Another fun day at The Pig yesterday, where despite my lack of sleep I did finish up a stack of H blocks (and even got started on the next color!) There were some technical difficulties at first, and after having to rip out every seam (I blamed it on operator error) I finally turned to Marcie for some assistance.  Turns out I was doing everything right (well except for butting up the fabric during the chain piecing) and it was a tension issue.  Once that was fixed I was off and running.

Snapped a couple of giraffes for Mom, 

like this cute baby quilt in the binding stage.

Barb, another giraffe person, swung by in the afternoon 

with a couple of charity tops for Cindy to quilt.

She  also delivered the book her daughter wrote/illustrated (and signed) 

which will be one of Lisa's Chanukah gifts.

100 Women and More

"100 Women and More" is a print book of portraits of inspirational women whose careers advanced Politics, Science, Art and Human Rights all over the globe. Their portraits honor and celebrate these role models and their accomplishments, inspiring us to continue in their footsteps. The original portraits are carefully inked onto wooden oval blocks by the artist Red. Each portrait will be photographed and reproduced for print, along with a short inspirational paragraph about each woman.

Around 3:00 I hit a wall (surprised I lasted that long) and headed home.  I was so exhausted that I almost felt ill, yet still was not able to drift off on the couch in front of the TV.  After dinner I struggled during the early part of the evening, and was very happy when Brownie took care of business around 8:30, basically freeing up my bedtime schedule. So WHY was I still awake at 11:30 last night?  SIGH!!!  Sure didn't think I was going to need any sleep aids to at least fall asleep - but once again, I was wrong!

Today would have been my childhood BFF Bev's 69th birthday. So this morning I called her Mom with an extra hug for her today, and despite the bittersweet anniversary Ann sounded good.  I'm looking forward to lunching with her when I'm in next month. 

Now it's time to get productive!  At the top of my list is sewing the label on Silas' quilt so I can return it to Marcie later today.

Another much-too-early morning, though at least the past several days haven't been quite so bad.  Need to make a lunch and also pack up stuff for VOS day at The Pig.  (Since I'm hoping to make substantial progress on Elena's wedding quilt I do plan to remember to load my sewing machine into the car this time!)

For a change there's no rain in today's forecast, so maybe the yard will start to dry out?  I'm not sure who will be happier once I can open up the dog door, Brownie or me!  Also not sure what Tom's plans are for today, so I may need to pop home at some point (it's only a block or so) to walk Brownie if he doesn't take care of business before I leave.  No such luck first thing this morning.... 

Alex can't walk Brownie because he's not home.  He needs to be at work (in California) at 8:30 this morning, but there was a concert last night here in town that he REALLY wanted to attend.  After the concert (which he posted on Instagram) he was going to make the drive west.  Of course he just rolled his eyes at me yesterday when I said I'd worry about him (because it's so silly of me to worry about him falling asleep at the wheel?) and would be greatly relieved to hear that he made the drive safely.  

For that reason I asked him to text me upon arrival, and though he said he "might" space out doing that he actually did text me (at 4:45) to let me know he made it there safely, though I missed it because I was out back with Brownie. 

Working all day after very little (or no?) sleep is not something I'd be able to manage, but of course he has youth on his side!

When I got home from the gym Alex and I took Brownie for a walk.  As we approached Shelley's, Brownie was so excited to see one of her dogs that he practically did flips.

https://youtu.be/dG-MfsJWvS0

He was considerably less enthusiastic once inside the yard, though I think he was just somewhat intimidated by all the attention from the three pooches.

Now that the weather is finally cooling off 

Shelley and I hope to start walking the dogs mornings.

At my request Marcie stopped by this afternoon to give me the benefit of her excellent advice on borders for a B/W UFO I had hoped to deliver to Cindy's tomorrow.  I didn't make much actual progress (late afternoon is not a productive time for me) but at least now I have a plan.

I now also have Silas's Minecraft quilt in my possession, and expect to get the label attached and the quilt returned to Marcie in a day or so.

The Elmo II block got blanket-stitched this morning, so that project is now complete and can be turned in.  Also think I've found some (all?) of the tubs that go with the four "extra" lids: I discovered them  'hiding' under sinks around the house holding various cans, bottles, jars, etc.  Later today I will see what matches up with what.

The address book ordered on-line arrived in a very timely fashion yesterday - practically before I ordered it!  Last night I started filling it in, though of course didn't finish before I ran out of steam. 

