When life throws you a curve ball!

Thanks for the comments. Yes—I believe 100% that even though I am deleting, I may still need to do one more step to make Google recognize that I have deleted stuff. What is that step? I must investigate. And I have turned OFF photo backup on my phone. So that is NOT adding to the problem. 

Life sure has an interesting way of bringing you down to your knees and making you face reality! I was out walking two of the dogs yesterday when my phone rang. It was not even 8 AM, and NO ONE calls me in the morning. I hardly ever get phone calls, which I am OK with. 

I checked the caller ID, and it was my Aunt, who lives close to my parents. OH -- this is NOT going to be good news. I felt that immediately when I looked at the screen. So with great trepidation, I answered the call. 

It appears Dad had a stroke yesterday morning and couldn't get out of bed. He somehow signaled my mom to call an ambulance. His speech was garbled, so I'm not sure how that happened. She would not have been able to get to him easily since she wasn't in the room and needs a wheelchair to get around. 

He seems to be fine; his speech is back to normal, he can move his arms, etc., BUT upon examination, it turns out that he has at least partially or completely blocked arteries! That is NOT good—the man was given a second chance. So he was given five minutes to make a decision - live with the blocked arteries or go for surgery. They made a big deal about it (this is all according to my brother, who called me with details). Dad was whisked away to Saskatoon by ambulance and was supposed to have the surgery yesterday. 

I got an update later in the day, and he is still waiting for surgery - I guess there are more important cases than his blocked arteries. I get it—it's a crazy world out there. 

I had to rally my troops, make some phone calls to let other people know, and find extra care for Mom since she can't be on her own! Thankfully, Saskatchewan has an amazing Home Care operation, and we are trying to get her a respite bed. I'm waiting to see what the situation is, but in the meantime, we have extra care coming in during the day, and meals will be delivered. Mom is in a wheelchair and not super mobile. All of that happened with ONE phone call! How is that for making life easy?

I must have called her a dozen times yesterday to ensure everything was OK and to explain what was going on. 

BUT - I could still kill her!! I had requested that she have an assessment for permanent long-term care since Dad will NOT be able to assist her in any way when he gets home from the hospital. She agreed when I talked to her, but when the caseworker called her, she said, "I'll wait until we know what's happening with Stan." Seriously???? I could throttle her for that! 

We have discussed this topic many times, and she has agreed, but she is NOT willing to make that decision without Dad around. I plan to go there next week, and I'll drill it into her head that she can't stay in the apartment. We have no idea when Dad will be home. Will they keep him in rehab? No clue on timing, no clue on what will happen!!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRR --- but life goes on!!!

I am not panicking, I am not stressed. YES -- don't get me wrong, this is a very serious situation - the man is 93 years old and as frail as you could expect for a man who has abused his body for all of those 93 years. There's even a chance he won't survive the surgery, but we don't need to dwell on that. I CANNOT change a single thing about the situation - I can only be a help from a distance, and what is the point of getting myself all worked up? Besides, if I did, he would haunt me. Dad is a NO FUSS kind of person. He's probably in the hospital telling anyone who will listen that he is 93 and still goes to work!! 

The other thing is that I have the first scrap class presentation this morning and then Teach The World to Sew in the afternoon. I had not really prepped anything for either!! So between phone calls, lunch with M and Yagana, and a physio appointment, I managed to get everything more or less done! What a smozzle!!!

I thought this was an appropriate quote in my tea yesterday! Everything we do should be conscious!!

Quote from my tea

Instead of doing the work I was supposed to be doing, the night before, I decided to finish the jigsaw puzzle. I know --- where is my priority filter? It's gone!!! It didn't help that I wanted to listen to that audiobook, which I finished last night while working on today's prep. OMG—right to the end, there was a plot twist, and I didn't see any of it coming! 

Anyway, I got the puzzle together, and DRAT—there is a piece missing!! AGAIN? So I went on a hunt in the morning and VOILA—there was the missing piece. I am going to have to find another tray or get smaller design boards because sometimes a piece bounces off. Thankfully, I found it. 

