent food!  This was really not worth the money.  Gillian had the soup and a different quiche which she also found salty.....

After lunch we took a ride along the Parkway and into Queenston as she had some errands to run and then finally off to get the certification and emmissions test for the car so we could go get the car registered and licensed.  This took about half an hour, it was really quick!

On the way back to actually pick up the car we were both in dire need of coffee so we stopped in St. David at -

There doesn't appear to be a bench but the coffee was great and Gillian had a Lemon Loaf Cake while I had a Chocolate Cake with what was supposed to be meringue.  We were both impressed with the service and I would definitely recommend this place if you're in the area.  They have a number of tables in the back overlooking the creek and it was really lovely.  They also serve lunch......

Finally - the "wheels", license on and ready to go......a 2001 Kia Sportage - there are still a few things that need to be looked at but I'm driving again and that's all I care about......

Since I had to be back for the Mystery Quilt I was teaching last night we checked our watches to see if we had enough time to make a quick stop.....

WHERE YOU ASK?????  A quilt store of course!  We jumped on the QEW and headed for Jordan, Ontario.  What an adorable little town and in that adorable little town is a store named STITCHES!  ....and in that store is material, quilting material!  Not only material but yarn, the most luscious yarns you have ever seen!  I thought I had died and gone to heaven - I had to leave!  I mean seriously - how can I justify buying yarn when I haven't finished all the projects on my plate!  (So I only bought fabric!)  I have an excuse for fabric buying, I'm working on my Farmer's Wife and I NEED all kinds of fabric for that!!!!!  (As if I don't have enough in my stash.)

Gillian came in to but she is restrained and walked out empty handed.....

Then it was off to Cock A Doodle to get the clues ready and make dinner.....of course we hit rush hour so it was after 5:00 when I pulled up at the store......

But dinner was amazing - one of my favourites and really easy to prepare!

I have to admit it was a very long day and so at 12:30 A.M. I finally kicked every one out but not before Karen had almost a table runner done (the quilt is much larger)!

It'll give her something to work on during the retreat at the end of the month!  ...and I got to drive myself home!  Oh the freedom!

Now I'm off to get some work done.....

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

Quite the challenge!

It took awhile but after about an hour and a half I managed to change over my sewing area from "sewing/piecing" to "quilting"......Sonia (the Janome) is now safely put away in her case along with "From Snowballs Come Flakes" (the next project), the iron and ironing board have found a home and all the cutting mats and rulers have also found temporary homes.

Bernie (the Bernina) is now set up and with the Snowballs quilt is taking up most of the table, as it should be!  I have begun to quilt....I have to say that this procedure of packing up one project to concentrate on another is foreign to me!  When I had the studio in the basement I was able to delegate spaces for both piecing and quilting, not having to move much to be able to do both.  This takes getting used to but on the upside it keeps me focussed on the task at hand.

Here's a shot of the quilt on the design board at the store......I managed to get it layered and pinned and then off to quilt!

As I said yesterday - I'm very pleased with the way it turned out!  I have already quilted the 8 small snowballs in the centre of the quilt.  I had decided what I was doing in the small snowballs but I was still trying to imagine what to do in the medium and large snowballs.  While I was working on the small snowballs it came to me!  Now I had to mark it......hmmm, what to use!  The Bohin Mechanical Chalk Pencil of course!

It was so easy to mark the quilt even though it was already layered and pinned!   (You are supposed to mark before you get to the layering step!)  So I'm really on my way now!

Wish I could stay home and quilt all day but somebody needs to be in the store to help customers and serve lunch!  Maybe I'll get some done tonight!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

Done!!!!

Well the top is done......now just layering and quilting!  I am thrilled with the way it turned out, I just love it!  Did a little tweeking with the border and it's done!  I have to say, piecing the border took alot of time but every minute was worth it......

AND....I also have have a new design wall!  Jonathan, see, I knew he was good for something!  Here's the Holy Snowball quilt.......

....and here it is again, after I straightened the design wall!

So the plan for today is to get to the store, I'm feeling much better now that I'm on the antibiotics, and get it layered (and a better picture!)  Get things prepared for tomorrow's lunch crowd and then get home, unpack Bernie (my fabulous Bernina) and start quilting this baby!

Jonathan is chomping at the bit to get on the computer so while I'm waiting for my ride to the store I am going to start working on The Flakes (offcuts of the Snowballs).....

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

It's coming together!

