Is this what's it's like?

Another trip to the dentist today. I should have realized right off the bat this morning that things would not be all peaches and cream today. First off, I got up a little late. Not terribly late, just enough to make me worry that if anything else went wrong, I would be late for my appointment. I hate to be late for anything, EVEN an appointment with the dentist. (Although, in my dream world, I would be a lifetime late -- as in: never go!) So with one eye on the clock, I zoomed around and got things in order so I could leave the house for a while. That's no small task around here, considering the number of faces to be fed, buckets of water to slosh to thirsty critters, fires to be tended, and lists to be made for multi-tasking any trip to town.

I wanted to snap a photo of a quilt that was going into the mail en route, but of course the camera battery was dead. It takes hours to recharge it. Plan B: I pulled out the old camera, put fresh batteries in it, hoping against hope that it would come to life. Realize that the only reason I have the newer camera is because the old one quit and refused all of my attempts of resuscitation. Why do I still have it, you ask? Because I have photos trapped inside, and still think SOMEbody is going to be able to get them out of there for me. But I digress.

I threw everything I needed for multi-tasking errands into the car, grabbed a cup of coffee to go, and decided I'd have to hit the post office after the dentist, because as it was I'd barely make it on time.

I thought it was to be a simple visit with Dr. L  -- pop off the temporary crown and replace it with the permanent one. That's how it went last time. I should've known better. When the temp was off and the gal tried the permanent one for fit, I got that same sensation one gets by chewing on aluminum foil with an amalgam filling. If you've EVER done that, you'll know exactly what I mean. It's not the kind of thing one forgets. Ever.

The thing just didn't sit right. So there would be some "adjustment" needed. Read: drilling. And numbing, involving needles. Oh, rats! And shoot! While we're here, why don't we just jam needles all over the place and do some other prep work needed for the next round of torture?!? Says She!

Dr. L (being the wise young man that he is) explained that it is best not to overwhelm me by doing too much in one trip. He left the room to do something else while we waited for my mouth to get numb. While he was out, She suggested we could just numb the top, and do the bottom without numbing it first.

HAH! Not on your life, Crazyhead! Do you know how hard it is to peel me off the ceiling once I fly up there?!? I mulled it over for a bit and said I'd be willing to deal with it, if they had the nerves of steel it would require to keep me there long enough to pull it off. Dr. L said we'd do half today and I could come back next week for the rest. (Oh, please ... may I? I do SO look forward to our little visits.)

So he finished up and got away from me. She suggested I should go over to the sink and wash my face to get the residue of goop from making impressions off. Seems things get a little messy when I'm around. I did as I was told, and when I looked in the mirror, thought it looked like I had just received some collagen injections, and some Botox. If getting those shots is anything like getting Novacaine, I'll die looking like an applehead doll before I'll subject myself to that just to get rid of wrinkles! Bad enough to have to go thru it to have teeth in my head in order to eat!

Oh, and the gal suggested I could just slip out the back door. IF I wanted to. I entertained the thought of parading back through the waiting room just to scare the other patients. But I didn't. I actually like the people at this office -- they're incredibly patient with me.

New and improved ...

Rose and Dave came to quilt today. It was their first time on the new, bigger machine. The Fusion has a 24-inch throat space, and runs at 2400 stitches per minute. What that means is that quilts get done even faster now than before. They first did this pretty blue and yellow one (for Dave's Mom: lucky gal!).

Even though I got them off to a late start this morning, they had enough time left to stitch elephants on parade on a baby quilt and still get home in time for supper. Gotta love that!

Rose is just tickled at how it turned out.  We had a good day together.

My little buddies ...

What do snowmen and quilting have in common? Not much. Except I got the idea for these by going to a quilting retreat. Aren't they cute?

We each got one of these little snowmen as one of our "gifties" -- they were all made by one of our very talented quilters and her Mom. I thought it was such a cute idea, I just had to make one for each of the grandkids. PaPa's going to spend the weekend with them, so I'll send them along.

They're packets of microwave popcorn, wrapped in freezer paper (or paper towels) and dressed up with little fleece hats and scarves. Tee-hee!

I spent the day running errands. Normally, not my favorite thing to do. But ... my friend and I met up for lunch, then hit the grocery store together. Turned out to be a great day, believe it or not!

Then I went to pick up my new eyeglasses. Tri-focals this time. I am determined to win the battle of struggling to see better.

Like quilters to a fabric sale ...

... the chickens come running in to snatch up what spills when the wind blows the bird feeder around, allowing the seed to fall to the ground.

I've got a heap of customer quilts to get finished, so I'd better get started! Watch for photos later.

Oh, my.

