Wednesday, April 13, 2022

I was up and out the door early this morning so I could get the groceries I needed for my hot cross buns. The store wasn’t busy but I went to FreshCo and I have no clue where anything is. FreshCo is one of the few stores that has still arrows indicating which way up or down an aisle you should go; that added extra time as when I knew where something was I usually had to go down another aisle just to get to it.

Pat has a birthday coming up so I told him that as of today he was not allowed to make any purchases. I had a few ideas that he wasn’t thrilled about so what I picked out on my own is what he gets. I was behind on a couple of April birthday cards so I went into my Splendid Sampler stash of blocks and picked out a couple. One of them is ready for binding.

At one point both Pat and I were working in the kitchen; he was making soup in the Instant Pot and I was making hot cross buns in the bread machine. Whenever one or the other of our machines would beep we had to sort out which one it was or if it was a timer that we had set. When we started up the kitchen composter that added extra beeps to the mix. We had the soup for lunch and my hot cross buns are out of the oven (and have been taste-tested) so I guess we each answered the right beep.

I spent some time working on my Botanical Garden today; the weather wasn’t quite good enough to work out in the “real” garden. I was quite behind on the weekly posts but with some luck I think I can catch up this afternoon. I think I’m four weeks behind on my Peppermint Purple stitch-along.

I have a show at the Hall tonight so I’ll be heading out right after supper. I’ll be checking the pre-purchased tickets as well as selling memberships for the Hall and tickets for our next show. I was worried that we wouldn’t have a big crowd but I think by the time we sell a few tickets at the door we’ll be as full as we’d like to be given the Covid risk. Both Pat and I took a Covid test this morning and we’re both okay.

Now I’ll gather up the things I need for tonight and get back to stitching.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

It’s good to be home but I had a wonderful time in Calgary with the Burtons. There was never a shortage of cake that’s for sure. Gavin started the celebrations – he turned 15.

Emma was next – turning 16. Her cake was perfect; she is self-taught on the guitar and Pat is very impressed with how good she is. We don’t get to hear her unless we listen in at the bottom of the stairs!

And finally – I cannot believe that Madison is 21. She is still working 12-hour shifts but they are from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM. I’m glad she works from home during the night but we didn’t see much of her during the day.

We did more than just eat! We had a few short walks to Tim Horton’s and to the corner store up the street. Elizabeth, Emma and I did a long walk (2.3 miles) around Elliston Park. I can remember walking Emma and Gavin around the park when they were both in the stroller. We always spent a lot of time at the playground but Emma said we could skip it this time around. For Madison’s birthday we all went bowling. I improved with each game but I won’t tell you how many games I’d have to play before breaking 100!

When I got back to Comox it was nice to have Pat meet me at the airport and not have to do that final walk-on trip. We did a quick shop at Costco and got most of the stuff on the list and only a few extras. Then we had a nice lunch with Peggy and Bill before heading to the ferry. I was tired last night but I managed to get a little knitting done just so I would stay awake.

Today has been busy. I did some catching up on e-mails and a lot of Hall work. We have a show tomorrow night and I wanted to be sure all was in order and ready. After sending off several different e-mails to different Board members I commented to Pat that they were probably (not) glad that I was back. Late this morning I stopped in at the Guild bee but I didn’t do any sewing, I just wanted to get some photos for the blog.

I intended to get some groceries on the way home but before I got to the store a warning light came on in the car. I had no idea what it was warning me about so I just drove home so I could check it out. It wasn’t serious – my window washing fluid was low. It was rainy (and if I’m honest there were some flakes of snow) and I didn’t want to go out again so I’ll make that trip tomorrow morning. I want to make some hot cross buns and I need potatoes.

I’ve spent the afternoon cutting fabric for a new project that I hope to start on Thursday. It is my piecing challenge for April. I’m using up a fabric collection that I used for my Farmer’s Daughter quilt and I’ll be using a new technique (Circle of Nine) to put the blocks together.

I’ll get back now to my cutting and I hope to be a bit more alert tonight when I’m knitting.

Saturday, April 2, 2022

I’m pretty much ready to go. I got everything sent out for the Hall board meeting on Monday – my opinions on some of the items on the agenda, some reminders of things people were supposed to have done so they can be reported on, and all the financials for last month. There are a few possible bookings in the time I’m away but I’ve alerted the Board so someone else will have to deal with them if they come through.

I have checked in at WestJet and I have my boarding pass ready. My suitcase is packed except for a couple of things I’ve remembered since I closed the zipper. I still have to sort out my purse. I intended to switch to my spring bag but now that I see what I need to fit into it I’m thinking I might need my much-maligned Betsy Bag to hold it all.

As luck would have it we’ve got a wind warning up for tomorrow. I’ve been watching the weather network for updates; we are hoping that the predicted winds won’t be enough to cancel the ferry and, therefore, my flight plans for tomorrow.

I won’t be doing any posting while I’m away but there are a few additions scheduled for the website.

Friday, April 1, 2022

It was so exciting to see my new UFO projects this morning. In spite of travelling this month I may be able to get a couple of them done. I’ll be piecing a brand new project using the left-over fabric from my Farmer’s Daughter quilt. I have a donation quilt that needs to be sandwiched and then quilted but it should only take me a weekend to finish. Last but not least is my scrappy challenge – it is such an old UFO that I had no clue what it was and had to do a computer search to find the pattern. It enabled me to take four blocks off my door (which sometimes serves as a design wall); every time I pinned something new up I wondered why they were there. Happy Scrappy is the name of the pattern.

I managed to get a few big things off my to-do list this morning. The Hall newsletter went out and the next clue in the Guild Mystery was delivered. I also managed to get all our Income Tax documentation sent off (electronically) to the accountant. I thought of a way to avoid some of the scanning I have done in previous years so entering that information into my program took some time but the whole thing was actually quicker than I anticipated.

After lunch I attempted to put my quilts into a space bag for travelling but I couldn’t find the right size of bags. The extra large size fit what I wanted to take but even with the air sucked out it was too large for my suitcase. I had two mediums but they were too small for either of the quilts. Sounds like Goldilocks doesn’t it? I didn’t have any large bags so I managed to stuff both of them into a small gym-like bag and I’ll take it as a carry-on for the plane.

I have a bit of cleaning to do downstairs but I think I have accomplished enough for the day. After the cleaning is done I’m going to sit and catch up on my Peppermint Purple and Botanical Garden projects.