“Thank you' is the best prayer that anyone could say.- Alice Walker

Well, it's still smokey here today, and dry!
Some of the province wide fire ban has been lifted, but not here!
It's pretty dry, and freezing at night this week!

I DID get the yardwork done on the weekend, but I didn't plant the rest of the garden...Thank God!
Maybe tomorrow or Thursday night!
I've been hauling my bedding plants in at night!
I HAVE been baking for the 'wedding party' of one of my bosses this weekend!
I'll see if I can get some pics!

Bonnie, I tried to comment on your comment & couldn't!?
The one where I said I hated sticky, smelly bug spray for mosquitos.
And you told me about some mechanical thing that clips to a person.
I couldn't comment on my.own.blog!
I'll have to check out the bug spray aisle next time I'm in the hardware store!
I DO have some bracelets, but wear them around my ankle cause the smell is atrocious!

I had supper out with the GF's cause it's P's birthday tomorrow.
She loves birthdays, cause she gets a home made card from me! hahahaha!

So, I got some blog candy last week! From here!

There are 5 pads of Martha Stewart paper!OMG!

Thanks Michelle!

I also made this card.

(Not with any blog candy)

I actually had some unused Samantha Walker stamps! OMG!

And the paper was out, cause I'd used it a while ago, and I like it, and I guess I only bought 1 (one)!?

I planted my petunias on the weekend.

I kicked Jerry the cat out of my chair on one of my trips to sit outside.

This is how far she moved!

This planter is right behind the chair!

I don't pull the old stuff out of the planters when it dies because this is what the cats do!

They sit in my planters!

The planters were on the list to be painted this year, but it didn't happen!

Remember my friend Buster from work?!

I talked about him HERE! And in an earlier post, but I can't find it.

Don't worry, I have been putting labels (when I don't forget!)!

They never show up when I view the blog though!

Well...he has a chicken!

The farm next door to my work raises all sorts of chickens & birds, and once in a while there's a mess of feathers outside....hmmmm.......but Buster.....he LIKES this chicken!?

It's like it's his pet!? WTH!

This picture is not really blurry...I DID say it was another smokey day!

Better go, gotta fix my lunch for tomorrow!

Talk to ya later....have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Ta ta for now!

Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty .. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out..

Hi Peeps!
OMG! Can I just say that the last week has been sooooo stressful, and we're not even near (72 miles) a fire!?
It's raining sporadically, hopefully it's enough to help out the fire fighters!
Then I read this!
I cooked one summer at the Tanker Base in Manning.
It was a pretty slow year, thank goodness, but I had just fed the Bird Dog pilot, and the guy that rides with him, and they crashed. I was horrified, and sad, and all those emotions.
I didn't know them well, but we had Butter Tarts at lunch, and the guy that was a diabetic said they were the best Butter Tarts he had ever had!
I had a lot of fun that year!
We did crafts (of course we did), and the Forestry guys in town said it was the first year they weren't busy going to court for their crews!
I was into painting cement stepping stones that year, and we had classes!
It was a lot of fun!

OK, Vanessa's here!
One of her friends is getting married this weekend!
Here's the birthday card I made for her! Her birthday was yesterday!

Another Iris Folded card!

She loves dragonflies (and the color blue), and I think her comment was,

and I quote, "That's one kick ass card!"

The little tiny purse is an inside joke.

I buy purses, and they end up under my bed.

Hey....I wear mine out!

She's forever digging under my bed for a purse when she comes home!

That little purse charm even opens; Vanessa laughed when she seen it!

Hope you're all well, and the weather's tolerable!

We have a province wide fire ban, which sure puts a kybosh into TGIF, drinking beer by the fire pit!

Oh well, I don't want to be the one starting a forest fire in my neighborhood!

The potatoes are planted, all 42 unhills (raised beds), and the peas Ray bought!

I planted some pots of wave petunias tonight, and will get everything else planted this weekend, and the grass cut etc.!

