Catching up to the beginning of November.

So, the last post was made on Feb 15. I had a lot since then.

Around that time, I was up and down with the fact that I was diagnosed with osteopenia. Finally, the time to fight with loss of bone density became a part of my life. My primary physician wasn't much help. She just advised me to take Calcium with Vitamin D, which actually did nothing to improve my bone density last year. 

So, I read a lot of online articles and books borrowed from my friend and found more useful information than my physician gave me. Until the end of August, I had every morning or evening walk plus gardening and taking calcium + vitamin D + magnesium supplements in between meals, a plant-based diet, avoid caffeine and alcohol, but now I often skip the calcium and my eating habit went back to what I used to do before. I stopped walking also but do Zumba at home instead following a youtube video every day. I think exercise is the most important factor to prevent osteoporosis and balanced meals, then maybe calcium with vitamin D/K, etc. I add a tbsp of apple cider vinegar to my tea to help prevent my blood pH decrease, especially after consuming animal protein so it would minimize calcium leaking out into the urine.

In April, I felt the necessity of more exercise and relaxation, so I started to join a qigong group once a week. My Japanese friend leads the group at the church which is 2 miles from my home. I still enjoy it. It's nice to have a moment to pay attention to my inner world through meditation. It gave me good opportunities to think about life from a different angle than I usually see. 

The church focuses on spirituality more than religion. The members of qigong are also members of the church and they expressed they don't consider themselves Christians, even though they use the term "God". I am not a religious person but I was looking for a church to join to be a part of the community. I thought this church is a perfect match for me, so I now go to mass every Sunday. The church examines teachings of life from various religions and seeks ways how to live in diversity and respect individual differences to achieve a kind community. 

Naturally, they encourage arts and crafts. You can find all kinds of programs/workshops at the church. They have me for a Nov/Dec artist for their art space. I now have 3 quilts hanging there.

I made many smiley cat pillows for donations to the church also. There are more many pillows in the box under the table. 

The ad for my Etsy shop.

And my artist statement.

I didn't have much to say in the statement but thought of filling the space. So, I used the dual portrait that I drew for one of the drawing class assignments that I had taken in the past. I had to draw a real me in a funny face and another me in a different form. I respect nature, so the other me has natural elements to it.

The table under the quilt display looks a little empty so I would add some more items. I just had a craft show last weekend. There are leftover items from the show. 

My husband thought the table runners in a conservative style would go at the show, but only one runner was sold. I may have them at Etsy or the church, and then would be donated to my local quilt guild Way and Means. 

Anyway, I am hoping to find a nitch for me to help the church and be familiar with the community. I may try a hand-sewing workshop there next year. I used to have a sewing club at the local community college, but it was taken over by an active student, which is actually a good thing. I left the club because I felt I am not a necessary person for the club. It was a bit sad because I set up everything and it was like a tsunami swept away everything so rapidly. But all I can do is forget about it and just move on. I will find something else for the community. So the workshop could be a good alternative.

Since I got into the mood for sewing, I finished 15 placemats (3 sets of 5) yesterday and listed them on Etsy last night. 

I will be soon busy with raking and collecting leaves from my neighbors for my compost heap but hope to make more time for Etsy.

From gardening vegetables this year, a remarkable thing is butternut squash. I planted only 6 seedlings, and they just took off so freely.

The left side is butternuts, and the right is Japanese pumpkin, kabocha. I think the leaf size difference between the two comes from the compost section being located next to the kabocha bed.

116 butternuts and 16 kabocha in total were harvested. I gave away so many butternuts at the church and quilt meetings, but still, my basement is occupied by butternuts.

Also, gourds!

I don't know where they came from but suddenly appeared in my garden. They grew like there are no enemies in their life! After researching online, my conclusion is that they are the result of the cross-pollination in my garden. I kept using seeds from my garden for years because I didn't know squash can be easily cross-pollinated. I had zucchinis, some varieties of pumpkins, and cucumbers. One article I read said the more cross-pollinated, the more squash tends to go back to their ancestors, which are gourds. I learned gourds are edible just not as tasty as squash, so my husband and I ate them all as an alternative to potatoes. However, because they just grow so fast and produce so many, I had to kill them in the middle of the season. I wanted to eat butternuts more than gourds but couldn't get to butternuts. I set butternuts aside because they can last a long time but not gourds. Gourds get harder and harder, also become more fiberly as time passes, and become impossible to cut with a kitchen knife so not edible after a while. 

We also had plenty of tomatoes (of course!), beets, eggplants, figs, kale, string beans, etc, and sweet peppers that are still growing. It's nice to have a vegetable garden. My freezer is still full of vegetables and I don't have to buy vegetables for a while until they last. Unfortunately, I plan to reduce the number of plants to plant next year. Simply, I just need them for ourselves. I enjoy the abundance, but I am getting tired of asking people, "would like to have some vegetables?" Also, the garden forces me to harvest, prepare, preserve, and cook all the time during summer. It's just too much. 

I wanted to write about my new kitty and the diet for cats but will do it later. I started a Japanese-style quilt for sale. It will be scrappy. Hope it results in a similar image I have in my mind. I am happy to have time for my projects :) I work less for charity quilts since this fall. I still make one or two comfort quilts a month, but not six or seven like before. I think I need to be more selective as my life left is not that long and everything is getting not easy due to aging. My quilting friends are usually older than me and they call me a kid. I want to know how they can be so powerful and cheerful while I often fall into negative feelings about life. 

Anyway, it's time for preparing supper. Then I will sew after that.