queenconch

Everything under the sun!

2007-06-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Grad walk
Wine Gals
I just don't know where the past months have gone! Since we got Libby life has been a whirlwind of goings on. Just after Bronwynne arrived home from Costa Rica I went on a week long tour of the Okanagan Valley with a group of wonderful woman (there were 6 of us all together) Two of the gals had birthdays during the week, one turning 48 the other turning 50. They had always wanted to do the wine tours so thats what we did. I'm not much of a wine drinker myself as it stuffs up my nose but I found out what wines I can drink. We had a wonderful time and experienced some fabulous meals, great laughs, incredible places, and met some far-out people. The day after I got back we moved Bronwynne to Victoria, she got herself a job the next day and is now saving up for her trip to Thailand. She has caught the travel bug and wants to get it out of her system before continuing with her schooling. All the power to her I say! She came back for her Grad the weekend of June 9th which was 3 days of none stop activities and fun ( and tears for me as another of my chicks graduates and flies the nest!) She just loves Victoria though and if they are happy so am I! Through all this the renos have been happening to the house so life has felt a bit more hectic than usual!! I just spent 2 days at the pottery studio doing what we call "pot till you drop". This is when we all get together to make as many pots, dishes and other stuff using "club clay" and then the things are sold to raise money for the Fine Arts. It's a lot of work but also fun.
Two of my (remaining) children have now finished school for the year, they just have exams left to do but Declan still has two more weeks to go! I am going as chaperon on his classes year end trip to Vancouver where we will get to sleep at the Aquarium! I'm sure this will be fun but I just can't wait for summer and some down time.

Our New Girl Libby

2007-04-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

I feel just like a new momma, as we have a new member of the family, our new puppy Libby. Declan and I went to Barbs on Sat. then on Sunday we all traveled to Vancouver where we picked up my oldest Kerian and his girlfriend. Spent about 1 1/2 hours at Metrotown Mall where we got a bunch of cloths for Declan at Old Navy as he had grown out of most of his stuff! Then it was off the the Animal Hospital to pick up Libby at 1:30. Spent about an hour there getting filled in on all her info. she is about 3 months old. It was love at first sight for me! We took her to visit Gwen and Gwen's dog Scout who is about 5 months. Along with Casper they played and raced around the yard like crazy, it was great for Libby to stretch her little legs before the drive and ferry ride. Libby just seemed to fit in with everything we did and we had no accidents in the house at Barbs I just couldn't believe it! She also slept right through until 6:15 am! Took her and Casper for a long walk on the beach before once again having a car ride and another ferry! For such a little thing she did so well and has fit into our household as if she was born here! We just love her to pieces!

New Pond

2007-04-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend at my sisters as it was her 60th birthday. Caitlin and I went down on Sat, Em and Aethan were already there and Barb picked up Gwen and her new dog Scout from the ferry an hour later. Aethan was so good with being surrounded by all the women! It's like he sees us every day! We had such a fun day, walking the beach with the dogs, looking at photos (Gwens from England and mine from Costa Rica), and just having a really great gab session! We all went out to the Japanese Restaurant for supper and Barb had got us each a goodie bag, what fun! Sunday saw more walks on the beach. Em and Aethan had to fly home at noon and I put Caitlin on the bus to Vancouver to visit her big brother Kieran for a few days(they are going to take in a concert together). All in all it was a much needed gathering of the women in the family!(we were just missing Bronwynne and our mom)
I spent all week working on my pond. Some big dog got into it just after Christmas and tore a hole in the old pool liner that I used, he knocked over all the plants, fountains, and killed all the fish. I did find 3 little baby fish in the muck at the very bottom! A friend had given me a new (real) pond liner but it was a lot of work to put it in as I had to move all the rocks, plants and stuff away from the edge of the pond to install the new liner. I finished up yesterday and am very pleased with the results!

