Happy Fathers Day

 HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the dads out there.  This is my dad at Cow Camp many MANY moons ago, so now you know why I am the way I am.  I was born and raised on a cattle ranch, sometimes a difficult life, but a good one to grow up in.

Another sunny day has passed and things aren't much better.  Absolutely everything reminds me of Cooper.  I can't seem to get my head together, as evidenced by opening the back door at 4:02 am and having the alarm go off.  I feel like someone turned my brain off.

Kitters tries to help all day long by checking on me constantly.  It's probably more for all the petting she's been getting.

I was ready to hit the road earlier than normal, only because I wanted to recreate the delicious brownies I had at the RV Park a couple weeks ago.  I thought the cocoa powder with a "best by" date of April 2020 was probably not going to provide the results I was looking for.  I was also looking for some of those mini versions of toothpaste for the rig.  The smaller the better when it comes to bathroom stuff.

Since I've used up all the Kleenex in the house, I hit up Dollar Tree to see what I could find.  There's nothing like standing in the middle of the aisle trying to figure out if these four boxes are cheaper per kleenex than the other brand.  Especially since Dollar Tree has become FIVE Dollar Tree.

One aisle over, I got moved out of the way twice, trying to figure out the same for the toilet paper.  That's what happens when you are such a conservative accountant and your brain is in slow motion.

I also picked up two little packets of kitty treats for $5.00.  I just KNEW Kitters would enjoy them.  I was WRONG!  I broke them into little pieces and placed them on the counter where she was already parked.  She smelled them ... and so did I because I think they were tuna.  Did she eat it with gusto?  Nope ... not even one teeny tiny piece went into her mouth.  She refused even the hand fed ones.  So much for that $5.00.

I really didn't want to try quilting, but I had to try something to keep from blubbering all day.  I measured to be sure the backing was on the machine correctly.  It quilted the first row, but it does not sound nor work like it used to.  

Then it started making noises I KNEW were bad.  They changed the programming so it goes slow and fast instead of just a steady stitch.  That makes the bobbin rattle and sound like it's going to break.  The tension is completely off, but I had no luck adjusting it ..... and then THIS happened.  It was wadding up the bottom thread, while looking just fine on top.

Another look produced a big sigh.  They just don't seem to be able to make it work correctly.  I grabbed my seam ripper and one by one, took out an entire row of stitches.  I'm guessing maybe 2,000?  It was a lesson in frustration.  I adjusted the tension again and went little by little.  Halfway through I paused the machine, and when it started back up, it skipped an inch of stitches.  Big sigh ..... about ten more inches of stitches had to be taken out.

There was one slight distraction when I heard the slapping of paws on the wall.  Oh that's not good ... not good at all.  As I looked around the corner, the lizard went running into the bathroom.  Luckily they stop motionless, thinking they can't be seen, so I could grab him.  Another one out the front door to the lawn.

By now I'm down to the bottom of the quilt when I realize ...... da da daaaaaaaaa ..... I'm short six inches of backing.  In spite of measuring the quilt AND the backing, I got it on the machine wrong.  That's what I mean about not being able to think about anything but Cooper.  I just can't seem to get it together.

I took it off the longarm, cut another piece of fabric to sew on the bottom, put it BACK on the longarm and was finally able to get the last row finished.  What a frustrating way to spend the day.

And it didn't get better.  Cyndae called me with a computer problem.  She got a new MacBook Pro and could not get her printer to work.  She called HP, only to somehow get a scammer who told her she had to BUY the drivers for the printer to work.  I'm glad she called, because that's not true.  HP offers all those drivers for FREE.  

We worked on it for over an hour, but it's hard to do that when I can't see the screen and tell her what to click.  She finally decided it was easier to buy a new $115.00 printer, since hers is over 5 years old.  It was a lesson in frustration for sure.

The rest of the night was spent doing this.  Kitters will sit there all day long if you just brush her, which is what I do, but now she looks pretty scraggly since all her winter coat is gone.

