Best/Worse/What did I learn today? Come take a chair and chat with us…newcomers always welcome!

Sharon - sorry that your arthritis is causing you such grief.
Betty - I'm glad you're resting. It's the best thing for you.

I've gotten the Maple Leaf Heart pattern down pat. I'm rather pleased with myself. I just looked at the picture of how it's supposed to go, with the pieces cut properly, and ignore the instructions lol I got 5 done today, so am on a roll. Each piece has to be individually cut, so that's what's taking the time. Within 1/2 hour I can get the block sewn together. It will be ready for Feb 25th AGM draw.

Good morning everyone. It has been a wild full moon. I think it was called the Bear full moon.

My knee is a mess so I have been coddling it along. Today no matter what I have to get some blocks of wood out of the elements and under the carport. I've just been looking out the window at the Bronco wishing I could take it for a drive. At least the dogs have stopped barking at it.

The lane is an icy mess. Yesterday when I went to empty the ash bucket it was just treacherous walking.

I'll be back later to catch up on the posts.

Morning, 21f with high of 27f

Dianne, with the few milder days with melting, the night freezing there is mega ice to be watchful. Wednesday they are calling for day of rain, same for your region? Think maybe you should keep on looking at your blocks iPod wood till you are better, did you get to the doctors to have it checked out!

Poor bronco, it’s likely thinking it’s still on the dealership lot.you will have to give it extra runs this spring.

Susan, i do better as well looking at pattern blocks and doing them without instructions.. wow 1/2 hour to make your block, you will we well ahead on your project.

Dianne - rest, rest, and more rest of that knee. Are you putting ice or heat or a combination of both on your knee?

Betty, maybe 45 min, but first I have to cut the pieces, and that's what takes the time.

Time to head off to coffeetime. Have to pre-heat the Bunn coffee pot.

Susan, Sounds as though you have a plan in place, enjoy your day.

Linda messaged me last night, she was in emerge, thought she was having a heart attack which she had before, after 9hs she came home, pulled muscles from overdoing

Stayed 8n bed until 10, the sun was so strong I decided I just couldn’t waste away the day in bed…sitting comfortably on couch with my back support,
Cleaned out one of the mini drawers of the coffee table and found so many Penny rug circles completely finished in layers and buttons, that I thought I could make coasters but what to heck would I do with them?? It’s either that or I could bring up an olfa cutting pad and some fabric and cut into squares, that being said I’d be using muscles that might not like it BUT the best might me looking for an Easter projects on iPad, have any ideas?

Betty, didn't make a bunch of bunny bags last year with treats in them? A friend gave me used chenille bedspreads I am thinking of making into bears and bunnies.

We sound like the group of the walking wounded! LOL.... goodness! And the lucky ones ARE walking!!!

Hey - I'm walking and Not wounded, so guess I'm one of the luckiest ones!

Well I ventured out the lane. I've been in for 10 days and there were somethings I needed at Foodland and the Post Office. The Bronco was just amazing. There are different settings for ice, snow, mud even good weather.

My parcel at the PO was for the TH. I thought it was something I ordered for myself. The TH are now in seventh heaven. I must say they are handling this self imposed rest quite well.

My knee which I thought was ready for grocery shopping was not and I am in terrible pain again. 2 weeks to get into the doc's.

Betty was it our Linda who went to the hospital ? She has had so much on her plate this last while.

The sun is shining brightly but it is cold. My bones are talking to me. As my sweet dad used to say "this getting old is for the birds."

So what is everybody up to this week? I am expecting sleet and snow off and on all week so I'll be happy staying home. I had took out some rug hooking work that I had started so I will definitely get back at. I also have a new Doodle Art that I could start.

Susan I have to say I can hear cheer in your posts. Good for you!!

So Pat when will you get 'your' house back to yourself ? When I read about the things you and your sister do together it brings back warm memories of my own. Seattle's PBS let me down on Sat. night . I was all set for an evening of music and they played a show I wasn't interested in. Around 1 am a special with John Sebastian played. I must say he grew into his looks as he aged.

Deb any shows coming up for you and your pups?

Wonder how Judy is doing ?

Stay safe and well.

Think your healing will take a lot longer than you think..that is about average for appointment around here as well, when you are in pain 2 weeks is an eternity.
have you ever done a scratch art? Don’t know why I don’t do more as I enjoy doing them. The Bronco has more gadget than one can use..glad you like it. Hope Wednesday’s rain day doesn’t turn to ice as i have to be at hospital for 10a.m.

