New sewing project

Chris got up at 5 to work out for two hours. When he got back, he was in the mood. I do not know if he got to work on time.
I got up at 9:15. I drank a quart of lime water. I deleted the first round of e-mail and saw a message from my brother on Skype. We chatted by video and I shared my screen with him so we could fix the Windows 10 sound problem. It involved uninstalling a realtek file and a Nahimic file, then installing new ones. We had to move our conversation to my tablet because of the numerous reboots and lack of sound. Part of why it took so long was that the files were zipped and my new laptop came with a trial version of Winzip that has expired. We looked into Pkunzip but were unable to get a good copy. Nevertheless, we persevered and the problem seems to be solved. Time will tell as changing conditions challenge the new setup.
Chris came home for lunch just as Kurt was wrapping up showing me the new improvements to his house. I listened to a tapping audio from the 2017 tapping summit. I made and ate breakfast as it played. I also did two Sudoku puzzles, pausing to tap along.
Then I called Myra to talk about what we should have as a sewing project tomorrow. She didn't think it mattered. I decided the small pincushion was the easiest thing to make. I cut a five inch circle of fabric and made a running stitch all the way around. I stuffed it with leftover batting and cinched it shut. I put hot glue in the bottom of a bottle cap and pressed the puff ball into it. I held it there long enough to cool, then got a piece of lace to wrap around it. I hot-glued that, too. Then I stuck pins in the top. Myra called to tell me about the town hall tonight. I remembered that Chris had mentioned it last night, but I had forgotten. It wasn't on the Facebook page. I placed the pincushion against several fabrics and chose the green one. I photographed it and downloaded the pics to my laptop, where I cropped them. I wrote a blog post for the community page about the project and posted the best pic with it. I also sent it as an e-mail to those not on Facebook.
With that off my mind, I turned my attention to quilting. I practiced quilting a star inside one block without thread. I practiced it three times. I still did not feel good about it. I put on the homemade extension table and tried again. I wondered if it would help to secure the non-stick mat to the wood. The tape was not sticking. I tried a stapler, but the wood was too hard. I looked for thumbtacks but did not find any.
I took a break to put away all the Christmas stuff on the guest bed. Then I looked up quilting designs on Leah Day's site. Hundreds of them. I was looking for something continuous and large that I could easily and fluently stitch. One looked promising.
Then I put on my socks and shoes. Myra called to say she would pick me up for the town hall. I put on my coat and headed out. Dynee was just coming out and offered me a ride, but I had to decline. I crossed the street and Myra swung by. I got in and she drove us to the FFTC. She ducked into the commissary for a few things while I followed Dynee upstairs. I sat with Kim and we chatted until Myra came. The leader looked around and wondered why so few had shown up. Someone told him that there had been no notice of the meeting. The officer talked about the upcoming exercises and the influx of people for them. Then the head of CYP talked about the school closing and the other school options. Myra borrowed my pen to take notes. When it was over, I asked about the next round-up and found it was on Friday.
I waited for Myra and she gave Chris and I a ride home. I made a salad and Chris made himself a burrito. As I listened to an audio from the Age summit, I checked e-mail and looked at Gwenda's Facebook page. Her kids look so grownup. Then Chris sat with me and we watched an episode of Merlin. I wrote up my day in words. I posted to my blog, ready to go to bed.
* This project doesn't involve much sewing *

Quilting practice

I slept fairly well last night, not waking cold (or hot). But I still woke up early and could not go back to sleep. Chris did not get up at 5 to work out. I heard him go to work. I got up a little later to start my day. I discovered that he had put beans in the crockpot to cool. I drank half the usual water. I listened to an NLP audio while exercising and drybrushing and rebounding. Then I put on some meditation music for my coffee morning. It was very relaxing. Myra came by two hours later, just to say hi. I showed her my sandwiched top. Then I started the cleaning routine. First the bathrooms, and then the kitchen. I listened to more NLP audios. I emptied the dishwasher. I cut up a whole ginger root and put it in the teapot. (Since the roots always go moldy before I finish them, I decided to use a whole root to make a concentrated tea which I could then put in an ice cube tray for later.) I folded laundry and put mine away.
Chris came home for lunch. He brought me a box from Swansons. I opened it and forgot what I did with it.
I discovered that the bottom of my handbag was full of epsom salt. I guess the container from Thursday hadn't been empty after all. I could not put it back in the big container because it was dirty. So I sat and picked the dirt out of it. Most of it went into next week's little tub, but the dirty stuff got swept up and put in water for the plants.
Then I took my quilt to the back. I practiced moving the fabric faster under the needle so the stitches wouldn't be so small. But that gave me skipped stitches. I got the idea to clean my machine. I took it apart and ran q-tips into all the crevices, pulling out hunks of lint. I listened to an audio on the dangers of aspartame. When it was over, I finished cleaning my machine and brought the laptop back to the living room to plug in.
I had a bite of kimchi and later noticed feeling jittery. I made and ate breakfast to stop the jitters. I read some e-mail and watched some short quilting videos. I came across a sewing project that uses a #10 can. I went through my recyclables and collated them, forgetting I was looking for a #10 can. I pulled out a number of plastic caps suitable for another sewing project. I came back to my laptop and the project page reminded me that I was looking for large cans. The biggest can we had was a coffee can and it wasn't big enough.
I ate a carrot while clearing more e-mail. Chris came home from work about 6:30. He put a can of tomatoes into the bean soup. I read e-mail for awhile, then had a bowl of the soup. It was very good. As I ate, I listened to audios from the Age without Borders Summit. When I was ready to watch TV, I queued up Merlin. Chris wasn't quite ready so I went into my sewing room to try quilting now that the lint was cleaned out. It worked great. I quilted spirals with no problem. I changed the needle and left it unthreaded for later practice on the actual quilt. Then I came back to my laptop to jot a few notes before watching TV. Chris hooked up my laptop to the TV and we watched two episodes of Merlin. Then he went to bed so he could get up early and work out. I stayed up to answer my brother's e-mail and to post to my blog.
* Father Mark is showing Chris the video of Chris leading singing in church. (taken at the party) *

A little bit of progress

I kept getting cold during the night. I got up to get a sheet of my own which Chris could not pull off. I told myself I would clear off the guest bed tomorrow so I could sleep in there if necessary.
I woke up in the dark and could not go back to sleep. Chris slept ok, so I am not sure why he stayed in bed late. I got up after nine and got some water. I put oil in my hair. I made hummus using the Magic Bullet. It did not work as well as I had imagined. Too much in the recipe. I took a shower and got dressed. I followed Chris out the door to the car. But Dynee stuck her head out and offered me a ride. So I went with her and her husband. He dropped us off at the chapel and parked the car. I sat with Kathy and her family, but they disappeared after communion to go to Sunday School. By then all the singing was done. The sermon was about Moses telling Pharaoh to let the people go; to which the answer was no. Moses then asked and still the answer was no. The chaplain said that God's command to Moses was more diplomatic than Moses made it sound at first. I wondered where he got that idea. After the service, I was talking to Suzanne when Chris arrived to pick me up. We talked about how the party yesterday went bad when the strobe lights came on and someone brought bottles of alcohol. I had missed that last part. Anyway, Chris and I walked to the commissary to get the car. And since we were already there, we walked inside to get our groceries. Later we walked out with bags of food which we put in the back seat. I drove us home and parked the car. We carried the food in together and put it away. I ate some cashews with ghee. Chris hardboiled eggs for the week. I ate the last of the seed crackers with the hummus that did not fit in the jar. I whipped up a new batch of seed crackers. While they were baking, I made a batch of chocolates. I pulled the piece of fabric Myra had traded me from the laundry. It and two other pieces had rolled up and become intertwined; which meant they dried very wrinkly. I ironed it as best I could. It took longer than I thought. Then I cut off a piece a little bigger than my quilt top. I laid it on the living room floor, pinning it to the rug when possible. I patted a piece of batting in place. Then I carefully placed the top over it. It was too big, so I sliced off half an inch from each border. Then I pinned the three layers together and unpinned the backing from the rug. I cut off the extra batting. I took a break to check e-mail and listen to some audios. I made a salad out of veggies that were getting soft. I put the carrot top in water, hoping it would sprout. I auditioned colors of thread for the quilt and decided on a cone of green. I made a little sandwich with the batting and some leftover fabric. I tried free-motion quilting it, but there were too many skipped stitches. I searched through my needle collection and found some marked specially for quilting. I put one in and tried again. This time it worked fine. But I did not like how dense the stitches were, nor how crooked the lines were. I went back to my laptop. I read e-mail and looked up some verses from Exodus. I ate a piece of the chocolate. A good batch. I stared at the quilt, not knowing how to quilt it. I tapped and I tapped: for not liking the quilt, for not knowing how to quilt it, for being disappointed with the whole project... I got the idea of quilting a big star in each block, but I doubted my ability to do it smoothly. Maybe some practice with an unthreaded needle? Chris and I watched three episodes of Merlin, finishing season 3. We dressed the bed with the sheets Chris washed today. Then he went to bed. I stayed up to put words to my day's experience.

