Friday, Nov 8

[purrfect-lady]

Good morning,

Jana, loved your chicken story. I grew up with chickens and they are really entertaining. And some are mean. We had one mean rooster, so kept a baseball bat by the door because he would attack everybody that came outside. Once my mom hit him and knocked him cold, and she felt so bad. Then she realized this was an opportunity so she whacked him again and we had chicken fricassee for supper. Congrats to Keri on new job.

Chriss, did you give blood? We’ve donated blood for many years but finally “retired” when we passed 70 years old. It doesn’t hurt and makes you feel so good that you’ve helped someone. I always thought if it were me or my child that needed blood, I would be so thankful for all the donors.

Lori, scotty is also a plate licker. We call him the pre-wash cycle. It horrifies my sister-in-law. Lol!

The big tree pulled into Baker city last night in the dark. We could follow its progress and knew it was in town so we hopped in the truck and ran out to find it and we did. All safely tucked away in a fenced industrial lot. Four law enforcement guarded it thru the night and six more were escorting my brother and his partner to a motel for the night. Two of my nephews and a niece were there too! (My other brother’s children) who live in Idaho. They were staying in another motel. We had time to give Gene a quick hug and his Christmas tree hankie for his neck. We will go back this morning. They will bring the tree out early and take it to Fairgrounds. We want to see that process so I need to hop in the shower and get ready.

Our furnace is acting quirky. Keeps turning off. It should not do that. We will be hitting low night time temps way below freezing. We do have a couple electric heaters but they don’t keep the water pipes from freezing. Our rig, an Arctic Fox, is insulated for four season camping however, 15° is still 15° and we would rather not test the insulation if we can help it. So Bill is studying all manual and YouTube to see what he thinks might be wrong.

Have a great day. We will be in south Central Idaho tonight. Jana probably knows where Hayburn is.

Mary z

[WeeOne]

Cloudy and 71°.

MaryZ, Nice that you get to see lots of family and the tree. Hope you share some pictures with us. Sorry to hear the furnace is acting up. I hope it's an easy fix.

The 3rd party inspector will be here this morning to look at the electrical rough in, on the Cabin. The city is too small to have a full time inspector. Then we are going to our friends for lunch and visit.

Hope everyone has a great day.
Lyn

[purrfect-lady]

This is a photo of my son visiting the tree, and his uncle Gene, of course, in Renton Washington. Sorry it posted twice. My lack of computer skills is sometimes quite blatant. Will post a few more photos after we get to see the tree ourselves. We found him last night in the dark, but they were just parking, walking up, and headed for the motel.



This is my brother standing near the tree. The women with long hair is my niece, Lisa. Another brother’s daughter. And that is my son‘s profile on the left

[auntjana]

Oops twice

[auntjana]

Good morning!

Thanks Maryz for sharing the picture. When I'm looking for Gene,, do I ask for Gene or Fred? And he is Austin for the last name, right? Sarah and I are loading up our sleighs, the Highlanders, she has one too, with 6 of the grands over to see the tree and Gene. And cookies too. Wondering how the heck Gene will manage a 80 ft tree through the streets here. I know - magic! That's 8 stories tall!

Beautiful day here. Still cold, yeah I remember it's winter. Mother Nature skipped fall here. Roads are good, no storms for awhile. Good driving.

Mr G has PT today, then Ethan is off from school and will help me with a few groceries. Not much else here. Very quiet. Normal routine with everyone in school. Playtime in my Batt Cave. Matt and the cruise seem to be fine. That silly hurricane hit Cuba and is now hanging a left, heading back toward Matt. The cruise ends today or tomorrow and Matt and Crenda will be home here to Utah sometime late afternoon Saturday. On Sunday all the kids decided they wanted a big family turkey dinner, so we're gathering at Sarah's house for that. The kids will be with their inlaw side for Thanksgiving. They have also planned already for December's family dinner that there will be noodles, tradition. Sarah will make stock from this dinner and freeze it for the December dinner. We try to do dinner one Sunday a month, all together. When we make the noodles, I'll get all the grands involved in making the noodles. Rolling out the dough, cutting and cooking. That way the tradition carries on for another generation. So far, it's about 6 generations of noodles!

Well, time to feed Mr G.

Enjoy the day!

Hugs,
Jana

[zfatcat]

Maryz, great pictures. Hope you can get your heater to work properly.

Lyn, hope the inspection is flawless.

I've got Bridge class this morning. I need to get some groceries this afternoon and also run the vacuum.

Have a lovely day.

[auntjana]

Hey y'all

I just found a big article on Gene and the tree on Fox News feed on my tablet. The article is about both drivers and shows the rig too. Go find it!

Fun to know a celebrity!

Jana

[maryq]

Good morning Girls

Sorry I missed you all again yesterday! I was up and out and on the run, and didn't get home until almost 3:00 .. but after the running around all day I was to tired to do anything!

Maryz.... So fun to see the picture of Gene! That is going to be a gorgeous tree when it gets to Washington, DC What an honor to be on the team that delivers it! Hope you get your heater fixed, you are for sure going to need that over the next couple weeks before you hit Austin!!

