Looking for trumpets

My teeth were still a little sore when I woke up this morning. It was my phone that woke me, but I did not realize it until later. It was the dentist's office wanting to confirm the appt they gave me yesterday. I told them to cancel it. Then I got dressed, read e-mail, exercised, tapped, and made breakfast. I broke up the nuts with a marble rolling pin so I could chew them more easily. I made another batch of kombucha. I spent most of the day reading e-mail and doing internet searches: lots of dental stuff, new techniques, electrical charges on teeth, etc. I found the 'special Vitamin C" that the dentist buys direct from the scientist who invented it. It's a $1 per packet on Amazon. It's called Lyposo-spheric Vitamin C and is supposed to be as good or better than IV vitamin C. I hate to think what she charged me. I also spent quite some time trying to locate the instructions for my sunday school project this week. It involved making trumpets from posterboard. But I can't find it anywhere on the net. I cleared the dishwasher and restacked it. I also finished the binding on the baby quilt. I ripped out the parts where the piping got caught the wrong way in the quilting. I took it downstairs to resew those segments. Chris came home. I cleaned up my sewing room a bit, then got out my box of crayons to pick out the brown ones. I colored a square of paper and folded it into a cube. A bunch of these are destined to be the walls of Jericho. I just need trumpets to knock them down. Where are my trumpets? I made a large salad for supper. I considered juicing it, but managed to chew it on one side. I am worried that something is wrong since it still hurts. Chris and I went down to watch "The four musketeers" and an episode of Eureka. He went to bed and I am wondering what pic I can post. Maybe one from Monday.

Drill and fill with a laser

I did not sleep well last night, anticipating a drill and fill. Chris woke me up just before he left for work. I glanced through my e-mail, exercised and took a shower. When dressed, I packed the baby quilt (with binding in progress) and left for the dentist's office. I thought it took me 20 minutes yesterday, but I was a few minutes late leaving 20 minutes before the appt time. I was ushered into a small, dimly lit room by the acupuncturist Michael Neeley. I removed my shoes and socks, and laid down on a table. He put a heat lamp on my feet to keep them warm. First he held certain points on my feet, legs and arms to relax me. Then he wiped a number of spots with alcohol. He pulled out one needle in a plastic tube. He touched it to my skin and it stuck. It did not hurt. So I gave him permission to do all the others. He left me lying there for about 20 minutes, I think. The needles were to help with relaxation and detoxification. It was a process that the dentist insisted on. Sadly and inexplicably, I could not relax. After it was over, I stopped by the restroom. Then I sat in the waiting room and started on the binding. Soon the hygienist called me to the 'room'. A big room was divided into sections with cabinets. Several sections had dental chairs in them. Maybe they all did. I sat in the chair and the assistant put a pad on a chain around my neck. She told the process that they would use. She left out the part about injecting anesthetic and I reminded her. She asked me not to swallow during the process if possible. Huh? I asked about a dental dam and she said they didn't use one. The dentist checked each of my fillings with some instrument to record the electrical charge. This is how she decided which side of my mouth to work on. One side had a cracked filling so she did that one. Both sides were very high. The dentist injected me at intervals, waiting for the numbing to occur in stages. Finally they put a nose cone on me with 100% oxygen so I wouldn't respirate mercury. She told me to relax, that whatever I might have been through before did not apply because she wasn't like any other dentist and she knew her job so I should just trust her. Well, the experience wasn't so different. She used lasers, but there were other tools, too, which whirred, and grinded, and screeched and were generally as scary as any past experience. It was shorter, though. The dentist left to tend to another patient. I could hear her in another section. The assistant sat me up and patted my shoulder. She told me they were done and she left. I sat there for awhile until the grogginess passed. When she didn't come back, I got tired of waiting. So I folded the blankets they put over me, gathered my things and went to the checkout counter. I wanted to write a check and leave, but the receptionist had to check with the dentist. I wrote the check and then she checked again and said it would be $90 more since one of the fillings was deeper than they thought. I was not happy. She made me another appointment even though I said I didn't know if I could make it and would rather call later. Before I left, she gave me a bag with papers, a packet with a charcoal tablet, and some Vit C packets. I drove home. I was going to eat breakfast, but did not feel like chewing and was afraid I would bite my cheek and not know it. So I checked e-mail. And then picked up sticks and raked leaves for an hour. Finally, breakfast. I did all my chewing on the right side. I took the charcoal tablet and discovered an unmarked packed of white granules. I called the office and there was no answer. Someone called back to say it was salt for the salt rinse and I should start rinsing tomorrow. There was a paper of instructions for extraction care, but I hadn't read it since I did not have an extraction. I did a lot of tapping on how I did not like this place and didn't want to go back even though they hadn't done the right side of my mouth. I did a google search of mercury-free dentists and found one that does second opinions for free. I sent them an e-mail asking what protocol they follow for removing amalgams, since I am fairly sure it calls for a dental dam. Anyway, I listened to an audio and worked on the quilt binding. Chris came home and fixed himself supper. I still did not feel like chewing so I skipped. I did take my supplements however. At 7:30 I went to church for choir practice. I told Micah that the baby quilt would soon be ready. Practice went well, and afterwards the director gave me trombone music for Easter. I came home to find Chris on his computer. Soon he was ready to watch TV. We watched two episodes of Eureka before going to bed.

