Graffiti!

What a crazy day!!!  I had so much fun at the Virtual Retreat, and we got to meet Marsha from LA! Hello Marsha! Jenny from Australia was on -- very early in the morning for her. Good morning (or should I say -- good afternoon) to Jenny! 

And there was the usual group of crazies. Colleen was in her car driving back home after being a snowbird for the winter. And the rest of us were coming and going depending on what else the day had planned for us. 

It's always great fun to chat with people while sewing, although I'm not nearly as productive as I could be, that's OK. Conversing with friends and exercising your brain should be part of your daily routine. 

I saw this billboard when I arrived downtown yesterday morning, and I thought it was perfect. It's from CAMH - which stands for Center for Addiction and Mental Health. I think we all could quality for the services at some point in our lives!

Love the slogan!!! 

We have some fascinating discussions, and collectively, we could solve any world problem. Some of the topics are very stimulating, and I've learned a ton of stuff from the people who come online. But they can get me into trouble with places to visit and things I "need," but I try to be firm!

For instance, I had a free Saturday in May, but thanks to Helen Anne, I now have two events that day! But both of them are very interesting, and I'll be sharing the details with you later so you can attend if you want. 

I don't have much time this morning as I'm off to spin class, but NOT at 6:30. The gym opened one up at 5:30. YIKES!!! So I'll be off to that one and perhaps do a bit of the 6:30 one. I'll see how it goes. Then I can be home sooner and finish the blog. So today is a test to check the timing of it all. 

I know -- You got excited when you saw the blog post's title and thought I was going to share my CherryWood Challenge with you. Remember, the theme this year is graffiti. HA HA HA HA   -- it's not that we cannot share at this point. As a matter of fact, if you want to see what some people have submitted, you can check out this link. 

That is a link to Instagram and if that doesn't work, then if you have an Instagram account, check out the hashtag #cherrywoodchallenge2022.

I was off bright and early yesterday to help with The Toronto Marathon. As I mentioned yesterday, I wasn't going to do it, but honestly, after yesterday, it was SO much easier physically, well, I almost wasn't even needed. 

We had two trucks from the party rental company (tables and chairs and our supplies), which they had loaded yesterday. Then another lady and I got in our warm van, and we followed one of the trucks. We had a list of supplies to be dumped at each location. So what's a location? 

A water station on the marathon - BEFORE it's set up

A spot with a water hydrant with a spigot attached so they could get water from it and a couple of porta-potties. We had seven drops to make all over the city. Well, along the bottom half of the route! The other team did the top half.  

And look at the fantastic bike paths that are new since I last did this job. 

Amazing bike lanes

But the guys did all the heavy lifting, not to say that I didn't help load or unload a box of cups or two. My job was to make sure that everything needed got dropped -- a checklist -- and chat with the volunteer group! Several groups were decked out with the colors of Ukraine and one location was sponsored by my gym. The new job was so easy. And so much better to NOT be alone. 

When we arrived back at the start line, the two trucks from the party rental company got ready to pick up the stuff --- smart thinking on their part so that when we were ready to follow the marathon runners and pick up, we were prepared. Not that we went fast! 

Prepping the trucks to pick up the supplies

While we were waiting, I walked to the start line to get a photo. And this guy was walking around with a HUGE "boombox." The speakers were in this BOSE bag, and I'm assuming the source of the music was in his wheelie bag. Hmmm -- not very practical for travel, but I'm sure he had his reasons. 

Portable boombox

This is the job I originally signed up for -- a bike marshal! Years ago at the Toronto Bike Show, I got roped into doing this job, and I never got to be a bike marshal! 

The start of the half marathon

I have no problem with walkers, but they NEED to walk like they have a plan. And they need to be able to maintain a certain pace.  If they can't meet the pace, they shouldn't be allowed to walk or they should get pulled. There were five people at the tail end and I swear, they looked like they were out for a stroll. Pick up the pace people!!! 

