Do I turn my stitching

 On the pattern that I am working on should I turn my pattern to work on each of the sections or should I keep it in one direction? The pattern has sections that come off the centre in four directions how do I manage things?

This is a question that has come up a number of times regarding a pattern that is growing on four directions on a monthly basis. To put it simply you do not turn your work when you are working the sides and bottom of the pattern. When you come across a situation such as this it is important to make sure that you have marked the top of the pattern and your fabric, and you are to stitch everything in that direction.

The only time you can turn your project is when you turn it 180 degrees because that will still give you the stitches in the same direction as the rest of your work.  If you were to turn the pattern 90 degrees each time you stitched a section, you would be impacting how the light will reflect off the stitches and how the stitches will lay when they are done. When you are doing cross stitch, the idea is to ensure that the top stitch always crosses in the same angle for all the stitches.

I do that there are some individuals that will cross each row of these stitches in the opposite direction but that is only two directions not four. If you were to turn your pattern each time you worked on a different section, you are going to affect how the light reflects on the various sections and also how it looks when it is done. 

It is important that when you are working on a cross stitch piece that you remember to make sure that you are keeping your stitching in one direction and you don’t turn your stitching. The only time you can turn your stitching is if you turn it 180 degrees so that the stitches look the same. If you turn it 90 degrees, you are going to have crosses that are totally different. 

So next time you look at a cross stitch pattern and you are working on it on a monthly basis remember that you need to ensue that your stitches are all crossing in the same direction and you are not going to be turning your piece for each section. A cross stitch pattern is designed to be stitched in one direction so you need to remember that and make sure that you mark the top of your design to ensure you are always stitching in the same direction.

Don't tell me not to care

There are so many times when we are dealing with people online that we hear “I’m fine, you don’t need to care about me”. Well, I am going to tell you that there are so many people that do care and that what to make sure that you are managing everything that we care about in a manage that works for both you and the group.

In the last little while I have seen that a group that I belong to have had some challenges, and it is because of the different things that have happened. It becomes a challenge for the moderators/administrators to manage everything without letting the entire group know that there are challenges. It might be dealing with members that aren’t following the rules or people just trying to say that they are the boss and everyone has to deal with what they have to say.

When you are an administrator or moderator of a group you have to understand that others do care and maybe there are going to be people that complain about something that you have done or will do but the majority of people are going to stand behind you and thank you for what you do. It is a job that not many people want to do because it is a volunteer position. It is a position that a lot of people don’t realize that someone doesn’t get paid to do the role, but we do it because of a passion for the group not for the title.

What, I don’t like to hear is what someone says thank you for what you do, and your reply is “you never need to worry about me, I am good”. Maybe what you are telling the group is I am there for you but can’t care about me.

I am going tell you that the people that care about the community are going to care about the person or people that manage the group and no matter what you say we are going to care. Maybe, saying you are “good” is a statement that you want everyone to think about, but I am going to tell you that groups care and we are all there for the person or persons that are the leaders/administrators/moderators of a group.

 

 

Fireworks - Niagara Falls

When you go to Niagara Falls if you can schedule your visit to see the fireworks that take place over the falls, I would recommend that. Between the middle of May and the middle of October, the fireworks are every evening at 10 pm and it is a five minute show. If you are fortunate enough to have a hotel room that overlooks the falls, I would say at least one night just stand by your window and enjoy them from there.

We had a room at the Courtyard Marriott on Victoria, and the view was amazing as we seemed to be right where the fireworks were being let off so that was nice. We originally thought we might see the fireworks on the Friday evening, but we were lucky enough to be able to enjoy them two nights and both of them were from our room.

Here are a couple of pictures of some of the fireworks that we saw, and being able to see them very well from our room was nice. If the weather is just right and you have a room that is facing the falls, I would recommend checking the schedule for the fireworks and be prepared for a nice view. 

