Never Count Your Chickens

 Fall has arrived like a lamb.  Although once in a blue moon she comes in like gang busters, this year Fall took the quiet approach.  It began with a soft rain about 7:00 and continued until about 10.  Darn ... I never did get my gutter leaks sealed.  Hopefully it will dry up this week as Mother Nature tries on her skimpy dress, heating up the countryside to the 90's.  I'm hoping it's her last hurrah.

I have some sad news this morning.  Remember Frank Paredes, our 103 year old Apache Veteran Elk?  He passed away September 29th, 103 years 7 months old.  

What a guy he was ... and the stories he could tell.  He will be telling them up in Heaven now, how he survived Pearl Harbor and barely escaped the Bataan Death March in 1942.  May you Rest In Peace Frank, with lots of Apache Warriors to keep you company.

More cleaning ... more organizing ... but no getting rid of stuff because my bin is full and overflowing.  Be careful where you walk, there are stacks of stuff EVERYWHERE!!  Heavens to Betsy!!  Start purging now folks, because it's a monumental task!!

Sadly the rain stopped, followed by some gorgeous clouds.  Darn ... there went my excuse to sit on the couch and watch South Dakota's Governors Cup Rodeo ... one of the biggest EVER.  If you win first place, you get $25,000, not to mention all the day money that came before.  It sure makes the finals crazy exciting because someone in 18th place can win and jump up to 15th ... just in time for the National Finals (only the top 15 get to go).    South Dakota ... you have an AWESOME Governor!!

Suddenly I was inundated with emails.  Our little Golden Spike RV Group is trying to make a comeback.  We have 11 rigs headed for the Verde Valley Railroad and the Grand Canyon Railroad.  That meant I spent hours talking on the phone about potlucks and such, even though I'm not involved in this rally.  I don't think my back will appreciate driving that far so soon.  I'm glad someone stood up and planned a rally, but the club cannot go forward without officers.  I hope I impressed upon them they must VOLUNTEER!!  I've already done my share.

Still trying not to overdo the dirty jobs around the house and becoming bored to tears, I whipped up another loaf of bread.  I have recipes for dozens of different flavors, but no ingredients.  Buying an entire box of instant milk just to get 3 tablespoons just isn't cost effective.  Isn't she a pretty loaf??

And the inside .... WOW!!  This is wheat bread with a little honey thrown in.  It's interesting to note that bread doesn't like me one little bit.  But THIS bread doesn't bother me at all.  Maybe it's all the preservatives and crazy ingredients they put in it ... and not the gluten as I previously thought.  Oh boy ... nice out-of-the-oven HOT bread smothered in butter!!  

Seriously, with a bread machine, you just dump it all in and it does everything.  Mixes, kneads, rises three times .... you should try it!!  This is not your old fashioned way to make bread.

I finally took the time to cut and sew another binding on a much bigger quilt.  I have to admit, my back didn't last but about 15 minutes before I had to rest.  This sewing stuff requires arms and backs of steel.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED.  At 8:30 I got a text message from my Realtor.  They accepted (in writing) my refusal to replace the pipes.  They cannot add anything to that list, meaning I don't have to fix anything  ... like the patio roof.  All the discussions between us are DONE!!!  

I can't thank you enough for all the prayers .... THEY ARE WORKING!!  So now all I have to do is wait for the lendor's appraisal.  If we get that in a timely manner, it will close escrow October 19th.  Jonathan did a happy dance!!

Cooper barely woke up to my YES resounding throughout the house.  It's time to make up my list of things to shut off ... the gas bill, the water bill, the electric bill.  I'll be making LOTS of phone calls soon.

Have I been thinking how I can spend that money?  OF COURSE!!!  Another smaller house, maybe just an RV lot (much less expensive), a horse trailer, accompanied by a horse of course ... getting rid of old nasty carpet in this house ... the list is endless.  Sadly my penny pinching nature won't let me just blow it!!  Besides ... never count your chickens before they hatch!!!  

