Monday, July 24, 2023

“Let’s do a short walk” Pat said yesterday. After two hours on one of the most challenging walks I’ve been on in ages (and I don’t mean just since my treatments) we were finally home. We had seen the trailhead for the Eagle Cove Trail many times as we made our way to and from the ferry but we’d never stopped. We knew the trail would be challenging but we only intended to do the lower half which didn’t have as much elevation as the later half.

Soon after we started out we came across a side trail leading to the gnome homes. How could we resist? It was an easy walk and all along there were these tiny little constructions. The first home was laid in March of 2020 in an effort to get the community out and about while still maintaining the social distancing required at the time. These were a couple of my favourites but they were all very unique, some in better repair than others.

I was tired when we got home but managed to finish up some set-up work on my appliqué project before I went to bed. I was up early this morning and put up a quilt on the design wall. When that was done I couldn’t settle down to anything else – I had a cross stitch I could have worked on, as well as more work on my appliqué project. By noon I had decided that I’d be having a nap after lunch and I slept for two hours.

I can’t really say I’m keen to dive into any of my projects but I finished my book, I’ve played my games (several times) so I’d better get to it.

Friday, July 21, 2023

I’m finally accepting that there are limits to how much I can do in a day. I stitched with Stacia and Deloise yesterday – we checked in with each other twice during the day, the last time was at three my time. Of course they were both done their projects and I was still fighting with the first step of mine. After our last check-in I called it quits for the day – and then slept for two hours.

I thought my limit for yard work was an hour but today I only lasted half an hour. I was working on the weeds in the driveway so I was down on my hands and knees. My feet were really giving me grief though as I had them bent over to give me the balance I needed. I didn’t get much done but I have to say that the weeds came out quite well. I thought I might take another run at it this afternoon but that isn’t going to happen. I think I could nap for another couple of hours this afternoon but I’ll fight a little more with my project and then retire to the basement. It’s a good thing we don’t have a sofa down there or I’d be napping every afternoon and evening.

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

I learned today that my limit is for yard work is an hour – at least for now. I got out early as I wanted to get the daisies deadheaded. Once I was out there I pulled a few weeds on my way across to the daisies. It seems to me that the bark mulch was just spread over the top of the soil and buried but didn’t get rid of the weeds. They have started to come back already and are just that little bit harder to pull out. But help may be on the way. I have a gardener (yes, a gardener not a landscaper) coming over tomorrow to see if she is willing to take on the maintenance on a regular basis. Fingers crossed that she won’t be too expensive.

After a bit of a rest I moved upstairs and finished the bin of shredding. The floor was a mess when it was all done so I got out the vacuum, moved around the furniture and cleaned up the floor. Next on the list was clearing my sewing and cutting tables so I’ll be ready for stitching with Stacia and Deloise tomorrow.

I also found time to find a new cross stitch sew-along which I may or may not do. The clues come out once a week and I wasn’t impressed with the first pattern but it is from a site that I’ve worked with before and was really happy with. I’ll continue to download the patterns and see at the end if it is, indeed, something I want to work on.

I have some hand stitching to do for the remainder of the afternoon and I’ll do it in the cool of the basement.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

I had forgotten how much there was to do to get ready to go sewing, and how long it takes to do all those things. I usually have four bobbins pre-wound but yesterday while I sewed I ran out of my last one. So first thing this morning, while I had my coffee, I wound up four more. I’m glad I did more than one because the first one ran out before lunch.

I took along a really easy project. I had a bin of scraps that people had given me over the last year. Normally I would have cut them down into squares or rectangles of varying sizes but I decided that I was just going to sew them together into 12.5″ blocks and use them for backings on some of my donation quilts. I didn’t make much of a dent in my bin and I didn’t get even one block done, but I was working to get pairs of scraps sewn together.

I thought I was out early enough that I could park right outside the door but they must start earlier than I remembered as I had to park at the far end of the parking lot. I had to make two trips from the car to the sewing area – one with the cake, and another with my bin and machine. Someone set up a table and found me a chair and they said next time they will carry my stuff in for me. Does that mean I need to take another cake?

The cake was a hit, but I’m not surprised. People kept saying I had brought a carrot cake and I reminded them it was a pineapple cake. But then I just told them that it really didn’t matter what kind of cake it was because it had a cream cheese icing! People were cutting pieces to take home to their husbands, and I know some of them had more than one piece.

I came home right after lunch. I don’t know if it was the excitement or all the chatter but I was exhausted. I had a little snooze in front of the TV in the cool of the basement and I feel much better now.

Christy, I know I said I’d write about the yard but I just haven’t got out to take photos. I’ll do that tonight when I water and I’ll get that post done tomorrow – unless something more exciting happens.