My Funny Baby

My son and his wife stopped over tonight for a bit, they brought me a loveseat and chair for my basement which is fantastic. They are making room for baby things and I have the room.

I was holding my granddaughter and she was trying to fuss, her bottom lip was sticking out and she was wanting to cry but got way to tired, she was fighting sleep but ended up dozing off sitting up like this, it was hilarious!

Fall

I find it rather interesting how I have no trees on my front lawn (unfortunately), yet I'm raking up tons of leaves. Both neighbors on either side of me have trees and who knows, maybe next year I'll have a tree or two of my own.

The Drive to School

 I could actually call this the drive to get to almost anyplace I go...I have to take the freeway to head to school, to downtown, or to anyplace that's not further south of me. I love the freeway. At times I forget momentarily that I'm in the city when I drive down this road. It's beautiful and when it's not rush hour I don't generally hit a lot of traffic. I now wonder why they call it rush hour when it lasts for two hours... hmmm.

What Happened?

So much for my clean desk, it's that time of year where I'm trying to organize my classes and assignments. It's going to all come together I'm sure and one day this desk will be cleaned off again... like in 2 years!

There's a saying that says that a clean desk is the sign of a sick mind, so I guess I'm alright!

Right on, I'm back up and running and now can post once again. I had to figure out this new thing that they've done to blogger and I guess that I got lucky and hit one of the right keys so I'm back. I'll catch up on posting as soon as time permits.

Cheers!

Blogger Issues are Frustrating!

Is anyone else having problems uploading photos? I've been trying for quite a while now and am giving up for tonight, for some reason I can get to "upload photo" but the screen won't load up... grrrrr. Oh well, I can always catch up another night, will try again tomorrow.

HELP! Sideways Sunset Sunday

I can't figure out how to flip or rotate this photo, I've tried to decrease the size but for some odd reason it keeps coming up this way and I don't have all day to figure it out, any suggestions?

Metis Sash

Tonight, along with approximately 40 other students from Alberta, I was presented with my Metis sash. The sash has a rich, colorful history and I am extremely proud to have this, it's a real honor. I was presented this sash at the Belcourt Brosseau Metis Awards celebration. The music was traditional with violins and guitars and the meal was fantastic! There were seven salads and three or four types of meat plus all the fixins', the Metis know how to feed people!

My daughter accompanied me to this celebration, thank you Michelle. As it turned out I was the first one on stage to accept my sash and my daughter wasn't ready with the camera so she snapped a shot on the big screen, so here you have it... I finally made it to the big screen!  :-)

I will wear this sash with honor and pride, I am an extremely proud Metis lady.

Edmonton Oilers All Season Gnome

Both of my sons are die hard Edmonton Oiler's hockey fans, I think that between both of them they have everything ever made with the Oilers logo on it. I had to chuckle at my middle sons gnome, I've seen it before but with the sun hitting it the way it was it looked funny. This gnome has all seasons covered, first off he's a gnome, that takes care of spring/summer, in the fall he proudly adorns my sons landing in support of the Oiler's and in winter, around the Christmas season, this cute little bugger has the Santa beard. Yup, only in Alberta an all season gnome! 

Oh and the number painted on it, well that's my son's favorite player!

All In A Day

 First thing this morning I drove across the city to help out with a catering job, I didn't have a class until 1pm. I finished up work around 12:30 and just made it in time to get to class. 

After I was finished at the University this is what the traffic looked like, it was bumper to bumper all along Whyte Ave., but I don't travel along this road long. I drove for about 15 - 20 minutes then I hit the freeway, I was home free. Once I'm on this road it doesn't take me long to get home. 

I love the freeway, it reminds me of getting out of the city, speaking of which... I think that it's time real soon for a road trip out to the farm. Have books, will travel!

Life is astounding...oops,  break is over, it's time to get back to the reading for at least another hour!

Time To Winterize

This morning it was chilly out there, as you can see my car windows were covered in frost. I got to wondering it it's time to winterize, it seems a tad bit too early for that and sure enough this evening the sun is shining down on us, it's warm out there and the extended forecast is a gorgeous weekend followed with seasonal average temperatures and hopefully no more frost until at least November... this is nuts!

