QUILT MACHINES AND COOKIES!

Woohoo ... I made it ... and I'm back home.  There's nothing like getting up early and getting gussied up to hit the road by 7:30 in the morning.  I felt awful, but after a nice cup of joe, I was at least caffeinated.

Surprisingly, traffic wasn't bad at all.  I cruised right along keeping it under 65 so as to be a little more fuel efficient.  My usual route had been rerouted, making it a longer drive.  Way back in the dark ages I would take this back road every time.  No stop lights ... just a nice long two lane country road through the fig trees.  

NOW?  It's a seven mile four lane route with stop lights every half mile and traffic bumper to bumper.  I spent most of the time trying not to get hit by crazy drivers through the maze of solid businesses for the entire distance.  

I finally arrived and had a tall skinny kid come out to remove the longarm.  I was sure he would drop it, but he made it in the door.  While waiting for the tech guy, I sat at the counter in back.  I just happen to know where they keep the snacks!!

A couple of hours they said.  So off I went to the local Elks Lodge for some coffee and an out of the way parking spot for a snooze.  Apparently all Elks Lodges are not the same.  Ours opens the bar at 11:00 and closes at 8 pm.  This one was closed up tight until 4:00.  That won't help me much.

Maybe breakfast will be an eye opener.  Though this was not the one I was looking for, Eddy's Bakery Cafe would suffice.  

I started off with a nice cup of coffee.  Oh yeah ... white chocolate mocha!!  For $5.00, this was much better than Starbucks!!  On the other hand, the conversation coming from the next table over about the lady who came in barely alive, who died on the table and was being dissected, wasn't exactly breakfast conversation.  This guy is a doctor????  I buried my head in my phone, trying not to hear the gory details.

It's probably a good thing this kind of restaurant bakery is not near where I live.  This was the best breakfast ... eggs and bacon on a croissant ... with just the slightest flavor of MUSTARD.  Who would have thought?  It was delicious!!  The fruit just topped it off.  I was stuffed to the gills.

I took a walk down the bakery aisle just for kicks, and was accosted by some lady who would not leave me alone.  Good grief ... "I just came from the gym ... I love sourdough bread and they have the best here".  I tried to walk around her so I could see the items, but she stopped me at every turn.  What the heck?  "oh yes, sourdough will last your entire trip, it won't get stale, just stick it in the microwave" .......  she blocked me at every turn and just would not leave me alone, so I walked out the door.

Maybe Hobby Lobby would be a nice place to hang out.  Wasn't I surprised to find they had completely turned the store around, like the grocery stores do.  The harder it is to find things, the more you might buy going aisle by aisle looking for stuff!!  They now have an entire section of kitchen items including more containers than I've ever seen anywhere.  

I of course hit the fabric aisle, actually finding some 108" blue, perfect for Veterans quilt backing.  AND it was 30% off.  There was some other stuff, but I'll show that tomorrow.  From there, I went BACK to the bakery to pick up a couple of somethings for lunch.  

These were taste test items and I was hoping they would wake me up.  I was beginning to fade fast!  This was the COWBOY cookie.  NOT what I expected.  It was apparently a HEALTHY one, full of mostly oats.  There were a few chocolate pieces in there, so small I could barely see them.  This was a no, so back to the quilt shop I went.

Sadly, I had a long wait.  I spent it checking out THEIR stuff for the next THREE HOURS.  I was so rummy by then I just walked around looking at all the possibilities, trying not to fall asleep.  Just so you know, I bought ZERO fabric from them, mostly because it was all $16.00 a yard.  I don't know how they stay in business.  

I did pick up two cones of new-to-me thread.  August my repair guy said it's MUCH better than the fluff producing cotton products that gums up your machine.  

That's when he came to tell me my computer was WAY outdated.  So outdated in fact, he had to update it before even doing the final adjustments on the machine.  That took another 90 minutes.  He explained the adjustments he made, said the machine was very clean (kudos to me), and that if I had any trouble at all, just to call him.  Apparently the tension adjustment was WAY out of range, even though I had no tension problems, as was the timing.  At any rate, $500 later, they loaded it up in my truck.

That's when everything came to a screeching halt.  At 3:30, traffic was the worst I've ever seen in my life.  For 35 minutes, I never got over 25 mph.  It really didn't matter, but mostly I was concerned about Cooper being left alone for ten hours.  

Might as well taste test the last cookie.  This was a snickerdoodle.  Not bad ... not bad at all.  

