Hit the Ball, Drag George

Do you know that golf joke?

It was my husband's favorite I think.

Four guys head out for a round of 18 holes one morning.  Late that afternoon, they finally return to the club house and the manager says, "Where have you been?  We were just getting ready to send someone out to look for you!" "Oh," says one of the guys, "George had a heart attack on the fourth tee and died.  So for the rest of the game, it's been hit the ball, drag George, hit the ball, drag George, hit the ball, drag George."

Anytime I tell that joke (and it's the only joke I can remember), it makes me giggle.

There have been a few days like that this week when that's how I felt.

Do the task because it has to be done!

And then other days, I've moved seamlessly from one thing to the next.
Almost my first thought when I woke up this morning was that I really miss being spontaneous!
I think a super moon during a Covid-19 epidemic isn't doing my state of mind any good!

It could also be the 45 masks my daughter and I are making for the NICU where my triplets grands were for the first couple months.
The mask making is emotionally draining for me.

So to counter this uncomfortable state of mind, I've challenged myself to keep a daily list of the things that happen that are NORMAL to help me stay grounded.
Robins singing at 4 a.m.; dandelion seed heads all over the lawn; putting out the trash; hearing trains pass; doing laundry; spring weeding of the flower beds.
Might this be a mindfulness practice?

 The list is all pretty mundane stuff but it's reassuring to realize what continues uninterrupted!

I have about half of the flower beds weeded for spring -- it's so full of hope and promise -- plants that I love poking through the dirt, coming into bud, full of flowers.  

I know the buds will become beautiful flowers and the flowers will attract butterflies and bees and the shrubs will be loaded with tasty fruit.

(Dwarf crested iris)

All of this regardless of what is happening on the news! 

I've also turned back to writing some Haiku (poems) to seal precious little memories in my mind.

Bumblebee queens fly

among apricot blossoms --

spring pollen gather.

(This flowering quince is gorgeous and full of queens gathering food for their new colonies.) 

The stitching goals for the week have gone largely untouched but when I accomplish a certain amount of the mask making tasks, I reward myself with some self-indulgent stitching.

The quilt I was suppose to layer is still not layered.

But the Halo blocks continue to be enjoyable to piece!  My goal is twenty blocks (four by five setting) before the border units.

So far there aren't many fabric repeats and lots of goodies have come off the shelves to cut a piece and more stacks of fabric have been tidied up!

The is the last "sashed 9-patch" block to be pieced for a wheel chair laprobe for the VA.

The blocks have been good "leader/ender" stitching and all the pieces came out of the 2 1/2" squares basket -- didn't need to cut anything, it was all there just waiting! 

Well, I did chop up squares to make the sashing pieces and cornerstones.

The green stripe at the top of this picture will be the sashing -- I shopped for it via text messages at my favorite shop, Mercantile on Main in Coshocton, Ohio!

Pretty good choice considering I couldn't touch the fabric?!?

It's good to have the kind of relationship with a salesperson who knows my preferences and likes!

Maybe I can set the blocks together in the next week?

This sweet little stitching sampler below is the brain child of Emma at Treehouse Textiles in Australia.  I wish I could visit her shop as her pictures on Instagram always look scrumptious!  Each week she is sharing prompts and some technique videos to add elements to the piece (you can find all of them in her Instagram feed).

The last couple weeks, she's encouraged embroidery details and I really don't embroider.

So I was pleased during a stash rummaging session to come across these two little rabbits to applique to my version.

They remind me of the two rabbits who are running laps around my lawn these days -- is it love?

This stack came off the shelves last evening -- it's time to make some birthday gifts for my youngest grandchildren.  They will be one on June 2nd.  I've had the pattern since I found out they were on the horizon.  The fabrics for the girls were easy to pick but I'm a bit stumped on fabric for the boy. 

Might need to do some text-shopping again! 

Not sure about the hats as they consistently remove stuff from their heads now!

Seeing them last weekend was the highlight of the week!

We stayed outside and I was surprised when my son handed one of them to me!

I've been so good about staying home and away from people -- what a great reward!

Left to right -- girl, son, me, girl, boy, daughter-in-law!

I've had a little outing this morning to the physical therapist who helps me manage my lower back issues (thank goodness she is allowed to work again) and a quick stop at the garden center for bean seeds (a few plants may have hitched a ride home with me).  So now I'm ready to hunker back down at my stitching -- I feel like layering a quilt!!

We are having nasty cold weather for our weekend here in NE Ohio but I hope your weekend will be warm and beautiful -- if it isn't, make your own beauty!!

Until next week,

Mary