Soldering Project

Duane wanted to make an apparatus for a back drop for photography, which could be folded down to a size that could be easily handled. Max and Duane decided to make one with copper pipe and fittings that would unscrew instead of folding. This was Duane's first try at soldering and he did an excellent job. The project turned out well, but we did not get an opportunity to try it - hope it will do what he wants. It is difficult to see the finished project, but it did turn out the way they had expected. They seemed to enjoy their project in the garage.

This weekend is moving way to quickly and I will be very sad to see the Ellison family leave and head back toward the desert. I know we will see them again soon, but no matter what it is a difficult time saying goodbye.

Later . . .

That's My Boy!

The camera man was hard at work when we went downtown to see the colored fountain in the center of town. Duane was busy taking pictures while I was busy taking pictures of him taking pictures (maybe "goober" runs in the family)! Actually Duane got some good shots and I took a couple myself. One in particular I liked, which is this one on the right. Needless to say we made it a family affair except for Denise and the baby - cause as you can see it was a bit cold.

It has been really fun to have the entire family here for the weekend. We have been having a great time. They are staying until Tuesday and it will be hard to see them go. Deanna has been growing so quickly and watching her observe the dogs and the world in general is a treat in itself!

Later . . .

The Ellison Family Arrived

The Ellison Family Unit arrived safe and well from their long drive. Kodi decided to settle right in with the kids when it was bed time. Kodi has always joined the kids when we make them beds on the floor. It is such a joy to have the whole family here (even if we don't actually have the room).

We gave up our bedroom for Duane, Denise and the baby. The dogs were a bit confused because they have their beds in that room. Needless to say they found a place to sleep! Two adults and two big dogs on a queen air mattres is a bit much!

It was a trip to have the whole family in the dining room. Very cool to watch everyone coloring (I was involved previously). Duane and Devin coloring - like father, like son! Then there is Desirae using her Daddy's camera to take pictures (the camera is as big as she is) - like father, like daughter!


With all the camera in this house we should be getting some good shots. We have been having a great time and this evening Kathy, Paul and Michael are going to join the family.


The addition of Deanna is just a blessing because she is such a delightfully happy little thing (not to mention cute as a button)!
Later . . .

More Embroidery Blocks

I have only had time to do a few more blocks, but I like the additions. I need to make 7 more blocks and then I will be done with the embriodered ones. Unfortunately, I had to alter my plans because I cut the blocks prior to the embriodery and with the embroidery I lost about an 8th of a inch on the blocks. I am changing from 8 inch blocks to 6 inch (will be easier to cut them down to 6 inches and keep the embriodery centered). Since Duane and family are coming for the holiday weekend, I won't be getting any more blocks done until next week.

This little guy is the planned two middle blocks in my project. I have always liked elephants and he popped up with a search for "hearts". I have found some more interesting hearts and have the additional 7 planned. I am really anxious to get this project put together. No matter what happens, I have been having fun and that is what retirement and having a fancy sewing machine is all about!

Hopefully between Duane and I we will have some good family pictures for our blogs this weekend.

Later . . .

Busy Embroidering Heart Squares

I decided what better way to see what some of my designs look like than to put them on squares and make a light-weight sheet/blanket. I am suffering with night sweats since I had to stop taking my medication and was told by my oncologist that the hormone therapy I have to do after my radiation is only going to make it worse. So I have been searching for "heart" designs and am going to make a quilt top and just back it with something light-weight. So for the last couple of days I have been searching patterns and doing embroidery. I am having a good time and hope this project actually makes it to completion. Good, bad or indifferent, I am going to finish this - good practice for me. It is nice to see the designs on fabric - some are better than their pictures and some are worse.

Later . . .

Yard work & embroidery

Today was a beautiful day so we decided to do some work in the yard. Max needed to put up the trellis for the tomato plants. She had seen the idea in a gardening book and it seemed to be a neat idea. She stuck rebar into the ground and then set electical conduit pipes set on top of that. She attached the conduit with copper 90's and a T in the middle and then added gardening netting across the conduit. It actually looks like it will work really well. I decided it was time to mow and edge the back yard. I mowed twice with my new electric mower and the yard looks really nice. I have all the potted plants placed around the yard and garden (more to come because I found some extra pots). I have all my humming bird feeders filled and hung and hopefully my little friends will come to visit.

