The forest path update

Oh gosh—I'm a hypocrite!!!! I went to the event and brought something home! No, it was not a brand-new, top-of-the-line sewing and embroidery machine, although it was very tempting. No - it was a charm pack. 

A charm pack 

I got caught up in the moment! When they went around with a bag of prizes, I reached my hand in, and this is what I got. Wait—I cheated and peeked into the bag to get something I might use rather than some swag that I would not! I can easily sew those squares together and make a child's quilt. ,

So where did I go, and why would I potentially buy another sewing machine? Technically, I do NOT own any embroidery machines. The ones I have do not belong to me. My biggest machine is the Husqvarna Viking Opal 690Q. 

I went to Creekbank Sewing near Mount Forest. I swear I got behind a truck or a tractor on every road I took. It was a long drive (OK, so it was only 1½ hours!), but it still felt like forever. They are a Bernina dealer! GASP!!!! 

No, I'm not jumping ship—I'm a loyal Husqvarna Viking customer. However, I wanted to see what the competition offers, and this was a free event with zero commitments. 

Shoot—I didn't even get a picture of the entire machine; I only got a couple of screenshots of the screen. 

The screen on the Bernina 990

Was I impressed? Yes, and no. I'm not going to write a review here—that's for you to find out for yourself—but there are definitely some nice features, and some of them are just catching up to what we've had on the EPIC series for years. If I had a cool $25K CDN in the bank, I'd have walked home with the machine and a cabinet! But I didn't. 

I knew one person there, so we had a good chat about the machine (she knows my brands as well). It's always good to stay in touch with people in the industry. It's a close-knit world, and you never know where you may end up. Don't jump ship! 

I will say one thing—I think the SVP educators are much better and have much better samples, and that's all I'm going to say! 

That consumed almost my entire day, but I still managed to get some sewing done and some editing done. I wish I were a little bit further ahead, but I'm still on target. 

OH MY GOSH!!!! Here's an update on the forest path. No -- those hilly sections are not paved, and yes, they have already started to erode after they were "fixed." 

Here's the backstory as to why this happened. I was walking Lexi the other morning near the section with the big drops (up to 12 inches) off the pavement's edge. I noticed someone I knew coming towards me. For the sake of this story, I'm going to call them Bob and Sue. And their big king shepherd, who I'll call King. 

Anyway, Bob was coming towards me with King, who is a very handsome fellow. He was fostered by Bob and Sue and eventually adopted by them as no one wanted him. While handsome, he's not always the best with other dogs (like Murphy, but perhaps a bit more aggressive), so he needs constant attention when passing other dogs. I get it—100%. 

Bob and King moved into the forest off the path as I approached, but I was still about 100 feet away from them. Sue was behind Bob on the path, but she was not paying attention and walked off the path. When she attempted to get back on, she fell. I saw her! Bob ran to Sue with King firmly in his hand. The drop-off was very low when she went off the path. 

I stopped where I was, as I didn't need to complicate the situation by getting King excited when Bob was comforting Sue. She seemed to be in a lot of pain. After a few minutes, I asked if they needed any help. They said no, so I said I would walk past them, but in the forest so as not to excite King. That worked. I'm sure others would not have been so patient. 

However, I bet they called the city, and this is what we saw yesterday. 

The drop-offs are gone!

Good topsoil has been added to the sides of ALL the pavement in the forest entrances. It's soft, and it's going to be one muddy mess the next time it rains. I wonder how much of it will erode? I can see where people have already stepped into it, and you could still turn an ankle. Sigh. Another waste of money. And where Sue fell was NOT steep. She was NOT watching where she was walking - she was watching me, Lexi, Bob, and King. She walked right off the path because she wasn't paying attention. 

This is a forest path. I don't care if that section is paved. And what are they going to do about the tree roots along the edges and, in some instances, in the middle of the path? Oh well, it's a crazy world, and all I can say is watch where you are going. 

There are tree roots on the path!

Now, I could be wrong, but the timing is right, and that would have meant the city would have jumped on that "health and safety" issue immediately. Bob and Sue have always been friendly, and I can't imagine calling the city because I tripped on a path. I might be wrong. 

