Sit Down -- this news is SHOCKING!!!

To stop you from guessing, the picture on the jigsaw puzzle is Mount Etna, and it erupted on December 27th in fine form! Fascinating to see the photos of the red-hot lava against the snow. 

Mount Etna erupted on December 27th

OK -- I warned you, and I hope you are sitting down because what I'm about to say is shocking! I even shocked myself. 

So Miss Murphy and I were on our walk, and we were chatting. And then she said to me, "Mom - Enough is enough. I'm tired of sleeping in that office with all your junk. I want you to clean it up today! No more excuses."

We talked some more, and then, if you can believe it, I got excited about cleaning up the office, and I couldn't wait to get home. WHAT? 

I know! Here's what happened. Needless to say, as the day progressed, I abandoned all thoughts of sewing or quilting. I was EXHAUSTED by noon, but kept plugging away, although my pace slowed as the day progressed. I even abandoned my afternoon walk, even though it was a glorious day. 

Now - don't get too excited, the surfaces are not free of clutter, but I made HUGE inroads to getting it in better shape. At the end of the day, I took pictures which I'll share in a minute, and it doesn't look a whole lot better, but it is better. Trust me! I also took several bins of recycling to the cart in the garage, and my shredding box is full. 

I started by piling all the paper on the kitchen island. That is a LOT of paper, and most of it should be gone! There is a massive tub in the back that contains bills from MANY years that never got filed. OK -- to be honest, many never got opened! DO NOT YELL AT ME - I was very irresponsible - I know that! But the bills got paid. 

The mess I dealt with

At some point in the day, I looked at the small cabinet beside my computer and grabbed THREE more tubs of paper that needed sorting. 

I added this to the mix

When I have done this kind of thing in the past, I have lasted about an hour, if that, and then I stall. I get distracted or tired and throw in the towel, barely making a dent in the mess. 

But Murphy had got me fired up, and I could hear you all cheering me on. Many people tell me they can hear me in their head. Well, I could hear you all saying, "Come on, Elaine - you got this!" It didn't hurt that I had 2½ hours of an exciting audiobook to finish, and I was going to sort until the audiobook was done. 

But even when the book was done, I continued in silence! Yes, I could have put on music or found another book, but I was happy in my little world and forged ahead. I didn't even have room to make lunch, so I had some cheese and crackers and ate them in the mess on the kitchen table. 

I also can't seem to do this when someone else is in the house. Maybe because DH is too nosy and will come around and ask questions. I don't need questions; I need peace and quiet when I do this.

The sorting process is in full force

So, piece by dreaded (and often dusty) piece of paper, I sorted through what I started with on the island. I think this picture was taken after the sort because there was NOTHING left on one side of the island. It was all sorted by category or bill type on the counters. A very good reason to keep those counters clear! Trust me - I want the office to be the same way, and I'm going to make it happen! Spoiler alert - that did NOT happen yesterday! A few more days are needed for that. 

There were more piles where the sink is, as well as the extra tubs I brought from the office. 

More sorting

Even the kitchen table was called into action. 

More piles of crap on the kitchen table

After I took those pictures, this is what remained on the island. Still some piles to sort through, but excellent progress. 

Significant progress was made with the sorting

The only disappointment of the day was that I did NOT find the missing folder, but I did find another piece of the pattern on the back of something else. I use recycled paper in our printer, and well, I've found a few pieces that way. 

Here's where the three extra tubs of paper came from in the office. I don't know what possessed me, but I was determined to make a dent in the mess. Did I make that happen? I did, but it doesn't necessarily look like I did. The big stack of paper on top is my pile of recycled paper for the printer. I don't think we ever need to buy paper in this house! I put all my notebooks on one of those empty shelves, so they are convenient to me. I found many of them, and imagine the sensibility of having them conveniently at my fingertips. How amazing is that? They need to be sorted through, as I'm sure many "dead" pages need to be removed. 

