A beautiful walk

OOH -- I forgot to mention that my second toenail fell off at the gym on Monday. Why am I telling you that? My foot feels a whole lot better now that the toenail is gone and the new one is growing nicely. I also don't have to be so careful that the nail would get caught and ripped off. Let nature do its thing, and all is good! It appears that it takes about a month for the new nail to push out the old one. 

I overheard the ladies discussing ticks in this area the other day. When I decided to go for a walk in the morning, I was a bit concerned. Ticks? I don't want them. However, I decided to stick to the paved/gravel trail, so I was fine. I did check myself when I arrived back at the hotel, but didn't spot any of the little devils. 

There is a lovely trail located near the hotel in Kingston, and I took a wonderful walk along it, since I had a free day to do as I pleased. 

Part of the trail near the hotel

Of course, I had my phone with me, so I took loads of pictures. The leaves are changing, and I thought this was quite neat as the colors transitioned from the inner branch to the outer tip. Sadly, many of the leaves are burnt and will never change color. The soil is so dry that to conserve energy, the leaves are dying. 

The fall colours

I passed a man and a woman, and she saw me taking pictures and asked if I had seen the egrets and the heron. I hadn't, but I turned around and went in the opposite direction, spotting these guys on another section of the trail. 

An egret

A heron

At one point, a group of smaller ducks was sitting on a log near the shore, and as I whipped out my camera to take a picture, they scooted away. Too bad -- I could have had a great shot of having my ducks in a row!!!!

Depending on the type of tree, some have turned much quicker than others. 

Along the path

It was a beautiful morning, and it made me realize how much I've missed my daily walks. I'm back to walking, but not always as long as I would like, and sometimes I've had to forego the afternoon walk. That should be done after today!

Fall leaves

When I got to the end of the trail and turned back, the egrets were still there, but the heron was gone. Their marshland was almost dry as well, and only a small amount of water remained in the center. 

The egret remains

You would not want to take an unruly dog on this trail. I spotted a sign at the trailhead saying that any dog caught on farm land could be destroyed immediately. Yikes -- they take things seriously here, but then if the dog is attacking farm animals, I get it!! Murphy would have loved that trail, but she would have to be on her leash. It's an old rail trail that ran from Kingston to Pembroke, initially built by hand in the 1870s and in use until the early 1900s. I love that many of those old rail trails have been converted into paths for cycling, walking, and other activities. 

Not all of us have access to a beautiful trail like that one, but I'm sure we can all find a place to walk, even if it's just around the block. I do a lot of thinking and problem-solving while I walk. I'm looking forward to getting it back into my daily routine. 

I spent the afternoon hanging out at Stitch by Stitch. That is some store -- it's a bustling store, a crazy busy one, with loads of things happening each day, many employees, and, of course, customers. I had some exploring to do on my computer and with one of the new sewing machines, so I had fun doing that while listening to the group that was sewing. And guess what? One of the ladies was selling Girl Guide cookies, so I had to zip out to the bank to get some cash!!! I only bought one box. Not that I need it, but I'm supporting a good cause! 

I also shopped a wee bit. I hadn't shopped in quite a while, and OK, so I bought a few things that I probably didn't need, but what the heck—I was making up for lost time. However, I purchased items that will be useful for my Colour My World class, the jacket class, and my upcoming challenges that I'm currently working on. In addition, I found the machine embroidery thread that I ran out of when I was stitching my witch at the Bukchorn Quilt Show. 

And then I added a few other small things, making it a productive shopping trip. 

I decided to stop by Value Village on my way back to the hotel to see if I could find anything interesting. 

One more shopping stop

Oh my --- look at what I found. These are the new style of Nancy Drew books. 

Nancy Drew books

And they had the original (1959) style book. These were the earlier ones and include the first four from the first series. It was written on the copyright page that these books were rewritten from the 1930s books.  

The older Nancy Drew books

They were $1.49, and I bought the first one, just for a lark. 

