Irish fun

One of my favorite days.  My Irish roots were celebrated today.  I doubt many people were as proud to be Irish as my Mother and my Grandfather.  Heaven help you if you arrived at our house on March 17th and weren't wearing green.   My grandfather always joked that he wanted a real Irish wake.  You can call it coincidence but he died many years ago on march 14th and his funeral was on March 17th.   I think there was a little divine intervention there.   I took the day off work today and a friend and I headed out of town early to a fun Irish Pub about 40 minutes away.  Great food, awesome live music.  All the old favorite Irish tunes.  We had a blast for a few hours. Everyone was decked out in their finest greens but this pair stole the show.......

Wow.......right? Kind of left us a little speechless.  And maybe considering that we had reached our limit of green beer...... I still can't get past the leprechaun heads........then I wondered how were they going to pee?? Times have changed, the years have taken their toll.  There was a time when we would have spent all day and half the night at a party like this.  I've been in my pyjamas since 7:30pm.   Sigh..... Hope you all had a great day and sang a few Irish tunes a little too loud and out of tune (like me) 

All things green

The big day is almost here so I thought I should start to prepare for all things Irish!  Today as I was picking up a few things at the grocery store I passed a display of little shamrock plants. 

I really hope this little guy survives (and thrives).  I don't have the best history with house plants.  Maybe the "luck of the Irish" will shine down on it 😀☘️ And this was the weekend craft project - a little table topper

My first attempt at pinwheels.  They are not as easy as I thought. They are not perfect but they will do just fine for a first attempt.  Here's a close up

I love that shamrock fabric.  It was a fun little project and helped me get more confident with adding the binding and going around those corners.  And for dessert, a batch of pistachio squares.

The finished pan of squares are in the refrigerator to set before I can cut them.  It's going to be a long couple of hours.   Lol

Just plain lame

Have you ever been such a lame, pathetic blogger that you don't write a post because you can't decide what title to use?  Gahhhhh! Consider this fair warning - if you suffer from vertigo you'd better stop reading because I'm about to be all over the place here.   One option could have been "It's shocking".  This dry, cold weather is making static electricity my worst nightmare.  My hair, oh dear, my hair is literally out of control.  I have to keep a bounce dryer sheet in the pocket of my coat and keep rubbing it on my head.   And Abby is no better....

Every time I touch her she gets a little shock.  At first it terrified her but now she just gets annoyed and gives me the wicked stink eye.   Another option was "I saw the light".  No, it's not a religious thing.  It's more of a crazy thing.   This past week has been extremely intense at work.  A lot of extra hours and things spinning through my brain.  Did you ever notice how your mind races just before bedtime?  This morning as I was coming downstairs I thought "Gee, it's really bright out this morning."  No, it wasn't.  Apparently I was so distracted at bedtime I went to bed and left all the downstairs lights on......all night.   

  Another option was "I've got mail".  This is a good one.  Any day that I open the mailbox and see something from Ohio is a great day.  A package from my sweet friend Lauren (Rugs and Pugs).  I was the lucky winner of her recent giveaway and it's so fabulous.

A sweet little penny mat.  It now resides proudly atop my fireplace.   Lauren's stitching is as lovely as her hooking.  Thank you Again Lauren ❤❤ I had another option but I think I'll save that story.  TGIF folks 

Sunday happenings

I'm not sure where the week went but it's Sunday again.   I wish every day could be like today.  I was a productive machine today.   I woke up early and decided to do all the little things that I've been putting off.  The first task was to put together the bookcase that was delivered about 6 weeks ago and has been leaned up against the kitchen wall, still in the box.  My bathroom is small and oddly shaped and there is no linen closet and little storage.   So now things are a little more organized

Then I cleaned up my sewing room/office and cleaned the whole main floor.  I also rearranged a few side tables etc.  Ahhh, it felt so good to get some little stupid tasks done.    No sewing or crafting today (hence the aforementioned productivity everywhere else)  but here's a preview of the next project

The strips are just quilted in the ditch but I want to try something a little wilder on the border.  I'm waiting for a new attachment which will allow some free form quilting.  I hope it works.  It's amazing what you can get done when you stay away from the computer, hooking frame or sewing machine   Lol I made a huge pot of beef "stoup" today.  Perfect Sunday comfort food. And I think maybe I might even crank out a batch of cinnamon buns tonight.  Seems like a good plan for breakfast, don't you think?  

One more off the Bucket List

Overall my Bucket List isn't very long but it's still exciting when you get to cross something off.  

I've always loved quilts.  There's just something so comforting about them to me.   The whole process seems so mysterious and technical I really never thought I would be saying " I made a quilt".    Taa Dahh....

