Tuesday, December 5, 2017

It’s been awhile so it was good to be back at the bee today and I accomplished quite a bit. I had one complete project to do and I didn’t think it would take long, even though it involved a zipper. I was congratulating myself on how well I managed putting the zipper in when I realized the instructions mentioned top stitching the lining. I had neglected to attach the lining with the zipper so everything had to be taken out again. Thank goodness I had someone to ask questions of and I managed to get it done before noon. I started on a collection of ornaments based on the English paper piecing I did while on my trip and at Texada this past weekend. Although I don’t have them all done they seemed quite quick to put together so I’m confident I’ll have them done with time to spare.

Before heading to the bee I wanted to get a package mailed so I was at the post office shortly after they opened. There was a small line-up when I arrived but I didn’t think that was unusual. What was unusual was that the clerk had a phone attached to her ear; she had been on a support call for 45 minutes as their computer system wasn’t working. The woman at the front of the line finally decided to bring her packages back tomorrow. The next two people in line needed stamps so they were able to deal with them manually. I had a bubble-wrap envelope to purchase and mail and I decided I’d buy the envelope and come back tomorrow but, since the package was small, they were able to send it as a letter and could do it manually. Fortunately the package has lots of time to arrive at it’s destination so it should be good. I admire the patience of the women who work behind the counter at the post office; they never rush you and they never seem to be in a flap no matter what the situation.

Last night I dug through my patterns and imagine the happy dance I was doing when I found the leaflet I was looking for. And then imagine the let-down when I realized the patterns I was looking for weren’t in that particular book. I have a feeling the patterns might be part of a Precious Moments collection; I know I have at least one of those books and I’ll search through my patterns again. If I don’t find what I’m looking for I’m going to get rid of the half-done projects and start over. I had hoped to have them done for Christmas but it isn’t looking too promising at this point.

Monday, December 4, 2017

It was a busy weekend on Texada; when I mentioned that to someone I was told that “every weekend is like this one”!

We had dinner at the restaurant on Saturday before heading off to the play. As I waited for Pat to pay the bill our waitress called me by name saying she hoped I enjoyed the show. I was surprised that she knew my name but Pat later admitted that she had asked him. If we are at the studio together we often go out for dinner one night and Pat often goes when he’s there on his own; the same two people are always working. The play was what you might expect from a local theatre company; I think had we known the people on stage we would have enjoyed it more. They started the show early on Saturday so Powell River folks could catch the ferry back; I was surprised at how many Powell River people were at the play. As we were leaving I said to Pat that it was nice to go out for dinner, see a play and be on the way home by 8:30!

We hosted a little soiree at the studio on Sunday. Our neighbour, Jaimie, wanted Pat to meet his brother so we invited them all over for coffee in the afternoon. We also have a new neighbour just at the bottom of our hill so we invited Bev to join us. There is still one set of neighbours that we haven’t met but I’m sure we will at some point – one or both of them are musicians. Pat likes the idea of knowing our neighbours as they will keep an eye out for us when we aren’t there.

Sunday night the coffee shop was hosting a tree lighting in Van Anda. We had coffee and hot chocolate before going outside for the actual lighting (which took about five minutes). They had a piper playing but he didn’t know any Christmas songs; after the tree was lit we went back inside for some carol singing. The tree is lovely but it was overshadowed by the moon; a full moon in a clear sky that was pretty much directly above the Christmas tree.

My stitching wasn’t as successful as I wanted it to be but I had enough to keep me busy in my free time. I got the binding stitched down on three gifts and moved on to some knitting. I wasn’t very far along before my needle broke; I taped it together but the stitches weren’t sliding over the tape very well so I gave that up. I wanted to do some back stitching on some pieces that Mum had started but I couldn’t find the pattern; I attempted to “wing it” but realized it wasn’t working. I looked at images online and found the name of the leaflet the pattern came from so I’ll have to go through my books to see if I can find it. I may have already gifted it to Emma thinking I wouldn’t need it. Thank goodness I took my English paper piecing project with me. I got all my little pieces stitched together and even managed to get some of them appliquéd to the background.

I came home on the afternoon ferry today and now I need to get busy preparing for the bee tomorrow.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

There has really been no reason for me not to post from Texada – I guess since it feels so much like a holiday when I’m here I don’t think to do it.

The show last night was just short of a sell-out – Oliver Swain was performing and he had a local musician opening for him (it’s like the big time having two acts in one show). I ended up helping to take tickets before the show; after the show I helped with dishes then did the rest of the clean-up (sweeping and cleaning bathrooms). In order to get us home before midnight Pat got out the mop and bucket and washed the floor.

We headed over to Texada on the 9:30 ferry this morning so we had time to unpack and settle in before heading out to a craft sale at the Legion. I saw lots of people I know from quilting both in PR and here on Texada. Pat also saw a couple of people he’s met here so it feels like home.

I got my bindings hand stitched this afternoon and moved on to some knitting. We’re off tonight to see a play written and performed by a local theatre group. We’ve heard it is funny but I wonder if you have to know the actors to really find it funny.

Friday, December 1, 2017

Yay, I can finally start putting out my Christmas decorations. Since I came back from Saskatoon I’ve been itching to get it all out; Deloise’s house was beautifully decorated for the Open House and Kathryn was busy getting her tree and decorations out. I admit that one of the table toppers I used last night for the House Concert was Christmas-themed but it was covered with glasses most of the night.

It has been a busy day today but I’ve actually accomplished something in the studio. We sat up late chatting but I was up at my regular (early) time this morning and I managed a bit of tidying in my space before anyone else was up. Because our performers came with a stand-up base it took two vehicles to pick them up from and deliver them to the ferry. As soon as I dropped off my passenger I headed out to do a bit of shopping.

When I got home I headed back upstairs and have three items ready for hand stitching – I’ll pack them in my Texada bag. Along with those projects I’ve added three knitting projects as well as the second step on half a dozen other projects. No, I’m not staying for a month but I want to tackle at least one of each of these new projects so I can get an indication of how long they all will take. I also pulled fabric for another Christmas gift as well as the necessities for a couple more pillow cases although they aren’t on the gift list and will get done “whenever”.

We have a Cranberry Hall concert tonight. I’ve paid for my ticket so, in theory, I shouldn’t have to do any work; I’ll make myself available to help out wherever it is needed though.