Lady A

Another Quilt

2012-01-31T15:29:00.004-05:00

I think I have found another hobby. Making rag quilts. The only problem is what do I do with them after they are done. It's not exactly a cheap hobby to have as fabric is rather expensive. This one is about 50"x70". A nice size lap quilt. This one is up for sale, so if you are interested just leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Thanks for peeking.

Crop Day with TSF

2012-01-09T11:23:00.008-05:00

I had the privilege to be asked to go on and all day crop with Carolyn and Joanne on Saturday. While they know exactly what they are going to do and how to do it, it takes me half the day to figure out how to start. As a result I only got two layouts finished. I look at it as it's two more done, then if I hadn't gone. Thanks Carolyn and Joanne for asking me.

The layout below is about the purchase of a camping trailer that we are going to use on our trip to the west coast that took 8 weeks to complete in 2006. We no longer have this trailer but have since purchased a larger one which we use alot.

The layout below is of Unionville. My dh and I often take day trips and this one took us to Unionville. We used to live in Markam but went to church in Unionville so we have a few ties to that area. I just love how they have still maintained these old houses.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011-12-31T11:09:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year from our house to yours.

Audrey & John

The Quilt Saga

2011-12-30T13:39:00.010-05:00

About 3 weeks or so before Christmas my Grandaughter Amanda decided she wanted to make her mother Carolyn a quilt for Christmas. King size would you believe. Since it was to be a surprise she asked if it could be made at my house. Oh sure I say as she assured me she has done the smaller ones in 3 days. So I think it could be done in about two weeks if we both get at it.Well, Miss Amanda has school, a job and exams for college, and her mother has her running here, there and everywhere with her, and Amanda the good girl she is had to go with her. Mean while the squares have been cut and laid out on my living room floor to see if we had enough cut and enough fabric.As it turned out we were a bit short on the one color. There it sat for a good week until she could come back with the extra fabric. Time was ticking closer to Christmas, I had no shopping done,no tree up, and I had to go into The Twelve Days of Christmas at TSF, and nothing done for that. I was stressed to say the least.
The squares finally got stacked into rows and taken to my craft room one row at a time and laid out on the floor again so the rows wouldn't get mixed up.

This next picture is out of turn but here she is clipping.Every square had to be clipped on all four sides.

There were many hours at the sewing machine, sewing the squares together. She had to sneak the sewing machine out of her house and tell many little white lies as to why it wasn't at home when her mom needed it for some design team thing she was doing, along with the cutting mat and cutter. Poor Monty and Amanda took the brunt of that and my ears where ringing as well.

Below she has her happy face on as I am sewing the last of the quilt together. It took two of us to do it as it was getting very heavy to maneuver

Below is the quilt folded in half as it was too large to lay over the sofa.

After this was all done she decided she needed to have two king size pillow shams and two accent pillows for the bed. Oh no, I think, we will never get this done on time,but I am not going to be a spoil sport so here we go again and get that all done too. I was so glad to see all this finished I forgot to take pictures of the shams and accent pillows. Oh well, maybe next time.

The 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop

2011-12-10T12:41:00.010-05:00

Welcome to day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends. You should have arrived here from Joanne's blog.

This is the first blog hop I have ever participated in. I hope you enjoyed yesterday's stop at Joanne's blog. Today I am going to show you some gift card holder ideas.

My holders are made from left over patterned paper and cardstock that I have in my scrap paper folders. For the holder below I used a Spellbinder die cut and a cute little stamp that I embossed and then pen stitched around the edge.

On this one I used stretchy gold cord that wraps around the back to help keep the holder closed and the scalloped circle is cut with my Cricut.

This one has many folds to give it a 3D look!

My favourite is this one.

I hope my gift card holders give you some inspiration to create some of your own. Go to your scrap folders and bins and pull out some of your scraps or stop into Two Scrapbook Friends and pick up some of the great Christmas papers and embellishments they have. Either way, have fun!

Your second secret word is YEAR and tomorrow you will visit Avril's blog for the third day of the hop!

Be sure to leave a comment on each of the blogs you visit in order to qualify for a prize. I hope you enjoy the next 10 days of the hop!

Thank you for checking out my blog on The 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Blog Hop With Two Scrapbook Friends

2011-12-07T12:56:00.001-05:00

The countdown to Christmas is here and with that in mind, your friends at Two Scrapbook Friends invite you to countdown the 12 Days of Christmas Creations with them. Each day a member of the Two Scrapbook Friends team and a few special friends will share with you some of the projects and inspiration that they have created to celebrate the Season.

Beginning on December 10th at 8 am, you can begin the hop at the first Friend's blog where you can be inspired and leave a comment. That blog will then tell you where you need to hop to on the next day!

You will need to hop from blog to blog leaving a comment on each in order to qualify to be in a draw for a special prize from Two Scrapbook Friends! Also, you will find a SECRET word on each blog which will make a special phrase at the end of the Blog Hop! Once the 12 days of hopping are complete you can email the phrase to us and we will enter you for another ballot to win!

The hop will remain open from December 10th to December 22nd at midnight (EST). Winners will be announced on December 23rd on the Two Scrapbook Friends' blog.

The master blog list is listed below so you don't miss a single inspiring creation!

1st Day of Christmas: Joanne (10th)

2nd Day of Christmas: Audrey (11th)

3rd Day of Christmas: Avril (12th)

4th Day of Christmas: Christa (13th)

5th Day of Christmas: Dee (14th)

6th Day of Christmas: Jan (15th)

7th Day of Christmas: Jayne (16th)

8th Day of Christmas: Sharon (17th)

9th Day of Christmas: Shelby (18th)

10th Day of Christmas: Tammy (19th)

11th Day of Christmas: Carolyn (20th)

12th Day of Christmas: Two Scrapbook Friends Blog (21st)

Have fun celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas Creations with the Two Scrapbook Friends team!

