My Wednesday bloomers....

The first beautiful, sunny, blue sky day that I was able to hobble around in the garden......and look what greeted me. The flowering plum had bloomed!

Can't believe how the days fly by!! Physio takes up too much time! Nothing is really helping..this foot/ankle is making me crazy. It hurts to try to walk on uneven surfaces... like lawn, stepping stones etc. I have to get some plants into those pots! And... today I got sucked in .. by a pretty little "miniature" Wegelia... I sure hope it stays as small as they say it will! I was minding my own business; looking for some potting soil and there it was. Looking so beautiful...and those trumpet shaped flowers... in a lovely fuschia... I just know it will attract butterflies...and I can hope for a hummingbird too! Had to have it. With the new areas of garden I have after removing lots of square feet of sod...I can plant more flowers and shrubs. This is great. Now ...if I could only dig. It is tough balancing on the bad foot and trying to push a shovel into hard ground. Ice packs and Ib. again tonight.... sigh..........



And guess what this is? My Hoya bloomed as well yesterday. He is in the house... (I always call it a "he" for some reason) and blooms from time to time. An old plant...that never...and I really mean it... never...gets a new leaf...but once or twice a year the silly thing gets flowers on the same old stalk. It is about 2 inches long now... with little bumps where the old flower stems were... and the new ones grow below the old stuff. Strange little thing.... have you ever smelled Hoya scent? It is amazing...and only happens at night time. About 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. all of a sudden a wonderful scent wafts through the house. Somebody told me it is to attract night time pollinators...like moths...

No James Bond martini here....

Mod Podge is kinda like ketchup if you don't keep the top and inside of the lid nice and clean. The lid sticks...it is a pain to open. I loaned my container to somebody and when I got it back, had to run it under hot water...tap on it like crazy...and finally was able to wrestle it open. What a mess! "Somebody" must have laid it on its side...or even stranger yet....used the James Bond method ......"shaken; not stirred". Here is something that I do with containers that have screw type lids, to make my life easier. The first time I open them...I clean off whatever has accumulated on the inside of the lid... (usually from shipping and handling there is quite a mess already if there is no seal). Then... I put a very light coating of Vaseline on the threads of the jar and also a bit on the threads of the lid. After that... dip and wipe a brush or stir stick with some care... store container in an upright position...and you will never have to curse that lid again. Squeeze bottles are another breed entirely......

A beautiful, brilliantly sunny day out there.... just sipping my coffee, thinking about planting the rest of my annuals... and trying to decide if I should bother to respond to a comment..... naahhhh.... not worth it. ...the comment that is...the annuals will be fun... and then I am making biscotti. I will leave it for the readers to draw their own conclusions.

However, as with everything...I do have some thoughts on the subject.

Everybody reads their own interpretation into every single sentence that we ever write. In our own minds I think we often insert even more between the visible lines of text, or add our own "gut feeling" to some statements. Do we expect readers to understand more than they actually do from what we put on the page in our emails, blogs, forums, digests, comments, etc?? Probably...... And with only written words as a guide, no wonder there are a lot of lost and slighted people out there. There are no specific symbols to properly convey humour..oh, alright, some think the smiley face works...but in reality...some people just don't "get it". Other people are "warped", some appreciate facetiousness and lest we forget...there is "black" and even cynical humour. Humour is not a universal thing.

There is no real way to inject animation or to show genuine concern or keen interest in a subject...in other words... one must be so careful when writing, reading or responding to anything and everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hahahahhahah....this has gotten waaaaay too serious for me...... it is getting to be no fun at all.... forget it. Read what you want into things.. respond as you choose....... I'm off to plant pansies!!

Have a great day and try not to take something as silly and simple as a blog too seriously people!!

Oh, and here is my sister's idea of virus protection.

No flower sniffing yesterday... just digging..and more digging...

Today is "Equal Opportunity Day". Well, it is on MY blog anway.

Because I make dolls as well as bears...and because my list of bearmakers got soooo long...this week I am putting the dollmakers on the top end of things. Not everybody checks down the long list to see what is hiding under it do they? Nah...I don't think so. But...now ... this week they may see a site that interests them and they can go have a lookie see there instead of the sites they already know so well.

