Doubting Myself

 Yesterday was a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 2C. This morning it is cloudy and 1C. Today is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 4C. Tonight we are supposed to get rain. 

Lifestyle

I was out to get a hair cut first thing and it felt good to get 8 weeks of growth cut off. I felt human again. 

Once home, I set about doing the balance sheet. It was a curse session once again until I realized my bank statements were short 2 withdrawals. I found them online. Once that was figured out, I sped through December and am up to date to yesterday. 

The balance sheet I use is from Money Coach. I taught this to a few people when I did adult literacy in Ashcroft. At the bottom of the page, I downloaded the Microsoft Excel 97-2003. When you open it up, it takes you to the Budget Calculator Worksheet. The last tab at the bottom of the Excel worksheet says Spending Planner and that is the spreadsheet I use. Over time, I have changed some of the categories to suit my needs. As you enter your spending, it tracks what you have spent. What you have left over each month goes into the Expenses/Savings/Other so your monthly balance at the bottom is 0. I do go over each expense weekly so I know where I am over spending or what I have spent a large amount of money on. This month I paid for my lawn care for the year. This program was developed in British Columbia and is now under the Credit Counselling Society. I feel it is a great tool for anyone to use. 

Once I was done with the balance sheet, I took out all the garbage to their proper bins and did a bit of tidying up. It was lunch time. I had the last of the chicken soup which I really enjoyed. While watching a show while having lunch, I lost wifi. I left it be for a while and tried again. No wifi. I finally called my provider and found out it was down. I also found out that a courier service hit the fibre optics line at a house down the road and the company was out fixing it. It was back on later in the afternoon when I saw 2 repair trucks turn around at my street. 

I was over to see my neighbour (she told me why I had no internet) to give her and the boys their gifts from Uruguay. We had a nice visit and I came home to put down more salt at the end of my driveway. It is still icy but getting better. I will salt it more today and scrape tomorrow when it is going to be warmer. 

Sewing

I spent some time working on the doll's coat and have the back side pieces sewn to the back. I did stitch up the side seams with a basting stitch so I could try it on one of the dolls. 

I like the fit but I am questioning the appliqué pieces. One lady commented on Facebook that they looked too big. 

I tried another smaller appliqué that I quickly cut out. I am not sure what I want to do now. 

I don't like it as it is white and I wanted the darker colour on the coat. At this time, I am going to remove them all and try again once the coat is finished. 

For Sewing with Cinnamon, I have taken out 3 patterns to look at. One of the dresses I have made before. One pattern I made the plain dress but am looking at a long dress with ruffles and the third is a western outfit. I need to look at them for proportion. I may make the dress I made before as I really liked it. 

My hair dresser told me that all the clothes I made for her neighbour's granddaughter have been passed down to another granddaughter and are equally as loved by her. I am so glad that this family is still enjoying the outfits I made. 

Knitting

I did knit a lot last night and got the foot done on the sock. 

It could be done tonight. Then on to another pair of socks and maybe a little scarf for the dolls. If I don't use the appliqués on the doll's coat, I can use up some leftover yarn to make a scarf for the coat. 

Thoughts

    I am feeling better every day. I am still sleeping a lot every night which means my body is healing. The cough is almost gone. Between the lack of sleep as we came home and my body over reacting to pollen and dust, I realized I was a wreck. 

    I am hoping to get my driveway cleaned of ice tomorrow while it is warm. I want it clear before we get more snow. It will make for easier cleaning if I have no ice left on the driveway. 

    I am enjoying soup for lunch so am going to make Cheddar Broccoli soup next. I will share the recipe once if it is a good one. 

    I got the USB hub to work for my passport (holds all my files) and a USB thumb drive. It will not accept my phone which is strange. I will take it with me to ask questions where I bought it. 

Today

I am going to put a lot of salt on the driveway before I go to do some shopping. Once home, I want to sew this afternoon and knit tonight. If I have time, I will make the cheddar broccoli soup. 

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

More Sewing On The Doll's Coat

 Yesterday was warm and wet with a high of 2C. This morning it is cloudy and 0C. Today is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 2C.

