Final Quilt Photo

I wasn't going to do it but decided that I just had to add the border because I wanted to see what it would look like. So here it is.

Next steps are to add the batting and backing, which won't show, quilt it or have someone do that for me who has a long-arm quilting machine and then bind the edges. Once it's done I'm going to hang it in my office. I really, really like quilting.

My Home Ec teacher, if she's still alive, would be dumbstruck. I was her worst sewing student, and I started a fire in our cooking class. I guess the past is not always a predictor of the future. Thank goodness.

Quilt Update

I finished all the rows and sewed on the sashing between each row and around the quilt. Starting from the top: friendship star, log cabin (the red square in the middle is supposed to represent the hearth), flying geese, nine patch, rail fence, and nine patch variation.

Next I have to add the border. That's what I've been doing today.

Google Cookbook

Did you know that you can type into Google three ingredients you have in your kitchen, and it will give you recipes you can make with those ingredients. Of all the high tech stuff around I think this is the best. I'm reading Thomas Friedman's book, "The World Is Flat." He mentioned this so this morning I gave it a try. I typed in venison (yes I have some but we didn't kill it), mushroom soup and carrots. I got back a whole bunch of recipes. I think I'm going to fix the slow cooked venison stew. So check out your kitchen, type in those three ingredients and hit enter. Who knows what you will discover.

Cats And Quilts

Top photo is Georgio playing with his favorite toy. The white ball cannot come out of the track so he spends a lot of time moving it around and then chasing after it. Pretty funny to watch. Nora likes to attack him while he's doing it. Sometimes he sits in the middle on the cardboard and bats the ball. When it hits him in the butt he jumps just like he was surprised something hit him.

The second photo is the quilt I'm working on for my new class. We are learning to make some of the basic quilt patterns. Top row is nine patch; next is rail fence; third is another nine patch; fourth is nine patch variation; and the last is friendship star. I need to make one more friendship star to complete the row.

Next Wednesday we will learn log cabin and flying geese. In the last class we will put it all together with sashing between each row and a border around it all. The strips are on a piece of flannel I bought. For some reason the fabric sticks to the flannel without benefit of tape or tacks. I learned this in the classroom at Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe where all the walls are flannel. I've already signed up for two one-day classes that meet in October: quilting and quilt binding.

Another Shoe From Albuquerque

Since I retired, my shoe collection has gotten quite a bit less mainstream. Before I was always trying to camouflage my size 9EEs, but now I've decided what the heck I'm going to wear what I want. If anyone points to my feet it will be because they are jealous of my shoes. I got these Kitsons for far less than they want on the Kitson web site. I have not worn them yet because I'm still wearing sandals (the temperature is still hovering right about 100). My friend Beverly in Albuquerque also introduced me to mismatched socks. You buy three socks that are all different in design but the same in color hue. I thought about it and decided I can do that without buying the special socks. Now I have a chance to wear one flamingo sock with one turtle sock. So that's my story for today. Here's the web site for the socks: http://www.littlemissmatched.com
Have a great labor day.

Wine Tasting In Nevada County

Six of us adventurous souls set out to wine tasting yesterday in near 100-degree heat. Luckily all the wine production areas at the wineries need to be kept cold so it wasn't too bad. They were very different types of wineries. All represented vintners who want to produce Italian-type wines. They get their grape stock from UC Davis. Imported grape plants have to go through a ten-year process before they are sold. The U.S. doesn't want to import anyone elses diseases or bugs.

All of the wineries were only in their second year of production. It takes five years for a plant to produce harvestable wine grapes. The first years they just cut off the grapes as soon as they start to form. This allows the plant to put energy into growing it's root and stem systems. We liked the first one the best, Montoliva. We bought a sampler case and then two extra bottles of Pinot Grigio (a wonderful wine for hot summer days when served really cold). The wine making area is in the basement of his house in his family room. The rest of the wineries were in just about equally small areas. Some of them make so few cases each year that they were out of many of their wines. Most will be harvesting in the next week or so. The vineyard at the left is at Avantgardia. You are looking at the one-acre of grape production they have. We really didn't like the wines but the people were very nice. The husband and wife team do the picking, crushing and all the other parts of getting the wine into the bottle. Wine making at this level is for those who want to work hard.

Then we headed for Tal and Alicia's house to rest a bit before we headed out on their pontoon boat on Lake of the Pines for a dinner of wonderful pork ribs, salad and a dessert called treacle. Kerry really got into the gliding over the water at a nice slow speed that produced enough of a breeze to cool us off so we could drink more wine. The two ladies are Margo on the left and Alicia on the right. Margo was our realtor when we bought our house. She and husband Rick have been our friends ever since. She organizes our tours, Alicia fixed the wonderful dinner and architect Tal skippered the boat. Rick, former Coast Guard, handled the anchor and lines. You ask, what did you and Kerry do? Be very appreciative of everything. Kerry finished off my plate of ribs and salad. I didn't let him near my treacle.

