Wednesday, May 2, 2012

I took the first ferry to Comox last Saturday to meet Stacia and Deloise. I was standing at the ferry dock watching a loon (and hoping to hear its call) when a couple of orcas surfaced near Harwood Island (someone at the wharf alerted us that they were out there). As I watched, the two of them made their way over to Texada where they joined another three or four orcas. What a great way to start the day!

My friend Peggy picked me up at the ferry and, since we were in plenty of time for the plane, we sat in the car at the airport to visit (so we didn’t have to put any money in the meter). While we visited we watched our own private air show featuring the Snowbirds who are stationed in Comox for their spring practice. When it was time to go into the airport Peggy couldn’t get the car to lock remotely. When she got back into the car to see if she could see what was wrong the car wouldn’t start. I headed in to meet the plane, and Peggy called her husband to see if he could figure out the problem.

We had a nice visit while Bill changed out the battery in the car and got us on our way again. We had time for a nice lunch before Peggy dropped us back at the ferry terminal for our ride home. Stacia and Deloise enjoyed seeing all the spring flowers in bloom.

Sunday morning we started the day with a walk along the sea wall. We were hoping to see some wildlife but for the longest time it looked like we would just be seeing water fowl. One seal did pop up before we left and we saw an eagle overhead. We ended up at the viewpoint and a kind woman stopped and told us that a pod of dolphins was headed our way. We watched them from the viewpoint, and then came home so we could see them through the binoculars. They swam back and forth down by the ferry dock for over an hour, so they must have been feeding.

Sunday afternoon was the benefit at the Patricia Theatre. Pat and a group of his friend were playing, as well as a number of other local artists. I was able to introduce Stacia and Deloise to a few of our friends who were there. Pat’s performance went over very well. We’ve just heard that the benefit concert raised over $2,000. With a few more events scheduled there is no doubt that we will raise the money to go digital.

Monday was our day at Lund. We stopped at Nancy’s Bakery for breakfast – they serve gluten free Bennies! We toured some of the galleries and shops, and I wanted Stacia and Deloise to see the Pollen sweaters. When we were in the shop they convinced me to try on one of the bamboo shawls and I loved it. Then it was Deloise’s turn, and she loved it. They had a shawl in a red shade and, as the saleswoman said, that one picked Stacia. Although it was a short morning we headed over to The Boardwalk for fish and chips (where they have a gluten-free version as well).

When we got back to town we dropped Pat off at home and we looked at a few of the local shops and galleries. In particular we were looking for a hat and shoes for my trip. We found a hat but “the girls” insisted we look at some other shops before buying anything. The store that I wanted my shoes from was closed for the day. We also stopped in at Great Balls of Wool and Deloise picked up some wool for a scarf.

On Tuesday we went to the bee but we didn’t stay to sew. Stacia and Deloise have heard many stories of my quilting friends, and my quilting friends have heard many stories about my sisters! We went back for the hat and the shoes, and stopped in again at the wool shop. Stacia and I both ended up buying wool for scarves to match our shawls, and Deloise bought wool for a second and third scarf! It’s a good thing that on our second visit I got a frequent buyer card – I’ll have it filled in no time! We had a lovely lunch down by the water at the Savoury Bight (where Pat will be performing on Thursday evening), and we visited the fabric shop on the way home.

We had hoped to take Margaret out for coffee on Tuesday but she has a cold and wasn’t feeling up to going out (and she said she didn’t want to give it to my sisters). I talked to her again tonight and she says she is better, but she isn’t going to go in for our Red Cross shift tomorrow.

Although there wasn’t much quilting going on over the past few days we weren’t idle. Every evening when we got out the wine, we got out our stitching. I did a bit of work on my spool knitting; Deloise was stitching a panel for a quilt she is making; Stacia did some prep work for an appliqué piece. Last evening Stacia knit her entire scarf and I deboned seven shirts for an upcoming project – we had a big bottle of wine last night!

It was so nice having company here, but they had to leave this morning. After I drove them to the airport I did a bit of tidying up and spent a bit of time in my studio this afternoon. I finished quilting the squares on my Sudoku quilt, and I have almost convinced myself to do some free-motion quilting in the border.

I’ve been lonely all day so I’ll pour myself a glass of wine and do some hand stitching tonight.