Another Day Trip

2011-10-03T00:30:00.013-04:00

Our day trip this time took us to Orangeville Ont.We never know what we will find on our day trips. This time it was Batman's car. As we drove into town I spotted it right away sitting on the street.How could you miss it. It even had fake guns on the front fenders. What a cool car.

Orangeville has carvings all over the town made out of tree trunks.Below are two of the many that we saw.

While in the area, we also took in the Forks of The Credit and the Bad Lands. Several movies have been made here in the Band Lands. This is worth the trip to the Caledon area alone.

We also went to the Rockwood Conservation Area. It is a beautiful park to visit any time of the year.

The old Woollen Mills.

If you are ever looking for something to do, take the drive to Rockwood. You won't be disappointed.

Day Trip

2011-08-07T22:15:00.011-04:00

On Friday John and I decided to drive to Grand Bend for something to do. We walked the main street and then along the board walk by the beach. On the left side of the board walk were these vacation homes and their lawns were dotted with these colourful lawn chairs.

It was very hot on Friday and we worked up a thirst and an appetite.

A tall cool one for John ,

And a Pina Colada for me.

and Nachos to share. Yum.

Since we came this far our trip then went to Bayfeild and the above picture is one of the Inn's on the main street.

From there we went to Goderich, and after we have our Fish and Chip dinner that we pick up at the pier we drive down to the beach and watch the Highland Pipers play until sunset. They start about one hour before sunset and play until the sun is gone.

One cannot go to Goderich without staying for the sun to set. This is not one of the better sunsets that I have seen but it is still beautiful just the same.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Quote Of The Day

2011-07-31T14:32:00.001-04:00

A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

Arabian Proverb

Toronto

2011-07-25T09:09:00.010-04:00

On Saturday John and I had the opportunity to see a musical at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts and it was called "next to normal". But before we went, we took a walk up University Ave then over to the Eaton Centre. John used to work on University Ave. so it's been awhile since we have been in that part of the city, so it was nice to go back and see the changes.

This church is right in behind the Eaton Centre. It is surrounded by high rise buildings. There used to be a parking lot behind the church but not any more. The surrounding buildings had to be built in such a way that the sun could still shine on the church and into the stained glass windows.

This photo shows the Eaton Centre steps away.

The next two photos show the gardens in the center of University Ave. Very refreshing to see this in a city such as Toronto.

Entrance way to Canada Life Insurance

This last photo is the theater that we attended. Excellent show.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Castle Kilbride

2011-07-22T16:39:00.008-04:00

There is lots to do around the KW area if you just take the time to look for it, and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to do it. On Thursday we had record breaking temperatures and instead of staying in the air conditioned house we went to Castle Kilbride in Baden for music on the lawn. It was hand clapping toe tappin music, and it turned out that we new the lead singer. Bonus.

I don't know the history behind Castle Kilbride but it is an impresive place.

This is the group that were entertaining us and they are local and call themselves the Hanker Chiefs. A very good group.

We took my grand daughter with us and she had a lot of fun posing for grandma. This one is at the gazebo.

She found money in the wish fountain and since I didn't have any change she reached in and got some then tossed it back in with her wish.

She is such a little sweet heart. Love you P.

Waterloo Central Railway

2011-07-21T07:46:00.010-04:00

On Tuesday my dh and I decided to be a tourist and take the local train to St Jacobs. Our trip started at the station (that I forgot to take a picture of), in Waterloo. It takes you past Waterloo Park and a lot of the Rim buildings. You get to see parts of the city that you would never get to see unless you were on the train. It slowly meanders through farmers fields, over creeks and past the Waterloo Market on up to St. Jacobs. At St.Jacobs we could get off and stay there for two hr. and then catch the next train back to the market. Since it was so hot we stayed on the train and came back to the market.

At the market we had our lunch, picked up some fresh veggies and of course some fresh rhubarb and after two hr. headed back to the train for our trip home.

As you can see our train has air conditioning. The windows are all open. These are all antique cars.

Our very friendly ticket taker. I really think he loves what he does in his retirement years.

These trains have a lot of wood in them. The windows are all wood frames and the part above the windows is also wood.

Thanks for looking. Until next time........

Splish Splash

2011-07-18T18:18:00.003-04:00

This is a layout from a sketch that Carolyn did. It's of my Granddaughter and her cousin having a great time in the pool.

My Home Outdoors

2011-07-17T14:32:00.013-04:00

Today was the perfect day to take some pictures of my yard, so I thought I would share some of the photos with you. Below is where I am headed after I'm done with this blog to finish reading my book.

This little bird was putting on quite the show for us while we were having lunch today.

Caught the Cardinal in flight.

Thanks for looking. Until next time......

Quote Of The Day

2011-07-11T08:07:00.001-04:00

Quote:
"May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."

Crop For Lindor

2011-06-12T13:19:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I had the privilege to attend the Crop For Lindor and this is the one I completed. I did finish another one for the church album but I am not allowed to display it on the Internet do to the privacy issue. I had a good time and Diane you did a great job. ( Lindor is a dog for autistic children)

Out Smarted by a Bird

2011-06-10T09:16:00.005-04:00

Every year I like to have hanging baskets of firns on my front porch, and every year I try to out smart the birds as they like to make nests in my planters. Every other year they put them smack dab in the middle of my planter but this year they out smarted me. They hid them under neath the folage at the side of the plant. I only saw it when I went out to water the plant and the mommy bird flew out of the planter.

The first time I looked and saw the nest there were 5 eggs. The nest morning one of the eggs had fallen out and smashed.

This is Momma Bird watching me taking pictures and having a bird(LOL).

