More Snow! September 29, 2013

Friday evening I was supposed to take Devon on a father son thing up the canyon, or in this case grandfather/grandson.  I got an email Friday that it had been cancelled because of the snow up the canyon (today's four letter word). Only he got sick Thursday and probably couldn't have gone anyway. Oh well Devon, maybe next time.

The weather is supposed to improve for the next few days.

Saturday we went to some yard sales and found a few things. Cindy got some scrapbook supplies that were originally 7 or 8 dollars each for 25 cents each. They were such a bargain, that she didn't even dicker with the lady selling them.

I got 3 DVD movies for $1.50, which I thought was a bargain. I also got one Disney movie for 50 cents at another sale, which seemed to be the price yesterday.

We then went to Costco to get a few things, but the things Cindy wanted most weren't on sale until next week. It was just as well because there were more people there than I think I have ever seen.

We beat a hasty retreat and will wait to go back when the mailer we got takes effect on the 3rd.

I spent the rest of the day quilting, and got all the stitch in the ditch completed. Now for the rest of the blocks and borders. This one is taking me a lot of time because I'm only part timing it.

Cindy spent the afternoon and evening working on her computer, which we just got back from the repair store. It seems they didn't know how to repair it properly and just loaded a running system over the top of what was already there and filled her memory. She had Chris come over and see what he could do with it, and he ended up installing Windows 7 after taking all of what was on it off. I guess it's good to have a son that knows a little about computers, because I certainly don't. Remember, I grew up before calculators were even thought about, and used a slide rule. I guess that pretty much dates me. I have told my sons more than once I'm older than dirt. One of them then asked me, "What was it like before dirt"? My answer was "Rocks and Lava". Ted seemed to like that answer.

Cindy also spent a good part of the afternoon looking for the book and disc she got with her new embroidery machine. She blamed me for loosing it, but finally found it in a pile of her books she had brought in from the fiver. At one point she asked me if I had thrown it out with the box the machine came in, but I remember flattening the box before I put it in the dumpster. I will admit my memory isn't quite what it once was.

Well, have a good day. Thanks for visiting.

Snow? September 27, 2013

Maybe it's just thick rain, but looks like snow to me.

Today we woke up to rain, which soon turned to rain with snow mixed in. The mountains are dusted with snow at higher elevations. Looks like we waited too long to leave. lol There are still a few things we need to get accomplished before we can head out. It did warm up some this afternoon, so maybe winter isn't here yet.













I worked on Cindy's quilt for a while.

It was good cake.

After lunch we went to an open house at one of the local fabric stores. It was the one year anniversary of under new management. In spite of what Rick and Dan think, there are benefits to going to quilt stores (cake in the middle of the afternoon).

Devon looks happy to be able to pick his material.

Cindy was taking care of our grandson today and we took him along. Cindy let him pick out some fat quarters for a lion quilt they are making.












Cindy also bought some more fabric from the sale room.








After we got home I worked for about 4 more hours on the quilt. She wants a lot of stitch in the ditch. I haven't even started on the borders.

That was about it for the day. Thanks for visiting.

Bad case of Hitch Itch September 26, 2013

My new brake assembly came by UPS this morning. I got it put on and the tire put back on. There are only a few little things keeping us from leaving.Cindy want to get a few lessons on her new 5D program we got installed tonight, but more about that later. I had the brake and tire on by noon, and told Cindy I'm ready to go. She admitted that she is also ready. In these pictures, you can see the new brake assembly. Under it the new wire can also be seen.

Since we've been home, there have only been 3 days that one of the grandkids have not been home for one reason or another. Today the little boy got sick at school and Cindy had to go pick him up. If the kids have to go home as much all the time as they have the last 2 weeks, I can't help but wonder how their mom keeps a job. but enough about that.

This afternoon I started quilting the quilt that I got loaded yesterday. I worked on it for a few hours and then we had to go over to the store to get Cindy's software put on the computer.

