And I can cook too!

The past 2 weeks at work I've been the Public Employees Charity Fund canvasser and fundraiser coordinator for my office.  Nothing like government service for long-winded titles!

On Wednesday, October 5th we had a "Soup Kitchen" and 3 of us brought in our homemade soups to have with buns at a whopping huge donation of $2.00 a bowl!  I made my "famous" beef barley soup and it was a hit!  One of the other soups was a creamy mushroom that was so rich and made by one of the men in the office - a definite gourmand. The 3rd soup was a traditional Eastonian soup called "frikkadilli" which was also creamy and full of veggies, barley, little pork meatballs and ?  There have been several requests for this event to be a weekly occurrence......

On this past Wednesday it was "Appetizer Party".  8 of us brought in appetizers ranging from Jalapeno Popper Dip (so yummy!) to Malaysia Beef (I've asked for the recipes for both of these), and my entry was Pear, Pecan, Blue Cheese Bruchetta.  Everyone that paid (again $2.00) for a plate of all the choices got a ballot and voted for their favourite.....you guessed it!  I won!  (A Cooking Light magazine recipe comes through again.)

At the start of the charity campaign, which was October 3rd, I sent a quilt "Techniques BOM" (that the little quilting group "Sassies" which I belong to, had made up last year for our local quilt guild) into the silent auction which could be bid on by every provincial government employee in BC!  The auction ends on Monday and I'm wondering what the final bid will be.

Here's Spotty Polka Dotty!!!!  A baby quilt I just finished for little miss Evelyn....now an entire month old and cute as a button!  I bought the 2 polka dot fabrics on a fabric shopping trip a couple of months ago and just couldn't wait to use them.....guess I'm just getting "dotty"!  The pieced block is a traditional block called Aunt Dinah...guess she's dotty too!  Okay, so I'm glad to finally have a finish to show!

Spotty Polka Dotty!!!!

Yes, I'm still around

Hello there my long lost buddies.  I am still around, but between work (which I am still enjoying a lot), doing extra household and yard chores (because of my husband's extended absence due to new jobs up north - he should be home by the time the snow flies.....I hope) and plain out and out laziness?.....maybe it's because there's too much fun to be had while the sun shines, I just haven't gotten around to updating my blog for a while.  This week I will also be finally adding another completion - a very cute baby girl quilt.  Photo coming soon.

Roses and Slugs

Roses and Slugs - they go together like typhoid and Mary, like chicken and pox, like.....you get the idea.  However, in this case I'll make an exception.  The slug is for a crazy quilt, and I couldn't resist a couple of pictures of my roses in the perfect state of open (my opinion) - the sun was just an added bonus.  Not bad for someone that normally takes the really awful, blurry, dark and rather yes, boring photos.

FINALLY a finish!!!!

Here's my first finish in 2 months!!!!  A tea cozy that is crazy quilted and embellished to the nines.

What kind of rainbow are you?

Your Rainbow

Your rainbow is strongly shaded green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are an intelligent person. You feel strong ties to nature and your mood changes with its cycles. Those around you admire your fresh outlook and vitality.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

I thought this was kind of fun and interesting and of course it is sooooooo accurate about me, no really, it is, really!

Scott and Amber moments after getting engaged!

I've a new full time job working for the provincial government that I started on June 1st.  So far I'm really liking it and the people I work with.  Everyone's been helpful and fun and very encouraging.  So nice to be able to say that.  The office is new (only 2 or 3 years old) so a huge change from the other places I've worked.  Just think air conditioning!!! My commute is about half an hour each way, but the drive is pleasant and the highway is in good shape....and I do get to see some beautiful scenery along the way.  And since I'm working in downtown Nanaimo I get to make some interesting discoveries on my lunch time walks....like a bead and embroidery shop just across the bridge, and the little wool shop around the corner.  Also the ocean is visible from the office windows as we're only about 3 blocks from the water.

I'm using the new job and the gardening work as my excuse for not having any finishes this month.  I am however still working on my crazy quilt tea cozy, and on my crazy quilt block for the round robin I'm in.....here's a hint ladies - my theme is "Sea to Shore".

Also!!!!!!!  My eldest son Scott brought his girlfriend Amber to the Island for a visit and we all went out to Long Beach on the west coast where he asked her to marry her - and she said YES!!!!!  We're so happy that Amber is going to be family.

While Amber and Scott were visiting, my other 2 boys Eric and Glen showed up to go fishing and for the first time in 2 years all of us were together.  I tried getting a picture of them together, and spent about 20 minutes with us all laughing hysterically while Eric, then Glen, then Scott kept cracking us up with their antics.....oh my sides hurt from all that laughter!  Eric's the one in the overalls, cap and "play off beard", Scott's the one in the middle and Glen's on the right.

How does my garden grow? With the few warmer days we've had in the last week or two I have flowers popping open all over - lady's mantle, foxglove, circle flower, roses, daylillies, pansies, peonies, allium, iris, periwinkle and so much more putting on a show.

Fairies dancing in the circle flowers and floxgloves with lavender in bud in front.

My birdbath garden area.  Lots of buds, not many blooms yet.

My stogie old fashioned coumbine (still my favourite).

My new fangled designer columbine with hostas.

Giant alliums in front of the pond garden.

These pea flowers are actually on my green pea vegetable plants.  Pretty enough to be ornamental!

Front garden iris and daylillies

Columbine, lady's mantle, daylily and the dark red thing.  (Hey, I can't remember everything!)

My peonies putting on a show in front of the picket fence with a field full of wild daisies behind.

My little water feature at the front porch

Water lily