COSTA RICA

2007-03-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

What an adventure I have had! I landed at the top of Costa Rica in a place called Liberia and had to spend the night there before I caught a little plane down to San Jose and then another one down to Puerto Jimenez. The little planes fly quite low so I got to see a lot of the country side, the whole top half of Costa Rica has suffered from a drought these past two years, the only green spots where the resorts along the coast! I then had to take a passenger ferry(more like a dug-out canoe, the more people that got on the lower the boat sank! until I could just put my hand over the edge and it was in ocean!) from Puerto Jimenez to Golfito which took about 45 minutes. Bron met me there and we wandered around until our bus at 3:00. BUS! Ok it's an old school bus that they have somehow kept running despite the fact that you can see the ground through the bottom of the bus and it seems like it's going to rattle apart! It's a 3 hour journey from Golfito to Pavones on roads that are not really roads,( if the scenery hadn't been so beautiful my hair would be white with fright!) and you are sharing the bus with everyone and their mothers and chickens! It was almost dark when we arrived at her house (sun sets at 6pm and rises at 5am) so I didn't get to the beach right away. I was up at 5 every morning walking the beach with my camera and collecting shells. We spent most days lazing around, walking the beach, swimming in the river(at least 5 times a day), watching the surfers, lizards, macaws, taking photos of all and the plant life. We did swim in the ocean one day but the under tow is so strong that you can swim with all your might and still go backwards! I took a yoga class that I will never forget as you looked out at the waves crashing onto the beach while you did yoga, it was really quite a beautiful experience! Had to do the same journey back up to Liberia but stayed in Puerto Jimenez overnight before catching the little planes up the coast. It was a most relaxing and wonderful time. If I was to go to Costa Rica again I would want to go for at least a month to see more of the sights! The one thing I couldn't get over was the amount of garbage I saw. They seem to have no infer structure for that sort of thing and people seem to burn all(plastics included!) their garbage in their yards in the smaller communities! There is no recycling what so ever! I was really shocked by this! They need to do something about it and fast!! But I found Bron and her friend Carly and Carly's brother Charlie in fine form and just loving it there. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to have this great adventure!

Oldest Daughter flies the coop

2007-02-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Bronwynne is my oldest daughter and has worked hard at everything she has done her whole life! She has accomplished more in her 17 (almost 18) years than any teen I know, from swimming (she has her lifeguard and instructor certs), to winning the part in a pilot series for TV (that was filmed right here in our town), to holding down 3 jobs all at once(washing dishes in a restaurant, pumping gas and doing propane at a gas station, and teaching swimming lessons!), to taking on a heavy work load at school so that she could graduate 5 months early from school! But it has all paid off, she left (with her best friend Carly and Carly's brother Charlie) 2 weeks ago to spend 3 months traveling in Costa Rica! She bought herself a top of the line digital camera and my oldest son Kieran helped her find a lap top computer so that she could keep in touch ( she has become addicted to Flickr.com just like her mom!) Her and her friends have rented a little beach shack for the month of March and has invited me down for a week! I can't wait, not only will the mother get to make sure that the daughter is really ok, but I will get to warm my bones! Don't worry, I'm taking my camera!

Pirates

2007-01-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

I just spent the weekend with a group of gals that I have known since 1998 when I joined the Powell River Chorus. We were asked to sing as a small group which for some unknown reason was named "The Pirates" (and the name has stuck with us ever after!)and got to know each other during extra practices. The times together were full of laughter and fun. We started getting together for each others birthdays and Christmas parties then it went on to holidays together in the summer(We would go for 4 days to Savory Island and rent a cabin) We have been to Tofino, Mt. Washington, Texada Is., Victoria, Comox(the Alders) Vancouver. We get up to great highjinx together, have sunbathed in the nude, made snow angles (again in the nude!) have gotten a boat stuck high and dry due to the tide(but it meant we had to spend another night!).We even won the "YaYa's" contest from the Vancouver Sun and got a trip to Vancouver, a night in the Vancouver Hotel, champagne, goodies and to see the premier of the YaYa movie. With our photo appearing in the next paper! We have sung at Festivals, Chorfest, and even had a gig at the Sunshine Folkfest one summer. Judy has moved away but somehow we still get together, not as much as we use to or as much as we'd like, 4 of us have children and 2 of us have stopped going to choir(I took up pottery instead) But this weekend showed us that friendships like this last a lifetime. It was our belated Christmas party as well as Judy's Birthday and it was my turn to make the desert, we opened presents, ate too much food and drink, and played our favorite card game called "Asshole" (we know there is another name for it but just can't remember!) The photo shows from left to right-Judy, Patricia, Alex with Nancy(standing)(they own the bed and breakfast where we stayed and Nancy was our choir conductor for years), Wendy and Julie.I came away from this weekend feeling extremely lucky to know these woman and be able to spend some quality time with them.

