SUNDAY, July 24th

[purrfect-lady]

Good morning,

It' a purrfect morning. A deck morning. We love sitting out with our coffee and computers and simply enjoying. Bill has his RV forums and I have all y'all!

KATHY - sorry about the uglies. They do seem to happen, don't they. At least, with the dishwasher, you can always use dishes right out of there - seems almost useless to go to the trouble of putting them in the cupboard, only to take them back out of the cupboard in a while. Same thing with making the bed. You're just going to mess it up again, right? Glad to hear Kim is improving!

MARY Q - I bet that donation pile is growing fast! Will you get back to KC's for more to add to it before Wed? So, what color is your carpet that it's so ugly? Or is it just worn after 24 years? When I bought this house back in 1986 it was only 10 yrs old and had REALLY ugly gold shag. Ugh!! I've replaced it 3 times since then. Our present carpet is 8 yrs old. It's holding well. And cats don't sleep ALL the time - sometimes they roll over, sometimes they wash themselves, occasionally they barf on your bed. And then there's snacking. They have a full schedule!

LYN - Maybe you should treat yourself to a small electric saw! How big is this tree you are limbing? And once the limbs are off, what are you going to do with the log? Glad you are getting reimbursed for that mirror. Do you know any more of the guy's history - wasn't he driving a company vehicle and then tried to run? He probably altered the story a bit if he had to tell his boss.

JANA - it's time for Halloween sewing for sure! Our kitty isn't a lap kitty either, but he likes to snuggle right up next to me on the couch. Though he does sit on my lap if I have a plush blanket over me. He loves plush! Not fleece - but plush. Cats are funny people.

LORI - Do I live too isolated a life? I've never heard of an opportunity quilt. Explain, please.

SHERRY - glad you got some rain. Which John Wayne movie did you watch? Who doesn't love the Duke!

VELDA - just how many sisters do you have?? And brothers?

IZZY - we've been having cake for breakfast here, too! It should be gone by today, though. I love Scooby Doo. I miss him and all the other GOOD cartoons.

VAL - I did get my two big projects all ready for sewing whenever I get the urge. Then DH finished quilting my Star Bright so I got that trimmed, labled, and bound. I have some serious layers of mess going on in my sewing room now so after clearing that away, I'm going to get busy with your August Lotto blocks.

CHRISS - we saw another fire in Yosemite. It looks like a bad one. So here come the questions - how close is it to you? Do you have smoke? Do you keep any special things at the ready to toss into the car should things take an ugly turn? Don't forget the dogfood! I can't believe how hard those firefighters work.

JUDI - how is your family this morning. You've had a shocking few days - and that's without all going on in your own little world. And speaking of that - how is your world coming along? Did painting get finished?

LOIS - What was the fish count? Do they bring them home to fill your freezer or eat them on their trip? What kind of fish were they going for? And was it lake, stream, or salt water fishing? Did you get your purple fabric?

SUZETTE - how is your strip quilt coming along?

Well, I did get my projects - North Stars and Crazy quilt - kitted up yesterday. Then I woke up this morning and realized I forgot sashing so I need to dig out some fabric for that. I got binding on my Star Bright - with the little 4" stars in 30's fabric that I was working on last winter. I'm going to give it to my SIL, Barb, when we next visit her. She is in assisted living now about 85 miles away. Today I'm going to do some uglies and get ready for supper company tonite. We're going to sit out on our deck and have happy hour, snacks, and pizza. Our friends are coming and they are bringing their friends so we'll be 6. If I have time, I might also give those pretty August blocks a try. Valerie always has something interesting for us to do!

May all your bobbins be full - AND your machine oiled!

mary z
>^+^<

[fabricgirl]

Good morning

Mary it's Alway catch and release and it's lake fishing they caught quite a bit of bass they had alot of fun.
When Bill came home my son followed and helped take the boat off the pickup then he went to the car wash because it had sap on it then he came back to get stuff that he forgot.

By the time we unloaded the rest of the stuff
I didn't feel like going to the fabric store.

