Tuesday, March 17, 2020

I had to look up online to see if it was Day One of self-isolation or social-distancing. I’m in the social-distancing category right now – I go out if I really need to but stay home from things I don’t need to be out for.

Today being my usual Guild sewing day I got started sewing first thing this morning. I worked on my card tops from the Splendid Sampler book. I finished three tops and I have two of them sandwiched and ready for quilting. I need to do some testing for my zig-zag stitch and if that goes well I’ll try and get two of the quilted before dinner. There are a number of April birthdays so I can use all the cards I finish.

Between sewing, reading, cross stitching, knitting and yard work I don’t think I’ll be bored any time soon. Someone suggested Spring cleaning the house but I think that is taking things just a bit too far! Birthday cards and gifts may be late in arriving because, for the moment, they’re sitting on my table until I need to go out for something else.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Monday, March 16, 2020

I spent a lot of time this morning with Hall work. Answering questions about cancellations, offering refunds, updating the Facebook and website regarding cancellations. Not everything has cancelled; a few of the smaller groups are continuing as far as I know but with everything changing on a daily basis they may all be done before long. Fortunately the Hall can afford the loss over the next while.

I have decided to self-isolate as much as possible. There are still a few trips out that I feel I need to make; short and local ones and nothing that involves crowds of people.

Today I was in search of birthday gifts and tomorrow I’m going to have to get out to the Post Office to mail them – not essential I know but I don’t think any harm will be done by doing it. There are still a lot of people on the streets. I renewed my prescriptions and picked up vitamins so I’ll have lots to get by with should I have to completely isolate myself.

I won’t be going to my usual sewing sessions; again the crowds are under the 50 that are recommended but I can sew at home and probably get more done. I intended to stop at the fabric shop after sewing tomorrow; I need backing for a quilt and I wanted to make my final payment for the Spring retreat. The quilt can wait for backing (I have plenty of quilts to work on until I get it) and I’ll wait a bit on the payment to see if the retreat goes ahead. It takes place on school property so it could be shut down if the schools are closed.

So why am I so unsettled? I have plenty to do, we have plenty of food in the house and, a week ago, having nowhere to go would have felt like an absolute holiday. I’m hoping tomorrow and the rest of the week can be more productive.

Pat and I are heading to the Hall tonight to give out refunds for the two shows that were cancelled. I may also have a couple of people show up to pick up deposit refunds for Hall events.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

I was out the door to do some grocery shopping first thing this morning. I had a list and wasn’t really looking for anything virus-related but I did pick up some extra meat and frozen vegetables for the freezer. I had potatoes, onions, and salad mixes on the list and I picked up a few extras in anticipation of two sets of guests during the week. I didn’t find the shelves particularly empty, but I didn’t head down the paper products aisle so I don’t know what the situation was there. I looked for hand sanitizer for the Hall but didn’t find any; I know we have one there but I anticipate it may “walk” over the next few weeks.

My plan was to make a Shepherd’s Pie for tomorrow’s guest and serve it with a salad. The cleaning was done (as much as I intended to do) for his visit. Next Saturday we had two guests arriving so the sheets and towels would have to be washed, the spare room bed changed and the futon set up upstairs. My plan was for another Shepherd’s Pie and a salad, but just to mix it up a bit I bought a different salad mix!

I finished my embroidery block at about the same time as Pat came home from Texada. We listened to a news conference from Ottawa and decided, based on what we heard, to cancel both of our shows. The warnings that came out of the news conference was to self-isolate if you were in the over-70 group (hard to imagine that is us) and most of the ticket holders were that age. They also said that non-essential gatherings should be avoided and that is what truly made us act. It won’t be easy dealing with the refunds but we both are confident we made the right choice.

While news of the cancellations spread through social media, and before the phone started ringing, we took a walk along the sea wall. There were more birds down there than I’ve ever seen – a result of the herring coming back this year. There were a lot of people as well; I guess they took to heart the news that walking outside wasn’t harmful to your health.

The cancellations mean I’ll have a “normal” week – sewing two days and computer work for three. I should have time for some sewing as well but I have a meeting to prepare for so I’ll have to see how that goes.

We’re off tonight to a local pub for pizza (best pizza ever) and to hear a bit of music. We’ll maintain a social distance (and the alcohol should help).

Saturday, March 14, 2020

We had a reception at the Hall last night for the people who gave us the grant for the renovations as well as a few others who, in the Board’s opinion, were instrumental in getting it done. It was meant to be a drop-in affair but as is the case with all good parties people came and didn’t leave. The grant people were very impressed with what we did and the Board is ,thinking we have a good chance at more money in a few years.

I decided today was going to be a “me” day and I’ve enjoyed it completely. We have a show on Monday night so I got the bed made and the spare room cleaned up. I kept going and scrubbed floors, vacuumed and tidied. In between tasks I worked on some embroidery – one of my Splendid Sampler patterns and (I think) the last embroidered one.

I spent a lot of time on the phone regarding show tickets and answering the door to sell tickets and one surprise delivery of a Townsite beer – which I will enjoy tonight.