BRRRRRRRRRRRRR ............

Oh my goodness .... it is damp and cold in sunny California.  Don't listen to the weather guessers ... it is not all warm and happy in the Golden State.  This morning it's 35 degrees with a nice coating of frost, making it look like it snowed. 

One day it rains .......

The next you can't see past the roses.  This stuff didn't go away until late in the morning, meaning I was wrapped in a quilt all morning long.  I discovered if I wear my ski socks, I'm actually much warmer without turning the heat above 68.  

I am surprised however that my solar is still working hard.   I knew December would be a big downer on my money saving graph, but it's not as bad as I thought.  You can definitely tell what days it rained all day long.

Truly fog is not fun to drive in.  "I" don't have a problem with it because I've driven in it since I was 15, it's everyone else who either drives like it's a 95 degree day at the beach, or those that cruise along at 27 mph.  That's a sure way to get into a big pileup, which is why I stayed home.

I have to say it's nice not to have to comb your hair or get all gussied up for a trip to town.  However, I'm pretty sure I scared the guy in the truck who drove by just as I was retrieving the garbage cans.  He did a double take and almost hit the neighbor's mailbox.  Next time I'll be sure and go out when it's still dark.

That means trying to figure out something to do to keep my brain occupied and NOT sit on the couch all day long.  I do my best not to be a big pile of potatoes, even if the National Finals Rodeo is on.  Instead, I worked on my six lists for the RV rally ... not only what to take, but the recipes for the things I have to cook, and deciding just WHERE it's going to live until I get there.  A big ice chest is a must with such a teeny tiny freezer.

That uncovered things that must be eaten or used up in the next three weeks.  Oh gee ... there are three packages of cream cheese ... and a long lost can of pumpkin.  Another no-bake pumpkin cheesecake appeared.  I won't eat it all at once, although I could ... I'll take most of it with me.

Having spent a few hours scrounging for a piece of border fabric, I located a huge pile of smaller pieces that I purchased .... oh ... maybe ten years ago?  I'm sure I had some very good reason for that, but it escapes me now.  I chopped it all up into black and white piles I will sew together today.  It's always nice to have more room to put more NEW fabric.  

Cooper and I spent the rest of the evening on the couch watching Round 7 of the rodeo.  It was an elimination round again, meaning they ride the meanest of the mean, most of whom have never been ridden before.  Out of 13 bull riders, only three scored, one making half the ride hanging off the side just to get a score.  I think it was something like 63.  A score of 88-90 usually wins.  

The news said this was Stetson Wright (#1 in the world), but I think this is Jeff Askey, since Stetson wears a white helmet.  I mean really ... look at that bull!!!  No, he didn't stay on.

Mr. Cooper slept through the whole thing.  That was good for me, meaning I wasn't on the floor looking for the ball under the couch.  I have to admit though ... Cooper keeps me flexible doing all those contortions to REACH the ball.

At the end of the day, I always remember the reason for the season.  This is one of my favorite pictures.

I'm in for another long day at the Elks Lodge, it being Trustee Meeting night, followed by three OTHER meetings.  It's okay ... otherwise I might not get out of the house at all, meaning I wouldn't get to listen to my latest CD in the truck .... turned up loud enough to vibrate the seats!!!!

It makes me want to get out, grab some guy out of his truck and dance in the street.  I'd probably end up in jail.  Okay, I'll turn it down just a tad.

Remember Pearl Harbor

Its Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ... say a little prayer for all those lives lost while protecting our country.  I talked to my Elks friend Frank, who just turned 102 years old, about his time at Pearl Harbor.  Yessirree ... a real hero and survivor of Pearl Harbor.  

He wasn't supposed to be there, but his orders got mixed up and he did not get on the ship that left a few days earlier.  He doesn't like to talk about it, but we sat for a time as I asked him a few questions.  He said what he remembered most was the deafening noise.  He said he killed a lot of people, for which he had no regrets.  They were bad people.  Maybe we can say a little prayer for Frank too.

As you can see by this picture, it was another night at the Magic Kingdom.  

And it was a FULL MOON!  You know what that means .... the pitchforks came out.  The worst part is the full moon takes away your hearing.  You didn't know that?  Oh yes, believe me, the peasants cannot hear a single word you say.

