Happy Saskatchewan Day!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I hope that those of you celebrating Saskatchewan Day or Civic Holiday as it is called in other parts of Canada had a BEST Day EVER!!!

No I have not fallen off the earth (it's not really flat!), just be super busy of late.

Today I had a Kathy kind of day.

Took doggie for a walk and then went out with my bike for a few miles. 

Watered my plants as it did not rain last night.  Super happy with my lily plants.  Bought these easy grow lily pots last year at Costco.  They were beautiful last year but I wondered if they would survive winter in the garage at just around the freezing temperature.  They DID:

Picked the cherry tomatoes off my deck planter.  One for the bowl, two for me kind of picking:

Baked a batch of Zucchini Brownies with a zucchini I had dropped off by a neighbour:

SOOOO Yummy.

Keeping with the baking I baked a double batch of Coconut Banana Bread and will drop one of these off for my next door neighbours:

Used up some of the veggies from the refrigerator and made nachos for lunch with a sour cream dip I made earlier in the week:

Bit of a different kind of lunch but will have left overs for lunch tomorrow.

Laundry and some house work this afternoon. 

Ran the park and hills with a friend this afternoon while pizza dough was rising.  Used up more refrigerator veggies including the last of the zucchini with fresh mozzarella:

Pizza sauce was homemade and in the freezer from an earlier batch.

Heavy rain hit at dinner time so lawn should be good for a few days now.

Will do a bit of knitting now before heading out with doggie.

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

Kathy

"Sew" At Home

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today I decided I would have Sew At Home Day.  I would get more accomplished not only sewing wise, and the food and atmosphere is much more lively I think.

For breakfast I made french toast topped with strawberries and cantaloupe and turkey rashers:

YUM!

Then I loaded in some laundry and headed off to my craft room where I made:

One more star and I will have a row!!!

For lunch we had a vegetarian pizza that kiddo and I assembled:

YUM.

After lunch I baked some Chocolate Chunk Cookies and when my dear friend came over this afternoon with some dinner she had cooked for kiddo and I (another reason home was a better Sew Day experience) we had milk and cookies along with the BEST Visit EVER!!

Back to work tomorrow and hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the 

BEST DAY EVER Monday🎉

Kathy

Best Thursday EVER!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I know I say this every day, but in all seriousness today was the BEST Thursday EVER!!!

Late last night early this morning I finished the socks that I will gift to my Grandma:

Just as I was wondering what I should start/finish for a knitting project the mail arrived.  It was Happy Mail Day!!!!

My August box from Sock Crush!

This yarn is one of my local faves☺ and 4 sample packs of my favourite wool wash Soak were included in the box!

Kiddo and I headed out and had lunch at Blaze Pizza.  Then it was off to The Bay for some back to school shopping for both kiddo and I 👚👟.

After dinner I spent a wee bit of time in my craft room and made another 2 flying geese blocks for my Flowers for My Wedding Ring quilt:

Only 4 more of these beauties to go!!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

A Sort of Finish???

Happy New Year's Eve Internet Friends!

Still remains ridiculously cold here in Alberta.  My son and I did not even venture out to the Fireworks as the county recommended people remain at home.  😰😰😰🎆🎆🎆

To make is kind of an "event" we ordered Pizza.  Yes, that is a rare one for us but we did and we got delivery because I did not want to go out in the cold:

I have way TOOOO many projects on the go and all are partially completed.

This evening I did finish the first section of my Starting Point Wrap. This was a Knit ALong that I started last spring.  It was a 5 week KAL and as you can see as of this evening I have completed the first section so I am officially 40% complete.  I have no grandiose visions of having this finished in time for the one year time line but.........

Wishing everyone a Happy, and Safe New Year's Eve.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Saturday Crazy....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Woke up this morning still with pain in the kidney area but could still function so got on with my day!

Took my son to swimming and while there got a call from the house alarm company that the motion sensor had been set off!!!!  OMG.

Seemed to take forever for them to get back to me that they could not find anything wrong with the house.  Whew.....

Arrived home and found everything fine but I decided it was time to actually fix the front door lock.  So, I have now taught my son to fix door locks with a Phillips Screwdriver, a sock and a hiking shoe.   I could not find any of the very expensive tools that are owned in this household.  Thankfully I had a screwdriver hidden in my craft room.  The sock was to keep the door from getting scuffed while I used a steel heeled hiking shoe as a hammer!!!!  The door works great now.  I keep opening and closing it just cause I like the sound of the door opening ......and closing!  So proud of myself.