Lifestyle

I started out the morning going to the community hall to help daughter-in-law take down the Christmas decorations. We got it done plus did all the recycling and garbage. I was there for almost 2 hours helping. We chatted and was told son has a bad cold and is feeling horrid. 

Once home, scraped more of the driveway and threw down more salt to help the ice melt faster. It was raining lightly when I did that and before long it was raining harder. By late afternoon we were under a rain fall warning and it was pouring rain. The ditch was half full of water. The road end of the driveway still has ice on it and I will throw more salt on it today. 

I worked on the balance sheet. It almost stumped me until I figured out what was the issue. That was a 2 hour job in which I was stressed out and worried that nothing would balance. I got November completed and balanced. I have December to do and then set up 2026. December is easy, thank goodness. 

I did get a load of laundry done and it is ready to fold. Lunch was homemade chicken soup which was delicious. I also made the chicken and onion stir fry and it was also delicious. I have 2 more meals of it. Rosie the robot vacuum cleaner was set up and she did the whole house for me. I was feeling better. 

Sewing

I did sew yesterday and got the fronts attached the front side pieces. 

I took a small piece of appliqué left over from a dress I made in 2013 and cut it up for this coat. I want to hand sew it down on the front pieces. 

There is still one piece left for the hat I am going to make to go with this coat. 

At this point I had to stop as the lighting in the sewing room was fading quickly due to the rain. I was pleased with what I had accomplished in the time I had in the sewing room. 

Knitting

I knit on the socks last night and got the gusset done along with 10 round on the foot. I am pleased with the progress. 

I am looking forward to wearing these socks this winter. I have been wearing my hand knit socks to keep my feet warm. 

Thoughts

    My allergies are starting to settle down thanks to the nasal spray and eye drops. I woke up feeling much better this morning. I'm still monitoring myself as I do not want this to get worse. Hopefully this will be over with in the next 10 days. 

    The shovelling I did the past few days made my SI joint tight. I had to do stretching exercises to release it. The stretching I did yesterday also allowed the big muscles to relax leaving only my core muscles a bit sore from the shovelling. I see physio next week for a tune up. 

    I am slowly settling into my old routine and am enjoying doing things around the house and getting back to sewing. I know I will have busy times but I will also have slower times also. 

Today

I am out for a hair cut this morning and then checking in with daughter-in-law to see if she needs help at the community hall. I want to finish the balance sheet for 2025 and set up 2026. I need to fold laundry. I also want to sew on the doll's coat and knit tonight. 

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

Scraping Ice Off The Driveway

 Yesterday got warmer by the hour with a shot of snow flurries put in for good measure. The high got to -1 by midnight. This morning it is cloudy and 1C. Today is going to be wet with a high of 3C. 

Lifestyle

My first thing of the morning was to go to the doctor. On the way, the sharp thing in my mouth was feeling weird. When I parked at the doctor's office, I was able to fish out a large fragment of tooth. It had 2 sharp points on it which had caused me a lot of soreness. On the way into the doctor's office, I stopped and cancelled my dentist appointment. They are a husband and wife team. I may have one more small tooth fragment to come out but it is going to take time and she can look at it when I go in on Jan. 20. 

My appointment with the doctor was good. My allergies had gone into full blown mode and were still raging in my system. I got a prescription for eye drops and nasal spray which I used last night and again this morning. My cough is better which is good and my lungs are clear. I am to watch to make sure I don't get an infection now. 

Once home, I decided to start scraping the driveway. I did about 20 minutes where it was salted and easy to remove. After lunch, I did an hour of heavy scraping and shovelling and then had a short rest. 

I was back out at it and did over an hour the second time out. I have 75% of the driveway scraped and the last 25% shovelled. It was heavy going as there was about an inch of ice to scrape off. I threw some salt on the driveway and am letting the rain loosen the rest and will try to do more today if necessary. 

I was sore and tired when I got done. No sewing or knitting happened. I did sleep almost 11 hours last night. 