The cabinet beside the desk

Then, while I was at it, I looked at the table in the office. This is disgusting, and I attacked that as well. Can you believe that I ate at that table last night? Yep --- I haven't used that table for a long, long time, other than as a dumping ground. 

But now I had to clean up the kitchen and put away those piles. So I started by bringing in the most urgent stuff and put it on the table, so I can deal with it later today or whenever I have a few minutes. You'll see more of that progress as the days go by. I'm not sure how much time I will devote to the next stage, but I don't think I can do another full day. By noon, my back was exhausted from standing and sorting. But I carried on! And by the end of the day, my brain was fried! I'm not sure if I want to set a goal to clear this table top by the end of this month. That would be a lot, but it would be nice to have the space clear. I'll see how I feel! I'm sure Miss Murphy will continue to hound me on our walks!

The current piles that I need to continue to sort through

This is the current state of the desktop. I still have two tubs of paper to sort through, and I did a little last night, but by then I was brain-dead and couldn't handle more sorting. 

The state of the desktop

But compared to a couple of days ago, I would say there is an improvement. The TV tray is gone, and there was a pile of stuff on that little white shelf in the back; it's mostly empty and will be donated. I'm not quite there yet. I'm going to focus on sorting the tubs and the table!

The "before" picture of the desktop

And here's the cabinet that sits beside the computer desk. Well, you can't really see it, but it looks much better. 

The computer desk area

What I need to do to really see a difference is to tackle the computer desk. I need to get that new computer out of the box, clean up the pending file, and then get rid of all the detritus that collects on the desktop. PLUS, there is some computer work that needs to be done. 

I thought I would find more reading material, but there wasn't much, unless it's in the tubs I haven't sorted yet. And I thought I would find tons of to-do lists, but I didn't see much of that either. Unless it's still hiding somewhere. 

Thank goodness for that filing cabinet. I took the sorted piles and shoved them into file folders. Oh yes -- I have plenty of hanging sleeves and empty folders, so that's where most of what I sorted yesterday resides. 

Before I put the stuff away, I sorted through several piles, and then I ran out of time and energy. 

Now I need a good lecture from my friend Murphy. "Mom -- you do NOT need to keep utility bills forever." And YES - I need to get the few remaining utility bills on email, NOT in the mail. I'm working on it! So here's a question for you—if you still have paper bills, what do you need to keep? OK—I could Google that question, but I'm curious. What about property tax bills? Renovation bills? 

I need to deal with all that, but honestly, I'm at the point where I can easily say goodbye to most of it. 

There is one problem with the situation in the filing cabinet. I have NOT labelled or sorted the files into logical order, so if I find another piece of paper, it's a bit tricky to find the right spot, and the drawers are full. So I must be diligent and start the process of making one drawer for household stuff, one for quilting, etc., and grab the folders and sort through them. I'm guessing that most of what I put in there can be tossed. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I NEED to go through them. I'm not the kind of person to just toss. I won't be happy, so don't even suggest it!

I found a few hilarious things that got put somewhere, and as I unearth them, I'll share them with you! But I found this - my goals for machine embroidery. There is no date on it, but I suspect it's from 2023 or 2022? I'm not sure when we started the machine embroidery club. Wait -- I just checked my digital picture folders (labelled, of course) and it was from 2021. The year when we were all on Zoom. 

Machine embroidery goals from 2021

Well, let's see. From that list, I did NOT complete the first two items, nor the last item. They are still sitting here waiting to be done! That list was NOT visible, and I totally ignored it throughout the year. So yes, one can set goals, but if you forget what they are, they will likely go undone. So if you went to the trouble of making a list, make sure you keep it handy! And that you use it when you are scheduling your daily/weekly/monthly activities 

I sure wish I didn't have to spend the entire day sorting, and there are many more days required to get this room under control, but I have made giant leaps and bounds since the day I vowed to clean it up. It's been slow, but at one point near the end of 2017, the place was filled with boxes of crap. 

I don't have a picture of the office, but all this was moved there at the end of 2017. Plus all the stuff that was already in the room. It was TIGHT. 