By that I mean life in general!  The townhouse is amazing - I love it!  Rich has been busy painting and everything is looking great!  I can't believe how much has been done in a little over a month!  The whole first floor is painted except for the bathroom and that is awaiting my choices of a new mirror and light fixture but the colour has already been chosen......

He just finished the downstairs hallway today and what a difference a paint colour can make to a home!  From dark and dreary to bright and cheery!  (I'm a poet suddenly!)

Here's the before......sort of a grey taupey kind of colour......

Here's the after......butter yellow.....

It's like night and day!  He finished the kitchen last week, Thursday I think and now it's all on me to get it sorted but he even painted my old green bookcase blue for me.....it looks fabulous - really a bright colour!

Here's the before.......just a white finish!

Now I love going in there in the morning and all my cookbooks are finally unpacked - the real decorating will soon begin.....

....and here's the bookcase.....once I get the dishes hung on the wall it will look gorgeous!  I'm so happy with this colour........

The living/dining room was the first room to get done but I'm still thrilled by the changes, this is the before.....

Simon is quite happy here and has just nestled right in, we kept him cooped up in the house for about two weeks after we moved but he's been going out quite regularly for the past few weeks and there's been no problem.  He doesn't ask to go out every day anymore and when he does he tends to come back alot faster.  I think he's just content that we took him with us....I suspect his previous owners left him to fend for himself in the neighbourhood.  (Simon adopted us after we moved into the house we just sold)  He's quite the personality and has taken over the house and all "his" possessions with renewed enthusiasm!

So now it's just a matter of putting up the finishing touches, like curtains and pictures and wallhangings and all those wonderful things that really make a house a home!  The things that comfort us!

While Rich was busy painting today I finally tackled the Snowball quilt and it's borders.  Got the first border on and once I finish the blog I will get to the second one, it's pieced so I wanted to get this done first.....also I am wavering on the border size so a break was needed.....

Barb is in the store this weekend filling in for me because I am home starting a course of antibiotics for an abscess tooth!  Not something I needed right now as I'm preparing for another surgical procedure.  Haven't got a date yet but I should know within the next week or so.....  I'm finally looking after some health issues that have been plagueing me for awhile!

I promised to post the recipe for the fabulous Parmesan Penne I served last Sunday and Monday so here it is.....this recipe makes about 12 servings, so you can split it in two or three if your serving 4-6 people.

1-1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jar marinara sauce (28 ounces)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divide into thirds
1/2 teaspoon allspice (yes allspice!!!)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 package penne pasta (16 ounces)
1/2 cup butter, cubed, divided in half
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Cook the beef and onion on medium until meat is done, drain.  Stir in the marinara sauce, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, allspice, salt and pepper.  Let come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.  At the same time, cook pasta to package directions.

In a large saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of butter, stir in butter until smooth.  Gradually add milk, bring to a boil.  Cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 cup parmesan cheese.  Gradually whisk in the eggs until blended.

Drain the pasta and add the remaining 1/3 cup parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup butter, tossing lightly to coat.

In a 13" x 9" greased baking dish (glass is best) spread 1/3 of the meat mixture, half the pasta and half the white sauce.  Repeat, ending with the meat nixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until bubbly......

ENJOY!  I'm going back to quilting!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

.....and one more for the Farmer!

I actually got another block done for The Farmer's Wife last night and even got another block marked and ready to cut......up to 14 now!  Have to say, I wish I had more time to work on my hand piecing but I try and steal a little whenever I can......this is block #20!

Had a busy day at the store today - Healing Heroes with our special guest Alison McDonald!  It was a great day!  Also managed to get lunches made for tomorrow and Monday - Parmesan Penne!  I'll let you know how it turned out, but I'm thinking it's gonna be a hit!  If it is - I'll share the recipe!

Barb drove me home and we hung out for awhile and watched some TV for a change....it was great, we haven't had a lot of time in the past month or so!  I also came home to a great surprise - my kitchen is half painted!  That is soooooo cool!  That means I will be able to unpack the rest of the boxes on the first floor and be done!  Woohoo!  Rich was really busy today!  My bookcase is also primed and ready for paint!  After Barb left Rich and I drove down to Bloor Street for a coffee at Aroma (Bathurst and Bloor), a real treat, killer Latte!

