I EAT WEIRD STUFF!

 I was up early.  It now seems that kitty kitty has decided to sleep on the end of my bed.  I guess that's okay because she stays far away and is VERY light-footed.  But in the morning, she wakes up and just stares at me until I get up ... then it's meow meow meow!!!

There were a few things on the menu.  First up, the gardener.  We had a little talk in the back yard about how bad the weeds were and not picking up what I had sawn off the tree.  He got out his CHAIN SAW and chopped it up to put in the trash can.  Good job.  Then I had to laugh.  For the third time, the sprinkler water was hitting the window by my desk.

There he was, parked outside right in front of the window to be sure he didn't get wet when the sprinkler went by.  I tapped on the window and laughed.  At least he got it fixed THIS time.

From there I posted on the internet that I could not CROP the pattern on my quilting machine since they updated it.  The appropriate buttons had disappeared.

Some very nice lady posted this picture, which shows the CLEAR button (which I could not find) where it now resides ... way over on the far right of the screen.  Before, it was top left.  Thank goodness for Facebook Friends.

Then it was rush rush to the other side of town to return two Amazon items.  The one they told me to buy in a larger size was too BIG and the one they told me to buy in a smaller size, was too SMALL.  And of course they ALL came from China, so I had no problem whatsoever, returning them both.  Is ANYTHING made in the U.S. any more?

Then I was off to Walmart.  Apparently they have changed "grocery shoppers", because where I used to get amazing veggies, now I get CRAP.  The mushrooms I ordered were three days past the pull date, and instead of WHITE mushrooms, they were nasty BROWN.  What a waste of fuel and money, to drive all the way back, wait for 20 minutes, just to get a $1.99 refund.  

I did get a smile on my face on the way home however.  The guy up front on the left was diving in and out of traffic, speeding of course, when this motorcycle cop pulled right in behind him.  I didn't even know there WERE motorcycle cops here.  His lights were flashing red until the light turned green and they both pulled over.  Well deserved I think ... well deserved!

There was three hours of accounting stuck in there somewhere, along with a long talk about paying bills online.  You know all us old folks are old school, and heels were dug in until I explained that I do it all the time.  Truly, it only came up because all the bills get pricey checks printed, expensive envelopes sealed and 80 cent stamps put on them.  That's a LOT of expense.  Money is the name of the game, so today I'll go over and give a demonstration.  The new bookkeeper is ecstatic!  It will save her HOURS!

When I got home, I totally expected to see this at the door.  Alas, it was very quiet and no one greeted me.

With a big sigh, I fixed a little lunch.  Y'all know I eat weird, right?  I just throw together whatever I can find in the fridge.  Sometimes it's meatloaf for breakfast in a tortilla, or maybe Fritos.  You just never know.  That's why I don't invite people over.  

So today it was the last piece of pork loin from the freezer, stuck in lettuce pieces and covered with thousand island dressing and parmesan cheese.  It wasn't the least bit tasty, but I ate it anyway while dreaming of Olive Garden pasta!

Next up ... I don't know what your under-sink cabinets look like, but mine were full to the brim.  That makes it difficult for the plumber to repair stuff.  Things like ant bait, floor polish, horse clippers and ceramic doll heads lived there.  Yes ... ceramic dolls heads.  Remember your grandmother's dolls that had ceramic heads?  I used to make those heads from clay.  One day I'll post a few pictures.  

Anyway, now all the other counters in the laundry room are completely covered with junk.  The plumber should be here at 9:00 they say, but I'm not holding my breath.

Since lunch was a bust, I figured to try something a little better for dinner.  I got out these chicken burgers, hoping to do SOMETHING with just one.  That's when I saw it ... the word SPICY.  I didn't order SPICY.  Is this another Walmart mistake?  Why yes it is.  Too bad I got these two months ago. Now I'm stuck with them.  

I played Chef Nancy and wrapped it up in a big flour tortilla.  I threw in lettuce, cheese and barbecue sauce.  Yes ... yes it was awful, but I ate it until my mouth was burning like a fire pit.  Enough of that!!

