A lazy day in the backyard

Let's just say that yesterday did NOT turn out as I planned. Instead, I was a slug and spent time in the gazebo and bonding with Murphy! I'm happy to report that she seems to be feeling much better, and I think I mentioned that she even came into the house on her own in the morning to hang out with me.

Then she lay at my feet while I was blogging, so it was hard to type! But that's OK. 

MOM - I need to be with you!!!

I was in such a relaxed mood that I even forgot to make an appointment with the vet and the physiotherapist. So those are on the must-do list for today. 

It was such a glorious day that how could I stay out of the gazebo? Before I know it, the summer will be gone, and I'll be lamenting that I didn't spend enough time out there. And of course, my trusty companion was right there with me. 

MOM - I love spending time with you!!!

Now that the backyard is fully "done," at least for the moment, it's nice to just take some time and enjoy it. While I don't mind working, it's also nice to just relax and enjoy. 

A glorious day in the backyard

I've decided, and I had better write it in my agenda, to spend one half hour each week maintaining the backyard. I see a few weeds are sprouting up again between the flagstones, so if I keep on top of it, it won't be a big deal. And I need to tidy up the shed, and there are a few things to hang on my back fence. So I will pick a day and get out there - once a week. 

I had a chuckle yesterday as a friend was flying to Toronto and I was in the backyard. It's so nice to be able to communicate with people on a plane these days. Not that I want to, but if I need to, it's possible. Anyway, she was looking to kill some time as it had been a long flight. She was 30 minutes away from landing. I told her that they would likely be landing on the east approach to the airport, not the west, since I wasn't seeing any planes land. In that gap you see above, we can see planes approaching the airport on both east/west runways! 

Thankfully, our house is far enough south and west of the airport that we don't hear the planes unless the cloud cover is just right. The best of both worlds - close to the airport, but not close enough to disturb us. 

Murphy was feeling so much like her old self that I found a toy out of her toy box!!!

Hmm- someone wants to play with her toys.

I also bought some plug-in calming devices. I had noticed them in the exam room at the vet, and someone mentioned them in a comment. So I have two of them on the way. We'll see how they work, but the sleeping outside thing seems to be working. She is venturing into the house much more than she was a week ago, so that's a positive. And she is now safely ensconced in Lexi's raised bed beside me. And she was downstairs with me this morning while I was sewing. She can go down with supervision, but she can't make it up by herself, so I use a towel under her tummy to support her. I doubt she will ever feel comfortable on those stairs again. 

I had put carpet treads on them, but even that isn't enough to secure her, and she slipped even with those. But I am OK with helping her up. We just need to be diligent about blocking them so she doesn't even attempt it. 

Speaking of getting up the stairs, I was chatting with a neighbor yesterday, and they had a chair lift installed in their house because their in-laws live with them and they need assistance on the stairs. It cost $15K to have a custom (curved stairs) chair lift installed. Yikes!!! The way our stairs are, I don't think that is even possible because the staircase is open (no walls) on both sides at the very bottom. I told DH - he better get doing some exercises! I am NOT moving. 

I was at the gym yesterday, and I'm doing OK on my own. I miss the spin classes, but I get on the bike and do half of what I would in spin class, then spend the rest of the time stretching and doing some other exercises. I am trying to get in the habit of doing the exercises I got last week. 

Did I mention that these are mostly for strengthening the hips, but it's also the legs. So Chair Squats - we all know how to do those, and they are easy. But there were two step-up exercises that were challenging. But they are simple and good because they work not only on your strength but also on your balance. 

One of them is to find a step - use your staircase if you don't have an exercise step. Stand on the floor and take one step up. Then bring the other foot up, step down with both feet, and repeat. 10 repeats, 2 - 3 times on each side. You can actually raise your heart rate with this one. I like to add to it by lifting my free leg up, like high-stepping, then back down. That increases the heart rate even more. If you don't hang on, it helps improve your balance. Another important factor of staying independent!!!