When I got home I baked a Milk Chocolate Cheesecake, the recipe is on the Duncan Hines Fudge Marble Cake Mix box.  What can I say, I had all the ingredients and decided to try something different!  Every month we have a group of ladies who come to "Stitch and Bitch" - it started out as a "family affair" and has grown to include friends too!  They're a great group and we always have a great time!  Tomorrow we have 12 coming.....can't wait!

So now it's really late and I've gotta get up to open the store so I'm off to bed in a few minutes!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

Decisions, decisions!

After a hard day at the office....  (I had to balance the T4's (they're due tomorrow) and make up a lovely meal for tomorrow's Sit & Sew)......it was Oscar night!

Where was I going to watch the Oscars - tough decision!  I had three choices - 1) I could go look for the "rabbit ears" and set up the TV in the den, that way I could do some book work while watching/listening.... 2) I could watch in the living/dining room and work on my Snowballs and Flakes....or 3) I could go up to my room and watch while working on The Farmer's Wife, snuggled up on the couch in my PJ's.....

I have to tell you - this was an extremely tough decision for me!  In the house I would have been in the living room which would have only given me the option of doing hand work so needless to say I LOVE the new house!  I mean really, three options!

Here's what I did - I compromised!  When I got home around 5:30 P.M. - I made dinner and while dinner was cooking I did some bookwork!  Then I went down to the basement and started doing laundry and also unpacked another box.  I then set myself up in the living room and while watching the Oscars finished my Snowballs and Flakes!  YEAH!  During commercials I ran down and did two more loads of laundry - BONUS!

Then for the last bit - I went upstairs, got into my PJ's and started working on a Farmer's Wife Block - so I really had it all tonight! 

By the way - the house officially closed on Friday February 25th, 2011!  I have never been happier!  To be honest - even with all the stairs at the townhouse, I don't miss the house at all!  A new chapter begins!

Hope you all enjoyed the Oscars - I actually thought it was a pretty good show and I thought that the hosts did a great job although I hear they aren't getting very good reviews.....oh well!

Better get to bed, busy day tomorrow!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

A great day and another UFO!

It has been awhile since I've done something for ME!  Everything that has been going on in my life for the past six months has been triggered by existing circumstances, so although each of these instances seem to have been about me, they were decisions made due to circumstances beyond my control.

Yesterday was for ME!  I scheduled a Miniatures Class with Elaine at the store because I wanted to learn how to do miniatures.  Luckily there were three more people who also wanted to learn this fun technique! Barb, Nancy and Helen!  It was actually my birthday present to myself!

The day started out on a high note - Jonathan came into my room to wish me a Happy Brithday and then made me coffee!  I'm sure he would have made breakfast but we had not yet gotten around to getting groceries.  Coffee was great!

My taxi - Rich (I am now without a car for the next little while) arrived promptly and off to the store I went.  Since all of my sewing stuff is mostly at the store there was nothing to take with me....

The class got underway and as usual Elaine was full of great tips and ideas!  I love taking classes from Elaine, I actually come away knowing what I'm doing!  It's so rare I get to actually take any of the classes we offer that it was a major treat for me....and Kathy provided lunch!  It was delicious!  A cold stuffed Pork Roast with Cranberry Chutney(homemade by Kathy), an asian salad and for dessert a lovely South African cake (can't remember the name) with blueberries and whipped cream!

So here are some pics from a fabulous class......First there's Nancy and Elaine.  Nancy got the most done - there's always one of those in the class but she was completely focussed...

There's Barb trying to show one of Elaine's miniatures and the little quilt top on the table is what we are all aiming for in our chosen fabrics.......

Okay, so Barb figured out how to turn this little gem around - it has little tulips and the border is half square triangles.....amazing little mini.....

This is Barb's and it's going to be gorgeous....really bright and fun!

This one is Helen's and again it will be really bright and fun......

This one is mine - a little dull but I wanted to choose colours that I am using in the house because I already have a spot for this little gem.....however, I now have another UFO to add to my growing list!  Luckily I am working tonight so maybe I'll get some more done.... 

The class officially ended at 3:30 p.m. but Barb and I stayed on to get more done.  Then suddenly I realized I hadn't gotten my license renewed and today was the last day.  Thank heavens Barb was there - she drove me to the Service Ontario office (there's one in the little plaza near Castlefield on Dufferin) and I got that done.....

My taxi arrived promptly at 6:00 p.m. and we were off to Costco!  I have a serious love/hate relationship with that place.  I buy for the store, the house and Rich and I split alot of stuff between his house and mine so it can get quite costly but overall the prices aren't bad and the products are good!  Making a list is usually the better way to go but last night was more or less getting the necessities and that took awhile.  So we had my birthday dinner at Costco!  I had their corned beef sandwich which is always good....

