Two Down, Three To Go . . .

Work days until the weekend that is. I try not to wish away the days--Lord knows they pass quickly enough as it is! But both yesterday and today were busy and slightly stressful days at work, and I feel like the weekend ought to be here by now. But it's not.

Before leaving for work this morning, I readied the backing and batting for the Thimbleberries quilt and cleaned off the tables I have set up on the patio. I don't normally leave them up, but when I pinned that last quilt a couple weeks ago, I knew I wanted to pin at least one more before I put them away.

I was planning to work on appliqueing the letters on the Christmas List block during my lunch hour today, but as it turned out, I worked on a rush work project instead and didn't get more than about ten minutes to eat. Oh, well, some days are like that!

When I got home from work tonight, I quickly assembled a casserole and stuck it in the oven to bake while I pinned the quilt. I'm happy to say the weather wasn't too hot outside--something I was a little apprehensive about because our evenings don't cool down very fast--and the quilt was pinned in less than an hour, just in time for the casserole to come out of the oven.

By the time we finished eating, it was around 8:30. Did I want to start quilting that quilt? Did I want to go to bed early and read? Did I want to applique the letters I didn't work on during my lunch hour? Decisions, decisions! I decided to mull over my options while paging through the new Hancock's of Paducah catalogue--yummy!

Before long, I was in a relaxed and happy frame of mind, so I decided it was the perfect time to open a box that arrived in yesterday's mail.

I'm kind of funny about opening packages. I know lots of you probably can't stand to wait to tear into packages, but I like to savor them. In my mind, I know the perfect time will come to truly enjoy whatever the package contains. And, in the case of yesterday's box, the right time was tonight. Even Spike was feeling relaxed and happy, laying right next to my chair in the Sweat Shop. (And no, that's not some kind of spear sticking out of her head--she was laying on her "feather" that she carries around and demands we play with--you should see her spring into action if anyone even seems to be reaching toward it! This pose is all just a ruse to make us think she's not paying attention.)

This box came to me from my Blogland friend Lorraine in Australia. Several weeks ago, we agreed to a magazine swap: I would send her a few Fons & Porter magazines and she would send me an Australian Homespun magazine.

Well, sweet Lorraine sent more than just the Homespun magazine! In fact, she sent quite a pile of magazines! And just in case I got so busy looking at all those magazines and forgot to eat, she sent me a little sustenance to keep on hand.

You know what's really, really excellent about treats made and packaged in another country? I can pretend I have no idea how fattening they are! For instance, they list "energy" rather than "calories." Energy is a good thing, right?! And grams instead of ounces--gosh, who knows how much a gram is? I don't! It's almost like the old days, before they had to put all that discouraging and depressing information on packaged food!

Lorraine tucked in a couple of postcards of her part of Australia. She and I have talked before about how similar our weather is--except that the seasons are reversed--and the postcard with the vineyards and the hot air balloon looks like it could have been taken in our Napa Valley, about an hour or so east of here toward San Francisco.

My absolute favorite, though, is this Homespun magazine:

Can you see that red and white quilt hanging there in the background? It's a Bronwyn Hayes design--part one of three parts is in this magazine. I really think I need to make it, don't you?! I just wish work wouldn't interfere so much with my time to quilt!

Tomorrow--day three of the work week--will be a better day, I think. It's about time for a lunch hour excursion to the thrift store, and then after work I'll have my Jo's Little Women Club meeting at the quilt shop. I have a good idea I'll be spending whatever bit of overtime pay I earned the last two days and then some!

Thanks again Lorraine for filling my evening with happy surprises! Blogland friends are the BEST!