NaBloPoMo 2012...fail.

I made it to half a month and then everything fell apart.  But, it did make me realise that I do love to blog and I should make it a priority to blog more. 

And, I've also been working on my Pinterest boards, and by that I mean actually doing, making and tasting pins I've created.  Yesterday was The Dishy Decorator: Cinnamon Roll Casserole - http://pinterest.com/pin/260716265899918614  which was awesome, and even better today warmed up with a drizzle of maple syrup. 

So, I know most of my followers are fellow cross stitch friends, but you may see more variety thrown in as I work/strive to focus on new things and my family.  I promise to still share my stitching, but it is only a part of my life, not the whole thing.  And to any new followers...WELCOME!

Lazy Sunday

Well, of course doing nothing means....going to church, making a Sunday supper for 8 (homemade buns, potatoes, roast pork, corn and brownies for dessert),  laundry and then maybe some rest...

Wish me luck.

Wonderful Weekend Away

Each year, the second weekend in November is reserved for my Mom and I to attend the Knowledge and Needles Retreat at the Timber House.  This is my Christmas present from my parents...and I love it! 

My Mom drives to mine, we pack my stuff into the car and make the hour drive to Brighton.  And then, let the stitching begin!

 Here was my view for most of the weekend (moving from my left to my right) as I attempted to have a NUMB BUM and by doing so, accomplished a lot of stitching!

  The lady on the end of the couch in the photo below is my lovely Mom...

 Saturday afternoon my Mom went for a short walk through the park between the resort and the beach (she walked the beach as well) and then returned, handed me my coat and told me to bring my camera.  My Dad does metal works as a hobby and she found some that she wanted me to capture to give him some new ideas.  I've already put an order in for an owl...

 Our friend from Georgian Bay wants the flamingo....

 And a couple of these at the cottage would not go a miss....

Saturday evening was a meal at our hostesses home, with her husband (and friends) as chef(s).

Here is the menu....and photos of the dishes listed.

 It was a lovely meal, thank you again Dan!

One of the stitchers (Sharon) is working on creating 60....yes 60 ornaments for a club she belongs to, she brought what she had done....look at all these lovely snowflakes!

This one was my favourite....

And I did get stitching done!  To see where I was before I left, visit this post.

I finished my Lizzie Kate HO HO HO in a row

 And put a huge dent in my summer seasonal mandala!

 I love the colours in this one and the little sun peeking out is my favourite part...and now I'm thinking I should have done fall and winter and left this one to last.

Others in attendance that have also posted about this retreat are:  Ann, Bonnie, Dani (she has a great picture of Lianne and I on there) and Christin

Top of the world...

HELLO WORLD!  Those were the words my boys were shouting from the top of the crazy chair our friend Jim made in Georgian Bay.  On a track and rollers, they slide this monster out closer to the Bay during the summer months and pull it back into the protection of the woods for the fall and winter.

This thing is  HUGE, well, you can see how big it is  - four adults and two kids can sit comfortably across the front, with room to spare.
From left to right:  my husband, Cameron, myself, Caleb, my Mom and my Dad.

 We had a beautiful long weekend in September with our friends Sheila and Smitty in their beautiful home and cottage, which shares the same property.

50th Anniversary/Birthday

I'm working late tonight, but for a good reason.  Tonight, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the day the "Grand Theatre" was saved by the local community as it was scheduled to be turned into a parking garage!

It is a free event, so anyone close if you want to come and check it out - please do!

http://kingstongrand.ca/learning-event/celebrating-50-years

Lest we forget

Just a reminder to pay respects to our past and present troops...

I love this song, makes me proud to be Canadian every time I hear it... I also drive "The Highway of Heroes" on a pretty regular basis...

Will you remember to give your Pittance of Time?

Art

For new readers of this blog, I work at the Grand Theatre in Kingston Ontario.  We currently have a production happening in our small theatre space called SPIN.  A local artist installed an art piece that I thought I would share.

A much needed break

Every year, the second weekend of November, my Mom and I pack the car and head off for a weekend of stitching, laughing and eating with an amazing group of friends.  Today is the day that "retreat" starts and we are away until Sunday afternoon.  I can't wait!  If you want to see past weekends, check out these posts...Retreat 2007, Retreat 2008,  Retreat 2009, and I can't seem to find 2010, or last year...oh well, it is a great weekend and I will be sure to take some pictures this year to share at the start of the week (or, I could just steal them from Dani again -LOL, at least I admit with I steal them!)

Here is a picture from the shores of Brighton, which is where we are going for this lovely retreat, this is from the shoreline in front of bed and breakfast.

Stitching update

 Here is what I am working on at the moment, a little mix of everything.

First is HOHOHO Quick It from Lizzie Kate, only because I know I have to do some Christmas stitching as something always comes up that I require something for.

And my Ink Circles four seasons mandalas that I am stitching with my stitching sisters.

