Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

In the family, I'm known for my baking. My daughter likes chocolate chip cookies and my son-in-law prefers almond lemon biscotti. I love to bake for them. I don't cook often - I have a few dishes that are usually edible, but I enjoy baking most. I am known at work as the cookie baker, too. I often take cookies and other baking to work for my co-workers. I'll let you in on a little secret. I have been practicing cookies in preparation for grandchildren. In 103 days, give or take, I can start baking cookies for my granddaughter. Yep, that's right, my granddaughter! Well, I guess newborns can't eat cookies, but, eventually...

Darling Daughter and her Handsome Husband took me and the other grandparents out for dinner at the Sandbar Restaurant. It was to be a celebration of his father's birthday (I took, what else?, cookies) and their anniversary. But it turned out to be a celebration of another kind, too. They went to a company that provides ultrasound pictures and video and have had it confirmed - it's a girl. We were all so happy to see the wonderful pictures. She was holding up her little fist. She is so beautiful.

It would be great to have a grandson, too, but I am just so happy to know her and see the great pictures of her. The wonders of modern technology! So amazing.

It is so much easier now to imagine holding her, taking her for a walk, playing with her, teaching her to bake cookies. It is hard to be patient, but at the same time, I am savouring the joy of expectation. I have loved her since I knew she existed and I know he would have loved her, too. He would have been over the moon to know he was going to have a grandchild.

Thank you Darling Daughter and Super Son-in-law. You have given me a wonderful gift. I have to end this post now. I think I better practice my baking. I wonder if she'll prefer chocolate chip or peanut butter or maybe biscotti with her morning coffee...

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani

Scrap, Waste, Trash, Rubbish, Refuse, Litter and Garbage

Today I want to write about garbage. It was Earth Day this week. Every day should be Earth Day. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Good motto. But here's a forgotten aspect of environmentalism. Yes, scrap, waste, trash, rubbish, litter....the stuff we produce so much. Some of us, it seems, forget where garbage goes.

In the locker room at the gym I noticed that someone had left an empty water bottle on a table and an empty chewing gum wrapper on the floor under the table. The thought occurred to me that I had seen an empty bottle and a gum wrapper in those precise locations a few times before. They must have been left by the same person!!!! Was an alien life form studying the customs and rites of the human exercise nut? Were these items left by an anthropologist hiding somewhere in the locker room as part of some government-sponsored research to determine what people would do when faced with these extraneous objects? Was there a hidden camera and at any moment a host would jump out and say Candid Camera? Naw, I decided, it was just some goofball who thinks someone else needs the exercise of bending over and picking up the gum wrapper.

I have just one thing to say to the unknown litterbug...the gym is in the process of developing new technology in which garbage will deposit itself in the correct receptacle. But they are still working out the bugs. In the meantime those using the locker room as their own private garbage can are requested to use the old technology of PICKING UP YOUR GARBAGE, WALKING THREE STEPS AND PUTTING IT IN THE CAN. Sadly, chances are the unknown litterbug will not be reading this blog...

It's the same story around the front of my apartment block. Ever since the store fronts have been finished and the bus company installed a couple of benches, people waiting for the bus have been leaving cigarettes on the sidewalk. Some of those butts, granted, are tossed on the sidewalk by bus drivers feeding their nicotine addictions during their breaks but most of them are left by people lounging around on the bus benches. Every morning when I leave for the gym the sidewalk is littered with newspapers, coffee cups, paper wrappings from hamburgers and sandwiches and plastic containers of all sorts and sizes. Yes, it's a dirty world we live in and some people are making it dirtier.

You are probably wondering: did the ranter pick up any of this garbage and deposit it? No. I talk a good talk, but do I walk the walk? I figure it might be considered a bit OC if I started picking up trash in my neighbourhood. Although, when I lived in Winnipeg, I used to carry a garbage bag whenever I walked the dog, a little one for the dog detritis, a large one for all the other garbage. I guess I have developed new priorities or perhaps new eccentricities. But I do put my own garbage in the garbage can.

Just one small plea for Mother Earth...don't litter.

Gotta get some sleep. Catch up on the sleep I've been missing the last few days. Have a good week. Keep Earth clean.

Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.~George Carlin

Anvils, Hammers, Jigs, Grace and 1995

These days my email and blogging are taking second place to making jewellery in my spare time. But I finally managed to get to those things today. Although it is two minutes to midnight. By the time I post this it will be well into Thursday. Sleeping is on the back burner tonight.

Here is a picture of a necklace I made, a custom order. I am enjoying the new method of stringing beads on multiple strands of thread and I like the results but it is time-consuming.

This week I bought a little jewellery anvil and hammer and have started pounding metal. I hope the neighbours don't start complaining about the noise. I have set niece L. to constructing me a jewellery jig...nothing to do with dancing. It's a flat 5 or 6 inch square piece of wood with holes drilled into it at regular intervals. One puts pegs into the holes in a pattern and wraps wire around the pegs and by this method, makes one's own links for chain. That's the theory at least.

