I'm Back

OK, I'm so sorry that I have been gone for so long. We are now back in Ohio for 3 weeks and boy have I missed all my stuff!!!   I love my stuff!!!   As a women or maybe it's just those of us who craft and create, we do have lots of stuff.  It makes me very happy and being away from it for two months has made me realize how much my stuff means to me.  I need to take some of it back with me.

Before we left Calgary we did have a great weekend in the mountains.  We went to Lake Louise to go hiking and biking.  We went hiking but it was still "winter" or "sprinter" which is spring/winter to the Canadians.

As you can see there is still snow EVERYWHERE!  It was uphill on a snowy/icy narrow path and if you slipped off the path you were in snow up to your knee.  We also had Oliver with us who was a trooper on the way up but decided he didn't want to walk down and would just stop.  He ended up in my backpack and fell asleep until I slipped then he was a little uneasy.

We stayed in a town called Canmore which is a really cool mountain town.  We ate breakfast outside and we had the most amazing view of the mountains.

There was this most unusual rock in town that I have to share with you.  I call it the rock head.

It was a great weekend and we are now back in Chagrin Falls/Auburn, Ohio and I can't believe how "green" it is here.  I"m just hoping when we go back to Calgary in a few weeks that there are finally leaves on the trees and the temperature during the day hits 70.  I can live with that.

P.S.  Oh yes, one more thing.  I knitted my first sweater while in Canada and I can actually wear it out in public and not be embarrassed .  I can't wait to make something else!!  Sorry its not straight but I don't know how to fix that.

Bye for now!

Laura

Spring is here!!!

Spring arrived yesterday in Calgary.  These beautiful spring flowers were not there two days ago when I ran by, but they are here now.  Apparently spring arrives in Calgary on May 3.

For those of you who are wondering if I am "quilting in 3C", well I am.  I finished this small Jo's Little Women quilt and am still working on a Lori Smith applique.

On my run yesterday I found a new area along the Elbow River.  I went through a beautiful older neighborhood with amazing houses.  It's funny here, all the houses are right next to each other and I mean right next to each other.  There is hardly any yard at all.  That may not be so bad, no yard work and more time for quilting and running!!  Below is the area of the Elbow that I ended up at.  It was so beautiful and full of people walking their dogs and hiking.  I had to hike up a large hill which is where I took this picture from.  By the time I got back I probably ran at least 5 miles maybe more.  Not bad for an old woman!

Today my mission was to see if you can buy Clariton in Canada.  I did find it as well as many other things while I was out.  There is a wonderful art supply store just up the street so I stopped by today and picked up a few things to hopefully spark the artist in me.  I'll keep you posted on that just don't hold your breath.  On the way back to the condo I noticed how beautifully blue the sky was so I wanted to share that with all of you, especially those of you in Ohio who don't get much of that these days.

Now off to work on another quilt and maybe Oliver and I will get out for a walk and enjoy this great weather today.

Bye for now!!
Laura

Living in Calgary

OK, I am back to blogging.  It's been a little over two weeks since we've been here in Calgary and we are getting settled.  We decided we needed to get some cowboy gear so here are our new boots!!

We will need these for the Calgary Stampede this summer.

We also explored some last weekend and went to Bragg Creek, as you can see it was snowing!!

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Such a beautiful place!!  We are looking forward to going back once the weather gets better.  Hiking is not a good idea yet since the bears are starting to wake up and they need the snow to melt so they can get to their food or we may become their food.

Yesterday we took a trip to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller.  It is a museum full of local dinosaurs and artifacts found in the Alberta are.  Some of them even within the last 5-10 years.  This was an amazing place.  Not only was the museum awesome beyond words but once you get near the town of Drumheller the landscape changes and you are all of a sudden in the Alberta badlands.  These are rocks that were created between 84 and 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs roamed the area.  The variation in the colors is something you really need to see first hand, my pictures do not do it justice.

Check out some of the dinosaurs.

I have finally found a great place to go on my runs.  I go down to the Elbow River and have to cross over this swinging bridge, so cool!!!

We are off on another adventure today, I will keep you posted, I promise.

Laura

Packing & Moving Day

The movers will be here soon to pack up what we are taking with us to Calgary.   They are taking it with them today and will  hopefully deliver it to us not long after we arrive.  If they don't, well then we will be eating out (which I don't mind at all) and Oliver and I will be spending a lot of time exploring the area since all we have is a bed and TV.

What a hard job deciding what to take and what not to take.

They are  here, gotta go........!!!

Thought I was going to be able to post a picture but they were in and out of here in 3 hours.  That has to be a record, they were quite excited to have a short Friday ahead of them.

I do have to mention that my lovely daughter Katie graduated last Sunday from The Ohio State University with a degree in Industrial Systems Engineering, cum laude.  What an amazing young adult she has become.

Now off to clean the house and run errands before Katie and Alex (the boyfriend whom we adore) arrive.  So looking forward to a great weekend with all the kids home.  Oh yea, Blaine arrived last night about 8:30, it's now almost 1:00 p.m. and we have not seen him today, still sleeping.  Since it is his spring break I will just let him sleep!!

Hunting & Gathering

OK, We are now waiting for the moving company representative to show up so we can get an estimate on what we want to ship to Canada.  Hopefully he will make it here after our 6- 10 inches of snow we got last night.  Will it every end????

I am in the hunting and gathering phase of the move.  I have to make sure I have things to keep me busy!  If you like to journal and scrapbook you really need to check out Blue Moon Scrapbooking.  They carry items from 7gypsies and Tim Holtz which are amazing.  I am so excited about the 7gypsies products, they are old and worn looking papers and books,  I just received their library drawer which I can't wait to play with.

Off now to meet the moving rep then off to work, wish me luck out there in the snow today.

Laura

Preparing to move

In one month we will be moving from Ohio to Calgary, Alberta in Canada!!!  We will be living on the 4th floor of a condo in the city with a dog.  It's starting to get exciting.  I will be shipping a lot of my sewing and knitting, and Oliver (aka Condo dog) and I will be hanging out and exploring the city.  I have lots of quilting projects to finish before we leave so I am now off to piece some baby quilts and then back to longarm for some more quilting.