Happy New Year

Count your blessings...

Name them one by one

Ryleigh (9), Teaghan (11),

Taylor (11) and Meaghan (10)
Count your many blessings

See what God has done.

Another year ends

According to the latest national stats, the suicide rate does not go up at Christmas and New Years. With all the stress and strain of the "festive season" I am surprised. I fear they are wrong. This time of the year brings out the best and the worst in us.

To those of you who grieve my heart goes out to you. More soldiers were killed in Afghanistan this week.

To those of you who felt pressured to spend more than you should, I am sorry for your worries.

Credit card debt is the bane of our society.

To those of you who are lonely you are not alone, even if you think you are. Reach out.

To those of you who think,"No one knows how I feel." Oh yes we do. We have all walked the path of disappointment at some time.

I am feeling wistful today.

I miss what was, what could have been and those who are not here any more.

It is the end of the year.

I am getting older whether I like it or not. Things wrinkle that didn't used to.

It is nostalgia I guess.

My car is making funny noises.

I worry about my mother, my children and what is happening in the world.

Then again..........

My life is blessed.

I thank God I have a job and the job that I have.

I lost 27 pounds this year and have kept it off.......12 to go

I share my life with a man who loves me.

We are going to Mexico.

We are healthy.

We are debt free.

Like I said it's the end of the year or post Christmas blues. Take your pick.

Well, that's over for another year.

Shop, knit, wrap, bake, clean, knit, wrap, drive, eat, sleep, talk, eat, unwrap, ooh and ahhh, eat more, talk, drive, collapse.

and I made personalized gift tags: this was for my son in law Chris, the ultimate Steelers fan.

Gotta love "google images."

HoHoHo did I say I knit?

O.K. I have 10 mittens down and 2 to go. sigh...All that kool aid dyed yarn had to be knit up.

The 2 mitts left are different... They must be finished. Go to HERE to see where the knitting lives.

Who says I am not an optimist.? I went to the hair dresser's (hear "weeping and wailing") I HATE going to the hair dresser. It takes so long to get through to them what you want or circumvent what they WANT to do. I think we made it this time. I stuck to my guns and insisted she do what I wanted. I even took pictures with me this time.....I want to look well groomed ...I do not want to look like Katie Holmes either. Anyway I think this is going to work. It is short in the back but Mexico happens in 3 weeks ( this Saturday) who's counting??....

I have two gifts to buy for Christmas. One is easy the other hard....I love a challenge. If I shop to early I end up buying too much..lol... I get carried away.....um did I mention the 6 pairs of mitts knit from hand dyed yarn...sigh...that's 12 hands!

I found this incredible "Guy" hat. I will knit it longer so there is a band over the ears. Go HERE to get the pattern. Himself needs a hat when he uses the snow blower else he will end up with frostbite upon his dome...

Speaking of.....My dear life partner needs some suggestions. It's not Christmas Eve and he doesn't read the blog so I have to make him a list.

Although it kills me to admit it AND it countermands the rule " NEVER buy a woman a gift with a plug on it" I really need a new hair dryer and I love butane curling irons....and nice smelly stuff and dusting powder and a trip to the spa...what is his problem? I am easy to buy for!

Mommy sent me a cheque for Christmas. I am going to use it to buy a bathing suit. I might as well just rip out my finger nails now and you thought I whinned about hairdressers....HA.

Busy busy busy

See I really do need a large desk. This was not "posed" rather it was "paused"in the middle of my hectic day.
Lower right hand corner you will see my lunch salad, I am so dedicated I eat my lunch while working.
Sainthood is around the corner....lol

C'est fini!

new clock, new paint job, new chocolate brown blinds, new furniture ........


















...... I bought a pointsettia for the corner of my desk.......

Dear Santa,

I have been good this year truely I have. Please find below my wish list.
There is a definite theme going on here but I can't help it, some people smoke and/or drink I knit. But you already knew that, right?

These can only be ordered on line (http://www.heirloom-knitting.co.uk/) unless you could stop by as you fly over Britain. Thanks Santa it would be much appreciated. Umm the books aren't much good without the wool. So if you wouldn't mind can I have a cone of lace weight too?????

Just in case the British book isn't available I have a hankering to make some Estonian Lace. Now, you know a craftsman is only as good as his tools. I am sure you get all yours at Lee Valley, right? Well, I would like some Addi Turbot lace Needles. Yes, there is a HUGE difference. Lee Valley vs Canadian Tire, need I say more.
Superb quality Addi Lace Circular Knitting Needles with extra fine tips for lace knitting. Available in three lengths (60cm, 80cm and 100cm), these circular needles have a beautifully smooth join between tips and cord. Choose from sizes ranging between 2.50mm and 4.00mm.