So when I heard the jingle of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, I literally RAN outside to meet the ice cream man.  I'm pretty sure he's over 100 years old by the looks of his beard ... still riding his bicycle around the neighborhood with a freezer on the back.  I don't know why this ice cream tastes so good, but it does.  I dropped a $20 bill for these four, though they only cost $4 each.  It's 95 degrees outside and he's still making children (and old ladies) happy!!!  He deserved every penny.

Thank you for stopping by.  Tomorrow I'll tell you about the swimming pool.

FULL MOON BINGO! OH NO!

 Can you believe it?  I missed TWO Bingo nights this month ... but really, I didn't miss it at all!!  And here we are at the next Tuesday night.  It didn't take long at all to discover it was a full moon without even looking outside.

But FIRST ... breakfast was two little Oreo's that we got on the plane.  How disappointing they were.  Just look at this.  Not only did they minimize the frosting, it's thinner than ever before.  I bet there's not HALF as much as there used to be.  Oreos ... you just got marked off my list, even if these were FREE.

This is Kitters every morning position now.  Truly, she follows me around like a puppy dog, meowing and talking constantly.  

When not sleeping, she plays racehorse around the living room before jumping up on the table and dragging down her feather toy.  There aren't many feathers left on it now.  It is interesting how she goes for the string more than the feathers.  

Enough of that.  In an effort to keep me from sitting TOO much, I stitched up a back for the next quilt.  That nice line of fabric is in the middle of the back.  Any time you see this, it means either there was not enough fabric or I made a big mistake in measuring, which just happened to be the case this time.  It made for a lot of extra work!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch .................

Then it was on to feeding my sourdough starter. Once it finally gets going, you can keep it in the fridge for several weeks.  Bring it out, feed it flour and water and let it sit on the counter for 5-6 hours before stowing it back in the fridge.  I'm almost out of bread, so maybe I'll bake another loaf next week.

And then it was time to head on off to Bingo.  I got a big THANK GOODNESS YOU ARE BACK from the bookkeeper.  The other trustee guys do a bang-up up job signing checks, but never remember to initial everything.  That took me 30 minutes, followed by a HOLY COW when I checked up on our PG&E true-up.  We have solar panels ... as many as we can possible squish on the roof, and still our bill is outrageous.  Let's just say I could buy a new car with that money!

Downstairs once again, I was met with my latest sweet volunteer Connie.  She is a long time Bingo player who comes in early to help me set up the table.  I didn't even give a thought to the fact that there was a full moon in the sky.  Ten minutes after the first game started and I got a BIG reminder!!

A nice little old man in the far back corner got a bingo.  He called it, but I tell people all the time, you have to SCREAM it out!  If the caller doesn't hear you (the machine he sits at is VERY loud) and he calls the next number, you lose.  And that's what happened.  

Talk about pitchforks, shovels, knives, spears, daggers, flaming torches, everything the crowd could get their hands on!!!  It was SO LOUD I grabbed my phone and dialed 91 while waiting for the shoe to fall.  And they DID NOT STOP!  I thought Mark was going to be drawn and quartered!!  He stuck to his guns though ... rules are rules ... but the roar didn't subside for a full TEN minutes.  

Finally I heard SHUT THE F.... UP.  GET OVER IT!!!!!  IT'S DONE!!!  And that came from a lady Bingo player!  The crowd finally calmed down and they finished the game.  Good grief ... I thought I was going to have to finish the 911!!!

Is it a FULL MOON?  Why yes it was.  Had I known, I would have warned the caller!!  Let me just say from then on, you could hear BINGO from outside the building and half way down the street!!  The caller went and talked to the nice man, who agreed he should have said it louder.  Next time my friend!!

With that, my right hand gal picked up dinner for us ... chicken fingers.  I'm not really a fan of ranch dressing, but these were the best I've ever had here!!!

I kept my head down for the rest of the night so I didn't get yelled at too.  It went quite well and the infernal machine balanced to within $1.00.  That's good enough for me and I was out the door.

Lucky me, I get to deal with the gardener this morning, followed by accounting work.  I didn't miss either one of those things while I was gone!  Hopefully the full moon doesn't leak over this morning!!