 Some of the names in my (very) old book, which was falling apart and the reason I needed a new one, are no longer even recognizable to me.  Sadly too many of the entries were for people no longer with us, and other entries are just so old that I doubt the addresses/phone numbers are even current any more.

Now it's time to drag myself off to the gym.  There's nothing else on my agenda today (at least at the moment) unless weeding counts?

Shouldn't <G> take long to finish up the last bit of hand-quilting in the border of Melody's quilt.  (I can work on it at Busy Bees and Foothills, which means the ladies there will get to see her pretty quilt.)   In return, I will receive an embroidered label for Elena's quilt.  She did offer to pay me, but I suggested a trade instead.

Marcie and Latina popped over while Melody was here, and the three of us got to talking about dogs.  Melody has four (and two of them are Great Danes!) and when I showed her Brownie's book she liked it so much she is going to order one.

As predicted, we got still more rain last evening, so it is definitely going to take quite a while for the ground to dry out enough for me to open up Brownie's dog door.  In the meantime it looks like lots of walks for him, which is okay most of the time, just not my favorite thing to do last thing before bed.  

At least last night he took care of all business in a timely fashion.

Saw on the news last night that the I-17 widening project (adding a third lane for the 15 miles between Anthem and Black Canyon City, as well as building flex lanes all the way to Sunset Point) has been funded by the 2020 state budget.  Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring, and at least part of the project is expected to be completed by 2023.  

An extra lane has been long-needed, and should at least help traffic flow between Phoenix and Flagstaff.  ADOT’s longer-term goal is to widen I-17 to three lanes all the way to Flagstaff.  But that project, "only a vision for now", would require separate approval and funding.

I had a good cleaning at the dentist this morning; Becky could tell that I've obviously been doing a good job brushing/flossing since virtually all of my "4"s have improved to "3"s.  However the tooth that the dentist has "been watching" (and is most likely the one that caused the issues this past summer in Colorado) isn't getting any better.  So I will be making an appointment with the endodontist to see if a root canal is indicated... sigh.  (Tom is having his troublesome tooth pulled on Tuesday because he does not want to pay the hefty price of a root canal.)  

Pulling my bad tooth is not advisable for several reasons, the main one being that then I'd only have one molar on top to "match" with the three molars on the bottom.  Dr. Johnson continues to assure me that root canals have come a long way since the days of my childhood, when all I heard were horror stories of pain.  

Melody called when I was on my drive home.  She has an appointment with Jeannie up the street this afternoon (dropping off? picking up?) and wanted to know if I'd be around so she could show me her UFO that needs a little bit of hand-quilting to finish off.  I do have a hair appointment with Shelley (whose house is between Jeannie's and here!) at 2:00 but should be home by the time she finishes up at Jeannie's.

Alex stopped in shortly after I got home, and took Brownie on a walk around the neighborhood.  I of course had walked Brownie first thing this morning, and again before I left for the dentist, but neither Alex nor I  were "rewarded" with poopage on any of those walks (though as always Bownie did water everything in sight.)

A call to our plumber this morning confirmed a minimum service call charge of $150, too much to justify an earring rescue.  However, my next question to Chris was about what it would cost for him to replace the old metal pipes (which he did mention could possibly "disintegrate" when being removed during said rescue) with plastic, and he said it would "likely only be $20 more." Since I recently received a $25 rebate in the mail from them I hope to end up with just the minimum charge when all is said and done.  

We are scheduled for the work on Monday, when I should finally be able to use my sink again (I have really missed it!) and may even get my MIA earring back.

Headed to bed last night at 10:00, but even after taking Trazodone I was still awake 90 minutes later!  At that point I tried a lo-dose lorazepam, and was beyond bummed to still be awake 20 minutes later (in the past that med has worked quickly) so in desperation I took a second one little pill. Last time I looked at the clock it was 12:30, which made me wonder if  (when I finally fell asleep) I'd oversleep my dentist appointment.  However I opened my eyes at 7:00 so I'll have plenty of time for breakfast and a shower before I need to head over.  

Until now my main issue has been staying asleep, not falling asleep to begin with.  So this new wrinkle, not being able to fall asleep despite the lateness of the hour (and some help out of a pill bottle!) is at the very least bothersome, but also worrisome since this latest batch of meds (# 3 and #4) also seem to have stopped working.  I'm looking forward to arranging a sleep-study appointment and fixing the issue!!!!!

Lower temps have enabled us to turn off the A/C and leave the doors open.  Brownie is enjoying, once again, the option of sitting by the front door to watch the world cruise by.