I see by Gary's blog that Nana is doing well. He has posted pictures of her. She is in rehab...no, not that Amy Winehouse kind of rehab. She does physical therapy to counteract the effects of her stroke. Hugs and kisses to Nana.



I got an email today from my adopted French son, Matthieu. He and his wife Perrine live in the south of France where they are building a house. I sure hope I can go to France one of these days. Matthieu spent a July with us in 1995 on an exchange visit and we had many happy days showing him around Manitoba. We went to a White Lake cottage for a week and spent the days hiking, playing Yahtzee and fishing off the dock. What a great time it was. (See pictures above) Matthieu has kept in touch.

Darling Daughter is doing well with her baby bump. She takes pre-natal yoga for fitness. Good for her, I say. There is a stillness and a grace about her. As if she is compelled to conserve energy. It is lovely to see her shining with contentment. They say brides are lovely, but nothing compares with the beauty of a mother-to-be.

Take care...and TATA...and PEACE.

Mothers and daughters are closest, when daughters become mothers. ~Author Unknown

A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future. ~Author Unknown

Parties, Panties and Paradise

Sorry for the long delay since my last posting. I have been busy. Here is a picture of one of my latest creations. It's a three strand necklace of pearls, rivershell and silverfoil beads. I have also been stringing pearls and made a 12 strand bracelet. I looooove my Saturday jewellery classes. I manage to make about a piece a day on the other days. I now have over 50 pieces.

I plan to have two jewellery parties May 3 and May 31.

The saga of the crazy West coast fashion continues. "She" was walking away from me when spotted. (I use the quotation marks because I could not tell the gender of the person) She had on black tights, little white go-go boots, (only those over the age of 45 will know what these are) a short white jacket and viewed from the back a pair of white underpants over the black tights!!! I have seen these panty-like short shorts in the stores but that was the first time I saw them on a person. It must have been quite a sight from the front... Today walking home from work I saw a mother and adult daughter dressed in identical puffy green vests. And a man and woman were dressed all in orange, head to toe. Who says we have no fashion sense here in Lalaland? Vancouver must be the only city where you can see people wearing shorts and others wearing ski jackets on the street at the same time....

We have been having some spring weather the last two days...15 degrees and sunny. We can take any number of such days after all the rain, thunder, lightning, hail, sleet and snow we've had this winter. It's still paradise compared with other parts of the country.

The mother of my grandchild is doing well. She is looking forward to beginning her time off work which will be in about a couple of weeks. She looks wonderful and is enjoying driving around in their new Jeep Liberty.

Mother has been in the hospital for about a week. She has been having stroke-like symptoms although so far the tests don't show any stroke. We are all sending her good wishes and love.

Bye for now. Take care.

After all, what is your host's purpose in having a party? Surely not for you to enjoy yourself; if that were their sole purpose, they'd have simply sent champagne and women over to your place by taxi. ~P.J. O'Rourke

Strange Pawsh, Evelyn Strange, Strange Weather

Store seen in Yaletown, a yuppyish community in downtown Vancouver: Pawsh, Spa for Cats and Dogs. Well, lah di dah. Some people sure spend a lot of money on their pets. Some people think their pets are humans. Strange. Some pets are soooo pampered, n'est-ce pas?

I've been pretty busy the last ten days. I've been working at LD of course. And I subbed three days at the Immigrant Social Services school in an ESL class. It was fun. It was really easy this time because the regular teacher left me lots of activities for the class to do. One class was doing a unit on the theme of Money (who doesn't like that) and the other class a unit on Crime and The Justice System. And, since it was so close to Easter, I hid some chocolate "eggs" around the classroom and told them the Easter bunny had been there. We had an Easter egg hunt. Many of them thanked me for teaching them and one young woman even hugged me and said she hoped I would come back. Well, who wouldn't after a response like that?

So now I am available to sub Mondays to Thursdays and available to work at London Drugs Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And in between I make jewellery!

I am also taking some classes in jewellery-making. I am learning a better way to do crimping and wrapping beads and stones. Some of the designs tips have been helpful too. Ange, the instructor teaches at a local college also and seems to be quite knowledgeable. I've seen some of her work and it is fabulous.

It's only 136 days until G-day. I dug out the quilt that Nana sewed and embroidered with nursery rhyme characters for M when she was a baby. I placed it in the bassinette waiting for the arrival of our little treasure. The mother and father of my unborn grandchild have bought themselves a new car. It's a Jeep Liberty, dark blue, one year old and only 27 000 K on it. It has lots of room for the baby car seat and some cargo area for J to transport all the materials and tools he needs for his aquarium business. M was so excited and she drove by yesterday and took me and my sister for a spin around the block. It's a great little car.

Last Friday I took in a play with sister D and hubby S. It was a sort of murder mystery set in the 1950s called Evelyn Strange. I so enjoy live theatre.

