Another weekend flies by....

The car was repaired by 1:00 ish and Julia and I were off to the Little Red Mitten. Julia was looking for black yarn to make a chunky jacket. I was "along for the ride."
We both fell in love with this little quick knit jacket pattern from Diamond Yarns AND their merino and silk yarn.

Julia will be posting more about this on the knitting blog.

Yesterday we drove up to Kincardine to take Julia home and visit with Michael and family. Youngest son and his love came with us. Michael was having computer issues and beside vising his brother our newly Graduated I.T. Technician had an opportunity to impress his older brother.

We presented a rather hysterical picture when we paused for a comfort stop. When the doors to my little Neon opened and 4 adults, one husky and one dachshund emerged. The bell tolls it is 7:00am and I must get ready for work.

Was it ever thus?

Car woes. There was an ominous "BANG" from the rear of my car whilst Julia and were on the way to the grocery store. Julia thought I had run over a "bum". Thank you for that. I thought the tire had blown. Neither, my brakes were not responding fully AND a chorus of metallic sounds accompanied the drive of 6 blocks home.
I expected Carl to be able to diagnose the problem and tell me how much it will cost.
After all he has the man gene right? He can tell you when a piece of music was written, who sang it, when and who published it but he was disappointing me in the Car Diagnoses Dept.
He got on the phone to the Auto Pro dudes who fixed the brakes last year and they talked "man." The up shot was. Don't drive the car!
So here I sit with my morning coffee awaiting the tow truck. This is seriously cutting into my wool shop plans this afternoon with Julia.

Spring has Sprung....

and thankful I am too. I finally saw my first pair of robins (not this two) . The true harbinger of spring.

The snow is gone and we shall be enjoying balmy temperatures today and tomorrow before things return to a more realistic spring.

Youngest DD is here for the weekend and we are going to be working on the Teddies for Tragedies Project. Carl is working on Saturday and I hope that Julia and I will be able to take a packed lunch and go down to the Thames River with the dog. If all goes well pictures to follow.

My ennui is dissipating with the cold weather and I am slowly feeling better. As my eldest DD says " I need sunshine." Time is the great healer, "they" say. I still miss my mother terribly and always will. It is the "getting used to" part that I am having a problem handling. I keep wanting to call her or tell her something...oh crap there I go again. She aways said my tear ducts were connected to my bladder.

Back to the weekend. I promised Julia a trip to m LYS "Little Red Mitten." Last outing was when Corinne was here and she bought me a gift certificate. This means I can have guilt free shopping. Woo Hoo. The long weekend beckons and I am happy to embrace it.

Enjoy the lovely spring weather and have a blessed Easter.

Ann Coulter pack your bag and leave.

OOO I am so annoyed. Who is this ignorant woman and why is she on a speaking tour in Canada? Ottawa had the good sense to kick her to the curb now she is in Calgary. She had better watch her mouth out there.
I heard her, on television, whilst she was here in London. There is no excuse for bad manners and bigotry cloaked in the guise of "free speech." This type of trouble maker will keep the world at war and foster hate mongering.
O.K.that is my rant for the day.

Wiping a tear from my eye....

...Buggar.....


I laughed until I couldn't speak...Carl didn't get it

Girl's Day Out

Thursday was a wonderful day off. Corinne gave me a tutorial on tapestry crochet. Pics of my mitts, well, at least one, will be forthcoming. Explanations were accompanied by Welsh Cakes and tea. A good time was had by all. Then we took a trip to Little Red Mitten. I had to show off "my" wool shop as Corinne had taken me to "hers" in Burlington, namely, Spun. Then we were off to the mall and Chapters with a stop off at Harvey's for some intestinal disruption...shudder, take my word for it Harvey's has gone down hill.
In between the crochet and the wool shop Carl stopped off at the house to grab a free coffee and a hug before he hit the highway. My youngest granddaughter swooned when she saw the Excursion Limo out front of the house. I made sure her feet were clean before we let her sit inside for the mandatory camera op.

Her sister was unimpressed and just wanted to get to the book store.

It's the little things in life....

This morning I watched the odometer on my car roll over to 111111 kms. Yes, I know, "Small things amuse small minds." Other than that a long day stretches ahead of me. That retirement counter doesn't seem to be moving very quickley.

Broccoli Soup

Onions and celery simmering in butter
Add broccoli, and chicken stock to veg, simmer and puree.

Make a roux

..thicken..

Pour into the broccoli mixture

... Stir over a low heat...

...in a separate bowl, blend the flour, shortening and baking powder...

add some left over cheese..grated..

add milk roll them out and cut into biscuits..onto a greased sheet...bake in the oven

ooops cheese biscuits brown quicker..still flaky inside...serve with soup.

Yummy

We went to the pictures!

Carl had the whole weekend off. This is practically unheard off. Saturday we went to see Avatar. Carl is not a fan of Fantasy, Science Fiction or anything like that. So, I was surprised when he brought the movie up in conversation. He knew I wanted to go and off we went. It was enthralling and beautiful. I am not going to spoil it for you by giving anything away. It is a long movie, over 2.5 hours, and I could hardly stand when it was over. I may just buy a blue ray player when this comes out on disc, just to watch it again.
Sunday we went to the "man" stores looking for a battery for an air pump.
Other than that we spent a quiet weekend together.
Carl found a recipe on the Internet for Cream of Broccoli Soup that looks really "delish." I am going to make it when I get home tonight. It looks super easy. I will let you know how it turns out.

Happy Birthday Corinne on St David's Day

If she had been a boy...Well, she would have been named David after "Dewi Sant"

The Daffodil

Jean made reference to seeing a man wearing a leek on St David's Day, I have a faint memory of Grandpa coming to the house with a leek pinned on his jacket. We all thought it very funny.
The Red Dragon

The above is what I think of on Saint David's Day and a big plate of Welsh cakes...see previous post.

On a trip to Wales I bought my Mom a fridge magnet with the following poem:

To be born Welsh
is to be born privileged.
Not with a silver spoon in your mouth,
But music in your blood
And poetry in your soul
- Wilfred Wilson

I always called Mom to wish her a Happy St David's Day. This is the first of many celebratory days this year that I will miss talking with her.