What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you could go back to bed and start over? Yesterday was that day. Now, it wasn't all bad, but things happened that just went wonky!

But first, let's talk about bananas. I'm so confused about the banana issue at the grocery store. I've spoken to several people about it. One person said that at their store, the produce manager takes some of the bunches apart intentionally so those who want only one banana or two can buy those single ones. Then Tammy just mentioned that ...

DH came home a few days ago, but I've barely seen him. He's sick! And he better keep that to himself because I do not have time to be sick. I'm unsure what the issue is, but I went to the pharmacy to get him some ginger ale yesterday. I made it to the store at 4:50 p.m., they closed at 5 p.m. because of the holiday! It was my lucky day! Everything is back to normal today. 

After walking the girls, I cleared the end of the driveway, which looked great. 

At last ...

What a whirlwind day! I ran between Zoom and shoveling snow and Zoom. But there is good news—wait for it. 

This was after the first shovel in the morning. This picture was taken around 8 a.m. and the snow was covering up my handiwork as I finished. 

8 a.m.

Noon

Then, there was the shovel session at 3:00 p.m. Each time, it took between 40 - 50 minutes to shovel. Is ...

Well, there's nothing much to discuss this morning except the snow! I didn't want to repeat what happened last week when I had a foot of snow to clear from the driveway, so right after my three Zooms, it was time to grab that shovel. 

And this was what it looked like as I finished Round One. Yes - it was still snowing, so as quickly as I shoveled, the snow fell on the other side. But getting rid of at least that much will help. 

Round One

Just before we started the Virtual Retreat, it was time to ...

Yes -- it's OK to be a Pollyanna. It'll drive those negative Nellies to weep, and that's OK. It's nice to be positive, and I must keep the gentle critique in my back pocket for the next time! So many people are unaware of how they converse and are perceived, and some do NOT come up for air! 

Oh my—I have two of the three presentations ready, and the third won't take long. But the timing is tight! I've got to try a little harder next month so that it doesn't come to ...

An eagle eye spotted something in yesterday's post. Can you believe I wrote, "continue to CLUTTER," not declutter!!! I've since corrected that little error! Thanks for the note!!

I learned something interesting about my neighbors yesterday. Remember how I complain about those who do NOT shovel their sidewalks? Guess why? Because they ONLY use a snow blower, and if there's not enough snow, they don't bother. Those lazy so-and-sos!!!!!! As the street was digging itself out yesterday, EVERY HOUSE that never shovels had their snow blower out. I should have walked to all of them and ...

It has been three years since we’ve seen snow, and of course when it finally came it ruined some fun plans. The overnight house party we were going to do was canceled as the roads were just not safe with ice under the snow. Ah, well, My Sweet Babboo doesn’t mind having to eat the two pints of blueberries I had purchased for blueberry pancakes for breakfast. He’ll get blueberry waffles this morning, and some muffins for later. The champagne for the planned mimosas will hold until we reschedule.

Knowing the weather was coming, My Sweet Babboo ...

In rural Alberta, I was taking photos of the sun setting over the Rocky Mountains. My Rav 4, a reliable vehicle equipped with snow tires, was making a wide turn so as to reverse directions. My right front tire made an unfamiliar scrunching sound, suddenly making it impossible to drive forward. Putting my vehicle in reverse, I tried to back out. All I did was spin my tires.

I continued to “rock” my Rav back and forth, drive and reverse, in an attempt to get my vehicle moving forward. But, all I did was create a snow squall! Getting out ...

On a cloudy morning this past week, I was having a cup of coffee when I heard some commotion outside. At first, I couldn’t identify where the noise was coming from, but when I opened the front drapery, there were eight turkeys up next to the house having a bit of a squabble.

They were clucking and squeaking, rushing at each other, flapping wings and puffing up. They separated apart, then the largest two began to compete with each other for the dominant position in the flock with a display of tail feather fans and puffed up chests, dragging ...

