Up since 4:00 <yawn> so whatever doesn't get done early in the day 

"isn't likely" to get done at all today!

Watched another family video (this one from spring/summer of 1993) while finishing up quilting the red blocks in the baby quilt for Kathi.  The kids were so adorable (and Tom and I were so much younger!)  

Once Tom found me an extension cord I used the hedge trimmer on the olive trees out front, and the huge I-forget-what-it's-called tree next to them.  Since I also raked a whole bunch of debris from behind them I had NO trouble entirely filling one big green can.  There are still the olive trees out back to trim, but they'll just have to wait another day; I'm done for today.

Today's smile should get you into a Halloween frame of mind.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/watch-these-squirrels-carve-a-face-into-a-pumpkin/ 

And speaking of Halloween:  Irrigation is tonight, which means the front yard will be wet/soggy tomorrow for all the trick-or-treaters.  I can only hope they'll all use the driveway and not cut across the lawn (leaving all sorts of depressions in the grass which I always manage to step in when I'm out there.)

Some years we have no trick-or-treaters, and some years we have a whole herd of them.  Of course I must  be prepared and have enough candy on hand to handle the hordes should they appear.  If they don't show up I'll just have to "force" myself to eat the leftover chocolate.

I enjoyed seeing the ladies at Busy Bees this morning: I missed the September meeting because I was in San Francisco, and haven't been attending the Sewing Hives, so it's been a couple of months!  It took a couple of trips in from the parking lot to schlep all the goodies: a big stack of quilt magazines from Betty, and lots of fabric from Kathi.  She'll be happy to hear that the ladies scooped up about half of the fabric I didn't want, and the rest (not really appropriate for quilting) went with Sandy; the ladies out in Sun City make dolls and doll clothes, and can use a wider ranger of fabric.  Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!

Remember how (as Chapter Chair of Foothills) I had to collect/mail ten fat quarters of B&W or Bright fabric to AQG for the Fall Meeting in November?  Busy Bees is one of the chapters tasked with making the table decorations, and this is what they came up with.  (I'd like to learn how to make those fabric roses.)  One lucky winner at each table will go home with a whole bunch of wonderful fat quarters!

After taking care of business (most importantly, putting together a slate of officers for the 2015 Board) we got to the fun part, Show & Tell.

I love the beautiful peacock panel at the center of this quilt.  But since the quilter hid behind it for the picture (and my memory sure ain't what it used to be!) I can't give her credit.

Barbara's Log Cabin is very dramatic - and I also love her Ms. Frizzle dress!

Joyce A. started this UFO (10?) years ago; she was happy to finally get around to doing something with all her 4-patches.

Jan made a handy tote bag using the wrapped clothes line technique.

And Sharon made a colorful trivet.

Joyce H. and another of her (in)famous blue quilts.

I like this pattern Joyce chose, though her colors could be brighter.... <g>

This is a good pattern for large-print fabric; will have to keep it in mind!

After the meeting Carol and I popped over to 35th Ave.  She needed some thread and bobbins for Marty's long-arm machine (and help on how to thread it), and I needed something also.  Back at her house I tried to thread the machine for her; between the demo and the instruction book I had half a chance of doing it right.  But even though I gave it a valiant effort, it just wasn't good enough.  Carol will just have to find somebody else to do it right!

I was able to 'fix' her laptop, however, so now she can access her e-mail and Facebook.  She also wanted me to add Wanda's blog to her desktop, which I also managed.

I wasn't home very long when Carolyn called to say that the embroidered names (for Anita) were done and ready for pick-up.  So I zipped over and got them, packed them up, and zoomed over to the post office before they closed in hopes that the package might arrive in time for her birthday on Saturday!

I'm off to Busy Bees in a few minutes. And (for a change!) I have quilts to share at Show&Tell!  Yesterday I made the binding for Kathi's baby quilt, and last night got it sewed on.  It helped that the quilt is small, only 40" to a side.

The backing is a cozy animal alphabet flannel 

(brighter than this no-flash picture shows):

I also get to show the ladies my penguin quilt, and the birthday gift for Terry.

Missed a field trip with Mary yesterday to the quilt store, but even without my bad influence she seemed to manage:  Spent $118 at Arizona Quilts. Bought a great panel print plus other "needed" items. 

