Lovely visit with the grandkids

I'm finally home after a lovely visit with my darling grandchildren.  I really can't believe that my visit has come and gone, the time just flew by and I wish I had been blessed with more time with them.  Every time I leave them I have a hard time because I miss them so much and it takes me a while to adjust again.  I told you in my previous post that my grand-daughter had just been born and how I was about to embark on a 13 hour Greyhound bus ride (fortunately, I had with me my trusty Sony e-Reader, which was presented to me when I left the Library last year) to go and see her and my grandson.  Well, she is as beautiful as I expected her to be and has already won the hearts of her parents.


My grandson Rhys no longer "makes strange" when I go to visit and picks up just where we left off.  Of course, it doesn't hurt when I take him a little gift.  This Tonka talking truck I had mailed ahead and we opened the parcel when I got there.  He has been having loads of fun with this in the garden.  It's such a blessing to see them enjoying the little things that you can give them.  Needless to say that I took little Katherine lots of pretty clothes!!

I couldn't get enough of little Katherine and got to hold her a few times.  I have a funny feeling that she is going to be a "daddy's girl" and will probably have him eating out of her hand and he will love every minute of it.

You have to agree with me, she is gorgeous!!!

Since I have been home, I have been helping a friend (Pat) re-open her business.  It's called the Queen's Cupboard and I have mentioned it many times in my posts.  This is a quaint store where I have been charmed into buying all sorts of goodies for my apartment, some finished and others to finish myself.  This sconce I picked up - it's metal.

And this is what I turned it into..................

I didn't realize at the time that this was one of a pair, so now I have to search for the other one in her store next time she has a sale.

I loved this frame, but not the picture inside, so I painted the inside and tea-bagged it and added an old plate from a door.

And this is the result.  Don't you think this is an improvement?

Just some pretty spring flowers that I picked at an abandoned building.  Such a shame for them to go unseen and they look so fresh in my apartment.

Now to the "biggy".  As you know by now, I have purchased quite a few things from the Queen's Cupboard and as I was helping Pat recently get set up, I was privy to all the items she was going to be having in her two day sale.  She was rather concerned when I returned from my holiday, and seeing things with a fresh eye, I was smitten with something she had just finished shabby chic-ing and was using for display purposes and told her that I wanted it!!!!!  Reluctantly she said I could have it but would have to wait until after her sale as she didn't have anywhere else to display all her beautiful bone china teacups and saucers.  DEAL!!  I just got it last night and had so much fun adorning it will all my bits and pieces.  Some will say that I have too much junk and border on being a hoarder - they could be right.  Yes, I will have to dispose of some of my furniture, but give me time.  Here it is in the store..............

And here in my humble apartment...............

As you can see, it didn't take me long to fill it up.  Well, folks, that's it for now.  Have to keep something for another day.  The ladies from the Queen's Cupboard have gone on a road trip south to find more "treasures" to tempt me, LOL.  Seriously, I don't think I dare think of adding another item to this place.  Please help me purge before someone recommends me for the "Hoarders" show on the telly.  TTFN.

Last post for a while

This will be my last post for a while because I will be taking a trip for a week to see my adorable new grand-daughter and her equally fabulous older brother, who is not yet three.  I can't wait to see them both and hold, kiss and cuddle them.  I'm sure the week will fly by.  I'm almost packed and have a supply of things to entertain me on the 13 hour bus ride, e.g. my Sony e-Reader (for which I am having so much trouble in downloading e-books - don't know why because I have done it quite a few times before, so tomorrow I will have to pop on over to the Library and see if they can help me), and some snacks.  The last couple of days here have not been the best weatherwise and I'm hoping that the temperature will pick up and the fog will dissipate.  Today, it was very overcast and drizzly.


Here are the latest creations I have made..................

Laurie, a dear friend of mine, received a lovely Easter gift from another dear friend of both of us, NanaDiana.  She sent Laurie a fabulous home-made Easter Fudge Egg made with Wisconsin butter and so prettily embellished with Laurie's name.  Laurie, being the big-hearted person that she is presented me with a delicious slice, so, NanaDiana, if you are reading this, may thanks from me also.  You are so special and we both appreciate your friendship.

