ROAD TRIP!!

 Mornings are getting a little cooler, allowing more patio-coffee time.  It was ONLY 102 yesterday!!  This week we should get all the way down to 95!!!  Better get out my coats!!

I decided a road trip was in order after being cooped up in the house for way too long.  I had high hopes that the highway would be almost completed.  Those were dashed as I followed this truck down Hwy 99.  I swear he had less than 12" on each side.  No wonder there are so many accidents here.  The speed limit is 55 mph.  Even the trucker slowed down to 40!!

In no time ... well it actually took me 45 minutes ... I arrived.  If ever I wanted something nice to wear, this was the store.  I admit I was pretty surprised when I walked in to find the makeup section took up 1/4 of the building, and shoes the next quarter.  No worries I thought ... there seems to be a LOT of clothes, they've just moved them around.

What I discovered was dozens and dozens of racks so close together I had to hold my purse with both hands just to get between them.  Gee ... what happened to fashion in the last year???

This entire store has turned into a bad version of Walmart.  There was nothing but discounted sales rack clothing.  Not a single rack of the nice things of the past.  Every section looked like this ... with coats, dresses, sweatshirts and skirts hanging in the same space, not to mention all the ones on the floor.  What a big disappointment.  There was nothing "new".  It was digging through each and every rack or go home.

I did take a second look at these.  They would go nicely with that yellow dress, right?  

What was I thinking?  I was actually looking for summer clothes in the summer.  There was nothing but winter wear and dresses.  Honestly, I didn't look long, because digging through sales racks is just not my thing.  I did find this jacket, but obviously it's not going to get worn in 105 degree weather.

Here's the price tag.  No one said Macy's was cheap, but I am.  I only paid $40.  It may just be time to get back to sewing clothes from patterns.  Even Ross and Marshalls is better kept and has nicer clothes.  What a letdown!!

THIS was the shock of the day.  I admit, I'm VERY angry about all this!  Diesel is $7.50 a gallon now.  This is my cheap station at $6.91.  

So I decided to check up on the state of the state.  Here's what I found.  

2019 - gas $3.13     2020 - gas $3.42    2021 - gas $3.65     2022 - gas $6.89

This is the highest inflation rate since 1982 ... 40 YEARS!!!  We are at 8.6% now and rising although how they figure that when the numbers look like this is beyond me.  I know, it's just complete coincidence that it got out of control when you know who was elected.  

Food is up 18-25%, electricity up 75%, used cars 22.7%.  The average price for a new car ... $47,000.

So I'm curious, what's built back better?  Seems to me we are going right down the proverbial tubes.

Here's me with one of those latest and greatest animal prints.  I would probably have picked something else, but it seems that's the "style" of the year.  Every kind of leopard print imaginable was hanging from the racks.  At least this one fit and it was on sale.  Heck, everything in the store was on sale since they had no new merchandise!!

I did make a couple of other stops and had a day-ending experience at Habit Burger I'll relate tomorrow.  Maybe I should click on those emails I'm getting and claim my new Craftsman lawnmower, my Yeti cooler and a new Makita Drill.  If any of them were real, it would make my day!!!

See you tomorrow!!!

SAVE THAT SEAT!!!!!

 Oh what a beautiful morn-ing ..... oh what a beautiful day!!!  Someone sang that last night and I can't get it out of my head.  I sat on the cool patio and listened to the birds singing and the peacocks screamed HELP ... HELP!!!  Sometimes it makes you stop and listen, just to be sure it isn't a person screaming.

The morning was lovely as I enjoyed the cool air conditioning until 7:30.  Today I'll check out my usage chart and see what's been happening to my wallet.  I know it has more than doubled, but I have to admit I feel better after talking to my neighbor.  

She said their average bill was $650 a month until they got solar.  Same size house, built at the same time with the same materials and no swimming pool.  Can you imagine what their bill would be if they had a pool just like everyone else on this street?  YIKES!!!  No wonder PG&E sends me a note every month saying I'm doing better than the average house in my area.  She said her bill has doubled since purchasing their house.  Yup ... me too!

I did a little more sewing and watched some bull riding from Cortez Colorado before beginning the going-out-of-the-house routine.  

I should have just stayed on the couch.  See this little face?  Poor sweet baby!  I discovered quite by accident that he got sick again ... on the bedroom carpet ... when I stepped in it (with my new pair of socks) on my way to the kitchen.  I have no words!!!  Nothing can describe THAT lovely experience.  

The look on his face says it all.  I think it's the treats, although they are made in the USA with few ingredients.  Maybe it's just his age and like me, his stomach is rebelling.  Trouble is there are three bags and I don't know which one is the culprit.  Out they all go .. I'll be cooking for him again today.  Twenty minutes later he was just fine, playing the ball game.  

