Post-Paducah fabric washing

I got up at 8, got dressed including shoes (green ones) to mow the lawn. My idea was to mow in the morning and again in the evening, but the lawn was wet. I drained rain water from the plant containers into a bucket. I put away the supplements that came yesterday. I read e-mail, and started washing the dark fabrics. I exercised and listened to an audio on Feng Shui. Apparently my personal energy number is a 4 and North is my success direction. NE is my frustration direction and the way I stand when folding origami. Hmmm. I put the fabric in the dryer to damp dry. I ate breakfast, then folded the damp fabric for later. I mowed the lawn at noon. Then I ate lunch, and listened to another audio while ironing fabric. I chewed some wheat grass. I ironed the green backing fabric, cut it in half and trimmed the ends to make it fit the top. I was lucky it did as the ends were so badly cut that I lost 7 inches straighening it up. I took the yellow backing outside so I could see the purple dye transfer. I used a Chlorox stain stick on the spots. I had just finished an apple when Chris came home. I mowed the lawn some more. (See, with 5 hours of recovery time, I can mow twice a day! Oh wait...) I juiced broccoli sprouts and drank them. It was ok. Then I juiced kale. Ugh. I chewed another hunk of wheat grass (they say it helps get rid of gray hair). I listened to another audio and read e-mail. I clean the toilet, and vacuumed the dining room floor and the steps to the basement. We watched Bones to the end of season 4. Now its time to go to bed.
* Show and tell from yesterday *

Sunny Monday Quilting

I guess it was 8:30 when I got up. I was wrestling with a dream, and all of a sudden I was wide awake and jumping out of bed. Too bad I can't remember the dream. I ran through my morning routine quickly. I went down to iron the fabric that got partially dried last night. Except for the green quilt backing. I put that in a bag. Also, I tagged each part of the green quilt and bagged them too. Then I packed an apple, seaweed, a duck egg and water. I took it all to the car and drove to the church. The other ladies were sewing already. They had attended a brunch at Dinah's house. I didn't go because it was too early, and what could I eat? But her house got rave reviews. I did as much talking as sewing today. We all had Paducah experiences to share. I finished my green star top, and ironed the backing. I want to add another row, but not sure the backing will cover it. Bertha invited me to the Renegades on Sunday. It is a group that makes Project Linus quilts. It was after 4 when I left. I was helping Virginia make her own star quilt. She had a pretty fushia floral fabric. I told her if I'd seen it, I would have bought it too. When I got home, I had a bite to eat, then got out the lawn mower. I mowed part of the front yard. The UPS guy came by with two packages: one from Vitacost and one from Swansons. Chris came home from work and kissed me on his way back from the mailbox. When the mower's battery ran low, I plugged it back in. I trimmed in the ditch, in the flower bed, and planted some of the veggie seedlings: peas, broccoli, tomatoes. When I came in, Chris had a few words to say about me mowing in my bare feet. I said nothing, but went outside to tap. The neighbor started his riding mower and did his back yard, then came over and mowed a strip outside his fence. I went inside to talk to Chris, and then we came out to thank him for the fish his son brought over last week. He offered to bury more fish carcasses in our back garden. Woo-hoo! We came inside. I cleaned the green from my feet. I fixed a plate of fish for supper. Then we watched several episodes of Bones before going to bed.

Rainy day and Sunday

I got up after 8 to eat breakfast, skim e-mail, and take shower. I got dressed and checked the basement after last- night's bad storm (dry). I grabbed my SS bag and headed to church. Shannon was mixing corn starch and water in a large tub. I could not resist helping her. I wiped my hand off before the opening, but it was not effective. The water evaporated, leaving corn starch all over my hand. It ended up all over my dress while we were 'signing' our song. Then we split into groups. I took three small kids to the craft room to make binoculars. They did not have a shepherd today, so I basically made their project for them. Well, they did put the stickers on. When the bell rang, they left. Jennifer came in to ask me to pray for her. Her purse with her green card had been stolen. Even though her driver's license was current, the DMV would not replace it without seeing her green card. Replacing the green card would take 3-4 months and cost $500. She hopes it will be returned. She uses EFT and the law of attraction so I am confident that it will be. We went to the closing session to get the kids who will be singing. Then the kids and the altos lined up up front to practice a song. After the song, I sat in our pew to wait for Chris. Chris sat beside me through the service. Then he went home, while I talked to several people and went home, too. It was raining again, but I forgot to check the basement. I drained the pots of seedlings, and moved them out of the way. I plugged in my phone to recharge. I changed my clothes and unpacked my suitcase and backpack. We made a grocery run. I juiced some veggies and took my vitamins. Chris made bacon for his morning breakfasts, and I made him a loaf of bread. Sadly I forgot to include the yeast. When it came out of the machine, it was solid and small. But he saved it. Later I put another loaf in, including yeast and bacon fat. I listened to a few audios. I clipped the corners on all the fabric I bought. Chris made fish for supper. The fish came from the man next door. I put the lightest fabrics in the wash with the yellow backing that got purple dye on it in the last washing. Chris gamed with some new voices. When he was done, we went downstairs to watch an episode of Bones. I put the washed fabric in the dryer just before we started. But the yellow backing still had purple dye on it. 20 minutes later, I took the damp fabric from the dryer and folded it for ironing. We finished the episode and came upstairs. The second loaf was done. For some reason, it went wild. It filled the pan and all the space up to the lid. i couldn't help tasting it. Again and again. Chris said," Isn't flour the work of the devil?" Yes, but apparently bacon fat is Jesus and saved it from its sins. So good. Then we went to bed.
* Still can't upload photos *

Leaving Paducah 2013

Rebecca was up around 4 because her back hurt. She took a bath, and did other stuff. I got up to pee and was not able to sleep again. At 7 Cathy got up, and we all packed and got ready for breakfast. Rebecca, Cathy, Judy, Julie and myself met at the lodge restaurant. We asked the waitress to take our photo. Julie and Judy bid us goodbye and left for West Virginia. Cathy headed to the exhibition center to take a few more pics before she headed home. Rebecca and I visited Eleanor Burns place at the Fairgrounds again, but this time to shop. Certain colors were on sale for 4.50 per yard. Then we went to Quilter's Alley which advertised 5000 bolts. It was a small house and I don't think there were 5000 there. But it was cute. Rebecca was looking for Civil War-type fabrics for a pattern that she bought. We stopped at the Rotary center Antique quilt show on way We went to BP to put gas in car. It was my turn and the machine refused my card because it thought I had the wrong zipcode. Then we left for home. Rebecca talked all the way. We stopped at Denny's for a cup of soup so she could rest. When she suggested I read a book while she took a nap, I offered to drive. She let me. (Gee, and she said she liked her car). She fell asleep, and all was finally quiet. Heck, I would have driven earlier! She woke up when I nearly ran an 18-wheeler off the road. We stopped at McDonalds for her to get an icecream that helped her feel awake. I drove on and she got out a quilt book and was pointing at things and asking me questions. Odd behavior from someone with such a nice car, and wanting to keep it that way. We changed drivers when I thought we would hit I-565. She drove to my house, going through a red light while fiddling with her GPS. I re-evaluated my decision to change drivers. At my house, Chris came out to help carry stuff in. I gave Rebecca more money and she left. I ate chili and listened to Chris play with the voices. I checked e-mail. Then I got to talk to Michele on Skype. Went directly to bed. Chris listened to me vent for awhile and then we fell asleep.
* Blogger's upload program isn't working tonight *

Amazing quilts!

