Swaps - Jacqui

Hi there!

Well, from what I can gather,
the newest "IN" thing, in the quilting world is.....

POLKA DOTS....

Jacqui (another Janiac) and I started emailing back and forth
and we decided to do our own personal "dot-swap".

She happens to be a Canuck also - that means she's Canadian, like me,
and I felt that it would be easy and not too complicated,
with respect to the "mailing" part, if we swapped dots. *s*

I received her 1st bundle of dots, today.

Sure hopes she gets mine, soon. *grin*

Ain't swappin' a blast?!??!




That's about it.... planning on making a baby quilt, some day
from that magazine I had blogged about ...
was that last weekend?!??

Thanks for reading my blog!

Rosa

Gifties - Cyn

Hi there!

Boys! When I start blogging, I really don't know when to stop! LOL

Anyhow, today, in my mailbox, I had a WONDERFUL surprise!!!!

My friend, Cyn, sent me this EXCELLENT book on hand quilting!!!

Talk about a great book - especially since I don't have
very much experience at hand quilting and I usually
end up scratching my head, wondering WHAT design do I do?!??!

I usually end up doing very little on my quilt.
This book has TONS of advice and I can't WAIT to
read it - cover to cover!



Here's a closeup of the title....

Now, a few weeks back, Cyn and I were emailing back and forth... or was it in "chat mode"?...
Anyhow, we were discussing 4-letter words, amongst other stuff... *VBG*

Look at the cute Siggie that she sent me!!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!

Isn't it precious?!?!

Anyhow, thanks a bunch, Cyn!

I KNOW I will enjoy my book
and your Siggie will make me smile every time I look at it!

*VBG*

Rosa

Misc. - My (mini) Vacation

Hi There!

Monday is a day off, for us Canucks - Labour Day!

Soooooo.... since I still have a few vacation days left for the year,
I figured I'd take tomorrow off!

YIPPEE!!! FOUR... 4 ... Quatre... Quatros(SP?) or, even....

IV

DAYS OFF, in a row!!!!!!!

*VBG*

Anyhow, you know when you see a picture or toon and it just makes you giggle?

Well, I received this one, this week and I thought I'd save it.



Tomorrow, I have a dinner date - that's actually "lunch" for most of you...
Here in the (Canadian) Maritimes, it's the meal that we eat at 12 noon. *s*

Anyhow, my old and dear friend, Nancy sent me an email a couple weeks ago.
We haven't gotten together in awhile.
So after emailing back and forth, we've decided to do "dinner", tomorrow.

And NO, we won't be seeing male strippers, either!

Although that would have been a hoot!

Friday, after GILBERT has finished work, we're heading off to do a few errands,
and bright and early Saturday morning,
WE (as this time he specifically said "WE") will be staining the rest of our fence, together.
*groan*

I HATE oil paint or stain....
Anyhow, I guess I'll "try" and do my part and not complain, too, too much. *s*

Will keep you guys posted on whatever else happens,
on my FOUR - did I mention that I have FOUR days??? - off... *VBG*

Rosa

Neat Web Sites - 3

Hi there!

A few web sites that we recently posted and I thought I'd share them with you here. Also, it's a neat spot for me to save them, in case I ever need to go to those net pages, again. YES, I realize that I could put them in my "Favorites", but that way, you guys wouldn't be able to visit them! *grin*

Quilting coasters - thanks to Sheila!
http://www.lovetosew.com/harvestcoasters.htm
and
http://www.equilters.com/library/projectshare/coasterspatt.htm

Quilting calendars, for your desktops:
http://www.cabinquilter.com/funstuff/calendar.html
and
http://www.piecepatcher.ca/calendar.htm

Hope you enjoy these.... I know I will! *grin*

Rosa

Misc. - Gilbert

Okay, I think that I already mentioned that I'm a bit behind in my blogging and picture sharing.... but a couple weeks ago, we had had a late lunch and around 7h30 pm, we were both up in our home office and we were kind of getting hungy.

Well, Gilbert announces that HE will surprise me and go "build" something. *grin*

He brings up this wonderful plate of crackers, cheese and cute olives, on the top!
Along with 2 beers, of course! *grin*

I just HAD to grab the camera and take a picture, to share with you!



This Friday, after work, I quickly changed into old clothes and started
yanking weeds and trimming the grass around our communal fence.

Gilbert wanted to start staining the fence, early Saturday morning.
I took a couple pics, to share.

Not sure if you can see the difference... but we sure can! *VBG*

Sunday morning, he decides to change the oil
in BOTH our cars!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to take a picture of HIS
car.... I was too busy sewing! *grin*

Well, that's it. We now have TWO cars with fresh oil....

We should be ready for our vacation, in September!!!

Rosa

Misc. - Lousy Weather!

Well, that's it! I'm officially proclaiming this summer
- 2008 -
as the WORST summer EVER!!!

And it's not only in MY city, but all across Canada, too!

The worst part about it, I've always said that our summers are
from July till August. YIKES! There's only 1 more week left!

