Karen's Cosmos

To Do List

2008-01-29T12:16:00.000-05:00

Here are the things our real estate agent suggested to present our house at its best

Master Bedroom -
Buy fresh white linens for bed - check
Take down headboard and foot board so bed will slide into alcove and make room look spacious - check (really made a positive difference)
Hang picture over bed - check
Clean out closet and clear off counters - check
Change ceiling light fixture - check

Office/Craft room
Clear off desk - check
Edit book shelves - check
Clear off floor and counter - check
Hang small white curtain in window - to do

Pat's room
Buy fresh white linens for bed - check (these are going into safekeeping until the open house - 7 yr old boys and white not a good mix)
Hang simple curtains at window - check
Remove desk and rearrange furniture - check
Touch up paint - to do
Make duvet covers for twin beds - to do
Change ceiling Light fixture - bought but needs to be installed

Caitlin's room -
Take out most furniture - To do when Cait is home on spring break
Hang white curtains - To do
Clean out closet - To do when Cait is home on spring break

Bathroom
Is getting a complete redo - all white - everything is bought and Jim will do in early March

Upstairs hall -
Hang new lights - Half done
Hang pictures - To do

Staircase
Touch up paint - To do
Lights for stainglass window - To do
Hang big piece of art (need to figure this out) - To do

Entrance hall
Take down practical hooks - To do
Add small chair and table - to do
Paint closet door - to do

Matthew's and Devon's room -
Turn into Living room - move sofa, chair, ottomon, and coffee tables and rug in - check
Set up wall unit- To do
Paint "manchester tan" -started
Hang new curtains - To do
Select art for walls - to do
(Devon is sleeping in Caits room while she is at college and Matt is using couch in living room on weekends when he is here)

Dining room
Hang new light fixture - check
Hang big mirror horizontally - to do
Paint manchester tan - to do
Move out extra buffet - to do
Recover dining room chair seats - to do

Family Room
Hang curtains - done
Slipcover for love seat - done
Paint room manchester tan - to do
Paint fireplace bricks white trim colour - Underway
Put up shelves beside fireplace - to do
Hang track lights over fireplace - to do

Kitchen
This deserves a separate post but Devon has done a great job

Front Porch
Set up when weather is nicer

Back Yard
Fix steps- to do in better weather

Basement
This is the big job - Its 95% full of stuff and needs to be 85% cleared out

House
Put up new siding - light yellow - to do

WOW its tiring just writing out the list!!!

The changes suggested that we have done have been good improvements and many are what we needed to do and wanted to do. it just seems funny that the "new people" will get to enjoy them. I have moved frequently in the past and I've been just fine with it. This time I want it to be the last time - I really want to be settled for the foreseeable future.

Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-15T20:45:00.000-05:00

I wish everyone a belated but heartfelt Happy New Year - its going to be a year full of changes for our family!! ... Let me explain what a whirlwind has been going on around here.

Christmas was fun but it seems a bit of a hazy fuzzy blur as a result of our decision to move from Toronto to Vancouver which dominoed a lot of other decisions. Very shortly I will be starting a new job and Ian and Pat will join me after Ian finishes his teaching contracts and Pat finishes school in June. Hopefully Devon will also come out with us but he is a little hesitant - inertia is a very powerful force. Cait has found a house to rent with her school buddies and will be using hopefully alot of our furniture so we dont have to pay high costs to move it 3,000 miles Wow it does seem far away.

We had lots of plans for our home here which we have jettisoned and our now focusing on changes that will help resale value of our home. Vancouver is the most expensive housing market in Canada so we will probably be downsizing further. Devon and his Dad are helping us out by redoing the kitchen and bathroom. Right now all the old kitchen stuff is down and out and some of the new cabinets have been constructed for the kitchen.

I ve had dental surgery, new glasses and changes in my thyroid medication so my body feels all out of kilter and so does my mind with all the changes to contemplate - but it is also at peace.

Peace i wish for everyone.

Merry Christmas Everyone

2007-12-22T10:56:00.000-05:00

Its been a bit of blur around here lately and I'm off to do my Christmas shopping so you have an idea of how far behind I am. Everything always gets done though. I going to take a month off work to reenergize and get rebalanced. That decision alone has lightened the burden and I feel liberated. Despite not having done the quilting for Caits quilt, not finishing the advent calendar, or the small hanging, no christmas baking and haviing the tree fall down yesterday, I am approaching the upcoming Christmas with joy and inner peace that I wish for all of you

These are our kids!! Our greatest gift.

