Ramblings and Christmas Wishes

Grinchmas Quilt Top

Almost two months have past by and I haven't written a thing!! Definitely thought about writing something witty and interesting, but that just wasn't going to happen.  Little glimpses of  what to say would flit through my mind and that is pretty much as far as it got.  Thank goodness it isn't my job to write, or I'd be starving by now!

The weather for the past while has been anything but stellar.  Very cool and extremely windy.  The Yuma area is well known for it's wind, and it is not letting us down now.  There have been a few morning here where there were only a couple of degrees difference between Yuma and Alberta.  Now that is bad!!  Trust me when I say there has been a lot of grumbling amongst the folks in the park.  I do hope that it warms up soon, if it doesn't, some warmer clothing will be on my shopping list.

 Fudge Gift Box
with Lace Ornament

Since arriving in Yuma, several of my unfinished project, quilts that required binding, that I brought with me have been completed, now that is a good feeling. One new project, a Christmas quilt top has been assembled, Grinchmas Quilt, which was fun, it went together quickly and without a lot of fussing.  I'll probably take it home and quilt it on my big frame, just makes life a lot easier. Had a brain wave (or should say fart) to make some festive aprons to celebrate the season, made two, then quit because I didn't know what to do with them afterwards.  So typical of me!  Of course, life isn't the same without making up some free standing lace ornaments with crystals.

Aprons anyone???

Have been clogging twice a week since arriving in Yuma, it is such a great workout, never realized that sweating could ever be considered fun.  The second week of January there will be a workshop in Tucson, AZ that is beckoning yours truly.  It should be fun.  There is another lady who has expressed interest in going with me and sharing the expenses - now that is a total bonus.

Opening performance

Over the past couple of weeks we have attended a few of the shows that have been in the park.  Last Monday the Arizona Classical Ballet presented "Winter Wonderland".  The dancers were amazing, it was a very enjoyable evening.  To add variety there was even a tap routine.

Tap Dancers

Opening of the Nutcracker Suite

Ages of the dancers ranged from preschool to late teens.  It wasn't difficult to tell who took their dancing seriously, definitely there were a few that had exceptional talent and stood apart from the rest.



One of the routines had excerpts from the Nutcracker Suite, a traditional Christmas ballet.  The lead or principle female dancer did a wonderful effort, you could tell she was in the moment.   By the way this is the only time that the young man danced.

Guest Vocalist

 There was also an extra treat - guest singer, Ruben Dominguez, he is well known in these parts for his singing ability.  He did a number of Christmas tunes in between the performances by the dancers.  So all in all it was a lovely evening well spent.  Loved his rendition of "Ava Maria".

Bath Day

Today was the puppies bath day.  They smell so good now, not to mention cute.  It is such a ritual after the bath, they go absolutely crazy, running like little crazed animals around in circles until they are exhausted and practically drop over.  In no time at all their hair is practically dry.  Today they got the "special" bows in their hair. So they are pretty set for Christmas outfits.  They are so easy to please!!

When is Santa coming?  We've been really GOOD!!

It is way too clique to say where has this past year gone, but here I am thinking those exact words.  Christmas will be here in another day plus a few hours, then seven days after that will be the new year.  OMG!!   This year, I didn't bring my card making stuff with me, so unfortunately no cards have been sent out.  Guess, cards could have been bought and sent, but that didn't seem to happen.

When we get down here, it never feels like Christmas, it could be anytime of the year but not Christmas - maybe it is the sand and palm trees swaying in the wind.  Did I mention the wind??
It goes without saying, Paul and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and may 2012 treat you well.


Until next time....do take care....and most importantly Live, Laugh and Love!!

We're Gone!! WooHoo

Maybe it's better to say, we are happy about leaving the impending winter that is tapping at the back-door, this makes us very happy; but we'll miss our families and friends.  Our departure is about a week later this year, and I think we are just leaving in the nick of time, snow has been reported in a few areas around Alberta, and the wind has just been brutally cold. For a few days when out walking the pups, I was feeling rather wimpy, so out comes the big white parka, giving me the resemblance very much akin to that of the Michlin tire man, which was OK, there is no dress code when a person is cold. 

