And then this happened..................

OH -- there were a few comments about husbands cooking -- to be clear, mine took over cooking before the pandemic, and like Tammy's, he is constantly saying, "Oh, this is very good." While not implying that his cooking is better than mine, there are just subtle comments. Or, maybe I'm reading too much into the comment. However, he has recently gotten a more demanding job, and while he still works from home, he often doesn't have time to cook, or he finishes work at 8 PM and then decides to cook -- I'm on my way to bed by then. So I took back the responsibilities for cooking dinner. 

Plus, he would do the grocery shopping, which I was OK with, but gosh, his cooking is too darn fussy for me, and the kitchen is usually a disaster after he cooks a meal because he never puts anything away while he's cooking. Seriously? If you take a spice out of the cupboard -- use it and then put it back. Nope - he puts it on the counter. 

When I'm done, there is nothing left to put away. And don't get me started on how DH cooks a steak --- that is a very long, laborious process of multiple timers going off. It all seems too complicated for me.

I had a good chuckle when I made the salmon the other night (He cooked steak last night, which I won't eat). When he came to eat, he asked what spices I put in and immediately started pulling things out of the cupboard to put on it. I put plenty of spice in that salmon - it didn't need anything else. Anyway --- we'll survive! Just make it hot, and he's OK. 

But speaking of the kitchen, we have a big job on our hands now. I decided to self-clean the oven, but first I had to clean around the door - the part that doesn't get cleaned by the oven. There was a huge amount of greasy soot around the door - likely from the fire DH had created the night before. And the glass was a mess. Why? Because when he cooks his steak in the oven, it splatters everywhere, and the thought of cleaning that glass? Not in his vocabulary. I told him—if he is going to cook steak, he needs to clean up after himself. 

Well, at one point during the process, I glanced in and saw something a bit disturbing. And then when it finished and cooled off, this is what we saw.  

The glass in the door shattered!

Good grief -- the glass in the door shattered. But it looks clean!! Now we don't use that oven often and don't rest things on the door or slam it or anything like that, so there must have been a small crack that caused this. The big question is—can it be repaired? The stove is 23 years old. If it can't, I refuse to get a new stove. I'll clear out the glass and leave it. We can use the toaster oven if we need an oven. 

I managed to get all the bits for the first table downstairs, except for the table top. I need to open the boxes and start the assembly process. Yep - I could hire someone to do it, but I could save myself some money and do it myself. It's not that complicated. 

And I managed to get some sewing done! I completed the log cabins for both winter quilts. Remember that back in the day, I needed to make TWO of everything so I would have one to show as completely done (which never happened) and one to show the assembly progress. These are only 3½" square. 

My log cabin blocks are done!

FYI -- I only made two quilts on this series of four seasonal quilts and the Cabin in the Woods quilt. The two Cabin in the Woods quilts are waiting to be quilted. Of the four seasonal quilts, there are two fall quilts and two spring quilts. I'm working on the winter one, and the summer one hasn't been started, but to complete both sets, I'll do two of the summer quilts. After those quilts, I learned my lesson -- only make one! 

The backgrounds for the ice fishing blocks have been completed, and all the shapes have been cut out. I actually have the shapes fused to one of the backgrounds, but I haven't gotten a picture of it yet. I'll continue working on these today and plan to complete the appliqué stitching. I have appliqué on my Color My World to finish stitching, and on my hexagon quilt. You haven't seen that quilt yet. It's going to be an appliqué kind of day. 

The backgrounds for the ice fishing blocks

And I interspersed the appliqué with trimming half-square triangles. I got quite a stack done. 

Trimmed half-square triangles

But I still have all these to trim, and the pile gets larger when I'm piecing because I use small triangles as enders and leaders. I am determined to get this under control, and once these are complete, I think there is one more bag of items to trim. I think it's in my retreat bag. I must find it and add it to the pile, because it would be great to get them all done. 

HSTs still to trim

I know that many of you want to see what I'm going to do with them all. Me too!!! I shall dig out some of the items I've made, but when we start the scrap class in the fall, I shall be tackling some of these HSTs. 