Lights Camera Action

2007-12-02T11:25:00.000-05:00

We exchanged our old Christmas lights for new LED lights - big time energy savers. However we threw out a ton of old lights when we moved - now I wished Id saved them for the exchange - if I'd only known there would be an exchange -ohh well -aren't they pretty!

I've made gingerbread houses with the kids over the years. Its something I've always enjoyed. This year I made this little house from pre made gingerbread and Pat decorated some cookies. I was inspired by the pretty little vintage houses made of pulp board and frosted with glitter. I was pleased with my results and wanted to share them with you. Unbeknownst to me Pat got into the action and has already helped himself to a few candies. He took them off the back-where no one could see them gone!!!

December 1 - Anticipation Begins

2007-12-02T11:09:00.001-05:00

I promised my husband that I would wait until Dec 1 before starting to decorate - Its here so I am starting. Yeahh!!

Birth Signs and Quilters

2007-11-25T12:24:00.000-05:00

The banner by Kim Hambric is entitled Pisces I. Her gallery is at http://www.kimhambricart.com/Gallery_IV.html I don't know the artist but love the dreamy quality of her work.

Check out the November 9th entry at http://quiltingwithragdolls.blogspot.com to view your quilting profile by zodiac sign. My birthday is March 12th and so is my husband's. I read my horoscope and he thinks its all nuts. Who knows? This profile captures me though - except I have many many projects on the go and am not managing them - or is that me lacking self confidence and they are going to get done??? LOL I am a Pisces.

Pisces - February 19 and March 20 Pisces are dreamers. When they quilt they usually are creating poetry. Although they are kind and make projects to bestow on friends and family they are most likely envisioning themselves snuggled beneath the very quilt they are working on. Although they can lack self-confidence, their imagination and intuition makes them artistic quilters. Their sensitivity can lead them to shy away from displaying their creations. Generally you will find that a Pisces has more than one project on the go and can easily manage both. Whatever they choose to work on they need a project that requires plenty of variety. Patchwork that includes embroidery or other needlework is well liked by them.

Does your zodiac profile capture your quilting interest and style?

Let the ADVENTure begin!!

2007-11-18T09:32:00.000-05:00

We bought a 1915 arts and crafts style home and it got me into blogland. Here is what happened. I did a google search on arts and craft houses and up came Dear Daisy Cottage, which is so uplifting. On Kim's blog was a link to Allsorts and through Jenny's also fabulous blog on design and fabric crafts I found Club Little House and Inspire Co by Amy with doll house and pretty things. It was a revelation that there were so many women out there interested in things I loved and living their dreams amidst all the craziness of living in these times.

Jenny re posted her advent calendar and a pattern and I thought I could do that. I want to do that. I will do that.

I hunted through my stuff for the felt I must have had for decades and started. It was "sew" much fun cutting out the envelopes and stitching them together. But I relearned a lesson about myself. I just cant follow directions without thinking ohh why not try this and change things and I cant do the same thing too many times over and over. Having started other advent calendars that languished into nothingness I really wanted to finish this one. Instead of making the packets all the same I did groups of colours. Somehow doing five pinks, six whites and 3 sets of different greens is way easier than doing 25 of one colour - Why is that? So I hit a bit of a snag facing sewing on 25 buttons until I did 1 pink and 12 little and 12 slightly larger buttons. The ties were hard for me - all 25 of them - even though they were easy peasy to do. I found green and white checked ribbon but the envelopes did not stay on flat and I could not get the ties between them to look nice like Jenny's do. Inspiration - I cut 2 little slashes to thread the ribbon through and the envelopes lay really flat and don't need the ties between them for spacing so a little of the checked ribbon shows thorough the spaces.

It feels great to be nearly done - there are just two green envelopes to finish off. Oh and the dangles - and they all different so I am safe there and then getting the little numbers and the treats and then mailing to Cait. A little more work so wish me luck. The boys will want them too - wish me lots of luck.

Thanks Jenny for this great advent calendar and the adventure its taking me on. I also want to make your elf clogs too - but I want to make a seven year old boy size (and some for me too)

Fall Continues

2007-11-18T08:58:00.000-05:00

Where does the time fly? Lots has been happening.

