Done, done, and DONE!

As for the boxes, I told the electricians to leave them. Yes - I know! But they will just dump it all in the garbage, and I can't live with that. So I separated all the junk into the garbage and put the boxes and packing foam in the recycling! I can't help myself! I hate when people just throw everything away without sorting. I am my own worst enemy! That's why I'm so slow when I'm tidying up!

However, there is quite a mess in the garage at the moment, after all the garbage was removed from the backyard. While it looks a mess, it's not that bad. And I plan to take a trip to the city's waste area, as I have other things in the garage that need to be dumped off. 

The mess in the garage

Again - I know most people just leave it at the curb, and when you do, it all goes in the landfill. But I have wood, metal, electronics, and some old appliances that should go in the proper bin, so I'll pack up a carload this week and make that happen. DH wanted to go see a movie, but I might forgo it and get more of this cleaning done. I am not around all of next week, and I'd like it done before I go. We can wait two weeks to see the movie. I also have samples that need to be made. 

If I'm lucky, I can fit it all in one load and be done with a lot of crap. But I suspect I have a lot of sorting to do in the garage before it's all dealt with. That's OK. Even in its current state, our garage looks way better than most in the neighborhood. 

The electricians (2) spent the entire day in the backyard, and it looks amazing. Some old lights hadn't worked in years, the gazebo plug wasn't working properly, and it was an issue keeping the heater and aerator running in the winter. We ran an extension cord across the backyard from the house. Lots of small niggly things that had just been left over the years. 

Look at one of the plugs on the side of the gazebo. No wonder it didn't work - an entire hole had blown in the back of the plug. How safe was that?

A hole in the back of the electrical plug

I happily wound up the extension cord and brought it into the house. 

Winding up the extension cord

As predicted, the morning was chaotic. I drove DH to the train, and on the way I explained the morning and said (jokingly), "How will I ever cope with all the chaos? I'll be frazzled." His reply was, "You will do just fine; you can handle the chaos," or something to that effect. I believe that was a compliment, and that's why he trusts me to do all this stuff without any interference from him. First, he can't be bothered to deal with any house-related things, and second, I am calm and can handle the chaos. 

Once I was back, I managed to sneak in a walk with Murphy, and she wanted to sniff everything, especially this giant branch, which she attempted to bring home. 

MOM - can I bring this stick home?

Silly girl! Then the cleaning people arrived, and I was still buzzing around trying to put the last of the misplaced things away and put the recycling out, etc. Yes -- isn't it strange how we tend to clean before the cleaners come? I'll tell you all about that story another day. And for me - it really isn't about cleaning - it's about tidying, so they can clean! 

I managed a quick walk with Lexi and happened to meet our landscaper at a job site down the street. Perfect timing, so I asked about the path light in the front that wasn't working. They had installed that light when the front was done. Turns out the units are not under warranty, but the bulbs can be replaced, so he is now in charge of that. 

The electricians arrived just as I was about to leave for the vet with Lexi, so I spent a few minutes getting the lights organized in the backyard and checking what they needed. 

Then Miss Lexi and I were off to the vet, and she was so happy. The first thing she did was walk up to the scale, which was in front of the window, and she could have stood there all day! 

MOM - the view is amazing!!!

But when I went to take her to the examination room, she wasn't too happy about that. She got a good check-up, and all seems to be OK, although, like all older dogs, her hind legs are weak. Aquatherapy! I guess we need to build one of those small pools with the built-in wave flow so the dogs and I can swim in a very small space. I am not a swimmer, so it would mostly be for them! I think they are called swim spas. I just checked the price - on sale, the cheapest - $30K. I think we will pass on the swim spa!!!!

While I like the new vet very much, the technician is very timid (she's very young) when it comes to taking blood. Just find the vein and jam the needle in - OK - so that sounds a bit harsh, but you know what I mean. She hesitates. It took 20 minutes to get bloodwork from Lexi, and I decided to leave the room in case she was more comfortable without me there. Of course, they got it when I wasn't in the room! Lexi is such a princess! 

Back home, the cleaners were gone, but the electricians were still here. Theirs was an all-day job. 