I need to find out what the garbage procedures are in our city. I should clarify that - I need to learn about the big stuff that won't fit into your garbage bin. But I see many times where people just seem to empty their houses and leave them at the curb for the city to pick up in their trucks. And yes - I've seen them just cram big stuff in and use that big crusher thing to crush it up and move on. Meanwhile, I load my big garbage into my car and take it to the dump, where I have to PAY to get rid of it. Am I the silly one??? Or do they have to pay if they leave big stuff at the curb? I must check that out. 

Huge piles of garbage at the curb

It seems to be a common thing in our neighborhood. 

I should clarify something—just because I don't have that extra hour to sit on the front patio doesn't mean I'm not drinking my tea and having my cookie. I still am, but I'm sitting at the computer instead. I'll be doing that all this week, and once my schedule slows down in a month, it'll be cool, so I may have to dig out that quilt to sit on the front step!!

I talked about the treats at Tim's. Did you know that one of those dream cookies has 380 calories!! Yikes, and how much sugar? 

This is what I have with my tea. Oh, and I don't have sugar or cream in my tea. 

My cookies

Three of these cookies have 130 calories, and I have two. We can still have things that aren't necessarily the best for us, but we could make wiser choices. 

Three cookies have 130 calories

Many people think that only large people struggle with their weight. But smaller people are struggling as well. We struggle to maintain, not to lose. It's not the same battle, but it's similar. I made a vow to myself over 40 years ago to keep an eye on my weight because my Mom is very overweight. I still eat most things (even a daily dose of chocolate), but I try very hard to keep within my limits. 

Oh, there are days when I could gorge myself on bags of candy, chips, and pop! I love that stuff, but I've learned that it doesn't work for me! I might as well tape the sugar to my hips because that's where it goes when I overeat. So I just say no and eat what I can. 

The kitchen thing has gone too far! Once I come back from walking the girls, it's tidy-up time. WAIT—it's to the point now that other than unloading the dishwasher, there really isn't anything to tidy! My entire house will soon be like that—the only room that really needs any tidying is the office, and its time is coming! Remember—chipping away every day!! 

Tidy kitchen!!!

And what is this, or should I say WHO is this? 

Carla and I in 2014!!!!

This must have been at the Creative Festival in 2014!!!! I recognize the sewing machine; it was the first one I reviewed in June 2014 for QUILTsocial. Oh my gosh, I was wearing glasses then, and it looks like—well, what am I doing with my hands???? 

On that note, I'd better get myself organized for the day. I have a lot of writing and editing to do and some stitching to finalize and label. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

A day off

OK -- I don't take many days off from sewing, but well - this weekend was just too beautiful to pass up. We get so few glorious days, and I wanted to be outside. So, I sure didn't get much done in the sewing department, and I'm OK with that. 

I did go for a 50K bike ride. It was a bit cool. I always start my trip by going to the end of my street to test the clothing and the equipment. I stopped when I passed by the house to get a vest. I hate being cold. And what's with that headwind? There didn't appear to be any wind when I started out, but there was a nasty headwind.

I stopped to take some pictures for you.

We live near one of the busiest highways in Canada. The 401. It's a totally crazy highway with 16 lanes of traffic through most of the city center. They are widening sections of that highway to the west of the city. Why they are expanding it is beyond me as until people learn to drive properly, it doesn't matter how many lanes there are, the roads will still be blocked with idiot drivers. Sigh......

Construction on the 401 near Milton

Bicycles are not allowed on the 401. Thank God for that! I can imagine the suction created by some of those speeders would be enough to suck us off the bikes! I had taken a different route yesterday - one that I haven't ridden in a long time.

Look at this utility pole. Now, why are there so many different colors of wires? And why are they hanging off this one pole? It looks like big bobbins of colored thread hanging there.

Spools of colored wire hanging on a utility pole

I passed by the church where we usually sew on Mondays. Alas, we're not sewing there. However, we do have our Zoom meeting today! So we do get to stay in touch, and that's good.

Our Monday sewing spot

I hit three different cities on my bike. When I passed by this place, I had to take a picture. This is the famous online order fulfillment warehouse. OK - this is ONE of many in this area. It's very hard to get an appreciation of the size, but let's just say the warehouse is HUGE.

