Time!

Is it really October?  I cannot believe that my last post was on August 26th!!

It has certainly not been due to boredom in my life ... on the contrary!  There are days when I long for the quietness of a passing day.  A day in which to dabble in a little of this or a little of that at my leisure without the mad rush of meeting deadlines.

I am the only one to blame as I continually take on more and more projects and so often can be heard to say "yes" when I know in my heart I should be saying "no!"  They do say if you want something done to give it to a busy person!! LOL

So much exciting news to report ... first and foremost we are going to be grandparents AGAIN!  This will make us the very proud and delighted grandparents of 9 of these little darlings!  Daughter Jennie and our son-in-law Norm are over the moon excited ... baby is due the first week in March.  We have lots of birthdays happening in that week already and one more will give us even more reason to celebrate! ;-)

I am almost halfway through my two year term as Co-President and President of our local quilters' guild.  I have learned much from serving in this capacity and am thoroughly enjoying the challenges and also the rewards presented to me.  My retirement from this position will almost coincide with my hubby's retirement too ... we have many dreams to follow when this happens - one of them being to travel across Canada and back through the U.S. in our rv - perhaps even spending the winter in Mexico.  We are both very excited about next year and the beginning of yet another chapter in our life together!! ;-)

I am planning to post regularly again but this is all for now as I am expecting daughter Briggy and our little Emmy and Lauryn for dinner this evening.

We continue to be blessed every day of our lives!  God is indeed good!! ;-)

Summer Fun with Lissy and Brayden

What fun we had at the Chilliwack Country Fair!!!  These kiddies are little dare devils .... look at them on the bungee jump ... Lissy managed to do a triple flip in the air and Brayden did a double.  Good job kids - my heart was in my mouth watching them!

Lissy ... no fear!

Lissy

Brayden ... good job!

Brayden

Lissy ... oh my goodness

Brayden trying to stand

So much fun!

Brayden milking the cow

Lissy milking the cow (too bad about the sticker on your back, honey! LOL)

Lissy and Brayden testing the suction on the milking machine!!

Another Hot One!

No one in these regions can say it is too cool, that's for sure!

Temperatures are in the low 90's these past few days with now through until the end of the weekend the hottest of the year they predict!!!

I am still away in the rv in Bridal Falls and enjoying the last few days seeing my daughter and family up here rv'ing with me.  Great fun!

I drop in and out of facebook every few years and have been back on there now for close to 2 weeks ... a record for me! ;-)  There is only so much time I have in a day at home but being away in the rv, I am blessed with an abundance of this precious commodity! ;-)  So, I have been enjoying this brief interlude of interacting with all of my friends.  I have suddenly acquired 112 friends at last count ... how wonderful this is to connect with all those whose friendship mean so much to me!

Hubby is arriving tomorrow with our grandson who will stay with us for the weekend and then we will pack up and head home on Sunday about lunchtime.  We are looking forward to spoiling yet another one of our darling grandkidlets!

I have had a lot of time to relax, read, nap, swim and visit with camper friends here but am looking forward to going home and getting back into the groove.  I miss my kitties so much ... I never bring them away when I have the grandkiddies, it is just not fair to the kitties as they really only prefer mine and hubby's company! ;-)

All for now ... have my book, cold pop and sunglasses and ready to hit the pool. ;-)

Brits and Humour!

Very well done!  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/ik9AtJQXaHQ?rel=0

More Fun with More Grandkiddies

It is that sad time again when two more of my little darlings have left to go home after spending an amazing and fun weekend here in the rv with Nana and Poppa. 

They arrived here on Friday and after a nice dinner we went swimming and came back and built a bonfire and made S'Mores, then watched a funny movie and hit the sack pretty tired.

On Saturday after a wonderful breakfast cooked by Poppa, we headed into Chilliwack to the Country Fair.  What fun that was ... the kids went on the bungee jumping and inside those big plastic balls that you can roll around in the swimming pool inside.  There was so much to see there ... they even had a chance to try milking a cow - not a real one!! LOL  After we left there, we went out for a nice late lunch and then came back to the rv campground to go swimming.  We saw the day off with a lovely bbq, another bonfire and S'Mores and a very funny movie.

The weather has been perfect for all of the grandkiddie's visits and today was no exception either.  Perfect for us to go over to the waterslides!

I am exhausted but am having so much fun with all the kiddies ... have I told you how much I love being a Nana????? ;-)

Have a gazillion photos to upload once I get home!

Smiles

How wonderful !

Where's the Sun?

I can't believe the change in the weather today!  Brrrr - chilly and rainy all day!  I am so glad that the grandkiddies had such beautiful weather for the 5 days they were here.  In spite of the weather, I could see some brave little kiddies climbing the hill with their inner tubes today at the waterslides ... how wonderful to be a child and not have a care in the world!!!! ;-)

I have taken advantage of today's rainy day to do a little quilting.  I am making a dragonfly art quilt for my granddaughter and have made great progress on it today.  It has all of her favourite colours in it so I think she will really like it.  Will post a photo of it when I get home.