The party

We stayed in bed late, sleeping or not. After I got up, I drank a bottle of mineral water and checked my e-mail, responding to some, deleting others. I had trouble playing video links so I rebooted my computer. I read that Google was de-listing alternative medicine sites. I came across a petition to the whitehouse because of Google de-listing all the web content of a particular site. I wanted to check it out. I found one video that was a rant against Google. I listened to it as I did my exercises. It was very inflammatory and Chris wanted it shut off. We had a discussion about Google's practices. I found an article describing Google's ways of diverting traffic to or from web content and how destructive it could be to companies caught in the middle.

I made and ate breakfast even though it was lunchtime. I read e-mail. I auditioned more fabrics, hoping for a new border. But still, only one made a good binding and it did not go with any of the backings. I searched through my batting stash and found a suitable piece.
I put away all the fabrics not suitable for the quilt. Chris put a white load in the washing machine. I folded up the embroidered bag and tied a ribbon around it. I put it in a striped plastic bag. I got the pot of lip balm from the back bathroom. I washed and dried 8 little pots. I carefully filled them with balm and put the lids on. Then I put them in a plastic ziplock bag. Then I put on my coat and shoes. Chris was ready so we headed down the street.

We arrived at Mandi's house. There were purple streamers down the front walk, and purple balloons above the door. Someone opened the door and we walked inside, removing our shoes. I did not see her. But there was a group of Philipina women sitting together on the couch. I figured they must be new families or ladies I hadn't met yet because the Philipinas hang out together. I handed out lip balms to those who I hadn't met, which turned out to be all of them. I only had one left. Then I found out that they were not from the base, as they had Korean husbands.
Mary was there. She and I talked for quite some time, first by the door then by the cupcake table. The purple decorations were lavish and the spread was impressive. There were two tables full of food and more was brought out. Mandi was wearing her apron and working as well as supervising. The house filled up with adults and children, some of whom were quite active. Father Mark showed me a picture of Chris leading the singing at the Catholic service last Sunday. Then he showed it to Chris. Later, Father Mark gave a short prayer and then plates were handed out so we could all eat. There were plenty of vegetable dishes without noodles or rice so I got a plateful. I ate with Mary who was sitting on the floor. By then Myra and Scott had come. Anna was there, too, as was Suzanne. So I got to talk to people I knew. Then one of the Philipina ladies asked me if I had any more lipbalm. I asked how many did not get one and she said three. So I went home, and got out the big pot. I washed up six little pots and filled them from the big one. I put on a warmer coat and walked back. The ladies were so happy with the balm that one of them wanted to buy more. I told her I could not sell it, but that she could make her own. She gave me her e-mail address so I could send her the recipe.

After a while, people started leaving. I was thinking of leaving, too, because the kids movie on the TV had given way to music videos with a flashing ball. Some of the images were disturbing. But then Dynee came and I didn't want to walk out on her. She met Mary and told us about the Korean wedding she had just attended. The guy in charge of the music line-up announced kareoke. So I waited for that, but no one did it. Dynee and Mary and I talked about the music we knew. So then I asked the man for an ABBA song, but he did not know what ABBA was. We explained that it was a band that played “Dancing Queen”. I thought he was going to look it up, but I guess he didn't. The Philipina ladies asked for something called Gimme Gimme. While he was looking on his phone for that, I leaned out the back door. Chris was sitting there with several other guys around a fire pit. I signaled him to leave, then came back inside. Soon he came in. We bade the host and hostess goodbye. I handed the last lip balm to an older lady who seemed to be with the Philipina women. They all thanked me again for the lip balms. I put on my coat and we walked home.

I swallowed some magnesium and melatonin. Then we watched two episodes of Merlin. I started writing my blog. I remembered the picture Father Mark had shown me and went looking for in on the chapel web page. It turned out to be a video from the live feed on Sunday morning. So I used the snip tool to capture Chris in action. Chris went to bed and I finished up my post so I could join him.

Still obessesing

I woke up early, but stayed in bed, hoping to go back to sleep. And I did. I heard Chris leave for work. I finally got out of bed at 8:45. I drank water and checked e-mail. I ate some seed crackers. I got dressed and fixed my hair.
I sat in front of my tablet and was adjusting the angle when it registered a skype call. It was my tapping buddy. It was my turn to be the client. We did some tapping and some matrix reimprinting. It lasted about an hour and a half. Chris came home for lunch just as we were saying goodbye. I called Myra to see if she had any ideas for the backing of my quilt. She did, so I packed up my quilt top and binding fabric and black market fabric. I went over to her place. I gave her the black fabric and she cut off two yards for me, keeping the rest. Then she went through her stash looking for something wide enough. She had some sheets, but they were all the wrong color. She had one piece of green that was just barely wide enough and printed to the edge. But it hadn't been washed. She traded it to me for the 10 yards of black fabric. I went home about 3. I called Chris to tell him Mandi invited us to her party tomorrow. He said he could go with me, so I texted her back. Then I sat down to type up all the wine and age sayings I had collected. I narrowed it down to four. I decided to stitch the sayings on the bag I bought for Mandi, starting at the first stripe and just continuing around the bag. That way I would not have to center it. I used the settings on the embroidery machine so I would not have to hoop it. I chose a thread that I hoped was wine-colored and not brown. I stitched and got a big thread nest. I stopped to re-thread the needle. Later in the stitching, the magnet closures got caught on the machine. So the line “Aged to Perfection” came out not so perfect. I pinned pieces of batting over the magnets so they would not come in contact with my electronic machine again. I measured the phrase, then stitched again, this time centering it on the second white stripe. It worked very well. But I spent hours taking out the first imperfect stitching. I took a break to eat the rest of the beef. Sadly I was in too much of a hurry to get back to ripping that I did not properly clean my hands and I got spots on the bag. I washed my hands and continued to rip. When all the stitches were out, I took some tape and dabbed up all the loosed thread bits. Then I went out to find another saying for the other side. I decided one saying per side was enough. I got sidetracked auditioning more fabrics for possible bindings. I really wanted to use the piece Myra gave me but it did not go with the only fabric that made a good binding. I decided that the easiest thing to do would be to slash it at an angle, slide the wide edges closer together and re-sew it. But then I remembered the bag. I chose another short saying: “Age gets better with wine.” I typed it into my machine. I calculated how long it probably would be and centered that amount. Chris came home from work. I stitched, guiding the bag fabric and keeping the handles out of the way. It worked well and I was able to clip the jump stitches easily. I rubbed at the spots with a wet wash cloth and hung the bag up to dry. I went back to obsessing over the quilt backing. It seemed that using one of the wide tan backings might not be so bad. And if I did that, I could look for colors other than green for binding. Indeed, I would have to. Then Chris was ready to watch TV. We sat together and watched two episodes of Merlin. Then he went to bed, while I took some magnesium, vitamin C, and melatonin. Then I typed up my blog and went to bed.