Then I had to sort through the batting scraps and make the batting for this quilt. This is one of the eleven community projects I offered to do for someone. I won't be doing that again, but it was in the heat of the moment that I made an offer. 

Community project quilt 2/11 - done

I got a call late in the day - wait - I have to give you an update on my phone story. So you know that for the last couple of years, I've had major issues with chatting on my phone. It just doesn't work, as my voice fades in and out, and of course, the person on the other end can't hear me, which is very frustrating. I changed phones, bought new phones, tried inside and outside the house, and nothing ever worked. I was very frustrated and basically gave up talking on the phone. Or I would grab the call and then call people back on the home phone. 

I complained about the phone connection on numerous occasions and was finally told that there was a connection issue with my phone and the local tower. I also got into the habit of not having long conversations on any phone, and I'm OK with that. 

Well, guess what? I've taken several long phone calls over the last couple of months, and everything seems to be back to normal. Did I make any changes? Nope! One day it didn't work; the next day, it did. So perhaps it was a connection problem at the tower, and they have fixed it? Perhaps the phone gods decided I had been punished enough? I've no idea, but (knock on wood), it seems to be working just fine. 

Technology is a mysterious world. But what I hate about it is the amount of follow-up required to get things done when something is broken, and you have no guarantee it will work. It drives me mad!

Back to the phone call I received in the afternoon. It was the Sports Clinic that my doctor referred me to. They were going to schedule an appointment for me in October!!!! OH—then she said my situation was a priority, so I got an appointment at the end of July! At least I have an appointment. In the meantime? Well, I'll just do the best I can. Ice, walk slower, walk less. It's frustrating! I must get my townie bike tuned up so I can use it for my afternoon errands. The bike supports my leg, so it's not an issue. I must take the bike into the shop today! Maybe tomorrow, as I have some car errands. 

Well, I'm off to the gym this morning and will do some spin bike on my own. It's so frustrating because I looked forward to Joseph's class. Sigh..............

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Good things come in threes!

What is with this weather? It's May 12, and we have frost warnings! The heat is still on in the house, and I am mostly wearing my Patagonia down sweater when I'm out walking the girls - with mitts on! At least it did warm up in the afternoon, but I see we have a frost warning again this morning. 

That is life, and one must get on with what we do! It would just be nice to sit outside for a bit! Without being bundled up in quilts and jackets. And the girls are desperate to have that back door open all day! So am I!!!!

I made out OK at my private spin class. I just sat on a bike in the main exercise room and cycled to my heart's content. I notice others from the old class doing the same thing. That is just terrible, but I'm glad others are boycotting the class. I MUST write my feedback to the company. That should be a priority for today, along with completing the Census. 

I'm not sure I even want to voice my opinion about what some people have mentioned about the Census. The Census does NOT represent the current government! How silly can people be? I've found that people no longer have a tolerance for anyone they dislike. WAIT A MINUTE --- that's a very general statement, and I know that lots of people have tolerance, but many do not and are quite happy to vocalize those opinions. I don't want to turn this into a debate, but please—fill out the Census. 

I'm curious because I don't remember, but do they teach politics in school? By that, I mean: do the students learn about what the Prime Minister's office does, the opposition's role, MPPs, etc.? And there are multiple levels of government as well. There needs to be respect for our levels of government and for how they all work. I will confess that I am rather ignorant of all the workings. 

You've heard the expression that things come in threes? Well, I'm now in big trouble! Issue number one is that I found the Puzzles Canada warehouse, which is about 40 minutes away from me (Georgetown), and they also ship if you need. Then someone told me about Puzzle Nerds, which is about 30 minutes away, but in Toronto, so traffic and parking can be nasty. They also ship, and sometimes, I swear, with the hassle of driving, parking, and the time it takes, it's way more efficient to have things shipped. NEVER from that online store -- I want to support the little guys! Even if it costs slightly more—seriously? Support local!!

Anyway, there are many artists designing artwork for puzzles these days, and I now know two Canadian artists who do. And it was through one of the artists that I discovered a third shop! This one, called The Occurrence, is located in Merrickville, Ontario. One of the artists that I know (simply by buying her puzzles and messaging her a couple of times) introduced me to this company. 