As I was coming back into the house John noticed the refection off the glass in my front door, so I took a picture facing the door but it looks like I was taking it facing the street. How cool is that.

Rhubarb Pie

2011-06-04T14:18:00.005-04:00

I went to the St Jacobs Market this morning and got some more rhubarb to make a pie that I am go to take to my friends this afternoon. I love rhubarb. Pies, coffee cake and anything else rhubarb .

This one is Rhubarb Custard, Mmmm Good!

Thanks for looking.

Rag Quilts

2011-06-01T20:57:00.006-04:00

It's been awhile since I have posted on my blog. I have found a new hobby which is more time consuming then card making and scrapbooking. It is making rag quilts. The one showing below is my first attempt and I am quite pleased how it turned out.

This is a close up of it.

I then had to make one for my daughter to take to her trailer for those cool nights.

This is the back of her quilt. The first quilt has the same colours on the back as on the front.

Thanks for looking.

Splash n Boots

2011-04-11T09:21:00.001-04:00

Just had to have the boot paper found at Two Scrapbook Friends.

April Product Challenge

2011-04-02T16:48:00.003-04:00

I just received my Product Challenge kit yesterday and I couldn't wait to start it as I had the perfect picture for it. Hope you like it. Thanks for looking.

Saturday Crop

2011-03-28T10:25:00.006-04:00

In my previous post,and this one, I was having a lot of difficulty as my picture was uploading the wrong way. I have now figured it out and here is the second one. Thanks for looking.

Saturday Crop

2011-03-27T16:57:00.004-04:00

Doing this post was a real challenge today. My picture kept going vertical and I finally got it to go the right way but I don't know how I did it and I have one more to post and it keeps going vertical. I guess that's what happens in the Q-Tip world. lol. Anyway this is one layout I did at the crop I attended yesterday with TSF.

Love My Dog

2011-03-14T11:20:00.002-04:00

This layout was made following one from the Sketch Books. This is Winston. He really does luv his bath.

Winston

2011-03-13T17:46:00.005-04:00

The little dog on this card reminds me so much of my little dog Winston. He is always by my side so when I saw these stamps by Prima I just had to have most of them. They are so cute. Also the first time I have made this style of card.

Thanks for looking.

March Product Challenge

2011-03-07T19:14:00.003-05:00

We where given 6 items to do this challenge and I had to use something of everything. This is my layout. Note the sunglasses on this little fella.(Upside down).

Teaching and old dog new tricks

2011-03-03T13:41:00.003-05:00

I was just taught how to snag a photo. Thanks for peaking

Birthday Card

2011-02-28T10:47:00.004-05:00

Once again the little girl is from fabric and the balloons are stamped onto patterened paper and cut out.

Thanks for looking.

Thank You Card

2011-02-28T10:29:00.003-05:00

A customer at work told me I wasn't posting enough. So I will try an do a better job. The birds are made out of fabric.

Thanks for peaking.

Amanda's Birthday Card

2011-02-16T21:33:00.002-05:00

I made this card for Amanda. Hope she likes it. Happy 19th birthday.

Cards

2011-02-13T17:53:00.004-05:00

Just thought I would share a few more cards that I just made.

The above card is made with the Three Bugs in a rug dinosaur collection. The stripe paper is unknown. Something from my scraps.

This one is by My Little Yellow Bicycle Twig collection.

Surprise

2011-02-10T19:49:00.005-05:00

Today when I arrived home from work I was greeted at the door. I am always greeted at the door when I get home but it is usually by the dog. He is always so happy to see me, I can barely get in the door and close it, but today my husband was at the door as well. I received a nice welcome home hug and was told dinner was ready. It smelled delicious. I take my outdoor clothes of and go to the kitchen to fine the table all set with table cloth and wine glasses the whole nine yards.WOW! He had made grilled salmon, scalloped potatoes and broccolli. I also saw a long stemed rose and a card.

For desert we had chocolate raspberry cake, Ice Wine (Yum) and tea.

Here is the real surprise. He made this card. He went to my craft room, found some card stock, cut it to size, printed of a lovely verse and put it all together. If you click on the verse you can read what is says. We are both very busy this weekend so he thought today was the perfect time to have a Valentines dinner.

Love You John.

Sandpiper

2011-02-07T15:20:00.002-05:00

The Sandpiper

by Robert Peterson
She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live.
I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world
begins to close in on me. She was building a sand castle or something
and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea.

Hello," she said.
I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child.

"I'm building," she said.
"I see that. What is it?" I asked, not really caring.
"Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand."
That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes.

A sandpiper glided by.
"That's a joy," the child said.
"It's a what?"
"It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy."
The bird went gliding down the beach. Good-bye joy, I muttered to myself,
hello pain, and turned to walk on. I was depressed, my life seemed completely out of balance.

"What's your name?" She wouldn't give up.
"Robert," I answered. "I'm Robert Peterson."
"Mine's Wendy... I'm six."
"Hi, Wendy."

She giggled. "You're funny," she said.
In spite of my gloom, I laughed too and walked on.
Her musical giggle followed me.
"Come again, Mr. P," she called. "We'll have another happy day."

The next few days consisted of a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and an ailing mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. I need a sandpiper, I said to myself, gathering up my coat.

The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed.

"Hello, Mr. P," she said. "Do you want to play?"
"What did you have in mind?" I asked, with a twinge of annoyance.
"I don't know. You say." "How about charades?" I asked sarcastically.
The tinkling laughter burst forth again. "I don't know what that is." "Then let's just walk."
Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face.
"Where do you live?" I asked.
"Over there." She pointed toward a row of summer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter. "Where do you go to school?" "I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on vacation"
She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was
on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day.
Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.

Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no
mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt
like demanding she keep her child at home.

"Look, if you don't mind," I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, "I'd
rather be alone today." She seemed unusually pale and out of breath.

