Uncultured

I'm feeling a little uncultured today so I thought I'd post the 100 Greatests! (yes new word!)

100 Greatest books (according to Nicholas Whyte in 2003 - his take on the BBC Big Read)

legend: black=Read, red = not read, green=on my book shelf!

1. The Lord Of The Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (read 1 of 3)
   
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne
8. 1984, George Orwell
9. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch 22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
15. The Catcher In The Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind In The Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War And Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling (12/09)
    
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
28. Middlemarch, George Eliot
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Auste
39. Dune, Frank Herbert (hated this one... tried 3 times)
    
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (loved this one!)
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
85. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
86. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
87. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E. Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer (hated this one .... tried 3 times)
    
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Woohoo - only 80 books left to read! LOL!

100 Greatest movies that I haven't seen (stolen from AmyDe in one of her Februarywho stole it from someone else! LOL!)

legend:
black=seen, red = never seen

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Singin' In The Rain (1952)
6. Gone With The Wind (1939)
7. Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
8. Schindler's List (1993)
9. Vertigo (1958)
10. The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
11. City Lights (1931)
12. The Searchers (1956)
13. Star Wars (1977)
14. Psycho (1960)
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
16. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
17. The Graduate (1967)
18. The General (1927)
19. On The Waterfront (1954)
20. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
21. Chinatown (1974)
22. Some Like It Hot (1959)
23. The Grapes Of Wrath (1940)
24. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
25. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
26. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
27. High Noon (1952)
28. All About Eve (1950)
29. Double Indemnity (1944)
30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
34. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35. Annie Hall (1977)
36. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
37. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
38. The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948)
39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
40. The Sound Of Music (1965)
41. King Kong (1933)
42. Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
45. Shane (1953)
46. It Happened One Night (1934)
47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
48. Rear Window (1954)
49. Intolerance (1916)
50. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
51. West Side Story (1961)
52. Taxi Driver (1976)
53. The Deer Hunter (1978)
54. M*A*S*H (1970)
55. North By Northwest (1959)
56. Jaws (1975)
57. Rocky (1976)
58. The Gold Rush (1925)
59. Nashville (1975)
60. Duck Soup (1933)
61. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
62. American Graffiti (1973)
63. Cabaret (1972)
64. Network (1976)
65. The African Queen (1951)
66. Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
67. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
68. Unforgiven (1992)
69. Tootsie (1982)
70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
74. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
75. In The Heat Of The Night (1967)
76. Forrest Gump (1994)
77. All The President's Men (1976)
78. Modern Times (1936)
79. The Wild Bunch (1969)
80. The Apartment (1960)
81. Spartacus (1960)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. Titanic (1997)
84. Easy Rider (1969)
85. A Night At The Opera (1935)
86. Platoon (1986)
87. 12 Angry Men (1957)
88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
89. The Sixth Sense (1999)
90. Swing Time (1936)
91. Sophie's Choice (1982)
92. Goodfellas (1990)
93. The French Connection (1971)
94. Pulp Fiction (1994)
95. The Last Picture Show (1971)
96. Do The Right Thing (1989)
97. Blade Runner (1982)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
99. Toy Story (1995)
100. Ben-Hur (1959)

Woohoo - only 87 movies left to see! LOL!

Crafty Friends Have Ideas?

Alrighy my crafty friends.... I beg your assistance.

I have 3 swatches of material fabric, they are all a light weight cotton blend.

1. The first is a single yard of cutesy fabric bright red that needs to turn into something useful... 1 yd.... I can add a lining fabric or additional fabric as necessary but I need a jumping off point, a diving board so to speak for this cute fabric. My limitations.... it needs to be something for an adult, it can be an inside or outside fabric... it can be one item or a couple.... got ideas??

2. The next two are fat quarters (18" x 21") ... one is black, one is white. Again I can add co-ordinating fabric or lining or anything. This one is for a "teacher" (so to speak) - who is leaving us this year but has been working with M for 2 yrs now and become a friend of mine... we will still chat but she won't be working with M in the same capacity. I'd like to make her something nice... I was thinking a tissue holder and something to match... but haven't a clue where to go with this! LOL!

Welcome to the 21st Century - where Internet Service Providers SUCK! :(

The saga of the sucky internet returns!

A mere month after ditching the old ISP due to several outages in a one month span, the new ISP went down from Fri to late Tuesday afternoon with no word, no assistance nothing ... just went DARK. A trip to the local office (walking distance) yielded an answer but NO HELP - all circuits were busy during the entire outage (both locally and in their head office) - at least even the old ISP was reachable by phone even if they weren't helpful! Maybe I expect too much - but at the very least I'd like to be able to reach a customer "No Service Rep" because at least I'd feel like someone had a clue and the place didn't just tank overnight.

So no computer school stuff got done, no internet, no nothing.... (M says not even a piece of Webkinz World - but she did get a few hours of Sims2 time.) So we ditched ISP #2 in favour of #3... making 3 ISPs is less than 2 months. I expect some repercussions due to the shortened length of our service contract but such is life... I'm ticked... what can I say! :( If it happens again in less than a month I'm boycotting residential service forever! :(

It sucks, it really sucks. Thank goodness for "no computer hobbies!" I got some knitting and crocheting done! :) I even got some cleaning done and feel a computer and hobby move is in the future - though not until some much needed household repairs occur, but its at least on the horizon and the 10 yrs of accumulated kiddy junk is being shifted at long last.

