Monday Quiltin'

I stayed in bed late 'cause it seemed too cold to get out of bed. I went through the usual e-mail and breakfast. I forgot to exercise. I don't think I am ready to jump yet, but there are calisthenics I could do. I put my tablerunner and partially bound quilt in the car, along with the sewing box and machine. I arrived at First Christian Church around 10:30. We had a large group today. Half of them disappeared for lunch and returned. Some only stopped by for a short time. Two new ladies came, so Barbara had everyone wear a nametag. I found that very helpful. I showed the tablerunner to Dinah, the lady who gave the fabric that started it all. I also got some pics of quilts other ladies were working on. As for my quilt, I used the machine to joined the ends of the binding, then spent the rest of the time handsewing it to the back. When I finished that, I packed up to go. It was after 3. I ate some ham and a salad for lunch. Then raked up leaves and pinestraw in the side yard. When I came in, Chris was home. We had leftovers for supper. I remembered to make today's origami object, which was a cone (paper cup). I read some more e-mail and then relaxed in a recliner and finished the rest of the Star Trek book. It surprised me by ending in a cliffhanger. Now I shall have to find the sequel. Half a page before I finished, Chris was ready to watch TV. So the adventures of Captain Kirk were followed by another adventure of Richard Sharpe. And now to view the adventures behind my eyelids...

Auditioning binding

Chris set the alarm for 8am. I didn't feel like getting up, but had too much to do to stay in bed. I fixed breakfast and then took a shower and dressed for church. I gathered the stickers and such for Sunday School, and I was on my way. I got there about 15 minutes before the opening ceremony. I was going to use the time to clean up the room but I passed another lady in back of the sanctuary and she talked to me the whole time. I put on the crown I made last night and sat in the back of the church while the kids sang songs, rehearsed the 10 commandments and yelled BUILD, GROW, SERVE. Then I had 20 minutes to clean the room and get it set up for crown-making while the kids went to their first center. I had the youngest ones, and they had storytime first. However, when I quizzed them, they seemed as though they had never heard the story. Ah well. I told them that the wisemen did the wise thing by not returning to Herod after finding baby Jesus. And that they could make and wear a crown to remind them to do wise things, too. Each one got a strip of yellow bulletin board border, which has a scalloped edge. It kind of looks like a crown all by itself, but I gave them stickers and markers and glitter glue to decorate them. One set of stickers had lots of snowflakes. I thought they would look decorative on a crown. But there were two snowmen on that sheet and that is what the youngest ones wanted on their crowns. One boy there had never done his handprint on fabric, so I painted his hand orange and pressed it to a green square. Then I had to take him to the bathroom to wash it all off. When we came back, the other kids were gone. The choir director wanted them to practice before the service. So I let him go, then grabbed my music and joined the choir ladies. After a short practice, I cleaned up the room somewhat and sat in the sanctuary to wait for Chris. He arrived just as the pastor started talking. The sermon was about how just a little bit of light can show the way. After church Chris went home and I stayed to finish cleaning up the room for next week. I wish I had a pic of the crown, but I left it on the table. I had taken the plugs out of the glitter glue tubes before the class, and now had to put them back in so the glue would not dry out. I don't think we'll be using them again since the kids need a project that is ready to take with them and the glue takes too long to dry. Maybe there is such a thing as glitter markers?
I drove home and changed clothes and ate lunch. Then we went to the grocery store together. We got a ham and a chicken. Chris put the ham in the oven with pineapple rings. I read e-mail for awhile, then my book. Then I went down to count the handprint squares and mark off the names of those kids so see who was missing. Then I made a binding decision. I cut and sewed binding on a quilt that has needed binding for 2 years. Chris came down when he was ready to watch TV. We saw two episodes of Richard Sharpe. One was called Sharpe's Seige, but I don't know the name of the other one. Now Chris has gone to bed, and soon I shall remove my D-link (so no one can remotely reboot my computer while I'm sleeping. I hate that. There oughta be a law against it) and head to bed myself.

