There's a New Normal in Town

SSo, it's been about two weeks now, since we last spoke, right?  Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?  And, my gosh, how things have changed.  Well, not EVERYthing has changed.  Here's a shot of Bailey, dated April 4th, doing what she loooves to do.  We call this La Cookaracha.  Yeah, I've probably bungled the spelling, but now you have an earworm, don'tcha!

And here's a shot of our neighbors' response to the closure of the park, and orders not to gather in groups of more than 10, later amended to 6.  And, to wear facemasks and keep at least 6 feet apart.  Yes, all important happy hours continue.  For HOURS at a time.  NO, we do NOT join them.  If we happen to walk by them (and it's hard not to, since they are right across the street from our site, and the dog does require frequent walks), we smile (behind our masks) and give a friendly wave.  As we continue our journey to the doggie doo area.

So, what have we been up to during this period of involuntary inactivity?  Well, hitch-itch has definitely set in, so we are battling that....and cookies.  Oh.My.God.  For those of you that might not know, I make some mean chocolate chips and brownies.  Even in my little convection/microwave that is not quite level and has a real hot spot on one end.  So, we're battling the quarantine-fifteen.  It started out at 10, but I'm pretty sure we surpassed that and are now up to fifteen.  I only pray it's split between the two of us.  Might not be.  I don't know about you, but I think my dryer is shrinking my shorts.  But, I still thank God (and Driver and Newmar) that I even HAVE a dryer.  IN.MY.OWN.COACH!  Yes, I will shout that from the rooftops.  Ha, I'm not spoiled, am I.  Oh, hush.  I can hear you laughing all the way from here.  But, I digress.  You were asking what we've been doing all this time.  Well, we haven't been dancing, that's fer sure.  (but you already knew that)  We haven't been geocaching (that's always be a dirty, grimy game, but we take small bottles of hand sanitizer, seldom paw through the goodies, and always, always use our own pen), and there's nowhere to shop that's open or we want to go.  Cooties people all around, you know. So I bake, we eat.  Plain and simple.  Oh, but, yes, I've been sewing too.  I was able to scrape together enough fabrics and filter materials to make about 16 or 18 masks.  We kept the first two prototypes, then sent out a bunch, then I made 2 more for ourselves, so we would have a spare and a pair (one to wash, one to wear.  Did I mention that I can wash and dry IN.MY.OWN.CAMPER!) So after I exhausted my on-board supplies, and what I had ordered, I sewed up a curtain for one of my customers in New Hampshire.  Luckily, on our last excursion to Victoria, we had stopped in at Hobby Lobby and purchased the necessary fabric and Velcro, and I had the measurements already.  Sent it off to her, it fit, she loved it, she paid me, and then she sent me this hand-quilted beauty.  

Her hand-stitches were simply beautiful, and so lovingly placed.  But, alas, they were incomplete.  And there was staining and fading of the excess material surrounding the top, which was meant to be folded over to the front and stitched down, at about a 4 inch width.  After playing with my fancy embroidery machine for about 4 days straight, and looking online for quilting stencils, with no luck, I might add, I decided I could make a tracing of her stitches onto my Solvey (clear Saran-wrap-like disolvable stabilizer), then staple that to chipboard (empty cereal box cardboard), then digitize it.  So that's how I got my embroidery stitch pattern.  And, without further ado, I finished up her quilt.  There was some more stitching that went into it, and I used my dual feed foot to do the semi-circles that I quilted into the teal border.  I just used the lid to my largest bowl and traced around it multiple times.  I liked that look so much I went back and did a second row, inside the first.  Then I searched my phone for photos, failing that, my memory, and failing that, You Tube, for how to make the bring-backing-to-the-front binding.  Found basically what I needed and did it.  No sweat. Actually, it was a LOT easier than my usual method of cutting strips, sewing them together, sewing them all on around the edges, making perfect mitered corners (never happens, btw) and joining the strips at the end.  Then you gotta sew it all down around the BACK, and I do that by hand....soooo...yeah.  This new normal took about oh, I dunno, maybe 30 minutes, all told?  Bam, done.  New normal, me thinks.  Save more time for making and eating cookies, right?

So, that filled up about a week or so.  And still no end in sight to our new-found free time.  Driver had washed the car, so it was clean, we gave the pup a bath once or twice, so she was clean.  I vacuumed and mopped the floor, so IT was clean...there really wasn't much else to do.  Yes, I could surf the internet, but that just made me sleepy, and you know I can't see well enough to read anymore, so that's just no longer an enjoyable activity for me anymore....but....I had those two quilts I had pieced in the first two weeks of quarantine, remember?  They were to keep us warm and snug in our recliners.  I was going to layer (sandwich) them on a table in the Activity Room, but by the time I got the quilts pieced, the Activity Room was locked up and unavailable, so I just bagged the quilts and stuck 'em under the bed.  But here I was with time, materials, and a clean floor.  And two quilts, just begging to be completed.  So I pulled out the first one, laid out the backing and batting, and before I could place the quilt top on the sandwich....

How dare I take up her launching pad?  Once I had her situated up in her window, I was able to get my top centered up on the sandwich.  Inadvertently, I left enough room on all sides to implement that new border technique.  That was a lucky accident!

So, here's my struggle.  They always say, Quilt As Desired.  And I have no idea what to put.  I've always wanted to learn to do feathers, so I got my chalk and fiddled until I got a pattern I could duplicate freehand.  Then threaded my needle with matching thread (not sure I wanted the stitches to show!) and went to town.  Ha, that's not as hard as I thought it would be!  And by the time I got to the 4th blade, I actually had a pretty good rhythm going!  Could I do 'em again?  Who knows.  But I got 'em done THIS time, and I was happy.  I drew myself a template (again, on scrap cardboard) and traced some overlapping hearts around the pink, and happily spent the next few days adding more and more stitching to the sandwich.