Missed it by that much

I went to bed with my grounding cord on. I slept well and late. Maybe it helps to be alone. When I got up it was 8:45. I filled a container with a quart of water and drank it while reading e-mail. The box of Christmas gifts finally showed up – at Faye's house. I hope it enjoyed its trip around the world.
I texted Terri about going to the sauna but she was busy.
I unpacked the bags from the Busan market, except for the minki blankets. I left them as is. I put fabric in a pile to be washed, but there wasn't much. Some was for Myra and the class so I set that aside. I had a 6 yard piece of batting squished in a bag. I laid it out on the floor and rolled it up on the tube that my previous batting was on. I washed my feet.
I decided to go to the bank to get cash for exchange. I texted Terri but she did not respond so I called Myra. But I talked to her too long and the bank closed for lunch. So I worked on the border of the quilt until Terri called. She wanted to go along and see the process for exchanging money in town. She came to my house at 1:55. I put on my coat and grabbed a container of Epsom salts. I met her outside and we walked down the hill, running into Myra. She walked to the FFTC with us. But she went downstairs while we went into the bank. I got the cash from our account. As we came out, Myra was walking up. So then the three of us walked out in town to the NH bank. Myra went into the market for fabric and needles. Terri and I took a number from the bottom of the machine. We waited for some time. Myra came back and then decided to go to Office Depot. Terri and I waited for our number and then moved up to the desk. I handed over the cash and my passport. It took quite a while for the lady to make the exchange. And when she did, it did not seem like enough. But I did not have the language to question it. I put the won in an envelop and we hurried out to find Myra at the Office Depot. I got lost trying to get there, but eventually we made it. As we walked, I bid them good bye when we got to the massage place. They went to check out the Jinhae Tower. I went inside the massage shop. No one was there. I called out several times, thinking I heard someone breathing. Then I waited, and presently the lady came in from outside. She called out and a man appeared from the back. I think he had been sleeping. I selected a foot and shoulder massage. She charged me 40,000 won, which I paid. Then the man showed me a room to change into a massage outfit. I brought my fanny pack out with me after I changed. I sat in a chair and she put a bucket of hot water at my feet. While my feet soaked, I called up some classical music on my phone. I let it play while I closed my eyes. After 15 minutes, the man came out to massage my feet. He pushed a little too hard in some places but mostly it was relaxing. When he finished, I was shown into the little room where I laid face down on the bed. He covered me with a blanket and had my arms drape down over the sides. My hands got cold hanging like that. But the back massage felt good. A heat lamp on the wall kept us both warm. He sniffled a little as he worked and I sent him some healing energy. When it was over, he left and I re-dressed. I thanked him and the lady, then traded the slippers for my shoes. I walked outside where I noticed that the temperature had dropped and the wind picked up. Brr! I was glad to have two scarves. I walked back to base and up to the house. I took some vitamin C and made a salad. Myra called and we chatted for a little bit. Then I ate my salad while trying to read e-mail on the old laptop. The browser kept crashing. So I moved to the new laptop. As I tried to work in Waterfox, I kept getting a message that a website was slowing down my brower. I closed several windows but the situation did not improve. I moved over to Edge. Yahoo worked fine until I had to refresh the page. Then I had all the same problems. I gave up and went back to sewing. I put on the last two border strips. Then I trimmed the corners with my really large square.
And that's when I realized it was too big. It measured 43.5. Although I had batting that wide, the fabric I had chosen for the backing wasn't. I looked at other fabrics, but those that were just barely wide enough were not printed to the edge. I considered piecing a strip, but did not want a seam down the middle or a bunch of seams on the back. I considered a large nine-patch. I went through my small stack of 58 inch fabrics, but none of them were a compatible color. I considered minki. I considered slashing the fabric diagonally and re-sewing it to be shorter but wider. But a diagonal seam would look odd. Finally I found a sheet. It was green which was a good color, but it wasn't the right green to go with the binding. I considered other fabrics for the binding, but none were as good.
Chris came home, so I took a break. He looked at the quilt top and the fabric and did not know what I was obsessing about. I told him I got the three blankets for Nicole but I did not know how he was going to ship them to her. He said he would leave it to me. Ha, ha, ha. Then he went to bed. I took some magnesium and melatonin. I stayed up to obsess a bit more, then sat down to write up my blog post so I could go to bed.
* This little sprouting sweet potato was hanging on the wall in the restaurant in Busan. *

In the market for blankets

I woke up at 5:50, checked the time, drank half my water and went back to bed. I did some tapping. I heard the laptop alarm sounding, very faintly, kind of like a cricket. I turned it off and saw it was 6:43, so the alarm had been ringing for 20 minutes. I called Chris, took a shower, got dressed, checked e-mail and made breakfast.
I texted Dynee to see if she was driving, and offered her a ride. She preferred to walk. So I drove myself and parked across from the commissary. The bus was waiting. I had my rolling cart and market bag and a large coconut water. I got another 100,000 won in case I found minki blankets. Then we got on the bus. As soon as everyone was on, the bus pulled out. We stopped at the front gate to pick up Chantel. Then we were on our way. So Young's older son did not come, so Myra gave her some money back. At that point we did not have enough to cover the bus fee and I felt bad for Myra. We chatted on the bus all the way there. It took over an hour. The bus drove past the market and pulled up to the curb to let us out. We got out in the rain and walked back to the market. We walked around back and then entered the building. At first we tried to stay together but we were all looking for different things. Chantel helped me talk to a lady selling blankets, some were minki. But the ones I liked belonged to someone else, I guess, because she made a phone call and said the owner was taking a taxi. We waited far longer than I wanted to, especially since it was the first place I had seen. The owner arrived and the discussion began. The opening price was 100,000 won, but she backed down to 90 if I paid cash. I asked for a volume discount. For three she was willing to go down to 80,000 each. I wondered if I would find a better price or selection at another stand, but on the other hand was satisfied with what she had and wanted to be done with the matter. I ended up paying for three but leaving them to her to put in zippered bags for later. Chantel and I circled the inside of the building and found the others in the addition. We started referring to it as the cotton corner. We did a lot of looking and hemming and hawing. I did not find anything like any of the swatches I brought. I bought some thin fusible batting because it was only 2000 won a yard. Later I bought some white pre-quilted fabric that was 1500 a yard. I also found some whale fabric for Myra.
When we were all together again, we went to lunch. There was a nearby restaurant which was small and crowded but they sat us in a line against the wall. Myra and I got kimbap since we had brought our own snacks. I took out the yellow colored radish pieces. It was very good with the kimchi. Then we went back to the market. We had a little over an hour to spend before the bus came. We walked around looking at this and that. One of us came across a box market “1000 won”. Our little group bought a lot of fabric from that pile, but still did not make a dent in it. Myra had to borrow money to pay for hers. We whittled away some more time. Some of us looked downstairs at the blankets in the basement. They were not quite as nice but were only 60,000 won. I wondered if I should have waited. Dynee found a gray and white one that was cotton that she just loved for 55,000. So Young went to meet her mother and decided not to come back with us. Then Chantel and I went to pick up the blankets I bought earlier. They were big and packaged separately. There was no way I could have carried them myself, but the others helped. We sat on benches between the buildings. It was cold because technically it was outside, but the passageway made it seem like inside. I drank the last of my coconut water. We talked until it was time to meet the bus. Then we found our way out the same way we came in, which was probably the long way. We walked out to the main street and then turned right and walked several blocks until we found the bus waiting. Even though we were 10 minutes early, everyone was ready to go. The bus was very quiet on the way back. I think we were all tired. I handed lip balms to Irene and Lacey, and offered every one a ride. When the bus stopped in front of the commissary, we all got off. Myra went to the commissary, but Dynee and Lacey put my stuff in the trunk and got in my car. I dropped Lacey off first. Then I parked in Dynee's spot since there was a golf cart in mine. Don't know whose it was. She helped me carry the blankets to my house and then went to hers. I brought everything in and put the snacks back in the fridge. I ate some strawberries and an apple, along with my daily allotment of nuts. I sat down to read e-mail. I got sleepy and dozed off, waking up occasionally to change position. It was hard to get comfortable. After about 2 hours, I looked up food combining, thinking maybe fruit and nuts are not good to eat together. But the article I found said it was ok. I had some of the remaining beef, and nothing else, just in case. I went to my sewing room to finish the sashing on the squares. I had to cut one more strip and it was just EXACTLY enough. Amazing. Then again, one part was wavy and I had to take it out and resew, which allowed me to cut off a ¼ inch. Then I took the quilt top to my cutting table to audition borders. I threw in some binding, too. I was undecided and thought it might look better in the morning. I went back to my computer. I saw that Chris had left a message to call him – 2 hours ago. I texted him on skype and when he did not answer, I figured he had gone to bed. So I posted to my blog and hit the hay.

Getting ready for the trip

I woke up hearing Chris' alarm. He went back to sleep so I think I did too, eventually. But mostly I was awake, off and on. I heard him leave for work and tried to rouse myself. So at that point I wasn't wide awake, but groggy, which is unusual. I did a little tapping and got up. It was only 8:30, not as bad as I feared. I drank my quart of water while reading e-mail and listening to interviews. I took a packet of vitamin C. I texted Terri to see if she wanted to go to the sauna but she had other plans. So I called Myra and she was busy in the morning, but was available to go to the market in the afternoon. We were invited to a friend's birthday party so I looked up her Facebook page to see what she likes. There were lots of pictures of food, and she mentioned wine. I made and ate breakfast.

