Stitchin’ Friday!

I finished my desk work at 5pm.

Well, not finished really – there is so much to be done that it feels like it will NEVER be finished.  But I stepped away from the desk, the keyboard, the book writing in an effort to follow what my friend Irene has been telling me to do for months. 

“You have to take time for yourself and your own projects or you are going to burn out!”

I know!  I know!

But it’s always a bit tough on the re-bound from a long trip, be it state-side or overseas.  There is so much to catch up on that the light at the end of the tunnel is pushed further back as priorities shift just a bit.

Thanks to waiting on a shipment of Essential Triangle Tools and Simple Folded Corners Rulers for our On Ringo Lake mystery I have found myself being able to shift to some other deadlines – AND some time for evening piecing.

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Tiananmen Square Revisited

This is my friend Jill and I after an early morning walk before breakfast, outside of our hotel in Beijing.

We are both early risers, and each morning around 4:30am would come a ping on my phone. “Are you up? Want to go walking?” 

YES! Was the immediate answer as I’d likely been up for an hour or more already.  We’d usually head out between 6:30am and 6:45am back in time to grab breakfast and make it to the bus on time for the day’s adventures.

Interesting things about big-city China – They wash the streets.  OFTEN!  And I’m not talking just a left-sweeper type action but with huge trucks and tons of hosing force.  The streets were always wet as if from a recent deluge of rain.

There were some clips from our walking adventures that I was able to post up to Facebook and Instagram, but unable to share on the blog due to blogging by email with connectivity issues.  I’m still rather happy that I was able to get through what I did get through!

After dinner on our fist night in Beijing, loaded with energy and upside-down body clocks, we set out to find an ATM and stretch our legs in our new surroundings:

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All In A Wednesday.

The title of this post should be edited to include “And the wee small hours of Thursday morning…”

It’s been quite the madhouse over here.  One thing after another.

Just when you think you’ve caught your rhythm, someone or something changes the dance.

But we keep on going!

I’ve been on the phone constantly with family in Idaho regarding my Father-in-law who has been defying all odds even though the end is immanent. So much love being sent out to him from here.

And in the midst of it all comes a text message from the hubster with a photo of a featherweight that was found in the basement.  WHAT?!

After all of these years of sewing, no one thought that I might be able to use that “old dirty machine in the broken black box?!”

The serial number dates it to 1941.

It is thought to have belonged to Dave’s grandmother on his mom’s side, Grandma Snader, but we are checking around to be sure this didn’t belong to his step-mom’s family. (Dave's own mom died in 1983 and his dad remarried several years later.)

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Sadie and the Late Night Vet.

This is one pitiful girl.

She was acting a bit “sad” and out of sorts yesterday afternoon, and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was.  We even took a 3 hour nap together and she just didn’t seem like herself.

It wasn’t until Jeff came home and tried to get her to roll over for her usual “tricks for treats” time when we noticed she wouldn’t roll.

Upon closer inspection we found she had a 3” or more gash in her side.  Not bleeding, but definitely oozing.  More than simply skin deep.

There we were at 8pm on Halloween night at the emergency 24 hour vet.

We think she tried to crawl UNDER The neighbor’s chain link fence to play with their dog as they are great friends.  We don't’ know for sure.

The chain link fence is a recent addition at our neighbor’s, put up so that their dog could run free without running free, and now there is a fence between two friends to deal with.

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