Sunday, July 23, 2017

I feel like I’m back on track. We’ve had strong winds today and they have blown away the clouds and, if the wind abates, it will feel like summer again. Perhaps the breeze blew away all the cobwebs in my mind too!

I finished restitching my two Splendid Sampler blocks last night. One of them was an easy fix but the other required some reverse stitching, recutting and more stitching. I’m happy with both of them now so they can be added to my wall. As I dug through the bin to get the blocks, I found a third block that I started on the Island but never finished. It involved just a bit more work in the studio and then I settled in with the hand stitching on it. It was all done by dark, just a few minutes after Pat arrived home. I’m still two blocks behind on my Splendid Sampler schedule but they are both pieced blocks that I hope to get done at the bee on Tuesday.

I started my new project this morning. It involves a little cutting and a lot of tracing as most of the piece is appliquéd. Late this morning Pat and I drove out of town to pick up the filleted fish from last night’s adventure; very nice of Dan to do all the messy work! Dan and Judy have a lovely spot and their yard is amazing. As we munched on home-grown cherries, blueberries and raspberries we had a good visit. We see them often but seldom sit down for a chat.

After we got home I finished the tracing for my project. I haven’t cut into any of the fabric yet as I want a second chance to be sure it is all correct. For what’s left of the afternoon I think I’ll start a new cross stitch project; it is a repeat of something I’ve done before and, although there is a lot of work involved, it is easily done in small batches.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

It was a better day today – not weather-wise but I’m feeling more energetic. Perhaps I’m not really more energetic but I’ve reached the point where I need to get some things done.

I started the day at the Farmer’s Market; Pat was playing a set for the first hour. I was first in line for the bread we like, but I missed out on the beets I wanted by two people further ahead of me in that particular line-up. I bought soap from two different vendors. I’ve bought from one of these vendors often; I picked up a couple of different lavender combinations. The second vendor was beside the bread line-up and I bought a couple from her as well; one is a stain removing soap (she guarantees it will take the stain of salad dressing “drops” off the front of my shirt) and the second one has some pumice in it (good for after playing in the dirt). I also got some lettuce and a couple of small cucumbers. I’m pretty sure I spent more than Pat made!

This afternoon I’ve been wrapping cards and patterns. All my Facebook sales went through and I had a couple of cards (that will be delivered late) that needed to be in Monday’s mail.

Pat has gone fishing this afternoon and won’t be home until dark. I’m hoping that gives me enough time to do some repairs (or restitching) on a couple of Splendid Sampler blocks that I was unhappy with from my Island sewing weekend. Not all my cleaning and sorting has been done yet but if I can get these last two things finished up I gave myself permission to start a new project tomorrow – Oh Canada! – that I’ve promised for the Cranberry 75th Anniversary celebration.

Friday, July 21, 2017

Nothing is worse than a summer cold. I should know because I’m currently suffering from one. I should have known I was coming down with something – last night I didn’t have enough energy to even pick up my knitting. I didn’t sleep well and have felt lousy all day. It doesn’t help that it’s cloudy and showery outside.

Some things had to go on though. Our financial “people” have recently left the bank and set up their own business. We spent over an hour with them this morning transferring investment accounts and signing, what seemed like, our life away.

I’ve sold a couple of sets of my Stoney Creek magazines through one of the Facebook groups I belong to so I had to get up to the Post Office and find out what the shipping would cost. I thought I might have lost a sale when I told her what it would cost but she has come through with the money after all. I also sold a pattern so it has been a good “Garage Sale Day” from the comfort of home.

I’m just up from a nap; I intended to sleep until 3 PM but when that rolled around I rolled over for another hour. Can’t say as I feel any better but that could just be the feeling I have whenever I nap in the afternoon.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

I started cleaning up in my stitching areas today. But as I put things away I’m also sorting things because we intend to have a garage sale in September. I think I’ve gone through patterns and pattern books ten times but today, as I made my final pass before setting them aside, I still managed to retrieve a few that I decided I wanted to keep. I offered some of my Stoney Creek magazines for sale on one of my cross stitch sites and I’ve actually managed to sell a few. Hopefully more will go but if not they will all go back into the garage sale pile.

I debated about doing some re-arranging in my hand stitching area but decided it was going to be too much work. I have managed to empty out most of the bags I took with me to the Island last week. I still haven’t come across the one that has my cards in it and I know that time is slipping away and a couple of those cards should have already been in the mail.

I had a bit of running around to do (again) today so that ate up most of the afternoon. I had a couple of things to drop off at Cranberry Hall, I had a prescription to pick up, I needed to go to the bank, and I was in search of Rice Krispies that advertised a personalized spoon. I looked in two of the four possible stores but no luck so far; Gavin was hoping to get his own spoon. I still haven’t made it into the new library but as soon as I finish the book I’m currently reading I’ll get up there.

It’s a much cooler day today with a few rain showers – clear of course until I stepped out of the car at my first stop! Pat says there will be clouds and showers for another couple of days and then I can get back to my laundry.

I picked up some buttons today for a knitting project that was finished (except for buttons) a long time ago. I’ll hopefully get them done tonight and then I’ll have lots of packages to take to the mail tomorrow. I think my “nearly finished” basket has a couple of donation sweaters that just need the ends stitched in so maybe I should tackle them as well.