Arabian Nights!!

 So much for our five days of rain!  I'm not sure who does the predictions, but I'm pretty sure they look like Carnac the Magnificent!  Anyone remember this?  

 So far our five days of flooding rain have only brought us less than half an inch.  The week long storm MAY bring about two days of water if we are lucky ... but it won't be today.  As you may be able to see however, it was enough to remove lots of leaves from the trees overnight.

I procrastinateth!  I'm sure that's a word.  I thought about it every day for three days before the rain hit, but sat on my duff and did nothing.  It would have mattered not ... I would just have to do it again.  So you know what this ladder is for, right?

On my entire huge house, the only problem I have is with this ONE downspout.  Yes I could probably spend a lot of money on leaf guards, but that would require even MORE work at least twice a year removing leaf guards before removing the two inches of mud that accumulates at the bottom of the gutter.  It's so heavy, the gutters begin to tear away from the house.

This is farming country.  The amount of dust and dirt is epic when harvesting almonds, walnuts and pistachios.  It's much easier to clean them out WITHOUT leaf guards getting in the way.  

It's only this corner that gathers enough tiny tree twigs and mud to block the downspout.  I dug them out by hand, and miraculously, all the water disappeared down the hole.  Easy peasy ... but a pain.  I tried putting screen over the hole, but it only made it worse.  

After that I sewed a little, read a little and generally lollygagged the day away.  The evening was to be spent at the Arabian Nights Gala at the Senior Center.  This is a small rural town, so what to wear to such an occasion was questionable.  I wore a very nice western shirt with Levis and boots.  It's the best I could do.  I saw everything from Levis to exotic ball gowns.  Who wears that stuff??  Maybe bridesmaids.

This is their second attempt at a fund raiser for the small elementary school performing arts.  Truthfully, those are words you never hear around this part of the country.  You have to give it up to a few parents who are trying to bring a little culture to the table.  Bingo supports them by buying an entire table plus a lot of extra moolah.

I was pretty shocked when we sat down to find gold charger plates.  Wow ... this is up town for Levis and boots.  I of course forgot the required picture, so I snagged my neighbor's plate.  The first course was a very nice salad served by the kids in the production, followed by a really REALLY good dinner.  The plastic fork and knife were problematic ... not really being able to cut the steak ... and when it did, the fork broke.  No worries, we got another one.  

Then came the production.  These kids ... they were all so excited to serve us dinner, and even MORE excited to sing a few songs from their musical.  

So here's a short video for your listening pleasure.  Turn up the volume and DON'T LAUGH.  Wait till the end and keep your eye on the right hand side of the movie.  No one ever said they would end up on Broadway but we gave them a standing ovation.

In the meantime, we were bidding on silent auction items.  Next was the dessert dash.  Your table writes up a big donation from everyone and submits it to the Emcee.  They read off the highest bid and that table gets to dash to the dessert table and pick their item first.  We were the only three left at our table, so we didn't participate.  You're not going to believe this ... the winning dessert was a nice white cake with white frosting that went for a whopping $1,000.  

You read it right.  The next one was $600.  I'm glad we didn't participate in that one.  These are my good friends Karen and Mark who participated in the NEXT gig ... buy a balloon for $20 (or $50) ... and pop them all at once when they say GO.  You might win a $100 bill.  They lost ... and since I had already bought $20 worth of drink tickets, I passed.  

I'm pretty sure the winning balloon was up on the ceiling over our heads where it escaped from the kids selling them.  

All in all it was a good night, except for the politician who showed up.  People seem enamored with them, but not this table.  The last time we spoke with him, he agreed with all our positions on water for farmland, but said it didn't matter what we thought, he had to vote his party's stand regardless of what his constituents wanted.  Yup that's a politician for you!!

On a good note, Mr. Cooper was really happy to see me come home.  No rain today, but we might see another gorgeous sunrise!  Thank goodness the politicians can't mess with that!!!