It's A Dirty Job

 Growing up the only girl on a big ranch had its downsides.  There was no one to play with, which apparently started my obsession with stuffed animals.  Dolls were not acceptable ... too girly!!  I went for the stuffed cows, bears and critters.  My entire bed was covered with them.  

Eventually they all disappeared, so when I would find something weird, like a life-sized owl puppet, I would buy it.  Anteaters, skunks, opossums ... anything that was not the norm.  I still have a couple here and there, but I was surprised when Jim noticed the big critter sitting on the couch.  

Meet GRIZZ.  I found him while driving around Alaska the summer of 2012.  I seat belted him in to the passenger seat so he could be my navigator.  I've tried to find a home for him on a couple of occasions, but alas ... he now resides on the whorehouse couch and still keeps me company.

Time to get back to work.  With my back not bothering me much at all in the mornings, I took to a dirty job.  Cleaning is not my forte, as you well know.  I'm pretty sure this shelf hasn't been dusted since I got here.  Not that I had any inclination to dust, but both shelves were packed to the gills with cookbooks.  Weird for someone who doesn't cook any more.  

Some people read novels, I read cookbooks.  Or at least I used to when I cooked experimental stuff most every day.  It's crazy that I have this many because 14 years ago I had the stash down to ten.  Look at it now!!

All that work brought about hunger pains for something delicious ... and different.  This is a grilled cheese sandwich with corned beef on homemade bread.  YUM!!  I have to admit, that bread beats anything from the store!!

MORE dirty jobs ensued.  I spent two hours cleaning out the deep recesses of my spare bedroom closet.  It's the perfect dumping ground.  No pictures, since I doubt you want to see piles of comforters and decorator pillows.   I don't know where THAT obsession came from!  Apparently I thought I would change out the "look" every season.  Now it only gets changed if I have company.

I can't believe my back is still feeling happy as a clam.  I got down on the floor to do a couple exercises the Doc gave me.  Boy was THAT a mistake.  When you get close, you can see all the spiders and bugs.  I suppose the spiders are good, because all the bugs were dead under an inch thick layer of dirt.  

No vacuum was going to fix this.  I got a wet rag and came up with my OWN exercises ... wiping down the windowsills and scrubbing the floor, which quite frankly were the same stretching exercises as the Doc had given me.  At least it will look somewhat better when the carpet is replaced.  I've been wanting to do that for the 14 years I've been living here.

I finished up just in time to feel a little sore coming back in that rib.  I thought I might be feeling a little rough around the edges this morning, but surprise ... I'm just fine.  Not that I'm going to go lift any boxes or anything!!

About 2:00 I got a call from my realtor.  FINALLY!!!  Some good news.  Remember the house leveler guy who said there were NO tie downs under the house, causing panic in my realtor and myself?  She wanted to hire an Engineer immediately.  That would have happened anyway, since all lenders require that inspection.

I paid $300 for the guy to come out and see if there were any tie downs.  I even had an estimate of $2000-3000 to have them installed.  Well guess what.  It HAS tie downs and passed inspection with an A+.  Had I known this is what they looked like, I would have known I HAD them.  Woohoo!

Next up ... that request to replace the galvanized water pipes.  Their inspector said the galvanized pipe outside the house was fine and water pressure was perfect.  Later in the report he stated that galvanized pipe should be replaced because water pressure will eventually decrease.  He even said they should BUDGET for it.  

I took that to mean the pipes are just fine NOW.  I'm not going to pay to have them all replaced for something that may or may NOT happen in the future.  

I declined their request.  So now we shall see what happens from here.  I'm on pins and needles.  Waiting goes right along with cleaning ... it's not my strong suit.

The weather guessers have predicted rain today, so I guess I have to go move all that stuff I stacked outside the back door.  Anything waterproof ... stays!!!

Saint Anthony!!

 Good morning sunny California!  It was a gorgeous morning when I looked out the door to see if any black and white friends were lurking in the bushes.  So far so good ... no smells to be smelled!

