I Think I Just Volunteered?

I went out this week to ice skate with my grandson. I did not do well on the hockey skates that I rented. I learned to skate on speed skates. Years ago I threw out my old relics. I contacted the local speed skating club to see about getting a new pair and to check out their adult program as I thought it would be a way to get some exercise in the winter. The president of the club told me that they would provide me with a pair free of charge to use if I would come out and help coach the little ones as at this time the parents are having to do it and sometimes they don't have somebody that skates and are on the ice in their boots. I am going to give it a try. I have not skated for many years but the guy told me that I won't have to go fast. This will get me out of the house, help me get back into doing something I used to love and probably will again. Who knows, maybe I will get back into good enough shape that I can compete in the masters. Wouldn't that be a hoot. It sure will help to give me some motivation in getting fit again even over the summer. I am excited about this. I have not felt this way for a long time. I sure hope my body cooperates with me.

Just a neat little aside: One of the parents that was involved when my kids speed skated is a starter ot the oval in Vancouver. I was watching and low and behold there was Yves. He is one of the guys that says REEAADDY (in that funny slow and low and calm voice) then shots the gun. It was so fun to see him there. I bet he is having the time of his life. Gosh, I should have stayed with it all, I could have been a lap counter or a line judge or the ultimate fantasy, the starter. You do have to take a lot of classes and work a lot of meets to get to that level. So Neat!

He's So Cute

That is what Sammy says but in reality let me ask who is the cute one in this picture? Sammy was so happy because Libby Beans decided that she wanted to sit with him on his chair. I think in reality, Beans just wanted to see what Sam was having for lunch. I told Sammy that Libby Beans was a girl. In Sam's brain all animals are HE and in Sam's brain almost all of them are cute.





I had an eventful day that ended with girls night out at the theater to watch New Moon. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. There is something about being in a room with so much estrogen hooting and giggling and clapping and swooning that just cracks me up. Now I am just plumb tuckered out and I am ready to go to bed. I have lots to do tomorrow so in a nutshell this is all you get folks. If you want to be entertained hop on over to Becky's. She had an eventful evening and has just about enough energy left to do a great post. You sure won't want to miss out hearing about the HEX and all and to hear about her take on the movie adventure. Hop on over to Mellisa's for another fab movie review. I am too tired to do it justice or to make sense. Oh, Thanks Jen for getting the tickets and for making them so special. It was a blast.

Happy Socks

Look what I found in the mail yesterday!! They are from Fluffy. They are a perfect fit and comfy as can be. These socks have just put me into a whole new sock bracket. The only problem with that is that I have never knit socks and I am not sure that I can pull that off. They are not easy to do. I think that as soon as I get some of my other projects finished, I will have to give it the old college try.

Fluffy named the socks Happy Socks and yes, they do indeed make me feel happy. You can't really see the design in these pictures. They have a nice design knitted into them that I like very much. She has also in the past sent me a pair of fantastic mittens and smaller versions of the Happy Socks for Hannah and Abby. Those little Happy Socks are adorable. Now I can match!

Thank you ever so much Fluffy. That made my day.

The Mallory Todd

This morning started with a gentle shake from my husband. Squinting my eyes I tried to get my eyes to focus on the clock. Why is he waking me up at 6:30? Ohhh...the Mallory Todd day. Ahhh! She does not sail until 9:30! I roll over. Please let me sleep another half an hour. Please....

Down at the docks we can not find any ship to match the description of the ship we are to sail on. We are sure that we got the instructions right. We get back into the car and go down the road a little and check another dock where we think it might be. It is not there. With sinking hearts we head back to where we were before. It is past the time that we were supposed to be there. We are sure that we have missed the boat! We decide that we might as well look around seeing as how we are there. David spots a tall mast. He thinks it is pulling away. I suggest we go a wave goodbye to it. We go to do that and find that our ship is just pulling in. We could not find them because they had gone down the lake somewhere to empty the head! We made it after all!

Here she is. She is a beauty. It started raining as we got aboard. It quit raining just as we were docking. Go figure!We did not get to see her in all her glory with the sail unfurled because it was too windy. We had to go with motor power.

The person who owns this schooner regularly gives free cruises to many different groups. The crew are all volunteers. there were only five of us passengers on this trip. There were just as many crew. I think that they love doing it though. Who would not like a chance to go out in this boat?

Down below. It was very cozy and we were welcome to hang out there as well as above.

