Patience is a virtue!

And the busiest weekend for February is over! I survived it, and all the work got done on time, so my new time management is working out. By time management, I mean I have reduced the number of classes, which made time management so much easier. I didn't juggle my time better - I just had less to do. There's a huge difference, and I feel so much better!

I will always have things to do, but I will always ensure there is time for me!

If you remember, I talked about doing a couple of Zoom sessions on scraps, and the thought of scheduling them right now just didn't appeal to me. It's not so much the one-hour Zoom, but the hours of prep. While I want to do it, I didn't want to take away from my leisure time. 

I've decided to make it a four-part (or maybe longer) session that will run in the fall. My new schedule will include teaching a complete quilt, like Colour My World, and one other, preferably technique class. The scrap session will be the other. So that is on the slate for September/October, and you'll get lots of advance notice about how to sign up. 

I'm looking for quilt patterns for the new sew-along that will start in the fall. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Some appliqué is OK, but it needs to be pieced or mostly pieced. I have one quilt in mind and will be looking for others so I can choose. I will not break down and do more than one! I'm learning!!!!

Let me chat about Murphy first, and then I'll share my quilting stuff with you. This dog is persistent!! And like many dogs, she's smart. She knows when I am sitting at the kitchen table, that I'm there for a while, so she decides to try and get my attention even more, especially with that ball of hers!

She wants me to throw the ball, which I do, but it's annoying. Our ceramic floors are slippery, but she doesn't seem to mind. And if DH is on a call, he doesn't like the noise! He's always on a call! Thankfully, after about 10 throws, she gets overheated and needs to go outside to plunk herself in the snow. 

The other day, I was ignoring her, so she did this with her ball. 

MOM - Lexi is trying to steal my ball!

I didn't get up from what I was doing, so she grabbed the ball and plunked it into Lexi's food dish right beside the table. Of course, that action caused a kibble or two to spill out, so now those were fair game for her to eat! 

MOM - Lexi put the ball in her food dish!

I finally gave in, and then after our requisite number of throws, she went outside. 

MOM - I'm so hot!

She wants me to throw the ball outside, but I'm afraid it will sink into the snow, and she won't find it. OK -- I know that's a silly thing to say about a dog. She often has her head deep in the snow on our forest walks because she has smelled something. 

MOM - I smell a vole!!!!

And then don't forget the cuddles in her bed! I do NOT cuddle with her in that tiny bed in the office; rather, I cuddle her on her mat downstairs or on this larger bed in the family room. She loves it, and I think it's fun to get down to the floor and be with her on her terms!!! 

MOM - thanks for loving me!

You remember what happened when I put my quilt blocks on the floor the other night. Murphy took over rows three and four. 

MOM - I approve of rows 3 and 4

Well, I managed to get those rows together in the afternoon, but when I came down to work, she had commandeered rows 1 and 2 for sleeping. Why are quilts or even quilt blogs pet magnets? 

Mom - I'm testing rows 1 and 2

Such a silly girl. Anyway, the good news is that the entire quilt is together, including the border. It was a bit of an impromptu quilt that I'll use to advertise my upcoming Facebook Live. I'll wait until they post the ad on Facebook and then share the quilt with you. The topic is felting with your embroidery machine and will take place on March 11. It will be recorded, so if you can't make the March 11 date, you can still watch it. I have a "few" samples I want to make, but that's OK because I'm also working on a project on my Visual To-Do list. I wanted to learn all about felting on the embroidery machine as a goal. 

Now I have done felting before, but I don't have a ton of samples, and I want to really explore the technique, so I get to kill two birds with one stone! I told you that I'm becoming a master at this, and there isn't much I don't make that doesn't cover two or more goals!

Let's talk about why something becomes a UFO. In my case, it's often because I haven't thought it through all the way. I get to a spot where I'm stuck, or I try to "ram" the sewing through, think it's going to be OK, and then, when it's finished or nearly finished, I'm not happy. Then the project gets set aside. I have many projects on the current project table because of that scenario. 

It's something I need to learn to live with or remake things properly! If the item is going to be a traveling sample, I simply cannot go out in public with one that looks a wee bit shoddy. Yes - there are times when a shoddy sample makes a good learning tool, and I'm happy to carry those, but there are times when I want the item to be a bit more perfect!!

So here's my latest ripping-out experiment. And YES - this is on the Visual To-Do list. See --- I am FOCUSED!!!! There isn't much, if anything, that I'm working on these days that isn't on that list. 

The theme of the Cherrywood Challenge in 2018 was the artist known as Prince. I loved the color - purple, and I had a great idea. Oh -- that's the case, I have the ideas, but don't always execute to my satisfaction. Anyway, you'll see the piece in a second, or you can check out this blog post. 

I wasn't happy with the placement of the raindrops. It never got finished to enter the competition. I decided to live with it the way it was and figure out how to quilt it. I wanted to use metallic thread, but the piece just didn't match the vision I had. I even tried free-motion quilting so I could just call it a day, and the piece YELLED at me that it wasn't happy. Neither was I. 

I added that challenge to my to-do list, and here is my plan. I need to rip out all the satin stitches around each raindrop, and there are a lot of them. WAIT --- first, I had to rip out all the quilting, which I did months ago. Then I could remove the satin stitches. 

