Sunday, January 26, 2014


I'm really late blogging this weekend but I'm here
and I've cobbled together some stuff to blog about.
Whether or not you find it interesting is another
matter.  

Today's opening subject is "where I stitch ...
and craft ... and blog .... and relax.   May I 
present to you .... my craft room.  Aka:   the
office and the computer room.


The work desk.  Please excuse the clutter.  I did
tidy it up ... a bit ... for you.    I was putzing 
around with my new Cuttlebug today, getting to
know how to use it and how to get the best 
results with it when cutting out designs with 
the various dies.   The floor is covered in bits
of paper from this because I knocked over
the stupid garbage pail afterwards.  

On the left side of the desk are two boxes, the smaller 
of which holds pictures and other stuff that are to 
go into my Smash book.   The bigger box on 
the bottom holds my current stitching projects.


Some storage.   Mostly paper crafting stuff.  
I will not open those doors for you.   My
modest collection of framed cross stitch
pieces are here, and all the little cross stitched
treasures that I've received as gifts over the
years.   And of course pictures of the cats.


The tall cupboard here is my full of my
stitching supplies.   No, I'm not opening
that either.


Close up of some of the work space ... which is
no where near big enough for what I do.  
Especially since I have to share this space with
Phoebe and she likes to spread out .... it's a 
cat thing.


Close up of the stitching wall.   My cherished
collection of Crescent Colours threads are
kept in the three drawer unit in the 
centre of the picture.


The door to the hallway.   To the right
of that is the closet which holds our filing
cabinet and more of my paper and
scrapbooking stash.

Nothing fancy and the room is tiny but
I love it just the same.

showed off her stitching place on her blog 
(actually she's got more then one .... sigh)
so I'm doing the same.   How about you??


Todays weather report.   Cold.  Snow.  Strong,
blustery winds.   Rinse, repeat.


This winter thing is unrelenting.   Hibernating on
the weekends whenever possible is advised.   Walking
anywhere is hazardous to your health.   


And it's going to keep being bitterly cold well into
February.    Oh Joy!!!!



Since scenes of winter are rather depressing I now
present to you scenes of summer.

You remember summer?  Don't you???


This is beautiful little Crawford Lake, located in
the middle of the Crawford Lake Conservation
area about a 30 minute drive from here.


Forest trails and a recreation of an
Iroquois Indian village which once
existed on the grounds, a picnic
area ... and of course the lake.
Lots to see and do.


We were thrilled to see two Snapping Turtles
in the lake while we were there.   These guys
are BIG and ... true to their name ... their bite
is definitely worse then ... well ... you know.

This was actually a busy weekend for me.
Friday night after working out at Curves
I had a wonderful, though quick, dinner
at a local bistro where I ate the most 
amazing Ravioli stuffed with Lobster
meat and cheeses.   YUM!!!!

Then I met my friend Mary and her son 
Ian (my godson) for a couple of hours of
music at a local church.    A combination
of Jazz, Classical and Pop music performed
by a five man group.   It was most 
enjoyable.   Especially since there was a
blizzard raging outside.

Saturday it was a birthday celebration for
a dear friend which is a yearly
tradition.  Good food and good friends
and lots of talking and laughing.
It was most enjoyable.   Especially since
there was a blizzard raging outside.

Er ... yeah.

So all in all the weekend has flown by.
Sad to see it done.

Hope you had a good one too.

Cheers!!


Sunday, January 19, 2014

Mea Culpa!
I missed a week of blogging.  I'm trying to
blog faithfully once a week but last weekend
I just didn't have all that much to say.   And we
spent most of the January 11/12 weekend
packing up Christmas and storing it away
for another year.    I miss my Christmas
tree but I have to admit it is nice to be back
to normal around the house.  


This weeks blog is short on thrills and
excitement too so I decided to raid my
photo stash for some activities from the
past summer to report on.

DH and I spent an afternoon visiting the
Raptors Centre at Mountsberg Conservation
area in August during our vacation.   This
beautiful Barn Owl was one of two raptors
used in a live show there.   I guess because
it was a week day there were hardly any
visitors at the centre so it was just DH and
I and one other guy watching the show.

The Barn Owl's name was Jazz and 
she was around 9 years old.   Most
Barn Owls in the wild only live 3 or 
4 years so Jazz was an old lady indeed
but she flew around the show area's 
enclosure with grace and breathtaking
beauty.


There were lots of Red Tailed Hawks
in the pens around the centre.   All of
the birds there had been brought to the
centre after being found injured in the
wild.   If they can be nursed back to 
health and released back into freedom
again they are.   But if the injuries are
permanent the birds are given a home
at the centre which allows visitors an
opportunity to see them up close.


This little guy was all ruffled and 
shedding feathers.   A young Red
Tailed Hawk perhaps?   I can't 
remember now.

There were a couple of Bald Eagles,
a Golden Eagle and a Gyrfalcon there
as well.  


