It's a half-square triangle day!

Here's an update on several situations. After a few messages back and forth with M, it seems that if I read her text correctly, the designer will make the veil; it's my job to embroider it!! OK -- I think I can handle that. Thanks for the tips from everyone. Now I just need to find out the timing --- and she's in BC, and I'm here! But that's no issue!

As for the house? We didn't have any leaks yesterday, even though the sun was out. My towel stayed dry all day. I spoke to the insurance company, and OH MY—was that interesting. I started by speaking to the broker because at this point, it's not an emergency. I left a message, and she called back very quickly, so that was a positive. She said I need to contact the Claims Department and open a claim. Well, my first thought was—was this even a claim? That's why I called the broker. 

She gave me a phone number to call, and I was good to go. Or so I thought. The number turned out to be a fax line, so I found the Claims number in my insurance documents, which I was sorting at the time. I called Claims, and they explained that the broker's job is to review our insurance file and ensure a claim is even possible. Apparently, it is quite common for the broker to just pass the buck to the Claims department. The lady in Claims was quite nice and suggested I get a quote from an independent contractor before we open a claim. 

I have contacted an engineering firm to assess the issue. You see, I could easily have insurance come in and fix the wall inside the house, but that is NOT fixing the problem, and what's the point of fixing the walls when it will happen again? Nope—I want the problem solved, and then I can repair the damage. 

I don't know whether this engineering company will help, since the person who answered the phone at the firm asked whether there was an attic. In that part of the house, there is NOT, and that is part of the problem. I enticed them with the beam issue in the house and sent lots of pictures, including the other two houses on our street with the same roofline and the same issue. They're doing their reviews next week, so let's keep our fingers crossed that they are intrigued to at least talk to us. 

Here are the other two houses with the same roofline as ours. The problem doesn't seem too bad here, but the ice is actually accumulating between the eavestrough and the house.  

This house doesn't look too bad, but it still has an ice dam

But look at this one. It seems to get worse by the day. And you can see that large tree in front, shading it from the sun for a good part of the day. I'm surprised the weight isn't pulling the eavestrough off. 

A HUGE ice dam

Ours doesn't look so bad, but it's still an issue. 

I'm almost afraid to proceed with anything on this project, because I know it is going to grow. When that wall/ceiling is repaired and the beam is fixed (if we go there), those areas will need repainting. The living room is very open to the central hallway. That will be a huge job. And if they are repainting, why not remove the popcorn ceilings? The ceilings in the kitchen/family room area also have popcorn ceilings and damage that needs to be repainted. Why not get the wood floors refinished? And I hate the ceramic floor on the main level, so why not pull that up? And then that means the kitchen and the powder room will need to be redone. And -- OH NO!!!!! So, like you, I'll wait and see what happens, and in the meantime, I'm keeping an eye on my towel to make sure the drips don't splash everywhere on the floor!

Brooke was cruel yesterday, and my upper body was exhausted by the time I was done. While I'm not sore this morning, I can still feel that workout, so it was a good one! Now that my upper back is being slowly released through all my stretching, we need to strengthen it, so it doesn't hunch back on itself again. It's all fun and games, but I can't say enough about how these changes and that stretching have changed my life. 

My legs feel STRONG when I go for a walk, and standing and sitting are zero issues. Stairs are becoming a no-brainer as well, although I refuse to throw caution to the wind and ALWAYS use the handrail. And all it took was a little bit of discipline on my part. All the stuff I was doing was great, but since I wasn't stretching enough, I was probably doing more damage! All is good now. 

Speaking of handrails, we just heard that a friend of ours (my old boss) fell down the stairs while wrestling a suitcase. He and his wife were on their way to the airport for a two-week trip to Mexico. Now with a broken knee, he's not going anywhere fast. So there are two lessons in that story. First - why would you need a huge (and likely heavy) suitcase to go anywhere for two weeks, and hold the darn handrail!

I got this in the mail yesterday. Tick tock!!!!! 

Count down!!!!!

Again, I finished what I set out to accomplish yesterday. I find that sometimes, if I go too quickly on a project, I start making mistakes, and I've already made enough. So a good deal of quilting got done, and it looks amazing. The texture is something else, and sometimes less is more! I need to finish the quilting today and make the binding. Then tomorrow will be all about the binding and submitting it. I'm on track, and it feels good. Will it get accepted? Who knows, and quite frankly, I don't care, although it would be a bonus. But the planning and execution of this piece has been a wild journey! I'll keep you posted on that as well. 

