The Sounds of Silence

I had a super day just hanging out at the house and I think the only sounds that could be heard was laughter. At what? What would you expect? Murphy, of course!!!! That dog is full of antics and how could you not laugh. Ok, Miss Lexi, we love you too, but you are just not as funny as your sister. Oh my --- did I say that out loud. I have a favorite? Oh poor Lexi, Don't worry, she's getting loads of love and attention too - just in a different way. 

And you've heard it said that dog owners soon start to resemble their pets? I think our pets have conformed to us. Lexi is like DH -- quiet, more reserved and Murphy? Well, all hell breaks out with her. 

So in an ideal world, the girls are NOT allowed on the furniture. However, over time, Lexi has become a part of laying on the sofa with DH. I said to the Monday ladies that when I get back, it wouldn't surprise me that Murphy has also overstepped her boundaries. 

Imagine my surprise when I came from the living room to the family room and saw this. 

MOM --- look at me -- I've been missing this big comfy bed!!!!

Ah Murphy -- -that is LEXI's spot!!!!! At which point, she looked at me and said -- seriously? This is a DOG spot. 

Of course, I am partially to blame because from time to time, and it was just shortly before I left, that I allowed her on the sofa one night when we were watching movies. So, the day before, when I got home and had my leg up and reading my book, she jumped up to join me. 

MOM -- look at me -- I missed you!!!!!!!!

 

Now seriously --- how can one get mad at a face like that? 

And there's Lexi -- all calm and aloof. 

Mom -- I can make funny faces too! I'm just as cute!!!!

I had plugged my DEAD Fitbit into a charger overnight the previous night to see what would happen and lo and behold, the darn thing charged. It wouldn't go higher than 92%, but let's see what happens. This is the second time it went totally dead and would not revive and both times I was out of the country. The first time, it recovered the next day. This time, it took two days to recover. 

FitBit is up and running again

While these next couple of weeks are ME time, it doesn't mean that I can't quilt and sew because that is what I like to do -- I just don't like having a crush of deadlines and obligations. So I decided it was a good time to quilt up some more community project quilts. 

I have eight Barbie quilts that Diane assembled (I know -- that was from fabric that I bought). Can you tell me why I had so much? 

Barbie quilt tops and backings

I know that it's hard to explain and I'm afraid you are going to hear about that trip for a long time, but that trip will forever be in my mind. I lived with minimal possessions for four weeks and I was totally happy. I see the excess in our lives in North American and it's -- well, I really want to get rid of everything in my life that I don't actively use. That is going to take a long time, but I'm being very proactive about making it happen. 

The more you have, the more time it takes to manage it, the more time to find a home for it and all sorts of other issues. It will take some emotional struggle to get rid of some things and others, I'll have no problem. But the point is that we put too much value on STUFF and I would love to live a simpler life!!!  Remember, I didn't even get the certificate for the half way point and that is something the old me would have been first in line for. What do I care? The trip will be forever in my heart and I don't need a piece of paper to remind me! 

I dug out some batting bits to make up batting. 

Batting bits for the quilts

And then I got to quilting. Boy -- I am out of touch or what!!!!  First, I loaded the quilt backing wrong -- forgot to pin it UNDER the bar, not over, so that had to be changed. 

Oops -- over the bar, not under!

Then when I cut the backing, I must have forgotten how to measure, because the backing was BARELY large enough for the quilts. 

The backing was JUST the right size

And then I set the Safe Zone too small and it would quilt one row at a time instead of two or three. Oh boy --- it was not my day. But that's OK -- it all worked out and I got two quilts done. They are on the same piece of backing so that's why they look like this. 

Two community projects - DONE

The bindings are all made, so my intention is as one is quilting, I will bind one that is quilted. Diane made eight and I have one other Barbie one, for a total of nine. My goal is to get them done and donated while Barbie is the in-thing right now. Thanks to Diane for reminding me of that before I went. 

Then I had a tub of flannel quilts that are designated for Quilts of Valour. I think there are ten in there. Shirley reminded me of them before I left and I'm going to try to get those done as well. If I could clear up those 19 quilts before it's time to go back to regular programming, that would be awesome. 

Quilt tops for Quilts of Valour

Remember, this is MY time to do whatever I want and although DH doesn't get why I was on the long arm yesterday, that's OK. I need to do something -- it's just not like me to sit around. It's allowing me to do something for others and I get a bit more stuff cleared out of the house!

I had pulled out a huge hunk of pink flannel, which got washed early one morning and there is enough fabric for the backing of six of the Barbie quilts. So I washed a bit more flannel for the remaining two quilts. I have a lot of flannel that needs to be washed for backings, so I washed several pieces. I won't use most of it now, but at least it's ready to go when I need it. 

Flannel to be washed for backings

Even though it was Monday sewing, I didn't participate. I logged in and I listened from afar, but I had no desire to participate in any conversations. I so enjoyed my mostly silent days when I was away. I can keep myself entertained for lengthy periods of time without any outside stimuli and so yesterday, I puttered silently and it felt good. 

I think part of the problem is that I'll get pulled into the daily routine by participating in Zoom and I'm' not ready. I seriously think I'm going through a culture shock to get back into my world. 

So I'm enjoying the sounds of silence! On the trip, I listened a lot to nature, but there is one sound that I am happy to no longer hear. Those morning doves and their WHOO WHOO (pause) WHOO!!!!  They are everywhere and after a while, I was ready to shoot them!!! Oops!!!! So much for patience!!!

The other sound I am happy to leave behind is slamming doors. What???? I believe in all places that the windows were open all night and for the most part we stayed in rooms with doors. So when people are getting up to pee or to leave for the day, as much as they try (and I think some of them didn't), the wind causes the door to bang shut! At some point, I was losing my patience. WAIT - I'm supposed to keep my cool! But those slamming doors were grating!!

I did answer my phone TWICE yesterday, but both of them were important calls that needed to be answered and had nothing to do with work. Other than that, I had a quiet day and I was happy as a clam. And I finished another book!

Well, I'm sorry to Lexi, but here are two other pictures of Murphy (Lexi is going to have to step up her game if she wants to be on the blog!). At one point, I was throwing a big pink ball across the pond for Murphy to fetch. The ball got caught in the trees and Murphy was beyond herself trying to get it. Since it was close tot he edge, she didn't know what to do. So this is what happened. I think one of her legs slipped into the water as well as she was wet. 

MOM -- a little help!!!!!

If you look closely, you can see the pink ball just above her left ear in the bushes. It was hilarious!!!!! 

And then she finally settled down. I peered through the door and saw her sitting like this. 

MOM --- why won't you play with me? I'm super cute!!!!!

Seriously - how can you kick her of the couch when she is so cute! But she desperately needs to be groomed. She is filthy and will always be filthy with the dirt in the back yard. Lexi also needs a bath and a good brushing. That is a never ending job with both of them!!!

M computer woes need to be solved - -I had forgotten about them. The keyboard doesn't work on the big computer and I can't get into e-mail on my laptop!! It's a first world problem to be sure, so I had to use two computers to set up the blog this morning!!! Sigh.................

Today is an appointment with the physio and let's see what he says about my knee. This does NOT feel joint related -- it's more tendon or muscle and let's pray not bone! 

On that note --- here's a link to one of my favorite songs --- The Sounds of Silence. There are several versions and if you don't like this one, find the original!! But it's a powerful song and I LOVE it. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!