Well, hello again

  So I started this blog quite a few years ago.  Since then we have had so many changes in the family and house and everything in our lives. Its amazing how time flies and how things change.  I looked back at some of my previous posts and Ive had a giggle.  My youngest two kids were practically babies.  "Two of my older kids have now had babies of their own.  My husband has retired   We moved houses.  Ive been hit with an illness that has put me on oxygen-but Im still going lol.  One of our sweet puppies had to be put down-the other is still a huge stinker.  

   I thought I might start blogging again-and why not keep this one going.  I had so much fun designing and creating it I'd rather just pick up where I left off.  So here it is-a place where I will talk about life-I don't know if it will be as funny as it was when my kids were growing up but it's never a dull moment around here so lets see how it goes.

   So happy to be back!!!

Lynanne

I decided to try my hand at photography.  Just for the fun of it.  I have always been interested in photography.  When my older kids were little I had a camera that I loaded with black and white film.  I tried my hand at some creative picture taking but that was way before the digital world!!  It cost so much to get film developed and you never knew if your photos would turn out or not.  Nowadays the cameras are all digital and so much easier to use.  I can snap pictures-see what I like, delete what I don't and only develop what I want.  I bought second hand one through Kijiji( like craigslist).  G asked me if I was sure I wanted to do that instead of getting a new one.  This is just something I wanted to try.  I didn't want to invest a lot of money until I decided if this was something I was going to keep doing.  So I searched Kijiji for cameras.  I had an idea of my price range so I just started looking.  As I came across cameras that looked like what I wanted and were in the price range I wanted I did a google search of them.  By searching the specific one that is for sale you will learn what the price would be of it new, what the specs are on it such as how many mega pixels, the age it was manufactured and reviews of what other people think of it.  When I started looking at cameras I had no idea about anything to do with cameras.  I knew mega pixels from my simple point and shoot cameras but really nothing more.  With the searches I did I found out so much and it helped me decide what I did want and what I didn't.  And since I was buying second hand I wasn't quite as nervous about making a "wrong" choice.  Worst case scenario if I bought something I hated I could resell it.  There were many Canon EOS cameras and the reviews were good for these as entry level cameras.

I ended up getting a Canon EOST1i rebel.  It was sold with a bonus Canon EOS 10D.  They were being sold for $200 but no lenses.  I read and re read the info on the rebel and I new $200 was a decent price for it.  With it having the 10D I figured that could be used by my kids to see if they like photography.  The 10D had OK reviews but was an older camera with only 6 MP.  When I met the guy selling it(always take someone with you and meet in a public place) the 10 D showed visible wear and tear-not bad but you could tell it was used.  It came in the original box with battery, charger, disks, manuals.  And this is something you would want to check before you buy-what did the camera originally come with-you don't want to get stuck with a camera that you can't hook up to your computer or is missing the disks so your computer will recognize it.  The T1i also came in the box.  Although it was manufactured in 2009 it still has 18 mp which is great.  It also had all its disks and manuals and a lot of the cords and such were still in there original packaging.  The one thing both were missing were lens.  Now I'm not talking that they had basic lens and didn't have zoom lens-the guy had taken the lens out of both so there were none-like neither camera could be used.  But I new that when I decided to buy them and figured it was still a good deal and I would try to find a decent used lens.  But of course I wanted to start using the cameras right away, soooo I went down to Henry's camera store to see what I could find.  I brought both boxes into the store and showed them what I had just bought and asked about used lenses.  They happened to have one used 18-50mm lens, which is what the original cameras would have come with.  But it would only fit the T1i and it was $100.  Then he showed me a portrait lens that was new and was $120.  It would fit both cameras and he showed me the nice portrait pictures it took.  That's the one I decided on.  So for about $320 I now have 2 cameras that I can play with and see if this is a hobby I will enjoy.