Earth Hour.... Revenge of Earth Hour.... Projects

March 29th we celebrated Earth Hour 2008 by turning out the lights. Nice candle light dinner if I do say so myself! :) The girls were thrilled. M turned the lights out just before 8 as we sat down to eat... she was terribly afraid of missing it. I was sad that none of the neighbours turned their lights out though. Oh well, life is like that. After about 40 minutes the girls and dh sadly had had enough so on went the lights and the "Scary Mummy Monster" came out. I was all agrump because it was supposed to be fun and something I really wanted to do. So I've threatened them with doing it once a week for the next year! Hee hee! So here is a photo!
So I could only laugh as last night took care of our Earth Hours for a month! LOL! Just after we fired up dinner last night.... the oven heated, the fish in for about a minute or so, the noodles on, the broccoli and cauli totally unthought of .... out went the lights, but not in the usual way.... with a really loud fizzling sound. So I dug up the chicken timer and we left the fish in the oven as it was HOT enough... the gas stove came in handy for the noodles... and we just ate the veggies raw! I dug out the candles... lit them when it got dark... and we had yet another candle light dinner. Just as we were sitting down the big electric company truck came down the road.... "Now that can't be good." The neighbors congregated by the green box... and the electric company truck drove away - still no lights. We finished up dinner and by that time the lights had been out for over an hour. Took the girls out for a walk with a flashlight, and it turns out only our street and the neighbouring one were affected. The rest of the subdivision had lights. 2 more visits from the big electric company truck.... and the neighbours gradually faded into the darkened abyss that was their home. At the 2 hour mark I went to hunt down my hubby and the children as they went up to follow the electric company truck and instead I ran into the truck, the guy popped out of the truck and told me it would be quite a few hours before the lights came back on as 2 wires had "gone bad" the first caused the main outage... and the 2nd when they tried to tie 2 wires together to get us more juice! The lights were out for almost 4.5 hours, and the poor electric crew were soooo grumpy! Dh the girls and I enjoyed a nice non-electric evening staring at the stars and wandering in the dark. My Earth hour(s) was given to me after all! :) I think we'll still do it monthly!

I finished a cute little preemie sweater which I finished up and gave to my friend the other day... stupid me I was in such a rush I forgot to take a photo of it. :( But I have another identical sweater on the needles and will hopefully get a pic of it after the weekend. Its supposed to be rainy tomorrow and Saturday so maybe I can make some rapid progress on it, the 2nd and 3rd will go to charity.

So that's been our fun here!

Officially Spring - Gardening Yet?

So its officially spring, does that mean I can start planting yet???

Apparently not, I got another alert this morning that there is another frost warning in effect. One of the Brownie Leaders had some new irises, that she put in last week, hope they survive the 2 frosts we've had.... I hope it's over soon!

I've got some seedlings started, and should probably get some seeds out in the pots. Novice gardener this year, I'm trying to get a salad out of my pots out back.... assuming Señor Deadmeat doesn't rear his ugly head again - my children have been warned the squirrel is not our friend. We have tomatoes, he bites them and discards them!

Dh has given me the okay to get a top hat blueberry bush when we get back from the beach. Can't wait, I've put it in my email folder to email me when we get back and if I put it in here I might remember as well! :)

I think this year will be my year of serious novice experimentation with dirt and veggies! :)

Wish me luck! :)

Project Spectrum

I found something that appealed to me in a simplistic way today. "The idea of Project Spectrum is simply a celebration of the colors around us, and taking the time to notice them."

I'm pleased to say that I have already done my project for March for it. I don't use much red, but funny I found lots of red in the things happening yesterday. This is one of the grocery bags I've been sewing though this one isn't for me... The red fabric was just too fun to work and play with, it very pretty. It has an Asian flare - the black is actually silhouettes of possibly Asian woment. The fabric shopping bags are based on a "T" store shopping bag and I followed the directions here. The grocery bags are deliciously simple to make and in under 2 weeks of use have drastically cut down on our plastic grocery bag consumption, which is a bonus!




It strikes me as a little odd that my 2 yr old little girl is madly in love with the image of Spiderman, but hey they're only young once... she has no clue who or what Spiderman is as she's never seen the "real deal" on tv or in the movies.... but this just fits with the perfection of RED this month! :) Complete outfit here. Spidey Shoes, and Spidey Jammies. And for the record... the spiders themselves are really Charlotte (from Charlotte's Web - the story) or so she tells me! *GRIN* I don't know who the man is beyond creepy! :)

I'm Here, I think!

Our internet is finally straightened out. I think!!

I'm still having issues with email, but until I can put a finger on the problem, I'll have to let the dust settle a little.

Flaky at Best *sigh*

I've been internet-less since Thursday at 1:30 pm - that's when I received my last email, and my last page hit. Our ISP didn't give a darn. After at least 5 calls to them in 3 days, with the latter calls being rapid dial sheer frustration, dh got us back up... and the sad thing is ISP wouldn't couldn't tell us what was up other than there was an outage in our area and we were the first to report it (ya right - dh reported it Friday evening, and I don't believe that I'm the only internet addled idiot with this ISP suffering withdrawl! .... sadly this ISP is the one months ago that was saying on TV - "Your problem is our problem" and "You'll have a team of specialist behind you to get you and keep you running." YA right.

Your best fluffy flaky pastry recipe is probably less flaky than our ISP. GRRRR

Oh well, gave me time to clean, sew and knit. I probably would have baked too but I had a hankering for things I don't have recipes stored for and would have had to SURF then net for *sigh.* If mum can't come unplugged how can you expect the kids to?

Completed:


7 shopping bags








2/3 preemie outfits

all when I wasn't being yelled at by a recovering 2 yr old flu victim.

Yes, Mission control, We have the FLU

The panting a wheezing stopped when she stopped getting mad because she wasn't in my arms. Ya know a mom has to make lunch, a potty and all those things, and its kinda hard with a 2 yr old in your arms... but anyway... we waited til this morning to visit the Ped, and yes she has the FLU. We were offered Tami-Flu because it has been underway for less than 48 hours. Sadly if I can't even get her to take Tylenol, the Tami-Flu won't be of much use to us. Hopefully M & I don't get a re-occurance which is common with this Year's strain, and most of all hopefully dh won't get it PERIOD.

So here we sit at home catching up on our sleep and being lazy and trying to keep her temps below 102!! While poor little S recovers - oh well off to teach M and then knit some!

Visit - the "Plague Flu"

Afternoon all, your bad blogger popping in for duty today.

Things have been quietly busy here. M's been taking classes which are now over, I've been knitting for a friend's new preemie baby, sewing shopping bags for my new Green motto, contemplating produce bags for said motto, getting our Brownies (Girl Scouts) ready for Thinking Day (Feb 22) with the girl scouts, plus trying to keep everyone well for our visit to see H. Its been just one thing after another, but finally things have slowed down. * come to a screeching halt.*

We visited with baby H - who is no longer a baby - and here (left) is the picture to prove it! LOL! She's grown so much. She's an amazing little girl. And doing very well. Our visit was fabulous! H signs more than 100 signs, is about to start K work, getting more physically mobile... all positive changes. I'm glad that we can keep in touch, it warms my heart every time we see her.

Poor little S though. We were home less than 2 hours when she spiked a temp - to guess about 100, and is now up to 102. She has all the symptoms of the flu plague M and I had in January, which sucks. 2 more minutes and I can call the ped... in under 12 hours in has navigated its way to the upper chest, and she is already panting, hacking and wheezing, not a good sign for bronchial family! :(

Late Night Visitor - Signs of Spring

Spring must be around the corner.