Whilst I am on the subject of Laurie, and I hope she doesn't mind me talking about her but I do know that she has mentioned this on her blog also......  Well, the other day, I had gone for a walk to look for twigs etc. with which to decorate my artwork and came home rather excited as I had found some gorgeous bulbous dried stalks which I thought would look fab on my pictures.  Laurie being the country girl, knew exactly what they were and went ahead and told me that her hubby used to collect these things, which are called "Golls" and here I will just copy what she said about it.


"My friend Chris is crafty as well.  We see each other every day almost, she is always creating and at the moment is creating altered art on canvasses, beautiful work.


She went on a collecting trip and came back with a bag full of sticks and twigs.  She called for me to come and see and I noticed she had something that Garry once collected for Fly Fishing, golls.  They are weeds that developed a bulge in their stem and in this bulge grows a grub, something like a maggot.  They grow in there all winter and hatch in spring.  When I told her, she looked at me and her eyes got big and she was a bit shocked but she loved them and I said "well they aren't in all of them, maybe you don't have them in these" .  "Well, what about those" she said, she had a whole bag of them, Chris never does anything by halves.  I don't think she really believed me until I sliced one open and out crawled a lovely FAT grub!!  We laughed so hard - I told her the warm apartment would most likely help to make them hatch.  YUK!

Poor Chris, I'm not sure she has recovered yet, but I think this lovely fudge egg might help so I will bring her some, on the road to recovery."

Now, what a delightful friend that is!!!!  First she scares the crap out of me then makes up for it with a peace offering of fabulous Wisconsin buttery fudge.  All is well, but I can tell you that I went out and picked up some moth balls to put in with those bulbous weeds in the hopes that the smell will kill off the grubs before they can eat their way out.  Never a dull moment at #700.

Yesterday I tackled fixing my patio screen door.  I went on the Internet and looked up the problem and then followed this darling gentleman's instructions and now my screen door slides like butter.

To finish off, a beautiful photo of the grandchildren - now you can see why I am looking forward so much to seeing them.  I must be the only one who hasn't held the new baby yet.

Have a wonderful week whilst I am away.  I will miss you all.  Even though I will be taking my "Notepad" with me, it's not quite the same as using my PC, but I hope to keep up with my e-mail etc. and other people's blogs.

TTFN and God bless.

Nothing new to talk about!!

Hello there, I have nothing much to talk about except that I am working on some artwork.  I am looking forward very much to seeing my two grandchildren next week - can't wait to hold the new one and cuddle the elder one.  Grandma misses them so much, but living so far away I can only make the large effort to sit on a Greyhound bus for 13 hours a few times a year so I can see them.


Here are the latest creations I have been working on.  I wish I could sell them, time will tell and if I can't????

The Craft Shows will begin again for this year in May so I'll keep my fingers crossed that someone out there will like my weird and wonderful creations!!

Hope you all had an enjoyable Easter.  Mine was very quiet, didn't do anything except go for walks, but that's okay.  Okay, talk to you again soon when I hope to have something interesting to mention.

Oh, must remember to plug in my Sony E-reader and make sure it is fully charged for my trip, also my Notepad.  It's these things which are a pain really, because you have to remember to take with you all the relevant cords for charging - for the cell phone, camera, Notepad and Reader.  How on earth did we manage before, LOL

Home, Sweet Home

Well, I'm certainly glad to be home, but I'm sure I will miss my darling grandson terribly.  It's hard to believe just how much he has changed in the last six months, gone from a baby to a little man.  What a personality he has.  I had the pleasure of sharing in his second birthday - he was a perfect host to his friends and even entertained the adults later in the day.........

Anyway, the trip (13 hours) wasn't really that bad as I had the Sony e-Reader that my fabulous co-workers at the Library bought me as a leaving gift, but the trip back was very long and tedious and I didn't have anything to read as the books that I had downloaded before I left home had expired.  You have to have access to a computer to download more or extend them.  I think I just might invest in a laptop for future trips so I can blog, e-mail and download books.

My two sons and my precious daughter-in-law were very hospitable (I'm sure I must have been a pain in the butt some of the time, LOL) and they tried to make my vacation enjoyable.  The highlight of course was seeing Rhys and getting all the cuddles and kisses I could handle.  I shall certainly miss that.....