I think they left around 3:30 PM. That was a total of 7 days of electricians, as we had two people working yesterday. The invoice was within my budget, so I was OK with that. I have two lights to return, which is pretty good considering the way they were purchased, but everything I did purchase was amazing. One light just wouldn't fit where I wanted it, and we didn't need the second one. More on that light another day. 

I forgot to take pictures during the day, but I got a couple in the night. OK -- so I was waiting with anticipation for the lights to come on last night, but they didn't! However, when I got up early this morning, the lights were on. I think we need to have a look at the timer to see how it was set. 

Here's what the pond now looks like at night - well, technically, it will be only the evening, but for last night, they came on sometime during the night. 

The new lights in the backyard

And there's my resident frog who has been hiding in the gazebo all summer. He is now sitting under one of the lights. 

The backyard frog!

The gazebo also got some work done, but I didn't manage to get photos. Hopefully tonight, but the floor looks so much better without that massive extension cord sitting there. I just need one more thing for the gazebo, and I think I have no place but to get it from my favorite online store. I must order that today. 

I have already started a new list for the next round with the electricians. A new outlet in Studio B, a lighted house number, and some small things. So I will have my list handy, and if we think of something, we will add it to the list. No MORE waiting! 

What's left? I need to clean out the shed - I've been meaning to do that for a while, and the electricians needed to get in there - there's an electrical panel in there for the backyard, and so lots of stuff got pulled out. I shoved it all back in last night, but I need to get it organized and buy an outdoor box for the cushions. I'll put that in the shed, but I need to get one. It might be a runaround day today. I can't afford the time, but I might take the time to get everything done. I'll see how it goes. 

I packed up four boxes and took them to UPS to ship to my SIL. I was able to get two boxes for some of the specific items I had (I needed certain sizes), and I now have those, so I hope to pack another three boxes today and get those off as well. I'm striking while the iron is hot, and I am ready to get rid of things. Two trips to UPS and it should all be gone. 

But the big question, I know, is: what happened in Studio B? Did the final block get done? With all the phone calls and such, I wasn't sure that the block would get done. I don't think I have ever ripped out as much as I did on this block. I just seemed to make mistake after mistake. My head just wasn't there, yet I needed to get that block complete. 

By lunchtime, this is all I had accomplished, which was slightly more than half. 

What was completed by lunchtime

I stopped to mess with some of the triangles in that basket that was on the floor. I decided to pull out all the plastic bags filled with triangles. How many could there be? 

OMG -- I think I pulled over 40 small bags of triangles from the basket. Those would be bags that someone else gave me, or bags where I put the cutoffs from a specific project. 

Over 40 bags of triangles for HSTs

And of course, when I took all that out, the basket wasn't nearly as full. 

The basket is practically empty after removing all the bags.

With this Down on the Farm project, I have managed to sew quite a few HSTs, so that is good, and there's a lot more to sew. 

I sorted through a couple of the bags, and thankfully I found a few that were too small. 

Triangles are too small.

I found a bag that would give me 3/4" finished, and then I just gave myself a lecture and said, "You do not need to rescue every piece of fabric in the world. Let it go."| And these are now in my overflowing scrap bin. 

More triangles that are too small

It was only after dinner that I could get back to the block, and I literally had to force myself to finish it. Not because I didn't want to, as I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. But I needed it done, so I kept looking at the clock, and by 6:30, I was done! And here it is - the cat block!

The last block

And yes, I used the new fabric for the grass, and you can see it just fine. The grass gets a bit lost in the post, but guess what? You can still see it just fine, and I'm not changing it. I pulled the three fabrics needed to replace the grass section in the rooster block, and I might just redo that section today. I won't have time for the turtle, but it sure would be nice to be completely done with this quilt. At least get all the blocks done. I have the grass in the rooster block and the turtle to redo because of contrast issues. 

Now here's the thing - as I was sewing this block, I thought to myself how much easier this would have been to sew the quilt during a sew-along. Then I would only have to deal with one or two blocks a month. I would feel like I'm making progress, and if there were any frustrations, it would only be one block. I would also be getting other things done! Hmmm -- there's a lot to be said for sewing in a sew-along! 

