On ordering food

Happy Canada Day!!!! Look—I found a new pattern yesterday, and while I won't have time to make it for this year's Canada Day, it would be simple to make next year. I got it at Stitcharie, but I think I bought the last one, as someone else in the class purchased the second-to-last one. And we can celebrate Canada Day any day of the year! It will be great to use up some red and white scraps. 

New Canada pattern

I'm home! It sure feels great to be home, and I didn't find the drive that bad last night, though I did stop at one of the OnRoutes for something to eat. AH -- there is a Booster Juice at this location (Woodstock). I swear the two girls in front of me, one of whom was chatting merrily on her phone instead of with the person she was with, took forever to place their order. I had no idea what they ordered, but seriously - pick a flavor and be done with it. 

The world is getting so fussy, and there is a certain coffee chain that caters to this. The orders are so long and so complicated that you wonder why. If you want a coffee, then just order a coffee, and maybe you put sugar or cream in it, but all these options? Some of those "coffees" are laced with hundreds of calories, and then you wonder why our society is so unhealthy. But I digress. 

Wait --- while the staff member was preparing my Berry protein drink, the lady with the phone came back (still on the phone) and asked if she could have her smoothie thinned out as she couldn't drink it through the straw. It was a slow process to get my smoothie! When she first came back and asked for the drink to be thinned out, I didn't hear what the staff member said to her. The customer's response? "I don't have time for that!" 

My smoothie was the perfect consistency. I have no idea what the other lady's problem was. There are just customers like that, and there is nothing that you can do to please them. 

Anyway -- I digress. I will admit that I am tired this morning and will probably need a nap, and then we are on to change the leaders on the long arms - mine and hers! I'll remove my leaders this morning and clean the rails. WAIT --- I have to sew the metal bits in for the magnets. Yikes -- I completely forgot about that. Hmmm -- there might not be time for a nap!

We had great sessions on software at Stitcharie yesterday, with loads of questions, and many people went home with their heads full of information. Now it's up to them what they do with it. 

I wish I had access to a session like that when I was new to software. At least when I would have opened it, I would have had some idea of where to start. 

When I left the hotel in the morning, I decided to use the luggage cart instead of making several trips. It worked very well. 

Using the luggage cart

It was so cold in that hotel, I almost froze. The first thing I did, and I do in all hotels, is turn off the AC. It is set so high that I'm about to freeze to death. The lobbies and hallways were like ice boxes. I get it that people are hot, but the more you are used to the heat, the less it will bother you. We are NOT AC people at our house, and with a couple of strategic fans, it's just fine. 

Perhaps by the fourth day of this heat wave, we will turn on the AC just to get rid of the humidity in the house. But the basement is like a refrigerator, and with the dehumidifier going, it's comfy once you start moving. 

Before "work" yesterday, I went to Tim's, and this sign is located on the side of the building. 

Outside the Tim's

Other provinces have similar signs with their own provincial symbols. Wait—after a little bit of research, I found the artist and some other information. Here's a screenshot from Cindy Scaife's Facebook page. 

The art at Tim's

I see they also have magnets for various areas of Canada. I am NOT buying the magnets. 

Tim's magnets

Nor did I buy a donut. 

The donuts stayed at the store.

But one thing that I noticed is that the person who comes into the store is THIRD in line to get served. What do I mean by that? Well, Tim's has always had a drive-thru. Well, maybe not at the very start, but it's known for its long drive-thru lines. And many staff members are assigned to fulfilling the orders from the drive-thru. 

A few years ago, they introduced mobile pickup ordering on the app. That has now taken second place for fulfilling orders. I watched a guy walk into the restaurant and step in front of me. He was older; I didn't argue, but I was standing at one of the order counters, and he went to the other one and got served first. 

He got his coffee and left, and I'm still standing there. So I moved to that order desk. The staff member said, "Wait a minute," while he fulfilled a few orders and placed them at the Mobile Order Pickup spot. That location is for any orders placed on the app or at the in-store kiosk, which this store didn't have. Or at least, I didn't see it. 

The mobile order pickup 

This reminds me so much of being with a person, like the person at the Booster Juice stand. It's more important to talk to the person on the phone or to fill the order for the unseen person than to deal with the person standing in front of you. I felt invisible!!!!

One day, I will get the ordering right! But now that I am home, I don't need to worry about ordering anything. If I want a tea, I just go to the kitchen and get it. 

I had taken a drive around Petrolia earlier, and there are some amazing old Victorian houses. Some made from brick and some made from wood. All are beautiful, although some of them needed a bit of TLC.