Online fulfillment warehouse

In case you don't know who I'm talking about, there's their name on the side of the building! While I appreciate that they have helped during this outbreak, - well, I'm not going to get into it. I just so disagree with their aggressiveness to consumers to the detriment of many small mom and pop shops. Just like when the W store came marching into towns. That totally decimated many local malls.

The warehouse

The parking lot was about 1/3 full, so people were picking orders to make us happy. I would LOVE to have a tour of the place. It's so vast and well - I'd just like to see it. I know people use bikes, scooters, etc. to get from place to place, but I want to see in person.

I did a bit more tidying, and in that laundry basket, I found THREE magazines. They are now in their respective places on the shelf.

Three magazines to file

This article was in the Antiques and Vintages magazine. It was about Jim Erickson's Quilt Collection. We got to meet him in 2015. Check out this blog post to read all about our adventure when we visited Jim's house and saw his amazing quilt collection.

Jim Erickson article on his antique quilts

Remember those lint rollers I mentioned a while back. Well, I found a taker for them! I kept a large one and a small one for me. The rest are in a bag ready for pick-up or drop off. Now that drawer is almost EMPTY - what will I put in there????  I love getting rid of stuff. I was going to keep a few more of the rollers, but then, common sense kicked in - I don't need them. But someone with a cat does!

Lint rollers

I can just see my kid (or anyone else) rolling their eyes if they had to go through my stuff. They would say, "oh Mom (Elaine), why did you hoard lint rollers??" So that's not going to happen!

Here's another fabric that I picked up at Len's Mill the other day. My swatch is sitting on the fabric. I think it's a good match.

Purple swatch and fabric

It's for the border for my Easy Street quilt - the Bonnie Hunter mystery that I was working on a while back. It's not a perfect match, but it'll do. It's funny when looking at it next to the quilt, it's not just that the new one is lighter, but it has a different base color underlying the main color. It has more red??? Perhaps? Oh well, it's going to be good enough!

The new fabric for the border

When you make scrap quilts, this is what happens. Move on!!!!

I woke up this morning full of energy and motivation to quilt or at least sew. I have a bunch of paper piecing ahead of me. Hmm, before I get to the new stuff, I had better finish that mini quilt for my Mom. Oh, yes - it's still not done!!!!

I got two sections done this morning.

The sun

Part of a birdhouse

I almost finished another section but realized I hadn't pressed a piece properly, so I have to do a wee bit of ripping. These pieces are so small, that if you don't press properly, well, the image doesn't show as it should. I'll be working on finishing the last two sections during Monday Sewing. Then I move onto my mini-challenge piece that was supposed to be in the mail by June 1. Luckily, the lady I'm swapping with is also behind, and we agreed to mail later than the others. But I need to get that out of the house.

So we had a run on toilet paper when this pandemic started. Then it was gloves, masks, and other PPE. Then................... oatmeal???  This is what I normally buy for oatmeal, but it hasn't been on the shelves for the last couple of weeks.

What I normally buy

What I have to buy

Technically, it's the same stuff - just in individual packets and with a flavor. I wonder what's going on? At least the price of the hamburger is coming down to a more reasonable cost.

I'll finish off today with my daily update of the Virtual Challenge. I'm almost done with the daily update. I'm currently right in the middle of Saskatoon!!!

In Saskatoon on my Virtual Challenge

Do you remember me lamenting on my running shoes and how I would go through the toes? Well, if I had normal running shoes, I'd be through several pairs by now. But remember those big white clunkers that I bought? Here they are after over 1,100 MILES of walking since January 1. Not bad!!! Yes - they are a little less white than they were when I bought them, but those toes are intact!!!

My trusty walking shoes

 I did have issues with them. The tongue dug into the front of my legs when I first started, and it was extremely painful. A pair of taller socks helped to break that part in. I had a crazy blister/callous happen on the little toe on my right foot. That got cleared up, and now I have a bruised toe on the other foot - caused by a toenail. But that is almost cleared up - at least the pain is gone. Other than that - it's all been good!!!!

