Quilts, Cats And A Helicopter

Took my first quilting class last night and produced the two blocks on the left, which are tacked to the wall in my office. I have to produce nine more of these by next Monday night. I'm hooked. These are practice fabrics; the ones I chose for my quilt are much brighter colors.

Had to go to Auburn today to get the oil changed on my Prius so went to another quilt store up in Auburn to see about their classes; I'm not going to be around for the next two Joann's classes so I decided I needed to go elsewhere. Auburn is the same distance as Roseville where Joann's is located. I also bought a wheeled bag so I can take my own sewing machine to the classes. I had to use one provided by the store last night. It was pretty high tech; I had a helluva time figuring out how to fill the bobbin and thread the machine.

The Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe in Auburn is also cheaper than Joann's. For $60 I got two three-hour classes at Joann's. I get four three-hour classes at Cabin Fever for the same price and those classes are during the day. I'm not too alert at 9 p.m. at night.

The second picture is just to update you on the cats. Nora is the cat looking back over her shoulder. Georgio is the one on the right. Watching them is better than summer reruns on TV. I'm not sure what they do during the night, but I do know that come early morning, just before sun-up, they start tearing around the house and right over us in bed. Georgio likes to howl to greet the day. Nora has stopped to bite my feet as she passes over me. They toppled a plant of mine the other day, spilled dirt all over the carpet, ate some leaves and then both threw up; not on the carpet, however. Good kitties. They are best of buds; she still loves to groom him whether he wants it or not. The top level of the condo is the prized one so both try to squeeze in.

Now for the helicopter; my son, Mark, and his hiking buddy, James, had to be rescued by helicopter last Friday. They were hiking in the Cascades northeast of Bellingham, WA. They got to a point where they just couldn't go any further (I'm still not sure why but I trust their judgments) so used their satellite phone (yeah) to call someone. I've heard the story several times, and I'm still not sure who contacted the sheriff. Anyway, Kerry's sister Joanne, who lives just south of Bellingham, played an important role in their rescue. They had a GPS so could tell the Chelan County sheriff exactly where they were. A paramedic was on the flight just in case, but no one needed any help. Joanne then drove 3-1/2 hours to Lake Chelan to pick them up; now that's a good lady (but we already knew that). Then she drove them to the trail head the next day so James could pick up his car.

This was Mark's second helicopter ride; last time he had fallen 30 feet while rock climbing and had to be airlifted to the closest trauma center in Denver. He broke his back in two places and the right side of his pelvis. Luckily he had no paralysis. I hope his third ride is just for pleasure.

So that's life here in the country. I see my doctor tomorrow about my rotator cuff. It really hurts. I wonder if I can quilt with my arm in a sling; betcha I can.