Books I Read in 2010

Toast
Nigel Slater Memoir
Truly extraordinary story of a childhood remembered through food in each chapter, as he takes readers on a tour of the contents of his family’s pantry – rice pudding, tinned ham, cream soda, mince pies, lemon drops, bourbon, biscuits. Award winner in the UK.

The Twelve Little Cakes
Dominika Dery Memoir of a Prague childhood
More tender than angry, this memoir is a tribute to the pleasures of childhood and family, even under terrible circumstances.

Marley and Me
John Grogan True Story
Life and love with the world’s worst dog. Even if you saw the movie, read the book for way more mishaps this lovable dog gets into.

The Only True Genius in the Family
Jennie Nash
A father who is a world renowned photographer, his daughter who is a commercial photographer and his granddaughter who becomes a renowned painter. Claire discovers revelations about her father that change everything she believes about herself as a mother, a daughter and an artist.

Mark’s Story
Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
Story of day before Jesus’ crucifixtion and the danger that early believers faced as they boldly proclaimed Him Christ the Lord.

The Quickie
James Patterson
A suspense thriller that will have you gasping out loud at nearly every page.

Any Way You Want Me
Lucy Diamond
Sadie needs to get a life – a new, exciting one, rather thatn her own, rather ordinary one…..

Unravelled
Robyn Harding
Freelance writer Beth Carruthers is invited to join a knitting circle. Her social life is pathetic, her romance is gone but knitting? Turns out learning to knit is fun and she makes some new friends with some pitfalls in between.

Falling
Anne Simpson
This book captures a family in free-fall after tragedy strikes. Set in Nova Scotia and Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The Middle Place
Kelly Corrigan
At 36, Kelly Corrigan has a marriage that works, two active kids and then a lump in her breast. During the time she fights cancer, her father also learns that he has late stage cancer. This is her true journey through that difficult period of her life.

Step Ball Change
Jeanne Ray
This novel explores what love and marriage mean across the years. Engagements, divorces, weddings and dancing all take place in this book.

Peace River Water
Mary Peters
True account of her life, especially after marriage with 14 children.

The Forgotten Garden
Kate Morton
A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book – a beautiful volume of fairy tales. This is her story of a search to find her identity.

Family Matters
Rohinton Mistry
Set in Bombay in the mid-1990’s, this books tells a story of familial love and obligation, of personal and political corruption, of the demand of tradition and the possibilities for compassion.

Say You’re One of Them
Uwem Akpan
A collection of five short stories set in Africa as seen from the eyes of children showing their wisdom and resilience.

Beloved
Toni Morrison
Sethe. Proud and beautiful, she escaped from slavery but is haunted by its heritage. Set in rural Ohio several years after the Civil War.

Bel Canto
Ann Patchett
Kidnappers storm an international gathering hosted by a poor Latin American country to promote foreign trade. Unfortunately their intended target, the President, has stayed home to watch his favourite soap.

A Million Little Pieces
James Frey
Six weeks in rehab after being an alcoholic and crack addict for ten years. ( I am told this is not the author’s true story but rather based on someone else going through treatment.)

The Pilot’s Wife
Anita Shreve
The husband is a pilot and his plane explodes near the coast of Ireland. Did he lead a secret life away from his wife?

Inside the Kingdom
Carmen Bin Laden
Carmen chronicles her nine years of married life in a puritanical, male-dominated community where”women are no more than house pets”.

Sister of My Heart
Chitra Banerjee
Cousins share a bond that is shattered when one of them learns a dark family secret.

Cold Mountain
Charles Frazier
A wounded Confederate soldier decides to walk to his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains and to Ada, the women he loved three years before. Better than the movie.

And here are the pictures of the van we purchased. I find it very big and do not like to drive it within the city. Parking is a big issue for me!!!

Little Girl Shoes

So apparently some of my pictures did not appear in older blogs so have tried to insert them again. Here are the cute shoes I spoke about.

Wedding Card

I decided to make the couple a wedding card but needed some wedding pictures for placement so they just recently received this card. Green was one of the colors used in the wedding so I decided to use that as a base for this special card. I think it turned out quite well.