Yesteray was plenty more digging around here... and moving juniper shrubs....ouch..ouch...so prickly and the skin on my arms and legs is covered with a mass of welts and scratches.... lovely and red and puffy......... from wrists to armpits...and ankles to knees.... Guess most people are kinda sensitive to things like cedar and juniper. Oh, did it sting to get that into hot water at the end of a second hot and dirty day! and the ankle?.... can't even talk about that.... suffice to say...I am changing ice packs about every 20 minutes....just begging and hoping I am not back to square one. I was having some success and was only going to go once this week to physio.... let's see how it goes.

Take some time to smell the flowers.....

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... me hurt. Thought that would get you... cute huh? No big girl talk here today...but instead..just a hurtin', tired, droopy, little, overworked burro.

It started out so wonderfully too... Leonard the IV and me...just having some fun; taking time to smell the flowers. Snapping some pics....enjoying the sunshine.....
He declared these creeping phlox his "very most fav"....



Wasn't today supposed to be a great day just planting my pots? Wha' hoppen?

It dawned bright and beautiful.... (on Thursday it snowed a couple of inches and was darn cold)..today?.. shorts and sunblock ..oh, and 15 rotten mosquito bites to boot. I must have a sensitivity to insect bites of all sorts...they make big bumps or welts and itch like crazy for hours. But..this is not about that...oh, no....this is about how after a nice morning coffee with some Tia Maria in it.. and then a great weekend breakfast too, because Greg is home after working 7 days a week for weeks.... and after that...how we wandered out into the yard to check things out and greet the day.

He decided to mow while I began to sweep in the patio...then I was going to move pots and plant. All of a sudden he was finished mowing... noticed that the juniper bushes are getting huge...huh? they have been overgrowing things for the past few years, what was he talking about? Then he was getting quite animated... saying we should move them...and re-organize the area of the yard where the biggest ones are..etc.... and then....before I knew it he was dragging shovels, wheelbarrow, edgers, and hose for marking the shapes of the grass line. Ohhh nooo... and then he said.."come my little burro...we have work to do".






What happened to giving me another week of easier slogging in the yard...so my ankle could heal a bit more? It was feeling a bit better this morning than it does right now too I'll tell ya, because I stepped on a shovel handle and twisted it a bit right near the end of a very long, arduous day... tired and not watching where I was dragging my poor feet.


It hardly looks like enough to make us ache...but it took hours.....!!! I need somebody standing there to give you all a size reference for heaven's sake!

We dug, tore up most of the grass we laid several years ago... , banged off most of the dirt.. hauled it to the alleyway in the wheelbarrow.. marked off some more areas and just kept right on going.... alllllllll day!! Yes, we were always going to do something with the south side of this yard...it is very hot and dry there... tough to keep the grass nice and the quack grass!! Awful! But it is still nice and green and it looked fine. I was sort of planning on October for all of this! Anyway...already long story just a bit shorter.... we got all we wanted to dig,...dug. Our plan for xeriscaping part of this yard is now underway. Several years ago we put in underground sprinklers ourelves.... (our elves??..hahhahah... yep..that's us alright.....the yard elves) I meant ourselves. A huge job and plenty of digging too..... and now...we are going to move them again...and even take out some heads; cap off others and T some to new areas. A lot of work still to do... but...tomorrow.. removing most of the dirt under where all that grass was and laying newspapers and landscaping fabric... then next week I will be going to Burnco for some good dirt with no quack grass in it...then... gravel and bark chips... my week will be shot! Not......NOT what I had in mind. I need to make some bears for the bear fair if I am going to do it. Puhleeeeeezzzzzzz... and ATC's...need to make some of those too...there is a swap happening for Pete's sake!

Okay... time to change the ice packs on my butt and ankle..... and take some more Ibuprofen..... maybe I will watch the qualifier for the Monaco Grand Prix......taped it earlier......

So...... it is May 24 in Calgary. This is what I saw when I opened the kitchen window blind... hmmmm....

A poor little robin came to the birdie bath looking for a drink and I swear he actually hopped up and own on the icy crust. He was not a happy robin.