The morning started out slowly as I cooked breakfast for myself and the kid, Cooper.  He waits with great anticipation for those five pieces of scrambled egg he gets every morning.  After that, I did a few of those exercises I'm supposed to do.  Ouch ... that stretching one feels great until you try to get back up off the floor.  

I spent a good part of the morning finishing up this quilt.  The plan was for it to live next to the antique Chinese cabinet I have, but it doesn't exactly go with the antique western furniture that now resides in that space.  More on that later.

Meet Saint Anthony.  I talk to him a lot.  Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please comer around.  Something's been lost and can't be found.  I can tell you that he's never failed me ... and I'm not even Catholic!  

Remember just last week the fabric that didn't go with the pattern I had?  Well yesterday I said this little mantra about six times ... and what should I find but the rest of the fabric for that quilt.  Uh oh .... where is the pattern?  Saint Anthony and I had another long talk, and there under my sewing machine was THE PATTERN!!   Yay!!  I have a new project!

Instead of sewing however, I tried to put something in the laundry room cupboard, which brought about another frenzy of purging.  I'm pretty sure I don't need 14 cake pans, or this lovely salad bowl.  It's huge, along with only four bowls for serving.  Very cowboy-ish, don't you think?  I'll donate this to someone at the next Bingo meeting.  

That's when I remembered those little slider things you can put under furniture to move it.  I didn't even have to ask Saint Anthony this time.  I knew exactly where they were.  No worries, my back is just fine.  You see when you have loaded and unloaded a truckload of 125 pound hay bales into the barn and stacked it up 5 high, you learn how to use your legs, knees and thighs in particular.  

All the antique furniture is now relaxing in the dining room.  This room is going to get a tile floor (easier to clean) and my longarm will live there since it fits better.  

Yeah, this looks pretty bad, but eventually it will all get sorted out in the wash.  

With the house now looking like a hurricane hit, I decided to relax on the couch.  That didn't last long, as I contemplated how sugar works just as good as Tylenol.  I baked up a batch of peanut butter cookies with white chocolate chips.  Yes they expired three months ago, but still tasted ok, so I stirred them in.  YUM YUM!!

In the meantime, I messed with some phone scammers, one of which turned out to be a Golden Spike RV Group prospect.  Oops!  The good news is, although it looked like we were going down the black hole of extinction, two guys have agreed to put on a rally in Arizona in November.

They were so excited to have ten rigs sign up, when I dropped the bomb on them.  That's wonderful, but the group has to have OFFICERS!!  Someone has to agree to man the Conductor's chair AND plan rallies.   We shall see where it all goes!!  

As for me ..... it's EXERCISE TIME!!!  Which results in Cooper play time, because he thinks ANY time I'm on the floor it's for the BALL GAME!!

Karma Must Be A Female!

 It's been a good week of wonderful cool weather.  I was certainly hoping my back would heal up faster, but apparently I have no choice over the matter.  One last chiropractor appointment resulted in a happy Doc and even MORE exercises.  That back stretch wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  

I headed straight to Walmart for some extended pain reliever.  Everyone told me NOT to get Advil .. it's bad for your liver.  Have you read the label on Tylenol???  If you take more than six in a day, you DIE!!  Or at least you kill your kidneys.  After reading that, I didn't take ANY.

As I drove back in my driveway, I noticed two trucks next door at THE house.  You know, the party house where everyone is under 21 and Mom lets them drink and use drugs.  It was so unsettling, that I walked outside my house and took a picture ... being the nosey neighbor that I am ... to see what the two men were doing.  After all, they are neighbors and these guys might be breaking in.

It's very unusual that I haven't seen or heard anyone since I got back at the end of August.  Not a sole until one night at 8:30 I head a car door slam.  I looked out to see the Mom going in the garage, which was filled to the brim with boxes.  OH YEAH ... they're MOVING!!  Then she left.  

One week later she showed back up with one other person, left them in the house, and again drove off.  What the heck is going on??  The two guys had big buckets and what looked like mops, and were dumping something in the flower beds.  Hmmm ... cleaning up a murder scene?  Okay ... that's too weird ... I called my other neighbor.  