And don't forget that I am very thorough in my pattern testing, so I was looking for consistency in the cutting instructions, the written directions, and the diagrams. That takes a lot of time, and if there is an error, then I flag it and have to go back and double-check. Plus I wrote it in an email to the designer. 

All is good. I'm waiting on a new, clean copy because I have two things I want to recheck, and I need it to do that. 

I think I've been working on this thing nonstop since July 25. And nonstop is an incorrect term, as there were a few days when I didn't touch it. It was an intense 20 days, and I feel like I have got nothing else done, which is exactly that in my sewing world. 

I swear technology just hates me. I had something to scan yesterday - 15 pages- and when I went to scan in the afternoon, the scanning app on the computer just looked at me and said, "I don't think so." I found something else to do, but I checked a couple of times during the day. 

Finally, when I was about to sit in the backyard and enjoy my book and some watermelon, that's when it decided I could scan. So I took the time to scan the document. And of course, when I went to send it, my email said it was too big. So I had to zip the file this morning and send it. 

Sigh..................

But everything is coming together. The entire upstairs is looking pretty spiffy. One bathroom is completely empty. Studio U needs a bit more work, but it's mostly sorting quilts. It's just looking good. The only problem is that now -- everything needs to be put away immediately! But that's only the rooms where everything has a place! One day, the entire house will be like that. And I LOVE IT!!!

Now I need to tackle the office, the shed, and the garage. Which shouldn't be too big of a deal. I might handle the shed today and get everything organized in there. All this decluttering takes time! But it sure feels good when it's done. This will be the second go-around for the shed, but when things don't have a home - well, you'll see what I mean. 

On that note, I'm off to the gym today. I didn't have time for any stretches or exercises yesterday, and I need to make that happen today. But I was lugging boxes and moving around, so it's not a big deal to miss a day!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

The last block for Down on the Farm

Oh my—could I be running out of gas with Down on the Farm? NO -- I must forge ahead - I must get it done! 

One of the things I did was to test a new fabric for the grass. While I won't be remaking the grass section today, I did need to cut grass fabric for the final block. So I dug out something I think will work and cut a piece to see what the contrast would be. 

Well, it looks a bit messy in this photo, but YES—there is enough contrast. 

Testing the new fabric for contrast

After looking at the other blocks, I realized that there is ONE piece of grass in the cow block. Yes - you can barely see it right beside the dark grass beside the pond. 

Can you spot the one stock of light grass?

I decided to switch that one piece out this morning for the new fabric. It's only one piece and at the bottom of the block, so easy to change. I will totally remake the larger grass section for the rooster block. 

The new grass fabric looks just fine.

But neither the grass section nor the turtle is my priority - I NEED to get that final block done. This is what I have accomplished so far. I could have had the entire block done, but I was busy with other things yesterday - I'll share in a minute. I also had a two-hour car errand, so that ate up my afternoon after Monday sewing. I will not show you what I bought. Maybe another day, but I had to stop by the puzzle warehouse to pick up an order. I will NOT buy any more puzzles! I will NOT buy any more puzzles! But I needed one with candy in it! More on that another day!

Working on the final block

Here are the pieces left to sew. It shouldn't take too long to get this done, but it'll have to wait for the afternoon as this morning between 7:30 and 10 is going to be chaotic in the house. I have to take DH to the train at 7:30. The cleaning service and the electrician will arrive around 8:30, and Lexi has a vet appointment at 9:30. It just worked out that way, so getting the girls for a morning walk will be a bit sketchy. 

The remaining pieces in the final block

Here is some advice if you have access to a digital version of any pattern. I loaded the pattern (25 pages) on my iPad and keep it right beside the sewing machine. It is great when you need to see the diagrams a bit bigger, because some of the pieces are teeny-tiny! Or you want to check color placement of some of the smaller pieces. I get it that we are used to paper. But you know what? Get over it! 

Using the iPad to display the pattern

We now have some amazing tools at our disposal, and we need to get with the times. First - this saves a lot of ink and paper, and it just works better. I'm done with paper patterns if I have a digital version. I just wish that if we bought digital, the cost would be somewhat lower. That is NOT the case with Sew Fresh Quilt patterns, as they are already a bargain, but some of the others are very pricey, whether you buy them digitally or in hard copy. 

