My week in review

OK, so its Friday. Im sitting here in my dirty work cloths, needing to go get in the shower, but instead Im sitting here with you. Your more fun anyway, and you cant tell how crappy I really look right now. I had a pretty good week. I finally got the pictures of my new granddaughter, which I showed you. I mailed off the second lap quilt that was on my Etsy page. It should get there in six to ten days. And now its Friday, andI am off till Sunday night. Usually, I have to go in one hour early on Sunday, to help set up our department. this week though, I dont have to. I double checked before i left, just to make sure, and sure nuff, I get to sleep a littel longer on Sunday. Yippee.

Now today, I was thinking I would go get the fabric for the back of the quilt that I recently finished. I was thinking if i wanted to get it quilted at a shop, or if i wanted to tie it. Somewhere in a past blog I explained the difference. My sister says i should tie it. It would cost me a whole hell of a lot less if i tied it, but the end result would not be as pretty. I also couldnt charge as much for it. That is ok too. I could also tie part of it, and sew part of it, like the outside border. When I get the back fabric, I will have to decide at that point. I really do think I will do a little of both. If you quilt, please give me a littel feedback on this, or if you know what I am talking about here.

I dont know waht we are doing this weekend. I have an invite to a party at the local resorvior, but then I would have to be designated driver. I dont know if I want to do that. If im gonna get to party, I want the freedom of drinking if I want to. Other than that, not a thing planned. I think I may start taking pics of my favorite things for that blog. Maybe i will try to get thirteen, and do a thursday thirteen thing. I should be able to get it done by then.

Ok, this is getting a little wordy here, so I will let you go. Have a great weekend, take advantage of your free time, and have some fun.

New Pics to see

Pics of my new grandbaby (sorta)

And now, without further adu, or is it adoo. No more waiting. My new grandbaby, Lola. Who, by the way is sleeping all night, and is almost potty trained to the puppy pads. I just happen to think she is the cutest little girl.

Entry for August 21, 2007

Sometimes I get on here, with good intentions of reading and even possibly writing a new blog. We have all done this, I know. I did this yesterday. Last night actually. I got on here, with intentions of sending and recieving communications. I received one page of incoming communication, then shut down and closed up shop for the night. I just didnt feel like communicating last night. Im gonna give it a try, one more time.

My youngest son, who lives in Oklahoma, ands is going to school, and is too ar away for me to just drop in on, has purchased a puppy. A little six week old brindle boxer. I have asked for a real pic of my neww grandchild, repeatedly, but all I have is the two he sent on my cell phone. I want one that I can see for cryin out loud. Its not like I can just pop in and see her any time I want. Oh, by the way, he got his grades for the first set of classes in his bachlors. Computer and Management ahe got an A, and in Psycology(Spelling?) he got a B. Pretty good if ya ask me. yep, Im proud. Back to the puppy, the first night he didnt sleep well. My son, not the puppy. heheheheheheheh. That is why I call her my grandchild. I am hoping this is the only child he gives me for a long, very long time.

This is all I have for today, I think. I just wanted to stop in. I did taste the pie, and it is fabulous. the apples do stay pink, and also kind of turn the other apples pink. It make a vary pretty pie. Teh pic above is of some redwoods we passed on the way to Occidental this past weekend. Beautiful trees. OK, that is really it. See ya all later.

Entry for August 19, 2007

John and I left town for our 24th anniversary. We left town Friday morning, after I got off work. I tried to sleep in the car, but that wasnt going to happen. For so long, when we go out this way, I have wanted to stop in Sonoma and have lunch, just to break upo the ride. John always wants to go on until we get to Petaluma, then we stop at McDonalds. OH Boy. This time John decided to stop in Sonoma, and i was so happy. Its not like its that far out of the way, and they have the best bread and cheese. So we stopped, and went into the deli we have stopped at so many times in the past, when we lived in that area. There was cheese and bread samples, and we samapled them. OH Yum. I bought a wedge of Pesto Jack, and a french roll. John brought some Salami, and I made little bites as we drove. It was so good, I wantedn that taste so bad, and finaly got it again.