The ATM machine was out of order, most likely out of cash.  We give cash back with MY machine because they will spend it on pull tabs, meaning we make more money for charity.  We don't charge for it either.  Here's the deal however ... we only accept cash or debit.  No credit cards allowed.  I mean really, they could object to those charges and we would not get paid.

AND there's NO TAPPING.  I probably said that 55 times last night and we only had 115 players.  Three people tapped even when I said not to.  Here's my spiel:

DO NOT TAP ... AND DO NOT PUT YOUR CARD IN THE MACHINE UNTIL I SAY GO.  Good grief ... over and over again, they had to take their card out so I could enter the info.  Is it a full moon or something?  It's a full moon ... I KNOW IT!!!

Of course the next person in line didn't hear one single word.  By the time 20 people went by, I was almost screaming because no one would listen.  That full moon ... it can be a bugger!!  As for tapping, we don't have an account for that, so we have to collect manually from the bank.  Oh the fun!!

Really, it didn't even matter that we said "don't put your card in yet" probably 110 times, because every time they came back for more cash ... they put their card in before they even said a word.  "Take your card out please", whereupon I would get a nasty look.  

What happens when you do that is we give out all our cash and then have to find extra money to pay the winning bingos.  We borrow from Peter to pay Paul.  All the cash they take out goes right in the next door to buy those pull tabs.  So I go right next door and borrow it back.  It was a record amount this time .... all due to the full moon.

I finally got out of there at 10:00 (11:00 my Arizona time) after going through another long session of teaching the ER how to work the infernal machine.  Really, it's not hard to handle until you get to the balancing part.  The full moon seems to affect my nemesis machine also.

So here's my tip of the day ... you know, just in case you need a little chuckle.  After last nights moon full antics, I could use a drink!!!

I'll be on the couch trying to recuperate ... NO TAPPING ... sorry ... that's in my brain forever now.  Tomorrow is another tuxedo night, so I need to recoup quickly.  

Remember Pearl Harbor

Where's The Beef???

It's Bingo day.  I really tried to sleep in an hour or so, but it never works.  Someone who shall remain nameless can tell when I'm faking sleep.  I probably wouldn't get up at all if he wasn't here.  This is one of only two pictures I have of him as a baby.  He had just gotten his first haircut where he was completely traumatized.  I can tell because he has not lain flat like this ever since.  This kid has personality!!

My morning routine starts with feeding everyone.  The cinnamon roll thing is still hanging out, but I found if you smother it in Mrs. Butterworth's maple syrup, it's entirely edible.  That stuff makes anything taste good!!

Instead of playing brain games for the next two hours, I forced myself to get up and out to Costco.  They open at 9:00 here and I had two shirts to return.  It's weird.  I bought three at the store ... all the exact same size.  Two fit and one was too small.  

It happened I saw them on the internet for $12.  You can't beat that price, so I ordered two more.  One fit and one was WAY too small.  The guy gave me a bad time because I put the first one in the bag from the second.  Of course I didn't have a receipt, so I kept my mouth shut.  Both were credited to my account, so off I went to pick up the pork loin for the rally barbecue.

This is the first time I've had to procure the meat ... and I had no idea how much to get for 16 people.  There's eight pounds here, so hopefully that's enough.  $36.00 in case you were wondering.  Just pork ... because beef is not affordable any more.

Just a quick note here ... did you know most beef is now owned and raised by Corporations?  Did you know corporate taxes used to be 35%, lowered to 21% from 2018-2020?  It seems our government never took an economics class, because they have now raised the corporate tax to 28%, telling people it's to save you and me money.  Guess what the corporations do ... they add probably 10% on to the price of everything you buy so they don't LOSE money.  If you were in business, would you take the loss?  Nope ... you would raise the price of absolutely everything.  

Oh look here ..... I have NO idea how THESE got in my basket.  I never EVER buy them!  Yes, there's one missing.  I think I got rooked ... or maybe Cooper ate one!!

Although I had plenty of meat in the freezer, I couldn't resist ONE beautiful HUGE chicken.  It's almost a sin to cut in to such a beautiful bird.  That's it .... THREE items in my basket, can you believe it?  I even walked around the entire store to see if there was anything else that would jump on my train.  I did hesitate at the very pretty Christmas wreath, but I do have six in the upper kitchen cupboards, so I passed.