I spent the night listening to the mumbling TV of the people in the next room. They must have fallen asleep with it on. I did get some sleep, but around 7:10, being awake and having given up on falling asleep again, I got up. I washed up and got dressed. Then I woke Cathy up. As she got ready, I read e-mail. Then we knocked on Judy's door. The four of us went to the resort restaurant (rather rustic) for breakfast. I ordered tomato juice and ate one of my prepared breakfasts. We sat and chatted over our food. Then we went back to the lodge to grab a few things for the day. Judy and Julie went ahead in their car. Cathy and I went a few minutes later. Rebecca left around 7 for her 8:30 class. We set the GPS for Carson Park to see Eleanor Burns tent show. We found a parking place without too much trouble. And we found seats in the back, which were filling up quickly. El came and stood at the back, waiting to begin her show. I took her pic with Cathy. Julie and Judy had not shown up. Apparently their GPS was taking them in circles. But when they showed up, we had an extra seat so Cathy stood up. She had a better view than any of us. And she used her telephoto lens so she got great pics, too. People left the show early and I wondered why. But immediately after the show, we went to the building to look at her fabrics, books and gismos. The place was packed. Plenty of people had been hired to cut, and to check out, but still there were such lines that I could not shop. Rebecca called to say the best part of her class was over, and she wanted to hang out with us. Cathy wanted to buy a piece of fabric, but as soon as she was done, we went over to the convention center. We entered the bubble building from the back. We worked our way back and forth towards the front. Rebecca joined us. At the end, Rebecca went back to the exhibition hall and Cathy stayed to hem and haw over the kaleidoscope software. I was very intrigued, but was hesitant to spend the money for that when I would also have to buy special printer fabric sheets to print the cool designs on. I needed to go to the restroom, so I headed for the main hall. I saw Joan and Barbara on the way out. They recommended El Burns warehouse. I went to the restroom on the second floor. Then I called Rebecca and we met up to look at the quilts up there. At 2:40 I thought we should get our names in the drawing for a free machine. The drawing was at 3. We met Cathy there and put our names in. Then we wandered around the main exhibit to see anything we hadn't seen before. Our phones never rang so we did not win a machine. But we did see Alex Anderson. I took pics of Cathy and Alex. Cathy and I both signed up for more of her show and we got magazines and free season DVD's as well. Then we moved on to Ricky Tims' booth. While waiting for him, we talked to Justin and took pics. After more wandering and making sure we hadn't missed anything, we went back to the upper exhibition hall. Cathy and I looked on the quilt side and Rebecca and Tammy looked on the vendor side. Then we went to the secondary exhibition hall. There we saw the tent makers of Cairo. Their quilts are amazing! All applique, and some cording, I think. When the four of us met back up, we got in Rebecca's car and she drove us to our cars. We met at Hancocks to reconoitre, then headed to a Mexican restaurant that Justin recommended. We had a nice meal. Cathy and I split a big bowl of some Aztec thing. After supper, she and I left for our hotel. We drove to the resort, and met Judy and Julie at their room. Judy came back up to ours and we watched pics on Cathy's computer. After she left, Cathy uploaded her pics to my computer and I uploaded my camera pics to hers. We settled accounts for the room and tickets and fabric. We all shared the pens whose ink disappears when you iron it. Cathy went to bed, while I blogged and Rebecca did something on her smart phone.
* from the tent makers of Cairo *

First day of Paducah

Chris woke me up at 6 and I slowly got started skimming e-mail. I ate one of the breakfasts I prepared last night. I dressed and got a box to pack food in. I heard a car drive up and it was Rebecca, 15 minutes early. I let her in the front door. She took my suitcase out to the car and I quickly packed the food and bottles of water. I forgot the duck eggs and my knee pillow. Rebecca drove us to Paducah, stopping once at the Kentucky welcome center to use the restroom. We had a few detours due to the GPS, and we ran into traffic, but we got there before noon. We met Cathy at Hancocks. We all shopped. I bought batiks and a print of chocolates. Then we drove to the convention center. Cathy brought some dried squid which we shared. Then we toured the show until quarter of 4. We ran over to the museum where Ricky and Alex were going to take a pic of a multitude of quilters with their quilts. They were running late waiting for the horse and buggy to show up. a man stood on a tall ladder to take the picture. We all stood on the lawn with our quilts for the pic. We three did not have quilts so we stood next to people who did. After the picture taking, we went to a fabric sale across the street. It was crowded and we didn't buy any fabric. Then we went to the quilt museum. It was dimly lit to protect the quilts. Many of them were exquisite. No pictures allowed. Some were too abstract for me to appreciate. We browsed the gift shop, then left. We walked to a steak place that was highly recommended, but it was very pricey. Then we ran into Quilt Man and Bobbin. Rebecca's camera was used to photograph her and Cathy with the two quilting superheroes. I will post it when I get it. Bobbin gave us a restaurant recommendation. We used Cathy's car and GPS to go there. It was very reasonable, maybe too much. The food was ok, and decor left a lot to be desired, but the price made up for all of it. Then we went back to Hancocks to pick up Rebecca's car. We drove the two cars back to the resort. The moon was very large and Rebecca wanted me to take pics of it with her camera. I think I got more pics of street lights. We checked in at the office. They gave us keys and a map to the lodge. We lugged the cooler and baggage up to the room. We met Judy at her room and were introduced to her friend. We chatted for awhile and made plans to meet in the morning. We returned to the room. I called Deb and brought her QR code quilt to her room. She, Jen and Cass were getting ready for bed. We chatted too, and then I returned to the room to delete e-mail that I don't have time to read. I also posted to my blog. I will post a pic when I get a chance. Right now they are in bed waiting for me to turn off the light.

Preparing for Paducah

I don't remember when I got up. But at least I had an uneventful night. My morning routine was interrupted by an e-mail from Deb saying she could meet me at the dollar store. So I called her to set a time, then rushed to get dressed, and gather some small quilted items before heading out. The dollar store is near me, so it did not take long. She pulled up just after I got there. I gave her the bag and we talked while walking through the store. She left, but I stayed to find some shelf paper that might work for decorating the binoculars. I also got some cards. Then I returned home. I interspersed tapping videos with bouts of exercise. I ate what was left of yesterdays breakfast. I recharged batteries in all the electronic items I want to bring. I wanted to plant my seedlings, but it was raining. So no mowing either. I inoculated the milk with kefir bacteria. Hey, if it is going to grow bacteria, it might as well be the ones I want. I also added coconut milk to the fermented batch so I would have enough to make breakfast for the days I am going to be gone. I need it to ferment quickly, so I wrapped it in a heating pad. Andrea called. They got orders for Fort Bragg. Then I prepared for Paducah: I packed a suitcase with clothes, toiletries and Deb's unfinished quilt (which I was supposed to have given her today but somehow it did not make the trip). Deb will be in Paducah so I can give it to her then. I prepared vitamins for the next week. It didn't take many because I have been forgetting to take them lately. I hardboiled some duck eggs and ate one. I went downstairs for something packing related, but forgot what it was when I got there. I found myself working on the green quilt. How did that happen? I heard Chris come home, so I came up. I prepared three breakfasts. I lined up the ingredients that are running low and went online to find the best prices to order more. I also cut the paper labels for the craft on Sunday and sectioned the shelf paper to make it go faster. I deleted a lot of pictures from my camera to make room for more. I made myself a list of things to pack at the last minute, like eggs, fruit, and my laptop. I skipped choir practice because I was behind on preparations. But I had time at the end to watch Bones with Chris. I took paper and pencil with me in case I thought of anything else I would need, but nothing came to me. Maybe things will in the middle of the night.
* April showers bring .... April flowers! These are ours. *