The second worse thing is forgetting about where it was and stepping in the same spot .... barefoot.  

Having finally cleaned up the lovely mess, I was off to the Magic Castle for some BINGO!!  Just for kicks, I met up with the bookkeeper and we went over the PG&E bill for the lodge.  You cannot believe the wad of paperwork to go through.  There were probably 30 abbreviations with lots of dollars attached, with no description of what it actually was.  Just $$$$$$.  She had called PG&E and even THEY could not explain to her what it all was.  That's pretty crazy!

At the appointed time, I headed down to set up my little corner, only to meet the latest problem head on.  Many people have become members, which allows them in the door any time they want.  They have been coming in two hours early and putting stuff on the tables, saving not one, but sometimes THREE tables of seats for their friends who are NOT members.  

What we discovered was the peasants weren't really saving those seats for another PERSON, they just didn't want anyone sitting around them, messing up their JUJU.  I understand, but we have a limited number of tables ... we need that space.  

And so the new rule ..... NO SAVING SEATS!  Three of us went in early to check, only to find two tables saved.  The fight was on!!!  That of course brought on the next problem to address.  Once you admonish a bingo player, they come up with five complaints about someone else.  It's peasant nature!!  

That's when we discovered some members were signing in their friends as guests, which as a Lodge member, you can do ... for everything except Bingo!  If you are not a member you cannot come in early.  A simple rule, but rules are made to be broken.  There was lots of grumbling and the pitchforks came out as three people left the room to wait behind the barrier.  Membership applications were passed out.  

I tell you, these people will do anything to get their "special, extraordinary" chair.  Truly, it's never the same table, nor the same chair because they are all taken down and stored for the next week.  I guess it's location, location, location!!!

The infernal machine gave me a bit of trouble, not wanting to balance that last three dollars which was all dimes, nickels and pennies covered with sticky brown stuff from piggy banks.  Next week (payday) I will get nothing but one hundred dollar bills and we will be slammed with players.  That's how we roll at Tuesday night Bingo!!!

Good People

 The stars have aligned and all is right on my patio this morning, thanks to Mr. Dave Burdick who checked Amazon for my coffee.  I've looked over and over, only to find it for $43.00 a can.  In fact, there's one for sale on Walmart for just that price!!  Obviously I'm not paying THAT!!

Low and behold ... there it was as I clicked the BUY IT NOW icon.  Yahoo I'm back in business!!  It's hard to give up something you've been drinking for 35 years!!

Cooper bugged me on the patio until I finally agreed to take him for a walk.  As you can see, he's always 20 feet ahead pulling on the leash.  He's a very fast walker/trotter.  

As per your instructions, I turned on the AC early in the morning.  It did cool the house down much faster than my little fan in the door, but sadly it didn't last long.  By noon it was cactus weather.  These 106 degree days are killing me.  I almost caved and turned the AC off, but decided I would go on a diet instead, trading food for COOL!!!  Maybe this will be the diet that actually works!!  I'm not holding my breath!!

My morning couch-snuggle-with-the-kid time was spent finishing up the binding on this quilt.  Another one finally bites the dust.  This is one of my favorites.  One of these days I'm hoping to find some border material and make this pattern again.

I'm also happy to say the ten minute sprinkler system is working really well.  The front yard is staying green while getting a little water every day versus a lot of water four days a week ... and it runs for four hours less per week.  That's a WIN in my book.  Gee, it only took me 13 years to figure that out!!

With this much warm going on, the kid was panting regularly in the afternoon, so out came the clippers.  It's not his favorite pastime, but he's a good boy and just stood there while I massacred his fur.  In return, he gets lots of hugs and a tasty treat!!

With the other quilts completed, I started on this new one.  This jelly roll (a roll of 2-1/2 inch wide strips) came from many moons ago when this fabric first came out.  I hate it.  It seems they always put the prettiest fabric around the outside so you'll buy it, filling the inside with everything they can't get rid of.  Smart marketing technique.

As you can see, there is lots of squaring up to be done ... I mean MASSIVE amounts!! ... but the end result is pretty nice.  You really can't see how ugly each piece is because there are so many small pieces.  As you can tell, it goes pretty fast too.  Always good in my book so I don't get bored and throw it in the corner.

That's it ... absolutely nothing exciting happened on this day, so Cooper and I will be out and about soon, walking the streets in the countryside.  Oh ... there was one more thing.  Our County Fair was just held, bringing up this story that I think came from last year.  