But as I was walking back to the store from Tim's, I spotted a giant Canadian flag on top of a building. Hmmm—can you tell me how they get the flag up there? It would weigh quite a bit, and well, now I want to know!

How did this flat get on top of the building?

When I got home, I unloaded the car and unpacked the suitcases. I was tired, but not so tired that I couldn't at least empty the suitcases. I hate having my samples crammed into them, and when I pack up wildly as I did, I'm not always neat. So the two big suitcases got unpacked, and the items moved to their respective locations. Upstairs for finished samples, downstairs for working samples. 

This is what I faced this morning when I went downstairs. Of course,  Murphy was there to assist. It was more like supervising than helping. 

Mom - I'm here to help if you need me!

And there was a stack of items on the chair that needed to be dealt with as well. 

More items to sort

There were items on the cutting table, but as I made progress, they were put away. With the two trips back-to-back, there was no time in between to deal with stuff. I now have a handful of thread to find a home for and then to tackle putting away the remaining things on the right-hand side. I have one urgent project to work on, and I have two weeks to make that happen. The items I need are in that envelope. Stay tuned! 

The cutting table is almost clear.

I'm happy to report that the items on the table and on the floor around it are put away. Yeah!!! I now have room to move the stuff from the chair to the table. That will leave my chair free to operate the sewing machine, which I will need as I sew the metal for the magnets into the leaders. 

Good progress on tidying up!

There is a pile of samples beside the sewing machine that I want to tidy up. 

Samples that need some tidying up

I love making technical samples. The ones that show you the good, the bad, and the ugly. But often the edges of the single fabrics go unfinished. It would take no time (yeah right!) to trim them to a nice size and serge the edges. 

Samples need to be upped in finished quality just a bit.

So I set those samples aside, and they will look a bit more professional the next time I pull them out. 

I also have a pile of things on the stairs to bring up. Don't yell at me; this is a good place to put them, and they never stay long. I have already brought up a fair amount of it. I am super careful of stairs, both up and down. I am very aware of that stuff, and since I am the only one who does the stairs, I'm not worried. By the time my helper comes for the long arm, this will be all dealt with. 

Things to bring upstairs

And that's it for today. I can't wait to see how this leader thing goes. I have THREE leaders to sew the magnets into. That means marking the stitching lines and then sewing. Neither should take too long, but there are three of them! 

The girls are happy that I'm home because that means they are going to get a walk despite the heat. I might make it a bit shorter, but they will tell me what they want. They don't care about the heat, at least when it comes time for a walk. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Somebody's been sleeping in my bed!

I think I'm in big trouble, and I need medical attention. Not mental health medical attention, but physical. My leg has been bothering me a lot, and it's time I did something about it. I could barely walk yesterday - at least without pain, and that is affecting my good leg, so there is no time to waste. What do I suspect is the issue? Well, where do I start? Issues with the PCL, which is a tendon on the back of the knee, and the sciatic nerves.  

Don't you love how I'm self-diagnosing? I'll go one step further and say that I need an MRI from the waist down on the leg. It's a hot mess. Yes -- I'm icing my knee and need to get back to serious stretching, but something doesn't feel right, and I need to get it fixed. Can you imagine what it would be like if I lost my mobility this way? 

As a result, my brain just wasn't as focused as I would have liked yesterday, but I still accomplished stuff. 

This is the state of the quilt bookcase. It's not full, but getting full. 

The shelves are almost full.

I still have piles of books to put on the shelves, and it looks like I might run out of room! ACK!!! If I do, then I must cull. I am NOT putting any books on the other side. But there are lots of little gaps here and there, where I can tuck a small book category. I should be good. 

This is what is left to put on the shelves.

But you would think that with moving the scrapbooking stuff and culling as much as I did, I would have plenty of room. Not so! Sigh.................

This is one stack of what got culled. 

One stack of books that needs to go

And another. 

These are mostly about dying fabric or painting on fabric - sigh..............

One more stack. Any would-be artists out there? These are all about learning to draw, perspective, and related topics. 

Books about drawing

The duplicates. 

Duplicate books

And also these two piles. 

General craft books

I guess it was very deceptive about how many books were mixed in with the piles of magazines. Well, this is a lesson to myself! I will NEVER buy another quilt book again. I know -- never say never, but I will think very long and hard before I buy another one. 

