Thursday, June 6, 2024

We had such a good holiday spending time with family. First stop was Calgary where the weather changed every half hour – sun, rain, hail, and more sun. The wind was howling in Saskatoon but the weather didn’t stop us from having a good time.

Our first task in Calgary was to get Asher’s graduation gift framed. I had phoned ahead and was told that as long as they had the supplies in stock we might be able to pick it up on the day of the ceremony. We chose a very simple mat and frame and were promised it would be done by the end of the day on the day of graduation. Mid-morning on graduation day we got a call that it was ready so we were able to pick it up before the ceremony. We visited a quilt show at Heritage Park did a bit of shopping, as well as enjoying Asher’s celebration.

Then we were on to Saskatoon. We spent quite a bit of time with Kathryn and crew and it was fun to watch the hockey games with them. We visited the Western Development Museum as well. We stayed with Stacia and Ron but Deloise and Laurie were just a five-minute walk away; Ken is within a short driving distance too so we saw lots of everyone. Sunday night Stacia and Ron hosted dinner for 24 – almost all the Saskatoon relations were able to attend.

Thanks to everyone for spending time with us and to Ray for letting us borrow his vehicle. Pat may just make an offer to buy it as it was a very comfortable ride.

It was a long day yesterday as we made our way home but we were able to have lunch with Peggy and Bill before catching the ferry. We both managed to walk up the steep hill from the ferry; we were too cheap to take a cab and I was too impatient to wait for Pat to get the truck to pick me up. I had a long sleep last night and I don’t think any harm was done by pushing myself.

We went out for groceries this morning and I caught up on some computer work. This afternoon I’ve been playing around with my new idea for a temperature quilt. As soon as I finish matching temperatures to colours I’ll be ready to do a sample.

I’m off to a Guild meeting tonight. I’ll be filing the last report for the Blog as it will be static until/unless someone comes forward to take it over. I still have some work to do to archive the pages and posts but there is no hurry for that.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

My plan for today was to get out in the yard and do some weeding. Our gardener has had a couple of medical issues and hasn’t been able to come yet this year. In the meantime our plants are all coming up, along with the weeds. Having the green compost pickup every week is a real motivator and, since it has been too damp to do a proper mowing of the lawn, I wanted to get it filled up for collection day on Friday.

But it rained over night and the forecast was for showers this morning so I didn’t go out. Instead I wiped down the outside of all the kitchen cupboards and drawers. It has been on my list to do for awhile (I won’t tell you how long) and I felt that since Pat was out for the morning it would be a good opportunity to get it done. I put on my music and I was surprised that it went as quickly as it did. At some point, when I feel motivated enough, I’ll start cleaning out each of those drawers and cupboards.

By the time I finished my cleaning the weather was looking pretty good so I went out and got at some weeding. I didn’t feel like doing the patio so I started on the beds. I didn’t get through the whole width of them but I managed to get all the way around the fronts. When Pat came home he picked a few weeds too and the compost bin is relatively full. If the sun really shines this afternoon and tomorrow we may get a chance to cut the grass and we’ve left enough room for the clippings.

So I can’t do it all, but I can do a little!

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

I’m making excellent progress on my grad gift, as I should be after several days of non-stop working on it. I’m at the border stage now and we’ve decided to have the project framed in Calgary so that will buy me at least a couple of extra weeks for stitching.

I was worried about the border design and was very disappointed when the stitching didn’t match the pattern at the first corner. I had sorted out how I was going to amend the pattern when I noticed I had made a small error just a few rows back. It was relatively easy to take those stitches out (I’d had a lot of practice in reverse stitching over the last few days). I was very happy when, after fixing my mistake, the first corner matched up perfectly to what the pattern showed.

I had my hair trimmed today. Pat had a meeting so he dropped me off at the salon and I walked home. I’m still using my friend’s cane; it helps a lot on the stairs but whenever I’ve used it for a longer walk my wrist is very sore. I have problems with my wrists all the time – I can’t knead bread, crocheting and knitting bother them, as does walking with my poles. It leaves me wondering if it is better to have a sore knee or sore wrists.

I made it back to my sewing room today. I mailed out my last April card on Monday so it was time to get busy on my May cards. I made a start on one last week but when I came to the point where I had to do some reverse stitching I quit. I’ve fixed that particular problem today and have that card finished. I’ve made a start on a second card and now that I know what I’m doing I think they will move along quite quickly.

Saturday, April 13, 2024

We went out to a concert south of town last night – Nathan Tinkham and Saskia Delaronde. Nathan is a good friend of Pat’s and he’s stayed with us a couple of times for various shows over the years. The hall is just a tad bit smaller than Cranberry Hall but, again, is one of the older ones in the area. It was a good mix of their individual talents and there were even a few people I knew in the crowd.

I’m getting used to my new walking aid – a cane. After I asked, the doctor (as did Audrey) recommended using a cane. Our friend Geoff brought his over for me to try out and I’ve been using it, when I remember, for a couple of days. It really helps going up and down stairs but at most other times it seems awkward to use it. You can’t really carry much in just one hand and I like to have a handful of things when I’m going anywhere. I’ll go out tomorrow to see if I can find a cane of my own.

I am able to do my stitching while we watch TV and I’m taking advantage of that today. I started with curling this morning. We switched back and forth to golf during commercial breaks and then we stuck more with golf as no Canadian teams were playing. We switched back to steady golf when curling was over until it was time to move to the ball game. When ball was over golf was still very much in progress. We’ll be waiting for the hockey game to start after supper. I normally wouldn’t watch golf but I’m enjoying it. I thought I might pick up a few pointers for my mini golf putting skills but so many times the professionals are overshooting the hole or just missing it – much as in my own game!

I’m making some progress on my stitching but there are still quite a few patterns that I want to take out and redo. The mistakes have been corrected but some of the colours don’t show up as well as they should so those are coming out now. I’m still hopeful I’ll have time to get the border done but I want the centre finished first so there will be something finished come graduation day.