I did attempt to mark up the document, as in mark off what I have sewn, but I didn't figure that out. So I'll try later. But I will NOT sew a digital pattern any other way. I get the full color version; I save on printing because this type of pattern works best in color, and if there are any mistakes and I get a new copy, I am not throwing anything away. Plus the ability to enlarge the pattern is FABULOUS. 

The only thing I printed was the four pages of cutting instructions. Then I can check that I cut and used that piece. It works for me, and I highly recommend going digital for any of these patterns with diagrams and color. 

I grabbed another small bag of triangles and sorted them. I am trying to have a definite light and dark with the colors, and I found these were too close. They work, but I didn't want to use them that way. I don't even remember making anything from these. But then I also remember asking people for triangles, and I got lots. Don't ask me why I would do such a silly thing, as I was generating enough of my own. But I'm working my way through the remaining three baskets, and I might just spend one or two days just focused on going through the bins and whittling them down into trimmed HSTs. 

Sorting HSTs

It's easy to say, "I'll spend 30 minutes a day working on HSTs," but then how do you schedule that in with all the other things you want to spend 30 minutes a day on? I'll do what I can, but now that I've made these units a focus, they will get done - just not overnight. 

Even though I said I would never do this again, I let it happen, and now there is a huge pile that needs to be pressed and trimmed. I'm OK with that - at least step one of three is done for these |HSTs. 

HSTs sewn but not pressed or trimmed.

And I know --- some of you are scratching your head and asking, "what will I do with them?" I'm sure I've shared my small quilts made with HSTs. I also made a pencil case way back in the day. 

Someone sent me this picutre - can you believe? I think she said there are 3,276-ish HSTs (1" - just like mine) in this quilt. That is a big quilt!!!! And it's mostly made from 1" finished HSTs - all scrappy. It must be very heavy!

A scrap quilt made from 1" finished HSTs

She also mentioned that it took her 9 months to make and trim the HSTs and then 2 months to sew it together! I don't have plans yet for mine, but I have several ideas sitting in the baskets of finished HSTs, so I will have lots to get my creative juices flowing. 

It was getting late in the day, and I had done nothing to clean up the mess in the house. The furniture upstairs was still in disarray from the electricians, there was drywall dust on the floors, and I needed to get it done. 

So I got super ambitious and cleaned up the guest room. Packed a couple more boxes for my SIL and moved my rack of quilts back into the room. All the suitcases got put back in the closet, and the room looks tidy. Studio U and the other two bedrooms are also back to normal! 

Here is the upstairs hallway—clear! 

The upstairs hallway is empty!

Then it was time to tackle the downstairs hallway and kitchen, which were strewn with boxes. The books all got repacked into smaller boxes - I need to schedule a pickup of them. And some of the electrical boxes got flattened for the recycling cart, and some were moved into the office to be dealt with another day. It gets boring to do a lot of that, and it's hard on my hands. I'm happy with the progress, and that's all that counts. 

The downstairs hallway

All that remains in the main hall are three boxes to be loaded into the car this morning and my stick vacuum, which I love. Every house needs one of those! I wish I had NOT bought the larger Dyson as I only use the stick broom. I think I'll be selling or giving that large Dyson away. 

And on that note, I'd better get myself organized for the morning chaos, then get back to sewing after Lexi's appointment. I NEED to get that block done today, as I need to move on to sample making. 

WAIT --- if you want to watch a time-lapse video of fungi, someone sent me this link. It's absolutely fascinating to watch. There is NO time mentioned in the video, and it would be interesting to know how long each fungus was filmed. Also, take note of the little critters that litter the screens. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Reconsidering the importance of value!

Oh dear --- I may have to switch out the grass on my blocks for Down on the Farm. I will evaluate it this morning and make a decision. I am going to redo the turtle block as well. This quilt is darn cute!!! And I am on the final block!!! This one also has grass in it, and well, maybe I can switch out the green, and if I like it, then I'll have to remake that section of the rooster block. It wouldn't be a lot of work. Maybe that's why I stopped at that point last night in cutting out the next block? 

