Towel Toppers and Door Knockers

Who has heard of towel toppers, raise your hand!  Me either.  I don't know who invents this stuff, but I'm told Grandmas everywhere NEED these things.  I'm not into the chatchkey stuff so much.  I'd rather spend my time and money on a quilt.

So here's a room full of ladies hard at work.  I'm pretty sure I was one of the youngest there.  No one was hurt in the completion of these projects except the one who fell down the stairs and the slight burn from hot coffee in one lap.

The main problem we encountered was the lack of thread colored to match the material they handed out.  That led to stealing from each other in order to get colors that looked decent.  I kid you not, we came back from lunch to find most of our thread had walked off to other tables.  These ladies are serious!!  We had to go around and steal it back.

Here's the towel topper.  There's elastic on the back that holds the towel, which you then hang on a nail I suppose.  

Here's the fancy machine.  The only difference between this one and mine is it's ability to scan a picture, digitize it in the machine and stitch out that picture in whatever colors you choose.  Pretty cool, but not worth $15,000.

This is what I have and what we stitched on the entire two days.  I took to keeping that basket of thread in my lap and hidden under the table to keep our supply in tact.

Here's the rest of the projects we made.  There's the yellow bottle skirt, a landscape coin purse too small to get your fingers in to retrieve the coins and a beautiful Happy Thanksgiving circle that hangs from the bottom of a door knocker that we did NOT make.  Actually, that would make a cute Christmas tree ornament.  Finally, the tea towel with a cute little rabbit.  

Lunch was again fabulous with a huge hunk of well cooked beef smothered in a delicious gravy.  The broccoli rabe was literally uncuttable with a knife, making only the very tips edible.  No one cared because the beef and gravy was SO good!!

I declined to take home any of the projects up to this point.  I've never done kitchen towels however and thought this was cute as could be.  It's called watercolor embroidery because you cut up several pieces of organza, pile them up and place a larger piece over the top to hold it in.  Cute idea, but not the least bit practical.  

You see when you wash this, it will probably all come apart because the edges are not covered and held in place with thread.  This is an "oh look, how cute" project that is meant to just hang on the wall. The stitching says something, but to be honest, I can't figure out what!

That's it ... I was out of there in a flash.   I loved talking to the lady next to me, but I missed most all of the directions because she just would not be quiet.  I did get some hints from her and a great website to visit, but oh my goodness .... SUCH a distraction from the reason for being there!!  

I raced home to my puppies and QUIET!!  I didn't even turn on the TV.  In the end, here's what I received for my $99 entry fee to the class.  Over $100 worth of patterns (most of which I probably won't use), a tea towel I CAN'T use, a $100 package of chatchkey patterns which I also most likely won't use and a $15 Hipster CD, which yes, I won't use.  Maybe I'll sell them on E-Bay.

What I DID come home with is greater knowledge about MY machine, how it can actually scan and realign patterns.  Who knew?  I also have a new respect for QUIET.

Anita's University

So here I am, back at school.  Not really, but in this binder are the instructions to 100 projects you can do with your Brother embroidery machine.  This whole get-together is designed to make you fall in love with the latest and greatest machine, whereupon you purchase it for a ridiculous price.

They give out lots of free stuff from the drawings they hold, but alas, I have not won anything ... YET.  Of course my record of winning is short and sweet, but you never know.  We also got this handy dandy bag to carry all our crap ... I mean good stuff ... in.  It is rather large for the pen and paper they gave us, but the binder fits nicely.

All these things are called "in the hoop" projects, since you complete the entire thing in the embroidery hoop.  I know you are going to be SO jealous of this one.  It's a bottle skirt.  Did you know bottles had skirts?  I'm not actually keeping any of the projects because here's the thing ... there are 3 ladies on 1 machine, and you only make ONE item, not three.  I was crushed!!  Not really, this is not my kind of thing.

Lunch was magnificent, chicken with roasted potatoes and squash, with a green salad and a big piece of chocolate cake.  You can't beat that!!  Footnote: this would be great for company.

I might have had in the very far reaches of my mind, a notion to upgrade my machine for the fancy dancy one, until they went over the prices.  Here's the amazing deal at your feet!  $14,000 for a new machine.  Add to that $1,218 tax, for a total of $15,218.  They have five year financing for zero interest.  Heck my Jeep cost $17,000 ... it's like buying a car!

If I'm lucky, they would give me $6,000 for my current machine.  You can do the math if you are not faint of heart.  It all means I would be crazy to buy a new machine unless I was making thousands of dollars as an embroidery specialist.  I'm not.

