The end of an era!

I'm sure that everyone, even the new quilters are familiar with Nancy Zieman.  When I watched TV, I used to watch her shows all the time and I've bought her notions (although she doesn't own the notion company anymore).  I've used her techniques and she is a wonderful teacher and person, although I've never met her personally.

Nancy is retiring.  Here is the link to her personal farewell.  It's bittersweet.  Best of luck Nancy.

My friend Paul (a real character) and the one that co-wrote the article on retreats in the latest issue of Canadian Quilter magazine had an opportunity to be a guest on Nancy's show.  Have a peek at the segment.

This is also the week of the Wisconsin Quilt Expo which was originally started by Nancy!  Someday I plan to go, but not this year.  I have other plans which you'll hear about in a couple of weeks.


I"m a huge fan of EQ7.  What exactly is that?  It's a computer software program that allows you to download images of fabric and design quilts with it. These images are used for submissions of quilt designs to various magazines (the quilt has to be made later!) and we use the images for work all the time!  It's just the best software EVER!!!!   The even better part about it?  It's pretty darn easy to use and (knock on wood here!), I've not really had any issues with it. Like everything else, the more I use it, the more efficient I become!    Here's a link to QUILTsocial for an explanation on how to download the digital fabric files into your EQ7.  It's super easy!   And check out the rest of Christine's blog posts for this week.  She's making something out of one of my ALL-TIME favorite fabric collections - City Scene by Northcott.  It's available in stores NOW!  (comes in two colorways - the link is my favorite!)

Today is short - I have loads to do and I had better get my act together!

Have a great day!

Ciao!

Organizing stuff!

DISCLAIMER:  This post seems to be about a bunch of random things this morning!

I notice that the quilters didn't always read my blog last week because I was on a cycling trip!  HA - you don't know me - I did talk about quilts as I visited quite a few quilt shops on my bike!  If you thought it was all about the bike last week - guess again!

Have you ever used a spell checker?  Or used Grammarly?  I use both and I love Grammarly. It's great if you do a lot of writing. It checks your grammar and your spelling.  I haven't coughed up for the premium version which also checked more complicated grammatical issues.  It can be temperamental at times - just like all technology is with me!

But I'm noticing more and more (probably because I use this software) that there is a big difference between S and Z.  Take organizing - I usually spell it with a Z but sometimes I'm asked to spell it with an S.  It's the difference between English, American, and Canadian versions of the English language!  Wouldn't it be great if we could all decide on ONE spelling and be done with it! Or more likely there are words that I have consistently spelled incorrectly and finally learning the proper spelling!  Thank god it is OK with multiple exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!

My biggest issue with grammar?  The lowly comma!   I seem to insert it where it doesn't need to be and omit it from where it should be!  My grammar isn't perfect, but it's better and I think my writing is improving?

Have you ever noticed how much creativity there is in this world? Whether I'm in a quilt store or searching online, there are tons of ideas for things to make or buy.  Unfortunately, we don't have time to make them all but it's nice to look. I found some super cute little bicycle things this morning and I want them!   I could probably make them, but will I?? Likely not!

While I was searching the internet, I came across this planning book for quilting projects.

Quilter's Planner

I think the concept of it is great, but since we all work in different ways, it can be very frustrating to work with someone else's design or scheduling process.  What works for me with my Deadline book (which I haven't checked in a couple of days, but I know there are quilts with deadlines in there) and the Task Master (which of course has lots of stuff to keep me busy) won't necessarily work for everyone.

That's why you need to take the advice of me and your friends and explore the options. If you buy just because someone says "it's amazing", you're likely to be disappointed.  If they tell you in great detail how it works or exactly why it's amazing, and you agree with them, you're more likely to be happy with the end product.

And if you can do anything to clear the spaces where you work, you really should strive for that. I'm thrilled with my home office. Absolutely thrilled and I'm haven't even really started the cleaning process!  But the floor is pretty much clear, the surfaces are so-so and with my radio, it's now a happy place to work.  Isn't that silly how we put up with messy environments because we're too overwhelmed or too lazy to do anything about it?

