Scored on the road (shopping) trip!!!

From the comments, I see I shouldn't save any emails with attachments. And YES -- I agree 100%. However, I have been lax about that, and now I'm paying the price. Well, it just means that I have to do a lot of deleting. 

DH and I chatted about it last night. Why are companies doing this? Changing our phones so we have things like auto-backups, and they don't tell us? Because most people will be lazy and just add more storage (for a price). I refuse to be that person. 

DELETE DELETE DELETE is the new motto!! And it's something that has to be done CONSTANTLY. 

What a road trip that was! I picked up my passenger shortly after 9 AM, and we didn't get home until 5 PM. It took a bit longer than I planned, but boy oh boy—the trip was a total success, and I scored on so many counts!

Our first stop was to drop off a quilt that I had quilted for someone. Her house was along our route, so it was easy. She wasn't home, but that worked out OK. We called her and dropped the quilt off in the garage. We also saved her bacon by turning off the water for their new lawn so her husband didn't think she left it on!

Back on the road, we arrived at our first destination about 11:30. I would not normally drive that far to a quilt shop, but I had left some things behind when I was there a couple of weeks ago. Where were we? Heather Bell's Sewing Studio. She doesn't have a super online presence, but she is a PFAFF dealer, and she also has BATIKS. Lots and lots of batiks! 

A small sampling of the batiks at Heather Bell's Sewing Studio

Except for a few bundles, she sells only batiks! And if you are looking for LIGHT batiks, this is the place to go! 

The cream/white batiks!

The store is attached to her house, and it's not huge, but spread out over several rooms. There were a lot of cars when we arrived, and oh my - we were not expecting that! However, it was all good news since there was a SALE!!!!! A good sale - so that was even better. 

I took the bucket of batiks I sorted the previous night, and with the MUCH APPRECIATED bundles of swatches from my other friend, I found some beautiful batiks to fill the gaps. 

My bucket of sorted batiks

The swatches of batiks

What I added to my collection

OH MY --- doesn't that bundle look yummy! I was so excited that I wanted to dive right in and start sewing last night. But I didn't have time. I had to get dinner ready for the little guy, then have dinner myself, then walk the dogs, take a phone call (while walking all three dogs), and then work on the puzzle. But I'm going too fast. Let's backtrack. 

What am I going to do with all those batiks? I have been a fan of Jacqueline de Jonge patterns for years. I have several that were done before her new cover style. By the way - I bought one meter of each color, except for the remnant. It seems I mostly have stuff from her Rainbow pattern collection. But as I quickly browsed her site, so many patterns are reminiscent of other paper piecing designs!!! I have a lot of that other designer as well. We won't go there! 

My collection of Jacqueline de Jonge patterns

I should have checked the date on the one on the bottom right, but it is definitely one of her earlier patterns. As is the one in the top left. They are also easier than some of the others. The second from the left in the bottom row is the one that I am searching for. Obviously, not the pattern, but the project box. I swear I started it - I remember teaching it, but where is the project box? I'll likely find it and find TONS of batiks. But that's OK. 

Anyway, I would LOVE to start one of these, and two of them are very easy. I know - I know! I said I wouldn't start anything new, but those two are pretty basic and would be fun to have as a new project. Just to "test" out the batiks! I'll see how it goes, as I still have a LOT of sorting to do. And basic things to catch up on. 

With all the commotion and people, we were at that shop much longer than we had planned. I hope to get back and run some classes for Heather. We didn't have time to chat yesterday, so we'll do that on the phone. 

We stopped at Tim's for something quick as we were now running behind. Here's a better picture of the SNITCH (Harry Potter) that you can fill with Timbits. 

The SNITCH box at Tim's

OH MY—the special Timbits you can buy have a golden sprinkle on them. It may not be readily visible in the picture! I must say I splurged and had a tea in the morning, which isn't a big deal, but I ended up eating two of their cookies. OK -- loads of sugar, but it was one day. I can live with one day. 