Seeing a Holistic Dentist

It was a regular morning up to a point. I read e-mail, exercised, watched 4 tapping videos, showered and dressed. I did not eat breakfast just in case they had to do some fasting bloodwork. I checked the location on Googlemaps one last time. Then I got into my car and drove to the dentist. I had never been there before and it was in a place I had never gone past before. But I found it with no trouble. I was 15 minutes early. I sat in the waiting room for awhile. The receptionist took my paperwork. I sat some more, and then she put me in an exam chair. She took bitewing x-rays. More waiting. Then she took me to another room for a panoramic film. Back to the chair and more waiting. And waiting. When I realized it was 1pm and all they had done was take x-rays, I was not happy. I left to get a book from the car. Maybe that shook them up 'cause the dentist suddenly appeared. I explained that I was a little agitated, and she seemed to think I was rushing her. Anyway, she took her time explaining how thorough she was and that maybe this wasn't a good fit for me. I had had to fill out a health form and she went over it, pointing out things that could be symptoms of mercury toxicity. She showed me the x-rays on the monitor and explained that they wanted to replace all the mercury fillings and one ceramic one that had too much metal in it. She also wanted to fix cavitations at the sites where my wisdom teeth were extracted. Her assistant came in with a sheet of prices for all the procedures. To say it wasn't cheap was an understatement of Biblical proportions. I told her I just wanted the mercury out of my mouth. The cavitations at $1000 each could wait. (Maybe permanently) So she scheduled me for tomorrow to do one side of my mouth. She won't know which side until then because she is going to test each filling for an electrical charge and fix the highest side. Normally she would have made me wait a week, taking large doses of vitamin C and some other stuff to detox first, but when I showed her my list of supplements, she decided I was ready now. And they had a cancellation for tomorrow morning. I wrote a check for the visit and headed home. (They have a 3% charge for using a credit or debit card). I had fixed breakfast before I left so all I had to do was add the coconut milk and stir. I read e-mail and bought a Kindle book. I downloaded a PC app to play it. Then I went looking for one for the tablet. I could have saved myself the trouble 'cause there was one already on it. I practiced my trombone. Twice. I did not know if I would be able to play tomorrow. I machine-sewed a binding on the front of the baby quilt and started handsewing the other side. I may bring it to the dentist office for the long waittimes tomorrow. Chris came home and we ate supper. He put gas in my car. I put together a Swansons order since they were giving a $15 credit on a $75 order. Then we watched several episodes of Eureka. Since I have to be back at the dentist's office by 8:15, I'd better get to bed.

One baby quilt, coming right up.

As I was having my usual morning, I came across a kindle book that I wanted to read, and wondered if the Galaxy table would do that. I tried to look it up but got confusing information. Then I got a phone call from Mirna. She was offering to let me use her longarm tomorrow. That wouldn't work for me since I have a dentist appointment. So she offered this afternoon. She told me how to get to her house, and then I looked it up on Google maps. I finished breakfast, and the tapping videos and folded laundry. I went down to get the quilt top and backing, but I could not find the backing. So I picked the next best thing. While I was ironing it, I found the first backing, but thought the second one was better. When the backing was flat, I looked for some batting. But none of the small pieces were large enough. So I grabbed the roll from Korea. I headed to her house a little early. I wanted to have time to get lost, which was prophetic. I turned too soon off of 431 and came to a T, which was not what I was expecting. I turned left, and drove until I started to get worried. When I came to another T, there was no street sign to identify it. My intuition told me to turn right, so I did. Soon I saw a landmark she mentioned. Then I saw the bridge, which was a sign of going too far, literally a bridge too far. I turned around and drove slowly so as not to miss the turn. This time I found it, and her house. I was right on time. She showed me her longarm, helped me get the quilt pinned on, and thread loaded. Then we realized we had a miscommunication. She thought I wanted to freemotion, and I wanted to use the computer. Well, her computer was nothing like a Statler so I had no idea how to use it. She did the design on her computer, loaded it to a chip and plugged the ship into her longarm. I chose a regular stipple. It went well, and we chatted as the machine did most of the work. In spite of her best efforts, the design was a little longer than the quilt, so she had to adjust the last row on the computer. When it was done, I wrote her a check, then we chatted about some common problems we had. Finally she had to go to work, so we both drove away. I came home a different way. Chris was home and having supper. I made a salad and checked my e-mail. I also portioned out 8 days of supplements. Then we watched an old version of the Three Musketeers, and one episode of Eureka. Chris went to bed, and I stayed up to post, listening to the wind howl.

Panda (you can see that, right?)

I woke up leisurely this morning and wandered out to the kitchen where I was surprised to learn that it was 8:45. I jumped in the shower, then got dressed. I woke Chris who agreed to meet me in church and drove to sunday school. I laid out the stamps, markers, special scissors, paper and stamp pads. I sat in the sanctuary as the opening commenced. Then the Oranges followed me to the craft room. They enjoyed making Get Well cards. Some took theirs home for a relative, and some left their card for someone on the church list. I cleaned up the stamps and the room. I got a bulletin and sat in our usual place. I waited for Chris, but he never showed up. The kids choir sang today, so the adult choir did not. During the passing of the peace, I apologized to the lady behind me for not shaking her hand, then headed to the ladies room to blow my nose. I don't want to pass more than the peace. After the service, I worked on next week's project which involves paper-folding little boxes. When the crowd had cleared out, I went to the supply room to see if they had any posterboard for next week. Tamara was there and said she'd get some this week. When I got home, Chris was sitting at his laptop. He said he overslept. His lunch was cooling on the counter. I made and ate breakfast. I read e-mail and posted to my blog. We went to the grocery store for food, then stopped by Rite Aid for vapor rub. It was a nice day so I raked leaves for an hour outside, barefoot. I picked some greens and made a large salad. After supper I followed four tapping videos and then we watched episodes of Eureka until it was time for bed.