LINCOLN

2007-01-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

It is with a sad heart that I say goodbye to Lincoln, the one and only Muddy yellow dog who past away yesterday. He always greeted me as a long lost friend whenever I would visit Gwen's. I will never forget the way he would make a funny face and sneeze upon smelling my "morning breath" as we said our good mornings or how he loved it when I would give him a good scratching behind the ears. Go now and join our beloved Molly, chase sticks and run free in the waves together. Goodbye dear kind soul.

Bag Lady!

2007-01-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

I just don't know what it is but I have this thing with making bags lately! I have found so many wonderful canvas type fabric with great patterns on it over the past year that I just have the need to sew it all into hand bags or totes! And I just hate to be interrupted while in the middle of creating them! But life goes on! Bronwynne only has one more week of school left then we have two weeks to get her room packed up and her stuff stored away and her big backpack ready for her 3 months in Costa Rica. I am just thrilled for her, this is a much need and much earned holiday. She managed to rent a place right on the beach (with mango and avocado trees right in the yard) for the month of March for $400. She and Carly will have such a great time. Now onto Gwen tagging me for the 6 weird things about my self!
1. I collect skulls (and have done since I found my first skull(sheep) when I was 8!)
2. I am obsessed with my new/old kitchen!(vintage 1940's)
3. Have a great need to buy mugs, and teapots!
4. Will poke and prod anything dead that I find at the beach(or anywhere) to see if I can get the above mentioned skulls.
5. Just love to do laundry, sort in neat piles, and iron(thank you Gwen for finding the "shells" ironing board cover, it makes me so happy!)
6. Love nothing better than an afternoon scrounging at the dump with my sister Barb
7. Just love poking around old graveyards
I could go on and on but will stop there with the thought.....Be yourself, everyone else is taken!

Happy New Year

2007-01-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

We all just had the most wonderful time with my mom here, she put up with everything from power outages to backed up toilets and all that went inbetween! We just had so many great belly laughs and quality time was spent with all the family. I went to Barbs (www.greenwellies.typepad.com) on Friday then on Sat we headed to Gwens (www.muddyyellowdog.typepad.com) . Picked up Emily and Aethan from the ferry and Kieran from the seabus (Kieran hadn't seen his older cousins for so long, it was great to get them together!) Mom took all 10 of us out to dinner which was just wonderful to have that many of her family all together for one meal! Then it was back to Gwens for dessert and a game of Cranium. Sunday was spent shopping and laughing and after supper Mom, Barb, Gwen and I sat down to watch Calender Girls. It was a very fitting movie for my moms last night with us, lots of laughs and tears! Just right for us goddess gals to watch!. Monday morning saw tears as mom went off to the airport. She said that we had rejuvenated her but she did the same with us! Barb and I too said our goodbyes and after we dropped Gwen off at the doctors we picked up Kieran for a trip to Ikea! We got some great finds and Kieran found most of what he had wanted to get so all were happy. Barb and I were trying for the 3:20 ferry but missed that so stopped at Old Navy for one last shop! Got back to Barbs safely and unpacked then put her Ikea chair together. The next day saw me traveling up the coast to my home but unlike the day before it was a pretty rough ferry ride and we all had to remain in our seats! The wind picked up as we landed and trees were coming down on the road left, right, and center! Then the rain turned to hugh snow and the road was covered in minutes! I have never been so glad to get home in one piece!