"Why?" she asked. I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" and thought,
My God, why was I saying this to a little child?

"Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad day." "Yes," I said, "and yesterday and the day before and -- oh, go away!"
"Did it hurt?" she inquired. "Did what hurt?" I was exasperated with her, with myself.
"When she died?" "Of course it hurt!" I snapped, misunderstanding,
wrapped up in myself. I strode off.

A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there.
Feeling guilty, ashamed, and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up
to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking
young woman with honey-colored hair opened the door.

"Hello," I said, "I'm Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today
and wondered where she was."

"Oh yes, Mr. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much.
I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance,
please, accept my apologies."

"Not at all --! she's a delightful child." I said, suddenly realizing
that I meant what I had just said.

"Wendy died last week, Mr. Peterson. She had leukemia
Maybe she didn't tell you."

Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. I had to catch my breath.

"She loved this beach, so when she asked to come, we couldn't say no.
She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days.
But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly..." Her voice faltered, "She left
something for you, if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?"

I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something to say to this lovely young
woman. She handed me a smeared envelope with "MR. P" printed in bold
childish letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues -- a yellow beach,
a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed:

A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love
opened wide. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry,
I'm so sorry," I uttered over and over, and we wept together. The precious little
picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words -- one for each year
of her life -- that speak to me of harmony, courage, and undemanding love.

A gift from a child with sea blue eyes and hair the color of sand
-- who taught me the gift of love.
________________________________________

NOTE: This is a true story sent out by Robert Peterson. It happened over 20
years ago and the incident changed his life forever. It serves as a reminder
to all of us that we need to take time to enjoy living and life and each other.
The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.

Life is so complicated, the hustle and bustle of everyday traumas
can make us lose focus about what is truly important
or what is only a momentary setback or crisis.

This week, be sure to give your loved ones an extra hug, and by all means,
take a moment... even if it is only ten seconds, to stop and smell the roses.

This comes from someone's heart, and is read by many
and now I share it with you..

May God Bless everyone who receives this! There are NO coincidences!

Everything that happens to us happens for a reason. Never brush aside anyone as insignificant. Who knows what they can teach us?
________________________________________

I wish for you, a sandpiper.

--

Bird Cage

2011-02-06T11:03:00.005-05:00

I took a break from making cards after Christmas and took up reading. Now it's time to start the cards again. This set of stamps is one of my favourites, I love the bird cages in this set.

My inspiration for this card came the Card Maker book and I used Basic Grey cappella papers.

The above card is done with the double dot c/s.Can never have enough of this card stock.

Reading books----

2011-01-11T16:29:00.002-05:00

About the only time I read books was in the summer time when we are out camping,until now. Carolyn got me going on books written by Karen Kingsbury. This author has you hooked on the book from the very first page. She is a Christian author so there isn't any bad language and all the other stuff you find in some book. I have read Dandelion Dust, Shades of Blue, a Time to Dance and now a Time to Embrace.(Almost done with this one).

I have been spending some time in emergency with my dh so the books help to pass the time. These books also stop everything else as well,like house work even card making,and with Mr. Nordic Track.

When I'm done with this one I will have to hide my other 3 books for awhile and get back into the world of reality.

Affair

2011-01-04T09:56:00.002-05:00

I have to tell you, the secret is out. I am having an affair. I sneak out of bed before my husband wakes up and meet my friend.He lives at my house so I only have to go to the basement to meet him. He and I walk and run together almost 7 days a week, I have to take a break sometimes because I can't keep up with him. He is a very quiet man and hums to the music that plays when we are together. He tells me when my heart rate goes up and then says slow down, walk before you run. I used to resist meeting him but I can't do that anymore. Once I started this affair I don't want to stop it.

I guess I will soon have to let my husband know about this affair, then he can decide what he wants to do.I will let all my blogger friends know his name but you can't tell anyone.

His name is Mr Nordic Track.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011-01-01T10:00:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

New Years Day is the day I dislike the most.For me it is a big let down from Christmas. The sun very seldom shines on New Years and most times it is foggy or raining as it is today.( My body operates on solar power (Sunshine)). I started to take down the Christmas decorations this morning and that will most likely be an all day job.

For New Years Eve none of us wanted to host a house party so we decided to go to a show and go for a Chinese Buffet for dinner after the show. We get to the theater and find out the show had started a half hour earlier than we thought. We looked at the wrong city for the show times.So we had to find another show to see. We chose Tangled,not knowing what it was about we thought it might be a suspense story. As we were waiting for the show to start the theater started filling up with little children.I thought why would parents bring their children to see a movie like this? Well the surprise was on us. It is a Disney movie made for children, and what an enjoyable movie it was. All animated. I would recommend it to all who are young at heart.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T11:27:00.004-05:00

I would like to extend to all my blogger friends a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Gloryland Chorus

2010-11-19T19:25:00.008-05:00

The Gloryland Chorus has been very busy this fall.Since Oct. we have had 3 concerts and still more to come. Below are a few pictures taken at our last concert. I am not in any of them as I was the one taking the pictures. It is very hard taking pictures of a large group in a church where the lighting is not very good.

The men's chorus (we have two ladies that sing tenor)

Mary Jane and Carol are sisters singing the song Getting Used To The Family Of God.

A lot of the songs we sing can bring tears to your eyes. Especially I Then Shall Live.(Oh my).

Our Quartet

The Gloryland Chorus

Cards, Cards,and more Cards

2010-11-19T19:03:00.010-05:00

It's been awhile since I did any blogging. I had a craft show at my Church last weekend so I was very busy making cards.Below are just a few that I made to take to the show. The weather was good, the crowds where good and that made for a very successful day.

