After more than 30 consecutive days with temps 110+ (and a record number of those hit 115 and above) we are cooling off <g> today; the predicted high will 'only' be 108.  But by Wednesday we climb back into the Extreme Heat numbers.  

I should have been at the hot springs in the mountains of Colorado these past couple of weeks, but sadly decided to cancel my annual trip due to concerns about my back/leg pain.  At least I can brag that I survived July 2023 in Phoenix!  And while we never did reach 120 here, we did make it to 119 several times.

I filled up with gas this morning while it was still cool (that's recommended, has something to do with helping the air quality.)  My odometer is just about to hit 100,000, which is usually when I get a new vehicle.  But since I'm hardly putting on any miles these days, I've decided to hang onto this vehicle.

While I was hibernating inside, hiding from July's blast, I did whip up a number of baby quilts for charity.

The colors are really off in this photo.  The rail fence fabrics (not really bright enough for my liking) were in one of the scrap bags I was gifted, and both border fabrics came from my stash.

Also in one of the bags was a stack of already pieced 9-patches, though in "blah" fabrics.  It was easy enough to rifle through my brights, cut squares to set between them, and voila - a much more colorful quilt emerged.

Babies see black & white first.  When I found some miscellaneous black/white/red blocks in one of the scrap bags, I added some of my ladybug fabrics.  Because what kid doesn't like ladybugs?

Everything for this top came out out of my stash (and I still have more of the red and blue versions of the baby toys, which I used some years ago to make a couple of twin sized quilts.)  I also have plenty more of the coordinating rust, blue, and tan fabrics, though I am running low on the brown border batik, which worked great to pull out the rust and blue.

I used some of my leftover blocks and fabrics from Sammy's quilt to make these two.

Scraps from a cute cat panel were enough to create the center of this one, and after adding some paw prints and a bright border it turned out large enough for a baby. 

One remaining pinwheel was the 'inspiration' for this.  Everything pulled from my stash, and the dark border is actually a deep purple; sadly the color is off in the photo.

U.S. Dogs are special and there are oodles of national (and international) holidays to prove it. But unlike most of our doggy days, National Mutt Day, on July 31, focuses on the mixed breed dogs who sometimes get overlooked.

The happy day back in 2019 that this mutt joined the family!

Amazingly Brownie has still been sunbathing all month, despite 24-hour access to the air conditioned house via his dog door (that's his welcome mat at the bottom of the photo) plus plenty of shade on the porch and on the grass under the trees.

THIS was the air temperature in the shade on the porch as he was basking in the sun -

and of course the cement is much hotter than the air.  In fact the news has been full of stories about record numbers of patients in hospitals with third degree burns (!) after coming in contact with roads and sidewalks.  This graphic is only goes up to 97 degrees, so obviously the concrete and asphalt numbers have been much higher this past month!   

 

And speaking of dogs - today is National Mutt Day.

U.S. Dogs are special and there are oodles of national (and international) holidays to prove it. But unlike most of our doggy days, National Mutt Day, on July 31, focuses on the mixed breed dogs who sometimes get overlooked.

After two miserable weeks my back/leg IS finally doing better, but there are still pain issues.  So even though I had planned to blast off to Colorado this coming weekend for a couple of weeks at the hot springs, I've pretty much decided that's not going to happen this summer.  

Instead I'll stay here 'enjoying' our record-breaking (and seemingly unending!) run of 110+ degree heat.  As long as there are no issues with the electric grid we will be okay, just mostly staying inside under the A/C.  

It also meant that I skipped the Prescott Bluegrass Festival this year, which has always been a fun event. That would have been wonderful for another chance to hear Peter and The Sonoran Dogs play, as well as an escape the Valley's heat for the day, but it just wasn't in the cards this year.

I'm not the only one dealing with issues.  One friend suffered a foot injury after falling off of her bike, but even worse is her hubby's on-going misery with shingles on his face and IN his eye!  I keep hoping to hear that the various medical visits, including a stay in the hospital, are helping, but so far that has not been the case.  Even the IV antibiotics haven't seemed to help.  

While down for the count I did manage to go through the bags/boxes of scraps Jo passed along to me, and was very selective about what I kept.  Which means I have another two large tubs-worth to pass along to Jessica.  

And at Foothills today Marlys has yet more scraps for me.

After the chiropractor yesterday I had some time to kill before meeting Karen for lunch at 11, when Sushi Love (across the street) opens.  As always I arrived early, and he took me right away so I was actually out of there before my scheduled 10:00 appointment.  With an hour to kill I decided to wander around the Brass Armadillo mall.  

This treadle sewing machine (which also had an electric foot pedal attached...) was only $195.  While not quite as nice as the "new" one Wanda just got, it would make a nice additon to someone's collection.  Will mention it at quilting today.

WHO KNEW there was a market for these? LOL

Sandy and Andy got crabs earlier this week, and I'm looking forward to a crab fest when I'm there visiting in August.  So while this sign doesn't apply

this one does!

I was keeping my eyes peeled for some more egg cartons, which I hadn't found on my last visit a year or so ago.  The original two I'd sent to Texas were a hit.  But shortly before it was time to head to lunch I scored big in one booth!  

SHH - Don't tell Marilyn!

Our favorite, Monkey Brains, came first; we'd ordered that right away and then perused the menu to see what new items to try that visit. They were was quickly devoured before I thought to document, but at least I remembered to snap a pic of our next two items before we decimated those platters.  While both were good, we agreed that the Golden Las Vegas roll was the better of the two.

Tom took care of irrigation yesterday in the late afternoon, and we had to do the gates on 35th Ave. for the first time in a while.  So he had the 'fun' of pulling a drowned teen-age raccoon out of the trough gate.  On the plus side at least we don't have to worry about alligators here in Phoenix!

Otherwise irrigation seemed to go well, though the west front yard (our most crucial area, but last on the flow) didn't get as much water as I would have liked; it didn't flow anywhere near the salvia.  I'd hoped to get away with a little less watering, at least for a few days - but not happening.

After dinner Alex & Vic drove me (and Brownie) over to Mary's to deliver the table that Shelly had put out for bulk trash and I'd rescued.  It turned out to be perfect for that windowed corner where Pablo's cage used to sit, and Mary was looking for something to use for some of her plants.  Turns out she (and the cats) are loving it.

That evening I delivered a check for Alex (his attempt to get a money order didn't work out) and got to see one of the newly hatched baby quail (so tiny and so cute!) I'd heard about.  It had gotten disoriented and run the wrong way into the grass when Alex and Vic, unaware of the family's presence when they'd gotten home from delivering the table, accidentally disturbed them when they got home.  Luckily a search eventually found the quail family and the baby was safely returned to the bosom of its family.

Had trouble falling asleep last night (WHY?) and was still awake after midnight, when I finally took something to help.  Then I woke around 5, so who knows how I'll do today.  But now time to have breakfast and think about getting ready for Foothills, so no time to go back and proofread!