Check out the vanishing leave pile!  Alex came home this weekend specifically to help me do a green waste run (or three...) mainly because we ran out of time last weekend.  Here's the pile before....

And after....

Of course, I've already put more stuff there, including a big pile of cardboard that needs to go to recycling, but it was empty for a minute!

I also cleaned up (almost) Alex's room, since he's pretty much moved to Chico for a while.  I should have taken before and after pictures of this as well....

I had gotten a valence rod to hang a quilt with in my hallway, but hadn't gotten around to putting it up yet.  The reason was two-fold, one was to display the quilt that Ronna quilted for Mom, and the seconc was to hide the wires that will eventually be there - if I ever get the camera project finished.  Ralph didn't think too much of my rod, and 'went shopping'.  

He came out while I was working in the yard and told me that he had found a really nice Amish-made cherry wood quilt display.....for $150.00 (not including shipping)  He wasn't really happy when I told him that I didn't want to spend that much money, and started to list all the ways cash was flying out of the house right now (AJ's rent, Ralph's truck's check engine light came on and has an appointment this week with a mechanic, I just had $300 in car repairs to the RAV, AJ's laptop just took a dump, etc.)  Maybe checking in with me while I was working out in the heat of an August day in Redding made me a little cranky.....

Ralph went back to his shopping and I went back to my yard work. When I was finished outside, he went to town, and came back with:

The quilt display is really cool!  The quilt slides into the top, and is held in by marbles (and gravity) so no need to sew on anything to put a rod through.  The total cost was $50.00, and he had parts left over.  Not quite enough to put up my project board, but close!

Ralph and his handiwork: