What will you see if you LOOK?

I got practically nothing done yesterday - I don't think I even turned the sewing machine on - OH -- I did finish the applique early in the morning. There is little for sewing show and tell, but I've got other things. 

The morning started with a walk in the woods with the girls. Murphy is just beyond herself with all the squirrels at the circus. They drive her MAD! She tries so hard. But I spotted this tree. I've passed this tree a gazillion times and never noticed it. But doesn't it look like a person with a wavy sweater? It's pretty cool! I first noticed the wavy pattern, but now I see the hand and the arm!

A tree spirit

And as I approached the forest with Miss Lexi, I spotted a red sign from a distance. Oh great -- what weird thing is there now? But I was pleasantly surprised to find the city has created a mystery (History) hunt of the city. How cool is that? I hadn't heard anything about this, so I scanned the first code. It's like geocaching, but your "prize" is information about the history, which I think is cool. 

City-wide History Hunt

Like many cities, this one is rich in history. You get a map when you download that code, but I'm sure you can check it out online. I can't find a website, but I'll look again at the sign and do more research later today. Maybe Lexi and I can find the next spot this morning. She is much more accommodating on the walk than Murphy! And I try to keep Murphy on the SAME path every day; it helps to cut down on her excitement at seeing something new. 

Speaking of the squirrel circus in the forest, the coyote choir was out in fine form last night. And they were early -- it was about 7 PM when they struck up a merry tune. It was LOUD and lasted longer than usual, and while it sounded like there were hundreds of them, it was probably one or two. 

This was put on by the Museums of Mississauga, and while I did NOT find any more information, I spotted a LOT of exciting exhibits on display by our Museums. I NEED to watch that more often as it's cool to explore the city and explore art. 

Then I was off to pick up Dede, and we went on an adventure. We had done some research the day before about stabilizers, and there were a few we wanted. We knew exactly where to go for that. So we were off to Creekbank Sewing near Mount Forest. I swear it was an adventure as it got foggier and foggier as we went north. 

I knew they were building a brand new store in an easier to get to location (out of their farmyard). OH MY GOSH!!! This is the new store!!! It's huge, and look at how foggy it was yesterday!!!!

Creekbank Sewing

We walked in, and our mouths dropped. The place is HUGE!!! This is the classroom! It's massive and has a nice little kitchen bar, storage space, and, well, it's a fantastic classroom. I'm a bit envious that I'm far away. They also had some great classes. It's too far away to get there regularly!!

The classroom

A mezzanine looks down on the store, and big quilts hang along the walls. It's pretty amazing. The couple that owns the store are definitely business people, and all the employees have been trained extremely well. This is the store that we almost all walked out with a brand NEW Bernina a couple of years ago. Yep -- they are that good! 

A view of the store from the mezzanine

I was admiring the quilting on the quilts on the wall. And the owner reminded me that they were ALL quilted on a Bernina!! You have to love that! Paul would love that! 

We had called the day before and knew they had the stabilizers we wanted, so we got them and one or two other things. If you're going to drive that far, you must make it worth the drive! I made it worth the drive and even took my shopping bag. 

On the way home, we spotted a barn block at the local Home Hardware! 

Barn Block!

By the time I got home, I went on a Zoom call that I had scheduled, and that took two hours but was a good deed for a colleague. Good deeds come back to you, so I don't expect anything in return, and I like to help people when needed. 

And then the best part of the day was opening the EXIT Game Advent Calendar. Oh boy -- again - I read the story and looked at the clues, but where to even begin. I tried several things, but nothing worked; then DH came to help. I must say, he gets pretty possessive when he sits down. He just launched into his own theories, and I was the decoder. Nothing worked - even though I had the decoder right side up. 

The ceiling in the Exit Game room

He kept reading the riddle aloud, and that got me to thinking. Then we played a bit with the pieces, and YEP --- my thoughts were right! He poopooed my idea!!!!! But the logic was there, and the answer was RIGHT! I got a "good job" for that! I have to laugh because the two of us have become obsessed with the darn thing. 

