Comments Problem

Last week I changed the comments feature on my blog to try and make leaving comments easier. Since then, I haven’t received any comments. Merikay was kind enough to send me an email telling me it wasn’t working. I asked Rick to help, and he responded right away.

For some reason, the post options settings for my 3 most recent posts had the comments settings turned off. I’m not sure why this happened, but at least now I know to check it.

So, I’ve reposted the two most recent entries today with the comments feature enabled. Hopefully, you can now tell me what you think. I love computers and the internet when everything is working great. But, when it’s not, GRRRR!!!

Completed Projects

I’ve finally finished some of my quilting projects that I purchased last year at Quilt Expo in Madison.  I loved these flower panels, and made this lap quilt for myself.  The colors are even more vibrant than the picture shows. I love how it turned out. It has found a home hanging over the back of my recliner, ready to keep me warm.

I used some techniques I learned at the free-motion quilting class I attended in June. I used a stencil I had purchased on clearance a few months ago. I drew lines using the stencil for the quilting along the borders. I used a quilt marker where the lines disappear when you iron over them. It worked great. Even though I had lines to follow, I used the free-motion foot on my machine. I wasn’t always able to follow the lines exactly, but I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt.

The other project I completed are some placemats my mom will be getting for Christmas. She doesn’t use a computer, so my showing you won’t ruin the surprise.  I’m very pleased with how they turned out. The pictures are of my mom and her friend, Richard; my brother and his wife; our two boys which are her only grandchildren; and Kevin and myself in the Rocky Mountains.
I used my printer to copy the pictures onto photo fabric. It was a fun project! The sample pictures on the pattern show buttons sewn along some of the edges. I think buttons would not work well for placemats; your plate wouldn’t be flat. So, I’m going to try to find some other trim to embellish the mats. Maybe some ribbon or bric-a-brac kinds of trim.

Our area was pretty dry this summer, and we were about 5 inches below average for rainfall. Well, we’ve been catching up. It has been raining off and on for three days. Last night and this morning it rained very hard, so I think we’re definitely getting caught up.  It really feels like fall.
I sure wish the weathermen would get their forecasts right more often. Eric was planning on residing his garage this fall. We had offered to help take off the old siding and then Eric and his roommate would put up the new stuff over the weekend.  After watching the weather early last week, the forecast was for sunny days all the way through the weekend.
So, on Thursday Kevin and I went to Eric’s house and took off all the old siding. Kevin did most of the work, I was the helper removing lots of nails from the old pieces. Unfortunately, an unexpected front came up from the south, and suddenly the forecast was for rain all weekend. Gosh darn it! They did get most of the siding done on Saturday in between some rain showers. It’ll all be okay, but I wish those forecasters would get it right!
On Thursday on our way to Eric’s, Kevin and I stopped at a lab to get drug tested for our job at Amazon. They sure do a very thorough check on their temporary workers. They require a high school transcript, a background check, and a drug test. It makes me kind of sad that employers have to be so careful when hiring workers. Not a very positive reflection on our society. The good news is we hopefully won’t have to worry about what kind of co-workers we’ll be dealing with.
Two weeks from today we head south!
Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Comments

Last Saturday we spent the day at Green Lake Campground with our camping club. Kevin played golf with some of the guys in the morning, and I went shopping with the ladies. We went to the Rippin’ Good cookie outlet store and a craft shop we like in Ripon. The campground has a little 9 hole, par 3 golf course so a bunch of us played a round of golf in the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day chatting, stayed for the pot luck supper, sat around the campfire for a little while, and headed back home.
Due to our camphosting duties, we haven’t actually camped with the club this year, other than in June when they camped at our campground. But, we are very glad we were able to do some “day camping” with them, and spend time with everyone. When they asked for suggestions for next year’s schedule, I lobbied for them to come and camp at our campground again so we can participate in a full weekend with them.  Maybe, they should just camp here every month. We’ll see what happens.
While chatting with some of my friends, I was surprised at how many of them told me they were reading my blog regularly. None of them have ever left comments, so I didn’t know most of them read it. Some didn’t know about the comment feature, and others said they had tried leaving comments, but it was too confusing. 
Coincidentally, last Sunday Rick, who writes the blog Rick and Paulette’s RV Travels, posted a blog about comments. He made a good point about people wanting to leave a comment without putting in codes or waiting for the blog writer to approve the comment.
So, I have changed the moderation of comments on my blog. All you have to do to leave me a comment is click at the bottom of a post where it says comments. A little window will pop up where you type your comment. If you don’t have a Google account, you can leave it as an anonymous comment. Just tell me who you are in the message, unless you want to remain anonymous :) 
I think most blog writers will agree that we really do like to hear from you. Sometimes, it feels like no one is paying attention, so leave me some comments so I know you’re out there in cyberspace! If you have any problems with it, send me an email and let me know what happened. Maybe, it’s something I can fix from my end.
The weather this week has been cool, cloudy and windy. Yesterday was my last day volunteering at the daycare for this year. Other than that, I cleaned our large area rug on Monday and am doing some quilting. Pretty soon I’ll have some projects to show you.
We’re leaving in a little over two weeks and still have a bunch of stuff to get done including another visit to the dentist, haircuts, family visits, and getting the truck in for an oil change. The time sure has gone by quickly! I’m getting excited to be on the move again, but am also a tiny bit nervous about the adventure that lies ahead at Amazon.
Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