Well here's something else I've done and I may hate myself for it. And yes - I'm spoiled and I'm OK with that. When I was young and was "forced" to dust the family knick knacks, I told my mother flat out - "when I'm older, I'm hiring a cleaning lady".  And that's what I have done pretty much since I left home.  I've gone without other stuff in order to be able to pay someone to clean my toilets.   Now I've asked her to come a few extra times to do more than the basic cleaning.  You know where this is going.  If I say for instance that I want the pantry cleaned out - well, there's a LOT of stuff in that pantry that doesn't need to be there and this will force me to deal with the extra stuff!     Could it be that someday soon, all the clutter will be gone from the living spaces in our house?  Oh, my - the thought of that is so exciting, I can barely stand it!

I'm so ready to pitch and purge (not the studio -that's different!).  Today she tackles the fridge and freezer.  I should have taken a picture before I left home.  There is hardly ANYTHING in there so it'll be easy to move stuff around to clean. But I work full time and I think I'm worth it to have someone do the jobs that I don't like to do!

And that leaves more time to do the things that I want to do!

Here's the funniest thing - last night I got a message from a friend whom I knew was in New Brunswick. She says "I think I just saw your DH board the same plane as me!"   I responded, "Yep - he is also in New Brunswick and was coming home last night."  I knew his flight was delayed and so was hers.  He didn't recognize her, but I was texting them both at the same time!  Turns out he sat just behind her on the plane!   Funny!!!!

On that note, I've got a lot of writing to get done today!!

Have a super day!


Ciao!!!


PS --- a green light from Grammarly.  Except for the 18 advanced issues!  But I'm not paying $140 for the year to fix those!

Don't bug me!

Better late than never to get the post up for the day!  

I had a super day yesterday.  Now that the office is somewhat clean (and I did a bit more yesterday - mostly hiding stuff in the empty drawers and doors of cupboards in the room).  Why do we do that?  Leave stuff out in plain sight when we could hide it away? 

I will get to the drawers and doors, but for the most part, I want to get the surfaces cleared off and I'm making great progress at that. 

It even encouraged me to stay in the office for most of the day - the clean space and the new radio.  I had blog posts to get ready for QUILTsocial and I made a HUGE dent in what needs to be done. I had a lot of fun doing it and well - you're going to have to wait for a couple of weeks before you can enjoy!

That darn Anne Perry book - has me hook, line and sinker!  It's written in Victorian times which usually isn't my favorite, but I'm loving this book!  But that was only when I took a break and sat outside in that roaring wind.  It sounds like a roaring wind in my backyard with all the trees.  The sky was weird and well - it was a nice day to be outside in the backyard. Not so much if you were on a bike!

I'm not sure if it's the weather, but in the last couple of weeks, I've noticed bees getting into my studio!  Now I'm assuming they come in the open back door (the girls are NOT smart enough to open it themselves).  So we leave the screen open which kind of defeats the purpose of a screen!

I can hear the bee buzzing against the lights.  I've finally figured out how to get them out.  I shut the light off and they immediately drop down. Then I can grab my official bee catcher equipment and get them outside. 

Official bee catching equipment

Had to use it more than once!

It works like a charm and I've managed to take big bugs, bees and other sundry things outside with my bee catcher equipment!

I really must teach those girls to open and close the door like smart dogs should!

On that note, I'm back to work today and catching up on stuff that needs to be done!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!

Motivational Monday!

With being on holidays last week and today being a holiday from work, I almost forgot that it was Motivational Monday!  Until I saw Helen post on Facebook last night.  Yikes!  What did I do this past week?  Well I, was away so I guess I can be forgiven for not getting much done.  I did take some embroidery with me, but  - it just didn't happen.

And you saw a couple of days ago that I have the bindings made and quilts trimmed for those constructions quilts.

Yesterday I spent the entire day taking photos and doing stuff for the QUILTsocial blog posts which are due this week and will be posted in a couple of weeks.  I made extremely good progress on that and it's all about quilting so you must check in to see what those posts are all about.  Don't worry - I'll post a link when they are up.

