Sunday, September 4, 2022

We woke up to quite a stormy day – some rain and a lot of wind. The sun has shone off and on throughout the day but, in general, it really feels like a fall day. Fortunately most of the leaves on the trees are still green so they aren’t looking as bare as they might otherwise.

I spent most of my morning sorting through some Hall stuff. We have a meeting next week and that will be my final “regular” meeting. The AGM is at the end of the month but I’ll only have one report to give and after that I’m done. I have a short Zoom meeting tomorrow with the President; I’m hoping she has made some decisions on who is taking over my responsibilities.

This afternoon I’ve been trying to catch up on my blackwork stitching. I’m behind on both projects but it is the Peppermint Purple that I’ve been working on today. I finished my Sashiko project; I’ve washed it but I still need to trim some threads off the back and rework the stitching around the border to keep the edges from fraying.

I even managed to do a bit of knitting last night. It was slow going though as part of the TV show we were watching had sub-titles and there were a couple of rows that needed to be done twice.

Saturday, September 3, 2022

There have been a few changes!

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

I’ve had quite a productive day – the first in a long time. It was either do some housework or some yard work after breakfast and I decided on yard work. I wanted to test out the new tool we bought at Lee Valley. What a find that was! I did both sides of the patio as well as weeded one of the side beds and was done by 10:30. I started at 7:30 so it still took some time but I don’t think I’ve ever accomplished that much in so little time. Now that the patio is done I’ll have to get to work on some of the other beds. Much to my surprise I don’t mind not having the fence. What I’ve notice most is that no one really looks into the yard – whether driving or walking by.

Since lunch I’ve finished the table topper I started at last Thursday’s sewing. I didn’t get it done yesterday because I started to feel quite sick late in the afternoon. I lay down for several hours before taking a Covid test which turned out negative. We sat outside in the cool air until my regular bed time and I was happy to have managed a good sleep. I also got two more table runners (different patterns) ready for stitching tomorrow.

I have a Zoom meeting tonight to help someone on the Board with the monthly newsletter. She has just purchased a Mac and so is having to learn a lot of new programs. At least now that she is on a Mac she can use the same template that I’ve been using; I just have to walk her through how she makes the changes.

I’m off now to wind some bobbins and then I’ll see if I can “fix” that English paper-pieced card – that is if I can find it. I don’t see it on the top of any of my surfaces so I guess I’ll have to dig. If I don’t find it I have another quilt top laid out on the floor that I could start putting together.

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

We had a lovely weekend in Victoria. We were in no rush to get there so we took the scenic route down the island. We were right on time to check into our B & B and then we headed out to do a little shopping. The mall that was closest to our accommodation had both a music store and a Michaels so we were set. Pat found a guitar that he really liked and I hope he doesn’t regret not bringing it home with him. I went into Michaels and pretty much turned right around and walked out; the store was messy and cluttered and I just didn’t want to spend any time in it. There was, however, a Fabricland right next door and I was able to pick up a metre of fabric (on sale) for a project I’m working on. When I walked back to the music shop I found a Cobb’s Bread, a wine shop and a market.

After dinner at Milestones (in the same mall) we went shopping again. Cobb’s Bread was disappointing; it was the end of the day and they were sold out of a lot of things. We picked up a few things in the market before Pat did a thorough walk-about in the wine store. He came home with what he says is a great bottle of wine.

More shopping on Saturday – Costco, Lee Valley and new shoes for both Pat and I. There were also bags of tea and books that came home with us. We had a good dinner at one of the restaurants we like but we both agreed that we weren’t as happy this time as we have been in the past. It was still good, but we’ll likely give it a miss the next time.

Sunday morning we went out to Butchart Gardens. Of course everything was absolutely beautiful and even though there was a large crowd we didn’t feel cramped. We were able to find lots of shady spots where we could just sit and enjoy the environment. We had an early dinner at another of our favourite restaurants and this time we were not disappointed. I had a really nice drink before dinner and I’m going to try and recreate it at home – cranberry lemonade with limoncello. In the evening, Pat performed at the Victoria Folk Music Society’s weekly Open Mic and he was very well received.

It was another long drive home on Monday but again we did the scenic route most of the way. We decided to drive to Campbell River for lunch but were disappointed that the fish and chip spot on the pier was closed on Mondays. We found a White Spot and had lunch but we were worried we were cutting it close for the 3:15 ferry. We had no trouble getting on the ferry, unlike the half-dozen cars that were left behind.

I did my unpacking this morning and headed out to the Guild sewing bee a bit late. Since I was only doing some hand sewing I decided to walk. It isn’t far but it is a hot day and I was ready to sit at both ends of the trip.

This afternoon, between answering and sending e-mails and telephone calls I’ve managed to get one set of borders onto the project I worked on at our Thursday session. The extra fabric I purchased is for this one so there is no excuse not to get it done right away.