One Success .... Two Failures

If you looked to the right as you were driving by the row of houses, you might have looked through the dirty window pane into the dim light of the computer resting on the table ... to see someone going bonkers as they jumped up and down doing a little happy dance.  

Yup ... I caught the fox on video.  This is right after he broke the egg on the concrete, having been scared by the click of my camera as I sat stick still in the back of the RV.  I'm pretty sure there was not one, but at least two roaming around the yard.  Each video had them coming back again and again within just a few minutes, hoping to find one more egg.

He must have been bitten by the same thing that I was.  He's itchy in several of the TWENTY EIGHT videos the camera recorded.  I was in Seventh Heaven, watching every one of them.  

I'm conducting a little experiment.  It's interesting that the coyotes in Arizona actually love to play with dog toys.  So completely without his permission, I stole one of Cooper's toys and left it by the camera.  I'm curious to see if they pick it up.  

In the meantime I was actually able to sew this huge thing together.  Still not finished however, it needs two borders to be complete.  I'm beginning to wonder if it will fit on my quilting machine.  It will definitely be a winter quilt ... it weighs a ton!!

SUPRISE!!  My Halloween candy came right on time.  No, no it didn't.  It's actually a week late, but at least it got here.  This time it was packed with an ice pack.  The last time they gave me the entire box for free since it had melted.  Yeah, I ate it anyway because melted chocolate tastes almost as good.  I'm sort of hoping no one shows up to trick or treat so I'll have candy hidden in my freezer to snack on.

As the day passed, I decided it was time for lunch.  I thawed out a package of hamburger.  I would like to note, there is hamburger (ground fat and gristle) and there is HAMBURGER, actual ground beef.  Sadly, I got unlucky with the first kind.  If there's anything a cattle rancher hates, it's bad beef.  This was as bad as it gets.

I took half and made a new recipe of taco soup.  There's so much tomato in this recipe that it turned out very sour, not to mention the terrible bits of tough beef.  When you cook up hamburger and it stays in the exact same squiggly shape it was in the container, you know it's going to be bad.  I choked down a bowl full ..... it was terrible.  Maybe the fox will eat it??

The other half of the package was made into meatloaf for the freezer.  I absolutely love a big helping of meatloaf sandwich.  Oh my gosh ... this was absolutely worse than the soup.  Then it dawned on me.  I checked the package for the words GRASS FED.  It didn't say that, but that's exactly what it tasted like.  Tough, full of gristle ... an epic failure.  That's TWO cooking failures in one day.  I hate being wasteful, but I'm not sure I can tough it out this time.

At least the day ended on a nice note as I snuggled with Cooper on the couch.  Tonight is penguin night at the lodge.  Tuxedos are required to be worn by us out of shape old folks, for yet another late night for the chicken who wants to fall asleep when the sun goes down.  

Thanks for stopping by ... I'll be finishing up my cup of coffee on the patio this morning before finding something ELSE to eat today.

Hee Hee Hee ..... I Outfoxed The Peasants

It's that time again ... time to wake up and put the brain in gear.  It's a hard proposition after a long night of Bingo.  Even worse if that's followed up by aches and pains from sitting on a tiny tall stool for six hours.  Oh my aching butt!!!  A little downward doggie yoga helps, but not as much as those first few sips of fake coffee.

It was your usual night .. chaos and fighting ensued as we corralled 134 people into our bingo parlor.  There were lots of new people, which requires lots of explanations on how to play.  This is not your one line of numbers bingo ... you have to get what the program says.  Sometimes it's an X, sometimes a flag (a line with four extra spots) ... it's never just one straight line.  

Then there is the 6-4-9 ... you need six together, four together ... you get the picture.  The minimum buy-in is $20, but most spend around $40.  Our ardent players will drop $75 each, not counting the OTHER cards they buy to play even MORE games.  Yeah ... it can get confusing and pricey.  The good thing is it's all for charity.  We donate every dime we make to local charities and activities involving children.  

But first ... once I stand up from typing the morning blog, I'm instantly accosted by this guy.  He gets pretty excited for a 12 year old because he wants to go OUTSIDE.  I have to spell that word too.  

