Somebody's been sleeping in my bed!

I think I'm in big trouble, and I need medical attention. Not mental health medical attention, but physical. My leg has been bothering me a lot, and it's time I did something about it. I could barely walk yesterday - at least without pain, and that is affecting my good leg, so there is no time to waste. What do I suspect is the issue? Well, where do I start? Issues with the PCL, which is a tendon on the back of the knee, and the sciatic nerves.  

Don't you love how I'm self-diagnosing? I'll go one step further and say that I need an MRI from the waist down on the leg. It's a hot mess. Yes -- I'm icing my knee and need to get back to serious stretching, but something doesn't feel right, and I need to get it fixed. Can you imagine what it would be like if I lost my mobility this way? 

As a result, my brain just wasn't as focused as I would have liked yesterday, but I still accomplished stuff. 

This is the state of the quilt bookcase. It's not full, but getting full. 

The shelves are almost full.

I still have piles of books to put on the shelves, and it looks like I might run out of room! ACK!!! If I do, then I must cull. I am NOT putting any books on the other side. But there are lots of little gaps here and there, where I can tuck a small book category. I should be good. 

This is what is left to put on the shelves.

But you would think that with moving the scrapbooking stuff and culling as much as I did, I would have plenty of room. Not so! Sigh.................

This is one stack of what got culled. 

One stack of books that needs to go

And another. 

These are mostly about dying fabric or painting on fabric - sigh..............

One more stack. Any would-be artists out there? These are all about learning to draw, perspective, and related topics. 

Books about drawing

The duplicates. 

Duplicate books

And also these two piles. 

General craft books

I guess it was very deceptive about how many books were mixed in with the piles of magazines. Well, this is a lesson to myself! I will NEVER buy another quilt book again. I know -- never say never, but I will think very long and hard before I buy another one. 

My goal is to get all the books back on the shelf, and then I can sort each category one at a time. I just need those books off the floor - I have run out of steam for this decluttering at the moment, and my next goal will be to deal with all the culled books before I move on to anything else. Where are those boxes and bags? 

And if you have a request for a book, let me know, as I might be able to help you. Two people contacted me yesterday; I was able to help one, but not the other. And at this point? I don't really care about keeping them. I just want them gone. 

I took one shelf on the top right and filled it with things that I want to deal with next. There are some books that I need to evaluate and will likely let go, there are some binders with patterns (actual ones and some from magazines), and all that will likely go. So I'm working on it—it just takes time, energy, and enthusiasm, and right now I've lost my enthusiasm for this project. BUT - I accomplished a lot on the first go-around, and the next one will not be nearly as bad. 

I have one last book to try and flog on the blog. If anyone wants this, it's yours. 

Featherweight book

To break it up because I was losing steam, I decided to start prepping blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt. I think there are 32 that need prepping. I got one completely cut out, and I traced the applique shapes for four more onto fusible web. 

Prepping blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler

So that was good!! I think I now have all the applique blocks covered; the rest are pieced, so I have all my scrap fabrics laid out on the cutting table, and I'll try to tackle a few each day. The pieces are small - the blocks are 6½" and well, I'm just going to forge ahead and make this happen. 

Oh -- I also trimmed some HSTs that were languishing on the cutting table. It's not perfectly clear, but it's not in too bad shape. 

HSTs trimmed

As I walked the girls through the forest yesterday, I spotted that little plant that I rescued from its restraints. 

The one on top is the rescued one, and you can see from the bottom plant what it's supposed to look like. 

What happened to the plant that was restrained

But you know what? It doesn't matter -- this one will be a bit warped its entire life, but it still deserves a chance. It's kind of like people - we are not all perfect, but that makes us unique in an interesting way, and beauty is NOT in perfection. We should keep that in mind when we are quilting -- perfection just isn't always possible, so we do what we can. Learn to rescue the mistakes. And this poor plant's mistake was to grow inside the hole in a dead leaf, and it wasn't strong enough to break the bond. 

A bit warped, but it'll be fine!

There's my thimble collection. It doesn't take up much room, and it sits right above my desk, so I get to see it every day. Some of those shelves are too short for thimbles, so I may have to cull some of the odd ones if I ever get to that point. 

My thimble collection

Here are the two magnets that we got in Italy. I never did decide on one for Rome, but that's OK. You must be careful because the same magnet can cost between 1 and 6 Euros, depending on where you buy it. 

My two magnets from the recent trip

And that's the entire collection we have. And that's from many years - we haven't culled any magnets. Well, there are a few that need to be glued back together, but only about two. 

There's no danger of running out of room for a long time. My SIL bought us a magnet from Sicily, so that was allowed. No duplicates, although Taormina is located in Sicily. 

The three new magnets from this trip

So our girls technically have their own dog beds, but they can basically sleep wherever they want. The only one that is restricted is Lexi's kennel, but I've noticed that Murphy is getting braver and braver and will poke her nose in to see if Lexi has tried to hoard any food in there. And Lexi doesn't like sleeping on the bed in the window. 

