Moofut Moper's Great Adventure

Stitches

2011-06-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, I won't put pictures of my incision until it looks completely healthy. This is the dressing I wore for a week after my surgery which kept pressure on my wound and immobilized my wrist. It is a huge relief to have it off as it was very tight after a week, plus, my hand absolutely stunk. I will know for next time to bath my fingers everyday so I can keep that sweet sweat smell to a minimum. The worst part about the smell was that I had to elevate my hand so I often had it resting on my chest, under my nose. Yuck! Anyway, now I'm washing my fingers many times a day and loving the luxury.

My stitches came out on Tuesday so I'm taking it quite easy this week. It was a good reminder to rest when the doctor and the nurse reminded me that I needed to take it really easy for at least 2 more weeks, and that my strength may take months to return. I'm not too happy about the resting bit as I do feel quite useless. I am able to do a few things, here is the list;

1) water the garden by hand, left hand

2) wash light dishes with my rubber gloves on

3) dress myself entirely

4) shower without assistance

I can not, however, do my hair, which I'm realizing is the hardest part of this whole thing. Vanity is a terrible thing, but it goes beyond vanity, it's my profession! It's like brushing my teeth to me, brush my teeth, do my hair, same thing! I guess it's fair that if I can't do my client's hair, I shouldn't be looking fabulous myself.

I have been very blessed to have so many friends make delicious meals for us. We've had two different lasagnas, minestrone soup, veggie burgers, pasta and sauce, roasted vegetables with couscous, and muffins, buns, cookies and other yummy treats. Thank you for taking such good care of our hunger!

Blayke's Sick Hand Song

2011-05-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

To translate my niece's song "Auntie Nay Nay" is me, "hand all better, no" "hand still sick". As her mom says, it's quite catchy! Enjoy.

Surgery, 10 days later...

2011-05-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's been 10 days since my hand looked like this. The surgery was both faster and more painful then I imagined. The actual surgery took no more then 5 minutes, but the freezing was excruciating. The surgeon said the freezing pain would last 5 seconds, WRONG, it was well over a minute or two before the stabbing pain ended. Thankfully I was totally stoned on Ativan and only breathed loudly instead of screamed with blood curdling intensity. I can't believe that the doctor's assistant told me that I could drive myself home after the surgery. Not likely. Dustin came with me and has been my servant ever since.

The first few days I was in a daze, and I apologize to all of those who called during the T3 days. I don't remember talking to you. I do, however, appreciate your call. Dustin stayed home with me 2 days after my surgery because I had a very bad reaction to those T3's, and I couldn't be left alone. Since then every day has been a little bit better. I can type with two hands now, not for long, but I can do it, which is thrilling. I have all of the feeling back in my thumb, index and middle fingers of my right hand, but it is very weak. I hope to start physio next week as I have a lot of muscle wasting in my hand and I need to get my strength back. Hopefully I will stop dropping my combs so much.

I'll post again when I can type for longer.

Snow Watch

2011-04-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

It is fair to say that we had A LOT of snow this year. On March 30th I took this picture because it seemed like the snow was actually going to start melting.

This is the scene one week later! I can actually see some grass on the curb, so that's a great thing. Stay tuned for next weeks installment of Snow Watch.

More Party Pictures!

2011-04-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

Wecome to the party!

What it was like to be in the 80's!

Karaoke Stage!

Cupcakes. Too many cupcakes. All homemade, vegan and hand piped, mostly by Gabrielle.

Sugar hangover central! Many a Sunday morning headache started right here.

40 presents for 40 years

2011-03-12T21:21:00.001-08:00

My sisters have always been creative with my birthday presents throughout my 30's and turning 40 just turned creativity and generousity knobs to 11. I was told on my birthday that there was a package coming for me but it was stuck in Waterloo for a long time, and then moved to the greater Toronto area. It finally arrived on March 11, and I think I made the postal delivery man's day as much as he made mine. I had just come home from Curves and was grumbling to myself about the package and how I didn't have it, and how my sisters went to so much work, and I guessed that Canada Post lost it. I wasn't pleased. Just when I was midway through my silent rant I heard the pounding of a fist on my front door and I turned to see the reflection of the Canada Post truck parked in front of my house. I started yelling "YAAYYYY" as I ran loudly towards the front door. I swung open the door still yelling "yay" and I was clapping and jumping up and down when I saw the big box. The delivery man was laughing. Upon opening the box I found a large envelope with a picture of my sisters and all of the gifts. Also on top was a pink tiara, which I wore for 4 hours!

It took me an hour or more to sort the presents from 1 to 40, open all of them and record what was in each package. It was a box of Food Memories! For example there was a box of Aunt Jemima Pancake mix and some maple syrup. Our Dad made pancakes at the cottage every Saturday morning using this mix and there were always too many leaving a stack to share with the seagulls. There were Chopsticks for a food war. One time I made stir fry for my niece's and nephew and we all ate politely out of our bowls until someone started eating out of the common bowl, and I knocked their food out of their chopsticks and that became the new game. Could you get any food without someone dislodging it from your chopsticks. Another was what I would have called "penny" candy when I was young, but was probably 5cent candy now, and it was purchased from the local corner store called Forwells. A reminder of Candy Day, which was Saturday and the only day we were allowed candy.

Here are all of the wrapped gifts and the flowers that my brother Ted and sister-in-law Kate sent me for my birthday.

These are the unwrapped gifts. I am well stocked for sweet treats, popcorn, pasta, nuts, bread storage, and great pictures of my sisters.

Here they are, Susie, Nancy and Patti, and all of their hard work. Thank you for all of your generosity and for making my birthday so special, especially since we are so far apart! I love you all, and my brother Ted, sister-in-law Kate, and brother-in-law Henry.

One Karaoke Performance. Unforgettable

2011-03-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

The best performance of the night was our friends Rob and Kevin. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BpvRJmHvIA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

40 and loving it!

2011-03-05T23:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the pictures from my 40th Birthday party with the 80's theme. I've never been so attracted to men in eyeliner! Of course Dustin was the most attractive to me. As people send us more pictures, we will post them here. This is just a taste. I need to go to bed, so I'll write more in the morning.

My birthday cup cakes.

My friend Sara drove 15 hours from Winnipeg to totally surprise me! That was amazing!

Our good friend Marlene!

The happiest, tackiest couple in the world.

The Nay-Nay and Du Game

2010-11-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

Here is our precious one talking about us the way she does all day long, driving her parents crazy! She must really love us, so the feeling is mutual!

The walking, talking greeting card

2010-09-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today is my day to have Miss Blayke and she was delivered to me with such a great shirt. "My Auntie is AWESOME"! Is there a nicer surprise in a morning? And, just to add to the joy, she now has a name for Dustin and for me. Dustin is "Du" and I am "Nay-Nay". Whenever Dustin walks into the room she just screams and laughs "DUUUUUUU!". Doesn't everyone feel that way when Dustin enters a room?

Is this your shirt?

2010-09-28T18:33:00.001-07:00

I was folding laundry tonight and pulled this shirt out of my pile to fold and thought "Whose shirt is this? Size Small? Not mine!" So, Anna, Emily or Nan, all of you have been in our house in the last year. Is this your shirt?

too much information pants

2010-09-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

When we visited Pigeon Lake for the August long weekend, we drove down to the Wetaskawin Co-op where Dustin tried on the green Wranglers. It was quite a shock when he emerged from the change room with these babies!