We took the long way to our destination, and enjoyed the ride this time. John showed me where his Uncle that recently passed away lived. Can you beleive that, we ahve been married 24 years, been together 28, and I had never seen his uncles place. He lived in the next little town over. Its sold now, so we couldnt go into the yard, or look inside the house, but I finally got to see it. It was nice to finally see that little place.

From there we drove out to Sebastipol, and bought soem apples. they grow applae out there, its waht theyare famous for. We also drove through Cotati, where we used to live. In all these places, we were sorta lost. everythting was so built up and new. We couldnt even find the apartment we used to live in.

then we went on to the russian river, stopping in at the Korbel winery. Wow, those wines gaves us both instant heartburn. They acted like we wernt there, just ignored us, instead of treating us like they wanted to sell us something. I guess they are so good, they dont need to try anymore. So Korbel is out of our line of wine. Even if it did give us heartburn.

We we meandered our way up to Occidental and checked into our room. I took a nap, cus I couldnt keep my eyes open any longer. John went down to the pool and smoked his cigar, it was hot, and beautiful out. He woke me up at 5, ands we went to dinner. I can go on and on about every bit of this little overnight trip, but I can tell this is getting a little wordy.

I have to tell ya this though, Saturday on our way home, we drove along the coast. We stopped and I took a few videos of our beach. They are beautiful, but they wont download for some reason. I dont know what is going on. I started getting frustrated trying to figure out why it wont work though.

So, on that note, I will sign off here. We did have a great anniversary, a great trip. I cant wait to go back again. If I can get the video to download I will put it here. Hope your all having a great weekend.

Really cool apples

I just had to show you this. Yesterday when we bought the apples in Sebastipol, they had Pink Pearl apples. We had never heard of these, so I asked for and received a sample taste of the fruit. They are sorta tart, kind of like a granny smith, but not as hard. As you can see, they are also pink. I bought 4 of them, and this morning I baked a pie. I found a really great and easy crust recipe, peeled my apples, and made my pie. It is so good, and I am so proud of myself for finally trying something new. Its a good recipe too, from Ina Garten from the food network. It made my house smell yummy. I was a little upset that I burned the top a little, but the total flavor will make up for that. I will fix it next time around. I love to bake, can you tell. See ya all later.

For all my friends that drink., cus I dont know everyones email

I thought this was fitting for all you lovely ladies that I know!

More stuff from my mind

Hi everyone who happens to read this. I dont have a whole lot to talk about, but I am gonna just say afew things, and move on. Remember the other day when i made the blackberry pastries. Well, they turned out great. I have decided Pepperidge farms is my new pie crust for individual pies. I went and bout another box of the stuff, and finished off the defrosted blackberries I had. I took out some apricots, and I will make those next. I can wrap these individually and freeze them. Then, if John wants a pie, just go to the freezer and let it thaw. I used to be all spazzy about making my own pie crust, but I dont care right now. If I make a regular pie, I will make my own crust. I know, it really doesnt matter, who's gonna know. Just me, and i was raised to make my own, its not that hard.

This weekend is our 24th anniversary. We are both so excited. I wrote about this a while back, but so what, we cant wait and we are excited to be leaving town and going to our favorite getaway. The drive is great, when we get there, the surroundings are beautiful, and there is great food for dinner and breakfast. I just cant wait. Neither can John.

Speaking of John, he has finally decided he wants to go on a cruize. I am really excited about this also. He has wanted to go to Alaska for as long as I can remember. I have been trying to get him to do it, but he always had a reason why he couldnt. Well, for some reason, he changed his mind, and now I get what I have wanted for a long time also, a cruize vacation. Not sure of the date yet, as soon as we make reservations, i will blast it all over the place.

OK, one more thing. I know I left Jackson taking care of June in her room. Dont worry, they are stopped in time. They dont complain, but one day I will restart it back up and get it finished. maybe this weekend on the way to the getaway.

OH, one more thing. I have been thinking of a blog I want to do. Maybe you can do it too if you want. I think it will be fun. I was going to try and take pics of my favorite things, put them in a slide show, and write about all the funny things that are my favorite things i currently think I cant live without. I think it might be kinda fun. No time frame if you decide to do it.