Alicia makes her treacle with lemon curd (yummy), baked yellow cake that has been crumbled and bits of fresh fruit like strawberries and peaches. You stir all of that together and then put whipped cream on top. Delicious!!

We got home by 9:30; I was in bed sound asleep by ten and didn't get up until 9 this morning.

It's another hot day here so we are heading for the movies this afternoon. I think we will veg tomorrow.

The Long Hot Days Of Summer's End

This is the fourth consecutive day of 100+ degrees. And we are not done yet. We have two more over 100 and then a few 99 degree days. The house was at 80 when I got up this morning. The air conditioning runs constantly. I'm thankful we have it but I still don't like being cooped up in the house. I don't handle heat very well. I have fans pointed directly at me during the night and wherever I am in the house. Kerry isn't affected the same way I am.

Had my quilt class on Wednesday. What a difference between the class at Joann's and this one. First the class is during the day so I'm definitely more wide awake. Second the classroom is very large with room for everyone and all the stuff you need when you quilt. And third, the teacher takes her time with everyone to make sure you get it. She's been teaching quilting full time for 12 years.

For some reason, in all this heat, I decided to make Moussaka for Wednesday night dinner. It involved three burners on the stove and the oven. I won't make this dish again until December. It was yummy, but by the time I was done I was so worn out from the heat of cooking that I barely ate any. At least we have lots of leftovers. I find that Kerry can eat the same thing two nights in a row but after that he wants a change. I'm like "blogauthor," I can eat the same thing day after day. So I will be the one to finish the Moussaka.

This weekend we are going wine tasting on Saturday and to see the movie "Becoming Jane" on Sunday. The wine tasting is at a little higher elevation which will cut the temperature by about 10 degrees. We go wine tasting with these folks about twice a year. It's always great fun, and we stock up for the next few months. Rick and Margo always bring a great picnic lunch. At supper time we are going out on Tal and Alicia's pontoon boat where we will have dinner.

Has anyone out there seen "Being Jane?" It sounds sort of like a chic flick but the menfolk have agreed to see it.

Today is my sister-in-laws birthday. Happy Birthday Charlotte.

Well, I'm off to have a pedicure and then run a bunch of errands. Gotta have cute toes for wine tasting.

Hope everyone has a great long weekend.

Accessorized Crocs

A trip to Albuquerque always includes a shopping spree at Shoes on a Shoestring. It's possibly the largest shoe store I've ever been to. Beverly and I always spend a couple of hours there while Kerry and her husband, George, do something else. They do have a waiting room for husbands/significant others, but it doesn't have a TV or beer so isn't well attended.

This year Mark's girlfriend Robin joined us for her first time. We had so much fun; giggles abounded. Lots of help from Sales Clerk Lorraine who sort of adopted us soon after we arrived. Beverly is losing her eyesight. She uses a can and my elbow when we shop so there is always lots of help. At one point we were all going to buy the same shoe. Luckily for the universe and the men in our lives, Lorraine could not find the shoe in our sizes. Beverly chose not to get anything and Robin and I got different Privos. Robin left first because she had some film editing to do for her business. When I got to the check out counter Lorraine informed me that Robin had bought me these wonderful little add-ons for Crocs (sunflowers and daisies). The photo shows them on the side of my Crocs, which I bought in Costa Rica for a fraction of the cost. The store even have Crocs with heels and Croc bedroom slippers.

Our trip to Albuquerque was wonderful even though it started on a rather dour note when Kerry and I had a disagreement (that's putting it mildly) about our GPS. I had carefully programmed it to get us from the airport to Beverly and George's house near the UNM campus. I was driving and Kerry was in charge of the GPS. Something happened and all of a sudden we were way far away from where we wanted to be. Finally we switched; he drove and I navigated. That little thing is a miracle worker. We got stuck in traffic on the way back to the airport so rather than wait I pushed a couple of buttons and had a non-freeway route to the airport.

The night of the opera we had dinner at Gabriel's a little north of the opera exit. They come to your table and make you guacamole. It is scrumptious. We only stayed at the opera until half time because it was so warm in the area where we were standing. I didn't mind leaving early because we had paid just $10 each to stand. We got to see Mark perform and that was the whole reason to be there. Mark stayed late for a party because it was the end of the Santa Fe Opera season.

We went home and got some sleep to get ready for all the meals and conversations the next day. Albuquerque trips always seems to be about having great discussions with Mark, his friends and girlfriend, and Beverly and George...and eating. I had a great egg salad sandwich at the Flying Star. I managed to live a pretty vegetarian lifestyle; I don't want to eat cornfed beef or unhappy chickens (raised in tight little cages) so I just stuck to vegetarian. It's easy to do in a college town.

