The home stretch

 

Oh my - if you live near me, I hope you were out yesterday. The weather was GLORIOUS. It was 18 degrees and sunny. I went for a long, long walk. I hit the mall, the library, the grocery store, and the bank! Now I have no errands for today when it's also going to be a glorious day. Oh well, one doesn't need a destination to go for a walk. 

Oh - and I saw a fellow quilter who lives not far from me. She was out for a walk with a friend, but I have to say that I didn't see a whole lot of other people out walking. The school kids were out on the playgrounds, so that was great. 

Here's an observation about walking. The first time I walked to the library, I thought I had walked for a long time. It's a 10-minute walk away. Or if I wanted to expand that walk, I could walk to the bank, which is a wee bit further away. I thought I was doing amazing. In my neighborhood, those are very doable walks. 

I also felt that I need a purpose to my walk. I could walk the dogs, or I could walk to do an errand, but just walk for the sake of walking? Who would do that? After all the walking that I did this year, I realize that I do NOT need a destination. I just walk! And that's great because it means that I can walk anywhere, at any time and not feel out of place. 

So if you're wondering whether you should go for a walk - just remember the lady who walks up and down the little entranceway to the forest. It's the length of their lot - she lives right beside this entranceway. She walks up and down for at least 20 minutes. Safe, close to home, and she's getting fresh air and exercise. Do I think she's weird to do that? I don't care - I'd rather see her walk there than sitting in the house. 

Well, the end is in sight! I can't believe it. Who knew when we started the Route 66 virtual walk on January 1 that I'd actually get to the end and within the year. But look at this. I have LESS THAN 100 miles to walk to the end of Route 66. Am I excited? You bet I am!

Less than 100 miles to go

I'm currently walking through the San Bernardino Mountains. 

Route 66 highway through the San Bernardino Mountains

And here's the map - so close, I can practically smell the ocean!!!

The final miles to the end of Route 66

Here are some pictures taken on my REAL walks yesterday. The garbage can is back in place, and all the garbage is picked up. Let's hope that it stays that way! Who knew that I could get excited about a garbage can in the park!

The garbage can is back in place

I went to the mall and had to stop and take pictures of the construction. The parking lot is totally ripped up, and it looks like they are putting in new light posts. But it also looks like there might be some sort of patio area outside the theatre. There is a large door tucked around the corner and all this underground structure you see in the distance. No idea what that is all about. I wonder if I would see better from the other side. Hmm - that might be on the agenda for the walk today!

The construction at the mall

I stopped at Bulk Barn and got the rest of the ingredients for my Bear Paw cookies! I'm all set for next week. 

Peanuts and Kisses for my cookies

I had to pick up another book. Good grief - I'm going to have to abandon the one I'm reading. It just gets weirder and weirder. It would appear that I am not alone! I just read the reviews on Goodreads (The Quiet Girl by Peter Hoeg), and most didn't like it or found it confusing. What's interesting is that a lot of people did NOT abandon the book. OK - I'll try to force myself to read a bit more each day to get through it. Most of the story jumps around and has no logical storyline. Well, it does, and it doesn't. Just happy to know that I'm not alone!

As I was walking in the public spaces yesterday, I looked down and realized that our lives are now governed by a series of arrows and dots on the floor!

Our new lives!

I really don't mind wearing a mask when I need to. I do find it hot after I've walked somewhere, but that's OK. If I didn't walk so fast, it wouldn't be an issue. And for some reason, I find that I breathe with my mouth open when I wear my mask. Thank goodness, I don't have a clear one, or I'm sure I'd be getting a few weird looks!!!

Two more presentations yesterday - I'm halfway through them for this week. This is the killer week, but I'll get there! I did have some issues with Word yesterday, as I had some writing to do. Yep - forgot to save the document and lost everything when I went to save. So I called support. I'm not sure how helpful they were, but we did some fixes. I really need to remember to save the document when I start. But there is a LOT of training material that I can access, and it wouldn't be a bad idea as there are a couple of other things that I need to get a better handle on. 

The issue that I'm having is not a knowledge thing - it's a glitch! We did some repairs on the software, and hopefully, all is good! I'm also getting my calendar ready for next year and booking dates. Can you believe that? I use Google calendars, and I'm learning all kinds of tricks for sharing those calendars. Oh - my vast wealth of knowledge is expanding!

I realized that I needed to fill the bird feeder as it's been close to the bottom for a while. Oh, shoot - the birdseed is stuck in the bottom, so I gave it a whack and broke the plastic. That happened two days ago, and the feeder sat on the counter while I meant to get some tape. 

Yesterday, I took the feeder outside, filled it up, and when I went to lift it up, I remembered that I was supposed to tape the bottom. Yep - all that birdseed went on the ground! 

Oh, good grief - I can't believe I forgot to tape it up! Well, the bottom is now duct-taped in place. It's hanging back up, and the birds are happy. 

The birdfeeder is taped back together

Between Murphy and the birds (and the dratted squirrels), almost all of the seeds are gone. I picked up what I could, but there were lots of little seeds everywhere! 

Murphy checking out the birdseed

I got the latest issue of A Needle Pulling Thread yesterday. Don't you love this quilt on the cover? It's done with applique and some cool embellishments. I'm not sure if the magazine will hit the newsstand with all the current issues, but you can order it online. 

The current issue of A Needle Pulling Thread

I do have a quilt in there as well. This is an old one I resurrected. It was completely made with photo-transferred fabric that I made from blueprints!  Very cool!

My construction quilt

I did not get a lot of sewing done yesterday, and I'm OK with that. But I've almost got the hollyhock block together. It's a fiddly block to make and sew together in the right order as it's not on a grid. I hope to finish today, and that would be HALF of my UFO homework done for this month. I shall not be forking over any money this month!

The hollyhock block is almost done

It's amazing how much paperwork kills time! I'm way behind as well and trying to catch up with what's urgently needed. My stack is going down, and only one or two things are being added, so that's good. I have a list going to help me keep on top of it all. One good day - that's all I need. And that will happen in two weeks. The number of presentations per week will decrease starting next week—only four more weeks to go and then some serious planning time for next year.  

Well, that wraps up the day! I'm off to learn something new or make samples, or do paperwork! But not until my walk! 

Have a super day and if the weather is nice near you - go out for a walk!! You'll feel so much better, and then you can eat that cookie guilt-free!!

Ciao!!!