Paraments, kneelers and banners

We woke up about 8:30 but I stayed in bed a little longer, tapping for the feeling of not wanting to get up. Must have been 9:30 when I did get up, fixed breakfast, showered, dressed and was ready for church. Chris stayed home because his ankle was hurting. I suggested ice and heat, but he wasn't interested. Today our church celebrated the 30th and 50th year of ordination for our pastor and Pastor Ettraim. The bishop came and he gave the sermon. It was quite good. After the service, people lined up to get food in the garden room. I hung back to talk to Jennifer, Margie, and Cecelia. Mary, our organist, asked me to play my trombone for the service next week. She wants to get together to practice on Saturday. The food table was loaded and there were a few things I could eat. So I got my plateful and sat near Shannon. Susan came to talk to me about paraments. They need banners for confirmation, first communion, and baptism. Cecelia said we could get together on Thursday to cut foam for the kneelers and glue the batting wrap on them. My week just got busy. Just before the service started I had made a mental image of myself patting a kneeler in my passenger seat. When I got in my car, the image came back and I ran in to get one of the kneelers. I don't remember when I got home. I changed clothes and Chris made a grocery list. I drove to Publix to get the items and a few for myself. He hardboiled a dozen eggs for his lunches. I mowed parts of the lawn. I put away stuff from the trip on Friday. I took a kneeler down to my sewing room to examine the construction. But that is as far as I got, running items up and down the steps. I read e-mail and practiced my trombone. I juiced up celery and a beet and a cucumber. I took the pulp and ran it through again, getting another quarter glass full. I tried out the new toothpowder that came in the mail. Tasted ok. The reviews said it would stain my toothbrush but not my teeth. Then we went down to watch 3 episodes of Chuck. It's pretty good. Much less disturbing than Forever Knight. I took off my earrings. I think the holes will stay open now, but for some reason I can only get studs in, no french hooks. I sat down to write my blog and got caught up in a Facebook e-mail, which lead to another and to places I never intended to go. So now it is really late and I have to go to bed.
* I did not have my camera today, so here is a pic of Peggy Barkle and her Circular Bargello quilt. *

The day after

When I got up Saturday morning, I did not feel good. I wasn't sick exactly, but had no energy. I wanted to post to my blog for last night, but my eyes had trouble focusing. It was a bright sunny day so I put on my bathing suit and laid in the sun. I contemplated mowing the lawn, but did not have the energy for that. I laid down for a bit, and had breakfast. I listened to an audio while reading e-mail. I picked a cucumber and ate it. Cathy called to ask how I wanted my green quilt quilted. I baited two mousetraps with moldy cheese and set them inside the HVAC unit. Then I opened the software for my handout. I figured if people only look at the pictures and diagrams, then the diagrams needed to be self-explanatory. If I ever get to teach this class again, Ill be ready. I tweaked the diagrams this way and that. I re-wrote steps 4 and 5 because we did not have room to do it the original way. I changed those diagrams too. I changed the shading in many steps, and added some text and labels. My eyes hurt, but in a way it was fun and challenging. I discovered inconsistencies in the original diagrams, which I corrected. Suppertime came and went but I didn't notice. Chris gamed with the voices, and took a break to remind me to eat. But I wasn't ready to stop. I only stopped when I heard him having a post-game chat with Michele. So I got on Skype with her. She is recovering from a bad cold or flu. We had a nice chat, but it ended up with us reading xkcd comics to each other, and then to ourselves. That meant it was time to say goodbye. Chris had already gone to bed. I stayed up to blog for yesterday and today. Good heavens, it is after midnight.
* These are blocks that students made during Lisa's class. I wish I had known we could pin blocks to the walls when I taught my class. *
** It occurs to me that if people don't read quilt instructions, why would they read my blog? Maybe I need to write less and put in more pictures. **

My big day

I felt like I hadn't slept all night. I started watching the clock around 6 because light was coming in around the edge of the curtains. I don't know if it was the thought of teaching the class, or caffeine in the tea they served with supper. At 6:23 I got up to take a shower. After dressing I went to the hotel restaurant to get a spoon to eat my breakfast mix. The event organizer was there and she gave me two meal passes, one for me and one for Lisa. I ate in the room and gave Lisa the passes. I read e-mail until 7:30 when I loaded all my class stuff on a cart, some of it hanging on my shoulder. I was halfway to the elevator when I realized that I had forgotten my shoes. When I got to the room, there were women setting up their machines. Apparently they come early to get a good seat. I set up my display and looked at the outlet situation. I did not want any power problems during class. I put my samples on a piece of flannel thrown over my whiteboard. But even though I leaned the whiteboard against a box, it was not stable, and just the moving of pieces knocked it down. I introduced myself and how I came up with my quilt design. Then I passed out the handout. During the night, I tried to console myself with the thought that even if I lost the power of speech, it would be ok because everything they needed to know was in the handout. But I don't think they read it. Over and over I was asked questions that were clearly explained in the text. Ok, so I don't mind feeling needed. But how will I know if the instructions make sense to them? Anyway, when I wasn't answering questions or trimming someone's block, I walked around the room to check on each person's progress. I learned to do that teaching high school math. I spotted a few potential problems. I made mental notes to address those in the handout - in case someone might read it. My focus was on teaching them how to make this particular quilt. But some ladies needed to have the very basics explained - like quarter inch seams, lining up the edges and matching the corners. I made a note to be prepared for that next time - if there is a next time. I was mortified when I cut someone's block wrong. Somehow the cutter did not stay next to the ruler. She was very gracious about it and there was nothing I could do. But I made a note to bring fusible interfacing next time. Lisa sat in on the beginning of class, and then left. Her daughter drove in from Nashville to have a free breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Class was officially over at 11, but some of the students stayed to work and that was fine with me. I really thought most would leave with a finished quilt top, but no one did. Part of the problem was that there weren't enough large cutting mats and rulers. It created a bottleneck at the cutting table. I did take a few pictures of finished centers, which a good handful did finish. Theresa used black and yellow fabrics for her background. It was striking and I can't believe I did not get a pic of it. One lady 'audited' the class. She had cut out the piece, but inadvertently left them at home. I can understand that. What I can't understand is why she cut them out. She told me at least twice that she thought the pic of my quilt in the flyer was ugly (black and white) so she didn't want to take the class. But she said she liked it when she saw it in person (in color). Ok, so when the last student left, Lisa gave me her keys. I went to the room to pack up, eat my packed lunch (eggs and an orange), and put my stuff in her vehicle. I also checked out and turned in the room cards. I helped Lisa set up for her class. Dad had called during my class when I couldn't answer. So I called him back just before Lisa's class. I wished him and Mom a happy anniversary. It was a day late. Then I got a chair so I could sit on Lisa's class. She had 25 students so the room was really full. After her intro, she passed out her handout. It was only two pages. One had a pic and a few paragraphs. The other was hand drawn diagrams. She got so few questions that she got out her machine and started making another quilt. I did not sit for a moment during my class. I walked around her class, looking at what the ladies were choosing for their strips. Some had been in my class, too. I talked to Theresa, who had the neatest folding sewing table. Like me, she washed her fabric because of the chemicals in it. A lady visited from the class next door. She had taken the bargello circle class and was able to explain to me how it was done. I was excited to try it. Class was officially over at 4. But the ladies stayed to work. We stayed for a bit, then packed up and left at 4:45. On the way home, Lisa told me that people don't read handouts and that mine had too much text. Even she couldn't read it. She recommended relying on the diagrams. I didn't know what to think because everything I wrote down was something they needed to know. Maybe her quilt was just that much simpler to make than mine? She dropped me off at home just before 7. Chris helped me bring the stuff in. I told him about my trip. I read e-mail and ate supper. I picked a cucumber. We went downstairs to watch Forever Knight. I had seen it years ago, but did not remember that it was so 'suggestive' and disturbing. I nearly fell asleep watching, but rallied to stay awake until the episode was over. I should have accepted the gift of sleep when it came, since later we went straight to bed. But then I could not sleep.

