Under the Weather

Here it is almost the end of November already. My last week has been spent not doing all the things I had planned to get done, but being down with a sinus infection. I finally went to the doctor yesterday and got some medicine so I can start getting better. In spite of that I did manage to cook a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and we had a good time. My sister and her family came to dinner with Kyle and I and after dinner while everyone else slept off dinner Janet and I managed to play a couple of games of scrabble.

After nap time we all played the Sequence board game guys against the girls and then we played a game Janet brought with her. We all had a good time and good food. (So I'm told - I couldn't smell or taste anything). Looking forward to Christmas when we get together at Janet's and I am feeling better. Then the guys had better look out in the game playing. Well, I'm off to the knitting group and then to help Janet pack up her booth at Winterfest. Talk to you later.

Anita

Customer Quilt

I finished one customer quilt last night. It came out quite nice using the Circle Lord Baptist Fan design on it. Today I have one to do for another customer that I will put blowing leaves on. It is all flannel. This time of year is great for quilts made of flannel or using polar fleece for a backing.

Tonight I think I will try making gingerbread cookies with a mix I bought. Never having made gingerbread cookies before it should be interesting. Time to get to work on the next quilt.

Anita

THE TRUCK THAT WOULDN'T QUIT

Yesterday afternoon we loaded up all the trash so we could take it to the landfill before Carl takes off on his trip to NC tonight. Now I know that looking at the picture of the truck you probably think that we had mounds of trash. That is not the case. We purchased the truck to use for our upcoming move in the spring and it needs to be started and driven every now and then so it stays in top running condition. Being a diesel truck it has a mind of it's own. We load our 3 cans of trash and start merrily down the highway headed for the land fill. It's about a 15 mile drive and as usual we are out in quitting time traffic. We pull up on the scale at the landfill and since the truck is a 'little noisy' Carl reaches to turns it off so he can hear what the lady in the booth is saying. However, he turns the key and the truck keeps running. He looks at me with a preplexed look and says, " It won't turn off". After several tries, we decide that we'll both do the unloading in the building really fast since we can't turn the truck off, and beat feet out of there before anyone has a chance to notice we left the truck running, pouring out that lovely diesel smoke in the enclosed space. We looked like a fast forwarded t.v. commercial.On the drive home we discuss possible causes of our problem. Carl figures the ignitation switch is broken and will have to be replaced. We arrive home and I get out of the truck and go in the house figuring that Carl will get it stopped and be right in. He drives the truck down to the lower end of the property and unhooks the cables to both batteries. The truck is still running. So he unhooks the cable to the alternator - the truck continues to run. He comes up to the house and tells me, "You need to come down here while I try to stop this truck in case it decides to run over me you can call 911". By this time it is getting dark so I drive my truck down with lights on and face the 'diesel monster' so Carl has some light to cuss by. He calls the boy (Kyle) who works for Ford and askes him to talk to the service people and find out how to get the truck to quit running. The boy calls him back with suggestions, none of which work. The truck meanwhile keeps running perfuming the air with lovely smoke. Carl gets the phone book and calls a Diesel Mechanic whose answer was," with only a quarter of a tank of diesel it should quit running in a couple of days". So now we call the mechanic about a mile down the road who has done work on our Honda and he suggests crimping the fuel line. Carl gets the pliers and crimps the line and in seconds we have quiet. The monster truck is off. Turns out that once a diesel engine gets warmed up it is going to run no matter what. The rest of the evening was peaceful.

Anita

BACK HOME

Arrived home safe and sound about 8:30 p.m. Took us 12 hours to drive from Burley, ID back home. Was a very nice trip until Snoqualmie Pass where we had lots of traffic and rain with wind gusts. How easy it is to forget about the rain and traffic when you aren't in it. The house was still standing, the cats were alive and well so Kyle did a good job. I don't think he will come to Idaho to cat sit once we are moved. (LOL) Well, since it has been a long day I'll say goodnight.

Anita

Greetings from Idaho

Well, we arrived here in Burley yesterday early afternoon. The sun was shining and while a little chilly the weather was very nice. We looked at the piece of property we were interested in and decided to make an offer on it which we did this morning. Then this morning we went to the title company and closed on the piece of property we sold. We've been here often enough now that it feels like home. We are both looking forward to being moved and settled. So in the morning we will be heading home and hoping that we make it without weather troubles across the blue mountains in Oregon.

Once we get home I will be putting Carl on a plane for NC and I will be quilting custome quilts. The season has started for Christmas. Will add pictures once I get some quilts done.

Anita

Quick Trip to Idaho

Early tomorrow morning we are leaving for Burley, Idaho to close on the sale of a piece of property and to look at another piece for possible purchase. It will be a quick trip so we should be back home by Thursday so Carl can catch a plane back to NC to help his oldest sister. Her husband just passed away this morning.

While I am home 'unsupervised' I plan to do some more packing of things and get some quilting done so I can put some quilts up for sale on ETSY. After the new year I am going to try and get a website up and running. It will definately be a work in progress. Well, I still have a few things to get done before we go in the morning. I will have the laptop with me so I'll will be checking in while I am gone. This is a picture of Miss Emma. She loves to sleep on every quilt she can get to.

Anita

CATS

Was up late finishing a quilt for a customer. Quilting is getting busier with Christmas upon us. Of course, both cats wanted to help put the binding on the quilt and they are always more than ready to help with the knitting. Emma and Lucy, her sister, are two kittens I rescued from taking a trip to the pound. Both wild when they arrived. Lucy was the first to decide I must not be to bad I always provide food. Once Emma saw Lucy soaking up the attention she decided to give it a try and over the last 5 years they have become firmly placed in the family. My husband is not a cat lover, (make that wasn't) but that doesn't faze Emma. She just demanded that she be noticed and slowly over time she has become Daddy's kitty. I'll try to get pictures of them that will post. Emma is black and white so she shows up. Lucy is all black with green eyes and so far the pictures of her would be hard to see if it wasn't for her eyes. She is camera shy.

Well, the chef (my better half) had fixed something to eat so I must go. Since he retired the end of April he has pretty much taken over the kitchen. Thank goodness he can cook.

Knit Alongs

I have joined two knit alongs on the web. One is with Classic Elite Yarns the other is an Anne of Green Gables. The Anne of Green Gables is more active than the CEY. We are reading or rereading the books as we create a knitted item. I am really enjoying reading the books again and as my project I am knitting a christmas gift for my sister. When I get it finished I will post a picture of it here. Please feel free to comment and share pictures of knitted items you are making for Christmas gifts if you wish to do so. I have finished a knitted scarf for my nephew Kevin. I have also purchased the dvd's for Anne of GG and have watched the first one. They follow the books very well and draw you into the story. Since this is my first post I will keep it simple and see how it goes.

Anita