Wednesday, November 10, 2021

I went grocery shopping this morning but not until eight. I knew the store would be busier and there were a lot more cars in the lot but my preferred parking spot was still free. The store itself didn’t seem busier but I had to join a short line-up to check out. I noticed that all the directional arrows have been removed from the aisles. It was a free-for-all that worked well for me although I only traversed the aisles once.

I spent most of the rest of the morning getting things packed up for my retreat; Moreen is picking me up at 7:30 in the morning. We need to be at the ferry early because it is hunting season and we’ll be fighting with the hunters for space. I know I’m going to miss being with everyone and I think now that I’ve had my booster it would have been quite safe to attend. Pat is still a bit nervous about gatherings so I’ll stick to the studio on my own. Moreen will come in at night and leave in the morning and I’ll spend the day mainly hand stitching but I have one quilt top I’d like to get put together.

Moreen stopped in this afternoon and picked up everything I’m taking. I told her I’d have one bin but when all was said and done I had a bin of projects, a grocery bag of food, and my laptop. I’ll have a bag of groceries from the fridge to take along tomorrow but she said she still had lots of room for her stuff.

I have been feeling guilty this afternoon because all I’ve done is sit and cross stitch. It wasn’t until a short time ago that I realized that today was supposed to be a cross stitch day; I’m just working on something other than my usual Wednesday project.

Pat has an online event tonight and I hope to finish my book.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

It was just like I never left almost two years ago. Except I had trouble figuring out what I should be packing to sew for the entire day. I did quite well but forgot a couple of things – a sewing needle, an extra foot for my machine and my rotary cutter. Fortunately I was able to borrow a needle and rotary cutter and I managed without the extra foot for my machine.

Also as usual I took along way more projects than I had time for. It took me most of the morning to fix my cat and I’m only slightly happier with it now than I was before. I had to rip apart so much that I might as well have started over. I finished the top of my table topper; it is a Remembrance Day theme but I know it won’t be quilted before the day is long gone. I had all the makings, including batting and backing, for three cards but those bags never even got opened.

I knew that we could purchase lunch at the Legion so I didn’t even try to find something to take. I had a nice bowl of soup and a small cheese and tomato sandwich for $10; I don’t think I’ll be doing that very often but it is nice to know it is available.

I’ll take a bit of time to unpack my carrying bags and then I’m going to relax and cross stitch. All that social gathering makes me tired.

Monday, November 8, 2021

There was a bit of a line up at the Rec Centre this morning when I checked in for my Covid Booster. I couldn’t help but notice how old everyone (except me) looked. Then I realized that from behind me perhaps there were others that were thinking the same thing, not realizing how young I actually am!

The woman who gave me my shot was the Manager of Public Health when I was volunteering for BOND. We had a nice chat. Although she had retired she was asked to come back and retrain some of the nurses on giving vaccinations and she has stayed on with them. She said she likes this better than she did being in management.

Gail sent me the missing page for my cat block today. I have it all put together, quilted and bound. As I was loading the photo onto my computer I thought it looked a bit strange. Sure enough, I have the tip of the tail on upside down. It will be quite a procedure to take it apart and fix it. I won’t decide now but I’ll probably take it to the bee tomorrow and start ripping out stitches because I can’t bear to toss it and I can’t use it the way it is.

I dug out some patterns for my December cards to work on tomorrow. So far that is as far as I’ve gotten so I’d best get busy and find some fabric and thread and then get things packed up.

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Because of the time change I was awake at five this morning; not unusual had it been six (the way it was yesterday) but five was just too early to start my day. I didn’t sleep much after that but I dozed on and off until about six-thirty when I got up. I warmed up a coffee from yesterday and headed upstairs to check my mail.

Much to my surprise I had an invitation to book my Covid Booster. I’ll get it tomorrow first thing and Pat will get his just a couple of hours later (he slept in longer than I did). This is a bit earlier than we thought it would be but I’m not complaining. We’re in good shape now for our trip to Calgary for Christmas (tickets are already booked).

I finished my Hallowe’en block last night and moved on to the free pattern my friend gave me. I thought it was another Hallowe’en block but it doesn’t have to be. The pattern was from a Hallowe’en project Gail was working on but since the block is a cat it doesn’t necessarily have to be Hallowe’en. Things were going great, except for a couple of spots where I stitched pieces to the wrong side of other pieces. They didn’t take long to fix and I moved on to the next page of the pattern. I got a couple of seams together and realized I was missing two blocks that I needed to complete the bottom half. I looked online but it was a pattern Gail purchased so I’ll have to wait and see if I can get the missing section from her.

Since I couldn’t go any further on that project I moved on to what was going to be my Tuesday project – a Remembrance Day table topper. This might be the simplest pattern I’ve ever made and I think if I sew tomorrow I’ll have the top finished. I’m glad it’s easy because I plan to use the same pattern for my Guild Challenge.

I had time to put in eight stitches on my new cross stitch project this morning while I waited for a fresh pot of coffee to finish. I think for the rest of the afternoon I’ll continue working on it.