Doll's Shirt Completed

 Yesterday was a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 3C. This morning it is cloudy and -2C (windchill -7C). Today is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 2C. The windchill could be -10C. 

Lifestyle

I started the morning out writing the minutes for the community hall's AGM. I had to leave it several times and come back to it to make sure I was happy with the wording. It is done except for a short read before emailing it to daughter-in-law. 

I finished cleaning the closet in the spare bedroom. It has my grandmother's kitchen clock and a spare lamp shade on the shelf. I swept the floor and there was minimal fluff under the bed (thank you Rosie) and I mopped the room. The amount of dirt was from normal walking in that room. I also mopped the bathroom and kitchen floors. 

After lunch I went out and shovelled the driveway. We had just over an inch of wet snow and I got it cleaned off in about 15-20 minutes. The driveway dried off and it was perfect to walk down to take recycling to the curb. We did have a skiff of snow last night but nothing to worry about. 

Sewing

The doll's shirt is finished. I only had to pick out 2 buttonholes yesterday. I sewed on the buttons and called it done. 

The pattern has been put away with the other Edwardian patterns I have made for this wardrobe. 

I ordered snaps for the doll clothes and they are coming from England. They should be here by mid March. That is okay as I am not starting another doll's shirt until March. 

When looking at what I have left to sew this month, I seem to be ahead of the game. I have two zip bags to make plus a small item for Sewing With Cinnamon. I have put another piece of piping into the mix as I need a small relaxing project to work on next. 

Knitting

I went to get the last ball of yarn for the scarf and I couldn't find it in the bin. I had to stop and think and remembered I had put it into my knitting bag in the closet (too organized for my own good). I will get the scarf done this week. 

I cast on the 2nd sleeve for the doll's sweater and knit on it last night. I am ready to start the first cast off for under the arm. 

I am hoping to have it done today. Then on to the body of the sweater. 

I have to wind the yarn for the socks I hope to start this month. I have to finish the scarf first. 

Thoughts

    I really enjoyed shovelling snow yesterday after lunch. The sun was warm and I loved that. I shovelled and when I took short breaks, I stood outside enjoying the weather. I was the only person out shovelling which is normal when it snows this amount. But I don't care as I need the exercise. 

    I slept well last night. I was in bed early and I didn't wake up until 5 am. A first for me in a long time. I am hoping that I will have more of those good sleeps. 

Today

I have a hair cut this morning and once home, I want to vacuum and mop the dining/living area of the upstairs. I may start cleaning out one closet in my bedroom. This afternoon I will sew piping and get the bags ready to sew next. I may have to go get interfacing and thread. I will be knitting on the doll's sweater and the scarf. 

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

Learning To Do Eyelets

 Yesterday was another sunny day with a high of 0C. This morning it is snowing lightly and -3C. Today is supposed to be cloudy with a high of 3C. 

Lifestyle

I was out to help make sandwiches at the hall. My job is to cut the sandwiches into 4 and put them on trays. It is a job I really enjoy. I love to make them look really nice and even. I don't hate making sandwiches as I enjoy the challenge of having them look tidy when they go to be cut. 

When I got home, I had a coffee and then headed out to grocery shop. I got what was on my list and 3 items I had forgot about. The store was busy and I was happy to get everything and get out. 

I decided to empty a tub of crafts and put it into another partly filled tub. The empty tub has the Christmas quilts and pillow in it and that job is now done. I have 2 old throws to deal with once I decide if I will buy a new throw or make a quilt in winter colours. If I make a quilt, I will have to buy all the fabrics for it. I am leaning towards navy blue, light blue, grey, white and maybe sage green. 

I did have a nap after lunch. I was so tired that I was almost in tears and was falling asleep on the couch. After hour's nap I felt much better and I did sleep better last night. 

I was out for dinner at family's and we had wonderful curries. I also helped daughter-in-law prepare for our local hall's AGM. We did an agenda and some financial work. We got it all done by 6:30 pm and was out to the meeting. It was an interesting meeting. Elections were held and daughter-in-law is the president and I am the secretary. 

YouTube went crazy on me last night. It kicked me off my channel and when I went to sign in on my laptop, it stated it was having issues. I left it be for a while and then it worked again. Not sure why it was acting up but looking at a TV screen saying that I needed to log in was weird. 

Sewing

I did sew yesterday which was probably not the best thing to do. I played with the eyelets and put them into the stays I had made. I used my crop-o-dile to make the holes and some eyelets I wasn't sure about. The test one worked perfectly so I proceeded. They went in and are staying in even when pulling on the ribbon. They are not perfectly aligned but they aren't a big mess. It was a learning curve for me.  