Getting ready for Sunday

I woke up in the dark with a large painful lump in my chest. My first thought was that I was having a heart attack, but it only hurt when I breathed and it was centered, not on the left. It seemed a little too high to be my stomach. Anyway, I tapped on it until I went back to sleep. When I woke up, it was 8am. I was feeling much better than yesterday, but not 100%. I followed my usual routine. Since I did not eat anything yesterday, one would think I would be starving today, but I wasn't. In fact, I did not finish my breakfast. I listened to our choir director tell a story on the radio. I listened to an audio while edging the driveway. I read e-mail, I mowed part of the lawn. I laid down for a while. I tried to make butter out of the milk because I wasn't drinking it fast enough and I was afraid it would go bad. In the past, when I put whipping cream in the mixer, there were only a few seconds difference between whipped cream and butter. But this just got frothy. I guess there wasn't much cream to it. I consumed the froth and put the liquid in jars. Is it considered whey now? I watched an episode of TQS. Chris came home and fixed himself supper. I ate a bit of kimchi. It made my stomach feel better. Chris helped me make a document of 10 "Keep your eyes on Jesus" lines. Then I went to Hobby Lobby to get paper tape. They did not have much like that, so I got aqua duct tape and a sheet of sparkly silver foam. When I got home, I constructed a pair of binoculars as a prototype for Sunday. I also got double-sided tape, which came in handy since the silver foam was not peel-and-stick like I thought. Then we watched several episodes of Bones. Chris went to bed and I am ready, too. Hopefully tonight will be uneventful. My stomach is feeling gurgily.

The lost day

Little did I know when I put off my blog from last night, that I would not being catching up on it in the morning. I awoke around 3 am feeling nauseous. I figured it couldn't be from something I ate because it would have made me sick sooner. And I couldn't be something I caught at church because that would have taken a few days. I spent several perplexed hours trying to get back to sleep. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up at 8, not feeling any better. In fact, I had a headache and my whole body ached. My skin was on fire. I got up briefly several times, but always went back to bed. Being in bed did not make me feel better, but I kept thinking it would. About 11:30 I tossed my cookies and then the nausea went away. But everything else stayed. I drank small amounts of water. I thought about taking an aspirin, but I couldn't eat anything to go with it. I forced myself out into the sunshine, which was nice, but did not make an appreciable difference. I wanted to mow the lawn, but I was afraid of collapsing and scaring the neighbor, who was running his chipper/shredder all afternoon. I did one thing that saved the day from being completely unproductive: I called the foam store and ordered a sample. I stayed in bed until Chris came home. He fixed me a cup of tea from the mint growing out back. He brought in the mail, which included my heart rate monitor that I had sent off to get a new battery. After he had supper (I couldn't even imagine that I would ever want to eat again), we went downstairs to watch episodes of Bones. After that I went straight to bed. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to sleep because I had spent so much of the day in bed, but I did sleep most of the night.
* This is a quilt from show and tell on Thursday night *

Fish Guts

My phone alarm went off at 8. It should have given me plenty of time to get ready and leave by 9, but I needed a few extra minutes. When I got to church, I left my stuff in the craft room and sat in the fellowship. This is where we now have the opening for Sunday School: singing and praying amidst the clamor of people talking and eating. Jennifer came by with a piece of rhubarb dessert. She encourage me to get one, too. She is from Canada and misses rhubarb. She also donates 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love every two years. After the opening, the Grapes followed me to the craft room. There were 5! They assembled their fish and went on to the kitchen to bake brownies for the old folks home. I cleaned up the table and started trimming paper towel tubes into toilet paper size. Next week the little kids will make binoculars. I spent a lot of time last week researching crafts for Jesus Walks on Water and this one was the best, but maybe only for the youngest. Then the choir practiced for a few minutes up at the front of the church. I got a bulletin and sat in our regular pew. The service proceeded as usual. I was embarrassed at communion to have less-than-clean nails. I just can't seem to get all the garden soil out. After church I talked to Cecelia. We agreed that we wanted a sample of the foam before we made a decision. So when I got home I e-mailed the foam store. Chris was waiting for me to go grocery shopping, which we did. After putting the groceries away, I read my e-mail and had some lunch. I mowed the front yard as long as the battery held out. I scooped up dead weeds in the garden and found my clippers. They were a little rusty, so I got some steel wool to clean them, and a few other bladed items. The guy next door asked me if I wanted some organic fertilizer. He had a bag of fish guts. Sure, why not? I got out my shovel and he brought his shovel and we buried those fish about 4 -6 inches down. I thanked him and he said next time he'd bring us some full fish. Chris started cooking onions on the stove. He asked for a garlic, so I pulled up the biggest one I could find. He cut up the whole thing, greens and all, and stirfried it with onions and peppers. Then he mixed it with ground beef and made hamburgers. I juiced up half of a beet, a cucumber, lemon and celery. I threw in some wheat grass too, but it did not juice much. I chewed on the blades to get as much juice as I could. Then we ate the hamburgers. They were soo good. We watched several episodes of Bones, and when we came up, we could still smell the hamburgers. We found something better to do than blog.
* This is one of the quilts from Thursday night *

Farmer's Market

It was really late when I got to bed last night, but I still got up by 8:30. I ran through my usual morning routine even though I did not intend to complete it all. But instead of having breakfast, I drove out to the Madison Farmer's Market. It was smaller than I expected. There were vendors of cheese, plants (flowering and vegetating), chocolate, coffee, nuts, preserves, meat and milk. I was looking for produce, but I guess it is a little early. I got a gallon of milk, a 24 oz sausage, goat cheese, sprouted hummus, and a flat of wheat grass. I went home immediately to put most of the items in the fridge. I fixed breakfast even though it was about noon by then. Then I packed my machine and headed to Faith Presbyterian for their charity quilt marathon. They had lots of tables set up, extension cords, ironing stations and cutting mats. And one large table of fabric! It was for anyone to use to make comfort quilts. I set up my machine and sorted through the fabrics to find stuff that went with what I brought. I added a 2 yard piece from Korea to their pile. I cut and cut and cut until I felt I had enough to start another quilt like the one I will be teaching. I meant to take notes during the process, but forgot to bring a piece of paper. But I did not get far. I constructed 4 large blocks, and cut them in 4ths. Then I got to talking to the lady sitting behind me. We have lots in common, including husbands and aging parents. The lady in front of me finished the quilt she was working on and completed another top. Then the other ladies cleaned up and put away all the stuff, unplugging my machine. So I packed up too. I helped pack the fabric on the fabric table without helping myself to more fabric. Incredible, huh? After the stuff was stashed in Maria's car, I rolled my machine and fabric out to mine. Debbie stopped to give me her card in case I might want her to longarm a quilt top. Then I drove home, to mow the fenced-in area behind the house and part of the front lawn. I had to raise the deck to get anywhere with the fenced-in area. I guess the grass is just too thick. I did not bother pulling weeds. I checked on my recently planted stuff since it was so cold last night. Then I came in to juice up most of the leftover veggies from the week, plus some of the wheat grass. That made 3 glasses of juice. I also ate some of the goat cheese and sprouted hummus. I listened to an audio. I drank some of the milk, and it was outstanding! I watched a video called "Ripe for Change". It is about better farming practices. Then I took my laptop down to listen to one last audio while I sewed. First I fixed the hem of Chris' pants, and then I worked on my green quilt. Now I am going to bed, hoping to get up early enough to be on time for Sunday School.