I really enjoy the weekend walks with Softie and am appreciating the autumn beauty. Caitlin came home for her commencement last weekend and we went shopping together which was fun. We bought a darling little Christmas tree and some decorations for her to take back with her for her dorm room. I also bought a few red and white and Christmas things which I want to post about.

Good Morning, Good Night

2007-11-03T22:21:00.000-04:00

This morning started with a sunrise walk with Softie down by the water. The day was filled with ups and downs. Bed looks good about now.

Pat's Quilt

2007-11-03T21:25:00.000-04:00

This quilt represents joy rediscovered. I found myself in Quilter's Garden in 2000 not having sewn for years, touching the fabric and loving the colours and wanting so much to make a quilt for the baby growing in me. I signed up for a course to make a quilt with wacky hearts and found this teddy bear fabric with a different bear for our five kids and baby to be. AND I FINISHED THE QUILT!!! I loved making it - now my technique leaves lots of room for improvement but it re-introduced me to making things from fabric. Since then I have gone a bit crazy buying fabric and have way too many projects in my mind and on the go and I need to work on the FINISHING PART but I love it. And I especially love that Pat loves his quilt. It feels like I am hugging him whenever I see him wrapped in it.

FAIRY TALES

2007-11-03T20:32:00.000-04:00

Pat starts a new theme at school and its Fairy Tales. I found this wonderful book "The Fairy Tales" for his school. It has amazing silhouette illustrations by Jan Pienkowski and lovely translations by David Walser into English from the original French and German 200 year old stories. The images remind me of old European papercuts. Lucky Junie Moon got some fairy tale paper cut silhouettes from Speckled Egg - eggsactly what i am talking about.

And another feature of the book is its large type-font. Perfect for an emerging reader and also his mom who keeps misplacing her reading glasses. Pat and I are sharing the reading of the stories and its heartwarming to cuddle up as the stories unfold.

The stories include Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Cinderella. My one little sigh is over the portrayal of stepmothers - wicked. As a step mom it would be nice to find some positive examples in literature. But don't let this dissuade you from borrowing the book from the library or purchasing it. Its published by Penguin Books.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2007-11-03T20:24:00.000-04:00

Getting Ready for Halloween

2007-11-03T19:43:00.000-04:00

Pat and I made orange tinted sugar cookies to make jack o lanterns and they disappeared ....Devon? ...Ian so then we made plain sugar cookies and made cats sprinkled with black sugar and white ghosities with currant eyes. Pat made sure every ghost had a different face - all were scary!! I wish had taken photos of them but we were in a rush to get of to school so we have the jolly pumpkins featured instead.

Spring is coming???

2007-10-27T14:04:00.000-04:00

We have had unseasonably warm weather and the bulbs I planted for spring are coming up now. Well at least the squirrels did not get them all.

I'm going to the Zoo, Zoo...

2007-10-27T13:50:00.000-04:00

Patrick had a day off school on Monday so Ian took him and his friend David to theToronto Zoo. By all accounts they had a fabulous time. The spider monkeys were a big hit and so were the marmosets. These are some of Ian's photos of the day.

Pumpkin Parade

2007-10-27T13:22:00.000-04:00

We have a nice foyer in our house. it really feels as if you have arrived when you come in the door. There is a confortable hall with a small coat closet and the stairs go up around the corner. This lttile armoire holds book bags, purses, the dog's toys and brushes, mitts and hats. It has been a godsend in keepig the "junk" under cover. Its not too tall so I like to put something on top and have been playing around with diffeent pieces. This vignette is reflects a large tapestry hanging on the foyer wall - both have this french country feel in soft monet-like colours. Pumpkins are included ... Halloween is coming...You can see a peek of the stainglass window up the stair. There is another large stainglass windwo by the front door. Welcome to our home!!

A Little Ray of Sunshine, Maples and Pine

2007-10-27T12:21:00.000-04:00

These pics are from my walk with Softie last Saturday. I collected a bunch of lovely perfect pine cones that I hope to make into a Christmas wreath.

More Birthday Celebrations

2007-10-27T12:03:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday we went to Waterloo and had dinner en famille to celebrate Devon's 20th birthday. Good food and good company!

Happy Birthday Devon

2007-10-18T11:14:00.000-04:00

My son Devon is 20 years old today. How the time does fly! Devon is a very easy going guy with a great sense of humour. Love you Devon!!

Fall Leaves

2007-10-14T19:59:00.000-04:00

A boy and his dog and crispy, crackling leaves...fall is really here.

UFO

2007-10-13T19:34:00.000-04:00

I like the colours and the fabrics (esp. the little houses) and the pattern (esp the triangles) and really enjoyed the course taught by Kim Denton Khan but this piece has sat unfinished because of the poor quilting. I need to START OVER AGAIN....

quilt

2007-10-12T08:29:00.000-04:00

This is my latest and current quilt project - a bedcover for Caitlin. I started it a few years ago as part of taking a course taught by Lucy Anne Holliday using the book Can of Worms by .... It was a fun course. I love the fabric for the blocks but got stuck at choosing a border. I did not really like the one choice I made and so the quilt sat for a few years until it was time for Cait to go to University and I felt a push to finish it. I ripped off the old borders and went to Quilters Garden and the owner Sharon found just the right fabric - deep burgundy. Off home to sew and I got the borders on but my machine broke down .. more delays. Its fixed now and I have promised Cait to have the quilt finshed for Christmas.

I finished a quilt for my cousin's baby - one of my few finished projects and also a result of the Can of Worms course. I cant find my pictures soo sad about that but here are some images of the fabric. I call this quilt "In Fairy Lane" because when we would visit my cousins we would often play in the old Fairy Lane next to their property in Napanee. It was a lovely unused overgrown lane with a split rail fence and overhanging trees and we would find wild grapes and bittersweet. I certainly imagined fairies very like the ones on the fabric living there. It was not until I was an adult that I learned it was actually the old FERRY lane because at one time it was used to go down to the water and there was a small ferry service.

The third quilt coming from the course was stacked coins which I made of blue flannels at the request of my son Matt but I have not yet found the right separators for the columns between the stacked coins.

The tree quilt was also part of the course This picture does not do the fabrics justice. Again I'm stuck at the quilting part but am hopeful I will finish this as a small wall hanging for this Christmas.

Fall walk

2007-10-09T08:19:00.000-04:00

I thought this blog was going to be about my quilts and sewing but Softie keeps coming to the forefront. I love this dog completely. He has made such a positive difference in our family. One of the best things is that he gets me out of the house and down tot he Lake for walks. Now to be fair Ian walks the dog every weekday morning with Pat and again at night and I only do weekend mornings but its great for me. Especially this weekend the temperature has been in the 30's (centigrade) so very hot - we turned on the air conditioning and the squirrels came in to escape the heat.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-10-09T07:38:00.000-04:00

Turkey, Pumpkin Pie and Family - ingredients for a Happy Thanksgiving.

Matthew my handsome 23 yr old lamented that he was not photogenic. I took over a dozen pictures of him and was hard pressed to get one with his eyes open.
Everyone enjoyed dinner. Devon ate potatoes and gravy and spice cookies. Patrick ate Brussel sprouts and turkey. Ian ate the oysters and pumpkin pie - his mother's recipe made a huge pie. Matthew had whipped cream on his stuffing for dessert!! We had the Thanksgiving elf provide after dinner entertainment. At the end of the evening Ian and I drove Caitlin back to university and it was so nice to see her roommate Jill give her a big welcome back hug. Devon and Matt did the dishes!!

Autumn

2007-10-06T12:57:00.000-04:00

It starts with one leaf .....

and then the world around us is transformed by the daubs of colour.

I love the Thanksgiving holiday and this year I am especially thankful to have my daughter home from university this weekend. The weather has not been very "fall" like but everyone is enjoying the sun.

I am so thankful to have found Susan Branch's book "Autumn" heavily discounted. I snapped it up and then 2 days later found "Christmas from the Heart of the Home" on sale too. I have her first book and did not know she had done so many more until the wonderful blog world clued me in. The tea towel with recipe also came with a turkey cookie cutter but I used Susan Branch's recipe for ginger crisp cookies on p 106 of her book. We made pumpkins, maple leaves and turkey shaped cookies. The next recipe was for brownies so we made some of those too- who can resist brownies?!? Mmmm.

Club Little House has ARRIVED

2007-10-02T00:35:00.002-04:00

Yeah!!! My package from Amy Powers arrived today. I may be the last recipient in this swap. The parcel had to go through customs and we had to pay duty (next time we must remember to specify that it is a gift) but its HERE and its OPENED and the contents are WONDERFUL.. I just had to dash off a quick thank you to the 12 women who sent me little gifts for my yet to be dollhouse. Pictures to follow....later

Happy October

2007-10-01T08:41:00.000-04:00

Starting a new month -- a good time to re-establish bog entries. Had a good weekend - met with kitchen designer who has come up with 2 plans for the kitchen and on the way we home visited 2 garden centers. Sunday morning we planted lots of bulbs and hope the squirrels don't get them all. In the afternoon we bought kitchen appliances and went to Mr. Greek for dinner with Devon and Patrick.