So we are back. Turtle Doug has been here and gone; Kate is with us until after Burning Man. The cats are not too sure about Kate and vice versa. Tomorrow I have the first of four quilting clases. I am so excited.

A Weekend Of Travel

Tomorrow we fly to Albuquerque for a four-day visit with my son Mark. The photo is the Santa Fe Opera House where we will be on Saturday night for "La Boheme." Mark is playing in the on-stage orchestra. It's an incredible setting in the high desert outside Santa Fe. Due to the outdoor setting they start rather late in the early summer (9 p.m.) but by this time of year they start at 8 p.m. Much better for folks like me who don't seem to be able to stay up as late as I once did.

We are also going to see our friends Beverly and George who live in Albuquerque. We are staying at Mark's house, which is so much nicer than staying at a hotel.

Friday night we are dining at Bucca de Beppo, a great family Italian restaurant where the portions are so large you just have to share.

We will probably spend some time riding around in Mark's new car. He bought a 2001 Nissan Maxima yesterday. At the ripe old age of 32, it was the first car he's purchased. First he drove our 1976 Volvo and then our 1993 Ford Explorer. The Explorer is having transmission problems so he decided it was time to get something newer. He bought a house before he bought a car. Usually doesn't happen that way.

We will probably do some train watching with Mark. He loves trains; has loved them since he was three. There is a spot near Albuquerque where lots of trains go through each day. We go out there and wait for a train and then Mark takes pictures. Don't have a lot of other activities planned. We just like to hang out with Mark. Oh and Beverly and I have to go to our favorite shoe store. The sign in the window says, "If you are looking for your wife, she's probably here." It is the biggest discount shoe store I've ever seen. George and Kerry will drop us off for several hours of uninterrupted shopping. Beverly and I are very good at this. It's our little tradition.

Quilt Number 2-1/2

I say 2-1/2 because there was one between this one and my first quilt that quickly became a UFO; quilt jargon for unfinished object. I have a lot of trouble reading and understanding directions. This has been a problem for my entire life. Only after I had made mistakes on the UFO did I understand what I needed to do with the quilt. I guess I'm a "trial and error" kind of gal. So far I have six rows of eight blocks. I need ten rows. Getting everything to match up is a real challenge. One of the tools you have to buy for quilt class is a ripper, also known as a way to rip out what you did wrong. I couldn't figure out why I would need one of these, but I bought it anyway. Now I know why; next to my rotary cutter this is my favorite tool. Makes ripping much more pleasant. I still love it. I actually skipped lunch today so I could quilt. Prior to quilting, nothing has ever come between me and food. I could be on to something.

Kerry's Birthday Celebration

At 10:30 a.m. yesterday he turned 61. We went to a new restaurant in Roseville called Crush 29. Crush refers to the grape crush and 29 is the main highway that goes through the Napa Valley. The wine list was extensive but I decided to start with a pomegranate martini (left photo). It was so scrumptious that I could have downed it in one gulp. Then I reminded myself how much alcohol was in it and started to sip slowly.

Our appetizer was coconut encrusted shrimp. It was good but did not compare to the semi-sleazy restaurant we went to in Homestead, Florida where we first had this appetizer. At that restaurant they rolled the shrimp in coconut and macadamia nuts and the sauce was an orange marmalade with a bit of mustard added.

We both had large green salads; mine had caramelized walnuts and apples plus dried sour cherries. Then I had the portobello mushroom risotto and Kerry had the Bombay chicken. I won't eat meat when we are out because I don't know where it came from (grass fed vs. corn fed). Grass fed is better for the cow and me.

For dessert we shared a butterscotch creme brulee. We could barely walk by the time we left the restaurant. The place is a bit pretentious but the service was good and we will return. The wait staff could stand with a bit more training on how to talk to customers but our waiter was attentive. So in a short while I will get on the treadmill and try to sweat off a bit of what I consumed last night.

My New Purse And Wine

In China they called these "knock-offs," but in this country when they are sold at my favorite wine bar, they are "replicas." This one is a Coach replica that is reversal. The inside is the usual tan and brown with the Big C for Coach. I probably won't ever use that side but I do love this side.

Every Wednesday night Vine Connections, a local wine store/bar/eatery, has WOW, which stands for Women of Wine. Several friends and I go for an hour or two about twice a month. You get an array of free appetizers, a glass or two or wine (not free) and great company. This time the owner brought in someone who was selling replica purses. I didn't expect to buy, one but when I saw the colors I just couldn't resist. Price: $80. In China it would have been $12.

