Tuesday, December 12, 2017

When my alarm went off this morning I really wasn’t ready to get up and not only because I thought they said it was -7 outside! But it was a bee day and I hate to miss a minute of it. I thought I should warm my car up a bit before leaving but when I went out it was obvious that I was dreaming the -7 temperature; it was a balmy 5 outside and no fog anywhere!

I had a slow start at the bee. I had two projects that I really wanted to get done today, one more that I would hopefully get done and another one I knew I was unlikely to even start. I set up my sewing machine, got out all my tools and accessories, reached in to pull out my first bag of projects. What! There wasn’t a project to be found in any of my bags. I made a trip home; the projects weren’t as easy to find as I expected (they were buried under a pile of other stuff) but I was able to get back and start sewing without losing too much time.

Thanks to the bee I was about to cross another thing off my list when I realized that the list was all done – I think I’m ready for Christmas! I have one stocking to finish (not a gift) and one gift to wrap but that’s it! I made a new list and – surprise – there was no problem finding things to add to it.

To celebrate my finishes I think I’ll spend the rest of the afternoon (and evening) knitting. I finally found the Christmas movies on Netflix so I’m set.

Monday, December 11, 2017

I didn’t have to stand in line too long at the post office this morning. I wouldn’t have wanted to be behind me in the line-up though.

When I walked in the door there were about half a dozen people ahead of me. There were two clerks on duty so it didn’t take long for it to be my turn. One of the clerks was new and I hoped I wouldn’t get her as I had a lot of packages – some big, some small – with different delivery and signing options for most of them. I ended up with the new clerk but she did her job well.

In all the time I was at the counter the other clerk served only two people – but both of them had problems. They were older ladies and they had a heck of a time working the debit/credit card machine; one of them even had to sit and rest a bit between tries. The clerk looking after them was very patient though and eventually they got processed. As I was going out the door I didn’t make eye contact with anyone but I noticed that the line up was snaking all the way out the door!

Pat left for the studio this morning; I’ll do a walk-on Friday and join him for the weekend. I had a few posters to put up for a Cranberry Hall concert coming in January and when that was done I got the minutes of the last meeting organized and sent out. I have three projects ready for the bee tomorrow, plus one other one “just in case”.

I’ll do a bit of reading until supper and then knit for the evening.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

The packages are wrapped and ready for the mail; I found enough large bags that I should be able to get everything into the post office in one trip. I hate to think what these packages might cost me but it’s worth it – you’re worth it, right!

I spent the morning in the kitchen doing some baking. Pat is hosting a Song Circle at the Hall tonight so I told him I’d do some baking for it. I made a Cranberry Bundt cake and some shortbread. I haven’t baked anything since my marathon for Cranberry Day this past August. I will make another Bundt cake for the Guild pot luck later in the week; I’m also looking at some of my other Christmas recipes and I may do a bit more. Not that we need it but there are some recipes I have only ever made at Christmas – brown sugar fudge, nuts & bolts, and chocolate shortbread to name a few ideas going through my mind. I still have a couple of things to finish stitching before Christmas so I’ll see how that goes before I add anything more to my list.

But what to do now? Start in with that stitching? Clean up the wrapping paper from the past couple of days? Start re-arranging my sewing space (again!)? Too many decisions – maybe I’ll curl up with a book for the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

I’ve been at it all day and I have almost all of my packages wrapped and ready for the mail. I’ve completely run out of energy though so I’m calling it quits. I will have time tomorrow to finish up the wrapping so I can be at the post office first thing on Monday. I’ll have quite a collection of parcels so I made need to take two or three trips from my car to the post office. I heard today that Monday is the last day for mailing parcels at “regular” rates – whatever that means – so I expect there will be line-ups.

Many years, when I’m this far along with wrapping, I break out a bottle of something festive. I think it is a sign of my age because I think rather than a festive drink I’m going to go have a nap!