We've got company - AGAIN!

Oh my --- I love reading the comments. However, there are some days when  I get inundated with spam. And for the most part, it's easy to know that it's spam. I wonder how that happens? I mean - does someone set a program to troll for keywords? I know I'm not the direct target, the keywords just get picked up, and then AI writes some creative, mostly nonsensical sentences. Thankfully, all new comments are at the top of the list, so it's easy for me to browse them daily and delete what shouldn't be there. 

But read this one: 

Wow, what a delightful read! I absolutely love how you combine two such unique passions—quilting and biking—into one vibrant lifestyle. Your energy is truly infectious! Whether you're stitching fabric masterpieces or riding through nature, your creativity and enthusiasm shine through. The "crazy quilter on a bike" title is not just catchy, it's a perfect reflection of your joyful spirit. Can't wait to see where your next ride (or quilt!) takes you. Keep inspiring us with your colorful adventures!

Seriously? Who writes like that? It's pretty cleverly written, and it was certainly not a person who did that! How do I know? It's just too darned perfect, and I haven't written about cycling for a long time, so you know AI has searched many blog posts to come up with those creative words! And it is GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT. Not a single error in it according to Grammarly, which is a generative AI tool. 

Anyway, I accomplished some sewing before we had to leave the retreat house at 11 AM. That was a bit earlier than we're used to, but it worked out OK. I can't share with you what I did as it's part of my writing assignment, but it's looking awesome. 

I also managed to get all these blocks completed with the first round. I was using them as enders and leaders, and I actually had two extra pieces, but no worries, as I can use them on the second round of the black on white blocks. I need to give them all a good press and trim them to the correct size. Usually, I wouldn't do that, but I know some of them are a bit off. The next step will be to sew the blocks using the black on white fabrics. And there's no need to worry if I'll run out of fabric, as I have loads of white and black fabric. And this will be another quilt top done, but it's going to take a while since it's an ender and leader project. 

Progress on the ender and leader quilt

Through the Pony Express, I got the rest of the books from one of the thrift stores. Perfect timing, as I got an email from them that they have received another book on my list. I must respond to them. 

More books from my thrift store shopping

The traffic was heavy on the 401. No accident, no construction, no visible reason for a slowdown, but it was slower. Then all of a sudden, it was fine. I don't get that. Why does the traffic slow down when there's no reason? I know -- someone brakes and that throws a monkey wrench in the mix, but this highway is notorious for heavy traffic. The trucks? I swear every second vehicle was a transport truck! Not that that is a bad thing, because for the most part, they are the better drivers, but there were so many! I'm sure they love the traffic. 

Anyway, I had quite the reception when I got home. 

MOM-How dare you leave me alone! 

MOM - where were you? I needed you! 

Grandma - I'm a good boy, and when I'm not, I'm just cute! 

Wait!!!!! Bear -- how did Little Bear get here? He arrived on Tuesday when neither I nor DH were home. So the dog sitter got to enjoy him for a couple of days. She loves him and he's super snuggly, so the two of them hung out while she worked! Such a good little companion. 

But what trouble! 

Grandma - I'm upstairs and I need help!!! 

He loves to hang out with the big girls! 

Chilling at the window with Lexi

Surveying their backyard kingdom this morning

M and her friend stopped by to visit in the afternoon for a bit, and then they were gone, and Bear gets to stay here! That works for me! 

I got more writing done and completed more videos. I'm not doing too badly with the videos, but there's still so much to learn! I swear that recording yourself is an excellent way to practice speaking. I only save the one I like, and the rest are gone. But it sure helps to reduce those 'um' and 'ah' words, and you learn to say what you want. I don't want to edit if I don't have to. 

I slept like a log at the retreat. It was dark and very quiet, not that I need either to sleep. But I had trouble sleeping last night, and I was so tired at 4:30 AM when I needed to get up for the gym. Now that I'm home, I plan to walk the girls and the boy, and then I need a nap. 

And then I'll be back to work as I need to get more writing done today and start prepping for my trip next week. Yep - so much for a calm and quiet July. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Delivery service

One thing about decluttering your house is what to do with all the stuff! Most of us don't want it to go to the landfill, but I can see a lot of good things going there because people don't want to take the time to find a good home for things, nor do they want to take the effort to deliver them. 

When Yagana cleaned out M's stuff upstairs, about 10 or 11 boxes were sitting in the hallway. Five boxes remain, and I'll deal with those later. I sorted half of the boxes, and now the books were sitting in smaller boxes in the front hall. Plus, there was stuff destined for two schools. 

