... .... har, har.....

Ohh, me poor hand!







Arrrrrrhhhh .. and me other's just as bad ...





shades o Davey Jones ... be that gold coins? har, har... stickin' to me bloody, bony hand they are ....


Well, see, this is me first time robbin' and plunderin' an' such ... an' I was goin' to give it all
back... honest, I was....





then ... all of sudden I started changin'...and now this....

I'm doomed an' what'd I do to deserve this, I arsk ye...

















ohhhhhhhh ..... me hurt .....


me hurt everywhere .....

where are the bears ....???

....or.... the dolls you may ask? Well, uhm ... honestly, I don't know. My blog seems to have become a weather beacon ... lol ....

However, I am enjoying trying to capture some beautiful shots of nature while waiting to feel clever enough to get back to the fuzzy guys and the faces....











It has been a very "off" year. First my broken foot ... now, almost to the week that I was able to quit limping on that ... I wrecked my back trying to heave a bathtub around. Stupid. But, we all have those moments of delusion, right? When we think we are able to still do things that most people half our age wouldn't dream of trying? Yep... So, that means for the past two weeks now, my days have disappeared in a blur of appointments (well, the time goes by in a blur..not the actual appointments, of course) Here it is already afternoon and all I have done so far is go for an x-ray. They all take far too much time; as a matter of fact they use up a whole day. Drive there ... wait ... quick appointment ... throw up in chiropractor's parking lot ... drive home... lie down... etc.... so, no desire nor time to make anything this week. No suppers being made either.... lucky for me I have "Plan-Overs" in the freezer. After yesterday's appointment, however, I think there may be a bit of movement today ... should be, it was painful enough to get to this point. Today I can walk up and down steps and almost bend over to tie shoes. Yaaaayyyy!! I feel almost human. If I feel miserable, irritable, slightly down or disillusioned, it is so tough to create fun or pretty things. Normally, I am quite an optimistic person who truly enjoys the simple things in life and am able to find joy and beauty in the smallest of them.

This morning was a perfect beauty opportunity photo wise. We had another small amount of snow after a great sunny day yesterday. The temperature must have dipped last night; just enough to make it snow instead of rain, but now, with the brilliant sunshine, it has disappeared once again. Just look how pretty against the blue, blue sky ..... almost looks like spring blossoms .....

........ wow........

Read that "wow" in a tiny, hushed, awe struck voice please...


Sunset at the North Pole ... with the moon at its closest point.

They are here !!

The shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. I was just wondering aloud (to nobody in particular) the other day about them. Checking my calendar and thinking it was getting close to the time of year. Just about time to start my little production line. Anyone and everyone can participate in this venture. In the beginning it was a small undertaking, but now, millions of boxes are being sent every Christmas season. We have one of the main warehouse depots right here in Calgary.
I used to go to the warehouse in the old days .... when it was a tiny undertaking and everybody knew everybody else that went each year to open, check, and repack the boxes. It is so much more than most people realize at the warehouse. You would not believe the, uh, ... well, ... I'll just be my honest, blunt self.... the absolute crap and horrible things some sick people put into what are supposed to be little gift boxes for children who would otherwise have nothing at all and who are mostly going through the worst times of their little lives. It got to be too big though, and some of the egos got big along with .... so that soon it was impossible not to speak up about some of the shenanigans and the ordering around and such.... but, then when I did that I was physically slapped on the wrist by a supervisor and told to mind my own business! Luckily for her my left hand was stronger than my right that day and managed to control the reaching of my right hand for her throat.. but.. in the end ... hey, I got fired from my volunteer job. Yup, I did. Hahaha... relatives and friends still joke about me 'not playing nice with the others'. Doesn't matter to me.... I am still happy that I refused to sit still for photo op boxes and aggrandizement for the big wigs playing a larger part than the rest of the boxes and the items placed in them.
Now...I just do my own and love to do it.. only for the kids. I have friends and relatives that help me out ... by leaving bags of stuffed animals on my doorstep at this time of year. During the year I watch for sales on school supplies, soaps, colouring books, toy cars and other small articles that will fit into the boxes. Together we do dozens of boxes ourselves, have a great time ... and know exactly what goes into each one.

