BUBBLES NO MORE!!

 Good morning once again!!!  I can't believe March has almost marched right off the map.  Time has never gone by this fast in my entire life.  I remember many days of walking around the house feeling like the day last THREE days.  

I know ... more puppy pictures.  But this kid .... he's my very best buddy and I loves him!!

He wanted to share breakfast with me, but prefers scrambled eggs.  On this morning it was corned beef hash.  Not really since I was out of onions, but I fried up the leftover potatoes and beef for a fabulous breakfast!!  

When I was in the running zone and would drive to San Francisco every weekend to train on the hills for marathons, there was a tiny little hole-in-the-wall restaurant up a scary set of stairs that made the best corned beef hash EVER.  I went there every morning.  Oh how I miss their great food!!

I digress ... back to those lovely bubbles!!  I really wasn't feeling the vibe I got from the RV repair guy.  The thought of cleaning out lots of stuff from the van, to have them keep it for several days while replacing the entire propane tank, just didn't set well with me.  

When Mr. Ed sent this picture to me, I said SELF?  Maybe all I need to do is replace this little gizzy with a new one!  Maybe ... just MAYBE all I need to do is find a guy who works with gas lines and NOT replace the entire tank.

That's when Ray called from Yuma, or Utah since I'm not sure exactly where they are at the moment.  He said go look at where the line is to the tank.  OKAY.

And this is what I found.  Well HEY ... if the line is leaking, which it obviously is with the soap test, there's no reason to replace the tank.  Ray said if it was HIM, he would just try to tighten the line.  Go get your crescent wrenches and see if it will tighten up.  Righty - tighty, right???

After several minutes, I finally got up the nerve to try it.  One on the inside, one on the outside ... and very carefully I began to turn it.  It actually took several tries to get it sort of tightened up because the wrench could only make a quarter turn.  A FULL turn in all.  Wow ... that was pretty LOOSE!

I can't believe it ..... did I FIX IT?  Eeeeeehaw and Hallelujah!!!!

I didn't want to over tighten it and strip something, so I waited a bit and tried the soap spray again.  This is what I got this time ... no big bubbles.  It's still not REAL tight, as in as hard as I could turn it.  So now I wonder if I open the relief valve, if it will UN-tighten again.  

I guess I will find out soon enough when I take it down and have the tank filled.  So for all you ladies out there ..... YOU CAN FIX IT!!  Though just to be sure, I'm going to have my local Firefighter friend do a double check.

And so I can't thank the guys in my life enough for sending me pictures, giving me ideas and telling me how to fix things!  Mr. Ed was right on the money when he said that part was the problem, and Ray for saying JUST DO IT!!

On the other hand, there is THIS guy ... this is the King of Bingo!  No there was no bingo last night, but there was a big birthday party for this guy at the Elks Lodge.  It was his 75th ... and his family set up a big happy hour with appetizers.  How could I miss THAT!

The food .... oh the food!!  The best mushrooms I've ever eaten, filled with cream cheese and BACON, topped with cheese!  I could have eaten 25 of them!!  

But I'll show you those pictures tomorrow.  There was an open bar and lots of dancing, not that I drank or danced, but I'm still tired from staying up too late.  I am, after all ..... OLD!!  

Flags and Gas

 Hello California ..... the sun isn't shining yet, but night spring has arrived.  Here it is almost April and our nighttime temps are all the way up to 47.  Scheduled to be 50 this week.  The days however, are another story ... STILL not wanted to heat up over 65 degrees.  What's up with that?  

First thing very early, I was off to Wally World.  If you don't go early around here, you can't find a spot in the parking lot.  Everyone goes there for food now ... even me.  I've never been happy with their quality, but the local Mexican market never takes anything off their shelves due of the pull date (bags-o-salad had a pull date of 3/15 and they were literally gross) and the other market is so expensive, only Hollywood stars can afford to shop there.

So looky here ... WalMart is now taking advantage of its customers.  Eggs were $12.00 for 18, then down to $6.00, but now right back up to $11.76.  That's a BIG ripoff.  Why lower one week and back up the next?  Every person I saw looked at the price and walked right on by, including me.

In the end, my groceries ... for a single person who doesn't eat much ... came to $167.00.  It's a good thing I have a good retirement because my Medicare is now up to $400 a month and my supplemental (doctors and hospital only) is $387 a month.  That's $787 a month for health insurance I never can use because we don't have any doctors around here.  I'm dragging out my horses medical bag.  At least that stuff is still affordable!

