It's all about the books!

OH MY GOSH!!!! Irons from The Devil Wears Prada? How cool is that!!!! I never watched the first movie until the other night, but after all the hype, I'm obsessed and just watched Meryl Streep on Jimmy Kimmel. She is such an amazing actor (are we allowed to say actess?). And I even purchased a ticket for Tuesday to see the film. Holy cow -- I'm excited!!!!

That was in response to Barbara's comment!!!

I went to bed at my regular time and woke up 1 hour earlier than usual, but that's OK. I had some last-minute things to prep for the two presentations. I swear the SAME people send their stuff late at night, the night before. Why is that? 

Anyway -- everything is prepped and ready to go for the two presentations. I have so much fun putting them together. I love the research, and well, I just love the process. 

And OH --- I have the most amazing quote for you today. This came from James Clear's newsletter. I love it!!!!

That is a super motto for me because that's the only reason why I know as much as I do. It's because people have asked me questions, and I'm prepared to find out the answers. I love teaching only because it helps me to learn. The next time someone asks you to show them how to do something, take your time and show them. Don't do it for them. It's so rewarding to teach! And you'll be smarter. We need to tell that to the young people who would prefer to just do rather than show us older people how to make technology work. 

By the way, and I think I mentioned this before, but the day I was introduced to the library card system, I fell in love. I think I was about 22 at the time, and it was at Concordia University (Montreal). I had never had access to a library before, and I was mesmerized!!! Typing in a request on the computer is not nearly as fun!

OK -- enough about that. WAIT—I do have a story about a book today. Actually, MANY books. 

If any of you have been on a Zoom call with me, you know there is a wall of books in Studio B. I am embarrassed to say that the wall is about 20 feet long and is floor-to-ceiling. Of course, there are a few magazines on those shelves as well. I NEVER want to part with my books. BUT - I know that I must start the culling process. 

Plus, I see that some of the shelves are starting to sag, and the last thing I want is a collapsed shelf. It has happened once before when the small shelf support gave way. An entire unit of books cascaded to the floor. OH MY—when I moved the portable design wall, look what I found on the floor. Now, why is that still on the floor after how many years? Anyway -- I'll substitute this shelf support for one of the plastic ones. 

A found shelf support

I decided it was time and emptied one entire shelf. Doesn't that shelf look like it's sagging? I flipped it upside down (yes -- the same wood on both sides), and that will help with the sagging. 

The shelf is sagging.

I stacked the books on a table - that's a lot of books on one shelf, and they weigh a lot. 

The books from one shelf

And then I started to cull. I should have been doing this years ago, but it doesn't matter. I have started now. I will quickly leaf through the books I've pulled in case I've pulled something I may need/want. I doubt it, and that process will get faster as I move along. 

The culled books

By the way, I chatted with my mother yesterday, and she mentioned that she is cleaning out her filing cabinet of old expired subscriptions. WHAT????? How is this possible? While I'm stunned, I'm also very grateful, and how the heck can I get her to see that more of her crap isn't necessary? I'm also not very happy about the physio they set up. She will see the person TWICE, and then they (parents and physio) think everything is fine. Good grief—I will look into that when I'm out there next. The same goes for the medications -- they think everything is fine as is, and I'm sure they could make some changes. It's so darn hard to stay on top of things when you are not there to supervise the appointments. They (parents) will just listen to what the doctor/banker/accountant says, and then say, "Everything is fine." ACK!!!!!!

The reason that I was even looking at the books was that I wanted to find a particular book. I was about to give up, but then I found it and another one of the same genre. WOW!!!!! I can scan the spines of the books very quickly, but wouldn't it be so much easier if the same topics were grouped together? 

So, as I continue with the great book purge, I need to sort the books as well. And oh my—there are so many books I bought with great intentions, and yet I never did anything with them. I have new knowledge, new skills, and I think I might find a new use for a couple. But so many will need to go!!! 

How the heck am I going to get rid of these books? I can save some for the various book sales (Mississauga Symphony), and donate some to the thrift store, and there will be certain ones I'll offer to you! They are great books!!!! Just not something that I need. 

And I was flipping through the second and third shelf and found this!!! OMG—I have been looking for this for quite some time. I swear - I need to make a list of things that are lost in Studio B because it would be so much fun to cross them off. 

