Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Growing up Mum made a lot of cakes and they were all good. She had two recipes for angel food cakes that were family favourites – Ken liked her lemon one and my favourite was the chocolate one. It wasn’t until a few years after I sent out Mum’s recipe book that I realized both cakes were included in the book. The chocolate one goes by Chocolate Vienna Torte rather than my less complicated name – Chocolate Angel Food. I have a different cake this year – a Tuxedo cake – but I know I will enjoy it too!

I did a bit of stitching this morning until I made a mistake at which point I quit and did some quilting. While I quilted I figured out a way that I could correct the error without having to redo a whole bunch of work. I haven’t got back to it though as I’ve been playing games on my iPad all afternoon. I don’t even feeling guilty about it because it is my birthday after all!

Monday, September 19, 2022

I can’t seem to stay away from the photos from our East Coast trip. These chairs were on the lawn in front of the B&B we stayed at in Arichat on Cape Breton Island. Not only do I love this photo that I took, I also have a post card with the same photo advertising L’Auberge Acadienne Inn. We toured the lobster plant there and they served fried bologna as a breakfast option – and it was sliced thick just like we had at home!

The Hall President was coming over this afternoon for more transition training. I spent the morning going through my digital files because she wanted to know how I organized myself. I outlined all the file folders I use and cleared a few things out that I knew she wouldn’t want. I could hardly believe that when I was done it was already past noon.

I did a bit of stitching while I waited for Annabelle. We went through a lot of things, she took a lot of notes, and we even had her logging onto her laptop so she could do stuff. At the end of our session Pat reset the forwarding address for the Hall so I will no longer be getting any of the e-mail messages about bookings or anything else. Whew!

I still have to transfer a few digital files to a USB stick to pass to Annabelle, as well as go through the paper files I have here. A lot of them will be shredded so I have a bin ready to throw things into. The filing cabinet will eventually go to the Hall. They are having a work party sometime in October to clean out the attic and I’m hopeful I can have the paper files sorted and done by then so the filing cabinet can be moved that same weekend.

Supper is late tonight as we watched a replay of the Queen’s funeral. We still have another hour plus to go but we’ll watch that after supper.

Sunday, September 18, 2022

I don’t know how many Terry Fox Runs/Walks I have participated in over the years but there have been a lot. I walked with my girls, I walked with some of my girls on bikes, I’ve walked with Pat and Finnegan, and I’ve walked with only Finnegan. And since then I’ve done the walk with some of my grandchildren – Dylan and Madison in particular.

Since coming to Powell River I haven’t been a regular participant. I like to start early and am often finishing up shortly after the official start. But going out early this time of year could involve bears because at least half of the walk is around Cranberry Lake and is a bit more rural.

Today is the annual Terry Fox Walk/Run and, although I didn’t walk the official route, Pat and I walked the sea walk. Funny thing is, at the very beginning of the trail, there was a sign warning of a bear in the area. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot but the trail didn’t seem crowded at all. While Pat rested on a bench I walked to the end and met him back at the bench. While he was sitting he spotted a couple of whales – they were a long ways out though.

I’ve spent the afternoon working on my Botanical Garden but it isn’t going very quickly. I feel more like having a nap than I do stitching.

Saturday, September 17, 2022

This is the only moose I have ever seen – other than maybe a dead one at Uncle Jack’s after one of his hunting trips. Moose didn’t live around the farm when I was growing up but apparently they are back. Kathryn and Dave see moose every time they go camping. Heck, there was even a moose in Saskatoon that tried to get into a school classroom. I have resigned myself that this moose from Nova Scotia may be the only sighting I get.

I spent the morning out in the yard weeding. I went over the patio bricks again – it is surprising what grows up in the space of a week. I kept telling myself that the weeds I was pulling today were probably ones that were too tiny to get a grip on last week. After taking a break for coffee on the patio I worked my way up the north side of the yard. When our gardener was here he didn’t pull weeds but he weed-whacked them. I was surprised at how few had actually grown back up. I wasn’t able to get all the dandelion roots out but I certainly hope I did them harm. The north side of the house is covered in small pebbles and I couldn’t help but think that when we did the yard shortly after we moved in we missed an opportunity to cover it all in cement. I know I wouldn’t have liked the look but after years of pulling weeds I like to think I might have gotten used to it.

I went over all the patterns in my Botanical Garden series and I’ve got lots of work ahead of me – a dozen sections that either need to be completely redone or need a part of them redone. I’ve done two sections under my new plan and I really like them so I’m not worried about the set back. The way it was looking before wasn’t making me happy and, you know, it is all about me!

This afternoon I’ve quilted the next calendar block. It is ready to put the binding on so that’s what I’ll do next. My evening knitting has been going well, but slow. I have two panels done – I think I need at least ten so hopefully we can continue to find good shows on TV.