Updates on houses, technology and so much more!

Oh my—I love the comment: once it goes in the giveaway box, I don't look back. And that is me as well. There are times when I think I should have one last look in the box to see what I am donating this time, and I just can't be bothered. I decided to give it away; I don't need to see those items ever again. Way to go!! It's all going to happen slowly—we can't erase years of accumulation overnight. Baby steps!!!

I have a few updates -- they are mostly for me to document and empty my head, but in case you are wondering what has been happening, here goes. 

1. I finally got a response from the label company via their Etsy Canada page. It appears that the labels were delivered on February 7. Hmm --- but delivered where? To my mailbox? To Canada Post? I printed out the information and will take it to my local post office to see if they can help, but I'm not overly confident I'll have good news. If Canada Post had the very small package, they wouldn't be sitting on it waiting for me to contact them. I suspect I may have lost out on that unless the company decides to be nice and resend it. I got 400 labels because they were on sale. Hopefully, they will at least honor the sale price. And I will try the email that I received in the comments when I respond. 
2. I finally got a chance to send the remaining pictures along with some information about the support beam in our house. The house is 30 years old and has a partial cathedral ceiling in the living room.

Partial cathedral ceiling in the living room

 There is a large beam going down the center of the house to support that structural design. 

The beam from the hallway as you look into the living room

When you think about it, that is a lot of weight for those two skinny white posts. I hadn't really thought about that until I sent the pictures to the engineer yesterday. 

The beam from the living room as you look into the hallway 

There are three cracks along that beam, two in the hallway and one in the living room. In this one, you can see that even the drywall is being crushed. 

Crack number one

Crack number two

Crack number three

We had the cracks repaired and painted, but they cracked open again and have remained that way for many years. I want it fixed! Let's see what they say. My solution is to reinstall more substantial posts after jacking up the beam to level it. Let's see what the experts say. 

3. The roof -- I have done nothing and need to look back in my emails to see if I have an envelope engineer, as that is what I need to give me a report on the roof. My suggestion is to install a new roof INSIDE the living room to ensure proper circulation. Doing anything otuside with that crazy roofline would be too costly. By the way --- there are many houses, including that same house as ours, but with the metal roof, that still had snow in the valleys yesterday at noon! Those valleys are wicked and if there is any form of shade on the roof, the snow won't melt regardless of what type of surface it's made of!! I learned that from many observations on many walks! 

4. Outlook. I had yet another call from Microsoft and they are trying something else. There are so many settings in Outlook — do they really need to be that many, since the average person would never touch half of them? Why make it so complicated? Reena set up a task involving my folders that would take a long time to run, so she started it and said she would call back today. Yesteday took almost one hour. The task ran and didn't seem to take as long as she thought it would, but now that version of Outlook is frozen. Thankfully, I have the new version open (I switch back and forth between them depending on what I want), so I wasn't without email. 

I might be persistent but hey -- I pay for this support and it takes only a small bit of time, I'm game to see if they can fix it. They seem determined. 

BUT she did say something yeserday that makes me think I might start looking for a new front end for my email. She said that since the classic version will not continue to be supported (the date I saw online is 2029), they may not spend time fixing it. WAIT --- it's not classic that needs fixing --- it's the NEW version that needs it and prior to me opening up the new computer with Windows 11, the Classic version worked just fine!!!! Let's wait and see what hapens today!

5. Sewing -- I got NOTHING done yesterday. I turned on the long arm and loaded a quilt and that was it! OH -- and I put one large piece of paper away that was on the cutting table. Other than that? No sewing things were accomplished. BUT I need to get cracking because my Facebook Live is now on March 11. Yes -- that was the original date, but they gave me the 18th. I questioned it and OOOPS -- they made a mistake. 

Facebook Live invite for March 11

OK — enough with the updates — this is so much to keep track of, and I'm not always the best at follow-up, but let's hope I can find a happy solution to all of that. 

If anyone is looking for the pattern for this tote bag, I had posted it on Facebook because it came up in memories. Imagine this was picked up by a magazine at Quiltcon in 2017!!!!! Shoot—I don't have a picture of it, so you'll have to go to the link to see it!!

I think someone is trying to tell me something. Do you think Lexi wants her bedding washed? She tossed both blankets out, which is very unusual for her!

MOM - fix my bed - wash my sheets!

