RUG HOOKING BLOG

About Me

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I'm a mother of four grandmother of seven and great grandmother of three. I live with my husband in the house that we built with the help of my brothers and will have been married for 57 years this February.

Sunday, December 25, 2022

PEACE ON EARTH TO MEN OF GOOD WILL

 Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends who visit my blog. May your day be filled with new hope for a better world,  love,  peace, joy, and contentment.



This morning, I placed baby Jesus in Mary's arms to complete the nativity scene.


This is what is left of our snow on this Christmas morning while other places are overcome by the amount of snow they have received in a short time, where travelers are stranded.

I especially remember in my prayers all those who are having some difficulty this Christmas, some are mourning the loss of their loved ones, some are sick, some are dyeing, some are homeless, some are without power after the storm, and some have nothing to eat, some are stranded and can't make it home, some are at war, some are keeping peace far away from home, some are unjustly imprisoned for what they believe in and for all those who suffer in silence because of injustice. Let us count our blessings with a grateful heart.

Today, my son Vaughan, George, and I will feast on our traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and I'll be setting up the traditional puzzle to relax and count my blessings. A very quiet Christmas but blessed Christmas.

Stay safe and well my friends and thank you for your comments.

Hugs,

Julia



Tuesday, December 20, 2022

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A LITTL OLD LADY...

That little old lady is me.  I'm still whining about not having enough time to post on my blog or clean the house or pull loops. A lot of my time is spent helping my husband do the things he can no longer do for himself and his eyesight is not good at all. There's nothing wrong with his long-term memory but his short-term memory is getting worst. I spent the whole day filing three years of his personal papers which he just piled in a drawer, lol.

 Two weeks ago, he lost his cell phone in the woods quite a long distance from here, while he went to tow my granddaughter's partner's truck that got stuck in the mud in the woods and he had their three kids with them,  while they went to get a Christmas tree. It started to rain heavily by the time he got home and realized that his phone was missing. He remembered using his smartphone to call my granddaughter while he was in the truck. He didn't realize he had lost it until he got home. The phone went dead so we couldn't pin the location from the towers.

He got himself a new smartphone but it's different than his first one and he's having difficulty remembering how to use it and constantly is asking me for help. I'm having difficulty with it too as it's way different than my iPhone. I'm slowly getting to know how it works.

Yesterday morning, he came to wake me up because he couldn't find his cell phone. Sleepy-eyed, I asked him, did you look in the holder on your belt. He said no. He looked and he had his phone on him. He's getting more and more dependent on me and it's getting me worried.

This morning he went to work at the farm and went to several places in the industrial park not far from here for parts, and when he got home, he realized that he didn't have his cell phone on him. I called his phone but it rang on our house phone. It's arranged that way so we don't miss calls for the business when he's too busy to answer his cell.

I took him to all three businesses he had been to and nobody had seen his phone. We backtracked all the places he had been on the farm and then we went home. I prayed to St Anthony of Padua, the patron of lost items,  and I went to check his lazy boy chair. I removed the thick blanket that is used to cover his chair and stuck my hand deep on the side and there it was, in airplane mode. I spent the whole morning searching and within 5 minutes after I prayed, there it was.

I've been working in the office a lot lately for the farm business, trying to tie up all the loose ends, I also have to be on top of my husband's personal papers as well as my own, and his financial investment papers are a bit more complex than mine.  A lot of business transactions are time sensitive and he used to be on top of everything, now I have to remind him of what needs to be done before a certain date every month. 

Little by little things are getting straightened out, like shifting utility bills in my name so I can get into the account and download the bills on my own computer and pay them online. Things are getting more and more complex. 

We had a new wireless modem and router put in and after the technician left, I lost my internet, and also the connection to the printer. Then it was printing and now it's not printing again. I need my printer to work to print bills that come in. Even the security alarm has been affected by this new wireless modem thing. I think I'm ready to go live in a little cabin, deep in the woods.

