Monday, January 18, 2010

There was no question in my mind as to whether or not I would do the 365 for 2010. While it was a lot of work, the end result was well worth it. I think it will quickly become one of my favourite albums. The only question for me was how I would do it for 2010.

Initially I decided I would do 8 ½ X 11 pages so that I didn’t have to cut them down. They would be simpler than simple. I was going to import all my photos into Picasa and make a collage from there that I would slap on the page and include journaling. This was my first attempt:




Blah.
That’s what I thought when I looked at it. Just blah.


I don’t normally scrapbook 8 ½ X 11 and I think that was my first issue. My second issue was that while the collage option in Picasa is awesome, it doesn’t let me choose which photo is the largest photo. You know I don’t like to be in control!! Haha. Then there was the journaling. I couldn’t figure out how to fit it on the page so I put it in the collage but it’s so small you can barely read it.

So here’s what I’m doing.

In 2009 each week had 2 pages and I used the same colours/papers throughout the month. For 2010 there will only be 1 page per week. This should save me lots of ink. Each month will follow the exact same design. I’ve bought a few templates and I will use just one template per month. This should make it fast and I think, in the end, very cohesive.





So, that’s my plan. Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Final Pages 2009 365

Well, here they are. My final pages for the 2009 Project 365 album. Even though at times it has felt like a lot of work - a chore even - I'm glad I did it. It's a great album to look through and it really gives you a good idea of what the year was like for us.

Am I going to do it again?

You betcha.

It's going to be a little different but I will do it again.
























Thanks for sticking with me!! I should have my first couple of 2010 pages up shortly!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Scrap Space

When we moved to this house in 2002, a corner of the basement was dedicated as my scrapping area. In the last house, I had my own room and I really felt I needed that here too. It was in the playroom but I was okay with that. It worked. I could scrap while the girls played, watched TV etc.

Then we acquired Dave’s Dad’s old hobby desk. I liked the idea of using it for my scrapping because I could stand at it, because it was old and because it had been Dave’s Dad’s. We moved all my scrapping stuff into Dave’s office and I got rid of my scrapping tables. We shared the office and each had our own workspace.

However, the table faced the wall and I discovered I don’t do well facing a wall with my back to the room. I also found the table was too tall for me to stand at and the only stool that was tall enough for it was the one I came with. I had to climb up onto it and there was a crack in the seat that pinched my bottom. Ouch.

Eventually I moved all my scrapping stuff up to the dining room. I put baskets full of supplies under the old church pew; I filled the bottom of the china cabinet. I took over the dresser that stands in the corner. It worked very well for quite some time. I found I could crop for 5 or 10 minutes at a time while cooking dinner and helping with homework. The only downside was that my dining room always looked like a bomb hit it. Plus, we got a new table and chairs that were just the wrong height for me. I found I couldn’t sit at the table for more than 15 minutes without my lower back aching.

So, I moved it all back down to Dave’s office in the basement. It all fit in and looked very neat and tidy but it was first and foremost his office. So, on the weekends, he’d be down there so I couldn’t crop. At night, he’d be down there so I couldn’t crop. I couldn’t leave things out and messy when they were in progress and not finished yet. I must admit, it drove me slowly crazy.

So, I have reclaimed my original corner of the playroom. It’s not fancy and perhaps not even particularly attractive, but it’s mine.




And I love it. I love the fact that the girls are often down there and I can work alongside them while they are crafting, gaming, playing or watching TV. I’ve got myself my space back.


I never should have moved it in the first place.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Stolen Stolen Tag

I’m trying to be more consistent and regular with my blogging but I didn’t have anything ready so I took this from Barb’s blog. Thanks Barb!!!

1.Name someone with the same birthday as you.
I don’t know anyone personally with the same birthday as me so I googled it and the best I could come up with was Natalie Wood and Carlos Santana.

2. Where was your first kiss?
I lived in Oakville so I was in grade 1 or 2. We lived in an apartment building nestled together with a bunch of other buildings. A boy (I can’t remember his name) and I kissed in the stairwell of one of the buildings. I do remember kissing Tommy Sawyer (yes that was his real name) in grade 6 too!! - did you know about that Mom?

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property?
Never.

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
Yes, again in Oakville, I gave a boy a bloody nose and in grade 7 I gave a boy a black eye. Nasty.

