Small Steps

Today after shopping I spent some time cleaning sewing machines and storage containers. Everything is nicely dusted now.....

I also took that scrap material off the top of the storage containers and started cutting that material into quilting squares.

I still have many more to do, but things are gradually looking much better. At least I have room to work which is a very good thing.

I also pulled out the Caramel Slice.

I am going to slice this up tonight and put it into containers.

I feel a bit down as I talked to Kris tonight and he will not be coming home until Monday. I can understand as he wants to clean up his apartment a bit before he comes home for two weeks, but I was so looking forward to both boys being home at the same time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday And A Tidy

Today was a mending and cleaning (or should I say straightening) day.

I tackled that small mountain of socks to be darned. Cha ching...... Money saved as now I don't have to shop for socks.

I even managed to get the underwire in one of my favorite bras back into its pocket and sewn to hold it in place. I can get some more wear out of it now. Those things are expensive and finding something that fits and feels great is tough.

We went to our Financial Planner today and managed to get some of my small RRSP's combined. The interest rate is the pits, but at least with the combination there will be a tiny bit more. We will have to go back in April, as more are coming due (as well as some GIC's) and I hope we can do the same thing.

Supper tonight was once again leftovers. The few ribs and bit of rice left has been packaged up and put in the fridge for Harvey's lunch tomorrow.

I got a text from Kris a bit ago and it seems that I did not break Harvey's cell phone beyond repair. Kris took it to a place in Regina and had the screen replaced (I cracked it badly when I fell a couple of months ago). He says it works like a charm now. We paid nothing for the phone (it was Kris's old one) and the replacement screen was pennies when compared to buying a new Blackberry. Cha ching, more money saved.

I spent much of the afternoon working in the sewing/craft room.

Harvey got the extra support onto one of the cabinets so my serger is back up and ready to use.

Please excuse the blurry picture. With the extra support the leaf is not bending and I will be able to use both these machines. Tomorrow I will be cleaning up my Mom's old machine and getting it threaded to use.

I still have a bit of cleaning up to do around the other two machines. That will be done tomorrow after a bit of shopping and baking.

The tops of my storage containers have been cleared off. Now the scrap material is easily found and later this week will be cut into usable quilt squares.

The fabric and yarn that the storage drawers contain have been gone through. The fabric has been folded, and the yarn put into like groups to be used in other knitting projects.

All of my craft books have been gathered together and placed in this bookcase. Now I can find them a bit easier. I do think there are a couple more I need to locate.

There is still more to do, but those baby steps are certainly working right now. Keeping me out of trouble and out of the stores.

Hope to have some more pictures of the room tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Well, this weeks menu has changed from when I made it up at the end of last month.

Monday

Leftover Lazy Perogies.

Tuesday

Leftover Sweet and Sour Ribs, rice and brussel sprouts.

Wednesday

Left over spaghetti and meat sauce, served with coleslaw.

Thursday

Chili (container from the freezer) and toast.

Friday

Fish Fillets, home made fries and coleslaw.

Saturday

Our sons will be home so we will celebrate being together with Bacon Wrapped Fillets, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.

Sunday

Pork Roast, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and hopefully some more coleslaw.

This should clean out the fridge nicely, all will be ready for more leftovers  the coming week.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

The temperature rose today to above freezing. This has made our roads sloppy and by the morning after the nights freeze will make them sheer ice tomorrow. I am glad that there is no where I have to be.

It is the Third Sunday of Advent and our time of preparation and waiting is almost finished. While this is not the most important time in our faiths year, I feel the same happiness and joy that I do at Easter. A baby!!! God on earth as a human man, come to save us and give us eternal life. What could be more wonderful?

Blogger is not allowing me to upload pictures right now. So until it does......

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

It is still snowing so I pulled out my boots for my walk today. The temperature is decent, and there is no wind so my walk was just lovely.

I did a bit more baking today.

Cinnamon buns for breakfasts over the holidays. Of course Harvey and I had to have a taste before I packed them up to put in the freezer. I will be making one more batch once I have more bread flour.

I then spent a bit more time cleaning up the sewing/craft room.

I finally opened up Mom's machine. It needs to be cleaned up but soon enough it will be available to use.

Harvey is going to add some support to the side of the machine and I will be able to put the serger up there as well. I have been using it much more the past while and like to keep it out and ready to use.

My quilting machine and my embroidery machine are set up and ready to go at a moments notice. I even have some quilt blocks ready to finish up and sew together once the rest of the room is cleaned up.

Hopefully more pictures tomorrow on the remaining organization of this room. I also have two more machines that I need to get set up and ready to use. I know, I know, I have too many sewing machines, but if one breaks down I have a replacement to use while the other is being fixed. After all one never knows when the sewing bug will hit. So much to do and so little time!!!!