Before I drop off at any school, I call first to ensure they actually want what I have to donate. Yesterday was the second day of those drop-offs, and now look at my hallway!

Only three small boxes remain

There are three small boxes to be donated to the thrift store. Oh my --- that looks so much better than the boxes and huge pads of paper that have been cluttering up that area! 

Three items remain in the Pony Express staging area. One is big and is sitting under the hall table. The two boxes on Lexi's kennel are for the recycling depot. There's also another box of flammable stuff in the laundry room. 

The Pony Express staging area

There are a few boxes in the office that I can now move to the front hall, and hopefully, I can get rid of those in one more trip. One is a box of paper that needs to be shredded, and the other will be added to the donation pile. Once all that is gone, then I will be able to start all over again. Well, technically, not start all over again - I need to continue cleaning out the office. It's all going to happen! 

Yes -- I need to gather all the boxes that have been waiting their turn, make sure they're full, and then get them out of the house! That's next on the list! I can't tell you how giddy I feel about getting rid of more boxes of stuff! It's better than therapy, and it's sure to lift your mood! 

So help me god, but I just moved those boxes to the kitchen counter and will deal with them today. It just feels like the day to get that done! Then I can start to make another mess! 

While dropping off those boxes, I had a couple of things to pick up. 

Here's my stack of books that came from Allison the Bookman in North Bay. Thanks to the Pony Express, they arrived safe and sound. Thanks to Karen and Helen Anne. I would HIGHLY recommend that used bookstore in North Bay. They had a lot of great titles, and it was easy to search online. They were also very responsive. Will I buy again? You bet!!!

Some of my missing books

Then I finally picked up my jacket patterns that had been printed weeks ago! I had them printed at Sherwood Copy & Print in Mississauga. If you need something large printed, this is where I'd go. Shoot -- I never even thought - I need some stuff printed for my concurrent show at Quilt Canada, and I should have asked about that! 

My jacket patterns

Anyway, the service was fast and the cost was extremely reasonable. I paid $15 for two large pieces of paper. One was 36" square and the other was 36" by 74". $15 to print both!! Highly recommended!!! 

I had a couple of other errands, but I ran out of time as I had to be home as the landscapers were coming to install the new water tap. I might just sneak out of the house later today and get those last errands done. Then I'll feel complete, and then, as mentioned, it's time to start collecting boxes again! 

Thankfully, what is coming into the house is a lot less than what is going out, and those books? Once I read them, they are gone! 

I didn't get a chance to get out for a walk yesterday, so no danger of getting hit. But I was at the gym already this morning, and I was all by myself because Brooke wasn't feeling well. Oh my!!! I can't believe I'm looking forward to those visits. My legs and arms feel tingly from lifting weights, but I'm not pushing it too hard. I need to make my left leg as strong as my right, and while it's okay, it's still relatively weak. Don't worry - I'm lifting 10 pounds per leg, plus the weight of the machine! I'm not overdoing it! 

More stretching and even getting up and down on the floor is super easy! Do I flip up like a gymnast? NO - that's never going to happen, but getting up gracefully? Yep - I can manage that. Do I feel ecstatic? Flying higher than a kite! 

This next photo in no way endorses my political views, but I took the picture with Murphy to show the scale. One local candidate has placed these massive signs along the public fence. Personally, I think it's the most disgusting thing. Do they hope that people will arrive at the voting station and vote for the last name they saw? 

Massive election signs

I hope people have realized that this election is too important to vote based on name recognition. And how much did that sign cost? It's printed on corrugated plastic! Yes - I erased the name in case you think they put up a blank sign! Well, just get out there and vote - that is on Monday! I think I did a fantastic job of erasing that sign! 

Here are a couple of photos of flowers that I forgot to post the other day. The daffodils are all pointing towards the sun! 

Daffodils pointing to the sun

And the pretty hibiscus were blooming like mad! 

Hyacinths in bloom

Then a bizarre thing happened yesterday. I'm making a quilt that needs over 2 meters of fabric for the border and binding. I bought fabric at a store in BC last year (the pink one), and I loved it. However, as the quilt progresses, I realize that pink is the absolutely wrong color for my border. It needs to be darker. 

I pulled out a purple from my stash, and it was awesome (bottom left), but there's NOT enough. I realized that I would need to go to a quilt store to buy some. The nearest store is about 45 minutes away, which isn't far, but time is precious these days. 