I mean, when you have a convoy of about TEN vehicles behind you, you think they could hustle a bit. That included our van, the truck, two police cars, an ambulance, a car from the city and other people picking up fences and pilons. I think they hit the halfway point of the HALF marathon at 3 hours. That is WAY too slow. 

Oh wait -- I got off track about the graffiti. I wanted to be home by 1 PM to join the Virtual Retreat, so I told them I was available until noon. We planned for me to park my car approximately where we would be at noon, and it worked like a charm. I had to walk three blocks to get to the car and look at what I found along the way. This is absolutely stunning, and my pictures DON'T do justice to this ART at all. 

These pictures are taken under the Gardiner Expressway along Lower River Street. 

Graffitti under the Gardiner Expressway

I think part of this vast space is designated as a park, and it was filled with young people on skateboards and playing basketball. 

Stunning graffiti artwork

The pillars were filled with beautiful designs that, GASP, is graffiti. Absolutely stunning; I almost wish I had seen this BEFORE I did my Cherrywood Challenge. 

To imagine that this all came from a can of spray paint blows my mind! It's beautiful, and I would imagine that the other side of the pillars are also covered with graffiti. 

And this following picture was on the side of a building on Queen Street and was covered with various cats and dogs. It went on for quite a distance on this building, and I think there might have been a crazy rabbit or two. 

Cat and dog graffitti

But if ever you are in that area, it's well worth looking around. I'd love to go back and check it out more and see the other side of the pillars. Sunday is a great day to go as there isn't a lot of traffic, especially if you go early in the morning. It would be awesome to tour around. 

I think that would be a great idea. We live in an AMAZING city with some fabulous stuff -- even the buildings are super interesting. Why are we NOT playing tourist in our own cities instead of traipsing off to somewhere else? There is SO MUCH to see in this city and while Toronto isn't huge by other city standards, there are MANY smaller ethnic communities throughout, parks, buildings, and just amazing stuff to see. I MUST plan a couple of Sunday mornings to play tourist!

And I spotted this on the way back as well. This is the BACKYARD of these urban dwellings. Yep -- a tiny patio with a beautiful wall of windows (that probably no one ever opens), and there is space for a chair and a BBQ. Yikes -- a bit too confining for my liking!

The BACKYARD

I think we would die with that tiny and PUBLIC of a backyard, but hey -- if you are a urban dweller, this is prime real estate and it's worth a LOT. 

OK -- so I'm back from the gym -- I LOVE the 5:30 AM class. I cycled like mad and got my heart rate up in the 150s which I don't normally do. All is good and I cranked out 31 KM this morning. 

It's time to walk the girls and then get ready for Monday sewing! 

There is LOADS to get done this week and well, I better get my act together! Lots to sew, lots to write and lots of fun and relaxation also! Wait for that!!!

On that note, I'm out of here. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Summer has arrived

Can it be that summer has arrived? I guess we should get outside and enjoy it before fall arrives because it seems that the calendar is no longer an indication of the seasons!

I spent a good part of yesterday outside - some of it for me and some as a volunteer.

Yesterday was the Toronto Marathon and I got roped into driving a truck for them about 6 or 7 years ago. While I keep wanting to say NO, I actually enjoyed yesterday. Of course - just when I'm about to flatly refuse to volunteer again, I have a great day!

I get the easy drop-off route. It's the one that I've been doing ever since I started. It's easy, there's no crazy traffic to deal with, although we are on the road delivering stuff before 6 AM on a Sunday.

Once that is done, we head up to the start line where we get to wait for all the runners to leave the start line. That's about 2 hours to kill. A good book helps but it's also fun to watch the race start and to watch all the runners as they prep before the race. It's still cool at 7:30 AM these mornings.

Seconds before the marathon started

Fortunately, they had a great crew there to pick up the clothes that were shed once the race started. Bags and bags of clothing were picked up. Not by us thankfully.

