You know you watch too much TV when...

... Jack Donaghy (from 30 Rock, played by Alec Baldwin)  is throughout your dreams - last night he was in my house, going through all my stuff!

Do you ever do that?

Years ago when Sex and the City was on, I would dream about shopping with Carrie, Miranda or Charlotte; having lunch with them or cocktails. I stopped writing my dreams down when I realized that whatever I had watched that day worked it's way into my dreams. I no longer felt my dreams were telling me anything about myself or predicting the future -other than perhaps I watched too much TV.

Mini Vacation 2012

I'm back from a mini-vacation - 3 days in downtown Vancouver - it's been a while since we've had the time to leisurely stroll through the various areas so we started on West 4th and Broadway and over then next two days walked  Robson Street, Pacific Centre, Harbour Centre, Sinclair Centre, Gastown, Davie Street. It was interesting to see how much has changed over the years and semi-shocking to see so many vacant retail units there were, especially in the malls.

Harbour Centre from our balcony

Looking down from our balcony

We also took the SeaBus to North Vancouver and toured around the Lonsdale Quay where we  found some yummy places for dinner. We actually had other plans for dinner but it looked and smelled so good we couldn't resist! We started with a very fresh prawn cocktail at Screaming Mimi's and then had some brisket with mashed potatoes and gravy at Sharky's Chop House. Mmm MMmmm. I finished with a bubble tea and bought some fresh chocolate chip cookies for a late night hotel snack.

Fresh Fish and Seafood at the Quay

At breakfast there was some yummy dark coloured cheese in my omelet, intrigued we asked the server about it and she sent the chef over with a sample - it was Guinness Cheddar and boy was it delicious, especially melted in an omelet! Have you had it?

Then later while sitting in the Mexician restaurant, La Casita in Gastown, I accidentally made eye contact with a woman walking by - well she started yelling about "why couldn't you just leave it alone? You know his face was burnt! Why couldn't you leave it alone?" and on and on. She yelled at me through the window of the restaurant and then went around to the front and opened the door and yelled at me some more, then spied a bottle of hot sauce on a nearby table and squirted it in my direction. As soon as I realized my mistake of being caught looking at her, I didn't look at her or in her direction again.  It's one of those things that you can't undo once it's been started. I had my back to the door when she came in the restaurant but I just sat there and did not turn around as I didn't want to agitate her any more. I just kept an eye on the restaurant staff to see if I needed to duck or anything. Since no one else did anything about it(I guess they managed not to make eye contact), she soon moved on as quickly as she came - like a big ol' hot sauce spraying gust of wind!

We lucked out by having sun for the first two days, but then we were hit with snow/rain which made for a very chilly walk back to our hotel. It's a good thing we had a late checkout  - I had time to take a warm bath and change into dry/warm clothes before heading home.

The gas fireplace is the main heat source in our house so we turned it off while we were away, but because of this and because we don't have a furnace our house was down to 13 degrees C when we came home. Brr. That takes a while to heat back up again. Thank goodness for our  mattress heater.

Eco had a great time at the neighbours and now we're back to life as it always is - doing laundry and cooking and cleaning and working.... (sigh) it's good to be home.

Another Finished Object

I forgot to show you the napkins I made my mom for Christmas. I was in such a rush to get them in the mail to her I forgot to take a photo - just as well because it matches my mom's Christmas China Pattern - Winterberry by Pfzaltgraff  and this gives you a better idea of how they match:

My mom flattered me by saying that when she opened the packaged there was a discussion in the room about whether I made them or they were commercially embroidered because they were  done so well. I didn't think I needed to say that I had done them, in my mind it was obvious but I guess sometimes it's best for us crafters to give a little explanation about how or why we made something and why we gave it as a gift. I think we forget that what may be obvious to us, isn't obvious to others, especially to the non crafters - don't you think?

For the Love of Bread

Today is brought to you by the letter B*

I don't consider myself a baker, it's just one of those things I do along with laundry or vacuuming, but it is more interesting as I would certainly never post a photo about the laundry!

On Thursday I pulled out the crockpot and made a batch of chili. I ended up buying most of the ingredients together, the approximate cost of a 6 quart batch of chili is about $15, and so far 8 servings have been consumed and there is probably 1 or 2 servings left.  So the next time you  hear someone on TV (or maybe in real life) say they go to McDonald's for dinner because they can't afford to feed their kids healthy food - this is a good chance to remind them that just isn't so. $15 at McDonalds would buy feed 2-3 people depending on what was purchased. Ok 'rant' over.

