Many hands make short work

WOW --- what great stories of coincidences!!!! And, amazingly, our brain makes these connections! It's an amazing tool, and we need to use it or listen to it a lot more than we do!!

Good progress was made at the retreat house. I moved another bag of finished projects to the car last night, leaving one bag of projects and my knitting bag! We are here until Sunday, so I should be able to touch most of the stuff I brought. Well, let's see, since some of them are small, but still -- despite my panic packing at the end, I think I did pretty well. ONE bag of projects to take to the car —even if I don't get to them all—that's all that remains!!!!

Let's start with those half-square triangles. I managed to finish this entire grouping. Yeah!!! There were two dark triangles left without a matching light, so I'll add them to my tray of triangles when I get home. One of the things I love is getting home, unpacking the bags, and prepping for the next retreat!! Lots of satisfaction in that task. 

Another grouping of HSTs done!

So it was time to unpack the next grouping of half-square triangles. I've started working on this group, which I didn't even realize was in the retreat bag. That leaves one bag that needs trimming; I might save it and do it at home, or I'll work on it here. And there is one large bag with HSTs in various states of completion. Once these three groups are done, I think I'll be caught up. What a relief that will be!! I'll keep the two bags of HSTs to sew in the retreat bag as they are good enders and leaders. 

The next batch of enders/leaders

Speaking of enders and leaders, I went to sew another quilt top together and realized when I opened the bag that I need to finish making the blocks! I had cut all the pieces needed, but I had forgotten that the blocks were not finished. So that will go back into the retreat bag, as it's a great ender-and-leader project for the retreat. 

Here are the partially completed blocks. 

Partially completed blocks

And here are the pieces that need to be assembled. This is one project I brought, but I won't be touching it, nor the other two bags of HSTs. I'll continue to bring them until they are done, as they are good to have at a retreat. Once those are done, I know I have a couple of other projects that will work for enders/leaders. 

The pieces to complete the blocks are ready to be sewn.

I'm happy to report that I finished the other quilt top, but what an ordeal!!! The fabrics in it are very busy, and even though I had it laid out on the design wall, I managed to join the same fabrics together, not once, not twice, but THREE times!!!! I decided to leave it that way. I was not ripping it out. Did I mention that I had four blocks left over? 

The scrappy quilt top

But when I hung it up on the wall to take a picture, I wasn't happy, not because of the fabrics touching, but the ratio. It was too narrow for its length, and that will drive me insane. So I took the bottom row off and added it to one of the sides. I needed a few extra blocks to make that happen. This was probably my original intention, but of course, I did NOT leave myself a note. That would be too easy!!!!

And this is what it looks like now. There is one block leftover, and I'm OK with that, as I have another bag of blue flannel scraps with me, and that block will go in that bag. It's a decent-sized quilt top and made of MANY scraps, but together, it looks just fine! 

The correct orientation of the quilt top

Now here's a wild coincidence. I had picked up this small package at some US quilt show eons ago. There was a sheet of sewing lines (Moda Recipe paper #2) and two 10" squares of fabric. You could try out the papers and make two smaller blocks. It has been in the retreat bag for MANY retreats. I decided last night that if I wasn't going to make the blocks, I should NOT bring that back. 

A kit to make two quilt blocks

So I decided to sew the two blocks together. Here was the "recipe" that came with the kit. The sewing and cutting lines are marked on the paper, and you have this diagram to show how to assemble the block. The idea is that you pin that paper to fabric from a layer cake (10" pieces of fabric). 

The block instructions AKA Cake Mix Recipe

And here are the two blocks. 

My two blocks

What will I do with them? They can go in my orphan block box, and I'll need to tackle them during our upcoming scrap class starting in the fall. 

So there was nothing unusual about that, except that I finally tackled that little project in my retreat bag. 

Well, imagine my surprise when one of the ladies had similar sheets. When I looked closer, she was making HSTs from the Mode Recipe sheet #2!!!!! What are the chances of that? 

Someone else is working on Moda Recipe #2

Would I use them again? Well, it was kind of nice to have everything preset, and in particular because I was using the two 10" layer cake pieces of fabric. But to just make HSTs? I don't think so. But it's done!!!

And yes, I remembered to remove five more raindrops from the Cherrywood Challenge. Slow and steady. The five I removed yesterday were the big ones, which are easy! It's going to take me five days to remove all of them on the left side and a couple of weeks to remove them from the other side. It doesn't matter - it's just important to keep at this so I can get it finished!! I need to leave that beside the computer, and it would be a great thing to do at Virtual Retreat, Monday sewing, or watching a YouTube video. 