Here's a photo of an antique composite doll 

Now after I started taking the pictures and downloading them to my computer I just had to have some editing software.  I choose Picasa-I had it on my old laptop and I was familiar with it-it is free and comparable to i-photo.  Again it is basic editing software but I can look at higher quality if I really enjoy this and keep at it.  

This is the same photo that I have now edited to sepia, then I softened it and softened the corner

Here's one K took of Susie while she was trying the camera out

I'm really loving the idea of this hobby being something that the whole family is interested in and that we can try and learn together!!

The Beauty of fall

  I love fall.  I love crisp fall mornings and the warm sun in the afternoon.  I love the cool nights-I keep the window open so that I have to snuggle under my quilts on my bed-my nose gets cold and the air is so fresh.  I feel closer to God at this time- or maybe more appreciative of what he has given me.  I have such a great husband-we don't have a perfect marriage and we certainly do have our share of arguments, but I love him with my whole heart and soul.  I have the 5 most wonderful children in the world.  We have a beautiful home.  We live in a country where I can put those beautiful children to bed at night with full bellies, in a comfortable  bed and a warm, dry roof over their heads.
Today G and I took K and B and our foster babies out to Colosantis. Our teens don't want to go out with us a lot  anymore so we pick our battles when to insist on them spending family time with us-today wasn't one of them.    Colosantis started as greenhouses but has evolved over the years to become a petting zoo,  restaurant, games room, small carnival rides.   It is hard because the kids want to do all they have but we limit them to the petting zoo and the free climber.  Today we splurged and had chicken dinner there.  And of course they are most known for their Apple Cider and fresh made donuts.  They make the donuts right in front of you and dip them in cinnamon sugar.  Anyone from this area knows that the best time to head to Colosantis is in the fall.  For us its about an hours drive across the county.     We came home around 5 so the sun was sitting low in the sky, the trees were an array of fall colours-red, orange, yellow.   G pulled over at one point so we could look at the clouds rolling over the river with just a hint of the sun peaking through leaving rays shining down.
     We came home and got everyone settled and G, K, B and I sat down to watch Ghostbusters.   Then the urge to bake hit me-Pumpkin-I love pumpkin and after a fall day Pumpkin bread sounded wonderful.   Unfortunately I have not had good luck with pumpkin bread.  The recipes I've found have been too light, too dry-just not fall enough for me.  I have played with a few recipes and this is what I have come up with and I find it is a nice, dark moist bread-with a lovely taste of fall!


Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups White sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

4 eggs

2 cups  solid-pack pumpkin

3/4 cup canola oil

1/3 cup molasses

2/3 cup water

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, molasses oil and water. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into three greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans.\

Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Happy Mothers Day

What a beautiful day.  I slept in-I have the best husband in the world.  He kept the kids quiet and let me sleep until 11 am.  That was wonderful.  K brought me Cinnamon toast in bed-hubby brought a coffee.  My oldest-A -who often avoids the " I Love You's"  gave me a big Happy Mothers Day hug.  We got an ice cream each and went for a walk down by the water.  It was a beautiful day-the weather was perfect.  When we got home we had Margaritas and Ribs out on the deck.
We have a beautiful 6 month old foster baby right now who is the sweetest thing.  When my foster babies go on a visit with their biological families I have a volunteer driver come pick them up and  drop them off.   The driver we have is a young man and is very nice and upbeat.  He came in today with 1/2 dozen roses for me and said he couldn't forget me and all the kids I care for on Mothers Day-that was so so sweet of him.  I have spent my life caring for children-I love it-I wouldn't want to do anything else, so when someone like this guy goes the extra mile to say thank you it means so much to me.
Happy Mothers day to everyone whether you gave birth to a child or take care of children that others gave birth to-the one thing we all have in common is the love of children.

Ohhhh the things kids say!!