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people?
Yes, as a child, before I realized I couldn’t sing.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about your preferred sex?
Their smile.

7. What really turns you off?
Selfishness.

8. What do you order at Starbucks?
Tall, soy, caramel macchiato.

9. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
No.

10. Say something totally random about yourself.
I am a homebody. If I had my way, I would stay home and not leave. I like it best when everyone is here with me.

11. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
No.

12. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows?
When my girls want me too but not voluntarily.

13 Did you have braces?
No.

14 Are you comfortable with your height?
No. I’m 5’4”. I am often the shortest one in a group.

15. When do you know its love?
When you find yourself sharing things you wouldn’t share with anyone else.

16. Do you speak any other languages?
I took French all through high school. I knew my math marks would not get me into University. I think I’ve forgotten most of it though.

17. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
Yuppers.

18 Have you ever ridden in a limo?
Yes. 3 times. My wedding and then a couple of years ago I had 2 engagements 2 nights in a row that both involved a limo. My girls thought I was very cool.

19. What’s something that really annoys you?
Not having enough time to scrapbook more.

20. What’s something you really like?
Scrapbooking.

21. Can you dance?
Absolutely not.

22. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
No. I watched my mom go in one though when I was around 15 or 16.

There you go. That's it about me. Now it's your turn!!!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Award? For me?



My scrapbooking and blogging friend, Barb gave me this Beautiful Blogger Award. What a lovely surprise. Thanks Barb.


The award comes with the following responsibilities:
1. I must thank the person who bestowed this honor upon me. Done.
2. Copy the award and place it on my blog. Done.
3. Link to the bestower’s site. Done.
4. Enumerate seven interesting things about myself. Here they are.

- I was born in England and moved to Canada when I was 18 months old. From there I have lived in West Hill, Agincourt, Toronto, Edmonton, Oshawa and Oakville - sometimes in more than one location per city!!

- I am not a morning person. Getting out of bed in the morning is evil.

- I have to read before I go to sleep. If I don't, I have trouble sleeping.

- I love lists. I have lists of lists and numerous notebooks to keep me on track.

- I wish I could dance and sing. If I catch any of those reality dancing shows on TV, I'm filled with envy. It's not gonna happen though.

- It was never my intention to be a Stay At Home Mom. My own mother always worked and I really thought I would do the same thing. I couldn't wait to graduate from University and put on my first suit with nylons and high heels. And then I had Meredith and my life changed for the better. I love being home and I can't imagine ever working in an office again.

- My first job was at McDonald's and I ate way too many french fries while I was there.

There you go. Some of you know some of those things. Some of you don't. I'm not sure how interesting they are but . . .

5. Now I'm supposed to link to seven other bloggers I find beautiful. Unfortunately I don't know many bloggers and I can't come up with seven so I hope this will do:

My good friend Nicola who I would be lost without. She doesn't have a blog but she does have a website.

My good friend Anne who makes all my bags. She doesn't have a website or a blog but I hope she will soon.

Janet who makes me laugh on Tuesdays.

Joy who I don't see often enough on Tuesdays!

And of course Barb who makes me smile and laugh every week and has introduced me to so many other wonderful women and scrapbooking addictions!! Thanks Barb!!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

UGH!!

My apologies. I can't get the video to play on the next post. Can you?

Perhaps I'll have to upload to YouTube next time. I've never done that. Wish me luck.

All About Meredith

A couple of things I've been meaning to share are Meredith's comic and her flute playing. I'm putting these on here primarily so my Mom can see them but also because I'm proud of her for working through things and never giving up.

This is her comic - The Girls of the Elements:


She started this early in 2009 (I can't remember exactly when) and she finished it in November. She worked so hard on it. I love the details showing the arms moving up and down and the image of just the feet so we know the girls are walking. Way to go Meredith. You had a vision and you saw it through to the end. I can't wait to see the next installment.

Now here she is playing the flute.

The flute has not always come easy to her and I think she finds it quite challenging. One day over the holidays she went up to her room and didn't come down until she had learned the tune. Again, she persevered and saw it through to the end.

I am proud of this girl each and every day.

Monday, January 4, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I know I’m a few days late but it just had to be said.

