Addictions, Obsessions and Love..............

So let's see, where were we on this voyage.........oh yes......

I've told you about my love of crocheting and I must tell you that it has now turned into an addiction or an obsession.

I cannot go one single day without making SOMETHING......

I take my bag of yarn and hooks, etc. with me wherever I go.  Even if we are just going grocery shopping....only because ultimately we will make several unplanned stops for which I am left sitting in the car waiting for John.......L.C.B.O., Curries Art Store, etc.

So, I take my bag with me and crochet while we're driving along (feels like we get to our destination faster) and whenever we make a stop along the way.

I take my bag of goodies to the pool every day.......swim for a while....get out and crochet.....repeat.

We're usually at the pool from 1 o'clock until 3:30 and I can get a lot done in those couple of hours.
Addiction?  Obsession?  Love?

It's not only the act of crocheting, it's the yarns and the hooks and the patterns.
Not quite every day but close.....I go to Michaels, I go to Walmart and I shop online.
Yarns and Hooks and Patterns, oh my!

One day in early June, I googled " Crochet Baby Blankets", looking for some new pattern to make because I was tiring of granny squares.

It must have been the words "Crochet and Baby" that prompted a picture of one of the cutest, sweetest baby booties I had ever seen!

I clicked on the picture and there they were!  I had stumbled by mistake onto my next crochet addiction/obsession/love: making baby booties, hats, beanies and diaper covers!  It was love at first sight!

The site I had stumbled on was a place called "Etsy.com"......I'd never heard of Etsy but boy I sure know it well now.

It's an online shopping EXTRAVAGANZA..........BEWARE my friends, it is addictive but just wonderful.  Similar to eBay but better because you don't have to bid on anything....you just buy!

The patterns for the all of booties were created by a woman named Elizabeth Alan, an air force wife from Tennessee, living in Maryland with her husband and 6 children.  SIX?  Yes six, five girls and one boy.

I loved her story and I ADORED her patterns.  I immediately ordered one of her bootie patterns.  She emailed it to me and I instantly started to make the bootie and it was so well written I was amazed!  I'd never made anything closely resembling anything like a bootie and within 25 minutes I held this gorgeous little thing in my hand and held it up to the sky and said "Kunta Kinte".......well no, to be honest, I didn't hold it up to the sky and say that, but I sure had a HUGE smile on my face........and was totally addicted/obsessed/in love with these tiny little shoes.

Baby Ribbon Mary Janes!

Next day, I ordered another one of her patterns and the next another and so on.  Elizabeth and I emailed back and forth whenever I had any problem with the pattern....even the tiniest problem and she was there within minutes.  Not that the patterns were a a problem, just me doing things wrong.  She has the patience of a saint!

All I could think was "how can this woman have 6 young children and be there for me whenever I need her?"  If she took like 2 hours to reply, she apologized for taking so long!  Imagine! What a wonderful woman!

As I would finish a pair of booties, I would post them on Facebook and the reaction from my friends was  immediate and overwhelming......everyone commented and just raved about them!

I couldn't get over how beautiful they were and that other people thought so too....I was thrilled......

.....and becoming more obsessed/addicted/in love with crocheting........

Where would all this lead?  Stay tuned............


Oh yes, and I must let you know that Elizabeth's pattern shop on Etsy is here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ebethalan

Take a visit, you'll fall in love!

See you soon..............♡

Short but sweet!

Yesterday was a bad day and a good day........

Some of you know, that I have several medical issues.
I have atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and P.A.D. (Peripheral Artery Disease).
I inherited these genes from both of my parents (my sister got the good looks, I got the bad genes).
My father passed on at 61 and my mom at 65.
I'm now 64 and I'm doing the best that I can to surpass them and live to 89 like our Nanny.
Whether that will happens remains to be seen but I have great doctors and a good attitude most of the time.

Yesterday was my heart testing day..........I always get nervous whenever I have to have tests and believe me, I have to have them often.  These ones were ordered by my cardiologist whom I will see for the results at the end of August.

The tests went well and I came home wearing the portable heart monitor which isn't too bad but can be uncomfortable at times.  I'm allergic to the sticky things and the tape.....so itchy!

I was feeling kind of bluesy and extremely tired when I received an email from my friend Tim that he was back from Newfoundland and going ahead with creating my web site!

This perked me up and was just the news I needed to hear!

He told me he had done some investigating and found that the name I wanted "thebabycrow.com" was available and that I should register it at some point.

Well, he didn't have to tell me twice!  I immediately went to the Webhosting site and registered the domain.

It is now mine!!!!  Imagine........www.thebabycrow.com is mine!

It's all uphill from here!  Stay tuned...........I'm so excited!!!!!

Oh yes and that monitor is off this morning and on it's way back to where it came from!

I'm off to have a shower!

I'm baaaaacccckkkk!

I'm sorry I was gone so long but sometimes I just have nothing to say for myself.......

