Been awhile hasn't it?

HAI!!!!!

Yeah I am still here. I really am.
Just concentrating on other things.
BUT one constant is the St George Applefest that I do with/for Denise. OMD this girl has talent and I love helping in her booth. Although Denise could not be there (she was in UTAH for Stampin Up Founders Circle, what an honour!!!) she was with us in spirit, and her Craftdbear was with us.

Plus all the yummy treats that are served in town are to DIE for.
Yes just smelling the air will help you gain 10 pounds (each pound is worth it)

here are 3 ladies, putting best face forward (LOL) just before beginning the hectic run for the weekend.
they parked us right next to a bakery!! OMD, a DUTCH bakery!!!


They were sold out of the pies in about 1 hour

We made little cards, had fun with the people, met new faces, and made some friends we hope to see next year. It was a good weekend.

Thanks Denise and Natasha for letting me help again this year! I loved it

M

Chili, yum yum!!!

There are so many chili recipes out there. Each is fantastic and yummy!!! As a child I did not like chili at all!!! BLECH! Not sure what it was that I didn't like, but *shudder* I would not eat it!

Now, I love making it, love eating.

I have several recipes that I use, and have been known to combine all of them into one big pot of deliciousness. (I just made up a word, I think!)

SO today's chili has the following ingredients. I'm also making biscuits to go with dinner. Hmmmm, yum, I love homemade biscuits!!!

CHILI, MY WAY!

1 lb ground turkey
2 tsp mined garlic
1 cup diced celery
1 chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 can (19 oz/540 ml) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14 oz/398 ml) tomato sauce
1 cup turkey broth
1 tbsp BBQ sauce
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
1 can maple baked beans
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed.
2 tbsp honey

brown your meat with your spices, onion and garlic. Put into crock pot. Add all other ingredients, stir well. Leave it for the day.

When serving dinner. Have shredded cheese on the side for topping your chili. We go through a lot of cheese, so I have a whack on hand already shredded (thank you Braun food processor for making my life easier)

Biscuits? Use your fave recipe, or I can post one later...

M

Goodbye to a Dear Friend

On Saturday I was at a funeral for a very dear friend. Laurie Cheney. A beautiful woman inside and out. She had a smile that would light up a room. A kind word for everyone, and a hug.

We, her friends, called her Elmo. Why? Because she was cute and, spunky, fun and lively, just like Elmo. Also, she loved the colour red. Did I mention she wore an Elmo back-pack as her purse? Yeah, she was like that, a woman with a great big heart, and beautiful sense of humour.

About 5 years ago I got to meet Elmo at a crop in Brantford. She was teaching figure skating but stopped in the auditorium to check out the projects and to talk to the host. Of course the Diva's were Diva'd up. Tiara's, boa's, bells... Elmo came directly to our table. We chatted, we fell in love! It was an instant connection. This woman was one of us.

The next time we got to see Elmo we were at Scrap Diva. A weekend retreat. Elmo was a Red Diva, with red boa, and tiara, and her Elmo looking spiffy! Our table was right next to hers and Andrea's and Grace. We had a fantastic time. Combined our tables and worked together, laughing, loving! Creating together. Encouraging each other. Helping when we got 'blocked'.

When Laurie was diagnosed with Liver Cancer we all held our breath. We knew the recovery was low. But we also knew Laurie. She was a fighter. She continued to fight for for about a year and a half. Her spirit and her determination to live was strong.

On Monday September 27, she said goodnight for the last time.

The past week has been rainy, cold, and just miserable. Rather like myself, and my general mood. When we laid Laurie to rest on Saturday, it poured. Like Laurie was giving us permission to cry, while it was raining. BUT once the sun comes out, dry those tears and be happy.

Laurie, I will miss you. Your hugs, your kindness, your generosity, your love. You are loved.

After Glow
I'd like the memory of me
to be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an after glow
of smiles when life is done.
I'd like to leave an echo,
whispering softly down the ways,
of happy times and laughing times,
and bright and sunny days.
I'd like the tears of those who grieve,
to dry before the sun,
of happy memories that I leave
with each and everyone.

M

Butterflies

I love Butterflies.

So when I got the email, that had a blog post about what butterflies mean, and how to translate that to scrapbooking, you can bet your pretty self that I was all over that!!!