Once they left, we zigzagged across the city to pick up the water stations. In the past, this has been a terrible job. Garbage everywhere and stations were not prepped ready for us to pick up. The job has been awful. I have to say that yesterday (maybe because of the weather), the day was a breeze. We only had to help clean up ONE station out of 20. That's a record.

Of course, that makes it hard to say NO for next year. My goal was to get out of there at 2 PM, and I managed to get away by 2:30 after I helped unload the garbage truck. Now that was fun! But not so bad when the race director helps because he's waiting for the last runners to arrive. I love when people pitch in and the other drivers and helpers were all good!

Nice to break the traffic rules and if anyone got stuck in the convoy of four Budget cube vans - well don't yell at me! Hey - car driver, if you let us do our job, we'll have the street open sooner! Thank god for cops everywhere.

Back home and outside to the backyard with my book and I was restless. I couldn't read because I was tired and I couldn't sleep because the dogs kept trying to entertain me! But I did manage a nap and I felt better.

It's taken me a while to get into this book which is almost 600 pages and I couldn't get to sleep last night so I read and read late into the night. I'm less than 200 pages now and well - I know I'll finish it tonight. It's a John Grisham and I'm really liking the story. The Rainmaker.  Yep - it's old, but still a good read.

Oh - I managed to snap this photo as we dropped water supplies off at one of our stations.

Toronto skyline at about 6 AM

We think our city is HUGE and it is. But think about this - the marathon starts near Mel Lastman square, down Yonge Street, then through the ritzy section of town (Forest Hill area), back over to go down the Bayview extension and then all the way out to the Humber Bay Arch bridge and then back to the Exhibition grounds. All in the name of finding 42 KM for the runners to run a marathon.


When we were at the Windsor Quilt Show on the weekend, they had a sale. I told you about the sale. $1 for a grocery bag and you could fill it with books. Here's my bag! I haven't had a chance to open it yet. Hopefully later today.

Bag of books for $1

They must have received so many book donations when they were calling for donations for the members boutique that they decided to do this to get rid of them. Not sure how much money they made, but loads of people flocked to the table. I'll share what's in the bag with you this week.

This was also something else that we saw that I thought was interesting. They had taped their flyer inside their car windows with all the important information about the show and how to contact their guild. I thought that as a brilliant idea.

A flyer taped inside the car window for advertising

The show was in a HUGE complex, and the signage for the show was the BEST I've ever seen. We just followed the signs and we arrived at the proper door with no mishaps. That was awesome and well done Windsor Quilt Guild. We loved your show!!  I wouldn't make a special trip there as it's a four-hour drive, but if you could marry it up with something else? Yep - I'd go again.

Today, it's back to reality. I have a couple of appointments today and of course, it's Monday sewing. It's going to be a busy day, but that's OK. I've already cleared one paperwork item off my plate today and I'll get a couple more done later today. And I want to finish that book!

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!

Ciao!

Overloaded circuits!!!

Let's just say that last week was insane!  Yesterday was the icing on the cake and it wasn't cake that I could even enjoy!

Thank goodness not all days are like yesterday because I wouldn't last long.

The day started bright and early as I went down town (well almost down town) to drop off water station stuff for the Goodlife Marathon (which started at 7 AM).  Yes - I should be very thankful that I had other stuff that had to be done - so I got the easy job - just dropping off tables, chairs and what not. (didn't have to stick around to do the garbage run!)

My volunteer T-shirt!

If everything had gone smoothly - it would have taken no time at all, BUT - I did not have wire cutters to clip the clips on the hoses - DESPITE the fact that I asked and was assured that they were in the truck. BUT when I arrived at the first stop - the wire cutters were not there. I also was not informed that there were T-shirts to be dropped at each spot.

Second stop - again no wire cutters and NO HYDRANT open for the water. And I can't get a hold of my contact on the radio and my phone is in the car back at Ontario Place.