Fleecing Party

After waking me up, Chris went to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast. I took a shower and got dressed. I fixed breakfast and skimmed e-mail. There were no origami critters to be made over the weekend:( Then I collected a few items like a cutting board and rotary cutter. I threw in some seaweed and kombucha. I arrived at church about 20 minutes late, but no one seemed to notice. They were all busy cutting fleece blankets for the Linus project. I had brought a pack of 3 scissors and those got handed out pretty quickly. I was put to work squaring off the edges with a yardstick and cutting out 4 inch corners. Other ladies cut the edges into 1 x 4 inch fringes and still others cut small slits into the center of each fringe strip. I enjoyed my part using a rotary cutter, but the ladies with scissors got tired hands. Around lunch time people started leaving. There were only 4 blankets left to square up and I decided to take them home where I could do a better job with a larger mat and rulers. Shannon gave me a jar of sun-dried tomato butter. It sounded amazing. I was going to clean up the craft room for tomorrow but then forgot. I went straight home. Chris was on his laptop and doing laundry. I spent a little time outside trying to attach the bagger to the lawnmower, but it wouldn't fit. So I mowed without it for a bit, but it seemed pointless if not picking up the few remaining leaves. I found an instruction manual on-line. It didn't help alot, but did confirm that I have the right bag for that mower. So I went back and forced it to fit. Chris tuned into the voices for gaming. Michele was on, too, which made me very happy. I tried to watch a quilting DVD on my laptop, but the computer refused to recognize the disk. I tried it on Chris' laptop, and it worked fine. So I went down and watched it on the TV. When I came up, supper was almost ready. I cooked up the quinoa that has been soaking since yesterday. I finished the last few bites of duck, and then we ate organic ground beef with tomatoes. I read a Star Trek book for hours, listening to the gaming. When it was over, I spoke with Michele. She really likes the black and silver top from Faye. And the pecan pie arrived in reasonable condition. She ate it in two days, finishing it just before she had to go to the airport. I made a proto-type crown for Sunday School tomorrow. Then it was almost 10pm. There wasn't time to watch a Sharpe movie, so Chris went to the CBS website and we watched two episodes of Big Bang Theory before we went to bed.
* This is the raincoat from Thursday *

Flying through errands

I began the day with e-mail as usual. I found a bit of energy for a few squats and pushups before breakfast. It has been bothering me that Blogger stamps my posts with the time and date in Korea, not Alabama. I had tried to change this before with no luck, but today I hunted a little harder and found the right setting. Hopefully, it will be the right time from now on. I also added some pictures to the Christmas Day posting. I wanted to add a short video of my father playing his accordion, but there is no longer a way to do that in Blogger.
The origami calendar had directions for an airplane, which I made. After a bit more e-mail, I found my stash of glitter glue and tried to revive it. Then I went shopping at Hobby Lobby to get fresh ones, and stickers for the craft this Sunday. Maybe a few more things fell into my hands before I checked out. Then I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to see if they had any refill wax on sale. I did not get any wax, but I did get a phone call freeing me up on a certain Saturday. I proceeded to Target. I was hoping to get some Christmas lights as a backup for the ones in the greenhouse, but I didn't find any. I did find a pair of gloves with a special fingertip that allows the wearer to use a touch screen. I found a pair of socks in the right color, but had to buy them in a multicolored 6-pack. When I got home, I folded the laundry. Then for some outdoor time, I picked up sticks, gathered leaves from garage, and replanted the tomato growing in the greenhouse. It was in a container and I planted it in the ground. The tomato is blooming and needs more room. I would be excited, but can't see how it can get pollinated to produce fruit. I auditioned fabrics for binding on one of the quilts from Korea. I was there when Chris came home. We had leftovers and a salad for supper. I listened to a tapping audio and then we watched the next two Richard Sharpe movies.

I started the morning by folding a raincoat from the origami calendar. I removed last year's quilting calendar and hung up the new one. I read e-mail, did a little exercise, and started fixing breakfast. Then I realized that this is recycling day, so I quickly dressed and put the recyclables out by the road. Then breakfast could continue. After breakfast I called Jane who is in a later time zone. I read e-mail, and worked on the dried gluesticks. One site recommended microwaving them for 5 seconds. It does loosen them up, but they are only sticky as long as they are warm. When they cool off, they are duds again. So I went back to the internet and found another site that recommends putting them in a ziplock bag with water overnight. This is what I'm doing now. After that I had an early lunch. I went downstairs to hem the tablerunner. Then I went outside to pick up sticks. Looking around at the yard, you can't see them. But walk around with your head down, and they are everywhere. I watered my greenhouse garden and uncovered the other one a little. I did not have a audio to play while doing yardwork, so I got to thinking. Why do fairytales target old women? Some day I will be one. Will there be a fairytale about me? It might go like this:

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,

She had so much fabric that she didn't know what to do.

So she stacked it and whacked it and sewed it with thread,

then quilted it all and covered her bed."

(I'm gonna need a BIG shoe.)

Anyway, thinking about that got me to thinking that maybe I should give some of my quilts as presents. So I pulled them out and stared at them for awhile. I just don't know what people like and no one told me they wanted a quilt. But all my quilting friends made quilts as presents, so people must want quilts even if they don't ask for them. Chris came home, so I gave up on that. We had leftover duck and salad for supper. I tried to watch the latest TQS video, but it kept starting and stopping. Its like the whole internet is slow. Download times have increased and it makes me want to just walk away from the computer. But then I tried watching on Chris' laptop, and it played beautifully.

We went down to watch Sharpe's Battle on DVD from the library. When we came up, he checked my laptop for things that might slow it down. He tried the video and it played fine for him. I checked my phone and saw that Dad had called. I called him back. He was uncertain how to dip Mom's hand. He also told me it took her four hours to take her pills and eat supper. Then he had to get her ready for bed.

I wrote my blog and watched more of the video.