Can you believe that I went back to my stash, rather than go to the quilt store, and I found TWO more purples. The top left is too light, and the top right isn't quite the right shade of purple, but it will have to do! Actually, it's going to look just fine as I'll add a little bit of it into the blocks in the quilt. Problem solved! 

Shopping for fabric at my house

Before, if I needed anything, instead of looking in the stash, I'd hop in the car and zip to the quilt store, regardless of how far away it was. Not any longer. I find that absolutely hilarious! And it wasn't so much that I didn't want to go to the store, it was that I didn't want to take the time! 

To keep Murphy busy in the morning, I hide her ball in her blankets again. Hmm -- she has caught onto me as I hide the ball in the same blanket, and she zeroed in on that one. So I switched it up, and that took her a few minutes to figure out. 

MOM - you can't trick me!!

Once she had the ball, she went back to her food dish because she had not licked it entirely clean! She does the same thing to Lexi's dish. She knows she is not allowed to touch Lexi's food in the dish. If the food happens to be outside the dish because someone kicked it, then it's fair game. But the SECOND that Lexi has eaten her food, Murphy goes back and licks the dish clean! 

Found the ball; now I need to lick the dish clean!

Here's another comparison of those girls. While Murphy is huffing and puffing, trying to find that ball, Lexi is just chilling! 

Totally opposite!!

And here they are outside. Again, Murphy is busy; Lexi is chilling. 

MOM - listen to ME!!!

Then Murphy found another toy. I don't know if she got this from the house or found it outside. But technically, it's an indoor toy. She plopped herself in the flower bed and proceeded to remove the inner toy from the outside part. 

MOM - this flower bed is so comfy!!

And there she is, hanging out at the pond with her fish. 

MOM - my fish needs the pond! 

I'm going to have to pick up more mulch at the store, but I should rake the leaves away from the trees first so the mulch stays somewhat tidy. I don't have a leaf rake! I could just scrap them up with my hands, I suppose. I did some tidying up in the garden yesterday and did some weeding. YES - the weeds are already starting to grow. If I could keep on top of them, it wouldn't be a big deal! 

And yes, I'm running around in shorts because the weather is beautiful! I have a story about these shorts, which I'll share after I take a picture of them!

Did I get any sewing done? You bet I did! I have stories to share about that as well once I'm done with the projects. It was a successful day, but there's always more to do! Why is that? 

One last thing - here's an observation from the gym. We all know that people are addicted to their phones, right? It doesn't matter what age, but people are scrolling through that thing like mad. Social media? Personal messages? Reading a book? I don't know what it is, but the number of people sitting on a machine and scrolling through their phones is ridiculous. Or lying on the floor, and they spend more time scrolling than they do exercising. You may as well stay home! 

On a happy note, there's a virtual retreat this weekend, so be sure to stop by and say hi. 

Saturday, April 26 - starts at 6 PM

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

Meeting ID: 826 9370 2241
Passcode: 795071

Sunday, April 27 - starts at NOON

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

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

The Pony Express in action!

I love our Pony Express! We've shuffled many things around on it, and there's quite a stack at my front door. Granted, some of that is not technically for the Pony Express, but it's waiting for me to make some donation drop-offs. 

And I have to say that having friends who live in other places is a great thing! I was alerted to another amazing user bookstore in Brockville called Book Trader. They have a Facebook page, and I contacted them. Within minutes, I had a reply. I sent my list to them, and within minutes, I got pictures back of six more of the missing books. 

More missing books

That is fantastic service. The books were set aside for my friend, who lives near the store, to pick up. She happened to be out and about yesterday and the books are now in her possession. 

The books in North Bay have now been picked up and are waiting to be delivered to me. 

Books from Allison the Bookman in North Bay

I haven't received an answer from the other two bookstores I contacted, so I guess I know who I'll be doing business with in the future! 

I have another list of books I want, or should I say they are books that DH wants, and I did NOT have them when I started searching. OK - I had the list, but I didn't consult it! I'll wait a while before I start looking for his. Yes, I know it would have been more efficient if I had both done simultaneously. So now - from that list of 23 missing books, I'm down to 6. I will keep looking for those six, but I can continue reading in four more series, which is good. And I must STOP getting books from the library! 

Thanks to everyone who participated in the great missing book caper - Karen, Helen Anne, Carol, and Mary! You guys are the best! Although I think one of them, who shall remain nameless, thought I had scooped some quilt books and she would browse them. Nope - I dare not buy any more quilt books. Only novels that I'll read and then trade in or donate! 

Some authors are very hard to find in specific locations, and it appears that MC Beaton is hard to find anywhere! None of her books were located at those stores. 