Third stop - again - no wire cutters and now the police have the entire road blocked because of a serious accident that I had passed on our way to Ontario Place.

I get the wire cutters, inform someone in person about the hydrant and back in my car to drop off the T-shirts and cut the clips with wire cutters.  Let's just say that I got my exercise as I ran around to get all that done!!!!


While I was doing that task, I decided that I had another thing that I needed to fit in my day. Sparky has not been well the last couple of days. One day she was fine - the next day not so good.  So I sat at the dog hospital for a couple of hours. It turns out that she has vestibular disease. Symptoms include head tilting, very unstable, stumbling, falling down, loss of appetite and general confusion.  Poor Sparky.   Although she does look adorable with her head tilt!!!   It is a bit of a challenge to look after her. She can't get up well, doesn't want to go for a walk. Prognosis - this should clear up on its own, but if it doesn't, well............   we won't go there at this point. That thought has been hovering in the back of my mind for the last five days and I am about sick, but I'll do what is best for her. I love my Sparky!!!!

Sparky!!!!

Then when we finally got back home, I was too late to attend the full service at the church where we sew. There was a special service for people who use the facility. But I went for the after service chit chat and to meet those from our group that did go.  What a shock when I saw Paula exit the service as part of the choir!!!!!   What?????   Well she had arrived early and since she used to sing in a choir - they commandeered her!!!!   Shoot - I am doubly sorry that I missed the service!!!!!!!!

Off to teach a class on machine quilting where the class peppered with me with so many questions that we didn't get a lot of sewing done, but I think they all went home very happy and that is what counts. They have homework to do so will see how much gets done before the next class.

Lastly off to the Brampton Quilt show to help tear down. Here is a picture of the only quilt that I put in the show. I knew that time would be very limited for me to finish more  and I was right!!!!!

Thank goodness tear down was fast and easy - many hands make light work and I want to send a  BIG BIG BIG thank you to EVERYONE who helped. It made the job so easy.

My tractor quilt

 To make matters even more complex, my parents have agreed to move. WHAT?????   I am in shock and certain that hell has frozen over!   So I am trying to collect some information to help them with their decision making process as there are several options available to them.


When I got home - I was craving a sprite so I had one. Didn't enjoy it beyond the first couple of sips, but I drank the whole thing anyway.   Haven't had one in a long time - I felt that with that kind of day - that I deserved to be naughty!!!!

I did nothing all evening - well I did sort through the two boxes of magazines that I brought home. They were going in the dumpster and I had my eye on a couple of issues, but had to take the two boxes to get what I wanted.  I found some back issues of Quilter's Newsletter that I didn't have - and it is NONE of your business what I am doing with them!!!   There is a box of magazines that I don't want and they will be going in the recyling bin - a bit more to go through and I'm done!!!

On that note - it is time for sewing today and I need a quiet day!!!!


Have a great day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Mixed emotions!!!!!!

Ever have one of those days??????

I had a hot chocolate just before going to bed two nights ago - I know - WHAT WAS I THINKING?????   Anyway - I went to bed and I can hear the hot chocolate gurgling in my stomach which doesn't really like hot chocolate much any more. And of course - I was WIDE AWAKE.  I never said I was the sharpest tack in the box!!!!

I was also hooked on a book that I need to read for our book club - "Love, Anthony" by Lisa Genova.  It is an excellent book and I can't seem to put it down. I have read another one of her books - "Left Neglected" and it is also excellent.  The theme of her books is about the brain!  I know - "Love Anthony" is about autism, "Left Neglected" is about a brain injury (due to looking at cell phone while driving) and both deal with relationships related to those brain conditions. VERY WELL WRITTEN and worth a read. I must get her other book - "Still Alice"

Needless to say that when I finally got up yesterday, I was tired. But I had promised the Toronto Marathon people that I would be on site at 9:30 AM.  I arrived and there is NO ONE there. WHAT?????   I called the person I am supposed to meet and there is NO ANSWER.  He finally called me back to say that he was running a bit late and would be there in 20 minutes. He was ONE HOUR late. At least I had my book with me, but still!!!!!!!!  There was one other person who showed up before me, but come on people!!!!  Our time is VALUABLE!!!!!!

