Delivery service

One thing about decluttering your house is what to do with all the stuff! Most of us don't want it to go to the landfill, but I can see a lot of good things going there because people don't want to take the time to find a good home for things, nor do they want to take the effort to deliver them. 

When Yagana cleaned out M's stuff upstairs, about 10 or 11 boxes were sitting in the hallway. Five boxes remain, and I'll deal with those later. I sorted half of the boxes, and now the books were sitting in smaller boxes in the front hall. Plus, there was stuff destined for two schools. 

Before I drop off at any school, I call first to ensure they actually want what I have to donate. Yesterday was the second day of those drop-offs, and now look at my hallway!

Only three small boxes remain

There are three small boxes to be donated to the thrift store. Oh my --- that looks so much better than the boxes and huge pads of paper that have been cluttering up that area! 

Three items remain in the Pony Express staging area. One is big and is sitting under the hall table. The two boxes on Lexi's kennel are for the recycling depot. There's also another box of flammable stuff in the laundry room. 

The Pony Express staging area

There are a few boxes in the office that I can now move to the front hall, and hopefully, I can get rid of those in one more trip. One is a box of paper that needs to be shredded, and the other will be added to the donation pile. Once all that is gone, then I will be able to start all over again. Well, technically, not start all over again - I need to continue cleaning out the office. It's all going to happen! 

Yes -- I need to gather all the boxes that have been waiting their turn, make sure they're full, and then get them out of the house! That's next on the list! I can't tell you how giddy I feel about getting rid of more boxes of stuff! It's better than therapy, and it's sure to lift your mood! 

So help me god, but I just moved those boxes to the kitchen counter and will deal with them today. It just feels like the day to get that done! Then I can start to make another mess! 

While dropping off those boxes, I had a couple of things to pick up. 

Here's my stack of books that came from Allison the Bookman in North Bay. Thanks to the Pony Express, they arrived safe and sound. Thanks to Karen and Helen Anne. I would HIGHLY recommend that used bookstore in North Bay. They had a lot of great titles, and it was easy to search online. They were also very responsive. Will I buy again? You bet!!!

Some of my missing books

Then I finally picked up my jacket patterns that had been printed weeks ago! I had them printed at Sherwood Copy & Print in Mississauga. If you need something large printed, this is where I'd go. Shoot -- I never even thought - I need some stuff printed for my concurrent show at Quilt Canada, and I should have asked about that! 

My jacket patterns

Anyway, the service was fast and the cost was extremely reasonable. I paid $15 for two large pieces of paper. One was 36" square and the other was 36" by 74". $15 to print both!! Highly recommended!!! 

I had a couple of other errands, but I ran out of time as I had to be home as the landscapers were coming to install the new water tap. I might just sneak out of the house later today and get those last errands done. Then I'll feel complete, and then, as mentioned, it's time to start collecting boxes again! 

Thankfully, what is coming into the house is a lot less than what is going out, and those books? Once I read them, they are gone! 

I didn't get a chance to get out for a walk yesterday, so no danger of getting hit. But I was at the gym already this morning, and I was all by myself because Brooke wasn't feeling well. Oh my!!! I can't believe I'm looking forward to those visits. My legs and arms feel tingly from lifting weights, but I'm not pushing it too hard. I need to make my left leg as strong as my right, and while it's okay, it's still relatively weak. Don't worry - I'm lifting 10 pounds per leg, plus the weight of the machine! I'm not overdoing it! 

More stretching and even getting up and down on the floor is super easy! Do I flip up like a gymnast? NO - that's never going to happen, but getting up gracefully? Yep - I can manage that. Do I feel ecstatic? Flying higher than a kite! 

This next photo in no way endorses my political views, but I took the picture with Murphy to show the scale. One local candidate has placed these massive signs along the public fence. Personally, I think it's the most disgusting thing. Do they hope that people will arrive at the voting station and vote for the last name they saw? 