We rang in the New Year with our neighbours. They put on a great party every year with yummy food and a lot of video gaming in the basement for the kids. This year we didn’t last until midnight. Isobel was exhausted from being up late a few nights in a row and their guinea pig peed on her lap. When we got home, Isobel had a quick shower and went straight to bed. Dave, Meredith and I watched the New Years’ Eve celebrations in New York on TV but I only lasted until shortly after 11. Meredith and Dave made it all the way to midnight!!

I hope 2010 is a great year for all of you, filled with fun, laughter, love and prosperity.

No 365 pages to post today, but I promise it is next on my “Freakin’ Never Ending To Do List”. With the girls back at school I feel like I’m crossing things off that list with lightening speed.

Give me a couple of days, and I’ll be back on track.

Monday, December 28, 2009

An Update

Wow. Has it really been that long since I’ve posted? Things have been crazy around here. Here’s a brief summary for you:

  • Meredith’s Birthday Ice Cream Get Together. It wasn’t a party, just a bunch of gals getting together for ice cream. They giggled their way through the evening and seemed to have a great time sitting by themselves for a Friday night out. Meredith is certainly enjoying being 12.
  • Meredith’s Birthday. We spent the day at home and enjoyed her favourite meal at lunch – ravioli – followed by chocolate cupcakes. We got her a Bamboo Tablet and she is really taking pleasure in drawing on the computer with it and using it as a mouse. That evening we went out to Niagara Falls to enjoy the light display. It was well worth the drive and I’m quite sure we’ll head out that way again, but next time, we’ll get out of the car and walk Clifton Hill.
  • School Concerts. The girls’ school concerts this year were spectacular. Meredith was in the choir, the drama club and her class play. She did a great job and I really enjoy watching her up there. Isobel’s was a musical play about Melton the Snowman. All the classes did a short skit. The younger children always bring a certain enthusiasm to the stage and just love the attention.
  • Roberts Sleepover. The real celebration for Meredith’s birthday came a week later. We took the Roberts girls into Toronto to the ROM, then out for lunch, and then down on the subway to see the Christmas windows in The Bay on Queen Street. After that they came back to our place and slept over. Meredith and Isobel are lucky to have such good friends.
  • We took it easy for the next few days and had our big Christmas dinner with Dave’s mom on Christmas Eve. The girls stayed up late that night watching The Polar Express and were up around 7:30 the next morning.
  • Christmas Day was a flurry of cooking, eating, gift opening, tidying, cooking, eating, more gift opening, etc, etc, for the whole day. Neither of the girls got out of their PJ’s.
  • Boxing Day found us at the movie theatre eating popcorn and drinking Coke by 10:30am. The theatre was empty. It was great.

Since then we’ve been hanging out, putting Christmas presents and re-organizing. I always find this time of the year is a great time to get rid of the old and make room for the new. We seem to do it each year at this time.

I also have a couple of 365 pages to share. It is my intention to continue this into 2010 with a slightly different format. I’ve really enjoyed putting this particular album together and looking back over the pages to remember where we’ve been and what we’ve done.









Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Meredith

Tomorrow is Meredith' 12th birthday and I can hardly believe it. Where does the time go? Where did my little baby girl go? She is growing up to be a beautiful girl - both inside and out - and I am proud to be her Mom every single second of every single day.

She's having ice cream with her school mates tonight then relaxing at home for most of the day tomorrow. We'll be heading to Niagara Falls Saturday night to see the Festival of Lights. The big party comes later in the month when we'll be taking the Roberts' girls into Toronto for a day of fun!!

I'll post more about our birthday celebrations later!!!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Sunday

You can tell Christmas is around the corner. Things are getting crazy busy around here although most days I couldn't tell you exactly what I've done. I've got a list of things to do longer than my arm and the girls are only in school for 2 more weeks. This year the kids are out almost a full week before Christmas. I'm looking forward to the break and spending time with them but it does mean I have to get lots accomplished between now and then. Wish me luck. I'm sure most people are in the same boat so I wish you luck too!!

Here's my most recent Project 365 page.



As always, thanks for looking!!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Well.

I’m doing my best with these 365 pages but I don’t seem to be able to get caught up. I got this one completed today so I’m actually only a couple of weeks behind. Some weeks I do a good job with the photo taking and other weeks I find myself scrambling to take photos that represent our life right now. I do believe I will do it again for 2010 but I need to shake it up a little to keep it interesting.