In the summer, my brother gave me three huge bags full of stuffed toys... so this year... I can make as many as I like. Definitely won't run out of the fun stuff this year. More than likely will run out steam before I can get them all in boxes... but, there is always next year ......

yesterday it was a balmy +23 C ......

When you don't need a perfect day for a golf game or a motorcycle ride ... the weather man can be annoyingly "spot-on". He absolutely called this by the minute. Yesterday was a beautiful warm summery type day of +23C .. a breeze picked up mid day and was chasing crispy poplar leaves all around the cul de sac. Little whirlwinds of huge yellowy cornflakes dancing in the sunlight. Still, it felt more like Santa Ana breezes ... but by suppertime .... dead calm and clouds rolled in. By 8:00 p.m. a strong north wind was blowing; gusting to about 60 kph ... the temperature began dropping like a stone, and the "norther" kept right on blowing ... by midnight when I looked out the window, it was a total "whiteout". Huge wet snowflakes blowing sideways!! I thought for sure there would be about 6 inches by morning ... but, the ground is still not frozen, of course, because it has been so lovely and warm, so it did not even accumulate on the roads and sidewalks ... it only stayed long enough for pics; on the plants, lawns and rooftops. The sun is brilliant this morning; the sky blue; soon it will all melt off and it seems another lovely day will ensue. At the moment, the temperature is only - 1 C ... but feels pretty nice standing out there in the sunshine ... and it will climb back to about +10C or so .... hahah ... what silly weather we have here , eh?

My next entry was actually not supposed to be snow covered spirea ... but this .... a little birdie nest that I found Sunday, when the last of the deep burgundy leaves disappeared from the Mayday tree. My new blog buddy, Susan, in Nova Scotia, was showing her last branch of red leaves and I thought it a beautiful shot ... so was going to show one as well ... we seem to be at about the same stage, even though we are at opposite ends of Canada, but, none remained by the end of that sunny breezy day. And then... snow. Ah, well ..... just lets you know what we can expect in the way of weather in my area of the country ... as with other places in the world .. we always say "if you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes" .... it can change so drastically it is almost unbelievable. A rise or drop of 20 degrees in a space of a few hours is not totally unusual for us. ABP ... that was my motto for years as a dental assistant.... still holds true just for everyday life. Always Be Prepared.











Thank goodness somebody was there to steady the ladder while I climbed up and balanced in the maze of branches to get this photo. I am not sure if it is a robin nest or what ... but it does have a lot of mud in it and I do know they seem to be the ones getting sooooo muddy and dirty in the spring when they are busy building. They come to splash it all off in my birdie bath ... we have to clean it out daily to keep it acceptable ! This nest hardly seems large enough to contain 3 or 4 baby robins for very long .... and even though I do pride myself on being quite observant, I can't say that I noticed more than average robin activity in the Mayday 'til the their usual wild and crazy berry picking time and that is waaaay late in the season. As a matter of fact, that just ended. They fly south on the 15 to 17th of October every year. Gone. Til March 15, 2008. I sure do miss robins in the winter ..... but... love to hear and see the tiny chickadees and also the little sparrows. Man, they must be tough little nuts to survive some of our wintery days. When it gets to -35C I just about cry thinking they are still out there ... and if it is a sunny day... they trill and sing for hours even at those temperatures. I know I would be moaning instead of singing if I had to live outside.

Wish I had a magic wand ....

Another 6 hours of sewing machine lessons ... another boggled brain.







Plus, my back is wrecked from lifting that tub in and out just one time too many. We had to make sure we angled it just right so as not to hit the spout on the wall ... but at the same time not get it too low to the floor til we got over the opening so we didn't crack off the drainage pipe which, as you can see, extends below the tub feet by a few inches. We had to enlarge the opening in the floor as we could not reach far enough under the tub nor could we angle a hand into the too small opening to attach the pea trap with the tub in position. Somewhere along the line we made a mistake in measurements way back when we did tiles. Vin Diesel would never be able to install this tub. His arms would never fit under the thing... but, hey ..... just a second ... maybe he could hold it up all by himself while I attached the piping. ... ahhhh for an easier way to do something. Where is Vin when I need him?




We filled the tub once in position and leak tested it. Dry as a bone. Woohoooo !