I arrived home VERY tired and ready to hit the couch.  That's when I got the phone call.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  One of the cords to my machine was left in the tech's office on his desk.  WHAT?  Yessiree ... I can't use my machine until they mail it to me next week.  Nancy was mad as a wet hen.  Mostly because I even ASKED if all the cords were in the bag.  Oh yes they said ... it's all there.  NO ... NO it wasn't.  

So there will be no testing or using my longarm until that cord comes in the mail.  I'm dead in the water for another week.  

I'll be on the couch this morning .... trying to gather up some momentum to do something constructive.  

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

AND SO I'M OFF!!!

 Lucky for me, it was a short meeting at the lodge last night.  In fact, I didn't go to the dinner part at all.  I went late and hung out upstairs in front of the air conditioner playing with my phone.  Sometimes you just need to hide in the background to keep from exploding.

A huge cup of fake coffee is always a big plus the morning after.  Even so, I'm dragging butt this morning.  I'm probably not getting enough exercise!

The longarm is loaded and now held in place with lots of green bungies, hopefully keeping it upright for the trip south.  I am truly not looking forward to this.  I don't have any faith at all that it will arrive back home in one piece and won't require a house call to get it set back up.  

Worse yet, I'm supposed to wait around town for 2-4 hours while they get it fixed.  Won't that be fun?  If all goes well, I will bring it back home this afternoon and try to find another victim ... I mean helpful man ... to unload it in the next day or three.  My handyman friend just had knee surgery, my RV park friend just left town for a two week trip and my most blessed neighbors are off in Tennessee buying a new house because they are moving.  Hopefully someone pops up in the next week.

And so I'M OFF .....

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

SALTY BISCUITS ROUND TWO!

 One of my many mottos is "enjoy the cool morning air".  It's quiet except for the occasional rooster crowing about his prowess, or the dog down the street telling the rooster to shut up!!  This is what 5:00 am looks like in my back yard.  Fake coffee in my Alaska Railroad cut just hits the spot every time.  Yup, that's a kitty tail.

On the other hand, be careful what you order from Amazon, because they now deliver between 10 pm and 1 am.  Don't be out running around in your jammies ... you might run into someone you didn't want to meet.

Though I was sure that order wasn't coming until 3:00 today, it was at my door at 4:30 am.  No doubt the porch pirates will figure that out soon.

Mostly on the days after Bingo, I just recover.  Getting up at 4 am and going to bed around 11 pm just takes it out of me.  There's no sleeping in either ... the kids don't wait to go outside.  

I decided to start the day off with another biscuit taste testing.  Wasn't I surprised to find they were just as hard two days later, as when I took them out of the oven.  Hockey pucks as it were.  I stuck one in the microwave for a quick warm up.  It didn't help.

I took everyone's advice and smothered it in boysenberry jam.  That HAS to cancel out the saltiness.  Or not!!!  My oh my ... they were just as salty, if not MORE so, than I remembered from first baking.  NOPE ... this is not working at all.  Into the trash they went.  Truly, it was like eating a teaspoon of salt.  Better luck next time Miss Nancy!!

With breakfast out of the way, I heard my gardener outside.  I had a brilliant idea.  He's a nice guy and will help any way he can if I ask.  He's also a GUY, which means he has lifting capacities greater than mine.  I asked if he would move my quilting machine to the back seat of my truck.  He was hesitant, to say the least.

BUT ... I talked him into it.  I drove to the front door and he carried it out and into the truck for Fridays foray to the repair shop.  I do not have a good feeling about any of this considering my past experience in Arizona where they damaged the encoders doing just this.  I had to have another repair guy come to my house and fix it two weeks later.  I'm praying that does not happen THIS time!!  I guess time will tell.

And THAT'S why I had a midnight delivery.  I could not for the life of me find any bungee cords to tie the machine down.  I had dozens when RV'ing, but they seem to disappear around here like chocolate cake!

Have you ever tried to get just ONE bungee out of one of these plastic containers?  What a wadded up mess of hooks!!  Surely there is a better way to store these things, but I don't know what it is!!

Time flew by as I played some phone games with friends and watched Expedition something or other about lost treasure ships at sea.  The alternative of hearing about all the mail in ballots in Los Angeles suddenly appearing at midnight with 100% going to democrat candidates and not ONE going to a republican, just reminds everyone of the fraud going on in California.  

By the way, my boss for 11 years used to be the Election Official in our County.  He said that by law he was not allowed to remove anyone's name from the voter rolls, unless they requested it in person, even if they died.  Thousands of ballots go out to people at every election who are no longer living or who have moved away.  So what do you think happens to all those ballots?  