The next one is the reverse of the one above, and it's darn hard! Simple but deceptive! Stand with one foot on the step and bend that leg so that the heel of your loose foot touches the floor. OH MY --- that was a challenge for me. I was finding that I could touch the ball of my foot, which I then used to push myself back up, but that is NOT the way to do it. You need to touch the heel so that only your leg pushes you up. Yikes --- I'm going to have to work on that one and, of course, try to remain upright (not leaning forward) while doing it!!!

If you want to see videos of the exercises I was given, you can find them here. 

Scroll down until you see this. You can download the paper that I have, and the videos are there as well. It's hilarious because it's really for someone who has had a hip replacement! But I'd rather do this now and not need a hip replacement! My joints seem to be fine - but my muscles are not!  

One of my neighbors has this GIANT hibiscus in her front yard, and I grabbed a photo yesterday. The blooms have to be at least 6 or 7 inches across. It's beautiful, and when we had so much rain the other day, I thought the blooms were toast, but nope - they dried out and popped right back open. 

A giant hibiscus

It looks like there are a ton of buds on it. Perhaps I can see if I can find one and plant it somewhere in my garden. WAIT -- I have a perfect spot in the back beside the gazebo. 

Over the last couple of years, we have been compiling a list of tasks that require an electrician. DH is not handy (hey—I have to inflate the car tires if one is low, which I did yesterday!). And I don't want to deal with electricity. 

One complete set of ballasts in Studio B has gone, and of the remaining light fixtures (6), half of the bulbs are toast, so it is getting a tad dark in there. 

Three dead ballasts

The remaining ballasts are sketchy.

I think only one ballast has two working bulbs. 

So after much "nagging" on DH's part, I finally decided to bite the bullet and sent my list to our electrician. They have always been super busy, and I knew it would take some time before they could get here, so I might as well start the process now. The list was LONG. 

Imagine my surprise when I got a call from them asking if I would be home as they would come out and assess the situation that afternoon. Yikes!!!! I happened to be at the sports store buying shorts, but I was almost done. 

We walked around the house (inside and out), and I showed him what needed to be done. He offered suggestions, and we worked out the logistics. And can you believe that the first thing he spotted when he walked into Studio B was that one of the bulbs had NOT been inserted properly (by myself) and that the end was bent. 

The prong is bent

Or did he bend the end when he tried to fix it? Anyway, I didn't put the bulb back in, so there goes another light! 

After assessing everything, he put my world in a tailspin when he said, "We can come on Thursday and Friday to do the work." Yikes—that would not normally be a problem, but we want a bunch of new lights installed, and I do NOT have them. So guess where I'll be today? Shopping for lights. I've got a couple of places in mind, and I was searching their websites last night, so I think I'll be OK. I'm not super picky - I want it to look nice, but I don't need something so specific that it has to be special ordered. 

I need 17 devices installed, but thankfully only 5 styles. As long as they have them in stock, I should be good with what I saw on the website. 

That doesn't include what is going into Studio B, which they'll provide. Then the thought occurred to me that it would require moving a lot of furniture to get those lights installed, but then I took a closer look this morning, and the moving will be minimal. 

I asked him why they had free time. They are waiting for some parts for a big job, and I got lucky! It was meant to be!!! And now we will have proper lighting all through the house! I can't wait. I think they also have a few more electricians than they did the last time we hired them. 

And can you believe he accused me of having OLD light switches in my house? The one in question was installed less than 20 years ago!!! By their company! We still have some of the old toggle switches—we have a huge variety of electrical things in our house. He even noticed a cracked faceplate. An eye for detail to be sure!!!

And as part of my lazy day, I sat down and finished that puzzle. Throughout the day, I would sit and get at least five pieces in place. And sometimes that required taking one piece at a time and trying it in multiple spots. I didn't do a lot of that, as it's very time-consuming, so I tried to go by color (though that was a challenge) and then by shape, which proved challenging as well. It is done!!!

Puzzle complete! 

Now I'll put it back in the box and in the giveaway box, and I won't start another until the electrician is done since that table is near one of the lights. 

And then at last, I did get some sewing done! 

Remember my horses in Down on the Farm and how I didn't like them? Well, the horses were fine - it was the colors in the locations I had that I didn't like. So I decided to move the horses around, and I had only two choices. 