I work in an office by myself so there is no objection to smelling nice. Ergo I would like a bottle of White Diamonds. The guys who walk in and out of there will just have to put up with it.

Just in case you think I only have one interest. I am still trying to find this book in order to make dolls for my grand daughters.
As I said earlier this is a Wish List. I don't need anything. I am very blessed.

....I am still a kid at heart and every kid wants a surprise at Christmas.

There is a fly in the house!!

O.K. Heres the deal. A fly has magically appeared in the house. He...no woman would arrive unannounced...is as big as a damn bird. I have swatters in every room. He eludes me..for now. What liar said flies only live for 24 hours??? OMG am I being invaded?
Have you ever noticed when you pick up a fly swatter the buggars disappear?
The geriatric cat is no help. She just lays there and watches him walk across the duvet. Naomi, the wonder cat, would have gobbled him up before he had a chance to think about landing. Now there was a cat! I digress as usual.
Anyway this "thing" rose from the dead like Nosferatu when I finally bashed it with the swatter. Made the hair rise on the back of my neck and sent me screaming like a girl down the hall. Men have no sympathy.
Did I say it buzzezz?? It does...*nodding my head*....
I am going to get the chemicals......

Just poke me in the eye.

Can you believe the comedy of errors going on in this country? It boggles the mind. I mean what the hell are they thinking? First of all no one will admit to voting Conservative in the last election. Which is why there is a minority government. What's with this "coalition govenment" they are talking about? Sounds like something that goes on in a third world country. Here is what we have to offer: The proposed "leader" of the country is about to removed from his position as leader of the Liberal party due to his abismal failure at the polls, ( hello?? We didn't want you then we don't want you now!) ...then we have Jack for all his charm and lovely smile couldn't win either ( too bad) and to round out this travesty we have a political party who's sole aim and purpose is to bring down every English speaking person/business/government in this country. All because Stephen Harper did not get the message that he can not do what he wants when he wants. ( arrogant or just stupid?) It didn't work before and it sure as hell isn't going to work now. You arrogant twit now look at the mess you got us into to. He ran off to the Governor General and called an election to bail his behind out 2 months ago and here we are on the cusp of another useless waste of money. Dust off the old placards people. We have no other choice but to head to the polls again.

NaNo was a dud this year.

I had a feeling this was not going to be my year for Nanowrimo. I got over 3000 words and the whole thing left me, the story line and desire to participate. It just wasn't my year. Corinne finished..good girl. I have been too caught up in my knitting. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. I may have to declare my own Nanowrimo when the spirit moves me.

Office Reno

After 2 years of "subtle" comments...lol... I am getting the outer wall of my office insulated.

and drywalled.........

and sanded. Speaking of which I have inhaled about 3 pounds of this crap.

Drop cloth. What's a drop cloth? My carpet will never be the same....... Today I am going out to buy paint. I can not decide what colour to pick. Oh damn.

Bell Canada repair is coming on Monday. The internet and the fax are not working since they moved the box. I have been a week with no internet and no fax line. The agony has been extreme. I am stuckin a tiny room with everything piled around me while the reno is going on. I need to get back into my office....I am having withdrawl.

A "zen" moment.

This is my Zen Garden, a gift from child #1 . Tranquil waves upon the sand. Everyone who comes in the dining room wants to rake the sand and experience their own "zen"moment.

This is what I found after my grand daughter's went home....lolol

Sunday morning coffee and.......

Well, so much for my porcelain dolls. Not even a nibble email and now I am on page "god only knows what." Kijiji is free so what can you expect?

We have been so busy at work, there is nothing like a little snow to stress out "old" furnaces. It isn't often that I bring home work form the office but I have this weekend. It shouldn't take me long to finish up with out the phone ringing every 2 minutes. This week they are hoping ( me too) to insulate the exterior wall in my office and paint. I hope so I spend 40 hours a week in there it would be nice to see the place brightened up and warm. I feel like the shoemaker's kids. If I have to explain that to you then I am old..lol

On the knitting front, pop over here. I am on a dyeing kick right now and the bathroom looks like a bazzar with hanks of dripping wool hanging from the shower rail....lol


Carl is playing a Roy Orbison video, Black and White Night. Incredible music, that man could write the sweetest music and lyrics. He performed other music as well. The first audio clip Carl ever sent me after we first met was "Evergreen."
Black and White Night has everything and everybody in it. What a concert. Still don't know who he is? You have heard of "Pretty Woman" and "Only the Lonely?"

