Done, done, and DONE!

As for the boxes, I told the electricians to leave them. Yes - I know! But they will just dump it all in the garbage, and I can't live with that. So I separated all the junk into the garbage and put the boxes and packing foam in the recycling! I can't help myself! I hate when people just throw everything away without sorting. I am my own worst enemy! That's why I'm so slow when I'm tidying up!

However, there is quite a mess in the garage at the moment, after all the garbage was removed from the backyard. While it looks a mess, it's not that bad. And I plan to take a trip to the city's waste area, as I have other things in the garage that need to be dumped off. 

The mess in the garage

Again - I know most people just leave it at the curb, and when you do, it all goes in the landfill. But I have wood, metal, electronics, and some old appliances that should go in the proper bin, so I'll pack up a carload this week and make that happen. DH wanted to go see a movie, but I might forgo it and get more of this cleaning done. I am not around all of next week, and I'd like it done before I go. We can wait two weeks to see the movie. I also have samples that need to be made. 

If I'm lucky, I can fit it all in one load and be done with a lot of crap. But I suspect I have a lot of sorting to do in the garage before it's all dealt with. That's OK. Even in its current state, our garage looks way better than most in the neighborhood. 

The electricians (2) spent the entire day in the backyard, and it looks amazing. Some old lights hadn't worked in years, the gazebo plug wasn't working properly, and it was an issue keeping the heater and aerator running in the winter. We ran an extension cord across the backyard from the house. Lots of small niggly things that had just been left over the years. 

Look at one of the plugs on the side of the gazebo. No wonder it didn't work - an entire hole had blown in the back of the plug. How safe was that?

A hole in the back of the electrical plug

I happily wound up the extension cord and brought it into the house. 

Winding up the extension cord

As predicted, the morning was chaotic. I drove DH to the train, and on the way I explained the morning and said (jokingly), "How will I ever cope with all the chaos? I'll be frazzled." His reply was, "You will do just fine; you can handle the chaos," or something to that effect. I believe that was a compliment, and that's why he trusts me to do all this stuff without any interference from him. First, he can't be bothered to deal with any house-related things, and second, I am calm and can handle the chaos. 

Once I was back, I managed to sneak in a walk with Murphy, and she wanted to sniff everything, especially this giant branch, which she attempted to bring home. 

MOM - can I bring this stick home?

Silly girl! Then the cleaning people arrived, and I was still buzzing around trying to put the last of the misplaced things away and put the recycling out, etc. Yes -- isn't it strange how we tend to clean before the cleaners come? I'll tell you all about that story another day. And for me - it really isn't about cleaning - it's about tidying, so they can clean! 

I managed a quick walk with Lexi and happened to meet our landscaper at a job site down the street. Perfect timing, so I asked about the path light in the front that wasn't working. They had installed that light when the front was done. Turns out the units are not under warranty, but the bulbs can be replaced, so he is now in charge of that. 

The electricians arrived just as I was about to leave for the vet with Lexi, so I spent a few minutes getting the lights organized in the backyard and checking what they needed. 

Then Miss Lexi and I were off to the vet, and she was so happy. The first thing she did was walk up to the scale, which was in front of the window, and she could have stood there all day! 

MOM - the view is amazing!!!

But when I went to take her to the examination room, she wasn't too happy about that. She got a good check-up, and all seems to be OK, although, like all older dogs, her hind legs are weak. Aquatherapy! I guess we need to build one of those small pools with the built-in wave flow so the dogs and I can swim in a very small space. I am not a swimmer, so it would mostly be for them! I think they are called swim spas. I just checked the price - on sale, the cheapest - $30K. I think we will pass on the swim spa!!!!

While I like the new vet very much, the technician is very timid (she's very young) when it comes to taking blood. Just find the vein and jam the needle in - OK - so that sounds a bit harsh, but you know what I mean. She hesitates. It took 20 minutes to get bloodwork from Lexi, and I decided to leave the room in case she was more comfortable without me there. Of course, they got it when I wasn't in the room! Lexi is such a princess! 

Back home, the cleaners were gone, but the electricians were still here. Theirs was an all-day job. 

I think they left around 3:30 PM. That was a total of 7 days of electricians, as we had two people working yesterday. The invoice was within my budget, so I was OK with that. I have two lights to return, which is pretty good considering the way they were purchased, but everything I did purchase was amazing. One light just wouldn't fit where I wanted it, and we didn't need the second one. More on that light another day. 

I forgot to take pictures during the day, but I got a couple in the night. OK -- so I was waiting with anticipation for the lights to come on last night, but they didn't! However, when I got up early this morning, the lights were on. I think we need to have a look at the timer to see how it was set. 

Here's what the pond now looks like at night - well, technically, it will be only the evening, but for last night, they came on sometime during the night. 

The new lights in the backyard

And there's my resident frog who has been hiding in the gazebo all summer. He is now sitting under one of the lights. 

The backyard frog!

