CONFIDENT I AM NOT!

I think this is our last day of cool and breezy.  The weather guessers say 92+ for the next ten days.  Oh that does not sound good.  Though I had plans to hit the coast for a trip, I now have a wedding, an anniversary and two birthdays to attend in the next three weeks, plus another shot for Cooper's back.  My aspirations for a week or two in Oregon on the coast, are hanging on by a thread.  I'm not sure Mr. Cooper's back can take all that lifting in and out of the rig  

It's okay ... I signed on for this gig almost 17 years ago.  We'll see how it goes.

THIS girl, at around 3 years of age, is a handful.  Today I had to catch a HUGE grasshopper and two big moths in the living room.  I'm getting almost as good at catching them as she is.

With everything caught up in the house, I headed off on several errands.  First up ... fuel once again, but this time, for the Jeep.  $5.53 a gallon for regular gas.  I get the exact same fuel mileage for both the Jeep and the truck, but at least gas is cheaper than diesel.  

I think the idea is that people will not be able to afford fuel, so they will ride the bullet train ... except the bullet train will never be finished.  $16 BILLION of our tax dollars has already been spent, and there is not one track laid nor one train car purchased.  The estimated cost is now $126 BILLION DOLLARS to finish it.  Me thinks lots of people got very rich on that NON-project that will NEVER be completed.

Next stop ... the quilt store.  What I needed and what I got, was not the same.  They had very little thread, but I did find one that would suffice.  Oh how I miss Joann's fabric store.  They carried everything.

I needed three colors to make a camouflage border around a Marine quilt, but alas, I found absolutely nothing.  This jumped out at me however, a perfect panel for a Veterans quilt.

And yes .... a little more fabric to make a flag quilt which will be a Veterans Luncheon raffle donation.  I didn't do TOO bad since it was 8 yards altogether and only came to $125.00.  I'll get reimbursed for all of that.

On the way home, I actually remembered to stop in and get cards for most of those events I have to attend.  Good grief ... I should have gone to the DOLLAR store.  Did you know cards now run $5.99-$9.99?  It cost me $24.00 for three!!!  

I figured since I'm spending money on this day, I might as well go for the big one.  Habit burger is right across the street from Target.  Every time I go to town, I drive right by it.  Seriously, it's hard NOT to stop.  This is the Santa Barbara Char Burger.  TWO patties smothered in cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions and avocado on sourdough bread with sweet potato fries.  NOTHING could be better.

No I didn't eat it all.  For $15.00 I make it into two meals, mostly because I can't eat this much at one sitting.

With thread in hand, I sewed the binding on this quilt, the same pattern as the last one.  Both of these were stash busters ... meaning I was trying to clean out some fabric in order to make room for more!

To keep Cooper quiet in the evening (he will lay down and sleep in the sewing room) I began working on this one.  What a letdown.  Yes this panel was cheap at $10.00, but sadly cut so crooked that part of the upper design had to be cut off trying to square it up.  I guess no one will pay much attention, but I see it instantly.  This will have one more large border sewn on before it's quilted.  

I'm hoping this is not our last cool evening.  The wind came up and clouds rushed in, dropping a little wet from the sky.  That didn't bode well for me.  I had my camera and tripod out for a view of Venus and Jupiter almost kissing in the sky.  It was not to be ... maybe tonight!!

I ended the night putting my longarm back together.  Amazing, I received my cord via UPS at noon.  I had some leveling to do since August told me how, and I reattached the quilt to the back bars.  I still have a problem of sorts ... one of the back cords is getting hung up on the rail.  I have to remove the connection and figure out how to twist it so it's out of the way.  

It won't be today, but maybe by Thursday, I will gather up the courage to turn it on and see if everything works.  I'm not confident in this endeavor.

And so ended a lovely day with Cooper, Kitters and I sitting on the couch together.  I smile every time!!!

OH THE SMELL!

 Another cool breezy day as Mother Nature slowly guides us into 100 degree days.  I'm thinking summer is going to last all the way into October this year.