Cold and wet

A storm went through last night. The wind and rain were scary at times. But I eventually got to sleep. Chris packed up for a trip this morning. I think he kissed me three different times before he left. I was barely conscious. It was early and I did not get up until almost 8:30. I ran through my morning routine. I called Linda to offer moral support and found out that her mother passed away. It was very sad, but she seemed to be taking it ok. I folded laundry while listening to an audio. I wanted to take the seedlings out, but the weather was a bit chilly. And wet. But in the afternoon I mowed as long as the battery lasted. I finished the back yard, but barely. Then I pulled weeds and stuff from the garden area. I think something bit me yesterday when I was weeding. There is a red spot near my wrist, the size of a nickel, and it is hard underneath. No bite mark, though. I came in about 4 to run beets and the other stuff through the juicer. Very energizing. When one audio ended, I started another. I watched a video by Sharon Schamber. Boy, does she love stitching feather designs! But I noticed her hopping foot doesn't move. Mine goes up and down with the needle. Maybe I would have better luck with a different foot. I meditated for awhile after the world went dark. Then I retired to my sewing room to pick out some fabric to take along tomorrow for the Comfy Quilt Marathon. I looked through magazines, too, for some pattern ideas. I heard unexplained noises. Then all of a sudden, it was after midnight. I am going to bed.
* These are swiss chard and radishes in bloom *

Weeding and Juicing

I was up about 7:30 this morning. It's funny how I remember that, but the rest of the day is so hard to reconstruct. Chris left the fan on, but I got kind of chilly so I turned it off. I went through my usual routine. i ran an internet search for palls. Seems the church wants one and they are expensive. I wanted to see if it was something I could make.After breakfast I stepped outside to get in some early yardwork. I watered the seedlings, I raked the side yard and mowed it. Then I mowed in the backyard 'till the motor overheated. While I was waiting for it to recover, I got out the grass shears to cut a large stand of overgrown clover. I cut and mowed until the mower needed to recharge. Then I pulled weeds and black-eyed susans in the garden. They were too numerous last summer so I figured I pull all of the ones that have sprouted, and let any remaining ones live. Eventually I got out the mower again for a few more rows. Thoroughly tired, I went inside for a bite to eat. I got out beets, celery, a cucumber and a lemon for juicing. But instead of using my usual juicer, I got out the bigger one that Faye and Kevin gave me for Christmas. I had to wash all the parts first. As I was trying to open the bag of celery, I cut my finger. I ran cold water over it, rubbed it with ice, and put a bandaid on it. I juiced up the veggies and drank the liquid. There wasn't much in the pulp container, which was a good thing. The other juicer left large chunks of beet unjuiced. I threw that in the compost and cleaned up the machine and the kitchen. Then I relaxed in the recliner while listening to an audio. That is how Chris found me when he got home. He asked about the bandaid and I told him. He warned me of a coming storm, so I brought my seedlings inside. I dressed for guild meeting and chose a shirt to match my new nametag. I did not take a show-n-tell. I went a little early to turn in the tickets I had sold, but she told me to keep them until they were all sold. Great. I sat with Jodi and Barbara, I should have brought something for show-n-tell because it was a very short line. Our program for the evening was Barbara Black talking about how to make an award-winning quilt. It was very interesting but not technical. She had lots of pictures, many of her own quilts, and of previous winners of our local quilt show. After the show people went up to examine the ones she'd brought up close. I went home because it was later than I expected. Chris and I still managed to get in several episodes of Bones before going to bed.
* This is Joan's t-shirt quilt from Monday *

Something fishy in my salad

It was after 8 when I got up, but it felt like much later. I ran through my usual routine pretty quickly. I listened to an audio while I folded laundry and quilted the basted top. When the audio was over, I plugged the laptop in and went outside. I pulled weeds and rearranged the rocks at the edge of the next property. I figure the guy can't see how much they need a little TLC. I raked up the debris and carried it to the back. Then I pulled weeds around the brick flower bed at the end of the garden. I replanted some tomato sprouts in individual small pots. I filled a bucket with water from the shower filter to water them and everything I planted yesterday. Then I finished quilting the top and brought it upstairs so I could watch a quilting video while I ripped out the basting stitches. Chris came home. He made himself a burrito and I picked greens from the yard for a salad. I added greens from the frig. I tossed it all together with olive oil and added some sesame oil. After eating the salad, I realized that I forgot the bean sprouts. So I ate them separately. I didn't like them, but I heard they were very nutritious. After taking a shower, I tossed the salad again. Literally. It was not pleasant and gave me a sore throat. Chris brought me two glasses of water. I felt much better except for the throat, so I went to choir practice. I had to go early to discuss the kneelers. I sang lightly during practice. The director let the men go early so the women could practice a special piece. Then she let the sopranos go and kept the altos for another piece. Somehow it just isn't fair. I was so glad to go home and rest my voice. We watched several episodes of Bones before going to bed.
* These koi are at Across the Pond. They have them in all sizes and shapes (weird ones). *

Fabric, fish and farming

I thought it was 7:30 when I got up, but I must have read the clock incorrectly, because 7:58 came only a few minutes later. I read e-mail, and took a shower. Somehow I did not have time for tapping or exercising in order to be ready by 9:30. Cecelia arrived on time. I grabbed an umbrella and joined her in her car. Roz was on the radio, telling a story. When it was over, we headed for Fayetteville, TN. We went straight north on Memorial Pkwy. And a block east. Even I could have driven there. We investigated their foam, but it wasn't what I was told on the phone. They gave me a card for an upholstery contractor. Cecelia had other things to look for, so I checked out the quilting department. It was disappointing. The fabric quality was suspect and there wasn't much of an assortment. I guess upholstery is more their thing. But I did take a chance on two pieces and a quilt backing, as well as two pieces of stretch denim and a drapery panel. Cecelia got some tulle and fabric. After paying, we headed back to Huntsville. On the way back, we stopped at Bennett's nursery and Across the Pond. I got some pepper and cucumber plants and she got flowers. We looked at large pots and fish at Across the Pond, but did not buy anything. Then we came to my house. She had a kneeler from the church and we wrapped its foam in polyester batting to see if we really need new foam. We kneeled on it and it was fine. She is going to put it back and see if others think it is ok. After she left, I ate some lunch and checked e-mail. I weeded and planted, while washing and drying the new fabric. It did ok, better than WalMart fabric, but that isn't saying much. I replanted some daffodils that came up where I wanted to plant. When the fabric finished drying, I started ironing. I quit when my audio ran out, and I came up to plug the laptop back in. I was researching how to deal with carpenter bees when Chris came home. Brian's Bee Butter seemed the best way to go, but apparently it is waiting on registration with the EPA. Then I weeded some more. I keep saying I can quit whenever I like, but the evidence does not bear that out. When I quit weeding one place, I find myself pulling weeds in another place. Finally I came in to eat supper, but I don't think I did. I went down to quilt and Chris followed me, so we watched more episodes of Bones. Tonight they were solving cases in England. Then Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog.