Then off to Walmart - not my favourite place but we were actually going to get something for a friend of Rich's - so I finally got my cuphooks and a few other little things I need for the new house....

Finally, after dropping everything off at the house for Jonathan to sort through (he wasn't happy) we were off to Aroma on Bloor (at Bathurst) for a fabulous latte and croissant!  All in all it turned out to be a fabulous day (except the grocery shopping!)!  I literally fell into bed exhausted....

Okay, off to get ready for today!  Doctor's office, Pre-op at 1:00 and the buyers want to see the house at 4:00 p.m..  Need to be at the store by 6:00 p.m. - gonna be a busy day!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann 

December 3rd, 2010

Today was supposed to be the Realtors Open House so Jonathan and I had to be out of the house by 11:00 A.M..  That was a minor miracle but it did happen, however it seems that poor Gord and Tanzie ended up sitting on their own for two hours.  They figure it was because it was a Friday.....we can only hope that's the case!

In the meantime I went food shopping because there's going to be alot of cooking in the next few days at the store.....so I picked up a few things!  Of course, I forgot the eggs (a key ingredient in the Frittata I wanted to make on Monday).......

Off to the store only to find out that I'm serving 10 for lunch on Sunday too!  Okay, so maybe we'll go back to the grocery store.  Off we traipse, back to the store!  Okay, let's kill two birds with one stone, Jonathan can shop for the house and I'll shop for the store.  That worked......and by that time I could drop him off at home with the groceries while I went back to work!

Healing Heroes (Quilts of Valour) is having their annual Christmas Potluck tomorrow so a list went around for everyone to fill out as to what they were going to bring - next to my name NOT ALLOWED!  Well it took me forever to find the recipe for NOT ALLOWED but in the end you know I found it and here it is..........looks a little like Deviled Eggs doesn't it!

Nancy was working today so she started on the Christmas window and got it almost done.......however, she had a personal dilemma.  She needed a Yule Log for a Christmas party at her sister-in-laws tomorrow and of course was thinking she could just pick it up tonight or tomorrow but her usual place didn't have them, so while she was working on the window I made her a Yule Log (looks more like a chocolate igloo to me)!  Anyway - once she puts her Christmas decorations on it and her personal touches it will look amazing - and hopefully she'll take a picture.....By the way - I now know why they use Sponge Cake rather than regular cake - it's much more flexible!  Live and learn!

 We all know how talented Nancy is and she felt that the NOT ALLOWED should be properly adorned for the Christmas Pot Luck - look what she did with a bit of red pepper and some green onion.......pretty cool huh!

 I'll have you know that we got this all done by 8:00 P.M. and closed on time.....and went home!  This is very unusual for me - usually there's always something left to do!

I have to say I really enjoy coming home these days - the house is clean, the beds are all made (even Jonathan's - very rare) but I miss all my fabric!  It's been nearly a month that my stash and almost all of my quilting projects have been packed away in boxes that reside at the townhouse or in bags that reside at the store.  I only allowed myself the luxury of two projects to work on.....one "hand" project and one "machine" project.

The hand project is a pattern that Judith gave me from a magazine - McCall's Quilting - February 2009 and I found the perfect fabrics for it in this quilt store I frequent.....

 Check out the fabrics - I only have to complete another 15 blocks!  One of the reasons I am hand appliqueing this is I wanted to try out the Quilt Patis we sell in the store - some people love them, others prefer paper!  In my case the jury's still out, when they work for me I love them, when they get fiddly I don't!  The problem I DO find is that you can't use an iron with them - no pressing, so that for me is definitely on the CON side!  So far I am loving the way it looks though.....gonna take awhile as I don't get to work on it much!

 Then there's the knitting - which I completely messed up tonight!  I actually finished the scarf I was knitting but didn't leave myself enough yarn to cast off and completely messed it up....will have to find a way to fix it but it can wait for another day!  Enjoyed some TV tonight which is rare for me and now finally am going to call it a night (3:00 A.M.) or a morning......

Tomorrow is going to be a pretty busy day and I have to get lunch prepped for Sunday.  It's also the first of a two day Open House for the public!  Let's keep our fingers crossed that somebody shows up!

Have a great day everyone.....

Jo-Ann