Holidays

2006-12-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

How time flies! We have had a most wonderful Christmas. My Mom arrived from Toronto on the 18th and she just mucked right in with whatever was going on. I took her shopping, to pottery class, to a "yoga girls" lunch, got her swimming at the pool, and back to pottery to pick up things that had been fired.(We even got her to mass on the 24th!) And all with lots of laughter! Kieran and his girlfriend Ashley arrived by plane on the 23rd and Barb arrived at about 2:30 that same day ( after not getting on the ferry by 7 cars and then the next sailing was 1/2 an hour late!) The wind picked up and we lost power for about 3 hours, it came back on just in time for dinner!Christmas eve saw us doing our traditional chocolate fondue and decorating the gingerbread cookies then the reading (by me) of the book The Polar Express. I have been reading it every Christmas eve since Gwen gave it to my children in 1993 and now that the children are much older they watch me to see when I will start to cry! Well this year it was hard to get the last page read through the tears! Christmas Day saw Fred making waffles(he's a master!) and Barb and I whipped up a fruit salad. Presents were open with leisure and once the turkey was in Barb, Mom and I (and Casper) went for a walk to the beach. It turned out to be a rather cool, blustery walk but we saw the seals and an eagle flying with a fish so it was worth it. Christmas dinner was a great success with 14 of us sitting around the table. Barbs stuffing was a hit with everyone, and the turkey was tender.(we had a little trouble with the brussel sprouts not wanting to cook but we ate them anyway and nobody else seemed to notice!) I got Barb turn on to a game call Bazzar(while Fred and my Mom played scrabble) and we had some good laughs over it! Kieran and Ashley flew out on the 26th and Caitlin and Bronwynne caught a ride to Victoria with friends. The rest of us did the usual Boxing day shopping. Barb and Mom left for Barbs on the 27th. It was truly a wonderful time had by all but we did feel our losses, my Dad and Molly were close to our hearts this season.

Molly

2006-12-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

We lost a truely great member of our family yesterday to cancer. Molly was apart of everything we did for the last 8 1/2 years, she was a constant, always there for each of us. She would rush to meet the children when they got home off the bus from school, swimming across Haslem Lake with us, to the beach so eager to fetch sticks(her great passion), catch tennis balls until your arm was too sore to throw anymore, or just sit beside you with her head on your lap while you were reading. She would bark when the phone rang as if to say "hurry up and answer it for heavens sake!" At times she would make a sound not unlike Chewbacca from Star Wars as if she was talking to us and wanting to be part of the conversation. She would tilt her head as you talked to her and we had to start spelling the word "beach" because she would get so excited upon hearing that word! She is what got me there almost every day! My youngest child Declan asked if she was now with Granddad(my father who past away in July) and I told him that yes indeed she is and that they were walking the beaches up there together. We love you Molly, you will be greatly missed.

Molly dog

2006-12-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

Our dog Molly has been sick and not eating. She has been at the vets for 3 days and had alot of tests but they still don't seem to know what is wrong with her. The vet has put her on some medicine for her intestines and she gets to come home today but if she doesn't eat soon.... she is drinking water but thats all! With all the snow we've had I couldn't even visit her as I got the van stuck sideways on our steep and icey driveway! Fred managed to get it unstuck but I have been house bound and I'm starting to get antsy! The snow was fun for a while but enough all ready!

Winter has come to the Coast

2006-11-26T09:23:00.000-08:00

I just can't believe what we woke up to this morning....snow! It did snow abit yesterday but nothing stuck. I just love how everything seems to be so quiet with a blanket of snow. The craft fair went amazingly well and all the sock monkeys found new homes, and I only have 2 mermaids left. Alot of the mermaids were sold to woman who bought them for themselves! A few of them call the mermaids sea goddesses, we are all goddesses after all! I am going to force myself to take a brake from sewing this week and do some things around the house that I have neglected while making mermaids and monkeys (although I have some really cool socks that are just itching to be turned into monkeys). I just can't wait to decorate for Christmas this year, maybe it's the fact that Barb and my mom will be here or maybe the snow has just made it seem more Christmas like! Must get bundled up and take a walk to the beach with the camera!

More Monkeys!

2006-11-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

This week has just zoomed by! I have managed to sew up 12 more mermaids, 3 more Good Dog blankets and a whole arm load of monkeys! I just love some of these ones as they are so soft and are made from angora socks. I must admit that I had little Aethan in mind when I made the camo monkey, I think thats what I'll make him for Christmas. This is a taste of what will be in my new shop "raincoast crafts" coming in January. Thats all for now as I have to pack the van for tomorrows craft fair.