Piecing green

I woke up about 8. I read e-mail, exercised, tapped, and had breakfast. I packed seaweed and an apple for lunch. I put the pieces of my green project in the sewing box and wheeled my machine out to the car. I arrived at the church about 10:45. The group was small, but grew in a few hours. It was a beautiful sunny day so maybe they wanted to be outside. I had Doris' label, but she didn't come. I gave it to Jodi who is going to visit her. I worked on my green project, finishing the blocks and adding extra rows of green squares. Barbara and Bertha worked on Project Linus quilts. Mirna finished the center of her chevron quilt. Mary Ann and Martha worked on one block wonders. I don't remember what Dinah worked on, but we talked about embroidery software since she has the same brand of machine that I do. I left around 4. When I got home, I ate a hamburger and some kimchi. When I sat on the deck to eat, the bird flew out of its nest on the rainspout and scolded me. I'll bet there are eggs in there, or soon will be. Then it was time for a little yard work. I pulled weeds in the side yard and under the shrubs in the front. I mowed along the side yard and a bit in the back. I was pulling more weeds when Chris came home. He had finished supper when I came in to make a salad. I checked e-mail again, and listened to an audio. I scrubbed the green off of my feet. I looked in the mirror and realized that when the salon instructor said she was 'adding texture' to my bangs, she meant 'cut unevenly'. I can fix that tomorrow. Then Chris and I went down to watch episodes of Bones. In the last one, Booth gets shot. It felt like a season-ender, but there are more episodes on the DVD. Now we are getting ready for bed. I am so excited about going to Sirs tomorrow that I may be up extra early.
* This is Mirna's quilt, awaiting borders *

Musical fish

I woke up before the alarm, afraid that I'd missed it. Then when it did go off at 7:30, I didn't get up right away. Still, I managed to shower, eat and dress by 8:30. In fact I may have left early because I got there before 8:45. Most of the other choir members weren't there yet. Because of a temple talk before the service, the ending was delayed. Three of us went in the back to use the old piano to rehearse our parts. We filed in to sing at 9. We sang "Lord of the Dance" with a guy who played the Irish flute. We got lots of positive comments afterwards. I got some items from the craft closet, and deposited them in the craft room. A new adult Sunday School class took the sanctuary, so we had to 'open' in the fellowship hall. It was noisy and crowded. Someone left a big bag of CD's on my table. One child showed up for crafts. He had trouble focusing so it did take almost 20 minutes to make one fish. Then he went on to drama. I cleaned up the craft room and the choir director came in to talk as we waited for the adult SS class to finish. Usually she spends the time setting up for the next service and then practicing with the choir, but couldn't do that with a class in there. Then I sat in the sanctuary to wait for Chris and the beginning of the service. Actually, the choir sang just before the second service began. Then the service began, continued and ended. No Chris. Cecelia came over to set Tuesday as our new day to go to Sirs. On the way out I talked to Cyndi. Then the pastor, the intern, the intern's wife, and finally the pastor's wife. Before I left, I took a green hymnal from the stack. They are replacing them with red ones. Always wanted my own hymnal. It was raining when I got home. Chris said he'd showered and fallen asleep after I left for church. I changed clothes and we went to Publix. After putting the food away, I checked up on e-mail. Chris boiled some eggs, made bacon, and cooked up the garlic greens from the other day. Later he made hamburgers with them. I scattered some wildflower seeds under the surprise lilies. I swept up dust in the dustiest corners. Then I found a quiet corner to tap for Linda and her mother, and for the pastor's wife. I prepared 8 days worth of supplements. Then I took Deb's QR code quilt downstairs to start quilting. I tried free-motion, but there were too many intersections for the hopping foot to catch on. So I went back to regular sewing. Later Chris came down to watch TV, which we did. And now we're done and I'm looking for the fish picture.

Massage and a haircut

It was cold when I woke up. Chris was still sleeping. When he woke up, we ... closed the windows. Breakfast and e-mail. I couldn't stand my hair any more so I made an afternoon appointment at the Salon Professional Academy. I went down to my sewing room to work on the QR code quilt. I selected a fabric for the backing and attached it to the frame. I picked a piece of batting, and pinned the top onto the batting and backing. I started hand-basting it. At 1:30 I headed for the salon. The student assigned to me was only 3 months along, but she had a very confident, professional manner. The shampooing was sooo relaxing the way she did it. The cut was just ok, but her supervisor came by to trim it up. I was very pleased and tipped her. (Did you ever notice that when a hair is severed from your head, it turns gray? I had never noticed it 'till today, looking at the floor). When I got to my car I noticed a massage storefront. I walked in and decided to get a foot massage. The lady was Chinese and had limited English. She put my feet in a hot bath. Then a man came to do the massage. It was so good, and I think he gave me more than 30 minutes. He did not have to twist my arm very hard to get me to go for 30 minutes of full body massage. Again, it was wonderful, and it went on longer than 30 minutes. At one point it occurred to me that I was lying practically naked on a table with a strange man in a closed room and no one knew I was there. But that was just my mind being hypervigilant. After he left, I got dressed and paid up front. Then I drove home so relaxed. I told Chris how much I enjoyed his money today. I made some lunch, rested a bit, then went out to mow some grass. I am mowing it shorter now. When the mower quit, I pulled some weeds. Chris started gaming with the voices. I had thought about running the sweeper, but decided it could wait. I spent the evening in the basement, finishing the basting and cutting more green squares. I ended up with too many, so I pulled those that were the least satisfactory. Chris came down when his game was over. My audio was about over, too, so it was time to blog and go to bed.

Weeds and Seeds

I got up at 8:30. It was cold in the house from having the windows open all night. I knew Huntsville Sew and Vac was having a moving sale today and I remembered that they open at 10. I posted to the group Facebook page to see if anyone wanted to go along. Apparently no one did, but one person posted that if anyone went, they should let the others know how good the sale was. So I decided to go alone, and if there was no safe parking, I could just come home. So I went around 10, but discovered that they opened at 9. I saw several ladies that I knew. I called Deb so she could post to the group that the sale was 35% off. Then I looked around to see what spoke to me. It was the Asian prints. I got a coordinated set, and some plain black, which can come in very handy. Then I took my new treasures home. I had just enough time to eat lunch and call up a map to Alison's place. I had to call her to get the right road name. But then all was good, and I headed out, with several egg cartons and an empty honey jar. I had no trouble finding it. I have been there before but the traffic pattern changed. She had duck eggs and honey waiting for me. We toured the chickens and let out the ducks, and paid attention to the dogs. I always wonder if she feels she has to entertain me because I came to far. She asked what else I had planned for the afternoon and I told her I wanted to buy summer church shoes at a thrift shop. So she told me of er experience with warts and that they are contagious so she would never buy used shoes. It was almost enough to change my mind. On the way home I stopped at Thrift Mart. There was a clothing store beside it, but the shoes there would have my head in the stratosphere. So I thrifted. I easily found a pair of shoes I liked in a light tan. Then I wandered about because finding the shoes was too easy. I also found a nice water pitcher. I made my purchases and left. Once home, I put the eggs in the fridge. I read some e-mail, then went outside in the warm sun. I pulled weeds and mowed until the mower quit. There were more weeds to pull. At one point, yanking a handful produced a large swarm of fire ants. I guess it was their weed. I sprinkled them with Amdro. I planted one of the tomato sprouts and the cherry tomato plant from Home Depot. I watered them with filtered water. I soaked some vegetable seeds in a shot glass and held them up to the sun to program them. Then I planted them in a flowerbox to sprout. Finally I tossed in the towel for supper. I made a large salad, eating it in the waning rays of the sun. Then, I tuned off all the lights. I went into the bathroom in the basement and closed the door. It was completely dark. But I was not seeing black. My visual field had patterns of light and dark in it. So I stayed for quite a while, tapping and concentrating on the images, willing them to leave. My visual field did clear up a lot, but never went black, more like a dark brown. Still, I was hopeful that my vision had improved. I came upstairs and looked at the clock on the microwave. If my eyes have improved, night vision wasn't included. I had to stand in the kitchen to read the clock. I sat in the darkness for some time, before decided to post and go to bed. Chris is out gaming and I don't know when he'll be back.
* These are our ever-growing ant colonies *