Cutting out the last block.

 

But here is the eleventh block. It's a dog!!! 

The eleventh block

The dog has a blue eye and a red collar, just like someone I know. Wait - that could be Lexi with the mottled black fur! 

The final block awaits—what animal is it? Do you remember? Once this final block is done, I'll go back to reworking the couple of sections I need to revise. Hmmm -- let's have another look at that rooster block. 

The rooster and chicken

Yes -- I guess I could go back and find something different, as that grass does blend in in spots. I won't change the grass part that fits on the post - well, let me think about it, but now is the time to change for the final block. And do you notice how those teeny tiny flower centers stand out because I switched out that yellow after sewing just one of the flowers? Value does count!

While I have enjoyed working on this quilt, I will be glad to see it end. It has consumed my sewing time for the last two weeks, and I need to move on! So once the final block is done, I'll set it aside while I finish prepping new samples for my travels next week. Then anything that needs to be redone will get redone. Thankfully, the grasses are easy enough to cut and sew. 

Some of the boxes in the kitchen got flattened and are in the garage. I must make it a priority before the nice weather is over to take a load of crap out of the garage. It's not that bad, but a few things have accumulated, and I would like the garage to be a bit neater. I have loads of recycling, but I'm happy to fill our bin and put it out gradually rather than leave unsightly piles of recycling in the driveway. Loads of people do that. They don't break down boxes; they don't separate the garbage from the recycling. It drives me mad.

I packed another box for my SIL and plan to ship those two boxes today. I still have two boxes in the upstairs hallway to bring down. Everything in the main hallway needs to be dealt with today, so the hallway is clear for the cleaning people tomorrow. Worst case, they all get moved to the office as the cleaning staff doesn't come in here. It's too messy. 

Let's just say that "adulting" is hard work. Just keeping up with the cleaning and tidying of daily life is constant, and the minute you stop? You have clutter! 

The poor office has become the dumping ground for things that have yet to be dealt with. We all know that - I've mentioned it oodles of times. But boy - it would be nice to get the final dregs of the clutter out of this room. All the rooms are now clear of the clutter from the first decluttering round, which took about 15 years! Then it would be easy to start at the top and work my way down again. Let's face reality - I'll never be done. This is a constant part of life and one that some people just can't handle - like my Mom. But that's OK. We're working our way through that. 

I'm afraid that my Mom's days of living in their apartment are numbered. Her mobility is getting less and less, and soon, she will need more help than can be provided in the apartment. My Mom is overweight and hasn't been active for many years. She was happy to sit in her chair with minimal walking and zero exercise, even though she swears to us that she does them every day. 

As a result, she has lost muscle mass and thus mobility. You do NOT want to face this issue, and we are all smart. So, if you can, get up and do something! Chair squats, step-ups, or whatever, but do NOT lose your mobility and hence your independence!! The biggest issue is the use of the washroom - when you can no longer deal with that, you are toast! 

With all the moisture we've been having, the forest is exploding with fungi!! I grabbed a photo of these the other day. 

Fungi in the forest

It would be neat to have a time-lapse of their lifespan. I bet it's fast!

I like to read every day - it's a way to escape to new worlds, learn new things, and well, a good old murder mystery just gets the heart racing! I also read non-fiction, which I love. I have a long list of books on my waitlist in the Libby app, and sometimes, when a book comes up, I wonder who recommended it to me? 

I also get my recommendations from The Globe and Mail review. I think it's once a month and usually reviews 8 murder mysteries. Of course, I put all of them on my list! Although some of them are not out yet, I think all of them were this time. Thankfully, there are some LONG wait times on some of the books, and I'm OK with that. There's no need to be the first to read a new book. I'm past that point in my life where I want everything right NOW. 

The Globe and Mail monthly book review

My walk yesterday took me past the bookstore, so I had to wander in. They have a big puzzle section, but I did not buy any. I still have puzzles to pick up at Puzzles Canada, and they sent me a reminder over the weekend. I need to puzzle faster!! 

I spotted this one with pictures of windows!! 

