Monday, April 16, 2018

After my sewing session on Thursday I did a quick swap (sewing stuff out of the car, Texada stuff into the car) and headed out on the 6 PM ferry. I like being able to take that later ferry and still be at the studio before dark.

In spite of (or maybe because of) being on my own I didn’t get a lot of stitching done. I hoped to have a PJ day on Friday but ended up having to get dressed and go down the hill to the neighbour’s. I knew Pat had invited her to his party at a group meeting but I wanted to be sure she got a personal invitation. We had a nice chat and, since I was dressed, I didn’t bother getting back into my PJs. I did get my PJ day on Saturday though – I had already talked to the neighbour two houses over twice so I didn’t thing they’d be stopping in; Pat had just had a visit from the neighbour across the road, and I had just seen Bev.

Sunday was all about the birthday party. I had my cleaning all finished by Sunday morning. While the first group were on their way over on the ferry I got the coffee made, muffins and fruit set out. We had about ten guys show up in the first wave. Pat enjoyed showing them around the studio and the shop and since it was quite a nice day they wandered around outside. Bev came up to the studio for a visit so I was a bit later leaving for the Kitchen Party than I had planned but I arrived with the cakes about 15 minutes into the event. People came and went throughout the afternoon. There were about fourteen from Powell River and probably a dozen more from Texada. There was lots of music from both the Powell River contingent and the Texada group and I think everyone had a good time. There was talk of doing another one but I won’t be quite so involved if it does happen.

We had a few more of the guys come back to the studio after the party but it was kind of nice knowing they had a limited amount of time to spend. They all headed out to catch the five o’clock ferry. At the end of the day I had just enough energy to run my iPad battery down playing MahJong and finish reading my book.

We loaded up my car for the trip back on the noon ferry. I got all of the dishes and left-over food unloaded and put away, except for the dishes that we’ll need out for the House Concert next weekend. The left-over cake has been wrapped and is in the freezer and all my unpacking is done. Sadly most of that unpacking made its way upstairs and my sewing room is a disaster. I’m trying to work my way through a long list of things that need done in the next couple of day.

• One of the cards I sent out at the end of last month came back because I had the wrong address. I’ve sent a message to see if I can get the new address and get it back on its way again.
• I started the Cranberry Hall minutes from the last meeting but I need to finalize them and get them sent out. I’ve made arrangements to have cheques signed tomorrow after the bee but I still need to get a deposit ready.
• We’re having the roof of the back deck replaced next week and I’ve got most of the stuff from the deck somewhere in the house (rugs are drying in the kitchen, extra chairs in the living room, recycle bins in the laundry room). I still need to take a few things out to the shed.
• We are replacing the bed in the spare room and, although I have stripped the bed, I still need to clear out a bedside table and a book case. The new-to-us bed will have a frame so we’re not sure where it will best fit in the room so that we can still get into the closet. It seemed like it would be easier to pull everything else out, get the bed in and then re-arrange as necessary.
• I’ve got a parcel that needs to go in the mail and, if I can squeeze it in, I have a birthday card that I need to finish and get in the mail as well.
• I need to find something to work on at the bee tomorrow and get it packed up. My Tuesday project has been neglected because I need to clean and oil one of my lesser-used machines and I just don’t seem to have had time to get that done.
• And, of course, my cutting table, sewing cabinet and table are completely cluttered with things that need to be dealt with.

It’s going to be a long night!

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

I made the first of three bundt cakes last night – I can’t even remember how many of these I’ve made since last summer. Several for our Cranberry Day celebration and several more for various Cranberry Hall Presents events. I still have one package of cranberries left so I’ll make another one for the Member Appreciation event at the Hall and then, I think, I’ll never want to see that recipe again.

I was up early and had my next cake in the oven before eight. This time it was a Chocolate Fudge; I’ve never made it before but who wouldn’t want to try a chocolate cake that uses cocoa powder and brewed coffee. My worry with these cakes is that they won’t come out of the pan properly but so far, so good.

Next up was a Lemon Bundt cake, also a new recipe. I miscalculated when I was making my list; somehow I didn’t see the final two ingredients on the sheet and although I had enough eggs I didn’t have enough sour cream. I had some vanilla yogurt so I substituted some of that and, judging from the crumbs I had, it worked out fine. Again it came out of the pan without any problem.

