A day off

OK -- I don't take many days off from sewing, but well - this weekend was just too beautiful to pass up. We get so few glorious days, and I wanted to be outside. So, I sure didn't get much done in the sewing department, and I'm OK with that. 

I did go for a 50K bike ride. It was a bit cool. I always start my trip by going to the end of my street to test the clothing and the equipment. I stopped when I passed by the house to get a vest. I hate being cold. And what's with that headwind? There didn't appear to be any wind when I started out, but there was a nasty headwind.

I stopped to take some pictures for you.

We live near one of the busiest highways in Canada. The 401. It's a totally crazy highway with 16 lanes of traffic through most of the city center. They are widening sections of that highway to the west of the city. Why they are expanding it is beyond me as until people learn to drive properly, it doesn't matter how many lanes there are, the roads will still be blocked with idiot drivers. Sigh......

Construction on the 401 near Milton

Bicycles are not allowed on the 401. Thank God for that! I can imagine the suction created by some of those speeders would be enough to suck us off the bikes! I had taken a different route yesterday - one that I haven't ridden in a long time.

Look at this utility pole. Now, why are there so many different colors of wires? And why are they hanging off this one pole? It looks like big bobbins of colored thread hanging there.

Spools of colored wire hanging on a utility pole

I passed by the church where we usually sew on Mondays. Alas, we're not sewing there. However, we do have our Zoom meeting today! So we do get to stay in touch, and that's good.

Our Monday sewing spot

I hit three different cities on my bike. When I passed by this place, I had to take a picture. This is the famous online order fulfillment warehouse. OK - this is ONE of many in this area. It's very hard to get an appreciation of the size, but let's just say the warehouse is HUGE.

Online fulfillment warehouse

In case you don't know who I'm talking about, there's their name on the side of the building! While I appreciate that they have helped during this outbreak, - well, I'm not going to get into it. I just so disagree with their aggressiveness to consumers to the detriment of many small mom and pop shops. Just like when the W store came marching into towns. That totally decimated many local malls.

The warehouse

The parking lot was about 1/3 full, so people were picking orders to make us happy. I would LOVE to have a tour of the place. It's so vast and well - I'd just like to see it. I know people use bikes, scooters, etc. to get from place to place, but I want to see in person.

I did a bit more tidying, and in that laundry basket, I found THREE magazines. They are now in their respective places on the shelf.

Three magazines to file

This article was in the Antiques and Vintages magazine. It was about Jim Erickson's Quilt Collection. We got to meet him in 2015. Check out this blog post to read all about our adventure when we visited Jim's house and saw his amazing quilt collection.

Jim Erickson article on his antique quilts

Remember those lint rollers I mentioned a while back. Well, I found a taker for them! I kept a large one and a small one for me. The rest are in a bag ready for pick-up or drop off. Now that drawer is almost EMPTY - what will I put in there????  I love getting rid of stuff. I was going to keep a few more of the rollers, but then, common sense kicked in - I don't need them. But someone with a cat does!

Lint rollers

I can just see my kid (or anyone else) rolling their eyes if they had to go through my stuff. They would say, "oh Mom (Elaine), why did you hoard lint rollers??" So that's not going to happen!

Here's another fabric that I picked up at Len's Mill the other day. My swatch is sitting on the fabric. I think it's a good match.

Purple swatch and fabric

It's for the border for my Easy Street quilt - the Bonnie Hunter mystery that I was working on a while back. It's not a perfect match, but it'll do. It's funny when looking at it next to the quilt, it's not just that the new one is lighter, but it has a different base color underlying the main color. It has more red??? Perhaps? Oh well, it's going to be good enough!

The new fabric for the border

When you make scrap quilts, this is what happens. Move on!!!!

I woke up this morning full of energy and motivation to quilt or at least sew. I have a bunch of paper piecing ahead of me. Hmm, before I get to the new stuff, I had better finish that mini quilt for my Mom. Oh, yes - it's still not done!!!!

I got two sections done this morning.

The sun

Part of a birdhouse

I almost finished another section but realized I hadn't pressed a piece properly, so I have to do a wee bit of ripping. These pieces are so small, that if you don't press properly, well, the image doesn't show as it should. I'll be working on finishing the last two sections during Monday Sewing. Then I move onto my mini-challenge piece that was supposed to be in the mail by June 1. Luckily, the lady I'm swapping with is also behind, and we agreed to mail later than the others. But I need to get that out of the house.

So we had a run on toilet paper when this pandemic started. Then it was gloves, masks, and other PPE. Then................... oatmeal???  This is what I normally buy for oatmeal, but it hasn't been on the shelves for the last couple of weeks.

What I normally buy

What I have to buy

Technically, it's the same stuff - just in individual packets and with a flavor. I wonder what's going on? At least the price of the hamburger is coming down to a more reasonable cost.

I'll finish off today with my daily update of the Virtual Challenge. I'm almost done with the daily update. I'm currently right in the middle of Saskatoon!!!

In Saskatoon on my Virtual Challenge

Do you remember me lamenting on my running shoes and how I would go through the toes? Well, if I had normal running shoes, I'd be through several pairs by now. But remember those big white clunkers that I bought? Here they are after over 1,100 MILES of walking since January 1. Not bad!!! Yes - they are a little less white than they were when I bought them, but those toes are intact!!!

My trusty walking shoes

 I did have issues with them. The tongue dug into the front of my legs when I first started, and it was extremely painful. A pair of taller socks helped to break that part in. I had a crazy blister/callous happen on the little toe on my right foot. That got cleared up, and now I have a bruised toe on the other foot - caused by a toenail. But that is almost cleared up - at least the pain is gone. Other than that - it's all been good!!!!

No takers on the Christmas vest panel I posted earlier this week. That goes in the giveaway box. I still need to call that lady and arrange for a dropoff. Perhaps I could do that today since the boxes are sitting in the hallway upstairs and the cleaning lady is coming on Wednesday. I'm so excited.


Oh GOSH  - I keep to forgetting to say that YES - there is another Virtual Retreat and it's scheduled for Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14. The time is from 9 AM EST to 8 PM EST.  I'll be posting the Zoom links in the next day or so.  Bring your show n tell, bring your questions, come to sew or just come to visit. We'd love to see you!!!!


On that note, I'm out of here. I'm ready to work today! No slacking in the gazebo! Besides, it's cool this morning. If those sweatpants of mine were made, I'd be putting them on! But I'll just suffer the cold.

Hae a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!