I'll hold off on the winterizing for a while yet and hope that this morning that someone only pissed off Mother Nature for a little bit and that she's over it now.

Saving Water

Okay, so I was at the huge University today getting educated on how to access and research in their libraries, there's  7 or 8 different libraries at the University, unbelievably huge!  I spotted this sign when I visited the ladies room and I wondered if they also have the water saving methods in the men's washrooms, seriously think about it. Ladies have only stalls, men have the urinals and fewer stalls... I think that you get where I'm going with this. 

Doesn't it concern you that I'm going to be out there in the world working in the helping profession one day when I think of such idiotic things? It's all good, I do some serious debriefing before I come home from university each day! ;-)

Abbie's New Toy

I was out shopping today after class and found a new toy for Abbie. She loves it and it was so cute to watch her tire herself out. Here she was taking a bit of a break before she got back to jumping, running and having fun. Abbie's so cute and great company, I love having her here with me.

Sunday Night Reflection

Why bother worrying or fretting about the past or mistakes we've made? There's that one saying that goes something like:

"Yesterday is history

Tomorrow a mystery

Today is the present

And a present is a gift."

I'm not suggesting by no means that we forget our errors in life, that's where our wisdom comes from... we don't find these types of lessons anywhere in the classrooms nor in the textbooks.  Live, love, laugh and learn, yup that's the secret to a happy life in my opinion.

That's my Sunday night reflection. :-)

Something to Celebrate

 

Today I helped cater a special occasion, we served approximately 150 people dinner and everything was fantastic! The occasion was a celebration for an AA club which opened their doors 60 years ago and the place is still going strong despite having to move locations a few times over the years. I've been to a few of the meetings in the past at the South Side Chapter House and I enjoy them immensely.

Happy 60th South Side Chapter House I hope that there's many, many more years to come.

Believe

"I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining

And I believe in love

even when there's no one there

And I believe in God
even when He is silent"

I love this old Irish saying and there's another one which keeps me going some days:

"If you believe you can, you will. If you believe you can’t, you won’t."             By Tom Hess

I am rather pleased with the way my letters turned out and they look just like I'd imagined. I didn't want to hang something over the tv which would be a distraction to anyone watching tv yet I didn't want to leave this spot bare. And yes, in life I believe I can so I will. :-)

ECG Time of Year

My tests for this year are now complete. Four viles of blood, an ECG and one other test should have me all caught up to the testing... now to wait for the results and keep on keeping on. 

I'm not the least bit worried, this is routine for me and I've been feeling pretty darn good in the health department.  Although I think that they took too much blood today, I've been exhausted ever since my tests so now I'm going to call it a night and get to bed where tired people go to I've heard.

Interesting

I have these letters which I want to put up on my wall behind my large screen TV, the wall's too bare but I don't want to put up something which is a distraction when a person is watching TV... something which will compliment the room but not overtake the room. I didn't like the color the letters were so I'm playing around with the colors I've used in the living room and I find it rather interesting what I've come up with. I know it's not rocket science but it's an accomplishment nonetheless. I'll post them once they're on the wall, after the paint dries and the readings for classes are done... maybe next summer! There's tons of reading in university, I can see I won't be doing much other than taking time out from reading to attend classes for the next 8 months... what did I get myself into now?

A Beautiful Fall Day

It seems as though I've blinked and all of a sudden it's autumn. The leaves are rapidly changing color and floating to the ground and the air is crisp. Today it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I had to walk from one university to another then back to pick up my car which was in getting some recall work done to it. The walk was long but it was fantastic. Sure I could have called for a shuttle ride but then I would have missed this gorgeous afternoon.

(I couldn't decide which photo to post so you get to see the two which I like the best.)

I would also like to know if anyone knows what type of a shrub this is in the photo below, I love that it's still blossoming and the colors are so pretty. Another maybe for my landscaping which I hope to do in the spring. 

As long as this weather holds up and it's nice out I'm thinking that I'd best get out there and take advantage of this and walk a bit more, I'm sure that Abbie would love that!