The missing piece

And there it is—my contribution to the September theme of a Eurographics puzzle. I need to take a picture with the required label and submit it. I have until the end of the month, and, well, things will be working out slightly differently than originally planned this month. 

The completed puzzle

So last night, after we got back from dinner, I started embroidering the labels needed for my kits! Don't worry—the kits the attendees will make are already at the store. I am making labels for the step-outs for my demo! 

Making embroidered labels

I managed to get four of eight labels made, and I cut all the fabric. It didn't take long. 

Then I had four more labels to stitch this morning, so I did that while I quilted the kits (simple!). I raised the table height for the embroidery machine, and OMG—this is wonderful. No need to worry about a chair; it was the right height for standing as I buzzed around. I'm very glad I have those tables. 

Table height for stand-up embroidery

And there are the bits for my eight step-outs. I'm not quite where I want to be, but after my scrap presentation this morning (at the Michaels store), I have a couple of hours to set up the machines, and I'll have some extra time to finish the kits. It won't take long. I'll be ready! 

My kits for Teach The World to Sew Day!

And on that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have dogs to walk and feed, gas to put in the car, and then I'm off to Michaels on John Street in Downtown Toronto - a place I rarely go. I think it's going to be fun!!!

It WILL be an awesome day - no matter what life throws at you. Remember, it is how you respond that determines whether you fall apart or not! 

Ciao!!!

AI is NOT helping the Maker Space

A reminder: if anyone wants to join the second session for Making Scrap Quilts Beautiful, hosted by Thimbles and Things (taught by me), a second class has been opened, and it is filling fast! I wouldn't wait if you are considering joining. That class starts on September 20. You can get all the details at this link. The class is ONLINE, so anyone from anywhere can join! 

I gave the first session a wee bit of homework yesterday, and I'm seeing some pretty interesting quilts! 

I am back in work mode - at least for yesterday! It's funny how some days you have all the energy to conquer the world, and the next day? Well, not quite so productive. Oh - I get things done - just not always what I need or want to. Perhaps I should say my focus, not my energy, is the problem!

I finished another audiobook yesterday. Only at the end did I realize the audiobook was abridged, but it was still very interesting. And all I can say is my heart goes out to those living in war-torn countries and countries where women are not respected. And even in our first world country, some women are badly abused by their spouses. It's terrible that anyone has to live in those conditions, and under so much fear for their lives and the lives of their children. 

The book is called "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. I learned at dinner last night that the author is a man. OH MY!!! That was interesting. How the heck could this book be written by a man? But he did a great job, and I think he covered the woman's point of view very well, considering his nationality and the topic of the book. 

His family sought political asylum in the US when he was 15. He writes to raise awareness of the Afghan people and what has happened in their country. The books are hard subject matter, and although they are fiction, a great deal of them are "real." I haven't read any of his other books, but I might have to read the first one - "The Kite Runner." 

Let's just say that a lot of progress was made yesterday, and I'm happy. 

The backing and the binding are made for Down on the Farm, and I hope to get it quilted before the end of the year. We'll see how that goes, but at least it's in the pile. OFF MY plate at the moment. 

Down on the Farm ready to be quilted

Then I decided to get myself in gear and get the metal bars sewn into the leader for the long arm. I had already stitched the channel a while back, but I needed to stitch pockets so the magnets didn't float around in the channel. So I stitched the edge of the channel, then inserted a metal bar, then stitched that pocket closed, and then along the edge for the length of the next pocket, inserted another metal bar, until the entire 14 feet was stitched. 

YES -- I had to insert the metal bar from one end into the channel and scoot it down to where it would reside. I don't know if that makes sense, but I stitched one long seam, with little jogs to close the pocket. It was easier than stopping and starting. 

Sewing the metal bars into the long arm leader

It really wasn't a big job as I anticipated. As is the case in almost all jobs that we procrastinate on. Why do we do that to ourselves? 

Before I knew it, I had reached the last pocket. 

Sewing the last pocket

Then I placed the leader on the bar of the long arm. It was super easy to hold it in place using the magnets, as the bar is metal. 

