Pati here

I actually got some creative work done in the studio today. That was after a hurried shopping trip. Yesterday evening we got an e-mail from the local artists' supply store telling us that artists' canvasses were on sale-no date or time-just notice of a sale. So we were there shortly after opening today and bought 11 of them, along with three more tubes of paint. I have an idea of how they could be used, and that may eventually happen,--maybe--but I just couldn't pass up a good sale. We even found a good place to store them until the day they actually get used. And then--tada--David bought himself a new sweat jacket. I can't remember the last time he bought clothing for himself.

I think we're getting quite blase about lotteries. There was a big winner in Manitoba recently. Fellow from Victoria Beach (?)won over $11,000,000. Waited two weeks to claim his prize and there was a very small notice in the paper on a back page. He didn't even make a fuss about it, but rather just took the ticket to the corner store to check it out. And I get excited matching 3 numbers on 649!

Cathy, thank you for giving us an update once in awhile. We haven't forgotten about it, but sometimes it's better not to ask, and let you tell us at your own pace. Do you see any light at the end of the tunnel, or is this just an exercise in futility?

Actually working!

Seems like forever since I had a chance to play in the studio. I Decide to play wiht someof hte gelatine prints I did to demonstrate the technique. So far, it looks like this will just become a small contribution to my crap quota. I had used adhesive spreading combs while making them and I've been FMQ'g along the resulting lines ( more or less) Of course, I picked the best of the bunch to experiment on. It is mainly black with some red on a white background ( very little white). I'm quilting with scarlet rayon thread, in, more or less parallel lines. I'm finding that my ability to do FMQ'g in straight or curved lines needs some work, but then I've been doing a lot of very fine stippling recently, which involves a whole different skill set.

During the recent retreat, I found out about two different opportunities to enter exhibitions, both of which may turn out to be travelling exhibitions. I think I might want to explore both of these further. So I'm thinking about what to enter. Many years ago I started apiece that I call "Snow and Red Berries". It, too, became part of my "crap quota", but the image and concept has stuck in my brain. Just before I went away, I did a piece in my painting class that brought the whole idea back to the forefront--a silly little piece that I ended up calling "Red Berries in Snow". I know my skill level has improved over the years, and now I have couple of other techniques that could work with this, so I'm seriously thinking of starting the piece all over agian. I know I could do it better, and it would fit the theme, ( Canadian Content), and a new piece could be made into the dimensions that are required. The theme is more important than size, for the second show--Pathways--but my concept of quilted labyrinths could work quite nicely there.

So my muse is wandering around the studio. Now I need to convince her to sit down and start talking to me.

Be - a long week over and now it is Friday

I finally cleaned the bathroom today here at home and what a feeling of accomplishment. There seems to be no time to do any of my housecleaning. Been at Mothers three days this past week - her house is clean, laundry done, and a bath given. Today I made a banana loaf in one of those silicon baking forms. Apparently you need to put the form inside a metal loaf pan to bake it, otherwise it flops all over. Have you used these forms for muffins or loaves? I also made a pizza with a yeast crust. It was really good and not all that much fuss. While the dough was rising for "1 to 2 hours" I walked uptown to put my medications prescription into the Pharmacy, and to buy a Lotto Max. There is a quaint little storefront called The Red Brick Cafe on the mainstreet so I dropped in and bought myself a Chai Latte. What a treat! Small happy moments go a long way..... I have another appointment with the Eye Surgeon for Nov 19. The office called me today and said the Doctor prefers to make the appt at the hospital so that if he needs to do Laser he has it all available - makes me think that he thinks I'll need more laser - not too reassuring for me but maybe I am being too pessimistic? Should be getting some rain / snow tonight just in time for Hallowe'en. I have found a feather face mask in my box of decorations and will put it on with a colourful caftan to answer the door. It always surprises the little ones coming for treats, and helps me get through the evening when I would rather just go to bed! Hope you have a real scary weekend - Take care

What Winter Storm?

Neepawa seemed to be in the eye of the storm this week. 10 miles, north, east and west of us were hit, and I am not sure how far south it started but we only had wind and rain. And talk about wind! We lost one of the large evergreens on the south side of the house, along the road. It just snapped off in the wind. We only have one row of trees there, so we will have to replace it next spring. The new tree will be much smaller and of a different variety, but the alternative is losing what little privacy we have. I had trouble keeping the car on the road, so Jim didn;t even try the van. Things are much quieter this morning. We had our intervention interview yesterday (yes, she made it from Winnipeg) It went quite well. She review everything that had been said, but it was compiled and somethings were put together. I could spot things I had said, and things she told me had been said about me, but there was lots more. I think everyone got something out of it. We how have to compile our own office listing of what we want to keep, what we want to stop and what we want to change. Could be an interesting program. On the other hand everyone in the office was polite and talking to each other and even joking. JIm has a dentist appointment in Brandon this morning so he is driving me to work early. I guess it is time to eat and get ready.