Okay, that's enough showing off.  You'd think I was the only woman in the world with a fabulous grandson........

When I returned home, there was a message on my machine from the doctor's office and my blood is still low, so have to go for more bloodwork in about a month.  I certainly hope this can be sorted out and I get more strength back.

Also, my super called and asked if I could be out of my apartment by the 15th July (I thought it would be by the end of July) so that the new person can move in on the 1st August.  Of course that is fine with me but I now have a big push on to arrange for the moving of my "stuff" across the hall and call the utilities people, etc. and I also had planned on buying new furniture and finding a home for the old, so I had better get cracking.  I also have a Craft Show to prepare for all in that time span, so it's going to be pretty hectic for a while.

Last but certainly not least, a very BIG thank you to my buddy Laurie from "How my time flys" for looking after things whilst I was away and watering my plants on the balcony.  She did such an excellent job of taking care of them that even my Christmas cactus is blooming again - I think it was only two months or so ago that it was in full bloom.  Kudos to Laurie.

That's all for today - hope I haven't bored you silly - I really have to find some fun stuff to write about but I had to share about my recent trip.  Talk to you soon.



Me, My Sony E-Reader and the Greyhound Bus

Today is the day I head out of town to visit my grandson (he will celebrate his second birthday whilst I am there), and his family.  I am getting very excited.  I've decided to travel light for a change as I have in the past taken far too much with me, forgetting that they are civilized, they have washers and dryers, even if they do charge me $2 a load, LOL  I'M KIDDING!!!!  It's a long trip on the Greyhound bus (13 hours) but it will be worth it at the end of the road.

Managed to get a walk in yesterday (actually a couple) - it was a gorgeous day.  Went to Sears and bought a couple of pairs of sandals.  I thought it was about time I tried being cool and wearing sandals without socks (panyhose).  I have very sensitive feet and get blisters very easily but these new sandals are great and I wore them to the Mall and back and my feet were fine.  So, here's to a new me, LOL Then in the evening I happened to glance out of my window and the local yacht club was out in full force.  What a beautiful view I have......

Well, I had better get back to packing my suitcase.  I'm starting to get a little nervous but I will be fine - I have my e-Reader, my cell phone in case... and a snack for when I get stuck in Sudbury for an hour or so tonight.  I probably won't blog again until I come back home.  I hope you will all be well whilst I am away.  Talk to you again soon.

Time is flying!!

Well, it's been just over a week since I retired and I don't know where the time has gone.  Actually, it's as if I were on vacation - people say that's what it feels like at first and I think they are right.  The other day I visited my husband's gravesite and took a new saddle wreath to put on the headstone.  I seem to have to do this every year as some "deadbeat" steals it.  I know the wind doesn't blow them off as I make sure that they are good and tightly attached.  Well, they must need it more than my hubby does, probably some out of work guy looking for a gift for his mom for Mother's Day!!!!  Here's a picture of the site all tidied up with the new flowers and I also planted some pansies this year.  When the flowers bloom it should look very pretty.

What I found strange was that the headstone behind my hubby's belongs to the father of a good friend and I didn't even know it all this time.  She told me that when she visits her father, she pulls any weeds she sees on ours.  What a nice lady.

I received an e-Reader from my colleagues as a "going-away" gift.  It's a lovely Sony Reader and I can't for the life of me figure out how to download books.  I am very eager to get it working as I will be heading out of town in a week to see my grandbaby (picture beneath) and I wanted one to use on the long bus trip.

I've been going through my clothes since I left work and disposing of all my good clothes, except for a few items, in case I get invited to any "do's" and for Church of course.  I can't believe how may items I owned and I still have absolutely loads left.  I must tighten my belt now that I am a senior on a pension and watch the pennies and that means no more shopping for wearing apparel - right, I'll believe that one.  I have lots of addictions and that's one.  My other addictions are buying beads and other craft supplies to make my jewelry and greeting cards.  Perhaps one day I will post some of my creations here.  Every year I do all the big Craft Shows which are held here locally - it's so much fun and I meet so many interesting people.  Well, this is all for now.  Look forward to visiting with you guys on your blogs also.