Miss shirl...

I haven't written in awhile...just busy with life and getting used to this Blog thing. Had a good weekend. Caught up on some yard work and had a wiener roast with my boys. The weather was soo beautiful. I hope it lasts. Okay so I will try and blog more this week....

Goin Cruisin

Aloha!
We are on our way to Vancouver tomorrow to board the "Carnival Spirit" and sailing to Hawaii. We will be on board for 12 days. Can't wait!
I have been busy deciding on what to pack. Do you know how hard that is? Your suitcases have to be no more that 24 inches wide and 16 inch high. That isn't very big for all MY clothes...that isn't saying anything about Ron's stuff. Shoes alone need their own suitcase. Everyone tells me that you don't need very much...but we will be gone 12 days! Hey I need a lot of clothes. Then you have the "formal" dinners...that takes another whole suitcase. I know I'm probably panicking about it all, but what "if"? I tend to spill stuff on myself, I'm well known for my displays of what I ate during the day. I can't help it...lets just say I'm well endowed. I can't see my plate and well things tend to fall there...k...I'm sure some one understands. So I have to have a lot of back up tops and lots of stain remover. Life isn't easy at times....sigh
So my suitcases are pretty well done. Just a few last minute things to do. Had sort of a panic awhile back as we couldn't find our tickets. Found them "under" the almost filled suitcase. I'm sure we will relax tomorrow and just enjoy ourselves.
Although they are saying it might snow on the higher elevations. We are going through Manning Park and it is high... another thing to worry about. My sister Sharon (an herbalist) made me some Anti Anxiety medicine....don't know what is in it and don't want to know...but it sure works. Maybe I will take that before leaving tomorrow. Will have to make sure I leave it in the car in Vancouver, don't think it would make it past the drug sniffing dogs. That or maybe a beer or two...that always seems to work on me. Beer for breakfast, yum. Good start for a holiday.
Wish my family was all coming with us. Pati would love it! I will make sure I take tons of pictures and share them with everyone.

Here is our ship in Vancouver BC


Some fun facts of the Carnival Spirit

• length 963 feet
• 88,500 Tons
  
• speed 22 knots
• 2,124 passengers
• 930 crew
• 12 elevators
• 4 swimming pools
• Nationality of Officers "Italian"....oh ya!
  

Yes Pati!

Yes Pati....I have been well sort of busy. I did my laundry and packed yesterday...wow huh? Still haven't touched the lawns. I'm getting to them today. After I have to go up town and pay bills and get travelers cheques. As some of you may not know...I'm cruising to Hawaii...YES!!! 5 more sleeps until we head out to Vancouver. I'm excited, scared, do I have enough clothes?, wish I could lose about 50 pounds..... you know how it goes.
Ron and I did go to Osoyoos on Tuesday and visited the Osoyoos Art Gallery. My friend Barb Hofer (who her and her husband are cruising with us) is a wonderful talented painter and had a show with another lady who makes beautiful pottery. The gallery was very nice and very beautifully laid out. I got to pick a pottery piece for making all the posters for the show. That was really fun. I picked out a simple green dish. One that I can use and not put on a shelf somewhere.

The Red Bridge by Barb Hofer


See those roses? They are from my garden....Barb is the one in the middle.

My life avoiding... mowing lawns.

So here I sit, well I guess it was lunch time... an hour ago...EEP. I felt like playing and taking pictures so I kind of got side tracked I guess. I should be finishing my mowing and I also have been putting off weed whacking. (that is a weird term isn't it?) But it's something I have to do regularly and I love me a power tool! Usually though my arm wants to fall off, and if I need to go anywhere I am usually covered in tiny green bits...Ahhh the glamorous life I lead. I also wanted to bring up the fact that I have now out posted Shirley in this blog!!!! HELLLLOOOO SHIRLEY what the hell are you doing???? I know, I know you are also mowing lawns....excuse me but I do have a whole half an acre more that you ....and I'm sitting here playing and blogging away.!! Is your husband home??.....Maybe thats it??? Okay well we are doing this together remember, and you have three or more to do to catch up. Maybe I will sit here and wait and play McNopoly on Facebook...

I want to say Happy Birthday to Debi! Went and had a great time at her parents house. I had cake and coffee and felt like part of the family. Was so nice.
So I just want to mention that Debi recently had a cat go missing...and so my thought are with her and hope "Baby Girl" comes home.....Debi is a lover of all animals and her home is filled with three dogs and four cats ...Oh and two horses!!
On another note...I canned my tomatoes today. Whoohoo. I got fourteen 1 litres and six 250ml jars filled and canned. The process went really fast...Thanks Mom for helping scald and peel all those tomatoes for me!! Haha. It was also a beautiful day here. The sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky. Tomorrow it is back to mowing lawns and cleaning out flower beds. I am looking forward to another beautiful day.