Dinner for One

 

I recently purchased this convection oven which sits right on the counter, tonight I tried it for the first time and I must say that I'm impressed thus far. I have this problem with cooking for only myself so I plain out don't bother most of the time. I don't want to start the oven for some small portion so hopefully this will get me cooking for myself and I'll eat healthy once again. 

One of the fast food places I tried during this move was Pita Pit, my daughter recommended it so I tried it and it wasn't bad. I bought some whole wheat mini pitas and added fresh spinach, chicken breast which I had precooked 2 days ago, fresh tomatoes, pineapple chunks, cheese and a bit of pizza sauce. From start to finish my dinner took approximately 15 minutes and it was delicious! 

Tomorrow maybe antother pita with fresh from the garden zucchini, fresh tomatoes, pineapple and spinach... that sounds delicious! I'm going to have to try a small roast in the oven and see how long that takes, maybe next week. I'm just like a kid at Christmas with a new toy!

Precious

Today Elyssa came to visit, she brought her mommy and daddy along and it was awesome to see them all and spend time visiting. The painting can wait, it's not going anywhere.

Elyssa is growing so fast and she keeps on getting more precious, she has this way of filling up another piece of my heart each and every time I see her with a special kind of love.

Sunset Sunday

...in my rear-view mirror.

Another Sunset Sunday inspired by Scott.

Finally

Today I finally found my living room drapes, it's like Christmas come early! I'm not sure how many sets I've brought home, put them up, taken them back down and returned them, then it was off to more stores to start over again. Today at Bed, Bath and Beyond I found these drapes, they come in three different colors so I bought one panel of the olive and one of the gold/cream and tried them. I chose the olive ones, the color works, it creates the atmosphere I love.  And here they are...

These are so old fashioned looking but it's exactly the look I was in search of. Yup these ones are keepers! 

Yummm

There's nothing that compares to some fresh veggies, sauteed in dill, garlic, brown sugar and a bit of butter. These were delicious, something I could eat darn near every day... they're that good!

Dessert Anyone?

While I was out today trying to find living room curtains I spotted this dessert cafe, Death By Chocolate. I stayed on my side of the street as tempting as it was to cross over and check out this place. The temptation was strong... I was stronger!

1942

I was unpacking a few things I keep tucked away and found this gift my Grandfather  (Mom's dad), bought for my Grandmother for Christmas in 1942. I have to smile when I see this, I bet this meant the world to Gramma. I wonder if Gramma held it close to her heart while Grampa was off fighting in the war or if she caressed it lovingly in her hands when she missed Grampa... I'll never know for certain but I like to think that Gramma was deeply in love with Grampa and that this trinket was priceless to her.

Time out

My internet is not working properly so I'll have to catch up to my posting once my issues are resolved. I detest when this happens but what's a girl to do. It's time to get the pros on this, I'll chat with my sons tomorrow and hopefully be back up and running soon. I'll see you all back here when this is fixed, take care and happy shooting!

Back At It

She's back! I must say that I've missed posting, even though I've had my net back up and running for a few days I took a bit of a break to get some things done and take some "me" time. Let's see.... where did I leave off...right, I was doing lighting in the living room. My next project was to put together a few new chairs and they took a bit of doing, their left wasn't the same as my left but I finally got it figured out and now my dining area/kitchen is complete... all except the chair rail but that's coming when I get to it. I almost have the main floor done, more photos will follow I'm sure. 

Now to catch up on a few more days and I'm looking forward to checking out all of your photos when time permits which hopefully will be real soon. I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend, it's my last weekend of freedom, two more sleeps and it's off to classes.

Light Up My Life

I am finally making some progress here, tonight I am sitting in a messy living room, it's painted, baseboards are back on, most of the light switches and plug ins are covered with new plates and there's new floor vents. The lighting has been changed over tonight as well. This first photo shows the horrid track lighting which was in my living room...

This is what I chose for lighting, actually it was a decision made between my daughter and myself.

 I was looking online two nights ago for ideas, I had 7 fixtures which I was trying to decide from yet this one was on the top of my list. I asked for my daughters opinion, showing her this one last, and she chose this one as well. I was surprised, we have quite different taste. Nonetheless my world is now getting lit up in a much softer manner and I just might have this house together in time to hit the books next week!