More raindrops are removed.

WAIT --- there's more!!! I woke up at my usual time when I'm home, and since I had had a great sleep, I was revved up and ready to sew. That's when I discovered that the black-and-white blocks weren't ready to be sewn together. 

But I grabbed the next bag of scraps to assemble into blocks and realized I only had a few blocks left to make. It's from the leftovers of making the eight dog quilts for the staff of our retired vet last year. 

Making scrappy dog fabric blocks

I had enough scraps to make ten blocks, and the rest was already made into blocks. The leftovers from this exercise are the two pieces at the top. Those got put into the other bag of dog fabric that is random colors. I will leave that for the next retreat. In addition to the ender/leaders, I like to bring a bag of scraps to make blocks. I still have a bag of Oh Canada fabric, the dog fabric, and some blue flannel bits. 

Blocks for another dog quilt

The plan with these particular blocks is to make a couple of borders around this dog-themed panel I couldn't resist last year. But I need to trim the panel, and I need a coping strip to go around it so I can add the 6" blocks. I just realized I could design it in EQ8 here, and when I get home, I can trim and add the coping strip. I might dig it out and do that. I  may or may not sew it at home. It would be good NOT to bring it back, so I might put it on the priority sewing list when I'm home. 

The dog panel to go with the blocks

And then, before I left the house, I threw in some scraps so I could work on the appliqué for the sledding block for the winter quilts. I got that all prepped last night and just need to fuse the shapes to the fabric, cut them out, and stick them down. I will get that done today. And now I'm working on the poinsettia pieced blocks. 

The appliqué is ready to fuse and cut.

And that was all I accomplished since yesterday's blog! OH WAIT --- one of the other ladies and I walked into town because I needed bananas, and while we were there, we went to our respective coffee shops because they were right there. No bug bites, which was good because I still have a lump on the back of my head, although it's much smaller now. 

And then one of the other attendees and I went back to Creekbank. Don't ask, but I picked up a couple of spools of thread! You'll see more of that when it's time. 

Remember that I talked about the low-tech of putting a jigsaw puzzle? I mean, no technology is required, so it should be easy for me to handle. Well, not so much. The puzzle I brought to the retreat was brand new, and I needed to open the seal. Well, that was a job and a half. 

I had trouble using a knife to slit open the tape and ended up sawing through the bottom of the box!!!! 

Oops - a bit too aggressive in opening the box

All I really needed to do was to pull that tape off!!!! Oh FARCE!!!!!!

It was as easy as pulling the tape off!

The good news is that the puzzle is done!!!!

The puzzle is done!

And the good news is that many hands make short work of any puzzle. Of the six of us here, four actively attacked the puzzle. I think we all did it at different times. One person would leave, and then someone would sit down! 

Many hands!

I have worked on jigsaw puzzles at other retreats and was never joined by anyone. They just left me in my corner, and I worked away. This time, it became a community puzzle even though the intention was for it to be a personal diversion, just like at previous retreats. But you know what? Who cares—if the others had fun putting it together, I'm happy to let them work on the puzzle. I have the setup, the puzzles, and the time to work on them at home by myself. And I'll do this one at home by myself at some point. I think the expectation is that I bring a puzzle to future retreats! 

One of the ladies has actually been to the location of this puzzle - Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. 

The puzzle!!!!

This is an older puzzle because it has a photograph on it. Many of the puzzles today are no longer photographs but are designed by graphic designers. And there is a BIG deal about them NOT being designed by AI. This is a lucrative business: designs created by people, for people. I would NEVER buy a puzzle generated by AI. OK - I said NEVER again, but seriously --- these designers need to be employed, and AI could not generate all the details required for a puzzle, without making a mistake. 

Besides, there are some amazing Canadian artists and some amazing Canadian-based puzzle companies. We need to support them!!!!!

I got a chuckle from two people here. This small piece is not a scrap -- this is the size of a finished piece that goes into a block from the Quilted Diamond Quilt by Linda Franz. She is hand-piecing this quilt, and, well, sewing this into a block could be a challenge!!!!

Now that's a small piece.

And this is someone else's shirt!!! What to do with threads when you don't have a spot? Put them on your shirt!!!! 

That's a lot of threads.

It's been a bit chilly here, and while I'm sitting in shorts at the moment, I might have to put pants on to go for a walk. 