Remember that little stack of half-square triangles? Well, I got my act together and trimmed them all. 

Trimming half-square triangles

I need to make some adjustments on the ironing board - more on that tomorrow, and this little container, that sits on the end of the ironing board, still has many half-square triangles in it that need to be pressed and trimmed. 

Container with half-square triangles

So I grabbed a handful this morning and trimmed them. Hmm -- I don't think I took a picture after they were trimmed, but trust me - they are trimmed!!!

More half-square triangles to trim

And speaking of half-square triangles, this entire project is based on half-square triangles, and it's a challenge. I think there are two different 9-patches in this sequence, but my brain isn't wrapping around it well. I want the seams to all twirl on the back, so I'm assembling it one nine-patch at a time, checking the seams, and then sewing them together. I have four done, and I need 16!!! 

Working on my half-square triangle border

To save time, I stitched a bunch of half-square triangles together and cut them apart, but they haven't been pressed or trimmed. I'll only press them when I need them, so I know which direction to press. 

So lots of progress is being made, and I'm loving the even more open and calm space than I had before. That table of projects doesn't bother me in the least. I totally ignore it until I need to find something on it. A friend of mine had a large stack of quilts that needed to be bound, and they kept speaking to her, so she covered them with a quilt, which I thought was hilarious (in a good way!). I'm just ignoring that pile, and it works for me. 

To keep my day well-rounded, I was back at the physical paperwork. Remember, a while back, when I pulled a bunch of folders from the filing cabinet? They were still sitting on the floor in the office. So I grabbed a couple and am going through them. 

One of them was marked "to sort," and it was filled with all kinds of ridiculous things that no one needed to keep EVER!!!!! 

More paper files to sort

It's all about slow and steady and not letting things get forgotten, which we seem to be very good at. Something new and shiny comes along and POOF -- we are off and running in a new direction. Well, I am trying to stop doing that because I just don't want to be pulled in a new direction. I want to stay the course! 

I am not a fan of apps on my phone. Half the time, they don't work for me, or they need a password, and I can't get in, and it literally drives me mad! 

But I'm trying to learn a bit more about my FitBit app. Who knew that this tiny device on my wrist was collecting so much data about me? 

The one metric that seems to have become a big deal in our house is the amount and type of sleep you have. In particular, the deep sleep. Did you know that you have all this information in your FitBit app? This is just the tip of the iceberg!!!

One night of sleep data

Deep sleep is very good for you, and I seem to do very well with it, getting at least one hour almost every night. That is the sleep that helps your body recover, improve your immune system, get rid of the garbage in your brain, etc. By the sounds of it, I'm lucky in this house! And probably why I'm as healthy as I am. 

DH reads The Economist, and if something is mentioned there, it's worth knowing about! He's such a snob. Anyway, a new sign of fitness is called Heart Rate Variability, and he spotted that in an article in the magazine. Anything like that lands at my place at the kitchen table. I glanced at it and didn't understand a word the article said. Then I found the metric in my app, and OH—now it makes sense. 

This shows how much your heart rate varies in a day and how quickly you recover. OK -- that's not quite the correct explanation, but if your heart rate varies, that is a good thing, meaning that you can cope better with stress. So when it needs to be up, your heart can handle it, and when it needs to be down, it can handle that as well. Mine is at 19 ms, which I think is quite low, but the app seems to think I'm good for my age!!!!

OK -- I like my Monday sewing friends a lot, but they can be trouble! They keep posting the titles of good books on our app - yep - another app. And then I have to add those books to my list. Actually, I put them on hold since most are popular and I can't get them immediately. I need to stop that! There is a spot to tag "books I want to read" instead of putting them on hold!! But I've expanded my genres and reading scope hugely by reading their recommendations. So while they can be bothersome at times, they really are a good bunch of ladies!!!! I've also got lots of recommendations from you!!! Thanks!!!

Well, there is much to do today - more sorting to start with. I am stunned at how "easy" it's been to go through that filing cabinet. I'm not done yet, but two drawers (of four) are almost done! That's unheard of! I thought it would take forever. Then I can move on to something else. The quilting on the Cherrywood Challenge MUST be completed by tonight, and the piece must be trimmed. and then anything else that gets done is a bonus!! I like variety in my day! WAIT -- I have two emails that MUST go out today, so that must be done as well. 

Remember that most of us, especially at our age, are turtles. We get things done in our way and in our time. That's OK - just be sure that if you stop along the way to admire the flowers (or take a nap), you get back on track. 

On that happy note, have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!