As much as I complain about the area, I can't complain about the people.  Most of them anyway.  I don't live in this town, but it's not far away.  It just goes to show you there are good people in the world, even in this little known-for-nothing town.

And so another day passes and it's time for BINGO!!!!!  Oh wait ... what did I find on the internet yesterday?  A new antique store!  Those are always good for a laugh since most of what's in them is currently being used in my house!!  I think a visit is in order.

Bulls and Naked Birds

 Oh yeah .... nice cool morning sitting on the patio throwing the ball for Cooper while I sip my coffee.  I'm not sure how long my private stash of the phony stuff will last (they don't make it any more), so I'm appreciating it all I can now.  Cooper is better ... I think it was that dark meat chicken.  Just like me, things that never bothered him before have become a pain in the patuski in our old age.

I did my downward dog where-is-the-ball morning exercises before turning on the TV.  It's National Junior High Rodeo Finals, meaning kids from age 13-15 riding bulls, although most were steers.  How could I miss that?  I admit, I laughed a lot.  Not at the kids mind you, but at the cattle they used.

Bareback riding is done on a steer that kind of bucks while it's running across the arena.  Saddle bronc riding is done with the saddle cinched on tight, or at least it's supposed to be.  Saddles aren't built for cattle and several just rolled over underneath the steer with the kids hanging on for dear life.  This steer was a cutie and barely bucked until the kid fell off, then it went after him like a bull.  He was a cranky bugger.  

On the ranch you learned real quick which cows and which bulls were of the cranky-chase-you kind.  You haven't lived until a bull has crashed into you and your horse.  After that, I gave them a wide berth and just sent in the dogs to get them moving.  Our cattle dogs Champ and Blue were worth their weight in gold.

Some of the kids took pretty good tumbles, but what made me laugh most was at least four of the steers came out, took one jump and just laid down.  They were having none of this stuff strapped to their back.

This "bull" jumped twice, stopped to stare at the crowd and just fell over.  He was fine (as was the kid), this just wasn't his cup of tea.  I have to say the poor Rodeo Clowns / pick-up men ran their tails off, chasing after the steers trying to get the kids down since no horses were in the arena.  Some of these critters weren't too happy about the whole enchilada and the "clowns" got run over more than once.  In the end, everyone was just fine.  Yessirree ... these kids were 14 year olds!!

Having been revitalized by all the laughter, Cooper and I wandered around outside to see if any of my flowers were still alive.  This one is a happy camper.  I have five of them, but the other four are only half this size.  

Then I walked by this.  The coleus are doing extremely well and all three are still alive.  I can't say as much for the gazanias Cyndae brought down.  Even if they look dead, keep watering them she said.  I'm almost positive these died a terrible death a week ago, but I'm still watering them.  

Back inside, it was cleanup day for Jonathan.  More and more I'm finding feathers all over the floor.  It's that time of year, along with the heat, that causes his feathers to fall out.  He's really gorgeous when you see all his plumage, but it's only visible when he shows his muscles.  That is spreading his wings out over his head.  He's got these feathers along with some gorgeous blue and yellow, thus he's called a yellowhead parrot.

I don't think I've ever showed you his baby pictures.  Not the cutest kid on the block.  When I say I raised him from an egg, it is a correct statement.  I think he was maybe two weeks old here.  I kept him in a dark box, just like the hole-in-the-tree nest he would have in the wild.  Heating pads underneath kept them all warm and cozy.

They require warm food every two hours, so yes, I was up all night long feeding ten cockatiels and three parrots at one time, not to mention parakeets too numerous to count.  With the help of a veterinarian from San Diego and Davis Veterinary School, I developed a hand feeding formula for parrots that they later used in their facilities.  I'm proud to say I never lost a baby.

That dry mixture was mixed with warm water and fed with those tiny touristy collector spoons you buy as mementos.  They need to bite the spoon to help harden their beaks.  In six months, they turn into this!!

I went on vacation once ... and only once ... taking them all with me in plywood boxes with VENOMOUS SNAKES written all over the outside.  I didn't want anyone opening a box and messing with the babies.  It worked like a charm.  People gave me a wide berth, especially at the gas station where I had to go inside and ask for warm water.  The hotel I stayed at went into quite the tizzy when the cleaning lady found them in the closet.  Lucky for me, I was not kicked out, but the room didn't get cleaned again until after I left.

Forty six, going on forty seven years later, he's still kicking and screaming DISCO!!!  It truly amazes me he's still alive, although they do live to be in the 70-year range.

I'm taking your advice and turning the AC on early this morning, getting it really cool, then I'll see how long it runs to keep it there.  Any way you look at it, a week of 103+ days will be a boon for PG&E.

