The Answer....

.... to the burning question is:

Auntie Cecile had a Dyson Stick (cordless broom) and a Roomba (lucky girl!).  One Tuesday when we were having lunch she mentioned them both and said that neither of them was working properly.  She followed this up by mentioning that she had replaced both of them.  Then she asked if Poppa would like to see if he could get them working properly - if he could then I could have them.  So, of course, I said yes.  A couple of days later, there was Auntie Cecile at the door with the two items of interest.  Naturally, Poppa being Poppa, he was intrigued with these two dysfunctional pieces of equipment and....

............. his first item on the agenda was to decompose the poor things into a gazillion pieces, which seemed to multiply....

.... every time I stopped to take a look.  He cleaned all the different, little pieces and reconstructed them both back to normalcy.  I ordered new batteries for each of them and packages of filters from Amazon.  As soon as the batteries and filters arrived (about 4 days later), he inserted them into the machines and....

.......... we checked them out to ensure that they were working properly.  Above is Roothie busily eating crumbs from the kitchen floor.  Since then I have assigned her to the carpeted areas and....

......... the best invention ever for sweeping dust, crumbs and miscellaneous stuff from tiled, hardwood and most importantly stairs has been put in charge of those areas.  Broomie (the dear, delightfully lightweight Dyson cordless electric broom) now has....

....... her own storage space, where she is easily accessible for quick cleanups or larger projects!  Thank you Auntie Cecile and thank you Poppa - my housecleaning tasks just got a lot easier!  In fact, yesterday I gave my old upright vacuum to Auntie Denise for her new apartment - I don't need it any more!  Since I posted that last knitting blog - with more time to spare on cleaning days - I have....

.......... finished the bluebird mittens for Auntie Colleen, and....

.... a pair of socks for a friend.    When they were done, I made......

..... a couple of narwahls for Auntie Colleen.  The pattern for the narwahls and the bluebird mittens were both available at Ravelry.com - I will give you more information in my next post.  Since it isn't long until we leave for Florida, I have just been experimenting with some of my stash and am working on a large blanket for Kevin's Mom.  I promised I would make her one when they were in Florida in 2013, so it seemed like a good thing to do.  Of course I won't get it done before next Saturday when we head south, so I will finish it in April of 2016 - gosh - she's having to wait a long time for that blanket - hopefully the winter in Canada won't be too cold!  On another note.....

.......... remember that figure in the fog - guess who it was!  I got to meet the A&W Root Bear up close and personal - and he was kind enough to pose with me for a photograph!  Isn't he cute?  Almost as cute as....

............ my own bears - lined up here waiting for Poppa to get his coat on.  And....

....... Poppa took a few minutes one day to hang up my Beary Merry Christmas wreath on our front door to greet guests when they come!  And........ we did have more company - but I'm out of time now, gotta run - more in the next blog!

Knitting As Promised

I'm not sure what I showed you last regarding my knitting projects.  I finished....

........... this outfit for Eliza Jane, and then.....

... when she came to model her other outfit (excuse the blurry picture!)......

........ I gave her big brother a sweater I had made, so he wouldn't feel left out.  He had some extra energy that day and just wouldn't stay still!  But, you get the idea.

I then got a request for another bear - for a baby I don't know.  With that bear....

........ was also a request for a blanket.  Since the parents will not be finding out the gender of the baby, I tried to make it non-gender specific!  In these days when that is usually determined beforehand, I had almost forgotten how to do that!  Anyway....

... with that in mind I knit some hats and mitts in more definitive colours, to be given appropriately when the time comes.  Then....

....... I started some mitts for Auntie Colleen.

Who is that off in the fog??

Skipped in the Rush

I've been going through my pictures and found a few I thought were worth sharing with you!

This one is for Granny.  I wanted her to see how lovely the crocheted doily she created for me looks on the chest of drawers in my room.

The autumn leaves on the condo property where we now have our new residence.

The huge bear at the Bass Pro Shop that makes Poppa look like a short person.

The bears (left to right) Squeegie, Mikey, Taffy and Happy waiting for Poppa to get his coat on so they can go for a car ride.

Oh gosh - I hope they don't get too warm in their coats - what is Poppa doing now???

Just One....

....... of Poppa's projects.

These are the screen doors on the front of our unit when we moved in.  They were wooden doors with permanent screens.  They looked quite pretty, but did not close properly and the screen was coming out in one corner.  So, insects flew in and the inside doors had to be closed if the weather was inclement, and all that beautiful natural light didn't come in.  So......