*Arcadia Park*

The following is a Guest Blogger Post:

The article written by Victor Flowers

We have a small vacation cabin near Arcadia Park, Maine. The area is absolutely beautiful. I feel lucky to be able to have a vacation home in such a natural area of the country. We are looking forward to our grandkids coming to visit this summer. They tend to get bored pretty quickly, so I decided to get direc4U Maine so that they could take a break from playing cards with me in the evening and watch a little television. I always thought that I we should not get television at the cabin. I wanted it to have a rustic feel. Over the last few years without it or the internet, I realized just how disconnected I felt. I had gotten used to watching the news and staying in touch with my friends. I say that I made the technological upgrades to make the children’s stay more comfortable, but I actually really enjoy then myself. I am guessing that the kids will probably want to stay longer this summer than they have before. They always complained about having to play gin rummy in the evenings. They are in for a nice surprise!

An Expensive Dental Visit

Kevin and I had appointments today to have our teeth cleaned. You may recall that I had my teeth cleaned in Mexico last January. I wasn’t all that pleased with that cleaning, so I had decided I would just go to our regular dental clinic in Wisconsin once a year and pay to have it done here. Kevin was never willing to have his cleaned in Mexico.

We declined the x-rays which saved us a little. After the cleaning, we both ended up having one bite wing x-ray done due to what was discovered during the exam. It turns out Kevin needs a root canal because he has an abscess. Luckily, he hasn’t been feeling any pain and didn’t even know there was a problem. But, it’s just a matter of time.

We’ve been going to the same dentist for years, and she was kind enough to squeeze him in to have the work done before we leave in three weeks. I ended up having a small cavity, so they’ll fix that at the same time Kevin is having his root canal. She also is giving us a 30 percent discount if we pay right away.

When all is said and done, it will cost up about $1,000 for dental work this year. Ouch! I’m not complaining, however. We willingly gave up our dental insurance to pursue our dream of fulltime RVing. We are not in the least bit sorry we did. We had set money aside for these types of emergencies, so we’ll be fine. We will, however, be accepting any extra hours Amazon may offer us while we’re there :)

The Hummingbird is Back

Last spring I put up my hummingbird feeder, and we had a few visits from some hummingbirds. But, not many visits and then none at all over the summer.

I gave up and took the feeder down. Then, last week this poor little hummingbird was flying around my regular bird feeder. I’m assuming he was looking for food and was a bit confused as my regular feeder is red.

So, I got out the hummingbird feeder again, and there have been at least two of them that have been visiting it regularly. I’m guessing they must migrate through this area. Maybe they remembered where they had found food in spring. I think birds and animals are much smarter than we realize.  Here’s one of the most recent visitors.

I’ve also seen several Blue Jays in the neighborhood over the last few days. I wonder if they also migrate, since I saw some in spring, but none over the summer. This guy was in the tree across from our site this morning.

The other evening the sun was just beautiful shining from behind some clouds that were passing through. It’s one of those sights that makes me think of heaven for some reason.

The temperatures have suddenly decided it is fall. On Monday we golfed and the high was 85 degrees. By the way, Kevin and I both had good games. I guess it’s true that the more you play, the better you get :) Today, highs are supposed to be in the 60s and there are frost warnings for the next two nights. The electric heater has made an appearance!

Tonight, we’re going to a Brewers baseball game. They are still in first place, but haven’t been playing too well the last two weeks. I think they will be in the playoffs, but I sure hope they get their mojo back!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Quilt Expo

Last year I discovered the Quilt Expo in Madison. I purchased three projects last year, and I wasn’t going to attend this year’s expo because I’ve only finished one of those projects :(

However, I got an email from them saying they needed volunteers. In exchange for 3 hours of volunteering, I got free admission to the show and parking. Well, I just had to go. So, yesterday was the day. My volunteer shift was at one of the Presentation Stages. I helped the presenters with handouts and just watched to make sure everything went smoothly. Easy enough!

One of the presenters was a lady who started an organization that collects sewing machines and sends them to places in need like Africa, Haiti and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Another presenter was a book-signing by author Jennifer Chiaverini who writes novels with quilting as the main theme. Close to 100 people stood in line to get their books signed. Interesting stuff.

There were hundreds of quilts on display in the judging area. This one won the top price. It’s hard to see from the picture, but the detail was amazing. I just marvel at the skill this person has!

 

There were ballots to vote for your favorite quilt that had not already received a ribbon. I chose this one. What a clever idea this lady had. She used baby clothes her daughter had worn. They were applied in such a way that they can be removed if her daughter ever wants to use them for her own baby. Cool!

