We had a good view of the fireworks last night; there were a few trees in our sightline but still an enjoyable show.
View from the back deck (after the blackberries have been taken out)
This morning, after coffee on the deck, I put on my long pants and long-sleeved sweater and headed out to do some weeding. The roses are gorgeous but there were blackberry stems sticking up in several places which limited my enjoyment. Once I got up on the ledge there was a lot of bindweed twisted around the roses but they aren’t as visible from the driveway since they weren’t in bloom yet. Pat acted as my spotter and, because the area had been done not long ago, I was able to clear it out quite quickly. Pat suggested a method to help avoid the scratches I usually end up with; I have a few small scratches but nothing like I ended up with the last time.
I managed to work out my accounting issue today – I’m not sure why it didn’t work out yesterday because it seemed like I was doing the same thing but just in a different order. Whatever, I’m that much closer to being able to hand them off.
I unpacked my travel boxes and was able to put a few things away. I feel like I’m missing a pattern and some fabric but I’m not down to the bottom of my piles so no doubt it will show up. I needed to unpack one of the boxes because it was sitting on my sewing table and I had to clear that off before I could work on a birthday card that needed to get finished. Next issue was finding the actual card top so I could quilt it and get it ready for the mail; I found it eventually but there were a few more items put away while I looked.
We’re going to drive to a restaurant south of town for supper tonight; new owners have taken it over. Pat was there when I was away but I’ve not been. I’ll see if I can persuade Pat to take a detour and check the tide level at Donkersley Beach at this time of day.
After being away from my desk for so long I had time to think about what I would do when I got home. One of the things I was determined to do was to spend more time on the deck. I take all that time to keep the yard looking good (well okay) but very little time outside enjoying it. Since I got home I’ve managed to spend my mornings on the deck. The traffic before the first ferry arrives isn’t bad and I can enjoy the birds and the scenery. After that first ferry comes in the traffic picks up and it isn’t as pleasant.
Poppies (an art project)
July Calendar Block
While I was away I also had a stern talk with myself – I have to get some of my projects finished. I managed to complete two projects while I was sewing at Panorama but I brought home four more that were new starts or ones that didn’t get finished. And don’t even get me listing all the new projects I purchased along the way.
I told Pat this morning that I was going to stop writing and sharing my Journal. He said he didn’t think I should because he still found them interesting. I’ve been doing this for more than 14 years and often, at the end of the day, I don’t feel much like writing anything. I guess it is a good record of my life although some days I struggle to find anything to write about. But if Pat still finds the posts interesting (and he’s living the days with me) I’ll keep it up.
Not surprisingly I came home to a pile of Guild and Hall work to do, not to mention my own papers that needed to be dealt with. I need to fill a couple of spots on my Guild program committee; I’ve reached out to three people and so far I have one positive and one negative answer. If the third one comes back positive I’ll leave it at that but if she says no I’ll have to start looking again. I almost have the Program survey ready to send out; another of the quilters is organizing it and it will go out as an e-mail to the membership. Last night I thought of a couple of things that needed to be changed. I was asking if people wanted to teach a demo or class but the survey is anonymous so if they said yes I wouldn’t have any idea who they were. We are in the process of fixing that now and I hope to have the survey out next week.
The Hall work is another matter entirely. I need to get things sorted out for the accountant and I’m having trouble balancing one of my bank statements. I decided this afternoon that I’d give it a rest and maybe something will come to me overnight. I’m confident that what I say we have in the bank is correct but I just can’t get that amount to jive with the amount on the bank statement for one of the months. Bookings are still going strong for the summer and the sessions that finished up last week all need to be sent invoices. I need to find someone who will take over the bookings or the books but new volunteers are hard to come by.
The boxes of new purchases from my trip arrived the day after I did and they need to be dealt with. I did a show and tell with Pat and managed to get it all upstairs but that is as far as I got. I brought a bin up from downstairs this morning so at least I have somewhere to put the new stuff when I get to it.
I’ve not been able to settle much the last few days but I have managed to catch up on my Peppermint Purple releases. I noticed that I did the last block in the wrong colour but I don’t think it will make any difference in the long run. As of today I’m three behind with my Botanical Garden. It doesn’t help that I did one complete section only to realize that I did it backwards; the coloured thread should have been in the places where I put the green thread. Back to the drawing board on that one.
We won’t be doing any Canada Day celebrating. Pat is doing a recording session in the basement so I’m having to be very quiet. For the first time in years we are going to have fireworks for Canada Day; we’ll watch them from the deck if the trees haven’t grown so much that they are blocking the view.
For someone who thought they might stop posting I seem to still have a lot to share.
I’ve finished my packing and I’m quite sure I’m ready to go – I just need to pack my phone and my charger. I took a few things out of my suitcase, added a few things in, rearranged a few things and it still feels light enough to manage. I cleaned out my purse and took only what I needed and then changed the bag entirely. I was worried about carrying my purse but I found a way to attach it to my suitcase so I can roll them both; and by attach I mean in a nice way, not binder-twined.
While I waited for time to pass I finished up the latest section of my Botanical Garden. I looked at starting the border on it, as well as on my Peppermint Purple, but decided I needed to wait just a bit longer to be sure I have everything centred correctly.
I took a walk up to the letterbox this afternoon. It was spitting rain when I walked up but by the time I got home the sun was shining again. Strange weather; there is a chance of showers tomorrow but nothing I’ll worry too much about. Last time I travelled I changed my mind on a sweater/jacket three times in the morning before heading out to the ferry.
And so that’s it. I’m so looking forward to this vacation time. I’ll be back at the end of the month.
In my mind I’m all set and ready for my trip; in reality not so much. But I hate waiting. I don’t want to start on anything because I either won’t have time to get finished or because it will be too hard on my back. I’m having a hard time restraining myself from adding “just one more thing” to my suitcase.
It would be a good day to be out in the yard but I can’t be doing that. I would like (yes, like) to vacuum my sewing room but that is out of the question. I’d like to cut and sort more of my fabric scraps but I can’t stand for too long at a time.
So I’ve spent most of the day working on my Botanical Garden sampler. I’ve even gone so far as to print out the borders for both of my blackwork projects although I doubt I’ll have time to start on either one of them.
