Talent Galore

Well ..... it's raining in Yuma Arizona.  Actually, it poured last night waking me up several times.  Who would have thought?  Today the winds will pick up pretty good too.  I'm hoping the desert gets this all out of its system because it's time for me to head on off to Tucson.

Luckily, it held off while Ray and I played shuffleboard.  Not together, mind you ... everyone draws a chip with a color and a number on it.  The number is the lane, the color tells you what end you are on and who plays first.  I know NOTHING about shuffleboard.

Luckily the men I played next to, who were my opponents, explained everything including the nuances of strategy.  They even told me how to knock them off the scoring areas, knowing full well I would miss completely.  But I DIDN'T miss ... some times anyway.  There's great satisfaction in knocking the pro's yellow puck out of the scoring blocks.

Of course they won in the end, with something like 55-7.  The first game score was something like 28-20, so I did a little better with my partner at the far end.  One gentleman cracked me up saying everyone hated to play against him because he was a dead-eyed player and out to BEAT you!  He made me laugh.   We finished just as the rain started to fall.

Because we had an event to attend with the quilts Cindy and Ray make, we had a late lunch from Panda Express.  Gosh I love their food.  Add to this the crab Rangoons Cindy made, along with huge pork rolls from the air fryer, and I was stuffed to the gills.  I mean REALLY full!!  

Then it was time to head out to their church where they were having a big gathering showcasing the talents of this amazing group of people.  I was very surprised to see things like this handmade card.  There were many more ... too many to take a picture of.  

As we walked around the room, I just kept saying WOW!!  More groups should do this kind of get together.  This is a kind of cross stitch, done on checkered fabric, something I've never seen before.

This was familiar ... handmade decorative gourds.  They were so well done they looked like leather.

Got rocks?  This gentleman buys rocks that look just like plain old rocks, then uses a rock saw to cut them in half.  Once polished, they look like these amazing pieces of art.  Who knew?  He did not fill in the centers, that's how they are when cut open.

It took us quite a while to get Cindy and Ray's quilts displayed.  Cindy sews the tops and Ray quilts them on his longarm.  The patterns are amazingly intricate, some times taking three or four days to complete.

Here's another one I haven't seen before.  These are called Diamond Dot pictures.  It's a sticky canvas covered with teeny tiny plastic dots ... one at a time!!  She did a demonstration for us.  This is something I may just try!!  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It's just amazing to see in person.

The men weren't short of talent either.  Their woodworking skills are amazing.  Not to be wasteful, he took all the tiny scraps and made key chains at the top of the table.  He carves all of the canes by hand and only used power tools to sand them for finishing.

Finally, this one is just weird.  Who would have thought about making something like this?  Those two hammers and the hatchet handle are made from plastic grocery bags.  He stuffs them in a can and places it in a toaster oven ... NOT above 350 degrees so there are no fumes.  As it melts, he keeps adding them until it's the size he wants.  Same goes for the handle, though I don't remember what he said he uses for the shape.

Once done and cool, he sands the pieces down, drills out a hole in the head, then heats up the hole and the handle before squishing them together.  This thing is so hard, you could use it like a regular steel hammer.  

Having gone around and checked out all the crafts, too many to show here, we had snacks galore before heading back home.  I waddled into my rig WAY too full of food.  In no time at all, the rains began again.  I love the sound of rain on the roof when I'm awake ... NOT when I'm trying to sleep.  It brings on waves of weird dreams which had me up at 4:00 this morning.  

Maybe I'll get in a few winks this afternoon.  It's packing up day as Tucson is calling.  I'm praying the winds die down for my exit.  It's been a GREAT week with wonderful friends.  I'm sad to be leaving, but no worries ... I'll be back!!!