Jean's Journey

Frugal Friday - A Child's Plea for Help!

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:56:04 GMT

I received a plaintive email from Lisa the other day, begging for my help in decorating their apartment. They've been really good about saving money and putting it down on debt all summer and fall. Now her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are coming for a visit before Christmas. She's starting to panic. "How to I make it not look like an impoverished student's home Mom?" Poor Lisa.

Lisa specifically mentioned the Victorian style, "but I don't want it to look like a bordello Mom!" Hmm...amazing what your kids think you might do to them! ;) Actually, I know her mother-in-law, and I don't think it will be near as bad as she thinks it will be, but...in an effort to help the Lisa's of this world, here are a few ideas...

Check the library and Internet for pictures/books/magazines. You want to thumb through them and use a sticky note to tag every page that has something on it you like, or that appeals to you.
Recognize there is the expensive way and the cheap way to get any look. Trust me. My sister once gave me an apartment decorating book that was great. It had the expensive photo and prices on one page, and the inexpensive version photo and prices on the other page. It was great for expanding my decorating possibilities!
Decide on a colour scheme. Sometimes this can come from a single piece that you absolutely love. Like picking a colour out of a very precious piece you own. Other times you just go with what makes you feel good!
When we redid our main floor we decided to go with earth tones because we wanted a relaxing place. Think about the function of the room before picking colour. Probably bright orange isn't a great idea for the bedroom...
If you can't paint walls, as most apartment dwellers can't, then plan to put your favourite colour in draperies and furniture somehow...even if it's just the throw cushions or quilts or afghans (I know...so 70s) on the sofa. Or maybe an area rug on the floor.
Make everything from scratch that you can. Sew the curtains. It is very handy to learn how to sew. This is one skill it pays to learn. It can be used many ways in your life. Sew the cushion tops.
But also check the library for books on no-sew decorating. They're out there! You can even come up with nice window treatments without sewing a stitch. So don't think you have to learn how to sew!
Cheap fabric can be found in the bedding/curtain section of the thrift store. Don't forget, 100% cotton can be overdyed in the washing machine and your landlord will be none the wiser. that means that ugly orange can be toned down by adding green to make a nice rust or brown colour...or blue and yellow to make green...or whatever you want to do! Use RIT dyes available at Walmart, Zeller's or a hardware store near you.
If you can braid, hook, weave, etc. a rug...go for it... But if those are too time consuming and expensive for your taste, try painting a design on canvas and coating it with a few coats of polyurethane before putting it on the floor. It'll liven the place up.
Be aware that some rugs attract dirt and dust and are hard to clean.
Be aware that cats sometimes like to pull on the pile in rugs with their claws.
Be aware that rugs do occasionally need cleaning. In an apartment this might be problematic. They usually need to be beat (or vacuumed) and sometimes washed...depending on type.
If you're not crafty, head to the local Home Depot or Rona for rugs.
Also check out antique stores or vintage stores. I found Belgian rugs selling for $30CAD each the other day on a half price sale at the local antique store. And of course, check the thrift store first!
At any rate. The ceiling and walls should be dealt with first. So if you're going to change any lighting do that first...with your landlord's approval. Then the walls include colour and drapery.
Furniture can be had free or cheap on-line through Kijiji, Freecycle, Full Circles, and other such sites. Don't forget, you can always sew or cover it with a slipcover if you like the style but not the colour!
The cheapest places for fabric are the above on-line sites, or visit the bargain wall and bins at your local Fabricland/ville, Atlantic Fabrics, or discount fabric stores. I consider cheap to be under $4CAD/m. I often try to buy cotton at under $2.50/m...for everything...
You can also buy pillow forms at the fabric stores, though they tend to be a bit expensive there. You might want to check the upholstery stores in the area. Some DIY places have foam dirt cheap. They'll even cut it to size for you. Don't go with the cheap foam at Zeller's or Walmart. It simply isn't firm enough to give good support. You want higher density foam...but that's up to you. There are many things to fill a cushion with and books have been written about them! You'll have to check the options in your area to see what is cheapest in your locale.
Anyway, once the ceiling, walls and furniture are done...look at the floor and decided how to handle it. I put the floor here because in apartments you usually are not allowed to do anything other than put rugs on it. Normally I'd deal with the floor before the furniture in a house. But in an apartment you're limited. Be aware that there are non-slip mats you can buy at the Dollar Store to put under area rugs so they don't slip when people land on them. This is a safety issue folks! Use them! I've also seen them selling in IKEA and SEARS.
I especially like to check out the SEARS bargain/clearance center for furniture. Some really good deals there. Sears itself can be expensive. So check for furniture clearance/outlet places in your community.
Wall decorations come next...that's paintings, mirrors, stitchwork, etc. Black frames look classy. In fact, a bit of black in a room is good. It anchors the room...even if it's just a black accent item...like a black candle plate.
Then add accents...lamps, plants, knick knacks, etc. I like to add green in every room. Haven't managed it in this house. But a green plant in a room just makes people relax. It also freshens the air in the room...depending on the plant. Think flea markets, garage sales, etc. for finding accents.

Hope that list gives you a few ideas of where to find things cheaply.

If you want new furniture easy to knock together, try thinking of alternative uses for things already in existence. The old concrete/brick and board bookcases we used to make as university students comes to mind. But if you have basic carpentry skills, you can knock together a couple of modular boxes in a weekend to house books too...if the landlord will let you do it in the parking lot! Or you have someplace you can do it.

If not, check out the modular units available at Home Depot and other hardware stores. Canadian Tire usually has storage units on sale in the fall. Not sure if the sale has gone past now or not. I buy my plastic storage units for craft supplies from them.

Keep your mind open and think outside the box. I have the drawers from one half of an old vanity, thrown out by the garbage bin one day by a neighbor precisely because it was broken, painted and holding office supplies in my sewing room.

You don't have to be a great artist to do these things...as you can see! You just need to be able to judiciously apply some paint in a pleasing pattern to you. If you don't like it...you can always paint over it. I hear spray paint is quick! (I love the stuff!)

If you don't like the look of something, but you like it's function, buy a can of spray paint! It's amazing what you can do! I spray painted some magazine archival boxes to match the decor of my sewing room. I really didn't want office black/gray in my sewing room. I also picked up a metal basket from a garage sale that wasn't the right colour. I spray painted that to match my sewing room. And I spray painted a bulletin board as well. Don't be shy! Think outside the box!

But for Lisa doing Victorian theme. Love...use lots of glass, crystal, beads, china, chintz, velvet, layered window treatments, crazy quilts (easy to make from old hankies actually), and knick knacks. And good luck keeping it from taking on that bordello air! Just remember honey, Victorians loved stuff! Theirs was an age of abundance...in fabric, in things. Head the to the thrift store for some cheap fabric!

Have fun decorating everyone!

Spinning Yarn

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:32:20 GMT

My spinning story...

It all started long, long ago in a land far far away...Alberta to be exact...at my sister-in-law's to be precise. She has been an excellent spinner and weaver ever since I've known her. Over 29 years ago...before Paul and I married...I spent the summer with my brother and his wife. I knew I was serious about Paul, just not sure how serious. So I decided to go away for the summer and see if I could live without him. LOL! Well, what happened was we wrote letters every week or more frequently. My sister-in-law laughed at the amount of mail I received! She chuckled at all the 'x's and 'o's on my mail.

In an effort to distract myself I landed a job at the Town Office drafting a cemetery map...which I might add, was not a very well done job. No doubt due to my being distracted by thoughts of a certain young man! However, to further distract me my sister-in-law, Sarah, decided to teach me to spin. But not just spin! Oh no! We had to go all the way back to the beginning...with the sheep.

I can't say I've shorn the sheep, but I can say the fleece we picked up was very dirty and smelly, not long off the sheep. We washed it, carded it, and then Sarah introduced me to the drop spindle. A lovely little tool known the world over in various forms.