My New "Life" Cards And Food, Glorious Food

I've ordered "life" cards for myself. It's a nice card with a drawing of a large tree. Under my name it says "retired." There are still times when it's easier to hand someone your card then to write down information. The woman with whom I'm taking my next quilt class had a card like this. I had to write down my information, and that's when the light bulb went on; get cards.

We journeyed to Grass Valley last Friday to visit a food co-op called Briarpatch. They carry grass fed local beef and a lot of other people/health friendly products. It's a new store that was built entirely with previously used material; it is very energy efficient: http://www.briarpatch.coop We joined.

I also stopped by my favorite local produce store, Newcastle Produce. All the produce there is grown in Placer County; that's where we live. I bought fresh orange beets, fingerling potatoes that are pink and red inside, spinach and turnips. All of these eventually got mashed together; add salt and pepper, sweet butter and a bit of half and half. I had never had fresh beets or turnips before. My brother loves them so he's quite happy that I've finally seen the light. I also cooked a "happy" chicken in our crock pot. I stuffed it with chunks of onions and liberal doses of Herbs de Provence from our local lavender farm.

I know this way of eating isn't for everyone. It takes a lot more time to just find the products, but hey, I'm retired. I finally have all the time I want (well I'd still like a bit more). Tonight we are having chicken and vegetable melange leftovers.

Kerry seems pretty okay with this. He certainly likes what I cook; the one-hour trip to Briarpatch is a family outing. Besides you drive through some beautiful country to get there.

My book group met last night. We had read "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri. It got mixed reviews but a pretty good discussion. For our October book, Mary Kay suggested reading Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat" a brief history of the 21st century. It sounds pretty serious, and it's 304 pages. Has anyone out there read it and if so what did you think?

I've started working on my next quilt. So far so good; it's going to take a lot longer because it's bigger and more complicated than my first one. I've decided that I really have taken to quilting because I like to solve puzzles. With quilting you first have to try to understand directions (I'm much better when someone demonstrates something), then cut out all the fabric and then sew the pieces together. It's sort of the next type of puzzle for me; I still love jigsaw puzzles. http://wwwjigzones.com

Well, that's all for now. I'll take a picture of the fabric for my new quilt; it's very colorful.

The Crooked Belly Buddha

This is a photo from the Lincoln Arts Gallery; I'm on the board. It's amazing to me how many wonderful and inventive artists live in the area. I love the buddha. If I had $1,100 I would buy it for my brother, the family buddhist. In the background on the left you can see a gourd. This is what we bought. It's about as tall as Bird Girl. The artist has carved the image of sea turtles in the gourd. I'll try to take pictures of it in our great room. I do love the buddha.

We took our GPS our for a ride today. I've named her Maggie. If you are driving and feeling lonely, she can be a great companion.

The artist is Yvon Doktor from Davis, California. Google her and you will see how wonderful her work is. Dinner is ready. Wild salmon with no injectable dyes.

Quilting And Blood Tests

The quilt top is completed. Next step is to assemble the back and the batting and then sew them together. My lines are a little wavy; hopefully my next quilt will be a bit straighter. It's been really a lot of fun to do. I'll probably start another small one next week just to get the practice in before I got to my new class.

My blood tests came back normal. My cholesterol is just fine and my happy cholesterol (HDL) are really good. I eat butter, beef, ice cream and put cream in my coffee. Go figure. It's got to be genetic.

The Quilt Class From Hell

Yes, last night was not fun at all. It's not the teacher's fault; it's the way Joann's sets up the classes. I'm glad I'm switching to Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe. You get four three-hour classes for $60, which is the same price Joann's charges for two classes of the same length. Plus they are during the day. I think I convinced another woman in my class to join me. We both live in Lincoln so we could drive together.

At the beginning of class last night we found out that we had our choice of three ways to put together our blocks to make a quilt; I chose one, which I'm still glad I did, but it required a total of 16 blocks. I had six. That meant I had to cut and stitch 10 blocks. If I had been an advanced student it would have been easy, but I'm not.

I wish she had given us our choice last week so I could have made the blocks outside of class and then learned more slowly about "sashing." I even had to wander the store with the teacher to pick out the sashing fabric and then wait in line to have it cut. There was a long line for paying so I just used the fabric and paid after class. The cashier was a little surprised to see the fabric was all cut up.

The other part I didn't like was the Wilton cake decorating class two feet from my sewing machine. I smelled vanilla the during the entire class. The quilting teacher was talking to my right ear and the cake teacher was working on my left ear. I can multi-task with the best but that was going a bit far especially when I don't know what I'm doing.

Last night was the last class for me. It's on to Cabin Fever and a better pace of learning.

Quiet Weekend Plus Clean Meat

Pretty quiet weekend around here. Friday I had lunch with my friend Jean who is also in my book group and knitting group. She wanted to knit a baby blanket; so we met for lunch and then went searching for yarn for a pattern that I loaned her. We found this great color called Bubble Gum. It's sort of a light coral color. She is going to be a very chic baby.