My goal is to get all the books back on the shelf, and then I can sort each category one at a time. I just need those books off the floor - I have run out of steam for this decluttering at the moment, and my next goal will be to deal with all the culled books before I move on to anything else. Where are those boxes and bags? 

And if you have a request for a book, let me know, as I might be able to help you. Two people contacted me yesterday; I was able to help one, but not the other. And at this point? I don't really care about keeping them. I just want them gone. 

I took one shelf on the top right and filled it with things that I want to deal with next. There are some books that I need to evaluate and will likely let go, there are some binders with patterns (actual ones and some from magazines), and all that will likely go. So I'm working on it—it just takes time, energy, and enthusiasm, and right now I've lost my enthusiasm for this project. BUT - I accomplished a lot on the first go-around, and the next one will not be nearly as bad. 

I have one last book to try and flog on the blog. If anyone wants this, it's yours. 

Featherweight book

To break it up because I was losing steam, I decided to start prepping blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt. I think there are 32 that need prepping. I got one completely cut out, and I traced the applique shapes for four more onto fusible web. 

Prepping blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler

So that was good!! I think I now have all the applique blocks covered; the rest are pieced, so I have all my scrap fabrics laid out on the cutting table, and I'll try to tackle a few each day. The pieces are small - the blocks are 6½" and well, I'm just going to forge ahead and make this happen. 

Oh -- I also trimmed some HSTs that were languishing on the cutting table. It's not perfectly clear, but it's not in too bad shape. 

HSTs trimmed

As I walked the girls through the forest yesterday, I spotted that little plant that I rescued from its restraints. 

The one on top is the rescued one, and you can see from the bottom plant what it's supposed to look like. 

What happened to the plant that was restrained

But you know what? It doesn't matter -- this one will be a bit warped its entire life, but it still deserves a chance. It's kind of like people - we are not all perfect, but that makes us unique in an interesting way, and beauty is NOT in perfection. We should keep that in mind when we are quilting -- perfection just isn't always possible, so we do what we can. Learn to rescue the mistakes. And this poor plant's mistake was to grow inside the hole in a dead leaf, and it wasn't strong enough to break the bond. 

A bit warped, but it'll be fine!

There's my thimble collection. It doesn't take up much room, and it sits right above my desk, so I get to see it every day. Some of those shelves are too short for thimbles, so I may have to cull some of the odd ones if I ever get to that point. 

My thimble collection

Here are the two magnets that we got in Italy. I never did decide on one for Rome, but that's OK. You must be careful because the same magnet can cost between 1 and 6 Euros, depending on where you buy it. 

My two magnets from the recent trip

And that's the entire collection we have. And that's from many years - we haven't culled any magnets. Well, there are a few that need to be glued back together, but only about two. 

There's no danger of running out of room for a long time. My SIL bought us a magnet from Sicily, so that was allowed. No duplicates, although Taormina is located in Sicily. 

The three new magnets from this trip

So our girls technically have their own dog beds, but they can basically sleep wherever they want. The only one that is restricted is Lexi's kennel, but I've noticed that Murphy is getting braver and braver and will poke her nose in to see if Lexi has tried to hoard any food in there. And Lexi doesn't like sleeping on the bed in the window. 

Besides her bed in the family room and her kennel, this is Lexi's third favorite spot to sleep. It's an old quilt I've folded up, and when I'm reading in the living room, she likes to stretch out on it. She often spends the night there. And I suspect she is starting to get deaf or just a very deep sleeper, because when she's out, she's out! 

Once, I went to touch her in the early morning, and she freaked out!!

MOM -- this is my sleeping spot - no blondes allowed!

Last night, as I was sitting in the living room, I didn't see what happened, but I heard Lexi chatting up a storm and looked to see Murphy sleeping on Lexi's quilt. Now technically, this one is for both, but Lexi was mad. Despite all her insistence, Murphy didn't budge. 

MOM - Murphy is sleeping in my spot!

Murphy thinks the entire downstairs is for her to sleep. Actually, she has two spots --- tucked away in behind everything in the stash room in Studio B. I mean - tucked way behind the shelves. And the second spot is under the current project table. 

She no longer spends much time upstairs; when she does come up, she doesn't like to stay there. She has had to learn to slow down on the stairs because she will slip, and she isn't comfortable with that. I think she mostly comes upstairs if there is a storm. 

Both girls have dog beds in the family room, and Murphy's is large enough that I often lie down with her and give her cuddles, which we did yesterday. She also has the bed in the window, which she doesn't use as much, and I suspect she finds it uncomfortable to get up there. And she has one in my office. 

