Once again I've fallen behind, and with a crazy week ahead of me I'd better try to catch up or it might never happen!

Last Tuesday, on my last night at the hot springs, it was yet another 'party' when Richard and Elinor joined us for my farewell dinner.  Afterwards, we had no problem polishing off my scrumptious chocolate/raspberry birthday cake!

Wednesday morning Terry woke Hilda early and we got her ready for her trip into town for her appointment with the derm pathologist.  She was supposed to have the fast-growing skin cancer on her face removed before my arrival, but that appointment had to be cancelled at the last minute when the office came down with Covid.  I got used to seeing it, but it looked pretty bad, with open wounds draining at times.

After they headed to town I took a final soak in the Apple Pool.  One guy starting talking about his trips to Havasu Falls with his daughter, so of course <g> I had to mention living/teaching in Supai back in the 70s, right?

On the way back to the house I bumped into Doug (who approved of the most recent roadwork I did), then took a shower and packed the car, and headed out.  I did make a quick stop at Elinor & Richard's (got to see the antelope herd enjoying a meal in the neighboring alfalfa field) for another round of hugs,  and then I was off.

I was only half an hour into my drive, just the other side of Saguache, when I almost got "up close and personal" with a semi (glad I have good brakes) which really got my heart pumping!  

Happily the rest of my drive was much less stressful!

I stopped in Pagosa Springs for gas, lunch (at Subway, where I had a delightful 'run-in' with a group of polite teenagers), and a stop at Colorado Gifts where once again I found some excellent gifts. (Hope Alex will get a laugh at Chanukah from a book I found for him.)

I did make it to Durango by 4:00 as planned, hoping to find some goodies at the quilt store... but

Sadly it's no longer a quilt store.  Sigh...  

From the parking lot I took the opportunity to call Terry and get the scoop on Hilda's surgery.  I was extremely relieved to hear that she did well (despite the surgeon having to dig deeply to get everything out) and even felt up to having some lunch when she got home. This was the pic Terry sent me.

Then it was on to Cortez, where 'my' motel still had no internet.  I was surprised, but turns out it's more than just changing providers; they need to lay all sorts of new cables.

The next day I made it to Flagstaff by noon.  Driving in I was treated to views of incredible fields of sunflowers (wish there had been a good place to pull over and stop for a photo op), as well as the results of recent serious flooding.  Gassed up (and when clearing my screen, as I always do when I fill up) I "somehow" accessed a screen that (in ten years) I had never seen before!  

After several unsuccessful attempts to get back to some of the 'regular' displays 

I ended up turning off the car and restarting it.

Grabbed a chocolate shake for lunch <g> before getting back on the road, and arrived home around 2-ish.  After hearing the dire heat-related weather reports I was expecting more heat, but it was only 104. (The day before it had been 111, so I lucked out.)

Brownie, as expected, was overjoyed to see me.

I managed to get unpacked, did some laundry (mostly Tom's), and glanced at the mail (nothing that couldn't wait until the next day.)

Friday morning I was back to my regular schedule, and worked in the yard until about 10.  Once I showered I got busy, and started by opening my mail.  There seemed to be a suspicious $100 debit from my checking account, so I checked into it.  It was made at a SuperCenter WalMart (where I don't shop, and had no receipt) so I called the bank.  Since the debit card is still in my possession we don't know how someone 'tapped' it there, but I wonder if someone 'scanned' it from my wallet when passing by me.  

As of that call the card has been cancelled and a new one is on its way.  So in less than a month both my VISA credit card and my BoA debit card have been hacked.

The rest of Friday was spent with more pleasurable endeavors.  I whipped up this cat block (for Barb's thank you as out-going Foothills president) using some cat fabric from my stash.

I stayed busy much of the day, puttering around with this and that.  Ordered some gifts (after this morning's text with Marilyn I know she'll love her birthday gift... too bad I have to wait until March to give it to her!)  

Also put in Brownie's next food order from Chewy, which this time included the bird feeder to hang under the eave and give me something to view from my recliner through the 'last' window. 

Of course the five food items are on the way, but the bird feeder will be arriving separately.

I let Brownie try out his new 'smelly' toy, from Karen.

Mine, it's mine!