At 11:00pm this evening we had a nosy visitor hanging out on our window. Needless to say I called down our resident 6.5 yr old herpetologist. She doesn't even get close enough to see it and says it is a Spring Peeper because it is spring-like here and that is when they come out. Dh hadn't heard that and he suggested the same. Well of course, being late I sent M back to bed and told her I'd find out what I could about it, and promptly went on a hunt for a flashlight. Dang it if the kid isn't right. The markings are perfect... it is darker than the one pictured on the right here... dark brown... but it is the cutest little thing. I swear M ain't sleeping tonight! She's a herpetologist in the making, I tell ya. (image borrowed from Wiki)

Dh on the other hand is a pickle head. He dragged us out to 2 stores this afternoon, in search of pickling cucumbers.... he finally found them and brought home 5 lbs. Equivalent of 2 full Jars of pickles (Ya know the humongous ones in the gallon pickle jars.) I've informed him he needs - a few moderate sized pots and a couple trellis' to go with them... and a couple packages of pickling cucumber seeds for spring. His contribution to our starter veggie garden. I told him that if he grew his own cukes they would taste so much better than the store bought ones and he'd feel so much better about feeding them to the kids! LOL! He didn't buy it but told me to go ahead! LOL! So guess we'll be adding some pickling cukes to the garden attempt this year! :)

The Neighbors.... Chapter 2.

ETA: Dh has asked me put in this little disclaimer. If you are a co-worker of my dh and he has tried to successfully talk you into buying the house.... don't listen to a word you read here *GRIN* they're wonderful neighbors, really! I just love to make up stories! he he!

I assume, I'd be one of those neighbors you'd like to have. I don't meddle, I don't go out of my way to snoop... I don't complain when you block my driveway monthly, bi-monthly or whenever you have a party. There aren't people coming and going at all times of the day or night - in fact we rarely have visitors. I keep to myself, I respect your privacy, and I respect your property. If I have a beef, I will let it stew for a while and eventually come up with a way to politely ask you for your help to solve the problem.

I have 2 rules. If you come to my house - you and anyone who chooses to enter my house with you cannot be rude in my house or you will be asked to leave.... it is my house and I make the rules. You don't snoop through my stuff, in fact the master bedroom is off limits and the door closed when people come over. Its the kind or rules I expect you'll find in most houses (of course if I'm wrong someone tell me... please!)

Dh has informed me this evening that the neighbor, whose friend backed into our car, is mad at us. Are they mad because they backed into our car and friend's insurance is paying up? Or are they mad because I hit a sensitive spot with their 6 yr old granddaughter when she was rude in my house and I asked her to leave, except that her mom arrived at the door right after I asked that! So she left with tears - for which I'm sorry but she broke rule number 1, which I believe is a rule in most people's houses.

I feel like I'm back in highschool with one difference, these people don't matter to me, they aren't crucial to how I see myself - and while yes I care, because that is my nature, I don't care if that makes sense! :)

Be Mine Twinkie!

Months ago after reading the Vegan Lunch Box blog I bought a real live Hostess Twinkie pan from a local store... can't see green cheese but my mouth would water, as my mum would say! LOL! Well I made the Vegan version of the twinkies and they were good. So I decided to branch out and try something different this time. So for Valentine's day tomorrow we'll be having homemade strawberry Twinkies with the cream fill or jam inside - the jury is still out at the moment on the filling! LOL!

M wants to celebrate Lillian's 1st birthday tomorrow since she is the first frog she bought, and of course she got her for Valentine's Day last year! So I suspect we'll be having a little party for Lillian tomorrow. Complete with Twinkie cakes (or cupcakes from the left over batter!) I need to dig out the streamers from the basement, M has been begging for them for almost a month now and I just keep forgetting! We're also gonna try to make some WW Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge, but that will have to wait til tomorrow. I will try to take pics if they last long enough! :)

Should be an interesting day here! :) Now I just have to find something yummy to feed my hubby and we'll be all set. The first Valentine's day that we actually celebrate in style!

Driveway, Identity, and Neighbors.

Just a little rant - so you've been forewarned!

You know much of this weekend I've been struggling with "Who I am." Which is odd. I'm comfortable with myself for the most part but there are just days when I question myself, whether there is something wrong with me socially etc. Where did this start?

A few weeks ago I had read a magazine article about a woman finding some long lost friends on the internet via facebook. They touched base, they met up and conversed... and one of the questions that was asked was...

"Do you think your teenage self would like who you are today?"

Now for me I can't say. I was never really all the flighty, I was never really all that self absorbed, I think as a teen I was a pretty responsible kid and pretty darn trustworthy too with a decent head on my shoulders! I haven't really changed all that much. I wasn't a party-er... and I'm still not, though I do get out much more than I used to! Oddly I am doing what I wanted to do when I was a teen, and that is be a stay at home mom. So ya I'm doing okay by my teenage self's views for the most part.

But venture a little further and I'm finding myself socially in conflict with neighbors. I'm not gossipy, I'm not a "keepin' up with the Joneses" person, and I say I don't care what other people think of me, but I think I really do. I think my aim in life is to not have people hate me or think I'm a weirdo but I think my outward approach is such that I do come across as very different. I'm not out to inconvenience people and I'm not trying to tick people off but apparently my need for a new driveway is causing the neighbors no end of grief. No offense people but TUFF.

For brief moment on Friday, I worried that somehow my neighbor could sue us for her friend backing into my husband's car. I think there is some shady business going on and they might try to get something out of us or prevent us from claiming the insurance - or maybe they're covering their rear end just in case but there is something a muck. The neighbor, Real Estate agent or not, was busily out there taking pictures of the damage, taking pictures of his house in relation to where dh's car was parked etc. He generally doesn't take pictures of his house even on bright sunny days. So I spent a fair amount of time being ticked off with them, and ticked for dh that his 17 yr old car got damaged in such a careless and stupid way!

Add this to a few quiet insults I've been getting from a so-called "friend" and it amounted to an OMG what have I done wrong kinda day. What the heck is wrong with me?! Turns out I'm caring too much and far to sensitive. So I'm working on it.... along with my secret Christmas stuff I'm working on it!