Boxes of stuff that were moved into the office in 2017

So, while it still looks messy, the situation has come a long way, and I'll get there. And the day that we have to downsize, will be a piece of cake! Mainly because there won't be much left in this room! And by then, the hard decisions - to keep or toss will be even easier because I'll have gone through the process many times, and each time you go through it, things become less important. 

I found these cute little key chains in a brown bag. They are from our trip to Africa and will get added to my mini-shoe collection. They are sandals - one for Tanzania and one for Kenya! 

Mini sandals from Kenya and Tanzania

Now I have a problem in the office: finding a way to remove this curtain rod from the hardware so I can hang the roman shade on it. It's sitting on the desk and has been for years because I don't know how to remove that rod from the brackets. I MUST make that happen because I'd like to hang up the blind! 

How to get the hanging rod out of the brackets

There is one area in here that I'm going to need some mental fortitude to deal with. That is the several boxes of odds and ends. YES -- I know that most of it should be thrown out, and by the time I deal with the paper, maybe I'll be in that frame of mind. But there are many boxes of stuff. But if I have some clear space to lay out and sort the stuff, it might help me make some decisions! 

And do not ask me why I can do this sorting thing much better when I'm home alone, so much better than when DH is in the house. I have no idea, but when he's away, I can work like mad. He's going to be away several times this month, and I sure wish I were home alone so I could go crazy with the rest of the cleanup. But that's OK -- I'll just grab a pile and deal with it. 

I also found a dead candle. But I love the dish and what to do with it? So I Googled how to get the wax out, and all I had to do was pour boiling water into the dish. It was fascinating to watch the wax pop to the top of the water. 

Watching the wax pop to the surface of the water

And then I was able to pull the wax out of the holder. 

The excess wax

Now I could just throw the wax away, or I could get creative and find a smaller container and some candle wick and make a new candle. It seems like such a waste to throw that wax away. Does anyone need wax for fire starters? Apparently, that is another good use for used wax. 

And since it was a complete loss in the day for sewing (no regrets), I might as well tackle that jigsaw puzzle when I got tired. I think I sat at the puzzle once in the afternoon, and then before bed. And it's done!!!

Jigsaw puzzle - complete

I have the following three puzzles lined up, so I can put this one away later today and then get out the next one, which is only 300 pieces, so it shouldn't take long. Then I can drop those off at my neighbors and I can get to work on a couple of 1000-piece puzzles. 

I seem to be the Energizer Bunny as I was up early, and I'm getting laundry done before we hit the 7 AM time for higher electricity in our area. I'm running around in my cycle shorts, preparing for spin class. 

For all my classes and Monday Sewing, I send an email at the beginning of the class with the Zoom link, and I forward the link the night before. I encourage everyone to keep that email in a safe place so they will always have it. Some people need to have that link, even though I've never forgotten to send it out. The other day, someone asked me why I don't encourage people to put the link in their digital calendars. Well, last night I sent the link to the digital calendar for Monday Sewing, and THREE people have already added it to their calendars!!! Silly me for not doing that before. So thanks again, Becky, for getting me out of a rut!!! I'll do that for all classes going forward! 

In my sorting yesterday, I cleaned off the TV tray, the stuff on the desk, three tubs from the cabinet, AND a pile that was on the desktop. That was huge - and I'm not quite done. BUT, it has freed up space and visual clutter on the desktop. So my goal is to chip away at the crap on the desktop and get those tasks done, and then I can add a few more. Do I see the end in sight to this endless pile of paper? YES - I do, and I hope that you believe me! Not that anyone ever said anything, but I can bet that many of you were saying, "JUST DO IT!" And I listened, and I did!

Here's a quote that I spotted on Facebook yesterday.  

Yes --- 1000%. If you can't control the outcome of something, LET IT GO!!!! I do not worry about anyone or anything but those in my immediate household. I can't control anyone else, nor can I control the weather. I can only control my REACTION to what happens, so that is where my focus is. The older (and wiser) I get, the better I am at reacting maturely!