Thoughts

    I am thankful that my neighbour is a great pharmacist. She made sure I understood how to use the prescriptions and told me (like the doctor) to watch for an infection. I think they are worried I could get pneumonia. 

    I am also thankful that I can still clean my driveway. I was surprised at how much strength I had while doing the job. I am slow but steady. I am still very independent which makes me happy. 

    I am ready to start eating much better now that I feel better. Yesterday I made chicken soup using the chicken carcass and dark meat I had frozen. I add onions, carrots, and celery to the soup and when I heat it I will add orzo. Today I am making a chicken and onion stir fry to have for dinner the next couple of days. I will have it with rice. 

Today

I am starting the day off catching up the balance sheet. I have to help daughter-in-law prep for sandwiches tomorrow. I hope to sew and knit today as I am feeling better. If I have to, I will scrape the bottom of the driveway to get rid of the ice but I am hoping the rain and warmer weather will take care of that. 

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

 Yesterday was cool with some sunshine. The high got to -10C. This morning it is snowing lightly and -10C (got to -14C during the night). Today is supposed to have some snow showers with a high of 0C.

Lifestyle

I was busy, again, yesterday morning. I put all the folded laundry away and did some sorting. I have 2 items for donation and will be looking at my clothes once again to decide what else I can let go of. 

I took the suitcase down stairs and put it away, paid bills, and called the dentist to get an appointment (Thursday at noon). I also went grocery shopping. 

I had a short visit with the pharmacist (who is my lovely neighbour) and she thinks I have the lingering cough from allergies but said it's good to see the doctor to make sure. We talked about Uruguay for a few minutes and then she had another customer to look after. 

I stocked up on groceries and still need more food. I plan on making several batches of soup for lunches. I have the ingredients for chicken/rice, broccoli/cheddar and fish chowder. I have food for several dinners (fish and chicken). I am slowly building up what I need for meals. 

Sewing

I spent about 2 hours in the sewing room. First was dealing with the laptop which has been off for 7 weeks. It decided to hate me when I turned it on and then I couldn't find the file I needed. Thirty minutes later I was ready to sew. 

My first project to sew is a coat which has a pocket hack. I spent a lot of time on prepping the pockets and they turned out great. When it came time to sew the pocket to the side part of the coat I had some issues. Bad pictures, slightly confusing instructions and some swearing occurred. I finally figured it out and the pockets were onto the side pieces. I gathered the pocket on the inside and then pulled the ribbon to gather the pocket at the top. I am loving these pockets. 

Now I can start on sewing the coat using the instructions. There is lots of top stitching on this coat and I will have to get another spool of thread. 

Knitting

I knit on the socks last night. I did 15 rounds which was a lot for me. I was tired as I hadn't napped. 

These socks should be done by mid next week. Then I have to take apart a pair I made so I can knit them with less stitches. They are too big. I also have another pair ready to knit so am hoping to have at least 1 more pair of socks knit this month. 

Thoughts

    Today is Epiphany which is known as Kids Day in Uruguay. This is the day the children get their big gifts. They put out shoes filled with hay for the camels to eat as the 3 Kings leave them gifts. 

    I am slowly getting back to normal. My cough seems to be less but I will still see the doctor this morning. I am less tired as I am catching up on sleep. 

A Busy Day

 Yesterday was cold with a high of -10C (windchill -16C). This morning it is mostly cloudy and -13C (windchill -18C). Today is supposed to be mainly cloudy with some flurries and a high of -10C (windchill -24C this morning and -18C this afternoon). 

Lifestyle

It was an inside day yesterday for me. I started laundry early and finished it in late afternoon. Each load washed and rinsed for nearly 2 hours making sure everything was really clean. It is all folded ready for me to put away or set aside to donate. It was a big job and I am glad it is behind me. 

While laundry was on, I stripped down a bbq chicken. The carcass and dark meat are in the freezer ready to make soup this week. The white meat was for dinner last night and tonight. 

My friend was over to return my house key. We visited for 90 minutes. I gave her some small gifts I had bought at artisan's booths in Montevideo. She was thrilled to get them. She leaves for Ontario near the end of the month so we will be having dinner together before she leaves. 