Along the way I spotted this old tractor.  This is what I learned to drive with when I was six years old.  There was the Jeep if we had to go out on the actual dirt road, but the tractor was for changing the water in our pastures.  There were big wooden blocks wired on the clutch and brake and it steered like a Mac Truck ... but boy was it fun to drive.  

I spent the morning working on this same old quilt.  At least I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel now.

In case you were wondering, I've become a pro at ironing.  Not really, don't look too close.  Every time you stitch a seam, it has to be ironed.  The back of this quilt is just crazy!!!

In the afternoon, I ended up cooking.  You know I'm not so good at this, but a friend kept posting these great recipes and dared me to make this one.  Chicken pot pie soup.  I figured if I tried it once and it was bad, she would never ask me again!!

I was shocked that it was so easy.  Chicken from an already roasted one, onions and garlic cooked in butter, followed by flour to make a roux, before adding the liquid.  It called for two cups of cream (I can't believe I actually did that instead of trying to make it "lighter"), along with some chicken broth and Better Than Bouillon (or whatever it's called).  

Lastly I dumped in the chicken, frozen peas and carrots and a chopped up already microwave-cooked potato.  In less than 30 minutes, it was done.  Surprisingly, it got rave reviews from the four people who ate it.  It was a little salty for me, even though I left out THREE bouillon cubes, but tasted pretty darn good!  This is a keeper.

So now I'm off to the Magic Castle for my weekly fill of NO, NO and NO.  NO you can't split a pack, NO you can't take up two seats at the table and NO, the dobbers (used to mark the cards) are not free.

We moved right along as I trained a new gal on the infernal machine ... she did GREAT ... before the fray began.  I understand cranky old ladies, but at least I don't throw money at people.  I work as fast as I can, so you have to be a little patient.  Throwing dollar bills at my face because you have to wait for two minutes, gets you kicked out.  Maybe you should have bought those cards the first two times you came to the table.

We were lucky on this night to suppress a major knock down drag out because the gal came and talked to me first.  That's a rarity. It appears the group of people behind her were not playing one particular game, so they were talking loud, cussing, belching, talking on their phones and otherwise being disruptive and rude.  

The gal said she was going to "go off on them" in the next ten minutes.  I asked her to go sit down so I could see where the problem was, and to give me a chance to fix the situation.  The King and I had a quick conversation, whereupon he did a walk-by, soothing the savages and quieting the troublemakers.  It's always a delicate dance, but outfoxing the peasants is satisfying.

Here's an example of the things spread out on the tables, although this is a small cache.  Every good luck charm they come across for whatever reason, is carried to every single game.  If they don't win, they add to it the next week.  

I would note that this particular pile hasn't worked even one tiny bit of magic in the past six months.  

And so the night ended as I fell into bed, trashing around for the next five hours from nightmares.  Maybe it was the soup!!

I finally received my batteries for the critter cam today, so I'll be setting it up forthwith.  Now to outfox the fox!!

Out Foxed Yet Again

 I absolutely love this time of year.  There's no drone from the air conditioning unit as dollar signs fly through my head.  Only the cool October air, which means I have to turn on Jon's heater.  It's a heat lamp (no light) for an aquarium, like what you would use to keep your snake warm.  For not emitting light, it sure draws a lot of power.  I can instantly tell when Jon's cold ... he shivers ... so it's time to turn it on.  

In the next couple of days, I'll be testing out how long the batteries in the rig will last when I have his heating pad plugged in.  Hopefully the result is "long enough".

I hate to admit it, but I've been outfoxed yet again ... completely skunked in the egg department.  Once again the egg has mysteriously disappeared.  Here's a closeup in-your-face kind of short video ... wait for it.

I've never EVER seen a fox in this country (even out on the ranch) in the daylight.  Here's a couple of cute pictures so you can see what they look like.  There's a dark black ribbon running down their tail which makes it easier to identify each one.

