Friday, April 5, 2024

Have you ever dropped a Facebook friend? I did it yesterday for the first time. I know it can be done anonymously but I really wanted the friend to know why I was doing it. I’m not sure she appreciated my reasons but I didn’t think just ignoring what I didn’t like about her post was very honest. I’m sure it won’t change a thing, but at least I won’t be upset when I look at Facebook.

I was also very truthful to my friend about skipping our sewing session yesterday. I could have opted out with the excuse of a Guild meeting in the evening but I told her the truth. Pat and I were very much engaged in the curling and I didn’t want to miss it. I’ve put too much emphasis on sewing in the past but I’m learning to let my own self-inflicted deadlines go.

I planned to walk to the Guild meeting last night but there was such a cold wind I drove. And lucky me, I won the 50/50 draw. I won once before and used those winnings to pay for 50/50 tickets from that point forward. Although I wasn’t entire out of funds in that envelope the extra $28 is going to keep me going for a long time.

I need to get back into a more regular schedule than I have been of late. I want to spend my mornings upstairs either sewing or doing computer work. I’ll spend the afternoons working in the yard, going for walks, and doing some hand stitching. Evenings have always been for knitting and crochet and that won’t change until I run out of yarn.

That being said, this morning I’ve sent off additional information to the accountant, finalized a Guild survey I’m sending out and worked on the latest mystery clue. I’m off now for lunch and some hand stitching.

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Yesterday Pat and I went out in the morning and cleaned up one corner of the yard. This is a nice sitting area in the morning but particularly in the evening when the sun is beating down on the front of the house. Our bulbs are all up and we have flowers in every container. The lilac and maples are just coming into leaf, the Solomon Seal is gaining inches every day and the Strawberry Tree survived its first winter.

We are getting organic pick-up every week but we realized yesterday that the bin doesn’t hold a whole lot when you are doing yard clean-up. I added some compost to the bin this afternoon and noticed that the leaves had compacted a bit so we’ll be able to get a bit more into it before pick up day. I pulled a few weeds from the patio yesterday and had this realization – no matter how much it hurts to get down on your hands and knees, it hurts even more to bend down from the waist to pull them out. Lesson learned.

I was so tired yesterday after that bit of yard work that by the time I was ready for bed I had already decided I wasn’t going to go to sewing today. I’ve been trying to get my March UFO Challenge finished for the past week. Had I not watched so much hockey, curling and baseball it could have been done before the end of the month. I took an extra couple of days in April but I can say it is done. My April UFO shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish within the month so I don’t think I lost anything by sticking with it.

Sunday, March 31, 2024

This is going to be the last post I send out through e-mail. It may be the last Journal post that I make but I’m keeping my options open and may write something from time to time. My life is pretty simple these days – sewing, reading, and some other crafts thrown into the mix. I don’t have regular opinions or thoughts that seem worthy of sharing but if I do you can find them on my website.

My craft and book finishes will continue to be updated.

I have had quite a few iterations of my website over the years. I’m not entirely sure what year it all started but I found a posting that listed movies for 2007. This particular version began in December, 2011.

Thanks for following me for the past (I can’t believe it) 16 years.

Friday, March 15, 2024

I was up early this morning so I could listen to Dave’s announcement that he was signing off with CJWW after 22 years. You might think he was retiring but he’s not – he’s headed off on a new adventure in Regina and taking his family with him. It will make Saskatchewan trips a bit more difficult to see everyone but I’m so happy for him.

As you know we were very disappointed in the Film Festival offerings, but we have seen a couple of great movies this week. The Taste of Things is the movie that we missed due to the snow that we got during festival week. It was rescheduled to this past Tuesday and pass holders got in for free. This was the kind of film we had come to expect from the festival – beautifully shot and enough story to keep it interesting.

Last night we saw a documentary 500 Days in the Wild – again, an excellent presentation. The director and cinematographer is the first person to complete the Trans Canada Trail from coast to coast to coast. It was an epic six year journey, which doesn’t explain the title. It was almost all done solo and there were very few shots of any settlements along the way.

I have spent the better part of the last two days sewing with Stacia and Deloise. My project took almost a day-and-a-half but it is ready now to have the binding stitched down. My plan was to move on to my mystery quilt (another clue was released yesterday) and then start cutting for my next chicken block.

We are heading across to the studio this afternoon. Originally we were going to go tomorrow so Pat could go to the movie tonight (Dune Part 2). We have to be home next Thursday for my lab appointment and Pat noticed that the movie would still be showing when we got home so we moved up our plan.

That meant that by the time I finished my project and did my packing for the trip I had very little time for the mystery or the chickens. I cleaned up my cutting table, trimmed down a few scraps, and managed one set of 12 HSTs for my mystery. I think the floor is tidy enough that I can do some vacuuming before we start packing the truck.

I’ve packed very light this trip. I have my project to bind, a small embroidery project to finish and a new one to start (and leave on Texada for the future). I’m mainly going to be working on the grad gift that has lagged far behind where I wanted it to be.

I also have two library books to read – one I’m looking forward to and the other not so much. Oryx and Crake is the last one that was on Dylan’s reading list; I started it on an audio book and didn’t enjoy it. But if I start the actual book you know I have to finish it. The other book is the first in a series of twelve; the TV show Poldark (which we really enjoyed) is based on the books. I’m not committing to all twelve until I see how I like the first one.