Yesterday was a glorious day, and you didn't even need a jacket in the afternoon. Miss Murphy never forgets to jump on this bench when we walk by!! We are avoiding the forest these days because there will be a thick layer of ice on those pathways, and I'm not walking there, not by myself, not with the girls. 

MOM - I love playing in the park!!

After my Microsoft phone call and another personal phone call, I decided I wasn't going to get any sewing done, and the backyard was now in shadow. While it was warm, it wasn't warm enough to sit out there in the shade, so I put the girls on their leashes, and we sat on the front step. I don't think they were impressed with just sitting. Look at how much of our snow has melted!!! We are supposed to get a lot of rain today, and temperatures will be barely above freezing. It will be a day to stay inside! 

Mom - why aren't we walking? 

And look at this happy girl!!!! She is almost as needy as Murphy and also pretty demanding in her way. 

MOM - I LOVE YOU!!!!

Well, since the day was lost to all the disruptions—wait—I did get some writing done in the morning, and now I need to take a bunch of pictures!! Hopefully, that will happen this morning. But I cleared off a spot on that extra table and did this. 

The start of the 1000-piece puzzle

I didn't make room on the table to lay out the puzzle as I worked on it. I found an easy solution - I got out my three quilt block design boards - each is about 18" square and laid the pieces out. That was easy, and I love it because I can bring the boards close to me rather than me leaning over the table and possibly catching a piece on my shirt. They are covered with felt, so the pieces don't move. HEY --- I think I found a perfect solution for laying out larger puzzles. Let's hope I finish the puzzle in a week because I'm going to need those boards for sewing. Notice how easy it is to find pieces, store these, and not have to dig through puzzle trays. I don't think I'll ever use the trays! 

The puzzle pieces are laid out.

As I sorted, I kept the border pieces out and then got to work. The predominant color of this puzzle is green, so sorting by color isn't really an option. And the pieces are all irregular shapes. It's going to be fun!!!!

The border pieces

I got the border almost together and worked on a couple of easier areas. See how the puzzle just fits on the end of the banquet table? I was listening to an audiobook (The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom), and I was in my glory!!

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

I also started reading a nonfiction book despite not having finished the other one. But the other one I could renew, this one I cannot, and it's due very soon. It's called "Smartphone Nation" by Dr. Kaitlyn Regehr. OH MY GOSH --- I think this should be required reading for EVERYONE with a smartphone. I don't have time to go into all the details, but she is talking about phone addiction and how people just can't stop playing with their phones. This is a problem that many have identified with their children, but she says we need to turn the attention to ourselves because we are just as addicted, if not more than, the kids today. 

Thankfully, I'm not addicted, but I can get caught up watching some of the endless reels, though I think I've cured myself of them. It's pointless, wastes time, and just silly!! I have already earmarked many important passages in Chapter One alone. 

The bottom line for today is to remember that it is in the big tech companies' best interests to keep us engaged with our phones, and they are data-mining every single keystroke!!!! They do NOT care about us — they only want our data, and the longer you stay on your phone or other smart device (tablet, phone, computer), the more data they collect and the more money they can make by selling that data to an advertiser!!

It appears the new thing with phones is not to regulate how much time you spend (that was what we did in the past), but how you spend your time on the phone. I'll share more interesting tidbits as I get to them over the next four days!! It is an interesting book, and I've only finished Chapter 1 of 6. 

And look at the quote from my tea yesterday. How can I get that across to people—never regret your mistakes—they are not mistakes; they are parts of learning. Just move on!!! 

Love this quote

On that happy note, I'm out of here as I have a date with Brooke. Yeah - I can hardly wait for the torture she has in store for me, but I'm feeling so much better by getting to the gym and using my body. You do NOT need to get to the gym to do some weight lifting - cans of soup work well. Stairs work for a bit of cardio - just step up and step down. And a mat for stretching, and if you aren't graceful and do it at home, no one will care. But I have to say that I can get up and down on the floor with a lot more dignity than this time last year, and I'm very proud of that fact. I was heading for disaster, and thank goodness I caught it before it became an issue. And they say you can't turn back time!! HA!!!

My knees aren't good —more the tendons than the joints —but I'm trying to loosen those tendons and muscles around my knees, and YES—it's working!!! I will never be a ballet dancer, but I can get up and down quickly and with some dignity!!! That works for me!!!

OK -- now I'm gone!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!