She didn't know either, so she had her son call around.  Karma is DEFINITELY a lady ... because only a lady could come up with something this bad.  No, no one got shot, and yes, I do live in a nice neighborhood ... except for ONE neighbor.  

It was an epic party.  I guess Mom was staying somewhere else for the night.  The kid said he went to sleep, and when he woke up, the entire house had 2-3 inches of water on the floors in every room.  Apparently someone somehow flooded the toilet and the water just kept running.  How could that happen?  So now it has been sitting for an entire month.  Imagine the mold and sheetrock damage, not to mention all her furniture!  The two guys were just now mopping up the last of the water.  Karma .... I never would have imagined that!

The good news is no one has seen or heard from the kid since it happened.  Maybe he got kicked out this time?  And maybe ..... just MAYBE ..... there won't be any more loud drunken high-on-drugs parties.  Karma is my friend!!!

SO ... beyond the exciting neighborhood news, I actually found corned beef at Walmart.  Truly not the best place to buy ANY meat, but it was National Corned Beef Hash day ... and that's right up my alley.  I cooked it in my instant pot to perfection, and fried some up with potatoes and onions.  I could have eaten the entire pan!!

In an effort to do SOMETHING about organizing my rooms, I took on my desk.  This wall has a built in desk that I've never used other than to stack things on.  I cleaned it off completely, then moved everything from my old desk to here.  This is bigger .... how could I have less room??

Do you have a drawer full of cords and you have no idea what they go to?  I think there are over 50 in that drawer and I have absolutely no idea what they go to.  I would throw them away, but I'm sure would realize I needed that ONE.  So much accumulated junk ... it makes me crazy.

By the afternoon I realized I had done too much.  There was no lifting, it's just using my arms makes that torn rib area of my back VERY sore.  It just boggles my mind how much stuff you keep because you MIGHT need it.  I'll be back at it this morning, cleaning out ALL those drawers.  I'm on a mission!!!!!

BINGO!!!!

It was a nice quiet morning and Mr. Cooper and I enjoyed the COOL.  Fall is definitely here.  I almost had to put on a long sleeve shirt and my cozy slippers.  I don't think it even got over 85 degrees, and the expected high for the next few days is 75.  WOOHOO!!!  Pretty soon we will all be complaining about how COLD it is.

I spent the morning on the couch working on the binding of this quilt.  At least it's something that doesn't bother my back.  Rather blinding, these colors, which makes it the perfect donation quilt.  When you first get into making quilts, you are like a moth to a flame.  You are blinded by the pretty bright colors.  Down the road when you start putting it together, you're like WHAT WAS I THINKING!!

At last I called my realtor and told her I wasn't paying for any distribution piping.  I spoke to my plumber who said they have been using this stuff for years and years.  Yes it may cause problems when it's 40-50 years old, but so will anything else you use.  I'm not paying for what MIGHT happen in the future.  She finally agreed my reasons were legit, but I don't have to answer them until Saturday.  I'm going to make them wait.

Next problem ... the tie downs.  That inspection will be on Friday so I will hopefully have a better idea of what THAT is going to cost.  I've come to the conclusion there is never a good reason to buy a house, because at some point you will probably have to sell it ... which I never want to do EVER again!  

I was finally off to Bingo, that game of chance that makes people go crazy!!  It just surprises me every time how rude and belligerent people can be while they sift through all the packets for the "winning" cards, while knowing they are just throwing their money away.  

Lucky for me I had two helpers on this night.  I put one on the infernal machine since she's one of only three people who know how to operate it, and when the second one arrived, I put her counting cards.  I just stood back and watched!!  What a treat, and my back was very thankful!

It was nice to note that bra-money lady was absent, as was the gentleman that causes the most "mouth" problems.  There were at least ten brand new players, all excited about winning so much money!  We don't tell them the odds are in everyone else's favor.  

