Tuesday, May 29, 2012

I was away from my desk....

... went to my sister's place for an elongated weekend in another province... ..... so I wasn't able to visit any WOYWW desks....sorry for that. ...I'll do a few as I can this week and be more 'with it' next week.  What am I saying?  I mean this week!  Yikes!

It's Tuesday already....now I'm totally lost on time altogether...acckkk!  oh, well.... blame it on my lack of marbles.  I just hope I don't lose the last three or I'll be done for.

The lilacs there were in full bloom...we are a few weeks behind... mine only just have buds and more greenery than last week...but, not fully leafed out even now....look at these!  And, so fragrant..... mmmm....















Hardly took any pics, though .... too much happening...not the least of which was my poor sister having to go to hospital in an ambulance because she was weak, dizzy and nauseous at 4 a.m.  She has had a pretty stressful time of late so I was taking no chances...we called the ambulance.  Better safe than sorry as they say....the para meds checked her blood pressure ... high..... her heart rate... slow....only 53 .... listened to her chest and practically threw her in the ambulance.  She was gone in less than 6 mins. after they arrived.. panicking about her horses and cats.  I assured her I could feed them til she got home and off they drove.  Shocking and scary. ...for us both.  I kind of just stood there rooted to the porch for a moment.... wondering what the hell had just occurred in the space of so few minutes of our lives.

They gave her fluids and monitored her for a few hours...and then one doctor had her roll on her side...then her back..then the other side and when she almost vomited.... decided she had ear crystals....... and showed her a trick to more or less get them into a better position within the inner ear.  She could immediately stand without falling over and with almost no nausea.  A miraculous little trick... but it doesn't totally fix things.  It'll be days to weeks to months...and apparently, because of her previous brain injury...maybe it will never go away.
I remember someone telling me a few years ago there is a video on youtube about a manoever to help the dizzyness...  Dix-Hallpike manoever I think it is.... there are several different methods of rolling and extending head over the bed etc... and various names for each according to whose method it is and for what specific purpose they use it.  There is more to it than just crystals methinks after reading about labyrinthitis and crystals.... however...it got her home and she did a lot of resting for another whole day..not herself at all.  Very weak and unable to do anything.

She will be at the doctor this week for sure to get a complete check up.... you can imagine I was almost afraid to come home.

Cleo wanted to come home with me....I'm sure she did.   You know how they love suitcases.... and she was happy to show me that her fur colour went with everything....




Wednesday, May 23, 2012

WOYWW


....ahhhh...finally I can reveal the rest of the secret to those WOYWWers that stopped by during the "unavailability" days  ..... the secret that Olaf was guarding so zealously several Wednesdays ago.

If you want to know what WOYWW is all about ...check it out sometime over at Julia's .  The list is long and the ATC exchange is about to happen too....excitement all 'round.















So ...anyway...back to the story.  Sorry... longer than most people like to look at or read...but, it is mostly photos anyway.... please scroll on.... and on..... you'll love their little faces, I promise.

The last two little bears have found their forever homes....















This little guy is the only one who stayed in Canada...and he found his way to Dolores...who was one of my 4 Pay It Forward recipients.  (from over 2 years ago if you know the story.. and it is only supposed to be one year..so they were definitely all surprised!)
Now ... she will find some who want to play Pay It Forward and they will do the same and on it goes.... little gifties winging their way around the world.















She has named him Rusty..and blogged about his arrival here.... True Blue Canadian...

He had a lot of fun playing in his papers....















choosing just the right ones.... getting all comfy and making sure he could streeetttchh... right out...all 2 inches of him... if that.......















And, this little girl, all by herself ... found her way to Anne in Scotland... and for some reason I never did a pic of her playing in the papers... but, I got one of her before she was complete....

sorry little girl... almost like showing you nekkid....















your little arms were teeensy....and it was dangerous work..... for me!



















Here they are just before getting on planes.... wondering how far they would be flying and how it would all work out.  They were pretty nervous ... but, they got all comfy in their little tissue-for-blankies and off they went...so brave.















Group hug.















Awwww... what fun it was making them and for me...the best part is...my arm/hand/elbow is once again finally able to do some needle felting!  I'm a happy felter!.  It's not perfect..but, if I work at it a bit at a time...I can still make some little guys.  Boy, does that feel great.


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

WOYWW


Many of you WOYWWers won't have seen the two posts I did between last Wednesday and today... (because you only stop by on Wednesday)...and that's okay...but, you do miss things... (check out my Portugal seaside photos too some day) ..

I did want you to see the 'reveal' though....so here is part of the secret.  The secret guarded by Olaf the Terrible.

Two years ago I signed up for a Pay It Forward.  But, real life, injuries and surgeries interfered with all my fun.  I was unable to complete it until just recently...my arm/hand/elbow finally let me do some stabbing and making little needle felted bears once again.  Whew...I was worried for a bit there....was wondering if I could ever do one again.

Here are two of the little guys...well...actually one guy and one gal.... who have travelled across the ocean to new homes. Click to see the full postings if you care to see more photos of either....

