I started laughing, the sales woman started laughing. She told us that a lot of the older men in town love these pants and wear them all the time. There must be a lot of Jimminy Cricket looking old men walking around Wetaskawin. It took some convincing, but Dustin managed to leave the green Wranglers at the Co-op. I know, too bad. (really bad)

the magic headband

2010-09-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Dustin's hair is getting long in his attempt to look like "The Dude" from "The Big Lebowski". It's now at the stage where it gets in his eyes, so this week we tried PRODUCT! It definitely helped for his business look, but when at home and having to install our screen door it's all party with the orange headband. If this looks familiar to any of the Mo part of the Moper clan, it is! It's Dad's cottage headband. I wish I was adept enough to scan a picture of Dad wearing it while sawing something at the cottage. I had him wear it for two reasons. 1) keep the dude hair out of his face, 2) if it's Dad's headband, then he will be the handy man extraordinaire!

whew!

2010-09-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

It was the middle of Saskatchewan, past Regina, but not quite to Saskatoon. We talked about getting gas in Regina, when we already outside Regina. We were still stunned by the awfulness of Bonanza. At one point I looked at the odometer and it said 631 km, which made me think we must be almost down to nothing in the gas tank. I checked the "remaining" meter and it said 39 kms remaining, and I asked Dustin, who was driving, "Is the light on?". As the word "on" was hanging in the air, Dustin looked down and said, "Oh it just came on!"

The countdown had begun! We saw a town coming up, oops no services. I quickly pulled out the map. Which town would have a gas station? We had passed Craik "The Friendliest town by a Dam site", read the sign, but that was minutes before I let my curiosity get to me. The nearest town with a solid dot on the map, and a hospital, was 10 or more minutes away.

Okay, 24, hmm, would we make it? The atmosphere in the car could have been tense, panic ridden, but hey, the story value of such an incident was too good to pass up. Plus, we have CAA gold!

Wow, just in the nick of time Davidson came into view and there was a Shell station on the highway, maybe even a Tim Horton's in town. We coasted in with 14 kms to go. How happy we were to see that gas pump.

We love you pump 7!

bird versus window...

2010-09-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

It was a peaceful Friday night. Dustin was serenading me with his classical guitar and I was reading Breaking Dawn of the Twilight Saga. Suddenly there was a dull, forceful thud on the window and feathers started to fly through the air.

We looked up with alarm and instantly realized that a birdie had hit our living room window. How sad, how traumatic. We have an awning so it's not very usual for birds to even come close to our window. Dustin ran outside to check on our feathered friend and discovered that it was alive, yet stunned. He donned some hair colour gloves and lifted the bird from the ground on to an overturned planter to keep the bird away from cats.

Because the bird was stunned, it sat there patiently and perfectly still while Dustin and I watched, waited and photographed. It's eye stayed shut for a long time and then started to open and close.

It must have stayed there for 1/2 hour while I ignored the Bella/Edward/Jacob triangle to watch the stationary bird. Eventually Dustin went outside to see if the bird could fly and indeed it could and landed in our Mountain Ash tree. He sat there for another hour and then he was gone.

No cat feasted on our tiny friend, and hopefully his family was glad to have him home.

Dink Bridge

2010-09-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

In the shadows of these two lovely people was erected, a structure that defines Winnipeg. Are you intrigued?

At the base of this structure we stood marvelling at it's hugeness. Glenn Murray, Winnipeg's best, and gayest mayor, left his mark on the Forks by creating the Promenade de Riel!

Notice the long shaft and the spherical base. The structure clearly a cryptic depiction of something extremely masculine. aka the Dink Bridge... (we couldn't take Moofut as he's too young to have to have the talk)

Coming Soon...

2010-09-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

We apologize for not posting lately. We have no excuses. Here is a picture we took on our recent trip to Manitoba. This was the vanilla ice "cream" from Bonanza in Regina. I think the 80's and the Bonanza restaurant chain is breathing it's last. We were laughing so hard when this pathetic turd came out of the machine.

More to come...

Happy Auntie's Day!

2010-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well I can honestly say that I am spoiled. On Sunday we were told that there would be a surprise, I was to be ready to be picked up at 2:30pm, and I was to dress "summery". There was a follow-up email to wear a hat and sunscreen. When the Enclave pulled up, I was presented with a lovely card alerting me to the occasion of "Happy Auntie Andrea's Day", complete with a gift certificate. Wow, a whole day for me? So Rob started driving and we sat listening to Blayke's music and chatted with Gabe, and all of a sudden we turned into the parking lot of the Edmonton Queen river boat!!!! I've never been on a river boat before so this was going to be very exciting. Gabrielle packed lots of snacks and special drinks and we found a place in the shade to sit and had a lovely cruise down the North Saskatchewan, complete with the song "Pirates of the North Saskatchewan" and thankfully void of them actually showing up.

Here is Uncle Dusty and Blayke have a nice chat.

Rob and Dustin enjoy some special drinks.

The other reason why I'm so spoiled, my wonderful Dustin.

My amazing friend Gabrielle, another found sister to me.

Here is a video of Blayke and her wonderful affection towards me

Thank you so much for such a great surprise and for treating us so well.

In Memoriam: Arugula, Spring Salad Mix, Zinias

2010-06-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Slowly and painfully our poor little Arugula and Spring Salad Mix, surrounded by the Kale and Dill, succumbed to the holes left by slow moving Slugs and their destructive chewing. We are grateful to our good neighbour Colleen and our sister Patti for diagnosing the slugs. We ripped out our decimated plants by the roots. Here is the new crop of arugula, sprouting in 3 days after transplant.

These are the marigolds we planted to deter the slugs from remunching on our tender salad greens and to commemorate the loss of bowls of delicious salad. We'll drown the slugs in beer if we have to, but we want to avoid more death in the garden if we can.

The zinia died due to snow and cold weather, IN JUNE! They were mercilessly ripped from the pots and thrown on to the weed pile. Good bye happy little flowers.

In a victim impact statement made by the remaining Romaine, "Thank goodness it wasn't us!"

First up!

2010-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you Emily for helping me figure out how to put text on top of a picture!

Here is the first plant to sprout in the garden. Is it clover? No. Hmmm, is it hmmm, clover? No, you already guessed that, so let me help you, it is ARUGULA! Yay and Yum! This peppery green is perfect for salad or on sandwiches and great in lettuce rolls and our rice wraps. Of course we planted too much of it, so we'll really need people to come by and take some home.

Also sprouting is our Spring Salad Mix and our Romaine Lettuce. We had some of our Rhubarb last night and it was delicious. Keep checking for updates!

Guess who's coming for dinner, and overnight?

2010-06-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

EMILY!!!!!!

( I know you think it's Moofut, but come on, he lives here!)

So Uncle Dustin got the whole room ready for Em, and added lots of nice touches, but Moofut was just whining and swinging his arms because he wanted to be a part of her visit, so after ignoring the bad behaviour, once he settled down and asked nicely, he got to wait for Emily in her bed.

Wow! Good Job Dustin.

This is my Grandpa Moses' slate from grade school. We are using it as a welcome board for the visitors that stay with us.

Here is Emily and Moofut, together in the room! Thank you Emily for spending time with us! We hope you come again really soon. Thank you too for being my "Glee" buddy for the afternoon.

Please read from the bottom!

2010-05-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

When I asked Dustin if he had any requests for flowers, he requested Snapdragons. It's important to let Snapdragons dry out completely before watering them again, that's why we planted them all in one pot. Thank you Marlene for all of your hard work and equipment. We are already attracting the birds and the bees.

