MOVE OVER MOM!!!!

OH - I love the fact that puzzles helped calm someone down. I can see that. I find it extremely relaxing to sit and work on a jigsaw puzzle. I am going to try to always have one on the go since I have learned how to tackle my addiction to them. 

MOVE OVER MOM!!!! 

Hello everyone, this is Murphy and Lexi, and we have something to say. 

It's the girls -- Murphy and Lexi!!!

We love our Mom, and she is very good to us, although we do NOT get nearly as many treats as we need. We are starving, and she won't do anything about it! That is why I, Murphy, am scrounging for garbage every time we go for a walk. Mom says she hates having to dig in my mouth to remove yucky stuff, but I love yucky stuff. 

Mom even took us for a walk together in the afternoon, and we were up to our old tricks. I (Murphy) walked fast, and Lexi walked slowly, so Mom was pulled between our two leashes and looked like a fool! It was so much fun to play tricks on her!!! 

BUT please—can you tell our Mom to stop talking on the walk? It's annoying. She says she is practising for her felting presentation. Well, we don't care about machine-embroidered felting; we want her to talk to US, about US, and be there for US. 

She says it helps her to work out the bugs and get the topics in the right sequence. We call it annoying! 

And then look what happened to me (Murphy). I was hanging around Studio B (my space, which I just let Mom share with me), and I got fuzzy bits on my face. Mom didn't even clean it off. It's so hard to get good help these days!!

MOM - I got fuzz on me!!!

STOP — OK, girls — you've had your fun. You can go back to sleep now, and sorry -- but I have two more walks to practise the sequence of my presentation. Sorry!!! 

Yes -- I do talk about my presentation when I'm walking. It's a great way to work out the logistics in my head and realize, oh, I don't have a sample of that, and so on. I love doing it, and I'm sure many people think I'm crazy. But I could be talking on my phone, which I'm not!! 

The walk with the two of them was challenging. They just do not walk at the same pace, but it was such a beautiful day, and I had no errands, so I decided to bite the bullet and take them together. We had fun, despite what Murphy and Lexi say!!!

And when we got back, I sat in the gazebo to finish Smartphone Nation, and Miss Murpjhy plunked herself down under my chair and had a good snooze, while Lexi went to lie beside the house in the sun. 

MOM - I'm getting old. I'm exhausted!

Speaking of puzzles, before I was so rudely interrupted, I'm making great progress on the green one. And while it is tempting, especially so close to the end, I have it covered and did NOT touch a piece until it was time. 

I walked past it countless times on my way from the cutting table to the embroidery machine, but I did NOT touch it!!! 

The puzzle in plain sight, yet I did NOT touch it

However, in the evening, when I only had to wait for the embroidery machine to finish, I took the puzzle piece board in my hand and started working. This is how it looked when I went to bed last night. 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

There are holes all over the puzzle, which doesn't typically happen, but there are so many small things in this puzzle that it's hard to finish one area. I am now to the point where I fussy-pick a handful of pieces and can pretty much put them in the puzzle. WAIT --- if only it were that easy. NOPE -- I need to scour the picture to see where those pieces go. It's a challenge in that way, but not an insurmountable one. 

My spotting skills are getting quite sharp! I love it, and it's such a fabulous break from sewing. I was tempted to continue last night, but what's the rush? There is none, so I should be able to finish tonight and maybe even crack open the next one. 

I had a couple of border pieces mixed up, but I got that straightened out. It looks like I'm still missing a border piece. It may be missing. And YES—I saw that fabric from Northcott that is similar. I wanted some, but did not cave. What would I do with it? 

I've got a lot of stitching to do on the embroidery machine today, and it's all laid out on the cutting table. I just need the machine to stitch faster!! I could open up the second embroidery machine, but I'll stick to one. I'm good on the scheduling. 

The next hoopings are prepped and ready to go.

I LOVE experimenting with machine embroidery. It's been so much fun, and I've learned a ton. Did I mention that I'm doing the felting presentation tomorrow, and learning all about felting on the embroidery machine is one of the items on my Visual To Do list? Yep --- Nothing like double dipping, but hey --- it works, and I'm killing two birds with one stone. I'll take it. 

It wasn't without some casualties. What are the chances that the section with the price tag is the one I used? Thankfully, no one will know that. And I removed the tags from all the other pieces. 

Oops - the tag got chopped up!

Here is the link.   Please note the link will NOT open until exactly 3 PM EDT. I will wait a few minutes to let everyone on. There are two buttons on that link, and I'll see which one to use to join the call. 

