Monday, July 24, 2017

There was no excuse not to get back to my gardening today. It was a little cool so I thought I would work at the back where the sun was the brightest. There are a lot of weeds in the cracks in the driveway but I hadn’t sprayed them yet so they weren’t ready to pull. The only other “bad” spot was up in the roses. I pulled bindweed from along the fence as I made my way up the rock wall. Once I got back into the roses I realized that a sleeveless shirt and short pants weren’t the ideal clothing for my job but I didn’t want to crawl down and then back up the wall again so I carried on.

The bindweed was wrapped around everything – roses and blackberry stems; I just tugged at it and what came out with it came out. At times I was clipping what I thought were blackberry stems and it would be a rose stem; in those cases I just told myself I was pruning the roses. It was a good time to be doing that patch as the roses are pretty much done (although we often get a second blooming) and the blackberries are just ripening. In fact I found a few ripe blackberries as I was working and they got eaten on the spot. It took more than an hour to clear out about half of the area, and almost another hour to clip down the stems and put them in a box for the dump. I was quite proud of myself and after a short break I looked out the back door. Sadly, the half of the area I finished isn’t the part you see out the door. Pat says he thinks the other half will go much faster.

I was covered in scratches on both my arms and legs so I was glad that my new pine tar and pumice soap also had an anti-bacterial and anti-fungi quality. Although it is still early I’m not seeing that any of my scratches look overly red or raised so perhaps the soap is doing its job.

After a trip to the Post Office and the grocery store (I’m still looking for a Kellogg’s cereal with a Personalized Spoon offer) I started packing for the bee tomorrow. I’m not sure what state the Library will be in so I may have to spend some time getting the books set up. I have four cards due for August and I have them all packaged up and ready to stitch. Once that was done I spent a bit more time on my O Canada project; all the pieces are fused to the fabric but still need to be cut out. Next up I have to trace the pattern onto my background fabric; I’ll do that after the pieces have been cut out so I know whether or not the pattern needs to be reversed for tracing.

I’m going to make a couple of phone calls and then I’ll do some more cross stitching.

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.