A Menagerie of Stuff

 Well HELLO there!!!  Here's a little leftover bull from the day before.  I can tell you by this bulls manner, his gait, his ears and his eyes that he's NOT looking for a fight.  He's just looking for the gate to get OUT.  The big Pendleton Rodeo is sadly over and the unexpected winners are celebrating as they hit the road for the next one.

At least the weather around here is good for travel ... finally!!  One minute there was a 60% forecast for rain, and the next minute that completely disappeared.  High of 70 degrees today.  WOOHOO!!

Finishing up the quilt show ... here's a Cindy quilt.  Cindy Warner makes these from teeny tiny pieces.  From far away, you can't even tell what it is.

Get a little closer and you say ... oh ... those are tiny pieces.

Get even CLOSER and you say GOOD GRIEF!!  How did they do that?  Look at all those tiny points that are absolutely PERFECT!  These little pieces are only 1/2 inch wide.  Can you imagine???  SO MANY SEAMS to match!!  This is a great quilt to use up your scraps.  I admit, anything that small goes in the trash in my sewing room.

And then there was this magnificent paper piecing quilt.  I tried one once ... it came out perfect.  So I bought three more patterns and the fabric for two of them.  But when I tried to cut and sew them, I could not for the life of me figure out the pattern directions.  Four years and they are still sitting on the shelf.  Maybe if I'm really lucky, I can meet the lady who made this and she can show me how.

The beautiful clouds that showed up last night, disappeared into the horizon this morning.  I was really looking forward to a little rain.

First thing was making up some phony coffee.  Frances send a recipe to me that I tried once, but did not have the orange flavoring.  It's interesting to note that this stuff is made up of very little coffee, lots of powdered milk and tons of sugar.  I guess that never dawned on me since it's not that sweet when you drink it.

I mixed it half and half with some of the real stuff and gave it a try.  Ooooohhhh WAY too much sugar and half the orange flavoring would probably work just fine.  

At any rate, it zinged me enough to get my butt outside for a run with Mr. Cooper.  He loves nothing more than smelling the smells.  I put him back in the house after half a mile and headed back out for a two mile run.  Yeah, I'm a little sore this morning, but it's a good sore, unlike the pain of sitting on the couch too much.

The rest of the day was rather lazy.  I watched more rodeo, tried to clean up all the stuff I keep moving from place to place in the kitchen and low and behold ... I actually got to watch TWO football games!  The 49'ers lost and the Raiders won!!  

Dinner wasn't what I expected.  I forgot to take anything out of the freezer, so I grabbed a couple of eggs for an omelet.  I didn't really have omelet material, but I made do with a few leftovers.  What's the yucky green stuff you ask?

It was a taste tester!!  I found this in the store a while back.  It's for tacos, but I thought what the heck!  Let's try it on these eggs since there was nothing else to give them flavor.  

THIS stuff is a keeper, though I'm probably one of the few who likes cilantro.  It's a little hard to get out of the bottle ... I had to squeeze with both hands ... but boy was it tasty.  Not hot at all, just flavorful.  I'll be using this on LOTS of things.

And so ended a lovely day as my fridge starting flashing lights and talking to me.  Apparently the water filter needs replacing.  This should be fun ... finding a filter for a 16 year old fridge.  Come to think of it, I can't believe it's actually LASTED that long.  The hunt is on!!!!!

Quilt Show Surprise!!

Apparently Mother Nature got the message.  It's 63 degrees this morning ... ALMOST a little chilly, with rain expected the first of this week.  Yay!!  I'm finally able to turn my sprinklers down.  Keeping up with the neighbors very green lawns has always been a hard road to travel.  

So was this road on the way to the quilt show.  I thought this was in someone's back yard.  Turns out it was in many someone's FRONT yards.  What a surprise!!  I've not actually driven this neighborhood before, only a short way when I made a wrong turn.  It's a narrow winding street of gorgeous houses and even more gorgeous landscapes.  