SEW ... SOLAR IT IS!

 Okay Mother Nature ..... CEASE AND DESIST!!  Although it's a comfortable 65 outside this morning on the patio, it was a MOTHER yesterday.  That 105 degree day sent my air conditioner into a tizzy.  Even though I have my thermostat set at 85 degrees in the house, it turned on at 11:00 when it hit 100 and ran all day.  

I tried turning it off once while my fan blasted me with convection oven breezes, but I just couldn't stand it.  Cooper was panting with his tongue hanging out, so I turned it back down to 81 degrees.  This morning's check revealed that my usage tripled yesterday.  I should have been looking into solar six months ago!!

Here's the latest I've learned.  Those little micro inverters work really well when they work, but they seem to have a high replacement rate.  Besides that, they are much more expensive according to the bids I've been getting.  The other news is that solar is exempt from property tax, or so they tell me. 

It's all about your usage of course, so I finally bit the bullet and began to delve into the numbers.  What about when I'm gone someone asked.  It appears I have used much more in the summer when I'm not here to turn the sprinklers off that the gardeners turn on.  That 30 minutes per station adds up to my pump running 6 hours a day.  YIKES!!  I've told them not to touch the control, I've even locked it up tight.  They took a screwdriver to it and turned the water up yet again.  Maybe I can add a mouse trap to the door.

The winter usage is low, offsetting the high summer.  Turns out that averages out to my normal usage when I'm here.  I know, more than you OR I ever wanted to know!  So now I'm counting kilowatt hours like a pro!!  

I suppose I could NOT get solar and just pay for diesel ....... did I say that???

The Reno Rodeo Finals were on yesterday, so I did spend a bit of time on the couch.  Not one to sit and do nothing because it seems to activate the appetite of an elephant, I worked on the binding for this quilt until it was done.  This is another of those get-rid-of-the-scraps quilts.  

It's not my favorite, but someone will love it.  Anything I don't want to keep, I donate to the local Quilt Guild that gives high school graduating foster kids quilts for their dorm room when they sign up for college.  This one will be a good color for the boys!!

And just like that ... I started on the next quilt after carrying Cooper outside.  Too bad I was too late.  He threw up on the carpet before I could whisk him out the door.  Poor baby ... and of course the concrete is screaming hot on his feeties, so I carried him back in.  I was then stuck on the couch for an hour consoling him before it was let's play the ball game.  It's like having a five year old for thirteen years!!

Anyway, I've asked Ray and Cindy at least three times for this pattern.  Come to find out it was in one of the books I shared with them.  DUH!!!  One thing that organizing my quilt projects did was uncover the fabric I knew would be perfect for this pattern.  No purchase necessary ... I have everything required.  

With 105 degrees on the horizon, I doubt I'll be going anywhere today, although it would probably be cheaper to drive to town and sit in Panera Restaurant all day long, leaving my thermostat set at 85 or higher.  

So ... it will be sewing and hopefully solar sooner than later!!!

Oh Yeah ... SUPER GLUE!!

 Woohoo ... where's my fan when I need it!!  It was a lovely 103 yesterday with just the slightest breeze, making for some slow cooking without the tasty dinner at the end.  It's predicted to be 105 today, 106 tomorrow.  Geeze Louise!!!  

As to yesterday's blog, we will never all agree.  I have to say however, that I've worked very hard all my life, saving every dime I could and working my way into jobs that would provide a good retirement.  I will never apologize for my lifestyle.  I've more than earned the right to blow my money on fabric or anything else I want at this age.  I'm not on welfare, and I didn't get any of the millions of dollars most people got on the covid giveaway.  

I probably pay more taxes every year than ten people in this town put together, so that alone gives me the right to question the government and how their policies are affecting the nation.  Enough said.

Here's my tip of the day.  If you want to get rid of that musty smell in your RV or your home when it's locked up tight to keep the cool air inside, just burn some peanut butter cookies.  It works like a charm.  There's nothing like coming back home to the lovely smell of burnt sugar!!

Not really wanting to head outside in the heat, I spent a couple of hours conditioning my show saddle.  Leather is like your skin ... well, it IS skin actually ... and it needs moisture.  Enter a big old bottle of Lexol, applied using my best pastry brush.  There's no other way to get down in the cracks and crevices. 

I think she looks pretty nice.  No telling where she will end up when I'm riding horses in Heaven.  They tell me you can't take it with you.  Too bad ... she's my favorite.

I did make one quick trip to Walmart to pick up some super glue.  I took y'all's advice about trying to fix the broken frame on my glasses.  If you were a fly on the wall, you would have been laughing hysterically.  I followed directions for opening the tube, and quickly discovered it was glued to my fingers.  What??