The Occurrence

In case you can't read it, this is their slogan. And YES—their puzzles are made in Canada. Surprisingly, there are 21 puzzle companies headquartered in Canada, but their puzzles are produced elsewhere. This one makes their own, and if you want a custom puzzle, they can do that! Now that is something that would be super fun. 

The slogan for The Occurrence

Once the day was over, I spent the evening finishing the puzzle I had been working on. As I mentioned the other day, this puzzle is drawn by a Canadian resident, and their company is Canadian (The Paperhood), but the puzzles are made in the US.  

Jigsaw puzzle - DONE

You can buy all of The Paperhood puzzles from The Puzzle Nerds. What I love about The Puzzle Nerds is that they have a page that lists many puzzle brands, where their head offices are, and where the puzzles are made. Here's the link if that's of interest to you! 

I just found out that FOUR companies make their puzzles in Canada!!! The rest are predominantly produced in China, the US, and other countries worldwide. How cool is that! 

Anyway, I have the next puzzle lined up, BUT I am not allowed to set it out until I get some actual work done!

I had to take the car in for servicing and to get the tires changed. It was a three-hour appointment, which I find excessively long considering our tires are on the rims, but if the time expectation is set up front and you are prepared, it's not a big deal. They take in so many cars that I suspect each car spends a lot of time unattended while they try to do mass activities on multiple cars. Like one mechanic is specialized in buzzing the lug nuts off, the next guy removes the wheels, and so on, until all the tasks are completed. It's not one person working on everything on your car. 

I swear someone tried out all the bells and whistles on the car. The mirrors were not in the right place, and the seat was all weird. But I got everything back to normal. 

The service shop was busy, and I took my laptop and watched some videos as I prepared for the jacket class in two weeks. Well, not quite two weeks, but in two weekends. I'm learning so much by going back to rewatch those videos, and I'm taking notes. Making a quilted jacket really isn't difficult. Fitting can be an issue, but Jen (Grainline Studio) has amazing tips for fitting the quilted jacket. 

This will be my final call for anyone who would like to discuss the information in those videos. My discussion is free, and so is watching the videos. The information applies to ANY quilted jacket pattern. If you are interested, send me an email. If you were in my quilted jacket class that ended in April, you are already on the list. There is no need to let me know unless you do not want to be on that list. Now I need to make another jacket (or finish a couple) before I forget all this wonderful information. 

I did get some sewing done! I got a few more HSTs trimmed. What a long, boring process that is! I will no longer sew and sew those little things together and then store them to trim another day. I think I've almost got them all trimmed. The trouble is, I keep finding bags of them stashed away!

More HSTs trimmed

I got all the shapes for one of the blocks on the seasonal quilt ready to be cut out. I had to trace a couple more shapes. Why didn't I do this on the scan-and-cut? Because there are so many little pieces and only one or two of each, it isn't worth the trouble. And it's only one block. 

The shapes are ready to cut out.

And I got the first round on the log cabin blocks. 

Round one of the log cabin blocks

I will be much more focused today!! But I have another distraction that arrived yesterday. Since I started quilting (25+ years), I've worked on wooden banquet tables, which have served me well. I think I paid about $50 for each, and they are amazing. The perfect height for me to sew on, they are reasonably lightweight and easy to move around. However, with those large embroidery machines on them, they can shake like mad during some types of embroidery. 

I'm afraid they'll collapse one day. So I bit the bullet, and after a big discussion about tables in our embroidery class, I bought two new ones. They were delivered yesterday. 

I warned DH about the delivery since I was away in the afternoon, but they were delivered before I left the house. I knew they would be a hassle to deliver because of the weight - these tables can handle a load of 450 pounds, and each one weighs over 100 pounds itself.

The pallet

The two tables I ordered came on a 6-foot-long wooden pallet, which added to the weight. The poor delivery guy struggled to get that pallet up the slight incline in our driveway, even with his pump jack! It was a LOT of weight. Probably close to 500 lbs in total! 

That's a long pallet.