Oh before I forget, I had a few errands to run yesterday and then realized that I was close to Best Buy so I popped in to see about my phone.  Hmmm - turns out there is NOTHING that you can do for the glare.  If the phone itself is NOT anti-glare, the glass coverings will not help as none of them are anti-glare. At least I know.  BUT I did learn something - I can turn up the BRIGHTNESS on the screen to do a few quick checks.  Drat - I never thought of that!  Now I know. I'm always learning something!

I did a bad thing at Best Buy - our printer has been on the fritz for a while and I'm OK with that as I'm trying to refrain from printing anything. If I want something printed, I forward to DH and he prints for me. But now no one can print anything so I splurged and bought a new printer. So cheap these days and then I got an ink subscription as well.  I haven't tried to hook up to the printer - I'm afraid to!  I envision issues before I even attempt that!

And I bought a radio!  Technically a boom box because it has a CD player in it. But I didn't have anything for my office and I like to have background noise now that I hope to spend more time here.  I could use my phone or iPod but I want something that I can leave on and go about and not worry about hooking up, charging or whatever.

While I was messing about with the sewing machine yesterday, I did squeak out a few things for this blog. That got me to thinking - why am I motivated?  For my blog of course. If I don't have anything to show you - well how good is that?  So my blog is a huge motivator for me. And even if no one were to read the blog, it's like a personal commitment. Weird!

When I was off to visit my parents, I went through my hand embroidery bag to find something to take with me. I came across this piece which was already stitched!  Block wasn't trimmed, but the embroidery was done. So I decided to put a border on it (thank goodness for having a giant Halloween stash - still!) and I found this nice black and white starry fabric.

Small wall hanging - top is done!

 Might as well have a look for backing while I'm at it. I was going to put something Halloween on the back but found this FQ instead.  It's been in the stash for a while. Look at the price!!!  And The Quilter's Cupboard has been closed for years!  But a FQ was the perfect size for the backing and it's now pressed and ready for quilting!

FQ - good for the backing of the Halloween wall hanging

I was on a roll so made the binding as well - so short!  The pattern was originally meant to be framed, but who wants that?  Now it's ready for quilting.

Binding and backing are done !!!

I needed a bunch of small projects for machine quilting for the QUILTsocial blog posts. Now, most of you know that I'm a long arm quilter, but I teach people how to quilt on a domestic. I haven't quilted on a domestic in a bit and you know what?  I actually had fun yesterday!  I did run into a slight SNAFU which wasn't my fault and not the fault of the sewing machine but it was good for a laugh.  You'll have to wait to hear that story.

Let's just say that once I got that problem solved, everything worked like a charm. There's nothing more satisfying that quilting on a machine that cooperates!!!

I quilted one small project for QUILTsocial blog (which you can't see now - but you will in a couple of weeks) and might as well make the binding as well.

Binding made for this project which is quilted!

I'm currently quilting another project and need to be finished it today. It's small so shouldn't be a big deal but takes time when you're trying to take photos at the same time.  I have a few more small projects prepped for quilting. I'm thinking I'm going to save them for the QUILTsocial blog - that will force me to get them done!


So there are four months left in the year. I've done ONE UFO so I'm a tad behind. I have made excellent progress on TWO more so that's a good sign.  I do have more days off coming to me and no plans for them, so I may just end up taking the time and get sewing!   I WILL get them done!  Just need to work those projects into a blog post for QUILTsocial so they have to get done!

And for next year when I choose my 12 UFO projects?  I won't be quite so ambitious. Like making and finishing FOUR quilts in one month!  I need to give my head a shake!  But the important thing here is that there has been little that I started this year that's become a UFO and that's HUGE!!!!

How is everyone else doing?   Hopefully, you're doing better than I am.  But I'll be making a big comeback!

Shoot - there was something else I was going to say and WHOOSH!  it's gone!   It'll have to wait until tomorrow.

On that note - I'm out of here!  Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!

Home sweet home!

I had noticed when we were riding around that the gas prices were a bit high. I initially thought it was because we were in Windsor.  Alas, I realized yesetrday that there had been a major spike in gas prices. ACK!!!   This is where you wish you lived closer to where you work and you could ride your bike every day.  I could ride my bike, but it would be about 50 K one way!  A tad too far to make it worthwhile however if the price of gas continues like this - I may have no choice!  That would save on the toll highway charges as well!