That summer I spun enough yarn to make the longest thickest scarf I've ever made in my life...6' long and 12" wide! By the time I finished spinning the yarn, I knew who it was for. And I knew I was sunk...I loved Paul.

After my arrival back home Paul and I wasted no time coming to an agreement on a wedding date. I'd like to say he asked me to marry him...but I don't think it happened that way. We met each other after the summer apart and we were pretty desparate. One of us was talking about doing something that meant we'd obviously be a serious couple. The other said "I guess that means we should plan a wedding then." The other agreed and so we did!

I dropped spinning after leaving my sister-in-law because I did not have a spindle or the time. I was knitting that scarf for Paul and working full time. Plus planning a wedding!

That scarf lasted about 25 years before it sprung some holes in the thin spots. I let it sit for awhile, then unraveled it and reknit it, doubling up the weak spots, into a scarf for Carl. Carl's scarf was much smaller and I have oodles of yarn leftover. I was totally amazed at how long the scarf lasted...and how resilient the wool was even after 25 years!

In the meantime...I've been visiting this yarn shop buying knitting yarn. It also sells spinning supplies and wool roving to spin. I never paid much notice, being too busy with my other hobbies. But then one day the owner and her co-worker piped up with me being able to dye roving or yarn just like I do for rug hooking. Well, I never thought of that. I'd been buying their hand dyed wool to knit for awhile. Never occurred to me to make my own to knit!

So I decided I'd try it. But as I looked around I was lamenting the cost of yarn to dye. Well that was it. One of them mentioned spinning my own yarn to dye! LOL! I smell a plot! I really like the ambience of the shop. And we have an excellent spinning instructor locally. So I took the plunge.

It's cost me a bit of money. But as hobbies go, it's not bad. A spindle for $50CAD. Some roving for $5. That's it. Then there was a gizmo to help get my yarn off the spindle and into a ball. That was about $10. However since then I've picked up a smaller spindle $60. And a contraption called a niddy-noddy to measure my yarn as it is turned into skeins - $50. And lots and lots of wool roving. And then there's the spinning class - $120. Still, when you look at the cost of learning to sew and a new sewing machine (good basic ones run around $1000!) - this is cheap! If it works out, I'm bucking for a spinning wheel for Christmas. It'll be approximately $400CAD. MUCH cheaper than learning to quilt!

While I was in the Maritimes I picked up some roving to spin. I tried to pick up roving we couldn't find here. I only had one flub - the alpaca suri that was sold as "alpaca prime" by London-Wul outside Moncton, NB. I've been told I can spin it to make baskets or tote bags. It'll be too rough to knit into a garment. This is it...

It's pretty rough and coarse. I should have opened the plastic bag and checked it first. But I fell in love with the colour...

I was in Dartmouth, NS. one day and asked the proprietor of Tangled Skeins about roving to spin. She disappeared in the back and came out with this...a lovely soy silk and merino blend. Merino is great for spinning. It's very soft and makes a nice fine yarn.

My spinning instructor tried spinning a short piece and it was gorgeous once spun!

Meghan was with us the day we visited Belfast Woolen Mills. We found the following alpaca and cashmere blend.

It is just gorgeous to the touch! Meghan pounced on this and wouldn't let it go. She kept telling me she wanted me to make her something from it. Finally she decided she wanted a headband out of it. She said she doesn't like to wear hats. She wants a knit headband. Well, there's a lot of wool there for a headband! There's easily enough for hat and mitts. I'll make her a headband and me a hat...maybe.

Then we were at The Loop in Halifax. I picked up a few packages of roving there. This first is a Bamboo/Merino blend. It feels very soft, but was so tough to pull apart the lady ended up taking scissors to it! When I told my spinning friends they let out a collective gasp. Scissors on wool roving is a 'no-no' apparently. When you get to the end of spinning the cut piece the roving all ends in one spot, making a noticable join/weak spot when you go to add another batch of roving. Well, I'll just pull apart the cut part so it's not all straight across. I was told when I had issues with the strength of the fibre to just hold my hands further apart from each other on the fibre and pull. Some fibres can be very long.

Another purchase at The Loop was this lovely Nova Scotia Shetland wool. I am looking forward to some lace knitting with it.

And then this lovely soft Coopsworth roving.

I've never heard of this sheep breed before. But then I'm new to this spinning thing.

You'll notice most of what I purchased is white. That's because I hope to dye it later as yarn. I'm not interested in dyeing it as roving. The roving felts easily and dyed roving can be harder to spin. Plus I'm used to dyeing yarn. I've been doing it for rug hooking for years.

Of course with all this fibre floating around, I just had to pick up a new spindle when I came home. Our local shop had some gorgeous spindles come from IST Crafts on the Isle of Wight, UK. I've been borrowing a lightweight one from a friend to spin my merino. But this spindle is much nicer! I'll be using it from now on. It spins steady, fast, and forever! Lovely spindle!

I can see myself spinning for awhile. It is so relaxing to just drop my spindle and go. Tonight I'm heading out to practice a special piece with the choir. My ride is coming about an hour early to pick me up. That will give me loads of time to do some spinning while waiting for the others to arrive at the church. Great stuff!

More Yarn! More Fun!

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:47:50 GMT

While I was in the Maritimes I took the opportunity to pick up some yarns I couldn't buy locally.

One of those yarns was Mission Falls wool.

I am planning on using it to knit mittens for sale from the pattern booklet "Smitten" by Mags Kandis.

Another batch of yarn I couldn't resist was this...well...we think it's McAusland wool...not sure...that I picked up in Pictou, NS. It is hand dyed by a local lady who runs a business called Cobweb Woolies. It's going to be turned into men's hats.

I picked it up at the local craft/gift store...which had some pretty cool things in it. Paul picked up a couple of CDs of local musicians.

And, last but not least, the Belfast Mini-Mills in Belfast, PEI. I don't know about the lady running the place. I was going to buy qiviut roving to hand spin. But she told me it wasn't good for that. So instead I bought the yarn. When I came home and talked to my spinning friends they just laughed and said she had told me an outright lie. They had all spun qiviut with a drop spindle and had it turn out just fine! In fact, another lady (who owns a yarn store I might add) had been down east trying to buy qiviut from this lady and she told her the same thing...it's not good for drop spindling.

I know from listening to the proprietor discuss things with another customer, that she doesn't think much of drop spindling. But to lie to your customers?! Frankly, if it weren't for the fact she carried such neat exotic fibres I wouldn't go back. At any rate if you want qiviut roving, stick to your guns with this woman. Could be she simply had a bad experience with drop spindling. Course, they do sell mini mills! LOL! Maybe it's part of her sales pitch for them!

Yes, the price on there is right. It's roughly $50/skein. But one skein is enough laceweight for a shawl. I want a wimple and a shawl from this. I might make something to sell. We'll see how the lace knitting goes. This is my future dream yarn to knit.

One down...more to go...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:57:19 GMT

I finished spinning, plying, washing and skeining my first homemade yarn in 29 years! Here's the finished results...

Each skein is roughly 40 grams...which means I have enough to make a hat and possibly mitts as well! I'll use the white for the cuffs and ribbing. It's pretty wild stuff! Definitely varied in thickness. I have no idea what needles to knit it on...time to try soon enough.

I'm pretty excited about this! I am already spinning some Merino. It will make a very fine yarn. I have no idea what I'll knit with it. I don't do lace knitting...but I may have to by the time I'm through!

Rug hooking extravaganza!

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:47:12 GMT

I love rug hooking. And, while on vacation, I managed to pick up a few items to keep me going this winter.

A bunch of textured yarn for sky and to hook a moose. This will hopefully finish off two rugs this winter.

And silk yarn as an accent in one of my rugs underway...

Three metres fabric to dye and play with... It was $12 cheaper to buy it like this as opposed to on the bolt. No idea why. This is just 3 metres already cut. And picking it up in person certainly saves on shipping costs!

And books to stimulate the creative juices...

I'm obviously hoping to do some rug hooking this winter.

