Wednesday, January 15, 2020

It wasn’t snowing when I got up at seven, but by the time I made coffee half an hour later the road was covered and it was really coming down. And it hasn’t stopped all day. More snow is expected tonight as well as winds; the evening ferry from Comox has already been cancelled.

We were still uncertain regarding our weekend retreat. I was responsible for meals on Friday (lunch and supper) and tortiere was on the list for supper. I didn’t get any at Christmas this year so I really wanted to make it. It had just gone in the oven when Gail called to say she was officially cancelling our retreat; she would have had to shovel her driveway and, if you know Gail, that isn’t anything she does. So we had tortiere fresh from the oven for lunch. With the snow outside it really felt like it could be Christmas Eve.

Pat had to go out this afternoon and just got back. He says the roads are pretty bad and most of the shops are already closed or closing soon. All sorts of cancellations for groups around town as well. Buses were all cancelled by noon.

I can’t say I’ve minded any of it – mainly because I didn’t have anything planned. I’ve spent the day working on the Princess and I think I may be able to finish by the end of the night.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

I worry – I worry a lot – I worry a lot about nothing!

I was worried this morning because one of the quilters from Texada was going to call me around seven to see what the road up the hill was like. I set my alarm for 6:15, and another one for seven, just to be sure I’d be up on time. I watched several cars go down the hill, very slowly, but only a few came up. Although no one got stuck I thought one or two might. It was snowing when Barb so called we both decided that we would stay home. As the morning progressed the road conditions were greatly improved – ploughing and sanding/salting had pretty much cleared it. So I worried that I had given the wrong advice. When I went online later in the morning there was a post that the bee had been cancelled. Whew!

I began to worry about how I was going to get the groceries I needed for the retreat weekend. My meal day is Friday and I needed the ingredients for a fruit salad, a tortiere, a green salad, and Mum’s Frozen Pineapple Dessert. Although the road was clear I wasn’t sure how the parking lots would be. Pat came home on the noon ferry and we went shopping together. There was no need to worry as the parking lot was as clear as the road.

I began to worry about the retreat weekend. It is supposed to snow more tonight and even more on Thursday. Gail lives up the hill, past the airport, and then up another hill. At the best of times her driveway can be tricky with three cars parked in it. I sent out a message to the ladies and we may actually postpone the retreat weekend. I didn’t mention that I’d be unavailable for about a month because of other commitments. I’ll worry about delivering that news when I have to.

I decided to work on the Princess today rather than quilting. For just a few moments I was worried that I would run out of the back stitching thread but when I looked in my containers I had another skein of the colour I was using.

All that worrying for nothing!

Monday, January 13, 2020

It has been more of a work day than a fun day for me.

I started off the day with some cleaning. The new outlet for my vacuum allows me to reach corners that I couldn’t before so I got a little carried away. I scrubbed out the bathrooms and cleaned up the kitchen floor, as well as taking care of a load of laundry. I may do another load tonight.

It has been snowing off and on all day today. It is a dry snow and until mid-afternoon it wasn’t sticking to the sidewalks or the road but there is an accumulation building now. The roads still look clear but they are predicting snow all night so the morning may be tricky. I thought briefly about going out for the Hall mail but decided not to bother – if I’m snowed in tomorrow too bad. I did have some Hall work to do this morning and by the time it was done it was afternoon.

After a late lunch I got some projects ready for the bee tomorrow – just in case I go. I’m working on a quilt as you go, without sashing, so I needed to review my video tutorial one more time. I still have a lot of the blocks left to quilt but, hopefully, by the end of the day tomorrow I should have enough blocks finished to attempt putting a row together. I hadn’t counted on the fact that the blocks all require hand stitching on the back; I think that will be a lot more work than sewing down a binding which will still have to be done.

After that was packed I cut out a new project for our “At Home Retreat” this weekend. The Thursday group will be sewing together over the weekend. I’m responsible for one day of meals so I hope I can get to the store tomorrow to pick up ingredients.

And to add to the “not so much fun” I realized that I am going to have to do some reverse stitching on the Princess. Not a lot, but enough that it will delay the finish for at least a week. Sorry Kathryn!

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Whenever I work a knitting or crochet pattern with yarn not necessarily recommended in the pattern I’m always concerned that I’ll have enough yarn, or if I need to make it smaller than the pattern, will it look odd. I finished another shawl last night and although it wasn’t the yarn called for in the pattern I got bored with it so finished it off with one ball and a bit left over. I’m working on a scarf with that now.

When I’m baking (not often), particularly if it is on the spur of the moment, I’m often looking for substitutes for ingredients I don’t have. I’ve learned that cocoa and butter can replace bar chocolate, milk can be soured if needed (because who keeps sour milk in their fridge), and most other uncommon ingredients can be replaced with something more common. I even have a conversion chart for changing “regular” recipes into a crock pot version.

I’ve been dealing with copyright issues for the Hall and it makes me remember that you used to be able to say if you changed a stitch in a pattern you weren’t actually breaking the copyright laws. I think it is a good thing that has change.

As I put the last stitches into the Princess and the Pea I’m having to make some adjustments. Somewhere near the middle I missed a row so I have to make that up (and I mean make it up) now that I’m at the bottom. In some of the last rows some of the colours have more stitches than they should which means some of the other rows have to have less. I made a decision early on that I wouldn’t be unstitching anything so I knew there would be adjustments.

As these last stitches go in I’m hopeful that the bedpost and bed railing meet on the same line. If they don’t, they can be adjusted.