In My World

Living in a tiny apartment doesn't lend itself to lots of Christmas decorating so for a couple of years we did not have a tree.  My friend Deb was absolutely disgusted when she found this out and gave me a little decorated tabletop artificial tree.  That has served for two years.  But this year we are in our giant apartment and there is lots of room for a tree.  We dragged our grandsons out with us to find a tree just before Christmas but all the lots were closed for the night.  Next stop, Zellers.  We found a tree valued at over $100 and pre-lit on clearance for $39.  It's ours.  We had to buy ornaments since we had given ours all away years ago.  The boys helped us set up and decorate.

Last week was so busy but so much fun. It is nice spending time with family, talking and laughing and playing games . . . and eating . . . This week I'm back to the Dreaded To Do List which continues to shrink in size despite the fact I wasn't able to put much time into it over Christmas and the fact that I keep adding new projects. I had a few finishes this past week or two but no photos to share at the moment. For some of my Ladies' Day Out friends I made adorable little crocheted icicle ornaments and I got to spray them with silver glitter. They were so pretty that I'm putting them back on my list to make some for myself in 2013. I made hats and scarves for my 3 grandsons, son and daughter-in-law . . . all are in their team colours since all 3 boys play on CYO London basketball teams and Greg and Kate are coaches. To be totally truthful, due to being stranded on a Montreal run with Hal a few days before Christmas, I didn't actually finis...

Found this online and just had to share: http://vakuoli.blogspot.fi/2012/12/designing-cutting-and-mounting-making.html and http://vakuoli.blogspot.fi/2012/12/versatile-use-of-simple-homemade-stamps.html

I recently volunteered to run the concession at my youngest grandson's first OBA tournament.  My shifts were set up so I could see all of Cameron's games. What a great team!  They all played so hard.  Cameron is #13. I loved that I could watch every game . . . . . . and get some knitting done. The secret to knitting Christmas gifts in front of the recipients is to tell them it is for someone else and ask them not to tell . . . LOL . . . hey, it worked.

I was too busy to even answer this question on time this week. I almost finished all my Christmas knitting on time. I finished Greg's toque off Christmas morning and cast on for Kate's. Other than that . . . everything was done. I have no photos of anything yet but I will share when I do. I made matching scarf and toque sets for Greg, Kate and the 3 grandsons in black with red and white which are the colours of their basketball teams. Many of my friends received knit dishcloths or crocheted ornaments. Also waiting for photos of the ornaments. So now I'm back to all my regular projects: getting prepared for our letterboxing mini-meet Honouring the Trails in May 3/4 done a large counted cross stitch project Edible Flowers scrapbooking a page each day hand-stitching another of Nancy's quilts making paper piecings . . . right now I am making a bunch of Angry Birds. Youngest grandson loves them working away at the family tree . . . this will be a never...

I have been quite remiss in not blogging about a very good restaurant in St. Thomas . . . Boston Pizza.  While these photos were taken back in 2009, we have been many times since.  The service is excellent, the food is always good and the prices are fair.  What more can you ask for? Well I don't know what caused the change but the last two times hubby and I have been there the service has improved.  How does one improve upon excellent?  I don't know how they did it, but they did.  Friendly, efficient, good understanding of the rules of service . . . and a huge smile.  It is a very nice touch when the manager stops by your table to make sure you are happy.  The food came out good and hot.  My one pet peeve is that there is too much food on the plate.  I have yet to finish a meal and in a weird and freaky way that bugs me.  That is until the next day when I am enjoying the leftovers. Looking for a good meal?  I recommen...

I cannot begin to tell you how busy I am right now.  Every year I make plans for handmade gifts and homemade entertainment and then go crazy trying to accomplish it.  At the end of the holiday season I say next year I`m not going to do it  but I do.  Why?  Because secretly I love it.  I love the long lists and goals and deadlines and just a little crazy mixed in.  Without these elements it just wouldn't be Christmas.