To go with the chili I made a loaf of french bread. Thanks to my mom for giving me a baguette pan and thanks to my brother for encouraging me to take the dough out of the breadmaker and forming it into a loaf I've been making french bread baguettes, here are the ends of the loaf:

And this is how my family feels about the bread:

~~~~~

To continue the baking story is Banana Bread. I found that often the loaves didn't' always get eaten as people would forget about them in the fridge. So I decided to bake them in my mini cake/loaf pans which I had purchased for the little breadmachine:

They are a big hit!

Sometimes the best compliment a cook or baker can get is not a necessarily a  'thank you' but how the food is eaten. Or when they ask for more. Wouldn't you agree?

*Can you tell I was a Sesame Street fan when I was a kid? 

PROJECTS I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON

I'm almost finished my cross-stitch:

I just need to do the outline stitches and there are some silver snowflakes to come and  I should be done by the weekend.

And also, here are some doodles I've been working on:

what do you think? 

Sewing

My parents did a stellar job providing for us and my mom provide healthy home cooked meals, baked goods, awesome Halloween costumes, clean house, clean clothes etc. But there was one thing she let pile up a bit and that was mending clothes (and in the early years - darning socks too). And I fully understand why she didn't like this task, especially with kids clothes because the pant legs are so small - and she didn't have a free-arm** sewing machine.

So when 'the kid' hands me a pair of his skinny jeans with duct tape on a knee tear and asks me to attach a patch I wasn't so sure I could do it. Especially when kids sometimes have unreal expectations of how things look. Jp and I asked him a couple of times to get an idea of what he envisioned  - a rectangular patch on the top made out of plaid.

Because it was the knee and so much material was missing, I first had to apply some iron-on interfacing on the inside so I had something to patch to, and then I finished the patch.

He was ecstatic and said it was awesome - and then handed me a pair of black jeans that he also wanted fixed.

Ack!!!

Well since machine sewing isn't something I enjoy too much (mainly because I'm trying to work off the kitchen table and my foot pedal slides all over the floor - I miss my sewing table which has been put away due to space limitations) and I would have liked to do them both at the same time,  I told him I'd do it when he's here next weekend.

I did the same kind of stuff to my parents  - I just had no idea how much work went into fixing things and how difficult it might have been  for my parents to fix something (I never even considered that they couldn't) or thought about  how much time it took. When I was a kid, I just never thought about my parents having time for themselves, that's what Friday night and Saturday nights were for - the rest of the time I think I assumed that their 'chores' filled their days and there wasn't anything wrong with asking dad to fix my bike or mom to fix my clothes or sew me something.

It's kinda like when kids see a teacher in a store for the first time and they realize that teachers have a life outside of school, don't-cha think?


** Most sewing today machines have this attachment. It can be removed from the machine to convert from a flat bed to free arm. The free arm can be used for any difficult to sew areas, in particular, sleeves and trouser hems.

Cupid's Secret

Since not everyone likes Valentine's Day, I'm going to share a different kind of Valentine themed story:

This is the story of a little horse named Arrow.

Arrow was born around Valentine's Day, and from the very beginning, he received lots of attention. He was little and cute and had a special mark. Centered across his rump was a big white patch of fur shaped like an arrow pointing to his head. It really stuck out on his little brown body. Arrow's mother was pretty special too. She had a perfect heart-shaped head on her forehead, and her name was Cupid.

Cupid's Secret is the story of Cupid, Arrow's mother who had had a hard life and things did not come easily for her. She had met many people who were not very nice while she was growing up. Then one day a kind farmer bought her at an auction and changed her life forever. In a transformation of this horse's self-worth, she gives birth to a colt that carries another unique mark that paves the way for his future. Cupid's Secret is a delightful story of love, trust and prayer. Buck Kalinowski has given us a children's book that not only amuses, it tells a story of love and compassion, and teaches a lesson of hope and enlightenment.

Once Arrow was born, Cupid had her job cut out for her with her little son. Everyone wanted to see the new colt; after all, how many horses in the world have an arrow on their rump? There are brown horses and black horses, golden horses and spotted horses; some have stars on their faces while others have stripes of white, but only one horse has an arrow. Cupid and Arrow along with Farmer Buck traveled to many horse shows and events, they were all becoming quite famous.

Arrow liked meeting people. He enjoyed being petted and liked running around when the farm workers would let him out for exercise. Arrow was always getting into something, and that is why this book is called The Adventures of Arrow.

Now, what do you think of that? The quote/story comes from here. This is for a children's book, but I'm pretty sure I originally heard the story on the news, or one of those amazing animal shows. Here's a link to some photos. What's your favourite Valentine's Story?

5 Bags Full

With all the talk of clutter clearing these days, many people admit that they feel so much better once it's all done and over with, and I have to agree. With the help of Jp, I went through everything in my closet, tried everything on, showed it to him and looked at in a full length mirror and did our own version of "What Not to Wear"  discarding FIVE  bags of clothes!

Here they are:

I wanted to quit when I finished my shirts/blouses, he encouraged me to continue.
I wanted to quite when I finished pants/skirts, but he encouraged me to continue.