John get to be at the helm for about thirty seconds. I know that he would have loved to have been there longer. It was like taking candy away from a child. I think that he looks handsome. He is growing him cookie duster back. Soon he will look like himself again.

For Fluffy

Look what came in the mail last week! Little baby Fluffy socks! I love them. Fluffy made them and sent them for Abigail. I waited to post about them because I wanted them to be a surprise. I took them with to the baby shower.

We tried them on. They are big but they sure make nice slippers. They match her outfit. I think Abigail likes them. Thank you ever so much Fluffy.

This motivated me to get to work! I assembled everything that I would need.

I sharpened the tools. I think some of them are still a bit dull. I am going to get John to take a look at them for me. They have to be a sharp as you can get them. Dull blades cause injuries.

It is a messy business. I did not require any band aids today.

I worked five hours on it today. I decided against carving cats. I am doing Saskatoon berries instead. I am going to tuck a surprise in the box.

The top of the nesting box is finished. I did have some troubles with it. I am used to carving on much sturdier wood. You can see, I caused a small crack. I am hoping I can hide it with wood filler. I think the wood was too dry as well. I am going to humidify it before I try to do any more. Now all I have left to carve are the sides and find my paints. I have looked all over the place for them and I don't have a clue where I put them. I may have to wait a couple of weeks for Becky to bring me her paints. I forgot to take them home with me when we were out there last weekend.

Voila!

Son Of A Gun!

Son of a gun! While out in my husbands world, otherwise known as the garage, I noticed a spray bottle of some type of solution in amid the myriad of other tubes and bottles and jars and cans. It is called Son Of A Gun. That is what is in the bottle. Son of a gun! You never know what you will find in the garage, well at least my husbands garage. What? You would like me to go back out there and see if I can determine what the hoink it is used for? There are dead spiders and flies and goodness knows what else up there with all the bottles and tubes! I look but I do not touch, at least that is what the instructions are regarding stuff in the garage. He probably leaves the bugs there on purpose. I made the mistake of thinking I was helping him by cleaning the garage once. Whew! That got me in big trouble. He couldn't find anything. He can't find anything unless it is a mess, then he can find stuff. The item he is looking for can be right in front of his nose but he can't find it unless there is a pile of clutter on top of it.

I love picking on him. I have been doing it for just about 35 years now. He is used to it. Usually the worst response I get is the eye roll and the look. This just makes me laugh. Sometimes he says: "Woman...get a brain!" That is the response I got yesterday, along with the eye roll and the look, when I commented on the noises he makes when he drives. It sounds like he is making driving noises to me. He claims that he is humming! I do not know what getting a brain has to do with any of this. Ha! He makes me laugh. That is one of the reasons that I love him so much.

Yesterday was his birthday. You would think that I could go one day without teasing him wouldn't you? For those who know him, they will understand how hard that is. It is apparent to me that others just love to tease him too. That is why he got this card from his kids.

Do you know how fast you were going over that hill?
Happy Birthday!

Anyway, we all went out and celebrated. We had supper at an authentic Italian restaurant. They make their own pasta. Fantastic! Even my grandson Noah loved his spaghetti although it would be more accurate to say he loved his Parmesan cheese with a little bit of spaghetti to go with it. He loves that cheese so much that he will eat it right out of the bowl.


Even little Abigail had fun. After a nice nap she enjoyed being passed around and held by all in attendance. She is so adorable, all the other patrons at the tables near us could not keep their eyes off her.
Who could keep their eyes off her! I even love her crinkly ears. Her poor little ears got all squished up. They are starting to relax and straighten out. She is a bit yellow in this picture. She is even more yellow today. Mommy and daddy are taking her in right now. Grandpa and I are waiting for Noah to get here and we will play with him while Abigail goes to see the doctor.

Out For Lunch...

Another title for this post could be: Just A Couple Of Ladies Out Doing Lady Things, but I think I will go with : Out for Lunch And Supper And Dessert... What a perfect day! I was out on the town for 9 blissful hours. The afternoon started with a delightful lunch at one of my favorite places. It was hard to make a decision on what delectable item to indulge myself with.

Follow that with a little shopping in adult company. I love my grand children and do enjoy being out and about with them but shopping in ladies dress shops tests them to the max and consequently tests their mom's and grandma's sweet loving natures. It does not matter very much that I couldn't find even one nice top. Hmmm...I really hate the styles out there right now. Everything is way too form fitting. That is fine if you have a lovely form. I do not like every roll and dimple to show. Ughh! That was the only imperfect part of the day but I did find a new pair of jeans and will take them in to get hemmed next week after I wash them. I did not pre-wash the last pair and ended up with a pair of flood pants which I can now get rid of and no longer have to feel like such a complete dweeb.

