Christmas At The Halifax Forum Done

 Yesterday was a mix of sun, clouds, and showers. The high got to 18C. This morning it is cloudy and 6C. Today is suppose to be cloudy with a high of 7C.

Lifestyle

We were off fairly early to Christmas at the Halifax Forum. We had to drive to the University of Dalhousie to pick up a student first. The trip to there was uneventful. From there to the forum, we went through a big construction zone. It was interesting as I got to see where the ships unload and where the naval base is. There was construction around the forum which made it hard to get to the buildings. Daughter-in-law let us off and went to park about a km away. 

Inside the forum, it was busy. I left our neighbour and the student to shop as they were stopping at every booth. I knew standing and waiting was going to make me hurt so I slowly wandered through the booths. I did the first building and bought one item. I also stopped and talked to one of the exhibitors as she was selling doll clothes. She knows one of the designers I have tested for. We had one wonderful talk about her and sewing doll clothes. 

I then went into the second building where I met daughter-in-law. We knew there were 2 booths in there that we wanted to go to. The first was the yarn booth in which I have knit several skeins into socks since finding them last year. The wild  purple socks are from their yarn. They saw the picture and I am to sent them pictures once the socks are done. They have never seen the yarn knit up. I bought 2 skeins of yarn from them. 

The blue is for daughter-in-law and the tan is for daughter. I am now set until I can get more sock yarn later in the spring/early summer. 

We bought some Christmas ornaments at another booth and had them personalized. After that it was wandering and looking. Our friends caught up with us at that time or should we say we found them. I stood and waited for a bit and had to start walking around as my hip was starting to get sore. 

Daughter-in-law and I then took off to look through the last 2 buildings. We found one booth that we enjoyed looking at the mugs with crazy sayings on them. We bought nothing and finally decided to leave. We walked down to the car which was lovely. We took our time and talked about the fairy houses we saw in some of the trees. We moved the car to the grocery store near the forum, bought ourselves lunch, and texted our friend to say where we were and that we were ready to go. They arrived about 30 minutes later. 

While we were sitting in the car waiting, there was a lot of sirens -- police and fire trucks. We soon found out when we left. Roads were blocked and we could smell propane or natural gas. We had to take detour after detour to get to the university. What is normally is less than a 10 minute drive was 3 times that. When we left the university to come home, the route we took was crazy. The street lights were out and every intersection was a four way stop with lots of people not knowing what to do. We kept turning left to get closer to the harbour and finally got to where we wanted to be and we had street lights. The rest of the trip home was quiet which is what we needed. 

Daughter-in-law and I have decided we will not go this craft bazaar next year. Instead we will go to some small ones close to home and one bigger one about 20 minutes from us. It isn't worth going to the city and fighting the traffic and crowds for a few Christmas gifts. 

Sewing

I picked up the box daughter sent me. Inside was the shirt I am to embroider, a panel for a quilt, and the fabric for placemats for her sewing room. There was also a bag of fabric scraps which I sorted through. Most will go to the quilter's group my friend is a part of. Some will stay for doll quilts. There was a lot of ribbon with paw prints on them. I guess I will have to figure out bags for pet's Christmas gifts. 

Knitting

I did not knit last night. I was too tired to think about knitting. 

Thoughts

    The forum has about 375 exhibitors in it. There is a lot of talent showcased and I am sure they do well over the 3 days the bazaar is on. I looked at the ornaments that have vinyl on them using a Cricut. It gave me ideas for what I can do with the ornaments I have. Other booths didn't interest me as I don't do their crafts. But all were beautifully displayed. I realized how much equipment these exhibitors have to haul around when setting up at bazaars. Even the small booths had a lot of items used for setting up their displays. 

     I was thrilled that my hip didn't hurt as much as I had expected it to. By moving slowly through the buildings and not standing too long I was able to keep it from compressing and hurting. Even the long walk to the car was okay. I did stop and stretch once on our way to the car. I was tired when I got home but more from how far we walked and from the crowds. Not from the small amount of pain I had. Hurrah for that. 