Since it was Saturday my son decided we should have pizza.  While making the dough I told him that the mom's group at church tomorrow would be making pizza pockets for their children's lunch.  Apparently my son had no idea what these things were.  So, we made a smaller pizza (it only had to feed two of us dinner) and made 6 pizza pockets:

Yummy!!!  Now hopefully I did not over stuff these and make too large for his wide mouth thermos☺

This evening I spent a bit of time in my craft room and made another 10 of the Anne of Green Gables Quilt Blocks: 

This now brings me to 22 of the 30 blocks for the quilt.  Hoping that I can finish it tomorrow as I really want to get it off to be quilted.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Family Day

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I trust that everyone had a wonderful and relaxing family day.

At our house we sure did.  Slept late after watching movies until early this morning.  After breakfast I started on making bread:

While the bread was rising I worked on my Prairie Rose Block of the Month from Prairie Points Quilt Shop.  I was inspired to get back at this twice yesterday; first time was when Lynn posted about putting hers on the quilt frame, second was when a random lady posted hers as being complete!!!  Today I did the center portion of Block 7:

"Sew" far I have completed Blocks 1, 2, 3, and 4.  Really if I just did it I could get it finished.....

After baking the bread my son, the puppy and I headed out for a walk: 

I love the classic homes in our neighbourhood.  I really do love these old neighbourhoods.

Just before our walk my son asked if we could have pizza for dinner.  Sure!!!  Whole wheat pizza crust was set to rise while we were out on our walk:

My son did the toppings and as such there is a plethora of mushrooms and most of the block of fresh mozzarella is on there!  Yummy.......

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Jammie Day

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I woke this morning to yet another kind of cold, wet dreary day outside.  Thankfully kiddo and I had already made plans for today.  Yesterday I was able to get all my errands and a couple for next week completed so today was set as Jammie Day.  It was great and very much appreciated as it has been a while since we have had one of these days.

I started a few new projects, but first I did complete:

Row 5 of my 2016 Row By Row block from Village Quilts in Lethbridge.

Here are the five rows that I have "sew" far almost completed:

TAH DAH!!!

As a result of having Jammie Day and doing only fun things we decided to have pizza for dinner.  I made a whole wheat crust and kiddo got to put on all the toppings (of what was available in the refrigerator) that he wanted:


Dinner is served!

Now I am going to do a bit of knitting before crawling into bed tonight.  Tomorrow is laundry and get ready for a very busy week so no more relaxing for this weekend.  ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

It's Snowing......

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Yes, the title of today's post is actually true!  Snow was forecast all day but it seemed warm enough that I hoped it would pass.  The six o'clock news showed me however that the snow was a 20 minute drive away.  So, out the entire family went!  We live on a corner lot in a historic neighborhood so lots of big old trees full of leaves.  An hour and a half later and a dozen lawn bags and the lawn was clean! 

As I was tying the last of the lawn bags it started to snow. 

This picture was taken at 1930 MST hours and by now the entire lawn is white......

Today while running errands including a Costco run for peppers, mushrooms, fresh mozarrella and lettuce I stumped upon a 44 pound bag of Parrish & Heimbecker wheat flour!  Most of the time I will use my Kitchen Mill with grain from the farm and make my own whole wheat flour but right now I am running low on farm grain and this was such a deal I could not leave it behind!   Upon arrival at Costco there were no carts in the store but we were only there for a few things.  The line ups were long so when I found this bag of flour I got my son to take the vegetables and go secure us a place in line.  As I was trying to lift the bag up onto my shoulder one of the staff came by and asked if I needed help.  Of course I did!  This chap picked up the flour, carried it to the check out, waited in line with us and then even carried it our to the car for me!!!  This is why although I have not set foot in a Wmart or M arts and crafts in years due to their lack of customer service and inferior products I will still shop at Costco;the ultimate big box store.

Arriving home I used the flour to make whole wheat pizza dough:

It turned out delicious especially after being out in the cold.

Now I think I shall snuggle up in one of my quilts and do a bit of knitting!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

It's A Kathy Kind of Day...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Yes, I am still up and I started this day a little after 0600 hours this morning.  Starting to feel tired so might sleep more than four hours tonight.

I had big plans to get all my "stuff" done here in the city so that I could get out to the farm and get the rest of the vegetables out of the garden.  Before I could do that though I had dill and chives that I wanted to dry for use later.  Cucumbers, beets, carrots and beans to pickle.  Beans and carrots to blanch and freeze.  Zucchini shredded and in the freezer.  Beets, dill, beans and carrots to turn into borscht.  Laundry to do for back to school and work this week.  Pack up the stuff to go to the farm as well as food and clothes for over night.

Well, here it is late at night and all the veggies have been processed, the laundry is almost done and I am still home because that was a lot to do, and then it started to rain again...

Kiddo helped me make pickles (cause he loves them):

He helped wash and clean and prepare all the veggies.

