Tuesday, September 25, 2018

We were up late last night – a good show – and I managed to sleep until almost seven this morning. I hadn’t packed up my stitching for the bee but I have my Farmer’s Daughter hand stitching always ready to go so I wasn’t worried. After my coffee I decided I really didn’t feel like going out so I stayed home, thinking I might get a bit of stitching in on my own.

What actually happened was I got a Cranberry Hall deposit ready for the bank and updated my records and calendar for things booked, things booked with a paid deposit, and things done and paid in full. There were a flurry of messages regarding our next meeting and some time spent trying to find a free date and time for a rental request; after that I prepared a draft agenda and sent it to the President for her approval. I got Pat’s year-end accounting ready and sent the files off to the accountant. When I was about ready to start something fun I had some Hall money dropped off at the house so I had to update my deposit.

On one of Pat’s breaks I suggested that maybe when class finished he could pick some grapes as I had some running around to do. He planned to get some groceries when he finished but we decided I would get the groceries while I was out and he would pick grapes. By the time I was home and had groceries put away he had started pulling the grapes from the stems. He continued with that while I started washing and juicing them. I’m waiting for the juice to cool a bit and I’ll put it through its last straining and get it into containers. We don’t even know if we have room in the freezer for the containers but I’ll worry about that later.

I think I’ll have a couple more picks before the grapes are off the vine but I’m done with it now until after the concerts. I have some major cleaning to get done tomorrow during Pat’s breaks and continuing after he is done – I don’t want our guests sticking to the floor!

I’m looking forward to a night at home.

Monday, September 24, 2018

I was up at 5:30 this morning (Pat is teaching again this week) and I pretty much had my e-mail and Cranberry Hall work done before seven. I was meeting someone at the Hall at ten but until it was time to leave I finished my Splendid Sampler block from yesterday and started on my block-of-the-month for the Guild. We’re doing purple this month. I had a couple of errands to do while I was out but once I was home again I finished up the Guild block. I have another block pattern that I’m going to make each month in the appropriate colours. I’ll use the same block pattern and at the end of the year I’ll either have a small quilt for myself or an extra one to donate. I haven’t started on that particular job yet though.

After Pat finished teaching today I went outside and started picking grapes. I knew the vines were loaded this year and I wanted to get them before the birds did. I picked for less than half an hour and had a dishpan full; I think I only picked a quarter of the vines. I washed them and put them through the juicer before boiling them. We’ll freeze the juice if we can find room in the freezer; if not we’ll be drinking a lot of grape juice. The juicer made the whole process a lot faster but there it still required a lot of clean up.

My birthday celebration continued today with a lovely chat with Roberta, two beautiful cards in the mail, and two floral deliveries. I’m spoiled!

We have a show at the Hall tonight. I think I’m supposed to be selling memberships but if someone else gets to that table first I won’t argue. It feels like it has been a long day already. It is a show I’m interested in though, as opposed to one I need to work at.

Sunday, September 23, 2018

We spent the end of the week and the weekend on Texada where it did nothing much but rain the entire time. I hoped that on my birthday we could do some exploring through the back roads on the island but with a weather advisory we thought it best to stay indoors. Due to the dry summer, the heavy rain and high winds that were expected, there was some concern that trees could come down. Although it rained quite hard most days we didn’t get much wind at the studio and we never even lost power.

Although my birthday was quiet I heard from most of my friends and family. Thank you to everyone. We went out for dinner and even the wait staff wished me a happy birthday with a card and free dessert. One waitress, Nicki, has always called me by name but when Pat made the reservation Daniel, the other waiter, heard my name as Shirley so my card read Happy Birthday Shirley. It was Nicki who was working when we got there and we had a good laugh at the name mix-up. She said she had spent the afternoon feeling bad because she had been calling me “Sherry” for all these months. You can call me pretty much anything you want if you give me free dessert!

I was able to get in a half-hour walk one afternoon. Pat plays bridge on Friday and I arranged to walk the trail into town to meet him at the Legion. It wasn’t raining when I left the studio but I had my rain jacket in my backpack and I was wearing my rubber boots and rain hat. I was in the forest for most of the walk but before I exited the trees I put on my rain jacket for the last little bit. It started to pour again just as I got into the Legion but I had a ride home so it was okay.

Pat was recording on both Friday and Saturday so I had to be extra quiet – not that it is much of a problem. I worked on a cross stitch project that will keep me busy for many more such recording sessions.

We planned to come home on the noon ferry today but it didn’t take long to clean up (we have a concert over there next weekend) so we made the early ferry. I’ve been puttering since we got home and I think the day will be over before I accomplish much of anything.