Quite the Weekend

Our weekends are known for being particularly busy but this was was quite the weekend! 

On Saturday I decided to pretty much hang out all day at YTOC with good friends for what was a really sad day.  It was the very last trading day as Kay, Amanda and Rosina closed the doors on one of our favourite craft stores for good.  We have become a wonderful little crafting community so while it was good to see lots of the 'usual' crowd - it was also very sad to be saying goodbye.  I don't doubt we'll see each other here and there but it will never be quite the same.

Lots of lovely ladies came along for one more crafting session but also to say good bye and wish Kay and Amanda well in their futures.  They still plan to take part in several craft shows to keep their hand in.

Rosina taught her last Saturday class right in the middle of the store.  Despite having a wonderful classroom upstairs I always enjoyed teaching downstairs on the shop floor like this.

And of course all of our favourite ladies took Rosina's class including Sheila, Wendy and Shirley.

Sadly the day did not pass without a few tears now and then and it was tough but it had to be done and now a new chapter can begin.

I was emotionally shattered by the end of the day - the heat didn't help either and with the grandkids coming to dinner I wasn't quite sure just how I'd manage but thankfully hubby had prepared a BBQ dinner so all I had to do was sit, relax and enjoy the company.  A fun movie and ice cream after dinner and then an early night once the kids had gone home and I was up and raring to go again this morning.

Just as well as I baked several more zucchini breads and even cooked some apples for the freezer - all before breakfast! 

After breakfast it was back to YTOC to help clear out the store before rushing off to watch Kaleb play football in the first tournament of the season.



Here he is with his team mates after the tournament (third from the left, front row).  They played in about 4 matches altogether with a draw, no goals scored in two games, and a win 1 - 0 in which Kaleb scored the winning goal.  Just like his older brother he is a real team player and we were proud to find out that the coach had sought after Kaleb for the team.

 We stayed for the presentation and all the lads got medals.  Unlike his brother, Kaleb is happy to pose for the camera so I get some lovely shots of him every now and then.

Zacheriah on the other hand has to literally be pinned down to get a shot and even then he wont look at the camera.  Would ya look at that hair!  He refuses to cut it right now even though he has to 'flick' it out of his face all the time.  He starts football with his first match next week and it's so funny to watch him 'flick' his hair out of the way throughout the match.  I don't know how he manages to see much of the game and still play but somehow he does!

And even though I had been up and going since 6.00 am this morning there was still more to do.  Dave and I stopped in at our little plot to pick elderberries.  They simply wouldn't wait any longer - if we didn't pick them right there and then they'd have been gone in a day or two and the opportunity would be lost.

Making elderberry cordial is quite a lengthy process and after a busy weekend we were simply too tired to make a start so we picked as many as we possibly could, bagged them up and popped them in the freezer for a couple of days until we get a free evening to cook them and extract the juice.

 

We picked about 14 good sized bags in all so this lot is gonna keep us pretty busy I can tell you.

We have a lot of things coming on at once right now which is giving us plenty to do.  Thank goodness the cucumbers didn't do so well and I don't have pickles to make this year.  I haven't made any jam this season either.  I am waiting to turn these babies into pumpkin pie and soup for the freezer next.

Hubby is taking one into work tomorrow for the little boy of one of the gals who works in the office.  He promised him a pumpkin and since there are still 8 or 9 more growing in the pumpkin patch we have plenty.

I am soooooo glad it's work tomorrow so I can sit at my desk.  I literally haven't stopped the entire weekend.  I managed to get work clothes washed and dried thanks to the weather and made a couple of fabric carrier bags Friday night to take into work tomorrow but other than that I simply couldn't have squeezed in anything else if I'd tried!  Still I'd much rather be busy than do nothing all weekend.

Here's hoping whatever you all did that it was a good one.  Wasn't the weather lovely?  I have the sunburn to prove it - shame I go red like a lobster instead of tanning LOL!