I've tried soaking, I've tried scrubbing....

.... oh wait! That was the Ring Around the Collar....No, really. I HAVE tried soaking and scrubbing!!!! .... My shower that is.

A few years ago I remodeled my teeny-tiny bathroom and because of space limitations I had to have a custom built shower installed. I love it by the way... Thanks again Ryan! Oh, I remember how excited I was when I got to clean my shower for the first time because I knew I would no longer have to scrub endlessly. However, much to my dismay I can't say the same thing for the floor of the shower. I chose the marble shower and the base of the floor is textured to avoid slippage of course, but I cannot get it clean. I have tried everything.

I've used every type of cleaning solution you can purchase, I've used home remedies: lemon juice, baking soda, peroxide, vinegar, every kind of scrub brush imaginable to get in all the tiny crevices. I even bought one of those flat rubber plugs to plug the drain, filled the floor base with water, added bleach and left the bleach bottle on the plug to ensure it stayed in place. For 8 hours!!! It helped, but not much.

Nothing really addressed the problem. Until now! I purchased the Enjo cleaning system. For those of you who have never heard of this product, it is simply 'cleaning cloths' that you only use with water, no other cleaning solutions. Just water. I was skeptical for years despite all the rave reviews. But I was seriously getting tired of my weekly cardio workout in the bathroom. Well ok.... almost each week (guilty sulk).

Yesterday I participated in a "Vendor Day Fundraiser' and I kept staring over at the Enjo booth. Do I? Don't I? Do I? Don't I? So I moseyed on over to the booth to speak with Jamie and I finally decided to purchase this product after thinking about it for close to 2 years now. Remember, the 30 day rule. Wait 30 days before making impulse purchases. So I did the math and concluded that I have waited 24 times and I am justified in this purchase.

So Sunday morning when I got up I decided to try this Enjo cloth and prove everybody wrong and get my money back with my 30-day guarantee. Suffice it to say... I will not be returning this product EVER!

The main reason I wanted this product was for my tub, but the shower floor is my 'bonus'. When we remodeled, I had my cast iron claw foot tub refinished. However, with the new finish, you cannot use any harsh chemicals to clean it. The problem is, with the skin conditions in this family we tend to use a lot of product that has oils and that causes a lot build up. I wish I could impress upon you that my arms are in good shape from all that scrubbing, but I confess to say that when riding in my friends convertible last summer I commented on the noise of the flags flopping in the wind as we drove by our friends house. She promptly informed me that it wasn't flags, it was my arms making that noise as I was waving to them.

While I'm cleaning the shower I decided to only clean half, take a picture and post it to show the difference this cloth makes. The results are from a one-time clean. I am confident with regular use of this cloth I have finally found the answer to my cleaning problem!! to contact my Enjo rep, just click on Enjo anywhere in this posting.

And of course, for the followers who have read about my cat... yes she was right there to help as usual! Next week, I'll post the before and after pictures of the bathroom.

Finally, a solution to the 'stain look' floor.
I LOVE Enjo.

Sushi, of course, always there to help!
So they say animals take after their owners,
does that mean I'm always curious and nosy, or always there to help?

The Red Carpet...

.....or wooden staircase. Same thinnnnngggggggg.

As I arrived at Tracey and Paul's to dine before the Oscars (see previous post), this is how Tracey greeted me at the door. Jolly good fun.

Stunning in her shimmering emerald evening gown adorned with a satin sash, and complimented with a turquoise orb necklace (not to be confused with an ort) Tracey certainly makes the Best Dressed list. Topping the Worst Dressed list is Melissa Leo in her white lace gown with gold tinfoil underlay. Definitely not my cup of tea.

And many thanks to Tracey for not dropping the F-Bomb in front of millions of viewers/followers. Tinfoil appears to have the tendency to to make you ramble and curse. Tracey, I'm glad you chose to wear satin.

In reference to our previous post... tonight I will sleep royally. Colin won Best Actor, The King's Speech won Best Movie, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay ... and Bob's your Uncle.

Cheerio !

It's OSCAR Night !!

I love the Oscars. Probably because I love movies. I love movies probably because I worked in a movie theatre from the time I was in grade 6 until I was married and had my first child.