Next up was a “regular” cake that will get iced and stay at the studio for Pat’s birthday. It uses a cake mix and instant pudding mixes so it was easy to put together. Before getting started though I had to run out to Safeway to purchase another dozen eggs due to my earlier mis-count. This cake will stay in the 9″x13″ pan so I didn’t have to worry about getting it out of the pan.

And finally I was on to muffins. I found a recipe for Apple Cinnamon Muffins but I don’t like fruit in my muffins so decided to substitute raisins for the apples. When I was ready to put them into muffin tins I realized my muffin tins (well Mum’s actually) didn’t look so hot so I put them into the recycle bin and decided to make loaves instead. These I’m not so sure turned out well; fortunately there are two of them so I’ll be able to have a taste before deciding whether they are “good enough” or whether I’ll pick some up from the store tomorrow.

And the bonus for all this baking is that as I waited on the timer again and again and again I made good progress on one of my cross-stitched quilt blocks!

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

I had a good day at the bee today but I didn’t accomplish too much. I finished off my card, except for the hand stitching, and that was my highest priority. I also had time to stitch around another snowflake, but my bobbin ran out just before I finished the second one so I decided to call it a day. I’m planning to go over to Texada on Thursday night and, since I’m driving, I might take a machine with me this time. My April challenge has more or less taken over my Tuesday project simply because it is easy to pack up and uses the same machine as the small projects I’m working on.

After cleaning up and leaving the bee I got a few groceries; not as many as I thought I would need though as I’m making five different items. The recipes are pretty basic and I always have lots of butter, sugar and flour in the house for my concession baking. The ladies from Texada are having a good laugh about the Kitchen Party – the latest someone said was that they were extending the hours from 3 PM to 5 PM. I hope they were just teasing!

I’m waiting for fabric to arrive in order to finish the 9-Patch I started in my last Guild class. There was a parcel waiting today and, although it wasn’t my fabric, it was a fun one. The envelope contained Pat’s birthday present and a hockey cards from Will and Alex. Kathryn also included the embroidery floss I needed and she even threw in three books (I think the books may originally have come from Regan).

I’ll get started on a bit of baking now – I should have time for at least one bundt cake before bed! While it bakes I’ll get to work on that hand stitching.

Monday, April 9, 2018

I had a bit of secret printing to do this morning so, as my excuse for going out, I gathered up all my cans and bottles for the bottle depot. We had quite a collection of items for the recycle depot so we loaded those into the car as well.

Pat and another member have resigned from the Cranberry Hall Board and we were making them lifetime members. I offered to make up some sort of certificate so I was headed to Staples to do that. I had some pages that needed to be done for my project book, as well as an archived article I had done from the Guild website so I knew it would take me awhile. I wasn’t able to do the two certificates on card stock myself so I had to leave the files with them and go back later to pick them up.

Fortunately I had another excuse for going out after lunch – I mailed our Income Tax info to the accountant and I made a Cranberry Hall deposit. The certificates were ready when I went back to Staples and, except for Pat mentioning it took longer than he thought it would, he was none the wiser.

I did a lot of work getting things ready for our Board meeting tonight and extra prep work for the AGM. I also wanted to do a bit of transition planning for the Board meeting, although we didn’t have a lot of time to discuss all the tasks that need to be done. We managed to persuade a couple of our current Board to stand as President, VP, and (maybe) Secretary and I’ll continue on as Treasurer. We want to be sure we have some clear tasks for our members to volunteer for and for our new (hopefully) Board members to see where they might fit in.

And between all that I’ve managed to get a card top almost done. I have it packed for tomorrow’s bee, as well as more of my April challenge project. Although I’d like to say I’m finished for the day I need to go through some recipes and make a list so I can shop tomorrow for Pat’s birthday party.

Did I mention that we are having a party on Texada for Pat’s birthday? I suggested he might want to ask half a dozen people over to see his studio; next thing I know it is an Event. I’m taking three Bundt cakes to Pat’s birthday party, I’m making muffins for people who drop in at the studio before the Kitchen Party, and another small cake for those who come to the studio after the Kitchen Party. I’ll need to take over cutlery, cups and plates and a few chairs because there isn’t anything extra at the studio.