If you haven't heard about WOYWW, go to Julia's blog and check it out.  A good snoop around the work stations of lots of folks...and some interesting things to see....

I'm cheating and putting it on the list early for us in Canada...it is only 11:00 p. m. here ...but, I have a golf time in the morning and that would mean not getting it on til afternoon... so ...I'm doing it tonight....

Forgive me? .... ta... I'll be thinking about all of you while I'm out there....not ....hahahahha...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darn it....I forgot to add.... my friend Shashi, one of the recipients of my Pay It Forward .. has now put a post on her blog, Sewing With Moonbeams, encouraging people to play along.  If you would like to receive a little gift from her...and in return...Pay It Forward with a little fun gift from yourself to three others.... please pop over to her blog and comment to play along...check out her post on the little guy she got from me while you are at it.....



Monday, May 14, 2012

The Algarve, Portugal

The first night on our drive down to the Algarve area....we stayed in a cute little hotel called Colina Dos Mouros....in Silves.  Maria told us it means Columns of the Moors... and in the south of Portugal ...the Moorish influence is pretty evident in a lot of the architecture. TripAdvisor has this shot of it....I didn't get one as we arrived after dark and ...in the morning....I forgot.....

Photos of Colina dos Mouros, Silves


It was a great little hotel... very clean as was every single place we set foot in while in Portugal.  A big plus for us.  We have a big deal with cleanliness....















Every building has granites, marbles and tile incorporated into it....how I wish it was as reasonable to buy here.....sigh.... so easy to keep spotless...looks amazing....



















For a few euros...we got an upgrade to a castle view room...
why not?  It was only about 37 euros per night .... we probably should have gone to view the castle too..  here is what Wiki says about it.....  "Silves Castle was built between the 8th and the 13th century AD and is considered to be the best preserved of the Moorish castles of the country."  

Last year we did a lot of wandering through castles, cathedrals and ruins...but, this visit we were more concentrated on "doing the Algarve" ... and that meant seeing the amazing beaches... gawking at some pretty fancy yachts at one of the main marinas... feasting in a fancy restaurant later in the day (not that we didn't feast everywhere we went!) ...oh, man...the food! ...and moving on a bit further to more lovely beaches and another hotel... within walking distance from the beach I showed yesterday.















Feast your eyes on these views !!!















I love seeing and hearing the crashing waves and spent many a shot trying to capture just the right moment in a wave's life.... love this one.















Sure....I could live here.  I'll just take the one on the right...a bit higher up the hill, please...... in case of a very high tide.















Nobody around but us...how perfect.































Onward to another beach .... I have no clue exactly which beach this is...but, again it is probably Praia da Rocha.... means rocks.... they are all beautiful.  Love the colour of the rocks .... the wonderful feel of the sand ... I'm thinking colours like this for the house ....mmmmmm.... golden creamy cupboards ...  sea coloured walls. ....























Oh, yeh.....

















Sunday, May 13, 2012

Memories of Portugal..

In February we went to Portugal....

Before Christmas I had not been sick with a cold or cough for 17 years...but, we landed and I seemed to have a sore throat.  It got worse.  By the third day I just wanted to lie in Maria's bed, under the soft duvet,   ...and motion the rest to go on without me....but...I couldn't.  We were on holiday dammit!  we only had two weeks!

So...on we went.  It got worse...then poor Mr. BV got it...then our host and hostess finally succumbed.  I did my job well.  I'm terrible.  But, on we went ... onward; ever onward  ....hahahha... what a bunch of nut jobs.  Well, we had to make the best of a bad thing, didn't we?  Fortunately we both took lots of photos..because I honestly don't even remember some of it.  By then I had bronchitis ... was having horrible coughing fits.  It got worse and by the time we were back a week, I was coughing hard enough to damage some rib tissue. Great.  Finally, it's gone away... just barely. That took months ..... man...what happened to healthy me?  It's annoying to say the least.

Anyway... I did post a few pics of Portugal back when...then got side tracked.... with more physio and just with being sick and not even caring if I blogged or not.  Now...I'm looking back at the photos ...and wanted to share some with you.

Portugal ... the Algarve.... not sure exactly which beach ...but, we stayed in a nearby hotel and walked over to this particular beach at sunset.... beautiful...... many of the beaches we saw had amazing rocky formations on them...actually one area had a name that means that..... was it Praia de Rocha ??  Maria??

Here is a link to the many beaches.   Please have a look...it boggles the mind that there are so many. Not all are big...but, some are...  All have amazing sand, coloured rocky cliffs and outcroppings ... unusual formations... all are different.... all are beautiful.  They clear them of debris and keep them nice and clean.  Early the next morning there was a special cleaning machine busy at work....well, the machine was not alone..there was a guy driving it...  and he had a great grid system worked out that he whizzed over easily..  picking up bottles, cans, and other debris...

If you are interested in seeing other photos of our trips to Portugal...click on the Portugal label waaaay down the sidebar... last year and this year will all show up on there and you can scroll through them all...