Over the limit

Pati here
Unless you're driving--what difference does it make? Maybe your mistake was in asking your doctor?? Of course I'm a woman who went through half a mickey of Southern Comfort in three days, while on retreat.

Actually, I've had a supposed coffee restriction for several years. I limit myself to one large mug of regular and stick to decaf the rest of the time--as much as I want--until recently. The Furosimide comes with a warning to avoid coffee. In my mind I said I was okay with my regime, but I started having problems, so have had to cut back to one regular and two decaf in 24 hours. I'm going to try to cut back to one mug period, but am having some problems with that, although I'm down to one and one now. Not feeling nauseous and not having a throbbing headache is acting as a good incentive, but my brain keeps saying that there must be a definitive line I shouldn't cross, that I just haven't found yet.

The wind arrived here today, although it's been raining for three days now--cold nasty rain. Today we had to run all of our errands in windy rain, along with grocery shopping. Now we're in a position to stay indoors for two days--thank Goodness.

Be - Quick before the wind blows me away...

The winds are certainly strong and gusting just like the forecast predicted. Fortunately so far there is no precipitation to go along with it. Lots of blackouts all over a very broad geographic area. The power keeps flickering and will go out just long enough to make the electric clocks flash and the computer to go off. So I shall make this note short. I see that south western Manitoba has been blasted with snow so I imagine Cathy has been affected but not sure if Winnipeg has yet? I have worn shawls my whole life. I love them and never realized that they might have gone out of fashion and are now back in fashion. I have two white knitted ones, and also several woolen coloured ones I wear with my winter coat. I wore the white ones at work because it was always cold sitting at the computer so you have the right idea Patty to throw one around your shoulders. Maybe you could knit yourself another in your spare moments - better still have you thought of setting up a loom, and weaving? On the other hand, just go shopping!
Annual Doctors appt today, which included the usual probbing but also a flu vaccine and I am starting to feel sore now. Also she delighted me by saying I am soon due for another colonoscopy. Who said my life wasn't fun! She cautioned me that on a daily basis I am over on what is acceptable for number of coffees, and on a weekly basis I am over what is acceptable for number of glasses of wine! So I am in a quandry now - what should I do about it?
Anyway, take care for now.....

Books

I took the book Scarlet Feather, by Maeve Binchy, with me to the retreat, to read in my spare moments, not realizing that I had read it before. The first time I was so involved in the story that I think I missed that the book is all about dreams and aspirations. A second thread running through it, is that we shouldn't loose sight of the things that are really important in life, in order to feed and follow our dreams. This has given me much food for thought in my eternal struggle to figure out my life. Good book. I recommend it. I've also read the preceding book, although each of them stands quite nicely alone.

At the retreat I was quite taken with some of the younger ladies wearing and knitting shawls. When I'm sitting at the computer inthe evening I often wrap an afghan around myself, but it never quite covers. So today I bought a shawl. Quite soft and not very substantial, man made fibre, of course. Bright pink and grey, and very warm and cozy. I don't know if this is a fashion trend or not, but I think I could get very used to wearing it.

It's over--home again

and totally "fuzzy-brained". All went well, and the participants expressed that they were very pleased with both the venue and the activities. I'm not sure that the organizing committee will ever speak to each other again, but since we have a meeting next Monday, it'll probably happen. I made some good contacts. One of my friends, a master weaver, went, but was feeling very out of place before things started. The ladies were very welcoming, and you could see her "blossom" as the days went on. It was a very good thing to witness. Towards the end, in one of the discussion groups, the tag line to our title (on the website), was changed to accomodate those members who are not "dyed in the wool" quilters. During this discussion, there had been about 5 minutes when you could visibly see everyone making adjustments in their thinking. what life-altering type of experience.

So today, I do laundry.

Sunday again

THe time sure seems to be flying by again. Already its the last week of October. And, of course, all the AGMs are happening. I am at a meeting in Portage today, and I have 2 meetings on Tuesday. And next Saturday is the Wine Tasting. I had no intention of going, but it seems that I am going to be helping in the kitchen, so I guess I will be there. The weather is turning cool now, so I guess our extended summer is over. They are even forcasting the dreaded "S" word for next week! At least the roads will be good today for travelling. Jim is entering his winter mode again. He no longer heads outside to "putter" every day. At least we had time to get all our fall work done. Actually, some of our flowers got confused by the weather and started to bloom again, so we left them in the garden. Jim wanted to get some more onions planted for spring, but he hasn't done it yet, so he may have to make do with what is there. He took the deck off the tractor and put the snow blower on last week. I was hoping that that would mean no snow, but I guess I was hoping for too much. We get another visit from the Respectful Workplace intervention person on Tuesday. It has been about 6 weeks since she came. I wonder what will come of it. I have a roast in the slow cooker for supper tonight, so when I get back from my meeting supper will be ready. I have been craving some kind of roast for a while now. Another sign of winter. BBQing is over and the oven gets turned on again. Good thing I cleaned it. (even if it did start a fire!) I slept in yesterday and ended up staying up until after midnight. Naturally, I woke up at 5:30 this morning and didn't get back to sleep. Feast or famine! Maybe that means I will get a good sleep tonight. I have to phone the Respectful Workplace person at 7am tomorrow for my review. Nothing like trying to come across as a good person when you are half asleep! I should have held out for 3pm... then I could have left work early! Almost time to leave for Portage. Have a great week!

