THE FUGLIEST FIREPLACE IS IN THE DUMPSTER. DAMN.

So, Frank has returned from a successful business trip to Nelson. I picked him up from the ferry terminal at about 10:25 last Wednesday night. My two nights or so being able to do whatever I wanted - not so successful. I had started an artsy-quilty-melty experiment to play with while he was gone. The Black Prince's mother returned from her vacation. We had the Balderson's 5-year old cheddar. All the stars were aligned for me to have a perfect few days.

However ... real life intervened and totally screwed up my well laid plans. Firstly, we had snow. AGAIN. The first three flights out were cancelled and the fourth - well, let me put it this way.  Frank rebooked his flight, ending up on the last flight out at approximately 4:30 by which time the snow had almost completely melted - at least enough for me to drive in it.

Head on home from the harbour. Eat Balderson's and have a glass of wine while sewing. Make a few phone calls, e a few mails, ignore Skype due to a plethora of people with screen names that when spoken out loud sound pornographic and wonder why they don't get a life of their own. Poke around with stuff, bore myself into a comatose state and go to bed. Next day, an excursion to Ladysmith and a visit to the Wordly Gourmet (thanks Jenny and Cal) and a walk-about. Return to car to head home and cell phone call from Helen, Black Prince the Relentless's mom.  For some reason, she wants HER dog back. We agree to meet at the Crow & Gate for lunch. Thoroughly enjoy a lovely 2-hour lunch with a glass of wine and pot of tea (she's a Brit) and return home where the Black Prince is out of his mind with excitement and Rosie the Chocolate Taunting Temptress heaves a huge sight of relief and settles into her big puffy pillow for a very long, uninterrupted nap. I realize I don't feel so good and end up with a stomach bug that does not go away until Friday - i.e. two days after Frank's return. SHIIIITTT. So much for quality time by myself with just me and some wine, Balderson's, and my sewing machine. No stash used. Hardly any wine consumed.

Felt much better by Friday afternoon and continued to improve, so Saturday's dinner with our dear friends Patti and Nolan at the Wesley Street Restaurant went ahead as planned. Oh my God. What a fabulous restaurant. What fabulous food. What wonderful friends to have in our lives after nearly 20 years of missing out. The hostess/sommelier chose for us a perfect Pinot Noir (last week's choice was also a Pinot Noir from a different winery) and I look forward to Frank's next birthday in April with great anticipation. He has suggested that we try to go there once a month. TRY? I'm in for once every two months! But, being a dutiful wife (no women's lib here), I'll go there once a month if he really, really wants. After all, I did promise to "obey".

So far for the past couple of weeks, no measurable stash used. Not even thread puked up by one of the cats. I am beginning to think that "using my stash" is just an euphemism for spending time in my sewing room, watching what I want on TV and playing with the laptop. (Or doing diddly-squat and not having to justify it!)

Pictures to be posted in a bit. The greatest news! The fugly fireplace is gone. Toast. History. Derbish (don't ask - or do, if more info is required or you are in need of a good laugh).  And we have a new roof. The roofer had a dumpster delivered for the discarded roofing material. Informed us to put stuff in it, because he wouldn't be filling it. (My regular reader will remember that Frank recently painted ... and I recently washed, waxed, polished, dusted, vacuumed, etc. everything I could get my hands on. Well, those same decorations, ornaments, objets d'art, pictures, windows, walls, picture frames, picture glass,  etc. ad infinitum now require a repeat of ... oh SHIIITTT BUGGER DAMN!)

Anyway - the roofer finished today. (We really hope he brings his wife here for coffee or a beer one day - we liked him. We are keeping our fingers crossed for his wife Sherry whom we have never met - she just had a total hysterectomy and lumps were found in her breast.) The last of the fugly fireplace is in the dumpster, the dusting etc. have commenced. Dinner and wine have been consumed - and even though I know that when I get up tomorrow, I will be spending time with the Beam vac - that goddawful fireplace will never again have Christmas stockings hanging from it and that makes me very, very happy.  New garage doors are to be installed tomorrow. No more rotten/frozen veggies and fruit stored in the garage. Added bonus - there's a tax credit ... great.

Oh. Except ... The flooring will need to be replaced (throughout the house) ... and the ceiling needs re-crumbing or whatever that spray stuff is called (in at least two rooms - no sparkles please).  And the wall where the fireplace was needs painting ... and on and on and on -  but I AM happy. However, I could be ECSTATIC if ... the kitchen were ... the flooring ... new windows ... french doors ... carpeting ... 

WHERE THE FUGLY FIREPLACE WAS ...

WHERE THE FUGLY FIREPLACE IS ...

AND ... futhermore ... I don't understand why my photos end up at the top of this blog and I have to move them myself - no cut, paste, copy, insert or whatever. Just appear at the top of the blog and make me crazy trying to line them up (anal retentive) where I (bold, underline, italic, big font) want them.

If my long-lost friend ELM (formerly ELD) is reading this - hugs - and I apologize for being a bitch 40'odd years ago.

