MERRY CHRISTMAS MAX

Finally Max got her Canon 5D Mark 2.  OMG I am sure she thought it was never going to happen.  They have been back ordered FOREVER and most of the camera places are not even taking orders or names for a waiting list. I ordered her camera locally from Wolf Camera, but she was surfing the web and found ONE at Best Buy.  She bought it quickly because it was listed as in stock and went to the store to pick it up.  Luckily she was able to get someone on the phone to actually grab the camera and hold it for her.  Needless to say she is one happy camper right now!

This weekend we wanted to get the sprinklers in order since we laid the sod in the back yard and the rain is going to stop sooner or later.  Ha - simple project - NOT!  We had not really looked at the sprinklers since we had the addition and unfortunately we had some pipes that had been cut (the ones running to the garden) and they did not get capped before they were buried under the BRICKS!  Well now two are capped and the other was extended to add a sprinkler head at the corner of the new sod.  The bricks went back in better than was expected - hassle to get them out and hassle to put them back.

On Friday we (Max, Kathy, Paul, Michael and I) took Jesse's car to him in Volcano.  He fixed us hamburgers - which were great).  He was very happy with his vehicle and it drove very nicely up there. Handled the freeway just fine and the mountains equally well. Not bad gas mileage and comfortable.

I finished a quilt top I have been working on (Denise will love it cause it is from purple scraps of material).  It was a new pattern and the border was suppose to be something different, but all the pieces and diamonds and half diamonds were a bit much for me and I decided to throw in the towel and just go with a traditional border.  I really like the pattern of the quilt and it would be fun to do a truly scrap quilt that way.

Later . . .

Busy Times

Wow - where to start . . . I guess with the above picture of my crooked sewing machine. Geez - after getting my old one replaced because it was just not working properly, I then decided to do some quilt work instead of embroidery and found that I could not make a 1/4 inch seam because the foot was crooked on my machine. No matter how hard I tried there was no way to get a 1/4 inch seam with my 1/4 inch foot. Needless to say I was not very happy about that one. It is in the works right now that hopefully I will be able to get it fixed here instead of the need to go to Palmdale! I am keeping my fingers crossed about that. Pretty frustrated with the luck I seem to be having with my sewing machine.

We had a nice Valentine's day - we worked in the back yard most of the day and then went out to dinner. Since the addition on the house we have had a messed up lawn - the grass in front of the hot tub was almost non-existant, so this weekend we decided to do something about it. We (mainly Max, who has the blisters to show for it) scrapped off what was left of the old dying grass and laid some sod. We used some of the usable parts we removed to hopefully plug some holes where the dogs (maily Miss Chloe) had dug up the grass. Hopefully it will all take and thus elimanate the MUD that is in the back yard and the dogs so readily want to track in the house.

The search for a car for Jesse is finally over. Max and Kathy found a very cool '84 Olds Omega with only 44k original miles on it. It runs really great and looks great too. After a bit of work (new muffler, tires, brakes, oil change, head light, wipers, smog and back registration) she is ready to be given to Jesse. He had limited money to spend on a vehicle and this is good old heavy car that should be safe to drive. We are planning to take it to him this weekend. He just finished with his schooling (medical assistant) and can start actively looking for a job now that he will have transportation.

Lastly (Debby will be sooooooo proud), Max finished earthquaking everything in the house. She has been wanting to get the hutch in the dining room done for some time and it is finally accomplished. If we were to have an earthquake the top part of that hutch would surely move - might not come all the way off, but it is full of all the crystal and stuff from my mother and I would hate to have it all broken. Might break anyway, but at least the top is secured to the wall now.

Later . . .

Quilt Progress & Weekend

I finished my quilt top by adding the borders and I am liking it (except that the quilt is almost square and I am not that fond of square quilts). I will have to pay more attention the next time and add a row on the bottom to make it a rectangle. Looking at the top it is going to be a real challenge to quilt it, but I am looking forward to giving it a try - must do some practice before I tackle that job.

Kathy wanted to do some practice embroidery so she brought her machine over and while Max and Paul were tying flies, I helped her with the above project. She wants to add some more snowflakes and she now knows how to do it. The whole embroidery process can be a bit intimidating until you have done it a few times. We had a great day working on projects and then after dinner we all shared playing Rock Band. It was a blast and Mike was "rocking out" on the drums.

We have been having a terrible time with our DSL connection and have not been able to get on the internet - except by chance every once in a while. I called AT&T and they seem to think it is in our line and were suppose to check it out today. For whatever reason it has been connecting with a strong signal this AM - so I am hoping they did their thing - "between 8 and 5". At first I thought it was my modem that was going out, but we could not connect even when we plugged straight in with the DSL cable. It has been frustrating, but it does seem to be working now.

Later . . .

Check it out . . .

I finally finished the quilt top - except I still have to add a couple of borders.  What a challenge and what fun.  This is the first time I have ever done sashing strips, but it seemed to work out okay.  I am anxious to see what it will look like with the borders.  I am going to do different shades of pink (picture will come when I am finished).

Kathy and Paul are coming over today to "play".  Max and Paul are going to tie flies and Kathy wants to do some embroidery.   We are going to have some pulled pork I bought at Costco and Paul is making coleslaw.   I am also hoping I might convince them to play a little Rock Band after dinner.

Later . . .

Struggling along . . .

I am working on a new quilt project, which I must say is quite the challenge.  I am just using some scraps of fabric and can only hope it will turn out okay.  At least it will give me something to put on my quilting machine.  I started to put a "cheater" quilt on my frame to do some practice, but I was having a horrible time trying to get the thing square.  It appears the print on the material is not straight.  I may go ahead and put it on the machine just to get some practice.  I have not had anything on the frame since before Christmas and I need to get in the grove again.  At this point I can't even remember how to thread the thing.

I am having great fun with my new Macbook, but I am faced with a new operating system which is just a bit different from my iMac - I am still learning Tiger and now I am running Leopard.  I guess I need to face the fact I have too many things with which I am still smack in the middle of the learning curve.  

We had a good weekend.  Kathy, Max and I went to Volcano to work on Max's mom's components and DVR as well as hook up the Rock Band that they just got.  We accomplished the task and they were playing Rock Band by the time we left.  Max's mom made a delicious chicken and dumplings along with a wonderful chocolate cake for a late birthday celebration for me.  We watched the Super Bowl with Kathy, Paul and Michael on Sunday.

I had to have my Vue towed to the dealer yesterday as the battery was DEAD!  They checked it out and all is well except for the fact the battery just failed.  They put a new on in and I will get my car back today.

Later . . .