Our Arrival

I woke up when Chris got up. I could have gone back to sleep, but it seemed right to get up and moving since I had to finish preparing for the trip and the class. I read e-mail and exercised and listened to an audio. I was unable to pack before breakfast for some reason. So I ate a little early. It rained hard in the early morning so I checked the basement for water. The only water was in the garage, and it wasn't much. I packed several boxes with stuff for class and special foods for the trip. I took my supplements and made egg salad for lunch. I filled a water bottle and a water jug with filtered water. I cut some fabric pieces for a demo. I hunted up some flannel to cover the whiteboard, also for the demo. I moved the items to a location in the garage to keep it all in one spot and away from items not going. When I had it all assembled, I opened both garage doors and waited for Lisa. I swept out the water. I checked my garden. But I was waiting when she arrived. It took almost no time to put my stuff in her Tahoe and we were off. She stopped for a green tea at Starbucks. We drove north and east, past places I had seen before and then places I hadn't. We arrived in Murfreesboro just after 4. We checked in at the hotel and brought our suitcases up to the room. Then we checked out the classroom space to see what we had to work with. It was a ballroom divided into thirds. We were unable to find out which third would be ours. The tables were different in each 'room' but none of them had many outlets. Then we got the rest of our stuff from her car and moved it up to our room. We chatted for a bit until dinner time. It was in the same ballroom, but with different tables. We each had a card with our dinner choice on it. The card came with our nametags. We sat at a round table with 6 other women. Salads were already on the table. I ate mine without dressing. Then the entrees were delivered.

After that, a luscious-looking upside down bowl of cake with pudding in it. Lisa and I skipped ours. After the meal, there were door prizes. And there was a speaker. She was very good, and it was evident that she had given this speech many time before. She had her quilts all lined up to be shown in the order that they came up in the speech. After the speech, we were dismissed. Lisa and I went up the room. I had forgotten my laptop, so she gave me her keys. On my way to get it, I investigated the pool area. It was partly inside and partly outside. There was no changing area, and no pool towels. And no hot tub. So I got the laptop and went back to our room. We chatted for an hour or so. She wrote notes for her class tomorrow. Then she turned in while I stayed up to post to my blog.

* This is Lisa's quilt for her class, and our hotel room. *

Packing for the class

The morning started with e-mail, exercise, and breakfast. Gwenda sent me the phone number of the Wagner reunion secretary. So I called her, only to find that my dad had already called her last night. So I called Dad, but he didn't answer. I looked up how to make soy sauce. I was surprised. They mash the cooked soybeans with flour to make small cakes. These are left in a moist place to go moldy. Then they are dried in the sun and added to a salt brine to ferment for months. The cakes break up, and the mash is strained out to leave soy sauce. Mmmm, huh?
I went outside to sunbathe. When I got in, there was a message from Dad, so I called him back. I offered to handle the file transfer for him, but he wanted to do it himself. Then I quickly got ready for tai chi. I arrived just as class was starting. Today the instructor spent much less time talking and much more time actually tai chi-ing. We got through the entire routine. He says that when we have learned it all, we get a patch. I don't care about a patch, I just want to learn something new, to keep my brain active. And tai chi does. It is like learning to speak Korean. At first it makes no sense whatsoever because there are no greek or latin rootwords for reference. But hopefully, I will get used to at least the simple moves. When I got home, I put on old clothes and an audio. I emptied the dishwasher and restacked it. I folded laundry. I assembled the recyclables for tomorrow. I got the hose from the front of the house and added it to the back so it would reach the back garden. I watered both gardens, and pulled weeds. I was going to mow, but by then it was 5:30. I came in to clean up and Chris came home. He saw the Jehovah's witnesses drive up and warned me. I asked him to answer the door and send them away. But they asked for me by name and he called out "Are you home?" What was I to do? I met them at the door and we talked. I did not invite them in because it would have prolonged the conversation. I did not want to be rude, but neither did I want to give them the wrong impression. There were two young ladies, probably early twenties. They insisted that they were not trying to get me to convert. I am not sure I believed them. Why else do they keep coming back? After they left, I ate supper and packed a suitcase and thought of more things to bring for the class on Friday. I also printed out a few more handouts, just in case. Lisa said they added 5 more people to her class. Chris and I watched the first two episodes of Forever Knight, which came from Netflix. Chris thought I hadn't seen it. I thought we saw it together when it first came out. Then he went to bed and I stayed up to blog.
* This is the quilt Mirna made from my handout. With such lovely colors, I might like it better than the original. *

Unloading empty egg cartons

I stayed up late last night doing relaxation techniques so I could sleep. Of course that lead to sleeping late in the morning. It did not give me much time to read e-mail and exercise before breakfast at 11. At noon I laid out in the sun for almost half an hour. I finalized my class handout and e-mailed it to Chris. I did an internet search for herbs to treat menorrhagia. One site recommended large doses of vit C. And I took a shower. I watered pepper plants on my way to the car. I went to the farmer's market to buy eggs and tomatoes. They had baskets of peaches for $6. The peaches were beautiful, but since there were only about 6 or 7 in the basket, I thought it was too much. I brought my empty egg cartons along and divided them between the two egg sellers. One of them gave me $1 off :) I put most of the eggs in the fridge and hardboiled 5 for Chris' lunches and mine. I went down to collect a pile of any items that might be needed for class on Friday. I deleted pics from my camera to make room for more. I heard Chris come home. While he ate supper, I sat outside with a pad of paper, deciding how best to cut the foam for the kneelers. I had figured this out before, but on the back of an envelop which cannot now be found. I also did diagrams on how best to cut out the fabric pieces. When I came in, I was resolved to eat a salad. But I ate some chicken instead and wasn't hungry for the salad. I ran through my e-mail again, parsing it down to only 60 unread messages (it had been running about 100). Then we watched 3 episodes of Chuck. No more 3rd Rock, sigh.

The End

My day started at quarter after nine. I read e-mail and exercised. I had to restart my laptop since the touchpad turned itself off. Then it insisted on installing updates, but it seemed to hang up there. I ate breakfast and packed a lunch. I started a quilt for Linus Project almost 2 months ago and it has provided me with something to do every Monday since. So I put the blocks in my sewing box and headed to the church with my machine. I got there after 11. There were not many ladies there so I had my choice of where to sit. Mirna brought the quilted quilt that I gave her last week, and the finished quilt that she made from my directions. Both were very nicely done. I trimmed the rest of my Linus blocks and started putting them up on the design wall. Bertha finished putting them up while I took the chance to trim up the quilted quilt. After she left, I rearranged the blocks, soliciting suggestions from the group. When we were satisfied with the result, I sewed them together in four-somes until the top was finished. By then it was only Lauri, Mirna and me. The rest had gone home. I went home, too, wondering what I will work on next week now that this top is finished. Chris arrived home just before I did. We had last night's chicken for supper. Then he picked two heads of broccoli from the garden. I made mine into a salad, but he ate his just as it was. After supper I tweaked my handout for class. Not the text, just the diagram page. It's fun to do, but probably pointless, as it already gets the point across. Then we watched 2 episodes of 11th Hour. That makes 4 episodes, and that is all there are. We finished up with the last episode of season 1 of 3rd Rock. We don't have season 2. Now I am wondering what we'll watch tomorrow. Chris went to bed, and I am watching the largest roach I have ever seen appear in different locations around the room. I am armed with a flyswatter just in case.

