Monthly Archives: November 2005

As If I’m Not Busy Enough!

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Recently I visited my aunt’s quilt shop, Tatters, which is always a dangerous thing to do, but only because I bring my cheque book with me and I have very little resistance to bright and beautiful things, especially fabrics. She, herself, is a very safe person to be around. It’s just her shop that poses peril.

At any rate, I left the store with enough fabric and then some to make each of my daughters a quilt of their own. Something I haven’t done since each of them was born.

THEN, I decided my Brownies could make one, too and it would help them earn their Arts Badge.

So last week, each Brownie sewed an X on their very own block and then I sewed those to the blocks I’d made and now we’ve got a beautiful rag quilt that we’re raffling off at our Christmas Supper next week. Isn’t it pretty?

Needless to say, I haven’t started my daughter’s quilts, but soon. Very soon, because I’ve promised.

AND THEN, I was Christmas shopping this morning and signed myself up for a mail order “block of the month” wallhanging kit by PineNeedles.

I love PineNeedles patterns. They are *beautiful* and the Bali fabrics they call for are absolutely gorgeous. You’ve never seen such exquisite colours blended together until you’ve seen them in a Bali.f1a043fae499b8369b16b54012c98ee2

8 blocks for 8 months and I’ll end up with this…

I guess I’d better get out my carving knife along with my cutting scissors so I can find some more time in my schedule. :)

Questions for Canada

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Now I like poking fun and these were just too good not to share. And I honestly believe that no question is a stupid one, but you do need to be careful who you ask, otherwise you’ll end up with some smart aleck answers like the ones below. Thanks to my good friend, Mark for sharing this.

"Now that Vancouver has won the chance to host the
2010 Winter Olympics these are some questions people
the world over are asking!!!! Believe it or not these
questions about Canada were posted on an
International Tourism Website (frightening, isn't it!)

Obviously the answers are a joke; but the questions
were really asked!!!!!.

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV,
so how do the plants grow?(UK)

A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit
around and watch them die.

Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? (USA)

A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto-
can I follow the Railroad tracks? (Sweden)

A: Sure, it's only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada? (Sweden)

A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: It is imperative that I find the names and addresses
of places to contact for a stuffed Beaver. (Italy)

A: Let's not touch this one.

Q: Are there any ATM's (cash machines) in Canada?
Can you send me a list of them in
Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax? (UK)

A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing
in Canada? (USA )

A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe.
Ca-na-da is that big country to your North...oh forget it.
Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary.
Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada? (USA)

A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees Contact us when
you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada? (UK)

A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)

A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y,
which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every
Tuesday night in Vancouver and in Calgary, straight after the
hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada? (Germany)

A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth.
Can you sell it in Canada? (USA)

A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the
female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)

A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada? (USA)

A: Only at Thanksgiving.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and
is milk available all year round?(Germany)

A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of
Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada,
but I forget its name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. (USA)

A: It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent,
eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can
scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before
you go out walking.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)

A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

TextAloud

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It’s been ages since I’ve been. Apologies, but we’ve been steamrolled with activities in our house.

RISING SIN is in the mail. It’s not in Texas yet, but it should be arriving any second now. Well. Not really. They won’t deliver on the weekend, so let’s just say Monday. :)

SO, while I was editing the ms for the Golden Heart, I stumbled across a tidbit of advice on one of the RWA writing loops regarding TextAloud.

Basically it’s a reading program that reads your work, emails, webpages, ebooks, etc. to you. I quite liked using it — I was able to catch repeated words that I’ve never noticed before (when you’ve got “delicious” sitting 3 times within 2 paragraphs, it’s bound to drive some reader/editor crazy — and not in a good way).

My only complaint is that the free download trial version gives you “Mary” who doesn’t sound as nearly as spiffy as any of the Natural Voice crowd (who you pay the big bucks for…kinda like a high school clique thing, I guess).

*But*, that being said, I got quite used to Mary and her slightly stilted pronounciation. I even became accustomed to her pronouncing my hero as Za–cheery-ah Boddin instead of the more masculine and American sounding, Zachariah Bodine. It gave him a kind of international flair, I thought. ;)

Gramma

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Because my mom is visiting…

WHAT IS A GRANDPARENT?

(taken from papers written by a class of 8-year-olds)

Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of her own. They like other people’s.

A grandfather is a man grandmother.

Grandparents don’t have to do anything except be there when we come to see them.

They are so old they shouldn’t play hard or run.

It is good if they drive us to the store and have lots of quarters for us.

When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.

They show us and talk to us about the color of the flowers and also! Why we shouldn’t step on “cracks.”

They don’t say, “Hurry up.”

Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes.

They wear glasses and funny underwear.

They can take their teeth and gums out.

Grandparents don’t have to be smart.

They have to answer questions like “why isn’t God married?” and “How come dogs chase cats?”.

When they read to us, they don’t skip. They don’t mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don’t have television, because they are the only grown ups who like to spend time with us.

They know we should have snack-time before bedtime and they say prayers with us every time, and kiss us even when we’ve acted bad.

A 6 YEAR OLD WAS ASKED WHERE HIS GRANDMA LIVED. ‘’OH,’’ HE SAID, ‘’SHE LIVES AT THE AIRPORT, AND WHEN WE WANT HER WE JUST GO GET HER. THEN WHEN WE’RE DONE HAVING HER VISIT, WE TAKE HER BACK TO THE AIRPORT.’’

True Canadiana

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maple leaf iceYou know you’re a Canadian if…

1. You know what a touque is.

2. You understand the phrase “Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine on the chesterfield.”

3. You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.

4. You drink Pop, not Soda.

5. You know that a Mickey has nothing to do with the mouse.

6. You don’t care about the fuss with Cuba. It’s a cheap place to go for holidays and they’ve got good cigars.

7. You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway.

8. You drive on a highway, not a freeway.

9. You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.

10. You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group.

11. You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.

12. You brag to Americans that Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion & Mike Myers are Canadians.

13. You know that the C.E.O. of American Airlines is a Canadian!

14. You take out the garbage and not the trash.

15. You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

16. You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced “Zed”.

17. Your local newspaper covers the national news on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.

18. You know that the four seasons mean: almost winter, winter, still winter and road work.

19. You know that when it’s 25 degrees outside, it’s a warm day.

20. You understand the Labatt Blue commercials.

21. You know how to pronounce and spell “Saskatchewan”.

22. You perk up when you hear the theme song from ‘Hockey Night in Canada’.

23. You are in grade 12, not the 12th grade.

24. “Eh?” is a very important part of your vocabulary, and is more polite than, “Huh?”

25. You actually understand these jokes and send your Canadian friends to my blog so you can all have a good laugh. :)