Today we had coffee on our deck and listened to the radio and now I'm in its starting to get a little to hot for me.

Well thats all the news here I hope you all have a nice day.
Lois

[velvet]

Good morning to everyone.
Today DS and DDIL are coming over for a bbq. I'm sure they'll see our greatgranddaughters before coming here. (only 16 lots down from me) Hubby is making flank steak and we'll have broccolli and a salad. They are on diets so I try to keep meals healthy when they visit. Don't be fooled--I have chocolate oreos hidden for me--LOL
Working on 2 baby quilts for Fran bff in NY. One top is finished and only need a little fabric for sashes for the 2nd one and backing. Have the batting for both. Then off to Pat to quilt for me.

Happy to hear Kim is doing better. YAH!!

Have a great day
Diane

[Marilynsgrammy]

Good morning. It's going to be a great day today. Smoky but great. We will be about 103 today.

I have a load in the dryer, it's the only load I have today. And I am going to go make some lotto blocks. I made one already and it's a quick and easy block. I did have the practice one come out wonky but my second one was perfect.

The fires near here (but far away from me) are just going crazy. It's burned 14,281 acres so far and is zero percent contained. It's just spreading out. There is a lot of brush to fuel the fire and there are a lot of homes stuck in that brush. I am very thankful that I live in a less dense area. There are some amazing pictures and videos out there. It's called the Oak Fire.

The positive side of the fire is that caring people start helping. The same people that argue and disagree are now coming together to house, feed and clothe those who have had to evacuate. They are offering acreage for animals and tents or RV's, and help in moving those things.

I guess that's it for me, my day will be indoors out of the smoky air as much as possible. I hope you all have an amazing day.
Chriss

[auntjana]

Good morning!

Quite overcast and very windy here this morning. Not many fireworks last night, a good thing! Today is the actual date the pioneers entered the valley, but because it fell on Sunday, all the festivities were yesterday. And Monday is the day the state has closed for the holiday. Pioneer Day is a big thing here, and we are extremely grateful to those men, women and children, who walked, came by wagon, and pulled handcarts to settle here in the beautiful mountain west. In the beginning, they were driven out of their homes, by mobs, in the middle of winter , gathered supplies together and left to come here. When they were driven from their homes, they had to flee across the Mississippi River, which just happened to be frozen in the spot they needed to cross. They crossed on the frozen ice of that great river. When the first company of pioneers arrived here in the valley, they planted crops and went right to work in settling this land. As other Pioneer groups came across the plains, they planted crops, so that the others had food as they crossed, to eat. Our state emblem and flag have a Beehive on them, to show how industrious and that the pioneers worked together, just as bees do. The original name of the state was to be Deseret - meaning beehive, industrious. The federal government said no and changed it to Utah. So there's a brief history of Utah. Our family came in with Brigham Young in the very first group of pioneers. Many more family came in later companies. A great grandfather by marriage, started the famous Bingham Copper Mine, just a tad bit north of where I live now. My MIL, was born at the copper mine town, where her father worked on the electric railroad, that town is now totally covered and gone, by mine tailings. You'll never guess where Michael got his love of trains, electric ones, that he worked for a electric railroad for 50 years! I love family history!

I did get the bench pillow top ready for my LA. Just need to load it on the LA. That takes only a minute to do and then quilt it. The top is only 16x38, so it quick! I pulled out the kits - I have 2 for Halloween. One is mine, the other is for guess who, yup, Sarah's. I am debating on doing hers at the same time, we'll see...... I separate and label each piece of what goes where. It's mostly applique with a simple patchwork border.

Church is a bit later this morning. Hopefully I have enough hairspray to keep my hair in place with this wind!

Hugs,
Jana

Oh a quick tip - when you have only 5 minutes to grab things you may need or lose in a evacuation, use a thumb drive that you have previously scanned important documentation on. Like insurance papers, medical info, and all the family pictures. You may lose the original, but you have a copy. Take pictures of what computers, sewing machines, furniture, collections, etc, that way you have proof for your insurance. Keep those drives up to date and easy to grab - they fit into your pocket. Even external hard drives are easy to grab and can hold tons of info. On our important stuff, we have a copy of all we need, off site here, at Matt's house, so if we are evacuated for a fire, his house is a few miles away and usually out of danger. We update the off site stuff all the time. Being prepared helps in taking some of the worry. I can tell you from experience, you do not think clearly at that time of stress, and having prepared ahead helps!