Some people are soooooo annoying. And some are sooooo nice. Then there are those whom I find to be soooo amusing.
I volunteer to do a newsletter for a group I belong to, and of the approximately 120 recipients, there have been a few cranky people who've found it necessary to pitch a fit at me because something is not to their liking. The most recent e'd me her complaint in BOLD CAPS with multiple exclamation points!!!!, After I responded with my explanation hoping to help her see why I do what I do, she returned a message telling me I am inconsiderate and rude. So annoying. I'll refrain from showing her what I consider inconsiderate and rude.

We have a new batch of snow this morning -- about three-and-a-half inches. Heavy, wet snow. I grabbed a cup of coffee and tried to decide what I should do about that. Shovel? Probably. Put my boots on and trudge up to the studio to finish a quilt I need to send out today? That would be the most likely scenario, seeing as how my car won't go uphill for beans in snow. I looked out the window, and what do I see? A fellow we know had already come and plowed my driveways and cleared a path to the mailbox for me. He's been doing that for us ever since our oldest son died several years ago. He says he promised Andy he'd "take care of Pops" -- and apparently he intends to keep that promise. So nice.

I've been e-mailing back and forth with my DIL, trying to coordinate a plan for the grandkids this summer to go to camp. It occurred to me that even the "baby" is old enough to attend this year, so I asked Mommie if we could include her. The little gal in question, when asked what she thought, said, she'd REEEEALLLLY like to go. She told Mommie that all she gets to do is find lollipops in the hay when she comes along to pick up her sibs at horse-riding camp. Doesn't that sound pathetic?!? Poor thing! (Why do I find that soooo amusing? Probably because I can just picture her face when she says it. This kid just cracks us up by the things she comes up with, and the way she says them.)

In the barn: same scene, same "sweaters," different year, different lambs.

I am proud of myself for being able to manage two bottles with one hand so I could snap a photo with the other.

Hooray for the Red, White & Blue ...

Our quilt guild does a "Nickel Exchange" of 5-inch squares every year with a different theme. The participants are challenged to make a quilt (at least one) with the 360 pieces of fabric received. I got a good start on mine over the weekend. Believe it or not, there is a plan for this mess to become a quilt:

A few more blocks, then it will be time to put it all together. I hope nobody gets dizzy looking at it!

My day got off to an early start today. A VERY early start. Like 3:00 a.m. I woke feeling like I got hit by a car, and debated whether or not I could drag my sorry butt outta bed to go check on expecting sheep. I knew that if I didn't, I'd be sorry when "real" morning came. Sure enough, there were two sets of new twins. One of the lambs was left behind by her mommy. She lay nearly frozen stiff, but was still breathing. The rest of my morning until first breakfast was taken up with bringing her back to a better state of being. I'm happy to report that she was looking pretty frisky by second breakfast, and is now re-united with her family. One problem: she thinks I am her mom, and it will take some coaxing to get her nursing from the ewe. I've gotta be nuts!

I've got quilts to work on, so I hope the re-attachment of the lamb to the ewe doesn't take much more time. I've already skipped snacks, was late for lunch, and may miss second lunch. This can't be good.

I demand a recount!

A few months ago, I gave a friend my dietary "plan for action." He called yesterday and said he's lost 20 pounds. Well, good for him. But I just want to know why I didn't lose a stinking pound?!? I demand a recount! I guess I'd better start keeping better track of what I'm actually DOING, as opposed to what I say I'm GOING TO do.

Look at this picture and see if you can guess where I went last week:

Yep! Salt Lake City. For a quilting retreat. Long story; but here's the thing: the very minute I clicked the button on my computer to book my flight, I realized that SLC is in VERY close proximity to some serious mountains, and that I could get snowed in. What was I thinking?!? As it turned out, though, the weather was similar to what we're having here in the Northeast: warmish days and cool nights. Perfect! The day after I got home, they had a big snow storm out that way. Denver (I passed thru the airport there) was hit pretty hard. Whew! Close call.

At the retreat, we did nothing but quilt and eat. And eat. And eat some more. (See first paragraph.) I made a few new friends, was surprised to see someone there from NH that I'd met before, and learned a lot of fun new stuff. One gal there showed up each day in the most interesting outfits. They were so unique, I thought must be she designed her own clothes. But she say Nay, Nay! Wonder where she shops? I never see clothes like that where I do.

My head is bursting with ideas for more quilts (as if I need to add any more to my list that would already require I live to be 939 to accomplish!) I'll share photos when/if they ever come to fruition.

Here's what's going on down at the farm:

N'ewe: (see last post)

N'ewe-r:

N'ewe-st (isn't she cute?!?):

 

Now I'm outta names. After 35 years of this, it gets harder and harder to come up with names that haven't been used already.