There is one more item I would love to have in here and that is a laptop. I would have access to more embroidery patterns and even more fun using them. Oh well, perhaps in a few years.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

Overall this has been a fairly frugal week overall.

I have done many of the same frugal things that I usually do as habit.

Used up all the extra food in the fridge, eating leftovers for lunch and making new meals out of other leftovers.

Cut out 7 sewing patterns to use up fabric from my stash and to replace items donated in my wardrobe.

Going for my frugal exercise of a walk every day.

Reading free books on my ereader instead of buying a book.

Getting free recipes on line to try.

Only washing dishes once on three days to save on the water bill.

There is a list of questions making the round in blogland and I think I will take part this time.

 1) Do you eat blue cheese?

      Love Blue Cheese and eat it whenever I get the chance.

2)  Have you ever smoked?

     Yes, but quit about 8 years ago.

3)  Do you own a gun?  

     No, and I will not allow a firearm in my house.

4)  What flavor of Kool Aid is your favorite? 

      Not my cup of tea any longer. Drank it when I was a child.

5)  Do you get nervous before dental appointments?

     Yes. I hate the dentist, but do go.

6)  What do you think of hot dogs?

      I like hotdogs, especially off the BBQ or cooked over and open fire.

7)  What's your favorite Christmas movie?

      It's A Wonderful Life. I cry every time I watch it. 

8)  What do you prefer to drink in the morning?

      Coffee.

9)  Can you do push-ups?

      Nope, and I don't care to start doing them.

10)  What's your favorite piece of jewelry?

        All my jewelry is precious to me, but especially my wedding band.

11)  What's your favorite hobby?

        Hmmm, I don't have just one favorite, it would be really difficult to chose. I guess fiber arts.

12)  Do you have A.D.D.?

       No, but I do have a bit of OCD.

13)  Do you wear glasses or contacts?

        Glasses, but I just got actual glasses instead of readers a year ago.

14)  What's your middle name?

        Lou

15)  What are your thoughts at this moment?

        I have had a wonderful day, but I am wondering if our youngest son is ignoring my texts or is      feeling depressed once again.

16)  Name 3 drinks you regularly consume. 

       Coffee, tea, and milk.

17)  What is a current worry of yours?

        The economy of my country and whether or not both our sons will be able to weather the storm   ahead.

18)  What do you currently hate?

        Hate is a very strong word, there might be things I dislike, but nothing I really hate.

19)  Where is your favorite place to be?

        My favorite place to be is home with my family.

20)  What do you plan on doing on New Year's Eve this year?

        We plan to be safe at home celebrating the beginning of another year.

21)  To where would you like to travel?

        I would like to travel to Greece and Italy.

22)  Name three people you think will do this questionnaire on their

        blog.

        I have no idea. I do hope it continues though.

       

23)  Do you own slippers?

       Yes, but perhaps the better question would be do I wear them.

24)  What color shirt are you wearing?

        Actually the only time I wear a shirt is in the spring or when I am going out. Right now I am wearing a blue sweater.

25)  Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?  
       Never slept on them so can't answer this one.

       

26)  Can you whistle?

       No. 

27)  What is your favorite colour? 

       My favorite colour is black.

28)  What songs do you sing in the shower?

        The only place I sing is church.

29)  Would you be a pirate?

        No, cause they didn't bathe often.

30)  What's in your pocket right now?

        I don't have pockets right now.

31)  What's the last thing that made you laugh?

        Harvey teasing me at supper tonight.

32)  What vehicle do you drive?

       A GMC Denali Terraine.

       

33)  What's the worst injury you've ever had?

        Broke my wrist playing softball when I was 40 years old. My first and only broken bone.

34)  Do you love where you live?

       Of course, but I would love any place that Harvey and I lived.

35)  Would you change your first name if you could?

        Not a chance, it suits me.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

       

Thursday Tid Bits

I took a break from Christmas baking today to go shopping as well as get a couple of other projects underway.

I had piles of fabric stacked on top of the plastic storage drawers I use for some of my yarn and fabric stashes and decided I needed to do something about it.

So after shopping and bill paying I began another one of my goals for this month.

Out came the scissors and pins. I cut out 6 patterns and placed them in a fabric container. As soon as Christmas is over I will be starting to sew them up.

I still have this selection of fabric to choose patterns for and cut out.

I hope to have another day where I can get these ready to go as well.

Please excuse the blurry pictures, my tablet camera seems to be acting up in a very strange manner.

Back to baking tomorrow, and back to knitting right now.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.