My secret Santa

One day back, and I'm way behind in what needs to be accomplished this week. However, there is no sense in getting overwhelmed, no sense in panicking. Just slow and steady, and it will all come together! 

This is the only FULL weekend for classes, and the fact that I was away two weeks in a row didn't help with the prep work. I have a plan! I will make it happen, and I've already accomplished quite a bit in the first two hours of this morning! I never accomplish much on Monday with Monday Sewing, but the rest of the week isn't much better. I have a meeting and a mammogram today. An all-day class on Thursday, plus two quilts to quilt this week, but it's all good! 

My SIL has almost completed the quilt top she is making. It has to be on the long arm tomorrow! I see she only has five more seams, so she can accomplish that today. She's learning pretty well, and all is good! 

I get a chuckle out of Lexi. She is all happy and smiles, until the moment I attempt to take a picture of her. She hates the camera!!!!

MOM - -STOP taking pictures!!!!

But that sweet, innocent-looking dog has a sassy streak to her! I caught her yesterday, whipping the top blanket off her bed! Yep - she just grabbed it and yanked! 

MOM - this blanket isn't straight in my bed - fix it!

And when she was done, her bed looked like this. What was that all about? 

MOM - I want a remake!!

Maybe she wanted the "sheets" ruffled up? I don't know, but I remade her bed, and then she was happy to sleep there. 

Murphy, on the other hand, is just a wild dog. Her bed, which she never sleeps in, started off in the corner with her bigger blankets rolled and folded so they can hide her toys. That's Murphy's version of a puzzle. While I was away, my SIL did NOT put a treat in the pink ball that you see, and Murphy kept looking at it and sniffing it. No treat magically appeared. 

MOM -- where are the hidden treats? 

By the time she was done with her blankets, both she and the blankets were in the opposite corner of the room. The bed stayed where it was. She did NOT get the blanket unwrapped, so that is something to occupy her later today. What a goof!!! 

MOM -- I need help!

And then she lies on the floor to look so innocent. She LOVES the camera! 

MOM - -see how quiet I am? 

They had a riot outside yesterday with the cooler weather. This is their element, and Murphy loves the outdoors more than Lexi. Go figure! Often she is lying in the snow. This was her at almost 9 PM last night. Happy as a clam on the snow by the pond. By the way, you can see the green light on the heater, and those fish are loving the heater! I probably need to buy a new bubbler, since the other one wasn't working well, and I don't think it was clogged. I must get that done next week. No time this week. 

MOM - I'm guarding the fish from predators! 

Murphy and Lexi get along just fine, but they cannot coordinate their schedules. In this picture, it looks like they both want in — NOPE: only Lexi will come in. Murphy will wait until I'm settled doing something, then decide she wants in. I swear, 50% of my daily steps are for those girls!!!! I'm just kidding, but they can be very annoying. 

MOM -- I need in and NOW!!!!!

I cleaned out the bobbin area of the retreat sewing machine, and I changed the needle. Shoot -- what I should have done was wind bobbins. WAIT - I still have bobbins in my bobbin rack, and I'm using them up, so no need to do that! 

Cleaning out the bobbin case

I was surprised when I opened the bobbin case that there wasn't as much lint as I suspected. Although when you look at the picture above, there is a lot. I'm pretty aggressive in digging around, and I might not have been that aggressive the last time I cleaned the machine. Do NOT tell any technician that I'm aggressive - they will yell at me. I know --- there are loads of little springs and doodads inside, and well, I'm finding loads of lint! 

The bobbin case is not too bad

I have an account with a real estate company simply to keep an eye on what's happening in my neighborhood. It is definitely NOT a seller's market these days. The number of houses that are not selling or selling below the list price is huge! I typically look at all the pictures to see if the houses are updated (kitchens and bathrooms) and anything unusual. 

Look what I found!!!!