That's why I am EXTRA careful when climbing up ladders.  I don't need to set my own broken bones.  My flag was ripped and torn to shreds from all the winds we have had lately.  It was time for a new one.  I'm surprised it was still up there since the screws were coming out of the metal plate.  Luckily I got it done without falling off.

It wasn't the edges, but the inside flag itself that ripped.  I'll take this to our annual Flag Ceremony at the Lodge where we put them to rest.  They are later cremated.  RESPECT.

Next up ... a water bottle with soap to check for gas leaks.  Propane actually.  I've never done this before, so I don't know how much dish soap to use.  One good squirt and about a cup of water.  This is the pressure relief valve.  Instantly I saw a bunch of tiny bubbles around the valve.  I waited and sprayed it again, when the big bubbles appeared.

Problem was, I'm not sure if it was caused by the breeze or the tank.  I'm guessing the tank.  This is not good ... not good at all.  It's not leaking enough to smell, but I've lost at least half of an 8 gallon tank since returning, and that's assuming I used half while in Arizona.  

I called to make an appointment to fix it, but they didn't sound very happy.  They said they would probably have to order an entire tank, leaving the van there for a couple of months.  It doesn't look like that to me ... looks like you just have to replace that little valve thingy, but what do I know.

I told him I would make an appointment and bring it in, they could check it out and I would drive it home while they order parts.  This guy wasn't too happy with that, but too bad.  My only alternative is to go to the shop where I bought it ... but they are jerks.  Soooooo ..... I think my best bet is to try and get it fixed locally while it's still under warranty ... though I do have an extended warranty on it.  This way if it blows up, it's on them!!

After a quick nap because Cooper and I both fell asleep on the couch, having been up way too late, I went to work on this quilt.  It's different, that's for sure.  All it needs now is two borders ... red and black most likely ... and it will be ready for quilting.  I'm thinking I need to find some flannel for backing to make it soft and cozy.  

There was a bit of a flurry when I discovered my house insurance was due.  It's weird ... my house insurance went down even though the value is through the roof, my Jeep insurance went down while everyone else's went up ... but my TRUCK ... my 20 year old truck insurance went up.  Isn't it supposed to go down every year?  The good news is I'm all paid up on everything, though my bank account is crying.  

Now for the driver's license.  I don't know who made up this rule, but all that is required of someone over 70 is an eye test, a picture, a thumbprint and $48.  No testing of any kind ... not written or driving.  That's kind of scary, right?  Be careful who you are driving next to in California.  I'm sure that will be an all day adventure, so I'm waiting to make my appointment until I have a week off.

In the meantime, everyone have a GREAT day.  Spring is coming even if she is dragging her feet.

Will Wonders Never Cease!!

 HELLO SPRING!!  I say that every morning when I go outside because they said it's springtime.  It may be spring time somewhere, but NOT here.  It's a cool 43 with a high of 65 today.  The good news is my gas bill is down from $379 for one month, to $108.  Yup ... it's as cold inside as outside!!

Mr. Cooper and I went into the wild blue yonder, though it was more gray and blue.  The smells on this route are many, meaning I spend a lot of time standing there doing nothing.  When we get done, I do a lot of time standing there while picking stickers out of his fur.

This is Mr. Cooper's morning spot after our walk.  He's a go-getter.  Once back and after playing with the ball for about 15 minutes, he gets his mandatory three-snack snack, and don't try to cheat him out of one.  He knows how to count.  That's followed by an hour of sleep while I type.  I'm sure it's because he's exhausted from getting up and down on the couch half the night.  My meeting last night was almost 5 hours long.

It was Irish night at the lodge.  I'm a big fan of corned beef, but mostly when it's in a big sandwich with lots of thousand island dressing.  Throw in a few onion rings from Big Nose Kate's Saloon in Tombstone and you have the perfect meal for me.

This one is a little different.  They have been cooking this meal for the last three days.  No kidding ... it takes a village to cook this stuff for 150 people.  I could leave the cabbage and onions, but I have to admit, they did it right.  The cabbage is not mushy.  Add to that a big piece of freshly baked rye bread ... no kidding, fresh baked ... and you have a meal stacked four inches high and falling off the plate.  I brought 3/4 of it home.

