IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WEATHER

 This has been the weirdest May I've ever seen.  It's still snowing in the mountains with road closures right and left.  Lucky for us down in the valley, it's been beautiful with only two hot days.  I'm enjoying every minute of it, though they are predicting 95 degrees in a week.  It's actually quite nice to get a little heat followed up by cool.

Kitters can't decide whether to stay inside or out.  If it's not cold, she's outside most of the day and night.  Here she is praying for some rubs and brushing.  She starts out with a pat on the shoulder, followed up by getting her claws caught in my hair.  Now in trouble, she sits quietly until the chin scratches begin.  Yes, she too is spoiled!

Accounting went okay I guess, though it took lots of investigation due to a letter from the BIG accountant who does the taxes.  This is such a big operation, they will be doing tax returns until December!!  That digging through on-line info, along with the paper copies filed upstairs in a mega-file ROOM, just takes up way too much time.  Add to that coordinating bank accounts with OTHER offices and it can be frustrating.

The good news is all the questions were answered and the bills paid before I snuck out the back door.  It's always a good feeling to get that behind me for the week.

Nothing much else happened.  I spent the rest of the day keeping Cooper from chewing on that leg.  According to the Vet, there is nothing that can be done about these things.  It makes me incredibly sad.

It didn't help that dark clouds began to arrive, although that means cool weather.  It rained right over the house for a bit, just enough to make everything a muddy mess.  

Here we are THIS morning, completely covered in rain clouds with drops falling from the sky.

I'd show you pictures of all the fabulous food I ate yesterday, but alas, it was just another meatloaf taco.  

I apologize for the crappy blog today .... I'm just completely in the dumps about my Cooper boy.  We have a vet appointment today to see what the future holds for him and I.  Wish us luck!!

DOUBLE FULL MOON MAGIC

 Every year, it's a flip of the coin.  Do I take the electric blanket off?  Do I take the flannel sheets off?  Yes, because it's WAY too hot to sleep.  

What happens?  Mother Nature turned the AC back on and we freeze!  It was 52 degrees last night, which kept me up most of my sleeping hours.  Even Cooper was cuddling up for warmth.

Up and at 'em however ... it was another Bingo night.  I wasn't the least bit thrilled about going.  There's lot's of "stuff" going on that makes me just want to say bye bye.  It's a shame because it's such a good organization.  It only takes one bad apple to upset the cart.

I tried to forget it all ... my truck AC still doesn't work, the van is still not smogged and that drip drip in the laundry room is still going 3 months later.  Mostly I've just been spending every minute with Mr. Cooper trying to keep him from chewing his leg off.  

I did finally pull this quilt out of the back room to complete the binding on the edges.  I can usually finish these up in two days.  Into the Veterans stack it went, all done.  This one actually has backing that says Marines all over it.  I think that's 3 down and 9 to go.

First thing at Bingo, I met with the Veterans Officer to go over names for quilts.  I broke the news that my longarm was down, and he said maybe the Veterans should pay to have it fixed.  I loved the idea, but I can't let them do that.  That money is for Veterans, not me.  I'll buy material with it for Veteran quilts, but I won't let them pay to repair my machine.  It's not kosher.  

SOOOOO let the games begin!!  I was late getting set up.  Too much time was spent in the office looking at bills and signing checks.  My gal Friday was late, so I was scrambling to get things going on time.  Bingo people wait for NO ONE!!

Add to that the influx of new people who have never played anything but kids Bingo.  Try explaining THESE games to them.  For example Game 7, block of nine.  It doesn't matter where on the paper the square is, it just needs to be a block of nine.  The same goes for all the other games.  

I tell my Fairy Godmother who counts the cards for me, to skip over two of the games because they are just too hard (and take up too much time) to explain.  We are also getting a lot of the younger crowd coming in.  There are two schools that also play bingo as fundraisers.  Those volunteers come to play our games since they can't work and play at their own facility.  We have even gone so far as to teach other schools and Elks Lodges how to set up their own bingo fundraisers.

That means pitch forks and flaming torches.  Newbies make mistakes, and the bingo crowd will not give them a pass!!  One poor girl thought she won the big bucks, but she had a wrong number marked, which resulted in boos and hisses across the room!  And I thought "I" was impatient!!