Petunias with a trailing flower to fill in the pot.

These pots are mostly Orange flowers with accents of blue flowers to bring out the Orange. These are the plants that the Canada Post employee will get to enjoy when delivering our mail.

This is one of our completed pots with yellow and purple flowers. It's very important to know which plants are "trailing". I think all of the flowers in this pot are trailing, so this one will bubble over and drip down over the pot.

Here are the flowers I picked for the pots. I know there are Snap Dragons, Super Bells, Zinia and Petunia, but I don't know what else I picked.

It was Gardening week this past week and here are the bags dirt, pots and some metal pots for pepper plants. Marlene generously donated her time, dirt, pots, and experience to make our front steps look like a country garden. We planted everything in about an hour.

Visiting an old friend

2010-05-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

After cleaning off the camera lens, the beauty of the pictures we took began to improve. This is one of the best shots we managed to obtain during our trip. I mean look at this guy. This is a handsome animal 12.5 years young. Chantry the Boston Terrier (God loves a Terrier) was still willing to get it up once in a while and play with his toys. Speaking of getting it up, Chantry still managed to fall in love all over again with the leg of a certain Scotty. The ever illusive and yet intriguing Scotty always manages to draw a crowd Russian or otherwise. Thanks for the memories Chantry. We hope we see more of you in the future. You're our favourite little boston terrier.

When Bad cameras happen to Good people

2010-05-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

One week ago today, we attended our Niece's wedding. As you can see, this is not the greatest picture in the sense that the resolution is far from satisfactory. In fact, one might say the picture sucks. This was, however, the best picture we were able to obtain in the nearly 9 hours within which we witnessed the adventure which was Anna and Lorne's wedding. What do you do when your $400.00 camera is making a mockery of you and the Ogg is ever present impeding your options for taking good shots? If those of you out there have any tips, feel free to share.

So near the end of the weekend, Dustin, after taking photographs that appeared as if he was just emerging from the wreckage of a nautical disaster, noticed the camera lens was smudged

and smugged. Sometimes one just has to except that destiny is not on your side and neither is your equipment. We wish the bride and groom well and hope they are having a wonderful time in Disney World. Thanks for sharing your special day with us.

Oh Great Sebastian!

2010-05-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

Sebastian got to meet me and provided me with 2 poopy diapers to change. I didn't mind since I just got to spend more time with this sweet boy!

Sebastian loved Dustin and didn't poop at all while being cuddled.

Sebastian met his new pal Rextler the sock monster. Will he ever be as famous as Moofut? Only time and Sebastians' life adventures will tell. For those who don't know, Sebastian is our great nephew. That makes us sound Old! We love you Sebastian. You have wonderful parents who are doing a fantastic job with you. Make sure to kiss them many times a day for us!

Spring?

2010-05-05T12:35:00.001-07:00

Ewwww!

Tulips are such troopers.

My feet were wet after this walk

Dustin digging
May 5th, the day after

What a terrible storm yesterday. Here are some of the pictures from around our house and the dig out that happened after it all came down. The picture of my tulips was taken at about 10 am, but when I got home at 3pm, I couldn't even find them. There was 16 mm of snow that fell, but it looked more like a foot, and it was that really wet, snowman snow. Driving was a real challenge as well since every big truck felt that we were all going too slow, so they would whiz by, kicking up floods of slush on our windshields. It's only 0 degrees out right now, which is really strange for a Spring storm as it usually falls one day, warms up overnight, and melts the next. What is this world coming too? I'll keep you posted on the tulips, if I ever find them again.

A destination wedding

2010-05-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Our hands during the ceremony.

This weekend we went to our friend's wedding at Fort Edmonton Park. Mel and Chris made it a lovely day from start to finish. I did the hair in the morning and early afternoon, and then we were able to just relax and enjoy the day.
Our place cards.

Mel and Chris spared no detail to make the day fun and memorable, and very genuine and moving. We all felt included and important.
Mel's niece and my buddy Hannah decorated this cake for them.
They were bestowed with the "Bride Box" from our wedding, and, keeping with tradition, it was carried by a man, Issac in this case.
This is the gorgeous Melanie and Chris on their beautiful day. Many blessings to you on your life together.

Officially Orange!

2010-04-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is my first cheque to "Orange"! I finally have all of the necessary things for running a business. 1) An official name "Orange", 2) A business license, 3) Business Insurance 4) A business bank account 5) Lots of clients to make my business work 6) A supportive husband who doesn't mind his living room taken over at various points of the day 7) A fabulous vacuum cleaner and a fabulous husband who loves to vacuum

Orange you glad I posted this?

2010-04-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Andrea and I decided to shave my neck hair last night and after pulling my hair up we decided a picture series was essentially suggesting itself. From this inspiration, was born the idea and subsequently the reality of this blog. A wise person once said, "I did not make the statue the statue was always there, I only chipped away the pieces." In a similar manner, andrea chipped away the pieces and allowed my awesome long hair to shine through. Thank you Lance Cooper for leaving me this awesome hair before you passed away.

Dustin

Spring

2010-04-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

Every year when the tulips start coming up it's a totally surprise to me because I didn't plant them, so I don't expect them. This year we seem to have a bumper crop, but I'm not sure if they are all going to open. It was about 26 degrees last week so they raced out of the ground to greet the spring, but then it turned cooler and they are keeping their buds shut, waiting for some sunshine. Last year, and the year before it snowed on them and they still survived. The birds are chirping, the trees are budding and we have the start of tulips. I guess it's Spring.

vicious pugs

2010-04-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

Oh the terrors of walking out of our house each day. Mostly this vicious affront meets us in the backyard, but today, the pleasure of this encounter occurred in the front yard. Though it's very light, I hope you can still experience the fear. Oh Popeye, Oh Odie, why doth thy barketh so much?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ujaLCvuDoU

Look who's walking? (and talking)

2010-04-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

This just warmed the cockles of our hearts today. When I took care of her on Tuesday she took about 20 steps but only in two step intervals. Now it's Thursday and she's taking 10 steps at a time!!! Good for you Blayke! I guess I'm going to have to be more energetic on our Tuesdays together. Better get some fashionable runners!

Congratulations Dustin!!!

2010-04-12T17:43:00.001-07:00

On his first day back to work a big package arrived in the mail. Inside was the above certificate, 2 College of the Rockies t-shirts featuring "The Bent", the second building Dustin's class put up, and a letter of recommendation from Dustin's instructor.

Dustin was very kind to purchase a t-shirt for me as well, so now we are all matchy-matchy poo! Hello Christmas Picture! (poor Moofut did not get a shirt)

Moofut's Creator!!!

2010-04-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

Today we saw Sarah, Moofut's Creator, at the Old Strathcona Market. We told her about our blog and invited her to see what Moofut has been up to. Thank you Sarah for your incredible talent and for forfeiting Moofut to our care. He loves to crawl into small, warm places and sleep in our bed (which is not allowed), and he loves car rides and dancing. We will introduce him to Bromyard, the monster we adopted on behalf of other friends, but we will have to put Bromyard away today because if we play with him for too long he will end up staying with us, just like Moofut did 2 years ago.

Thank you Ada, Peggy, Len and Betty!!!

2010-04-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is what was left of our American Sign Language class at the end of our last class. Ada, a friend of our teacher Peggy (in the grey vest above) knitted us each a cloth with the sign for "I love you". We all made the sign in the picture. Below Cheryl tried to clothe herself with "I love you"s and Josee and I tried to help cover her.

