Monday, July 11, 2022

I had such a good weekend on Texada, in spite of the weather. Now that I’m home we’re having the warmest day of the year of course.

I spent one day in the workshop cutting the fabric for the Summer Mystery that Stacia, Deloise and I are doing. It took longer than I expected and I’m not sure I have as much variety as I should have but it will be fine to get started with. The last one I did by this designer with the Guild I ended up cutting a few extra strips as I was putting things together. The set up there is great for cutting – the drafting table is a bit higher than my cutting table at home and there isn’t as much “stuff” cluttering up the surface. It’s also a great place for a design wall but I didn’t have anything that far along that I needed to work with.

I spent one evening and one entire day hand stitching. I told Pat that I was done with quilting as I enjoy the hand work so much more. I added though that I was done quilting AFTER I’ve made all the patterns and kits I’ve been collecting for ten years so I’ll be at it for at least another ten before I’m really done.

I came home early today so that I could get a package out in the mail this afternoon. I need to sort myself out for tonight’s meeting although I’m already feeling better about it and our year end than I was an hour ago. I’ve been struggling with one entry that covers our concert ticket sales. Pat and I talked about it over the weekend and I thought of another way I could do the entry. As it turned out I was doing something entirely wrong from the get-go and after I realized that mistake everything worked out. I had notes on the process but, with my earlier mistake, the notes weren’t correcting the problem. I couldn’t settle to any other accounting work until I had that sorted out so now I need to do a quick review of the rest of the accounts and hopefully hand them off tomorrow.

The real work begins now to get the bedrooms sorted out for our company next week.

It was a shock to hear of Dorothy’s passing; although we had been warned it came much faster than we expected.

Dorothy has been in my life for all of my adult years; she and Ken were married for 52 years and I knew her before then. We took a knitting class together at Sears and I was a bridesmaid at their wedding. Dorothy and Ken were among the first people to visit us in Inuvik when Kevin and Christy were just babies.

Dorothy was talented in many other crafts as well. She was a quilter and worked with Serendipity which is the donation wing of the Saskatoon Quilt Guild. Some of her beautiful cross stitching is displayed in their home and she’s done some fantastic hardanger pieces. She never stopped knitting either. Whenever we visited, Dorothy was always working on something new.

Over the years I’ve eaten many meals at Ken and Dorothy’s – she was a good cook and there were always treats at the end of the meal.

I won’t be able to be at the service today but my thoughts will be with Ken and all the family.

Friday, July 8, 2022

We’re heading over to Texada this evening; I’ll come home Monday afternoon for a meeting Monday night but Pat doesn’t have to be home until Wednesday. I hadn’t planned to take any sewing-related projects but I decided to take some fabric and start cutting for Carol’s summer mystery. I was going to reverse her suggestions for background and main colours but after chatting with Deloise we’ve decided that might not be a good idea. I’ll see if I have enough of the fabric that I’ve now decided will be background; if not I’ll have to find more fabric and do more cutting when I get home.

I worked in the yard again today. I was attacking the part of the yard that I’ve decided to “keep natural”. The ground cover (gout weed) is spreading as are the bell flowers. I noticed a few daisies starting in there as well. I’ve left everything except the thistles and the bindweed and may the best flower win. I still have a bit more work to do in the back corner but by letting everything else go wild it isn’t too bad.

After lunch I came upstairs and started working on a card that, if I’m honest, probably should have been in the mail yesterday. I’m ready now to start quilting it so I’ll work on that until supper and it is time to pack up and get in the ferry line-up. BC Ferries have announced a sale on certain sailings and for the 7:40 ferry tonight the vehicle goes for $6 as opposed to $24 on a regular sailing. During the week Pat and I would go for free but because it is a weekend we’ll each have to pay but, overall, we’ll still save some money.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

We had a lovely visit with Peggy and Bill yesterday. They caught the ferry across in time for us to have lunch and then we had a good visit in the afternoon back at the house. I owed them big-time for following me along on my disastrous trip home and giving me a bed for the night.

I did a bit of Hall work this morning but somehow I ended up with more questions than answers for things that happened while I was away. I still have to collect my thoughts enough to send out the financials and, hopefully, some of the answers I want/need will come on Monday night.

I spent some time out in the yard this morning. I weeded the bed down the side of the house; it was easy enough to do because I knew for sure what were plants and what were weeds. The alyssum had really sprouted up again but I didn’t even try to save it. I can only see four sunflowers that have germinated but those four are doing well; not that they wouldn’t be better with a bit more sun. The succulents are spreading too.

I went back to my Thursday sewing today. I’ve got a Thursday project that I leave there and Gail lets me use one of her extra sewing machines so there isn’t much to pack up for the afternoon. I got quite a few more blocks finished and I think with one more week I will have them all done. I cut for 80 blocks but I think I’ll divide them into two smaller quilts.

Before I left for sewing I bit the bullet and sent out the form for the Program Committee survey. I was pleased that when I got home I already had five responses. And even better is that several people offered to teach either classes or demos; there were even a few who said they would serve on the Program Committee.

Pat is playing out at Lund again tonight so it will be leftovers for my supper and maybe some TV and knitting.