LET'S EAT CAKE!!!

 It's interesting to me that our weather forecasts never seem to materialize.  Though we were scheduled for seven days of rain, our first epic day only resulted in clouds.  They started out dark and ominous but ended up sunny and warm.  Never let the weatherman suggest your clothing options for the day.

First things first, I hit the morning running at a fast pace, hoping to get three quilts quilted before heading out to the latest dinner donation.  I love this quilt pattern and think I will make one for the lodge, to hang over the stage.  It's amazing how the fabric looks folded and wrinkled here, but in actuality, it's perfectly flat while I quilt.

Never far away, Mr. Cooper waits patiently until I'm done so he can christen it with his little feet while I take a picture.  Not quite yet however, since I have company.  That delayed quilting for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, I went one way and she went another.  Sadly, I didn't have any extra dinner tickets for the event I was attending.  This is Love INC (Love in the name of Christ) ... the biggest and best organization in our local area.  They have an entire crew that works every day helping people get their lives together.  They have classes on budgeting, saving money, how to balance a checkbook, how to get a job, how to get a place to live ... and anything else they need, all for free.  You ask, they give.

It's one of the Elks favorite donation projects.  This once a year dinner is the biggest around, including several auctions, silent and LOUD!!  It's a major task to put on this event ... and they do an amazing job.

The building was packed to the brim, a full size basketball court and then some, filled with 55 tables.  We should take lessons!  We started out with an appetizer bar that was HUGE, with nacho containers you could fill to the brim.  When everyone was seated, the entire building was fed in less than 30 minutes.  Salad, tri tip beef, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans with tomatoes and garlic bread.  It was so loud we were actually texting each other.

Then came the dessert dash!!  My favorite!  You write on the envelope how much money you want to spend.  They pick them up and put them in amount order.  As they call your table number by order of how much you bid, you run up to the long tables and pick which dessert you want.  I think we were the fifth number called. 

We paid $450 for this amazing coffee chocolate cake.  It was probably the best I'ver ever eaten.  The Elks and I split this donation.  I like what this organization does and donate all I can.  All of the extra furniture I brought back from Arizona went to them also.  

Next up was their BED auction.  So many people around here cannot afford furniture for their apartments, including one lady with 11 ... that's ELEVEN children.  They found a donor who bought bunk beds that this group hauled to the house, put together and plunked mattresses on top so the kids didn't have to sleep on the floor.  And so they ask for donations of $100 each to buy beds and mattresses.  They collected 40 donations, plus even larger donations for bed and dressers.  It kind of makes you proud to know there are this many folks willing to help this organization.

Their latest project is the purchase of two big showers on a trailer.  I think they have two trailers now.  They haul these around to the areas where homeless hang out and offer them a free shower.  That's a first.  

At any rate, we demolished the cake since we had 16 Elks attend and left plenty of donation money at the counter.  I headed home to find my company's car in the driveway, so I quietly snuck in and turned the alarm on.  In no time I was out like a light.  

But my phone kept buzzing and waking me up.  In disgust, I finally got up to see what it was.  Company wasn't home after all, but was on their way.  It would not have ended well if she tried to come in the back door with the alarm on!!!

There's no rest today since the installation of new Elks Officers will be held starting at 2:00.  Ugh ... there's no time to rest.  I'll be gathering up my penguin suit.  

Death and Taxes

 What a beautiful day THAT was!  Warm and sunny until it turned cold and dark.  I thought the rains would fall any second.  Even got a warning or two on my phone about an "event", whatever that was, but like me, it ghosted the crowd and went home.  They say the same will happen today.  It amazes me how many times they are incorrect around here.  It's okay though ... that's one less day of rain.

My roses think it's lovely.  They are covered with buds and beginning to blossom.  Weird roses ... they have the color and the thorns, but just don't look like roses to me.   

We didn't spend much time outside however ... there was sewing to be done.  When I'm on a roll, I try to keep going.  Otherwise I'll stop in the middle and procrastinate!!

This one for an Air Force Vet is ready for the longarm.  Gee ... only nine of these to go!  

These on the other hand, not only take longer, but take a lot more calculating.  Turns out the center squares are not square.  For example, 17-1/2 inches wide and 17 inches tall, or 18" wide and 18-3/4" tall.  That means lots of math trying to figure out exactly how big to make the squares before cutting and sewing.  I could make them really big and just cut them down, but that wastes expensive fabric.  

