This Week

Friday rolls in and here I am with another round of this, that and the other. It’s been an insanely busy week but that’s okay because the bedroom/art room downstairs is 100% finished! I unpacked a bunch of stuff and I set up a table along one wall where I’ll do photography and art. Can you say ‘ridiculously happy’?

The heat wave is gone and it’s now sunny and cool. And because of that, I turned on the oven yesterday and made some apple cinnamon muffins . The house smelled like autumn. Mmm mmm

On Wednesday I prepared a big batch of applesauce on the stovetop, which is crazy easy to make. I tell you, there is nothing like the homemade stuff. Once you have that, the store bought applesauce just doesn’t cut it. It tastes like crap.

Speaking of cooking, this time of year I get very ambitious in the kitchen. I cook up a storm, bake like a madwoman and fill up the freezer with meals and chopped up veggies. I don’t know what gets into me. The most amazing man in the world doesn’t mind this frenzy one bit. He gets some good eating when this mood hits.

Last week a couple of Canadian blogging pals mentioned the television show Mr. Dressup, which ran from 1967 to 1996; the longest-running and most beloved children's program in English Canada. It starred Ernie Coombs who presented arts and crafts, songs, stories and games for children with his friends Casey and Finnegan. I was a huge fan of this series along with the younger of my two older brothers. I have so many fond memories of it that I get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes every time I hear the theme song. The TV show ‘The Friendly Giant’ has the same impact on me. Remember that? Good times.

Drawing. It’s been hard to squeeze that in lately but squeeze it in I do. Even if it means a quick and simple sketch. Because practicing regularly is the only way I’m ever going to sharpen these new skills and move forward with them. Here are some of my latest scribbles.

Are you sick of the negative news and the chaos and the stupidities? I sure am. And so I’ve been spending less and less time on social media this week because of it. I need a break from the madness, the ignorance and the nastiness. The only thing I’ve been enjoying this week is visiting your blogs, watching stuff on YouTube (especially drawing lessons), searching for recipes and looking at photos on Instagram. It’s been a peaceful week.

And that’s all I have to say today. I’ll end this post with a fun tribute to Mr. Dressup. Have a wonderful weekend, friends. Now excuse me while I get some tissues…sniff…

Chuckles and Chortles

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you all had a nice weekend. We're having heat wave weather the past few days. It'll continue until about Wednesday and then the temperature will drop to more reasonable levels for this time of year. What's it like where you are?

Yesterday we met up for brunch in the small city of Vaudreuil with my daughter and her boyfriend. It was wonderful to see them both and a reminder once again that moving closer was the best decision.

What was your weekend like? Share in the comments below. Now let's laugh a little...

Wishing you all an awesome day ahead!

This Week

It’s Friday! Time for another post filled with random thoughts and trivial babbling. Because that’s what we like best around here.

First, house news. The spare bedroom/art room downstairs is done; washed, painted, new flooring, ceiling fan, blinds, wall plates, switch covers, outlets and all that fun stuff. Today the most amazing man in the world who also happens to be the handiest will hammer in the quarter rounds, add new hardware to the doors and put back the shelving in the closet. It’s amazing how much work is involved in one little room.

We’ve got the front room left and that’s it for major overhauls. Once that’s completed, we’ll fi-na-lly be able to unpack everything and put it in its place. And we’ll even be able to add a dining table in our dining area that we’ve been using as a TV room. (I’m taking photos as we renovate that I will share in the future.)

We’re almost there. YAY US!

Next…drawing! I am still doing it every day and loving every minute. And I’m thankful to all the people out there, especially the YouTubers who generously share their expertise and encourage people to learn new things. I’ve been following along on these step by step drawing lessons for weeks and all the practice is paying off. I’ve noticed in the past few days that I no longer need to watch the entire video. I freeze the screen and draw what I see. *squee* My goal is to eventually venture off on my own. For now I’m perfectly happy learning from others. Here are some of my latest drawings.

Speaking of drawing, it brings back memories of when my older daughter was 3 or 4. We used to watch a show called Pappyland; an American half-hour children's television series where there was dancing and singing and the teaching of life lessons. But the main focus of the program was about drawing. The camera was positioned directly above Pappy’s paper as he drew, and children (even older ones like me) were able to follow along and create the images he did. Well, my daughter and I, and often a neighbourhood kid or two, would be all set with our pencils and crayons and juice boxes and snacks each weekday morning, and we’d draw along with Pappy. It was so much fun! And you’d be right if you guessed that ours was the most popular home in the neighbourhood with kids. So you see, this isn’t my first attempt at trying to get beyond stick figures. Have you heard of this show? Here’s a video of one episode:

This is getting much too long, so I’m going to stop here. You’re welcome.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Have fun. Be well.

Chuckles and Chortles

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the weekend. Our weather has been pretty amazing lately. It looks like summer has finally found us. What's nice is that it's warm during the day and cool at night. You couldn't ask for better. I hope that this is the start of what will prove to be an amazing autumn season.

We are continuing to be busy around here. Today the most amazing man in the world is going to start laying down new flooring in the downstairs spare bedroom/art room. And I'll be painting quarter rounds to be installed later this week. Things are moving along nicely and we're excited that most of our indoor work is completed. Next spring, outdoor stuff...including lots of gardening! Can't wait. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Shall we get to the funny stuff? Here we go...

Wishing you all a great day ahead!