So far, we haven't touched the help guide, EXCEPT for the day the emoji went missing. We still haven't found ours. 

Now, here's the thing --- there are loads of different advent calendars. Some with food goodies like candy and chocolate. Nope -- I can live without that - I have my own preferred snacks - no candy, but chocolate - oh yes. I could have a quilting advent calendar, and I had one last year. But honestly, while it's fun to open it and get a gift -- what do I do with most of the stuff? 

They are expensive, costing hundreds of dollars. The EXIT Game was about $50 and will provide hours of entertainment, and then it's gone!

I know of three stores that produced an advent calendar - the most famous being Missouri Star Quilt Company and if you want to watch Jenny open the boxes, here's the link. Hopefully, that works. Many people bought the calendar and are opening it on YouTube. What's the point of that? I don't care what the people think - if I'm going to watch, I want to see Jenny open it. 

And one person purchased this box and has already opened all the items on YouTube. Why would you do that? What's the point, and where's the fun? And then why would anyone watch it? I can only imagine how many thousands of people have watched that. That's why the world is in such a mess -- people can't wait - they want and need instant gratification for EVERYTHING. Oh well.......

We are each different in what we want, and I think we'll stick with the EXIT Games as that is a fun activity to do each day, and I don't have anything to do once we solve the puzzle and nothing to clean up!

Speaking of cleaning, I went upstairs the other day, and what a stink!!! Turns out DH was ironing a shirt, and there must be burnt stuff on the bottom of the iron. So, this morning, I cleaned his iron. SEE  - I do the occasional domestic thing! 

The dirty sole plate of DH's iron

OK -- so the lighting was different in the AFTER photo, as it was dirty but not that dirty. I think the bottom is marked as I scrubbed and scrubbed, and a couple of spots wouldn't come off. 

The after picture

My iron was pretty clean, but it got a polish as well. 

My iron before

And when I was done, I had two clean irons and a dirty cloth. 

The cleaning cloth

Look what came in the mail yesterday? This book is way bigger and heavier than I thought it would be. I have yet to have a chance to look at it. But it was written by the person who did the Zoom talk on the Red Cross quilts a couple of weeks ago. 

A book about Alberta Quilts and their makers

I didn't get a chance to sew yesterday, but I've already made up for that lost time this morning, and I'm happy with my progress. I won't share yet! But by the end of the weekend, you'll see some fantastic show and tell. 

And my portable design board hasn't been clear for MONTHS. It's not clear now, but you'll see it all on Sunday. 

That's what my design wall looks like!

And just a note about pressing. One of the quilts I'm making has loads of points and some applique bits. I'm unsure how this author suggests pressing, but many of the "newer" quilters suggest pressing seams OPEN. ACK!! That just kills me. If you know how to press, you can FLATTEN anything. I do not use starch, yet my seams are as flat as pancakes. This is done with a SIMPLE iron, my finger, and set with steam! 

Pressed seams are FLAT

I didn't have a chance to tackle anything further on the desktop, so quickly this morning, I grabbed three things, and guess what? Well, there were more than three items. With little hesitation, all three things went into the recycling or the garbage! Now, I need to just keep doing that. Whenever I walk into the office, I should grab three things and deal with them! How exciting that would be! 

And the boxes from the basement are half dealt with. The ones that needed to be recycled are broken down and ready to be walked to the garage. There is one more to bring up, and then to put the others back into the cold room. 

Yep -- I'm making progress - slow but steady. That's the only way I can deal with this. And every time I tackle it - it's less to deal with the next time. So while you may think I'm a hoarder - I'm a hoarder on a mission to get rid of crap! 

The other thing I MUST attempt is to do things. Things like my thimble collection, which came off the wall when the new windows were installed. That was at least two, or was it three years ago? The thimble collection is lying on that desktop. I have fun pieces of art I purchased eons ago, which are in a box. That stuff MUST be hung up so I can enjoy it NOW. I could try to do one thing every day - I'll see how it goes. I'm busy for this weekend, and then next week is quiet!

Ooops - an entire box of stick candles is now in the recycling box. I could make a game out of getting rid of that stuff! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!