Today will be a day of rest and recuperation and I better not have to lift any more tubs in my lifetime. I can hardly lift a finger today. Greg built a scaffold type of unit to put over the tub so we can work on the tiles behind the tub without damaging things. Today he is laying out tiles all over the place to measure and "imagine -eer" the final result before we put them into place. Hopefully tomorrow we will have a tiled wall behind the tub.

But, look. I did an invisible zipper !! .... so invisible you can hardly notice it. hahahha ... Yay me! Not that I will be doing any of those in my doll making ... unless somebody makes mini zips ?.. for tiny tops or something .. ? Never say never I guess.

This time I bought a "wing" needle ... and two more feet for my machine ... so, another $100 day. I just borrowed all the other ones we needed to try all the various stitches ... and ruffling ... and tucks, and pleats ... etc .. but figure I definitely want to try some FME so bought that foot ... as well as one that allows for the wing needle (it can also be used for many other applications). The stitches with the little openwork looked kind of interesting to me. There is even a foot through which you can feed a strand of yarn for couching ... who lies awake at night dreaming up all of these gadgets? I didn't think I would be using that too much ... The ruffler foot was reminiscent of some retro space movie contraption. Totally bizarre. Here is my sample of stitches using the wing foot... haahaha I mean needle. It looks a bit messy as I was trying many decorative stitches at the same time...

Next class is not for a couple of weeks and she will be doing a lot with quilting. I am definitely not interested in traditional quilts, but am thinking I may like to try a small applique type wall hanging.

... best laid plans.....

A few drop dead gorgeous days in a row... (stole that phrase from John) .. no time to be inside. Okay ... well, on Saturday I WAS inside ... alllllll day and then today.... alllll day. But, in between.... what sunshine...what warmth... great days.

I took the first 6 hours of my, ... uhm ... "free" sewing classes that come with my machine. It was $65 for the kit: a binder and bits of fabric to stitch on. Then, because my machine is entry level ... it did not come with a table attached to the small arm ... so I pretty much had to buy one of those ... another $40. The woman admitted they usually try to have the classes within 3 months of you buying any machine .. so you get to see all the bells and whistles on the higher models the others bought ..... and they then happily trade you up; no charge and no questions asked ...from your 'almost new' to a 'brand new' one. It has been many more months than that since I bought mine even though I have hardly looked at it yet. For what I need to do ... this is more than enough machine for me. Every time they used a different foot...my machine did not come with it... although it did come with 5 that I am sure will do fine for me. So ... they passed around the one we should buy... ranging anywhere from $39 to $62. I just passed them right along ..... .

By the time I got out of there after the day I had a pounding headache .... and was totally boggled with information overload. Wouldn't you know it? ... The one thing I was sort of keen on learning... the invisible hem stitch .... was the one thing I absolutely could not get right. After about my fourth try and me saying to the teacher for the 4th time that I just did not "get it", she seemed a bit ticked and said ...just practice it at home. I think I may have even been trying to stitch it on the wrong side of the hem part but I haven't a clue. Hmmm... why couldn't she just tell me that then? I will be asking again this Saturday; bet on it. I have not even taken the machine out of the suitcase I hauled it there in.... And now...we are back to working on the bathroom. Won't be much practice happening before this Saturday and the second 6 hours of lessons.

Motorcycle lessons were so much easier .... and more fun.

6 hours in the yard on Sunday and my foot was feeling it (gee, no kidding!) In the a.m., it felt great. Must change my way of doing things. Saying "no" in a few more circumstances would be a good beginning but I am so used to just holding up my own end of things that I automatically just do it. I am learning that I can't do it anymore. We ended the busy day by finding about 2 more hours work. I thought it a job for another day altogether: sawing off about 10 overhanging branches of the neighbour's spruce tree that were drooping onto our shed and into the garden area by about 15 to 20 feet. Then we had to chop them smaller to fit into the van and clean up the mess it made. The trees are in horrible shape..so dead needles all over and infested with spider mites. What a mess.










