Here We Go Again

Arrrrgh! Now it's the basement, when the hot water tank gave out shortly after I bought this house I had it replaced and cleaned up all the water the best I could. I wasn't thinking and didn't remove any of the drywall. When they installed the drywall downstairs they butted it right down to the floor, there wasn't any space left, and now I've got a mold problem starting up. So I have to remove all the drywall, I'll have the cement checked for cracks and get someone to do a rebuild. I just don't have the time to be hanging sheets of drywall and I refuse to tape.

I hope that insurance will cover some of this, I know they won't cover having the sides of the house graded properly, that's ours to look after. One day this work will all end and I'll be able to sit back, until then... more work! 

 

I sure hope Dale Carnegie is right, he claims: 

"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs.  Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger.  If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves."

 

Life's Little Surprises

My niece has returned, something which surprised me I must admit. She's been with me for a few weeks and today we registered her in a new school, then we went out to get her school supplies. That looked after my morning. 

The new school looks promising. I'm hoping this venture works out for my niece, she's a brilliant girl and is enthusiastic about getting back into the classrooms. I wish her all the best with her course load. I know she can do this, I've seen her work and when she sets her mind to something... well she's like her Aunt, that's about all I'll say on this subject. ;-)

University

Well it was back to the university today, the University of Alberta that is.  I wanted to beat the rush so I went down to pick up my textbooks, the ones I couldn't get online.

 oops... this isn't a textbook, somehow this made it's way into my bag and followed me home, go figure it's even my color!

One more year, 8 more grueling months with very little sleep, and maybe I'll even have to take up drinking coffee again, but somehow I'm going to get this degree within this time frame. Where there's a will there's a way and what's 7 courses in one semester?

This is what I get for putting renovations, a short holiday, family and friends before this stupid correspondence. Now it's time to pay the piper and buckle down, well bring it on I'm almost ready for this one.

Sleep is overrated anyways, at least that's what I keep telling myself. 

... now back to my newest show I'm watching, it's called Sons of Anarchy and what a fantastic show. Thank you LL for the heads up on this series, it's phenomenal. Whoever wrote this one deserves some type of an award, there's never a dull moment, the mom is so manipulative and controlling... yup I might have to pull an overnighter to catch up on this series. (What correspondence?)

Friends

I hosted another BBQ today, this time with some near and dear friends. One of my friends has a sweet little boy, he thought the grass was greener on the other side of my fence, or so it appeared. 

One of my friends and his wife, my former boss, brought me a beautiful hostess gift.

I LOVE roses, they're my favorite flower. 

And tonight, after hosting two BBQs in two days I feel just like Abbie...

It's been a busy fun filled weekend, I've enjoyed myself immensely and I'm blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. 

I found a quote online which is very appropriate for how I feel. 

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

  ~Albert Schweitzer
 

Not only do my friends who are here help rekindle my inner spirit, there are many of you I've met through blogging who do the same thing for me, for this I thank you,  AND if you're ever in my city, let me know and we'll BBQ! :-)  

BBQ, Big Girl and Bubbles

Today was absolutely beautiful, I had my children and granddaughter over for a BBQ. I was looking back at photos of my granddaughter when she was born and she's sure grown, she's now in the "big girl" stage. I love the age she's at, walking, talking and keeping her Mommy and Daddy busy. When she talks I can understand some of the conversation, the rest I'd sure like to know what she's saying, but all in good time.

Elyssa being Elyssa.

We were sitting outside for a while, before we all got to hot, and the bubbles came out. After my son, his wife and my granddaughter left I wanted to see if I could capture the bubbles with my camera. The following shot is the one I like best from the bunch I took. It's not easy capturing bubbles, just give it a try and you'll see what I mean.

I'd best have an early night tonight, tomorrow I have friends coming over and I'll be BBQing all over again. Have a fantastic Sunday!

Suits

June 23, my last night in Colorado Springs, I watched a show which had just premiered, the show is called "Suits".  I'm not much of a TV watcher, the one show I record is House and every now and again I catch up on what's going on, now I'm adding this new series to my watch list. If you haven't seen this show yet, I highly recommend it, if you like shows about lawyers that is. 

