A little of this; a little of that...

Cooked a really yummy dinner today. Had company for dinner after church. Baked pork loin chops in mushroom and onion sauce,garlic mashed potatoes, green beans seasoned with onion bits and chopped red peppers, carrot and turnip strips glazed with maple syrup and orange marmalade. Oh yeah and hot flaky rolls and cherry almond coffee cake with fresh whipped cream. I meant to take a few pics, but got busy with trying to make sure everything was piping hot at the same time...this is the best I could do...after the fact.

I made a few fabric purchases

I also purchased this 12" square piece of fabric. It was so cute and I couldn't resist.

 One never knows when one might need a small piece of Norman Rockwell fabric. 

Have added a few new books to my library. One was a birthday gift, one was a friendship/thank you gift, and one was in my goody bag at retreat. Some lovely patterns in them...I am going to have to concentrate on finishing my huge UFO pile so I can move on to a couple new projects!

Another friend was out shopping and happened across this little item and thought of me immediately. She said it looked like it belonged on my computer desk. I wonder why...

While our son was home last month he introduced us to Netflix. It is an on-line movie library. The first month is free and $7.99 each month afterwards. Lots and lots of movies to watch, all separated by genre. Mr O and I do not have television and occasionally rent movies, but that can be quite pricey. Netflix is a far better deal for us.

Saturday night I sat back in my comfy chair with my knitting and watched a couple of old classics. "Yours Mine and Ours" starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda; and this one...do you recognize these scenes?

Take a guess... and I'll let you know the name of the movie on my next post...

I am told we have another batch of snow coming tonight/tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I think we have enough in our neighbourhood. These shots were taken AFTER the snowplow and blower were by to cut down the banks in anticipation of this weekends storm.

Good thing they cut down the banks eh?

Ponder this for awhile...

Where does the white go when the snow melts?

Whirrr and B-rrr (warning* long post!)

I know you hear it all the time, but really...where do the days go? It seems like one day you are booking a date for a retreat and Wh-irrr! ...now it history!
It was a good weekend though. We had another big storm
( B-rrr) but all were safe and cozy in the retreat center so all was well.

Even though it is a good bit of work and planning, the ladies are all so appreciative and such good sports, it really is a pleasure to plan.


The last couple of years we have sort of decided on a theme and planned around that. You might remember I posted here  that we had a "Green" theme last year, with recycling being a big part of our demos.


This year we were inspired by our "Easy" buttons to have a "That was Easy" retreat. All of the demos, and make and takes were very simple but clever ideas.


We did fat quarter aprons...super easy! These babies do up in no time and they are reversible!
http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/2010/07/210-apron-tutorial.html


Here's mine...

I made another one at retreat that you will catch a glimpse of in a later photo. Makes a great gift by itself or paired up with a cookbook.

We did sausage pillow cases...also super easy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLnrC9yo8tY

We made ridiculously easy sewing machine covers.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/sewing-machine-cover

Here's mine gussied up with a few cast off doilies. (We provided each of the ladies with a basic kit to make their own)

We also showed another easy tea towel project.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/gadget-travel-tote

you will see that in a group pic later as well.

We demoed quick and easy tv table ironing boards.

http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2010/01/a-woman-a-plan-an-inexpensive-tv-tray-new-pressing-board.html

Some of you may have odd sized ironing boards, like the little travel ones or the big wide boards. It isn't so easy to find new ironing board covers for those sizes, but we gave a demo for making an easy replacement version.

http://thecozyquilter.blogspot.com/2010/11/job-i-have-been-avoiding.html

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2008/01/super-easy-iron.html

Some super easy wall art for your sewing space and beyond.

http://team-t-adventures.blogspot.com/2009/08/simple-cute-wall-art.html

A charm pack table topper with ric-rac (each gal received a spool of ric-rac in her goody bag)

http://www.aquiltinglife.com/2009/03/charm-pack-table-topper.html

We also demoed a super easy way to sew charm squares in straight rows and with 3 strategically placed cuts and a little shuffle, end up with a quilt on point!

http://lynbrown.com/?p=721

I asked my friend if she minded me taking her pic and she jokingly (I think) said "yes she minded" so I sort of cropped her out, but you can see what she was demonstrating to us.

We had our regular Friday night Bingo...

...you buy your cards with a spool of 100% cotton thread and yup, you guessed it, the prize is a basket of thread. 

At one point we used to pay with fat quarters, but have since changed it to thread and that seems to be a big hit. I mean what quilter wouldn't want to win a basket of cotton thread? We play for one line and the winner gets 20 spools of thread; then we continue on the same card to get the outside border of the card for I think 30 spools, and then continue further for a full card and the winner gets about 80 spools.  I may have the numbers wrong, but you get the idea. It is always a lot of fun and it is self funded, so a great hit with the planners as well as the retreaters.

Even with all that going on I still had time to work on my own quilted project

It's amazing what you can pack into a weekend with just a little bit of time a some extra caffein!

You know you are drinking too much coffee when you can thread a sewing machine while it's running!

Sieze the day!

I read a quote in an old Home Companion magazine the other day and it stopped me dead in my tracks. "If only we knew when a magical moment was taking place for the last time...we rarely ever know until we look back...take note of this experience. Enjoy. It won't happen again."

They don't have to be celebrations, or star studded moments, just the ordinary day today experiences that exit without the opportunity for farewell.

Since my last post we have said goodbye to the senior Mrs. O.

Rose passed away on Jan. 25th very quietly with just Mr. O and I by her side. No chance now for unsaid words, thoughts or deeds. Only our memories to keep her with us.

It is hard to say goodbye to someone who has been such a part of your life for so many years.

Rose Anna Ouellette nee Boutet

November 19, 1914  January 25, 2011

Rest In Peace

After the funeral we made plans to go to visit a few dear dear friends in Newfoundland. 

One of those friends is in the latter stages of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). A kind and gentle, fun loving man who has been a part of our lives for over 35 years. 

It was a very emotional visit. We were reliving old memories and got to looking at photos. His wife shared with me that she missed having his arm around her; not a hug but just an arm around her. Such a simple gesture that we probably take for granted every time we get a photo taken, but that is gone for her.

Reinforcement to me to stop and enjoy and appreciate all the small things that make up my day. 

Have a good day my friends.