Yesterday I worked with my sewing machine and am very happy with the results. I did pillow cases for Devin and Desirae (our grandkids) and made one for Michael. I feel much more confident in what I am doing with my embroidery now - so there will be no stopping me! I need to do some of my practice shirts to make sure I actually am on the right track and then I can start doing things that are not for practice. I am looking forward to starting on quilt projects and I have something in mind to get me started (it is developing in my head and this coming week I plan to try to put it together).

Later . . .

Sewing

Now this is what I call HARD at work - kicked back in my chair watching my machine do the embroidery. Max took these pictures and I though my light on my machine was burning out every time the flash went off (funny). I am very excited about the things I learned yesterday and am pleased that I have been able to put the tools to work and come up with satisfactory results. Of course I can do nothing without the assistance of Darci (she is always close at hand and in the way).

Later . . .

Busy Couple of Days

I finally drug out some of my pots and planted some flowers. I wanted to get some more marigolds around the garden to keep the white flys down. I would like to do some more planting of actual flowers for decoration to be placed around the yard and patio. My lavender is now blooming and it smells great. The marigold plants all have to be moved off the shelve and into the garden area. I already have quite a few pots around the open area for the garden and they are keeping the white flys down.

I had my sewing lesson today and it went pretty well. The nicest part was probably the fact that I know much more than I thought I did. I received some excellent pointers (probably not worth the cost), and reinforced the fact that I do know what I am doing most of the time. I learned they have a "sewing get together" every Thursday where women bring their machines and work on projects and generally help each other out. Kind of a social gathering where they share ideas and projects (good business for the shop). It goes from 10:00 AM to 4 PM. I think I will try to go this coming Thursday, but not stay until 4 because of the traffic going back over the hill. The real BONUS for the day was when Max purchased the designer matching set of Gingher scissors! They are really beautiful and the flower design is subtle, but gorgeous!

Unfortunately, I guess I am going to have to rack my brain to see if I can remember how to do macrame again. I did many beautiful things during the 70's, (and that seems like acient history) but have not tried it for a very long time. I knew I was making a mistake when I hung the macrame hanger with the glass fishing balls out in the elements. The hanger I gave to my mother YEARS ago (she hung it in her house with plants) and the glass balls also came from my mother. I knew the weather was rotting the bottom jute and yesterday the ball dropped. I bought some jute and I think once I look at the hanging I will be able to duplicate it without a pattern. If I can't figure it out, I may just make individual hangers and leave it at that.

Lawn Mower & Fishing

I am not quite sure why I hesitated in buying an electric lawn mower. When we got to Sears we almost changed our minds because the sales person mentioned they were not very efficient and gas mowers had much more power. I made the decision that I was there for an electric mower and came home with one. I am very pleased with it. I do not mind the cord and it is sooooooo easy to start and it is easier to push than the heavy gas mower I was using before. I love the way I can turn it off and then start it again with great ease (makes it possible to use now and not mess with my arm - which is STILL sore).

We made it fishing around 8:00 AM and had a really fun time. The weather was beautiful and there was a nice breeze up until around 11:00 AM. The breeze went away and the temperature rose AND we forgot to bring any sunscreen (a bit of sunburn was the result)! As you can see we caught three nice trout (I caught the big one) - two for me and one for Max. We had not been fishing in a while and it was really nice to throw some lures (my arm gave me some trouble with casting, but I managed).

After fishing we came home (Max cleaned the fish), we messed around in the yard a bit and then caught up on the Tivo shows we missed during the week.

Later . . .

A Day of Sewing

Okay, so I messed up my project from yesterday, good sport that I am, I decided to try it again. I also decided to pay CLOSE attention to the instructions and not ignore that little piece that says "MAKE SURE YOUR SEAMS LINE UP SO THE POINTS OF THE STARS WILL MEET". Not that I did a perfect job, but it is a MUCH BETTER job than the previous. I just picked some old material and cut some squares and gave it a try. I am thinking that squares on their own would not be as difficult to get lined up (or maybe they just would not show as much).

It was a challenge, but I had FUN! I am thinking there must be a scrap quilt in my near future.

