THAT TEARS IT!

I spent the morning trying to scan old photos into my computer - unsuccessfully.   We are going to make a trip to Bozeman, MT to visit Diane's daughter for a couple weeks, and I thought if I got
the photos scanned in, I could keep working on the family history I want to get done in time for the Reunion in July - no such luck. 

Not only did the photos not scan no matter what I tried - but all the short-cuts on my desk-top disappeared - and they aren't coming back!   I can't even create new short-cuts - I can't locate the photos I spent so much time separating out and placing on the desk-top.  Nor the family history book,
I did find the reunion T-shirt design, but everything else is swimming around in cyber space.

And, the reason I had problems posting to my blog - I tried to put too many photos on it - so I guess I'm back to posting without photos again until I get this mess figured out.

Blast, and blast again


Until next time,
Bear Hugs

Luv 'n Boots & Tucker

She believed she could do it and so she did.

(PS I don't know if I'll have access to the internet while in Bozeman, so it may be 2-3 weeks before you hear from me again - so what else is new?)

LEAVING ARIZONA

I've Lost It!

My post, that is -  I'm in the midst of adding photos, and it disappears!   I'll keep looking
for it!
 

Boots

I WARNED THEM. . . . . . .

I warned Kit and ken not to teach   (I’m not yelling at you’all – my caps key is stuck!!!!!)  anyway, I told them not to teach tucker how to use the doggie door.  I said they would be sorry – and so they are.   It took him a while cause he’s so tiny, but he goes in it easily, but is still a little reluctant to go out it -  why did I warn them?   Cause the doggie door is in their bedroom – and we get up earlier than they do.   The morning he finally figured it out – we were out at 6:30 a.m.   THEY USUALLY GET UP AT 8 -   OOPS, NOW THE FONT IS GROWING – GUESS I’LL HAVE TO GET A NEW KEYBOARD.  (THE KEYBOARD ON MY LAPTOP HAS TWO LETTERS STUCK, AND I DON’T LIKE USING IT ANYWAY CAUSE IT HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN – so i have a separate keyboard for serious typing)

ANYWAY, THEY NOW HAVE A LIVING, BREATHING ALARM CLOCK – HE PUSHES THROUGH THE DOOR, JUMPS UP ON THE BED, BESTOWS GOOD MORNING KISSES AND GENERALLY CREATES HAVOC!!!

this is tucker at their bedroom door before i let him out to the doggie yard

I’m going to try to post a video of tucker and christy playing tug-a-war here  Tucker loves playing with her – christy – not so much!  he is a real pest – biting on her feet to try to get her to run.  This is Christy and Tucker - posing so nicely!
 

I'm not sure this video will work - if not, i'll try it in a future post

 I put up my little "bedroom" tent on the patio to see how easy it would be (very) and tucker jumped right in it.  he's an excellent camper 

UPDATE ON kit’s quilt – we got all the fabric for the top, and I have all but two of the squares sets finished -   she has finally decided on the back – it will be southwestern  (if you remember, the top will be australian aboriginal prints – I’ll also make her a reversible wall hanging to coordinate.

 I set up my sewing machine and equipment on the patio when the weather was warm – then had to wait through the rainy days for warm weather to arrive again so I could work on Brooke’s placemats – they are ready to mail today.

My niece, Christine,  arrived from San Antonio last week for a visit.  It was interesting at the airport -  we pulled into an outlying parking lot – called a cell phone lot -  this was something new to me -  all the cars park facing a big sign giving the status of incoming flights -  when the flight arrived, Christine called us on her cell phone and told us which door she was at and we drove right up to the terminal to pick her up -   no frustrating driving around in circles or looking for parking spaces.   I’m sure those of you who have done a lot more flying than I have already experienced this – but it was new to me!   I thought it was very clever -  kudo’s to the person who thought it up!

on the way home, we stopped at a mexican restaurant for lunch -   the waitress is fixing "live" guacamole - made fresh at the table

Grandma kathy braiding christine's hair

Christine will be here through the chocolate festival – two years ago when I was here I promised i would go to the festival with her and her sister the next february – however, I didn’t make it the next year – Christine moved to Wisconsin – then over Christmas she moved to San Antonio  - I’m looking forward to spending some time with her when I’m in fredericksburg, tx.

Michelle, Christine’s sister is an art teacher at a local high school – the other day there was an art show of the teacher’s work -  Michelle had two  awesome pieces exhibited -  
 
 "Foothills"  (If you look closely, you       The piece on the right is:  "Mud, Sweat, and Tears"
can see the shadow of the cowboy on the rock)
The photo does not do it justice - cause in the
painting, you can see the sun shining on the 
distant hills


i got  a fair shot at this piece – everybody thought it was a photograph – nope – this is done by colored pencil!!!!  The artist is barbara dahlstedt who teaches at apollo high school.

