Saturday, November 20, 2021

I mentioned to Pat this morning that I was going to one of the grocery stores and if he needed anything he should put it on the list. I also wanted to make a stop at the recycle depot. When I saw the length of the list I suggested he come with me as it would be good for him to see how the recycle depot worked. He assured me he knew how but I’m not sure he’s ever made the trip. At the moment we can’t recycle our glass or styrofoam so it meant I had to do a bit of swapping out and rearranging in my recycle bins before we could head out.

Once we were home and the groceries were put away I set off again. I needed (yes, needed) some fabric for a couple of things I want to make. They aren’t necessarily for Christmas but they might be so best to have the fabric on hand if the spirit moves me. I also needed backing for my Remembrance Day runner. I copied Kathryn’s tablecloth and found a nice Christmas fabric that I can put on the back and it will suit for two seasons.

From there I was off to pick up a gift card. My goodness the crowds were horrendous – huge line ups at the till too. It took me awhile to make my way around the store and it is surprising how many more things I needed. I eventually had to ask someone where the gift cards were as they had moved them since the last time I was there. I had one more stop to make at Walmart and they were busy too.

I think I better get my Christmas and birthday shopping lists nailed down and get out there before it gets any worse.

Friday, November 19, 2021

I spent most of the morning wishing I lived in a larger city, if only for the space of a few hours. I was trying to order a birthday gift and a Christmas gift but there were problems. Christy offered to do my shopping for me but I really wanted to get it done on my own – she has enough shopping to do that I didn’t want to add my list to hers.

The birthday gift was to be a gift card from Dylan’s favourite store which, of course, we don’t have anywhere near us. I called the store this morning hoping I could purchase the card and have them send it to me but they told me they couldn’t do that and that I needed to order it online from their website. I did that but when I got my PayPal receipt it said I had paid in US dollars. I tried for half an hour to call the store back to be sure the electronic gift card would work in the Canadian store but no one was picking up.

I managed to do a Live Chat with someone from the website (who knows where they were from) and eventually got an answer. The e-gift card “should” work in the Canadian stores or online in Canada. I’m worried about the “should” but I’ll deal with it later if it doesn’t work.

Next I was on to a Christmas gift – again I was looking for a gift card. I was able to find the right site and order what I wanted but when I got to the payment section all I got was a blank page. Christy kept me calm through Messages and she suggested I look at Shoppers for the cards I wanted.

What a great idea – and why didn’t I think of that. I’ll head out tomorrow and pick up what I need; in fact I may just pick up everything I need for everyone on my list in that one stop.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

I have two thoughts today on divesting.

I was attempting to put a backing on one of the hand stitching projects I worked on when I was on Texada. This piece was to be the test for several cards I have made/want to make for Christmas. I did a bit of research online and found something that I thought would work. They used felt to finish the back – in truth to hide the back. Isn’t it lucky that I haven’t yet divested my felt squares that I’ve had since at least Yellowknife.

Another project that I worked on that same weekend wasn’t working out as I had hoped so I took out almost all the stitching I had already done. I took out my design book and sketched out a pattern that I thought would work. I started stitching and decided to amend my pattern somewhat. Several reverse stitches later I almost have the piece done. The kit itself probably cost me less than $5; I should have just divested myself of it when it first went wrong.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

I started my day with a trip to the Post Office to mail a package and then I made a stop at the library to return a book. I received a notice this morning that I had two books due back today; I had finished one of them and was able to renew the other as I have barely started it.

Then I was off to sewing with the Guild. I took along three cards and the weekend Retreat project to work on. Guess how much I got done – one and a half card tops. My excuse is that I was working with small pieces (some only an inch square) so I was using glue to stabilize all the seams and that adds about twice the amount of time. I also was missing a few tools. I had a ruler – my twelve-and-a-half square – but when you are trying to trim half-square triangles down to an inch and a half it is not easy with a big ruler. I also forgot a tool that I use to make the lines on those small squares that make the half-square triangles and, at the end of the day, I added another tool to my list of things to take next time.

When I finished sewing I went up to Walmart to pick up some meal replacement drinks and some dishwasher soap. I was just starting to unpack them when Pat told me that I had purchased the wrong brand (he needs the diabetic version) so I packed everything back into my bag and headed back to the store. On my way home the first time I remembered that we needed paper napkins so I was able to pick them up on my second trip.

It has been a lovely day out today and you’d never image we had all that rain just a day or so ago. I’m trying hard to get a couple of hat and scarf sets ready to donate at the end of the month but I still have some Guild work to do before I head downstairs.