When we loaded the disc into the computer, we had to have an internet connection and the only one I could get was to use my phone as a hot spot. The problem was that I didn't have very good Verizon service in the store and my hot spot was so slow, that I couldn't get her software to register properly. I tried 4 or 5 times and kept getting the same error message. We finally gave up and plugged into the store computer, and it finally recognized the dongle. We were supposed to get a few tips on using the software, but I spent so long with the sales lady that all I did was to try, and finally, get the program loaded. Cindy did play with the store computer with another lady, so she did get a little help.

She wants to go back next week and get a little more familiar with the program. They are also supposed to get in the newest upgrade, which Cindy is supposed to get free. I guess she wants to stay here till that happens. I really want to head back to the Oregon coast, but guess that will have to wait a little while longer.

Thanks for visiting.

More Fabric Stores September 25, 2013

 First thing this morning Stephanie called to tell me that her loan was a done deal. They found a lot they could live with and the builder and bank signed all the papers. Weather permitting, they are supposed to be in their new home by January 15th.

This store gives 30% off to the first customer.

Then we decided to go see two more fabric stores. We hadn't been to either of them since last April. One of them has a deal where the first customer of the day gets to pick a fabric which is then 30% off the rest of the day, or while it lasts. We were 5 minutes too late to be first, and the lady that was first picked a fabric which we didn't like. Oh well, there's always another day.

Cindy found a Halloween quilt she liked, and she bought the pattern. She also bought some more fabric. She does shop the sale section, and says she has to have a place where she can use it.

This is only one room out of 4. A lot of fabric.

This is their sale room.

The second store had some pieces of batiks on sale for $2.50 a yard. They were both name brands, so we bought all they had on the sale bolts ( a little over 9 yards). We thought it was quite a good buy. Cindy also bought a bag of scraps for $1.50. She got to pick what she wanted and got everything she could put in a small bag.

After we came home, I cut out a back for one of the quilts I'm supposed to quilt. It is a king size, and will be a lot harder to quilt than the all over I have been doing. I got it loaded on the machine, and will start quilting it tomorrow.

This evening I watched a James Bond movie on TV.

Thanks for visiting.

Riverton, Utah September 24, 2013

Yesterday I took the trailer tires to Les Schwab's to have metal stems put in in place of the rubber ones that were there. The one I had replaced in Portland made me kind of leary of driving any more with the rubber ones. I had put the 1st one in  the back of the truck, and when I went to put it on, the tire was flat. I pumped up the tire and checked to see where it was leaking, and it was the new stem. I was planning on paying for 3 more stems, but when they got through, they told me that since I had trouble with the original one, the other three were no charge. It is kind of hard to beat that kind of service.

I also replaced the wire going through the axle that had been showing short on my brake controller. When I looked at the old wire, there was a place that was rubbed through all the insulation, and the wire came out damp. After I replaced the wire, I hooked up the end that I was able to, and hooked the truck to the trailer, the short was gone. Now all I'm waiting for is the new brake assembly that is supposed to be here Thursday. Then we will be ready to go again.

I finished one of Cindy's picnic quilts. It is a watermelon log cabin quilt with seeds sewn on. The pattern has picnic baskets and watermelons on it. I hope you can see them.              

Today I wanted to repair a motion sensor light I had put on the fiver that had never worked. When I turned on the switch that was supposed to give a constant light, all I got was the blue light that said it was working, but no light. I took it back to Camping World and had them check it. When he put another light in it, it came on. So we had a bad bulb. Rather than give me a light bulb that cost about $27.00, he said that since it had been so long, that he would give me a whole assembly, and send it back to the factory. I was supposed to do something about it within 30 days, but since we were going to Alaska, I didn't make it. There is a one year guarantee on it, but I'm supposed to send it back, not them. But to make me happy they were willing to do so. Another example of good custom service. Two days in a row, wow! I told him I didn't need the box or new instructions, and he said it would make it easier for them.

Today we were going to go up the canyon, but got a call from our daughter asking if we could go over to our grand-daughters school and pick her up. She had been acting up in school and they couldn't control her. She has some emotional problems which she is being tested for. She is only in the first grade. Since we have been home she has been to school for two days, and Cindy is really getting weary trying to take care of her all day. Anyway, our plans for the day were kind of shot down. Tomorrow, we are going to do something else!

