Creative uses for a meat mallot...

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my sister about a pair of granny boots I used to have. I wore them until they fell apart and always meant to replace them. We were wandering through a department store shoe section at that time. Her reply was less than flattering about the selection such a store would offer.

So, with that in mind and a free Friday afternoon, I decided to wander through one of my favourite shoe store. I also heard a rumour that they were having a sample shoe sale as well at one of their stores. The store was just too crowded to look properly so I headed to the other store. Found the boots I wanted and they had my size. The only problem was that the arch on one boot was slightly higher than the other. Experience tells me that if I could feel it then, it would irritate my foot after wearing the boots all day. Unfortunately, they only had one pair my size. The other store (the CROWDED store) had two pairs and I really didn't want to walk all the way back. The clerk wasn't able to get in touch with anyone at the other store becuase of the sale and everyone was too busy to answer the phone. Then she did a very nice thing...she offered me a nice discount so I could take the boot to a shoe repair and have them restitch the lining. So I bought them.

When I got home, I took the meat mallet and went Bop! Bop! Bop! on the spot and it worked. I've had these boots for a week now and they still feel great.

Food shopping

A zillion years ago, we lived near 11th & Fraser...not too far from Famous Foods. The Famous Foods then is nothing like the Famous Foods now. This place was recommended by someone who is very particular about what she eats. Now I know where to go for my hard to find baking needs in bulk, although their stock of baking chocolate is not quite as extensive as Gourmet Warehouse. They have organic everything there. Stuff that I wouldn't think you could even get organic!

And I found Greek yogurt there. Organic Greek yogurt. I've been looking for some to try & make my own yogurt. Wish me luck on that. :)

View from the top...

There was no way I was going to say no when asked if I wanted to go up to the ring beam.

View from the freight elevator going up:


View of False Creek and Science World from the ring beam:


View of the hole in the middle of the Stadium roof as they're cutting away the panels:


It was a beautiful day to be up there.

Coffee Bag

Ethical Bean Coffee is a good coffee at a decent price. We drink a lot of coffee which means we go through a lot of bags of coffee. I think these bags are supposed to be recyclable but I couldn't help but wondering if there's something I could make with them. You know - reuse, reduce, etc...

In the spirit of my bag-making phase, I present...

the Coffee Bag!





Things I would do differently next time:
The plastic wrinkled when I turned the bag right side out. I would leave the opening larger so the bag could turn without wrinkling the bag too much. I made zipper tab ends and it added bulk to the end seams - making it very difficult to sew the sides. I think I would prefer to have the air vent facing inside than out. Mylar is slippery to sew so don't rush the sewing. You only get one chance with this material. If you make a mistake, you can't redo the seams...it leaves holes that won't go away.

The bag smells like coffee.

Round two...

I wasn't really happy with the cow bag. The cotton was a bit too soft even with the lining. This was made with some green upholstery fabric I had left over from making a teddy bear.

Oh, did I mentioned that Button Button is just a few blocks away from my new office? This is very handy.

Things you do when you're bored...

I had planned on meeting up with the Twisted tonight but didn't feel great when I got home. I decided to stay home tonight and play a bit of WoW. Tonight I really sucked at healing and wiped the group twice. At lvl 53, it's BRD...a dungeon that I absolutely hated. It was time to go do something else.

Scrounged up a zipper, some fabric, and half an hour later this is what you get...


...a little cow bag. Maybe I should iron out the wrinkles?

BC Place Stadium...end of an era

Now you see it...






Now you don't...

BC Place Stadium's roof was deflated for the final time this morning. I watched it with mixed feelings...a bit of sadness and a bit of excitment for what the next year will bring. I was also sad that not all my Stadium friends were together. We all watched it from various locations. I wish we could have all been together for this.