Smokey the Cord

 So I was running errands last week and got a text from Jen.  She had noticed a burning smell like a belt melting off a vacuum cleaner.  After investigating the dining room, where we don't actually KEEP a vacuum cleaner, she saw sparks and smoke coming from the extension cord we had tucked behind some things.  It was plugged into one of our security cameras.  

She got Ryan and they got it all unplugged and the rooms aired out.  They were concerned that all the extension cords in the house might be bad and they wanted to inspect them all. 

BUT LISTEN TO THIS!

I cleaned that area of the dining room and found that the new kitten must have had problems finding the litter box as I found lots of little gifts she had left us.  I also found chew marks ALL over that cord and the spot where it had sparked and smoked was all blackened around chew marks AND a tuft of kitten poo stuck to the cord at that spot.

exhibit A

I guess we look for the cat with a scorched butt. :\  Or the jumpy one.

Yep - that's Lucille.

I tell you, she's trying to kill me.

Busy Little Bee

I've been sewing in a majority of my free time.  I will get done with these dresses!!

One chore I'll be skipping, in May anyhow, is mowing.  The kids talked me into it to save the bees.

And so that the neighbors wont take pity on me thinking that the poor Widow McVal is too feeble to mow these days and do it for me, I'm having someone on Etsy make me a yard sign similar to this...

BUT with a twist.

It will have the bee pic with the wirds,

"I am not lazy. My kids have talked me into No Mow May"

It'll get here next week amd I can use it every May! :}

And for your entertainment...

Frank in a box.

 Enjoy your Thursday!

Groundhog Dreams

I ran my van to town yesterday and ran some errands that only a big vehicle can do before I turned it over to the car guy last night.  Garbage run, some groceries, etc.  Maddy met me and we transferred the groceries to her car and we dropped off the van.  She had the "girls" with her!! :)

old photo of them but it shows their true nature! :)

Hopefully we'll find out this morning what it will take to make my van quit leaking power steering fluid like a sieve...  and hopefully it will be a cheap fix. and hopefully I can continue to drive it without building up my upper body strength unintentionally.

 When I got home from the car swap, I'd found that Ryan had already chopped up a bunch of veggies for taco fixings and straightened up the dining room!  NICE...

As he would say, "I am the backbone of this household!"

All the kids were at the house last night for tacos!  I'm loving our time together.  Maddy & Matthew brought taquitos to round out the meal... yum...  and since when is Leon liking green peppers!!  I think we found his veggie of choice!  Give that kid a whole bowl of that!  or just put it on his tacos...

Meri and her bf Ryan went through one of her photo albums before leaving.  Since her Ryan had gone to the same elementary school, he recognized a lot of her friends from her 6th and 7th birthday parties.  That and the tub of Robb's photos have inspired me for a future project of scrapbooking again.  Maybe next year or decade.  The wedding dresses, garage and other household projects need to happen first.

As does my work day.  

Have a wonderful Wednesday and don't let a rodent tell you how to live your life!

I'll dress the way I want regardless that it's 3 degrees as the high all day...

Jamming vacations into the weekends

I'm sorry!  I'm a terrible blogger and don't visit my usuals as often as I would like...

Anyway, here's what I've been up to and I'll try and do better for my blog friends.

Since last week.  My van is not fixed yet and based on the cost of a replacement hatch, it's going to a black lift gate.  Not the pretty blue, but oh well.  It'll be my next craft project to sand it down and paint it. :)  I'll stick it on my to do list.

I just ordered the liftgate and will pick it up this afternoon.

My birthday party was Thursday night.  Meri and Shub came as well as Josh and Carli.  

J and C were leaving for their adventure in Arizona early on Friday morning, so this was their send off meal too.

Early the next morning, I met up at Josh's apartment to get some cleaning supplies that they were getting rid of.  I helped them load up the car and then left them for the final touches.  They were leaving behind a super grill too and asked if I'd find a home for it.  I was just a couple miles away when Maddy answered a text with SURE!  So I went back to the apartment to get it, passing them as I rounded the corner and they were heading out.  They didn't see me.  Tunnel vision. :)

Got the grill, cover and grill utensils all loaded up and ready for my mini-vacation for Wisconsin.