Somehow we survived the night in record time and I actually finished up at 9:15 without a mark on me.  I think that's a record!!  The infernal machine even let me balance!!  Woohoo!!

I rushed home to find my baby boy sleeping.  Unfortunately, he has scratched one of these spots into oblivion.  I just so wish there was something I could do for him.  

This is the last sight I saw before hitting the sack.  The moon isn't full, but in 4 short days it will be.  TWO full moons in May?  How does that happen??  I guess that's why I've been having so many problems.  I mean really, I have to blame it on something, right????  Double full moon magic is in full bloom!

Today I'm off for more accounting work.  I played hookey last week, so I'm kind of stuck for today.  Maybe if I'm not too tired I can ..........  Nope ...  I'm too tired already and it's only 6 am!!  

Have a GREAT day and love on those kids and critters.  

SOME DAYS YOU WIN!

 We are on a rollercoaster of weather.  Some days you win with 76 degrees ... some days it's 95.  We were lucky yesterday with the lower of those two, going all the way down to 72 degrees for today.  What's up with that?  Didn't anyone tell Mother Nature it's SUMMER?  Not that I'm complaining, but this has been the coolest spring we've had in ages.  Maybe my grass won't die off this year after all.  

In other news, I guess the President will make Daylight Savings Time permanent.  It's going to be interesting to see how that works out.  Will we have more sunlight all year long?  I'm finding that hard to visualize.

We didn't have anything planned, me and the children.  Mr. Cooper slept the morning away while Kitters played chase around the house.  That's always a scary thing.  Is she chasing a still alive gopher?  A big fat moth?  Maybe a screaming fast lizard ..... nope ... she was chasing her tail!!  

I on the other hand was once again on my phone trying to get answers.  Yes there is a User Manuel for the van, but it affects nothing about the camping part.  And of course now, if you want to know anything, you have to go to the on-line manual that is hard to navigate.  There is no book.

Finally, after about 30 minutes of looking, Google found it for me.  There are twenty five buttons on the steering wheel.  It doesn't tell you HOW to find them, so it takes a lot of pushing ... nope ... maybe here ... nope, not there.  Hit the HOUSE button, then roller ball down to SERVICE.  This is like playing a game of Donkey Kong.  You have to start over six times,

FINALLY ... I had three choices, one of which was Particulate Filter.  That's the boogie that has been causing all the problems.  If it says 95-100, you are in regen mode.  YAY I WIN ... maybe.  It said 6%, so hopefully the regen is done and I can get it smogged.  HOPEFULLY!!

And THEN ... some days you LOSE ... on the same day of the big win!  Here I am at the quilting machine once again.  I wanted to try this pattern, though I was very hesitant.  Hey, it's been doing just fine, so GO for it Nancy.

I held my breath through the first row.  Seeeeee ... it did just fine.  It's all going to be okay.

NOPE ... NO IT'S NOT!  It came to a screeching halt making horrible scraping noises.  Big sigh.  I set it up and tried again.  It refused to pick up the bobbin thread.  The third time, there was that crunching noise again.  That grayed out my screen completely, meaning the only alternative is to reset the entire programming, in which case I will never be able to get it started at the same point.  I will have to call back East and have them walk me through it.

I think I lost big time in this endeavor however ... I'm sure it will have to go to the shop over an hour away for repairs.  I suppose it's due for maintenance and cleaning anyway.  The last time I did that I messed up the coders that live on the bottom of the machine (because no one told me about them) when I set it in my truck.  I am not looking forward to THIS one at all.  Add to that, I have no confidence in the repair shop here ... not even a little bit.  I may have to wait until December and haul it to Arizona.

Sadly, Mr. Cooper did not have a good afternoon.  His leg is okay, but he could not sit still.  I'm not feeling good about it at all.  I have to laugh though ... come on Cooper, maybe you have to go outside.  So out we go, he makes a big loop around the grass, does absolutely nothing, then runs to the counter for a treat.  He's a smart cookie.  

