Heres the quilt rack in use.

Thrift store score!!!!  The picture's crooked - sorry! - but here's a quilt rack that I picked up at Salvation Army yesterday for $14.25.

It isn't as large (or nearly as pretty) as the one Dad made for me, but it is solid wood, and a simple design.  I'm thinking I'll put some afghans on it in Alli's room.  I'm not sure where yet.  I may take out a tub of toys (that she doesn't play with anyway).  

With Alex moving out (temporarily, at least) I've been thinking about some redecorating of the bedrooms.  I think it's time to start shopping for new furniture for my room, and painting all the bedrooms and hallway, replacing the carpet that was left in AJ's and my bedroom with laminate.  First....the bedroom furniture.  Any one want to go furniture shopping with me?

Here's the electrical cord that "Rufus" (I think!) peed on and almost started a house fire.  It looks so innocent now, but......

Speaking of fires, I drove by the car fire on my way to work yesterday (just to see) and ....wow!  It looked worse from the other side - you could see the hood was blown upwards, etc.  It still looked pretty nasty.  There was a hose in the driveway, and a folding chair.  Since neither Ralph or I ever heard firetrucks, I assume that they just sat out and watched it burn.  When Marie and I went for a walk Friday night, the car had been towed away.

Since I drove by the house on my way to work, I was going the wrong direction on Granada, so I decided to pull a U-turn on Bonita, but....first I had to wait for the family of quail to walk through.  Too cute!!

I finally talked to AJ - my first time using Skype - way cool!  It was so nice to see him as well as hear him.  He got to show us his dorm room, and his tiny little pillow - which he says he actually likes.  Most of the kids went and bought larger pillows.  I didn't have to worry about him making his bed up before sleeping either - they don't use sheets like we do - he just has a pad and a blanket - he was good to go to sleep pretty quick.

I didn't notice in the pictures, but evidently the college is all uphill or downhill from wherever you want to go.  AJ said there were about 200 steps down to his classes - which meant 200 steps up to go back to his dorm room.  Once his blisters heal, and he gets back into cardio shape (he's been working out - just not doing a lot of cardio because of his heart) he'll be fine.

Yesterday, before I left for work, I glanced out the back door, and something green on the pool fence caught my eye - a very large preying mantis:

I just put Alli on the bus, and the bus driver pointed out that a neighbor two doors down (between Dallas and the Worthens) had his car catch fire.  This is the same house that burned to the ground about 5 years ago on Labor Day.  It looks like it was an engine fire - it is parked in the driveway and the rear of the car looks okay, but the front of the sedan is black and melted.  Those poor people!  They just don't do well with fire!  Marie and I walked by there last night and I didn't notice anything (but it was getting pretty dark by the time we got to that point) but you'd think I would have notice the smell!!

Marie is staying with us for the weekend.  Her parents are out of town and she didn't want to stay by herself.  She brought their two dogs, so we are a houseful again!

I finally heard from AJ at 5:00 p.m. yesterday - and that was through FaceBook.  It turns out that staying up all night before he flew out so he could sleep on the plane didn't work too well for him - he didn't sleep much at all.  So he landed in a foreign country after being awake for close to 48 hours and after being on the plane for somewhere around 15 hours (it was a 13 hour flight, and they were delayed for over an hour on the tarmac leaving), and....everyone else was in a hurry once he did land because his plane was late.  He lived through it all, ate his first Korean food (and liked it!) and got some sleep before he texted me.  The college is an hour south of Seoul - Soonchunhyang University in the city of Asan, so he had another trip after getting off the plane, and then getting settled in the dorms.  I'm betting he didn't even get his bed made (he had to purchase his bedding after he got there too) before he was asleep.

Rufus (and I'm sure it was Rufus!) tried to set the house on fire yesterday morning too.  I was brushing my teeth yesterday around 7:00, and heard something odd, and went to check, and walked into the hallway full of smoke.  I yelled at Ralph to get up - we had a fire.  He jumped up and grabbed the fire extinguisher, asking where....?  By this time, I had made it into the dining room, and saw our big extension cord sparking on the floor.  What????  I unplugged it from the wall, and checked - 'someone' had peed on the floor in the dining room, and there was evidently a hole in the cover of the extension cord.  Lovely!  No damage to the floor from the fire - I think the pee kept putting out the flames, but there was water damage to the floor.  I hope Rufus got the shock of his life!!  (And sometime later in the morning, I realized that I didn't really finish brushing my teeth!)

