December 21, 2020

Merry Christmas! 

I thought I had better post one last time before 2020 gets gone.... and I am sure most of you reading this blog will be very happy at its' passing. Myself included.

 

I put up the Christmas tree earlier this year than I ever have. We have been enjoying the festive feel since the end of November. 

Our home is small, but much bigger than what I am used to decorating. 

Most of the "stuff" I haven't seen in years, as there is only a small amount that we take south with us when we go.

It was like Christmas opening up all the totes and rummaging through all my stored Christmas things. And it was fun!!

Our lives are really very quiet so keeping up the blog hasn't been an easy job this year. No visitors, not much happening to write about. 

I've started painting a little more. I put the dolls away for the time being, and began to paint .... get this.... Christmas cards!! But unfortunately my timing was a little off, because I am much to late to send them to anyone! Maybe next year I'll have a small collection and I'd remember to send them out at the beginning of December. 

And I have been doing a little baking. Made two tourtier and baked some cookies. That is about all I am doing for Christmas baking.

So from our house to yours, we send you warm wishes for a blessed Christmas and health and happiness for 2021.

October 30, 2020

Something I really didn't expect was snow!❄❄❅❅ 

Last Friday it was snowing when we got up in the morning and it snowed all day long.... we ended up with over a foot of the white stuff.  Light, fluffy white stuff! I have to say I wasn't impressed. We have never had snow in October, at least not since we've been here. 

Anyway, the thing to do is embrace it, after all we're going to be seeing a lot of it this year, staying home and all that.

We do enjoy our afternoons in the hot tub. Just about happy hour we'll pour a little toddy and just relax.

AND..... 

I'm still doing "Fabric Figurines"... 

This one was a custom request. My neighbour and good friend Diane (Doug) had this great piece of driftwood (complete with a toadstool) that really needed a fairy sitting on it, anso this was the completed project. She seemed happy with it.

This has become quite a pass time for me. 

Here are a couple more.....

 

October 06, 2020

 Hello my friends:

Summer has escaped us, and fall is in full swing. The weather has been beautiful here; warm sunny days and cool evenings. It could stay like this forever and I'd be happy. With the USA/Canada border closed until the end of October, and maybe longer, we have decided to hunker down and spend the winter here. At least till the end of the year. The jury is still out on whether we will go if they open the border in the new year. 

So this summer has been a time of projects. Michel has been busy carpentering.... in between eye surgeries. Here are the screen doors he just finished. Looking pretty good eh??

The deck is another story. We are still waiting for the Deck paint from Home Hardware, so I don't think that will be a this year project. 

Michel's second eye surgery on his right eye was in Vancouver on September 24th. so we had to make the trip. I wasn't impressed, because that meant I would have to drive in Vancouver, because he couldn't drive after surgery or the next day....but all went well and driving in Vancouver wasn't that bad! We went up on the 22nd and spent 3 nights. His pre-op was on the 23rd and his post-op was on the 25th. They were very accommodating and his post-op appointment was at 7:30 a.m. so we were out of there by 9 and on our way home. His eye is doing very well, healing and his sight is getting better every day.  

And... as for me, same old, same old. I've been building dolls! More outside yard art. They are all sprayed with two coats of Varathane to help protect them from the weather and the UV rays, so I would think they will be fine outdoors in the summer....I wouldn't put them out in the spring~!

So, if you are ready, here they are....(there are lots of them - lol)

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

August 01, 2020

One more project nearing completion. 

Michel has been busy this summer.

Meanwhile, my hydrangeas are doing wonderfully well.
At least this pot is. We have 3 pots, the same plant (Different colors), the same soil, etc.....and this is the only one with big beautiful flowers.

July 12, 2020

Last weekend Michel finished my arbor. I am thrilled! It looks awesome! 

I've posted different views so you can get a good look at it, and also see how my yard is coming along. 

That being said, Michel had surgery on his right eye on Tuesday. This one is healing slower than the left. That is because the doctor had to do a lot of scraping (the cataract), so his eye is still red, a little tender, and still blurry. Hopefully it will be good in another week or so. They did say it could take up to six weeks for the blurriness to completely go away.  So he will continue doing the eye drops and taking it easy ... no lifting, no bending over.

This view is from the deck.
You can see the whole back yard... and my new arbor!

This is my Morden:
the first to bloom in the spring and the last to bloom in the fall . 
Such a beautiful rose bush, given to me by my good friend Donna Kusch. 

The roses were so beautiful last weekend I took pictures to share, but since then ...... this week as a matter of fact they were stricken by a bug. I'm pretty sure it was a rose slug, and the reality of it was, we had to cut them down. I can't believe how fast they chewed up all the leaves. It was a matter of a few days. I sprayed but it didn't help. I was too late!! It was devastating! They should come back but in the mean time what was once big bushes are now little twigs. It's like starting over. 

I hate to end on such a sad note, so I won't.....although we aren't doing very much to blog about, we are enjoying the sunshine when we get it, and hanging around indoors when it is raining. We are getting a lot of rain this year. Very good in that we don't have to water the gardens every day, AND... there are no forest fires around us!! 

Bye for now and thanks for reading!

June 28, 2020

For those who follow this blog, I am sorry I have not been more diligent in keeping it up to date. My only excuse is that not much has happened since this Covid 19 pandemic hit the world in March. 