As we approached the border crossing at Coutts, there was a huge amount of trucks, fortunately we didn't have to get in their line-up. Something I never noticed before is all the trucks had to drive through a large shed with a scanner.  The US border folks weren't interested in us, they even told us we could keep our banana.

Thursay, November 3

typical Montana scenery

Montana Highway 1-15

We haven't been able to warm up at all since leaving home. A very cold bitter wind has been blowing ever since we left, we were in hope that would change, unfortunately - not so. In yesterday's travel there was a lot of snow in the lower areas besides the mountains. Even parts of the highway had snow, the creeks have ice buildup along the banks, on some the ice layer covered the entire creek. We stayed over night just outside of Butte last night.

It's cold out there!

The girls didn't seem to mind, their coat is thick so the wind and cold hasn't slowed them one bit. So far they have taken the traveling right in stride. I'm so glad that we kennel trained them for the night time sleeping, there is just no fuss and no 'surprises' in the morning.  When its lights out time, you just tell them to get in their house and they get their night time treat and that's it!  They are so funny, they even have a preference as to which kennel they sleep, Emma is always in the kennel to Bella's right.  While driving through Idaho we saw a cattle drive, it looked very chilly.  There was a few hundred head being herded down the trail, which sounds so much more alluring than just to say a service road.

Our gas stop at Dubois, brought about a shocking revelation, Paul couldn't  find one of his credit cards. After about an hour of turning the place upside down, it was decided it would be simpler to call and cancel than to keep up the futile search. The positive,  Dubois was considerably less windy the temperature was tolerable. It was even pleasant when walking the girls.  On to McCammon for our overnight stay,  it's a small place just 45 miles north of the Utah border on I-15.

Friday, November 4th

We got away at a decent time from McCammon RV. It was nicer than the past few mornings, unfortunately not nice enough. The water hose froze, Paul didn't think it would get that cold, good thing there was a hair dryer in my arsenal of goodies.  Wasn't too long before everything was thawed out and put away.   The trip through the Salt Lake City corridor is massive and takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs to get through depending on what you are driving. From my perspective, most of Utah's population base resides in the various city's/towns sprinkled mostly on the west side of the freeway.  In the four years that we have been driving south, it has always been under construction, mind you it is now mostly at the south end. A lot of this is 7 lanes.  If you were counting north and south it would be 14 lanes with dedicated toll lanes. The one thing to remember, never travel in the far right lane for you will definitely get caught in an exit lane - with the volume of traffic and fast pace you could be in a bad situation that is not easily resolved.

The wind is just pain nasty today, not as cold, but nonetheless outright nasty. It has to be very tiring for Paul.  Won't be long and we'll call it a day. 

Saturday, November 5th

Get lots of looks when triple towing.

Cedar City, Utah

Good morning sunshine...wait that bright shiny stuff is snow - we are surrounded by snow and there's a lot, well it seems like a lot.  When Paul got on top of the motor home to clean off the snow the girls were beside themselves. This is the first time I have ever seen them tremble, I thought they were going to have a heart attack.  It took a good part of the morning for them to settle down and not go into high alert with any unusual noise.  The good news – it wasn't that cold – as well, we didn't have far to travel to get out of the snow. Within 15 minutes the elevation had changed enough there were only traces of snow and in another 15 minutes the pavement was dry - YEAH!!!

Today we drove through three states: Nevada, Arizona and California.   Destination point today is Needles, California.  Then it will be a quick trip into Yuma on Sunday.  We sailed through Vegas without incident, a lot of people don’t like to drive through Las Vegas, and it was a bummer the first year we drove down due to endless construction on the freeway.  Now the construction is pretty much complete, it is so straight forward and fast.  We did try a couple other ways that people suggested, to see if alternate routes were any better, but in my humble opinion they weren’t. 

Sunday, November  6th

We arrived in Needles as planned Saturday afternoon, it seemed like a treat!!!  We have driven the entire trip down without disconnecting once. Triple towed the entire trip. Every place we stayed on way down, the RV parks were able to accommodate the length of the motorhome, jeep and cargo trailer.  This was a total bonus. We left Needles bright and early, and arrived in Yuma around 1:00 pm. This concludes our journey south.  We'll be busy setting things set back up, once it is done we will enjoy the sunshine and warmth for 5 months and head home in the spring.

