Dog Days of Summer, Yet?

The best part of yesterday afternoon.

Remember those days of just sitting on the grass in the shade of a tree when you were a kid?

And yes, the grass needs a good mowing, it seems to grow inches per day – we may need a hay baler by weeks end!

Yesterday was a busy Monday, though a quiet one, in the aftermath of putting all back in place following the busy retreat weekend.

I appreciated the quiet.

I tended to things one at a time, checking them off my list and watching the list get shorter with each line across the page.

With each group, come some things that need attending to – it seems while sitting and being unused, the freezer in the kitchen has begun to form icebergs in the bottom underneath the bottom basket (side by side fridge) and further inspection showed a fan area also at the bottom frozen and iced over.

The fridge side also has a cold spot, cold enough to freeze eggs even though the temp isn’t set that low. (How can I explain this in a way that folks won’t just reply “adjust the temperature." Believe me – we have tried all of the usuals.)

I chipped out and removed the iceberg (It was nearing on 1’’ thick yesterday morning) and dried everything out, but by afternoon it was doing it again.

The consensus last evening was just to unplug everything, let the fan area thaw and then try again today.

It is not the ice maker.  That was already seen to.

Perhaps it’s like an a/c unit that once frozen over needs to thaw before it can work again.

Or like us people – just unplug for a while and then we can work again!

This photo was taken of Zoey just chillin’ in the grass as we sat underneath the shade of the big tree watching traffic go by.

I need to do more of this.  Perhaps with a book.  Or some handwork.  And the next time I will be grabbing that big and heavy double knit log cabin quilt off of the porch pew, laying it down and lounging upon it.

These are the best ways I know to enjoy summer.

Umpteen loads of laundry have been washed, folded and made ready for the next group.

While I still hate folding fitted sheets (there is no NEAT way to do that! LOL!) stacks of clean, soft and fluffy laundry bring a sense of peaceful accomplishment that my inner teenager would never understand.

Folding towels, warm from the dryer as therapy?  You betcha!

Mail order out the door on time starting my week of right – and leaving me time to work on something where no photos could be shared.  Oh, really?  Guess what that just might mean?  Yep!  it’s that time of year again!

On the cabin front -

Deck staining is happening!

All of the power washing happened a couple of weeks ago, but we needed a stretch of days with no rain to get the staining process under way.

It looks GREAT!  Of course, we need more stain, not knowing how the power-washed wood would soak up a gallon.  Now that we know how far a gallon will go we can figure some math into the equation and plan accordingly.

Hand work didn’t happen last night either.  It was just an EXHALE kind of evening.

Sometimes all I want to do is settle in and pet the sleeping dog who has velcroed herself up against my thigh.

And that was AFTER she wore herself out doing this.  Click to Pay:

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A post shared by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Jul 13, 2020 at 12:58pm PDT

Today – more Quilting Behind the Scenes!

But I’d like to take some time and get the Snail’s Trail blocks back in production now that the cell data issue has resolved itself back at the cabin and I have the QPO back.  LOL!

Mid July – how did we get here??  And what happens next?

I found a lot of connection in this quote that came through my memory feed this morning:

Quiltville Quote of the Day

“She used a needle as often. as easily as a telephone; it was her duty, her comfort, her companion, her mode of self-expression.

And when she undertook a project of great magnitude, she was not just passing time or doing a bit of show-off needlework, she was making a statement about herself; about her skill, her patience, her ability to endure endless days of hard work and tedium for the sake of the pattern of the whole, and ultimately of her sense of her own value as a human being.”

Beth Gutcheon, from The Perfect Patchwork Primer, 1973

I love that description of “A project of great magnitude!”

What are your thoughts today?  What is on your mind?