The Stockings Were Hung....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

The weekend is over!!  It was a very productive weekend and I feel a bit accomplished on top of that!!!  

Friday was my day off so I got EVERYTHING that needed to be done then so that I could stay home this weekend.

Yesterday was a bit of knitting, and the rest was housework.  Every surface in this house has been washed, vacuumed, dusted, oiled and in some cases more than one of these may have been done!  

There is a possibility that I may be ready for Christmas with the exception of baking that will take place on my week off before Christmas.  

I started the day by baking a loaf of Banana Gingerbread.  Used up cupboard bananas so a WIN!!  

 

Finished the hand binding on a table runner I made for my brother for Christmas.  I did attempt a machine binding but still not a fan of this type of binding.  Back to hand sewing.....

I picked up a Stocking Quilt Panel at Sew Divine recently with the intent of making the dog and cat their own Christmas Stocking.  The doggie stocking is really cute, but alas my dog is way TOOOOO big for his treats to fit in there.  I decided to use the other stocking panel with a dog on it for him and the smaller stocking will go to our family friend's new doggie who is that size:

Now it is off to walk the Montyster doggie for the evening and then get to bed as tomorrow will be a long day.

Hope this inspired your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there....😷

Kathy

Boot Scootin' Christmas...

 Good Evening Internet Friends!!! 

Busy day at work today.  Made a quick dinner out of gnocchi, steamed broccoli, red onion, mushrooms and a cream sauce topped with Better Than Bacon Topper.  Turned out yummy and left overs for kiddo's lunch tomorrow. 

After dinner I decided that I should get going on the Christmas table runner I am making for my brother.  Bought this kit several years ago and decided to assemble this year.  The news at dinner also reminded me of the dates to mail things for Christmas delivery so maybe I should get going...

Super excited about this as I used what might be my new FAVOURITE product:  fusible batting.  Sooooo, much easier than quilt batting!!!  Picked this up with help from Pat and staff at Sew Divine.   Stitched around the borders and a few of the boots in the center this evening.  If I do a couple each night I just might be able to get the binding on it this weekend and post before the Christmas deadline for postal services.

Hope this inspires your own creativity.  Wishing y'all the BEST Day EVER Tuesday out there tomorrow and Stay Safe😷.

Kathy

Weekend...

 Good Evening Internet Friends!!!

Super Busy few weeks and this weekend was too!

Friday after work I did a wee bit of Black Friday Shopping and of course I kept it local and small business!  Stopped at Homes Alive and got doggie some treats for now and maybe some for the stocking as well.  I also found this really awesome silicone form for making frozen doggie treats.  Reading the fine print on the back I found that it is heat rated to 230  Celsius.  After checking with the staff who had not noticed that it was agreed that I could try it in the oven.  Sooooooo, last night I baked some banana/oatmeal/peannut butter treats for doggie.  He loved them:

TAH DAH!!!

Today was laundry, house work, meal prep, walk the dog across the community and then some cross country skiing.  

For dinner I made Jasmine rice, poached Atlantic Salmon, steamed broccoli and spring rolls.  Super yum and some left overs for tomorrow:

After dinner and between laundry loads I finished the applique on a Christmas Tree Skirt Pattern Kit that I picked up at my LQS Sew Divine:

Now to quilt and bind it....

Cooked some chick peas as well and made my favourite lunch; green pepper, yellow pepper, orange pepper, red pepper, purple onion, cherry tomatoe, cucumber, feta, and chick pea salad:  

Yes, the yellow Tupperware container is older than I am🤣.  It was made in Canada back then.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there,  😷

Kathy

The Weekend...

 Good Evening Internet Friends!

Took a couple of days vacation this week to try and get caught up on lots of things.

So, far......almost caught up.

Not a lot of crafting, but I did get the house decorated for Christmas both inside and out!

On Friday evening we put up the Christmas Tree:

On Saturday I picked up a Grinch Tree that I pre ordered from Funky Petals:

I was able to request the colours that I wanted for my home decor.

Today I made a Tomte for the front yard with fresh greenery from Salisbury Green House:

So FUN!!!  

Back to work tomorrow so not a lot of crafting will take place this week.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay Safe 😷

Kathy

We Will Remember...

 Good Evening Internet Friends! 

Today was another day to appreciate all that we have in this time of Covid.  Yet another significant day impacted as we "soldier on" in our quest to hopefully contain it.

