Where's the beef?

I heard Chris leave for work. I meditated and visualized before getting up at 7:20. I put on an audio while I cleared e-mail. The interview was about gut flora and autoimmune diseases. It was very informative. I folded the rest of the laundry, exercised, juiced, and ate breakfast. I put on a second audio. I packed my sewing box with the rug project and two squares of muslin. I also grabbed a package of seaweed. I checked the online map, then drove to a church on Westmoreland. I went in the church to ask about the stitch group but no one had heard of them. There was a house next door whose yard was filled with cars. So I enquired there. The room was full of tables and stitchers, some working by hand, and others by machine. One lady gave me a tour. I started sewing strips diagonally across the muslin until I had covered both squares. I gave them to Melissa. Then I cut the skinny scraps into segments for the rug. I sewed on as many as I had cut. The other ladies want to see it after it is finished, washed and dried. I packed up at 2. When I got home, I moved the quilt in the frame up to the living room. I also brought up the light stand and put the 200 watt bulb in it. It is officially too cold to quilt in the garage. Then I raked leaves in my bare feet. After maybe 20 minutes, I drew myself a map of the downtown area, complete with the one-way signs. I had hoped to miss the crossing guard at the school on Garth. I have trouble seeing her hands and was afraid I might not be able to tell if she was stopping cars. I tapped as I drove downtown. I saw signs for a detour and that really alarmed me. But somehow it did not apply to my route. I turned on Eustis, but took a left when I should have gone straight. As luck would have it, the one-way signs were with me and I drove in a big square and made the right decision this time. There was the Dixon meat lady and her coolers of frozen grass-fed cow parts. The parking space in front of her was open so I took it. I paid for my order and we talked for a minute. Then I drove around to the right and back the way I came. I could not read the Franklin street sign because the sun was right behind it, blinding me. I got home safely, and ate some blueberries. I spent another 35 minutes raking leaves in the front yard. I finished the audio from earlier and ate some beef. I did a meditation. Chris came home. I made a salad, and he had a burrito. He asked me what time I wanted to wake up tomorrow because he is taking me to the lab at 7. I said I'd like to wake up at 8 and have it all be over with. When he finished his e-mail, we went down to watch a pirate movie. It was over by 9 and he went to bed. We're probably getting up at 6 tomorrow.

*  This is Lisa's quilt.  Can you tell it is made from striped fabrics?  *

Stranger in the Night

After we went to bed Tuesday night, we were kept awake by some nocturnal critter in the attic. It sounded like it was trying to scratch its way into our room. Probably it wanted warmth because the temperature dropped so far that all the tomato and pepper plants died.

At some point I fell asleep because I woke up before 7, I read e-mail. I exercised, practiced my trombone, meditated, and filled out the paperwork that I got at the doctor's office. That took far longer than the 15 minutes they would have allotted for it. There were things I had to look up. And I had to make a list of all my vitamins and supplements. I juiced zucchini and broccoli again today. Then it was time for breakfast. After eating, I quickly showered. Dressed, I went to the bank to cash a check. It was near the doctor's office, but somehow I got lost on the way over. I found myself driving up a street with signs that said “Doctors and Ambulances only”. When I did find the right street and building, I had to run up the steps to make it on time. That was pointless because I was not seen on time. I watched their TV until the RN called me. She took my blood pressure, blood oxygen, respiration and said they all looked really good. Then I worked Sudoku puzzles until the doctor came. She asked me a lot of questions, many of which were answered in the sheets I turned it. My biggest fear was that she wouldn't write the prescription I wanted, but she did. In fact, she wrote 2. One was for more pain killers. She also gave me a lab order form. I am supposed to take it to the lab building when I haven't eaten for 8 hours and get the tests she checked off. Since I had eaten, I went home for lunch. I had a cold bowl of fish stew, and I cleaned the juicer. I called the rental management company to report the critter, the non-functional outside lights and the sprayer I wanted for the kitchen sink. It is getting too cold to spray the juicer parts outside. ThenI raked leaves for an hour. It was a little cold for bare feet, so I only took off one shoe. When the hour was up, it was time to sew. I removed the paper pieces from sri yantra and put them in a bag. Then I picked two patterns of possible star costumes to show to Jennifer at choir practice. Chris came home and he got the mail. My thimble from Australia came. I told him about my visit to the doctor. I asked him if he would come to the lab with me, and he said he would. I put a sweet potato and a piece of beef in a Korean bowl to heat in the oven. I read about structured water, and the ancient symbol called triskelion. I ate my supper and drank a glass of vitamin C. I bundled up for the trip to choir practice. We did not have a lot to sing. She decided to have the children sing this Sunday. After practice, I showed her the patterns. We discussed it and she wants tu-tus for the stars. When I got home, we watched the second part of Tin Man. But there are two more, so it is not the end of the story. Then we went to bed, hoping the critter found some other place to spend the night.

