Upcycled Sweat Pant Chair Pads

Photo by Suzzycue When my Grandfather died I couldn't throw away his favorite aqua-blue sweat pants that he wore almost everyday. I loved to go to my Grandparents home. When you walked into their home, you could smell the homemade soup simmering on the back burner of their stove. Poppa always had a meal ready for you to eat whenever you came to visit with a hot cup of tea. While you were warming up, enjoying your soup, on a blistery winter day ,Poppa entertained with some stories of his life. He told the same stories over and over and we would kind of get tired of hearing them. What,wouldn't I give today, for a bowl of his soup, and to hear his laughter, in his voice ,telling his story, as he told it to me, one more time:) I can remember some of them but it is not the same:( I used to wear his sweat shirt and pants for a while after her died. It was comforting. Then I decided to cut the sweat suit up into strips and braided them into long ropes. I laid it out into a circle on the floor and loosely sewed them into a circle (Seen in the photo) I have them on my patio furniture, on my balcony, and think of Poppa everyday that I put them out on the chairs. This keeps his memories and stories alive for me. God Bless You Poppa I will always keep you near me in my heart :)

Stratford On Avon Canada

Photos by Suzzycue I love to go for a walk around the Avon River, after Supper, in my small Hometown, City of Stratford, Ontario ,Canada. Last Thursday, I was carrying my camera to catch photos of the leaves turning colors. Then, I came upon the bridge, on Waterloo St and saw the Canada Geese squawking on the Avon River. They started flapping their wings and I was delighted to catch their flight from the river to their next landing spot for the night :) This was Awesome, sights and sounds that really reflects the Fall season, is here for me. I love the fall with all it's abundance.

Happy Thanksgiving to All Crumpet Egg In the Hole

Photo by Suzzycue Hi... I decided to start my Thanksgiving off with a new kind of treat for me. I cannot eat a lot of eggs at one time so an egg-in-the-hole works for me. I had crumpets in the fridge so decided to take it up a notch. Since the crumpets are so think and dense, I decided to toast in the toaster first. Then I cut out the centre hole, buttered up the bottom of the cast iron frying pan and set the crumpet and the hole peice to fry up. I cracked one egg in the hole and covered the pan with a plate. Since I like my eggs (over easy), after about two minutes, I flipped the crumpet egg- in- the- hole over. What a treat:) It was crispy, the egg was perfect. I used the crunchy middle part to dip the egg. The next one, I made the next day, exactly the same but when I flipped it back over, I melted cheese on the top :) Yummo I will keep this recipe in mind. How do you do your egg-in-the-holes? Thanks for reading and Enjoy your Thanksgiving with family and friends around your table.

Keep on Swimming

Video by Suzzycue

Last year I was delighted to attend the Toronto Aquarium. One of the last fish tanks before leaving was this one and guess what I was thinking... Yes Dory and Nemo keep on swimming. 

I filmed this for a friend of mine that everyday reminded me, to not think, and just keep on swimming. Great advice :) Don't you think😀

DIY Tip for Stripped Screws

Photo by Suzzycue

This is a shelf in my bathroom. I love it but it was a pain to hang because I stripped the screws with my electric screwdriver. Has this ever happened to you? It happens to me a lot :(

Then a neighbor of mine, hearing the commotion, came over to help me and handed me a thick rubber band. 

I laughed and said," What do I do, with this?"

He said to put it on top of the stripped screw before I put the screwdriver to it. I gave it a try and that stripped screw turned right out. I could not believe my eyes and was so grateful for the tip , I wanted to share it with you. 

This really works and will stop a lot of aggravation when building or hanging your favorite things :)

Mushroom Poutine

Photo by Suzzycue

Yesterday I was craving a Poutine but I had not bought the poutine gravy for it at No Frills and was too tired to go to the store.

I was looking in the cupboard and saw mushroom soup in a can and thought... lots of people make gravy with that , so thought I would give it a try.

I had the wedged cut real potatoes on a flat pan mixed with olive oil, garlic and rosemary ,on the top rack, under the broiler in the oven. When they browned up, I put on pieces of mozzarella cheese and scooped the mushroom soup right out of the can to top them with.

 I put the pan again under the broiler , the cheese and mushroom soup melted all over those yummy fries. What a treat and so easy with the mushroom soup. Give this a try. Baking the fries instead of frying them and topping them with mushroom soup is a lot less calories with no loss on flavour 😋

Frugal Living Garden Art

Photo and Wood burning by Suzzycue. 

The top wooden plaque is a hand painted seagull on a slice of cypress wood ,that I bought at flea market, in Florida, for a buck. This could be easily done by tracing a bird from a picture to a piece of wood and then painting in the lines. 

I love to wood burn and my MOM bought me a wood burning set for my hobby. I liked it, but found I had to go over the lines again and again to make them stand out. 

One day while walking down by the river ,I saw a man wood burning a drawing of a house onto a flat piece of plywood, with a magnifying glass and it really intrigued me. 

SO I thought ,I would give it a try, and the Blue Heron on a piece of knotty pine above is my first attempt at it. It is harder than you think to follow the lines ,with the bright circle light from the magnifying glass, but with a little practice, I got the hang of it :) I think it turned out good.  It was a great way to sit and get a tan. A win win hobby :)