Be - here I am again.....

Saturday morning and the sun is shining and I have a coffee sitting close at hand so all must be well! Hope I find you both equally as "well".
I know Patty is at the retreat in St Norbert, and Dave is taking over her sales table in Steinbach, and Harry is at the Flea Market, and Beth is at the computer at long last, so what is Cathy and Jim up to? I was tempted to telephone you this morning but remembered getting you up from a nice sleep in last time I felt so impetuous - so choose not. haha
There is still so much that has to be done outside to prepare for winter but this past week I have felt less than ambitious. I had laser surgery on BOTH eyes on Tuesday and have been trying to take it easy (ha) I will not be able to take an active part in Curling again this Monday evening but decided I would go out on the ice and "shadow" one or more of the rinks observing what I can of the players and interactions. That way when I actually do get to play, I might have a bit of an advantage rather than coming in cold turkey (or maybe not..?)
So, I better get on with my chores. Everyone have a great weekend and count down to Hallowe'en. I plan to carve a pumpkin today to put on the stairs. Boo...Take care

Be - Here I am

It really feels good to sign on and read all sorts of messages. I have not had much of a chance to sit at the computer lately but Harry went to the auction this afternoon. Yesterday I experienced another retinal tear - in my good eye - so I am feeling a bit down right now. I shall stay home tomorrow instead of going to Mothers and call the Doctors office right at 9 am in hopes I can get in asap. If I can go tomorrow I shall drive up and then Harry will come to get me after he is done at Mothers. I will have to leave my car in North Bay and retrieve it on Tuesday when we go up. I hope all shall be OK. I just made two pumpkin chiffon pies with intention to take one to Mike on Tuesday (or maybe tomorrow ifI can get into the Drs.) We have a family of racoons in our front yard - they come to feed atthe bird feeder and in the morning are scared into the trees. It is quite a sight to see them clinging at the very top branches - sleeping most of the day, but also a bit sad as they should be in the bush and not our yard.
Hopeyour week will be super Patty as you sound very excited and also very organized. Thank goodness for "lists" - I could not get by without them. Cathy, always take a big breath and put a smile onyour face before you open the office door. It helps to get you over the first hurdle of actually "entering". Take care to you both.

You two put me to shame!

I am starting to feel quite guilty about enjoying my holiday. Okay, not that guilty. Yesterday we did pretty much nothing. We cleaned the office and went home and watched television. I finished a book I was reading. Of course it was so windy you had to bend into the wind to walk, so outside work didn't appeal to us. I did get the fridge and stove clean (and yes, it really stinks) I can probably one up you on the stove, because something in mine caught on fire. I washed my floors, too, but I am not happy with the results. I used my swiffer wet jet and the floors are all streaky. I think it is time to buy a new mop (despite what the television commercials say) and really give the floors a wash. The all you can eat fish fry was on Friday. We worked meat draw again and it was quite busy. The food was really good. I asked for only a small scoop of cole slaw and corn, 1/2 a scoop of fries, and FOUR large pieces of fish. I can't believe I ate the whole thing. This week should be quiet for me. No meetings until next Sunday and then things take off again. I might have a VCC exec meeting. We received a very strongly worded letter of "disgust" at how our current show was handled. We are actually contemplating asking this woman if she would consider mentoring our program director. She did make some very valid comments in her letter and we would really like to turn her hostility into support for us. We'll see. Today may be another day of nothing (at least if I have my way) It is back to work tomorrow.. I noticed that when we went into clean on Saturday, I practically turned into a raving bitch the second I walked in the door. I really need to temper that when I am with my co-workers! We did get a storm door on Tuesday and Jim installed it right away. He had to make some adjustments so we now have an extra high step as we walk in, but I am getting used to it. It should make a difference this winter and keep the frost from creeping all around the door. We didn't pull the flowers at the office this week. It was on our agenda to do, but the darn things were blooming with the warm weather and looked better than they had all summer!!! We should do it this week because we are starting to get frost every night now. Even close to the buildings in town by now I would think. Jim will give one more water to the grass he planted here and then the hoses will go away for the winter. (I think) He is hoping for a light snowfall that he can put more grass seed down on. I am hoping for more warm weather. I have a feeling that his hope will be fulfilled before mine is. Well, I am off to do nothing again today and I intend to enjoy it.