Yes, Linda is the one that has hip and knee replacement, heart attack and when she was 6 (i was to take her to school but didn’t) was run over by a car, so many bones broken, in a cast shaped like a v, a hole for her to pea..they didn’t know much in those days..there wasn’t enough air circulation and she got gangrene at the back of her knees..add 3 more accidents, Roger’s brother, drove like a maniac chest injuries etc.
How she makes it through her day is beyond me.

Like Dianne I pushed myself,,

While sitting here painting a couple of faux bread for Evan and Mason so they can decorate them with Ribbon, cheese cloth/cinnamon sticks on them, need to shade a tad more on edges they will be cute but I should have used the foam can that said 3:1,,Something I will try again for me.

I bought wide elastic about 6” wide in Buffalo and then when I went for my echocardiogram in Barrie I went to Lens Mill and bought a wide belt clip for it. I just went downstairs and wrapped it around the lower part of my body 3 times then sewed the clips on both ends, when I put it on around lower back its pressing on the sciatica nerve I think,I can actually get up from couch without getting on my hand and knees. Not sure why or how it works but hurrah for now I’m up but won’t push it.

Saw advertisement on ipad so I tried to make it somewhat the same..I’ve $10 invested in it..if this works I willorder the $50 one

Betty, glad to hear that something is helping reduce your pain & increase your mobility.
Adam is asking for 60 days as the 30 days was a tight schedule with the sale of the puppies. I wouldn't mind the 60 days if I can actually see some MOVEMENT on their part. He did not take the time to talk to me before he left town again. That probably means he did NOT talk to anymore lenders while he was in town Friday. He is the master of avoidance and distraction when he does not want to face something. I know he got the extension to the whelping box made and installed.

I am glad you have an appointment for your knee Dianne. Better safe than sorry.

Sorry to hear your knee is bothering you Dianne. Can you go to an urgent care?

Dianne, yes I'm doing ok - I think the sunshine & warmer (?!?!) temps we're getting help.
Thurs after bowling & dinner I'll be going to another Paint Night. This time I'll do the harvest moon pic. Here are our choices

I had a very lazy day. Cold, for us, and windy. Emma and I had two walks and spent the majority of the day sitting in my chair in the bedroom reading. Planning on gardening tomorrow as suppose to be no wind.

Diane, your visit to the grocery stores sounds like my trips to the store. I am always running into things and running into things and there is nothing wrong with my knee. Good thing my daughter does the majority of my grocery shopping. My weather report does not show you are getting much relief from your cold weather.

Betty, stay still and get well. Spring is just around the corner. Emma wants her dinner.

Dianne - realized one reason I'm sounding happy is that my student from Saturday's quilt class posted that I'm the "wonderful woman" that taught her some tips & tricks about quilting and that she had a "hot mess" and I helped her get more comfortable with her sewing machine. Mind you, she also posted her picture, and it's most definitely a beginner's quilt with different fabrics, but it's HERS and I'm so pleased that she's pleased.

Afternoon..freezing rain this morning, both Pat and June left to go home shortly after getting here when it started to rain and temps lower.

Susan, thinking about the wonderful comments, how appreciative she was and you know after saying such words I’d have posted a phot of me and my quilt…

Sharon what temps are you getting?
Question: Sharon do you ever at some point just sit and enjoy your gardens?

I ordered that belt that was on lIne, hoping to have Amazon deliver with8n the week.
What I tried helps so the real belt hound be better.

June made a gnome this morning, her 2nd one will will do next Monday…they won’t have time to get dusty lol

Just had a bowl of soup, now I am up for a siesta.

Betty, when I first hurt my back, my doctor ordered something similar to that. It was a godsend. Praying it gives you relief.

Susan, so glad she was happy with your student quilter.

Likely Lindakay, now i will be anxious to get it.
How is Todd doing? Are you back to wearing sweaters?

Todd is still losing weight. We see the stomach doctor on the 15th.
No sweaters for a few days. It's cool in the morning, but warms up in the afternoon.

Linda Kay - I remember Todd in my prayers each night.
Betty - I was thinking about doing that - posting one of my quilts. Right now, I'm pleased with the Maple Leaf Heart quilt blocks I'm doing, and today I took my WIP to Wellness & got such compliments! When I complete it, it will be a door prize for the Wellness AGM. They're thrilled with it, and one lady asked when I'll be teaching my next quilting class lol She was one of my detractors, but now that she sees what I can do....... hahahaha actions are louder than words, right?