I was back home in 50 minutes, in spite of only ONE checkout stand being manned.  They only have two self checkouts and they were full of people who didn't know how to use them.  Lucky for me I had a really fast checker!!

I was surprised when I got home to see all those leaves piled up on the lawn.  The gardeners were hard at work driving the mower around picking them up.  Honestly, that's a fun job.  It spins around ... turns on a dime ... goes fast ... who wouldn't like that??

I spent the next hour rearranging the freezer.  That huge bag of ice not used on the pack trip needed to be gone.  I made a couple smaller bags and threw the rest out.  Little did I know how anything different in the back yard would affect Cooper.  My horses .... yes.  If there was even a small piece of paper on the ground, you would think it was going to eat them.  

I laughed as he made six trips over to the solid piece, never getting closer than this, but checking it out from all sides.  It finally scared him enough to run off.

It was a weird cloudy afternoon, with showers most of the day ... even with the blue sky.  

Later in the evening while watching the 5th round of the National Finals Rodeo, Cooper insisted I play the try-and-get-it-from-me game.  This is his favorite toy.  I quickly discovered it had two big holes in the sides.  Oh YUCK ... I had to hold that wet nasty thing while I sewed up it's sides to keep the stuffing in.  I actually spotted one at the grocery store a couple days ago.  I think I know what Santa is bringing Cooper for Christmas!!

Since it's Bingo day, I'm going to try and do my very best to fall asleep on the couch this morning.  Maybe I can get in an extra Z or two before heading out to the Castle.  It's always an adventure around Christmas time!!

A Quick Tour

 Good barky morning.  Apparently someone got out last night.  Thankfully it wasn't Cooper.  I hear lots of barking doggies this morning, along with a loud COME HERE!!!  Not a bad way to wake up in the morning if it wasn't 3:00 am.  MAYBE Mr. Skunk has made an appearance.

Just to prove I'm getting in the mood for the season, I stuck this guy on my front door yesterday.  I don't know how I did it in the old days.  I worked from 6 am to 6 pm, then cooked dinner while actually MAKING all my own decorations.  Today I'm lucky if I get off the couch!!

This was the first experiment of the day.  You've all seen those Pillsbury cinnamon roll commercials?  I finally found a can for $4.00 (instead of the $6.79 last week) and decided to give it a shot.  It would make an easy breakfast for the rally.

By the way, my early morning foray to the grocery store resulted in an even higher bill of $159.00.  I don't think I've ever spent that much for two bags of groceries in my life.  I guess it was the two $7.00 bags of frozen sausages for the rally.  There was no other meat acquired.

SO .... Open the can, cut up the cinnamon rolls into fourths and toss them in sugar (pretend they don't already have a cup of sugar IN them).  Then dump them into a pan and top with apple pie filling.  Bake at 350 for 28 minutes.  Don't do what I did next ... let them cool first.  THEN heat up the frosting a tad and pour over the top.

Next ........ just throw them out.  Okay, they really were not THAT bad I suppose, but just the rolls baked like normal would have been much better.  I guess I'll stick with the tator tot casserole.

With absolutely nothing else going on around here, I thought I would take you on a quick trip to China.  In 2008 the Olympics were to be held there.  The government requested our Chamber of Commerce send over big groups to test the handling of their transportation systems.  They SAID it was to promote American business in China.  I couldn't turn down the $1200 price tag for ten days in China ... everything included.  Airfare, hotels, transportation and food.  Heck the airline ticket alone was $1700.

Anyway, we flew into Beijing, coughing and sputtering because we couldn't breathe.  All of China's electricity comes from burning coal.  Trying to make a good impression on the world, they actually shut down two of their plants so people would see less smoke (smog).  That meant most of the city did NOT have electricity.

Having been here forever, most of the families live in compounds built 4-500 years ago.  Usually a big box like structure with rooms around the outside and a community kitchen on one side.  One bedroom was used for the livestock ... chickens, birds and frogs mostly.  

The government didn't want people passing by on the freeway to see this, so they kicked those people out of those ancestral homes and into huge apartment buildings like you see here, then completely destroyed their 500 year old homes.  When we arrived, they had not quite finished the cleanup.  By the way it is ALL done by hand.  No heavy equipment.

This is what it looked like everywhere we went.  Thousands of people squished into small areas.  Hang on to your purse because pickpockets stole from every foreigner they could reach.

