Merry Christmas

I have had a productive summer and fall. 

The cruise to Alaska at the end of August was awesome. Until I went, I did not realize how big Alaska is. We had a wonderful time on various shore excursions and enjoyed every meal during our trip. At times it was cold and rainy but a very enjoyable trip.

Here are a few pictures:

Falls at Portage Glacier

Portage Glacier

Salmon running

Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward

Celebrity Summit

Juneau

Mendenhall Gardens

Mendenhall Glacier

Part of the Lumberjack show

This summer I decided to try my hand at sewing. My niece had my mother's sewing machine. I got it from her and had maintenance done on it to make sure it everything was ok. The machine would only do one stitch and go backwards and that was ok with me.

The above was my first project.  Back in 2006 I bought enough blocks to cross stitch 2 queen size quilts in the double wedding ring.  Unfortunately, I only completed 6, so I did a lap throw instead.

I then played with a pattern to see if I could get the blocks to be correct.  I have no idea how many I did before I was satisfied.  Unfortunately my mother's machine needed more work. Instead of getting it fixed, I bought a new machine. This is a wonderful sewing machine. Making it easier to sew my projects. Many features I probably won't use.

The above stars were not the easiest to sew. They are not perfect but acceptable for me.

The above table runner was to be longer, but I felt it to be too long for my table. I then had left over material, so I made 2 pot holders.

I would like to make lap throws for my 8 grandchildren. I now just need to figure out what to do.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Remembering George

I find it hard to believe that he passed away 4 years ago today. We had a great life with 30 years together.

There is no way I can top Al Bossence blog today. His words are very  comforting. https://www.thebayfieldbunch.com/2024/01/there-never-was-too-much-distance.html#comment-form.

I also just realized that it has been over a year since I did a post. Where has the time gone. 

I am going well, heathly and continuing on with my life. 

During the fall/winter, I go to my grandson #4 hockey games as much as possible. He plays for the New Hamburg Huskies, about 20 minutes away. Now that we have snow, more coming, I will not be going as much. I still, after 13 years of not driving in the snow, have not got my confidence back. I even have winter tires now but still I'm very cautious driving in snow. Before we got snow, I travelled locally to games, if you consider 1 hour drive local. In the October a friend, Janet, from here in the building and myself went to a hockey tournament in Kincardine daily, to watch my grandson play. Early November, I took my him to Niagara on the Lake for a tournament. It was great to spend quality time with him. Unfortunately, the team did not win those tournaments but did win the New Hamburg one between Christmas and New Years. Much easier games to go to. So, over the winter I will continue to go his games, when the roads are good.

This past summer I was at Rock Glen several times and enjoyed visiting with people, some who I haven't seen since 2019. I have been keeping myself busy, with what not sure, but I always manage to fill my day. 

You just never know, when I will get in the car and go for a road trip, as I call it. It could be to Grand Bend to the flea market, St. Jacobs Market or whatever suits my fancy. Janet and I, took a road trip to Costco in Waterloo, with a stop in Wellesley for strawberries, stop in Hawkesville to go to Sunnycrest Home Baking, (bought a lot of desserts there, great prices and delicious), then to Heidelburg for lunch at The Olde Heidelburg Inn, (great food & service), finally to Costco. You just never know where I or Janet & I will end up.

I have made plans with my sister and brother-in-law to go to Alaska for a cruise in August. I have also,  been doing researching on cruising for the future. Maybe in 2025 I will be in the Carribean. I have found that several cruise lines have solo cabins without have the single supplement of double the cost of 2 people. NCL, Norwegian Cruise Lines, have great options, so looking at them for 2025.

Even though George has passed away, he is never far my daily thoughts. I'm sure he would be pleased with me wanting to cruise. Besides RV'ing, cruising was something we both enjoyed. 

Thanks again, Al, for your great tribute to George and the comments on your blog. It warms my heart with the comments and brings back very pleasant memories of our travels.