Size does matter.

I cannot believe it is Labor Day weekend already - where did the summer go? We’d planned on taking a couple of trips this summer - guess we aren’t going to make them. Some of the leaves on the trees are already starting to change colors and fall.

Weather remains hot and very humid. In fact it just started to rain again. The new humidifier is working overtime! Sure makes a difference in the basement (which by the way is almost All cleaned - just have the laundry room left.)

I finally got all five pillows recovered - all using a different piece of the material that we bought in Mexico a couple of years ago. The blanket behind them we bought one morning while eating breakfast from a beach vendor - I fell in love with the colors. When the vendor saw me looking at it he knew he had a sale!

It’s been busy around here the last few days. Bill got rid of the BIG Ram truck and got in trade a small Cadillac Allante. The kind that you can remove the metal top and turn it into a convertible. At least it is smaller and I can drive it. But I don’t think he intends to keep it. We sure don’t need it. At least it is small enough we can get two cars in the garage. 

And we are getting a wood deck put over the cracked concrete just outside the basement doors. It will look nice when it’s done. They have just started it.

In town yesterday I picked up some material for the backing on the quilt. Might work on it today after I finish cleaning my bathroom and maybe the laundry room. Going to be a lot of NASCAR racing on TV - so I can sew and watch. 

Too hot to handle!

Weather is still very hot (heat index high 90s) and sticky. New dehumidifier is working full time. It is in the basement in the laundry room - can really feel and smell the difference down there. So time to get the backing for the quilt and finish it! Supposed to cool down for a couple of days starting tomorrow, but then get hot again come the weekend.

We had a heck of a storm on Saturday - lots and lots of rain, lightening and thunder. Of course the TV and Internet went off but surprisingly enough the electricity just flickered a few times. Lots of flooded roads down the hill from us.

Horrible weekend for my favorite driver in NASCAR - got a flat tire in his truck and finished 20 something. Missed a restart at very end of Nationwide race and lost after leading most of race. And wrecked his Cup car - last four races he has finished 30 or worse! And this is the track he has 16 wins at and won all three races one weekend a couple of years ago.

Bill still has his COLD - really hanging on this time. Sure wish he could get feeling better...How can one body manufacture so much snot?

I did finish one more pillow - with cording - still have two more to go. Problem is now I don’t want to use them when I’m sitting on the couch - Afraid I’ll get them dirty or something - or the material will unravel. Only have as very little cleaning left way downstairs, the top floor is finished - so down to about four rooms and it will all be done [except for painting Bill’s bathroom - aaarrrggg.]

Ordered the software program I need to help format the book for print and am having problems getting it - because it is sold by a UK company so my credit cards won’t go through. Have to call them today and straighten things out. Glad they are cautious but...

Have to go into town this a.m. as Bill’s new Internet Adapter just quit working - just got it last week. Probably the power flicking on and off during the storm. 

Back home already and glad to be inside - it is like stepping into a hot shower outside - ick. 

Trying to keep busy inside.

Got the book back from editor - I knew I should have paid more attention in English 101. But actually there weren’t too many errors. Just mostly stupid proof reading mistakes. Now I have to design the back cover and spine for the print copies and get all the legalize things done. Then format it for all e-book types and for print type. That’s all - no problem. The book all printed out for editor - some comments on cover.

The prototype back cover. Still making changes on it. The blah blah needs to be worked on, but I like the pictures.

Now on top of his allergies Bill has a nasty summer cold. He just can’t get a break this year.

The weather has turned UGLY all caps intended! - hot - into the 90s with very high humidity. Giving us heat index of around 100. We can see the air and certainly wear it.

Ran into town yesterday morning to get a few things and ended up getting another de-humidifier for the downstairs. Sure hope it helps it is so damp down there. (Just came up from downstairs - feels so much better down there with a lot of the humidity removed.)

Also got a couple of the throw pillows recovered. And I found my zipper foot so putting on some decorative cording is now possible. Don’t know why I didn’t find it the other day; it was right where it was supposed to be. These two are done - no cording on them.

And this one is in the process - but driving me crazy. It will wait until tomorrow. I need patience to work on it. 

No NASCAR race until tonight - so will either mess with book or read - too hot to do anything else. 

I am going to post a second blog today - but I need to upload a video. Our son was on TV last night on the Los Angeles 11 p.m. KABC news.  - It is below this post...Don't ask how I did that I don't know. 

ASL Video makes the Nightly News on KABC Los Angeles, CA

I just had to post this! I recorded it off the Los Angeles, CA Channel 7 KABC 11 p.m. news last night. It is a human interest story about our son Paul and his fiance Tina and their ASL videos. 
We are so proud of them.   