Do not feed the Facebook

I don't remember when I got up. It must have been a usual morning or I would remember, right? Maybe not. I read e-mail, and had breakfast. I folded the rest of the panda. I did not realize yesterday that there was more than the head. I did my daily tapping. Chris went to the store for a pork roast and lots of garlic. I helped to peel the garlic. He put it in the oven to cook. I went downstairs to find some fabrics to audition for the centers of the orange blocks. I found a burgundy, a yellow and a greenish brown. I placed them in the centers of three blocks and took a pic. Undecided, I chose to work on another project - a stack-n-whack. The hexagons were not all the same size, but I didn't want to trim the larger ones down because I'd lose part of the stripe. I should have just resewn them with larger seams, but did not think of that until later. Then the problem with hexagons is what to do with the uneven edge. It seems like there was too much yellow already, so I used red. But then the red seemed overpowering. So I am contemplating a border of yellow, green and maybe blue to tone down the red. My nose told me that the pork was ready. I followed my nose upstairs. Chris took the roast out of the oven and put some on a plate for me. I ate and read the latest e-mail. I also practiced my trombone, but softly because Chris was gaming with the voices. Then, I don't remember why, but I thought of people I hadn't seen in over 25 years and started looking them up on Facebook. Part of the problem was that I couldn't remember full names, and the other part was that when I did remember a name, there was more than one person by that name. So I went through friend lists for the people I did find, to find the ones whose names I couldn't quite come up with. I found a former student from my days at Dinwiddie who was named Teacher of the Year at the school she works at now. I was so proud! I wanted to send a message, but Facebook wanted $1 to put the message in her inbox. Otherwise the message would to to her 'other' file. I did not know what an 'other' file was. So I asked Facebook. Turns out there is a message file called 'other' and messages from people not on my Friend list have been going there. Who knew? But now that I know, I will check it. Why can't Facebook send all messages to my inbox, especially since I did not elect to filter out messages? And why do they need my $1 when their site is full of advertising? When I realized it was after midnight, I went to bed without posting.

Making other arrangements

I got up sometime after 8. I read- e-mail, etc, etc. I posted yesterday's pic to my Facebook page to gather opinions. I paper-folded a green panda (at least that is what the directions called it). When I was done with the computer, I went down to finish sewing the remaining brown blocks. I interrupted that process to take apart my sewing machine. I pulled out enough fuzz balls to make a scarf. I was surprised to see that the internal workings were nothing like I remembered. Am I losing my mind? After the blocks I put together three stack-n-whack hexagons like the ones I did over a week ago and apparently never posted. I laid the brown and orange blocks on the dining room table, auditioning several configurations, and photographing each one. When Chris came home, he brought in the mail and there was the packet from the dentist. After eating my really large salad, I filled out the forms and read all the info on the dangers of mercury fillings, and root canals. Actually I skimmed the root canal and cavitation stuff because the pics were so unappealing. I also made a list of my supplements in case they want to know that too. Michele Skyped us and the three of us had a nice chat. Her roommate is coming back. And she has hot water again. I put the dirty supper dishes in the dishwasher. I meditated the living room until Chris was ready to watch TV. We saw a couple episodes of Eureka before Chris went to bed. I quickly played a hymn on my trombone to build up my lip for Easter. And now I too shall head to bed.

Mostly done

I had my usual morning including exercise, e-mail, tapping, audios, and breakfast. I paper-folded a little green critter. I took a shower, picked up sticks in the yard. I raked leaves, too, but the wind started up so not much point after that. I dug up two garlic plants. I sliced and ate most of them. I finished sewing and trimming the orange colored blocks, and laid them out with the brown ones. It was not quite the effect I was hoping for. I swept up the new dead bugs in basement. I washed and dried a comfort quilt for donation at the guild meeting tonight. I emptied the dishwasher. I nailed a board back in place on the deck. Finally I vacuumed and dusted (with the vacuum). Chris came home as I was putting the sweeper away. We ate leftovers and I cut strips for the remaining brown blocks. At 6:45 it was time to leave for the guild meeting, but it was raining and I decided the donation quilt could wait. Chris roasted two fists of garlic for us. They were yummy. Then we watched several episodes of Eureka before going to bed.

Don't even say the F-word around me

*
I woke up early but slept late. The congestion continued. Still, I did all the usual things: like exercise, e-mail, breakfast, and tapping. It was cold outside so I did not go out. I paper-folded a peacock, which you may get to see later in the week. I e-mailed the choir director that I would not be there tonight. Someone posted a question to my timeline. So I took the time to prepare the proper answer, draw it on the whiteboard and photograph it. But when I was ready to post it, I discovered that some one else had answered the question. Facebook must have sent the question to other people in our group. That would not have bothered me as long as Facebook had also informed me when the question was answered. But no, it did not, so my time was wasted. I checked my Facebook settings to see if that was the problem. Nope. I spent quite a while after that looking for an "I hate Facebook" facebook page. What I found was a lot of articles from disgruntled and former Facebook users. Apparently I am not alone. And this is just the latest thing. But what really bothers me is that one of the quilting groups only communicates through Facebook so I am forced to use it. Also, nothing to do with Facebook, but my touchpad stopped working. I could not revive it and without cursor control, could not check e-mail or anything else. I tried CNTL-ALT-DELETE, but it did not allow me to shut down any programs, nor would it allow me to turn off or restart my computer. I tried the power button, too. but still no success. Once again, I had to pull the battery out to shut it off. Then when I started it up, it came up in SAFE mode with command prompts. But it would not perform any commands. Had to pull the battery again. This time I did not choose SAFE mode and everything was fine. When I had finished listening to the audio that was playing when the cursor froze, I left it, to go sew. I finished the third round of color, and got to the fourth. I went upstairs to find Chris had just arrived home. He made himself a burrito and we talked about fixing my desktop so I have more options when the laptop is not cooperating. After supper I resumed sewing. I was halfway through the 6th and final color when he was ready to watch TV. We watched "In Time" from Netflix. It took me most of the movie to figure out where I had seen the lead actress. In this movie she has black hair, but in Momma Mia she was a bleach blonde. The movie was suspenseful, but required more suspension of disbelief than I could muster. The concept is that a person's time left to live is a commodity and is used to buy and sell things, and can be stolen or given away, even kept in a bank to be lent out at usurious rates.
* Here is the photograph I took to answer her question. Maybe someone else can use it. *

