Friday, July 31, 2009
bunny hill giveaway
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
what i did on my summer weekend
...this is the first summer squash - it was deee-licious ... it has been followed by three more about the same size - not enough to make bread (yet) but Mr. Husker gave me a big honkin' zucchini from his garden when we visited on saturday - so i have a date with the Cuisinart...
...two weeks ago Gumdrop was stung when she walked in the door - there was a wasp on her foot and it decided to take a chomp of her ... and then i was stung one morning last week and found (GASP) a nest under a plant stand about a foot away from the front door ... that thing was HUGE - the size of a mixing bowl! it's amazing that all of us weren't stung by warrior wasps ... they were really, really mad at me when i started moving things away from the area so i could destroy their nest ... by then it was the middle of the morning and ALL of them were awake and ANGRY ... so i did what i do when i wuss out - i called an exterminator to send a guy out with a big old pole and a can of high-velocity poison ... he was not a small man - and he could move very, very fast ... he didn't get stung ... but he used up an entire super-sized can of spray killing those little buggers ... the nest was gross and i did NOT take any pictures of it...
...i did, however, take a picture of the broken handle from the downstairs toilet - a home repair i actually know how to do and was prepared for ... plastic handles don't last very long and i already had a nice metal one ready for when it broke...
...and so ... not much on the quilting front, but the wasps are gone and the toilet flushes and the grass is neat and trim and the house is clean enough and the block that had to be done is
Monday, July 27, 2009
all the way from sunny sacramento
Friday, July 24, 2009
bubble & brew, wishy-washy hands, half & half, and frog eyes
...we did manage to get all of the m&m's up to see Little Nonnie ... she was in quite the mood when we arrived - i asked her to wash her hands so she could hold the baby and she went into the bathroom ... water turns on - swish - water turns off - okay, i'm ready ... did you use soap? no, i didn't use soap - why would i use soap? you're kidding me, right? no, i'm not kidding you - i haven't touched anything except my clothes and the toilet paper ... mom, go wash your hands with soap ... why? i've lived 84 years and i think i know a little bit more about babies that you do ... mom, if you don't wash your hands with soap, then you are NOT gonna hold my granddaughter ... fine! whatever!
what is it with people who refuse to wash their hands? she's not allergic to soap. she taught me that washing my hands was the best way to not get sick. she also taught me that i should never, never, never touch a baby unless i had washed my hands with soap and water...
...and she is not alone - everybody wants to hold LuLu, but the vast majority don't even think to wash their hands first ... one actually insisted that she washed her hands before she came over so she didn't need to wash them again - never mind the fact that she pet the dog and handled the steering wheel and the door handles for the car and the house and her purse strap and her car keys ... she has some kind of eye thing that makes her eyes watery - so she is always wiping at her eyes and then sticks her finger in LuLu's mouth ... well, not on my watch ... LuLu has a binky - use it - not your nasty knuckle ... what has happened to common sense?!?
NoJo is blowing out the used candle on his half-birthday piece of cake ... doesn't he look excited?
NoJo's half birthday was last saturday ...... three of my four kids were born within a month of christmas ... it is a loooong dry spell between christmas/birthday and the next christmas/birthday so i used to bake each of them half a cake and give them silly presents six months after their birthdays ... it's a family tradition ... my family tradition ... and i'm not gonna stop giving my grandson a little piece of cake with an already-been-used candle on it unless somebody can give me a good reason not to...
frog eye salad is another tasty treat that looks like it's already been eaten once
...and Auntia finally convinced me to make some frog eye salad ... we are gonna take some to Nicci when we go to see her tomorrow ...... and then we have some auction tickets to use at The Quilters Studio - they're gonna have some shop samples on the auction block - maybe we will have a winning bid or two ... and they are having their christmas in july sale (i am so gonna stay away from the winter graphix fabrics - just say no, dianne) this weekend, too ...... i am so far behind on BOM blocks that i may never catch up - Auntia even cut the pieces for me for the required block (actually, it wasn't out of the goodness of her heart - she lost a bet and that was the payment - ha ha ha! when will she learn that i don't bet unless it's a sure thing?!?) and i still haven't looked at it ... not to mention the six pink and orange blocks ... and the new saturday sampler that meets on the second saturday of each month ... and i haven't worked on Mr. Husker's Homestead since, well, forever ... and the applique blocks from class ... and the bat blocks ... sigh
Saturday, July 18, 2009
girls go to mars
Friday, July 17, 2009
boys go to jupiter
Because I'm a man, when I lock my keys in the car,
I will fiddle with a coat hanger long after hypothermia has set in.
Calling AAA is not an option ... I WILL win.
I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at.
If another man shows up, one of us will say
to the other, 'I used to be able to fix these things, but now
with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know
where to start.' We will then drink a couple of beers and
break wind, as a form of holy communion.
Because I'm a man, when I catch a cold, I need someone
to bring me soup and take care of me tenderly while I lie in bed
and moan. You're a woman. You never get as sick as I do. So,
for you, this is no problem.
Because I'm a man, I can be relied upon to purchase basic
groceries at the store, like beer, milk or bread.I cannot be expected to find things like exotic cheese or tofu. For all I know, they are the same thing.
Because I'm a man, when one of our appliances stops
working, I will insist on taking it apart, despite evidence that
this will just cost me twice as much once the repair person
gets here and has to put it back together.