Now that is really it. hope your week is good so far. Mine.... aint so bad.

Entry for August 12, 2007

For those of you that have read this page for a while, that means more than a week or two, you know I have a blackberry bush on the side of my house. At the begining of summer, as it starts to get warm, they start to blossom, then produce fruit. I run out and try to pick them before the birds can get to them. I usually only get them for two weeks. I get about two gallon freezer bags of berries. Then I have to make the decision, pies or Jelly. All I really have to do is check the supply of jelly to make the decision. This year, its pies, well, pastries. John picked up some Pepperidge farms pastry shells and so I made pastries. I only made two to start with, to make sure it work. they turned out pretty good, and i didnt mind not making the crust myself. I did taste the filling, adn I think I will be doing this again. Yum, blackberry pastry tarts, withoutr having to work too hard. I even thought to put parchment paper on my cookie sheet, so no mess. After all these years, Im finally learning to use the stuff that makes your life easier. that is another blog.

Ok, so I am gonna hit Post, and start my day. John went to get blueberries for the waffles, and its time to eat. Pour me mimosa, its Sunday.

ITS FINISHED

Woo Hooo! Im finished, kinda. Pretty much, this is it. I messed up on the last little small row and have to fix that, but it will only take a minute. After that, I just have to get the backing and put it in the shop to be quilted. Im gonna wait for another 40% off coupon from beverlies. Its gonna take about ten or eleven yards of fabric at at least 7 to 9 dollars a yard, so waiting for the coupon is worth it. I just had to show you this. Im so happy to be done, sorta.

I know this is the second time I have posted today, and that alone is strange for me. but I also have to tell you something I think is funny. This morning I made waffles. I used the recipe that came with the waffle maker, and it contains yeast. Ok, yeast grows, I know this. Anyway, the two of us cant eat a whole batch of waffle batter in one morning, so I put it in the fridge with plastic wrap over it.

Pretty soon John calls me and tells me the wafffles have grown all over the inside of the fridge. WHAT! I go running in there, look, oh crap. I didnt think it would grow in the fridge. So i clean up the mess, put the batter in another bowl with a tight lid. back into the fridge it goes. Pretty soon John is calling me again, Lisa, the batter grew again. Crap. I looked in the fridge, and it was a bigger mess this time. Again I cleaned up the mess and this time I put it in two bowls with tight lids, and put it in the fridge in the garage. John keeps that one colder for his beer. HMPH, try to grow and explode in that cold room. That is the last time I make that recipe unless I have a house full of real people. Not the kind that say they will be here in a minute but live across the country. They never show up, even when I make enough for everyone.

Ok, that is really it for today. Im off for now. You all have a great week.

Come see what I have been working on

You will recall from the last post that was working on a new quilt. Im not sure when i started sewing this morning, but It will make me crazy before I finally get it complete. I worked on it for about six hours yesterday, about six hours or more on Wednesday, and today for another six hours, or more.I finally had to stop at 330. I was starting to see things and get confused at things i know how to do. At that point, its time to stop. So I started taking pics of my progress. This was after i put it together the first time.

then I added another row. I wish you couls see how yellow that really is. It just looks sorta bland there.

Then I added some more. Then, this is when i finally quit sewing. My eyes are ruined for today. This by far is the hardest thing I have ever made by myself.

Im gonna have to get better at this picture posting thing. My brain is already fried enough, I dont need to fry more cells trying to post multiple pics. Anyway, i think this quilt is turning into a real 400.00 quilt. I still have about 4 rows to sew together and then i can start putting an end to this one. Really, i think it will be beautiful, if i can just finish it.

Entry for August 09, 2007

Hi there! this is a rough draft of the quilt I am working on. I think it is really pretty, even the way it is shown here. I still have to put a bunch of pieces together, and I am workign on it. Yesterday I decrewed and came home. I slept till 830, then got up and started sewing. I had a dentest appointment at 11, then it was home and sewing again. I got so much done, but I still have a lot to do. I am really excited about this one. I think it is going to turn out very pretty. Next time I get to a point where I can show a change, I will definatly put it up here.