Miss Kitters is loving every minute of it.  I have never seen her this relaxed before while sleeping.  She almost always has one eye open looking for critters.  She has also donned her "summer wear", meaning about eight pounds of cat hair is gone so her tan shows up quite nicely.   Weirdest cat I've ever known.

I bet you thought I had missed the Belmont Stakes race since there were no pictures.  Truly, I'm not a fan of horse racing, but there are three races I try not to miss.  The Triple Crown of horse racing includes the Preakness Stakes (which I did miss by the way), the Kentucky Derby and finally, the Belmont Stakes.  I WOULD have missed this one had not Elva sent me a message that it was starting early due to rain.

AND THEY ARE OFF!!  Golden Tempo, who won the Kentucky Derby, started out in last place.

That's him in the back row on the right.  It's a 1-1/2 mile race in the rain on this day.  Their game plan is the same ... let him just cruise along at the back until the last half a mile.

That's when they let him run.  In all my years, I've never seen a horse stretch out that far and run twice as fast as the rest of the horses.  It's an amazing thing to watch ... like he just turned on the jet fuel.  He was close to one horse for quite a ways, which he wasn't thrilled about.  Watch a horses ears and they will tell you everything!!  That's him in front in just a matter of seconds.

And Golden Tempo sets a track record for the WIN!!  That's two out of three races for this 3 year old beauty.  That's it ... that's his career.  He will pretty much be "out to pasture" now, used for breeding more great racers just like him.  It was fun to watch!!

Back to yesterday, it was time to bake the bread.  Sadly, I have absolutely NO idea what the temperature of my oven really is.  I set it at 550 because I think it's 50 degrees off.  The little inside-the-oven thermometer I have said 350 when the oven said 550.  It's a complete toss up!!  

I plopped the dough into the hot cast iron pot, sliced the top and stuffed her in the oven.  Twenty minutes later, you remove the lid and let it finish up another 20 minutes.  You are supposed to test it with a temperature gauge (like testing a turkey) before you take it out.  

Not quite enough, but OH THE SMELL!!!  No kidding ... roasting garlic came wafting out like perfume.  I left it in for a few more minutes before putting it on a rack to cool.  That's the hard part ... letting it just sit there and smell delicious!  It must cool before slicing.  I used that time to order another in-the-oven thermometer.

So here we are at the slicer.  I couldn't wait to taste the end slice.  Hmmm not much garlic flavor there, but I'm sure the rest will be wonderful.   AND IT WAS!!  Lunch was a nice big slice smothered in butter.  OH YEAH ... THIS IS GOOD!!  It's interesting that the sourdough flavor gets better every time too.  I'm thinking grilled cheese for lunch!!

With the best part of the day over in a flash, I drug out yet another quilt and stitched on the binding.  There is one problem with doing that by machine instead of by hand.  You have to have thread to match the fabric.  I of course, do not.  I had one little spool of brown for the last one, and used it all up.  OH DARN ... this morning I will be off to the quilt store for thread, since I use mostly a pale gray to sew everything together.  That won't look good on dark brown fabric.

What about my longarm?  I stewed about it all day long.  Who can I get to come and lift it out of my truck?  I even went down the entire list in my phone.  That's when I noticed a post from my neighbor.  Hmmm maybe they are back from New York.  YES!!!  And the two big strong boys are in the house!!

I parked the truck by the front door and gave quick instructions about the lifting so as not to tear off the encoder.  They lifted this thing up and over the sides and directly on to the rails.  JUST LIKE THAT!!

WOOHOO ... we are back in business.  Well, that is when I receive the "lost" cord in the mail, whenever that will be.  These things are notorious for being stinky when it comes to plugging everything back in and not getting motor errors.  I'm extremely nervous, but I guess I will see how it goes mid week.

As for now, I will not buy more fabric ... I will not buy more fabric .... but maybe I'll just take a quick look!!

IT'S ALL GOOD!

 GOOD MORNING CALIFORNIA!  It's a new day and we are all bright and shiny like a new penny.  That's what my dad used to say, though I don't think I ever felt like a new penny!