The mosquitos are horrible this year, so might need to figure out how to carry around my mosquito coils! Ha!

I hate the sticky, smelly Bug Spray!

Have a great long weekend!

Talk to you again!

Ta ta for now!

Serious Post People

If you don't watch the news, maybe we're not big enough news!?
Northern Alberta is on fire!
You can read about it HERE and HERE!
And HERE and HERE!
There are pictures HERE!
It's just devastating.

To top it off, we have hurricane force winds, we know people that live there....it's about 3 hours from here.
Since Sunday we've had smoke, although probably nothing like the people who are fighting for their property & lives.
Today we have ash.
I think we're about 100 miles from the nearest fires which are to the east & south of us.

My friend who just built a new home in the fire ravaged area.........
Last night her status on Facebook said, "A is watching the fire with mixed emotions"
They're in the process of moving into their dream home.
Today, her status said; "Seriously GOD, hot with wind, so that's the way you wanna roll today."
I feel so bad for her and her family.
I send encouraging words, but I don't think we have a clue, and I know the whole province feels helpless, it's not just me!
Here are some pics from around here.
I had supper in town with a friend.
This is ash in my vehicle window crease, and on the inside from the door being open.

This is the sky over town.

This is my road home, I live about 1 mile down there.

This is the yard from the road.

Looks drizzly out, but it's all smoke.

This is the red sun through the trees.

The smokey back 40.

Another sun pic.

It's actually really red, don't know why it's pink!

I'm hoping it rains soon.

They're calling for rain, with thunder showers.

Can you say FOREST FIRE people,

 cause that's what will happen if there's lightning,

 we're pretty dry around here!

 If there's anything left to burn.

Please keep the people of Slave Lake & surrounding area in your thoughts!

Talk to ya later.

Ta ta for now!

Imagine 10 Women................

Aged 20something to 70something at a catered dinner!
Hahahahaha, I laughed so hard last night, my stomach still hurts today; and my face, but some of that could be sunburn from today!

An aquaintance of mine (she's in my stamp club) called earlier this week to see if I was available for dinner last night.
She owns a hardware store in town.
Me: "What, are you getting it catered?"
Her, "Yes."
She works 24/7 and I wondered how she was gonna pull off dinner at 6:30.

Turns out she bought a catered dinner for 10 people, at the RCMP Ball last fall, to support Victims Services!

When we were allowed in the house, we sat in our designated seats, and filled out a survey.

A Recent Online Survey Determined The Following To Be A Girls Favorite Things Found In Her Closet And Bathroom

Please Make a List Of Your Favorite Things From The List Below

1. COLD CREAM

2. FACIAL WIPES

3. FILE

4. MOLDED CUPS

5. JOSEPH RIBKOFF OUTFIT

6. COMB

7. HAIRPIN

8. EAU DU CHAUDIERE PERFUME

9. CLEANSERS

10. STARCHED JACKET

11. CUTICLE PUSHER

12. ROLLERS

Turns out that the way you fill them out is how your courses for dinner come!

My First course was 5-1-8.

So I got, RIBS, DESSERT, AND SOUP! That's it!!!! No utensils, no napkin, nothing!

Bear with me!

My second course was 12-6-3.

I got, GARLIC BREAD, FORK & A KNIFE!

Third course was 2-7-9.

I got, NAPKIN, TOOTHPICK & SALAD!

The last course was 11-10-4.

I got, A SPOON, STUFFED POTATO, & STUFFED MUSHROOMS!

OMG it was hilarious!

After each course, you had to give everything back! You didn't get to keep your utensils, napkin etc!

The wine flowed freely!

I must confess, I had 2 glasses, then switched to water, after all there was an RCMP officer serving us, and I didn't want him parking at the end of C's driveway!

These sisters got salad first, one got a toothpick, one was lucky enough to get a fork!

We tried buying other people utensils, but weren't allowed!