We DO have to explain how to play every single card and what it takes to win.  They all think it's your normal kids one-line bingo game, but instead you have to get maybe a line with a flag, meaning four numbers together attached to a line.  It's not your normal bingo.  That all takes time, which means the other players have to stand in line a little longer.  Oh the inconvenience!!

There was only one disagreement about whose chair that was.  It was like there was only one chair left in musical chairs.  I stay far far away.  

Here's those infamous red tickets that people clamor over.  Everyone gets ONE, and if they call your number, you get 10 pull tabs where you might win $5.00.  Mostly you win nothing, or maybe 25 cents.  The dollar sitting there?  That's what they throw at you as they run by picking up ONE MORE CARD as the next game is being called.  

On the good side, there are benefits to working Bingo.  Just look at this baby!!!  Oh my goodness, my helper Jackie made a trip to Costco for this little slice of heaven.  I took two bites and completely forgot where I was.  Apple, caramel, spice cake ... what's not to love?

It was so good that when I found out the kitchen crew had the same thing, I got one to bring home.  As volunteers, we get a free dinner that Bingo pays for.  On this night the bill was the highest ever because everyone got one of these muffins.  I think we all know where I'm going today!!

There was one scary moment, which turned into a sad moment in the end.  I sit close to an outside door that remains locked.  I even check on it to be sure.  A guy started knocking on the glass door.  No one does that, so I called one of the Knights over.  It turned out he was probably on drugs and not quite all there.  He kept saying this was a church and he needed to talk to someone.  

The Knight tried to tell him to walk across the way to the police department ... that they would have all the crisis line phone numbers so he could contact someone.  He kept saying no, he wanted a church.  I think he was looking for the homeless shelter that used to be down the street.  They had moved and he couldn't find them.  We offered him food, but he said no and finally walked away.  It's so sad when someone is on drugs and you can't help them.  Not a great way to end the night.

But end it did.  I was a few dollars off on the infernal machine, but I let it slide right off my shoulders.  I've had enough STRESS this week.  The good news ... my back is getting better and better.  Maybe I'll even be able to lift some of those quilts stacked in the RV.  

But FIRST ... it's off to Costco!!!!!

Homeless and Hungry .....

I'm late ... I'm late!!  Here's a shocker ... I actually slept until 5:30 this morning.  That is very unusual for me.  I'm guessing it's because I can barely feel my back at all now, unless I do some crazy like try to look over my shoulder.  Oh I still know it's there, but EEEHAWWW it's gettin better a little faster now.

It probably has something to do with keeping the blood flow going from trying to sell a house from afar.  There's nothing like hearing the ding of emails coming through that you can't open because they are such big files.  Especially when it comes to my terrible Verizon internet.  

It reminds me of this picture every time.  I found it buried in a closet yesterday.  I think it might be more relaxing to be homeless than to try and SELL a house.  Especially a manufactured house.  The buyers inspection report even noted the signs of rat poop by the patio.  I kid you not.  

I've related the story behind this picture before, but for those new readers ... the local College Photography Instructor became a good friend.  He asked for "models" so he could shoot a homeless person.  Not ONE of his usual girls volunteered.  I laughed because I knew they just didn't want to be seen looking like this.

I said okay ... laid in the dirt at this abandoned building ... and was pretty surprised when the Po-Po showed up.  Yessirree ... someone called the police to say some guy was taking pictures and bothering an obviously drunk homeless lady.  We got a big laugh out of it, but the officer wasn't amused.  He made us leave.  The photographer framed the picture and presented it to me in class.  What fun!!

Anyhoo ... back to "bad back" life.  Cooper was pretty mad, sulking on the couch because I wouldn't let him outside to smell the smells.  This is a job for the Skunk Hunter.  It was time to see if I could find any evidence of an interloper.

Oh yeah ... right off the bat I found this hole under the fence.  It could be a kitty, though they usually go OVER the fence, or maybe even a fox, but I'm betting on a black and white kitty.  I plugged it up before continuing around the back forty.