Mom's birthday

I really wanted to wake up at 7:30 because I was excited to go to Sirs with Cecelia at 9:30. And I did wake up at 7:30. But I found a message from Cecelia on my phone (from yesterday) saying she was still not feeling well. I was really disappointed. Then again, a really bad storm was predicted for today and she wouldn't want to drive in it. So I ran through my usual routine, waiting for the storm. While listening to an audio, I caught up on my paper-folding, throwing out the projects that didn't work out. I cleaned up the diningroom table. I trimmed jump stitches from Doris' label. I filled out the repair form for the heart rate monitor and put it in a box. I closed the windows and went to the post office to mail it to the repair center. The post office is near Goodwill, so I stopped by there, looking for church shoes. But they didn't have much. Of anything. I found two tops that might be ok. On the way home there was so little traffic that it was spooky. I guess everyone was worried about the storm. I was still waiting. I saw that the ants, rather than dying from the ant killer, were building bigger, more intricate structures. I weeded a flower bed until the raindrops forced me inside. And then they stopped. Chris came home early, sent home because of the coming storm. I called my parents to wish my mom a happy birthday. I talked to her, and to Dad, and to Kurt. He took pics of her birthday and also their new kitchen floor. The alert sirens came on, so loud that he could hear them in Virginia. Over the phone, of course. There was wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. But I've seen worse here. I went down to cut out more green squares. After supper Chris came down to watch TV. We saw more of 'Bones'. Around 10 he turned off the TV to get ready for tomorrow. And now I am thinking about tomorrow. The local quilt shop is moving and having a 2-day sale. But their lot is REALLY small and I would have to park in the run-down neighborhood. I think the buddy system is in order.
* I tried to crop the pics but the software said they were 'read-only'. Mom got flowers in the shape of a dog and a beautiful cake. *

First day of liquid coconut oil

I tried to get up early, but only managed 8:30. My calves were feeling much better so I exercised in the usual way. I put the quilt labels in the mail. It was a bright sunny day, as evidenced by my coconut oil being liquid first thing in the morning. I finished mowing the lawn and even remowed parts that grew since Saturday. If the lawn takes 4 days to mow and needs mowing every 4 days, I'm in trouble. I pulled weeds. I dismantled my greenhouse to remake it into a quilt frame. I will need to to quilt Deb's QR code top by April 20th. What was I thinking when I volunteered to do that? The ants built new hills in new places so I sprinkled Amdro on them, and in places where I saw them crawling, but with no hills. I hung up my windspinner. There wasn't a good place for it, so I suspended it from a stick on the deck railing. It is colorful, but doesn't catch the sun down there. I called Alison to set a time for me to visit her and get more honey and duck eggs. They are in season again. I noticed piles of sawdust in the carport. Seems the carpenter bees are active again. I pulled up garlic from the lawn. There is a large stand of it below the garden and I want to extend the garden. I cut off about 6 inches and submerged them in pickle juice. In a few days they'll be good eatin'. I finished embroidering Doris' quilt label. I still have to finish off the edges, but at least the hard part is done. When Chris came home, he made himself supper. So I made myself a large salad and ate it outside, looking for ants. They stayed away. I took a shower and gave myself a haircut. My hair had begun to offend me, so I cut it off. I got dressed, read e-mail, and went to choir practice. We were told that we have to show up at 8:45 Sunday morning to sing for the 8am service. It ticked me off 'cause that throws off my schedule. My phone rings at 8. Too late if I have to leave at 8:30. We also have to sing for the 10:45 service. Another long day and I have no say in it. On the bright side, Doris bought 5 raffle tickets. With the two Rebecca bought last night, I have sold 7. Yea! That's 7 (out of 20) tickets I don't have to buy. When I got home, Chris was watching The Avengers. When that was over, we watched several episodes of Bones, season 3. Then Chris went to bed. I read e-mail just before posting and saw that the modern quilt group has made a Pinterest board. So I tried to join it and that was not a comforting process.
* This is the stand of garlic in the back yard. A small percentage of all the garlic growing on this property. *

Still sore after all these days

Last night was quiet and I got a full night's sleep. So much sleep that it was nearly 9:30 when I got up. I was greeted by the smell of onions. Chris put beans, spices, canned tomatoes (from his mom), onions, and ground beef in the crock pot before he went to work. The aroma was with me all day. So were my sore calves. I skipped exercise and stuck with e-mail and tapping videos. After breakfast, I folded laundry while listening to an audio. I also cleaned up chili juice where the crockpot overflowed all over the counter, the dishwasher and floor. This has not happened before. I placed a jellyroll pan under the crockpot to avoid a mess in the future. Since the lawn seemed only a day away from being fully mowed, I got out the lawn mower. However I wasn't quite able to finish it before the battery ran down. Then I took a shower and laid down to rest and listen to a meditation CD so I would have energy for later. When the meditation CD had finished, I was disappointed not to have fallen asleep. So I let the player go on to the next one (it holds 6). Part of the way through, I heard my phone ring. What is odd about that is that MaryAnn called me multiple times yesterday and today but I never heard the phone ring. But now, resting in the back bedroom, my ears covered with large headphones, listening to music, in a semi-conscious state, I heard the phone in my purse ring out in the den. We chatted until Chris came home. He must have been early because he had time to scatter the ant bait before he came in the house. He was not sorry to find me wrapped in a towel, lying on the bed, talking on the phone. But I guess the smell of bean chili got the best of him, because once he changed out of his suit, he headed for the kitchen. I had a bowl of soup too. Then I grabbed my things for the quilt meeting and headed out. I was there on time for once, but we started late because Deb was waiting for Amanda. It was a meeting chock full of upcoming activities; one of which is a display our group is doing at the main library. Deb wants to display her QR code quilt which takes the person who scans it to our website. Well, I haven't quilted it yet because my quilt frame is still a greenhouse. I guess I will just have to disassemble it and hope the temps don't drop. ("No disassemble. Number 5 alive!") After the meeting, Rebecca and I sat together to talk about the BOM for last month. On the way home, I stopped at the Asian store for kimbap, sprouts, and fermented soybeans. When I got home, Chris was ready to watch TV. We saw several episodes of Bones from season 3. He checked them out of the library after reserving seasons 1 and 2. Then he went to bed, and I am trying to catch up on e-mail and blogging.
* This is a Eli's quilted elephant *

