Two girls and a boy

 At last -- the final two distribution lists are recreated! The more I put people into my contact list, the easier it became. The dates for the UFO Club are set, and all that remains is to send a couple of emails, which should NOT take long. I hope to get it all completed today!

Part of the homework follow-up from yesterday is done, and I should be good to get everything finished TODAY. That will be awesome. That was on my list of paperwork to finish before the end of the year, but with that little hiccup I had, it just put me off. 

I hate when that happens, but I sometimes don't deal with technology defeat well, and it slows me down. Once I'm over this block, I should be good. Thank goodness I only have a few classes to deal with this year. I like the reduced workload a LOT. 

Yep -- I have a "free" day today. Whatever shall I do with my time? Oh -- I've got lots -- it's just a question of what to choose. 

I have to say that sending and receiving emails has become a whole new experience. No waiting! Now, how exciting is that? All because there was no room on the hard disk. What's frustrating is that the Microsoft team (who THREE times) had access to my computer and, on a previous occasion, did NOT tell me that. Thank goodness, I'm curious and figured out the problem. That's why I pay myself the BIG BUCKS!!!

We had two pretty comprehensive Zoom classes in the morning. LOTS of questions, which I love. When people ask questions, that means they are thinking. But here's a thought that I put before them yesterday. I strongly encourage people to experiment (especially with a technique class). Try out different things and see what happens. I then encourage them to send me photos so we can review them in class. 

Some of them did some experimenting and then said -- it wasn't worth sending. WHAT? Why not? EVERY SAMPLE is worth discussing. Then, some of them said they didn't like their satin stitch. OK -- so why not? Maybe there was some advice I could have offered to make it better. That's WHY I encourage this!!!!! 

So that got me to thinking about a class. When I offer a multi-part class, whether on Zoom or in person, I try to give homework to the group. Then, they return to the following class, and we review/critique the samples to see what went right and what could be improved. 

If you do NOT show samples, guess what? You are missing FIFTY PERCENT of the benefit of the class. FIFTY PERCENT -- that's huge. And I don't just say as feedback -- OH -- that looks nice. I offer constructive advice on how it could be improved or ask why they did what they did. This is HOW we learn!!! 

Hopefully, we'll have a bit more homework at the next session! Not for me -- but for them!

M left early yesterday morning, however someone got left behind and that was intentional. Yep -- we're now a three-dog household for a couple of MONTHS. Yep -- the stories we can share will be exciting. 

Here are some things that happened while the girls and a boy settled into a routine. 

Lexi is a grazer when it comes to eating. She eats when she wants and sometimes only eats once a day. That's her choice -- she is NOT starving. Murphy knows better than to touch that bowl of dog food. 

However, Bear doesn't have the same respect. When he finishes his bowl of icky canned food, he immediately jumps to Lexi's bowl and starts chomping away on the kibble. Remember, he has no teeth and needs to harden those gums!

Lexi was OK the first day, but then she started to get a bit miffed, so while the others were eating, she was guarding her bowl of food. I notice that she doesn't often let it sit all day any longer. Poor Lexi, her grazing habits get her into "trouble" all the time. She can't savor a treat or a bone because Murphy will get it. And now Bear gets into her food. 

NO ONE is touching my food! 

I'm trying to put some of the kibble into Bear's bowl so he won't go to Lexi's, and we'll see how that goes today. 

Bear looks up to Murphy and wants to play and be with her. Bear will go outside (he likes being outside) and then look back to see if Murphy is coming. Then they hang out in the backyard doing dog stuff. 

MOM -- I'm watching out for the little guy!

And where's Lexi in all this? Oh, sleeping on the couch. God forbid the Princess goes outside with the lower class! 

MOM -- Nothing to look at here!

At one point, it looked like Bear had been a bad dog, but he wasn't in trouble, just checking out the wall. Why? No idea!!!!

Bear, have you been bad? 

But there he is again -- hanging out with Murphy! His pal!

MOM -- just hanging out at the door

While you may have scatter rugs at your house -- we have scatter dogs! While they all love each other, they are not snugglers with each other. Oh no -- that would show affection, and we can't do that!!

Scatter dogs

All right -- who is the sleuth amongst you? This is what the new sign looks like at the downsized Loblaw store. Does anyone know what that is? I first thought of Mark's Workwarehouse, but that's different from what their storefront looks like. Hmm -- unless one of you knows - I might just have to wait. And that's orange, not red. Well orange-red. 