Since I haven't heard any grunts or calls from next door for awhile, I decided to climb up on the fence and see what I could see.  Yup ... this is THE neighbor.  They raised goats for 4-H projects for the 14 years I've been here.  That's not allowed, but they did it anyway.  How could I complain ... it's farm animals for kids.  Goats make very little noise, though they did head butt themselves through the fence now and again.

It was a goat ghost town.  One ready to go up in flames and burn the neighborhood down.  No goats, just lots of tall dry grass.  That's weird.  Oh well .. none of my business.

Thankfully there were no new stinky black and white friends for Cooper to play with, and no more holes to be found.  Back inside, after taking yet another load of stuff from the RV, I remembered this picture.  This is one of the pack trips we took into Sequoia National Park. I'm the small one in the middle.  That's my dad just to the right in the picture.  If we weren't riding for work, we were riding for pleasure.  

Exciting day, no???  I spent the next four hours on the computer going over house paperwork.  I received some weird emails from an unknown person, so I called to confirm who it was.  The 44 page files were so big, I had to open it on my phone, save it, then send it back to myself in order to open it on my computer.  

In the end, the buyers home inspection report recommends replacing all of the galvanized water pipes.  Are you kidding me?  It was originally installed and inspected, so it's good as far as I'm concerned.  There's no way I'm paying for a plumber to go under the house and replace all the water lines.  That would cost a fortune!!  

Then, just for more fun and aggravation, I tried to get my Arizona Walmart prescription refilled at a California Walmart.  Just when I thought I was in like Flynn, the doctor's office called the renewal into the Arizona store.  WAIT ... it took four more phone calls to get it right.  

Internet technology is great ... until it isn't.  

Discouraged and hungry, I actually waited an entire 50 minutes to cook this beautiful chicken pot pie in the oven.  Did you miss it?  It was National Chicken Pot Pie Day ... I think two days ago.  Yesterday was National Eat Roadkill Day.  I passed on that one.  I ate all my frustrations away and it was YUMMY!!

You know what today is .... BINGO!!!  Only THIS time I'm going to highjack someone to run the infernal machine so I can just sit back and relax.  Wish me luck!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Okay my friends ..... you know exactly what the title of this blog means!!  I got up late this morning, having been up at 2:00 am.  Nothing can wake you up faster than your puppy throwing up on the bed.  Ugh!!  That was a lovely mess to clean up. 

So I was up a little later than normal.  First thing, Cooper has to go outside.  If you've ever dealt with what I had to deal with in the past, you barely open the door ... then take a BIG breath in through your nose.  The nose KNOWS!

NOOOOOOOOOOO ..... there it was ... that lovely odor of eau-de-stinky.  Big sigh!!!  Don't tell me they are back!!!!!  This is one of the videos from two years ago.  There's nothing I like seeing LESS than something black and white in my back yard.

And so the big safari hunt is ON!!  I'll be setting the game cameras up tonight.  The trap will be sure to follow.

As to yesterday, it was an absolutely perfect weather day.  Sunny yet cool for most of it.  Long, because there's nothing worse than a nice day for unloading and organizing when you can't unload or organize.  I did take my wagon out to the rig once ......

And filled it up with not too heavy stuff.  I found all the quilts that were waiting for binding.  Most of the boxes were too heavy to lift.  

I know all that binding material is around here somewhere, but sadly, it's stuffed into one of the big boxes that weigh in at around 20 pounds each.  I guess it's going to stay there for a while longer.  I'm not one to baby my back, but I don't want to set off anything that would put me back two or three weeks.

I finally pulled out this little box and emptied it on the table.  WOOHOO ... ONE BOX DOWN!!  You know how you just throw stuff in when you're in a hurry and don't pay attention to what you're doing?  This box was full of the next quilt, all cut out and ready to sew.  Trouble is, there's no pattern in the box.  

I looked around for every pattern I could find.  Nothing rings a bell and nothing matches the pieces I cut.  I can't even remember WHAT it was going to be.  RATS!!!  I must have wasted two hours trying to figure it out and NOTHING.  Getting old sucks!!!  