Because I'm a man, I must hold the television remote
control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been
misplaced, I may miss a whole show looking for it.... though
one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator.
thinking about. The true answer is always either sex, cars,
sex, sports, or sex. I have to make up something else when
you ask, so don't ask.
have your mother come visit us, or talk to her when she
calls, or think about her any more than I have to. Whatever
you got her for Mother's Day is okay; I don't need to see it.
And don't forget to pick up something for my mother, too.
Because I'm a man, you don't have to ask me if I liked the
And, if you're feeling amorous afterwards, then I will certainly
remember the name and recommend it to others.
I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine,
too... either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it.
Everything looks fine. Your hair is fine. You look fine.
Can we just go now?
Because I'm a man, and this is, after all, the year 2009, I
will share equally in the housework. You just do the laundry,
the cooking, the cleaning, the vacuuming, and the dishes,
and I'll do the rest.... like wandering around in the garden
with a beer in my hand, wondering what to do.
(This has been a public service message for women
to better understand men.)
Monday, July 13, 2009
spooky
Auntia let me use her 40% off coupon for the hunky halloween guys - halloween fabric isn't on sale yet at JoAnns - so they were $6.00/yard instead of $9.99/yard - woo hoo! i like the devil and she likes the pirate ... i suppose Twilight fans would like the vampire ... but the skeleton guy is a bit too - uhmm, i was about to write "bony" but i guess i'll say - thin for me ...... i dunno what i will make with the fabric - maybe aprons ... my halloween stash needed some good-lookin' dudes ...... the blue, yellow and black are gonna be bat blocks if i ever figure out how to make them NOT look like the Bat Signal and the lime green bats on black and the orange are gonna be nine patches ... halloween doesn't get mad at me when my blocks shout boo!
Friday, July 10, 2009
charm packs and patterns and books, oh my!
teach your children well
...right around 4 in the afternoon the little people who live around here come out with their bikes and trikes and big wheels and scooters and skateboards and wagons ... and their mothers put out signs to let the rest of the world know that the street is now a playground ... never mind the fact that there is a park with fields of grass for soccer games and trees to climb and a baseball field and swings and slides and monkey bars and lots of pavement for basketball games and tether ball and learning to ride bikes less than four blocks away ... and drivers need to get off the road...
...they know better and they oughta do better ... within five minutes of taking these pictures, the street was filled with makeshift ramps and a dozen little strawberry beggars who are not learning one of life's big lessons ... it is hard to pump up a smashed kid
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
hit the ball ... drag charlie
...and that is how i feel about my three - yes, three - weed whackers ...... i am not good with gas powered tools - i almost always go for electric ... my george foreman grill is electric and my lawn mower is electric and my stove is electric ... and it only stands to reason that my weed whacker would be electric ... i have one that has two lines threaded through some kind of mysterious eyelets that i cannot figure out, and one that is a bump to release ... the two-timer never made it past the first run did i mention that i cannot figure out how to thread the new line through? and the bump to release lost its spring not that bumping ever worked to release the line anyway ... i'm just saying and i have to unscrew the dial doohickey, feed through some more line, re screw the dial doohickey and then whack for about four feet ... then unscrew the dial doohickey, feed through some more line, re screw the dial doohickey and whack for about four feet ... you get the idea - hit the ball ... drag charlie...
...and this is what happened the second time i used it ... it wouldn't bump and release (big surprise) so i put in a brand new reel ... i whacked a total of fifteen feet along the front wall and all of the line was gone ... i found the empty reel over by the spruce tree ... and bits and pieces of blue line all over the front yard ... i was lucky - it could have put my eye out!!! so i put the whole mess back in the garage and decided that i would never, never, never trim the lawn again...that nasty mess in the upper right hand corner is strawberry bird poop - it is disgusting
...till today ...... i took a good look at the shaggy mess of grass and weeds growing up the wall and decided that i would have to return to weed whacker hell ...... the front and the back are cut and trimmed ... it took me ten times longer than it should have but it is done ...... till next week ...... hit the ball ... drag charlie
Monday, July 6, 2009
bip bop boom
...actually it isn't in my room, it's in the family room (above the quilting frame that i cropped out of the picture on accounta it's so ugly) ... is that not the coolest thing?!? it has a remote control that turns it on and off and cycles through the different phases of the moon...
it is so cool, in fact, that i gave one to Corbadoo for his third birthday on june 3rd (he was supposed to be born on june 6th, but his angels were looking out for him and had him come three days early so he wouldn't be a 6-6-6 baby)...
... he was pretty excited after his Auntia put the batteries in his moon and took him to the basement so he could see it shining brightly ...... like the real moon is tonight...
...the last time i was in Hobby Lobby they had an entire self-contained solar system that hangs from the ceiling and the planets orbit around the sun which glows without being connected to an electrical source because it is battery-powered and it is 42 inches wide and is so way cool that i almost bought it ...... but then i saw the look on Auntia's face and heard her muttering where we were gonna put it and don't you have enough toys and then she made a fist and said something about to the moon, Alice ... bip bop boom ...... and so i left it there ...... till i have another 40% off coupon and she isn't with me and i can hide it in the basement and she won't know anything about it till it's too late to take it back