The baby shower went off well last night - the mom-to-be loved her afghan, booties, bags, etc.  Whew! Now that that is over - what do I do next?  I've been working on baby stuff for so long, I forgot what else I had on my to-do list.  I'm sure I'll find something!  I do want to find something little to work on that is portable.  I have a car wash with the scouts tomorrow, and I'll be sitting (in the sun and it is supposed to get to 100 degrees tomorrow!) for most of the morning.  We are selling sodas and waters too, so I'll be sitting at that table (note to self - we need a table!!) most of the time.  It sounds like we will have a good turn out of boys and parents, so....it may be possible for me to leave everything up to them once we get it set up.  We'll see!

The first harvest of the season!  We had stir-fried zucchini, eggplant and pepper from the garden last night.  Yesterday was also my 'box' day from Churn Creek Meadows Organic Farms, so I had some of their green zucchini, carrots and kale to add to the mix, along with a few store bought mushrooms.  Yum!  I also made up a nice green salad and made my own balsamic vinaigrette dressing, using some of the Happy Valley olive oil I got at the Fur Ball auction.  Pretty tasty!!!

These are the beans that are growing in the garden too.  It won't be too long before they are ready to eat.

Done, done, done!  I finished weaving in all the ends yesterday - meaning I sat on my butt all day - and didn't so a blessed thing besides that.  (I did force myself to walk on the treadmill for a bit - just to get moving.)  Here is the back of the afghan:

And the front:

I woke up to rain this morning - not what I expected.  I know "they" said it could rain, but.....I don't usually trust them to be very accurate.  I was planning a sewing day this morning any way.  I did hope to get some yard work done this weekend, but since that hasn't happened yet, it probably isn't going to.  I think I'll just leave a list for AJ to do for me (and then nag, nag, nag.)

A busy couple of weeks coming up too - we have the baby shower for K this week - I have all the 'stuff' done that I'm going to do for her.  Now I just need a big box!  And then a car wash for the scouts on Saturday (at the bank).  The following weekend Mom is coming to town, and we are planning on visiting a local Star chapter Friday night, and then visit family is Sacramento and Fairfield on Saturday, and I have Relay for Life on Sunday (I'm on the track at 5:00 a.m.!)  That is going to be one busy weekend!  A couple of weeks after that is Mom's party - the 29th.  I think this summer is going to fly by!

A few more finished projects!  I had Friday off, and did a little bit of sewing.  Not as much as I planned, but Ralph was working from home, so I didn't get my quilting stuff out - I just kind of played around a bit.  I made the second cover for the bag - I like how it turned out - structure wise at least.  The elastic looks a lot better!

I also picked up buttons for the baby cocoon - I like how it turned out.

I also made another pair of booties from my new book - too cute!!

And, I dug out my rotary cutter and my 'skip' blade, and crocheted around the end of a blanket.  I have another one started - but....I HAVE to finish weaving in the ends of the afghan, I do, I do, I do!  (procrastination may be the end of me here!)

So.....did you feel the earthquake?  I thought it was just me (or maybe one too many glasses of wine??)  Ralph didn't feel it, and the dogs didn't react, so...I thought I was just having a dizzy spell.  (I really hadn't had that much wine, I swear!)  Mom called a few minutes later - a 5.7 (or 5.9 - I've heard both) earthquake hit outside of Greenville.  It was evidently felt all over northern California.  Boy, did Facebook light up!!  I did find out that a classmate is living in Shingletown - I thought she was in the Bay Area - what a shock!   I have a co-worker that is in San Francisco for a conference.  He was actually talking to his wife in Redding when the quake hits.  It figures, he said - I'm in San Fran, and YOU get the earthquake!  My brother Dave said that things were falling off the shelves at the store in Susanville.  Luckily, no injuries or damage.

I'm off work today - at least the paid labor type.  I have a list a mile long of things to do this weekend, so I'm still working, the paycheck is just a lot less for chores.  I probably won't get most of them done, but....I always have high hopes!  Some of the things on my list are even fun things - I want to get some of my quilt finished, and I want to finish up all the projects for the baby shower this week.  I have yet to weave all those ends in on the baby dragon afghan.  That HAS to be done by Thursday at 5:00!!!  I did pick up some 'paint' to color the elastic on the bag cover that I made.  I tried it out last night, along with some of the paint I had here already.  Not too bad - I think it will be better than the white elastic at least.

Well, I finished the bag/purse - I'm still not exactly happy with it, but it's finished.  I think that the white elastic is way too prominent - I'm thinking of getting a purple pen and coloring it - at least it wouldn't jump out so much.  Now to fill it up with presents for the baby!

I like the concept, and I think when (if?) I make another cover for it (I have more material), I will try to make the loops smaller (and hope coloring of the elastic helps!)  I may even make one for me - but with a couple of modifications.  I think I like the bag without the cover better......but I would make it in a heavier fabric if I was just using the bag.

Nice trip to Susanville - the weather was pretty nice - the usual - windy and cooler than I'm used to.  It rained on me on the way over, and then rained on us when we were getting out of the car at Star.  Nothing like wearing a full length white formal in the rain!  (And, getting Alli out of the car, getting the bags of goodies out for Alli, etc.  There is no 'hurry' with that girl!!)  It was 35 degrees on Sunday morning when I looked at the thermometer, and the sun had been up for a while by then.  Brrr.  It wasn't really warm in Redding either, but the last week of 90+ temps had me already adjusted for summer.

Mom has spent the last two weeks cleaning out her flower beds - pulling grass and weeds out of the.  They look so pretty!!

I finally got out to get some pictures of my garden after I got in from Susanville yesterday.  I have an eggplant!!!  Pretty cool - I've never seen one growing before.  This is the Japanese Eggplant - long and thin, rather than oblong.

It is a beautiful plant:

My entourage - they spend a whole lot of time trying to get me to play with the toy, then they give up, and go play by themselves.  Kids!

My yellow squash/zucchini:

My peppers are blooming - and I even have a little jalapeno pepper started!

My second batch of roses are blooming - this is the one that the ladybugs were on in a prior post.

I finished up my bookmarks for the book club yesterday.  Not too bad!  I started using a variegate yellow/orange thread for the middle of the flame, and I really like how it turned out.

I had a helper, too (I was working on baby booties by this time) but he is too big for my lap - what's a kitten to do???  (and you know it isn't "loose weight"!)

A quiet morning at the end of a busy week - nice!  Alli's off to school, I'm showered and dressed for work, no one else is up yet.....savor the moment!  Pretty soon, it will business as usual - busy, busy, busy.

Ralph is off today to Sacramento for most of a week - I think he's home either Wednesday night or Thursday.  He's been working from home 10-12 hour days the last few weeks getting ready for conversion, and....they switch systems tomorrow. He'll be working from Sac doing damage control and getting training for the next few days.

Alli and I are off to Susanville for the weekend - after I get a few chores done on Saturday.  mom wants to go shopping for new vinyl for her house Saturday afternoon, and I think Alli and I have a 'date' with a girlfriend for dinner.  Maybe we can talk Mom into going with us - we'll see!

When Mom was down last weekend, I picked up a pattern and material to make a purse/bag for my coworker that is having a baby.  The shower is at the end of the month, and I wanted to have something to put all the 'stuff' I've made for her.  I got it started this week, and it went pretty smoothly until last night.  I really need to read the directions all the way through - that and picking up the right kind of interfacing would help.  I got interfacing that goes between two pieces of material (Wonderunder), not one that is ironed onto one piece (standard interfacing - I wasn't paying that much attention, was I?).  The way I read the directions, that was fine......until I moved to the next page of the directions.  The second page (that I didn't read because I thought I was done after the first page!) called for me to use the other two pieces of fabric - the ones that I had already ironed on to the first pieces of fabric with the interfacing,  Bummer.  Oh well - I guess that means I 'have' to go shopping at lunch today, doesn't it :).  I might even pick up some more fabric - the bag is a 'basic' bag, and then it has a 'cover' that buttons on over it.  I have the bag done, it was the cover that I messed up.  I can easily make another cover for the bag, so K can switch out the looks of the bag - one with baby fabric, and maybe one a little more grown up??  We'll see!

One problem with finding ants in the kitchen - I see them everywhere now.  An over-ripe banana - those brown flecks must be ants!  Toast crumbs on the counter - they must be ants!  We won't even talk about the spilled coffee grounds......luckily, the ants seem to be gone, so it is just my imagination now, seeing them everywhere.  I can live with that!  Anything but having ants in my kitchen.

Alli participated in Special Olympics in Red Bluff on Tuesday.  She went for a new personal best! Last year, they had her entered in the shot-put.  Her throw - 14 inches (about the length of her forearm .... meaning she pretty much just dropped it.)  This year, she was entered in the 25 meter run (no time is written on her card) the Softball Throw (.5 is on her card for that one) and the Tennis Ball Throw.  That one had a whopping 5 feet!  She also participated in carrying the school banner in the parade around the field.  She surprised her aide - after they had walked around the track, they were standing there during presentations and introductions, etc., and when people started clapping, Allison joined right in, clapping too.  Luckily she wasn't the only one holding the banner!