This Week

It’s been a really busy week for us. We finished painting the bedroom downstairs from top to bottom and it looks beautiful. The most amazing man in the world will install new flooring soon and we’ll be good to go. This will be a spare bedroom but it will also be my photography/art room. Right underneath the window I will add a long folding table that I will use to take images on for my other blog and it’ll also be used for artwork.

Speaking of artwork, I’m drawing every day and having way more fun with it than I ever imagined. I’m starting to get more and more comfortable with each image that I work on, and now I’m colouring all of them in. Here are a few of my latest attempts to get beyond stick figures.

This time of year I think about my kids when they were little and feel my heartstrings being tugged. I love this period of my life, but when I hear the school buses going by in the morning, I miss those days when I was a young mom. Wouldn’t it be fun if we could visit earlier periods of our lives? Go back for a day or two and do all those things all over again? And then zip back to the present? It would certainly ease that nostalgic ache.

And speaking of kids, you know what my younger daughter did this summer? Last month, she and her boyfriend went to Portugal for two weeks and they had the most incredible time! Talk about an amazing experience for these two young people. She shared some photos and it looks like a beautiful place. I’m so glad baby girl did this. It’s something she’ll never forget. Traveling teaches you so much about the world. Have any of you ever been to Portugal? I’d love to go  there (and to a thousand other places) one day.

A few weeks ago I bumped into a display of espresso cups in a store and sent a few crashing to the floor. I was mortified! In all my years I’ve never broken anything in any store and this was a horrifying experience. I offered to pay for whatever had broken but the sales lady wouldn’t accept. She said not to worry about it. I worried about it for the next week. Have you ever accidentally broken anything in a store?

I recently ran across a moving tune that I’m going to share with you. It’s sung by American reggae singer Matisyahu and it’s called “One Day”. It expresses hope for an end to violence, and a new era of peace and understanding. A world where we can all live together in harmony, and celebrate and embrace all the beautiful diversity on this planet. Is that too much to ask for? And why haven’t we gotten there yet? Sometimes this world tires me right down to my very soul. *sigh*

Anyhow, I’ll include the song below for you to listen to when you have time. And I’ll also wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Chuckles and Chortles

Happy Monday, blogging pals. How are you all doing? I hope life is treating you well. And if it isn't, I hope things get better. We have been very busy around here for quite some time and this week will continue to be the same. Today will include paint and paint brushes with a side order of relaxation squeezed in to recharge our batteries. I've fallen behind on my blog but that's nothing new. Once our house is fully settled, I'll get back to more blogging. What I am finding (or making) time for each day is drawing. Whether it's for an hour or just 15 minutes, I'm putting in time for practicing this new hobby. I find it very relaxing. I'll try to do a 'This Week' post on Friday or Saturday and share some photos of my progress and some thoughts. Until then, here's some funny stuff for you.

Have a good one!

Chuckles and Chortles

Happy Monday, everyone. How are you all doing? How was your weekend? What's new? What's going on? Go ahead and share whatever you'd like. I enjoy hearing from you.

Today is Labour Day, so a lot of people are enjoying an extra day off. But it's too bad it's rainy one. I'm sure a little sunshine would have been welcome. Since just about every place is closed, the most amazing man in the world and I are going to stay home and get some work done around here. What's your day going to be like?

Enough of the blah, blah, blah. Here are a few images to get you laughing.

Have a good one!

This Week

Happy September, everyone! I can’t believe the fall season is almost here. We’ve been so busy this year with our move and all our house stuff that 2017 has just been zipping right by without us even noticing.

Speaking of house stuff, we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! 75% of our lower level is finished. Washed, stripped of carpeting, painted, new flooring installed. The 25% that still needs work is a small bedroom that we will begin to tackle on Monday. We needed it to store furniture and unopened boxes while we worked on the rest of the area. Now it’s empty and we’re ready to go. Once that’s done, we’ll move our cleaning buckets, painting trays, paint brushes and rollers to the living room at the front of the house; the last space to be renovated. Well, there is a tiny laundry room downstairs that needs to be refreshed but we’ll leave that till we no longer need to use the utility sink in it to wash stuff. No use making it all pretty and then messing it up while we do work around the house. But we’re almost there! *doing the happy dance*

I am continuing to practice and learn about drawing every day. Since last week when I mentioned this new hobby, I finished my first sketchbook and started a new one. I’ve subscribed to a whole bunch of YouTube art channels and each day I choose some artist’s step-by-step lesson and follow along. It’ll take time before I venture off on my own but in the meantime I’m having a blast. Here is one page that I filled up yesterday morning.

And speaking of art, I treated myself to a pack of sharpie markers earlier this week (image below). Look at all the pretty colours! 30 beautiful markers. I can’t believe how ridiculously happy this simple purchase makes me. I still haven’t opened the box. I’m not ready to take apart this magical display.

As I write this, I’ve got my tabby cat sitting on my lap and purring away. Every morning after I feed her, she does this; her way of thanking me for taking caring of her. And she’s polite about it, too. She doesn’t just jump on my lap, she waits to be invited. She stands next to me and stares up with adoring eyes as if I’m some goddess and waits until I look down and say the magic words “come on”. There is a look of joy on her face when I say this and then she jumps on my lap, gets comfortable and snuggles up against me. She’s very sweet. And she has good manners.

It’s been awhile since I shared a music video, so I’ll end this post with one today. This song is called ‘Bloom’ from The Paper Kites, an indie rock-folk band from Melbourne, Australia. Take a moment and listen to it. It’s very beautiful.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!