And now it's your turn. I don't care if you decide to deal with one, two, or three pieces of paper in a day. I don't care if it's a drawer in your kitchen, but you CANNOT leave this mess! 

Even though there is still a lot of stuff in this room, there is a different, lighter feel in the air. I'm not kidding. It feels better in here - more energy, more positivity! Can you imagine how I'll be when the surfaces are immaculate? I'll be bouncing off the walls!!!

And on that positive note, I'm out of here! Off to spin class!

Have a super day!!!!

The office decluttering continues

And so the decluttering continues! I have NOT found that file folder that initiated this current cleaning frenzy, and I NEED that folder. I've promised the contents to someone. So I have a couple more spots to look - actually, at this point, just one, and if it's not there, I will have to recreate the files. I have some of it in hard copy, but it needs to be digital. Sigh...........

Well, that's OK, but the darn thing is I remember sorting and cleaning that folder. I did NOT throw it out. Where the heck is the darn thing? 

No pictures of the decluttering mess. It's ugly, and it's going to get worse! But as Murphy and I were walking yesterday, we had a chat about some of the stuff in the "maybe" pile, and she gave me good advice. If you have NOT used those sample books in a long time, then why are you keeping them? She's right! I should dig them out and ditch them! More on that tomorrow. 

I was a big believer in ripping out magazine pages to keep, though I never did anything with them. They got added to the piles! Now some of the stuff is going immediately to the recycling, while others I'm reading. I know—it would be much faster if I just tossed them, but I have to do it this way. 

I found an interesting article on a historic "village" in West Springfield, Massachusetts. It's called Storrowton Village Museum, and they moved nine historic buildings onto the site. One of them is called the Potter Mansion and has a very unique quilt feature in the house.  

It has quilt cranes on either side of the fireplace, long decorative pieces of wood that extend out. Hmm -- what's on the other side? Apparently, at bath time, a quilt was hung on each crane, which provided privacy and warmth! The family, from the father, mother, and the oldest child to the youngest, would bathe in the same water. Yep --- that was a thing! And hence the saying, "don't throw the baby out with the bath water," came about. 

The quilt cranes on either side of the fireplace in the Potter Mansion

Anyway, I think the quilt cranes are a great idea, and we could have used them in our house! But Dad went last because he was filthy from working outside! 

Check out the website; they have drone footage of the village and go into several buildings, but not the Potter Mansion. See - if I just tossed that article, we would have missed this cool quilt feature! And that article came from the March 2006 issue of The Quilter. 

I also found this sheet of paper with a book I wanted highlighted. Well, I knew that I had the book, so the paper is gone and the book is on the bookshelf. 

A paper reminding me of a book I wanted

Information about my car, which I sold over two years ago. Recycled! If I used the filing cabinet better, I would NOT have this problem. So I'm going to continue sorting the paperwork and filing it in the appropriate folders, and then I'll slowly work my way through them. But I suspect there is a lot more paper crap like I dealt with yesterday, and I need to read it. I'll get over that soon enough, but at least once I read it, it's gone! 

Brochure on  my 2019 car

As I mentioned, I'm not in a rush, and if it takes all year, it takes all year. I'm OK with that. We each have to find the method that works for us. It's enough for Marie Kondo to hold something in her hand and say "goodbye"; I need to revisit it and say goodbye in my way!

I also found patterns, which are now on the pattern shelf in the stash room. That's a job for another day! 

Patterns found in the clutter

And several books, which are now on the bookshelves in Studio B. 

Found books

It must have been pretty quiet at my "favorite" online store's warehouse. DH needed something and couldn't buy it locally. He had paid a visit to Best Buy, and they told him to check the online store. He placed the order around 8 PM on Friday night. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning to walk the dogs and found one of the packages sitting on the doorstep! That's less than a 12-hour turnaround time. Granted, we live 10 KM from a massive fulfillment center! And it's a crazy place. I want to take KU (my SIL) on a tour there. I went in 2022, and it was fascinating. 

