What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 As I prepared to take the girls for their morning walk, I contemplated how to dress. The temperature was minus 19, with a wind chill of minus 26 or something like that. I'm pretty good for my head (a Tilley hat is the best, although it should probably be replaced as the ear flaps are stretched), but the tightly wound scarf keeps that all in check; my recycled pop-bottle coat is toasty warm, but what about my legs? 

Then I remembered some wind pants in the closet and checked them out. Good grief - there were TWO pairs of pants ...

This morning, I made a list of everything that needs to be done this week. Hmm—there's not much time for sleeping, so I'll have to be efficient with my time! However, there are two things that I will not skip: writing the blog and going for that afternoon walk! 

Did you notice that both of those things involve ME time? Yes, even though I might give up some ME time in other areas, these two will always happen—unless there's a significant issue! 

Both of these are for my mental health. And when I say mental ...

I'm pleased to report that things are going well! 

My leg is not out of the woods, but the X-ray and the ultrasound show everything is OK, as we figured they would. I've requested that I get on the list for an MRI. I was going to see if I could get it done quicker, but since the acute pain is gone (thank goodness), I'm not in too much of a rush. 

I attribute the change in pain level to the stretching Brooke is "making" me do at the gym. I suspect that as I'm aging ...

 There are a couple of things to clear before I start on today's topic. 

1. The USB stick --- good grief - this was a challenge, and it was only when someone sent me a picture of how it opened that I got it! DUH!!! There are days when I wonder how I make anything happen, and then there are days when I amaze myself with my creativity! Oh shoot -- I didn't take a picture of how it opens, but the ENTIRE top of that white square turns, causing the connector to pop out. There were little arrows on the ...

Oh my gosh, your comments are too funny. I always get a chuckle! YES, we reboot our router much more regularly than we used to, but it still doesn't help. This reminds me that I must reboot it this morning while walking the dogs! 

A lot happened in the house yesterday, and I can't share any of it with you! At least not yet. But I went to bed feeling MUCH BETTER than when I woke up. I was not sick, but I had a massive weight on my shoulders because I had two classes to prep for ...

Oh - if you only knew! While I'm doing a great job with the rest of the house, I'll confess that Studio B looks like a train wreck! There's something about that space that just won't let me tidy it up! Many things have homes, and that works, but there are too many irons in the fire at the moment, and I just can't get it cleaned up! 

Case in point: I went to cut some quilt blocks yesterday. Where can I put my mini design boards? They were teetering on one of my digital cutters ...

Stand up, sit down!

Even though I was supposed to be at my desk, writing, I needed to get back upstairs. I wanted to continue the momentum and finish the year - well, start the new year with those rooms in order. 

This is what happened. 

While the guest room was more or less organized, some of my stuff had been moved to Studio U for the big clean-up, and some had not been put away. This was the state of the room when I walked in. 

Studio U is a bit messy

Stuff from the guest room

It's all how you look at it! I never considered getting up and down from my sewing machine as a squat. But it's a SQUAT! I'll take it! Elle mentioned that she works inefficiently in her sewing space, and so do I. We all need to keep moving, or you'll end up like my Mom. She can't move, because she didn't move! I need to move - if I don't, my body is going to seize up, and I'll be in worse shape than I am. 

But I love this little command station ...

Well, it appears that another friend has those open earbuds. I need to encourage my friends to tell me about NEW things when they get them! I'm behind the times. I wore them for the four hours of Monday sewing, and I thought I might be bothered a bit by the band at the back, but all was good. They were very comfortable - they could hear me well, I could listen to them, and I could move around the house without losing the connection. YEP -- I'm glad I bought them. 

DH will be testing mine out today. He ...

Good progress was made yesterday with the presentations and the sewing! Yeah! It will be a busy day again today, but I think I might just make it! It was an interesting day as I snapped pictures and put them in the presentation. Then, I received pictures from people that needed to be added to the presentations. I hope I got them all in the correct place! If not - well, we can laugh about it. 

OK—you have to check out this video! When I was at Golden Peak Media Studios to film a couple of Fons and Porter's ...