And then THIS happened.  There I was, eating my food after having collected all the tickets, not paying one bit of attention to the guy on the stage giving out awards.  I knew he was doing it, but I never in a million years would have thought he would call my name. 

GET UP NANCY ... GET UP!!  What?  Why?  They called your name .... get up on stage.  BUT WHY?  I think I said BUT WHY about six times as I walked up because I had not a clue in the world.  I should probably pay a little more attention to what's going on.

That's when I found out I was Officer of the Year!!  What a shock!!  I was just doing my job and helping out the ER.  Will wonders never cease.  

I took a picture in the hallway just because.  That's pretty nice of them to notice the time I put in at the lodge.  

I would like to say it ended there, but there was of course the meeting to follow.  Elks Park and Bingo made a donation to cover all the fabric and batting I need for the Veteran quilts I'm making.  Not everyone was happy with that ... well ONE was not happy with that, but she was outvoted.  Unfortunately, that means the Quilt Guild's share is cut in half.  I will probably have to donate to them this year to make up for it.  At least I get to write it off my taxes!!

That means my sewing machine is going to be smoking for the next few months.  Let's hope I can get them done in time for the big Veterans Party we have later in the year.  

I'm off this morning to big Wally World ... grocery list in hand.  There's nothing like hob-knobbing with the bedroom slipper crowd early in the morning.  

By the way ... after every lodge dinner, we have a raffle.  Want a good laugh?  One of the raffle prizes was a flat of eggs!!!!!!!

A Burst Of Energy

 46 degrees ... feels like 29.  Coats and boots are still required in not so sunny California.  The weather guessers say we are looking at two weeks of nothing above 66.  So far that hasn't kept my grass from growing ... or the weeds for that matter.  I called the Weed Man, but they say it's too early in the season, too wet and too windy.

Ahh gee whiz .. it's too windy for me to spray weed killer.  That meant I got to spend another hour on the couch with my kid.

Then, out of nowhere came a surge of energy.  How weird was that!  The batteries on my property alarms were blinking red.  Time for a change.  The surgery was successful after cleaning out the meat bee wax stuck in the holes meant for screws.  The good news is that stuff keeps the screws IN so they don't fall on the ground, causing me to look for a needle in a haystack.  All done, all good ... even the kitties roaming the property can't get by these without me knowing it.

Speaking of which, I have a new resident black kitty in my back yard.  I've seen him several times in the last week, lurking out in the tall grass.  Thankfully, Mr. Cooper has not spotted him yet.  

Then it was back to the truck lights.  Those two bulbs I put in last month ... one burned out.  How could that be?  It was brand new?  Then someone said not to touch the bulb when putting it in.  Okay ... wait.  How can you put it in without touching it?  Something about the grease on your hands.  

So once again, I removed the headlight .....

And reached down inside to that white thing.  It turns, and out pops the bulb.  My replacement was NOT the same as the other one.  These are actually the ones now recommended because the others burn out.  Of course no one told me that before I replaced the others.  

Problem was, they were not the same COLOR either.  So I had to replace BOTH once again.  I used gloves this time, so we will see if the new ones keep shining brightly.  

Though I expected a nice quiet day at home, I got a call from the Elks Lodge.  Fifth Year Trustees get stuck with everything.  There was an unemployment request I had to fill out and send off.  Nice of them to give you 10 days, three of which it spent lounging in the Post Office, followed by 5 days sitting in the office.  I mailed it off myself.

Back home, I went for the quilting machine once again.  I could not for the life of me come up with a suitable pattern for this Elk quilt.  I thought to do the borders with different ones, but that's a lot of work and I have too many quilts to make in the next few months.  I settled for this one.

Everything went swimmingly until I heard the noise.  It's like an engine to me ... I can tell if something is not right.  It sounded like it needed oil, but in an instant I knew it was out of bobbin thread.  That big S shape ... that's just holes in the quilt.  

That means trying to get it set back up in the exact same tiny spec of a spot so you don't have TWO sets of holes.  This time it worked like a charm.  I must be getting better at this.

And here you have it.  I love this one ... it's one of my favorites that I made with no pattern, just the middle panel.  It's going on one of my walls.

I even had time to work on the puzzle a bit.  I think another 11 pieces found their home.  At this rate, I might have it finished by Christmas!!  Maybe .........