HITTING THE TO-DO LIST!

I started the day off with a walk.  It was not the same without my little boy.  Having run the day before, it's better to walk and heal up a bit before adding fuel to the fire.  I have to keep reminding myself that muscle weighs more than fat ... and if I would just PUT DOWN THAT CHEESECAKE, I might lose a little more. 

As I came back into the house, I was reminded for the umpteenth time that I needed to tear down those cardboard boxes that have been coming every day.  Amazon is a curse when you're bored to tears.  

With that done, I was on to hooking up the charger to the van.  I suppose I could have just driven it 50 miles, but I wasn't in the mood.  At the same time, I did a little maintenance work.  I turned on the generator, then the air conditioner to give it a little run for the money ... which caused ME to run as fast as I could to turn the generator GAS on.  Just a minor detail.  

I didn't run it very long before getting completely distracted by my grumbling stomach and Kitters meowing for HER breakfast.  It was an easy choice ... croissant, scrambled egg and tomatoes.  I really did need to make a food order with Walmart, which will now be delivered at 7:00 am.  Those drivers must make a bundle to do THAT job!

Back outside I hit the weed spray once again before giving Kitters some attention.  She craves this brushing all day long and bugs me constantly.  I've noticed when she is inside, she positions herself where she can see me when she lays down.  If I move into the office, here she comes and sleeps right about where Cooper used to lay.  A sad reminder I must say.

When the doorbell rang, I knew it was Amazon once again.  I got yelled at in Maui because I didn't wear a hat in the sun.  Hmmm might not be a bad idea for here too since I do lay out from time to time.  This one is completely NOT my style ... after all, I'm a cowgirl.  It goes do one thing cowboy hats do not.  It rolls up into something akin to rolling up my shirts in my small travel bag.  I'm not saying it works, but we shall see.  

I then spent an hour talking to AT&T.  I've been with them forever and get a nice discount, so no, I won't change carriers.  On this occasion however, I was close!  One of my credit cards specifically for auto-pay got hacked.  They called me immediately.  That means a new card number had to be put in place for those auto-pay items, of which one was AT&T.  

Yes I changed it, but they did not pick it up and gave me a big RED X on my computer.  Really?  It's YOUR fault you didn't pick up on the new card number.  I got Thomas ... a happy guy who agreed with me how BAD their AI answering service was.  He fixed it, but it took an hour on the phone.

Trying to take care of "stuff", next up was a contractor to fix the rotted facia board and gutters.  I STILL have not found anyone who will help.  So I called the plumber to fix this faucet that leaks even when the supply lines are turned off and will NOT work when the hot water is turned on.

Believe it or not, I had to send them a picture.  "We don't see any cold water faucet".  Umm are you really a plumber?  That's because the ONE faucet turns both ways, for hot and cold.  I had to send them TWO pictures before they "got the picture".  I'm afraid this isn't going to end well.

Kitters and I watched a very interesting program about a Tour of Mars, right after seeing the program about the Challenger exploding.  Nope I'm pretty sure I will NEVER go into space!!  I like it just fine down here on earth.  Kitters slept the rest of the afternoon.    

And so I suppose I should gear up for tonights Bingo since I've declined to attend the last three mandatory meetings.  Everything has changed since losing my sweet Cooper.  I have no patience for foolishness.  Anyone else feel that way?  Maybe it's just my old age kicking in.  I'm hoping that changes soon, but I'm not holding my breath.  

Back to my TO-DO list!!!

WEEDS AND PIZZA!!

 Good Morning California!  I admit, I would much rather be saying ALOHA!  Even though it was warm there, it was much cooler than here!  They had a breeze blowing 24-7 and we had the quietest overhead fan I have ever known.  Turn my ceiling fans on here and they grind so loud it keeps me awake.  I guess there is something to be said about BOTH locations.

It was early when I headed out for a run so I would beat the heat.  My inner clock has moved forward an hour for some reason, so it's plenty light at 6 am.  In spite of no rain and lots of heat, the sunflowers are in full bloom.  It took a bit to get my lungs to open up, but I see progress.  There was more running than walking this time.