Niagara Falls normally has fireworks all year on a Friday night and then some other special events like New Years Eve, so you need to check to see when they are happening so that you don't miss the opportunity to see the show.

One of the spots that we found that was really good to watch the fireworks from if you want to be closer to them is near the base of Clifton Hill because the fireworks are set off between there and the Canadian Falls. If you can get down near the Niagara River, it is a nice experience, but you also have to be prepared for crowds because a lot of people will be down there to watch the fireworks.

Here is a short video of some of the fireworks that we saw. Fireworks

 

Morning routine

 All of us have some sort of morning routine that we enjoy and when it doesn’t go the way we want it to go it seems to make the rest of the day a little harder. For those of us that work from home one thing we must remember is to not let work get into the morning routine until a specific time.

Something that I had noticed in my own morning routine was I was letting all these other things start to invade my quiet writing time. For quite a long time I would get to my computer before breakfast with a cup of tea and I would write for about an hour without thinking about all the other things that I needed to do. Having breakfast was when the signal for the rest of the things to start to be added into the schedule. This was great because I am someone that can sit and write each day and it could be blogs or just journal notes but at least I was writing.

Over the last few months, I have started to notice that my writing time or quiet time in the morning was getting a lot shorter and it wasn’t the time was less, it was I was allowing other things to enter this time and overtake my quiet writing time. Being able to realize what is happening is important because than is when you can make the necessary changes to get that time back and get your routine back. It doesn’t matter why I allowed all these things to break my morning routine, what is important is that I can start to get that quiet time back.

Here are some things that took over my quiet time:

• Social media – checking both Facebook and Instagram
• Emails – both personal and professional
• Work items – I just allowed them to happen earlier in the day instead of after breakfast.

Yes, it is nice to check social media to see what is happening, but it doesn’t have to be first thing in the morning. It can wait a little bit so that I can enjoy my personal time. Checking emails especially work ones that can wait until after breakfast. I do have specific email accounts to notify me when an email comes in so if my smartphone let’s me know I got that type of email I will quickly check but if it can wait it is going to wait. Now, the work items, this was something that I shouldn’t have allowed at all unless there as an emergency or the rest of the day was already full booked for work (conference, etc).

Having a morning routine no matter what it is like we all need to do what helps make the rest of the day work a little easier.  I know that if I was going into an office the work items wouldn’t get started until I arrived so why I am allowing them to intrude on my early morning quiet time. Being able to realize when things aren’t working is important and changing things back to what was working is also good. The simple process of not opening email accounts or social media accounts during the quiet time does help. It gives me the focus that I need to be able to get writing done before the rest of the world wants some of my time. I have started to take my quiet morning time back and I have already seen that the writing is starting to come back as well.

 

When is quiet, quiet?

For a lot of us we have had to say when is quiet, quiet?

For me it is when I can turn out the rest of the world and enjoy some time when I am not having to hear all the various sounds around me. Right now, I am sitting here trying to make sure that I can find some time to just hide from the world and not hear everything else that is around. When you live in a high destiny area you are going to constantly hear lots of sounds, and you need to figure out just how to escape some of them.

It would be nice to know that I have been able to get a bunch of things achieved, so we will see how things go. It would be nice to be able to continue to get more of the thoughts out of my head so we will see how things go but it depends on the noise that I am dealing with. It would be nice to have a bit of time to lose myself and have a bit of quiet time to just figure out what I would like to achieve.

Being able to spend some quiet time is very important because I know for someone like me just having those few minutes where I can sit and lose myself without hearing all the various sounds around me makes me feel so much better. Hearing sounds that are normal for a lot of people but a challenge for some people can really make a difference.

Sometimes the difference between noise cancelling and just quiet ear plugs can make such a difference. I had been wearing a quiet ear plug and one noise cancelling earphone and then I changed to both quiet ear plugs, and I found such a difference. What I have found putting the two ear plugs in is I have been able to block out a bunch of the sounds that I normally hear and that is great. I am not certain what noises I can still hear but at least having a bit of time where I can escape the sounds from outside makes me feel so much better. We have been dealing with several cars that have issues with back firing so have these ear plugs in have made a big difference.