Good thing most of the day will be taken up with going to physio, grocery shopping and a side trip to the bank. At least the roads are not slippery...it is melting as I type. Yes...we should be used to it...but, c'mon...we have plants to plant...golf to golf...motorcycles to dig out from under the tarps... okay...just for that.... later I will continue to work on Leonard V and will bake biscotti. My biscotti jar is empty! Horrors! Well it is...I like a biscotti with my tea in the afternoon......

I can console myself that it doesn't look like this...which was another day in May a few years ago.

Today in the mail I got my reminder that it is time for my MAMMOGRAM. In this province we have a breast screening program and once you are signed in with them...they track you down no matter where you go. Which, of coure, is a good thing. We do tend to "forget" how long ago the last one was don't we! However... if you have an experience like this... well, ... perhaps you sort of hesitate.....


"My First Mammogram"

The first mammogram is the worst, especially when the machine
catches on fire. That's what happened to me.

The technician, Gail, positioned me exactly as she wanted me (think a really
complicated game of Twister - right hand on the blue, left shoulder on the
yellow, right breast as far away as humanly possible from the rest of your
body). Then she clamped the machine down so tight, I think my breast
actually turned inside out. I'm pretty sure Victoria's Secret doesn't have a
bra for that.

Suddenly, there was a loud popping noise. I looked down at my right
breast to make sure it hadn't exploded. Nope, it was still flat as a
pancake and still attached to my body.

"Oh no!" Gail said loudly. These are perhaps, the words you least
want to hear from any health professional.

Suddenly, she came flying past me, her lab coat whipping behind her,
on her way out the door. She yelled over her shoulder, "The machine's on
fire, I'm going to get help!"

OK, I was wrong, 'The machine's on fire,' are the worst words you
can hear from a health professional, especially if you're all alone and
semi-permanently attached to A MACHINE and don't know if it's THE
MACHINE in question.

I struggled for a few seconds trying to get free, but even Houdini
couldn't have escaped. I decided to go to plan B: yelling at the top
of my lung (the one that was still working).

I hadn't seen anything on fire, so my panic hadn't quite reached epic proportions. But then I started to smell smoke coming from behind the partition. "This is ridiculous," I thought. I can't die like this. What would they put in my obituary? Cause of death: breast entrapment?

I may have inhaled some fumes because I started to hallucinate. An imaginary fireman rushed in with a firehose and a hatchet. "Howdy, ma'am," he said. "What's happened here?" he asked, averting his eyes.

"My breasts were too hot for the machine," I quipped, as my imaginary fireman ran out of the room again. "This is gonna take the Jaws of Life!"

In reality, Gail returned with a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

She gave me a big smile and released me from the machine. "Sorry! That's the first time that's ever happened. Why don't you take a few minutes to relax before we finish up?"

I think that's what she said. I was running across the parking lot
in my backless paper gown at the time. After I'd relaxed for a few
years, I figured I might go back. But I was bringing my own fire
extinguisher.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, alright.... this did NOT happen to me... but you have to admit... it IS good for a laugh. Wonder if my techs have seen this?.. Think I will take it for them to read. Maybe they can use a laugh too.

Great....the week is going to be cloudy, cool, rainy and yesterday some fool even said -8C on Friday! No way! However...today, that was revised to only 0C for Friday but -7C Saturday. Hmmmmmmm. I won't plant any expensive, tender, little flowers just yet. Back to plan A.....first week in June ?.....

Yesterday was spent doing a lot of clicking around trying to find out how I managed to get the labels on my other blog. Yes, indeed...a second blog ....thought I was pretty clever didn't I? And, I was, sort of.....cuz I did figure out about the labels for my new blog. But, then... trying to get them to appear on this one?...forget it. Somehow I could never find that page again. The proverbial needle in the haystack. Nada... > But I saw that Laura Lynn had already helped out with some features of blogging on TT so I enlisted her help. It was so simple it is embarrassing to relate. The really great thing about hiding behind a computer? you can't see my very red cheeks.