My delivery

What was in the package? Snap bands! I can't imagine any store would stock those, and you'll see what I'll use them for another day. 

Snap bands

The second order came in the afternoon, and I had such a laugh because I had ordered a second product. Granted, I might have been able to find this in a sporting goods store. But remember, DH was giving me grief about my dirty jacket? And I've been complaining that two of my jackets have lost their water-repellent properties. I bought a wash for jackets that is supposed to restore some of that water-repellent property. I might have a go at that this afternoon. 

Wash for cleaning and restoring jackets

I had my three things listed for what I wanted to accomplish in Studio B yesterday. I got the first one done. All the borders are FINALLY on Farm Girl Vintage, and the top is done! That outer border is a farm-themed fabric and perfect for the border! 

Farm Girl Vintage - top is DONE

Then I forged ahead and got the binding and the backing complete as well. 

Farm Girl Vintage is ready to move to the "to be quilted" pile

That quilt is on my visual to-do list, but I'm not taking the picture down until it's quilted and bound! 

Then I put up these blocks from Dear Jen. I'll tell you more about this another day. 

Dear Jen blocks

At one point, DH was busy cleaning up his office. Hmmm --- we are both on a tear to clean up our messes! And he dropped a screw behind a very heavy desk that is possible to reach behind to get the screw. He asked if I had skinny arms, and I said I had something even better! A magnet on a stick!!! And I knew exactly where it was! It worked! 

My magnet on a stick

Then he asked why I had such a tool. Well, someone had suggested it was good to pick up pins when they drop on the floor. I think this was the second or third time I used it! But I remembered I had it and I knew where it was!!!

I wasn't able to finish the second task on my list, though I got the fabric cut and did a bit of sewing on it this morning. That's OK. If you don't meet the goal, then just roll it over for the next day. I only have three things on the list each day because that's usually all I can manage! Of course, it depends on how involved the tasks are!

OH MY!!! I thought I had classes this Saturday, but they are the following Saturday! I still had loads of time and the entire week devoted to the homework. I might have to rethink my schedule a wee bit. I'll be scheduling my time for the week later today. 

The third task was to quilt a quilt. And it's done! But not before there was a tiny issue with the machine, which I caught early, and it didn't take too long to fix the error and get back on track. I love how it turned out. The next one is loaded and ready to go later today! 

Customer quilt - DONE

But at one point, I lost my tape marker. And sure enough, it was stuck to my sleeve! This is just a temporary marker to help me move the quilt forward. I now use thread as the "permanent"  marker, and those threads will get removed when I trim the quilt. 

My "lost" tape marker

I managed to get more half-square triangles done. I told you - I'm on a roll and I'm taking full advantage of my motivation. At some point, I'll slow down and won't be so excited, but it doesn't matter. The amount of stuff I'm getting done and clearing up - it all counts! And means less for the next bout of decluttering enthusiasm. For now -- we keep forging ahead at full steam!

More half-square triangles

I struggled to fall asleep last night. What to do, what to do? I read for a bit, then got up and worked on the current jigsaw puzzle, which I had been ignoring. I like that it's tucked away upstairs, so it doesn't distract me. I don't need more distractions these days! This one is tough! Almost more challenging than the Santa puzzle! Every piece I had pulled to work on a section didn't work, and I had to find new areas to work on! But I think I'm on a roll now. 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

We all know that fabric is subject to the world of shrinkanomics, and quilt backings seem to be taking a bigger hit than regular cotton. Look at that! I can see right through the fabric! 

A quilt backing

As I continue the decluttering journey and find interesting things to share with you, I will. I'm going to try to quickly sort the piles of stuff on the kitchen island into categories, so I can deal with each category separately. Actually, DH is away for a couple of days, and I like to spread my sorting piles out across the entire kitchen. Afterall, all the countertops are clean, but KU is returning tomorrow. So that's probably not a good idea. But I could take it up to Studio U and spread it out there, but I would have to put all the quilts away before. I meant to do that over the holidays, but I got waylaid! 