At lunch I explained to Jean that Kerry and I are eating in a new way. If we know the meat has been raised on grass not corn, then we eat it. Otherwise we eat non-meat items on the menu. She had a Chinese chicken salad; I had the spinach tortellini smothered in sliced zucchini and a wonderful cream sauce. I ate half and Kerry had the rest at dinner Friday night.

I spent much of Saturday working on my quilt blocks. I need to complete nine by Monday night; I have seven so far. Went to Beverly's to see if they had some quilting supplies that I couldn't find at Joann's. I finally found the book I was supposed to have for the first class and some more measuring tools. In quilting accurate measuring is a necessity. I'm not the kind of person who is good at that so this is a real learning experience for me. I find that I get a great deal of satisfaction when I sew a block and everything lines up.

Saturday night we went out for sushi; that's something we've decided is okay for our food plan.

One interesting aspect of the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" is a section on Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley http://www.polyfacefarms.com

I really like the introduction to the farm: "We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture." They refer to themselves as the "clean meat connection."

I recently found a local store that promises to be a great place for clean meat; Greenbriar Co-op. It's in Grass Valley, which is about an hour from here. It's great fun to go to Grass Valley for dinner and shopping so from now on we will include a little food shopping as well. Plus we belong to a wine club there. Everything in the store is organic and grass fed. Heaven!

Tonight I have my last quilt class at Joann's; then on to Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe for four lessons starting August 29. I can hardly wait. See how much fun it is to be retired.

The Bridge, Blood Pressure, Liver Function Test And Directions

Most of my immediate family lives in the Minneapolis area so I was quite concerned when the bridge went down. Luckily everyone in the family is accounted for and very grateful to fall into that category. The link below was sent to me by my brother in Evergreen, CO Pretty amazing video.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070802bridge,1,5546538.story?ctrack=2&cset=true

Now for the blood pressure part. I have spent 99% of my life with low blood pressure. Even now that I am very much overweight, my blood pressure has been just fine. I know this because twice a month I made a platelet donation which included my blood pressure. Now, for some reason it is borderline hypertensive. Now I know for many people that is a minor problem but when you've spent your whole life at the other end of the spectrum; well it's disconcerting (especially after the earlier mammogram worry). My doctor ordered a bunch of blood work which I have to fast for so will do it on Monday. I really like my doctor. He also set me up for physical therapy for my rotator cuff problem.

Liver function is next. I didn't know that one of my antidepressants, Wellbutrin, can cause liver problems. Saw my psychiatrist and she ordered the liver test. I had wine the night before so was sure I would be caught with bad function. Got the results this morning by e-mail; just fine. It was an expensive chardonnay!

The last part is the fun part. I bought a GPS that we can use in all of our cars. Actually we bought a GPS. On Wednesday I was out going to doctor appointments, getting blood drawn, etc. when I decided to stop by Fry's Electronics in Roseville to see about a GPS. I wanted to be able to talk to a person about it although I wasn't sure what I would ask him or her. I stopped by, had a good discussion with a very helpful young man and bought the Magellan 3100. I came home and discovered that Kerry had the same thought only he bought the TomTom for $50 more than I paid. His goes back.

So now you know what's happening in my neighborhood. Kerry just got home with dinner so have to go.

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.

The Importance Of Labeling Frozen Foods

We always have meat in the freezer. Yesterday I pulled out a Ziploc bag that looked like it contained Chateaubriand. I had been listening to a Patricia Cornwell's book while I was on the treadmill sweating my way through 40 minutes. She was marinating beef in whisky and honey. Sounded good so I pulled the beef from the freezer (no label) filled the Ziploc bag with whisky, courtesy of Turtle Doug when he quit drinking, added honey, crushed garlic and some lite soy sauce. I rolled it around and set it in the refrigerator. When it was time for dinner, Kerry barbecued the beef and I made a huge salad with lots of organic lettuce, spinach, tomatoes from our neighbors garden and avocado. We sat down to eat, each of us sliced through the beef, put that slice in our mouths and chewed and chewed and chewed. It was then that I realized that it was a piece of beef that would have been better in the crock pot; same ingredients just a longer time to cook. I managed to work my way through about half of mine; I just kept thinking about my jaw muscles and the workout they would get. Helps to keep the jowls from sagging. The salad was great. So, I've learned a lesson about labeling what you freeze. I stole the photo from Google Images.

Tagged By Dykewife

I'm supposed to list eight things about myself; here goes.