"Sitting Kills, Moving Heals"

I heard the phone alarm go off at 8, but did not get up for another 30 minutes. I emptied the dishwasher, took a shower, and ate breakfast. Chris took his shower while I got dressed. We were there 10 minutes before church started. That gave me time to check in with a few people before the service. Our regular pastor is still out of town, so our intern preached. Shannon was the cantor. Her little boy ran up to her as she was singing. She had to hold him the whole time she was singing. After the service, I talked to Cyndi about what paraments are needed. I took some pics of the ones they already have. Then we went home to change clothes before grocery shopping. After putting the food away, we went outside so I could cut Chris' hair. Then I read e-mail and worked on my class handout. I printed out the cover page and it came out in color. I added to the text. I fiddled with it a bit to get a more professional look. Chris thought it was fine to begin with. He cooked bacon to take to work each morning. And he put two chickens in the oven. I went outside to clip grass and water the garden. When I came in, the chicken innards were cooked, so I ate them. I read e-mail and listened to audios while Chris ate supper. One audio was an interview of a woman named Dr. Joan Vernikos, former director of NASA’s Life Sciences Division and author of Sitting Kills, Moving Heals. No matter how much exercise you get, if you sit for long periods of time without getting up, your body declines rapidly. She recommends standing up once every 10 minutes. It’s not how many hours of sitting that's bad for you; it’s how often you interrupt that sitting that is GOOD for you.
By the time the chicken was finished, I wasn't hungry any more. Then we watched 2 episodes of 11th Hour with Patrick Stewart, and one episode of 3rd Rock. Chris went to bed. I hunted down my wrist brace. My wrist has been bothering me all day, except when I do yard work. Ironic.
* The flowers are lovely this year. *

Bees like Garlic

I don't know when we woke up, but it was nice not to have to go anywhere. The church scheduled a workday from 7 to 12 but I didn't feel like rushing over there when I could stay in bed with Chris. Skipping e-mail, I exercised and then fixed breakfast. During and after breakfast I read e-mail. Including XKCD comics. Chris invited me to go to the on-post library, so I did. I got to look at their selection of movies, but I didn't see it all. We picked out three and checked out. When we got back, I called Dad to see how they were doing. He told me about the therapists that are coming to see Mom. He also was looking for a phone number for a lady he is supposed to send a file to. Chris got a number off of the internet, but it was disconnected. Then I got stuck reading more of those comics. It reminds me of the lab rats pressing the bar for food pellets. They press the bar most often if they only get rewarded intermittently. I don't always 'get' the comic, so have to go on to the next one, hoping it will make more sense. Chris tells me to close the 'window', but then it wouldn't be so convenient to read them. When I did pull myself away, I mowed the rest of the lawn, and dug grass from the sides and middle of the driveway. This lasted for hours. I finally finished up by raking the trimmings up and throwing them in the yard waste pile. I watered a few plants, then soaked my feet in the bucket. When I came in, Chris was gaming with the voices. It was nice to hear Michele's voice. I parceled out 8 days worth of supplements, and placed an order for those which were getting low. I may cut back on how many I take, because I am getting the most results from taking the lyposomal vitamin C. I saw the difference in the mirror almost immediately. Maybe I don't need the rest? Then I washed and partially dried all the fabric I bought yesterday. I spent the rest of the evening listening to a Hans King audio and ironing and folding the fabric. When I finished that, the audio was over. I put my mom on his prayer list and posted to my blog.
* This is a recent picture of a bee. Take a good look. The world wide bee population is reducing and someday you may only see bees in old photos. *

The last and the first

Chris called just before 8, I was already awake but on the computer reading e-mail. Michele told me through Facebook that today was her last day. I exercised in less than the usual time. I ate breakfast early, and took a shower. In the shower it occurred to me that since today was Michele's last day, my fabric 'diet' was over. I can now buy fabric without guilt. No more tuition! Coincidentally, the Monday group had scheduled a buying trip for today. I met them at 10 at the church. We took two cars, both driven by women named Carolyn. The car I was in stopped along the way to pick up Lauri. We met the other car at Hooked On Quilting in Fayetteville, Tenn. It was a wonderful old farmhouse on a large lawn. Sadly the building needed repair and paint. I am sure the upkeep on an old building is overwhelming. Inside were 4 rooms of fabric, 3 of which were on sale at 29% off. I had a ball picking out bolts and stacking them up. There were not many people there so it was easy to get around and see it all. When the cutting table was free, I (with help) carried all my bolts up. I did not think the table was large enough to cut, and sure enough, she measured and then ripped off the required amount of fabric. While she worked, her daughter played the harp in the corner. It was lovely and unexpected. After everyone had checked out, both cars drove into the city to have lunch. We ate at a place called O'Houlihans. I ordered a small salad to go with the seaweed and boiled egg that I packed this morning. I also had a bottle of water. After lunch we drove back to Huntsville, dropping Lauri off at her car. When we got to the church, I offered Carolyn gas money, but she refused. I took my fabric home. Although it was 2:30, I put on my suit to sunbathe for 20 minutes. Then I ate some fruit and listened to an audio while writing the blog post for yesterday. I also checked my e-mail and heard Chris come home early. When he was settled in front of his laptop, I went out to mow the lawn. It was hot, as you would expect on the first day of summer. Sadly, that means the days get shorter for the next 6 months. I came in to drink several glasses of water and eat some frozen fruit. I tried calling my father, but he was in the supermarket and the connection was not good. We ate supper. I went outside to water some plants and ended up pulling weeds and trimming the four o'clocks. When I came in, I cleaned up a bit and we watched TV. We saw 2 or 3 episodes of Nightstalker and 2 of 3ed Rock. By then it was too late to try calling my dad, so we went to bed.

Applique techniques

The day began with e-mail, exercise, a shower, and breakfast. I forgot to put out the recyclables in my effort to remember to meet Cecelia at Hancocks at noon. I was a few minutes late, and then we had trouble finding each other. We bought bonded polyester batting, thread, needles, and special spray glue for the kneelers. After she left, I went to the church to measure the center kneeling cushion. Susan was there and told me she had to re-hang the quilt I put up because that wall was already spoken for. She hung it on the opposite wall by the kitchen. I asked her about the paraments, and she showed me what the church already had, and how they knew which ones to hand when. Apparently there is a church year calendar for the color of the paraments. After she left, I took measurements and notes. I wanted to take the cushion, but did not want the responsibility of remembering to bring it back in time for the celebration. I came home and put on shorts to mow the lawn. I got halfway through the backyard when the mower ran down. I went inside to catch up on e-mail and bring up a recipe. Chris came home from work as I was making coconut mayonnaise. He hard boiled the remaining eggs for me. I changed clothes again for the quilt guild meeting. The topic of the night was applique. There were six tables set up with chairs in front. Each person was handed a colored paper as they came in. Mine was yellow so I started with the yellow table. Each one was a presentation of a method of applique, although there were overlapping parts. Mirna was there and brought the quilt top she made from my directions. It came out nicely. When I got home, it was 9 pm. All we watched was 2 episodes of 3rd Rock before going to bed. Chris said he had to get up early to go to work. I said I had to get up early to go fabric shopping with my friends. I was going to blog but Chris made me a better offer.