So imagine my surprise this morning when I came downstairs to find this! 

MOM -- this bed is so comfy!!! I don't care if it belongs to Lexi.

WHAT?????? She has never slept in Lexi's bed before. She may have put a paw or two in there, or attempted to search for food (Lexi likes to hoard food), but she has never sat in or definitely not slept in it. Well, what does this mean? Do I need to buy her a raised bed as well? If so, one of the other beds will need to go. 

How forward of her!!!!! And poor Lexi -- she tries to keep things neat and finds little cubbies to hoard food, but it's like Murphy has a radar on her nose for anything edible. 

I had some interesting conversations at the gym yesterday morning, and YES - maybe some of my workout exacerbated my knee, but I don't think so. It's been bad for a couple of days. I survived Brooke's class, and I'm not sore this morning. I'll have to tell you about my conversations tomorrow—interesting stuff! BTW, my knee only hurts when walking, and that's what gets it started. Just hanging around the house isn't a problem. 

I have one last thing to share, and it's about quilted jackets. There is a sew-along by Grainline Studio for the Tamarack Jacket, a basic quilted jacket that covers the essentials of quilted-jacket-making. The videos are very good, though there are a couple of things I might do differently. I'll be hosting TWO one-hour Zoom sessions about the videos and how we can use those techniques with ANY quilted jacket pattern. The sessions are free and will require you to watch all the Tamarack Jacket videos (about 6 hours over 2 months). If you are interested, please email me (elainetheriault@gmail.com), so I can add you to the distribution list, as that is how the Zoom link will be forwarded. 

This will be a discussion, not a lecture, so you will not get anything out of the sessions if you haven't watched the videos. But if you are at all interested in making a quilted jacket, I highly recommend you attend - but watch the videos first. We're going to discuss the pros and cons and offer alternatives to some of the techniques Jen (Grainline Studio) teaches in her classes. I highly recommend watching those videos, even if you don't attend my two sessions. 

They are on YouTube - here's the link. 

And that's it for today. It's a busy day—I have THREE things to do today: a personal workout with Brooke (and I'm going to use the compression pants, which I haven't used for a couple of weeks, to help my knee), a dentist appointment (I've been flossing like mad), and lunch (hoping to offload a few books). I'm exhausted already!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Down the rabbit hole - many times today!

Oh my-- I have a few things to learn about knitting, but that's OK. What I noticed was the number of large loose sweaters in the store on Salt Spring. Oversized chunk sweaters are back!

My hands will get used to it! 

OK -- here's a hilarious story about knitting sweaters. When I was young -- very young, OK, young, in my late teens, I knit a sweater for my then boyfriend, who was a large guy, so it took a lot of knitting. I forgot about that sweater. He tracked me down one day a couple of years ago through my quilting - his sister is a quilter, and he came across my blog. I don't remember all the details. 

Anyway, can you believe that he kept that sweater all that time? And the sweater is still being used? OH MY GOD -- I guess that is someone who appreciates a knitted sweater, but it wasn't made with great yarn, so I can imagine how pily it is. 

Amazing what you can find on the blog when you go back and search. Here is the blog post about my early days of knitting.

I was first and foremost a knitter, and then got into quilting. That story about Rod's sweater is hilarious!! That was TEN years ago!!! It seems this trip has triggered many memories from 10 years ago. 

And I will say that I've become a slug. No walking - well, very little, no cares about the number of steps I get in a day, and sleeping? I just got up! This summer has been the summer of little walking, and I need to get everything caught up. I haven't even entered any steps or mileage since July!!!! Am I done with the excessive walking? I don't think so. Am I done with the medals for The Conqueror? I don't think so, but I need to get my mindset back. That trip to Africa just changed so much!!!

Anyway, I'll make it happen - whatever that is, and I'm not worried. But I do need to get those stretches in. 

I was looking through Dillon's pictures from the other night at Capilano Suspension Bridge, and here's a better one of the cliff walk. You are NOT walking beside the cliff -- it goes out. That makes me think I could do the one at the Grand Canyon. I'll wait a bit before I venture down there, but wouldn't that be fun?

The cliff walk

Good grief - the next thing you know, I'll be skydiving! OK - I have jumped out of a plane - twice, but that was many, many years ago!

Here is M's magnet collection from her travels. Hmmm -- we don't seem to have as many, but they were much smaller and less elaborate in our day! What's hilarious is that in the first picture in this blog post, look at the fridge!!!! 

