Wednesday, August 16, 2017

I’ve had a lovely day working on my Splendid Sampler blocks – the ones I’m keeping for myself, not the ones I’m sending out as cards. I’m still three behind (it will be four tomorrow) but at least I’m moving forward. Last night Pat help update the Guild brochure I was having trouble with and I found a couple of challenge ideas online. I did a couple of loads of laundry this morning, packaged up some bottles to take in for recycling, and made a quick trip to the fabric shop to drop off a display quilt for the weekend.

We’re off to the movie tonight but having had such a good day in my sewing room I hope to be back on track for good.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Today should have been a good day but I guess I’m still tired because I wasn’t in the mood to be social and the bee was less fun than it usually is. Plus I ended up with work to do at the end of the day – just because I showed up and use a computer. I was also reminded that I’m responsible for the Guild Challenge this year and I’m starting to feel guilty about farming the task out to someone else. Plus, I still have to write the blog post for today.

I worked on a card top. It was paper-pieced and should have been simple but I haven’t paper-pieced for a long time and I clearly forgot how to do it. I had to rip out a couple of times and the piece still didn’t work out to the correct size. When another Splederite (someone who is making The Splendid Sampler) saw it she said it was a poorly written pattern for the block so I didn’t feel quite so bad that mine was a bit “off”. I managed to get about 20 of my leader and ender blocks done but they are rather boring and it seemed the scrap pieces I had with me were mainly shades of the same colours. After lunch I worked on the library but I wasn’t “into” that either so I came home early.

There is a two-day event at Willingdon Beach this weekend and the Guild will have a booth. I signed up for a two-hour shift on Saturday. Since we moved from the Senior’s Centre the brochure we pass out at these events needs to be updated and I was selected to make the changes. I gave it a try but it isn’t going well; I’ve sent a message to the person who I think did the original brochure (she’s no longer with the Guild) to see if I can get a copy of her file.

I’ll probably spend the rest of the afternoon worrying about how to fix the brochure and googling some Guild challenge idea.

Monday, August 14, 2017

I was up early this morning but why wouldn’t I be when I went to bed at 8:30 last night. It rained Saturday night so we were watching the forecast every hour; at 7:30 Sunday morning Pat was at one of the sites sitting in the truck with the wipers going. But by 8:30 the sun was out and by ten the Qigong class was underway in the park. I was at the Hall by 8:30 finishing the set-up and getting ready for what we hoped would be tons of people.

The whole day was such a success at both the park and at the Hall. There were lots of people out and the Hall was packed most of the day. It was such fun to see the older residence looking at the historical photos and recognizing themselves, their homes, or their relatives. The cake and tarts were well received but it was the Cranberry Almond cookies that were the most popular. Personally if I don’t see a cranberry for another year I’ll be happy. Having everyone enjoy the day made all our work worthwhile.

There was a ticketed event (dinner and music) at the restaurant just down from the Hall. We had tickets but I lasted only through the main course; I knew if I didn’t leave right then I would either fall asleep at the table or be ill. Pat and I had our own vehicles so I drove myself home; I was surprised that Pat didn’t last a whole lot longer than I did.

We still had a few things to do today – items to return and we needed to take down the decorations at the Hall. It didn’t take long and when we were back home we sat out on the deck and watched for whales. I saw a whale earlier in the morning and about the time I was deciding whether to sew or nap we saw a couple more. That got my adrenaline going so I came upstairs to sew.

It is a bit surprising that I was even able to find my machine and all the pieces I needed for the particular card I was making – everything up here is such a mess but I decided there would be no more cleaning today, just enjoyment.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

It’s been a long day but we are in good shape for tomorrow, aside from the fact that neither Pat nor I are moving very swiftly. I spent the morning checking my lists and packing up my car. We headed for the Hall about 11:30 and I fully expected to be home by 2:30 with all my last-minute shopping done.

We hung curtains, quilts and a bit of bunting. I washed a box of glasses that I found in a box by the stove when I had to go hunting for the tape that had fallen through a crack. They are nice glasses and, had I known they were there, I wouldn’t have bought all those ones from the thrift store.

We set up the tables and chairs and I put all the handouts and donation jars on them. All the time we were at the Hall we had people dropping in – one was an elderly man who brought us a photo that we are going to frame and hang. Others just wanted to see how it looked.

It was after three before I left the Hall to start my shopping so I was quite a bit later than my original estimate. Pat and I shared a beer when I got home and then I started my Cranberry Tarts. I made a double batch and I thought it would be enough to fill all my shells but I was short by a couple of dozen. I thought about making more but they have to sit in the fridge overnight and even with a lot of rearranging there just isn’t room for any more. So what I have is all there will be.

The rain moved in around seven and even though I don’t want rain and wet for tomorrow it smells so good; we haven’t had any rain for weeks. We even had a glimpse of the mountains on the Island for a bit this afternoon but they are gone again now either from smoke or mist from the rain.

Time now to clean up the kitchen and do a load of dishes. Pat is making one last trip to the Hall tonight and I already know I forgot to send the bags of ice with him. I’ll add it to my list for tomorrow.