Phew

Thank goodness November is over. It has been cold, grey, and full of ugly mustaches. However, as bad as mustache season is, Gord raised a few hundred dollars and so it was worth it. But in the end to November I say good riddance. Goodbye and I don't want to see your ugly face until next year.

 We have moved on to Candy Cane hot chocolates, visits from the Pa (ok, that was technically in November but at the very end so we can count it as December), trips to Vegas, Plays as performed by Anthony Cummings and dance recitals, roller skating, hibernating, quilting, time off work...wow December you have some high expectations to live up to.

 

  At Horseshoe Canyon

 Playing Stoneage

 

Even Kitty wanted to play it was so much fun

I don't think these need any explaining whatsoever

I have high hopes for you December. You better deliver!

Blah November

 I never could figure out why I would get soooo grumpy in the fall. The past couple of years though I have come to realize my distaste for November and that's my answer to my grumpiness. It's cold, it's dark and it feels like a loooong month of cold and dark. Sigh.

On the brighter side of things this November, there is a long weekend, pomegranates and pomegranate experimental products, a trip to one of my favourite places - Horseshoe Canyon, and a date at Tyrell (so what if your date includes two 9 year olds I say)

 

This is the place where Gord and I went for a picnic on one of our first few dates, although neither of us ate anything because we were too nervous! It had recently rained and our shoes got covered in thick layers of mud and clay so that he took mine home to wash (and I went home barefoot). It's also the place where we smooched for the first time. Awwwww.

 

 

 Besides all of it's sentimental value, it's freakin' beautiful and weird and spectacular!

Take that November. Booya.

November

 You know it's November when you see all the cookie dusters about town. Gord really isn't this sad about having a stash, maybe he's just sad because it snowed for the first time the day before and it's now officially COLD! If you want to donate to Movember and help support prostate cancer research, click here: http://ca.movember.com/mospace/636906/

I bought a cake decorating kit this week!

So I made a cake!

The design and colours aren't exactly up this girls alley  - can we say Sunday school on Easter? But this cake was strictly a test run with taste and practice the goal...taste came in number one with practice a close second. I think there are a few more cakes in our near future! Good thing winter is here because I's got a lot of baking to do:)


My new fabric also arrived in the mail this week. I love it. Along with some grey I already had, this will soon become our bed quilt to replace the ugly visioned quilt that is not to be spoken of again!

So far, this weekend is kicking some serious winter ass!

Pumpkins

The other night Anthony and I each carved a pumpkin. You will notice that there aren't any photos of the final results...lets just say I followed the rules of not interfering in children's art and Anthony suggested we paint them next year:) But the process was fun regardless of the outcome and I love love love roasted pumpkin seeds so it was a winning situation for this lady. 

 

 

 And in no relation to the pumpkins we carved, the next night I made 

pumpkin and ricotta stuffed pasta. It was yummy.

Happy Halloween!

hot and cold

A dress and hot water bottle, a little contradictory but also kind of fitting as it lines up nicely with the theme of my body.  In usual Lindsay fashion, I've been freezing my tush off as of late (I know it's only October but its COLD). Hello -8 with flurries. But the hot flashes I've started to have the joy of experiencing are not quite the kind of heat I want. Too bad for me cause that's all I'm getting until June, and even in Calgary that's a bit of a gamble!

I made this pillowcase dress because they looked so easy and I want to start making some clothes (for me, mostly) but I thought I would ease my way in. Boy it was easing alright. So simple that I'm afraid the two little girls I know might have a pillowcase revolt if I let myself go too crazy. I've already been stalking pillowcases on ebay for a near future pcd marathon:)  (the dresses may or may not come with sock monkey's since I may or may not have just watched a super easy tutorial on them...I think I may start pulling for a girl in this adoption gig!)

 And what says winter better than oscar the grouch superduper soft and furry material wrapped around a hot water bottle? I'll tell ya - nothing. Even makes the cat smile, sort of.

Chaos

Don't get me wrong, I love a little chaos in my life. I seem to get more things done when there is more to do...but some times, just sometimes, I would prefer for the drama, er, I mean chaos to be spread out a little. You know, so it oozes more slowly through the weeks to fill in those 

spaces of more quiet, kinda dull and boring times.

 

 

 

 oh kitties, how cute you are and fill in those down times

But maybe it's not so much chaos and drama as it just everyday life and it just happens that the past couple of weeks have been full of life. To sum up, we've got the news I can't have kids, we've met people to explore adoption and have the application of life change sitting waiting to be droped off.

 

 4 pieces of paper that will change our lives....

I've had 4 staff loose their jobs at work, Gord got into school for his Masters, we booked a trip to Vegas and the one of the cats got into Anthony's school and he had to capture her and bring 

her home in a box. Hello life, can we ease up a tad?!

In between all the chaos, life, whatever you choose to call it. I managed to get  a bit more sewing done. I also ordered a shawach of fabric and am waiting it's arrival to make a quilt for our bed (the ugly quilt will not be spoken of again). I also have plans of making some pillow case dresses and hot water bottle cozies this weekend while I wait for my new fabric:)

 

 
And, last night Gord and I went to a couples cooking class. It was a wedding present from people he works with and although it was full of people that were friendly enough but not our type (cough, douche bags) we had fun and came away with a few good recipes. 

 Our job for the meal was to make the tartlets...they turned out yummy:)

 

 

Oh,and this is me eating prosciutto wrapped asparagus (before my main course of beef). I don't think I'm a vegetarian anymore....add that to the list of 'life' this week too!

dinner

 Nothing like an eggplant and tomato tower with mozza cheese and balsamic vinegar reduction dresing on a Tuesday night! (maybe, just maybe I perhaps maybe, watched too much Food Network over Thanksgiving...maybe)

 That's right...it's just another Tuesday. Nothing special. Just whipped it up. Whatever, no big deal.

Sewing Therapy

 The last two days I stayed home. It was for muy needed for my mental health and for those around me! I just needed a break. And along with some strong contemplation of life, here's what my hands were doing while my brain was thinking.

A custom baby quilt for a girl at work

 I

 I finally finished this one! I only started it in FEBRUARY!

 

Even Calypso liked it

I love new day timer time. It's great. I get excited. It's a little, how do you say...lame?! I get all nostalgic flipping through the old one for dates to put in the new one and seeing all that we did in a year (highlights included my surprise trip to Cuba, my family visiting, getting married and Peru - not a bad year I'd say!) This year after my glorious purchase and careful inputting of important dates and highlighting I made it a special cover too!

 

 

 

 And I made a new iron board cover. It's not pretty (I had no fabric that was long enough or that I wanted to use on such a dinky little project) and it's a little short on the sides (you can't see it in the photo, I'm strategic like that) but it's better than the one we had. Plus it doesn't smell like McDonald's french fries when you iron on it, which is also a pleasant bonus.

 

Here lays my next challenge: I've had this fabric for almost 2 years and today I cut it up into bricks to start a large quilt for our bed. I have a vision in my head let me tell you of how this quilt is going to go down. I knew it was missing something but when I laid it all out I realized it's just down right UGLY and this was not even close to the vision in this little brain. What does one do; give up and find random projects for 120 piece of fabric or ....well, I don't know the or just yet.

YUCK, the longer I stare at it the Uglier it gets. How terrible! Until my next days off I will not look at it again!