Chris came home early for lunch and asked me to make him a loaf of bread and get change. He packed his suitcase. I washed up and got dressed. I walked over to Myra's house to give her her wide-mouth canning jars back. We walked out to the traditional market. I bought apples, peppers, carrots and strawberries. Then we went to Daiso. I got a bag as a birthday gift. When we got back to base, Dynee passed us walking up the hill. She gave me a ride home. I put the food away and ate the rest of the previous batch of strawberries while reading e-mail. Chris came home to put away his loaf of bread, and to get the change from the food I bought. The taxi arrived and I opened the door so he could carry his luggage out. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading wine and age quotes, looking for something to embroider on the bag for the friend who likes wine.
I had some rare beef for supper. I worked several Sudoku puzzles while watching TQS. I finished the second Sudoku puzzle, then made a list of things for tomorrow morning. I finished sewing the binding on the fish practice quiltlet.
Chris called in the middle of it to say that he had arrived at the hotel in Seoul. He agreed to call me at 6:30 to wake me up for the bus trip. After the call, I finished handsewing, then took the item back to the sewing room. I sewed the 6 seams I had pinned days ago on another quilt and pressed them. It was almost 11, so I stopped at that point. I made a list of what Nicole wants for her blankets. I put all the won we have left in my wallet to buy the blankets if I find them. Part of me is hoping I don't because carrying them around will be awkward. I called up an online alarm clock with my laptop and set it for 6:25 in case Chris forgets to call. I wrote up my blog post for the day and went to bed.
* photo is from the TIQF *

Banana-oatmeal cookies

I stayed in bed late, trying to get as much sleep as possible. I kept waking up and dozing off. It was the next best thing to sleeping a full night. But I would have gotten up earlier if I had known what time it was. Because Chris did not go to work, I had no time reference. It was 10:30 when I got out of bed. Chris gave me a big hug and hoped I slept well. I got started on my Monday morning routine of exercise and meditation. I started cleaning afterward. The kitchen was a big job because of the bone broth boiling over. Then I made and ate breakfast. I checked e-mail and read that GM apples are finally hitting select markets – The Artic Golden Delicious apple. But they will not be marked as genetically modified.
I made banana oatmeal cookies, throwing in some cinnamon, almonds and chocolate powder. I carefully formed them on the cookie sheet. It was too easy. Then I remembered the egg. I picked them all up, put them back in the bowl and cracked in an egg. I ran the mixer again until it was all blended. Now it was sticky! Forming the cookies was much harder. It made 19 cookies. I put them in the oven at 350. I set the timer for 10 minutes. Then I called Myra to see how long she bakes hers. But she said she doesn't time them, she just keeps checking. Well, having put cocoa powder in them, they looked burnt even before they went in the oven. After 10 minutes, I gave them five more. Chris and I shared one, not sure if it was quite done. So I turned off the oven and left them inside. Later, I took them out and put them in a bag – except for one that I ate.
I had some rare roast beef, and then I made a salad. I worked several Sudoku puzzles while listening to audios. I checked e-mail occasionally. I tried to work on my sewing, but I wouldn't let myself because I hadn't written the Facebook post for the bus trip. I had been putting it off all day. Finally I composed it in e-mail, then transferred it to the community Facebook page. Then we watched two episodes of Merlin. I worked on my blog post, then looked up a picture for the community page. I posted it, shut down my computer and went to bed. Only then I did remember that I hadn't actually posted to my blog. So I got back up to finish the post and put it up for you to read. Now if only I could put myself to sleep as quickly as I do my laptop...
* Here is another picture from the quilt show. *

Someone like me

As usual, I woke up during night, sweating. But overall, I think I slept moderately well. I reflected that I get two kinds of hot flashes. The ones during the day feel like the room is hot when actually it is only me. But the ones at night are definitely from the inside out. Multiple sweats mere seconds apart. What does it mean?
Chris got up first. I got up about 8. He told me the crock pot had boiled over. I washed the counter around it. I drank my lemon water and some clay water. Then we went back to bed. Chris took a shower and got dressed for church. I got up to check e-mail and listen to in interview from Square One about the anti-cancer diet.
At 9:30 I took my shower and got dressed. I read e-mail until Chris came home from church to pick me up. He dropped me off at the chapel. I went to the restroom first and was late getting into the sanctuary so I missed the opening prayer. I sat in usual seat and was surprised to see Ms. Pae and Ms. Kim. We sang songs, had communion, heard readings, etc. The lesson was about Moses and burning bush. It was suggested that perhaps Moses had forgotten how to speak Egyptian during his 40 years as a shepherd. That could be why he needed his brother Aaron who was already on his way there from Egypt. (How did he get out of Egypt?)
After the service, it was almost noon. I called Chris to bring my flat shoes to the commissary. So Young paid for the bus trip for herself and 2 kids. Then I walked to the commissary. I talked to Mari who had just come out until Chris arrived with my shoes. I changed shoes and went inside talking to Danielle. Chris shopped while I talked. I also talked to Katelyn. She wanted to go on bus trip, but needed to get child care. We checked out, and went home with our food. We put the groceries away. I added onions and garlic to the bone broth which was still cooking in the crock pot. I called Myra to tell her So Young had paid. Then I made and ate a salad.
I saw Terri had texted me about going for a walk. We exchanged texts. Myra was busy. So Terri came by with her dog Lulu and the two of us walked out the front gate toward the Eco park. Lulu was surging ahead and Terri was training her to heel by stopping whenever she pulled too hard. Lulu sniffed at everything. Terri held her close when Koreans passed by because many of them are afraid of big dogs. But some wanted to pet her. She was a little shy of them. We sat along the canal and waited for Lulu to get acquainted with the smells and sights and sounds of Chinhae. Terri and I had a nice chat about tapping and healthy diets and such. Finally we arrived at the park. But the lady at the information center came out and waved her hands, indicating that dogs were not allowed in the park. Oh well. We turned around and headed back. Lulu was a little calmer. When we got to my house, we agreed to meet again sometime and go to the sauna.
I came inside to fill my watering can. I watered the petunias I bought yesterday. I went into the kitchen, looking for something to eat. I ladled out a bowl of the broth with onions and garlic. It was too hot to eat at first. After I ate that, I cut some of the beef roast. It was quite rare, just the way I like it. I read some e-mail and watched an old old sewing video (from the 1940's). Then I made and ate my breakfast. We folded the laundry together.
We watched 4 episodes of Merlin. Chris went to bed. I stayed up to scoop the bone broth into narrow jars so I could remove the fat from the top. Then I sat down to write my blog post for the day.
* A pic from the quilt show. *

Setting the blocks

The Skype call came slightly after 11. I was sitting in front of my tablet with my blue-blocking glasses on. She was walking with whatever device she was using and for me it was like being on a roller coaster ride. Then the call dropped, so I just waited for her to call back. In a few minutes we were set. I came up with a memory and she guided me through a matrix reimprinting session. With a little chat afterward, it took about 2 hours. I figured I would sleep pretty well, but I still stayed awake for a while.
I heard Chris get up in the morning and take out the food waste. I intended to sleep in, but sleep would not come and I felt wide awake so I got up. I put dishes in the dishwasher and ran it. I sat down with a quart of lemon water to read my e-mail. My browser was locked up but I could still jot notes for my blog. I used the task manager to end Skype which solved the problem. I listened to Barry Manilow songs while reading e-mail and doing Sudoku puzzles. Chris left for work. I called up an audio but it had expired already. I crafted a response to a friend from NC. I made and ate breakfast. I read more e-mail and found at least 2 to unsubscribe from.
I went into my sewing room to finish sewing up the previous cut. Then I sliced the stack again, and paired each big section with a smaller section that had few if any common fabrics. I sewed them together, pressed, and stacked them. After 5 such cuts and pairings, I had 9 blocks with a sort of star shape in each one. I trimmed them up to 11.5”. Two were too short in one direction. I had to take off a section and re-sew it shifted to the right or left as needed to get the right dimensions.
Chris came home from work with bones and meat. He put the roast in the oven. I put the bones in the crock pot, along with bones from the freezer. I harvested water from the shower filter to fill up the pot. I turned it on high and went back to my project.
I laid out the blocks on different pieces of fabric to see what would make nice sashing and borders. Chris asked what I was doing and I said finding a good setting for my blocks. I had to explain what that meant. The quilt I was emulating had black sashing. But I did not have more that that and none of my other blacks were quite right. I auditioned some dark greens and found one I did like. I auditioned some bright-on-black for borders. One was better than the rest and I decided to audition it again after sewing the sashing. I cut 1 ¼ inch strips from the dark green. I sewed all the strips together. Then I carefully stacked up the blocks which had been laid out, swapped and turned for just the right effect. I started sewing them one by one to the sashing strip. Chris came to tell me the roast was ready. I wanted to finish sewing, but then he brought me a plate of chunks of rare meat and laid them on my sewing table. It was a kind gesture but at the wrong time. He took the plate back to the kitchen.
I finished sewing each of the blocks to the strip and placed them on the ironing board. I went to the fridge for strawberries. Then I sat at my laptop and listened to two tapping meditations. By then the strawberries had digested (presumably) so I ate the meat and listened to the third tapping meditation. It was very tasty. I pressed the blocks and cut them apart. Chris was ready so we watched two episodes of Merlin. And then I was ready for bed.