Golden Snitch TimBits

Our next stop was Ye Olde Fabric Shoppe in Stratford. I had several things that I was looking for, and this is a big shop, so I was hoping we would find what we needed. I knew they had a wide variety of stuff. 

I didn't have time to take pictures, but I was looking for a backing, borders, and some background fabrics. And I scored on all THREE counts. I don't have time to share the pictures this morning, but I will take pictures and share tomorrow. Let's just say that it pays to ASK questions when you are in a quilt shop and can't find what you are looking for. A few impulse buys ended up in my basket. Again -- you'll hear all about that tomorrow. 

BUT LOOK WHAT Dede found!!!! 

Adorable mini quilt prints

OH my goodness!!!! There were pinwheels, flying geese, hexagons, stars, log cabins, and probably something else. There were several different colorways, and I wanted one of each! I did not - I got one. I checked my fat quarter to see what collection this is from, and I don't have a selvage edge on my fabric. I quickly tried to find a mini-quilt image on fabric, and all I'm getting is mini quilt patterns. I might have to call the store. 

But imagine what fun you could have with that! The scale might be a tad small for our Show and Tell quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. Those blocks are 12" square, and I'll have to check to see if the scale would be correct. It might work! 

Show and Tell my Elizabeth Hartman

Don't yell at me - I just had an epiphany. I have tried to delete emails in the past, and I never see any of my storage free up. I empty my trash regularly and get rid of spam and that silly Important folder. But I never touch one folder: the SENT folder. Imagine how many attachments are in that folder? I feel protective of that folder and don't want to empty it in case I need to go back and find something, which I have had to do. But imagine if I went in and deleted every email with an attachment? That might quickly free up a lot of space. 

Hmm -- let me check that out. OK -- I just sorted them, and there are MANY. I'll go in later and delete all the class stuff I sent before 2026. That should help. Then I'll keep deleting stuff from my file structure. I'm working on 2025 right now, and everything before 2025 is already deleted. 

Sometimes people come back in a current class and ask me to resend because they can't find the stuff, so I don't want to get rid of everything. Just keep the current one and delete the rest. 

I went to bed a little bit later than usual because I was listening to that darn audiobook! Oh my --- the plot twists keep coming. There was even one point when I gasped audibly at the plot twist. 

And all the while I was working on my jigsaw puzzle. At last—I got over the hurdle, and I made excellent progress last night. 

Excellent progress on the jigsaw puzzle

I now have two windows and a door of books to complete. I love when that happens. And don't worry—the next one is already sitting on the table, waiting to be put together!

Oh my --- too much running around and looking for things this morning, and I need to get to the gym for 6 AM to meet with Brooke. I am feeling much stronger these days. I wish I was a bit leaner, but that will come. Anyway, I think I'm becoming a gym rat again, which I am happy about. I will get to the point where I can easily do 10 push-ups with 90-degree elbow bends from my toes. Hey -- it's nice to have a goal!!! I know -- you are saying - who cares? Well, I care. Because should I slip and fall, I need to get myself back up!

Lots of computer work and phone calls today. As we were driving yesterday, I must have said at least ten times - NOTE TO SELF - you need to do this. I hope I remember everything! I need to take a notebook and have my passenger take notes. I suppose I could do that through the Notes app and hands-free, but then I will forget the note, so that doesn't help me one bit. 

It's going to be an AWESOME day!!!

Ciao!!!

That is a quilt block?

It's great to be home!!!! I managed to get a bit more sorting done before we left shortly after lunch. It was another amazing retreat with great company, a new house, and a return date for next year! You can't beat that! 

My hand was a bit sore this morning when I woke up, and I'm guessing that was from all the cutting I've done. I'm surprised it wasn't sore before, but then I wasn't making big swooping cuts -- most of what I did was piddly little trimming. 

Once I arrived home, I had TWO very excited girls on my hands. Typically, Miss Lexi comes to say hello and then leaves, but yesterday? She was like glue, and they both craved attention. I left the unpacking until later in the day. It was raining, so I wasn't going for a walk. They were NOT happy. 

