Daybook: Monday, Feb. 19/18

It is Family Day here in Ontario and a Provincial public holiday. Many banks and businesses will not be open today; but Federal government offices, including the Post Office will be open. It is also my Sister's birthday today, so I will be making a call to her later this morning.

Outside my window.....it is bright and sunny.

I am thinking.....that I have not felt very motivated the past week to continue my Spring Cleaning regimen and I do not have many goal accomplishments to show, but I did work on getting some things done.

I am thankful for.....relatively good health this winter [knock on wood]....I haven't suffered any cold or flu so far this season.

From the kitchen.....I finished another roasted chicken this week. I baked dog biscuits again yesterday and the last head of cabbage has been shredded and is sauteing in the kitchen now as I write this. I cooked the rutabaga yesterday and had some with dinner last night. I hard boiled 5 eggs last night to eat as snacks.

I am wearing.....black denim jeans, black fluffy socks and a navy sweat shirt.

I am creating.....an embroidery project on a pillow slip. I made 3 valentine cards and 2  birthday cards and one "Thinking of You" card last week. (So I guess I did accomplish one of my goals after all) I also water coloured some of my new stamps of crazy cats and crazy birds and made some backgrounds for future card-making.

I am going.....to the post office to check my mail and the drug store later today to pick up 2 prescriptions and some dairy items.

I am hoping.....I will feel inspired this week to do a bit of cleaning.

I am hearing.....only occasional traffic noises. The dog is sleeping upstairs.

Around the house.....the vacuuming is still calling out to me, but I have been ignoring it.

One of my favourite things.....right now is the new stamp I bought myself on Monday. I have been checking out Pinterest to gather ideas for card-making, including a number of cat and bird puns I can use.

A few plans for the rest of the week......start tomorrow with my son and his fiancee coming over with dinner to celebrate my birthday. Wednesday I have two doctors' appointments in the afternoon. Friday, a friend and I are going to spend the day together, and Sunday I will drive to my brother's and SIL's in Smith Falls. We have tickets to go to a concert in Ottawa that night, so I will be spending the night with them and returning home on Monday.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

I bookmarked a site that has embroidery patterns that I can print out. I used carbon paper to transfer the design to an old pillow case I already had and I am using embroidery floss that I purchased years ago. This pattern has a little bit of everything....back stitch, split stitch, chain stitch, lazy daisy, cross stitch and french knots. I have been making mistakes as it has been years since I have done any kind of embroidery, but this is a great project for practice, or to get this NEED for embroidery OUT OF MY SYSTEM. Ha. I will either keep this for myself or give it to one of my grand daughters as a gift. It is also a good project to pick up and work on a little bit at a time.