Niners & Raiders

Well thank goodness Debby is safely home from Iraq! In a way it seems like the year went by quickly and in another way it seemed to drag. The family (Kathy, Paul, Michael, Debby, Max and I) got together for the Niner/Raider game. Everyone except Max and I are Niner fans and Max and Debby bet on the teams every year - who will win the most games - who wins the pre-season game (which was the Niners). Thank goodness it was a close game! It was just fun to be at Debby's and have her home and be able to have a friendly rivalry over the game. We had a simple dinner of hot dogs and potato salad. She just arrived home Saturday morning, so she was very tired and we left her to get some sleep after the game was over.

We bought chilles (from Hatch New Mexico) and have to do some roasting. Ya can't really roast the chilles on a gas BBQ so we ended up picking up a decent sized grill. Hate to do it for once a year, but decided it would be the backup in case we run out of propane (which happens to be the case right now - both tanks are empty). We have room to store it in the shed and it will not be in the way since we are not getting the lawn mower in and out (gardeners). OMG the house smells soooooooooooo good right now with all the chilles sitting on the counter waiting to be bagged and put in the freezer!

I was able to get the binding sewn on one of the baby quilts that I had done while watching the game. I finished a quilt for Sunny (Debby's Yellow Lab) and gave it to Debby today. I have a quilt on the frame ready to be quilted, but probably will not get to it until the beginning of the week. At least it is loaded. The part I hate the most about the quilting process is cutting the backing for the quilt top. I am getting better at doing it and working better with larger sized material that has to be squared, but it is still something I consider a hassle. It probably also is that I never know what to use. With the dog quilts it is difficult to pick a patterned material and I have been using plain muslin, which seems to do the trick and look good. I am anxious to actually get one of my good quilts on the frame to quilt - time just seems to get away from me.

We are going to Genoa this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday for a wedding. Max is taking pictures of the bridesmaids getting their hair done and getting ready for the wedding. The wedding is on Friday - so we will be coming home on Saturday. Then the next week we will be going back to Genoa for a week of fishing and general vacation relaxation.

Later . . .

Weekend

Had a fun Friday - Michael's 26th BD. He actually had his "party" Thursday night at the Karaoke Bar he and his work friends like to go to on Thursdays. Since Karaoke does not start until 9:30, Max and I skipped the drinking and singing part of the celebration. We all went out to dinner at his favorite Mexican place and then came back to our house for a good session of Rock Band II. Mike loves to place the drums!

Max and I both had "training sessions" on Saturday. I took an embroidery stabilizer class in Sunnyvale and she did a 2 hour session with a photographer (Kathy tagged along as her model). We were both pleased with what we learned. Max found this guy that she really likes in Fremont who gives lessons at his studio for $50 an hour - amazing since most people she looked up were charging in the hundreds!

We are having our typical "do nothing Sunday", but I did run across a problem when I looked in my fabric cabinet and found that one of my bottles of distilled water was EMPTY (Yes,it was a new bottle). Needless to say I had a bunch of molded fabric and a mess on the bottom of the cabinet. I had to unload the entire cabinet (Yes it was FULL of material) to check the flooring behind and under the cabinet. Everything looked okay, but I am guessing it had to have leaked some onto the flooring. We had to "un-earthquake" the cabinet to be able to move it - what a pain in the butt.

Ahhhhhh well back to do nothing Sunday - all the fabric can wait until tomorrow. I do think this is a good opportunity to do some rearranging and thinning out of stuff I have in my sewing room. Less really is better sometimes! I have so much stuff that it is hard to make a decision as to what I am going to sew next. I have so much material I have a hard time deciding what to use. This will be a great opportunity to get rid of anything that is not 100% cotton AND something that I think I will actually use in the NEAR future.

Later . . .

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Now playing: Rob Thomas - Her Diamonds
via FoxyTunes

Not Quilting Yet

When I did the embroidery before my machine was acting up a bit - so I decided that instead of quilting I should do some more embroidery and see if my machine would behave. I decided to put a design on the front of the shirt that I put the fairy on the back. Then Max asked me to put a cloud and rainbow on one of her shirts. They both turned out nice - I added the hummingbird as an additional touch to the flowers. It seemed to do okay except it cuts threads sometimes and then sometimes it doesn't. It is frustrating to have a machine that cost that much money and have it not do the things that it is suppose to do (and is why it cost so much money). I will say it does do a nice job of sewing and embroidery and the bells and whistles that don't work are not that big of an issue - merely an annoyance!

I am still missing the grand kids, but adjusting to the quiet and loneliness. They certainly kept me focused and busy. Right now I am working on losing the 6 pounds I gained while they were here. So much easier to put on than take off. Also much easier to be watching what I eat when I am not feeding kids.