The neighbors in "college town" live for when students move out.  So many students leave REALLY good stuff on the curbs for the trash.  As I was loading the grill, one neighbor was picking thru the trash can...

I did grab the vacuum cleaner for Meri...

So that evening after work, Meri and I headed to Wisconsin to hang with Maddy for a couple days.  Got there around 10:45pm, just in time for supper!  Maddy and Matthew had baked us some cauliflower crust pizzas.  YUM...  We'd snacked the whole way on healthy things too, so the car food didn't do too much damage to our diets.

Matthew had to work Saturday and then came back to the house long enough to pack up the car for a camping trip with his high school buddies.

We went for a walk that morning at the lake. The breeze was fantastic!

When we got back to the hosue, Maddy grabbed the remote and said that in honor of my birthday, I got to pick a movie from the 80s that I wanted us to watch.  The first one that made me feel all nostalgic was Tootsie.  So Maddy didn't dither and clicked on it.  They enjoyed it with me!

Then a 2nd walk at a dog park with the girls and the "girls".  The dogs took OFF in the dog park and Meri and I got our exercise in!  

I don't think I've run in public for a LONG time.  Thankfully we were the only ones in the park.  After corralling the "girls", I had an impromptu photo shoot of Meri that Shub had requested.  

Done.

Then since the dogs were just not cooperating, we took them into the puppy dog walk area and let them run free until Daisy found a big mud puddle and jumped in.  

Yikes!  They're spirited!!!

Daisy got a shower when we got back.

After a delicious supper of lentil sloppy joes in the Instant pot, and oh my goodness, that was SO good!!!  We got to crafting!!!

Here's what we made.

Button necklaces

Hobnail vases

and embroidery hoop/flower wall hangings.

I wore my necklace for the whole drive home and will show it off at the next ASG meeting.  

I was really impressed with how the hobnail vases turned out!  Of course a couple of the sticky knobs shifted when spray painting, but for the most part, they were very cool.

For food this weekend, Maddy (and us as the sous chefs) besides the Lentil Sloppy Joes, we made Orange Chicken in the IP.  MMMMMMMM  We're talking about testing a bunch of recipes and maybe putting together a cookbook of sorts of our favorites.

And there was chocolate cake...  :)

My life is complete.

Meri and I drove home after lunch on Sunday and  got home in time for supper.  Shub had made burritos for Meri and Robb had picked up Mexican fast food for us at home.  MMMMMMMM

On Monday morning's weigh in, I had only gained 2.5 pounds since Friday morning!  Working it off this week.

My sister and her family stopped by yesterday on their way home from Indiana and I gave them some of my stash of Twin Bings and Icy sticks.  That should have been enough sugar to keep them going for the last 3 hours of their trip!

ANYHOO!  Back to work.  I hope you had a great weekend!

A DOOZY of a weekend

Has anyone ever seen Tucker & Dale vs Evil?

Hilarious...  If you can get past a little language...

Anyway, I have had a DOOZY of a weekend.

There I was just doing chores around the house...

LOL!  

Actually on Friday night, Meri and Shub invited us over for a bonfire and s'mores.  DIET be Danged!

I started again on Saturday...

Ryan and Jen came along.

Leon's brother Finn, came for the weekend and ran around her yard with him, rolling around in the fresh mown grass.

AND the kid chair that I brought for them, either was too small for Leon or kept flipping Finn over onto his back while he ate his s'more.

Eh - finish it down there before you get up!

It was a really nice time!  AND I discovered a new kind of s'more using Reese's peanut butter cups instead of chocolate! YUM!...  

 I was in town on Saturday and for the 2nd day in a row, my cell phone started heating up.  I mean REALLY heating up...

And everything was super sluggish.

So I went into US Cellular to see what they can do about it.

Well... let me tell you, they can sell you a NEW phone!