I am not limping quite as much today and my butt cheek on the right side sure is glad...it was getting so tight and sore... along with my right knee and even the lower rib cage on my left side. Amazing what having to limp around can do to the rest of our bodies isn't it? I am feeling sort of quietly optimistic at this point...don't want to say much yet though .... kinda feel like Mr. Groundhog when the poor guy tries to look on the brighter side of life and then gets whacked with another 6 weeks of rotten weather. Better just carry on with physio and "homework " exercises.... with a vengeance now that there is a pin point of light at the end of the tunnel. This has been ongoing since the end of February...I need this ankle to be moving and be a lot stronger than it is now.

Let me close with this... just because it makes me laugh every single time I see it. Oh.... ahhahahhahhah it is still funny after all the times I have seen it!! Love it!

Guess his poor butt probably doesn't feel so great either.

started a bear

That is my Mom in the background.. Fergus on the left and two of the other "Leonards"

Okay...listen, I know for a fact that a few people have tiptoed in and out of here ...had a peek into the "Bookcase" ..cuz... it said 42 of you viewed my profile.... well, yes, okay...a few of that count may have been me... but ..people have actually been stopping by...just ever so quietly.........

Funny how I expected them all to say "hi" out loud in the comments area of MY blog isn't it? Like mine is the one that REALLY counts?? Wanting them to let me know they checked me out. Hmmmm... but then I remembered how many blogs I have been visiting lately and ...did I leave messages in all of them? Uhm... no...'course, not.... silly me! However, seeing as how I am patiently waiting to see some comments..just to get the feeling that I am not totally alone...that somebody actually did read a post or two... had a thought about something I said or a pic I posted or hey! anything...... even if it has not yet appeared as a post.... ...from now on I am going to leave at least a "hiya" in every blog I hop in on....so there!

My friend Maggi was here yesterday and guess what? I started a bear!! YUP... finally. First one of 2007. Man..it is almost half over and I have only done one or two doll or bear related things. We decided to make Leonard from a pattern of my own. A perfect time to show Pauline, a fellow TTer, what I mean about a cover up.


Meet Leonard the IV.

The haemostats made a small hole through the rayon fabric of his footpad seam when I was pushing them out. Yikes! I got all hot and prickly... you know the feeling when you make a stupid boo boo. First, I cursed,.... berated myself of course.... but, then my husband, clever guy that he is...came up with yet another brilliant suggestion. He always has at least one to offer when I run aground with bears or dolls. Mend the hole..and place some little bug, butterfly, button or something over the area. Perfect!! I did. Now, this Leonard will never leave home, of course,...but, that's great...because he was my 4th Leonard and I still didn't have one of my own. Now...maybe I should poke a hole in the next poodle! Don't have a dog in the curio or the "bearister" either..........

Click, copy, click, paste..whoops....

Most of my morning was spent adding blogs and sites to mine. The group at TT has gone "blog bonkers"....we all got crazy and made one. Now.... we are activating links to all of our artist friends. There may have been an easier way...but I didn't find it. I am still trying to figure out if somehow I can edit my posts while typing in this little box..... like where is the cut and paste in here, eh? I did finally figure out how to move a pic around after Krista mentioned that she can do it after publishing ...then going back to edit...tx for that Krista....

anyway.... perhaps more later....... time for some java.....

Another beautiful day

It sure feels like summer...but here in the foothills country we know we are being sucked in a bit still...well.. usually, anyway. This the weekend that people like to put some plants into their pots...and even into gardens. But...it is toooooo early. However, I did buy $80 worth of bedding plants today and they are sitting outside overnight to toughen up a bit. I will check the weather over the next few days and make sure to rush them in if the forecast cooler weather and snow flurries happen.

This is the first weekend that most of the nearby campgrounds open as well...and folks rush to set up for a fun time. Every year it seems there is frost on the tents.. it rains... sleets..snows... etc. Lots of them come home by Saturday afternoon....forget roughing it 'til Sunday in parkas and toques. Our neighbours bought a brand new trailer this year..forget roughing it in a little tent trailer for them ever again. Now they can be toasty warm and dry no matter the weather.