Speaking of strange, we had a thunderstorm here yesterday and hail, would you believe. That sort of weather is fairly common on the Prairies, where I used to live, but it is rare here. The "hail" was more like sleet, really. No damage was done to buildings or cars. The Prairie hail is often big enough to damage cars and roofs and sometimes is even accompanied by tornadoes!!! And the strangest of all - it only lasted about half an hour. Then it was gone and the sun came out after! It has been mostly sunny here today, but as I write I can hear some sleet tinkling on the windows. Woops, it's gone now. Strange weather.

Well, gotta go. The shopping mall is calling me to come and spend some money. Time for somebody else besides me and Gary to do some blogging.

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth! ~Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist

All About Courtesy, Eve, and Living On

I see by G's blog he and C are back in Victoria, city of the newlywed and nearly dead, or so it is laughingly called. I quite like Victoria but it is a quiet city. At least it seems that way to one who nightly tries to sleep through crowds of roisterous drunks as they leave the bars in the wee small hours. I can hear one cackling and shouting as I write. Anyway welcome back G and C to the fairest province in the fairest country!!

On the sky train the other day I sat right beside a young woman with an ipod earpiece in one ear blasting so loudly I could make out the lyrics of the song. Up to her other ear she held a cellphone into which she announced to the entire car passengers that, "...she's such a whore. Even Sam said she was a slut...." The other passengers tried valiantly to ignore her diatribe.

That little incident has to count as the most discourteous event I have witnessed since I arrived in this fair city. I'm pretty sure if I had commented on it, she would have looked at me as if I were an alien. What is it that makes people think they have the right to subject everyone else to their music, their cellphone conversations, their specious and unwelcome opinions??!!

After finishing a shift at LD today, I crafted two new necklaces and three pairs of earrings while I "watched" the movie, "All About Eve," on TCM. (see picture above) I don't work at LD again until Thursday evening. Of course, I may be called in to substitute. I hope not tomorrow morning. I haven't been for a workout in a few days and I feel the need to "get physical." Murphy's Law being what it is, I may very well get called to sub.

Then I spent a little time remembering and rereading the Prairie Dog blog. It is 27 months today that he's been gone. The PD blog is still getting hits. It has had almost 2000 since I stopped posting to it. He lives on.

Looking in the other direction, it is now 147 days to G-day. He lives on there, too. Darling Daughter was not feeling too well for a couple of days, but seems to be better now.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all those of the Irish persuasion and those, like myself, with Irish ancestors.

Take care...and tata...and Peace.

Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles. ~Sonja Henie

Crafting, Lucking Out, Selling, Taking Care of Business

The Prairie Crocus has been taking care of business. (That sounds familiar...make a good lyric.) I quite like the way this necklace turned out. It can be worn with the clasp either at the front or the back.

Yesterday I stopped in at an optometrist to get some new nose pads for my glasses. Little did I know how momentous that decision would be.

The receptionist noticed the necklace I was wearing (the one in the photo). Well, I just had to brag that I made it myself. She was quite interested and asked if I could bring some pieces for her to look at. She didn't have to ask me twice. I high-tailed it home to my apartment a block away and gathered up a selection. She bought a necklace and matching bracelet as a gift for her mother. And the optometrist bought a necklace for his wife! My lucky day. Had I known how easy it is to sell jewellery here in the trendy West End I would have done it sooner.

Cashing in on my good luck, I stopped in to show some pieces to the owner of a flower shop on my way home. He agreed to allow me to put in a display case and sell on consignment. So my jewellery will be selling at a flower shop down Davie St. called "The Calla Lily." Today I went and bought some display supplies and a display case at a neat little store called "Eddie's Hang Ups." They carry all sorts of display things for retail stores.

Now that I have a business licence and am registered with Business BC, I can buy my supplies wholesale. The Crocus is quite the businesswoman. Bet you can't guess what I named my business? Surprise, surprise, Prairie Crocus Jewellery! I have even made myself some business cards. The Prairie Dog would have been proud.

Apparently working at London Drugs and crafting jewellery isn't taking up enough of my time. I don't have enough to do. I am also on the substitute list for the ESL school at the Immigrant Social Services. They called me and begged me to come in for an interview. It was pretty much a formality. They wanted to take a photocopy of my certificate from the Teaching ESL course I took and my Bachelor's Degree from the U of M. They have asked me to be available mornings Monday to Thursday. So I complicated my cosmetic department manager's life. I told her I would not be available to work at LD Mon. to Thur. mornings. Although she didn't usually give me morning shift weekdays anyway.

Do you think I have enough to do now? I may be able to get in a couple of hours of sleep each night. Eating is optional. I may get the odd day off here and there. Things may have to change when my grandchild arrives. That happy event is only 149 days away!!!

Keep well. See you in the funny papers.

It doesn't matter how many times you fail. It doesn't matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because... All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are. ~Mark Cuban