What are you reading?

 Oh, I love your comments, and I'm a bit behind in responding to them! Patience! And yes, I think using ChatGPT is a matter of experience, and I'm brand new to it. I need more information, Tammy - like, did he get it saved to a PDF, and if so, I would love a copy! 

Not to tempt fate or anything, but I am having the most relaxing days and no dreams last night - at least none that I remembered. After I delivered my project (more on the project in a second), I had time to spend a leisurely afternoon chatting with a friend - FOR HOURS. It was glorious. Neither of us was in a rush; we had much to discuss, we hadn't had that much free time together in eons, and it was just an excellent way to spend the afternoon. 

What was even nicer was getting up, knowing that the day was relaxed. I hope there are more of them! In case you think I didn't like what I was doing before, that is NOT TRUE. I love what I do, but the constant pressure of not having enough time for myself and to prepare properly was driving me crazy. Now that I have time for both and still get to do the things I like, I'm feeling a whole lot better and enjoying the preparation much more. 

Let me tell you about my project. The little tweaks that I made were PERFECT! I had gone to bed the night before, realizing that something had to be done. Since I have no one to ask, I just let my brain do the work, and it came up with a plan. I executed the plan, and it was perfect! I had to solve a few more engineering issues before it was completed, but my past experiences came into play, and all was good. 

That's why it's so good to just do things. If you mess up, that's when creativity kicks in. To me, creativity is all about finding solutions to problems. Experience allows us to solve those problems much faster and with greater success, the more you do. Yep -- I've had many screw ups, but I've also been able to recover almost anything where I made a mistake! Just DO IT!!!

Since I want the project to be a surprise (OK -- it's for a publication, so I can't show it to you yet), but here's what my sewing table looked like when I was done! A bit dusty! 

The remnants of completing my project

And it required a bit of ingenuity in sewing the last bits. And that's all I'm saying! 

Creative sewing position

This was the sunrise yesterday. It's getting so late - this is just after 7:30, and in the summer, it was almost 2 hours earlier? That can't be right, but the sun came up a lot earlier. Now, sunrise in the city is a totally different thing than if you're in the country and can actually see the sunrise over the horizon. I get to see it rise over the rooftops. 

Sunrise in the city

Nothing can beat the sunrise near the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. This would be at an altitude of almost 18,000 feet above sea level. That was quite the morning, and I will never forget that sunrise. It was cold, my nose was running, and it was freezing (gross!), and I was tired of climbing. However, the view from the top was so worth it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Any takers? 

Sunrise on Mount Kilimanjaro

There are so many beautiful flowers around - I like to take pictures to appreciate the colors and the beauty of nature, and hey, this reminds me of the sun! My flower pictures are taken on the walk with Lexi, who loves to stop and smell the flowers. With Murphy? There isn't time to even spot the flowers. 

Beautiful flower

Well, I even had a few minutes to start tidying up, and oh my -- it felt terrific. I have now returned all the accessories, including machine embroidery hoops, to their rightful spot on my storage shelf. At least those that don't have some project in them waiting to be finished. A few random items are piled on the cutting table, and I hope to clear them away later today. However, I hear the weather is going to be spectacular, and it will be hard to keep me inside! 

The storage area for excess machine bits is tidy

By the way, if anyone is looking for blank sisal mats to use for painting (example coming), IKEA has them. I saw piles of them in the store, and they come in two sizes - large and small. Good price!

Blank sisal mats

Here's one that I painted several years ago. This is one of Lexi's favorite spots to sit and eat snacks. It's hilarious because sometimes she runs to the mat when Murphy is chasing her. I think she lives in a dream world. Remember when we were kids and we had certain spots where we were safe? That's the world Lexi lives in! I used a digital cutter to create the stencil. HEY -- I should have bought a mat, cut a new stencil, and made a new one for the front door!

My painted mat

OH -- I found another flower picture. A pink one this time. The flowers are so beautiful. 

Pink flower

Often, people ask, "Where do I get my inspiration from?" EVERYWHERE and EVERYTHING. I spotted this folk art cushion at IKEA as well (I did NOT buy anything), but it is painted/printed on the cloth. Any one of those components could become the starting point of a design or the basis for coloring. Or it could be from those flower photos -- look at all the colors! 

A folk art pillow

I had to laugh at Murphy last night. The baseball game was on, and while I'm not a huge baseball fan, this is different. "Our" Blue Jays won the ALE (American League East), and now they are playing the Yankees. As the game neared its end, it became increasingly exciting. Not because they might lose (if they screwed up that lead, there would have been hell to pay!), but because it was thrilling to see them push so hard, and it was the first game of the playoffs. 

You know Murphy loves ot watch TV. But I don't think baseball is her thing. 