I tried to apply it to the frame, only to find my thumb stuck to my palm.  YIKES!!  The tube apparently had a hole in the bottom and was leaking.  I grabbed two paper towels, only to find those instantly stuck to my now glue covered fingers.  What a mess!!!

I actually had to get a box cutter to cut my thumb loose ... it's okay, that skin will grow back ... before throwing the whole thing in the trash, or at least I tried to.  The paper towels were stuck permanently to my fingers.  I did finally get a tiny drop on the frame, and it seems to be holding.  Thank you for the suggestion.

My plan is to go to Costco for glasses, but they too are scheduled out for three months.  The sweet gal put me on her cancellation list and can you believe it?  She called me last night for an appointment this morning.  Except I already have an appointment for a haircut, which also takes a month or more to acquire.  I guess I'll be wearing these broken frames for awhile.  At least they don't hurt my eyes!!

As I mentioned before, there's more solar information.  Who knew this would get so complicated.  It's kind of like buying a car.  There are so many models out there, along with those car salesmen trying to convince you their model is the very best.  I'll post more of this tomorrow.

I'm off to find my horseshoe rasp to remove some of this glue and paper towels still stuck to my hands.  At least now I can see while I try and remove it!!

Trying To Calm The Rant

 Boy that was a HOT one!!  We're getting closer to the summers of old when it was 113 in the shade at the ranch.  We were up every morning at 4:00 to get the work done so we could swelter in the house with our tiny water cooler.  The only thing that helped was the high ceilings and what little ice we could throw into the bottom of the cooler.  Unlike nowadays, that was PRE-air conditioning.  

It's not going to get better.  It's predicted to hit 105 each and every day for FIVE days!  Oh my aching wallet.  To get my mind off the heat, I headed out to the fabric shop to get two small pieces of fabric, in order to use up eight pieces of scraps.  

That's when I came across this truck.  I'm guessing maybe it was stolen and it ran out of gas so they destroyed it.  Either that or someone blasted the driver with two shotgun shells, along with one in the back just for good measure.  Gas is expensive.  Even the criminals can't afford it!

Which brings me to my rant of the day!!  I hope all you nice folks who voted for Biden have learned the error or your ways.  This is not diesel, it's the cheapest gas within 30 miles for my Jeep Liberty.  WHY OH WHY are we not using our OWN oil resources to make fuel?  Anyone remember how much it was before?  $2.89 a gallon?  Well it has now MORE than doubled in price.  

This is the highest it's ever been in my entire lifetime!!  Yeah, you had to put up with a few mean tweets because Trump wasn't politically correct.  So you think it's politically correct for Biden to say "sorry your family member dropped dead"??  It's on video.

If I go to Arizona mid July, it's going to cost me $375 in diesel fuel ... and another $375 to return!  All the while, we are NOT helping the people of countries that produce fuel oil, we are helping their GOVERNMENTS become richer and more powerful so they can create (or make more) nuclear weapons. I'm not even going to mention the kickbacks.

The old saying "move to Arizona" doesn't work any more either because it's more than doubled there too!!  Quartzsite who has always had the cheapest gas is now $5.89 a gallon.

I hope people remember this when it's time to vote again!!!!!  I would get down off my soapbox, but to be honest, I'm just too darn mad.  Even I was surprised to hear the really really bad words that came out of my mouth (some I've never even HEARD before) when I saw what I had to pay!!!  

Fast food restaurants are also off my go-to list.  I was starving when I happened to drive right by a Taco Bell.  I'm rather partial to their Crunchwraps (I've no idea why), so I pulled in at 12:00 to find not a sole in line.  Now I know why.  This and the smallest of small Pepsi cost me $8.67.  I really should have become something other than an accountant.  

Maybe a theatre attendant.  Oh wait, I did that already.  I was an usher in our local theater for $25.00 a week in order to earn money to buy my first car.  We got to eat all the popcorn we wanted, which wasn't all that much because it came in a huge stale bag stashed behind the stage.  I went from ushering people to their seats, to working the snack bar, to the coveted job of selling tickets.  

I digress ... so I hit the fabric shop and got what I needed before heading out another few miles to a craft store for these cheap plastic containers.  I got a total discount of 75%.  I should have bought more.  My biggest sewing room problem is losing parts and pieces, most importantly the patterns.  I end up with fabric and no idea what I was going to do with it.

I spent the next four hours trying to calm down the rant.  Sorting through fabric thinking how I have WAY TOO MUCH, gets my mind off fuel prices.  I went through all the stashes, found every piece of fabric for a project and placed it in the box with the pattern.  It's called being organized, something that would behoove me to become.