So instead, I wandered around the edges of the room looking for new patterns, all listed at half price.  Some of these run $250 each, all the way down to $15.  I ran with the lower end, but still spent some money.  In addition, they gave us all a 25% off coupon for anything in their store.  That one works for me very well!!

Any finally, my funny of the day.  This guy's wife bought that fancy dancy Luminaire one for $15,000.

So this morning I'm going back for the second day and four more projects.  Truly, it's not the project, but the stuff you learn about your machine and it's capabilities.  Most of the things are not for me, like the towel toppers and the door signs we will be making today.  It's more about meeting the ladies who are SO much more fanatic about embroidery than I.  

Today I'm taking some scissors (the ones they gave us don't cut) and ear plugs, because the lady next to me never quit talking the entire day!!  I know you just can't WAIT to see what we make next!!

Just Follow Instructions

I really do try to follow the instructions, otherwise I would be in even MORE trouble when it comes to cooking.  It's even better when instructions are actually WRITTEN DOWN, which in this case they were not.  There was just a picture.

I spotted a nice organized set-up of quilting boxes filled to the brim with material at my neighbor Shirley's house.  It took an entire day on the internet to come up with the same thing.  Come to find out, it's NOT for fabric, it's for scrapbooking.

You've got to give Amazon credit ... they delivered them the very next day!!

After taking the first one apart three times, I was finally able to get all the finished edges looking the right direction.  Almost, anyway.  Don't look at the bottom box.  It didn't dawn on me, nor did the little picture show that the white should be INSIDE the box.  It's nailed down like Fort Knox, so there's no chance of changing it.  It's okay, it won't show.

It IS weird how Amazon works.  I ordered the casters with it, but they came separately by a completely different driver.  I whipped out my trusty drill and went to work after checking the picture SIX times to be sure I was putting them on right.  Let's be realistic ... this is a MAN'S job.

And there you have it.  A box for my boxes.  They actually slide in and out on side rails.  Yes, my organizational storage needs a little organization!  That will come later.

I got REAL brave in the afternoon.  I picked a recipe from my new Williams Sonoma cookbook to test drive for my company.  Barbacoa Beef.  By the way, in the end, I did not purchase those plates, as I actually do have EIGHT plates to eat off of.  Instead, I bought $97 worth of meat (all on sale) to practice with.  Good grief meat has gotten expensive!

This one was pretty simple as Mexican recipes go, and I will relay that tomorrow.  I took some over to Chef Patty for her opinion because once I've tasted it 29 times during cooking, I never really know if it's any good.  She gave it a thumbs up!!  YAY!!

Very early this morning I'm off again to deep in the heart for an embroidery class on the machine I purchased here a few years ago.  It will be two days of practicing patience and my resolve NOT to buy anything unless it's 50% off!!  

I'll let you know how it goes!!

Quilting 101

Around here, Monday's are for quilting.  There are 9 or 10 ladies that meet at my neighbor's house for Quilting 101.  Shirley has won many ribbons for her spectacular quilts and is the proud owner of a long arm we all drool over.  If you have a problem, she can fix it.  If you can't decide what colors to use, she can fix it, so it's no surprise we all enjoy spending the day with her.

I started off by eating one of those fancy french pastry things.  It immediately gave me a stomach ache.  I kid you not, I don't think it even hit bottom before the spasms began.  I truly need to get back in the saddle and quit eating BAD things.

I've been working on this one for about six months now, maybe longer.  It's all hand sewed.  No worries, the squares really are not sewed crooked ... they are just stuck up on my wall.  There's a LOT more sewing involved before I even THINK about stitching them together.

I tend to lose interest quickly if they take too long, so I dropped that one and whipped up this sampler quilt.  I do love two or three of these squares and think I can make an entire quilt out of just those.  I'll sew the borders on this one today and it will be ready for quilting.

Lunch is always provided by one of the group, and this time the Other Nancy brought wonderful chicken pot pie soup, along with a delicious chocolate cake/mousse dessert.  Luckily my name doesn't come up but once in a great while.  I seem to make the same chicken salad every time.  It's safe and I don't have to COOK!

I did suddenly realize yesterday that I'm having company next month for a couple of days.  That's why I purchased the towels and a blanket for the spare bed.  I of course only have ONE towel in the house.  I doubt they would want to share.