No takers on the Christmas vest panel I posted earlier this week. That goes in the giveaway box. I still need to call that lady and arrange for a dropoff. Perhaps I could do that today since the boxes are sitting in the hallway upstairs and the cleaning lady is coming on Wednesday. I'm so excited.


Oh GOSH  - I keep to forgetting to say that YES - there is another Virtual Retreat and it's scheduled for Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14. The time is from 9 AM EST to 8 PM EST.  I'll be posting the Zoom links in the next day or so.  Bring your show n tell, bring your questions, come to sew or just come to visit. We'd love to see you!!!!


On that note, I'm out of here. I'm ready to work today! No slacking in the gazebo! Besides, it's cool this morning. If those sweatpants of mine were made, I'd be putting them on! But I'll just suffer the cold.

Hae a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Production is on the rise at my house

As I was working yesterday, I was contemplating my UFO situation. I realized that I have two kinds of UFOs. One is projects that are actually started and I guess qualifies as a true UFO. The other projects sitting around are those that have all the fabric purchased with a pattern (or not) and need to be started. They need to be stored separately. In some cases, those "kits" need to be disassembled and everything put back in the stash room!

I'm going to start with the REAL UFOs. I did take an empty box upstairs (oh yes - some UFOs are hiding in a bedroom) and I'll start there. I've got a clipboard and some paper to write down what goes in the box.

BUT - I decided to get back to sorting through the finished quilts since they're still all over the place.

Here are a couple more quilts that went on the bed. I could have an amazing bed turning! Should I want one of the quilts in that pile, it's going to be a challenge to get it.

Oh Canada quilt

Scrappy nine-patch quilt

Green syncopated quilt

Most of the quilts on the bed will end up being donated at some point. I'm not ready yet so don't ask. I might try to sell one or two of them. Yep - I'd take money!

Quilts that need to be added to the bed

Anyway, there are a whole lot more quilts to be added.

There's a huge pile on the floor and there are still quilts on the railings. I'll work my way through it - there's no rush.

Then I'll have to deal with the really big ones. Fortunately, there are only a couple of those. And I've got a bunch of small ones to deal with as well. Yep - a huge mess that I created in 20 years!!!


It's really hard to see in this picture, but that pile on the bed is getting quite high! At one, point, I may no longer be able to add more.

The quilts layered on a bed

That purple/green one is the bottom-most quilt - I think. But the pile isn't quite that high as the border of that purple/green one is hanging down a bit. Still, the new height of the bed is significantly noticeable.









One thing that I've noticed with this lockdown is that I'm much less scattered. I'm not running off in a million different directions. I'm not even sure if that's it, but I'm happy as a clam and the more organized I become, the happier I get. I know - I haven't touched the office and I'm OK with that. If I could get those finished quilts and the UFOs under control - that would be HUGE.

In my puttering, I'm finding little things to make my life easier. Where do you hang your measuring tapes? I don't like to roll them up - that takes time and then they are curled. I have a spot in Studio B, but not in Studio U. Then I found this little hanger. So I grabbed the hammer and a nail and found the perfect spot - right by the door. Now my two measuring tapes are very handy. I used them several times yesterday and it worked perfectly.

A hanger for the measuring tapes

Then I took the stuff that was on the counter from the panic packed bag for the retreat and shoved that all into the weekly laundry basket of work. It all fits and I'm NOT adding to it until all the stuff inside is done. It's just that simple. DO NOT - I repeat - DO NOT add anything new. I'm getting pretty good at disciplining myself. There's hope for me after all. This is all great practice for when we actually get to the real retreat house - hopefully, next month.

The laundry basket filled with the projects for the week

Here's a different angle and you can see my box of supplies as well. I need that and it'll get changed out if I need to add something like new thread or whatever.

The weekly basket of projects and the supply box

 OH - I did finish the magazine quilt. I had to laugh as there I was working on Halloween on Easter weekend!!! But the top, binding and the backing are ready to be loaded on the long arm today. I'll be working on stuff in Studio B this morning. But I need to find another laundry basket and do the same thing as I've done upstairs.