The burst of energy quickly disappeared as Mr. Cooper and I crashed on the couch watching a bit of rodeo.  Of course there is another trip to the Elks Lodge today.  It's corned beef and cabbage night.  I can take it or leave it ... mostly leave the cabbage.  This is the last meeting before the new guy takes over.  From here on it, it's Daisy, hold on to your hat!!!

Bloody Bingo!

 Woohoo ... it got COLD in California.  Here it is springtime and it's 37 degrees out.  If we are real lucky, it will get all the way up to 64 degrees on this day.  I guess it's going to stay that way because I see BRRR on the forecast every day for the next week.  Ohhh for some light and sunshine!!

You know what last night was, so let's get to it!

I had hoped to sleep in, but as normal, that didn't happen.  I was in trouble BIG TIME because Mr. King of the House is out of his normal most tasty treat.  He was having none of the ones available, and I can't blame him.  Have you ever SMELLED those things?  They are NASTY!!  And so time was spent on the internet trying to find the acceptable ones. 

I've discovered lately that Amazon has so many Other Sellers, that you never know where they are coming from or just how old they are!  If it weren't for the $5.00 difference in price, I would definitely buy local.  Instead, I spent an hour cooking up chicken in my instant pot and shredding it.  I tried to be sneaky and stick in a few carrots for good health, but they went the same route as the apple.  Spit out all over the floor.    I guess I'll stick with the stinky treats.

Lunch for me wasn't much better.  I discovered a container of spaghetti sauce way in the back of the freezer.  Trying to stick to a diet that never works, I fixed up a sloppy Joe sandwich.  After all, it was National Sloppy Joe Day.  What a mistake THAT was!  That's a Keto bun by the way ... and both gave me heartburn like a CHAMP!

Two hours later, this was me.  I was OFF TO BINGO!  If you are anywhere around this area driving near 3:30, this is my warning.  We have players who drive that should NOT be driving!  Three can barely walk, even with the buggies they push.  I'm not sure their legs work when it comes to brakes.  We have several concrete blocks in the parking lot that are covered in many colors of car paint.

Then we have one gentleman who had a stroke, followed up by about four more.  He cannot speak, only has one arm that works, and cannot walk ... he barely shuffles his feet.  Oh yes, HE DRIVES.  It scares me to death because I KNOW he can't use that foot and leg for the brakes, and he drives one handed.  That's one reason I go VERY early ... to miss the old folks driving!!

As I walked in, there was a bit of panic when I saw not only was my table not set up, but there wasn't even a table!!  Ooops ... did someone forget me?  I never said a word ... just went upstairs to sign checks and hide.  The peasants would come soon enough.

Yes, they DO dress alike.  The Bingo clothing works the same as all the talisman good luck charms they set up every single week.  It might be nice if they WASHED them occasionally, but I guess that washes away the lucky charm part.  

No kidding ... same shirt, same pants, same nail polish, same jewelry, same hairstyle, same purse, same color dobber, same wig, same shoes ... same EVERYTHING they wore that one time six months ago when they won.

If there was a hamburger sitting in front of them, then there's a hamburger sitting in front of them now, even if they don't eat it.  This is serious business, and ours is not the only one they attend.  There are three more within 30 miles ... and they drive to every one, every single week.  

On this night we weren't too busy ... only 109 folks showed up.  It amazes me that every single week without fail, I collect over $3,000 just in debit card purchases.  I'm sure most of them are EBT cards, which should be used for someone's breakfast and dinner, but we are not allowed to ask.  

Several of those cards were declined on this night.  No kidding, they will say take $2.00 off this card, $5.00 off this one and I'll pay cash for the rest.  The peasants are addicted to gambling.

There was only one dispute on this night.  Maybe it was the purple hair dye?  I'm not talking purple GRAY, I'm talking the brightest most shocking PURPLE you have ever seen.  Someone got a little too close to the lucky metal toy soldier (not kidding) and it fell over.  THE WAR WAS ON!  

The knights separated them and all was well until one came up to buy more cards.  I thought she was dripping blood all over my table!  YIKES!!  Turns out it was her RED dobber that got stepped on during the melee.  She was still using it, even though her hand was completely covered in red dye.  She didn't even notice it.  

