I’m back

Friday, September 8, 2023

It’s been almost three weeks since I wrote anything. To be honest I had almost decided to abandon the blog entirely. One of the main reasons for starting my Journal was to help with my mental health. If I’m busy doing things and seeing people I don’t have time to be depressed. I’ve decided to keep going at this, although many of my posts may well be very boring. If, at any time, you want to stop receiving these messages please let me know. It won’t hurt my feelings a bit. And to be honest I really am doing it more for myself than for anyone else.

I’m back from several days on Texada and they were wonderful. Since Pat was recording I couldn’t make much noise so using my sewing machine was out of the question – it is a real clunker but there wasn’t anything that I felt I needed to get done so it didn’t bother me. I spent most of my time hand stitching – working on my first chicken block and catching up (almost) on my Pixie Lane houses. There was lots of time for reading too.

The garden beds are slowing down and not needing so much water now that cooler temperatures have arrived. I picked what I think will be my last gladiola stem this morning. The dahlias are still producing and, occasionally, I get a daisy or two flowering. The hydrangeas are still lovely, although two of the three look like they are winding down. On the deck the pots are going great guns, the strawberries are still producing although the peppers seem to be done.

After my time away I was concerned about the weeds in the driveway and on the patio, two of the spots I’m still responsible for. Although there are some weeds growing back they can be looked after in one session. I’m also responsible for the back side of the house (that no one sees); I still have two sections to work on but I was happy the part that I had already cleared hadn’t grown back. I expect the gardener will be back next week for another weeding session and she is going to spray the vinegar solution to help stop the weeds.

I went to the first Guild meeting last night. It was nice to see everyone again and I had several compliments on the yard improvements and my hair. I managed not to volunteer for anything, although I’d already committed to helping with some computer work for the Program Committee. I signed up for our Program Reveal party as well as the Hands Across the Water event that we are hosting but I have no responsibilities for either. I took pictures from the Show and Share section of the meeting so I’ll need to get those posted.

I was able to share my summer mystery quilt at the meeting, along with one other person who participated. I know there was one more woman working on it but she wasn’t at the meeting so I haven’t seen hers. I’ve decided that I will try to have something to show at each of the meetings – once a month shouldn’t be too hard to manage but if I don’t manage it I won’t stress over it.

While I was away I had a couple of calls about the Cranberry Hall accounting. I did some work over the phone this morning, had a visit from the fellow doing the books and I have a bit more homework to do. I am really having to hold back from saying I’ll return to the Board as Treasurer. Jim does a good job but he doesn’t fill in the details so it is hard to trace things back when there are questions from the accountants.

So after this long entry I’ll get back to my work before it’s time for Friday Night Baseball!

Happy Birthday Jackie

September 6, 2023

Birds in the Corner

Jackie’s card came from a pattern on my Quilter’s Block-a-Day calendar for April 2. It was one I pre-made during the pandemic. The quilting is very simple on this one. Straight lines and my signature star in the corner block (which I can now do with very little marking or thought).

Happy Birthday Regan & Thekla (and Dad)

September 4, 2023

The Proposal (by Jen Kingwell) – because diamonds are a girl’s best friend!

Since I usually send Regan and Thekla some variation of the same card I knew there would be nothing in my pre-made card bin. Shortly before it was time to start looking for a card I found a photo of this card in one of my Facebook groups. Someone provided the name for the block and I was able to find the pattern. By the time I went back to the post someone else had already added the link to the pattern.

Being paper pieced I thought it would be a quick and easy make. It’s been too long since I did any paper piecing and it was more difficult than I expected. A few days after making the cards I found another cute pattern that was paper pieced so I bought it just so I could improve my skills!

I’ve been going through old photos and found so many pictures of Dad, Regan and Thekla in the days when they celebrated their birthdays together.

Baby Yarn

I thought I had already used up all my baby yarn but a deep dive into a wicker basket produced another small bag of yarn. On one of Kathryn’s visits she wondered who would carry on the blankie knitting if I stopped so when I found the yarn I knew I’d better make (and keep) a blankie for someone, sometime.

The colour in the photo is a bit washed out

I started knitting but it was too difficult (at the time) to keep track of where I was in the pattern. So I switched to a crochet pattern that I’ve used several times before with several different yarn types – a shell stitch. Because I was “winging” it I ended up with a blanket that was a nice size but I still had some yarn left. I’ll keep this project in my cedar chest for the day when I (hopefully) have a great grandchild.

This is closer to the colour

With what I had left I made a small blanket and a pillow for Ken to add to his cradles. But there is still just a little bit left so I’ll use that in a scrap afghan rather than throw it out.