Yesterday afternoon felt productive.  I did several loads of laundry while I swept/mopped floors (I had done a quick sweep of the house between my two recent trips, but it definitely needed more serious attention) and also shredded a lot of old bank statements and other sensitive financial documents.

When Tom called last night to let me know that he'd arrived in Glass Buttes, OR he mentioned that he'd driven a different route since he'll be heading to Davis Creek, CA after instead of before.  That meant he did not have to pass through Hawthorne, NV, which turned out to be a very good thing.  About the time he would have been driving through there, a tornado touched down!

HAWTHORNE, Nev.  -- A tornado touched down in Hawthorne about 3:15 p.m. Friday, moving through the town at up to 110 mph for almost 2 miles. The tornado tore down fences, uprooted trees broken windows, and ripped roofs off buildings. Luckily with all this damage, no injuries were reported.Officials say five businesses and six homes were severely damaged. Some residents were evacuated because of hazardous downed power lines and structural damage. 

During the evening I relaxed and watched some TV.  When The Help ended at 11:00 I was still wide-awake, and finally (after mid-night) took something to help me drift off.  So when I woke up before 6:00 I was not that thrilled.

Before I get going on today's list of stuff to do,
I do want to post some pix from the quilt show in Kerrville.

I always see ladies wearing lovely apparel at the shows, and Betty was kind enough to let me snap a picture of her very pretty vest.

This Texas quilt was most impressive, with a lot of detail embellishment.  It obviously took a lot of time and work -and she isn't even keeping it for herself...!

Marilyn's friend Jana, who helped organize the show, 

had a couple of quilts entered.

This one captured Best In Show!

Because there are always so many spectacular quilts, it's understandably hard to choose a favorite; but using my criterion ("If I could walk out of here with just one quilt under my arm, which one would I choose?") Beep Beep got my Viewer's Choice vote.

Mini-quilts were for sale via a silent auction, and I put in the starting bid of $25 for this mermaid wall-hanging.  But since they never called me I assume that I was out-bid.

I like the curved effect of this bargello border -
so "one of these days" watch for it in a quilt of mine.

This scrap quilt has a dramatic visual impact.

Just a simple 9-patch - but very effective use of blended colors.

Another way to inject some oomph into a 9-patch:
add some applique on top and onto ends of sashing..

Again, adding a little applique to this Courthouse Steps and Piano Key 

scrap quilt gave it more interest.

I may never (ever!) make a true dent in my scraps - 

but it would be fun to try, right?

Whimsical -

 Idea for a memory quilt:

Simple - yet striking!

Hard to go wrong with batiks right? Perfect autumn colors.

Nice, bright flowers!

I love when the California poppies 'explode' here in the spring.

And who doesn't like waterfalls?

Fun, with the requisite bright and cheery fabrics!

This would look great in a laundry room!

Friendship Quilts are always special!

I especially liked this Log Cabin color arrangement.

Reminded me of a jigsaw puzzle with "matching" quilt blocks -

There were several quilts that employed the scrunched fabric method for a 3D effect on the trees, though I'm not really sure how well I captured it in my pictures.

There were a number of landscape quilts, 

and I was drawn by the sky and water in this one.

Thought of Bekkah when I saw this quilt.

This quilt was just too, too cute!

It took a fair amount of convincing to get these two women to pose with the quilt since they did not make this one.  On the left is Holly, who designed the blocks, and the woman on the right (I never did catch her name) is the one who gave the quilt class that Deb (the actual quiltmaker) took.

These are only a fraction of the pictures I took at the show (and remember that I only took pictures of the quilts that I especially liked!) so you can tell that there were lots and lots of wonderful quilts!  Hope you enjoyed them.  

And it's entirely possible that one day when I have nothing else exciting to post I could return and post more of my pictures from the show.

This morning I drove Patti to the airport.  Despite an accident on the I-17 that closed 3 lanes (at least there were warning signs well ahead of time) we still made it there in about half an hour. 

