Tidy-Up time!

You guys say it best! When, as a retiree, you "complain" about not having time to do something, that becomes a problem. If you are retired, you are supposedly the person in charge of your calendar. 

And thank you for the excellent comment about my teaching style for Colour My World. I appreciate all feedback—good and bad —because that makes the next class even better. I have a couple of follow-up items to attend to later today, so please be on the lookout for an email later today. 

Do you have a friend that you could trust 100%? Yesterday, we heard about two friends who enjoy vacationing together. No significant others - just two women, enjoying their adventure vacation together. What if one of them says, "Surprise me for our next vacation." So they did! One of them is entirely in charge of where they are going; she booked the tickets, she bought the currency, and told her friend the duration and what to pack. Nothing else, and because of the flights, she won't know the final destination until she's on the third flight! I think that is amazing!

They will eventually tally up the expenses and share them, but that will be after the vacation. What a fabulous idea! 

Speaking of making your bed, look at this. I had washed the sheets earlier in the day and was in the process of making the bed. Miss Murphy decided to jump right up and make herself at home. Not on the edge, but right in the middle. Hmmmm........ 

MOM - Is this my new bed? Thank you! 

We had a grand time at the Virtual Retreat. It's all about meeting new people, engaging with them, and getting to know them. I'm not sure if anyone notices, but I like to ask questions. LOL And people like to answer those questions! I try to engage the people in conversations that will be of interest to the entire group, but I also like to catch up on what's going on in their personal space. Everyone has a voice and deserves to be heard. 

I know that some voices are quieter than others, and sometimes, it's a struggle for those voices to be heard over the more boisterous ones. I try! I won't go into detail, but the conversations can be varied and sometimes wild. However, I learn a great deal from listening to others - it's great fun. We have a couple of banned topics on my Zoom calls, and it just makes our get-togethers a better place. 

And while they chat, I'm trying to get things tidied up. I had some seam ripping to accomplish, and all that happened; the aftermath is now dealt with. WAIT -- that's not true. There is one more major seam-ripping project to happen. I hope to work on it today. 

I washed one of Murphy's mats last week. It is a crocheted mat, and the tail had come undone. So I grabbed a crochet hook and fixed the end. I should really add a couple of stitches to the end to secure it, so I don't have to repair it the next time it gets washed. 

Fixing the tail end of Murphy's crocheted mat

Here is the mat back under one of the tables in Studio B, and she will be happy to have it back. Many small jobs like this need to be done. WAIT A MINUTE -- does that mean I'm back to tidying up those almost finished jobs? I must be, so let's see how I progress on that. Actually, I probably did three of those easy-to-finish jobs yesterday. I'm back!!!!

Muprhy's mat back in place

There are loads of small things that I need to address as I continue to work on the chaos in that space. I'm just trying to deal with putting things away, but I also want to finish things if I can. So it's going to be a crap shoot as to what I can accomplish. But everything done is one thing less to do another day!

At last, I finished trimming all the half-square triangles from that bag. 

Here is the bunch I trimmed the previous evening. 

Trimming half-square triangles

And here is what I trimmed yesterday. 

More half-square triangles

This is quite an accomplishment, and the entire bag, including the unstitched triangles, was returned to the retreat bag. As I sew the last ones in the bag, I'll trim as I go!

I have two more bunches of half-square triangles to trim, and then I'll be caught up and will never let it get out of hand like I used to! I'll save those for another Virtual Retreat, or I can work on them during Monday Sewing days! 

Since the tray was now empty after dealing with all the ribbon, I ran around the room and filled it with all the loose spools of machine embroidery thread. I think that will be a focus today during Monday Sewing. I must put that all away and put the boxes of thread back on their shelves. When I fire up the embroidery machine, hopefully later today, I can just pull out what I need. Of course, for the four half-finished projects, I'll keep that thread set aside. 

A tray of thread that needs a home

I emptied the two bags of project materials that were on the ironing board, and voilà - I found my sewing tools. I did a little sewing before the Virtual Retreat started, and I hope to get back to it more this afternoon. 

My sewing tools

I won't say that I am lost or overwhelmed. I do have two things that need to be completed this week, but not having an extremely urgent deadline, or perhaps I should say that having only one thing with a deadline (OK - actually two), it feels so weird to not have that intense pressure! I have my week planned out, and I'll work on it one step at a time. 

I also got the last suitcase unpacked and the items inside separated. Finished samples are stored upstairs, while supplies/tools/unfinished samples are kept downstairs. That is huge, and I'll deal with sorting and putting the finished samples away another day. For the moment, they are out of sight in Studio U. 

The last suitcase got unpacked

As part of my effort to clean up Studio B and get it back into tip-top shape, I have a massive pile of quilts that need binding. 

Quilts that need binding

As you can see, they have vastly overgrown the box, and I would really like the box to corral some smaller items. I have one of the quilts on the table to deal with today! One a day over the next week will make a big difference in emptying that box. Except for one, those are all giveaway quilts, and it would be nice to get them out of the house! Additionally, there are those eight dog quilts that need to be addressed this month. Oh yes -- I'm going to be busy! But with a lot less pressure and a lot more time!

Miss Muprhy got a new toy yesterday, and when I first gave it to her, she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. 

MOM? What's this? 

It's a chew toy with a treat in it. Sadly, Lexi has zero interest in this type of toy. She has zero interest in any toys! And only like soft things to chew. So she often gets the short end of the stick. I noticed as I made her bed last night that she had tucked a few pieces of kibble in there, and I tucked the blankets over them, hoping Murphy would not discover them. Hey - we all need a little treat stash!

Anyway, after my walk, I came home to discover that Murphy figured out what to do with the toy. So she is happy. 

MOM -- this is a great new toy and it tastes like chicken! 

Lastly, someone gave me this bag, which I won't use. It's a very nice tote bag, but the wrong brand. Would anyone like it for supplies? If not, it will go in the giveaway box. Email me if you would like it to be sent via the Pony Express. elainetheriault@gmail.com

A tote bag is up for grabs

This is what's on the calendar this week: two spin classes, an appointment with the personal trainer, a vet appointment for Murphy (we can walk), and two quilting/machine embroidery clubs on Sunday. That is it for the week!! Will I be able to cope? Will I get bored? Will I fritter the time away? The answers are yes, no, and no. It's going to be a glorious week. OH yes -- there is a writing assignment and that project to be reworked, but that's it! No car trips, no nights away, and no major appointments - the time is my own! 

And on that note, it's time to get my butt off to spin class. 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!!