There were no Remembrance Day Celebrations here in the community.  I did take doggie out on a walk to observe some of the tributes to the Canadian Armed Forces.  While we were out three Griffon Helicopters flew over:

For lunch I made a baked cream cheese, parmesan, artichoke dip all from pantry and refrigerator ingredients.  Served this along with veggies, fresh dates, and multigrain chips.  BEST Lunch EVER!!!  

Growing up my mom had a Tupperware roaster.  It eventually started to break down and there was no replacement for it.  Until recently!  Last week I received my new Ultra Pro Casserole!!!  It's large enough that I probably could have put 2 roaster chickens in it!  The chicken came out nicely browned and not dry at all!  I had topped the chicken with pesto and sundried tomatoes:

Served with 4 cheese and green onion scalloped potatoes, multi coloured carrots, and a stuffing from croutons all found in the pantry or refrigerator it was a DELICIOUS dinner!

After dinner I decided to stare at my October 2020 Paper Pumpkin kit.  After a good long stare I decided that I did not like the instructions so I decided to make 4 of the Christmas Cards my way:

TAH DAH!!!  Not as fancy as the kit pattern, but less I think is better in this case.

Hope this inspired your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Thursday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there 😷

Kathy

Monday...

 Good Evening Internet Friends!

Well, it's Monday and that's about all there is to say about that!  Always a hard day after time change.

Back to work of course today.

This evening after dinner I did a bit of knitting and got through the first pattern repeat of the Fogo Island Mittens from the Saltwater Knits books from River City Yarns: 

TAH DAH!!!

Fingers crossed that the weather holds a few more days and I can finish the left mitten before the snow flies.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Tuesday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there.  😷

Kathy

What Time Is It???

 Good Evening Internet Friends!!! 

Seriously though.....what time is it???  I still really hate time change and do not see a reason for it.

Took doggie for an extra long walk with the extra time I had today.  A beautiful day out there.  I did manage to somehow get hit by a bicyclist.  Have kept moving since then to try and decrease stiffness tomorrow as some large bruises are starting to form.

Several geese honking about the ice on the lake.  

Still pretty green outside for November 01.

Limped my way home and made some Lentil Soup and added fresh lemon juice to it.  SOOOOOOO Yum topped with Feta and fresh green onions.  

Took a nap after lunch as the anti inflammatory medication was starting to work.

Earlier this morning I put chicken in the slow cooker for Cashew Broccoli Chicken for dinner for kiddo.  Turned out pretty tasty he reported.

Going to limp the dog out now for a bit of an evening stroll.  Will see how that goes.  Lunches are packed for tomorrow as well as breakfast prep.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there😷

Kathy

Lazy Sunday...

 Good Evening Internet Friends.

Had a good Ole Lazy Sunday today.

Took doggie out for his walk at 0500 and then just puttered around for a bit.  Doggie went to sleep in front of the fireplace.  

Breakfast was toasted Blueberry bagels from Costco with homemade jelly, a poached egg, and a tall glass of milk; comfort food:

After breakfast I mixed up a batch of sour cream, and green onion bread.  While the bread rose I took doggie out for a stroll in the daylight and through some of the bush trails that are not yet developed here.  Found out that the lakes are starting to freeze over.  The ducks looked cold: 🦆

Back home I put the bread in to bake and made a batch of "Dishwater Soup" as we call it.  Basically it is all the veggies one has in the fridge along with the left over turkey and broth from Thanksgiving:

 

Nutritious and Delicious!!!

After lunch I spent a bit of time in my craft room and assembled this table runner kit that I bought for my brother about 8 years ago and just stare at.  Today I actually put it together.  Will stop at Sew Divine next weekend and see if I can get some kind of fusible batting so that I don't have to do too much quilting on this:

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there 😷

Kathy

Let's GO!!!

 Good Evening Internet Friends! 

Still NO SNOW here!!!❅❆❄

Super Busy Day today, but very productive.  One of the goals I have been working on is making sure that I support local and especially small local businesses as much as possible.  I started to focus on this a few years back but since the pandemic started I have made a concentrated effort to do this.  Groceries are purchased weekly at Costco due to their rewards system as well as them being an active supporter of charity in the community and treating their staff from what I have heard.  The things that I cannot get there I purchase on Saturday at local small businesses.

First stop today was at Donut Party.  They make amazing donuts that my son just loves.  Their customer service though is kind of lacking as when I asked about delivery during the pandemic the owner refused to deliver to our neighbourhood despite several other small bakeries delivering here twice a week.

There are 2 coconut cream, 2 Pumpkin Cream Cheese, a Birthday Cake and a Snickers donut.  They really are delicious.