Either there's fog, too windy, too muggy, mist, rain -
you name it....
but no, nice warm day.

:-(

Gilbert and I haven't even had a CHANCE to fire up our barbecue!



LOL... no, these are NOT our barbecues but pictures that I grabbed from the net.

Pretty funny, eh?

Okay, one (rare) day, we got sunshine. I took a couple pics.

The next day, we had fog. I tried to take the pics at the same place, same time.

Now, my city is well known to have lots of fog.... and sometimes even thicker than this!

And I've been patient, but this is getting to be TOO MUCH!!!

Will someone do something about this?!??! *grin*

Gilbert and I have our 2 week vacation in September - let's hope there's some sunshine and nice weather!!!

Winter's coming and, quite frankly, I really don't want to think about it....

WHERE'S MY SUMMER?!?!?!

Rosa

P.S. Tomorrow they're calling for rain, again! My toes are starting to get moldy!

Misc. - Laundry

Hi there!

Okay, I've got TONS of blogging to do and so little time! Actually, yesterday evening I had promised myself that I would upload a bunch of pics that I've been taking or getting from the net, to share with you and wouldn't you know it?!?? I got some kind of stomach problem - diarrhea(SP?) and nausea, yesterday evening.

Went to bed around 9h30 and only got up at 7h30, this morning!
And I NEVER go to bed early, either!

Anyhow, feeling 100% better this morning - Thank GOD! *grin*

Recently, there were chit-chats on the Dear Jane forum about laundry and hanging it out on the clothes line. And since it was so interesting and I had saved a few pics and even an email that my friend Barb had sent me, I thought it might interest some of you and I'd just "blog" about it. LOL

Here's the email that Barb sent me.
No, she didn't write it but I thought I'd share it with you, as I found it rather comical. *grin*

Washing Clothes Recipe

Never thought of a "washer" in this light before..what a blessing!

Washing Clothes Recipe' -- imagine having a recipe for this ! ! !

Years ago a Polish grandmother gave the new bride the following recipe:

This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrapbook - with spelling errors and all.


WASHING CLOTHES

Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water.

Sort things, make 3 piles
1 pile white,
1 pile colored,
1 pile work britches and rags.

To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water.

Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch.

Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and starch.

Hang old rags on fence.

Spread tea towels on grass.

Pore wrench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down.

Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.

================================================
Paste this over your washer and dryer. Next time when you think things are bleak, read it again, kiss that washing machine and dryer, and give thanks. First thing each morning you should run and hug your washer and dryer, also your toilet---those two-holers used to get mighty cold!

For you non-Polacks - wrench means rinse.:)

AND WE THOUGHT WE HAVE IT ROUGH TODAY ?

***************************************

Now, another Janiac shared these two pictures. Apparently, in the 1900's, Laundry Day was on Mondays. Well, I can ASSURE you that this working gal, in 2008, does her laundry on Sundays! Yes, I realize that it's the Lord's Day, but unfortunately this is the day that I've designated as "Laundry and Household Chore Day". *grin*

And this pic, I had saved. I dunno... it still has the power to make me GRIN! LOL

Now, I just heard the dryer buzzer go off.... Guess what I need to do?!?!?

LOL

Have a great laundry/relaxing day!

Rosa

Sewing - Polka Dots!!!

Hi there!

Ever been to the grocery store and you decide to just "look" at the quilting magazines,
saying to yourself,
"No, I have enough magazines. I'm just going to look."....
knowing full well, that you'll probably be buying one? *grin*

Well, I've been pretty good lately, with not buying.... till two weeks ago. I picked up this magazine and don't cha just love it, when you take it home and realize,
"HEY! I wanna do EVERY quilt, in here... with the exception of 1 or 2!"

Anyhow, as there's a new swap going on - a "Polka Dot" fabric swap,
on the DJalternatelist group,
I thought I'd share with you a couple pics....

Now, I'm no fashion or fabric expert, but I'd say that "Polka Dots"
seem to be the "in" thing! *grin*



Magazine is by Fons&Porter's.... summer 2008

Here's one of the quilts - it's for a baby and the circles
are polka dots... most of the background blocks are stripes.
Cute, eh?

Here's a closeup of the "dots".

Anyhow, if any of you are crazy about "polka dots",
I would suggest that you run out and pick up this magazine....
IMHO
(In My Humble/Honest Opinion)

Rosa

DJ - Friends

Got this picture, in an email today and I thought I'd share. *s*




Have a great summer - or what's left of it! *grin*

Rosa

Misc. - Wine

Hi There!

Well, Gilbert declared this past week that our wine was ready to bottle.
We had 2 batches on the go.

So, yesterday - Saturday - I washed and sterilized all our 2 liter bottles.

This morning, we started bottling and I thought I'd take a few pictures
to share with you.

1st batch is now bottled and corked!


It's a "Vieux Château du Roi" - red and dry - the way we like it!
The name of the wine, translated would probably be:
"The King's Old Castle". Don't ask - have NO IDEA where they got the name! LOL

Here's Gilbert, adding the wine from the 2nd batch.
Oh yah, Thunder, our German Shepherd is ALWAYS with us -
that's his rump that you see in the picture. LOL

Here's a picture of the carboy and the wine, running through the tube.

