Category: home life

I worked most of the morning on finishing the grinding for the last 2 panels of the Peony Lamp. All done and now ready for foiling.

I finished just before Maneau and Jake arrived for a visit to celebrate Jake’s birthday. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon on the deck with a pitchure of Sangria and nibblies. Then off to Taste of Egypt for dinner.

Great food. Lots of fun and laughs.

After we came home to watch the Black Hawks trounce the Bruins! Since I was the only Black Hawks fan in the room, I had to Hi-5 myself.

Visiting Ron last night and enjoyed the walk in the woods to see the lady slippers blooming. We came across a patch with dozens of them…white and pink. The light rain softened the forest sounds and the slippers loved it. So did the trout lilies. Very nice to see them.

Hard Rain. Lots of it. Must remember to take extra umbrellas to Havelock today for Uncle Bill’s 90th birthday (born 1923) reception at the Community Hall and Dad’s 87th birthday actually on today June 8th. He is 87 years old today (Born 1926). Sis and I can’t wait to see all the Family. Many photos will be taken today.

I’m planning to do a little stained glass work this morning but in the meantime, just fooling around with the camera in the bathroom. Come on a little tour with me and let’s step into the seaside.

Really had a great time cutting up fallen trees at Dad’s. Thankfully, no accidents! Monica worked right along beside me like a trooper. We were very sore at the end of the day but it wasn’t until next day that we really felt the achy muscles.

Went to Moncton and picked up some green opal glass with a glitter sparkle for the background color of the Peony shade. Monica returned a couple of pillows (living room) and we took dad to McDonalds for fish burgers (I had a double – ever good!). The lamp shade is started (cutting and grinding) and the first row of border is in position as I write this. I will work away some more and get the second row pinned on before quitting for the day.

Tonight (Monday – Victoria Day) I’m going back to Havelock to take Dad to Masonic Lodge in Moncton. Looking forward to that too.

My first chainsaw and I am psyched… going to Dad’s house tomorrow to do some yard work. A few old spruce trees fell down over the winter and they’ve got my name on them. Can’t wait … so long as my next post is not from the hospital.

We have had a beautiful spring stretch of weather making a day’s fishing trip an extremely enjoyable event. Ron and I went to Perley Brook but I didn’t get a photo of the big one that got away! There were some blackflies but they weren’t biting. Neither were the fish, much. Too bright and sunny!

We stopped at Westfield Falls on the way. This is a stunning local attraction that has gained popularity by hikers and tour groups.

Sarah is home visiting us from Red Deer, Alberta. Thursday was her 25th birthday and we celebrated with Maneau and Jake at Splash Restaurant in Saint John. Had a wonderful evening with excellent food and lots of laughs. It is great to have her home.

No, sorry, still only Tuesday. Got the doldrums, eh? Well nothing beats the blues better than a good garage cleaning. I hauled two car loads to the recycle depot on the Dever Road (3 streets over). Hallelujah. Now if I can just get rid of the old living room furniture set out in the garage, then I could have my man-space back again 🙂

What a great day – up early, did stained glass for the morning, finished box #6, went grocery shopping with Monica, bought an antique table at Serendipity, watched Taylor win the synchronized swimming competition at Aquatic Center, had beautiful supper of hot chicken salad, watched Gray’s Anatomy with Mom, and played with pictures on WordPress. Tomorrow, off to Havelock to visit Dad. Ron Nelson is coming with me. Should be an interesting visit. I expect a hunting story…or two.

What a great project this has been. Intensive right from the start. Lots of straight line work so cutting and foiling were a lot easier. Soldering is a little trickier as straight lines don’t hide your mistakes like curves do. Working on  weekends and some week evenings, the whole project took about two weeks. I’d guess about 5-6 hours per box. I saved a bit of time with the first four as I waited and gave them all a patina application at the same time. The others I patinaed as I finished them.

I am very happy with the finished pieces. I hope six special ladies will use them and keep some old memories here just for the sake of keeping them.

