Friday, July 28, 2017

We caught a mid-morning ferry this morning to come across to Texada Island. We were the first car on the ferry (being at the terminal almost two hours ahead of the sailing helps) but, much to Pat’s chagrin, we weren’t the first car off. After a drive around Vananda we headed to Gillies Bay where we are staying and where the only restaurant is on the Island.

I spent a quiet afternoon alternating between stitching and reading my book.

After dinner we took another drive, ending up on a back road that was “good enough that it must lead somewhere”. Indeed it did – we ended up back in Vananda. No one else was out and about on the roads but we saw a couple of raccoons and a lot of deer. We were glad to be back at the B & B before dark.

Our accommodations don’t compare to our week at the Applewood Cottage or the spot I stay at when I come over for quilting but they are adequate and only a short walk from the festival site.

The festival gets underway tomorrow starting at noon; Pat has two sets tomorrow but is free on Sunday. We’ll head home at some point Sunday afternoon, probably before the festival closes.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

I spent all morning (over three hours) in the back; it took an hour to finish off the roses but, as Pat predicted, it did seem a bit easier. I wore long sleeves and long pants so I didn’t get too many more scratches. The tricky part was having a thorn embed itself in my pants and then when I took a step forward it almost pull my pants off. While I was at the top of the wall I had a couple of interruptions when friends stopped by and, after a little chat with each of them, the shade was pretty much gone and I was working in the sun.

After I cleaned up the canes I pulled out I decided to sweep up the carport. The rose petals look lovely when they first come off; they leave a lovely layer of pink over everything. Now that they have turned brown they don’t look quite so nice. I swept them up and then proceeded to pull out the weeds I sprayed yesterday. Many of them came out easily but as I pulled them and swept up I resprayed each crack; hopefully new ones won’t come up and I’ll finally kill off the roots that were left in the ground.

We have a drain trough at the back of the carport that is meant to carry the rainwater down to a drain pipe. Over time it becomes full of silt and dirt and then the weeds and grass start to grow in it. I expected it would be really hard to pull them out but, because they have very shallow roots, they came out quite easily. I didn’t finish the entire length of the drain but I’m encouraged to get it all done and then spray it with a heavy-duty coating of vinegar.

I was hot and tired when I came in so after a shower, a drink and a rest I headed out to the new library. It is lovely, although I can see parking might be an issue (I never worried about that before as I always just walked across the street). I felt a bit overwhelmed with all the books; I purposely didn’t take my book list with me because I wanted to be inspired by books on the shelves. I brought home four books by authors I’ve never read. The space is bright with lots of seating; they have a little coffee bar so I enjoyed a London Fog tea and read a couple of magazines after I used the self-check out for my book. From now on I think the library with be a destination outing, not just a stop along with other errands.

Yesterday afternoon I finished cutting all the pieces for my O Canada project and I even went ahead to the next step – I traced the pattern onto my fabric. But when I put the first maple leaf on I realized what I had dreaded had come true – I should have reversed the pattern before tracing. I hate when I “always” make that mistake and I should know by now to test just one bit of it first. I’d like to say it doesn’t make any difference but I don’t know that for sure so I’ll remove my first set of tracing lines and start over. But not this afternoon.

I’m going to grab a cold glass of wine, sit in the shade on the deck and finish my current book so I can take a new one with me this weekend.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

I should have been out finishing up the roses this morning and then moving on to the weeds in the driveway. That plan was already dashed by the time I went to bed last night!

I didn’t get the weeds sprayed yesterday but I figured it didn’t really matter as I could do them this morning after the roses and then pull the weeds on Friday. For some reason I forgot that we were headed over to Texada for the weekend on Friday morning. So I decided that today would be my “off” day and I’d work in the yard tomorrow. It was too windy to spray the weeds this morning but a very nice breeze for drying clothes so I did a couple of loads of laundry and hung them out. Then I came upstairs to get at my sewing.

But first I took some photographs of some furniture that belonged to Diane’s Mum. We’ve had it in the house since before she and Brian moved to Ontario but since I was shifting furniture around I felt I should offer it to Michelle and Ryan to see if they were interested. I sent the measurements along with the photos but Michelle says they won’t fit in her house; I haven’t heard from Ryan but I’m not sure I even will hear back from him. So, again, for now I’m going to see where they can best be used in the space we have.

I also packaged up a box of yarn for Emma and then sorted through some embroidery floss to pick out colours I need for the project I’m taking to Texada. Then I sat down and cut out the maple leaves I need for my O Canada project.

After lunch I got the parcel in the mail and then went looking for frozen cranberries. I looked at one of the stores the other day and they didn’t have any; since I’ve promised cranberry snacks for our celebration I began to worry. I found some at Safeway so I’ll get my recipes tested next week and buy up as many bags as I need.

At the bee yesterday someone mentioned that they had purchased a gallon jug of Best Press at a really good sale price at the fabric store. Of course I forgot about that until we drove past the shop on our way home this afternoon. I walked up but they have had to order the Best Press for me. All was not lost though as I got fabric to match the O Canada project I’m working on. The kit didn’t have enough fabric for backing or binding but I really liked the fabric they used in the kit. I found a fat quarter at Deb’s and was thrilled, thinking it was enough for the border on my project. Fortunately Barb was working with another customer so I had to to wander out to the batiks and they had yardage of the same fabric. I bought plenty so I’ll be able to use it for backing and binding on all three of my Canada-related row by row projects.

I now have the weeds sprayed (so I can hopefully pull them tomorrow), the dishwasher has been emptied, and I made Rice Krispie squares to use up some of the three boxes of cereal we’ve had in the house this month! I’m going to sit for a bit more and cut out the rest of the pieces I need for my project and maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to figure out my next step.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

It was lovely to get back to the sewing bee today but, after being away for over a month, there were certain things I forgot. When I packed my bag yesterday I thought it seemed a little light but I had a couple of rulers, a cutting mat, and my small pressing board already in my sewing machine case from our time on the Island. As I packaged my projects yesterday I added to my bag everything I needed for each card. This morning before leaving I came back upstairs to print off my library listing; once my lunch was packed and my coffee cup was in my bag I was ready to go.

After a lot of chatting, making coffee and tea, and getting my machine unpacked I was ready to go. I took out my ruler, cutting mat and pressing board. But wait … I forgot to bring my small iron with me. No problem as the Guild has plenty of irons, although not as convenient as having one at my workstation. Next up, thread my machine but wait … did I forget my thread? The bobbin in the machine was full but I looked everywhere for my thread, only to find I had already put it on the machine but hadn’t threaded it. So far the day wasn’t going well.

The first card I needed to work on was English paper pieced. I printed off my template page yesterday so started to trace the pattern onto the back of the fabric. It was then I realized I didn’t have any extra card stock for the number of pieces I needed to make. Fortunately I found some freezer paper in the Guild cupboard. Although the method is touted in some blogs, I prefer the use of card stock to get a sharper edge. I managed to get all the pieces cut and basted but that was all I got done all day.

I thought, maybe, my co-worker might have done some organizing in the Library but it was just as Gavin and I left it when we unpacked the boxes. At the end of the day I started to sort through the books with the aim of getting some amount of organization back into the shelves. I didn’t get very far but I’ll spend more time at it next week; I’ll need it fully set up by our September meeting. As I was working on the shelf at the end of the day several people were in and out putting away their sewing “stuff” and many of them hadn’t even noticed the shelf yet so I guess it isn’t missed.

I still have the Guild blog to write but then, if there is time before supper, I’m going to go out and spray the weeds in the driveway so they’ll be ready to pull later in the day tomorrow.