Please go read this!

http://debbiehodge.com/2010/08/motifs-butterflies/

LOVE IT!!!

M

Sept 7 Back to Schol

How many times have you heard that today?

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Is it?

For some I guess it is.For me it is a bittersweet ending to the carefree fun lazy days of summer.
It is also a great time for new beginnings!!!!
Think about that for a moment. Most reserve the new beginnings for the new year, but truthfully there are more "new" bits happening now, right now!!!We see the world changing before our eyes as fall approaches.
Fresh starts in school, whether it is Kindergarten, High School, or University, and all grades in between.

New clothesNew shoes
New haircuts
New goals to achieve
New friends to meet and makeNew teachers
New Principal

Yes there are a lot more "news" right now!!! We can embrace them and live with them. Enjoy what life sends hurtling our way.
That is my slight move into philosophy!
Now onto LO's. These are some of the LO's I did during the last few months.


My girlfriend Lisa did these photos of the girls. I am so impressed!!!! I absolutely love her skill with photoshop!!!! Thanks Lisa!

Vampire!!!


Zombie!!!! (With a broken neck)

A couple of weekends ago 7 of us went to Memories Manor in Michigan! If you have a chance to go DO IT!!! Highly recommend it, so incredible. Here are some of the photos from that weekend!

The group of Seven!!!

Because Denise dared me to do it! Here is our fearless Leader Lori!!! Totally excited!


Heather, Oh so Excited to be there!!!


Supermodel Shelly modeling a hat.


Ria all excited about getting a massage!

Denise all excited about her massage!


Tracey!!! Love the enthusiasm!!!


ME!!! All excited because I got a massage too!!! Dh called ahead and ordered it for me!! Denise and Ria's DH's did the same! How cool!!!



Memories Manor!!! A gorgeous place to stay and play!!!


Another group photo:

I got all caught up on the first season of True Blood! Woo Hoo!!! Bought the first and second season while in the states!!! It is fantastic! Can't wait till HBO kicks in, DH ordered it yesterday so I can watch the 3rd season!

OHHH Sookie Sookie Now!

Enjoy the day!

Some work from the summer

Hello!

It has been a long time. Sorry 'bout that! Life is just flying here for this summer. I am totally enjoying myself with having the girls home. Of course that means the "me time" suffers. But hey! It can't always be about me...

SO over the past two months I have done 2 layouts. Actually I have done 2 layouts since April... oh dear!In my defense I have been saving up my projects for my birthday present. A weekend away with my bestest gal pals EVAH! The 7 of us are heading to Memories Manor in Michigan. Can you believe it??? I know right! My DH! What a sweet heart! planned this surprise with my 2 besties for my 40th birthday. Of course I got the trip in March, but the soonest we could go was August. Darn those busy Mom schedules. So, literally I have been saving projects for the trip.

I have almost all my stuff packed. Not the clothes, just the projects, ribbons, bling, papers, pictures, you know the regular stuff. Now to make sure it all fits in ONE case. Shouldn't be too hard. (I hope) Seeing as how I have been very vocal on 1 suitcase, 1 scrap case, I better adhere to that as well. LOL!

Here are the two LO's I have completed. One is courtesy of playing Pass the Turtle Shell, with the ladies from the Scrapping Turtle. I love that game! I get a Layout in my email, scrap lift it and make it my own, then send it back to the co-ordinator, who in turn sends it to the next lady on the list. Kinda like playing Telephone, and seeing what the message is when the last person is finished.
These are my girls at Halloween last year. Disco Stu, and the Corpse Bride.

After finishing that I needed to do one more page for it. I dress up too!


The next one I finished is still very raw. I didn't realize just how much until I started working with his pictures.


Dini (Houdini Kato Colwell) was my boy. He passed away on November 24. I do miss him so much! This LO is one of 2 pages. The second page has the Rainbow Bridge poem on it. A darling lady from the Two Peas in a Bucket NSBR linked me to her gorgeous album that she did for her pet. That gave me the idea for these two pages. On this page there is hidden journaling behind Dini's picture. The photo was taken 2 days before he passed.

