One step forward and another item added to the to-do list!

Should I say "be careful what you wish for?" We went from winter to high summer overnight! Yesterday was a blistering hot day with lots of sun! What a change, and I think we have heat today and tomorrow, and then back to mid-teens! That's OK -- it's nice to walk around in shorts and sweat!

It was an interesting day, and for some reason, I decided it was important to spend time gardening, which was NOT on my to-do list. But that's OK. It's stuff that needed to be done. 

First, let me give you an update on the HST situation at my house.

I managed to finish all the HSTs for my two winter quilts. And I kept trimming one of the other groups of the enders and leaders. When I was finished with the HSTs for the quilts, this is what remained of the scrap group. 

Hmmm - almost finished the scrap group of HSTs

I continued on until this small group was done. And NO - it did not work out evenly in groups of four, there was one extra. But no worries, this group is trimmed, and it's already stored in the scrapbin for the HSTs of that size. 

The group of HSTs is done!

I had some time to kill this morning, so I grabbed the next grouping and started on that. 

The next group of HSTs to trim

I got a fair number done, which is great. I've never been this productive (proactive) with these HSTs before. Once this group is complete, there are a few I've recently pieced together, and there is one more group I need to dig out, which I think is in the retreat bag for next week. 

Working on the next group of HSTs

And I accomplished ONE block (of eight) for the winter quilts. It represents a poinsettia. This is what all those HSTs were for. 

One block (of eight) for the winter quilts

And as promised, here are the two quilts. I need to finish the applique on the sledding block, complete the remaining seven poinsettia blocks, and after that, there are two remaining blocks - bells and flying geese. Then I need to find some border fabric and the backing. I'm making progress! 

Progress on the two winter quilts

I've decided this will be my UFO, and I hope to continue with the two summer quilts to complete two sets of the four seasons. It would be silly to only do three. 

I pulled the fall and spring quilts from the "to be quilted" pile, and they are now in the current quilting queue. I only have two customer quilts to do, and I have a group (5) for which I need to do some serious learning on my long-arm (computer-based), so I'm able to work on a few of mine. 

Two spring and two fall quilt tops to be quilted

Speaking of customer quilts, here is the one I did yesterday. Both KU and I want to steal this one. It's a scrappy log cabin, and it's just gorgeous! I have one more for the same customer, which I'll do tomorrow. Today, it's all about another community project quilt. 

Customer quilt - DONE

It's funny how trees bloom. Why is there one patch of different colored blooms on this tree?  

A curiosity of nature

I took a look at my lilac bushes, and they are just starting to bloom. They'd better bloom before I leave next week! They are a different species from the ones I spotted the previous day. 

My lilacs are behind!

Right after lunch, I had some car errands to run, so I got and left the house with a mental list of all the stops. I had to buy dog food, and because of the other things I was buying, I had to put the bags on the front seat. And I needed to fasten the seat belt because the car thought there was someone in the front seat. 

The bags of dog food are seat-belted in!

I spotted this at the pet store. A nice shady spot for the dog. I doubt my girls would use that - there is plenty of shade in the backyard at any given time. But if you are camping, then this could be an important part of the dog's camping gear. 

Camping gear for dogs

I was at the hardware store, and I spotted these scrub sponges. I've heard of them and always wanted one. Now I have one. What will I scrub with it? No idea yet, but I'm sure something will come to mind. It's pretty coarse!

My new scrubber!

I also stopped at Best Buy because we need a new printer. The heads weren't clean when I tried to print, and, in fact, because the entire printer head mechanism had been exposed overnight, it didn't really want to print at all. I'm tired of dealing with that printer, so it's time to get a new one. As I entered the store, I spotted signs saying the systems were down. Yep—you couldn't buy anything, and you couldn't access the website! 

Well, I spotted lots of employees around, so I took advantage of the situation and grabbed the printer guy. He and I had a great chat about what I really needed for a printer. He was trying to sell me the $59 printer, but I really like the top feeder for scanning (not that I do a lot) and the enclosed paper tray. It just looks neater. So that one costs a bit more. He told me to come back on Tuesday, and he would give me a deal since I was unable to buy yesterday. 

Then I was off to my last stop—the hardware store, where I bought 10 bags of mulch for the backyard. I had done some weeding in the morning, and while the mulch doesn't completely stop the weeds, it does help, and it tidies up the yard. We have no grass, so the mulch is important. I have yet to mulch the entire backyard in one season, and some areas need it more than others. 

I bought the bags and had someone load them in the car for me. 

Here's a tip: when you are at the hardware store and need to buy bags of dirt, mulch, or whatever. Take a picture of the SKU and then pay for the quantity at the cash register. Take the receipt outside, drive your car up to the appropriate stack, and load the number of bags into the car. 

As I was there for my second load, a couple were loading heavy bags of soil into a shopping cart. I don't think they looked too pleased when they saw me put the bags directly into my car. It was taking them forever, and then they had to wheel it in the store and then out to their car. My way (and most people's) is a lot less work. 

When I got home, I had choices about how to get the bags into the backyard. I dug out the wheelbarrow only to find the tire was flat, and that wasn't going to work. I tried to pump up the tire, but the sidewall was shot, so that wasn't going to work either. I carried the ten bags one at a time to the backyard. 