It was a mistake to go in the back yard when I returned. The weeds around the outside edge and into the flowers beds were epic.  I once again have a gardener that mows and goes.  I pulled 10" high handfuls and threw them on the lawn.  I want him to SEE what he should have been taking care of.  Either hit them with the weedeater or spray.  This is unacceptable.  The worse part ... ants take up residence underneath the weeds.  Just walk near and see how many bites you get!

Kitters tried to make it all better.  She marked her territory by rolling in the sandy corral before coming in the doggy door and depositing a PILE of sand ... and I mean a PILE!!  I thought I must have drug all that back from Maui in my clothes.  Were did that come from?  One quick pet of her back and I knew.  I had to sweep the entire hallway it was so bad.  She is quickly becoming a pain in the patoo!!!

I spent the next couple of hours sewing the binding on this 250th celebration quilt.  It will be auctioned off at the Elks Lodge to make money for our Veterans account.

Yeah, trying to look all innocent after bringing in all that dirt.  She spends most of her time on the arm of the couch .... keeping VERY close.  She literally follows me to every room like a puppy.

Time went by very slowly and I was bored to tears.  In Maui you are going and going.  Always something to see, something to investigate, going out for lunch ... keeping busy.  Here I'm sitting on the couch for hours wishing I was back on the island.

In desperation I finally decided to try out Shirley's cauliflower crust pizza.  You know what?  It turned out VERY good.  Who knew??  It doesn't TASTE like cauliflower and acts just like regular pizza crust.  There is actually a lot of pepperoni under there, but I put too much cheese on top.  Thank you for the tip Shirley!

Dessert was a little slice of that cheesecake I made before I left.  I put a little homemade plum jam on it for added flavor.  Boy was it GOOD!!!  Here's another good thing about being in Maui ... you don't eat dessert every day like I do here, saving me a few pounds while on that trip.

Finally, only out of complete boredom, I set up the quilting machine for the next quilt.  Of course ever since I had it "fixed", it doesn't work right at all.  The computer program hangs up here and there, I'm sure because they updated the program on an old iPad.  

I messed with it for two hours.  There are crosshairs that should move when you move the machine, and they do NOT.  There's no other way to line things up.  Though it stitched okay this time, it was way off by the end, meaning I had to delete the entire pattern and reenter everything from scratch, just to get the last row done.  

Add to that the instructions I have to do things like cropping, do not match what I see on the screen any more.  The buttons they tell me to touch, are not there.  It's become frustrating every time ... making me not want to quilt any more. 

I got this one finished, but I'm not happy with it.  I suppose no one will notice, but "I" will.  And of course it's not Cooper approved.

Kitters is doing her best to keep me occupied, but it's just not quite the same.  

Home Again, Home Again

You probably don't know this, but I am NOT a fan of flying.  I never have been.  When I was maybe 25-something and living at the ranch, which just happens to be located next to the airport, I was outside looking over the fence when I heard a bad noise.  When you live next to an airport, you know the sounds of airplanes.  

I looked up to see a plane crash in the field and burst into flames.  I jumped in my car and raced to the site.  Being the first one there, I found a man and a woman lying in the grass, badly burned.  I could hear the sirens, so I knew the medics were on their way.  The girl gave me her contact info and I called her father, the Sheriff of Fresno County at the time.  Sadly, the pilot died the next morning and she passed away a week later.  I love going places, but flying is very scary for me.  

Here we are, waiting to get onboard.  We flew standby this time, but had no problems getting a seat ... both times an exit row with plenty of room.

We were late taking off because people had so much baggage, it took them longer to get it stashed.  That meant other planes were landing while we waited to fly out.  I just kept taking lots of deep breaths!!

I happen to be a Southwest member, so I get WiFi when on the plane.  Oh look ... luckily we are leaving at the right time.  I don't think I have EVER seen a hurricane notice here.  It's going the exact same direction we are ... but thank goodness two days later!!!

Then there was THIS one!  I guess we left at the exact right time!!!

Anyway, here we are taking off over the water. 

