Blue moon

Didn't see the moon.  I thought I also read that there was an eclipse visible on the west coast just before dawn. Really a once in a lifetime event.

The weather has been bad, snow and wind gusts.  We had planned to go to see Star Wars, yesterday, at St. Vital Centre, but by the time David had blown the driveway clear, it was to late to make the 12:45 show.  We had discussed whether we should even leave the house, but he really wanted to go.  As I had a couple of errands to run, we left at about 4:45, and headed to Kildonan Place.   Once we were out in the snow, and very slippery streets, he was a little less enthusiastic about the drive south on hwy 59, so I suggested that he check to see if it was on at the theatre there, while I visited the tea store. He caught up to me just as I was paying and said that it was on but we were five minutes too late for the start. with my encouragement we bought tickets anyway, just missing the first few minutes of the show.  Looking around I thought there were only 5 people in the theatre, but as we were leaving, I counted 6.  Enjoyed the show, but there were places where we couldn't hear what was being said.  I think we missed some of the nuances.  I also think that I would like to see it again.  With all of the action, and all of the plot twists you can miss a lot. I remember seeing the early episodes several times before feeling that I had caught everything.

Yesterday, when the men of the neighbourhood were out clearing snow, we noticed a fellow across the street shoveling his walk.  Their house has recently been put up for sale, and being neighbours, we take an interest in the process, watching people who come to view it, and whether they look excited or disappointed leaving.  We've also wondered why they are selling.  Well it was almost painful watching him trying to shovel.  We knew he had Parkinson's, but had no idea it had affected his balance so much.  Just carefully shovelling his short walk, he almost fell a couple of times.  I think we have our answer, and it's not pretty.

My hexie quilt, Oreo Inspiration, is quilted, and marked for binding, which I hope to get done today.

Hundred year wait....

Just went out with the dog for his first outing ( early) and wanted to observe the Super, Blue, Blood moon. Unfortunately it is overcast and I could only make out the silhouette of the moon in the south sky. So I will have to wait for another 100 years before I can witness this phenomenon again. It was also too cold to hang around to see if the sky would clear any for a better view. Maybe you folks have clearer skies this morning and have a chance to see it?  Have a good day.

Eye Appointments yesterday

Pleasantly surprised with Optometrist as I had remembered him from 15 years when we last went to him. Harry will get new reading glasses so he can sit at the computer and see the screen. This was his worst complaint so I hope it will work. As for me I do not need a change in lenses, but I do need to take care of myself better because of my dry eye problem (long going issue for me) The cataracts will take their own course but I will leave them for now. I must use eye drops and drink water (which I was also told to do by my Opthamologist) and I must put a humidifier in the bedroom at night, and I must put warm compresses on my eyes at least two times a day. He had a nice gel set for this purpose but it was $40.00 so I said I will try a warm cloth for starters.  I pulled up an old vaporizer we had way back when the children were young. i cleaned it up but it would not work No wonder as the insides were all rusted together. OK, so Harry went to the hardware and bought a new humidifier which I set up. During the night I realized the fan was not going so I turned it off and will check the instructions this morning to see if it functions this way by cycling off, or if something is wrong? Hope this will help and it will be entirely up to me to maintain so I have a vested interest in doing just that!
Cold here again and not even nice to go outside right now. The dog persists in wanting to go for a walk but doesn't last long, poor thing. Harry has all sorts of seeds planted and out in the sun room by the windows and he still says the greenhouse will be heated on Feb 1 - not really paying attention to the weather which is to be cold for the next week. Oh boy, here we go....
Time for my breakfast and coffee and relax before the day begins. I'll also put a warm compress on my eyes ( I'm trying to be good!) Take care

A well written synopsis of a day gone wrong

Thoughts of support for you Pati, and Dave - many a day for me has been similar and I couldn't possibly have outlined the salient points as well as you. Or maybe I feel I couldn't possibly share my stories - I don't know?  I may just do that one day - look out folks haha! Anyway, hoping that things settle down a bit.  Have a better evening (TV anyone?) and tomorrow will shine bright.  I, too, am anxious to see the hexi quilt finished and your progress doing it. It is so beautiful. 