Add to that, "undocumented residents and people without proof of legal presence, can obtain a valid drivers license in California, per AB60", which will also add them to the voting rolls.  That means illegal immigrants can vote in California.  Not even a citizens of this country, and they can vote.

Anyway, Mr. Cooper became antsy at his usual 5:00 time, so we headed to the sewing room.  It's so weird that the second I open the door, he lays down and is quiet as a mouse.  It's the same if I go to my computer.   Sitting on the couch just does not do it for him I guess.  

I scrounged around for a new project, finding the perfect one.  BUT I was not sure that the fabric I chose was going to work.  More digging ensued when this one showed up.  When in the world did I buy THIS?  I don't even remember where it came from .... or WHY I would buy it.  It's a Christmas thing that according to the price tag was $$$$!  I must have been delirious!  In a quilting fog so to speak.

At any rate, I stitched it up in a jiffy, grumbling all the way because the fabric they included for the border was barely big enough and not cut straight.  I think this is destined for Kitters chair!!

And so ended another lovely day in Sunny California ... up to 93 degrees they said.  Sadly, it's not a DRY heat like Arizona, but at least it is not accompanied by toads, snakes and scorpions!!  I'm good with that!!

FLAMING TORCHES ONCE AGAIN!

 It was not a scorcher, but it's getting there rather quickly.  I said goodbye to the 70's and GOOD GRIEF to the 95's.  It seems there was no in-between.  On the other hand, it's June, meaning we slipped by with an entire month of decent weather.  

As Mr. Cooper and I stepped outside, the morning sunrise was just coming up, soon to heat up the cool 61 degree darkness.  I think it's almost time for coffee on the patio.

That's when I turned around to see this.  Well that's sure weird ... the blue moon decided to show his face after all.  Also weird, it's not even at its peak at 4:30 am.  That must be what happened to Bingo last night.

But first ... I played with the kids a bit, getting whacked by Miss Kitters.  She takes that play stuff seriously and is completely full of it in the early morning hours.  That is until she jumped up on one of my quilts hanging on the wall.  NOOOO!  That was the end of THAT!!

After breakfast, I set about unplugging the quilting machine and getting it ready to go on a trip.  Boy do I hate this.  I took a gazillion pictures so I would be able to figure out how to put it back together.

There are four wires going to the computer, which also has to go.  I am so not looking forward to this!  Hopefully I can get my neighbors to help me load it.  I'm sure I can't lift it off the frame, nor stuff it in my truck.  The last time I had them come down and work on it, it cost me $900, so I'm trying to do it on my own this time.  

With that done, it was time to head on out to the Magic Castle.  I was purposely late.  Sadly, I don't feel like going out of my way any more.  It happens I guess, but I feel like they have taken advantage and never been thankful.  It made for an uncomfortable night, to say the least.

HOWEVER, those Bingo players can make up for it in an instant.  The players who never miss a night are as nice as can be ... and the men always try to make me laugh by asking for those darn red tickets.  

On the other hand, there were three ladies on the other side of this door who were up in arms because one gal who helps me count on occasion, didn't realize she can only pick her cards early if she works.  Oh the looks I got through the glass!!  Daggers came flying my direction in a nanosecond!!  I finally took her cards and explained the problem, before ushering her away from the door.  We'll do this later!

About ten minutes passed before they realized nothing was set up on stage for the caller.  Gee ... I wonder why that happened.  There was a very nice gentleman that helps us out who tried to fix it, to no avail.  I stopped cashiering and headed to the stage to show him how.  That probably didn't make the players very happy, having to wait longer to get their cards.  

SO MANY PEOPLE!!  By the time I was done, we had 148 bingo folks crowding the room like never before.  Lots of new people who have never played, don't help the atmosphere when it comes to making mistakes.  The regulars will take your arm off in a hot second when they call Bingo BEFORE that number on the TV screen is actually CALLED by the caller.  The AC was on high all night long, but it got HOT on several occasions.

It was so bad in the back room that some guy stood up and began cussing because people were just too noisy.  One of the guys had to shush him and say ... if you can't hear, just look at the TV screen!  Tempers flared!!

It quieted down for a bit, until someone yelled BINGO with just one line on a blackout game.  Oh the slings and arrows that followed, including the flaming torches.  Good grief folks ... it's just a game!  I guess when money is on the line, tempers will get out of hand.

Thankfully, I was on THIS side of the wall.  No cashiers were hurt on this night.  When I was finished with the infernal machine, who was quite nice to me, I put everything away and snuck out the back door.  I think the back door will be my new friend.  

So this morning ... I'll try out those salty biscuits again and see how it goes.  OH WAIT ... the full moon!  That's why those biscuits were so terrible!  Hey, I have to blame it on something, yes?