Never give up ... maybe it will come to me in the middle of the night.  In the meantime, I cut out this binding, set up my ironing board in the bathroom (no room here) and started sewing ... you know, just to see if my back could take it.  Amazingly, my back felt better after the first 30 minutes.  

Now I'm on the couch hand sewing.  As long as I don't twist or turn, I barely feel that rib.  YAY I'm on the mend!!!  Even the exercises don't hurt.  Bill was right ... those exercises are helping!

And so this morning I will don my skunk hunting apparel ... shorts and cowboy boots ... and head out to the back forty to see what I can see.  It's possible that they are just at the neighbor's property.  I'm praying for small miracles!!

Hurricane Nancy

 That's me ... Hurricane Nancy ... usually running around the house at breakneck speed like a whirlwind, organizing and getting stuff done.  That makes this back nonsense SO hard to deal with.  I can DO lots of stuff, I just can't LIFT anything.  Well good grief ... EVERYTHING involves lifting!!

I started out by trying to be smart about it.  If I take my Cowgirl wagon from Janesville Wisconsin Wagon Company and fill it up, it pulls like it weighs two pounds due to the Janesville ball bearings.  It's actually pretty amazing how cool this wagon is.

The problem was that everything was too heavy to lift up and carry out of the rig.  Those big quilts weigh a ton ... too much to handle.  I ended up with just a few things.  The rig is still full.

On to the next project!  This is a great cabinet to display quilts, but it takes up WAY too much space.  They made furniture to last back in the old days ... and this thing, although made to show off your best china ... weighs so much it takes three men and two boys to move it.  It's so heavy, the top cabinet comes off the bottom to make it easier.

Even if my back was in excellent shape, I couldn't move it, but I COULD get everything out of it.  It's going on the sale block so I have more room.

Little by little, I moved all of that stuff to this cabinet.  Yup it's pretty much a mess too and will require more organizing when I get the time.  It's all fabric!  I don't know what the secret is to keeping your stash in order, but this is not it.  Maybe I'll get more of those colored boxes and at least hide it all!!  Yes, those are all completely full to the brim.

I got nowhere with this.  I think maybe there are some small quilts hidden in those boxes that I could be binding, but the boxes are too heavy to lift.  Nancy is not a dummy ... she's not going through that pain again!!  And so I left the sewing room in just as big of a mess as when I started.  

The hurricane abated.  The good news is there were no aftereffects. This morning I can't barely feel that rib.  I have to say though ... there's not much better than taking a huge breath and not feeling anything!  Woohoo!!

To keep from starting up more wind and rain, ending in a whirling dervish, I did haul this beauty to my kitchen on my little wagon.  It's really not heavy at all.  It's a Cuisinart bread machine.  Back on the ranch, we never had store bought anything, and especially bread, mostly because there was no STORE.  Everything was made by hand.  Biscuits, bread, pies, jams and jellies and all our canned foods like tomatoes, green beans, okra (yes we ate okra), peaches and pears.  Everything you can imagine.

Yessirree ... I used to mix that bread by hand and knead it for ten minutes before letting it rise, then drop it into bread pans to rise again and bake it up.  When we moved to this part of California, there was actually a store where you could BUY bread.  We hated it because it just didn't taste the same.

Along came bread machines.  I've had a couple over the years, but this one is one of the best I've used. You just dump everything in, adjust a couple of setting and hit the START button.  It mixes, kneads, rises two or three times, stops so you can add seeds or nuts, then bakes it to perfection.  

It happens I was out of bread for Jonathan and myself.  It's not even made with bread flour ... just plain old flour, yeast, water, butter and salt.  No additives or preservatives.  Seems to me that's a little healthier.  Considering the price of bread right now, this will save a lot of money too.  You can make any kind of bread too, including rye, wheat, Russian, French ... anything you want.

Let me just say there is nothing in the world that smells as good as baking bread.  It took me back to the old ranch kitchen!!  