We had supper at a wonderful Thai restaurant. I have not had a girls night out for a long, long time. It was fun to be able to girly talk. After that the night became even better. We had a private concert that a dear friend gave for us girls. She sings like an angel and I enjoyed every song she sang. We were served girl food. What could be better than decadent chocolate cake and coffee.

I decided not to participate in the outdoor hot tub festivities. The company would have been great but it is too FREAKING COLD for my fragile constitution! I am convinced that they are just a little crazy. The first thing that makes me dig in my heals and say "no thank you" is the fact that you have to walk from the house semi naked to get to the tub. Just the thought of this makes me shiver. Anybody who sits out in minus twenty something in water and and laughs at the outrageous hair styles they can create due to the fact that their hair freezes instantly has to be just a little nuts. I do hope that they took pictures. Maybe I should have gone watched from the house. I must admit, that would have been very entertaining!

Etsy Store and Pay It Forward

Etsy Store

This is something entirely new to me. It probably is not new to you but I am sure that you have been around the whole internet world much more than I have. What a fun thing. An Etsy store sells homemade and vintage items on line. Fab Grandma Karen has just opened her own store selling some of her handmade items. I love her aprons and she is going to draw names to give away a Wait Book: crayon and paper tote that is fantastic to take anyplace that your children have to sit quietly like the doctor's office. I want one because this is how I store my crayons:



Go on over and check out her store and enter her contest. I am interested in opening my own Etsy store too. What do you think? I could sell woodcarvings and knitting. Maybe the girls and other family members would like to sell things on there too. It could be really fun.

Pay It Forward

Paying it forward from Jientje's blog. This is how it works. Jientje has won a handmade item from the blog site that she entered the game at. Now she is going to pay it forward by making something for three other people one of who is moi! Yes! I won and I am going to receive a lovely Belgium lace item hand made by herself! EEEEEEE! I am so excited. Now ladies and possibly one or two gentlemen, it is time for me to pay it forward too so here is your chance. A note to Fluffy...I am working on your box. Hehehe! I have not forgotten. I wanted to finish it by Christmas but hangs head in shame maybe in February. You can still play this if you want as well. I can do a picture frame that matches your box!

The Rules are quite simple:

1. Be one of the first three bloggers to leave a comment on this post, where the first word in the comment is "Yes". By saying "Yes" as the first word, you signify you want to participate in this give away. Being one of the first three to say "Yes" will then entitle you to a handmade item from me. So...that could be a knit item or a woodcarved item. That is about all I know how to do. You don't want me to experiment on you do you? That would be a very brave thing and you may not be happy with the results!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they then must Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first three bloggers who say "Yes" in a comment on THEIR post.

3. The gift that you send to your three friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the spirit and the thought that count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love!

5. If you are not one of the top three commentors on today’s post, you’re still a winner in this Time of Grace and Giving. Please take this symbol of the seasonal spirit and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward Chain, and encourage your bloggy friends to do the same!

Seward Park

Majestic Cedars

The Mighty Has Fallen

Tree Slide

Stairs To Nowhere

Green Ferns

We had a beautiful walk. Our cheeks are rosy. I have more pictures. It was hard to choose which ones to post. I love the old feel to the park. It is magical. It reminds me of the forest in The Lord Of The Rings. I even thought I saw an Ent. Can you see his face?

Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to post today. Wouldn't that have been funny...make it almost to the end and forget to post?

Today is the American Thanksgiving so we had it off too. We did not feel like making ourselves a turkey dinner and did not want to waste the day sitting around in the apartment so we headed out on an adventure.

First we went to a new grocery store, the QFC. Their produce and selections beat out the Safeway up on Capital Hill area. It reminds me of the Safeway we have at home complete with Starbucks samples. yum...mocha mint and a small piece of banana bread while we waited at the till! The store was quiet. I am sure this is because most of the people are at home stuffing themselves with holiday delights.

Second we went to the Washington State Arboretum. This place is a huge forest like area that has about 20,000 trees and shrubs. I forgot my camera! Don't cry...we will be going back there often, maybe even tomorrow if it is nice out. This park puts the forestry farm to shame. It is free. We went for a nice long leisurely stroll. The air smelled so good. There were huge cedars and some kind of a tree that shed leaves that are about a foot long. There were many trees that we have never seen before. We are going to go back when the visitor center is open to get more information about the different species in the park I would love to see this place in the summer when everything is in bloom.