Since I have nothing to actually quilt, I decided to play around with embroidery. I have some patterns that I have been wanting to see what they look like - so I made a fishing towel (we are going fishing tomorrow morning). I also put a design on a tea towel to see how it would look and I like it. I put a flower design on the back of my "practice" shirt and it turned out well. The design required 26 thread changes (which only means it took a long time to finish it, since the machine actually does all the work). The flower design measures 8 1/2 inches high and 4 1/2 inches wide! It looks very nice on the shirt.We are headed to Dublin to our favorite Chinese resturant and then to Sears to purchase a new electric lawn mower. Since Max is off tomorrow this is our Friday!

Later . . .

First Quilt Project

I finally decided I was going to do the quilt project Denise gave me for Christmas. I have been wanting to try quilting and the books have some great information and techniques. Unfortunately I am not very precision and making the star design was a bit difficult. I do feel I made progress (even though the green triangle on the bottom is smaller than the others). I plan to try another and cut the squares myself so they all start off the same. Not much point in continuing with the wall hanging or pillow since it does not line up and is VERY noticeable. I also remembered that I have a foot for my machine that does 1/4 inch and that might help.

When I do embroidery on my machine I do not have to worry about the stitch - so I guess I need MUCH practice on making a STRAIGHT 1/4 inch seam. Nonetheless, I was pleased with myself and had FUN, which is a very important part of trying something new.

I also did some mending and made an appointment to get some lessons from the Pfaff dealer in San Jose next week. I am really excited about that because my machine does much more than I am capable of learning from the book.

Allergies are killing Max and Kodi, but Darci and I seem to be doing fine.

Later . . .

Lettuce and radishes fresh from the garden

Dinner was most delicious tonight because we used fresh picked lettuce and radish from the garden along with store bought tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and green onions. All the rest of the vegetables are coming up, but not actually ready to be picked. Radishes grow in 28 days – so they are always ready. We will have to plant more soon. Unfortunately, it is starting to get hot and I don’t think the lettuce will last too long in the heat. It will be nice when the only thing we have to buy at the store for a salad will be lettuce (avocado – but it is not really necessary). There is something about the taste of lettuce from the garden that just cannot compare with anything bought from the store. We always have enough lettuce to share with the neighbors and Max usually takes some to share with the people at work. To go with the salad we had steaks and rice.

Later . . .

New Bike Rack for New Bikes

After patiently waiting for the arrival of the new bike rack we ordered from Sears, it arrived today. Max immediately put it together and our bikes now have a new stand to keep them in the upright position. Our garage is pretty crowded with everything except cars and the addition of the new bikes just about excludes the possibility of bringing anything else into the garage(really, there is no more room). When you have so much stuff in the garage it ends up being important to have a place for everything. Since neither of the bikes have kick stands, before we had the bike rack the bikes would sometimes fall over (probably from the dogs rushing in the garage to get in the house and brushing up next to the one on the outside). We did a lot of searching and investigating on how to store the bikes and I think this is going to work well.

Later . . .

More Special Olympics

Kathy, Paul, Debby, Max and I went to Pleasanton to watch Michael play Volleyball. His team did really GREAT and they will be going to the play offs, sporting GOLD MEDALS! Go #35! They played against two different teams (best 2 out of three games) and they won all of their games.

After Volleyball we all went over to Debby's (Michael had to go to work at WalMart) and we had dinner and helped Debby get setup with her new Sony Notebook. She is moving into the computer world and is very excited about it. Her DSL was suppose to be working since yesterday, (did not happen) but she connected to someone's network in the neighborhood and was able to get online. She has even purchased a digital camera and was able to put some pictures on her computer.

Welcome to our world, Debby!

Later . . .

Grooming the dogs

Whew – I worked on the dogs today and could not complete the job. It was not that the dogs were uncooperative, but my sore arm gave out on me. I did manage to get half a bucket of hair off Kodi and gave Darci a quick once over. I will have to continue the job tomorrow. I wish I would have gotten pictures, but maybe I will have Max take some shots tomorrow.

Well, being the Sudoku addict that I am, I found a Sudoku CD for my computer and one for my PSP. I must say it is much easier to play the harder games on the computer and not have to do all the “tiny” little numbers and keep erasing. I have tackled some of the hardest ones and made my way through. I guess I am turning to Sudoku because I am stuck in my video game. I am in a “boss” fight and I just cannot get accurate enough, fast enough to progress through the three parts (it is a shooting battle). I know that it will just take practice, but I am not that steady with the controller and it requires extreme accuracy with a VERY short time limit. I am about ready to look up a health cheat or something to get me past it.

