G'day all,

It is a very hot day here today, 32 degrees, cool change this afternoon and by Sunday it should be a very nice, sunny 23 degrees.

Peggy your witches sound great, you are so creative. I really think you should photograph your master pieces and share it with us.

Ann sounds very relaxing, sitting in your rocking chair and doing some hand quilting.

Nice to 'see' you Karen.

Lily cannot remember when you said you would be back, hope to 'see' you soon and hear about your holiday.

Jeney I thought you would have been back by now. Did you have any luck finding a place in the country? The Victorian High country is just beautiful, I am sure you would have enjoyed it.

Saw an interview on TV with the star of the Greek wedding movie some of you have spoken of and said you enjoyed. It has opened this week in Australia so I will definetly make an effort to go and see it after hearing the praises here on the board.
This morning I went out with ds fiancee and we bought 'ready-made' curtains for their new place. Next week dh will put up the rods and we will hang the curtains.
This Sunday we are having a group of our friends around for lunch. It will be nice to catch up with everyone.

Have a great day/night all

Cheers
Maria

Hi Everybody Well after eating my way through last weekend I showed a gain of .4# at my WW weigh in on Tuesday. I must say I really made an effort not to over indulge too much.
Karen and Glenda both of you should look into making a quilted Christmas Tree skirt like Trudy and I did. I had quilted a little bit before that but I don't think Trudy had. I'm happy we made them, they turned out very nice and were very simple and fun to do.
Maria I see you are managing to keep yourself busy. I bet you find it really nice to be in your own home again with all your own things around you.
Peggy you always come up with the neatest craft idea's. On the weekend when I was at the lake my friend and I went to the little local grocery store and the gal in there had made a "vase" out of a gourd. She cut the top off the gourd and cleaned it out and then attached the top piece with a part of the stem still on it to the side of the gourd making it look like a handle. She had it filled with real flowers.
I forget when Lily went away. ALAS I also forget when she said she would be back. Ann I like some little thing to occupy my hands when I sit and watch TV too. Well we might get SNOW tomorrow too, so I guess we just sort of by- passed Indian Summer and are going right into winter.
I think Jenye should be back any day now to. How did it go, looking for property? Well gals, time for me to tidy up a bit and get ready for bed. Night all. :sheep:

More snow on the ground today not very happy abut that I wonder if it is a preview of what is to come. I started reminding members at my meetings yesterday that with the snow arriving they need to be aware that if schools are closing around them to remember that I will not be driving either.

Maria I gave you the thumbs up sign when I read that you had found ready made curtains. I remembered you had hoped you would.

Slavika I have my frabric in the washing machine as we speak. Since blue is my favorite color that is my them. I'm going to iron and get my peices cut today so that I can begin sewing them on Sunday.

I've a shower to go to tomorrow for my Neice. My Brothers oldest girl. It is his and sil first grandchild. The whole family is very excited.

There are October Fest's going on all over the state this week end. But won't have time to visit any. Besides I want to work on my newest project

Well have to get my day going have lots to do cleaning. cooking going to the bank and cutting strips.

Karen

Maria, how lucky you didn't have to sew curtains. You will love My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Karen your quilt will be so pretty. You will have to post a picture of you and the quilt. It will keep you warm on those snowy days. We are all set up for our show. It is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. Hope that people come. Saturday is the buying day and Sunday they bring the dh's who don't like to buy anything. See you all Monday.

G'day all,

By the time you read this Peggy your craft show will be all over, I hope it was very successful.

Karen you have probably cut all the strips and are well on the way with your quilting. I hope you had a nice time at the shower for your niece. I am not sure what you mean by 'shower' does it mean a get together and that everyone brings a gift?

Yes you are right I am very pleased we found ready-made curtains, slightly over budget but as I told dh, it will keep my sanity

I have been preparing all day for my 12 visitors tomorrow. It has been a long time since I had this many guests at my place for lunch, I hope I have thought of everything
It has been a lovely day and it promises to be another nice spring day tomorrow
DH had to go and see the Mercedes dealer in town and next door is the biggest fabric shop so I went there. So many beautiful fabrics, so tempting..........but I was sensible and didn't buy any.

I must be off and throw a vacuum through my house and then I can relax with everything done for tomorrow.

