Do as I say, NOT as I do............................

Yes - I am always trying to toot my horn - telling you "good" I am - how neat I am - how "perfect" I am - how rational - how sane - well you get the picture. And I have to say that I do follow my advice MOST of the time.

And if you don't believe - have a look at this.........................

The sewing area - NEAT as a pin

The ironing surface - EMPTY

The cutting table - pretty empty (I have to deal with those few items TODAY)

The layout area - notice one clean table waiting for Marian and I to work on a cool project today. The table  back left has a quilt laid out that I am putting the borders on and the table in the back right - those are ON DECK projects. Things that need to be done in the next two weeks.

And I have been busy - getting PROJECTS done or at least up to date.........................

Border Creek Mystery - LAP QUILT - everything UP TO DATE (including those HST)

Got the borders on this quilt from A Little Bit Crazy (Buggy Barn)

Got the backing and the binding DONE!

Got the blocks (finally) assembled in Buy the Yard Mystery - Debbie Caffrey. I had to purchase a fabric for one of the borders yesterday. It is currently laid out as I wait advice from my personal colour consultant (Marian). However as I was looking at the picture I took this AM (the one of the three tables) - I think I solved my problem!!!!!

Got the top row of this black and white together. Not sure whose pattern this is. I got the idea from Linda - so I just call this Linda's quilt!!!!

GIANT customer quilt is quilted and trimmed and already picked up!!!

So yes - I have been busy and so far - I sound like the sane, rational, energetic person that you thought I was. However - look behind the scenes and see what happens......................

I happened upon this fabric which I thought would be perfect for  that Buggy Barn quilt. I GUESSED how much I would need for the backing and LOOK WHAT I HAD LEFT OVER. Did I get LUCKY or was it TALENT????  Don't do this at home folks - measure BEFORE buying just in case!!!!

Cutting some scraps (UGLY scraps) to make a braid quilt. 

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS or at least think about what you are doing!!!!    (I don't have instructions for this). But  I just spent a lot of time cutting muslin for the LIGHT side of the braid. Then I cut the dark side and NOT THINKING - I laid the fabrics right sides together - of course - I got a left and a right - when I need one or the other but not both!!!!!!    The muslin - doesn't matter as both sides are the same!!!!!  I'm guessing about 1/4 of the strips are cut wrong. I am going to use the wrong side as much as possible - maybe for all that I miscut!!!!!    DUH!!!!!!

So far so good. Those are minor things that can be dealt with. Let's go back a couple of days ago - the missed geocaching day. The fact that I did not get that one has been niggling at the back of my mind. I managed to contact someone who was going and wanted company. We made arrangements to meet up at NIGHT in the DARK. And as the time got closer to meet, my daughter is asking "are you sure you want to meet a STRANGER in the dark, in the forest where no one is around??????"   Yep - I'm OK with that.  OK - so I tell her not to do it, but I was meeting someone specific. 

I arrive at the spot where the cache is and I scramble back down the steel hill. I take stock of the situation - yep - hasn't changed and that thing is still OUT OF REACH. I settle down to wait. Oh - are those flashlights coming???  Yes - but taking FOREVER. It was absolutely gorgeous there. The river was just below and rushing by making beautiful noise, the moon was almost full. It was very peaceful. 

Wait - I see lights. Hey - how many people are coming???   Well with a couple of head lamps and flashlights - turns out there were three people. 

And they brought specialized equipment because they knew what they were up against as one of them had scouted the area the day before. A screwdriver to connect everything and we were in business and quickly found the cache. All in the dark, well - we had flashlights. And NO ONE had to climb the tree!!!!

Very clever. While I was waiting I got bored and took some pictures. 

See that LOG - I shinnied out that stupid log and ALMOST got the V in the tree, but chickened out!!!!!   It is quite high  above the ground (see the river reflected just under the log)

See - I got as far as that sloping tree on the right and that was it for me. But I managed to get out on the bottom log (you can't really see it in the picture) only because I was holding onto the log on top. See that bottom log is three or four feet off the ground. 

See how steep the terrain is - this is the right orientation!!!!!

The log - do I walk it or not???????

Here is the cache - pretty clever!!!!!!

So while we were out - there were a couple more in the same area. When we came to the next one (also in a tree - I didn't have to worry about getting it!!!!!  Thanks Chris-mouse. I could have gotten this one. The angle wasn't nearly as bad as the other one.

Getting the cache.

Anyway - it was GREAT FUN. The guys were very nice and I am inviting myself along on their regular Friday night caching. But not this Friday - going away to the retreat!!!!!


Now dogs are weird creatures. You can buy them all the cozy dog beds in the world, but look where they prefer to sleep.........................

Oh Mom - thanks for the batting - this is VERY cozy!!!!!

Aw - I can stretch out and STILL be on the batting

My bed is MUCH TOO SMALL!!!!!!

And no wonder those dogs seem to sleep a LOT when I am home. Why you ask????   Because they are into everything when I am away!!!!!

There was a few food morsels in this garbage which I had left on the stairs to bring up. Yep - they emptied it to find those few morsels. Honestly - you would think we never fed these dogs.

I love to feed the birds in the backyard. My yard is NOT big and it is hard to find a place to place the bird feeder where the squirrels cannot get to it. So I purchased a new bird feeder - a long metal one so hopefully the squirrels will be challenged to get to it. Don't worry about the squirrels - they have their own feeder with peanuts in it. 

But I had a guest yesterday...................

The backyard visitor - wonder where his mate was??

My personal shopper (Marian) had a mission. Find a brilliant blue fabric with gave the illusion of motion/energy. I think she did an AMAZING job!!!!!

Brilliant blue - the personal shopped did GOOD!!!!!

And it looks awesome with the orange background!!   PERFECT!!!!

The BRILLIANT blue with the orange - that has some WOW factor to it!!!!!

Also up to my eyeballs with Scrabble. I don't even know how many games I have on the go, but do you think it is my turn?????

I get notifications when it is my turn - yep - I think it is MY turn to play!!!!   Have to love playing on the iPad. So much better than the computer because I can play in bed, in the car, while waiting for dinner to cook. ANYWHERE!!!!!   Matter of fact - one of the girls I play with bought an iPad - just so she could play Scrabble!!!!!

Well - got a busy day planned and must get started!!!



Have a great day!!


Ciao!!!!