Zero Traction

I have days where nothing gets done. Yesterday was one of those days. I had a long list of items I wanted to tackle, but our Starlink dish and router chose to pitch a fit and refused to load certain websites—including this one—all of which I needed to visit. I could access other websites without any issues. The Starlink phone app insisted the dish was encountering obstructions. The dish is mounted on the roof of our house with an absolutely clear line of sight to the sky, in the same spot it has been for the past several years. Something was going on; I just don’t know what. I hope the problem does not persist. I was able to figure out a workaround, but it took a couple of hours and didn’t completely solve the problem.

I drove to Missoula on Wednesday to teach a serger mastery class for five students. That Bernina dealer has sold quite a few L890 machines since the beginning of the year. Students in the February serger mastery class asked for a class on advanced techniques and students in Wednesday’s class said they also would sign up if one were offered. We put one on the schedule for the middle of July. I am going to teach Gail Yellen’s Christmas stocking pattern, because it’s a great pattern and it will cover most of the advanced techniques.

After class, I went to The Confident Stitch downtown. This is a cute little store—Kate carries some quilting cottons but she focuses mostly on garment fabrics. (And she’s a winter, too, so she carries more than just neutrals and muddy earth tones!) She took over the Missoula Brother dealership last year when the previous dealer retired and will soon begin carrying Juki and BabyLock machines as well. I mentioned that I had come down from Kalispell to teach a serger class at A Clean Stitch and Kate asked if I would come teach serger classes at her store. I said I would love to.

I have another teaching opportunity in the works in Washington state, too. I just have to be careful not to overload my schedule. I was able to spend some time yesterday updating my class list and my teaching fee information, so the day wasn’t a complete waste even though it felt like it.

I bought some fabric while I was in Missoula. It is difficult to be in two fabric stores and not be tempted by anything. I got a red and black rayon print to make a top to wear at Bernina University. Each day has a different “spirit day” theme. Opening day is “Imagine More,” and attendees are supposed to wear their most imaginative outfits. Monday is “Fabulous Florals.” I have (or will have, when I get them made) lots of floral print tops. Tuesday is “Embroidery on Everything”—I will have to embroider something on a T-shirt or a hat—and Wednesday is “Show Your Bernina Spirit” where we wear something in Bernina colors (red, black, and white) or with Bernina printed on it.

Sarah brought some of her seedlings over to the greenhouse this week. The weather can’t make up its mind what it wants to do. We went from 70F on Tuesday to chilling cold again yesterday. It was 21F when I got up this morning and there is a skiff of snow on the ground. I hope the fruit trees will be okay as they have just started to bud out.

I need to start beans and corn soon (in the greenhouse, not outside). We were planning to work in the garden this weekend but I think it’s just going to be too raw. And I need to sew. I am going to spend all day tomorrow communing with fabric. I have no idea what I am going to work on; I’ll just choose something and start sewing. The weather doesn’t improve until the middle of next week.

DD#1 had this sign waiting for me when I got to her house last week:

Very appropriate as it’s the unofficial name of this blog.