What Am I Going To Blog About

Daughter #2s vote was chocolate.
Daughter #1s vote was Tootsie licking off lip balm and making his tongue silly.
Hubby's vote was windy nights and how hard it is to find a good husband and how lucky I was to do so!!!!!!
I wanted to blog about further renovations to the house and now driveway too. But then I got scared that Hubby would read this and die of a heart attack.

In the end, I was no further ahead. Nothing seemed any good to blog about so.....I think I will tell you about what I want for Christmas... I'm not sure why other than it just popped into my mind.

I really don't want much this year.... I'm really thankful that I feel this way because there are millions out there who will never know what it is like to have enough. Pops (a.k.a. my father) asked me earlier this week what I wanted and I just sat there with a dumb look on my face.

Daughter #1 asked me too and I really didn't know what to say. Then when Daughter #2 asked, I knew that I was a hard person to shop for.

Here's my Christmas list.
Unrealistic....
1. To have the renovations done.
2. A new car.
3. A Golding Loom ($11,000.00... not likely! ever!!)
4. My Christmas decorating done.
5. My Christmas shopping done and enough money to pay for it all.
6. A new driveway so that we don't have to crawl over crunchy snow from the roof of the house to get to the steps.
7. A new puppy (I love puppies!)


More realistic....
8. New boots.
9. New shoes
10. Nice woolen hand knitted socks (preferably lace)
11. Foot cream. (are you noticing a trend here?)
12. A Golding spindle (but not the painted ones)
13. Knitting needles from Knit Picks and the case to hold them.

Wishful thinking....
14. World peace especially between the Muslims, Christians and Jews.
15. For the sponsor children we support and all children to experience enough to eat and good access to medical facilities.
16. No abandoned animals (dogs and cats etc...) starving and with no one to care for them.
17. The end of the Pine Beetle infestation.
18. No more CFC's so that we have a world rich in water and oxygen.
19. The end of Cancer, Heart disease, Alziemer's, and Diabeties
20. A Real Santa Claus (because I'm still a kid at heart!!)

So Company's Coming!!!

September was the end of our house renovation. I knew it would happen and so I put a big push on to get a bunch of things done that last week of summer. Hubby managed to finish the ceiling in our room and the upstairs bathroom and hall over the steps. I ran out of clear coat about mid-week with the intention of getting more. I wrapped up the paint brush and laid it on top of the old paint can and there it has lingered, hardening till solidified till today. Hubby,since then, did manage to get our front door working but has not completed the trim boards around the door. The kitchen does not have the door to the pantry finished nor are my shelves that hold dishes and glasses put back up and as a matter of a fact the shelves are fading and greying in the outdoor sunlight. The downstairs has a working toilet and a tub that is in the right place but not hooked up. There is no sink hooked up either. The mirrored cabinet is not on the wall in the downstairs bathroom and that is just plain laziness since that is just screwing it into place. Either way, the renos have come to a resounding halt. I think we are just too burnt out to do any right now. This week when our company called to say that they were coming I jumped on the opportunity to get us back into action. Mike has been busy each day, in between working and other obligations, to get another panel up in our bedroom and I have clear coated the door for our bedroom. The door is not hanging yet but I'm working on that. I am going out to the shed in a little while and dragging in the mirrored cabinet for the wall in the bathroom and then if my energy doesn't die on me I'm hauling in the shelves for the kitchen. That at least will be a little on my part. Hubby has taken the trim boards for around the front door to plane them on the planer at work, and hopefully they will go up tonight. Every little bit helps. Here are a few pictures to see our progress.

Bathroom vanity still a mess with no sink in yet. the sink is still in the box.


There still needs to be paneling put up behind the toilet in the downstairs bathroom.


The tub is in place but not hooked up and the paneling needs to be done here to cover in the plumbing... if it ever gets finished.


Yes, the pantry door is not in and there isn't even a framing board to attach it too anyway!


Temporary table in corner and stool. Notice that there are no shelves above the the table and stool.


The sunroom/studio is still a mess. Notice there is still paneling to be done, flooring to be done and ceiling to be done.


The electrical box is still exposed and waiting for the next round of electrical renovations.


The front door still needs the trim to be done.


Our bedroom door is not in yet but Hubby only put up the paneling yesterday and notice we still have paneling to do at the top.


Around the door to the balcony there is still a lot of work to be done. The closet is in but there are no doors to it and the top is not on. Two whole wall have to be paneled and the bathroom has no paneling at all.

There is still a lot of work but I'm not pushing the issue. I figure if I can get a little done every month then Hubby won't hate me for nagging but it eventually will get finished.