Cheers all
Maria

Maria,
Yep thats right . We bring gifts for the new Baby and some times for the Mom to Be. Plus we lay a few goofy games and then we eat CAKE! Can you guess my favorite part?
Karen

Karen your definition of a "Shower" is the same as mine... I think we spend more time thinking of the food than picking out the gifts. I had never quilted before Slavika came up with the wonderful idea of a tree skirt. It was really fun to see all the little pieces of fabric come together.
Slavika I have been eating my way through the week, in fact I have hardly stopped since Tue. I don't know if it is because the weather has been so cool it makes me want to eat comfort foods..
Peggy you do the neatest crafts. Too bad we all can't come by to see them. I hope your craft sale went well.
Ann that must be quite an undertaking, doing the quilting by hand. Did it take you long?

I bought some artic fleece for baby blankets and lovely soft flannel for receiving blankets. I finished one blanket off with a simple blanket stitch, but the others I serged on Slavika's serger yesterday. She came up with the bright I never used a serger before, it sure did a lovely job. She baked a very tasty scone with a cream cheese and raisin filling to have with our tea after all the work was done. What a gal..

Have a great weekend everyone.. ...

Im back. We got back today. To tierd to read what has been going on or post about the trip. Will tomorrow.
Just know Im back Fat and Happy

Looking at the scale today, I best be heading to a WW meeting tomorrow to pay my dues. Was not good at all while we were away.
So Im going to a meeting tomorrow Am and then to the Big Innovations WW meeting tomorrow afterwards. Its where they tell of any changes etc. Heard there are none. But I need all the WW I can get at this point

Will check back in tomorrow after all the stuff and let you know just how bad it was

Later!

Welcome back Lily. Glad you had a nice vacation. We spent an overnight in Southern Georgia going to a musical play called "Swamp Gravy" It has an interesting history, and will tell you about it tomorrow. Too tired now.

Raisin and Cream cheese scones. Sound wonderful .

good night all. Ann

G'day all.

Just waiting for my guests to arrive and thought I would see what you have been up to.
Welcome back Lily, sounds like you had a good time, fat and happy!!! The fat will go in no time, just stay happy.

It is a beautiful day here today, hard to believe that some of you are eating to keep warm
When I get the time, I would love to learn how to do blanket embroidery, I have seen some gorgeous baby blankets. Best wait till becoming a grandmother is a bit more likely than it is now.

DD rang yesterday and she told me that she was studying the many ways of parenting in her psychology course. I was expecting the worse but she told me that it was just amazing but the best style of parenting was our way!!!!!!! She did qualify this by saying that we were not totally perfect but were on the right track It made my day.
It is really interesting that a friend of ours (he still is) always insisting on wanting to kiss dd when she was little. She hated it and used to run away and at times was in tears because of it. She now says that it really was a form of harrassment. We never looked it that way. I told her that I should have really told the friend not to do it because it upset her so much. Funny how we now see things so differently. I told her at least she has learnt not to allow this (as innocent as it was) to happen to her children.

On that little note, I will be off
Cheers
Maria

Welcome home Lily. We missed you. Looking forward to living your vacation through your writing. Never fear vacation pounds don't hang around long as long as you nip it in the bud now! Be sure to share the fun of innovations with us. We go next Sunday and are lucky enough to have our CEO Linda Huett visit ours.

Shower was nice. Cake was good (too good) My neice got a lot of nice useable things.

Trudy I've been looking at the fleece too. Was thinking about some nice warm jacket to wear instead of sweaters all the time.

Ann, Swamp Gravy? be sure and let us in on that.

Maria hope company was fun.

I remember being teased so much when I was about 7 by a family friend (adult) over a bowl of ice cream that I wouldn't eat it after it was finally given to me. I always have that thought in my mind and to this day if I see an adult or older child teasing a younger one I will step in and stop it.

Karen

Ann: Yes what is Swap Gravy? Sounds very interesting

Maria: Wow interesting about what your DD said about your friend. I sure it did make your day when she said you were right on the Parenting! You should be proud!

Karen: Yes I will get it off. Wasnt a pretty picture 8#
Im sure some is fluff but Some is not, so Im back on track as of today.
Will see how much is fluff next week when I WI again. Got my leader watching me once again

Trip was great. Spent alot of time on the coast. Thru Washington and Oregan and then on up in to Canada. Spent alot of time in Victoria seeing all the things we missed the last time. Really love that city. Its beautiful. Even got to see some whales on the trip over. Just ate to many meals out and to many desserts Altho they were shared it still packed it on. Did lots of walking to but it didnt help. Even ate lots of Fish. But when its prepared some of the ways I had it thats not good either. So back to basics for me for awhile. I did go in today and pay my weekly fee so I can be accountable again.