Another windy day. So Emma and I had two walks both bundled up. I wear gloves because if my hands get cold, my whole body is cold. I had lunch with a friend that lives down the street. Another friend in town from Utah joined us and she picked up lunch for all of us. Friend that lives down the street has a horrible lung problem that she got when she was a child in Lund, Nevada from the dust coming her way from the cooper mines. She and her sister both got it and it did not show up until she was 80. She has more money than she can ever spend and her biggest complaint is her son keep buying her cheap food when he goes to the store.

Susan, that is very nice of your lady student.

Betty, I have a lovely area on my back patio, near my KOI pond, where I sit and totally enjoy my garden. It is just the time of year that I do all of the hard work. End of April, mid May, I should have everything done and will be able to relax. But me relaxing is like you relaxing.

Linda, Praying for Todd. It has to get so frustrating. Vern was always looking for the magic pill and there was not one.

Going to bed. I will try to get on here earlier.

Sharon, Sounds likeyour friends son is trying to not spend her money so he gets more. Perhaps your friend can call and put in her grocery order. It can even be delivered. She can just tell her son she's saving him the trouble of shopping for her. Certainly at this time in her life she should have what she wants to eat. He is depriving her and that's elder abuse.

Thank you for your prayers.

Sharon, I wonder what she means by cheap food. One of the things that Ben taught me was not to be so stingy with groceries. He & his caregiver did the grocery shopping so he always made sure to buy shrimp for me. That was not something I would not have learned to do for myself. I still buy shrimp.

Susan, really looking forward to see your finished quilts. Teaching CAN be so rewarding.

Linda, praying Todd gets some answers and gets on the road to recovery soon.

Betty, I hope you are taking it easy and not agravating your hurting body any more than necessary!

Karen I agree with you about the son's intention with the groceries. We found out that the person who was buying groceries for my parents was buying cheaper items and pocketing the money saved. We only found out when my brother happened to be there when she brought in the groceries. Not everyone has the best of intentions when they think it won't be noticed. All the rest of the helpers were amazing.

Sun is shining but freezing rain is on its way. Wonder if Betty is getting it now.

Chaos and Zeke just came back from a hike with Keiran's mom, sister and Piper. They had a blast. I haven't been able to walk them for days so they had lots of excess energy to burn off. Chaos didn't want to come in the house he was having such a good time.

I've started to do some exercises with my knee. I've had 7 operations on that knee so it is troublesome at best.

Sending positive thoughts to you and Todd LK.

So what's everybody up to today ?

I just finished my scrappy 9 patch quilt. Just needs to be sandwiched and quilted.
70 x 80

I'm joining my maple leaf heart blocks to the sashing. I'm doing a lot of "fudging" lol

Sad story about this grocery thing is the woman has millions and and it is already set up in a trust. But you are probably right, he is spending some of the money on himself. She has 6 children and the one here is a dentist but a loser. All the other children made it on their own and this guy is always needing a handout. i actually told her about insta cart and I said, I would even go grocery shopping for her. She has to eat every 2.5 hours but does not eat much at a time. But if I get too involved, she will get upset.

Had a beautiful day today. 66 and sunny. Emma and I spent 3.5 hours in the front landscape and got the largest bed done. Transplanted some strawberries, spoke with several neighbors that stopped by and Peanut, the cat, joined us off an on. We are suppose to go out again tomorrow, me and the cat, and should be able to finish up the ivy cutback. Roses are budding out and so are the majority of the trees. I didn't have as much trouble getting up from my kneeling position today. I guess last week, after 3 days straight of overworking, I had just gotten too tired to raise myself off the ground.

Linda, your quilt is great.

Betty, I posted something for you on Facebook. Croquet and Easter Bunnies.

Diane, very pleased you are doing something with your knee. So happy your neighbor came to give the herd a good run. I saw something on Facebook about chair yoga. I am going to try that.

I have someone coming tomorrow to sand down my front door and re-stain it. I need to notify the guard gate.

Good night, sleep tight. Hugs.

Linda, that quilt is STUNNING!! Way to go. Is this a keeper for up for sale?