What a day!

When I was planning for my volunteer shift at the art gallery in Selkirk yesterday, I was mainly concerned aobut having enough hand work with me to keep me busy. No worries! There were 47 people through the gallery in the five hours I was there. These weren't people who walked in , walked around and walked out. These people stayed and talked and asked questions. The fellow trying to teach a watercolour class was blown away, and he volunteers there regularly. The norm is probably closer to 6-8 people in a day. It was avery busy day and I was exhausted when I got home.
Very gratifying , in that I was able to get a lot of general feedback on the three pieces I have there. One in particular got a lot of attention. It was a great chance to talk about art quilting and what sort of thing qualifies as art quilting. The show contained both very traditional stuff and the very art-y stuff. A good range of styles--and skill levels. ( enough said about that!) One piece was hand-embroidered traditional "Red Work", and then hand quilted-the most tradtional piece there. I was lucky enough to meet the lady who made it, and was able to verify the info I was handing out. A good thing, as I was just going by my knowledge of the the tradtion and how it was done. Turned out I was right.
So now I'm having a cup of coffee and waiting for Amber to come to pick me up for the crafty fund raiser at Dalnavert Museum

time creeps up on you

Pati here-
The next week will be busy. Yes, time is catching up with me. I made my lists yesterday of everything that has to be done by Wednesday. Then I decided that I should give priority to the cold that suddenly hit me about 3:00 yesterday morning, and went to bed for a nap. I still feel "fuzzy", but I don't seem as stuffed up, so we carry on. Today I have to spend 5 hours volunteering at the gallery in Selkirk, which isn't a physically demanding job, and tomorrow I'm taking the little girls to a crafters brunch fund raiser. We get brunch and 5 different craft stations where we can try things out. Amber will be with us, and we'll have some crayons etc to keep Samantha occupied, while Jessica does her thing. At some point, either today or tomorrow, we have to go shopping so that we can finish the last few pieces of work for the sale next Saturday ( picture hanging wire and screw eyes), buy the gelatin to make 4 diferent trays of gelatin for print making at the retreat on Thursday, soup makings to use before we loose the turkey stock we made last Monday, etc. etc. And all of these things have to be done by bedtime Monday. And I have to pack for the activities at the retreat, my own personal needs, and the stock that David will need for the sale on Saturday. I head off for the retreat on Wednesday, and will be out of touch until late Sunday, or maybe even next Monday morning. Last Thursday we packe dthe "goodie" bags, and I think they will be quite adequate. I had been worried aobut them being "scant", but the other lady involved has done a great job of shopping on a budget. I have to say, I'm getting excited.

Be - I have missed so much

Just signing on now and surprised by all the news. I am so glad to hear Dave has had his surgery and from your last message all is OK so far. I know from speaking with him this summer that he was quite anxious about it all, so maybe an earlier date without much time to think was advantageous? Does he have to lay off the Poker games for awhile or can he do that with one eye? It has been beautiful weather lately hasn't it and we are wise to take advantage such as Patty's bicycling or Cathy's four wheeling. The night skies have been spectacular - I wish I were in Cathy's back yard in the dark and with her 180 degree visibility to truly enjoy the view but even here with the streetlights I was awestruck. Today it started to rain so perhaps it is all coming to an end. I need to rake more leaves as the maples are all dropping now. You would never believe by the looks of the yard that I had done any raking at all. I put up some
Hallowe'en decorations today so that helps to boost the morale a little bit.
Well tomorrow we bake Christmas cakes, so I had better get some rest. Hope all is well with you both. Take care

Safely home.

And a good nap. We have to see the opthamologist in his office at 8:30 tomorrow, when he'll take the bandage off. David will have to wear an eye shield while sleeping for the next while, and three different types of eye drops--all at different times of day. Last time I tried to give him eye drops it was a battle royal, so we'll see how that works out.

Wish us well

We got a call from the opthamologist, himself, today confirming David's eye surgery for tomorrow. We have to have him at Misericordia for 8:00. David had received a call last Wednesday letting him know that there was a chance of a cancellation and that he might be called a the last minute. Actually she told him to fast after midnight and give her a call at 9:00 to see if he would be able to have surgery at 11:00.

