Candy Corn

Ready for October (thanks for Aunty Elizabeth, and Target - why are there no Targets in Canada???)

Canning...

The last of the summer tomatoes from my garden, will be ketchup du maison when it's done simmering...

Hello Fall

Enjoying the first bits of fall colour at Mer bleue.

Scrappy Mug Rug - completed

Another swap :) Can't help it, these are fun. This is a "mug rug", basically an oversized coaster designed to hold your coffee mug or tea cup and a little snack.

It measures about 4.5 inches by 8.5 inches and is made from two foundation pieced string blocks in a variety of green and blue fabrics with a punch of red.

Somehow it almost looks Christmassy to me. Maybe I should make another for Santa's milk and cookies?

Weekending

Labour Day weekend. We spent it at the cottage, I still wasn't feeling 100% but the pace on the island is so laid back I knew I'd be just fine.

The wind blew and blew and blew, we lost power for most of the first day. The waves were huge by lake standards, but the kids were undeterred and played until they were blue, then dried off, knocked back hot chocolate and were ready to go back in.

Not exactly perfect Labour Day weather, but a great weekend nonetheless.

Day is done

Gone the sun

DQS9 received

Ohhhhh I love this!!!! I can't believe I didn't see it in the pool, it's the most gorgeous thing (and Tina it could not have come at a better time, I soooooo needed this wonderful pick-me-up today!)

Seriously sucks

It appears I have Fifth disease. Most people get this as children. I am not most people. My coworker contracted it after an outbreak at her daughter's daycare and, well, I guess we share more than a cube wall. My head aches so much, I'm exhausted, and now the rash.

At least it's short lived and self-limiting. It just sucks right now. Wonder how many of my kids will catch it...

First day of school 2010

Grade 2 and grade 4. Little J was actually really excited though there was no way he was going to smile for me...

DQS9 complete

My entry for the Flickr Doll Quilt Swap #9.

The piecing is pretty good if I do say so myself, and the quilting isn't bad either. I stitched a few lines of silver filament through the dark grey squares to give a chain impression, gives it a lovely subtle sheen. The binding, however, is not great. I've really struggled lately with binding and I made many mistakes on this one. Oh well, hopefully that will be overlooked by it's new owner...

Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!!!

Lookie lookie lookie what I got!!!!!!!!!!! It's my anniversary/Christmas/birthday 2011/birthday 2012/birthday 2013 present....

I'm just waiting for the battery to charge... and reading (skimming) the manual...

More s'mores

I don't eat 'em, but they love 'em.

Gappy

After being loose for more than 4 weeks it finally came out. It had to be 'helped' a bit, we had corn on the cob for dinner and he was wincing every time he took a bite because the tooth was so loose it was stabbing his gum... so he let me pull it for him.

He has been a slow teether his entire life. His baby teeth were slow to come in, they've been even slower to come out (he's 7 and this is baby tooth #4 to come out). His big brother was the same way though.

shizz-opping!

Fabric is really, really fun to buy, and really, really hard to get at a decent price in Canada. So I do most of my shopping online. This is my latest acquisition... it's not quite as bad as it looks, these are mostly precuts and were mostly on sale.. can't wait to cut into these puppies!

Little J

He's such a booger. He wanted me to take a picture of his pool-slicked hair, but it rapidly became a giggle-fest.

Good thing he's cute :)

Chokecherry jelly

Making chokecherry jelly. Set up the big boiling water canner on the Coleman stove outside, which was good for not heating up the kitchen, but not so great for keeping the jelly hot while pouring it into the jars...

First batch turned out great. Next batch I think we'll do inside...

Vacation

Just a little getaway.


A Friday departure to the campground where my parents have their trailer.


A LOT of rain.

A day trip to Mississauga for Krispy Kreme doughnuts!


A quick visit with Princess Maya.

Some swimming fun.

A drive down the highway and a ferry ride to the cottage.

More swimming fun.

5 days in total, but wonderful days all.

Heat Wave!

We're really appreciating the pool right now in this heat wave, but at 85F it's almost bathwater-like. What a difference from last summer's weather!

Another summer camp adventure for the Princess

Using papa's gigantic canoe pack to haul her summer camp gear. Off to summer camp - week 1.

Today

I'm scrapbooking today, dappled sunshine through the windows, Manhattan Transfer blaring from Grooveshark. I'm a terribly messy scrapbooker, but there is such satisfaction in putting our stories to paper. I don't want to be as much a mystery to my grandchildren as my grandparents are to me.

July 2, Amazing Sky

Red sky at night, sailor's delight... wonder what orangey-purple means?

Our neighbour was outside photographing it too. The whole street was bathed in a strange orangey light. It was magical.

Happy Canada Day!

Fireworks at the community centre of our wee village, always an amazing show.

Happy Canada Day!

Kaboom kaboom!

Tomorrow is Canada Day - is there anything more patriotic than blowing up a bunch of cardboard tubes?

Katie style

Yellow t-shirt, purple and pink skirt, purple and pink hair pieces, pink striped sweat socks (pulled up to her knees of course) and white bejewelled crocs. And a red baseball cap. She's got a style all her own...

I don't see a future for him in FIFA...

The bits have enjoyed soccer this year but neither one really seems interested in *playing* the game. This one likes to spin around the goalposts. The other likes to shinny up the goalposts.

Perhaps there's a professional monkey bar league out there?

Spectacle 2010

The end of year spectacle (that's the French word, but it's so fitting in both languages :) ) at the kids' school. Adorable performances, hamburgers and hot dogs and even the in laws coming to watch. I really love this school, small and friendly, it's particularly a good match for little J (who is the one with the orange collar sticking out here, right between his two girlfriends. Heaven help me...)

Award Day

Today was the award ceremony for the Deputy Minister's awards for excellence. It was every bit as overblown as I imagined (feared!)

The recipients followed the marching band through Tunney's Pasture to the Banting Theatre. There was a loooong presentation, which was actually pretty good. We didn't receive our awards individually on stage, the presentation was to the team leader, afterwards we filed past the DM and associate DM and shook hands and took a group shot, then we were given our awards as we filed out to a banquet where I sipped non-alcoholic champagne (with raspberries, very swank ;) )

I got a nice certificate and a super heavy glass trophy.

Seven

My last baby is 7 today. Wow does time fly! He was a wee babe when I started blogging (on a different blog than this one), my earliest entries were about breastfeeding issues and sleep deprivation. How the times have changed! Now he's finishing first grade, reading, making friends. He has a very strong personality this little man of mine, he's opinionated and stubborn but oh so sensitive! He's loving and funny and quirky. He is a complete joy.

Happy birthday little J.