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Chris went to Vermont last Tuesday to visit with some friends. I used that as an opportunity to try to develop a "no TV" habit. From the time he left Tuesday until he returned Sunday I didn't turn on a TV. Not once. It was delightful. I really thought I'd have difficulty with it because we have the TV on all the time. Mostly I think it's just for the noise but I realized that I was delaying doing things because I wanted to watch something until the end and I needed to get out of that habit. So I turned off the TV and either listened to a book or the radio on my MP3 player. The political news is driving me insane. Each half of the country delights in telling the other half how stupid they are. No one is actually debating issues. It's the same on Facebook. Once someone mentions politics I stop following them, even if I agree with what they say. There's no discussion or debate. It's all name calling. "You are stupid and moronic if you disagree with me." I'm banning myself from news for a while. Maybe the summer, maybe all year. I'll selectively read a couple of balanced news sources but I truly will not benefit from dwelling on the presidential race, Orlando or the next disaster for hours on end when there really isn't anything new to know and absolutely nothing that I can do about it.  So, this morning, instead of watching TV I did this. I caught up on the news from the turtles in the lake and watched the Mallards reporting to each other about their own local events. It was peaceful and beautiful. I'm pretty sure my blood pressure is lower and I can justify eating more chocolate.  Tonight is the Country School Quilters meeting so instead of watching TV last night I quilted up 2 veterans quilts that I can deliver to the meeting tonight. This one was made by Annie, our member from Seattle.  This one was made by Carol. They both got fast quilting treatments simply because I thought it was better to finish 2 instead of just 1. That wavy crosshatch grid really works on everything! CSQ buys the batting and backing and since I get to pick the backing out I like to buy white for a lot of it so that I can dye the backs. I love adding hand dyed backing to the quilts and I think this green works really well with both of these.
Today I'm off to do some shopping for white tshirts. A friend and his daughter are visiting tomorrow and Alida and I will be tie dyeing!
Tina in NJ
6/14/2016 03:10:54 pm
I totally agree with you on the politics. Watch out for those mallards, though. They've got their own agenda! I like the two veteran's quilts, and I hope to see your tie dye efforts. Have fun!
I think you are on to something! I need to stop watching the news. We watch it every evening and then seem to argue a bit about politics of course. I so agree with you - everyone stop watching the news it is bad for our blood pressure and eat chocolate instead and quilt :) Watching the news is beyond depressing so I try to avoid it whenever I can. I get the headlines on the internet and that's perfectly good enough for me. Personally I wouldn't much miss the tv if it were to disappear. There are only one or two shows (and the Blue Jays!) that I like and beyond that it wouldn't be on if I had my way. I used to have music on in my sewing room all the time but my radio has ceased to work properly and I've been without for quite awhile - don't miss it either. Glad to know cutting out these things will justify chocolate (works for me!!).
Pamela North
6/14/2016 09:22:38 pm
We're going through a very long election campaign here in Australia. Thank heavens for the mute button. 6/14/2016 09:56:18 pm
I could not have said it better myself! In 2005 my youngest son deployed for his first tour in Iraq. A friend, ?, made a comment about possibly seeing him on the news! I was horrified, and stopped watching any news. It's been 11 years and I am very happy without knowing everything about everybody else's life! Major events are just that, events, I pray for all involved and leave it in God's hands. If I'm prompted to do something more, I do, but I don't linger on the situations. But, I have to also say, I don't watch the weather either. I trust the sky, and two friends that obsess about my NOT being in the know of every possible tropical storm. I just laugh to myself and know that somebody will give me a heads up before the hurricane gets here! And if I don't come to the door, they know I'm in my sewing room, so they'll call my cell phone.
patty
6/15/2016 11:27:00 am
I am with you as far as the presidential race noise. They are all nuts! Good job getting both of those quilts done. I am sure they will be appreciated.
Annie
6/15/2016 01:42:21 pm
Vicki, I bought a Sansa Sport Clip (or something like that). I twas the new version of the one I had before that died. Honestly, I don't care for the new one. Sometimes books download in multiple files. In the old one it put them together by book (like a sub directory). In the new one each download is treated like a new book. But most annoying is that in the old one when you hit the back button once it jumped back a chapter. On the new one it jumps back to the previous book! That's very difficult to get used to. It's working great to use my new smartphone all and bluetooth headphones. The app is very versatile with bookmarks and 30 second jumps and the ability to easily go back to any chapter.
Annie
6/17/2016 01:40:54 pm
Thanks for the info. I had been a fan of the Creative brand of MP3 players (I've had two of them). The back lighting on my current one is going, which is as bad as yours not holding a charge. Sadly, Creative doesn't make MP3 players anymore. Last week I loaded a book onto my older iPod (my iPhone has too many other goodies on it to have room for a book!) and that seems to be working okay. I've also been watching some Creative MP3 players on ebay to see if I can score a deal on one there. I had thought about trying the Sansa Sport Clip; it's good to hear from a live user that it may not be the best choice for books!
tim
6/15/2016 10:21:24 pm
The water, a boat and paddle will always make things better. 6/16/2016 12:37:03 am
Way to go Vicki! Give yourself a pat on the back! I quit watching TV more than 10 years ago. I don't miss it, it is such a time waster and I am much more relaxed now. Keep it up! Comments are closed.
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About Vicki
I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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