Not the best of days for sure.  I'm having to force myself to do things and making mistakes all along the way.  Of course Sundays are the worst.  I usually have a long list of stuff to do, but my list is empty and the depression is the worst.  Maybe making those brownies will help.

It Was A GREAT Day

 It was 56 degrees when I woke up at 4 am.  That's pretty chilly when you have all the windows and vents open.  My sleeping bag is not really made for cold weather.  

The batteries were at 97% when I went to bed, 96 upon waking up.  I haven't dry camped in this thing at all, so it's going to be interesting to see how long I can survive.  I forgot and left the Starlink plugged in.  Coffee was made by boiling water on the induction top in less than one minute.  Between lights, the water pump and the Spyder iPad control, I was down to 88% in no time.  If dry camping for more than a day, I will have to pay more attention.  It took about four hours for the solar panels to bring it back up, probably due to the shady parking spot.

Once again, the routine was completely off, so I went inside to have coffee with Cyndae.  No one was up of course, so I headed out on the patio.  I think it was 8:00 when I was joined by the girls.  That's when Cyndae brought up the idea of moving all of the stuff in her garage to the other side so she could fit a car in the single-car side.  I said let's do it!  

This is the before.  I forgot to take the after picture, which you would not believe.  That big bureau was moved after emptying it, along with two big shelves completely full to the ceiling with heavy boxes.  I think the five foot tall Craftsman to-die-for tool box on rollers was the easiest to move.  She was thrilled to get stuff out of the way and the car actually INSIDE, but just by inches.  The remaining mess will take WEEKS to sort through.  I don't mind the big move, I just can't imagine the sorting part.

Once done, we locked up the garage and went to U.C. Davis to the garden.  Wow ... that place is HUGE with buildings everywhere, surrounded by trees, with nothing being kept up or pruned.  Apparently they "rent" garden plots by the year to anyone who wants to grow their own.  They even supply the water.  This is one of the paths to the back.  

Plots are fenced off with whatever they happen to have handy, and weed growth is epic.  You can barely tell what the plants are for the weed coverage.  They also have rats, mice and squirrels that eat up everything, so netting is necessary.

This is Becca's garden plot, with tomatoes, three kinds of squash, grapes, pomegranates ... and dozens of things I could not identify.  Becca had a 5 gallon bucket full in less than five minutes.

The tomato vines are covered with fruit that will ripen soon.  The problem is finding enough time to pull the weeds and gather the produce.

The grapes surrounding the plot are coming along nicely.  I'm sure when they are ripe, anyone walking by will snag one or two.

From there we headed off to the Clay Oven for lunch.  All that garage work had me starving.  Chicken tikka masala was my choice, with garlic naan bread.  I haven't had this in ages, and it was SO good!

I considered staying another night, but sadness took hold, so I headed out south on a back road to miss the parking-lot freeway.  It wasn't too bad until I got to Rio Vista.  There are four stop lights from one side to the other, that made for a very long wait.  Apparently EVERYONE did not get a holiday day.

Having to cross the bridge over the Delta didn't help.

I've ridden this highway on bikes MANY times, and never EVER was the traffic this bad.  

My 2 hour return trip turned into a 3 hour marathon of driving.  Lucky for me, the van did its job perfectly, only now there's a message that says SCHEDULE "A" MAINTENANCE.  What the heck is that?  I think it's an oil change, but it's not due for 20,000 miles, and I doubt I even have 10,000.  These Mercedes dealers, they sure like to squeeze you for the bucks.

BIG surprise ... when I walked in the house, there was Kitters, a little leery at first, but happy to take her place on the armrest.  

I didn't find any other critters roaming the house, so hopefully she left them outside.  

It was nice to get away and be distracted, but alas, you always have to go back home and the sadness returns.  

I'm Sure They Heard Me Yelling!!

