Tree hugging is good for you!

About the air fryer — I think the smell greatly depends on what you cook. Yes -- DH was able to get crisper chicken than he can in the oven. I am not a fan of anything with grease or fat on it. Chicken with skin? I'll pass and just eat veggies - thank you! Yes -- I could remove the skin, and I do, but to eat the skin? Even crispy? No way! What I've seen so far is that if the item has grease (skin) on it, it's going to stink. If you are cooking veggies, it probably won't. 

I doubt we'll use one enough to warrant buying it. We have a small toaster oven that works just fine for the amount of cooking we do. HEY -- we have a stove that the poor oven has been rarely used! Thanks for the comments on the air fryer. Since I don't eat potatoes, processed foods, foods with batter, or stuff like that, and I'm totally happy with raw veggies (salad), I don't really need one! DH - loves his BBQ. But I'm not a picky eater! I just eat plain food - no sauces, no condiments, and that makes me happy. I eat to fuel myself - I don't enjoy cooking or eating it. And what I find is that people eat so fast that no one really enjoys the meal, so why put a lot of time into it? Don't get me started on meals prepped in high-end restaurants, where they seem to undercook everything and spend more time on presentation than on cooking. Not a fan!

I'm back to reading the book about the brain at rest, and apparently, it has been proven that forest bathing is truly healing. And it will keep you healthy if you hug trees! OK — that's pretty high-level, but I'm on the right track to staying healthy. Being in nature can boost your immune system -- who knew? 

And then there is the silence. Silence is golden and lets your brain rest. I can so relate to that because while I like to listen to audiobooks, I love listening to nothing, not even white noise. My brain can wander and relax and do whatever it wants, and that's usually where my brilliant ideas pop into my head. Try it sometime—turn off everything in your house and just listen to your brain, or not. It's one of the best therapies around! During these times, I think I face the reality of who I am, my limitations, my quirks (I have lots of those), and I've come to the point that I don't care - I'm happy with who I am!

Speaking of the forest, there is this tree that I've watched for years as it slowly deteriorates. Trust me, after walking as many times in the forest as I have, you get to know the trees. OK -- so I'm a tree hugger. Well, maybe not a hugger, but a lover. Although the book says the actual act of hugging is good. I might try that far off the path where no one can see me! WAIT -- I don't care!!!!

Anyway, here is the tree. A large group of squirrels calls this tree home, but there is barely anything left of the tree, and one day it's going to fall over. 

The squirrel condo

As you can see, the top part is leaning, and there isn't much holding up the spot where the squirrel condo is. It's absolutely fascinating to watch things grow or rot, depending on the situation.  

The squirrel condo is leaning.

So yesterday, something very strange happened in our house. I was in the kitchen tidying up, and I heard a ball plop plop plop down the stairs, but Murphy wasn't in the house. WHAT? I glanced over to the stairs, and Miss Lexi was standing there watching what she had done. I didn't see whether she picked up the ball, kicked it, or deliberately nudged it, but she caused it to bounce downstairs. 

MOM -- the ball went downstairs!

And there it was!!!! Of course, she wasn't going to chase the ball downstairs - that is not her thing. Hmm -- what happened? 

Lexi tossed the ball downstairs.

As I was trying to put some order into Studio B, I had help. I swear Murphy picks a spot intentionally where I need to walk. She is very good at it! I got my sewing machine set up and a few more cables, etc., in bags, but there is still a lot more to tidy up. Mostly the samples, but I needed to get to work on my sewing, so once the machine was up and running, I pretty much stopped tidying!

MOM -- I'm here to support you!

And look how cute this girl is!! All sleepy as she makes sure I do not miss her! 

MOM - it's exhausting being your constant companion

While I made great progress, it just seemed to go so slowly. I finally got all the half-square triangles trimmed for my border. And thank goodness, I sewed the border as I went, so it's all in one piece. You'll have to wait to see what it looks like. 

Trimming the half-square triangles for my border

While getting all that sewing done, I sewed more triangles as enders and leaders. They are pressed, but I didn't get a chance to trim them. That's a job for today. I have a few more things to get done for the weekend session of UFO Club. I still have a lot to finish, but I'm doing OK. 

More half-square triangles sewn.

As I looked at the tray of triangles to sew as enders and leaders, I spotted this stack of small ones. OK -- I'm past the point of keeping these teeny ones, so they went into the scrap box. 

These ones are too small to keep

I was "chatting" with a few friends on Messenger/Texting yesterday, and this picture was sent to me. OH MY GOSH --- what memories this brings back. 

Captain Elaine!

This was me about halfway across Canada on my bicycle trip in 2013. Can you guess where the picture was taken? Yes -- that is a ship's wheel. And look how tanned my face is! That's after spending five weeks riding at least 100 KMs a day (OK -- there was a rest day or two in there as well). 

That was such an exciting trip, and I had to mentally dig pretty deep almost every day. Yes -- it was a very physical trip, and I was ready for it (I'm NOT an elite cyclist by any means), but the mental part was much bigger. Dealing with a frustrating fellow cyclist who almost drove me mad! Inclement weather—we had multiple days of rain in Northern Ontario. Hills that never seem to end, but thankfully, were graded for transport trucks, so most were no more than 12%. Hours and hours of riding and no one to talk to. Now that's not true because we did talk to each other, but I mostly rode in silence, which is where I learned that I'm very comfortable being by myself and enjoying nature and letting my brain wander. 

This was NOT my first long-distance cycle trip, so all this stuff wasn't new to me. 

Well, have you guessed what ship I could be on - halfway across Canada? Yep --- it's the Chi Chamaun Ferry. We got to do a lot of cool things on that trip, and it was definitely an adventure of a lifetime. I've been so fortunate to have taken several adventures of a lifetime, and guess what? I had to do them alone because none of my friends are nutty enough to do them with me. I'm perfectly OK with that. I only have to worry about myself, and that's the way I roll! 

Well, on that note, I've got a lot of work to do today, and I have a lot of paper crap to clear off the office floor. ONE day, I will get on top of it. But as I clear up, more comes out. One day, there won't be anything left! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!