What a fabulous day. Some time spent with friends - wearing masks and social distancing, of course. But hey - the pandemic does NOT mean you need to be confined to your house and does NOT mean you can't visit with friends. Let's get out there and accept the new normal. We should NOT and will NOT let this pandemic get us down. Get OUT of the house.
I know that some people are more cautious than others, due to health or family or whatever. And we each need to make our own decisions as to how we get used to the new normal. But if you look at the numbers, the percentage of people who are getting the virus is small. In Canada, we have a population of 37,742,154. We have had 121,652 cases of COVID. So if you do the math, that's .3 percent of the Canadian population that tested positive for COVID. That's a POINT three, not three. Now let's look at the number of deaths in Canada, which is 9,020. Of those that contracted the disease, the percent that has died is 7%. And something else to keep in mind, of those that got positive results - how sick were they? We only heard of those that had to go on the ventilator, but many just had flu symptoms. We hear very little about them. A bit of fear-mongering to scare us??
As a country, we've done a fantastic job of keeping a lid on this virus, and unfortunately, many of those that died were lived in nursing homes. I'm not saying that we need to get out there and have wild parties, but the chance of us contracting the virus is very slim. If you are taking the precautions of the 3 W's - then you should be just fine.
What are the 3 W's??? Washing your hands, wearing a mask, and waiting 6 feet apart. So do your part - be sensible, have common sense, and get out and enjoy life.
So I went to see an art show yesterday at Homer Watson House & Gallery in Kitchener. I met three friends, and we had a great time looking at the fabulous art. This is the Colour with a "U" show by members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates). The pieces were amazing. Thankfully, we didn't have to pick a favorite, although I did gravitate to a couple of them. In case you're interested, SAQA hosts free Textile Talks on Wednesdays. The information is on that website.
Anyway, this was one of my favorite pieces. All those little letters, which, according to the card, was free motion embroidery??? Seriously??? - the letters were so perfect. And those leaves were a lot of work, but I'm betting that a digital cutter was involved. Who cares - the concept of the piece was brilliant. The artist is Anne Solomon. A lot of meaning in the piece as it's called Our Home ON Native Land—a great play on words.
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| A detail of my favorite piece |
I think we all bought the catalog as well, which was great as there is a picture of each piece of art and the artist's statement. I hate when they just have the images of the art pieces. If you get a chance to go - get there. The show closes on September 7. The catalog is $20 and a donation of $5 to get in. Call to book an appointment as they can have a maximum of 15 people in the building at any one time.
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| The catalog for Colour with a "U" |
The sun was blazing when we got out of the gallery, and I noticed that my "red" car isn't really red. It's pretty orange in the sun. The color is called Paprika. I'm so frustrated with the navigation system in that car. I've been meaning to write a letter ever since I got the car and well - I can't take it any longer. I paid for that darn navigation system, and it's a total piece of junk. What crap - I can't believe Toyota even put out such garbage. And then ask me how I really feel about it!!!!
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| My "red" car |
Since we were in a different town, I checked to see if they had a Value Village. Not that I need anything, but I keep my eye out for craft books, puzzles, and a few other things. So Katheleen, who did NOT need any persuasion, and I were off to Value Village.
One of the things that I look for are Scrabble games. It's very rare to find one. Can you believe we found TWO of them???? That was so odd. And she went to the other Value Village (I had to get home) and she found yet another one that was $1 cheaper than what we paid!!! That's hilarious.
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| Scrabble game |
OK -- I bought it for the letters which I know we can buy in bulk, but I'd rather buy the game. I have a couple of others. I haven't used them yet, but I will!
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| My three Scrabble boards |
I also found a couple of shirts, and I'll share what I'm going to do with those another day.
I found this, as well. I really wanted the tin postcard.
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| Bag of stuff at the thrift store |
I removed the tin postcard, and this stuff will get donated back to them.
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| To be donated back |
This I'll keep.
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| Tin postcard |
I managed to get all 48 of the blue string pieced blocks completed. They are trimmed and ready to sew together.
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| Blue string pieced blocks are DONE |
This is the bag of strings. Technically, it's only half full.
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| The bag of blue strings |
But when you put in the smaller bits that I use near the corners, it's about three-quarters full!
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| All the blue bits are in the bag |
I dug out the sheeting that I found, and I'm going to cut the next set of squares. I might as well keep going with this. I'd love to start taming the green or the red bag of scraps. It's a great feeling to get this under control.
And here are the cut off pieces. This is the kind of stuff that goes in the pet mats, not huge chunks of T-shirts, or god knows what else I got in those scrap bags from others. Sigh...............
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| The cut-off edges of the scrappy blue blocks |
I have some half-square triangles that also needed to be trimmed, so I started on those this morning.
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| Trimming the half square triangles |
I was sitting out in the backyard last night and look who I saw. Two finches. They were flitting around the bird feeder. I haven't had to fill it since I put it out, but I see it's going down very slowly!!!
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| Two finches at the birder feeder |
And look, I got my buckles for the straps on the backpack. I guess I have no more excuses for not getting that thing done!!!! Well - time - time is my excuse!!!
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| My buckles have arrived |
I was going to go cycling this morning, but I had a rough night with my knees. Not the joints - oh no. It's the darn tendons in the back of the knees that are bothering me. I'm in denial, and it's not the first time. So I'll take it easy today. I'll still walk, and I know that I shouldn't - well, I can, just not as much. Maybe I should be cycling to give the knees a rest from walking? I've had issues way before I started all this walking. One of my menisci tore many years ago. It was repaired (trimmed off), but I bet more work needs to be done.
Well, I just got another good lead on how to get my cameras focused on my presentation, so I need to follow that one today. So much to learn and so little time!!!
I'm out of here as it'll soon be time to take the monsters for their walks. Between the three of them, it now takes me between 1 and 1 ½ hours to walk them. They need to sniff, they need to pee, and well, just hang out. It's a slow process to be sure, but they love it, and the temperatures are glorious these days.
Have a super day!!
Ciao!!!