My new Nancy Drew book

OH -- I took this picture to share with you. I would crop it closer, but my laptop with Windows 11 does a couple of strange things, like not allowing me to edit a photo when I click on it. I must Google that to find out why. It has also dropped the microphone, so my laptop no longer has a built-in microphone. I need to take it to Best Buy to determine the issue and get it fixed. 

But I thought it was kind of funny — yes, that is the major 401 highway, and I'm walking across it! 

Actually, there is a massive tunnel under the highway that connects the trail. However, when I used the geocaching app, which utilizes Google Maps, it located me on the highway, not under it. Makes sense!!!!!

The only time I struggle with Google Maps is when I'm walking. I suppose it would be helpful if I put it into walking mode, rather than driving mode, because it directs me in unusual directions. In a car, you would have to do a U-turn, but on the sidewalk, you can simply turn around. I must remember that, but I still seem to be directionally challenged when translating my surroundings to the map. I must check that out a bit more. Without the map, I'm good - it's just orienting myself to the map that's challenging. But once I get the direction right, then I'm good to go! 

It is my last day on the road for a while, which is going to be wonderful. The girls will be ecstatic. And they will soon be begging me to leave them alone. I doubt that! 

I had to find a new audiobook for the drive home, although the drive will be split into two segments of 90 minutes each, instead of one long drive. I'm OK with that. I'll still get home late tonight, but that's OK It will not be as late as last week. 

Anyway, I realized that the Nancy Drew book I downloaded is ONLY an ebook, so I found another audiobook. There are always tons of mystery genre books to download. 

Here's the list of events for the remainder of this month. It's getting shorter by the day, and I'm pretty excited about that! You might think that I hate doing this, but it's been a long two months of travel, and I'm looking forward to sticking close to home. I forgot to mention that there is a digital cutter club on Sunday morning, so I've added that to the schedule. Just in case any of the group is reading the blog, they have a couple of days to cut something. Yep -- they cut at the last minute!!! Don't worry, this club will be disbanded at the end of this year. One less thing to organize for 2026. 

September 25 - Store Opening: Sewing Machine Magic, Cobourg, Ontario. This store sells PFAFF sewing machines, and I'm excited to present a series of demos that day. It's all about the magic!!!!

    Floating stitches

    Ribbon/yard/bead embellishments with the embellishment attachment

    Circular attachment

    Sequence creator

    The NEW Decorative Fringe Foot

    Maxi Stitches

September 27 - Colour My World (Online class hosted by me) at 9:30 AM. I need to send out an acknowledgment to those who have paid. But you have all the information you need. No supplies required for the first class. 

September 27 (Saturday) - Virtual Retreat - Starts at 6 PM EDT

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

Meeting ID: 826 9370 2241
Passcode: 795071

September 28 - 10:30 AM --- Digital Cutter Club

September 28 (Sunday) Virtual Retreat - Starts at 3 PM EDT

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

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

And with that, I'll be heading out for another walk this morning. I have a few things to repack in the car and rearrange my suitcase, and then I'll be on the road. The demos at Sewing Machine Magic start at 12:30 and run every hour, on the half hour. So 12:30, 1:30, etc. There are six of them, and if you are in the Cobourg area, come and check them out. There are some new additions and some innovative ways to utilize other accessories, stitches, or tools within the sewing machine.  

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

WAIT --- Before I go, I forgot to mention that SVP Worldwide is hosting a 'Teach the World to Sew' day on October 22. It's a fun day where you can teach someone else to sew or sew along virtually with the tote bag project. There are stores all over the world hosting a sew day in their shop, or you can sign up and sew virtually at home. Check out the link for more details. I've signed up and can't wait to sew the tote bag. If you participate in the store, you stay to sew the bag with help from the staff, and then you are done -- something like that. 

I think everyone needs to learn to sew. This is a simple bag; iso if you are more experienced, sign up, get the pattern, and see how to change the bag. After I registered, I received the instructions, and I'm going to review them to see if I want to make any changes. It should be a fun day, and I don't have to go anywhere!!!!