Then it dawned on me.  OH NO!  I'll have to COOK for them!  I wonder if DoorDash or Uber will deliver this far out.  Now I'm in a panic to figure out something foolproof I can serve for dinner.  Let me know if you have any suggestions, keeping in mind my level of cooking skills.  At least I have a few weeks to test drive some recipes.

Oh ..... and maybe I'll go get those dishes since I'm having COMPANY!!!

Deep In The Heart

Tucson is an old town, starting with paleo Indians, Spanish Missions, Mexicans and finally the Confederate States all trying to take the land away from the people who lived here.  That means it's a conglomerate of influences and spread out across many MANY acres.  If you want to go anywhere in Tucson, you have to go deep in the heart, which means for us outsiders it's a 45 minute drive to practically anywhere.

Thus began yesterday's adventure deep in the heart to find the Williams Sonoma store.  You remember those $25 melamine plates (that was the price per piece) I purchased with my gift certificate last year?  It's probably one of the most expensive stores I've ever been in.

So off I drove for 45 minutes, following my GPS of course, on surface streets for over ten miles.  You can imagine my frustration with the stop lights, not to mention Sunday traffic.  I arrived and whipped into the first parking spot I could find.  That's when I noticed it was FOR AJ's ONLY.  AJ's is the highest end grocery store I've ever seen.

Not that anyone noticed, but I figured I would go in one door and out the other so I didn't get my Jeep towed.  At least I could SAY I was there.  This greeted me at the door.  I'm guessing it's a javelina.

I wandered down the produce aisle where I found avocados for $3.99 each.  I passed on those.  As I walked by the meat counter, I spotted ground beef for $10 a pound.  I almost choked on that one.  Maybe a nice bottle of wine, just to prove I was an AJ's shopper.  Or not, since the wine section was divided by Country and I saw nothing under $18 a bottle.   E & J Gallo wasn't on ANY shelf.

A little further along, I spotted this guy.  Good grief!!  They have a chef making breakfast omelets for your eating pleasure.  I didn't even look at the price, knowing I couldn't afford it.

At the very end, just before heading out the door, I spotted these.  They had French names I couldn't even pronounce, but were only $2 each.  Perfect to secure my parking spot by shopping AJ's.

I left them on the seat of the car with my receipt in plain sight as I headed off to Williams Sonoma.

I had a little more luck this time as I looked for anything under $20.  I scored another bundle of towels (the same as last time, but they ARE rather nice), and not one, but TWO instant pot cookbooks.  Good for Williams Sonoma for keeping up with the times.  They even had a demonstration going on.

I passed on the $599 Kitchenaid mixer and the $259 blender and snatched up two quarter sheet baking pans.  I love these.  They are good for so many things and fit in my Breville oven perfectly.  I grabbed the bag and held on for dear life as I walked to the Jeep so no one would steal my overly expensive items.  Luckily my Jeep didn't get towed, so the croissant display must have worked.

That's it folks, $100 sitting on the counter.  I probably already have 50 cookbooks at home, but none say Instant Pot.  Maybe I can get one or two recipes from each book.  One is Mexican Instant Pot, so                 that should be fun.

At this point, I'm very sorry I purchased those pastries, because now I have to eat them.  Hopefully I never have to go back to Deep In The Heart.  It's way too high priced for my beer budget.  BUT WAIT ........

On the way home, I stopped in at T J Maxx for some bath towels.  MUCH more in my price line.  What should my eyes behold but those SAME MELAMINE PLATES!!  You're not going to believe this ... you could get FOUR dinner plates and FOUR bread plates ... ALL FOR $19.99.  I'm not kidding.  Shocking it was ... downright shocking!!  Here's last year's picture.

I left the store with my $6.00 bath towels.  No plates were hurt in this transaction, in spite of my overwhelming desire to smash them on the floor!!   Hmmmm, I AM having company next month.  Maybe just ONE set of dishes.

I Think I'm There

I have finally arrived.  Some time in the last year or so, I got old.  I seem to require much more sleep, although the puppies don't let that happen.  Add to that the trains that saunter by nightly and I think I'm heading towards NAPS.  Yup ... that age old solution for old age.

In the meantime, I've occasionally gotten the grouchies.  Like yesterday when I discovered my phone bill had gone up ANOTHER $5.75.  No big deal right?  Except I am sure AT&T is doing everything they possibly can to release me from my unlimited contract.  Let's face it, I probably use up more gigs than six people put together.

I finally checked the statement and discovered my bank was late in making that payment by ONE DAY.  Traveling requires I make all my payments on-line.  That was a late fee.  The grouchies began to collect in my brain.