Dianne, 7 operations on that ONE knee, OUCH! No wonder if gives you fits. I can visualize Chaos "No way, I ain't going back in the house!!!" VERY kind of your neighbors to walk the dogs for you.

I went to Marie's and we got a small whole cloth quilt on the longarm, quilted & off, loaded a 2nd one but started to have a few problems and it was already past 7PM and decided to call it a day. We are TRYING to load & program and get enough practice to gain some experience and confidence. We want to LEARN the computer program well enough to remember it from one time to the next. If Marie had not spent so much money on the computer part of the quilting, I would just do free motion & be happy! Marie is NOT comfortable with free motion and she is set on getting that edge to edge program mastered.

I got ready to leave and realized we had NOT wrestled her Christmas tree into the storage bag & Marie had cleaners coming tomorrow. I look like I have tangled with a wild cat my arms are so scratched. There are times I wish my sister didn't take on projects/ products that she can't handle on her own, like that darn tree. The advertisement showed 1 woman could do it by herself in 5 minutes. In my prime I sincerely doubt I could have handled that beast by myself, let alone in 5 minutes.

Marie spent a fortune on that tree, and it comes on a stand with wheels that can lock. She bought it thinking she could wheel it in & out of the storage barn into the house on her own & set it up on her own..... NOT.

Thank you Pat. It's just another quilt I made, just because.
Keep practicing. You will really love that longarm, once you get it all figured out.

Morning,


just got up

Thought i heard a noise coming from back deck, could have been Ziggy but no, Amazon threw a package to back door, was the sciatica belt i ordered a few days ago.just put it on, feels great, think i might have it a little tight.

Yes Dianne, storm is coming my was, just looked at radar, 10/25 cm I’d rain, freezing rain..guess i will be on watch out incase of flooding.

Yesterday morning i went to Georgian Bay hospital for test, i just made myself comfy that i saw Suzanne come in..she didn’t notice me until she saw me starring at her, into the laughing,,got a hug and they came for me, when i came out she had just gone in for her X-ray so i sat and waited for her return..we chatted, she looks do tired from being worried about everything..

Read all your posts and will be back after I’ve had my breakfast dusted and floors

Praying you get all your test results soon. And a solution to fix your aches and pains.

a sciatica belt? I've never heard of such a thing. A friend of mine, Dianne, has sciatica & she wears a belt for posture. Maybe it's the same thing.
I finished the Maple Leaf Heart top.
Well, off to bowling, visitig my friend Una, then to Paint Night.

Very simple Susan, it just seems to put pressure in right place and helps.
Love the a leaf design, how will you quilt it?

Raining, with the ice under what is falling once temps drop it will be a skating ring all over.

Greg called, he and 26 guys are heading north to snowmobile, says it’s snowing where he is going , here is hoping.

Lindakay is there any more testing and appointments scheduled for Todd?

I got this one

Susan, are you going to put a border around it? It really turned out nice!

Betty, I hope you gets answers and relief soon! I am happy to hear that the belt is helping.

I am trying my hand at delectable mountain blocks. Slow going but much easier than I had thought they would be.

Haven’t heard about those blocks Pat, will have to research the design

So miss sewing

Susann, that quilt is beautiful.
Todd will see a gastroenteroligist next Friday, to check out his pancreas.

Spent another day in the front landscape. Today we, Emma, Peanut and myself, went after the root we found yesterday. Actually turned out to be 3 separate roots. I have been battling these ash tree roots from the streetscape for over 20 years. They head for water. Under the sidewalk and then just grow like mad. I can always determine where they are because the plants or ground cover starts to fail. I left markers so the garden helper could cut the root in the streetscape side of the sidewalk.

Painter showed this morning. Getting my front door sanded, re-stained and then a protection coat. He is also doing my butcher block in the kitchen. Also painting the front gate. Just catching up on a few items that I do not care to do.

Pat, you had a very busy day. Such a sweet thing to help your sister put away the tree. But I know nothing about sewing so I am usually lost in those discussions. But still enjoy them. Susan, so pleased you finished your quilt. Hope you enjoyed cards.

Susan, please tell Todd our prayers are with him. And you also because we all know how hard the caregiver works.

Everything is budding out and next Wednesday evening we are suppose to reach 32 degrees. No much I can do but just wait and see. Today we had a high of 66.

Hugs to all of you and Betty I am rooting for the new belt for helping you.

Betty, I sent that info to my granddaughter about the sciatica belt. She often has pain from it.