Sorry this one is "on its side", but it is a Christmas row by Lizzie Kate - that I will probably get done in time for Christmas ... next year, or the year after.

And last but not least my Country houses SAL, and all the pattern is now out and I'm way behind, but I'm still in love with it so the longer the actual stitching last, the better.  If you want to see what it will look like when I'm done, it is posted here.

Stealing a post....

I was going to write about the wonderful weekend that happened in October - but this morning on my RSS feed was a wonderful post about the exact same weekend with much better pictures.

So, to read all about the weekend, please go give my friend Dani some love over on Dani...Black Belt Stitching Wizard and her post about the Belated Get Together Post.

This is my favourite picture...I'm the one waving...

Personality to spare

This picture is going to be one to blackmail Caleb with in years to come...but shows his personality - this is how he wandered out from his room one morning...

My youngest (Caleb) is a character and a half.  The stuff this kid comes out with makes us all laugh at least once a day.  At the moment, we still have our UK friends living with us so he is starting to pick up on some of their sayings as well.  In the kitchen yesterday, something fell on the floor and Siobhan went to grab it, cursing under her breathe as the dog had knocked it over.  Caleb pipes up - "It's okay Siobhan, just say "Bloody 'ell" like Frank and get it over with!" - we were all in stitches.

Here are a few of the random questions/comments we have gotten in the last week:

- are triplets three babies born at the same time?
- if God created Adam and Eve, why would he bother with the dinosaurs and evolution?
- eating dessert before supper will make me stronger.
-why do I have to brush my teeth in the morning, I already do it before bed?

Caleb, you are the light that shines each day - and I love you to the moon and back....after the bed bugs get you.

Love Mom

Monday

This is all I have to say about today...

Want to see something scary?

Today is Cameron's 10th Birthday....10th - double digits...and he is growing into a beautiful young man. 

Love you to the moon and back.

Here is a post of mostly pictures to show you how much he really has "grown"...he started out at 8lbs 3oz, and now tips the scales at 125!

Here he is now...

Happy Birthday Big Man...Love Mom

The playground story

Last night was the Pampered Chef party to support the local playground.  Thank you to everyone who came out to support this venture.

Here is the background story on "the playground".

On Good Friday, my family decided to join the local church (St. Luke's) for  their annual Easter Village Walk.  Which is basically a walk around the community, stopping at historical sites along the way to tell the story of Easter.  While on this little walk, we came upon the Camden East Playground, in which every child among us raced off to "play on".  Only one problem, almost every piece of equipment was broken or missing.  Our oldest got to the one swing and the second he started to move, my husband (Curt) pulled him off as you could see the bar bending and breaking above his head.

Both Curt and the local minister (John, who is a 30something, father of three himself) decided that something needed to be done.  Curt went to our location township and asked them if anything was being done to make this a safe place for our kids to play again and the answer was, maybe.  So he then asked if nothing was going to be done, could he at least take it upon himself to remove the equipment that was unsafe so no one would get hurt.  They agreed that the equipment could come out. 

Once the ball started rolling, it moved like a freight train!  The community started getting wind of "the guy" clearing the playground and they all starting coming out to help.  While Curt was working on this, the township decided that yes, they really should invest in some new equipment and received a grant from Hydro One to help with the costs (playground equipment is crazy expensive).  So Curt and his band of volunteers took out ALL the equipment, cut down about 9 larger trees and countless amounts of scrub brush and cleared the area for new equipment to be installed.

September 13th was an amazing day with the new equipment installed and then the kids....we didn't know there were so many kids in the community!

 Opening Ceremonies on September 22nd - Camden East - Old Mill Street Playground

My Husband - Curt

 

And things have been busy there ever since, now the rain and the cold have "slowed things down", but I'm sure as soon as the nice weather hits again in the spring, I'll be vacuuming sand out of my car again.

Happy Belated Halloween!

My two boys both decided that they "needed" to be zombies...which is alright in my books!  Easy peasy costumes...clothes from their closets and a little creative hand on the makeup and we were ready to roll.

We spent a great evening with friends from our local village, wandering around while the kids had a blast running from house to house.  Both ended up with a bag full of "junk", which I plan on raiding on a regular basis until it is all gone.

Just a quick note as well for anyone in my general area, we are hosting a Pampered Chef party tonight from 6:30 - 8:30pm in the local hall Camden East Playground Fundraiser  and if you are not in the area and would still like to support our efforts to add more to the local playground for the kids, you can shop online at Pampered Chef Online enter the shop online function and then type Camden in the organization to find us.

Thanks everyone who has already submitted an order - up next will be Regal thanks to Bonnie for her help with that one.

Only because I don't have enough on the go...

I just added my blog to "the official list" and I will try my best, that is all I am promising - posting once each day for the entire month seems a little daunting but maybe that will be the "push" I need to blog a little more frequently than every six months.

Here we go folks hang on to your hats until tomorrow...which will be day two, post two!