A book I didn't remember buying.

And there is the elusive set of templates that I SWEAR I had purchased. EXCEPT—do you see that the templates have a different name than the book? Can you tell me why I did that? But it doesn't natter -- I found the darn templates!!!! I knew I bought them, but where did I put them? In a book that they don't even belong to, on a bookcase! Sigh....................

The missing templates

My favorite books, which I have NOT taken the time to read (so why do I call them my favorites? - I know you're asking that question!). These are books about quilts from other regions, historical quilts, and basically just picture books featuring quilts. These are the books I'll take with me when I downsize. I won't need the rest. 

HMMM --- an old book on historical quilts

But that brings to mind another quote by Henry David Thoreau, which I've made into a reading pillow for adults. I'll have to find a picture of the pillow tomorrow (if my pictures were all tagged, it would be easy), 

OK -- I may need to change my perspective on reading books, but I LOVE them all!!!

I found this price tag on that book. Oh my --- it's been a while since the book was originally purchased. For those who don't live in Canada. Eaton's was an iconic department store for 130 years, but it didn't keep up with the times and eventually declared bankruptcy in 1999. 

The original price tag

But look at the year it was published! This book is a keeper. These are the books that I want to keep. They provide so much history, and I'm afraid that no one cares about quilt history. It's just about MAKING as fast and as many as you can. I was just a babe!

Published in 1965

And I got a huge chuckle as I flipped through the book. Look at this quilt!!!! Does anyone recognize this quilt? 

Ii swear it was in the display at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) a few years back. Yep ---- check out this website!!!! The exhibit was in 2024. We need to go to these exhibits not only to support the Museums but also to understand our quilt history. NOTHING that anyone creates today is new. NOTHING. And if you can show me something new, I bet I can find a book on my shelf where that idea came from. And then if you think that's something, I bet if we go back in history, you're going to see a TON of stuff that makes what people produce today pale in comparison. I'll share what I discovered with you next week, along with the reason I went searching through my bookshelves. 

So this is one unit of the shelves. The bottom row is books about scrapbooking, which I seem to have amassed quite a collection of. I couldn't even sell them for the paper's value! I need to purge those, which would make spreading out the remainder easier. BUT I had such high hopes for all that material!!!!! This job is going to kill me!!!

My week's goal - to cull and sort

But if I can find someone else who can use the books, I'll be happy to pass them along. I'll be sure to post them on the blog to see if anyone wants some. Watch for the culled books tomorrow - at least some of them. 

I spent most of the day sewing or working on the presentations. And I did watch some YouTube videos that I had access to until 6 AM this morning. I did NOT like the way the material availability was presented, but so what. Let's move on. And most of the material, while interesting, wasn't necessary to watch. But that's OK. I did get a couple of inspirational ideas, so it was worth my time. 

However, as I worked, I had help. Of course I did. 

MOM - I'll press the pedal while you sew

And when she looks up at you with those eyes -- your heart just melts!!!! But it's a challenge to sew with a dog right in front of your sewing machine. I didn't post that picture, and I'm sure the ergonomic people would be yelling at me to move her. 

All dogs have a front and a back, so while practicing slow stitching on my sewing machine, this was the view from behind. 

Wedged in between the tables

I mean, seriously --- how can you move her? She is so dang cute and adorable, and she knows it!!!! The two girls had fun asking to be let in and let out all day. I'd love to leave the door open, but can you believe there was frost on the car when I took Murphy for a walk at 7:30 AM? 

Of course, we had to play ball, and when she couldn't find it or get it since it was sitting on top of the bushes, she just sat there and waited. I did NOT go get it for her. She's smart enough to figure it out. 

MOM -- do you see me? See how cute and patient I am?

I'm home alone until tomorrow afternoon, so I took full advantage of the opportunity to make a mess in the kitchen. At one point, it looked like this. 

The kitchen looks a bit disheveled.

My gosh -- it looked like a couple of teenagers live here. Doors open, a chair hanging out by the stove, and crap everywhere! It doesn't look nearly as bad when I got disgusted and took a few minutes to tidy up!

I did not need a nap yesterday, so fingers crossed, I won't have jet lag to deal with. Drink lots of water. I had lots of catnaps during my travel day home, but not enough to interfere with my sleep pattern. The time difference was 6 hours.  

