Saturday, I made a flying trip over to Ronna's.  I left here at 6:00, drove down (with Ripley) and picked up Kirby, and we went to visit Ronna  First problem....Ripley gets carsick....who knew???  I haven't had a dog that got carsick in a long time.  It took us a bit longer to get over to Ronna's than usual, poor Rip!  (The trip back was much better - I know this vet that will fill a prescription after hours on a Saturday.....)

There was still a bit of smoke on the coast, but nothing like Redding, and it was about 80 degrees.....perfect!

 

I checked my birdfeeder in the front yard, and noticed I had a new friend.....One of the feeders was on the ground, and a squirrel was helping himself.  I think I let the tree limbs grow a little too close to the feeder, so they got trimmed back!

After finishing Kendra's puppy purse, I decided to play a bit, and made a cute little reversible fabric box  This one will be used to catch thread clippings when I sew.  I need several of them all around the sewing area!  A wastepaper basket is pretty large, so to have one at my sewing table, at the ironing board, at the cutting area, etc. takes up a lot of floor space (and I trip on them a lot....)  Newest solution?  Quick, cute little boxes everywhere!

 

A week ago, Kendra (aka Alex's boss) found herself as a new dog mom.  Her husband had gone out with the SWAT team as medical support for grow bust, and someone found an abandoned puppy in a backpack/bag.  First came a picture on her phone of someone else holding the puppy, then a picture of Scot holding the puppy, then a picture of the puppy in Scot's lap...in Scot's car.....

The puppy (named Tote) is a male, about 16 weeks old, and a chihuahua mix of some sort.  Kendra mentioned to Alex that he was so much smaller than Daisy - her current dog - that she was going to have to carry him a lot when she walked Daisy, even when he was fully grown.   So....AJ asked if I could make a tote for Tote......

AJ picked out a pattern on Etsy, and I spent the weekend trying to figure out how to put it together!  A few new techniques for me, as I'm not really up on "sewing".  Quilting is a whole different set of skill sets!  But, I got it put together, and I think it's adorable!

This is the picture from the pattern - we elected to just put fur trim in the opening - a little less feminine, and....I messed up and got the wrong amount of fur....
 

Dog things are calming down a bit, finally - Ripley and Koori are getting along well, and share the same spaces without issues, but Luna is still very hesitant to get too close (she has a few battle scars, so I don't blame her!) Ripley has discovered pancakes on Sunday morning - Alli deliberately drops pieces to the dogs, so they now all hang out in the kitchen.  For the moment, I'm back at the bank during the day, so Ripley hangs out with AJ in the guest house/office with him.

Ripley's favorite spot when I'm sewing is under my desk.

 Now we just have to work on housetraining during the night...sigh....

Yuck!  The air quality is horrible right now!  I know we aren't a bad as some places closer to the fires, but I'd like a breath of fresh air, please!  Our AQI was 191 at 6:30 in the morning!!!  Added to that, it was then 115 degrees (!!!!) with an AQI of 199!  

I skipped mowing last week because of the smoke, so either had to mow this weekend, or next weekend I would need a hay baler for the back yard, so braved the smoke and the heat to mow.  (The back yard grass proves that the grass really IS greener over the septic tank, or at least the leech lines.....)  The front yard hadn't been mowed in over a month, since that grass doesn't do well in the heat, but....because of the heat, the sycamore trees are stressed and dropping leaves, so I had to rake leaves in the front, and then mow - and it was already 90 degrees at 9:00 a.m.

The smoke in the valley - this is looking south in I-5 just south of the Bonnyview exit.  We aren't nearly as bad as other places, but still pretty smoky.  The fire is creeping up the back side of Thompson Peak - I hear evacuation orders are in for Antelope Lake.

 

I took a slice out of my thumb Thursday night, so household chores are on hold for a bit - at least until I don't mind getting my thumb wet.  That means I did some sewing, since it's too smoky and hot to do much outside.  (My thumb isn't THAT bad - it's just a good excuse!)  

I worked on a couple of projects Margene had asked for - a mask bag and another apron.  I made one apron last week, and finished the second one yesterday.  I texted with her yesterday, and now need to add a couple of masks to her order before I ship anything....it's looking like I might need to go back into the mask business.

I also started laying out a quilting pattern for my latest quilt project.  I have most of the design decided, and about half of that marked out.  I still need a lot of practice before I start on the quilt, but at least I know what to practice on!

 

We are surrounded by fires....again.  The Dixie Fire is the biggest, and is threatening Westwood and Chester, and already burned through Greenville.  These places are just a short hop from Susanville, as fires go, which worries me.  The Monument Fire is burning to the west of us.  There are a couple of smaller fires around too, which puts us in the 'really bad air' category.  Just doing the grocery shopping yesterday gave me a major headache and a cough.  This is a picture of the Dixie Fire from I-5 on Thursday, courtesy of Kelly.

 

While on vacation, I drove down to visit with Margene - who happened to be moving at the time.  I told her it felt like old times - me helping her pack!  (I'm not allowed to pack her fragile items, but I'm good at reaching the top shelves for her....)  They are halfway through their home construction, so are moving into a rental for a bit.  Here's the construction site of her new home.

Once I got back from vacation and got the house put back in order and caught up on everything, I tackled fixing my quilt block.  Here's what I have done so far for the Barn Stars quilt.  I have the fabric for the next month cut out and ready to sew, and I think the next block is already in the mail.  Good thing no one is actually checking up to see that you actually make the blocks each month they send it!  I would be an epic fail.

Fixing my errors went well, so I tackled a new apron for Margene.  It's reversible - one side is "Avacado Toast" and the other is all aprons - appropriate for the "collector of aprons" that Margene is!  While I was visiting her she asked if I could make her another apron, and the answer was "of course!".  I had great plans to make aprons as Christmas presents for all the siblings a few years ago, but didn't follow through.  Maybe this year I will!

And....I started a new quilt.  This one is designed to showcase the actual quilting, not the piecing, so I'm going to attempt some fancy quilting.  Notice I say "attempt"....I am so intimidated by the actual quilting that it keeps me from trying, so....new challenge issued!  I will quilt this!  It might not be perfect, it might not be "professional", but it will be quilted!  Of course, first, I have to actually get the quilt top put together, get fabric for the backing and the batting, get it all pinned together and basted so it stays together, etc..  All that before I tackle that challenge, so it is still a work in process....

 

On one of our walks, Grute alerted to something on the bank of the creek.....

See it yet?

Here is the terrapin he found.  Talk about good camouflage!

 

The back part of Ronna's property is heavily wooded, and has a small creek.  It was green!  Obviously, I'm biased, coming out of the parched desert, but it is beautiful! (Even the humidity felt good.  The temps were in the mid 90's, so even with the humidity, it didn't feel too bad compared to the 105-115 degrees I left behind.)

Ronna's dog Grute absolutely loves going to the creek - he spends most of the time running up and down in the water.

 

I finally had a chance to sit down  and look over the photos I took on vacation.  I didn't even take that many!  I just didn't sit down long enough - between catching up the household after going gone for a week (and company for dinner) the first day back, and going back to work the next day, I just sat down with them yesterday.

This is the view from Ronna's front porch, where we spent a lot of time visiting, reading, relaxing, watching the fireflies, etc.  

One of the beautiful sunsets!

This is the back field behind the house/barn/shops.  One of her neighbors leases it for his dairy cows, but none were hanging out while we were tramping around.

 I tried to catch the fireflies, but it didn't work very well.