I'm getting anxious to leave again, but Cindy wants me to do some more quilting before we leave. I'm only 18 or so behind. What's the big hurry. lol

Thanks for visiting.

                        

Riverton, Utah September 22, 2013

Yesterday was kind of a laid back day. We did make it to some more yard sales, and found one with quilting material for sale. Most was good quality and Cindy was able to get several fat quarters for under 10 cents each. We spent a whopping $2.50 and got a bag full of material scraps and fat quarters. She had me take her to JoAnn's and bought some thread with her 50% off coupons. We don't like their fabric.

Stephanie and Pat were having second thoughts about the house they had made an offer on, and as it turned out, the builder wouldn't make the changes they want. They talked to another builder and looked at one of his homes that is under construction, and really like the floor plan as is with no changes necessary. And the good part is he can build it for their budget. I hope this one goes the way they want.

I quilted one of Cindy's baby quilts. I don't know if the pattern shows up, but it is a teddy bear with a night cap, stars and a moon.

I had borrowed a cook top smoker from one of our friends to try out before I bought one of my own. I tried it tonight and we all really like the added smoke flavor it brought to the salmon. I guess getting one of the smokers is now on my to do list.

I won't get the part to repair the fiver until next Friday, so we have decided to leave in about two weeks. We are not sure which direction we will head, but probably back to the Oregon coast to continue our interrupted travels.

Cindy wants me to finish some more of her quilts before we leave, and she still has some things she wants to do here before we leave. We are talking about not coming home till Christmas, if then.

Thanks for visiting.

Riverton, Utah September 21, 2013

We started out the day yesterday by going to 2 estate sales and a couple of yard sales. We managed to leave without buying anything.

We had an appointment with Stephanie and Pat and their Realtor to look at some new homes in Santaquin (a small town in southern Utah county). The homes were sold, but would give us an idea of what to expect from the builder, and they wanted my input as to the construction. For the price the builder is charging, I think they are getting a quality home for a reasonable price. It is a little far from their work, however.

Before the appointment, there was a yard sale that had advertised fabric which was on the way, so we went to see what they had. A lot of the fabric Cindy didn't want, but she found two pieces that were almost a yard. She offered the lady 50 cents and she said sure. I can't think of anywhere else she can buy a yard of fabric for that price.

We didn't get to see the model that they finally settled on, but it would be easy to make the changes they want.

We had another appointment to see one that was for sale, but had a while to wait, so Cindy and I went to another fabric store nearby that we had never been in before. Again we didn't buy anything.

The home we looked at was a little small and they didn't like the floor plan, so we are going  back to the builder.

We came home and found the builders web site and printed the floor plans. Pat and I then made the changes he wanted. We finally got hold of our Realtor and found out that the plan the other Realtor suggested was, indeed, within their budget so we went to see our Realtor. Pat submitted an offer and now we are waiting to see what the builder has to say about the changes and the total price. 

It was a very long day yesterday, but we hope that Pat and Stephanie will be able to get into their new home, even if I can't be their builder. They both are highly stressed because they are down to the wire before they loose their loan. Cindy and I both hope it turns out OK.

Thanks for visiting.

   

Quilt Show September 19, 2013

Yesterday I wrote that I was having computer troubles. Judy suggested that I write to Rick and see if he could help me. He soon wrote back and said from what I had told him, to try going to the start menu or even right click on the short cut. When I did that there was a button to open with, which then gave me 3 options, one of which was the Microsoft Office place that was causing the problem. When I open it in one of the other options, the file would open. So it also gave me the option of changing the default setting, which I did. When I did that the problem was gone. Thanks Judy for suggesting I ask Rick, and especially thanks Rick for helping me overcome the problem.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a Quilt Open House. It was held in the home of Jill Finley of Jillily Studios. They live in an upscale neighbor hood in the foothills of Herriman, Utah. Maybe it was just for the show, but her home had quilts everywhere you could imagine. There was even a quilted shower curtain in one of the bathrooms.

