Finished Project

I love it when a project is completed.


The quilt for the baby next door is all done. His name is Gibson and his dad is in the music business, so I used fabric with guitars on it for the back.
I finished the patchwork, layered it and quilted it just so I could have the thrill of sewing the binding on. I love a striped binding.
Weekends are not long enough. I use Saturday to catch my breath, some would even say I daydream the day away, and on Sunday I just start to enjoy the time, dig in to a project and the cold hard reality of leaving the house again on Monday sets in. I'll have to change my outlook, maybe my habits, because it seems that I will be working for a while yet.

On Saturday, I had a nice late breakfast with Jackie at the Roundel Cafe on Hastings St, and we walked up the block a bit looking in the little gallery shops that are opening up. The neighbourhood is growing into something new. I walked past Elizabeth's house on my way home to check in, but nobody home. Fortunately she drove up as I was halfway down the street so we had a wee chat through the window. Its nice to have friends close by.

Sunday was a walk in the park (Stanley) with Pat. We haven't seen each other all summer as she spent a lot of time with her mom on the island sorting things out with her. It was very good to catch up and she seems happy now that her mom's health and papers are in better shape. Pat served tea and some delicious pumpkin pie that William made. She tells me this is his season to practice making pumpkin pies and as the weather gets cooler his pies become evermore delicious.

Ken made progress on the deck out back. I love it. Its all bolted and the posts are in and the wood he saved from the old porch is not up to snuff, so we need to price something else. Too bad we can't re-use, but its full of holes and would not be a good roof for the area underneath.

Homer mostly slept all day.

HS Reunion vs. Gum Disease

Oh boy.
Thursday I go to the dentist after an absence of about 16 years. The hygenist cleaned and scraped and used a sonic blaster and an hour later I'm out of the chair, new $120. toothbrush with wireless SMART GUIDE in hand and lighter in the pocketbook by another $300. I had to book two more appointments. Okay, I'm thinking if that SMART GUIDE had found me 16 years ago, I might not be in this position. But then again, I have saved 16 years worth of dental bills.

Friday night I gather all my nerves together and go to my 30 year high school reunion. About half way through the evening I'm thinking back with fondness to the hour I spent in the dentist chair. I am an introvert. Being in large groups of people who I barely know makes me want to be invisible in a corner so I can watch, or wish I was a person who could say clever things that were both heartfelt and memorable, but alas I am not. I am the person who tries to be different and honest and I say the dumbest-ass things that will haunt me for days. I am sure all of the people who were in that loud, crowded room were very nice, but many seemed to have the same script, repeating over and over What Do You Do? Not; How Do You Do, or Who Are You, or What Does your Muse Say When She Visits. No, it seems the one question that makes me squirm is asked again and again. "I make boat covers" I say to the stockbroker, the semi-retired accountant, the advocate, the engineer and the librarian. "Do you want to see my car?" I say next, so I don't have to talk about my job that is enjoyable enough, but does not fulfill me. Then I lead them to the window and point out to the dark street where my little car is parked and waiting to take me home. I wonder how all of these kind folks seem to know how to 'do the room', where did they learn this skill which I so clearly do not possess? I did eventually have a nice time talking to the other brave introverts who settled themselves in the quietest corner of the room and talked about how nice it is to stay home and knit.

Saturday is a rain day. Stayed inside and knitted. I also began to sew a patchwork quilt together that has been on the design wall all summer. So involved I became in that project that I did not venture out of the house even for a minute.

Sunday. Here is the day to catch up on the things I didn't do yesterday. There was a quilt show to see (which would have involved talking to many people and probably answering the question "What Are You Doing Now?") I didn't go. The lovely people at Compass were hosting a Show and Shine event. The questions would have been asked, but by people who really want to know, these would have been genuine. But I had already squandered my networking energy on Friday night. I stayed home and sewed more scraps of fabric together into a quilt. I helped Ken when he needed assistance in putting up a new back porch. I picked all the little tomatoes which were complaining about being out in the rain. It was a good day.

one

This is the first one. Thats why its called one.
House of Bug is a place to set down ideas, whats going on right now here at the house, what may go on in the future, a place to note the things that move me.
My current thrill is the 'sungold' tomato plant on the back patio that puts forth perfectly round buds of semi transparent deeply orange gorgeousness, that when eaten transport a person to a place so sunny and robust with life that it takes a moment to come back to the here and now to savour this very moment. Its quite a ride, really.

I love my bug. Built in 1963 and bought by a lovely purple loving character of a woman named Maxine when she was 45 years old. She drove it and cared for it and kept it in a garage that her husband built for 45 years. Now I get to drive it and care for it and I hope to do that for 45 years before Lila-Bug passes on to the next lover of beautiful (and practical) things.

The lady next door is about 90 months pregnant with her second child. I made a small cowboy quilt for her first, and I'm making a little quilt with stripes and dots and animal faces for this one.

I'm knitting a striped scarf for my friend Paula so the winter on the west coast is a little easier to bear.