Back in the groove of daily life!

OK -- so I said that things would slow down, and they have, but why am I pressed for time this morning? Well, it was a busy day because I was quilting a giant quilt, and then I took some gazebo time and took the girls for an extra walk. And well --- you just can't fit everything in the day! 

I think Murphy was trying to tell me something! PLAY WITH ME!!! Stop being on the computer! And, of course, my "on the floor" filing system is now a mess! Oh, Murphy! 

MOM -- I'm the most important person of all! 

Then she enjoyed watching the neighbor play with his radio-controlled car. Now we have two people on the street with their cars. One person moved in last summer, so hopefully, they will get to know each other! But man -- could he make that car move! If I were driving, I'd be crashing the car into everything! 

MOM -- there's a car out there! 

Remember me complaining about the tree in the neighbor's front yard? And bits and pieces kept getting chopped off and left in the driveway? Imagine my surprise yesterday when I returned from the grocery store to find the tree completely gone! I bet the people in that red house are jumping up and down with glee! 

The UGLY tree is gone

Was that the decision of the homeowner? Did someone complain, as it really was an eyesore? And now there's a stump. You can bet suckers will grow from that, and the owner will do NOTHING about it. So it looks neat right now, but it'll become a mess shortly! At least you can almost see the house! 

Someone mentioned that perhaps they work at night --- no, this person does not work; to my knowledge, she lives alone. In 20 years, I have NEVER seen a light in the house. Not at night, not in the afternoon, not in the morning. The blinds are always shut, and NOTHING seeps through those blinds. It's like the house has been totally blacked out! We call it the drug house! 

So while I was hanging out in the gazebo, I had company. Oh, Lexi -- this is not your best side!! But she was only there because I was having my cucumber snack, and she wanted some! She looks like a Corgi!!! 

MOM -- I WANT a snack!

Well, they were both in the gazebo with me. Those silly girls. 

Hey MOM --- we love you! 

The giant quilt was red and white, so you know what that means. As I rolled that quilt, I had to pull many red threads off the back or scoot them to the red fabric. Nothing can be done about that before the quilt comes to me. I hope I got most of the threads tucked away. It's always a huge challenge to quilt a quilt with a white background. 

Tucking threads out of the way

But it's done. I've got another one lined up for today -- that will be a daily occurrence for a couple of weeks or almost daily. 

Customer quilt - DONE

This is NOT my 150 Canadian Women quilt -- notice the borders are different! My corners are white! I plan to get it trimmed later today. We'll see how the day goes as I have two presentations this morning, and while both are prepped, I will likely have a straggler or two to submit photos. And I really want to clear that cutting table. So close, and I can do it!

That quilt took a lot of babysitting, so I didn't get much else done, but I was trying to finish the blocks for the Barn Star Sampler. And there were bits all over the ironing board in various stages of completion! I'll share the blocks with you tomorrow, as I want to send a picture to the group first. 

Bits of blocks on the ironing board

Yes --- some of those bits are NOT for the Barn Star, but things that need to be pressed! 

My next-door neighbor, who hasn't been home for years (his son lives there), is home. I spoke to him yesterday, and he's home for two weeks to clean the place up! The outside is a mess, but he's done a great job since returning. The backyard was so overgrown, which was very sad since the parents took such good care of the place. The leaning tree blocking our gate is now standing upright, and I can only hope they attempt to remove the remaining dead cedars along the fence. It's right in my sightline from the gazebo. I had our landscaper cut down some (with the son's permission) last year, but more needs to go! 

I'm making a considerable effort to talk 14 KM every day. I'm down to 16 days, and I CAN DO IT!!! I walked just over 14 KM yesterday, bringing that average back down! And the weather is supposed to be warm by the end of the week, which is good. Others have much worse weather than our coolish temperatures, but I'd love a stinking HOT day! 

On that note, I'm off to walk the girls!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!