Help! I've lost my focus.........

They say "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions!" If that's the case, I hope I am on the wrong road.......I have so many things going on right now I think my power circuits are going to starting miss-firing and short out.  That tends to make me slow down and take a day to make a list and re-focus.......make a list...make a list....maybe I could get someone to do that for me. Right now I have a half marathon to be ready for in a week and a half......the legs are ready and I have wrapped my brain around the concept and I don't think there will be a problem. The focus now is to stay injury free, and eat all the right foods and be as stsrong as I can be. So far we're good to go. Then there is the Artisan's Fair at the end of October......thanks to Debbie for organizing it all! Otherwise I would have been running around like the Mad Hatter. I need 8 days in the week and 30 hours in the day....is that too much to ask? I think not.

I have a few things on my wish list that I am not having any luck finding, so I'm hoping to score this weekend if I can have a few hours to cruise the stores. At times I could just move from this town in a blink of an eye for the lack of shopping.....maybe one day......sooooooooooooooon. I mean really...... how hard can it be to find a pair of shoes? I want these........................



Leopard print flats




Little Booties....still looking




Baby Blanket for Olivia




Crazy woman in red Beret




A few balls of yarn that need projects




Just finished this book.....awesome
you should read it....it's you appreciate your own life.




I could live here and I just might..................wouldn't it be amazing!




Tell me how you really feel?

I love this old lady.......and if I wasn't suffering from a short circuit brain...... I'd remember her name but at the moment it escapes me. Soooooo it's time I got this show on the road.....I hope you have a productive day and come up with something amazing.......I have a few ideas!

I have not been ignoring you.................

Indeed I have not......but there is not time enough to do all the things that I like to do.......it has been a crazy running week. A crazy crocheting week.....................lots, and lots of excuses but they are legit! Trish and I ran four days in a row last week and without getting hurt............. so bonus!  We  wanted to have Friday and Saturday off so that hopefully tomorrow we can do a wee bit longer than normal. Two weeks till the BMO Okanagan Marathon! Woohoo!!!! Got to get me some new treads and soon........ Torrential rain is the forecast for Sunday.....so we will see what happens. Sugar melts.....right! Crocheting?......................Yes busy, busy! I finally got a reply back from the organizer of the Artisans Fair.......this is a juried fair so we need to drop off a few things next week to see if we "qualify"......I'm not too worried but I always think there is better......at least my things.....you never know what people are looking for. I have an enormous amount of stock piled yarn so I am working my way through the pile and sorting it out.  I haven't been too motivated to do much of anything else. I was going to put out my Fall decor but nope! Haven't gotten around to that so far! If I wait any long enough...... I can just move on to Christmas!
Had a phone call this morning to say my girlfriends daughter is in the hospital....so we are waiting to hear what it's going to be.....boy....or....girl.....either one as long as the little one is healthy. So Melanie only had a week off work not the month she envisioned! Well, that's the way it usually goes.

This will be our day tomorrow, running in the rain.............



Fall is such a gorgeous time of year




My daughter Kait....trying to find just the right size pumpkin

Well it's back to crocheting for the evening....and watching hockey! The season has started!!!!! Gotta love Hockey Night in Canada! Yea! Have a good evening!

Beautiful Fall Morning..................

This is my favourite time of the year. The air is crisp, the colors are vibrant, leaving are changing, and you just feel alive. Summer is nice and its warm.....well if you're lucky enough to have warm......we eventually got summer in August and the first half of September has been really wonderful. The morning are very cool for running but as of yet, I have not packed away the shorts, but I am wearing long sleeves and mitts to start out! the best part about the north, when the weather cools the blue skies shine......so there are some good points to being "way up north", well not exactly "waaayy" but far enough as far as I am concerned, I certainly wouldn't be moving any further......lately my dreams have been leaning south......not sure where that might be but somewhere closer to my mother and my girls.

Less than a month till the BMO Okanagan Marathon......I do believe its three weeks tomorrow. Ha! Piece of cake! Not doing anymore super long runs but tomorrow we will attempt to go between 10-15km just to keep up the momentum.....This week has been a good week and my pace is good right now, but I might have to slow down a bit so that I have some fuel to end the last 5km.

Debbie and I have been making as many hats, cowls, novelty knits as possible, but have not heard from the organizers of the Artisans Fair. Quite frustrating! I think I will have to take a drive up there.

Michael's has had an amazing amount of coupons lately, so we have been taking full advantage of that, getting yarn for a few dollars a ball. Well as you can tell the week has flown by once again. But I guess that's ok must mean I have been busy. So many things happening at this time of year and so many things to do......I often feel like I am a figure in a Dr. Seuss story. Can't be a good sign *********!!!!!!!!!!!:))))))) Oh well................I have about 10 new balls of yarn to work on this weekend, go for a long run, grocery shopping, house cleaning, laundry, flowerbeds, and a Blessingway for a new mom-to-be. Yes this weekend too will fly by. The Hubs found himself turning in the old truck yesterday for a new truck and must say a "prettier" truck. All the bells and whistles........boys and their toys........a beautiful winter white. Won't show the dirt and dust like the shiny black, same make and model but new.

Today I might haul out the Fall decor, certainly feels like it, I love these sweater pumpkins I made last year.....and with the official first day of Fall next week time to changeover.........because you know........the next big one is only three months away. Egad! Say it's not true!

                                       Have a wonderful Saturday! Any plans?????

What a world we live in.............

