What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 It was bound to happen. I've been so lucky with all the bushwhacking I've been doing. Zero issues with plants that didn't agree with me. 

However, yesterday, I decided to explore a trail that wasn't good, and now I'm in trouble. Let's start at the beginning. 

I thought I'd go geocaching one more time, but I got about 3 KM from the house when I realized I did NOT have a pen. OK -- so maybe I'll go exploring and see if there's anything easy to get, and I'll go today ...

 Oh my -- they will have to pry all ten of us out of this house tomorrow! In the past, we've consistently filled the retreat house with the maximum number of people, and we were pretty happy, although we were always cramped, especially for sewing. Then during the pandemic, only a few of us could go, and we liked the peace and having plenty of room to work. 

So this house can sleep 12, and we weren't sure if we wanted to fill it, so we came with ten. But it could easily hold twelve people, and for sewing ...

So if I were to attend a quilt retreat in heaven, I would want it to be a super retreat. Well, I'm not in heaven, but I think we hit the jackpot in retreat houses. Yes -- I'm on quilt retreat again, and this one got planned simply because this new house opened, and I WANTED to be part of the action. 

If I were looking for the ideal retreat, this is it. It's hard to find fault with anything here. You can check it out - it's called Spring House Retreat. Let's see -- it's ONE ...

The weather is perfect these days, although I wish it would rain every night. Things are so dry, but it's beautiful to have the windows open all day and night. The humidity levels are extremely low or non-existent. 

I started the Virtual Retreat two hours later, although technically, anyone could have joined, and I was off for a bike ride. I wasn't sure what route I was going to take, and I usually make a big circuit, so at any point, I could have turned right and made the trip as short or as long as I wanted ...

It would almost appear that I've lost my commitment to quilting! I haven't - but I'm just trying to get other things done and show you (and me) that I'm not a one-trick pony! 

I walked the girls yesterday and did a few chores around the house because now that things are looking great, they have to stay that way! And then I was upstairs to see what I could do about that massive stack of receipts. Yes -- I could have taken the lot and dumped it in the box that goes to the shredder, but that ...

Another box of crap bites the dust! And I was done by NOON. I was actually excited about the prospect of getting rid of the stuff. And before I knew it, the box was full again. I was tempted to keep working, but I had other things on the agenda, and I didn't want to exhaust myself with this task. But now I'm eyeing the table in the office and guestimating the number of boxes it'll take to clear it! I'm not out of the woods yet, but let's see what we can do. 

Here ...

 I was going to say there is nothing quilt-related today, but that would be a lie. There is something --just wait for it. 

Yesterday, I thought I was going to go mad because of technology. I love my smartphone, and like all of you, I use it a fair bit. But yesterday, I was ready to throw in the towel. Why? Not because of the phone -- oh no -- I LOVE my phone. Nope -- look at what happened. 

Scam  calls

More scam calls

 I had one of the best nights of sleep that I've had in a long time. No aches or pains, no waking up with thousands of ideas flowing through my head. Just one long continuous sleep! Yeah! Now, if we could only bottle that and make it happen every night, that would be awesome!

Somehow, the stars are NOT aligned at my house, and I will be happy when today is over. Why? Well, have a look. 

On Friday night, I was reading on our deck. It started to spit a bit of rain, so I decided to move ...

Yesterday was an exciting day as I played gaffer and prepped the "film studio" located in Studio B for my SVP Canada presentation last night. I don't have time to go into all the details today - I'll save that for tomorrow. Bottom line? I learned a TON about cameras, and I learned that some stores have way better customer support than others do (although we already knew that).

Have you noticed a difference when you wake up in the morning? Oh yes - it's not nearly as light as it used to be. Well, if you get up as early as I do, that is. But for the night owls, you'll notice the same thing in the evening. I was reading outside last night, and it got too dark to read before I was tired. NOOOOOOO 

And what's with the temperature? It's positively chilly this morning, and just two days ago, we were in a heatwave! It's weird. I'm not complaining in the ...

It was another very successful day at Fireside Retreat. I may not be getting loads done in terms of quantity, but it's the mindset that's important.

Actually, I didn't even turn my sewing machine on until AFTER lunch. Shocking! I went for a bike ride in the morning. I was going to wait because it was only 11 degrees Celcius in the morning. But then Ronda was out on her bike and well - if she can be out, then so can I!

It was a glorious ride. I decided to try out the rail trail (Uhthoff Trail ...

Why does time pass so quickly when you're having fun? We still have one more full day, and then there's no reason to rush home tomorrow, so I should be able to get a lot more done.

I can see the bottom of the laundry basket, but that doesn't mean that I'll get everything finished. And remember that a couple of projects that are "done" while I'm here, are in fact, not done as I didn't have the thread for the applique and so on. But most of the stuff that went into the ...

Another day at Fireside Retreat and another hot day outside. Not so hot that we didn't sit out on the deck for quite a bit yesterday afternoon (in the shade of course) and not so hot that we didn't eat lunch and dinner in the screened-in porch. And not so hot that I didn't take a bike ride in the morning and then a walk in the evening. YES - we're totally crazy, but if you're just sitting around on the deck, the heat and humidity are not so bad.

The other saving grace with the ...

One thing that has surprised me during this pandemic is the speed of the internet. At least where I live, the internet has worked amazingly well. No slowdowns, which is fantastic considering the number of people who are streaming videos, doing homework, searching, or whatever they are doing.

The first time, I noticed a slow down is this morning. It took a while for me to get into my Virtual Challenge website. Now it could have been that website - who knows. Let's just hope that we're going to continue to get this exceptional level of service and with ...

OK -- I don't take many days off from sewing, but well - this weekend was just too beautiful to pass up. We get so few glorious days, and I wanted to be outside. So, I sure didn't get much done in the sewing department, and I'm OK with that. 

I did go for a 50K bike ride. It was a bit cool. I always start my trip by going to the end of my street to test the clothing and the equipment. I stopped when I passed by the house to get a vest. I hate being cold ...

How could one pass up such a beautiful day? I abandoned everything in the house and spent the entire day outside! I think I came in around 8 PM when it was starting to get chilly. I know! Not a single twinge of guilt!

I started the day by heading out on the bike. Managed to ride 46 KM. It wasn't warm when I went out in the morning but that's OK. It was beautiful none the same. There were loads of cyclists out. Probably more than I've ever seen in one day around here. And the ...

Yesterday was a glorious day - well almost. I took the girls for their walk and had already decided that it was the perfect day to go for a bike ride. After the walk, I got changed and headed out. The big question is always how far to go? I have a route that I can cut short at any time and work my way back, but I decided to go for it and go for a longer distance.

There was just one slight problem. There appeared to be a headwind. Not strong, but still a headwind. And I knew that ...

I'm happy to report that yesterday was a better day in the sewing department. OH - that's because I didn't sew anything! I did some cutting, but I spent a lot of time on the computer getting the homework assignments done and making videos. I have to say that the video editor on my Smartphone is pretty decent. It doesn't do crazy things, but I learned how to break apart a video and well - you'll just have to watch the video yourself. I'll post the link at the end of this blog.

It was an ...

As you know, I had a GREAT weekend at the virtual retreat. While I did have a wee bit of ripping to do as I finished the Easy Street quilt, it was a pretty good weekend with minimal issues.

Yesterday was a totally different scenario. I don't think I've ripped so much in my life! I was working on the homework for one of my ongoing classes. The block was SIMPLE - you'll see tomorrow. I got the block together and it was too small. Seriously??? I couldn't sew a ¼" seam if my life depended on ...