ALL HAIL WALMART!!!

Oooohweeeee!!  It was a heat stroke inducing 107 yesterday, which hopefully means more monsoon rains are in the forecast.  It's the heat that causes the air movement that brings rain.  At least I sure HOPE that's true!  I've never taken so many showers in one day before, and I'm quickly running out of clothes, so laundry is almost a daily chore.

That's why at 7:00 in the morning, I was walking in the door to Walmart.  I only needed bird seed, but since I was there, I thought I might as well get some groceries.  I'm not a Walmart shopper at all, but this store is HUGE and mostly clean and tidy.  

Here's what I found ... 18 eggs for $2.78 ($5.00 Safeway), bag of frozen veggies $.98,  Reese's peanut butter chips $2.57 ($5.00 Safeway) ... and the list goes on.  I like Safeway's quality a little better, but for these prices, it's definitely worth the drive.  I'll be doing a lot of shopping there from now on!

Too bad these guys can't shop there.  They are looking a little thin around the edges.  These two young guys have been hanging out together this summer.  

I can now tell who has been at the water station without even looking at the camera.  The water level tells the tale.  This morning it was down quite a bit.  Prego Mom stopped by at about 3:00 in the morning.  Just look at those ears!!

Speaking of water ... here's the sprinkler story.  The plumber removed the gas pipe water line and showed me the inside was almost completely closed up with rust.  That brought about the problem.  Apparently chunks of rust have broken off and gone into the sprinkler valves, because they STILL do not work ... after all that repair work!  I'm laughing, because what else can I do!

SO ... Nancy now gets to completely disassemble all four valves and try to clean them out.  When I turned them on, at least I did hear water going INTO the valves, but it's plugging them up too much to work.  I'm praying for rain (don't tell anyone) to keep the back yard greenery green.  I can do that now since my roof doesn't leak!!!  But first ... I have to go find parts with which to make repairs.  I doubt I can just clean them out, but I will try.

Just a reminder ... cactus can reach out and touch you any time it feels like it, even in your back yard.

Once the groceries were put away and I was caught up with all things brain game playing, I started on the next quilt.  It surprises me just how far off the colors are with my phone camera, but maybe the owner of this one will recognize it.  

This is the Mom quilt that I finished sewing and am now going to quilt.  I did the three previous ones for practice before attempting this one.  It's a queen size, so about the biggest I can do on my frame.  I prayed from start to finish.  Please don't let the machine break ... please don't let the thread break ... please let the pattern fit perfectly ... please don't run out of thread ... please let the batting be long enough ... you name it and I was praying for it!!

My prayers were answered and I did a happy dance around the living room.  I had no problems whatsoever and it quilted out perfectly.  That's a big PHEW!!!  Now to get it trimmed up and binding sewn on.  I hope she likes it!!  It has the Cooper seal of approval!!

Since it took a whopping five hours to do that quilt, I was pretty tired of standing on my feet.  Awhile back I had written down one of those internet "dump" recipes and thought I might try it out.  Dump everything in a bowl (chicken, soup mix, veggies, spices), stir it up, then cut up and mix in Pillsbury biscuits.  

Surely this CAN'T be good.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.  Yikes ... that sounds like a fire alarm in the making!!  Okay, I'll do it!!  Wasn't I surprised that it came out pretty darn tasty.  Not healthy by any means, but chicken pot pie in a baking dish.  Of course I'll have to replace Cooper's chicken that I stole to make it.  Yup ... I'll make it again.

The forecast is for 95 degrees and evening rain for the next five days.  Maybe it will get cool enough I can tackle those sprinkler valves, after I haul water down to the water station for the "kids".  

I'll post ceiling water pictures tomorrow.  My main problem is I don't want to paint the entire ceiling because it's too big ... and it's the original paint!!  So matching may be a problem.

There you have it ... another day in the Arizona desert!