1. I was born and raised in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN in an extremely dysfunctional family.
2. I'm the oldest in my family. My sister is four years younger (she's a trainer for the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis) and my brother (he's general counsel for the largest maker of mozarella cheese in the world) is 11 years younger. He lives in Evergreen, CO
3. I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in jouralism; my first job was writing for Feedstuffs and Feedlot.
4. I lived and worked in Europe as a reporter for three years; the publication I worked for was sort of the National Enquirer for the U.S. military. I've been thrown off a lot of U.S. bases in Europe. That's where I learned to swear.
5. I married my husband twice; I'm a slow learner. I divorced him in 1994 and have never looked back.
6. My son is 32 and the light of my life; he plays trumpet with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and this summer with the Santa Fe Opera Company.
7. I spent many years in corporate America until I started my own business in 1995. The motto for my business: "Developing community, environmental and political support for your business goals." My son supplied the short version: I suck up for a living. Being your own boss is a very heady experience.
8. I'm retired and loving it

Dykewife took all the bloggers I would have tagged so if you read this and want to join in, be my guest.

The Taj Mahal Of Litter Boxes

Cleaning a litter box is never fun, but with two cats it's even less desirable. Our friends George and Beverly have one of these for their cat. I went on line, found it, ordered it on sale with no shipping and today Kerry put it together. Now we just have to wait and see if it works. It has a cover complete with charcoal filter but I want to be able to see that it is working and not combing right over a cat. I love the little ramp; that carpet is probably what our carpet looked like when it was new. Gotta keep those dainty little paws clean.

Quilting

In the past few months I've listened to two books on CD that were about quilting; both fiction. One was "The Sugar Camp Quilt" and the other "Circle of Quilters." Jennifer Chiaverini is the author of both. As I listened to each of them I kept thinking about making a quilt. The whole thing sounds so peaceful; the perfect thing to do in retirement. So I've signed up for a quilting class at Joann's Fabrics. I got my supply list and have chosen the colors for my first quilt. I'm thinking of them more as art than as bedcovers.

The books have helped me get familiar with some of the terms and also some of the various ways people quilt. There seems to be a disagreement (that may be too strong a word) between quilters who machine quilt and those who hand quilt. All I know is that I reserved a sewing machine for the class. I have one at home, but it's not something I want to lug to class each time.

So Monday night I begin with a three-hour class. The second and final class is on Wednesday in the evening. I'm really looking forward to it. If I like it then I can go on to the intermediate level.

I love spending time in fabric and yarn stores. It's like returning to the womb; very comfortable. I sure would like to find bloggers who quilt. Anyone out there?

It's Good To Be A Cat At Our House

They pretty much have the run of the house now. At first they weren't too sure about leaving the confines of my office. We opened the door, they sniffed the tile floor that connects my office to the rest of the house, moved forward a few steps and then raced back to their cat condo.

Georgio, lying on Nora' back legs, is much more of an adventurer; he's also the noisemaker of the bunch, which is why in the middle of the night last night they got closed in my office.

I got up from a nap and found them in the sitting room curled up like this. They look so sweet.

This morning Georgio was trying to hurl a hairball while Nora was lying on top of him trying to give him a bath. Not sure if the hairball ever came up but Nora did not stop doing what she loves to do to Georgio.

Haven't done much today except feel a great sense of relief, read and nap. It's 100 outside right now so I'm definitely not going there any time soon. I'm feeling a bit bored, which is certainly better than what I felt yesterday at this time...scared. I'll take bored over scared any day of the week.

So that's all for now folks; just taking it easy and enjoying life.

Good News

Thank you everyone for your good thoughts, energy and prayers. They x-rayed my left breast from every possible angle and squeezed it til it hurt but the doctor liked my x-ray and said I wouldn't have to come back for another year. Yippee. We immediately went to Waffle Barn for breakfast. I'm going back to bed; didn't sleep much last night so I'm exhausted. Again, thank you.

An Unsettling Phone Call

Earlier this week I had a mammogram; I was right on schedule. I got home and told Kerry that I would be getting one of those postcards in the mail saying everything was just fine.

Well, I didn't. Instead I just got a phone call from the radiology department at Kaiser; they want to do another mammogram on my left breast. My stomach dropped to my toes. My heart is thumping away in my chest right now. I have very fibrous breasts which always makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of what's going on in there. I had this happen once before when I was in my early 40s; it turned out to be nothing. I hope that's the case this time. I have an appointment on Monday at 9 a.m.

Between now and then I'm going to be more than a bit nervous. So I'm the one calling for energy, prayers or whatever you believe in. I'll let you know what happens on Monday. I guess the universe got Dykewife and her family a place to live and Rhonda's mother is doing just fine so now it's someone else's turn.

