Retreeeeat!!!! When I was a little girl, my sister and I used to go up on the mountain behind our house and pick blackberries. It was a pretty good hike and once we were there, we would head into the brambles... if you don't know about blackberries- well, they grow on briar canes. They are really quite vicious. They recommend that you wear long-sleeved shirts so that you don't get scratched, but then the briars snag you and you can barely move. My sister went down into a particularly thick patch of blackberry canes. Deeper she went, until I couldn't see her from up on the ridge behind her. Occasionally the brush would move, and then, eventually, one quivering hand came out from the green leaves, with one finger pointed into the air, a faint cry of, "Retreeeeat!" floated up the mountain. Sometimes you got to know when to get out of a sticky situation.

Well, I hollered my own little, "Run away!" chant yesterday! I had this huge mess in the quilting room. The tables were all covered and the shelves were all disheveled. Fabric had exploded and settled on every horizontal surface. Time to retreat and regroup. The power was out all day- high winds. And so I cleaned and organized and sorted and reclaimed. Ahh... now doesn't that feel good? Well, it should, anyway. Oh you guys know me, I am not one to need a clean slate in order to muddle through. If I waited until I cleared a space, I would rarely get the opportunity to create. And when everything is so clean and neat... well, I just don't feel at home. I am conditioned to mayhem and confusion! I took it as a challenge to make something after all that cleaning. I did find 2 of my favorite pieces of fabric in the process, you know! And I had this new 45* ruler... and there it is. It fills in a blank space on the wall that was buggin' me- I don't do "places to rest your eye." Close your eyes, if you want to rest them!

The following pix is of my bedside table- I didn't clear here, can ya tell? I just thought it was a funny sight. Maybe I have a problem. Well, water bottles on the bedside table are better than candybar wrappers, right? I look like I have that malady suffered by that girl in "Signs." (Remember her need to have water all around- hers was always contaminated.) I am reading this book about water- and our vital need for it and I guess, I am taking it all to heart. After every 10 bottles of water, I am allowing myself a sugar-free orange juice. I guess I really need a wastebasket by the bed. Or maybe a trash compactor.


PS Mom... Maybe you should
reconsider and give that picnic on Mars
another chance. I found that if I cut the
corner triangle considerably larger
than the pattern says and square up
after sewing- much much easier than
trying to find the center if those wedges
to place the center of the triangles.