Lois... I've kind of been looking on Facebook marketplace for a used Gracie frame, just for grins. I did see what one for $450. but might have to put that idea on the back burner. If Uncle Sam gives me some money back next year, I just might pursue it. I do have a couple spare sewing machines here that could work!

Judi.... I was thinking about you yesterday when I was driving all over the place, wondering how your trial run went? Are you ready to get back in the saddle and take yourself any where you want to go?

Lyn... .Did everything pass inspection? What's the next step after that is done? Love the ruler holder!!! I have a few of those wood ones that you can get at Joann, but Tom made most of mine for me. I have a few custom made pieces by Tom for my sewing supplies.

Jana..... I sure got a chuckle out of the image of Joe sitting in the bath tub with a blow dryer!! I'm guessing Gene/Fred will love the cookies.. On the Road he's FRED, with family he's GENE. I think he'd answer to either, but probably be surprised if you called him Gene! Hope you get to meet him person!!

This is what I found on Fox.
Two American truck drivers will embark on a cross-country journey in honor of a special Yuletide delivery.

Alaska natives John Schank and Fred Austin will bring holiday cheer to Washington, D.C., by transporting the annual Christmas Tree to the U.S. Capitol.

This year’s tree was selected from Alaska’s National Forests, traveling 4,000 miles from Tongass National Forest near Wrangell, making 11 stops along the way, so Americans can get a chance to see the People’s Tree.

Lori.... Good luck at the grocery store!! It's always a challenge to get out for less than $200!!!

Chriss... That granola recipe looks good, I just might have to try it, tho I don't see any oatmeal in it and that's my favorite part! Guess I should check the carb count in oatmeal!! Is your Dad coming by today? What project is he working on now?

Tina... Easton was born on Holly's birthday? How cool!! Nice Gramma to get cupcakes for his class.

Yesterday I took all my knit baby hats over to "Bundles of Love". I don't think it's a national organization, but there are several locations in MN. This one happens to be in the same building as Shawn's office, so I got to see him too. The make up bundles that include a little quilt, a diaper bag, burp bibs, hats, booties, a little knit sweater and some other stuff. They have kits all put together to make little tops, so I grabbed a couple kits to stitch together. Personally I think they are kind of boring as they are just 8" blocks put together, but that's ok, it will be easy to sew together.

Speaking of which I better get rear in gear and get something done today! Need to put the finishing touches on the sewing room so I can actually SEW today!! But first.. More coffee!!

Wishing you all a fabulous Friday!

[Marilynsgrammy]

Good morning. It's going to be a wonderful day today.

The parents were here yesterday. Dad is fixing my frozen ceiling fan and stepmom and I went to the grocery store. I got one ditch stitched on my quilt when they pulled into the driveway. I hope to finish that ditch stitching today. I really need to load my car for the thrift store but it looks like that will have to wait until next week.

Lyn, what a great find on your ruler holder thing. I use a file sorter, mine is acryllic and has about 5 slots, not nearly as nice as yours. I love it. Hope you got to do nothing yesterday, but I bet you got to work and did something.

Tina, our schools don't take home made treats anymore either. And, if you want to sell food at an event you have to have a tent to serve it from. You can bbq the food outside but must serve it from a screened or enclosed tent. Yesterday my roast was a solid brick. Today it will see the crock pot, it's a smooshier brick. Yep, this is the first quilt I have made for Elliott. I've only made receiving blankets so far. My plan is to make a block from each quilt I make for him and make a quilt from all of them when he graduates high school. I think I had best quilt as I go, I will be almost 80 when he graduates.

Maryz, glad you caught up with your brother. what a cool experience for him. Great pictures. Are they driving their own truck or a supplied truck? Nope, didn't give blood. They had mechanical problems and couldn't make it. Maybe next time? Bill will surely figure out that heat. But if he doesn't you do have all those display quilts with you you can just pile them up and snuggle under them.

Jana, Jerry's mom always made noodles for the holiday's. Enjoy your turkey feast. Hope there will be pictures of you and your family with Gene, I'd love to put faces with the names.

Lori, how was Costco? Is the smoke from that Ventura fire coming your way? Give the boys an ear fluff from me.

Maryq, Hope your busy yesterday means a less busy today.

My plan right now is to go have some breakfast and sew on a quilt. I use pool noodles to sandwich my quilt and have some bating and backing leftover. I also have some 8 inch blocks that I was going to use for a crib sized quilt. I think I might sew those bloks together and Elliott will have a small quilt for his bassinet and a larger one for tummy time.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to sew I go, you all have a super duper day,

Chriss

[auntjana]

Maryz -

OK we're ready and watching for the tree to arrive here in SLC. Markers too,, so the kids can sign the banner..

But the biggest kid now going is Aaron! When he saw the rig, his first words were, I wanna drive it! Even just 10 feet, so I can say I drove that big rig. I forgot that when he worked for IMT, he had to get his CDL. He's trained on driving semi's. He's already texted his buddies at UHP that is providing escort too. Getting us some inside UHP stuff.

Everyone is getting excited to see the tree and meet Gene. We have goodies too!

There will be pictures to share

Jana