IN Carmel

 Last night was a long sleep.  Hooray!  Could eliminating some responsibilities make that so?  I'm beginning to think so.  So the morning at home was shorter than usual.  I took time to check on my Dahlia children.  All are just fine.   On the way to church we stopped at Rita's to pick up some clams for Bread and Bowl folks.  Rita attaches a label to the clams with instructions on how to heat the food.  Then off to church just in time to hear the choir rehearse again.  That's so important to us. We get a double anthem for the morning.   Heidi sat with us and there was lots of planning conversation before church and much more after church that involved upcoming Advent activities.  We will again extend an invitation to folks to visit the nativities that can be found through out the church in December.  We have a week day in mind.  Perhaps more if asked.  The sermon words forgiving and reconciliation ...

 The work part of the morning started with doing one more thing to number six banner.  What is left to do is sew on the material that when hung the pole that hangs banners in the sanctuary has a place to go. That's an easy thing to do but it must be correct or the banner will not hang straight.  Yikes  I don't need that kind of problem to happen.  Patty will come this afternoon and take the whole bunch back home to add her touch next week when Tom is off fishing.  So with that all in mind...What was the task for today after the sewing machine was turned off?  That wasn't hard to see.  Time to clean up.  That really started last night while I was watching TV.  The condition of the floor with fabric scraps, thread and who knows what else was there was driving me nuts. So at 9:30 I retrieved the sweeper from it's often hidden place and ran it until the two rooms I was using for the project at least had a cleaner floor. So, today's work was ...

 Well, as you can see the picture problem is still with us. There might be another way to get at this bug.  Just hang in there.  Eventually we'll get this solved.  If a college kid who works on computers is stumped there really is a problem. But we had a great visit with Andrew so all was not a lost cause.  Just some. Today.  What happened?  As you might remember, yesterday was a day at the sewing machine.  It was a sitting and pressing job for sure.  Well, today has been a standing job.  My legs are numb.  Did I need to do a standing job all day?  Of course not but there are times when the get her done just takes over.  So I got more completed on the banners with 5 of the six put together.  Not finished but they are together.  That took standing at a table with fabric pieces and flannel with a lot of pinning and basting for each banner.  All of that work meant that problems that I could have had didn't happ...

 So far the day is without storms.  Will it stay that way.  I certainly don't know but  maybe you do.   I would say it was a morning of sewing.  All morning.  I have heard from choir members and I know they speak the truth having been one myself, that when banners are hung, they see a plain piece of fabric hanging on each side of the sanctuary.  Often when decorating has been done the balcony doesn't show any interest.  That's their line of sight.  So with that in mind, the morning was spent working on all six backings of the banners with more strip quilting in progress.  And that was completed.  So with both sides now near completion it's time to think of what needs to happen inside the banner to give it some weight that produces good  hanging.  The material can't be something that will sag over time.  It can't be to heavy or to light but just right as Goldilocks would say.  I think the next stop might...

 What a strange day.  I'm thinking weather.  I wanted to keep the warm inside instead of letting in the cold.  Strange for August, I would say.  Then there were the rain storms with thunder and rain down pours just like when we receive hurricane rain from the south.  There was a lot of that for sure.  So it was a pretty much an inside day.  The lawn guys didn't come.  Garbage pick up was early. It certainly was just a different kind of summer day. So what was I up to.  I would say I was at the sewing machine for the whole day.  And the first part of many parts has been complete.  How many parts to come?  I haven't counted. When I'm finished and the banners are at church, I'll know.  I'm happy to say that I'm on the way.  Sometimes starting is the hardest part.  Now if I didn't like to do this kind of project , I might be complaining.  But working with fabric and just letting the pattern come as it will ...

 I pretty much stayed out of the garden today.  No cart followed me around so I didn't need to fill it.  The clippers stayed on the kitchen counter so no clipping happened.  I did cut some Dahlias but that is an easy job that doesn't take much energy.  I did a bit of sewing preparation but just a little. When the clock told me it was 10:15, I was on my way to 16th street again to see my Neurologist.  Another title I give her is my seizure doctor.  She is so sweet and we visited for about 15 minutes talking about everything.  I'll see her again in a year.  The pills are working so pill taking will continue.   Then back home on the ranch and it was work time with fabric, sewing machine and the cutting table.  More things were ready for the put together part of banner making. I assembled the first of six banner fronts.  The first one isn't finished but it's pretty far along.  Later in the day I started the second banner....