For Sale on Kijiji, Porcelain dolls

I am downsizing!

Queen Victoria porcelain doll.

19.5 " tall, with stand


Original clothes

- look under arts &

collectables on Kijiji


Queen Elizabeth I

- Black velvet with jewels and bows, opera pearls.




- 19.5" tall, with stand

They also serve who only stand and wait.

Cottrell, J.E., Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, Camp Borden, Ontario circa 1944
Davies, H., Canadian Women's Army Corps, Camp Borden, Ontario circa 1944

These are my parents. She was the Colonel's Secretary. They met on the base and when she was back in the office she checked his personnel file to see if he was married......

Memories.....
When I was a little girl my grandfather "Ernie" ( a veteran of WW I) took me to the Royal Canadian Legion in Toronto on Remembrance Day to see and hear

Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

"I want you to remember this," he said to me. "Now, that is a great man, a bastard but a great man." All I really remember is a little man in battle dress uniform. But as I got older and learned what had happened I came to know why my grand father wanted me to be there.


They don't teach poetry in school as they did when I was a child. It is excellent training for the mind and some poems are never forgotten.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved,and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Prices at Hakim & Lenscrafters

O.K. here's the poop:

Lenscrafters has a "special" buy your frames and get your lenses at half price.

Hold onto your wallet! Here in London the price of the lenses, non glare, scratch resistant, progressive bifocal, $235.00 (reg $470.00!!!!!!!) PLUS the price of the frames. If you want them to be photo sensitive it is more. The glasses I liked would have cost me $564.00......gag Oh and if your lenses have a coating don't expect to have them in an hour. They have to send them out. It will be 10 days

Hakim advertises 2 pair of glasses starting at $199.00. Yeah right

Do the math $199.00 plus $50 for non glare coating plus $50 because they were rimless on the bottom plus $75 (if you want one to be sunglasses)plus $50 because the sunglasses pair had some crystals on the template, which by the way they will not stand behind if the crystals fallout, she said I would have to go to some amorphous jeweller who had moved she didn't know where... Are you adding? Then there was $90 I think that was for the plastic lenses. AND then the optician said I should have some other kind of lens because they were rimless on the bottom and they might chip????? add another you guessed it $50. BUT I could go online at home and print out a coupon for $40 and bring it back in.

I went to two other places and was about ready to slit my wrists with my old lenses.

Finally yesterday I went to a small family owned dispensing optician. Found a pair of stunning frames in 5 minutes. Was given the price upfront no razzmatazz. Glasses will be ready in 10 days! Support small independent businesses!

How do you blog a scream?

What a day!!! It seems I saved up all my stupids and had a party of one. I am exhausted. My efficiency rating is in the toilet. My weight is up instead of down. They are renovating the unit next door--hammer hammer bang bang --all frikin' day. One of the financial companies I deal with has a new online proceedure. What should have taken 10, 15 min tops I spent all afternoon

TRYING TO FIGURE OUT. Four phone calls later to get a human and I discover they are struggling as well.

AND to the idiot who kept calling my phone line with a fax machine ...go away...now!

Sigh.....it's enough to make you drink!

On the up side....

I found a pair of eye glasses that make me happy. God knows I needed a "happy" today. They were half way between what I wanted to spend and the Versace ones previously posted. Still the cheapest ones I could find that I can live with 24/7, or as I heard it refered to lately "31" ( you know 24+7 = 31...?) went to the grocery store....gag. Came home made a cup of tea and opened the wrong end of the arrowroot cookie box. Some days you just can't win.

What happened to Friday?

The weather has been "indescribably delicious" to quote an old phrase. How some ever in true Canadian optimism...we are going to pay for it. Sigh

I am such a whining sniveling git when the temperature drops. I am getting the outside wall of my office insulated. Yeah. While I was working at my desk yesterday the BOSS appeared in my door way and began taking measurements. Oh goody

Today I am going eye glasses shopping. My test has been done and I require a change in my prescription. Now, I have an answer for the recent head aches. Eye strain strikes again. Choosing glasses is such a chore..sigh.

It was in me to give and I did.....

Nothing much to say today. I went to the blood donor clinic after work. It was a piece of cake.
I haven't knit a stitch all week. I have been so busy at work I just come home and crash.

Neat lady bug.......eh?