Back in the sewing room, I finished up this Marine quilt.  It's not my favorite, but I really needed to do something different.  I got two huge pieces of 108" backing from Hobby Lobby so I don't have to cut and paste the backing any more.  Two long cuts and I have pieces for two quilts.  That's a small win.

I finished off the late afternoon by picking fabric for the next one.  When done, I will have nine of these panel quilts for the Veterans.  Sadly, the next four will have to be quilted by my quilt shop friends.  I'm sure I won't get my machine back (if I ever get it there) for at least two months.

I'm not sure the Van knowledge trumps the broken longarm to make it a fabulous day, but at least I got SOMETHING accomplished.  

And NOW .... drum roll please ..... IT'S BINGO TIME!!  Too bad both of my backup cashiers are out of town for the next month.  Luckily I'm feeling human again and will go, but I'm not doing HALF the stuff I used to.  It's time they find someone else to help.

LET'S RACE!!!

 Though it was a nice cool morning, I spent most of it inside reading.  There is nothing NORMAL about this van.  No dipstick, weird paint, a million things only accessible by one computer or the other .... or by the third one.  It's crazy!  

Here's what I found out about the paint.  The entire bottom all around is made up of the same material as those black bumpers you see on everyone's car.  It's a black textured rubber/plastic material that is supposed to keep rocks from "marring the finish".  Then they painted it!  That completely different texture makes it difficult to clean.  No wonder I had to scrub it so hard, which of course can damage the finish.  Who knew?

There's no dipstick to check the oil ... you just have to depend on the computer to work ... and no way to tell if it's in regen because it doesn't TELL you on the dash.  They said to check the engine temperature and the fuel mileage ... that is an indication.  WHAT??  

I did find out that there is a way to dig deep into its little brain to see what the particulate level IS.  Assuming of course that the computer is working, which by the way I've had to have completely reprogrammed twice now.  So there you have it ... and I still haven't been able to get the code reader to work.  On the other hand, it IS fun to camp in!

Kitters just sits and stares at me as I yell obscenities across the room!  She's like WHAT?

Breakfast was leftover dinner from yesterday.  I found this Panda Express orange sauce at Walmart.  I love their orange chicken and thought I would make some myself.  

It was WAY too much work to bread and fry the chicken, so I just fried it and dumped on some sauce.  First off, it does not taste at ALL like Panda Express.  It says no fructose corn syrup, which is probably why.  PUT SOME SUGAR IN THAT BOTTLE!!

In no time, it was RACE TIME!!  I'm much more interested in NASCAR racing than Indy racing but I watched it any way.  It's fascinating to see their dashboard inside.  These are the big dogs from all over the world who race an average of 215 miles per hour the entire race.  NASCAR averages 150-175 or so.

The best part of the race ... these Blackhawks followed them around the track for two laps as a salute to Memorial Day.  The stands were sold out with over 300,000 fans.  

When they first take off, they all fight for THE SPOT they try to hold on to for most of the race.  That didn't work out so well since the track was slick in one spot and they had several accidents, as well as stoppages due to rain.  

Like this one.  A flaming death trap having smashed into the wall.  There were so many accidents they lost a good portion of the cars.  Hit the wall or another car and you are completely out of the race.  

When they got towards the end, half the pack did a pit stop, which landed them at the back of the pack.  It's all about coasting when you can and speeding up when you have to, in order to conserve fuel.  They are allow 18.5 gallons of fuel, which will get them about 33 laps.  If you are leading, you better be somewhat conservative.  If you stop for fuel, you end up at the back of the pack.  Take note of the third car ... Rosenqvist.  

I think they had more laps under the yellow flag than they did the green.  There was an accident 6 laps before the end, and every lap around following the pace car, counted.  You can barely see here who is in second place.  In first place ... Malukas from the U.S. Penske team.  

But not for long!  It was an edge of your seat finish as Rosenqvist crossed the finish line .02 seconds ahead of Malukas, literally by the skin of his nose.  That was the closest race in the history of the Indy 500.

Let's CELEBRATE!!  I had another big chunk of lemon pie stuff while I contemplated my racing career.