But I'm fired up and ready to get some work done today!! Heck - if I get no more work done, I'll still be happy with what I've accomplished so far. Anything else is gravy!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Let your gut instinct be your quilting teacher and don't forget to experiment!

Goals are such a wonderful thing or not! I'm using BMI as a relative indicator, rather than fixating on my weight. Let's just say that I want to convert some fat to muscle or lose it altogether. While I can use my waistband as an indicator, I prefer to use BMI. I like goal-setting and numbers. 

The big reason for this is the creep! You know— you know your weight was X ten years ago, and now it's X PLUS. I don't like the plus, but I also know that I might gain as I get older, but there's reason to! 

My annual creep is about 1.5 pounds over the last 7 years. Not a big deal, but imagine if I let that continue? I do NOT, so I'm taking charge! The bottom line is that we have to find something to guide us if we wish to go down that path! 

And I might add that I've seen some very healthy and fit "overweight" people! 

The good news for yesterday was that I got my sewing mojo back! Yeah! And I finished quilting a quilt, but you need to wait a couple of days before I can share it with you. 

I finally accomplished the three things on my priority list, and I've started a new list. Let's see how far I get today. But that visual "to-do" stares at me every day and dares me to let it go unnoticed. 

Not to worry, I'm working very hard on my goals, and well, I'll be able to share more after this weekend. 

I set up the old computer in the kitchen, where there is loads of clear space, and I deactivated EQ8. I was able to use my distribution lists, and all is good. Except that I need to get those lists on the new computer. Not my priority this weekend. 

The old computer in the kitchen

 Then I got out the EQ8 package to access my license and password, and reactivated it on the new computer. That was easy, since I knew exactly where the box with the information was, and it didn't take long. Yeah!!!! When one is organized, it can sure make life that much easier! I need to do more, but I'm already miles ahead of where I was, and I can't get lax now! I still have to download the Creativate Embroidery Software, but I think that's it. I have very simple needs, and NO files reside on my computer's hard drive. 

My EQ8 box

I managed to get a few more half-square triangles sewn and trimmed. 

More half-square triangles

I will say that making your space inviting to work makes it a whole lot easier to work there. Look at this tray of triangles. 

My tray of triangles

When it was a jumbled mess in a drawer, I never touched it, except to add to the mess. NOW? I keep that tray organized, and if I add to it, then I sort the triangles by color. Then I match up two sets and place them on the sewing machine. Then it's easy to sew and trim. And before I know it, I'll be digging out one of the boxes of triangles that I have stored away. We are not going there!!

Enders and leaders - ready to sew

This morning, I needed to find some yellow batik. Hmm -- I have two boxes and two baskets of batik fabric. I don't store these by color as I don't have space. But imagine that I found four or five choices in the top basket. It's obscene how much fabric is there, but it's also nice to find exactly what I want, when I want. OK - so that one looks green! 

The yellow batiks I found

And here's the basket they were sitting in. 

A basket of batiks

Here's something I promised a couple of days back, but I needed to find it. I often get asked about thread colors and thread weights. So what do I do? I experiment! I made these samples a while back. By the way, I had used these for a presentation, and they did NOT get put back in the correct spot. They were in the dumping ground that I call Studio U. They are NOW in the right place. They were all quilted on the long arm. 

On this sample, I used a regular weight (probably a 50-weight matte polyester thread) on the top that matches the fabric color. See how it all blends in, and you see the texture, but not really the stitching. 

Quilting thread matches the fabric

Now look at this one. I used the same thread weight but in a high-contrast color. It's pretty visible and that's the first thing you see - the stitching, which is probably not the most important thing on a quilt. 

High contrast thread

So let's suppose you have a quilt with light and dark elements. A light background, but black for some of the blocks. What color thread will you use so that it doesn't jar you when you look at it? If you choose a dark thread, it'll show like mad on the lighter bits and disappear into the dark fabric. The same if you choose a light thread, it'll show like mad on the darker bits, and disappear into the lighter fabric. 

What should you do? 

Well, look at this sample. This is quilted with the SAME color as the previous example. But what's the difference? 

Sample quilted with white thread

The difference? The thread weight!! Yes -- this is a 60-weight bobbin thread, and while visible, it's not in your face. Also, picking a medium neutral color - khaki, tan, taupe, beige, all work well and will blend into almost any color you have and allow you to see the quilt, not the quilting!!

I wrote an article about it in Issue 64 (The Texture Issue) of A Needle Pulling Thread. 

By the way, did you know that you can purchase individual patterns that I've written for the magazine? Yep --- check this link out. 