I hope to have five of these quilts with names, places and rank embroidered on them ... if I can find someone to embroider.  At this point, they may end up generic because so far I haven't found anyone for that task.

So much to do ... so little time.  Return to Walmart, return to Home Depot, company coming, drivers license renewal, none of which got done on this day.  Oh and groceries.  Seems every time I look in the fridge I'm out of food!

To make my day, I got my tax returns back from the accountant.  Though I wish I could do it myself, I have these investments from 30 years ago that are overseas.  I suppose the good news is they have always made money.  The bad news is I have to pay taxes on money I never see.  I'm taking withdrawals, but for some reason I always seem to have to pay MORE tax on it.  

I admit, I have a good retirement.  Bought and paid for by 58 years of hard work in a time when you didn't get paid the BIG bucks, but the benefits made up for it.  The trouble is, the more you make, the more you pay.  It makes me really happy that much of those government money laundering schemes are being killed off by DOGE.  I'm all for helping out people in OUR country, but it seems we've been helping out people in other countries more than ourselves.  I won't even get into that part.

Even writing off my little quilting business gets me nothing.  I suppose I should be thankful I have enough to buy food, make my house payment and buy diesel at the end of the day.  Single people have to pay for everything by themselves and still pay all the taxes with fewer deductions.  

Elva says I should get one of my single friends to marry me on paper, NOT live together, and see how much taxes I could save.  That just might be an idea worth investigating!!!   I won't say how much I have to pay, but I could easily buy a car with it.... or TWO longarms!!  Sadly for the folks doing my job today, they receive basically NO benefits and get paid less for the same work.

Anyway ... death and taxes are inevitable I guess.  After stitching up two more quilts, they are ready for quilting.  This one is loaded and will be done this morning.  As for the other two ...  company called and needed a place to stay, so I don't know how much I will actually get done.

My poor scroungy kid slept like a baby next to me for the remainder of the night.  He's such a snuggle bunny ... but only when he wants to be!!  

Just for fun, I put the game camera out last night to see who has been coming around.  Mr. Cooper thinks someone is trespassing on HIS property.  There are WAY too many smells on his backyard route.  Maybe we'll find out who it is today.  In the meantime, I have a 4:00 function to attend ... which will include good food and a dessert auction!!  OH YEAH!!!

Changing It Up

 If you don't like the weather, just wait a few days.  At 5:00 this morning it was 57 degrees.  Uh oh ... it's going to be a toasty one.  I may have to actually turn my AC on.  Not for long however, because Mother Nature isn't going to let us get away that easily ... it's supposed to rain for the next six days straight.  So much for laying out in the sun!

Mr. Cooper and I were off before the sun came up.  

That didn't last long however since it wasn't windy or even breezy.  That meant it was a good day to spray weeds.  I have called the usual company twice, but they keep telling me it's too early.  By the time they think it's perfect, I'll have a five foot tall jungle in my back yard.  No kidding, the weeds are almost up to an elephant's eye!

This is definitely not my favorite "man" job.  The shoulder straps on this thing are too wide, so it constantly slips off my shoulders.  It doesn't spray enough either, like my old one did.  It works, but takes much longer.  Yes, it's really heavy too ... but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.  It took about an hour to empty it out.

Then I pulled a bunch of weeds in the garden, and admired this beauty.  I had three of these pretty gazanias, but only 1-1/2 remain.  They looked great until winter came.  Maybe it's too cold for them here.  This one made my day!

With that all done, I was off to the fabric shop.  I got a couple of ideas from the Elks crowd and an OK on the new panels.  But first ... I needed fuel.  I always check around town, but no one ever beats the price 15 miles down the road.  It's always jammed with cars and big trucks, mostly because it's $1.00 cheaper than any other station within 50 miles.  So if they can have cheaper fuel, why can't everyone else?  $4.45 today for diesel, down from $5.50 a couple of months ago ... and this is CALIFORNIA.  Land of BIG taxes and trains to nowhere.  

By the way, to get the train from L.A. to San Francisco, about 380 miles, the original price was $33 billion So far they have some bridges completed, hoping to get it just 160 miles from Merced to Bakersfield, which at this point has cost $128 BILLION.  Is that $800 million dollars per MILE?  Too bad they haven't bought any train CARS, or have high speed tracks down yet. Oh but wait .... he needs $100 BILLION MORE to finish it.  I think that would end up costing us $600 million per mile.  Maybe someone should check my math.  