And of course, there is some paperwork that I have to follow up on this morning. And as luck would have it, I still haven't been able to sign up for my Conqueror Challenge for 2026. Yep -- the code they gave me won't work. So I wait for an answer! I knew it wouldn't be smooth! SIgh.......

Oh -- no one guessed the place that was on the puzzle I shared at Christmas. 

One of this year's adventures

Here's a clue. That's an active volcano, and it erupted on December 27th! I don't think we will be summitting this mountain! But lots of good hiking trails in the area. 

We never seem to be thankful for the little things in life. But as I walked with the girls yesterday, I was very grateful for the weather! Our route takes us up a multi-purpose path on a busy street, which I don't mind. But that is usually the way the wind blows, so as we walk up that path, the wind is fierce, and my eyes water and my sinuses go mad! Yesterday, it was cool, but the wind was less, and I was very comfortable. I am grateful for the fantastic weather! And it's going to be relatively mild this coming week - according to the app this morning! Let's take it one day at a time! 

I heard of someone who writes a note about something good that happened during the previous week. Then the notes are set aside, and on New Year's Day, they are read as a reflection on the past year. How cool is that? And what a good way to be grateful for all the wonderful things that happened. Sometimes, we only remember the traumatic things! 

On that happy note, I'm out of here! 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!

The power of positive thinking!

OH OH OH !!!!! I had to laugh when I read Elle's comment this morning! YES --- tidying up a drawer or anything is a snap once the JUNK is gone. I'm shocked at how easy everything is to maintain in the areas where we have eliminated all the junk. By junk, that may be literally garbage that should be thrown away, or it may mean those things you no longer need or want. GET RID OF IT!!! 

It takes a long time to get there, but once you do, the amount of FREE time you'll have will shock you! Daily cleaning and tidying up is a breeze! 

But the reason I laughed at Elle's comment was this! The other day, someone on a Zoom call mentioned a small item, and I HAD to have that item. I put it in the cart of my "favorite" online store. 

That was in the last couple of days of 2025. Imagine my surprise when I opened the cart in 2026 and found the price of the item had gone up by $3.32. And the cost of the other two items in my cart has also gone up, but only a few cents. It's to be expected -- a new year! 

Alert of a price increase!

What is the item? Well, I had an epiphany and thought, "I bet I already have that item." And sure enough, when I looked in the bag of knitting tools, there it was!!!! It's called a Soft Touch Thread Pick by Clover. It probably shouldn't be in with the knitting tools, but it's better off at the long arm, where you get a small errant stitch from time to time. 

Soft Touch Thread Pick

I even have this one, which is much larger, and should be in with the knitting tools. Good grief—thank goodness I caught that!!! I deleted this item from the cart and saved myself from a duplicate tool! 

A Fix-An-Knit tool

When I look at the clutter in this office, I must remind myself of how easy it is to find any utensil in our kitchen because I eliminated what we didn't use and tidied up what we do use! Wouldn't it be amazing to walk in here and immediately put my hands on anything I want? That's my goal! Continue dealing with the junk, even if it means putting some things aside for later. The next time will be that much easier! 

I've got a few piles on the kitchen island and will work my way through some each time I pass. I WILL NOT let this mess get the better of me! And when it's time to downsize? Well, it's going to be a piece of cake! 

I think one of the big things about downsizing or decluttering is the ability to finally LET GO of things we deemed necessary because of sentimentality, guilt, or whatever other reason we thought we needed to keep them. It's such a freeing feeling knowing that you do NOT have to be the gatekeeper of items. Let them go - find a new home, recycle, reuse, or whatever, but GET RID OF THAT JUNK!!!

If you want a quick peek at my kitchen drawers and some stuff behind the doors, check this out. I redid the drawers in 2024, and they are in the same condition today. When I want a big spoon, I know exactly where to find it and exactly where to put it away when emptying the dishwasher. That is HUGE!!! The only thing I have to do is remove everything, give it a quick wipe, and put it all back. 

