Thursday, February 16, 2017

I skipped the very first film of the Festival yesterday morning. There was very little information about it and the little I knew told me that it was a series of short films. It didn’t sound all that interesting so I chose to stay at home. I worked on a few Bingo blocks but spent the afternoon hand stitching bindings, sleeves and labels on a couple of my quilts.

I’m missing the film tonight too because it is the Guild’s 30th Anniversary dinner. I think it will be fun but I also would have liked to have seen the film, Almodóvar’s julieta, based on an Alice Munro short story.

Instead, I’m getting dressed up (dress, nylons, new boots) for a catered dinner and trunk show. We were asked to bring one of our oldest quilts. I’ll be taking my Mariner’s Compass, from the first quilting class I took at the Guild.

Monday, February 13, 2017

I had big plans for today – make some calls on behalf of Cranberry Hall, go to the bank with a Cranberry Hall deposit, go to the Post Office for a US stamp, and pick up the groceries that were on our list. And then I realized that today was Family Day and the bank and post office would be closed, as well as the business I needed to call. So I spent the morning working on my scrap bins. I did more sorting of the scraps than cutting down fabric but it all deals with them in some way. I sorted and bagged my strips according to their sizes and I had an empty bin to store all the bags in. Since I didn’t go to the bee last week all my projects are still packed and ready to go tomorrow.

Pat is teaching today but when the class took their lunch break Pat came upstairs and brought the mail. Mail? Then I remembered that the Post Office celebrates Family Day next weekend as does most of Canada. I decided not to bother going out after lunch; I walked up to the mailbox to mail one of my letters and I’ll get that US stamp tomorrow when I’m out.

I spent the afternoon quilting my Challenge project. It is ready for hand stitching, although I have to replace the sleeve. I used a scrap of fabric but now that it is attached to the piece it is too small for the hanger. I’ve made this same mistake before trying to conserve fabric.

It is a beautiful day and, as I stood looking out the window by the kitchen sink, I could see spots of yellow in the grass at City Hall. The crocuses are in bloom!

As soon as Pat finished teaching this afternoon he left for his songwriters’ group. I have one stop to make before I meet him for dinner and a movie.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

The show last night was really good. I bid on a couple of items in the silent auction but didn’t win anything. The local meat shop were offering ten steaks and I thought we could always use those, and there was a return trip on the water taxi to Savary Island. I made my bids near the end of the evening and I thought I might have a good chance, but someone else wanted the items more than I did.

I started my day by playing about with my book idea; I’m going to start by writing about our trip to the East Coast in 2008. I have a photo album I made for Dad when we came home, as well as my journals that I wrote during the trip. It remains to be seen if I can combine them into something worth keeping. I’m not using any of the apps they talked about at yesterday’s seminar, but I followed Pat’s suggestion to use Pages. The files can be saved in a number of formats so I can write before I have to decide what its final form will be.

I spent the rest of the day getting a quilt ready for quilting. I had to piece the backing, which took most of the morning, and then I was on my hands and knees all afternoon pin basting. I’m glad its done because, with the Film Festival next week, I won’t have many large blocks of time. With the few hours I have between events I can at least get some of the stabilizing done and decide on a quilting pattern.

I hurt pretty much all over so it’s pizza for supper. My knitting project needs more attention – it is too big – so it will have to come off the needles. I’ll have to consult with Christy on some measurements.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

I once worked with someone who was a food fanatic and one of his favourite chains was In-and-Out Burgers. In and out describes my day very well.

The session on publishing e-books was rescheduled for this morning at the rec centre. All the roads are cleared but the parking lot, at least there, was still a mess. Fortunately the pool and arena lot at the back of the building was clear and I managed to find a vacant spot for parking.

The seminar was interesting but I don’t think the format will suit what I want to do with my photos and journals. Even a one-on-one discussion with one of the presenters didn’t give me any answers or other ideas. Now that I know what won’t work I’ll have to get busy trying to find something else. I’ve made little progress over the last few weeks at scanning photos, but I haven’t yet decided to leave them all in a jumble in boxes.

I had a few errands to run after the seminar – some printing and I wanted to pick up some Valentine candy for the Song Circle tomorrow. I was able to get some cinnamon hearts but none of the coloured hearts with the sayings on them. I’m sure I had some last year but maybe I’m just too late.

Pat is playing a set at the health food store this afternoon so I will head out shortly to listen. When he is done performing he is off to set up sound for an evening fund-raiser. I will come home but meet him at the restaurant a bit later for dinner and the show – Pickers for Poverty.

I think I have just enough time to run the dishwasher before heading out again.