Day 329 of 365

Like eating a cloud.

An expression I never heard before, but one that came out of my husband's mouth last night.

We have this Mexican restaurant in town, Alejandra's. It's a small place tucked into the long stucco building that houses an auto repair shop, a Mexican store, the post office, the senior citizen center, and the hardware store. Right there on main street, the building is probably as old as the town. We're talking old, with each business getting its own little hole. When people talk about hole-in-the-wall places, I think of this Mexican restaurant. It has only been around a few years, but it's our go-to place for Mexican food. Great food at reasonable prices.

Great food and great specials my husband likes, particularly on Tuesdays. He loves their tacos and on Tuesday is all-you-can-eat tacos. Last night he again enjoyed the delicious all-you-can-eat tacos with rice and beans that cost something like $7.99. He was in heaven.

He has an obsession with the tacos, but an even bigger obsession with their rice. He's not a big rice fan, particularly of Spanish rice. But he loves the rice at Alejandra's. Every single time we're there he raves about the rice. So after he paid the bill and we were getting ready to go, he leaves the table. Not out the door, not to the restroom. To the kitchen.

He went to the kitchen to talk to the gal who makes the rice. Wanted to know how she did it. Told her how delicious it was. And told her it was like eating a cloud. I kind of think I know what he meant, but the poor gal with the broken English may not have understood.

I don't know about rice being like a cloud, but I am starting to think my head is in the clouds with all the quilt blocks I keep putting together...

Sew Quick and Easy Potholders - Day 328 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

I'm not sure how and why I started these tutorials, but now that I'm many months into them it's getting more difficult to try and come up with something creative every week. And then there are those days I don't feel well enough to talk to anyone and it's difficult to keep the cheeriness in my voice on a video.

I'm not sure if the cheeriness is there today, but something else is - a background noise.

I usually plan on filming the tutorials ahead of time. Every Thursday I tell myself I'll film, and I don't. Then it becomes Friday when I'm sure I'll get it done. Friday usually goes by and when Saturday or Sunday rolls around I start to feel a bit panicky.

But I get it done. Typically it is when laundry is running in the washer and my hubby is downstairs watching TV. I'll call down to him, letting him know I'm filming the tutorial and will be closing the sewing room door. That leaves me alone with no noises but the loud wall clock, ticking away.

Except this time. I tried to raise my voice over the noise. It didn't work. I tried to repeat things more than once, hoping I could bypass the noise coming from right outside the sewing room door, but it was no use.

Looking for something else? Check out some of my other kitchen sewing and crafting projects!

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After some major editing, the little bawl baby (AKA kitty cat) can still be heard about two minutes into the video. You can find the step-by-step how to tutorial for the quick and easy quilted potholder sewing project here:

Day 327 of 365

I spent today trying to figure out what to write. Which then got me wondering about this whole writing thing.

As I look past Day 365, will I continue writing several paragraphs each day? Writing every day, even when things aren't exciting, has been challenging. Do I talk about me? Do I talk about things around me, work, sewing? Or do I complain?  The daily writing has kept my mind active and alive, like exercise of the brain, so some type of writing will probably need to stay.

But it sure would be nice not to have to create something out of thin air. Typically when I sit down to write, the words flow (although sometimes slowly) and somehow, without a clear direction, wind up tying into the picture of the day.

Not today. Random thought about what happens in March don't really tie into today's picture.

I've cut up some of those blocks I filed a couple days back. I combined them with some of my scraps and have sewn them together into different colored blocks. Add some white sashing and borders and I see a colorful kid's quilt in the making.

Day 326 of 365

Six weeks and counting. In six weeks, my take-a-picture-every-day-to-see-that-I-have-lived goal ends. Knowing that the end is near is making me think even more about what the next step will be.

I'm still sure taking a picture every day is a keeper. Getting up every day knowing I had to take a picture is why I'm still around. It's why I'm doing quilts for charity and why I'm back working. It's the thing that has made me look up and see - really see - the world around me. If it wasn't for the picture a day thing, my head would be down and the most exciting thing I would have seen would have been dust on the floor or cracks in the pavement.

One change I'm contemplating is sometimes doing more than one picture a day. Over the past year there have been days where I wanted to take several pictures. So the next year might hold more than one a day every once in  a while.

Actually, today's picture sort of falls into that category. I took a picture of the $3 Target amaryllis when I bought it, and now nine days later there is some obvious growth. I thought the difference was striking enough to post the picture today as well as the picture I took when I first bought it on Day 317.

January 13

January 22

Day 325 of 365

Yes, I did.

If someone were to ask me if I started using those squares that I filed yesterday, that would be the answer. Boy, did I start using them.

My new file folder fabric square system was very efficient. I easily matched up colors and patterns. And I sewed and sewed and sewed. Assembly line style, one after the other, after the other.  My machine got a workout and my Christmas iron got a workout. Lots and lots of blocks sewn together to make several sets of 11" blocks and several sets of 9" blocks. All of them are now waiting patiently, hoping to be part of one of a multitude of quilts.  Oh, the possibilities!

I so enjoy sewing, particularly for others. I might not be able to crochet anymore, cross stitch, or even hand quilt, but I can feed fabric through my sewing machine. Give me lots of pre-cut fabric, my arthritis gloves, a comfy office chair, a working iron, and a south-facing window on a winter's day and I'm a happy camper.