Now we are going to either have left over spaghetti or chicken quesadilla for supper. I am going to have one of these for dessert. I will probably get addicted to them and can not get them in Canada. Hope all my American friends had a great Thanksgiving and made sure to leave room for pie.

What Fun!

The phone rang...

"Hello" I said.

"I am just turning down Yale Avenue now" she said

"I will be right down" I said

Just as I walk out the door her blue van pulls up to the curb. She waves. I open the door. We both have smiles as wide as the Mississippi! I am still smiling. This is what it is like when two blogging friends finally get to meet. Yup! I finally got to meet Sheila, aka theinvisablemo. Now visible! What fun! How nice to be able to sit down and have lunch together. I just wish our visit could have been longer. Hopefully the clinic won't book us solid for Wednesday. Sheila will be back in town. I forgot to take pictures of this momentous occasion. Next time I will put the camera right where I can see it so I won't forget. I just wish that Eve could be here too. That would be so perfect!

I found this so if you have a moment, maybe you will find it as funny as I did!

Yesterdays Fun

This afternoon we made our way to the Space Needle. After paying a ridiculous sum of money we went up. It was a pretty view of the harbor but it did not come close to the thrill on the CN Tower in Toronto which is three times higher than this tower.

.

We still had three hours of paid parking left so we decided to take a ride on the monorail. This was way cheaper at $4.00 round trip per person. We wanted to see where we ended up

It was a fun ride. I couldn't help thinking of an episode of The Simpsons which featured a monorail disaster. Our monorail driver did not resemble Homer Simpson at all to my relief. It was fun. When we got off at the stop I noticed across the street a cable car that runs from Union Bay Hutchinson Center to downtown. I want to check that out. Parking downtown costs about $10.00 and hour!


We walked toward the harbor and found ourselves at Pike Place Market. We wandered around there for awhile. We stopped to share an order of fish and chips. We went over to a little park over looking the harbor and saw a drug deal go down . I got a little freaked out but John did not seem to think we were in any danger. We decided to move along. Seattle seems to be full of colorful characters.



I loved all the brick roads and all the old buildings. This wall was full of posters of coming and of long past events.

Here is a seagull for Jientje. I think she will appreciate it. I thought of her when I took it.

I will post a lot of pectures over the next few days. When David got here he showed me how to download from my memory stick. It turns out that I do not need a cord. You can quit looking Angela.

Tomorrow we have the first appointment at the Cross Cancer Alliance. We probably won't be able to play tourist again untill the weekend. We want to take a tour of the Seattle underground. I think it is kind of like Moose Jaw underground. The ad says: DIRT - CORRUPTION - SEWERS - SCANDAL and that is the family tour. You can take an adult tour that promises: OPIUM - GRAFT - SEX - DEBAUCHERY for $21.00 but that includes a cocktail! We passed by Macy's on the way back to the monorail. I want to go there to look around. We only had time to window shop. We saw some very large stuffed animals. I liked the very large elephant but sadly do not have the $750.00 with which to buy it.

There is lots to do in Seattle. I think it will be awhile before we run out of ideas.

The Naming.

Part Three

After the rain stopped I went outside to check on my box playhouse. All that was left was a sodden mess of cardboard, duct tape and sticks. Oh well! I was resigned to the fact that a playhouse was not in my future. Off I went to do the things that children do when it is not raining.

My father at this time decided to take pity on me and went into action. He got on the phone and ordered some lumber. He devised his own plan. He did not consult me for blueprints. My father was not a handy guy with tools. Secretly, I think that is why my persuasion and that of my mother's went ignored for so long. Building things usually was a recipe for frustration and disaster. Whenever he decided to take a shot at being a handyman, my brothers and myself and I am sure my mom knew that it was best to disappear. I can just imagine the helpless expression on his face as he searched through the house hoping to find anyone of us to become his carpenter's helper. I don't know if he found anybody, all I know was that it was not me.

He choose a new plot of real estate for my house. It was on the other side of the garage. A few years before, he had poured a concrete patio up against the garage and built a roof over it. He decided to sacrifice a portion of it for me. It was his easiest option. All he had to do was build three walls, a window and a door. The floor and the roof were already there. He went to work. He managed to build it without amputating any of his limbs or smashing his fingers to bits. He got so involved with the project that he wired it with a light, built jail beds, a table, shelves and even put a lock on the door. My mom staged the place. She brought out a floor mat ,a hotplate , dishes, a pot for cooking and a vase for flowers. I began to wonder if they wanted me to move out there permanently. My dad painted a sign and hung it over the door. It said Chris's Coop.

