Magic .... It Was MAGIC

 Hallelujah!!  I woke up once again.  Actually I'm not sure I ever went to sleep last night.  Maybe it was all that exercise I got the morning before.  After Cooper's short walk, I donned my ear thingy that plays music as I walk along (isn't technology wonderful?) and headed out.  It's funny how much further you can walk when you are distracted by music instead of the discomfort of a creaky body.

Three miles later I was back in the garden looking for things to pick.  Sadly, there was not much in the way of cherry tomatoes.  I found only four and ate them all.  Then I went to check on the Early Girls.  They are obviously quite late.  Weird too, that they are just now taking off, growing lean and tall.  So tall in fact I had to add yet another tomato cage to prop them up.  

BUT LOOK ..... RED!!  Still not ready to pick, but there are FOUR red tomatoes.  Geeze Louise ... it's almost AUGUST and they are just getting ripe?  Obviously my soil is not the best and will require MUCH more preparation next year.  In the meantime, I'm anxiously waiting to taste one of these beauties.

Since I was on a roll ... and actually motivated for once ... I grabbed my box cutter and went to work.  Now you see them ..................

Now you don't ... well except they ARE laying on the ground because the bin is completely full, as is my other REAL trash can.  No appendages were lost in this endeavor, nor did any blood appear.  It's a miracle!

And THEN ..... the time had come to put on my big girl pants and wrestle with this quilt.  A week ago we were dead in the water with crunching noises and restarts right and left.  Nothing was working.  

I grabbed my biggest flashlight, but could see nothing in the way of a problem underneath the machine at the bobbin thread area ... which was definitely where all the noise was coming from.  I took the bobbin out once again, acted like I knew what I was doing and reset the entire thing after moving the quilt up on the bars. 

The bad thing was when I shut it all down, I had to restart from the beginning, resetting all the areas.  I held my breath as I hit the QUILT button.  To my amazement, it took off just fine.  No crunching or anything.  It was MAGIC.  Unfortunately, I didn't set up the area QUITE right, but luckily it's in a spot that I don't think anyone will notice ... much.  Of course to me it stands out like a sore thumb.

It was even worse when I got to the bottom. I had to quilt this small area while cropping off 3/4 of the pattern.  Another shocker ... that worked just fine too.  With a HUGE sigh of relief, I took it off the frame.

Sadly, this one is going to one of the nicest guys EVER at the lodge.  I see those glaring mistakes and it makes me feel bad.  I hope no one else notices.  At least it was made with lots of love and good intentions.  I messed up his name on the photo in case someone might read this and tell him about it.  This one is a surprise!!!  Today I'll bind the edges.

I watched more Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo and relaxed knowing the longarm was working again.  That's only because I thought I was done.  While dusting the house, I found the OTHER quilt I still have to quilt on the longarm today.  I'm hoping that's not another lesson in patience.

Dinner was easy ... eating leftovers as usual.  While scrounging through the freezer, I found this package of ribs from a couple months ago.  They definitely hit the spot!!

Luckily I have this kid to distract me through thick and thin.  Every time I look at him, I smile!! 

And yes ... Kitters is still in the back yard.  He or she, I still don't know which, lays perfectly flat next to the zucchini, meowing every time I go outside.  As soon as he sees me now, he runs over and rubs up against my legs.  How could I turn him down?  Dinner was served.