It is just so beautiful right now. And so appropriate to give thanks. We have made it out on our bikes for the last two days after almost a month of not getting out. After our ride today, we drove out to Steinbach to pick up a couple of jelly roll pans to use for gelatin printing at the retreat next week. A delightful ride, except we still had to fight our way through the construction on #1. We needed to find the Steinbach Legion, so that David wouldn't waste any time when he goes out for the sale on the 23rd. We expected a real hassle finding it, but wouldn't you know it was right across the lane from Dianne's home. She also gave me a plastic bag full of men's tie to use during the retreat, so David spent sometime to day opening them up to save the silk fabric--while he was watching the football game--and a good game it was--evidently.

Down Time

I started my holidays at 10am on Friday. The perfect holiday; a book and sunlight. I sat outside until it was time to go and work meat draw. It was surprisingly busy. I thought everyone would be outside but there were a lot there. Next week is the annual all you can eat pickeral fish fry. We are again working meat draw (don't ask... it just worked out that way) We already have our tickets for the fish fry. This year I will arrive hungry and say no to all the frills like mashed potatoes. Fish all the way. Today my baby girl turns 35. She is still my baby girl, but where did all the time go! I will be phoning her later. Maybe she knows were the time went. Yesterday we got all the stuff done in town that we needed so today and tomorrow we are free. We are planning a quad ride. We were only out once this summer, but since the weather is nicer now than it has been all year., we are off. Last night we built a huge fire in the pit and sat out for quite a while. Alan came over and he and Jim stayed out even longer. Yesterday the dogs were getting all excited so I checked. There was a baby weasel in the wood pile. We put the dogs inside and Jim had quite a conversation with it. It was chittering away and staring up at him. We finally had to scare it away because he was quite content to stay where he was, but we knew the dogs would get him. Tuesday JIm plans on borrowing a truck and heading to Brandon to pick up a storm door for the rec room. He found some good ones at the ReFit centre for about $50.00. It's an outing. I can't remember the last time I was in Brandon. Knowing Jim's culinary tastes, I will remember the A & W coupons when we go. Time to get the day started. Happy Thanksgiving to both of you.

Roller Coaster

You know how it goes. He was a Death's door Wednesday but today he's feeling great, up and walking around, and wanting to go home. Darren told us that the doctor has taken him off all medication. He's still in both kidney and liver failure. Darren said this morning that he's going to take the girls out for a visit and then tell all concerned that he won't be able to get out every day--he's losing money with not being able to work. We were concerned about him having to pay cash for funeral costs and hope to be reimbursed out of the estate, but it turns out that his family owns a funeral chapel and there shouldn't be any problem.

My class yesterday was very interesting, and I know I learned a lot. Today was the last of the four classes that i got with my new sewing machine. The morning one was good, but about quilting, so very much in my comfort zone. The afternoon one was about programming the machine. The same woman taught them both and told us, before lunch, that the second one was very short and we should be away in less than an hour. However, didn't work out that way (Chaos Theory??), and we were still sitting there two hours later. As we were leaving, more students were arriving for the 3:00 class. Poor woman hadn't had a break since we arrived at 9:30, as she was working on the sale floor all during our short lunch break.

After, I went to Cre8ery Gallery, where an acquaintance had a one-woman show. I really had to get in there now as the show comes down on Tuesday. She had 365 individual pieces (small) all hooked together in a massive collage of her life. She works mainly in collage and acrylics, and for this show, has started to do image transfer. But--for this show she has also been working in stitchery. She told me that she had sold enough to show a profit on the show. When she was talking, she sounded surprised at the fantastic mob scene for the opening reception, and that pieces had been sold before the show even opened. But, she is a well-known person within the arts community, and I had read two very long,but flattering newspaper articles on the show. While I was there, several other people came in, and a couple of them mentioned hearing about it in the newspaper today. This is the same woman who taught the collage class that I took a couple of years ago, and started the piece that has been out in Selkirk for the past month. It's home now, but I have three pieces in the current show out there.

Anyway, I get to relax for the rest of the day. It's been so long, that I'm not sure I remember how! I was going to bake Red Velvet Cake from the "Just like Eaton's" recipe I have from Mom's box. I even bought the supplies! But I had a Freudian moment when I got home, and turned the oven on to "clean'. (I must have been channelling you Beth.) So we can't use it until tomorrow, so no cake. Too Bad! So sad! Yeah, it stinks, and it wasn't that dirty.
We are still expecting everyone for supper tomorrow, although Darren may take advantage and use the time to catch up on work.

