Very Simple Yet Very Effective and Some 2022 Plans

 Here are a couple of November quilt jobs.  Both of these are made with simple blocks, and the end results are great.  Both are also very scrappy - my favorite!

#1 - 9-Patch blocks

#2 - Half-Square Triangle blocks

This is my New Years Day project.  I've been stitching a bit on this every day.  The rows are ready to sew together.  Maybe tonight I'll start that?

Today was one of those days where I was having trouble getting motivated.  To be honest though, many days are like that.

In the past week there have been THREE mornings when I slept until 9:30, and NONE when I was up at 5.  Today was a 9:30 day, and a girly-bath day when I allow myself the luxury of soaking in a hot tub with epsom salts and some lovely fragrant oil.  Me, a coffee, and a good book. If you do a little ciphering you'd figure out that it was after 1:00 when I finally got dressed.  Today's book is  What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad .

With the province kind of locked down again the ennui is in full force.  And the weather has been rather unco-operative so I haven't gone for a walk for a couple of days.  Thank goodness a friend popped over yesterday - we had a nice visit on the front porch.  The Universe gave us some beautiful sunshine but it was a cold wind.  I brought a couple of quilts out for us to keep our legs warm.

What I DID manage to accomplish today:

• updated the Caledonia Guild blog
• downloaded a year's worth of bank statements and made my TFSA contribution for 2022
• put the new-to-me laptop from 1-800-LUKE into the gifted laptop case from neighbour Doug
• had breakfast, lunch, supper
• changed the sheets
• did a load of laundry
• did some admin work on the SOLO facebook group
• paid the internet bill
• called a Binbrook guild member about the block swap - what to do in January when we most likely won't have a meeting

CURRENTLY GRATEFUL FOR:

• DH, who has been doing a lot of cooking.  A HUGE batch of hamburger soup, Chicken Parmesan which was very good, a LARGE but not huge batch of vegetable soup, biscuits.
• hobbies to keep me occupied. 
• the friend who popped in and who ALSO brought me a loaf of her sourdough bread.  Yum!!!
• neighbour Doug, who is the world's best scavenger.  He happens to be married to my egg supplier, who I am also grateful for. 💕
• a good sized house with two t.v.s so I can watch the news while he watches his bang-bang-shoot-em-up shows.  The upstairs t.v. room is also a nice place to escape to for a nap.  Or when, in the midst of a pandemic, you feel like the sharp knives are too easily accessible during a conversation which is quickly degenerating into a domestic.

TARGET ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2022 (we will NOT be referring to these as "resolutions")

• at least 5 donation quilts - I normally have no difficulty with this target.
• net stash reduction of at least 50 m.  Also not usually difficult.
• finish at least 3 ufo projects, another goal that should be easy to meet.  I need to do another ufo count - I don't think my sidebar list is accurate.
• find some floor space in the room I laughingly refer to as my office.  I need to sell the old floor speakers, clean then sell a nice toaster-oven, get rid of some boxes of junk, and OMG we have so much electronic stuff (cables, plugs, routers, thingies) that need to go...
• lose 5 pounds.  Ha ha ha ha... I said that last year too.  The year before I said 10 pounds!  Crazy woman. Pfftt.  Actual pounds lost is negative 2.  Yup, that's a double negative.

FALLING DOWN A RABBIT HOLE

1. at the niece's recommendation, I watched The Maid on netflix , which is very good.
2. I noticed that it's based on a book.
3. I looked for the book through my online library.
4. I FOUND the book, which has a wait list.
5. I noticed there was a recommendation for another book called The Maid and downloaded that instead.
6. I spent a week reading the story of Joan of Arc.  This was also a very good book, although a little more gory that what I'd normally read.  It is a war story, after all.

COVID 19

I can't seem to get away from this topic.  Someone I was talking to thinks it will be a major issue until 2023.  Dear God!  They are probably right, though.  It's quite difficult to get a test these days because the health system is overwhelmed.  The general guidance is that the Omicron variant has symptoms very much like a cold or seasonal flu.  Most reported symptoms are sore throat, cough, runny nose (also nausea, night sweats, lower back pain).

World:  Total cases 306,689,375.  Did you get that number?  306 Million.  Total deaths 5,488,000.

USA:  Total cases 60,062,000.  Total deaths 837,504.

Canada:  Total cases 2,532,885.  Total deaths 30,812.

Ontario:  Total cases 877,000.  Total deaths 10,398.