Hotel Adventures

Going to a hotel, especially one of a chain, one expects to sleep well, be warm and comfortable, move freely about the hotel premises, and go home relaxed and refreshed.

Well, this past month, we’ve had opportunity to stay at two different hotels, in two different cities, and the experiences have left us wondering about this world

First, late August, we were treated to a hotel room courtesy of the Calgary Highland Games committee.  A nice room, we slept well, and got up in time in the morning to pack up and be ready to check out before we headed out for breakfast – planning to return after to get our bags.  As we stepped into the hallway, we were met by a police officer who directed us quickly and quietly away from the elevator and toward a stair well.  If this wasn’t enough to have us wondering, we saw a few more police around the building, and then when we tried to return to our room, we were not allowed on that floor.  Period.  No discussion.

By this time, many of the police were in full SWAT gear, something like the picture below:

They even had one of those little camera thingies that looks like a vacuum cleaner so they could put a wire under a door to see what was going on inside. 

The hotel staff were more than gracious, extended our ‘stay’ well into the evening at no extra cost to us or to the Games committee, and we headed off to the field for the day.  During the day we heard some rumors about a ‘cheating’ spouse and a person threatening with a gun.  When we returned to the hotel, we received a letter explaining that a domestic dispute had required police presence, all parties involved were arrested, and nobody was injured.  As we checked out, the staff told us that, in fact, they knew nothing of the incident until police arrived in the morning.

Then this past weekend, we were in another hotel for a wedding.  We checked in, found a lovely room with a Jacuzzi tub, got changed and headed out for the celebrations.

We returned fairly early as we had our nearly-due pregnant DDIL-K with us and my parents, and they were ready to call it a night.

We stepped in, took shoes off, and Grizz said ‘what’s going on?  I just got dripped on!’  We looked up: 

We reported to the hotel desk

And requested another room.  Sadly for us – good for them – the hotel was full to capacity, and they had to move us to another hotel.  Again, staff was gracious and helpful, but not what we expected to be doing.

Ahh, adventures!                      Blessings, Peg

Christmas is Really Coming

And we know that for sure when the first Christmas Craft Fair opens its doors.  We went to one yesterday:

Oh, the goodies!  Oh, the ideas!  So many lovely items I wanted to take home!  But this was all I bought:

These won’t actually be used for Christmas decorations, but rather to put on the table outside our front door – in January.  I like to recognize the seasons with front door deco, and these will just do the trick for January.  I’m considering these a birthday gift.

Today is actually my birthday, and the snowmen weren’t my first gift.  A few days ago, Grizz had his first outing when he could drive himself.  He brought these home for me:

We put them in our bedroom because it’s cooler there and they might last a little longer that way.  I’ll bring them out to put on the table when the kids come for dinner tonight.

The cool rainy weather has set in, but we’ve had a few reprieves.  On one, I headed out the back door and discovered:

These may be the last of the roses to come in the house, and I couldn’t cut the stems very long, because there’s more out there.  I wanted to give them the chance to bloom if it’s going to happen.  It’s a little dicey, because it may get too cold to properly prune back the bush before these bloom.  Oh, well, will enjoy them as long as I can.

On another reprieve, the sun hung a rainbow across the hill just a little way off.  We managed to get this picture:

The rainbow seemed to make the colors on the hill just that much more brilliant.  I love rainbows, they always remind me of the promises of God.

Happy promises!                      Blessings, Peg

A Legend Passes On

Just learned that Shirley Temple Black, famous child actor, later teen actor, then eventually a diplomat, has died.

I loved her movies as a child, and still enjoy watching one occasionally.  She was an amazingly talented, bright child, and brought such joy to so many lives, especially in the Depression years.  According to what I read, her talent and charming smile also saved Fox studio from bankruptcy – that’s a lot on a little girl’s shoulders.  Apparently she made as many as 11 films in a year at the start when she was but 5 or 6 years old.  And in 2006 was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award – well earned!

Some memorable photos:

A legend passes on – but we’ll still have her movies to watch over and over and over again.

YES!

I got it – woke up yesterday morning with Disappearing 9 Patch in my head.  Oh, that’s what I can do for that baby quilt. 

First I want to thank all of you who suggested ways to get over quilter block.  Good ideas all, and I’ll certainly be tucking them away for future reference.

So after another look at some fabrics that I already have, I started looking around the web for D9P patterns and tutorials – don’t you just love the web for all the information and ideas that are right at hand!

Anyway, in my Pinterest pictures, found Fractured 9 Patch, from Linda’s Quiltmania site, complete with tutorial:

And I set to work measuring and cutting, then sewing and I’m getting there.  The fabrics are Dr. Seuss.  Today, I’ll put together the last of the 9-patch blocks, then begin the fracturing process.

So happy to be back at the drawing board sewing machine again.

Pictures in a couple of days!               Blessings, Peg

It Was Just a Dream

I toiled up the hill on my bicycle, working my way around teenagers lolling on the curb with their legs and feet blocking the bike lane, and around the horde of moms and kids that were coming the other direction.  Destination – the hotel at the top of the hill.

