Again?!?!?

I mean seriously! More snow! How?!?!!? Why me?!?!?

I know, it's nuts to be complaining about it snowing (for already the 3rd time this year!!!!) what with all the snow that the east is getting these days but seriously folks, the whole reason I didn't move back to the East (I lived in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia growing up) when I had the chance was because of the snow! I really don't like it! I don't!

Now don't get me wrong, I love how it looks on the mountains; on a clear morning it's enough to literally take your breath away! And winter sports are great....for other people, they're just not my thing. But the whole reason we moved here, the whole reason I stayed here, was because I don't like snow on a day to day basis.
I hate shoveling it, I hate driving in it (which at least *I* know how to do!) and I hate walking through it once it's past the first couple of hours. Slush, yuck!!!!!
Okay, I'll admit, it's gorgeous on the lawn when you wake up in the morning and the world is fresh and bright....but after the first 20 minutes; I'm over it.

The good news is that it seems to have stopped for now and it was even beginning to rain on my last foray out to shovel the drive way and walk. Hopefully that means that our travel plans for tomorrow won't have to be cancelled.

In the meantime it's good weather for sewing flannel pj's and playing Monopoly.

Ahhh the perfect afternoon/evening

Today I had just about the perfect afternoon/evening.
What makes a perfect a/e?
It starts with the house all to myself, then a new Nora Roberts book and some quiet music.
Follow that with some comfort food for dinner and then a turn in the sewing room. Undisturbed!
Yep, can't get much better than that!

Tonight I got the fronts and the sleeves cut out for my "Frugal PJs" They're looking quite colourful.
I missed a cuff piece for the sleeve though so I still have that and the back neck facing to cut out tomorrow and I can get some sewing done. Yay!
It occurred to me today that extending the bottom down to below hip length I might have made the bottom too narrow. But then I figured I'll just baste from the waist down and if I need to I'll add some side gussets to add width for my hips. Fuinny how in the past the thought of something not working right away would have freaked me and now....I just stop and think for a minute and come up with a solution. Yeah, there are some good things about age! LOL It's Patience and Wisdom!

Progress...yay!

So, I did exactly what I said I would earlier today and it worked like a charm!
I did not come back to the computer after picking up DD1 and sure enough...I got some sewing done.
First, here`s the pattern of choice. You can`t see it on the pattern but the front facing is cut separately; that will give me a place for more material variety.

And no, I`m not making the dog shirt; the pattern doesn`t come big enough for Scooby. I am thinking about how to use the styling though; it might solve the jacket slipping problem we have right now. Hmmmm

I`m making just a top from it and lengthening it a fair bit so it`s more like an old fashioned night shirt that goes almost to my knees instead of just a top. Kind of a cross between a pyjama top and
a nightgown.

This is going to be my ``frugal`` shirt so it`s going to take a bit more work. The plan was to make it all from leftovers from pyjamas I`ve made the girls over the years. Of course, the plan doesn`t seem to be quite working out the way I planned, but I`m used to that. lol
It seems that I don`t have quite as much left overs as I thought I did. But not to worry, frugality is not stumped that easily!!!

Instead of just material from past pyjamas I`m also taking apart 2 pairs of pyjama pants that I have. I don`t wear them very often and since that still leaves me one old pair AND 2 new pairs from Christmas presents - more than enough.

1 pair, I`m going to use,is from a MASSIVE pyjama sewing I did 2 years ago. Instead of just pyjamas for my 2 girls I did theirs, a pair for my BFFs daughter and pants for BFF and I. I got them all done before Christmas and we had a `family`picture done in January. Tres cute!
Because of the great memories with that sewing project and that material I think I`d rather have some of that material in a new shirt than in pants I rarely wear.

So, as of tonight the pattern is adjusted, the back is cut and part of the front facings are cut. And I have the plan for the front and the sleeves. Not a bad days work.....once I finally got working!
Now, I better get back to ripping out some seams, those pants aren`t going to take themselves apart!

Post-holiday Blahs

I'm off for the next week and I have a ton of free time and I'm not doing any sewing!!!!!
What is wrong with me?
I think I'm in the midst of some post-holiday blahs. And I need to get myself out of them. I have so much sewing to do this year and yet, here I sit, reading instead of writing and playing solitaire instead of sewing. Blech!
I think I'm going to go pick up DD1 and then make myself NOT look at the computer when I get home. Maybe if I can keep myself away from this great timesucker I'll actually get something done.
Wish me luck!

