Thursday, March 6, 2008

LOL, LOL..cabin fever must be 'gittin' to me!

I can't remember who I am but Heather knew, didn't you...should have signed RoseyP instead of Muffin Lady...on another board, that is my persona as I spend half my life baking muffins for my B&B.

Congrats Heather and we had a chuckle between us when her grandbabe was born and ours, just recently. Our newest is Addison Mercedes; how close can that be to Heather's new grandson's name. I agree, holding a baby that is less than 24 hours old is awesome, as the kids say now. It is hard to believe that babies can be formed in nine months and come out as perfect little people. I think that my son is still 'awestruck'.

The big storm that is scheduled to hit southern Ontario this week-end may be nothing more than a f*rt in a windstorm. We have been looking at the aviation weather forecast and it shows a high all round our area so I think we may get off more lightly than thought. But the radio is still heralding a storm watch.

Nice to see Ronna back as well. Maybe one day we'll get on high speed and I'll get to post more often, right now, by the time the site downloads, I've forgotten what I was going to say.

Rosey

Solar tube

Maintance for solar tube is "0". The roofer who put ours in said the only thing that would harm it in the 10 years guarantee is if there was a hurricane and a tree hit it. In that case we shouldn't be staying in the house anyway!
We did homework, and no, it isn't supposed to leak at all. Think of a tube about 14 inches round sticking out of the top of your roof with a dome over it. The big drawback, which is why I waited so long is the cost. Mine was $490.00. That is a one story house, with no problems.
If you had a 2 story house, or twists and turns, it would cost more. You can also get upgrades, a light switch for light inside it at night, fancy shields, etc. What I wanted was pure brignt light. Believe me, it is great.
Today I'm off to the downtown area to pick up my race packet and see the runner's expo for the 15 K on Saturday. Even though I'm walking it, the procedure is the same. It is a lot of fun to see th elite runners from all over the world, local celbs, etc. Maybe I'll be inspired to lose about 25 lbs.
Sigh. . . . . . Just glad the knees and ankles hold up to finish well.
Another beautiful day here this morning. I saw a piliated woodpecker thisw morning.
OH- went to see the Celtic Woman show last night. Wonderful. Trying to get in the mood to think "Ireland".
All for today,
Sara in Fla.

Spring ??

Well, I am not as northern as I have been the past few winters, but in n/west Ont we still have winter....but thankfully we have not been hit with any major snowfalls the last while.....and there is hope "on Sunday that the temps will start to only be single -digits and rise to plus!! Rosey, you have my sympathy for the weather....but we are giggling at how much DH's brother was bragging about early spring weather last year and how much he did not miss this region's unpredictable weather!! He's not bragging this year....

I will do some bragging tho! We were graced with the safe but early arrival of our grandson, weighing in at 7# 1oz. Adason (which means son of Adam) is a joy and it is with such awe and love that we hold him.... I thought when our sons were born I knew what unconditional love was, but nothing beats this Gramma and Grampa thing !

We have also moved into our new house. We still have our house in the smaller community about 100kms away and it will continue to be kept for weekend getaways and summer time for a while (or at least until real estate prices rebound there!). We enjoyed it there but with various medical appointments and now this grandson.....it is better to be here. It has been a hectic time with painters doing the main floor, our good friend and handyman Jack installing new floors and light fixtures through out. But the worst is over and we will be able to move the rest of the furniture on Easter weekend. I hope to be able to bring up my sewing machine this weekend and try to get to work on another quilt for Adason.....so many fun patterns to try for him....need a crib quilt for Gramma's house.....did his first for his own crib at home and curtains....but since we have to have a crib for him to stay over (apparently it isn't advised for babies to sleep overnite in playpens anymore??? There are so many 'changes' to what you can and can't do now , not just according to the new mother, but also the midwife who happens to be my niece, that I wonder how any of my kids survived, let alone the hundreds that I had during the daycare years!)

Nice to have the internet back in working order but have to figure out what's wrong with my email system.....nothing seems to be working good!

Heather

Great Photo, Mainequilter

I had noticed Jean of Mill Bay mentioning something about flowers, was it? Good weather? Reports of other signs of spring here and there? Jean in Vt., a short trip to Fla. would be good about now, but when talking to my friend Joan, in Sarasota, who runs a family drop-in centre for winter runaways, there is no room at the inn...so to speak. Their families will descend soon from further north to ease the winter blahs. And so, we face yet another storm coming in later today, a prelude from the storm coming our way from Texas and while those of you south of Canada may wish to blame the cold Arctic air for your troubles in winter, most if not all of our storms come up through the US mid-west and seek Ontario like a magnet, especially this year. This week-end, B&B guests have cancelled, scared off by the weather report, and I will be hunkering down yet again, with my quilting, ready to face whatever Mother Nature decides to share with us. Snow removal is getting costly. Our laneway yesterday was yet again, snowed in and thankfully, we have found someone to come in with his snowblower, which Jock greatly admires and which cost the gentleman $50,000.00...a Kabota (sp?) with great tyres on the back end...men like those things. Last week-end provided a great treasure, however, in the form of an Eastern Screech Owl who sat outside my studio window for the day observing my bird feeding station where silence reigned. How do birds know when a predator is among them? They disappeared completely; only one lone sparrow showed up and thankfully escaped the owl. Such a beautiful bird. But it is the photo of the wood pile that is such a gem, Mainequilter...now THAT I can relate to. One thing I've learned though, if you have a choice, never place your woodpile beneath the boughs of a pine tree. I've been dealing with pine needles in the house all winter...a poor choice of location, chosen by me, last autumn....lesson learned.