Koala bear

I went to bed a little early last night. I must have been tired because I did not get up early this morning. It was wet outside as though it had just stopped raining. I read e-mail, made an origami critter and had breakfast. My one must-do for the day was to mail a quilt top to Cathy. But that kept getting put off. She and I e-mailed back and forth all morning. I wanted to be sure I sent whatever else was needed and then I found another quilt top. While waiting for a reply as to whether she had time for a second top, I went down to quilt the tablerunner. It did not take as long as I thought it would. I finished the whole thing. Then, even though I had not gotten a reply (she can't sit by her computer all day either), I added the top to the box anyway, and a backing too. Then I drove to Rite-aid. I had heard that they mail packages there. And it is only half as far as the post office. Indeed, there was a little postal outlet in the store. I was so happy to see it and to be done with the mailing that I treated myself to a visit to the new Michaels right around the corner. I hoped to find something for the sunday school craft, but I didn't. I got a skein of that new yarn which has me stymied as to how one can crochet with it but it expands like papertwist. I also got the #3 pearl cotton that Ricky Tims used to make the most elegant piping. They also had pairs of childrens gloves for .25 each, so I got four pairs to go with the hats and scarves I made. I was back home in an hour. The outdoors was somewhat drier, so I raked up a box of pinestraw and cones. The box was too heavy to carry (and falling apart) so I got out the adaptable handtruck and rolled the box to the pile I wished to dump it on. By then it was after 4. I read the latest e-mail, and heard Chris drive up. For supper we had leftover duck and newly fried asparagus. I also had my usual large salad. I spent some time looking on-line at suitable crafts for this Sunday, then bundled up for the trip to choir practice. I brought all my hats and scarves in a bag. When I got to church I saw that the previous hats and scarves had not been delivered yet. So I added my bag to the lot. Then I headed to the craft closet to get the glue sticks. I wanted to rejuvenate them 'cause most were hardened and dried. The room was full of women preparing lengths of fleece for the kids to make into blankets as their service project. I thought we were going to do it Saturday, but no one told me they were starting tonight. Anyway, they gave me the glue sticks, and assured me that there would be plenty left to do on Saturday. They had asked for donations to cover the cost of the fleece, and so many people donated that they had forty more than they were prepared for.

Then it was time for choir. We had more people than before, so were short on some music. Shannon and I had to share. She kept making amusing comments. We came up with the idea of having our music on a tablet to make page turning easier, plus being able to read it in the dark. I asked if there was an app so that we could get our notes delivered through headphones to help us keep up with the key changes. She thought there might be one. Choir practice ended right at 8. That is also when Hobby Lobby closes. Too bad for them, 'cause I would stop on my way home if they were open. When I got home, Chris and I watched Sharpe's Gold. Chris went to bed and soon so shall I.

Now we know why

We slept in just because we could. Chris got up for breakfast and I took a shower. I meant to exercise but my abs were sore from yesterday. I got out the origami calendar that Faye gave me for my birthday. I set it up and folded the first item- a nightingale. While I was reading my e-mail, I skyped Kurt to see if he had opened his geode. He hadn't, but then he did it on skype just so I could see it. The inside looked like sparkling salt. I read e-mail until midafternoon. Then I put on an audio and went downstairs to sew. I added borders to the tablerunner, auditioned triangles for the ends, prepared a backing and found a piece of batting that was just the right length and width. I pinned it all together. Then I came up, drawn by the smell of a roasting duck. It was 6:30 and the duck wasn't finished, but Chris had cooked the heart, neck, gizzard, and liver in a pot on the stove. I ate that and fixed a large salad. Later we ate part of the duck. I watched a 2 hour video by Ricky Tims on quilting. It took longer than that because the download was so slow. I prepared 8 days worth of vitamins and supplements, and organized the recyclables.
When we bought the duck, it was right next to a Tur-duc-hen. In case anyone doesn't know, that is a turkey, duck and chicken all in one. It made me think of the poem 'There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...". My brain came up with new verses.
"There was an old lady who swallowed a turkey. She had to be perky to swallow a turkey. She swallowed the turkey to get the duck. It's a wonder it didn't get stuck. She swallowed the duck to get the hen. I don't know why she swallowed the hen, because she can? "
I know, I know, don't quit my day job.
Anyway, it got me to thinking about the fly. Swallowing it didn't kill her, the horse probably did. But the fly was like a gateway drug, it lead to bigger and more powerful animals. So should swallowing flies be made illegal because they lead to swallowing horses? And I imagine she lived next to the old lady who lived in a shoe and had so many kids she didn't know what to do. This raises a lot more questions. Why did she live in a shoe? If she was old, why did she have young children? Were they hers? Why are fairytales picking on old women, why isn't there an old man with too many kids? I can just imagine one of the boys coming home to say "Billy just dared the old lady next door to swallow a fly, and SHE DID! It was so cool! Tomorrow he's going to dare her to eat a spider."
Maybe I'd better keep my mind on quilting.