FLOWERS FOR LEONTIEN and DONNA ♡♡♡♡

Leontien, and Donna, you are both dear blogger friends  of mine  and you are  going through some rough time with Chemo treatments right now and you both are in my thoughts and prayers.

Here are some flowers for you to brighten your day.

Non of these are blooming yet as the Lord is still working on them, one day at a time.


I was going to post about the type of week I had but I had a change of heart, I want to shift my thoughts toward two of my great blogger friends who I admire so much and are going through some very rough time with chemo treatments right now.

Know that you are both on my mind, in my heart and that I'm praying for you. You have both remarkable ladies and admired by many.

Hang in there, stay strong and take it one day at a time as it more than enough.

Much love, hugs and prayers.

Julia

VISITING PARTICE ON HER PORCH

It's Wednesday already and time to go visit Patrice on her porch. I'm not as bright and early as last week but I'm getting there. Yup....... I overslept this morning. I just rolled around on my side and fell back asleep and was 15 minutes late for work.

If you haven't been to Patrice's blog today, it's worth it just to go see a priceless photo of Wendell, her horse.
 Here are today's questions :

Questions:

1. Do you prefer wallpaper or paint?                I used to love wallpaper but the honeymoon is over, now,  I prefer paint. No more wallpaper for me. 
2. What qualities make a good friend?  Integrity, dependability, tolerance and humorous
3. Are you planning a summer vacation? What is a vacation? I need to look it up in a dictionary. 
4. Do you have a garage, carport, park on the street or park in your driveway? I have a garage and my car is usually parked in it but not this week as we are using the garage to organize storage. 
5. Tell me something interesting about your week. (oops- please).    I'm caring for a wounded older calf who went where she was not supposed to go and got herself wedged in a precarious position and tried to escape and ended up injuring her right front thigh. We had to cut bars to the feeder to free her.

Thanks for the questions Patrice. Ask wendell what kind of tooth paste does he use?  His teeth are so white........  Have a great week . 

Hugs,  JB

I'm just adding this from last year photos for a color splash to brighten my day.
I'm still trying to navigate the new Blogger and had difficulty finding the Edit button.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.  Have a wonderful rest of the week.  JB

1. 
   

SOMETHING NEW

I resisted changing to the new Blogger look.... Well what do you know, Blogger has a new look AGAIN.

 What a surprise this morning when I clicked on my blog and my first reaction was, "Oh no! Don't tell me that even though I  chose not to change to Blogger's  new look it came to me and I have to get use to this new look, grrrr.  It will take some getting use to it. I'm a terrible creature of habits.... I haven't figured out if I like it yet. I don't know if it's better or not, just different right now.

Everything looks so bare naked. Maybe it's better. I'm slow to change, must come with age.
I see the settings are on the right of the page which is a good thing, I suppose.

Well now that I've got my shock over with, let see if I still can do my thing...

Now there's my little man posing for a picture before going to the museum. I'll admit to being bias but I think that is a very handsome dude.

How nice to be able to talk to daddy on Skype even though he's miles away.......  Hooray..., daddy is coming home today after being a week away. James hope that  grandpy is feeling better soon.

James is playing at the kitchen party at the museum with friend Alex..

Mama distracted me while I'm trying to prepare dinner.

James love his dinosaurs magnets.

Now is time for serious reading.  

Look what mama found on Kijiji. Now James will be able to play with his beloved trains without knocking the tracks down.  Good move mama. 

James being fitted for a prosthesis. 

Being inked  is not really a tatoo I guess but heh, I got inked... did you?

Now the plaster mold is being put on, while Daddy is holding James. What a good boy he is.

Now my review regarding Blogger. Well what can I say.... uploading pictures is super fast and easy . No more having to go to the side to scroll to the top of the page to find the  picture icon, eliminating an annoying step.   It's much better than before.  I like this part.

The sun just came up after a weekend of downpour. I like that too. I wonder if Blogger has something to do with that.     

Have a great week, stay safe and healthy friends and thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment and I'll like that too.  JB                                                                           

I'M VISITING PATRICE TODAY, COME WITH ME...

I have a confession to make. I'm somewhat  computer illiterate and haven't been able to copy and paste Patrice's questions on my Mac so when I don't have the time to write all the question, I don't visit.

I've been having a tight muscle in my back so I've been up since 2:00 am. Let's go see if she has the porch light on or the coffee ready, he he.

                                       Here are the question she was asking today.
1. What was the last big event gathering you attended? Wedding, funeral, graduation, party, riot, etc,)
   On Friday I attended a funeral for my husband's aunt. She was 100 years old.

2.  Do you switch over your seasonal wardrobe, wear the same thing year round, have a huge closet to put it all in or throw everything out and buy new each season? I threw the last one in to see if you were paying attention.
   I have my pants and shorts, long sleeves tops, sweaters, sleeveless all folded  on shelves in my walk in closet  so I just pick what is appropriate for a particular day. Some days I go from long sleeves turtle neck and change to sleeveless as the temperature changes.  I dress for comfort most of the time.