The quilting has been removed.

OK -- now the satin stitches are removed from one raindrop. 

The satin stitching is removed from one raindrop.

Now those raindrops are fused in place, so will the fusing let go? I was able to pull the raindrops off after the stitching was removed. So much for PERMANENT fusing with a fusible web!!

And the raindrop peeled right off the background!

I had to tug some of them a bit more than others to get off, and a bit of residue remained on the background after removing the raindrops. Shoot -- what am I going to do with that? 

I gave it a quick press from the wrong side, and VOILA—except for the stitch holes, you wouldn't be able to tell that anything has been fused and stitched in place. The raindrops came off perfectly!!! 

Wow - the beginning of a clean slate

It's going to take some time to remove them all, as there are quite a few on the piece. I'm OK with that. I swear that sitting and doing this kind of project is perfect for Monday sewing calls, or Virtual Retreats, and it teaches a person patience. Patience is a very important virtue, and many people do NOT have patience these days. I find this kind of thing therapeutic. 

A lot of raindrops to remove

As you can see, I've made a start in that one corner. My plan is to put the raindrops back on the quilt, but in straight lines, so I can quilt straight vertical lines for the rain, hopefully in metallic thread. I was likely in a rush to get this completed and randomly stuck those raindrops on without much thought to the quilting, and then went, "ACK, how the heck am I going to quilt this?" and it's sat like that for years. 

I need to stop doing that! 

Am I upset with having to rework this piece? Not at all. Things happen, and I've learned to let them go. It was not a mistake, just a learning opportunity. I'm wiser now, and because I've made so many "mistakes" and allowed myself to make them, I can recover from them without beating myself up. How many times did famous artists go back and rework a painting? Probably way more times than we realize. So slow and methodical, and I'll get it to look the way I want. 

I'm off to spin class this morning. I'm going to take it easy and will probably only do 30 minutes, just to test out my knee. It's not really the joint, it's the darn tendons, which are not happy campers. Anyway -- more on that story tomorrow because I heard some wild news at the Virtual Retreat yesterday. I have to say that the conversations at the retreats are amazing. The number and variety of topics we cover blows my mind!!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

What are you addicted to?

There are so many thoughts going through my head this morning. I heard some disturbing things yesterday. You've been in this situation - you might have been on a train, at the grocery store, in the airport, at the dinner table, and what is everyone doing? 

They are on their phone! And what are they doing? Endlessly scrolling through countless Social apps -- Facebook, IG, X, Pinterest, Facebook, IG, X, WhatsApp, X, Pinterest. It's ENDLESS scrolling. 

The sad thing is that you are devoting YOUR PRECIOUS hours left in your life to being entertained by total nonsense! What are you thinking? 

Do NOT YELL at me for that because you can't deny it! I have basically turned off notifications on my phone—it is a completely SILENT device. The phone rings? I don't hear it. A text comes in? I don't hear it. Do I care? I do NOT need to be connected to the world until I am ready to be connected. Before you yell at me - I get it that some people may need to be connected because of health issues, family matters, or whatever. But do you need to respond to every text message immediately? 

I will admit that from time to time I get caught up in watching reels, but after a couple, I remind myself that most of them are AI-generated, have ZERO point, and are a complete and utter waste of time. 

I hear stories from my friends that they meant to look at Pinterest for five minutes, and hours later, they are still scrolling. Or they just spend an hour checking out Social media platforms. 

What I don't get is why we are so interested in OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES and yet we don't care about our own? You could have been stretching in that hour, you could have been having a phone conversation with a family member or friend (GASP - does anyone do that anymore?), you could have been tidying up your house, learning a new skill by watching a YouTube video, or reading a book, or any other multitude of things. 

I totally get that these apps are addictive, and guess what? They were created that way! Those reels with their 1-second intro and enticing titles. They are made to grab our very short attention spans. But what many people don't realize is that this addiction to your phone is as bad as an addiction to ANY OTHER substance abuse addiction. Yep --- it's an addiction. Remember when the iPhone first came out? Many of the bigwigs in Silicon Valley, including Steve Jobs, would NOT allow their family members (or maybe just their children) to have one because they built it to be addictive. 

We're going to have to start the 12-step program for phone use. 

Sometimes people say they are bored, so they reach for their phone. Did you know that being bored is a VERY GOOD THING!!! We need to be bored; our brains need to have a break from the constant barrage of information. And then we wonder why everyone is so anxious and impatient these days. Yep --- "If I don't get instant gratification for anything, I'm not happy." 

Our world is quickly becoming a very sad place. Trust me, I'm not perfect, but I have greatly reduced my screen time - no TV since 2010. I confess I haven't even watched the Olympics, aside from the Opening Ceremony. I only have two social media accounts - IG and Facebook. I might check them a couple of times a day, but I'm probably in each account for a maximum of 10 minutes a day, unless there is a special event, like Quilt Con or the Olympics, in which I spend a bit more time. 

I'm not wired any differently than anyone else, but I have made CONSCIOUS decisions to not get addicted! I'd really like to remember who taught me Grade 7 Social Studies, because whoever it was, that is the class I remember the most. We were taught all about how companies market to us and try to suck us in. Gosh -- I wish I could remember more about that! But that fact has remained with me for years, and I still live by that. 

