New residents for the backyard

Alright - Mother Nature! We've had enough! I turned the heat off yesterday morning, but I had to turn it back on later in the day. It never got above 10 degrees Celsius, and it's just cold with the wind. I see the temperature will go up later today, and the sun will come out, which will help. With all the rain, clouds, and wind, those low temps are cold! 

While it was a day for errands in the car, I also managed to start the appliqué. I got the stars done for both blocks. 

Progress on the appliqué blocks

And the fish are done on one block. Now that the machine is set up for appliqué, it shouldn't take too long to finish these two blocks. I know - setting up the sewing machine for appliqué is so easy - change the stitch plate and the foot and select a different stitch. I mean -- we are not talking rocket science here! I must try to get this done today so I can move on! 

More appliqué on those blocks

The day did not start off well, as I had a few minutes before the planned departure for the errands, so I thought I'd dig out the stove's serial number and model and call the support team. OH, great -- I carefully opened the door to see if the serial number was along the edge (that was the first spot I was told to look after a Google search). Sadly, the serial number wasn't there, and the shattered glass took that moment to start collapsing. 

I had no choice but to clean it out, or it would have all fallen into the oven, which I didn't want to clean up. So I got out a spatula to help scoop up the glass. I got almost all the glass scooped up, but broke the spatula in the process. I think I may have to buy a new one, as we only had two. I need to check on that. 

Scooping the shattered glass from the oven door

You can see how dirty the glass was. and how clean the shattered glass became during the cleaning process! 

At least the shattered glass got clean!

I stopped at the pond place to ask questions about our skimmer, which gets clogged so easily, but there isn't much we can do, other than try putting a screen on the front of the skimmer or adding a floating skimmer. Or just plan to clean the existing filter more regularly than we do. If we glue the screening to the existing skimmer, the pond level will have to be lowered, and we will need special glue. I think I'll just schedule cleaning the filter more frequently. It will have to become a job - feed the dogs, clean the filter! 

But I decided to restock the pond with fish. And that was an eye-opener. 

Shopping for fish to restock the pond

When I first bought fish for the pond, twenty-three years ago, I paid 49 cents per fish. Granted, they were small, but still. This time? The smallest fish were $10 a piece! They are approximately 3-4 inches long. Lesson learned: make sure the aerator is working properly in the fall. That was a costly mistake, and so I ended up with seven new fish. The koi and larger fish were even more money, and these smaller fish have room to grow! I did buy a new aerator as well!

Miss Murphy had to investigate what was happening in her pond. 

MOM - Are these my friends?

And then the fish were released. 

The fish, after being released

I think they were in shock. Where's the big blue tub? We have plants? Wow!!!! They swam around and around following each other as they explored their new domain. When I checked on them later, I could only spot part of one, as they had settled amongst the plant debris at the bottom, where they would be safe and warm. 

Hopefully, when the sun comes out later today, we will spot them. 

I had some things to drop off and pick up, and one of the stops was the puzzle warehouse. I know --- do not ask! I had spotted some puzzles a while back, and they were out of stock. They have a system that lets you receive an email when the puzzle is back in stock. How "sneaky" is that? Well, three came in, so I decided to go and have a look. 

The puzzle warehouse

This warehouse is just insane -- it's floor-to-ceiling puzzles, and they carry a wide number of companies, including the latest one I found that publishes puzzles in Ontario! The variety of pictures just blows me away every time I go there. I will NOT go there in the future. Well, for a couple of months! 

Last night, I decided it was time to put away the New York puzzle that I finished last week and start a new one. I'm loving the flexibility of time to do this. And yes -- I feel like I've fallen down another rabbit hole. BUT - when a puzzle is done, it leaves the house. There are a few I'm keeping for certain reasons, but currently, there are only two on the keep shelf. Both will be put together one more time and then given away. 

This one I chose is crazy. It's a 1000-piece puzzle, but the pieces are quite large. I had to use five of the design boards to lay out all the pieces. I managed to get this much completed last night. The border is not together, and I seem to be missing pieces. I suspect the puzzle is much wider than it appears below because neither the top nor the bottom border is complete. By missing pieces, I mean, I just haven't found them yet!

Progress on the new puzzle

The picture is a bunch of brightly colored birds, butterflies, and flowers. 

