And It Rained

 Yesterday it rained until about 9 pm. The high got to 8.9C. This morning it is cloudy and 8.5C. About 1.5" of rain fell. We are to have showers this morning and rain tonight. We are under a special weather statement as it could rain heavily until Wednesday morning. 

Lifestyle

It was an inside day due to the rain. It was cool and damp and I had to run the heat up and down stairs to keep warm. I actually had to turn up the heat in the evening as I could feel the damp inside the house. 

I did laundry and swept floors yesterday morning. I also washed the stairs to the landing. I did find my share of cat hair while cleaning up. Elliott is still shedding his winter coat. 

I am still thinking about a solar powered fountain for the deck. I have thought about doing it myself and my ideas have ranged from something small to something large. The best idea I found was to use a 5 gallon bucket, paint it, and put holes in a plastic plate and put it on top. The solar pump goes into the bucket. You can put marbles or glass rocks on the plate to add some interest. You can also put holes in the bucket lid and use it. It seems anything goes when making a fountain. My question is do I want it to be on the deck or a small table? 

I had thought about going for a short drive yesterday afternoon and when I looked out, it was raining hard. I decided to stay at home as I wouldn't have enjoyed the drive. Hopefully today I can do it. 

Sewing

I spent a couple of hours in the sewing room. I worked on the placemats and they are all sandwiched. I started to quilt the first one by doing stitch in the ditch. 

I can barely see the stitches as I sewed quite slowly and concentrated on the job. You can see the stitches on the back. 

I did stitch 1/8" from the edge to secure the sandwich and keep it from shifting. So far I am pleased with what I have done. I did this on the Juki and may continue to quilt them on this machine. I can cut out the pieces for the table runner and the bowl cozies to do the next time I am at the store to sew. 

Once the first placemat was done, I trimmed the threads on the 5th cardinal block and cut back the stabilizer. I also set up the 6th block ready to stitch out. 

Knitting

I finished the body of the sweater and started the crocheted trim. I have 2/3rds of the first row done. 

It is a cute sweater and I am looking forward to seeing it done. Next up will be leggings from a pattern by the same designer. 

Thoughts    

    The rain has started to revive the lawns so they are going to be jungles when it warms up. The plants survived transplanting and all the rain we had. I am hoping they will survive the next rain storm as they are forecasting up to 2" of rain. 

    The fires are still burning. The one near Halifax is about 85% contained and people are being allowed to return to their homes if they have one. The Shelburne fire was still out of control but firefighters were able to be aggressive with it due to the rain. Military from New Brunswick and water bombers from Montana have joined the team to help fight this fire. Hopefully the cooler wetter weather will be helpful for the fire fighters. 

    I am not going to sew at the quilt shop this week. With heavy rain in the forecast, I am going to stay home and monitor my property. I can go when this is over with. 

    I read that the person who went home on the 2nd episode of the Great British Sewing Bee had a distinct disadvantage to the others. They had to change out her model at the last moment which gave her fitting challenges. That wasn't taken into account by the judges. 

Today

I have the balance sheet to do, get groceries, and have a short drive. I want to work on the placemats after lunch and try to get block #6 stitched out. I will continue knitting on the sweater tonight. Actually it is going to be struggle crocheting the trim. I don't like crocheting with a small hook and yarn.

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