SA-WEEEET

Have you seen/heard about/tasted the new Skittles Chocolate Mix? There are S'mores, vanilla, chocolate caramel chocolate pudding and brownie batter Skittles in each 230 cal pack. There is nothing redeemable in them. No protein, no fiber. Main ingredient is Corn syrup = 42 grams of sugar. But they are soooo good. And they do not contain milk.
They are so sweet (or I am so off sugar) that after eating one serving size, my saliva tasted sweet all night. Kid you not. Woke up with sweet tasting spit. You know that has to be some mondo load of sugar.
I'll only use them as a treat for real good behaviour - or hard physical work like shoveling snow.

Snow day

For several days now we have been in a VERY cold weather system. Temperature bitterly cold. Then we got snow. I took this piture with a flash at 7 this morning.

















And this one without the flash. I think I like it best. You can see how much has fallen overnight because the bird feeder was clear last night when I filled it.

















Schools are closed.
City hall and libraries closed. Roads are being plowed. I haven't heard how much snow we have received but I'd say we have had over 20" with another 4" to 8" due today. I thought we had our once-every-seven-years-tough-winter last year.
Just went out to clear the walk. That stuff is soooo heavy only got a small portion done before I had to come inside. Looks like we will be homebound most of the day as the guy who plows the driveway hasn't arrived and we can't get the car out.

Italian

I have just completed nine weeks of Italian language class. I can recognize some words, conjugate no verbs and respond only minimally when spoken to. How do immigrants do it? I really admire them.
My next session begins in January. In the mean time, I am taking my study book with me to Phoenix and practice with Francesca. She tells me that her children have no interest in learning the language. Pity. I would like to have learned from my parent another language. But they were Americans from long ago and had no European language to pass down.
Ciao.

Last month, Uma moved out of her apartment with Donald (a rocky five year relationship), and into a shared apartment with a lady who needs 24 hour supervision. The doctor wanted Uma to have more supervision because of her neglect of her diabetes. I thought things were going well but received a call that they would be moving Uma yet again this month because she was "too loud" for her roommate. I just found out today where she moved. Went over there and am not at all pleased with the situation. She is in a four bedroom apartment with three adult severely disabled men. That's right MEN! I'm afraid I was not very happy in front of the residents there (tho I did try not to show my displeasure, I'm sure some of them picked up on it). I went to the main office (where the case managers hold court) and really vented (in a dignified manner) my displeasure and disapproval of the living situation. After all, a woman living with three men is bad enough but the level of disability was not something Uma should have to live with.
With Thanksgiving tomorrow, and no one in the office until Monday, nothing is going to happen very soon. But on a better note I have the Department of Disabilities Case Manager on my side. She will be meeting with us on Tuesday. (Sparks were in her eyes this morning when she found out.)
Oh, dealing with adult children is nothing compared to dealing with the bureaucracy of those caring for needy adult children.
On a brighter note, I'll be fixing the bird for Uma, Jhary and Ty Don't know if Trai will be here but there will be plenty if he shows up. This year will be a bit more challenging as we are watching our carbs in compliance with Jerry's dietary needs.

I love Sox

I posted some time ago about my earring collection. I have been collecting earrings since I had my ears pierced when in junior high school. They mostly are of sentimental value.
That is what my Sox collection is. It really pains me when a pair must be discarded due to wear.
As I was putting away the Halloween Sox and getting out the Christmas ones I decided to count them. Ready?
Valentines, 5 pair
St. Patrick's, 3 pair
Easter, 3 pair
July 4th, 3 pair
Halloween, 8 pair
Thanksgiving, 1 pair (I really should look for some more as this pair is rather ratty)
Christmas, (don't gasp) 20 pair
Then I categorized the rest (not including nylons)
Cats, 12 pair
Arizona, 2 pair
Hawaii, 2 pair
Red Hat, 3 pair
Monkeys, 4 pair
Black, 2 pair
White, 3 pair
Misc animals (snails, dogs, moose, bear - you get the idea) 12 pair
Misc other 2 pair
Doing the math = 85 pair.
I really love sox. They are functional and people are looking to see what I have on next. So if you are one of my Sox Gifters, don't stop just because I have so many. Some are ready to be retired and I will feel better doing that with a new pair to replace them.