Innovations was fun! They are no changes to the program itself. They are going to talk more about Exercise this year and get people more educated on it. Which is good. Another bit of scoop is they have joined in with the American Cancer society and are going to have a Great WI day. Like the Great smoke out day. Thought this was super! All WW centers etc will be open that day all day long. Did say that obesity had alot to do with cancer.

I see we are getting a new thread tomorrow so Ann dont get lost! Should be nice to have own own little spot


Gonna start using the Journel on this site til I get back to my goal.
ALAS...........

Night all still trying to recover from Vacaction. Gonna hit the bed early.

Oh forgot to add that the Points Braclet will be sold in all areas now. Course some of you creative people already have them

G'day all,

We had a lovely lunch with our friends. I was exhausted though, not having prepared a lunch for 14 for quite some time. The good thing is that I eat very little when I have people over, I make up for it when they leave

It was great catching up with everyone, it was as though we had never been away.
Tonight ds and fiancee have invited us for dinner. They are just so happy in their new home.
DH is off to Sydney till friday tomorrow. Still hanging in there job wise.
I am getting a bit more relaxed about it, what will be, will be.

Sounds like you had a relaxing, and fun holiday Lily I can relate to the meals out despite the best intentions, so often meals are served ladened with creamy sauces etc. Good luck 'de-fluffing'

See ya tomnorrow
Cheers
Maria

Hi Everybody It sure was nice to read so many new posts this morning.
Lily welcome back, my friend. It sounds like you had a wonderful holiday. I too, think Victoria is a lovely place. My DH aunt used to live there so DH and I went out to see her a couple of times. It's a grand mixture of old and new.
Did you make it to the hotel for "tea"? ALAS, if you went there I can understand why you put on a bit of weight. I bet you were pleased with the exchange on your dollar while in Canada.
Maria glad your lunch went well with your friends. I was reading some news article on the net about companies like the one your DH works for and his is certainly not the only one that is suffering financial woes right now.
Karen I have a fleece jacket that I just love because it is so cozy, but if there is a wind, well the wind goes right through it. It's ok though if you wear it instead of sweater, and have something over it or on days that are not to cold and windy. I usually take it with me when I fly instead of a sweater. Peggy I guess that craft show is just a memory now. How did it go? Did you get rained on? Ann whatever would a play be about that is called "Swamp Gravy"?
The scone recipe that I made that Trudy mentioned is a keeper. It is a new recipe I found. It was not that low in points but I played with it a bit and managed to lower the calorie count a little. Actually the scone part is not that bad but the filling has a few points. You roll four- 6" circles of scone dough out, and put a mixture of LITE cream cheese, sugar, lemon peel and raisins on top of two of the circles and then top them with the remaining two circles.....score each top into 8 servings, making a total of 16 servings. Great with tea or coffee, at anytime. It works out to about 4 points per scone.
Tormorrow I am taking my dil out for lunch, so will not be going to WW or having Tea Time and in the evening I am going to see My Greek Wedding with a friend. Looking forward to Tuesday.
Talk to you all later. Once again, Lily nice to "see" you back.

I am glad that I just ate. Those scones sound so good. And I love cake. I had a treat at the craft show. Chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick. It is chilled and way too good. The craft show was cooooold and rainy on Saturday and just cold on Sunday. There were people out in the miserable weather on Sat pushing babies in strollers. Personally think they were nuts. Sun was good and crowded. Sold most of my stuff-just have to go out now and sort out the rest of it. I have been to the thrift stores this morning looking for little kids shoes for our snow kids. We weren't sure what to price them so put $35 on them and they went. Lily it sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I would love to do that someday. You will get that fluff off. Are you back to work? Karen what's a shower without cake? Hope you had a piece for me. Slavika you do make the best things. No wonder all the gals like to come to your house for tea time. Right Trudy? Maria you kept yourself in check in the fabric store. Now that you are back home will it be hard to leave again? Ann let us know what Swamp Gravy was about. It sounds interesting. Got to go get some things done around here,