Wedding

It has been a long time since I have blogged and much has happened in just a few months. My daughter, Angela did marry the love of her life, Luc on May 29th in Tulum, Mexico. Of course, they made a lovely couple and the photographer did a fantastic of job of catching them on their special day.

Congratulations again to the both of you!!

New to us Van

For our cabinet business my hubby likes to drive a van rather than a truck. Recently we went to Calgary to purchase a used van that was newer than our old one. It was in very good condition. It is even larger than our previous van so we should be able to fit lots of cabinets in there when we need to transport them. We were also pleasantly surprised with the mileage - Hubby had excellent mileage driving all the way from Calgary. Now we also will be able to pull our camper and so there may be an Alaskan trip coming up.

Little Girl Shoes

So about 6 years ago I was visiting my daughter in Vancouver. As part of a shopping trip, we had to take a look in Value Village (my daughter is a Costume Designer) for something for a show. My daughter does not like going to Value Village so there was to be no extra stopping and looking. Well, on our way to the exit, these little hot pink sparkly shoes caught my eye. I just had to have them. All these years I have moved them and looked at them every so often. Almost gave them away a few times but couldn't part with them. So now finally these little shoes will find a new home with my granddaughter-to-be. How precious is that! Yes, we now know it will be a girl arriving in July. Way to go Jenn and Tom!!!!

Baby Nightie

So this is the other item that I have to sew for the Newborn kits. I have to make two of these, two of the t-shirts and a receiving blanket for each kit.

Baby T-shirt

I have sewn two of these now. These are very quick to do up - would be nice to have a serger to do these seams.

Newborn Nighties

I have decided that I need to do some charity work and so I have picked up five newborn kits from Mennonite Central Committee in Saskatoon. These kits have two nighties and two t-shirts that are cut out but need to be sewn. They come wrapped in a large piece of flannelette which I also need to hem. I will add the other items to the kit so when I take them back they will be complete. Since I will become a grandma this year, I thought this was the right kit for me to work on. May God use to me to make a difference to a new mom and her child. I'll post pictures once I am done the sewing and shopping.

Newborn kits

MCC distributes newborn kits to hospitals, clinics and refugee camps. Newborn kits are sent to assist mothers in giving their children a good start in Bosnia, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, North Korea, Serbia, Russia and Ukraine.


Contents (NEW items only, size 3-9 months)
• 2 gowns/sleepers (flannel or similar warm, soft material)
• 2 undershirts/onesies (short or long sleeves)
• 4 cloth diapers (flat-fold preferred)
• 1 receiving blanket (light weight fleece or flannel; minimum 92cm / 36 in)
• 4 safety pins (5cm / 2in)
• 1 large bar mild soap (leave in wrapper)
• 1 pair of socks
• 1 cap
• Remove packaging material (except soap) and fold into the receiving blanket. Fasten together with the safety pins.
• Contact your local MCC warehouse/activity center for a new design for hand-sewn gowns.
• Note: Items can either be purchased or hand sewn. Packages of precut materials are available from some MCC offices.

Drop off completed newborn kits at one of the drop-off locations in Canada or the U.S.

Daughters

Bride to Be - May 2011

Mother to Be - July 2011

Hickory Kitchen continued

 
 

Hickory Kitchen continued

 
 
 
 

Hickory Kitchen

 
 
 
 
So these pictures are of a kitchen we recently completed here at Candle Lake. The wood is hickory and the doors were a lot of work. Each door has a raised panel which is made up of boards glued together. I worked hard at coming up with the designs in the doors. Hickory has a very wild grain to begin with but then I still tried to make it look like certain pieces went together. I have been called an artist by the customer and they said they never expected anything like this. They are very excited about their kitchen and that is wonderful to hear! The kitchen is in a beutiful log home and compliments the rest of the home. It is unique and can never be duplicated.

Christmas Present

 
 
 
More pictures of the the booklet.

Christmas Present

 
 
 
 
I can now share this book I created for my friend, Brenda. As it was a Christmas gift I had to wait until the delivery was made. I had a lot of fun putting together these pages. Using a prepackaged kit of paper, stickers and embellishments, I only had to dig into my own stash of scrapbooking paper a few times. The word "Believe" came already cut out on chipboard so it was just a matter of covering the letters and decorating. There are many other words available so this may be another project I may want to try.