Probably close to a mile long, half a mile had quilts hanging from the trees and all along the street.  Luckily we were early and got a primo parking spot.  Just look at these houses!  Ranch style I think, and every one looking like a magazine cover.

You could not pick a more beautiful place for a quilt show.  Lots of hard work went into this one.  I've actually tried to join this Quilt Guild for a few years, but never could find out when and where they met.

Probably the only reason I went to this one is because Cyndae's friend Diane Swenson was the featured artist.  Diane and her husband are RV'ers.  AHA ... we have lots in common!

Our first stop was the house where her quilts were showcased.  This HOUSE ... OMG it was fabulous with amazing wood floors and a vaulted ceiling!  Not to mention Diane's quilts hanging everywhere.  There is a story about every one.  This hand embroidered pink one was made by her grandmother for Diane when she was 6 years old and it's still in amazing shape.  

One day her Grandmother heard a loud noise outside.  There was a bear looking for dinner.  Her grandmother shot and killed the bear, which then ended up being a bear rug.  It always scared Diane to death ... laying there with it's mouth open.  Obviously the quilt has lots of memories attached to it.  That's Cyndae on the left, who has known Diane for many years.

While traveling in their RV and being the bored passenger, Diane would cut out fabric pieces and hand stitch them onto backing pieces.  This is called appliqué.  Pretty easy to do while on the road, with fabulous results when you finally got back home and sewed all those squares together with your sewing machine which does not fit in the rig.

Like most (if not all) of my RV trips, she got to stop at fabric shops all along the way to gather up beautiful pieces to use in her quilts.  The pictures do not do these justice.

The amount of work she puts into just one square is amazing!!

And so we wandered outside once again and walked along the street.  The quilts were gorgeous.  This just says FALL.  I have to give it up to the husbands who went above and beyond.  There were MANY quilt frames to hang quilts on, not to mention half of them were hanging from the trees.  Someone spent a lot of time on a ladder!!

Right off the bat we ran into a house-load of kids selling donuts.  As you can imagine, I did NOT pass THAT up!  One little boy was playing tetherball.  I remember THAT!  Got my nose broke playing that game when I was a kid.

There were Easter quilts, Halloween quilts, fall quilts and just plain quilt quilts.  Appliqué is the name of the game nowadays, so there were lots of those that take months to complete.  I'm more of an instant satisfaction girl, just sewing squares together.  I have to admit though, Diane has motivated me to try some appliqué again.

At the end of the curving street we found these ladies with a table full of cookies.  I got out my wallet to purchase TWO, but come to find out they were free because we paid $10 to enter the show.  AND a free bottle of cold water to wash them down.  

This one caught my eye.  How cute is this ... and each row of bunnies had a REAL fluffy cotton tail!!  Here's what amazes me most.  I never would have thought of using those colors, but I absolutely love it.  (Feet below the quilt not included).   Let's face it ... I'm not the least bit artistic, but I can copy someone else's choices.  I may have to find this pattern.

Cyndae took off as soon as we returned home.  Apparently we have been spoiled by not having a lot of traffic during the Cvid years, because now EVERYONE is on the road.  It's funny how in my old age, I have no patience for drivers who go 30 mph in a 45 mph zone ... for 6 or 7 miles!!!!!

There's a lot more to see, but I won't drag you down with dozens of quilts today.  I'll save a few for tomorrow.  It's a good thing fabric stores are closed today, or you KNOW where I would be!!!  Oh wait ..... the INTERNET IS OPEN!!!

FRIDAY THE 13TH!!!

 It's a balmy 62 degrees as Mr. Cooper and I wandered outside in the early morning dark.  There's no such thing as sleeping in at this house.  Even when company arrives.  

Backtracking just a little, since my morning started so early, I got right to it.  Out came the weed sprayer.  I can't believe how many weeds are ALREADY growing in the new rock.  Even with that very heavy weed barrier, they are growing like ..... well WEEDS!