Later . . .

Missing the Grandkids

Glad I didn't decide to slice the top of my finger off while the kids where here. I managed to do it in a spot that if I bent my finger it would come open. I took a pretty good slice right at the top of the knuckle - opps! I was cleaning the drain in the sink and slipped. It is having a difficult time healing because of the bend. To keep it from bending, we made a splint from a card reader that would not work with my memory sticks.

After the grandkids left, we knew that Jesse was coming down with his kids so we left the pools up with water. It is amazing the attraction of that little pool! Jesse went swimming with the kids and they had a blast in the bigger pool.

I have my sewing room back and did some embroidery yesterday (I would give it up again to have the kids - the house is quiet and LONELY). I made the horse shirt to donate for a silent auction that is being held for R.E.A.C.H. I am doing it for the benefit of Michael. I am also making a dog quilt and a baby quilt. I added the spools of thread to the front of the shirt that I had previously put "When Life Gives You Scraps - Make Quilts" on the back. I am hoping to get something on my quilt machine today and get back in the grove of quilting. I am thinking I would like to try to use a pantograph and see how that works out. I have sooooooooooo many things to learn and try.


Our fishing trip is just around the corner September 4th - 11th) and we are all looking forward to taking off for a week. Max and Paul are looking forward to not only float tubing in the lakes, but being able to fly fish in the Carson River. Time will tell how my knee will hold up for tubing.

Later . . .

Time Flies

Things have pretty much remained the same - swimming, board games, video games, baking cookies and eating breakfast, snacks, lunch, snacks, dinner and dessert (they eat all the time). We have run across some really good games and some really not so good games) above Chutes and Ladders, Hungry Hungry Hippos and Crazy Crab). Deanna fell in love with "Crazy Crab" and "Hungry, Hungry Hippos". Chutes and Ladders was a success along with some OLD game called "Spooky Old Tree". There was another game that was only for two players - "Guess Who" that everyone liked. It is nice that the kids can all play board games and Deanna does excellent for "almost" four.

The time has flown by and Denise will be arriving today to take them home tomorrow. I have loved having them here, but it is a handful and VERY time consuming and patience trying. Makes a big difference in my life when I am used to being home alone every day. All that said, Max and I are going to miss them like crazy once they are gone. IF ONLY we lived closer, we could have them more often for shorter periods of time.

All I can say is that the pool was the best $25 investment I have made in a long time. They spent hours in the pool almost every day. Yesterday was the only day that it was actually too cool for them to go swimming (go figure Livermore in August).

Later . . .

Mustang Building Saturday

Max and Devin set down to work on the Mustang project. It turned out to be quite the challenge, but turned out really well. Devin had a great time building it and Max was very patient and let him do it himself (with gentle guidance and help where actually needed. He decorated it (with some sticker placement help from Max) and then played with it both inside and out. Of course it does seem to run better on the kitchen floor than on the carpet or the bricks of our patio. There is one place around the side of the house that has a long run of cement, but short turning radius. He really loves the car (and I think I will have to buy one for Max).


Between the swimming and 30 minutes each of video games, I have been able to finally get the binding on two baby quilts and my queen size quilt. At this moment I only have one baby quilt left to bind. Too bad I have MANY quilt tops that need to be quilted and then that means more binding! I seem to always poke holes in my fingers when I am sewing binding because I just can't use a thimble.

Last night we tried playing some games that we had never played before - some were good and some were - NOT! Shark was rejected, M&M Party Game is still under consideration (a bit too much for Deanna) and everyone liked Kerplunk. Because M&M took so long, we did not get too Chutes and Ladders. It was a general consensus that Kerplunk was a keeper. We have more games to explore this afternoon. Max got pictures of us playing games, but they are on her computer and I will have to get some copies (I was busy playing and did not have my camera).

Max has a bridal shower that she is going to shoot this afternoon and she wants us to wait to play games until she gets back. We always have stuff happening - so no problem on that request.
We have video games and the pool and of course EATING which seems to be a constant around here (smile).

Later . . .

Family Craft Night

Kathy, Paul and Michael came over for "family craft night". This is where we all get together and work on our chosen craft. After we had a "picnic" in the backyard of McDonald's, we all set down around the table to do our things. Max was teaching Desirae how to tie flies while Paul was tying flies. Kathy was helping Devin and Deanna make beaded necklaces and bracelets. I was doing hand work on one of my quilts trying to get the binding done. After a bit Devin, Michael and I switched to Rock Band. Devin on bass, Mike on drums and me on guitar. We actually did quite well and progressed to getting our "Tour Van".

Everyone had a really good time (I love craft nights). Right now Max and Devin are working on his car - that will be another post.

Later . . .