Then it was off to Sherwood Park Shoe Repair to pick up my Brooks Tall winter boots that I dropped off for heel repair last week.  These are the most AMAZING boots ever.  With leather outer and shearling lining these boots are always warm!  Unfortunately, they are no longer manufactured and the classic boot is no where near as warm or comfortable.  Looks like I will be repairing these for a while:

At the local tailor I dropped off 2 pairs of scrub pants for hemming and my down fill ski jacket for a new zipper.  Repairing everything for winter!  🧥

A stop at the Post Office and at the Bottle Depot with recyclables rounded out the day.

On top of this I managed to get 9 loads of laundry done.  As of writing this all linen in this house has been washed!!  

Dinner was Lentil Taco's (kiddo hates Salsa and tomatoes):

That's okay....I get more to myself!!!

After dinner I spent some time in my craft room before taking doggie out for his walk.  I decided to finish up the "Sew" Fast Runner that I purchased 2 years ago from The Fabric Addict.  The top was pieced soon after I got it.....but I'm not a fan of the "quilting" process (shhhhh.....don't tell any quilter I said that) and not a fan of the binding process either.  This table runner needed BOTH of these tasks.  "SEW"  I set about doing both of these dreaded tasks this evening:

And DONE!!!  This little cutie is put away for Thanksgiving 2021!

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Sunday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there 😷

Kathy

And Another One...

 Good Evening Internet Friends!

Good news!!!  No snow yet so far today and really there is not much left of today🤣.

End of the work week felt good as still not feeling well from the "head cold" I managed to get earlier this week.  

After dinner I spent some time in my craft room, but super slow moving so it took me a while to get another Bear Paw Block finished.  This is Block 6 I think of 18 that I need to make for the 2020 Darlene D'Eon Designs 52 Week Block Challenge.  Once again I am using all scraps for this quilt:

TAH DAH!!!  

Will get caught up one of these days.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Saturday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there.  😷

Kathy

It's Coming...

 Good Evening Internet Friends!!!

Parts of Alberta have received snow.  At this time we do not have snow here in Edmonton, but the forecast is for snow tomorrow.  

On that note y'all will know how much I LOVE my woolen knits here in this part of frozen Western Canada.  I have finished the first of my Fogo Island Mittens from the Salt Water Mittens series that I purchased through my Local Yarn Shop River City Yarns.  

These mittens are worked with 2 strands of wool so will be super warm.  Might need to pick up the pace and get these finished sooner than I planned on.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Friday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there😷

Kathy

Happy Holidays ???

Good Evening Internet Friends!!!

Over the Thanksgiving Weekend I managed to get myself one humdinger of what I think is a cold.  I did have to go stand for 2 hours in the walk in line up for Covid Testing after which I slept the entire day away and then coughed all night. 

Feeling a little bit better this evening so went down to my scrapbooking space.  It has been a while since I have done any card making.  I have decided that this year I will get back in to giving Christmas Cards.  I will likely need close to 200 cards so I need to come up with something that can be made reasonably quickly and still look good!

This may be it.  My plan is to only use supplies that I have.  

 TAH DAH!!!  

I made one this evening as a second one seemed to hard.  Maybe tomorrow.....

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all a healthy BEST Day EVER Thursday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there 😷.

Kathy

Let's Roll...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Super busy day today so up early to "Roll".

Took the SUV in to Sherwood Park Toyota for a fall tune up and winter tire for all season swap out.

My Bubble Friend picked me up so that I did not have to take the shuttle home.

We stopped for a London Fog and Chocolate Pretzel at Paramo Cafe.  We had a lovely visit out on the patio.

Next up was the Bone & Biscuit where we shopped leisurely and found a few thing that each of us "NEEDED" for our dogs.

Stopped in the for the grand opening of the new hair salon in the village.  

This afternoon I spent time in my kitchen.  

First off I used up one of the three bags of fresh applies I have been gifted.  One plastic grocery bag made 5 bags of apple pie filling.  One of which I used in a Strawberry Apple Crisp for dinner:

Tomorrow I will try and get through the other two grocery bags of apples that I still have.

After the apples I movd on to one of the three pumpkins I have.  As of this evening I have 22 cups of mashed pumpkin for baking and Lentil Pumpkin Chilli.  

The first pumpkin I used up was quite big and did not fit well in the oven whole.  As such I did cut it in half to bake.  That meant I needed to clean out the inside.  Did not want to waste the seeds so I roasted them in EVOOLUTION garlic oil and seasoned with Alpine Touch Seasoning:

 

These turned out really tasty.