Gosh I'm So MAD

Its 8:30, been up since 7:30 getting the driveway done. It has to be concrete. Live in the circle of a cul-de-sac. Where to put the cars... on the opposite side of the street. The truck arrived this morning to dig out the old concrete. He is parked paralell to the street perpendicular to the end of the street. Neighbor's friend backed into the little toy car. Neighbor says she couldn't have backed out of her own driveway - in a sense, she looked to me like it was my fault.... thing is there was at least 4 feet between friend's car, and the truck as opposed to the 2 inches between the toy car and her bumper. Now I understand that accidents happen, but I can't believe my neighbor blames my car for her friend hitting... how stupid!

Re-Committing

I'm re-committing to cloth diapering. This summer our county and most of our state experienced a pretty widespread serious drought, so I kind of abandoned the notion of cloth diapering in an effort to be a little more environmental friendly and water conscious, at the same time I was getting frustrated with our diapering system because dd would sit in our lap and pee and the wool just wasn't holding it nor was the diaper so puddles were getting frustrating. The drought is still on and the county is still taking measures to reduce the water consumption around the county, but I figure that drought may be a short term thing where the diapers that are filling the landfill will be a long long term thing. Its kind of I'm the devil if I do and the devil if I don't no matter which way I play this deck of cards. So I'm going back to cloth and saving my washes until we have a very full load (2-3 days). As my dh says in the grand scheme of water usage us cloth diapering won't amount to much depletion of the water supply. So I'm re-evaluating my Stash and working up some more wool pants for the little one.

Which leads to these pictures. This is a pattern I got from the Dragonfly Faery (listed in my sidebar!) I don't know if she is selling the pattern or where, but I was a tester on it, and totally love the style. These are hip hugger pants but you can tailor it to your preferences. I don't like the drawstring in longie pants because it always comes undone, so I did a slightly tighter vertical style cuff that needs stretching to fit at the waist (which is perfect) and then added some stitches to fit at the waist. It was done in Paton's Merino in a Brown and pink, burgundy, brown combo! And no we generally don't potty train until closer to 2 1/2 - 3... though she is starting to express an interest! So I'm out testing new diapers and picking up some fillers for my stash!

These are one of my favourite style pants though! For some reason I just don't have the patience to knit them! LOL!

Composting, Gardening more to the Hobbies

So my goal for the year was plain and simple..... SIMPLIFY!
What do I do?? Add some more hobbies to my life! But these are good hobbies really! :) Gardening will benefit the family... we'll eat fresher food, we'll spend more time outside sweltering in the summer heat, it'll be fun, digging in the dirt is theraputic, getting dirty is fun!!

The first thing I did was got a compost bin (and a book to go with it!) Its been years since I thought about composting, but I figure its good for the environment, its good for our garden and a good place to start a decent biological lesson for the kids! M is going to make a homemade see through compost bin out of soda/pop bottles so we can all learn what is going on in our big black bin outside (and so I can learn through osmosis! since I have no clue what the heck will actually be happening the big black bin outside!!) So there we'll all benefit! Then on giving back to the environment we'll be using soil that is made from the waste that we would have dumped in the landfill. I mean dh and I dump a ton of grass and garden clippings in the garbage every summer when mowing season is here, and this way we can put it back to good use. Anyway I'm excited and so are the girls they can't wait to help put the bin together and start collecting daddy's cooking scraps.

In the mean time we're opting for a slightly larger garden entrance this year. Last year we attempted to grow, grew 3 tomatoes and 3 pepper plants that did horribly, I'm hoping this year to add some herbs, and other veggies that might be fun! We have a decent sized lot but none of it is ideal for growing food as it doesn't get enough light or is on too much of a hill, so we're limited to what can be grown in containers and the limited skill of our growers (me and the kids! LOL!)

I can't wait to get started. Feel free to join us in our adventures and if you have ideas to share we're all ears! :)

Sewing - A New Bag

A Bag for my friend. Based on a bag I had hanging in my closet I tried to get this as close to it as possible...

I'm Back! :)

Back with a new resolution.....Here's a layout of M learning to spool knit and having a blast! :)

Font is Rockwell, Flower from Ribbit Kisses by Rebecca Gold, Amanda Rockwell and ??? at Elemental Scraps

The oldest and I are recovering slowly from the Flu (cough, congestion thing) the little one hasn't shown symptoms of it but is periodically warm yet full of energy!

Ewww the Flu

And no not the stomach bug....
Curling up in my blanket going back to my delusional fevered state *sigh*!

Pnu - Tires *GROAN*

Dh had a flat.

The girls and I spent the day learning the art of pumping tires... 9 of them to be precise!

Did I mention it is cold out there for June? I'm a suck! LOL! Grew up in the great Northern wilds of Canada and here I can't even tolerate a simple GA cold snap! *SIGH!* Whatever will I do?

Today's Layout!

Vintage Winter by Danielle Engebretson (at digitalfreebies.com)
Fonts are Bradley's Hand and Monotype Corsiva

Walk in the woods made us all cold as an Artic cold pressures hits our area! This is what she thought of it! A true Southern' Bell! LOL!

Happy New Year 2008

Happy New Year! :)

Cliche - 2007 went by so fast.

I generally don't do New Years Resolutions anymore instead I make a list of things I'd like to accomplish and slowly work my way through them see sidebar for my progress! LOL!

As always get fit and lose weight is at the top of that list but with Christmas just passed I've got my hooks (& needles) on the notion of doing a handmade Christmas... hey family if you're reading put your order in now LOL there is no telling what I might come up with ! *GRIN*

With that I was well I'm hoping to burn through some of my stash so I can upgrade. 20 yr old yarn isn't fun to work with anymore! (have I said that before??)

Well my first project that I can share is a Swiffer type mop cover. I'm tired of the funky smell of the cloths I buy, I'm tired of trashing them after one use and want to go back to the multi-use concept and yes despite the drought my city is facing I'm going back to cloth diapers too. *Sniff* Single use products don't sit with me anymore. So if these work out I'll be set.

The yarn in the pic to the left here is a 100% cotton, worsted weight. The blue thing for those that don't loom is a knifty knitter loom. The idea for this cloth came from a brief glance I had of someone who had knit and buttoned a cotton cloth onto their swiffer. The pattern for this cloth came from Canadian Crafter. Here is another Sheep of a Different Color and one hakucho more for good measure!

