Monday, August 9, 2021

I’ve had a full day of sewing. I thought about going out to the yard this morning but it was rather cool and since I was already dressed for my video chat this morning I didn’t feel like changing into my yard clothes.

I marked and quilted one side of the border on Super Nova. It goes fairly quickly and there are fewer ends to tie and bury than I thought there might be. Since the border went so well, and I have lots of time to finish it before the end of the month, I decided to move on to something else once that one side was done.

I’ll be sewing with Stacia and Deloise tomorrow so I got out the fabrics I’ll need for our miniature project. The pattern calls for strips and I just happen to have a bin of strips already cut; they will need to be trimmed once they are on the block but it is a bit of a head start. Not that I expect I’ll win any races against Stacia and Deloise; I’m lucky there are only the three of us as I’m guaranteed the bronze medal!

Just in case I finish my miniature early I decided to cut out another project. I cut out the pieces I thought I needed but when I read through the pattern I’ll have to cut another set because I want the project quilted. I’m making a cover for my Kitchen Aid mixer; if it turns out I’ll make one for Christy as well.

Another clue was released for one of my summer mysteries – I’m calling mine Lemonade as it is done in yellows and oranges. The clues usually only take half a day but this one is going to take a lot longer. We need to make 30 blocks. The good news about that is the end is in sight – maybe next week. I don’t want to fall behind this late in the game so I started putting my blocks together.

I’ll get back to it now until supper.

Sunday, August 8, 2021

After being so un-motivated on Friday I got down to business on Saturday and almost finished quilting my Super Nova. I finished up the quilting this morning and made a small start on the borders. The quilting is very simple and it will end up being a nice summer-weight quilt. Because the centre was so simple and fast, I’ll do a little extra work in the borders. I have the pattern sorted but it will take some time to complete and I expect there are likely to be a number of threads to knot and bury.

I think I stuck to it so long yesterday because it was a cool and rainy day. I didn’t mind having the quilt draped around me as I did the stitching. We had quite a downpour last evening after several light showers during the day. There were reports of thunder; when we heard noises outside during the downpour we thought it was the eaves trough overflowing but maybe not. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough rain to stop any fires.

We had the Song Circle this afternoon but, again, a poor turnout. Three local performers, two from the US and only me in the audience. I admit I had my camera off and worked on some cross stitching during the event. I’m going to miss being able to do that when our events become live.

I’m getting ahead of myself by a few months but I started crocheting some Hallowe’en pumpkins for Kathryn. Last Hallowe’en she was caught off guard by neighbours who were out trick or treating (after saying they weren’t going out) and she had to give all of her original batch away. The pattern came from Jody’s wedding and I don’t know how many I’ve made over the years since then but I know it is a lot. Kathryn sent me yarn to make her some more and I thought it would be a good idea to have them ready when we go to visit next month.

So I better get back to that particular project for the evening.

Friday, August 6, 2021

I spent all morning working at my computer, mainly catching up on Cranberry Hall business. We actually had two meetings last week – one was our AGM and the other was a regular Board meeting. I had to-do lists from both meetings and some updates I needed to make to both the Facebook page and the website.

After lunch I headed out to return my library book but I also had a couple of items for the mail as well as a list of groceries we needed. The post office is less convenient now without the drive-through, especially on a day like today when it is raining off and on. I’m happy to have the outdoor book return at the library in operation again but it means parking the car and parking is at a premium anywhere close. And speaking of parking, the lot at Quality Foods was nearly full; I found a spot at the very far end of the lot. Of course that many cars was a clear signal that the store would be crowded. Maybe the crowds there today are typical but I’ve been shopping at seven in the morning when there might be one or two other people in the store.

I fully intended to work on something sewing-related when I got home but I just didn’t have the motivation. It’s a good thing I still had plenty of paper and computer work to do. It is a little early for me to quit for the day but I’ll either read or cross stitch before supper.

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Last night was the AGM for the Hall. I knew we wouldn’t get a large turnout but I thought maybe, just maybe, someone would show up. But no, it was just the incoming Board members who attended (and they were the only active Board members from last year). Someone joked that we’d have had a better showing if I hadn’t announced that we would not be serving any refreshments. With that meeting over we launched right into our regular monthly Board meeting. I have a few things I need to do that are associated with both of those meetings but they can wait until tomorrow – except for the few quick things I took care of today.

Pat and I both worked in the yard this morning. We were cutting back and pulling out a couple of trees that we lost over the last few winters. Both of them were maples so we wanted to give them every opportunity to come back. One is coming back from the ground, but the other was hopeless. It is in a corner of the yard that we’ve never had any luck with; when we bought the house it was a compost pile but I suspect there were some un-organic things in the mix as everything we plant there dies. It is more or less cleaned up now but we need to transplant the fig tree.

Since we had all the branch cuttings in a pile we decided to just load them in the truck and make a dump run. Usually I put things in bags or boxes (the boxes work best) as I weed but today all those branches went directly onto a tarp in the back of the truck. The boxes and a couple of bags that I had filled also were dumped on the tarp. When it came to unloading we just pulled the tarp out and everything fell into the green pile. I don’t think it even took us five minutes and we were headed home again.

I’ve had trouble settling into any sewing since the last quilt was finished but today I got back to it. I was expecting the first clue for my Macaron Mystery but so far it hasn’t arrive. What did arrive was another clue for a different mystery; I’m inspired by this one because each clue finishes up quite quickly. I got to work and finished it up. I also finished the latest clue on my Peppermint Purple stitch-along.

With all of those things done I’m going to go downstairs and read. My book is due back at the library tomorrow and I think I just might get it done and handed back without incurring any fine.