Nancy Sweetness gets more critters with honey than she does when Nancy The Blonde plays dumb.  I decided to try honey.  I even did it in a CHAT session with them, not the easiest way to communicate.  Amazingly, just like the nut situation, she got her supervisor on line who authorized a credit.

Truthfully, I think they looked at my record of payments over 30 years and decided to give me a break.  Had they not, Nancy the Screaming Banshee would have appeared.

I spent the next three hours being President of the RV Group.  I sent out an email with attached survey (really a link the previous President made up for me) to see how many people could attend the Colorado Rally.  It went to 57 plus people and I got four responses.  

I mentioned a new rally we are working on ... riding Speeders on the Amador Central Railroad line in California.  Sounds like fun to me, as long as they are POWERED.  I can still remember pedaling that railroad mechanical device of pain two miles UPHILL in Oregon (or wherever we were)!!  I have tried to block that out of my mind ever since.

That's probably what brought about my latest pain in the butt.  Literally, my left hip has decided to pay me back.  Maybe it's too much exercise, or maybe it's not enough.  At any rate, I think I'm finally there.  OLD AGE has arrived at my house.  

Most likely it's from sitting too much, so today I'll head out my back yard and across the tracks to see what I can see.  Although the sunsets have been few and far between, they are still magnificent Arizona sunsets.  I don't want to create any bad juju, but there has been no mention or sight of that lovely white stuff that floats from the sky.  So far it's been a perfect Arizona winter!

A Sweet Surprise

I love surprises, although NOT the kind that cause grief, like mud streaming down the sides of your rig right after you washed it, or possibly running out of fuel.  I'm into pleasant surprises, like this shop that quilts all the beautiful pieces of fabric we chop up and reassemble.

I began the day parked outside this building with two quilts ready to be stitched.  Even though it was 9:30 (and the sign said we open at 9:00), alas the door was locked up tight.  Keep in mind it took me 40 minutes to get there.  I called the number and discovered she was on her way.  She must live as far away as I do because it was after 10:00 when she arrived.

The pleasant result is that they are cheaper than my California quilter.  No surprise there, since everything is more expensive in California.

Then I was off to a furniture store looking for a nice SOFT headboard.  With two dogs sleeping on the bed who growl at my slightest movement, there's barely enough room for me without banging my head.  I'll relegate the hardwood headboard to the guest room.  To my surprise, I found exactly what I was looking for.  Pictures to come when it's delivered.

Finally back home, I picked up my mail.  Previously, I debated whether to call Mauna Loa regarding their small 6 ounce jar of nuts, purchased WELL before the pull date.  They were so rancid I could barely eat them.  At $9 a bottle, I was rather irritated.

I gave the gal all the pertinent information, and what to my surprise arrived in the mail yesterday?  Not one but TWO TEN OUNCE bags of nuts for free!  Now THAT'S the kind of surprise I like!!

On the other hand, THIS surprise I could have done without.  There are three humongous pork chops hidden in the bottom of this pot.  They started out in a frying pan, but by the time I added all the onions, mushrooms and can of mushroom soup, it was full to the tippy top.  I covered it and walked away.  

To my SURPRISE it bubbled over covering half the stove, making the biggest mess you ever did see.  I unceremoniously dumped them into this big stock pot and put it on the back burner.  Take THAT pork chops!!  I let them simmer for the next hour while I cleaned up the mess.

SURPRISE!!!  After a total of 90 minutes on the stove, they were as tough as could be.  I knew I should have used my instant pot.  Although camouflaged by mushrooms, here's only ONE chop on my most expensive dinner plates ... remember the melamine from Williams Sonoma that cost $25 each?

Surprise again ... that was WAY too much food.  So lets just add to the misery by having a piece of key lime pie.  Truly, I did not eat a quarter of a pie.  Surprise!  This is a mini springform pan about five inches across.  If you need a quick dessert, this is it.  

One can sweetened condensed milk, 1/3 cup cream, 1 cup cream cheese and 1/2 a cup of lime juice.  Beat the devil out of it for five minutes.  Add in some grated lime peel and pour into a graham cracker crust.  Ta-Da!!  

It really was delicious, but I ate WAY too much food and no surprise, was miserable most of the night.  I still haven't learned that lesson!

I was rewarded with a beautiful sunset, but in the interest of space, I'll post those pictures tomorrow.  Today I'm going for a long walk and hope there are no more surprises in store for me.

Old Dog Learns New Tricks In Tucson

Even at my age, there are things to learn in this world.  Mostly they are good things, because I hate it when I have to learn something the hard way.

