How Much is Enough

Two vastly conflicting stories have got me thinking-again-about the worlds inequalities. My husband and I recently watch a show about a family in dire straights. They had eleven children, six of whom had been taken from an unfit mother, and lived in a home that was not only very small but very rundown. Despite the circumstances, the family members obviously loved each other and were doing the best they could.
Contrast this with the recent Russian moon flight with a multimillionaire paying 34 million dollars to go along as a tourist. Yes, it was his money and yes, he used the publicity to promote the need of preserving world water supplies but the whole thing left me wondering where our priorities had gone. It is possible that this individual spends a great deal of money on charitable projects but all those in need would see is a vast waste of money.
Having said all that, I think many people could put at least some of their resources to better use.
How many pairs of shoes do we really need? How many handbags, items of clothing etc are necessary? Of course, I am not going to mention the pile of fabric I have and how often I add to it (including today).
I don't think we need to give up all our pleasures but we should be aware of opportunities to share our bounty with those in need. And, most of all, to continue in the mood of the weekend just past, we need to be thankful for what we have.

Thanksgiving

It is now Monday evening and I have finished my second Thanksgiving meal. On Saturday, we had 17 family and friends at our house. It was a wonderful day. The weather was nice enough that people were able to go for a walk and visit out of doors. Some of the men ate outside also which helped ensure there was enough space for everyone to have a table of some sort.
Today, our next door neighbours invited my husband and I over for their first Thanksgiving in their new home. They bought the property next to ours and originally planned to move in in five years. However, a series of events caused a change of plans and a flurry of activity made it possible for them to live there now. The husband, who is a contractor as well as a skilled handyperson, converted a garage that was on the property into a small but comfortable home. They will add on to it in the spring but they have a snug one bedroom house until then. They are great people and we are glad to have them living there so soon.
We are starting to get a bit of snow. It isn't staying on the ground but it is fair warning that winter will arrive in the not to distant future. We finished getting the garden ready, put away lawn furniture, garden gnomes and other bits and pieces today. Tomorrow I have my snow tires put on the car. I never bothered with them when we lived in the city but they really are a necessity here.
In between all that activity, I got my studio organized once again in time for some serious pre-Christmas sewing.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

First Quilts and Beyond

Quilting, and my understanding of it, has changed a great deal over the years. When I first decided to make a quilt, I had absolutely no idea of how they were done. I am sure I didn't know that seams should be a quarter inch wide. I certainly wasn't aware that 100 percent cotton should be used or how close the top stitching should be. Despite all that, I did manage to produce a red and blue flannel quilt for my son. I then decided to do one completely by hand. The diamonds were cut from templates, sewn together with the borders added all without benefit of a sewing machine. A major undertaking. That quilt was also for my son. He recently celebrated his fortieth birthday and it still isn't done! I have, of course, made dozens since starting that one and I expect that, one day, it will get finished.

Since those early days, my sewing machines have got progressively more complicated-and expensive. I have a wall full of various gadgets, rulers and rotary cutters. I also have software on my computer that helps me design, see how much fabric I need and print out the templates for patterns. Electric Quilt (EQ) is a wonderful innovation and I use it constantly. It doesn't take the place of having a good basic knowledge of the rules for quilting but it makes following those rules much, much easier.

It will be interesting to see what other developments there will be in this craft I enjoy so much. The quilt block that accompanies this blog is one I designed on EQ. I call it Progression as it is such a far cry from my early quilts. If you would like the pattern, let me know. If you would like to see what it looks like in a quilt, I can send you a photo

The Beat of a Different Drummer

My husband has a rare and marvellous ability. He is able to see the wonder in the most mundane event or item. This characteristic is one of the reason why I love him so when he recently asked me to come out and 'see something really interesting', I turned off the stove and put on my coat. When he pointed to the sunflowers that had been deheaded by deer earlier in the season, I thought that either he was getting more forgetful than I thought or he had discovered some delight in a withered stem. Then I saw what he saw. On either side of where the flower had been, little buds were sprouting. The sunflower hadn't given up even though it was almost winter and it had lost its main source of food and propagation. It was, indeed, interesting.
I will have to admit that I don't always enjoy his pleasure in the little things. When we go for a walk, I want to walk, to cover the ground. Roger, on the other hand, likes to stop and look at leaves, a flower, a rock, the way the sun shines or the formation of the clouds. When we lived in the city, we often used the back alley as our exercise route. Roger would pause and peer into backyards to see how a neighbours garden was doing and I would be impatiently telling him to 'come on, already'.
In the interests of marital bliss, I now try to do my exercise walk by myself and then go for a stroll later with my husband. There is only one downside to this plan. I always take the dog with me and she likes to stop at every leaf, grass blade, unusual smell or interesting rock. I am beginning to think I am the one who is out of step.

