And The Light Bulb Goes ON!!!

Woohoo!!  NO rain in this little rural area in California on this day.   Spring is thinking about it, but won't commit.  If I remember right, Spring arrives about May, so we've got a few months to go.  The best part about all the rain is that I don't have to hire anyone to wash my solar panels.  They are so shiny you could EAT off them!!

That of course meant I had to do more unloading.   I used to carry all of those fabric boxes in by hand.  At long last I got smart and got out my wagon from Janesville Ball Bearing Company in Janesville Wisconsin.

You probably wouldn't think twice about stopping here on your RV trip, but if you are in the area, definitely stop in and say hello.  The history is fascinating and if you need any amazing wooden toys for your grandkids ... this is the place.  Absolutely everything is all made by hand.

In 1893 the company was Janesville Carriage Works, making custom made wagons for bakeries ... and even hearses.  In 1917 it switched over to making cars.  The building is on the National Register of Historic places and a fun place to visit.  They still have all of the original equipment inside ... all hand operated ... that they used to make those cars and wagons.  Now they use it to make these special toys.

We called ahead to make an appointment and were lucky enough to meet the three people that make all the toys and wagons.  What a GREAT group of people who do this to save the art and the equipment.  They are wildly popular with fishing boats ... to haul gear back and forth along the docks.

Of course I bought one.  They put COWGIRL on the back for me and shipped it about a month later.  You can load this thing up to the brim and it turns on a dime.  No matter how heavy, it's pulls like it's light as a feather.  If you are ever in Wisconsin, be sure to stop in and say hello.  It made short work of unloading all those boxes.

I don't unload everything by the way.  Just enough clothes for the current temperature, the fridge and freezer, along with Jonathan and Cooper's munchies.  

By then it was time for lunch because ..... well ..... I sat on the couch WAY too long on this morning.  I've shown you this recipe before ... Italian Tortellini soup with tomatoes and basil.  The store was out of basil, so I asked the nice man putting broccoli on the shelf.  He just got some in he said, and went clear to the back to get it.  There's nothing like the smell of fresh basil!!

This recipe takes an entire 15 minutes from start to finish in an instant pot.  You actually only cook it for one minute.  Look up Pressure Luck Instant Pot Recipes if you are interested.

The perfect lunch for a cold day, served in my best china.

Empowered by a little good food, I finally headed to the sewing room and began the big organization.  Not really, but I DID fill an entire bag with fabric for Cindy and Ray in order to make a little room for more goodies.  My mother saved aluminum foil ... I save fabric, in spite of the fact that I know I will NEVER use it because the pieces are too small.  It's a good thing they are right up Cindy's alley.

Then I switched over to this quilt top that I'm sure Deb will recognize.  It took some doing, but I was able to cut and stitch the backing to fit the quilt top.  It's all ready for quilting when I return to Tucson.

I then waded through several bags of fabric pieces, not finding any clue as to what they would be.  It's basically the same fabric as the quilt, so I took the two big already-sewn squares and added to it, making two pillow shams.  It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it's the hands that stitched the blocks together that count, so hopefully it will look great on the quilt.  

Did you know that every single pillow is actually a different size??  I measured three.  There was no pattern here, I just winged it, so I hope it fits.

Time flies when you're taking out stitching because that piece turned out too short, and soon it was dinnertime.  Dark is coming, so I went out to reprogram the light control once again.  It said OFF.  YES!!!!!  Last time I looked, it said on ... though it wasn't.

And then the light bulbs went ON!!!  I did a happy dance in front of the garage.  YAY!!  The lights are working ... at least for the time being.  I checked early this morning and they were STILL on!!  I'm so excited!!  Now we'll wait and see if they turn off at the appointed time.  Thank you Bill for the reading of those teeny tiny letters ... I probably hit the On/Off button accidentally!!  Sometimes it takes a man .........

This morning I have the lovely job of bill paying, after my cup of phony coffee.  Maybe I'll have TWO cups ... then of course I have to play with Cooper.  Maybe I'll get to it by noon!!