Our weekend was a good one. We went into Toronto to the AGO on Saturday to see the King Tut exhibit. I know I saw that myself when I was a child but I don’t remember much of it except the chocolate King Tut on a stick I got when it was over. I didn’t manage to get a chocolate this time but I think I took more away from the exhibit than I did when I was a child. It was crowded and hard to get a good look at the artifacts but it is truly amazing that such riches were buried and undiscovered for so long.


Dave and I watched Angels and Demons last night. I tried to read the novel a couple of months ago but couldn’t make it through. I found the movie fascinating. I’m not one to watch a movie more than once, but I think I would like to with that one. I think I’ll also take another crack at the book (when I’ve finished the 15 or so waiting for me by my night table!!).


Today Meredith went to a movie with a friend and Isobel had a friend over then Skyped with Victoria in Australia. I got some chores done, and some laundry done, and some scrapping done.


It was a very nice, well rounded weekend. How was yours?

Thursday, November 26, 2009

365

This is going to be a quick post. We're heading out in a bit to pick up my mother-in-law and head to Mississauga for dinner with Dave. After that we're going to the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga to watch Meredith perform. I'm quite looking forward to it!

Anyway, here are a couple of Project 365 pages to share.



Thanks for looking!!!
P.S. Mom - if you're reading this - I'm thinking of you!!! xoxo

Monday, November 23, 2009

Simple Woman's Daybook

This is a meme from the Simple Woman's Daybook. Barb does it often and I thought I'd give it a try.

FOR TODAY...

Outside my window... a beautiful fall day. The sun is shining and the temps are mild. I’m hoping to get off this computer and out for a walk soon.

I am thinking... that there’s not much time before Meredith’s birthday. I can’t believe my baby is going to be 12.

I am thankful for... the love of my family and the laughter of good friends.

I am wearing... yoga pants, tank top and a black hoodie.

I am remembering... how nice it was to see my mom yesterday even though it was only for a few hours.

I am going... to get off this computer soon!! Really.

I am reading... Handle with Care by Jodi Piccoult. It’s a very thought provoking novel – all hers are.

I am hoping... that I can get a lot of Christmas shopping done this week. I’d like to have it out of the way.

On my mind... the one week scrapbooking retreat in September I’ve just committed to. I’m so excited.

From the scrapbooking room... I’m about 4 weeks behind on my Project 365 pages. I’m hoping to get them done today (they’re digital – so much for the plan to get off the computer!!)

Noticing that... I’m in a much better mood when I’m not rushing around trying to do everything all at once.

From the kitchen... It’s an easy supper night tonight. Dave plays squash early. We’ll be having salad and the kids’ favourite – chicken fingers and fries.

Around the house... I’m trying to figure out where I can put vinyl decals from sixty/forty. Hmmm . . .

One of my favorite things… walking down by the lake on a beautiful day.

A picture I'd like to share...

This is where I’ll be headed in September. Wow.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

SURPRISE!!

I am a bad blogger. I’ve been very caught up in life lately, and haven’t managed to post here at all. This video was sent to me recently and it really got me thinking.



I DID think social networking was a fad, but this has me thinking otherwise. I’m not a very sociable person. But I think it’s about more than that. I do my best to keep up with technology. I’ve got Windows 7. I have an iTouch and numerous apps. I know how to run a blog and optimize a website for search engines. I even know some HTML. I’ve gone so far as to have a Facebook page and a Twitter account but haven’t really utilized them to their full potential. I haven’t used this blog to its full potential either. I’m convinced no one reads any of these and that no one really cares, but does that matter? I need to keep up. I need to blog and update my status more often. I need to make time for these things if I’m going to keep up with the way the world is moving. Soon, my children are going to know more than me, and I want to feel that I’ve at least tried.

Monday, October 26, 2009

More 365 pages

Clearly I'm not finding/making the time to post regularly to this blog. I am up to date on my Project 365 though, so here they are:





















Thanks for looking and thanks for your patience. Have a great day.




M.













Monday, October 12, 2009

3.6.5.

Guess what? I am totally up to date on my Project 365 pages. I just finished last weeks' page but I’m not going to post it yet. I have so many to posts to catch up, I thought I’d do it a few at a time. That way, I’m guaranteed at least a couple of day's worth of blog fodder.




