A WEIRD WEEK..........

Well, it's been almost a week since I've posted anything. I must admit that this past weekend, I allowed myself some time to just 'veg' out and do a bit of reading. I did attend a seminar on Saturday morning that was interesting. It was by a woman who was originally from British Columbia, but now lives in Chatham, Ontario. Her story is very impressive. You can learn about her if you go to www.RichMom.com.

I did a bit of gardening, but it was WAY too hot and humid to stay out for very long. I finally turned the central air conditioning on! We so needed rain! Fortunately, it's been raining since about 4PM and we can only hope it continues all night. Our plants, our grass are quite pitiful. We have a well, so really can't risk setting up sprinklers. The only thing that seems to be thriving are the weeds!

Monday, I finally had my throat surgery. Not as easy this time! This is the second vellecula cyst I've had to have removed from my throat. They tell me there's no rhyme or reason why people get them. Trust me, they are very annoying. You constantly feel like you have a peanut or something caught in your throat. I constantly clear my throat and cough a lot. Right now, I'm still pretty sore, but each day is getting better.

Tomorrow, I go see a shop owner in Warkworth to show her some of my plates. I sure hope she likes them well enough to purchase wholesale or take in on consignment.! From there I'm heading to Brockville for the rest of the day and overnight. I will be returning with a great treadmill my friends are giving me. Yeah!

Since I felt kind of lousy yesterday, I did some computer work. I was referred to a company called Vista Print and spent about an hour on the phone with them. They walked me through a complete design of a 'Maggie's Studio' set up for a marketing card I can hand out. I'm really excited about it! My 'rack cards' will arrive in about a week!





I also have a custom order for a plate to complete within the next week.

We also have friends arriving for a couple of days from British Columbia. They used to be our neighbours here. They are SO much fun! They usually trek back to Ontario for a couple of weeks and do their tour of family and friends. Hmmm, better get my house cleaned as well!

CATCH UP MODE.......!!!!

Wow, I'm definitely in catch up mode!
Our dear friend, Shirl, left last night to go home to England. It was SO great getting almost two weeks to spend time with her here. In April, I got to visit with her for a couple of days at my youngest daughter's in Princeton.
This was the first time Shirl had come in nice weather, so we were able to do so much more and see so much more!


I took her all over the place and she got to see a lot of my family as well. I think she had a really good time. We took her on the liftlock boat cruise as Peterborough has the highest lift locks in the world. It is very weird to be in a boat on water and have it lift up approx. 70 feet in order to get to the next lock system.It's something to experience, for sure.




I also took her to Gallery of the Lake, which is a beautiful art gallery in Buckhorn set back in the woods right on the Lake. She purchased a beautiful piece of jewellry for herself from a wonderful artist.




I now have a lot to do. I began by responding to many emails that needed a reply and managed to get that caught up last night. I'm hopefully going back to Warkworth next week to show some of my plates to a shop there. Hopefully, she'll like my work well enough to purchase some pieces or let me show on consignment. There is a new art gallery in Peterborough and I'd like to get some of my photography in there for a period of time. I need to replace my photography at our local Tea Room to encourage some new interest.

Monday I have throat surgery. It's no real big deal. I've had this surgery two years ago and it went fine. Let's hope it goes as well this time.

I also have to go to Brockville to visit with some friends. They sold their beautiful home on the St. Lawrence river and are beginning a new adventure. They've purchased a motorhome and will spend the winters travelling wherever the wind takes them. They are editing their belongings and I've been offered their treadmill...yeah!
We will do a trade for some of my works down the road. Happy, happy! They close the sale on June 15th and they want stuff picked up by the end of next week. It's a win, win for me. I get a treadmill and get to visit with some old and dear friends for a little while.

Busy, busy!

SHIRLEY'S WEEK ONE.......

Well, it's been very busy since our friend Shirley arrived from England a little over a week ago. First, was the bridal shower for my niece. Each day we've visited a different town in the area and enjoyed trying some new restaurants for lunch. One of Shirl's requests each time she comes is to eat, at least once, at a Canadian chain called Swiss Chalet. They do rotisserie chickens, which are consistently wonderful, super excellent fries and salad.......we did that! My daughter's also love to go there when they come home.

We've been to Warkworth, Campbellford, Hastings and Bobcaygeon so far! We've had lunch at our local Village Tea Room, The Magic Rolling Pin Tea Room. Quite frankly, we've been and done so much, I'm forgetting where all we've been. We've also had a few ice cream cones from our local Kawartha Dairy. They have numerous varieties of ice cream so we try a different flavour each time we go....Yummy!

Today, we went to the Hiawatha First Nations Pow-Wow....such colourful and elaborate costumes and dancing! It's so incredible the amount of work that goes into just one costume...so beautiful! I enjoyed the little kids in their costumes and their dancing..! Cute!








Tomorrow, we're going to the Gallery on the Lake(Buckhorn) Art Gallery, then to the Buckhorn Fine Art show and on to my sister-in-law's place for a 'girls' dinner...six women to sit and talk and sip a few drinks.....and eat, of course.

Monday, we will go on the Liftlock Boat Cruise. We didn't realize that Shirley has never gone on this cruise. It's kind of cool when the boat does the transfer lift and you're 150 ft. in the air, in water and sitting in a boat. The view up top is absolutely spectacular!

Through all of the touring, I've still managed to do my 2 hour workouts at the club every second day and walk on the alternate days. It's SO frustrating that in almost six months, I've only lost two pounds and 1% body fat!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAHHHH!

BRIDAL SHOWER A SUCCESS....

Well, a lot of planning and a lot of work BUT the bridal shower for my niece, Kelly was a wonderful afternoon! Although the shower was not a surprise, her Mom and I decided not to tell her our friend, Shirley would be here from England. As they came up the walkway Shirley opened the door and just completely shocked Kelly. Kel began to cry with excitement. I also think it shows how 'on edge' she is at the moment.

I had requested that the guests purchase gift cards from one particular Canadian store ( The Bay ) which they could use to apply to a brand new, extra large boxspring and mattress. Since they both had their own apartments, they said they didn't need much. Having said that, they really, really wanted and needed a new bed. They received enough in gift cards to almost completely pay for their new bed. I just heard from her Mom they put in the difference and are SO ecstatic to have a new bed!

The big hit as far as food was the Belgian chocolate fondue fountain....Delicious and just plain fun!




I have a cousin who has taken up cake decorating who offered to do a cake for the occasion. Below is the end result.........just beautiful!!!