Oh dear—where are my pictures this morning? I sent them to myself a bit late, and they are taking forever to sync. Now what's going on? Well, obviously, the pictures came through - I don't know what happened, but when I went to move them to today's folder, which already had some images I hadn't used over the last couple of days, I proceeded to delete the entire folder. Sigh..............  I had highlighted the incorrect folder and selected DELETE. GONE - POOF - just like that! So, those pictures I hadn't used yet? They are gone! 

Poor Murphy - she is having lots of bad hair days! Look at the top of her head! 

Mom - I've got a fuzzy head! 

But then, she was outside in the wind, and everything was blowing like mad. She doesn't care! She's just like me!!!! She was pretty insistent when the wind blew the BBQ cover off. She wouldn't stop barking until I fixed it! Good girl Murphy!!!

MOM - I like the fresh breeze!

But the big question of the day is what is happening to Miss Lexi? While I doubt she will ever do the stairs, she is becoming much more curious about what's downstairs. Why? She'll stand at the top of the stairs and peer down, where, before, she wouldn't go near them. And she will stand in front of the dog bed in the front window, but have no interest in jumping up. Yesterday, I invited her to jump up, and she did! WAIT!!!!! Get the camera!!! So we had a little cuddle to show her it was OK to be there, and then she even stayed while I went to find my camera!

MOM -- Look, I'm up, and Murphy is down!

After yesterday's weather, our snow is almost gone, except for the piles at the bottom sides of the driveway. It was 15 degrees C at one point, very windy, and, let's say, one didn't need hats, mitts, or even jackets for walking! It's cooler today, but still above zero! What's this all about? It almost felt like spring. 

And here is the final post from this past week for QUILTsocial. Another small project that started with a button. I know I'm repeating what I said in the article, but I LOVE working on these small pieces. They can teach so much - let your hands do the work and let your brain take a rest. Make a background, and then play with anything on the quilt. Move things around - what do you like, what do you not like? How are you going to attach those items? What about color? We all have many doodads around the house that we can use to experiment with. 

The day I allowed myself to start these kinds of projects is the day I let my creativity out of the box and run wild. Yes, you can learn that from making a quilt, but it's much harder. I'm lazy and go for the small projects that let you learn quickly. And if you don't like something, guess what? You haven't wasted much time or fabric. 

So the next time you want to take a class to learn something new, why not let your hands and gut instinct be the teacher? If the project is hideous—oh, did I mention you need to check your ego outside your sewing space ?—then it's hideous. Who cares!!!! That's your opinion, but I bet someone else would love it!

Well, on that note, I'm fired up and have nothing on the agenda today but to work towards my sewing and embroidery goals! The presentations for tomorrow are mostly done - just waiting on any more pictures to add. They have until 6 AM tomorrow morning to send them to me. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

The power of positive thinking!

OH OH OH !!!!! I had to laugh when I read Elle's comment this morning! YES --- tidying up a drawer or anything is a snap once the JUNK is gone. I'm shocked at how easy everything is to maintain in the areas where we have eliminated all the junk. By junk, that may be literally garbage that should be thrown away, or it may mean those things you no longer need or want. GET RID OF IT!!! 

It takes a long time to get there, but once you do, the amount of FREE time you'll have will shock you! Daily cleaning and tidying up is a breeze! 

But the reason I laughed at Elle's comment was this! The other day, someone on a Zoom call mentioned a small item, and I HAD to have that item. I put it in the cart of my "favorite" online store. 

That was in the last couple of days of 2025. Imagine my surprise when I opened the cart in 2026 and found the price of the item had gone up by $3.32. And the cost of the other two items in my cart has also gone up, but only a few cents. It's to be expected -- a new year! 

Alert of a price increase!

What is the item? Well, I had an epiphany and thought, "I bet I already have that item." And sure enough, when I looked in the bag of knitting tools, there it was!!!! It's called a Soft Touch Thread Pick by Clover. It probably shouldn't be in with the knitting tools, but it's better off at the long arm, where you get a small errant stitch from time to time. 

Soft Touch Thread Pick

I even have this one, which is much larger, and should be in with the knitting tools. Good grief—thank goodness I caught that!!! I deleted this item from the cart and saved myself from a duplicate tool! 

A Fix-An-Knit tool

When I look at the clutter in this office, I must remind myself of how easy it is to find any utensil in our kitchen because I eliminated what we didn't use and tidied up what we do use! Wouldn't it be amazing to walk in here and immediately put my hands on anything I want? That's my goal! Continue dealing with the junk, even if it means putting some things aside for later. The next time will be that much easier! 