Our medical system works in mysterious ways. And this all relates to that silly bone density pill. However, with all the weight training at the gym, I may not need a bone density pill. I got a chuckle yesterday when I was using the weight machines, and I returned to find two guys using one of my machines, which is no big deal. But I had to joke about the piddly 5 lbs (in addition to the machine's weight) on one of the shoulder exercises. This guy was lifting 70. He told me to try 70 next time as it's easier! Right! All in friendly jest, of course! 

Anyway, this bone density pill is to be taken once a week, and I have struggled with that, especially since the first one had to be taken 30 minutes before eating. That got changed to a pill that I have to take with food, and even then, it's just not in my routine. I have now put the container with the vitamins I take once daily, and hopefully, that will work better. 

Don't yet at me; don't offer me suggestions - I am just NOT a pill taker. Thankfully, I've never had to take medication in my life (OK - I did have asthma at one point, but that's different), so the pill-taking thing just doesn't work for me. Hopefully, putting it with the vitamins will help. And my vitamins are chewy ones, in case you think I'm a hypocrite! OK - I am, but that's beside the point!

Anyway, I had issues with the pharmacy with the initial prescription—they had me on autofill, and since I wasn't taking them, it was getting messed up, so they stopped that process. Then I got the new prescription, and that is NOT on autofill. It's long overdue to be renewed (yes—don't yell at me), and now I have to physically visit the doctor to get it filled. 

Again, I am grateful that I have a doctor, but seriously? What is she going to do? She won't run a new bone density test; she will just fill out the renewal prescription and fax it to the pharmacy. What a total waste of time for her and me. I know it's all about billing, but you know the system is wrong when the only legitimate way a doctor can get paid is to have a patient come in. A simple phone call to the pharmacy or a consultation on the phone would be sufficient. Alas -- it's a mess, and now you wonder why I want to get this thing renewed. It's way more hassle! And I could just lift more weights, and I should be good! 

I hate complications and follow-ups, and that's what medication is all about! I will hold off taking any medication for as long as I can. Actually, I should take a look at that bone density test and see what exactly it says! 

I was lazy as a slug yesterday, doing nothing more than reading and sleeping! I think I'm trying to catch up with all the stuff that went on in February and March. I had no Zooms yesterday, and without a deadline or an appointment, I can be as lazy as ever! However, I did work on three presentations for today. Two are ready, and the third is almost complete. 

I managed to sew a block from those 2" squares and 2 by 5" rectangles. It's a scrap quilt with browns, although the browns range from many variations and values. 

A block for my new scrap quilt

I aim to make light and dark blocks as best I can. 

A dark and a light block

Oh my --- I don't know what's got into Murphy these days, but she is very agitated! I know she wasn't a fan of the wind the other day, but this morning? I suspect it's rabbits or something. I've already taken her outside (on a leash) for a pee, but that didn't seem to be the problem. 

Yesterday, this was her while I was reading in the living room. You can see that this is one of her favorite hideaways by the dirt on the wall. She has to squeeze in there, but she does it. Yet, she can't enter the back door when it's partially open? Sigh.

MOM - I'm scared! 

After the restaurant last night, I decided to grab my book and sit in the new chairs. They feel different, to be sure, but with the motorized leg rest, it's easy to find a spot. And if that isn't enough, they have a motorized headrest as well. I was very comfy with my quilt. DH—not so much. Good grief! He will have to like them, or he can share a spot with Lexi on the old couch. 

Lexi is comfy on her old couch

I felt bad for Murphy, so I dragged the other side of the couch beside my chair, and she was quite happy to lie there. 

MOM - I love it here! 

The chairs have cup holders and big storage in the arm, so hopefully, nothing goes missing! 

Let's hope I can get more motivated to work after my three zooms today. There are two more tomorrow, and I need to do some work for those, not just put together a presentation! Maybe that will help me get back on track. 

Well, it's time to get the day started! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!

All waxed up!!

The weather is just totally insane. Earlier this week, we had high humidity and hot temperatures. I'm wearing my sweatshirt this morning, and it's only 14 outside. Zero humidity. I'm not complaining—I can put on more clothes, but it changes so much from day to day that you don't know what to wear! 

Sadly, we are leaving later today. I'm not ready!!! I have a lot of stuff to do at home, so I guess I'm good to go. Plus, those two girls will be very excited to see me. 