Massive election signs

I hope people have realized that this election is too important to vote based on name recognition. And how much did that sign cost? It's printed on corrugated plastic! Yes - I erased the name in case you think they put up a blank sign! Well, just get out there and vote - that is on Monday! I think I did a fantastic job of erasing that sign! 

Here are a couple of photos of flowers that I forgot to post the other day. The daffodils are all pointing towards the sun! 

Daffodils pointing to the sun

And the pretty hibiscus were blooming like mad! 

Hyacinths in bloom

Then a bizarre thing happened yesterday. I'm making a quilt that needs over 2 meters of fabric for the border and binding. I bought fabric at a store in BC last year (the pink one), and I loved it. However, as the quilt progresses, I realize that pink is the absolutely wrong color for my border. It needs to be darker. 

I pulled out a purple from my stash, and it was awesome (bottom left), but there's NOT enough. I realized that I would need to go to a quilt store to buy some. The nearest store is about 45 minutes away, which isn't far, but time is precious these days. 

Can you believe that I went back to my stash, rather than go to the quilt store, and I found TWO more purples. The top left is too light, and the top right isn't quite the right shade of purple, but it will have to do! Actually, it's going to look just fine as I'll add a little bit of it into the blocks in the quilt. Problem solved! 

Shopping for fabric at my house

Before, if I needed anything, instead of looking in the stash, I'd hop in the car and zip to the quilt store, regardless of how far away it was. Not any longer. I find that absolutely hilarious! And it wasn't so much that I didn't want to go to the store, it was that I didn't want to take the time! 

To keep Murphy busy in the morning, I hide her ball in her blankets again. Hmm -- she has caught onto me as I hide the ball in the same blanket, and she zeroed in on that one. So I switched it up, and that took her a few minutes to figure out. 

MOM - you can't trick me!!

Once she had the ball, she went back to her food dish because she had not licked it entirely clean! She does the same thing to Lexi's dish. She knows she is not allowed to touch Lexi's food in the dish. If the food happens to be outside the dish because someone kicked it, then it's fair game. But the SECOND that Lexi has eaten her food, Murphy goes back and licks the dish clean! 

Found the ball; now I need to lick the dish clean!

Here's another comparison of those girls. While Murphy is huffing and puffing, trying to find that ball, Lexi is just chilling! 

Totally opposite!!

And here they are outside. Again, Murphy is busy; Lexi is chilling. 

MOM - listen to ME!!!

Then Murphy found another toy. I don't know if she got this from the house or found it outside. But technically, it's an indoor toy. She plopped herself in the flower bed and proceeded to remove the inner toy from the outside part. 

MOM - this flower bed is so comfy!!

And there she is, hanging out at the pond with her fish. 

MOM - my fish needs the pond! 

I'm going to have to pick up more mulch at the store, but I should rake the leaves away from the trees first so the mulch stays somewhat tidy. I don't have a leaf rake! I could just scrap them up with my hands, I suppose. I did some tidying up in the garden yesterday and did some weeding. YES - the weeds are already starting to grow. If I could keep on top of them, it wouldn't be a big deal! 

And yes, I'm running around in shorts because the weather is beautiful! I have a story about these shorts, which I'll share after I take a picture of them!

Did I get any sewing done? You bet I did! I have stories to share about that as well once I'm done with the projects. It was a successful day, but there's always more to do! Why is that? 

One last thing - here's an observation from the gym. We all know that people are addicted to their phones, right? It doesn't matter what age, but people are scrolling through that thing like mad. Social media? Personal messages? Reading a book? I don't know what it is, but the number of people sitting on a machine and scrolling through their phones is ridiculous. Or lying on the floor, and they spend more time scrolling than they do exercising. You may as well stay home! 

On a happy note, there's a virtual retreat this weekend, so be sure to stop by and say hi. 

Saturday, April 26 - starts at 6 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82693702241?pwd=QpQkm8Ppppy1XwCPOqva1bcgJCWKdP.1

Meeting ID: 826 9370 2241
Passcode: 795071

Sunday, April 27 - starts at NOON

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073536036?pwd=uxRqMnK1aSKrmrcSO78w8QQs5g44eA.1

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!