In my last real post, not the story thing, I mentioned there was some things I wanted to talk about, but I forgot. Well, today I remembered. Do any of you ride bikes. Not like a leisurely ride in the park, but the kind of riding where you put on those horrid spandex shorts, a painted on spandex shirt, bike shoes and a helmet. then you pedel all over town in the middle of the road like you own the damn thing. Hmmmm, tell me, is this you in any way. Well, this weekend when we to the bay area to see our family out there, there was a bike race. Three thousand bikes all over the road. Now, you have to understand, some of the raods we have to take to get to where we were going, are barley wide enough for two cars side by side. The hill are straight up and down and turn so often and quick, you better not blink if you have never driven this road. Now, add these bike racers, peddeling for all they are worth to get to a flat spot. NOT. These idiots were riding three astride and jumping right out in front of our car. It scared the shit out of me, I want you to know. Then, going down this one hill John clocked one guy doing 40MPH alongside our car. You dont know how bad I wanted to just get away from them, but we couldnt. I was literally white knuckled sitting in the passenger seat, hoping one of those idiots wouldnt hit my car and make a dent.

Beleive it or not, every person who came the the grad/going away party had a comment about the bikers. John said that modesto is going to host a bike race like this. I think I will leave town that day. And guess what, these people came from all over the globe. OMG

Ok, that is all I am going to rant about today. the weekend is almost here. I am hoping to get a bunch more done on my quilt. I am gonna try to stop in as many pages as I can, unless i fall asleep. Then I will try and hit the rest when i wake up. ok, so, see ya all later.

Entry for August 07, 2007

Eight

I turned around to look in the other direction, just to try and clear my mind. So much has gone on in just the past few hours. The police, the questioning, the fear that something is wrong with June. Laura has told me this is so unlike June. She would never not come home. She has a routine, she is predictable. You can almost set a clock by what June does. Laura is so distraught, I don’t know what to do for her. I don’t know what to do for women any more. I don’t even know how to console her. June is changing my life, and I like it.

I remember telling June that my family has lived here for about two hundred years. She seemed to think this was amazing, since people had to move around so much at one time to survive. Some of my family did leave, but most of them stayed here. I wanted to do some research and find out more about my ancestors. I was going to ask June to help me with this. I figure her researching skills would come in handy.

I was talking to my mom about this one day. She said she had read some old diary’s she found from her great aunt. Apparently, my great, great aunt liked to keep track of everyone and everything. It’s a good thing I guess, it will give me somewhere to start. From what my mother told me, I had two uncles that enjoyed robbing people.

Its not like they needed to, they really enjoyed it . One was a banker by day, and the other was an attorney. These two were wild, and a little ahead of their time. When they would get bored with their day jobs, they would go out at night and wait out on the country roads. Eventually, a carriage would come by, and these two would jump out and rob the passengers of their money and jewelry. They would never hurt anyone. That was a rule of the robbing. They would then send the carriage on its way, and they would ride back into town. Somehow, the money and jewelry would be returned to its owners. My uncles just liked the thrill of robbing, but never wanted to hurt anyone.

Another relative was a very wealthy rancher. Her had the cattle that most of the people in this area were fed. He was married to a wench of a woman, that would have let everyone starve if she could. She wanted to stop providing meat to the towns folks, but her husband would have no part of that. Those towns folk are what kept her in pretty dresses and that big house. They had two daughters that were sent off to school in another state. Their father wanted to make sure they could cook, sew, read and write. He wanted to make sure they would be good for some lucky husband some day. I think this man may have been a good guy, he just married a bad lady. His wife wanted the girls to come home and learn this stuff here at home. Since he had control of the cash, he had the last decision on the fate of his daughters. They stayed in school as long as he could keep them their and away from their wicked mother.

I know my family is buried around here somewhere. I have looked in archives to see if I could find the cemetery where they might be, but there is no sign of them. Maybe they were buried in a private area. I will have to do more research and see if there was another graveyard around here.