Thank you Ada for your handiwork. Thank you Len and Betty for being our conversation helpers. Thank you Peggy for a fabulous class. Thank you fellow classmates for making my Monday nights so memorable. Sorry about Hockeyville Cranbrook. I should have voted more.

Happy Birthday Nancy Haircut!!!

2010-04-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

This is what my hair looked like 2 days before Nancy's birthday, hanging in my face and in Blayke's face when she looked up at me...

And, Happy Birthday Nanny, this is my new look. I feel like a stylist again!!!

The show will go on!

2010-04-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Hello adoring fans of the adventures of Moofut et al,

We have decided, after overwhelming demand (3 people) to keep writing our blog. Stay tuned for "Adventures in Unpacking", "Adventures in restocking the Fridge", "Laundry, When does it end?", and "Will our Hero's take off again, like the hosers they are, eh?"

Thank you to all who checked out our blog, and who will stay with us for the years to come...

Warning, some viewers may find the following disturbing.

2010-04-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

2 days ago, our friend Cheryl let us visit her dog panzer the 4 year old doberman pincher. Things got a little crazy during the visit, as can be viewed in the link below. Eat your heart out Steve Irwin. This just goes to prove you should always abide by what is learned from hollywood movies. Dustin is going to make a full recovery, some day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY5JsIJqTQI

Second Frame

2010-04-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sad today, but trying to put on a brave face. Leaving the mountains and the activity I enjoyed was difficult to say the least. Anyway, I wanted to show everyone the second building my class completed. This structure went up as a bent meaning it has three sections connected together by secondary members. There are three views of it and as big as the pieces look as a photograph, they are much larger in real life. Most of the bigger members were 8x12 inch members and were upwards of 20 feet long. This was a beautiful building and I was proud to be part of the team that constructed it.

Well, that is my last timber framing blog. I hope everyone enjoyed this. Thank you to all who supported me throughout my adventure.

the night before the departure...

2010-03-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

Twas the night before our departure and all through the room,

there were bags packed a plenty and an ora of doom,

for though we had fun here and wanted to stay,

our life can't be spent completely on play,

we'll leave all our mountains,

we'll leave our wood buildings,

we'll leave our quilt buddies, our yoga and signing,

we'll come back some day,

escaping from work for some play,

so take heart dear friends, the future is bright,

we'll be home in our brown house on Sunday night...

In Memoriam:Pink Kodak Easy Share, June 2007-March 2010

2010-03-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

Please observe 2minutes and 18 seconds of viewing for our poor little camera...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgKrHT7Bip8

Maya and Jordan's Wedding, March 21, 2010

2010-03-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Maya from my Sign Language Course. She married Jordan on Sunday and needed a hairstylist. As someone who also got married on a Sunday, I volunteered my services, knowing that she wasn't able to find another stylist on a coveted day off. The building behind the couple is St Eugene Hotel. Formally a residential school on the St. Mary's Reserve, the building has been transformed into a beautiful hotel, conference centre and casino. It's a gorgeous spot for a wedding.

I'm not bragging here, but I will say that I'm quite proud of this updo. Maya is a beautiful woman so it wasn't hard to make her look fancy for her wedding. Thank you Maya for the oppourtunity to spend some time with you and work with your lovely hair. May you and Jordan have a loving and fun life together.

Birthday Shoes

2010-03-24T18:22:00.001-07:00

I wanted to show Angela, Ron and Rian what they bought me for my birthday, so here they are, ORANGE BIRKENSTOCKS!!! Moofut thought they were spectacular and I always weigh in his opinions when making my shopping purchases. Also, not to make you in the frostier regions of the country jealous, but I've been wearing these since March 7th, OUTSIDE! Now, at this time I will admit that I have mostly worn them with ummm socks, shhhhh, but I'm in hippy country. Anywho, Thank you Mom's of mine for the great gift.

Shutter Island parody

2010-03-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

If you have seen "Shutter Island", and we highly recommend you see it, then this video will make a lot of sense. If you haven't seen it, better go tonight!

Moofut's first Teeter-Totter ride!

2010-03-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

Allan, Dustin's fellow student and Sandy Allan's wife of one week, went to Fort Steele with us, and when we saw the See-Saws, as Allan called them, we couldn't resist! Thanks Allan and Sandy for a great day with us!!!

Disappearing Nine Patch

2010-03-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

This is my Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt. I used the scraps from my quilt for Haiti, plus some coordinating fabric. I just finished the top today and thought you might like to see it. Now I just have one more top for a very special occasion, and then my quilting time in Cranbrook will be complete. In two weeks from today, we will be on our way out of the mountains and back to the prairies. Sigh!

Reflections on St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is Dustin's hat from the absolutely awesome St. Patrick's Day party we attended on Saturday! I don't think either of us had ever been to a St. Patrick's Day party before, so, in order not to be pinched, Dustin dressed as a Leprechaun, complete with a pot of gold (which were the truffles I made wrapped in Gold foil), and I found dark green scrubs. Being that it's 2010, they were "skinny" scrub pants, which I didn't discover until I got them home. I am generous through the leg, so the skinny scrubs made walking and sitting a bit of a trial, but we had such a good time, I eventually forgot about it. There were games at the party, and Rachel put on an amazing spread of 2 kinds of Irish soda bread, 6 different Irish cheeses, 3 different soups, and apple cake. Unbelievable! We played pin the Leprechaun on the other Leprechaun's crotch, while blindfolded. That was hilarious, and I was winning for quite a while, but eventually lost. We played Balloon Booty Basketball! One person had a balloon taped to their booty and the other one threw a balloon in the air and the balloon booty had to bat it into a big box! We lost. Oh, and we had to guess the irish person on our backs, I was Enya and Dustin was Bob Geldof and then Bruce Springsteen. Did you know that these people were Irish? We didn't.

When I think of the best part of the party it was the bookends. When we arrived both George and Rachel gave us HUGE FRIEND HUGS! I don't think I've allowed myself to get too lonely for my friends, but I am realizing that without hugs, I die slowly. That may sound dramatic, but I really need a lot of affection to feel myself, so, my favourite parts of the party were the hugs.

Thank you George and Rachel, Paul and Lochlan for a perfect place to stay and all of the kindnesses you've shown us while we've been here.

Oh, and here's a picture Dustin took with our broken camera, and I really thought it was sweet.

I think it's his Harrison Ford impression! Enjoy!

THE CHAINSAW MASCARADE

2010-03-13T12:49:00.000-08:00

This is definitely an operation I wanted no part of . On this highly disturbing video is a man who is using a chainsaw at 10 feet up standing on nothing but a 4x10 rafter. Although his work is incredibly precise, his method parallels insanity. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Raising the Chalet

2010-03-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

Finally, the day came to raise the chalet. As can be seen above, all of the finished timbers were placed on the high lift truck and moved to the site where the building was to be raised. We began by using a transit level to make equal and level stones to place the main posts of the building on. Finally we began to raise each of the main walls, tie beams and finally the ridge plate. All that work and the actual building only takes about a day to raise. It was a great feeling! Best of all, despite being high up around pieces that weigh 350 pounds, no one was injured.

2010-03-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

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I have not posted a blog, regarding timber framing, in some time as we have been busy working on our class project. We are building two structures, a chalet and a bent. The milling for the bent started two and a half weeks ago (see 1). I spent so much time working on the sawmill I actually became very proficient at it.