I've been up early and already at work. I've got all the flying geese for the 365-day quilt trimmed and ready to sew together in a border around the center block. How exciting is that! Before finishing that task, I have to make the four corner blocks. I won't have time this morning, but who knows what I'll get to when I get home. 

Trimming quilt components

I downloaded an audiobook, put on my headphones, and trimmed early in the morning. In addition to trimming those flying geese, I decided to work on the bag of half-square triangles, and my goal is to finish trimming them before I leave. Why not get the darn things done? I want to say that I'm halfway through. I made good progress so far, and that's all that counts. 

We had a good laugh yesterday when one of the ladies pulled out a UFO. Look at the detailed notes she had in her box. 

Detailed instructions for a UFO

And then look at this. There was a note, but all it did was bookmark the pattern in the book!! 

No instructions - just a bookmark!

If there is one, most of my notes look like the second example! I need to change that because no one will know what it's all about if I don't finish a project. 

We stopped at the used bookstore yesterday, and I hit the jackpot. I had 31 books on my list, and I found 11 of them, many from before 2000. 

Inside the bookstore

Like many used bookstores, it's a maze but extremely well organized. The name is CTR Books (Orangeville), and the owner is amazing. I had a list by author and title, and she had everything on the computer for those I couldn't find by myself. She had to dig in a box in the back for one of the books—I think that was the one from 1967! She's very knowledgeable and very helpful. 

And YES—I can return books to her, so I'm going home to unpack those donation boxes. I should have brought them with me. DRAT!!!! They have sales in February, June, and October, so I might wait and come up in October to return the others! 

They only take cash, so now I owe everyone in my group! Thank goodness for them and their emergency funds!

While we were there, someone spotted this old tractor! Oh my—we had to stop, and I took pictures and sent them to my dad. This is a Rumley tractor manufactured in Indiana. It's pretty old, but it has been refurbished. 

A Rumley tractor

OK -- so when we got back and had a quick bite, we were ready for our afternoon adventure, and this was the setup. 

Setup to make waxed food wraps

We were making beeswax food wraps. Since none of us had made them, we had no idea how it would go. It ended up being a group exercise as we helped each other. They had to go in and out of the oven, and it was hilarious as we had timers going off and dancing around each other to keep the production line going. 

Waxed food wraps in progress

We had borrowed a melter for the wax, which worked like a charm. 

The wax melter

We worked as a team to let the wax harden on the fabric. 

Having fun with waxed food wraps

In the end, we each made 8 wraps, and I used up all the fabric I cut. Yeah!!! That was very cool, and I'd make them again. It helped that we could borrow all the equipment from someone who makes these and sells them. 

Our finished wraps

I've been drinking Yogi tea for a couple of weeks, and only yesterday did I realize (after someone mentioned it) that all the tea bags have a wee saying on them. Who knew!!!!

The saying on the tea bag

Finally, we got back to sewing, and I finished the quilt top. That was great. Then, I started on the next project, which I can't share because it's going into a magazine. 

Another quilt top - DONE

Wow—I love quilting retreats. I love getting together with friends and doing things we don't normally do, like taking little side trips. It's all a great feeling. Thanks to all my retreat friends!!!

I have some retreats booked for 2025 and know I'll have spots open. So, if you are interested, please let me know. The retreats are all booked for near New Hamburg in Ontario. elainetheriault@gmail.com

I've been keeping up my walking and walking more than my daily goal of 12.7 km. I'm a little bit behind, so the extra will take me closer to getting ahead. Hopefully, I can drop that daily goal, but I've got to work to make that happen. 

Well, I'm off for the morning walk, so I can sew before I leave!!!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

Scrap-a-palooza!!

AH -- you make me blush! But thanks for the comments about the scrap quilts, but I have to say that I'm HOOKED! That influencer - Linda!

Now here's the thing - I was NOT interested in precutting my scraps - not in the least. I had tried it in the past by cutting some fat quarters into strips and I was totally uninspired and I'll be handing that to Diane soon. But this? I now have a couple of patterns in mind and we had a chat last night and I now have a couple more. 

So are you anxious to see what happened? 

This is my cutting station last night before I went to bed. And let's say that it was late before I went - there were loads of comments and I did sleep in (until 6:30 am) this morning! WOW! 

My cutting station before I went to bed

I decided to continue to work on the scraps this morning, so I put the other stuff away. That leaves my cut pieces at the top of the photo, the scrap bits in the bottom left. Some odd bits in the plastic bag and one box of ironed and sorted pieces and ONE more messy box of brown scraps. 

Here's a close up of what got done. 

