Now THIS Is COUNTRY

 We are extremely lucky here in California.  The beautiful cool nights and nice warm days continue as tornados rip through towns back East.  So very sad.  I remember driving through those states, listening every second to the radio ... not sleeping ... wondering how people could say they don't worry about them at all.  If it's your time, it's your time.  I would be parked in a barrel underground at every breath of wind.  Prayers to all those who have lost loved ones and everything they own.  

Those of us who live in California say thank goodness all we have are earthquakes ... and not very many of them.  Every morning as I take Mr. Cooper out on this walk, I look up at the ever changing sky and say thank you!!

I am also very thankful to have this beautiful van, though it was completely covered in dirt and dust.  Actually I was already dressed to hit the road for the fabric store.  They do longarm quilting and I needed  one quilt finished with a machine tougher than mine.  Since I could not see out the windshield, I figured I better give her a wash.

I don't know what they put on the windows and paint, but boy is this thing hard to wash.  You can wash and rinse twice, and the dirt and streaks are still there.  I finally gave up, started her up and hit the gate button to exit the back yard.

NOTHING!  There was nothing!!  Not a click, not a sound and certainly no movement.  Yet again, I'm locked in.  This is SO irritating!!  Unfortunately there is only one company to work on them, 45 minutes away.  They charge $325 for a house call ... and of course anyone who needs service is a house call!!

I checked the GFI and it is working just fine.  Big sigh.  I parked the rig back under the cover and took my truck.  Why do I have to keep resetting this thing when the breaker never went off?  I probably need an entire new controller, but no other brand opens the gate this way, or this direction, so a different brand won't work.  How frustrating!

I jumped in the truck and took off.  When I say I live in the country, this is what it looks like.  Narrow two lane roads with lots of orchards, mostly almonds and pistachios. 

This is how I get to the town about 25 miles away.  Talk about small!  This is Mennonite country, which is why they have the only quilt store within an hours drive since JoAnnes closed down.  Out here it's cotton, tomatoes and sweet potatoes, along with rice in certain sections.  

When the cattle prices went so low we had to sell them for less than we paid after feeding them for months, we went into the rice farming business.  That turned into tomatoes.  Anything to keep food on our table.

This is why I have to clean my house constantly.  All this farming requires lots of plowing and planting.  When the wind blows even a tiny bit, or crazy wild like it did yesterday, whirlwinds pick up dust and dirt, spreading it for miles around.  That makes this one of the premier locations to get Valley Fever.  

It's about as rural as it gets.  Believe it or not, this is the grocery store.  If you've got an old barn, you've got a place to sell food to the locals.  

I dropped off the fabric to be quilted, knowing this one was going to cost me.  I'm guessing $100, including batting.  Add to that the $130 for embroidery and $75 for fabric ... and you've got a pretty expensive Veterans quilt!!  Hopefully I can reduce that cost since most of this one is coming out of my pocket.  

I was actually then headed to Target ... I don't even remember for what ... when I was completely distracted by the HABIT sign.  Oh wait ... I was needing some stuff for appetizers, but the parking lot was completely full to the brim.  Nope ... not going in THERE!  So instead, my truck just drove itself across the street where we basically parked in their drive-thru for 30 minutes.  The food is good, but their service terrible.

I can't complain too much when I get a burger freshly made like this one.  It's about 4 inches tall.  It looks like all lettuce, but it's got loads of bacon tucked inside.  Yup ... I ate the WHOLE THING!  The good news is I was so full come dinner time that I didn't eat again.

I stewed about the gate opener, but decided to wait until Monday to call and see how much I have to sacrifice in order to get an entire new opener.  Yes I could put in a pin and open and close it by hand every single time, but I'm old and creaky.  

I tried to sew, but that's when I realized I put the second machine on the wrong side of the table.  I spent the next hour switching machines, which of course had to involve actually cleaning all the dust and dirt off.  As you know, that is not my forte!

In the end, I gave up and just sat on the couch while admiring my still absolutely gorgeous flowers after one whole week.  The roses dies, but these still look fresh!!  Besides, the Professional Bull Riders Association World Championships were on the Cowboy Channel.  These guys ... when you watch bull riding, most everyone gets bucked off.  These guys from Brazil, Australia and the U.S.?  They rode most every one.  It was the perfect way to end the day.