Besides her bed in the family room and her kennel, this is Lexi's third favorite spot to sleep. It's an old quilt I've folded up, and when I'm reading in the living room, she likes to stretch out on it. She often spends the night there. And I suspect she is starting to get deaf or just a very deep sleeper, because when she's out, she's out! 

Once, I went to touch her in the early morning, and she freaked out!!

MOM -- this is my sleeping spot - no blondes allowed!

Last night, as I was sitting in the living room, I didn't see what happened, but I heard Lexi chatting up a storm and looked to see Murphy sleeping on Lexi's quilt. Now technically, this one is for both, but Lexi was mad. Despite all her insistence, Murphy didn't budge. 

MOM - Murphy is sleeping in my spot!

Murphy thinks the entire downstairs is for her to sleep. Actually, she has two spots --- tucked away in behind everything in the stash room in Studio B. I mean - tucked way behind the shelves. And the second spot is under the current project table. 

She no longer spends much time upstairs; when she does come up, she doesn't like to stay there. She has had to learn to slow down on the stairs because she will slip, and she isn't comfortable with that. I think she mostly comes upstairs if there is a storm. 

Both girls have dog beds in the family room, and Murphy's is large enough that I often lie down with her and give her cuddles, which we did yesterday. She also has the bed in the window, which she doesn't use as much, and I suspect she finds it uncomfortable to get up there. And she has one in my office. 

So imagine my surprise this morning when I came downstairs to find this! 

MOM -- this bed is so comfy!!! I don't care if it belongs to Lexi.

WHAT?????? She has never slept in Lexi's bed before. She may have put a paw or two in there, or attempted to search for food (Lexi likes to hoard food), but she has never sat in or definitely not slept in it. Well, what does this mean? Do I need to buy her a raised bed as well? If so, one of the other beds will need to go. 

How forward of her!!!!! And poor Lexi -- she tries to keep things neat and finds little cubbies to hoard food, but it's like Murphy has a radar on her nose for anything edible. 

I had some interesting conversations at the gym yesterday morning, and YES - maybe some of my workout exacerbated my knee, but I don't think so. It's been bad for a couple of days. I survived Brooke's class, and I'm not sore this morning. I'll have to tell you about my conversations tomorrow—interesting stuff! BTW, my knee only hurts when walking, and that's what gets it started. Just hanging around the house isn't a problem. 

I have one last thing to share, and it's about quilted jackets. There is a sew-along by Grainline Studio for the Tamarack Jacket, a basic quilted jacket that covers the essentials of quilted-jacket-making. The videos are very good, though there are a couple of things I might do differently. I'll be hosting TWO one-hour Zoom sessions about the videos and how we can use those techniques with ANY quilted jacket pattern. The sessions are free and will require you to watch all the Tamarack Jacket videos (about 6 hours over 2 months). If you are interested, please email me (elainetheriault@gmail.com), so I can add you to the distribution list, as that is how the Zoom link will be forwarded. 

This will be a discussion, not a lecture, so you will not get anything out of the sessions if you haven't watched the videos. But if you are at all interested in making a quilted jacket, I highly recommend you attend - but watch the videos first. We're going to discuss the pros and cons and offer alternatives to some of the techniques Jen (Grainline Studio) teaches in her classes. I highly recommend watching those videos, even if you don't attend my two sessions. 

They are on YouTube - here's the link. 

And that's it for today. It's a busy day—I have THREE things to do today: a personal workout with Brooke (and I'm going to use the compression pants, which I haven't used for a couple of weeks, to help my knee), a dentist appointment (I've been flossing like mad), and lunch (hoping to offload a few books). I'm exhausted already!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Makers gotta make!

Three nights into this trip and three different beds! 

After finishing the blog, I left M's house, got my stuff packed back into the car, and headed out to Tim's. OK -- so if you are from Toronto, there is a Tim's on every street corner. OK - perhaps not that bad, but there are three of them that I can walk to from our house. The maximum distance is probably 2 KM. Here? They are few and far between. There are loads of other options, but when you're in a hurry and not familiar with the terrain, you seek out what you know. 

At this location, they sold little buttons. It's Smile Cooke week, and if you want something permanent, you can get this. 

Smile Cookie buttons

It didn't take long to get to the airport because at 5 AM on a Sunday morning, there isn't much traffic. I returned the rental car, which was easy, but it takes time to get yourself organized. I had to get all my little bits out of the car and into my suitcase or my hand. I left the large bag at M's house as I don't need it for the next couple of days. 

A new art installation is happening in the main terminal. Several different totem pole sections - I'm not sure what it will look like, as there are large pieces still wrapped in plastic on the floor. 

A new art installation at the main airport

Once I got myself organized, ate the rest of my breakfast, and had my tea, it was time to get moving to the next destination. I had to take the shuttle bus to the seaplane dock. It's quite a distance from the main terminal, and I wasn't sure how often it ran, especially on Sunday morning. But the shuttle was sitting at the curb, and shortly after I got on, it departed. 

The airport shuttle bus

It is still dark at this time of the morning. I made it to the seaplane dock and checked in. My plane didn't leave for an hour. See how good I'm getting at not rushing things!!!  