He helped me bag them up and I took them to the thrift store the next day so there was no going back.  I couldn't have done it alone. If you have to do this type of project - I encourage you to get a helper. You've seen all those shows, many of us need someone to support us in our end goal as it's easy to want to change the rules part way through.

My clothes are no longer crammed together making everything wrinkly. And now I can find everything and know that everything fits and looks decent on me. I truly am happy with less choices but I still have lots of clothes!

And we've learned a lesson  - most of the clothes came from three stores (!) and I bought many without trying them on, or too quickly. So when it's time to buy I must try it on and I must really, really, really like it - no more "it's all right" clothes.

6 years!

Today is my 6 year blog-a-versary. I don't think much has changed from last year, which you can read about here. Isn't that odd? Some years so much changes and then others it seems to be at a standstill.

I'd like to say I am calmer and wiser now except I'm still embarrassed about 'losing it' yesterday when I tried to rearrange my desk top. Part way through the process my monitor light went out and I had trouble tracing the cords because of the tangle behind my desk and the arrangement of things. Jp tried to help, but sometimes it's best if he's not around - that sounds mean but honestly we don't always work well together. I absolutely hate problem-solving with computers  and so I'm easily set off in to the land of grumpiness pretty darn quickly. Once it was resolved all the anger and frustration disappeared but I still feel bad for my family who had to listen to all my cursing.

I guess I'll muddle along for another year posting about my yard, and my sweet little chocolate labrador and the little things I make or sew and hope that y'all still be around with me next year. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog, I really appreciated all the fun I've had reading your comments and reading your blogs as well. Let's raise our glasses - clink clink - here's to another year in Blog Land!!!!

Speaking of stationery...

What do you think of this? 

Useless or useful? 

Stationery

I don't know if this still occurs today, but years ago when I worked in offices, it was often quite a thrill amongst the girls when the stationery catalogue arrived. Some girls just love office supplies - I have no idea why (and I'm one of them).

There are definitely some great pieces out there, but many come from US companies and by the time they arrive in Canada the costs can be quite high - I once ended up paying something like $70 extra for shipping/duty/customs etc for a binder and some notebooks from a US supplies - which made it super expensive and prohibited me from cross-border shopping these types of products again (unless I was there in person). Over the past couple of years, I've only 'pretend shopped' at places like the Container Store or Russell + Hazel.

So I was thrilled today to get an email that the Canadian office supply company Staples was now carrying Martha Stewart Office products. Usually I don't really like paying extra for celebrity  products -but there are some great pieces in this collection and they aren't that expensive, especially since the nearest supply store is less than 5k away! Check it out, my friends! Also included in her collection, the hottest pattern in home decor  - shagreen!!! This is a pattern that mimics shark or stingray skin and it's showing up everywhere!!!!

Time to empty my little piggy bank and pretty up my office space!

Baby Shower

Yesterday we went to a baby shower. It's been a long time since I've been to one and it seems so different. First of all there were a couple of 10 year old girls who basically ran the "check-in" desk, and announced when it was time to eat and when it was time for games, and the answers to the trivia questions etc. It was cute and I can understand why there were involved it's just that their voices weren't very loud and it seemed ineffective for getting the group to do certain tasks. Jp came along and cooked some sliders which were fabulous. He brought everything with him - little tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, pickles plus condiments. He even brought his own grill. I thought they were great!

The games were fun and light hearted but there was one that I just couldn't participate in. They put a melted chocolate bar in a diaper so it looked like you-know-what and then people had to guess what kind of chocolate bar it was. First of all I'm not that familiar with the differences between and Oh Henry and a Sweet Marie and second, I'm not too familiar with poopy diapers... luckily I just so happened to be in the carport giving the poor dog a break from it's crate. Ohh, too bad huh?

There were about 30 people there and almost everyone gave a present - I think there were only two gift cards given. I thought this was quite good but Jp figured that since just about everyone was young mom that many items were 're-gifts'. I didn't think of that, but it's certainly possible.

By the time I got up, walked the dog, helped a wee bit with the food prep, then drove an hour to the shower, etc - the whole day was gone and boy do I miss it. It really only felt like I had a one day weekend! Does that happen to you as well?

Well for those playing along - yesterday was my 12th year anniversary at my job. It came, it went just like every other work day. In fact even spoke to my boss on the phone (I usually only talk to him about once a week when I call him). I should have known not to make such a big deal of it in my mind. I have made a note to not build up any expectations next year. Happy Un-niversary. The only good news? I now get four weeks vacation per year - I like that!!!!  I was planning on treating myself to a sushi lunch, but Jp made us the most delicious sandwiches so I didn't bother. Not much can top his sammiches!

Today for Vancouver and the areas surrounding it, it is finally sunny, which makes me happy because too many grey wet days can really bring a girl down! And do you know another way to bring a girl up? (no, not that silly) How about some high energy dance music? My instructor plays this at the beginning of our class for a warm up -we only need this song as a warm up and we are ready!  Turn up your speakers and get moving!

 Instant mood lifter!!!

Happy Groundhog Day! 
(He only has a 30-40% accuracy rate so don't believe him too much)