The cut pieces

That is HUGE and I can't be happier. Since I've had so much fun with this and I want to continue, but how to find the time. As I was evaluating my schedule, I realized that this is the perfect thing to do during Monday sewing days and the Virtual Retreats. I'm not good at sewing because I like to stay close to the computer. So guess what? I can put the computer on the cutting table and I can cut away! I love WHEN I find a solution to a problem!

There are a "few" boxes of scraps that need to be dealt with and last night I was introduced to several other patterns, so the idea is to look at the sizes of the shapes. NO -- I'm going the other way -- these sizes I'm cutting seem to be good ones, so I'm going to find or create patterns that fit these sizes so then it's easy to find the colors I need. 

Because my definition of brown - well, sometimes it seems that I used the term "brown" rather loosely in some cases!!!

OK - so when you look at those piles above, you're not impressed, but look at one of them from the side. 

A HUGE pile of scraps

Yep -- positively overflowing!

Another pile

All the piles are over the top of the containers. I should have brought more containers, but no worry - I'll find a safe place to stow them for the trip home and then I can dig out some containers or bags to keep them. Now I need to decide if I'm going to make a brown quilt or save these and mix them with other colors. 

The last pile of scraps

And here it is -- the entire result of my 2 1/2 days of cutting. Remember, this might not be the most productive environment to cut (loads of distractions), but that's OK. All progress is progress. 

The fruits of my labor

Now I have a dilemna - what am I going to work on today? As I said earlier, I will focus on this to get as much done as I can!! I can sew and putter on my own this afternoon. 

I know I'm keeping way too much, but that's the way my brain is wired and I'm organized so I can live with that. But I will go through the sorted bucket another time and this time I'll cut any strips into 7" pieces and I'll cut 1 1/2" squares. Then I'll seriously evaluate ANYTHING left and most likely toss it. 

But look at some of the stuff I found in the container. Seriously? Why would I keep this? That was a hoarding moment for sure!

A "useful" scrap - NOT

Thankfully, the next box of brown srcraps is not nearly as full as the last one, but I still envison it'll take several Mondays to get to the bottom of that. 

And I may keep a box for each color going forward or will I cut as I go? I'll have to decide that when I get there. All this to find out that one of the retreat goers is already doing this as well! I am BEHIND the eight ball! 

Here's the second container of brown scraps. 

The second box to cut

See the height of it isn't bad, but the top is still popping off. HEY -- I need to rejig my guild scrap presentation! And there was discussion of having a scrap quilt club in the fall to keep us all motivated. WAIT -- I was supposed to be cutting down, not adding! So as much as I would like that -- I will NOT be hosting a scrap quilt club in the fall. Find a time and cut your own scraps!

The box from the side

But cutting scraps requires stamina! So I had my own buffet on my cutting table. 

My personal buffet

The morning was consumed by chatting. Yep -- we've chatted loads and I LOVE having that time to catch up with friends. 

Then we went to the used bookstore so we could check out what they had. Look what I found! This is the same book that I still have at home and it's a GREAT book! 

The Vogue Sewing Book

I also found this one and I was tempted, but there was a note inside that this book is going for $65 US on the internet and I didn't think it was that valuable to me. It was printed in 1953. I just double checked this and it's way overpriced. I can buy it for $10 and that was the original price she had on the book! 

Singer Sewing book

I drove, so I wouldn't feel so guilty making them stop at a cemetery to get a geocache! How's that for being sneaky! I wasn't the first one to spot the cache so someone else has an eagle eye, but I knew that it was an easy one. 

The geocache

And as we were driving around the cemetery (too smoky for walking), we spotted this giant headstone with this huge story on it. OH my -- what an interesting character and this memorial was erected years after he died. We would never have found it, if we did not do the geocache!! So there is always interesting things that are discovered. 

Beautiful headstone

Hmm -- here's a mystery -- we cannot find anything about this guy online, but his story is very cool and it's all on his headstone. You cannot read this, but I took a picture and I'll try to post it tomorrow. 

So you want to know why I'm still geocaching? Well, it's the Virgo nature in me. There's a chart on the geocaching web page that shows which days of the year you have geocached and the idea it to fill in the entire chart. If you were good, it would take one year. But I've been geocaching since 2008 and there are still gaps, so I decided to fill in the gaps for June. And now I find out that the hard task for July is to geocache for 28 consecutive days. I goofed for June -- you needed to find TWENTY caches, but they did not need to be consecutive. Sigh --- I misinterrupted that one!

Well, we'll see what we can do and just keep on caching!!

On that note, I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!