Not feeling so hot

I woke up before Chris' alarm went off, but did not feel like getting up. It was a long night of struggling to breathe. When I did get up, it was just after 7:30. I boiled a large mug of hot tea. I read some e-mail, loaded a meditation session on my mp3 headphone, and drank the tea. I bundled up good and got under the covers to sweat it out. It didn't work and I'm usually hot in bed, but not today. After an hour I gave up. I read e-mail, exercised (but not too hard) and had breakfast. The mailman rang the doorbell. There were packages in the mail and I guess they wouldn't fit in the box. Supplements and chia seed. I folded the laundry. Then I went outside to listen to some tapping audios. I was surprised to find a car had pulled into the driveway without my hearing it. Must have been one of those hybrids. The owners of this house got out. We had a nice chat about the flowers. She wants to dig up the daffodils and take them. They are the one flower I'd rather she didn't take. But, it is her house, so I told her I'd help her dig them up. She said they didn't have time and would return another day. They asked if we liked living in their house. I said yes except for the water in the basement. Then they drove away soundlessly. Sneaky battery-powered car. I went back to my videos. I came in when finished. I got out the juicer and ran a bag of cranberries through it. They kept jumping out when I put them in: almost like they knew what was going to happen to them. At Chris' suggestion I added a peach. That made one full glass of juice. I drank it. Quite tart, but doable. Then I cleaned up the juicer and ate all the pulp. I worked om the next color set of squares. I cut strips of all the fabrics. Before I was done, I heard Chris come home. I went up to greet him. We ate supper. I had a large salad as usual. Then I went down to finish cutting and lay all the pieces in ordered piles by the sewing machine. I started sewing with the centers for 6 half blocks and 2 quarter blocks. When Chris was ready. he came down to watch TV. We watched the remaining episodes of Poirot. Then he got ready for bed. I made another large mug of hot tea and drank it while writing to this post. I do not feel so good. Choir practice tomorrow may be only a dream.
* Here is another quilt from sewing Saturday *

No quilting in public

I got up feeling no worse than yesterday, which was pretty good except for the throat. I read e-mail, exercised only a little, and put HyPx in my ears. After breakfast, it was more e-mail. Usually I would have gone quilting, but did not want to 'share' my microbes. Or virii. Or whatever they are. They are mine, do you hear, all mine! Bwahahahaha!

Ahem. Moving right along: I boiled all my toothbrushes, and searched Youtube for tapping videos for colds. I even sat outside for awhile in the fresh air. Around 2 we went to Publix for groceries. On the way back we stopped at the church where quilting is held. I made a brief appearance to explain my not appearing, and talked to Mirna about tomorrow. She can't do tomorrow anyway so I guess its all good. Chris put the grass-fed pork roast in the oven for supper, along with two fists of garlic. Those microbes will learn better than to mess with us. I went downstairs to work on the quilt that I started Saturday. Here is what I have so far, but wait until the other colorway blocks join these. The roast and garlic were outstanding! So good. The garlic cloves were so soft that they melted in my mouth. And mixed with roast juice, it was heaven! After supper I finished reading a Star Trek book written by William Shatner. Of course the story did not end, so I will have to obtain the next book in the series. Then we went down to watch several episodes of Eureka. Chris prepared for work tomorrow and I posted to my blog, as well as drank a glass of water and planned to do the HyPx thing again.

Sick Sunday

I woke up before 7 this morning because my throat was scratchy. Chris has been sick but so far I had avoided it. I did some mental tapping, put hydrogen peroxide in my ears, drank water and brushed my teeth. I went back to bed. I decided to be selfish and not share this with the people at church. There was no Sunday School today anyway. Thank goodness. I fell asleep and got up after 10. I fixed breakfast and read e-mail. Chris and I were on our laptops pretty much all day. I did a 16 x 16 Sudoku puzzle listening to an audio. I took my laptop outside for the tapping videos. I googled my way through thousands of silhouette images of birds, farmers, shovels, bees, flowers and butterflies looking for the right image for my fruit quilt. I stumbled upon what looks like stack-n-whack paper-pieced butterflies. I tried to find the seam lines and draw the block, but the lines were very subtle. Just before supper I practiced my trombone. Chris made chili for supper. Later we watched many episodes of Eureka. I lost count. But when he turned it off, it was 11:30. Gotta go to bed.
* This is a pic from the sewing Saturday, not mine, but I love the batiks *

I got up a little after 7 to skim e-mail and eat breakfast. I took a shower, dressed and packed the fabric stacks from last night along with basic sewing supplies, and lunch. I drove over to UAH. Lisa showed us how to make her quilt. I used the numbers on her handout to cut strips. It is a version of log cabin/courthouse steps. But it goes slowly. Cutting all the strips takes time, and I had to redesign the quilt to fit the amount of fabric I had. Some of the pieces were smaller than I realized so I didn't have enough. I decided to make all of the dark squares first. We broke for lunch. Some ordered out but I had seaweed and oranges. We worked all afternoon. Some ladies worked on other things, but a few of us doggedly pursued this strip quilt. Lisa's choice of colors glowed. Anyway, by 4:30 everyone had left but Deb and I so we packed up and set the room to rights. Then I went home. Chris was talking to the voices. I read e-mail, ate supper, did some tapping videos, played a meditation CD on my laptop, then watched two episodes of CSI. I tried to finish the origami project from yesterday but got lost near the end. The symbols don't make sense. I tried to google it, but didn't have the right search terms.

It all starts with the fabric

The day was underway by 7:30. E-mail, exercise, breakfast, tapping videos, etc, they were all there. It was a nice, sunny day. The solar flower was doing its little dance. I went out barefoot to turn over piles of leaves with the pitchfork. I did some raking, too. The sky clouded and the wind sprang up. I went in. Lunch consisted of beef tongue and kimchi. I refilled the little jar from the BIG jar of kimchi in the back of the refrigerator. I started folding the origami project and got distracted somehow. I worked a few more Sudoku puzzles listening to audios. I ordered supplements from Swansons. I practiced my trombone. I charged my phone. Chris came home early. We went for a short walk. It got cold and we felt raindrops, so we turned around. I picked greens for a salad and added greens in the fridge. I went downstairs to choose fabrics for the quilt class tomorrow. Lisa is practicing for the real thing, so I wanted to take her class and give her feedback. I put together two sets of batiks: one in warm colors and one in cool colors. I also swept up the dead bugs in front of the basement window. I don't know why the bugs collect there. When Chris was ready, we snuggled under blankets in front of the TV to watch his latest selection from the library: Season 1 of Eureka. We watched the pilot and the next episode. He went to bed, and I finished the origami object. But it isn't really finished because the instructions continue tomorrow.