As for the canned goods, we canned pickles, tomatoes, okra, green beans ... every kind of vegetable you can imagine ... and amazingly, none of us died.  Nowadays they tell you NEVER to can tomatoes.  It's too dangerous.  Are you kidding me?  Our outside freezer house was lined with shelves full of canned goods ... canned as in glass mason jars.  No one ever got sick from eating any of it.

We also made all our own jams and jellies from whatever we could find.  If we drove by someone's house and their tree hung over the fence, we gathered everything that fell on the ground, including pomegranates, peaches, apricots, pears and every kind of berry there was.  Homemade jam on homemade toast ... YUM YUM!!

I'll be off to the store this morning once I get my act together, to pick up some bread flour and a little more yeast.  Maybe some sunflower seeds and molasses too.  Since Hurricane Nancy fizzled out, I'll have to be happy sitting on the couch while the bread kneads away!!

The Magic Of Homemade PIE!!

 It's hard to believe that September is almost gone and we're heading into Halloween.  When cleaning out my garage, I put a lot of old Halloween decorations on the curb with a big FREE sign.  They were gone in a flash.  I can't wait to drive around the neighborhood and find out where they ended up.  I'm sure the bats and ghosties will be showing up soon!!

With my back feeling so much better ... no knife stabbing me in the back ... Cooper and I went out for a little ball action.  It's not quite as easy as before since he doesn't see all that well any more, which means he catches the ball maybe half the time.  He sure did love seeing Auntie Cyndae because she could do the doggy yoga and get his ball out from under the couch!

Cyndae and I did a little more organizing, and now there's plenty of room for the big table.  I just need two men and a boy to move it.  This way (when I heal up a bit more) I can slide the table outside and sell it.  I've heard too many bad stories of what happens after you let strangers into your house.

Even better ... as we organized things I wanted to get rid of, about half of it made it's way into Cyndae's car.  She went home with a really nice bicycle (I still have two) and boxes of household stuff that will be perfect for her granddaughters apartment in another year.  Woohoo ... more stuff gone!

Here's some of my Halloween decorations.  I think maybe I'll have to keep these and set them on my porch.  Maybe I can find some battery operated candles.  I wouldn't want to burn the place down!!

Once Cyndae's car was full to the brim, I headed off to the chiropractor to get taped up yet again.  She said it's doing GREAT and gave me even MORE exercises to do.  I was thinking the soreness would go away soon, but I was wrong.  Actually I can do just about anything but lift, which of course is what I need to do, right?

Lunchtime came around and Cyndae was meeting two friends that she is letting use her Hawaii time share.  We met with them to answer any questions they might have.  Just look at this food!!!  This is Jantz Bakery and Cafe, owned and operated by a fabulous Mennonite family.  They certainly don't scrimp on their portions.  

As with everything else nowadays, it's expensive.  I was pretty surprised to see this meal was $17.00, yet the place was packed.  You have to wait for a seat at this restaurant because the food is always excellent.  Too bad it's beyond my meager paycheck to eat here often.

The bakery ..... oh my Great Aunt Lou!!!  Everything is homemade, from pies like this, to muffins and pastries that make your mouth water.  Chocolate, peanut butter, peach, apple ... I think they had ten different pies in the case.  I'm sure the magic of homemade pies would fix up my back in no time.  The bad news was the price ... $26-28 each.  My $12.00 Marie Callendars will have to suffice.

Back home, I finally heard from my Realtor.  I was required to sign several more documents due to mistakes by the OTHER realtor.  That brought about a frenzy of printing paperwork.  It's so easy to BUY a house and so hard to SELL one.  

That was it for the day!!  I was a good girl and sat on the couch for the rest of the day.  Enough is enough ... it's time to get back to doing SOMETHING!!  I just can't sit like that ... it's making me crazy.

I'm determined to organize my sewing room today so I can get back to quilting.  At least I can do a little fabric cutting and use my sewing machine since there's no lifting involved.  I also drug out my little wagon so I can finally unpack the RV.  That should be fun, right???

And then .... AND THEN .... someone really needs to climb up top of the RV and check out the roof!!!  I can hear everyone saying NOOOOOOO!!  Maybe that will wait until next week!