A BIG SURPRISE

I woke up on this day to Kitters thumping around the bedroom.  Too bad it was 2 am.  I wasn't in the best of moods when I found her chasing another big moth.  What's with this cat??  She's definitely NOT hungry!  She was put outside, only to bang on the doggie door for the next half hour.  I finally let her in before shutting her in the back bedroom.  GEEZE!!

Running wasn't on my list on this day, but I had to do something.  The weeds are blooming quite nicely.  

Two miles later, Kitters was waiting to be let out when I returned.  You have to stop that pretty girl!!!

That's when the surprise showed up.  Some wonderful person sent this plaque to me via FedEx.  It's PERFECT!  But there was no name ... and I could only find that it was from Middletown PA.  Thank you so very much!!!  It will proudly sit on the mantle next to Cooper.  Of course it made me cry for the next half hour!  So who did this wonderful thing for me?

Just sitting is a bad thing at this point in time, so I took the Jeep out to return a couple of Amazon fails.  Just so you know, you don't get the pretty lights for the cheapest $10.00 wash.  

From there I just kept driving until I got to the plant nursery two towns over.  Naturally, nothing is cheap there, but I was replacing one of theirs that died and was hoping for a discount.  Plus, no one else carries that particular plant.

This beauty came home with me too.  I'm planting it for Cooper.  

Moving on before I cry again, lunch was a tasty croissant with bacon and eggs.  You know, when you buy a dozen croissants, you have to eat them!!

On to quilting.  I replaced the bobbin carrier with a brand spanking new one, spring and all.  There was lots of rattling and a few emergency stops, but I finally got this one quilt done.  

Sadly, it's not Cooper approved.  After having several problems yet again, I called the manufacturer back East.  I got a  very nice guy who walked me step by step through several tests to find the problem.  Take the bobbin carrier out.  It worked fine.  Take the bobbin out.  It worked fine.  Take the needle out.  It worked fine.  Put it all back together and it worked fine.  WHAT THE HECK?  

We did move and adjust the encoder on the back, so maybe that helped.  I quilted on a scrap piece for a bit and it seemed to work ok.  Two hours later I finally got off the phone.  I'll try it again today.

I spent the last of the afternoon loading yet another quilt to test the new setup.  I finally had to go because of a knock at the door.  The Electric guy had come to fix the light fixture.  He said the hangar inside broke off, so he stuffed it with some paper, pushed it back up and used caulking to seal it in place.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  You stuffed PAPER in the hole?  That doesn't sound good to me AT ALL, but maybe he knows what he's doing.  No ... I don't think he does.

For dinner I cooked up a pile of carne asada.  It probably would have been better on the grill, but turned out quite tasty from my cast iron skillet.  Oh my gosh this stuff is GOOD!

This is my version because I forgot the cilantro and onions.  

That was it for the day.  I watched TV, stared at Cooper's beautiful plaque and tried to will myself to sleep.  That didn't happen, but it's another story for another day.