I will get navy ribbon to replace the white. I didn't think it would pull as tight as it did. Hurrah for that. I need to keep practicing with the eyelets as we will be doing a project this month in historical clothing. 

Next I decided to do some buttonholes on a big scrap of fabric. I made three of the 5 button holes on the shirt and am taking out 2 of them to redo. The one I am keeping looks good.

I will be happy when this blouse is done as it has been quite the learning journey. 

Knitting

I did knit a bit last night on the scarf. Fifteen rows to be exact and I have to get the last ball of that yarn up from the basement. 

I should have it done by next week. 

Thoughts

    This morning's snow was not in the forecast. Flurries yes but it is snowing harder since I got up. The only good thing is that everything will look pristine rather than dirty. It looks like is isn't going to let up anytime soon though the weather map says it's to stop in the next hour or so. I really don't want to shovel a lot of wet snow. 

    I was lucky grocery shopping yesterday. Most everything was on sale. I am trying to use up what I bought in January and only buy what I need this month. I am also trying not to over buy as the grocery store is close to me. My hope is to grocery shop at Walmart next week which is a longer drive. I have a few things to get at other stores which are not in my community. 

Today

I am going to finish cleaning the spare bedroom and vacuum and mop that floor along with a few other floors. I will watch the snow amounts and shovel if I have to but closer to noon. This afternoon I want to finish the doll's blouse and prep to sew 2 zippered bags. I also have to make dinners this afternoon. I will knit on the doll's sweater and the scarf. It is a day at home for me. 

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

A Day Of Stress

 Yesterday was another sunny day with some clouds floating around. The high got to -1C (windchill -4C). This morning it is cloudy and -5C. Today is supposed to be another sunny day with a high of 1C. Flurries tonight. 

Lifestyle

I got the sheets into the washer and dryer yesterday and forgot about them until 5 pm when I had to rush around and make my bed. I was having a bit of a day to say the least. 

I went into the spare bedroom and looked at the Christmas items on the bed. I went back out and wrote storage tub on my shopping list. Down stairs I went and got out the Christmas tub and went through it. I put several items into the thrift store box as I really don't need them. As I handled the items, I went down memory lane which was filled with a lot of good memories. I kept a few items that I will use for winter decorations as I want to have some items out during the month of January. 

One of the items I kept was this small ceramic Christmas tree. I realized I had batteries for it so it is now ready for Christmas 2026.

I had bought 2 of them in January 2023 when they were discounted by 70%. One went to daughter and I kept one. I am thinking it will be kept out in January as it reminds me of the trees in winter. 

I took the quilts and pillow down but they didn't fit in the tub. I hauled them back up and put them back on the bed. I realized last night I can put some of the items I want to sell at a craft bazaar into a bag and use one of those tubs for the quilts. It is a job I can do today. 

I have not been sleeping well at night and having night panic/anxiety attacks. I know what is causing it and have been nervous, restless, and tense. I am hoping that daughter's situation will improve so I can relax once again. I will talk about it once things have been sorted out a bit more. 

I have been very careful with my eating habits but my weight is stalled at the moment. Part is how I am feeling emotionally. Part is my body not wanting to cooperate with the weight loss. It will come off when it is ready to. In the meantime, I will eat well and carefully. 

Sewing

 Yesterday's sewing was a lot of hand sewing. I sewed down the collar band which was the easiest part. Sewing snaps and button on the neck band was a bit stressful. The snap went on pretty good but the button wanted to move around. The next step was to hem the sleeve opening. That small space and the thickness of the fabric was hard to do. Putting on the snaps was a bear and adding buttons almost drove my patience out the door. I decided not to deal with any more snaps and hemmed the shirt by machine. 

I am deciding if I will do buttonholes or snaps on this shirt. The instructions say snaps but I think I can do buttonholes. 

I also decided to mark the eyelet holes for the stays I made last month. I have enough marks to drive you crazy. 

I want to get this project done so I can work on something else for the Acadian outfit. It may be a chemise with a bit of fancy stitching on it. I will know more when I read today's post on Sewing With Cinnamon. 

Knitting

If sewing was hard, knitting was also hard. I realized that I hadn't followed the instructions and had to unknit 9 or 10 rows and redo the cap of the sleeve. I made myself finish the first sleeve following the instructions carefully. 