Last night, I unwrapped the pallet to assess the situation. OK -- each table has three boxes -- two with the legs and supports, and one with the tabletop. Even the small box in front weighs a lot, and that is only the center supports. That's good because they are supposed to hold 450 lbs! I opened one of the small boxes and took each support downstairs separately. 

Three boxes per table

That's as far as I got yesterday. I'll open the long box and bring down all those parts in several trips, and then I'll have to get someone to help with the table top. Not only is it unwieldy at 30" by 60", but it's over 1" thick! It's going to be heavy. It is recommended for a two-person build, but I'll do what I can before I call in DH. 

I'm excited about the new tables. Now that I'll have two free tables, I have a bit of moving around to do, and I'll have a couple of wooden tables to sell, but they are a different style from the ones I originally bought. I'm keeping those, but I bought two more a while back. They are homemade, but still work amazingly well and are very stable. 

Most of the books I'm culling are sitting in various spots in the kitchen. I happened to glance through a small journal and found this!!

How true!!!!

OH MY!!!! That's hilarious! I'm going to keep the small journal, but it accidentally got brought upstairs! I must get those stacks sorted and into bags as well. Then I have a bunch of stuff to take to the garage in preparation for the upcoming quilt retreat. It's all in the living room right now, and it can sit in the garage until it's time to pack. 

Are our trilliums late this year? I noticed the trillium patch was in full bloom yesterday. I thought I had missed them, but nope - I did not!

The trilliums

We've had to make some changes in our household. I've been very lucky that DH took over the cooking a few years back. He was home, and I guess he was bored or he was fed up with what I cooked for dinner. Anyway, after changing jobs a couple of months ago, he is no longer working, and half the time there is nothing to eat in the house, or he is ready to make dinner at 8 PM. So I have taken back control of cooking dinner! Sigh...... no pressure. 

Last night I commandeered KU to make potatoes in the air fryer while I made broiled salmon! And it was good. I'm a good cook - I just choose not to exercise that set of skills unless absolutely necessary! Of course, DH comes in to inspect as if we don't know how to cook. Good grief—where has he gotten these crazy ideas? 

But I had to laugh because his piece of salmon was a wee bit thicker than the others, and part of it wasn't cooked enough. So he put it back in the oven, and next thing we knew, the juices on the tray were flaming!! Yep --- it was quite dramatic! And today, I get to clean the oven. It's in desperate need as it hasn't been cleaned in years, but it's self-cleaning, so let's see what happens. 

And on that exciting note, I'm out of here!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!

What a memory!!!

OK --- I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face, and I can't help it. They are tears of joy, but still. And even when I got ahold of myself and then came back to edit, these pictures still bring tears to my eyes. 

I just had a quick peek at Facebook before I started writing, and I spotted this post. I knew my nephew, who recently got his pilot's license and bought a small plane, wanted to fly from Winnipeg to visit with my parents in North Battleford. It's about 840 km. 

When I talked to Mom yesterday and asked if anything new was happening, she said that Devin and his girlfriend were there for the weekend. 

And here is Devin taking my Dad for a ride in his plane. My Dad would be tickled to the ends of the earth with this, and I just can't stop crying when I think of how much this would lift his day, his week, his year!!

Grandfather (my Dad) and his grandson (Devin)

One of Dad's buddies (best man) lives in Edmonton and used to fly small planes, and Dad talked about it all the time. Going for a ride with his grandson in his own plane will have him over the moon. And they flew over the farm, which is even more special. I bet the neighbors were wondering who the heck was in that small plane!! 

What's left of the family farm

Gosh -- if it weren't for the blue roof on the old garage, you wouldn't even know there was a farm there! Almost everything is now gone, but you will notice a long line of debris in front of the blue-roofed garage. That belongs to my brother, who is in total denial about being a hoarder, just like Mom. He is a hoarder of old trucks and cars. While he's in the process of getting rid of it, there is still a lot of work to be done. But that's not my problem! 

OK - I think I've settled down now! WOW --- what a thrill of a lifetime for Dad. He'll be talking about that for years! I might have to get those pictures framed for him! 

