A Week in the Life

Yes, I know, it's been over a month since I wrote anything here.  Life in the Villages has been so much fun, I haven't had time to write.   I finished my Mah Jong class last week. Now I know all the rules and rituals, but it's going to be a long time before I feel comfortable playing with anyone who has been playing for awhile.  It takes me a long time to figure our which hand to select to play towards.  That's the hardest art of the game, but I'm practicing.

We started another Tai Chi class last week.  It's the same instructor and basically the same class as we took before, but they changed it from a 4 to an 8 week class.  That will give us more time to memorize the movements and maybe add in a few more.

I started a beginner's quilting class last week too. We are supposed to be able to finish a small quilt by the end of the 5 week course.  The first week we just learned about selecting material and what tools would be the most useful.  Our homework was to buy our material and this week we learned how to cut the fabric and piece it together.  We're supposed to have our quilt tops done by next week. It's going to be fun.  I really think I can do this.

I'm also still very much involved with the Fun Fabric and Crafts group that meets each Saturday afternoon.  We have been visiting the Homewood Assisted Living facility at Freedom Point once a month to lead the residents in a craft project.  This has been so rewarding that we added a second Assisted Living facility, Mission Oaks.  We visited these residents for the first time last week.  The ladies who came to make bookmarks and flower magnets with us had a good time and thanked us over and over for coming.  It was a great afternoon.

We have also been making Fidget Quilts for the Memory Care sections of these facilities.  These are small (20-24 inch) quilts made with different fabrics, beads, zippers, etc. to provide a variety of tactile experiences for the person who receives one.  The members of Fun Fabric and Crafts have really taken to this project.  We delivered 18 to Freedom Point and 21 to Mission Oaks.  Both the administrators and the residents were really excited to receive these.  I am now the Fidget Quilt coordinator for the group.  Each week I collect the quilts the ladies have made and bring them home.  When we have a place to give them I gather up a bunch and bring them.  We are looking for more places to donate these and hope to get some press coverage to let people know about these quilts.

Between these classes and projects I'm also working on a couple of other needlework projects, reading a book, and working on eliminating some of the clutter around our house by scanning papers and digitizing old LPs.  It's a busy schedule, but it's all stuff I enjoy doing so I'm having a great time.  If only there were more hours in a day.