A puzzle with different-style windows

Which made me laugh because this is my next puzzle. 

My new puzzle - DOORS!

Yep -- those are doors!! I wonder how difficult this one will be? It should be easy, but when I opened the box last night, I noticed the pieces are tiny! 

I also spotted this puzzle. You may or may not know that there is a movie out about The Odyssey. DH wants to go and wants me to come with him. That man just can't go to a movie on his own. The darn thing is 3 hours long, and so we have to go in the afternoon. My body will not deal with a three-hour movie at night. I'll be bored and asleep before the opening credits happen. 

But I spotted this puzzle and asked him if putting it together would substitute for the movie. If looks could kill!!! LOL. 

The Odyssey Puzzle

Good heavens - they even had glow-in-the-dark puzzles. 

Glow-in-the-dark puzzle

And the community puzzle was together! I don't get to the bookstore often, so I miss putting pieces in. But that's OK since I always have one on the go at my house. 

The puzzle at the bookstore was done!

The monthly theme for August was Wild Animals, and I just happened to have this one in the puzzle pile. It was a 500-piece puzzle and actually quite easy. 

The August-themed puzzle

I found the missing border piece - it was upside down and under another piece. I did a little bit of work on it in the morning and then finished it last night. This is much better than scrolling! And I noticed that Kilimanjaro is in the background! It's about this time last year that I was getting ready for my hike up that mountain! That was such a great trip!!!

I have to find the theme list for the remainder of the year and see if I have something that works. One of them was a destination, I'm sure, and I have a couple of puzzles for that. 

On my walk, I also hit the mall as I had something to pick up. On my way out, I saw this kiosk. You can PRINT your custom phone case with a picture. All from a kiosk. 

Print your custom phone case from a kiosk.

This next picture will make you think. 

YES --- it's hard to believe, but there are some sounds we no longer hear. I'm sure most are related to technology, but who remembers dial-up for the internet? And I'm sure there are a ton of other sounds we no longer hear. I haven't checked out the website, but here's the link. WAIT --- I don't think I found the link - I'll find it and post tomorrow. 

One sound I'd love to go away is the whine of motorcycles late at night. While we are far enough from the highway not to hear the daily traffic, when it's late at night and the sky is clear, we can hear the whine of a motorcycle for 30 KM or so, it seems. Why? Why do they have to make it whine like that at night? 

On that note, I'm off to the gym. I need to keep mobile, and it's helping my legs. I've had no issues or very little with walking in the last week. That could just be a fluke, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to keep going strong for as long as I can. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!

Down on the Farm - Block Ten - DONE!!!!

You are right -- 30 years is NOT old for a house, but the electrical stuff in the house is old! Many of the plugs were outdated or broken. That is not good news for safety and for our environment! Yet again!!!

OH MY -- I never thought about the QUILTsocial blog posts and AI. But you are right—you cannot tell it is AI. The voices and conversation are super smooth and sound just like two people casually talking - literally the way you would have a conversation in a podcast. DH says, I should be happy that it's NOT my voice talking. The feature only seems to be available on the Android phone. 

I'm still dealing with the aftermath of the electrician - pulling garbage from the boxes and flattening them for recycling. I wonder how many screws that are made are never used? All kinds of hardware come in anything you buy, and many times, they don't get used. Yep -- I could keep them, but what will I do with them? 

Then I have five boxes of stuff left over from when M's friend helped her clean the room, and I need to deal with those since I found someone who will come and pick up the books. So that is all in the hallway - either upstairs or on the main floor. And I'm trying to pack at least one box for my SIL, who wasn't able to get everything in her car. I should have checked her car before she left, since I could have packed some of this stuff in there. Take it out of the boxes and tuck it in the cracks! 

The house is in an uproar, and it needs to be tidy by Tuesday when the cleaning people come. I haven't told you the story about why we have cleaning people rather than a cleaning lady. But that will have to wait for another day. 

And it was only last night, when DH said, " Put the chicken in the oven," that I GASPED. I had completely forgotten to get the door fixed on the big oven. How long ago did that glass shatter? Goes to show that we do NOT use our oven often. Instead, we use the toaster oven. And it works for us. 