This is the before. So lots of white/grey animals in this block. 

Too many white animals - before

And two darker animals in this block. 

Two dark animals - before

I switched the brown and grey horses, so this is what it looks like now. 

This looks better

And the other block with the grey horse

I like this much better, so I'm good. I still have to remake the turtle, and perhaps I can get that done today and then move on to the final four blocks.

Other than that and a bit more on the pattern testing (counting the number of pieces), I didn't get much done. So far, I've been able to match the actual number of pieces in the blocks with that in the cutting directions. Except for these last two blocks - the numbers don't match, and my anal brain won't let it go, so I'm going to attempt it one more time. Out of 250 pieces in those two blocks, I can't account for three! 

An update on the class signups -- the Scrap Class is now available for signups. And OH MY -- did you see how fancy the information was laid out? I was so excited that even I wanted to sign up for the class. LOL!!!!!

I have a feeling that a wee bit of AI went into making that, but I'm good with that. I see that quite a few people signed up yesterday. Remember, the class has a limit of 99, and if we go over, we may have to do some fancy work to accommodate everyone. Here is the link for you to sign up. 

An update on the 40 Shades of Grey patterns: 30 patterns have been ordered by the Out of Hand quilt shop, and if you are signing up for this class, please use this link and select the NOTIFY ME WHEN AVAILABLE button so when the patterns arrive, you will get an email alerting you to that fact. I will try to put together the distribution list to alert you as well, but since most people have probably only seen this class information on my blog, I'm telling you here. 

And again - here is the link for the class list if anyone still wants to sign up for something. 

On that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have to tell you about my short shopping, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

 

The Wedding

What a wild and crazy day! I feel like I lived through a very surreal moment! You know - you go to weddings all the time (OK -- not all the time, but time to time), but you go to weddings, and they go through the formalities, and everything is beautiful. And you hope that one day your child(ren) will find someone they deem worthy of themselves to marry. 

And then it happens, and well—it was a beautiful day. Absolutely beautiful. But I'm going to start at the top. 

After writing the blog, Little Bear and I were out on the beach. That little guy is pretty funny! He's just so little, and he's like a chick magnet. Sorry if that term offends anyone, but you can't go anywhere with him without someone falling in love with him! 

Little Bear on the beach

And of course, the little guy overestimated the depth of a pool of water and fell in and then walked in the sand, and he was dirty. Well, I certainly wasn't giving him a bath, and thankfully, the sand fell off. I brushed off as much as I could, and I swear the rest fell off in the car when I went to pick up one of the guests at another hotel. 

OH NO -- Bear got dirty!!! 

A few of the guests joined M on the beach for early morning yoga. Bear and I hung around to get some pictures. I knew no one else was covering the event, so I helped out. 

Early morning yoga on the beach

Then I was off to Tofino and Rhino Cafe for my morning breakfast. Yes-- I could have eaten at the hotel, but riding the bike in was much more fun! DH brought Bear in the car, and they joined me. I hate when they put a pastry with lots of icing into a paper bag. You lose half the icing that way!! Anyway -- it was an apple fritter kind of day, and it was yummy. 

Bear and I are having our morning breakfast.

And there I am with my helmet on and my two jackets, but I was having an amazing time. It was so much fun!!!!

Happy to be riding a bike

I had to stop to take some pictures. That's the beauty of riding a bike; there is so much to see, and since you are much closer to things, you wouldn't see from a car. And since you are on a bike, it's super easy to stop and take pictures.  

A red poppy

This flower was from a huge flowering bush, and those blooms were as big as my hand. They were stunning. 

Massive pink flowers

And then I thought this was an interesting sign. Nicely made up, so it wasn't just a casual thing. I was tempted to take the bike and see just how deadly they were!!! I mean—don't you want to know what a deadly pothole looks like? Perhaps today I can find out!

What's a deadly pothole look like?

I stopped to take a picture of the hotel sign, but now realize, looking at it, there was too much shadow at the time. No worries—we have the memory. 

The hotel sign

At one point, I needed something from M's room—what the heck was I delivering or picking up? WAIT -- it wasn't that at all. I was trying to finish the ring bearer pillow, and they had goodies, so I stocked up for fortification while I finished the pillow. Yes -- it was a big day for pastries. I'll deal with the consequences when I get home. 