Had a good tune-up at the chiropractor this morning (each time I'm less "out") and have made an appointment for a few days before I head to Maryland to hopefully forestall possible issues while I'm there.  On the way home I ran a few errands.  

I was somewhat light-headed this afternoon, with that "MSG" feeling I've always gotten before my bouts of vertigo (though I don't always experience vertigo after that sensation, which happily was the case today.)  So for the rest of the afternoon I took it easy, and it was nice that Alex took Brownie for long walk around the neighborhood since I wasn't feeling up to it.

Alex joined us for dinner, and showed me some of his photos/videos from the Bimini trip that didn't make it onto Instagram.  Once he sends them to me I "may" <g> share some of them.

I made my second Elmo block this evening, though it still needs the blanket-stitching to finish it off.  Maybe tomorrow?  I do have a dentist appointment in the morning, and a haircut appointment in the afternoon, though neither of those should take long.

This evening Tom tried to open up the plumbing under the sink, but between the rust and calcium deposits he was unable to budge the pipe.  I'll make a call tomorrow and see what our plumber would charge to rescue my earring - and maybe replace the pipes?

We got a little rain late this afternoon, and more is predicted tonight and tomorrow.  So even though temps are low, humidity is high.  

I woke up for few seconds last night when the guys arrived home, but didn't even think about getting up, so happily I drifted right back asleep... until almost 7:00 this morning!  

Tom is now up, sipping on his first cup of coffee; apparently Wayne made his coffee really, really strong, so Tom is extremely happy to be drinking more palatable Joe. 

I haven't heard too much about the trip yet.  Seems their flight arrived 90 minutes early yesterday (!) so they were home earlier than expected.  (After last year's flight airport fiasco they deserved a break!) 

Sounds like they did experience weather on Bimini - some rain, and LOTS of wind - but still had a wonderful time.  

I look forward to hearing lots details later after I get home from the chiropractor, and Alex gets home from the dentist; he's getting his permanent crown today.

Spent the day taking care of  "this and that".  After the gym I swung by the library to pick up a book that had come in for me, and also grabbed a couple of DVDs that are on my Netflix list.  I deposited a check at the bank on my way to TOQS, where I took advantage of today's 25% off sale to pick up a couple of jelly rolls that I had admired last time I was there.  Still had time before irrigation to drop off some things at Marcie's, and she liked my new book so much that she's going to take advantage of the coupon they included with my order and get one for Silas.

Irrigation arrived on time, and we definitely got our full complement of water.  In fact we got so much that the water yet again came up to the foundation, which is not good.  So guess we can try (yet again) cutting back on our watering time.  Unfortunately the flow/volume just don't seem to be consistent.  FYI while I was out there monitoring things I did even more weeding.

Once I let the water go I headed over to Target, where I got this year's flu shot.  Still need to get the shingles shot, but I'm waiting until I can find a time to schedule that when I don't have a bunch of things on tap; it's likely that I will feel crappy for a while afterward.  I did pick up a few other things while I was there, but not the most "wanted" items: a new address book (do they even make them any more?!) and some gardening gloves.

Saw on Instagram that the guys were en route back to the mainland.  When I texted Alex to let him know the gate was unlocked so he can get back to his place, he called me back from the airport in Florida.  He sounded pretty wiped out, but maybe he'll manage to grab some sleep on the flight to AZ.  I don't expect them to arrive home until at least midnight, so I should be fast asleep when they get home... though it's possible Brownie will alert me to "intruders".

Tomorrow I'll get to hear all about the fun they had!

In the interest of getting a solid night's sleep last night I dosed myself around 10:00, and shortly after 10:30 was asleep.  

While I did wake in the wee hours, I fell right back asleep until about 5:00.  Lots I want to get done today (Tom and Alex are scheduled to arrive home late tonight, and there are things that I'd like to get taken care of before then) so it's nice that I'm not starting out the day tired.

At first light this morning (since it wasn't raining) I headed out back to set the irrigation gates and thus be ready for our water this afternoon.  With the ground nice and soggy from yesterday's rain I then took the opportunity to do some weeding back there in places irrigation doesn't reach and is also difficult to mow, like up against the back block wall.  I did made serious inroads (and the horses in the adjoining pasture now have some piles of greenery to snack on) though of course it's absolutely absurd to think that I will EVER catch up and end up weed-free.

Brownie helped out - mostly by not disappearing.  When my back had had enough weeding my next chore was cleaning the pool, somewhat of a mess after yesterday's storm.  On the plus side, Creepy was actually still running, so after I swept the sides/bottom and skimmed the top I left him to continue doing his thing.  