Surprisingly (at least to me) there were many lakes and waterways they took us to.  Of course the Emperor had the best spots staked out.  This boat had Chinese tourists loaded up ... I mean look at the back of the boat ... it's not much above the water level.  

Only 25 of us tourists are on the boat they are looking at.  We yelled, laughed and waved until they finally waved back.  It's not something they do there ... they are VERY reserved.  Mostly that's because the soldiers are watching them every second of the day.  Same went for us ... they followed us everywhere with guns over their shoulders.  

We were taken to only government owned shops to pay exorbitant prices for any souvenir we wanted.  I also noticed that the people working there never smiled and were not allowed to talk.  This was the pearl factory.  Pick an oyster and she would open it.  I spent zero dollars here.

This is actually the Main Street of this little town ... I don't remember the name.  We walked by it on the way to yet another boat for a quick trip around the corner to the lake where we saw lots of folks fishing.  They did warn us to stay back from the side so we did not get wet.  That's funny ... why would they care?

This is why.  As we rounded the corner and motored up this little canal, we discovered every house here had a concrete pipe coming out the bottom for ...... yup you guessed it ....... their sewer.  Oh yeah ... we watched as toilets dumped into the canal.  No one in our group ate fish after that trip.

On my first trip over (yes I actually went twice), we had to eat their traditional food.  There was no "American" food to be seen.  They received such backlash, that on the second trip just before the Olympics, they Americanized their restaurants to keep the foreigners happy so they would spend more money.  

Though they tried, they didn't succeed in that endeavor.  It may have looked like spaghetti, but it didn't TASTE like spaghetti.  I'll have a few more stories tomorrow.

So last night, just to change it up a bit, I actually cooked something for dinner instead of my usual Costco chicken tacos.  This is chicken marsala.  I wandered the grocery store aisles for 20 minutes before finally finding the marsala wine on sale.  It was quite tasty, but of course now I have to eat it for the next three days.  

I watched another day of rodeo at the NFR with my favorite Stetson Wright winning the bull riding.  He's a 23 year old that looks about 16.  Same goes for his older brother.  Man that kid can ride a bull!!!

So now I guess I've put off eating breakfast long enough.  As expensive as food is, I'm NOT throwing that cinnamon roll thing away.  I'll just have to choke it down!!!

A NO Repeater

 I do love waking up in the morning.  It's a no brainer that it means I get to spend one more day on this earth.  On the other hand, when you've been up all night from a continuous downpour and just want to sleep, actually getting UP is a pain.  I hope this night is a NO repeater.  The only reason I finally acquiesce is this look.  

After playing a little bury-his-head-in-my-shoulder, I HAVE to get up or he will try to jump off the three foot tall bed.  That's not good for a small puppy.  All because he has to go outside.  I jump out of bed like a sprinter down the stretch and head to the door with him hot on my heals.  

Of course he always has to check out the smells first.  It rained really hard all night long.  That's good for California, but not so good for the nice worms that keep my lawn aerated.  They crawl up on the concrete, which is the last place they should go.  Cooper usually ignores them, but on this day he smelled one, then took a big bite!!!  YUCK NOOOOOOO!!  

I'm awake now .... as I retrieved it from his mouth.  Such an innocent face .......

I spent the entire day inside as it drizzled hour after hour.  That makes Nancy a pretty boring girl.  I watched way too many videos on my phone and sewed like a mad woman to finish up this quilt.   FINALLY I have NONE waiting in the wings to be finished up.  I can move on to something else, although they have all become boring at this point.  Too much staying home.  It doesn't help that fuel is still $5.39 a gallon here.

I finally got to work on that January rally in Indio.  It's time for free ice cream handouts after having been shut down for three years.  Sadly the numbers went from 5200 ice cream bars to 2800, to be given away over two days.  What that means is MAYBE there will be 700 rigs compared to their normal 1400+.  

There are several reasons for this .... the fewer the rigs, the higher the price ... and it's getting WAY too expensive.  The fewer the rigs, the less vendors because they can just wander on down to Quartzsite and sell twice the stuff for half the cost of a booth.  With no vendors, why go to the rally.  Not to mention we are all getting too old for this.  Five of our regulars have sold their rigs or are not driving any more.