On the other hand, Newsom now has a new $9.1 million dollar mansion to live in on the coast.  Thank goodness the Federal Government said NO MORE MONEY.  Oh, and that's not counting the $3.4 billion he's begging for to replace the Medical money he spent on illegal aliens.  You know, the money California CITIZENS need for THEIR medical care?  Okay, enough of that.

Happy about the reduction in fuel prices, at least a little, I was off to the fabric shop.  I wanted to pick up some solid colors to tone down the "busy-ness" of the quilt panel.  Fabric isn't cheap ... this is $200 worth ... but at least it hasn't gone up in over a year.  

In no time my sewing room was a disaster!!  I tried to get a little organized since I now know I need ten anonymous quilts and ten designated for specific people.  

Here's what I've got so far.  Since those little squares from each branch are now considered antiques, the only ones I could find with a specific branch i.d. were these.  Way down at the bottom you can hardly see Air Force.  See what I mean by busy?  Believe me, it's worse in person.

I thought the best thing I could do was just add several borders to make it the 40 x 50 size required.  

I tried the plain border above, but liked this one a little better.  It adds a little pizzaz to it.  I've now got two complete and two ready to quilt.  Hopefully two more will be added to that pile today.  These go pretty fast.

In the meantime, I am again out of Cooper food.  That kid eats more than I do, so I'll be cooking up a storm today, sewing in between.  Then I'm going outside to watch the weeds die.  How fun is that???

Hot Ball and Change

 Wow ... there was a big change in temperature around here.  We are at an almost WARM 55 degrees this morning, heading right on up the pike to a lovely 75.  I think spring just might have sprung overnight.  It makes for a much more comfortable day when you don't have to don boots and jackets.

It's Bingo day, so let's get to it!

This was just weird ... we started out the day yesterday with fog.  Even thicker than the camera shows.  It wasn't cold, but there was so much water on the lawn it looked like it had rained.  Cooper was not impressed!

The first order of the day was to head out to our favorite restaurant for some Mexican fare.  I don't know what happened, but they now have a new menu with MUCH higher prices.  The cheapest thing was $9.99.  Three taquitos with rice and beans on the smallest plate I've ever seen.  You know how the rice and beans always run together?  Not on this plate.

I wish I had taken a picture.  There was less than 1/4 cup rice in one corner and even less beans in the other.  Our regular fare, one enchilada and one taco, came to a whopping $16.00, on the same tiny plate, miniaturized to fit.  I guess we won't be going back THERE!  We do have other choices, but they are all Mexican food.  

We laughed at the thought we've held since we were kids.  There was one stop sign on Hwy 99 heading North ... and everyone coming up from the border stopped there and set up housekeeping.  I'm actually pretty happy about that because I LOVE Mexican food!

I raced home to take care of Cooper before heading back to the lodge and grabbing a couple of those quilt panels to show the Veterans group.  Sadly, I forgot my phone when I headed back.  How did we become so attached to those things?  I felt OFF all night long.  

I started out in panic mode because the infernal machine did not have any paper to print out receipts.  I found this problem two weeks ago, but nothing got ordered.  The only thing we had was the wrong size.  This is a big problem .... BIG!  I raced upstairs to find the person who orders things was not in.  OH NO!  I'm in trouble now!!

Alas, she had gone to drop off something at the supply store, but I had no phone to contact her.  Lucky for me, she came back with two rolls, enough to get me through the night.  Hopefully more will be ordered before I am drawn and quartered by the peasants of the Kingdom.

It was slow, to say the least.  This is the last game of the month, and everyone is now broke.  They have smashed every piggy bank and brought in ziploc bags full of change.  No kidding, we are down to counting pennies, nickels and dimes.  

Did I ever mention how they can't count very well?  It's never the correct amount, mostly because they always seem to count nickels as quarters.  That means a mad dash back to their table to plead for more change from their neighbors.  No one else has any cash left either, so they don't come back to my table.

It's so sad to see them using their EBT cards, but use them they do.  They say "I have $26 left, I'll pay the rest in change".  Those should be coded somehow so they cannot purchase anything but food.  

The same goes for hotball, which is another of our money games.  They pay $2.00 extra every week for a stamp on their hand.  If they win any bingo game with the posted hotball number of the night, they win OUR jackpot AND the hot ball jackpot, which can be as high as $1199.  Why $1199?  Because if it is $1200, you have to notify IRS.  Yup I was counting all THAT change also.

