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Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Wednesday Weather Report #176 - 9/30/20

 I work in the Town of Perry which used to have several water powered mills and factories. In fact, my Grandmother worked at one of them when they moved here from Chicago. Quite a bit of the local Polish population came to town for mill jobs.

This boulder mounted sign sits next to my office building to commemorate the Richmond-Andrus Mill, constructed in 1872 as a sawmill just off Main Street.  I'm hoping you can enlarge the photo to read the info - if not I can type it out for y'all. 

September 23 - 29, 2020
73 - 75 -75 - 76 - 79 - 76 - 60 F

This is how the area looks today:


According to the sign, the sawmill was converted to the first local frozen food locker in 1949 and later was owned by Rich Plan. Sadly the building has been empty for many years. The parking lot behind and to the right of the building was once the millpond and the "creek" (overgrown on the left) is actually the outlet for our local lake and drinking water source.


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Monday, September 28, 2020

Gotcha!

 Happy Gotcha Day Zorro!!


(I know - totally overexposed, etc, but you try to get him to pose for a selfie without any blood shed)

Friday, September 25, 2020

Feline Friday - 9/25/20

Zorro's official Gotcha Day was 9/28/13!! He introduced himself a couple weeks later. 

At the time the vet guessed he was five years old altho he acted more like a naughty little kid most days. He still has his moments - there was a little tantrum before I left for vacation last weekend.

In fact, I ought to say that 9/28 was his first Gotcha Day. I only had inside cats until Z arrived and I had intended him to be an inny kitty as well. We disagreed vehemently, resulting in lots of bloodshed on my part, broken items pushed to the floor, scratched couches and food containers busted open for a hungry ex-street cat.

It got so bad that after just 28 days I opened the door and just let him leave. I had cried many times while we tried to work out our inside differences but then I cried again when he didn't show his little face for days and days and days. Z then lived outside while I continued to feed him on the porch. He was happy enough. 

Eventually winter arrived in early 2014 and the temps were well below freezing so I would bring him inside to sleep in the crate for the night. Eventually that led to our current situation: Z can come and go as he pleases, he just rings a bell (instead of scratching the couch) when he wants to go outside. It stresses me out when he doesn't come home when I want him to but 9 times out of 10 he will come when I whistle for him. Often, he is meowing his "here I come" meow which is so endearing. 

I never wrote down his second gotcha date - I suppose it's not the important date in the grand scheme. Over the years Z has stayed outside less and damaged fewer things in the house but he is still always on the hunt for food boxes to bust open or garbage to pull from the bin. I guess you can never break a cat from being hungry!

So...all that to say that Monday is Zorro's 7th anniversary here at Casa Grande. I love him dearly and can't imagine life without him. 

Give your cats a snuggle in his honor!



Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Wednesday Weather Report #175 - 9/23/20

 There was a slight change in the weather this last week...

September 9 - 15, 2020
69 - 61 - 62 - 48 - 52 - 56 - 66 F

So... can you guess which four days I went camping in the Adirondack Mountains??!!

Which days it was 30F when I got up?


There's almost always fog on 8th Lake this time of the year - some days it's just around the edges like it was on Saturday and some days it's so thick you can't see past the edge of the beach.

The colors this year seem to be very far behind schedule and very muted - almost like the faded colors at the end of the season. Still, we had sunny days, star filled nights and lots of campfires and cocoa to keep warm. 



Friday, September 18, 2020

Feline Friday - 9/18/20

We are still walking down memory lane towards Zorro's Gotcha Day at the end of the month...

Today's old photo makes me think about all the nicknames we give our pets. 


Zorro, before his Gotcha Day, was The Introoder and then Mr Peepers as he was always peeping in the windows, wanting in. Zorro, of course, is because of his mask and cape. Then he became the Dork for doing everything backwards. Eventually he became the Z-Man or just Z. 

Now a days I also call him my little Monkey (he's always up to some kind of monkey business), Turkey (I recently found out he might be a Turkish Angora), SnickeyDo (short for snicker doodle - can't remember how that even started), Bubba or my current fav, Bubby (Bubba + Baby).

Does your cat have a couple nicknames?


Thursday, September 17, 2020

Birthday Cake reminder

It's now just four month's until my "nifty" birthday...have you made a birthday cake block yet?

I've received several in the mail already and I know several more are in the works. I'd love to receive your blocks before my birthday on 1/17. That's a Sunday so I hope to start sewing them together that weekend.

My first Over the Hill (black) block!!!
Hahahahaha!

Directions are at the link above or I can also send a pdf to anyone who asks. TIA for participating!!


Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Wednesday Weather Report #174 - 9/16/20

I hope today's photo doesn't end up being as political as some of what I've been ignoring online...

The news has been showing truckloads of mail boxes being removed but it's pretty much a non-issue in the small communities where I live and work. This mail box is one of 2 in the town where I work and it's outside the post office. The other box is at the bank drive through. There used to be a third just two blocks from the post office but it was removed a good 5 years ago as people just weren't using it enough to warrant staff checking it twice a day. There are only 4,600 people in this town so it was more about changing habits than an inconvenience. I mean, who can't walk the extra 2 blocks in a 3 block business district?

The smaller town where I live has one box in front of the post office.

September 9 - 15, 2020
83 - 73 - 56 - 70 - 66 - 61 - 61 F

In reality, anyone with rural delivery just has to put the flag up on the mailbox at the end of their driveway and the mail(wo)man will pick up what ever needs to be mailed when he delivers your daily mail.

How is the mailbox situation where you live?


