Be wary of wonky blocks

Chris got an automated call last night that there was a 2 hour delay at the arsenal because of weather conditions. However, I think he got up at the usual time. I heard him shutting off my tablet which decided to replay an audio before 6am, seemingly at random. He took a shower and went to work. I went back to sleep. I put off getting up because it was so warm in bed and seemed so cold out of bed. But when I did get up, it wasn't bad at all. But it was after 10 – yikes! Lucky for me I knew exactly what I wanted to work on at quilting. I did some exercising and juiced sprouts, a cucumber, and celery. When I went out to dump the solids, the porch was covered in ice. I skimmed my e-mail by the Happylight. I got a call from Rebecca about lunch. I stuffed a scarf in the front door to block the cold air coming in at the side. I ate some aloe and rubbed the rest on my face and hands. I hung a muffler on the back door to block cold air there. Then I packed the Linus quilt blocks in a box, and headed out the garage door to quilting. There were lots of cars in the lot but few quilters because of the cold. Bertha, Carolyn, and Victoria. Maryann showed up in time for lunch, which was Brunswick stew from Carolyn. When Rebecca came, she and I went to Panda for lunch. I was going to try the seaweed salad, but they let me read the ingredients on the box of salad mix and it contained high fructose corn syrup. So I got the salmon roll instead. I did not eat the wasabi or the ginger after reading an article about both having artificial flavorings and additives. After discussing New Years celebrations around the world (and how ho-hum the ball drop in Times square was), we paid our bill and went to Michaels. She bought a die-cut there, and then we went back to the church. She left then to go grocery shopping. I worked on the Linus quilt, using the design wall to lay out the blocks. Victoria was gone and Bertha left soon after. Then Maryann came by for awhile. Roberta popped in, but not to sew. And Lauri stopped in to chat for awhile. Everyone was concerned about Barbara. When only Carolyn and I were left, the pastor came by to report on Barbara. He had visited her and the family. She was sedated in the ICU with pneumonia and H1N1, and making quilting motions in her sleep. After he left, Carolyn and I packed up and went home. It was just as cold as this morning, under 20F. I hoped the porch would still be covered with ice for a picture, but most of it had melted in the sun. I fixed the breakfast that I skipped this morning. Chris came home and made himself a burrito. He put sweet potatoes in the oven to cook. Then we had a big discussion about whether or not I watched him do it. After clearing a few more e-mails, I went downstairs to try something with a large zigzag print. When Chris came down, we watched multiple episodes of Star Trek. If only I could watch them with the same wonder and believability I had as a child, instead of seeing them as actors on a TV set. 

Chris dug out his Korea cold weather coat for tomorrow and went to bed.

*  These are my wonky blocks - never again  *

GPS backup

I heard my phone alarm go off at 8. Chris did not get up, so neither did I. I guess he was waiting for his phone alarm, but it never rang. So we missed church. We read e-mail and had breakfast. I searched the internet for light therapy devices that hang on the back of a door. I did not find one other than the one advertised in an e-mail. At 1:30 we went to Publix for groceries. After we put them away, I programmed Beverly's address into my tablet. She wanted some fabric I had and asked me to bring it over since she was sick. I wasn't sure I could find it, so I had the tablet as backup. I pulled off the road just before the last turn to see if the tablet knew where I was. It did, and a minute later showed that I missed her house. She welcomed me in, and her two little dogs rushed forward to greet me. She had some fabric pulled out for me to choose from. I selected a blue one. She showed me some of the projects she is/has worked on. As I was leaving, I showed her the tablet, and one of the dogs ran out. She and her husband came out to catch it. Then I drove home, not needing the tablet to find my way. It was still daylight, but overcast. I went out to rake, but raindrops fell. Mirna called about a good deal on organic walnuts. Then the rain seemed to pause, so I picked up a few sticks and moved them to the pile before it started again. Chris made bean stew with chorizo, but it wasn't ready yet. I folded laundry, and put mine away. I took all the lemons out of the fridge and washed them. I juiced them in my citrus juicer. I poured some in my tea and put the rest in a bottle in the fridge. I looked up small sewing projects on the desktop computer, but none of them seemed right for what I wanted. Then the soup was ready. It was so good that I ate 2 bowls. I put together the beginnings of my next Swanson's order. When Chris had eaten, we went down to watch Star Trek episodes. I told him my nose was cold. He asked what he could do about it, and I told him to take me to a warm place like Thailand. At 10, we finished and he went to bed. I stayed up to look up actors from the episodes.

