Thursday, July 18, 2013

UFOs, Staycations and Good Reads


 This week, as I pondered life on the unemployment line, I sorted through fabric to donate to youth camp next week and sewed up a few blocks for the We Bee Canadian quilting bee.

These will eventually be Bento Blocks.  The recipient asked us to stop at this stage so she can mix them with the other blocks she will receive.  Looking forward to seeing the end result.  The quilt is being made for a young girl.


Through my sorting I came across some UFOs.  There isn't a lot of shame.  We all have them...some have been sitting around longer than others. Yesterday I found my daughter's baby blanket (yet to be finished) so I grabbed it and took it to dance to sew.

All these lovely pieces were given to me by my dear friend Sue when Charlotte was born.  Somehow when we moved years ago they were packed away and not discovered until now.  I had fretted that they had been tossed with the majority of our possessions when the pipes burst in our house.  I was so excited to find these this week!

I finished up two more at dance and it has become my handwork project for when I sit waiting.  Now just so you know....said daughter is now 10!!  but that is okay....today I found her sister's baby blanket.  It is almost quilted.  Her sister will be 13 in December.

When I haven't been looking for projects to work on, we have continued with our staycation.  There are lots of huge holes in the city with new construction happening all around us.  Lots of free entertainment for parents with little ones that LOVE big trucks and machinery!


New library in progress




Beach trips have been frequent (except when they closed for high bacteria counts recently...then we had to search elsewhere for entertainment)

Either a tad tired or a tad dehydrated....this was probably the warmest day that we have had so far this summer and we did a lot of walking!  Enjoying a mommy daughter date at The Works (yay...they have gluten free!)





The best server!!!  (We met up with Ian yesterday and took him to The Works for lunch and had the same server and he knew exactly who we were and even remembered Charlotte's order from before.  When the food was delivered to the table yesterday he popped over to make sure we had everything and immediately picked up Charlotte's food and told her it wasn't a gluten free bun .... I'm not even sure that we remembered to ask for a gluten free bun when we ordered but he took it and fixed it right up for her)

After lunch yesterday, our server chatted with us about our day and showed us some pics he had taken the day before down at the waterfront.  This solar powered boat was one of the highlights that he recommended the girls go check out.  Pretty amazing!









I love Halifax!

Woozles has become a regular stomping ground....
Dance has become a regular activity again at Rhythm in Motion ....
I have been on a kijijii selling spree and preparing to paint the living room...

New beaches have been discovered...An afternoon at Rissers Beach after contemplating some different options for our family and future goals/plans.





Summer Book Club
 What we have been reading since the 4th of July (we have seemed to have started our own little family book club! lol)...Once one of us finishes something it gets passed on to the next family member.


  • Geek Girl by Holly Smale
  • The Cahill Chronicles:  Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
  • Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
  • Drawing Out the Dragons:  A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power of Choice by James Owen
  • Witchlanders by Lena Coakley...Cora's having a hard time getting in to this one but the reviews are good so she is giving it a chance
  • The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (Charlotte is part way through this one after convincing her sister to finally let her read it...I have to admit...I've never read it)
  • Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson (Charlotte just started this one last night and is making speedy progress and loving the story)
  • Graceling (my current read) by Kristin Cashore
  • The Power of Starting Something Stupid by Richie Norton (this is pretty appropriate for us right now...as we are probably considering a lot of options that those who like to share their opinions with us would consider "stupid".  Our Stupid Idea list is growing!)
We would love to know what you are reading, what projects you are working on or what your favourite hidden gems are in Nova Scotia to visit.



Friday, July 5, 2013

The Letter "P"

I dedicate this post to the letter "P"!

I usually have a PLAN
Wednesday we walked out the door thinking we had a PLAN
Off to the Art Gallery.....we never made it!

There was brunch in Spring Garden and a stroll down the street....

Love the colours of Halifax and the Maritimes!

There were tree trolls to discover...
On the constant search for tree trolls and ogres this guy was our favourite!

and PLACES we've never seen!  Woozles:  A PLACE for and about children!
If visiting Halifax or you live here but never have been to Woozles, you really must check it out.  The staff is friendly, there are toys and books....and books...and books for any age.  Curl up in the chair and take a PEEK through their PAGES!

What is that music coming from the library?  Let's take a detour...
Is that PIPERS that we see?!
The Tatoo is in town and around the city, bands are performing for free for the public to see.  After we were entertained....

they assembled for their PARADE down the street for their next PERFORMANCE!

There was a stop at Strange Adventures (our favourite comic book store)....

We picked up dad and drove by the PIER.