More pastries

And then Bear and I sat in the library and worked on the pillow. The pillow was done basically. I had to find someone to put their finger on the thread so I could tie it tightly, so I went to M's room, where some of her friends were, and one of them helped me tie it. That was to give the pillow a tufted center. 

Working on the ring bearer pillow

And there was Bear, and he sat between my legs on the chair while I tried different ways of attaching the pillow to his harness. The pillow just kept wanting to shift, but I think I finally figured something out. But as I sat there, two couples came by, took pictures of Bear, and asked all kinds of questions. And then they started asking about the puzzle that was still there. Oh my—I have work to do!!!! But you never know what's going to happen when Bear is around. He was such a good boy and patient as I worked on his pillow. 

Grandma says I'm a very patient boy, and I am!!!!!

Speaking of which, I had a near panic moment earlier in the day. It was a beautiful day. More on that in a moment, so Bear and I decided to sit in the lawn chairs near the hotel. Let me rephrase that, I decided to sit in the chairs and was hoping Bear would join me. He did stick with me for a bit, and then he started to wander around. I decided to get up to keep an eye on him, and all was good. 

Then he went left, while I went right, or he was looking for a quiet place to do his business. It happened so fast, I don't even know what happened. But all of a sudden, he wasn't there! OH MY GOD!!!! I'm not a panicky person, but I had a moment of panic, to say the least. It did NOT help when my phone rang —it was a call from M. OMG—I cannot tell her that Bear is missing. 

She was laughing and said that Bear was just around the corner. They had been watching me from their hotel window!!!!! PHEW --- saved by the onlookers, but busted as a trusted dog sitter!!!! We all had a laugh, and then I kept a closer eye on the little guy. 

This was Bear with all his wedding garb. He had on a white shirt, and I made him a green bow tie - more on all that another day. And then he had a new leash and harness, and his pillow. At one point, I think there was a corsage for him, but he had no more room!!!!

I'm a very handsome boy!!!!

The one thing that I am very proud of M for is her attitude towards the day. She has spent enormous amounts of time planning the wedding, and you could tell. Details were taken care of, some things probably went awry behind the scenes, but through it all, she was graceful, gracious, and so at ease. There wasn't a single moment that I felt she was "panicky" because something didn't go well. She said, " It is what it is." And that just made my heart sing. Be flexible, and nothing will ever disappoint you. I am so proud of her for that. She really and truly has grown up. But do your kids ever grow up in their parents' eyes? I am very proud of her for the woman she has become!

Thankfully, I'm a quick-change artist. I was watching some videos on my phone, and at 12:35, DH came back from hanging out with the guys. I was still lying on the bed with Bear, and we needed to be in the room at 1:15. Oops. I ran downstairs and grabbed a sandwich and a chocolate croissant for lunch. Then into the shower, but not before comforting Bear, as there was a tsunami-warning drill (no danger for us), and poor Bear did NOT like that. 

Anyway, I showered, blow-dried my hair, got dressed, ate my lunch, and still arrived at 1:15. There is no time to waste!!! Close friends and family members (ladies only) met in M's room, and when she came down the stairs in their loft room, she was radiant!!! The photographers and videographers captured the moments, and it was an unreal experience for all of us to share. 

But I have to include this memory here. I got my ears pierced years ago when I was a teenager. Over the years, I stopped wearing earrings, and one of the holes had closed. So I haven't worn earrings for eons. She had mentioned to DH that she wanted me to wear long dangly earrings, which - you know me - if someone asks me to do something, I tend NOT to do it. And can you believe that someone called me spiteful because of it!!! Well, we don't want any negative thoughts here, but the idea stayed in my head. 

One day at the mall several months ago, I spotted a place that does ear piercing, so I thought, "What the heck," and got my ears pierced. It didn't hurt nearly as much as when I was younger! Then, the day before we left, I hadn't bought any earrings yet, so I had to scoot to the mall, went back to the same place, and found some funky dangling earrings. 