And in case you are interested, here is the status of the Pony Express staging area at the house. Only a few things on it, and I will continue to use this to pass along things. It's worked great in the past, and well, I hope it gets used frequently in 2026! 

The Pony Express staging area

And now let's take a look at Studio B. I know that Studio B is overflowing with stuff. But I have a plan, and with the new arrangement, I think I'll see improvement this year! I can feel it!!! I've specifically targeted projects in my current project as goals for 2026, so anything I get done will be a step in the right direction! 

Here's a tip to start the year. I was sewing the extra blocks for Farm Girl Vintage, and the sewing machine was struggling to start a new seam. It's a top-of-the-line sewing machine, so I can't blame the quality. OH CRAP -- look, I still have the decorative stitch plate on the machine. GET THAT THING OFF!!! Use your single-stitch throat plate for piecing—you will be a much happier camper!!! The minute I switched the stitch plates, there was no issue with the fabric getting sucked into the bobbin case. If you don't have one, check with your local dealer and buy one! It's not a luxury - it's a NECESSITY!!! And if you have to move your needle to find your 1/4" seam allowance, get a 1/4" foot that allows you to stitch with your needle in the center! You shouldn't have to struggle! 

This is NOT the stitch plate to use for picing! 

And then the nine-patch got sewn. 

The nine-patch for Farm Girl Vintage

Oh, wait -- I threw the die to see what I should be working on. Good answer!!!

The task of the day!

Farm Girl Vintage is a UFO. I taught it as a class in 2016 and 2018. I think it's time to bring this one home! 

I didn't take a picture of the other block with the half-square triangles, but it's done, too. Then it was time to rejig the borders, and those got done as well. The quilt is NOW the size in the book, with NO extra blocks, and I used up a bunch of small scraps. You can't even tell that I added an additional row. Was that at the top or the bottom? 

I had hoped to get the flying geese border stitched on this morning, and I'm very close. Here's the status of the quilt. Hmmm -- that bottom looks a bit wavy, but I'm sure it'll be fine when I sew the border on. The last flying geese border is made and just needs to be stitched on. I had to fudge many seams when sewing the flying geese units together. I have no idea what happened, but no one will know! 

Farm Girl Vintage quilt top - almost done!

However, I had a wee dilemma: I was missing ONE flying geese unit. I was just about to make a new one when I spotted this. 

WAIT - the missing flying geese unit! 

It was attempting to fly away!!!! Imagine if there had been all kinds of junk on my work table. Would I have found that? I don't think so! I can't say enough about clean work surfaces to be efficient in sewing. It was not always like that at my studio, and I wish I had photos to show you how I used to work. My cutting table literally had a 12" corner free to cut stuff. That is NOT good. The sewing tables were strewn with projects I hoped to work on, and the ironing surface was barely visible. I will NEVER let that happen again. I've learned that neat, tidy, and CLEAR make for a much easier place to work. 

But that's when things did NOT have a home, and there was no place to put them. Now, I'm hypersensitive to putting things away! OCD? Perhaps, but I LOVE the change. 

And I"m making great progrss on the little triangles as enders and leaders. When those units were shoved in a drawer, I ignored them. Now they are front and center and get worked on every time I sew! They are sorted by color! 

My ender and leaders tray

This tray is the only thing sitting on my sewing table. I only need THREE tools when I'm sewing, so they are in front of the sewing machine on the table. The extra thread (black) and the extra bobbins are on the telescoping thread stand. NOTHING else is on the table. I don't need markers, rulers, and gosh knows what else messing up the sewing table. I will mainly use those at the cutting table, so that is where they reside - in a holder on the wall! If I need something, I simply get up to get it. Simple!! 

I got another chuckle when I was finishing the editing, and YES --- all that writing is done, and all the projects I worked on are COMPLETELY finished. That took a bit of time, but I persevered. Anyway, Grammarly HATES passive language, which I still struggle with. But when I managed to rewrite the sentence so it was NOT passive, I got this message. 

