Tuesday, August 11, 2020

I started my day with a visit from the Orkin man to remove a wasp nest that has been growing and growing over the last month. We first noticed it before our extended stay on Texada; although we were home a couple of times it was never at night so we couldn’t spray it. The next time Pat was home for the night he decided the nest was too big for him to tackle with the can of spray so we called in the pest control guy. But he was on holiday for a week and it wasn’t until today that he was able to come over and get it down. I didn’t watch to see how he did it but he said he was fully suited up and they were trying their best to attack him.

These were Bald-Faced Hornets and they are very aggressive. He said this was the largest wasp nest that he had taken down this year and the first for this type of wasp. I’m just glad it is gone although I have to say I have sat out on the back step, on the opposite side to where the nest was, and I was never bothered. I wasn’t able to hang clothes on the clothes line but that wasn’t a big hardship.

The second nest I had to deal with today was a rat’s nest of yarn. The skein of yarn I am using for Taylor’s blanket didn’t unravel properly; I wasn’t able to start it from the centre so ended up knitting from the outside of the ball to the inside. I was having trouble this morning getting the yarn to unwind so I decided to get at the centre and wind it into a ball before carrying on.

If you’ve ever done this you will know that it is just a matter of finding the right loop to pull through the rat’s nest and everything more or less unravels. This mess was no exception except that it took almost eight hours to find “the right loop”. Pat said I was very patient but after about hour four my patience turned more to stubbornness.

It’s done now and I have to say the entire day was quite relaxing as I worked my way through the mess.

Monday, August 10, 2020

The goal today was to get at some quilting. Many months ago I started quilting a project in the workshop on Texada. When I worked on other projects at home I realized that quilting wasn’t working well. I thought it was because I didn’t have the sewing table for my quilting machine. A couple of weeks ago we brought the sewing cabinet back to Powell River. I quilted a couple of cards but that really wasn’t the quilting that needed to be done; I needed to get back to some free-motion quilting.

I had a chance to test things today and it didn’t go well. In one small space I broke the thread twice and then broke two needles. Obviously the sewing cabinet wasn’t the problem. I’ve switch back to doing straight lines and the sewing is going okay but I’m not happy. The project is one that I don’t really like – a Guild Block of the Month that I don’t think anyone else finished (at least they weren’t showing it off). I think once this is done it may become a blanket for George!

At least my daily block turned out well.

Sunday, August 9, 2020

I’ve had a busy day but there is still one more thing to do before I quit for the day.

First thing this morning I finished the repairs on Mum’s afghan. When it was done I decided I should throw it in the wash to be sure the fixes I made didn’t come undone in the wash. It was okay.

I was two weeks behind on one of my summer mystery projects so I wanted to finish at least one of the clues. As it turned out both steps involved half-square triangles so I forged ahead and finished both clues. It feels good to be able to set it aside until next weekend when I expect the next clue.

I debated about doing a daily block but it was a small one and it was pinwheels (which I love). How could I not do it!

I need to get the parcel ready to send to Christy tomorrow. This mailing will require a trip to the post office so I’ll stock up on some items while I’m there – two different denominations of stamps and a few more express envelopes. It will probably be the largest single purchase I’ve made during the pandemic. Any time I’ve gone to the post office (drive-through letter box) there has been quite a line-up; I hope to be there when they open and hopefully avoid any rush.

When I dragged out a couple of the bins of yarn for repairing the afghan one of them had some afghan patterns included. I’m itching to start one but I feel I can’t until I have Taylor’s new blanket done. I’d say I’m about halfway there so I’ll work on that this evening.

Saturday, August 8, 2020

I had extra fabric cut for more masks but Christy and I decided that Taylor probably needed something a bit smaller. I found a couple of different patterns online but I decided to go with my familiar pattern but I was able to get the sizes from the new patterns. Now I’m hoping that the masks won’t be too small.

While I was making masks I decided to make a few for Dylan as well. BC Transit now require masks and I know he often takes the bus to school so he’ll be prepared. And the rules are ever changing so he may end up needing them inside the school.

I’m going to dig out one of Mum’s granny square afghans. I know I fixed one for Kathryn several years ago and, since I’m sending a package to Christy, she said she would like one (you’re next Elizabeth!). I’m hoping I can get to the bins of yarn in the basement; we’re still waiting for the restoration after the flood before Christmas last year and things are piled up and the aisles aren’t exactly clear.