I received an email from a dear friend the other day who had read my last post and thought that it was kind of depressing and asked if I would write something happier.....just for her.  I said I would.

So here you go Susanne!

We have been stuck in a heat wave, as most of you know, for the past few days and yesterday was the hottest and muggiest day that I ever remember in Ontario.  I've certainly felt hotter and muggier days in Mexico, especially two years ago when we got to Bucerias on October 31st.  For two weeks we could hardly breathe and the pool at our bungalows was under repair so we couldn't even swim.  I don't swim in the ocean so I just kept taking cool showers and sat in front of the fans for relief.

I did the same here at home yesterday, had two cool showers and sat in front of the fan......I didn't even go to the pool yesterday which is very unusual for me.  It was windy so we wouldn't have been able to put up the table umbrella and I didn't want to sit in the sun in that repressive heat!

John toddled off to the pool by himself though.....he loves the sun and can sit in it for hours and hours.  He's so tanned right now....he looks so sexy!  Hmmmm maybe I should have gone to the pool with him....can't have all those ladies gawking at my man!  ha! ha!  Go ahead ladies, enjoy the view.....but remember.......he comes home to me!

My web site is at a standstill just now as my wonderful artist friend Tim has gone off to Newfoundland for a vacation get away........I can picture him in my mind sitting at his easel, down by the ocean, painting away.........nice life.   If you'd like to see his work you can visit his website at www.timothydaniels.com.

Tim and I were a couple way back in the 70's when we were both young and hippy-like.  We never did drugs though, we were high on life.

Tim would sit and paint or draw for hours on end and I loved watching him create....such a talent.  He also played guitar.......not as good on the guitar as with the brush and pencil but I enjoyed whatever he did at the time.

Tim in 1971

Our relationship wasn't long lived but it was certainly memorable........I can't recall why it ended but it wasn't one of those bad splits, I guess it had just run it's course.  Our lives never crossed paths again until about 6 or 7 years ago, some 30 odd years later.

Tim was at home watching 60 minutes or another show like that and they were talking about a computer site called "Classmates" and for some reason he though of me and went to his computer and put in my name......there I was!

He contacted me through Classmates and I was thrilled to hear from him again.  He was now a very successful painter, married for over 20 years and very happy and content with his life.  This made me feel so good to know that the young part-time painter was now doing what he loved for a living......plus teaching art classes.

A few months later, we met for lunch in Markham.......I was so nervous to see him again because I wasn't that young, skinny blonde that I had been on our last meeting.....some 50-60 pounds heavier, still blonde and wrinkled!

I didn't know, but he was thinking the same thing about himself.  He was never blonde, but you get what I mean.

He picked me up at the hospital where I worked.......I got into the passenger seat, and we embraced and then just stared at each other for the longest time.  Seemed that neither of us had noticed how we had changed in looks.

We got to the restaurant, sat across from each other in a booth and it was like the years just melted away.  I guess people never really change......a bit on the outside yes, but inside, we are still the same as we were.

We sat and talked, gabbing about everything and everyone for over two hours and then he drove me back to the hospital. What a great reunion it was.

We remain great friends to this day.....email and Facebook mostly but just knowing that we are still friends, happily married to our respective spouses is such a good feeling.  So very many people's relationships fall apart and they never speak again........our friendship makes me feel like this is the way it should be.

Tim in his studio

I'm so looking forward to seeing what he creates with my web site and now you all know the story that goes along with it.  I'll let you know when it's done and I do hope you'll come for a visit!

And I hope Susanne enjoyed my upbeat post today! xo

Time for a rest.............

This past week has been very tiring..........I think I'm trying too hard to get my business going and need to take a break.

For three days I had irregular heart beats, which are nothing new for me, but they are so unnerving I can't stand when it happens.

So, when I woke up on Sunday morning I told John I wanted to go to hospital to get checked out.

Long story short, I'm fine.

I've been taking Ativan to calm me down and it really makes me tired and a bit depressed at the same time.

My sister and her husband are on vacation for 2 weeks and I was going to go visit with them on Wednesday for a few days but have decided instead to go tomorrow.

I just don't see the sense in sitting here waiting for Wednesday to arrive when I can just go tomorrow!

I'm really hoping for a fun, relaxing few days so that I will feel refreshed and ready to tackle the next phase of my little business........making a web site.

A dear, dear friend of mine who is a fabulous artist has agreed to collaborate with me and as I have no idea what's involved in creating a web site, I'm hoping when I return my creative juices will be flowing once again.  I'd love it if he did the whole thing for me but then would it really be mine?

I'm so looking forward to having my very own website and it will be nice to be able to say I had some input into it.

Exciting times!

So, I'll be off tomorrow just after lunch but not sure when I'll be back......probably Saturday......

I'm taking the car so John will be stuck at home alone.........he's not used to that but I'm sure he'll be fine.

So, take care my friends, my dear followers.........I'll be back!

Marilyn

Picture me lying on that swing.....ahhhhh