Yesterday I set out to cook some salmon for dinner so I lit the grill to pre-heat.  During the next commercial I brought out the fish, but before placing it on the grill took the metal brush to scrape the remaining leftover chicken residue from last weekend's use.  Tom and I have been thinking about replacing the grill for some time, and it is obvious that time has come 

 because the pressure of the brush was all it took for the ('rusted' out? burned out?) bottom part of the grill which collects the ashes to collapse to the ground, scattering the ashes and revealing a gaping hole in the tray.  Of course I immediately shut off the gas, and baked the fish in the oven.  While it turned out okay, it was not quite as good as if I had been able to grill it.

I worked on Annalise's baby quilt yesterday, coming within inches of finishing up the binding before Linda and Rick arrived last night to deliver Elmo (with his beds, food & treats, dishes, brush) for his week's stay at Dodge Doggy Daycare.  However, when I asked them to demonstrate how to put on Elmo's halter for his leash, a look of dismay flashed across Linda's face.  With all the rush and stress (and Linda did seem pretty frazzled) they had left those behind in Sun City!  

So Rick got to make another round trip across town last night to deliver those to me while Linda stayed home to start (!) packing.

Linda did, however, bring her entry for this year's Foothills Challenge, What Foothills Means To Me, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of our quilt quild chapter, which she started.  It's disappointing that she won't be able to attend the upcoming meeting on Wednesday and see all of the entries - and neither will I, since I will be observing Yom Kippur.  But Jan has agreed to take pix for us, which is the next best thing. I did take my own picture last night, but of course cannot share it until after the reveal and voting on Wednesday.

Linda's quilt is absolutely stunning (which is  certainly no surprise to me since she does spectacular work!) so I can see why she pushed back their vacation a day in order to finish it up and be able to enter it.  In fact I called up Jeannie last night to invite her over to see the quilt, knowing she would appreciate it.  And she did.

Lisa was on her way somewhere for the weekend, and needed to stop for gas before she reached her destination.  When she saw signs and realized where she knew was she found the perfect place to fuel up and give me a brief call: Petaluma.  For decades Mom and I only had to say "Petaluma" to each other to bring on hysterical laughing.  Maybe you 'had to be there' with us (in 1972) to truly appreciate the ridiculousness of that day - but we sure got a lot of mileage out of that experience!

Alex also called last night to chat.  He's having a good time in Ohio, and will be attending a football game at Ohio State today.  (And no, I still have not forgiven Woody Hayes for that day some 45 years ago when he ruined Northwestern's once-in-a-million chances to play in the Rose Bowl by beating Michigan even though Ohio State couldn't qualify since they'd just gone the previous year.)  In a few days Alex will be at Kent State, and had no knowledge of the May 4, 1970 shooting of Vietnam War protesters by the National Guard.

And speaking of phone calls from family - Tom had called Tuesday night a few minutes before the start of the VP debate so I couldn't really talk.  He said he'd call back the next night, but has not yet checked back in.

It was quite overcast this morning when I took Elmo out for his early morning walk, so it was no surprise a short while later when the thunder rumbled and the rain fell.  And it may explain why my hand has been aching the past day or so.

The only thing on today's agenda is this afternoon's Celebration of Life memorial service for Carol. I took this picture of her with her quilt in April, only a month before she died in May just a couple of weeks shy of her 89th birthday.