Now when I say movie theatre I am talking about the Kineto. (Pronounced Kin-ett-oh.) The Kineto has been in operation since 1905 and was family owned and operated by the Rumfords. It was sold in 1977 to the local Kiwanis Club who still own and operate it as a non profit venture. But here is the unique part. Before the Kiwanis Club renovated it, the concession booth was not separate from the theatre. Which meant I could watch the movie from start to finish while working. Every night, every weekend, every movie, for free.; and paid to work. Talk about luck.

Hence, my love for movies and the Oscars. There aren't a lot of people I know who share my love of the Oscars and I had commented on that to Tracey just last week and she said, I'll watch the Oscars with you! So that's the plan. We are going to get together to watch the Oscars and cross stitch of course... but.... it gets better!

Wait for it....

Paul's New Years resolution is to make dinner for Tracey every Sunday. So he's invited me to dine with them and Tracey said "Come over early so we can watch the 'Red Carpet' "

I have found new Oscar friends!! I asked Tracey if she was going to wear her evening gown, so that I knew what to wear, but she informed me "unfortunately, it's at the cleaners." I'm secretly thinking about showing up in one of the evening gowns from the kids 'tickle-trunk'. shhhhh...don't tell her...

I don't know what Paul is preparing, but I am hoping that it is some True Grit followed by a dish of the Kings Peach cobbler. Don't look for us because we won't be on The Social Network tonight or out on The Town, because we will be watching the Oscars for 127 Hours and it will be so Biutiful. The Kids Are All Right, they can get dinner for themselves.

I really want Colin Firth to win! I love him and he did a fantastic job in this role. So did Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen - she really had the mannerisms of the 'The Queen Mom' down pat. Can you tell what my favourite movie is...??? It was a little difficult to picture Colin as anything but Marc Darcy, but he pulled it off magnificently. My fingers are crossed for the King!

Marc Darcy - looking adoringly at Miss Elizabeth Bennett in
BBC's Pride and Prejudice.

Marc Darcy - looking adoringly at Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones Diary.

Now here he is looking adoringly at Bonnie as she journals about him on her blog.

... and now here is is looking adoringly at Bonnie as he invites her into the tub.

The Queen looking adoringly at The King after his speech.

The King looking adoringly at his speech therapist during his speech. 

Long live the King. ooops, too late... Long Live the Queen.

Does anyone remember singing that in school? We used to have to start the day with the Lord's Prayer followed by the Royal Anthem. We would stand, face her picture, hold our hand over our heart and sing this song:

God save our gracious queen!
Long live our noble queen!
God save the queen!

Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us, God save the queen.

Man, I'm dating myself!
Might as well, I'm not dating anyone else.
Bonnie

Just A Reminder...

...10 months until Christmas :^) :^) :^)

Four Months And Counting

Our only daughter Chantelle, gets married 4 months from today, Tuesday, June 21, 2011. Yes, you read it right a Tuesday... " the Summer Solstice, a.k.a. Midsummer's Eve; a time traditionally associated with magic, when the sun is at it's highest point and festivities last all through the night." (A quote directly from their wedding invitation.)

Unusual yes, but not a surprise, ever since they announced their engagement after a whirlwind weekend in Paris, France in August 2009. (The ring has a black diamond and Martin designed it himself!). Chantelle and Martin are a very creative, artistic, non-traditional, fun-loving couple indeed... and that's what this wedding is all about :^)

Should be a blast!!

Tracey

Time to Giggle!!

Enough is enough!  We've had two glorious days of mild weather and sunshine and NOW we have another Winter Storm Watch!!  Enuff already!!! 

I say it's time to Giggle.  Time to rid ourselves of the February blahhhhs.  Let's begin with a few stories that happened this week. 

My 5 year old great nephew Nicholas was with his papa one day and the conversation went like this: 
Pappa can I have a Popsicle?
Sorry Nicholas, we don't have any Popsicles.
Yahhhhh, they are in the freezer. 
No, we don't have any left. The Popsicles are all gone. 

No they aren't - they are in the freezer, go look papa. In the kitchen, go look. 

