some secret projects

Well, a little update to share what I have been working on the last week.

I've been working on a little quilt for Baby Isaac who is due in a few weeks, a circle quilt, a new endeavor which requires a lot of pinning and a lot of ironing and a lot of time to get the hang of it! phew! But it is coming together splendidly and I can't wait. I have also been helping Isaac's mom and dad get their nursery ready. I'll have some pics of that when it is all done!

The other top secret project is a vest that I am knitting for my lovely man. Thomas is turning 26 this Thursday, and I wanted to knit him something. A sweater seemed too scary, so a sweater sans sleeves... perfect! I am about 1/3 done I think... his birthday is tomorrow! yikes bikes! this is a week that has snuck up on me!

also working on a book summary/report/analysis for school. I read Strengthen Yourself in the Lord by Bill Johnson, and I really recommend it!!

A good reminder of how to stay fresh and rooted in God. I'll post some of my paper when I am done writing it!

so, too-da-looo!

I'll see you guys on the flip side!

oh, ps. still haven't finished those thank you cards! eep!

Oh, thank you cards!

I have good intentions, I plan to send thank you cards.
I plan to make my own beautiful thank you cards.
I plan to do this all promptly in the first few weeks of January.

Then, all of a sudden, it is March, I have no cards made.
I still feel I need to send them, so I end up with a box of generic thank you cards to send to all who blessed me this year (mom, dad, sisters, auntie's, friends and so on)

So, it is still January, I still have time.
I'm hoping that by posting on here that it will give me a kick in the pants to get me going.

Maybe this afternoon.

A little Sunday project!

New Year!

2010, wowee!

Christmas this year with the VP ladies was quite fabulous, it was mom and the gals for about 5 days sans Thom and Alex (we love Alex!!).

(here we are 3 1/2 years ago at my wedding)


with just the girls hanging out, we had lots of fun, we had a lunch visit with my Grandad and Gramma-Mary (my dad's parents), shopping and Rozzaroo and I went to the lovely Stuart. Fabulous as per usual and we were blown away by Matt Andersen, a man with the most phenomenal voice!!

Thom and Alex both arrived in the Hammer on the 23rd.

Thom's arrival coincided with a great tale of Dani patting a taxi drivers hair (decongestants and wine apparently do not mix!), I was a quilting fiend, I finished the baby quilt for baby Samuel, and mostly finished a beautiful ocean quilt for lovely auntie Maureen. It will be completely done when I visit next.

Thom and I also got to spend a few days with his family in C'ford.

Then back to Ottawa to relax and for Thom to head back to work for a few days.

So, it being the New Year, the resolutions are in full swing. While I am not entirely sold on the idea of new year's resolve, I do believe that any opportunity for change and growth is great.
so the resolutions are as follows:

• My lovely friend Amanda A. and I are partaking in a fitness boot camp. 3 times a week for 3 months... at 6:15 am. yikes! Our first morning was this morning, and it was pretty intense. My legs are hurting a bit and my abs get pretty sore when I laugh.

We'll see how much worse it is tomorrow!

• I plan to have more regular updates in the shop and on the blog.

• Thom and I want to be more hospitable, to have people into our home for dinner at least 2-3 times a month

• I also want to be a better journaller, I think making some of my own journals will help with that process. similar to those of ms. Pam Garrison

I'm not sure what else, but I'll let you know if I come up with anymore.

So, it was back to school today, and oh how much I love school and my 15 classmates!

hurray!

What are your new year's resolutions?

let it snow!
let it snow!
let it snow!

well, we had our first real snow today!

i guess we were due, it is november 30th after all!

i've pulled out a few of the decorations, i'll post some pics later this week.

Holy Spirit Essay Done!

some fall canning!

well, Maryann and I had been collecting mason jars of all sizes over the entire summer.

our homes were swimming with them, and we finally had last Saturday set to get those jars filled.

then, Mary came down with the dreaded flu.

So, the plans changed. To my house all the jars arrived and the 3 huge bags of tomatoes that Maryann had bought. Carla came over with all her bean supplies and Robyn met up with us halfway through the day.

Lots of beans, apples and tomatoes cut and peeled and blanched and peeled...
inducing a large mess!


a few mishaps followed, this is me realizing that our canning pot is WAAAAY too small for most of the recipes we had planned on. So off to Canadian Tire went Carla to buy our bigger.... MUCH BIGGER canner.

Then, while sterilizing our jars, we lost a 1L wide mouth guy :(
and then when we were boiling the filled jars we lost another, imagine our surprise when we lifted the lid to reveal a lot of apples swimming around our jars!!


Here is just a small taste of the end product!

There you have some of the many number of canned tomatoes, and some apple pie in a jar,
and not pictured are pickled green beans, strawberry jam and tomato-mango salsa.

Now that I have finally done this, one to cross off the to-do-list, it seems so much easier than anticipated. Next summer we have big plans to can all kinds of fresh fruit and veggies.

Katie Geranium Update

Helloooo lovelies!!

Shop update today, two new quilts.

I have a some baby blankets and a scarf to list as well, but the battery in my camera died mid-shoot.
dang.

Those will be in the shop later today or tomorrow!

toodaloo!