Until next time....

.  

Whew, My Feet Are Burning!!!

Focusing 

This past winter while south, clogging beckoned me to give it a try. For a few years now, at least 5 or 6, (before going south in the winter) I'd see clogging advertised in the community events calendar and wonder, hummm, what is clogging??  My visions were definitely wrong! Then other things would get in the way, then it would be too late to register for the beginner lessons.  Always an excuse.

The second year we were down south just before returning in the spring, I saw, not to mention heard music, as well as rhythmic tapping noises in unison emanating from the resort's ballroom. Sounded great.  It was a group of gals dancing (men do this too, but it seems to be a favorite among women).  I watched them for the longest time with great interest and desire to give it a try, but what was it???  Could this be clogging, wasn't entirely sure, for I'd never seen it done. Kind of reminded me of river dancing, an Irish jig and lord knows what else. Finally asked a person what were the ladies doing in the ballroom.  Well that was that!!! I made a mental note to self that it would be my year to start.  It so reminded me of years gone by, and my tap dancing days, I think everyone took tap in those days.  Oh my, where is that strength and fleetness of foot that I had been blessed with as a youth.  Needless to say it is pretty much gone now...sigh. Could we say - what happened is a 100 years.  OK, 100 years is a bit of a stretch!!   The bottom line is - it is one of the best exercise for mind, body maybe even soul, and its all fun!

The pace is picking up.

On October 14/15, there was a clogging workshop (Clog-toberfest, 2011), the guest instructor was Janice Jestin. I'm sure this lady was born clogging, she makes it look so easy.  The workshops are lots of fun and there will always be a dance or two maybe even three if you are lucky that you can dance to like a pro, maybe not quite a pro; then there will be dances that will be more complicated, faster requiring more knowledge as to how the steps are done which is only gained by time and experience.  The workshop instructors are very good about a preliminary "step-through", unfortunately if most of the steps are new, your knowledge base is limited - it does get difficult to remember the sequence with so many new steps.  In this case, you just go for it and do the best you can, for each time you do these steps that caused you so much grief initially, just gets simpler and simpler then one day it happens - you are actually doing the steps WOOHOO!!

Here is a group shot of the ladies with the workshop instructor, Janice, the third lady in from the right side of the back row.  Everybody who purchased a workshop tee, got their picture taken.  I think they look pretty good. (another note to self, if you want to be in the pic, buy the t-shirt.)


So now, my goal is to be able to do the dance that Janice is doing in this video clip, which is illustrating buck and flat footing steps. Well, it may not be exactly this dance. Could take a few years, hey I'm retired now, isn't that what retirement is all about!!

Until next time....

Happy Thanksgiving Wishes to Everyone

Already it is Thanksgiving in Canada.  Not too sure why it is a month earlier than than our neighbours to the south, where I grew up.  I do remember when I was very young, when we had Thanksgiving, it would be a very big event, or at least in my mind it was.  There were always  Aunts, Uncles and cousins around.  Sometimes it was spent with my mother's side of the family and then other times it was spent with father's side of the family.  Which ever side it was spent with - it was a big day with lots of yummy stuff to eat!!!  Trust me when I say, I ate a lot!!  The other most exciting thought at the time, I knew Christmas was only a month away.  That was "big" in my world at that time.

 I do sincerely wish that everyone was able to spend time with their families and friends over this Thanksgiving Long Weekend.  Too seldom in today's busy times,  do we get the opportunity to share a meal, conversation or just enjoy the company of those who mean so much to us.  My daughter, granddaughter and grandson were able to join Paul and myself.  Unfortunately, my son couldn't get away from long enough from up north to make it down.  Needless-to-say we gorged ourselves with ham, scalloped potatoes and pumpkin pie.  My plan was to take a picture and then I totally forgot, don't ask me how I could forget - but I did!!!  Guess my mind was on too many other things.