At any rate, our small 8 rig group will meet on Sunday night and go to the fairgrounds on Monday.  That means I have to come up with an agenda to keep the troops busy for an entire week.  I'm thinking this will be the last year I work this rally.  I've been the Ice Cream Captain for about ten years now.  That's long enough!!  This rally will be a No repeater for moi!!

Sewing as fast as I could, I finished up the main portion of this quilt.  That's the border material hanging off the side.  I always leave it there for a day or two to be sure I like it.  Why the hurry?  Because the third day of the National Finals Rodeo is on.

If you want to see some crazy good bronc riding, just tune in.  These are the elimination days.  They bring out the wildest broncs they can find from every rodeo stock contractor.  I've never seen the moves these horses and bulls can make, although I've sure felt like it when my horses decided to buck!!  

To see a 2000 pound bull jumping six foot high, twisting and turning at the same time .... its pretty amazing!!  Even MORE amazing that those guys can actually stay on!!  I guess it's worth it when you can win $44,000 riding two bulls or two broncs over two days.

Hopefully the rain lets up today, as I need to make an exciting trip to the grocery store.  Whoopee!!!  I am happy to announce there are no more waterfalls coming off my gutters, nor are the gutters falling off the side of the house.  The highlight of my day!!!

A Big Rescue

I do like it when it rains in sunny California.  Mostly because it brings the nighttime temperatures up to ALMOST 50 degrees.  That makes it much easier to let Cooper outside in the morning dark.  No worries, I STILL take a flashlight out and scan the area before letting him out the door.  I'm not taking any chances of running into a tuxedo-wearing stinker.

The storm brought snow to the valley of Yosemite National Park.  My first ever "good" camera was an Olympus that took the most amazing images of the valley when I worked there.  That was back in the days of negatives from which you printed your pictures, also the days of dinosaurs when I was all of 18 years old.  Sadly all of my negatives were stolen, as was my car when I hit Denver.  But that's a story for another day.  Isn't this just gorgeous?

One thing that happens when I'm home too long is spending WAY too much time on my phone.  I'm a member of several groups that include gold mining, professional bull fighters, desert exploration, search and rescue, and cast iron cooking, just to name a few.  You can't say I'm not diversified.  

Anywho ... I came across this early picture of Tombstone.  It's fascinating to see what it looked like then and now.  That's the Goodenough Mine up on the hill, top right.  Just below on the far right is the Courthouse.  It's definitely not the Tombstone you see today!  

There was also a fascinating rescue taking place that I followed until the end.  Thank goodness there are people who like to scour the desert and explore old mines.  At the top of a hill was a big hole that an explorer decided to check out.  WOW ... just inside was a ten foot deep hole with a wild burro stuck in it.  

Apparently it wandered in the entrance and fell in the hole.  The Sheriff's Department was notified, who called up the mine rescue people and after quite some time, were able to lift the burro out.  He was a little. hungry and quite thirsty, but after getting checked out, they let him go.  Hopefully they blocked the mine entrance.  I love a good rescue story!!

Of course it took no time at all to find yet another update to be done on my watch.  I'm sure no one EVER thought that we would really be able to talk to our watches like Dick Tracy, even though we did it as kids.  I mean really, when you were growing up, did you think that would be possible?  Just like everything else, I am now addicted to the darn Apple watch.  The update took two hours.  

It also took away my phone, since that is where the info comes from.  You can't do ANYTHING when it's updating.  It's like watching paint dry yet again.  I whiled away the hours STILL working on this quilt binding.  

Since I was also subject to lots of barking and play time, I took Mr. Cooper out for a run in the neighborhood.  I hate these trees.  Sycamores not only drop those big seed pods, but every leaf on the tree.  I suppose you have to admire the colors, but you have to do it while they are all on the ground.

No, you won't find me out there with a rake.  Its the gardeners' problem.  I have to admit they are pretty smart when it comes to this.  They use a blower to move all the leaves on to the lawn, then they just mow the lawn.  No hours of raking to clean up the mess!!

Which brought me back to this quilt-in-a-day that's taking me THREE days.  I reversed the pattern, hopefully making it not quite so obnoxious.  I would have gotten further, but the National Finals Rodeo is on, coming from beautiful downtown Las Vegas.  

It was pretty interesting to see one of the Queens get bucked off her horse right off the bat.  That's how they become a queen by the way ... mostly by their horse skills.  It's one thing to ride in an outdoor arena where the crowds are small and the noise level low.  In this small enclosed building with 20,000 people screaming, it can be a little daunting for a horse.