But all that brings me to the current book I'm reading, called The Brain at Rest by Dr. Joseph Jebelli. His research has led him to believe that our brains are so overworked that we are heading to significant issues with our brains, which can lead to breakdowns, forms of dementia, stress, anxiety, and many other ailments. He equates those little things like forgetfulness (not to age, not to dementia), but to overloading the brain so that it can't handle the small details of our lives. 

He talks about just sitting and doing NOTHING -- not even with a cell phone, which is an onslaught of verbal and visual diarrhea to your brain. Open and empty your brain every day, meditate, forest bath, or whatever you need to do, but our brains need to rest! That is how people rejuvenate, and often after a rest period, you come back to your desk, with a new perspective and filled with ideas. 

Hmmm --- not to toot my own horn, but I do this EVERY SINGLE DAY and most days - I do it twice, once with the girls and then on my own. I don't listen to audiobooks or music. I just look at my surroundings, I let my brain just wander, and I've had so many exciting things happen on those walks. 

Why don't you try it? Turn off notifications on your phone, then schedule a time once or twice a day to check your social platforms. Can you do it? I dare you!!!! The predominant use of my phone is the CAMERA. I will NOT get rid of my phone, but I refuse to let it dictate my life or waste my precious time. 

OK --- after that rant! Let's see what happened yesterday. 

Another call from Microsoft - at least they call when they say they will. But not fixed yet. More information gathering, and the support rep will go back to their engineering team. It's all about two big kids who can't play well together in the sandbox! 

I have to update the BIOS on my HP computer, and then there will be another call from Microsoft on Tuesday. 

Look at that roof of ours. Yep --- that peak in front is an issue. Is it the valleys? The pitch of the roof? What causes the snow to not melt quickly? I'm not worried - the ice dam is gone, but I need to follow up with the insurance and an engineer this week. 

Still snow in the roof valleys

OK -- I was trolling Facebook (on my limited allotted time) yesterday and spotted this. Isn't this a nice thing? 

YES --- we need to do this!!!

 

What nice thing have I done for others recently? Well, in my Colour My World class, I know a few people are struggling with timing issues -- they may have a health problem, be moving, or whatever. I have offered to give them a few extra classes (for free) after we formally finish the class. I want them to be successful in completing their quilts!!

Speaking of Colour My World, here's what my quilt looks like to date! 

My version of Colour My World

I've used bright batiks, and I absolutely LOVE the quilt. It's coming together nicely, and there has been some seam ripping along the way, but for the most part, it's been amazing to work on. We still have a lot of work to do before the final reveal in June, but I am confident the class will succeed. 

Here's an interesting situation that has happened to me. I've been a quilt teacher for 25 years and have enjoyed meeting all the students, seeing their creativity, and listening to stories of how I have helped and inspired them over the years. What I particularly like is seeing the students and their skills grow -- I push them hard sometimes, but when that lightbulb goes on, that is what teachers live for! 

I wrote an entire story about this, but I think I'll condense it to this. 

As a teacher, what is better: 

Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day?

OR 

Teach a man to fish, and he eats for the rest of his life? 

My job is to teach them to make, sew, and design blocks, NOT to give them a pattern, unless there is an absolute failure with the patterns/instructions from the designer. I'm just there to guide them. 

Whatever will I do with that, Miss Murphy? She thinks the entire house, especially Studio B, is her sleeping spot. I often catch her around the corner in the stash room, completely happy to be by herself. However, when she needs attention, she DEMANDS it. I think she knows that she has to turn her brain off every once in a while. Maybe she has been reading my book! 

Fast asleep in the corner of the stash room

Then last night, I had to lay my quilt on the floor because the design wall was full. This is what happened. 

MOM - are these for me to test?

Oh yes -- she got even cosier as she stretched out in full. So the quilt rows 1, 2, and 5 have been assembled, and I'll have to do 3 and 4 this afternoon. What a silly girl!!!!! 

I remembered to take a picture of the painting that Cynthia painted of our dogs. This was not a favor; I commissioned her to paint the picture. I love supporting artists because that is how they make their living. 

This is Little Sammy on the left, and the detail Cynthia put in the tail is incredible, and it's exactly like Sammy's tail was. I gave her photographs of the forest and the dogs, and this is what she painted. The only artistic license she took (with my permission) was to paint the background sky. You can't really see the sky in the forest. 

The dog on the right is Miss Lexi, and the dog in the back is Sparky, who had already crossed the Rainbow Bridge at that time. Miss Murphy hadn't arrived at the time. Sammy passed before the painting was done, but we knew it was imminent. 

The girls BEFORE Muprhy

I'm sure that Murphy is miffed every time she looks at it, which must be often since it sits on our fireplace mantle in the family room!!

I have lots more to share, but I've run out of time. 

There is a Virtual Retreat today, starting at 3 PM. Here's the link. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89869001291?pwd=h57kT9axwTnd2xtJvuO0z2UOmUo45w.1

Meeting ID: 898 6900 1291
Passcode: 136711

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Learning to be creative!

It was a positively boring day yesterday! The third-level Microsoft support called, and she took about 5 minutes to poke around my Outlook setup, then decided it needed to be escalated to a higher level! Yikes!!! But Microsoft and Google don't seem to like talking to each other, and there's an issue with syncing. Now I understand why it takes so long for my email to sync - that's always been an issue, but I never thought much about it. If Microsoft is willing to spend time on it, I'm happy to oblige! I have another call window this afternoon - maybe the problem will be resolved? BTW, I believe Microsoft will support the Classic version until 2029.