Once it was done, I got 16 rows knit on the scarf. It is now 42" long. I will need to get the last ball of yarn out to finish it. 

I will have part of a ball left and will try to make a toque out of it. If there isn't enough, it will got into the bag which I will sell at the garage sale this spring. I am not having part balls of yarn left in the stash. 

Thoughts

    Going through the Christmas items made me realize that I still enjoy decorating for Christmas. I have 3 boxes for daughter-in-law that are antique Christmas items. She will get them when I no longer want to decorate. The rest are items I love and couldn't part with. 

    I haven't had any issues with my IBS attacks. I know that vitamins will cause gastrointestinal issues. But the stress I am having at the moment is starting to give me a flare up. I am hoping that everything will calm down quickly as I don't want to have IBS attacks again. 

Today

I am out to make sandwiches at the hall this morning and then will go grocery shopping locally. I will work on emptying a tub so I can put my Christmas quilts and pillow into it. I should finish cleaning the spare bedroom if I have time. I would like to sew if I'm not too tired and knit tonight. It is a wait and see day for some projects. 

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

Progress On The Doll's Shirt

 Yesterday was mainly sunny with a bit of snow in the late afternoon. The high got to -1C (windchill -5C). This morning it is cloudy and -3C (windchill -6C). Today is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 1C.

Lifestyle

My first job of the morning was to do the balance sheet. All went well with it balancing perfectly. I was pleased with that. I did have a low no spend week as I really didn't need a lot except for groceries and a few items for the house. 

I made a pot of spicy fish soup. It has no milk in it and you can use a seafood mix or basa or other white fish. I make enough for 4 lunches. I also made two dinners later in the afternoon. 

I had a nap after lunch as I was exhausted from only 6 hours of sleep. It was great to wake up another an hour feeling better. The downside is that it did interfere with my sleep last night. I didn't get the deep sleep that I really need each night. 

Sewing

After my nap, I did go downstairs to sew. It was put those big sleeves in day. They weren't as hard as I had thought. They are really puffy. I finished the sleeve cap seams, sewed the side seams and basted the hems on the cuffs. 

It was 4 pm by the time I got that done. It took longer than expected but I am happy with the shirt so far. It looks so different with the sleeves in. 

Knitting

I did not knit at all yesterday. I was tired and not interested in knitting so I had a day off. 

Thoughts

    I looked up the assessed property value for my house yesterday. I was shocked. It has gone up by 30K in the past year meaning its for sale value is more than I had expected it to be. It has me thinking that the improvements I want to do will keep the sale value at a price I think it is now worth. 

    I knew why I was exhausted yesterday. I have been thinking about daughter who is having a rough time right now. She is now alone and she is trying to get her ducks in order. At least she knows what to do. She lets me know how things are going which is good. I have also been pushing myself mentally on this decluttering session and some of what I am dealing with has been emotionally hard to do. 

    I watched a couple of videos on how to make freezer meals that can be cooked in a crock pot. As they are meals for two, I would need to buy a small crockpot and let my big one go. I am mulling over that and will look at crockpots when I go shopping. I have looked on Amazon and have an idea of what I want. 

Today

I have to go around and do a small pick up of items that go to the donate box. I need to continue working in the spare bedroom and get the Christmas items downstairs and ready to put away. I am going to do a load of laundry also. I want to sew on the doll's blouse this morning and knit tonight. 

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

Progress On All Fronts

 Yesterday was another sunny day with a high of 1C. This morning it is cloudy and -5C. Today is supposed to be snowy with a high of 0C (windchill -6C).

Lifestyle

I started the morning with 2 loads of laundry which are folded ready to be put away. While the first load was on, I cleaned up the files on the computer. The desk top was full of items that needed to be put into file folders and put on the tetra drive. It is done and I am happy. I did do some tidying up of the tetra drive but am saving that for another day. 

I started out giving the bathroom and kitchen a quick tidy up and then proceeded to the spare bedroom. Though not full of stuff, it was a slow process of getting things done. The dresser was dealt with and everything I need is in the top drawer. The other two are empty. I gave it and the other two pieces a good cleaning before opening the closet door. 

The closet isn't full but everything needed to be looked at. I took out the safe and went through all the paperwork. I had a bit of organizing and thinking to do in it. Then I took out the box of receipts that I keep from doing the balance sheet. I cleaned it out so I only have 2025 and this year's receipts in it. I did do the shredding of bank statements. Then I grabbed the filing tub that was a bigger job than I had expected. 