I now have the distribution list for Spice Market organized, and I can send the information today. However, I have one slight problem. Someone sent me money, but I need their email address. So, if your banking name is Anne James, please email me, as I don't know how to send you information. elainetheriault@gmail.com

It was a huge task to get organized, and now I'm getting back to work on the presentations. Four of them need to be done by Saturday morning, and NONE of them are complete! However, two of them are in good shape ...

OK—so what do you do when the book you're listening to is depressing? The book is "When the World Fell Silent," by Donna Jones Alward, and it is about the Halifax explosion (1917) when they were in the midst of a war. I totally get that times were tough. Many people died in the war, the explosion, and the Spanish flu. It just seemed that the two women in the book were saddled with EVERY possible calamity. Even the prologue foreshadowed terrible things. 

I hate abandoning a book, so I persevered. I'm now down to one hour ...

I went to bed at my usual time, and I did not take any cold meds. Guess what? I got up at my usual time, so that's all sorted out, and I feel fine. I'm probably a bit tired and dehydrated, but I'm trying to fix both. Travel is a big culprit in messing with your health! At least for me. And I mean travel for work, not for vacation. 

But the dreams I had? Oh boy!!! You would think the world is coming to an end, with alien ships traversing the sky and spying on people ...

The surgery went well! The surgeon called, the first recovery nurse called, the second recovery nurse called, and the pharmacy called! It was all pretty efficient, and I was on my way to pick DH up. 

Maria, the second recovery nurse, was a lovely person, very thorough, and very helpful in understanding how the immobilizer brace fits on, how to help DH get dressed, etc. While she was finishing up a final round of meds, I was at the pharmacy getting educated on all the meds he would need for the next month. I brought home a pharmacy! 

It took ...

What a fabulous day we had at The Hobby Horse!!! Angie and I had never tag-teamed doing a lecture, but we worked amazingly well together! The students who came went home with their heads spinning on how to get better organized, find more time to sew, cut fabric, and much more!!! 

It always amazes me how many people feel that they have this stuff down pat. Heck, I teach it, and I'm still learning! It was a great session. We're continuing with another session and new topics in October, so check that out. 

The afternoon was devoted to ...

And now I'm off to something else today! I've got some classes at the Hobby Horse, and I'm packed!!

Poor Murphy—she hasn't been happy with all the toing and froing these last weeks. But I bet she's confused because there is no big black suitcase at the door—just a bunch of tote bags! But she's not budging from the front door because they did not get a walk yesterday, and I think she's mad!

MOM - you can't leave without me!

We finished the training early yesterday, so I was home ...

You could go down a rabbit hole discussing operating systems. Between iOS, Android, and Windows, I suspect those three cover a considerable part of the market. What is surprising is who owns those companies! It's mind-boggling how large some of these companies are. Did you know that Google owns Android? They bought them in 2005! And they have purchased many other companies as well—we just don't know that because they keep the original name. 

Oh, I remember a conversation about who owns Tim Hortons! Check it out—it's a tangled web. They are NOT 100% Canadian-owned ...

Sometimes, I get asked how I do so much in a day. There are a couple of reasons:

1. I don't watch TV and try to keep my screen time (Facebook and Instagram) to an absolute minimum. 30 minutes daily is a good goal because it's a massive time waster. I don't do Pinterest, which I've heard is a black hole. I'm also highly selective about what I stream and attempt to avoid clickbait at all costs. That is clutter for the mind—I no longer cope with clutter. 
2. I can start work the minute I ...

What are they doing to my forest? OK, so it's a woodlot, not an endless forest, but I call it my forest—it sounds more impressive! There are a number of entrances to the forest from the sidewalks surrounding it. Since we have lived here, all but one of the entrances has had a paved path for a brief distance into the forest. In all cases, the pavement has prevented erosion on the trails (small hills), which has been good. 

You've heard me mention the erosion. That has only been in the last five years? And I swear ...

I had to chuckle as I went to bed last night. Someone sent me this in the morning, and that's how my day went!

I needed a picture of a package of needles, so I dug out my bag of needles. 

A mess of needles

The needles are ...