In the meantime, it was so nice to send emails to my groups, and I switched between Outlook versions as needed. There is a lag in the syncing, so hopefully I got everyone's pictures. 

The knee is progressing nicely, but I'm still not pushing it. Pushing it for me is different from pushing it for others - I get that. I did almost 9 KM yesterday. And my knee felt much better during and after the walk. I'm still applying heat, but no meds are required.  

The engineers got back to me and said they will look into the beam issue, but not the roof issue. There is no attic, so no place to investigate. Hmmm—have they ever considered that the drywall has to come off to be repaired, so they will have a wide-open space to investigate? Maybe I need to say the drywall is gone! I'm going to contact another company, and then we'll see. The ice is mostly gone from the roof, and everything has settled down. 

Like I said -- positively boring and I'm OK with that! 

I spent the entire day running around, taking and editing pictures, and putting together today's presentations. The two of them are ready, and after this morning's classes, I'll spend the afternoon prepping the UFO presentation for tomorrow. That one should be easier, as I just have to get the pictures from email and a few pictures of my stuff. 

OH -- as I was doing my research, guess what I found? Yep -- a printout of the distribution list for the jacket class!! I guess I'm not as silly as I thought I was. I had a physical copy of my two big lists. 

My jacket class distribution list

I did a lot of research yesterday, both online and in my resource library. 

Doing research

It also necessitated getting out the User's Guide for my sewing machine. GASP!!!! Yep --- that is one of the most valuable tools you can own. It's a shame more people don't use it!

The User's Guide

I can share what I was looking for another day. But I felt like a detective as I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong! 

Well, as I was digging through that stack of Threads magazines, I glanced over to see Miss Murphy sleeping on her mat under the current project tables. It's like a little den for her, surrounded by tubs on two sides. I decided that we needed some quiet time together. I got on the floor, and we had a good cuddle. 

MOM - I LOVE when you cuddle in my space!

You know something? I'm glad I'm still able to do that. Because of all the stretching, getting back up isn't a big deal anymore. YES -- instead of letting my body continue to regress, I'm fighting back to keep myself limber. It took a wakeup call, but I listened. Should I be blessed with grandchildren one day, you bet I'll be on the floor to cuddle and play with them! 

At least that's what the quote in my tea told me to do - listen!!!!

Listen!!!!!

Getting up may not be as graceful as a ballet dancer (I've said that before), but at least I can do it, and it doesn't feel awkward! Even with a bum knee, so yes - the knee is much better. 

But while I was browsing one of the early Threads magazines, I spotted this article on COMPUTERIZED sewing machines!!! 

Hmmm -- how to buy a computerized sewing machine

There was a comparison chart of the various brands. The prices were under $2,000, although at the time, that was probably a lot of money for a sewing machine. 

Comparison chart of sewing machines

Here's a close-up of some of the top-of-the-line models. These are NOT embroidery machines; they are simply sewing machines. 

The Viking 990

There was no Husqvarna at that time. 

PFAFF Creative 1471

HMM -- at some point, Pfaff became all caps, and Creative lost its capital C. 

Bernina 1130

Brother Compal Galaxie

New Home Memory Craft 6000

This later became Janome. 

Shoot, before I put it back, I should have looked at the features, but I was in a bit of a hurry, so I didn't want to stop. 

Here's the cover of the Threads issue, so you can tell it's a bit dated. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what year this was? 

One of the early issues of Threads

There it is -- August/September 1987!!!! And look at the price—$3.75. This is an amazing magazine, and I think I have every issue. Don't ask! I noticed that when I looked for three particular issues, they were NOT in any order. They were, but then they got moved. So it really is time to organize that resource library. 

Aug/Sept 1987 issue

Speaking of the library, I got two recommendations for Libib to store books, but I already have a paid subscription to one online, so I might try that one first. I can scan the books - I just need to figure out how to set up a second database. The first database contains the books I have read. I refer to that VERY FREQUENTLY, so I might as well use it for the quilt books since I'm already paying for it! 

As part of my preparation, I had to find two items I needed to photograph. One of the items I had been looking for a couple of weeks ago, but didn't find it. Well, that's because I didn't look hard enough. Both items were on the pegboard. There are loads of things on this pegboard that probably don't need to be there. But all my specialty rulers and odd notions are stored there. It works for me. 

The messy pegboard

And what about the girls? They have become extremely vocal these days. When I go for a walk with one, the other one protests while I'm gone. Last night, Murphy would NOT leave her ball alone, and when I took it away, she made a loud protest. The only way I can get peace and quiet when reading is to go upstairs, which I don't want to do! Eventually, they settled, but not until they had a play fight to entertain me!

MOM - we NEED YOU NOW!!!

Oops—I forgot to get a picture of that painting. I'll try to remember today. But I'll chat about the two books I'm reading. The audiobook is The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I think I have taken this book out of the library a dozen times and never got around to reading it. I figured I'd "force" myself to read it by listening to the audiobook. While it has a lot of good information, I don't think the book is for me. 