At this time however, the hotball was down to $103 which means fewer players also.  Oh yes, they all know exactly how much it is on any given night.  It's a catch 22 because fewer players also means there's less money for me to pay out.  Peasants don't show up if there's not a big pot to win.

Very surprisingly, they were civil on this night, with only a few cat calls to the newest caller who forgot to say the letter before the number.  You know, like calling 6 instead of B6.  The grumbling began low and slow, but rose to a crescendo in no time.  In a flash, they were on their feet ... calling for his head.  That is always a reminder to me to NEVER volunteer to call the numbers.  

The infernal machine took pity on me this night and balanced to all but the 39 cents.  I quickly ate my chili cheese dog without the bun, giving me heartburn for the night.  I do have a choice ... heartburn from that or heartburn from chicken tenders, or heartburn from the hamburger.  We are equal opportunity heartburn specialists!!

The good news is I got a little direction on the Veteran quilts.  Some will be generic for the big Veterans Day giveaway, and some will be more direct for our member giveaway around the same time.

And so I better get to sewing!!!

Lots of Sewing Going On

 It took awhile to get motivated on a Monday.  Gorgeous temperatures showed up unexpectedly and I planned on just laying out under the warm sunny rays.  Too bad my get-'er-done personality wouldn't let me.  Maybe tomorrow!

I'm stuck on some of these Veteran quilts ... and hope you can help me.  I just don't remember these colors being that of Marines.  Maybe I'm stuck in the days of Desert Storm and camo!  I know the Air Force had light blue uniforms, the Navy had navy blue.  What about the Marines, the Coast Guard and the Army?  Any suggestions on the colors for these quilts?  Or should I just make them all red, white and blue.

Having found that the above center panels are now extinct, or at the very least considered "antiques", I've been looking for something else to use.  A few years ago I made this one that I thought maybe I could duplicate.  Those piano keys down the side, though, they are SO hard to figure out the size depending on the size of the panel, I just don't want to go there again.  

I knew I had this panel stuck somewhere in my sewing room, so I spent over an hour looking for it.  I also went online to see if I could find more of them, but alas ... only six could be found.  Apparently these too have become almost extinct.  This one is done and ready to quilt.

Lucky for me, Arrowhead Gramma mentioned an online store yesterday.  They have a few new panels that I think will work.  I hate for them all to be the same, but manufacturers are not making much patriotic stuff these days.  Too bad.

I finished this one that was already put together when I got the box of fabric.  I quilted it and bound the edges, resulting in very oweey fingers on my right hand.  Too much hand sewing I think.  

I still have maybe ten of these small panels left, so I started this one for the Air Force.  I guess another trip to the fabric store will be coming up soon.  I've run out of red and navy blue.  Just for fun, I figured out these 40 x 50 quilts will cost between $50 and $60 each, not counting my machine time and thread.  I sure hope they like them!!

I almost missed dinner, which didn't set well with Mr. Cooper.  He's very good at reminding me with a wet nose to nose confrontation.  We ate outside on the patio, admiring the few clouds that were overhead.

It got really pretty for a minute there, but was fleeting at best.  

Ten minutes later, guess who was fast asleep.  

It's that time again ... no, not Howdy Doody time, it's BINGO time.  But first, I'm scheduled for a Mexican lunch in town, after which I will race home to feed my kid before putting on my armor.  I'm hoping tonight will be pitchfork free.

PARTY ON!!!

 It was time to recover on Sunday.  That being said, it was actually a gorgeous day.  Not too cold and not too hot.  That's why Mr. Cooper and I went for a walk.  Walks are getting shorter in his old age ... or maybe in MINE!

This is a gorgeous tree my neighbor has, but I'm thinking it's the cause of my morning bout with sneezing.  I'm up to the count of twelve every time!  I guess it's a sure sign that Spring has arrived in style.

Back to Saturday night ... as I mentioned, this is the King of the Magic Castle.  He and his wife went on a trip to France to have a look see, and he came home with a French beret.  I have no clue where the beer came from.  Wife Deb is great at decorating ideas.  

On every table was a fake beer, one of his favorite hats (clean ones she said) and a picture that matches the fabric tablecloths she made.  One for travel, one for Bingo, one for the Los Angeles Dodgers ... you get the picture.

There was an open bar which soon had us wearing crazy hats, feather boas and faces not our own.

Needless to say, the King turned 75 years old.  Just a young-un the older folks said!!  Did I mention this group is a big part of Bingo?  In fact, there ended up being THREE tables full of Bingo Knights and Ladies.  You can tell because pretty much NONE of us dressed up for this party!  Neither did the King, so we were safe.

