Nov 25/09

So, the new guy in my life likes to read historical fictional and the red hair betrays his Irish heritage so I thought that this bookmark might be a cool little gift.

It is a Teresa Wentzler stitched on 14 count Aida (not my ideal fabric, but the colour works for the skeins)and backed with a golden raw silk. We are still trying to figure out plans for this weekend so I hope to give it to him either on Friday or Saturday. I know the dating rule books all say to not do last minute planning for dating, but between our work schedules and his visitation schedule with his kids, flexibility is necessary!

Nov 13/09

The cross stitching is done on the Army crest, thank heavens! The design is big and things like the maple leaves were difficult to count. I get a brain block when counting large areas in a single colour. After struggling through the first two leaves, I did the third one in blocks of ten squares and that greatly reduced my frustration level! The backstitching remains to be done, but I have switched over to stitching a bookmark to give my head a break from this one!


Here is an update photo on my kitty Hayes.

The sutures holding her left eyelids together were removed a week ago and the wound is healing nicely although it looks like she scratched herself recently, causing a little scab to form. So far, she is holding her own and I can feel no signs of the tumour re-growing just yet. She has gained a half pound or so since her visit to the vet last week and she spends her time sleeping and demanding affection, food and water. In other words, life is as usual around here!

Nov 10/09

The cross-stitching is almost completed on the Army crest. Taking a picture would require picking my sleep deprived butt up off this chair and walking through the house though. For some reason, I thought that a venti Americano at 8pm would be a good idea----I was on a date and obviously not thinking clearly----and the caffeine surged through my system ALL NIGHT LONG!

These little goodies arrived in the mail yesterday courtesy of Cross-Canada Stitching:

My closest LNS is 150km away so I rarely get there even though I try to support the smaller local retailers whenever I can. Michaels supplies me with my DMC skeins and it is only 30km away so my pattern shopping tends to be done on-line, mostly through eBay. Including shipping, my bill at CCS was $37.54 (Canadian) and the service was prompt. I plan to be a repeat customer!

Nov 8/09

Between it being Sunday and having something do a dance all over my immune system, I am enjoying my coffee and listening to Stuart MacLean on CBC radio. As Wednesday is Remembrance Day here in Canada, Stuart's show was a beautiful reflection on remembrance. As I was listening, I was struck once again at how wonderfully lucky I am that I have never experienced war. The only gunfire I have ever heard is that of hunters out in the woods during duck and deer seasons. My country has not been invaded, I do not live under a dictator, my brothers were not forced to take up arms, I do not experience racial tension or hatred. I live in a country of peace.

My only experiences with war come from books. As a child and teenager, I read extensively on World War II as I tried to understand why my Japanese grandparents were interned. As an adult, I have read on Bosnia to understand why my brother and his fellow soldiers were there as peacekeepers, El Salvador to understand the barbed wire and continued militia-like atmosphere, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq to understand what is taking our Canadian soldiers once again into war and so on.

On Remembrance Day, I will be at the local cenotaph with my family, looking at the stoic faces of the veterans and silently thanking them for their sacrifices. I will be thinking of those families who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan as I look at my brother so handsome in his dress uniform and his son who adores his daddy. I will be thankful that I could have been born anywhere in the world, but circumstance and fate found me here in Canada. I will renew my personal vow to share peace and love in my own way to help make the world a better place.

Nov 7/09

This morning I was just checking through the list of blogs that I follow and came across a finished version of a breast cancer ribbon project from Ink Circles. Sigh! So many patterns to stitch, so little time in this lifetime!

Hayes had her sutures removed at the vet yesterday and the vet seemed happy with her status. I on the other hand was not overjoyed to see that she only weighs 6.0lbs. This cat has been affectionately known as "Fat Cat" for 14 years by those who know and love her. Now she is known as "Bag of Bones". We stopped into my mom's on the way home from the vet to share our apple pie and Mom did her best to fatten up Hayes by feeding her half a can of tuna. Gramma is not a cat person, but she loves her grand-kitties because her kid does!

My youngest brother is probably still not thrilled with me like I am with him, but he did take my old toilet into the Habitat ReStore yesterday for me. I replaced the toilet a month or more ago because a connector rusted and caused a leak/flood. The old toilet has sat on my lawn for all this time, waiting for him to come pick it up and drop it off while he is in the city for classes at the community college. I did bleach it very thoroughly, but he did not want any "yucky" water to splash into his car trunk. Not that I blame him, but I am thrilled to be one degree less redneck now!! Every time I saw the toilet on the lawn, I could hear Jeff Foxworthy saying, "You might be a redneck if......."

Nov 5/09

Today's thoughts are brought to you by apple pie:

A friend of mine emailed me last night to say that she wanted to make me an apple pie so who was I to say no! She has been following my Hayes the cat saga on Facebook and as a fellow pet lover she wanted to do something for me. I had been a kind ear for her a couple of years ago when her dog got sick and had to be put down so she is returning the kindness. The pie is yummy and Hayes has been enjoying it as well as last night I mistakenly put the plate where she could reach it and I turned around to see her licking my piece!!

Many people are really anti-Facebook, but at times like this, it has been great comfort to me. Hayes has had good health wishes from friends as far away as New Zealand and Norway and so many people stop me when I am out and about because they are following her story. The same thing happened a few years ago when my mom was critically ill in the hospital. A simple expression of sympathy or good wishes really does go a long way for the receiver!

I did some more stitching on the Iris last night, but my concentration was limited so I did not make a great amount of progress. Being a health care worker, I have been vaccinated up the ying yang this past week. I had the seasonal flu and pneumonia shot on Friday (I am prone to pneumonia and bronchitis) and the H1N1 shot on Tuesday. The icky ache and cough that hit me yesterday could be either side effects from all of the vaccines or the actual H1N1 virus as I know that I was exposed to it at work before I took this time off. I must say though that apple pie is a great method of treatment!

One last thing I want to share today. My cousin was in Moncton the other day for work so my brother and I met up with him for supper. My brother introduced me to a drink called a Monkey's Lunch. Now, you have to know my brother. Picture a George Clooney look-a-like (his nickname is Clooney!)in a Canadian army uniform. I started to laugh when he ordered his drink and instructed the waitress to not bring it to him with an umbrella or in a daiquiri glass. I stopped laughing when he let me have a taste of it. Kahlua, banana liqueur and milk! Yum!

Nov 3/09

Not the greatest photo as my hands were shaking from too much caffeine, but I thought that the berries on my burning bush were absolutely gorgeous the other day. I am trying to take in all of the beauty around me while I am off work for a couple of weeks, a taking of time to smell the roses as it were.


This photo of Penelope makes me laugh because she is such a funny and affectionate cat.

We had some bad news from the vet yesterday regarding Hayes. The tumour is malignant and aggressive (I forget the exact name of it!) and the vet had not been able to remove it all the other day so we truly are playing a waiting game. The vet and I talked about how many times Hayes can go under anesthetic to keep removing the tumor as it grows back and what things does she need to be monitored for (tumour re-growth, weight loss and liver enzymes). We will just keep taking every day one day at a time and I know that I know when the balance will have tipped between her quality of life and my not wanting to let her go. She on the other hand does not seem to be the least bit fussed by it all as she goes about her usual daily activities of demanding food, water and attention and assuming her spot on the bed at night, curled up against me.

Some more stitches were put into the Iris yesterday after I came home from some retail therapy. Gasp! I bought a Christmas gift yesterday!