When I got there, it was the hotel of my dreams – luxurious, crystal chandeliers, a lounge for reading or chatting, velvet and leather everywhere, Persian rugs.  And it was busy – staff and guests busily moving around, everybody with an apparent purpose.

I approached the registration desk and met Margaret, a delightful customer service rep who had my reservation all ready, and proceeded with the check-in process and then asked for my credit card.  I handed her my Visa, and she swiped it through the machine and handed it back.

Then Jerry the bell-hop was at my side, and just as I asked Margaret a question, he said he’d take care of that right away and off he went, coming back a few minutes later and handing me my Visa card.  I hadn’t realized he’d even taken it, and wondered what he’d been doing with it.  I had to ask him to give me some privacy with Margaret as he seemed to be crowded right against my elbow, and when he left, I asked if we could reverse the charge on my Visa and put the charge on another card, as I was uncomfortable with what Jerry had done with my Visa and wanted to cancel it as soon as I got to my room.

Margaret was hesitant, but eventually went into a back office and I could see her through a window speaking with someone who was apparently a supervisor.  Throughout this, my wallet, with credit cards, had been laying on the counter in front of me.  The supervisor came out to explain that they couldn’t reverse the charges – and suddenly Jerry was there again, handing my wallet back to me!!  When had he taken it, what had he done with it?  I had a headache!!!

And then I woke up – wanting to run for my purse and check my credit cards!  And so thankful when I realized this had all been just a dream!  And reminded that I need to always, always, always keep close tabs on my credit cards and wallet when out there shopping.

Do you give your credit card to the wait staff at a restaurant?

Do you lock your car with your wallet inside when at a gas station?

Do you make sure to get your card back and put it straight away in your wallet when at a cashier?

Yes, it was just a dream, but a dream with a lesson – I think I’ve been reminded!

Happy lessons!             Blessings, Peg

Home Alone

And no disasters, unlike the movie!!!  LOL!

This is the first day in 5 weeks that I’ve been at home, in the house, all by myself.  Grizz is getting around better and better, and had a dentist appointment this morning.  Because the office is local, I could just drop him off to pick him up later (another week before he’s allowed to drive himself).  He decided to walk from the dentist over to the barber shop, and call me when he was finished there.

So what did I do with my time?  Did I clean house?   Nope!  Did I sew?  Nope!  Did I catch up on reading?  Nope!  Did I coffee with friends?  Nope!  Did I work on some genealogy?  Nope!  Did I tackle any of the pile of projects waiting for me?  Nope!

I made the mistake of opening an on-line game site that I check every so often, and got myself embroiled in a game that stole the time away from me.

I do so enjoy Escape Games – but really, folks, don’t follow my lead unless you really do have the time to waste.  Most games are usually just 15-30 minutes to play, this one though was extra long.

Talking about games, though, I do love puzzles of almost every kind – jigsaw, crossword, logic, quilts – and I can get lost when I get caught up in them.  Every morning (and I excuse this by reasoning that using my brain is warding off Alzheimer’s), I play a crossword puzzle online.  I used to do the ones in the newspaper, but since we started getting the paper on-line, can’t do those any longer.  For a while I played the crossword on FB, but it became not so user-friendly.  Then I found the Reader’s Digest crossword, and get my ‘fix’ daily.

You may have noticed on my side-bar that I’ve added a crossword puzzle.  I can’t remember where I found it, but it was advertised to be put on web-sites, so I tried it and it worked.  It’s there for any of you who may like to do a simple crossword puzzle.  And it is simple, just something to pass a few minutes of time.

Now, though, I WILL go and get some quilting done!

Happy puzzling!                     Blessings, Peg

Leaving, But We’ll Be Back

Heading for home….

After 10 days with our kids and little LV, we’re actually going through a little bit of withdrawal.  We’d become accustomed to the idea of our children having grown up and moved on with their lives, but now with a new baby and another one coming, we want nothing more than to hold them all close and not let go.

But there was lots of time holding, feeding, playing with LV:

And I went with DDIL-K for her US – a real-time glimpse of Eli, but still no idea whether it’s a he or a she.  Only 10 weeks to wait until we know.

There was also a baby shower for DDIL-K, lots of fun and amazingly coordinated gifts received:

Grizz did some work on the baby room closet, and we helped put together a new filing cabinet so ‘stuff’ could be moved out of the baby room so that ‘baby stuff’ can be moved in and set up.

We did take time for some touring around and visited The Saskatoon Farm, which is so much more than just a saskatoon farm.  They have a gift store, bakery, art gallery, farmer’s market, restaurant, plant nursery, as well as u-pick berries and fruits in season.  And the best saskatoon berry pies ever!

And the view over the Old Man and Bow Rivers is spectacular:

Before leaving, we booked our next stay in about a month.

Happiness is……family and grandchildren!                   Blessings, Peg