Today

I am hoping to go to the small bazaar in our community this morning. I want to snoop around and ask questions. Once home, I need to do a few things upstairs and then try to sew a mug rug or two. I would like to knit tonight. I am having a more quiet day today with most of the day being alone. 

Until the next time....................................................

Halloween Is Done And Dusted

 Yesterday was warm and sunny with a high of 23C. This morning it is partly cloudy and 7C. Today is suppose to be cloudy and 19C. 

Lifestyle

I rested quite a bit yesterday as my body said so. I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce for dinner and cleaned up afterwards. I spent a lot of time alternating between doing a few little things and sitting on the couch. 

The hedge was trimmed yesterday morning. I wondered what the sawing noise was on our street. I looked out and the guys were busy trimming it up. They did a fabulous job of it. 

I was over to family's to pick up daughter-in-law at 3:30 pm. She was coming to my place for Halloween. We had to decorate and we were keeping it simple. As she hauled up the tub and 2 items, I swept the floor in the garage. We set up the card table and got to work doing a more simple design this year. And we had a blast doing it. 

There is a 6 ft skeleton that was going to the dump last year. We kept him for one more year. I got my wagon out and sat him in that. I had to tie his head up as it is broken. We set a small strove light in the wagon so he could be seen. 

Many years ago before we moved here, I made grandson and daughter-in-law a wall hanging and we hung it up. 

And the table had the table cloth I whipped up a few years ago and the wall hanging we use on it. 

We had some lights out on the driveway so people wouldn't fall and a light on the house that showed red blood dripping down. Time to set up -- less than 30 minutes. The pictures are blurry as the sun was shining in causing a weird reflection. 

The skeleton was a hit. The kids loved it. One couple put their baby in the wagon with the skeleton and took pictures for her first halloween. She was so placid and touched the skeleton smiling like crazy. 

I took a video of the skeleton later on. 

We had between 250 and 300 kids come to our place. Our street was somewhat blocked off so it was a walk only area. The 55+ area behind us could not block off the street into their area but did have some people act as traffic control to keep the area where they handed out treats safe. We were done and dusted with daughter-in-law home before 8 pm. The evening was warm and we sat in the garage wearing sweat shirts. 

Sewing

None done. 

Knitting

While resting, I did knit. I got the heel flaps done and started to turn the heel. 

They are still matching which is exciting. 

Thoughts

    I was somewhat sore yesterday. I did a lot of stretching to get the muscles stretched. I had some cracking when stretching in bed last night. One was my right knee. The other was in my hip area. 

    Daughter-in-law and I did a bit of a purge of Halloween decorations and we are getting it down to where we can handle what we have, decorate in a hurry, and still have it look great. I used the Makita flashlight to shine down the driveway for safety. That will be used in the future. What we didn't use, we put into the yard sale pile. We found out having less is more as people enjoyed the creativity vs the amount of items put out. 

    Elliott is mellowing out. He allowed me to pick him up and take him out into the garage to see the trick or treaters come up. He wanted back in as a bunch of kids came up at once. But he wasn't panicking, he just doesn't like lots of kids at once. 

    I am ready for a quiet week as I have been busy with so much lately. I need to get the last few things done in the yard. I want to sew and paint. I have missed doing things as I pace myself to be out and about. I enjoy being out but I also enjoy being at home. 

    We change to standard time on Saturday night. I hate changing time and wish we would stay on standard time year round. The one big thing I loved about living in Dawson Creek was not having to adjust to the time change. I am going to be going to bed early tonight and tomorrow night in hopes that my body will adjust to the change. This one is the hardest on me as it is for many other people. 

Today

We are back into Halifax today to the big craft bazaar. It is held in 5 buildings. I will be pacing myself. Once home, I will be putting heat on my hip. I hope I can knit tonight. 

Until the next time....................................................................