I never told anyone about the earrings, and no one at home noticed that my ears were pierced! Now I can wear funky earrings -- yes -- I didn't need pierced earrings, I could have worn clip-ons. 

I wore them yesterday, and when we hugged when I saw her, we both started crying, which was OK for me but not for her! Her day was just beginning. But it was all OK, and I feel like we have cemented our relationship that much more! I swear the first thing she noticed was those long, dangling earrings! 

Then DH and I walked down to the beach where the wedding would take place. I wanted to get Bear prepared. When I came through the trees to the beach, it took my breath away. The view was stunning, and the weather was perfect. They could NOT have asked for a better day or place. 

The wedding venue

Just a side note: they had their first date on the beach somewhere in Vancouver. They got engaged on a beach in Maui and are now married on a beach in Tofino!!! The beach is their happy place!

Here is the arch that we picked up at the party rental place. The hotel did an amazing job of camouflaging it. 

The wedding arch

But seriously —look at that view!!!!

The view from our chairs

They had a commissioner do the ceremony, and it was beautiful. They did NOT want anyone taking pictures during the ceremony except one of their best friends. That way, they would get some immediate pictures of the ceremony. I had to chuckle because, from a couple that posts a ton of pictures on IG, to tell people not to take pictures was an oxymoron. But they had the professional photographers there, and the one friend who took some, so they could have some pictures of the ceremony. 

Why? They wanted people to be in the moment of their ceremony and to experience it through their own eyes, not through a camera's lens. I thought it was a brilliant move, but OH MY -- it was hard to sit on your hands!!! 

Anyway, the ceremony was beautiful, and the sun beamed down on them as the waves crashed behind them. We could NOT have asked for a more perfect day. 

Wait -- I'm coming to their picture. Here is a close-up of the ring pillow. And I love how the commissioner called it. The ring BEARer pillow. It was so adorable. 

The ring pillow

I had made some small (6") pillow forms way back when, and they were made to put some funky folky stuff on the outside. I used the satin from her dress and made a cover. I'll tell you more about that experience another day. The lace is the bits of lace that the dressmaker sent me, and I stitched it to the pillow. 

And there are their two bands attached to the pillow. 

The wedding bands

Once the ceremony was over, it was time for family and friends' photos. We had picked up a bunch of games at the party rental place, and so while the photos were happening, the games were used. And it was almost time to go before I realized that I did not have a picture of the happy couple!!!

The happy couple - Dillon and Madeline

They both looked amazing, and Dillon had a bespoke suit made —oh boy, it really makes a difference in the fit. And M's dress was covered in tulle and lace, and that was quite the task to wear that on the beach. While the beach wasn't very deep in sand, it was deep enough that it was hard to walk on with shoes. I went barefoot until it was time for pictures. And in all that—I do NOT have a picture of me in my outfit!!!

Dillon and Madeline

After pictures, we headed to the dining room for dinner. And I have stuff to share there, but not today. And after that, we went to another party venue on the property for the dance! Here's a picture of the first dance, and they have been practicing it, and they were so cute!!!

The first dance

We walked back to the hotel (about 5 minutes), and it was pitch black. No lights, but I have zero issues seeing in the dark. 

As we arrived at the hotel, I looked up and OH MY --- look at the stars. Yep -- this photo was taken with my phone camera. It's amazing what those cameras are capable of. 

The night sky

Bear hung out with me for most of the day, but he had a sitter from 4 - 10 PM. So that gave me a bit of a break, although he's no trouble at all. Just not allowed in the dining room! I came back to the room to get him and took him back to the dance. HEY -- I had to get some steps in somehow!!!! 

When we finally got back to the room, the poor little guy was exhausted. He went straight to bed and hasn't moved an inch. WAIT --- let me rephrase that. He's a snuggler, and I swear I woke up sleeping on the edge of the bed. But what a cutey and you can't complain!!!

Exhausted after a very long day

And there it is --- the wedding. It was perfect! The couple looked stunning; the weather was perfect; there was laughter and joy; all their close friends and family were nearby; and all the hard work of planning went off so smoothly that it was seamless. People kept asking me about details, but I had nothing to do with the planning. I may have helped with a few things, but it was all Madeline and Dillon. They did an amazing job. 