Not having packed to go anywhere in ages, not to mention not becoming familiar with the van again after all this time, made for an interesting trip.

First off, I said goodbye to Kitters and asked her PLEASE do not bring any critters inside the house while I'm gone.  I think it fell on deaf ears.

As I walked out the door, what should I see but another problem.  Seems the light fixture the PAID FOR electrician installed, fell from the ceiling.  I guess I'll call on that upon my return.

In no time, I was heading out.  First off, these darn rigs try to drive FOR you, instead of letting YOU take the wheel.  Even though I turned off all the WARNING settings, like vibrating crazily when you get too close to the white line, or what USED to be a white line ... and the worst one ... slowing down just as you pull up being a vehicle to pass it.  THAT is the worst.  

Traffic was awful.  Little did I know, Juneteenth (whatever the heck that is) has become a Federal holiday.  I went 35 mph for close to 30 miles.  Add to that all the foreign truckers who do not know the laws, who travel at 55 mph in the fast lane and NEVER move over.  I'm sure they heard me yelling at them. 

I made it in about 2.5 hours and "camped" out front of Cyndae's house.  We spent most of the morning sitting right here having coffee. 

Suddenly she said .... let's go swimming!  But first, we wandered off not far away to something like 300 houses for sale, built for seniors 50 and over.  $500,000 will get you 1600 sq feet of house, plus the biggest pool I've ever seen, a big conference building and a gym, along with pickle ball and bocci ball courts for an addition $200+ a month.  Not bad ... but they are almost completely sold out.  However ... just imagine .... no screaming loud music or 3 am parties!!

It would be a great place to live, but not today.  Instead, we went over to her daughter's house for a swim.  The pool is heated by solar and was perfect!  The good news is it kept me distracted.

We were joined for dinner by her daughter who is a pilot for Southwest Airlines.   That girl is amazing!!  The food was zoomed up chicken and pasta, a huge salad and ice cream.  It was delicious and more than I could eat.  After a bit of television, I headed out to the van.  

Little did I know what awaited me.  I thought I would turn the TV on for just a bit before crashing.  BIG mistake.  It's crazy there are no directions for the SMART TV, and the Dish Network box is dumb as dirt.  No kidding ... nothing I could do would get it to turn to Dish instead of twelve other things to click on.  

Of course I forgot my password book, so I had to call.  Everything he had me do was completely opposite of what you would THINK to do.  It locked up half way and we started completely over.  Finally he said it would finish up ... goodbye.  What it ACTUALLY did was completely reprogram the dish box, which took over an hour.  So much for a good nights sleep.  I'm sure the neighbors heard me yelling!!

I finally turned it off two hours after my bed time.  I suppose I now have to go turn the TV on at least once a week to keep it updated.  Same goes for the Starlink by the way.  It took 30 minutes for IT to update its little brain so my internet would work.  

That's when the van said HOLD MY BEER!!  I'm usually plugged in and everything works fine.  NOT being plugged in means NOTHING works, even when you tell it to.  I tried everything to turn off the noisy CHARGER, but it refused to go to sleep.  I finally took a BIG sleeping pill and dozed off an hour later.  

This morning came WAY too early, but here I am, not having any idea how long I can go with my batteries, or just what I can turn on without killing them.  I know, I need to use it more.  Everything is just so much different than when you are plugged in.

I've no idea how long I will stay ... maybe one more day.  I'll make that decision later.

Thank you everyone for hanging in with me and my sweet boy Coop.  I miss him so much!

Nothing Is The Same

As expected, nothing is the same around this house.  There's no routine any more because it was all centered around my kid.  I'm wandering around aimlessly, not the least bit interested in anything.  If there was a human around, it might be easier, but as I said, Cooper stuck with me longer than the husband. 

Kitters tries to help I suppose, but the cat hair is epic.  This is one brushing worth and she gets brushed several times a day.  What's up with that?  Chef Patty used to tell me about the cat hair from their two, but I never noticed.  THIS is just ridiculous!!

