It was nice to catch up with Mary Flower (one of our performers) and get to know Doug Cox (the other performer). This being the third time Mary has been here, she walked right in and knew where “her” room was. She appreciated the soap and before they left for the ferry this morning they stopped at the shop to buy more. Doug runs the big music festival on the Island and I thought he might have a bit of an ego but he was as nice as could be. Both were very gracious and grateful.

I was out to sewing today. For the last two weeks I’ve been looking at my sewing project on the design wall and decided it just wasn’t working for me. I took off the borders I had around the centre and added a flange on each of the four sides. I re-attached the blocks to the bottom and thought it was improved. Gail liked the results but Jessie gave me an idea of what I might change and I’m going to try it. So much time spent on a scrappy give-away quilt but it needs to look okay to me before I give it to anyone.

Jessie thought we were working on a group project today (we weren’t) and she didn’t have anything to do. She spent some time picking out a quilting pattern for Gail to use on the long arm for the quilt top Jessie finished last week. When she asked if there was anything she could do for me I gave her the three border fabrics I intended to use on my project (a lovely soft orange, an orange floral print, and a darker orange floral); she cut out strips for me so I can make a “real” rail fence.

But next week we are definitely going to start working on a group project. When I walked into the sewing room I saw a pattern on Gail’s table and asked about it. She bought it as a kit and intends to make it as a gift for a grandchild. I thought it would be a perfect way to show off my Limoncello strips. Jessie has just finished her fourth log cabin quilt; they are all going to her nieces and nephews. She has enough fabric left from all of the quilts that she is going to make the quilt for her sister (the Mum) using up the scraps.

When I came home and sat in my chair (okay I sat to play a few rounds of Candy Crush) I saw my library book sitting there. It is due back on Saturday and, although I’m enjoying it, I know it won’t be done by Saturday. I’ve just renewed it for another month – I can enjoy it at my leisure.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Most mornings I put my socks on while standing up – I consider it my yoga pose for balance. My back has been sore and this morning I sat in my chair to put my socks on. Pat says he always sits to put his socks on and I made the comment that maybe we were getting old. No, say it isn’t so! It didn’t stop us from hauling all the gear for tonight’s show on Texada out to the truck. We’ll unload it at the Hall tomorrow and then load it back up again for the trip back home tomorrow night, where we’ll have to unload it again. So maybe this morning was just an anomaly.

I was off to the bee as usual this morning. I’m working on my HST project in batches – sew a few blocks, press a few blocks, trim a few blocks, and repeat. I didn’t have too many stops to make on my way home today; one stop took me to the liquor store (we like to stock up for our guests), next I went to the grocery store for a couple of things, and then one last stop at the artist’s co-op.

One of our performers is on her third trip to Powell River; Mary was the performer at our very first house concert way back when. The first time she was here someone mentioned the “Powell River Soap Lady” to her; at that time the shop she was selling in was closed but I tracked down the owner and she opened so Mary could get some of her soap.

In Mary’s subsequent trips I’ve always managed to get a bar of her soap for the bathroom, as well as one for her to take home with her. Just in case she remembered I had done this in the past I thought I’d best not break with tradition.

Pat is on Texada tonight with their show. I have finished cooking and mashing a pot of potatoes – shepherd’s pie for supper tomorrow (along with a rhubarb crisp from last year’s rhubarb) and a bit extra for hot cross buns. I still have one bed to make and the bathrooms to clean but then I’ll be ready.

I intended to go walking with Moreen in the morning but I don’t think I’m going to make it. If I don’t make a trip to the recycle and bottle depot the performers may not get in the door!

Sunday, April 14, 2019

It seemed like a short trip to the studio this weekend. We intended to catch the mid-morning ferry on Friday but Pat remembered he had a meeting in the afternoon so we didn’t head across until mid-afternoon. Moreen and I had time for a walk in the morning; we followed a trail that didn’t lead anywhere but we walked more than two miles – it is nice to have my FitBit back again.

I really needed to get some reading done this weekend so just about everything else took a back seat to that. I had the bed linens from our House Concert guest stripped and washed before bedtime on Friday and I worked on a bit of knitting in the evening.

It was close to noon on Saturday before I dug out my cross stitching. I had hoped to have a photo to show but a lot of my time was spent backstitching (which doesn’t really have much to show for the time it takes) and a bit of back tracking. Some of the rows weren’t working out as they should. I’m not certain I have it right yet, but it is better than it was but I haven’t ruled out more backtracking. I took Pat out for an early birthday dinner on Saturday; he has a meeting tomorrow night so he won’t be available.

We came back home on today’s mid-afternoon ferry. We had the studio tidied and the extra bed made (for a Tuesday show) so there wasn’t much point in staying any longer and creating more mess.

I’ll start a new knitting project this evening and get a few more pages of my book finished. It isn’t due until Thursday but I have another one that is due on Saturday. The third one in the pile isn’t due until May.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Several months ago I found the charge cord for my FitBit – it had been missing for months before that. I charged it up and on our trip to the studio at Christmas I used it when we did one of our hikes.

Once I was home the FitBit ran down again and, when I went to charge it, the charger cord was again missing. I thought maybe I had left it on Texada but Pat checked and didn’t find it. Last weekend when we were there I looked behind my crafting table and found it.

So earlier this week I thought I’d get it charged up and, can you believe it, I couldn’t find the FitBit. I looked in my jewellery box, I looked around my computer desk, I looked in all the drawers I could think that it might possibly be.

Yesterday when I was cleaning up the kitchen counters for the house concert I found it in one of the dishes that we have sitting around meant simply for collecting things – usually Pat’s bits and pieces from his guitars and some of his spare picks. Both pieces are now joined and the FitBit is charging.

Honestly, life should not be this complicated!