Tai chi

I did not want to get up this morning. Staying in bed was just so tempting. But getting up was essential to the plan for the day. My day started at 9. I read e-mail, exercised and found my smallest earrings. It seems I need to wear them 24 hours a day for awhile. Mirna called to say she has been making a quilt from the directions I wrote for my class. She said it was going well. I can't wait to see her results. After breakfast I watched tai chi videos on Youtube to prepare for class. I laid out in the sun. Then I pulled black-eyed susans from the garden. All but the hardiest get pulled so that the others may grow tall without competing for sunlight. I made some space to plant the two coleus and the begonia. i picked and ate cherry tomatoes, then quickly cleaned up for tai chi. The friends who attended with me last week did not show up. There were new ladies there so he spent over half the time in explanations. Again. I had an easier time following him since watching the videos. After class, I changed clothes and swept water out of the garage. I mowed inside the fence and in the front yard. After the battery ran down, I pulled weeds and trimmed the sidewalk and driveway. I pulled poison ivy from one flowerbed. I washed off again. I had fruit for supper. Chris came home while I was reading e-mail. He made himself the usual burrito. I cut a piece of the kneeler fabric to take to the fabric store. I also tried cutting the foam with a jigsaw, but the blade must be all wrong because it did not work at all. Chris sent me a link to an XKCD comic. When I returned to my laptop to get a coconut mayonnaise recipe, I found the link and followed it. After that, all I could do was read more of the comics. I admit that I did not understand all of them. I forgot all about the mayonnaise. Then Chris invited me downstairs to watch "Lincoln" from Netflix. I had heard it was quite the movie, but I had a hard time following it. The political intrigue was wasted on me. Chris said it seemed to fit all or most of the historical facts as he knew them. We topped off the evening with an episode of 3rd Rock. Then he went to bed.
* This is a quilt that Rebecca made and gave me because the colors don't go with her kitchen. *

Today went unexpectedly well.

I woke up thinking something was wrong, and it was. I had a little clean-up to do. I know my brother reads my blog so I won't mention what had to be cleaned up. I got a few errands done before breakfast. I played an audio. I used a stain stick to get some yellow stains out of two white shirts. I don't remember either of them having yellow spots when they went into the laundry. But the spots came out and I rinsed the shirts and hung them to dry. I noticed it had rained overnight, so I checked the basement for water. Nope. I sorted junk mail. I noticed that my left ear was crusted with blood and was afraid it had closed up. I tapped for anxiety about it, then rubbed it with coconut oil and put in an earring. I was amazed how easy and painless it was. After a little exercise, it was time for breakfast. After breakfast, I searched through my boxes for one the right size to mail a quilt top to Cathy. I packed it and wrote her address on a piece of paper. I read e-mail, and looked through the pics of various arrangements of quilt blocks from Lisa's class. None of them were quite right and I thought I would have to make more blocks. I auditioned a series of blues and a series of greens for the job. But when I actually counted the blocks I had, there were 36, meaning that there had to be an arrangement that would result in a square symmetrical quilt top without the need to construct more blocks. About 2:45 I left the house. I drove to the farmer's market at Latham. I found a place to park across the railroad tracks. I wasn't sure I could park there, but then the guy behind me did it. So I did too. I heard the bell ring for sales to begin. Then the crowd of people descended. Most vendors were selling fresh produce, but some had bread, jams, or cheese. I bought some caladiums and a begonia. I also bought goat cheese, and blackberries. Then I went to the post office to mail the package. I was home before 3:30. I arranged and re-arranged the quilt blocks on the pingpong table until I found one that worked. I investigated the tiny chirping coming from the insulation overhead. Then I started sewing pieces together until it was one whole top. Chris came home. My phone must have rung because he came down to ask me if I was handing out my phone number to strangers and calling myself Brandon. Darn! I was hoping he wouldn't find out. I heard the doorbell ring. Chris accepted a package (or two). Later when I had come up for supper, the doorbell rang again, and there was another package. Everything Cecelia and I had ordered had arrived: fabric, foam, and cording. No more excuses for not getting started. Well, maybe one. I called Cecelia and we agreed to meet on Thursday to buy the wool padding and thread. She suggested we wait until after Pastor Ettraim's 50th celebration to take any of the kneelers apart. I took the foam into the garage to set it free from it's plastic prison. It needed to breathe. I tried cutting it with a metal ruler and a box cutter, but that did not work. Cecelia had offered to buy an electric knife, but I wanted to see if there was any cheaper way to cut it. I saw a video where they used a jigsaw with a foam-cutting blade. I could not find one listed at Home Depot online. But I did find a jigsaw in the garage. Then it was TV time. We watched one episode of Nightstalker and one episode of 3rd Rock. Chris went to bed, and I stayed up. Lately I have been tapping myself to drowsiness in the den and then going to bed.

Then and Now

I slept in again, until 9:30. But I was having a very memorable dream. I was trying to get to the sixth floor of a building, but every stairwell I tried was blocked somehow. My body was not ready to exercise, so I folded laundry first. For some reason I found myself holding our 22 anniversary photo next to our engagement photo and comparing them. Chris looked so young then and I was ... wearing lipstick. Then I exercised, and read e-mail while I ate breakfast. The holes in my ears are starting to close, so I put in a pair of earrings. I tried the french hooks, but the left one wouldn't go in. So I wore a regular pair. My lobes felt uncomfortable so I tapped. I washed an orange for lunch, and filled a water bottle, too. There was some leftover seaweed in the project box. I took my sewing supplies to the car, and drove to the church. Barbara had brought a big bouquet of hydrangeas in a vase. There was also a cake for Martha's birthday. I gave Mirna a top to quilt. Later it stormed and many ladies left. I stayed until 4, when I finished making and trimming the last block and realized that I hadn't brought the first blocks. The storm was over so going home was easy. I did not have to water the garden. I read e-mail and listened to an audio until Chris came home. He found a package for me. It turned out to be the zippers for the kneelers. Actually, it is one 10 yard zipper with 8 zipper pulls. He made himself a burrito and I made a large salad. I picked two cherry tomatoes and the top off of a wild lettuce stalk. After another round of e-mail, we went down to watch the rest of the season of Outsourced and one episode of 3rd Rock. We heard the critters come in around 9. After watching TV, Chris noticed that my ear has been bleeding. Then he went to bed. I am wondering if my ears will close up if I don't wear earrings to bed.