The day before yesterday, one very important government paper couldn't be found. After a search I found it and I decided to straighten out some of his papers.  I worked all day filing his personal papers and had to drive him to town to do some financial transactions at the bank. Then he needed help to fill 10 books of tickets for his fraternal organization. Needless to say, I didn't get any of the things I was planning to do for Christmas except get some turkeys, for my granddaughter and for ourselves while they were on sale on our way back home.

We got dumped on with about 6 inches of heavy snow. It was very pretty but I never had the chance to play and make even a small snowman, lol.

My tree is finally up and also a few decorations at my entrance and in the living room.  It took me three days to set it up, lol...  The Nativity is always the first thing I put out at the beginning of Advent. I don't have any poinsettias this Christmas but I'm sure to get a few small ones from the church after Christmas. I have my fruitcake done but I need to make some cranberry cookies and some tourtiere meat pies. I won't be shopping in crowded malls again this year but will give money gifts instead.



I set up my little village on my roll-top desk. It was very somber when I took this photo.


My loyal welcoming committee waiting to greet you at the door.

That's all the decoration I put up so far except a wreath on the outside and inside the front door.



Two weeks ago I set up a puzzle that I bought at the church bazaar and thought it would be an easy one. It was more difficult than I had expected because the pieces were of different sizes and shapes and went in different directions, but I enjoyed working on it and finished it. I find it very de-stressing and therapeutic.

Sunday, December 4, 2022

TURNING THE CALENDAR PAGE FOR THE LAST TIME THIS YEAR.

 Hello December, I'm a little late to greet you as I'm running behind. 


Yay! I started my Christmas decor. The Nativity is usually the first thing out, just in time for Advent. I see I need to replace the snow as it's getting worn out. My nativity is 22 years old and was given to me by Christine. I just love this nativity.

I was going to post to mark the end of  November but one thing lead to another and it didn't get done. 

Our church ladies organized a Christmas bazaar and raised over $2000. with this fundraising in three hours.  I did a baking marathon for the bake sale and donated some homemade heat bags that we call magic bags to sell before going away for the weekend in Bathurst, a three-hour drive. George wanted to stay home, and I got my son to check up on him from time to time.

I had a wonderful time in Bathurst and got there ahead of the big storm on Saturday. I was invited to a very popular Chinese restaurant by my brother Gerrad and we all ordered the buffet. We ate till there was no more room. The place was packed and the food was good. The next morning, on Sunday there was over a foot of snow on the ground. The snow didn't keep anybody home.

The family gathered at my brother's house and we all had a great time. A lot of chatter and laughter but a little more subdued than the previous year since we all missed our brother Leo.  Normally, everyone stays later but because of the heavy snowstorm, people started to leave home a little earlier than usual. There was so much food. My sister-in-law, Theresa is the hostess with the mostess. For those who live far away, we connected on the tablet through Messenger.

I came home on Monday. The snow was still drifting quite a bit and the roads were snow-packed and slippery. Once past Bathurst, the roads were slushy and the sun was low on the horizon.  A good thing I got a good pair of sunglasses that cut out the glare. Past Bathurst I got my car windshield cracked by a flying rock in heavy traffic. It needed to be replaced. From Miramichi to Fredericton, the grass was green.

I had a birthday in late November and George took me out to breakfast and again for supper at a seafood restaurant. We got our fill and had to take the rest home.  It's funny how the stomach can stretch when the food is so good. I said to George, I think I gained weight this week and he laughed at me and said, "Yeah, maybe half a pound, lol...

I help prepare another funeral reception on Friday with our church ladies. We did a lot of baking sweets and preparing sandwiches and so it seems there is never a dull moment but it's always fun to work with this group of ladies. We laugh a lot.

I attended the last hooking meeting of the season and we all had a wonderful time. There was a lot of chatter and we seem noisier than usual. We'll meet again for our Christmas Party. 

Stay safe and well, hugs.

Julia