Yesterday was "travel day" for AJ - we left here at 2:30 a.m. to drive to San Francisco (and missed the earthquake in Napa!)  Usually, that drive takes 4 to 4 1/2 hours, so we left with some extra time, just in case.  Because it was Sunday morning, and so early, it only took us 3 1/12 hours.  Lots of extra time to kill at SFO, as his flight was scheduled to leave at 10:45 (I thought it was 10:00, so we were early because of that too!) as we got there at 6:00.  We met up with Brennan, the other student from Shasta, at 8:45, and sent them off through security.  I got a text from AJ at 10:30 that said everything had gone good through security, boarding etc., and they were just waiting to take off and not to text him back, he was going to turn his phone off.  When I got home (at 1:30 - a lot more traffic, so it took the normal 4 1/2 hours to get home) I checked the flight tracker, and they didn't take off until after 12:00.  I hope he caught up on his sleep - nothing like a 13 hour flight with over an hour delay added to it!  I haven't heard from him yet - He should have landed around 1:00 a.m. our time, and it is now 9:30 p.m. there - I'm sure he has been busy!  I did send him a message on Skype, and I think he called me back, but I got a 'phone call failed' message (I have no idea what I did to break it - I swear!) when I answered.  This is a case of 'no news is good news', I'm sure (at least I'm pretty sure!)

Internet is back up, but....now our land line is down.  It figures!  It turns out that we didn't need the new modem (though we wanted to get a new one to increase speed) or a new router - we just needed a cable replaced.  So, instead of spending $400.00+ on new equipment, we could have just replaced the cable (and we had extra here....)  And now, we have a new phone coming too - our old was also out of warranty.  Add that to the RAV mechanical issues, and getting AJ set up for S Korea, and it's been an expensive month.  The fun just never ends!  (Though the funds do!)

I think Jasper is already missing AJ - she walked up to him the other night and put her head on his leg, and looked so sorrowfully at him.  (Of course, the 'sorrowful look' is common to the lab breed, but she did it so well!)

We are off at 2:00 a.m. tomorrow to take him to the airport.  Talk about time flying!  Today is final packing day, and we get to go to Walmart this afternoon and get all his 'supplies' to last him a while in SK (shampoo, deodorant, chapstick, etc.).  It will be hard to grocery shop today and not buy his 'staples' - they've been on my list so long.

Unfortunately, AJ did get to see Dallas before he left.  Dallas wasn't scheduled to come home this summer, but Margene's dad went in the hospital Thursday, and died yesterday, so Dallas flew in.  It was good to see the 'boys' together again.  I miss Dallas hanging out - they all grew up on me!

AJ got his hair bleached today. My son the blonde. Unfortunately his appointment went too long and he missed his appointment at the dermatologist to remove the cyst on his face. Maybe everyone will look at his hair and not his face??? He can have it removed while he's gone too so no worries.

No.....Internet....since......Monday...... I had to admit, I miss it! It went down Monday morning and when AJ called they told him they were aware of the problem and were working on it. Tuesday night it was still out so Ralph called. Now we needed a new modem. (Which we did - we were planning on upgrading but just hadn't yet. ) AJ picked up a new modem Wednesday and.....it's still out and it's our modem. A new one of those won't be in until Friday. Bummer.

Allis's off for her first day of her senior year of high school.  Wow.....There are so many things that we did with Alex for his senior year that we won't with Allison - many of which makes me sad (but honestly, many things that we won't do won't make me sad to miss - like the cost of announcements, class ring, etc.)  I didn't even do senior pictures for her - which I should do - we haven't done pictures of her in a while.  Maybe after I get Alex out the door I can schedule that.....

I finished the second sock monkey baby hat yesterday - it went together fast!  A link to the pattern is here.  They turned out very cute.  

I also finished, with Mom's help, the bookmarks for book club this month.  I couldn't come up with an idea based on the book (Until We Have Faces by C S Lewis) so I did a 'back to school' bookmark.

Alex leaves in a week....wow!  We had a 'get together' last night that was loud, crowded, and fun!  The Webers came (4 people), the Fishers came (3 people), the Derbys were here (3 people - Rosemary was off camping), the Blands (2 people), Mom (1 person), Margene (1 person) and our family (4 people).  18 people!  That's a lot for the house - good thing it wasn't 105 - people were able to hang out outside, even though it was warmish.  (Ralph got overheated while cooking.) We had hamburgers, pasta salad (not much left of that - it must have been a hit!) baked beans, fruit salad and spinach salad.  Pat brought the best lemon bars....and left some here for us, too.  I'm glad everyone had a chance to come in to say goodbye to Alex.