Tomorrow I think I will take a run into Chilliwack and visit one of my favourite quilting shops called Hamels.  They have such wonderful fabrics there and so many terrific quilting patterns. ;-)

Back in the RV

We left last Friday to come away for almost 3 weeks again in the rv ... this time we are in Bridal Falls ... a lovely spot tucked right underneath Mount Cheam.

This time away in the summertime is always for the grandkiddies as we have the wonderful waterslides right here, a lovely swimming pool and hot tub and very nice playgrounds.  Our first grandkiddies to come and stay with us with our little darlings Emmy and Lauryn.  We brought them with us on Friday and their Mommy came to get them this afternoon.

What a wonderful time we have had with them as all the photos will show.  These will have to wait until I get home to upload unfortunately as I left my USB camera cord at home.

After 5 most wonderful days of non stop fun and chatter, I now find myself all alone in the rv and feeling quite sad!  There is nothing in the world to compare to the sweet laughter and smiles of children!  ;-)

Our next two grandchildren, Lissy and Brayden, arrive in 3 days and more fun awaits us with the waterslides, swimming and bonfires!  The following weekend we will get to enjoy our Ozzy for a couple of days too and get to enjoy those waterslides, swimming and bonfires again!

It really is a fabulous life! ;-)

Summertime and the livin' is easy!

And the kiddies are having fun at Nana and Poppa's house!

My Beautiful Grandpuppy

What's not to love?  120 lbs. of pure mischief ... look at those eyes! LOL

Helping Mommy paint!!!!

Holding the dishwasher door open for Mommy

Hey, what's going on in here?

I know, I can't help it ... I dug another hole for you to plant something in, Mommy!!!

A Busy but Productive Weekend

I was out in the front garden last weekend pulling weeds and trimming all the topiary balls.  What a job but it is done and I can relax for a little while!! LOL

A New Year Has Begun ...

For our quilters' guild, that is.  How fast this past year has flown by.  I have learned much in my year as Co-President of our guild and feel ready and confident to take over the reins as President.  I have a wonderful team of officers serving on the executive committee with me and feel their support which, of course, builds up my confidence.  Onwards and upwards!

Traci, my daughter, organized a family barbeque and swimming party at her home yesterday and another daughter. Jennie,  and I celebrated our birthdays together there.  It was a wonderful day and I loved seeing all of the family ... wow ... what a large gathering we make!

Great news speaking of our family's numbers ... daughter Jennie is expecting her fourth baby!  Yes, that's right ... we will be the very happy and proud Nana and Poppa of 9 beautiful grandkidlets!  How fun is that!

We have been home from the rv for about 2 weeks now and have a week left before we head out again ... this time to Sunshine Valley and then onto Camperland in Bridal Falls.  The grandkiddies will be taking turns on coming up to stay for a couple of days  with Nana and Poppa.  The waterslides are there in Bridal Falls too so that is always great fun for the kiddies, amongst all the other mischief we get into!

We enjoyed having Emma and Lauryn over a few days ago and we had so much fun together as you can see ...

Emma making bracelets 

Emma and Lauryn outside having lunch

Emma and Lauryn showing off their pirouette scarves Nana made for them ... that is not the way to wear them girls! LOL

A new way of watching t.v.

On the Mend!

I got my stitches out today from my hernia surgery and I have to say 8 days after surgery I feel like a million bucks!  I mustn't lift anything more than 20 lbs. for 6 weeks but that shouldn't prove a big problem.

Our Nine Patchers quilting group got together again today to stitch and get caught up on everyone's happenings.  Always a lot of fun and laughs to be had.  We had a small gathering today but still found lots to laugh about.  I love our little group - we are such good friends with one another! ;-)

Tomorrow I have a lady coming around to look at my B-Line with a view to purchasing it from me.  I think she will be very happy with all that I am throwing in with the deal and at such an exccellent price for her too.  She is a member of our guild so we both feel very comfortable dealing with each other.

I watched a fabulous instructional DVD this evening with Nancy Chong, quilt appliquer extraordinaire!  She is fabulous and her method of double applique is amazing.  Do take a peek http://prqc.com/  I am all ready to tackle my first double applique project tomorrow!  It's going to be another fun day! ;-)

All for today though ... bedtime is calling .....

Sound Advice

Hernia Surgery out of the way!

Well, after waiting approximately 7 months, I have finally had my hernia repair surgery.  I went into hospital on July 10th to have this done.  Hubby and I came back down to the rv the next day as I was feeling pretty good and just needed to relax.  Can't seem to do that at home! LOL

I have to go back to see the surgeon this coming Wednesday to have the sutures out.  I might be staying at home at that time rather than coming back to the rv for a couple of days more.  I am recovering very nicely, albeit a little sore when getting up from a sitting or lying position.

The weather has been great so I have been able to spend lots of time relaxing outside on the chaise lounge.  We have had a couple of spectacular lightening and thunder storms in the evening when the whole rv lit up with each crack of lightening ... quite a different effect actually.