So yeah, I got a new phone, a new phone plan and with that, I'm actually paying less each month than I was!  So there.

Unfortunately, because I had been complaining about how long it takes to charge up my phone and I only have ONE fast charging cable, Robb ordered me five more cables for my old phone.

Ummm This one takes the same kind as yours now...

BUT everyone else in the house uses the old style so he didn't cancel the order.

I'm getting used to this phone now.

It's definitely an adjustment period.

So I spent the rest of the days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, well, outside of church and eating and sleeping and deep cleaning the living room during a thunderstorm, out in the yard.

And look what I found!!!!

My potatoes in the potato bags are growing!!!!

It took forever, but suddenly THERE they are!

I added some potting soil on top of them and look forward to letting them fill up with new potatoes!

I also added some pretty purple wool fabric to the two other growing areas in our yard and planted the bush beans and cucumbers.

I'm also laying piles of yard clippings on top of it to help hold it down.

and make it look a wee bit "not insane"...

After much deliberation and thought, I finally found the perfect spot to plant the grape vine!  In the corner of the back yard where the mower can't get into!  This way, I can hang a wire between in the chain link fence a foot or so above it and move it higher as it grows.

It's growing gangbusters already after just two days!
You can't see it from here...

The other grape vine had all but died.  And I mentioned it to Robb.

He said, "Remember that movie, A Walk in the Cloud, with Keanu Reeves?  *total chick flick* Their vineyard had burned down and all they had was a tiny smoldering stump left.  They were going to regrow all of their vineyard back again from just that stump.  It'll grow back."

AND HE WAS RIGHT!

I checked on the "dead" vine yesterday and wouldn't you just know it?  There was a green leaf on it!!!!  So I planted it yesterday in the opposite corner of the yard.  Will do some landscaping around it this week, I hope.

Yesterday, I took the two 100 foot extension cords and trimmed all around Meri's house and fence and her new garden area. Then brought it home and did the north fence of our house on both sides.

OH, I mowed the front yard early in the morning yesterday, thinking it would be super rainy all day.  It wasn't...  But while mowing, I was super careful next to these little water mains or little metal stumps on one side of our yard.  But suddenly the blade of my rider, dropped over one of them and sheared it off!  BANG!  dirt and grass everywhere.  

It looks like a crime scene...

I'll call City Hall today and find out what the damage is.  Nothing exploded or smelled like gas, so who knows what the purpose of those little beasts are!?!  I'm sure they'll know.  Probably $100 worth of purpose... Knowing my luck.

Update: called city hall.  It'll be $20 and they'll lower them closer to the ground! WOOHOO!

Oh, on Sunday, when in the back yard, Leon found a toad.  Mr Toady as he's called now.

He is part of the family now.  

Also as he was carrying Mr Toady out of the yard, I found these little hunnies in an indentation of the hill.  Aren't they adorable!?  We didn't touch them as we didn't want the Mommy bunny to abandon them.  

But the next day, when I was working out there again, I found that the night's rain had washed and drowned out four of them.  Two more were huddled together outside their burrow.  

So sad!!

OH!  Have you ever heard of being Quarant-wined?  In Central Iowa on FB, there is a group that if you find your town's post, you comment with your address and someone in the group may or may not drop off a basket of wine and goodies on your porch!!  On Sunday morning, look what Robb found on our Go Away mat!!  

SOOO many goodies in there!  And the wine glass has suckers in it too!

Because my last cork screw fell apart when I used it last, I wasn't sure when I'd be able to enjoy it, but Robb told me that he has a corkscrew on his pocket knife!  COOL!

I may enjoy a glass on the deck this evening, if it's not raining.

Yesterday, I took my MIL out to the cemetery to visit her husband's grave.

Since no service at the cemetery this year, we're celebrating Memorial Day remembering.

Names and dates removed.  Just 'cause.

She put some flowers out and we hung out for just a little bit.

And Leon requested Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie, so with Robb's suggestion of Butterscotch pudding mix and butterscotch chips and ground cinnamon, we created it.