I am so proud to welcome Dillon into our family, and I wish them all much joy and happiness in their new life as a couple. Love you both to bits!!!!!

And a huge thank you to all the friends and family who came to the wedding. As mentioned last night at dinner, getting to Tofino is not easy, and it took us two days to get here. But it was so worth it, and it holds such special meaning for the happy bride and groom. We had been here 27 years ago with Madeline when she was little. I need to dig those photos out when I get home. And I believe they were here a couple of years ago or last year? I'm not sure about those details. I'm sure they will be back!  

On that happy note, I'm out of here. We are meeting some friends for breakfast, not in Tofino, and I might go for a bike ride afterward. I'll see how the day goes. 

There is lots more tos hare, but that's it for today. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

 

It's all about the birds

Don't you feel great when you discover (reaffirm) things about yourself that make you happy? I have always been a neat person. By that I mean, I love having my stuff organized, in place, and readily available. I love organizing. 

However, when I started quilting and had a baby around the same time, my brain went totally mush, and my organizing skills went downhill rapidly. On top of that, I became something of a collector (OK—read: hoarder). And while I had great intentions of getting everything I had accumulated read or made, that wasn't happening. 

And then the clutter began. And it grew and grew until our house was overwhelmed. NOT like some of the places you see, but on the firemen's scale of 1 to 10, our house was probably a five. WAIT -- I just Googled a hoarding scale and OH MY --- I think we only qualified for a level 2. Check this out. It's pretty scary, but we were never beyond level 2 - thank goodness. 

Yikes—in some of those areas, my parents would have qualified as level 9! Not all areas, but a couple of them for sure!

Anyway, more than 10 years ago, I saw the light of day and realized that things needed to change. 

And, in particular, I realized that, for me to function well —OK, in Studio B at least —I need to be neat and tidy. The cutting table, the puzzle table, the ironing surface, and the sewing tables need to be clear. The projects table can be a jumble (it's organized chaos), but I can work with that. 

In the last couple of days, things have gone awry, and there was stuff everywhere, so I spent a few minutes this morning tidying it up, and I feel ZEN!!!! While I'm OK with having multiple projects on the go, I also feel at peace working on one at a time or finishing one at a time. YES --- I have found my groove, and I need to keep it maintained! 

There are a few things still on the puzzle table, and I need to repair that frame today, so I can hang it back up. I haven't been puzzling the last couple of days as I sat outside in the evening, enjoying the weather and reading.

The puzzle table is almost clear again!

And in case you are wondering about the puzzle table, let's just say it will definitely be busy tomorrow evening. I'll share that with you later. 

In addition to keeping things organized, I keep finding things as I go through some of the piles, which is great, except there is one small thing that I had recently, and I put it in a safe place, but where? I'd really like to find it, but it will come one day. 

I started the day by washing the suet feeder and restocking it with one suet bar. I need to buy another one and put that in the feeder. The cardinals were on my case, and hopefully, they will be back this morning to get their fill. I really love this Brome squirrel-proof suet feeder. It wasn't cheap, but I've never seen a squirrel hanging off it. They don't even bother it. 

The suet feeder is restocked.

That should make the Cardinals happy. I need to get my new bird feeder out as well, and then the rest of the birds will be happy, and I'll have removed one more thing from the office. YES -- while I have gotten control of my working environment in Studio B, I have NOT accomplished the same thing in the office. I'm close -- the supply cabinet is organized, as is most of the filing cabinet. I just need to permanently clear some flat work surfaces around and deal with some excess. I'm getting there - slow and steady is better than not tackling it at all. 

I had an appointment for a mani/pedi yesterday. I hate colored nails, so I just got things tidied up for the wedding.

That is relaxing!

 DH dropped me off as he needed the car, and once I was done, I walked home. There is a shortcut from the parking lot to the road, rather than walking completely around the block. 

The shortcut through the ditch.

As I approached the shortcut and was pulling my camera out to take a picture, a red-winged blackbird appeared from nowhere and attempted to divebomb me. The bird was hanging out in the air and was not happy at all. I snapped the photo and took off into the shortcut as quick as I could!