He helped pack the jars:

The first batch into the canner.  In total we have 14 quarts of Dill Pickles!  YUM!

The first batch processed and starting the cooling process.

We were both tired after getting all of this done, Kiddo gave up on me shortly after lunch.  Now came the question of what to make for dinner!  I decided that tonight felt like a pizza night.

I made a batch of whole wheat basic dough.  It turned out fantastic!  Kiddo ate almost half of an 18" pizza!  Lots of veggies, beef and cheese.  

 One of the things that was on sale at Costco this week was a package of Fresh Mozzarella.  OMG on pizza this stuff is amazing!!!  I will definitely purchase this again.  Oh wait, have I ever turned down a cheese.....I'm thinking....... if I ever get an answer I will let you know.  Here's the pizza:

After dinner I sat down with Kiddo for a bit and we watched some tele and I knit a bit.  Then it was time to tidy up.  After all that I decided to finish the last load of laundry.  Since I was near my craft room I finished Block 3 of the Scandi 3 Quilt that I picked up recently:  

TAH DAH!  This is Block # 3.  

Here they all are together:

One more of this color to do and then I can move on to the next color.  In total I will make 25 blocks for this quilt.

I did take a few pictures today while doing this to explain cutting the diamonds and squaring up the blocks but right now I actually am tired so will head off to bed as soon as I get the next load of laundry underway!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

ME Day

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today was ME day.  I decided that it was about time that I had one of those.

I went for a massage.  Now of course I am sore from all the muscles I did not know I had.

Afterwards I met a friend for lunch.

Then I went to the quilt store that was having a big sale today.  I did not get too much because I actually realized that no only do I not NEED anything, but I will also be cross border shopping in a month ☺

Had a nap this afternoon and of course woke up stiff.

Hubby decided that since it was ME day that I should not have to cook dinner so he ordered pizza!

This evening we all did a bit of work around the yard and then I spent some time in my craft room.

Meet Block 7 (apparently I cannot count as I thought I was at 6) of my Star Block Challenge that I am participating in with A Needle Pulling Thread Quilt Shop:

Block 7, and all of the little 6.5" cuties:

Once again, I am so happy with this project because I am using up scraps for this quilt as well!

Hope this inspires your own creativity... now off to make marshmallows at midnight!

Kathy

Best Kind of Day

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today was my day off before starting evening and night shifts this weekend.  I had big plans for the day, but instead ended up having not a very productive day by any means but a really good day.

After getting kiddo on the bus for school I took the puppy (yes I still call him that he is only 9 months old) for a walk in the River Valley:

Then I headed out to Greenland Garden Center where I picked up a few fun things, one of which was a lavender plant for my front yard.  I have one out at the farm but never seem to catch it at the right time to be able to cut and dry it for my soap:

It already smells beautiful!

Met hubby for lunch at The Pint for deep fried pickles and Halibut and chips!

This evening kiddo had a school presentation that we attended.  It was so really well done by all the students and it was amazing to see how many of them actually used critical thinking and did not just go with main stream media concepts, but actually thought about what these ideas meant.

Since it was late by the time we left the school we stopped at Tony`s Pizza Palace.  This is one of the pizza places that for sure makes Edmonton the 8th Best Place in the World to get pizza (the only Canadian city on the list of 14).  

Watered the plants and the new sod I put down today next to the flower beds when we got home and then I assembled another row of my Raise the Roof quilt:

Now to do a bit of knitting before bed as tomorrow will be a long and busy day!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Happy Mother's Day!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Yesterday was my day at home alone with no interruptions! I had BIG plans for the day.  Hmmm, nothing was accomplished.

First off I woke up at the ridiculous hour of 0630.  Seriously.  Could not go back to sleep.  Eventually I got up and had some cereal with milk from a box (yup) and watched the news channel.  Realizing it was now 1030 I decided to head out into the world.

I had plans to go to the mall and do some shopping for just me.  Arriving at the mall it was packed, not just Saturday packed but a lot of out of town vehicles...go figure.  The mall was crowded, the stuff I wanted picked over and the general mood of the mall was tense.

I left and came home for some lunch.  Watched some more of the news channel before deciding I would head out to the Sherwood Park Mall.  That mall was also busier than usual and no one seemed in particularly good moods there either.  On the way home two pick ups collided in front of me, both were at fault as they both tried to merge into the center lane at the same time.  Lots of yelling swearing and even a few fists raised.  I decided to stay at home after that!

I planted my flower beds around the house as the plants had been waiting for a week:

Once that was done I starred in my refrigerator as to what to have for dinner....it was no cooperative but my dear friend and neighbor invited me over for pizza at their place!  YAY.

I visited with them for the evening....they were such lovely hosts, I think they knew I was lonely at home all by myself.