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Oktoberfest & Thanksgiving (Guten Tag)

2010-10-12T20:03:00.011-04:00

Saturday morning the four of us went to the Oktoberfest outdoor breakfast in Waterloo. It was a beautiful but cool morning until the sun made it's appearence. The lineup was very long but it moved quickly.

Onkel Hans

Here is what Marie and Kevin do best, drinking Tim Hortons

We had pancakes and sausage with Timmy's coffee. Look at all that syrup (Yuck)!

After breakfast we watched the barrel races and so did the raccoon sitting up in the tree in downtown Waterloo.

Thanksgiving Sunday the whole family went on a nature walk. It was such a beautiful day we didn't need to wear our coats.

These are the men in our lives. John, Jason, Kevin, David, Jeff, Matt, and Monty.

Auf Wiederschen

It's All Over

2010-10-12T19:33:00.005-04:00

Our camping season is all over for this year. Two weeks ago we took the trailer up to my sister's
to store it in their barn for the winter. John and Erwin are unhooking it from the car and hitching it up to the tractor to put it into the barn. It was a cold wet rainy day, so I didn't mind it going into storage.

Here it is all tucked in for the winter.

After we tucked the trailer away, we headed on up to Owen Sound to take in a Rangers Hockey game. As most you you know that is something I just don't do very often because they always lose when I go to a game. This time wasn't any different. The Rangers lost 4-0 to Owen Sound. The game was very boring, so you might as well chat with those around you even though they are from the opposing team.

A few years ago John happened to talk to a gentleman from Owen Sound and it turned out to be a former public school teacher of his. What a surprise to both of them. So now when John goes to the game in Owen Sound they always sit together. It really wasn't a wasted night after all. If I hadn't gone to that game he wouldn't have this picture of the two of them.

Gift Card Holders

2010-09-28T19:31:00.005-04:00

The last few weeks I've been busy as a bee making gift card holders. Our church has a Cookie Craft and Bake sale in November(Nov. 13th at St. Stephen Lutheran Church corner or Highland Rd and Sterling Ave. Kitchener 8 AM to 2 PM) and I usually go as a vendor. Last year I made a few of these and they were gone in no time so this year I am not going to run out. I also put my hand made cards in as well. Thanks for the tutorials and Youtube videos I found on the Internet for ideas.

Quote Of The Day

2010-09-20T09:48:00.000-04:00

"You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you're down there."
~George Burns

45th Wedding Anniversary

2010-08-23T19:56:00.013-04:00

A few months ago John and I decided we should celebrate our 45th anniversary. At that time it was really hot and we don't have a lot of shade in our back yard so we ordered a tent so we would have some shade for people sitting on the lawn. So the following pictures you see the tent being put up.

We told no one that we were going to have this tent put up so it was fun just watching peoples faces as they came into the yard. We had asked everyone to bring lawn chairs and since the weather did not co-operate and it rained I think most of them thought they had to sit outside anyway. 30 people is a lot to have in a house.

We also had an awning installed on the house as well. Everyone was able to stay under cover and stay dry.

These are a few of our guests sitting around and socializing

I had set our wedding pictures out and they got a few chuckles out of it.

My grand daughter Amanda has turned into a good little baker. She asked if she could make cupcakes for that day and of course I said yes. She made a cupcake tree with handmade roses on the top. Well done Amanda. Thank you so much. I have saved some of the roses.

This is the cake my husband purchased and had it decorated. I left that job for him to do. Well done John.

Here we are cutting the cake like we did 45 yrs ago.

Ottawa

2010-08-23T17:29:00.007-04:00

While we were in Ottawa we had to do the tourist thing as well. So we hopped onto a Gray Line Tour bus and sat at the top to get a good view of everything. We saw the Governor Generals home, Harper's home and a lot of others. That evening we sat on the lawn of Parliament Hill and watched a light show they put on, on the side of the building. Fantastic! I couldn't take pictures because I was to far away and the lights flashing was confusing my camera.

One of the places that really caught our eye was the By Ward Market. It had sidewalk cafe's all over the place. Street after street of them.

This area of the city was a really nice place to visit. Parking in Ottawa is really expensive as well.

Just a beautiful area to see.

This is Oscar Peterson done in bronze. This was dedicated just the week before we came to Ottawa.

Melissa and Nathaniel's Wedding

2010-08-23T16:52:00.010-04:00

Presenting Mr. & Mrs Nathaniel Boisvenue (This picture was to appear at the end of my post, but it kept dropping the picture so I just put it at the top).

The week of Aug. 6th to Aug. 12th John and I traveled to Ottawa to attend the wedding of our niece Melissa. The day was perfect, the setting was perfect and the bride was beautiful. She was married at the Church of the Ascension which was built in the late 1800, if my memory serves me correctly.

This is Melissa and her Dad at the front of the church. He had just walked her down the aisle and he had just turned her veil back.

Here they are saying their vows before her father who is a Lutheran Pastor.

The exchanging of the wedding bands.

A wedding reception followed at a very nice venue.

Down Memory Lane

2010-07-28T21:03:00.007-04:00

Today my dh and I went on a day trip back to were we used to live about thirty yrs. ago. We used to live in the old town of Markam. We liked Markham so much that when we moved away to Montreal and were transferred back to Toronto again we decided on Markam again. Oh my how it has changed. All for the better I suppose, but I would not want to live there now. Although we lived in Markam we went to church in Unionville. The old part of Unionvilles main street as we new it,always reminded me of St Jacobs so that is why we back today.

This is the start of the main street. Very pretty.

When we used to go here before, all these houses were all turned into shops, really nice ones. Now most of them are restaurants and the shop are almost all gone. Very disappointing

This is were we had a nice lunch.

Most of the houses along the main street look like this one.