Then came what seemed like days of planing and joinery as in 2 and 3 above. My chisel and I became well acquainted and it had to be sharpened twice. We finally got all the pieces finished and were ready to start raising our first building, the chalet!

For Hank

2010-03-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

Hello Hank, Nancy, Tanya, Gabe, Emily, Anna, Scotty, Patty, Tina,oh and Sarah! Thank you for commenting on our blog. Your comments are like little presents that bring us delight, joy and excitement. At this point I should say that Hank has not commented, just so you are not confused, but I know he will after he 1) checks out our blog when he remembers and has time, and 2) sees that we have written this to spur him on to comment on our blog!

I suppose I should add a picture here, hmmmm, let me see

can you find Moofut?

Completed and almost completed!

2010-03-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

This is Wendy and the cute little quilt she made for MCC.

This is the quilt I completed for MCC.

This is my first big quilt that I measured incorrectly so the back was smaller than the front, so my solution was to add a big border, and voila, that fixed it.

This is the top of my quilt for Haiti. It needs a backing, a batting and it needs to be tied.

I've already cut out a new quilt with a disappearing nine patch pattern and I would love to show it to you, but we had a camera incident and the screen on it broke, so we are looking into having it fixed. Watch for our blog on the pictures we took with a broken screen, it might be the new wave of photography!!!

It would be our pleasure to introduce you to George and Rachel

2010-03-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

If any of you have had the great honour of speaking to George or Rachel when you've called us, now you can put faces with names. These are the owners and gracious hosts of Elizabeth Lake Lodge. Toodles!

Elevator Adventure...

2010-03-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

After experiencing the elevator at the historic Hume Hotel in Nelson. We decided that Moofut needed a ride!

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2010-03-07T19:24:00.003-08:00

I had my first mountain town Birthday this weekend, so I got my hair done. She wasn't very talkative, but she was very talented. Thank you for all of the calls and emails and I'm sorry if I missed a call because we were gone for the weekend! Bring on 40!

Forgot my camera!

2010-02-27T12:30:00.000-08:00

All will be explained in the video! Please forgive my lack of grammar if you know ASL.

What made last Friday exciting!

2010-02-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we attended our friend Keltie's science fair here in Cranbrook. She did an experiment where she sunk a 120 feet of black plastic reinforced pipe 6 feet into the ground and pushed air through it on order to send the warm ground air up to the surface. They found that if they fed this pipe into a furnace or heat pump, the air would go in at about 2 degrees Celsius and then the heating system would only have to heat the air in the house another 18 degrees. At minus 20, this would be a real energy saver. I'm probably not explaining this exactly right, but the point is that she won best project in the show. There were at least 80 other projects and she won!

Also at the fair was a very enthusiastic gentleman offering people the oppourtunity to stand on a podium and hold the Olympic torch that came through Cranbrook. Even though we have not watched more than 30 seconds of the Olympics so far, Dustin stood on the Gold podium and I stood on the bronze. I don't need to be the best!

Pretty fun day, but it didn't end there. We went to see "Shutter Island", which was just so intriguing, and thought provoking that we went to see it again on Tuesday!

Bragging Rights!

2010-02-25T16:23:00.001-08:00

This is our Great nephew Sebastian Elliot, and he's almost 8 weeks old. What a total sweetie! We miss him, but we will get to meet him in May. Just thought you might enjoy an update from the early January picture!

We love you sweet boy!

Quilt for Haiti!

2010-02-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

This is my latest project, a "Streak of Sunshine" quilt to be given to Mennonite Central Committee for Haiti. They need 10000 quilts, so I thought maybe they would be happy to have my beginner attempt. I chose these fabrics for their brilliant colours and high quality fabric. I had so much fun putting this layout together on Monday that I forgot to eat lunch. By 2:30 I was pretty hungry. I'm going to try to make a similar one for us, but I don't have enough fabric, so off to Fabricland again! Life is so hard sometimes. Isn't it cool how the actual streak of sunshine followed the pattern of the quilt?

Ainsworth Hot Springs! (not a paid advertisement)

2010-02-23T15:14:00.001-08:00

Sunday afternoon we drove the winding road to Ainsworth Hot Springs. What a beautiful place to sit and look at the mountains. The caves were just fascinating. The outside doesn't look like much, but walking through those openings felt like walking to the centre of the Earth. The walls are rough stone with icicle looking protrusions hanging from the ceiling. The water was 40 degrees in the cave, and it was running into the cave much hotter than that. It was like a natural steam room inside, so I couldn't stay in there for too long, but Dustin lived in there. The main pool was 35 degrees and was lovely to sit in and soak. I almost fell asleep at one point, so I decided to get out. We highly recommend this affordable and unique experience if you are making your way through this area. Hopefully it's sunny for you as the view is just spectacular, as you can see!

Our Motto: Why take 3 hours when you can take 6!

2010-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

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Saturday was a beautifully clear and sunshiny day, a perfect day for a drive to Nelson, with a side trip to Bountiful. Google Maps assured us that the shortest most picturesque and interesting way was through Kimberley and Grey Pass to the free Ferry on Kooteney Lake. At 11 am we had our Starbucks and a full tank of gas and off we went. We found the first road we were to take, St Mary's Lake Road. It was windy, but offered beautiful views of mountains (3) unobscured by electric lines. We were enjoying the drive, feeling mildly concerned when the roads we were supposed to turn on didn't materialize. The road (1 & 2) started to look like a road laid down by the founders of this country at the time they founded it, and we started watching the woods for folks in overalls with banjos. After 2 hours of hoping that we would end up somewhere that looked like civilization, we didn't.

After reading the sign that said only vehicles with 2 way radios were allowed to drive on the road ahead we promptly ignored it and kept going. After a few minutes we started to realize that we were heading up a hill and on either side of the road were logs. There was a pile of bear poop beside a bridge with large claw scrapings along the boards, and we thought maybe we were in the wrong place. With amazing skill, Dustin backed our car up for over a mile down the hill and over the bear bridge. We decided to drive back to Kimberley and start again. At least the ride was beautiful! We found out that the Grey pass is a summer road only. If only Google Maps had that information!

The road less travelled, is less travelled for a reason!

By 2:30 we were back in Cranbrook, driving in the opposite way towards Creston (4), and our final destination, Nelson!!! It was 3 hours, and when we arrived we found our hotel on historic Baker Street. The website showed pictures of a cute little boutique hotel nestled in the Rockies. When we got there we realized just how amazing Photoshop can be. The rooms must have been college dorms as they were grey cinderblock rooms barely big enough to walk around the bed, and the view is the brick wall that Dustin is showcasing above. It was fine for one night, but CSI would have had a field day in the shower with all of the hair left in there.

So basically, we didn't make it to Bountiful.

Stay Out!

2010-02-22T09:56:00.001-08:00

Moofut spotted this sign when we stopped for a washroom break.

Bound for Bountiful

2010-02-19T19:34:00.000-08:00

We had a really exciting day today, but we are waiting for some pictures and then we will give you the low down.

Tomorrow morning we are driving to Nelson BC so we can stay overnight and go the Ainsworth Hot Springs. On the way we are going to drive through Bountiful to show Moofut where the Fundamentalist Mormon sect lives. Apparently there is a store there, so we'll buy something and take pictures. I'm not planning on joining, I like having one husband all to myself.

Stay tuned...

Moofut's other Valentine's wish..