 On the photo further down, notice the design on Michelle's t-shirt.   another teacher designed it, and michelle used the theme to design the program for the art show.  

Yesterday christy went to the groomers.  on impulse i left tucker, too – for a shampoo and to have his nails trimmed – THEY CLIPPED HIM!!!!!  what part of shampoo means clip???   the feathers are gone from his legs and belly and the beautiful long white hair – about 3 ½ “ long on his backside is gone -  his back view looks like a fat little bunny butt instead of the long flowing white locks.   I keep telling myself – it WILL grow back – it WILL grow back – it WILL grow back.   He was not happy about it – either,  usually if i’m away from him for any length of time he goes ballistic when he sees me -  not this time – when she handed him to me, he just tucked his head under my elbow in embarrassment – in fact, i was so concerned about that, i didn’t notice his clip until we got to the park to let them out for a run.  I should have wondered when i walked in to get him and the tech asked me what kind of dog he was. She probably thought he was just a run of the mill mutt and needed clipping - little did she know -  tucker is a purebred mountain (long hair) chichuahua!  (and I am a very proud "Mom")

WARNING -  HOUSEWORK CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!!!!

kit was trying to get a spot off the carpet (it had just been cleaned the day before)  and managed to snag her finger and tear the tendon loose – she’s in a splint for a couple months.   about the same time, ken had some skin cancer removed from his face – they look like they’ve been battling  - and kit looks like she is flipping off everyone.

After the art show, we stopped out for dinner - here are my two nieces, Christine and Michelle

i went to visit my cousins', sharon and tim.   sharon is the family historian on my mother’s side.   i was also taking her the farm set that had belonged to my grandmother – sharon’s father had made it – don’t know how my mother ended up with it – but i figured it should go to sharon -  when  my four hermansen cousins – well at least the gals  heard i had it two years ago there was an uproar -  they all wanted it – they grew up in San Diego where my grandmother lived and all remember it with fond christmas memories (it was set up under the tree each year)  

 I can't for the life of me get these photos side by side  - I know it can be done - but no way is it happening now!  (Hey, my caps are working again - you'll be able to tell where I added comments after the initial typing)

I have one week left to gather what statistics i can of the family so i can start on my “book” for the family reunion.  I can do them here at kits since she has full membership

  I gave my grandmother’s wedding dress to cousin judy – i chose her because her son and daughter-in-law are very into history and will appreciate it.   In talking to my various cousins, i find that the next generation down, with few exceptions, does not have much interest in the family history.

a few days ago i gave a chocolate making class to a couple of kit’s neighbors.  what a hoot!   I enjoyed it cause i just showed them what to do and watched them do it.   It really got to be fun once the bailey’s came out!

 

 

During our lunch break, we ladies sat at the table telling hunting stories - yes, guys, i said hunting stories.  (and to my daughters, yes, a had some to tell, too)   anyway, one of the gals told about the time they were out hunting - she had a 410 shotgun.   they were standing next to the car when a nice buck strutted by - she reached through the window and got a couple shells from her purse (well, what can i say - we are ladies, after all)   she loaded, took careful aim,  pulled the trigger and.......................CLICK! nothing happened.   she placed the gun on the hood of the car, put her hands up and slowly backed away.  "I'm not touching that - something's wrong"  Her husband picked up the gun, broke it open and pulled out........................are you ready for this? a tube of hazel bishop lipstick!    

I believe I told you in my last post that i had installed the free kindle app on my computer.   I also said i still wanted to get a kindle so i could read in bed – but I’ve decided I like reading on the computer cause i can make the page full screen size -   my real interest is audio books, though – so I’m glad i waited to get a kindle – i bought an mp3 player instead -  $40 instead of the $300 for the bigger kindle!  I can live with that.    I installed the audible software and my first audio book – then i installed the software with my mp3 – then waited for my niece michelle to arrive to straighten everything out.    We had to uninstall both softwares – and, since i plan on just listening to books – we didn’t reinstall the mp3 software cause it was trying to take over everything – including my photos.   but now it is working great – i download books to my computer then transfer to the mp3  for listening.  Also, since i haven’t figured out all the ins and outs of the mp3 i transfer one part of the book at a time – otherwise every time i paused it – it would start up on a different section of the book.     

the weather here has been interesting to say the very least!   it was comfortably cool in december, then it got cold, then it got hot, then it rained – the dry riverbeds had flowing water in them – now it’s working up to warm again.   The temps at Demming are reasonable -  I’ll be leaving here next monday – (with a stop in tombstone, az)  the nights there are climbing into the low 30’s  we’ll be quite warm enough with that.

well, that catches me up for the time being.  

until the next time,

bear hugs

luv ‘n boots and tucker, too

and, of course, lil bear

she believed she could do it so she did

I WARNED THEM

SEDONA

We took a day trip to Sedona – about 100 miles away.   It was a beautiful drive, from the floor of the Valley of the Sun, through the foothills, climbing up to the high desert plateau, with views of mountains in every direction, then up and up again until we were over 4000’.  The temperature dropped about 15 degrees.  