The 'kids' hung out in the pool.  (They've all gone grown-up on me.)  Here's Carolyn, Emma, and AJ last night:

I finished AJ's requested Pokemon' toy for him - an Umbreon.  Not my favorite pattern, but it turned out pretty cute.  Of course, since I finished just before he leaves, 

I guess the noise from the RAV wasn't tooooo expensive, all things considered. My rear brakes need to be replaced.  In itself, that wasn't that bad, but it also needs the radiator flushed and new spark plugs.  Another $800.00+ bill from the Toyota shop.  Bummer.

I did get caught up on my quilting today - I got last month's blocks done, and this month's cut out.  I also finished up a project I started at Mom's - a baby bear hat, diaper cover and baby booties.  They turned out pretty cute!

I also started the bookmarks for book club.  This month, we read C. S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces.  It was a good book, but I couldn't come up with anything for a bookmark, so.........they get an apple  - just in time for Back-to-School.  I need some dark brown felt for the apple seeds.

This one is blurrier than I like, but you can see the green apple I did too.

Back to work for me tomorrow.  It was a nice weekend, but all good things must come to an end, I guess.

Sunset last night:

Today is the last day of my short vacation.  I took the RAV in to the shop this morning - recall notice work, and a funny noise I was hearing.  Hopefully, it isn't an expensive noise.

Since I am car-less (not that I couldn't use the truck or the Camry) I decided to get a few projects out of the way this morning.  So far, I've raked the leaves in the front yard, cut down a willow type 'tree' that was growing in the side yard where we have a water leak, cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed.  All before 10:30.  Next up - some sewing.

Dawn and I took the long way home from Susanville and drove through Lassen Park.  It was cloudy, but not as much smoke from the fires as I would have expected.  There were thunderstorm warnings in effect that day, but we didn't see any activity.

A couple of pictures from our reunion - Dawn (with her new 'do) and Laurie Johnson.

Cindy and I

Saturday, Dawn and I headed up to Susanville for our 35th high school reunion.  Along the way, Dawn decided to drop a few pounds......of hair.

Mom's kittens play so nice...

I'm off to my 35th high school reunion this weekend.  It should be fun to meet up with some people that I haven't seen for a while, and with those that I have!  I just hope I can remember names - I know I won't remember faces (for the most part).  Some of the people have pictures on Facebook, so I'll recognize them at least.

The hummers are going to eat us out of house and home!  I filled up the feeder this morning, and it is half gone tonight!  I took this video yesterday morning:

I had a request from Leona last week for three set of baby sandals - two for girls, and one for a little boy.  The little girls sandals were easy - the same pattern I've been making for years that it still just too cute.  The boys was a little harder - I don't have a boys' 'sandal' pattern.   Leona was at the house Saturday night (she's part of my book club) and I had her look at some pictures on Google, and she picked out a pair - here's how they turned out.....pretty cute!

The pattern is written a bit oddly, and she forgot a couple of stitches in her instructions, but the end result is nice.  When I looked at the pictures again, I realized that the top row was done in blue in her picture, but I missed that part.  I think it would be just a bit better that way - maybe next time!  I found the pattern here, and this is how her's turned out.

Rufus is being all 'dog in a manger' here with his green beans.  Jasper is so good to wait until he walks away before she eats them.  (Koori will just walk up and eat them while Rufus is still eating if I don't watch her - she isn't that polite)

The quilt I made for Randy and Steve got the 'cat seal of approval' at their house.  Steve sent me this yesterday.

Wow!  Two weeks without a post - my bad!  I had good intentions to post, I just didn't.  I need to either change when I usually post (early mornings) or get earlier so I have time in the early mornings.  I will admit that getting up earlier is the problem - I haven't been sleeping as well as usual, so it's harder to get up when the alarm goes off.  I'm blaming the heat - this is the temperature gauge in my RAV last week when I got off work- 116 degrees!

 

I thought 'that can't be right, it's just because the car's sitting in the sun.' so I checked the temperature on my phone.

True - it wasn't 116, but it was 109!!!!  (And, I hadn't walked too much that day, with my phone in hand at least - I was no where near my goal of 10,000 steps!)  I don't think it made me feel any better that it was 109, but 'feels like 104'.  It's hot!!!  We had a farewell party for a bookclub member here last night, and we ended up in the pool - it felt so nice!!  Even those that weren't swimming sat around with their feet in the pool.