MOM -- we MISSED YOU!!!!!!! 

We had cuddles, and Murphy just had to play ball. When she was a bit tired, Lexi and Murphy performed their play-fighting routine for me. Then they were somewhat content, and I was able to start unpacking the car. YES -- I took a few too many things that I never touched, but I'm OK with that. I think I'll take those to the next retreat, which is in May. That one is a bit longer, and I'll take the scraps that need to be cut, but I'll also take the sewing machine. I'll cut one day and sew the other. Or whatever I deem worthy of my time at that moment. But taking the cutting sure makes a difference in getting it done there. I do not regret leaving my machine at home. I accomplished a LOT! 

I may have gotten rid of TWO things while at the retreat. When talking to people, someone mentions they want something, and so you say, "I have that and don't want it." One of them was fabric I knew I had, so when I got home, I had to find it because, in the great reorganization of the stash room, it had been moved. However, because the boxes were well labeled, I found what I was looking for within a minute. 

Well-labeled boxes made a HUGE difference.

I pulled it out, took pictures, and sent them along. Now I wait to see if that person wants it. That would be amazing if she takes it. One less project on my shelf. I am extremely happy to get rid of stuff this way, meaning if someone is specifically looking for something and I happen to have it. I am NOT going to just get rid of things so someone can put them on their shelf. It might as well stay on mine! 

The other item is my Cricut, which I bought with good intentions, but I haven't used it since I have two other digital cutters. I need to dig out all the supplies I have for that - tools, presses, irons, mats, etc. Then all we need to do is decide on a price, and it will likely be gone! That will free up half a table since it sits out ready to use. I'm good with it being gone. 

Then last night, after everything was put away and I had some quiet time, I decided to make something with those itty-bitty bits I cut over the last couple of days. I am working on three quilts, and I picked ONE to try making a block. 

What do you think? 

A teeny tiny block

Yes, that is a nine-patch, and it's made with one-inch squares, so they finish at ½" in the quilt. I know --- totally insane!!!!

There's the block without the ruler.

It's cute and will look much better once it's sewn in, with all the squares the same size. The crazy thing is how many of these I need. Close to 500!!!! I know—it will be a long-term project, to say the least. I'm not sure how much more cutting to do. 

Oh shoot—I didn't send the picture, but when I went into the stash room to put away the box of white scraps left over from my cutting session, I found some more white!! One piece was in the wrong box, and another box had been started because the first one was exploding. Sigh............... 

Thankfully, it's not nearly as full as the one I just dealt with, so I don't think it'll take too long to go through. The cleaned-up box with the white scraps contains larger pieces, which I'm going to keep in case I need them later. 

But while I was doing that, I decided to pull out all my batik scraps. OH!!! There are several boxes of them, and I need to address that. However, I've decided to kill two birds with one stone and use the batik scraps for my upcoming 7- or 8-part session on scraps (starting September/October)!! It'll be perfect for dealing with what's there, and together we'll learn sorting, cutting, picking patterns, etc. 

Hence, I'm not going to share that process on the blog, but am taking and saving pictures for then. And if I play my cards right, I could have most of the work done before the classes even start! The bonus is that these scraps are sitting on the current project table!!! 

OH -- just for fun, I'll post the picture of all the boxes of batik scraps. They are not sorted like I sort my other fabrics because they are batiks!! Does that make sense? Anyway—I've got a plan, and I'm happy. 

Batik scraps to deal with

It's not as bad as it looks since I'll be dealing with three of those containers in the next couple of days, and they will be gone! But that still leaves a lot of other scraps. My techniques and patterns will work with any scraps, and your scraps might look different than mine --- it's going to be a fun class. 

I thought I'd share the puzzles I acquired over the last couple of days, and I need to stop buying now, as I am literally running out of room where I store them. 

These are the ones I bought at the thrift shop, and most of them were were $4.99. I did not have a discount coupon with me, nor was it seniors' day, so I paid full price. GASP!!! But still --- a good deal all around. 

A LOT of animals

And look at this one --- two puzzles for the price of one. I find the puzzles at that location are cheaper overall than at my location. 

