It was hot yesterday. The high was 36.6C or 98F. With the heat came fire activity.
Lifestyle
We had seen that one area north and west of us had to be re-evacuated as the fire turned back into their area. They are all back in our city and they must feel stressed.
In the afternoon, we watched a lot of water bomber activity in the air going north. The planes were lining up to land at the airport. There was a fire near the ski hill.
A third fire was reported in the Fraser Canyon with the highway closed. Have heard nothing more about that fire.
In early evening, I got a text with a picture of smoke south and east of us. A fire was blazing on the way to Vernon. People were evacuated quickly, road closed and the water bombers lined up to load at the airport to supress that fire. Those planes were active until almost dark.
We did watch the water bombers from inside the house as their landing path was going down the river to the airport. We can see all planes land and take off from our kitchen window. When the Spousal Unit went to water the plants last night, he saw four bombers lined up to land for more fuel and the fifth one was leaving the airport. Activity lasted until almost dark when they all came in for the night.
BC will continue to live on high alert. We are heading into another hot spell. Everything is tinder dry.
Life in our house was mundane. I degreased and scrubbed the tops of the kitchen cabinets. They were disgusting as no one had touched them since they were put in about 5 or 6 years ago as they were topped with crown moulding. We removed it when the kitchen was updated. They are now shiny and white and ready for me to continue cleaning the insides of them.
We did talk about the outside of the house and need to get a real estate agent's opinion on what to do out there. The yard is beautiful and we need to finish up around the shed and paint it. Our big question is how much of the house do we paint. The front and the trim around the doors and windows needs doing. Our question is -- Will that be enough?
Other than scrubbing and cleaning, I did not do much of anything else. Today I work the late shift and have tomorrow off.
Until the next time....................
We are starting our next hot spell. The temperature yesterday was 32.8C or 91F. Everyone was complaining as they had got use to the cooler weather. We need to brace ourselves for the next blast of hot air.
Lifestyle
My mind is whirling with thoughts and it is hard to shut it off. It comes when I do a lot of house cleaning after a renovation. Yup, I am cleaning for the second time after the renovation and am doing a deep clean. Every corner of this house is getting a good scrubbing.
Why do I do this thinking floats in my mind. Mostly because I find cleaning mindless work and partly because I may be looking at change. What is whirling and twirling in my head?
- Retirement -- Is it time to stop working and stay at home and do more with the Spousal Unit and my crafts?
- Move -- should we sell and move away to be closer to our Grandson?
- Dolls -- should I do pattern design, sell doll clothes at craft bazaars or both?
These will continue to whirl and twirl in my head as I clean the house. It is me and it will always be me. Will anything come out of it? Who knows, but I do know
- I want to buy three dolls to sew for. They are expensive dolls so I need to start budgeting for them.
- I need to clean the house and will do so as I have time. What I have done looks amazing.
- I will keep sewing for the dolls as I enjoy it very much.
The end result will be a clean house and maybe a plan.
Until the next time.....................
It is cool this morning at 11C or 52F. This is our second coolest morning since the wildfires began. Our highs have ranged from 31C or 88F to 35C or 95F. The worst has been the winds that come in and fan the flames. It is near the end of July and people want winter to arrive.
Lifestyle
People are heading home now after the fires though the city still has a lot of evacuees in it. Most are in good spirits looking at their time in the city as a holiday. They are certainly strong people.
Daughter texted last night to say they had a sand and ash storm due to the wind. Shortly after that she said there was a hay fire up by the highway. The people lost their dairy barn and then their hay barn full of hay caught on fire. She then heard there was a fire up towards the mine she works at but no confirmation on that. We had a lot of wind also and about 30 drops of rain. You could smell smoke but it was a whiff now and again.
Life in our house is quiet and mundane. I have been cleaning house and the bedrooms, bathroom and entry is done. I have started in the kitchen. Got the pantry cleaned out and started on the next bank of cupboards. Empty, wash, reload. Not much to let go of, more just cleaning everything up. It is slow going but I am getting it done. I have to bring in the tall ladder and clean the tops of the cupboards. I spray them with a degreaser, let them set for 10 minutes, and the grease and grime comes off easily. After they are clean, I will put wax paper on the tops to keep them clean.