Washing Cars on Father's Day

The alarm (Chris' phone) went off just after midnight. He reset it and we went back to sleep. Well, he did. I couldn't sleep. My stomach was gurgling and the restless leg feeling would not go away. I sat in the den to tap and meditate. When I went back to bed, I fell asleep. The alarm went off again, but this time it was 9 in the morning. We got ready for church and arrived just in time. I think they started late, but not on our account. Pastor was still gone, so Micah did the service, except for communion, which was done by retired pastor Ettraim. After the service we walked up to the pulpit. I wanted to see how the quilt was attached. Yes, it was a quilt, with the blocks arranged in a cross pattern. A lady came up to show me. I'll bet she's on the altar guild. I also looked at the altar cloth. There is a quilt hanging under that, too. And a matching wallhanging. It is quite a set. We stood in line to shake hands with the pastors. I asked Micah what the name of the cloth is so I could Google it (and maybe make one). He could not recall, but said I could look under 'liturgical paraments'. After we left the church, we went to Publix for groceries, and then home. We put the food away, and I changed clothes. I was ironing fabric in the basement when Chris proposed the idea of washing our cars. So I put on my suit and we lined our cars in the driveway. He washed and I rinsed. I also watered the garden. Since I already had my suit on, I put on an audio and sunbathed for a bit. I ate a large salad. I spent the rest of the afternoon in my sewing room. I made a backing for the quilt that Mom started. I cut scraps and made blocks for a Linus quilt. At 6 I came up for supper. Chris heated up some spaghetti squash for me. I put some salad dressing on it and added kimchi. I called my dad to wish him a happy Father's Day, but no one answered. I read e-mail and later we watched episodes of Outsourced. The evening was topped off with one episode of 3rd Rock and we went to bed. After blogging. Which was difficult because my laptop started playing tricks on me and I had to turn to the desktop to continue. The desktop doesn't have Paducah pics on it so I had to reach further back.
* This is a quilt top I made long ago. I do not know what happened to it. *

Tweaking Pixels

We got and about around 10. I skipped exercise and went straight to breakfast, and parceling out supplements for the next 8 days. Then I meant to sunbathe and do yardwork, but I sat at the desktop computer and worked on the diagram handout. When I was almost done, I discovered that I could re-draw it all with the line tool which would look a lot better than my hand drawings. So there went another couple of hours. Then I discovered the text tool and I replaced all my writings with text. It was good enough before, but now it is practically perfect. This is why I did not pursue a career in computer programming: it is too easy to get engrossed in it and forget the passage of time. I did not break away until almost 6. I fixed a plate of meatloaf, kimchi, and kimbap for supper. I forced myself outside in the fresh air. I raked leaves under the magnolia tree and then mowed that side of the yard. I mowed a few other bits and pieces that are left for last in case there isn't time ( or battery power). Then I pulled weeds and trimmed grass growing in the back flower bed. I raked up the trimmings and deposited them in the yardwaste pile before going in. I brought with me a cucumber picked from the back garden. It did not last long, but it was good. Much better than whatever variety I planted last year. I tweaked the handout some more, and then Chris and I watched a movie downstairs. It was called "John Carter". It was a sci-fi/fantasy flick based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel. Then we dressed the bed with clean sheets and turned in for the night.

I'm a pod person

Last night, after posting, I stayed up to work on the computer. I cropped photos of each block in my BOM quilt and loaded them to the Facebook group. One block was missing, so I had open the quilt and photograph it. I got to bed after midnight, and I paid for it this morning by not awakening until almost 10. That gave me only an hour to get in my pre-breakfast activities. I emptied the dishwasher and then read e-mail until 12:30, then put on my bathing suit. I laid in the sun for 10 minutes on each side, them came in. I freshened up, expecting Rebecca at 1 to take my quilt class. Her input is important so I can finalize the handout. But she did not come. I spent that time working on the handout. I turned it from a txt file to a doc file. That allowed me to make it more appealing aesthetically. I also added a cover page with a pic of the finished quilt. I wasn't totally happy with any of the pics I had. I cropped the best one, but because the pic wasn't taken straight on, it did not fit the square boundary of the crop tool. When I double-clicked on the pic, it came up in Paint. I wasn't expecting that because it has never happened before. However, I discovered that I could 'erase' all of the wall showing around the quilt. So the pic I finally added to my cover page showed only the quilt, slightly curved edges and all. I was erasing when Chris came home. His boss sent him home early. He made meatloaf and worked on his laptop. When I finished the pic, I saved it and went out to mow the lawn. I accomplished a lot before the battery ran down. I watered my plants and discovered that one of the pea plants actually grew pods even though it it still so small. I picked one pod, the cucumber, and a lettuce top for supper. Chris left to play Battletech. I ate the pod first, and it was delicious. Then I ate the large salad while watching a video called La Belle Verte. It is in French but has English subtitles. I ate a little bit of the meatloaf before putting it in the fridge. I sat in the basement to soak up the quiet, visualize, and tap. It got very dark and I was no where near the light switch. When I finished, I felt my way over to the steps, avoiding all of the obstacles in the way. I brushed my teeth, and scrubbed the kitchen sink (because I spilled the toothpaste and thought that might be a good way to use it). I sat at my computer to read the latest e-mail, tap, and put on another audio. Chris isn't home yet, but I decided to write my blog post anyway. I am not staying up 'cause there is no telling when he will be home.

Not just broccoli

Getting up before 9 gave me a little more time to read e-mail. I even took out the recyclables. Still, I wasn't finished when breakfast time rolled around. But then, I'm never finished because it never ends. Hay House did a summit last week where they posted 12 audios a day! There was no way I could listen to all of them each day. Jennifer asked me if I bought the CDs to listen to later. But what would be the point? If there wasn't time last week, there never will be, because 5+ people are running audio interviews on a daily basis. Maybe this is what it takes to get me out of the habit. I should get a life.

Cecelia and I agreed to meet at the church again at noon. I arrived with my Fruits of the Spirit quilt. She wasn't there, so I spent a few moments hanging the quilt. The intern left for lunch so we had the whole office to ourselves. We called the other foam guy in Florida and got voice mail. Then we called the fabric people in Birmingham. They were happy to order the fabric and cording for us. When they asked for the church's tax ID number, we just stared at each other. There was no one in the office to help us find it. So the lady agreed to order the fabric today, and Cecelia agreed to call her again tomorrow with the number and a credit card. This is progress. Finally! The quilt fell off the wall because the cord on one end slipped. We fixed it and hung it again. Then it seemed to stay.

I went home for lunch. Then I mowed the lawn. It started to rain several times so I mowed the highest grass, which should wear the battery down the fastest. I also pulled the weeds that grew in the cracks in the sidewalk and brick work. It started to rain again so I came in, but then it quit again. I read e-mail until Chris came home. While he fixed supper, I made veggie juice. I drank two glasses of it, hoping for more energy. Oh well., After supper we watched an episode of Nightstalker. It wasn't really to my taste. So we put on Outsourced. We'd seen it as a movie, but this was a TV series. The pilot was just ok, but since the alternative was more Nightstalker, I went with the next episode of Outsourced. It is not for those who are easily offended. But later episodes were not so bad. Then it was time to retire for the night.

Broccoli worth blogging about

I was having a pretty good dream when I woke up. I was a bit dismayed to discover that it was 9:30. My morning routine led me to read e-mail, exercise and have breakfast soon after 11. I also made a loaf of bread for Chris. At 12:45 I went out to sunbathe in my suit. While waiting for the sun, I watered the garden near the house. At 1:15 I came inside, dressed, and drove to the church where we quilt on Mondays. In fact, I met a group of ladies in that same room. An older man introduced himself and tai chi. He showed us various parts of a 10 step routine. Each one has a Chinese name and description, but he gave it a Bible verse. We learned about 6 of the steps. He said even someone confined to a chair could learn the movements. The class lasted an hour. When I got home, I put my suit back on and mowed part of the lawn. I thought about how I could relate the tai chi steps to quilting steps. When the mower ran down, I went inside to eat, drink and cool off. I read e-mail and listened to an audio. Chris came home and fixed himself supper. I wasn't hungry. I used a hoe and a trowel to level off the dirt pile created from the digging of the ditch. I created a slope, then moved one of the OSB boards over it and covered it with the black plastic. I put the remaining OSB board at a right angle to it to catch the runoff from the drain spout. I felt victorious after working so hard, but getting all the boards in place. Then I took my BOM quilt outside to photograph individual blocks. I also photographed our fruiting broccoli plant. Covered in sweat, I decided to take a shower. After the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel and read e-mail. Jennifer called me to see if I could meet her at the church for tapping. I was very excited about that. I quickly dressed and drove over there. She did most of the talking, explaining all of the new books she had picked up new ideas from, EFT being one of them. We did some general tapping and she told me some of the wonderful events that she had attracted into her life. She had to be home by 9, so we parted then. Chris was on his computer when I got home. Since it was after 9, we watched one episode of Poirot. I guess we are done with Bones until the next season comes in at the library. He went to bed, and I stayed up to post this. I might stay up late tonight like I did last night, working on the computer. It lessened the time I usually spend trying to get to sleep.