Nothing of great interest happening around here - so I will sign off.

Later . . .

Summer is almost here

I was really frustrated when I was working on the blog and my computer kept freezing. I guess I am going to have to remember to do all the writing in MS Word and save the information as a draft and then add the pictures. At least if I have to shut down I will not have lost the written information. I don’t actually have any pictures to post anyway, but there were a few shots of the garden and the growth of our baby vegetables. We have sweet peas, beans, lettuce, green beans, cucumbers, beets, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, mint, squash and zucchini. We have planted cauliflower, but they have not sprouted as yet. I love the beginning of the garden because it is such fun to plant the seeds and watch for the plants to pop their little heads out of the dirt. I have a real problem with the thinning process and think that everything that comes up should be allowed to grow. Max, however, continues to explain to me that they need space for the roots and they MUST be thinned. We will be able to start eating the lettuce any day now as we thought the seedlings were dying and we bought some small lettuce plants. The tomato plants are sprouting flowers, but I am sure it will be a while before we actually get some of those “sweet one hundreds”.

I am hopeful I will be able to enjoy my humming birds soon. I have seen a few flying around the yard, but I have not actually seen any eating from the feeders. The food level is dropping so I am assuming they are eating. Since I don’t intend to stand at my kitchen window watching for the birds, I guess I need to start spending some more time in the back yard. The weather is turning really nice, but unfortunately for Kodi that is interpreted as HOT! He is already starting to search for the cool places in the house – he has ended up in the bathroom, but has not made it into the bath tub as yet. Most of the summer he likes to lay in the tub because it seems to be one of the coolest places in the house. I need to do some serious grooming on both the dogs and make sure that Kodi’s undercoat is thinned out as much as possible. It will be time for the plastic swimming pools that he loves so much to be brought out. He is so cute when he plays in the water. He puts his whole snout under the water and blows bubbles. He runs around the yard and then jumps in the pool to cool off his massive chest. Darci has not taken to the water, but they both like to play in the sprinklers.

Unfortunately, with the summer also comes the allergies and I need to get a jump start on Kodi’s ears and feet. As long as I stay on top of his medication and keeping the yeast down in his ears and feet, I should be able to keep him away from the vet. The first summer he ended up with his allergies I had to cut all the hair from his feet and between his toes and pads – now that was a funny looking “big footed boy”. Everyone around is suffering from allergies, so it is time to stock up on medication for the entire family. Thankfully, Darci does not seem to have any problems in that area. She WANTS to get whatever Kodi is getting, but she does not need it (and does not get it).

Max started riding her new bicycle to work today and liked the process except for not having a “to go” cup of coffee. She plans to continue to ride her bike to work everyday and get some good exercise. It is 6 miles to work and that is a nice ride (12 miles total). I worry a bit later in the summer when the heat gets up there that it might be pretty difficult to ride home – time will tell and I can always go pick her up with the truck.

That is enough rambling …

GOOD News Finally Arrived

I am VERY happy to report the results of the surgery and biopsy - NEGATIVE for any cancerous cells!! It was a long weekend (with very positive thoughts and attitude) and we had to wait until almost 5:00 PM to get the results.

I have an appointment with my surgeon on the 8th and will be referred to an oncologist for the radiation treatment. My understanding is that it will begin approximately 4 weeks after the surgery (time for healing) and last for 5 weeks.

I want to thank everyone who kept me in their thoughts and prayers (I am a firm believer).

Perhaps life will get back to normal - whatever normal is.

Later . . .

(I tried to do a post over the weekend because we worked out in the back yard with the garden and the sprinklers, but my computer kept crashing and would freeze up when I tried to upload pictures - frustrated, YES)!

Awaiting the Results

Hmmmmm - so much for trying to do more timely posts. I had my surgery on Monday and spent Monday night and Tuesday mostly sleeping. We were hoping for some news regarding the results of the biopsy today, but did not get them (hopefully Monday). I suppose anyone who wants to see pictures should check Duane's Blog to take a look at the pictures he posted (he is ever camera ready). It was really great to have him here until Wednesday - no comfort like that of a loving son (child).

