Fun day at the quilt retreat

I really must learn the parts of the body! A quick update on Dad. He's been discharged without emergency surgery. The blockage is (was) in his neck. I don't know the details, but I will find out more later today, since I've been running around the house getting ready to get on a plane in a couple of hours!

But wait - let's back up! 

I decided to go to the quilt retreat as I had stuff to drop off to others. One must keep that Pony Express alive. I don't think I brought anything home. Wait - that's a lie - I have a small gift, but no time to take a photo. 

For the life of me, I had forgotten the door code, but we got it resolved fairly quickly. I had grabbed some handwork, and it was a good thing; that's what I planned to do all along. 

Unpacking wasn't without its mishaps. I had grabbed my wool pressing mat from this bag for the Michaels event and didn't realize it was open. So—the contents of the bag fell out on the front step! Of course they did! 

Oops - the contents of my project bag on the front step

But then I got myself set up - two other participants were also doing handwork, so we didn't need to set up another table. It worked very well. 

My workstation

Look how neat that all is!! And I managed to get everything done that I could with what I had brought. OH -- did you notice the Singer iron? 

I made myself some notes, and when I got home, I packed up the missing component and put it in the same bag. I hope to get back for the final day of the retreat. It will be a good way to decompress from the week. While DH is a good listener, it's not the same thing! But a lot has to happen before that final retreat day!

My project is packed and ready to go back to the retreat.

This project is my Many Blocks project, which is on my Visual To-Do list, and my goal is to get three quilt tops done by the end of the year. I still have a few, maybe 30, blocks to make before I can start to assemble the tops. And in keeping with my "nagging" at everyone else to get work done, I need to make a serious commitment to this project. It was started MANY years ago, and I want it done. 

Planning on taking only handwork was a good thing.  

But a good part of the day was consumed with phone calls. Extra home care, Meals on Wheels, respite bed - all of that was coming together perfectly until Mom called to say that Dad was being released from the hospital. Sigh............... I'm sure the Home Care worker was ticked off, but what could I do? It didn't make sense to put Mom in respite when Dad was coming home. 

However, I have asked for an assessment for the two of them living in that apartment, and I hope to get that scheduled while I'm there. 

I have no idea what to face when I get there later today. 

Here's one of the girls and the boy, sleeping while I wrote the blog yesterday morning! The little guy flew home last night, and he looked so sleepy!

Bear and Murphy sleeping.

OK -- so here's a bit of levity to the day. WAIT --- that is totally wrong. I had so much fun with just the one day at the retreat. I shall miss all the fun and frivolity over the next couple of days, but family comes first. But there is NOTHING more therapeutic and fun than spending the day with some friends and just having FUN!!!! It was a great day, and thanks to all of you at the retreat! I'm already missing you!!!!!

Well, you know that I've become a certified jigsaw puzzle nut! And I'm learning about all the brands and styles and types and whatever. Well, one of my favorite puzzle brands is Villager Puzzles. They are Canadian, relatively new, and Kelly (the owner) only hires Canadian women artists for the artwork. And oh my—some of the potential new puzzles for 2027 are amazing! Many of the options are local locations, like Kelowna, Chilliwack, and others. 

Kelly announced something new for 2026: a puzzle Advent Calendar. Yep - I totally get that puzzle Advent Calendars are NOT new, but this is a first for her company. The release day was yesterday. Of course, I had it marked in my calendar, but no alarm - just an event. I checked online in the morning and realized the release time was 9 AM PT, which is noon my time. 

I set the event to noon, and then we got caught up in all the phone calls and whatnot, and it wasn't until 2:15 that I remembered the puzzle release. I quickly connected to the internet, only to find out the puzzle was SOLD OUT!!!!! Drat—while I had set the event, I had forgotten to set a five-minute warning. 

Later, I learned that the puzzle sold out in 1 hour and 38 minutes. I have no idea how many she had. BUT when I got home, I realized that the puzzle sold out on the VILLAGER website, but it was still available at some shops!!! OK --- so let's have a look. I managed to locate the puzzle at a shop in St. Albert, Alberta. Now I have my copy of the puzzle Advent Calendar. How fun - I can't wait to see it. 

I bought mine at a shop called Sweet Boutique. I have no idea how many they have left. 

OK—the clock is ticking; Murphy is a bit agitated, although she has settled down now, and I'm packed. And yeah, me - because of the lateness of booking this ticket, I'm relegated to a middle seat. I can hardly wait! And there will be no upgrade for me - I tried, but I'm too far down the list. Sigh................

On that note, I'm out of here!!!!! The blog will likely be a bit later than usual for the next couple of days because of the time difference. I'll keep you up to date - writing it down is a bit of a release for me. And I will confess that my brother has stepped up and things are going smoothly. I hope to accomplish a lot while I'm there. 

It's going to be a WONDERFUL day!!!!

Ciao!!!!