Catching Up

I have been away and now I feel like I am having a hard time catching up. Catching up on quilt show details, projects left unfinished, housework, posting to my blog etc.
I was on a top secret mission. My sister and I schemed to meet in Toronto and then journey on to Mom's to surprise her for her 76 birthday. Only our husbands, children and a few close friends knew. No blog postings about it, just in case Mom read our blogs, no chat on Facebook, in case someone close to Mom got wind of it and might spill the beans and I am happy to say it was a complete surprise. I wasn't able to capture it on camera, but I did get a shot about a minute after the initial surprise...can you see the slightly dropped jaw?..the bit of a "stunned look of disbelief" as she looks at my sister? 

Well if it is not visible to you let me say it was visible to us. My Mom, brother and sister were totally shocked! Oh it is fun to surprise people with good news. One of the first questions Mom asked was, "how long can you stay?" When we said 9 days she was very visibly pleased, however as the days sped by 9 days didn't seem nearly long enough to her...
We helped her celebrate her birthday quietly with just us kids. This is the first time we have all been with Mom on her birthday since 1975. Shame on us!

Mom, baby sis (Pam in her best jeans, beside mom), Gary on the other side.

Barb, the middle sister and then me, (the oldest) at the back in the green.

Three Sisters

I can't tell you how many times we hear, "you guys are brother sisters?! Well yup we are...same Mom and Dad too!

and a Brother (minus the beard and hat). You clean up good Gar

Mom looks great when you think that in the last 6 or so years she has had a colostomy, and beaten her cancer, lost her second husband, and then hospitalization for over 5 months after having survived that terrible car accident in July of '09. I can only hope to be as much of a fighter and survivor as my Mom.

While in Ontario we also took Mom away on a 4 hour road trip to see an aunt of hers that she was longing to see and also to visit with my Dad's last remaining sibling; my dear Aunt Margie. Both of these were surprise visits as well.

I also managed to fit in a little fabric shopping and my sister brought a few of her projects to show me what she is working on.

I love this one! This is a Canadian Pattern from the Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. It is Stella Does Spring. I think it needs another border to finish it up.

Before leaving on my trip Mr. O and I moved my sewing room upstairs to make ready for the big reno job in the basement. Surprisingly I was able to transform my front foyer into a temporary studio. (We use the side entrance) It's amazing what you can fit into such a small space.

Take a peek...

As you can see I have a cutting area, sewing station, a fabric storage area, a small collection of my books on top of the fabric cabinet, 2 rolling drawer cabinets for notions, and I even managed to squeeze in my printer for copying downloaded patterns etc. 

Busy days ahead with the reno's but I will try to drop a post in here and there. 

Happy Spring!

"When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?"

                                              Pam Brown