Over socialized and under productive on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello... well last week turned out to be waaaaay busier than I expected... guess I was making up for the weeks I lost, cause I was quite the social butterfly... and I really enjoyed myself... was out to lunch or dinner or both Mon/Wed/Thurs/Friday... ate at a favorite hangout in town 3 times last week... turns out I'm not the only one who likes the food and atmosphere... was over at my older son's house twice to help them with some stuff... spent an evening with Elliott telling me all about optical illusions and these almost vintage Legos he loves called Mixels... you can find lots of info here... they were manufactured back in 2014  and came in little bags... Elliott discovered them on YouTube and is TOTALLY entranced... there are 81 of these creatures and his Daddy has acquired about 40 of them on eBay... Elliott knows ALL 81 of their names (which are odd made up ones) and has a life goal (remember he's 5) of collecting ALL of them... Daddy is trying to oblige and it is ALL Mixel conversation ALL of the time ... LOL   He's so serious about them and wants to tell me every detail of how they combine and what their "powers" are... I find it fascinating and confusing... I can't keep them all straight but I chalk that up to the fact that my 71 year old brain is already filled with other clutter... 

We had a spell of false Spring and that has been lovely too... now this weekend has been back to Winter... but I have high hopes for more sunny days in the upper 50s next week... fingers crossed that the weather guys aren't lying to me.

After a phone call, a text message and 2 emails I got the mobility company to come and take away the ramp and the lift chair... yeah!!!  And then I was able to put the porch back together and I've sat out there several times and enjoyed the sun. OH I am soooo happy to have my porch back... sat out there in the sun all afternoon yesterday and it was wonderful!!! However, I'm not digging the lack of decor out there... too late to put out snowmen... my plan right now is to get them back in their plastic bins at the end of this week... and too early for Easter bunnies... but right now have a plan to bring up a little Spring stuff ... nature abhors a vacuum and I abhor an undecorated room... LOL

Well all my socializing left me tired and I'm also blaming it on the physical therapy... I haven't had a lot of pain but boy  I was pooped several evenings ... still need to work on building up my stamina....productivity has been lacking ...  got a bit of stitching in on  Vibrant Flowers... but I still have that dress to tackle...

I thought about putting this down and working on something else ... but I plodded on... I do want to stitch a couple of smalls for Easter... got a couple of ideas... need to look for some yellow linen in my stash.

I did get a bit of sewing done... finished the American Jane Spool quilt...

this is only 45" x 55" and I'm going to hang it over my cutting table. Freshening up some decor in the house here and there... saw some drapes I may want for my bedroom... it's been 11 years and some things could be updated. 

And then there were little bow tie blocks left over this quilt....

and they were sitting by my sewing machine and they started talking to me... soooo I sewed 16 into a little mini quilt top... just gonna do some straight line machine quilting on this... 

and another half dozen into a little mug rug... 

I'm particularly fond of the block the with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle... good memories of my boys loving that show... 

I didn't get any more done on the projects I had on my design wall last week... and I did find a new to me quilt pattern that has me intrigued... Tulip & Vine by A Quilting Life... you can find it as a PDF download here and it's on sale... 

I almost bought the kit for this but after looking at it closely I can not bring myself to make gray tulips... I could probably do blue ones, but not gray... so I decided I want to make this with my American Jane fabrics... red, yellow, orange and pink tulips... I LOVE tulips but don't plant them because they are just a dessert buffet for the deer... so instead I made tulip quilts.... 

like this one....

and this one... 

and this mini one... 

I'm chomping at the bit for Spring to arrive!! I figure I have 4 more weeks before the big garden outlet store re-opens ... and then probably 2 to 3 weeks after that before they are fully stocked... and the caveat that I really shouldn't put any annuals in the ground till after Mother's Day which is May 11 this year... 

I'm walking better every day so I shouldn't have any trouble working in the yard... and speaking of the yard, I'm pursuing my plan to have sprinklers and a drip irrigation system installed. I got one estimate last week, another guy is scheduled to come on Tuesday of this week and I'm playing telephone tag with a 3rd guy... I'd like 3 good estimates before I pick a contractor... and then after that I need to work on the  front porch project... and then I have a plan for permanent Christmas lights... gonna be busy outside my house this Summer.... 

Well last week got busy all on its own...  and this week is already stacked and packed... Monday I have a session with the personal trainer at her gym instead of her coming to my house... more equipment there to play with.. luckily she's only 2 blocks from my house and then in the afternoon I have a semi-annual eye appointment... now I never know for sure how long that one will take... sometimes they just do a modified exam and you're in and out in about an hour... other times it is a full production with them dialating your eyes and doing a bunch of tests and you need to pack and lunch and spend the day... sheesh... Tuesday I have the sprinkler guy coming in the morning and physical therapy in the afternoon... Wednesday I get my hair cut and colored... Thursday more physical therapy and I'm suppose to get my teeth cleaned but I think I'll push that back a week or two... 

Friday I have to have the AC unit that was installed back in like May inspected... I had to have this done for the furnace I had installed 2 years ago....  I think this is a county requirement but it is totally useless from what I can see. One guy comes and does an electrical "inspection" which consisted of looking at the electrical panel from about 5 feet away... he then put a 2 part sticker on the furnace. It took him longer to walk from my front door to the basement than it did for him to "inspect" it. Then a different guy has to come and he looks at the HVAC unit and he tears off the bottom part of the sticker and leaves... again it takes longer to walk from the front door to the basement than to do the "inspection".   Now I forgot about this "requirement" after the HVAC unit was installed. I was reminded by the company that installed it back in November...then you have to call the local municipality to get this show started... they just sent me a letter last week saying I need to get this done in the next 30 days... WT???  It took you 3 months to get back to me but I have to do it in 30 days??? Anyway I don't know exactly when this guy is coming... I have to call into their office between 7:30 and 8:30 and on Friday morning and then they'll give me a 1 hour window... how do people who work deal with this?? I'm retired but if you worked and didn't live close to home how could you rush back to let this guy in?? Needless to say I do not understand why this needs to be done as I had it installed by a reputable company with 30 years of experience... the cost of these "inspections" is rolled into the price of the unit but I swear this is some sort of kickback... I think this whole process needs to be reviewed... can you tell this annoys me? Sorry for the rant...

Oh I saw a couple more things I may have to get at the Needlework Market coming up the end of the week... Blackbird Designs a booklet that is a MUST BUY for me... Sweet Bird Sings...  that needle roll with the birds... ooooohhh... I saw this about a year ago when it was the class project at a retreat and I've been wanting it ever since... 

This is a pic of the original... I think it is charted in a softer palette... and I'd like to add an alphabet at the bottom... 

And this new release from Little House Needlework called Farmer's Market... 

If you enlarge the pic you can see there is a chicken at the bottom by the X... I'm sure I can make it polka dotted... LOL I've done the other 5 charts in this series... there are the 4 seasons and one that is needle work themed... I love all of them... and this one is no exception. Need to look at my wish list and put in some pre-orders.

Okay I'm going to link up with Kathy's Quilts and Quilting is More Fun than Housework... hope your upcoming week is a good one... I'm hoping for more productivity but it may be just hoping...

happy stitching-

carol fun