 

I didn’t spend quite as much money as last year, but I wound up buying patterns for 6 more projects. I need to step it up on the quilting front. I’m very excited about some of these projects. I can’t say more because most of them are for gifts. But, here’s a picture of the patterns I bought.

There is a shop in Beaver Dam called Nancy’s Notions. Nancy has a sewing television show, and they have a big display at the expo. The shop was having a big sale this weekend, and I got a coupon for something free. So, today I went and checked that out. I found the cutest camper fabric to make a tote out of using one of the patterns I bought yesterday.

I wasn’t expecting much for the free item, maybe some needles or thread. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was a DVD showing how to create fusible art projects. It will be perfect for one of the projects I bought last year and didn’t really know how to complete.

I was so excited and full of ideas that I woke up at 1:00 am last night and couldn’t get back to sleep for 2 hours. I should have just gotten up and started sewing :)

On Thursday I was at Eric’s house painting the bathrooms. One more day and they will be done!  Around 1:00 in the afternoon my phone rang. It was one of those calls every mother dreads getting. Eric’s first words were “Don’t freak out Mom, but I’m driving myself to the ER.”  It seems he got his finger caught in a blower motor and had 3 long cuts on his ring finger.

Eric is an HVAC Technician and gets minor cuts and burns regularly. So, I knew it had to be pretty bad for him to go to the ER. He said it was really bleeding a lot, and that’s what made him decide to go. He ended up getting 18 stitches. About 3 hours later he was home with a large bandage on his finger. He was also happy to show me a picture he took with his cell phone of the injury. It looked like raw meat. Don’t worry, I’m not going to share the picture with you!

He’s doing fine. He had to take the day off on Friday, so enjoyed some extra video game time. I told him that was quite a drastic way to get a day off of work. On Monday, he’ll be back at work. Hopefully, with a little more caution around blower motors.

Our weather has been fantastic this past week. About half of the sites in the campground are occupied for the weekend. A beautiful weekend for those lucky campers.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

It’s Been a Busy Week

Our son Korey, who lives on the western side of Minnesota, arrived for a week long visit last Wednesday night. On Thursday morning the three of us played disc golf at a park in Beaver Dam. Korey has played before, but Kevin and I were rookies. We played with two discs we had found and one regular Frisbee.

Let me tell you, regular Frisbees don’t work very well. We had a good time, though, along with some laughs. It was a good thing we went early as it got up to 90 degrees and was very humid on Thursday, as well as on Friday.

Thursday night we went to my mom’s house for dinner. She has an 80 acre farm. As we came down the driveway, we saw a lot of Canadian Geese on the pond. Once we got in the house, we saw about 30 wild turkeys off the back deck. Then a couple of deer walked through the yard. I was teasing my mom that she lives on a wildlife preserve. This was the view off of her back deck. Turkeys in the front and geese further back.

We hadn’t taken a family picture since last Christmas, so the guys had to humor me. We’re on the deck. The field right behind us was where all the birds you see above were located.

We enjoyed a great evening with my mom, her friend, Richard, and my brother and his wife. And, of course, no one ever leaves my mom’s without eating too much!

Korey gets a week off at the end of the summer camping season to compensate for all the extra hours he works during the summer. I so appreciate that he has come home and spent that week with us every summer since he moved to Minnesota. And, now that our schedule is more flexible, we don’t have to go to work every day. We can enjoy all of his time with us!

Five couples that belong to the camping club we belong to came and camped at our park for the weekend. We’ve all gotten to be good friends over the years, and had a fun weekend. There was lots of laughter, eating, and game playing all weekend long.

On Saturday seven of us went golfing at a course we haven’t been to yet. Korey and I shared a cart. I had my best game of the season. My son must have brought me luck! This morning six of the guys went back and played again. Korey and Kevin shared a cart and had a very good time. Korey has his best game of the season!

The weather could have been better for the weekend. All but two of our sites were full. Thursday and Friday were very hot and humid with some scattered rain. Saturday was a bit cooler, but it rained a few times and was very windy. Sunday was cool and windy with some more showers and temperatures Sunday night dropped to the low 40s. It definitely felt like fall this morning. As is often the case, today when everyone was leaving was the nicest day.

While we were in New Mexico last spring, a piece of metal on our step broke. Kevin fixed it temporarily. This weekend our friend Jim brought his portable welder and a better piece of metal. He had the new piece welded in place in no time, and now we have a solid and secure step. I’ll sand it a bit and spray paint it, and it will look good as new. Better, in fact, since it’s sturdier. Thanks for the help, Jim!

It’s the piece along the bottom that has the rust on it. It keeps the steps from swaying and makes them solid when you step on them.

The other day I got up and looked out our back window. The field was full of geese. Another sign that fall is here. Five weeks from today we will be leaving Wisconsin. I have a couple weeks worth of work left at Eric’s house, and then I’ll be ready for the next adventure.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!