PIER 21....a great place to visit!
If you are lucky you may see a wee boat at the PORT!


 On Thursday...
We threw out the PLAN
We headed out the door believing anything would do (especially if we finally made it to the Art Gallery!)

We had a PICNIC in the PARK next to the POND...

The Pond at POINT PLEASANT PARK.
If we had stayed, we could have enjoyed the PLAY
(If you haven't checked out Shakespeare By the Sea, you really should!)


 We decided to walk to the Gallery by walking through the Halifax SeaPORT (wow, was it hot!)



By this point it felt like the "End of the Line"!  There was zero shade down here.  Grateful we had water!


 We discovered a tunnel that gave us some shelter!
(It was like a mini art gallery inside...love graffiti!)


 PLAYGROUND!

We made our way down Barrington, then what did we see....
PEOPLE PAINTING in the PARK!!!

We wandered over to see what they were doing...


The Art Bikers are a group of 6 that take art to various locations in the HRM.  Their goal...to bring art to the public in a fun and entertaining way.  Their programs are FREE.  Check out their blog (I linked it there for you) or check them out and Follow them on Facebook .  Find out where they are and what they are up to on their calendar or status updates!
They were amazing and lots of fun to create with and chat with (and amazing to find someone in the group from Peterborough with connections to Campbellford and who knew where Warkworth is....miracle of miracles.  It was nice to chat with someone about Northumberland County and barn silos! lol)
We were invited to join them so the girls sat down ready to draw and to PAINT!
Their goal for the day was making PHOTO-op Stand-ins.  
They needed two arms so the girls went to work!






With the bikers, they glued and they stapled...

and a couple hours later, their PHOTO-OP characters were ready to sample....

Introducing Kathy and Karter (The Lovers) in Cornwallis Park...(featuring Cora and Charlotte's arms)



If you happen to come to the city, take a trip to the park (it is off of Barrington down near the VIA rail and across from the Westin (I think that is what it is).  Say hi to Kathy and Karter and while you're at it, meet....


Sullivan and his friend, Murple....


and finally, Yisette!!


Our day, was soon ending.
Did we make it to the Art Gallery...
Nope!  Not even close!!!

Before our walk back to the Point Pleasant, 
we stopped at Sweet Jane's for a nice cold POP!!




Our day concluded with a stop at the beach, we swam and watched the sunset over the lake.  Supper was late, the games were fun, and late in the evening we curled up with our books for a late night PJ Party!


What are we doing today....
It's lunchtime and we are sitting around in our PJS typing, reading, and eating freezies for breakfast! lol
What's our PLAN for today (other than the dentist appt later this afternoon)....

Who needs a PLAN?! 
when you can have this much fun without one!






Monday, July 1, 2013

Happy Canada Day


 Happy rainy Canada Day!  

Photo: <3
(saw this on FB...have no idea who to give credit to...I love it!!)

It has been a pretty wet spring and beginning of July.  Fireworks have been cancelled in Bedford...booo!  Holding out slim hope for Halifax.  My husband and kids had a late night out playing games with friends while I worked at home catching up on a few of the Braille courses that I am taking.  One down...two to go before I will feel caught up.  They eventually got up at noon so we missed the parades in town.  I was up early...after going to bed around 2:30 am (I don't think my body realizes that I am done work for the summer) so I crept downstairs to apologize to my sewing machine for neglecting her for so long and to tidy up a bit.  The other day I was down looking around my room wondering why I even bother anymore; I don't have time.  I thought about selling it all, giving it away, packing it up....then today I came across a blog post from Dining Room Empire.  Cheryl (co-author of Sunday Morning Quilts), has organized "Just One Slab Quilts Recover Southern Alberta".



I grabbed my scraps and started to cut and sew.  I can't sell, give away, or pack up...my sewing room is my place of zen.  I just need to make more time to enjoy it!!

On Cheryl's blog she gives a quick summary of how to make the slab blocks.  Square them up to 15.5" and message her to get her snail mail address.  You only need to make one.  My daughter's thought it looked fun so perhaps they may sit down and make some too.  

I've always been a pattern follower so randomly sewing pieces together at first was...um...stressful but once I relaxed and didn't worry about colour/fabric placement, it was rather enjoyable and I now am planning to make my own quilt using this block.  It is really quite simple...cut random size scraps (trying to keep all one colour) then piece a couple strips.  Repeat then join these two units.  Continue adding on scraps until your block measures 15.5".  You can add a little white bit if you would like. 




Although I have family and friends in Alberta, none were evacuated from their homes however our thoughts Alberta and all those that have been affected.