Apparently in a game, Undertale that he plays, you eat this kind of pie to build up your strength or HP as he calls it.

He loved it!

Next year, I really want to go spend Memorial Day at my parent's cemetery.

Yesterday was the 1st anniversary of Dad's death.

It was pretty tough and I think that's why I try to keep so busy with everything.

It helps a lot to keep my mind busy.

So last night was pretty bad when I finally sat down to relax.

Well, THAT won't happen again!

Dreaming big

Meri and I worked out again this morning.  I'm beat.  But feeling productive, like maybe I am on my way to a better shape.  

Hope so.

Maddy and Matthew's dog Zola, ate the stuffing out of a dog toy and ended up at the emergency vet clinic last night.  We find out today if everything came out ok, but that poor thing!  She might need surgery.  Please send a prayer for her!

Isn't she a sweetie?  I can't wait to meet her!

Meri and Shub came over yesterday and played Frisbee in the back yard with Leon and me.  It's a heavy Frisbee, I guess for Frisbee golf.  

I kept not catching it on purpose because I kept thinking of the boomerang on the Road Warrior and thought I'd lose some fingers.

OH!  One of my garden spots is in!  

I agonized on how to use up some of my fabric stash to line it, instead of using the store bought weed barrier.  I mean... I have SO much fabric!!!  

Found that wool fabric is the best to insulate the ground and keep the weeds to a minimum.  

I'll probably spread the grass clippings on top of it so it won't look TOO odd in the neighborhood.  I've already put weights down on the edges to keep it from blowing off.

And it wasn't enough to make a wool cape out of anyway...  So it'd probably be made into scarves or a bag anyway.  And who has time for THAT?!

I'll let you know how it works. If it works.

Pay no attention to the pile of branches on the one side and the board that is out of it's hinges.  That'll be a next year project, fixing that up.

I've got 9 cherry tomatoes in.  And about that in mini sweet pepper plants.  I started them both in my mini hot house, the pepper seeds from an actual pepper that I got at Aldi.  

While Meri was in the back yard, she gave me some ideas on how we could finish up the area behind the garage.  The grape vine might go somewhere else.  Maybe the back of the yard.  Don't know...  Maybe let it grow along the fence?  Eh... we'll see.

And we need a stairway going down the hill.  I'm imagining something like this.

But then again, if I let my imagination REALLY go, I can imagine something like this...

So many plans in the works and ideas that need to be fulfilled before I can move on to the next one.

Do you have any plans that really need to be thought out well before the next phase?

and Frank the cat

YAAAAAYYYYY!!!! It's FRIDAY!!!!!

FINALLY!

I mowed at Meri's yesterday over lunch and didn't get to the planting of my grape plants yet.  Good thing too, because it's supposed to dip below freezing tonight.

Shoot.  

The instructions on the grapes say to wait 4-5 weeks after the last frost. ummm...  They are not going to survive until then.  So I'll check the forecast for this weekend and do it then if I can.

The fire pit is still on the list.

I did create Sonya's webpage last night and it while it looks great on a big computer screen, not so much on a small cell phone.

Will get some more editing done on that soon!

And this was Frank this morning.

Ignore the clutter...

I video taped him because I thought he was going to do something funky with the wind chime right behind him, but he was just being boring instead.  oh well.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Feeling Thankful for just a moment

Wow, it's been two or three weeks.  Here's the rundown...

Update: It's been 3 or 4 weeks now...  Pretend this is one week after the Thanksgiving week...

My finger that got sliced due to a scathing rotary blade incident has healed and is good as new.

Meri's kitten, Bish, rallied and then ultimately died.  Meri was heartbroken.  Bish was buried in one of Meri's many, abandoned in my garage, jewelry boxes that had a lion painted on top.  It's what Bish had aspired to be.  She and I buried Bish behind her garage and I'm so glad the ground was not frozen yet!

I've developed a Lipoma on my back.  Luckily Maddy is a huge fan of the Pimple Popping show, so maybe I'll have her help me out during Christmas break!  *I'm kidding!!!* *maybe*

I caught the flu somewhere in the last few weeks and with any luck, have not passed it onto my extended family.

