Sunday has been a relatively quiet day in comparison to the rest of our weekend. We started out slowly and skipped church (shhh but with two trips out of town and all the ups and downs we figured it would be best). The weather for once was on our side so after lunch we packed everyone up and headed off to the splash park. Nothing fancy but the kids were kept busy and 2 out of 4 wet for at least 30 min.

At Prince Charles Park

Running Through the Sprinklers (Zander blue)

Emanuel made one run through and decided it was too cold. So he came over and snuggled on the bench and enjoyed watching his brothers. Trinity is a bit too small for the water pressure so wandered around the edge pointing and laughing and chattering away.

Our Brown Eyed Boy

After fun at the park we headed over to H&W for more watermelon and the beginnings of what I need on the 3 days Ken is gone. We found some seasoning packets to try on our beloved potatoes as well as some strawberries for a pretty decent price. I figure I will attempt to freeze some and save them for the winter instead of risk them going bad. They will fit right in with all the frozen raspberries we have in the freezer right now (of all the things I am going to miss about this place when we potentially move April of next year  the raspberry bushes are going to top the list!).

The next big activity for yours truly is going to be dealing with what we think are now ripe apples in the backyard. Neither tree is overly sweet but they are ABUNDANT! I found a recipe online that uses the slow cooker and you can add the sugar at the end (something we have to limit in Trinity’s diet) so I am going to give it a go. My slow cooker is large so the 8 apples it calls for are not enough. That, and the apples that ARE on these trees are not overly large, so tomorrow morning nice and early, Ken is pulling the ladder out of the garage and will will pick a nice large bowl full. If it all works out I will be freezing the applesauce as well and with the amount of apples on these trees giving it out to EVERYONE we know! So be warned if  you live close enough to receive food!

Apples From Our Backyard

As you may know if you read this blog often that I have a great and upbeat friend in the city that I chat to often. Her name is Ada and she moved here this February to be with her husband who is also a friend of ours – Nathan. During all the difficulties we have been going through she has been here being optimistic and chatting. She has been a sympathetic ear, a sounding board, a confidant… a true and wonderful friend. And this weekend I figured I would give something back. So I had Ken sit down and design a stitch for her – something relatively simple but with meaning for her and Nathan. The words are in her native tongue (Cantonese) and mean Husband and Wife… I am hoping that it is something she can enjoy and maybe bring her some luck in the up coming week! I am definitely going to post the pattern once Ken figures out the best way to do so. He created the heart from scratch and minutely altered the script we used (the L’s looked like weird T’s). I used black DMC 310 for the words and Kreinik Very Fine #4 Braid 002 for the heart. I used a random dark grey for my initials and the date. Thanks so much Ada!

Husband and Wife

I also finished up the mini project I bought at the dollar store. I am definitely going to go back and get a couple more to save, though the small piece of linen is a little fiddly to work with and the way they write out the chart a little misleading when you are looking for the center. I think I may try it on a piece of aida… maybe even as large as 11 count just for the fun of it. I pinned the unfinished edges in and Ken ironed it for me so I could stitch it to the mesh bag the kit came with.

Little Girl Stitch

So not the most productive day but I do have some completed projects and plan on working on the number 9 and making caterpillars with the boys’ names on them tomorrow. I am not going to set up too much for the boys to do since this week is supposed to be nice and warm. My goal is to get the number 10 done before the end of  the month and we are almost there! I also plan on the boys doing one Christmas gift project, in fact Ken and I were debating doing the Borax one before he leaves for the 3 days. Thank goodness the boys LOVE crafts… and playing outside!