From start to finish.  I didn't abandon it part way through (which I sometimes do).  I love the colors. So summery and fresh.  This one will stay with me because I made a few mistakes - I didn't square up the centre before I started adding the border.  But in my defence, I didn't know I was supposed to.  So it's a little wonky and that led to a few puckers.  And my first corner is not pretty but each one got better as I went around.  And I didn't quilt all the way to the ends.  But I still love it.   I discovered quilting stencils this weekend so I'm excited to try those for my next project.    Our snow is quickly disappearing   Last weeks weather was very mild.  Loving that!  And this coming week has temps on the plus side too.  We are still a long way from tulips and robins but we are closer to Spring than we have winter left.  I'm looking forward to relaxing tonight and watch the Oscars.  Not because I care who wins, I have much less noble reasons for watching.  I watch for the mocking.  I know it's stupid and immature but I like seeing the ugly dresses and watching someone do something stupid.   Just to get in the mood, here's a few of my favorite bad dresses

A bird dress.......really?

She should fire her stylist

Dominatrix Ballerina........NO

Ahh, excuse me Drew......you forgot your BRA

This is just a HOT MESS

 

 .Have a great week

 

Not according to plan

Things don't always go as planned.  After my last post I was eager to begin a stretch of 5 days off.  Boy, did I have big plans however I was foiled at every corner.     The snow storm finally ended Thursday night however my snow plow guy had mechanical issues and didn't arrive on Friday until supper time.  Which meant that I couldn't get my car out of the yard all day.    Oh well, I thought I'd have time to finish quilting and even had the lofty goal of adding the binding.  Then I could take it to the local quilt store for a viewing and pick out a new project.

Instead I have fought with this stupid machine for days.    Three days of attempts and I still have 2 lines of quilting to do before I can bind.  The needle has broken, the walking foot fallen off, thread breakage, needle jamming and sticking requiring me to take it apart multiple times........UGHHHHHHHHHHH.  I guess attempting a project like this on a cheapy Walmart sewing machine might be too much.   I have the binding all ready to go but for now it will wait until I figure out a new plan

Then on Saturday night auntie and I were invited to a special birthday dinner.  It was out of town at a very expensive restaurant.   Neither of us wanted to go but it was for a family friend who is rapidly succumbing to Alzheimer's.  Her daughter wanted to do something special as it will likely be the last birthday her Mom remembers most of us.   I could relate to how she felt so we went.   It was the absolute worst experience ever.  I would say the service was bad, but it was virtually non existent. 

We arrived and were seated at 6:15pm.   There were 3 other tables seated.   We ordered our entrees  and drinks.  Drinks arrived 5 minutes later and that was the last we saw of any staff for the next 2 hours.   No food, no drink refills, no explanation, nothing.    At the 2 hour and 20 minute mark we were all pretty angry.  A waitress  appeared out of nowhere to clear another table.  We had to yell to get her attention and asked her what was happening with our food.  "Oh it will be out in 5 minutes".    Another 20 minutes passed and finally a plate came out.   Our food was delivered to our table in roughly 4 minute intervals, one at a time.  There was 7 of us.........do the math.  By the time the last one was served, the first guy was finished.    By this time time, no one was really hungry anymore.  Our drinks and water galsses were never refilled once! She knew we were mad and a few minutes later the owner arrived with our bill and a weak, insincere apology.    Was there a discount on the cheque??? NO.    This was the first time in my life I have never left a tip.  None of us did.    .That's just highlights

I've got mail!

I had the loveliest surprise when I came home last night.  I saw the lid up on my mailbox and feared it was stuffed full of bills (as usual).  Imagine my surprise when I found this......

Someone left a bottle of wine!  No card, no note, just a happy surprise.  I found out later it was from a friend I had done a tiny favor for at work.  Sweet!   And it came in handy as "storm wine" as you guessed it.........another storm today.   Work was closed again so I had a nice relaxing day.  It's still snowing and blowing so no point in shovelling until tomorrow.   I made some tea biscuits for lunch.  Seemed like a good comfort food, hot from the oven and drizzled with molasses

And then I decided to try and fix the sewing machine again.  Last time I tried I broke the needle.  I managed to replace it and get that stupid walking foot attached again.  

I love what the walking foot does, but this one is a piece of crap.  It's a Singer brand to fit the machine but it's made very poorly.  All you have to do is look at it sideways and the foot falls off.  So I had to go very slowly and continually check to be sure it wasn't going to fall off.   I managed to get about 1/3 quilted when I quit for the day.  I'll see how far I get tomorrow.   Did I mention I'm off again tomorrow?  And that Monday is a holiday.......extra long weekend for me!    I think that calls for some more storm wine 😛  🍷

A valentine scene

Scenes from the day

 

 

This is ALL from yesterday's storm.  Some drifts were over waist deep.  I shovelled all morning, went to work in the afternoon and then shovelled out Auntie and then finished up a little bit here.   I'm tired.  I'm cranky.  I'm done for the night.  I'm going to focus the rest of my attention here tonight....

Happy Valentines Day everyone 

16 hours and counting

So, it's now been 16 hours of continuous snowing.  And it's not showing any signs of letting up.  I had a snow day, as did everyone else in the province  

Abby and I were just outside.  No easy task  as the snow is waist deep.  The task of letting her pee involved me pushed the storm door to get enough of an opening to get the shovel through the door.  I had to stand inside and shovel our way out.    And the queen wasn't content with a small space, she wanted several feet square to pee in.  Ughhhh.   This was earlier today.  She likes a little snow but not this much. She's begging to get back in.

