the adventures of Ruby ...

on Wednesday morning we came over the hill to this ... another wet day another tree came down

how green is our valley!

we then got to see Nick's house arrive ... fancy trucks for a fancy new house

smells new too!

yep Ruby was there

 then we took the field road home -- Rudy avoided the pot holes and made it down the back hill

Sunrise on the inbound commute Thursday was quite nice the smoke from Canadian wildfires is creating some interesting haze -- and adding to the allergy nightmares!

it's a quilt

I shared these two quilts on the Diva facebook page and took an informal poll on which one I should attempt to construct.  Well I liked the one below (me and two others) everyone else liked the one above.  I'm going to compromise .. 

and make the upper one with fabrics similar to the lower one -- I went to the stash and found 2 jelly rolls of pink, cranberry, red batiks and one of greens .. and a few flat folds of the various colors ... the lights and whites are going to be snows, beige and tonals (also the stash).

 I sat down at the computer and drafted the block/quilt via Excel.  Yes, I am weird but it works.  It's just a simple 2" log cabin pattern ... color placement is going to be the challenge and once the strips are cut/sorted it will go fast ... 

the rest of the holiday was spent at work.  yep, the office -- things got done!

No DRAMA LLAMA

I plugged the iPad into my work desktop computer to charge it and instead of charging it downloaded all the pictures on it ... which is generally stuff I save from other www sites.   I think this needs to be a t shirt. 

It's raining hard.  I'm at the office -- projects and payroll wait for no one -- and well, working during a monsoon is a good thing.  Streaming directv on my iPad because the freaking directv box still isn't working and getting a hold of directv creates a national security warning.  I'm thinking about switching.  Not sure if there is a better alternative. 

and summer starts ...

    NOW ....

    After the clouds left and the sun arrived yesterday  -- it was time for the lake !!!  I left the office at 4:00 -- after the 3rd telemarketer call ... I still have piles but I left .. the piles can wait for the next rain day ( Monday ) ...

    Mom came with me -- I hadn't been there for two weeks and the cleaning fairy didn't pay a visit either ... so bedroom #1 got stripped and two more dish cabinets were washed (dishes and cabinets) -- kitchen floor got scrubbed -- and I finished my book! 

    Home by 9:00 and two loads of laundry -- bedding from above .... back at the laundry this morning ... my sewing stuff is packed -- just need the machine -- it's at the scrap shack ... or I can take out the new one ...which might be easier .. 

    I have a project in mind that is all applique -- it's in the project bin .. no machine required and I have yarn out there for scarf production -- need to crochet 50 scarves this summer ....

   ...  the projects are endless ...
   

so, sometimes ...

   there are people in my life that ---  even though a bit challenged --  make me a better person.  I have this client named, Tom/Dick/Harry/Gary -- who has mental health challenges -- I think it's ADD or Aspbergers -- I really don't care or need to know -- but he has challenges.  He's kind of a hoot once you understand his issues and his way of thinking.

   I don't think he's ever held a job. 64ish.  Never.held.a.job.  He's smart -- it is just the other stuff can get in the way -- no family left -- he used to mow the lawn and measure it out with a ruler .... it was precise.

   He told me at his tax appointment he was moving the Arizona to some property he purchased "on the internet" -- ok.  He's been buying and selling deed certificates for a couple of years -- mostly in Iowa and Arizona.  The tax appointment is interesting.  He's worn the same coat / layers for the last 10 years -- broken zippers, missing buttons etc.   Unwashed layers.  A couple of years ago I bought him a new sweatshirt and anonymously left it at his door .. I've never seen it -- I'm hoping he gave it to someone who needed it more than he....

   He stopped in yesterday -- he drove a van with all his worldly possessions to Arizona in April to move into this property  -- he was a bit cagey about where he was living -- the van died after he arrived and it was "too expensive" to fix.  He took a Greyhound bus to Minneapolis and then the Land to Air Service to St Peter and was staying in the motel.  The purpose of the trip -- was "to get my mail."

   I stopped at the Food Coop for milk this morning and he was waiting for the Land to Air bus for a lift back to Minneapolis to catch the Greyhound back to Arizona -- "do you think they will take cash?"  .. my head has been spinning ever since.

  He was standing there with one suitcase, a hooded sweatshirt and a hat -- I'm guessing it was all he had left for possessions.  My heart worries.



 Life is short -- eat the cake, take the vacation and worry about the characters that make our lives better ... they need us too.

45 mph wind gust

   really Mother Nature -- I think you've lost it ... the forecast is for 45 - 50 mph wind gusts later this afternoon .... so -- as I plan plot my day I'm plotting what to do this evening. 

   I have a quilt ready to long arm -- it's been a while.  I pulled fabric for the back and the binding --- I think tonight it is make the back, press it well -- press the top and load the long arm -- seems like a plan .. I have two more that need to have binding -- just need to hop to it. 

   first on the agenda is a trek to Gaylord -- ditch gig.  back to St P for the balance of the board workshop .. and than back to the chaos of third street ....

   so it rolls.

pix of the week ...