I've got a few piles on the kitchen island and will work my way through some each time I pass. I WILL NOT let this mess get the better of me! And when it's time to downsize? Well, it's going to be a piece of cake! 

I think one of the big things about downsizing or decluttering is the ability to finally LET GO of things we deemed necessary because of sentimentality, guilt, or whatever other reason we thought we needed to keep them. It's such a freeing feeling knowing that you do NOT have to be the gatekeeper of items. Let them go - find a new home, recycle, reuse, or whatever, but GET RID OF THAT JUNK!!!

If you want a quick peek at my kitchen drawers and some stuff behind the doors, check this out. I redid the drawers in 2024, and they are in the same condition today. When I want a big spoon, I know exactly where to find it and exactly where to put it away when emptying the dishwasher. That is HUGE!!! The only thing I have to do is remove everything, give it a quick wipe, and put it all back. 

And in case you are interested, here is the status of the Pony Express staging area at the house. Only a few things on it, and I will continue to use this to pass along things. It's worked great in the past, and well, I hope it gets used frequently in 2026! 

The Pony Express staging area

And now let's take a look at Studio B. I know that Studio B is overflowing with stuff. But I have a plan, and with the new arrangement, I think I'll see improvement this year! I can feel it!!! I've specifically targeted projects in my current project as goals for 2026, so anything I get done will be a step in the right direction! 

Here's a tip to start the year. I was sewing the extra blocks for Farm Girl Vintage, and the sewing machine was struggling to start a new seam. It's a top-of-the-line sewing machine, so I can't blame the quality. OH CRAP -- look, I still have the decorative stitch plate on the machine. GET THAT THING OFF!!! Use your single-stitch throat plate for piecing—you will be a much happier camper!!! The minute I switched the stitch plates, there was no issue with the fabric getting sucked into the bobbin case. If you don't have one, check with your local dealer and buy one! It's not a luxury - it's a NECESSITY!!! And if you have to move your needle to find your 1/4" seam allowance, get a 1/4" foot that allows you to stitch with your needle in the center! You shouldn't have to struggle! 

This is NOT the stitch plate to use for picing! 

And then the nine-patch got sewn. 

The nine-patch for Farm Girl Vintage

Oh, wait -- I threw the die to see what I should be working on. Good answer!!!

The task of the day!

Farm Girl Vintage is a UFO. I taught it as a class in 2016 and 2018. I think it's time to bring this one home! 

I didn't take a picture of the other block with the half-square triangles, but it's done, too. Then it was time to rejig the borders, and those got done as well. The quilt is NOW the size in the book, with NO extra blocks, and I used up a bunch of small scraps. You can't even tell that I added an additional row. Was that at the top or the bottom? 

I had hoped to get the flying geese border stitched on this morning, and I'm very close. Here's the status of the quilt. Hmmm -- that bottom looks a bit wavy, but I'm sure it'll be fine when I sew the border on. The last flying geese border is made and just needs to be stitched on. I had to fudge many seams when sewing the flying geese units together. I have no idea what happened, but no one will know! 

Farm Girl Vintage quilt top - almost done!

However, I had a wee dilemma: I was missing ONE flying geese unit. I was just about to make a new one when I spotted this. 

WAIT - the missing flying geese unit! 

It was attempting to fly away!!!! Imagine if there had been all kinds of junk on my work table. Would I have found that? I don't think so! I can't say enough about clean work surfaces to be efficient in sewing. It was not always like that at my studio, and I wish I had photos to show you how I used to work. My cutting table literally had a 12" corner free to cut stuff. That is NOT good. The sewing tables were strewn with projects I hoped to work on, and the ironing surface was barely visible. I will NEVER let that happen again. I've learned that neat, tidy, and CLEAR make for a much easier place to work. 

But that's when things did NOT have a home, and there was no place to put them. Now, I'm hypersensitive to putting things away! OCD? Perhaps, but I LOVE the change. 

And I"m making great progrss on the little triangles as enders and leaders. When those units were shoved in a drawer, I ignored them. Now they are front and center and get worked on every time I sew! They are sorted by color! 

My ender and leaders tray

This tray is the only thing sitting on my sewing table. I only need THREE tools when I'm sewing, so they are in front of the sewing machine on the table. The extra thread (black) and the extra bobbins are on the telescoping thread stand. NOTHING else is on the table. I don't need markers, rulers, and gosh knows what else messing up the sewing table. I will mainly use those at the cutting table, so that is where they reside - in a holder on the wall! If I need something, I simply get up to get it. Simple!! 