Drum Roll Please!

 That's right folks, that means I'm finished the Christmas Pyjamas and it's not even Christmas Eve yet.
I actually finished them.....wait for it.....yesterday! So they were done one day early! YAY
See I'm a procrastinator and that usually means getting stuff done in time but finishing, what ever it is I'm working on, at the last minute (or maybe leaving off a detail or two like the extra buttons on S's Hallowe'en coat LOL). I have even been known to be finishing a hem on the way to the event.
(I did find out a couple of years ago that, that might be a bit of a family tradition as my Aunt was finishing up her dress on the way to the wedding! Not that I've ever been that bad....noooooo. Okay, maybe, but it wasn't MY dress for MY wedding day! LOL)

What's really funny about procrastinating is sometimes to avoid working on one thing I will work on something else entirely and then get that done too! That's what happened this time at least. While not working on S's pj's I managed to start, rip out (too wide) and finish a scarf for C from the 2 aplaca rovings I finished spinning this month.
Weird huh?
Here's the yarn in a ball, the scarf and then a close-up of what's supposed to be a C at the bottom. It's been a long time since I've crocheted anything so my tension probably isn't the best, plus this hasn't been blocked or anything.

And here's some pictures of the new pyjamas and the pattern I used for the top (bottoms were from a previously used pyjama pattern that I've used twice before). The pattern really didn't quite suit the material as you can't see the yoke details but hey, I didn't pick either so it's not my fault. LOL
I used the pattern as sized but copied the medium with the large length. I'm glad I did, it's just barely long enough as it is.

One thing - lately I've discovered a love for vintage. I'm slowly developing a collection of vintage reproduction patterns from the big 3 (gotta love those sales!) and I'd like to collect some real vintage patterns. I've been reading about them for a while now and here's the thing I noticed; in the past I would have just cut what I needed out of the pattern for S's pyjamas, but after reading about vintage patterns and having them cut or uncut or cut to a single size, it occurred to me that one day - my patterns might be considered vintage and collectable and therefore *I* shouldn't cut them to one size or such either.
In the past when multi-sized patterns were something new to me I used to cut to my size but keep the extra bits "just in case". Then when pattern co.s started having the 99 cent sales and such I'd just buy multiple copies. But now....I'm going down a new path and trying to preserve patterns. Funny how we change, huh?

 Here's a couple pics of the details. First, the buttons; snowflakes for the snowflake pattern on the material. Too much? Eh, S likes it so who cares, right? It's not like she's wearing it out in public anytime soon!

I know it's hard to see, but this is the detail stitching I did on the hems and such. Kinda hard for something to show up on such a busy pattern but I know I can't get away without it....it's a tradition!   ;-)

I'm  off for another week after Christmas so I'm thinking I might try and get C's costume pictures up.

I'm not sure what's next on my sewing list. Not that I don't have anything to do, it's just that after a busy sewing for Hallowe'en and then pyjamas I'm going to need either something easy or something that really engages me to get me back to the machine.

Of course I'd also like a new pyjama shirt/nightgown for me...... I have the pattern and I plan to use bits left over from the girls pyjamas from years gone by. With 2 girls and making pyjamas for at least 10 years, I should have enough, right?

Hmmm, maybe I should go find out.........

Finally home

Well we're finally home and getting back into a normal schedule.....which will last for 2 more days and then it's into Winter Break! yay, I could use the sleep. LOL

First though I should finish up with the last of Disneyland and the trip home.

Disney Day 5 part deux; 

We did head back on our last day after dinner and hit California Adventure land before it closed (barely!) . We only managed to get to two more things but they were well worth it. First was Soaring over California. AWESOME! And I mean awesome in the true meaning of the word. I was totally awed by it. If you have never been you must go see it!
It was soooooo good that we walked out, around the building to the entrance, and went again!
Basically it makes you feel like you're sitting in a hang glider soaring over various parts of California. The scenery is amazing and you feel like you're so close you could touch the trees. It's so beautiful and so calming and just so WOW!

Then we quickly hopped over to see the Muppet 3D movie. I'm a huge muppet fan and have managed to make my children ones too. I love the Muppet TV show DVDs and they're a favorite in our house for cold yucky/rainy days. What can I say? My kids and I like the odd stuff. Normal is NOT something people use to describe *this* family! LOL
The movie was great and I loved the mix of live action with 3D movie. Brilliant!