I am not complaining, but gosh - when we finally got some of the trucks and mini-vans back - let's get them loaded people??????   OK - so I did my usual - I took charge. NO ONE else was going to and I don't want to waste time.  So we got those trucks loaded, but I have to say that I was not happy with the coordinator of the water stations.  Do you want to know why he was late???   YEP - he had a hangover as he had been out partying and puking his guts the night before. Seriously??????

While I do not mind to volunteer - I HATE when people do not respect me as a volunteer. Needless to say, I was not happy. However I am NOT going to say much because I DO NOT want that job. Not in a million years, but oh boy - I could sure make it much easier than it was.   I mean - he did not even have the new sheets for 2014, (let's hope the course did not change from last year) and let's hope the quantities of stuff did not change from last year. The totals of everything wasn't even done - I had to do it!!!!

Snapped a few pictures while I was waiting - right on the water at Ontario Place

The view from the parking lot - yes that is CN Tower in the background and those two blue doors on the right - those are the storage pods for the Marathon stuff

They were busy taking the sail boats and yatchts out of dry dock and putting in the water

Another one gets lifted on that big crane and then into the water

I was FROZEN - it was cold down by the water. Where or where is the warm weather?????

Well - I got home and decided that I was in the mood to fix those two blocks on the snowman quilt. Made TWO holes pretty quickly...............

Two holes in the quilt

Soon to be filled with snowmen and VOILA - the quilt top is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I trimmed three quilts and while doing that, I decided to try scanning the magazine pictures/articles that I wanted.  Hmmmm - can't save as .pdf (Lightroom doesn't recognize that extension)- must save as .jpeg. OK - so that works and guess what - I had to use TWO computers and my external hard drive.  The new computer is not hooked up to the scanner so scanned on the old computer, saved on external hard disk, switched external hard disk to new computer with the Lightroom software. Imported the photos and tagged them. Oh boy - I am so excited!!!!!    This is EXACTLY what I wanted.  I tagged each one with several tags, although I remember reading that each photo should have between 5 and 10 tags. Hmmm - maybe I should reevaluate what I tagged them.   Anyway - I will be able to reference that material and I am EXCITED about that.  This is going to pay off big time - I don't destroy the magazines so someone else can have them. Remember this is MY SECRET as I am certain that it violates copyright to no end, but I have saved each file with the name and issue of the magazine and the page number of the article/pattern. Should I want to make one - I will have all the necessary information to give credit where credit is due. AND this database is strictly for MY personal use.

For those of you who visit me - the magazines are in the bathroom and ready to be taken home!  I will slowly go through them, but it worked!!!!   IT WORKED!!!!!!


Debating if I will do more sewing tonight (had to blog tonight as I will be unloading tables early in the morning and then back home while someone takes over).  I won't even go into the details - they are just so darn unorganized!!!!!


Have a GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodlife 10 K

Oh - Sunday morning was COLD!  I wore my winter boots - since my job involved water at the water stations, I knew from past experience that it could result in wet feet and wet feet on a cold day was NOT good news. I also wore a long sleeve shirt, a fleece jacket AND my down vest and gloves. At a couple of points in the day, I sure wished I had MORE clothes.

Some of my volunteers showed up in SHORTS!!!!!!   Not even going to comment on this - best not to wonder where their parents were. And MANY of the runners were in SHORTS and SKIMPY shirts. Oh well - look out for number one - that's me!!!!

Setting up the water station - well this was a Gatorade station

Tables loaded with cups of water

Double layers of cups

The calm before the storm

The police are coming - that means the runners are not far behind

The FIRST runner - he was wasting NO TIME and did not stop for water (as we knew)

Runner number TWO - look at those thighs

And then they started............ the first small bunches of runners

Oh oh - here they come

And more

And the street got fuller and fuller

And then is was CHAOS

The street was THIS FULL for ONE HOUR before it started to thin out...............