I feel much better now.  When I'm ready for the next project, I just grab a box and it's all there.  Once that box is empty, I'll go through the huge shelf that I'm NOT going to show you, to fill it up with the next project.  I will admit there are 15 quilts in that stack of boxes.  Some have two quilt projects inside.  I am NOT BUYING ANY MORE FABRIC!!!!

That big red bag is one of three Christmas presents for quilter Cindy.  As I went through the stacks, I pulled out everything I knew I would never use.  She makes amazing quilts with scraps.

At long last the screaming in my head about fuel prices stopped as I sat down to watch the latest edition of Reno Rodeo, eating chocolate chip cookies without the cookie part.  It's too hot to bake anything.  Maybe this morning I'll whip some up if I have any chips left.

Fabric Hoarders!

 Every morning as I sit on the patio, I'm reminded of how fascinating the weather can be.  While June used to be big time sunny summer hot, things change over time, you know, like it's been changing for a million years.  I suppose you just never notice this stuff until you're old.  This morning clouds fill the sky and lightning is flashing to the East.  It's a warm 73 to boot, with Jupiter and Venus clearly visible.  

How do I know that?  I have an app of course ... called Skyview Lite.  Point it to the sky and it tells you everything that's there.  Check it out ... it's pretty cool!!

Hi, my name is Nancy and I'm a fabric hoarder.  As I mentioned yesterday, quilters are weird.  They will do just about anything for a pretty piece of fabric. Just ask Ray and Cindy.  Of course living in a big city helps, but they hit up yard sales and store closings, ending up with yards and yards of gorgeous fabric for pittance.  It amazes me how little they have paid for fabric.  I'll bet Cindy has over 100 yards (maybe more) at any one time.

I don't have any yard sales to check out, but the occasional store goes out of business.  This one was in Arizona.  Buy the entire bolt of fabric and get it for 75% off.  You can't beat that with a stick.  Patty and I went down there with no real intention of buying a lot.  That lasted two steps in the door.

I purchased close to 50 yards, this beautiful piece being one of them.  Here's the thing ... you always buy at least 7 yards if it's for backing.  This looked very "cowboy" to me ... perfect, right?  It's been sitting on the shelf for probably five years now, like every other piece I bought there.  I haven't used a single one.

Why?  Because I haven't made a quilt yet that would look even halfway decent with this fabric.  I've even drug several 7 yard pieces down to the fabric store, trying to find something that would match.  When I finished this quilt top, I went digging for backing.  Wasn't I shocked to find this fabric WORKS!!!  Yay!!  The very first piece that I am actually USING!!!  Gee ... only ten more huge pieces of fabric to make quilts for!!!  We're hoarders I tell you!!!

Of course Cindy is much better at using up her fabric.  It's an amazing gift she has for matching up colors.

And then it happened ... DISASTER!!  About the time I discovered this piece of fabric and began sewing the binding on another quilt, I broke the frame of my glasses.  The lens plopped on the floor.  Little did I know what a marathon this would become .... trying to get new glasses.

It seems they won't fill an old prescription.  It's just fine, but they refuse since it's two yeas old.  My regular eye doc that I've been seeing since I was eight years old, went out of business, with no notice.  I asked around, to find only TWO in the entire town.  

No problem ... I called for an appointment.  "We are scheduling appointments for September".  Are you kidding me??  I'm in dire need of glasses and I can't be seen until September?  I could probably drive all the way to Mexico, but the fuel would kill me.

I scrounged around the house and finally found an old pair maybe five years old.  They are terrible and make my eyes hurt, but I have nothing else.  Costco and Walmart are my next options.  Nope ... no appointments available.  Instead, I have to call every single day and ask for cancellations.  Sometimes it doesn't pay to live in a small town.

More solar news coming up ... still learning more than I ever EVER wanted to!!  My brain is tired and needs a rest.  Maybe a trip to a new quilt store I found only 60 miles away would help!!!!

SAVE THAT SEAT!!!

And BAM!!!  Just like that the weather Gods turned up the heat!  It's a hot 75 degrees this morning as I sip my coffee.  I'm thinking I just might switch to morning Pepsi!!  No, there won't be any iced coffee for me.  My Mom used to drink that because they were too poor to pour out the morning leftovers full of coffee grounds.  

One day when I was probably four years old, I climbed up on her lap and asked for a drink, thinking it was soda.  Instead of warning me, she just let me take a big swig.  Yup ... dark black coffee, which is probably why I hated that taste the rest of my life!!  That's why I drink sugary sweet phony coffee.