3. What sweetener do you use most often?
     Sugar or honey in baking. I never add sweetener in my cereal but add raisins instead.

4.  Slippers, socks or barefoot?
    Slippers on cold floor,  I used to go barefoot a lot but now my feet hurt sometimes and I use slippers more often, sandals in summer.

5.  What questions would you like me to ask the group over the next few weeks?
   a.  Do you make your bed as soon as you get up in the morning or just make it later or leave it messy?
   b.  How many hobbies do you have?
   c.  What bad table manners drives you crazy?
   d. Do you have a good sense of direction when driving in a strange place?
   e. Do you often think of others before yourself?

You can pick which ever question you prefer Patrice.

I hope that you have a great week.  JB

IT TOTALLY SLIPPED MY MIND OR MAYBE MY MIND SLIPPED AWAY...

I just realized today that I had promised some pictures of my renovated bathroom way back at the end of February but had been so busy that I just couldn't seem to find time to post. Things have kind of calmed down for me so I better get on with it.

To enlarge the photos, just click on them.

The vanity was built  by my brother when we built the house and my husband wanted to try his new router toy on ALL my cupboards and cabinets much to my chagrin....  He did every doors.
Colored appliances and fixtures were the rage in the 70ies. The girls wanted purple in the bathroom. The sinks had chipped and started to leak so my husband had temporarily replaced one sink with one found at the church yard sale. I don't think that it even cost him anything. The vinyl wallpaper on the upper wall was a challenge to removed.

We both wanted just a simple bathroom that was fresh looking and easy to clean with no fancy and trendy stuff or colors so kept it neutral. The cabinet doors and drawers were left as is, but sanded and painted with some left over quality  paint that I had from a couple years ago. The groves don't stand out like they used to.
The door still needs painting and I'll get around to it sooner or later.
I used the left over paint from the master bathroom that was renovated last year to keep costs down.
I only wanted one sink so I  got a new vanity top and got a shelf unit built and replace the large mirror with a smaller one. I got a wide towel bar under the window and a towel ring on the shelf unit.

These dated fixtures were removed. One of the light bulb was burnt.

 Here are the new light fixtures with energy efficient bulbs. The ceiling fan as you can see in the mirror had yellowed and was painted with a fresh coat of mildew resistant paint along with the ceiling.

The ceramic tile floor was exactly the same pattern as the Master bathroom that we renovated last year so We could use some of the left over tiles from last year.

The new steel tub was installed and some insulation put under to keep the water hot in the bath.
The wall was tiled with  thick tiles and a small ceramic corner shelf was added. In this photo, the wall was not yet painted.

A view of the towel ring,  in the mirror you can see the reflection of the new toilet paper holder that I love so much. You just slip the roll on in a second. Almost time to change the roll... I love the new taps.

They were supposed to ship a taller toilet but somehow someone forgot to change the order number and this is what they shipped and that's what the guys installed and my husband was OK with it and since  me I'm so short it didn't matter to me either.

This is a bargain picture with a nice frame and double matt that I got at Value Village for only $3.99 last year. I was glad to find a place for it.

I almost forgot, I've added another towel rack close to the bathtub over the toilet.
Sorry it took me so long to post these pictures. No more mauve bathroom for me.

THanks again for visiting and leaving comments.    JB

AT LONG LAST, IT CAME OFF...

Yes, at long last, the quilt came off the frame on Holy Friday. I still have some quilting to do around the corners because the king size quilt was too wide for the frame as you can see on the right, but I've managed to quilt one corner last evening using a hoop and it worked well.

For a close up look, you can click on the pictures.

This is the quilt  before it was removed from the frame. I did finished quilting the top but the corners were too close to the sides of the frame and I had to be worked in a hoop. This quilt was designed for a double bed and I didn't reduced the size of the pattern and I should have but in the end it worked out OK  I think. If I were to do another one, I would put the design in the border a little higher.

The unfinished quilt has been spread on the bed and the colors looks washed out but the colors are truer at the foot of the bed. It's a salmon color on creamy background.

Since we bought a deep mattress for the bed the old bedspread has become too short, and the ruffle doesn't reach the floor. I had made the curtains and couldn't afford the lining and was to make some later and later never came. It's a good thing that there are aluminum blinds for privacy and they filter the light beautifully.

A close up of one square and I couldn't put the whole square in. I wonder how many little quilted hearts in one square. The hearts were my own quilting design. 

Here is a close up of the border.

I tried to get the true color and turned the light on . It actually shows the color a wee bit better. 

This is the pattern. Sorry about the old fuzzy photo. I'm not sure if I'll make the rounded corners. 

