Wednesday, July 1, 2020 (Block 107)

It is pretty quiet out on the streets today and there is no sign of any celebrations in honour of the day. I had to do some re-imagining of my daily block to make it more Canadian. The calendar is published in the US so there are a lot of red, white and blue patterns.

I took the car out for a drive after lunch. We’re going to Texada tomorrow for a few days and I knew it needed to be driven if there was to be any hope that it would start when we got back. I had a book to drop off at the library and I made a stop at the liquor store (stocking up for Texada). Pat got some groceries this morning so I felt I should do my part. I don’t think I’ve been to Texada since January, other than a quick ferry trip over and back. And I don’t think Pat has been over since February. It was hard for us to remember what is over there, what we’ve run out of, and what we brought back here that needs to go back there.

Since getting home I’ve had to make a few tough decisions. Will I take my sewing machine or will I leave it at home? If I take my machine what threads will I need? If I take my machine I’ll feel obligated to do my daily block and how will I know what fabric I need to take? Should I take my July UFO and get it started or should I have some fun and start something new? In the end I’ve decided to leave my sewing machine at home. I’m not sure how the daily blocks will work when I get back as the counting will be out – my OCD kicks in when I’ve been working on a series.

So what will I do without my machine? I have two knitting projects and two cross stitch projects packed. I have a big embroidery project already started on Texada so I can continue working on that. I have a pack of projects that are supposed to teach me how to do hardanger and that went into the bin. I packed my library book and I have my Kindle so reading in the hammock won’t be compromised. I hope we can get some hikes in; there have been a number of trails that are now mapped so we’ll be able to find them easier. There is a set of falls that we’ve gone looking for twice but never successfully found the trailhead. There is also some work that needs to be done (chopping wood, cleaning out the cobwebs, airing everything out) so I’m sure I won’t be bored.

I’m not sure I’ll be posting daily while we are away because there might not be a whole lot of anything to chat about. I’ll be back when we return to town next week.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020 (Block 106)

I didn’t have anything in particular planned for today except laundry. It’s a good thing as I’ve been either on the phone or at my computer all day. And I’m still not done the laundry.

My e-mail account was being migrated to a new platform today and I spent most of the morning trying to get it working. I didn’t relish the idea of spending time on the phone waiting to get through to support; fortunately I was able to solve the issues on my own and I have mail working on my computer, my laptop and my iPad. No change to my e-mail address; it was just a platform change to Telus.

After getting my daily block done I was at loose ends as to what to do next. Tuesdays are generally my bee day and, up until today, I’ve always had something related to the Guild to work on. So what to do instead? I spend a good chunk of time on the phone, on hold, with the Breast Screening program. Not only did it take a long time to talk to anyone but the earliest date for an appointment is September.

Since I’d already spent time on the phone I decided to try another call. I’d been trying to update our Cranberry Hall account info with Telus for a few days but always gave up before I got through to anyone. It was a half-hour wait today but I got everything set up and transferred to my name rather than in the name of a Board member who resigned last year.

Now that all those tasks are done I’m going out to my deck chair and start a new book.

Monday, June 29, 2020 (Block 105)

Pat and I went out together this morning for the first time since March 16th. Up until today we hadn’t even been in the same vehicle. Pat goes out occasionally to pick up dinner or to get his prescriptions; I go out occasionally to the library, bank, or post office.

But today we went somewhere together – granted it was just to the dump but it was nice to be out and about together. Before heading to the dump we stopped at Canadian Tire as I needed to pick something up.

When I started sewing this morning my iron was working fine. At one point I got the beep that said the automatic shut-off was kicking in but when I gave it a shake to reheat it something went wrong and it continued beeping. I unplugged it and then started it again with the same problem. I found an iron on sale at CT so that’s what I was purchasing. I saw the iron online first, knew what aisle I was headed for and they had arrows to tell you what direction to go down the aisles and markers at the cashier to help you keep your distance. I also had on my mask so I felt quite comfortable.

When we got home I plugged the old iron in again and it seems to be working fine – both steam and no steam work. I think the only thing that may not work is the automatic shut-off and I can live without that. I usually turn the power bar off if I’m going to be gone more than a few minutes; now I’ll turn it off whenever I leave the room.

I did a bit of repair work on a quilt this afternoon and sorted a few scraps. I’ve got a new knitting project ready for tonight – a new blankie for Taylor.

Sunday, June 28, 2020 (Block 104)

I can’t do it all but I can do quite a bit when I set my mind to it.

I made one of Mum’s recipes (Cut Glass Cake) first thing this morning. I made the jello last night; after pouring the water into the pan for one of the flavours I realized there was a hole in it somewhere so that was a bit of a mess to clean up. I managed to save enough though to work in the dessert. I used Cool Whip rather than whipping the cream myself; I’m not sure if that will make any difference. In hindsight I wish I had cooled the juice and gelatin a bit more before adding it into the mixture. I’ve already picked out another recipe I want to make next time.

After the dessert was made, the dishwasher started and the extra dishes done I headed outside. I worked on the patio bricks at the front today; it took a couple of hours but I’m pleased I got it all finished. I cleared up the bags of green waste (moved them somewhere else) and we’ll get them out to the dump next week.

I didn’t come upstairs until after lunch but I’ve got my daily block finished. I had fun with this one finding some nautical-themed fabric to go into it.

For the rest of the afternoon I’m going to go out and sit on the front deck and enjoy my weed-free zone. Groceries were delivered and I have tonic so I’m thinking a G & T after all my hard work is in order. I started a new book last night and I could hardly put it down; I’ll take it out with me and continue the adventure.