The premise of the book is to help people become creative. Help artists who are blocked to get back to painting, writing, creating, making movies, or whatever. It also encourages people who are NOT doing what they would love to do, to take that giant step and do it! Lucky for me, I took that step back in 1998 and haven't looked back. 

She has a ton of lists, and some of the items on them I feel are just fillers, so she can get to 20 on each. But hey—if one of the items piques someone's interest, it needs to be on the list. Now I almost need to see the physical book to review those lists! But I digress. 

I got a chuckle because the first thing she talks about in the book is the Morning Pages. To help open the floodgates, she recommends that you get up each day and write three pages longhand. It can be whatever you want --- and if you can't think of anything to write, then you simply write, "I don't know what to write" or something to that effect. 

These pages are just for you -- you don't need to read them or share them with anyone; you just need to write! 

On that note, I couldn't agree more! And I'm going to equate my blog with Julia's morning pages. I get up and just write. I don't think of a topic - it just comes to me. Can you believe I've been writing the blog for almost twenty years? At first, it was sporadic, and then it became a daily thing. 

I chose to use the computer because I can't stand handwriting with a pen. My hand just cramps, and the writing isn't pretty. I much prefer a keyboard. I put it online because a then-friend encouraged me. But it's the process of writing that is important. Why? Because I said I was going to do things and wrote it down, I now have to follow up. Because I struggle with issues and I write about them, it becomes less of a struggle. Because I share my successes, I feel more successful, etc. 

So while you may feel motivated, inspired, mad, or happy when you read the blog, it's really a brain dump of my thoughts, which helps me clear my head and move on for the day! I'm going to call my blog my morning pages, and I will continue doing so for as long as I can. I'm also a storyteller, in case you haven't figured that out, and as long as I can continue to tell stories about the day, well, I'll be writing. 

I'm sure DH is thankful for the blog because he already has to listen to many ridiculous, nonsensical, and meaningless stories from me. Imagine if he had to hear them all? It keeps me young and brings lots of laughs to our house! 

But reading that book alone would NOT make you creative. There are loads of exercises that Julia recommends you do. Writing my blog can take up to 1½ hours each day, and I actually look forward to the process. So if you want to become more creative, do the things you have always wanted to do, but were afraid to, take a look at the book. But it will take WORK and COURAGE to get there. 

Speaking of stories, I didn't tell you this one. Because of my knee, I am taking a slightly different route with the dogs. I don't want to slog through the forest with a dog on a leash, even sweet Lexi. That requires me to cross a busy street during school drop-off time. As I was crossing the street to return home, a car started turning left towards me. He was in a rush to get ahead of the car that had stopped to his right. 

Turns out that was an Uber driver, and DH was on his way to the dentist in that car. He had to shout at the driver to not hit me! Can you imagine the headlines for that one? 

So many drivers just care about the cars and not the people. The sad thing is, this happened very near an elementary school shortly after drop-off, when there would still be lots of people around. Sigh.......

I'll have to tell you about the other book I'm reading tomorrow. I've got to get moving!

Here are the links to the Virtual Retreat this weekend. 

Saturday, February 21 --- starts at 6 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89610782501?pwd=7dCrhiL5t8Xa4TVwZPvhL6cOymbcjK.1

Meeting ID: 896 1078 2501
Passcode: 148311

Sunday, February 22 ---- starts at 3 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89869001291?pwd=h57kT9axwTnd2xtJvuO0z2UOmUo45w.1

Meeting ID: 898 6900 1291
Passcode: 136711

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

The best of both worlds!!!!

OH MY!!!!!! When I sit down to write the blog, I have to come up with a title, and some days that's a struggle because nothing super exciting happened. But there are days, like today, when I have many titles! I called it "The Best of both worlds," but "Happy Dance," "Exciting update," and "The email saga continues (part two)" would have worked as well. 

It was a good news day all around, so I'm excited. 

The knee update is all good. I did a short walk with the girls in the morning. While I feel perfectly fine at home, prolonged walking doesn't make my knee feel great. I managed to walk 9 KM yesterday, so it can't be all that bad. I'm walking slowly outside to be mindful of the ice and to take it easy. Who would have thought that was possible for me? 

Anyway, I've never been good at telling if my "fat" knee is swollen, so I'm going to assume it is based on feel. But it seems to be fine once I stop walking. So I'll stick to shorter walks, take it easy, and see how it goes. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal and can get to the gym next week. But I have taken full advantage of using that gym wisely in Studio B. 

Now let's check in with the email saga. OH MY GOODNESS - I have to give Microsoft credit. It had been arranged with the second-level escalation guy (Christian) that he would call within the 12 to 2 PM window yesterday. He might be on a call, so we set a window for the callback. He called at EXACTLY NOON. That was impressive. 

The issue at this point was that the emails only populated into the inbox, while anything in the subfolders was still missing. That's an issue.  

I was on the call with him for two hours. We were both patient - hey, he was helping me, and there was no need to get upset. Life is life, and we are talking email, not life and death. 