An hour later I had taken out all my anger issues on anything green growing where it should NOT be growing.  That's when I realized it was a Friday and it was the 13th!!  Oh boy ... I need to be extra careful!  

Soon I was off to the ceremony held at the Elks Lodge in memory of those lost on 9/11.  Next year should be pretty spectacular since we are having the Fire Department and Police Department help out.  Just a side note, it appears at least SOME schools are actually talking about what happened and how devastating it was.  It's good to keep that terrible memory alive.

When I got home, my company had arrived ... in the dark.  I think we're too old for this.  She went straight to bed while I played with Mr. Cooper a bit.

Early yesterday morning, I was off to the Elks Lodge once again ... I'm putting a cot upstairs for naps ... where I helped put on a lunch for members.  The Lodge kitchen prepares lunch every day ... a small restaurant if you will.  On Fridays however, there is always dinner ... a large restaurant ... so they do not have a lunch session.  

For many years the Sheriff and our best friend Cheech prepared this lunch at noon.  Cheech is a doppelgänger who looks exactly like Cheech, of Cheech and Chong.  With all the problems with illegals (yes we have them too) and murders, the Sheriff has had to cut back.  To our utter dismay, Cheech passed away from a heart attack.  And so the Officers have taken up the challenge.

Or should I say THIS officer has taken up the challenge.  She made chili verde for a crowd of 50.  That's pretty amazing since she's a vegetarian!!  We laughed our heads off as she described cutting up the pork, something she has never done before and how bad it smelled.  You have to give it up to a vegan who made chili verde that was actually pretty darn tasty!!

No she didn't even taste it ... not once.  What she DID do for herself was throw a couple of bean burgers on a pan and smother it in enchilada and chili sauce.  The rest of us ate the real thing!!  Chili verde, rice, black beans, tortillas and chips were on the menu.  I went above and beyond and brought the tortilla chips, two bags of which came home with me.  What in the world am I going to do with THOSE?

Lunch turned out great and we didn't even have to clean up.  It was a win win!!  I headed back home to a leisurely afternoon with my company.  Though I thought to cook dinner, I was way too late at lunch, so we headed off to Habit Burger.  Yup .. I had another one.  

I kept thinking all day ... it's Friday the 13th ... BE CAREFUL!!  Turns out it wasn't so bad after all and NOTHING happened.  I usually drop something big on my foot or set off the house fire alarms ... and there was nothing at all.   I think that's a FIRST.

So why do I have company?  Because there is a quilt show going on here, showcasing the quilts of my company's very good friend.  We'll be attending it this morning, so I better get my act together.

I think they are even serving food ... not that I'm one bit hungry!!!!

BULL RIDING 101

 Oh my goodness my goodness ... we are actually heading down to 70+ degree days.  I think the entire area is breathing a sigh of relief.  Except for the dust that is.  It's harvest time in our area and farmers are going full blast to get their crops in before the predicted rain this week.  Believe it or not, they used to pick almonds by hand.  

Machinery now drives up to the tree, grabs it, shakes it to death and down fall all the almonds onto metal platforms which vibrate them into a trailer.  That makes for a crazy amount of dust and dirt thrown into the air, not to mention all over your vehicles, even if they are parked in your garage.  Oh the fun ...

And so I tend to stay inside, not that it helps, because there is just about as much dust INSIDE.  There's nothing I like better than watching the Pendleton Oregon rodeo however ... so it's a win for me.  

For those that are not familiar with this sport, here's BULL RIDING 101.  Geared up in a required bullet proof (but not quite bull proof) vest, along with chaps that really don't help much, they climb on these monsters who are now BRED TO BUCK.  I mean really, it's crazy how high these guys can throw themselves into the air.

The stock guys place a rope around their flanks, which isn't tight and really doesn't make them buck at all ... and one around the bulls midsection like what you see here.  That bull rope handle is all they have to hold on to.  The riders rub very sticky black rosin on the handle and the strap that comes up and over their hand, around the back and through their fingers once again.