If you're interested here's a link where you can read about this new series.

See I really do take breaks every now and again!

More On Gratitude

Click on this photo to enlarge or below is what it says:

"Give Thanks 

for unknown blessings

already on their way"

... and a little something I found online 

Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~

Gratitude

When I see a church, it doesn't matter what the denomination is, I remember my gratitude and say a silent thank you for my blessings. I feel that my blessings by far outweigh the negatives in my life, what more could a girl ask for?

What A Day

I just can't seem to get it together, I don't know what's up with that but hopefully something is going to light a fire under my... errrr, get me going! At least my half bath is finally coming together, it's nearly done, just the baseboards to finish up and I want to hang some art or something on the walls, then it's a done deal.

I went to find some photos on one of my laptops to show a before and after photo, the laptop isn't working which is rather frustrating. My niece was the last one to use it today, now to figure out what the heck she did. Thankfully my son is here and maybe he can sort it out and fix it... I hope, I have nothing backed up. On the upside, I have the extended warranty so if anything is majorly wrong I get a new laptop if they can't repair it.

Here's a part of what the half bath looked like just after the vanity went in...

It's amazing what a coat of paint and a few extras will do to a room. Here's the outcome of my hard work.

The color is a bit off in this photo, it's just been one of THOSE days. I like the way this room turned out, for such a small room the lighter colors opened it up a bit and the vanity is smaller than the last one which adds depth to this tiny room. 

I think that I'm running out of rooms to redo finally, well I'll be... and that only took just a little over a year! lol

Thankfully tomorrow is a brand new day, I get to start all over again!

Air Miles

There's a lot to be said about collecting Air Miles, here's a few of the rewards I received in the mail today at no charge. 

Thanks to Air Miles I shouldn't get lost anymore... shouldn't being the key word! 

I also got a handsfree for my cellphone. I don't get a lot of calls but when I do I'll no longer be fumbling to answer it while I'm driving. This is a good thing, effective September 1st it will be illegal to use a cell phone to either talk or text while driving. Finally a distracted while driving law has been passed, hopefully this will help people realize how important it is to keep their eyes on the road... myself included!

Now for the toaster to get here and my Air Miles Rewards order will be complete.

Yup, gotta love those Air Miles!

Happy Birthday Marg

My stepfather's wife Marg is turning 88 tomorrow, today my youngest sister had a BBQ to celebrate this special occasion. Marg is such a sweet lady, she's extremely active, in excellent health and ton of fun to be around. I hope I'm as active as she is when I'm her age.

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday Marg and many more!

Washroom Art

Rather interesting message in the Esso washroom, if the washroom isn't up to standards you get a new air freshener...any washroom that I need to take my own air freshener in to use I think I'll pass on! lol

Derek Cheats!

Tonight I had such a good time, I played a few games of crib, one with just my son and two with my son and my niece. My niece had never played crib before, so I know she doesn't know how to cheat. Now my son Derek he's a seasoned player, he's been playing the game since he was about 4 or 5 years old. He claims he doesn't cheat, but explain this to me... I have a hand that's fantastic, we were playing 3 players. I proudly counted up my hand, laid it down for all to see and Derek puts down the exact same hand!  .. hmmm I smell something fishy going on here.

I played 3 games and didn't win a single one but this is one of the best nights I've had in a long time. In all honesty Derek doesn't cheat, he got lucky and now I'm on a mission... I'll come back with a vengeance and skunk him two games! :-)

A Definite Maybe

Tonight I was car shopping with my daughter, she's in dire need of a vehicle, her old car was stolen about a month ago and it was written off. Tonight my daughter drove a Pontiac G6 and fell in love with it.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree as they say, the red G5 in behind the G6 is my car. The G6 is a definite maybe, I think that a good nights sleep and some time to think is generally a good idea when making a purchase like this.

Thank You Pam!

Today I received a package in the mail, I thought it was some textbooks coming from Amazon but instead it was a very nice surprise. Pam from "sidewalk shoes", a fellow blogger and fantastic photographer, mentioned a book on her site, I commented that it sounded like a book I'd like to read and Pam kindly sent me her book. This was extremely kind of you Pam, thank you ever so much!