I love going to the Maritimes. There's a rug hooking store in every town almost! If not rug hooking, then a yarn store, or a fabric store, or an art gallery.

When we were in Peggy's Cove one day we stopped at an art gallery and chatted with the proprietor, a local artist. She informed us that the stretch from Halifax to Lunenburg, NS has the highest concentration of artists of anywhere in Canada. I believe it! The Maritimes is just loaded with excellent artists and artisans. I love visiting and exploring there.

Pictures! Finally pictures!

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:43:03 GMT

Alright... here we go... This is what I did on my summer vacation (well...fall vacation!)...

Needlecases for an upcoming stitching event. These are freebies to give away. I made the silk paper with a bunch of other ladies. We divided up the cases to stitch. Someone else will make inserts that hold needles to go inside them.

And here is the yarn I spun on the trip. I've finished plying it now and have it washed and hanging to dry. Soon I'll make skeins out of it and then it will be ready to store until it's time to knit...

Advantages of Being Sick

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:55:49 GMT

One of the advantages of being sick is that you have to totally clear your schedule. Why is that an advantage? Well then you're trapped at home with nothing to do...but finish your projects!

Today I pulled out the hollyhock rug I started several years ago. I finally figured out how I was going to do the sky, thanks to Deanne Fitzpatrick! I worked on finishing the hollyhocks and a bit of sky today. I'd love to show you all a picture, but now my computer is refusing to download the new version of Java. Sigh... Can't upload to Photobucket without Java. Annnnywaaay...

Aside from playing with my rug I also worked on spinning yarn. I spun some Merino, plied more Romney, and made skeins from some previously plied Romney. I have two skeins all ready to be soaked and blocked for knitting...80 grams of yarn. I have a couple more skeins to go. I'd love to show you a picture of them too...oh well...soon...

A friend was over today and we talked quilting...which is always fun. She had a few projects underway and needed some advice/input. She pulled them out and we puzzled over them and came to some conclusions. We had the opportunity to go into a craft sale together, but decided it was too short notice...especially with me being sick right now. Plus she's just getting over something. So we decided not to commit for this year. Instead we'll build up a stock of things to sell next year and plan on going into a sale then.

Another advantage of being sick? Paul has been so nice and considerate. He didn't bat an eyelash when I told him I'd ordered Chinese last night while he was at work. In fact, he laughed and said he wasn't fond of the supper he'd taken to work, and had gone out to Arby's on his supper break! Not at all frugal, but I am glad our previously frugal lifestyle has allowed us the financial freedom to do things like this every now and then.

I can't stress to people enough how freeing it is to have no debt over our heads... no mortgage, no credit card debt, no loans, no line of credit... It makes life a whole lot easier! And a lot more enjoyable. It wasn't always like this. We made our share of mistakes. And we also bought into the "keeping up appearances" scene once upon a time too. But not anymore. It just isn't worth it. I'd rather have no debt, cash in hand, and be able to take a trip to visit family whenever I want, with no financial worries to come home to.

Fantabulous Fall!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:45:28 GMT

What a wonderful time of year! Not too hot, not too cold. The only thing I could wish for is more sunshine right now. I wanted to take nice fall colour photos for you all, but the leaves have gone from green to brown to down on the ground. Not much excitement there this year!

Unfortunately today will be another photo less blog entry. I've been trying to upload photos to Photobucket with little success. I'm trying to get a little more pizzazz into my blog for my readers!

I've been pretty busy since coming home. I finished machine quilting the Experimental Quilt and have the binding sewn together. It's half sewn on.

I've been to my first spinning class and have spun some merino wool. To be honest I must admit I've actually been doing drop spindle spinning for 5 weeks now, and have worked my way through 200 gms. of Romney wool - both dyed and undyed. I am having to buy equipment for this new hobby...which hurts. But hopefully I'll be able to sell some of the product of this new hobby too. I've been plying my yarn as well (that is, combining two strands to make what we know as the standard knitting yarn).

I've helped some ladies sew on a banner for the church. They have a lovely series of them going up soon. Well, one at a time. They plan on rotating them. They're gorgeous!

I've also been working on my large hardanger bellpull again. I'm almost near the end of the satin stitching. Then I'll be cutting threads and adding filling stitches. That's the final stage before framing it...I'm not using it as a bellpull.

I processed the pumpkin and froze at least 16 cups. Not bad for $2.98. But if I'd waited one day I could have bought the pumpkin for $1.97! Sigh... well, $3 for 16 cups of pumpkin isn't bad either! I also froze a couple gallons of apples. Need to buy more dirt cheap to freeze. Two gallons might take us to Christmas...

I went with a group of church ladies to a Hutterite colony one day. It's phenomenal what they do! And they fed us a gorgeous lunch too. Plus we bought things off them as well. It wasn't cheap food, but it was excellent. Paul got his saskatoon pie fix for the fall.

Bible study started up again this week. We had a good time. I was really tired though. I'm sick now. Cold and flu season is upon us! I had to cancel getting my flu shot...they didn't want me in there with a sore throat. Everyone is really nervous about H1N1. I canceled out of other events I had going today.

I've been spending time figuring out how to sell my handwork, my dyeing and my writing. Just not sure the best way to go about it. I'm checking out "Art & Money", an "Unconventional Guide" by Chris Guillebeau for ideas. Plus I'm on Etsy...but I don't like my shop at the moment. Gotta read up on how to make it better and do something about it.

I'm busy reading (still!) "Life Coaching for Dummies", which is really aimed at much younger people...but interesting anyway. Also reading Dave Murrow's "How Women Help Men Find God". It's an interesting viewpoint. Doesn't really relate to our situation, but interesting to see how the average macho man sees things.

My father gave me a box of photos and family memorabilia this summer. Paul and I sat down and looked at it this week, trying to decide what to do with it. My stepmother didn't want me to have it, and she may make things tough enough on Dad he has to ask for them back eventually. So while I want to preserve them, I am not into spending a lot of money and effort on the project. It's a big job to do heritage albums...just to have someone decide on a whim they want everything back.

I am under no illusions I would be paid for my time, effort and supplies. Dad just wants them scanned into the computer and sent to people. Problem is...in order to attach labels of who and what they are about I really have to put them in an album and write beneath them. Means money. The last album I finished for my sister cost $75 in supplies alone. I lost track of the time put into it. But it was up around 20 hours when I last recorded it...and I was about half finished then. She was going to pay me, but then didn't. If these photos etc. weren't so precious, I simply would not do this work. People in the family think it should all come for free. I'm tired of working for free. Too many people take my abilities and time for granted.

That's about it. Too busy by half running around to meetings with people. I'm pulling back a bit to try and finish/do some projects here.

Frugal Friday Checkin

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:08:24 GMT

We've been back a few days so far and let's see what's been accomplished...

I've been baking again. I found a couple of healthy chocolate recipes in "Health by Chocolate" and made them for snacks. Because of my diet I can't eat (or shouldn't eat) the stuff people put in front of me at various gatherings. It occurred to me that at a couple of these I could take my own goodies. So I made a pan of squares to take to knitting this weekend. They are very rich...being basically peanut butter, honey, cocoa and various nuts. One lasts a long time! I also made a chocolate milkshake using no dairy ingredients. It was great! I didn't have ice either, so it tasted more like a deluxe chocolate milk. And the sugar in it was 1 tbsp. of agave nectar!

I made mayonnaise and granola as well. I bought apples at .48/lb. and I am slicing, dipping in Fruit Fresh, and freezing them for winter eating. I also bought a super large pumpkin for $2.98 to bake and freeze for winter months. I am keeping a close eye on the grocery store this time of year. I saw tuna .80/can, which is cheap here, and bought the limit of five. I may go back for more today. Also cranberries were .48/pkg. Normally they're over $1 a package. I picked up 2 packages. They go great in crisps and muffins.