Also on my list of things to do is crochet some shopping bags out of my stack of grocery bags that I have here. So things are moving along! :)

Peasant Top

12/16 - Yes it is the dead of winter, and probably the coldest day of the season so far! And here I am at home thinking about this darling peasant top that I just found a Tutorial for and managed to make in under 2 hrs. (first one is always the slowest right?) The ideas are brimming and I could use up a few things in my stash... I might also be able to play with it some and change this simple summery top into something long and wintery! :)

Here is the Tutorial
Just Tutes Peasant Top

I may just have to try the Patchwork Circle Skirt too! :) And dd will have a cute summer outfit! :)

DD doesn't look thrilled with her top does she?? LOL!

Belated Merry Christmas

Ya know.... if I could have logged in... I would have wished y'all a Merry Christmas...
But blogger never lets me in these days! *sigh*


MERRY CHRISTMAS

and in case I can't log in after today!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Organizing - Tossing and Decluttering.

For months now since we upgraded the guest room, and moved the computers downstairs, the bonus room has been a wrecked room! Books all over the floor, toys scattered everywhere, discarded computer parts scattered from here to kingdom-come. Grrrr its been annoying me. Every time I walk in that room I have an overwhelming urge to light a stick of dynamite (because it would seriously make it look better.) Well tonight I got a bee in my bum - for lack of a better expression. On the weekend I had tossed 3 boxes which had taken up residence in the dining room and were accumulating stuff up into the bonus room and realized they could be put to good use - at least alleviating the visual clutter and paring it down to mere boxes... hey I can move anytime I want right! :) So I packed up all the junk in there and stuffed it all into boxes.

I have a plan to go through each box when the girls give me the night off and parse through their toys, along with other junk that has accumulated over the years (yes including dh's computer bits!) and make a go at emptying that room at least down to a couple rubbermaid/sterlite (for we can't be particular) boxes that will take up permanent residence in there. I think I will use it as my storage closet - since it is too cold in the winter and too warm in the summer to really do anything else with it. I couldn't imagine possibly sewing up there. *sigh* (of course for the amount we use the dining room maybe we should make the bonus room the dining *silly snicker!*)

When we moved the computers downstairs I had just taken all the stuff off my desk at the time and dropped it into one of plastic laundry baskets... and shoved it under a desk up there... well I filled it to the brim tonight while dh was putting the older one to bed... brought it all downstairs and (along with the garbage bag) and when the little bean went to bed started filling the garbage bag. The only thing left is a wad of scrapbooking magazines that I need to parse through and pull out the pages I want to keep! I think I'll get a binder and use some of the page protectors I have and start my ideas book.

10 minutes ago the basket was empty... it has now been filled with the first box that has been living in my laundry room for the last week or so.

I'm serious I have so got to get organized! And need to stop wasting my money on magazines which I will read through and then toss out! I daren't add up the amount of those magazines... as I decapitate them and realize how much I wasted!

Oh well happy decluttered home here we come! (come hell or high water!)

Happy 2nd Birthday Little One

Two Years ago today we were spending our first day with our newest little one. She, like her siblings, has changed our lives for the better.

So here she is Today

Happy birthday Little One.

Ramblings and Groanings

I always have trouble logging into Blogger! *sigh* So why should today be any different.

The New Knitty is up! :) YAY! I may try the Doddy or the Eco-Friendly fairy in the yarn I have kicking around... both sound interesting. Or I may spend some time finishing the projects I've got on the go! LOL!

The little one is now 4 days shy of her 2nd birthday. There are questions as to whether she will live that long. Is there something magical about the age of 2 that makes them incredibly clumsy? I'm serious. She'll be sitting on a chair drawing one minute, I turn around to look for another pencil and hear crash... and she is on the floor, on her belly wailing.

The Stokke (kinderzeat - which doesn't have the 5 pt harness) we used for our older dd is like a menacing wall of danger to the little one... don't ask me how! So that has been put away just because the number of accidents went from 1 periodically to 3 a day... and I didn't change anything except the time marched on! My sanity just couldn't take it anymore! So she uses a regular chair - she's tall enough!

She took a sippy of water from me and went over to the table, where the chair was slightly out - enough for her to get up to the table... did I mention she is fiendishly independent?..... anyway she sets the water on the table, and I move over to help - I'm a step away from reaching her (she moves quick) she is climbing on to the chair... crash... followed by the "OMG I'm REALLY hurt" squeal. Literally not even a millisecond later, a quick glance in her mouth as I peel her off the floor indicates blood. Lovely charming gushing mouth cuts! Teeth, Cheek, Gums, or God I hope not the Tongue? The cry of a baby with the wind sucked out of her... yes she is hurting... and pretty bad. She won't let me look... okay I'll keep calming her some more. "I wan bankie" Meanwhile the 6 yr old saw the commotion has run pale faced and hid under my computer desk down the hall. "Mae? Can you bring her Bankie?" she does.... good sister! Must remember to have her help when she can!

A couple seconds with Bankie and she is calming right down. "Will you let me look?"
Little: "No."
Me: "I need to find where the blood is coming from."
Little: "No."
Me: "Does it hurt?"
Little: "mm-mm" (the no sound too quick - translate Little-ese- "yes.")
Me: "Your teeth?"
Little: "No"
Me: "Your cheek?"
Little: "No"
Me: "Your tongue?"
Little: "mm hmm" (yes)
Me: "I need to see. Stick your tongue out at Mae" she does.... puncture wounds... gah... oh well at least the blood is stopped.

Add that to the list of injuries she has incurred in the last few days.... if record holds up right she should have a nice bruise on her head in time for her birthday - only because I'd really like a nice 2 yr old picture of her!

*sigh*
What's your vote? does she make it to 2?

Page two to go with Sweet Sarah Below

She was mad that I wouldn't pick her up because in the 30 minute walk I had carried her already 25 minutes... so I snapped her pic and daddy picked her up but she didn't want Daddy she wanted me! LOL! (yes I know horrible mummy!)

Another Obligatory Santa Pose! :)

Once again the little one rightly has stranger anxiety! LOL! So there won't be a pose without momma! :)

And yes those are goggles in her hand and a Frog in the big one's hand.

Latest Layout

Sorry I'm not sharing our Christmas cards yet! LOL! I'm not ready and besides it would ruin the surprise! LOL!

But here is my latest...Paper clip and staple from Erica's Gift by Dawn Webb, All papers by Me

This layout was done for the November AD challenge at RAKSCRAPS.com the image was based on an old movie poster The Old Dark House... so here is my take on the image!