This is fantastic, now I have two books which I really want to read... not have to read, but want to and that makes the world of difference! 

Ahhhh - Finally Summer

It's finally starting to feel like summer even though we're nearing the tail end of it. The one good thing about summer coming to a close is all of the clearance sales. Today while I was at Home Depot getting the ONE tile I needed to finish my backsplash I noticed the patio sets on sale. Well the price was right so....

... needless to say I bought a set. By the time I had it all put together it was nearing dark, but at least it's up and my patio is looking a whole lot like summer. 

Thanks to my oldest son Shayne for coming to pick up this set for me, there's no way this set would have fit in my car. 

And what's summer without a fire? 

This has to be the cutest little chiminea I've ever seen. 

Yup, a few more little jobs yet to get to in the back yard and I'll be ready for summer... in the fall. Better late than never they say!

One of THOSE Nights

I've got so much on the go right now, I'm trying to get EVERYTHING done before I head back to university because it's going to be studies and nothing else for 4 months. I'm in 5 courses and two correspondence courses still have to be finished. I just want to scream sometimes ... so I think I will! lol

I have company coming from out of town this weekend and they're staying Friday night so I thought it's about time to get my half bath finished. I had the new vanity installed a few weeks back and today I went and picked out some ceramic tile for a backsplash. I've never worked with ceramic tile before BUT I watched a video on YouTube so I figured it all out... sort of.

Prep the area, check. Try the tile, check...

YouTube never said anything about filling in cracks before trying the tile and you guessed it, a stip of my tile fell into the crack and there was no way of getting it without taking out the entire vanity. I thought no worries, my little secret, and I thought I should still have enough... so I carried on.

ONE strip short of finishing, one tile that's behind the vanity! Some nights are just like this... as Forrest Gump said: "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Tonight I got the one I don't like but life goes on, tomorrow is a new day and Home Depot won't be sold out of these tiles. 

Oh, by the way, this is the last pink room... there's still a bit more painting in this house but it's just going to have to wait. This half bath is the last room I'm making time for until ... well until I get to it! 

The End. 
:-)

Sunset Sunday: Two for One

Today is Sunset Sunday, I was inspired by Scott quite some time ago to photograph sunsets at any given time and post them on Sunday. I've been a sunset admirer for as long back as I can remember, there's something special about watching the sun go down and taking time to reflect upon the day. 

Tonight I'm posting two photos, one is the sunset in the city which I shot last night...

and this other photo was taken on Thursday night in the country. I prefer the sunset without all the busyness of city life, but a sunset is a sunset, and when I look at it I'm filled with gratitude for yet another day. 

Country Roads Take Me Home

I love driving in the country, there's such a peaceful atmosphere, it's calming and soothing for my soul and I also never know what I might see.

It's a good thing moose are as large as they are, I spotted two of them, mother and baby, on one of our secondary highways. I don't necessarily do the speed limit on the back roads so it's a good thing I spotted the mamma and baby taking their sweet time and I had ample time to slow down. The unfortunate part is that I keep my camera in the trunk of my car most of the time when I'm on the highways, the point and shoot had to suffice.

A Walk In The Park

Today was one busy day. It started out with weeding two of the flower beds. The upside to weeding is that I stop and take photos when I see something I like, photos such as these:

This rose bush grew so much this year I had to prune it, it looks good though climbing up the patio.

There was laundry to do...

The nice thing about having the clothesline is that I can still do laundry and put it out to dry without heating up the house on such a hot day.

Windows needed washing, those that wouldn't come clean I just put out with the trash. ;-)  Windows still need washing, we won't go there this trip out!

Supper had to be cooked and it was delicious. I made garden fresh potatoes, fresh carrots and BBQ ribs, it was finger lickin' good.

Somehow I managed to read a chapter in the assigned novel I'm reading, oh right... that was after I realized I was getting a sun burn and came in. Ouch!  Now it's time to call it a night, all this work and fresh air has me ready for a good nights sleep.

I'll keep my camera in the house tomorrow, better yet I'll go back to the city and take a well deserved day off. Maybe an essay will even get drafted once I'm home, essays  will seem like a walk in the park after this day.