The gazebo also got some work done, but I didn't manage to get photos. Hopefully tonight, but the floor looks so much better without that massive extension cord sitting there. I just need one more thing for the gazebo, and I think I have no place but to get it from my favorite online store. I must order that today. 

I have already started a new list for the next round with the electricians. A new outlet in Studio B, a lighted house number, and some small things. So I will have my list handy, and if we think of something, we will add it to the list. No MORE waiting! 

What's left? I need to clean out the shed - I've been meaning to do that for a while, and the electricians needed to get in there - there's an electrical panel in there for the backyard, and so lots of stuff got pulled out. I shoved it all back in last night, but I need to get it organized and buy an outdoor box for the cushions. I'll put that in the shed, but I need to get one. It might be a runaround day today. I can't afford the time, but I might take the time to get everything done. I'll see how it goes. 

I packed up four boxes and took them to UPS to ship to my SIL. I was able to get two boxes for some of the specific items I had (I needed certain sizes), and I now have those, so I hope to pack another three boxes today and get those off as well. I'm striking while the iron is hot, and I am ready to get rid of things. Two trips to UPS and it should all be gone. 

But the big question, I know, is: what happened in Studio B? Did the final block get done? With all the phone calls and such, I wasn't sure that the block would get done. I don't think I have ever ripped out as much as I did on this block. I just seemed to make mistake after mistake. My head just wasn't there, yet I needed to get that block complete. 

By lunchtime, this is all I had accomplished, which was slightly more than half. 

What was completed by lunchtime

I stopped to mess with some of the triangles in that basket that was on the floor. I decided to pull out all the plastic bags filled with triangles. How many could there be? 

OMG -- I think I pulled over 40 small bags of triangles from the basket. Those would be bags that someone else gave me, or bags where I put the cutoffs from a specific project. 

Over 40 bags of triangles for HSTs

And of course, when I took all that out, the basket wasn't nearly as full. 

The basket is practically empty after removing all the bags.

With this Down on the Farm project, I have managed to sew quite a few HSTs, so that is good, and there's a lot more to sew. 

I sorted through a couple of the bags, and thankfully I found a few that were too small. 

Triangles are too small.

I found a bag that would give me 3/4" finished, and then I just gave myself a lecture and said, "You do not need to rescue every piece of fabric in the world. Let it go."| And these are now in my overflowing scrap bin. 

More triangles that are too small

It was only after dinner that I could get back to the block, and I literally had to force myself to finish it. Not because I didn't want to, as I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. But I needed it done, so I kept looking at the clock, and by 6:30, I was done! And here it is - the cat block!

The last block

And yes, I used the new fabric for the grass, and you can see it just fine. The grass gets a bit lost in the post, but guess what? You can still see it just fine, and I'm not changing it. I pulled the three fabrics needed to replace the grass section in the rooster block, and I might just redo that section today. I won't have time for the turtle, but it sure would be nice to be completely done with this quilt. At least get all the blocks done. I have the grass in the rooster block and the turtle to redo because of contrast issues. 

Now here's the thing - as I was sewing this block, I thought to myself how much easier this would have been to sew the quilt during a sew-along. Then I would only have to deal with one or two blocks a month. I would feel like I'm making progress, and if there were any frustrations, it would only be one block. I would also be getting other things done! Hmmm -- there's a lot to be said for sewing in a sew-along! 

And don't forget that I am very thorough in my pattern testing, so I was looking for consistency in the cutting instructions, the written directions, and the diagrams. That takes a lot of time, and if there is an error, then I flag it and have to go back and double-check. Plus I wrote it in an email to the designer. 

All is good. I'm waiting on a new, clean copy because I have two things I want to recheck, and I need it to do that. 

I think I've been working on this thing nonstop since July 25. And nonstop is an incorrect term, as there were a few days when I didn't touch it. It was an intense 20 days, and I feel like I have got nothing else done, which is exactly that in my sewing world. 

I swear technology just hates me. I had something to scan yesterday - 15 pages- and when I went to scan in the afternoon, the scanning app on the computer just looked at me and said, "I don't think so." I found something else to do, but I checked a couple of times during the day. 

Finally, when I was about to sit in the backyard and enjoy my book and some watermelon, that's when it decided I could scan. So I took the time to scan the document. And of course, when I went to send it, my email said it was too big. So I had to zip the file this morning and send it. 

Sigh..................

But everything is coming together. The entire upstairs is looking pretty spiffy. One bathroom is completely empty. Studio U needs a bit more work, but it's mostly sorting quilts. It's just looking good. The only problem is that now -- everything needs to be put away immediately! But that's only the rooms where everything has a place! One day, the entire house will be like that. And I LOVE IT!!!

Now I need to tackle the office, the shed, and the garage. Which shouldn't be too big of a deal. I might handle the shed today and get everything organized in there. All this decluttering takes time! But it sure feels good when it's done. This will be the second go-around for the shed, but when things don't have a home - well, you'll see what I mean. 

On that note, I'm off to the gym today. I didn't have time for any stretches or exercises yesterday, and I need to make that happen today. But I was lugging boxes and moving around, so it's not a big deal to miss a day!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!