My news for the day is pretty tame compared to that. I'm so not used to having NOTHING to do on the weekends that I'm positively becoming a slug! Well, that's not true, but I didn't get done nearly as much as I would have liked. But you know what? That's OK. 

This was my quote in my tea in the morning. How fun, and it's so true whether you are quilting, getting from A to B, or anything in life!! I try to "enforce" that when I'm teaching a class. I am not a fan of teachers who dictate how something must be done. There are a few rules in my vocabulary when I teach - I have my preferred way, and I like to state why that is my preferred way, but honestly, does it matter if the students do it slightly differently? Not at all!

Quote for the day

The three of us went to DH's golf club for brunch. It was a beautiful day, but it was cold, and when that wind starts up, it's even colder. When I walked Murphy in the morning, it was without mitts, but when I walked Lexi, I got mitts. 

It was a wonderful buffet, and we had a great lunch. I only took pictures of the best part! Dessert! They had yummy cupcakes. 

Mother's Day dessert

But the best part was the creme brule!! Oh my --- the portion was tiny, so I did sneak a second one, and it was so creamy and heavenly. A great way to finish off a wonderful meal. I'm sure DH will be happy when his sister moves out! So much talking and frivolity at the table! He's used to my one-sided, idiotic conversations, but to have someone respond to me -- well, I'm sure he's getting tired of it. I think it's hilarious and loads of fun!

Creme brule to die for!

I had not been out to the club for several years, and I used to ride my bike in that area, but the roads have all changed now. I almost got lost! 

So what did I do once we got back home? That darn puzzle was calling my name, and I just couldn't resist. After all, it was Sunday, and Mother's Day on top of it, so I resisted the weak pull of the sewing machine and sat down to work on the puzzle. Those buildings were a challenge since there were loads of windows, but there were small figures in them, and, well, it all came together. And this is more like me—finding a home for all the pieces I have selected. 

Progress on the puzzle

Then I covered the puzzle and said, "No more," but I couldn't resist, and before I knew it, I was back to working on the puzzle. And this is what it looked like when I shut things down last night. I think you can now tell the city it portrays! 

Great progress on the jigsaw puzzle

And while I loved getting the information, I didn't need to know there was a second puzzle store in my area!! I looked at their Facebook page, and it looks like a wonderful store in Toronto. It's called PuzzleNerds, and it's about 30 minutes away by car. Hmmm--- I may have to take a visit, but they have a very good website, so one could just look online and order! Lots of great independent puzzle makers with some amazing pictures!

I spotted this puzzle, which I need to get. It's called Soaring Over Tofino, and since that is the location of the next wedding, it's a must-get! It's out of stock at both puzzle stores!!! The Villager is a Canadian company. Yeah!

Soaring over Tofino jigsaw puzzle

Anyway --- it was fun not having any pressure to get something done, and working on the puzzle was amazing. I LOVE doing jigsaw puzzles. 

However, I did accomplish some quilting things. The customer's quilt was finished. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I just have to join some batting pieces for the community project quilt I'll work on today, and I'll switch back and forth between these two categories to finish them. It's time I got back to the long arm! And I have some learning to do, and this would be the perfect time since I don't have much pressure from classes. And can you believe? This coming weekend is also empty!! I MUST get my bike tuned up, so I can get out for some rides!!

I also traced all the applique shapes for that winter seasonal quilt I'm working on. I didn't get any sewing done, and I'm OK with that. Tracing the applique is a boring process, and it's all done!

Tracing the applique shapes onto the fusible.

It's Monday sewing, so I hope to get all the fusible on the back of the fabric scraps and cut them out. Then, when it's time to do the applique, all is prepped. I have some other applique stitching to do, and today might be just the perfect day to make it all happen. While it's OK to slide a bit, I don't want that to become the new norm. I like sewing and have so much I want to do. 

I'm off to spin this morning. Notice I didn't say "class." I'm going to hop on a bike in the main area and watch the TV without sound. I'm OK with that. I just need to get back into my routine, and I really, really miss the spin classes. 

And on that happy note, I'm out of here!!

Have a wonderful day!

Ciao!!!