I am so grateful to have my quilting to help pass winter by. In fact, I look forward to not having to go out when I have something as enjoyable as making a quilt on my table.

Muffin Lady (Grace, you will find more snow here but you know where our laneway is and we can clear a spot for Precious' tiny legs)

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Spring???

Oh, how I wish I could say it's Spring here in Vermont. Instead, we keep getting ice and snow. We have more snow than I can ever remember getting. I believe I heard we broke the record for the snowiest winter ever. Sheesh!

Last week oldest DD and I went to Florida for a few days to celebrate her 21st birthday. Was that ever nice! We arrived during a heat wave (Apparently it doesn't usually reach 90 degrees in Feb. but we were at 89.) which was really funny for us, having come from snowy Vermont. We sat on the beach in the sun (ok, with an umbrella) and just RELAXED. After five months of homeschooling DS, that was such a nice break! We even came back with a bit of a tan. When can I go back??!!!

Kira seems to have very good range of motion in the knee she had surgery on, but she is still holding that leg up and favoring it most of the time. She puts her foot down and puts a little bit of weight on it, but not much. I hope she starts to use it a bit more soon. It has been about four weeks since the surgery.

Jean in VT

Still winter in my woods


These are better pictures of my woodpile. What we couldn't get under cover and hoped we wouldn't have to use.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

It is still winter

Hello all,
I love reading how you are all into spring, although I just went as far as Jean's post. I have not had a lot of time lately so have lots of catching up to do.
Here we are still deep in winter in fact we are in a storm watch again and will be again on Saturday. One right after the other. This snow is really getting to be very old. On the weekend we had ice , so when I went to take Precious out for her little walk I thought I was being very careful. Let me tell you I was not careful enough because I fell and suffice it to say I am having a very hard time sitting down the last couple of days.
The quilting has been keeping me very busy. We have had a lot for names for cancer quilts and getting them all ready has been time consuming. Either that or I do not work as fast any more.
Now I am getting ready for a quick trip to Southern Ontario later this month , if the weather co operates and then I get to have an early summer by going where Jean lives. Looking forward to seeing lots of colour Jean, because this white is getting boring. It has been a long winter.
Now I will down load the last couple of months post or as far as I can go and catch up on all that has been going on. Hope every one is well and see you again soon I hope.
Hugs to all
Grace, who really should be working on her bunny wall hanging for Easter

Monday, March 3, 2008

Azaleas in bloom

Happy Spring!
The Azaleas are in bloom here, lovely. We also had freezing weather and rain last week, but Sat. Sun. and today are beautiful. We went to the Palatka azalea festival on Sat. and took our bikes and the puppy to the beach yesterday. The azaleas in Palatka wern't fully out, but the gardens are still beautiful. There was a wedding getting ready to start when we left about 4:00 PM.
Sat. we arrived at the beach about noon, put puppy in the bike basket, and rode up and down the sand. Blue sky, light breeze, even the ocean was a bit blue. About 1:00 we went to a good pizza place, but everybody else was doing what we were doing, and we got a take-out sub and sat on a bench and ate them. The puppy was a "chick magnet" as she was in DH's bike basket. People were stoping us asking about her. One 18 yr. old (or so) in a cute bikini came running up saying, "Sir, can I pet your dog?"
Next time I'm putting the basket on my bike.
More cleaning out the sewing room today. I put a wicker table out on the curb this morning with "free" on it. Many years ago I wanted wicker stuff, but I'm over it now.
On Wed. morning I'm having the solar tube installed in the roof/ceiling. It's expensive, but when you need light, you need it.
I went for an early morning walk today. The local 15 K is this Saturday, and I haven't really practiced much. Walked 8 miles, and think I'll go soak in the bubble bath for the next 30 min.
Hopefully the calves will not cramp. I keep forgetting to take my calcium.
OK, all for now.
Sara in sunny Fla.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Daffodils...

It is Spring here on the Coast, too. None of my daffodils are out yet but the buds are visible so they won't be long. The crocus are nicely out and so are the forsythias in the neighbours' yards. The birds are downright noisy in the mornings! The big daffodil farms in the Victoria area are shipping all across Canada now -- soon Rosey will be seeing "our" daffodils in Toronto. (I was going to put some pussy willows in the mail for her but if she stopped speaking to me I would miss her...)

Ronna, I am delighted to see you back! I have often wondered how you have been doing and if you are still sailing for fun and traveling for your work.

I posted on the Yahoo BB group but not here when the little old lady I have been looking after for the last five years died. She passed away on Valentine's Day and a very peaceful death it was. She was 98 1/2 years old and very tired and ready to let go. Since I am now her Executor I am still quite busy but things will slow down soon. I had actually got her affairs in very good order so the Probate application is going very smoothly. Since the house was being sold prior to her death all the packing and sorting and cleaning was already done. I am very glad about that, let me tell you!

I am now feeling as though I have retired for the second time! I suddenly can make plans to travel and play again! I can not believe how many more hours there are in a day again! I might actually be able to finish some of my quilting projects this Spring -- yesterday I finished a sweater I started last summer! This summer we are going to Europe (for the first time in years) and then we are hosting a family reunion and then I am hoping to make it to Grace's retreat. Who else might I see there?

Jean, off to start some dinnercooking...