New Jacket

an old made new

40th Anniversary

Rachael

Kaitlyn

Auntie Cee

Big Moose

Game

Blogging Practice

Playing the game while teaching me to use the computer

my office desk in the front porch

Mom's and Torrey's baking

more blogging practice

Torrey's new car

Since I am the one who needs the practice to post blogs I will do this for Torrey. When Torrey got the desire to move to BC a few weeks ago he said but there are three BIG reasons why this is not so easy to do and they will have to become reality before I can move. I said if this is what you want and it feels right then don't write it off let's move in that direction and he looked at me sort of like ------well maybe you know something I don't know. To me I thought back on some of our Calgary experiences and thought let's see what God will do. First off as I was praying with my friend in Abbotsford, the words 'her son' popped into my head. We had talked about Torrey's desire to move and that he would need a place to live and I knew from previous conversations that her son in Abbotsford was looking for a roommate now that is one condition met. And here on this blog is the second condition and then Darcy wanted him to come work so looks like all three are overcome. This car is amazing how that all came together, he can tell you when you see him.

Craft Fair November 24 2007

For many years Dad and I had talked about having a table at the Christmas Market, but what to sell? Finally it was decided that wheat bags was it. We had so much fun picking out all the pretty flannelet. We picked 12 pieces and bought 2 meters of each, I still had 2 pieces at home making 14 in all. We cut each piece into 4 18'by 9' rectangles and then I sewed them up and Dad turned them right side out. we did approx 50 in one day. We bought 350lbs of wheat. I sewed 101 bags for the sale and then Dad and I each needed a new one so that made 103. I told Torrey if we don't sell all these then you know what you are getting for Christmas for the next 5 years, a new wheat bag! On the day of the fair we had so much fun. And I made one very good contact for Mannatech so that will hundred times pay for the cost. Praise God for fun! We did recoup our investment plus a bit.



This is the table beside us he had roses from Ecuador that he grows himself and then imports and sells all over the world. Of course I had to have a few for my dinner table and I gave Cee a couple as well. They are absolutley beautiful.

Christmas in September

We used to have an empty space in our cupboards above the stove and there was no light either. And I was dreaming about the day when I could have a new microwave for my kitchen to fill that space. But with all the renovations for the porch, this was probably going to be a while in coming. Then boom, in september, when we visited our kids, they all gathered together in the living room, and gave us a christmas card with all their names signed to it, and they said "Christmas in September". We read inside and it said, "One new microwave for mom and dad, sitting in the garage, waiting to be installed in your kitchen." And here it is. Thanks to Torrey for his expertise in electricity.

Words fail me to express the heartfelt thanks I have to you children who made possible this wonderful addition to my kitchen. I love the light above the stove and the power and efficiency of the microwave. It puts a smile on my face many times a day, and warms my heart as I warm my wheatbags. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Christmas Craft Fair 2007

Look at all these wheat bags Dad and I made. They're for a craft fair. We're going to sell them for $10 a piece. You see, Dad's been telling me for quite a while that we should make something for a craft fair, that we could sell together. He loves craft fairs and he loves to be a vendor. He knows how much I love my own wheat bag, and how I just love to show them off to whomever comes by and I love to give them away as gifts, so he suggested that I make wheat bags and sell them. So here we are, it's almost christmas time, and we've made over a hundred of them from fourteen different types of cloth. Tomorrow, Friday the 23rd, is the first day of the craft fair and we're all excited about it. We'll blog again soon.

Our new porch!

Wow! Look at me. I'm learning how to blog. I'm so excited. You guys have inspired me to start blogging because I find that reading your blogs lets me be a part of your life even when we're far apart.




This is what I had to look at for just over three months. It's a picture of our back porch during demolition and reconstruction. Strange how demolition goes alot faster than reconstruction. We had to wait while we ordered a new door and window and then we had to wait for Torrey to get back from BC to help us rewire the porch electrical systems and put up the drywall.




You're looking at our new back door. There is a new door, a new window and a whole new wall that Dad built and I painted. Also, notice the new wooden step just before you enter the house that matches our new deck.




Now you've opened the back door and you can see the new carpet, which matches the carpet in the front porch. See the white post sticking up from the bottom of the picture. Next summer we're going to cover it with wood that matches the deck. It's just a free-standing ornamental post.




Look at all the extra cupboards and pantry space that I have now. I'm so happy.




This next picture was taken from inside the kitchen facing east. Notice the wider opening into the porch with a nice little wooden shelf. It really brings alot of morning light into the kitchen. My kitchen before we changed the entryway was really dark. There was no window in the door, and the light from the old window, was blocked by the old archway. There is just no comparison to the amount of morning light in my kitchen now, which I just love.




Here you can see the new door and window closer up, and you can see we have our winter jackets hanging on the left wall.




I just had to show you my new pantry space again, because I like it so much. If you notice I still have a blank space on the wall above these red containers. I'm going to get Dad to build me a narrow spice cupboard. I think that will be very useful and fill up that blank space just perfectly.



Here's a close up view of this really nice antique shoe rack that I found at the Tilly. Fooled you. Dad and I actually built this shelf. Torrey helped Dad with the cutting, because Torrey can cut alot straighter with the skillsaw than Dad can. The drawer was also built by Dad and Torrey and we are using it for holding tools and things.



The last picture is just a nice heads on view of how nicely our shoes will fit into our new shoe rack. I usually am the one who loves to get out the paint brush and paint everything. I chose a nice stain and varnish for this rack, instead of more white paint. I made it match the colors of my kitchen cupboards.

Until I blog again. Good bye for now, but I'll be seeing you all in person soon.

Reaching out to the World

I'm leaving the comfort of my kitchen to bring to you these words of wisdom...

Actually, I'm just testing my blog, but this is just a test post.