250 bird pictures today (need to recharge the camera battery) .. this is the coolest -- 

at one point there were 14 Oriele's on the deck/jelly feeder at the SAME time

it was a busy place :)

I managed a Mankato run -- returns at Target, a spot of Target shopping, Sam's Club, where I unsuccessfully attempted to replace my card -- didn't happen

JoAnn Fabrics (of course) 108" cotton was on sale -- the options were pretty sparse but I did pick up some cute prints to make backs -- and a piece of flannel for a wild pair of pants ... watermelon pants :)  -- you'll know it's me !

this weeks phone pix

it's a constant parade of birds in love.

the construction zone -- went for a ride on Thursday night and the back filling had begun ... next step is a house!

did a spot of morel hunting 

no morels but the woods are "green"

argh .. too much shopping

  so -- I've done a bit of shopping lately -- I purchased a "surface pro" computer, keyboard and various gizmo's to make my working life easier (better, more enjoyable) .. not sure if I like it yet -- I'm forcing myself to use it.

  today post-haircut .. it was 15 minutes of Best Buy -- replaced my iPad, this will be my 3rd iPad -- I dropped #1 and after spending a bunch to replace the screen -- it stopped working.  #2 -- I've had 3+ years ... fell off my bed 6 weeks ago and the screen is really cracked -- like a huge spider web and hunks of it are missing -- it still works but it's damn hard to read a book on it ... so I purchased #3 today -- a plain one -- all I do on it is surf and read.

 the adventures with directv and Verizon continue.

 argh is all I can say ....


M

etc.   wisdom comes late in life for some of us (me) ... after I dropped iPad #2 I started backing it up to iCloud ... so last night on iPad #3 I was able to restore #2 to #3 ... 30 minutes later it was all moved over and the goofy thing even had my page bookmarked in the current book I was reading ... next up is to make new playlists for the music and move those over ... and 5 loads of laundry (#2 is washing)

cheers!

ahhhh Spring ....

ohh ... Wednesday the weather Gods gave us a beautiful day --- so beautiful, I mowed the office lawn and loaded up Mom and went to the cabin .... (the upcoming forecast is looking nasty and wet so )

the dock/lifts are still on shore -- but it was calm, bug free and just enough heat/breeze to be perfect.  I got most of the pots/pans back int he cupboard -- got ready to work on the next batch -- then parked my tush in a deck chair and finished my book ... 

chirping birds, honking geese, chattering squirrels and the neighbors lawn mower made for a nice night of r & r --- 

shots of color

the blues and greens on this indigo bunting are spectacular ..

he's a little dude but loaded with personality

and then we have a panther .. on the attack ... 

gotta get them bugs 

it's real -- the man cave is happening

the prairie is changing

the orange of the Oriele (cannot spell it) is also dramatic 

and these guys are singers!

lest I forget -- the finches ...

Friday ...

Finally Friday -- although I still haven't found the time to rest on the weekends.  This weekend is also project weekend.  I hope to get out to the happy place and clean.  Deep clean.  Clean out winter -- and get a little time in the deck chair -- 

The List:

Home:

Laundry

Basement Vac

Tidy Sewing Room

Office:

Finish Non Profit Returns

Finish Payroll Tax Deposits

Finish Sales Tax Returns

5 more tax returns

NCCo 

SD of St Peter

SPACC

DSS

Cabin:

Clean

Start hauling out the stuff

   cleaning supplies first

Me List:

one book

walk

atv ride

plant a couple of planters

good grief -- I might need to schedule a freaking nap for Monday morning!

Next Week:

TSInc

VFInc

KF

JFK

Call the TV dude and get the office TV working!

Lists

I need to make lists -- keeps me focused.


List 1:

 aldjalj ppeorfj jdk a;da
pfj


see I'm not focused.

life amid the critters

this turkey has been dancing and serenading the hens for a week ... they've been ignoring him ..

mom and I took a drive to the bison range on Sunday -- babies!!!  3 new babies.

they were quite far from the road ..

that's a baby laying next to his mama

they are moving all the time...

Ruby!

oohhh la la -- the kids look good going to prom!  

Saturday adventures

 Started out my Saturday with a lot of fabric!  Mrs. K and I went to the Deep Valley Quilters Quilt Show -- we looked, we shopped and we ate!  I made it home by lunch and had the afternoon to play ...  I had restraint -- 4 fat quarters, some cork, a pattern, a jelly roll and 2 charm packs!

 I used my farm girl skills and put air in my ATV tire and the adventures began ...

    First up ... NHP  (Nick's House Project) ...

there is a basement!  

and a well and some equipment ...

more to happen this week

then while riding on an older deer trail I spied this in the neighbors woods -- got off for a closer look -- an old dump site -- battles, cans and etc ---- most of the crock was there in pieces .. 

then I rode along the top of the woods ... and there is this specimen ... there is a story in here somewhere ... in a time before junk yards ...

looking north along the upper woods ... yes, I rode thru that ... might explain why I have flat tires on a regular basis -- hard to believe but we used to farm this field

Ruby went to Prom last night 

the kids dress her up nicely

love those smiles!