Took doggie for a long walk this evening after dinner.  Was going to work on the binding of my quilt but apparently it has become a nest for the cat!!!  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and Wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Sunday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there😷

Kathy

 

Labour Day...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I hope that y'all had a restful Labour Day and are ready for whatever tomorrow brings.  I really tried hard not to do any kind of labour today at all!

I took doggie out for a really looooooooong walk this morning.  Quite chill out there and no doubt that Winter is on its way😰❄

I took several pictures of the Autumn Blaze Maple in my front yard.  It is SOOOOOO beautiful right now.  I was supposed to get a different type of red maple, but the supplier was all out so I got this type (this is the one I really wanted).  🍁

Late this afternoon I baked a Rhubarb Cake with the Rhubarb I got at the St Albert Farmers' Market on Saturday.  I froze 8 bags with 2 cups in each bag and kept the last 2 cups for use in cake today:

For dinner I made kiddo Spinach/Mushroom/Green Onion/Zucchini/Red Pepper/Boursin stuffed chicken.  Served with baby potatoes and fresh green beans it was a HIT with him.

This evening I spent a bit of time with my knitting and even watched a little tele (not something I do regularly).  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Tuesday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there.  😷

 Kathy

Eating...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

All that I seem to have done today is eat!  Seriously.  Made scrambled egg filled peppers this morning.  Scrambled eggs with a bit of cream and mixed in mushrooms, cheese, green onion and zucchini.  Poured the mixture in to cut in half peppers and baked.  SO YUM.  Served with toast and home made strawberry jam and a tall glass of milk.....I think all food groups are accounted for. 😼

Kiddo only had a half day of school today.  I called it the "dress rehearsal" as it was all about where and when to enter the school.  How to move from class to class and where the restrooms are located etc.  

While I waited to pick him up I stopped at Donut Party.  I LOVE their donuts.  They have awesome flavours and the donut is super light in texture.  Still pretty miffed that they refused to do drop off to my community during the pandemic, but alas they do make REALLY good donuts. 

Today I got; Birthday Cake, Rhubarb Fritter, French Toast, Banana (something), Mint, and a Salted Caramel Chocolate: 

Super Yummy as always.  We "may" have had these for lunch with a glass of milk 🤣🤣

It's Friday and I did not feel like making dinner so we went to C-Lovers Fish and Chips.  The portions were HUGE!!!  I honestly could not finish the first plate that they brought out for me.  Kiddo almost finished his but did have to leave a few fries.

Better take doggie out now for a really long walk now.....

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Saturday tomorrow.

Kathy

Sunday FUNday...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Started Sunday FUNday out with homemade flax seed oatmeal waffles and fresh strawberries:

Delicious!!!

Still had a ridiculous amount of strawberries in the refrigerator that I stumbled across yesterday while out so I decided to make Strawberry Jam:

Used my Weck Jars but still had jam leftover.  Remembered that I had purchased some cute little gingham jars at the Dollarama some time ago.  Decided I would give them a try and then use them as Christmas presents to neighbors and acquaintances.  They WORKED!!!

The temperature was kind of cool today so I also used the opportunity to bake a batch of Oatmeal, Coconut, Salted Carmel Chip cookies for lunch boxes later this week:

After dinner I took my bike out and rode 8.61 miles through the neighbourhood.  The old wives' tale of first full moon after my birthday being full frost is likely going to be true.  It is SUPER cold out there.  Hands were solid cold when I returned home.  Very beautiful night out there:

Hope this inspires your own creativity.  Wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday.  Stay Safe out there.

Kathy

 

Sunday Fun Day!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!!

Did all my "mom" and "responsible" things yesterday so today could just be enjoyable.

After breakfast kiddo, doggie and I headed out to the lakes in and around our community. 

When we got home the bread dough I had put to rise before we left was ready to go.  I made a regular white loaf on the left and topped it with the Everything Bagel Seasoning that I picked up at Costco recently.  The other loaf I made in to a cinnamon loaf and topped it with caramel sprinkles from the pantry😁:

 

While the bread rose again I grated the last of the zucchini in the crisper with my Grate and Measure and made a Chocolate Zucchini Cake to bake at the same time as the bread.  Save on energy.😺

Did a bit of cross stitch and knitting as well this afternoon on the deck.  

Took my bike out for a long ride this evening.  Lunch ready for tomorrow and now to head out for last walk of the day with doggie.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there.

Kathy