One full wrap ... that's all they get.  In the old days they used to lace it through their fingers, but too many guys got hung up because their hand would not come free when they fell off.  As you can imagine, lots of damage was done to the riders.

Also now, depending on your age, you are required to wear a helmet.  It's a good thing because a high percentage of guys get hit in the head by those horns as the bulls buck, and especially when they get bucked off.  

Pendleton is one of the biggest rodeos ever, on the biggest rodeo grounds.  The local Indian population (which is huge) takes part in all the celebrations by setting up an entire village just outside and putting on shows of their dancing and most fabulous deerskin clothing with beading the likes of which you've never seen before.  They also have horse racing ... bareback.  No saddles.

Anyway, back to bull riding ... this is one of the crazy reasons so many people go to this rodeo.  The arena is so huge, they put up a steel titanium PVC pipe fence to keep the bulls in a smaller area.  Yup ... it's lightweight plastic.  As you can tell, it works really good!!!  

The pick-up men on their horses are the saviors of these situations, heading straight for the bull to rope it and drag it away from the 100 folks (most all rodeo participants) sitting in the grass watching the riding.

These two guys in red and blue are the bull fighters.  When the rider gets thrown off, they jump in nose to nose and distract the bull so the kid on the ground has a chance to get away.  Obviously, you have to be a good "reader" of bull flesh.  If you were not raised with cattle and bulls, that's a tall order.  You just have to KNOW where they will go by your instincts from working with them.  You have to read their body language.

This one went right through the steel titanium plastic fence like it was nothing ... which it is.  That's half the excitement of this rodeo.  The thing is, if he comes your way and you are standing by the fence, DO NOT MOVE.  That's what I'm screaming at the TV!!  That's a tall order, but if you move, they will nail you.  If you remain still, they will pass you by.  This guy did NOT remain still.  The second thing ... NEVER EVER RUN.  They will mow you down every time!!

I admit, it's hard to stay quiet when this brute is coming right at you.  No one got hurt, the bull was roped and the fence put back up ... not that that helps at all!

Sorry for the blurry pictures ... my new phone camera doesn't takes pictures near as fast as my old one.

This guy ... he decided to be the star of the show.  The bull ... not the bull fighter.  I will admit, these bulls are MEAN MEAN MEAN.  There are always a few that will chase you down.

Yup that's the bull fighter sitting on the bulls head by the titanium fence!!

and this is the same bull fighter as he goes flying through the air, landing BEHIND the bull.  No worries, no one was hurt ... well maybe his pride.

The bad part about Pendleton this year was the rain.  It rained most of the night, making the grass slick as could be.  Many horses were slipping and falling, including this pickup mans horse as he was heading out to rope the bull.  Yup ... the pickup man is UNDER the horse.  

The horse got up (he was not hurt) and the bull made a bee line for the rider because he was moving.  He got rolled around a bit in the grass before the other riders roped the bull.  Here's another tip.  If you fall down near a bull, you roll up into a ball with hands over your head and DON'T MOVE.

They caught the bull with the help of the bull fighter on the ground because they are better at maneuvering around, and he was pulled back to the plastic fence.  The pickup man got back on his horse to help ... that's him in the lower left corner of the picture.  You learn to be tough if you're a cowboy, and all of these guys are cowboys.  They work on big cattle ranches with lots of cattle and bulls, and are tough as nails.

As my dad would yell ... GET BACK ON THAT HORSE, THE CATTLE ARE GETTNG AWAY!!!  Yup ... that's where tough comes from.

And that's why only three out of 15 cowboys rode those bulls, and every single one of them will be back to do it again.  That's BULL RIDING 101.

Tales From The Magic Castle

 WHOA ..... it's a lovely 64 degrees this morning!  What could be better than that to begin the next story of trials and tribulations at the wonderful Magic Castle of Bingo.  I prepared as usual, with TWO cups of my favorite Joe!!  Just like a cheap bottle of whiskey, I've been cutting it with a copy cat recipe from Frances.  It's not perfect, but it will make my current stash last a bit longer.

