A Glorious Sight

Hi friends,

I'm a bit late with the post but it is still Friday where I live so I am posting my Skywatch Friday pics.

I took these about two weeks ago when I was in a different part of the city running errands. I am not usually out at dinner hour looking at the sky so I often miss the beautiful sunsets.

I hope you like these photos of the one I caught that day.

I had a busy day today dealing with my mother and her needs.  There is a flu outbreak at her residence and she and 13 other residents are quarantined. It sounds rather serious. I pray that she and the others will be better soon and that the staff will give them the very best care. In all honesty, I am not pleased with the level of care she has been receiving since she moved in there 4 months ago and I've put in a request to move her to another residence on a priority basis. We are now waiting for an available room.

After discovering mother was in quarantine and that I'd done what I could to ensure her needs were taken care, I decided to go downtown for a few errands and a distraction.  I wanted to buy some yarn, crochet thread, snack foods to send to mother, and a lot of smaller items for gifts to friends near and far.  I also thought I might get some flannel pajamas or some flannel sheets as it is now quite cold where I live.

Despite the fact that I don't really need more yarn, I continue to purchase a few skeins here and there of colours that I like and don't think I will easily come across again.  I'm actually thinking of starting to purchase skeins on line so I can have more colour options.  This way I will have what I want on hand for new projects. I want to make another African Flower Afghan once I've finished with the first one I'm making for a gift (see here if you like).  Truth be told I already have far too much yarn and other craft supplies on hand.  But it is the age old problem of never having quite what you need when you need it. I think other crafters can relate.

Tonight after I got home and had dinner there was a brief rap at my door. I looked out the peephole to discover that there was no one there but something red was sitting on the ground outside my door.

When I opened the door, there was this HUGE RED surprise there to greet me.  I joked that the poinsettia is so huge (you can't really tell from the photo) that it could take the place of my Christmas tree.

My nephew & his girlfriend left this surprise at my door but couldn't stay to visit. He called me to let me know.  I was very touched that he remembered I get poinsettias every year to brighten my home at Christmas.

I had a another happy surprise yesterday when I went to the Post Office. I won this beautiful Christmas book in a giveaway hosted by blogging friend Terra from Terra Garden.

The win was a delightful surprise as I don't tend to win things. The small Christmas book is beautifully presented and chock full of wonderful Christmas items such as recipes, heart warming stories and crafts. Terra also sent me a note card with a delicious sounding recipe on it. Thank you so much Terra for your generous heart!

Happy Skywatch Friday!

Progress

Brrr, it has been quite chilly here both yesterday and today. On Monday it was overcast and raining. I think it was Monday night when it snowed on the mountain top. On Tuesday it was very windy and by the afternoon the clouds and dull sky had cleared.  I went out and joined a friend for a few hours of relaxation over coffee and a natter (chat).  Last night the temperature went as low as -2 Celsius and I had to turn the heat on for awhile in the living room.  My feet are like ice blocks this week so I also have on a pair of socks and slipper booties and from time to time I put the heating pad on my feet too.  I'm drinking cups of tea and hot chocolate to keep warm late at night.

Today it was another cold day.  I dressed warmly when I went out to buy the week's supply of vegetables and fruit.  I stopped at the Post Office where I posted a birthday card to a local friend and a Christmas card to Joshua, son of my new blogging friend, Tammy from Texas.

Tammy is my buddy for a home made ornament swap.  It turns out her son Joshua is in the Army and he is currently posted to the Middle East.  Sadly, he won't be able to join his wife or the rest of his family for Thanksgiving, Christmas or his birthday.  Being the good mother that she is, Tammy has asked people to help bring some Christmas cheer to Joshua by sending him a Christmas card.  Please read here and if you can, do send Joshua a card.

I was delighted to get a surprise at the post office.  I will write about the surprise very soon.

Today I also made 6 more crocheted hexagons for my blanket.  Yesterday and the day before I made the other 11 hexies and weaved in all the ends from the many other hexies made previously.  If I counted correctly, I only need one more hexagon to complete my blanket (I'll have to do a re-count to make sure).  I'm not excited yet. I'll be more excited when I'm finished joining all the pieces.  I'm joining in with Chrissie at Chrissie Crafts and Marianne at Ladybird Diaries

Since I snapped this photo I've made 6 more hexies, woven in all the ends of the others and took apart the hexies I joined together in week 1 (to get a preview of what things would look like).  The colour of the blue in the hexies at the front is off. They are a softer shade than what shows.

I made a couple of  foot appointments today. One for my mom's monthly foot care treatment.  I need to see the doctor to get some antibiotics for an infected toe and a referral to a foot nurse.  I've been going for a pedicure for years and years.  About 3 years ago I started getting infections in my big toes after getting my nails done.  I gather this is common for anyone with ingrown nails but it is a real pain, both figuratively and literally.  I found a mail person who was able to clean my nails and keep them infection free for almost two years now.  Then last week she informed me that she can no longer do ingrown nails due to health inspection rules.  When I heard that, I went back to my former nail salon (naughty me).  Two days later, I my toe was infected.  Lesson learned.  I am hoping a foot care nurse can correct the problem for good.  If not, I will likely need to get my toenails partially removed.

Yuck and sad face :-(.


I leave you now with a view from my patio today.

It was very windy yesterday and today. The good thing about the wind is it drives away the cloud cover.

Have a wonderful rest of your week!