On the way home from the airport I stopped in to see Carol.  When we spoke on the phone last night she was really depressed; things have not been going well since she moved into Assisted Living.  Apparently their view on 'assistance', and hers, are vastly different.  

I totally understand her frustration,
and will be making some phone calls on her behalf!

The lighted magnifier I had bought for her has not been much of a help - the light just isn't strong enough - so I'll be returning that.   Unfortunately not today, because they don't seem to be open on Saturdays.  Guess I'll go take care of that on Monday; the 2-week return period ends on Tuesday, but I have 2 doctor appointments that day.

One of the fence repair guys is coming over this afternoon to look at our fence issues and give me an estimate.  One should be an easy (cheap?) fix, though the other involves redoing some masonry.  Will be curious to know how much more money I need to print up in the basement.... <g> 

Awoke to thunder and rain today, so no surprise it's a tad muggy out there now.  Tom left this morning (for Oregon and NoCal, to collect more rock) and I've been trying to get organized.  Mostly that means adding to my already-long list as I keep remembering all the things I need to do.  

I did, however, find a fence repair company that is just a block up the street!  So later today, once the crew comes in from the field, I should have an appointment for them to come look at our fences and see what can be done.

Forgot to mention that on Wednesday I wore my new t-shirt that Alex gave me (he found it at the Shedd Aquarium when he was in Chicago) and the ladies got a chuckle out of it.  It's perfect for me!

I've made a few phone calls (most notably to the cemetery in Maryland), and mid-morning headed off to get my blood drawn and run a few errands.  Unfortunately the lab was mobbed - with at least an hour's wait - so I left.  Did get my Pool Rules laminated, 

picked up what I needed at Target, mailed off a package to Mom, and dropped off thread spools and coffee tins for Kathi.  

Came home to a message from Farmer's; I'm playing phone tag with them, trying to figure out how to put Alex's car on "storage" insurance when he leaves later this month for the rest of the year.  

And then this was in my e-mail; guess Sherri got a lot more rain than we did?

Due to water damage to our shop caused by flooding in our building, we will be closed until Tuesday June 9th while these humongous fans dry everything out.

All classes will be rescheduled.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience!

Mid-afternoon I went back to the lab, and the waiting room was much emptier than it had been in the morning.  Still, I waited virtually an hour for my turn (and if I hadn't gone up to the desk to check after 45 minutes, I think I'd be sitting there still!)

My cell phone, which virtually never rings, rang twice while I was there.  The first call was the car insurance folks; I said I'd call back when I got home, but (again) got their answering machine, so we're still playing phone tag. The second call was Patricia, who was originally going on this week's birthday trip until work got in the way, calling to see how much fun we had without her.  I also tried to call her back when I got home, and also got her answering machine.

We got another downpour this afternoon,
so everything is getting a good drink.

The timing is especially nice,
since we don't have irrigation for another week!

I'm back from a fun trip to Pinetop-Lakeside to celebrate Wanda's birthday.  

front row: Jeannie and Perri

back row: Mary, me, Marlene, and Wanda

We had no wifi at the cabin so I was unable to post.  

Here's how my week went:

MONDAY

It was an easy drive to Payson to celebrate Wanda's 80th with "the girls".  I arrived early enough to stop at the quilt store (where I bought a quilt book) before rendezvous-ing with the ladies (Wanda, Mary, Marlene, Jeannie, & Perri) at Macky's Restaurant - which turned out to be the wonderful restaurant where I always like to eat when I'm in Payson.  I could only eat half of my Caesar Salad wrap - the rest came "home" with me for lunch tomorrow.  Then we all went to the quilt store (Mary, who had just met me, was worried that could be a problem for me since I'd gone before lunch... silly girl!) where I ended up buying some batik fabric I'd been eyeing earlier.