Wild colors

A pretty winter scene. 

Winter scene

And then this is the one I bought at the quilt shop. I made that quilt and thought it would be fun to do the puzzle. Actually, this is different than the quilt I made, but lots of similar blocks. 

Farm puzzle

And lastly, after I had a salad for dinner, I went for a walk with the girls. One thing about this retreat was that there were too many temptations. I'll have to ask the organizer to tell them not to bring extra goodies. Actually, it was pretty good, and we ate healthy, but I'm sure I put on a pound or two. Sigh.....

Anyway, the girls were wild when I went out. I just needed a sleigh with wheels, and the extra weight might slow them down somewhat. The two of them were in their glory, and I don't like walking them together when they are wild like that, but I didn't want to walk them separately. The one who got left at home would be frantic!

MOM -- we are HAPPY girls!!!

They are so funny, and all they care about is that walk!!

I had a great sleep last night. We get sleep at the retreat, but it's never the same as at home, or as much. I was sleeping in a room with three people, and even though they were as quiet as mice, it was still distracting. 

But now I'm home, and I can get back to my normal sleep patterns and walking, and cooking oatmeal!!

I'm off to the gym this morning on my own. I'm not going to do anything much, but have a good stretch, and maybe do some weights. I'll see how it goes when I get there. 

Then I have the entire day to myself! I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but two surprise events popped up on my calendar while I was away, and I need to make a couple of samples, so I will probably work on those today. 

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!

A law-abiding citizen

Not that I get around much, but there is one thing when you go to someone's house, or in this case, a retreat house, that always throws me for a loop. One thing every time, and it's in the kitchen. Can anyone guess? Almost everyone has one, and while they all look similar from the outside, they are NOT!!!! I'm talking about the microwave. The difference is the wattage? Power? I'm not sure what you would call it, but oh my --- they are totally different. 

I know from cooking oatmeal in many microwaves. Yesterday I struggled, but I was watching, so I was able to stop it before it boiled over. Today, I set the time for 90 seconds at a power level of 3 out of 10. The oatmeal still boiled over. Sigh....... 

And last night, when I put my Magic Bag in the microwave before going to bed, I burnt the contents, and the house stinks like burnt popcorn. I had put it in for 3 minutes the night before, and always do three minutes at home, I never thought about the power, and VOILA -- burnt popcorn smell. Sigh.....

Perhaps I need to shy away from all things microwave!! Tomorrow, I shall try 90 seconds on power 2, but I'll watch it! And my Magic Bag might be toast because of the burnt contents. 

OH MY --- I'm a law-abiding citizen, and I can't cross the line! I decided to find a geocache on my morning walk. It wasn't that far from the house, and then the plan was to cut across the golf course from one road to another. The owner of the house said they do it all the time. 

I quickly found the geocache - it's amazing when you walk into a parking lot, and you know immediately what tree you are going to find the darn thing. 

The geocache container

By the way, that was find number 993, which is a small number. But I'm OK with that. I recently saw someone celebrate his 75,000 th find!!! Now that is a serious geocacher. I just do it from time to time and mostly on walks in new neighborhoods. Perhaps I can top 1000 while I'm here. 

Then I continued walking down the road to get to the golf course. As I was approaching the gate, a car was pulling out, but not before the guy had opened it, which had a very large NO TRESPASSING sign on it. Hmmm ---- I stopped and contemplated entering the driveway through the gate, then decided I didn't need the hassle of being in the wrong place when I had no right to be there. And while the fellow in the car was coming out of the gate, I could hear other people on the grounds. 

I'll go further down the road and see if I can find a spot to cross the ditch and walk along the edge. I spotted an opening in the trees. 

A perfect spot to cross the ditch and get into the trees

I walked about ten feet into the wooded area, only to find this. 

Hmmm - I'm not the first person to think this was a good idea.

Hmmm—someone is telling me something. So I turned around and had to walk all the way back around the road grid. And that was OK -- it was a nice morning, the sun was out and not too cold, and I got a good walk. 

