Lots of Activity
It began as a chilly morning with the three kitties not wanting anything to do about going outside when Dennis went out to the patio porch for his coffee, cigarettes and news programs. I took their hint and waited until the afternoon to do the walk.
The sun did appear. After the walk, I decided to scrape on the south side of the garage for a half hour or so. Not getting wore out, but keeping my hand in the game. Stauffer Avenue does get busy with walkers and thus ensues chit chat. The older ones on Stauffer Avenue are now a collaboration of four properties owners that are keeping in touch with the mayor in regard to three of the properties that are bad. Our concern was on the televised city council meeting last night with the consensus from the county attorney that a fine could be levied if the citation is not addressed. It will be a wait and see as letters need to go to the three property owners with a 20 window to get things cleaned up.
I had my own agenda yesterday with Stauffer Avenue. With a half inch of rain, there was a huge mud puddle on the north side of Stauffer. It had just been graded, why wasn’t there just as much water caught on the south side as the north side. Out came my camera. I did mention to Dennis that I would be heading up to the city shop with photo in hand. Why does a mud puddle bother me? The Avenue receives two treatments each summer for dust. Calcium Chloride is nasty stuff. Nasty when driven over and it drags into and on the garage concrete floor. The huge mud puddles contain some of the treatment. 
When splashed on the garage wall, it’s hard on the paint. Every day wear and tear is hard on crappy latex paint without the addition of a chemical. We do have some down the way that will bend way out to make sure they “do the splash.” After supper last night Dennis came in rather late. When I went for my walk down Stauffer, I saw why. There was a small trench dug across Stauffer and the mud puddle was dry. Dennis does not do confrontation well, especially when he has and knows so many “people” that he wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings. Problem solved for this rain and many rains to come.
In between time I do hit the sewing studio. I don’t stay at it long when the weather is nice, but I keep pecking away. A friend, Rita, gave me items from her sewing stashes. People’s choices in quilt projects are just as personal as any other choice in one’s life. This was not a project I would have chosen. 
When I saw that Rita had paid $119.00 for the pattern and kit, I knew I would work it up. Waste not . . . want not. I had finished a quilt for Rita that she was able to give to her granddaughter before she passed away. The stashes from Rita was a kind and sweet gift. I am tackling that kit that Rita had purchased. A quilt kit comes with a printed paper pattern and enough yardage in various prints to put the quilt top together. As I was cutting pattern pieces, an alarm began dinging in my head. One particular print yardage was coming up short. I have no idea when this kit had been bought or where. It’s almost impossible to find the same fabric . . . even online. There were about eight pieces that two scraps were sewn together to make the 10.5″ strip needed within the sashes. It was getting down to the nip and the tucks. The last sash item virtually used every bit that I could sew together to make it work. It will definitely be a pieced quilt top. When all is said and done, it would be difficult to pick it out of the quilt top.
I have had a great day bouncing from one thing to another. It makes for a balanced life and also a challenging one. It is said to be on the cool side all week. That will give me a segment of time each day to do a bit of paint scrapping. Bit by bit, square foot by square foot . . . it’ll get done in time for the painter when he comes in the first part of June.