Thanks for looking and I hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving weekend. It’s back to the real world tomorrow.

Gobble. Gobble.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Thursday Thirteen

My friend Barb does the Thursday Thirteen most weeks and in my new found desire to blog more I thought I’d try it. If you’d like to participate, go here.

This is a list of 13 things that are on my Never Ending To Do List right now (in no particular order). Most of them have been there for some time.

1. Paint all the hallways in the house. It’s been a few years since we did this last and I’m starting to be quite annoyed by the gouges, scratches and little fingerprints that just won’t wash away.

2. Replace the pot lights in the kitchen and paint the ceiling. We have just recently evicted our little squirrel friend who decided to make our ceiling its home and munch away on the wires for our pot lights. We are left with a patchy ceiling and lights that no longer sit nicely in their holes. Plus one light works some days, but not on others.

3. Tile the backsplash in the kitchen. It can’t be that hard, can it? I know Home Depot offers seminars on various DIY projects for women. I’m hoping to take one of those.

4. Go on a hike with the girls and Dave. This one isn’t actually on my To Do list but I really want to do it.

5. Finish the half completed albums in my drawer. I’ve got an "All About Me" album, one from our trip in 2001 to St. Petersburg Florida, and both of the girl’s school albums which have not been updated since Grade 3 and JK. They are in Grade 7 and Grade 3 now.

6. Order and do pages from Donna Downey. I love the fabric, dimension and colours in her kits. Just yummy.

7. Try my hand at a mosaic page. I’ve carefully collected all the required supplies. Now I just have to do it. You can see some examples here.

8. Rip all my CD’s onto my computer so I can play them through iTunes and on my iPod. I’m going to need to get myself an EHD before I can accomplish this one. My computer is getting quite full.

9. Steam clean the carpets. It’s gotta be done.

10. Catch up on my Project 365 pages and all the digi pages I’ve got planned out and ready to go. I think I need more hours in the day.

11. Get to the LCBO to stock up on wine for the Holiday Season. You just never know when you’ll need to go somewhere and bring a bottle with you, or when someone might drop by for a Christmas drink. Right now, we are totally out of wine, so don’t drop by for a drink. We’d have to pull out the hard stuff.

12. Clean the stovetop. I did some serious ‘boiling over’ yesterday and haven’t managed to clean it yet.

13. Paint the door to the basement. We have a french door at the bottom of the basement stairs that opens up into the playroom. About 3 years ago I carefully taped each and every window in the door so I could paint it. I don’t know what happened but I never got around to it and I notice the tape is all gone. I guess I’ll have to start all over.…


Well, that’s my 13. Most of these have been on my list a long long time. I’m skeptical I’ll ever get all of them done. I was going to say if I won the lottery, I’d have the time to do them but quite frankly if I won the lottery, I think I’d pay someone to do most of them.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

I'm Back . . . Again

Well, I’m back.

I think.
For today, anyway!!

It’s been a long time but I’ve been quite busy. School is back in and I’ve been struggling with establishing some kind of regular routine. I’m determined to increase my activity this year and am either walking or running 6 days a week. It’s a lot to fit in and I’m convinced that’s why I’m having such a tough time carving out time for things like this blog, but I know it’s the right thing to do so I’m not giving it up.

Briefly, here’s what’s happened here over the past couple of months:

We went to Lion’s Head for a week and had a great time. We hopped on the Chi-Cheemaun for a day trip to Manitoulin Island and enjoyed numerous beaches including Sauble Beach and Singing Sands. It was a great trip.

We went to the Ex before school went back in. I always have a great time there.

Both girls are back at school and settling in nicely. It seems to be a bit harder this year to get the older one up and out of the house in the morning, but we’re getting there!! They are in grades 3 and 7 this year. I find that remarkably hard to believe.



Dave and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary and his 41st birthday.

Isobel celebrated her 8th birthday with a party at the Airborne Trampoline Centre. We had 15 children in attendance and they jumped almost non stop for an hour. It was great. After the party our good friends Emma and Megan spent the night. It’s always good to have those girls over.

Isobel got a Chinese Fighting Fish named Fisher Jack for her birthday from Meredith, who has already died. (The fish, not Meredith!!) It was quite traumatic and I didn’t even manage to get a photo of him. He has since been replaced with Swimmer Leo.