So now you will be inundated with CAT pictures.  The coffee table is apparently not comfortable enough.  If there is something on the table, she's lying on it.

I now have to put Cooper's blankets on everything to keep cat hair off the quilts and the chairs.  

This is the morning gopher hunt.  Lizards come later when they sit out in the sun to warm up.  By the way, I found a lizard tail in the spare bathroom yesterday, so be careful where you step.  No telling where the rest of him is.

I've really not been eating much.  There's no one to share little pieces of chicken with while I eat BLT tacos.

The solar cleaning guy showed up just before I left for accounting work.  Luckily he can reach them from the ground with his automatic scrubbing machine.  I have to admit, these panels have saved me a lot of money!!  At this point it is about $15,000 in three years.  Not bad!!

All clean and shiny!  There's another set of panels on the side of the garage.  

Accounting was the usual nightmare.  I keep telling my replacement to double check the account number every time.  She did not, and kept putting expenses in the wrong account, so when we went to reconcile against the bank statement, nothing was there.  That wasted quite of bit of time searching for what we knew she had added.  Putting in the wrong date didn't help either.  It was a long four hours before I got home.  

I would have given anything to see this face when I got here, but it was not to be.  

I'm taking off in the van this morning, heading North for just one night.  It will give me at least two more starts on the dumb thing while I visit with Cyndae.  I'm not sure this is going to help since I'm not really in the mood to do anything, but I guess it's worth a shot.  

I'll let you know how it goes ......................

Thank you everyone for hanging in there with me.  I appreciate it so very much!

Bingo Didn't Help .....

It's just too quiet around here.  There was no tapping on my shoulder this morning to go outside ... no barking for morning snacks ... just the clang of the doggie door and a quiet little MEW.   I think she's just after food, but it's company, so I oblige.  She's staying in most all day now, most likely due to the heat.  We are in the mid 90's and it's HOT.

I tried to get out for a run, but I wasn't really feeling it.  I don't seem to be feeling much of anything other than heartache.  This guy squawked at me when I went by.  It seems they are all running loose now.  they have been spotted all over the neighborhood, as far as two miles away.

Just to the left of him these gorgeous flowers are blooming like crazy.  It's weird, I have never seen this hedge bloom.  I turned around and headed home.  I'm just not motivated one little bit.

Bingo time came around with more tears.  Absolutely everything reminds me of Cooper.  Don't need to leave the TV on, he's not here.  Don't need to leave the lights on, he's not here.  It just goes on and on.

It's a little better around people ... except several friends came up and hugged me, causing even more tears.  I think it's the loneliness that bothers me the most.  I have never been good at that my entire life.

I helped my Kitchen Gal with her cheesecake desserts, just trying to keep busy.  We made the biggest mess ever because she didn't cool them down in the freezer before slicing.  It looks like someone stomped through the middle of every container, but no one cares because it tastes so GOOD!

We chopped tomatoes, SLICED tomatoes, drained jalapeños, and generally made a big mess of the kitchen.  I left her to clean it up!  Since I'm not setting up the entire room any more, I headed upstairs for some popcorn and a coke.  That was dinner.  Food just doesn't sound good any more.

I was rather late getting started, but my best gal was counting for me and we talked puppies.  She just lost her two poodles about a year ago.  Lucky for her, she has four golden doodles to take their place.  

It went pretty well with 137 players, many of whom have never played before.  We still have the BIG jackpots waiting to be won.  It's weird, we have never EVER gone this long without both of them being won.  That is definitely bringing in the crowds.  

There were the usual complaints about I'M FIRST IN LINE, WHY IS SHE GETTING HER CARDS!!  My standard statement is THERE IS NO FIRST IN LINE.  Whoever gets to the door first, is first in line.  If I have people helping me set up, they can pick their cards.  You want to be first?  Come help me set up.  Besides, even if you are first, you never win, so there's that .........  No seriously, those four women who complain, never win!!

