PLUS ONE!!!! It's going to be PLUS ONE!!!

I love all your comments about being busy in retirement! I will always be busy, but I guess my point is that I see retired people constantly signing up for commitments. They head up a committee, take tons of classes, or make themselves accountable to SOMETHING or SOMEONE, and that accountability fills their day. It's almost like working again. 

You need to be busy, but if you decide to take a day off from quilting, who will care? I want to be busy, but free of deadlines and headaches! And being accountable to others. While I still have responsibilities, I don't have the same level of commitment to others, so my time is now spent on what I want to do, not what I have to do for others. 

That might be a better way of explaining it!

And YES --- getting yourself organized the night before makes it so much easier to tackle any job in the morning. That might be threading the sewing machine, doing a bit of cutting or trimming, or simply planning the steps in your head. Whatever it takes!! And that's also why I like to leave my sewing and work areas neat and tidy before I close down for the night. If not, you'll be dealing with an unappealing mess in the morning, and it's not so fun to deal with that BEFORE you start work. 

I'm also pretty diligent about putting things away when I am finished with them, which also helps. 

As for the files? Don't get me started! I am pecking away at the mess, and I think I have almost everything in two of the three external drives where it should be. Of course, some of those folders might be a download dump from my phone camera, which encompasses thousands of photos, but at least all the photos (most of them) are in one spot! 

And YES - I know I must do some sort of backup because I'd be devastated if anything happened at this point. I promise to work on that. And hard disks fail - the ones in your computer are more vulnerable, in my opinion, but that's probably not true. I'm sure I mentioned this before: I had an external hard drive I used for photos, and it failed! YEP  - it failed, and it cost a LOT of money (four figures) to recover the files. That hard disk is long gone. 

USBs and CDs are disasters waiting to happen. They are TEMPORARY storage and NOT meant for long-term storage. I have had MANY USBs fail, and thankfully, it was nothing of importance, or was it? Since I can't access them, I have no idea! NOTHING in the digital world is long-term. So get that stuff on a hard disk, back it up, and REPLACE those hard disks regularly -- every three to five years. I'm sure no one needs three disks—I don't need three disks—that's a ton of storage, but it's how I'm working at the moment. 

And the main one I've been using is due to be replaced. It's been there for years, and the last thing I want is for it to fail. 

It's all baby steps, and we each need to find what works for us! I'm just taking you along on my journey, and you need to find a route that gets you where you want to go. BUT WAIT -- first, you need to want to go somewhere. Sometimes we get derailed, or we are reluctant to get started. That is each person's choice! 

For several reasons, I've decided to get on the highway and keep rolling along, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. It took a long time to get to that point, and by the time I'm done, I think my highway will have stretched to the moon and back - it's a long journey. But every step forward is one more step. 

My motivations are strong—I do NOT want to leave a legacy that forces others to deal with my mess. Why should I saddle someone else with dealing with stuff that was my responsibility? That is so irresponsible!! Nope -- this is my mess, and I shall deal with it the best I can. And by the time I need to downsize, there won't be much to deal with. That's my plan, and I'm getting there - slowly. 

I also have ZERO desire to start a new project. NONE!! That euphoric feeling is now coming from starting "NEW" UFO projects each month. That's hilarious, but I look at the current project table and get excited about finishing off more small things each month. It's so silly, and it's like a game to me, and it's working, so I'm going to continue. How much stuff can be cleared off those tables by the end of the year? 

Speaking of photos, OH MY GOSH!!!! I was mentioning something to the Monday group, and I found the pictures this morning!!! What are the chances of that? And can you believe it? They were in a folder with a very descriptive name! It was just buried within other folders! I'll share it another day as I want to surprise them next week!

And look at this! These were my running shoes back in 2016 (date on the photo). Yes -- both toes were blown out! I have learned that I cannot wear "running" shoes with the mesh toe. My HOKAs have never had that problem. So I'm a HOKA loyal fan now. 

Typical running shoes back in the day

I accomplished some sewing yesterday and at last got this invisible zipper into my cushion cover. Good grief—it doesn't matter what color invisible zipper you use; you can't see the darn thing!!! You can see the end of the zipper on the right, but even with the light and dark of the two sides, the zipper is invisible. Now to finish the edges with the serger! Invisible zippers are also very easy to insert!! Two seams and you are done. Super easy, especially with an invisible zipper foot. 

Invisible zippers are INVISIBLE.

The bias binding was put on these table mats, and now, because of the bias edges, I'll hand-stitch it in place. 

Bias binding stitched in place

And the Dear Jen top is in one piece. Now to work on the back. I cannot tell you how much more exciting it is to finish some of these things than to start something new. As I mentioned, I have ZERO, absolutely ZERO interest in starting something new. 

My abbreviated Dear Jen quilt top

I even got a few half-square triangles trimmed. 

Half-square triangles trimmed

And YES -- I did some work on the Cherrywood Challenge. I didn't get as much done as I thought, because I decided to switch out some elements, but all the quilting is designed, and all the appliqué is finished. Today, it's all about machine embroidery on the piece, and that is going to take some time. What I'm stitching is designed, but the placement might take a bit of time. However, I have some amazing placement tools on the Husqvarna Viking Designer Epic 3, and I'm going to use them all!!!

Then more hand stitching tomorrow, and then quilting and binding! 

I'm still on track to get it done, hopefully a day or two before the due date, which is Sunday. Yes - I still have a few deadlines, but they are of my choosing, and that works for me! Plus, working on a challenge quilt is an extremely good way to incorporate all my skills - hand and machine embroidery, hand and machine stitching, and creativity!!! 

I finished a project for someone else (yes—I still work for others, but not as much), and it went out this morning. So I'll be able to remove another item from the Visual To-Do List later today! Yippeee!!!!

As I was out walking yesterday, I noticed many houses in the area have ice-dam issues. So far, our ice dam is very small, and I hope it stays that way!

Ice dams!

More ice dams

This is Miss Muirphy, who insists on going outside and plunking herself in the snow. I'm going to have to make her a jacket with pockets to hold ice packs and keep her cool! 

MOM - I love the cold weather

So there was one house on our street that had not been dug out of the snow. I'm guessing the owners were away, and there was no need. The house is on the curve, and the sidewalk plow struggled to get through the snow. Anyway, it was a mess. Last night, I saw a truck and a large snowblower clearing the mess. Was that the city? Or a private contractor? I've no idea, but it was an unusual sight, and the equipment was narrow enough to blow out the sidewalk. Hmmmmm --- I guess I get to check it out this morning on our walk. 

Snowblowing a neighbor's driveway

And guess what? It says PLUS ONE for this afternoono! Maybe tomorrow does come after all!!

Plus ONE!!!!!

I'm not sure I can cope with just minus 5 this morning. What about my double jackets and mitts? My fleece-lined pants? I'm going to feel positively underdressed out there! And we barely see double digits in the next two weeks. Although -- as we know - that can change in a heartbeat. It will be a pleasure to walk - that's for sure!

We had an interesting discussion at Monday Sewing. Well, multiple discussions. I think we are about 16 people who attend regularly, and you know what? That group gets along so well. Most everyone has met one another in person, though not all. But the discussions, the level of comfort and security everyone feels, make me feel extremely happy. So, thanks to everyone in the group— together, we can conquer the world!! 

But what happens at Monday Sewing, stays at Monday Sewing!!!

And on that happy note, I'm out of here. WAIT -- I have an extra ten minutes since I don't need to get layered up to go outside! LOL!!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!