I had organized and got rid of a whole bunch of papers after the Spousal Unit passed away. It was time to do it again. I got rid of appliance manuals I no longer have. I went through every file folder in that tub. I got rid of old insurance papers, the sale of the house in Kamloops, and a bunch of other stuff that is not longer relevant. It was insane how much I got rid of and it awaits me to shred it. 

I took everything off the closet shelf and have some decisions to make. It is all Christmas items along with 2 red throws. I am thinking of putting the two throws into the thrift shop box. The Christmas items will need to go into a tub which means I may need to buy one after I look under the basement stairs. At that point, I was tired and hungry and realized it was lunch time. 

After lunch, I went down and did some more sorting in a 2nd box. What I want to sell at the garage sale was left in it and other items added. What I didn't want was put into the thrift store box. That box can go to the thrift store the next time I am in either New Minas or Bedford. 

Sewing

When I look at what I did in the sewing room, I think that wasn't a lot but it was very time consuming. I added a mitred placket to the two sleeves and what fiddly work. By the time I was done, my hands were sore and my patience was running a bit thin. They are not perfect but they aren't a big mess. 

The side seams on the sleeves and the shirt were serged and the gathering threads added to the sleeve cap. 

I sat and thought about the mitred placket and I will probably do them again. I will not do the mitred part. I use to fold that down square on the Spousal Unit's western shirts. I will try that on the next shirt. 

Knitting

I did knit on the doll's sweater yesterday. I am ready to see if it is long enough to cast off under the arms. 

I also knit on the scarf. I did 40 rows last night. It now measures about 40".

It will be done before I know it. I have to sew it into a circle as it wraps around your neck twice. 

Thoughts

    I have checked my February goals for sewing and knitting. I am almost done the projects I had set out. When I have finished February's sewing projects I have a couple of items I will add to the list. I am calling them bonus projects. I had thought the skirt and shirt pattern were more complicated than they were hence making them quicker sews. I do know I will finish the scarf in February but I won't finish the doll's sweater. I will finish it in March. 

    Yesterday's declutter was an emotional one. Going through papers was hard as it brought back memories of the things the Spousal Unit and I had done teaching. I realize that I can remember those accomplishments without the paperwork. I will say I was tired when I finished it. On the other hand, I am glad it is done. 

    Our lovely sunny weather is gone for the next 4-5 days. I so enjoyed the sunshine pouring into the house. There are no big storms coming in which is nice and I do hope that the sun will shine a bit each day. 

Today

I have to do the balance sheet first thing and then put away laundry. I have to make a pot of soup and dinner for the next several days. I hope to sew this afternoon and knit tonight. I am not decluttering anything today as it is Sunday. If we get the snow they are forecasting, I may have to go out and shovel the driveway. I can handle an inch of snow.

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

A Productive Day

 Yesterday was gloriously sunny with a high of -2C (windchill -8C). This morning it is clear and -6C (winchill -10C). Today is supposed to sunny with a high of 2C. We are to have snow flurries tonight. 

Lifestyle

I had a busy morning. First I had to clean my glasses fas wiping them clean with grimy gloves leaves them filthy. I saw my Fitbit and decided to give it another chance before tossing it into the pile of electronics to go to recycling. I put it on the charger and much to my amazement it started to charge. I kept checking it all morning and it kept charging. I put it on as soon as it was 100% charged and it is still working. Not sure why it stopped working but I am sure happy to have it working again. 

My big job of the morning was to tackle the stairs and front entry. I put away paint containers, mitts and toques that were languishing on the stairs. I scrubbed the stairs and floor on my hands and knees. Let me tell you it was dirty from us going in and out the front door. I am happy that job is done and hope to keep it cleaner in the future. 

I also spent 30 minutes in the basement as I need a box to put items in to for the thrift store. I took one box full of stuff into the family room and sorted the contents. I have half a box of stuff to go to the thrift store from that sort. What is left will be sold in the garage sale in the spring. I also found another box that I will sort through today and put all the garage sale items in it. One box gone will make me happy. 

I headed out around 2:30 pm to scrape the ice off the driveway. It was patches that were left behind. As I was scraping away, a lady stopped and introduced herself to me. She is the mother of the doctor who lives behind me. A very nice lady. She is excited as her daughter is having a baby this spring and she will be helping look after it when it's time for her daughter to go back to work. She works part time in our local hospital and has her own practice locally. 

Sewing

The Edwardian blouse was started and I spent a lot of time on it. I got the front shoulder seams gathered and sewn to the back. I also sewed on the front button bands and the 2 piece collar. It was a lot of finicky sewing. 