Sewing and Cleaning

Monday - Gloomy day most of yesterday and so humid. When I got up today the sun was up but seems to have disappeared now. We have chance of rain for the next three or four days. Everything feels damp. And is damp. Even the towels don’t dry after a shower. ICK. No wonder Bill’s allergies are rampant. Yes even with the meds he is still not feeling really good.

I’ve managed to almost finish the face of the quilt, just have a couple more pieces to add - then have to go to town to find the backing.  I’ve been spending time in the basement sewing and - horrors! - Cleaning. Found a mummified mouse under the couch. At least no baby snakes this time. The part of the room that is clean. All the knick knacks took forever...

Watched the racing over the weekend - Not good races for the #51 truck, the 54 Nationwide car or the #18 Cup car. Not good at all. 

Today is a Barcelona soccer game. A friendly but the whole team should be playing. Hope they are better this year than they were last.

Best get to doing laundry and finishing the quilt and maybe finishing cleaning the basement big room.

Got the edging on the quilt so now I know how much material I have to buy for the backing - luckily I have the batting.

Tuesday - Well didn’t get this finished yesterday so will try now.

Got another section of the basement cleaned - found lots more stuff I forgot we had, including a great big old TV - not flat screen - the BIG old ones - inside of the big entertainment center we brought from Las Vegas. Also board games, chess pieces and puzzles. Lots of VHS tapes. And about six beautiful woven baskets! More stuff for Bill’s garage sale. Just need to clean my sewing area and the bar and the big room down there will be done. At least it is cool down there.

Very humid again today with temps supposed to go up to 88! - And bad storms tonight. But they usually go around us. Not over us.

The stairs finished with the metal carpet/stair holders.

Going to try to recover some of the throw pillows from our TV watching/living room. Have lots of material we bought a couple of years ago in Mexico. It is really pretty and colorful but hard to work with as it is a loose weave and it frays like crazy. And the foot for the machine keeps getting caught in the threads.

Going into town for breakfast....

Blue sky and puffy white clouds.

We’ve managed to keep busy the last few days. And the weather has been outstanding! Mid to high 70s - very little humidity. A pleasure to be out and about. So far this summer we have not had an “official” day of 90 or over - BUT with the humidity some days have felt well over 90. Today it should barely reach 80 and night before last it was down to low 50s at night!!! Love it. Had a real short sprinkle yesterday - probably about 100 rain drops. Just enough to dirty the windshields.

On Monday we took a ride through the beautiful countryside to a Menards (home improvement store) about 45 miles away to get some carpet runner - the only store that had enough. Went through some really pretty countryside. Lots of tall, tall corn and really healthy looking beans. And some wonderous big homes. Some new and some pretty old. This is a pretty state.

Here’s the carpet runner. Bill installed it up the stairs and throughout the upstairs hallway. The wall to wall stuff was getting a little worn looking. The picture was taken before he put the decorative rods that anchor the carpet to the stairs. Also put a long piece of it on the tile hallway downstairs.

He did a lot of work that day. Thank God for the new inhaler. Now if his eyes would just stop running.

He also built another book case for the Alfa. The picture doesn’t do it justice - It is made of Maple burl wood.

We are both getting itchy feet to get on the road. Especially when the weather is like this. Blue sky with puffy white clouds just call to you to travel.

But it’s too early to leave for winter and if we take a short trip it will throw our winter escape off. Also with the house for sale we want to be here - just in case. Speaking of the house the kitchen is done. Still want to get carpenter to touch up a couple of things. But it looks nice.

As for me I’ve been cleaning rooms. Not very many - but getting there. And been working on the quilt. Every time I work on it I change my mind on how it will eventually look. Now I’m putting the borders on it. So the front is almost done.

Bought a couple of new bed pillows and when I threw the old ones away I noticed they still had their “Do Not Remove” tags on them. Funny how they never seem to get removed. Didn’t remove the ones on the new ones either. They wouldn’t just tear off and I was too lazy to go and get scissors to cut them off.

Been watching the news off and on - seems like now news is of the STORY of the DAY type. ISIS, then Tony Stewart until Robin Williams and now St Louis. What’s happing in the rest of the world? The plane that went down, the people in the Ukraine, Ebola? I guess the most sensational news gets the coverage until something else happens.

Going into town yesterday we passed the horse farm down the street from us. Mist raising from one of their ponds. Thought it was pretty. 

Well almost time for truck qualifying - then two races today. So should get some work done on the quilt while watching TV.

Nice picture of new great grandson

Just a quick update. The kitchen is done, just a few finishing touches need to be made.
Been raining off and on for a couple days. Temps are staying cool for another week at least. But very, very humid out and inside. Everything feels dampish. 
We had company for dinner last night and I fixed paella for dinner. Turned out pretty good. Instead of buying Saffron from WalMart at $17.56 for a teeny tiny bit I used the saffron we bought in Mexico. Worked good but had to use about double the amount. But even using double it was still a lot cheaper. And we have enough leftovers for tonight's dinner. 
Watched the race today - #18 finished 40th - terrible beginning of race for him. One thing after another went wrong. Pretty good race otherwise though. Especially the last few laps. Good racing and good winner.
Also wanted to share this picture because I think it is so neat. Our granddaughter, her husband and new baby boy (the one I'm making the quilt for.)