I'm being invaded by ants!  Saturday afternoon, AJ came over and asked me if I knew there were ants all over the kitchen counter.  Did he really think I would be messing around on the computer if I knew there were ants in the kitchen?  Of course I didn't know there were ants in the kitchen!  Ralph added to this by stating that he had noticed and had gotten rid of some of them earlier (trying to protect me - he knows I hate ants!).  Further investigation showed I had the tiniest ants I've seen on my kitchen counter.  They were probably after water since they were mostly around the sink (but didn't turn their noses up at the few crumbs left by Alli's crackers).  Yuck! I eradicated those in the kitchen and have been keeping vigil ever since.  Sunday when I did laundry, I discovered they were in the pile of towels in the garage - also after water as they mainly were on the wet washcloths (these were a larger type - the standard black garden ant).  Again, Yuck! A quick trip in the washing machine got rid of those.  Then, after lunch, I grabbed a cutting board in the kitchen.  Yes, once again, ants.  Yes, once again, yuck!!  On the bright side, so far this morning, I haven't spotted any.  Maybe they'll stay outside???  Ralph made sure the sprinklers were working, so there is water outside for them, really!!!

On the plus side of being bugged, I was looking at my roses from the kitchen, and realized I probably needed to check for aphids on the new buds.  When I went to check, I found that I did have aphids, but....I also had ladybugs!  The aphids are under control!

I didn't get to go to my quilting group yesterday (I had Alli with me, and she was way too active to sit for an hour quietly) but, as a consolation prize, I found a new pattern book of baby booties at Wal-Mart.  These use thread, and are so cute!  Here's the first pair that I made - I still need some ribbon for the top - I'm out!

I also made my first attempt at a design for a bookmark for our book club.  The book this month is "The 13th Tale" - very good!  I'm pretty happy with what I ended up with - I'll probably make them in different color combinations - we'll see!  I think I have until the 22nd to get them all done.

Mother's Day cards and presents were waiting for me on the table this morning.  The kids (i.e. Ralph!) got me another fairy for my collection - beautiful!

Alli made me a key chain in school - complete with a thumb print on the front.  this one even looks like one she did some of the work on! - too cute!

Speaking of Alli - I made her cry yesterday.  I didn't mean to, and I didn't know I could!  I had met up with a co-worker in the grocery store parking lot, and while we were standing there talking, Alli was spinning.  Then, she just took off running......in the parking lot......on a Saturday morning....  Luckily, there was no traffic at that exact moment.  I 'used the mommy voice', including both her first and dreaded middle name, and.....she stopped, turned around, and her lower lip started to quiver.  By the time she came back, there was a tear rolling down her cheek.  Poor baby!  I'm just glad she stopped as quickly as she did!  She recovered quickly, trust me.  She was a pain in the store - always in someone's way (usually mine!)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I think I am (almost) done planting for the year.  I put in some coleus yesterday in the front of the house - that should be the last of it (except for the trees that Mom brought me that I kind of forgot about, and the plants that she got for me that haven't arrived at my house yet - so maybe I'n NOT done yet!)  Here are the newest additions:

And the garden is doing fabulously!  I have a couple of regular tomatoes (Lemon Boys) and some cherry tomatoes that have set.  So far, no blooms on the beans or peppers, but they look happy so far!

I got nothing today.  I sat down to write, and all I could think of were things to complain about.  Not a good start to the day!  I need to start the day off on a positive note, not a negative note!  It's going to be a long day, I think.  (That was one of the things I had to complain about - I'm in meetings today and tomorrow - ALL day! - talk about a long day!)  On a good note, the weather has been kind to my new plants - we've gotten only a little bit of rain, but the temps have been cool without being cold, so they should have a better start than if it was still 90+ degrees out there.  I was a little worried about my hen and chicks I planted - they are where the rain spout dumps, so they would get deluged if we got a heavy rain.  Once they are established, I'm sure they will be fine, but I didn't want them drowned just yet.  I'm sure I can manage to kill them all on my own.

Alli had a good birthday - lots of food - her favorite!  We started it off with eggs and waffles for breakfast, and then when I fixed breakfast for the adults, I added sausages and hash browns to the waffles - Alli came back for her second breakfast - she does love her hash brown (and sausage, and waffles....)

Then, it was time to make the birthday cupcakes.  As usual, Alli was supervising.

She wasn't that interested in decorating the cupcakes.

But she did enjoy eating them!

The second cupcake was eaten with a bib on - much easier to clean up after!

Mom came down for the weekend, and I put her to work.  First, I took her shopping - at Orchard's for plants.  This is the back of the RAV.....

Then, she helped me put them all in the garden area.

There are petunia's along the back fence, and snapdragons scattered about.  Mom brought down two of the tiniest plants I've seen - we had to mark where we put them so they didn't get stepped on.  She assures me the the flax will grow and be a beautiful plant - maybe not this year, but next.  I hope I can keep them alive that long!  

She also brought down two crepe myrtle trees that I didn't plant yet.  They may not survive for the simple reason that they look like sticks, and you know what happens to sticks at my house.  "Someone" already pulled them out of the planter once.  I hope they live long enough to put on leaves - just so they don't look like a stick!!!