Bad weather and new clothes

Yesterday and today seem to be going by at an awful pace.  Firstly, there have been both discussions and action regarding the new Hydrangea we bought.  It isn't doing well, despite the lengthy preparations and work that went into it's planting and subsequent care.  One of the first things we did was make sure we had the warrantee that came with it. Then it was regular observation, watering as indicated, fertilization, and worry. Yesterday and last night there was rain, more rain, lots and lots of wind, and cold temperatures, but today the leaves are perking up, and there is reason for hope. Both yesterday and today the furnace was on again, but it is turned off now, and the sun is out again.

Yesterday morning, I showed David a picture of a t-shirt on the internet, asking if it was one that he might allow me to wear.  He has strong objections to anything with writing or certain pictures on it.  I had thought that was the end of it, as the weather was so bad, and neither of us had expressed any interest in going out.  But after lunch, when we were both just sitting looking at the tv, but not watching anything, he says "let's go to Pennington's".  So off we went.  Very different  requirements for shopping.  Floor carefully marked, only one cashier, plastic shields, and all staff in masks.  Each fitting room had to be sanitized between uses, and any rejects had to be sanitized in some way, so had to be turned in before one could leave the fitting rooms.  There were racks beside each display table, with samples of everything in hangers.  Signs instructed you to use the samples on display to choose your style, and then just pick up your size from the table.  I started off with one size ( the size I buy in Superstore), and four shirts.  Too big!  Those got thrown into a bin for attention of staff, and three more shirts, one size smaller taken to a freshly sanitized fitting room.  Too Big!  Those got thrown into the bin, two more shirts chosen.  When I got back to the fitting rooms the clerk remembered that I had just left , so asked which fitting room I had been in, checked to make sure no-one had used it, and let me back in--without the sanitation.  Both fit, and came home with me.  Had a good chuckle at the cash register as the final price was low enough to pay with the "tap" on our debit card.  But the deal is that if I bring something new home, I have to remove something from my closet.  So I had to say "good bye" to two other shirts, neither of which meant anything to me.

The rest of the day, and part of Friday, as well as this morning, I kept busy making book marks for the Gift shop in Selkirk, which will be re-opening at the end of the month. The decision had been made to completely remove what is there and replace it with new stock.  Some book marks had been put aside to this, but I realized that they look exactly the same as the ones I would be taking out, so I had to start anew.  There is also a perceived need to reduce my sale price. In my many purges, much of my junk box had gone, so there wasn't much to work with, and the paint got away from me, so some of the colours are too similar.

These are the ones that have actually been finished.  I say that while thinking that I want to reduce production costs, but in the back of my mind, is the thought that I would be happier if I was able to stitch around the edge of each of them.

These are in progress, but may just need their tassels.

These all have a way to go.  There are 7 more being dried in the book, below.

Some of them have caused a lot of difficulty when I tried to punch the hole for the tassel, and I had to get  David's help.  This has given me pause to think about a different way to reduce production costs, by using a whole different method of creating the basic form I use.  ( I plan to copy some of this onto the other blog.)

Yesterday evening, I played a little poker and actually came in third in a tournament, so replenished my bankroll to a certain extent.  there will probably be more of the same tonight, but for now, maybe a little more coffee and reading.