In My World

We kidnapped our youngest grandson last Monday and went letterboxing.  It was a really beautiful day.  Our first stop was to pick up Whomping Willow .  I didn't even know that entrance to the park existed.  The clues were great! Next stop:   Harry Potter's Staunch Supporters .  Excellent hike.  Cam got a little nervous at one point.  The trail definitely comes close to the edge in spots!  Hal and I are planning on visiting the museum some time soon with all 3 grandsons.  Maybe we'll attend this event.   Native Harvest Festival &  Pow Wow September 17, 18 & 19, 2010  Celebrate a weekend of First Nations Culture - Music, Art, Pow Wow Dances and Drums, and First Nations Craft and food vendors. Join us for a Friday night outdoor concert in the village featuring jazz musician Robbie Antone and Hip Hop artist James Blood. Gates open at 6:00 PM. Saturday and Sunday doors open at 10:00 AM. Click  here  for m...

I spent some time selecting recipes that I felt would be simple enough for a cooking lesson for the grandsons.  They wanted to cook dinner.  Now, like usual with kids, things didn't always go as planned but here goes . . . Baked Chicken Superb 1/2 cup instant potato flakes 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup melter butter 1 frying chicken (3-1/2 lb), cut up On a piece of waxed paper, combine potato flakes and grated cheese.  Melt butter in large shallow baking pan.  Roll each piece of chicken in butter and then in potato flake-cheese mixture.  Place chicken pieces in pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in 350F oven for about 1 hour.  Serves 4 So I didn't want to buy instant potato flakes, mostly because I don't like them; we used breadcrumbs.  And chickens were expensive, but chicken thighs were on sale at a good price.  Needless to say we bought the chicken thighs.  I skinned the chicken thighs when we got ho...

. . . or How To Pack As Much Fun As Possible Into One Day Without Losing Your Mind . . . Last night was the first time I had my grandsons for a sleepover without Grandpa.  Hal usually does all the entertaining and goofing around and my job is cooking and cleaning up after them.  It was kind of fun being the one entertaining and goofing around . . . the cleaning can wait until tomorrow . . . I went to the movies last night to see Eat, Pray, Love.  An amazing movie . . . and now I want to read the book again.  It is also a long movie so it was 9:30 pm by the time I picked up the boys for a sleepover.  As soon as we were in the apartment we pulled out snacks and made up the sofa bed and then spent some time chatting with Grandpa online.  It made for a late night but that also meant sleeping in a little this morning, which was nice.  After breakfast, the boys went to work sorting out their craft box and photo box.  The lid fits on again.  Nex...

I like to keep up the maintenance on our letterbox plants but sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day.  I aim for early spring, mid-summer, and early fall to check them out. Pinafore Park, on the south side of St. Thomas, offers a wildlife sanctuary, baseball and tennis facilities, flower gardens, picnic shelters, play areas and more. The park also offers a small lake and splash pad. The park hosts many events and live music throughout the year.  It is a fabulous place to take a picnic and spend some time.  We have four series of boxes planted in or near this park.   We took a friend along with us while we checked out the boxes in Pinafore Park.  Most were in great shape but 2 have gone missing.  Don't know how we lost the one box but the other probably fell victim to park staff when they were trimming bushes.  We've decided to retire one; but   Memory Garden #1 - by the Sea   will be re-carved and planted in a safer locati...

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I received a gift card to Michael's for my birthday.  And of course I had a couple of 40% off coupons.  Look what I bought . . .

We had the two youngest grandsons for a sleepover this past week and they jumped at the chance to do some letterboxing.  We had FINALLY solved Les Miserables  and were looking forward to the find.  When we found the location in Paris the box was gone.  It looks like there has been some flooding in the area.  Perhaps that is how it got lost.  If anyone has an image of the stamp, I would really appreciate a copy as a keepsake.  I'm not too bright at solving clues apparently and it took hours to solve the clue . . . sigh . . . The boys are used to the occasional attempt and don't get upset about it.  They understand it is all part of letterboxing.  Of course lunch at the Cobblestone Public House in Paris cheered them up.  Good food and service.  The kids menu is excellent.  I saw the waitress serving salads at another table and talked Taylor into splitting a salad with me -- a "Cobb"lestone Salad . . . LOL.  Hal couldn't f...

MOJO:  a  slang  word for  self-confidence ,  self-esteem  or  self-efficacy  (Wikipedia) Scrapbooking seems to have an ebb and flow in my life . . . trying to fit in my life no matter what else is going on.  In fact, I've noticed that when I can't find time to scrapbook it has an effect on my mood and self-esteem.  Life has been crazy, finances have been brutally tight and I've had to learn to scrapbook in a whole new way.  In the store I could SEE everything.  The different colours and patterns inspired me every day and creating a new and exciting layout seemed so easy most of the time.  In my little space here at home everything has to be in bins and boxes and the inspiration just isn't there.  And because I scrap alone most of the time, I don't have the enthusiasm and guidance of other scrappers to inspire me either.  So for quite a while I rarely scrapbooked.  And I missed scrapbooking.  So I ad...