Tuesday, January 4, 2022

What can you get done in thirty minutes?

I’m taking my decluttering guidelines and putting them to work on other projects I have in my task list. I spent half an hour working on some Hall stuff; I didn’t get it finished but I think I’ll be able to wrap it up tomorrow. I spent half an hour on some Guild work and didn’t accomplish much but I have some files lined up and ready to work on the next time that task appears.

We made a trip out to do some recycling this morning. I convinced/guilted Pat into coming along; although it probably took longer than thirty minutes it didn’t take as long as it would have had I been on my own. I was given some mis-information on where to recycle some old paint so I will have to deal with that another day.

After lunch I worked on the decluttering tasks we were given for today – fifteen minutes sorting through quilting books and half an hour with a UFO. I’ll need several more sessions before I get through my quilting books. I didn’t get much done on my UFO as I had to redo a couple of things from yesterday and I know I have to redo something else the next time I’m working on the project.

I’ve had a pretty good afternoon doing some prep work for the project Stacia, Deloise and I will be doing next week. It is slow and messy but if I can get this part sorted out before our stitching date I’ll have a hope of having at least a block or so to show before they are both finished.

For the past several evenings I’ve thought my crocheting project would be done but not so. I have at least one more night to go but I have managed to empty a yarn bin and that makes me very happy.

Monday, January 3, 2020

I had a couple of errands I wanted to take care of before I started on my task list for the day. I have a package to get in the mail and yesterday when Pat and I were talking I expected the Post Office would be closed today. I checked their website this morning and it said they were open. So off I went only to find it closed until tomorrow.

Next stop was the pharmacy as I wanted to return our KN95 masks. Based on a Market Place report there was some doubt as to the efficacy of their masks. I explained to them what I had read; they didn’t know who the manufacturer was but assured me the box they came in had the name. They were sold out so no further help there. The clerk said that the masks they sold were better than “these ones” as she pointed to her cloth mask. I bit my tongue but you know my head was saying, “Well why aren’t you wearing your own KN95 masks then?”.

My cleaning and divesting challenge spurred Pat on to clear out some things on his side of the closet; he found three bags of shirts and T-shirts that he was able to part with! I wanted to take them to the thrift store but they are closed until the 10th. So home I came with nothing taken care of.

My decluttering tasks were relatively pleasant today. I took 15 minutes to go through the quilting magazines on my shelf. I didn’t get through all of them but there were only three in the pile that I thought I still wanted to keep. Then I was to do 30 minutes of work on a UFO. It is debatable whether or not what I worked on was a UFO. I need cards for February and I use my Splendid Sampler patterns for them. None of the cards were started but the SS1 and SS2 blocks are on my UFO challenge for the year.

When Pat shopped yesterday he brought home more ground beef and pork than I needed for my Tourtiere so I used it up today making meatballs. I freeze them individually and then put them in a bag to be pulled out whenever we need them. There are more than two dozen in the freezer; I may be done with cooking and food prep for the rest of the year!

Once that was finished I did a little bit of work on a new scrappy quilt using Mum’s fabrics. I haven’t made a lot of progress but I’m in no rush to get it done.

Sunday, January 2, 2022

I woke up this morning to the sound of dripping water. I was happy to know that the rain had arrived and the snow was melting. I didn’t go back to sleep but then I realized that the drip was a lot closer than outside. When I got up to investigate the bathroom fan had water dripping (dare I say running at times); I think the snow on the roof was melting and until it slid off it was melting beneath and running through the vent. It stopped dripping by mid-morning and even though it is raining heavily now there doesn’t seem to be any more drips.

I was determined to keep up to date on my task list today. I had removed or re-dated many of the tasks from last year that I hadn’t managed to complete. Most of them are tied in with my Challenges for the year and I added in several steps from both my e-mail and my “occasional” challenges. I’ve spent almost all day working at them and I’m happy to say I’m either caught up or have them slotted into times over the next week.

Pat went for some groceries this morning and I added a few things to his list. I’ve made a Tourtiere for supper, and we’ll have a spinach salad with it. That meant a lot more cooking than I usually do – the pie itself, plus bacon and boiled eggs for the salad. While I had the bacon out Pat suggested I cook it all and throw it in the freezer so that is what I did. I had planned to make up some meatballs to keep in the freezer but I ran out of energy so I’ll make them tomorrow. I don’t cook often and today I’ve had a good reminder why – it takes so much time and then there is all the cleaning up to do.

I want to get a start on some of my stitching challenges for the rest of the day. One of the decluttering tasks was to clear off the sewing table and clean your machine. Both my machines really needed it so I’m all set to go.

January 1, 2022

It’s going to take a bit of time to get used to typing 2022. I didn’t make it to midnight yesterday although Pat did and I missed a fireworks display down by the pier. I hadn’t seen any announcements that it was happening and we don’t know who was setting them off. Maybe next year I’ll decide it is worth staying up for.

This morning I still had a few spots to fill in my 2022 Challenge list. Usually the group I follow don’t post on the weekends and holidays so I was surprised to see that first thing this morning they had already released the monthly number. I switched up a few things so I had three projects for the month and filled in the empty spots later in the morning. Last year I didn’t finish everything on my list but that didn’t stop me from adding extra challenges for this year! I have also added some cross stitching goals.

Deloise put it into my mind that I should have a new project start for New Year’s Day. I’d been looking at this desk online as I thought it would be good for cross stitching; I went out yesterday and bought it. Pat spent most of the afternoon putting it together and I was ready to get started right after breakfast.

I have also joined a couple of decluttering groups – have they never heard of divesting I wonder? One is a 21-day challenge to clean up your sewing space and the other is one that provides a few ideas from time to time through e-mail. Today was the first day of the 21-day challenge and although it looks do-able I haven’t done anything yet. I’ll keep track of all the tasks and do them when they fit into my schedule.

We are expecting another storm tonight and the last two ferries from the Island are cancelled. I expected more snow today but so far all we’ve had is wind. Hopefully it will be rain that falls tonight and it will take away the snow we already have on the ground.