Here's what I learned about the NEW Outlook:

1. This is the icon
2. This version of Outlook is free for anyone to use - you do not need a license.
3. It does not use an address book that you can view. It retains the email addresses you have sent to, so it will autofill as you start typing, but there's no place to see them. 
4. It uses the contact list on your cell phone. So if you are a Google user, like me, that's the list that you can see. OK—that's good, but why would I want to see that list in Outlook? They are NOT the same. 
5. New Outlook is targeted at a different end user. I'm not sure who that is, but if I Google it, it says it's for personal accounts and small and medium businesses. I would assume that many personal users do not use distribution lists, or, if they do, they add those people to their contacts list. If they are a small- to medium-sized business, they likely use a third-party mailing service for their lists. 
6. New Outlook is OPTIONAL. Even though Windows 11 computers come with the New installed and the Classic is nowhere to be seen, you do NOT have to use the New. Thank goodness for that! 
7. It is a WEB-BASED app!!!

And here's what I know about the Classic version of Outlook

1. This is the icon—pay special attention to the differences. They are slight, but absolutely important - I'll tell you why in a second. The old is squareish, the new is rounded! 
2. The Classic version uses an address book where you can create, edit, and delete distribution lists using Autofill properties. You can include all kinds of information about your contact, including addresses, multiple phone numbers, etc. Perhaps you can do this in contacts, but not the way I like it to happen. 
3. This version is part of the 365 Office License, or you might be able to get a standalone version, but it is NOT free. I'm good with paying - the cost per year for the license for the entire personal version of 365 Office is around $100 CDN. You get FREE support with that. It's an amazing deal if you use tools like Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I use three of the four tools daily, though I'm not a heavy user of Excel. My friends all think I should use it more! 
4. An actual Windows program!!

I almost wept when I saw my distribution lists on the new computer!

My beloved distribution lists are back!!!

OK --- so that's a recap. Wait --- I'm getting to the good news, but I know there are others out there that are confused by this, so that's why I'm writing it down. 

So here's how my computer is set up right now, and I might just keep it this way. I have BOTH versions of Outlook installed - that's why understanding the different icons is ESSENTIAL. I can go to Classic when I want to do anything related to distribution lists. YES --- Christian helped me migrate the data from my old computer to the new computer. I learned a lot in that process, and I'm going to take that same database and install it on my laptop. It will be as current as the distribution lists are now, but that's better than not having access to them when I'm away. They don't change much during the year. 

I asked about putting that address book file on OneDrive so it would always be up to date on both computers, and while it's possible, he suggested against it. But I think it was more of an issue that if I ran out of room, it wouldn't be able to update. Running out of room is no longer an issue, so I might resort to that at some point. Technically, there's no reason why you can't do that, and I know someone who does that. 

If I want to use the FOCUS email feature, I can read my email in the NEW version. And currently, all my emails in the subfolders are in the NEW version, so I have to use the two versions interchangeably at the moment. No big deal, now that I understand!

Part of my issue (and I confessed this to Christian) was that I was confusing those icons! I just ASSUMED (and we all know what happens when we do that) that opening the ICON would take me to the version I had installed. WRONG!!!!! I have to use the CORECT icon. DUH!!!!!

Where do we go from here? The case is being escalated to Level Three! I should be able to have access to all my emails in the subfolders in the Classic version, but they have a known issue with Google accounts. So they will arrange a call in the next couple of days and see what we can do about that. 

The bottom line is that I may have to retire my old computer now, since I won't need it, as I have access to my distribution lists on the new computer! 

There is another issue I need to resolve, and it involves the printer (Scanning), but I'm not going there at this time. So it stays for the moment. 

I see that Microsoft plans to roll out the New version to their corporate clients starting in April this year. Oh boy --- that's when the crap hit the fan! I should try to find out the plans for the end of the Classic, but they had better not do that before they completely fix the New. It is NOT mandatory to use either, but one day.............

Phew!!!!!! You can't imagine how good I felt after that call. Christian was so patient, and he was obviously in a different country because he wasn't sure what day it was here. I don't care - he was good, and he was a very good representative for Microsoft support. By the way, he tried uninstalling all my Microsoft products and then reinstalling them -- manually, which is what took so long. 

BUT WAIT --- other things happened at the house. 

Well, this didn't happen at the house, but I had to go to Indigo to pick up a magazine, and yes—they had another puzzle on the table. 

A jigsaw puzzle on the community table at Indigo

It was appropriate for the Olympics, as the puzzle had a winter sports theme. 

The picture of the puzzle

I didn't stop to put in a piece because I was on a tight schedule, trying to get all the homework done and into a presentation for tomorrow. I've almost completed the work on one and need to start on the second one. No need to panic! 

I also spotted these books of paper, so if you are into making junk journals or any kind of paper project, these books are filled with all kinds of wonderful papers and cardstock. I was tempted, but I decided they would still be there when I actually had time. Now that my days are less busy, I could perhaps work that in, but not right now. See how good I am? 

Books of paper at Indigo

I have so much "free" time that when Miss Murphy came to see me at the sewing machine for one of her many cuddles, I took her to her mat in Studio B, and I lay down on the floor beside her, and we had a good cuddle. She was pretty excited about that! And heck --- if all the work doesn't get done? Who cares? Well, I will get the work done, but it's also important to give her some time. She's getting older, and she won't be around forever. 

This morning I was looking in the bookcase for a particular book. While I didn't find the book yet, do you see what I spotted? 

OH MY --- who knew!