And so another day has passed by ... I think it's time Cooper and I took a little drive in the rain.

RAIN, GLORIOUS RAIN

 Oh my goodness!!  That's not rain you see in the flashlight beam this morning, nor is it snow.  It's fog like we haven't seen around here in decades.  It's also a chilly 38 degrees and my heaters are working overtime!!

In the old days when it rained much more than now, we had what we call tulle (tullee) fog.  It was so thick you could barely see the road beneath your feet, let alone the center white line when driving.  Nowadays it's painted yellow to see better.

When we had to drive in the fog, you rolled down your window so you could hear other cars coming, then stuck your head out so you could follow the line.  Driving 170 miles like that to Bakersfield every Christmas to my cousins house was quite the trial.  People nowadays don't have a clue what it's like to drive in REAL fog.

On another note, the reason you want your alarm working around here is because of all the stealing that goes on.  Every house in my neighborhood has not only a great alarm system, but cameras everywhere.  My neighbor pays almost $150 a month, just to have internet for her cameras.  

Here's the thing.  Since the border has been wide open, thanks to the current government, most people think just nice people ... illegal immigrants ... are coming over.  That would be completely wrong.  The drug cartels are sending huge numbers of people, not to mention big trucks loaded up with drugs, across the border.  Who cares you say?

Right now, Meth is the biggest seller.  Smoke it once or twice and you are hooked.  Although it started with JUST marijuana, that's what took down my neighbor ... a guy who had a great job making lots of money.  It took him right down the rabbit hole to stealing anything he could get his hands on to pay for it.  The last I saw him, he lost his car and everything he owned.  He stole a bicycle and was seen pedaling through the worst part of town.  No one has seen him in almost a year now.

With no job and no money, they have to get the drug any way they can, which is by stealing from mailboxes and back yards ... anything you have not locked up.  Catalytic converters are also big right now.  Every single day there are reports of burglaries in my very nice upscale neighborhood, not to mention the deaths from them shooting each other over nothing.  

THAT is why I need my house to look like Fort Knox.  So the next time you vote, please vote Republican so we can finish the wall and stop the drugs coming across the border which is killing so many of my nice neighbors who get hooked on it.  You think it's not bad because you don't see it, but it's epidemic here in California.  Yes, I'm sure there are some rural areas that may not be affected, but it's spreading like a bad disease.  Stopping the flow of drugs doesn't mean keeping the good folks out.  There are resources and ways for them to become citizens legally.

Anyway, on to the rain we so gratefully received.  It began early yesterday morning and continued the entire day.  We got over an inch in our area ... a much needed drink of water for the farmers.  We also got an entire day of snow pack!  Eight feet fell in the Sierras.  WOOHOO!!

I'm pleased to say the painted wall has held.  The white spots did not return on either side.  Of course it doesn't happen until the sun comes out, which isn't going to happen due to the rain predicted for the next three days.  WOOHOO AGAIN!!

It was a nice day of lounging around.  If I go outside, I might melt, so Cooper and I stayed on the couch until it was time to head out to the Lodge meeting.  Of course that's when the rain began in earnest.  

My windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the amount of water.  Add to that a continuous line of car headlights coming right at me, made driving a little dicey.  The cars coming the other way couldn't see either and were coming across the center line.  Defensive driving is the name of the game.

After driving through four flooded areas (with generally no rain, the city doesn't keep the drains clear), I made it to the parking lot.  Good thing I took my brelly ... BUT I didn't think about my shoes in the parking lot, which was 2" deep in the liquid stuff.  Of course I wore flats to be more comfortable.  It made for an UNcomfortable night of very wet feet.

Dinner was so good, I actually bought TWO.  I ate half the first one and bought another to go.  Now I don't have to cook for two days!!  The sauce on the green beans (which were fresh by the way), was something you won't believe ... but it was DELICIOUS!  

Here's the recipe ... fry bacon, fry onions with the bacon and grease, and add thousand island dressing.  Sounds disgusting, but it was REALLY good.  I'm not sure I will try to make it, but it was quite tasty!!  

After a short-er meeting, because I begged the stand-in ER to make it short so I would not fall asleep in my chair, I drove home, dropping another gal off at her house.  She doesn't live far away and it saves her the price of fuel.  Then I collapsed on the couch with Cooper and his favorite toy.