Today was long and tedious. We hefted the very heavy tub up and over the opening in the newly tiled floor and lo and behold.... the pipe from the overflow just bumped on the tile...... oh, let me see....about 2 inches short of where it was supposesd to be!!! After tipping the tub on its side and away from the opening once more... we looked...fiddled and swore .... a lot. Like an idiot I plonked the tub down on my own finger too...so bruised a knuckle first thing in the day. We tried cutting off some of the pipe from the overflow to see if we could move the piping enough to get it to the opening....no luck...still over an inch away. Nothing for it but to ruin our great tile job. This stuff does not cut either.... it is like steel. We put the diamond blade from the tile cutting saw on the skill saw and Greg measured, remeasured, marked with tape and began to cut... hoping for the best. I squirted water on the wildly sparking blade and with all the towels stuffed in the opening, along with my 7 X 9 inch baking pan taped to the board under it...we managed to keep any water from dripping onto the drywall under the floor and into the electrical of the pot lights in it...(which is the basement ceiling).... it worked !! and so did the cutting job. Whew. Then, a lot of fiddling, cutting with a hand saw...chiseling etc...to get the 2 x 4 under that particular tile out and reshore things further in.... I hope it is enough. Neither of us could bear to lift an end of the tub to try it. He was exhausted and I didn't even want to chance my back and knees. I don't know if they will manage tomorrow either..... I sure hope it fits now.

I am taking another doll making class on line too, but have not done anything yet except play a bit with the tiny hands. Look how tiny they are.. even smaller than my Lotus Lady. Hmmm..... practising for your mermaid Judi ... soon as I see that magazine! lol.....

When a day begins with this ... you know it's gonna be a good one! My beautiful cat ACEO pastel arrived yesterday ... all the way from Russia in only 5 postal working days (we had a holiday here over the weekend) !! Whereas, I am still waiting for mail from Ontario...and it is now a full two weeks since it was mailed from there .... sigh ...


The day began with brilliant sunshine, but deteriorated to dim and cloudy.... actually, I wish it would rain. It is so dry and the trees and plants need some good moisture before it gets cold and the ground freezes.

I took a few pics ... wish I knew how to use Photoshop so I could "shop out" those wires...but alas.... I am pretty dense when it comes to that. Not that it's all I am dense with...but that for sure. I love alleyways with some interesting flowers or weeds outside fences....this fence is even interesting in that it may fall down by spring.... does this come under the heading Wabi Sabi?

The one I won...and the one that got away ...

This is the pastel I won on ebay the other day ... by one of my fav artists .. Anna Usacheva in Russia. (scroll to the bottom of my page for a collage of many of her pastels)


Unfortunately, I lost out on this one by a whisker... or two.... darn it. I wanted both of them to frame for a special someone. If she happens to read my blog today .. she will guess it is she.










The eyes on all of Anna's cats absolutely blow me away. If you know cats at all... then you know what I am talking about. The eyes are amazing.

Thanksgiving today...

Today was Thanksgiving here in Canada. Nothing like the U.S. Thanksgiving celebrations as far as I have ever seen. However, we usually have a special meal ... sometimes visit with relatives or friends ... sometimes not ... just depends on where everybody is at the time.
It just doesn't seem that big a deal somehow.

Yesterday I made a great little chicken for supper .... and today we had a wonderful lazy day and a great second chicken dinner. Yum ...

My new easy way with chicken:

Season the cavity with salt and pepper.
Stuff the cavity with chunks of onion, 4 or so garlic cloves and a lemon cut in chunks.
Tuck in the legs or tie them up.
Rub chicken with butter, and season with paprika, basil or Herbs De Provence (or your choice).
Cover roasting pan for most of cooking time ... basting with juices occasionally.
Take off lid for last 20 mins or half hour to crisp and brown skin.
Take out of juice, plate and tent with foil til ready to serve.

Meanwhile ... put pan on heat ...spoon off some of the fat, scrape up brown bits... add water, salt and pepper and bring to boil. Add a bit more water with flour dissolved in it to thicken and stir while boiling..then simmer for a bit til no taste of starch .... et voila ! wonderful gravy too.

This method of cooking gives the most succulent, moist, chicken I have ever tasted! Add a big bowl of creamy mashed potatoes, some steamed veggies and you have an amazing dinner.

The wrestling match

In this corner, wearing 'jammies covered with cutesy little penguins; standing 5 ft. 2 inches and weighing 122, Vee the "Bearmaker". And in this corner, ladies and gents, dressed in the ... uhm ... rather strange colour of tinned peas .... barely tipping the featherweight scale (literally; unless there is some steel shot in this guy's belly it would be impossible to feel him in the palm of your hand!) and standing at a diminutive 2 3/4 tall, "Baaaaby Face" Gerber! Sitting, he is only 2 1/4 .... and he seems to be sitting ... resting .... getting ready....