The magnets hold the leader in place.

Now that the leader is in place and quite sturdy with the magnets, I can tape it to the metal bar by myself. I hope to get that done this afternoon, and I might even attempt to load a quilt. I have two other leaders to switch from pinning to magnets, but just getting this one done is awesome. The rest will come, but I need to get the long arm back up and running. 

I have to laugh because someone at Monday Sewing mentioned that if you are learning something, it's not enough to just make one - you ned to make several to master the technique. I learned that with my table. The first assembly was a challenge; the second was fast! Now that I know what I'm doing with the leaders, I suspect the next two will go much quicker. Except it is a ton of work to scrape off that goop. 

Next on the agenda was to get to work on my UFO for this month. Of course, some appliqué was holding me back. So I got out my threads, and I started my satin stitch. 

Satin stitch appliqué

And of course, there are two blocks!!! Because I started making two quilts about 25 years ago! 

Working on two blocks

The trees on the left are done, leaving the boy on the sled and his dog. That will take a bit of time, since the pieces overlap and are small. But that is my goal for the day! I hope to get a few other things done, but at least if I get that done, I'll be happy. 

As for the current jigsaw puzzle? I finished it last night. 

Jigsaw puzzle done - almost.

Dang it, but there's a piece missing. I bought it at the thrift store. BUT WAIT --- I had noticed a few pieces were falling off my design boards as I was working, so I had a peek this morning. AHA - look what I spotted. 

The missing piece

That piece fell off the design board and onto the shelf, so I was able to put the last piece in this morning. 

The last piece

Yeah!! No missing pieces - I love that, and I only paid $5 at the thrift store. I probably got a discount because I rarely buy anything at full price. So that was a very good entertainment deal. 

Jigsaw puzzle complete!

Am I getting faster? I think I am. Am I ready for a speed puzzling event? I doubt it - I'm not nearly that fast, but what the heck. It will be fun. 

I didn't have any large zippered plastic bags, so I got some at the dollar store the other day. I always pack the puzzle into one of those bags and put an elastic around the box. That just helps to prevent pieces from going missing. 

I'll be meeting a few of my puzzle friends next month, and I might pack up these puzzles and see if anyone wants them. If not, they go back to the thrift store. 

And yes—the next one is ready to crack open tonight. That one is the theme puzzle for September, which is to work on a Eurographics brand puzzle. Last month, with the theme of Wild Animals, over 800 people submitted a picture. Well, I noticed one woman submitted more than one entry, and that is within the parameters of this event. But she makes it very noticeable. When we take a picture of the finished puzzle, it needs to have a piece of paper with the code word on it. Hers is very distinct. Oh well - if that makes her happy, then it makes me happy. 

Let's face it, some people are fully retired and probably spend all or most of the day puzzling! 

Our library has been closed for most of the summer as we are getting a maker space and new carpet, among a few other things. The library is now open, and I popped in yesterday to see if the quilt had been taken down. Nope—it's still hanging, which is good. The last time they painted, it got taken down, and it took a long time to get it back up. I don't think it gets a lot of sun, but it is looking faded. 

The library quilt is still hanging.

I didn't look around much, but I spotted the new carpet. Where is the maker space? I didn't see that. 

But look at the pretty display of books. Typically, you see the spines pointing out, but this time, it was the pages. Isn't that pretty!! I bet most of those books are fantasy, which isn't a genre I read. I checked a few, and yes, they are mostly fantasy. 

The pretty pages of books

I found a quilt book on scraps, so I brought that home to browse for any tidbits! 

Good grief-- now Murphy seems to have developed a cough. I'm not sure where that came from, but I need to see if I can get into the vet today for meds for her. The poor thing! Of course, like people, she mostly coughs at night! But she is happy as a clam to sleep upstairs, so all is good at our house. 

I'm going to go on a wee rant here about AI. I know that people use various AI bots to do stuff for them. However, I don't see the point of using specific AI bots when our Google search does the same thing. YES - I know they have their own AI now, but it's just a glorified Google search, and Google has always been good to me. However, I will confess that I used MapQuest the other day when searching for a location. 

