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 !