Paul and I have been walking places. I've walked to a couple of meetings so far. Plus I've had friends drive me places. Plus I've had friends come in. And, when we can't get together, we've been talking on the phone. Paul and I have also taken the opportunity to go to the gym on our gym pass...which is cheaper than paying every time you go. We bought the passes last winter and had visits left on them.

I've been working on projects already in the house. I cut out Paul's flannel pajamas yesterday. I also pinned the final pieces of my Experimental Quilt together. I was disappointed as they seem shorter than the rest of the quilt by about an inch. But I will repin today and see if I can ease the difference in the length of the quilt. I've finished spinning some Romney wool I have. I'll be working on plying it this weekend.

I cancelled out of some stressful groups I've been involved in. Funny how you don't notice how stressful something is until you go away on vacation and come back to it. It was like having a weight lifted off my shoulders. I feel much better for saying "no". The people in the groups are pretty gossipy and cliquish. I just am tired of it. I have more than enough to do this winter.

I've been watching some sewing instructional DVDs by Sandra Betzina I have in the house. I am hoping to do more sewing this winter. I have a ton of fabric that needs to be used up. Plus I need new clothes now I'm 15 lbs. lighter.

I have also been reading a library discard book called "French Women Don't Get Fat". I already eat like French women and I am still fat. It's due to medication. But I plan to keep up my exercise and diet regimen this winter. I want to lose at least another 10 lbs. by Christmas.

Guess that's all my frugal news so far. I am planning a busy weekend...and week ahead. I'll post when I can.

We're Home!

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:59:15 GMT

It's been really hectic the last few days and has cost us a lot of money, but we're home. Saturday we went back to Halifax, took some university student nieces out to lunch, connected up with kids and took a whack of them to Pier 21. After some coming and goings a group of us ended up at East Side Mario's for supper. We paid for all this...poor university kids.

Sunday we picked up Lisa and took her out to the old farm. Stopped different places along the way to show her points of interest/significance to the family. Stopped at the cemetery to put flowers on Mom's grave...and to tell Lisa who was related to her and who wasn't. She was related to most everyone in that cemetery. Took her on a drive through to the coast. Stopped at a lovely inn for tea...only to find out it was originally the home of an ancestor! We had a good laugh over that serendipitous event.

We were back in Halifax by suppertime. Rounded up kids to take out to supper to celebrate birthdays (different kids). We accidentally ended up at a very expensive restaurant. We checked on-line and thought we had an affordable place. Turns out the upstairs is an expensive restaurant, while the downstairs is more modest. We were seated upstairs and Paul and I did a double take when we saw the menu. Lisa wanted to get up and go downstairs right away. I looked at Paul. He looked at me. He said we were staying. Later he told me it was good for the kids to go outside their comfort zone once in a while. I suggested once every 50 years! It was a $350CAD meal for 7 adults. And the food was drenched in butter. I hate it when they do that. I don't care that they have a first rate view overlooking the harbour. It's not worth that much.

Monday Paul and I decided to go to Dalhousie to look for an alumni t-shirt for him. Then we went out to Peggy's Cove for lunch. Normally we'd go out for supper for our anniversary. But our anniversary was Sunday and we had birthdays to celebrate. We had a good time, but nostalgic, at the Sou'Wester Restaurant. After cruising a few art galleries we came back into town.

Stopped by Meghan's to say good-bye. Then went downtown to the Public Gardens and to wander Spring Garden Road. Just looking. It's an old haunt of mine and I wanted to see how it had changed. We went down to Point Pleasant Park for a bit. Stopped by a niece's to pick up some frozen PEI wild blueberries Laura (my sister) gave us. Met Lisa and Carl at Opa's for supper. Decided to forego their dessert and pick up a DQ ice-cream log instead. It was Lisa's birthday and it's her favourite dessert.

Headed out to the airport Holiday Inn Express. I am sold on the Holiday Inn Express. It is a beautiful hotel with nice comfy rooms. We were able to afford it because a friend who works with Holiday Inn gave us a Friends and Family discount. It amounted to 30% off. We snuck in just before the promotion ended the end of September. The hotel provides a really nice continental breakfast and free shuttle service to the airport terminal.

We flew home today...with a screaming 2 year old boy beside us for 3 hours. He was really cute when he wasn't screaming. But by the time we disembarked both of us had colossal headaches. We came home for Tylenol and rest.

The cupboard was bare when we arrived, so we had lunch out at Subway and then went grocery shopping. It was $160CAD, but I consider that good. We had no meat, no veggies, no fruit, no breadstuff. And there were a couple of good sales on I couldn't resist. Cranberries were .48/pkg. Tuna was .80/can limit of 5. Salmon fillets were a $1.50 off. Large pumpkins were $2.98. Broccoli was .78/bunch. Tomatoes were .76/lb. We can finally afford to eat again!

Walked to a local store to spin. Finished spinning my Romney wool finally! Came home and made supper. I've been phoning people letting them know we're back and they can pick up their stuff...or simply that we're back. I'm currently doing laundry.

I am sad we had to leave, but glad to be home. I like my house. I just wish I could transport it and all my friends down east to be with my family. It's hard to live so far away from them. Still, I thank God for our safe journey, and for the fact the girls are doing well.

Fibre Festival Friday...

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:48 GMT

Today we're in Amherst Nova Scotia enjoying the Fibre Arts Festival. We've been all over downtown going to quilt shows, rug hooking shows and a bazaar. We even made it to the Farmer's Market. The quilting is incredible. There is hand quilting as well as machine quilting. The machine quilting isn't quite up to the standards of my home town. But it's certainly good quality work...just not as varied. The hand quilting is to die for! Very fine stitches in some cases.

I enjoyed seeing samples of penny rugs as well. And they sell the wool to make penny rugs here too. I have some at home so walked on by.

There is also a needle felting presence. I picked up a kit for needle felting a goldfinch. I've always wanted to try it and this gives me the opportunity. The needle felting kits in my home town are small and not the sort of thing I'd use or like.

Mostly I've been enjoying the rug hooking presence. I made a second visit to Deanne Fitzpatrick's rug hooking studio today to look for sky ideas for my hollyhock rug. It's sitting unfinished due to lack of materials to fit my imagination. I think I have everything covered now. So that should complete two rugs for me this year - the hollyhocks and the moose.

We visited the library in Amherst last night and had a good look at the rugs and needle felted pieces hanging there. Also took the opportunity to check out their book collection. It is very old and weighted towards fiction. Usually that's a sign of a population without much education...a poorer community. Paul checked on-line when we went back to the hotel and found a study on Amherst that gave demographics, etc. He was able to confirm what we thought while perusing the library. Funny, with all the fibre arts here you wouldn't think of it as a poorer area. Usually those hobbies are the result of people with extra time and money.

The business district is really picking up here. I think their downtown revitalization committee is doing an excellent job! The downtown is very walkable.

Yesterday's costs were low. We spent ~$30 on food. Our hotel room has a microwave so we stopped by the grocery store for microwavable meals. I picked up a Lean Cuisine Spa meal of chicken, pasta and veggies.

I did a quick tally of all expenses related to the trip...including everything we've bought along the way. We're at $4600CAD. Totally expected. $500 of that is my hobby stuff (yes, I'm stocking up!). I'm not worried as this will last me a few years and I can always pay for it out of my own money if Paul is worried about bills. We're heading home in a few days. We'll come close to our $5000 budget. And we've had a wonderful time!

Travel Time Thursday!

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:46:31 GMT

We're still on the road. This past week has been busy. I shopped all the yarn stores in Halifax. Really liked the unspun wool at the Loop. Picked up some silk yarn at Tangled Skeins in Dartmouth. Made a trip to Mahone Bay in the pouring rain with Meghan and Bob to see Have a Yarn and Encompassing Designs rug hooking shop. Also stopped in at Amos Pewter. Sebastien, the guy making the pewter, was very friendly and chatted with Bob about the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design...where Bob eventually hopes to go.