Two days in a row now they have faced off and still the title is undecided .... twice she has knocked the stuffing out of this little guy and twice he has rebounded. Today.... the final match. Who will be victorious? Who will walk away with the title? .... . Tune in for the stitch by stitch replay of ....what the heck am I talking about? sorry, got carried away for a second or two there......

He is done to the stage of picci'ing ... Vikki and Maggi know exactly what that means. It means there are still some unfinished and even,( gasp) open areas on the back side where you can't see them! Still need to make a little pouch for the steel shot... but want to show you a pic anyway! I can finish up later... 'course, I aways say that and then, off I go and begin another little guy, or doll, or some other project ... leaving openings .. (where is that "sheepish grin" emoticon?) ... I am such a procrastinator .. unless I am sending them to new homes, and then of course, I am right on it. Busy with invisible stitching immediately. Yes, indeed, I can and do finish when there is a need to do so.

A busy enough day....

Decided I didn't want that advertising on my blog so dumped the slide show thingamabob... there are plenty of pics of my little bears and dolls in other spots.

Today I finally managed to get some ears on the little guy. He darn near wrestled me to a standstill though during the jointing process. I tell you I was sweating. I don't think I used to have this much trouble with it. Must be getting out of practice or something. I guess what it all means is ... I better hurry up and make another .... ... I will stuff him and take his pic tomorrow.

My list of what I did today versus what I wanted to do changed totally ... just like it usually does. A phone call at noon reminded me that we were out of muffins for lunches.... so I had to bake too. The request was for Lemon Blueberry muffins. I obliged. Then, I had an eggplant in the 'fridge that I bought the other day and decided I better come up with something interesting with which to stuff it. Which I did. Dusting still was mocking me....so I swung a cloth at some woodwork and a table or two ... .... did a load of laundry ... paid some bills ... and made a list for tomorrow ... hahahhaha wonder if I will get to cross off any of the newly written words on my brand new list? Don'cha love lists? I like to think they are much like rules .... ... just waiting to be broken or bent ...

I have been visiting many new and interesting blogs lately. What fun! There is so much beauty and creativity out there .... it absolutely boggles the mind. So much to see and read about. I need to revamp my sidebar .... add and subtract ... ohhhh... but right now...I need some shut eye.

Tonight it is only +2C and sprinkling rain .... I wonder what colour tomorrow will be?

Just the way it goes.....

A few minutes ago I was off to stitch some ears on my latest little bear. Now, with second coffee in hand, here I am. Looked at the ears ... honestly I did, .. just didn't feel like wrestling with a needle and thread; typing seemed a little bit easier. I am so NOT a morning person.

Or, perhaps, like this little guy..... I licked something that made my eyes go funny... made me feel ... zombie like.

Last night there was a heavy frost again... but now the sun is brilliant causing steam to rise off the shingles across the street ... the rain drops on the patio chairs turned to sparkling rough cut crystals of ice and the shallow water in the bird bath is frozen into a miniature skating rink. I can hear the sisssssiing of the sprinkler system being blown out on the golf course behind our neighbour's houses. A busy time of year this "winterizing" ..... still some things to do before the snow flies.

Tuesday I was in the garden for about 3 hours ... getting my stretch and bend exercise for sure. The hamstrings are still feelin' it today. I felt like the kid in the starfish story. You know the one; about him gently tossing stranded starfish back into the ocean? Well, being landlocked ... I have no ocean... no starfish either of course, .... but... .... I do have ladybugs. Yep. Plenty of 'em. One of my reasons for not cutting back all of the plants or clearing out most of the leaves. Those little guys need some protection. This year however, in the spring I couldn't get in there with my bad foot.... so, have to do a bit of fall trimming instead. I was disturbing hundreds of poor little ladybugs with my rooting around in there.... especially when I trimmed back a couple of the blue fescue. I tried to shake them off before I stuck the dead stuff in the bag...but every time I looked in there... several were busy trying to climb up the plant leaves and trimmings; looking for a way out. I kept picking them out and tossing them back into the garden..under a tree or somewhere safe so I didn't step on them. An old guy with his dog stopped to yak at me and laughed when he saw what I was up to. Just like in the story, he said, forget it... it will take all day at that rate to get your garden done. What's a few ladybugs? Hmmpf...... after he walked on, I immediately salvaged 4 more from my garbage back and put them safely under the spruce tree... saying smugly to myself... these little guys are happy I cared and so am I !!

