Missing Grampa

Tuesday marked the one year anniversary of the death of my Grampa.  It was a rough day for me.  I stayed in bed for part of it and only went out so that I could do the little bit of shopping that my father in law needed.
I have been reliving last year for the last few days remembering where I was, what we were doing. 

There are some things that stand out in my mind

• Crying in the truck when hearing The Climb from Miley Cyrus
• Having some good laughs with my siblings looking at Grampa's funny stuff
• Trying to decide if electronics were appropriate for the kids to take to the funeral home(we decided yes, but only in some areas)
• Being disappointed with my co-workers and employer.  No flowers, no donation, no card...
• Nana being as strong as always
• The kids being well behaved
• The snow!  It was crazy the amounts we got
• My sister being very hesitant to go in
• Nana touching Grampa's face and saying God Bless You Frank
• Seeing my brother at the very end standing alone at the casket
• Hugging Grampa for the last time.  I've never touched a dead body before.  He felt like a doll
• Jo sitting with her Uncle for the service being very well behaved

It was a rough week, but in the end I knew that Grampa wasn't happy being confined to a bed and not doing all the things he loved.  I miss him more that anything....

Here are a few pictures from that week.  Some taken by me, some by my sister and some by my mom

The Snow!

One of the Funnies that Grampa collected

His wall of Fame

My cousin feeding the deer

Jo wearing Grampa's wig

The snowman!

He was cute

A painting of the house and property

Sewing Room Clean Up

I haven't sewn in over a week.  It took me that long to get things cleaned up so that our company this weekend wouldn't have to deal with my mess.  They have a 10 month old and pins and scraps on the floor wouldn't have been a good thing at all.

When we bought our home the basement had been converted into an apartment.  We haven't taken the kitchen out because it's nice to have the extra storage space and when renovating having a second kitchen is a blessing.  I have some reno's planned for the kitchen again and had cleaned and purged the basement so that we could move everything down there.  Then I started sewing again.  Hubby and I decided that to get rid of my clutter I might as well go ahead and use the cupboard.  Here is how things shaped up.  I'm looking forward to getting it messy again!

I am embarrassed to say that this is the mess before.  My stuff is at the back of the room and you can see the 2 machines that the girls use on the table

I have a few things put away and am getting ready to organize

Most of my fabric fit into the cupboards.  I bought little drawer units for needles, pins and other little things that I need to have close at hand

All Done!  You can't see the other table on the right, but both machines there for the girls are tidy and ready to take out of the boxes when they want to sew too!

The freezer is a great cutting table and the drawers now house all of my thread, bobbins, zippers, buttons and all kinds of other little things.  The cupboards are full of fabric and I am ready for my next project.

Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health's Public Service Announcement

For the first time ever Canada post is asking Canadians to vote for their favorite stamp in support of mental health.  Vote by clicking here.  Voting runs until March 14th. I voted for the first one with the hands.  No Need to Hide...What a great thing

Mental illness affects one in five Canadians... seven million of our friends, neighbours, colleagues and loved ones will need help for mental health problems this year. Many will not get it because of the stigma attached to the illness or because the resources simply aren't there to provide help
For more information on the fundraising that Canada Post has done for mental health awareness click here.

Ten on Tuesday

The Ten on Tuesday topic for this week is Ten Favorite Cocktails/Mocktail

1. Fuzzy Navel
2. Eight Below Sunset made with Eight below Vodka that has a blend of Ice Wine, Peach Juice and Grenadine
3. Amaretto Sour
4. Amaretto and Ginger Ale
5. Cherry Whiskey and Pepsi
6. Cosmopolitan Martinis
7. Malibu Rum and Pomegranate Juice
8. Mudslides
9. Bananatini Cooler Made by Vex
10. When all else fails a Cold Coors Light does the trick!

Wanna play along?  Sign up here! Carole always comes up with great ideas that really gets your mind thinking!!
Thanks to Carole Knits for getting this organized every week!

Happy Family Day

It's family day here in Ontario!  One of my cousins and her family are here and we are having a great weekend!  Company for dinner last night and again tonight....the sun is shining, it's cold so we are all inside relaxing and enjoying the company! 

The Fundraiser for B was a huge success and I will post an update later this week when I have a minute.

Until then...Happy Family Day

Sleeping

There is nothing more beautiful than a sleeping child......especially when that child is your own!

4 Months

My first Mother's Day

25 Months

2 and a half

Just shy of 3

Closer to 4

To buy or not to buy?

While browsing through my Google Reader this morning a quilt set appeared from Sears for only $59.99 for the King Set.  It's a really nice set and I think the quilt would be a welcome covering for the summer.  Right now we have a huge heavy comforter on the bed and it stays there all year, but a nice change might be in order for the summer.  I'm going to have to give this one some thought!

I like the Beige or the Blue....What do you think?  Here is the link.

I also found this one too!  And it's only $40 bucks.....

Ten on Tuesday

The Ten on Tuesday topic for this week is 10 Favorite Non-Knitting  Blogs.  I haven't been knitting as much but still follow my knitting blogs.  I've been following a bunch of different blogs about all kinds of things!  Let's see what I can come up with.