The skies were weird and it was once again cold.  I can't complain however, because anything below 92 degrees is good ... and this morning it was a breezy 57.

Every day when I open the fridge, this is what I see.  Not one, but TWO jars of sourdough starter.  Actually, the one on the right makes THREE.  It's the newest one I whipped up to make another loaf of sourdough.  

I admit, it's beginning to taste like REAL sourdough now, but the amount of work involved is over the top.   There's no way those pioneer ladies made bread while bouncing across the country in a covered wagon.  Even in their log cabins, bread must have been a delicacy.  It's not even a one day affair, it takes TWO.

I measure with great accuracy, weighing out the starter, flour and water, then let it sit on the counter for four hours until it looks like this.  This is called the leaven.

While that finishes up, I make the autolyse.  This is just bread flour and water that sits on the counter for 30 minutes before dumping in the leaven.  

Once mixed (which takes a long time), you let it sit for 30 minutes, stretch and fold, another 30 minutes, stretch and fold ... and on and on.

Can you guess what this is?  ROASTED GARLIC.  This is the reason for the bread making today.  At our last lodge meeting, the sweet gal who makes all her own bread, asked if I had tried garlic sourdough.  No, no I haven't, but boy do I love the garlic sourdough you can buy in the store.  So I'm giving it a shot!

While the dough rested, I roasted and smashed up a bunch of garlic cloves.  This may be a recipe for disaster, but I'm trying it anyway.

Another stretch or two with the garlic thrown in, then it sits for another hour.  Yup it's 5:00 now and I've been working on it all day long.  At this point you make it into a nice round ... don't overwork it ... and into the towel lined basket it goes.  

It lives in the fridge for the next 12-14 hours.  Surely the pioneer women shortened this entire process, but then again, maybe they were out hunting squirrels for dinner and didn't care.  This morning it will go in the oven at 450 degrees.  Thank the Good Lord for SOLAR panels because my oven sucks up electricity like a champ.

I had a couple of other things on the list that needed to be done, including plugging the rig in to the battery minder.  That brought up THIS problem.  This is the open door on the passenger side.  That window cover is heavy duty to keep out the heat and the cold.  That means the tiny little magnets they put inside, do not hold it up long enough for you to close the door so it will STAY up.

I had attached one magnet on each window cover, but it needed two, so here's the second one.  Another chore finished.

Next up ... sew the binding on this quilt.  It's one of many sitting in a big pile on the floor that needed to be finished.  Because it's small, I finally decided to stitch it on by machine instead of by hand.  I had talked to one of the ladies at the repair shop and she showed me how she does it.  

By the way, the Tech called, apologized for the missing cord and said he would send it yesterday.  It's all good since I find my neighbors are not back from their trip.  I need their muscle to get the machine in the house, so I can't use it anyway.

Here's the finished product ... it took me an hour to stitch it on, one inch at a time.  You have to fold the hem over and hold it down with both hands in order to keep the needle going straight ... or at least as straight as possible.  

HOWEVER, while walking around the quilt repair shop, I noticed a quilt that had a decorative stitch on the binding, not just a straight stitch.  I decided to try that out instead.  I tested a couple of them before deciding on this one.

The one on the right is the "top" that you see while sewing.  Turn it to the backside and it looks like the one on the left.  Except for a couple of wobbly places, it came out pretty well.  I'm not sure I would want to do this on a queen sized quilt, but for smaller ones, an hour is definitely better than one or two days to get it done.  Especially when it comes to those 12 Veteran quilts.

The day ended on a high note.  I caught Mr. Cooper outside in the garden eating cat $hit.  Good grief ... what is wrong with dogs?????  He'll probably get scurvy or something worse!!  Just what I need, but at least he's already on antibiotics!!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I watched as the sun went down behind the clouds, trying to count my blessings with renewed energy, and  quit complaining about my laughable luck. 

On the morning menu ..... roasted garlic sourdough bread.  The time to BAKE has arrived.  It doesn't get any better than that!!!

IT'S ALL GOOD!!!!!

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!!!