Tag: Life

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

September RV Adventure!

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Our long awaited first RV trip happened this month! We arrived home late last week.

After crossing the border into Minnesota, we stopped along the lake to both enjoy the view of Superior and capture some pictures.

One thing that we both decided years ago was that we don’t enjoy racing to each destination without stopping here and there and checking things out. With this stop I noticed something different…the lake always catches my eye but when I looked across the highway I was rewarded with another view!

One of the things that I enjoy about walking regularly is that you can’t help but notice nature and all of its beauty and especially the changes which are becoming more evident with each passing day.

We of course stopped for our regular ice cream treat! Erik discovered a new to him game!

Another familiar stop was Russ Kendall’s Smoked Fish shop!

The size of the motorhome of course requires a different parking spot, which provided a view that again I hadn’t noticed before.

Our first two nights were spent at the Indian Point Campground in Duluth. It’s a City owned small park, on the west side. We really enjoyed the walking trails and nature!

We left Duluth and we headed off to the Upper Peninsula (Michigan)…

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

September Begins

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It’s been a full summer that seems to have sped by…they usually do. Liam returns to school on Tuesday so our days will be a little quieter.

We enjoyed a rib dinner at my Dads a couple weeks ago. Liam’s most favourite meal is ribs and broccoli. While waiting for the veggies to cook Liam sampled the ribs…

Liam has been really interested in trying out golf lately so spent time with his Great Grandpa in Dads golf room…

Liam was gifted a blueberry pie by my Auntie Marie…Liam’s Great Great Aunt and that she certainly is…Great that is!

Liam and Mom 💕

We have a little fall adventure planned but other than that, and hopefully some fishing and finishing up the gardens life should settle into routine with a lot of quilting involved!!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Walking

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I have been a walker for many years. We own a treadmill and I have used it occasionally, Erik uses it daily. I however much prefer to walk outside.

Other than our Wisconsin Dells trip, I have walked daily all summer. Most days I head out in the morning and my route takes about an hour and a half. It really is good for my mind body and soul. Occasionally Liam will join me but for the most part I walk by myself.

Yesterday we woke to a gray sky and predicted rain. I chose to walk anyways knowing that I would get soaked. It was a gentle soothing rain and I really enjoyed it.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Long Time Dream Come True

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Something that I had always wanted to do before I met Erik was to go fishing and maybe even some camping. He very happily helped me to achieve those dreams!

It wasn’t intentional but the colour of the boat matches the old RV!

We have used the motorhome many times over the years, some trips but mostly for camping and fishing. As the years went by we have talked about retirement years and dreamed of RV travel.

Our vintage motorhome fit the bill for short camping trips and there are many great memories attached however it was time for an upgrade. Something a little more modern. After years of research and discussions on what we wanted, Erik found exactly what we had in mind.

As a retired GM mechanic the chassis had to be a Chevy for sure. We wanted a bedroom…the old motorhome has a bench that pulls out and is then made into a not so comfortable bed.

The purchase required a quick trip to Lavaltrie Quebec, just outside of Laval. We flew Porter and had a quick stop at Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto, we were there just long enough to have breakfast and then we were off to Montreal. I was able to use my new Uber skills attained last summer taking Eriks Mom to Toronto.

We had a one night stay in a small hotel in Laval, we enjoyed walking around the area and a yummy supper before settling in for the night.

The next morning we took another Uber ride to the dealership and then after a couple hours learning about and looking over our new little house we were on our way.

We have one slide for the bedroom.

Before we left home we bought a membership for Boondockers Welcome and we were able to secure a place for the night in Kanata just outside of Ottawa. We really enjoyed the drive, and after stopping for supplies met our first host.

No snow and green grass…

Our second night was our first night boondocking at a Walmart, we spent the night in Sault Ste Marie and enjoyed another good sleep though chillier than the night before.

The rest of the drive was for the most part along Lake Superior and then home.

We haven’t planned our next adventure with it yet but do have some ideas.

I will of course need to make new quilts for it!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Begining of Summer

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It is so nice to wake up to blue sky and sunshine and green grass…well maybe not all green right now.

We welcome the bees back and living in the country the dandelions do their thing.

Liam loves soccer and has been teaching me some new techniques. I have many memories of my Grandmothers but none involved playing with me, I want that for my Grandchildren.

He won’t have memories of me dirt biking, those will be with Pappa!

Pool season is almost here and Erik was called into helping replace his Daughter and Son-in-laws liner as he has done it before on our pool.

I was treated to a day of playing with grandchildren and being fed! Later there was a birthday celebration for Erik. We arrived home just before 9 and both had a little nap in order to have the energy to wrap up the day.

