Journal: Computers & Quilts & Baby's Birthday

 

Tuesday, I edited a couple hundred pictures, then backed up my laptop on three external hard drives.  When that was done, I carried one of the hard drives upstairs to my sewing room and updated the newer laptop I keep up there.

I like the older computer better than the newer one, which has a smaller screen and keyboard; but the older laptop has a weak link:  the charging port.  The laptop itself is still going strong, working perfectly; but the plug is getting loose and not making good connection in that jack – and in that computer, the jack is part of the motherboard.

The same thing happened on a previous laptop, and they gave me a replacement, putting my own hard drive into the replacement so I didn’t have to reload programs and data.  I don’t know if they’ll do it again or not.  This is a big flaw on an otherwise excellent computer – a bad location for the charging port, right on the back, and soldered into the motherboard.  Bad idea.  Techs refuse to try soldering in a new jack, as they figure they’ll wind up frying the motherboard.

I have a large separate screen that we got with the newer, smaller laptop.  It resides quietly upstairs in my rolltop desk, and hasn’t seen the light of day for months.  I think it’s time for me to dust and spruce up my desk and little office up there, and get the screen and laptop set up so everything is handy.

While all that data was traveling from one electronic device to another, I finished putting together the little Pine Tree blocks, then removed the paper from the back of the blocks.  Paper-piecing is time-consuming; but using paper foundations makes the piecing perfectly exact, and I like that.  While I pulled the paper off, I listened to (and watched, looking up now and then) a YouTube video of British people renovating a chateau and an abandoned convent in France.

For supper that evening, we had chicken pot pie, Oui yogurt, and a couple of soft lemon cookies for dessert.

On Tuesday evenings/Wednesday mornings, I pose a quilting-related question to my Quilt Talk group.  I call our discussion ‘The Winding Thread’.  Last week’s question was, “What silly thing have you done, when learning to quilt or sew?”  I went first:

When I first started paper-piecing, having no good directives in the pattern booklet I was using, and not having enough wits (or high-speed Internet) to look for online tutorials, I sewed all the way around every single little piece of fabric, to affix it to the paper.  Believe me, I created a whole lot of extra work for myself – and the sewing part was a drop in the bucket.  The greatest amount of extra work was in picking all that paper out of all that stitching.

Furthermore, I did all the paper-piecing before ever removing the first smidgen of paper, so I didn’t realize the trouble I’d created until I’d finished all the blocks.  And you’ll never guess what size the quilt was.  (Or will you?)  Yeah.  King-sized.  With dozens of blocks.

When I finally began removing the paper, I felt exactly like Dave Hood, of the Dave and Becky “There Goes A ----” children’s videos:  “I sure shouldn’t’ve done that!”

And we mustn’t forget about the time I sewed a sleeve into a neckhole.  The child had to have a chiropractic treatment after every time she wore that dress.

Wednesday, I was happy to find more cream background fabrics amongst my scraps, so I could cut the pieces to tilt the trees.  😄  That sounds funny.

I did this ‘tilting’ by sewing right scalene triangles to all sides of the blocks.  And there we were, then, with tilted Pine Trees!

It was a nice day here, considering it’s the middle of January, with temperatures in the mid 40s.

After we got home from our midweek church service, we had a late supper of Sesame Chicken with rice.

A few days ago, Teddy and Amy’s Anatolian shepherd had twelve puppies.  Here’s a picture Teddy sent to Larry.

Male Anatolians can get to 150 lbs., and the females, 120 lbs.  They are gentle dogs, and good with other animals.

Thursday, I did the laundry, watered the houseplants, did a bit of housecleaning, and then got back to Levi’s ‘Heaven & Nature Sing’ quilt.

Loren’s death certificates arrived in the mail, so I made an appointment with an attorney so we can get all the various matters resolved.  I will see him tomorrow morning.

That evening, I cooked a couple of large yams in the Instant Pot, and they were perfect.  I like them with butter and brown sugar.  Larry pretends he does.  We opened the box of sausages and cheeses that Kurt and Victoria gave us for Christmas and had some turkey sausage and slices of three-cheese-and-onion blend.  At least Larry didn’t have to pretend he liked that.  I told him it was his reward, for eating the yams.  😅  We had pecan pie for dessert.  I know, that’s sort of an odd menu; but we enjoyed it.  Or at least half of us enjoyed most of it.