And, our 2nd batch is now in bottles and corked!

This batch, is what I think they call a "cépage".
That's when 2 (or more) types of grapes are mixed together.

Personally, I prefer a Shiraz.
The BESTEST Shiraz, in my opinion, are from Australia, Chile or Africa.
They seem to have more "punch" in the mouth - nice and savory...
sometimes with a taste of "pepper", almost. *grin*

Anyhow, Gilbert was choosing and paying for the wine kits....
He prefers a Cabernet - so, we compromised! *grin*

As I write this, it's now 12h35 noon time.
Time to grab a bite to eat and I hope to be able
sew some more, this afternoon.

Have a great Sunday!

Rosa

DJ - Siggies: My "Bikini Bear"

Hi There!

It's Saturday morning and last night and it was raining while we were sleeping.
We must have had thunder and lightning - not sure -
but this morning, our computers were on the blink.

Gilbert has been working on our network and server for about 2 hours now,
and is desperately trying to get our "web pages", back on line.
I know he'll succeed, but it's still a pain in the you-know-where. *s*

Anyhow, yesterday, a good friend of mine sent me an email that she
had received her "Birthday Siggies",
and because she was away for a bit and it had rained in her area,
it appeared as if the envelope had "sat" in water, for awhile.

In a way, it was a good thing because even though I had TESTED my "purple" marker,
it actually wasn't "permanent", as I thought it was.

No big deal, you say....
All I have to do is re-send her another one, with different markers, right?

Unfortunately, with this Birthday Swap....
that I was ALL CAUGHT UP, for the WHOLE year,
I thought I was doing pretty good.... GREAT, even! *groan*

There are AT LEAST 30 other siggies that have been sent out, with this PURPLE marker!!!

I now have to try and re-trace who got what and re-send ANOTHER Siggie,
to these people,
without that damn PURPLE marker!

Anyhow, here's a pic of what that PURPLE marker did!


Not the prettiest sight, eh? *sigh*

Anyhow, if you're one of these people that have one of my Siggies
and there's PURPLE on it, PLEASE send me an email and
I'll gladly send you another one!

Luckily for me, we don't have any "Saturday Morning Errands"
to do, today.....

Guess what I'll be doing, instead of working on another UFO?!?!?

Rosa
*back to the drawing board and sewing machine*

Misc. - Women Perspire... Men Sweat!

Hi there!

We had Monday off - it was "New Brunswick Day", here.
But I went on a trip to Calais, Maine, USA... SHOPPING!!!

Picked up a few pieces of 30's fabrics and some batik.
Have a project, in mind for both those fabrics...
Now, if I can just find the time to DO them!

But, I now have 3 lists, on my blog, on my "projects".
That should help me with UFO's (Un-Finished Objects). *grin*

Anyhow, during the past year, I have been unable to accompany Gilbert,
with our glass of wine ritual, at supper. My face gets all red and I sweat!
Oooops, I meant to write that I "perspire"!

Men sweat but women perspire... or so they say!

A Janiac friend of mine sent me a few Maxine cartoons,
and I thought this would be a good one, to share with you!

*grin*



I also took today - Tuesday - off. I wanted to have a 4 day break.
Anyhow, it's now 6h15 pm, Tuesday evening, and it feels like I never stopped
all day, yet I'm having difficulty remembering what EXACTLY I did today! LOL

Yes, I know I did some dishes, baked a batch of cookies and sewed a bit -

WHERE did the time go?!??!?

Soooo... just a little note to wish you all a great week
and thanks for reading my silly blog! *grin*

Rosa

DJ - Siggies

Hi there!

I mailed out a parcel to my good friend, Marianna.... overseas. I had also included a "Siggie".

Since I'm rather cheap... ooops, I meant "frugal", I always send it the cheapest route.

Well, her parcel was sent out on the 3th of July and she received it a month later!

Well, this evening, I got the bright idea of drawing up a cartoon, on what I "imagined" happened to Marianna's Siggie! LOL

Either the posties take my parcels apart and hem and haw and "ooh" and "aaaah" over my gifties, or they want to keep it, for themselves, for a bit.....

Or.... the poor Siggie is left to fend for itself, on the big OPEN ocean!!!! *grin*

Rosa

Sewing - Quilt Show in St. Andrews

Hi there!

Just a quick blog to share a couple pictures that I took,
at a quilt show in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, last month.

We're in the midst of talking about a possible
Dear Jane - H-12 "Hannah Lou's Hearts" block swap
and I wanted to share with you, a cute way to make your "hearts"... *s*

If you click on the picture, you'll see a close-up of the stitches.

I just LOVED this quilt!!!!



Not sure if it won any prizes,
but it won a prize, in MY "heart", anyhow! *VBG*

Have a great sewing day!

I'm heading downstairs to sew on some birthday Siggies!

Rosa