Oh yes, I did get a tip on two more cases, which I ordered from Amazon.  Seems now it will tell you "delivery tomorrow", but in two days you get a message that says it will be 30 days late.  Then it didn't show up at all, but they had my money all that time, plus another week to wait for the refund.  I know, I got desperate, so from now on I'll make my own.  I'll let you know how that goes.

What I DID receive was nothing short of amazing.  Halloween is coming up, not that I have lots of kids stop by.  Last year there were about 40 on two flat bed trailers, but they just drove right by my house.  Too bad because I always hand out the FULL SIZE goodies.  

Here it is .... a huge box of Snickers (my favorite of course) that came packed in an insulated box WITH AN ICE PACK!  Who does that?  I never did find out who the seller was, but they got rave reviews from me.  Why Snickers you ask?  Because if no one shows up, I get to keep them in the fridge and have a delicious snack any time I want!

On to the Magic Castle .....

So here we are, having already run the cattle through the chute line.  There were a couple problems with "I forgot my wallet", all the way to "where did I put that wad of cash"!  For the most part it went well with some folks buying $80+ worth of cards, followed by $100 worth of pull tabs.  Boy what I could buy with THAT!

That's when I heard the first BINGO!  SIX TIMES!  The caller hollered "Game #1, SIX WINNERS".  That's important because it tells me to get out my calculator and figure out what each payout will be.  Then he starts the next game.

I counted out the money and started handing it to the three volunteers who deliver the goods, one of which causes trouble EVERY week.  He said he had 3 winners, which meant 7 total.  Ummmm no, the caller said six.  There was a big argument between the me and that volunteer.  The King was called.  Problem was, there's no way to check since the caller had already started the next game.

I collected all the cash and started over, paying out 7 at the order of the King.  Last week, another incident occurred with the exact same volunteer.   I heard 8 ... he said 7 ... so I paid out 7 in spite of my head screaming 8.  Then they came back and said ... oh gee ... it WAS 8 ... and so I had to pay out one more, which made me short.  

Obviously there's a problem there, so I have to come up with a solution.  I've had player troubles before, but not volunteer troubles.  We'll see what happens next week I guess.  

I don't know if I've showed you what dinner looks like.  Since we work about 8 hours, we get dinner, the likes of which always come with a big question mark.   Chicken?  Hamburger?  Corndog?  Here's the chicken strips which are crunchy and delicious.  They would be MORE delicious if they had more than half an ounce of chicken inside the thick crust.  I don't order fries ... this is my Lady in Waiting's order.

THIS is mine ... a very tasty corndog, deep fried to perfection.  The kitchen is full of volunteers also, which is why Diane got her chicken while I had to wait 30 minutes for the corndog, even though they were on the same order.

These are from Foster Farms and the DOG is made with chicken.  If you put enough ketchup and mustard on it, you can't tell.

In spite of the payout problems, I ended the night on a high note ... I balanced.  That makes Nancy a happy camper!!

Even better, I'm met by this guy at the door every time I get home.  I can hear him barking from the garage!!  What a welcome home!!!  It makes me forget Bingo every time!!!

Yesterday, our Elks Lodge had a 9/11 memorial service in memory of those lost.  This being the first year, it didn't go flawlessly ... I'll relay that story tomorrow.  For now, I'm going to finish up my cup of fake coffee before taking in a little rodeo.

In Memory Of Those Lost

It's hard to believe it's been 23 years since the terrorist attack on the twin towers.   It's a solemn day in our history, which was obviously forgotten when the borders were opened and terrorists just walked right in.  As of last year, there were 294 noted terrorists on the watch list who are INSIDE the U.S. border.  It appears many people have forgotten, because now terrorists walk among us.

