Swimming Is My Thing..right now...smile

I have always enjoyed swimming.  As a young girl my mom would use the town swimming pool as a babysitter of sorts. We'd sell empty pop bottles at the grocery store and I’d spend all day there, showing up famished for dinner.  Because, nothing burns calories better or makes me more hungry than swimming.  

Here are some things that make this exercise worth while for me.

It's about the swim suit, first and foremost.  I like a racing suit, it criss crosses across your back. I don't want to be in the zone and listening to my jams and having to watch my strap slide off my shoulders.  Clean and care of your suit will make it last longer.  After a workout of an hour in the pool, I like to rinse out my suit in fresh water and then run it through a spinning force dryer.

When I was younger I got swimmer's ear a lot.  It's a very painful ear infection, I guess they all are, but, this happened frequently.   As an older swimmer, I learned to use earplugs.  I like these jelly type.  You can get them at the pharmacy in Walmart for about 3.00.  I also like these Finis Swimp3 headphones.  They sit along the bones near the ear.  It's a great sound.  I count at least 6 songs before I start to look at my Series 4 Apple Watch.  It count's laps very well.  I also get a kick out of completing that circle in the Activity read out.  

Last but not least at all, is the recovery effort.  I cool down and stretch in the water, legs and arms.  Then I shower, rinse suit and spin dry it.  When I get home, this is the first thing I do, drink a glass or two of chocolate milk.  Back when I was running a lot, this was recommended for a better repair of the muscles.  I don't know if this is true, but, I like it and it does seem to make a difference.  I also take 2 Ibuprophens before I go to bed to help with recovery too.  

So this post is for me.  I just turned 60 years old this year.  When I get in the old folks home and decide I'd like to swim again, and I've forgotten how I did it, this is to remind me. 

#swimforyourlife#swimmingismything

My 2 Quilt Worlds...They both have their own jargon.

I belong to 2 quilt groups, one is traditional and the other is modern.  They are represented on this wall.  Traditional hand applique using a warm pallet on the left and my modern, japanese and other fabrics on the right.  

PUP is the acronym for Poor Unfinished Project on the left.
QAL is the acronym for Quilt A Long on the right.  This is an internet supported, for lack of a better word, Quilt A Long, using the hashtag:  #2019gypsywifeqal

My PUP is due on the February 12th meeting of the Collinsville, Ok, Patchworkers.  The pattern is The Raven, by Blackbird designs.  I use the "Quilt in a Day" method of applique.  This group is an older group of ladies with little interest in the internet support for their projects.  

My QAL is with the Tulsa Modern Quilt Guild.  The pattern is the Gypsy Wife, by Jen Kingwell.  This pattern is not for the faint of quilting heart.  It runs for several months. 

For both of these patterns, I can use my stash up, which is what I need to do.  I really enjoy using what I've purchased, especially if I can see some old quilts I've made in the scraps.  It's like visiting old friends.