We finished out our winter season in California arriving home on April 5th. We were instructed that a quarantine was in effect and that we could not stop anywhere along our route from the Canadian border to home, and that we should stay there (at home) for 14 days. That wasn't a problem for us, as we had stopped and shopped in Bullhead City, Arizona and had enough groceries to l last a month. Our little city of Greenwood was in 'lockdown' anyway, so really? where were we going to go???

It was nice to be home, got all settled in and put the motorhome to bed for the summer. 

So now, what have we been doing since we've arrived? Michel has been busy carpentering. Three years ago we talked about putting barn doors in our bedroom to replace the bathroom door and the closet door. I bought the railings and this year it is done. Picture below. I am thrilled!!

That project out of the way, he is now working on an arbor for outside. I will post pictures when it is done.

We've had quite a bit of rain this year already, so outside work has been at a minimum. It is a good thing that my garden out back is all perennials. I just had to buy a few petunias for the pots..... It's looking pretty good!

And Michel had cataract surgery on this left eye on June 23rd and is scheduled for surgery on the right one on July 7th. That just put a small delay on the arbor. 

As for myself .... last winter I took a class from Maureen (our painting teacher at Desert Oasis) in sculpting with wire and fabric. I posted about it on March 4th. That really peaked my interest, so I have been "building dolls" so to speak.  I've been using a different product, but in the end... (I have to waterproof them with a spray) they can go outside too. 

This is my latest one. She is 20 inches tall 
I hope I'm getting better because I love doing this.


And I have been painting a little as well... 

So now I am caught up.  Another rainy day today. Just chillin' indoors.

Thanks for reading.

March 07, 2020

(L to R:  Peggy, Marian, Brenda, Bruno, Marjorie)

The last Hurrah in the park before everything was cancelled due to the Coronavirus. 

50's Dance with awesome 50's music kept everyone dancing. Some were dressed for the event in their poodle skirts and neck scarves.  Peggy had "Pink Ladies" on the back of her pink jacket. 

Everyone had a great time. 

March 06, 2020

3rd Annual Fishing Derby!

Last Saturday, February 29th, our pool was stocked with fish (plastic with metal noses) and we partook in the 3rd Annual Fishing Derby.  Our rods had a magnet at the end of the line instead of a hook.

We were divided into teams. There were 8 teams of 8 people and we had 7 minutes to catch as many fish as we could reel in.

There were helpers, so we didn't have to unhook our own fish!


In the end my team came in second catching 71 fish. 







Keeping with the theme, afterwards there was dinner of fish tacos. 

Karaoke finished the day, however we didn't stay very long. 

It was quite a lot of fun, lots of laughs and it was very well attended. 

March 04, 2020

While Tina and I were being creative Michel and Rich went hiking. 

They drove out to Indian Canyons where there are over 60 miles of hiking trails. 

They started at Andreas Canyon, which is 1.2 miles and considered the world's second largest California Fan Palm oasis. 

Hikers will be rewarded with spectacular views of rock formations, sycamores, cottonwoods, willows, and the magnificent California Fan Palm (Washingtonian filifera), all surrounded by the harsh desert environment.



Victor was their second hike. This trail is one of the most scenic trails in the Indian Canyons. The Victor Trail will take the hiker out of the shade of the palm trees, up and onto the ridge that overlooks the canyon and return the hiker to the Trading Post making a three mile loop.

March 04, 2020

My doll after the foil and half wrapped in tape.

Time for another Artsy Fartsy day! I feel so blessed that Maureen includes me (and Tina) in all her classes.  This time it was not painting, it was sculpting. Very small class this time. 

Beginning with a form which we made using wire we created the body, arms, legs and head then covered them with aluminum foil. 








Then we wrapped her in masking tape creating a mummy.












Then came the messy part. The doll was again completely wrapped in fabric, dipped in a bronze mud of sorts. 

(L to R) : 
Maureen's doll, Tina's doll, and my doll. 

It was certainly something I have never done before, but I can honestly say I would love to do again!!

Glennis, Maureen, Tina, Myself, Carol, Penny, Gail.

Maureen and Gail used a different brand of mud, thus theirs is a pinkish color rather than bronze. The picture on the right is all of us girls standing behind our creation.  Glennis's doll is not in the picture. 

February 10, 2020

January came and went and we kept busy... doing what I don't know but time skipped on by regardless. We are enjoying our winter. The weather this year has been awesome, only a few days of cold and/or wind. The park we are in is nice and very busy. There is always something to do if you want to take part. 

Blogging has not been my priority as you can tell, I haven't been keeping up with it at all.

But here is something to blog about....



Paint 'n Sip - -















Last Friday Maureen, at Desert Oasis RV Park (where we were last year) hosted the first of the season. I consider myself blessed to be included as there are a lot of people from that park who like to attend. She had a full class of 24.


We did two pieces, a small one and a much bigger one. A good time was had by all and the different styles of each 'artist' is always 'interesting' and some are just plain awesome. 

My BFF Deb Wald and here husband are in Desert Oasis RV park this year, so she keeps me abreast of all that is going on. And she is sure to sign us up for all the painting classes. Of course, she is snapping the pictures, so she isn't even in any of them. What's up with that anyway???

That's it for now... thanks for reading!