Friday, September 11, 2020

Feline Friday - 9/11/20

Down Memory Lane continues as we work towards Zorro's Gotcha Day...

Long before Zorro was adopted...


He slept on the porch, driving his sisters crazy seeing him peek in all the windows when they weren't allowed outside. 

He still periodically sleeps outside during the warmer summer months but I have no idea where as I don't keep a cardboard box on the porch any more. I bet he would prefer his nursery tray any way...



Thursday, September 10, 2020

Wednesday Weather Report #173 on Thursday - 9/10/20

I was so proud yesterday cuz I remembered to bring my weather hexies to work but as soon as I went to take a picture I realized the colors were "wrong" - I had brought last week's hexies with me. Ugh. I promise to get my act together soon.

Today was supposedly my last podiatrist appointment for my foot (rest while it was broken led to plantar fasciitis and a swollen ankle after I resumed activities) so my "architectural" photo today is the front of the hospital. I know it's hard to read but it says Wyoming County Community Hospital. This is where I drop off patients when I'm an EMT on the ambulance but they have recently been bringing in lots of great city doctor practices for non-emergency issues which is nice out here in the boondocks. Who wants to drive to the city every couple of weeks for follow up appointments? 



I tried to find a sign where I could get the hexies in the same picture but nothing was easily accessible when I was running late for work. How can the doc be late for his first couple of appointments of the day?!?

September 2 - 8, 2020
79 - 75 - 70 - 66 - 69 - 69 - 82 F

Last Saturday I did my annual hexie demo at the Farmers' Market.
I usually bring lots of big quilts for people to look at as well as the doll bed
stacked high with dolly quilts but I really scaled it back this year due to 'Rona.
My theme was "the same but different" so I picked 4 paper shapes and brought
at least 2 items made with the shape to show how different it can look in
different applications. I think I have at least 2 new converts to join hexie club !!!



I finally finished the back of Mom's jean jacket.
I still need to finish the front yokes - She said to just use the mason
jar fabric but I'm not sure that's the best choice just yet.
Either way, she took it camping so I can finish it later.


My latest obsession are these mini-POTC blocks.
Can you see my thumbnail next to the 1" honeycomb shape?
T.I.N.Y. !!!
They are super fiddly to stitch but finding fabrics to fussy cut is addictive.
I think I have 4 more blocks kitted up and I'm working on a couple more.


This is one of the blocks I am working on.
I started with the feather fabric and I'm slowing figuring
out what else to do with it. I'm not sure if I want the third and fourth
fabric to be the same gray or different grays or add a totally
different fourth fabric.
Decisions, decisions...


Friday, September 04, 2020

Feline Friday - 9/4/20

I haven't been very photogenic this week so Momma thought we should share some of my old photos with you. 

Even better, my official Gotcha Day is at the end of the month so why not take some trips down memory lane this month while Momma's busy with Job #2??!!

This is the first time I appeared on Momma's blog

My sisters called me the Introoder and Momma called me Mr Peepers cuz I was always looking in the windows and doors. I had spent all summer buttering her up and it was about time she considered letting me inside. It was a love/hate relationship at first but we'll get to that later...




Thursday, September 03, 2020

Wednesday Weather Report #172 on a Thursday - 9/3/20

I've been all discombobulated this week - forgetting all kinds of little things here and there. Nothing major but just enough of them to be annoying as a whole. I'll blame them on the end of summer Friday's off, staffing issues at job#1, the start of job#2 and the ever present and still cranky broken foot and related ankle problems. 

One of the forgotten items this week was to bring my temp hexies to work yesterday for a glamour shot. Oh well. 

If I don't post "on time" over the next 2 months - look for me here:

August 26 - 31, 2020 :: 71 - 82 - 71 - 77 - 69 - 73 F
September 1, 2020 :: 75 F



Tuesday, September 01, 2020

The Bibliophile Files - 9/1/20

Hello and welcome to my monthly reading list. It was a good month with 8 finishes! I've now finished 72% of my goal of 90 books for the year. Woot! And that puts me 5 books ahead of schedule. Double Woot!

Job #2 started last week - on one hand that cuts into my lunch hours and evenings for stitching over the next 2 months but, on the other hand, it does give me some dedicated reading/listening time while I'm in robot mode entering data. I'm hoping for another good reading month!

FINISHED 
     The Lost Man
     Deadfall
     The Silence Between Us  - a good story about deaf culture and young love. I found it educational as learning ASL has been on my bucket list for eons. 
     Fresh Ink - a series of short stories - stories that aren't finished yet. That's what the book jacket says any way. I liked the stories but the book jacket description didn't do them any good or help me relate one story to another. I'm not even sure if they were supposed to be related.
     The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Ever read a good book but it doesn't end the way you think it should and that just leaves a bad taste in your mouth? This ain't that book!! Haha. I really enjoyed this book and it ended just the way I thought it should. It was particularly hard to find the next book to read after such a high from this book.
     Little Deaths - Based on a true story. Of course the story was modified to fit into a book but it was also interesting to look up the author's article on what she had to change to please her editors. I wish that had been included as an addendum to the book.
     The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning - I like the concept of death cleaning (culling your own "stuff" before you die and leave it all for the family to do) but the book was a waste of time. I won't even bore you with the details: let's just say it could have been 3 hours culling instead of listening.
     The Bookshop on the Corner - another cute love story.

IN PROGRESS
     Let Me Lie - a great psych thriller (so far!)

And now it's your turn - what are you reading? Anything counts - novel, magazine, quilt pattern or cereal box!