When I can say that there are times when I just need quiet it means that I need to block out all the various arounds that are going on around me. Being able to focus on something and know that I have been able to take that time for myself and not hear all the surroundings sounds makes me feel great. Yes, having a chance to enjoy quiet is very important for a lot of us and for those that deal with extremely hearing, having a bit more quiet time is extremely important.

When writing works and when it doesn't

 For someone that write for both personal pleasure and for work when writing doesn’t seem to work it can be such a challenge. Finding the words that you want to put down on paper can be an issue and you have to accept that.

Some ideas to get your writing back:

• If you normally write on your computer, try writing on your tablet or on a piece a paper for a little while to see if that helps me get over the writing block.
• Change where you are doing your writing. Just moving to a different location if the same area can make a difference because you will see things a little differently as your view is different.
• Try doing a 10-minute writing blast and you don’t have to worry about what you are writing about as long as you are getting words done. This can make a big impact on your writing because sometimes having a time limit can help get the words out.
• Walk away from your writing for a little while to give your mind a break and do something else. Try going for a bit of a walk or even just going outside for a few minutes and looking around at your surroundings can help a lot.
• If you write blog entries, maybe look at a couple of your older entries and see what was important about that entry. This can sometimes spark another idea and off you go with your writing again.
• Change the location of where you write and this time get out of the normal spots and maybe go to a coffee shop or a bar and try and do some writing there. It can help you find your focus again because it is a different environment.

For me, I have found that when I can’t seem to get the words out very easily, I will give myself that 10-minute writing blat and it is amazing how the focus changes and suddenly writing works again. I have also found that I can quite often write more in a different environment, so we do put times aside to just escape the normal environment and writing seems to flow.

When your writing flows you have to allow it to happen and when there is a block accept that there is one and do something different for a little while and then get back to writing.  Write some people is for pleasure and for others it is also for work so knowing how to get the words flowing again is important.

If you have any ways that you get your writing focus back, I would love to hear them so please comment.

 

When a community stops being a community

There are so many times when people say that they want to be part of a community, but they aren’t willing to even pay a few dollars a month to be part of that community. I understand that every community is going to be different. I believe to a couple of communities online and the biggest value I get from these communities is feeling like I belong and are part of a group of people that share a common bond.

What bothers me is when a community goes from members only chat to subscriber chat and anyone can post questions/comments, and they can sometimes be frustrating. I know that we all try and help answer the questions and something the moderator needs to understand is that we will answer questions in a general way to let the person know that we know the answer will be coming up shortly.  What goes get frustrating is when we see a comment from a moderator saying, “Don’t answer questions in the chat”. Why can’t a member answer a question in a general way because that will help keep the community as a community. When you say that you are the only one that should be answering questions it shows that the community is breaking down and that is a major concern. If I am paying to be part of the community, I should have the right to answer questions unless there is a general rule posted that states “As a member you are not allowed to answer questions in the chat.” If this happens, I know I would leave that community because that is part of the joy that being part of the community gives me.

If a moderator is going to post such comments as, “Don’t answer questions in the community” they need to keep those comments available and not delete them later on because that doesn’t help either because members see what is going on and they are going to think about where their dollar is going. Saying something and then deleting what you have said doesn’t build a community, it starts to destroy a community.

As a community we cannot compare one stream with another stream because all of them are different, and they provide a different level of quality and service and value to the community they are serving. I know that I have put my money into a community that I enjoy being part of because of how things are monitored and controlled. The community might not have an open chat but that is part of what I enjoy.

An online community is built between the trust between the members of the community and the moderator. If the moderator starts to destroy the trust that is going to mean that the community is likely to fail moving forward.  It doesn’t matter who we all are but we need to ensure that we are their for either other and a community is such a key part of any who is involved in the chat.