Be - Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all

A message to you both as the weekend starts - don't know when I shall get back on. I am gasping for some fresh air as I sit at the computer. After supper I turned on the self cleaning oven - I always stay close by when it is on because I do not trust it getting so hot, but the smell nearly kills me. Does yours always smell toxic, or is it just because I allow my oven to get too dirty between cleanings?
I worked outside for over 5 hours today and have 30 bags of leaves to show for some of my work. I was laughing out loud all by myself because just as I raked up a pile of leaves and before I could get the bag in position a gust of wind would blow the leaves all over again - I thought it was great fun and for just a little moment felt like a kid playing in the leaves. It is a good feeling to be amused by small events like this and get great enjoyment from it especially when all alone ( unless a neighbour was spying on me in which case, too bad for them...)
The neighbours across the street from us are having another party tonight - they are a young couple with a 6 month old girl - and the partys are always very tame. But tonight they have a turkey cooker sitting on the driveway right in front at the road. Obviously they are cooking a turkey in hot oil. Reminds me of the time we did it at your place Cathy. And as it was there, the cooking of the turkey requires four or five men each with a drink in hand to stand around the cooker staring at the pot! It must state that requirement in the instructions, does it?
Have a good weekend if you can. The situation with Darrens Father does not sound too good Patty and even from the summer in speaking with Amber about it, she has been troubled with his care, and trying to support Darren. Iam thinking of them. She is fortunate that you are able to go to her house to watch Jessica and Samantha. And Cathy be sure to enjoy your time off this week. The weather is truly glorious so go for a walk along your trail and pretend I am with you Ok? Take care....

More about chaos theory

You know--where the theoryis that whatever you plan and however in depth the planning process can be--ultimately things will not work out according to plan.

I had my weekend planned down to when the turkey came out of the freezer and how many veggies to cook. Amber phoned to say that Darren's Dad has been moved into palliative care in Selkirk and had been given no more than 48 hours as of Wednesday afternoon. She had wanted to be with Darren at the hospital, so we we ended up with two little girls for the evening. We went there, which was much better for the little girls, but much harder on Grandma. So, the laundry didn't get done, and the cake not baked for Sunday. I'm busy most of tomorow and most of Saturday. And we're still on call for baby sitting, at any time.
So--a strong drink, and ot bed--in dirty sheets.

Selective munching

I have to admit that I really only like plain or ripple potato chips and hawkins cheesies. Does that make me a bad person?!?!? Jim took Glenda (his sister) to the airport today. She is off for home and only Michael remains. He leaves on Saturday I think. I get off work at 10 am tomorrow and I am off for the week. Tomorrow is my banked time and overtime. Mallorie basically told me that she didn't belive I had banked time but I could tell when I banked it. I was told I had to take it now, so I work 2 hours tomorrow and then I am gone. I was planning on using the time at Christmas but I better use it or lose it! I don't really mind because the weather is wonderful!! We have to work meat draw tomorrow and next week (just the way things happened) but that is okay. Next week is the fish fry.... all you can eat pickeral, potatoes and veggies! I think I will starve myself all day. Jim is hoping to buy a door for the rec room tomorrow. He is taking a local guy to Brandon for tests tomorrow and plans on stopping at the ReFit store. He sometimes takes people to their doctors appts. Just a community service I guess. He is here and not doing anything and they need a driver. If they get paid by veterins affairs, he charges them. If not and they can afford it , he charges gas. Otherwise he just does it. I spoke to Kris on his anniversary. I thought he would be out and I would get the machine, but they had take out pizza and (hold your breath!!) they were taking the garbage to the landfill later. . Does he know how to celebrate or what!!! I could not wake up this morning. When the alarm rang I was convinced that I had a two level coffee table by the bed and I was trying to hit the alarm on the lower level ... I have a small bedside table... no wonder I couldn't find the alarm. Bones is on now.... I had best go! LOve Ya

Health care system

Not pointing fingers--just saying Yu'know--but my expereience on both sides of the fence is that as long as you cope without complain, your case isn't given any priority. But you have a better persective on what it's like in your area.

Another painting class. These are so much fun, especially when I've given myself permission to have fun. Yesterday, the teacher was critiquing the piece I did inthe first class and she asked if that was my usual style. I told her that I didn't know as this was the first painting I'ld done., sinc eI was in my teens. That's when another member announced to the group that I was a quilter, not a painter. This lead to a discussion of how an understanding of the principles of art etc is transferable between genre's. The teacher had fun analyzing my painting as to how it reflected my background in quilting. Then the day;'s task involved painting a-more or less-abstract picture of the "forst floor". Well layering is what I do in my fibre work all the time! I had a ball! Afterward, I realized that this was the first time in ages that I've actually laughed out loud in public. This makes me believe that I've made a good decision in taking this year to play, and that I may be benefitting in more ways than one.

Is that how you see your violin lessons, Beth? Can the benefits be measured in more than one way? I've always believed that a little self indulgence is necessary for our well-being, especailly in times of stress. (Unfortunately sometimes I indulge more than a little, but if I don't do it now, when will I?) The violin is one thing that you do for only your own pleasure, and we all need that. I think the problem is that you haven't always been able to give it the priority that it, maybe, needs--and I know that isn't always something you can control, and that's frustrating.

