Take a long breath

 Good morning! Oh boy  -- it's been a super busy morning and well, OK - so I got up early. But that's simply because I went to bed early. I did get my required hours of sleep. But as I lay in bed this morning contemplating what I have to do - well, there's ZERO time for laying around! 

I have to say this mouth breathing versus nose breathing has me in a tizzy. I'm so conscious of it now that I'm not sure I was ever a mouth breathing. WAIT -- that's a total lie. I think that I do mouth breathing when I go for a walk. And probably when I'm on the bike. Sometimes when I'm walking, I don't feel like I'm getting enough air, and that's probably why I might be a mouth breather when I'm walking. 

This book (Breath by James Nestor) is quite interesting, and I bet the moms of today would have a fit. There is an indigenous tribe somewhere that would lay their babies to sleep with a small pillow under their heads. Did you know that if you sleep on your back with no pillow that you have a tendency to breathe through your mouth? 

Well, the entire thing is too complicated to get into here -- you should give the book a read. But slow breathing and nose breathing seem to be the way to go. Lots of added benefits -- lower blood pressure, weight loss, less stress, and many other benefits. 

What I don't understand is why people with respiratory issues aren't being told about these techniques? The nose breathing and slow breathing will NOT cure those issues but rather help the sufferers breathe better. I remember having asthma as a kid and ended up visiting the ER at least once a year. I got the scar from a tracheotomy to show for one of those episodes. 

And all that they did was prescribe drugs and more drugs! It wasn't until later, and I don't honestly remember how many years it's been now, but NO issues. I don't even have medication any longer. The transition from carrying medication to not carrying it because I didn't need it was interesting. It's like taking your child out for the first time without a diaper! What happened? I equate it to exercise. But lots of athletes have asthma. Perhaps my breathing changed? I don't know, but I don't ever want to go back there. 

Here's one last tidbit about the book. You have lots of little scrubbing hairs and whatnot in your nose that basically scrub the air you breathe of crap. That crap ends up in your stomach where it's killed by the acid. If you mouth breath - guess what?? All that crap ends up in your lungs!! That alone makes you want to breathe through your nose ALWAYS!!! 

I'm all for the nose breathing, and it's not as bad as you think! I'm going to tape my lips shut tonight to see how that works. Just a small piece of tape perpendicular to your lips will work. If that works, I'm taking the tape to the retreats to help the snorers! 

Anyway -- it's certainly an interesting read. And yes, you could train yourself to go underwater or hold your breath for MINUTES. Imagine!

Here's a couple of pictures from the morning walk with Miss Murphy. It's that time of year - the acorns are falling from the trees. I'm not sure why these nuts are still green - perhaps it's a different kind of tree. Anyway, one must be careful because they are hard and lots of them are flying everywhere. 

Acorns in the trees

Murphy thinks they are for her to eat, but I don't think they taste very good. She scoops them up and then proceeds to spit them out. Will she learn? Nope - because I bet she does it again this morning! AHA  -- these acorns just haven't matured, and apparently, they drop when they are green because the tree says -- enough is enough. I'd rather stay alive than ripen these acorns. And they can be toxic for dogs. Thankfully Murphy spits them out. 

Acorns in the trees

Katheleen came over to visit for a bit, and we sat outside. It was a glorious day. And LOOK  -- I'm almost done with the binding on the double wedding ring quilt. 

The binding on the double wedding ring quilt

Technically, that's a lie. The quilt is done!! I sat outside after she left and finished it. I've contacted the daughter, and she will give me information to put on a quilt label. I hope it'll get picked up next weekend. I have one small thing that I want to add. I was going to share it with you today, but well, I decided it was good enough to put on my blog posts for QUILTsocial later this month, so you'll have to wait to see. 

Let's just say that Murphy is persistent. She loves to play ball, and since we were sitting in the backyard, she tried MANY times to entice one of us to play. Well, when you're doing handwork, you do not want to be touching a goopy dog ball. 

After Katheleen left, I counted THREE balls on the deck. The red one is just at the right edge of the table leg. 

Murphy has left THREE balls on the deck

Then I got busy and loaded this piece of fabric onto the long arm. Well, I wanted to quilt the fabric to a piece of fleece. 

Fabric and fleece on the long arm

It was a bit dicey because the width of the fabric was the same as the width of the fleece. The fleece was stretchy, and there was no backing. But it worked. I had to babysit the piece the entire time. The fleece is a bit fluffier than what I normally use, but this was a good project to use it up. You'll have to wait to see. 

Not much room on the sides

But the best part of all? I knew exactly how to move each individual row on the pattern on the computer. That's all I care about - amazing how missing ONE little step was driving me nuts with this task. Now I don't even need to think about this -- super easy when you know how to do something. I'm glad I learned that. 

Moving individual rows on the long arm pattern

Sorry --- but a couple more dog pictures. Lexi was so lazy that she couldn't even lift her head when I came close to take her picture. She just moves her eyes. It's kind of creepy!

MOM -- I can SEE you!

Murphy is just a busy dog. I swear, she only sleeps at night. Here she is "on guard" against the squirrels driving her nuts in the trees above her head. 

On guard!

Or she is lying in the dirt, eating a stick. Notice that her trusty bear is right beside her. What a big goof!!

Eating sticks in the dirt

Speaking of bears, this is Little Bear. I think he sleeps a lot during the day also. Right up Lexi's alley!! They would get along just fine!

Little Bear is also a sleepy head

The binding got on the magazine project, and that will go in the mail today. I need to write up some instructions for it, but that shouldn't take too long. I've got two classes tomorrow and next weekend is the start of more classes. And there are five presentations this week - two in French, three in English. 

A note about the French. It's one thing when you can prepare, and you're doing the talking. But when I called one store yesterday, they started firing questions at me about something unrelated to my class. Well, it was sort of related to the class. And I managed just fine! Thank goodness, I'm a quick learner!

And on that note, I'm out of here! There's not a minute to waste today to get things prepped. And more learning. There's always learning every day! I love that!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!