Yes -- there are TWO identical books. I've never noticed that before. What are the chances of them being put on the same shelf? The books are NOT in any particular order at the moment, but as I was going through them, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be so much easier to look through these books if they were organized?" So you can see that might happen next week. I am getting tired of searching. And I might try putting them into a database. 

OH GOSH -- do not tell my Excel fanatic friends about that because I bet they want me to put it in Excel. WAIT -- -there are apps for that that are totally automatic!!! I'll see. 

But of course, as I was looking through the shelves, who should appear? 

MOM -- can we lie on the mat again? I need a cuddle!

I've been doing a lot of reading these days and typically have an audiobook and an ebook going at the same time. Well, not at the exact same time, but you know what I mean. It just so happens that both of them are SELF-HELP books at the moment. And I have to say that I'm doing OK. I'm running out of time this morning, but I'll chat about both tomorrow and get the painting of the dogs that Cynthia painted. A LOT is going on, and it's hard to keep up. 

But here's an amazing quote about books. This is so true!!!!!! I designed this based on the quote and using my Creativate Machine Embroidery software. 

A great reading quote

I also need to dig out some stuff to photograph for Monday sewing and one class tomorrow, so I'll be busy with the camera today. 

Before I go, I would be remiss not to mention the girls who were back to their shenanigans while I was trying to concentrate on a book about my brain!!! They are so entertaining and just need to be there! I was eating an apple, which they don't like! It's all about being with Mom when she wants a quiet moment! Do not feel sorry for Lexi in the least, as she is the one who instigated this!

MOM - Murphy is trying to bite me!

I'll post the links for the Virtual Retreat today and get yelled at by the Zoom robot for doing so. It's a privacy thing!!!

Saturday, February 21 --- starting at 6 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89610782501?pwd=7dCrhiL5t8Xa4TVwZPvhL6cOymbcjK.1

Meeting ID: 896 1078 2501
Passcode: 148311

Sunday, February 22 --- starting at 3 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89869001291?pwd=h57kT9axwTnd2xtJvuO0z2UOmUo45w.1

Meeting ID: 898 6900 1291
Passcode: 136711

By the way -- I REFUSE to give in with the Outlook situation. It's a thousand times better after yesterday, and I learned so much about it. I need to understand how things work, and now I feel better. I'm not in control -- I get that, but I feel better. 

On that note, I have so many great and exciting things to do today, so I'd better get started. 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

The email saga continues

For the record, I do NOT give my dogs people food. Currently, three adults live in this house, and TWO of them think it's OK to slip them the occasional tidbit of food, including veggies. I'm OK with the veggies, though some are not safe for dogs. And for this reason, those two dogs hang around those two people waiting for the tidbits. Trust me, I have repeatedly said, DO NOT FEED the dogs people food, and it falls on deaf ears. Thankfully, it's not a lot of food, but I keep repeating the message. 

Since this behavior is learned, the dogs think that all humans in our house will give them food. So they sit beside me, and then quickly lose interest when they realize that Mom doesn't give in to those puppy dog eyes. When I have cucumbers or carrots (both safe for dogs), I give them a couple of pieces, but it's rare. 

It drives me crazy that the people in my house will NOT listen! I've made such a big deal about it lately that I think they have backed off. 

So no - Murphy and Lexi did NOT get any grapes. Thanks for the reminder! 

I'm happy to report that my knee feels a whole lot better. I did not walk the dogs, but I took a slow walk to the grocery store later in the day. It was NOT a fun walk, but I needed to get out. Then I used ice and heat and stayed off it for the rest of the day. OK -- I was sewing, so I had to stand and cut, but I wasn't walking. It's feeling a whole lot better this morning. 

I will take the girls for a short walk each and see how it goes. 

No word from the engineers, so I'll call them later today if I have time. It's crunch time for the weekend classes, and while I'm making great progress, I'm a couple of hours behind. But I'm OK. It's not a due or die crunch - just scheduled time!

However, you are not going to believe the update on the Outlook story. I'm stunned. I did a little research before calling the support line. Can you believe this? Read the first two lines, and that should tell you all you need to know about my problem!

You read that correctly! There is no ADDRESS BOOK in the new version of Outlook. What?? I don't get that. So when I chatted to the support people, I asked. By the way, I was very calm and collected during the almost TWO hours in total I spent on the phone with them. While I know the support people won't have that information, they did mention that Microsoft is targeting a different user with the NEW version. WHAT? A different user? I don't get that. It's totally useless, although the split between Focused and Other emails is really handy. 

You can bet that I'm going to provide feedback. I've thought ot sending the same message through the Microsoft Feedback channel every day, and I'm going to suggest that anyone else (you know who you are) will do the same. This is utter nonsense. You'll find the FEEDBACK tab under the HELP tab in Outlook. Use it wisely and use it OFTEN!!!! 

Anyway, to keep the details short, it took a long time to switch back to the Classic Version. Why? Because new computers don't come with the Classic version installed, forcing you to use the New version. OK -- this is getting weirder by the minute. So the support guy had to download the Classic version, and then switched me back. 

All would seem good, right? By the way, the call had to be escalated because he had trouble reconnecting me to the server. That resulted in him deleting my account and then reinstating it. Then my emails started to populate the inbox, and I thought we were good. 