Yup that's me ..... with my 2001 corvette that I raced all over California.  And yes, I had a radar detector.  Only once did I ever get a ticket, and that was for going 44 in a 35.  I think that not very nice motorcycle cop was envious.  I dearly loved this car, but it was sold when I went into RV'ing and needed a tow car.  Just like the van, it was fun to drive, but required a lot of expensive maintenance.

And so ended another day.  I'm coughing less and less, no sneezing, and almost feeling human again.  I owe it all to the lemon pie!!!

SCRUB A DUB DUB

 Does this tree say ALLERGIES?  Honestly, I don't know how it's still standing after yesterday's winds made it dance around and almost touch the ground.  The good news is neither it nor my cold made me sneeze yesterday.  PROGRESS!!  Morning coughing, yes, but for the most part I'm on the mend.

My body guards have been judicious about their jobs.  The black blob sits in wait of what, I don't know, since her food came out automatically 45 minutes ago.

This kid has already been outside, had treats, and is back in sleep mode.  Little do they both know, there was a delivery on my front porch at 5:14 this morning.  WOW!  Amazon now has overnight delivery here.  I placed that order at 7:00 last night.  

Breakfast was my normal Egg McAvocado Muffin.  Well yes, of course Mr. Cooper gets his toll road payment.  I can't walk around here unless I pay the piper.

If I don't, THIS is what I get.  Barking barking and MORE barking, whilst rolling up the rugs pawing the floor.  No kidding, he is really GOOD at that!!  That makes for more work for moi, so I try to be on time for the Master of the House!  I can't help it .... he so cute when he does this!!

And so as the hours counted down, it was time to head out on the road once again in the van.  Gee ... wouldn't it have been nice had they put SOMETHING in the programming that told you it was in Regen ... and when you might FINISH?  Nothing ... I've got nothing.  I guess today I'll spend some time on Facebook asking if anyone else has this problem.

It also decided yesterday that it did not want to tell me if the oil was okay.  It actually said DRIVE ME for a while and I'll let you know.  So off I went down the back roads, doing the speed up slow down stuff.  Luckily I spotted that Highway Patrol WAY ahead so I didn't get a ticket.  The guy passing me the other direction was not so lucky.

I tried my best to get a great picture of the gang on the roadside, but this is all I got.  Note to self ... put the REAL camera in the  van.  It's much easier to use than a cell phone.  

Down this road, I ran into a group of big burly men.  Around here we have what we call Clampers.  They are a group of men who join this drinking group, which also doubles as an historical marker kind of family.  Don't ask how I fit in to that picture.  

Most every historical marker in this part of the country was erected by them, and every year they go around to all of them and spiff them up.  They clean the markers and make repairs.  Really, a great group of guys if you know them when they are NOT involved in a drink fest or initiation.

Finally back home, I realized the van was exceptionally dirty.  I've rinsed it off a couple of times, but alas, I had no proper soap.  The finish on this thing is weird.  The hood and top parts are metal and shiny like a regular car.  The sides have some kind of coating that is almost sticky and looks like it was sprayed with something almost texture like.  The bottom plastic portions are the same, only worse. 

My washing actually did nothing at all.  I had to grab a towel and literally scrub the sides to get the dirt off.  That is why the Amazon order is expected this morning.  I ordered Meguiar's Golden something or other, new wash pads, a better nozzle for my hose since mine broke, and towels to dry it off.  The windows are the same ... sprayed and/or water spotted and somewhat sticky so they never look clean.  It's weird.  Maybe they put some kind of coating on it???

At any rate, 90 minutes later it was sort of cleaner.  

All that hard work deserved something special.  Here's the quickest dessert you've ever made, a recipe given to me by a Bingo friend.  Graham crackers, sugar and butter, spread it on the bottom of the pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Now comes the hard part.  Open a can of lemon pie filling and spread it around.  Put that in the fridge for an hour or two.  Now comes the even harder part ... smother it in Cool whip and DIVE IN!  

As usual, I actually put it in the freezer, taking a piece out and letting it thaw before diving in.  It's like those lemon bars, but better.

Mr. Cooper got a little antsy late in the day, so I spent a couple of hours in the sewing room where he lays quietly while I sew.  I made backing for this quilt and stitched borders on another.  Alas, I need to make a trip to the quilt store to keep from making them all exactly the same.  I want to try and match that camo in the central panel.  