It's about a 40-minute walk back from the spa (at the gym) to the house. One day, I might get brave enough to try out an e-scooter since there are so many around. You just need to set up the app (of course!) to unlock the e-scooter. Hmmm—I may continue to walk—I think it's much safer! 

Lots of e-scooters! 

Here is the pond and all the lilies. They are growing like weeds!!! 

The lilies are growing like mad.

And OH MY -- I see the first bloom!!!

The first bud!

It's not quite fully open yet. Interestingly, these blooms close up at night and reopen during the day. Do you know why they do that? For survival and protection. By folding up, their delicate pollen is protected from early-morning dew and prevents the flowers from being eaten by bad bugs. It also helps them to conserve energy! 

Almost open flower

I don't plant annuals, but I try to help the bees with my lilies, lilacs, landlocked lilies, and peonies, which will bloom later in the summer. I think I need a couple more peonies in the area by the gazebo - it's a bit bare, so I must tackle that job. 

By the way, in case you are curious, that pond is quite old. I must dig out the original pictures of our backyard. Most of what you see (shed, pond, gazebo) was here when we moved 23 years ago. BUT we have enlarged the pond and changed the deck, etc. 

And of course, Murphy is never far away when I'm outside. 

MOM -- do you need help?

In an effort to get a handle on the stuff hanging around Studio B, I trimmed the community project quilt. 

Community project quilt is trimmed!

And these are the cutoff edges, which will go back into the pile of blue flannel that I'll use to make the next five quilt backings for that group. NOTHING goes to waste at my house. Don't worry  - the use of scrappuy quilt backings will be discussed in the scrap class in the fall. 

The cutoffs from the flannel backing

A few more half-square triangles were trimmed. I only have a few more to trim to be up to date with my current sewing, and, of course, there is that bag of a bit smaller ones that I'm whittling away at. 

Trimming HSTs

This large snowflake, cut out with the Singer Momento (24" die cutter), was finally fused to the background fabric. It's sure nice to not have to trace and cut out something that large. It was super simple. Now to do some satin stitching around it! 

My large snowflake is fused to the background.

I finished the little cushion cover, except that I put the envelope backing on upside down. GRRRR -- that is going to bug me, so I'll likely take it apart later today. And now you know why it takes me so long to make anything! I am constantly taking it apart to make it right. What I needed to do was check it before I pinned. Sigh..............

The complete cushion cover

Then, instead of working on the remaining project for the upcoming wedding, I decided to figure out the puzzle that was Tequila Lime. Once I got things laid out, I realized that the large pieces of the 8 sections are assembled, but the large pieces (4 per section) need to be stitched together. Two sections are already together to make one quarter of the quilt. 

Anyway, I managed to get one section done - three down, and five to go. 

One section of Tequile Lime

It was just the figuring out that needed to happen, but after spending a few minutes, it all worked out just fine. The pieces for each section are pinned to the design wall, and I'll grab what I need as I sew a few more sections. The sections need to be sewn in a specific order because of the coloring of the petals in the center. So I must be careful how I start the sewing process. I do NOT want to rip this out. 

Progress on Tequila Lime

I did some embroidery and loaded a quilt, but I can't share that with you. OH -- so many secrets!!! But all will be revealed in due course. For sure, by the end of the month, you'll see everything that I've been working on. Some of you will see it sooner! 

I also did some tidying in the furnace room. I will admit that tidying up is way easier and faster than a deep clean. The furnace room is in order, so it was just a matter of putting a few things in a better location, and all is good. That took all of a few minutes, but I see DH has some excess golf things, so I'll have to ask before I toss! 

And on that note, I'm out of here. I'm still working on that very long To-Do list I created a couple of weeks ago. It's much shorter now, but there are still things to address. 

Do I need to remind you how important tidying/decluttering is? If you have time -- grab a drawer and start decluttering. And if you have been decluttering, are you able to maintain it? That is hard, but in the areas I have decluttered, I can keep things super clean. My "junk" drawer is as neat and tidy as when I organized it many years ago! 

Have a super day!!!!

Caio!!!!