A Surprise Visit

My son Mark and his climbing friend and fellow musician James (he has a bumper sticker that says "opera, the other live music") arrived Wednesday morning about 1 a.m. They had been climbing in the eastern Sierra down near Bishop, CA when Mark got sick. Climbing at 14,000 feet takes a lot out of one even when you are healthy. He asked if they could come here. It was perfect because July 18th is his birthday. Those of you with grown children know how rare it is to get to spend a birthday with your offspring. I made a donation to Oxfamamerica in his name. The donation was at the cow level.

James, he plays the clarinet, left the next morning to go visit his grandmother and parents in Santa Cruz, CA and then to head for Seattle where he and Mark will rendezvous this Sunday for a trek through the northern Cascades. Mark flew home to recuperate and to play in the Santa Fe Opera production of La Boheme this weekend. I also think he wanted to see his girlfriend Robin on his birthday.

The day after the opera performance he flies to Seattle to meet James. They will get some help from Kerry's sister Joanne who lives near where they want to climb. They want to leave a car at one end of the trail head and then get dropped at the other end, or something like that. Joanne will help with that. They also will probably spend a night with Kerry's other sister Susan and her husband Gary.

Tonight is my Knit Wits group. We meet once a month at someones home to knit, laugh, nibble goodies and have a glass of wine. So that's it for now.

Belly Dancing In The Woods

This photo should get me a few hits. We camped last night at our friends place up near Boonville, CA. Usually we only go there for Memorial Day Weekend but Steve was celebrating his 60th birthday so we went to the party which was complete with live music and a belly dancer.

The belly dancer has been a Memorial Day camper for many years but none of us had ever seen her do her thing. She is very good. The best part; her body is not skinny. She has flesh on her bones, which I always think will be a plus if I ever get seriously ill. I will recover more quickly than those skinny minnies who have nothing on which to fall back.

Everyone brought Steve special presents: belly dancing, the band, origami cranes forming a small mobile around a bottle of Sin Zin produced locally; a hand cranked lantern to use when the power is out and so is the sun (they live off the grid) and many more. One fellow rode his motorcycle from Nova Scotia to Boonville to help Steve celebrate. His wife, I think quite wisely, flew into San Francisco, was picked up by friends and driven to the party. I made Steve homemade bread and butter pickles.

He is a fan of my pickles. In years past I've used my bumper crop of crook neck squash to make sweet pickles for him. I didn't grow any squash this year so I took store-bought cucumbers and made the pickles. I used the sugar/splenda combo to help reduce the calories and carbs. I made enough for Kerry and me too. We should be able to eat them in about a week.

On our 8-hour round trip drive to the party and back we listened to Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma." We've listened to five discs so far; eight more to go. The first several discs are about corn and its implications for the health of our planet. It was shocking. Right now lots of people immediately think of ethanol when they think of corn. Well, it takes a whole lot of oil to make ethanol so it's not the panacea to the energy crisis that the current administration is purporting. Also, corn fed beef is not good for the beef or for us. Beef cattle are not meant to eat corn that's why they are given antibiotics to keep them healthy. From birth to the slaughterhouse takes only 14 months. I highly recommend the book for the CD version.

Turtle Doug's estranged wife is the founder and CEO of Laura's Lean Beef; I'm going to make a point to buy it from now on. The cattle are allowed to graze, eat grass and gain weight the old-fashioned way without antibiotics and hormones. The web site for the beef is www.laurasleanbeef.com I'm not ready to give up beef but I just don't want all that extra stuff thrown in.

Critter Update And A Thunderstorm

We woke up this morning to the sound of thunder and raindrops. For many of you that's a normal experience in July. In California it never rains in the summer. We didn't get a lot of it but it's sure cooler outside and the air is a bit cleaner.

Nora and Georgio are doing very well (she's eating and he's drinking in the photo). We've even caught them eating at the same time from the same dish. She is still the alpha cat; Georgio doesn't seem to mind. She loves to clean him. But each cleaning is punctuated with her opening her mouth as wide as she can and then biting him. He just lays there know that this is part of the cleaning process. I've seen him groom her a few times but it's pretty rare.

This morning they were both in the coveted top part of the cat condo. He was in back and she was in front. I suspect he was there first, she jumped up and he moved back to accommodate her. I went to pet her, she backed up and he fell out of the back. We moved them into my office to give them more space and human company plus they can watch the bird feeders.

Kerry is still working with his organization consultant so he has kept the door to his office closed; they don't like that. Georgio will sit and howl outside the door; he's really a talker. She purrs and he talks. I've never heard him purr.