A long day

I woke up several times during the night. Chris left before 6, but I don't know exactly when. I got up before 7:30. I put on a playlist of Carpenter songs while I did several Sudoku puzzles and drank water. I found my tablet and got it set up. I dressed and fixed my hair. I ate some seed crackers. I dusted the floors.
My tapping buddy called me on Skype. It was her turn to be the client so I was the leader. After the call, I made and ate breakfast. Soon Chris came home for lunch. I did not want to listen to some of the audios in my inbox in front of Chris. If they say things he doesn't agree with, it makes him angry. But he said it was a nice day and I should go out. So I called Dynee but she wasn't home. Then I called Myra. She said her husband was going running so she could go walking with me. I sewed until she called to say she was ready.
We walked out in town to the everyday market. We looked at lots of things. I bought strawberries and carrots and cucumbers and peppers. The plant place had just put out pansies so I got some of those, too. Myra stopped at the fabric place for some pre-quilted yardage.
We walked back to base. She sat at the bus stop with my bags while I went to the corner market for lettuce. Then we went on base together. We each went home to have a bite to eat. I put my veggies in the fridge. I sat down to eat a carrot and called her. I met her at the top of the hill. She was eating a pear. I finished my carrot as we walked to the FFTC. I gave her my portion of the bus fare and she paid MWR for the bus trip next week.
We walked out to the Eco park and walked around the lake several times. Then we headed back. We walked down in the canal to avoid the wind, and were a little turned around when we came back up. But we found our way back to post. We talked a little longer and then went home separately.
I wished I had opened the windows earlier when it was 60 degrees, but decided better late than never. I opened a window in each room. I sat down at my laptop to check e-mail. Chris came home from work. He was not pleased that the windows were open. I was enjoying the fresh air, but agreed to close the windows in half an hour. We talked for awhile and then I closed the windows. I made myself a salad with fresh raw garlic after reading about the health benefits of fresh garlic. I put the food waste in the container and placed it by the door. Chris exchanged light bulbs between the bedroom and the cutting room so the brighter one would be in the cutting room. We continued to read e-mail as we ate. I did some tapping on an old memory. I jotted some notes for my blog. Then we watched two episodes of Merlin. Chris went to bed. I followed him, but did not stay. I had to stay up for a skype call. I plugged in my tablet to top off the charge. I posted to my blog so I could go straight to bed after the call.
* Pinwheels along the canal. *

A new face in the market

I woke up early, laid in bed for hours, then got up when I saw the light finally peeping in the blinds. Chris had been gone the whole time. I swished, exercised and drank water. I checked e-mail, unsubscribing from at least two things. Chris came home from the gym, showered, dressed, grabbed two eggs and a banana, and headed to work.
I kept checking e-mail. After a while, Myra called to tell me about a routine, everyday conversation that got overheard, misrepresented and reported to the command. She reminded me that we have to watch out for such things. Then she had to get ready for Bible study.
I read e-mail for awhile longer, then took a shower and got dressed. I cut 13 inch squares of nine fabrics. Then I put a new blade in my 60mm rotary cutter so I could cut through all layers at once. Dynee came by with my cutting mat. But she wasn't finished with my cutter because she had ordered the wrong size.
After she left, I made one cut, then shuffled and sewed the pieces back together. Then I made another cut and started sewing again. Myra called to say she and Terri were going out for a cup of coffee if I would like to join them. So I got ready and found them outside my domicile. We walked down to the ATM on our way off base. Myra got won, but when I tried to get dollars, there were none left. At that point I discovered that I did not have my ID. So we walked back up to my place. I got my ID and another scarf for Terri. Then we walked out in town. We made it to the everyday market without finding a place to stop. We walked through the market, showing Terri our favorite places. She bought a plant outside of Daiso. We stopped just outside the fabric booth. I bought a fish noodle and she got a fried stuffed pepper. We visited the other plant place and Terri found the perfect pot. A little more wandering left us at Paris Baguette. Myra and Terri had pastries and coffee. I sat and chatted with them. We exchanged phone numbers. On our way out, we walked past the massage place and I bid them goodbye. They walked back to base while I went inside for a back and shoulder massage.
After the massage, I walked back to post, stopping at the corner market for sprouts. I liked the strawberries that Myra had gotten there, but now the containers were smaller and cost more. On the way home, I stopped at the ATM and got cash. I called Myra and she said I could come over. So I went home to get her yoga blocks and the palm frond necklace and bamboo parts that I got in Guam. I showed up at her place. I opened the bags to show her and discovered that the bamboo was starting to mold. Yuck. But she seemed happy with it and envisioned it with plants. She liked the necklace, too. We had a nice talk about the Bible study she went to. We talked until Scott came home. He gave me a cryptic message for Chris. I came home, but Chris was not here.
I listened to an Audio interview, nearly falling asleep. Chris came home and I paused it to give him the cryptic message. He laughed. I made and ate a salad. Then I finished sewing up the second cut of the fabric stack. I ironed them and placed them in the cutting room. Then Chris and I watched two episodes of Merlin before he went to bed. I downloaded a pic from Paris Baguette so I could post it to my blog. And I followed him to bed.
* The coffee cups from Paris Baguette. *

Sewing and spinning

I woke up early, hot and cold at the same time, covered in sweat. I stayed in bed trying to sleep. At times I must have because I remember telling Chris that parts of his hair were yellow and glowing. That HAD to be a dream. He left early to go to work for an international call.
When I finally got up, it was almost 9. I read e-mail while drinking a quart of lemon water. I put on some old music. I made seed crackers. While they baked, I cleaned the kitchen counters (again). I made breakfast and refilled containers. I put cans of coconut milk on the stove to warm up so the cream part would liquefy. (When I add them to my batch of fermented coconut, the cream is in one solid plug.) I had a small spoonful of raw honey that I had ordered online. When the honey part melted in my mouth, I was left with a bit of wax in my mouth. I chewed and chewed. It was like gum but would not quite stick together. I had to spit it out. I ate breakfast while reading e-mail and tapping with some of the articles.
I got dressed and packed up all my stuff and went to sewing class. I had to tiptoe through the chapel to get to the classroom because someone was in a pew. I started getting the machines and notions out. Dynee came in and she was upset. I gave her a hug and she told me her problem. Myra arrived and listened too. As others arrived, we put the issue aside. Out came the machines and cutting mats. Ladies sat down to sew. Some of them paid for the bus trip next week. Kids ran around and under the tables. I went looking for paper. The office was closed for lunch so I pulled out two sheets from a trash can in the other classroom. I went through all the notions and made a list of which ones were mine so we could replace them from the market next week. Then I worked on the binding of Chum. Chris arrived at some point and gave me the cracked oven light cover. He said he had gone to Housing but they were closed. He asked me to go there after sewing class. I tied a piece of thread around it to hold it together. But Myra picked it up later and it fell into 4 or 5 pieces. Later I put it in a small ziplock bag.
3Pm came and went. Those who were sewing packed up. Lacey had brought her spinning wheel. She spun during class, then took it all home with her. Some of us stayed behind to talk about the bus trip. It was almost 4 when we left. As Myra and I walked down the street, a car pulled up. It was Scott. He gave us a ride, dropping me off at Housing. I handed the plastic bag of glass pieces to the man behind the desk. He conferred with his coworker, then told me that they did not have that piece. And that the person who works at the warehouse was off today. I asked if I could use the oven without it and he said he didn't know. Since I just made seed crackers without it, I guessed it was not critical. I went home.
I had some chicken and the rest of the ham with kimchi. I sat down to look into Dynee's issue. I then continued with reading e-mail. Chris came home for supper. I finished a long list of EFT articles. When Chris was ready, we watched one episode of Merlin. Then he went to bed. I stayed up to blog and read a few more articles.
* This is Dynee's quilt top *

