When a tree falls in the forest.................

OK --- I feel like I'm somewhat back in business. I slept a LOT yesterday, with my leg propped up on the back of the sofa -- well, both legs on the back of the sofa (well-supported, mind you), and my knee is feeling better. I'm not going to lie -- I won't be running any marathons any time soon, but the physio suggested that I do exercises where I don't have to put weight on my knee -- like spin class, so I'll be back to spin class on Monday.

I walked both girls yesterday, but shorter than usual, and I walked to the grocery store, so I got my 10,000 steps in. I could feel that extra weight of the things I carried home, which is a bit of an eye-opener as to how much weight one carries regularly on the body. I bet losing 10 lbs would do me a world of good, so I'm not making that a firm goal, but I will see what I can do. Because of my knees, I know that keeping my weight down will be super important, or I will be in a world of hurt as I get older. And we can't have that, and if keeping the weight off means delaying a knee replacement, so be it!!! Wait -- no one told me I need a knee replacement; I think it'll likely be on the agenda at some point. 

AND I got a new keyboard with a mouse. Well, they are two separate devices, but in the past, I had to have a dongle for both the keyboard AND the mouse, and now I have one for both. I didn't take a picture, but it's fancy with all these buttons. I just need the keys. It's a bit noisier than I thought, but that's life!! Yeah -- I can type again!

Boy - this unsubscribing business is a slow process. I've been sorting e-mails and unsubscribing. I'm still at over 19,000 e-mails, so there are one or two categories where I have saved tons of e-mails, or there is just a LOT to unsubscribe. As I mentioned yesterday, which ones to unsubscribe and which ones to keep is a big deal. Some are easy to unsubscribe, and some are not. 

Here's the thing -- let's say that you get e-mails from a thread company. It's mostly to say -- hey -- this thread is on sale, but you must buy from them. Let's face it: When we buy directly from a company, we support that company, not the local quilt shop. OK -- so it happens, and we can all live with that. But the shipping cost doesn't make it worthwhile for those of us in Canada, so why am I getting those e-mails? And I know there is a ton of thread information on their website, so if I need information, I know where to go. So UNSUBSCRIBE!!!!  

Someone suggested using rules to tame the e-mails, and while that is an excellent idea, and I use rules and the search functions to find e-mails that people send to me, it doesn't eliminate the quantity issue. And if I'm going to put e-mails into a folder and never look at them? That means I shouldn't be getting them in the first place. So, UNSUBSCRIBE it is. I am using 60 GB of storage for my e-mails and attachments. That is totally INSANE!!!!!

I may end up dealing with the e-mails I get each day. Hmm -- at noon, I can sort them by FROM, then start deleting and unsubscribing. At some point, it'll all go away except those I want to keep or need to answer. Once it gets down to a manageable level, I can delete more or unsubscribe or even feel I can add one or two - but I doubt that!!!

I once worked for a man whose inbox was empty at the end of every day. He was a manager, and I swear he actioned each e-mail within minutes of arriving. He was a pain, you know where, and he and I did not get along! 

So yes, the e-mail thing will take a bit of time to get under control, and I still need to continue to work through those folders -- but at least I have a good folder system and just need to delete the old stuff. That's pretty easy, and much has already been done. 

On the quilting front, I made good progress. I got one more quilt done -- one of the ones for Quilts of Valour. They are pretty scrappy; if they don't want them, they will be donated to someone else, but at least they will be done. 

Scrap quilt - DONE

Still, it's flannel front and back, so it will be super cozy. I have to make the backings for the next six, and well, I didn't get any of that done yesterday. I hoped to make the backing for the next one this morning, and my body said -- NO -- you need to sleep. So even though I woke up at ridiculous o'clock again, I dozed on and off for several hours, so let's hope my clock is back on track!!!!

I got one of the Barbie quilts completely done, and the binding (one side) is on the remaining seven, so it won't take long to finish those off. 

As for the ninth one? I'm almost done with the ripping out. Yeah -- if all goes well, I should get that done today, and I might put that on the machine and attempt to finish all the Barbie quilts tomorrow. Then I can get back to work on those seven Quilts of Valour quilts. 