On top of all that commotion, I'm trying to get the Down on the Farm quilt finished!! I finally have the tenth block complete. My computer is having a hissy fit this morning and will not let me open email. So, before I finish, I'll try rebooting to see if that helps. 

As I've mentioned, I'm not only making the quilt, but pattern testing it at the same time. That means checking the sewing instructions against the diagrams and the cutting instructions. I almost got it right. I am out by two pieces, so I've requested an updated copy and will find those two missing pieces. When each block has 100+ pieces (don't panic - they are big blocks at 13½" by 20½"), it isn't a big deal to be missing a couple of pieces. It's the darn grass -- there is so much of it!!! But since the pattern is being sold, I know that if people find a discrepancy like that, they will not be happy, so I'll find it! 

The first two blocks on the final row.

And I have the next block cut out. This one should be much easier! I need to move on to other things, so I need to get these last two blocks complete ASAP. 

Block eleven is cut out.

Although you can't tell, I was out in the garden on Friday. I spent my half hour or more and did some more weeding. Yep -- as soon as I get the weeds out, they start to grow again! And that darn creeping vine -- you just can't get rid of it, and I didn't do a good job last time because I had run out of time. 

The creeping vine also grows between the rocks at the back of the pond. I don't have a picture for this, but imagine me playing Twister on the rocks as I attempt to pull out the vines. I had my little knee cushion and was facing head down towards the pond. One slip and OOPS - I was going to take a bath. Thankfully, no one got wet, and the weeds are gone! 

The rocks on the pond are free of weeds.

I never see all the fish at once, but they seem to be thriving, and once we get new outlets in the backyard, there should be no danger of them dying this coming winter. I have a new aerator and the heater still works. 

I am going to try to stick to my 30 minutes once a week to maintain and repair a few things in the backyard. If I'm in a good mood and the weather is decent, I may spend more time. I also need to find one of those hand-weeding tools -- it has a curved blade and looks mighty dangerous. I could buy it online, but I want to buy it in person. While I hand-pick the weeds, some have tough roots, and the tool will help pull them out so they don't start regrowing immediately after I yank off the top. 

I am also trying to clean up the bedrooms, which are in a bit of disarray after the electricians moved furniture to access the outlets. I decided to start in Studio U, which is quite a mess, because I had cleared a table for my SIL to work on. OK -- so she did jigsaw puzzles! But all my quilts have literally been stacked in heaps in that room, and it is time to get it organized. 

This isn't quite the before picture, but there was batting all over the room, quilts and samples everywhere, and well, I need to get it organized. It's been a long time since I've done anything in that room. 

An uproar in Studio U.

The sewing table looks marginally better, and I've started pulling samples for my upcoming trip; the items on the left are the ones I'm taking. 

The after, which still looks messy.

The cutting table needs to be put back in place. I've moved a fair amount of stuff to its proper place in the guest room where there is a big black cubby bookcase. I have sorted the table runners, and they are in their proper case. I found some linen storage bags at the thrift store, and they work perfectly for table runners. Now I need to assemble all the small wall hangings, and they will go in another linen case. Hopefully I can find space on my rolling cart, which has resided in the upstairs hallway for a year. It needs to be put back in the guest room, but I have to finish packing my SIL's stuff first. 

What I need is to sort the samples into what I want and what I don't, and find homes for what I don't want. It sure would make life a lot easier. I'm going to have to do that with the quilts. There are so many that I will never use for anything. I've got to get that under control and soon!

All the batting bits got stored back in the closet. I swear that I emptied a lot of that out and was using it for that group of community project quilts, but more has come in!

The batting closet

I store my trimmed HSTs in that room. And there were stacks of them strewn around the room. So I gathered them up and put them away. 

HSTs to be sorted and put away.

I'm not going to go into much detail because I'll be covering this in my scrap class, but this is a tin of trimmed HSTs. 

A tin of trimmed HSTs

I got a chuckle because the box is so full that some of them seem to be exploding out of the bottom. 

HSTs trying to escape

Others that no longer fit in this tin are in plastic bags, stored by size, and yes, they are labeled. I found another tin while going through some stuff, so now I have a new space to store those HSTs. WAIT -- I also have a couple of tins in the basement, so I could easily pull one of those back into duty. 