So onward today, to make pies. I have to get he apples out of the fridge so that we can put the turkey in. Looks like a very busy weekend, and according to my claendar, a very busy month. For Saturday I actually found myself trying to figure out how to do two things at once! It's been years since I even thought of trying.

Be - can't resist those treats eh?

.as I logged on and was reading your message about sour cream chips I had my hand in a bowl of nacho cheese chips. I should know better but eating junk food is like a litmus test for me - I always start to stuff my face when things are a bit "off" in my life. Go figure...I should be 500 lbs by now if that were completely true haha ! Mothers homemaker is off sick for another month so it seems I get the honours for awhile yet. And this weekend should be fun as well, with all the family coming to enjoy themselves and Harry and I doing all the work - arg arg!
My violin instructor informed me Tuesday that now that I am in my third year I should be looking at buying a better quality instrument. Apparently I have a "cheap" violin, mass produced and without much hope of producing a better quality tone. She could take me to a violin maker in North Bay ( we actually have some of his music CDs) and have me try a few to get a perfect fit for my way of holding and fingering. This surprised me as I figured the new one I had would last me forever. I really did not intend in investing lot more money so I have some serious thinking to do. Maybe we should all win the lottery, OK? We went to a different corner store in town today to buy our tickets since our little store closed. It is farther but I guess won't be that inconvenient to access on our many outings (ie on our way to Mothers)
Well, tomorrow I shall start to prepare for the weekend - get pots out, and the shredder for the carrots and salad, and bowls for serving, and coolers/ice packs to store food and carry it all back and forth, and make cranberry sauce from the berrys we picked a few weeks ago -oh boy, I'm getting so excited just thinking about it!!
So long for now Take care ( don't forget that tonight we win the lottery, and if that is not enough, I also bought a Lotto Max for Friday night.)

Gotta love those drugs!!

Been to the dentist. Can't tell you much about it. I have been told that in less than an hour and a half, he hooked me up to a blood pressure cuff, and finger tip oximeter, and an IV drip, removed a crown, did a root canal, fixed a cavity, prepared me for a new crown, installed a temporary crown, and cleaned my four remaining teeth. Getting to the office was more stress than any thing else! We are definitely no longer used to rush hour traffic--especially when you add in all of the construction that is being so desperately being done before snowfall. I was a little "fuzzy brained" for a couple of hours afterward, and had a nap later in the day (emotional exhaustion??) Wow! This is the way to go! But at $400 a pop for the anesthetic, not something to be done often. I'll probably need to do it again when I have the permanent crown made, as I do remember hearing him tell the assistant to use permanent adhesive for the temporary crown. I wonder if that was really necessary, but I had told him that it would have to stay on until at least January--and probably longer.

Did I ever give you the update on our tires? We have been told that they are fine and there is no worry. Beth, you did a terrible, terrible thing when you turned us onto sour cream and green onion potato chips. All this talk about preserving food has been a bad influence as well. Yesterday in the store we found all sorts of fruit, at a price too good to ignore. So we bought the fruit and then had to buy all the other stuff you need to process it into things like banana bread and apple pies, for the freezer. Guess I know what I'm doing today.

Be - programing phones and other high tech stuff..

Well, I could not program the new phone we got for Mother - spent all weekend much to my dismay and great frustration. Like I really needed this confirmation of my ineptitude on top of everything else?? I called the company from Mothers this morning - it is in Tennasee - and they stated that the booklet that comes with the phone is not adequate and they will mail me a set of detailed printed instructions. OK! So maybe I am not so dumb. At the same time, I asked them about the problem we were having with Mothers current phone ( same brand name) and so I pulled out those instructions and was able to rectify the issue. Long story short - she keeps her current phone and we now own the new phone.
Tomorrow is the first violin lesson for me to start the fall session. I have not been able to dedicate much time to practice and I am sure that will be evident but I shall go anyway. I need something to hang on to.
Short but sweet note for now.......take care.

Feeling guilty

I just realized that I haven't posted since Tuesday! Sorry about that. My painting class proved to me that I'm no "Grandma Moses! The fellow I was sitting beside appeared to be on a par with me, and we both struggled with supplies and paint. The instructor did a picture to show us how ( we were painting clouds) and then set us loose. She was quite excited about a certain brand of paint, and I had actually bought several colours in that brand, but it turns out that Imissed one word in the title. Instead of Golden Fluid Acrylics, I should have bought Golden Open fluid Acrylics. The difference is in the drying time. My paint was drying faster than I could get it spread. Mess mess, mess! After struggling and getting negative comments from the teacher about both my use of colour and composition, I looked acrosss the room and saw the most interesting, well-done cloud picture!! Then I realized that the woman working on it is a well-known local artist--someone I've known for about 30years. We both taught out of the same building in Transcona when I lived on McMeans. And I'm in the same class as her!?? So now I've convinced myself that I'm not there to produce beautiful paintings, I'm there to learn as much as I can. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Then yesterday, we set out to see if I could buy a big jar of the white Open fluid acrylic paint, as we had been told that if the open acrylic is mixed with regular acrylic the whole mess adopts the characteristics of the open, and everything is mixed with white-right? Well, not only couldn't we find it, the people in the artists' supply store had never heard of it, and it wasn't in any of the literature. So I found a big bottle of "extender" which is supposed to lengthen the drying time in the same way, and I can mix it with any colour I want. I tried a bit yesterday, and it seems to work.