M's magnet collection

I went outside to take a picture of the view, and this hummingbird just popped out of nowhere to feed at the feeder. They are fascinating to watch. And he was pretty happy to hover in the air and show off his skills, and then he landed on the feeder to get a drink. 

The resident hummingbird

This is the view from their second-floor balcony. It's a beautiful spot to be sure. The trees in the distance are located in Stanley Park. 

The view

And they get to see the barges go by to get to the dock in North Vancouver. On a nice day, I would be sitting on the deck and just watching the world go by - literally as the cruise ships go by as well. The weather is pretty decent here - it was cloudy yesterday, but we did not have any rain. And it's relatively warm - I'm happy! 

A container ship

Bear, M, and I had a walk along the waterfront, which is just a couple of blocks from their house, and yes -- I would spend a lot of time along the waterfront as well. It really is stunning and such a different life from my forest back home. I'll take the forest over the water, but I could easily handle the water as well. And there are plenty of trees everywhere for forest bathing! 

Bear and M

Then, for something to do, we went to the Vancouver Public Library! Yep -- the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but she went for some books on creativity that looked pretty interesting, while I went somewhere else. But first, we checked out the rooftop deck on the 9th floor, and then looked briefly at all the floors on the way down. The place is enormous and would be a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. 

The Vancouver Public Library

Of course, I went to the quilt section and WOW!!!! I could have browsed all afternoon. While they have a lot of technique and standard books you would find in a public library, they also have a great selection of historical quilt books. OK -- I would take some of those home if I could! I know I have a great deal of those types of books at home, and many of them are ones I already own, but there were a few!!!!

The quilt section

I took one out so I could browse for some ideas. More of an art book based on the next assignment I have to get done. 

As we were driving back, we spotted this on a condo construction site. HMMM -- are those balconies sticking out, or is that a construction thing? They have bizarre buildings here, and they seem to try to outdo the one beside it. 

Balconies? 

Then, over the Lion's Gate Bridge, which I rode my bicycle across in 2010, I was totally terrified. It was my first big bike trip, and we started at UBC. As I saw the bridge looming in the distance, my heart was in my mouth!!!! But I made it, and I survived!!!

The Lion's Gate Bridge

Well, I certainly did not make any bones about my fright in that day's blog post. Here's the link. You won't find it on this blog page because at the time, I was using another platform!!!! Oh dear -- do not go down a rabbit hole with that. But I really should pull off that Arctic trip and make a digital book out of it with the pictures in the right place. 

And here is Mr. Snuggle Pants sleeping on the couch!! His ear still isn't perfect, and you can tell it's dirty from the grim collected by the ear drops. But he's doing just OK. and so happy to be with Dillon and M. As much as I would like to dognap him, this is his home. But he's welcome to visit any time!

Mr. Snuggle Pants

Now, my blog posts about a brand-new Husqvarna Viking sewing and embroidery machine are being posted on QUILTsocial this week. Here's the link to the first one. It is the Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 65, and wow—I love it. There are so many things you can do with an embroidery machine. 

Day One -- Meet the Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 65

Oh my - I went down a rabbit hole and listened to all the videos!!! Yep -- I made some pretty decent videos explaining the features. And here's the thing -- all the Husqvarna Viking embroidery machines have similar tools, so if you have a different Wi-Fi-enabled Husqvarna Viking machine, you may want to check out those videos!!!!

I'll post more links tomorrow. 

I also had dinner with my SIL, who lives in Vancouver, so that was a good visit. Yep -- the entire trip is a lot of coming and going. We have a lot in common and discussed her upcoming wedding plans, hiking, reading, etc. Yep -- next year is also going to be an interesting year!

Oh my -- I'd better get myself together here, or M will think I have died!!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Clips, magnets, or pins?

And just like that -- I'm back into my routine! 

I spent the morning visiting a friend, and it was great to catch up with them. I hope to be able to do that more often in the future, but who knows! Then it was back home and to work! I'm so looking forward to a less "controlled" schedule. I won't be sitting around eating bon-bons, but I won't have so many time commitments. 

It wasn't one of the most productive days, but I knew I had to get those suitcases unpacked and work on the cutting table. As I was bouncing around doing that, I decided to glance at my handiwork that I had done before I left. I looked at the shelf in the stash room. And there, before my very eyes, was the jacket sample that I had wanted to take with me last week. It's tucked behind the orange box with the sewing machine on it. 

My missing jacket sample! 

I knew I had put two jackets together so I could work on them, but where? It never occurred to me that they were here. I now have to learn (or remember) the new location of many things, but drat - I didn't think to look on that shelf. No worries! 