2010-02-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

Well after the Cranbrook Ed incident, Moofut promised to be good for the rest of the day. He asked if he could go and see the nice lady at Starbucks and have a special drink. Thanks to Jean and Martin we still had some gift card left from New Years, so we said "okay"! He picked a green tea lemonade, which we all shared! All's well that ends with special drinks for Moofut!

We also love you!

Moofut's Valentine's Wish...

2010-02-14T19:47:00.000-08:00

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A few weeks ago, we went against the advice of Scotty and allowed Moofut to stay in the main bed. Ever since, his behaviour has been completely unpredictable and, at times, scary. It started with temper outbursts a few weeks ago and today progressed to picking fights with the locals. On a trip uptown, Moofut started by eyeing up a local elephant named Ed(1). This made Ed upset and he mounted an offence (2) that looked as if it was going to be curtains for Moofut. In a fury of fists that would make Jackie Chan proud(3), Moofut turned it around and got on top(4). Andrea and I had to intervene and lay down some ground rules and after a lengthy session of conflict resolution, it seemed Ed and Moofut became good friends(5).

Scotty, you can't leave us hanging like this. We need your advice now more than ever. What can we do to get Moofut under control? Is this adolescence or is this type of behaviour here to stay? I guess all is well that ends well!

Happy Valentines day to all! We love you Leanne!

Happy Valentine's Day so far...

2010-02-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

These are the mint cups that I made for Dustin's Valentine's present. It takes a lot of creativity and problem solving to cook, bake and work with chocolate in our tiny kitchen. I'm used to having my electric mixer, my good chocolate melting bowl and pot, my toothpicks and piping bag. I had to make the filling for these yummy cups twice as I couldn't figure out how to cream the butter and icing sugar together with only a fork. The second batch was amazing, and I got an arm workout! I used a spoon to create the hearts on the tops of the cups instead of my piping bag. It was a really good challenge and makes me realize that I really don't NEED the fancy tools in my kitchen to create beautiful edibles, I just need my creativity. Dustin thought I bought them at the local chocolate shop. He couldn't believe that I made them in our little kitchen. He bought me chocolates from Sweet Delights, the cute little chocolate shop in downtown Cranbrook. The owners are so nice and helpful, and the chocolates are almost as good as mine :).

We wish you much love from friends and loved ones this year and always, and if you are reading this, we must love you too!!!

The Chisel

2010-02-13T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here is the most important tool a timber framer needs, the chisel. This is one of the finest The Barr chisel. It is hand hammered and tempered and should outlast its owner. Upon receiving it and spending the whole night by its side, I made it a nice case using denim as a material. Total cost 70 cents and some money for the chisel.

Cue Cards

2010-02-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

In my last year of University I had to fulfill my Science Credit. I was so terrified that I wouldn't pass, so I made cue cards of all of the definitions and information that I had to absorb. It worked miracles and I think I passed with a B+! I thought I'd employ the same method for my American Sign Language course, so I played a game of Match and paired up the sign with the word. The exercise itself was enough of a confidence booster as I only needed to look up 3 signs in two chapters. The third chapter was the class that I missed, so I didn't do as well, but even in not knowing the sign I learned it by looking it up. I'm going to practise with classmates this weekend and then I'll try to put some sentences together and make a video lesson for the blog here. I guess I should be teaching Moofut!

Where there's a will...

2010-02-11T20:34:00.000-08:00

One more fun little memory from our friend's visit! Blayke is only allowed to have her soother at certain times of day and night. Waiting to go in the car is not one of those times. She has become resourceful and creative and turned her turtle into her soother to sooth her while she is sootherless! Brilliant!

What I did today!

2010-02-10T18:13:00.001-08:00

Our quilting class was cancelled last night, but Wendy, being so dedicated and organized, called me Monday night and said there was a package of squares for me to pick up and work on this week. I arrived Tuesday at 6pm, and there was a Ziploc bag with my name on it, full of colourful squares in 3 different patterns and coordinating colours. The bag also contained about 10 pages of quilting tips and patterns to put in my binder that Wendy started for me. I was to look at the quilt she did for Keltie (her daughter) and then lay out my squares in whatever pattern I liked and sew the strips together. So last night I laid it all out (picture 1), and then this morning I changed it around a bit, and then started sewing the strips together, and now I have 9 strips hanging in my "closet" and I am done my homework for the week! Isn't is beautiful? I get to keep it too! Stay tuned for how it turns out! I'll be on the edge of my seat...

Quilt #2

2010-02-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

This is the quilt panel on which I learned to machine quilt. I used 2 different techniques, a swirly free stitching technique and a straight stitch. I'm sure those are not the technical names for what I achieved here. I still have to put on the binding, which I have cut into strips but not sewn together, and then this quilt will either go to Haiti, if we can find somewhere to send it, or it will go to the Mennonite Central Committee sale this summer.

I really enjoyed the transformative power of machine quilting to take a flat piece of fabric and give it texture, depth and puffiness! Wendy is the most amazing teacher and wait until you see the next project she has for us!

Late apologies!

2010-02-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

I remember a time in high school when I used to wonder why some of my classmates would misbehave and skip class. Jeff, Brian, Steve and Jamie, it has taken me 15 years to say my apologies.

As a class, we were allotted 3 days to learn CAD, a computer design program for our Timber framing. I started out okay but then the teacher decided to get 20 steps ahead of where the class was and I could not keep up. That was day one. Today the teacher went 20 more steps ahead and I really began to understand what frustration feels like. I grabbed my belongings packed up and left. I wish I could blame this on drugs but honestly, I have been stone cold sober my entire life.

Jeff, Brian, Steve, Jamie, may the force be with you!

Visitors from Edmonton!

2010-02-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

Five weeks into our stay our good friends Rob, Gabrielle and Blayke showed up to visit with us. Since Gabe's Birthday had just passed we had a birthday supper for her Friday night and then they all rested in their gorgeous room here at the ELL. Saturday we all piled into the Enclave and drove to Creston and then to Kimberley. The sun had decided to stay hidden for the trip, but the view was still remarkably beautiful with frost covered trees and hovering clouds. Really good food in Creston and then we visited a book store, a store called The Chocolate Orchard (yum) and checked out a fruit store. There is nothing like homemade apple juice! In Kimberley we walked through the Plaztl, which looked just like a Swiss town, or what I believe a Swiss would look like, and we all enjoyed a baked good from the Bavarian bakery. We ended our eating for the day at East Side Mario's in Cranbrook, that's where I picked up some food poisoning, rendering me incapacitated and disgusting for our last day together. Dustin went swimming and bowling with our friends. In the evening, Gabe was able to visit with me for a few hours, as I felt a little bit better by then. Each morning we had a real treat, Blayke all to ourselves. Dustin would go and get her and bring her to our room and we would play with her and feed her banana pieces. She's such a great eater. And now she crawls, waves and claps on command. They all gave her "high fives" at bowling last night, so this morning I tried to work with that skill and was very successful! A few tears were shed when they left, but we will see them again soon, well in April, which will come pretty soon.

Dustin learned a new game!

2010-02-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

We had very special visitors this weekend! One of them was Blayke, and she is learning that if she grabs at people's noses, they may honk. I've been working on teaching Dustin this game since we found out she was on her way. He just nailed it and here is the evidence. This game went on for at least five minutes, and eventually she was honking both of our noses at the same time. Quite a nice little schnoz symphony!

Sign

2010-01-31T15:12:00.001-08:00

I'm sure there is some commentary I could make on this sign, but in discussing it with others and contemplating it for a month, I'll just let you come up with your own opinion. The only extra information I should pass along is that this sign sits in front of "Cranbrook's Fire Place" Store, or some name similar to that. Hmmm...

