Monday, May 16, 2022

After two days of being very unmotivated to do much of anything (I did some of my hand stitching but that was about it) I got back out in the yard today. I thought it might be too cold but after walking up to the letter box I realized there was no reason not to get back out there. I managed to finish one length of the long bed and a bit of the adjoining side. I think one more day will have the beds finished and then I’ll start work on the patio, up the back side of the house and into the roses at the back. When that is all done it will be time to start over again at the back patio.

Our plants seem to be doing well but I think they could use some sunshine. The dahlias that are planted in the flower bed are just starting to come up but so far no sign of the ones we planted in the container. We think the sunflowers have started to emerge but neither Pat nor I know what they should look like so we’re not sure. The peonies have buds on them but are still a long way from opening. The lilacs (both the tree and the bush) are just starting as are the irises.

After lunch I got packed up for the bee tomorrow and cleared away some scraps. I had to make a trip out to pick up my car today; the problem was with a sensor but a part had to be ordered so I’ll have to take it back another day.

For what’s left of the afternoon I’ll go back to my Botanical Garden project.

Saturday, May 14, 2022

Pat left the house this morning about 7:30 and I’ve pretty much relaxed the entire day. He was playing a set at the Lund Shellfish Festival and doing sound for all the other performers. It is a typical Shellfish Festival day – cold and rainy.

I got the binding attached to my cards before I had a short meeting regarding some upcoming events at the Hall. It is so much easier to meet in person than through e-mails and texts back and forth. Of course it helps that, for the most part, our President and I are of the same opinion. I am left with a bit of work to do but that seems to be the case with every meeting.

Once Annabelle left I sat and hand stitched the binding to my cards and then moved on to my cross stitch square. I had dreams of perhaps getting the fabric squares stitched together but so far that hasn’t happened.

If, and when, I finish this square I’m going to move on to my Botanical Garden project. This seems like a good day for catching up.

Friday, May 13, 2022

I had a good, but busy, day yesterday. Yoga in the morning went fine. It was absolutely pouring rain when I went to the car and still pouring when I went from the car into the Hall. As I was getting unpacked the instructor was taking mats and blocks into the kitchen to dry them off before people placed them on the floor. Mine were wet but they were okay to use. Some people come in with hockey bags containing their equipment and on the way out the door (when it was still pouring rain) another woman told me that the dollar store had large bags like she was using. I picked one up but I haven’t yet tried to load all my stuff into it.

Thursday afternoon sewing went well. I’m more than half-way through my scrappy challenge for the month. I took a photo of the blocks I did yesterday and today, when I wanted to put them with the others, the “others” were nowhere to be found. I’ll have to do a search through the room to see where I put them.

It was sunny but cold this morning and I decided not to go out and work in the yard. On Wednesday I quilted a card top using a new pen for drawing the quilting lines. We were given the pen at the Guild’s scrappy weekend and were told that one of our better quilters only used these pens for marking. The lines went on the card really well and were easy to see but when I sprayed them with water they didn’t disappear as they were supposed to. I let the top sit for awhile but when they still hadn’t even faded I soaked them in water with some Dawn soap and that did the trick. I know I should have done a test but I totally trusted the woman who told us they worked great. I’ll not be using them again and I’m going to tell the folks who got a free pen about my trouble. Thankfully it was just on a card top and not on a quilt.

I’ve been puttering around and not accomplishing much most of the day. I have the cutting all finished for the class I’m taking at the end of the month and I have two more card tops sandwiched; I’ve almost finished quilting one of them. I went up to the fabric shop this afternoon to pick up backing for two quilts – the Guild mystery from this year and a Guild mystery from three years ago. I use flannel so it has to be washed before I’ll be ready to do any sandwiching.

I have to do a Hall orientation this afternoon. I think I have time to finish a bit more quilting before my timer goes off and I have to head out.

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

I worked in the yard for most of the morning but when it started to spit rain I decided to come inside. I got the lavender trimmed back and that was mainly what I wanted to get off the list. I pulled a bit of bindweed, trimmed some dead branches off the roses and cut my daisies back a bit more. We have a lot of bell flowers in that one bed; last year I lost a battle to keep them out of the daisies and roses so this year I’m pulling them out. They are a nice flower but spread like crazy and they are growing in another part of the yard where I’m letting them have their way with the gout weed so I don’t need these ones.

Facebook told me this morning that it is Gail’s birthday today. I’ll be seeing her tomorrow for sewing and thought I’d better get a card made for her. I thought I’d take one of the tops I had in my stash and get it quilted and finished this afternoon and evening. I was quite pleased when I found a card already done in my stash.

Costco have changed their card holder from Capital One to CIBC; we had a bill that was coming due so we had to get the new card sorted out. Since the account is in Pat’s name I had to get him involved in setting us up in CIBC and then in our bank so I could pay the bill.

While he was upstairs he took a look at the cross stitch blocks I had on the floor in the room across the hall. Not surprising he had a whole list of things he thought I should change. I hate to admit that his input helped; in some cases I don’t think it changed much and in some cases I refused to make the change he thought I could. He’s already saying it should go in the quilt show so I guess I’d better keep at it in order to have it done.

For the rest of the afternoon I’ve been quilting another card top – this one will need to go out in the mail in a few days. My evening knitting has been stalled by some cross stitch. I tried to do some work on my Botanical Garden while I watched TV but that didn’t work out so well. Since then I’ve been working on the cross stitch square that I need to redo and it is going better.