I am NOT a runner

 Although it seems that each day in my world is a marathon, I am NOT a runner. The kind that goes outside or on the treadmill and runs. Nope - not happening at my house. And yet - when I have to, I will, but good grief - it's hard work. 

All my presentations went off without a hitch. I even got two small ones prepped as sidebars for the main presentations. The pictures were all done, so it was a snap to load the photos and sort them. A good thing I prepped them because I used both of them. 

Some AMAZING show and tell, which I hope to get posted this coming week. I literally went from Zoom call to Zoom call from 9:45 until 3:45. I was supposed to pick up a book from the library at 2:30, but I was on a call, and the call went late. Finally, I had to excuse myself at 3:45 (I was not the host!), and by the time I did a pit stop and got my shoes on, I had NINE minutes to get to the library. 

It's not a far walk, but far enough. I flew out the door with my coat in my hand and put it on as I walked fast. Then I ran a wee bit, then I walked, then I ran. My heart rate got up there, but my legs felt like lead. Good grief - I've been doing a TON of walking, but it's not the same as running. I get a bit of congestion in my lungs when I start to exercise, so I was coughing a bit - I'm sure that looked good in these times. 

Oh my - getting close to the last light (OK - the only light between my house and the library). Will I make it? Normally, when the STOP hand starts to flash, I wait. This time, I did not. I ran across the street. Guess what? I made it!! I arrived right at 4 PM. The book was waiting, and I grabbed it and finished the rest of my normal afternoon walk. Phew!!!

It was such a glorious day; the sun was out, the temperature was warm, and the sun is out much longer these days. I had NOT walked the girls in the morning because of the rain and the lack of time, so I came back from that walk and took each one for a walk. I didn't quite make 10 KM for the day, but that's not bad considering that I spent most of the day in front of the computer either on Zoom or building presentations. 

Princess Lexi on her walk

And look what happened to my shoes. There are spots where the sidewalk is full of water, and I had to detour onto the grass. There were brand new at the beginning of January!

A wee bit of mud on the shoes

We had our virtual retreat last night, and some people we haven't seen in a while popped on; we got to meet some new people, although this morning when I think about it - Zelda and I have chatted via e-mail - I swear we have. But what fun and some great show and tell and great ideas - as always. I LOVE the virtual retreats - they are just so much fun!!! I love being able to peek into people's sewing rooms, and we saw some great organizing ideas!! Of course, I'm nosey and ask to see more if there's something that intrigues me. 

And today - it's Virtual Retreat day all day. Well, from 10 AM - 8 PM. I do have some work to get done this morning before I open up the call. I'll post the link at the end of this blog, so you can join us!! 

I'm happy to report that the living room is bad to normal. If there ever is a normal at our house. 

The living room is now free of quilts

The quilts have all been moved back upstairs. They are heaped in Studio U, and they'll stay like that for the moment. I closed all the blinds so no sun damage. Actually, some quilts are on the railing and more on the floor in a bedroom—no time to deal with them at the moment. 

But wait - what's that in the corner??? A blue dog kennel??

Princess Lexi's dog kennel

This is Lexi's kennel. Murphy does not have one. Lexi used to sleep in there all the time, and she still does spend a lot of time in the kennel, but she also loves the big dog bed that was Murphy's. Her kennel used to sit in the hallway, but I thought there was enough room beside the chair to tuck it out of the way. 

And now we have all this space in the hallway. 

A huge empty space in the hallway

So what have I been sewing lately? Besides all the homework for the ongoing projects, which so far, I'm almost up to date, I've been working on my UFO. This was an ongoing class several years ago, and I'd really like to get it done. 

I worked on it last night, and I now have THREE of FIVE borders done. There's a bit more applique to do in the quilt and on the borders - small bits, but still - applique!

Three borders of five are done!

Here's a close-up of one of the flowers. That was a big job to get all that applique done, but I'm happy; I've persevered to get this done according to the pattern. I rather like the borders, but they are a lot of work. 

A close-up of an appliqued flower

Today, my goal is to clear up this little work surface. All the bits and pieces are cut, and the applique shapes are prepped, so I could finish it today, and then my UFO would be done for this month!!! Fingers crossed - no chatting - I've got to focus. 

The prepped pieces for the two remaining borders

Last night, I made miles and miles of binding. This is for the two Christmas Fig quilts that I made, so that is done. I still have one backing to make, and hopefully, that'll get done today as well. HEY - I'm optimistic!!!

Binding for two quilts

While prepping some of the presentations, it meant I had to dig through those tubs of the "to be quilted" pile, and well - it was getting a bit out of hand. 

The "to be quilted" area in disarray

So this morning, I took a few minutes, and now it looks like this. There is one quilt that needs to be put back, and I need to take a few more pictures, and then everything will go back. It's so nice to have this organized and cataloged, so I easily find the exact quilt I need. 

Now it's almost back to normal

It's getting brighter much earlier now. Yeah!!!! But it's very foggy this morning! I couldn't even see the end of the street - I could barely see across the street! 

That's it for me - I have some follow-up e-mail to write and one document that I'd like to get out before we start the Virtual Retreat today. Actually, the call is set up so that I don't even need to be there to open it up!!! I love that! 

Sunday, February 28  - 10 AM  - 8 PM   EST

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87246635892?pwd=VGY1cUUyLzRaRi9VUVV2ZWFINXc2dz09 Meeting ID: 872 4663 5892 Passcode: 440473

And no decluttering homework today!! Enjoy the day - better yet - come and see us on the retreat!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!