Craft Fairs and Good Dogs

2006-11-21T06:27:00.000-08:00

Well the first craft fair of the season is over with record breaking sales! All my mermaids sold but one and I had to kiss all the sock monkeys good bye as well! The "GOOD DOG" blankets just flew out the window! My sister Barb has been talking about good dogs and mentioned my dog Molly who came to us 8 years ago from the SPCA. Molly was my inspiration for making these blankets in the first place, we thank our lucky stars for her every day. Now to get back to the craft fair... I will have to spend the next week sewing more of the above as we have another sale this coming weekend. It looks like it's the year of the mermaids! Doreen (my craft fair partner) and I will be taking over the two day craft fair (the one we just did) next year as the family that has done it for the last 10 years doesn't want to anymore (some of them have moved and find it just too hard to get back to town) We are very excited about it and with 32 years of fairs between us I think we will manage quite well. We have always wanted to run one ourselves and now we seem to have inherited the fair that was deemed last years best of the coast! The mermaids, sock monkeys, dog blankets and more will be for sale in my new shop "raincoast crafts" coming in January 2007.

I'm Back!

2006-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that its been about 5 months since I last posted! I just couldn't seem to do much of anything on the computer after my dad died. I know it hit me harder than I thought it would and on top of that this summer delt me some problems in my marriage that have been thankfully sorted out. But I haven't let the grass grow under my feet! I still found time this summer to take the kids down to spend 4 wonderful days with their older brother Kieran in Vancouver and took Bron, her friend Carly, Caitlin, and Declan to Tofino for 5 fun filled days of surfing, bike riding, beach combing, and lazing about in Aug. The house too has undergone some changes as we have ripped out the old carpeting in Declans room, Caitlins room, and the living room and put down the "clip down" wooden flooring and it has made all the difference to making the house a brighter and more airy place! I have done a few trips to see Barb, Em, and Aethan(what a little sweet heart!) and Barb and I did a day trip to Ikea, her for a bed and me for a dresser(plus a few other things!).Laughing till our sides were sore! Now it's craft fair time again (I just don't know where the months have gone) and have been busy sewing, glueing, nailing etc. to get ready for next weekend which it a 2 day event. I think that I'm about done! My mom and Barb are coming up for Christmas. I think it will be good for my mom to be around the horde that comes to my house during the holidays, it might make being without my dad a little easier. I must just add that I am still taking yoga twice a week and am now doing a thing call Nia twice a week aswell which is yoga, dance and martial arts combined! I just love it as its alot like Jazz dance to me with abit of the goddess thing thrown in! I also joined the Fine Arts society and am currently taking pottery classes every Wed night. Its like being a kid again and playing in the mud!

Spread your wings dearest Dad

2006-07-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

My dad passed away peacefully yesterday at 4:30 in the morning with my mother at his side. He was such a kind and gentle man whose love of nature and all that went with it was passed on to his children and grandchildren. He was the type of father that brought me home a snake as a pet ( I had that snake for 3 years) , took me on long mushroom hunting walks and fiddlehead collecting excursions, made little crosses for the small critters I tried to save. I remember a camping trip when I forgot to bring any toys ( I was about 8 years old) and after the tent was set up he sat down and carved me some figures to play with and they became some of my most prized possesions (I still have a couple of them today!) I worked beside him during the building of our cottage, he was a true artist and took such pride in all that he undertook. He has passed on the joy of planting a seed, nurturing it, and having pleasure in its bloom. He loved me with such great warmth and openness, never making me feel like the "after thought" I was arriving 13 and 14 years after my brother and sister, instead that I was a gift. Well dearest Dad, spread your wings and fly, the greatest gift you gave us was you.

Busy, busy, busy!