Eventually I decided to go home and see what I could accomplish late at night.

Shortly after arriving home I got a call from one of the camp leaders that my son was complaining of  a headache and vomiting.  So at 2300 hours I packed up the GO GO GO Toyota with Powerade, Ginger Ale and headed out on a rescue mission.

Took over an hour to get there as lots of wildlife on the back roads.  Packed up kid who drank his Ginger Ale and fell asleep in 10 minutes!!!!  He slept the entire way home and I had to carry him in to the house he was so tired.  It was almost 0200 by the time I went to bed.  At 0730 he woke me up ready to get the day started.

After a pancake breakfast I made a couple of Mother's Day cards for two friends I would be seeing today:

After lunch we headed out to my friend's ranch.  My son got to see the calves, pet the steers, pet the dog, shovel grain for the cattle, get hay for the horses, pet the horses, ride the horse and ride along in the backhoe loader to get hay, play with the dog and the cat!

My son's friend is almost exactly 9 years younger than my son but they have the exact same Costco jackets from last spring:

They both adore each other so this was so cool to see!

Then it was time to head home for Trunk Chicken - a story I will share later as I do not have pictures of it, but it was delicious!

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Pizza Night!

Good Late Evening Internet Friends!

Yesterday was my day off and I was supposed to get lots done.  NOT!!!

I had an 0830 appointment for an oil change for the Go Go Go Toyota.  I got there on time and was to be there for an hour.  The service manager pulled me aside when I arrived and let me know that since I an American Toyota brought into Canada that he had gone and looked through the American recall data base and there was a recall issued in the US that of course was not issued in Canada and that they would need the car for the day.  So, I got shuttled home.  Thank goodness hubby left me the Focus and parked the F-350 at the airport.  

Went to the doctor to get my allergic reaction rash from the multi vitamin I took looked at.  Still need another week of steroid cream.  YAY (maybe).

Stopped at Costco for groceries (fun with the Focus).  

Then it was time to go pick up the Go Go Go Toyota and my son.  Since I was off for the day he wanted me to pick him up at school rather than take the bus home ☺

Then we headed out to my friend Julie and her husband's ranch for dinner and a Tupperware party among other things!  It was neat to be a part of one of these again.  The sales rep was not very good.  I would know because growing up in rural Saskatchewan if your mom is not a teacher or a nurse, she is a Tupperware dealer.  It was so nice to see how these rural women and their spouses interact, it was like being at home.  The husbands all sat in the living room and talked about cows, the price of grain and diesel pick up trucks and the women shopped.  What was also refreshing to see if how these women all support one another because since Julie was the hostess of this event because she had agreed to host a party for one of the other ladies present, the women around the table discussed who would host two parties for her so that she could get the most benefit.  It was so awesome to see these women come together for the benefit of another.  I agreed to be one of the people to host a party for Julie later this spring. ☺

The drive out and back was beautiful.  

Today we got up early to get my son to swimming.  Then we stopped at GlassMasters to get the chip in the windshield fixed.  Stopped for lunch at Press'd and got my son in to a cancellation hair cut appointment at Chatters.  

Had an afternoon nap and then got up to make Pizza for dinner.  I used the Homemade Pizza Dough recipe and it turned out FANTASTIC:

There was enough dough that I divided this into three balls and froze two balls for future pizza crusts.  The other one became dinner:

Yummy!

Did a bit of knitting on my Oroya Shawl tonight.  I did 2 rows, but because of the yarn and the intricate nature of this it takes forever and forever to actually look like something has been accomplished.

Hope this inspires own creativity...

Kathy

Block 18 ☺

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today was a "Do Nothing" kind of day around our house.  Not sure exactly why, but I really did not get much of anything accomplished.

Yesterday afternoon my son and I ventured out on a sort of Road Trip.  We went to Lori's Country Cottage because I decided that I needed to participate in the Alberta Row by Row Experience.  I picked up my kit there and then decided it was time to check out the Fort Saskatchewan Sheep:

As usual, they were so cute!!!  ☺

Then we headed on to the Woodland's Water Park because it was a super hot day:

My son had lots of fun running through the sprinklers then drying off playing in the park.  We stopped at the Local Quilt Shop in St. Albert as they are also participating in the Alberta Row by Row Experience.  As usual this place was disappointing again......

Last stop of the day was the library to register in the summer reading program and get a few books to read out at the farm and where ever our travels take us in the next few days.  The piano was out and so of course my son stopped to play for a bit:

As for today, I managed to sew Block 17 of my Churn Dash Challenge:

For dinner, I made a pizza with all the left over cheese, mushrooms and green peppers in the refrigerator:

I think I will do some knitting for the rest of this evening and think about what I can get into tomorrow☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy