Thursday, December 29, 2011

Finishes on September 19 2011


Every month a Yahoo group called Monthly Dishcloths post two mystery knit alongs.  I enjoy participating in these although I'm much slower than I want to be.  Blame it on my busy life and my Dreaded To Do List . . . LOL . . . This one has a pattern of a bird on a limb.  Cute, eh?

Many of you already know this but I don't believe I've ever shared this photo.  This is a vintage crochet pattern I found several years ago on the internet.  It is called Queen Anne's Lace.  I started it when I was working at Starwood.  For a while we were allowed to do crafts or crossword puzzles or whatever between calls.  I assume someone in another department complained because one day we were told not to bring our projects to work anymore.  Someone was a party-pooper.  I finished this tablecloth in September 2011.  It took over 2 hours to iron but I am so proud of how it turned out.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Gordon Miles Matthews 1934-1997

Gordon Miles "Gord" Matthews was born December 12, 1934 in St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada to Henry Evans "Harry" Matthews (1898-1981) and Pearl Daisy Charlton (1903-1947).



Gordon Miles Matthews (age 22) and living were married June 29, 1957 at Broderick Baptist Church in St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada.

His residence from about 1960 to 1985 was 343 Wellington Street, St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada.

They had 6 children:
Baby Boy Matthews (abt 1959-abt 1959)
living (1960- )
living (1961- )
living (1963- )
living (1969- )
living (1970- )

Gordon Miles Matthews and living were divorced about 1985.

Gordon Miles Matthews and Laura Kathleen "Kay" Bagnall (1928-2005) were married about 1985.  Kay's first husband was Clarence Bruce ( -1982).  Kay's parents were Wilfred Earl Bagnall (1894-1981) and Mary Louisa Glenn ( -1967).

His residence from 1995 to 2002 was 169 Chestnut Street, St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada according to Ancestry.ca.

Gordon Miles Matthews died February 13, 1997 at the age of 62.  The Funeral was held at the Williams Funeral Home on February 17, 1997 and buried at Elmdale Cemetery, both of St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada.

I would appreciate your help.  I am looking for stories, photos, documents regarding my father Gordon Miles Matthews.  Please comment on this article or email me privately.  I really appreciate your help with this project.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Sometimes its a bunch of little things that make up a great day.

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus . . . 
Pros:

1.  Had a great sleep.
2.  The fire alarm went off in the building.  I figured I better get dressed and put my coat and shoes by the patio door . . . just in case.  Turns out it was a test.  Made me wonder what I would have grabbed if it had been a real fire.  Decided it would be my purse (for ID) and my external hard drive so I wouldn't lose all my photos.
3.  Finished a pile of chores.  My Dreaded To Do List is up to September 7th.
4.  I'm starting to get online orders for my paper piecings.  That's pretty exciting.
5.  One of my books is now on Barnes & Noble.  It was accepted by iTunes a few weeks ago.  I hope my writing career takes off.  I love writing.  I would love it more if I made a living at it.
6.  Had a couple of lovely conversations with Hal who is out west somewhere right now.  He told me not to watch the Weather Network.
7.  Received a couple of lovely letters in the mail.  I should make some time this week to reply.
8.  I got some test results back today and I definitely do not have cancer.  I didn't realize how much I was worrying about it until I felt the absolute relief when I received this news.
9.  I made a lovely spaghetti dinner with chicken and veggies.

Cons:
1.  I have a paper cut.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Overnight Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal


2 large eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup salted butter, melted
1/2 cup applesauce
1 small apple, grated
1-1/4 cups milk
3 cups old-fashioned oats

Butter a 2 quart baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients, except the oats.

Fold in oats and combine well

Transfer mixture into the buttered baking dish and spread evenly around.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly on top of the oat mixture.  Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 375F.  Unwrap oatmeal and place in the oven.  Bake for about 30 minutes until oatmeal is set and browned on top.

Serve hot with milk or cream.

Deb, Taylor and I taste tested this recipe and feel it needs extra sweetness and perhaps a little more cinnamon so either add some brown sugar into the recipe or have it on the table to add with your milk . . .

Hmmmmmmm . . . I wonder how it would taste with vanilla yogurt or ice cream on top ???  LOL

Monday, November 7, 2011

Paper Piecings for your next card or layout . . .