One down, one to go

I got up about 7:45, intending to put the food waste out. Chris was on his way out, and there was no food waste or food waste container. So he must have already done it. I looked in the mirror and saw my hair was a fright. I combed it over and over but it would not behave. I went into the kitchen which was a fright all on its own. I started cleaning up. I put ingredients in the bread machine. I drank a quart of water. I put on some music and made up 9 days worth of supplements. Two were low so I went to the Swanson site to order more. The current deal was 15% off everything and another 10% of Swanson brand. Well, till I ordered what I wanted and got 15% off, it wasn't enough to get free shipping. So I spent an hour or more examining other products to find something to make up the difference. Then I texted the company to let them know that the chlorella I just got was cracked open. I asked if it was still safe to consume and the clerk said they could not recommend it since the seal was broken. I did think it was weird that the seal was broken. What happened to that box in shipment?
I deleted e-mail, not bothering to find some to unsubscribe from. I was way ahead on that anyway. Chris came home for lunch early. There was no mail. But he brought me a Valentine card.
I took a shower and got dressed. I folded up the quilt for the doctor and put it in the medicine bag. I called Myra. Then I stopped by her house on my way to the bus stop. She showed me the purple quilt she was working on, and the pajama pants for her husband for Valentine's Day. She wanted a break so she decided to come with me. We walked to the bus top, but the next bus was far away. So we walked to the first bus stop on the main street. There we caught 307, thinking it went to Home Plus, but it did not. Instead, it followed the route of 317. But that worked fine, we just got off at the top of the hill instead of the bottom, and walked to the doctor's office. It was empty, but I called out. He came out and I handed him the quilt. He seemed pleased and pulled a 50,000 won note from the till, handing it to me. I thanked him and I left with Myra. We spotted sewing machines in a store window so we stopped to inquire if they sold needles as well. But she did not speak English. Then we went to Home Plus to look for Valentine Cards, but there were no cards at all. We also looked at blankets, but none as big as I was asked to find. Finally, we walked to the bus stop and caught 305 back to base. But then we turned the other way and visited the corner market. I bought vegetables and she got strawberries. Then we walked back to her place. We chatted as she finished cutting out the pattern she had started. Then she rinsed the berries and gave me one. It was delicious. She headed to the Nex to buy a chocolate bar to melt for the berries and I took my veggies home. I made a salad and used one of the tomatoes I picked from my garden weeks ago. It had finally turned ripe. As I ate, I watched a video of Dr. John Gray talking about male-female relationships and hormones. It was very interesting.
I found the remnants of the fabrics that I used in the quilt that the acupuncturist picked out. They were all together in a bag. But when I compared them with the quilt, I noticed one fabric was missing: a green one. I searched my piles of green but it wasn't there. I must have used it all up. I selected several other greens and tried them in it's place on the quilt, but none were quite right. I tried other colors as well. Then I decided that since I wanted a square quilt, I needed nine blocks, which would require nine fabrics for the stack and slash method to work. So I added the three fabrics that were almost right. One was not big enough for the squares I had in mind. I wasn't sure if I should piece it, or overlap two pieces hoping a seam would not be necessary. I looked up the technique online to be sure I knew what I was doing. I made sketches on the back of an envelop. Chris came home kind of on time. He asked me if I wanted to go to Turtle Cove for dinner, but I told him I had already eaten. So he made himself supper. I got distracted reading e-mail. Finally I posted a reminder for the sewing class on the community Facebook page. He replaced the burnt out bulb in the bedroom and the one in the oven. Then we watched two episodes of Merlin. Chris went to bed in anticipation of an early call. I stayed up to blog.
* This is from the Tokyo quilt show. *

I've heard of green-washing, but.....

Chris got up early to leave at 6 for Busan. I got up about 7:15 to start my coffee morning. At 7:30 my phone alarm rang. I could barely hear it, but it helped me find it, hiding under my warmest winter coat. I put on some meditation music. I swished while doing my exercises. I drank a quart of water. I boiled water for coffee. I cleaned out the sink. I meditated and tapped. I started cleaning the bathrooms. I got sidetracked listening to an interview. Dynee texted to see if she could come over. She brought her quilt and the fabric she wanted to use for a binding. I showed her how and gave her a sample of how to join the strips. Then she went home. I called Chris to see if he was going to make it to the post office today. But he did not answer. Then he called back, and said yes, he was already back on base. I was doing some tapping when he came home with 4 or 5 boxes – though none from Faye. I opened them and took out the contents of each one: mostly supplements. In one, the container of chlorella got damaged (not surprising considering the condition of the box) and there was dark green dust over everything inside.
After he left, I went looking through my fabric for red scraps. Few were large enough for 6 ½ “ squares, so I pulled some yardage, too. I started cutting squares. Dynee called me to come over and advise her on making binding. I showed her again how to join the strips on the bias. We talked about other things too. Then I came home when she took her dog out to pee.
I saw video footage of Dr. Maurice Hilleman talking about how he found the SV40 monkey virus in Merck's polio vaccine when he got hired there. He had trouble making a vaccine without the virus because all the monkeys came in infected because of the groups they were held in. So he called someone from the zoo who told him to get African greens. He said he didn't know he was importing AIDS virus at the same time. Well, that lead me to watch other videos which claim that HIV doesn't cause AIDS, malnutrition and drugs do, particularly AZT (which was originally a cancer drug but deemed too dangerous to use). I was watching a video called “10 scientific reasons why HIV can not cause AIDS” when Chris came home. I paused the video so we could talk, then resumed it when he went to change out of his suit. I finished my video, then called Myra. After the call, Chris brushed his teeth and then we watched an episode of Merlin. Sadly, it was a 'to be continued' episode. Chris found it funny because such episodes are my pet peeves. He went to bed and I stayed up to blog.
* chlorella everywhere *

Moses = Senmut = Thutmose II?

I got up just after 8 to drink lemon water and check e-mail. Chris put the sheets in the laundry, then took his shower, got cash from me for the offering and went to church.
I listened to an interview with Cal Newport. He talked about how being able to work without distraction is a competitive advantage. Some companies have gone to no e-mail to reduce distractions. Communication is overdone. Schedule time for each task. At night, go through the list of 5 (I missed them) then you can assure your brain that it's ok to shut off for the night. Train your brain not to go looking for input at the first sign of boredom.
At 9:35 I took my shower and got dressed. I read e-mail for a bit then called him. He was on his way so I met him at the curb. He picked up up there and dropped me off at church. I sat in my usual place. The sermon was from the second half of the second chapter of Exodus: Moses leaving Egypt. After church, I called Chris to come get me. I walked as I waited, almost reaching the corner. We went home and I changed clothes. I ate several pieces of banana-oatmeal cookie. Then we went to the commissary for groceries. They were all out of distilled water and the roasted sunflower seeds I wanted. But Kim found a can of seeds for me. I bought it without looking at the label. When we got home, I emptied the grocery bags. I read the label, and the seeds were coated in spices, sugar and natural flavor. So I washed them before I ate them. I made and ate my breakfast while Chris hardboiled eggs for the week.
I looked up information on Moses. What I read did not jive with what the chaplain said. Some sources say he was rescued by Hatshepsut and was then known at Senmut. She rescued him because her father did not have a male heir.
Chris came home from work while I was eating cashews with grass-fed butter. He put the clean sheets on the bed. He put chicken in the oven. We sat and talked for some time. I searched through my sewing room for my Wonder Clips but did not find them. I pulled some blue fabrics out to cut 6 1/2 inch squares for Evelyn's project. Then we had chicken for dinner. I made and ate a salad. We read e-mail, then watched two episodes of Merlin. I finished reading about the progression of leadership in ancient Egypt. Chris went to bed. I posted to my blog and joined him.
* pic from the quilt show *