Then a bad thing happened. I was chatting with the Monday group about my upcoming quilt retreat in two weeks. It's not one that I'm organizing, and I'm happy as a clam about that. I'll go to any retreat these days, but I won't organize any more than I already have on my plate. There is a lot of cutting to do on the current project tables (more under than on them because of the size of the containers), so I have decided to take only handwork (cutting mostly) to this retreat. I'll take chair risers and my cutting mat so I won't disturb anyone who wants to cut, and I'll get a lot prepped. 

Packed for the retreat

There are tubs of fleece scraps to be cut up. Well, the bottom tub already has cut squares, but there is one more tub, a laundry basket, and a small white tub with more scraps. It would be amazing to get all of that dealt with. And I may have a home for those squares, or I'll make them into children's blankets. 

There is one bag of batik scraps—I'll tell you more when I start cutting —and I have the perfect project for them. 

Then someone asked if I was going to take my 365 quilt and cut more blocks. That's a BRILLIANT idea, so there are two bags with the fabric for that project. 

Will I get bored? Absolutely not - I love cutting, and I have a binding to finish on my Mom's hexagon quilt, and I also have a small pouch with hexies that I'm making. I've been working on that for 15 years! But it's the perfect thing to take, and I'll take it on my trip to visit my parents. I need something small to work on at their place. 

I have another call with Microsoft this afternoon, and I need to double-check my Outlook to see if it has any other issues. I think we might be done, but I must check before two PM. 

The rest of the day is mine, but I still have more samples/projects to finish. I swear, the more samples I make and the more I talk myself through the presentation, the more I want to make!!! That's the problem with making samples, but I'm learning a ton!!!

As for the missing labels? Seriously??? This is the message I received from the only contact I have - through their Etsy Canada page. 

If you received my package back -- then why didn't you contact me? And I'm not even sure they have my package. I'm pretty frustrated with them. I had no issues the first time, but I really want those labels. I love the quality of them, I love how easy it is to order them, but getting them? Well, I must keep following up with this person to see if she can give me a firmer answer than this. 

I finished reading Smartphone Nation, and it was an excellent read. It makes you look at your phone in a whole new light. I know I pick up my phone very often each day, like most people do. But when I start to evaluate what I do with it, it's all active stuff. OK --- a few minutes of scrolling happen. So far this morning, I've taken 30 pictures and emailed them to myself. I emailed the pictures for the blog this morning, and that's it! I haven't checked messages - there's no need until I have time to respond to them, which will be once the dogs are walked, and the embroidery machine is running. 

NO ONE needs me urgently. No one!! I'm not a doctor or first responder; my family members all live far away, and nothing is urgent that requires a message or phone call immediately. 

I noticed I checked my phone for messages (three spots—Messenger, texts, and WhatsApp) multiple times, and almost every time there was NOTHING to respond to. YEAH!!!! I did check Facebook and Instagram a couple of times during the day, but probably spent less than 2 minutes each time. Unless there was a video from one of the people I follow, I watched that. Since I don't follow many people, it doesn't take much time. 

MY PRECIOUS TIME is MINE!!! Why should I give it up to watch mindless videos and reels? I was picky with my time before; I'm going to get even more selfish with it!

I check the temperature on my phone before walking the dogs, so I know how to dress for the walk. 
Good grief -- it's PLUS 11 C. 

Looking at social media and the political situation, it makes you wonder who is governing whom? I've often said that over the last couple of years, although I said BIG companies, not social media. It makes you wonder!!! I don't think our governments have as much control as we think they do, at least in some countries. Big companies, tech companies, have a lot to say about how our countries run. And guess what? It's all in the name of marketing/advertising to us (and mining our data) to do so, and making money for themselves. 

The fact that these companies market to us, whether it's food or social media or whatever, with one goal in mind to make more money, regardless of whether we become obese from eating the wrong foods, or we become addicted to whatever substance/behavior they are pushing, is bad. 

It was a cold, sober thought when the author said they are mining our data and tweaking the algorithms to such an extent that the algorithm knows what we want to buy before we even know we want to buy that item. 

I say—be MINDFUL of how you use your phone and interact with social media. Or the internet. Be MINDFUL!!! And SET A GOOD EXAMPLE for the younger generations. Talk to them about ACTIVE and PASSIVE use of your phone. Don't discourage them from using their phone - just make them MINDFUL. 

On that note, I'm out of here. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!