And out in the park proper we saw this Heron
stalking through the waters of the man made
lake, while Ospray and Buzzards flew over
head.   

With the destructive Ice Storm that swept through
our area over Christmas I wonder what the
many conservation areas are going to do.  No
doubt they've got a massive clean up to do and
trees to check wherever visitors might walk
looking for broken branches that haven't 
fallen yet.   It's going to be a massive and
expensive job.


I paid a visit to Michael's yesterday and came
home with lots of fabulous stash.    Micron pens
for Zentangling, copic markers for colouring, 
washi tape, stamps, jewels, paper .... oh I had
a blast!!!



A new sketch book, more pretty papers, a new
embossing folder for my Cuttlebug, Gelatos for
journaling .... Yummy!!!


I've done a few pages in my Smash book.  The
black embellishments on these two pages were
made on my Cuttlebug.   Cool eh?   That's my
DH in the white shirt.


Another Smash book spread.

This was the day after Thanksgiving when we
had an open house for friends to drop by for
goodies, tea and chatting.


And more "tangles".   This one in blue
marker.


And this in black.

After a period of warmth when temperatures
rose to +6 Celsius at the beginning of this
week and have been lingering around -2 Celsius
by weeks end we are now facing temperatures
around -15 Celsius for this week, which does
not factor in the wind chill.    This winter is
taking a lot out of us this season and there is still
two full months of it to get through.   

Stay warm all!!

Cheers!!



Saturday, January 04, 2014




No, this isn't a picture of our house during the brief
thaw that we had a week ago.  I wish!    I took
this picture and the one below during a day trip
into Toronto a few years ago ... June 2011 to be exact.  
I took a ferry from the pier in downtown Toronto 
to Toronto Island for a day of hiking, picture taking
and to escape a stinking hot day on the mainland.


A picture of the ferry terminal taken last summer.
It had just been renamed the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal
the previous day in honour of a local politician who
had passed away from cancer a year earlier.


From the island you have beautiful views of downtown
Toronto ... as long as either the smog or the weather is
being co-operative.  Parts of the islands (there's 
actually three islands linked together .. or is it four?)
have cottages on them, large parts are parkland,
there's a children's amusement park, an airport
and beaches ... including a nudist beach.

Why am I posting these pictures today?  Well,
I don't have  much else to show you from the 
previous week and a blog post without 
pictures is pretty bland and boring IMHOP.

We did have a brief thaw at the beginning of
last week which allowed the thick ice that
had been coating everything outside to melt.
It cleared off of tree branches, power lines
and eaves troughing but not off of all of
the sidewalks ... alas.   

Then a couple of days of frigid temperatures
hit on Thursday and Friday which had 
everyone huddled indoors.   With the wind 
chill it dropped to -35 Celsius which made 
being outside something to be avoided at all costs
if possible.   I walked home in it on Thursday
night.   Train station to home took 40
minutes.   I was dressed for it but even so
I was a human icicle when I walked in our
front door.    Should-a called for a ride.


I've been drawing/doodling again.  A
couple of pages of this and that.


My neighbour and her daughter came over 
one afternoon and we sat at the kitchen
table drawing, drinking mugs of tea
and munching on Christmas treats.
That's when I started the above tangle.

New Years was quiet but enjoyable.
We had some friends join us for
dinner and visiting though our
numbers were fewer then normal
because of those dreaded "bugs"
that are going around.  Just about everyone 
is affected it seems.  Either getting 
sick .... being sick ... getting 
over being sick .... or married to sick!

So there were seven of us to dine
on my usual go-to dishes of home
made lasagne, mac n cheese, asian
salad and other yummy party
fare.   Then we sat around yakking
and laughing and drinking 
lots of tea and eating lots of
goodies.

And the last guest left before 
midnight!!!   Yes, we are
a rowdy bunch of New Years
revellers aren't we?  Oh well.


My current read.   I stumbled on this
at the bookstore just after Christmas
and as soon as I read the description
of the story on the cover I knew it
was my kind of book.    I've been
reading it ever since and loving it. 
This is the author's first novel and 
I believe that this is the start of a 
series.  If you've read and loved  
Deborah Harkness's All Souls trilogy 
then you'll enjoy this book too!

I can't believe the holidays are
over already.   We haven't
taken the tree and other 
decorations down yet because 
frankly I don't want to.   I love
my tree and hate taking it
down even though it's been
up since Nov 16th.   I am
giving myself one more week
to enjoy it before we pack it
up until next November.

That's it from me.  Sorry for the
uneventful post.   We're expecting
a snow storm tomorrow evening
that is predicted to deliver about
15 to 20 cm of the white stuff.
Hope the weather isn't being too
harsh where you are but it does
seem that nasty weather is happening
everywhere ... and Winter is only
three weeks old!   Yeesh!!!

Cheers!!

You know ... I can't remember if
I've posted those pictures of
Toronto Island before on a blog
post or not.  It's bugging me.
Oh well.