Dissatsfied customer... Walgreens Staff

You know my kids for the most part are awesome... but like others they have their off days... we all do. Today I took my kids to the store. We got most of what we needed. I pushed it and went to one more store... as we approached the cash register... the little one ran ahead... so I ran after her... those freakin automatic doors she would have been in the parking lot in 2 seconds flat. The older one followed cackling like a hyena. I grabbed the little one. The cashier was glaring at us. As I put the stuff down on the counter the older kid started oinking like a pig and hee hawing like a donkey... Yes not polite... I told her to stop and she did but turned around and did it again. She got in trouble... the cashier was furious. She looked at the older one like she was animal that should be shot on sight.... she looked at the little one and told her how cute she was. She looked at me and her eyeballs shot daggers. She rang up the merchandise.... and literally threw it across the counter at me... it landed on the floor. Look lady I don't give a damn if you want to glare at me and you think my kids are animals (because I know they were behaving that way) but that is no way to treat a customer. Fluke... I think not... because 2 seconds later the receipt came flying across the counter too.

Yes the older one got in trouble at home.... the little one has no clue but she is in trouble too.

Either way, they are normally good kids and we normally get compliments on their behavior.

As an employee in a store what my kids do has no bearing on how you treat me... I am the adult in charge of minions... if you have a problem with my kids or others for that matter too freakin bad.... you need a new freakin job...

For the record my child said nothing to this woman. It had absolutely nothing to do with her.

I'm furious... and when I get a minute and cool down I will call the manager... because as a result of the cashiers inability to ignore my children One of my items fell out of the bag and now I have to go back because I refuse to give them a single dollar more than they're entitled too... and I won't be back.. there are other stores worth my business who treat me like a human being, with obnoxious kids.


GGGGGGRRRRRRR

New Hobby - Bento Porn

I'm ogling Bentos. If you don't know what Bentos are don't search them on Ebay.... seriously.... once you figure out how to pack these beauts of a lunch box... you'll be drawn in... and soon Broke. I've spent over $200 in my imaginary world... too chicken to give in to the temptation just yet.... so in reality is is nothing.

But dh promises if I stick to my plan of eating out occasionally instead of regularly I can buy Bentos for me and the girls.

Bento making here I come........

Schooling Crafting - and my new love....

Audio Books..... I never saw the use for them before... but now have discovered the art of errands and the art of multi-tasking. When someone asks well what do you listen to when you scrap or when you knit or when you do work on your computer, I can honestly say I'm educating my brain.... I'm focusing on what I'm doing while expanding my knowledge and listening to books that otherwise would be sitting on my shelf unread because I have a ton of other things to catch up on.... there just isn't enough time in life! LOL!

My friend turned me on to them. I started with American Gods, then she lent me Anansi Boys and I couldn't pull teeth through THUD - some accents just don't sit well with me. I've graduated to The Cell (and internet library book), then Lisey's Story (also internet library ... now working on Angel's and Demons (Brown), Twilight(Meyer), Golden Compass(I think its Pullman).

So I thought well my dd would love a good story - we borrowed Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary from the library and we all loved it. Even the littlest!

My knitting has been on hold, while I finish up dd's Halloween costume... so Sewing hit the machine this month. I think my next project needs to be some knits for the middle kid, and a sewing project for my sis that I have been putting off out of fear that it won't turn out.... oh well, I guess I'll never learn if I don't try it and then how could I learn from my mistakes... I need to investigate Polar fleece... Malden Mills for that project, along with velvet or velour. Now is the time to check that stuff out as it is cheaply priced for Halloween stuff!

For school, we've been working with the
Baltimore Curriculum project... where we've been going gangbusters on Science and slowly on Art and reasonably with Social Studies I guess. I'm slowly trying to add more stuff in as I gain resources and comfort.... so I guess we're going well.

So that's my update after a short interlude. I've been shy about posting on my blog lately as a little creepiness was revealed on Facebook, and I decided to play it cool for a while.

Homeschool Starts (Enter Grade 1)

Well technically we started on August 13th but we're still fine tuning everything and making adjustments here and there for what we really want to do!

LANGUAGE ARTS
- Spectrum Reading (Grade 2)
- Spectrum Spelling (Grade 3)
- Creative Writing assignments from various topics at hand
- Penmanship various letters and thank-yous to family

MATH
- Reader Rabbit Math (Grade 1) - completed Sept 26
- Spectrum Math (Grade 2) - started September 27
- Various online computer games

HISTORY
- Story of the World I - Ancient History (Egypt, Greece, Rome)

SCIENCE/HEALTH
- various topics (including Brownie Try-Its and other subjects of interest)

LANGUAGES
- Sign Language at home
- Spanish at home

ARTS/CRAFTS
- various projects

EXTRACURRICULAR
- Brownies
- will add more - maybe swimming

I will update as we progress through this first year! :)

Ya Baby!

My fingers went surfing on the net and I found out there were still some in another store on the other side of town..... Between car-failure (the alternator supposedly went bad) and bad planning she got her bag... and is happy. It was a gift from the Housefairy for straightening her room. Smart Lady that House Fairy - she knew M wanted it and she couldn't find it so she asked me to look and well you know the rest of the story. At the point we found it I would have been quite happy to get one without a frog.... but her has one so she is even more thrilled! I think we got the last one in the store.

Of course there is no show without punch right.... so while we're there searching little S is yelling Packback, packback... she was out with me last night while I was searching for the beastly thing... Well how could I refuse? But I wasn't prepared to pay $15 for a little fun bag for her... so when spotted this thing I couldn't resist. It is Thermos lunch kit. Too cool.... it has a zippered shoulder strap making it the perfect size backpack for a toddler who must be like her sister and it was $6.34 I'm glad I found it because she was just thrilled withit the whole way home and has been running around with M's backpacks for more than a week now. :) Though of course you have to realize that her sister's is infinitely far more interesting than hers right.... So I'm thinking I might jsut get some patches for hers and doll it up to look like a little girly tote even if I have to sew the patches on.... yes we're all about patches these days! LOL!

Dang nabbit :(

DD saw a backpack at Target she liked a couple days ago. What with the back to school sales and all - of course... I should know better than to "window" shop during these 3 weeks! LOL!
It was pink and turquoise... with a froggy hanging off of it.
$14.99 Went to get it tonight... its gone. :(

*sigh*

More layouts from the last 2 days.

Credits: Papers by me - fonts are ?? and Bradley's hand.
In honour of turning 6 and the school year starting soon, I figured the colour challenge at Gottapixel would be a good time remember the things that dd is currently fond of put ink to paper in a Who am I now layout.