2006-07-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin, the last week of school was a hetic one! On the Tue. I drove part of Declan's class to their end of the year trip at Palm beach and we got to see the RCMP and the Natives launching their (really big) canoes, they were paddling all the way to Vancouver. It was quite a sight. Wed. was Caitlin's grad(from elementary school to middle school) and she had to say the farewell speach for the two classes. I'm proud to say she did a great job. Then on Thurs it was off to Savory Island with her class and the other grade 7 class for their end of the year party. It was a beautiful day and there was lots to eat(all the food left over from the grad was boated over) On the Friday it was up early for Caitlin, Stefan and I to catch the first ferry down to Barbs with a van full of goodies for her and Em and, of course, Aethan! It seems like so long since we had seen them but it has only been two months! That night we put Stefan on the bus to Van. to visit with his Big Bro Kieran for the weekend. Then it was off to Van. for all of us the next morning. We got to Gwens by about 10:30am and got right into her party preparations. Went shopping for food, made veggies and dip, helped Sean put together a BBQ(which we did foolishly in the blazing hot sun!!) At 4:30 the guests started to arrive, I think there were about 40 in all, little babys right up to older folk. After all the eating was done we were all paired up and played bocce ball and what a blast that was. I was paired with Sarah(who has the blog fredandtoots.com) and it was so much fun meeting (face to face) someone that I have left comments for on flickr, her little girl is priceless! Sunday we spent shopping (Old Navy, Michelles, Whole foods etc.) and relaxing in the garden. Monday it was the trip up to Barbs , getting Stefan from the bus then the drive home. Thurs we had a family from California come to visit and had a wonderful time showing them the town and going to the beach(Fred met the woman while chatting and playing scrabble on line) They left Friday afternoon. So I'd say the summer is off to a busy start!

2006-06-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

What a lovely surprise yesterday to get a parcel pick-up in the mail! When I went to the post office I got not just one parcel but two! One was from my "tea swap" partner Judy and was full of such wonderful goodies such as a beautiful tea cup and a funky spoon(I just love it!), some wonderful teas( earl gray is my favorite!) some potpurri with, again my favorite, a lavender scent, some wonderfully yummy chocolate hazelnut biscuits, a mini tea book, a beautiful hand embroidered tea towel, a hand made card and much more. It was such a joy to open and I made myself a pot of the tea, sat down with it and the biscuits and the little book, what a great excuse for a break in my day! Thank you so much Judy! Now on to the other parcel! It was my new runners that I got from Hanna Andersons, they were on sale for $14 us so just couldn't resist! and they are pink! Congratulations goes out to Jessica (www.sweetpeas.motime.com) for her new store Junque Revival ( www.junquerevival.com) it's got some wonderful things and she has had a few sales already(don't forget to sign up for the contest!) I may as well put a plug in for my etsy store(speaking of stores) so go visit at www.queenconch.etsy.com . Have a fun week everyone.

2006-06-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

Had a great week doing alot of pottering in the garden when the weather permitted! Went to the awards ceremony at Bronwynne's school on Thurs night and one of her "Flash" presentations was shown. She was on the principals honor roll and was given the highest award for her digital media and film class. Needless to say we are very proud of her! Had two of the yoga gals over for lunch on Friday(potluck) and spent a wonderful 3 hours eating and walking the garden(the sun even came out of hiding for a while!) One brought meatless meatloaf and meatless gravy and locally made goat cheese, one brought an Athenian Artichoke Dip with crackers, I made Cauliflower cheese pie with graded potato crust and a strawberry sweet bread for dessert, it was all so yummy! Yesterday I got it into my head that I could sew up a new umberella for outside so got some vinyl tablecloths from Walmart and just got cutting and sewing, I'm pleased with the results and it was alot cheaper than buying a whole new one! There was even enough left over to cover the table!

2006-06-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

I spent the week gathering 'stuff' up for the big garage sale I held on Sat. and set most of it up on Friday night. Thank goodness it didn't rain! I was up and ready early on Sat. morning just incase there were early birds and sure enough the first one arrived at 8:00! Bronwynne was a great help just by bringing me tea, making my lunch, and filling in when I needed a pee break! The last person arrived at 2:00 and stayed for almost an hour! Needless to say she went home with a car load! Bron and I boxed up what was left and will take it all to the thrift store. It seemed like a long day! Also last week Fred and I worked on getting a 'natural' filter set up for my pond with a wire stand that has 3 shelves which we filled with moss and ferns. The water is pumped to the top shelf and gets filtered down through the rest, plus it looks nice. The moss will grow and fill in the shelves, the ferns will grow and hang over the edges and all will hide the stand(we went to a garden that had one set up and it was really quite beautiful). This week I want to tackle some of the bedroom floors as they have old rotten carpets and I want to replace them with the click down "wood" flooring that we put in our kitchen( I have been really happy with it and it brightens up the whole place!) If I get just one room done I will be happy!