It's getting harder and harder to work "normally" when all these companies are strong supporters of the political unrest. 

Anyway, that was NOT my point. My point is that so much stuff that we see on the internet is AI-generated, and much of it is NOT specified as AI-generated. People are struggling to tell the difference, although for most of it, it is easy to spot. 

In the world of makers, AI - enhanced photos of projects are lending a VERY BAD image to the industry. I spotted someone on IG (might have been a store) saying that people are complaining that what they are buying or making is NOWHERE NEAR the look of the picture they saw. 

I see it all the time. Here's an example. This is a picture of the original project—NO AI involved.  

Original project - No AI

And look at the AI-generated picture. Totally different. In this picture, those leaves and flowers look 3D and made of some non-fabric material. I'd be ticked off if I went to a class and expected this and made the above picture. It's not a huge difference, but the enhancement is detrimental to roping new quilters/sewists into our world. 

AI- generated version

In a world where people can't tell the difference, this is going to keep causing so many problems. When researching anything, AI is only as good as the material it scans. I say, let's keep using our brains, figure stuff out ourselves, and leave AI to, well, I don't know who. But there is a place for it, but certainly NOT in the maker space. 

The big argument is that AI will quickly compile from various sources, but why can't we go to the sources directly and gather the information? What I dislike is that I learn so much from going to a site - that step alone increases my knowledge base rather than just the narrow focus of the search I asked some AI bot to perform. Keep your options open - stop being complacent and letting AI dictate what and how you gather information. Let's do some of this work ourselves, and I bet you will learn more than you could by using AI. 

On that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have a few things I want to get done today, and there's no time like the present to get started. 

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

Ciao!!!!

Do you believe in coincidences?

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. While it wasn't my most exciting birthday, nor my most productive, I was happy to just putter around. And that's what life is like when you're as "old" as I am! 

I'm just kidding—someone mentioned that old is ten years older than you actually are, and I think that about sums it up. 

The good news is that my leg, sciatic, and knees seem to be doing so well. Knock on wood! We don't want to jinx anything. But I'm feeling so much better from the stretching. Being able to sit for those long drives was a miracle, and I dreaded long drives because of that. Everything is going in a positive direction, and let's hope I can maintain my stretching routine to keep it up. 

Hmmm --- do you believe in coincidences? I'm listening to a book called Signs by Laura Lynn Jackson, who is a psychic. Do we really get signs from others who have passed? I don't know, since it's never happened to me, but some of what she talks about is profound. If any signs have happened, I wasn't paying attention. She is finishing up the book with just general "feel good" things like prayer, meditation, eating, etc. 

One of the things she talks about is positive energy. And I strongly believe in this. You wake up, and you didn't sleep well, or there is something terrible you have to do. By telling yourself that today is going to be a good day, you can really have a great day. Positive outlook is a wonderful thing!

How do I know this? BEFORE I read that in her book this morning, I told myself that very thing as I lay in bed planning my day. I said, "This is the day you are going to get your mojo back. This is the day when you are going to start to be productive again." And you know what? I have probably done more this morning than I have done all week! 

The other thing that happened is I took a picture of some fabric that I purchased at Michaels wherever I was last. Regina, I guess it was. 

Harry Potter fabric from Michaels

Over the years, there have been all kinds of Harry Potter fabric, and I thought this was subtle, yet, you know exactly what it is if you are familiar with the books. 

I took that picture this morning because I was going to tell you this story about Harry Potter (it's coming), and then Laura mentioned Harry Potter in her book! It's amazing how when you spot one thing, it seems to be everywhere. 

Did you know that Tim's is sponsoring some promotion with Harry Potter? You can buy donuts with an edible sticker for each of the four houses. The icing and sprinkles match the house color. They don't look too exciting, but I snapped this picture in North Battleford last week. Wait—each donut has a different flavor. Check out the link. 

Harry Potter donuts at Tim's

And you can buy a snitch (the golden prize in Quidditch, which is the big game in Harry Potter) that can be filled with Timbits. 