Now it appears that ONLY the inbox got populated. The remainder of my very detailed file structure is EMPTY!!! Yep—there are no emails in any of my class folders. NOTHING!!! I'm not panicking - I'm laughing because I wonder how much worse this is going to get, and what the heck good it will do if I get mad. NOTHING. 

Thankfully, the escalation guy and I have an appointment today to see how the repopulating went, so he had better call me today, or I will be calling them back. 

What was funny, though, was that at one point my computer automatically switched back to the New version, and that wasn't going to do. I couldn't find the switch to move back, so I had to call again. I am ashamed to say that I got a woman on the call, and my past experience has not been good. But I kept my mouth shut and let her do what she needed to do, and within ten minutes, I was good to go. 

So the saga continues. OH -- the distribution lists have to be moved manually, which I knew, and I need to do that this morning before the escalation guy calls me back. If I have trouble, then he can help me. I know there are other options, but I'm stubborn. I've paid for this darn thing, and I'm so used to it that I'm going to get it working, even if I die trying!! LOL. 

OH - and when I was working on the homework for Color My World, guess what I found? A printout of the distribution list! That is going to make it so much easier to re-enter them, if I need to. Yeah!!!!

The printed distribution list for Colour My World

And one other thing: I really like how the Classic version saves pictures. The New version sucks at that, so I'd better remember to include that in my feedback. 

I'm making my Colour My World from batiks, and this was the ironing board as I prepped for the weekend class. It's all tidied away now, but it was very colorful! I'm loving this quilt, and while it is a lot of work, it's so worth it!!!

Prepping the homework for Colour My World

And OH MY -- I had to get the hammer out because at one point in the day, KU was pressing something and I don't know how hard she was pressing, but that board jumped down a notch or two! Nothing fell, so all was good. But I'm going to tip that board upside down today and see if I can jam the notches in place, and if I need to use a hammer, then so be it! Personally, I think that one bar needs to be straightened. 

While I was sewing and cutting, I also had the embroidery machine running at full speed with this project. All twenty of the blocks are complete! That was a ton of work (OK - it wasn't, but it was noisy), and now I need to figure out how to assemble them into a quilt. Be sure to mark your calendars for my Facebook Live on March 11. 

My machine embroidered quilt block

It's very hard to get good help these days! Murphy just wants attention, and so I stop to give her some loving. As a result, my chair moved backward. When I went to sew, she was still lying on the floor, and my foot was a long way from the foot pedal. What a silly girl!!!

MOM -- I need loving, more than you need to sew

How many keys does your key ring hold? Mine has been sitting here staring at me for a couple of days, and I got to wondering. Remember how we used to have oodles of keys. What did we use them all for? I have three keys on that holder. By the way, don't you love the personalized band? A friend made that for me, and it's fun because it has my name on it, so there's no danger of getting it mixed up with someone else's. THANK YOU!!!!

My keyring

There is a house key on it, but we never use it since we have a keyless lock on the front door. Still handy in case the battery dies, though I get plenty of warning. The mailbox key, which I use every time I get the mail. There is also a smaller key on it, which I have no idea what it unlocks. I suspect a lock for the bike rack!! I must check that out since I want to sell the bike rack. I have zero need for any other keys. WAIT -- the car. That's a big fob, and I keep it in my little pouch. Again, our car is keyless for everything, but you need the fob on your person to do anything. 

I spotted this on Instagram yesterday. Hmmm—I'm not sure I could focus. I think I'll keep those activities separate! 

Doing a puzzle while walking? 

I have to tell you about this audiobook I'm just finishing up this morning. It's one of the ones from that Globe and Mail list from March 2023. OH MY!!!!! If you love a thinker mystery with loads of details, this is the book for you! It's called Malice by Keigo Higashino. It's the first in the Detective Kaga series, but wow!! Actually, the list mentioned his latest book, "A Death in Tokyo," but since it was a series, I had to start at the beginning. 

There is a murder, as is usually the case in a murder mystery. And unlike other books, you get to know the murderer pretty early on. But the why and the how are uncanny! It's like a cat-and-mouse game between the accused and the detective as they both unravel the details. It's quite interesting, and I'll definitely be reading more of this author's books. He has some standalone books as well. 

You need to stay sharp on your toes to understand the nuances of the book; there are plenty of side diversions. Oh shoot—I see I can download the next audiobook in the series. NO --- Just say no - I have three other books in my audiobook reader to read first!!!!

Well, I guess I'm off -- I have so many things to do, but very interesting and exciting things on the agenda for today. I've got some patterns to design, embroidery designs to continue, a huge variety of things to sew, and it's just going to be a glorious day. If Microsoft can find the rest of my emails, that will be the icing on the cake. At this point? I'm not hopeful. I think they got lost in the save when they deleted my account. They might be on another computer, or they should still be on the server. 

I guess that would be a good way to get rid of a lot of stuff! It will be annoying as all get out to find what I need since the ones I wanted to keep were in the folders! But the most critical thing would be the UFO emails, as I had not processed those photos yet. Sigh.............

However, onward and upward!!!!

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!

PS -- Forgot to mention --- there is a Virtual Retreat this weekend. Saturday - starting at 6 PM EST and Sunday at 3 PM EST. I'm not going to post the links until Saturday because Zoom has a fit about posting them on a public blog. So I'll only do it on Saturday and then on Sunday.