After that it was time to hop over to Downtown Disney for some last minute shopping. We stopped for a little snack too of course. One can't help but want to eat while you're there - the smells are sooooo good. C and my BFF got their shopping done so they headed back to the resort with Little C and S and I headed back to the pearl place to get her another pearl and have it set.
Her first pearl had some weird sort of fog on it in one spot and since they couldn't get it off and didn't know what it was she got to pick a 2nd one. It has just the faintest tinge of pink to it and was about the same size as the first.
She picked out a lovely simple setting that really makes the pearl the focus with a tiny plumeria flower at the top. Very nice. The resort to finish up the day was supposed to be the next sto but of course we had to have a snack first. LOL This one was a pretzel dog. Odd but tasty.

Next - packing!!!! Belch!

Sunday - train again.

Sunday morning we were up early to finish the packing and do all the garbage etc and get ready for the train.
For some reason the cab ride *to* the train was twice as much as the cab ride from. Hmmmmmm.
Ah well, we got there in plenty of time and had no problems getting on the first train.
Nothing exciting there but the welcome at LA Union Station was nice. We got to go to the lounge and had a free paper and drinks (ahhhhh coffee!!!!) I guess the lounge was closed on our way to CA 'cause we never even saw the lounge that night! or maybe we were just too tired to care.
We hopped in the train and got all our stuff stowed and settled in for another trip.
It wasn't quite as exciting this time around; being rather old hat I guess, but still nice to sit in relative comfort.
We were very glad to have a room when we heard announcements about wallets and phones and such going missing. Seems some silly people were hooking stuff up to charge....and just leaving it there! Yesh.
A nice quiet lunch and then the whole bunch of us crashed for naps of various lengths.
After dinner we headed off to watch the movie, but it wasn't the one we thought it was going to be. But..we lucked out and convinced Dominick, our Parlour Coach guy to change it to "UP" when we were the only ones to show up and watch it! YAY! Good movie by the way. Well worth the convincing we had to do.
I think the movies were one of the highlights of the train. We watched 3 out of the 4 movies and hadn't seen any. Two were even on my "must watch soon" list. Sweet!
Once again I missed Mount Shasta...L (BFF) got to see it but that's because she was awake at 5 that morning.....not me! LOL On the way down we passed it around midnight so I missed it both times :-( L said it was lovely.
I did get other pictures of snow though. Oregon had a fair bit that we went through. Lovely.

the end of our trip was swift and uneventful, nothing exciting to report there, unless you think 5 people and 7 or so bags in a small-ish station wagon type car as an event ;-).

Tuesday morning we headed home, stopping at Bellis Fair for a New year's dress for C and a (thankfully) quick stop at the border. This time they didn't even ask if I had a letter from their father, for the girls. I did but it always amazes me that I get asked about it 10 times more often going home than I do going to the US. What's up with that?!?!?

By 4pm we were home and surrounded furry meowing beasts with another one outside demanding his share of the attention too. It was so nice to be home even if we did come home to snow. :-( Yuck!

Yesterday I spent doing errands and getting some groceries, today has been a bit more of the same with some baking thrown in.
C's class/group is having some sort of 'do' tomorrow and she asked me to make Cinnamon Loaf for it. Of course in this house that means making one for the party and one for the family. LOL

Aren't they pretty?

Here's another picture too - it's what I spun up while I was on the train. I bought this a while ago at the Fibrefest...probably 2 or 3 years ago. It's alpaca with Firestar and doesn't show up a darn in the pic. I'm planning on plying it with some pinker alpaca that's on the wheel right now. Then hopefully a scarf for C. Pink is her colour. The spindle the picture is the one I used to spin all this up. I started it at work and finished it on the train - two places you just can't really fit a wheel. LOL

Okay, now this is all up to date and I'm going to head to the basement and see if I can start some sewing before the Mom Taxi gets the call. Ta!

Disney Day 5

Not much to report today.
Just a bit of a clean up day; hitting rides we missed and stuff we hadn't bought.
On that note here's some pics of a purse I got today. I'm not a big purse person but this fabric haunted me so I had to go back and get it!

Then I asked if they had anything else in the design and found out there was a pin to match...a pin I now own. LOL

For rides we managed to squeeze in another round of Space Mountain for S and I, then Nemo's Undersea Adventure and finally Honey I Shrunk the Audience. That one is silly but fun.

We're going back after dinner tonight as we're still wanting to do a couple of rides in California Adventure Land.

I don't know if I'll be able to post tonight, depends on when we get back. Tomorrow we hop on the train for basically two days. Two days during which I will be internet-less. Wahhhhh.