More physio today...the foot was so bad for a few hours afterwards that a person begins to wonder if it is the wrong thing to be doing. The pain seems to be moving around though...now it doesn't hurt as much to step down..but to lift my foot up is a real problem. There is a sharp tweaking type of pain right across the instep between the ankle bone bumps. I was having trouble making myself step forward as it was painful enough to make me gasp with each step for awhile. It felt like the foot weighed about 60 lbs. and was going to drop off right at the ankle area. Whew.... finally that subsided and now it is just back to normal pain that I have been having since February. Greg's theory is that I will appreciate being healthy even more so when it finally happens. Hmmm... after months of this... one begins to wonder if it will happen.

Well, it is bedtime...my eyes are tired and feel so dry....I need to a lot more water than I do.

Today's Tip

--- As soon as you put nuts in the oven to toast them...turn on the timer! That way if you leave the room and forget what you were doing in the kitchen.... something besides the fire alarm will remind you!! Oh, man.... those almonds were the blackest nuggets I have ever seen! and peeeuuuwwww.... plus....what a colossal waste of about 5 bucks worth of whole almonds! What's that noise?... Oh, please..not the fire trucks; there isn't that much smoke...............................

Luckily it is a beautiful day and I can open all the windows. Lit my candles and I am sure most of the smell has dissipated.... however, it could be that my nostrils were severaly smoke damaged and I can't really smell how bad it is. Guess I will know as soon as you-know-who arrives... and asks what am I burning for supper. Not that I usually burn stuff... as a matter of fact I am a good cook and love to bake...just that sometimes I "forget." Lately it is happening a bit too often for my liking, but I chalk it up to trying to do too many things at once. Why do we try to do that anyway?

The rest of the day was great; got a lot done. Sadly, it did not include any bear making or dollying. The garden is crying out for attention and I did manage to get a bit of weeding and cleaning done. Hard to do bending straight over instead of "scrooching"..but squatting like I do really hurts the ankle and Andy (the physio guy) said it hurts HIM to watch me squat like I do, so it has to be bothering my joints. Says not to do it. I was born with a Syndrome called Ehlers-Danlos which means I am hyperextensible and hypermobile at the joints. It seems to be causing more problems than I want or need right now. More physio in the morning... I think I seem to be walking just a bit better today....although that funny soft swelling right on the ankle bump is still there. More ice and Ibuprofen I guess...and still trying to strip out the plantar fascia with my thumb and knuckle...ouch..ouch... hopefully perseverance will pay off. I may need a hand massage soon though....

Pincushion Tutorial

My little Mochi

That is the name of the site where I found this cute little wrist pincushion tutorial. Check it out. Fun, quick and easy.

Still hobbling around on this painful foot. Haven't seen the doctor again..but the message to the physio guy said... Xrays apparently show nothing other than what the radiologist calls a " small ankle effusion". I still need that explaining to my satisfaction. In dictionary terms it means a "pouring out"... but that hardly seems right in this case. ... better get on the 'net..

Last night it was swollen at the ankle on the outside of the foot.... sheesh...now something we can actually see.... who needs any more surprises? Not even going to ask what next? don't wanna know!

So, my days go by in a blur of hurry up to get the last of the tiles sealed; run... (ahahhaha.... what am I saying?) that would be *hobble* off painfully to the physio guy; get home to make supper; try to do a few things that I should have done during the day while I was out doing my slightly torturous stuff at the physio clinic....etc.... then..all of a sudden it is midnight. As it is now.

I better hit the sack....the guys are coming bright and early to do the first part of the installation of the shower glass!! Yesss!! It is beginning to come together now.

Well, there is still a ways to go alright, but at least now it will look more like a bathroom and the shower will be operational. The first week in June it will be a full year since we began this renovation. We thought the last project was a long time... it was only 6 months. But.... we are doing well. We have friends who can't hang a light fixture without talking about divorce.

movin' on.....

It was too rainy yesterday to go into the garden. But.... today!! A beautiful sunny one with brilliant blue skies. Feels great after gloomy old yesterday. And look Mom! found some of your favourites! Brought them in to brighten my kitchen.



I'm sure most kids did the same.... bouquet of dandelions for Mom........ along with a few snitched from a neighbour's garden, seeing as for years we had only tumbleweeds in our front yard.