Valentine's Day

My day started at 7:30 with all the usual trappings: e-mail, exercise, breakfast, audios, etc. The bright spot was a lovely valentine card Chris left sitting on my laptop where I would be sure to see it. Valentine's Day snuck up on me so I didn't have a card for him. Around lunch time I went outside in the beautiful sunlight. It felt so good. I went barefoot, picked up sticks, swept the patio, and spread out the plastic tarp to dry in the carport. When I came in, I set my laptop on the table and it made a loud buzzing. I thought maybe something got caught in the fan, but there was nothing. I tried to shut the laptop down so it wouldn't hurt itself, but it wouldn't let me end the programs that were running, and it took forever to do it. When it finally did, it then decided to install updates before shutting down. But it never did, just sat there, making that awful noise. I tried pressing the power switch, but that didn't work. So I ejected the battery. Ah, the blessed silence. I left it in time-out for awhile. Then I noticed a bulge in the back panel, so I took the panel off. There was nothing I could see that looked like a fan, so I put it back on, and this time it snapped flat into place. I called my parents and talked to my dad for awhile, before getting to talk to my mom. I asked her how to cook beef tongue. She said to cook it and peel it. So I asked if I should boil it and she said yes, for 10 minutes. After I hung up, I tried to start my computer and look up how to cook beef tongue, but it took awhile to boot and then started doing something with updates. So I threw the tongue in a glass pan with water and set it to boil. When I was finally able to surf the net, I found out that one should soak it in cold water and scrub it with a brush before cooking it for 2 hours or more. Oh well. I changed the water and let it cook on. I decanted the kombucha into glass jars. Then I started the process of transferring 20 pounds of cacao nibs into jars, plastic containers and anything else I could find that would fit into the cupboard. I also made up 8 days worth of supplements, setting aside nearly empty bottles to remind me to reorder. About 4:45 I changed into a little something to welcome Chris home. When he came in and saw what I was wearing, he told me that he wasn't feeling well, he had a sore throat, and possibly a light fever. Not exactly what I was hoping to hear. Why let a little thing like a virus get in the way? When the tongue was fully cooked, I peeled it and ate part of it, putting the rest in a container for another day. I practiced my trombone to get in shape for Easter. I finally solved the Sudoku puzzle that has had me stumped for several days now and did another one, although at the very end something went wrong. Then Chris and I watched "To Catch a Thief" with Cary Grant. Al called us on Skype to chat for a moment. I wrote my blog post and included this picture of the latest two origami items. Blogger now is defaulting to a new HTML which doesn't allow the text to fill in next to the picture. See yesterdays post. So I had to copy the HTML from earlier in the week. It took a couple of tried to get it right. After that we pretty much puttered around and went to bed.

Ash Wednesday

Why I was awake before 8, I don't know. But some disturbing thought occurred to me and I jumped out of bed. I think I checked the basement next for water, but it was dry. I saw the 4 hexagons sitting on the table and was inspired to cut the next row of triangles. Then I went back to my usual morning routine. Because of the tapping summit I have been spending more time at my laptop than usual. Still, I was able to get a few things done while they played with the volume turned up. I measured and counted all the pieces to the quilt I will be teaching in June. I wrote up a fabric requirement list for the lady who is running the retreat. I made a dentist appointment for a few weeks from now. Its awfully expensive, but I am hoping to cut the cost down by refusing the blood test and x-rays. I found the box of cacao nibs I ordered on the front porch. Twenty pounds worth. Guess I won't need more anytime soon. I know I did a few more things, but I can't remember them now. Chris came home a little early. He fixed himself a burrito and I made a large salad. I headed for the education meeting at church. It was small. Then Chris met me in the sanctuary for the Ash Wednesday service. After the service he went home and I stayed for choir practice. It was short. When I got home, Chris was sitting at his laptop not feeling well. So we did not watch TV and he went to bed early. I went looking for the official name of a quilt that I saw and was surprised how hard it was to find. I googled words I thought might be in the title. I saw hundreds of quilt pictures. In fact, I felt the the experimental rat in a cage, pressing the 'more images' bar over and over. I did finally find it, but kept looking at 'more images'. There seemed to be no end to it so I forced myself to stop and blog.
* This is a picture from Monday. Mirna was asked to quilt this top created by a man from his wife's clothing. Because much of it is polyester, she had to tie it instead. *

Guild meeting

I awoke to a dry and sunny day. Usually it is raining or drying out from a recent rain. I sat down to e-mail, then exercised and had breakfast. I was practicing the choir piece when Bob called. From what he said it seems he is downplaying the flooding problem when he talks to the landlords. How does he expect them to authorize the money to fix it? I listened to the two audios from the summit and 4 tapping videos from Youtube. A lot of deep stuff came up from my childhood. This is a good thing. I folded two baskets of laundry and put mine away. I caught up on the origami calendar. After lunch I went down to sew. I put away all the stacks of yellow fabric that were waiting for me to choose from. I finally picked a stripe fabric to start a stack-n-whack baby quilt in case the pregnant lady in the choir needs one. I made 4 blocks. I surprised then how dark the basement was. I wasn't wearing my watch so it could be later than I realized, but no, it was raining. Again. I read the latest e-mail and collected the show-and-tell pieces for the guild meeting. I fixed myself a large salad. Chris came home while I was listening to an interview with Bernie Siegal. I stopped the audio to get ready for the meeting. Michele Skyped Chris but I did not have time to get the scoop. Then I headed out, in the rain. I got there on time, even before the president arrived. A few of us chatted for a bit until everyone was there and the meeting started. It seemed to go quickly. I showed the black stack-n-whack, the bold stack-n-cut-n-restack, the comfort quilt, and the green and brown baby quilt. After the meeting I wrote a check for the dues, and stayed to talk to Lisa. Then we turned off the lights and left the building. Some of the quilters were huddled under their umbrellas in the parking lot. I did not stop to join them. I went home, not even stopping at the Asian store for sprouts or kimbap. Chris was on his laptop. After a while, he went down to cue up the Poirot DVD and I joined him later.
* This is Deb's paper-pieced quilt top *