It didn't help that we had yet again, the new caller.  The peasants might give him a break or two the first couple times he calls, but on that third night, watch out.  They yelled at him for talking, for being too slow and for CALLING too slow, not to mention ... NO N'S IN THIS GAME.  All of those numbers are free, so if an N number comes up (as in N35), you don't call it.  They are merciless!!

As for me, the night went swimmingly.  The infernal machine was nice to me and I scored two tickets to a fund raiser.  This is one of the bigger things Bingo donates to where we receive an entire table of free tickets for the food and entertainment.  Being a loyal Accountant of the Round Table, I always get to go, in spite of the person involved with this one who said I was not allowed to have tickets.  Are you kidding?  Oh yes, that is the one who has caused all the trouble lately, and those are my tickets.  This one should be fun, yes?

And so the night ended with me leaving WAY before our handicapped friends, happy to be out of the parking lot without any dents in my truck.  I did discover however, that one of the light bulbs I just replaced in the front of the truck has already died.  What the heck?  It was brand new!!

And I still seem to have a propane leak of small proportions in my Van.  My tank now says completely empty, meaning I used up 8 gallons of propane, only using the hot water heater for a total of maybe 2 hours.  Yeah, that doesn't sound good.  I'll see if I can get an appointment to get it looked at again.  

Today is rest up day because tomorrow is our corned beef and cabbage dinner night.  This should be interesting, as we have three new cooks who haven't prepared it before.  I'm taking a candy bar just in case.

Earthquakes and Tornados!!

 Let's face it RV friends ... the weather has been weird this year.  The devastation from coast to coast is more than I have ever seen in all my long life.  My heart goes out to all those who live in the tornado belt.  One day everything is just hunky dory, and the next you lost your house and everything in it.  My prayers go out to all the tornado and fire victims back East.

It's been a little different around here also.  Maybe it's just because we have so much social media to keep us informed.  Luckily I live in an area where not much happens.  Oh there's the occasional flood, but that only results in cleaning out the house and buying new furniture.

It was surprising to see an almost full moon (still?) hanging out in this single ball of clouds over my house.  Rather ominous looking.  It is what's left over from another rainy day.

There I was, sipping my cup of Joe when I got THIS message.  Yet another earthquake!  We've been getting them quite often this spring.  This one was up around San Francisco.  Lucky for me, none of these affect the area that I live in.  It wasn't a big one, but healthy enough to pay attention.  

I didn't hang around the house long, as the Budget was calling my name.  I headed off to meet up with the bookkeeper to begin the arduous task of balancing.  That's always fun!!  Even better?  Handing out copies to three guys on the board who probably never balance their checkbooks.  If I didn't laugh about it, I would cry!!  I'm hoping I get it done by the end of the week, just in time to hand out to the new Officers who will never look at it either!  

Back home, I was greeted with a ton of barks!  Since there was a break in the rain, I thought "let's go for a walk"!  I forgot I had my cowboy boots on.  Here's a gander at some of the fields around me.  Gorgeous green right now, but soon to become a big fire hazard.  This will be plowed over and over until time to plant ... which is running late this year.

Mr. Cooper did his best to step in every single puddle there was.  By the time we got back, he was wet from head to toe and my feet hurt.

There was more sewing and getting the next quilt on the machine, but that was it.  I played hooky!  Never try to quilt at the end of the day when you are tired.  The mistakes are epic!

AND THEN THERE WAS THIS!  What the heck?  We don't have tornados in California!  This is located South of me, so I wasn't too worried.  I remember there being one or two way back in the dinosaur ages, but the worst damage was a piece of wood stuck in a palm tree.  

Yup that's my sweet kid looking down at the ball I'm supposed to toss back to him. 

Well I'll be darned ... would you look at this!  Obviously a baby tornado, but a tornado nonetheless.  Turns out it was not far down the road. There was no damage because I don't think it even hit the ground.  Will wonders never cease.  

Not much of a day, but exciting for my neighbors who haven't experienced this stuff before.

So I figured I might as well try a little excitement myself.  Here's yet another one of those internet recipes you just HAVE to try.  It happens I had the two required ingredients.  Parmesan cheese and onions.  Place a layer of parm on a sheet pan and top with slices of onion.  Easy, yes?

Well ... the onion was a tad bit old ... rotten as it were.  I was able to get a few decent slices, though I cried like a baby.  Top with garlic salt and pepper.  Bake for I don't know how long because I didn't write that part down.  The temperature?  I had no clue!