I had a couple of stops along the way - the first being in Mount Brydges to the quilt store (Sew Creative) so I could pick up their license plate for Row by Row. And while there, I did find a few other things. DRAT!!!  NO more quilt stores for a while. But as the GPS took me off the highway, I went past a gas bar - Bear Creek Gas Bar which is on First Nations land?  At least it was owned by First Nations (I'm pretty sure).  Anyway as I'm sailing past and see the gas price which was 111.9, I was ticked because I had to fill my tank up about 50 K earlier and it wasn't even worth it for a top up!

But I noticed that they had a barn block on the building. Now it's one thing when you're crusiing along on your bike at 25 K and you see something, you can stop, but in the car - well by the time your brain registers that there is something to see, you make a decision to stop and well - you're already several KM away!  OK - I'm not that slow. Anyway, I thought I'll catch the photo on the way out. Well, I ended up having to back track about 20 K to get that photo but it was a lot easier in the car than the bike.  I wasn't in a hurry to get home and good thing because I spotted another barn block by the side of the road that was a stand alone - not attached to a building.

And let's just say that the word got out about the gas prices at Bear Creek because when I was there the second time, there were LINES of cars waiting to fill up!

I'll be getting a copy of the Thames River Barn Trail book and I'm excited to see how many of them I spotted.  Now that would be a fun bike trip!

Then off to Brantford to visit a friend who has recently moved there. She lives in a beautiful neighbourhood in a beautifully renovated home.  I think the quiet country life might be fun!  Would certainly make it easier to ride my bike!  Got to contemplate that but for the moment, I'm quite happy where I am.

At last I arrived home to have two very excited girls greet me! Well, Lexi took one look and walked away in disgust, while Murphy sucked up enough attention for both!

Instead of getting right to work as I should have as I have a ton of things that need to be done, I grabbed my Anne Perry book (the first one in the William Monk series - the one I bought at the used book store) and started to read. I'm liking the book!  And I checked - she helped to kill her friend's mother when they were 15.  Imagine that!  Now she writes books about murder!  Very ironic!  There are books about her life and I may just read one, but now I've added two more series to my FictFact.com lists. It was in 1954 in New Zealand that the two girls committed murder. Anne now lives in Great Britain and wrote numerous books before her first book was published in 1979. She has 87 books to her credit! A very prolific author!  I notice in her profile that she doesn't say anything about the murder and it was only when a movie was made (Heavenly Creatures) about the girls that this part of her background was discovered.   Interesting - this was Kate Winslet's first movie!!!   OK --- let's not get obsessed here!   But there's even a Youtube of the murder scene!  At 15, they were too young for the death penalty and as part of the condition of their release, they were to never meet each other again!  WOW!!!!    I do have an Anne Perry book in my book shelf so I was destined to stumble upon her at some point!

I decided to venture down to the studio after dinner and puttered around for a while. Trimmed the last of the construction quilts and made another binding.

Four quilts - three bindings

And whilte I was puttering, I found this embroidery that I started and finished while I was visitng my parents. Just needs some borders and then figure out how to quilt it!

Small embroidery project - DONE!

Today, I'm madly taking pictures and writing as I have blog posts that are due very soon. And I have some sewing to do as well. Samples for classes and projects for magazines.  It's going to be a busy day, but a fun day.  No commitments except to pick up a piece of fabric that someone has for me.

Oh - the other thing I did yesterday was spend 71 minutes on the phone with the cable company trying to get my MIL's cable TV working. She lives in an apartment building and it appears that the building cancelled their contract for the cable. Now I'm sure they posted a sign in the building to that effect, but of course, she wouldn't notice something like that.  So after realising what had happened, I was able to get the cable reinstated and now it costs three times as much becuase the basic cable was included in the rent.  We must find out what is going on for new cable services, but in the meantime, having her specialty channels or any TV for that matter keeps her happy.

While I was on hold for long periods of time, I was filing stuff in my office.  And I have to say that I'm liking this sort of cleared space.  It'll feel even better after the next round of cleaning, but I don't think will happen for a while. The trick is going to be to not let it get any worse - we must stay on top of all incoming stuff so that I only have the old stuff to tidy up!  I think I can handle it!!!