Nicholas, we don't have any Popsicles in the kitchen. 
Well then go look in the other freezer in the other room.  Come on papa, go look. Either you'll be right, or I'll be right.
***************************************************************************
This past week, one of my managers at work was extremely busy in a full week of training sessions and as he rushed past me one day he said: 

I sent you an email, can you investigate some flight costs for me?

Sure, but depending on the times you fly out makes a difference in cost - did you specify that in your email?

No; ummm how about depart on the 20th say.... noon and return at 6pm on the 22nd. 

Ok, that helps, I'll see what I can do.

As I read through the communications of the email I noticed that the actual meeting agenda would follow later, and knowing this could affect the cost of the flights - I only did a general overview of flight costs.

The next day, just before he went into a training session for the day he came to me.. and the conversation went like this: 
Hey Bonn, did you get a chance to look at flight costs?
Yes I did.
Oh good.  What am I looking at? 
They range anywhere from $500 to $1,500. 
Oh, which one was the cheapest?  
Aaahhhhh, The $500 one.....???

*********************************************************************
This past summer, my great nephews Zach (11) and Ben (9) were visiting.  They overheard a discussion I was having with my niece regarding my lottery list.  She said, "What's a lottery list?"   I said, "Oh, it's my list of names of family and friends, and when I win my millions, the first person who says 'OH Good, you can buy me this, or You can get me this'  XX - their name is promptly OFF the list."   Of course we laughed about 'the list', and she said, .... that's actually a pretty good idea. 

The next day as they were about to leave, and knowing that boys this age would not want to do the kiss and hug goodbye thing... I said "Who's giving Aunt Bonn a kiss goodbye?"  Zach was coming down the stairs, turned up his nose and  hmmphfftt'd "I'm not". 

Meanwhile, Benjamin promptly pushes by him and says "Well I am - Cause I'M staying ON that list!!!" 


*********************************************************************

Below are a few youtube links that are sure to make you giggle. 

Funny Talking Animals - BBC Walk on the Wildside #1 
Funny Talking Animals - BBC Walk on the Wildside #2
Funny Talking Animals - BBC Walk on the Wildside #3 

Hope you enjoyed the giggles.
Bonnie

A Little Bit Early

With the Valentine's Day holiday over we're on to the next! Even though I'm not a lover of corn beef and cabbage or green beer, there is something about that holiday that just draws me in. Must be my Irish roots or maybe the fact that my favourite colour is green!

My latest finish was a really quick stitch. I just seemed to get on a roll with it...perhaps it was the repetition of all those lucky shamrocks!

In my stash I had the perfect frame; just the right size for the piece but the light colour just didn't work for me. I dug out my old (very, very old) craft paints to see what I could do to change things up. I had some clear crackle paint which I put right over the cream colour and let it dry.

I then found some brown paint which I thought just might work. Opened the bottle and it was very thick... but I bit the bullet and decided to put a coat on anyway. It wasn't long before the neat crackle finish began to appear before my eyes.

I'm so very happy with the end result! This was a very "frugal" project from beginning to end (you'd be proud of me Jody!). I had every single thing I needed on hand to complete it all which is always a plus!

An Irish Shamrock Sampler

by Lucy Lyons Willis

Copyright 2006 La Chatelaine Designs

Stitched using:

GAST- Dried Thyme and Tarnished Gold

Weeks- Chestnut

I printed this freebie in 2006, and always knew I would stitch it someday. You see, from my teen years on I knew a lady named Hazel who was a very close family friend and she always used the word "grand"... whether she wrote "have a grand day!" in your carefully chosen birthday card, or tell you that "she had a grand time!" when our families would spend time together. So, to honour this special lady I'll proudly display this sampler every St. Paddy's Day.

Miss you Haze!!

Tracey

A Little Bit Late

Valentine's Day is over for another year, but I finally got around to framing this cute little freebie that was designed by Jennifer over at Feathers in the Nest.

Stitched with variegated DMC #115, and framed by myself with a pretty little $4.00 frame from Winners.

Can't get much easier than that!