Happy Day

Yesterday the turkeys returned. If you remember, last year about this time a few wild turkeys came up over the bank of the river and foraged for a couple of days then left. We only saw them a couple of times more. All summer Jerry has been wondering about them. Their Back! with a vengeance. We counted 15 birds. Jerry thought they were all females but I allowed there were several males in the flock. Colors for winter are drab even on males but the males do still have a distinctive feather pattern. Didn't take pictures cause I figured you see one turkey you've pretty much seen them all (besides, I didn't have my camera with me when we drove by them).
Hooray for our new president!!!

gardening

I hired Traivon to come and clean up my garden this weekend (get it ready for winter). He did a great job. Hauled all of the trash to the dumpster, swept the walk and left the bricks that I lay out as a stone path to the faucet artfully arranged:

Pumpkin time

Had the grand girls over a couple of times this week. Thought I'd get a bit of pumpkin carving done while they were here. Mine is on the right, Syndey's is in the middle and Casey's is on the left.
Jerry isn't one for celebrating the "holidays" so this was a good excuse for me to be able to put out a cute decoration or two.

Sunnyside

I followed my quilt to Sunnyside, WA last weekend. The Conference meeting for the United Methodist Women was held there and the quilts from the Spokane area were on display. (We were the only district to have a quilt challenge). I have no idea when the Auction will be but it was nice to see the quilt again and I got the name of a person on the Atlantic Street board.
While in that remote area of the state (southern central Washington - remote) I said while we are this close lets go to MaryHill and see Stone Henge.

















Go to www.legendsofamerica.com/WA-Stonehenge.html to read more about this war memorial. I thought I would be more awe struck but I guess, since it is a reproduction of the original, it just doesn't have the same "spirits" floating around. The Museum at MaryHill was a large castle brought over here by Sam Hill for the Bulgarian Queen (he had a crush on her) but she didn't care for the nothingness of the area (I guess) and gave it to the State for a museum. This area is on the north side of the Columbia River, between Nothing and Not anything. Really! It's two hours from anywhere, in any direction. The bridge across the river is closed for repairs so you have to go a ways even to get to Oregon. The Peacocks were great tho.















There was also a great Blue Heron Sculpture.

Quilt challenge

The United Methodist Women put out a quilt Challenge this year. The quilt had to be no more than 40x40, for a baby or a child. All quilts made could be entered into a Peoples Choice contest and all quilts would be given to needy children. The Top winner quilt would be sold at auction, proceeds going to the Atlantic Street Center in Seattle, WA (a non-profit social service agency supported by the United Methodist Women).
I jumped in with both feet. Had these lovely, bright squares that begged to get out of my sewing room and into something useful.























Then I tried just machine embroidering four Red Work planes on a plain white fabric. Hand embroidered the blue birds and sketched in the clouds. Tried my hand at machine quilting. Glad these were not judged by some one who knows what they are doing.

















Saw a picture in a magazine (the picture was about 2 inches square) and said "I've got to try to copy it. Can't be that hard. Just a log cabin." Well it was really quite fun. I've gotten a lot of positive feed back from it. Click on picture to see the cute chick fabric in the triangles.

















Aaron gave me a Noah's Ark paper piece quilt book several years ago. I could not figure out paper piecing so it sat on the shelf for lo these many years. Then I read a pattern book that explained the process in words I could figure out and here is the finished product. I love this one. I call it my Jungle Quilt. Click on the picture to see the animals more clearly. (The Zebra sort of gets lost in this shot).

















And the winner of the competition? You guessed it. Jungle! I'm so thrilled. I was sort of walking up to accept the award so this shot isn't great.

Hawaiian Hospitality

My Water Aerobics instructor is in Hawaii for the first time ever (and loving it). Before she left I asked my "Starter Husband" (a native of Hawaii who resides on the island) if I could give her his phone number, thinking they could hook up and go to Wendy's for a coke or something. She just called to say she had just returned from a fabulous meal at the Willows (my favorite restaurant on Oahu - Koi swimming under your tables, willows dipping in the water etc.) She raved on and on about the food, atmosphere and S H's charm and generosity. She fully intended to pay but he told her that the place only took Hawaiian dollars (she believed him).
So thanks, Bob, for showing my friends such a wonderful time. See you really aren't the tough guy you portend to be. She said this meal and the visit she had with you was the high light of her visit to Oahu.