" I have a dream...."

In the light of yesterday's election I could not but help remember this speech 45 years ago....

One of the advantages of being "my" generation is I was around the first time those words were spoken. They are as moving today as they were in 1963. Who would have thought that my lifetime would have seen a country mature from segregation to President Elect Barak Obama.

I hope the electorate doesn't expect things to happen overnight. The next four years will be interesting indeed. It is time for America to heal the old wounds, rebuild economically and morally and be strong again. There is so much potential there. Now, they have the leadership its time to see the change.

Five hours???????????????

I am watching CNN I can not believe people are standing in line for FIVE HOURS in order to cast their vote. I simply don't understand what the problem is. * shaking my head.*

While watching the young voters being interviewed I am reminded of when Pierre Trudeau ran for PM in Canada. His political machine appealed to the first time voter. On the way home from work I listed to another of Obama's speeches. I truely hope that the next four years will see the Change he envisions. North America is going to be deeply affected by what happens tonight.

I expect that if Obama is elected NAFTA will be scrapped. At least I hope so. OK back to the TV.

Relying on my genes....

Since I moved to London I have been using, in a slap dash manner, products from Premier Spa.



This is one of these open concept businesses in the White Oaks Mall. They jump out and nab you as you walk past. The first product I bought was the dead sea salt hand wash. OMG it is wonderful. Then I got a free (yeah called a "hook") facial and I spent too much money on skin care products. I have been blessed with good bones and good genes that have given me a lazy approach to skin care. Let's face it we live in a "beautiful" society and expectations are high for every woman. Actually I took better care of my skin when I was 30 than I do at 60. That has allowed me to become very blase. Until this past Saturday. There I was walking through the mall when I made the wrong turn and before me stepped this incredibly good looking man..... smooth talker.....I have children that age. He proceeds to tell me about the latest "biox"product. The next thing you know I am perched on a high stool and he is spreading cream on my face. Sigh. Then he leans in confidentially, after he has recoiled in horror when I say I only use moisturizer and water on my face, to tell me if I am not careful I will end up with "turkey neck!"

This is marketing?? Turkey Neck?? Are there any two words in the world that can horrify a woman more? Scare tactics! He should be ashamed. OK OK I bought the cream. Vanity, vanity!

Ontario: a have NOT province??

The news today is not good. Ontario was once the most prosperous province. Now it appears things are so bad we will be getting a hand out from the Feds!
Newfoundland and Labrador are on a much firmer financial footing than Ontario. Who would've thought it? Where's the Newfie jokes now? Eh?

Little Ole Doll Maker Me

It has been years since I made dolls. My favourites were called "Myfanwy," of course. They were victorian dolls and came with boned corsets, petticoats, bloomers and travelling costumes and even a brocade wedding dress. PITY, I do not have any pictures. No digital cameras then. Then there was "Jocelyn" a lovely doll with braids and skin the colour of a chocolate bar. One pregnant woman was so taken with her she named her baby after my doll.
I came across these books, which by the way, is only 34% off IF you order them online WITH a credit card! Which I do not have. So I had to pay FULL FRIGGIN price..sigh I got the second and third but the first one I have been unable to find. Except online. "Christmas hint!!!!!"
I haven't even had a chance to look through them but I have a "need to sew" coming on and winter is coming. So I rationalize everything.
AND.......
because I am 16 kinds of an idiot...it is NANOWRIMO after all ( my word count is 2904) I signed up for National Blog Every Day month. which is NOW of course. So look for my ramblings every day in November. Ijust signed up today.
AND......
I signed up for the November knitting challenge on Ravelry. I was the July winner. The theme is "FALL" and I had better not do that on my face.
Time to get dressed we are off to see 2 of the Grand daughters today... talk to you later,

This Halloween it's in you to give.....

It's that time of the year again. I have bagged up all the candy this year so as to avoid the temptation of placing one candy in a child's goodie bag and the next chocolate in my mouth. Holy run on sentence. In the spirit of Halloween and dear old Boris.....
If you have BLOOD to spare ( and most of us do) I would encourage you to call your local blood donor office. 1-888-2 donate
I heard on the radio that there are only 40,000 regular blood donors in the whole country. The need is great. It doesn't cost you anything except a half hour of your time. 9% of Canadians have the same blood type as I. If I don't donate now who will be there for me if I need help? It's called Karma!!

So in the spirit of "goulies and ghosties and long leggity beasties

and things that go bump in the night,

good Lord deliver us"

call and book your appointment today. I did.