 The whole process must have stressed her out and she needed to relax......

This was my version of de-stressing....a warm brownie with ice cream

Let's hope I can get out the door in the morning.  When is it going to stop snowing???   I think I need to check out the chocolate drawer again

And repeat.......

We are in "storm prep" mode again.  The weather chick on tv referred to tomorrow's storm as "the worst of this season".  That's a direct quote.  Wonderful!  It's supposed to start early in the morning and be blizzard conditions for close to 24 hours.   This time I bought actually milk and bread.  Flashlights were checked and candles are ready if needed.   Enough of that.  Today I played with quilting some more.  I managed to figure out how to attach my new walking presser foot to the sewing machine.  I cut fabric for binding the small baby quilt.  I watched a video from Missouri Star Quilt Company and cut the strip 2 1/2 inches.   It started out ok

But......then I got to a corner and things went downhill quickly  

I have come to the realization that maybe a 2 and a 1/2 inch strip might be good for a seasoned quilter but I think it's too narrow for a newbie.  And I need to rewatch the video on corners a few more times.   So I've set this aside for now.  When my blood pressure lowers, I will start over.  So I jumped to another project and put the final border on my bigger quilt and began the process of putting the 3 layers together and pinning.  No pictures of that stage.  It was frustrating as I don't have a large open floor space to do this properly.  Plus I got halfway done and realized I didn't have enough safety pins.    Since I started pinning in the middle and working outward I thought maybe I could start quilting in the middle so I put the quilt in a small lap frame. 

I tried hand quilting for about 10 minutes but............I think I'll try the machine and see what happens.  It would be nice to finish one project.   Hopefully it will be storming enough early in the morning and work will be cancelled before we open.  I hate it when they hold off and by the time they decided to close, you have to shovel your way INTO your driveway.   Oh, and Miss Abby entertained herself while I was sewing.  I heard her chewing and thought she was at her rawhide bone so I ignored her.   Nope.......she found a hair clip

Sigh........she's almost 2 and nowhere near getting over that "chew anything" phase.  

Preparation

If you live in eastern Canada you know all about getting prepared for a winter storm.  It's really all about the prep work because you just never know.  In late January our neighbor province had thousands of people without power for upwards of a week in some areas.    I find as I get older I get more like my mother and grandmother.  As soon as Gran heard a forecast of snow she would get antsy. And she had to go right to the store and buy bread and milk.  I admit, on Thursday I found myself a little antsy at work.  I couldn't concentrate, I wanted to be home getting "settled in" for the Nor'easter storm.  Even though it wasn't supposed to start until after supper I still couldn't settle down.  However I did manage to get through the day and got my own version of "bread and milk" ready.

Yes, a homemade pizza and an ice cold growler of beer from a nearby microbrewery.   Sorry Grandma....lol.   We got our snow and the wind howled pretty hard overnight.  And sure enough I got a snow day.  Well, half a snow day.  Our office didn't open until noon.   I wish that meant that I got to lounge around all morning in my Jammie's, sipping coffee but it did mean I had time to do all the shovelling.  I finished what was left at supper time and just about froze to death.  So I stripped off the snow covered pants and jumped into some cozy fleece pj bottoms and warmed up with my princess

I'm such a wimp in the cold.  So far February isn't looking too good.  To,orrow is supposed to feel like minus 30 in the morning and guess what else?   Another storm is coming Sunday night and then possible another mid week!   I'm having some scary flashbacks to the winter of 2015. I only managed to get the first thin border on my quilt top tonight.  Tomorrow morning I'll cut the fabric for the wider border and hopefully get it sewed and pressed.   Stay warm everyone 

You can't trust anyone

I mean if you can't trust a rodent who didn't see his shadow, who can you trust?  Apparently an early Spring is a bit further off than I hoped a few days ago.  Looks like a storms a coming!

We are in the purple path, expecting a whopping dump of the white stuff tomorrow night.  Lucky for me, I've got the special "storm drawer" in the kitchen stocked for emergencies

I think this drawer would even be up to Andrea's standards.  In case I need a storm project I visited the fabric store and picked out something for the border of my quilt.  It's going to be so pretty but you'll have to wait for the big reveal.   Sweet Abby must have been lonely today because she attached herself to me as soon as I came home.  Not that I minded because I love her puppy cuddles 

Never give up

Today my persistence and outright stubbornness paid off.  It didn't hurt that I really loved this fabric so I couldn't bear to abandon it just yet.  If you recall where we left off on what I'm now calling the "quilting experiment apocalypse ", I had a pile of strips, riddled with mistakes in a pile on the floor 

This morning I began the painstaking process of ripping out each seam and resewing them together properly.   In between I also found a couple of pieces that were sewn on the wrong side and I fixed those too.    Since things were going ok I decided to start joining the strips and hoped this day was not wasted.   Well...........look at what happened........I have a quilt top

I was soooooo doing the Happy Dance around my living room

When payday arrives Thursday I'll go shopping for more fabric for a good size border and binding.     Speaking of quilts, this is good weather for them.  It's freaking freezing here   I might have to break out the pj onesie tonight at bedtime 

I know they look silly, but damn they are comfy!