My weekend

HI everyone! I had a great weekend in Keremeos. Our visit was not long enough, but Shirley and I had a great Saturday cruising around in her Element. We first visited her friend Peggy ("Hi"Peggy) We saw all her beautiful flowers, gardens, and of course her fruit trees. It was a great time taking pictures. I think I managed to take over a hundred at her place!! She also gave me a sun warmed peach right off the tree.... it was soo good. Then we hit a few fruit stands and managed to fit in coffee and an icecream. Yummm. Then we went to the river and looked for rocks and took a few pictures there too. Was so beautiful. So was a great weekend. It's so nice visiting my sister...can I say that she is a great host! Her husband Ron is always up for a good laugh and also deep conversations...which I like. Also she is on the same page as me as far as having good coffee and sitting outside and taking it easy in the morning. Her breakfasts are always hearty and my husband gets spoiled there.
Our drive home was good too and we toured around Princeton and Merritt and took all the back routes home. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the scenery was breath taking. I just wish my husband wouldn't drive like he was in a Nascar race....I don't know why he thinks we have to pass everything our way??. Oh well we made it home in one piece and already I am back to the same old routine. Mowed lawns today and caught up on laundry. Tomorrow it is canning tomatoes from Peggy's.....

My Sister is Coming to Visit!

I'm so excited! It must of been all the talk of canning tomatoes...now she wants to come to the big Village of Keremeos and buy tomatoes....well I know where to get them.
We will go to all the fruit stands and check out all the produce. They all are filled to the brim with every thing, from apples to zucchini. We will go and visit my friend and check out her beautiful gardens and their fields of produce. We will walk by the river and take pictures, while her husband pans for gold. Hope we have enough time to do it all....there are a lot of fruit stands and a lot of river to pan.
First however I have ONE day to prepare for my sister visit. Oh no! my house is upside down, my gardens are weedy. First I think is put away all the canning, it is still sitting on my cupboards. Five hundred trips down the stairs to the canning room. Then it is vacuuming, dusting, changing beds, laundry, should get some groceries...... wonder if I have enough day. Oh ya...the my garden club has a garden tour this afternoon also. I wonderful garden full of dahlia's....will remember to be sure my camera is ready for that.
Well better get my bum in gear instead of sitting here checking out the blogs....work to do and no time to dilly daddle. (is that a word?)

Pictures I took the other day. Hope you like?
So we are off to Keremeos tomorrow..Ya just to get away. Will be visiting Shirley and enjoying the weather. Want to get some tomatoes and corn and tour around the fruit stands. I will see you on Monday with some pictures. Have a good weekend.

Tomatoed Out!

Here I sit at midnight waiting for the last of my tomato juice to process. Okay, I lied it is only 10:45...but it feels like midnight. It has been a very tomatoey week for me.
Made 15 pints of salsa, some mild some hot. Today was 200 pounds of tomatoes made into juice. Nice to have a friend who has tomato fields...and an endless supply of tomatoes. But I don't think we're to excited if we "ever" see another tomato for awhile.
My gardens are a mess, my poor lawns never get mowed. It is "canning" season and every jar must be filled!!!!
On to the next project....hmmmm lets see, always wanted to do some peach salsa. At least it isn't tomatoes!!!!

Playing

I Sewed today, on my breaks I would play with Microsoft digital image pro. Here are some I did, I thought they turned out cool. I also started sewing a messenger bag for my son. Have the handles yet to attach. Hope you like>?? I also made homemade won ton soup...that blows any restaurants to shame....was yummy.

I have been busy.

Well I haven't been writing much on here.....simply because I have been busy. Also I just didn't know what to write. The big sis' has been bugging me about it too, and I felt blocked.

So I have been working on my guest bedroom. Kind of anyways. I told you about the dresser and headboard my twin sister gave me...well I have been painting that. I have a few pics to post for you.

So now I just have to figure out what to do with the room. I was thinking all white? Maybe a funky pattern on the pillows. I have all these ideas swarming in my head. Okay so I will keep you posted. I will also try to write a bit everyday.

These are the before and after pictures as well as some inspirational ones for you. I would have them in better order if I knew what I was doing. AArrgh!