 *   This is Amber's quilt which she made from my block-of-the-month pattern  *

Chilly Tuesday

It was cold in our bedroom so I stayed in bed until 7:30. I read e-mail. One was from the dentist in Midlothian wanting me to confirm the appt. I called to tell them I canceled last week. She said she'd take care of it. I wrote post from last night, using the notes I made during the day. I also finished an audio from yesterday. I did two meditations to catch up on the 21 Days of Gratitude. I folded laundry between bouts of exercises. I juiced zucchini and broccoli. It was better than the kale. Then it was time for breakfast. After eating, I quickly finished the second stocking by sewing on the ribbon. I drove out to the Sew Faithful quilters on Jordan Lane. I turned in the stockings and made a new friend there. On the way back, I stopped at the dr's office to make sure I knew where the building was. Since I was there, I went up to the office and got the papers to fill out for tomorrow and asked the receptionist questions. I went home for lunch, and cleaned the juicer. I submitted an order for meat to be picked up on Thursday. I raked leaves for an hour, and got a splinter in my hand. After getting is out, I took a shower, and then vegged out for awhile. I investigated my cache of shiny fabrics to see what might be suitable for star costumes. Then I looked through all my patterns. I mended my night gown. I got a bowl of fish stew from the fridge. I ate that, then turned on the outside lights to see my way to the car. I drove to the modern quilt guild. On the way I got a phone call from Chris that he was ready to leave work. At the meeting, we were supposed to elect officers. But there were no runners. So volunteers were solicited and most positions were filled. I took pictures during show-and-tell.  I showed off Sri Yantra.  When I got home, the outside lights were off. Chris said he did not turn them off. I drank a glass of vitamin C, and checked my e-mail. On top of my laptop was a Jehovah's Witness flyer. Apparently they came by looking for me. Then we watched part of Tin Man, courtesy of Netflix. Chris went to bed.

*  This is Deb's wreath quilt.  *

Panda Monday

I got up at 8:15. I checked e-mail, exercised, and ate breakfast. I packed my sewing box with two projects: scrap rug and sri yantra. On the way to the church, I noticed lots of cars in the empty lot across and down the street. I wondered if someone was having an auction. I got to the church before 11. I worked on sri yantra first, sewing what I pinned yesterday. Doris was sewing borders on her quilt labels. I did one and showed her how to do it. Carolyn brought lasagna for lunch. Barbara brought a salad and Alice brought roast beef subs. But Rebecca and I did not know that when we decided to make it Panda Monday. That means we, along with Victoria went to Panda for lunch. I got 3 pieces of sushi: a salmon, a squid, and an eel. When we got back, Mirna and I worked on her serger. What looked like a complex tension problem turned out to be the threads not snapping into the tension discs. Barbara held a meeting to discuss our Christmas celebration. We talked about games, food, and decorations. Maryann and Jodi showed me the star costumes they had to see if they would work for our church. I finished sri yantra, or at least the center. I have been so focused on it that I haven't thought about the rest. Then I cut scraps for the rug. I sewed on all that I cut and it still did not cover half the rug. By then everyone had left, except Laurie. At 4:45 I packed up to leave. When I got home, Chris had a large pot of fish stew on the stove. I ate a bowl of the stew and found it incredibly filling. I made myself eat a salad, but I did not need it. I started a loaf of bread for Chris. I listened to part of an audio. Around 7 we went down to watch 2 episodes of Inspector Linley. At the end, I was suddenly so tired that I just wanted to fall over and sleep on the couch. And I might have, but Chris threatened to carry me. If he carried me in his arms, my head would bump against something, and there is nothing comfortable about the fireman's carry. So I got up and he pushed me upstairs where I went straight to bed. 

*  This is Lauris's quilt.  She stayed later then I did to finish it.  *

Sewing - again

We woke up early, before the alarm. It was nice to have extra time to play with. We ate breakfast and read e-mail. I took a shower, dressed and went to church in time to warm up with the choir. I was a little early, so I talked with Susan. I showed her my idea for a parament. Then we sang our song. Afterwards, Jennifer asked me to make three star costumes with headdresses for the Christmas play. I joined Chris sitting in the front pew. After the service, we stood in line to greet the pastors and then left for home. We changed our clothes and ate lunch. Chris changed the filter in the central heat system. Then we took my car to get gas and add air to a low tire. We stopped at Kroger for organic kale, but they did not have it. Then we went to Publix for groceries. After putting the groceries away, I grabbed my yellow quilt project and sri yantra and drove to the storage facility where some of us meet once a month. Chatting was the order of the day. The lady next to me was stuffing a really cute bear she made. I had to borrow glasses from Debbie to pick out stitches on sri yantra and I pinned it back together the right way. Denise came in later, and she was working on small hexagons. As we chatted, I realized we had a lot in common as far as how we eat and the websites we visit. So we exchanged contact info. When I finished sri yantra, I offered to finish the binding that Debbie was working on. I did that until it was time to leave. Debbie watched us go to our cars because it was dark. I was glad for the heat in my car. When I got home, Chris was having supper. I made a salad with cheese, and then ate a banana.  I listened to two meditations and made up a weeks worth of supplements, pulling out those that will need reordering soon. We watched an episode of Inspector Linley season 5, and one of Star Trek TOS. Chris went to bed, and I am staying up to find a pic to post. I wish I had taken one of the bear, but I did not have my camera with me.
*  This is what 3 or 4  ladies were working on yesterday  *