Max has been hard at work while Wanda and I have lazed around the house playing sudoku and reading "rag mags". Kathy brought over a wonderful lasagna, salad, bread and "to die for" chocolate/strawberry dessert Monday night, which was greatly appreciated by all. She then brought over a bunch of great colored pencils and books along with another sudoku book to keep me busy. I have been having a great time with the colored pencils - I love to do pencil coloring just like my mother used to do! She then brought strawberry shortcake - ahhhhh I am doing nothing but laying around and eating (I need to be up and about soon)!

Wanda and I ventured out today while Max was taking finals. We had our toes done and that was a real treat. The pedicure along with the leg/foot treatment and massaging chairs, not to mention the nice colored nails was a much needed uplight (followed by Starbucks and a Wal-Mart trip).

Wanda has to go home tomorrow and I will be sad to see her leave. I am sure things will be back to normal starting next week and hopefully I will get the camera in action and do some postings.

Still looking forward to a relaxing weekend. The weather has turned really beautiful and it is nice to have the windows open and experience a nice breeze.

Later . . .

Today is the DAY

So Max, Duane, Wanda and I are off to Kaiser Walnut Creek for my surgery. No food or COFFEE for me:(

May be a couple of days before the next post, but I will try to not make it 2 weeks.

Later . . .

Two Weeks!

I cannot believe that it has been two weeks since I have posted. Let me try and think what I have been doing . . .

The dogs are both well - thank goodness there was nothing wrong with Darci that a diet won't cure and Kodi's foot is all better (since I made him wear a sock for a couple of days to stop licking and picking). I think I was able to pull a sticker out and that was the problem.

We did manage to get some vegetables and flowers planted and I managed to mow the lawn. The result of the mowed lawn was Kodi sported green feet and a bottom from running and playing on the wet grass. He always looks so funny when every white spot on him turns green.

I occupied my time the first week with cleaning out kitchen cupboards and sorting through things that needed to be thrown out.

I spent the day Thursday in Manteca with Max's mother (Ann) while Warren (Max's step-father) had a pace maker implanted. Then on Friday Kathy, Paul, Max and I headed out for David Walley's Resort and Spa in Genoa, Nevada (we lovingly call the place Wally World).

We had a really great time spending the week there. Not only did Max do homework on a VERY slow dial up connection, we went to the local Starbucks to access the internet because something she needed for school was timing out before it could load due to the slowness of the connection, we accomplished a VERY difficult fish puzzle, I conquered four star Sudoku puzzles, Kathy read a Dean Koontz book, we did Thrift Store shopping, checked out the BLM land office for places to off road, Paul checked out bicycle shops researching for a new bike purchase, checked out the local "oldest bar in the state", visited the local "general store" for soup and ice cream, had some great food at the local eateries, had good food at the condo (filets with blue cheese to die for), sat in the hot tub in the snow and still found plenty of time to gamble. If you can imagine Kathy played the penny slots machines for FOUR hours on ONE DOLLAR! Unfortunately, I did not manage to conquer the Craps Tables (would have loved to repeat the $1000 win from a previous visit), but we did have many hours of fun there and the Three Card Poker and Black Jack tables!

We had to come down to Sacramento for a day because Warren had surgery to replace an artery in his leg on Tuesday. We came down to stay with Ann until he came out of surgery. Max did homework, Kathy taught Ann how to do Sudoku puzzles, I did Sudoku puzzles and Paul read bicycle magazines. It certainly made the time pass quickly. Warren came out of the surgery doing very well and his recovery looks very promising. We stopped by the hospital to see him on the way home Friday and he was being released to go home.

Duane came down for the weekend today (he will be here for my surgery, staying until Wednesday) and we went to look at light weight travel trailers http://www.trailmanor.com/. We were very impressed with how they looked and how easily they set up and came down. (Check Duane's blog for pictures).

Hopefully I will do better with posting and not let so much time lapse between posts.

Later . . .

Busy Weekend

The weekend just seemed to speed by. On both Saturday and Sunday we went to Pleasanton to watch Michael participate in the Northern California Special Olympics. His basketball team did really well and came away with a Silver Medal. The team that took the gold was an extremely aggressive team and basically intimidated all the other teams. By Sunday afternoon you could see the influence the aggressive team had on all the remaining teams – there was some serious blocking and ball stealing going on. We did breakfast/lunch with Kathy and Paul on both Saturday and Sunday. Michael bought a new recumbent bicycle on Sunday afternoon (sorry I have no pictures cause it is really cool) and we all went out for Mexican food to celebrate (the bike and the Olympics). This was the eliminations and I don’t think his team will go on to Sacramento for the finals. I have not taken any pictures in a while and I know I need to.