Then it was back to the house, where I went back to dealing with all those little scraps of white fabric. 

I kept at it all day. How is that for focus? I was finally down to the last handful of white scraps. Most of them needed to be pressed before I could do anything because they were literally crammed tight into that box. 

The last handful of scraps

And I'm happy to say that I have a lot of 1" strips of white fabric. 

1" stripes of white fabric

I also cut some 2 1/2" squares to make some half-square triangles, and I'll need some 2-inch pieces, so I cut some of those, and I found some triangles that I can use for making half-square triangles. I brought my bag of bags, so each is now safely stowed in the appropriate bag. 

I decided to keep some of the larger pieces of white and nice full strips so that, if and when the time comes, and I might need some white scraps, I still have some, and they are organized. The piddly little scraps - they are gone! 

The scrap bin! 

As I sew the white strips with the colours, more scraps will be generated, since I won't use all of the strips, as some are not 1" for the entire length. For the moment, the white is done!! 

I finished after dinner, and it was dark outside. I cleaned up my cutting area, loaded all that stuff into a tote bag, and took it to the car  Then I grabbed the next bag of things to do  This time, it doesn't involve cutting but rather some handwork  I'm going to try to advance my two jackets as far along as I can  I've already been hard at work on that this morning, so you'll see it later. 

What precipitated all this cutting of the white strips is these boxes of batik scraps, which are the cutoffs from the very first QuiltWorx pattern that I ever did. It was called the 4th of July. I didn't know enough about these patterns, so I didn't realize how wasteful they are with fabric. I couldn't bear to throw this stuff out. 

Batik scraps

While there are some pieces I can use, I think most will be too small, and I still hate to throw them out  When I looked through it last night, all those colors were so exciting, and I think I'm going to try to make some kind of collage  Hmmmmmm --- thoughts are running through my head  And I could use those white castoffs as well  Hmmmmmmmmm, 

I took a break in the afternoon and went to the local quilt shop, which turned out to be a mistake  I found a few things I "needed"  I had visited the shop when it was in its original location in DocVille, which is a very interesting place  I first came across that place on my cycling trip across Canada back in 2013  Shoot -- I am struggling to copy the DocVille link without a mouse  I hate this touch pad!!! Just Google it if you want to see the western town!

Annie's Quilt Shop

What was funny was that I spotted a jigsaw puzzle on a top shelf and thought it would be neat to have, so I asked the owner to get it for me. Well, it happened to be holding up the line of pillow forms, and once the puzzle box was down, a domino effect set in as all the pillow forms plopped onto the floor!!!! 

We had a good laugh over it, and then I was back at the retreat house. 

I just want to say one thing about the retreat: we all know that what happens at retreat stays at retreat  I was invited by a friend of mine who organized the event  She has moved away from my area, but we still stay in touch, mostly through retweets  I met most of this group last year, and they are wonderful ladies  I also met new people this time, and you know what  We are all quilters - most of us have the same hopes, goals, but most importantly, we all speak the language of quilting, although a couple are somewhat new, so they are learning the language. 

Anyway, we all sat around the table last night and chatted for hours, until I excused myself because I wanted to finish cutting all that white. Guess what? We all get along!! What fun to spend time with mostly total strangers or people I don't know well, and still have a wonderful time!! Thank you, retreat ladies!!!

And for a point of reference, if you think I am a lunatic (that's OK) at cutting 1" strips of fabric, I am not crazy. Look at what one lady is making. That center square. It's cut at 3/4", way smaller than what I'm working with!!! I'm not so crazy after all!!!

This is teeny tiny!