Our family Thanksgiving 8 days ago, was very quiet.  Maddy and Matthew were in Michigan visiting his grandparents so Meri, my mother-in-law, Robb and I were there and that's it.  Well, unless you count Ryan and Jen, who were leaving for her mom's but weren't going to eat until 3:30.  They stuck around for a quick turkey/gravy snack on paper plates while the rest of us used china.

Robb and I spent the rest of the day getting ready for Friday's shindig and I got beds made.

We hosted our many annual Thanksgivings for my mom's side of the family exactly one week ago today.  Robb picked up the boy early from his mom's and I ran my Thanksgiving final shopping trip which involves picking up the rootbeer keg from the liquor store.  As well as dropping off all the items from home to the hall.  We had gotten a bunch of hamburger cooked up for sloppy joes for anyone who came early enough for lunch too.  Had that in a crock pot with fixings along side.

My brother suggested some new things to get people talking more.  You get 80 people together and everyone kind of settles into their own tables and talks to their own personal families the whole time...  REALLY?!  Let's MINGLE people!  His suggestion was to pass on knowledge to the next generation and/or share your passions in a presentation sort of way.

So at 3pm, a good chunk of people were there already.  Tables were put out and covered and kids were playing cards with their siblings.  We had three presentations lined up for the afternoon and since I was ready first, I set up at an open table and got on it.

I called everyone over and did a demonstration on how to make pillow cases.  I had a few cut out already and didn't want to lug my sewing machine up there, so I had them already done in stages.

"So you cut the fabric in these sizes and iron these two in half."

"Then you position them this way and that way and pin." showing them how to pin.

Then as if I was in a cooking show, I put the pinned one under the table and pulled out one that still had pins in it, but I'd stitched down the seam. voila!

I pulled the pins out and turned it right side out impressing the throngs.

Showed them how to sew the side and bottom seams by just a lot of pointing and explanations and then showed them what the final product looked like.

Luke and Sydney, who were married a month before, said, "Hey!  That's what we got for our wedding!"  yep!  satin pillowcases are the best to keep your heads cool and from what I hear, good to minimize wrinkles!  who knew?

I also had done flannel pillowcases.

A little while later, my sister Tammy, pulled out her griddle and showed everyone how to make lefsa.  It looks SO easy!  I'll have to try my hand at making our own again this year.  I think I screwed up the recipe last time I tried it.  The crowds loved hers!  She gave out samples.

THEN the last presentation was Meri's.  She sat for a while and chopped veggies and meats and then when she was ready, she showed everyone how to make sushi.  I was beckoned to the kitchen and missed out on a sample. The crowd loved Meri's too since she gave out sushi samples! 

I guess I should have given out pillowcases...

A nephew brought his Espresso maker again this year and he or his son made everyone cappuccinos, lattes, coffees, whatever they wanted.  I had also made 60 cups of coffee in a pot and I think dumped 55 cups into the sink.  I won't make that much next year, unless he's not able to make it.

My grand-nephew with his get up.

The meal went well and everyone got fed lots.  

Anyone who wore an apron got to be first in line to eat!  Then later at the talent show, the apron wearers got a Twin Bing bar! YUM!!!!

My brother had his kid table again so the kids helped themselves while the grown ups feasted on the real food!  In the past, the littles would load up their plates with mashed potatoes and suddenly the adults would run out.  No matter HOW much we had made...  The children's eyes are bigger than their stomachs.  Shoot.  I didn't get a pic of the kids table.  But here is the big kids table, mostly laden with food.  ALMOST ready...

For the talent show, Robb read Maddy's kindergarten recipe book to everyone.  He got the giggles so bad, he had to take a break to calm down and wipe his eyes clear before continuing.

Leon and his bestie cousin, Skylar, did the floss dance.  We're so proud.