Yesterday, I had a private student who wanted to learn to machine quilt. First time I've done this, and it seemed to work out okay. I didn't give her any notes to take home, and I think I'm going to prepare some handouts, just in case it ever happens again.

No little girls this weekend, so it will be quiet. I'm fighting a cold, so maybe quiet is what I need. I have to go out to Selkirk to pick up the collage that has been on display out there for the past month, and I'm dropping off two quilts for this month's display. Wind and rain are keeping me off my bicycle. Today there was no rain, bright sunlight, and a minus sign in front of the temperature! I guess biking is over for the year.

Saturday morning in Neepawa

Jim told me to get the tea on and he would be right behind me.... Well, I have finished a whole pot of tea myself and he is still in bed. Never trust a man that wants the whole bed to stretch out on. Busy weekend ahead. We have to clean the office today; I have to do prep for dinner at the legion this afternoon; Jim's sister and nephew are still out and want to get together at the legion this afternoon; I have to go grocery shopping this afternoon and get a potato casserole ready for tomorrow, when we are having Thanksgiving dinner at our place! As for cleaning the house, I will be eternally grateful to the person that developed cardboard boxes. They hold so much stuff that you want to hide! Of course, whenever I do my "quick clean" I remember the time that Daddy and Phyllis called to say they were coming over to see our new apartment. Don and I hid everything in the bedroom closet, including dirty dishes. And what does Phyllis do as she tours the apartment? She says how much closet space do you have and opens the closet door. She closed it and never said a word. We still don't have the pool cleaned and put away. Jim ended up hauling potatoes last week because the guy Rodney works for was short drivers. They work 12 hour days! They are all done now, but I think Jim will do it again next year. I hope so. It gives him something to do with his time and he gets to interact with other people. It only lasts 2 to 3 weeks, so it is not a long term thing. I'm onto my second pot of tea and Jim has finally crawled out of bed. I guess we will have to start doing some of our work now. I would really like to get the pool done, but it is quite foggy out again and I am not sure we could find the pool. Hopefully it will burn off before we have to head into town. It is goose hunting season and Nika hates loud noises. I cannot get her out of the house in the morning. Yesterday she was outside but kept following me to work;. I had to turn around 3 times. I tried the rolled up newspaper spanking but I finallyhad to give in and let her inside. It is a good thing that I was leaving for work early because I just made it in time. Enjoy the weekend!

Be - Confessions...

...I sit here at the computer eating some Cool Ranch Nacho Chips and a glass of wine is close at hand. To celebrate the closing of that little store I mentioned last time, I took the dog on Wednesday evening purposefully down the "One Stop" trail, to buy a lottery ticket, and something such as chips as a remembance. Well, it turned out not to be as meaningful a trip as I imagined. On the way there she had a bowel movement which I cleaned up with the plastic bag I carry but it had a hole in it and I was soiled. So down the trail was a big rain puddle that I bent down to wash my hand but I had my white rubber clogs on and slipped on the wet mud and went down. On I went to the store and found that the OLG lottery machine was "down". I bought this bag of Nacho and came back home somewhat disappointed with the whole affair! So I intend to enjoy these chips no matter what because I think I earned them.
This week we have run all over trying to get Mothers troubles in order ie a new phone which did not work and we had to get a replacement ordered which we picked up today, and also a new bathtub faucet handle that broke in two as I scrubbed out the tub on Thursday. It is so old that there is no place that has a replacement. Harry has glued the broken one in hopes it will hold a bit longer! It is confirmed that Harry's brother and wife will be coming for Thanksgiving. We have drawn up the menus and started to buy some food as, per usual, Harry and I will be doing the catering! We saw Mike for a bit today in North Bay. He passed his course in SSM to qualify on a new huge Military truck, and is likely going to be able to instruct now in this vehicle as well as others. This is the man who still does not have his civilian drivers licence.
Well, my tummy is full now with Nachos so I better sign off - hope you both have a good weekend. Anxious to hear about your new lessons that started this week Patty? Our computer has been uncooperative for last two weeks - even with Harry defraging it, it is slow and each letter I type has to be done individually or else it won't appear. Very frustrating!
Take care.....