Back in January we visited our middle dd. It was the first time the youngest got to meet her sister. She loved the toys! :)
Credits: Beauty add on by Cinzia Loosemore at Digital Freebies. Font is James Fajardo.
Here are the girls playing with Oscar the grouch and a wooded stacking rings toy.... they looked like they were having a good time! :)

2nd Birthdays (in 2003).... but that's not all!

So GottaPixel's challenge today (1st of the month) is a blue print challenge, they give you a template to work with and you do what you do best and play with it. Well as is common in the scrapbooking world most of the layouts done are square.... or large, so I have to adapt them to make them work for me... Its just more economical for me to print 5x7 instead of 8x10 or 12x12. SO the first is my alteration of Monica's blueprint challenge, and the 2nd is just how I added a 2nd page! LOL! Because I like uniformity for 2 pagers! :)
Ribbon - recoloured and paper recoloured but all original to Monica's August BluePrint Challenge.
Fonts are Script MT Bold and Bradley's hand and I think Ma Sexy.

So I'm getting my feet wet again with scrapbooking! :)

But that is not all.
On the hook I have a pair of soakers either for S or for charity, not sure which... depends on if I feel like adding a skirt to them! :)
On the needles, I have a charity pumpkin hat, and a Curly Purly soaker in peace fleece, which I need to frog.
I've got some patterns ready to sew for the girls.... just need to cut and sew.
Need to sew a skirt for me before our trip!
I'm working on my quilt again. I hadn't thought of it in months until I brought home Circle of Quilts... by Jennifer Chiavarini (book on tape!) from the library and got inspired! :)

and sadly my garden sucks.... no tomatoes... no peppers.... *sigh*

Sewing - Ottobre Magazine (04/2007)

The new magazine from Ottobre is up.
I ordered it. I love the patterns in there and want to actually make some of the girls fall clothes this year.

It is insanely crazy to think that I could make their entire wardrobe for fall - nor I think do I really want to but some of the outfits in the Ottobre magazine are cool and hip... and would give me practice and some fun sewing.

I think it might be time to send in my sewing machine and get it cleaned up.

I have a few things on my make list this year including:

• Cape for Sass (need to find some nice velvet or velour and some matching fleece)
• Brownie Pants / Skirt / Skort / Dress for M
• pretend Brownie vest for S.
• Halloween costumes.
  
• Thanksgiving / Christmas dresses
  

So I think that is a start for the season!

I've also found some awesome art lessons for M, that could turn into practical things like Christmas cards or Thanksgiving cards for the family! I can't wait to get started....

All Clear

The first dental visit went well. She can't wait to go back in 6 months. Darling dh booked the appointment already - good thing because I never get around to doing.

I'll have to scrap a page about it and explain the excitment she voiced when she got home about the adventure. Mr Thirsty, and orange flavored something or other! LOL!

Teeth are clean , no cavities... 3 loose ones... :)

First Dentist Visit

I have a fear of dentists.

M (age 6) is at the dentist for the first time as I type. I had to have my dh take her because I don't want my fear to rub off on her, I just don't think I could handle watching her at the dentist and I think maybe she would play on that concept - not deliberately... but because she could.

The scrap-booker in me wants to run over and take pictures.
The me in me wants to throw up.
The mum in me says OMG my baby is growing up! Another step in her belt loop of freedom.

So maybe I'll scrap a page about her visit when they come back and fill in the details for me.

.....meanwhile back at the ranch my fingernails will be ragged with the bite marks and my stomach will churn until they come back with a clean bill of teeth.

A Picture Speaks Volumes

Here is a layout of my girls at the beach in April.
This layout was done for the GottaBeQuick Scrap at GottaPixel.
Papers by Sarah Meyer's Gotta Be Quick - Sweet Sundress kit.

Not much to say today - miffed I was supposed to be in Toronto but got turned away for passport issues. *sigh*

Two Recent Layouts

This first layout was done for an "Artfully Yours" Challenge at Gotta Pixel. I just couldn't resist the sweetness of a pencil type drawing of two girls sleeping. The Poem comes from M's favourite book of bedtime stories and is one her and her daddy have shared since she was 2 yrs old.

Playing with the original photo I took a photo copy of it and then used the ink spray or charcol features in PSE 4.0. to make it look like a pencil drawing. I used the papers offered in the challenge.

Papers by Christina Wall at Gottapixel.

This second was inspired by the same Challenge, but not to my liking as much for it, so I did a little different I was trying to get the same effect using different techniques but don't think they turned out quite so well.

The blue in "Sarah's" eyes was completely by accident and isn't really blue its gray For some reason when I moved the layer over to the working copy it didn't clear the eyes background. I liked the effect so I kept it! Both images are classically my girls and they are roughly the same age frame.
M is 1 yr on the left and 10 months on the right
S is 8 months on the left and 9 months on the right.

Try It #7 Complete - Foody Pics!

Since joining Brownies we've learned a few neat things that keep us busy.
Today M planned lunch. At 6 you'd figure that she would pick everything sugary..... but no... the food pyramid as our guide (with Breads and and Fruits'nVeggies reversed) we had a good healthy lunch....

After lunch when the little one went to nap (yes a nap today too!) M and I played with part 4 of her try it..... and here is what we got. I've just ordered them through one of the photo services and we'll put them in her scrap book! :)

All images borrowed from various internet sites.... The object was to cut items out of a magazine but since I have few magazines pertaining to food, we surfed and borrowed.... since these are for personal use.... (if anyone has a problem, please email me and the photos will be removed!) :)

Telephone Slamming ....

A new one on me! With the de-regulation of telephone carriers a few years ago a new problem arose. Its called Slamming.

Direct Quote:
"Definition: Slamming occurs when your telephone service is switched from your current company to another one without your permission. Long-distance service is the most common target of slamming, but it can also happen with local or local-toll service."
http://www.fraud.org/tips/telemarketing/slamming.htm

Its apparently pretty common in the US but not quite as bad in Canada.

I'm furious. After almost 30 yrs of dialing the same number that I call almost weekly - there is a very large likelihood I will never be able to call that number again! The person who had that number doesn't feel any better than I do.

If you find yourself a victim of this - some of your actions should include....

1. Phone your chosen carrier (the one you were with) advise them that you have been slammed. (on this - 99% of the time their front line people will not have a clue what the devil you are talking about - explain and move on up the chain - keep on moving up the chain until you get an answer from someone who does - my suggestion keep moving on up through the supervisor ranks till you are satisfied.)
   
