Sunsets And Sewing

Unlike Arizona, who usually has beautiful sunsets every night, California rarely has any, at least where I live.  About the only time you see gorgeous colors is when there is a fire somewhere, which was the case here.

It was so smoky from a fire WAY up North that we actually had some beautiful colors before I left.

Here in Arizona, they have storm clouds making for beautiful sunsets almost every night.  I'll post some tomorrow after I process them.  It's the monsoon season, something I've never experienced before.  

You never know which direction the storms are coming from.  Some times it's from the North, some times from the Southwest and yesterday, it just swirled all around in a big circle.

Also unlike California, when it rains here, it RAINS.  No wonder I see all those FLASH FLOOD warnings.  Good heavens .... water fell from the sky like gangbusters most of the day.  I just never had any idea it rained in the desert like it does here.  Boy are the cactus and trees happy!!

That meant I stayed in most of the day, getting absolutely nothing done in the yard.  It was a good time to work on that block challenge I picked up from the internet.  Here's blocks #3 and #4.

I've never sewn this precisely in my life.  It looks rather difficult, but is really easy if you follow the directions.  Jack the Ripper and I had a few tussles ripping out seams and resewing, but mostly it came out okay.

I did make one quick trip to the fabric store when I discovered I used a piece for this quilt in another one.  Okay, to be honest, it was the third trip I've made in five days.  This quilt called for 21 fabrics, three of which I had not yet purchased.  

I wasn't able to stop for a picture, but the rivers are running wild and crazy from all the water.  I've never seen anything like it.  Completely dry during February and March, they are full to the brim now.

In the meantime, just to keep myself out of trouble, I baked up some more peanut butter cookies, this time adding peanut butter chips to the mix.  Here's my secret ... I keep them in the freezer and pull out just one after dinner.  I choose not to think about how many that adds up to in one month.

This morning I'll be back to chopping and hacking in the yard before trying to clean out the sprinkler valves by myself.  I'm sure hoping that goes well!!  Then it's off to Lowes to purchase a cover for the valves to protect them from the sun and to provide shelter for lovely critters like snakes and scorpions.  

Note to self:  Find a BIG stick to keep by the sprinkler valves!