My grandson gave me an awsome 101 on torrent files, pacs, seeders, leachers, peers etc.  It has finally sunk in today, initially it was "what"!!!!  Anyway I asked and I received!!  A wise person would leave that stuff alone.

intrigued with the abstract

felt this was rather chic

Swarvorski Crystals

Stripes

 Lately, shoulder-bags have been consuming some of my free time along with trying to make flowers or something to embellish the bags, it takes me as long to make the flowers as it does the bag.  Over the years, for the most part, I left this kind of crafty stuff up to others who are creative, but there was an overwhelming urge pushing me to give it a "go"! I think these bag are so cool, the possibilites are infinite, limited only by one's imagination, which at times can be very lacking.  The bags have two front pockets; one zipper back pocket and an inside pocket. The biggest challenge was finding fabric that would be suitable, and had some pizazz, trendy upbeat look you know what I mean.  Ikea was a good place to start. Mostly because that is where the person who made the pattern suggested!!  See I told you!!!

The first bag was was a struggle; wondering what to do, how to make it looking interesting - not junky or most importantly, not a mistake!!! Then it was attaching the flowers.  Still working on that aspect, think it's under control now. This should be a great winter "project" while we are south.

That pretty much sums up the excitement around here this past couple of weeks.

September is Almost Over

Can't believe that September is coming to an end.  The true bonus has been the wonderful weather that we have been enjoying these past few weeks, only wished that it had started sooner i.e. July, promised myself that I wouldn't be greedy and say June.  Now the wish is for it to continue another month, and then we'll be heading south.

Strawberry Hall Area

Yesterday, Paul and I decided to a drive about to take in some of the wonderful weather and enjoy the autumn views. Leaves are intact for the most part so the trees on the hillsides look magnificent. We had no destination in mind, and more or less wandered aimlessly about.  With the wonder of GPS we had no fear of getting lost. Lots of harvesting was happening, field after field the combines were going strong. There was a strong wind blowing so the dust pretty concealed the activity. It would of been nice to have gotten a picture or two of the combines in the field. Maybe next year.  We happened to find one rather majestic old barn sitting in a field of wheat, waiting to be harvested.  This barn was located in the Strawberry Hall area, which is somewhere not far from Warburg.  So after snapping off a dozen or so pics, we decided to move on.   

We came upon a huge farming operation, it was the Warburg Hutterite Colony.  There was quite a large barn (amongst many) that appeared to have only geese, at first sight it looked like turkeys but as we got closer we saw that they were white geese. (alright, already, I know my eyes are getting old)  Then somewhere in my memory bank I remembered that the Hutterites are known for their down duvets.   

East of Breton

After an hour or so found the highway again, and discovered we were just a few kms from Breton.  Being that we were so close, I just had to revisit an old barn that I took pictures of a few years ago to see if it was still standing.  The barn was still standing, unfortunately the brush is starting to hide the structure itself.  Needless to say it is still very pretty with the glowing autumn colors; so now there is an updated version with a little less barn.  

We continued on to Breton and grabbed a water and a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich.  By this time it was late afternoon and decided it would be prudent to head homeward.

We had the girls with us, they are becoming such good little travellers.  I think this is one of the many reasons people like the breed, for they are such great little travellers and so easy to take anywhere.  We flew with the last two and they never batted an eye.  The added bonus - when flying with two dogs, my husband and I got a row of three seats to ourselves.

Bella (aka Tiny Terror)

Today was a big day for the girls, they had their first groomer appointment.  They left the house looking pretty scruffy, and when they were picked up I couldn't believe the change that took place, THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!  I just don't know how they can be such little trolls at times, often I refer to them as my "Evil Twins" with their mischievous antics.  Perhaps I'm being paranoid but I swear they plot their plans of attack at night while I'm sleeping. The groomer gave them a glowing report for good behaviour. 

Anyway, the little darlin's looked gorgeous when I picked them up.  Their little "top-notches" were still in.  The lady who groomed the puppies is also a breeder, she figures that one of her dogs could very well be the grandfather to the girls for they are out of the same line.  She commented how much Bella resemble the male that she had or still has, really didn't pick up on which.  

Emma (aka Big EM)

 By the time the pictures were taken Emma had pretty much worked out her little "top-notch".  She has such a big coat of fur almost enough hair for two puppies, consequently making her look so much larger than Bella, but in reality their weight difference is very little.