TV on a stand

OK—so you may not be as excited as I am, and you may even have one of these. But I never even thought of putting a TV on a stand that big. I bet I could put my computer monitor on there, so if I wanted to move it to another spot or raise it, I wouldn't have to move my entire computer desk. I'm not about to rush out and buy one, I just thought it was a cool idea. 

By the way, this house was definitely filled with TV watchers. They had a MASSIVE TV in every room in the house. I think that's a bit overkill!!! We only have one! 

I have decided to take on a massive job for 2026 - organizing my embroidery files. Oh boy— I don't even know the extent of this job, but it's HUGE, and needs to be done! 

Some of my designs are sitting on OneDrive, which is HORRIBLE because it backs up to your hard drive, and when you try to delete things, it's a frigging nightmare. I plan to get rid of everything on OneDrive except for my work presentations or anything for a class. Once the class is over, I plan to move it back to my computer. 

OneDrive is an excellent tool for sharing files (working files), but for anything else, it just seems like rabbits - it reproduces, and you have a mess. OK -- most of that is likely operator error. But yesterday, I moved a whole pile of files over. MOVED and guess what? They are still on the OneDrive. Sigh....................

Moving files

And I think what happens is that it pulls files from my hard-disk backup and reinstalls them. Yes—I have a love-hate relationship with OneDrive. Mostly hate!!!! 

So I must learn yet another thing -- how to deal with the files on OneDrive to empty the darn thing out. 

Here is the current status of the Pony Express staging area at my house!!! There are things for four people, and none of them are urgent, so that's a positive!!! It's not too cluttered, so I can live with that.  

Pony Express staging area

Sharing a house, particularly the kitchen, might be a challenge. My SIL is staying with us for an undetermined amount of time. I don't want stuff on my counters!! Help!!!! I will have to clean some cupboards so she can put her stuff away. That's a job for later today. Thankfully, the cupboards aren't that full, but I like to spread out - thinly!!!!

I remade the fourth component for the project that I found the day before. It didn't take that long, but when I compared it to the other three parts, there were two things I did slightly differently. Good grief -- one task and I messed it up! But you can't really tell, and it's going to be just fine!!!! It's a gift, so I will share it when it's gifted. But I have to set it aside - I do NOT have time to do the final assembly, and I want to make a second one. That's a project for next week. 

Some machine embroidery

When I got home, this small gift bag was sitting on the half wall inside the house. It had been left on the porch while I was away. If the person who left it there is a blog reader, they would have known that and planned the drop-off strategically!!!

A drop-off gift at my house

They were even sneakier in that they did NOT put their name on the tag, but they have very neat writing!!!! 

Hmmm -- from my Secret Santa

And what's inside? I couldn't wait until Christmas! It's a die to help me plan my day!!!! It's relatively large, and it's fun! We were playing last night. It kept coming up with finishing a UFO or organizing my stash - both of which I need to work on!!! 

The die from my Secret Santa

I have one person in mind for the secret Santa, but I'm not sure. Anyway—THANK YOU for the fun gift! I'm sure it'll get used a lot!!!

I got a notification that the particular puzzle I wanted, which was previously out of stock, is back in stock. Wait until you see what it is. Who would have thought it would be sold out! Anyway, I also have to pick up something around the corner from the puzzle shop, so now that's an excuse to make a trip. I don't have time, but I need to go! I have put the puzzle in my cart, but I MUST pay for it before the darn thing sells out again. Of course, I'm trying to find a second puzzle to buy -- why buy one when you can buy two? I'm so bad. Oh dear -- I added two more puzzles to my cart. Sigh.............

But then someone sent me this. LOL --- can you imagine? 

How about this for a puzzle? 

On that happy note, I'm out of here. I have to walk the dogs, and I see the temperature outside has risen by two degrees since I got up. I should just wait a bit longer! Then it'll be time to start the work day! What I get done early in the morning is a bonus! The work day officially begins at 9 AM or thereabouts. 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!!