What storefront is this?

So I had an experience with the new car yesterday. Oh -- I have experiences almost every time I get in. Like, how the heck does something as simple as the radio work? Yep -- it's a challenge, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. It's not that it doesn't work -- it's just that I can't figure it out. I think I'm supposed to play it through Android Car Play, but why can't I just play the car radio? 

Anyway -- that's a mystery for another day, and I might go back to Toyota to ask. I have a few questions which I need help figuring out. Of course, if I read the manual, I might be able to do that. However, I noticed that one of the sensors on the winter tires is malfunctioning, so I need to go back to get that fixed. 

My trauma came from parking the car in the garage. I like to back into the parking space, and we have room in our garage to park one car. HEY -- we only have one car, so no problem. I heard we were having snow, which we did. We can park on either side of the garage, but it would require moving a few things from one side to the other- two bicycles and garbage carts. No big deal. 

So, as I approach the garage door, the beepers start flashing from yellow to red, and then a horn starts blaring. This car is a bit wider than my other one, so I have no idea how many times I had to go back and forth until I got it right. I overrode those beeps and horns and backed in! 

The car is clear of snow in the garage

It fits just perfectly in that spot! So, hopefully, that process gets easier the more I get back into the garage. We got snow last night, but not much, but now, not having to move cars in the driveway, it's going to be super easy to shovel! OK -- so I wanted one car as part of my decluttering process! I admit it! 

I managed to spend some time with the sewing machine. I got my audiobook going and sewed until the battery in the headphones died. I'll share what I was making later, but I think you can see that they're log cabin blocks. 

Making log cabin blocks

M and I finished the EXIT Game we started a while back. I gave DH one for his birthday - the Lord of the Rings EXIT Game. So last night, HE cracked it open. He's not very good at reading the instructions. I had to stop him from looking at stuff - he wanted to read the book and look at the map and all the other stuff. LEAVE IT until the game tells you to look at the items. SHEESH!!! 

A new EXIT Game

I showed him how the answers worked, and my job was to check his answers. A couple of wrong turns, and then he looks at me - now what? Well, since I haven't even had a chance to read anything - don't look at me. So he put it in front of me. OK -- I confess that I saw the answer pretty much right away. Oops. 

Then, we moved on to the next puzzle. Let's just say that he's NOT patient. I had to help with the fiddly stuff, and then I immediately saw the answer again but wasn't going to say anything. Let's say we got the two puzzles without looking at any clues. 

We moved on to the third puzzle, and both of us were stumped. But I tell you -- when it was after 6 PM, and I had already taxed my brains with solving two puzzles, there wasn't much left. So it's still sitting on the kitchen table, and we can mull over it today. 

Again, these games with 10 puzzles are great value for the money, especially if you look around for the best pricing. I found that to be at Puzzles Canada or on sale at Indigo. 

I seem to be fascinated (who knows why) by the concentration camps during the Second World War. I think fascination (and maybe obsession is a better word) because of what the human body can endure. Not just physically but mentally. How did they keep themselves going? How would our entitled society endure such horrors? 

I started to read a new book about the man who escaped from Auschwitz. It is heart-wrenching to see how the Jewish population slowly had their rights taken away from them. It didn't happen overnight, but bit by bit, they lost everything. It blows my mind that we can treat others this way. But that was what that war was all about.

The book is called The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland. Here's an article I found about the book. 

We CANNOT erase history, but we can learn from it. Why aren't we learning? 

Shoot -- I have another history story - about quilting history. It's disturbing, but I see I've run out of time. 

I'll leave you with that cliffhanger and tell you tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Tidy up time!

Really? What's with the weather here? It's above zero - the snow is melting in the dog park and if it keeps warm like this, it's going to be one big mud bath!  No!!! We can't have that!  Although, it does make for a pleasant time at the dog park when it's milder, two muddy dogs???   ICK!

So let's talk about labels for a quick second. I made this quilt a couple of years ago.

Baby quilt

Someone gave me the cut off bits and not knowing what was going to happen to them, I made half square triangles from them. Then I made pinwheels. It took a while to find a matching yellow for the quilt and then the border. But this is what I ended up with. And to think that a good part of it came from something that was going to be thrown away!   It was quilted last summer (2015) and the binding put on.  I was going to give it to someone, but never got around to making that happen. At last, it's going out the door but to a different recipient.  I want to make that other baby a different quilt!  I washed it last night so the recipient wouldn't be shocked when they washed it.  It looks beautiful!