Emma

Emma remains being the little tease.  Everything she finds she drags out to the deck.  Have never seen such a collection of stuff.  Said to Paul the other day if you are missing anything, shoes, socks, headsets,  combs etc just take a gander on the deck it might be there.




 No new sewing projects of significance. One quilt that I had finished quilting is hanging on the wall at a south-side sewing machine store in Edmonton.  It made me feel good that they even asked, at first I thought they were kidding. Finally quilted the wall hanging that a lady brought to me a month or so back. Had my HQ Avante in for some minor adjustments. Noticed a few consistent glitches such as tensions not holding and skipped stitches causing me grief that translated into redoing some sections.  The lady was happy when she picked it up, her concern was with the front  - not the back, it really wasn't that bad on the back.

Bella

Have been told that I'm rather obsessive about things being perfect, and in situations such as this is where it will show up.  I'm sure Paul walks away shaking his head.  Sometimes I literally will drive myself crazy.  Wished I felt the same about housework!!

Until next time.

We have arrived!!

Border between NWT and Alberta

Off and on for the past few years, Paul and I have mused about heading up to High Level and further north to Hay River. Paul has always wanted to venture past High Level (one of the  places he had worked many years ago in his previous life). A few years back we were up as far as Peace River/Grand Prairie/Dawson Creek in late September/early Oct which at that time was getting pretty nippy i.e. cold. So we nixed the idea of continuing further north. But said we would return.

Always when we travel there seems to be some kind of 'event'.  Each time it happens, I truly believe we are blessed and the "kindred spirits" look after us. This time the 'event' occurred after we left Peace River and before we arrived at Manning. A very excited truck driver had come banging on the motorhome door when we had stopped in Manning to walk the puppies and told us what was happening - the jeep was swaying back and forth on the road. We were none the wiser, for Paul had turned the camera off in the motorhome, everything seemed fine What had happened is the cotter-pin that hold the hitch pin in place keeping the jeep hooked on to one of the tow bars somehow came off resulting with only one tow bar rather than two actually connected to the jeep and the rest (rock shield, tow bar with no pin in place) under the front of my new beautiful jeep!! Actually bought it a year ago but I still think of it as being new. My heart just sank when I saw the tangled mess, and Paul sighed heavily. (wished I'd taken a picture) At first glance, Paul just wasn't too sure how it was going to be separated, unless it was with a cutting torch. We did the most obvious, and back the jeep away from the motorhomes as slowly as could be done, when backing away one could hear the groaning and feel the pulling of metal and plastic being ripped away from it's forced position. Suddenly it sprang loose, at which time Paul was able to free the tow bar missing the cotter-pin and unhooked the left side. When the dust settled - there was no damage to the jeep, both tow bars were fine, everything was intact, on thing missing was the cotter-pin. We couldn't believe it - the only casualty was the rock shield that goes in front of the jeep. So we reconnected and went on our merry way and thanked the trucker who had alerted us to the dire situation.  From Manning it was a rather desolate drive, great highway but all one could see was trees. Both of us were hoping to spot some wild life, all there was what looked to be a Bobcat or Lynx carrying what could have been its prey. Even cell service was not available at all points. Did you know there are only seven highways in the NWT.  So in saying that it would be a little challenging to get lost.  If you haven't traveled that way, make sure you have plenty of gas for services are far apart and traffic is sparse.

Are we there yet?

As mentioned in the previous post, Bella and Emma have been handled the trip quite well. The two days were pretty long travel days for young puppies. They were confined to a small area in the kitchen rather than being in their kennels. This allowed them to pound on each other, drink, eat and occasionally snooze. We stopped regularly so they could do their "thing".