Quilt and a haircut - two bits

I was up before 8, so I thought I had plenty of time to get ready. I exercised, read e-mail, ate breakfast and listened to one of the tapping summit audios. By then it was 9:30, so I scrambled to dress, and pack a project and a lunch. I also packed the barber kit. It was almost 10:30 when I arrived at the church for quilting. The lot was full but so few people were in the quilting room. I set up for sewing and pulled out the green and brown baby quilt to audition borders. None of the choices I brought were spot on. Roberta showed me the fabric closet and helped me look through it for browns. We came back with an armload. The basketweave was the perfect choice. When all the auditioning was done, I had 4 borders and a binding. I cut three brown fabrics into strips, and sewed them together, using one as piping. I sewed them to the quilt. Then came the green border. The other ladies teased me that anyone who visits the closet must take fabric with them. Dangerous words. Temptation struck but I resisted. For today. Before Jodi left, I brought in the barber case. She said something about cutting my hair last week and I took her up on it. I sat in a chair and she cut it quite carefully, dismissing my thanks with protestations to wait until I saw the finished product. Well, without a hand mirror, I was unable to see the back at all. Still, it felt much better and I was sure she had done well. The other ladies complimented her. After she left, I finished the quilt top and made arrangements with Mirna to quilt it next week. I packed up and headed home. I ate my leftover chili from last night, and listened to the second tapping audio. Then I tapped through 4 more Brad Yates videos. Chris came home for supper. He found a box of supplements on the front porch. After supper and some Sudoku puzzles, we watched several episodes of Poirot. Then it was bedtime.
* This is a quilt that Roberta is making for the church nursery. *

What is it?

I got up at 8 when the alarm rang. I posted to my blog as quickly as I could, then ate breakfast and took a shower. I dressed and headed for church with my rubber stamps, scrapbook scissors, and rotary cutter. When I arrived at church, I went to the craft room for colored papers, stamp pads, and markers. Tamara had given me some sheets of cardstock. I cut three of them in half. After sitting through the 15 minute opening, I went to the craft room to await the imminent arrival of the kids. Four girls arrived. I instructed them to make get-well cards of any type. And they did. They stamped, and wrote, and cut and decorated. They seemed to have a ball. Those who knew someone who was sick took their cards home. The others left them for me to mail to people on the church list. When they left, I stayed to clean up, then joined the choir for practice. I got a bulletin and waited in the pew for Chris. He arrived earlier than usual, but then left mysteriously. At the beginning of the service, 4 children were given certificates for their first communion. After the service, I finished a few things in the craft room and headed home. It was raining. Chris was there and had already gone to the store. He had beans and sausage in the crockpot. I put the liver in a pie plate with spices and baked it. I checked the basement for water. I read e-mail for awhile, and then ate some of the liver. Later Chris brought me a bowl of the chili. I finished a few more Sudoku puzzles between tapping videos. Michele contacted us via Skype. Her phone had been cut off and there were problems with her apartment. Chris did his best to sort it out, but this is the lunar new year celebration and everything was closed for business. Then we went downstairs to watch North by Northwest with Cary Grant, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. We checked the basement one last time then went to bed.
* This is one of the more interesting things in the origami calendar. *

I have never met a one-way street that I liked

We got up about 8, I think. I read my e-mail and then grabbed a bag of egg cartons and headed to the car. I had looked up the location on google maps. It should have been easy - drive N down Whitesburg until it becomes one way going S. Turn right. The church parking would be on the next block. Well, it was, BUT the entrance was marked EXIT ONLY. So I figured I'd drive around the block and come on on the side. Only the next side street was 'one way' in the wrong direction and I didn't discover it until AFTER I had turned on it. I backed up pretty fast. Ok, so perhaps the NEXT side street? Well, it turned out to be pretty far away. It's like all of a sudden I was out of the city and into a neighborhood. Finally I turned around and came back, finding an entrance into the small parking lot. That is where the Dixon Family Meat people were passing out the orders of meat they had gotten earlier in the week. I mentioned how much trouble I had because of all the one-way streets. Another lady there said she hated it too and encouraged me to write to the mayor. I handed them a check and the egg cartons and they handed me a bag of frozen meat: one tongue, one liver, a chuck roast and a pork roast. I put them in my cooler and came home. The meat went into the freezer. Then Chris and I loaded all of the card board (that had gotten wet when the garage flooded) into my car along with boxes of beer bottles and assorted jars. We took it all to the recycling center. The recycle truck will not pick up glass or corrugated cardboard. Then, at last, I had breakfast. There were two tapping audios from the summit and I listened to them, as well as 4 tapping Youtube videos by Brad Yates. I finished a 16 x 16 Sudoku puzzle. Then I went down to sew. I made three more green and brown blocks and sewed the 6 into a set. I auditioned borders to that because I don't feel like making 6 more of those blocks. Then I came upstairs where Chris was gaming with the voices. I ate some goat cheese and an avocado. Then I sat in the lounger to read a book. It was relaxing. When Chris' game was finished, I Skyped Michele, who is now back in Korea. After we chatted and she asked for a Nutella care package, we hung up and Chris and I went to bed. I forgot to post to my blog.
* Here is a pic from one of the sewing Mondays. It is not mine. *

A Tiny Picture Frame

I woke up in the middle of the night with a muscle cramp. I got up to tap on it. Or for it. When the pain subsided, I went back to bed. So I let myself sleep in this morning. At least I thought I had, but it was not quite 8:30 when I got up. I heard it rain last night, so I checked the basement, and it was dry. I read e-mail, listened to two tapping audios from last night, exercised, ate breakfast, and tapped through 4 videos on Youtube. I cleared the dirty dishes from the sink into the dishwasher. It was a cool and overcast day, so I did not go out. I decided to work on the kitchen drawer. I assembled all the tools and some nails. I plugged in a small lamp so I could see under the counter. I removed the pots from the cupboard. I took off the false front. Then I grabbed the drawer that Bob brought over, and fit it into the hole. It was too narrow! How could this be? He measured before he selected the drawer. Well, I can make do. But when I tried to get the front off of the drawer, it would not come off. It has been stapled quite firmly and prying it off damages the soft wood it is made from. So I called Bob and he said another drawer might come his way soon. Nevertheless, I cut two boards to the length of the depth of the cabinet so I will have something to attach the side rollers to. I was almost finished cleaning it all up when Chris came home. He was in an amorous mood. I thought he was going to play battletech, but he decided not to go. Instead he helped me put the chifferobe in the sewing area up on bricks to protect it from any further damage. Then he did something on his laptop. I ate supper and read more e-mail. I wrote two checks: one will go in the mail, the other is for the grass-fed beef people tomorrow when I pick up the meat. Then we watched the last episode of Poirot on that set of DVDs. I sat at my laptop to write my blog. When I realized that I had not taken any pics today, I quickly folded the origami project for today and yesterday so I could photograph them.