I watched this attack unfold on television, never EVER thinking I would be at the site just a few weeks later.  It was shocking ... something I will NEVER FORGET!  You can't even begin to imagine the devastation ... the twisted steel beams snapped like toothpicks ... pieces of stairway going nowhere that people had just run down trying to escape.  At the time they were still looking for bodies among the rubble.

The death toll has been set at 2,977 people, not counting those who have died since from 9-11 related illnesses.  

So today's blog is all about remembering those souls lost in this horrific act, and praying for those that survived.

NEVER EVER FORGET!!!!!

A Pretty Blah Day

I don't want to brag too soon, but I THINK we have finally passed by summer, probably because we were kicking and screaming so much.  It's a lovely 68 degrees this morning, and I see nothing over 89 for the next ten days.  WOOHOO!!!  It's about time!!!

I didn't have much on my plate for this day, but after searching through the cupboards for a can of soup to throw in the crock pot, I became totally consumed by the dates on the cans of food.  That brought about a flurry of can stacking on the counter.  

I'm bad about buying stuff to make certain recipes I saw online or on TV, then I never make them.  Time for a little shelf cleaning.  I don't have to throw them ALL out, but seriously, there were cans from 2017 in there, and several dated 2020.  Here's my hint of the day.  If you see a lid that is expanded a little ..... DO NOT OPEN IT.  It was a "let's just see" moment that ended in the worst smell on the planet.  Just throw it in the trash.  At least it didn't explode all over the kitchen.

Next I spent WAY too much time on the computer trying to work with Photoshop.  The problem is my computer is newer in technology than the program.  I'm sure it's fixable, but I don't know how, especially since I had to download the NEW photoshop that looks nothing like my OLD one.  Here's an example of what one screen looks like.  Pretty complicated ... and it took me years to learn it.

The program works GREAT ... but it wants to save files as .tif files and not .jpg.  Blogger says .tif files don't taste good ... kind of like that can of beans ... and spits them right back out.  I finally got it to work, but it takes forever to load the pictures.  And of course most of them are too big.  Once I figure out how to save them as smaller files, I should be good to go.

Just for kicks though, here's one of the images of the stars ... WOW so many stars ... with a plane going down the middle.  If you click on the picture, you can see red dots.  That's the flashing light on the plane. 

I'm way too close to town to get good pictures here.  The white at the bottom is light from houses and street lights.  I'm swamped this week with Elks stuff, but hope to get higher up in the mountains where it's darker and pictures will be better.

I spent most of the day at a clients house doing bookkeeping.  It's all fun and games until you don't balance.  It's a labor of love for an awesome 92 year old friend who is still managing her rentals like a pro.  

Back home in the late afternoon, I spent time sewing the binding on this quilt yet again.  So far I've made it down one side, and it only took two days!! 

But really, that was just an excuse to sit on the couch and watch the Pendleton Rodeo from Oregon.  It was Xtreme Bulls day, not to be missed.  I admit, it's not near as much fun as it was when my two favorite guys were winning everything.  

Sadly Stetson Wright had a hamstring tear completely off the bone (OUCH) and is out for the rest of the year.  Ky Hamilton (the good looking Aussie) got hurt pretty bad, came back and got slammed in the head with a horn.  Yeah, he's out for the year also.  So sad for these young kids in their early 20's.

No one ever said this sport wasn't dangerous.  Here's Stetson making one of his crazy rides.  Just look at how high that bull is kicking!!  That's the other part that amazes me.  How those 2,000 pound bulls can buck and gyrate like they do is beyond words.  So far the young gun rookies are winning!!

Dinner was simple and involved no cans.  I had this pasta in the freezer for way too long!  Yeah, a little frost bitten around the edges, but since I had to throw away so many cans, I was eating this regardless!  The sauce was some leftovers I froze and reheated slowly in the microwave.  It was quite tasty.  Old food, old lady, what could go wrong?  No really, it was just fine after I smothered it in parmesan cheese.

I finally hit the sack WAY too late, especially considering it's BINGO time once again.  Gosh, it seems like I was just there YESTERDAY!!  And so the fun continues!!