Basket case

This blog post is a little late because I was soooo tired last night. How did that happen? Well, the morning was an abbreviated version of my usual, but I did get in my three little bouts of exercise, which might have been a mistake. Did not hurt at the time. I packed my lunch and the green quilt project, including fabrics that needed to be cut. I think I arrived just after 11. The ladies were gathered and busily sewing. I got to see Lauri's quilt spread out a little more. And Bertha's, but I didn't get a pic of it so I hope she brings it back. She and Barbara attended a woven basket class that yielded some pretty cool results. See pic. I packed up around 3 because it was a sunny day and I wanted to do more mowing while the weather was good. So I did. And it did not hurt at the time. That might have been my second mistake. I also pulled weeds after the mower quit for the day. It is probably a good thing that it limits the amount of time I can mow. I went back to e-mail, which I had been neglecting. Chris came home from work. He fixed his supper and I fixed mine, very slowly. At this point I was exhausted. But I forced myself to pick some dandelion, oxalis, and violet blossoms for my salad. After we ate, we went to Home Depot for garden stuff and ant killer. Yes, that was my idea. I wanted to do it tonight because I am busy for the next few nights. The ants have suddenly built little towns of sand along all the cracks in the pavement. I remember how bad they were last year and want to make a preemptive strike this year. After Home Depot, we watched two episodes of Bones, finishing that DVD which came from Netflix. Then I went to bed thoroughly tired. One thing I forgot to mention that MIGHT have something to do with being tired, is waking up in the middle of the night hearing 'boing, boing, boing'. It moved around the room, and it was near the bed. My mind raced to find an explanation. It seemed too heavy for an insect, so I came up with: tiny kangaroo, or leprechaun on a pogo stick. I tried to wake Chris by grabbing his arm, but he slept on. Later when he did wake up, he doubted both of my ideas, supposing it to be a cricket or grasshopper.

The Creation Story necklaces

Both of our phone alarms rang at 8. I stayed in bed a bit before getting up. Then I fixed breakfast and read e-mail. I took a shower and put on my most colorful dress. Joseph would have been jealous of my dress of many colors. When I finally left, it was after nine. So, as I drove to church, I sang myself a song:
"I'm teaching SS in the morning. Ding dong the phone alarms will chime. Call up my e-mail, read it in detail But get me to the church on time." Can you tell I like musicals? And I did get to the church on time. I had a few minutes to find some stamp pads and glue sticks and beads before the opening routine. I had four kids today, ranging from 2 to 5, I think. For each day of creation they got a card with a hole punched in it. They got to stamp it, sticker it, paste a pic on it, or punch it. Between each card they strung two beads on a shoe lace. Then we tied the ends so they could wear them. I cleaned up the table and took the stuff back to the storage room. Shannon was having her class run remote control cars along the path of creation. Pretty cool. I sat in the sanctuary to wait for Chris. After the service, he went home. I complimented the organist (we have two fill-ins). I found out from Al that Cecelia is still sick. I got my SS bag and went home. I changed clothes and then we went grocery shopping. We bought a lot, playing catch-up from last week when Publix was closed. We put the groceries away, and had lunch. We read e-mail. The Sunday quilt group was meeting today, but it was just too sunny to be sitting in a storage building. I spent most of the afternoon mowing, raking and picking up pinecones. At one point, I got so hot that I changed into my bathing suit. At 5, thoroughly exhausted, I came in. After a bit of rest, I did several tapping videos. Then I brought up a set of green fabrics to audition with my existing blocks. I also picked some greens (clover, violets, oxalis, mint, chard and dandelion) to go with the ones we bought at the store. After having my large salad, and listening to an audio, I followed Chris down to watch several episodes of Bones. They were pretty good. He looked up several of the characters that seemed familiar. I finished a second audio and went to bed.

I'm feeling green...

I slept in a little, too sore to get up. But when I did, I skipped exercising and went straight to e-mail and breakfast. Somehow tapping got lost in the shuffle. I put in a Swanson's order for the things I was running out of, like quinoa. I had told Rebecca that I would stop by the Saturday sewing session to answer some questions she had about the block of the month for March. But I did not feel like driving, so I called her and asked if I could answer her questions Tuesday night at the next meeting. And that was fine with her. I went back to e-mail, and was interrupted by a knock on the door. There stood two Jehovah's Witnesses. They were very nice and I was very nice to them, but cringed when the girl asked if they could come back to discuss the Bible. I had a bad experience with a JW once, and would leave my house when I thought she was coming to visit.
I had been thinking of going to thrift shops to find a pair of light colored shoes with heels for church. Since that would be a pain in the butt, I decided to search the house one more time. I had trouble navigating steps, so I went out the back and down the short stairs on the back of the deck, and around to the garage. I thought they might be in a box for charity. But what I actually did was reorganize part of the basement. An exterminator may be coming and he will have to access the tornado room, but there was so much stuff in the way that even I could not get to it. Also, it doesn't help that the door is in the corner and the doorknob is on the corner side. Chris started the laundry and since I was down there, I transferred it to the dryer. There was a box of wires, headphones, connectors, etc, and I put each thing in its own baggie to separate the mess. I combined boxes of Christmas stuff and gathered a bag of stuff to go to charity. Or Freecycle. Then, because it was such a sunny day, I decided to mow the lawn, or as much of the tallest part as the mower could handle. And I pulled some weeds, too. When I came in, Chris was talking to the voices, well, one voice, anyway. I scrubbed my green feet in the bathroom sink, one foot at a time. Then I sat down and did two 10 by 10 Sudoku puzzles. Then I picked some greens from the yard to go with all the greens left in the frig. I ate it outside, then came inside to read e-mail and work on a 16 by 16 puzzle while listening to some audios. I got tired of that, and went down to cut some green squares for making more star blocks on Monday. I quit at 11 to write this blog post and go to bed so I can teach Sunday School in the morning.

The end of Eureka

I was up by 7:30. I intended to follow the usual routine, which is to alternate tapping videos with exercises. But there was an exercise video in one of my e-mails, so I followed it, mostly. Then I did my tapping. Followed by breakfast. I went online to find a repair center for my heart rate monitor. I called to find out the particulars. They want me to mail it with a form that has my credit card number on it. I wasn't comfortable with that. Then again, giving it by phone isn't any more secure, nor is e-mail. Maybe I'll send them a check and if it needs more than a new battery they can let me know and I will send the rest.
It was a cloudy day until about 11. Then the sun came out so I put the tomatoes out on the deck. I pulled back the cover of the greenhouse to let in more light. I emptied the dishwasher. I went outside to experience the sun, and ended up clipping the rest of the monkey grass and pulling some weeds in the garden. Then I pulled up three garlic heads. These aren't the little wild ones, These will put hair on your chest. I cleaned them off and cut them up. I browned some onion in a pot and added the garlic. Then came the chungukang (korean fermented soybeans). I also added some leftover onions and broth from something Chris made earlier. It was so good that I ate two bowls of it. Chris came home early and showed me how much he missed me. He made his own supper. I listened to an audio and then went down to work on Doris' quilt label. But first I had to clean up the Sunday School stuff which was scattered around. I put what I needed to take to church in a baggie and the rest got put away. Then Chris was ready to watch Eureka. So we saw the last few episodes of the last season. It is kind of sad. I wonder what series will be next? When we got up from the couch, my glutes really hurt. Maybe the exercise was more strenuous than it seemed. I remembered that I had left the jar of honey wrapped in the heating pad to soften up. It was hot, maybe too hot to pour into the plastic squeeze jar. So I cooled it off a little with my hands, and held it against my glutes. Of course Chris made a comment about what he could do with the honey and I told him it redefines the term 'honey buns'. Before things could get sticky, I emptied the glass jar into the plastic one. Now if I can remember to call Alison and schedule a visit to buy another jar, then I'll be set for another three or four months.
* This is Lauri's quilt. Mirna, who quilted it, brought it on Monday. *