On that note - I'm out of here for the day! Well this blog anyway!

Have a great day!


Ciao!!!

Erie Shores - Day Five

I have taken a number of trips with Cycle Canada and Bud never fails to entertain us on the final day.  How does he manage to do that when he isn't even around?  He always provides a windy day on the final day. Not sure how he manages to arrange that - but I remember riding to St. John's in what felt like hurricane force gales. Calgary - same thing - huge gusts of wind and on the way to Beddick as well.

Yesterday was no exception and guess what?  I made it worse! More on that in a bit!

It was a tad chilly in the morning when we left. Not sure what the temperature was, but I put on all the cycling clothes that I had brought.  My little jacket with only the sleeves and my wind breaker. I kept the wind breaker on for the entire day but at one point, I got rid of the extra sleeves.

While it was windy the first part was actually a bit of a tail wind or in some cases a cross wind so it wasn't really that bad. We were cycling along the lake so we had something to entertain us.

The road wasn't the best to start the day.  I don't mind riding beside the traffic if there is a shoulder, but when there is no shoulder - not my favorite. Then we had a nice paved shoulder for a couple of K and then poof - it was gone. Oh well - the joys of sharing the road with traffic.

We started to angle north and got a taste of the wind. Not fun but doable.

I was riding through Colchester which is a small town and yet has the most AMAZING bike lanes and markings on the road.  I was taking pictures of it all for later posting (I apologize to the quilters among you for boring you with the bike stories - but there are quilt stories today as well).  Anyway, we could hear this booming noise as we were riding.  As I was taking a picture a lady got out of her car and I asked her.  That would be the air cannons which are used to keep the birds out of the vineyards. Guess what time they start in the morning?   4:30AM.  Oh, God!

I got to one point in the day where the road was closed. It was right at an intersection and I contemplated my next move.  To go on the main road or find a way to get around the short construction area?  I saw that one could go through the parking lot of the building right at the corner and bypass the construction. So I did.

I'm sailing along - things are good and then when I was supposed to find the next road - well - two turns down the way, the road wasn't named what it should be named.  Oh no!!!  So I tried to look at my phone again for Google Maps - you see, I'm not just randomly riding - I do have turn by turn instructions that I'm following. Well - I turned and go to the next major road.  Consulted my phone again and made a right turn.  Facing East directly into a headwind. A fierce head wind.  I don't know how many times I stopped to check my phone and could barely make out the image with the glare. After battling the wind for a few K, I decided to stop and ask.  NO WAY!!!!  I was going in the wrong direction and had been struggling into the wind for no reason.  I backtracked and where I turned right, I should have turned left and within minutes was back on track.

Now I have to digress here for a second.  There is one thing I'm doing when I get home and that is to find something to put on that screen to cut the glare before I ever venture on a bike again. I even have an indicator on my bike computer that tells me what direction I'm riding in. Why was I going east?  No idea - it was one of those moments when common sense and my sense of direction went out of the window.  That normally doesn't happen.  But I did realize why I was struggling with google maps - I had somehow turned on that function that rotates  - there is a name which I don't know  (3-D??).  Anyway - since I was always turned in the wrong direction when I was trying to look at the phone, I thought I was going in the right direction.   The end result - I lost one hour and rode an extra 14 KM.  No big deal - I'm laughing now, but I wasn't yesterday at about 12:30!!!!

As a result of my own pity party, I decided to have a chocolate milk and a chocolate bar for lunch. It was the best lunch of the trip and brought back a lot of memories!  So it all worked out in the end!

There were a few bits where we had to ride into that head wind, but after my experience, this was a piece of cake. I was a tad worried as the map said we would have some navigating to do once we hit Windsor.  Lots of turns and trails and stuff to watch for.  I made out pretty good except for one spot. A very busy intersection by a rail road track. I ended up chatting to a young fellow on a bike and he got me going in the right direction (again - LOOK at the direction on the bike computer!) and all was good. The map instructions made perfect sense once I realized what was happening!