Dueling Pianos

I got up at 8:45. I swished while reading e-mail. Chris suddenly went to work. I was unable to ask him why. Then I drank a quart of water. I took a packet of vitamin C. I continued to read e-mail, looking for ones to unsubscribe from. Then I listened to interviews as I vacuumed the rug and mopped the floors. Chris came home to eat lunch and then went to the gym. I decided to clean the refrigerator. I called Myra to ask how to get the shelves out, but she said she cleans them in place because the door won't open wide enough. That was my problem too. I managed to get them out, one at a time. I washed the shelves and bins in the sink, but could not get them back in. I had to pull the fridge forward to be able to open the door. Chris called to say he would meet me at the concert in the gym. So I put on my heaviest coat and walked down there. CabinFever was just wrapping up. I talked to a few people as I walked down the aisle of chairs. Then I sat down front. This was not a good idea because it was right in front of the left speaker. The CO announced the Dueling Pianos. It was two men who played keyboard and piano, joking as they went. They had a stack of requests, and more came in during the show. There was a lot of audience participation. They played old songs and new songs and kid songs. They invited the kids to come up front and do the Hokey Pokey. But when it was done, some of the kids wouldn't leave. And their parents did not come get them, even though some of them were playing with the lights and wires and sitting on the stage. It was very distracting to me. The two men had it worked out that they would play a song and stop to hear the audience continue singing, but so often I did not know the words or was not loud enough to be heard. Then they called for one of the dads to come up. But no one would. So I tapped Chris and he went up. They dressed him up like Elton John and had him pretend to play keyboard and sing Benny and the Jets and then Crocodile Rock. He was great! Getting a pic of him was hard because the kids were in the way. Everyone gave him a big hand of applause. And the music continued. I was impressed that the men kept up a lively show in the face of such a small audience. But they did well. Afterward, Chris and I spoke to them, telling them so and thanking them for coming to Chinhae. Chris had them autograph a picture and posed with them for one for MWR. Then we walked home. Since the men had played “Its all about that bass”, Chris called up the Star Wars parody on Youtube and we watched that. Then I cleaned the shelves in the fridge door. I ate the remaining dates from an old package I found. I made and ate a salad while watching a PBS documentary called “Alzheimers: Every Minute Counts”. It spoke about the plight of caregivers and the financial cost. After reading a few more e-mails, I called up Netflix and started watching a video about puppies. Then Chris got ready to watch Merlin. He plugged my laptop into the TV and started the next episode. We watched two of them. He went back to his laptop and I typed up the events of the day. I downloaded and cropped the pics I took at the concert. Only one had any potential for my blog, so here it is.
* Doesn't Chris look smashing in the sequined outfit? *

Finishing up the fishies

I woke up when Chris came home from his 2 hour workout. Apparently he was looking for another workout. Then he took a shower and got dressed for work. He took breakfast and coffee with him. It was after 8 so I just stayed up. I drank a quart of water and read e-mail. I watched a video on fighting cancer with anti-angiogenic foods. I finished the quilt binding on Spawn while watching the rest of the quilting video from yesterday.
Chris came home for lunch and there was no mail. I put on my quilting gloves and worked on Chum. Dynee came over to ask a question about the border for her quilt. I looked up printable Sudoku grids online. I found a nice one, but it was black and I could not find a way to change it to another color. So I searched for green ones. The results were not what I was looking for. But I did a search on orange and found one. I replicated it to make a set of 4, then printed it out. I copied in the digits from one in the book that I messed up. I spent some time getting it all figured out. I checked e-mail again. I watched a Netflix video called “Minimalism”. It was sort of a documentary of two men who wrote a book on living with minimal stuff.
Then I went back to free-motion quilting Chum. I changed threads, then changed machines. I changed threads again, and tried embroidery thread. But it still shredded. But by that time, I was finished. I was also confused because I have done free-motion quilting before and did not have the skipped stitches and shredded thread.
I cut two strips of black for the binding. I sewed them on, but did not have enough so I had to cut another one and pieced it in. I handstitched part of it to the back, until the length of thread ran out. I thought I ought to save the job for sewing class because it is handwork but was not sure I could resist finishing it.
But I did resist it, at least for the rest of the day. I warmed some water in the teapot, then poured it on a towel laid on my cutting mat to condition it. I read e-mail and watched the short videos that came with them. Chris came home around 8. He told me what was discussed at the school meeting two nights ago. I made and ate a salad. I started reading a quilting magazine. Chris got ready to watch Merlin, and we saw one episode. Then Chris went to bed. I stayed up to blog.
* The quilt named Spawn *

No more needles

I woke up early as usual, but was able to go back to sleep. I woke up again when Chris came back from working out, but I fell asleep again. I woke up again about 8. I got up to finish the quilt. I drank my quart of water first. Then I ripped out the last side of stitching on the quilt because there were puckers. I smoothed it out and pinned it well. I hoped it would stretch just far enough that I would not have to piece it, but it did not. I had to add the square made of triangles cut from the ends of the strips. I ironed the seams flat and joined the ends. Once the binding was sewn to the front, I put on TQS episodes and handsewed the back, tangling the thread at times. I did not get it finished by 11:20. I quit to take a shower and down a few seed crackers. I took a pic of the quilt. I packed my market bag with yoga blocks and a small container of Epsom salts. I hurried down the hill to the bus stop. I passed Myra on the way. She had just come back from getting her hair cut. But I had to hurry on. In fact, the bus pulled up just as I got there. Traffic was light and the passengers were few so the bus made good time. I got to the doctor's office just after noon. I had to wait because my appointment was at 12:30. Then I was shown into the office. I thoroughly enjoyed the leg massage. When the doctor came, he asked questions about the herbs and my response to them. He was baffled because he said he had given me the strongest herbs my body could take, but I wasn't sleepy nor did I find the taste very bitter. I showed him the picture of the quilt I was making for him. He said it was very beautiful. He stuck needles in my ankles, stomach, neck, and both arms. Then he left. When he came back, he typed questions and answers into the translation app on my phone. He said this was my last treatment. Strangely enough, I was going to tell him the same thing. He apologized for not being able to solve my problem. He said I should come back in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and one year for checkups at no cost. I asked when I should bring the completed quilt and he said next week would be fine. He also asked for a second one. I told him I had used up all the fish fabrics. So he chose another pattern from the few on my phone. Then I paid for the visit and left. I went across the street for a roll of kimbap. I ate as I walked to the bus stop. The bus was six stops away. So I walked back. It was really cold in the wind so I tried to stay close to the buildings. I stopped at a blanket shop to look for kingsize blankets. But she did not have that size. I kept walking until I got to the Chinese massage place. I asked for a foot massage, not caring who did it. But I got lucky and the really good guy came in while my feet were soaking in the hot Epsom salt bath. There was a soap opera playing on the wall TV. He and the lady clerk were listening to it, and sometimes laughing. I did not understand a word. But I think he massaged my feet longer because of the program. I considered asking for a shoulder massage, too, but decided to save that for next week. I said as much to the man, but am not certain he understood that I was making an appointment. Then I walked back to the base, stopping at the corner grocery store for lettuce and sprouts. I was so glad to get home and out of the wind. I had a bite to eat, then sat down at my laptop to watch quilting episodes and stitch binding. Before I finished, it was time for the FRG meeting. I texted Dynee to see if she was going but she did not get my text. I put on my warmest coat and scarf, but it was still a really cold walk to the chapel. Hardly anyone was there because there was a calligraphy class at the same time. Carolyn, the vice president, led the meeting because Amber was back in the states. We talked about Operation Shower, which is sending boxes to our pregnant women. We also talked about how to raise money at the next open base event. They decided having a yard sale of donated items was the best idea. Then we discussed the treasury at length. Finally the meeting was over. We cleaned up the room (the kids had played hard) and locked up the chapel. Carolyn gave Dynee and I a ride home. Chris had the light on for me. I came in as he was fixing supper. I had a bite to eat. I sat down with the quilt again. But before I finished, he was ready to watch Merlin. So we sat through two episodes. Then Chris went to bed, while I caught up on e-mail. I looked up all the main Merlin actors. Then I typed up my blog, ready for bed.
* This photo was taken at the Tokyo quilt show. *