The Winds They Do Blow

Its a blustery day in our neighbourhood! We have gust up to 80 kph which can take you by surprise if you aren't prepared. When I lived in Edmonton, we would occassionally get 100 kph winds. You certainly batten down the hatches when that happens and hope you aren't on the highway driving anything large-or very small either for that matter. I have had my motorcycle come to a stop in a head wind and seen transports blown sideways. A good day to be inside but I have to go to the village later for some Thanksgiving day preperations food.
We are keeping a close eye on the weather as we are hoping to serve the meal outside or, at least be able to take everyone for a walk along the trail. It is quite a hike so it will help counteract all those extra calories.
I already have the turkey cooking as it is huge. It is still partially frozen so will probably take a while. I have also started getting the house ready so when the day comes I won't have so much to do.
I have, as always, much to be thankful for. This year I am especially pleased to be able to celebrate with members of my family. My son, brother and their wives will be here along with most of Roger's family. It is hard for my son to get to family events as he is a trucker as well as living nearly a 6 hours drive away. He and Nora will be staying over and going to church with us on Sunday which will be another blessing.
As you are getting ready for the weekend, take a few moments each day to remember why and what we are celebrating. This is, of course, a North American holiday (our American neighbours celebrate next month) set aside by our pilgrim ancestors to celebrate their arrival in their new home. Here they found religious freedom and opportunity to live as they chose. Unlike many other counties, we are still able to claim those blessings.

The Morning After

Yesterday was a busy day. I started the blog but didn't get it finished and now I think I have changed my mind, for the moment anyway, about my topic. I have probably said some of this before but as it is a different day so perhaps it will also sound a bit different.
The quilt group I belong to here in Burk's Falls meets twice a month and yesterday was one of the days. I am not sure of the reason but it just seemed to be one of those extra nice sessions. It might have been because a couple of the ladies treated us to home baking-lucious cinamon buns and a wonderful, moist zucchini bread. It may have been because another woman brought a ton of unneeded fabric from a non group person. It may simply have been because we were quilting but it was probably a combination of all those things.
I mentioned to one of the members that, although there are women who don't get together with others, quilting really is a group activity. The sharing of projects, shopping experiences, how a grandchild loved her special blankie, working through a problem are all the fun of being together. Apart from quilting, the women in any group are usually quite diverse in their education, political leanings and background but all those things are set aside in the mutual enjoyment of
making quilts.
I love my quilt room and the time I get to spend in it listening to music and sewing but I look forward to when I can be with my group. If you are a quilter, I hope you also have someone with whom to share your interest.
And now I have a hundred and twenty four strips to cut for a quilt that the group is going to make.

Too Late Smart

I had one of those nights when you wake up far to early and then starting thinking of all the smart things you could have said in a situation. In my case, the situation was something about which I had just dreamt but that didn't stop the "I should have said" thoughts.
I hate it when I don't get enough sleep although I don't suppose anyone like it. I am so tired the next day that I can't trust my mind to make any logical decisions and I feel to ill to be able to do anything. Tired as I may be, it is rare that I am able to sleep in the day time so I just put in time until I can go to bed and get, hopefully a decent nights sleep.
I honestly don't know how some people can manage on six or less hours sleep at night. I need at least eight to feel human. Lack of sleep is not good for anyone's health or safety. Many traffic collisions are caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel or not being able to react quickly enough in an emergency. There have been a lot of devices created to combat them, most of the silly, but one company seems to have come up with a workable invention. It looks like a small black box and it measures your eye blinks. It can tell when a person is about to doze off and it emits a buzzing sound. When you hear this warning, you are supposed to pull over and get some rest. This might be a problem if you are on a freeway, driving in a snowstorm or on a narrow country road. Even under optimum conditions, I would be willing to bet, knowing the human mentality, that some drivers would just turn the warning of or simply ignore it. No matter how smart we make vehicles, they are still going to be driven by human humans.