That's it for tonight. 

Quiet country living.

As you can probably guess we’ve not been doing anything exciting lately. The weather continues to be good. In high 70s with some humidity and kind of overcast until about 6:00 when the sun comes out for a couple of hours. We did go out to dinner one night with friends. Good friends, cute place to go... It is a very small restaurant with a limited, expensive menu. The main business is a nursery so it’s an interesting place to walk around.

The restaurant itself is very small and cramped and just as we sat down a party of 16 arrived. I don’t think the staff was prepared for that. We didn’t get our salads - I didn’t get what I ordered. The big party was really messed up. Oh well - it is Brown County. The company was good though.

We drove half way to Indianapolis to a Joann’s where they sell my type of sewing machine to buy light bulbs for it. And the clerk was new and didn’t know where they were kept. So will have to make another trip there on another day. Still plugging away on the quilt. I keep changing the way it will be laid out.

Bill’s been working in the Alfa - made a new step for outside and a new bookcase for inside. Then changed its parking place from in front of the house to the parking spot on the side.

We were thinking about going somewhere this weekend but decided against it. We’re still waiting on the kitchen to be finished. (Well shut my mouth - he just pulled up.) We are supposed to have an Open House on Saturday - but doubt anyone will show up. Besides this weekend is  road race weekend for NASCAR and I don’t want to miss watching it on TV.  

Discovered another new sculpture downtown. Just got a quick shot of it going by, need to go get a better look at it when the sun is out so I can get a good picture of it. It looks really nice. 

Bill is getting more better daily - so nice to see him smiling again. 

And that is about it for now - 
P.S. our son Paul and his fiance now have a special page for their ASL singalongs  - Paul and Tina's Singalong They've added a couple of new songs. 

Kitchen almost done - Bill is feeling much better

Now this is really scary - saw it on the news yesterday. A couples Land Rover was seized by the DHS because it didn’t comply with safety and emission standards.   When will they come after old cars and big motorhomes? Seems like there is more important things to be done in this country than this. Hard to believe.

 Homeland Security Agents Raid Home to Seize Land Rover For Violation of EPA

July 30, 2014 | 02:13 PM

"In another example of how the Department of Homeland Security has expanded far outside the purview of its original function, six vehicles full of DHS agents were required to seize a Land Rover from a couple in Statesville, N.C. due to the fact that the vehicle allegedly violates EPA emission standards.
As part of its mission to "protect the Homeland," the DHS has been busy seizing imported vehicles that don't comply with safety and CO2 regulations.
Jennifer and Bill Brinkley were satisfied that their $60,000 dollar purchase of a Land Rover Defender on eBay complied with regulations because it fell into the exemption category of a vehicle 25 years or older.
However, when DHS agents turned up at the property, they compared the car's Vehicle Identification Number to a list and immediately seized the Land Rover. The couple were not given "a chance to debate the issue.""

The Land Rovers, which do not meet federal safety or emission standards, cannot be lawfully operated in the United States."  40 of them were seized all over the U.S.

Yesterday we went almost to Indianapolis to go to the Camping World there. We have a round table that fits over the steering wheel when we’re parked and somehow we managed to lose a piece of it. So went to buy a new one. Turned out they only had one in stock and weren’t going to carry them anymore. So we were going to buy it. The very nice clerk said instead of paying for a new one just because we needed a piece she would exchange it for us. No cost. She asked if we were trustworthy - Yes, of curse, so she gave us the new one and we have to send or take her the old one. Now that is service!

Then we were going to the Mall for Cinnabons - but turns out we went to the wrong mall. The one we should have gone to was in downtown Indy - didn’t want to go there. So no Cinnabons. Funny thing when we got home there was an e-mail from Pilot/Flying J that in some of their truck stops they now sell Cinnabons.

Saw this bumper sticker in the parking lot. How cute is it.

And when we got home some of the cupboard doors were up in the kitchen. Only the drawers and a couple doors left to be put on. Yeah!

Bill continues to feel so much better with the new meds - at least he can breathe and doesn’t get so tired and feels active again. Oh, I forgot to mention when he went to the doctor a couple of days ago the doctor didn’t want to give him any more of the shots - so he put him on an inhaler - once a day and a nasal spray - also keep taking the allergy pills. So far so good. It’s nice to see him active and smiling - more like his old self. Except that without the shots his eyes and nose are running again. He says he can tolerate that. 
New video from Paul and Tina - he looks nervous on this one. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KqlSqoZHbI