Here is my idle frame folded. It can be used for any size quilt I was told by Mr Hinks who built it for me. 

It came from Mahone Bay in Nova Scotia.

Thanks for dropping by, and for leaving a comment.. JB

MY BEAUTIFUL GRANDDAUGHTER JORDYN

Today  Jordyn, my beautiful and oldest granddaughter popped in for a few minutes and I asked her if she would pose for me while moving around a bit so I could test a feature I hadn't used on my Canon Ti1 camera yet.  She was reluctant because she felt that she wasn't presentable but I thought that she looked just fine the way she was.

The feature I'm talking about is for action shots. I turn this little dial to a certain setting and press the shutter button and it instantly takes a series of photos while the subject is moving. For some reason I always take still photos and now I'll really feel more confident to get some great shots.

For still photos it takes a few seconds for the camera to zoom on and I lose great shots sometimes. If I click before the camera zooms on, the photo gets a bit blurry.

This was great fun, in matter of a few short minutes I had about 30 some photos to choose from. I'm sure it felt a little awkward to pose for her grandma but Jordyn was a good sport. Thanks Jordyn. I appreciate your cooperation.

At the Maritimes Fiber Art Retreat I missed a lot of good shots because the models were walking so fast,  but if they have the fashion show again next year,  I'll be able to shoot to my heart content and not miss a beat as long as my battery is fully charged. 

 I also took some close up shots of tiny blooms on my Wandering Jew plant that is blooming for the first time this spring.  This was a plant that my mom gave me and I almost lost it. It was dying because the of the salt residue in the soil from the water softener.  My mother was dying from cancer and so was my Wandering Jew.  I tried rooting some cuttings before I completely lost it as this plant came from my mom and I wanted to keep it alive for sentimental reasons. I potted it and repotted it and now it's blooming for 

the first time. That makes me so happy. It's getting big now and sits on top of a stool. It's now an heirloom plant.

A close up shot

Just a little closer look at those beautiful delicate blossoms.

I hope that you all had a great Easter Weekend and are all rested for back to work and back to school tomorrow.

 Tomorrow, God willing I'll show you my quilt off the frame. I took it off the frame on Good Friday and threw it on my King size bed to see how it looked. It's BIG.  

Thanks for visiting my blog  and please let me know that you visited  me by leaving me  a comment or just say Hi.  JB                                                                                                                                           

MY DAUGHTER IS DOING THIS BECAUSE OF ME.

In 2002 just before Christmas I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer as many of you know and had a radical Mastectomy and had 5 lymph nodes removed. My daughter Christine came home to care for me and prepare the traditional family Christmas dinner  and help get the house ready for Christmas.

Now because I've had Breast Cancer,  Christine, the pie fairy,  raises money for Breast Cancer research every year by baking many pies of all kinds as incentive  for donations. She curls for the Breast Cancer Research Bonspiel along with her friend Katrhyne. Together they raised $5,095.00 this year  by baking 104 pies. They are both very busy working women and my daughter also cares for James along with her husband Joe.  James is now one year and two and a half months old

In this photo is my daughter's team. From left to right, Kathryne, Tracey, Erin and Christine.

 This year with a minimum donation of $40, the donor got a pie of his or her  choice and a tax receipt for $35. Many gaves more. The donors returns  for more pies every year and there are more demands for their pies. All the pies are made from scratch and so are the pie crust.

  
Those are the ingredients she uses in her pies. No premixes in those pies.  Everything is from scratch for unbeatable flavor.

James gives a helping hand of course and hails his mama's pies as the best.

                                              
                                                                  Lemon pies above

                  
                                                        Sweet potato pie

                                                   Pie crusts waiting for filling

                                                      Blueberry pie

                                                               Coconut Cream pie

                                              
                                                         Key Lime pie

                                         Pecan pie above and Apple pie on the bottom.


There were 69 curling women in this Bonspiel, and altogether they raised  a whopping $39,000. for Breast Cancer  Research this year alone.

When my daughter first started to do this, she gave a pie  for a donation of $25. Every year it grew.  Now they no longer have to ask for donations and have repeat customers and new one too. They just put their orders in.

This is the third year  that  Christine and Katrhyne  are offering the pies as incentive and together have raised $12,500. for the cause in three years during the  Curling Bonspiels.

         One of my daughter's friend's husband is great at cookie decorating and came up with these bra cookies.

My daughter and her friend Katheryne made 6 pies for draws. Only four are shown here. They raised $415. with 6 pies.  Whoo Hooo..... Way to go girls.

I've been wanting to share this story but have been working on my quilt and had other things that kept me busy or preoccupied this past week.

I hope that you all have a safe and Happy Easter if you celebrate Easter, if not, have a safe and happy weekend just the same. For those who are having snow for Easter , you are in my thoughts. Thanks for stopping by for a visit and you all know how much I love your comments.   JB