I got another chuckle when I was finishing the editing, and YES --- all that writing is done, and all the projects I worked on are COMPLETELY finished. That took a bit of time, but I persevered. Anyway, Grammarly HATES passive language, which I still struggle with. But when I managed to rewrite the sentence so it was NOT passive, I got this message. 

Yeah -- Grammarly approves my new sentence structure!

OH my!!!! I'm not practising - I just fly by the seat of my pants, and hopefully one day, I'll get the hang of writing without it being passive! I struggle with what that even means, which is why it's hard to correct. Grammar was never my strong point! 

I've been cleaning out the cupboards a little bit each day, and I knew there was muffin mix in there. So I pulled the mix and all the cupcake papers out. I think it's time to use them up! If I don't use them up, I need to get rid of them. There is NO SENSE in keeping things that we will never use. 

My cupcake papers

I have Scrabble cupcake papers, cycling, and some polka dots. And a few that are just white! Why keep them? I should enjoy them while I can. Instead of buying bran muffins for my afternoon snack, I'm going to make them. At least until the cupcake holders and the bag of muffin mix are gone! 

And when I walked to the grocery store, I thought about buying a treat for myself - chocolate milk. I am trying to cut out any extra refined sugar in my diet, and I KNOW that chocolate milk is high in sugar. But when I saw this on the packaging, that was enough for me. I left it in the store.

OH -- that's a deterrent to buying chocolate milk!

In case you can't read that, it says HIGH IN SUGARS!!! I will only indulge in chocolate milk if I'm hiking or doing a long bicycle trip. Otherwise, I'm good with water. 

I seemed to be laughing a lot yesterday. At one point in the day, this was the shelf by the front door. FOUR pairs of mittens. HEY -- if I have them, I need to use them. If it's somewhat cold out, I wear two pairs of mittens for walking the dogs. A thin dollar store pair inside my fleece mittens. That allows me to pick up after them without completely exposing my hands to the cold. Those are the two black pairs. 

Then I have the gorgeous orange felted mittens that I wear for walking, with no dog leashes to deal with. And the other pair I use if I need to drive the car or walk with my hands in my pockets. I know—that's pretty specific, but hey—I have them. I'd better wear them, or I need to give them away! Don't worry, I was letting them air out. They are back in the closet! 

My daily mitten selection

I also have numerous coats that I wear depending on the weather. And last night, DH was disgusted at the state of my down sweater. It's a bit dirty, but who cares! He called me a homeless person! I could wash it, but it doesn't come clean, and it's all because of walking the dogs and putting dirty gloves (from the leashes) in my pockets. Even though that jacket is now 13 years old, I'm not ready to retire it. 

I read quite a bit yesterday, since I have a couple of books that are close to their due dates. NO cheating on the due date with the app. At the appointed time, they disappear even if you aren't finished! And guess who came to entertain me while I sat in the living room?

MOM - we're too tired to stand up and play!

And no, Murphy is not looking adoringly at Lexi. They were in a lazy mood to play and were content to lie on the floor and natter. 

While you think they are relaxing, they are NOT. They are actively listening to each other to see who will make the first move! They are so funny to watch!! And look how close they are! 

MOM -- she's bothering me! 

I spotted this on Facebook yesterday and OH MY!!!! 

Could any words be more truthful? How many times have you gone somewhere or listened to someone, and it's all negative? I get it that people need to vent and that for some, times are very tough. But there is a silver lining in everything. Not only that, but if you constantly talk in the negative, how the heck will you ever dig yourself out of that doomsday prophecy? Many doctors also believe in the power of positive thinking as a healing agent. There's a lot to be said about positivity. Like with the weather! 

Yep -- -I'm all about the power of positive thinking! Life can be bad, but it's not the end of the world. Fix the problem, find the good side of everything, and move on! That positive thinking provides energy, and energy means getting things done! Yes -- I totally get that some people have issues with depression, etc., and that the positive side of things isn't within their grasp. So do not yell at me for that. 

I've had the occasional day where I feel like the world is closing in on me, but I have the power to dig myself out of that hole. I cannot imagine someone who can't. 

And that about sums up today! The temperature is only minus 6, and the sidewalks are wet and sort of slushy, but you can walk with confidence, as there is no ice! How much better can it get in the middle of winter? 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!