[WeeOne]

God Bless Your Day!

Yesterday took an unexpected turn, my kids from Golden came up about 4 and announced they were spending the night. Stacey and Christian came up on the Harley, and Kaylyn and Layne in Mom's car. Christian Jr was at a friend's house so didn't come. Made dinner easy, I ordered from Smokin' Dave's BBQ, a full rack of ribs, whole chicken, half pound brisket, half pound pulled pork, 6 large sides and cornbread for $116. We were all so full that we never got to the spiced apples, maybe for breakfast.

I have gotten the gas chainsaw out and Christian, almost SIL, will try starting it and helping me with the tree. Not sure what else is planned for today. I'm so happy they came up
As for the tree, we'll cut up for firewood.

As for the mirror, we're still out our $1,000 deductible and it was our insurance that paid. I need to call and ask if they hunted the driver down. He and his wife own the company.

Still quiet here, but I better take Minnie out.
Lyn

[maryq]

Good Morning Girls

Looks like a pretty perfect morning here too! Might get a little warm later, but I think I'm going to try to open a window or two for a while today... depending on how humid it is out there. We did get rain yesterday and it was nice and cool... but oh so muggy!

Maryz... I have this cute little table sitting by my front door with a chair.... do you think I ever sit there? Nope... Maybe one of these days I'll take my little laptop out there with my morning coffee. The carpet hear is beige (which is like my less favorite color) and it's worn and stained here and there... some my fault. I printed out Val's directions too... as soon as I clean off my cutting table from the 5 other projects on it... I'll give it a try!

Lois,,.. My boys pretty much CPR (catch, photo release) too. Though is there is some good walleye or perch... they will save that. There' regulations on how many and what size of what fish you can keep.

Diane... Always good to have a hidden stash of cookies ! Now, I'm not a big fan of Oreos but when I actually bake cookies.. it's oatmeal choc. chip and I hide a container of them in the back of the freezer.... for that one day I really NEED a cookie!

Chriss.... Hey can I put a load of clothes in your dryer? I tried to kind of fix my exhaust pipe on my dryer yesterday and after 2 trips to the hardware store I think I only made it worse. Isn't that amazing how in a disaster people come together... why can't we be like that all the time

Jana... Do you know Ken Burns? Have you seen any of his documentaries? He did a great one called "The West" I watched the whole thing.. it was so interesting.

POTD: more of the same a yesterday, though I think I can see the top of my dining room table and I have 3 boxes ready to set out for DAV! With a little luck I might be able to sew something today... Shame on me I started a little Halloween quilt... Halloween is definitely NOT my thing but this pattern was so stinking cute I had to do it!

So with that... I'll go get my coffee refill, crank up the music and get to work!

Enjoy your day!

[auntjana]

There's a great movie, based on the true story of a handcart company, the Martin-Willy handcart company, that left late in the season, hit by a early snow storm storm on the Wyoming plains. And their rescue. It's called 17 Miracles. One of the rescuers is a relative of Michael's. This young man gave his life to save others. One of those he rescued is the ancestor of my BFF.

Jana

[zfatcat]

Maryz, an Opportunity quilt is made by the guild members and raffled off to raise money for the guild. Quilt guilds are non profit, so we need to make money to continue what we do. We sell tickets for $1 a piece, $5 for 6, or $20 for 24 tickets. Money goes back into the guild for philanthropy, and education. This is the quilt we are raffling off now. It's a Judy Niemeyer paper pieced 99 inches square.

[zfatcat]

Jana, good tip on scanning important documents. That will be on my list of things to do.

Chriss, hope those fires stay far away and you don't get too much smoke. Smoke can be nasty even when they are miles away.