Finding Foam is not Fun

I got up pretty early thinking that I could readjust my sleep schedule. Early to rise, early to bed, right? But I found myself taking a long nap and reawakening at 9:10. So much for getting up early. And I was really hungry. Normally I try to hold off until 11, but I exercised as quick as I could and had breakfast at 10. I read e-mail and listened to some audios. I packed a plastic bag with rubbing alcohol, a Command strip hook, a cotton ball, masking tape and a tape measure. And the papers with the foam info on them. I arrived at the church at noon. Cecelia wasn't there yet so I chatted with the secretary and the intern until she arrived. We talked in the fellowship hall, and then went into the pastor's office to call the foam place in Florida. All we got was an answering machine. We left a message and then decided to go order the fabric. But the fabric place had closed. The building was empty and there was a sign on the door giving the address of their Birmingham store, and the website. So we went to the nearby Hancocks to see if they could order the fabric. But no. Cecelia went home and I stayed to shop. I bought two pieces of fabric for charity projects. Then I went back to the church. I let the intern know I was there. Then I did some measuring to determine where the quilt should hang. I found a ladder and mounted the hook on the wall. I notified the intern and went home. I laid out in the sun, getting bit, and then read e-mail. At 4 I went into my sewing room determined to make a project for the color challenge for tonight. The fabric was all picked out so all I had to do was come up with a quick plan. I decided to make a snap-close pouch like I gave Faye for her birthday. In an hour it was done. I went upstairs to greet Chris and eat half a cantaloupe for supper. I finished it off with some frozen blueberries and had to scrub my teeth and lips to avoid looking scary. I gathered up my assorted show-n-tells and left for UAH. I was a little early and sat in the cold room, listening to others talk. The others arrived fairly soon but the meeting was slow getting started. Amanda collected the color challenge pieces and arrayed them at the front of the room. Deb passed out the items used in the library display. She started the meeting with a demo on how to baste a quilt on a table smaller than the quilt. She used picnic table clamps and Elmers glue and an iron. We had show-n-tell. She passed out books and patterns for making totes and bags. I think that is a challenge for another meeting. We voted on the color challenge and I didn't win. One lady made a whole quilt top, which beat my pouch. After the meeting I chatted with Amanda and Rachel until everyone had left. Then we went our separate ways. I stopped by the Asian store on the way home to buy kimbap and natto. When I got home, I ate some of both and then we watched Logan's Run, courtesy of Netflix. I thought I had seen it long ago, but this did not seem as familiar as I expected. I certainly didn't remember Michael York as the leading actor. When it was over, Chris went to bed, and I stayed up to write two blog posts.
* The pattern of this show-n-tell quilt would look great in Asian fabrics, too *

Projects

It was at least nine when I got up. I wish I could get up earlier, but I have a hard time getting to sleep at night. I read e-mail, exercised, and ate breakfast. I wanted to get to quilting at a reasonable time, but things kept popping up, like printing out two copies of . So instead of agonizing over which project to bring, I just grabbed the one already in the box. There was a package of seaweed in there from last time, so I added a pear and a Thermos of water. It was 11:30 or later when I arrived. I was slow getting started, just enjoying talking to the other ladies and seeing what they were working on. When the take-out arrived, we all sat down to eat. I asked Mirna if she would look over the instructions for my class to see if they were clear. She not only agreed to look over it, she said she'd make one. It was more than I hoped for, and a really good test of the directions. We all sewed through the afternoon. I worked on a Project Linus quilt top. Later Lori and Virginia looked over my second copy of the directions to give their comments. I lost track of time and did not leave until 5. Chris was home when I got there. I ate something for supper. Then I got a Sharpie and a tape measure. I drew lines on a piece of OSB that Bob had left. Chris helped me pull out the table saw and cut the board. He was right, it was more difficult than I thought it would be. Still, that isn't a reason not to do a task, is it? I put the board under the plastic sheet that the men had laid over clumps of dirt by the house. It fit the space precisely and it fit around the tree. Now the plastic sheet lays flat, not catching puddles of rainwater and growing mosquitoes. I scrubbed the mud off of my shoes. Chris put the table saw away. We watched one episode of Bones. That turned out to be the season ender. So we finished the evening with episodes of 3rd Rock. We went to bed and there was no blog posting.
* this is the quilt that Mirna quilted for Virginia *

A completed star

I heard the alarm go off at 8 but didn't get up for 40 minutes. I took a shower while Chris ate breakfast, then I ate breakfast, dressed and read e-mail. We arrived at church in plenty of time for the service. In fact, we got into a conversation with the guest pastor, Pastor Ettraim who is celebrating his 50th year of ordination. Our intern gave the sermon because our usual pastor is out of town. After the service, I talked to Jennifer about her father-in-law, then to Cecelia about the foam for the new cushions. We agreed to meet on Tuesday to call the man in Florida. Then I talked to Lars about hanging the Fruits of the Spirit quilt. Shannon said they have all their bible stories planned for the next sunday school year, and by the end of the week will have all the bible verses too. I asked about crafts, but she said no. I got the feeling they expect me to make them up. We drove home to change clothes and get the grocery list. We went grocery shopping. We put away the food. Chris put a pork roast in the oven. I went to sew with the ladies at the storage facility. I brought my hand-sewing, a star-shaped block. I finished the block there, The lady across from me finished her binding, and the two ladies beside me finished their projects too. The fourth lady was a nurse. She told me about a high calorie, high protein frozen custard that doctors prescribe for their patients who can't swallow much. But she couldn't remember the name of it. When I left there, I stopped at Home Depot. I wanted to get a Command strip to hand the quilt in the fellowship hall. I came home with a bag full of stuff, including a 200 watt light bulb for the garage over the pingpong table. I called my dad to tell him about the custard. Chris got the pork out of the oven so I could have some for supper, but then put the rest back in to cook until it fell apart. I read through the latest e-mail and Chris e-mailed me a screen print of the marble floor from Bones. Then we watched several more episodes of Bones and one episode of 3rd Rock before going to bed.