We stopped for a break at a Dairy Queen  (What can I say, with Diane it was Cheetoz and Coke, with Kit it’s Dairy Queens) – it was already cold out, but for some reason, they had the air conditioning blasting away.  By the time we left, we were all shivering.

While we were inside – Tucker made a break for it.   Ken was walking Christi and when he returned her to the car, Tucker escaped………. And headed right for the DQ’s kitchen door where Ken caught up with him.   His name should really be “Houdini” – he’s a very adept escape artist.    The only harness he can’t get out of is the last one I made for him.  Unfortunately, I haven’t had time or space to make more – soon, I hope, because it’s starting to wear out.

Our mission to Sedona was not just for sight seeing, but to a certain quilt shop which had a goodly amount of Australian Aboriginal print fabric.   Kit was born in Australia and has asked me to make a quilt with the native prints.   We were quite successful – and were able to pick up nearly 75% of what she needed for the top.   The back will be American patriotic prints . . . . or not.   Perhaps Southwestern.   No one knows at this point.

The colors of Sedona are seductive – not just the red rocks, but the buildings as well.   Sedona has decreed that any new construction must be of desert colors.   The hues range from sand through soft sage green to rust red.   It’s really awesome to look at.

We drove up to the airport – which is the only place to view Sedona at sunset -  the red rocks are at their best then.   We planned to eat at the airport restaurant – but they weren’t serving dinner yet – so we left and headed for home.    Along the way, we stopped at Desert Castle Casino for dinner.   The food was good, basic, and plentiful!   The Casino was a beautiful stucco building which loomed out of the cliff top!   One thing I noticed about Casino’s in Arizona – they are few and far between, and each one is a palace.   In Montana – the casinos are as plentiful as mushrooms after rain -  sometimes 3-4 in a block.   They are small – sometimes just a small structure hanging on to the end of a gas station.   Not that there are not some big ones – just not as spectacular as those in Arizona

And, no.  I did not “try my luck”   I learned that lesson in Atlantic City -   I ran through a roll of quarters there in about 2 minutes flat – then decided I’d rather have a new pair of boots than to feed the machines.

We were still searching out fabric for Kit’s quilt.   We found our way to the “35^th Avenue Sew and Vac”.  It didn’t “sound” exciting – but folks, let me tell you!!!!!  This is the biggest quilt store I’ve ever been to!   Over 20,000 bolts of fabric.   I spied a tote bag made from a Southwestern print – my hand started shaking – then my knees followed suit.  I kid you not!!!! 

 I’ve never had a reaction to fabric like that.   It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before – at least not in a fabric store.   In any event, they were out of the fabric – maybe they’ll get more in , maybe not.  What a let down – I was already making a mental lists of what I could use it in – and adding up the amount needed.   Well, what can I say.     We wandered around the store for awhile longer – and I decided I  needed to come by myself when I can really take my time.   On the way out, I spotted some placemats that I thought Brooke might like (She’s commissioned me to make sets for every holiday and season) 

They finally dragged me out of the store, with knees still shaking, but without spending a cent.

On the way home, we stopped at a small quilt shop recommended by the previous store and they had some native prints – not many, but they happened to have just what we needed to finish up on the quilt top. 

The weather here is beautiful – at least this week – storm is on the way.   I may have to extend my stay in Arizona because……

“THAR’S COLD IN THEM THAR HILLS!!!!”  We’ve been watching the weather for Demming, NM which is my next stop – the plan was to stay there at the LoW’s home ranch for February and March.   Well the daytime temps have been the high 40’s to mid 50’s, but the night time temps have been 25 – 35 – with wind chills as low as 15.   I don’t think we are quite prepared for that.

I kept telling myself that if it’s too cold to stay, I’ll go to Plan B.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a Plan B.

Anyway, there is a chocolate festival here the middle of February – if the Demming weather stays cold, I’ll just stay here until after the festival – I had planned to drive back for it anyway.

I’ve been reading a lot since I’ve been here.  Kit and Ken are both avid readers, so I’ve been soaking up the words.   I also downloaded a Kindle app to my computer and have downloaded about 20 of the classics – all free, and started buying some of my favorites so I’ll have them.  I thought maybe I could put off buying a Kindle for awhile, but it’s just not that convenient to read on the computer (can’t read myself to sleep as easily with a computer on my lap)  so – I’ll be making that purchase any day now.  In addition, Amazon’s Audible program has my favorite book series on sale for $8 each from now to May 1.   ( I paid $40 for just one on CD) Can’t pass that up! 

Until next time

Bear Hugs

Luv n’ Boots, and Tucker, too.

The Bear is still hanging in with us, too

She believed she could do it, so she did![]]]]]]

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