Brownie, of course, had picked up "some" mud in his paws cruising around with me this morning. I had anticipated that, and at least had remembered to block off the dog door this morning so he couldn't redistribute any of the mud inside.  When it was time to come back inside he was not thrilled about having his feet dipped in the water on the top step and cleaned off, though I will say he was considerably less frantic about the entire process than he has been in the past.  Maybe he's finally figured out it's 'no big deal'?  

It has surprised me that ever since Brownie fell in the pool a few weeks ago (which seriously freaked him out!) he seems a lot more comfortable around the pool.  Maybe the "worst" had happened, and he survived?  Reminds me of one of my experiences several decades ago during a raft trip down the Colorado, when I finally got brave enough to be part of the crew on the tiny raft - and Sockdolager Rapid "ate" me.  I came through just fine (obviously!) and after that I was less scared, so much so that I even volunteered to crew on the little raft later through Lava Falls (!!!)  However, as we were heading down the tongue into the jaws of that monster I was SERIOUSLY rethinking that decision! 

Today was the Sew Day at Marcie's.  I remembered to bring the DQ patterns for Perri, the (now empty of brownies) Tupperware container to return to Wanda, and the owl magnet for Mary.  I remembered the tub with the quilt pattern and fabric pieces all cut.  I remembered my lunch (grilled chicken, hard boiled egg, strawberries) and thermorest.  But when I sat down to sew, I realized I hadn't remembered my sewing machine!  At least I didn't have to travel far to retrieve it.

Mary loved her owl magnet - and the bag of spools a couple of the ladies had been saving for her granddaughter to use in her classroom.

She ended up leaving around lunchtime (needed to get back to 'supervise' Jack) but called later in the afternoon, saying she was upset.. because she'd gone off and left her bags of goodies behind and was afraid we'd think she didn't appreciate our gifts.  So she made a trip back over.  I could certainly relate after forgetting my sewing machine earlier.

Perri was really dragging today, so all of us were glad she still joined us.  

Love the adorable kitty sweater she was knitting.  

Wanda brought 3 quilts for show and tell, and I did take pix.  Unfortunately I can't share them because they're all going into competitions.  However I can share pix of what she was working on today.

When I ran out of steam around 3:00 and headed home her top wasn't finished, though I'm guessing she did get it done this afternoon.

Marcie was working on this charity quilt for the Stitch & Bitch group.

I got to start sewing on Elena's wedding quilt today!  Marcie has been a tremendous help, not only allowing me to use her Accuquilt machine so the pieces are all cut exactly the same size, but also loaning me some tools that are making a big difference in how well the blocks are going together.  I got a bunch of the H blocks made today, and now have a sizeable stack in my "first" fabric.

During lunch we had noticed how black the sky was to the north, and actually did get some rain in the afternoon.  But it was only at home later that I discovered that there were tornadoes in New River, not that far north of here.  We got some heavy rain this afternoon/evening, with lots of loud cracks of thunder, and Flagstaff got snow.

https://www.azfamily.com/weather/confirmed-tornado-caught-on-camera-in-new-river-area/article_c84c766a-de36-11e9-b524-33b900468580.html

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- A tornado warning issued for areas north of Phoenix has now expired.  But a confirmed tornado in the new River area was actually caught on camera by two of our viewers! Take a look. The tornado warning affected the north Valley, including Cave Creek and Carefree. The alert was issued just before 12:30 p.m. and expired just before 12:45 p.m.  The National Weather Service (NWS) tweet warned people to "Get indoors!  And the Cave Creek Unified School District stated on its Facebook page that Mountain Elementary School and Cactus Shadows High School were "sheltering in place" due to the tornado warning in the area. Horizon High School in the PV district did the same.  The NWS says that even though the tornado warning has expired, storms are continuing. The threats of hail, strong wind, heavy rain and even an isolated tornado are still possible.

Found a package on the front porch when I got home, a cute book I had ordered.  And in the mailbox was a delightful thank-you note from Greta.  For a 10-day-old baby she certainly has lovely handwriting.

Dear Aunt Bobbi,

Thank you so much for my beautiful quilt!  I love all the pictures on it and the bright colors.  Mommy loves the star burst stitching pattern.  I can't wait to use it growing up and I can't wait to meet you soon!

Lots of love, Greta

Marcela called this afternoon, and we spent an hour catching up.  Among other things I found out that Elena's future FIL has been diagnosed with bone cancer, so what should be a happy time for them, planning a wedding, has a dark cloud hanging above.