As we walked down and along the dock, it was very windy, and this is a tiny little plane! But the skilled pilot had no issues dealing with the wind. It was a smooth take off and all the landings were smooth as well. 

The seaplane

 

There were only two passengers on the plane , and the other scooped the front seat, but I'm OK with that. I've sat up front, and it's no big deal. I'd rather sit in the back so I can take pictures without anyone thinking I'm a geek!!! 

It always amazes me where the main runways for the big planes are located. They are right along the edge of the land! A false landing and you're in the water! I wonder if that has ever happened here? Anyway, we were up and off to drop off the first passenger at Pender Island. I LOVE how they do a steep bank to get down into these waters in the Gulf Islands. After my open-door helicopter ride in Hawaii - that's no big deal! 

The main runways at Vancouver Airport

After dropping that passenger off, we were airborne again, heading to Salt Spring Island. Yep, my aunt still lives here, and I haven't been to the island in a couple of years. We used to be here every summer for many summers. And we had lots of family gatherings here as well. Loads and loads of memories about Salt Spring Island. 

It was easy to use Google Maps to see which island was which! You have to love that! Because we flew in from the back of the island, it required another steep bank to turn around to get into the Ganges Harbour. We were slightly ahead of schedule because with only two people, once we were on, we could go! 

Flying over the Gulf Islands

We taxied around the Vancouver harbor a bit before leaving to warm up the engine! You have to love seaplanes. It's not that expensive, and in thirty minutes, you'll be here! Of course, we've taken the ferry many times, but I only recently started taking the seaplanes. When you are traveling alone, with minimal luggage, it works! 

My aunt was there to pick me up, and it was very quiet in Ganges at 8 AM on a Sunday morning. I wasn't a fan of traveling that early, but the next option was 2:30 in the afternoon, and that would have wasted most of the day. At this time of year, there are only two flights a day, so I picked the early morning flight!!

It's so nice to settle in for long conversations, and while we don't see each other often or talk that much on the phone, it's just like nothing has changed. Well, we both may have a few more gray hairs, but who cares?! 

She has this fabulous collection of Dutch houses that KLM gave away to business-class passengers. They came with booze in them!! She had collected some, and some were given to her. They are adorable. I always admire them when I visit, as they sit in the kitchen. When we traveled business class this past summer, it was on Belgian Airlines, and we got a box of chocolates!!!! Hmmm -- a porcelain house or a box of chocolates? 

Half of the Dutch house collection

I had to chuckle because I got home-made cookies, but one at a time in a small tin. Homemade cookies are the best, and of course, we had to compare them to the store-bought ones, but the homemade ones were much better!!! It sounds like I'm going to miss all the church bazaars and such, where all the good home baking comes out, and artisan works, but that's OK - I don't really need anything and certainly not a lot of cookies. 

My cookie ration!!! 

While I was prepping for this trip, I hadn't really given thought to bringing something to do. I have my ebook, but no hand work. It was only on the plane over that I thought I should have thrown my little bag of hexagons that was sitting on a table back home. I didn't, and there isn't really a place to buy craft supplies on the island. 

After chatting with my aunt, she mentioned there is a new yarn shop in town, with fancy yarn! Hmm, then she showed me these cowls that she had knit, and I saw the vest she was knitting with this beautiful yarn. It was my grandmother (my aunt's mother) who taught me how to knit many, many years ago. I don't even dare say how many! 

So we got out the pattern for the cowl, and there was some red knitted worsted yarn, and I'm knitting a cowl!!! The red yarn will be perfect because it can replace my red scarf!! 

The start of my cowl

It's going to be the perfect thing to keep warm. I could live without wearing a jacket, but I need something to keep my neck warm! This is going to be perfect. I just hope I'm not knitting it too tight! I made pretty good progress last night, but then I was tired and had to leave it. I even had a nap in the afternoon. All this moving around and being in a different bed, I guess it took a toll on me! 

I had a pretty good sleep last night, and well, I'm ready to get back to my knitting today! I should be able to finish it today. Knitting is like riding a bike - you never forget the basics! However, we had a chuckle because every second row on the vest my aunt is making has two increases, and they are done in a way I've never seen before. So we are NOT allowed to chat when she's knitting that row!!! I do not want to be blamed if she has to rip out! 

Thankfully, the cowl is the same row repeated over and over, so it should be easy! 

I'd love to come to the main island because there are people there I'd love to visit. There just isn't time. That is the problem when you take a vacation to visit family because you all live far apart. There isn't time to see other people or places. But I'll just have to take a long trip next time! There are so many people I know around here! 

However, I did manage to visit all my parents' siblings this year! Not that there are many, but I got to visit with them all. I have to do that at least once a year because - well, we are all getting older. All five of the kids on my mom's side and two on my dad's are still alive. That's incredible!!!

On that note, I'm out of here. My aunt lives in the country, and it's dark here! And not many cars on the road. Well, except when the ferry comes in or is about to leave - then you see the ferry traffic!!! But at least there was no rain yesterday, and while we only saw glimpses of the sun, it was not raining! 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!