Too bad it's Sunday and they are closed.  On the other hand, the INDY 500 starts this morning at 9:30.  I'll be glued to the couch eating that lemon dessert with a big spoon!!!

REMEMBER THE FALLEN ......   

I'll see you tomorrow!!

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

 And just like that .... it's once again cold in the mornings, as compared to the 92 degree day, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend.  It's time to remember those who never came back ... those who never made it out of their uniform. 

It is good to hear that all our cemeteries in this County will be having memorial services.  One of the best will be our local Honor Guard, all Elks Lodge Members, who will be at the National Cemetery.  Remember those who gave their lives for our freedom.

THIS one ... she thanks me for her life every single day.  Oh don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, but I just wish she would tone it down.  Yessireee ... I spent a full 20 minutes crawling around on the floor with a flashlight and a flyswatter trying to chase LIZARD #5 out from under my wardrobe.  The flyswatter was to try and get him to move onto it ... so I could slowly pull it out and grab him.  It didn't work.  He finally ran into my boot laying sideways on the floor.  GOT YOU!!  Out the front door he went.  I should have quite the colony out there now!

Then she comes sneaking onto the arm of the couch.  She's very still ... then barely touches my shoulder with one paw.  Nothing.  Tap again, a little harder.  Nothing.  That's when the claws come out ... but just enough to snag my shirt.  

Okay, that's enough!!  A few rubs and she is off the couch and back outside ... hunting!!!

Breakfast was quick and easy.  Cooper got a scrambled egg.  I got ........ ICE CREAM!!  I have to admit however, that those little peanut butter chips were a waste of money in peanut butter ice cream.  You can't taste them at all.  Maybe chocolate chip next time.

Since I seem to cough for the first three hours, the morning went by with a big sigh of boredom.  I just could not get motivated.  It was almost instantly too hot to walk outside.  I did make it all the way down to the Van to unplug the battery charger and make sure the solar was working on the house batteries.  At least I accomplished that much.  Otherwise, the heat kept us inside all day.

At long last the coughing subsided a bit and I got up the nerve to try quilting once again.  There's nothing like having a machine crash, to make you extra nervous about using it again.  It's been fine for the last three small quilts, but I'm not the least bit secure in that feeling.

I finally loaded this one up and gave it a shot.  There was lots of discussion with myself over exactly where to start at the top, to make sure the top and bottom pieces ended up the same length.  Fabric shrinks when you quilt it, so you never really know exactly where the bottom will end up.  

This one turned out just fine, with no horrible clanking or screeching sounds.  I do like the backing.  Adding the pieces top and bottom means wasting much less fabric.

On the other hand, this border fabric is awful.  All those white spots are from the needle going through cheap fabric.  Not cheap in price, but cheap in quality.  You can really see them in person, so I won't be using it again.  That's two yards down the drain!!  Sadly, it's already on one other quilt to be finished.  

Lunch was another WEIRD one.  Instead of making a meatloaf sandwich out of thick bread, or even thicker sourdough bread, I used a tortilla.  The smaller the better, so I eat less.  SO ... meatloaf, barbecue sauce and lettuce.  It was actually delicious!!  Weird, but delicious!!

I did spend a little more time in the sewing room putting borders on yet another quilt.  Alas, it was too hot in there to stay long and I'm too cheap to turn on the AC yet.  Today I'll check my solar true-up bill and see how it's going.  The good news is the forecast (not that they are ever correct) is for 74-85 degrees for the next week.  I can do that!!!

The coughing subsided slightly more, and Patsy says it should quit any day now, so I loaded another quilt on the machine.  Maybe I will even get TWO done today.

And so another BORING and SICKLY day passed by.  It's hard to appreciate it when you don't feel very good.  And hard to write about it too!!

It doesn't help sitting here thinking about driving the van to complete the regen.  Yup that is still on the menu, and I hope to head out soon.  The problem with that is the $7.69 a gallon diesel!!  Nothing makes me want to stay home more than that!!!

I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!!  Please remember those who are no longer with us but still wear their uniform.