All I know is they are really cute and slink around like .... well, like a fox!  Not to be outfoxed, I noted the time on the last egg disappearance.  I was determined to see what had snatched the eggs.  I strategically located one right in front of the big window on the RV.  

At 7:20 I was sitting with my camera ready.  There was a bit of movement ... remember, it's pitch dark outside ... and wait ..... something just ran off.  Are you kidding me?  I switched on my flashlight for a quick look see.  YUP ... that was the tail of a fox.  He actually came out from under the RV, tried to snatch the egg and ran off into the corral in less than one second.

The camera has a 1 second delay which cannot be changed.  So THAT'S why I haven't been able to film them.  He dropped the egg and it broke, so I waited patiently for him to come back.  You cannot see these guys in the dark at all.  I guess I need my night vision goggles.  Too bad I don't have any.  

I watched the slight blurry movements in the dark as he lapped up the broken egg, eating the shell and all.  Maybe, just maybe, when he came back, the camera tripped.  I'll check it out this morning.

In the meantime, I've been trying to get this quilt finished up and off my wall.  As you can see, it takes up the entire space and then some.  I couldn't force myself to drive all the way to the quilt shop to find out whether or not to cut off those teeth you see on the right side.  I just whacked them off and carried on.  

I'm sewing the strips together, then will sew the entire thing together, add two borders and I'll be done.

Dinner was quick, easy and vegetarian.  I think that's a first in this house, only because I didn't have any meat thawed out.  Really, it doesn't matter WHAT you put sweet corn on, it's GOOD!!

I only had one OH CRAP incident that of course involved the Government.  Who else would steal from you!  I decided I would't pay for that post office box any more and have gone paperless on absolutely everything.  That's pretty hard for an accountant to do.  I even talked to the guy at the post office who said I had until the 10th of November to decide.

What do I get yesterday in my email box?  The #$&@#$# post office charged my credit card $400 ... yes my friends ... $400 for one year.  I tried to get it reversed or refunded, but they refused.  The credit card company was no help.  So now I'm paying this ridiculous amount to get maybe one or two letters and a boxful of advertising crap.  Nancy is NOT a happy camper!!!  I'm not going to give up ... I'm determined to get a refund!

In other news ..... IT'S BINGO NIGHT!!!!!  And I'm supposed to bring some chicken pot pie soup for a friend who sends me these crazy recipes.  THIS is going to be interesting, to say the least!!

Houston - We Have A Problem

 Good morning from the backyard of nowhere California while I savor my morning caffeine.  There's not much better than taking a nice big deep breath, then sipping a swallow of fake coffee in the cool morning air.  COUGH, CHOKE, COUGH ..... Uh oh .... the SKUNKS are back!!  Yet again.  I'm not sure whose dog is running loose in the neighborhood, or maybe someone has set out traps.

Let me just expound on skunkology.  When they are afraid, like when you are chasing them with a pitchfork, or maybe the local dogs are having a fun fest, they spray just a little each time.  After all, they need to keep some for the next dummy who attacks them.

HOWEVER ... when you smell something THIS strong THIS fast, it's because they died and let everything fly all at once.  That's what happened last Monday and now again this morning.  It's pretty bad, to say the least.  I made a mad dash into the house to turn my AC fans off.  No use sucking in all that nice "parfumee" to ruin my day.

My second weirdness of the day was this.  The night before, I put out two eggs for the foxy twins, hoping to capture them on video.  To test it out, I got this nice picture of the trash in my yard that needs to be hauled off, along with the eggs.  Yup ..... it's working.

Next morning when I checked the camera, because I knew I had a cool video since the eggs were gone, there was absolutely nothing.  No video of anyone or anything taking the eggs.  Houston, we have another problem.

The second video (there were only two) showed this.  The eggs are gone.  So just what TOOK the eggs and why didn't the video capture it?  I've no doubt it was this guy, but WHY is it not on the video?  They must have magic powers that stopped the camera from recording.

I tested the camera three more times and it worked every time.  I have pictures of my fingers and arm to prove it.  I guess I'll try it again.  In case you were wondering, my egg cartons got mixed up and these are more than 30 days past the pull date.  I doubt the foxes care.