2. Phone the CRTC (in Canada) or the FCC (in the US) and launch a complaint

I will likely add to this list as remedy is sought in the above action, and as I find more answers. I also hope to add links to this entry shortly as I find some good ones.

Fuzzy Foes.... this is War!

Garden 0 ; Fuzzy Critter 2

This is WAR! WAR I declare.

Our measly attempt at vegetable gardening has been thwarted this year first by frost, then by drought and now by critter.... well I'm not letting the critters win. If I'm part of the ME first generation as my dad so aptly points out then why shouldn't I get first dibs on MY plants? (read it squirrely! MMMMYYYYY plants)

I had 5 teeny tiny green Romas budding on my 3rd tomato plant, and I was looking to enjoy them as soon as they turned red. Little Deadmeat (the squirrel - not affectionately named - in case you had any questions!) plucked not 1 but 2 of the little tasty gems ate a bite left them on my deck railing. If that is not enough he dropped my 1 measly little pepper on the ground to be ingested by the bugs..... now how rude is that??

I will not engage in chemical warfare, as this is food we're talking about.

If my herbal remedy works I'll be sure to post... but the drawback is that I will have to re-apply if it rains.

Face Lift

Just updating my blog.... figured it was time to play a little.
Opinions, suggestions welcome.
Still working on getting my old links and buttons on here too!

Artfully Yours Challenge at GottaPixel

A new challenge that has peaked my interest at Gottapixel called Artfully Yours
Background paper by Christina Wall in her freebie for the challenge - Artfully Yours (06-12-07)
Using features in PSE4 I coloured these photos to make them have a painted effect like Claude Monet's Parasol painting.... a singular image of a beautiful woman in a white flowing gown, with a parasol in a field with a turbulent type sky.
I just loved the texture of the painted effect! :)

Gardening?

A new day has dawned. I will yet become gardener. A stroll in our garden over the weekend set a new fire in me. I hate our garden. I hate our yard. What can you do with a 45 degree slope (okay not quite but close enough.) We will be buying a new drive way quite soon, I can feel it in my bones. It has cracked and sunk again, as it has apparently in the past. So that said I know we can't afford to pay someone to keep the yard and make it look nice.

We have weeds that was once our grass. We have a center island that is choked with choke cherry shoots,weeds and bushes that have out grown their place. There is nothing fancy, nothing exciting and but much infested with weeds Lots and lots of weeds. For the last 3 days in the late afternoon when the heat is dying out of the day, we've been in the garden.

I sprayed the grass a week ago for bugs - with the drought so bad at this time watering restrictions make it impossible to do much else... but the girls want to walk in the grass, so the bugs had to go. There is no point in doing anything with grass at the moment, it is so scorched with the drought and lack of watering that there is no telling what is really there, so I think I'll wait and remain hopeful for some rain in the fall and then call somebody in to sort out the mess we call a lawn.

So on to the bushes.... at first I was mad that walkway was being covered by the azaleas out front.... Then I discovered that the azaleas are almost 4.5 feet tall. They need drastic trim... Ideally I want them about 2-3 feet tall as they are in front of our bay windows. But again the drought makes it an unwise idea to hack away at the azaleas or we could shock them into a bad state and they may not flower come spring which is something dh looks forward to! :) But these bushes are a security hazard - not that I'm paranoid but someone could hid in the bushes and break in through any of the front windows. So the goal will be to make them shorter.... neater. So that has been one my accomplishments of the last few days. Trimming them so they don't get too unwieldy come mid winter. Again if it rains a bit, I will launch my attack. I've so far managed 1 and 1/3 of about 8 bushes in 2 days... not bad, but my arms are kind a tired.

We also have these bushes that are shaped in a mound. They too have reached over 4 feet in height, and I want them trimmed or removed. I'll settle for trimmed for now. I've cleaned 3 of the 6 of them up as they were shaggy, but again if it ever rains they will be trimmed down to about 2 ft in height. The next 3 of these will be more difficult but it will be done.

The holly bushes will be gone. I will pay someone to extricate them, if I have to. I've been bitten by the nasty thing too many times. You get bitten by one and jump back in fright and the 2nd one bites ya too! I may be a tad anti-social but who in their right cotton picken mind would put Holly Bushes - broad leaf, prickly Holly bushes right by the front door? Flanking both sides of the door? They've apparently been there for 25 yrs through 2 previous owners and now 5 yrs with us. I pledge, that for my sanity and that of those who come after me they will be gone before the fall, if I have to take them down and dig out the stump myself. (so if you read and garden, give me a suggestion for a simple bush that I can put near my front door. Something fragrant would be nice, but if it really attracts bees or other biting bugs.... maybe I'll stick with a simple low Euonymus - maybe a Fireball Burning Bush type - now that would be pretty! Plus I'd like short but if it needs trimmed.... well I'm your gal! :) I'll keep this here as my idea list! :)

On to the weed pit that we call the center island. I will attack that. I just want the weeds gone and for it to look like someone loved it a little. I think, for the next couple years we'll irradicate the weeds, poison ivy (apparently it is there dh has gotten it a few times) and periwinkle, leave it for a summer while I research and hatch a plan for some long term low maintenance but pretty plants.

In the mean time I'mgoing to get a rose. In honor of my dd's sister (but not my child) and plant it in the garden. Our memorial rose bush.

Ya its crazy. I may not succeed in anything i try here, but hey at least I can say I tried and gave up with a fight! LOL!

So wish me luck as I attack my garden and turn it into a much nicer paradise. So that in addition to the other things you've read here, will be in my repertoire. If you're not into gardening and don't care, I won't be offended if you skip over these posts! LOL!

A Sadness for a Loved One Lost.

On Saturday June 2, a family near and dear to my heart lost a young child.

I don't know how much I can share with you... including her name and situation .... so the best I can do is say that this little girl had a very difficult start in life but was adopted by an awesome family who loved her with all their heart. She touched the lives of many including my family (especially my middle daughter.) She taught me so much and I only met her 3 times but had heard so much about her that she feels like a sister to me.

With sadness I say goodbye, to a little girl so young who was wise beyond her years.

Her memory will be carried on in our hearts, and to her family I send peace in a difficult time.
To her birth-mom I say thank-you ... to her adoptive mom I say thank you for allowing her into my heart and that of my family.

In Peace Little one.