A puzzling day!!

Happy Mother's Day

I must say, it feels great to get back to sewing, and, well, I just picked a "random" project to work on. Actually, it's on my Visual To-Do list under UFO, so I'm allowed to work on it! I had picked five projects under the UFO category, and my plan is to finish them all this year. They are in various states of completion. 

When I first started the sew-along quilts, in year two (2004), we did something different. Instead of choosing one large quilt, we picked two small quilts from a four-season collection. The fall and spring quilts (two of each) are waiting to be quilted. I have no idea if I started the summer one or even where it would be. But I knew that the winter one was not done. WAIT -- I will confess that at the time, I NEEDED to make two of everything. Why? Because I'd have one ready to show and the other was in bits and pieces to show the progress, or at least that was my plan. 

Well, neither of the winter ones got done! Here's what's in the box! There are some completed blocks and some embellishments, though I don't think all of those embellishments belong to this quilt, so I'll do some investigating later today. 

What was in the box

I put the completed blocks on the design wall for both quilts. 

Progress on both quilts

Some of the fabrics (larger pieces for backgrounds) were pulled, but lots of fabric is missing. So as I watched a presentation, I was sorting through my blue scraps. You don't know how handy those scrap bins are, and because they are sorted by color, it's easy to find what I need. And can you believe I found some scraps for the fabric I was working with? Yep—this quilt was started in 2004, and I still had some scraps. That fabric is now history!

Digging through the scraps

As I was putting the scraps back in the container, I wasn't paying attention, and OH— the darn thing fell on the floor. So the scraps were put back in the container, but the lid doesn't fit as well as it did when I started. 

Oopsy!

However, I got all the pieces cut for my two cardinal blocks. 

Ready to sew the cardinal block

These four seasonal quilts are made with the stitch-and-flip method, which requires extensive marking of diagonal sewing lines. BUT, now that I have a projection line on my sewing machine, I no longer have to draw lines. That speeds up the process a wee bit. 

The projection line on the sewing machine!

While I was working, I was sewing the scrappy half-square triangles as enders and leaders. I came across these in the tray. Hmmm -- the minimal size I work on now is the one in the bottom right. The ones on the left are far too small, and I do not know why I even considered sewing them. 

Srappy triangles to sew or throw!

In addition to rifling through the scrap bins, I had to dig through the blue yardage bin to attempt to find more of that one background fabric. Shoot—I don't have any more. And if I had been paying attention and not made several miscuts, I would probably have had enough. But I fixed it, which you'll see in a moment. 

Rifling through the blue yardage basket

Those two cardinal blocks were major puzzles, and I had to pause the audiobook several times to read the pattern and figure out the order of partial seams and flipped corners. And then my two blocks were done!!! I believe the legs have to be embroidered, but otherwise - done!

The cardinal blocks are done!

Here's what I did to address the fabric shortage. 

A wee "patch."

There are six more blocks to make for each quilt. I might as well keep at it, as I was on a roll and enjoying the process, and I'd like to get one more UFO done and one more thing off the current project table. 

So last night, before shutting off the lights, I pulled fabrics for the next set of blocks, which are some log cabin blocks. 

Fabric pulled for the log cabin blocks.

And this morning, I cut all the pieces to make 8 blocks - four for each quilt. 

The log cabin blocks are ready to sew.

I still had some time, so I decided to prep the next block, which has some piecing and appliqué. 

Prepping the next block

My goal, though it might be a stretch, is to get all the piecing done for both blocks today. And I hope to trace all the appliqué. I feel much better and seem to have my sewjo back, which is great since I have a lot to do. And it's good to take a rest from it every once in a while. 

I also got a lot done on the jigsaw puzzle. Oh shoot - I did look at the artist's name, and I've forgotten it, but they are Canadian. (Malika Pannek - a German-Canadian illustrator who lives in Canada). Oh, shoot—I just saw on her website (The Paperhood) that she has two new jigsaw puzzles. 

For the longest time, that building on the left was just floating, but now it's attached to the side, and I'm working on the building on the right, as well as the big tree. I'm not nearly as neat as when I worked on some of the others. There are pieces everywhere, but all is good. 