We had a look at the huge puzzles - the ones that cost $999 and consist of over 40,000 pieces! Can you imagine? Those mostly consist of 10 smaller pictures connected, so, technically, you could do each one by itself. The one I spotted that was different was celebrating Mickey Mouse's 90th anniversary.

I think it's cheating a bit to call this a single puzzle when, in fact, it's ten separate ones put together. It's 22 feet by 6 feet. Where the heck would you lay that out? And in those ones, each puzzle comes in its own bag. Thank goodness for that. 

The largest I have here is 4000 pieces. I think I have two of them that I've carried from the farm back when I left many, many years ago. I think this winter would be a great time to dig one of them out. Hmmm --- those extra tables? I don't think they will be for sale after all! 

And I managed to get one more of the community project quilt done! When things go well, it doesn't take too much time, but everything had been prepped the day before. 

Community project quilt 3 of 11 done!

There is another quilt loaded on the machine for today. It's a gift, so we won't be posting the picture for a while. I'll have to help as the quilt is almost as large as the backing, which is Minky or plush. So that will take some time today, but at least it won't be my job to babysit it. Once I give some guidance, I hope to step back from that one. 

So progress is being made. There are always errands to be done, but today, there is zero reason to leave the house! I hope to start assembling that table and to finish the appliqué. Let's see what happens. I also need to figure out the stove issue and try to help Dad. He is having some pretty bad back pain, and we need to get him some relief from that. It's just so hard when we tell him over and over what he can do, and he refuses to do it. He also doesn't stay on top of his pain meds, so when they wear off, he's in agony. I told him, you need to get on a schedule, so the meds stay working. Yeah!

I finished an audiobook and an ebook yesterday. I have way too many on my shelf (now down to six), but that is way too much pressure to read those books before they are due. Many cannot be renewed. I have put several on suspend and will have to figure out how to unsuspend them at some point. When I get excited about a new book to read, I MUST remember to TAG the darn thing as "want to read" and not put it on hold, even though some of the books I have on hold have been on hold for over a year before I get them. I don't want to suspend or turn those ones away! It gets complicated, but having six books on the shelf at one time is way too much pressure! 

By the way, if you watched the Grainline Studio video linked in my post yesterday, my apologies. That was the link to the series' INTRODUCTION. Here is the link to the first video - Understanding your Sewing Practice. 

On that note, I'm off to start the day!

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!

get some appliqué finished. 

SCAM!!!

Something very bizarre happened yesterday, and it sure gave me pause for thought. We only have one home phone, which sits in the living room. We do hear it ring, but never answer it. There is an answering machine attached to it, and I check it from time to time. It's mostly junk if there are any messages at all. I heard the phone ring and the announcement that it was Bell calling. I had heard this the day before, so I was wondering if they were trying to contact me. 

I thought I had better try to catch it in case there was something important. However, as I was walking away with the phone in my hand because I needed to make a call, it rang. I looked at the number and OH MY --- it's my parents. It has to be monumental news for them to call. They never call. 

It was my Mom, and the first thing she asked was, "Did M just call you?" Well, I had just heard the phone ring, although it wasn't my cell phone, and I doubt that M even remembers that we still have a home phone. Apparently, Mom got a call from a weeping granddaughter, saying she was in an accident, was now in jail, and needed bail money. It does make you think, but seriously ---- if you were in an accident, it would have to be very bad and your fault to end up in jail, not in the hospital! Plus, if it were that bad, wouldn't you need a lawyer? The whole story is just so bogus!

I assured Mom that it was likely a scam. Instead of just hanging up, though, she said, "Why don't you call your mom?" And then the girl hung up on her. So no money parted hands - my Mom wouldn't have the first clue how to access their money anyway! But the sad thing is that someone might fall for it and pay. You just wonder how the victim would transition from sobbing to helping the grandparent send them money. 

Thankfully, we have drilled into their heads not to deal with those calls, but why did she even answer the phone? We have tried to tell them that if there is NO name, it's a crank call. And there are times when they still want to know who it was and try to use a reverse phone number lookup. They do NOT get the concept of robocalls and scams using numbers that look like they came from their area. Sigh..........

However, during the same call, she confessed that Dad drove himself to the hospital because he wasn't feeling well, and she might have thought it was the hospital calling. Dad was admitted, but no news. I'll try to call the hospital today, although I don't know if they will give me information over the phone. 