.... one day a door specialist arrived at the front door and under Poppa's close supervision.....

.... these wonderful storm doors were put in place of the old screen doors.  Now I can have them open any time (until it turns too cold)!  Mommy, Daddy and the little boys are coming for a visit this weekend - so I will try to post a knitting blog on Monday!

Our Second Visitor

Finally, I have a few minutes to post about our second visitor last month!  Of course, you've probably already guessed....

............ it was Munchie - who you see here during some leisure time with Poppa - they were watching superhero cartoons.  Lots of interesting things happened while he was here.  First on the agenda.....

.......... was a trip to the barber shop with Poppa.  Later, we had lunch at our place......

.... with Aunt Peggy, so they could have a visit.  Of course......

......... the boys did their usual washing and shaving in the morning - but they didn't stay still enough for a good shot!

And, of course, they made the beds and dressed the bears, and then.....

.... Munchie posed for a picture with them.  The bear at centre right is Blackie - he is Munchie's bear.  He started sleeping with Munchie when he slept in the cradle at our house, and a few years ago, he moved to Munchie's house to stay.  We had been on a trip to the store, and both the boy bears had acquired a bib.  Munchie told us that Taffy didn't need a bib since she was a girl!

Of course, Munchie and myself made some cookies - chocolate chip this time, and they turned out quite well - we sent some home for Mommy, Daddy and Curtie.

I wish I had better pictures of this event, but the room is small and there was just no way I could squeeze in closer without being the the road.  After the installation of our new furnace was complete, Poppa switched the washer and the dryer around so that they were more convenient for me when the doors were open.  This entailed some re-wiring and re-plumbing and installation of a new dryer venting system - so clearly a lot of work.  The final step was re-leveling both appliances so that they didn't bounce around when working.  Poppa got the dryer in and done with not too much effort.  But, once the washer was in place, he couldn't get in behind it to level the back feet.  So.... guess who could fit??  He lifted Munchie in, and our little seven-year-old grandson turned the feet as instructed until Poppa said it was good.  Then, at the end of that mission, Munchie climbed on the dryer and reached way back to plug that huge plug into the electrical outlet.  It was extremely impressive and adorable.  He double checked each instruction about which way to turn, and then followed each instruction perfectly!  We were lucky to have him here that day!

But, as usual, it seemed way too soon, and his little suitcase was packed....

.... the bears got their coats on, and the other stuffies were collected - all ready for a long car ride....

........... Oops!  Munchie got Poppa's coat on by mistake!  But, after a wonderful visit, we had to take the little guy back to Mommy and Daddy.  We missed him, but after a couple of days we settled back to our old routine.....

.......... and so did the rest of the household.

First Visitor

The weekend before we had the new furnace installed, we had a most wonderful visitor.  On Friday afternoon.....

.... we visited a Bass Pro Shop at a huge mall, where we found....

....... this delightful little boy and decided to bring him back to our house for a couple of nights.

So, after we wandered around and admired the work of the taxidermist - there was a lot of it! - we waved goodbye to Mommy (she had met us there to lend us her youngest son).....

......... and headed to our house.  Poppa adjusted the vents to make sure the boys' room would not be too chilly for our little visitor and we tucked him in for the night.  The next day was really our only day together since we promised Mommy we would meet her again to give him back.  Needless to say, we had to cram a lot into those few hours.  Of course, we started the day .....

 ....... by getting cleaned up and brushing our teeth.  Then....

....... we went to the barber shop for a new haircut.  

Poppa and Squeegie and Curtie got together to do some artsy, craftsy stuff, which turned out to be....

... Hallowe'en outfits for Squeegie and Taffy - and the boys did such a good job - don't the bears look fantastic?!?  Then Taffy and I had our turn....

.... we got out some ingredients and some utensils....

...... and made some cookies!  After supper....

........... the boys were getting kinda tired, and settled down to watch some TV.  The next morning, after breakfast at MacDonalds.......

.... the little suitcase was packed and Bugley (remember him?) got some glasses too.  Before we knew it, the time had arrived.......

......... to take our little visitor back to the Bass Pro Shop to meet Mommy and head back to his place to be ready for school on Monday!  The house seemed awfully quiet for a day or so, but then the furnace team arrived to liven things up for us!  Can you guess who visited us the next weekend???