The runners were in SIX waves and there was supposed to be a few minutes between them. We only saw a break after the first wave. This guy on a bike camera was in between the first and second wave. Cool way to see the race!!!

Many people were dressed in costume. Saw TWO supermen, princesses, and this BLUE MAN in a morph suit.  Again - I don't ask questions!!!!!!!!

And this is what we are left with - THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of cups that we had to rake and shovel up

Loading the truck at the SECOND water station. They were VERY organized - that is because of Ron in the red jacket on the right

The back of his truck was VERY NEAT even with all those garbage bags piled in. 

My truck - not so much. We were barely able to get the door shut and not have anything hang out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At this point, I was very disappointed in the teen volunteers that I had. How many people and how long does it take to tie the top of a garbage bag and load it on the truck????   There were NO ADULTS with the one group of teens and well - I don't think ANY of them had done ANY THING at home. Again - I ask no questions, but I am sure they all went home with stories to tell their friends of the LOUD MOUTHED lady who yelled at them. Next time - I better make a YouTube Video to show them how to tie a garbage bag shut!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think Ron and I managed to sneak out around 2 o'clock which was good. I did NOT want to stay there all day sorting and cleaning up. We got our stuff organized and left.


I saw a few interesting things on the way home.................

A Canada goose with two babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the weather - well it was the most bizarre day I have ever seen. We had cold and it warmed up SLIGHTLY. There was sun, there was wind, there was rain AND

THERE WAS HAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could see the clouds just rolling through the sky. It was bizarre.


Then I arrived home and I so tired and hungry - I didn't know what to do - eat or sleep. M suggested a small snack and then a nap. Oh - those teens (well MY teen) are SO SMART. And that is exactly what I did, although my nap lasted 3 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!     Then it took me at least a half hour to get up enough energy to get off the couch!!!!!!!!!!!!


On that note - I will finish the rest of my Mother's Day in another post.



Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Logistics SNAFU

In case you don't know what SNAFU means - well I am sure if you Google it - you will know.

Speaking of which - you can pretty much find the answer to ANYTHING on the internet. I have seen these ads around town  - a BIG ORANGE background with this lettering on it "#smallenfreuden". What the heck does that mean???   Well I had two tech savvy teens in the car this morning and they found the answer. Do you know how to find the answer?????

I must get my head examined. Last year, I volunteered to help with the Goodlife 10 K run. I guess I did SUCH a great job volunteering for the marathon that they thought I would be an easy one to rope in. Well I got suckered in alright!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Here is the ad in the paper announcing this event which is HUGE.

You see that NUMBER - 27,000. That is the number of people who have registered for this event. Which is a charity event. OH MY GOD - what have I done???????????????

They needed people to "HELP" load the trucks so they would be ready to drive to the water stations. OK - I will "HELP". For some reason, I asked M and Berke to help out so I could be finished in time to go to yoga class at 12:30. I would buy them a yummy breakfast.


We arrive at Ontario Place at 9 AM and NO ONE else is there. A minute later, Adam drives up with ONE of the THREE trucks needed for the day. Ron arrives just as we were organizing ourselves to drive to Budget to pick up the other two trucks. Turns out it was JUST Ron and myself to load the trucks. So much for "HELPING". Thank goodness M and Berke came with me - they really saved the day.

Back at the PODS at Ontario Place around 10ish. We get the list of supplies needed to be loaded on each truck and I am thinking "we do NOT have enough supplies". Oh dear. We take a quick trip to drop off supplies at the finish line at Coronation Park which is just a couple of KM away.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO   - why do they already have supplies here????  You are kidding me  --- right???????????????????