I also had to take a picture of the church we used to go to. The parsonage that was beside the church is now gone and an addition was put on. This is also where my youngest daughter was baptized. We really enjoyed going to that church. We still talk about how friendly the people were and we even remembered some of their names after all this time.

It's nice to go done memory lane but it sure is nice to come back home to Kitchener.

Finally Finished

2010-07-21T15:57:00.007-04:00

It's been awhile since I have done any cardmaking. I started these cards at the spring retreat and I never finished them until now. The one above is a digital image that was given to me. I like to put something on the insides of my cards if I am using a one line verse. That stamp is a Stamping Bella stamp.

This one is a Stamping Bella as well. As you can tell I like my new Martha Stewart punch.

The stamp on this one is a Close To My Heart stamp.

Vacation

2010-07-11T15:03:00.008-04:00

It is called a vacation, but to get to that point it is a lot of work. Just getting the kids organized and packed is a real chore. At my age now I get brain overload real quick. You put something into my brain something else falls out. So we always forget something when we go camping.

This was only the second time this tent was put up and the first time was last year when it was bought to see what it looked like. Kevin and I did OK, in the extreme heat that day.

Marie is putting the final clips on the tent poles and it is finished. This tent got a lot of comments as no had seen this kind of tent before.

The one afternoon as I was sitting outside reading my book, I looked up and couldn't believe my eyes. I thought we where being invaded as there were 6 of these (people) coming down to the beach. As it turned out it is a popular place to go scuba diving.

Marie and Keven loved to have campfires every night. She is already in her PJ's and the marshmallow are there somewhere.

Every Friday night at Sherkston Shore they have fireworks out over the Quarry. Our campsite was at the edge of the quarry, so the kids could sit by the campfire and watch the fire works at the same time. It is really hard to take pictures of fireworks and have them turn out. I think I took about 15 to get 4.

After we were done at Sherkston we are home 2 days and we leave again for Port Elgin to join Tracy and Payton at their campground. The first 2 nights it was cold and the furnace came on then things heated up and we were wishing for some of that cool weather. Dh spends alot of his time reading when we are out camping.

Payton still has a smile for the camera after a full day of activities as we sit around the campfire that night.

Lentil Appetizer with Scoops

2010-07-10T14:59:00.003-04:00

With all the hot weather we have had this past week it's time for outdoor entertaining. If you are doing the entertaining or being entertained it's always nice to have a cold and refreshing appetizer along with a tall cool drink of your choice. As it turns out John and I are being entertained twice this weekend and I always offer to take something to help out. I am taking this Lentil Appetizer to both as it makes a fair bit. Serve it with scoops . If you have the Lock n Lock containers to put it in your set to go. I will share the recipe with you. Thanks to my friend Carol.

Lentil Appetizer with Scoops

1 can lentils (drained and rinsed)

1/2 can kernel corn

1/4 cup fresh basil (leaves only)

2-3 chopped gr. onions

1/2 tsp oregano

1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon (real lemon 3 tbsp)

3/4 cup feta cheese crumbled

1/8 tsp cumin

1/2 container cherry tomatoes quartered

Mix together. Can be made 1 day ahead

Serve with scoops.

Strawberry Time

2010-06-14T15:33:00.005-04:00

My dh and I went to the Waterloo Market on Sat. morning for a change. We hadn't been there in quite some time. We noticed the local strawberries where for sale so we bought a flat to make jam. I am usually away when the local berries are ready but they are early this year.

This morning I was up bright and early to get the berries ready for the jam jars.

I got three batches of jam and some left over just to eat. They sure taste better then the California ones. These should keep my dh happy for awhile.

Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge

2010-06-07T16:04:00.007-04:00

While in Gatlinburg we got to walk the streets between concerts. In my mind I thought Gatlinburg was like Niagara On The Lake or like a nice little town at the foot of the Smokies. To my surprise the main street is like Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls times ten. They have Ripley's and all the junk and trinket stores that go along with it.

We where there on Memorial Day weekend so it was really busy. After the concert at night we had to drive the main street to get back to our campsite at about 11 PM. The street was packed with people and all the stores were open. The next morning when we came back into town about 8:30 AM.(so we could get a parking spot for the day) the stores where open already or they hadn't closed at all.

The picture above is a mini put on the side of a very steep hill. You wouldn't know it was there until you walked down one of the lanes between the stores.

This is another store we discovered walking down one of the little villages as they are called that are placed between the junk stores. Some of these stores a very upscale and artsy.

Here is the entrance to one of the villages. They are very well done. This is what I thought Gatlinburg's main street should have looked like.

Our friends thought we should go out for supper and have a Catfish dinner at Pigeon Forge. My mind said NO! no! no! NOT me! But I didn't want to be a spoil sport, so I thought since I was in Tennessee I would do what the natives do and eat cat fish. Yikes!

We ordered and out comes white beans, coleslaw and deep fried bread.We also ordered sweet iced tea and that came to us in a very large Mason jar. I tried it all and it was very tasty, all the time thinking about the cat fish.

Then out comes the Catfish. I looked at it for a little while and watched the others dig into theirs.

They all had smiles on their faces like Sylvester had just eaten Tweetee Bird, so I guess it couldn't be that bad. Soooo I tried a small piece, mmmmmmm that was good. I tried a little bit more and before I new it I had it all gone. I don't know what my problem was. I guess I just had to get past the looks of cat fish.

Family Fest in the Smokies

2010-06-06T13:37:00.013-04:00

John and I and our friends Henry and Carol Lang took an 11 day trip to Gatlinburg Tenn. to the Family Fest in the Smokies, by Bill Gaither and friends.

We took in 3 concerts that where about 5 hrs in length each and 2 morning Special Sessions with Dr. Ravi Zacharias and Andy Andrews as speakers as well as listening to alot of the singers you see pictured here. It was a great 3 days of listening and singing along with all these great Gospel singers. They are very friendly and spoke to as many as they possibly could before and after the shows.