The summer is well underway and so is our wonderful rv'ing season! ;-)

Yep ! LOL

Bearded Lizard

I have just finished making this for my grandson, Austin.  He is super crazy about reptiles and actually has two geckos which he loves. 

I started out by sketching the lizard onto fabric that had already been prepared for inking/painting (PDF) and then using Tsukinenko inks proceeded to "paint" him.  I wet the areas that I wanted to work in with a brush and water - another method is to use Aloe Vera as the base instead of water.  I then brushed the watered down inks all over and just let it do its own thing by allowing the colours to bleed into one another.  I did the same with the background fabric too.

After the inking was completed, I then free motioned all of the lizard scales - a tedious job, but it made "Larry" come alive!  I then stretched and mounted this onto an 18" x 24" canvas.

My grandson was so pleased when I presented it to him and immediately wanted his Mom to hang it up in his bedroom which made me smile!

I also took this into our guild meeting last week and was very happy to receive such wonderful comments.  They were so thrilled with this new art media that they have asked me to teach a workshop in the use of Tsukinenko inks, which I am delighted to do for our members.

Another Sunny Day!

What a lovely bright sunny morning we have woken up to.  I think they are promising temperatures to hit mid 70's today which will be lovely and perfect for lounging around outside and reading!

The fireworks were amazing last night.  Long after we came back to the rv they were going off.  It sounded quite eerie being in the rv and hearing all the explosions actually.  I commented to DH how wonderful it was to know that they were only fireworks going off and that we were not living in a war zone.  How dreadful it must be for those having to endure that! ;-(

So, today we are looking forward to another day of relaxing outside - doing a little reading which will no doubt end in a wee nap!  I can't seem to read for too long before nodding off - hubby is the same way! LOL

Kitties are in their glory and are outside in their huge cages enjoying the sunshine and watching the birds.  Being totally inside cats at home, this is such a treat for them! ;-)

The Sun is Shining!!!!

We are still down here in the RV in Ferndale, Washington and it is a very special day for our American cousins today ... it is the 4th of July! ;-)

The fireworks started about 9 p.m. last night ... I can only imagine what it is going to be like throughout the day and evening!  There will be a parade going through the rv resort today which will be fun, especially for the kiddies and some kind of a celebration this evening.  The most important thing is that the sun is shining which will make everything and everyone happy!

Enjoy this beautiful weather everyone!  I think summer is trying to make an appearance! ;-)

Relaxin' in the RV again!

We hitched up the RV and left on Fridayfor some more fun in the sun.  The weather has been a little on the cool side but promises to heat up beautifully for the remainder of our stay here. 

We are looking forward to seeing those members of our family who can make it to come out for the day here and there with us.  On Tuesday, I have a dear friend coming down to spend the day with me and play catch up with all of our various goings on.

As you can see, the troops have settle in nicely! LOL

CATV NAP!

HAPPY CANADA DAY FOLKS!!!!

I LOVE OUR PEONIES

I love these peonies almost as much as I love our roses.  They are so big and fluffy and what a pretty colour.  We have lots of passersby stopping to look at how lovely they are.

Our Fun Free Motion Embroidery Class

What fun our little quilting group has.  We call ourselves the Nine Patchers ... don't know why because there are more than 9 of us ... anyway ... Nadine very kindly offered to teach us free motion embroidery on Wednesday and it really was a lot of fun!

Nadine was so patient and helpful ... good thing as we have the "odd" person in our group that needs a little more help than others!!!! LOL

This is the free motion flower that Nadine was attempting to teach us!

Thanks so much again, Nadine!  You're da bomb! ;-)

What a lovely smile, Carolyn!

NADINE ... Our Teacher Extroadinaire!!  Such patience!! LOL

There is always one in a crowd (Leslie in red top)  who didn't come prepared!  After scrounging the fabric,   stabilizer, thread and pattern, there is only one thing left to borrow ... a needle!!!  Not sure if Doe is impressed or not!! LOL  

OK ... the hole on that needle IS pretty small !!!

Photo of most of us ... Pam is still trying the find the hole on the needle and Leslie is still scrounging!

Someone else who didn't come with the right supplies .... Kathie, Kathie!

Look at the concentration on Doe's face!  She even yelled at me when I tried to ask a question!! LOL

Leslie's happy ... why wouldn't she be ... she is all set to go after borrowing all the supplies for our class! LOL

Pam needing help ... not sure if she found the hole in the needle or what!

What a happy student you are, Kathie!

I don't even wanna repeat what she was yelling!

She got everyone's attention though! LOL

Love it!

Happy Birthday Darling Emma

The time goes by so quickly!  I can't believe you are 9 years old already!  What a lovely, sweet young girl you are, honey and you have a heart of gold!

We are so happy we spent your special day celebrating with you! ;-)

Ahhhhh... the joy of being grandparents!

Sisters ... how they love each other!