Abbie's New Day Bed

Yesterday when I stopped off at my sisters house she gave me her cat's bed for Abbie, her cat had no use for it. It was so cute, I came around the corner here at home where I had set the bed down and found Abbie sprawled out in her new day bed, she sleeps in her kennel at night. 

Tonight I was looking over Abbie's papers and lo and behold her birthday is on the same date as my baby sisters, the sister who gave me the bed... it's funny how some things are in life.

Sunset Sunday

Sunday is upon us once again and in keeping, or attempting to keep, with a new tradition I'm posting my favorite sunset photo which I shot this week. This photo was taken on Friday evening out at the farm here in Northern Alberta as the sun slipped down in the horizon leaving us in darkness to await a brand new day. 

Scott has inspired me to begin this new tradition, if you'd like to check out some of his amazing sunset shots you can find him here.

Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

Leaving the farm today I felt that I really didn't want to come home, back to the city. I drove down the road a ways and couldn't help but notice the beautiful sky. The clouds were silvery (if that's even a word). The saying "Every cloud has a silver lining came to mind." So what's the message here? I'm going to guess that it's that I have the best of both worlds; I have my life in the city where my children, my granddaughter, my family and my education are and I'm blessed to have a man in my life who loves me dearly on the farm. This cloud of sadness to be leaving the farm was soon filled with gratitude for all that I have in my life. 

This next photo was taken in a small town where my sister lives not far from the city, I stopped in for a visit and noticed this steeple on the drive into the town. I came back the same way to capture this, there was something that drew me to it... I'm not sure what but I like the photo.

Wishing you all a wonderful and blessed Sunday!

All In A Day At The Farm

It's been a beautiful day out at the farm, I'm not sure how hot it was degree wise but it was warm enough to wear a tank top while gardening. I picked a wheelbarrow full of beets thinking that I was going to get them all canned today. 

 

I managed to get about 1/3 of them pickled and canned, I made 3 loaves of banana strawberry bread, did laundry and cooked a nice dinner.  That was about enough for one day... tomorrow is another day.

And what's a trip out to the farm without at least one photo of a "new" piece of machinery? Here's one of the latest. I forgot to get the details on this one, all I know for certain is that it "needs a bit of work". It's time for Herb to get out his sledge hammer and get this one running! 

Extremely Pleased

The time spent toiling over flowerbeds, when time permitted this summer,  has been worth the effort. I am extremely pleased with the growth of the shrubs and perennials which I've painstakingly planted. Tonight after viewing the many photos I've shot today I've decided to post a few of my flowers and say a prayer that they survive the winter. You'll have to excuse me, I'm not naming all of the flowers because it's late and my brain has gone to sleep about an hour ago! I love this pink one and if anyone knows the name of it please fill me in, I'd love to plant some in the city.

This next one I know is a Hosta, I wasn't going to plant one because it said to avoid direct sunlight. The flower bed this one is in gets plenty of sunlight and has thrived even without adequate watering. 

 This one I don't remember the name but it sure grew amazingly well, I just hope it comes back in the spring. 

Roses that still want to bloom and I hope they do. 

 Pretty little white flowers and I know that I know the name of this but as I mentioned, my brain is asleep and the body is soon to follow! 

And this last photo totally depicts my summer, it's passed by so quickly that it's almost a blur! 

I am extremely pleased with all of my beautiful flowers and shrubs, it was time well wasted this summer! Wishing you all a safe, happy and wonderful weekend!

A Beautiful Day

Today I came for a drive out to the farm, Abbie was an absolutely wonderful road companion. I love coming out to the country, the scenery is so beautiful, the peace and serenity is astounding and for some reason the food tastes better when I cook out at the farm. Tonight I made an apple crisp, the apples came from my boss's tree in the city;  city or country apples, it is delicious! 

There's also a few flowers left hanging in there even though the temperature here in the evenings is starting to get quite chilly. 

I'm here for a few days, taking a break from painting and weather permitting I'm hoping to do some canning. 

I hope you all enjoy your Thursday!