The lady above is Sonya Isaacs. She has a voice of an angel. You should hear her sing It is Well with My Soul. It makes the hair stand up on your arms.

This is Gordon Mote and his wife Kimberly. He is blind and plays for the Gaithers and plays for alot of the top recording artists in Nashville for their recordings, and they posed for me so that I could take their picture.

This is Bill Gaither himself. I didn't stand in line to get his autograph because it was just too long.

This is Lynda Randle. I tried to get a picture of her by herself but she was to busy hugging everyone that came up to her. Another great singer. Have you heard the song God On The Mountain? If you haven't, you should. Just beautiful.

This is Ivan Parker. Another great singer.

Here we are waithing for the concerts to begin. We figure there must have been about ten thousand people in the convention center.

This is Kevin Williams. He is the one that gets the crowds excited before the concerts start and he is very funny and good at what he does.

Here is Gloria Gaither signing her books. I picked up several music books for my choir directer and had this one autographed for him. Can't wait to see his face when he sees it.

This is Ernie Haase & Signature Sound a high energy quartet, and they posed just for me. (Sigh).

This is Ernie (see his arm around ME). You should hear them sing>

And this is Tim Duncan the bass singer for Signature Sound. His voice is so low, it is down in his shoes. I can't even describe just how low it is when he talks let alone sing. Amazing.

It was well worth the two days we took to get there and I would do it again in a heart beat.

sdafj

Our Holiday Inn on wheels

2010-05-16T22:03:00.004-04:00

The trailer is out of the barn and all polished up and ready to hit the road.

John and I spent the better part of Saturday washing and polishing our R.V. The water gets hot, the hydro works, the slide out works. There will be no surprises this trip. All that is left to do is pack our clothes.

Vacation time will soon begin for us as we are heading to Gatlinburg Tenn., Sherkston Shores (twice) the Ottawa Valley and lots of places in between. One of our favourite places to go ,believe it or not is Blyth Ont. In Sept. there will be about a 1000 trailer in the park, with lots of country music being played everywhere. I know, I'm just a country bumpkin at heart.

It is great to work at TSF and still be to enjoy the trailer as well.

Happy Motoring !

Motivation in a Minute

2010-05-09T18:46:00.002-04:00

A friend sent this motivation movie to me and I though I would share it with you. We don't tell our families or our best friends often enough that we love them and appreciate them for all they do for us. Enjoy.
http://www.appreciationmovie.com/miami?cm_mmc=MIAMI-_-NL-_-05.08.2010-_-STAPmov

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-08T13:42:00.002-04:00

Happy Mothers Day to all who are already Mothers and to all who are Mothers to be for the first time. May you enjoy this special day with your families.

Pink and Green Challenge

2010-05-08T13:01:00.003-04:00

This card was made for the pink and green challenge at Little Red Wagon and Totally Gorjuss.

Thanks for looking!

Cousin's

2010-05-04T22:22:00.002-04:00

For the past four years the first cousin's on my Mothers side of the family have been getting together for lunch at a nice restaurant and then going to someones home for dessert and a nice visit. This year it was my turn to host and we went to the Omega Restaurant and then to my house for dessert and to remanice about some of the silly things we used to do as kids, what our family's are doing and so one. My cousins live in Atwood, Harriston, Neustadt,R.R.5 Mildmay and Kitchener, so there is a bit of travelling to do for these lunches.

In the photo from left to right are, Me(Audrey), Elaine Challmers,Wilma Fisher(sister),Marion Haack(sister),Helen Bryce-Hoy, and Diane Williams.

I wish our children would have had the chance to grow up near their cousins and realise how important family really is.

God willing, we hope to meet again next year.

Sympathy Cards

2010-04-30T14:05:00.002-04:00

The Little Red Wagon challenge this week is for Sympathy Cards. I happen to have two of them, so here is my take on the challenge.

Wine Tasting

2010-04-10T10:10:00.004-04:00

My husband John had his birthday on Wed. April 7th. Our friends Henry and Carol had tickets to Inniskillin for free wine tasting and a free bottle of Ice wine. The wine tasting was Yummy as usual but I had never tasted Ice Wine before. We tried Vidal Ice Wine (OMGosh) how sweet it is.YUM!! Our free bottle was a 50ml. size. They could have made it a bit larger. We also learned how to drink Ice Wine. You hold your glass at the bottom of the stem of your wine glass not around the bulb of the glass. It makes a big difference on how the wine tastes. I wouldn't have believed It if I hadn't tried it myself. We also learned that if you drink red wine it should always be poured into a decanter first to get air into the wine. Just opening the bottle to let it breath doesn't cut it. Of course it had to be tried out when we got home, to go with the pizza and wings we had for supper. I did not have red wine as I would be under the table in short order. Red wine and I don't get along very well. We finished the night off by playing a game of cards called Golf then watch the results of Dancing With The Stars.

Thanks Shelby and Joanne for a stress free post.

Over worked

2010-03-26T20:55:00.003-04:00

It is extremely busy at Twofriends lately, and I am buried under cardstock. So I will not be posting for a little while.

Please check back later.

2010-03-13T15:13:00.003-05:00

I had to work the Pizza Crop at Two Friends last night and by the time I got home I was past being tired and had gotten my second wind so to speak.I did go to bed but sleep didn't come so I went channel surfing and came upon The Shopping Channel. Big mistake. They where cooking and demonstrating electric grill and crock pots etc. and showing lots of food. I Can't Believe I bought two grills and a new crock pot. ( I really did need these items and one is for a wedding gift),but it was the food that stuck in my mind. Sooo since I didn't get much sleep I thought we should go out for a late breakfast and check out Cora's.

This is what I had for breakfast. Very delicious!