By bedtime, I was glad to see that the scrappy cream-on-cream sashing was making the 3D shadowing on the scenic blocks show up as intended.  

Friday, I worked on Levi’s quilt until evening, when we went to baby Arnold’s first birthday party.  We had a little blue and navy knit outfit and wooden animal stacking toys to give him.

By noon that day, it was 46°, but with the 35-mph gusts, the windchill was at 34°.  I shined up the bathroom and then filled the bird feeders.  Birds were all over those feeders before I even got the patio door shut.  I need to replace a couple of the feeders that the birds can’t seem to get seed out of very well.  The squirrels and raccoons can get the seeds out all right; but they, too, aim for the easy ones first, of course.  There’s one that has a clear pitcher that can be removed from the holder to easily refill it, and when it is twisted back into place, the openings at the bottom theoretically turn to open.  But the seeds don’t drop down into the feeding ports.  The squirrels and raccoons just grab it and give it a good shake, and seeds come rattling down.  They gobble them up, grab the feeder, give it a shake, and down come more seeds.  It’s so funny to watch them.  Nothing wrong with the way the gears turn in those furry little heads!

I heard this on the radio that morning:  “Jane Dagmar Doe died January 16 at age 72.  A celebration will be held tomorrow at the Village Community Center.”  They didn’t even bother to say ‘Celebration of Life’.  Just ‘celebration’. 

That just sounds... wrong.  “Yaaaaay!!!!  She finally keeled over!”

Unless they really are all happy that she died.  Then I suppose they should celebrate. 

No, that’s not right, either.

Do people think if they call a funeral a ‘celebration’, they won’t feel as sad, or what?

That evening, Arnold was dressed in a cute little orange plaid shirt, black denim overalls with Tigger embroidered on the front, and an orange and black knit hat.  The decorations were old-fashioned Winnie the Pooh.  There's a map of the Hundred Acre Wood on the kitchen wall behind the table:

Victoria helped Arnold open his gifts.  He was playing with the wooden stacking animals before they were ever out of the box.  😄

Here he is with another of the toys he got, a wooden road grader.

Late morning Saturday, it was 16°, with a windchill of -8°.  The wind was blowing steadily at 23 mph with higher gusts.  I put on a pair of flipflops and went out coatless and wet-haired to straighten a squirrel-tilted bird feeder – and then filled three other feeders while I was at it.  It did not feel as cold as advertised, maybe because I always get hot after a shower.  Or maybe because the other weather app is more accurate:  17°, windchill -3°, wind steady at 15 mph, gusts 21 mph.  

Hmmm.  Doesn’t seem like that would make much difference.  On my back deck, it was bright and sunny, and I didn’t notice any wind at all.  Maybe my house was in a warm bubble?

I cleaned the kitchen and then headed back to my quilting studio to figure out a pleasing layout for all the odd-shaped pieces, and then cut background pieces to make them all fit.  I don’t have an absolute layout for this quilt; I’m just sort of cobbling it together hopefully as I go along.

Here's Violet and one of her little cousins having a rip-roaring balloon joust.

During a text chat with Victoria that afternoon, she sent an animated Tetris heart.  It reminded me of how I got really good at that game, back when we got our first computer.  But before long I was considering the time I’d wasted, and decided, No more games.  Ever.  

I kept my word.

Why, if someone so much as sends me an invitation to play a Facebook game with them, I not only delete the post, I remove the person from my Friends list!  😅 

Victoria sent a picture of Arnold in the little outfit we gave him.  I was glad to see it fit just right.  Today’s baby clothes are so much nicer than baby clothes were when our children were little, although by the time Caleb came along, they were softer and better than when Keith was little.  Some of those things were like canvas from Army Surplus Stores!

By bedtime Saturday night, I had a good quarter, maybe even a third, of the Heaven & Nature Sing quilt top together.  I have 59 ½ hours of work in this quilt now.

One of Larry’s cousins asked, “Don’t you ever get tired of making quilts?”

No, I don’t get tired of it.  I sewed clothes for a lot more years than I’ve sewn quilts.  Quilts are like playtime in comparison to sewing clothing.  I never make anything the same way twice, so there’s nothing to get tired of!  😄

At 8:00 Sunday morning, it was -6°, with a windchill of -35°.  The high temperature that day would be 8°.  I was getting ready for church – and I was boiling hot as usual after blow-drying my hair, so the window was open.  Just a crack, mind you!

