Yesterday we did some things around the house - made Mom's plane reservations to fly home next Sunday (I need to make mine for May!) and then put in a Peapod order to be delivered the next day so she won't starve - so we got a rather late start to Fountain Hills.  We hoped that arriving at the craft festival much later in the day than usual might make it easier to find parking if people had already finished their shopping and left .... HAH! 

I ended up dropping off Mom as close as possible, with instructions to turn right at the first craft aisle.  Then I drove "for miles" <g>  since the handicapped lot no longer existed. When I saw people heading toward a car I waited for them to get organized and pull out, then hiked back to find Mom.  She hadn't gotten too very far up that aisle, but it was very crowded so I did feel relieved when I spotted her.

Mom found several pairs of earrings and a necklace to go home with her, plus a little something for Pippa.  I bought an inexpensive pair of earrings.  (And yes, in those very same colors as the majority of my earrings - and clothing.)

I would have loved to buy this large platter for Marilyn, perfect for her kitchen - except for the price!   (Again, the artist gave me permission to snap a pic to send to Marilyn.)  Keep in mind that my flip phone takes crappy photos; the colors, of course, are much brighter, and it really is a gorgeous piece of pottery.

Marilyn's kitchen is blue and yellow, and she planted zillions of red-flowered bushes around their house.  Now she no longer needs to keep refilling the dozens of hummingbird feeders and going through poundage of sugar daily for the herds of hummers on the ranch.  The flowers on the platter look just like the riot of wildflowers that bloom profusely in the Hill Country where she lives.

I included the comment that she "isn't worth $400"; she texted right back that L'Oréal said she was... but that I should save my money. <g>

I also saw a beautiful mosaic wall-hanging of a sri yantra that would make a stunning quilt (though of course it has at least 600 "projects" in line ahead of it!)  The artist graciously allowed me to snap a pic with that in mind.  When I asked the price before leaving the booth ($3200) she smiled and asked if she should 'wrap it up' for me.

Mom and I shared a funnel cake (a "tradition" of hers and Jean's from craft shows long ago) but we still had no trouble chowing down on dinner last night.  Carlo had smoked a turkey, I had peeled and diced another mountain of huge potatoes for mashers, and Tom sautéed eggplant (Ruby had brought a bunch of veggies to pass along at Bunco Friday so I grabbed one for Bana.) 

She and I played more Rummikub yesterday, and the good news is

that I've finally begun a winning streak.

Mom may still be ahead, but now by a much more reasonable amount.  Of course we have another week yet to play, so anything could happen.

Last night I showed Mom how to save pix from FB to her iPhone (after I figured it out!)  The "silver lining" to having me help her (see me grabbing at straws here?) is that it takes me so long to figure something out that I can only teach her one thing a day, which should make it easier for her to learn/remember. 

If it was someone who actually knew who she was doing,

she might be trying to show Mom a whole bunch of stuff at once.

Time to stop playing and get ready for a drive to Sedona.  The weather is supposed to turn crummy the next few days (chance of rain) so we thought we'd better take advantage of today's sunny skies.

T