Last weekend Scott, the girls and I worked on his memorial circle. We buried Dini in the back yard, and are creating a quiet area surrounded by a garden where we can sit and contemplate. Or just cry, as I seem to do when I am in there. It is a great area at the back of our property. Soon it will be close to complete. We have flag-stone and crushed limestone in there right now. Once it settles we will add the crushed stone, and a concrete boarder with stones in the concrete to create a closed circle. When it is closer to complete I will post a photo.

Enjoy the day. Keep smiling, laughing, and your heart singing.
M

This is a long one!!!

I'm Back!!!

I know it has been QUITE awhile!!! Some may be wondering what happened to make me fall of the bloggerboard! LOL

A few things have happened. Specifically LIFE! Things got very busy here. Nothing specific with that, as most days are crazy... worst thing? I ended up sick. A little bacterial infection that turned out to be not so little. 2 days at the hospital, antibiotic shots, and antibiotic pills (ones that are not available to the general public, and seriously heavy duty!)

The bacteria started as a lump right by my left ear. It hurt, my neck hurt, my left arm hurt. I put it down as an ear infection. The start of a cold, and or flu. I had the symptoms for it. Chills, fever, vomiting... The spot itself was very red, very inflamed, and puffy! I stayed in bed for a day, with DH checking in on me, asking if he could take me to the hospital now?

On the Sunday I went to the hospital because the small lump spread upwards and outwards, and downwards. I could not focus with my left eye. My teeth felt like they were going to fall out. My neck was so sore I was having issues with holding my head up. My left arm? It would go numb, and tingles, and was achy.

Once at the Emergency Room, the triage staff did not make me wait. I was given a bed straight away. What I had, facial cellulitis, could lead to meningitis, as well as that nasty flesh eating bacteria.

I am so impressed with our local hospital. I was in and out in 3 hours. That was from start to finish, shots included, and a wait time to see if I would react to the antibiotics they gave me.

The following day I was back at the hospital for more shots. Also the Dr. gave me a perscription for the horse sized antibiotic pills. DH looked them up later to see the side effects. I was amazed!

I was on these pills for 10 days. So 4 shots, and 10 days of antibiotics. 2 hospital visits, and 4 follow ups with my family Dr. Because these pills were so heavy duty, they made me dizzy, nauseous, I couldn't remember anything, I couldn't stand without help, I couldn't walk without help. It was a nightmare! It took another week just to get the side effects to stop, after I finished taking them.

I took pictures of the infected area. After day 6 of the antibiotics, my ear and face swelling went way down. It started to look like a normal face again. Except for the bacteria surfacing, that was yucky!!! So no pictures for you! (You will thank me later)

So now we are three weeks after that fun time, and we are heading into the home stretch of school being out. Yeah! The household has been eating like crap! DH, I love him, has been working more than full time, and then making dinners, running the children to their various activities.. Poor thing, he needs a vacation!

We also had dance recital. Oh joy! I adore Irish soft and Irish hard shoe dance! I do not adore the time and effort to rag the hair! The make-up is a cake walk, cause I enjoy that, and took classes back in the days of my modeling. I have wonderful pictures of the girls dressed and ready to go!

The girls did an amazing job! Poor Amanda was coming down with a cold, so her smiling was not happening!

That same weekend my FIL and step-MIL came down. I adore them!!! Both are fabulously talented! MIL sews, cross-stitches, paints, gardens! The woman can cook from scratch and make the most succulent dishes I have ever had. (Sorry Mom!) FIL is also amazingly talented. Between woodworking, and stone working he is a DIY'er who does it ALL!!!

We re-did our front steps. FIL, MIL. DH and I. It was so much fun, working with them. I was in the concrete (playing), and helping lay the flagstone down for the new stairs and pathway. It looks fabulous! We are not quite finished.
One of the fun things I did before I got sick was have a photo shoot with my girls. Just for fun! I needed pictures for a new line I was given for my final DT reveal (which was April!!!!)


This is my fav shot of the two girls together! I also came up with a few very cute LO's (I think) of them!

Those will come later. Right now, I need to get going.

Please leave me a message, I love to hear from you, and hope you didn't leave me while I was gone!!!

I have been bad. It has been a while since I updated, and got something on here. Once I am feeling better, I will add some projects I finished, and some recipes.

Sorry!

M