The writing process!

 NO --- that was NOT pieces of sod I spotted the other day. That is artificial turf!!!! I get that sod has seams and it comes in rolls, and pieces are identical. No, if you look closely at the picture of the "sod", it's in big chunks and will not grow. But my thought was - do they know that? Unless this is a new kind of sod! 

ARTIFICIAL sod

Another fun and productive day at the retreat house! I'm having to do some paperwork and prepping for the next writing assignment, and the clock is ticking until I need to get on a plane, so I have no choice. But it all works out, and things are moving along just nicely. The first of five blog posts is done! The prep work for the second is complete, and I'm ready to work on day two writing and day three prep.

I'll just push through on this, and before I know it, it's going to be done! 

Let me explain something about the writing process, or at least how it works for me. I start a week of blog posts, with a vague idea of how it's going to play out. I have a project in mind, but how will it work out? What will the breakdown for each day be, and so on? Those details are usually worked out as I'm walking the dogs. 

Then there's the gathering of supplies, and we always need to rely on a third party to acquire some of the tools and supplies, so some of the planning needs to be done in advance. I'm not always good at that part, but I've been doing great so far. 

Next up is converting the mental plan into action. And some of the prep work requires research, reading, and lots of other details that you won't ever know about, but it increases the integrity of the blog post. Let me just say that I've expanded my knowledge of many things 1000-fold since I started these blog posts for QUILTsocial. Can you believe I've been doing them since 2014? I have no idea how many I've written, but it's a lot! 

And if they were as easy as the ones I write here, then life would be grand. But they take a lot of preparation and thought because I am trying to make things easy to read and follow along, not cause confusion. Overall, it's a great "job" and I wouldn't change it for the world, even with the sometimes crazy time constraints, which are 100% self-induced! 

Shoot -- what I was trying to tell you with all the preamble, is that as I'm writing and down to the final editing, fact checking, link connections, etc., as I read through, I feel a great satisfaction about what I've written. It all comes together, and I'm excited. 

I don't see how I could get AI to do this task and feel the same level of satisfaction. I just can't. I get that others may need AI, but to me, the writing IS the part I love, and why would I offload that to something else to do? 

OMG --- I just flipped back into my blog and we were here at Retreat at the Farm on July 28, 2021. They were spraying for potatoes early one morning, and I pulled that photo in from that post. 

Spraying potatoes on July 27, 2021

 

So I wasn't surprised yesterday (July 29, 2021) when they were spraying. Do they have a date in their calendar (July 27 - 29) - spray for potatoes on crop X? Hilarious. 

Spraying for potatoes on July 29

That picture almost looks like it was done with AI, as the tractor seems very small and not connected to the background. But trust me, I took that photo out the window!!! I have others to prove it in case you do not believe me!!! 

There is good news for the trip. The insurance is complete, and you will all be happy to know that I have travel insurance!!! Thankfully, DH has an excellent plan from work, and we are covered. The hike trip people are delighted, and I learned something I never knew we had. What do I care? I make things up as needed!!!! But all in all, it is a good thing to be aware of. A broken leg on a mountain could be expensive! 

I'm still trying to arrange those two extra shots for Friday, and that's my goal today. I may not be getting as much sewing done as I typically would, but I'm accomplishing a lot, and that's all that counts. 

I was "forced" to do the handstitching on my midi bag instead of leaving it when I got home. So that bag is completely done!! And it's already full of things that I can put into the car! 

Hand-stitching the opening in the lining

I assembled another quilt top, but it still needs an inner border added, which I'll do today. Then, I need to find a fabric for the outer border, which I hope to find at home. But it's going to be on the back burner when I get home, as I have to get this writing completed ASAP. 

I promised pictures of my portable offices so you can visualize me when I'm writing away from home. 

This is my portable office when I take my laptop. Oh, you can't see the mouse on the right. But it's basically a laptop, and there are usually tons of cables or charging cords sticking out on either side. It could be for my Fitbit, an external hard disk, or whatever. But it works. 

My portable office

However, it's too heavy to carry when traveling on vacation, although I cannot believe that on my first trip to the Camino, I contemplated taking it. What a dolt!!!

So this is my mini portable office. It consists of my cell phone as the computer/screen and a Bluetooth folding keyboard for input. It's crazy, but it works. I haven't tried uploading a photo to the blog with it, but I'm going to try this year. I'll need to pair it to this phone later today. 

My mini portable office

There is a quilt show that you all need to check out. It's at the Waterford Heritage and Agricultural Museum about the red and white quilts. It's a small show compared to the large one that was in New York in 2011. Do not miss this show. Thankfully, it's on until the end of September, so I'll go when I get back. Although my September (until the 21st) is ridiculous. 

I swear, if the last three months of this year are not quiet, I'm not sure what I'll do. I keep saying that I just need to get over these next two weeks. My friends no longer believe me when I say that. I'm trying to say NO and I'm canceling or moving things, but sometimes, events come up that you can't say no to. But so far, October, November, and December seem to be relatively quiet for me! 


Remember, there is another blog post on QUILTsocial, so hopefully you are following that. And aren't you impressed with what you can do with technology? The fact that all of these things are connected is the beauty of it!!! 

QUILTsocial - Day Three. Today, it's all about creating and cutting appliqué shapes.

And that wraps it up for today. I'm off to get some more prep work done, and I may get a very rough draft put together so I can work on the final draft tomorrow morning. 

I needed a long nap yesterday to compensate for not sleeping well the night before. I slept very well last night, so hopefully, no nap is required!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!