MOM - I don't care if the score is 7-1 for YOUR team

Even when the game was over, she wasn't phased by any of it! 

MOM - big deal - just a bunch of men throwing a ball around

Perhaps if we were playing a game of ball, she would have been more interested. 

Speaking of reading - what are you reading these days? I'm all over the place, and I'm actually enjoying breaking out of that mold I was in for so long. I only read a particular genre, and they were the cookie-cutter ones. I hate to mention names. But they crank out so many books, you wonder if they are actually writing them. Hmm -- what about CHATGPT? WAIT -- I will NOT go down that route because it's a huge issue. The big question is, how could the AI company be so silly! And you can substitute many words for silly! 

Anyway, every time DH sees one of the mystery book reviews in the newspaper, it lands on the table at my spot. I add it to my pending folder, and I eventually add them to my reading list, which is very long! 

NEW mystery books to read!

And I get and give recommendations all the time. I sometimes get a book and wonder, "Why is that on my list?" Case in point about the latest audiobook I'm listening to. It's called "The Wager" by David Grann. What's it about? Back in 1740, a squadron of man-of-war ships left England to go around Cape Horn to fight the Spanish.

Anyway, it's the story of one of the ships that eventually got shipwrecked, and the few survivors end up back in England. Two different groups of survivors! A court-martial is held, and what will happen? I'm just at the point where the first group leaves the site of the shipwreck. It's actually pretty exciting, and I have no idea how anyone survived the conditions they were in. 

I have just under three hours left. 

And then what else am I reading? The second book of the Nancy Drew series - The Hidden Staircase! How diverse! But I think that's the fun of reading. You can be anyone and anywhere at any time! I love it, and I find rereading the Nancy Drew books to be kind of fun! Keep in mind that society has changed somewhat, so Nancy may seem a bit prissy, but the stories are well-written! 

And are there any coincidences? I don't think so, and according to Harry Bosch from the Michael Connelly books, there are NO coincidences. So, what's the deal with the word' confluence'? The only time I had ever heard it before was in relation to the Fraser and Thompson Rivers meeting in the interior of BC. Then it becomes the theme for the TrendTex challenge for the CQA - Canadian Quilters Association. And now I see the word everywhere! Here's a use of it in one of the Harry Bosch books! 

That is just too weird. But I have my Trendtex challenge kit and I have some ideas, so I need to get started on that. 

DH and I had time to look at the EXIT game last night. We had to cave and look at a clue for one puzzle. What I hate is when the answer is so darn obvious - if it were any more obvious, it would jump out and bite us! That was the case last night. I was mad - just a little, because we should have gotten that! However, we then solved the next one without any assistance. 

The EXIT Game

This game is a first for us. There are many things that we are "collecting", but no need for them yet. That was part of this game's trickiness. You have to figure out what you need and don't need to solve the puzzle. We are pretty good at that, but sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees!

OK - we need to prime our brains back up; it's been a while! 

Now I know why people use those little pill containers for the week. That's a lot of bottles to open every day! But because some of them are gummies, I would need an enormous container. I can handle opening them daily! I guess I could put the pills in one of those things, and then just open a few bottles each day for the gummies. 

My corral of supplements

And on that happy note, I have two presentations this morning, and both are ready to go! It's always fun to go through people's pictures to see what they have been working on. And it was fun because I have lots to share as well. Sometimes, I get "depressed" when I have done little or nothing! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Health supplements!

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes on my arrival home. I'm glad that you enjoyed my vacation along with me! I also love living vicariously through others' experiences because I certainly won't get everywhere myself. That's my favorite thing about social media. It's so easy to stay connected. I don't need or want to get disconnected -- while I don't mind being alone, I'm a social person at heart! 

Where would you like to go with me next year? I have a couple of places in mind, but nothing solid yet. 

And it was another day of back to work. I must confess that I went to bed later because of the virtual retreat, and I woke up later - still the same number of hours. I must get to bed earlier tonight. I like those couple of tranquil hours first thing in the morning! 

We had fun at the retreat, and there was loads to catch up on. And you know what they say -- what is said at the retreat stays at the retreat! If you'd like to be part of it, please stop by this afternoon or evening. The link is below. 

There was some serious sniffing going on in the morning. Even Murphy is caught up in it, which rarely happens. Perhaps she has realized that if she doesn't stop to smell the roses, she is getting cheated on walk time!! 

MOM -- something is moving!!

But it's funny how differently they sniff. Murphy is wholeheartedly into it and doesn't mind rustling around in the bushes. Lexi is more delicate about the whole thing. She is just more delicate all around. They are so different!!! And she's back to her usual self. No issues in the night. 