 

Meri had worked up enough nerve to sing, as I always beg my kids to do, but suddenly an aunt and cousin got up for everyone to sing Christmas songs at the end of the show.  She missed her opportunity. But still wants credit for almost wanting to.

 

Our MC for the evening.  Nephew in law.  He did a great job and must have saved up the jokes for that night!

 

My mom's remaining siblings got up to sing a Christmas carol that they'd learned when they were little.  

 

So moving!  I'm not sure when I'll see these folks again.  It's getting tougher and tougher for them to come out to the reunion. 

 

Everyone helped clean up and we were out of the hall by 10!  The first few times, we were there til 11:30.  We all know what we're doing now!

A lot of family who stayed in town that night, came over for breakfast before leaving town.  Robb got up early to make a ton of pancakes and everything else.  I got a coffee pot going for another 60 cups and a big drink dispenser ready for water.  And unloaded lots of things from a chilled off car from the night before.

By lunch time all the family had gone except my sister Tammy and a few of her kids that came with her from Kentucky.  She washed up all the dishes and then we went over to Meri's for more sushi.  After that she went on a Christmas train ride with her kids and grandkids.  I stayed at Meri's to try the suit jacket on Meri's friend Josh.  It fit "ok" but some tweaks needed to be done.  Isn't the fabric a hoot?

To date, a week later, I've got the jacket MOSTLY done.  Needs the lapels, hem and sleeve hems. He's going to try the real deal on tomorrow and I'll probably have more mods to make.  But we'll see. So far it's fair quality.  I had screwed up on a shoulder and thought, eh...  SO this isn't the best (shrugging my shoulders).  Meri didn't' like that answer so I pulled out my seam ripper and fixed it. repeatedly.  Now it is the best.  He did pay me with Hurts Donuts... So I better give him his moneys worth... they were good.

Saturday night, Tammy and clan came back for supper and we played Jimmy Fallon's Boxes of Lies.  What a blast that was!  It's so refreshing to slam the table and point at someone and cry out LIAR!!!  without being treated like a crazy person like I normally am.

Earlier this week, we found out that Duke might be in his last days.  The girls were heartbroken again.  He's thirteen human years old and is in so much pain just trying to stand up.  Apparently he cried during the night this week and Maddy got so upset.  A neighbor didn't help when he saw Maddy and Duke sitting on their front stoop and he offered up stories about his animals before they died... 

...

Since then, Matthew took Duke to the vet and he's on several different meds to help alleviate his symptoms.  YAY!  Duke's going to be around a bit longer!!!

I'm SO glad!  Duke is such a good boy.

Robb's company party is tonight.  He thought maybe I'd make something new to wear to it and WHEN would I have had the time?!  The only time I don't have anything planned is 1:30-2:45am each day.  And really that time is even filled.  That's when I usually wake up and worry about stuff.  If I pulled out sewing things, it would just wake everyone up.

He's busy working on the annual Christmas letter this week in his spare time.  A nephew from this past weekend told him that they loved his Christmas letter and look forward to it every year.  An aunt also said that.  Robb sometimes thinks that no one really likes it and this is exactly the encouragement he needed.  I know it will be tough to write this year though.  It's been a bad year emotionally.

Update: the Christmas letter is done, but not printed.  No photo for it yet until this coming weekend when I'll have all my kids under one roof for an evening! 

Update 2: the jacket (after many tweaks and swear words) fit Josh perfectly!  He felt like a "crazy cat lady" James Bond.  Will show you a video of him in it at a later date. This is the MOSTLY done stage.  I didn't get it completely done until the button was sewn on three times on Saturday, the morning of his company party.




Update 3: Duke is still hanging on, but he is almost 13 human years old.  Apparently that is REALLY old in dog years.  Can't wait to see him (as well as Maddy and Matthew) at Christmas time!

Whew!  Lots more to blog about, and I think about things from time to time as Oh hey!  I could write a post about that!  But then time gets away from me.  Every free minute is either housework, sewing or eating.  Not necessarily in that order.

I hope you all had a wondering Thanksgiving and are enjoying the Christmas festivities!