I'm a magnet for fabric

Chris got up early to get nitrogen put in his tires at the dealership. I got up later to read e-mail, swish, shower and eat breakfast. I watched a documentary on how antibiotics are becoming less and less effective, and that research into new antibiotics is dwindling because there is little profit in a drug that is only used for short periods of time. I packed a lunch while Chris left for the library. By the time he returned, I was gone. I went to the usual Monday place, but saw a few different faces because this was a guild stitch-in, to make quilts for a boys home. I brought some fish fabric, but there was plenty of fabric there to use. If I hadn't brought the fish, I might have gotten more done. As it was, I tried very hard to find fabrics that worked with the fish, and nothing really spoke to me. I trimmed fish fabric in what was left of my green, and some yellow that another lady brought. Then I auditioned backgrounds, inviting comments. There was no consensus on which background was the best, and I wasn't wowed by any of them. For lunch I ate my usual seaweed. Alice brought a large pile of subs from her restaurant. Four years ago I would have eaten several. There were also high-carb offerings. They looked good, but I resisted. At 4, those who hadn't already packed up and left, packed up and cleaned up. I was home before 5. Chris met me coming in and carried my box for me. (I left the machine in the car). The box had more fabric in it than when I left. That really wasn't my intention. But they said I could have it. So I can make more boy quilts in my spare time. Also, once Joan left, I got everyone's scraps. LOTS of scraps. When I walked in the house, there was a large roast of beef. Chris cut me a slab, and apologized over and over because it wasn't as rare as he intended and he knows I like rare. But it was just fine and I enjoyed every bite. I ate some kimchi to help digestion. THEN, he pulled sweet potatoes out of the oven. I ate the smallest one and was quite full. While he gamed with the voices, I took my laptop downstairs and plugged it in so I could listen to audios one after the other. I worked on sri yantra. I had never seen a y seam in paper piecing before, and yet that was how I cut the pattern so I had to sew it. It turned out mostly ok. After I did both of them, (the process being neither quick nor easy) I realized that I had sewn the right side on the left and the left side on the right. Thankfully it was symmetrical so it worked ok as far as I can tell. The second audio ended and I noticed that it as 10:30 – time to go to bed. Early to bed and early to rise, etc. But as I am writing this, I see the time on the laptop is only 10, and my watch is still an hour ahead. With that good news, I am going to bed.

*  This quilt impressed me.  I do not remember the name of the lady who made this today.   Jodi said there would be a quiz on names at the end of the day and that anyone who got them all right could take fabric home.  I would have failed the quiz, but still got the fabric.   *

Sunny day

I got up at 7:15. Yea! More time to listen to the never-ending audios. I read e-mail, then went downstairs to sew. The laptop battery ran down pretty quickly, within half an hour. So I took it back upstairs and paused the audio. I pulled out the tablet, now recharged. I found another audio that the tablet could play and listened to it downstairs as I attempted to sew the sri yantra segments together. I came up when it seemed like an hour had passed. I exercised, and scrubbed the juicer parts. Then I juiced a bag of cranberries. Even diluted, they had a lot of pucker. I juiced some carrots, celery and sprouts for later. Then I made breakfast. I read and answered e-mail, and took my supplements. I read that intermittent fasting works well for men, but might not be so good for women. I raked my usual sunbathing spot. Whoever moved the sun must have moved it back. I laid down the green sheet to warm in the sun, then sunbathed on it. I clipped grass by the fence, got dressed, and went back out to rake more leaves, since it was such a nice day. Chris came home early (something to do with the long weekend) and said he wasn't playing Battletech tonight. I finished raking leaves. I was out there far longer than an hour. I listened to the rest of the audio while reading latest e-mail. First I drank the dandelion root tea, and then the veggie juice with h2o2. I had a container of sprouts for supper and a little bit of fish with fermented cod liver oil. We were on our laptops for awhile before going down to watch TV. We saw two episodes of Forever Knight, and several episodes of Star Trek, TOS. I swear that Gorn looked so real back in the '60's, but tonight it looked like a plastic dinosaur figure moved by the hand of a child. 

*  Here is a pic from the quilt show last month  *