I felt disappointment but I did not let it show. It in no way resembled the pretty little house of my friend but my parents had worked very hard and I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt that my dad had outdone himself. That night I was allowed to invite my friend Linda over to stay for the night. We cooked our very own supper on my hotplate and dined with the flowers on the table. We brought our sleeping bags and rolled them out on the jail beds. We felt safe and secure with the door locked plus the fact that my parents kept their bedroom window opened.

We very rarely played in my friends playhouse again. Why have pretend lunches and teas when you can have the real thing. Chris's Coop became a hang out for all the neighborhood girls. NO BOYS ALLOWED! I could not think of any name for my blog that would or could be better. It brings back sunny summer memories of laughter and friendship.

Trans Siberian Orchestra

I have always wondered what it would be like to be able to see music. Now I know. Trans Siberian Orchestra offered their audience a total sensory extravaganza and the audience here took it all in with enthusiasm. John's hands were sore at the end of the evening because he had clapped so mush. They played non stop except for a short period of time when they introduced themselves a little more than halfway through the performance. I noticed during that time that a few people got up and left. I think they thought the show was over and left to beat the traffic. I thought the show was over. It had been wonderful and I had felt it was well worth the twenty dollars that I had spent. I was a little sad because they had not performed some of their more popular pieces. After the introductions the director asked us in his lovely Bostonian accent, if we would now like to have some real fun. The fun began. I think that they played almost another hour and a half. There was no intermission. All evening and with each piece, I thought that it could not be possible to beat what they had just pulled off and was expecting things to get repetitious. The show never got repetitious. All in all it was a crazy wonderful show. They preformed with energy and enthusiasm. Best twenty dollars I have ever spent on entertainment. I can not believe that it was so inexpensive. I give them all a standing O. They are coming back in nine months. I hope to attend again.

I Am Pumped!

We have a date with these guys tonight.
This will give us just a little bit of Christmas before we go.

The tickets were not very expensive at all.

Boys

Do not let the shy looking demeanor fool you. We were trying to get him to pose nice but if you look at his eyes you can see he is ready to bolt.

It was hard to get Sam to sit still for a second. Ben on the other hand is so patient with us. He is also easy to bribe. Can you see the promise of ice cream in the dreamy quality of his eyes and in his smile?

It did smell so good. Fall sights and smells. Crisp. Fresh. Wonderful!

These are new pictures. They look exactly like the pictures we took during the last time we visited.

John is buried in there somewhere. It is hard to tell who all the body parts belong to.

This could go on for hours and hours.

It's All Good News

Wow! The bake sale that the kids worked so hard at went very well last weekend. I want to thank everybody that donated baking and bought baking and a special thank you to Melissa who coordinated the whole thing. A whopping $1,500 was raised! John and I are overwhelmed with all the care and generosity that was shown. A very special thank you to Jonathan's ball team and the Camsell family.

Today John's brother Art phoned and there are not one but three matches amid the nine siblings that were tested for stem cell donation. Double Wow!

We had a very action packed weekend. We enjoyed Buster Days. The parade did not disappoint.

Bring it on!

Police with sirens

Local Dignitaries

Marching Bands

Floats

Even the casino from around about Saskatoon was represented...throwing candy to the children. Hmmm...

Best of all: loud fire trucks!

Very loud fire trucks

And of coarse...the mandatory traffic jam after the parade

We had so much fun...we watched it twice! I hope you enjoyed it too.

Back Home

We are here... the sun is shining...the wind is blowing!

Noah gets his tackle ready...Hurry up you guys!

Come on dad! Lets get my Superman Rod and Go fishing!
Cooome Ooon!

Finely fishing! ...Is that a five of diamonds grandpa?

Time for a break...fishing is hard work!

It's O.K. grandpa...we will maybe catch some fish tomorrow.

Jack pot! Way to go Melissa.

Seriously...that was the only fish caught the whole weekend!
One bite for each person. Hahaha! Good thing we brought other food.

Auntie is still happy even though she did not catch a fish.


Noah got filthy in the park. He is spitting dirt.
That is spit on his shirt.

His pants.


Clean fish? Where? Oh...if you get any fish...if...you clean them in the little house.

A good time was had by all. I finished the book that I was reading.
That was what I was hoping for...time well wasted.