And so I went back to sewing the edging on this quilt, finally finishing it up.  Two down, three to go ... I think.

Then I went back to working on this monstrosity.  It's so big I now have a ladder placed in front to be able to reach the top row.  I picked up the last of the fabric for this quilt and began sewing up a storm to finish the triangles edges.

Sixteen of them, each made with 20 pieces.  Big sigh .... SO MUCH WORK!!  I really wasn't in the mood for this, but I need to get it off my wall.

Okay Houston ... massive error here.  I swear to you, the picture in the directions shows the tips cut off just as I have done here.  Obviously that's not right.  I'm a little afraid to just whack it off in case I'm wrong and ruin a very expensive project.  SO ...... I'm taking one section BACK to the quilt shop so they can direct me since they've already made it.  

While there, I also hope to get the name of the actual pattern they used to quilt it.  If I'm really really lucky, I might even get all those parts and pieces sewn together, assuming of course that I'm not out chasing skunks out of my yard.

Just for fun, here's a new way to make potatoes.  Truly, I don't know why you would want to go through all this trouble when you could just plop a pile of mashed potatoes on the plate.  Still, they do look pretty yummy ... if they come out of the pan.  I may just have to try it and see.

Just for giggles, I put out ONE more egg last night to see if I can catch whoever is sneaking them ... or magically making them disappear.  Maybe it's a ghosty, since it IS Halloween soon.

It may be the fact that I'm using regular batteries, which don't have enough power to turn on fast enough.  I've ordered them, but Amazon seems to be slowing down.  They seem to be having trouble charging up their electric vans in the State that is turning everyones electricity off because they can't produce enough. 

Uh ..... Houston????? 

Pictures Say It All

Good morning from my 54 degree patio with dew-covered grass.  It seems fall has arrived in good form.  The best part ... my AC unit has not turned on once in the last three days.  Woot Woot!!!

Here's the latest trail cam image of the lovely who graces my back yard.  It's interesting to note that the kitty kitties are no longer wandering the premises.  I mean the cats, not the skunks, who continue to wander the front yard, leaving a few traces of stink here and there.

The first order of the day was to head on off to the little farm town north of me to the only quilt store within 60 miles.  The last of my block-of-the-month fabric had arrived, and since it was paid for, I wanted to be sure I picked it up.

My trusty ex-tow car "the Jeep" ran like a champ.  I reconnected the battery and figured a nice long drive would be good enough to get the battery charged up.  I have a trickle charger I could leave on while I'm gone, but I don't like leaving things plugged in.  Sadly, she needed fuel to keep going.  I checked my Gas Buddy and found the cheapest to be at my usual station about ten miles away.  Rarely do I drive out of my way for fuel because it wastes too much fuel getting there.  It happens however that it was right on my way.

I almost had a heart attack!!  Fuel was four-something when I left two months ago and look at it now!!!  This was only 3/4 of a tank!!

Costco, the cheapest gas in Merced was $6.05.  I know I keep railing on this, but it's ridiculous!!!  I can stay home, but what about everyone who has to work?  Families cannot afford to be ripped off like this.  Obviously, a picture is worth a thousand words!!!

Unfortunately, prices like that DO keep me off the highways and byways looking for adventure.  I'm stuck cutting up tiny pieces for the last 16 triangles in order to finish up this quilt.  Never EVER let me do this again!!  Gee .. only 30 seams for ONE triangle!!!

I did make one stop on the way back, only because it's right on the road I have to travel to get home. Finally, after FOUR previous stops, Habit Burger got my order correct.  I'm pretty sure this will be the last one I ever have because I was WAY over full and miserable for the rest of the entire day!!  And I didn't even eat HALF of the fries!!

This picture screams SPOILED!!  Even though I was trying to sew on my quilt, the ball games never stop.  He carefully places it on the couch, then gives it a push with his nose.

Then he waits .... never taking his eyes off the prize .... until I push it back to him.  This goes on for five or six times before I flick it off the couch.  In less than ten seconds, it's back.