Here's the cake ... fire extinguisher at the ready.  No kidding, this cake has 75 candles on it, all attached with an ignitable line so they will light within seconds.  That's so the first candle won't melt completely before the last one is lit.

And light up it did!  The bad news is our building is so old, there are no fire sprinklers or alarms to set off ... thus the fire extinguisher close at hand.  This is a BIG cake on a BIG metal cart!!  The King had a pretty hard time trying to blow them all out.  It took three breaths to do it!!

You can read the writing ... Call the Fire Department before lighting!!  We ate almost all of TWO cakes, along with some vanilla bean ice cream.  That after all those chicken wings, mushrooms, meatballs and miscellaneous appetizers, filled us to the brim.  It was a GREAT party, celebrating a GREAT friend.  

And so on Sunday, I recovered from eating too much before hitting the sewing room to finish up another quilt top.  Since the fabric panels are no longer in existence, I ordered a couple new ones which arrived on Sunday.  That was surprising.  

Also surprising is that I don't like them one bit.  They are all camouflage material and dark.  I'll take them to Bingo and let the guys decide if it's what they want.  We may be out of luck other than just making plain red white and blue quilts.  I rather like those that designate a branch of the service.  

Lunch was quick and easy ... the last of the turkey pot pie without the pie crust part.  I sprinkled parmesan on this time, but that was a mistake.  I ate it anyway.

If I can get my act together today, I'll return those pants I bought at Walmart ... you know the ones ... the impulsive buy that never fits.  It's pretty sad when the best clothing store you have in your town is Walmart!!

In the meantime ... let's all PARTY ON .........  

BUBBLES NO MORE!!

 Good morning once again!!!  I can't believe March has almost marched right off the map.  Time has never gone by this fast in my entire life.  I remember many days of walking around the house feeling like the day last THREE days.  

I know ... more puppy pictures.  But this kid .... he's my very best buddy and I loves him!!

He wanted to share breakfast with me, but prefers scrambled eggs.  On this morning it was corned beef hash.  Not really since I was out of onions, but I fried up the leftover potatoes and beef for a fabulous breakfast!!  

When I was in the running zone and would drive to San Francisco every weekend to train on the hills for marathons, there was a tiny little hole-in-the-wall restaurant up a scary set of stairs that made the best corned beef hash EVER.  I went there every morning.  Oh how I miss their great food!!

I digress ... back to those lovely bubbles!!  I really wasn't feeling the vibe I got from the RV repair guy.  The thought of cleaning out lots of stuff from the van, to have them keep it for several days while replacing the entire propane tank, just didn't set well with me.  

When Mr. Ed sent this picture to me, I said SELF?  Maybe all I need to do is replace this little gizzy with a new one!  Maybe ... just MAYBE all I need to do is find a guy who works with gas lines and NOT replace the entire tank.

That's when Ray called from Yuma, or Utah since I'm not sure exactly where they are at the moment.  He said go look at where the line is to the tank.  OKAY.

And this is what I found.  Well HEY ... if the line is leaking, which it obviously is with the soap test, there's no reason to replace the tank.  Ray said if it was HIM, he would just try to tighten the line.  Go get your crescent wrenches and see if it will tighten up.  Righty - tighty, right???

After several minutes, I finally got up the nerve to try it.  One on the inside, one on the outside ... and very carefully I began to turn it.  It actually took several tries to get it sort of tightened up because the wrench could only make a quarter turn.  A FULL turn in all.  Wow ... that was pretty LOOSE!

I can't believe it ..... did I FIX IT?  Eeeeeehaw and Hallelujah!!!!

I didn't want to over tighten it and strip something, so I waited a bit and tried the soap spray again.  This is what I got this time ... no big bubbles.  It's still not REAL tight, as in as hard as I could turn it.  So now I wonder if I open the relief valve, if it will UN-tighten again.  

I guess I will find out soon enough when I take it down and have the tank filled.  So for all you ladies out there ..... YOU CAN FIX IT!!  Though just to be sure, I'm going to have my local Firefighter friend do a double check.

And so I can't thank the guys in my life enough for sending me pictures, giving me ideas and telling me how to fix things!  Mr. Ed was right on the money when he said that part was the problem, and Ray for saying JUST DO IT!!