Time to dig into the laundry basket to see what I can get done. I grabbed the bag with the blue string quilt project. I needed to cut more foundations from a sheet that someone had donated.

The blue string quilt project

The extra foundations are cut and now placed in the bag with the fabric strings. It's sitting at the top of the stairs to go to Studio B later today. It's going into the next retreat basket. It's a great project to work on at the retreat and it's so super organized!!!  I can hardly wait to dive into that one.

Foundations cut for the blue string quilt

Then it was time to get the backing and binding completed for the Night Sky quilt. In case you've forgotten what it looks like - it's this one.

Night Sky quilt

I found a very bright backing with a lot of the same colors (not the same shades though). Net quite a match, but there was enough and that's all that counts.

The backing for Night Sky

Then the binding got made and it's going to be added to the "to be quilted" pile later today. It's also going to be added to the master list!!

Backing, binding and a quilt top - ready to be quilted

 I'm loving working upstairs. And for some reason, I'm being super neat. What is the matter with me? Oh yes - I'm finding out how easy it is to work when the tables are clear. I did pull out another project, but I'll share that with you tomorrow. I'm running out of time today. But this is how the cutting table looked when I shut down yesterday. Now that's super inviting to get back to this afternoon.

The cutting mat at the end of the day

I'm so trying to focus on one project at a time. Well, I will always have several projects on the go, but I don't need to have the cutting mat filled with CLUTTER. I'm also being much more responsible at putting stuff away when I'm done with it. That includes tools and fabric. I was never good at that before. Now, I'm obsessive about it.

I watched the first show of Season Two of The Quilt Show. I had some handwork to do and this is what the other side of the work stations look like in Studio U. I'm impressing myself!!!!

Watching a video on the portable DVD player

Yeah - there was more distilled water at the grocery store yesterday and my personal shopper picked up two more containers without it being on my list! OK - so I'm pretty lucky!!! I shouldn't need any for a while, although you can see that I'm already into the one that he got the other day. I use a LOT of steam when I sew.

More distilled water

 So I asked the Easter Bunny for some chocolate. This is what the Easter Bunny left me. One LITTLE bunny.

My Easter rabbit

There are only 170 calories in one bunny. Is someone trying to tell me something?

170 calories in the bunny

I'm happy to report that I'm well within my 5-pound range. I'm actually sitting at the bottom end of the range means that I've lost a couple of pounds. I have a routine for eating and I have a routine for snacking. I LOVE snacking. I'm still reading the book, Sugar, Fat, Salt and when he's talking about all those yummy things - I was starting to crave something yesterday. Well, not really but it would have been nice.

However, after you read this book and realize how artificial ALL processed food is and how the manufacturers INTENTIALLY loaded them with fat, sugar, and salt so we would get addicted to these foods. It's very sad. They care about the bottom line and not about the industry, although some of them have made efforts to help the health care industry. But when pitted against another company - they just dump more fat, sugar, and salt in the products to increase sales.

It's aggressive marketing as well - it just makes you sick. While it's easy to say we can control what we buy and what we eat, it's darn hard when their marketing efforts are screaming at us to BUY, BUY and BUY MORE. I remember back in Grade 7 Social Studies that we studied marketing campaigns and how they get people to buy. I don't remember what companies we studied, but I remember the lesson and it's stuck with me for LIFE. I always look at ads to see what tactics they use to reel people in. I try to ignore it all. Which is why I'm NOT a good consumer - at least for the good of the economy.

My girls are going to need dog food soon and so I did something I've never done before. I went shopping for dog food online! That was an experience. Finding the products worked just fine although I think it took longer to find the products than if I was actually in the store. It was my first time so that was to be expected. Then there was the question of logging in. That took a few minutes.

But when I went to put my credit card info in, the system didn't like my card. After several tries, I ended up calling and it appears it wasn't just me. The system was probably overloaded with people placing orders. I was happy with the answer and told that to the young person at the other end. Her response? "THANK YOU for being so understanding".  Can you believe that? She probably got reamed out by the other people that had already called. I got the order placed this morning and even though it qualified for free shipping, I couldn't make that happen for some reason, so I now have an excuse to go for a drive. When they e-mail me tomorrow, I get to go for a drive in my car!! I can hardly wait.