Although I gave up baseball completely when they did the kneeling thing, switching out to rodeo where they stand with their hand over their hearts while the flag goes by before they say a prayer, I decided to watch the playoffs since nothing else was on TV.  

This picture says it all.  If you win 3 of 5 games, you go to the next level.  The Seattle Mariners were playing the Houston Astros, who had already won 2 games.  If Seattle could win THIS game, they would get a chance to play one more.  

I tuned in at about the third inning.  The score was 0-0 and it remained that way through an epic 18 innings!!  Played in Seattle, the crowd stood up almost the entire 5-1/2 hours through inning after inning, just waiting for ONE run.  It never happened.  Houston's rookie player finally hit a home run.  Seattle still had one chance to do the same, but it never happened.  It was edge-of-your seat baseball for almost 6 hours.

Sadly, Seattle's best chance after 22 years, was dashed.  Houston is moving on.

And that was it for the day.  This morning Cooper and I will check the game camera before heading out for a nice long walk, his second favorite pastime.

Pups, Parrots and Pondering

This right here ..... it's hard to do anything when you have this sweet boy snuggling up to you every morning.  He's doing just fine since he's back on his achey-all-over pills.  I thought about getting some of those for myself.  I seem to get creakier every day.  As much as I hate just sitting around, he gets my undivided attention for the first couple hours of the day.

I think it was Loree who asked about Jonathan.  He survived yet another trip from Tucson, although he seems to be a little worse for wear.  Jon is still tearing up his cage in the bottom corner, so he must still feel pretty good at 48 years old.  

I'm been putting off his toenie trim ... those claws grow like dandelions and must be cut off about once a month.  It's a wild dance as I hold him on my finger while sneaking up with the big clippers, trying not to get bit.  Believe me, he can bite like a tiger and boy does it HURT!!  I can usually get it done over three days.  

Parrots are smart and they have a great memory.  When he was young, I had to wrap him in a towel and give him shots in the belly twice a day.  It's amazing that he survived that illness not once, but TWICE.  Any time you move toward him with your hands, he's on the fight.  Can't blame him one bit.  My goal for today is to get two more clipped without any blood ... MINE of course.

Fall has finally arrived as I donned a jacket for coffee-on-the-patio.  Fog rolled into my back yard, reminding me I haven't gotten any pumpkins for the onslaught of kids.  Not really ... I think trick or treating has gone the way of the dinosaurs.  I just finally threw out the candy from two years ago.  It will be interesting to see if anyone shows up this year.

I'm so happy to find that Foxy was back again last night.  It just amazes me they can climb over my six foot tall fence every night.  I may have to put an egg or two down by the gopher holes to entice them into having steak for dinner.

I did notice a problem with my critter cam.  They only recommend a certain type of battery, not alkaline, which I'm out of.  With fuel so expensive, and as much as I hate it, I'm back to ordering everything from Amazon.  You do have to check your prices first, but I usually get delivery the next day (or maybe two days) at their expense.  

Printer ink is another problem since it tends to dry out quickly.  Before leaving, I put mine in the fridge, so it lasts longer.  This time it was empty, so again, I ordered it on Amazon and got a lower price than in town.  Better to save my diesel for quilting exploration ... and even FABRIC can be ordered online ... although I prefer to support my local store.

One down, five to go?  

This is my latest find on Amazon.  It's so hard to see when hand sewing the binding on these quilts.  I have only been able to work when the light comes through a specific window.  Just hang this baby around your neck (it's very comfortable) and you can adjust the lights to whatever angle you want.  

I can now sew twice as fast as previously because I can actually see what I'm doing.  I'm thinking they will also be a boon for getting cactus spines out of your fingers.

Here's my time saving hint of the day, and of course it involves CAKE!!  I used a box mix, adding more chocolate to it along with two tablespoons of mayo (a tip from a professional baker), before baking in four 5 inch pans.  When done (and still pretty warm) I wrap the layers in plastic wrap, then in foil and stick them in the freezer.  