Club Little House

2007-09-14T09:34:00.000-04:00

Club Little House is a doll house miniatures exchange created by Amy Powers of www.Inspireco.com. I was a lucky participant in this summers exchange. Softie was a big help in assembling the packages I made up to send my contributions in.(NOT!! I looked everywhere for the last little bow and he had it - see the gleam in his eyes -- or maybe he was helpful and found it for me -- what do you think??

Whats been keeping us busy at home

2007-09-03T18:37:00.000-04:00

We moved July 12. Just two blocks away. The move has consumed almost all our energy.

Our second floor maple floors were refinished before we moved in but I did not like the stain colour. They were redone but it meant we could not use the upper floor for a week and had to double up on the main floor.

Doesnt this photo remind you of the princess and the pea story?

The rooms were filled - how did we ever get so much stuff

Did not take photos of the basement but it was wall to wall boxes. Ian and Devon have made huge progress on our basement and we have all pitched in for the rest, So much work....so little time

Our house was built about 1912. The floor plan is great but the house needs "freshening" ... more work. I'll post our progress.

Some Catching Up Posts

2007-06-21T19:01:00.000-04:00

This is our wonderful daughter in our back garden just before heading off for her prom. We are blessed to have her - a helpful sweet girl. She gave us a terrible scare when she was 8 months old and swallowed beads dropped in her crib by her 2 year old brother at nap time. She turned blue and the 911 ambulance rushed her to hospital. The emergency doctor recovered one bead from her throat and she could breathe again. I was convinced there was another bead because she breathed so raspily so they agreed to keep her overnight. They xrayed her twice and could not see anything but I insisted they xray her again with the recovered bead placed on her. It did not show up either as it was made of wood! She also pooled milk when I breastfed her. They agreed to do surgery on her when she pooped out another bead. Sure enough they extracted the third bead from well down her throat in the morning. She has never been any trouble at all since then. (knock on wood)
Here is a quick pic of our youngest at his end of year school play. Isn't he an adorable trickster coyote with his fake fur hood and tail? This boy was very specific in his requests when I was making the costume - his tail had be able to be jiggled and his ears had to be at a "mischievous angle". He remembered all his lines, delivered them with lots of humour and loudly - very important in a school auditorium. We are so pleased with him

Lovely Peonies at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton Ontario.

Our son was very excited to find a baby bunny in the boxwood maze, especially when some of us thought he was pulling our leg or imagined it but when I looked under the hedge the bunny jumped up on the hedge then over the hedge and under another hedge startling us all - reminding me I want to make a baby quilt with some bunny and cabbage fabrics . Then we found lovely swans - a very nice day all around.

2007-06-10T19:28:00.001-04:00

2007-06-10T18:58:00.000-04:00

Two Gardens on McLean Avenue were delightful this morning 's walk

2007-06-06T22:40:00.000-04:00

These photos show our house on Lee Avenue just before the Open House - we sold in 8 days thanks to Geoff Grace at www.gracehomes.ca. Geoff and Gail gave us great advice on staging our home to its best advantage and had asuccessful maarketing campaign. And they referred a great cleaner to us!!!

Our house was built in about 1903 We did a renovation of the ground floor and redid our main bath. I love the kitchen.

I will post some of our garden photos soon.

Leuty Lifeguard Station

2007-06-06T19:54:00.000-04:00

These photos were taken on 2 early morning walks with Softie last week. The Lifeguard Station is an iconic image of our neighbourhood and is featured on the neighbourhood flag.

I have been doing some thinking on these walks. Would really love to re engage in my quilting. Its all packed up waiting for our move.

Isn't Softie beautiful? He is 8 months old and the sweetest dog.

My Neighbourhood

2007-06-02T14:20:00.000-04:00

This is the Gardener's Cottage in Kew Beach Park, Toronto, Canada and was historically used as the head gardener's residence. It has now been restored and is used by the community

On Lee Avenue is one of my favourite houses - the colours remind me of Monet's house in Giverney and it is across the street from the Gardener's Cottage

The beautiful wisteria seen below is on Bellefair Avenue across the street from our new home.