'Summer of Sorrow'

That was the name of the documentary that I watched last night. It was on the Irish immigration to Canada and documented one family's journey for a better life. I researched the Irish Diaspora in university and retraced my ancestors steps when I was in Ireland 2 years ago, but nothing prepared me for this...it was so sad....what a wrenching decision for this and many thousands of other families....stay in Ireland and face certain death from starvation and disease or risk an ocean voyage of 2 plus months in cramped, unsanitary 'coffin' ships and face an unknown future and probable death. You'll have to watch it next time it's aired.
Saint Patrick's Day...the one time of year, that I reflect on my ancestors and silently thank them for taking that journey into the unknown.

Banns are posted

Well, the marriage banns are posted...seems this is a custom in England. To back up a bit, my 29 year old son is getting married in November to the love of his life...the word 'smitten' was invented just for them. She is an amazing young woman. Picture this, big tough solider, talking love and menus and seating and dresses....and when he speaks of her, his voice goes down a notch or two. It really is incredible to see and hear him. Who would have thought? Of course, when it gets right down to it, he is staying away from the dress shopping part....he says he is going to defend his adopted country the weekend the girls go dress shopping. Hmm...I wonder who is going to defend the country from him?

Cancer won't kill her...

...but I might, or rather my driving. Last night I drove Lucie back to the Lodge in Toronto she is staying at while undergoing radiation treatments. Normally, driving in Toronto doesn't bother me in the least...unless I have a 'back seat driver' (or in this case front)....She took it well when I told to be quiet and let me drive....BUT...the worst part was yet to come...the street we needed to be on to get to the Lodge has no lane markings and it quite confusing..there are not even any solid lines, yellow or otherwise....I ended up going Southbound in the Northbound lanes...oops...okay both our arteries are clear now.....my husband tells me later on that the markings are above the street....this is a 5 lane street, in the morning there are 3 lanes going South (into the city) and 2 lanes going North. In the evening it is the opposite. I would have been fine if it had been morning....and yes there was a car coming right at us! Like I said, our arteries are now clear. And, yes she still loves me and is still speaking to me.
We were coming back from an enjoyable day out. We wandered through several malls, and checked out hand bags that we couldn't even afford to look at...(1000.00 plus), had a wonderful dinner at the "Rainforest Cafe"...we were warned by the hostess that there would be thunder and lightening about every ten minutes and 'noisy' animals, but we weren't counting on the animated animals. All in all a wonderful dining experience, and quite reasonable.
We then went to the quilt shoppe, 'Sew Sisters' for a class I was taking, she tagged along 'cuz I was driving, but it was good for her to get out. She sat and embroidered some blocks she was working on, and while I really didn't learn anything from the class, but it was so good to get out as well. (You can only see so many people when you are not working and are stuck at home). I am sure that I will learn something in the upcoming lessons. We are making a 'Neutral Quilt'...it is absolutley gorgeous, go here for a look http://sewsisters.blogspot.com/. You can also see the Block of the Month (Christmas) we are both working on. Yes, we are keeping ourselves busy.

It's Spring!

And, our Mourning Doves are back! Every year they nest on the window sill outside the sitting room off my bedroom. It's been 4 years now. I don't think it's the same mummy and daddy birds, maybe their offspring? When I first saw them, daddy bird was trying to build a nest right on the sill. As it slopes downward, the nesting material was just falling off to the garden 2 stories below. He kept trying (silly man) and mummy bird, well, what can I say? She was giving him some kind of advice! I got a nesting box that one of my boys had made at Boy Scout camp and after filling it with twigs and grasses, they moved right in. That first year they had 2 babies. There was only one year that they didn't nest here. I really don't know why.
It's -26 C (-15F) with the windchill, but they are back and preparing their nest- a sure sign of spring.

Not Divorced...YET!!

Well, my hubby and I spent the weekend cleaning the basement....correction...I did a lot of the cleaning and he spent a lot of time trying to get out of cleaning...at one point yesterday he took a nap...arghh!! He is a pack rat and hates when I throw out or give anything away. And, shelves and cupboards? What are they for? Put stuff on them? Why can't they stay in a box? I don't know how many times he asked me about the DVD's I was giving away..are you sure there are none of the kids on there? Are you sure?? The DVD's are going to Lucie's granddaughter and I'm sure that if there are family videos in the cases they will be returned. My 30 year old son is even worse. He just tosses stuff out of his room into a pile. Several weeks ago I asked him to clean it up. Well, yesterday I shovelled it into garbage bags...don't know what was in there, don't care...was that a work uniform I saw? The warranty for the computer? ooops, the charger for his phone?...like I said, don't care. The worst part of all that cleaning? When I moved a box, I found that the outside wall was leaking...guess what we will be doing in the spring? Yep, we're still married, but not speaking much to each other right now. And, he's just thought up an excuse to go out!
On a lighter note, I had a great time last Thursday and Saturday. Thursday was demo night and Saturday was Saturday Morning Sampler at my local quilt shoppe http://www.quilterscupboard.ca/ Table runners were demo'ed on Thursday night and the Saturday Morning Sampler is a row quilt. Last month I had to make 8-6 inch Churn Dash blocks, next month it's the Log Cabin block-same amount, same size. I'm doing mine in chocolate pinks..... Warning, sunglasses are strongly advised. These are 4 of the 16 already made. The Flying geese blocks are for the border-lots more to be made. And, yes they do have a right side, it just got cut off in the photo. :)