When I get a hankering for cake, I just bring out one layer, slice it in half and stack it up with lots of frosting.  VOILA ... let them eat cake!!!!  This one is from 3 months ago and it's amazing just how fresh it is.  Since this is only 5 inches across, it's perfect for me.  Moist and delicious!!  And I've got THREE MORE IN THE FREEZER!!  Woohoo!

I made up my list and am checking it twice.  I'm pondering a trip to the quilt store (oh darn) to pick up the last of the fabric from that block-of-the-month quilt.  I'll take the Jeep and get fuel along the way, hoping it doesn't leave me alongside the road somewhere.  I'm always nervous about the batteries upon my return.  

And NOW ... it's time to check the critter cam!!

It's A Curse

 It's a curse I tell you ... getting up with the chickens.  Those early days on the ranch, getting up and saddling your horse before daylight so you could be pushing the cattle into the corral by the time the light hit the horizon, have never left me.  The days were long and filled with hard work.  Maybe that's where my "I can't sit still" came from.  

It was another of those crazy days getting bank accounts straightened out, since I discovered ALL my automatic payments were deleted.  I frantically worked for another two hours making sure they would be paid on time.  I found one bill, to who else but the gardener, that the bank said had not been paid.  Come to find out it was paid ... TWICE!   Big sigh!!

And in a flash, morning time on the patio has passed by.  It's a chilly 52 degrees this morning, too cold to keep my coffee hot.

I had one moment of excitement as I ran through the game camera pictures of nothing.  My Foxy friend is still hanging around.  That's very cool since I now have three big dirt piles in my lawn, meaning the gophers are back!!  What a perfect tasty snack for them!

This kid of mine who really needs to take his pills that I just spent a fortune for, took up 30 minutes of my morning while I tried to fool him into TAKING that pill.  He loves scrambled eggs, so every morning he gets several bites.  I figured hiding the pill in that would be easy.  Apparently that oleander he licked in Indio didn't mess with his taste buds one tiny bit.  He spit the pill out four times before I finally got it down his throat.  

Then it was on to crossing stuff off my list.  I have sticky notes all over the house with things that need to be done.  First off .. hook the battery back up in the Jeep.  It was a tad slow to start, so I hope it's okay.   Sadly, both vehicles require some go-go juice, so I'm trying to be conservative when it comes to everything else.  Gas is now $5.95 and diesel $6.39.  I'm pretty sure that's DOUBLE what it was two years ago.  There's a word for that ........

Next up ... clean out the fridge and freezer.  Since I took the truck only this last trip, I left lots of things behind, including this bottle of balsamic vinegar.  I'm pretty sure this doesn't have a Use By date, since it's usually aged something like ten years before it even goes on the market.

This bottle came from the Astoria Market the last time I was in Oregon ... maybe seven years ago?  Maybe even more.  I stumbled upon a recipe for pork loin with garlic and balsamic.  It's time to put this to good use.

It's magic .... I found two big packages of pork loin in the freezer!!  The best part was the recipe that called for this to be cooked in a crock pot.  Of course browning them first is not my favorite part, but once done, I covered it with garlic (the paste variety), some Italian seasoning (I faked it because I couldn't find any in the cupboard) and poured on the balsamic.

While I waited not so patiently for it to cook and fill the house with wonderful smells, I began work sewing the binding on those quilts.   One anyway, as it takes two days to do just one small quilt by hand.

Soon it was time to extract that hunk of pork.  It looked delicious, but the taste would tell.  I thought it might be a little overdone, but after four hours on high, it came out perfect.  I think I didn't add enough balsamic because I could barely taste it.  Note to self ... make it swim next time.  All in all, a quite tasty lunch.

Why not dinner?  Because I had an Elks Lodge Trustee meeting to attend at 5:00.  No one wants to attend these long drawn out meetings, but most everyone does.  We laugh, tell jokes and sometimes even get some work done.  This one went on WAY too long for everyone's taste.  I held out on my coke since I really wanted to sleep last night.   It didn't work out that way.  

The nightmares were epic as I crawled through a window into the meeting of Generals, trying to find my way home.  I should write a book on these escapades!  The time before that I was sitting on the banks of the Nile. It's probably a curse or maybe a loose screw from my horse falling on me when I was seven.