Well, I've got a load of things to do today and I'm excited to get to them. Isn't that bizarre? I hope everyone is managing OK. I'm seriously putting myself in a little hole here. I don't watch the news - I check online for any updates that I need to know about and I listen to the one-minute news on the radio a couple of times a day. I don't need to know more.

OH -- I want to leave you with this post from a sewist in New York City. He posted a bunch of pictures of downtown NYC. It looks like a ghost town.

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Changing Habits

Habits can be our friends and our worst enemies! Habits like buying a coffee every day, eating a cookie or going for a walk. Twenty years ago, I got into the bad habit of having a hot chocolate at Tim's. I was at school and everyone went to Tim's for coffee. Since I didn't drink coffee or tea at the time, I settled for hot chocolate. That was the start of my downfall! OK - so I'm exaggerating! But it wasn't a good habit to get into. Sometimes, I'd have two a day and once in a while, I'd get three and I always had a cookie to go with it. OH!!!! 

I know - the calories and sugar - oh my!! No wonder I was addicted to sugar. Then I started having breakfast at Tim's especially when I worked and often as a treat on weekends. I think of the money and the time I spent waiting in the line - well - I won't think about it.

I gradually changed my habits and switched from hot chocolate to tea. And then I cut the habit out over a year ago. I can make tea at home - saving time and the environment. When I came home from the gym at 6 AM this morning (more on that in a minute), I passed by Tim's without even the slightest thought of stopping. I'm cured!!!!

I do stop at Tim's for a tea on my way to Monday sewing - that's my treat. But if there's no Monday sewing? No Tim's. I'm not really worried about the money I'm saving, but the time I've saved and the frustration of seeing other idiots do silly things in the line - well - that's priceless!!!

So why was I returning from the gym at 6 AM this morning? Because I'm traveling today, although later in the day and I won't have much time to get in 10,000 steps. I NEED to get those steps in if I want to make my Virtual Challenge goals. So that's a good habit. Let's just say that at 5 AM there is NO ONE at the gym - well a few people, but it was wide open! It usually is in the early morning when I go, but being Sunday, it was even deader than a weekday which makes sense.

And whose fault is this? That would be Ronda! She signed us up (OK - so she didn't exactly sign us up, but we all got FOMO (fear of missing out) when she signed up), so we had to sign up as well. It's been 6 days into the challenge. The numbers for yesterday haven't registered yet, but I'm ahead of the pace on both of my Virtual Challenges. I'm currently in some small town in Illinois called Romeoville. Now that's an interesting name! I love that we can see the street view on Google Maps. My second challenge which I didn't mention before is to walk across Canada. I've set two years for that goal. I'm starting in Victoria and I'm currently on the ferry heading to Vancouver.

I don't mean to bore you with this, but the blog is for me as well and I'm fascinated by this Virtual Challenge and I WANT TO WIN!!! Now here's the thing - this isn't winning per se in the fact that I finish first. NO - this is winning in the sense that I set a goal and I want to meet that goal! I WILL MEET THAT GOAL.

This first shot shows us leaving Chicago behind. The red marker is the pace I've set myself and when the numbers for tomorrow get posted, I'll be ahead of the pace marker once the numbers from yesterday get posted as I did over 12,000 steps yesterday. I even have a "yellow jersey" beside my name on the leader board of our small group. Yellow jersey referring to the Tour de France where the leader gets to wear the yellow jersey! How cool is that???

My position on Route 66 trek

And on the cross-Canada walk, I've just passed Salt Spring Island. I've been waving to my Aunt Yvonne who lives there and I'm sure I saw her wave back!!! I'm ahead of the pace on this trek and on my way to Vancouver!

My position on the cross Canada walk

This kind of thing is HIGHLY motivating to me. If only the UFO goals had some kind of thing like this. Well - we have our lists and our UFO club and support from our fellow quilters. We're going to be OK. But 2020 is going to be a MOTIVATIONAL year - I'm pumped to get things done!!!!


Speaking of getting things done, I HAD to do some admin stuff yesterday. I'm away this entire week and some stuff just couldn't be put off any longer.