Tracey

Vintage Valentines

Happy Valentines Day and allow me to celebrate the good old fashioned way by sending a Valentine from the early 1900's.  It's a good thing I love vintage items because I have inherited quite a few from my Aunt's possessions. Some of the cards from this collection date back as far as 1902 and the stamps on them are one cent stamps.  One of my 'projects' is to carefully sort all these cards and put them in chronological order so I can include  them on the blog during the holidays throughout the year.  As you can see from the photos that they are pretty delicate.  I have found a photo album that has clear pictures so you can see both sides of the card without disturbing it from the album.  I wonder how long they will last and which one of my kids will be interested in inheriting this album someday???  Stay tuned for more and ...Enjoy.

 

Will You Be My Valentine?

The big day of Love is just around the corner, so time to bring out the pink and red decor to dress up the mantle.

Stitching Friends was a group gift to us all from Jody in December 2003, as was the little white shabby chic frame that I stitched the little heart for. The Happy Valentine's Day I did myself, and you can read about it here in a previous post.

The white heart ring bearer pillow belonged to my Aunt when she married in 1960. Some buttons from my Nana's button jar, along with some other treasures from Jody over the years. Love the angel picture my hubby gave to me for Christmas in 1997.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day with those you love.

Tracey

Would You Like Some Lint With Your Coffee?

First off, I'm not one of those people who collects lint or something strange like that, and the mug is sitting beside the pile for size comparison.

While doing my laundry the other day, I was cleaning the lint screen on my dryer before each load like I always do, and I got to thinking that it had been quite a while since I'd cleaned further down into the dryer vent. So I went to it and that's what came out. Here's a link to show you exactly what I mean (just so happens this is exactly what my dryer looks like too).

As gross as this is, it is also scary... scary in the sense that this could have been a fire waiting to happen. You always think it could never happen to you. Needless to say, I'll be doing this extra step from now on on a regular basis.

Have you cleaned your dryer vent lately?

Tracey

Now THAT's a Scrapbook !!

When my Aunt Peg passed away a few years ago,  we found this lovely scrapbook with her possessions.  I gasped when I saw it and noticed how old it was ... and then I was so excited to see all the old cards inside!  My Aunt Marion was delighted to see my excitement and she decided I should be the one to inherit it, as she knew the scrapbook had found a good home.  I didn't capture every page, but I would like to share some of the unique get well cards from Aunt Peg's hospital stay in December 1959. 

Displayed on my grandparent's antique piano.

Love the sparkles.  Sparkle Sparkle Sparkle.

5 cents and no postal code used to get your card to you!

Yes.  She saved EVERYTHING.  You should have seen the closets!

Outside of the card....

...inside of the card.

How Cute is THIS?

Nothing like a handwritten note huh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

(That's me in the tub...)

Hope you enjoyed your peek!

I would be curious to know if anyone out there has seen, or received any of these cards before.... talk about a memory flashback. 

Bonnie

TUSAL- Post # 2

I'm happy to say that this past month has been a pretty active one for stitching, and the evidence is in the TUSAL. I can't believe how fast the month has flown by... and like so many of you are experiencing, this newest month has started out with a major blast of winter!

Stay safe everyone!

Tracey

And The Winner Is...

First off, we'd like to apologize for the delay in announcing our 1st Bloggiversary winner. I was going to make the draw yesterday morning, but with the impending storm for Wed., we decided to switch our monthly cross stitch meeting to Mon. night. So with all of us together last night, we did the drawing then.

Secondly, we'd like to thank all those fellow bloggers who entered our draw and those people who sent out well wishes and congratulations to our 1 year of blogging. It has been a blast, and we hope to continue on for many more years to come!

We wrote down all of the entries for the draw on pieces of paper and literally put them in a hat (my hubby Paul's hat to be exact!) and we had Paul do the drawing too.

And the winner is: (Drum roll please)...

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

... JAYNE!!! Congrats!!!

Drop us a line Jayne, to give us your mailing address so we can get your goodies sent out in the mail :^)

For those of you who are wondering the answers to the questions we asked for the extra chances, here you go:

#1. This month is our cross-stitch group anniversary. How many years will it be? 18 years

#2. What did Anita design without a pattern? A chicken

#3. What costume did Bonnie sew? Mrs. Beasley

#4. How many boys does Jody have? Three

#5. Why did Tracey bend her knife? So she wouldn't get chocolate/caramel on her hands

For those out there in the path of the storm... be safe!!

Tracey