Disney Day 4

So


tired,


sore


feet

So, just some pics and then I'm going to bed.
First, some girls got glammed up! Here's some pretty, sparkly hair. 

Then some favorite scenes from the Christmas parade.

Santa!

The evil Queen in Snow White's castle

And

da da da da........

What happens when good hair goes bad! (or when the pretty hair comes down)

Okay , now it's time for bed. G'night!

Disney Day 3

Well,  had another late night so I'm writing this on Day 4 LOL

Yesterday we went swimming (okay *I* went hot tubbing! LOL) and had a later start. We decided to start in California Adventure today.

Of course we had to start with Bug's Life.

The girls and I walked around and had a drink while BFF and her DD went to see the movie. There we saw the funny benches they have. I love them!

In case you can't quite figure them out - they're "made" out of used popsicle sticks! LOL 

The one advantage to having my girls so much older than BFF's? They get to take the little one on the little rides if she'll let them. Gives the adults a chance to have a little adult time.

I loved the flowers in Bug's Life, especially these;

And we met a new friend.

After BLife we headed off for Paradise Pier but a lot of it is under construction so we didn't find too much to actually do.

So we just wandered, some of us a margerita (so-so) and S and I went on Mulhullond Madness. Not really a roller coaster but it was enough for me to think I' left body parts on some of the corners and my stomach at the first drop! LOL

On the way out to go for dinner we passed this

It's part of Grizzly River Run.....which we're NOT going on. LOL

Dinner was at The Rainforest Cafe which BFFs daughter loves. We got her Christmas present there too.

Some shopping occured after that....we stopped at the Pearl place. I didn't buy the earrings I was looking at ($300 plus) but I was a little bad and bought a pearl and a ring setting so I now have a complete jewelry set in pearls.

After dinner we headed back to Disneyland to see the Fantasmic Show. It was lovely.

Then we headed off to Tomorrowland for a couple more rides and a little more shopping.

We did Star Tours and Astro Blasters which were both fun but we'll have to go back for Space Mountain.

As an addendum - a ring I bought earlier.

Very sweet and a lot less bling then most I've seen. I like it!

Disney Day 2

First up today; face painting! S, BFFs DD1 and moi.

Then we have the Riverboat review 

And my new favorite coffee cup. I love it!

We got some of the "big" rides in today. That's something we didn't get done at all when we were here the first time. For some reason that time the girls weren't interested in rides at all. Go figure.

So this time I insisted! So today we went on Haunted Holiday Mansion - pretty good, and Pirates of the Caribbean - not bad, and Indiana Jones - yikes! Indiana Jones was good except for two things; the spiders (ick! LOL) and the walk! no one told me we had to walk to India to get to it!!!!!! Man, I thought that walk would never end.

1/2 the crew went home at that point but S and I stayed to return a broken necklace and sneak in the Jungle Cruise.

The funniest thing of the day; on the Jungle Cruise the pilot asks some people where they are from and the people in the front on our side.......from the same town we are!!!!!!!!!!

Now how weird is that?!?!? Especially since it's not really that big a town folks.

Then it was back to the resort for dinner and back to Disney for the fireworks. Unfortunately tonight's fun involved my camera quitting on me because of "frame no. full. I had to wait until we got back to the resort to google it and figure out how the heck I was going to take more pictures. Fortunately the fix was quick and not that hard to find.

The fireworks were lovely even without a camera and we got to see it "snow" which is always fun.

After that we snuck in a couple for little rides in Wonderland which was fun.

Whew!!!!!! Reading all that - no wonder we were tired when we got home. Of course the fact it was Midnight, might have helped. LOL

Disney Day 1

Not much to say here, I think everyone knows how fun, busy, and tiring disney is so here's some of my fav pictures from the day.

As usual the front of Disney is gorgeous. Here's the pointsettias to the left. (The front with Mickey was chock full of people!)

The lovely Christmas tree in the middle of Main Street.

Also on Main Street you can see some characters; like Cruella De Vil.

And you can catch a ride in a great looking horseless carriage with a friendly driver.

Of course the castle is wonderfully decorated too.

And then we started on rides and such and I didn't take any more pictures (or at least any that turned out! LOL)

Bye for now. We're getting ready to go see some Princesses.

Amtrak Scenery

Here's some pics of the great scenery.
Since it's hard to take pictures on a train....pretend the pictures are 100 times better!

We're in CA now

The ocean!!!!
Union Station Los A