Eventually, I got it to a place I was happy with it all, brought that backing to the front and stitched it down, and called it DONE!  I think I'm going to wait on the other one until I can get some Minky for the back.  I loooove the feel of Minky against my skin, and apparently, winter in Texas is over, so we don't have a need for either of these quilts at this time.  (not the first time I've made blankets in the summer, probably not gonna be the last)

So, what was the Driver doing while all this was going on?  Washing & waxing the car, hosing off the patio, reorganizing (yes, again) the basement, reading, and truthfully, I don't know what all else.  Walking the dog several times, I'm sure.  By my second day of inactivity after my sewing flurry, I was going nutso.  Some would say that was a short trip.  Some would say, how is that even possible, as I was already nutso.  (pfffft, that's what I say)  So we decided we would venture out to Walmart and Ace Hardware.  We had been (I use that term loosely, DRIVER had been) to HEB (grocery) already twice, now, and we really are well stocked up on food.  But, there were a few things we could pick up at WM and Ace, if we were so inclined.  I wanted some charcoal filters for my crisper drawer, he needed more wax, Papa's birthday is coming up soon, and we may not get there, so better get him a card in the mail, and I'm about out , of thread.  Again.  And Kelly had sent me a box of scraps (God love her, but they must have all fallen off the ugly truck, they are UGLY) but I really didn't want to use up my last spool of piecing thread on such ugly stuff.., and just to get out and ride our bikes.  We figured my basket would hold everything.  (HA, hold that thought!)

The ride down the trail was pleasant - the weather here is absolutely gorgeous, and perfect for us heat-seekers.  Sunny, breezy and hot.  South Texas at its best!  Along the way, we found our favorite doggo-windows empty, but adorned with community artwork and love.  There were inspirational sayings drawn on the sidewalk, too.

Yup, I'm suited up appropriately.  See that flannel shirt tied around my waist?  Yeah, the gray one.  Hold that thought, you'll need it later.

We even found one of the Rocks for Rockport-Fulton stuck up in a tree.  First find!  No, I didn't see it, Driver did and told me about it, so we went back, as I had already passed it.

ACE Hardware was just about empty, but, not only did I find my crisper filters, I found a pair of tongs I could live with.  And look what the masked Driver found!  Too bad there was no real ice cream hiding behind the sign.  And the sign is WAAAAY too big for me to carry home, so we left it there.  

From there, we pedaled back to WalMart.  While Driver was researching the wax options, I walked over to see about getting some thread.  HAHAHA, joke's on me!  Very little thread available (I bought light green, not ivory, white, tan, silver or black) and NO bias tape to speak of.  That's what a lot of people were using for mask ties, I know.  I used elastic until I ran out, and if I had needed anymore, I would have raided the closet and cut up an old T-shirt.

Fabric bundles, anyone?  Nope, not a one to be had.

Fat quarters, anyone?  Likewise, nope, not a one. That's a lotta masks baby!

But, wait, what about the flannel shirt?  Apparently, we "needed" more than I had originally thought.  We ended up buying a plastic shoebox to corral art supplies down in the basement.  And a bicycle mirror (found to be inappropriate for my style handlebars), two inner tubes, some Velveeta cheese and canned tomatoes (who knew that was necessary at this time), the big bottle of wax, and a whole pack of microfiber towels.  Whaaat?  Where, exactly was all this stuff gonna go for the ride home?  Call me crafty!  I buttoned up that big ole shirt, packed most of our goodies in that plastic shoebox, put the shoebox INSIDE the shirt, balanced the load on TOP of my basket (which contained all the stuff that didn't fit in the box) and tied the bottom of the shirt to itself and the sleeves to the handlebars.  Surprisingly, it worked VERY well.  Only fell off the bars/basket once, and that was after I went over a big bump.  Did we get a photo of that?  Nope, sorry.  Was afraid if I stopped, I wouldn't get going again without falling over (or off!).  Never underestimate the power of a crafty woman again!

So we made it home with only the one incident, put our stuff up, took showers and fixed dinner.  The stress level was pretty high so no further action took place at Casa Callander.  Friday dawned bright and beautiful, and we slept in.  So, nothing new there....along about noon (yeah, why not wait till the sun was high overhead and it was as hot as it was gonna get), we dragged all the equipment out and started washing the rig.  I don't know how or why, but it sure seems bigger on the outside than it does on the inside!  For the rest of the day, we washed, rinsed, dried and polished.  And now the coach looks beautiful outside.  The floor inside is dirty again, but ask me if I care.  HA.  nooooope.  Absolutely exhausting.  Darned good thing he didn't plan on waxing it same day!  I betting since tomorrow is Saturday, it won't even be same WEEK!

And for those of you that were concerned, most of the people that were holding court over at the happy hour social gathering have moved on.  They are going back from whence they came, not to return until next year.  There is still a core group, of about 10, that sit and drink till dinner time, split up, then reconvene after dinner and play cards and cornhole until it's too dark to see.  Then they just sit and drink some more, breaking up for the night about 9 pm.  Us?  We just smile behind our masks, wave, and walk on.  Theoretically, our Governor is trying to reopen Texas, and we'll know more on Monday, but at this time, it appears that the campground will begin accepting new rigs on Friday.  We will have to give up our current site and move to a new one, at the far end of the park, so we'll probably do that on Thursday.  Same park, just a different site.

And, just for fun, here's Bailey's version of the New Normal.  (those be Driver's legs, not mine!)

Until next time, virtual hugs and yellow rocks!  Stay well, stay safe.  And remember, just because they SAY you CAN go out, doesn't mean you HAVE to go out!