I think I made it to the hotel around 2:30?   That wind really cut into the speed at which we could travel and the roads weren't in nearly as good of shape as the day before and a lot more navigating. But the idea is to have fun and enjoy the ride and that's what I did.  I do have to say that after I turned around on my little detour - the wind was fully at my back, there was a paved shoulder and I sailed along to make up for lost time!

Had a shower, loaded my bike in the car, grabbed my keys and I was off to the quilt store.  I went to Quilting Confections.  Oh my - if EVER you are in the Windsor area - you MUST stop to visit this store. I missed the owner by about 30 minutes, but the entire staff was as friendly as can be.  I mean this is the kind of store you want to be close to your house.  Their block of the month (designed by the owner) was amazing and a very unusual setting. Kits were beautifully packaged, lots of bright fabric (which is probably why I liked the place so much). And the string quilts made by the owner are to die for.  They were BEAUTIFUL.  I'm now on the mailing list and must find an excuse to come back to Windsor!  I could come and visit Celeste!

I also visited Ella Quilts shop in Tecumseh. This is the one that I was hoping to hit on my bike on the way out.  It's a small shop with a lot of batiks and 30s but I managed to find a few things.  The owner also gave me a small gift because it was my first time in the shop. That was a very sweet thing.

There is a shop hop happening next weekend in this area - so if you're in the area - I would suggest doing the shop hop.  There are some amazing stores here!!!!

I was getting hungry by this time and so I took off on my own to find a place within walking distance of the hotel.  Again I got messed up with Google maps on my phone and when I finally arrived at the pub, it was there that I realized the setting on Google maps had changed.  DUH!!!!   I had forgotten that you could do that and so my day was topsy turvy!  

Two things I must note - the traffic in this town is CRAZY.   I was in the car and on my way back to the hotel.  We were on a relatively quiet street near the hotel. A guy on a scooter is wanting to cross the street and I stopped.  The woman behind had her windows open and was screaming at the top of her lungs because I gave scooter guy the right of way.  Seriously????   And there were other instances where when I was on my bike, I actually walked across some streets as I didn't feel comfortable on the bike. And then to top it off, I'm walking back from the pub and almost got taken out by a guy on a bike. I was just turning to cross the street (still on the sidewalk) and whiz!  Literally millimeters from me!   Another fellow on a bike was behind him and said, "I'll go slower - he almost took me out too!" Yes - a crazy town - so Ronda - you do NOT want to let your daughter have a car in this town!

The second thing is talking. I should be more specific - women who talk a LOT.  I was sitting in the pub and noticed a couple sitting two tables over. They were finished when I arrived and I had taken my book to read.  Well - this woman (they could have been university students) talked for at least an hour SOLID!  I don't think the guy got in two words.  She just babbled and babbled and oh god - give the guy a chance to say something!  When the waitress went over to ask if they needed anything else (they had already paid before I got there), they finally left. Thank god!   Well, next thing I knew - another couple came in and again - the woman was bubbly and yak yak yak.  At least the guy got a chance to say something.  The first conversation was 100% talk time for her and 0% for him.  The second couple was 80% for her and 20% for him.   Yikes!   OK - I ever I do that - tell me to shut up!!!!

So when I had arrived in my room in the afternoon, there was a very strange noise above my bed. It sounded like water gurgling through the pipes or something very weird. I'm usually pretty tolerant of stuff like that, but I thought - if that continues through the night - I won't be able to sleep.  When I came back from dinner, it was still there.  Hm - what the heck is that?  I finally went to the front desk and asked to be moved. Sorry - we're sold out!  ACK!!!  But the front desk clerk came to check it out.  Well, I woke up in the middle of the night (yes - I did get to sleep) and the first thing that came to mind was the noise had stopped!  I did hear it for a few minutes this morning but nothing else.  I've no idea what it was, but thank god it has stopped!!!

On that note (yes - I write like the woman in the restaurant!) it's time to get moving. I'm splurging this morning and having breakfast at Tim's. I only went in once all week and I deserve a good cup of tea. Then a couple of stops on my way home and then back to work.  I've got a lot of stuff to get done this weekend.

I feel great - it truly is fun to get away and I love my cycling trips. Wish I could do more. Then I could justify eating more butter tarts!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Erie Shores - Day Four

I slept very well last night - yeah!  It's all that fresh air and the wind!