It would appear that the SUPPLY TRUCK dropped everything at this location instead of the PODS back at Ontario Place. That means that we had to move FIVE skids of Gatorade, THOUSANDS of cups (in big boxes, but still), 60 tables (and I thought a few tables at Monday Motivators was a pain!!!!)

Fortunately there were about a dozen students at this location who were there to help set up the water station at the finish line. We grabbed them and they helped us load the two trucks. As I am driving back to Ontario Place with my 60 tables piled in the truck, I am expecting to hear a HUGE crash as I turn the corners, but they got packed well and NOTHING shifted. Oh it must have been my superb driving skills!!!!


Then we off loaded the supplies and restocked the trucks - drove more supplies to the finish line and AT LAST got all three trucks loaded with the necessary supplies. The time when we drove out of there??????   2 PM. - YEP - missed that yoga class. But the amount of weight I lifted - well that makes up for something I guess.

Here is what my truck looked like before we knew there was a problem. Nice and empty

Cones set up the finish line. 

M in the truck, as they load tables into my truck. 

Instead of offloading the tables - we backed the trucks back to back and look - that is M - hard at work helping transfer the tables from truck to truck. 

Oh - she looks so professional!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say that M and Berke worked VERY HARD and I am proud of both of them. They didn't complain despite the fact that they were both STARVING and I had told them it would only take a couple of hours.


While we were there - we saw several interesting sights...............

A BIG swan right beside our PODS

A rowing crew out practicing

Berke and Ron looking at the swan and the rowing crew

And in the parking lot beside us - there was a PORSCHE RALLY. Berke was drooling as we drove into the parking lot. His face was plastered against the window like a little kid. It was pretty funny. 

Not a lot of people at the test drive. We were tempted to go over and BEG for a ride (not even to drive), but thought we looked too grubby. Hell - we should have stopped.   They would have LOVED to give us a ride. NEXT TIME - I am stopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I captured M on her way over to meet us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    And by this time - we were getting silly. Hard to see how full the truck is - but this is what I need to off load tomorrow morning.

Love those GLOVES!!!!!!!!

All happy because we are DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We get into the car and drive ONE MORE TIME to the finish line - help unload the truck and we are on our way to DENNY's for BREAKFAST. Of course - there was a lot of traffic and we had finally had our BREAKFAST at 3 PM.

And you know what? - I ATE THE ENTIRE THING!!!!!!!

Then I was exhausted as was M. We both got home and went to bed. Oh - yes - pretty energetic we are. You can never have too many naps!!!!!!!!!!!   I love napping.


Now I bet you are asking yourself - is she getting any quilting done?????   Well yes - I managed to get one more binding on a charity quilt.

How is that for calculations!!!!   I had JUST enough to make the join!!!!!!!!!!

And................

I got this quilt quilted (also for community projects in a different guild). I helped Elaine Sy design the quilt. It has car fabric on it and I quilted it with a car design

I also worked on finishing the piecing on YET ANOTHER community project quilt.


Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - I just realized - EVERYTHING in this post is about doing stuff for others. I thought I was going to cut that out??????????    Well I know that being a volunteer is an important part of helping out the community. It just so happens that there are TWO race weekends and TWO quilt show weekends all in a row. After this - there is ONE more big event - the Ride to Conquer Cancer and I am just riding. I say JUST because I only have to spend a couple hours riding - I do NOT have to huff luggage, or boxes or pick up garbage. I will JUST be riding and I will be thankful for every KM. And thanking the volunteers - I volunteered at that event one year and it is HARD WORK. I also got to drive a truck that year. You see the trend - NO ONE wants to drive those trucks!!!


So while you are warm and snug in your PJs tomorrow morning, I will be up at 4:30 AM - so I can get to the truck by 5 and deliver the goods to the water station on Yonge Street and get 40,000 cups filled with water and Gatorade by 8 AM. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    I am supposed to have 70 volunteers to help. Let's hope, because I really really really want to take pictures. This is going to an AMAZING sight.



Have a good day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!