For my part I supported the rug hooking industry. I was visiting yarn shops in an attempt to find some Scotian silk yarn for a friend. Alas, there is but one ugly skein left in Halifax. The lady who dyes it is waiting for a shipment of wool to come in from overseas.

Last Friday we drove from Halifax to Moncton, NB. We stopped at the bakery in Brookfield. Actually we were going to stop at another rug hooking store, but it was closed. The bakery though, is to die for! It had all sorts of unusual goodies I hadn't anticipated. Date cookies, almond cookies, oatcakes, etc. Really good stuff. Totally off my diet...except maybe the date oatmeal cookies...which I bought. At any rate, Paul and I were well fed on our way up the highway.

In Amherst, NS we stopped for lunch and to look over the wares at Deanne Fitzpatrick's rug hooking studio. I'd bought a moose rug pattern from her a few years ago and was stymied thinking about how to hook the moose so it wouldn't be boring. She lost no time rounding up what I needed. It didn't cost too much...though more than I would have liked.

On our way into Moncton we stopped at London-Wul Farms. I was surprised to find the Mission Falls yarn I've been looking for for over a year there. I was not going to order it on-line. I just can't justify the mailing costs. I was able to buy all but one colour. I noticed they were going out of rug hooking fabric and into yarn. Interesting...

In Moncton we enjoyed dinner out in a tavern with relatives. It was my first time in a tavern in 30 odd years. I don't have a good history with taverns. Strangers keep buying me drinks. However, this was really just an old fashioned English pub. It allowed children for certain hours and not for others. The chef is really good! Whoever he/she is! I had a beautiful salmon and mussel dish. I shared dessert with two other people.

We spent Saturday morning at the Moncton Markets...there are two farmer's markets there: one French and one English. Seems odd. But truth be told, they need two as both of them completely fill the space they're in. Beautiful wares!

Took off shopping with kids in the afternoon and didn't buy a thing. I spent some time entertaining a Korean girl who was visiting the family I was staying with. I didn't realize till later that she was an IB student in art. When she finally saw my handwork she was absolutely enthralled. It was a nice positive affirmation for me. :)

Supper that night was a large family dinner at a nearby relative's. Then a bunch of us raced to catch Micheal Moore's new movie, "Capitalism: a Love Story". Interesting...

Sunday we hopped in the car and raced to Montague, PEI, hoping to make it to my other sister's by noon...before when my kids arrived. We beat them by 15 minutes. I spent the afternoon helping Laura, my younger sister, make Thanksgiving dinner. We had a blast! My son-in-law Carl likes to cook. So we had him make the mashed potatoes and help chop the squash. He knows what to do with a knife. The guys also made fresh apple cider for everyone to drink. My brother-in-law, Dick, handed around some of his homemade mead. I passed on that! Then there was the homemade cranberry wine...which I hear was awful. Then there was the homemade blueberry wine...which was really mostly liquour! It made for an interesting Thanksgiving Day.

Paul and I were able to pass Brian, a friend's son, his large suitcase from his mother. He came over to pick it up and for Thanksgiving dinner. Thankfully Laura didn't mind the extra body. It made 21 people for supper that night. Both she and Karen, my older sister, had made four pies without the other knowing. It was great because we had plenty to eat the next two days, plus we sent some home with all the university kids.

We spent a lot of time visiting, walking and I spent time stitching on the needlecases, spinning and knitting while there.

Tuesday Laura and I went into the Buy-Rite in Montague, PEI and I bought tons of quilting fabric for $3.99-$4.99 a metre. Beautiful stuff!

We also stopped at the Belfast Woollen Mills on the way to the ferry back to NS. We had a wonderful tour of the mill and I admit I blew a wad of money there. It was the qiviut that did it!

We also stopped in Pictou, NS where I picked up some local yarn. We raced into Halifax. We had shopping to do and Paul and I needed to eat. We took the kids to Opa's, a local Greek restaurant...very good food...and nice waiter. Then did the rounds of the shopping district picking up items the Meghan and Bob needed.

Wednesday a friend came in to visit with us with her family. She makes jewellry and sells it on-line and off. She brought several pairs of earrings for me and showed me some of the necklaces they were making for sale. Her children help too. One of the necklaces her daughter made was drop down dead gorgeous! She said they were selling them for $25. I told her that was too cheap, and snapped it up! We went out to lunch together and had a wonderful time.

In the afternoon we went shopping with Meghan again. She bought me my birthday and Christmas present. Or rather, she had me pick it out and she paid for it! It's hard to pick out presents for a university student to buy when you know the money is coming from Student Loans or yourself!

We took Carl and Lisa out to supper last night to a Chinese buffet and wished we hadn't. It was really hard on both Carl's and my systems. Next time we'll know better. Thankfully there were a lot of options though. I think for the most part I just ate too much.

Well, that's our trip to date. I'm afraid I'm spending lots of money on yarn, roving and rug hooking...but that was anticipated and really the second reason for the trip. I discovered in my ramblings that there is not a decent stitching store in the Maritimes. That surprised me. People must order on-line. Or they all work second jobs and no one has time to stitch...

Bummer!

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:41:53 GMT

I phoned around and checked websites and found most touristy places close at 5 PM here. Which is about the time the kids get off from work. So we won't be taking them out too many places. Tonight is the only time we'll have with our future son-in-law, Bob. And Meghan won't be with him...she's at university. Tomorrow afternoon we'll have with Meghan. Every evening we'll have with Lisa and Carl, if they can stand us! We think we'll take them for some local walks in the area. Though it gets dark early this time of year, so we might be limited there. Maybe we can take them to a movie. We'll see...

Managed to catch up on laundry yesterday. Paul forgot to put his shirts in, so I'll be doing it again before we leave...sigh... I finished reading my book yesterday.

We went on a shopping trip after picking up the rental car and returning the SUV to it's rightful owner. Picked up some swim trunks for Paul. The hotel has a hot tub he wants to try. Looked at camera adapters (we forgot ours) and just aren't sure we want to pay the $70CAD to have one for 2 weeks...

Also picked up some berries and rice milk so I can eat a healthy breakfast on my diet at the hotel. Means breakfast and lunch are taken care of. Supper is the only concern. And I'll eat whatever's presented there. Carl is cooking for me apparently.

Contacted a friend this morning and we're going shopping together. Poor Paul is our chauffeur. I must think of something to do to make the day fun for him. Hmmm... it's going to be a pretty artsy day...between fibre shops of various sorts and art galleries, etc.

We've arrived!

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:05:51 GMT

We were up bright and early yesterday morning (5:30 AM) to head south in the pouring rain to Halifax. Well, we had a few dry spots, but not many! it was a beautiful drive all the same. And we arrived around 3 PM. Totally surprised Lisa and Carl, who weren't expecting us till about 6 PM! We ended up unloading the U-Haul in the pouring rain. I am in total amazement. Their glass table top made it safe and sound! Considering how everything had shifted in the trailer, we were sure it was broken! But miracles do happen! It's just fine...as is the handcrafted oak bookcase Paul made the kids. And the bikes... The only problem we had was the trailer leaked with the rain and some of the boxes of books got wet. The kids were sorting through them last I heard.

Carl and Lisa had souvlaki waiting for us for "snack". :) And they made lasagna, Ceasar salad and trifle for my birthday supper. I feel suitably celebrated! We had a wonderful evening with them and Meghan and Bob. I got to know Lisa's cat Pepper. Bailey got reacquainted. I knew I was accepted back into the pack when he tried to climb me to get to my shoulder. He's a shoulder cat. Though they've trained him out of it for the most part. But poor Simon...the most I ever saw of him all night was two black ears sticking up over the edge of the top cabinets in the kitchen. He's the shy cat.

Carl and Lisa offered to cook us meals this week while we're in town. That relieves our financial commitments quite a bit! We have a complimentary breakfast at the hotel. And we can make do with eating lunch out of the cooler. We'd rather spend our money taking the kids places.