Six days of Creation

I don't remember when I got up, but I also don't remember having any trouble falling asleep last night. I did all the usual things and had breakfast around 11. It was a rainy day so I couldn't do any yard work. And I didn't put out the recycling. The young tomato plants need sunlight but oh well. I compiled 8 days worth of supplements. I took my laptop downstairs to listen to as I worked. I finished up the quilt labels, and turned to the Creation necklace. I cut strips off of a sheet of posterboard and subcut it into 2.5 inch lengths. I punched a hole in the corner of each one. I tested the holes with a shoelace to be sure it was easy enough for a 3 yr. old. I decided that the kids could color the first one black on one side for day and night. For the second one, I found stamps of clouds and the earth for sky and water. For day 3, I had a stamp for plants and some leaf stickers. For day 4, I had star stamps and I punched some moons out of black paper. For day 5, I found stickers and stamps of birds, animals and fish. I could not find any people stamps for day 6, so I cut some small pictures of faces from a magazine. That brings us to day 7. God rested. What kind of image goes with that? God leaning back with his hands behind his head and his feet up on a desk? So then I decided to work on the quilt label Doris wanted. I fired up the old computer and typed the lines on the screen. I played around with the fonts. When I was satisfied, I loaded it onto the card and placed it downstairs. I went outside to pick some greens for a salad. I cut up some celery and sweet peppers. Because we bought groceries at Kroger, we did not get our regular selection of organic salad fixings. Chris came home as I was checking e-mail and eating my salad. I meditated in the back for awhile, then checked the sewing order on the quilt label. I changed a few things, then reloaded it to the card. I checked e-mail, and googled images of resting. I hardly got any hits and they weren't helpful. Then we went down to watch several episodes of Eureka. They were kind of creepy. Then I got this strange burning sensation in my upper back and neck. I dropped to the floor and it stopped. I had Chris check my pulse just in case this was some strange new heart attack symptom, but my pulse was steady and strong. When we finished watching, I came up to google this new symptom. I thought it might be a blood clot. It wasn't listed under heart attacks, but sounded more like a cervical disc problem. Should I be worried? There were other things mentioned, but I had no other symptoms. Maybe there's too much info on the internet and I have too much imagination. I gave Chris a card to sign that can go in the mail tomorrow. Then we both read e-mail for a bit before going to bed.

Check-up

I got up before 8, which made my morning routine go faster. I was ready to eat breakfast by 10. I took a shower and read e-mail and tapped until 11:30. The tapping went really well and I cleared something from my teenage years. I got a few things ready, then left for the dentist's office. I got there early and worked on a Sudoku puzzle until they were ready for me. The assistant brought me to the exam room. She microwaved a neck pillow for me and dipped my hands in wax and put the mitts on to keep my hands warm. She checked my teeth for previous dental work, and took my blood pressure. Soon the dentist came in. She checked my gums, gum pockets, teeth, fillings, bite, TMjoint, everything. One of the fillings I got a month ago has cracked. She spent all the time necessary to explain it all, and showed me the intraoral pictures that she took. (I asked her to e-mail them to me so I would have a pic for this blog) She seemed impressed with my teeth and gums. After she left, two assistants measured my bite with something that looked like a half of a CD which I bit down on. It must have had electrodes all through it. They recorded me shifting my bite from side to side and front to back. In the end, I was given a very good report. One of the secretaries took me into a small room with a desk and showed me the treatment plan (removing amalgam fillings at my request, and replacing the broken filling) including the cost. I signed that and she gave me an appointment for May 23rd. Apparently they stay really busy. On the way home, I stopped at Michaels to find beads or stickers for making Creation necklaces. I did not find much. When I got home, I returned Andrea's call. She had called while I was in the dentist's office. After we talked for a bit, I ate some leftovers as a late lunch. I put some peppermint oil on a cotton ball and put it in the tornado room where it leads into the space between the floors. I called the rental agent to ask for an exterminator to visit. Then Cecelia called me to postpone our trip scheduled for tomorrow because she has a cold. I cleaned my combs with an old toothbrush. And fixed a big salad for supper. Chris came home while I was eating. He made himself supper. I listened to an audio. I caught up on my paper-folding. Then we watched several episodes of Eureka. I listened to another audio while I wrote this post.

Tomato Surprise

I got back to my regular schedule this morning. I did my exercises and tappings and e-mail. I put a check in the mail, and put some laundry away. I watched a Susan Schambre video (an hour and a half). Cecelia called to see when we could go to SIRS in Tennessee. We decided on Thursday. I checked out their website and called to see if they have the foam we need. They do, but they won't cut it in the pieces we need. So I Googled ways to cut foam. Seems our best bet is to use an electric knife. I also googled how to get rid of rats. Some site recommend ultrasonics. So I played a Youtube video of a dog whistle as loud as I could. I heard no activity. Other sites say the sound annoys them, but they get used to so it is ineffective. Several sites mentioned that they hate the smell of peppermint oil. So I put some on a cotton ball and set it where one could conceivably come in. The odor was very strong. Later it seemed to dissipate but maybe I just got used to it? I checked my tomato seeds and was surprised to find them sprouted and tall! I went to the Dollar store to find the perler bead kits Shannon told me about. There was only one left. But maybe it will be enough for the Sunday School project. I also bought shoe laces for the kids to string beads or charms on. I also got animal stickers and posterboard. I thought I had fish beads at home. But when I checked, they weren't beads. No holes. I went outside to clip monkey grass. New buds are coming up through the old ones and some got cut off. Chris came home from work. He fixed himself supper but I wasn't hungry. I finished up the quilt labels as much as I could with the info I have. I put Jen's in an envelop with instructions on how to iron it on. I looked around for my supply of beads, but only found really small ones. I did find some sort of plastic nodules that melt in hot water, but you can lift it out with a spoon and shape it before it cools. That might work for something. I never thought that making a Creation story necklace would be so hard. Then Chris came down to watch TV. We saw several episodes of Eureka, season 5. We did not hear the alleged rat tonight. But I suppose I still have to call the rental agent about getting an exterminator. Don't want to take any chances on the one becoming the many.

April birthdays

I don't remember when I got up, but I was dreaming vividly. Had I written it down then, I might remember now. Anyway, I read e-mail and fixed breakfast. I did not exercise because the rebounder was full of laundry. Clean laundry, thank you. After breakfast, I watched two tapping videos, and then packed for quilting at the church. Seaweed, a hardboiled egg, and an orange were for lunch. My green and white squares made a good take-along project. I arrived about 11. Barbara was writing on the whiteboard the names of the ladies who have birthdays this month. There was a cake and cupcakes on the table at the front. I set up my stuff and walked around to see what everyone else was doing. Bertha was working on a quilt called Ripples and Reflections. Apparently it was a class with a kit so everyone who took it will make the exact same quilt. We sewed and ironed and talked. Ladies came and ladies went. We sang Happy Birthday and ate cake. I ate seaweed. I offered to make Doris an embroidered label for her quilt. And we sewed some more. I got six blocks done before I left at 4:30. I ate some leftovers, then fixed a large salad and ate it outside in the waning sunlight. Chris came home with his drycleaning. He made twice-baked potatoes for supper. I had half of one. I put some of the laundry away. I read a quilt magazine that came in the mail. I watched one more tapping video. It was about getting excited to finish a project. I guess it worked 'cause I didn't even finish the video before I was in the basement working on the quilt labels. Afterwhile Chris came down and we watched episodes of Eureka, including a Christmas special where they go through being Christmas toys, claymation, comic book characters, and manga.