Saturday makeup blog post

Trying to get to sleep Friday night, I listened to 'brown noise', courtesy of Youtube. Supposedly it is the sound of Brownian motion. I am not sure it was any more effective than the pink noise. I went to bed drowsy, but had that restless leg feeling in my left leg and arm. That kept me from lying still enough to fall asleep. So I woke up late the next morning, read e-mail, and made breakfast. By then it was noon. I worked in the yard, pulling weeds and moving dirt. That lasted until I accidentally came in contact with a sprout of poison ivy. I dropped my tools and ran in to the bathroom to wash my hands. I meant to put away the trowel and clippers, but I forgot all about yardwork and went downstairs instead. I saw a piece of quilt backing lying folded on my ironing board. Chris must have put it there when he finished the laundry. So I ironed it. Then seeing the teal and orange fabrics on my cutting table, I went up to the desktop computer to work on selecting a pattern to use with it. I now have 74 possible quilts in EQ4. I listened to audios as I worked. I made a salad for supper, using up as much of the remaining ingredients as possible. Chris' usual Saturday night game got canceled because not enough players showed up. So we watched TV instead. I saw an ornate marble floor in one episode of Bones that would look great in a quilt. Chris said he could print it out for me. I googled it, but could not find a pic of it on the net. We watched too many episodes and went to bed very, very late.
* One quilt from EQ4 *

Pulling radishes

I had trouble sleeping last night even though I played 'pink noise' for an hour. I did not get up until 9:30. I read e-mail, exercised, and was fixing breakfast when Dad called. We chatted for a bit, then he let me go so I could finish. After breakfast (which was almost noon), I googled treatments for dysphagia. I called upholstery people in the area looking for high density/ high compression foam for the church kneelers. No one had it locally, so I turned to the internet, again. I found a place in Florida that has almost exactly what I am looking for. I called to confirm, and wrote down the number. I pulled up the rabbit cage in the flowerbed. It was protecting the radishes, but they are gone to seed now. In their place I transplanted peppers and spinach. It started to rain, so I came in. I was able to eat some of the radishes, after cutting off all the woody stuff. The rain stopped. I saw tiny ants milling on the windowsill, so I put down some Terro. I watched, mesmerized, as they lined up at the edge to drink it. Bwahahahha! I went downstairs to press the green backing. Then I came up to e-mail Cathy about it, and to draw a block in EQ4 and play with it. Chris came home and made meatloaf for supper. The ants had finished that puddle of Terro so I doled out some more. I unpacked the juicer and made two glasses of beet juice with celery, cucumber, and lemon. AFTER drinking it, I realized that I had forgotten to take my supplements. So I had to drink another glass of water. I played with EQ4 some more, trying out a variation of the block I drew in earlier. By rotating the blocks, I now have 50 versions of quilts waiting for me to choose one. Chris and I went down to watch Sneakers, the latest Netflix offering. I wonder how long we've had it. We heard the critters come it just before 9. Then we watched 2 episodes of 3rd Rock. When we came up, a few large ants were crawling on the carpet in the den. It is funny how we did not have ants before the exterminator sprayed for them. The drop of Terro was full of small ants, and did not need refreshing. Chris went to bed and I am contemplating it, but wondering if it is better to stay up than to toss and turn in bed.

* These are our garlic, gone to seed. But those seed heads are tasty. *

One completed quilt top

I got up just after 8. I started reading e-mail, then went looking in the basement for water since it rained yesterday. It was dry. I searched for small items for the library display for Deb. I found some in a box and laid them on the table to photograph for her. But my camera battery needed charging. I plugged it in to charge. I took the recyclables out to the curb. I called Cecelia. We agreed to talk after church on Sunday. I called Dad, but he was at the dr's office. I exercised, then read e-mail until it was time for breakfast. After breakfast I prepared a week's worth of supplements in individual containers. That helped me know what I needed more of. I submitted an order to Swansons. I put on my bathing suit to sunbathe, but the sun kept going in and out behind the clouds. I picked up the grass shears and trimmed around the trees. My neighbor came to the fence to talk. I gave him some radish pods and he liked them, might grow his own this year. He had men doing work around the house and yard. I pulled black-eyed susans from the garden. I left the biggest ones. The sun seemed to be staying out, so I laid down for a bit. All this while I listened to an audio. I went in for lunch. I called Dad back. He and Mom were waiting to see another doctor. But he told me that a social worker would be coming to their home to access the situation. That is good news. And then it was time to sew. I found that the borders I made were too long because my seam allowances are narrower than my mother's. I put in bigger seam allowances and sewed the borders on. I also identified some seams that kept the top from laying flat. I fixed them. I got out the backing and determined that it needed to get washed and pre-shrunk. Then I ripped the stitches in the bottom part of Chris' pants pocket. I patched it with a diamond of scrap denim, and sewed it back on. I sewed together the two green pieces of backing for the green star quilt. I decided to leave the pressing for tomorrow. I came upstairs to fix a salad for supper. Chris had already eaten. We read e-mail for awhile, then went downstairs to watch Bones, season 7. She changed her hairstyle again, and now she's pregnant. Then we watched 2 episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun. For some reason, even though the DVD is brand spanking new, it skips. so watching two episodes did not take long. But they sure were funny. Then Chris went to bed, while I tried to remember all the events of the day.

Mowed and Raining

I slept in again this morning. I tried playing pink noise on my laptop last night with headphones. It put me to sleep but I woke up again after it finished playing. I must have fallen asleep again because I woke to hear Chris get up for work and he kissed me before he left, but I went back to sleep. When I got up, I read e-mail and listened to an audio. I put bread ingredients in the bread machine. I exercised and ate breakfast. I was able to unstop the toilet which has not been flushing properly since Monday. I changed the shower filter. I took a shower. I raked the leaves under the magnolia tree and dumped them in the back behind the carport. There were so many leaves that it took a long time. When the leaves were finally gone, I mowed that part of the lawn. I also trimmed the low-hanging branches to make raking easier. I listened to another audio and folded 2 baskets of laundry. I took the patio table back outside. I ate lunch. I was reading e-mail when I came across one from Amazon asking me to rate a transaction. I hate that they won't take the rating without a comment, but at least they no longer have a minimum word requirement. One transaction was for a pair of headphones. I hadn't tried them out yet, so I plugged them into the stereo and queued up a meditation CD. Maybe they worked too well because I fell asleep. When I woke up, Chris was leaving the room. His suit was on the bed so he must have changed clothes after coming home from work. It was raining so I went out to look at the ditch. There wasn't much water in it. However I could see water pouring out of the horizontal end of the rain spout. I fixed myself a salad, using up the last of the dressing. Chris made more dressing. I tried to run an applet for Gnaural, but it needed Java. A message informed me that Java was disabled. Another message said Java was disabled because it had problems. I downloaded a newer version, but Firefox would not recognize it. I rebooted. Twice. Still no go. Fine. I opened IE and ran the applet there. Then we went down to watch the final episode of Bones Season 6. There was a pilot episode of something else on the DVD and we watched that too. But it was really grim, so we followed that with an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun. I had forgotten how funny they are.
* This is the back of the quilt posted yesterday *

Extermination!