On the other hand, there is THIS guy ... this is the King of Bingo!  No there was no bingo last night, but there was a big birthday party for this guy at the Elks Lodge.  It was his 75th ... and his family set up a big happy hour with appetizers.  How could I miss THAT!

The food .... oh the food!!  The best mushrooms I've ever eaten, filled with cream cheese and BACON, topped with cheese!  I could have eaten 25 of them!!  

But I'll show you those pictures tomorrow.  There was an open bar and lots of dancing, not that I drank or danced, but I'm still tired from staying up too late.  I am, after all ..... OLD!!  

Flags and Gas

 Hello California ..... the sun isn't shining yet, but night spring has arrived.  Here it is almost April and our nighttime temps are all the way up to 47.  Scheduled to be 50 this week.  The days however, are another story ... STILL not wanted to heat up over 65 degrees.  What's up with that?  

First thing very early, I was off to Wally World.  If you don't go early around here, you can't find a spot in the parking lot.  Everyone goes there for food now ... even me.  I've never been happy with their quality, but the local Mexican market never takes anything off their shelves due of the pull date (bags-o-salad had a pull date of 3/15 and they were literally gross) and the other market is so expensive, only Hollywood stars can afford to shop there.

So looky here ... WalMart is now taking advantage of its customers.  Eggs were $12.00 for 18, then down to $6.00, but now right back up to $11.76.  That's a BIG ripoff.  Why lower one week and back up the next?  Every person I saw looked at the price and walked right on by, including me.

In the end, my groceries ... for a single person who doesn't eat much ... came to $167.00.  It's a good thing I have a good retirement because my Medicare is now up to $400 a month and my supplemental (doctors and hospital only) is $387 a month.  That's $787 a month for health insurance I never can use because we don't have any doctors around here.  I'm dragging out my horses medical bag.  At least that stuff is still affordable!

That's why I am EXTRA careful when climbing up ladders.  I don't need to set my own broken bones.  My flag was ripped and torn to shreds from all the winds we have had lately.  It was time for a new one.  I'm surprised it was still up there since the screws were coming out of the metal plate.  Luckily I got it done without falling off.

It wasn't the edges, but the inside flag itself that ripped.  I'll take this to our annual Flag Ceremony at the Lodge where we put them to rest.  They are later cremated.  RESPECT.

Next up ... a water bottle with soap to check for gas leaks.  Propane actually.  I've never done this before, so I don't know how much dish soap to use.  One good squirt and about a cup of water.  This is the pressure relief valve.  Instantly I saw a bunch of tiny bubbles around the valve.  I waited and sprayed it again, when the big bubbles appeared.

Problem was, I'm not sure if it was caused by the breeze or the tank.  I'm guessing the tank.  This is not good ... not good at all.  It's not leaking enough to smell, but I've lost at least half of an 8 gallon tank since returning, and that's assuming I used half while in Arizona.  

I called to make an appointment to fix it, but they didn't sound very happy.  They said they would probably have to order an entire tank, leaving the van there for a couple of months.  It doesn't look like that to me ... looks like you just have to replace that little valve thingy, but what do I know.

I told him I would make an appointment and bring it in, they could check it out and I would drive it home while they order parts.  This guy wasn't too happy with that, but too bad.  My only alternative is to go to the shop where I bought it ... but they are jerks.  Soooooo ..... I think my best bet is to try and get it fixed locally while it's still under warranty ... though I do have an extended warranty on it.  This way if it blows up, it's on them!!

After a quick nap because Cooper and I both fell asleep on the couch, having been up way too late, I went to work on this quilt.  It's different, that's for sure.  All it needs now is two borders ... red and black most likely ... and it will be ready for quilting.  I'm thinking I need to find some flannel for backing to make it soft and cozy.  

There was a bit of a flurry when I discovered my house insurance was due.  It's weird ... my house insurance went down even though the value is through the roof, my Jeep insurance went down while everyone else's went up ... but my TRUCK ... my 20 year old truck insurance went up.  Isn't it supposed to go down every year?  The good news is I'm all paid up on everything, though my bank account is crying.  

Now for the driver's license.  I don't know who made up this rule, but all that is required of someone over 70 is an eye test, a picture, a thumbprint and $48.  No testing of any kind ... not written or driving.  That's kind of scary, right?  Be careful who you are driving next to in California.  I'm sure that will be an all day adventure, so I'm waiting to make my appointment until I have a week off.

In the meantime, everyone have a GREAT day.  Spring is coming even if she is dragging her feet.