Baby Steps This Week

Well, it's been another week. I've done a few things, though certainly not anywhere near the amount of things I should have been doing. It seems like every year I'm like, "Wow, I've reached a new low," in terms of letting things slide. My gardens are disastrous. My house needs to be cleaned. I haven't exercised enough. I'm letting my kids sit around on technology way too much. I'm not sewing enough. I'm not dedicating enough time to working on business. I have these slumps a few times every year. It just seems like everything piles on at once so that small things become outsized. Eventually I just decide, enough self pity. Let's do at least something.

I'd been pretty bad about exercising the over the last week or so. So I walked on the treadmill and made the kids go on a short walk last night. Exercising, no matter how much I may dread it, always makes me feel better. The house I'll probably let ride for another two weeks until school starts. It's much easier to clean when no one is home. The gardens can wait until it's a little cooler out I guess. If anyone local wants any, I have loads of Lamb's Ear and Iris to share. Both of these are really easy to grow and care for.

As far as sewing, I'm working on a few more Quilts for Kids tops. Those don't take a lot of mental energy and I feel that I am sewing for a good cause.

I Spy, in progress

I have the guild quilt to work on as well. It will be finished within the next three weeks, right after I quilt the donation quilts. They get first crack at the frame simply because it's already set up for them and I will need to adjust some things before I do the guild one.

I am slowly working at the business end. I'm having someone design logos for me since I lack any Photoshop/Illustrator skills and software. In fact, I've wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how I'm going to set up the new website for the quilting and agonizing over the logo proofs. It's amazing how many hours can slip by while you are looking at stuff online. So although it doesn't seem like progress, some is actually being made, although not at the rate of progress that I would have preferred.

We're in the midst of a lot of changes around here. We're getting new neighbors across the street today. I realized last night that of the fourteen nearest houses to us, only three families have been there since we moved in a little more than six years ago. I hope the new people are quiet.

We had the Andersen window rep out Monday afternoon and we are going to repair/replace all the remaining windows on the house--minus the three in the basement that were already replaced. This is going to be a huge amount of work since siding has to be removed on the outside and the trim will need to be removed on the inside. We will be (okay, my husband will be) doing the replacement work ourselves, so it will be slow going.

I'm about to have a small milestone birthday where I jump an age bracket. For my gift, I chose and purchased a handheld vacuum for my sewing room. I find it's a lot easier to sweep up a mess and then vacuum the crumbs instead of trying to get them into a dustpan. I have a similar vacuum in the laundry room upstairs and it works great. No affiliation, I just went with one that was available locally right away and at a somewhat reasonable price.

I tried making a different type of sweet pickle with some of my overripe cucumbers. The recipe I used was dead on on the amount of yield, which was nice. I made a half batch since this is a new recipe and we don't eat a ton of pickles anyway. They are supposed to sit for three weeks before opening, so it will be a while before we can try them. I probably overcooked them a tad, but since they are supposed to be "soft" hopefully this will be okay.

While most of my gardens look overgrown, in need of weeding, chewed, etc., these Phlox are looking quite nice. If you look closely, you may see a giant bumble bee in here.

Well, that's about all I care to share this week. I hope you are doing well and not in a summer slump like me. :)

Linking with Sew Fresh Quilts, For the love of geese, and My Quilt Infatuation.

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4 comments

Lisa J.July 24, 2019 at 8:40 PM
You remind me so much of me. My gardens are so overgrown it's not funny....I'm just ignoring them at this point and hoping to do a better job next year when I will be working less. I manage to exercise because I have a friend I do that with. Honestly sometimes life is a little overwhelming.....we manage to get through it somehow.
Nancy @ Grace and Peace QuiltingJuly 25, 2019 at 12:34 PM
We all go through slumps. Daily. Haha! Sounds like you have a light at the end of the tunnel with school starting in so soon. Great birthday vacuum! Is it battery operated? That's convenient!
For the love of geeseJuly 25, 2019 at 1:02 PM
I will be right there with you before the weekend passes, heat and humidity is coming back. The house doesn't care, you're really the only one who's worried what it looks like. Besides, if someone judges you by the thin layer of dust on the inside they're not worth your time. The Phlox looks great and the rest can wait. Thank you for linking up today.
For the love of geeseJuly 25, 2019 at 1:03 PM
I'm sorry, beautiful finishes too.

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