Not a good day

Just one of those days when nothing works out as it should.  Unfortunately, I can't blame the woman in red.

First thing this morning we re-arranged the upstairs studio so I could start machine quilting my hexie quilt. Despite my enthusiasm ( not!) nothing worked out as it should.  I started with black specialty thread on top and and a dark grey bobbin thread.  I will often use slightly different colours, so I'm able to tell the top thread and bobbin thread apart.  I decided to use black on top, as this is what worked best in hand stitching the hexies.  Well, my machine doesn't like the top thread, and fought every inch of the way, breaking and snarling. This is also the largest quilt I've ever attempted to quilt on my machine.  Not an easy thing for me to do, and very awkward. ( Yay for long armers!)After an hour, I accepted that the workmanship was never going to be good enough to enter into a judged competition-my ultimate goal. A disappointment, but this allowed me to accept the level of work being done, and relax.  I took breaks, and worked very slowly.  Finally, I changed the upper thread to a basic 50wt cotton poly blend.  That problem solved. After about 4 hours work, I had about 25% of the quilting done. Now I've quit for the day.

But I had wanted pictures of me working, to put on the other blog.  Got one, and then the camera says the batteries need charging.  David goes to get the battery charger out of the dresser, and the whole drawer falls out and breaks.  He's now trying to fix it.    I bought the dresser, when we were living in Edmonton, 43 years ago, while he was in Cyprus.  It doesn't owe us anything. and he's never really liked it.  Not sure where this issue will end up.

For several weeks we've been having trouble with our tv remote.  David finally decided to do something about it, and phoned the Shaw Cable help line. After waiting, and a call back, he spoke to someone but said the line was so bad that he couldn't hear anything and gave up.  It's very cold today, and snowing as well, despite this  he had went to the mall to get help.  He came home with a new remote, which had to be programmed.  First step--make sure the tv is on.  Well, of course it's not on, and the old remote had been turne din.  Now lately, on Saturday night I've been watching tv most of the evening, and I was visualizing trying to amuse myself without it. So onto Shaw Cable help line again, another long wait and call back.  I could hear them talking, and recognized that David was having some sort of problem.  But he had found the original remote that went with the tv, when we first bought it. Thank Goodness, as we could never have solved the problem with out it. Still, there was an issue with the actual programming of the new remote. After a bit David put me on the line, and we got the problem solved. 

So we're both now tired, and frustrated, and it's not yet time to think about supper.  I hear crackers and raisins calling my name.  Ar-g-g-g-h!

The journey, not the destination

Isn't that what creativity is about?  I love to play with my fabric, and fondle my threads. My stash reduction process is slow because I spend time going just that.  Every time I find a part-done project, or a collection of supplies that never went any further, I take the time to think about what they had been intended for, and to remember what I was thinking about at the time.  I wonder if it's our age, that we allow ourselves time for reminiscence--and take pleasure in it. 

I'm now ready for the workshop I signed up for Feb 10th.  I have my stock priced, and inventory prepared for the changeover in the gift shop in Selkirk. This means that I have no excuse to procrastinate about quilting the hexi quilt.  My machine is prepared, and the upstairs studio re-arranged.  Unfortunately, all this work has left me exhausted, so the actual quilting will wait for tomorrow.

My acquaintance, Dianne, phoned today.  We haven't spoken in maybe 4-5 years, although I have e-mailed her, and received a quick response.  We've both suffered with health issues, and are both prone to depression, so maybe the lack of contact has an explanation. 

A Tea break afterall

Just a quickie addition to my previous message:
I went over to Daisy's place today after I received a call from her granddaughter who was going to Daisy's cabin in the bush outside South River to check on it. So since Daisy was going to be alone, I went over and visited with her. She seemed to enjoy the time and was fairly vocal about not being allowed to drive anymore. This is the one aspect of the changes in her life that she is focused on mostly. Hard to rationalize with her about this as well. 
I did more tidying up in the "studio" this morning and found the box with the crazy quilt that I started many years ago. It looks promising and so I plan to focus a bit on it once all is said and done (hexi quilt notwithstanding haha!). I can visualize some nice techniques so thinking about it is as good as doing it, right?
All for now, time to close up for the night. Take care