Meredith seems to have had a growth spurt. None of her clothes from June fit her now. Even the pants I got her in late July don’t fit so we’ve been doing some shopping.

I’ve been working hard on my 365 pages. Here are a couple of them:





It looks like I’m going to be doing a bit of paid work again. Yay me!!! I’m going to do my best to keep posting.

Thanks for putting up with me and checking back here regularly.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A Project Completed

I don't have any Project 365 pages for you today - no whining please!! BUT I did complete my Lion's Head album from our vacation last summer. It only took a year. Not bad for me, I'd say. LOL.

Here it is and as always, thanks for looking.









Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Gimme a 3 and a 6 and a 5!!!

Here's my Project 365 page from last week. Can you believe I'm still doing these? I certainly can't.

They are all I've got time to post these days, but I think they keep you up to date with what's going on here.

Have a great day, week and summer and thanks for looking!

Friday, July 31, 2009

3.6.5.

This seems to be all I have time to post these days. I'm actually quite amazed that I am still managing to get them done and posted. Thanks for looking. Here's last weeks page.



Have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

365 Pages

Well, I can’t believe that I got them done, but I did. Here are 3 more 365 pages.




Thanks for looking.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

An Update

I’m not going to post photos and I’m not going to do any links. I’m just going to do a quick post to keep this blog up to date.

My time is not my own right now. We’re having a great summer and, as always, I wonder how I got things done when my girls were home with me all the time. It seems to be that back then, I didn’t have quite as much to do. And I don’t mean things I NEED to do, but rather things I WANT to do.

Anyway, so far this summer, we’ve gone to Wonderland, the AGO, the Science Centre and the Royal Botanical Gardens. We’ve got together for play dates with the Roberts, spent some time with Grandma and had a week of swimming lessons for Isobel. I’ve managed to still crop most Tuesdays for a couple of hours and we’re planning a garage sale for this weekend.

Last weekend we were away at a friend’s cottage. It was 100 years old and had boat access only. It was absolutely beautiful and we all had a great time.

The summer is only a few weeks old and we’re doing well so far. The girls are enjoying their ‘old fashioned’ summer without camps to amuse them every minute. We are playing with friends, reading, swimming and spending time outside. We are doing chores and watching TV. We are just hanging out and sleeping in.

Thanks for reading. I’ll post again when I can.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Look What I Did

I was on Jessica Sprague today and saw a link to this tutorial.

I turned this photo:

into this watercolour painting:

(Click on it to see the detail)


I'm very impressed with myself. I'm off to see what else I can do.








Sunday, July 5, 2009

Mmmm.... Food

Pastor Ryan's Bolognese Sauce
Photo Courtesy of Pioneer Woman

Does anyone out there follow the Pioneer Woman? I’ve read her blog for over a year now and I do enjoy it. Some of her posts are long, some are short but all of them are accompanied by some very beautiful photographs. Her life is so very different from mine, and I look forward to reading about her family’s exploits in their daily life.

She is putting together a recipe book and has a whole section of her site dedicated to cooking. Her recipes are neither low fat nor simple, but they all look delicious – and of course are all accompanied by the most mouth-watering photographs. When this recipe was posted I wanted to try it out so badly, but I’m not a very adventurous cook. I put it on the schedule many times but always managed to find a reason not to make it. This weekend it dawned on me – Dave is a great cook and he loves to try new recipes. I really think the harder and more challenging they are, the more he enjoys it.

He made it for us last night for dinner. I’d done the shopping for the ingredients, but wouldn’t you know it, all the staples we generally keep in the house that the recipe called for were almost out, so I had to rush out not once, but twice during the cooking process for red wine, Worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese and milk.

It was, by far, the best Bolognese Sauce I have ever had. Even Isobel, who doesn’t normally eat ‘red’ sauce, loved it. The recipe made enough for us to freeze two more meals, so we get to enjoy it again in the future. So, if you’re looking for something special to make and you’ve got the time – or better yet, someone else to make it for you – I highly recommend it.

And check out these little lovelies:

Chocolate Cookies Dipped in White Chocolate and Rolled in Candy Canes
Photo Courtesy of
Pioneer Woman

I think I might have to attempt them at Christmas!