I got in touch with M, and all is definitely OK. We had a chuckle about it, but a sad one, because someone might have been scammed yesterday. 

Remember what I said yesterday about it being an appliqué day. Well, that was a lie. It's funny how we have such amazing plans for our day, and then we don't get that done! It was still a very good day, but just not in the appliqué department. 

I did get the second block fused in place, but did not get to any stitching. 

The blocks are ready to be stitched.

I even had a helper watching from outside. What I love about her is her intent. She was outside, couldn't see me as she was watching the gate, but when I called her name, she glanced down to see what the heck I wanted!!!

MOM - Is everything OK?

The next customer quilt got loaded and quilted. Everything that is quilted is trimmed and ready to go out the door. 

Customer quilt - done

But of course, I have to wait until all 11 of those community project quilts are done before they go. The backing and the batting are ready to be loaded this afternoon. 

The backing for community project number three is ready.

As you know, if you've been around for a while, there is a huge amount of community project quilts to be quilted. And I need to get myself organized to start quilting those quilts. Well, I am, but very slowly, and when I downsize, the long arm will likely NOT be coming with me. But that is way in the future. The quilting of these quilts takes no time at all - it's the prep work. I must find a backing that fits, and that usually means making it. Then I need to piece the batting because I'm using the cutoffs from customer quilts to make those battings. That is what takes the time! 

But I'll get to it, and that is what I should be doing during some of this downtime. 

The puzzle and the table assembly sat untouched. As the day was winding down, I decided to tackle the HSTs again. And yes—I tackle them in small groups. I press four at a time, and then I trim four. And since I really didn't want to do anything else, I dealt with multiple groups of four, and before I knew it, I had this many trimmed. I typically do those little groups of four between pressing other seams or other small tasks. 

Lots of trimming happened.

And now I can say for this group of HSTs that the trimmed pile is much larger than the untrimmed pile. I may even try to finish that today. There are still three other groups to tackle, but I'm getting there, and that is all that counts. The same will happen for those quilts. Just keep whittling away at it, and it will happen. 

The trimmed pile is larger than the untrimmed pile.

I have to share this story about doing things four at a time. I'm not sure where that number came from, but when I was a kid, we often had canned Saskatoon berries for dessert. I would scoop the berries into my dish and then eat them FOUR at a time. I still do to this day if I have any. I have no idea why I developed that habit or where the number four came from. It was always a bonus day when it worked out perfectly, which was very rare! 

So Quilt Canada is next month! It's hard to believe that it's been one year already. The latest issue of Canadian Quilter arrived in the mail. 

The latest issue of Canadian Quilter

Last year, it was very exciting to see so many people attend the event, but it was also very disheartening to hear so many negative things because of the crowds! I wrote about it on my blog, and I was then asked whether CQA could publish the information in their newsletter; I said yes. It is mostly about avoiding the crowds because, believe it or not, it is possible, but you have to help yourself! Don't just show up and expect the aisles to be empty, just for your enjoyment. 

So if you are attending this or any other large show, please read it. If you don't get the newsletter, then you can check it out on my blog. I get it, it's frustrating to you when the crowds are so large. But there are things you can do to make attending the show easier. So whatever your situation, please read that article BEFORE you attend your next large quilt show. 

My article about attending large quilt shows

There is so much to see and do on the internet these days -- there just isn't time for it all. As is typical at my house, there are MANY windows open on my computer, each with the intent of ordering, watching, or reading something. Yikes!!!! But here is something I discovered, and I think it's very good for anyone going through a studio/sewing space organization. It's from Jen at Grainline Studio, and her videos are very good. 

She has broken down the process into chunks, with the first day focused on Understanding How You Sew. Here's the link to the blog post, or you can watch the video on YouTube. I haven't had a chance to watch the video yet, but I suspect it is the same information except in video form. You can pick one or the other, or do both. I really like Jen - her patterns (clothing) are very good, her videos on the Tamarack Jacket (applicable to any quilted jacket) are amazing. The editing is great, and she's just a lovely person. 

As I go through the videos (I think she is on number 9), I'll share the links with you as well. 

And on that note, I'd better get ready for my workout with Brooke. The knee was pretty decent yesterday, but frustrating. Slow and steady is all I can say, and I don't do well with that style! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

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!!!