I just hope the company won't mind the mess and lack of privacy.

Feathermist

What is this? Back in July, I created a blog with the intention of being prolific with ATCs. It didn't pan out very well as I really didn't do many. I had named the new blog ATCs For YOB, which is not a very inspiring blog name. Perhaps you saw it in my favorites list.

I've been perusing so many very creative blogs lately that I just decided to vamp up my other blog. I gave it a new title, Feathermist, and a new URL, a whole new look, and a whole new concept.

I've always had a need to create.... not just fibrey things but I've painted and sketched, wood burned, and written and as you've seen of late I've even played a little with photography. Perhaps you read my spooky Halloween story on the 31st... Well, I wrote that a few years ago. It is based on my mother's youth, with a little embellishment. Over at Feathermist you will now find lots of my creations, from poetry to short stories, from paintings, to whatever captures my mood. Please have a look and if you like it I'd love to hear your comments. Thanks... enjoy....

On The Brink

Monday was a strange day. I'm not quite sure what happened. I woke up with a terrible burning in my chest and by mid-morning I knew I was in trouble. I felt like a steam roller had run over me and left me there for dead. I called the clinic. I was able to get in just after lunch and I'm glad I went. I feel almost embarrassed to say it but I suppose there's no shame in getting sick. I had a temperature and a sorry case of Bronchitis. I figure that having just gotten over an ear infection and my immune system having been severely worn down with that, and then catching H1N1, it was bound to happen. A secondary infection which can lead to Pneumonia is nothing to snuff at. Bronchitis is bad enough and I'm glad it got no further than that. I'm back on Prednizone which I don't like and I have to do a puffer thingy too and then there's those dreaded antibiotics. I hate taking all these meds. I wish I could have fought this myself. The good thing is that I'm feeling way better today though not anywhere near beating this business. Meanwhile Daughter #1 is still fighting and is exhausted all the time. No meds for her though and I hope she is able to beat it without them. Daughter #2 came home yesterday feeling wiped out and coughing a little but has no temperature and so went to school today. Hubby came home tired and feeling like he had a tickle in his chest. He's still going to work though, with no temperature and no visible signs of illness. So it is Remembrance Day and we are all thankful that it is a day at home for the most part. Hubby still intends on going to the Cenotaph for the ceremonies and he will probably go to the Veteran's Dinner tonight. But we do seem to be hovering on the brink of a family meltdown. While this seems true I am hoping not.

We are also on the brink of the busiest time of the year for me. The church here in my community is very much run by me and one other lady. Christmas for any church is huge and very busy. I am organizing a reading of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. I am also working on our Christmas pageant and some work for the Christmas Craft Fair. We also have a big Christmas Raffle which we draw for on the day of the pageant. So all in all it sometimes can get overwhelming. I sat down and made a Christmas list of things to buy/make/recycle for Christmas gifts. Wow!! that is going to be a tough order let me tell you. Wave #1 starts this week coming up. Cards have to be made and gifts arranged and wrapped for the family members down east. It will probably take me a week just to get it done and in the mail. Wave #2 comes at the end of November when I get done all that needs to be done for outside family close by. Then Wave #3 takes place after Dec. 15th for us. I hope to be finished everything by Dec. 22nd giving me 2 days of relaxation before the big event. Then boxing day I will take it easy as I always do. Hubby and I will celebrate our 18th anniversary on the 28th of Dec. and then after that it is level 3 all the way.

With all this in mind my jacket commission is looming. I have not worked on it since getting really sick and I'm on the brink of panic. The warp is done, but now I have to spin the weft. I still have to weave it and all this before Christmas too. I do not want this hanging over me when I get really serious about level 3. February is the deadline for the commission but I want it done long before that!

How did I get this far into my year and be so on the brink of panic. This always happens and you would think I would learn. I guess I'm not too smart. Just once I would like to be ahead of the game instead of standing on the edge of an abyss.

Sometimes I think....arrrgh!

School Pics

We missed school pics this year and as a result I did the honours of taking photos of the girls and preserving them on paper for prosperity. Here they are...


Daughter #1 Grade 8


Daughter #2 Grade 7

How Lucky We Are

20 years ago today the Berlin Wall came down and in a short few days the lives of millions were changed forever. When they announced on the radio yesterday that we would be hearing lots in the news about this huge event today... well my first reaction was, "Gee, is it really 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down?" I remember that day very well and although it didn't affect me directly, I knew that somehow the world had changed. I was happy for the people of the Eastern Bloc who were beginning to experience all the things and freedoms that the western world took for granted.

