Summer is in full swing

I’m back. Not that I went anywhere, but I guess I should at least acknowledge that it’s July now. And Summer temperatures have finally arrived – along with the mosquitoes! I haven’t seen a mosquito here in years, but with months of unseasonal rain and flooding, they’re having a field day! Over the weekend I collected about a dozen bites that I’m still scratching, including bites on my neck and face. (But the ones on my arms are the itchiest!) The flower is Cirsium arvense – also known as Canada thistle, an obnoxious weed that I found growing along the highway, not in my yard.

This is my busy time of year at work, and I write for a living - even when I have nothing to say. So doing it at home with my blog is just too much like work sometimes.

I am in desperate need of vacation. Over the years our company has reduced the size of our office. When I started there nine years ago, we had three full time and three part time employees - now there's one full time (me) and two part time. I can’t say we're short staffed because that would indicate that some day we'll have those old staff positions filled again. Guess that makes us understaffed.

But, how can I complain about when everyone I know is working with the same conditions in their workplace?

Luckily I have my sewing to escape to - and I escape to it every day whether you see it here or not. I’m just not as prolific as many other quilters and bloggers. I like to work on one project until it's finished and, really, do you want to hear about the inch by inch progress I'm making on the binding? or the clumps of cat hair that I have to clean off the binding before I can sew it? (Above, Rusty tries to snatch the catnip away from Ginger after finishing off his own branch, fresh out of the ground.)

But, I have been rearranging my sewing space for the new sewing machine and table. That table and having a flat surface to sew on really make a huge difference - no more pulling and fighting with a quilt as it gets hooked on a corner and creates yet another nasty little wibble in the FMQing. But, my “stuff” was taking over the dining room, and the new sewing machine addition was just too much. So I downsized my work table and got some plastic stackable shelves to hold the growing pile of scraps (I think I may have to buy more), and I've almost got the dining room table cleared off again.

Now that the decent weather is here, the front yard is calling to me. Forget about tending to beautiful flowers and vegetables - three years ago I tore up the front yard and got rid of all the crabgrass and weeds (and the wonky sidewalk and the broken retaining walls), and I've been reconstructing it ever since (and you thought my quilting was slow!). With the help of my neighbours last week, I finally got all the caps cut and placed on the retaining wall I built. After this picture was taken, I cleaned out the weeks and raked it all level. I just have to install some irrigation lines and than I can put the ground cover on. Oh right, and the brick pathway that replaces the old wonky sidewalk.

Anyway, I hear a quilt binding calling my name. Until next time,