Then back on the road to Pinetop-Lakeside. I had no real trouble finding the cabin, which was delightful.  However there were not enough beds to go around for the 6 of us (which we already knew) so we had to double up.  After settling in we celebrated; Wanda got some great birthday cards, and liked my gift (the wine with a pretty label, and a 35th Ave. gift certificate.) Turns out that we were also celebrating Perri's birthday (she turned 70 last week.)

Mary cooked chicken enchiladas for dinner, and Jeannie whipped up a salad with all sorts of goodies in it.  It was wonderful to be able to eat outside on the deck.  For dessert Wanda had baked up some outrageous chocolate truffle brownies.

When I was getting ready for bed I realized I hadn't packed my toothbrush.  When I brushed my teeth right before heading out in the morning I must have plunked the brush back into its spot in the bathroom instead of into my penguin bag.

TUESDAY

I cooked breakfast for Wanda ( the other ladies either weren't eating or were having bagels) and then we all made a field trip into town to check out the two quilt stores.  At the first one I got some great Dalmatian fabric, and at the second I got four stunning batiks (on sale, 40% off) and some fun giraffe fabric.

There was a stop at Safeway for various necessities, and I got a toothbrush.  I need a small one so I was choosing from the kids' section, which is why I came home with a Firefly brush that has a blinking light that starts out green, changes to yellow, and ultimately to red when I've brushed long enough.  

Back at the cabin we had lunch on the deck (the weather is so, so pleasant!) and then played Mexican Train.  I won 3 of the first 4 games, and in the one game I didn't win I was left holding only one tile: the double zero!  By then my back was unhappy sitting so I took a break from the game despite my stellar score of absolute zero.

Dinner was in town at Charlie Clark's.  Jeannie had brought along birthday glasses for us to wear that lit up, and they were a big hit not only with us but with the other diners there. 

We all enjoyed our meal, and when dessert came Jeannie had a fancy candle with eight petals that opened up and lit eight more candles.  

It also played Happy Birthday - and kept playing.  When we got back to the cabin we left it singing in the car, guessing how long the battery would last.

WEDNESDAY

Found out this morning that the rich food did in Wanda; she was up sick at 3:00.  Happily she seemed to bounce back pretty well during the day.

For breakfast I made up eggs and turkey bacon for those who wanted them.  My original plan was to serve omelettes, but without my cast iron skillet they turned into scrambled eggs.  We played Mexican Train out on the deck, and a brazen squirrel cruised by (probably lured by the aroma from the sugar cookies Marlene had just baked.)

After lunch Wanda, Jeannie and I stayed home to relax and work on our handwork, while Mary, Perri and Marlene cruised over to check out the casino; they more or less broke even.  Later in the afternoon Jeannie went out to her truck for something - and the candle was still playing Happy Birthday!  Wanda stepped on it trying to silence it; the flower was smashed to pieces, but the song mechanism just kept going.  I ended up putting it in my car, wondering if I'd have "music" to drive home by the next day ...

Perri grilled salmon for dinner, which was delicious.  Along with a wonderful salad, yellow rice, and broccoli, it was a perfect dinner!

THURSDAY

After breakfast I packed up some of my stuff and took it down to the car.  Before I did, however, I took a vote on whether that chip would still be singing. Four of the ladies said no, though Perri and I guessed yes.  And it was! Mary was so impressed she says she's going to invest in that technology.

Driving home there were the usual number of idiots on the road.  In Show Low a car turned left in front of the car ahead of me, forcing him to slam on his brakes to avoid being hit. I was able to avoid hitting him (just barely) because I wasn't tail-gating. Then between there and Payson a vehicle in the on-coming lane drifted into my lane, so I laid on the horn and he moved back over.  And in Fountain Hills a vehicle threw a rock onto my windshield, leaving a chip right in my field of vision.

By the time I neared home it was pretty cloudy - and just as I got off the 101 big fat drops of water started plopping on the windshield.  Nice to arrive home to cooler-than-expected weather.