Our pilot was a comedian the entire way, which made the ride more fun and entertaining.  He caught up on the time a bit and we flew over San Francisco Bay in 4.5 hours.  That's tiny Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge down there, but the smoggy fog was thick.

Now holding my breath, we are over Sacramento farmland getting ready to land.  Thank goodness this landing strip is longer than the one in Kahului, so we all didn't have to brake for the pilot.

Since we landed at 7 pm, I spent the night at Cyndae's house on the couch.  Lucky for me once again, the drive home was NOT filled with traffic jams.  Cyndae said I should stop in at McDonalds for breakfast, so I did.  A sausage egg McMuffin .... except it magically turned into a BAGEL egg McMuffin without my approval.  It was TERRIBLE!  Hard, tasteless and NOT what I ordered.  The frappe ... a little bit better ... all for the low price of $15.89.  I will not be stopping there again!

First things first ... I called Kitters.  Wasn't I surprised when she came from the house to the back door and stopped dead in her tracks.  I don't think she remembered me.  I talked to her, gave her a little pet and VOILA!!!  She remembered.  

Is that really you?  She was sniffing up a storm.

In no time she was patting me on the hand for pets.  Boy has her coloring changed.  In one week, she is much lighter in color.

She followed me everywhere the entire day.  I was not out of her sight even once.

She finally settled on the back of the chair, but every time I get up .... there she was.  I think she missed me.

And so I landed safely back home.  Thank the good Lord for that!!  I was also very happy to find that my new coffee cups survived being in my checked bag UNBROKEN.

ALOOOOOOHA!!!

BIG WINDS

There is one thing about Maui that never goes away, and that is the wind.  You land on one end of the low valley and stay on the OTHER end of the low valley ... so the Tradewinds just whip through the area like crazy.  The wind brings all the moisture from the ocean, and as it climbs up the sides of the mountains, it becomes clouds that obscure your view.  I won't mention the chickens and dogs this time! 

On rare occasion, such as this day, Haleakala volcano (which thankfully is dormant) can be seen from our yard.  Lava rolled down that big hill to become this island, and is where Cyndae's property resides.  Land is so expensive over here that every 1/2 acre has THREE houses on it.  They live in one and rent out the other two.  Rents run $2-3000 a month.  Pretty pricey.  

The good news is that up-country is much cooler.  The very top is at 10,000 feet, higher than you would think for an island.

Though I thought we might get one day to just melt into our chairs, we had things to do.  First stop was the bakery yet again.  Who can't use a few more pounds!!  We actually did very well on food.  Lunches at our favorite places ran about $25 each, but made two meals, so not too bad considering where we were.  Maui is more laid back and not NEAR as expensive as Oahu.  Food trucks are a big thing now, but they too run $25 for lunch.

Next stop ... a new to us beach with practically NO ONE in sight.  That's my kind of place to sit and watch the ocean.  Surfing was terrible because the waves were too small, and paddle boarding was terrible because the waves were too big.   

This doesn't look bad, yes?  NO ... it's BAD.  This was one of the smaller waves that came through.

Turn your sound up and you will get the idea.  Big rollers started coming in just when Cyndae decided to swim with a pool noodle.  Not me ... I already did my rollover.  She did fine until she tried to come back in and got hit by two HUGE waves that knocked her down to the sand.  I got up, but she was able to right herself and get out.  Everyone going out, even the kids, were getting slammed.  I stayed nice and dry on the beach.  Even sitting and watching the waves is worth the trip over here.

We checked out a couple of other spots, but they were all the same.  One local said the last set of big storms that came through has changed their weather patterns such that the ocean is too rough for just about anything.

Back home, I hung out with Baba for awhile before calling it a day.  You never know when to head in or when to go to bed with the 3 hour time difference.  My apologies to those people I called at 1:00 in the morning.

Days end found us packing, as the week was over.  We both have appointments to get to on the mainland.  Another trip is planned for August or early September.  Maybe we can stay longer next time.

The BEST news ... other than I'm possibly going back to Maui ... is that Kitters was not only here, but IN the house!  I called and she came running, though she stopped dead and just stared at me.  I'm not sure she recognized who I was.  More on that tomorrow!!   ALOHA!!!