And this is what was left on my plate. I Can't Believe I ate all that food.

Free To Be Me

2010-03-08T11:12:00.002-05:00

It feels good to back in the land of the living. This past week has not been a good one for me. I thought I had escaped the flu that my dh had, but no such luck.

I created this card using my new pencil crayons. I'm still learning how to use them. I also have a hard time using blues and browns, but I gave it a try anyway.

Thanks for looking!

Little Red Wagon Challenge

2010-02-28T13:58:00.004-05:00

This is my take on the black and white card for The Little Red Challenge this week. All stamps and inks are Close To MyHeart and I used the Wizard for my Spellbinder diecuts.

Gloryland Chorus

2010-02-21T19:40:00.003-05:00

I belong to a 40 member community choir in the Kitchener, Waterloo area, and this afternoon we held a "singin" at my home church. We sing Bill and Gloria Gaither style Gospel Music. I had tried for two years to bring the choir to my church to spread the Word through music. They finally where able to fit us into the church calendar of activities and today was the day.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous to say the least. I took it upon myself to be in charge of advertising. I advertised in everything I could think of that was free, to save money as all the proceeds where going to the Haiti Relief fund. My biggest fear was, what if only a few people showed up. To my surprise close to 300 showed up and supported us in this fund raiser. The fund raiser was a huge success and by the comments we got everyone enjoyed the music.

To each and everyone who attended, Thank-You

Little Red Wagon Challenge

2010-02-19T22:00:00.002-05:00

The challenge for Little Red wagon this week is using ribbon. I made a top folded card and all products used where Close To My Heart.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

2010-02-15T13:06:00.004-05:00

I like to have cookies with a cup of tea or coffee sometimes. I didn't have anything sweet in the house and my dh doesn't like me to buy sweets because that tempts him to snitch some. He is not to have sweets as he is diabetic. So after listening to me grumble about it, the next time he went to the store he bought me a bag of ginger cookies. Having made my own Ginger Cookies before, these (things) in the bag called cookies, didn't come close to what I had made before. So I made my own and I will share the recipe with you.

BIG SOFT GINGER COOKIES

3/4 c.margarine softened1 c. white sugar

1 egg

1 tbls. water

1/4 c. molasses

2 tbls. white sugar

2 1/4 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. gr. ginger

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. gr. cinnamon

1/2 tsp gr. cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 10 min. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 min before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

New Toy

2010-02-14T16:17:00.002-05:00

Today I got to play with my new toy called the Wizard by Spellbinders. I made a circle card cut with the Wizard and embossed with the Cuttelbug. All pieces are cut with the Wizard. It's hard to see but the center piece is chalked.

Little Red Wagon Challenge

2010-02-12T20:26:00.003-05:00

This weeks challenge is to make a card that has red and bling on it. I made two as I have two people to give cards to for Valentines Day.
My first card is made with Close To My Heart stamps and ink and the second card was made with makingmemories Love Struck paper and the Sweethearts Cricut cartridge was use to make the heart on the double folded cardstock. The bling is also there for the birds eyes and the center of the flowers and also in the heart.

Heritage

2010-02-12T08:41:00.000-05:00

When my Mother passed away a few years ago, I got a lot of the pictures she had saved over the years. In the box I found wedding pictures from my Dad's side of the family dating back to at least 1932. I decided to scrapbook them and put them into my wedding album. I also researched the history of my dad's family and that will be put in the album as well. I could go all the way back to my Great Great Grandfather who came from Germany in 1860.

Magnetic Board

2010-02-07T16:24:00.000-05:00

In my last blog I mentioned getting a magnetic board at Ikea. To me a magnetic board is magnetized and anything metal should stick to it right? Not so. So back to Ikea I go on Saturday and take back the board and tell them it doesn't work. The clerk tells me the board is not magnetic that I am to put something on the board that is magnetic. Then why sell something they call magnetic when it isn't. Anyway to make a long story short, I returned the board and he said I should go to a craft store and get a magnetic sheet and apply it to the metal board.I then went to Michaels to see if they even had such a thing and sure enough they did. I purchased an adhesive magnetic sheet then went back to Ikea and bought another board.For you older generation out there, do you remember Mac Tac? Well, this is as bad to use as Mac Tac. John helped me to apply it onto the board.Once you start to put this on there is no moving it and trying again. I'm hoping this is going to be worth all this time and fuss. As you can see in the photo it did what it was supposed to do. I now have all my Spellbinder die cuts in one place and I don't have to sort them out every time I want to use them.

Day Trip

2010-02-05T17:31:00.001-05:00

IKEA

Today the girls where kind enough to give me the day off, so I took my youngest daughter and her boyfriend on a day trip to Ikea. I don't get there too often so it was nice to go during the week and not have to fight the crowds.

I really went for a magnetic board for my craft room, but we won't tell anybody, will we? So while I was there I might as well pick up some bedroom lamps too. They will just appear in my bedroom like magic.

The kids enjoyed themselves and that's what its all about.

Chipboard Challenge

2010-02-04T21:26:00.000-05:00

I have now completed my second challenge for Little Red Wagon (woo hoo). I made a vintage looking card for my sister as she is older than I am. I used a chipboard flourish with Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist and Fancy Tags from Spellbinders with some paper I had in my stash.

Little Red Wagon Challenge

2010-02-04T19:08:00.000-05:00

Little Red Wagon's challenge was to use hearts this week. I made 31 of these Hershey Kiss candy holders to put at each place setting for our Valentin's pot luck supper to be held at our church. I used a Close To My Heart stamp, Close To My Heart Ink and a Martha Stewart border punch.

Welcome To My Blog

2010-02-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

I have decided to shock my daughters and start a blog. This is quite a challenge for me as I am not that good on the computer. However it is never to late to learn. So here goes.