Ring ring!!!!!!

After deciding that ENOUGH is ENOUGH, I called Bell. I go through the recorded messages. "Just a reminder that there will be an $87.50 charge if we find the problem is in your house. You can do the following to check BEFORE you place the call".  Hmmm - I really should complete ALL the steps, not just 2 out of 3. Grab a phone and run to the baesment to check the line coming into the house. DEAD!!!!   Alright - time to call Bell yet again. This time I log the call. They will attempt to fix it on their end - and then come out if that doesn't work. I get home on Friday to find that they arrived at the house. Checked and there was a loose wire OUTSIDE the house. I swear - why does this happen to us?????   We have such BAD luck with phones. Bottom line - the phone is fixed and didn't cost anything. Yeah!!!!!   Next time - I must do all the checking sooner. However - we are still missing TWO hand sets. Where are they?????   Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps if I think of that before bed, I might find them. I am afraid that I have set them down somewhere (like the one I found in the stash room!!!)

Let's see - what has been happening. Lots and nothing. Ever have one of those days. I am now an EXPERT (well almost) in roofing. Anyone want me to explain the ins and outs of shingles??????  I spoke at GREAT LENGTH to four salesmen on Friday. And I could actually ask intelligent questions. I have eliminated 1 of the 4 and now need to ask more questions on Monday before we actually make the decision. Normally I NEVER do this kind of research on ANYTHING, but the amount of money involved is substantial and the roof is important so I guess I had better make the right decision. I'll be mulling over 25 year versus 30, versus 40 versus 50 and what the heck does LIFETIME GUARANTEE mean anyway??????


To keep this a BIT quilt related - here is the gift that each attendee received from Quilt Canada in London last week - well at the end of May. Seems like an eternity ago.

Leaf basket

How perfect is that. Love the colour (how lucky I was to get THAT colour - I did NOT even trade to get it). I must say it is brown on the other side, and that was the side that was UP when I got it, but being completely reversible - I turned it and got the orange side UP. I love it. What to put in it??????    I am sure I will find something. I was actually going to pin it to the wall (well pushpin board), but there is NO room on the pushpin board. So I need to make a NEW pushpin board. I will take a picture and show you the board another day. I am TOO lazy to get up and take the picture now!!!!


OK OK - I got up - took the picture and several others. Here is my pushpin board......

Push pin board

See there is NO room on it. Have you ever looked through either of these two magazines?????

|Studios (published by Interweave)

Where Women Create (published by Stampington & Company - Somerset  Studio)

OK - these are both Premier Editions of the respective magazines and I get "SUCKED" into buying them and all the others since!!!!! I CANNOT help myself. I like to look at them (OK - so I like to HAVE them in anticipation of looking at them), but what I have seen - everyone has nice PUSHPIN boards and other pretty vignettes in their studios. Wait a minute!!!!   Who has time to pretty up the studio - I can barely get any work done. Anyway - I have decided it is time to READ those magazines - get ideas from them and pass them along. I have NO ROOM to store the darn things. Well that is an excuse to move them out!!!   But since I paid for them - I NEED to read them first!!!!!   Then maybe - I will have pretty vignettes to show you. I guess I am more practical than pretty, but I do like the idea of having a pushpin board (or equivalent) where those odds and sods that we buy/make or otherwise accumulate can reside.

While we were at Quilt Canada we ran into a NEW TO US vendor.  Mad About Patchwork.  We fell in love with all the brights and bright solids (Kona) that they had for sale and these TWO bundles just jumped into my hands and screamed BUY ME!!!! - NO BUY ME!!!!!!! and well - I just had to buy BOTH. They are to die for. Not sure what to make yet, but I am sure something gorgeous will come to mind.

Two bundles of GORGEOUS KONA solids

 They also had this sample pack that you could purchase and look at all these LUSCIOUS colours. Solid Kona - I LOVE IT - I'll have one (bolt) of everything - please!!!!!

Kona solid sampler!!!

And now back to some totally random things. Remember I said I had taken a class last weekend in Kitchener and came across the BRIDES. Well here are some of them. No grooms - just the brides!!!!!   They were doing a fundraiser - Brides on the Loose (how fun is that!!!) and were on their way to Niagara Falls (of course - where else would a bride in Souther Ontario go!!!!)  Oh yes - they were all going in the SAME limo. I guess that would be a      S T R E T C H        limo or maybe a       S   T   R   E   T   C    H          limo.

Brides on the Loose

The Brides on the Loose - Charity

On our way to our class, M and I spotted this TINY house. Actually it is a model. I'm guessing 1/10th??????  Anyway it was pretty neat - a cool roof (I wonder what kind of shingles were on the roof????, little windows, garage door - the whole bit. Pretty cool!!!!