More flowers

Along with the usual e-mail and exercise, I listened to two audios from the tapping summit last night. I took a break to put out the recyclables by the road and photograph the daffodils. Bob called to say that he and the geologist were meeting at my house at 9. The geologist arrived first. I heard him drive up because he hit the recycle tub. I went out to set it to rights and then greeted him. He surveyed the area and the part of the basement that floods. Bob arrived. He told Bob his conclusions. There were three. 1. Dig a long trench on the northern side of the house all the way to the culvert at the back of the property. 2. Dig down to the floor of the basement by the corner where it leaks. Repair any cracks. 3. Put in flexible pipe going from the drain in front of the carport to the pipe from the culvert. Bob smiled and nodded as the geologist spoke. After the man left, Bob told me he didn't think that the landlord would approve the money to do any of it. He plans to talk it over with his wife tonight. Ah well.
I fixed and ate my breakfast. It was after 10. I finished the audios, and read more e-mail. Andrea called to chat and to ask me to finish one of her quilt projects. I am not one to say no to quilting. After we hung up, there was more e-mail, tapping, and Sudoku. I laid down in the basement for some meditation. Chris came home. He brought a wedding invitation from one of his coworkers. He fixed a burrito for supper and I made a large salad. I made up an order for the Dixon grass-fed beef people and e-mailed it. Sometime later we went down to watch two episodes of Poirot. I wish a had a copy of one of the original tales. It would be interesting to compare the TV version to the book.

Flowers

I read e-mail and found time to rebound in between. After breakfast I watched 4 tapping videos and one long audio. I put the next door neighbors mis-delivered mail in his box. There was a strong smell of paint thinner in our front yard. Very odd. I finished folding the laundry and put most of it away. I cleaned the master bath as well as I could considering we are all out of toilet bowl cleaner. How did I not notice that before? I had planned to decant the current batch of kombucha and make another one, but this one wasn't quite ready. Sadly I have finished drinking the last batch. Because it was such a nice day, I put on shorts and a tank top and went outside with a Sudoku puzzle. When I finished the puzzle, I swept the patio with a broom at length to get up all the tree droppings. I also pulled out dried up iris leaves from the flower bed. The scent of blooming daffodils was strong. I opened the greenhouse to take advantage of the fresh air and warm temperature. I folded the newest origami object which is supposed to be a water lily. I swept and mopped the kitchen floor and in the den. Of course Chris came home a bit earlier than usual. He fixed himself supper. He sent me an article about a new prime number being found, the largest so far. I parceled out 8 days worth of supplements and put together an order for those which were getting low. I took a shower and headed for choir practice. Cindy and Shannon were taking down the blankets from the sanctuary. I helped put some into a bag. Then practice began. We sang through 3 pieces, then practiced two of them up front. I talked to Shannon after the singing and then went home. Chris was at his laptop, but was soon finished so that we could watch TV. We saw 2 episodes of Poirot. And then it was bedtime.

I (heart) You

At 8:30 I was up and heading for the den. I jumped on the rebounder before checking e-mail. I alternated two more sets with e-mail before having breakfast about 10. I deleted most of the audios that came in today, only keeping one. I worked several Sudoku puzzles while it ran. I watched 4 tapping audios and looked for more. Youtube can be addicting. I took a moment to trim the hair on top of my head. It was such a nice day that after lunch I went out to rake leaves. There aren't very many, but it is something to do. Yesterday there were hundreds of black birds in our backyard, pecking around for seeds or worms. when I opened the door carefully, they all flew away. Well, today they were in the trees, all squawking excitedly, like the audience before a political debate. I could see that they left their 'marks' all over the deck. After raking leaves, I dug up pieces of brick in the little enclosure out back beside the garden. It's like a big planter box where the owner threw in leftover stuff and then covered it with dirt. When I had had enough of that, I came in, checked more e-mail, folded the latest origami object, and finished another Sudoku puzzle. Yahoo has made some changes, but it did not go as planned because other things got screwed up. Maybe they'll change it back to Yahoo Classic. It is much better than the new version. When Chris came home, we talked about a decision he had to make at work, and a French GMO study that I forwarded to him. He baked brownies for a party at work tomorrow. It is for a lady who has just come back from maternity leave. I would have made a quilt, but as I have discovered, that is not the sort of thing to start the day before. The tapping audios that I was expecting from last night finally came to my inbox. I listened to one of them, and then we watched the latest Netflix arrival - Morning Glory with Harrison Ford and Rachael McAdams.

Lots of talking

I got up just after Chris left. It was later than usual. It was very cold outside, but not raining. I exercised and read e-mail. I ate breakfast and packed a lunch. I threw some projects in a box and carried my machine out to the car. It was probably quarter after 10 when I arrived at the church. The parking lot suggested that our room was full of quilters, but it was not. I picked a good space by the wall and set up my machine. Laurie came over to talk to me and we had a long chat. Then I got out my black colorful quilt and pinned the backing onto the front for a binding. I sewed the corners down by hand. The ladies put out soup and cake for lunch. I ate my seaweed and an orange. I helped Mirna to place her blocks on the design wall. When I machine-sewed most of my binding down, the bobbin ran out and I had to wind a new one. But the machine did not sew after that and Mirna helped me correct the problem. I finished the binding. An older lady and her daughter came by. The daughter had just retired and the mother will turn 92 next week. Her favorite activity is to play sudoku on her smart phone. She said she also plays Scrabble, but I suspect she meant Words With Friends. I wonder if my mother could do that. I showed off my green and brown blocks in progress. Everyone thought they were cute and that I should continue. So I shall, even though I think the colors are unbalanced. About 4 I packed up and went home. I was thinking of some things I needed to do around the house. But I sat at my laptop to check e-mail and forgot all about those things. I tried to watch a tapping video, but the download speed download speed was really slow, so I rebooted. I fixed myself a large salad, which was not on the list of things. Chris came home and we got into a discussion about the charge for the hotel near Paducah. I called the place and no one answered. We talked for some time. Later we watched one episode of Poirot. Chris went to bed after helping me get my laptop back online. Here I sit, posting and thinking of going to bed.