I started the morning with this to face. Yep - a pile of stuff. ICK!!!  This is my nightmare.

Paperwork

And because of the desk situation here, the stuff sits on the floor. It's not that there isn't space - it's just not laid out well. I'm not sure even how to reconfigure it. I've got to put my thinking cap on.

Anyway, I was printing a few things (minimal printing), creating and updating distribution lists, created a Facebook page for one of the Sew Alongs. Answered, deleted, and filed e-mails. Verified numbers and on and on.

By lunchtime, the pile looked like this.

Making progress on the paperwork

Back at it right after a quick bite. And I filed some more e-mails, sorted more paperwork, and whatever needed to be done. There is NO PUTTING things off. Get it done NOW!!!!

By 2 PM, I was down to this. I can live with the amount that's left since none of it is super urgent. When I'm back, I think I'll have to add some more paperwork to that pile and have another marathon day!! There's no shortage of paper to add to that pile. Then I headed downstairs to work on some sewing.

The pile at 2 PM

No that's a lie - I did not go downstairs. I went for a LONG walk with the girls. That's why I got 12,000 steps in. They were having a bad day - oh well. It was an interesting walk and I'm sure that I'm now the talk of the neighborhood. A lady in a bright orange coat with two very badly behaved big dogs!

I'm good with that. I'm enjoying my neighborhood and my girls and I'm in way better shape than those that pass me in their cars!

Speaking of which, I should say that while these Virtual Challenges have changed my habits, others in our group have changed theirs as well. I won't mention names to protect the innocent, but I see that one of the others was up at 6:00 AM yesterday and on the treadmill for 45 minutes because she had something else going on later that day and wouldn't be able to walk. This is someone who normally would hit the snooze button. Oh my - the habits are changing and all because of a Virtual Challenge. It cost us $60 US to join! So far - we're definitely getting our money's worth from the $60.

I'm taking a break from novel-reading (physical book) and reading about the Thai boys that were stuck in the cave in 2018. Holy - I'm not sure that all the information is correct, but I suspect it's pretty darn close, but it's a MIRACLE that the boys were ever rescued. TONS of resources, tons of organizations wanting to help out, but NO ONE TO TAKE CHARGE. The fact that the boys were even found is a MIRACLE, let alone that they actually all got out. There's no other way to describe it. It's a fascinating read. I'm at the point where the boys have been located and now they're figuring out how to bring them out. I can't wait to read all the details. The book is called The Boys in the Cave, by Matt Gutman. 

What is utterly shocking (but unfortunately deadly true) is that people (and I won't mention their nationalities wanted (NEEDED) to be first to find the boys so they could look good for their country. And they were seriously upset when divers from another country found the boys first. Seriously????  What happened to the priority of finding the boys and rescuing them?? I recently had a discussion about this very topic. Is it OK to do a good deed if your main goal is to seek attention for yourself? Turns out that's a loaded bombshell. I say do things because it comes from your heart and it needs to be done and you want to help. But NEVER do a good deed because you're going to get air time. That's the WRONG REASON to be doing good deeds.

The person I had the discussion with said "as long as some good came of it" what's the harm? BECAUSE it's for the wrong reasons and totally insincere!!! 

Anyway - nice to take a break from the novels for a while, although I see that I have several audiobooks that came in ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Why does that happen?? They were scheduled to arrive weeks apart. I don't have noise-canceling headphones so it's hard to listen on the plane. I'll aim for some time in my room tonight once I hit the hotel.

On that note, I've got SIX hours before I need to leave for the airport. I must use them wisely as I have ONE sample to finish and I have to get the homework prepped for the first sew along as the first e-mail goes out on Friday when I'm still away. Everything is cut and ready to sew. I'm in good shape!!!

Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

The lost art of cooking

I know the title of this post does NOT coincide with me and my reluctance to cook! For years I was happy to make a stop at Tim's for breakfast, for snacks, for lunch or whenever I needed something to eat. If it wasn't Tim's, it was somewhere else. Not that I was a fast food junkie, but I was quite happy to leave the house with NOTHING to eat in my possession and forage along the way. Some days, everything I ate came from outside my house. Now, how silly, unhealthy and expensive is that?