Today is our day off for routine maintenance. Paul is taking the U-Haul trailer back. We'll be cleaning out the SUV and picking up it's owner to go out and pick up our rental car. I am doing laundry at the moment.

I have other projects to work on today. I started embroidering the needlecases in the car. I didn't get too many done, but it's a start. I'll work on them today. I managed to wind the two colours of wool together in a ball to ply. It would be nice to work on that as well today. I also have to measure my sweater to see if I've knit far enough to start decreasing on the neckline. I don't think so, but I am reluctant to knit more till I find my tape measure.

I am still reading "Hand-Me-Down Blues" - a very good book.

Lisa showed me a neat website the other night on starting your own web business. I am going to look it over and see what I can find of use in it. It costs money, but from what I saw of Lisa's version on her computer...it looked good.

Well I'm off to start phoning places to see what's open in the evenings to see. 'Talk' to everyone later.

Fall Foliage Fantasia

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:41:51 GMT

We drove through northern Ontario today. Talk about beautiful! The leaves are becoming brighter the closer to the Quebec border we come. I'm suspecting a change in tree species, primarily sumac and maple! I spent most of the day watching trees go by, and beautiful lakes.

I also finished my Brazilian embroidery piece. And I worked more on "Life Coaching for Dummies". My problem is I'm basically happy with my life the way it is, so don't really see the need to set more goals than I already have. I just want to go on enjoying things. Not sure I'll be able to. But I'm going to try for as long as I can! When Paul retires things could get dicey. Our income drops by over 50% for the first 3 years. We're trying to save up money to make up the shortfall. But we have a lot of financial commitments between now and then. We'll see how it goes.

We stayed at a lovely place called Carolyn Beach Motel in Thessalon, Ontario last night. I highly recommend this spot to people. It's right on the North Channel of Lake Huron. The bed was soft, the room was nice, the restaurant was better - gourmet fare but reasonably priced, a nice location to walk, friendly proprietors, nice music (folk, country, easy listening)... Yep, we had our best sleep yet on the trip there. Paul thinks we should go back sometime with just the plan of staying there about a week to veg out. I agree. They have spa services too...in your room.

I've been spinning the white Romney today, but not in the car. I've decided it is much easier and I do a much better job when I spin it in a non-moving vehicle. Especially on these twisty turny roads! The spindle swings like a pendulum and knocks into things, including my legs. I puzzled over "Productive Spinning" today to see how to ply the yarn. I think I have it figured out. I'll need to re-wind some balls of spun wool first. Should be interesting.

One frustrating thing we've found with the run from Thessalon to Ottawa. There are next to no gas stations on the highway. You have to go into town to buy gas. Very frustrating and time consuming. We were lost in Arnprior for 20 minutes!

So over supper I asked Paul what his idea of a stress-free vacation was. For him it's not planning anything and just going...and not having to go back to work afterwards! LOL! For me it's having meals and accommodation planned, going to one place, and making day trips out from there. No cooking, no cleaning. Someone else does it all. We decided we'd never have the perfect vacation for either of us. I find with my health I'm not comfortable with just going and doing whatever. In fact, getting medication could be a real problem. Pharmacists don't just hand over anti-psychotics because you show up and ask for them! They have to make long distance phone calls, etc. to confirm you are who you are, they can sell you the stuff, and that you don't have more than you should at any given point in time. Plus you have to make sure your medical plan covers where you're traveling to. Otherwise you pay through the nose for meds. Kind of a pain.

Still, I think there's room to compromise. Paul and I can go on a preplanned trip to a certain location. He can do whatever he likes...or we can do whatever we like once we get there...then go home. Sounds like a plan to me. I've also been thinking about a cruise...everything planned for you...except what specific tours you go on or what you do on shore. And Paul can cruise the boat and do whatever he likes. Hmmm...

On the road again...

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:37:11 GMT

Oh ain't it good to be back on the road again!...Don't know who sang it, but it still holds true!

Paul and I have been enjoying uninterrupted time together this trip. I've been able to work on projects non-stop almost. I finished spinning the gold Romney wool I bought before leaving. I have some white Romney and white Merino to spin before going home. I need the space in my suitcase!

I've also been knitting on my Bernat handicrafter cotton sweater. I may regret using this yarn to make a sweater. But I'm learning a lot from the experience. I'm done the back and three quarters up the front. Will have to design sleeves next.

I traced another creeping flower pattern onto trigger cloth for Brazilian embroidery. I stitched most of it today. I am stitching it slightly different from the first version. That way when I teach it when I get home, the ladies will see a variety of options they can do. I am getting excited about teaching these ladies. I hope it goes well...

I have also been reading "Hand Me Down Blues" by Dr. Michael Yapko. It is such a good book! Lisa recommended it to me. It is so right on! I've been teasing Paul by telling him I am not handling a particular ambiguity in life well. He has a much greater ability to handle ambiguities than I do. Apparently not handling them well can lead to depression and anxiety...surprise, surprise.

I did not do a good job packing. I put in some fall pants from last year without thinking...I've lost 18 lbs. right? Well, I've been wearing these billowing pants for the last two days and have had enough! Today we stopped at Marks Work Wearhouse and bought 2 pairs of Denver Hayes classic pants for $40CAD each. They were 20% off! I will donate my old pair to the closest charity after I wash them. The truth is, I needed new pants anyway. I just didn't have enough time to shop before leaving. I was hoping the weather would be warm enough to still wear my pedal pushers. Unfortunately it was snowing today. Didn't stick around, but it was cold. Not pedal pusher weather!

Food has been good. Exercise so-so. I got a good workout yesterday. Today I did some walking. Tomorrow is a long day, but hopefully at the end of it is a hotel with a fitness room.

Food has been largely eaten from our cooler. In other words, food allowed on my diet. I had a problem with the cold weather today though. It was too cold to picnic outside. I didn't bring a warm enough coat. So we ended up at restaurants for lunch and supper. Almost $80CAD in meals. We have allowed ourselves $250/day in expenses. But $100 of that is accommodation, $100 is gas. That only leaves $50 for meals. So you can see we went a little over today. That's fine though. Our first day out we spent less than $5 on food. Paul surprised me by pulling out a Tim Horton's gift card a client had given him for some work he'd done for him. Our second day out we spent $25. So going a bit over today won't break the bank! I expect food to get more expensive the further into the trip we get...as the cooler empties.

So far accommodations have been a bit of a challenge. The first two nights we stayed places that aren't ones I'd frequent again. One thing I can't stand is dark rooms with inadequate lighting...and hard beds with flat pillows! We did find the continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn in Kenora to be excellent! Though they did not have sugar free spreads for toast. In fact, there was a real lack of sugar free options on their breakfast menu. I've really been struggling with the sugar free issue this trip.

We had a wonderful time today driving through northern Ontario looking at the leaves. They are starting to change colour and the hillsides are sporting a mist of oranges and yellows. Beautiful!

Almost ready

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:50:17 GMT

I've been busy preparing for the trip. It's a bit more complicated with a special diet to contend with. Let's see what I've been up to...

I've been using up all the leftovers in the fridge,
I've been eating out of the freezers to prevent having to buy more food. If I don't go in the store I'm not tempted to over buy!
I've been eating produce from our backyard patio garden,
I've been baking muffins to take with us...muffins I can eat!
I've made some sugar-free fat-free granola to take with us...for those days when the hotels don't have anything I can eat for breakfast.
I've finished the quilts, folded them neatly, and put them in a pile I started in the sunroom of things I want to take with us,
I've finished the family scrapbook/photo album for my sister, and it's ready to take with us,
I've finished reading all my library books and Paul has offered to take them back tomorrow on his way to work,
I'm in the process of finishing watching DVDs a friend loaned me. I want to return them tomorrow. I already returned a book and 3 DVDs to her today.
I've sorted through my stitchwork and decided what to take and what to leave,
I've decided what spinning to take...I think. Today I traded one of Melanie Falick's "Knit: a personal handbook" for some unspun naturally dyed blue faced leicester wool. Feels wonderfully soft! I don't like the color, so I'll overdye it once it's been spun.
I've sorted through all my vitamins and minerals and purchased what I need to see me through the trip.
I've finished canning for the girls...and it too is in the sunroom on the floor.
I have arranged for a friend to take care of the house, a friend to pick the garden (what's left of it!), and a relative to stay here part time while we're away. That will deter burglars I hope.
I have a few books set aside to read on the trip. One that needs to be returned to someone at the other end of the country! Time to read it!
I've sorted through exercise DVDs and apparatus to take with me. I'm taking Leslie Sansone's "Walk-Away-the-Pounds" DVDs, "Yoga in Bed" and "Pilates for Wimps". Plus I'm taking the weighted balls from WATP and my resistance band. I should be able to do a lot of exercises with those.