68 blankets for Linus project

I forgot to mention that I trimmed my hair yesterday. Also, I made more cloud dough last night after I posted to my blog. There was one other thing, but I don't remember what it was. I went to bed, and got up some time after the alarm went off at 8. I took a shower and ate breakfast. I asked Chris to tweeze the gray out of my eyebrows. I took the cloud dough to church. When I saw the blankets hanging over the sanctuary, I had to take pictures. During the opening session of Sunday School, we learned about Haiti. It will be our focus for this block on Gentleness and Kindness. One man told us that his father was shot in Haiti for speaking out. The father survived, and the story made quite an impression on the kids. My group was smaller today, only three kids: 2 three-year-olds and 1 five-year-old. The first activity was to color a picture. The 5 yo did a fantastic job. But the 3's just scribbled. So I gave them trays with cloud dough and some cookie cutters, etc. Jack loved it, dove right in. But Alec did not. So when class was over, I put some in containers for Jack and Emily, but not for Alec. But his mother said she'd like to try it, so I added another container and left it for the closing session. I cleaned up the crayons and markers, then it was time to practice with the choir. Chris joined me for church. The blankets for the Linus project were dedicated. After church, Chris went to the grocery store. I cleaned up the 'crumbs' in the craft room and set up for next week. Then I stopped by the dollar store for more clay (which the older ones might be able to mold). I arrived home just before Chris. We put away the groceries, and he went outside for me to cut his hair. Then we had lunch. I read e-mail all afternoon and did some price checking. I raked leaves for almost an hour, then picked some greens and made a large salad. I alternated Sudoku with tapping videos because they were taking so long to load. After three of them, I call Dad, and even talked to Mom. For her, it was a bad day for swallowing, but a good day for talking. Then I went back to tapping. Chris played with the voices all evening. Michele was not one of them. I finished a few more Sudoku puzzles, posted to my blog, and now am ready for bed.

Sudoku out the wazu

Chris got up first. When he told me it was snowing I decided to get up too. But then it stopped. Later it rained.
I read e-mail, and had breakfast. I tapped along with 4 audios on Youtube, and performed several internet searches. It seems like I am always looking for something: either a better price, information, or just photos (usually of quilts). I had a large salad for lunch, trying to use up all the remaining salad stuff, but it was too much. Chris did laundry. I worked all the remaining no-number Sudoku puzzles. I used the calculator on my laptop to do the math. Before Chris started gaming with the voices, I juiced vegetables to make popsicles. I had forgotten about the bag of sprouts. They had to go through the blender first. Then I didn't have room for all the celery and leafy stuff. I made 16 popsicles. I asked Chris to cook some organic ground beef with the spicy sauce from the restaurant last night. He made a beef stew and forgot the sauce. But that was ok. It would have been too diluted. I put some on my serving of stew. I cleaned the kitchen and unloaded the dishwasher after cleaning up the juicer parts. I listened to Chris playing with the voices while looking at baby quilt images. I am not too thrilled with how the latest one is turning out. Maybe I'll start another. Really the problem is that my sewing room is all torn apart from the flooding. It is so hard to get around, and not very inspiring.

India Palace

I slept in after Chris left for work. I got up to tap, but the download time was so slow that I checked e-mail in between videos to allow them to load. I got in some exercise before breakfast. It was cold outside, but I braved the chill to retrieve the solar dancing flower that the wind blew down. I set it by the kitchen window to catch some rays. After I finished most of the e-mail, I headed to Target. I picked up some flour for making more cloud dough and some organic vegetables for juicing. There was oil left at the church from a previous project so I went there next. But the oil was gone. I talked to Tamara and she made copies of a coloring page for the kids to do before they play with dough. On the way home I stopped at CVS for some oil, but they didn't have what I wanted. I put the veggies in the fridge, then ate lunch and googled how to bake cloud dough. But the only dough I found like it was unleavened dough. So much for the idea of having the kids make and bake little cakes like in Bible times. I went outside to rake leaves. I found debris in the front yard. Not for the first time, I wondered why people throw trash out of their cars into our yard. I watered the greenhouse garden. I came in and finished folding the laundry. I have been working on it all week, but kept getting interrupted. I put it away. Then I sat with my stack of Sudoku puzzles that have no numbers filled in. The puzzle just groups the digits by two's, three's four's and sometimes five's and says how much they add up to. Chris came home then. He suggested going to an Indian restaurant that one of his co-workers raved about. We looked it up on the internet and decided to go. We were worried that it would be very busy on a Friday night. But it wasn't. It was empty. Except for the small staff. There were sari's hung on the walls. I ordered shrimp curry and Chris got lamb. The waiter asked what level of spiciness I wanted it. He said 3 was very mild and 6 was very hot. Well, I wanted something in the middle. Mathematically that would be 4.5. So I rounded up. Sigh. Chris got the 4. He ate through his meal in no time. I had to pick through mine, add lots of rice and drink ice water. Red is my color and it was all over my face. I could not finish it. Chris asked for the check and put his credit card in the black folder. When they brought the receipt back, the card was gone. He searched and they searched and it was found on the floor by the cashier. When we left, there was no one there but the staff. Very odd considering the food was very good. When we got home, we checked our e-mail one more time, and then went down to watch Come September with Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida. Chris fished a few pinecone splinters out of my thumb and then he went to bed.