We are having a hard time finding time to plant things in between the rain. Hard to believe California is having this much rain this late in the season. I am sure it will all work out, but we have both vegetables and flowers that need to be planted. Yards need to be mowed and I hate to do it when the grass is so wet – not good for the blades of the mower.

Kodi has a big sore (abscess) between his little toe and the next one. Darci has some sort of lump on her hip – God, I wish we had dog insurance! I made an appointment for Darci for tomorrow afternoon and just found the abscess on Kodi this afternoon. I will talk to the vet and see if I can just get some ointment for Kodi’s foot. I would prefer not to have to take him in, but she will probably want to see him and check it out for herself.

Later . . .

Almost the end of the week . . .

Wow – where did the week go? I know I have been busy, but I am not sure what I have been doing. I guess I could mention I finished the video game I was playing (ya think that is where my time was spent)? We did have Kathy, Paul and Debby over for dinner on Wednesday night. Max put a couple of tri-tips on the barbeque and I baked some potatoes and after dinner we watched a NOVA special on “String Theory”. It was a three part series, which we finished tonight at Kathy and Paul’s after a lasagna dinner. It was quite an interesting series, but a bit over my head with all the quantum mechanics and scientific talk.

I pulled out my Irish scone mix that I brought back from Ireland with me and made a couple batches of scones. Whoa, I must say I did a good job (had to add milk and raisins and bake) and they tasted terrific! Now that I have accomplished the scones I am going to have to give the brown bread mix a try. Making something from scratch or making something from a mix – okay, I will choose the mix (how very simple it turned out to be once I found a measuring cup with milliliters).

I did mess around with my sewing machine and found an interesting embroidery pattern of a “sunburst”. I put one on the back of one of my “practice” shirts and it turned out really nice. I am thinking about putting a pattern of them on the back of a denim jacket that I have. I will practice a bit more with colors and sizes, but that was a fun project.

I finally caught up on my letter writing. I had many thank you letters to send to people in Ireland. I also made some disks with the pictures I took while I was over there. I made some prints for some people and added them to the letters I wrote. I also had a nice long phone conversation with my sister Kay who lives in Nebraska as well as my sister Joy who lives in Ventura. So I guess this week has been somewhat busy.

Max is doing homework, the dogs are sleeping, fireplace is keeping us cozy and I am thinking about starting a new video game. (Keeps me busy and off the streets)! Oh yeah, Max has been riding her bike every afternoon when she comes home from work. I have been riding with her when my knee will allow and today was one of the days that I did not make it (I continued to sew while she rode).

Not sure what the plans for the weekend are, but we would like to go pick up some straw and get the newspaper and straw layed in the garden. I am thinking there will be a bike ride taking place sometime this weekend if I can get some ibupropen in me and feel up to the challenge. I need to do what I can and take ibupropen while I can because the week before my surgery I cannot take any anti-inflamatory medication (tylenol is accepted, but it just does not work the same).

Later . . .

Blue Bike Monday

After paying bills and working out finances on Sunday, I realized we had way too much money in our checking account. After some panic trying to figure out WHAT I forgot to pay, I realized I had forgotten (if you can imagine forgetting) our TAX REFUND! Since the refund came from Max's income, it seemed only fitting that she should be able to buy the bicycle that she has been wanting. So after a trip to the local bike shop, numerous test rides on different bikes amd excellent information from the sale person (lady). Max is the very PROUD owner of blue & silver hybrid Multitrack Trek! It is a fantastic bike and very comfortable to ride. She wants to start riding her bike back and forth to work and this will be a very good one for that purpose. I am envious, but since I cannot really do much riding until I get my knee fixed, I will wait until I CAN actually ride to think about getting a new bike.

Prior to Max getting off work and going bike shopping, I decided I needed to take the cover off my sewing machine and do some sewing. I have had a couple of blankets I have been wanting to make and decided Monday was the day to get started. For not really knowing what I was doing besides sewing two pieces of material together (cotton material top and fleece bottom), I managed to get one finished (with several phones call to my sister Joy for guidance and encouragement). I think it turned out nice and it is very warm (Denise this should look familiar). I am going to try to make the other one, but I think I am going to lay it out on the kitchen floor to cut the pieces. My cutting table is just not big enough and every other floor in the house has carpet. This type of sewing is at least giving me a bit of confidence and I am looking forward to the day when I feel ready to tackle an actual quilt!