I had to go back for more mulch, and I also bought a new tire for the wheelbarrow. The staff had to search high and low for the one tire that was spotted in inventory, and it required a big step ladder to reach it. The box looked like it had been through a war, and I wasn't sure it was the correct size, but it looked right. 

Back home after getting twenty more bags of mulch. This time, I had to load all twenty in the car myself. The guy who was supposed to help was helping others. No big deal - that was my workout of the day. 

And within a few minutes after grabbing a wrench, I had the old tire off and the new tire on. 

Changing the wheelbarrow tire

The new one was slightly larger than the original, so I had to rotate the front bar a bit to accommodate it. But now I was in business, and I could put three bags at a time into the wheelbarrow. 

The spiffy new tire!

And before I knew it, all 30 bags were now in the backyard. 

10 bags of cedar mulch

20 bags of brown mulch

Phew -- that feels good, and I need to get outside and do some more weeding with the hoe and then lay down the mulch. I think it's also time to clean out the shed again. Most of the junk is gone, but it's funny how stuff accumulates. 

Then, since I was all sweating and feeling strong, I decided to bring one of the tabletops from the garage into the house. OH!!! That is a solid piece of wood measuring 30" by 60", and it is HEAVY!!! I managed to get it into the house and to the top of the stairs. 

Then there was the task of sliding it down the stairs while still in its box. Hmmm -- I should have removed the pictures from the wall because everything was going great until one fell off. 

Ooops --- one picture is gone!

The fall broke the frame, but not the glass. Well, I suspect, it's not real glass. Yep -- one step forward, which created a new item to add to the to-do list! I had to glue part of it together last night, and I'll try to rescue the frame later today. I think it's very repairable. Sounds like my clean the oven story!

The broken frame

The table top is downstairs, but I was a bit tired at this point, so I left it and hope to work on it later today. 

The solid-wood tabletop is downstairs!

All that hard work deserved a reward. 

My reward for all the hard labor

Then it was back in the house to get some quilting done, which you already saw. 

There isn't a day that goes by that Murphy doesn't entertain us in some way. She has created her own mud pit by the pond. There is some water overflow in this mostly shaded area, and she thinks it is her area. I bought a bag of dirt to place there, and then I'll top it with mulch. She is ripping up the lillies, so I have to replant some of them today. But that girl loves the mud! 

MOM - I claim this space as MINE! 

But she also likes to sit up near the fence in the shade! 

And this area is mine as well!

When I went to the pet store, I bought them some treats. Lexi gets soft bones as she won't chew on anything. While Murphy gets a chew bone. She was NOT happy to chew that thing yesterday and managed to dig several holes in the backyard while she tried to find a spot for it. Sigh.......

MOM - I'm saving this for another day!

And where is Lexi in all this? She is happy to just hang out under the table, hoping for a scrap of food. Let's say that the other side of the family has created dogs that beg! And it drives me mad! 

MOM - I'm not begging! I'm just cute!

What's the fish situation? Well, I keep digging at the debris at the bottom of the pond, and I'm dying to get that rock off the bottom -- you can see it on the right. PLUS, there are two huge roots from the lilies that are just hanging in the water, and I want them gone. How to get them? Either I lie on my tummy and reach in, or I step in to do the job. Hmmm -- both ways are going to be icky. I must just pick one and get it done! 

By the way, I'm using the fish net to grab the debris from the bottom of the pond. 

However, I have now spotted six of the seven fish. The last one is still very shy, and perhaps we have seen it, but only seen six together. They seem to be doing very well and were happy to enjoy the sun. They don't scatter when they see a shadow quite as quickly as they did on the first day they arrived. 

Six of seven fish

As for the puzzle? Oh my gosh -- this is the hardest one I've done to date. 

A tough jigsaw puzzle

I have bits and pieces of birds, butterflies, and dragonflies all over the place. You would think it would be easy, but it's quite the challenge, and the border is still not done! 

I must say, I felt very strong all day, and my legs were very happy, which made me happy. But I had a rather sad conversation with my Mom, whose days living independently are sadly going to end, and soon, if we don't get some additional help. I hope to look into it tomorrow. But let her story be a lesson to you all. If you do NOT use your body, you will lose your strength (both upper and lower), and then you will be at the mercy of someone in a nursing home to get you to the washroom on time. OK—you will be wearing a diaper. 

Stay active, and I'm not talking running a marathon. I'm talking about buying a few small weights, sitting in your chair, and while you watch TV, lift those damn weights. I don't care how much it hurts! Lift them EVERY DAY!!! And make sure you walk, or do those stand-up/sit-down exercises. You do NOT want to be my Mom. 

I have learned so much from her, and it's mostly what NOT to do in life. Even though there are days when my legs feel like lead, I get out and walk because I refuse to let old age and frailty rob me of my freedom! I can walk slowly, but I can still walk! And it's not all that bad as I make it sound! There are just some good and bad days. I strongly believe that all my issues are caused by two things - sciatic nerve damage and damaged tendons! 

And on that happy note, I'm out of here to walk the girls! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!