Missed it by that much

I woke up from dreaming about Avogadro's number. In my dream it was a multiplier of squared ratios. (I later found out that there is a Mole Day in his honor.) Chris was gone, but then I heard him come back from his workout. I tried to go back to sleep and might have. After he got dressed for work and left, I got up to bag up the recyclables. I put on my longest coat to cover my nightgown as I carried them to the curb. Then I sat down to delete the first round of e-mail. It took longer because I kept pausing to unsubscribe. That should make future mornings go faster. I took two packets of vitamin C because I did not feel well.
I put down my laptop and went into the sewing room. The sandwiched quilt was waiting for me. I stitched around the outermost seam. Then I did rectangles inside, and then a big X. I did another seam around the center. I noticed it was getting late so I made and ate breakfast. Myra called to say she was going to Housing to get the last basket. She called back a few minutes later to say it wasn't there. I washed up and got dressed. I packed up my quilt and some fabric for binding. I walked to the chapel and saw that Myra had already started the class. Several ladies were there working on previous projects. I threaded a machine so I could do my binding, but by then someone needed a machine so I turned it over to her. A new lady came, saying she hadn't sewn before. Myra got her started on a zippered bag project. And it turned out beautifully. Several other people made one too. Maria did not finish her project because her children wanted attention. Chantal almost did not finish for the same reason. I got my binding strips cut and sewn together on the bias. That is the commonly accepted way to do it, but if I had done it with perpendicular seams, it might have been long enough. As it was, the strip was ¾ of an inch too short. I pieced some of the cut-off corners together, but then it was time to go. Myra and I packed up the materials. I wrote Myra a check for the Japan trip. We went to see Brittany to turn in the sign-up sheets. Then we went to the commissary. I didn't need anything, but Myra got a few bags worth. I walked her home, then went home myself. I checked my phone and saw that Dynee had left me a message. So I went next door and looked at her batting and her quilt top. We had a nice chat. She recommended some things on Netflix that we might want to watch. But I forgot them. When I got home, I took another packet of vitamin C. I read e-mail. Chris came home and made supper while I was listening to a tapping audio. I made a salad for supper. We watched one episode of Merlin. Chris wrote e-mails while I read mine. I meant to work on the quilt binding but it got too late. I posted to my blog so I could go to bed.
* Awesome first project! *

Frustration with FMQ

I woke up early, noticing that Chris was gone. I tried to go back to sleep for a long time. I got up to put out the food waste, but Chris had already done it. So I put away the baking from yesterday. Then I went back to bed. Chris came back around 7am, tired from a 2 hour weight workout. Apparently the guys he was lifting with were still going strong. He had to rush to get ready for work.
I got up, too. I checked e-mail, then made and ate breakfast. I listened to interviews while trying to do a 5 star Sudoku puzzle. For some reason, every one of them uses all my logic and still won't budge, forcing me to guess and work it through to see if the guess was right.
I got out the leftover batting. It was in an L-shape. I cut the long narrow part off and sewed it to the main part. Then I used it to sandwich the practice piece, using a Korean spray glue.
I tried free-motion quilting. It worked at first. I added the extension table to make the motion smoother. But then the thread shredded and got caught on the thread guides and skipped stitches. I changed thread, changed the needle, wiped the needle with alcohol, etc. Nothing worked. I tried stitching in the ditch and that was fine. It just seemed rather unimaginative. I put it down and read e-mail for a bit.
Myra called at 4:30 to say MWR was giving us money to buy supplies for class. So I got ready and walked to her place. She drove us to the MWR office building. I sat in the car, waiting. And waiting. I watched Brittany and Paul walk past the car to the office building. Apparently MWR had to hand the cash to Brittany directly, who then handed it to Myra. So then we drove out in town and parked by the market. We went to the fabric stand to get pre-quilted fabric, zippers and thread. He gave us extra zippers. Then we went to Daiso for felt and notions. We stopped at the won store for beads, but they did not have any. Then we went into the minki blanket store, looking for king-size blankets for a friend of Chris'. But they did not have blankets over 6' by 7'. I took pics anyway.
Myra dropped me off at my place. Chris had just gotten home. I made and ate a salad and then a pomegranate. As I ate, I read e-mail. One article was about scientists inserting human stem cells into pig embryos, which were then inserted into mother pigs for implantation. Most did not survive implantation, but over 100 did. The embryos were terminated at 4 weeks for study. I found that just a little disturbing.
We watched two episodes of Merlin. Chris went to bed, but I stayed up to catch up on e-mail and then post to my blog.
* Minki blanket *

Chum

I woke up early, alone. I did not hear Chris leave to work out at the gym. When he came back, (6?), he explained that the men he was going to work out with were not there. I postulated that they were getting ready for the Superbowl festivites. It is a big thing here and most people took the day off. I think it started at 7am. Chris stayed with me for awhile, then he got up to get ready for work.
I must have fallen asleep, and did not get up until 9:30. I drank some plain water, then swished while doing my exercises. Then I added vinegar to the remaining water and drank it. I checked e-mail and chose an e-mail to unsubscribe. For some reason it made me want to do it again. I think I unsubscribed to 5 different things. I used a telescoping wand to get crumbs from under the dishwasher. I got a lot, but the handle came off and wedged underneath.
From there it was the usual coffee/meditation morning. I used my new digital timer. I like that it doesn't tick, but on the other hand, it is almost impossible to read without lots of light. Then I started to clean the kitchen. Chris came home for lunch. There was no mail because it was a training holiday (Superbowl). I wiped off the Christmas lights that Dynee had lent me and struggled to get them back into their boxes.
I laid out the 9 extra blocks I had made. I decided to trim them to the size of the smallest one. I wanted to make a practice piece to try out my free-motion quilting before I did the one for the doctor. In looking through the leftovers, I found more blocks. So I laid them out in three on-point rows so I could have lots of practice sewing from fish to fish. I took a break to go outside and move the water jugs to the back. I used the goose egg to make a batch of banana oatmeal cookie dough. It was easier to spread it over a parchment sheet and make one BIG cookie. But it took forever to bake. While it was baking, I made seed cracker mix. While waiting for the cookie to finish, I took the quilt backing and attached PVC quilt frame sides to the left and right side. That helped it stay flat on the floor. I called Dynee to see if she wanted to see how it was done, but she was busy. So I spray-basted the batting on and then the top. I cut the excess batting off. There wasn't much left on the roll. Then the cookie came out of the oven and the seed cracker mixture went in. I talked to Myra for a bit. Later I turned off the oven and left the cracker inside to finish getting brittle. I went back to sewing.
I pieced leftovers to make triangles to fill in the on-point squares. I had leftover pieced border, but not enough to go all the way around, so I just did the ends. Then I took more leftovers and pieced them into triangles, which became a 2 ¾ inch wide strip. I cut it in half and sewed that to both sides. I decided to call it "Chum" since it was made from the leftovers of the leftovers of the fish quilt. Then I realized that all the raw edges were on bias, and I needed to remedy that before it stretched irrevocably. So, having used up most of the blue watery leftovers, I turned to the bright strips. I picked the one inch ones in purple, green and orange to make strips for all the sides. I liked it a lot, possibly too much to use it for quilting practice! By then Chris had come home and eaten his supper. In fact, by the time I pressed it and photographed it, it was 9:45. Chris said it was too late to watch TV. So I tried to catch up on e-mail. I took my evening magnesium and melatonin. I typed up my blog and went to bed.
* The fish got lost in the chum. *

Holey fish!

We got up around 8. I drank water, and listened to an audio from The Winter of Wellness Weekend. She talked about microbes in the dirt, and that our microvirome is as important as the microbiome. I sewed on the last two pieced border strips. I took the corners apart several times because the triangles did not match. Then I took a shower, and sewed some more. I got dressed just as Chris arrived home from church. He drove me to the chapel. I realized I was wearing a dress I had forgotten to hem. I talked to a few people before church started. Ms. Pae sat with me. The lesson was from Exodus, the story of Moses. The chaplain said that the name Moses was probably short for a longer Egyptian name. After church, I talked to Suzanne until Chris showed up. We walked to the commissary still talking to Suzanne. Inside the commissary there were more people to talk to. But finally we got some shopping done. We took our groceries home. Chris put food away while I changed my clothes. I helped him put away the last of the comestibles. He chopped up onions and carrots and stuffed them in a chicken while I cut up the rest of the ham and put it in a smaller container. The chicken went into the ham roasting pan to take advantage of the fat and juice on the bottom. He put it in the oven while I went back to sewing. I cut outer border strips and sewed them together. I measured the quilt top down the center and it was 86 cm. So I cut two lengths of border to that measurement and sewed them to each end. Then I cut 96 cm borders for the top and bottom. Chris went to work. I kept the laundry going and later took the chicken out of the oven. I ate some and took a break to check e-mail. I squared up the edges of the quilt top. I chose a fabric for the back. It needed piecing so I straightened the edges and sewed the two pieces together. Then it was ready to sandwich, but I wasn't. I started going through the leftover pieces, pitching the smallest ones, keeping some for future rugs, and saving the rest together in a bag. I spent way too long making as many leftover squares into blocks as I could. Chris came home from work and ate some chicken. I got some gray thread and a fine needle to sew the holes in the quilt. We watched an episode of Merlin while I sewed the holes closed. Then Chris went back to his computer. I continued sewing until I finished. Then I did two Sudoku puzzles. Chris went to bed. I finished the Swansons order I started days ago. Then I typed up my blog so I could go to bed.