2006-06-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

I seem to be spending all my spare time painting lately which is not a bad thing as the house is looking so clean and fresh! It's a good thing the weather has been rainy otherwise I would have wanted to be in the garden! I got my new clogs in the mail this week and I just love the colour! PINK! Just another pair to add to my collection! Took the boys for haircuts this week and what a difference! They both had long hair, well past their shoulders and now it's short! I can see their necks for the first time in years and it makes them look so much older! Found a step stool that was like one from my youth(my Dad use to cut my hair while I sat on one like this and I even sat on it when I was little if there was a crowd over for dinner) I have given mine a modern twist with the pink paint and seat cover and it has already been put to good use during my painting frenzy! While I have been painting I have also been sorting out and now can hardly get into my sewing/craft room for all the stuff that I have piled up so think I will have a garage sale next weekend and what doesn't go at the sale I will lug to the thrift store

2006-05-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

This past week was a rainy one here on the coast, a good time to get some inside projects done. I was sitting watching Debbie Travis on Monday night and was bored! Glancing around the living room I realized I needed a change so right then and there(10:00pm.) I started moving the furniture away from the walls and filling any holes or nicks with filler, washing the walls and doing prep work for painting! I was just going to paint out the red that I had on the bottom half of the walls(its wood) but when I got it all painted white the next day I realized that the walls also looked dull!(they were an off white) So checked our stash of paint that Fred finds at the recycle depoit. I found 1 1/2 cans of tropical blue( a light blue) and thought to myself 'go for it, it's only paint and one can alway paint over!!' So once again washed and filled! I just love it! It has brightened up the room so much and made it seem less cluttered( perhaps it looks less cluttered as I moved the love seat into Stefans room for when his friends come over. He has his own TV in there) But it didn't stop with just the paint, the old bamboo blind had to go too! So dug around in my fabric stash and found some white and some white with blue starfish but not enough of either for drapes so combined the two and got a new rod....presto, new draps for that cottage-by-the-sea look. Can't believe what a bit of paint and fabric will do to lift ones spirits!

2006-05-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

I have been abit preoccupied with other stuff lately that blogging was put on hold! Got all the veggie garden planted and everything else is filling in nicely, just had to be out there while we had a stretch of sunshine.(it looks like we are in for another rainy week ahead) Have also been doing some painting of deck chairs and, the biggest paint job, painting Stefans' room! It went from a cowboy theme of blue and white check with red stars to plain white(that's what he wanted!) and Fred is now painting Stefans desk gloss black! I found 2 white fabric shower curtains at the thrift store that I don't think were ever used (they were still in their packages), they had big silver gromits so I strung them up as his window curtains and they fit perfectly in width I just had to shorten them abit. Also it was Caitlins 13th birthday and she had about 13 girls for a sleepover at the beach with a fire. It was great for us(Fred and I) as we didn't have much to do and all the noise was away from the house! I am so looking forward to summer and the kids all out of school, just to be able to hang out and go to the beach and the lakes...I can't wait!

2006-05-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

It has been another busy week for us here at the Fogarty household! Fred took the van to Vancouver(a 5 hour drive because of the two ferries) for two days and helped our oldest son, Kieran, move into his new appartment and they did a shop at Ikea(a first for Fred!) So I was carless for 2 days! He left the van on the peninsula and got a ride home so that Caitlin and I could go to Barbs for 2 days and help her daughter Emily(with young Aethan) move into her new place. We(Barb, Em, Em's friend, Caitlin(who looked after Aethan) and I got the U-haul unloaded in an hour then proceded to unpack, put away, put together beds, and move furniture around(which is something Barb and I seem to do everytime we are visiting each other so we've had alot of practice!!) Even with all that going on we still managed to get a trip in to the thrift store and I found some great treasures(to me anyway!) Caitlin and I caught the last ferry home last night and got in around 11:30pm. Needless to say we were both tired today. It was a sunny warm day and so just pottered around outside and finially got to use my newly painted watering can!