I also have computer work and class preparations to do, so I must get to work on that. All in good time!!! There are no imminent deadlines yet, but I know they are fast approaching. 

So here's the thing. I took Miss Lexi for a longer walk yesterday, and we passed by that HUGE tree that has been leaning badly for over one year. It's a massive tree. I even had the city come and look at it back at the beginning of the year because if that tree fell and went over the fence into the houses, it would not be good. They did nothing. 

Well, that tree has fallen, and from the looks of the leaves, it fell a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, it did NOT fall on the houses but into the other trees. Now, if no one heard that tree crack as it went over, well -----It's kind of sad because the tree was very healthy, but it was on a slight incline, and it was leaning to one side, and I bet the weight of it just toppled it over. Well, that will make room for the younger trees in that area to rise up!!!!

Massive tree falls

Someone posted a note on Facebook the other day about our society and how we are dumbing everything down. Here's an example that BLOWS my mind. So, the path in the forest is gravel. There are a few hills, and so when it rains, there is going to be erosion. No BIG deal. 

A bit of erosion

They have put pylons and barriers to alert people to the issue. But I saw this sign the other day. 

New caution sign in the forest

Seriously???? Our society has gone to the dogs. Can people not equate a gravel path to possible uneven surfaces? This just goes to show that people have lost their common sense, and who is to blame for this? The do-gooders who want to include everyone in every activity? The governments to protect their butts? The lawyers who can make money by suing people? WHO is responsible for this mess? 

It makes me laugh because when I think of the Camino and the type of terrain we walked on -- this granular path warning is hilarious!!!! There are parts of that trail that "those people" would cringe at, and there would be guardrails, signs, detours, and god knows what else. It's NATURE!!!!!!

This first picture is a very steep decline, and notice how it's paved to prevent erosion. 

Paves descent

This was a steep incline, and it wasn't paved, but still loads of room to walk without falling in the crevice!!!! 

Not paved

Although in some extremely remote (or so it seemed to me) areas, some of those steeper downhills subject to erosion were PAVED!!!! With cobblestones or pavers or whatever. Why doesn't the city just pave those two small hills that are causing the "erosion" problem? Just whack some pavement on the two sections, and you are done! And I was at the train station in Madrid on my way to the airport. Big wide platforms are open on both sides to allow the trains to enter the station. The Madrid train station is under massive construction, and at one point, the big wide platform is down to about 4 feet right beside the track. That would never happen here -- we'd have warning signs and tape, and god knows what else to protect the idiots who are walking and looking at their cell phones instead of where they are going. 

The world is fast going downhill and not in a good way. I notice little patches of pavement on the sidewalks in my neighborhood if there is a slight difference in the height of the sidewalk sections. Can people not look and see where they are walking? 

Before we know it, we will have to have signs at our front doors -- you are about to exit the safety of your home. Be aware of EVERYTHING!!!! And that is if you can call your home safe!

Let people fall, scrap their knees, or whatever -- perhaps they will learn to care for themselves. Sigh.................................

The poor girls desperately needed grooming when I got back. I find the easiest way to get the hair off of Lexi is to pluck her like a chicken. I know -- poor dog!!!! And then I leave handfuls of hair in the forest. A dog massacre, to be sure!!! 

A dog massacre

When I was at Chapter's, I spotted this book. I should have looked inside, but it made me smile --- where will you go?????? 

So I've sorted through my pending folder and need to address stuff in there today, and there are a few phone calls I need to make, so I might have to leave the long arm today to catch up on that other stuff. I must say that it takes a while to switch from vacation mode to real mode; honestly, I like vacation mode! But the quiet thing has really helped -- I would NOT be making good company for anyone these days. 

I'm listening to the third Harry Potter book and over half done. I'm not fond of the narrator, but it is what it is!!! 

So, on that note, I'm out of here!!!! Remember to mark the Virtual Retreat in your calendar for Saturday and Sunday. I'll make an appearance, but I'll see how it goes. I'm still not in the mood to chat! Can you believe I said that? 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!!