The question is - how to label the quilt. The person receiving the quilt isn't a quilter, probably won't value it as a handmade quilt - it's a favor to DH. They don't really need or care for the how and why this quilt was made. There is no pattern involved, I just made it up!  So does it need a label??  I decided that it does NOT need a label. BUT I would like it to have something to identify who made it without a formal label.

My friend Lorna (Sew Fresh Quilts) has been using these labels on her quilts and I decided that for some of my quilts that this kind of label would suffice.

Nice way to label a quilt

Honestly, I think some of the younger crowd would appreciate a label like this since it looks like a purchased item rather than a hand made item.

I tried to order my labels yesterday and the darn web ordering system didn't like my postal code!!!!   Sent them a message and going to try again after the holidays!!!

But pretty cool - don't you think???  On Monday, I'm going to show you something else that I'm doing with this quilt and it all ties back to The Task Master and getting stuff done. My quilt will go out into the world with NO label. I'm OK with that.

What am I putting on my labels??  You'll have to wait until I get them and then I'll show you.

I'm not sure why I'm so put off with Christmas this year. It's not like I don't want to have anything to do with it. But one of the local radio stations started playing Christmas music ALL the time at the end of November. I can't handle it. I switched back to my other radio station from time to time, but I can't stand one of the morning people.  I NEVER switch radio stations, but I'm doing it a lot these days.  Trying out yet another radio station. Might have to get audio books for the drive to and from work!

Anyway, the radio stations are FILLED with ads - buy this, buy that! And the sales!  There are PRE-BOXING day sales.  It's enough to drive one to madness.  I'm EXTREMELY happy with my decision about Christmas this year.  I plan on sewing all day, well except when I'm at the dog park and the movies!  The pressure on EVERYONE to buy presents, have dinner, spend time with people they don't like (well - and people they do like!)  but - I just don't take this kind of pressure well any more.   Oh my GOD - I'm my MOTHER!!!!!

As I was browsing my book case to find the next book to read, I came across this book.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

HA!!!   Someone gave it to me years ago and this is the perfect time to read it. It's fast and easy - I'll probably be done by tonight or tomorrow.   Yep - I agree with everything they've said so far, but I know they slip and end up celebrating.  What tipped the scales for them???   When I'm done, the book goes in the give away pile so if anyone wants it.................


And look what I found in the book.

Chickadee magazine

Good grief - that must have been a LONG LONG time agao.  Let's check the date??

September 2004

I think it's time to move on!!!!   Nuff said!

I'm making good progress at reading the books on my shelf. While it doesn't look like it, there are major holes.  I'll maybe have a recap one day in the new year. As I've mentioned before, a lot of my books belong to a series  (and they are sorted by author on my shelf!). And people have given me books (NO - I don't want any more!) and so I find out the next book in the series and if I have it on my shelf, I'll read it. If I don't, then I get it from the library.  Today, I lucked out. I checked TWO series for the next book - one had to be ordered from the libary, the other one was on my shelf. I should count the books at the beginning of the year and see how many are left at the end of the year. Not that it matters, just curious!

I'm making great progress on that darn project!  If I were to count ONLY the part that I wanted to have done by Friday, I'm almost 1/4 done. If I count the additional part that I located in the studio, then I'm 1/6 done!  Not to worry, I'm making progress. The old me would have moved on as this is VERY fiddly. But I think I can get it all done by Wednesday AM????   That's my new goal and I should be able to meet that deadline as I have the next FOUR days with nothing to do but sew!!!  Well except for the dog park and the movie!

One of those days will be spent with a few friends sewing in the studio. You know what means......

The studio from one direction

And the opposite direction

 I would say a bit of tidy up time is in order.  I'll do a little bit everyday. It alreadys looks better after about 20 minutes. Every spare bag will be called to duty to make the tidy up happen.  Now if I could only find a hiding spot for it all.  Then I could pull out ONLY what I'm working on.  I doubt that is going to happen, but we'll see what we can do!

On that note, I'm out of here to get some work done!!!!  I'm debating whether I keep working ONLY on that fiddly project or do I swap just to get a break.  Hey - I could quilt a quilt. Yep - that's what I'll do.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

BTW - I do believe Lexi was at the computer earlier this moring.