Good progress

Here are a couple of things I discovered on my morning walk. The for-rent e-scooters are back on the sidewalks, although they seem to be different models from last year. I noticed this sign on them that you can't really miss while riding. Do you see what it says? "No riding on sidewalks," and yet every one of them is ridden on a sidewalk. It's a disaster waiting to happen. 

A note on the for-rent e-scooters

I also spotted the little white e-car again. The driver must live in the retirement home down the street, and there is a multi-purpose path (right beside the sidewalk) that connects the retirement home to the gas station. He always parks in the handicap parking, which looks ridiculous since his car is so tiny, but it's close to the entrance. I have never seen the gentleman outside the car, so I wonder if he drives there and gets them to bring out what he is buying? Or does he just park there to have a rest? 

He has followed me several times down the multi-purpose path (I typically walk on the sidewalk), but he comes up slow behind me, until I hear him, and then he zips past. Now, if only we could get the e-scooters to do the same thing. 

Talk about gas prices jumping. When I walked Murphy past this station before 8 AM, the price was 190.0. Half an hour later, when I walked Lexi past the station, the price had dropped by 18 cents! Please note that our prices are per liter, not per gallon, if you are reading from the US. There must have been some good news about the supply to cause it to drop that much! 

Fill up the car!!!!!

Then, as Miss Lexi and I were forest bathing, we turned the corner, and I spotted something white high in a tree. So we went to investigate, and OH MY—there was a cat in the tree. It didn't seem stressed and was as quiet as a mouse, so I guess it didn't need rescuing. 

Cat in the tree

While you can't see the cat in this picture, it was quite high up!

The trees where the cat was sitting

And Miss Murphy—well, she is not happy these days. Because the weather is still quite cool, and I wasn't outside. However, she can see me sitting in the kitchen while I ice my knee, she decided that we should play ball. She grabs the ball, throws it in the pond, then gives a sharp bark, and stares at me!!!!

MOM - Let's play ball

And when I didn't go out, she sulked. I felt so bad that I went and threw the ball a couple of times for her. She is 10 or 11 and shows no signs of slowing down, although I think she is having a bit of trouble with her back legs. That is a common issue for this breed and this age of dog. I must consult the vet or check online to get her something to help with her joints. I probably should have done that a long time ago. 

MOM - I'm so sad....... come play with me!!!!

But then we had quite the storm later in the afternoon, and she was frantic. I finally had to put her thunder shirt on her to try and calm her down, but it didn't seem to be working. 

MOM - I'm scared!!!!!

She was trying to find a quiet, dark place to hide. I opened all the doors to the closets and rooms in hopes she would go into one of the spaces and settle down, but that didn't happen. And what's wrong with the stash room? When the lights are off, that room is dark, and she hides behind the shelf. But dogs can feel the storm in the air, and that was not making her happy. 

MOM - it's so scary!!!!

Thankfully, the storm didn't last long, and she was back to her happy self. 

I also got a customer quilt loaded on the long arm, but by the time things settled down at the house, it was getting too late in the day to start, so I'll be at work on that today. 

And I took KU out to lunch as it was her birthday. We went to the crepe place in the mall and OH MY --- the crepes are to die for!! They have sweet and savory options, and it's so hard to choose which to have. And they are super filling. If you're ever looking for something different and are near the mall, you should try this place. I only go there for special occasions because it is way too decadent to eat often. It is also busy and slow as they cook each crepe to perfection. 

While I was at the doctor's, I asked for a renewal of my medication (bone density), and I got a call that it was ready for pickup at the original drug store, which I changed at least a year ago. And the pills are not the same. I checked this morning, and they are the original ones she gave me that must be taken 30 minutes before eating. Sigh...................   I have to call her and get her to give me the other drug, which allows me to take it with a meal. 

The sad thing is, there was NO warning on the drug packets that the drug needed to be taken 30 minutes before eating, and that you are not allowed to lie down for 30 minutes. 

On that happy note, I'm out of here! There's a lot on the agenda today, including Mother's Day brunch, so I must get things happening! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!