I will have all my paper piecings with me tomorrow at Ladies' Day Out and of course you can email me any time if you want one or to order a custom piece.  Thanks for making it possible for me to afford my favourite pastime . . . scrapbooking . . .







Red light . . . green light . . .

When I hand off my camera to one of my grandsons I can never be sure what they will capture.  Taylor  (11) took these photos at the Elgin County Railway Museum in August.








Saturday, November 5, 2011

My grandchildren enjoy museums and art galleries . . .

My grandsons love hiking and letterboxing and hanging around and computers and arts and crafts and so much more . . . but I am thrilled that they share our love of museums and history and art galleries.  Neither Hal or I are art connoisseurs or experts on history but there is a level of excitement and curiosity in these institutions that give us so much enjoyment.

Hal and Austin spent the day together (July 26) at the St. Thomas Art Centre.  I never was able to make it to this display so I'm glad they remembered to take a photo or two.









Thursday, October 27, 2011

Clothes on the Clothes line . . .

A lot of tiny pieces to draw and cut out and glue on this one but I'm really happy with the results.  I will have all my paper piecings with me at the Central United Church crop on Saturday if you want to have a closer look.


Assini De Peppi

I asked my buddy Cailyn for this recipe because it is just so awesome.

Assini De Peppi

1 tin tomato soup
1 tin consome
1/4 c assini de peppi
12 oz of water

Heat together.  Add chopped up cooked bacon if you wish.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Product Review: The Sterling Counter Top Filtration System

For the past couple of decades we have been drinking filtered water.  Hal can tell you all the reasons why.  I asked him to stop telling me because #1 it gets boring after 20 years and #2 there can be a lot of gross things in tap water.  The apartment we are in now has fairly good hot water but our cold water is muddy, probably a result of travelling through old galvanized water pipes.  So the use of filtered water is even more necessary now.  Besides filtered water makes tastier tea.

Anyway, in our little apartment we didn't have room for our water cooler so we passed it on and purchased a counter top dispenser and we've been very happy about that except for the fact that I lose counter space in my very tiny kitchen.

When Hal began his new career it left me vehicle-less most of the time.  That makes it rather hard to pick up water when needed.  Definitely a downside on the whole jugs of water in the dispenser scenario.

Well that problem has been resolved.  Just before Hal left for his current road trip he installed The Sterling Counter Top Filtration System.  It takes up a tiny bit of counter right beside the water taps and it works so well. It actually seems weird drinking water and make ice from water that comes from the tap.  I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and I'm very impressed.  Apparently you only have to change the filters every 6 months to keep it working properly.

That's all I have to say about that.


Monday, October 17, 2011

A Big Exciting Announcement . . .

I've been talking about it.  I have posted a couple of links about it.  But it is finally here!!!!!!

But let me start at the beginning of the story.  A few years ago I wrote a book on getting started in a small or home business.  I didn't make a lot of money at it but I learned a lot about publishing and writing from this effort.  It is still available for purchase as an ebook PDF, as an ebook EPUB for Adobe Digital Editions Format or as a paperback.  The title of the book is A Fresh Start and the information in it is just as relevant today as it was when first published.  This book is also available for download on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and on your computer with iTunes.


While I was attending university as a mature student I enrolled in a speech class to get over my fear of public speaking.  One of the speeches I wrote was about the things my mother used to say to my siblings and me when we were growing up.  I got a really great mark on the speech.  I am still terrified of public speaking though.  I had the speech published in book format.  I think it is just plain old-fashioned funny and a great gift for a special mom in your life.  Yes, it is still available for sale in an ebook PDF and as a paperback.


And now for the BIG EXCITING NEWS . . . 


It's finally ready and available for sale.



I started from the research I'd done for A Fresh Start, 95 pages of good solid ideas, and expanded it to almost 400 pages of small business ideas . . . some quite unique, many added to represent our modern multi-media environment, and some are good old time-tested ideas.  I'm pretty sure that the perfect home or small business idea for you will be in here.  The First Step:  An Encyclopedia of Small Business Ideas is available in paperback and as an ebook PDF.

Please support a local writer by ordering one or several of my books.  Thank you.