Sometimes Laziness is OK

Went out and weeded (or started to clean up) some of the back yard last week. But being the wimp that I am, could only last about 25 minutes before my stamina petered out. Rather than tidy up and tossing the pulled offending weeds, I simply left them where they fell. They have been there all week.
But all is not gloom and doom. The quail love the fact that the previously out of their reach seeds are now at their level.
Laziness rewarded!



















And then today a most unexpected visitor.






















Mind you, there are lots of Squirrels in Spokane, just not on this side of a very busy street with no trees to readily hide in on our side. Guess I'll have to get some peanuts for her (him). Won't that make the guy in the unit over me ticked.

One chore complete

I have a delightful earring stand, hand made, that I purchased at the County Fair some years ago. As you can see there are several bars or slats with small slits that easily accommodate pierced earrings. In the middle are pegs on which to hang necklaces and bracelets. The troughs under the bars are handy places to put the odd necklace bob or that pair of earrings you don't want to hang up right yet.
Well, those little troughs get dusty and full of all sorts of earrings, those I've taken off and am too lazy to hang up and those that get knocked off. As I looked at the increasing disarray this spring I thought what a great little project while I'm recovering.


That project didn't happen during "recovery", but I just couldn't handle it any longer. I sat myself down the other day and commenced to get pairs back together again. One would be on this bar and it's mate on another. Quite untidy. Wish this picture showed how great it looks now. The light in the room had changed (long tedious job) and I didn't put the flash on. Anyway, the job is done. But wait, there's more.



















How can I possibly put a nice clean earring rack back on a dresser that looks like this? Answer: No way, No how, No McCain.


















A bit of Endust a lot of reaaranging and changing of the dresser scarf and here you have it. I found that fabric when I was looking for a quick something as placemats for a church dinner. They are rather dark for my dresser but will probably remain there untill the dresser becomes a dissaster area again and I have to get serious about cleaning it off.

Thunder

Great Thunder storm just passed over. We have had some great weather this year. Record snow levels, record no precipitation stretch, late record highs (we usually get record highs in July not the middle of August) and now an air cleaning thunder storm complete with hail and great big rain drops.

I'm thinking that a lot of the readers of this blog probably do not have a blog site. So if you would like to participate in the "Pay it Forward" challenge just let me know and I'll include you. I only have room for three participants and one spot is taken already. Who wants the other two?

Did something to my lower back either at yoga last night or I slept wrong. Anyway, I'm having trouble bending and stretching today. Guess that rules out getting into the garden and tidying up a bit.

Casey went in to get wisdom teeth out this morning. They left the uppers alone for now and took out three lower wisdom teeth. She is recovering on the couch while Jerry is out shopping for soft foods.

Pay it forward

"Elsie Quilts" challenged me to get involved in a Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based on the concept of the movie Pay it Forward, where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness will continue to pass it on.
Here’s how it works: I will make and send a handmade gift (quilted or something else) to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I will email each person for their mailing address and send the handmade gift when completed.

What YOU have to do in return, then, is Pay it Forward by making the same promise on your blog to 3 different people. Unfortunately, this is only possible for those of who have a blog.

So, who wants to Pay it Forward? Leave me a message.

Where was I?

These past two weeks have flown by. It was Sewing Camp for the two granddaughters and my refugee friend Malita. The grand girls knew the ropes and did quite will on their own. Casey designing bags out of old t-shirts and Sydney completing three sets of Cafe curtains for their cabins before launching into a bag she designed (actually drew a picture of and constructed) then on to a couple of paper pieced pillow tops. Malita, on the other hand.... Attention span of a four year old (she is 12). Figured out the operation of the machine quite readily but was not interested much in making anything until she was pretty much ordered to "get to work". She would bring fabulous African printed yardage and spend the day hemming the raw edges. Then one day she commenced to CUTTING, with a rotary cutter, willy nilly, a lovely piece. I told her that was unacceptable and we salvaged the cut off ends and turned them into a blouse. She was pleased with that. I was hoping her mom could come to the last class so she could get some instruction on the machine but she was called into work.

All in all it was a tiring but very rewarding two weeks. Malita got a brand new sewing machine out of it. The grand girls got their mechanical machines upgraded to electronic ones.