Back at the Ranch

Today I drove out to the farm, I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled in the driveway. What looked like this last year... 

now looks like this

the backside...

and the entire flower bed today...

I'm excited to see what else is going to come up in this flowerbed. I don't even know how many shrubs, flowers or what I've all planted in here. It's a surprise flowerbed in its own way, I was rather surprised when the helpers weeded earlier this year and pulled all of my perennials out of the manure spreader, thankfully they added annuals which have come up nicely. I'll plant my perennials again next year and put huge signs on them and see what happens next.

Yup, rarely a dull moment in my world!

Helping Hands

There's some of my flowers that are almost done for the season and others are just starting to bloom. I hope it works out next summer and I'll always have something in bloom right up until fall.

I planted some lilies in the front flower bed, they're just starting to bloom and they're beautiful!

I had a helper today. She's quite the little worker, born with a green thumb I'm thinking... she shows signs of it. I was showing her how to deadhead the flowers, she took a really close look and assessed the situation...

then she got right to work.

... one wee problem though, she went straight to pulling the living flowers, but we'll work on that one. 

All is amazing in our world!

The Secret

Today was a rather quiet day in the kitchen, I didn't mind too much as it gave me time to do some baking. As you can see from the photo I don't mess around when I bake cookies for the restaurant, I get in there and get it done!

The secret for making the best chocolate chip cookies ever is in the type of vanilla you use. If you can get some Mexican vanilla use this for that added taste, they're delicious compared to using regular vanilla! 

Here's my recipe:

Cream 2c butter or margarine

Add 1 1/2c white sugar

2c packed brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. Mexican vanilla

Cream all of the above ingredients, I use the Kitchen Aid for the first part. After these 5 ingredients are creamy I take the mixing bowl off and mix the rest by hand.  

Add

4 1/2 - 5 1/2 c flour (enough to be able to roll balls with the dough, it can be a wee bit sticky, you don't want the dough to stiff or the cookies will be dry)

2tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 c chocolate chips

Mix well

Take a heaping teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball, flatten it a bit, as you can see I've done this in the photo.

Bake at 350 for approximately 10 mins., until lightly browned

And there you have it, just like that in no time at all you'll have a lot of fresh chocolate chip cookies... enough to freeze a few dozen, if they make it to the freezer that is!

Ready or Not

I spent the day with my granddaughter and what a sweetheart! 

Today she was showing me something...

"Grandma have you heard I can walk now?"

"I don't think you believe me! Really I can do this, I'll show you." 

"Ready or not, here I come!" 

Elyssa took off so fast I didn't have a chance to get the entire shot, she's not hanging on to anything. Just look at the concentration and balancing act, way to cute!

Backyard BBQ

Today I went to a BBQ at my boss's house, well she's not so much my boss as she is my friend, they have family down visiting from Ontario. I had so much fun today getting to know some of their family, catching up with some dear friends and naturally taking photos. It was a tough choice tonight picking my photo, there's so many to choose from, but this little lady stole my heart, she's absolutely adorable!

I believe that God put children in our lives to keep us young at heart...

There was no question about it, we were going over, not to worry though, neither the children nor the hammock were damaged!

Abbie

I'm thinking that Abbie was starting to get lonely while I've been out working all week, tonight she was in one of her posing moods.  I sure love my dog, she's such a fantastic companion and forgave me for my absence after a game of fetch, that's only because I fetched her toy more than she did!  And who says dogs aren't smart? :-)

Flowers and Frames

Tonight I'm sharing flowers from my newly planted flower beds, I thought to spruce up the photos a wee bit I'd play around with some frames. So here you have it, tonight's blog, flowers and frames.

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.  

~John Ruskin

Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?  

~Maurice Maeterlinck

Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.  They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.  

~Lydia M. Child

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 

~Gerard de Nerval

Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.

 John Harrigan

And this is something which means a lot to me and sits in the front flower bed... 

my turtle.

Turtles have an array of meanings, for me it's slow and steady... even though my lifestyle doesn't reflect slow by no means, it just reminds me to slow down a wee bit every now and again and make time for myself in this fast paced world we live in.