There was a sewing room that would be the envy of anyone. It is a very large room with a 40 by 80 cutting mat. That is about the largest mat I remember seeing. (I have several mats that I put on top of the ping pong table, which is on top of our pool table. The pool table has had more use as a cutting table than it ever did as a pool table.)





They also had treats which were cookies and all kinds of pies. Of course I had to try a piece of Lemon  pie before I got into the serious business of the open house.







One of the vendors got talking to us and found out I have a Gammel quilting machine with a Statler stitcher  and said her husband was in the process of getting one, but was very nervous about using it, and would I talk to him when he got there. I told her I would, and after he got to the show, I showed him some of what can be done with the machine, and reassured him that where he is buying it have very good support and classes on using the machine and computer. Hopefully he isn't quite as nervous as he was.

We got to look in every room in the home, and the tulip quilt that was hanging outside was probably my favorite. Cindy also got pictures of their view of the valley, and lots of pictures of all the quilts.

Of course all this made me hungry and when they offered me another piece of pie I couldn't refuse.

This is any interesting pattern.

Her view from the porch.

 It didn't take Cindy long to find what will probably turn out to be a new way to embellish her quilts.. She tried out a hand embroidery needle and ended up buying one. I have to admit the pictures that were put on with the needle we kind of neat.

This one was my favorite.

"Life is short, eat desert first."

The first quilted shower curtain I have ever seen.

 Cindy really likes this fold up Iron mat and wants to make one like it.

I am going to let most of the picture speak for themselves. Thanks for visiting.

 

Computer woes. September 19, 2013

I was reading blogs this morning, and came across a new blog from Croft about his computer problems. The last few day I have been getting a pop-up every time I try to open some of our short cuts. One is our Alaska expenses folder and some are Cindy's recipes. I get the message that we don't have an authorized version of Microsoft Office installed on our computer, but this is funny because the computer is almost a year old, and has worked flawlessly until a couple of days ago. I'm afraid I don't want to spend 2 1/2 hours on the phone with Microsoft like Croft did, and then get told $99.00 please and we can fix it. Yesterday, I couldn't even open some of the attachments to emails, and they still won't open. What can I do? Any advise would be very welcome and appreciated. I might add, I attached a couple of the problem files to my brother, and he was able to open them without any problem. The message also says to buy a newer version of Office than is on my computer, but I really don't want to do that. Is this problem something Microsoft managed to send me?

Help!!

Riverton, Utah September 18, 2013

Yesterday I spent the morning getting bids for Stephanie's house. It is coming in way over what their loan is for, but that is not the worst news. I got a phone call from my insurance agent. She told me that since I had not had continuous coverage for the past 2 years, the company I had been with would not cover me. Without insurance, I can't renew my license. She did tell me there was another company that might cover me, but they wanted $5000.00 in addition to the the normal premium. All this hassle, and I never have made a claim! But with the costs coming in the way they are, I had to call Stephanie and tell her they would be better off finding an existing home. Today she spent the day looking, and their real estate agent found about 11 homes that were in her price range. Three of them were log homes exactly like she was trying to build. The only problem was she and her husband had their hearts set on new.

The other log home I'm supposed to build is in Idaho, and my daughter and son-in law won't have a loan, so he can be his own general contractor. I probably will take the fiver and park it on their lot next spring while we build the house. Cindy is kind of looking forward to relaxing in northern Idaho.





Today I quilted one of the Quilts Cindy finished while we were in Alaska. With it finished, I only behind about 20 quilts. The bad thing is that she keeps making more, so I never will catch up. But I guess that's good, so we can both keep busy.

Close up of the quilting.

This afternoon I took the wheel and brake drum off the fiver. I saw a broken spring hanging down from inside the brake drum when I looked underneath a while ago, but have no idea how it hooks on. There also was a cable that makes both shoes work that was loose inside. From the pictures I have looked at I can't tell where one end of the cable goes. It doesn't really matter, because I couldn't find anywhere on line to buy just the broken spring or the clip that ties the cable to the front brake shoe. There are only new brake assemblies on line, but they don't look too expensive, so I'm going to call one of them tomorrow and make sure the part they are selling is from the original equipment manufacturer.