I've got WAY too many irons in the fire when it comes to quilting.  I'm still working on this one, which even when sewn together will requires hours of needle pricking while I sew on all the embellishments it requires.  I've definitely learned my lesson.  Do NOT buy anything that has this many pieces.

Here's a close-up.

To add to the confusion in my sewing room, Patty and I took off yesterday for the Quilter's Market to secure that last piece in order to make quilt number 5.  

In the meantime, I'm working on THIS quilt, and TWO more!!

Funny thing, just down the road from the quilt shop is the most fantastic nursery around with an amazing array of chatchkeys to decorate your house and garden.  Heavens to Betsy ... they had orchids!  Believe it or not, Mr. Chance has four or five gorgeous orchids.  I don't have a clue how he keeps them alive, but they flourish.

I just HAVE to try it.  This baby came home with me.  There is a learning curve to proper care, but I got a quick lesson before leaving.  Only fertilize AFTER it has finished blooming, and never cut the stem back to the bottom, like I always used to do, which of course killed it.  Here's hoping this old dog remembers all the tricks he related so I can keep it alive.

Here's a trick I DIDN'T know.  Truly, I'm a top half of the tank person.  How my Jeep's gas gauge got down to zero, I'll never know.  Here's the cool part!!  There's actually a bell that dings when you are low on gas.  Who knew??  Of course it took me awhile to figure out why that darned bell was dinging!  Luckily, it saved me the embarrassment of calling the Chance house when I ran out.  My little Jeep holds 17 gallons!!  Lesson learned.

Here's why that gas was important.  I had just picked up this amazing pizza at Arizona Pizza Company, where I learned another lesson.  ALWAYS remember the word of the day to get your $25 pizza for $20.  This should last me all week!  No cooking!!

In case you were wondering, YES I'm having pizza for breakfast.  This old dog needs extra special treats in order to learn those tricks.  See you tomorrow!!

Just Lounging Around The Lounge

For those new readers joining my blog, I thank you for taking the time to read about my weird adventures in cooking, RVing and all things Bingo.  Here's the scoop on the Bingo Magic Kingdom.  I volunteer at my local Elks Lodge and cashier for Bingo.  It's a strange group of people, so I began calling it the Magic Kingdom.  The King runs the show, the Knights of the Round Table take care of the crowds and I collect the cash with the infernal cash register that hates us all.  Stay tuned for more Bingo adventures.

In the meantime, I am SO proud to announce that during yesterday's rain, not a single streak appeared on the sides of the motorhome.  Even those sections that are the absolute worst stayed perfectly black.  I can't believe how well that Mop N Glo worked.  Of course I still have to clean up around the edges, but IT'S WORKING!!!  YAHOO!!!  Thank you Rita for your suggestion!

Yesterday I went back to the Cummins Repair Shop to finish up the recall on the SCR valve.  It seems the valve installed on hundreds of coaches didn't quite meet the regulations, so they made the manufacturer replace it FOR FREE.

This saga started out in California (where else?) when I got the recall in the mail.  With no dealer close, I opted to check out one in Tucson.  I have to say RWC has the nicest people working for them.  If you need anything in Tucson Cummins related, give them a call.

I took my rig in back in September, but they were behind on replacement parts.  It was ordered and held for me until yesterday.  I arrived at 7:00 am.  Do you know how dark it is at 7:00 am?  Like pitch black!  It was scary driving this small neighborhood when I couldn't see down the side of the rig to determine if I would make the turn!!

Finally at RWC, I relaxed in the lounge.  I was instantly starving.  I forgot breakfast.

Nice lounge, right?  All fabulously comfortable recliners, just for me since no one else appeared the entire time.

My first cup of hot chocolate to keep me awake.

Breakfast.  I finally broke down and paid 75 cents for three bites of chips.

Second cup of hot chocolate.  It was pretty tasty!  They have an espresso machine if coffee is your thing.

Exciting, right?  Well it was when they came in and told me one of the clamps on an exhaust pipe had come loose.  Hmmmm does that explain why my CO2 alarm went off on the way down here??  Possibly.  At any rate, $150 later they had the clamp replaced and taped up.  

Of course I was suspicious of OVERSELLING.  You know how that goes, especially with women drivers.  In this case however I think they were honest.  

Exciting day, yes???  I was bored to tears and must have played 139 games on my phone.  Five hours later, I was back home, making the puppies VERY happy!!