Yesterday, I drove along a street littered with poplar leaves and just wanted to hop out of the car and run through them. They get thick in the gutters....about 2 feet wide.... and are absolutely the best for jumping into and kicking up in the air. All still nice and dry and easily lifted in huge bunches. When a breeze is blowing they just sail away and do little cartwheelies down the road. Wish my foot was so much better ... I would be out there doing it now. Getting some strange looks but who cares? Guess I am just some kind of nut case to still love to do that. Of course, in spring I still want to float popsicle stick boats down those same gutters .....

My little guy is of softest cashmere type mini bear fabric .. have you ever run your fingers over a rose petal?...just like that. Velvety soft. For the longest time I couldn't decide on a colour for foot pads. At the bear show in August, I bought some wonderful small pieces of velvets and upholstery fabrics This one now seems the only one to consider... funny that. I just don't like any of the other colours next to this .. erm.... rather odd colour of green. I have taken to calling him Gerber, because for some reason the colours reminded me of the babyfood stuff in the jars... peas and carrots.... ick... hahahha... but the name is cute and seems to be sticking. Now, for those ears .......

Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits!!!

That's what we used to say all the time as kids when a new month began. You are supposed to say it first thing before you utter another word ... for good luck. Olde Englishe I think ...

I borrowed this little pic of some bunnies I saw somewhere ... I really thought they were cute and figured some day I might try making me one just like them. sorry I can't remember where to give them credit for it.......










Anyway... new day, new week, new month ... and new "stuff" to do. This foot is still playing merry hell and I am getting reeeeeeallllly ticked with it all. According to the MRI it is healed. So, why then can I not take a step without pain? When does that end? What can I do to speed it up? How can I get much exercise if I can't walk? Yes, I can do stretches and arm exercises but it just is not enough to deal with the osteo.. I am going to run into more problems if I can't get going and darn soon. This is way too many months of inactivity .. I need to be doing weight bearing exercise. I am making an appointment with my doctor this week and I will have plenty of questions. I need answers. How can a person do ANYTHING to help a situation if they don't really understand the problem? Or am I just trying to be too logical here? oh, yeh ... silly me ... they don't like that do they?

okay..on to other things...

OMG it is October! It happens every single year doesn't it?!

Summer is going along so swimmingly; although somehow this year it sped past in a heartbeat (perhaps because I had deadlines with dolls and bears ?) .. well, I am using that excuse anyway. But, how would it do that with no golf, no gardening, no motorcycling ?.... I didn't have enough strength to walk on uneven surfaces like the lawn for fear of turning this ankle again and putting me back to square one! Couldn't hold up the bike ....

The various flowers bloom and then others take their place ... (I am quietly pleased that it is working exactly as I planned it when I planted!) Lovely colour continually interspersed with the shrubs in the gardens. All of a sudden there are a few rainy or cooler nights ... daytime temperatures drop from the sleepless nights of +28's to +21C... which is wonderful .. perhaps a slight warning of sorts and before we know it; September .. lulled by perfect sunny days .... BBq's and drinks under the "brolly" ... later September, and daytime highs down to +14C ...... unbelievably some of the leaves begin to turn and some of the flowers in the pots look a bit leggy and peaked. It drifts into early fall, but we don't want to even think that quite yet so we ignore it . .... .... just enjoy the lazy days of peace and quiet... so quiet in the neighbourhood now that the few kids are back in school ... lol .... if I open the windows all I can hear are little sparrows and chickadees playing in the bird bath and even an occasional bee or fly buzzing past the screens .... I think about how quickly the time will begin to spin into overdrive by October .... and then .. all of a sudden .. it IS October! For crafters it is already imperative to get busy with certain projects for Christmas. Darn it. Snuck up on me again. Every year I think I might do a festive craft show table at a little venue near me ... they have some really beautiful and artsy "stuff" at that one. Some year.....