Our room

2010-01-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

So it's taken me this long to be confident enough that I can try to figure out how to post a video, and then to make a video so I'd have to figure out how to post it! This is our room at ELL and it was cleaned today, so I tried not to mess it up and took the video right when I walked in after housekeeping had finished! I can not say in words just how much I appreciate the housekeeping service. It's like eating a meal at someone else's place and maybe they just opened a can of soup and added water, but it tastes so much better than your own can of soup because they made it for you! Thank you Amber, Sharon, Rachel, and the other kind lady that cleans up after us! (it doesn't take all of them, just one at a time, we aren't total pigs!)

Gleek!

2010-01-27T10:05:00.000-08:00

This was an early morning for me as Lola, our car, had 2 boo-boo's that needed to be mended, so off she went to the shop, and off I went to a coffee shop to wait. I read for 2 1/2 hours, which was heaven, and then picked up Lola, and we were off.

We rented a fabulous movie called "Away We Go" on the weekend and decided we must own it, so I went to Roger's, for the 5th time since I've been in Cranbrook, to pick up the movie. Michelle, the most wonderful and helpful clerk at Roger's, has time and time again tried to find me a copy of "Glee" Season 1 Volume 1, and has even called Blockbuster to inquire if they had it. That is service! So today, Michelle, my second most favourite person of the day (the first always is and always will be Dustin), asked if she could help me! I had found the movie, and said I was good, and I was always looking for "Glee" but had come to terms with not finding it in Cranbrook. At that she said, "Let me just check the computer again!", and I waited, and then she casually said, "It says we have ONE!". My heart jumped, but I dared not let it get too excited, for surely the ONE DVD that they did have would have been scooped up by some other fanatical Gleek by now! She searched her desk shelves, glanced at the computer again and started to stroll over to a shelf 10 feet from the main desk. I walked, well sort of skipped, over to where she stood, and watched with joy as her right hand reached out for the colourful Brady-bunchesque cover, and there in her hand was the "Glee" DVD!!!

Not being a shy person, I almost hugged her, but was able to hold back and then proceeded to verbally hug and kiss her with words, letting her know that she will be my second favourite and most lovely person in Cranbrook today, that I would be blogging about her loveliness, and that she was just wonderful! And, being that I had just had a large mug of green tea, followed by a large glass of iced black tea, the caffeine decided to hit at that point, and I just glowed all the way home!

4 years ago today I was planning my father's funeral, and today I'm just full of glee! Time helps, kindness helps, and memories of being loved no matter what help the most!

Have a Glee filled day! I sure will!

Family Bed Gone Wrong

2010-01-26T14:44:00.000-08:00

Going against the advice of such experts as Scotty, Moofut was allowed to stay in our bed for an entire night. As per Scotty's advice, Moofut developed some bizarre attachment issues. He was flipping out and as a result required some serious time out in the corner. We hope this is as far as it will go. Should have listened to Scotty!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-01-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

Today would have been my Dad's 80th Birthday, so in honour of that occasion we had a bowl of chips and some ice cream bars! I think my Dad would approve and then we said "Well my little bit was good!" which he said no matter if he had 1/2 a cake or just a small piece! Happy Birthday Dad, love you!

10 minutes ago in Cranbrook...

2010-01-23T08:59:00.000-08:00

So we slept in! It's Saturday! All of a sudden, at 9:30 am, there is a knock at our door. We aren't dressed appropriately. Then the phone rings, it's George, "The Olympic Torch is coming in 2 minutes!!!" . Okay, great! So we look out the window, 2 minutes pass, no torch, I have to pee, should I go, I'll miss it, I go, still no torch, hmmm, should we get dressed? Ya, I guess. So we throw on some clothes, phone rings, George says, "It's coming right NOW!!!", okay so we run outside in our pj's and boots with no socks, and my Canada toque and there, beside the mini golf greens was the torch bearer!

First Quilt Complete!

2010-01-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

After 3 group sessions and 4 hours of hand stitching, my first quilting project is complete! Flannel is apparently very hard to quilt with as it stretches and slides. Well I can attest to that as I think there is only one side that looks like all of the squares are actually square. However, it fold up completely evenly, so that is a first for me and blankets. It is my first project and I'm really pleased with it. We decided to tie it as opposed to quilting it so we could move on to our next project which involves 90% quilting. Stay tuned for more adventures in quilting...

Plans Realized

2010-01-21T15:23:00.000-08:00

You may have been wondering if I was ever going to build anything. Here it is,

a sawhorse was my first project. the top picture shows all the pieces hand cut by yours truly and the two bottom pictures are of me next to the finished work. I changed my hairstyle a bit and remodelled my face for the second shot. It's a terminator 2 thing. It was great to complete this project and have all the pieces I designed fit together like a puzzle. Notice the beauty of the wooden pegs. No Nails or metal fasteners of any type hold this sawhorse together.

Kindness

2010-01-19T14:17:00.000-08:00

No picture for this thought. Today was a day filled with the kindness of others, even strangers. First, at yoga class, this lady who had made some suggestions of where I could find a lighter jacket for the warmer weather, offered me a fleece that she wasn't using. She told me to follow her home and gave me this beautiful red pull over which will be perfect for running around town when it's 4 degrees or warmer. I met her husband, they invited me to lunch, and since I had some errands to run, I declined, but I felt quite moved.

I drove home to figure out what groceries I had to buy, and thought I'd quickly heat up the soup we had last night. I sat down on the love seat to eat it, and half of it spilled in my lap. I threw the bowl across the room and ran into the tub and sat in freezing cold water for 15 minutes. At that point I realized that I had thrown a whole bowl of soup across my rented living/bed room carpet and I was in too much pain to do anything about it. I called George, our friendly host, broke into tears, and told him I'd made a mess. He sent ice packs and a lovely housekeeper named Sharon who is from Scotland, and she comforted me, made me lie down and cleaned up my mess. She was so sweet and, the word of the day, kind to me. Then Rachel, the other host here, came by with gauze and cream and stories about when she was embarrassed by an injury. I do have some blistering, but after all of the ibuprofen, tylenol, and poly sporin, it doesn't hurt as much.

I'm very blessed to have such kind people around me.

Must Have Been a Party

2010-01-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

The owners of Elizabeth Lake Lodge invited us for dinner on Friday. The gave us apple cider, port, and a rum laced fruit smoothie. After playing cranium for 3 hours Andrea and I felt quite tired and the fatigue lasted well into Saturday. Although we do not ascribe to the idea of a family bed, we had to let Moofut in so he could sleep it off as well. Might of been the 2, 4, 6 pack, I don't know but look at the mess I'm in. It was great to get some social contact!

Workin' man!

2010-01-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has admired Dustin in his purple shirt, here is a different look for you. Isn't he ruggedly gorgeous? Oh yah! He also has a blue coverall. I'll try to catch him in that some day to show you.

This weekend we had a power outage for a short time. A truck hit a pole, and while the electric company replaced the pole, we were in the silence and the dim. Luckily it was between 3-5:20 pm, so we could still sit by the window and read. Our friends Wendy and Bruce made us supper because we didn't know how long the power would be out. Thanks to them for the fluffy, luscious, homemade waffles and yummy raspberry jam.

