What's in your fridge?

It's so nice to have time without a looming deadline! I have loads to do, but with no deadline, I had a great visit with my colleague yesterday. Of course, that put me behind with the day's schedule, and only ONE piece of paperwork disappeared, so this morning will be devoted to paperwork. 

However, loads still got accomplished once she left. I'm still working on the cutting table, which is like a revolving door. Something might get placed there, and it's gone within a day or two. This is its current state. 

The current state of the cutting table

I can easily work there if I need to do some cutting. Right now, it's more about tidying, and for whatever reason, I'm ready to tackle those ridiculous little jobs that have sat forever. I've been prepping them for the retreat, along with the necessary feet, thread, and other supplies. That dedicated time will force me to work on and finish them. 

I still have the problem area on the floor that I need to tackle. However, there is little there, and I've also been pulling from the current project table. Oh my --- wouldn't it be nice if I also got that table under control? And there was an overflowing tub under the table, which I looked at yesterday. Imagine if these last three problem areas were resolved? 

If I cannot tackle some of the projects soon, I will find a home for them on a shelf, which I haven't done, so that is good. And I know that as soon as those three areas are finished, I'll find something else to further refine. And I'm OK with that. But it sure makes you think about the quantity of stuff you have and how much time you want to spend managing it! 

Kudos to those who don't start another project until the current one is done! They would have NONE of this to deal with! 

Speaking of messes, I talked to someone yesterday who is helping a hoarder clean. I saw only a tiny part of the problem, but OMG --- these people have lived in this house for 18 months, and it looks like a garage dump! And from the sounds of it, it smells that way as well. It sounds like the people living in the house have severe mental health issues, and there is little desire to improve. I mean -- how can you amass so much junk and garbage in 18 months? 

After that conversation, it made me look at my trouble spots and want to run into the office and throw everything in the garbage! At least my stuff is clean, dry, and odor free! And it was mentioned that she removed THREE bags of "garbage" from the fridge! Seriously? I could never understand that -- my mom, who is a hoarder, is the same way. The refrigerator is PACKED -- but with what? 

We couldn't even fill one garbage bag from what's in our fridge. Although I did remove three things that needed to be tossed. There are a few bottles in the door that I should look at, as well. DH has an issue with condiment bottles and likes to keep them, but seriously? OH -- he's away; I should go through them all. 

My fridge

I decided to tackle the suitcase from last week. I won't need my serger samples for a while, so they are all neatly packed back in the tub. The key is to remember that they are in the tub and where I've stored it! It's under the long arm! By writing that down, I probably won't forget! I have so much more that I want to make with the serger, and well, that's on a list! 

Filling the tub with serger samples

The samples I will need when I go to Kingston are in the suitcase. Not all of them, but from what I used last week. DH is away for part of this week, and I told him he's fortunate that when he goes on a trip, all he needs to pack is his laptop!

Filling the suitcase with garment samples

And my monsters, which I will need later on, are also tucked in the suitcase. 

The monster mash!

Even though I started this quilt later in the day, I got it done. It's the Butterfly Quilt from Tula Pink, which belongs to a customer and quilted up beautifully. 

Customer quilt - DONE

The next quilt is loaded on the long arm. It will be tight to get all the quilts done that I promised before I go on retreat, but each one is scheduled, and as long as I have no more delays, I'll be good. 

When I get in the tidy-up mode, I go wild! It was time to get those picture/history quilt books off the table and back onto the shelf. I'm not halfway through sorting those book types out of the rest, and I've already got TWO shelves full! I knew I had a lot and some fantastic quilts! 

Sorting the books

I found a duplicate! Of course, I expect to find a few more, and I will get a library app to scan them and avoid duplicates in the future. If anyone desires picture books of older quilts, the duplicate is up for grabs. 

A duplicate book 

Those girls are quite the characters. They are just crazy and can't help themselves when showing off. 

MOM -- are you watching us "fight"

And then they look all innocent and sweet. 

MOM -- we LOVE you! We are GOOD dogs!

So I took pictures of one of the pouches, and when I went to take pictures of the second one, I couldn't find it. However, I just remembered where I put it, so you will get pictures of both tomorrow, as both are quite different. So bear with me one more day. 

Murphy's ball has been missing for quite some time, and it may have to go missing again. She is totally obsessed with the darn thing. She is pretty clever, and notice how it conveniently rolled within my reach so I could throw it for her? 

Let's play ball!

Oh, Murphy! 

Good grief -- for whatever reason, that triggers a memory of a dream I had last night. Walking in an urban area, I saw a zip line from one house to an apartment building across a busy street. They were ferrying big dogs in a basket over that line! Now why would I dream about that? 

I'm reading a book by Nicole Lundrigan called The Substitute. I think I found it in the suspense/thriller section. It's creepy, and I didn't want to read it once I started it. I read some of the online reviews, and their comments intrigued me. I still have several hours to go, but I laughed when one of the reviews said she didn't like seeing the "c" word (a bad four-letter word). What about the animal cruelty (both described and implied)? That's a whole lot more disturbing than a word. 

It's read by two different people (I think), but there's one character in the book that we have NO IDEA who they are. As I said, it's very disturbing and creepy. And apparently, we have to wait until practically the end to understand the connection between the two stories. I keep guessing, but the reviews said they didn't figure it out until the last page. 

What is very scary is that the characters are believable, which frightens me because one is a psychological killer! With ZERO emotion! 

Hm.........................

Well, I'm off to walk the girls and then get to work!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!