Later this week, Hubby and Daughter #1 will take part in the aanual Remembrance Day services held at the Cenotaph in our community. Daughter #2 and I will stand in the crowd and we will hang our heads in remembrance of the fallen victims of war. The JCRs (Junior Canadian Rangers) are a big part of our lives,and will be there too. As Chair person (me) and one of the leaders (Hubby) we try our best to get the JCRs (including Daughter #1) involved in what that day is all about. It is about fallen soldiers, it is about the freedom that we have to read, write, practice our chosen religion without fear of persecution, to think and feel and simply be without political reprisals.

I was born in 1965, the decade of the flower child, and while I still remember when blacks were persecuted because of the colour of their skin, and females were looked upon as evil when they had children without a husband, I really have not experienced atrocities against me because of who I am. I was born without a thumb... I was born with a curved spine... I was born with crooked elbows and had I lived in Germany in the 1940s I would have been put to death, along with Jews and Gypsies and homosexuals because I fit the description of a disabled person. I'm a relatively educated person, I'm also a relatively creative person and I would have died as an unwanted because I look different. The strange thing is that you can hardly notice any of my physical problems... you have to look hard to see them. I might have been born in a decade of freedom, but I never forget that I am less than perfect.... and therefore not good enough for Hitler's world of the Arian race.

I have two beautiful children and a husband who loves me and friends who think of me as someone worthy of their friendship. I live in a beautiful part of the world where I can go to church on Sunday, and get an education without hiding my face, I can work if I want to and read and watch whatever I want. Health care is offered to me so that if I get sick I can see a doctor without having to starve for the rest of my life while my paycheck is eaten by debts to insurance companies and hospitals. And all of this, my friends, is something to be thankful for.

So while the dominoes in Berlin come tumbling down tomorrow, in a symbolic reenactment of the Berlin Wall falling, I will think about all the things in my life that make me who I am... that give me peace of mind and soul. And on Remembrance Day I will think about all the good men that did not get the chance to experience the world that I live in and sometimes take for granted. It is because of them that I have what I have. And while I Remember all those who died in WWI and WWII, I will think about the people in this world, at this time, who will never know the joy of waking to a fear free sunrise.... who walk a country lane knowing that rape is a real possibility, who carry a gun long before they can think the thoughts of men, who get their education in hiding, who cannot show the symbols of their faith, who cannot make ends meat, who are persecuted because of their ethnicity, who hide their appearance from those who would see them as something they are not. And then I will think about all the men and women of the Armed Forces, of aid agencies, and those who are teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, etc., who are trying to make a better world for those people who deserve so much more and have so much less.

And I will remember that privilege should not be taken for granted.

"For upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all." Alexander the Great

Sunday.... Ahhh The Most Relaxing Day Of The Week

What a day.... poor Hubby has worked hard again today, but I, on the other hand, have had a lovely day.

A day to sleep in is always appreciated but they don't come often in our house. In the last week, I have given myself permission to rest more as this cough settles in for a hard fight. Hubby on the other hand has had to work double hard because I'm not feeling well. This weekend was meant as an opportunity to do some more work on the renovation, which has come to a grinding halt. Next weekend Hubby's brother and sister-in-law will come for a visit and so, while the house is livable for a family of four who don't care about seeing each other strut around in their skivies, it is not really appropriate for company.

Problem #1: Hubby had to haul hay for the animals which took the better part of a day. Yesterday to be exact. Between feeding the animals and doing chores and hauling hay... well Hubby was in no mood for house renovations.

Problem #2: The cistern was almost empty and so today Hubby had to haul water because I need to do some laundry to de-H1N1 the house. Daughter #2 plopped a load of reds in the washer and turned the washer on without consulting parents and so the cistern went dry and the pump had to be primed. This did not please Hubby. It did not please me either because Hubby had to spend an hour priming the pump instead of getting the renovations done.

Meanwhile, I spent a great deal of time enjoying the morning listening to the radio with CBC programing. (Hubby did do that too with me) then made a nice, no stress, no fuss lunch for everyone and went to lie down for a nap. That's the kind of Sunday I enjoy. The only thing that could have made it better is if Hubby could have enjoyed the day too. We are now listening to a program on CBC with an interview with Terry Eagleton, who is outspoken about atheism... interesting! Hubby will take a few moments to relax, and listen to the program too... but then the next two panels will be put up in our bedroom in an effort to give us privacy before our company arrives next weekend....

Sunday with no demands.... they're great! They're just too few....

Here's my picture for the day.... this picture has a feeling to it.... it's the kind of feeling I get on a lazy Sunday....