It's all about the values!

 

I have to laugh! I'm working on some individual and group virtual challenges. This is my second group challenge, which means that COLLECTIVELY we have a goal to meet. There were four of us in my previous group, and some of them weren't too serious about keeping up. OK -- two of them weren't serious, one was sort of serious, and then there was me. 

Now I'm in a different group. Yikes --- SUPER serious. I walked 14.5 KM yesterday and thought - wow - that was a good distance. I just checked the distances, and Helen Anne BEAT ME!!!  Yep -- she did 15 KM. The other two in our group are also serious - just not stupid serious! But together, we make an EXCELLENT team. We keep our distances up-to-date, which used to drive me crazy when the previous group didn't. I mean, what's the point of only entering data a month after you walked. Anyway - I digress. I LOVE my new group! 

But it's not about walking crazy distances for the challenges - it's all about spending time doing things that are important to you! In my case, I was back out geocaching (OK -- I can't help it!), and I was going to go to the grocery store on my way back, but I forgot a mask, so I had to go after dinner! 

As a group of four, we're making excellent progress on our 10,000 KM walk across Canada. We did 10% of the distance in one month, so we should easily finish in 10 months if we keep that up. That sounds like a great target. Keep on walking!!!! 

However, I did NOT go geocaching until I had my work done for the day! Which is usually how I work my day. The walk comes after work!

The quilt of the day was HUGE. And it took a bit to get it loaded, but it went on the long arm nicely. 

The giant quilt is loaded

I don't know how many quilts I've done with the computer, but it still amazes me how you can take this image on the screen and make it work on the quilt. 

The computer for the long arm

What amazes me even more, is that I don't really remember the learning process. OK -- I'm lying - I do remember the learning curve. But to be honest, it wasn't that big of a deal. The big deal is if something goes wrong and you have to trick the computer into thinking it knows what it's doing! That's where the learning curve is big. And I've figured that out over the years, and no quilts were harmed in the process. 

I did have a quilt on the schedule for today, but I doubt I'm going to get there. I have a T-shirt class all afternoon. I was supposed to have my fabric washed and ironed. OK -- so it's washed but ironed? It's T-shirt fabric. I don't iron T-shirt fabric. But I'll get it laid out. I'm also supposed to have my pattern traced, and I haven't even determined which size to trace, so that will be my job this morning. OK -- I just figured out the sizes, which are very weird! 

I have a picture somewhere of me getting measured at the retreat. I must find that and post it. 

Me getting measured

Remember those checkerboard table runners that I finished at the retreat? Well, I need some border, backing, and binding fabric. I was certain I had some leftover fabrics from the quilt I made, but could I find them? No -- I knew they were in a specific spot, but there are eight tubs of fabric in that spot. But I got serious about searching, and yes -- I found the leftovers. I haven't had a chance to check and see if there is enough, but I think I can make it work. 

Leftover fabric to finish the table runners

OK -- back to my giant quilt. So everything gets positioned, threads chosen, and away I go. Don't worry - there is NO bad story here. 

Progress on the giant quilt

And here's the finished quilt! 

Customer quilt - DONE

Like I said -- it's huge! I did get a couple of small quilts trimmed yesterday, but I have several more to do today. I've got to get those done and move onto the next group. That list just seems to go on forever!

OK -- so something very freaky happened. In the geocaching world, there are different types of caches. Some are containers that you simply need to find. Some are puzzles that you have to solve, others are multi-step processes, etc. And then there are the Earthcaches. These usually involve some scientific facts about the earth or technology or the environment. I love these because you can learn so much. Well, I was off yesterday to find an earth cache. OH -- did I mention that there are questions that you have to answer. So while I had my phone to take pictures, I was probably going to need some paper. I grabbed a small notebook from the kitchen drawer. Yes -- I could make notes on my phone, but I love a good old-fashioned piece of paper. 

Never mind that I've started to walk around with a pen clipped to my collar (geek!), so I can sign the caches if there isn't one in them. Don't go there!!!! I need a fanny pack! We're not going there either! Perhaps I can make an UPSCALE fanny pack!

Anyway, I opened the little notepad up and almost died! There was Paula's phone number. Paula is my student in the double wedding ring class. The one who has passed away. Obviously, she had called me at some point, and I wrote her number in the little book, and there it stayed. I'm sure I called her back but didn't throw the paper away. Now that is very weird! A message from above?? 

Paula's phone number is in my little notebook

So I walked to the park where the Earth Cache was located. It was just a little over a mile from the house, and I never even knew it was there. What an interesting little place. Lots of signs of which I took pictures of in case I needed any further information. 

A map of the park

This one was all about BIOSWALES. If you don't know what that is, here's a picture of it. 

And if you want more information, you can check out this link. WOW --- why aren't we building more of these????   I might be checking that link out a bit more to find out the type of plants they use. I might just put these in my front yard. And what's a rain garden? I don't know - so I need to do some research!  Totally fascinating stuff! 

And yes, Murphy and I found the geocache that we needed to locate from the previous day. That was the multi-part one (sorry for all the lingo - but essentially, it's a two-part puzzle). We had to go to the posted location to get clues, then figure out the answer, which gave us the coordinates to the final destination using the answers to the puzzle. When you think about it, geocaching is a pretty clever activity. You get to use your brain, AND you get to walk!

OK -- so she wasn't really much help - she just wanted to chase squirrels. 

Murphy geocaching

A HUGE shout out to Susan for resurrecting my love of geocaching! I really looked forward to my walk yesterday, and OK -- so I spent some time on the computer last night scouting out my next location. There are quite a few caches well within walking distance of my house. Or I'll dig out the bike and ride to the further away ones. Lots to keep me busy!

On that note, I'm off to spin class this morning. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!