Wednesday, February 9, 2022

As part of my decluttering process I filled a couple more bags with clothes from my closet to add to the books I wanted to take to the thrift store. I checked the websites before I left – MMC was open but the Salvation Army shop wasn’t accepting donations until Thursday. No problem as I was sure the MMC would take the clothes and I was hopeful they would also take the books.

But not today. When I drove up to the donation door at the MMC they had signs out that they were not accepting donations because they were full. So now I have a box of books and two bags of clothes in my car waiting for another day.

I was hand stitching today and I hoped I might get the border finished on my 2021 stitch-along but not today. I have moved the hoop into its last position though so that is visual progress. Pat has an online event tonight so I’ll get a little more done. If I’m close enough to a finish I may take some of my sewing time from tomorrow and get it done.

Monday, February 7, 2022

I wanted to get some of our recycling done today – thrift store and bottle depot. I took a box of quilting books to the thrift store along with another bag of “goodies” but they wouldn’t accept the books. The gentleman collecting the donations volunteered to carry the box back to my car for me (he looked older and frailer than me but whatever). We were just out the door when I thought I’d try donating them to the Salvation Army thrift shop just a few doors down. I collected the box from the man and headed down the sidewalk. Sadly, the shop is closed on Monday so I carried the box back to the car. Not to be deterred I decided I’d take them to the MMC thrift shop but when I got there they weren’t accepting donations until Tuesday. The books are still in my car and I’ll try again the next time I’m out.

I was able to drop off my cans and bottles and milk containers at the Return-It shop. I usually just walk in with my bag, drop it in the bin and leave but when I got to the bin there was a sign on the door saying we had to drop them at the counter. Of course there was a line-up but I wasn’t going home with the bag of bottles as well as the books. Perhaps it is because milk containers can now be returned but every customer in front of me had stacks and stacks of returns – one cart was so loaded down I don’t know how she managed to move it without everything toppling over. When I finally made it to the counter I was told that next time I could just leave it at the door where the employees come and go from. Again that may just be because the returns on milk containers is so new.

After a drive around town to charge up my battery I decided it was warm enough to do my sandwiching on the back deck. I got the tables set up and wiped, taped down my backing but when I added the batting the wind was picking up the corners. I spray basted the batting to the backing but decided I’d pin baste the top. Since the tables were up I would have liked to have sandwiched another project but by the time the pinning was done I was completely out of pins so everything got packed away.

I’ve been working at putting together a backing for Kathryn’s next calendar block. These one-block wonder bits came in a bag of scraps I purchased from another Guild member. I’m rather enjoying putting them together but they will just be a backing – I have no interest in making another one-block wonder.

I have a zoom meeting tonight that I hope will be done in time to watch the Olympic hockey.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past months archiving the Guild’s blog posts. The blog started in 2008 and I took over in June of 2011. We were short of space on our WordPress site and I was tired of having to download photos and posts one by one to make room for new stuff. So that is when I decided to start the archiving process. I have right up to May of 2018 finished; just two more years to go and then I’ll be done with this batch. From this point on I’ll archive every five years – unless I can find someone else to take over the blogging task and I’ll feel like I’ve left things in good order.

So when my reminder list came up with a Declutter-Archive task I had no clue what that meant. I have a separate reminder for the Guild archives so I knew it wasn’t that. I had to go back to the declutter posts to see what that meant; we were to sort through and remove anything of sentimental value in our sewing room that we no longer felt the need to keep.

After I read the post I remembered removing a few things when this came up the first time. I was surprised I kept it on my monthly to-do list but since I did I felt I ought to do something with it. I’ve decided that for this particular task I’ll get back to copying my written journals – the records I kept before I started the website. Today I was copying my journal entries from our trip to the East Coast. I smiled as I transcribed the entry for my lobster dinner.

I started doing this awhile ago with no regular schedule to it. I’ve now changed the repeat to weekly so, eventually, I’ll make some headway.

Saturday, February 5, 2022

I knew this morning that I was going to have to get my car out to charge up the battery but when I went out I didn’t even have enough juice to unlock the doors. Pat gave me a boost (we’re getting much more efficient at it) and I was on my way. I did my usual route, through Westview to the Cranberry Lake turnoff, through Cranberry to Townsite, through Townsite and down Marine until I was back at Westview. Today I added a bit more and went to the gas station south of town (full serve) and had them check my oil. When I came home I put the trickle charger on. I’ll just have to remember that when I’m out I need to do a constant drive not just drive and stop to run my errands.

I was slow getting at my decluttering and cleaning tasks today. I cleaned up the kitchen and living room, cleaned out a drawer of fabric and spent some time going through some digital patterns. There was a bit of Guild work that needed to be done as well.

It was almost two before I was ready to get back to my quilt. I got the last two borders attached and then I headed downstairs and got out my batting. The batting and backing are cut to size now so the next time we have a sunny day I can get it sandwiched.

We were chatting with Elizabeth a few minutes ago and comparing our wildlife encounters. Pat and I watched a pod of dolphins go by late this morning; Elizabeth woke to the sound of an eagle in her back yard eating a pigeon. As we were chatting Pat and I saw two more pods of dolphins (probably the same pod) going past in the opposite direction to this morning.

I just might have time for a round of Candy Crush before dinner.