Here's C eating her soup!

No spoon I guess!

Here's T with her first course...she got dessert, a napkin and a toothpick!

I think L is trying to put her fork down her shirt!

Here's our servers, and the hostess with the mostess!

Here's all of us, just before the kitchen crew, and servers left...still laughing!

And the poor RCMP!

We asked him if they drew straws & he lost?

Was he the last one in town?

Was it a punishment?

Or because he was the youngest.......21!?

He was a great sport!

And it must be told that the people in the kitchen thanked US for the entertainment when they came out!

OMG! It was sooooo fun!

I didn't get home til about 10:30pm, and I took S home!

And as we were leaving, someone said....

"I think she bought a Mexican Fiesta at one of the Silent Auctions!"

One can only hope!





CCAYR-May Challenge

Warning: This post MAY contain Christmas Cards!

Welcome to May everyone! We know lots of you have those cards started because we've seen them and we can't wait to see more. Everyone is welcome to play whether this is your first month or 15th!

We're doing something a little different this month and the challenge is a sketch challenge. One of our lovely DT, Audrey, was kind enough to create the sketch for this month and we can't wait to see what everyone does with it! So, without further ado, the challenge for this month is to design your cards using the following sketch:

 

 

Here's my cards

 

 

If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.

I know it's been a long time since I posted....bad Gail!

Ray got home Sunday, from being at the oil spill at Little Buffalo.
Actually it wasn't so much an oil spill, as the pipeline had a leak.............I guess maybe Oil Spill sounds more newsworthy!

I case you're wondering, I'm over my mad, about the sewer, the dugout, the muddy water, you know......I get over stuff......usually!

Friday night I went with friends to the fundraiser for the St. John's United/Anglican church.
It's a dessert buffet, and Silent Auction!
Always fun, lots of ideas, lots of people you don't see very often.
That's a good thing about a small town.
You can support all functions, fundraisers etc.!!
Well mostly all...............I get real sick of buying chocolate bars in September for all those school groups!

The plan is made for Bryan & Laceys dessert buffet at their 'wedding party'!
Last night I loaded the van with cake pedestals, plate servers, and 1 chocolate mold for peanut butter cups!
One peanut butter cup mold was all I could find out in the seacan last night!
I dropped them off for Lacey this morning!

I DID however find my golf clubs, and a few other yard things I hauled out!
Back to the golf clubs.
Ray and I used to play.
A lot.
When the kids were small.
They even had their own set of clubs.
It was one activity we enjoyed together, and the kids could golf for free!
One night, at the GF's supper D mentioned golfing on ladies night.
I asked if I could come occasionally, or if I had to commit!
Didn't have to commit, the golf course is open, so thought I'd be ready!
Just can't find my shoes, or the little wheely thing that the bag of clubs sits in!
I'll have to ask Ray!

Got the bottles sorted.
Tomorrow I'll start hauling them to town.
I think there's a couple hundred $'s worth!
Enough to take me camping one time!
The plan is to get the camper ready this weekend!

The Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Preditors!
I was on the phone with Vanessa last night when the game ended.
She called to ask what I was doing, and I said, "I'm in my room making cards, and trying to watch the hockey game AND Castle........it ain't easy!"

Michelle Zindorf has blog candy HERE!

And the StampFairy has blog candy HERE!
I don't think I mentioned that before!



Have a great week everyone!
Here's a few pictures for you!

Shadow smiling for a belly rub.........she really smiles, and you can tell if it's fake, cause she looks like the Big Bad Wolf from Red Riding Hood!

Finally got a picture of a Robin!

Here's the latest card I made.

First I was going with a Criss Cross Card.

Then I found THIS card & made it to fit in the criss cross card.

I screwed up, you'll figure it out if you go check it out!

But it works, and I'm happy with it!

Here it is all together!

This has been long winded again...............oh well, might not talk to you for another week!

Have a great week!

Ta ta for now!