Lucky me, dinner was tacos at the Chance house.  I would definitely hire Miss Patty if she wasn't already a full time cook for Mr. Chance.  And so another day lounging around in beautiful downtown Arizona!!

Painting ... Another "Man" Project

I don't know what got into me.  Truly, if it's a MAN project, I put it off for days, even months.  Painting is one of those things I procrastinate about.

It seems the previous owners did not paint this block fence until after the plants were two feet high.  There was a big section in the middle that had no paint on it since I had removed the snow-killed plants.  Having lost my phone for about an hour, I have no "before" pictures.

I decided it was time to cover just that gray section.  I remembered the owner had shown me a bucket of paint left in the garage for just such an occasion.

I grabbed my cheapest brush and set to painting.  Hmmmm you could tell immediately the older paint had faded.  Maybe I'll do a little more.  Yeah, by the time I got done, I had painted most all of the wall.  You can see where I stopped in the above photo due to foliage, following up by cactus with BIG spikes.  I'm not going there!!

So that was my ten minute project turned into two hours on my knees.  How nice that mother nature decided to test my skills by raining for the next twelve hours.  So far the paint is staying put.

I wrapped up the brush in foil and stuck it in the freezer.  That's an old painter's trick I learned years ago to keep from having to wash the brush every time you use it.  Thaw it out and you're good to go!

It will have to wait however, since early this morning I'm off to the Cummins repair shop to get that SCR valve recall on my rig taken care of.  

It's a shame I didn't get any sleep.  I received a frantic call from the King at the Magic Kingdom (Bingo).  The infernal machine refused to open or conduct business.  I figured it's because there was two new ladies pushing the buttons.  After several minutes of INAPPROPRIATE KEY notices, we were able to figure out the problem.  Someone hit something requiring a Clerk Number, which we do not use.  It was a quick fix.  I'll just sleep at the repair shop!!

Cemetery Material

One thing I love is a really long hot shower in the morning.  It just wakes me up and gets me going.  Sometimes that just doesn't work out as planned.  I turned the faucet on hot, waited a few seconds and jumped in.  YIKES!!!  COLD WATER!!

Last year I turned the water heater down to low, and upon my return, the setting was just fine.  This time, not so much.  Of course the water heater access is outside in the cold morning air where I got stuck twelve times by the bushes that engulfed the door.  So much for my euphoric morning.

Eventually, I trimmed up all those bushes along with most of the back yard.  My gardening secret is to give them just enough water to survive, but not grow.  That seems to keep them mostly in check.

By lunchtime, I had plans for an amazing shrimp taco.  I figured I would duplicate the lovely taste of Mexico.  I probably should have had something like a fry daddy, but substituted avocado oil (it's all I could find in the cabinet) and a pot on the stove.

Not bad, eh???  Boy did they look delicious!!  The breading was actually a little thick, but no matter, they are going to taste AMAZING!!

I put everything together in my flour tortilla.  I probably should have picked up corn tortillas.  The very first bite told the story.  WHOA!!!  There was WAY too much paprika and smoked paprika, even though I only used half of what the recipe called for.  I couldn't even taste the shrimp.  My ego completely deflated, I forced it down, but without the relish and gusto I thought would require eating TWO.

Another fail.  Maybe I'll try it again without the paprika.  Although cemetery material, those shrimp cost too much to throw out.  I removed all the breading and ate just the shrimp for dinner!  Waste not, want not!!!

I spent the afternoon painting (another story) and whipped up the binding for this quilt.  It took me most of the day to finish hand sewing it.  Very cowboy-ish, don't you think?  Actually, it does KIND of fit in with the colors of Mexico!

It took another two hours to unpack this mess of fabric, with a couple of boxes still in the rig.  It seems the closet light doesn't want to stay off.  It's one of those open-the-door it comes on things.  Close the door and it's supposed to go off.  Two boxes of fabric are holding the door so the light will stay off.  Another fixit thing.

Next up, I was back up on the ladder trying to take down the old FMCA holder.  I had no luck whatsoever.  I think the plastic has melted around the screws, because I couldn't get any of four to budge without messing up the screw head.  Yup I messed up the screw heads.  So the brackets stayed in place while I mounted the even cheaper plastic bars to hold my FMCA number.  

I'm not really much for advertising the President thing, but maybe it will spark some interest by new members.  If we don't get some interest, I'm afraid the chapter will end up like the dust in the streets of Tombstone.

And so another day goes by as rain is supposed to fall this morning, testing both my painting skills and my waxing the roof work.  Besides all that, I've decided to paint the inside of the garage.  Won't THAT be fun!!!!