We found a lovely campground (Twin Falls)  just 10 km south of Enterprise and it had power, woohoo!  It seems if you are lucky enough to find a RV park, power is viewed as a prize, full service is not an option.  RV parks are not in ample supply.  At one point we were thinking will we find one at all?? The sites in this park are pull through set-ups which make it very nice, and they are quite large. Also, there was a very clean and well kept shower facility. It was such a beautiful setting, so peaceful and one could hear the waterfalls in the background.  Even without WIFI access and no television it was wonderful.  Mind you, my iPad had a SIM card, guess it is sort of cheating, huh!! :-))

The first morning's stroll which was about 5 km allowing us to snap some pictures of some waterfalls, Louise Falls and Alexandra Falls. I was a bit nervous about the walk for there was a bear that had been lurking about on different occasions between Louise Falls and Alexandra Falls.  So guess who was making a lot of noise as she walked merrily along her way. Wondering if the knee would take climbing a tree if necessary.  Obviously an over-active imagination, all that worry was for not, no bears, just noisy squirrels.  There were some very pretty little flowers along the way which yours truly couldn't miss taking a picture of, never can pass those moments up.

One thing on this walk that stood out was the variety of wild mushrooms were growing abundantly along the trail. Must of seen at least 10 different species.   Paul's and my knowledge as to what is edible is "zero" Geez, that would be awful to poison ourselves.

Louise Falls

Closer look at Louise Falls

The first waterfall we stopped to see on our walk was Louise Falls, located just behind the camp ground.  What totally surprised me was the color of the water, it was so reddish brown. Before arriving I was thinking because it is so far north, the water would be pristine - sparkling and glistening against the bright sun. You know how it is - these mental pictures you see in your mind. The spiral stairs in the picture is the beginning of the descent to get down to Louise Falls.  Not sure how many steps there were; but let me tell you there were

lots.  It was kind of spooky when going down the metal stairwell simply because you could see through the steps down to the ground and trust me when I say it was a long ways down. When thinking about it it was the face of the cliff we were descending.

Spiral Stairwell

Some of the steps after the stairwell.

Needless-to-say it was a beautiful day, just loved the scenery, the noise of the trees creaking in the breeze, the birds and squirrels, the low roar of the waterfalls in the background and the smell of the ground.  It's hard to explain, guess it was just refreshing for the soul and being able to reconnect a little with nature. We so seldom get those opportunities anymore.

The second waterfall, Alexandra Falls, was about 2 1/2 kms away, it was bigger and more impressive, but the water was still the same dark, reddish brown color.  Paul asked the guy who ran the campground, why the water was so brown, the fellow said it did have something to do with the minerals, but the speed of the water flow caused a lot of silt to be carried along in the water as well.  Despite the color it was still pretty.

Alexandra Falls

Paul at Alexandra Falls

On the third day we took a drive and saw a couple more waterfalls.  Our first stop was to the McNalley Waterfalls.  It's small, nice observation point to see the fall.

Gave the pups a chance to run then with no further a-do the journey continued.  Next stop was about an hour plus down the highway to find another interesting waterfall, called Lady Evelyn Falls.  It truly was the prettiest and the added bonus was the rainbow created by the spray of the falls.  Not sure if the rainbow is always present, but we just took it as a "kodak moment".

McNalley Waterfalls

The most hair-raising moment was upon realizing that my jeep keys were not in my pocket.  So Paul went one direction and I went the other retracing our tracks.  Can't tell you the relief that was felt when the keys were found.

Lady Evelyn Falls

We wandered a bit after that, giving the girls lots of opportunity to explore; then decided that it was time to head back it was about a two hour drive back to the campground.  So that concluded our waterfall tour, for the rest of the falls were located on the Laird Highway, not paved, which was a significant drive further on.  It will have to be saved for another day.  One of the largest falls along that way is, Virginia Falls which is quite a bit higher than Niagara Falls, requires a 2 or 3 day hike in, or what most people do, is fly in.

Bluebell

Did wander into Hay River to pick up a few groceries - was somewhat surprised to see how small it was, we both thought that it would be bigger. (Should have taken a picture!!) The groceries ran approximately $1-$2 per item higher.  Absolutely no box stores, or for that matter any type of chain stores or franchise fast food services.  Everything from what could be seen, the businesses were independently owned.  I guess the reason why we thought it would be bigger for it is one of the main centers in the NWT and any closer centers were a considerable distance away.  The population base for Hay River is around 3,500.

So that concludes the adventure to the NWT, if it wasn't for other commitments it would have been nice to stay for another couple of days...one last little picture as we head back to Alberta