This beautiful little vase is an antique that I inherited from my aunt who brought it with her from England. Apparently it is somewhere around 200 years old; imagine that..... .. and for all those years it survived intact. One day I found a blind dog wandering around outside and brought it into the house while I tried to track down owners. One wag of its fluffy tail and my dainty little antique vase bounced right off a table onto the floor...note the one missing "toe"..... how could I scold a blind doggie? Not going to happen.

Now it is time to seal the grout on the bathroom floor.... must put in the window screen though..so I can open the window a lot wider. Got a major rager of a headache yesterday with it only open a crack.

Time to move on with this day..... time for second coffee and almost time for second breakfast! No more lallygagging.

I hate Mother's Day

This is the 10th one since my Mom died and I still hate it. I thought the first one was crappy; that eventually I would get over it... but...nope, I still cry on Mother's Day. It was the one day of the year (and her birthday was the other) when, no matter where I was, I would go home to visit. It became a ritual.

It seems a tear creeps down my cheek many a day during a year. Like, when I think of how much I want to pick up the phone and call her. I still catch myself going to the phone thinking "I'll just call Mom"... I guess that will never end either. I have things to tell her; questions to ask; decisions to make; queries that only she can answer. Between letters, we always talked on the phone. It's a wonder we had anything left to talk about...but we sure did! We could easily yak for an hour.

The two of us used to keep Hallmark in business. We sent letters and cards back and forth regularly. When we went through her closets I saw how many... she kept every single one!!! There were boxes of them! How I loved to see her handwriting on an envelope when I opened my mail box. "Keeping the spiders away" she would call it when she sent letters..... but now, at special times of the year I don't even go near the cards and plenty of spiders now DO live in my mailbox.

Tears fill my eyes when I think of the all the things we do now that she never got to see or enjoy. My bears, dolls....even my motorcycle.. all happened after her death. She would have loved to see them all and cheer me on as she always did. For all of us kids...she really was our biggest fan in our every little endeavour. She would always tell us how great we did and we would always say... "oh, Mom..you have to say that... you're our Mom", but in our heart of hearts we would feel so proud that she was proud of us.

Of course, the tears are mostly me feeling sorry for myself... why shouldn't I? But for her too in that she just wasn't given enough time to squeeze out more years from the best part of her life. she was a good and kind person; a very special lady and she deserved better.

A shakey beginning and most of her life were really not what anybody could describe as happy. Most would have floundered and gone right to the bottom, but she persevered and ..........finally, way late in life, .... she moved near her beloved ocean; found some wonderful friends that she enjoyed spending endless hours with....was closer for visiting her favourite Scrabble partner in a nearby city...and actually had some $$$ as she always called it....for doing what she wanted to do.

I guess Mother's Day is just one of those things...... a day in my life that is a bit like a bitter pill that must be swallowed. I have to do it but I don't have to like it.

Today as I was putting sealant on the new tile grout in the bathroom...climbing my ladder and stretching all out of shape....I found myself wondering if Michaelangelo had to lie on his back for 4 years to do the Sistine Chapel. How ludicrous! Like there could be any comparison!

This was pretty silly too.... look at the obstacle course I had to navigate just to get my little ladder.



See it waaaaay at the back against the wall? ...... no?.....c'mon, I will clamber over some stuff and then you can ....







.......... see it now?

And, somewhere to the left of all that..is my motorcycle under tarps. Just as well I can't ride right now with this bad foot, or I would be hopping up and down.

Ooooweee, that got me stretched out...just getting to that. My foot definitely didn't like it, bobbing and weaving on uneven surfaces. %^&@

Boy, am I glad it is spring... soon I will be able to tidy and hose down the garage and move a lot of that "stuff" into the shed. In all fairness..we did need most of it during the winter to continue with our bathroom renovation...which we began last June. I guess it is a good thing we have another bathroom to use..... almost a year now.

First coat of sealant is done; tomorrow I will be at it for another few hours... bears, dolls and all the fun stuff is on the back burner for the moment. The guys are coming next week to install the shower glass.... this needs to be finished and well dried. A few weeks more.. ... tub, sink and toilet.... not long now til our beautiful bathroom is finished. Yaaaaaay!!! What a huge job we took on and we are so proud to have done it all ourselves. I know it is not that thrilling to most people...but you who have done some minor renovations ....you know what I am talking about. To see labour intensive...check out the Bathroom album...