And don't you love this sign!!! How true, and we are doing a great job of chatting without our phones, although my phone and only my phone was on the table last night. However, we did need it to fact-check something. You sure need to keep a phone handy these days for fact-checking!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here! My first seam that needs hand stitching to finish is ready to go. I hope to finish both sleeve/shoulder seams fairly quickly, then move on to the next set of shoulder/sleeve seams to prep. Still, those ones will be stitched by machine when I'm home  If that doesn't make sense, it will when I forward a picture to you  Then onto the next thing, and I'd like to try sorting those THREE containers of batiks  Do not worry if I can't find enough 1" strips in those three boxes of very small scraps, because I have another three boxes of larger scraps still in the car  Oh yes—I came prepared for four retreats. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Color inspiration for the next quilt

So it was a good day and a bad day! GRR! 

It drives me crazy when I can't find something. I become obsessed with finding it, and when I can't, it throws my day for a curve! That was yesterday. I'm missing TWO things -- I wanted to take a picture of part of a UFO project. Can I find it? Nope -- and I've looked everywhere. But obviously, not everywhere! I'll try later today. 

However, the good news is that I already have a picture of the piece (I remembered that later in the day) and found the pictures this morning. It's not perfect because the picture was cropped, but it'll do. 

There was good news as I was searching for that project; I found something I wanted to find when I was teaching the One Block Wonder class.  I need a MAJOR sort of all my UFOs. They need to go in tubs/shelves or wherever, and there needs to be a darn good list generated. This is nuts and a waste of time! They also need to be culled- those I will never work on and those I want to keep. 

Leftover bits from a One Block Wonder quilt

I'll arrange those pieces in a better photo and send it to the group. After I've taken the photos, this project NEEDS to go in the boxes with the other projects concerning One Block Wonder. It had a home, and I did not put it there, and that's a problem. 

And the reason the other project is missing is that I moved things around, and I'm not sure where I put the project. I thought I knew, but I don't. However, I found lots of other stuff that I can send to Diane for her to sew up! As long as she keeps sewing, I may not even have to touch my stash. I have these random bundles of fabric that I'll never use, so it goes to her! I wanted to make something, but just because. Now -- those "just because" projects will likely get donated. 

It would also help me if I sort the UFOs by type or style? I'm unsure how to make that happen, but I need to clear off a table or two and start getting this mess sorted out. I told you that cleaning up would never end! 

OK -- so I managed to save the day by finding that picture, but I can't really fudge the fact that I'm missing a library book. Not just any library book, but an OVERDUE one. If I don't find it soon, my account will get frozen, which is never good. I can't do anything until the account gets unfrozen, and if I can't find the book, I'll have to pay for it. 

The worst part is that I had the book recently, and where did I put it? Obviously, in THAT safe place. Now, where is that safe place? 

I'm stealing a couple more photos from someone tidying up their sewing space. 

I'm terribly jealous - OK -- not to the point I can't live, but look at this view! I wish I had a view when I sew. And this is a very interesting sewing table, and I wonder where she got it? It would easily fit any sewing machine. 

A neat and tidy sewing space

And did you notice part of ethe view? Can you spot the quilt block? Anyway --- it looks like a fun place to sew. 

I want this, but I have a lip under the edge of my table, so this won't work. I need a different style, which I saw online a while back, and I should investigate to see if it works. Although my tin on the table is working just fine for me. Oh crap -- I have under-the-table drawer envy. I just looked the drawer up again, and I might order it today! 

Under the table storage

Now if you want a laugh, I found these pictures this morning. Remember how I'm always saying how messy Studio B used to be, but I don't have proof. Well, how's this for proof. 

These were taken in 2017, as far as I can tell, and there's a lot of stuff on the floor (it was even worse than this at one point), and every surface is covered with stuff. How did I ever work? 

Studio B in 2017

The other side of Studio B in 2017

The only place with a little room is beside my sewing machine. 

I've come a long way and am quite happy about it!

Let's take about inspiration. I'm always on the hunt for new colorways for quilts, and now that we're going to tackle the Barn Star Sampler, it's time to decide on the color. There's nothing wrong with following what the designer did, but it's also a good opportunity to step outside the box. 

I was browsing through a quilt book from the library that needed to go back. This one was also overdue, so time to finish it. 

A book on modern quilts

And the coloring of this quilt caught my eye. I think the quilt was called Slice of Lemon or something like that. 