That's when I was distracted by the tornado.  I thought I burned the parmesan.  Okay ... time for the taste test.  OMG!  And this time that's not good.  The entire onion tasted kind of rotten, followed up with burned cheese flavor.  Icky poo!!  Add to that the instantly soggy bottom from the moisture in the onions.  This is a big NO!  Don't even bother making this one.  AND it was so salty I could hard swallow the only bite I took!!  That's a NO with a capital NO!

Sadly, that was my dinner I threw in the trash.  Better luck next time!  Some Ritz crackers made my stomach feel better.  Remember, I test these recipes so you don't have to!!

Amazingly, it's another BINGO day.  I think this happened just two days ago, but we are back at it.  Hopefully there are no earthquakes or tornados in the bingo room tonight!!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!!

 It's time to get your GREEN ON!!  Happy St Patricks Day!!  Remember to wear green so you don't get pinched.  St. Patrick was highly celebrated back in the day.  If you didn't have anything green to wear, you adorned yourself with grass and/or plants.  Pinching was a BIG thing!!  As was GREEN beer!  

On this day the clouds were weird, but the sun peeked through and no rain fell.  During the DAY that is.  Last night it came down in torrents, keeping me up most of the night.  It's a bad day for that to happen since I've got THREE places I'm supposed to go today.  Honestly, I'd like to cancel all of them.

Here's a quick look at the beautiful eaglets.  Sadly, one is gone.  There has just been too much cold and snow.  I think this is Mom feeding a tiny piece of a HUGE fish Dad dropped off for breakfast.  Sadly, as I watched, only the one in front got the food.  Nature can be as cruel as humans some times.  I hope both survive, but it's just been too cold.

On to other happenings ... this is SO very much the truth in my house.  I'm held hostage, only to provide food and drink.  

But seriously, how could I turn down this cute little face.  He is rather demanding when it comes to food however.  He prefers treats over FOOD, so yesterday I tried to trick him.  The ad said apples are good for dogs.  I chopped up a little piece very fine and mixed it in with his dry food.  What a very big mistake THAT was.

Later, I kept hearing "empty the bin" ... "empty the bin".  It was Clyde the Roomba yelling from the kitchen.  Okay okay ... I'll fix you up.  That's when I discovered every tiny little piece of that chopped up apple stuck to the inside of the vacuum.  Cooper ate all his food, but spit out the apple.  What a mess THAT was.  I'm beginning to wonder if Clyde was a good idea after all.  Not really, I love him, but not as much as Cooper.

Time to hit the quilting machine.  I whipped out two in a short period of time, though I did have a problem.  The gears disengaged when I stopped it because it was out of thread.  It took me quite some time to figure out how to get the gears back in shape.  Nothing.  I could not get it to work no matter what I did.

Suddenly I realized that this machine is SO much smarter than I am.  I had not replaced the bobbin thread.  Once that was done, she purred to life and kept running until I was done.  This is one of the quilts that was done when I received them.  I have a problem with no border on the bottom or top, but it is what it is.  I cannot match the border material.

I spent the rest of the day hand sewing the binding on this one.  I used heavier batting so the quilting stands out a bit more and they aren't as thin as a cracker.  I like it!!  BUT it could be just a tad bit bigger.

I was going to take it to the Quilt Guild meeting tonight, but I don't want them to like it and order ten or more.  Like Marlene said, I don't need a full time job!!  

What I DID do was spend the next three hours cleaning out Mr. Clyde yet again.  I haven't cleaned the longarm room and knew it was dusty.  I set Clyde to work.  In less than five minutes, he was yelling .. empty the bin yet again.  Good grief ... what's your problem?

FIVE MORE TIMES ... count them FIVE!!!  Every time it got the least bit of lint inside, it hollered at me.  I was getting pretty disgusted since every time it wasn't even full.  Apparently there's something in there that tells it to stop.  If I find it, I'm BREAKING it!  

Yes the floor was full of dust bunnies, but really ... that's his JOB!  He finally gave up the ghost and said he was done.  I think I'll put him back to work today to see if there is any improvement.  Really, I can't complain ... it's better than dragging a big vacuum around the house.  

Since I was in the room, I put the next quilt on the longarm.  I won't get it done today, nor tomorrow since it's Bingo day ... but maybe Wednesday?  

