When In Doubt, Buy A BIG Hammer!

About those skunks ..... when in doubt, just buy a BIG hammer!  You know I'm all about the tools.  Lift up the back seat of my truck and it's full to the brim.  I would get a tool box, but there's no place to put it where it won't get stolen.

My trip to Home Depot was fruitful this time with the purchase of a lovely 3# hammer.  Not to hit them in the head with (which would result in an odiferous run for my life) but to install the following items.

I found these quite some time ago, but was waiting until I got here to order them.  You use the hammer to pound them down into the ground next to the fence to keep critters, possibly even your dogs, from digging underneath.  The tines are 10" long ... plenty long enough for a skunk who barely digs holes 6" deep.

Of course when you need 100 feet but can only afford 65, there will be some gaps, but at least I won't have every chain link panel on the property lined up against the fence.  It's an easy alternative, if it works. I guess we shall see.

This beautiful rug came home with me too.  It turned out to be an ouch project.  If I put anything in the bed of my truck, it's a good idea to tie it down.  The roads around here are pretty rough, not to mention my driving skills.  I like sonic speed when it comes to getting from place to place.

I grabbed the rope I always keep in the back, only to be stuck with cactus spines from tying up the big one that fell over in Arizona.  OUCH!!  A lot of good that did, since my tying skills aren't the best either.  It came completely loose by the time I got home, but at least the rug was still there.  Cooper totally appreciates not slipping and sliding on the floor.  Me too since that has caused him back problems requiring ME to sleep on the floor with him!!

With all that done and feeling pretty good that my black and white family members won't be coming to visit any more, I began to finish up this quilt.  It's a pretty epic one for me.  Every one of those little spikey things you see means a strip was sewed on and cut to square it up.  That's a lot of cutting and sewing for this queen sized quilt.  It was all done except for the borders.

It was going along quite smoothly, measuring, measuring and measuring again before cutting.  There's nothing worse than making a mistake and running out of material.  Except maybe ...................

when you sew the top piece on backwards.  

I don't know why I didn't see it.  I was just so happy to get it done, I kept on sewing to the end.  The big mistake ... and I mean BIG ... was noticed when I was hanging it on the wall.  It took my breath away.  The fix required over an hour of taking out that entire seam stitch by stitch, turning it around and resewing the entire piece.  Finally ..... it's done!!  Yes it still has to be quilted, but the top is done.  This one is a keeper!!  

I love it so much, I'm thinking I will make another one in lighter colors.  You don't want to buy this one, as just the materials and quilting (if I had it quilted) would total $426.00.  No wonder those quilts you see for sale are so expensive.  The ones I sell will be MUCH less, since much of the fabric I acquire is on sale, plus it's just a hobby for me ... something to do.  I have to say though, I'm pretty proud of this one.  It's called the Pineapple quilt.

This gave me a good chuckle since I'm really not a coffee drinker.  I go for the fake coffee ... all sugar and cream with a little coffee flavor added.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day Weekend.  I'm still digging through the ten pounds of mail I picked up and resetting the game camera.  It seems something isn't working quite right.  And of course I have seven drip irrigation lines to repair.  I'm deducting $50 from his check this month.