If you've followed my blog for any length of time you know I can grow just about anything in an outdoor garden.  Bringing plants inside my house is signing their death sentence.  I can't make a chia pet grow.  This is a serious problem.  A plant I received as a birthday gift recently actually lasted almost two months.  The really funky curly poinsettia that Nanna  just gave me has only lost a few petals so far.  I have high hopes that it will last until Boxing Day but not much longer. Every year Grandma Shirley would give me an amaryllis and every year I would try and make it grow.  I don't think one ever survived to Christmas Day.  Hey, I can't be skilled at everything (just kidding . . . because I can.  I'm just not)! So now you know my not so secret shame.  I kill houseplants.  Nanna, on the other hand, can make anything grow.  I just got a call from her the other day because she is so thrilled with her new plant and...

When we (Big Blue Team) first started planting letterboxes we found the most frustrating thing was how quickly some of our boxes would go missing especially in the Waterworks/Dalewood area.  So we placed restrictions on all our boxes, allowing only experienced letterboxers to see the clues on Atlas Quest.  We haven't lost many boxes since then.  This makes us happy. This fall a group of local Girl Guides wanted to go letterboxing.  The leader came over and learned all about letterboxing including a simple carving method for the girls that didn't include using sharp tools.  I was confident that our boxes would be safe under her care. Because we knew the girls would be hunting in one location, Hal and I decided we should go double check on our boxes in that area to make sure they were all still safe since our last check in the spring.  A couple were gone.  In one case the log which had been home to our box had completely disintegrated and the ...

What have you been working on this week? You all know about the Dreaded To Do List. What you may not know is that despite putting new projects on the list every 2 weeks I am still catching up at an amazing rate. My 2-page typed list is done to 1/2 of a page. Woo Hoo! It has required some serious dedication to accomplish all these things and I am really proud of myself. Would you like to read the story of the DTDL? It is here . . . http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2011/10/tale-of-dreaded-to-do-list-and-why-is.html My accomplishments since last week include: going to Hal's Christmas company Christmas party teaching an album in an afternoon class which was a great deal of fun finished sewing a Christmas gift for my buddy Melissa. I hope she likes it. finished off a couple of fun paper piecings including Give Thanks title and hiking boots Ladies' Day Out was amazing last week. I got a lot of Christmas knitting done and we celebrated 2 birth...

This is my newest source of happiness and I found it at the dollar store.  Gotta love those dollar stores.  Every time the sun shines Santa dances for me.

Indian head turkey on a platter http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MonthlyDishcloths/

Celtic Braid This one was very tricky.  I had to write each cable stitch out on an index card so I could keep them all straight.   Twining Trees Lots of cables but not as difficult as Celtic Braid.

November 11 was a beautiful day to get out and letterbox in Waterloo, ON.  Our first stop was for Ladies Play Golf Awesomely .  I got a little confused on the clues but that is quite natural for me.  That's why I take Hal along . . . oh yeah . . . and he is the driver too.  It was a great hide and we were so happy to find it. Our next stop is probably one of my favourite finds to date . . . The Spring House .  Interesting and tricky and surprising all at once.  And I learned something.  I've never heard of a spring house before but now that I've seen one I have to say that they are scathingly brilliant!!  Without the clues for this letterbox, I would never have known this building even existed. I can't believe I didn't take any photos when we were looking for Best Friends Forever - The Puppy and the Dragonfly .  Oh those clues were very tricky and Hal and I had many debates over my clue translations . . . LOL . . . and yet we found...

Good morning. This week I will be focusing on my Dreaded To Do List . . . surprise. I am caught up nearly to the end of October and really noticing that the house looks better and I'm starting to feel better. There is nothing more exciting than scratching chores off a list and seeing the progress. I have solved the Christmas crowds because I make most of my Christmas presents. I am almost done making my friends' gifts and working madly at my family's gifts. My one shopping trip will be around midnight at WalMart and Real Canadian Superstore much closer to Christmas for food and a few small gifty things that I can't make. I was introduced to midnight shopping last year by my crazy friends and it sure is much simpler and less crowded. My family can't get together until New Year's Day so I've postponed Christmas dinner until then. To keep myself from being sad Hal and I are hosting an Open House for Boxing Day (which is...