6/9/21

Divine Swine

We were up and out early yesterday to finish up our grocery shopping. We have a short camping trip planned for next week. Most of the food for that is already made, and so I'm hopeful we can get by for another week or two without having to make another major trip. When we got home and had things put way, we set free the cats, and I took a walk around to check in on the blooming things. 

The Fairy Princess peony continues to thrill and delight. It puts on more flowers every day.


Also, the rose bush is covered in flowers and buds. The deer have left it alone this year, and so we're enjoying it.


Speaking of deer, they haven't been by to nibble on the newest geraniums. Maybe they don't like the pink ones. You can see the chewed off stems of previous generations of flowers in the image below.


As I made my rounds, I caught Sadie on the hunt. She refused to look at me, and she shushed me...I was blowing her cover.


Smitty was really hoping she'd bring him something good to eat.


Then...she sprang! Didn't catch anything though. Bummer.


Back inside, I went to work top-stitching/quilting the pig. It was the last animal on the quilt. Yay!


Now, I have the machine lined up to quilt around the appliqued border. The end is in sight for this much-dreaded project.


There is still a small amount of quilting to do in the outer border and sashings, and I'll probably add in some details here and there. If I can avoid jury duty tomorrow, I expect I'll have the quilting finished by Friday.

After that, I sewed together the next row of blocks for the City Bank quilt.


There is just one more row of six blocks to go before I'll be able to start sewing it together. Here are all the blocks I have so far.


When I finish my quilting today, I'll start working on drawing out a pattern for the Sonora Desert landscape quilt. I've been thinking about how to do this, and I've decided to do it in the way Ruth McDowell might tackle it. I'll draw some vertical lines, and then divide them up horizontally. And if this doesn't make sense, I should have some pictures to show you tomorrow.


For this project, I'm going to be using the pretty fabrics Lyndsay brought back from Bali.


Okay, and I'm just about ready to wrap up the second Hartland Barns block. While we watched the news, I stitched up most of what was left in my hoop.


Moving the hoop, I encircled the last of it. That's what I'll do this morning, although I can't say for sure I'll finish it off today.


This morning, I have PT, and then I'll get back to my sewing. We had some good rain showers yesterday, and so there's no need to water anything. I'll give myself a break from hoeing on a day when I have PT. My shoulder is doing great though. I've made some progress on the last range of motion challenge, which is to be able to raise my arm straight overhead. Time, patience, and exercise...that's the key.

Before I go, I want to tell you about a web page I found. I've been trying to unload an old iPhone 4. There's nothing wrong with it aside from being old, and no longer supported by Apple. 

(Image credit: "iPhone 4" by superstrikertwo is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)

I tried giving it to my kids and my friends. I tried listing it on Freecycle. Literally nobody wants it. Then, my social worker brain recalled reading somewhere that phones could be recycled for use by people escaping domestic violence. Even a phone that has no data plan can be used to dial 911. And so I Googled it, and came up with this website that tells 20 Ways to Donate Old Cell Phones. There is a nice listing there of organizations that will accept them, and it explains how they will be used. 

The organization I was hoping to find is 911 Cell Phone Bank. It's the first organization listed. All I have to do is pack it in a padded envelope and use the prepaid postage label they provide. Then I'll drop it in the mailbox this morning, and my phone will be gone to be used by someone who needs it. It's easy for me, and it won't end up in the landfill. Consider this your retired social worker PSA of the day. Let's see...that would be RSWPSA. 

And now...I'm off. But you already knew that, didn't you?

13 comments:

Barbara said...

There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere. ~ Annie Leonard

Darlene S said...

Thanks for the tip for recycling old cell phones. We have some which are old, but still work and we've been looking for a way to give them away too. This sounds like a perfect way to dispose of them.

Julierose said...

Beautiful peonies!! I have not seen a pink geranium like that one in our garden centers ...really pretty.
You are really moving along so well on your MCK R quilt. It looks like a very challenging quilting process...
Hugs, Julierose

Julierose said...

Beautiful peonies!! I have not seen a pink geranium like that one in our garden centers ...really pretty.
You are really moving along so well on your MCK R quilt. It looks like a very challenging quilting process...
Hugs, Julierose

gpc said...

Definite thanks on the pro tip. I have one to put in the mail as soon as I remember what I did with it . . . loving that fairy princess! And feeling inspired by the City Bank. Really nice, its going to be a beautiful quilt.

Nancy said...

I had considered taking my old IPhone the Apple store at Washington Square but I have to figure out how to get my data off of it first. I am sure that google could tell me is I really looked. I need to take an old MacBook there too.

piecefulwendy said...

Fun to see all the photos of the flowers, and of Sadie on the hunt. I can hear her shushing you :-) Too bad she didn't catch anything! Good tip on getting rid of cell phones; I'll keep that handy.

Christine said...

Great post. Hope to start back to blogging soon now I am able to use the laptop.
In England back in the day..... PT = Physical Training.
My brain still registers that.
I won't bore you with the instant image of navy blue bloomers, tee shirt and pumps!!!!

Dorothy said...

Love your Fairy Princess. It is a stunner. Here it seems like the day the peonies open in all their glory, it rains 2 days later and I am left with peony petals on the ground. :-( :-(

Susan said...

Thanks for the RSWPSA.

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Our local police station will take those unused phones too. They make sure they are working and have recharge cords, and then give them to the domestic violence shelter here in town. Many local police organizations do this as well.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I wonder if there's an organization here in Canada that will make use of cell phones...it would be great if there was something geared towards helping victims of domestic violence. That peony is definitely a stunner and I can only imagine the scent from that rose bush.

QuiltGranma said...

re old cell phones" how do I delete all data though?