I don't know where this month has gone. It's been filled with activity, not the least of which is keeping up with breadmaking from two different sourdough starters! What have I gotten myself into? Loaves are being gifted continually. I've branched out into English muffins, cinnamon buns and multi-grain breads too.Without a lot of words or explanation I'm going to catch up with a post 

I don't know where this month has gone. It's been filled with activity, not the least of which is keeping up with breadmaking from two different sourdough starters! What have I gotten myself into? Loaves are being gifted continually. I've branched out into English muffins, cinnamon buns and multi-grain breads too.Without a lot of words or explanation I'm going to catch up with a post 

It has been bitterly cold this past week, and the birds are stuffing their beaks to get enough energy to keep warm. Of course, this means the feeder empties out quickly on some days. We have a pair of hairy woodpeckers that live here year round. Here the female hangs off the bottom of the feeder, while a goldfinch sits on the left keeping a close eye.

The goldfinch flew off, and a bluebird stopped by to take its place. More goldfinches were visiting and taking turns.

A titmouse landed on the empty suet feeder looking for more sustenance on ...

It was not a good night -- Oh, I went to sleep early enough, fell asleep, and then BEEP BEEP BEEP woke me up. The lights are flashing outside, which means only one thing - the PLOW is passing. 

Actually, the plow had passed earlier and did a great job. They gave all the drives in the corner a huge berth, and that made me happy as I'm sure my low-clearance car could pass in the existing ruts. 

After the plow has passed the first time

So the beeping was the crews returning to deal with the corner mess. When I ...

For the moment, things are fixed here at our house. I should take a picture of the door, but with a couple of layers of duct tape and a piece of cardboard, that front door opens and closes with no issues. However, it must be locked to not pop open on its own, but I'm OK with that. No word from the lock company yet on a replacement part. 

And the dishwasher? Well, guess what I found in there. First -- I had to remove the lower rack and the strainer and scoop out the dirty water. Why does the ...

OH MY GOSH - I read the comments and HAD to take a picture. Tammy suggested I get some post-it notes for my new notebook. 

Ah --- I don't think that's necessary since I have an ENTIRE drawer of them in my desk. Oops -- how did that happen? I never use the darn things, but I should get out one of those small arrow packs and use them for my notebook! I also have BIG plans for that notebook, but I'm not ready to share them. 

A drawer of Post-it notes

Thanks, Tammy, for the suggestion, but I'm ...

I didn't even bother to look for the missing stuff. No time at the moment and I'll find it eventually! I almost forgot what I was looking for! No matter, the cropped version of the picture went in the homework assignment, and life is good! I bet that group NEVER asks me for homework again -- I sent them a whopper! 

OH MY --- I was so thinking about other things this week, that I forgot to mention there's a VIRTUAL RETREAT this weekend. Good grief -- I knew that but forgot to write it down. So here are the ...

So it was a good day and a bad day! GRR! 

It drives me crazy when I can't find something. I become obsessed with finding it, and when I can't, it throws my day for a curve! That was yesterday. I'm missing TWO things -- I wanted to take a picture of part of a UFO project. Can I find it? Nope -- and I've looked everywhere. But obviously, not everywhere! I'll try later today. 

However, the good news is that I already have a picture of the piece (I remembered that later in the day) and ...

It's that bittersweet day of any retreat -- it's time to go home! And we have a snowstorm today! Yippee!!! It's happened before, and I'm going to wait until about 1 PM to head out. The plows will have been out by then, and the heaviest snowfall is forecast to be over. I got snow tires, and we are Canadians, and it's not the first winter we've driven home in the snow. 

I had two Zoom sessions yesterday morning, which cut into the sewing time a wee bit, but that's OK. It's nice ...

You guessed it -- EVERYTHING takes longer than you think it will. Did I finish those improv blocks with the leftovers from Farmer's Wife? Nope --- and I went to bed with the problem of figuring out how many blocks I would need, how many I have, and whether I have enough fabric to complete the blocks? 

Thanks to a discussion with Katheleen, I will keep these blocks myself. I have a plan and hope I have enough craps to finish it. 

Here are the finished blocks. They look fantastic, and I'm very excited about them. 

My improv blocks

I ...

I have yet to go outside, but could we be snowed in? We had a lot of snow yesterday, but the retreat house is also on a hill, and the snow was blowing, so hopefully, it blew away from the yard and not into it! 

We'll be out for our walk once it gets light, and then we'll see. This region is on the ball for road maintenance, so that won't be a problem, but we have to get from the house to the road. And if we don't get out for our walk until later ...