It was a short day - I was up at the same time and left at the same time and I was at the hotel before noon!  The distance was 83K although my distance was a wee bit shorter since I took a short cut!

The directions have been very easy to follow although there was one turn this morning that wasn't marked. Our map was marked, but the road was not and that resulted in a slight detour, but no big deal. There was a lot of wind.  Which fortunately for us was a tail wind. And there weren't really a lot of places to stop and take pictures so I sailed along at a great speed.

In a couple of places we turned direction and had to face a cross wind - a strong cross wind, but I was still sailing along at a good clip. I remember when we did the cross Canada trip - my riding buddy was a sailor and we talked about how we could hook up a sail to the bike to enjoy those winds!

There is a lot of tomato farming in this area. We've seen the fields of tomatoes and yesterday I saw them being harvested and in one field there were huge carts - a lot of carts that were ready to take the tomatoes to the factory for processing.  I did see a plant in Leamington so I'm not sure if the tomatoes are taken right from the field to the plant?  I would suspect so as they are relatively fragile even if they are destined to be made into sauce and ketchup. When I was in Leamington I did see a tractor pulling two carts of tomatoes to the plant.

The odd tomato falls off the cart and was laying by the side of the road and more often than not, the crows or ravens have picked the inside clean.

As I got closer to Leamington, the wind was quite strong and I noticed on the map that we had to take a trip down to the lake past the Point Pelee National Park. Then it meant turning around and coming back into the wind to the hotel. I had also seen a sign that the road was closed??  Not one for taking chances - I headed straight into town and missed that last part.

The room wasn't ready yet so I headed across the street to this little restaurant. It's like a bunch of kitchen tables in one spot! I had breakfast for lunch and I was good to go for the afternoon.  I decided to walk to the quilt store which was 3 K away.  Straight up the road, past the tomato factory which used to be Heinz (the name was incorporated into the bricks of the chimney), but is now owned by another company that also starts with H, but is not Hunts. I don't remember those kinds of details.

I had never been to A Stitch in Time but very familiar with the store as I see them at the Creative Festival all the time.  A big store with all kinds of stuff in it. Lots of sewing notions and other fabrics. It must have been a sewing store (home dec and clothing) at one point. Anyway, I managed to do some damage at the store and had to walk my purchases back another 3 K to the hotel. Let's just say that I'm getting some exercise on this vacation!

I could have ridden my bike, but since I had forgotten to bring a lock, I wasn't going to be comfortable leaving the bike unattended in downtown. It's not like I was pressed for time and the walk was nice.

We are very close to one of the ferry docks for Pelee Island.  It would be fun to take a trip over there one day, but this dock is closed for the season.  All ferries are out of the next town - Kingsville.

I took my book down to the water to read for a bit but I must confess that I was falling asleep and must have looked like a derelict along the water with my hair blowing everywhere and probably drooling at the mouth!

Back to the hotel where I had arranged for a massage. Ah - that felt good but let's just say that there are a few tight muscles. Must get in some stretching!

After the massage, I went back to the water front to read. It was glorious just sitting by the water's edge with nothing to do!

This is the first trip where I've stayed in hotels which means that we are in a town. Which means that if you want, you can do a bit of browsing or whatever.  When your end of the day is a camp ground there are fewer options unless you want to get back on your bike and ride into town.  While I miss the camping, this is pretty civilized! So civilized, I might be spoiled for camping in the future.

We had dinner at the pub downstairs and then it was back to the room where I confess I tried reading my book again and my eyes would not stay open.

I confused the heck out of myself this morning. I heard an alarm go off and shut if off without looking at it. My alarm is set for 5 AM.  I know - it doesn't have to be that early - too lazy to change it. When I looked at the clock and the clock said 4:30 AM.  What???  How could that be?  Was there a time change and no one told me?  Ah  -  no it appeared that I had set an early alarm for last Friday and I forgot to cancel it!  DUH!!!!

Wow - the sun is getting up later and later.  It's 6:35 and looking pretty dark outside still!

We didn't have rain yesterday although it was cloudy and looked like it might.

On that note - I might have a quick 20-minute nap before breakfast as I pretty much packed everything up last night.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!