1. Cake Wrecks.  Some of the cakes are beauties and others....well...
2. Smart Canucks.  This blog has some amazing deals in Canada.  I have already bought one Christmas present this month after finding a great price that was advertised here.
3. The Pioneer Woman.  Need I say more!  Ree rocks!
4. Life is Good at the Beach.  Beach Mama is a real life friend!  I've followed her blog since she started it!
5. Postcards from the Mothership.  Another real life friend!
6. Sew Much Ado.  I came across this one not too long ago and am loving We did it Wednesday.  The creativity is amazing!
7. Random Thoughts and Musings from The Island.  Chrissy is a city girl living on a farm on Manitoulin Island!  We only live two short hours from each other and someday we will get to meet in person!
8. Sugar Bee Craft Edition.  Mandy has all kinds of interesting stuff on there!
9. Living My Live on Purpose.  Wonderful family blog!!
10. One Pretty Thing.  I've gotten a huge amount of ideas from here

I have a whole list of blogs that I follow on a daily basis.  Look at the sidebar on the right and you will see them all.  The ones listed here are on no particular order!


I really enjoy Ten on Tuesday!  I love reading the lists that everyone comes up with and it really gets me thinking..which is a good thing!!

Wanna play along?  Sign up here!
Thanks to Carole Knits for getting this organized every week!

My Review of Six Star+ 20 Piece Cutlery Set with Ronco Rocker

Originally submitted at CSN Stores

Includes

• 1 x 11.75" Ronco Rocker™ knife
• 1 x 14.5" Showtime all-purpose knife
• 1 x 13.25" Bread & bagel knife
• 1 x 13.13" Chef's knife
• 1 x 14.5" Saw knife
• 1 x 12.75" Boning knife

Six Star+ 20 Piece Cutlery Set with Ronco Rocker

Very Pleased!

By Annie from Northern Ontario on 2/14/2011

 

5out of 5

Very pleased overall!!
The knives are sharp and are comfortable to use

(legalese)

Earring and Jewelry Displays

I got everything finished and delivered for the Fundraiser that is happening this weekend for B and his family.  I wasn't sure how I was going to do the displays but with some creative thinking I managed!  Last week I was thrift shopping and bought some packages of picture frames for a few dollars each and also checked the dollar store for some cheap frames too.  I took the glass out of all of them and cut cork the same size and slid the cork into the frames instead of the glass, used some chain and some thumbtacks and this is how they looked!

 

I would have been happier with plain thumbtacks, but that was all I could find!

I thought it was kinda creative!

Handmade Jewelry and Purses

Aside from having a bit of a tummy bug and losing 24 hours this week, things around here were rather productive.

Some of what I made this week will be going to a Fundraiser for B and his family and will be put on the Silent Auction and Penny Table!

Here is some of what I have made!  I will post more pictures when I get them carded and ready for display!

Finished Purse

Rings Handmade with Memory Wire and Beads

Snap Closure

Inside Pocket

Inside Zippered Pocket

Shining in the Sun

Smaller Bag

Snap Closure and Inside Pocket

Funky Bag made from Drapery Samples

I love it!

Backpack Purse for K

The other side

Pretty Bag

Ten on Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday today is 10 Favorite Oscar Winning Films!
Let's see if I can come up with 10!

1. Forrest Gump 1994.  I could watch this one over and over again
2. Top Gun 1986.  I love, love, love this movie
3. Titanic 1997.  Classic
4. Terms of Endearment. Great for when you need a good cry
5. Monsters Inc 2001.  Awesome kids movie
6. The Lion King 1994.  Amazing story
7. The Blind Side 2009. Awesome
8. As Good as it Gets 1997.  Love Jack Nicholson
9. Evita 1996.  Not a huge Madonna fan, great story
10. Memoirs of a Geisha 2005.  The book was better, but still a good movie

Wanna play along?  Sign up here!
Thanks to Carole Knits for getting this organized every week!

It's a Yay Day!

My friend Dani from Postcards From the Mothership used to have regular "Yay Days" and I am going to take her idea and do a Yay Day here!

• Scored some great finds at the 50% off sale at Value Village
• Things are starting to turn around for my sister!! More on that when she says it's ok!
• Hubby and I talked yesterday about the end of my Employment Insurance coming to an end and whether or not I should pursue some education..As much as I would love to go back to school we have decided that I will continue to stay home, sew, bead, help with his dad!! I'm thrilled!
• There was a spaghetti lunch fundraiser for B on the weekend and I think the turnout was much larger than expected.  He starts a 5 day round of chemo this morning...(not so yay)
• I have all kinds of things made for another fundraiser for B!  I have handmade purses and jewelry for the silent auctions
• The weather has warmed up and we can now almost use the back door properly again.
• I had a great phone visit with one my oldest friends the other night and she is doing well
• I picked up some samples of my antidepressants from my Dr's office this morning..gotta love saving money!!
• I also found out that another friend who has been trying for baby number one for about 3 years is expecting, but I'm not supposed to know!! I'm thrilled for them

I'm sure there is more to Yay about today, but I have earrings to make and bags to sew!

Picture Post!

I haven't had my camera out as much as I would like, but we did stop by the trailer on our way home last weekend and we now know what our spot looks like covered in snow.  It's actually very pretty!

That circle is our firepit!

Ten on Tuesday

The Ten on Tuesday Topic for 2/1 is 10 Things On Your Nightstand/Bedside Table

We just cleaned out the bedroom and changed things around so I'm not sure I actually have 10 things on there!

1. Clock Radio
2. Lamp
3. iPad
4. Foot Cream
5. Remote for the TV
6. Telephone
7. Controller for the Electric Blanket
8. Magazine and Books
9. Cookies that Jo left there
10. Dust!

Hey I managed to find 10!!

Wanna play along?  Sign up here!
Thanks to Carole Knits for getting this organized every week!