I always debate with myself on mornings like that:  If I wear something cozy and warm, will I roast to death in church?  Sometimes they crank the heat up on these cold, cold days, and those of us who actually dress for the weather suffer!  I decided my black corduroy suit jacket and ruffled skirt with the mulberry stitching would be just the ticket.

Every now and then, I miss spotting this face on my sewing table.

But I am glad when I pull out my wool coats, and they don’t have cat fur all over them.

 On YouTube there’s a little excerpt from what I reckon must be an old movie.  The scene is inside a sparsely-populated church where a funeral is being conducted, and the people are singing a lively version of Jesus Shall Reign.  The soundtrack sounds like a decent-sized choir with a slight preponderance of women’s voices.  However, in the church and in the choir loft too, there are only a few men in dark suits and one woman – or possibly two – clad similarly in dark dresses with white collars.  The incongruity between what I’m hearing and what I’m seeing bothers my sensibilities, to say nothing of the impropriety of the song itself, for a funeral.

Then, in the middle of the song, the camera view changes from the overhead shot taken from the rear of the church to close-ups of the singers’ faces – and there are all the women, suddenly, in colorful dresses.  And there’s a ratio of ten women to every one man.  Furthermore, the soundtrack has changed, too.  Now there are only women’s soprano voices – and one man’s very deep voice, singing along exactly two octaves below the women.  There is no tenor, and no alto.

My delicate sensibilities are not just bothered, they are indeed trampled upon.

We saw a light in one of Teddy’s sheds last night, and he told Larry today that they have a new little lamb.  Brrrrr, it’s a cold, cold time for baby animals to arrive!  I worry about Teddy outside caring for those animals, when it’s this cold out.

At noon today, it was 3° here in middle Nebraska, with a windchill of -25°.  I filled the bird feeders, and they were immediately covered with American goldfinches, house finches, English sparrows, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, and a red-bellied woodpecker.  I’ve run out of black-oil sunflower seeds and ordered more, but they won’t arrive until Thursday.  Maybe Larry can pick some up for me.

It’s chilly in this old farmhouse, so I’m all decked out in two sweaters, the outer one very thick and warm.  I have on a chenille scarf, fleece leggings, a denim skirt, and two pairs of socks, including thick fleece-lined slipper socks lined with a top roll of Sherpa fur.

By 4:00 p.m., the temperature had dropped to 1°, with a windchill of -33°.  It was supposed to get up to 4°, but the mercury headed the wrong way immediately after 12:00 p.m.

The window beside the table where I like to type is very drafty, and my hands get cold.  I have some fingerless gloves, but there’s fur on them and it gets in my way, so I’ve just ordered myself some new pairs of knit fingerless gloves.  I got a few different styles, and will give some away for birthday gifts.  Probably.  Unless they’re all really cute, and I get really greedy.

I often like to have a few nuts in the afternoon.  That’s my ‘lunch’, between breakfast and supper.

When most of the kids were still at home, I could never pour myself a handful of nuts but what I’d find Caleb smack-dab in front of me, smiling, and saying, “Hi, Mama.”

So I would pour a little handful for him, too, and tell him to crunch quietly, if there wasn’t enough for everybody.

He’d go off giggling to find himself a corner somewhere to eat his nuts.

At 6:00 p.m., it was -4°, and felt like -38°.  Larry came rushing in the door, having stopped by momentarily, hoping for something to eat. 

“I’m working on Jehosaphat’s pickup,” he informed me, “and I need a bigger hammer!”

That made me laugh – and he hadn’t even meant to be funny.

Fortunately, I’d put some ribs that my nephew Kelvin gave us for Christmas into the oven half an hour earlier.  He’d seasoned them to perfection.  The whole house smelled good, from those ribs.

We took a few bites – and I immediately sent a note to Kelvin, telling him that these were the best ribs we’ve ever had, bar none.

And now it’s midnight, and 12 below zero.  The wind has died down, so the windchill is ‘only’ -24°.

Time to quit blathering weather reports, thwack this laptop shut, and head for the feathers!  I need to be at the attorney’s office in the morning.

Goodnight!

 

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,

 

THTHTH-WHAAAACK!