Later . . .

Busy Weekend

We finally made it outside to the back yard to do some work. You will just have to use your imagination as to how bad the yard looked prior to the photo (trust me - you could not even see dirt in the garden area and all the dogs toys were hidden under the grass). Max started pulling weeds while I mowed the grass. I had to set the mower's wheels up higher to be able to make it through the grass, but that was probably the best thing to do anyway. After I finished mowing, I helped with the weeding of the garden. Thankfully it was not a difficult job because the ground was so wet. It is always nice when you can pull a weed and have the ENTIRE root come out of the ground. We filled our "green waste trash container"(which is pretty good sized). It is amazing how nice the yard can look with just a little effort. My jasime is starting to bloom and I love the smell, but I also love the way it looks back there in the corner.

We went to a really cute, quaint Italian restraurant (Baci Cafe) in Pleasanton for dinner. First off being the water drinker that I am, their water was GREAT! They had a pitcher with water, ice, slices of orange, apple, lemon, lime, strawberries and mint leaves. The flavor of the fruit and mint was very subtle and I loved it. I had an excellent bowl of butternut squash soup and Max had a great Greek salad. Our meal choice was skillet fried skirt steak with red pepper sauce accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes and baby spinach leaves. The dinner was excellent and we finished the meal with coffee and cream brulee topped with fruit. Not too pricey considering restraurants these days - it was very nice and completely worth it.

After dinner we went to Lowes to pick up vegetable seeds for the garden. I picked up some additional Humming Bird feeders to try and entice my little friends to return to the yard. They seem to continue to come back, but they want to feed off the rainbow colored glass wind chimes hanging at the kitchen window. I bought a feeder with some colorful glass that hangs above two feeder balls (I have not taken it out of the box yet). I am going to put it outside the kitchen window and move the other wind chimes and see if that will bring them back to eat. I also picked up another colorful glass bottle feeder (still in the box) - I know they are out there and I want them eating in MY yard.

Max is working on updating her resume for a job posting at LLNL (requires a BS in Technical Management, which is what she will have the end of June). This would be a manager position away from locating, working with a different group of people in the same building. She really wants to get away from the stress and pressures of locating. She has a midterm to do later this afternoon and we are just having a lazy day around the house with the dogs and a cozy fire. Darci loves to lay in front of the fireplace and get toasty warm. She will be really warm to the touch when she comes for a pet (she likes to lay in the sun during the summer too).

I think I will play my video game while Max does her midterm.

Later . . .

Orthopedic Appointment

Since I mentioned the appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, I guess I should share what happened. To make a long story short – according to the MRI, my x-rays, my symptoms and her manipulations, I appear to be a good candidate for arthroscopic knee surgery. I have some degenerate arthritis in the knee and also a torn meniscus (that is cartilage), both of which could be causing me pain; however, the promising aspect is all my pain is on the side of the tear and none is on the side with the arthritis. The surgeon thinks all indications are the pain is coming from the torn meniscus in my knee. She showed us the tear on the MRI and said she could almost guarantee that in the last two years (I had the MRI a couple of years ago) the tear had become bigger – hence more pain. I do remember going bowling some time after the MRI and REALLY messing up my knee and the pain increased from that point on (never tried bowling again). When I try to pinpoint the area of pain, it coincides to the precise area of the meniscus tear. The surgery is done on an outpatient basis and you can stand on your knee the same day (I WILL be having a conversation about local anesthetics and feeling pain before she starts).

The only down side of all the knee information is she wants me to complete everything I need to do connected with my breast cancer before she will schedule surgery. The hard part is my knee fricking HURTS and is limiting my activity and the breast cancer is painless (at this point). Of course she did point out the fact the pain in my knee is annoying, but not life threatening – OKAY, so point well made and well taken. She wrote the order for surgery, but would like to have me referred to an oncologist so she can discuss my treatment plan and the possibility of surgery. So for the knee surgery I am in a holding pattern, but at least I am confident it will be fixed in the near future (walking around Disneyland pain free with my grandkids is be my goal).

Later . . .