Since my lifestyle changes earlier this year, it's rare that I leave the house without my snacks. I've been taking my lunch to Monday sewing for a long time (which I NEVER did). The reason I'm telling you this is that even at the CreativFestival, I bring my own lunch. Why? Because it's way healthier and I'm NOT going to fall back to my old habits. I'm just not!

It's funny how all those convenience foods are what fatten us up. So we have more time, but we're less healthy. Well, in a matter of a few minutes this morning (basically while my breakfast was cooking), I've got my food lined up for the day.

Actually, it's all my food consumption for the day except for dinner tonight.

On the left is my bowl of steel cut oats, with some almond milk, a banana chopped into the oatmeal and two slices of turkey bacon. A bottle of water for the road. I'm already on my second glass of water this morning. There's a peach cut up in the larger container, almonds, and yogurt covered raisins in the small container and for the "main course," I have a wrap with ham and cheese. Hold the butter and mayo and whatever. The wrap doesn't need it. This way you can taste the ham and Havarti cheese. The only thing I forgot to add was my two Simple Pleasures cookies which I'll add before I leave. Yes - I get it that the cheese is very high in fat and the yogurt raisins have sugar, but it's all within the acceptable range of my food guide. Just!

Breakfast, lunch, and snacks for one day

That's it - that's what I get to eat all day!!!!  But you know what? I'm good with that. I'm not hungry and no need to spend money to buy expensive junk food or even more expensive healthy food while I'm out. Takes a few minutes to prep. Can you believe I said that?  I was the queen of convenience!!!  No longer - it's time to make and maintain lifestyle choices and it's time that we live for our health. The grocery stores would wither up and die if everyone shopped like me.


I belong to two modern quilt guilds and I'm looking after the charity quilts for both. Of course - why do one quilt, when you can do two quilts!!  I can't make the meeting this Saturday and couldn't make the meeting last night. After some quick math and a few e-mails, I got kits ready to be handed out on Saturday. Both quilts will look totally different and yet made from the same fabrics. How long have I sat on that fabric waiting to figure out how to cut it up for the kits. It's amazing when you have run out of time. In mere minutes, that fabric was cut and made into kits. The instructions have been added and someone is picking them up today for delivery tomorrow. A huge thanks fo Faiza for making that happen!

Kits ready for the QuiltCon Charity Quilt

I'll have to mail the other kits out as I just didn't get a chance to get those done and I wasn't driving all the way to that meeting after being at CreativFestival all day.

I took the toll highway to the CreativFestival to make sure that I would be there on time. I arrived a half hour early and sat in the car reading my book. I read 20 pages and finished the book off when I got home. It was very strange - but I liked it. Just a weird style of writing for this genre of book.

The day at the CreativFestival seemed to fly by. If I wasn't changing bobbins or rehooping fabric, I was chatting to customers, demoing machines (I love that best) or chatting to people who stopped by to say hello. And there were lots who stopped by!!!  I love these shows so that I can catch up with what's going on. It was great fun! I didn't even get a chance to pop out and shop. OK - I took a wee peek in the booth next to us but that was it. Some GREAT half priced kits. I was tempted but didn't buy. If anyone is looking for Crabapple Hill Block of the Month kits - these are HALF price. Older ones, but still - all the patterns and the fabric!!!!  A great deal! I'm still tempted, but I have so many of her patterns already that are waiting to be stitched.

Even though I technically don't need anything, I have set myself a budget - I can spend that much. There are a few things that I'm going to look at today or tomorrow. The first day is always the busiest. I'll let you know what I find. I know of two things that I want - one is expensive and one is not. Hmm - got to think about that expensive item. Hopefully, they have a show special.

I haven't had a chance to read this article yet, but have a look at the picture at the very end. That's my quilt pattern!!!  While I love to make quilts, I also like to see my patterns made by other people. I can't way to read the article. Looks very interesting. And thanks to everyone who has ever made one of my patterns. You should send me pictures as I'd love to post the pictures!!!!

On that note, I'd better get myself in gear. Lunch is made, I'm half dressed, but the girls - well, they're still waiting and not happy.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!