He got that for Christmas last year.  I've washed it three times and stitched it back together FIVE times.  What could I do, it's his favorite buddy!!!

I'm feeling kind of beat up today with only four hours sleep.  You will probably find me on the couch, after I have a tasty tamale for breakfast ... or maybe steak and eggs!!  I love having options!! 

Hello December

 HAPPY DECEMBER!!!  Christmas is almost here ... have you done all your shopping yet?  I'm pretty lucky I guess (or maybe not) that I only have to get a few small things for friends.  That's actually good because about the only stores we have to shop at are Walmart and the 99 Cent Store (now the $1.25 store).  It helps me become more creative!!

It's supposed to rain all day long today, a massive snow storm coming through the Sierras.  They have been talking about it all week like it was a tornado!  Somehow people don't seem to remember this was the norm not that many years ago.

After my oh-so-tasty breakfast of a tamale ... I showed great restraint by not eating THREE ... I sat down to await the alarm company.  If I hadn't seen the truck, I would have been very suspect of the guy at my door.  No uniform ... no badge ... but carrying a tool belt and a ladder.  I questioned the ladder until he said he needed to see the main box, which is much higher on the wall than he was tall.

He messed with it for about ten minutes, then just reset the alarm, which went off immediately, making my head look like this.  Boy that thing is LOUD!!

Poor Cooper was shaking in his boots.  Back to the control panel ... this is not mine by the way, but a picture of a different brand from the internet ... he pushed another twenty buttons and announced it was fixed.  YAY!!  Truly, this house is like Fort Knox, for which I'm thankful.  I'm back in business!

I spent some time in the sewing room, working on another quilt using leftover fabric.  I've been trying to come up with something for these four leather pictures for ages.  Maybe this time I'll succeed!

That's when Cooper began barking up a storm.  Someone was in the back yard.  It's rather disconcerting when someone shows up at your house to do work and doesn't bother to knock on the door to let you know they are there.  It was the painters, back to check the wall.  They are lucky they didn't get shot!  You really don't want to be sneaking around my house without telling me.

The test wall was washed down with soapy water the day before.  It seems to have worked.  By the afternoon when the sun was full on, you couldn't see anything.  It just looked like fresh paint.  That meant they had to wash BOTH walls hanging off a ladder at about the 15 foot level.  I'm waiting one more day for another picture to see if it holds.

They finished up some painting on door and window frames before gathering up all their six ladders and mucho buckets.  I was hoping they might leave a canvas or two, but they all got picked up.  Then they swept the entire area.  That was nice ..... and they were gone!  

I have to admit I was kind of happy ... no more being extra careful not to scare them to death in the early morning hours before I make myself presentable.  And no more scaring ME when they show up unannounced.

Ahhhh I've got the whole afternoon to recover from Bingo.  It didn't last long though.  I just can't seem to sit still.  I gathered up more leftover fabric and cut it into strips.  This pattern will look very familiar to Miss Patty.  It's our super easy favorite.

It's going to be a busy one ... put on your sunglasses ... but I'll be happy to have four yards less material to store.  As usual, the pictures don't reflect the real colors very well.

Next up I spent an hour or so working on my emails.  I had to wade through 445 of them, with only about ten worth reading.  SO MUCH SPAM!!!  I keep getting notices from PAYPAL that say So-and-So has sent in a claim of $500 on my account.  If I don't respond, it's going to be paid out.  Funny thing, I haven't had a PayPal account in about 15 years.  

I've been blocking these guys til the cows come home but they still show up.  This morning I discovered a tiny three dot icon to click on.  Apparently I can make them go directly to jail, NOT passing GO!  I knew I could, I just couldn't find the WHERE to do it!  Sayonara my scammer friends.  Now instead of just a red hand on your email, you will get the red hand of death and be deleted immediately!!!  I can't tell you how satisfying THAT is!!!

Tonight is yet another Elks late dinner.  I think it's Construction Night.  You wouldn't think having steak, potatoes and a vegetable two nights a month would be boring, but it gets that way quickly.  Dinner will be followed by another raffle (I don't buy in any more) and a long meeting to vote on new members.  Every year we get the award for the most new members, which is a good thing I guess.  I think I feel a cold coming on ... I might just be too sick to attend.