HAVE GREAT DAY!!!

SALTY BISCUITS

Summer has arrived in Central Cal.  It was a too warm 92 degrees yesterday, almost forcing the use of that energy sucking device called air conditioning.  I just can't tell you how thankful I am I finally came to my senses and got solar.  My neighbors bills are up to $800 a month with only two people living there.  They say they keep the temperature at 80 degrees.   Of course we ARE paying for the fire damage from PGE's equipment failure burning down the town of Paradise.  

Anyhoo ... MY morning always starts with Cooper rubbing his face on my arms.  That is followed by this little troublemaker.  There really is nothing wrong at all with her mouth, but the coloring of her fur makes her look like a Halloween character!   She sits quietly waiting for pets, purring up a storm.

That's when THIS starts.  Sorry for the blur ... it's hard to hold your arm still when she is reaching for your face.  Very tenderly I must say, but if you don't participate, she gets a little more aggressive!

And the next thing you know, that little paw snags your nose!!  PET ME ... PET ME PLEASE!!  She wins the game every time!!  Lots of pets, rubs and grooming brush scrubs are provided, hair flying in the air.  From the plethora of purrs, I think she likes it!  

That's when everything went completely off the rails.  What got into me, I've no idea.  I've been looking out these windows for a month now, thinking about who I might con into washing them for me.  I even went so far as to look up Window Washers on the old internet.  $50 per window was a little too much for my bank account.  

I remembered way back maybe four years ago that I actually did wash them myself with an internet recipe that surprisingly worked very well.  Half a gallon of water, 1 tablespoon dish soap and 1-2 tablespoons Finish Jet Dry dishwasher liquid.  

I mixed it up in a dish tub, wet the windows with a hose, and used a vehicle windshield washing brush to clean the dirt and grime, one window at a time.  That's because you want to rinse it off quickly before it dries.  That Finish makes the water just slide right off.  No drying required.  Almost anyway.  I did take a paper towel and wipe down the lower ones.  The uppers are still a bit wet.

I even did the door with all the puppy slobber and nose prints on it.  I probably could have done a tad bit better job of it, but it was FREE LABOR, so I'm good with it.

When lunch came around, I was ready to experiment.  Miss Terry, of Miss Terry's Kitchen fame, has helped me with my sourdough starter, and suggested sourdough discard biscuits.  There can be a lot of waste with sourdough ... you basically feed half to keep it going, and half (called discard) goes in the trash.  There are recipes using discard, but I have never tried them before.

Today was the day!!  Let's make biscuits for lunch!!  It all went pretty well, except for that part where I just dumped the discard into the bowl without actually measuring it.  Oh well ... it will be fine.  It called for 8 tablespoons of butter to be mixed into the flour, making a crumbly mixture.

I had a thought.  That is not always a good thing.  I will grate the butter so I don't have to work so hard at the crumble part.  Here's my tip of the day.  That only works if you FREEZE the butter first.  Next thing I know, I've got butter from one end of me to the other, and all over the counter.  Small pieces of soft butter melt VERY fast.

I was however, rather pleased with myself by the time they went in the oven.  They look good, yes?  Sadly, that didn't last very long.

If these look a little over baked, that's because they are.  They just were not browning up, so I left them an extra minute.  It's okay ... I like my biscuits crunchy on top!!  

Time for the taste test!  You can imagine me putting a big bite, smothered in butter, into my mouth.  What could be better than the lovely taste of SALTY BISCUITS!!  Oh my gosh ... TOO MUCH SALT!  I reread the recipe, to find it called for UNsalted butter.  I checked the butter box.  I had grabbed the SALTED butter and ADDED additional salt.  

Other than that, they STILL didn't taste very good.  I don't know what I expected, but this was not it.  No one ever said I was a good cook.  I'm not sure what I will do with them, but they went in the freezer.  Maybe make some NO-SALT gravy or smear on a huge tablespoon of JAM.  

With that, I skipped dinner altogether.  Those biscuits are still rolling around in my stomach.  

I spent the afternoon hand sewing the binding on this quilt.  It's one I think I started well over a year ago.  I had a hard time finding the border fabric when I ran short.  It's a good feeling to have ONE complete.  In looking for the binding for this one, I discovered THREE more quilts in the room that also require binding.  I guess I have my work cut out for me.

Though I'm not thrilled about it, Bingo is yet again on the schedule.  There have been some happenings that may be the Universe telling me to take a break.  My armor just doesn't seem to be thick enough to deal with the crazy personalities that have been added to the mix.  

