Friday, June 21, 2013

Company Girls Coffee 062113

Good morning! Coffee over there for the hardy souls; iced tea for the rest of you. Summer officially arrived at 12:04 a.m. today, and she's brought with her what promises to be a full week or more of temperatures around ninety with high humidity.

Yuck.

In addition to staying in cooled buildings and cars as much as possible, my anti-heatstroke arsenal includes a personal cooling device - a handheld fan. It lives in my purse, and is much prettier to use than a folded up church bulletin or a miscellaneous receipt. This one was on a deeper discount when I bought it, and based on past experience, it should last me at least three summers.

(It was sitting on the dining room table shortly after I bought it, when I spilled a cup of coffee. Some quick blotting, a day drying open and a day refolded with a book on top of it, and it is as good as new (no stain at all - yay, silk!). Sure, it smells just a little bit like coffee when I use it, but I can live with that!)

This last week I finished a quilt I cannot blog about until it is mailed (just call me a tease) on Monday. While it is cute, the machine quilting shows clearly, at least to me, that there is a distinct learning curve with the special quilting foot on the 830. Call me old fashioned, but the next quilt I'm planning to quilt my old way; I feel no great need to need to practice for months to quilt with the new foot at the same level I already quilt without it.

Finishing up that took up a good part of last weekend. Lazy since then, saving energy for this coming week. Canasta Chicks are trying a new day and time, meeting Saturday morning rather than Friday night. Thanks to condo purchases and general life changes, we all live much further apart; daytime travelling is easier. The move may be good for my cards luck, as I'm so much more alert in the morning.

Sunday I'm on tech team at church, which takes all of the morning, plus some. Monday is my last vacation day of the fiscal year, and I've my annual physical. Wednesday, I've a dentist appointment and my eye exam, at opposite ends of the day. Thursday I've a hair appointment.

None of this is particularly onerous, but the thought of doing all that running around during the hottest week of the year has me exhausted already.

In between the running, I plan to sit completely still, with the Kindle in front of my face and a cold drink at my side. Currently in process or just finished: A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet: Southern Stories of Faith, Family, and Fifteen Pounds of Bacon;

5 comments:

Katharine said...

I like when Summer arrives, but I really don't like the humidity! We've been fortunate to be able to leave our air conditioning off, but I think that's all about to change! Have a wonderful weekend!

Unknown said...

Is the regular way you quilt by hand? How long does it take to do a quilt that way? I've only done small quilts so far and done them on the machine but I'm thinking by hand would be better for a bigger one but I don't know. I'm new to it all. :)

Visiting from Company Girls. :)

Tiffany
http://thecraftyhome.net

Diane said...

Hi Tiffany - once upon a time, I handquilted EVERYTHING. A big quilt (the largest two I did that way were a twin sampler and a 72" quilt destined for my sister's wall) takes many, many movies and tv shows to finish. I couldn't even tell you how many hours. But it is extremely relaxing, if hard on the fingers. I gave a mini-session on hand quilting at a quilt guild years ago; let me know your e-mail if you want me to send you a copy of the materials.

Anonymous said...

I like the plan to sit completely still with the Kindle and cold drink much better than the running around. :p Hope it is a good weekend!!

Rachel Anne said...

I'm with Joyce - go for the iced tea and kindle! I hope you had a chance to relax and enjoy some time to yourself. Fascinating about quilting...I have never tried it and I fear it will be something this "Nana" will not pass down....boo. I think I'm too impatient!

Blessings, Rachel