Today was a beautiful day and I actually am walking a bit better today... hope I am not imagining it..... perhaps a tiny pin prick of light waaay in the distance ....

I wandered outside ... and found these. I am sure they are a daffodil of sorts..but planted them years ago and can't exactly remember the package. They are truly this pale peachy colour... hardly a "daffy" yellow...

The other blossoms are Nanking Cherry... what a shame they only last about a week. There is usually a fair bit of wind at this time of year and soon they will be like so many pink snowflakes swirling in the gusts. It is early yet for our gardening season... the lilacs are just sprouting a few green buds... the Daphnes as well, on the old dead looking stems with brown leaves still stubbornly clinging to them. Looks strange with pale dry browns and vivid new greens.... The dandelions look great! Some of the creeping 'worts and othere tiny perennials are showing some bright colours as well, and my Wendy's Weeds as I call them will be blooming soon. They are actually Snowdrop Anemones, but a girl named Wendy gave me my first few plants and I have called them that ever since the spring following their planting....... because...like weeds .... they were taking over! Every year I have to pluck many ... I like to give them to friends too.... lol. Well, they are actually good ground cover for hard-to-grow areas and I think they do some soil conditioning as well. The soil is always soft and dark when I pull them out of an area.

It will still be several weeks until we plant our pots in this neck of the woods... usually after the May long weekend. As a matter of fact, that particular weekend is the first of the camping weekends and is notorious for snow, sleet..wind..hail.. the full gamut.... so we wait..... and laugh at the people we know who went "camping" at the beginning of the season. They leave on Friday night and usually come home by Saturday afternoon. A perfect weekend to stay at home and snuggle by the fireplace with steaming hot mugs of something!

more physio

Another day of 2 hours of trying to make this foot move and get rid of the pain and limping.....nobody seems to know for sure what it is. I finally decided I have to get serious. My whole body is getting stiff and sore from walking like this. It is ridiculous.

I went straight to the doctor's office and told them I was sitting till I saw someone and I didn't care who as long as it wasn't the janitor. Funny... they put me in a room within about 5 minutes...got a referral for an x-ray.... limped down the hall and it was done in 10 mins. at the lab in the same building...hmmm..usually you have to book days in advance. The squeaky wheel getting some grease or are they finally as concerned as I am?

Then... groceries.. bank..and finally limped home for tea and a nap....oh, alright...I also had a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter on it. I was getting kinda peckish and by then I deserved one. Totally zonked out for an hour and a half! How will I get any dolls done at this rate?..or bears?.. or anything for that matter?

The yard needs a good going over... the greenery is beginning to sprout in my gardens...and nobody is paying any attention to it. I don't even like to go out onto the yard area right now... flat floors is bad enough...uneven ground is treacherous. If I turn that ankle now..I will be in really big trouble. I am starting to feel a bit like a prisoner or an invalid...hate it.

Well, that's my whining for the day.... I am off to bed and I'll try to have a more productive one tomorrow.

still learning... on so many fronts.....

Well, if there is a way to put pictures at the bottom or in between paragraphs... will somebody please help? I can't figure it out and I don't always want them just at the top or the side now do I?


I am taking another on-line doll making class from Judy Skeel ..it is called The Harpy. She is a mythological creature; half woman, half bird.

My first few attempts at a head that is the right "stuffed-ness" for needle sculpting was a dismal failure. You know the scenario....too soft, too hard...finally ... well, okay, it was not quite "just right", but good enough for a first one. By that time I had three heads on the go. My husband dropped the first one from height onto the table and it was a good thud... so a good laugh. Especially since Judy's description was..."it should be somewhat like a hard boiled egg out of the shell". Hmm.... I recall that his words were something like..."this is more like the extra hard boiled egg still in the shell and somebody painted it with about 19 coats of lacquer". Thanks sweetie...