What a day!!  Actually it has been crazy around here for the last few weeks.  My sister-in-laws dad passed away last week.  We are a pretty close family that are there for each especially during tough times.  So last week was spent makingmyself available for anything my sister-in law, brother or neices and nephew might need.  At some point I realized our house  phone wasn't working but I was so busy I didn't even get to  calling the phone company for a few days.  Then they told me it looked like a line was turned on from our house-well we have 4 cordless phones and 5 kids-where could a missing turned on phone be??  So we searched couches and beds and closets and anywhere a phone may hide.  No Luck.  Well a couple more busy days went by, the phone still wasn't working so I bought a new phone-disconnected all cordless phones and tried the new phone-still nothing.  I called the phone company back and this time they said-oh, it looks like there is a problem with your line-we can have a service person out in 2 days.  GREAT!!  On the weekend my brother mentions that maybe the problem woth the phone line is that a mouse chewed through it!  Nice-I hadn't thought of that!  ( we have a mouse problem every winter and this was a bad one-but that's a whole other story!)  So I'm thinking if they have to check our lines where will they look-oh no-the dreaded service call.  Will they need to go in the laundry room?  That would mean climbing over a mountain of laundry.  The garage-let me see between the furniture for my Comin' Home business, the hockey bags and the new couch and chair for the basement ( waiting for the puppies to leave so we can paint and change the floor.) he couldn't make his way through there without breaking something-like a bone.  Now the basement-what if heneed to go there-well there is the shelves of my Comin' Home business, the partially knocked down wall, the flooring for the family room stacked in the hall and the wonderful scent of puppy poop that is filling our house!   The phone guy arrives at the door as Brendan is walking out and B looks at him and says "A mouse chewed our phone wires" Wonderful!  so I invite the guy in as he looks at me puzzled-I'm sure thinking if you know it is  a mouse why did you call us!  But he comes in-looks at the hook up in the kitchen and by the computer and says it looks like there is a short in the wiring.  Hmmmm  I wonder what that is caused by-just then G comes up the stairs holding a mouse by its tail saying-" I hit it with a bat-I just wanted it out of my room!"  Wonderful-can you say mortified!!!  So I say-we had a problem with mice coming in from the garage in the winter but I haven't seen any in a couple months To which G says " Oh ya there are lots in the house-I think they are in the walls.  Wonderful!!!   I could not have been  more embarrased.  I'm trying to change the subject, crawl in a hole, anything to make the mouse conversation stop.  At this point the guy says to me.  You can just leave your phone plugged into the cable box and then you don't have to worry about the short in the line.  I'm sure he walked out and wrote down in  big letters on his invoice  MICE!!!

China Cabinet makeover

I had a friend asking me for a China cabinet that would match her table and chairs that she had bought from Comin' Home.  So I went on a mission to find the perfect cabinet that could be transformed.  I found this china cabinet with a great hutch on top and a rail.  It is solid maple from the 1970's.  I knew it was a good solid piece and I had a vision of how I could transform it.  I forgot to take a picture of it before I started with the two pieces still together  so the first picture is of just the hutch

I cleaned it really well with varsol first then washed it well with water.  Once it was all dry I started painting it with a primer.

I took the rail off and painted it separately as well as the drawers and cupboards.  I will replace the drawer pulls and knobs with new brushed nickel ones and the hinges I decided to spray paint with a hammered nickel spray paint.

This is it almost finished-I still have to replace the hardware and I am undecided if I should distress it(you can see the one drawer I started) or leave it solid black-Leave a comment and let me know what you think.  I love how it turned out and  I look forward to finding the next one to do!

Xylophone

T had to make a musical instrument for his school music class.  When he gets an assignment he always get to it right away.  He decided to make a xylophone with wrenches and made a rough looking one during spring break.  Once he got back to class he decided he needed to refine it more and came up with this one.

He used a metre stick  and cut it to varying lengths then wrapped each piece in electrical tape.  I helped him drill some holes in the corners to attach the pieces with screws and bolts.  He arranges each wrench to have the right pitch then we drilled holes and put screws in to hold the wrenches in place.  He got a 72% on it ( he was a little disappointed  but I thought that was pretty good!