I took your advice to heart and turned on the AC early today to cool the house down.  The meter is spinning like a dog chasing his tail.  It makes me cringe, I suppose because we WERE poor when I was a kid, even though we lived on the ranch.  How poor?  My Mom saved every piece of aluminum foil, washed it and used it again and again until it fell apart.  That's probably where all my cheapness came from!!

Anyway .... it's BINGO TIME!!!  SAVE THAT SEAT!!!

The peasants will do anything to save their seats, including waving those pitchforks high in the air.  They have no qualms about breaking the rules and will deny it no matter what.  When I arrived at 3:00, half the tables had paper bags and dobbers covering every seat.  IT'S NOT ALLOWED!!

Members are allowed to enter the building any time they want, so they are the culprits.  Not that they have friends that will sit there ... they just don't want anyone sitting AROUND them!!  That's right ... stake your claim and protect your property!!!  

To make it even worse, members have been sneaking NON-members into the building, signing them in as guests and having THEM save seats too!!  It's rampant ... this rule breaking!!!  Of course it would help if the King stopped the practice, but he's a nice guy and doesn't want to offend anyone.   The problem arises when we have so many people show up, there is no place to sit.

Such was the case last night.  That brings out the dragons breathing fire as peasants late to the festivities fight for a chair.  At last one of the Round Table Knights announced that that practice had to stop.  NO SAVING SEATS!!!  There was a loud round of applause quickly followed by moans and groans!!

THAT brought about round after round of complaints.  "She isn't a member"!!  "SHE brought in two friends that aren't members"!!!  YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME MY RED TICKET!!!!!  Yes I did, you dropped it and this nice lady turned it in.  I love the look on their faces when that happens!!

Surprisingly, the night went by rather quickly.  There was only one other fight over food ... you stole my hotdog with the ever popular macaroni salad.  They were OUT of salad by then, and so the temper tantrum continued with loud shouts and bad words being bandied about!  These times do try us!!

The infernal machine gave me some trouble, probably didn't get his macaroni salad either, as I counted up fifteen dollars of nickels and dimes from broken piggy banks.  They have baggies full of sticky dirty change.  I refuse to take pennies.  

Add to that the heat which definitely comes into play.  This year I have warned those women who insist on keeping their money in their bra.  NO BOOB MONEY WHEN IT'S HOT!!!  CARRY A PURSE!!!  I'm making up a sign for next week since it's going to be 104 every day for the next seven days!!!

And that brings me to this nice piece of fabric.  Quilters are a different breed, probably akin to bingo players.  They will kill for fabric on sale.  

That's what this was ... a DEAL that I had to have.  I'll tell the rest of the story tomorrow.  I'm yawning in my coffee from the late Bingo night.  It's nap time .........

The Find Of The Year!!

 I thought Cooper was a barky dog, but the little guy across the way from my patio puts him to shame.  Every morning this kid is barking like crazy as I drink my morning coffee.  Sounds like a chihuahua!!

I was up a little late again, having too many late nights watching the Reno Rodeo.  The horses and bulls they have nowadays are far superior to days of old and buck like nothing I've ever seen.  It makes me laugh at some of the gyrations and contortions the horses do as I recall getting bucked off on several occasions.  

For many years I helped run the Practice Pen for cutting at the Horseman's Association.  It was hot during the summer, so I had a cooler with ice, along with a cash box full of change.  No use making two trips to the truck.  

I grabbed both and headed across the arena.  Showby was antsy to be done and jigged a little, making the change box rattle.  I saw those ears and knew I was in trouble, so I very quietly and gingerly dropped the ice chest off the back.  BAD IDEA!!

He took to bucking instantly.  I had one hand on the reins and one on the change box which was now making a huge racket, making him buck even more.  I landed on the ground, but my foot stayed in the stirrup.  

I was drug for maybe 25 feet when my foot came loose.  I was still holding the change box.  That taught me a very good lesson ... how to walk on crutches for the next two weeks.

I did actually get out and about early yesterday ... Monday is a good grocery day.  That's when I found my Find of the Year!!!  This is smoky Ranch Sauce.  They have several, but I do love that smoky chipotle flavor without the heat.  This stuff is the bomb!!!!

I'll be having tacos for the next six months!  It's supposed to be great on hamburgers too, but it made my day when I tasted these!!

As for the solar ... here's where I am on that.  I'm a single income accountant who is stingy with her money, which lets me purchase things I would like to have.  Having sold the motorhome and the big house payment that went along with it, I've been stashing that money in a mad fund.  Add to that what the government is forcing me to withdraw from an IRA account I started when I was 21 years old, and I have enough to pay for solar.  