Eventually connected with Lisa, and got to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

"Somehow" I stayed busy puttering until 3:00 - and then vegged for the rest of the day.

Saturday I was up early, and got in lots of yardwork, mostly hand-trimming out front.  Should have worn gloves, and raised a large blister to show for my work.  But at least all three cans will go out full on Monday (they always pick-up, even on holidays.)

Tom came out and wanted to get me started on my birthday gifts, which turned out to be in his truck in the driveway.  They included two LARGE blue planters (we need to also go pick up flowers to plant in them, part of my gift.) 

He had also gotten a replacement bird block, though when he came back from Costco yesterday I asked if he had gotten one, and he said no.

Instead of lying, he could have just said, "It wasn't on the list."

After I finished in the yard (and took a much-needed shower) I opened more gifts.  One had come in an Amazon package a few days earlier, and guessing (correctly, as it turns out) that it was not wrapped I waited to open it.

There was no paperwork in the package, but I guessed (also correctly) that it had come from Sandy ("and Andy") since I've been sharing this year's calendar pages with her and Pippa.

Marilyn's (four!) gifts had been waiting patiently in the gift closet for several months.  The first three were pretty perfect...

Great tee -

Happy dog notepads -

and a convenient wallet for when I don't want to schlep around a purse.

The final gift, however, remained uncracked; my "excuse" was I needed to dash off to pick up Wanda for our day of fun, but in truth I knew that even cartoon illustrations would likely make my skin crawl!

Wanda and I started off at The Other Quilt Store, where I picked up the light and dark grays I needed for the Bee quilt.  (Also treated myself to a couple of other goodies.)  While I was there Marilyn called to wish me a Happy Birthday.  She did find it amusing that I hadn't (yet) been brave enough to peek inside the book.

Next stop was 35th Ave., where I found some delicious fabric that Wanda and I are going to share.  And did send Marilyn a pic of these 'cute' spiders from the Halloween projects display there.

 

Wanda treated me to lunch at Panini's, where instead of my usual healthy salad-type lunch I pigged out on pastrami and rye; it'd looked so good going to another customer last time we lunched there.  And I went all-out bad, getting the french fries for my side. (Plus I did come home with a container of her fudge.)

Our last stop was the hardware store to get a bolt to fix the knob on her little rollator.  (The larger one we had to use that day isn't nearly as convenient.)  And while the bolt itself is perfect, when we got back to her place we discovered that the screw got hung up where the threads ended, and it needs something different.  She has since ordered one on-line, so will hope that turns out to be the answer.

Andy and Sandy called to wish me a Happy Birthday, and we enjoyed our chat while they were cooking dinner.  We're all looking forward to my visit next month!

While I was at the quilt store Lisa had texted to see if it was a good time to chat (not really) but once I got home I let her know I was 'available'.  When she called I got to hear the story about the fromme woman at the hotel when she was Back East recently for Lila's wedding.

I know Alex would have called - but he didn't have reception at Burning Man.  He gets home tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about his adventures!

Yesterday morning I was doing more yardwork when my eyes really started to sting.  I thought it was simply from sweat dripping into my eyes, but even after I came inside and rinsed them with cold water, and then took a shower and let the cool water run on my face, the burn just wouldn't stop.  

I was pretty miserable for an hour (or two!), and even the 'fancy' eye drops I got from the opthamologist recently didn't help much.  NO idea what the issue was; I've trimmed that monster bush a zillion times since it grows almost as fast as bamboo and have never had a problem before!

In the afternoon I tackled the BEE project -

and so I should be ready for the next step at Busy Bees on Wednesday.

And speaking of Wednesday, that will be a bit of a crazy day...

I have Betsy's BEE class in the morning (when I will get Dan's frog quilt back from Monica), my several-hour appointment with the eye surgeon starts at 1:00 (so if I want to squeeze in some lunch I may have to skip out of class early), book club is at 6:00 (I'm leading this month's discussion on Ella Minnow Pea but haven't re-read the book yet, so that's on today's agenda!), and irrigation is scheduled to arrive at 5:58 (it's a day "late" because of the holiday today.)

Now that Tom's had his morning coffee we are getting ready to head off for my flowers.  After we get back and I get them planted I see a reading marathon... but at least it's a quick read!