Time to check the game camera.

My Brain Working Overtime

I'm back on the patio, this time sipping my cup-o-caffeine that doesn't expire until the end of this month.  Guess I better have more than one cup a day for awhile so I'm not throwing money away.  I'm a little slow this morning, having worked my brain overtime yesterday.  

I finally got everything out of the truck and into the house.  It looks like a tornado ripped through the living room.  

The first order of business was to make myself presentable ... not the scary wicked witch of the west ... and head to the Post Office to check my mail.  SO much mail!  It's all ads of one sort or another.  The stack of keepable envelopes was 2 inches high.  The throwaways at 18 inches would keep a fire going for hours.  

That brought on a frenzy of computer work, like bees in a hive.  I've been going paperless for the last six months, but no one seems to be getting the message.  Then there's all that nasty property tax that has to be paid ... ugh!!  I'm an accountant ... I should be better at keeping up with this stuff.

Just to keep me going, as I was scrounging in the freezer for Cooper food, I spotted an old butterfinger.  No date on this one, but I know it's been in there for two years.  What the heck ... candy doesn't go bad, right?  WRONG!!  An hour later my stomach revolted.  BAD butterfinger!!!

That brought about yet another problem ... it seems the chopped garlic lid wasn't on quite tight enough.  My fridge smells almost as bad as the skunks!!!  Any suggestions on how to get rid of THAT smell?

I tried to get a little organized in the sewing room by stacking up the quilts that need to be finished by hand, along with the binding.  I think I spent 90 minutes just trying to find the binding.  I have twelve boxes and I went though ever one of them twice.  

Yup ... this one is still hanging on the wall waiting for the last few pieces, which means a trip to the one and only quilt store here.  They have been holding the fabric for me.  This was an epic quilt to make.

It was then that I discovered one of my three packages had been delivered.  I checked Amazon, and of course it said all THREE were in my mailbox.  Nope ... not there.  It's extremely hard to contact Amazon, but I finally did, just to get someone who didn't speak English very well at all.  Big sigh!!  It took 45 minutes to get two more sent out with the promise if I ended up getting four, I would send two back.  

I really wanted my next project to be this wall hanging, designed and made by Arlene who works in the Green Valley Store.  How cool is that?  BUT .... I could only find the material, not the pattern.  Another two hours and I was frustrated and exhausted, still not having caught up on my sleep.

I went back through all those boxes AGAIN, to find nothing.  RATS!!  Maybe I left it in the store when I got the material.  I called just to be sure.  Nope ... not there she said.  So of course I had her send another pattern to me, at my expense.  Three hours later while wracking my brain about the upcoming RV Rally in Indio that I have to plan, DING DING DING!!  The light went on.  I found the pattern.  Now I'll have TWO!!  How nice!  It sucks getting old!!!

There was an Elks meeting last night, but I found myself glued to the couch.  No worries, there's yet ANOTHER one tonight!!  Now I understand why so many people don't show up for every meeting.  There are so MANY!!!

Things I accomplished:  I called the Elks Lodge for a lunch date for our group while in Indio, I ordered the ice cream for the rally, I found the pattern I wanted and all but one piece of binding, I got rid of the skunk smell by lighting 25 candles in the house, I sorted through the mail and discovered a post office box bill for $400 a year (that's just ridiculous), transferred money all over the place to pay my property tax, went to the grocery store for ice cream (can't live without ice cream) and Cooper food and still had time to play with Cooper on the floor.  

It was a good but brain exhausting day!!  

BACK TO BINGO!!

 WHERE'S MY COFFEE?????

This is my early morning view from the patio.  It's dark and cool and calming.  Not enough to let me go back to sleep of course, but something I enjoy doing while kicking the ball for Cooper.  As I'm sipping my coffee, I noticed a "different" taste.  I double checked the can-au-cafe.  