The snitch!!!

And when I was at Peachtree Quilting (also called Northgate in Regina), I spotted a Harry Potter apron. I did not get a picture of it, but I found it online. 

It's just so bizarre, and after reading about messages from those who have passed, I wonder who is sending me the sign of Harry Potter? Who is trying to communicate with me? It could be true—do you know otherwise? 

Remember the jigsaw puzzle that I'm working on. OK - the one that I finished last night. The artwork is by Diane Phalen.

Jigsaw puzzle is complete.

This morning, I happened to be putting some cards away and VOILA—Diane Phalen artwork. I also have a couple of tins I use constantly (sewing machine needles), and some other supplies, and both tins have Diane Phalen artwork. 

Diane Phalen artwork on cards

That puzzle is done, and I MUST wait a day or two before I open the next one. The biggest reason is that I need the table space to hoop some fabric for machine embroidery. 

OK -- I admit it - My name is Elaine, and I love to hoard jigsaw puzzles. OK - I'll hoard anything I can get away with, but I have a bad habit of acquiring jigsaw puzzles faster than I can make them. 

I bought several things earlier in the month from the local thrift store, and if you spent enough, you got a $10 off coupon. I can never say no to a coupon, so I went to the thrift store yesterday just to check out the puzzle section. Imagine my dismay when a lady with a cart was also browsing the puzzle section. And GASP—she had four very nice puzzles in her cart. 

Hmm - do I take one and run? Do I get a cart and run her down? I decided not to make a spectacle and let her quietly shop for more puzzles. BUT I scooped up a couple that she may have wanted. There was an excellent selection yesterday. I have not run out of space in the storage cabinet where they are stored, and if I arrange things nicely, I'm sure I'll find more room!

I still have one more coupon to use before the end of the month. THEN - I will stop. And I hope to get myself organized to attempt one puzzle each week. I find I am getting faster, and that is a good thing since I have those three speed puzzling events coming up in October and November. 

There are times when you think it's nearly impossible, as I had several moments with this last one, but once you separate the pieces or shape-sort (no need on this one), you are good to go. It's amazing how your eye can pick up such slight color and shape differences, and it's all a good use of the brain! 

I'm glad I resurrected that hobby. 

Here's one I got yesterday, and I bought it because of the town name it depicts. 

Petty Harbour

I know someone who is a puzzler, and that name is special to them. I'm sure they already have this one, but I'm going to offer it to her when I'm done. One of our upcoming monthly themes is a destination. I have quite a few now, and it will be a challenge to know which one to pick. I might pick this one so I can get it out of the house when I'm done. 

This is why things take me so long to complete. I took the handles off that small tote bag and realized that the stitching was very loose and the binding on the edges was crap. So I took the bag completely apart. Sigh.............

Then I noticed some holes in the plastic, so I decided to fuse some interfacing on the wrong side. Well, the entire thing is plastic, so that was a challenge, but with a press cloth I was doing great. Then I decided to press the top (hem) over, and that worked, until I turned the iron temperature up and part of it shrunk a wee bit. 

A small amount of shrinkage

No worries—that's the hem on the inside; no one will notice. I found new strapping in my bag-making supply box, and I want to put new binding on the bag. The original is just strips of plastic that are deteriorating. I don't have the width of bias tape maker that I need, so I'll just find some double-fold bias at the fabric store and use that. I have some errands near that store, so I'm all set. But it's ready to sew the new handles on! It shouldn't take long, and now - I'd better use that darn bag after all this work. But it's so pretty - I hated to throw it away!

Part of my "reluctance" to get downstairs and work is the total mess that the room is in. The ironing board has stuff, as does the cutting table, and yes, there are things on the sewing tables. So this morning, I got myself in gear and put away all the fabric and felt on the ironing board. I had pulled it for a project that I likely won't make now, so it's all back where it belongs. 