Today is a professional development day here which means no school for Liam. He and I will work on planting the garden and some flowers along with some soccer and our war on the ants.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Grandma and Liam vrs the Ants

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Let me begin this story by clarifying as Liam put it that we want to get rid of Ants not Aunts!

Liam reminded me about our ant study last year and asked to rewatch some of the YouTube’s that we watched before. He especially liked the one that involved a flame thrower! That won’t be happening here.

Every year it seems that the ants are winning as they seem to take over the yard and every year we try something new. This year friends brought us a new to us product to try. It seems to have worked on the first hill. So time will tell.

The bottom of the rock was full of ants trying to move the rock. As other areas they had moved the smaller rocks off of the house!

There are several remedies that I haven’t tried yet. This one involves a gel bait that goes into the little houses and the ants flock to it and bring it into the nest to feed the queen and babies.

Anyone have other successful remedies?

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Diane’s Quilt

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It was such a pleasure to complete this quilt for Diane, mostly because I knew how special this quilt is to her.

Her piecing on this quilt was exact and her borders laid flat…the paisley designed fabric spoke to me and I chose the pantograph flying Daisy.

I don’t often bind customer quilts but did finish this quilt completely, it made me happy that I could. Diane has always from the time I met her been a cheerleader in living your life and is someone who makes such a positive difference in this world! She inspires me 😊

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Welcome June!

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I cut the grass yesterday for the first time this season. One of the many perks of my life with Erik is that I have a nice little lawn tractor to cut grass…it’s a task that I enjoy!

This years winter was exceptionally long and stretched well into what should have been spring.

May held many challenges.

I learnt a lot about sump pumps and am extremely thankful that Erik already knew…so one morning early in May when I said that the pump sounded like it was humming he flew into action replacing it!

With that under control we breathed a little easier, however a day or so later I discovered water coming into the cold storage room. Thankfully we work well as a team, and between the two of us we were able to prevent any damage. I am an early riser and Erik is more a night owl so we worked shifts. It was a week of shop vacuuming every 20 minutes for a few days and loads of towels on and off the line or in the dryer being rotated.

The sump pump ran non stop for 3 weeks. We had a lot more snow than usual this year and with several rainstorms and frozen ground many people had destroyed basements. We were lucky!

I still continued to work away on customer quilts though not very much time for personal piecing.

So I was happy to celebrate the beginning of June by cutting grass! It’s time to plant some flowers and make some plans!

Liam has one serious plan and it looks like this summer we can make that happen!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Carol’s Star Quilt

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Carol made this quilt for her son, I added my touch with the pantograph Star swirl.

Michelle Wyman designed the Starswirl pantograph.

When I first started quilting on my Longarm, I was a member of an online group called LACHAT it was a fantastic resource not only for longarm quilting but also friendships with so many likeminded people.

It had great forums for trouble shooting, how would you quilt this and show and tell along with a chat room that many of us regularly spent time visiting with each other. I bring this memory up as I am reminded of it when I use Michelle’s Pantograph as that is where I met her.

The owner of the site eventually moved in a different direction and closed the site. Many of the quilters are still active and it’s been fun to follow them on social media.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Duluth Birthday Trip 2022 and a New Quilt-shop!!!

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Other than the last couple of years Erik and I travel to Duluth MN to celebrate his birthday. He has also been retired for a year.

This year we were able to travel. With all of the snow melting and rain the waterfalls and rivers were pretty spectacular, we make it a point to stop several times during the drive.

As soon as we cross the border we pull into the parking lot and enjoy the walk to high falls. https://www.exploringnorthshore.com/pigeon-river-high-falls/

After stopping at Rydens Border Store to pick up a few packages…we were back on the road.

Next stop was the DQ in Grand Marais….we almost always have to make an ice cream stop!

While back on the road, I was looking something up when Erik suddenly said oh there’s a quilt shop and asked if I wanted to stop….I answered “well I don’t really need to“…which was followed with…too late I am pulling in!!!

That’s when I met Sylvia, she opened her quilt shop just before the pandemic closed the border. She has a beautiful shop in Lutsen MN that is well worth the stop. I really enjoyed our visit and so much so that I forgot to take pictures inside the shop…so now you will need to go yourself and check it out!

Years ago we decided to stop using the expressway from Two Harbours to Duluth and instead take the scenic route along the lake… that’s when we discovered Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse. We almost always stop for a snack of smoked Cisco.

After settling into our hotel room, we set off for a walk along the lake, Duluth has done an amazing job with their waterfront and the weather was perfect! We turned around at the Lief Erikson Statue.

Another favourite treat is supper at Pizza Lucé for a delicious well deserved meal.

It rained all of the next day, which was ok because for the most part it was a shopping day.