Then I managed to do the needle sculpting; and on with many hours of applying a skin of 100% cotton...not an easy task if you know how little stretch there is in that stuff! There were a lot of Judy's favourite.... French words!! to be totally honest.... the air was blue! And, there was I, almost ready to give up and make a whole new head for her body 'cuz I thought head number 3 was just never going to work. But persevere I did; I am happy to report that is one of my good qualities. Then, on with some painting, forming lips with a special technique... making her look so good I probably will have to use this technique again.

The blue hair is just plopped on for a photo op...but, hey!...I kinda like it.......she may end up a Blue Harpy. It makes her eyes look so vivid.

Today is a day for organizing things after a hectic weekend and at least a full week of not looking at dust etc. Perhaps tomorrow I can get a start on her again...although now, I am thinking about making enough bears for the Bear Fair here in August. It is sooooo true about there not being enough hours....... or days..or weeks.....

Oh, and the other thing about this blogosphere learning curve? First thing I did when I got on here today was blow away my comments... I viewed what was referred to as comments... there was nothing to see..so I happily deleted that post thinking I was so clever for keeping my posting box tidy! Arrrrggghhhh!!! looked back at my main blog page... ....the comments wiped out! I did not mean to do that Judi! I was excited to have a comment on my page! Darn it!!!

Busy weekend

Sunday...the doll show and sale. Our local club, the Clothbroads, displays our projects from the year. We are surprised that we usually manage to fill two tables and make it look great. A few pics of the table. Our main project this year was called Raggedy Ann with a Twist. There were a few twisted ones for sure...

Saturday my nephew was in town to be tested for his black belt in Karate. The Honbucho Sensei was here from Toronto putting many visiting students of Chito Ryu through some impressive instruction and training sessions. I was asked not once...but two times..if I wanted to join in and I SO wanted to get out there. This ankle is really interfering with my fun! I felt like an idiot... bet everybody uses the old leg injury excuse .....and here I really did want to try a few holds and take downs........... sigh....... maybe some other time.

Time to hit the sack... early day tomorrow.... and this ankle is still crap... wish I could find out what is really wrong with it. Physio hasn't done much yet and my guy is really putting me through the paces...

Pin Dolls

Here are some pics of my new little gals I have been fussing with for the show. They are from a pattern by Judy Skeel called Betsy Button Pin Dolls.

She suggests either a small stuffed round or fabric covered buttons. I used the button option and made up several using different flesh colours in the 1.5 inch size. It has become difficult to find that size anymore.

Ever since I took my first doll making class and learned to draw an eye...I have been drawing faces on everything...I love that part of doll making! Then, for these... it is just have fun making up costumes, hats, hair, etc. for each one. Love it.

I still have pins to stitch on the backs and have another doll on the go..in bright oranges... strange, because if anybody were to ask what is NOT my fav colour...I would say orange. But...this is a batik type fabric..with gold streaks as well as odd patches of pinks, yellows and oranges.... more like yummy orange sherbet than an ugly Halloween pumpkin orange, if you know what I mean? and...I found this great trim with longish fluffy type of fibres and dangly beads... on sale too! Love pretty...love a bargain.... love sparklies..... that's me. My friends say my middle name should be magpie.... perhaps it is not only the sparklies.........it could also be that I do go on and on........and sometimes on even further.....hahahahhha

Polishing the glass on the cabinet....

So.... I bumbled around for a bit and now.... the glass is shiny. Look! you can see all the little guys on one of the shelves! The Bearister Bookcase is officially open for business. Okay...well, not really business, but you get it...peek in and check out my bears and dolls ....oh, and a ton of other stuff I might have on display from time to time.

I will eventually offer plenty of info, tips, techniques and tricks that I discover during my travels through other sites and from members of groups to which I belong.

Don't think I'll bother too much with the finer points today....it will suffice that I have a nice quiet template, (although I will jazz it up a bit some day too, and add lots of pics )... a heading and description...as a matter of fact, I think it's time for a nap. That was just about enough for this Bumblebearie on top of almost 2 hours of physio for my ankle.

Better get some cheese on the lasagna first though.... ...oh, yeah... once we get going you will see that I also like to cook and bake... Hey!! I could have called it the Bearister Bakeshop ........where the dolls and bears could all sit around the kitchen table, dipping cookies in their tea while I stand at the stove baking more. Uhm...no...changed my mind.

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