Cindy keeps overdoing it and by the end of the day her back hurts. She thinks its getting better, but it seems to be a slow process.

I have included some pictures of Fabric Depot in Portland Cindy took while she was there. They do have a lot of fabric.

Tomorrow afternoon we have a small quilt show to go to.

Thanks for visiting.

Riverton, Utah September 16, 2013

Not a lot to report. Friday I went to see the Utah State offices to see about getting my Contractors licence renewed. It seems like there are a lot of hoops I have to jump through. It is a good thing it has been less than 2 years since I let the licence go, or I don't think I would do it even if it is for my daughters. If the licence has been inactive more than 2 years, you have to retest and basically start over.

Saturday we went to a couple of yard sales, but didn't buy anything. The rest of the day Cindy spent overdoing in the yard. By night her back was really bothering her. She says she has lists of what she wants to get done each day. I think she forgets she is retired and if it doesn't get done today, there is always tomorrow. I wasn't feeling well Saturday and Sunday, but am doing better today.

I spent today trying to put the numbers together on the house to get to the bank for Stephanie's loan. She called today and told me we had 2 days less than we thought. I should  be able to get the numbers together, but it is taking most of my time. I have found I like retirement better.

One thing I'm having trouble with is that they think they want a Log house and I know it will be too expensive. I have been trying to get the idea over to them that log siding looks the same, but is a lot easier to build. I've been getting both prices so I can show them the cost comparisons.

Tomorrow is more of the same. Sorry my life is so boring now. Thanks for visiting.

Home September 12, 2013

This morning I wanted to take some pictures of the RV Park before we left. The first one shows what is on the side of the freeway. It looks a lot like Utah to me. The rest are where we were parked and views of the Park. The spaces were nice and wide and were very long. It was a nice RV Park in the middle of no-where.

We left at about 9:00 and arrived at our home in Riverton at about 2:00. Thunder showers were predicted today, but didn't show up. After we got part of the fiver unloaded, Cindy couldn't stand all the weeds in her garden and had to fill 2 large garbage cans with weeds. She probably worked too long, because her back started bothering her.

Altogether we drove almost 12,000 miles since we left last May. I would have liked to stay on the Oregon coast longer, but some things are more important than us hanging out on the coast.

Tomorrow I will start getting my General Contractor license reinstated so I can help build the two log homes.

We both still have lots of unloading to do, but we were too tired to finish tonight.

The grand kids got home at about 6:00. I have to admit it was good to see them, but I'm sure I will want to go again.

Thanks for visiting

Hagerman, Idaho September 11, 2013

When we woke up it was about 75 degrees. We left the RV Park and headed toward Idaho. I didn't know how far I would drive, but we drove about 325 miles. It seemed like a long day of driving, but all of it was freeway. Also in Oregon and Idaho, I didn't have to watch for frost heaves. lol There was a little road construction, but nothing that slowed us down.

With the time change from Pacific to Mountain time, we lost an hour. We stopped driving at about 5:30 MDT, which was still a long day.

Surprisingly, the RV Park we are at is quit nice in spite of being in the middle of nowhere. We used Passport America again. We got full hook up so we could have 50 amp power, because of the heat.


The only scenery we saw were lots of windmills along the Columbia River, and through Idaho. The further we go, the more the scenery looks like the desert around Salt Lake City. Yes, I miss all the trees and green by the Washington and Oregon coast.

We will make it home tomorrow by early afternoon, and Friday I can get started on renewing my General Contracting license, so I can help build the houses for our daughters. The only problem I see is that they both want log homes, which I don't have much experience building.

Cindy called how to let our daughter know when we would be home. Her reaction was "Oh good, I don't have to cook dinner"with a laugh,and I think she meant it. Aren't kids wonderful, no matter what age.

Thanks for visiting.