Friday, November 30, 2018

For the last week my days have been somewhat mixed up. Our House Concert was to have been Saturday and for the last month I had been preparing for a Saturday arrival and show. When our guests arrived a day early it was a little confusing (for my mind at least). On the day after a show and when the guests have left it always feels like a Sunday. This time around though they played on Texada on Sunday evening and then spent all day with us on Monday. I didn’t sew on Tuesday so that put me off my regular schedule which, in my mind, is what keeps me grounded to the day of the week.

I have a calendar by my desk and every morning I turn over a page to see what Block of the Day is being featured. I was busy planning my day this morning when for some reason I looked at the calendar on my desktop and was surprised that it was the 30th; somewhere this week I neglected to turn the calendar over for the day. I suspect it was on Wednesday when I caught the early ferry to Comox and wasn’t at my machine all day.

Yes, I had a lovely day on the Island. Peggy picked me up from the ferry and we spent a bit of time at her place and then we drove to Campbell River where we picked up Barb (Elliott). We wandered through several shops and then stopped for lunch. The weather cooperated and there was no significant rain until I was back aboard the ferry on my way home. It is always so nice to catch up with Peggy and an added bonus to see Barb; we don’t get together as often as we should/could since we are all seniors and can ride the ferry for free on weekdays. Peggy and Bill are just back from a cruise to Australia and New Zealand so there was a lot of catching up to do.

Thursday morning I finished getting one box packed up and out to the post office. I went stitching in the afternoon – working on a cross stitch ornament this week so there wasn’t much to haul in or out of my car. When I got home I made supper and started right back into stitching (there is a looming deadline). I didn’t even think of my journal until 4:30 this morning and by five I gave up hope of ever getting back to sleep so got up. I thought I’d be able to easily finish a few ornaments and get a couple of boxes ready for the mail. That’s about the time I realized my mistake on the date.

So I’ve switched from ornaments and packing boxes to getting a donation bag ready for the Salvation Army. But it isn’t even ten yet so I may still get at least one box ready.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

It was a stormy day yesterday; the ferry from Texada was running but by 7 AM both the morning and noon ferries from and to Comox had been canceled. That meant Silk Road weren’t able to get across to the Island until the 4:30 ferry; they were a half-hour late starting the show over there but at least they didn’t have to cancel. There haven’t been any other performers that I’d rather spend more time with; we threatened not to let them go and they said they would be okay with that.

I had to leave mid-afternoon for my Board meeting. It was longer than I would have liked but then they all are. We won’t have a meeting until the new year so, once I get the minutes out, I’ll have a break. Well not exactly – there are deposits and hall bookings that hopefully will continue through the month.

I decided to skip the bee today; I felt I had so much to get done in the next week that I should get it started. Although I don’t have any packages ready for the mail, I have my 12 Days of Christmas parcels planned. After showing the Hall this afternoon I finished up my shopping. I say that tentatively as I may have forgotten a couple of things. I didn’t even miss not sewing.

Pat bought an Instant Pot on a Black Friday sale and he’s trying it out with our supper tonight. I made an apple pie (from our own apples) so we’ll even have dessert!

Sunday, November 25, 2018

It wasn’t my intention to drop my posts, but sometimes that’s just the way my life goes.

Friday and Saturday were Community Quilt days with the Guild. It wasn’t the best timing for me but I feel it is an important aspect of the Guild and I wanted to participate. I’m glad I did because apparently it wasn’t good timing for a lot of our members. I have a half-square triangle project I’m working on as a donation and I spent all weekend on that, without actually getting a lot done to show for myself. The project has two different sizes of HSTs; there are 96 blocks of one size and 384 of the smaller size. Although it didn’t seem like a great accomplishment I have all of the larger blocks finished and all but 100 of the smaller ones done. Of the small ones they just need to be pressed and trimmed so, in hindsight, I didn’t do too bad.

Between the end of sewing on Friday and the 4:30 ferry, I managed to stop in at three different craft fairs. I had friends showing at two of them and the third was right next door to one I was attending so it was easy to stop in. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular and I didn’t find anything of interest. A lot of knitting and simple sewing/quilting but nothing I hadn’t seen before. The woman that took a lot of my cross stitch books had a table – absolutely beautiful work and selling it so cheap (under $25 for large, intricate pieces). Both of my Thursday buddies had tables, and a couple of Guild members were at a different sale.

Although out House Concert wasn’t until Saturday night our guests arrived on the 4:30 ferry. They had a travel day with no place (without paying) to sleep so Pat told them to come an extra day. André and Qiu Xia He (pronounced Chew-Shaw) were lovely. They were so grateful for us inviting them. They didn’t want to be any trouble so planned to go out for dinner but Pat told them he was making a stir fry and they were welcome to join us; before we knew it they had taken over the kitchen and cooked dinner for us.

I was out quilting again on Saturday and Pat had an appointment in the morning so our guests they made themselves breakfast (and cleaned up), helped Pat set up for the concert and then were out exploring the town until it was almost time for supper. The show last night was a sell-out; we had some last minute cancellations but we scrambled and managed to fill all the seats. It wouldn’t have mattered because everyone pays in advance but it is nicer for performers not to be playing to empty chairs. The show was absolutely amazing – I can’t even describe how interesting and entertaining their group (Silk Road) is.

André cooked breakfast for us while Qiu Xia He worked on some video files that Pat took at the show last night. They all left on the noon ferry to do the show on Texada tonight. This will be our first sold out show on Texada and I would have loved to see the show again (and the reaction to them) but after two late nights and a busy week ahead I decided I’d be better staying home; the studio isn’t very big and I thought four people would be pushing the comfort levels (I’m not even sure we have four chairs to sit on in a group).

I’ll be busy today getting ready for my Board meeting tomorrow and, hopefully, I’ll be able to get started organizing some packages for the mail next week. While I do that I have one of André’s CDs playing in the background – apparently today it isn’t too early to start enjoying my Christmas music.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Pat came back from Texada this afternoon and spent about an hour on his cell phone with Telus. He was able to get them out this afternoon so our service was restored. I think one or the other of us have been on the phone constantly since then. Why did we want it back so badly?

I did all my cleaning for this weekend’s House Concert this morning – normal day’s work done by noon. I intended to go stitching this afternoon but Pat arrived home about the time I should have been leaving so I decided to stay home instead. I did a bit of sewing this afternoon, but not as much as I would have accomplished had I gone out.

I’m off to a meeting tonight. The 100+ Women Who Care received a matching grant so each recipient for the next four meetings could get $16,000. I want to be sure my vote counts for that kind of money.