*  This is one of Beverly's projects from a class.  I think she said it is from Hoopsisters.  *

Chocolate chocolate everywhere

We slept late and got up later, like 11am. I read e-mail. Chris found a box sitting on the front porch. It was my 20 lbs of raw cacao nibs. I did some exercise, and then we stuffed my car with beer bottles and jars. First we went to WalMart for a new teakettle (one that whistles). Then we went to the recycling center to drop off the glass. Anyone watching would have thought the beer bottles were from a massive New Year's party, but it was just a long accumulation of one bottle a day. When we got back, I finished my exercises. Instead of juicing, I put sprouts and carrots through the blender. Then I made and ate my breakfast. It was midafternoon by then, so I went out to rake and soak up sunlight. I finished the leaves under the magnolia tree. So then I stirred up the food scrap pile with a pitch fork and added some leaves. I cleared the porch and patio of leaves, and then came in. I had a bite to eat and read more e-mail, and watched the video on Fluff and Stuff machine quilting. Chris started the usual Saturday night game with Michele and some on-line friends. I put some butter on a cold sweet potato and used my hair dryer to melt it. I emptied the dishwasher and put the dishes away.  I got out every empty container I could find and filled them with raw cacao nibs.  That's about a year's worth.  I sat at the desktop computer to print out a paragraph for a letter, and to write something else. Then I went downstairs to work on the Linus quilt. I finished three wonky blocks for a total of 20. But since there were 9 of one kind and 11 of the other, I decided to make another of the 9 kind. I remember looking at my watch and seeing 10:30. The next time I looked (only a few minutes later), it had jumped to 11:30. Must be a time warp in my sewing area. 

*  This is the box the cacao nibs came in  *

So clean you can see my reflection

It was after 8 when I got up. I read some e-mail and one of them contained a meditation mp3. So I went back to bed to meditate. Later I took out the recyclables that were sorted yesterday. I watched a long David Wolfe video on super herbs. I paused it so I could juice what was left of the veggies. I cleaned up the sink and yesterday's bowls. I made breakfast, and finished the David Wolfe video. I felt inspired to clean a shelf of the refrigerator, and then a drawer, and another shelf. The bug man came to spread roach poison. He left rodent bait in the cabinet under the stove top. I finished the inside of the fridge and the front. Why the sides are textured not to show fingerprints, but the front is not, is beyond me.  I found the little red vacuum to sweep up dust, but it would not turn on.  Well, I certainly got my money out of it after all these years. So I had to use the blue one, and it was in the sewing room.  Then, to take advantage of the last of the sunlight, I raked leaves in the side yard. Chris came home and got the mail. He brought my phone out when Mirna called. I came in later, and looked up organic walnut prices with Bing. They were all higher than what she paid. I called Alison to see when I could visit to make a purchase. I had a bite to eat, and made a batch of hummus. I read part of a quilting magazine that came in the mail, waiting for Chris to finish his game. I read part of the TQS newsletter e-mail. I worked on the Linus quilt, then watched “Star Trek: Into Darkness” with Chris. He went to bed, and I see no reason to stay up any later.