Who would ever think to check the date stamp on your coffee?  You might want to take a look see.  You know how it goes, it's "Best" by Mar 2023.  "Sort of Best" by Mar 2022.  "Okay" by Mar 2021.  "UH OH" by Mar 2020.  THIS can said "WHY IN THE GOOD LORD'S NAME ARE YOU DRINKING THIS REALLY OLD CRAP"!!!!!  Mar 2018.  YIKES!  No wonder it tastes so bad.  

I had a really hard time letting it go from my fingertips, but the can only had maybe four cups of coffee left in it, as it dropped into the trash.  If it tasted better, I might have toughed it out.

First things first ... replace the AC filters.  That's means a really tall ladder.  It's not fun, but I do everything in slow motion.  With the doors and windows open and the fans on, I go into the bedroom to make the bed.  

I heard the dog barking, but usually pay no attention.  It's not MY dog, thank goodness.  When I wandered back into the living room .... O M G !!!!!!  You know what it is ... SKUNK!!!  Seriously????  My entire house was now enrobed in the lovely stink of dog versus skunk.  I ran to the windows and slammed them shut.  Too late.  My house now reeks of the combination of two sses ..... stale and skunk.

I just shook my head and looked out the window.  Surely they aren't in MY backyard!!  I threw on my ca-boy boots and made the long walk around the edges.  There has been lots of digging along with two HUGE piles of you-know-what, but I'm sure that's all foxy droppings.  

There was one very small hole, but most of the smell was coming from way over the fence.  Someone is going to be very mad they let their dog outside.  I can't tell you how happy I am it wasn't ME.

Try as I might to get some shuteye before heading out to the Castle, it wasn't to be.  It's BINGO TIME!  I arrived right at the appointed bewitching hour and headed upstairs to the highest tower for a refreshing and eye opening coke.  

I have to admit, I am SO SO lucky to have a wonderful gal named Jackie who sets up everything for me.  On this day I even talked her into learning the infernal machine.  She's the perfect combination ... smart and young!!!  Although being left handed makes it a little harder for her, she rang up everything in perfect order!!  Too bad she plays most of the night, but I'm sure will take over in a pinch.  I feel those pinches coming on .......

The King said he rang up 140 people last week.  Did I mention he called me three times (in Arizona) about how to do stuff?  On this night, it was only 135 peasants who all came to win the $1199 pot.  Add our $250 to that and you've got a good night's wages.  There were lots of new pitchforks, swords and knives accompanied by peasants, many saying they had never done this before.  That requires our speech of how to play, followed up with DO NOT LOSE THAT RED TICKET!  

On this night, one gentleman came to the table with cards in hand, saying he was really sick and needed to go home.  Oh good .... as I backed my chair up a tad.  At least he kept his receipt as requested.  I'm pretty sure when he got a look at the ways you have to get the numbers on the cards in order to win, he was instantly sorry he had joined up.  

It's not your normal 5 numbers in a straight line.  Some have a line with 4 extra squares, some the letter X to win.  Every game is completely different.  He held out his papers, sufficiently handled to give me his personal little flu bugs.  Believe me, if you've ever worked Bingo, you know about the unsanitary offerings of the public.

To be honest, I'm sure he just didn't want to admit he was completely overwhelmed because it wasn't just regular kids Bingo.  I refunded his money, but moved the papers to the trash can by way of a paper napkin.  No use taking any chances!!!

There was one last "problem" who comes every week with an attitude like a badger.  No kidding ... she's a pistola!!!  I always ask if she needs any cash back from her debit card.  She looks at me with glaring red eyes and says NO!!!!  I'VE GOT CASH!!!  

Thirty minutes later, she's throwing her debit card at me wanting cash.  Once she got it, she threw the cash at me wanting more cards.  Yes, I mean literally THREW it at me.  It's very hard to be civil to the peasants (especially this one), but I do my best.  

And so the night finally ended, although the infernal machine was off $3.00.  I was too tired to figure it out.  I finally fell into bed at midnight.  That didn't leave much time for sleep since Cooper always needs to go out at 4:00 am.   

So much unpacking to do ... but first, maybe a little C A T nap!!  Never say that word around Cooper.