I'm still searching for a specific set of templates. No luck so far, and there are two more places to pull apart before next week. Let's hope I find them. 

Anyway, a good number of things got put away, but there is still quite a bit to tidy up. Sometimes, I'm able to sort and put things back into their proper bag or container after a presentation, and sometimes I don't have time. I didn't bother with some of the things, so I'm dealing with that as I unpack. But I made good progress and that's all that counts. 

I fired up the long arm and got the small quilt done that was loaded. There is one customer quilt left in the queue, and nothing (so far) is scheduled for the fall. If anyone wants something done, please let me know so I can schedule it; otherwise, I'll be planning other tasks. 

Customer quilt - DONE

The next one is sitting out to get done, and I hope to get to it later today. 

I was also working on the embroidery machine. If you are into machine embroidery or anything that requires delicate trimming, you NEED a pair of these scissors. They are called Easy Snips, and there is a pair branded for both Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF. They are the best scissors I've ever used for trimming very close to the edge. There are probably other brands as well. 

Easy Snips

They look flimsy and as though they won't cut anything, but they are very sharp, accurate, and cut to the point. I would NOT be without a pair. They are fantastic for machine embroidery appliqué when using pre-cut shapes. 

I was going to unpack only one suitcase yesterday, but I had taken those scissors with me and I needed to find them. Hence, I had to go through both suitcases and ended up finding them with my clothes. OK -- so I'm not always super neat and tidy when I travel. Especially when I take a lot of things with me. 

Has anyone tried these magnets? They are the same brand that I recently purchased for my long arm, but I saw them at The Sewing Machine Store in Saskatoon, so I decided to get on the bandwagon like everyone else and buy a set. They are NOT cheap!

Small magnets for sewing

Where would I use them that I can't use these? 

One binding clip

Those are binding clips that I bought many years ago, and they are the best for binding a quilt. Yes -- there are the plastic clips, but I'm not a fan. What gets me is someone who will flip the binding back and attach clips all around. Why? All you need are two clips. One is used to mark the start point, so you can easily see where you began, and the second one is placed about 3 inches to the left (or right) of where you are stitching to hold that section in place. As you reach that clip, simply reposition it to hold the next section down. 

It takes far less time to move that single clip than to clip the entire quilt. You don't need a container to hold your clips, and you only need two!!

I once clipped the binding for an entire quilt (small sample) that I was going to machine stitch in place. It was the most cumbersome thing I've ever done, and hard to keep those clips from catching on things. 

Back to where I would use those magnets rather than a pin or a clip. Hmmm -- they are big and heavy, so would I use it where I could use a pin? Like the edges of my quilt that I'm whip stitching together? It's also two parts, so it's easy to lose one part — hey, I had lots of issues with losing a single clip, let alone two parts. And because it's two parts, I bet I can't put them on the quilt with one hand. 

Where I can see them being handy is for things that I can't put pins. So maybe things like adding a vinyl pocket to a project or using cork or vinyl? I will have to put my thinking cap on to see where I could use them. Where do you use pins, clips, and magnets? I'll have to put some examples up later this week. 

My girls are just funny! Last night at the dinner table, they were trying to entertain us, as usual. Ah -- they have come up with a synchronized sitting routine, which involves looking left. 

Look to the left

Then right. 

Look to the right

And finally, to make sure Mom is watching, and to say "Good girls" to us! 

Wait for applause! 

They are forever a source of entertainment! 

We still have some details to work out for this upcoming vacation, and I need to retrieve the bags we are using to ensure everything is in order. OH - please don't yell at me, but planning is not my strong point, and I'm not a fan of doing it, but we must. And DH wants to visit many places he did or didn't go to as a kid. How many days should we stay here? I wish we didn't have to plan the entire thing because I'm sure we will want more freedom once we arrive. Sigh.................

I'm off to spin class this morning, and I MUST actually get some real work done today. There is also a virtual retreat this weekend and here are the links. 

Saturday, July 26 -- STARTS at 6:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82693702241?pwd=QpQkm8Ppppy1XwCPOqva1bcgJCWKdP.1

Meeting ID: 826 9370 2241
Passcode: 795071

Sunday, July 27 -- STARTS at 3:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073536036?pwd=uxRqMnK1aSKrmrcSO78w8QQs5g44eA.1

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

I have some emails to get out to people, follow-ups to do for some classes (that's long overdue), quilting, machine embroidery, and writing! It's going to be another busy day!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!