My only concern now is whether everything will fit in my suitcase. I've yet to...

do the laundry and pack,
pick up more medication for the trip,
hang around to wait for people to drop things off . ..if they catch us they're lucky or they've phoned ahead!
make air popped popcorn (no butter, no salt) to snack on in the car.
PACK!

Going on vacation is a lot of work...

Kimono Quilt...

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:23:43 GMT

is finished! Here's the final product...

And a sample of the stipple quilting I did for the main body of the quilt...

And a sample of the leaf and loop pattern I free motion quilted in the border...

It looks okay. This quilt is really for a double bed, but here it is stretched on our queen bed. It will probably be a bit small for Lisa and Carl for their bed. But it will certainly be a nice wrap up in winter around the house, or to cuddle under.

The somewhat finished Cold Room...

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:32:27 GMT

I was down there twice to clean up the past few days. Even managed to entice Paul down to work on the utility room with me. We hauled out a garbage bag of stuff and I'm listing more stuff on-line to give away. It feels nice to be getting rid of things we no longer want or need! It would be nice to make money off it, but that is unrealistic in our locale. Garage sales here are the pits and selling on-line is worse.

I gave away 6 boxes of canning jars and I still have these four not used...plus another box upstairs. The big boxes are root beer bottles we inherited from Paul's parents. We made root beer once successfully and they dubbed us the people to inherit these. Now sugar is off my diet I have no idea what to do with these. It falls under the "sentimental can't get rid of" category. Too many fond childhood memories for Paul.

See that huge package of paper towels on top of the toilet paper? It was a good deal, but I have no idea why I bought it! It will take me years to finish it. I've used 1 roll since January. I'm halfway done a second roll. A deal is only a deal if you can use them before they turn yellow with age!

That box down in the back is all canning jar seals and rings. I have to sort through it eventually...but not today...

Aren't these cleaners wild?! They go back a full foot...all cleaners. There must be 12 bottles. I had three people move and leave me their cleaners! I'm a horrible housekeeper. Some of these have been around over five years. I won't be taking cleaners from anyone else who moves. Spices are another thing I won't take. You wouldn't believe my spice collection!

And don't you love the weird funky plastics/bags/wraps? I inherited them from Mom and Lisa gave me hers when she moved. I rarely use the stuff. I'm slowly working my way through it. Mom died 2 years ago. I guess this stash will last me awhile.

As you can see, this is actually a pretty empty cold room. I have plenty of space for expansion. I will be looking at filling those empty shelves when I come back from vacation...though I hear there are some good sales on right now...

Stockpile Saturday

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:08:11 GMT

I have seriously got to get into the cold room and de-clutter it! I need to make room for my canning...and move some stuff around to different parts of the house! I notice Paul brought one roll of toilet paper to the upstairs bathroom, rather than bringing the entire bag to stash under the sink. Not sure what's going on there. But will bring up the bag myself tonight.

Here's my before pictures....

As you can see, it's a small area. A little bit of mess goes a long way! Mostly I need to sort through canning supplies in there. Seems to be a real mishmash of stuff. Might get rid of some of the cleaners too. We've inherited cleaners from about 3 or 4 different people! Guess I should clean more!

Friday Fun...

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:47:06 GMT

I spent the morning booking more hotel rooms. I think I have it covered...except for four days in Halifax...supposedly. I'm letting Paul pick those nights. I suspect it will be very serendipitous and spontaneous. My very detail oriented, bean counting husband likes to be let out to play and experience the wilder side of life every now and then! LOL It will probably also be more expensive than the other nights. But better he see that for himself.

Handwork

I also spent some time on my Brazilian embroidery. I'm on the third motif now. I finished the first one in "Sunshine's Treasures" by Cheryl Schuler. It's called "Creeping Flower".

I started two more motifs. I'm waiting for thread from a friend to finish this second one of hydrangeas...

While I'm waiting on that thread, I've started this one of daisies...

So far it's been kind of fun.

I'm also spinning more. I found some merino wool in my stash ready for spinning. It's gorgeous! I took it to a spinning drop-in and a lady loaned me a spindle to spin it with. It's so much easier than spinning Romney wool.

I've also been working my way through some DVDs on quilting put out by C&T Publishing. This is good stuff folks! Very thorough and informative DVDs on various topics. I love these and hope to have a set of my own some day. Right now I am borrowing from a friend and watching them.

I Love Learning!

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:26:09 GMT

This week's new thing to learn was drop spindle spinning! I have done it before...about 30 years ago. The spindle was very different than the one I used this week. And the wool was also different. Romney. I am having a bit of a struggle with it. The ladies who taught me assured me drop spindle spinning is something I can do in the car on the way to the Maritimes for vacation.

I tried it today in the Ford Escape and it works wonderfully! The one thing I'll say about Ford Escapes is they have good suspension and an awful lot of leg room when you put the seat in the farthest back position. It was great! Paul confessed he wasn't too fond of it while driving around town though. My arms tend to be out in different directions blocking his view. Plus he is going to need navigation in the cities we go through on our road trip.

The Trip

Friends have chipped in to help us with this trip. Aside from the Escape being loaned us for the trip, we have friends in the hotel industry who have offered us a special deal for family and friends. It resulted in 30% off our accommodations in Halifax.

Paul and I think it may be warm enough to camp on the way down. But we're both wanting to give up camping soon. Plus our equipment is way old and needs to be replaced. And there's no way we're going to have room on the airplane to bring it back with us. I emailed the girls about the possibility of leaving camping gear with them. Lisa said she was "down with that"...meaning, I think, that she'll keep it.

Plus, by negotiating with my sisters down east we have come up with an additional five nights at their places. So all in all, it's not going to be too bad. Not as bad as we thought, that's for sure! I have one more place to book hotel rooms ahead of time.

Had a chat with Paul about meals. The hotel we're staying at for most of the trip offers a complimentary breakfast. I will also be taking food I can eat. Meaghan and Lisa have offered me the use of their kitchens if I need them. I suggested to Paul we make lunch the big meal of our day, as lunch is cheaper than supper. And that we just visit Mr. Sub or Subway for supper. He thought that was a great idea!

I arranged for a friend and neighbor to check on the house. She was over today checking things out. She said not to bother to pay to have the mail stopped. She'd bring it in every day for us. That's great! Saves us more money! Maybe we'll come in under budget yet!

Oh yes, the budget. I tried to corner Paul about a budget for this trip. It will be 3 weeks long. It's halfway across the continent. The gas budget for the Escape has us shaking in our booties. Paul is driving it around town to get a feel for how long the gas is actually going to last in the car. He doesn't want to run out of gas in northern Ontario!

We have yet to book the rental car for Halifax. Will see if I can convince Paul to do that via phone/internet. He's the primary driver, but I want on and I'm not going to pay extra for being put on. Our insurance guy was nice enough to tell us whenever he traveled with his wife he chose Hertz or Enterprise because they didn't charge extra to put his wife on as a driver. So we'll talk to them.

We decided to check out more insurance for driving vehicles that don't belong to us. Rental agencies require this and sell it...at an exorbitant fee. Saskatchewan just requires plate insurance normally, and a basic $200,000 liability. It doesn't require what is required for rental vehicles. We quickly snapped that up. It was under $200 a year. Which is good. To buy it through the rental car outlet was going to cost $30/day for 2 weeks ($420).

