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From Sports to Crafty Volunteering

Volleyball is great for more than exercise, fun and socializing. It is also a super way to network and share our skills – off the court.

One of the women in my Saturday morning league is a doctor, and she had sent out a request for volunteers to sew cloth face masks. She needs them for patients who visit her clinic. So I took up the gauntlet and joined the ranks of other women who are doing the same thing — sewing masks.

Having been a seamstress for many years, I have accumulated more than enough supplies to put together some fashionably colourful accessories while also using up items I haven’t seen in years, and possibly would otherwise never have used.

I found a design on the internet, suggested by a nurse – it is for a double-layered mask with an inner pocket that could accommodate a filter. (I’m wondering if people actually use coffee filters?) With some slight modifications that seemed practical to me, I set to work cutting, and pinning, and stitching, and then trimming the hundreds of threads.

I ended up with 13 masks each with ties for the top and bottom. No, I will not be demonstrating how they are worn.

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Nurturing with the letter K

Last week I listened to a podcast featuring Joel Salatin where he said, “It’s wonderful to nurture something.” And oh, how I agree!

Indeed, his comments encouraged me to appreciate my own nurturing activities – what a blessing to be able to enjoy these treats so easily.

Kombucha, Kefir, Kvass & Kraut

Kombucha and Kraut are happy, long-time regulars in my kitchen, and each batch has its own particular character.

Kvass has recently made a come-back, after a pause for about a year. Hmmmm. It is such a refreshing drink.

And now milk Kefir has joined the pack. An easy-peazy quick process. Thanks go to Kristin for the grains and to Donna for the inspiration.

So nutritious and delicious these all are – we hug each other every day.

With the arrival of spring-like weather, [K]ompost is also now stirring nicely in my backyard, getting ready to make itself a home in my garden.

Such a lovely, lively and hard-working family!

My sourdough is, unfortunately, being very stubborn. Perhaps it is missing the letter K?

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Brilliance on the Small Screen

Moira

Off and on over the past year or so, I have watched bits and pieces of Schitt’s Creek, but have never gone out of my way to view it regularly. Just yesterday, though, I was mesmerized by several back to back episodes, and have concluded that this is a brilliant production, featuring extremely talented actors.

Now that we are supposed to spend more time at home, I will maybe find time to check out what I’ve missed — on the smaller screen.

 

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Truth Be Told

img_0794The drive to know possibly has something to do with my seven decades. It has, though, for a good long time, been a quite-intense-work-in-progress* — made so much easier with the accessibility of the internet. I remember stressing on my students — time and time again — that, with this tool, they had a wonderful free gift of knowledge right in front of them,  and all they had to do was unwrap it. Be curious, read, research, dig, question, study, learn, cross-reference, reject, start again, …. I told them there was no excuse to be in the dark about anything. The responsibility to look for the answers, however, was theirs alone. Thankfully, my retirement has given me the opportunity to continue to fulfill my responsibility and be a life-long-learner.

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In the Red!

Chez moi, at Audities’ House of Cards, when I’m not taking photos, or designing greeting cards, I tend to dabble in experiments with fermented foods.

To date, I’ve mastered kombucha quite well, and drink it regularly. I’ve also successfully fermented beets, made beet kvass, and most recently, produced some delicious white cabbage sauerkraut. So now, I am on to a new venture: red cabbage sauerkraut.

For your enjoyment, I’ve documented the process from two days ago.

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Cabbage salt mixture

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Gray sea salt with some pink Himalayan

I added about four healthy teaspoons of coarse gray sea salt to about two and a half pounds of coarsely shredded red cabbage, and blended it together with my hands. The salt made the cabbage glisten with moisture almost immediately.

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Before using the mallet

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Water Treatment on 11th

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I’ve decided to make a few greeting cards using the designs from the walls of my friend’s house. On this one I’ve added a water filter as a sad reminder of the events of May 2017. Unfortunately, I have not been able to conclusively nail down the artist responsible so cannot give him credit for his unique creation.