I broke down and had a nap in the afternoon. I was falling asleep on the couch so went and laid on the bed. It did help me a lot. I didn't realize how tired I was until I got home. Between the heat, allergies, the cough, and lack of sleep I got more exhausted than I had thought I was. 

Sewing

I took the fabrics, trim, and yarn down to the sewing room. I looked around, after I had put everything away and walked out. I was too tired to look at my projects. I will get there as soon as I can. 

Knitting

I picked up the gusset stitches and got 5 rounds knit last night. 

I am enjoying knitting again and will try to do more rounds each night. 

I did look at my book I forgot at home and the only mistake I made was not knitting enough rounds on the legs of the sock. Not too bad considering I was working from memory. 

Thoughts

    I was cold yesterday due to the cold weather. I bundled up good and didn't have the heat too high. I will get climatized to the cold as the days go on. I didn't go out yesterday as the windchill was more than I could handle. I am not sure if I will go out today or not. 

    I am trying to eat healthy now that I am at home. I have a few things to change in my diet and I need to move daily. It is going to be a journey for me as I work on keeping fit and loosing some more weight. I am going to set a goal for the month and try to meet it. 

Today

I am trying to get an appointment with the dentist so I can have what ever is going on in my mouth removed. I would like to get some groceries to get me through until Wednesday. I have laundry to put away and a few things to do. I am hoping I can do some sewing this afternoon and knit tonight. 

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

Shovelling Snow and Knitting Socks

 Yesterday was one of snow squalls and wind for the better part of the day. The high got to -9C. This morning it is -14C. Today is going to be a mix of snow squalls and sunshine. The high is supposed to get to -8C. The wind is coming from the south so it will warm up in a few days. 

Lifestyle

Yesterday I was tired but I forced myself to do things. I unpacked my suitcase and I have little piles here and there to put away and all my clothes are in laundry baskets to be washed. The washer in the apartment wasn't the best so my clothes don't feel clean. That is today's job. 

I was out to shovel some snow off the driveway before lunch. I got that part salted also. I went over to family's house to deliver what they had put into my suitcase and to give grandson his Christmas gifts. I left quickly as they had friends visiting. 

My next trip was to the grocery store to get a few items. I wanted soup so bought some cheddar broccoli soup for lunch. I enjoyed it a lot. I also had some meat and cheese. After lunch I went out and shovelled the rest of my driveway and put out some more salt. I was done so I laid down and had a good nap for 1 hour. 

I was still tired so was in bed in good time and slept a good solid 8 hours. I am amazed at that after napping in the afternoon. I am feeling better this morning and ready to do a few more things. 

Sewing

I did not go into the sewing room yesterday as I was too tired and too busy doing other things. It was also a day not to sew or I would have screwed up a project. 

I need to start cleaning the sewing room a bit each day this month so it is really clean. I have it tidied up but need to do some deep cleaning. 

The Edwardian outfit will be worked on for the next couple of months. It is going to be a slow sew as I have other things to make. 

I have to starch the fabric for a quilt so I can start it. It will be a gift for son-in-law. I am starting out with an easy pattern before I start on one for me. It is a bit more difficult to make. 

I am doing Sewing With Cinnamon again this year. I am looking forward to doing each month's projects which will evolve around the updated Design Academy. It starts on Tuesday. 

I also want to start making doll's blankets from a big bundle of fat quarters. These are suppose to be quick and easy to make. 

Knitting

I got out my knitting and knit on the 2nd sock I took to Uruguay. I got the heel flap knit and the heel turned. 

My next knitting projects for this month are to make another pair of socks for me and to knit a sweater for the Edwardian outfit. I will be busy every evening knitting. 

Today

I have to do laundry which I will start shortly. I also want to get more stuff put away as I have little piles here and there. I also need to do a bit of cooking so I have healthy meals prepared for the next couple of days. I may look in the sewing room this afternoon if I have time. Tonight I will knit on the socks. I am hoping to avoid having a nap today but that remains to be seen. 