Goldfinch

The birds that regularly come to my bird feeder are sparrows (little brown birds) and an occasional house wren. The sparrows kick the sunflower seeds out of the feeder, which the quail delight in scratching around in. This also causes some of the seeds to be "planted" and the consequently grow into lovely gold sunflowers.

















We have just recently been visited by a pair of Goldfinch. Jerry noticed the first one a couple of days ago. Pretty amazing since he claims to be colorblind and these little birds blend in so beautifully with the golden sunflowers. Today I was glancing out the window and watched as these two birds hopped from sunflower to sunflower snacking away. This is a great show and will definitely make sure they have sunflowers to feed on next year.

We have had Flickers when I have the suet blocks out in the winter, which attract Magpies. A Peregrine Falcon visited one winter. I think he was looking for the mice that were feeding on the scattered bird food. Curiously, the Robins don't come around. Guess they prefer worms. Starlings horn in but can't ride the bird feeder. And Jerry wants to count the turkeys that came into the lawn of the condo even though they didn't make it into our enclosure.

it's a jungle out there

It's been eight weeks since I was last able to do anything in my small garden.
When I left the plants were tidy and orderly. The weeds were under control. The sprinkler system was set (set it and forget it comes to mind). We had a late spring so things were growing at a reduced rate.
Now comes 8 weeks later. Some of my flowers have had their blooming season and now are screaming at me to release the seed pods from their stems. The volunteer sunflowers (from the bird feeder) have taken over. There are some plants under there but they are being choked out.










The clematis is a mass of purple. Great to see them from the other side of the fence. The cheerful yellow of the sunflowers and the exuberant purple of the clematis poking over the top of the plane boring fence.
















My tomato actually has a couple of fruit. But it is so small... I really need to get out there and fertilize. It would probably help the pepper and cucumbers to be fed too.

















One of the two Bat plants I got from a nursery in Bloomington, IL is growing. I think the other one didn't get any water. Hard to monitor that stuff from the patio door.



And there is the lovely deep red day lily. I did have a purple poppy bloom for me but before I could get a picture of it, it faded. I'm letting the seeds do what they do best and maybe next year I'll have more.

July 10

Got the cast off yesterday. All my dreams of being able to "walk" out of the office in my shinny new boot ... didn't happen. I climbed back on my scooter and wheeled my way back to the car. This healing bit is harder than I expected. Things went well, surgically and healing wise, I just underestimated the amount of atrophy that went on in those six weeks.
When the nurse removed my cast I was intrigued with the amount of dead skin. It was like a pealing sunburn without the pain. I love to peal skin. Flakes for a day now. Should be pretty much done. Oh, wait, there are some more loose bits. lol
My first step on my left foot jarred me into reality. Now I can hobble around the apartment with a crutch under my right arm and very carefully shift my weight onto my left leg. It is getting better, don't get me wrong. I am glad I did it and know that I just have to be patient.
On a brighter note, I can sit now with my foot on the floor for longer periods of time. I've started physical therapy on the foot. And I've been cleared to go back to the pool. Yeah!!!

July 3

Only 6 more days in this cast (I hope). Won't know for sure until Dr. takes an x-ray to see how things are healing. I am really getting tired on not being able to walk (I even dream of walking again).
While I have been house bound, well I'm not really. I can go down the one step to our side walk and the one curb step out to the car. I have not been able to maneuver the two steps that go down to my patio, hence my back yard. During these 6 weeks my how the flowers have grown and of course the weeds too. My purple daisy has bloomed and needs to be trimmed. The white daisy is almost finished. The birds have planted several sunflowers which are higher than the fence and blooming (to the delight of the honey bees). 7The clematis is having a great time with wonderful splashes of purple. I have one or two (not sure, there were two this spring) purple poppies. One of them bloomed and before I could get a picture of it, it was gone. I'll let that go to seed and hope for more next year. I put my amaryllis out (after drying it up quite thoroughly) and it is about to burst forth in bloom. Never had before, been able to get one to bloom a second time. What I can see of the cucumber and tomato does not look promising. Maybe they need food.
Happy Fourth. Have a safe weekend. We will be serving hotdogs and hamburgers (not from the grill as we don't have one) for my kids. It's a way for us to get together and the food prep isn't that much of a strain on me.