Yeah -- Grammarly approves my new sentence structure!

OH my!!!! I'm not practising - I just fly by the seat of my pants, and hopefully one day, I'll get the hang of writing without it being passive! I struggle with what that even means, which is why it's hard to correct. Grammar was never my strong point! 

I've been cleaning out the cupboards a little bit each day, and I knew there was muffin mix in there. So I pulled the mix and all the cupcake papers out. I think it's time to use them up! If I don't use them up, I need to get rid of them. There is NO SENSE in keeping things that we will never use. 

My cupcake papers

I have Scrabble cupcake papers, cycling, and some polka dots. And a few that are just white! Why keep them? I should enjoy them while I can. Instead of buying bran muffins for my afternoon snack, I'm going to make them. At least until the cupcake holders and the bag of muffin mix are gone! 

And when I walked to the grocery store, I thought about buying a treat for myself - chocolate milk. I am trying to cut out any extra refined sugar in my diet, and I KNOW that chocolate milk is high in sugar. But when I saw this on the packaging, that was enough for me. I left it in the store.

OH -- that's a deterrent to buying chocolate milk!

In case you can't read that, it says HIGH IN SUGARS!!! I will only indulge in chocolate milk if I'm hiking or doing a long bicycle trip. Otherwise, I'm good with water. 

I seemed to be laughing a lot yesterday. At one point in the day, this was the shelf by the front door. FOUR pairs of mittens. HEY -- if I have them, I need to use them. If it's somewhat cold out, I wear two pairs of mittens for walking the dogs. A thin dollar store pair inside my fleece mittens. That allows me to pick up after them without completely exposing my hands to the cold. Those are the two black pairs. 

Then I have the gorgeous orange felted mittens that I wear for walking, with no dog leashes to deal with. And the other pair I use if I need to drive the car or walk with my hands in my pockets. I know—that's pretty specific, but hey—I have them. I'd better wear them, or I need to give them away! Don't worry, I was letting them air out. They are back in the closet! 

My daily mitten selection

I also have numerous coats that I wear depending on the weather. And last night, DH was disgusted at the state of my down sweater. It's a bit dirty, but who cares! He called me a homeless person! I could wash it, but it doesn't come clean, and it's all because of walking the dogs and putting dirty gloves (from the leashes) in my pockets. Even though that jacket is now 13 years old, I'm not ready to retire it. 

I read quite a bit yesterday, since I have a couple of books that are close to their due dates. NO cheating on the due date with the app. At the appointed time, they disappear even if you aren't finished! And guess who came to entertain me while I sat in the living room?

MOM - we're too tired to stand up and play!

And no, Murphy is not looking adoringly at Lexi. They were in a lazy mood to play and were content to lie on the floor and natter. 

While you think they are relaxing, they are NOT. They are actively listening to each other to see who will make the first move! They are so funny to watch!! And look how close they are! 

MOM -- she's bothering me! 

I spotted this on Facebook yesterday and OH MY!!!! 

Could any words be more truthful? How many times have you gone somewhere or listened to someone, and it's all negative? I get it that people need to vent and that for some, times are very tough. But there is a silver lining in everything. Not only that, but if you constantly talk in the negative, how the heck will you ever dig yourself out of that doomsday prophecy? Many doctors also believe in the power of positive thinking as a healing agent. There's a lot to be said about positivity. Like with the weather! 

Yep -- -I'm all about the power of positive thinking! Life can be bad, but it's not the end of the world. Fix the problem, find the good side of everything, and move on! That positive thinking provides energy, and energy means getting things done! Yes -- I totally get that some people have issues with depression, etc., and that the positive side of things isn't within their grasp. So do not yell at me for that. 

I've had the occasional day where I feel like the world is closing in on me, but I have the power to dig myself out of that hole. I cannot imagine someone who can't. 

And that about sums up today! The temperature is only minus 6, and the sidewalks are wet and sort of slushy, but you can walk with confidence, as there is no ice! How much better can it get in the middle of winter? 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!