And, it's been a very social weekend, on Friday night our hosts at Elizabeth Lake Lodge, invited us over for a delicious vegetarian shepherds pie and the death by chocolate cake and ganache topping. Gabe would have been in total heaven. They had friends over that were timber framers, so I didn't get to talk to Dustin much over supper as Dustin was quite engaged in conversation with Corey. We were also treated to many different kinds of Port, Rum and Cider. Let's just say we aren't used to that kind of alcohol consumption, and we had a wonderful time, and we really felt it. My teeth were swimming. It was worth it for the fun time during a game of Cranium and watching random hilarious videos on You Tube. My social cup is filling and I really needed that.

Turning Plans into Reality

2010-01-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

Remember those nice plans I posted, this is the beginning of making those plans reality. Here, I have made the tenon for my sawhorse. You will notice it is the same joint as in the house above. Bigger projects are to come involving these basic skills. Who knows where this will lead in the future. With a growing population and people wanting to build bigger and bigger houses there will likely be no wood left for me to work with but what I am building in my head is outstanding.

Quilting Steps 6-9

2010-01-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

At the first weekly Tuesday night Quilting with Wendy, 3 of us continued our lessons.

Step 6: Get right to work cutting out strips to frame the middle block, always cut in 1/2 inch lengths and widths.

Step 7: Always sew 1/4 inch seams and keep the seams straight, but a good ironing job covers a multitude of mistakes.

Step 8: Lots of chatting, laughing and compliments makes time go by quickly, oh, and snacking.

Step 9: When it's 9:50pm, hustle it and get your top finished so you have something to show the folks at home.

(picture one, Andrea with her elephant top, picture 2 Keltie's peas in a pod top, picture 3 Verena's argyle top, picture 4 my first strip of sewn squares and my centre with the trim around it, picture 5 our super hero Wendy hugging her daughter Keltie while Verena works on her layout)

Moofut loves animal prints!

2010-01-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

Growing up with vegetarians isn't always easy, but we think Moofut is catching on to our animal loving ways. He was touring around Fabricland with Andrea and all of sudden he was gone. She found him in the animal prints section stroking the sky fabric. I guess he's picked the fabric he wants for his quilt. Monkeys and skies for Moofut, stay tuned...

Quilting Step 1-5

2010-01-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

Step 1: You should have lots of fun... (New Kids on the Block) ha, ha!

Step 2: Enjoy some lovely fruit salad and a chocolate covered Oreo cookie, and tea, always tea.

Step 3: Acquaint yourself with the equipment and terminology of Quilting, for instance everything is a straight edged, with few exceptions, so it's important to have a self-healing matt, a long transparent ruler and a rotary cutter.

Step 4: Follow the pattern and do as instructed, but if you are using store bought receiving blankets, they are not square once they are washed, so they need to be squared.

Step 5: Cut out your squares carefully...

That's what I know so far. Stay tuned for the further adventures in Quilting starring our super hero Wendy and the hero in training Me! Oh, next time I'll bring Moofut, he's so good at holding rulers.

Felt Like Home

2010-01-09T21:03:00.000-08:00

The people of Cranbrook are very kind, helpful and courteous. This is something we aren't always used to when in retail stores, service related places or on the road in Edmonton. We have had good service in Edmonton, but we truly are more used to rather bad service and people that just want you off the road as you are not driving up to their standards. Well, until Friday at around 5:55pm, we truly believed that there was not a discourteous service individual in Cranbrook and that we would be in for a rude awakening when we arrived back in Edmonton. But our fears were allayed at the local Landmark Cinemas when we were rudely told that our movie coupons were no good there, and then the 15 year old girl neither smiled nor thanked us for our patronage. Not even an unenthusiastic "Enjoy the show". Boy did we feel better. We were way out of balance on the kindness scale

Movie Review: Avatar

As a hairstylist, I really feel that the main point put forth by the movie "Avatar" is this, whether its horses, birds, or just the trees of the field, our hair is what really connects us to the world. If only our hair could stop wars from happening, especially the unnecessarily long war in this beautiful spectacle of hair love.

STARTING SMALL

2010-01-09T19:32:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how complicated the most simple looking things are when we try to fully describe them on a piece of paper. We all know what a sawhorse looks like, and what really do they do other than hold up objects to build even better objects? Moofut and I had a long night trying to layout a sawhorse graphically. I only hope building it will be a snap. Moofut is very good at holding rulers and he doesn't need any sleep or food of any kind. He really makes me jealous. I think of all the great things I could do if I was like him!

Bedhead

2010-01-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

This is my just got up, do nothing, lazy week hair. When I photographed it, I didn't actually think it looked too bad. I haven't washed it in 2-3 days and I haven't brushed it for days. I know my friend Sara is going to think this is my typically posing face, but I think it's slightly angrierish, so I'm trying.

Snuggling with Moofut

2010-01-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

Cranbrook weather has turned cold. My apologies to those in Winnipeg, Edmonton, and anywhere else it's chilly, but when we arrived it was 4 degrees out and now it's -16, with humidity, so that's more like -20 or so. It started snowing lightly just a few minutes ago. I think it snows a lot here. It's so pretty!

Moofut has moved closer to the heater as our little suite is not always very toasty, though we are used to that as our little house is downright frigid most of the time. I have my slippers, so that helps, but I should have brought the sweater my Grandma made me in high school. It's so snuggly. By Saturday it should be up to 1 degree again and then it will be back to slush. We are both getting those brown spots on the back of our pants from walking and kicking up the slush. Oh well, that's what washing machines are for.

On the plus side, Dustin's hair has been amazing since he's been here. It's curling so well because of the humidity. Mine is really waving well too. I haven't even plugged in my blow dryer since I got here. This week is all about simple and lazy. Next week I may try to do my hair, but I'm not committing to anything. Moofut doesn't have hair, so thankfully we don't have to make him brush it.

Squaring a Log the old fashioned way.

2010-01-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

In the first three days we are learning how to turn a round log into a square log just like pioneers would have using chisels, axes and planes. It has been a lot of hard work and my hands ache a bit. But P90X is making me ripped enough to take it.

Going off topic

2010-01-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

So we accidently added this picture, which is from the summer. It features our biggest tomato, home grown, organic, really yummy! We are just trying to figure out our iphoto, so sometimes you will be treated to our mistakes. Lucky you!

Burrowing Moofut

2010-01-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

After the long, harrowing trip, Moofut and the Mopers were more than ready to emerge from their confinement. Moofut was more confined then we were. We told you in an earlier post that he liked to burrow in our shopping bags, but duffle bags are good too.

Timber Frame Example

2010-01-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

This answers the question, "What is Dustin doing again?". This is the structure that the spring session built. It was auctioned off and we were surprized that it was still on the campus. When Dustin gets home from school today, we will be able to tell you a little more about what to expect from his course.

Officially Great!

2010-01-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

Introducing Sebastian Elliot, born to our niece and nephew J and J in Kitchener at 12:12am today. He weighed 7lbs 4oz, and is just so cute. Little bit of breathing trouble, but he's much better now. We are now Great Uncle and Great Aunt, therefore making it official that we are great!

Introducing Moofut Moper!

2009-12-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

Moofut Moper , as seen here, was adopted for our niece Anna. We brought him home and stared at him for too long, and, we fell in love with him. Sorry Anna, once he started dancing and burrowing in our shopping bags, we knew he was home. He is our little friend, and travelling companion, and the inspiration for this blog.
Please come along with us to Cranbrook BC where Dustin will learn the fine art of Timber-frame building. When we get to Cranbrook, we will keep you apprised of our successes and failures. We arrive January 1st, weather permitting.