Looks like we are in for more rain today, but it should let up tomorrow.  I can deal with that ... no rain, no full moon and no crazy beer day for Bingo!!  

LET'S CELEBRATE WITH THE IRISH!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!

EAGLES AND STITCHES!

Good Morning all my blog friends!  It's a beautiful dark Sunday morning in California, with NO rain on the horizon.  Even with yesterday's sunny weather, nothing dried out.  I think we are good for today, with another round starting tomorrow.  

It's okay ... we need to fill the reservoirs for irrigation water.  That's how it works here ... catch rain behind the dams, then let the water out to the farmers in the summer.  How much we could plant depended wholly on how much rain we got and what our share of water for the ranch would be.  Not enough water and we had to buy hay for the cattle and horses.  That usually meant a loss that year since it cost more to feed them than we made when they sold.  That's how you go bankrupt.

Mr. Cooper was sound asleep after being up for an hour.  It's hard work chasing the ball around, not to mention chasing Mom who steals his toys.  That's his second favorite game.   

Some of you may have heard about the bald eagles in Big Bear California.  They have a live eagle cam set up to watch every year.  I don't think this couple had any kids last year ... but THIS year, they had triplets!! You don't get to see them much yet because Mom and Dad are busy keeping them warm in the snow storms we keep having.  

Poor babies ... they sit there motionless through snow and wind ... they must be freezing!!  But those babies .. they seem to be warm and toasty.  Not sure if this is Mom, but she is looking down at a little grey spot.  That's the head of baby #1.  It's fascinating to watch, especially when you catch them feeding the babies.

Play time was over however ... it was time to get to work.  My stack of things to be quilted was building up.  I haven't done any of this in probably six months, so I was a little reticent.  Wasn't I surprised to find that all of my settings had disappeared.  

I don't leave it plugged in, even with a surge protector, because this stuff is too sensitive to electricity.  I have also learned that many of the computers used with them have had bulging battery problems from being left plugged in, or ON all the time.  Luckily that has not been my problem.

It took a bit to remember how to do the basics ... let alone the programming.  I quilted this one first because it was a "doesn't matter" quilt.  It doesn't matter if I mess it up.  In the end, it came out fine since I was able to find some of my settings.  It was Cooper approved!!

Next up ... my first Veterans quilt.  I'm unsure about this one.  It should have more of that golden color, but alas, Joann's fabric store who HAD that color, is out of business.  That leaves me Hobby Lobby and my quilt store, neither of which had anything that even remotely matched.

Does this look okay?  It's a lot of red, white and blue, but it's what I have.  It came out perfect since I was able to find where my settings were ... after searching for 20 minutes.  Like a needle in a haystack it was.  I also think these are just a tad too small.  I need to add another border.

Two down, two to go.  Time for a little sustenance.  Yes ... yes I did ... I burned them!  These are ham and cheese sliders with honey mustard sauce.  Hawaiian King rolls are smothered in garlic butter, filled with whatever is your favorite, and baked in the oven.  I set the timer, but got distracted. 

Mr. Cooper began scratching at my leg, which means I need to go out NOW Mom!!  Out we went, but by the time I got back, I could smell the burn.  Oh well ... they look worse than they were, and they tasted YUMMY!!

As for the other HELLO FRESH meals, I got my last one yesterday.  I think they deliver around noon, but I usually receive an email.  I got nothing.  At 2:00 I went to check, and there sat my box.  I opened it up to find four badly packed meals just thrown in with NO frozen block of ice to keep it cold.  There on the bottom were two of those ice packs, completely thawed out.  WHAT THE HECK?

I wonder how long it was sitting there?  It was in the shade next to the house and a cool 60 degrees out, so it should not have melted.  I'm a little hesitant to eat them!  That's it.  I was DONE!  I called them up and cancelled.  That makes TWO of these food services I've tried since the first of February and both were terrible.  RATS!  Now I have to go back to actually thinking about what to cook and what groceries to buy!  Let's face it, I was spoiled for a while there.

So here we are late into the night.  Yup Cooper is asleep once again while I'm sewing binding on that Veterans quilt.  I should finish it up today.  

Then it's back to the quilting machine since I have TWO more to quilt today.  Fingers crossed it's as easy as yesterday!!  My stack of "this needs binding" is getting taller by the day.

So let's see ... what am I going to cook now?