I had hacked the front pattern so it would be blouson. I followed the instructions using the boy's shirt pattern from Liberty Jane's button up shirt pattern. I am not sure if I like it or not but am holding back my thoughts until after I insert the sleeves. Unfortunately this blouse is never shown finished. 

Knitting

The sleeve of the doll's sweater is starting to show how big the leg of mutton sleeves will be. I am slowly knitting on it when I have a few minutes. 

I also knit on the scarf last night and was able to knit 40 rows on it. 

I have done 38 patterns and it is 36" long. I love the jean blue colour but I am not a big fan of the yarn. It isn't twisted so I have to watch and make sure I am not splitting the yarn when knitting. I still have a lot of this yarn to knit. 

Thoughts

    I am not sure what went wrong with my Fitbit. I could not get it to restart using the directions from support or what I found online. Putting it away seemed to have fixed the problem/woke it up. I did nothing to it when I put it on the charger. The only thing I did after charging it was to turn off the sleep mode. 

    Though it is still cool here, the sun has warmth to it. I was out scraping ice wearing only a fleece jacket and I was warm. I am enjoying it but do know we could have more snow between now and Easter. That is a given for Nova Scotia. 

    I went back to using the WW's app to track what I am eating. I was overeating and my weight wasn't coming off. It reminds we of what portion sizes are when I plan my meals for the day. I am back to no snacking and I am trying to do more movement each day. 

Today

I have laundry to do and will start cleaning and purging the spare bedroom. I will also spend 20 minutes dealing with a box in the basement. It is the one I will put items in to sell. This afternoon I want to sew on the doll's shirt and I will knit on the doll's sweater and the scarf. 

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

Small Jobs Big Satisfaction

 Yesterday was mainly cloudy but not gloomy. The high got to -1C (windchill -5C). This morning it is clear and -7C (windchill -12C). Today is supposed to be sunny with a high of 0C.

Lifestyle

Yesterday morning it was out the door early to start shovelling snow. I shovelled a path down to the street to dig out my garbage bags and put them on a snow bank. Then it was shovel back up again so the edge of the driveway was clear. I then tackled the driveway up at the garage doors and the little sidewalk and front door landing. The snow was sopping wet but it wasn't really dry. After a short rest, I went out and cleared the snow off the back deck. I left the rest of the driveway as I had the person who mows my lawn coming to finish the job with his truck. There was over 8" of snow on the driveway and the berm was so solid that I would have spent a long time chipping it away. 

My next job was to install the new door knobs on the linen and pantry closets. That wasn't a hard job. Next up was to deal with the ball catches that go on the top of the doors with dummy door handles. I screwed down the plate on the one on the door at the washer and dryer. The previous owners just put a new one in and didn't finish the job. The next one was at the front landing closet. I had to replace the plate on the door jam as the door wouldn't shut. It is still tight but it always has been. The last one was on my bedroom closet. That one was really easy to do. All the interior doors are now done. Next up will be the exterior doors which are fine for now. 

Sewing

I did sew yesterday afternoon. I got just over 4 meters of piping made for daughter. I used a piece of fairy frost fabric she had sent me several years ago. 

It has a lovely silver sparkle in it making it quite dressy. 

I am ready to start sewing an Edwardian shirt for the dolls. Having made 2 easy projects has been fun and got me ready for the next more difficult project on my list. 

Knitting

I looked at the doll's sweater and realized it was going to be too small. The yarn is a lace weight not a sock weight so I ripped it out and started again on larger needles. 

The long cuff and the increasing is done so I am ready to plain knit the upper part of the sleeve. 

I did not knit on the scarf last night as I focused on the doll's sweater. I will pick it up and knit on it tonight. 

Thoughts

    The storm we had certainly dumped a lot of snow on us. The predictions ranged from 1" to 6". We got more than that. People spent hours digging out their driveways. We were very fortunate that the power didn't go out with this storm and I really didn't hear about power outages in the province. Schools were closed in the province and our garbage pick up was cancelled. 

    I got a lot more done in the house than I had expected. I seemed to have gotten onto a roll and just kept going when doing the doors. It felt good physically and mentally to be working while snowed in. I didn't hurt too much which was good. 

Today

I am going to do a bit of tidying up and clean the stairs and front entry. I want to bring in the baseboards and clean them so I can paint them in a few days. I want to start on the doll's Edwardian shirt this afternoon and knit on both the sweater and the scarf. I don't need to go anywhere today. 

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