The mess on the ironing table

I found a basket in my stash of containers (this was the last basket, so it's not like I have hundreds) and put all the half square triangles that need to be pressed and trimmed in it. As I did, I found these wires, which were remains from when the electricians were here. Oh boy—I am still cleaning up the debris. And that makes sense, since I never totally cleaned up Studio B from when they were here. By debris, I mean little bits of wire that they missed --- this is the only bit I missed, and it's because it got buried in the crap on the ironing board. But the floor and table surfaces need to be swept or wiped. Some of that happened this morning. 

Some wiring debris

I even got some half-square triangles pressed and trimmed, so those can be put away. 

Trimming half square triangles

Plus, I would like to get that farm quilt together and off the design wall as I'm going to need that soon for some other projects. I was certain that I had some farm fabric in my farm fabric pile that might work for the border. This is what I found! 

Farm fabric for the border

It's perfect and might require some fancy piecing as the fabric is directional, but that's OK. I think there will be enough, and I'll do a bit of math and make it work. The border will be as wide as the quantity allows, up to a maximum of 6 inches. 

And I still have all this farm fabric in my pile. Some of this will be great for backing, and I might pull the orange one for the backing. But FIRST, I need to remake that turtle block, and perhaps I can do that today. 

My farm fabric stash

If you ever want something you think I might have, be sure to ask!!! Someone asked me the other day if I had any tuffet kits left. I taught tuffet making many times and got into manufacturing the kit (foam, legs, upholstery batting, buttons, etc) that you needed to make the tuffet. I was happy to sell the last of those kits, and I think everyone finished the tuffets. 

But WAIT—I have one more, and it happens to be square. I promised to dig it out for her, but I wasn't 100% sure where it was. This morning in my fit of tidying up, I found the box. Oh my -- it's a big box. 

What's in the box?

As long as we agree on a price and I'm sure that won't be a problem, here is the kit. It appears that EVERYTHING is in the kit except for the fabric you want to cover it with. The legs, the button, the batting, EVERYTHING. Oh my!!!!!! 

A complete kit for a square tuffet

Now, when I opened that box this morning, I thought, OH MY—that is too nice to get rid of; I should make this. That thought quickly disappeared from my thought path. I've had it for about 9 years, and I haven't made it. The tuffet I made is stuck in a corner of the bedroom, so why would I want to make another one? I'm happy to part with it for a price, of course. 

So, if there is a pattern or anything else (sorry - sewing machines are NOT mine to sell, but I can get you a deal on a PFAFF Creative Icon 2 if you want) that you think I might have, ask away. I'm in a get-rid-of-things mode, and it will be wonderful to free up the floor space that this kit occupied. 

I need to do more of that, says me who is buying puzzles like it's the end of the world. But I have no intentions of keeping them. I do them, and they are gone! By the way, does anyone want a Diane Phaolen quilt-themed puzzle? It's yours for the asking, or it will be donated back to the thrift store. Bought at the thrift store and all pieces are there. If the pieces are NOT in a plastic bag, I always put them into one. That makes it less likely a piece will go missing. 

We need to have one of those free libraries, but for puzzles. Hey--- they exist!!! Can you imagine? OH MY GOODNESS -- I found one that is about 40 minutes from my house and in a city (Georgetown) where I visit, especially if I want to buy from the Puzzle Warehouse. DO NOT go to Georgetown! But puzzle swapping could be fun! 

Here is the blurb about my Facebook Live on September 9. Well, good grief -- that's a crappy picture. And it's not posted on the website yet. Let me get a better picture tomorrow. I'm running out of time. Studio B is going to need a major overhaul to prep for that event. I need to get started on that later today. 

My Facebook Live event on September 9

Here are the links to the Virtual Retreat;

Saturday - August 29 - from 6 PM - 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89610782501?pwd=7dCrhiL5t8Xa4TVwZPvhL6cOymbcjK.1

Meeting ID: 896 1078 2501
Passcode: 148311

Sunday, August 30 - From 3 PM - 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89869001291?pwd=h57kT9axwTnd2xtJvuO0z2UOmUo45w.1

Meeting ID: 898 6900 1291
Passcode: 136711

Working on the distribution lists. Hope to get most of them out today.

Have a wonderful day --- just say it -- Today will be a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!

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!!!