The windows need cleaning but that won't be done until later on. With all the smoke and ash we have had, they are a mess but I am waiting for another month before tackling them. Hopefully the fires will be out and the ash settled with a good rainstorm.
Sewing
I haven't done any sewing as I need to buy some bias tape to finish the seams of the black dress.
Knitting
I finished the ballet sweater and it needs blocking before sewing it together and knitting the front/neck edge on it. I started a toque for the dolls out of the remaining yarn.
Today
I will continue to discount notions and prepare to order what we need. It won't be a big order but we do need some items that sold out after I put in my last orders. Tonight I will knit more on the doll's toque.
Until the next time.............................
We had rain yesterday. It came down off and on all day. By dinner time, the smoke was back in and we could smell it in the house.
Lifestyle
We have been safe with all the wildfires in B.C. The fires are all around us be we are not affected. Just heavy smoke that is hard on allergies and breathing. We changed the filter in the furnace today and it was filthy dirty due to the smoke in the air. Will do it again at the end of the month.
We have watched a lot of water bombers and helicopters land and take off from the airport. The circle over our house for landing. The bird dogs are harder to spot but they are out there.
Family had a good visit with us. It was warm and smoky but the day we went on the steam train it was lovely.
We saw a beautiful church that has been lovingly restored.
The stained glass windows were beautiful.
The dancers were wonderful and Grandson told them they sure danced good.
We even experienced a train robbery.
We had a great time.
It has been mundane since then with house work, laundry, and work.
Sewing
I have not sewn a stitch since July 6. My focus is on the house at the moment.
Knitting
I am knitting a sweater for the dolls. I have to buy another ball of yarn to finish it up. Hopefully there will be enough yarn left to knit a beret.
I also spent a lot of time going through the yarn I have and inventoried it on Ravelry. There is about 6 skeins of yarn that I am getting rid of. Am happy with what I got done as I have wanted to do that for a while now.
Today
I work the late shift so need to fold laundry and clean up a bit more in the house.
Until the next time...................
We got to 102F yesterday. I even saw the thermometer in the car say 40C or 104F.
The weather person says it is to cool off to the mid to low 30C for the next few days. That is the mid 90F.
The high yesterday was 35C or 95F. It is suppose to be another warm one today.
Elliott got a new perch which he will sleep on if we put him on it. He does like it and has clawed on it several times.
Bullet Journal
The next week is planned. I did a Dutch door.
On the right hand side, I cut the top half off three pages and then put Washi tape on the top of each page to give it some durability.
On the top half of the two pages I drew rectangles for the days of the week. It was then I discovered the left hand page had a dot defect.
You can hold the bottom line up one row if you want but I chose not to.
Next I divided the large rectangles into three boxes for the days of the week. Saturday and Sunday share a box. The headings in each box is your choice. I did the date with the day of the week in a circle. You could do the opposite.
On the bottom of each half page, I put the day of the week so I can do some planning in each one.
And I filled in the top with important information and have since added the Spousal Unit's dentist appointments in both the top and bottom sections.
I am thinking of adding a small calendar to show the week we are in, meals we ate, and an important to do list. It is being sketched in pencil right now. I keep reminding myself this is a work in progress.
Until the next time.....................
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| Happy Canada Day |
It was a warm one yesterday with a high of 36C or 96F. Not to 100F yet but I am sure we will see it that hot this summer.
With the heat, we stayed in the house and kept cool. Some of the things I did was to
- sew on the doll's ball gown. I also spent as much time un-sewing.
- Search on Google
The ball gown is coming along but I need to make sure it fits. That may mean un-sewing two front princess seams.
Google searching was much more productive. I really had a blast doing it off and on during the day.
One of the things I look for is Canadian designers. As you know from a previous post, I found esheep designs. The author of the blog lives in Edmonton, Alberta and does some neat designing and customizing of patterns.
Since finding her, a customer told me about another Canadian designer who not only designs but sells bag hardware. Emmaline Designs is full of wonderful ideas. Her shop is fabulous. She has oblong grommets that I love, wire frames for a bag pattern she offers for free. The owner of this site also lives near Edmonton, Alberta (Spruce Grove). (Thank you for the correction, Rochelle). The customer who told me about her, commented that she ships promptly. My heart sings when I find Canadian sites. I know they are out there but they can be hard to find.
I work the Canada Day weekend which is fine with me.
Until the next time......................
