Three Triggers

We continue to have sunshine and rain. Yesterday was grey and it rained last night. This morning, the sky is clearing off and it could be a nice day. 

Lifestyle

Yesterday I was exhausted from the lack of sleep. I could not turn my mind off when I went to bed on Thursday night. Thank goodness it only happens occasionally and I hate it when it happens. 
What were the triggers? Three things. 

1. The first one was stupid. I couldn't find the pair of scissors I use when knitting. Found them yesterday afternoon. I had put them in with my crochet hooks which are in a matching bag to my knitting notions. 
2. I got a letter from my pension plan stating I had my benefits cut off as I had moved out of country. I called and asked the question "When did Nova Scotia cease to be a province of Canada?" Oops, they made a mistake and cut me off. My forms hadn't arrived (who's desk are they on?). Anyways a half an hour later it was straightened out and I emailed the forms to them yesterday morning. My question was "why couldn't have I done that in the first place?" 
3. I am knitting a doll's dress and I got hung up on row 3. Is it a mistake or am I stupid. I was up at 11:30 p.m. putting marker around stitches and trying to figure it out. I'm on row 11 and still haven't figured it out. All is working out perfectly so I put it to bed. 

Though I was stressed, I will be laughing about it soon. I did fall asleep after 1 a.m. and last night I slept 8.5 hours straight. I survived this. 

After lunch, we toured Windsor so I could take some pictures. What has me amazed is the flowers. The daffodils are beautiful as in huge and bright yellow. The tulips are blooming and we saw a big patch of orange ones. The forsythia are in full bloom and most are quite well maintained. Here is one example. 

The magnolias are coming out into bloom. I wondered why one dead looking tree was still standing and it is coming out into bloom.

The blooms are about half out so this tree will be spectacular in a couple of days. 

Windsor is an old community being founded in the late 1600's. It has a great history one of which was The Great Fire of 1897. Many of the old homes and buildings were lost and rebuilt after the fire. We love looking at homes that were built after the fire though we wish some of the older buildings had survived. The area we visited was built up just before the great fire (about 1895) and is wonderful to look at. 

This is the Shand house and is now a museum. It opens June 1 and I will be going to see it. It is in its original glory and has plumbing and electricity. 

I don't know if this house was built after the great fire or if just before. It could be before as it seems to be out of the area where the fire spread to. 

Look at those bay windows. 

I love the architectural details around the windows. 

And there are several stained glass windows most of which were too dark to photograph. This one I took and lightened. 

I will show more of the houses in another post. 

Sewing

No sewing as I was too tired to think about tackling a new pattern for the doll's shirt. 

Knitting

I finished the Billie Baby sweater and Anna chose to wear it. 

It fits nicely over her t-shirt. I have made notes on the pattern as I do no like the front edging. I will make another one later. 

The Russian dress is started, ripped back, and redone. I have finally gotten over row 3 and let it rest in peace. The yarn I am using is 

It seems as if a lot of yarn I buy at one wool shop has nylon in it -- there are a lot of sock and wool knitters in the area. It is gorgeous yarn though. I am ready to knit row 12. 

The pattern is very hard to see but should be more visible when I get more rows done and can try it on Anna or Laura. 
The red yarn is around the stitch that I have to increase before and after to make the sleeves. Right now I can knit mindlessly until I get to the front. Then I have to read the pattern row. The even rows are purl so I zip through them quickly. 

Today

I would love to clean house do some sewing. It should be an easy day. 
Until the next time........................