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

Home And Exhausted

 I am home and it is "cold" outside. This morning it is -9C and the temperature will remain that way all day. We will have some snow flurries this morning. Very different weather report to what I had been writing about. 

Dec. 31 was the hottest day we had in Montevideo. The high got to 36C and it was dead calm. We packed, cleaned, and rested all day. When it came time for dinner, we realized most places closed early so we had to order from one of a handful of restaurants that were open. My dream of Korean chicken became Chinese food. It wasn't the worst Chinese food I have eaten nor was it the best. 

Dinner was late as son stopped to help a lady and her son. The lady had fallen down the stairs of the apartment and cut her head open. Daughter-in-law went down with ice and water (hot outside) while they waited for an ambulance. The ambulance arrived about 30-40 minutes later to help her. There were 3 people in the ambulance. One was the designated driver and got what the other two needed. The other two were either nurses, paramedics, or a doctor and a nurse. The checked her out and took her and her son to the hospital. 

We got between 2.5 and 3.5 hours sleep on New Year's Eve. We watched some pretty spectacular fireworks from the balcony. They were like the ones I posted on Christmas Eve but way more. Son found a drone shot showing the fireworks not only along the water but throughout the city as well. We finally got to bed around 1 pm only to hear music and more fireworks the rest of the night. We were up early to do the last of the packing and cleaning and as we left the apartment, people were still letting off fireworks. 

We were at the airport early and after checking in and going through security to go into the international part of the airport, we went to the lounge. We had a light breakfast and waited for our plane. We boarded early and got settled in for our flight. It was a full plane. The trip to Panama was uneventful. We slept some, ate some, and slept some more. We landed to heat and humidity in Panama. On our walk to the lounge, I had a major sugar low and was really weak. Once in the lounge, I had several glasses of orange juice and some food. I recovered well. 

The trip from Panama to Montreal was not the nicest trip. Though less people in business class, there was a family who had a child about 6-7 months old. That child hollered and cried the whole time leaving us wrecks. The staff were stressed as the passengers were stressed. We were cranky to say the least. When we got off the plane in Montreal, daughter-in-law took off at a fast pace. Son and I barely kept up with her. We got to customs and got through quickly. We had done advance CBSA Declaration through the ArriveCan app the day before. We were out of the customs very quickly and got our luggage and left the international part of the airport in record time. 

On our walk to the hotel, daughter-in-law and I saw this moose. He is huge. 

We were in the hotel and in bed by 1 pm. I got just about 5 hours of sleep and then we were up and at it again. After a good breakfast we headed down to the main part of the airport to get our boarding passes and drop our luggage off. We did the self serve thing and it froze on us. We joined the line up to get it done manually. We felt for the staff as they had had a rough few days with flights cancelled or delayed due to the bad weather. We were extra polite to them as it wasn't their fault. 

After check in, we went for lunch at nice place. I had fish and chips to get carbs into me. It was good and filling. After eating, grandson and I walked towards the departure gate while son and daughter-in-law went to check out a new lounge. I sat at the departure gate while grandson walked. His glucose levels were high. Our flight was delayed. There were issues of the plane arriving late into Halifax and staff timed out. They had to hunt for new staff. The plane arrived an hour late. I pre boarded with daughter-in-law as I was tired and sore. 

The plane from Montreal to Halifax was cramped and it didn't help my soreness. Thank goodness the staff was excellent. Daughter-in-law and I were of the last to leave the plane and we went to meet son and grandson at baggage pick up. We then went to let the company know we needed our driver. We got the same driver who took us to the airport. It was a large vehicle and very comfortable. 

Once home, son brought me to my place. I was exhausted and ate some toast and applesauce before going to bed. I logged in almost 10 hours of sleeping last night and still feel tired today. 

I am not sure how much I will get done today. I do need to go to family's and drop off some stuff as grandson leaves tomorrow for Korea. I want to start unpacking and get a few groceries for the next couple of days. I am sure I will do a lot of resting as I recover. It is part of getting over the trip. 

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