Today was the 10th anniversary of the terror attack on the United States. That event claimed so many lives and effected so many people around the world. But......Today was also a very happy day for a family in British Columbia that had their 3 year old boy returned to them after being abducted out of his own bed. At times it is a sad, sad world we live in..........................but we have to remember that the few who want to tear peoples lives apart, there are people who build us up and make our lives more full filling just because of their kindness, generosity and friendship. I've met many people over the years and I am happy to say for the most part..... I have been fortunate to have these people  pass through my life. My heart goes out to the families of the 911 victims and hope you never have to experience such pain and loss again in your lives. And to the Hiebert Family, may you find peace and solice in having your son safely back in your arms.

So I survived the first week back at work and couldn't believe how out of whack I felt on Saturday morning. Not sure why....... maybe it was just a bug going around but there were a few people I know weren't quite feeling up to snuff. After spending half the day in bed,  I finally got my act together and spent the rest of the day on the couch. Yup........sure was productive........ only thing accomplished was a new design for a hat! So I am making a few before I forget how to do the pattern. The Hubs and I went grocery shopping today and I hope I don't need to go again for a week. It's nice when he comes...... then I don't have to pack it all myself, the rest of the day was spent puttering. Trish and Joanne and I did get in a run this morning, not a great one, 10km, but none of us really felt that great. Lets hope for a better one tomorrow. Have a good night .....time to fold my teepee.

Right Back at It.................

Just like I thought.......... going back to work after having 10 weeks off, seems like I didn't miss a beat! Isn't that a scarey thought! It's nice to see all the people we work with and I appreciate that they are not as lucky to have the summer off. I for one, am very thankful  I have the job I do. I 've often thought of changing careers over the years and venture in a new direction..... only to jump ship and go back to what I know.  But I stay in the place that gives me so much time off with my children when they were growing up, and free time just to do all my artistic crafting!......So in that regard, I am fortunate.

At one time, I wanted to be a nurse, a policewomen, a journalist, a photographer.....well ....small children and life's routines get in your way of your dreams. So one has to make compromises.......so at times you live your life vicariously through your children. I have a daughter whose a nurse, a son who is in the military, and a daughter with a BA in Business and loves to write! Then I play with my camera.....speaking of which I need a newer and better one. Hint!! Hint!!........

Well there is no running this morning my buddy is hurting....yup did her hips in......I thought this would happen, Trish has been feeling the pain for a few days so I think she needs a few days to rest. That's ok..... after our runs this weekend, I know I can run a half..... so I will just maintain for the next month.

 I found these weird little mushrooms in the backyard and I am sure they are poisonous, or toxic, because when you run over them with the lawnmower they go "POOOOOOOOOF"!

these look like there should be
 a little Fairy lurking near by......



A mushroom flower



These are the ones that go "Poooooooof!"

 Well since I am up at the crack of dawn >>>>>>>>> I will go find some yarn.:))))))))...............what shall it be today?????? Time for a another cup of "joe" before himself gets off to work. Have a wonderful sunny day! It's going to be gorgeous!

Time to "Rock and Roll"!

First day of school and here I sit! Yikes! Well I was just cruising through Ravelry and found a really cool pattern for a handbag......know what I'm going to start making!

Since I can be such a girly girl, I think I will make this flower bag but with wool and felt it, plus I will change up the handle and make it a shoulder purse. Woohoo! Excited to get started.......think I may have to get a wrist support but "hey"! A girl's gotta do, what a girls gotta do, to get a job done. But in the meantime I need to get this girly ready for work. Hope your day is filled with inspiration and you come up with some creative ideas.



Fields of Gold



Ouch! This is goin' hurt.........

Heavens! September 5th already!.......Can we please puts the brakes on! What a week I've had.............a little crocheting, book reading, a whole lotta painting..............sewing the "sweetest" slipcover! Thank you Miss Mustard Seed! Yup, it was a hum dinger of a week, I didn't think it would go by so fast but it's done and it's back to work tomorrow. I'm not sure that having the summers off is very conducive to productivity especially this summer. Most summers I have a list and work my way through it but with going to Ireland for the two weeks and then a power trip down south, I've been kind of "out of sink".

We have done a fair bit of running this summer since the temperatures were unseasonably cooler so I guess that's a "good thing", and we have managed to stay reasonably uninjured. We laughed this morning that we ran a half marathon in two days 18km yesterday and 7km more today. So we out did ourselves. It's just about time for a new pair of runners....wish they lasted longer but around the 600km mark you can really feel the pavement.

So Himself and I painted the one side of our house this past weekend. No small feat let me tell you! It's the side that gets all the intense sunshine, rain, snow, sleet ....whatever, so it didn't have a lot of paint left on it. And after scouring the town for a painter we gave up and had to do it ourselves. So being as I am the smaller one and Himself being the bigger and stronger one, I was relegated to the top of the ladder.  I'm not crazy about heights but once I'm up there I do okay. And I would rather he holds the ladder than me trying to hold it for him......size does matter in this case!

So anyway it's done and looks great! Thanks goodness! Do not want to have to repeat that ever!

So here is the before of the ottoman I wanted to cover....not totally ugly but just does not go with my new chair.


old ottoman




New slip covered ottoman and "new" chair

 I think I did a pretty darn good job! I've never made piping before but with Miss Mustard Seed's tutorial it was a piece of cake. Well......kinda.....but not nearly as hard as they make it out to be.....so I'm happy and of course it was another drop cloth project. Gotta love that stuff! Mmmmmm.......what else needs a new look?

Well that's it for this weekend. Hope you all had a nice long weekend, back to school Tuesday. When my wrist recovers from painting..... I will have to get busy crocheting some more projects.....we are going to be in the Artisans Fair at our local University.......Happy Labour Day!