More bags of HSTs

I am determined to get those triangles under control - just like I have with the rest of my scraps. It's the final frontier of the sewing space! So I sorted the triangles on the tray by color, and I'm working my way through them. 

Triangles ready to sew into HSTs

There was one basket of unsorted triangles, and I'm slowly sorting them and adding them to the tray. 

Triangles to sort 

I also found a basket of triangles, along with two other containers, in Studio U, and my plan is to sort through them all. Can I deal with them by the time I touch on this in my scrap class? Time will tell. 

Another basket of triangles to sort

Every day, I spend a bit of time dealing with a bag or a handful of the triangles and sorting them. 

Sorting triangles for HSTs

BUT --- this is the question. How small is too small, and that's all I'm going to say about this. 

How small of a scrap will you keep?

The tray looks a bit fuller now, although I've been sewing, so it looks much different this morning. 

Lots of triangles on the tray, ready to sew.

And when I got bored of sewing, I would press and trim a few. It doesn't matter what you keep, as long as you have a home for it, or you are working on it, or have plans to work on it. Hmmm --- could someone define that phrase - "plans to work on it!"

Trimming HSTs 

I have had to ban myself from going to the thrift store. The lure of finding some amazing puzzles at reasonable prices and having coupons to use is just too much! If I take two bags, I can bring home twice as many puzzles. Sigh.................. My name is Elaline, and I'm a hoarder. Let's just face reality. 

BUT - I am working on them, and my intent is to give them away. I now have three in my giveaway box and gave a couple to my SIL. All were ones that I had finished. 

I spotted this little gem, which looked intriguing. It wasn't expensive, so I bought it, and it only has 100 pieces. Thank goodness for that. 

An IMPOSSIPUZZLE

The pieces were fairly large and cut into two different shapes. Hmmm -- the shapes were the same, but the orientation was different. Each piece had two holes and two knobs, but half were horizontal, and half were portrait. I'll take a picture so you can see what I mean. 

Anyway, there was no way that you could identify which parts of the candy cane fit into another, so this is one puzzle that I tried every piece in every place. I started by making the border and then worked row by row. And yes, once or twice, the piece that fit was the LAST one I picked up. 

Working row by row

Thankfully, each piece clicked properly into its rightful place, and I could then verify the pattern. It didn't take that long, but it's the first time I've had to do that with an entire puzzle. 

Just the middle is left.

And there it is -- done!!

The puzzle is done!!!

And there's a random picture of Lexi sleeping. This is one of her favorite places. WAIT --- where the fan is sitting is her favorite place, and I think she is making a point - move the fan!!!

MOM - move the fan!!!!

I'm well on my way with the next puzzle. This month's theme for the Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association is wild animals. I bought this one because it reminded me of the safaris we took last year. It's only 500 pieces, but the shapes are very weird - a lot of circular ones with four holes, and ones with four tabs. It's good to have variety in shapes, pictures, and the number of pieces.  

The next puzzle

Do I have a technique? I usually start with the border (one piece is still missing) and then by color, but after that? Well, I will go piece by piece if necessary. 

The weather is totally wacko! Yesterday morning was cool but humid, so it felt clammy. Today it's cool and dry, so it feels cold. And then it heats up in the daytime. I'm OK with the weather, but it changes so frequently, and one day it's very humid, and the next day it's dry. I prefer dry over humidity. I think the girls do as well. 

We tried to keep Miss Murphy in the house last night, but she wasn't having anything to do with that. So we let her out, and she slept like the dead. I went out at 11 to bring her in, but she was dead weight, and I couldn't lift her up, and she wasn't moving. She came in about 6 AM and is fast asleep in Lexi's raised bed. I hope to take her off the meds on Tuesday, so we'll see how she reacts at night then. 

I'm madly listening to audiobooks while sewing, tidying, and cleaning. It's the e-books that I'm struggling with. That requires some dedicated time, and when I try to read before going to sleep, sleep comes quickly! Perhaps today, I can spend some time in the gazebo. 

On that happy note, it's time to get moving!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!