Mom - I smell something! 

Besides my new toenails that will eventually grow back, here are my souvenirs for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. OK -- the first two I bought. The one on the left is a badge that I'll sew on my backpack, and the other is a magnet for the fridge. 

Souvenirs from Mount Kilimanjaro

There was a gift shop (of course) in the building just inside the park gate area at the bottom of the path. I debated whether to buy here or wait until we got to the lunch spot, where there were other items to purchase. I had mentioned that one of the ladies encouraged me to buy here, and thankfully, I did, because they didn't have this type of item at the other shop. 

And then we all received a certificate, which was printed in the same building. We had to wait forever for that to be printed because the printer was broken. I'm sure the staff had to fix it themselves; no time for a repair person to get there. The certificates were "awarded" to us later that day, back at the hotel. 

My certificate

I'm not a big fan of certificates -- I did NOT get the one from the Camino, and that was by choice. I logged in, but refused to have it printed. What's the point? And what will I do with it? But these ones were given to us. I crossed out my age --- good lord, who needs to see that. But there it is --- my certificate for climbing the highest peak in Africa. I suppose that's worthy of a certificate, which I'll add to my certificate folder.

There is an art to buying magnets, which I'll discuss in more detail another day.

Then it was downstairs to get some work done. I got my quilt quilted, but not without some issues. This is the back, just to prove it was done. 

The back of my quilt

For most of you, this next part will be gobbly gook, but I'm writing it down because I need to try and figure it out. When you turn on the long arm, you have to identify a "safe" area. This is an area that indicates to the computer where it can calculate the stitches. It is usually larger (wider) than the quilt, and the height is the distance between the horizontal bars that support the quilt. Obviously, you don't want the machine banging into the bars at the top and bottom, so I usually bring it inside those bars by about half an inch at the top and bottom. 

Well, when I figured out my rows and sized them to the quilt, the computer takes over and sees what it can fit into that safe area. The first row worked without a problem. The following section, which consisted of two rows, did not fit within the safe area. According to the computer, it would, but it was so precise that I couldn't get it set correctly, and without it being set, it wouldn't stitch. I HATE when that happens. 

Do not ask me how I learn these things because I don't learn them; I just seem to know how to fix them. I closed down the computer so I could start over, and yes, my stitch file was saved. That is a critical lesson. I got back into the software, and this time, I did NOT leave that ½ inch at the top and bottom. And VOILA -- it worked. But why does the computer set the actual stitch area so close to the safe area? Give me an inch for wiggle room!! I wonder if we can change that - I must check into it. 

However, the problem was solved, and I got the quilt quilted. It took me all day, though, because I was interrupted by a two-hour phone call. It was someone I hadn't spoken to, but had been in touch with via text for over 30 years. We had a lot of catching up to do. It was all good!!! And it may have triggered my next hiking destination! 

Then I had to go for my walk, and I HAD to stop at the thrift store. I didn't have any money with me, but I need to go back today with some. I found a few things that I need — you'll see — and I have a 20% coupon, so I'm not waiting for Senior's Day!

Then at last, I was back in Studio B. While the long arm was working, I had the Designer Epic 3 fired up to do embroidery. I still had one hour left last night, so I just shut the machine off. It'll come right back to the exact spot when I turn it on this morning. I LOVE that feature. And while the EPIC 3 was embroidering, I was sewing a binding on. I almost finished it, but not quite. 

Working two machines at the same time

I wanted to share this with you about binding. Depending on how something is quilted or if the top is going to travel with me, I serge the edges of the quilt to prevent fraying in the case of the top only or to secure all three layers together so they are treated as one. In this case, I used a four-thread overlock. The seam allowance I use to sew the binding on is larger (about 3/8") so that it fills my 2½" wide binding strips and encloses the serged edge.

The width of that seam allowance is the biggest mistake I see when others put on a binding. That seam allowance is supposed to be WHATEVER is best for your quilt, filling the binding with quilt, and the width of the binding strip. This is a flexible seam allowance — make it work for your quilt!

My seam allowance is wide enough to hide the serged edge

So I have a question for you, and it's about supplements. For years, I didn't take any medication and never took a supplement. Now, this is what I take. There is ONE prescription pill there, and it's my weekly pill for bone density. The rest are supplements. 

My supplement stash

My question is, what supplements do you deem worthy of taking? You could buy one of each at the drugstore, but do you really need all that? I'm sure that most of you astute supplement takers will identify what each of those is! But I'll let you guess. 

Remember, there is a Virtual Retreat later today, and here's the link. 

Sunday, August 31 --- starts at 3 PM. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073536036?pwd=uxRqMnK1aSKrmrcSO78w8QQs5g44eA.1

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!