Still catching up

I heard it rain during the night, figured that meant no raking today. Probably because the skies were gray, I did not wake up early, and did not get up until 10. I juiced the long cucumber and the rest of the beans. Then I ate breakfast. I had planned to attend the Thursday quilt group, but there was too much to do here. I folded two baskets of laundry and put the clothes in drawers. I took a shower, and cut my hair. I figured that if I scooped up hanks of hair with a brush, then cut along the side of the brush, I would get an even cut. But that did not work out well. Then, I thought that by combing my hair down the back of my neck and pulling the collar of my bathrobe over it and cutting along the top of the collar, I could cut the back straight. That did not work either. Looking in a hand mirror with my back to the wall mirror, I evened the ends out, and then shaved my neck. The result wasn't too bad. I took Chris' shirt (which I promised to fix last year, i.e. Monday) downstairs. I cut a rectangular patch on point and sprayglued it to the inside of the arm where the rip was. While letting it dry, I ironed fabric, and sorted my blues to find a matching piece for Beverly.  Then I stitched around the edge of the patch, and zigzagged the rip itself.  Chris came home at 3:30. I read e-mail, and meditated. I cleared some old e-mail and ate supper. I sorted the recyclables for tomorrow. Then I watched a TQS episode. I listened to a tapping audio while Chris ate supper. But he was so into his computer game that it was late before we started watching Star Trek. So we only saw two episodes before he went to bed at 11. I have to wonder: what do Vulcans do when they get insomnia? Can they self-nerve pinch?

*  Here is Faye giving Mom new shoes for Christmas  *

First day of the rest of the year

After being up so late, we stayed in bed longer than usual. I got up at 11:30. Since my laptop was in hibernation mode, I took the opportunity to scrub the keyboard more vigorously with the old toothbrush. Then I powered it up to read e-mail. After exercising, I juiced green beans, broccoli, and celery, forgetting to pick kale from the garden. Then I made and ate my breakfast. By then it was 1:30. I tried meditating again, and this time the file played all the way through, but my full stomach kept me 'awake'. 

 It was a marvelously sunny day. I raked leaves and pinestraw in my bare feet. Then I had a bite to eat, and drank the broth from yesterday. I worked a whole bunch of Sudoku puzzles, ripping the completed ones out of the book, working backwards, so they get easier and easier. Chris did the laundry, placing two baskets by my feet, ready for me to fold. After he ate supper, we watched multiple episodes of Star Trek, TOS. I have to wonder, how is a fierce Klingon warrior threatened by a mere upset tribble?

Moon Pie drop = Happy New Year CST

It was at 9, that moment when dreams have subsided, the daily rush of thoughts has risen, and I realized that I was awake. I read e-mail, exercised, and tried to meditate. The meditation mp3 kept ending after 2 minutes. I compared the prices of chia seeds on Swansons, Amazon, and Nuts.com. It took awhile as there were so many options to compare. The doorbell rang, and it was the postman with the APQS quilt calendar. I took down the old calendars and put up the new ones. I juiced arugula, celery, carrots and kale. Yuck. Then I made breakfast. I tried to find a Christmas sing-a-long on Youtube, but almost all of them were Disney. I came across several flashmobs, and then put on a Christmas playlist, hoping it would be songs I knew. I made nut cheese from the soaked nuts, and prepared a week's worth of supplements. I put in a nuts.com order, mostly raw cacao. I put the beef tongue in a pot to boil. Chris came home just as I was getting dressed. I was listening to Christmas music on laptop. I left him in charge of watching the tongue while I raked pinestraw. When I came in, it was done, so I ate some, and put the rest away. I cleared some old e-mail, especially tapping ones, and ate some artichoke hearts. I scrubbed my keyboard lightly with an old toothbrush. At 6:45 I dressed up a little, and we went to a party with folks Chris works with. We had a little trouble finding it since his GPS did not know of that street. I did not bring my purse, but did have my glasses for reading directions. They had a very nice house. Several of us played a phrase guessing game. There were other games going on, and general chatting. We watched the ball drop in Times Square at 11. Judy took pictures of couples with her phone.  See above. The ball drop in Times Square made me wonder what happens in the Central time zone at midnight. So we stayed, and saw the moon pie drop in Mobile, Alabama at midnight, then went home to bed.