Yesterday I left the house at 10:30 to go pick up Amy, and didn't get home until almost 5:00.  She was in considerable pain after her surgery, but I saw her a little bit ago (when I returned her driver's license, which I found on the floor in the back of the car today) and the swelling in her fingers was down some and her meds are managing the pain.  She, of course, was starving yesterday after not being able to eat all day, so at 3:30 we had a late lunch at Habit Burger (Glendale and about 8th St.) on our way home.  I'd never been there (never even heard of the place) but I'd sure go back again.  This is what I had - and it was delicious!

Tom had planned to grill chicken for dinner, but I knew I wasn't going to have much appetite, so I suggested he wait until tonight.  

This morning I got a call from a good friend and found out she has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  She was understandably quite upset all weekend (she had an appointment with her doctor later today to find out some of the details) but seemed a lot less worried after talking with me.  Of course I was on pins and needles until she called again after seeing the doctor, but I'm very happy to report that the news at her appointment was comforting: it's the 'good' kind of breast cancer, like mine was.  In another week she'll have her lumpectomy, and should find out then if the tumor is in situ (best possible scenario, no chemo necessary) or not.

The tree guys were here this morning to rape the mulberry trees.  I babysat Pokey for most of the 4 hours, so I wasn't able to quilt (although I admit that I did enjoy sitting out there and reading.) It definitely looks quite different out back, and I know the trees will grow back (relatively) quickly, but in the meantime it's very barren in that part of the yard!  

Then it was off to the Apple store for my iPad appointment.  Good news: I can now connect to the internet again!  And should the same problem happen again, I may <g> be able to fix it myself since I took copious notes of the procedure... lol

And since it's National Chocolate Day, as long as I was in the mall I "forced" myself to stop in at Rocky Mountain Chocolate for a nibble.

I tried reading out back by the pool yesterday - but the mosquitoes were so pesky they chased me inside within minutes.

We went out for dinner last night at the Texas Roadhouse.  It was noisy (seemed like everyone in the Valley celebrating a birthday or anniversary was there) and our meals arrived lukewarm.  But my steak was cooked perfectly, and we didn't have to cook.

Once home we watched the afternoon's Cardinal game that Tom had taped.  Alex had been at the game, and told me who'd won - though of course Tom swore me to secrecy.  There were some amazing plays, and so it was no surprise that Alex had a great time.  (We looked for him whenever the cameras scanned the crowd - I think he was the one sporting a red shirt.)  

The game was down to about a minute when the Cardinals scored a possible touchdown to put them in the lead (the TD was under review - looked like the player's knee went down right before he crossed the goal line, but Tom said the ball itself was over the line) when the recording stopped!  At that point it was about  time for the 10:00 news to start, and at first Tom said he'd find out who won during the sports segment.  But a minute later said he 'couldn't wait', and had me spill the beans about who won the game. 

In a bit I'm off to drive Amy for her second hand surgery  (even though it sounds like she hasn't completely healed from the surgery on her other hand.)  I've been having a lot of trouble with my left hand, and am 'counting down the days' until December when I can get another cortisone shot.  At some point I guess I will have to consider surgery - but am putting that off as long as possible.  Yesterday I slathered Capsacin on the joint - and some time later touched my hand to my face to scratch an itch.  Boy did my eyes burn from that!

Capsaicin is the ingredient found in different types of hot peppers, such as cayenne peppers, that makes the peppers spicy hot.  In general, you use creams containing capsaicin for pain relief. You can put the creams on your skin up to 4 times a day. Wash your hands thoroughly after each use to avoid getting the cream in your eyes or on other moist mucous membranes, where it can cause a burning sensation. 

Yesterday I finished binding Terry's quilt, so it's all ready for its photo (which, of course, I won't be able to share until after the quilt arrives at its destination for her birthday in November.)  It does still need a label, but basically it's ready to mail!

Yesterday I also got the front yard mowed after Tom weed-ate.  He also scraped the prolific piles of dirt that had collected by the street over time (and had quite a lovely crop of grass growing in them) so the property looks wonderful from the street.  This afternoon I got the backyard mowed and raked up 20 gallons of pine needles, so the backyard looks tidy also.  The only thing left was the Back 40 which Tom's mowing at the moment.  So for a little while at least we're all spiffy.

Last night I fell asleep at a reasonable hour, and don't think I took a little blue pill in the middle of the night - so I was quite surprised to sleep in this morning.  Once I got going I ran some errands, which included the car wash (their new vacuums work great!), the gas station (the tank was getting low, and I'm taking Amy to Scottsdale tomorrow for her second hand surgery) and WalMart.