A TRUE model home!!!!!

 If you remember - my fish died this winter and when I went to pick up some art work (which I haven't shown you everything that I purchased), I found out that they have this ENORMOUS pond that is WELL STOCKED with fish, both koi and gold fish. They needed to weed the pond out so I was offered some fish. Managed to make it up there yesterday. Here is the pond and we managed to snag at least a dozen fish. They are pretty smart - once they know something is disturbing their happy home - they went to the bottom. Now I am driving around with THREE pails of water in the back seat of the car!!!!   No fast cornering please!!!!!   Of course - the water was actually in a plastic bag inside the pails and despite the detour we made to Cobwebs and Cavier  (a quilt shop - we were on a mission to pick up something for Mary), and then dropped Marian off - I  was on my way home with my three pails of fish.

BIG fish pond

 The fish seem to be VERY happy in their new home. They were playfully leaping through the algae that had accumulated. They DEMANDED to be fed and generally have unpacked their bags and made themselves right at home.

I am NOT running out to take a picture because it is now DARK outside now and you won't see anything, but I will try to remember to get pictures tomorrow.

Also yesterday must have been DRIVE YOUR CULTIVATOR ON THE HIGHWAY day because I got stuck behind a cultivator not once, but TWICE!!!!  

Hey we're not in the city anymore!!!!

I grew up in Saskatchewan where all the roads local to that area are pretty much gravel roads. When we rode the Dempster Highway last year on our bikes, it wasn't really a big deal - gravel road - hey just like home. I rarely see a gravel road these days as most roads around here are paved. However when we took our little detour to that quilt shop - I hadn't seen so much gravel road since the Dempster Highway. The silly GPS took us through every gravel road in that area!!!!  Can you program it to do that?????   Apparently that was the most direct route - not necessarily the fastest - but the most direct!!!!   Not to worry - my trusty red car got us there in no time (a tad dusty!!!!)

Oh yes - have to show you this cool invention as well. In our attempt to be more environmentally friendly - we really shouldn't be using water bottles despite the fact that they are now thinner and you can practically spit through the caps (I mean - how much thinner can you get without it falling apart when you touch it!!!). Regular  reusable water bottles are a pain to keep clean especially if you have a dishwasher like mine which likes to deposit GRIT in the bottom of long skinny things. But look at this design.......

Water bottle

Both the top AND the bottom screw off so you can clean both ends. I LOVE it. Thanks so much to Kathy who gave it to me a while back and I keep forgetting to mention it. I am BAD. I did have a bit of trouble with the pop up top. I could NOT get it to work - well it has TWO setting - just keep pulling and the second pull opens the valve so you can drink. I LOVE this bottle.

I taught TWO classes of free motion quilting today. Everyone seemed to love it and I expect to see BIG things from them all. Honestly once you get the idea - it really is a bit of practice and then you are set!!!!   Learn to get that consistent stitch length and the rest will come.

Before the class - Anna, Marcie  and I managed to eek out 26 K on our bikes. We were pretty fast this morning - does that mean we are getting better???????   (or trying to beat the storm) While we were having a pancake breakfast at Anna's house, a storm was brewing. This didn't bother me as I was headed to the store to teach, but Anna and Marcie were going to do round two. They ended up bailing on the second ride which was a good thing since there was major lightening, thunder and a TORRENTIAL downpour. I'm glad we all missed that. Of course - we might have ridden EVEN FASTER!!!!   Oh yes - on our way out of town we passed a police car just sitting on the side of the road (actually he was in front of the city maintenance yard - waiting to direct the THRONGS of people who were going to arrive to pick up their (NOT FREE) rain barrels. On our way back into town we came the same way. As we approached a railroad crossing just south of the cop, the barriers was down - the lights were flashing, but NO TRAIN. The cars were getting fed up and started to turn around. I rode up - looked both ways and cross the tracks. OOOOPS - then I realized the cop was still sitting there. If he had half a brain - he would have realized we crossed the FLASHING LIGHTS and BARRIER for the train. Crap - let's not get a ticket. We did not, but I felt guilty as I rode past!!!!!

And there you have it - anther ERRATIC day in my life. Between the cycling and teaching, I am NOT getting anything done at my house. Oh that's not true - I managed to dig out an entire wheel barrow of weeds from the garden the other day. And now I see I have to get the pruning scissors out - I have some kind of tree/shrub that grows like wild fire.

On that note - it is LATE (well for me - 10:30 PM). I need my beauty sleep.

Have a great day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!