It's going to be another exciting day! I must find some boxes for those books, and I'm only going to focus on that one set of shelves until I find a home for everything. I do NOT need to have a huge mess in that space. Which reminds me that I have a few boxes of books still upstairs that belonged to M that I must process as well. 

On that note -- have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Deadlines!

It appears that I need a deadline to get moving! I felt perfectly like my old self yesterday as I rushed around taking pictures and trying to make sense of the two Zoom classes for this morning. Both presentations are ready! Or as ready as they are going to be. 

One will be a breeze, the other - not so much! But it'll all work out, and everyone will be that much smarter! 

I also spent quite a bit of time working on a very detailed email regarding the logistics of both classes. Thankfully, I could reuse some of the writing. Instructions on how to send pictures, submit homework, or join the Facebook page, etc. I swear I had it all covered until this morning! 

TWO things that I forgot to mention, and both things happened overnight! ACK!!!! OK -- so I'm making a template from that email and adding those two items. No pictures after midnight! I'm good, but I have my own life, and I'm not dropping my routine to ensure someone's pictures get in the presentation. I did it this time, but only because I had yet to outline that rule! 

The second thing related to Facebook which I need help understanding. Private groups (then no one can find it to join) versus Public groups (in which anyone can become a member, even if I set it for approval). I just don't get it --- Facebook really needs to change their settings or give us more power -- NO ONE should be able to join a group without permission of the group owner. Obviously, I need a lot more instruction in that area. 

It also doesn't help that some people use a fake name on Facebook -- I don't know who you are if you use a fake name! 

Suffice it to say, I'll make a template for class logistics and fill in the blanks! 

Then, if you can believe it, I got an email AFTER midnight asking to join both classes. The email was missing some vital information, and just how it was worded -- well, I thought it rather cheeky. So I sent a note back to get their information, and I'm only adding them to the list once I get that, by which time I'll be teaching. Seriously??? The class signups have been out for TWO MONTHS!!!!

I'm sure some people looked at my logistics list and thought -- this teacher is pretty strict and thinks we are all children. Well, just like the CAUTION notes you see everywhere, they are there because someone thinks it's OK to do what they want, regardless of scheduling, time, or whatever. Remember the Caution - HOT on a coffee cup? Well, I have to do the same. If you have a class of 40 or 50 students, there has to be some structure to make everything run smoothly. 

So, to anyone who thinks I'm a bit rigid -- there's a good reason for it! 

I'm slowly making up the KMs for my virtual challenge. As long as I do the daily average of 12.5 KM, I'm OK, and if I can get in a few extras (even 1 KM a day), that makes me happy! 

So yes -- I think I'm back! And my muscles feel so much better now. OK -- so the pain and suffering (Oh woe is me!) of that massage have paid off!

I have a project that needs to be done by next Monday (16th). I've had three different ideas mulling in my head. Which one should I do? Well, it's down to the crunch time now, and I think I know which one to go for! I had to laugh when I was at the mall the other day and spotted something exactly like I was going to make. Shoot -- nothing is new -- but I thought of it BEFORE I spotted it at the mall. Now I'll be firing up some machines this afternoon and hoping to get a LOT done today. 

I needed some fabric to make this particular project, which is why I was waffling between the three of them. A casual phone call alerted me to a store with the fabric I needed, so I did that yesterday. 

I'm almost afraid to say this, but I had FOUR phone conversations in the last two days on my cell phone. Two were short, and two were long. My voice did NOT drop on any of them. Could I be back in business?? It is going to take a long time before I have confidence in my service! 

The weather is changing! Yesterday was still a day to wear shorts, but I had to get up in the night to put an extra cover on the bed. I was cold, and so was Bear. So, do I dare go out in shorts this morning? It's a bit cooler than it has been!

The two big girls are outside right now and loving it! Little Bear is snuggling under the covers of his bed. But he doesn't have the luxury of a big fur coat like the other two. 

I took tons of pictures yesterday, but none that I can share on the blog. But here's something to keep you occupied. It's all about the Chiangi Quilt made by women prisoners during the Second World War. 

And on that note, I'm out of here. I've got three dogs to walk, and I need to get it done by 9:30 when it's time to get on Zoom!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!