The rest of the afternoon I think I'll sit by the pool and read a little.

"Desperate" for full night's sleep, I popped a little blue pill last night.  I'm happy to report that it worked, and I expect to be much more productive and alert today.

  

Once the dew dries out my plan is to mow the front yards while Tom does more weed-eating.  In the meantime, I think I'll pop in another CD of the family movies (Tom and I sure enjoyed watching yesterday morning) while I work on the final phase of the binding on Terry's quilt.

A book I've been waiting for, The Signature of All Things, came in for me at the library.  I started it last night, and was up reading until well after 11:00 last night.  So I was surprised (and unhappy) to wake up before 5:00 this morning.

Before I faded today I made the binding and attached it to the quilt.  Now all that's left is to blind stitch it to back.  Surprisingly a lot of the ladies don't like that step, but I've always enjoyed handwork... plus it means the quilt is finished!

I picked up the books at Barnes & Noble, and then stopped in at the Briar Patch craft show.  Because I was already starting to fade (and didn't expect to find anything) I almost skipped it.  But I'm glad I didn't; there was a booth with the Jostar clothes, and I've been looking for another outfit like the one I was wearing.  She had one left - and I snagged it!

My last stop was the grocery store to pick up the staples on the list.  When I got home, the yardman was out front talking with Tom; some confusion about whether we were all paid up.  I had left $ with Alex when we were in San Francisco, but <sigh> he'd forgotten to set it out that day.  So I called  Salvador to explain, and the next time he and his dad (who doesn't speak much English, but was the one here today) were scheduled I left an envelope with 2 payments.  And I'd put out one for yesterday, though the ditch didn't get mowed until today.  Hopefully it's all cleared up now.

Not planning to do anything else this afternoon - 

though if a nap should happen I wouldn't be surprised!

This morning I puttered around the house, even working a little on the penguin quilt's final embellishment.  Around 11:00, as arranged, I went over to help Wanda with her computer.  While I wasn't able to resolve her blog issue (disappointing for both of us), I did make great strides in helping her organize her photos, basically deleting duplicates while creating organized folders.  She is definitely on the ARTIST spectrum (unlike me!) and of course would rather create her masterpieces than spend time filing on the computer.  And maybe <G> the more I hang out with her, the better the chance of some of her amazing talent rubbing off on me!

By then we'd both worked up an appetite, and lunched at Paradise Bakery (where I chowed down on delicious broccoli-cheddar soup, yummy bread, and a salad made with Fuji apple, chicken, and pecans.)  And what a wonderful friend - she saved half of her chocolate chip cookie for me!

Wanda has a Sedona project (with a dreaded deadline!) that she's working on, and that's what she had planned to work on this afternoon.  But we'd made so much progress with her pictures in the morning that she decided she'd rather continue working through the afternoon on them instead.  Which was fine with me, because that enabled us to finish the entire daunting list of unlabeled pix.  The remaining folders are at least labeled, although (as we soon discovered) even some of the labeled folders often included pix other than what was 'supposed' to be in them.  It was fun for me, plus I was glad to be of help to Wanda after all the help she's been to me.  She was pleasantly surprised  that we got it all done; I'm guessing one of the reasons she'd put it off is because she thought it would take days (or weeks.... or months?)

By the time I got home at 4:45, Tom was beginning to wonder if I was going to make it home for dinner! <g>  He'd whipped up a roast and onions in the crock pot, baked some cauliflower, whipped up a salad, and cut up a perfectly ripened honeydew.

Not long ago Tom had to DVR a football game (I forget what the conflict was) and when he watched it later he loved being able to fast forward through all the commercials.  In fact he realized that was such a great way to watch football that now he's started doing it even if he's around.  The other night we watched a game - I think it (actually) only took an hour!

Subbing went okay today.  I knew I'd be moving from class to class while the teachers attended meetings, but except for the first class of the day (4th grade) I didn't know where I'd be.  Turned out I also did a stint in a 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 5th grade.  I should sleep well tonight!

I had brought my penguin quilt with me to school to show the new principal, who's an avid quilter. 

  When I was in the 3rd grade after lunch I got to read the next chapter in Mr. Popper's Penguins - so my quilt was the perfect thing to have with me to share with them.  And the prompt I gave them for their writing activity was "If I had a penguin for a pet..."  

Don't plan to do much now that I'm home except relax on the couch!