Running is a great way to relieve stress

And clear the mind.
Joan Van Ark

I fell off the treadmill routine but I'm happy to be back. Surprise surprise,I didn't back slide as much as I expected. Now to ramp it up and give it all I have! I love tracking my progress with NIKE+. 

Despite contradictory groundhog findings, I think we are seeing the last of winter. The days are warmer,skies clearer and the snow has begun to melt. I am e cited about this year's garden. Heading out to get some seeding trays and start the prep. We have company arriving this weekend and so I will seed Monday when the house is quiet once more.

We are planning our trip west to see the BC family next month.  A certain young man is growing at light ending speed. He's such a character, sometimes shy about speaking on the phone, other times he can't get the words out fast enough.  I think he has a mini golf date planned for us, which should be a treat because from what we hear, he's a Golden Bear in the making!

Well a short post is all I have today, baby steps to get back into the swing of things.  Hope you are all well, doing what you enjoy the most with those special to your heart.
 

And it begins again

For the past year(s) I've been having sleep issues. Can't get to sleep, can't stay asleep, too hot, head churning at mach 1. It seems to come in 3 - 4 month cycles and I get dragged down and that causes me problems aka I get accident prone, especially with thought process and make dumb mistakes. Then it calms down, I get my rest and feel recharged before the next cycle. 

I'm not one for prescription anything so am trying to do this change via natural holistic methods. Will keep at it perhaps someday I'll look back and say "Gee, that hasn't happened in forever!" One can dream. 

Today is a transition day. Company left this morning. Bedding to launder, frig to clean out and some creative time penciled in for this afternoon. So nice to see some blue skies instead of dull grey. Have a great day everyone!

Slow to get motivated today

Not sure why, but there's no flow to my start. However, I did my 30 minutes on the treadmill and am pleased I kept that date with myself. 

This morning I'll be making some Pasadena Pinwheels and Pickle Rollups for finger foods mid day. Our New Year's dinner this evening will be baked ham, scalloped potatoes,garden beets and biscuits. Our nephew Kevin will be joining us. 

I'm going to try and squeeze some stitching time in while the light is good. I'm overdue for another eye exam later this month. Perhaps that will help these aging eyes. 

Hope everyone had a lovely celebration. Reach for the stars in 2013!!!!

...I'm back! lol

Well that was a long 6 months of non blogging! So what have I been up to? 

• We joined our local Community Garden project!  This was its second year at the church location and the first on newly acquired town property.  The second location is ginormous but our fearless leader had an incredible 3 year vision which is now 1/3 realized.  The biggest excitement was over the food bank circular plots.  Various business or service groups adopted and wedge, planted,cared for and then donated their bounty to our food bank.  Sad there is a need for this but yeah that they received almost 200 pounds of fresh organically grown produce.  We can hardly wait until next year.  As this was just barren unused land before, we didn't have ideal growing conditions.  This weekend we'll be getting more compost to add.
• Our home garden outproduced past years in tomato production. We had them ripening at a nice vine to plate pace.  With still many nice sized green ones still on the vine and frost forecasted, we picked about 5 pounds to ripen in the kitchen.
• We finally got the nerve to have our salmon coloured stucco painted and lovely greenish grey called aptly enough...Aged Stucco.  I love the change.
• We did a 2week camping trip with DD2, SIL, Thing 1 & Thing 2 in our motorhome.  At times it was cozy but overall, I could do it again.  3 generations touring around.  Next summer we are planning on doing the same thing but with DD1, SIL perhaps, depending on work, and Thing 3.  We have the winter and spring to work out the details.
• DH changed jobs...again!  There's nothing quite like going on vacation with no job to come home to!  I was stressed, he wasn't and it all worked out fine.  He was off for a month and now is making up for lost time!  Mind you he only works half days.  12 hour half days! lol  He's enjoying what he's doing, feels he is making a valuable contribution and difference.  And most importantly, he's enjoying himself.  Another blessing.

Dressmaker's Daughter by Nora Corbett for Mirabilia Designs

Isn't this gorgeous?  My friend Felicity asked if I would be interested in doing this as an SAL. WOW!  Would I ever!  This will be my first time doing beadwork, but hey, I'm game.  We will be joined by Shelley . Fridays are our Show & Tell days.  Today I don't have anything to show...sorry ladies...I pulled my floss and got that organized this morning.  Next I'll centre the pattern and find my start position.  I can not wait to see this develop.  I was oohing and aahing to myself as I pulled the floss and laid them on the fabric...so yummy and decadent looking but...no calories!!!! I'm heading to the library this afternoon to borrow an audio book to listen to when I sit n stitch. 

This weekend we celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving. I personally have so much to be grateful for and for that I am truly thankful. ♥ ♥ ♥ Until next time.

6/366

Slowly I'm getting back into some semblance of a routine. First I had the joy of having DH's presence after ~ 15 months of him working away from home, 3 out, 1 week home. Then I had that small thing called a legacy quilt to pull together and it's accompanying Artisan showcase. Then I did a bone head thing and broke my HQ16. And then Christmas....and then my HQ16 was repaired...and they gave me a wonderful gift in the labour charges. I had to pay for the 2 computer components that were custom made which was more than fair.

And while the machine was in the shop I got sulky and decided that I would rearrange my whole creative studio space so that I could get an extra three feet of quilting width. And the machine is back, the table has been extended and rebalanced but things are still in a muddle. Slowly I'm getting things sorted through. I had 2 bookcases and a 4 drawer legal file cabinet to relocate. Did ya know you have to empty these to even budge them? Just so you know, I'm not really complaining...I'm just letting you know where I've been and what I've been up to. No stitching, no sewing, sorting! Hufflepuff style! We have almost no snow, but all hard surfaces have a thick layer of ice from a few nights of freezing rain. The birds are checking out our birdhouses, I'm planning this year's plantings, and I'm generally feeling great. Hope you are also!