Next up may relate to calendars and the daunting task of  blogging EVERY DAY?!!!

Love to my family and friends.

AND THIS IS THE GUY WHO DID IT ...!!!!!! (He has been climbing ladders for me for nearly 35 years.)

We have more snow today - about 4 inches. The crocuses are up to their pistils in snow, but it sure was pretty with the mauve and purple blossoms poking through the snow. I have no idea how many crocus bulbs the original owners of this house planted, but they are now happily self-seeding in the garden and in the lawn (the bulbs, not the original owners ...) and most of them are in the mauve/purple family. It is supposed to turn very cold tonight, but fortunately the snow has melted from the main roads, so I shall be able to get out and about without too much trouble - I think.

Frank has gone to Nelson for a few days. He was supposed to leave around 11 am, but most of the early flights today were cancelled, so he did not leave until nearly 5 pm. I have all day tomorrow and a large chunk of Wednesday to play in my sewing room and eat Balderson's 5-year old cheddar and crackers for dinner! 

The Black Prince's mother is due home from her cruise late tonight and she plans to pick him up sometime tomorrow. I think Rosie will be glad to have him gone for a while - she being nearly 6 years old and he being only 2. He's very rambunctious, but not entirely to blame since she's a Taunting Temptress!

I started another artsy-quilty-melty experiment, but it is not yet ready for photographing. Hopefully, I'll have it ready later this week. I did an interpretation of the crocuses too - but forgot to leave the camera set on auto, so a lot of those photos turned out very dark.

I had a birthday yesterday - not a big one really. Only one digit changed. Frank took me to a fabulous restaurant in Nanaimo - The Wesley Street Restaurant. The food was wonderful and the wine perfect. Our friend Patti's birthday is today and she and her husband and Frank and I plan to go out together next Saturday. I would love to go back to the Wesley Street. Pricey, but fabulous.

On Saturday, we went to George and Marjorie's for pizza and hot wings with them and Marjorie's cousin and her husband. Had a great time. We had planned to play Rumoli, but ended up just talking.

On my actual birthday, Frank and I ran some errands and had A&W for dinner ... not gourmet but it worked!

I have joined several NING groups and enjoyed seeing the wonderful work posted by the talented members.

I am now returning to my sewing room - Zero stash used completely, but I have used snippets and scraps from my last artsy-quilty-melty project in the one I am working on tonight. I have also dragged out various and assorted fancy threads for machine embroidery. I need to make something I can work on by hand in the evenings - beading or silk ribbon embroidery or something, now that the needle-hole in my middle finger has healed again.

Love to my family and friends.

Our colds seem to be getting better - and we both felt well enough to go to the local pub for dinner tonight (glass of wine for me, G&T for Frank) - for the first time in nearly three weeks. We ran into friends who tell us that we are lucky because they know people who have had this friggin cold for three, four, five weeks.

Last night I decided to make a friend's brand new baby granddaughter a quilt. I located the fabric (didn't like it then - don't like it now) I bought five years ago for another friend's brand new baby daughter ... anyway, today I finished the quilt and decided to put the babe's name on it with the font feature of my Artista 200. Babe's name is Nevaeh (Heaven backward ....). I mis-spelled it as Neveah because I am old and names should be forward, not backward. My friends all have names that don't spell anything backward - my name backward is Elad. The chances of naming a tiny little 8 pound baby Elad - slim and nil. My sister's name is Ann - Nna. Nope. Frank or Knarf - nope. Ssak - Kass. Neleh - Helen. Eirojram - Marjorie - that's it!!! I'll name my kid Eirojram!! Backward spelling does not work in most cases. Including Heaven. Good thing they did not name the poor wee babe after something that cannot be pronounced when spelled backward. Anyway - the end result - after carefully embroidering Heaven backward, folding the quilt and putting it in a giftbag, I started to second-guess myself. Sure enough, I sewed it as Neveah. Names should not be spelled backward to make yet another name. However ... if one had a bowl of Alphaghetti ... one could experiment first ...

My problem now is how (or if) to fix the goddam quilt. This is not a life-time quilt. It is a large floral - with a satin stitch border. About 8 hours of work, if that. Big enough for a three or four month old ebab to be diapered and talc'd on. Not big enough even for its tsrif crib. Cover up the babe's name with an ironed-on overlay? Pick it out and leave all those needle holes? Ignore the spelling error? Tell the kid's mom that she should have named the baby something forward instead of backward? Neveah/Nevaeh - whatever ... it doesn't change the baby in any way. And just maybe - who knows - the mom may have mis-spelled it on the birth certificate ... and I could be right? There will be no picture of this quilt posted ereh, so don't bother looking for it.

It will be fixed somehow and given to the babe's mom - puked and pee'd on - and passed on to the next baby in that family - perhaps his name will be Bob. One can only hope.

In the right place at the right time - we have been the very lucky recipients of 15 rhododendrons. Our friends have listed their house for sale and had dug up a lot of rhodos that they were unable to replant and which they gave to us. Thank you so much Helen and Bryan. We will miss you.

Love to my family and friends.