The good news ... Mr. Cooper actually RAN to the yard this morning and RAN back to the house.  He seems to be feeling better, and I don't notice as much as far as the leg goes.  We may get to go on a short trip this summer after all.

  

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

 Just look at this beautiful moon from last night!!  Not really ... this is so weird.  The moon came up WAY after dark, past my bed time .... and set this morning an hour earlier than they said it would.  I saw nothing ... nothing but streets lights.

This is what it looked like in REAL life on the other side of the earth.  Yup ... that's the moon alright.  Another one bites the dust ... it's a NEW month yet again.  How this goes so fast, I don't know.  

I left Mr. Cooper early in the morning to head out for a run.  You can see the booty I try to keep on his foot now.  It's a pain.  Just big enough to come off quite often, but so tight it's really hard to get ON his foot.  The inside looks like a rats nest and it's hard to get over his claws.  The good news is it works for the most part.  AND he seems to be getting around a tad bit better each day, that is for being almost seventeen.

Apparently summer is here.  This usually green and gorgeous field is now brown and drab.  Hopefully they disc it soon to keep the fire hazard low.  They have been trying to sell this for 15 years to become another subdivision.  Just what we need.  More traffic and noise.

On the other hand, the flowers are in full bloom.  These are the infamous oleander bushes that California planted as barriers in between the freeways.  They worked great and were very pretty, until they upped the speed limit and folks crashed through them.  For the past fifteen years or so they have been taking them out and replacing them with concrete for a more scenic view!  

It was a slow run ... more walking in fact.  If I don't go often enough, I run out of air pretty fast.  When I got back, I was confronted with this guy!  Mr. Cooper wanted his breakfast ASAP.  That's a VERY heavy rug he just threw back underneath himself.  

I'm still trying to get used to the new routine ... do all my outside running around in the early morning while he sleeps, then spend the evenings in the sewing room to lesson the random walking.

This girl ... Miss Kitters ... was waiting on the patio when I returned.  She is spending more time outside these days, lying in the sun.  You would think she would want to be in the cool shade.

HOWEVER ... we all know WHY she's outside, yes??  Big sigh ... I've lost count.  I think this is the one from her morning bedroom run.  Poor things .... I wish she would leave them alone.  They eat lots of nasty critters outside.  

I parked him out front under the bush, and he ran off, though slowly.  I doubt they will survive after being mauled by the great tortie hunter!!

After all that, it was time for breakfast.  So just what do you do with those three cans of crescent rolls you bought to make a loaf of bread?  They have been hanging out in the fridge since I got the sourdough to work.  So I followed an online recipe.  Spread it out, smother it in sugar and cinnamon, roll and cut into ... you got it, cinnamon rolls.  I even made a not-so-delicious frosting from powdered sugar and milk.  

Don't bother my friends ... just throw that can right in the trash.  They were TERRIBLE with a capital T.  I probably should have used BROWN sugar rather than white.  Either that, or something is wrong with my taste buds.  Surely it cannot be that it was TOO SWEET!!  Yes ... yes it was.  It's history in the making.  This is the first time EVER something was too sweet for me to eat.  Another recipe bites the dust!

On the other hand, shake and bake chicken for lunch was MUCH better.  I think air frying would have been even tastier, but I can only fit three pieces at a time in the basket.  Oh yay ... chicken for the next four meals!!

Of course there was dessert!  It's mostly required in this house.  Here's the spice poke cake with caramel sauce.  You're not going to believe this.  It too was just too sweet.  How could this be??  I'm hoping that's just a fluke and tomorrow I will LOVE it!  Mostly because I have an entire pan to eat over the next month!!

That's when I got hooked on this interesting program on TV.  It's all about CIA operations that went both good and bad.  Let me just say we have some BRAVE folks in our midst.  Both men and women have put their lives on the line for this country.  If you get a chance, check it out.  

On the other hand, this is my television ... the cheap $250 one from Walmart that I got for the Arizona house.  This is why I loved my old one so much.  Every night I get this distortion when the sun goes down.  Maybe a nice decorative piece of reflectix in the window will help.

When Mr. Cooper gets to wandering, I head for the sewing room.  Maybe I will actually get some of MY quilts done.  I cut the binding for this one and stitched it on.  The rest will be hand sewing.  I think I started this one over a year ago, so it will be nice to have it finished.

And so ended another wonderful day.  They are all wonderful at my age!!  On the schedule this week ... smog the van, find navy blue material at the quilt store for the embroidered quilts, scan the horizon for lizards and love on my Cooper puppy.  What could be better!!