The color of this quilt caught my eye.

As I was leaving the house the other day, I spotted this bag filled with fabric that will go to Diane. Oh my --- those colors are cheery. 

Bag of fabric to be donated

And in one of the recent classes, one of the participants made these. 

And those colors make me happy. So -- I decided it was time to use this coloring. And within a short period, I went through those boxes of batiks and found this. 

My initial pull of batiks for the Barn Star Sampler

I sorted them by color. 

Now they are grouped by color

What is very scary is that these are unusual colors of batiks and I have PLENTY of the usual colors. Why or why did I feel I needed so much? 

I need some white for the background, and I was hasty and ordered some BEFORE I went into the boxes. 

When I started curating the fabric, I found this huge bundle. But it's light blue rather than white. So I'm glad I ordered the white. Let's hope it doesn't take too long to get here. I ordered it from Lindley General Store in Meaford. I've never ordered from them, so let's hope all goes well. I'll hang onto that large piece of neutral fabric and one day I'll dig out the blue batiks, and make a quilt. 

A large chunk of neutral

I also placed an order from Mad About Patchwork yesterday, and it's going to arrive TODAY. I'm so excited, but I have homework to do when that arrives. 

I'll need to go through those batiks with more care to eliminate what I don't want. But nothing stands out as out of place. Perhaps I'll keep it all -- use each one once and then put it away. I'll decide what to do when I get started. I've got many e-mails for signing up and will try to get the confirmation out today. But you can start "shopping" your stash if you have the book. We are GOING to do it!

OH my --- I opened the microwave to find this when I went to make my oatmeal yesterday. It was my tea that I attempted to heat up the day before and then promptly forgot it! 

My tea was abandoned in the microwave

So that little Lexi is getting pretty saucy! She used to be the calm quiet one. I was getting ready to go out for the morning walk, and the next thing I know, she was tucked between my legs! Am I supposed to protect her from Murphy? 

MOM -- save me from my sister! 

And the cleaning lady was here, and Murphy and Lexi both love her. And whenever she touches the dog beds, they go crazy. I think Lexi was laying claim to the dog bed and the blanket. But man, does she look happy! I don't think she's missing Ddd too much. 

MINE -- this bed and blanket are MINE! 

But what is this all about? 

MOM -- I moved the table leg to make room for me

But she doesn't look too happy. 

MOM -- when's Dad coming home - I'm bored without him

The fish seem to have no concept of the time of year. One of them was swimming around the surface yesterday morning. The pond looks a little different this morning, but the heater and the aerator are doing their job, so the fish are happy. 

The fish swimming at the surface

In searching for the library book, I needed to deal with some of this stuff from when I went to college. It's been sitting on the table, and I've ignored it. I made yards and yards of fabric with butterflies on it. This all needs to go. It's on the kitchen counter, and when I do my chores this morning, I'll walk it to the garbage bin. 

The design for my butterfly fabric

I have two presentations today and a ton of work. I got waylaid yesterday with searching for those lost items. I do NOT have that luxury today. I MUST get some of this stuff done. 

The snowstorm was very weird. After my Zoom call ended at about 8:15 PM, I looked out the window, and it was snowing like crazy. Hmm -- do I leave it for the morning or go and shovel? I decided to shovel because it if kept snowing like that, it would be a challenge in the morning. 

The snowstorm

While I was out, it stopped snowing (more or less) and turned into freezing rain. The snow wasn't too deep, but it was thick, clinging snow, so not fun to shovel. I did most of the driveway -- did not do the step, but now that I have a package arriving today, I'd better get out there and clean that off. 

The plow passed in the night, which is unusual for it to pass that quickly. However, it left a nice windrow at the end of my driveway. Being on a dead-end street is nice, and I LOVE being on the curve. The only downfall is this snow issue. Oh well  - it doesn't happen often. 

And on that note -- it's time to get ready to walk the girls. I'm sure it's going to be fun this morning. But no major ice or snow accumulation - at least not where I live. 

Oh -- I got batteries yesterday -- I'll share that story tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!