I slept a little later than usual because I was so tired from yesterday. I got dressed and read e-mail until 9:45 when the exterminator guys showed up. I was also listening to an audio interview about menstruation and menopause when they rang the doorbell. I could not find the 'window' to pause the audio so I guess they heard it when they came in. One guy set out bait for the rodents and the other guy sprayed for insects. The first guy said he sealed the HVAC unit to keep the critters out, but when I looked at it later, I did not see that anything was different. After they left, I went back to writing my blog post for yesterday. I was using the desktop computer and it wouldn't access my blogsite as the user. So I e-mailed the post to myself to capture it on the laptop. But it was never delivered. I mowed part of the lawn. I watered my garden. The broccoli plants are bigger than any of the others. I ate lunch. I laid in the sun, listening to a CD, and then trimmed the grass. I ordered some things for Dad on the internet. I found a copy of the blogpost in my 'Sent' file. and was able to post it. I also downloaded a week's worth of pics from my camera. Chris came home around 4:30 and did two loads of laundry. I took the quilt top that arrived in the mail yesterday from West Richmond Church of the Brethren downstairs. I already had the rest of the kit, so I went through the leftovers to find the squares I needed to finish the borders. I quit at 6:30 to eat supper and mow more lawn. Then I came in, brushed my teeth and wiped off the sweat. We watched several episodes of Bones until bedtime.
* This is Barbara's show-n-tell from yesterday *

A day for Hostessing

I got up right after Chris left for work. I searched both of my computers for the family cinnamon roll recipe. Not finding it, I searched the internet and grabbed the first one I found. I had to adapt it for the bread machine, and I used Demera sugar because I didn't have regular sugar. I got the dough processing and turned my attention to the house. I moved my car to the back yard so the carport would be clear for the ladies to park in (turns out they didn't). I swept the spiders and webs off of the front porch. I hung the quilt over the rail so it would be more visible from the street (turns out it wasn't). When the dough was done, I sectioned it into 4 pieces, rolled each one out, and spread it with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Some got raisins, pecan meal, and/or cranberries. I set them to rise for half an hour and then baked them. Meanwhile, I found more items to move or clean. I swept the bathrooms and the master bedroom. I tried to clear my sewing table. When the rolls came out of the oven, I started to worry that no one was coming. It was after 10. Then Barbara came, then Bertha, and Rebecca arrived at 11. We chatted and did some show-and-tell. I pressed the button to make coffee and they drank it with the rolls. Others did come and I got to show off my sewing area and fabric collection several times. Twice I was told that I had the largest fabric collection they knew of. :) :) :)
So anyway, seven was the largest the group got at any one time. No one parked in the carport, but two ladies parked across the entrance. But somehow everyone found a place to park so it was ok. Most of them brought something to work on, at least by hand. I did not sew because I wanted to keep my attention on traffic flow, etc, so I could make improvements for the next time. As it turns out, the best place for the ironing board is by the countertop and I won't put a chair on the west side of the patio table in the den. I think the other patio table could be set up in the basement in the TV area. The last one left at 4:15. I thought it all went well. Except for lunch. Usually they call for delivery, but not today. And I offered to cut up some oranges for them, but they refused. So I ate a package of seaweed and left it at that because it didn't seem right for me to eat if they weren't eating, and besides, they might not appreciate that kimchi aroma. So after they left, I ate some kimchi and cheese. I was mowing the lawn when Chris came home at 5. When the mower was done, I came inside, thirsty and drained of energy. Later I made a salad. We watched an evening's worth of Bones before going to bed.

A Day for Cleaning

Chris said the alarm went off at 7 but I didn't hear it. He woke me at 7:20. He took his shower, dressed, and went to the hotel lobby for breakfast. I posted to my blog, took a shower, and ate the apple and banana that Chris brought back from the hotel continental breakfast. He packed the car as I searched the room for items inadvertently left behind. He checked out and we were on our way. We stopped once to walk and he stopped for a burger and fries. We finished the book on CD and started the last of the four he borrowed from the library. We were only on the 2nd disc when we rolled into Huntsville. I fixed my usual breakfast for lunch. And then I got busy. I started by cleaning my bathroom, then Chris' bathroom, then the bathroom downstairs. I shoved the pile of empty boxes under the pingpong table. I brought up the packages that the rental management people brought in from the front porch. Chris got the mail. I swept the water out of the garage, and used the lawnmower in the backyard, inside the fence, and on both sides of the driveway. I trimmed the trumpet vine away from the mailbox so that the house number could be seen. I placed a small table on the front porch with a small quilt over it so the quilters will have no trouble spotting my house tomorrow. I cleared the diningroom table (not an easy task). I cleared clutter in the kitchen as well. And in the den. I swept the diningroom and den. I put a clean tablecloth on the table. I brought in the green table from the patio and covered it with a plastic tablecloth. I swept the porch. I packed the juicers back in their boxes, which went back on the shelves. Chris heated hamburgers for supper. I ate mine with some Amish cheese. Later we watched 2 episodes of Bones, when I was too tired to continue cleaning. But it is worth it. Even if no one shows up, I get a cleaner house out of the deal.
* This adorable pic came from Facebook, posted by Michele's roommate. (sniff) And I wasn't there. Happy Birthday, Michele! *

A Day for driving

We took our time getting up, and taking a shower, getting dressed and eating. We chatted with his parents and packed our stuff. Chris loaded the car. We said goodbye to his parents and we headed out, between 11 and noon. We finished one book on CD and started another while driving. We stopped to walk several times. We arrived in Bristol about 5 or a little after. Our first stop was the Amish Store. I bought two cheeses. Then we drove to the same Chinese restaurant as last week. They were very busy filling take-out orders. When our food was ready, we took it to the car, and drove across the street to fuel up. Then we went to the hotel. Chris checked in and I had a few bites of the cheese while waiting. We were given a third floor room this time. We each carried an armload up the elevator. Then Chris let me eat while he went back for the rest. We watched several old episodes of Bones on TV. But what we really wanted to do was read e-mail, so we shut off the TV. I stayed up late trying to clear it all. We went to bed without blogging. I woke in the middle of the night, worried about getting the house ready for the Monday quilting ladies. But I must have gone back to sleep at some point because I remember having a dream about it: They showed up Sunday night and the house wasn't ready. But we discovered a very large room under the basement that I had never noticed before and it was large enough and clean enough for everyone to gather and sew. As I remember, lighting was still a problem.
* This is a picture taken at the Paducah show *

A day for eating

Again, when I woke up, it was 10 and my parents were already at the breakfast table. Mom was drinking Ensure and taking her pills. I kept an eye on the TV to see a man from CraigsList get his hair cut on the Kelly and Michael show. I took over feeding Mom. I put some coconut oil in the Ensure and gave her a packet of the liposomal Vitamin C. She ate yogurt too. When she said she was full (I about fell over from shock), I got dressed and made my own breakfast. Dad was worried about Mom's credit card that needed activating. I handled that and got them to issue him one too. She had to give them verbal permission to do it, and she did. Then Dad asked me to put some green bean stew through the food processor. That went well and Mom ate some. I asked her what else she wanted and she asked for chicken. So we cut up one piece and it 'processed' well. I ate the second piece. When I fed her some of the first piece, she asked for salt. Dad brought out another jar, this one with peas, potatoes and chunks of beef. Into the processor it went. It made another fine mess. Mom ate some of that too, and said she was full. When the excess food was put away, I rinsed the processor and suggested to Dad that we move the bread machine up to the attic to make more space for the processor. So he took it up the rickety ladder into the attic. After that there were a few more things to do, like packing and taking Mom out for fresh air. She was uncommonly lucid. I tried to post to my blog, but the laptop was not cooperating. I helped Dad put gauze on his knee and wrap it with an Ace bandage. It must have been about 5 when we said 'Good bye' and drove away. We went to Chris' parents house. They were at a retirement party. I was so tired that I laid down on the couch while Chris fixed himself supper and read e-mail. Then he rubbed my feet for awhile. When I had some energy, he got a few things out of the fridge for me to eat. His parents arrived after 8. The four of us sat around the table discussing events of the week, and other assorted topics. Cecily went to bed, and Al followed soon after. Chris and I stayed up to look at e-mail. I had almost 300 unread e-mails and deleted about 100 of them. Chris went to bed but I stayed up to answer e-mail and make three postings to my blog.
* yet another pic from Paducah. I think I am caught up on my blog now, but might have left stuff out on account of posting so long after the facts. *