Join us at Terrasse en Art on November 18th to see this card and others featuring scenes from Terrasse Vaudreuil.

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Self-Promotion Time

Voici Audities’ Cards on Facebook.

Montrez à vos êtres aimés qu’ils vous tiennent à cœur avec des cartes d’Audities’ Cards!

Des cartes de haute qualité, uniques et abordables, faites à partir de photos de ma collection personnelle, de photographies d’illustrations antiques et de gravures. Ces charmes en image ont droit à une seconde vie au lieu d’être enfermés dans des livres où personne les voit.

Toutes les cartes en inventaire sont seulement 3 $ ou moins.

La plupart sont sans texte à l’intérieur.

Pour toute commande de 10 cartes, il me fera plaisir de vous inscrire un message personnalisé sur le dessus ou à l’intérieur de la carte et ce, selon vos préférences.

Venez la rencontrer de 10 h à 15 h

au Centre communautaire

78, 7e Avenue, Terrasse-Vaudreuil

Terrasse en Art

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Can You Help Me?

I’d like to give credit to the gentleman who decorated so many homes in Terrasse Vaudreuil some thirty-odd or more? years ago — even if he is no longer living. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding the information I need.

The initials appear to be F.K. and I have heard the name Fred Kliner or Kleiner. Can anyone confirm this for me, please?

Much appreciated.IMG_0111 (1)

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Heartaches and Goodbyes

Watching a home be demolished

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and then be trucked away

was something that stirred my adrenaline —

I don’t see this every day.

I was awed by his skill with the shovel —

that operator worked so well.

But the emotions that grew as I watched him

Made the pain in my stomach swell.

How can this family recover?

How can they turn the page?

How can they feel that justice was done,

Or feel anything other than rage?

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The Sadness of Walking Away

 

 

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One Laundry-Day in the Hood

I hang laundry while standing on the bench so I can reach the line. I feel a bit rebellious since someone once told me I should be careful.

I admit that I do have a preference for using the same colour pegs for each item — I even back-track and change the pegged colour if I’ve messed up. I also choose the peg colours to suit the colour of the item I’m hanging. Where does that come from? And why?

It’s very comforting to hang according to some order/some personal rules, whatever they may be.

I choose to put the heavier items first because they take longer to dry. I hang pants from the cuff, not from the waist which is often too thick for the pegs. I like to hang shirts and t-shirts across the middle of the torso so they leave less evidence of being captured by the pegs. I like to avoid ironing.

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I’m Vending My Wares

I’ve just recently begun offering to display and sell Audities’ Cards in seniors’ residences. To date the cards have been well-received by the residents, so I will continue.

This choice has given me yet another excuse to design a sign to promote my craft.

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If you have suggestions and contact information for me, I would be grateful. Thank you.

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Nine Months Later

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Actually, there are quite a number of rounded bellies in my yard, leading me to worry. Where will all this snow go? There is only so much that sublimation can take care of, right? How much will be left to melt in the spring? And where will the melt water go?

I’m guessing that if we get a lot of sun and wind, and the weather stays cold, then a lot of this snow will disappear before we get to the melting stage. Hmmm. Does anyone know? Google, here I come.

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Thinking For Myself in 2018

As I go about my busy life, I get many reactions:

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To Share is to Care

  • “What?”
  • “You’re kidding!”
  • “Why?”
  • “That’s just weird.”
  • “I don’t understand.”
  • “You had better be careful!”

And, every summer, when I spend a week with my five sisters and their hubbies, I hear many variations of the same surprised reactions. And the reason is simple: I think for myself, and once I reach my conclusions, I act on my beliefs — no matter how unconventional. Unfortunately for my brothers-in-law, I also share most of these ideas with my more adventurous sisters. 😉 Some of the men call me a witch; they blame me for getting their wives into things they consider “weird.”

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