I have no children and only one nephew that I have seen once in 20 years.  They tell me you can't take it with you, so I might as well spend every dime of it and enjoy it while I can.  I would prefer to buy horses, but they are MUCH more expensive than solar panels.  The horse would be around $5,000, with hay costing $3,000 for just one year.  Add to that $1,300 a year for horseshoeing, not to mention grain and vet bills and that solar money would be gone in a flash.

Right now I use about 640 kWh per month.  That will double if I run the air conditioning.  Oh it would be so nice to be cool and not have to pay double what I'm already shucking out.  Add to that the 20% increase in charges PGE will add after December.  My bill will go up to $300-350 a month.  That's $4,200 a year for electricity.  SO ... that's why I would like to get solar put in here, in spite of the cost.

As to the house, it's very well insulated with no leaking of air.  If I turn on the AC fan, I better check all the inside doors in the house to make sure they are either wide open or shut.  Otherwise, the air intake will suck them shut and scare the heck out of Cooper and I.  

The rest of the day I worked on this quilt.  Most all of the brown fabric looks like tooled leather.  It's just scraps I've picked up here and there.  I'm trying to use up some of the fabric I have and not buy any more.  

It's BINGO DAY yet again, and I spent another late night watching the rodeo, so I'll try to sneak in a nap before heading out to visit the peasants at the Castle.  Hopefully they leave their pitchforks at home.

Feeding Dads and Granddads!!

OH BOY was that an early morning.  It's one thing to get up at 4:00 and wander around the house relaxing with a cup of coffee.  It's completely another animal to get ready and head out to the Elks Lodge at 5:00 am!!!  I may be getting too old for this!!!

This isn't the sun that was up ... it was the MOON as I walked through the door, my mind racing at what needed to be done first.  Here's the thing ... the ER person in charge of all these gatherings, is the newest person on the block every single year.  They don't know what's needed in the way of food, people or prep!  Instead of appointing someone with experience, they want to do it themselves.  I get that.

Here's my line of ovens that I would OH SO love to have.  I switched on the power and set the temps for only two things ... biscuits and sausage.  

Here's the problem on this day .... they didn't want to do all that work, so they shortened the menu almost in half.  What happens when you do that?  People eat MORE of what you put out on the table.  What happens when they do THAT?  You run out of everything, even though you have fewer people eating.  It's the law of nature ... and the Elks Lodge.

Eight items were pared down to four with pancakes being number one.  People don't load up on pancakes, they load up on sausage, which we promptly ran out of after the first 45 minutes.  Eggs were next, causing a frenzy of cracking pallets of eggs and using the mixer you see here to make scrambled eggs.  Those had to be cooked in frying pans on the stove by two people not used to doing that sort of thing.

Next to run out was the gravy, causing another panic since I really didn't have any extra sausage to put IN the gravy for flavor.  I finally relented with the promise that none of the kitchen crew would eat ANY sausage, leaving it for the crowd!  This was my breakfast ... half a biscuit and gravy.  By the time I was done, the runner had been to Smart and Final for the second time to pick up more groceries.

I was very lucky this time to only get one small burn on my arm.  That can't be said for the guy who grabbed a pan sitting on the table that had just come out of the oven.  I always yell HOT PAN, but he wasn't listening.  The screaming was a good indication of a bad burn.

Being the neat freak I am, this just made me crazy.  I cleaned up enough batter to make six pancakes and put down dishes to catch the excess.  As you can see, even that didn't work so well.  

The next thing I know, I look around (with about 45 minutes of serving time left) to find almost everyone had abandoned ship.  WHAT?  You actually left all this mess for US to clean up?  I've got to tell you, I wasn't all too happy about that.  Four of us ended up packaging up leftover food for the Homeless Shelter in town and cleaning up the entire place.  Yes, I had a LOT to say about THAT!!!

Did you know that dried pancake batter is like concrete??  Nothing would remove it from the counter.  I finally had to lay out wet towels for a full 30 minutes, trying to soften it up.

In the end, we served about 250 happy Dads, Kids and Moms who didn't have to cook, with not one complaint.    

Once home, I was exhausted ... more than usual for some reason.  Maybe because I was working on five hours sleep.  Anyway, I was excitedly greeted at the door by Mr. Cooper and we crashed on the couch for an hour.

Back to the land of the living, I worked on the first four rows of this lap quilt before ensconcing myself in front of the TV to watch the Reno Rodeo.  

That of course kept me up WAY too late yet again because the bull riding is always last.  I think this will be a two-cup-o-joe morning!!

Thank you all for the solar comments.  I'll get into that a little more tomorrow.  For now, I'll be on the couch!!