Monday evening

I really wasn't in the mood to do any blogging on Sunday evening.  But today is a new day and I'm in the mood so here goes.


We are in the deep freeze after enjoying above normal temperatures for the first part of winter.  But the roads are good and there was no snow in the forecast so I drove out to Torquay this morning for our weekly quilting session.  The sun was shining brightly and that makes even a cold day a cheery one.  Tressa took over the work of zig-zagging around the quilts today (with my permission!) so I sat and tied knots.  It's a great job to be able to sit and visit as we fasten the top, batting and bottom of a quilt together.  There are big decisions to be made.  What colour thread shall we use for this one? How far apart should we place the ties?  Is there a pattern that we can follow for this quilt?  Probably our favourite quilts to tie are the ones with small squares.  They are "no brainers" - just tie in the middle of each square.   Vi has bought up a large supply of crochet cotton with many shades to choose from.


We had another great potluck dinner, the highlight of our day!  We offered to share it with the guys working at the parsonage but only Blair was able to join us.  Several of us stopped by after quilting to see the progress there.  It's amazing!  I hadn't been there since the work  began.  It's going to seem like a new home when the crew gets done with the main floor.  I'll keep you in suspense and save the results for a picture gallery when the house is ready for occupancy.


Actually, I made a trip out to Torquay yesterday too.  Jamie stayed overnight with Grandma so we headed out for morning worship, arriving just before 10:30.  When we came in the entrance, Jamie remarked "I smell pancakes!"  She was right.  We had arrived AFTER the service, just in time for a pancake and sausage brunch.  I knew that we were changing to having all services at 10:30, but I had the wrong Sunday in mind!  Jamie was happy to have a pancake and juice.  I had had my favourite breakfast already - yogurt with peaches topped with granola. I was introduced to that combination in Norway where you can buy a "God Morn"(Good Morning) in grocery stores.  It has a single serving of yogurt with a portion of granola packed separately at the top of the container.  Simply open the little pack of granola, pour it on the yogurt and breakfast is served.  They were great when we were travelling.


Jamie and I had a fun time at our sleepover on Saturday night.  We did some finger painting and she insisted that Grandma finger paint too so of course I had to join in.  She was busy playing with Lego while I made supper.  We played house downstairs for a bit.  Then we watched a movie on Netflix.  She chose a Barney one.  She really wanted to try playing Susie's organ.  When all the grandkids were here I had given Abbey permission to play it as she takes piano lessons.  Since Jamie was here alone I decided it was safe to let her play it.  She was very careful and was quick to discover which were the high notes and which were low ones. You never know what sparks a child's interest.  Maybe she'll be an organist someday!


Kirk, Shauna, Carter and Lindsay joined us for lunch on Sunday.  Carter and Lindsay had also been at sleepovers but I don't think Carter's night had involved much sleep as he curled up under a blanket on the couch as soon as he got here!  When he woke up he grabbed some flatbread and they were off to Wal Mart to buy a new game for the Playstation 3 that Shauna won at the hockey tournament on in Bienfait.


I drove out to Bienfait in time for the 11:15 game on Saturday.  Lampman and Bienfait have a combined team this year as both towns were short of boys in the Atom age group.  They lost that game against an Estevan team, but won against Radville in the afternoon.  It was exciting to see Carter score the first goal right in front of us.  I was watching from a front row seat just to the left of the net when he scored.  That goal turned out to be the winning one as it ended up as a 6-0 game.  In between games I enjoyed beef on a bun and fries.  They were also serving four kinds of homemade soup.  The coaches for the hockey team were judges as to which soup was the best.  The choices were hamburger, corn chowder, clam chowder and French onion.  The winning trophy went to the maker of the corn chowder and her name will be engraved on the trophy, along with the winner from last year.  It is called "The Soup Bowl".


You can't beat these small town community minded people.  They had a fantastic display of donated raffle items. Numbered tickets were sold 25 for $10.00  Each item had a small paper bag beside it with the name of the auction item on it.  You could put each of your tickets in whichever bag you wanted to win.  Five bigger items, like the Playstation, were on a separate draw with tickets at 3 for $5 giving you a chance on all five.  There was also a Loonie stick with 50% of the loonies going to the winner and 50% to the rink.  I spent $17 to take part in all the draws but went home empty handed.  No admission is charged and I was glad to contribute to a cause that involves activities for a grandchild!  


Well, that about covers the weekend and the first day of this week.  I talked to Howard a few minutes ago for the first time in two days.  He's fed up with the lockdown too so I hope it ends soon.  We have never been apart for this long since we were married so it's a drastic change from seeing each other almost every day since I moved to Estevan in October.  At least he has a phone in his room as well as a TV so isn't as isolated as some of the residents are.  I feel especially sorry for a friend we have gotten to know there.  He is handicapped from a stroke and unable to speak other than to answer yes or no.  His wife visits faithfully every day and takes him to the hospital cafeteria for coffee most afternoons.  Now she is unable to visit and the cafeteria is off limits for all residents of St. Joseph's care home.  Activities are minimal too, not an easy time for residents, family or staff.  We pray that the lockdown ends soon.


No pictures tonight.  I'll make up for it one of these days!