This is the day! Home from work to get comfortable (Pink Floyd t-shirt and sneakers) and then off to Taste of Egypt for supper. It was fantastic. Non-licensed which was good…because the specialty drinks are worth trying. Mine was Horus (mango, milk and ice cream) and Monica had something just as delicious. Then we got grape leaves stuffed with rice and spices. Yum, yum. The main course was Eye of Horus for me (Egyptian spiced beef stir fry) and Monica got tandoori skewered beef & chicken. Dessert was rice pudding and baklava. What a feast. We met the owner (nice girl, Paula, from Saint John – her Egyptian husband is the cook).

After supper, we walked across the street to the Imperial theater where we enjoyed Classic Albums live do a very good job of Ziggy Stardust and a suite of Bowie greatest hits. It was fantastic and the lead singer hit all the right notes. Great evening. Do you notice our lives revolve a lot around food and entertainment? Life is good.

My day didn’t start with a bang – just coffee. The Bang came later. A couple of hours early of glass work produced box #3 (Red Frost) and then Monica made this amazing breakfast; spinach, avocado and chive omelet with feta cheese. So yummy, WOW.

Then back to the soldering bench to put together box #4 (Green Man). Learning something different with each box. Although they all look alike, no two have been exactly the same each with its own particulars. For example, maybe a lid slides on the hinge rods a bit more than necessary, or a bottom gets soldered to the sides before a slight twist off square is detected, or a lid chain is a bit too long.

All in all, a wonderful day. Boxes 3 & 4 are complete and the first four all have the black patina applied. Now they need a polishing. I can do that tonight watching TV with Mon. We are into the Downton Abbey series.

And to end the day off with a bang, Monica made this excellent Tuscan Soup. So good with a bottle of Chianti Classico, it was almost like we were in Italy.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to hobby a weekend away at home. Blessed be the Light.

Wonderful day – exciting start on this cold, snowy/rainy, calm and peaceful Saturday. It’s good to be home. Mon and I tidied the basement this morning which produced seven trips to the garage with stuff for Community Living.

Then an uplifting 5 hours of box assembly. Boxes 1 and 2 are together. I am pleased with the results…what a lesson in construction. Thank heavens the hinged lids operate properly.

Two boxes completed today… four more to go. I am enjoying this project very much. How fortunate am I to find such great satisfaction from this hobby…and best of all is the memory play back of the people I have in mind while working on these. Six very special people to Monica and me who are as much a part of our memory fabric as we are of theirs. Memories worth keeping for sake of a lifetime of friends. Now that’s a journey.

It’s been a long old winter and I haven’t been keeping up my website… too many distractions. For one, my Mom passed away in February after a long illness. It was hard to say goodbye but now the focus is on Dad and helping him adjust to life alone. He misses her more than I can ever know. But spring is in the air and that will help lift everyone’s spirits.

I was sitting in my living room chair beside the window one morning playing on the laptop when a movement just outside the window caught my attention… seconds later, this little deer pressed his nose right up to the glass and peeked in at me…with his mouth full of my tulips that were only up about 2-3 inches !!! I chased him out onto the lawn but he and his mother just stood there looking at me. Very tame.

Then about 15 minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal paid a visit to the bird feeder. So good to see them. They are setting up house in the neighborhood. You can hear him singing every morning at 6:00.

I am finally underway with a new project; a series of keep-sake boxes. I haven’t done a box in a long time and never one with a hinged lid so this will be a real learning experience. There will be six of them when I am finished. It is really good to have the glass in my hands and in my head again. Inspiration is budding out. Thank you, Spring!

Today was the first snow of the year. Very pretty, plus we had a visitor in the Burning Bush shrub by the living room window. It was so good to see him again.

Rainy Sunday. Monica and I are decorating the house today for Christmas. Nostalgia is running rampant with every old ornament that comes out of the box. Many wonderful memories of Christmasses past. Here is a photo of some Christmas ornaments that my Aunt Della made many years ago. Her daughters gave these to me after she passed away and I cherish them deeply. Aunt Della’s house was like walking into a fantasy world at Christmas time. These always take me right back to those wonderful childhood memories.