I've been on pins and needles for the last two weeks what with Tent Pegs (aka A Girl and her Laptop) being critically ill with sepsis, Dykewife waiting to find out if her family got the housing they want and Creamy Silver waiting to find out if she is pregnant after her insemination. The universe is a bit out of balance right now. Tent Pegs (aka Amanda) really worries me. This morning the news was not good. She had a very tough night and is not doing very well. She's a quadriplegic which complicates everything. Right now she's in a coma, on dialysis and getting a ton of drugs and breathing treatments to pull her through this. She made it through the sepsis treatment and her lab work has been improving but still she is critically ill. Her family posts to her blog almost every day. I check that blog first thing in the morning. I'm afraid there will be bad news but I can't not read it.

So if anyone has any extra energy lying around, Tent Pegs, Dykewife and Creamy Silver could sure use some. I'm sending what I have.

The Power Is Out And It's 102 Degrees

I got home from a meeting, pushed the garage door opener button in my car and nothing happened. I pushed several more times; nothing happened. I cursed the spider that I thought had built a nest somewhere in the recesses of the opener. So I parked in the driveway, walked to the house, opened the door and was met by very still air that was at that point 85 degrees.

It's amazing what you can't do when there is no power. We live in the country so our well couldn't pump; that means no flushing of toilets (if it's brown flush it down; if it's yellow let it mellow), no using of faucets and gathering bottled water from the garage.

I get very claustrophobic when it's warm and the air isn't moving. I tried to read but kept feeling like the room was closing in. Kerry came home fairly soon and we devised a plan. Our utility said the power would be back on by 8:30 p.m. I would never last that long so we headed out for dinner. Chili's was packed to the gills with refugees from the outage. We ate at the bar; but still it was only 7 :30 p.m. The sun wouldn't go down for an hour. We talked about going to the Galleria and walking around. We both hate the Galleria so that didn't seem like a good idea. I called our friend Jan; she had power so we headed over there. It was heaven to just veg out with a friend who had power. Thank you Jan.

We finally headed for home about 9:30. As we drove up our street we noted some lights in other houses and hoped we were on the same circuit. As luck would have it, we were. I'm typing this now because we have power. Thank goodness. I could handle a power failure in the winter much better than in the summer.

Turns out there was a grass fire which burned something electrical. There were 6,000 customers out of power. So I'm back and very happy to be here.

The Heat Is Just Plain Awful

It's 109 degrees F. here right now on our front porch. July is always the worst month for heat; it's certainly starting out with a bang. It's supposed to be 100+ for the next ten days. Needless to say, our air conditioning is on. I can just hear the meter going "kaching, kaching" as the electric utility makes big bucks off those of us who have air. Mind you, I'm thankful to have air. Last July our electric bill for July was $600.

The heat just sucks the energy out of me. It hasn't done a thing to the cats. They sleep, eat, poop and pee, and play regardless of the temperature.

We are now into twice a day watering. The birds don't sing when it's this hot. I can hardly wait for the sun to go down. I don't like the fact that I want the day to end. Each day should be treasured and enjoyed but 109 just doesn't help. In fact I'd like the whole month of July to go away right now.

Not too much happening here. We had ten straight days of house guests. My son and his girlfriend left on Wednesday morning. Kerry and I went back to bed after we got home from the airport; we slept for three hours. Then we napped later in the day. I think I'm finally caught up; I woke up at 5 a.m. today and never went back to sleep.

Well, this is a pretty boring post but that's all I have to say at the moment.

Same Dragonfly; Just A Different View

Tent Pegs Is Critically Ill

I am incredibly sad; one of our own is gravely ill with sepsis after an operation on her foot. This is compounded by the fact that she is a quadriplegic. But she is young so I'm hoping that her body will pull her through once again.

She hasn't been a blogger that long, but I looked for her witty, sometimes sarcastic but always (once in a while she was a little grumpy) upbeat comments every day. She has had some hard times in the brief period I've been reading her. I learned of this turn-for-the-worse this morning when I got an e-mail from her family. She's not blogging so that's how we get updates on her condition.

This is the part of blogging that I had not considered when I began my journey on the net. I never thought I would care about the people whose lives are lived out on my computer screen; people I've never met. There are many of you, like Tent Pegs (aka Amanda), that I have come to care about. I worry when Dykewife isn't posting; will Creamy Silver get pregnant; what great photo of her dog will Dooce post and what will her monthly letter to her 41 month old daughter contain. I am connected to all of these people and many more. So many people say that the internet is impersonal; well, I beg to differ.

So there is a young woman in a hospital in Calgary, Canada who is gravely ill. She is one of us even though she can't post now. Send energy or whatever you believe in; she will hopefully make good use of all of our good thoughts for her.

Dragon Flies From Lincoln

This picture is for Dykewife. She loves dragon flies. A colleague of mine loves to take pictures of them. This is his most recent. It's a blue dasher dragon fly.

Introducing Nora And Georgio

Picture One: Georgio
Picture Two: Nora
Picture Three: Georgio
Picture Four: Nora

Nora has lighter markings; she's also smaller.