I've since found out different provinces do this differently. Also it depends on the insurance package you have on your own vehicle. My sister in PEI was able to buy the extra coverage she needed for rental cars for $15 per year! Much cheaper than buying it at the rental agency.

I am laughing and thinking of slapping a sign on the side of the Escape calling us P & J's Moving. We are taking stuff to Meghan and Lisa, and Bob, and to our friend's daughter (Paula threw some of her things in the Escape as it headed out the driveway!), and possibly some things to a friend's son. Paul is shaking his head. He's starting to worry about the size rental car we'll need.

So things are panning out to make this a more affordable vacation than Paul and I feared. We are hoping to be able to stay within our $5000CAD budget. That's approximately $240/day. Should be a breeze.

Quilting Update

Here's the star quilt star sewn together. I am paused on this till we come back from vacation. No money or time to spend on it right now. I have chosen an old cotton shower curtain in the dark green for a backing, and am using scrap batting for the batting. Not sure if I'm going to try to do a background or not...

This is the tentative layout of the kimono quilt...minus the sashing. I'm actually machine quilting the top at the moment. So I'm a lot further along. But it's in the machine, so no picture yet! I'll post one later...when I'm finished.

Frantic Friday

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:10:19 GMT

I think I need to slow down my life a bit. This morning I was up a bit late. Had my shower and rushed out the door to the gym. Came home, threw together my Brazilian embroidery materials and fled out the door for stitching. I'm glad I went. I met a new lady. Also received lots of advice on my embroidery and the class I'm going to teach. Work to do!

Rushed home. Had lunch. Was on-line and just finished the on-line boards when the power cut out. They're replacing a power pole somewhere in the neighborhood. In order to make good use of the time I went through the mail and read more of "Life Coaching for Dummies" which is actually pretty good.

This week has kind of been like today. It's fall and things are starting to speed up in town. My schedule is filling up. Between that and preparing for our vacation there doesn't seem to be much time to spend on-line or posting to the blog.

I finished the rail fence quilt and am working furiously to finish the top for the kimono quilt by tomorrow. I want to sandwich it then. We'll see.

I've finished the first design in Brazilian and am onto the second one. No pictures because the camera is recharging.

While I quilt I listen to university lectures on-line. There are several for free. Right now I'm working on LectureFox Online. I've been having an interesting time of it so far. I've also been listening to the new episodes of "Till Debt Do Us Part" on Slice TV. Just click on "video" on the sidebar and you'll find a list of episodes to watch.

I finished reading "Imagine: a vision for Christians in the arts" by Steve Turner. I appreciated what he was trying to say. As a parent I struggle with some of the interpretations he made about art. I am a firm believer of "garbage in, garbage out". Unfortunately children often can't distinguish the good from the bad.   I think it's very important to gauge the emotional maturity of a child before selecting movies for them to watch...and I don't think Mr. Turner would disagree with me.

It's an odd reaction for me, considering I started out in the arts in university. I've painted nudes from life and been exposed to some interesting ideas in the name of art. I will not paint nudes again because I've met some of the models (some are quite nice thank-you...just very poor, or have other issues that modeling is not helping them solve!). While I appreciate their modeling as an imperfect solution to an imperfect world...I am not sure I want to be supporting imperfect solutions.

But my real challenge came when I had children. My view of what was appropriate in art took a direct u-turn. Having had "Titanic" forced on them by their grandma at far too tender an age ("Grandma made us watch it!" and Grandma admitted she had...it was an important social event of her time! A good history lesson for them!), and having to suffer the consequences for a considerable time afterwards, I am a big fan of censorship! Children are far more impressionable than people imagine. It definitely opened my eyes for the need for guidance...to make sure they could handle what they saw.   And, at their request, we stopped leaving them alone with Grandma. Too many nightmares and fear of water thanks to "Titanic" left them feeling insecure and unsafe around her.

But I digress...Mr. Turner's book is actually quite good. It just pushed a lot of parental buttons with me. I was able to see his concentric view of looking at how Christians could be involved in the arts...and it was interesting to note where my artist friends fit in the different circles. The outer circle is showing the world how their worldview doesn't work in certain areas. The second circle is the area expressing the Christian worldview to the world. The third area is the area of art for the church and by the church...hymns, "The Book of Kells", for example.

I guess my main concern is if we all operated in the outer circle of simply pointing out what's wrong with the rest of the world and not sharing the message that Christ is the only way to Heaven, that soon the message would be lost.   So I think he is right in having all three circles of involvement there. And, like him, I do not see anything wrong with a Christian choosing one circle over another...as long as he/she has put thoughtful prayer into it and determined that is where God wants him/her.

Anywaaaay...I did not intend for this to become a book review!

On the weight loss front...I am 169.6 lbs. Down 18 pounds. Yippee! I am hoping to drop another 3 lbs. before the end of the month. We'll see! I am still going to the gym three times a week. The fitness therapist is setting up a home program for me for winter soon. I have decided to take Leslie Sansone's "Walk Away the Pounds" DVDs with me on vacation. I can just drain the weighted balls before we fly home. My nephews and I have a standing date for kayaking on vacation as well. Plus I'm trying to convince Paul to spend the odd night in a hotel with a fitness room. Won't have much luck there, but it sure would be nice to keep the upper body workout going on vacation. Lots of kayaking I guess!

So here's a thought...

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:43:51 GMT

Brilliant flash of genius coming up! I lined up the rail fence quilt (now finished) on the bed for a photo shoot...and what do I spy????

See those bears in the background? The gold one my older sister made for my father. My father will not have stuffed animals - bears in particular - and never let us have any. Why? Because children grow too attached to them. It should be noted his one and only teddy bear received a proper funeral in the backyard of his farmyard after he was married and had kids! So I'm looking at this bear and wondering if...with a bit of fixing up...it might be something to give Meghan along with the quilt. I dunno...a 22 year old and a teddy bear. Course, Paul bought me my first (and only) teddy bear at 21 years old! It's the one beside the gold bear.

Well...so maybe it's not a flash of genius! We'll see...

Other things I've been working on?...

A creative doll that is part of a book on creativity that I'm working out of that I don't like. It's very New Agey and just plain weird. But some of the exercises are good creativity stretchers. I've never made a doll before...well...unless you count stuffed rabbit draft stoppers for the doors! This is my first attempt at making anything humanoid.

I have to put a face on it and add some hair...then think about clothes.

I've been thinking and working on the star quilt. It's going to be a table topper. I tried to get by without buying fabric for it. I decided to tea dye some cotton for the background. But it didn't work. It's far too dark. Here's the resulting dye job next to the quilt top...

It's not yellow enough. I think I'll try some watered down bleach to lighten it. Maybe try over dyeing it with onion skins to get a more golden tone...don't know. Right now it's taking the back seat. Why?

I really want to finish Lisa's kimono quilt. I was in Fabricland the other day to buy the final 7 meters of fabric for the back and top. I spent some time earlier this week graphing out the size and top. It will actually be a double bed size quilt. That's as big as I can quilt comfortably on my sewing machine. I was able to pick up the fabric and thread for $45CAD. Not bad for that size quilt. The fabric was 30-50% off because I also renewed my Fabricland membership at the same time.

So onto the kimono quilt...

Brazilian Embroidery

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:10:56 GMT

I've been teaching myself Brazilian embroidery this week. To be truthful I have had a workshop from a lady before. And I attended a few meetings of a Brazilian embroidery group last year. But this year they want me to teach something one night. So the push is on to really learn something fun and exciting to teach. But right now I'm starting with the basics...

I still have some French knots to add for the final touch. But I need a specific type of thread. I have a friend looking through her stash of threads for me. Gotta love friends like that!

The pattern is from...Sunshine's Treasures Book. at JDR Brazilian Elegance.