There were a few LOUD entertaining parts where the caller forgot a free number or miscalled a number.  He just broke up with his girlfriend of many years, so he got a reprieve, at least from the workers.  It's bad if you call a wrong number, because they mark them instantly.  Moans and groans ensued, followed by a whisper of BINGO.  If you have bingo, you better yell it at the top of your lungs or you will not get paid.  I paid out $250 for each of 22 games.

That was it for the night.  No flaming torches, just a few pitchforks on this night.  I caught this picture just before heading out the back door, reminding me to get my camera out when I got home.  I don't think this happens very often.

When I looked up and saw this, I pulled over and snapped a quick picture with my phone.  I don't think the moon has ever looked this close in my lifetime.  I didn't see Mercury, but the other three were very visible, in fact much brighter and closer than the picture.  By the time I got home, none of them were visible.

This was waiting for me.  She's always very quiet, and always watching me.  She's behind me as I type.  I try to pet her a lot, but it's just not the same.  

Nothing is ever going to fill the hole left by this guy.  He's after that pork on the plate, even though the exact same thing is in his dog bowl.  He didn't get but a few tiny bites from most every meal I had, and only the meat. 

Always after that ball ......... because HE pulled the pillow over it to hide it first.

Once again, thank you everyone for the kind thoughts.  I look forward to reading your comments every day.  It really does help me cope with losing my best friend in the whole wide world.  

PUPPY PRINTS

 Well here I am sitting at my computer crying once again.  I would tell you what I did yesterday, but I don't remember.  I DO remember feeling sore from the Sunday's run, so I tried to come up with something else to do.  I had nothing.

I finally posted about Cooper on Facebook, whereupon my neighbor responded with lots of pictures.  She sent these to me right away.  You see her puppy Halo and Mr. Cooper used to run around like crazy in my front yard.  

They would play racehorse all over the front lawn together.  You can tell because both of them are panting for air!  

Halo loved Cooper so much that when he was let outside, he would make a beeline for my front door and peek through the window to see where Cooper was.  He would bark and cry until I went to the door and let Cooper out to play.  They were Best Buds!!

I did a couple loads of laundry and wandered around the house before deciding to do a little cleaning.  You know it's pretty bad when I drag out the vacuum cleaner.  That's when it really fell apart.  Everywhere I went on the hardwood floor, I saw Cooper's footprints from coming in every morning with wet feet.  I'm never washing these floors again so I can always have him with me.

Kitters has become a pain in the buttinsky.  I suppose she knows something is off, and she just will not leave me alone.  

She is in my face constantly, and if not, she's stalking me.  She used to stay outside most of the time.  Maybe it's just because the temps are up in the high 90's now.  She's right behind me at this moment, just like in this picture.

I finally decided to give my longarm another shot.  Did I mention the first time I tried it after the maintenance/repair, it froze up and gave me motor errors?  Pretty frustrating since I just paid a chunk to get it fixed.  I wasn't feeling like a hassle, but I turned it back on and tried to finish off the row.  Surprisingly, I got that one done.

Little did I know, that the BACK of the quilt where I had the previous problem, had wads of thread so bad that I had to take it out for several inches.  Getting the machine to go back to the exact point and restitch that section was harder than I thought.  At last I figured it was done, but when I took it off the longarm, I discovered this little section that I missed.  Oh well .. it's not all that noticeable, and it can't be fixed now.

I'm disappointed since I liked the borders on this one so much.  I'm not sure it's going to be given away.  I doubt anyone will notice since when off the frame, it took me a while to even find it.  If nothing else, it kept me occupied for a couple of hours.

An hour later, I came unglued just sitting here alone.  I called my Elks girlfriend and went over to her house for the rest of the afternoon.  Thank goodness for good friends.  

I've got Bingo tonight and another five quilts to quilt, so maybe I can keep busy enough so I don't have a meltdown.  I never imagined it would be this bad.