Its somewhere around 11 P.M. I look up, and to my amazement, I see June walking down the street. We all seemed to see her at the same time. She is limping, whats wrong. I can see she is only wearing one of her shoes, and carrying the other. She has her purse and phone in her hand, and she looks dazed, like she has been through some traumatic ordeal. It seemed like we stood there for the longest time, when I realized I was running, along with Laura towards June.

When we reached her, she just stood there, like she didn’t know who we were, but she didn’t fight us. She had to know it was us. I was asking her where she was, if she was ok, why was she scratched, who did this to her. It all just kept pouring out of my mouth. Laura was so happy to see her best friend, she just held her and cried. We were walking back towards her house and almost to her door when the ambulance drivers took her from us and put her in the back. They wanted to clean her wounds and make sure she wasn’t in need of hospital care. Aside from the few scratches and the dazed appearance, she was fine.

The police wanted to speak to her some more, but she was in no condition to answer questions at this time. After some promises of calling them when she woke up, they finally let me take her into her own place and sleep in her own bed. Now I am here, waiting and watching her sleep. Even in her sleep she is looking troubled. Something happened to her out there in the last 24 hours. I don’t know what it was, but I will wait here till she wakes up. Laura is sleeping on the couch. She is waiting for her best friend to wake up also. I don’t even know what time it is right now, but I cant sleep until Laura wakes up to sit here, in case June opens her eyes.

Rambling babbles

This weekend we went to our nieces graduation/going away party over int he bay area. I don't know how to explain where we really went, the name of the town, cus more than likely, none of you would know where I was talking about, or even how to say it. so i will just say, Bay Area. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive if we drive the boring quick route. It takes another hour if you take the scenic route. We took the scenic route. I took my lappy with me and wrote chapter eight on the way there. I think this is so funny. Most of the little stories I write, sort of write themselves. All i am doing is puttin it to paper. I sometimes wonder where these things come from. I think my brain get temporarily possessed by a creative writer and wont leave me alone until I finish what they cant do. I am now possessed by a lazy writer, cus its not coming very fast. lol

Anyhow, the party was out at the deer camp. I think I told you about that place before. It is out in the country and is where the guys start their hunting trips. They have been there for a long time and have really done a great job of improving the place. Last year they put in a real bathroom. It also has a propane stove with oven, sink and most important of all, a bar.

They had BBQ chicken, and a large assortment of snackys and food. We spent the night, of course and got home yesterday at around 230. It was so nice to get out of town for a while. In a few weeks, John and I will be taking off again for our favorite place in that area. It will be our 24th anniversary. We are both really excited about this. I really just cant wait to go. I think I may even wear a dress. Can you tell I'm excited.

I just know there was something I wanted to say here, other than what I have already blabbed on about here. But for the life of me, its not gonna fall off my fingertips. I think it was something that either pissed me off, or bothered me. But, its gone. Oh well.

On a brighter note.... I bought me some new pajamas!!!!!! I love new Jammie's. I'm sort of a Jammie spaz. Just thought I would throw that in. OK, I'm off for today. I'm gonna post this, then go read what you are up to. I will put eight up tomorrow. maybe I will ask for suggestions on where you want it to go. so think about if you want to help me write this thing.

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Jackson

I talked the police and ambulance into letting me take care of June. I promised if she didn’t improve within 24 hours, I would bring her into the ER. I laid her down on her bed, and with Laura’s help, got her into some comfortable cloth’s. I washed the dirt off her face and cleaned the cuts on her legs and arms. I didn’t know how she would effect me. I didn’t expect this.

I met June one night when I ventured out to try and get a life of my own. I had been in a long relationship with someone who was also in another long relationship. When I found out what was going on, I left with what was mine, and started over. I didn’t want to find another lover or girlfriend. I needed to find myself first. I had to learn to be independent before I could learn to love another person. It had been five years since I tried to date, or even look at another woman in that kind of way.

Then I went out with a group of friends to a local place, just to go dancing. I really needed to get out of the house and relax. I had no intention of meeting someone, I wasn’t looking, I didn’t even want to meet anyone. I was drinking a beer at the bar when this beautiful lady came up next to me and ordered her drink. At first, I didn’t want to say anything to her, then for some reason, I said I would buy her drink. I knew I had made a mistake when the words fell out of my mouth.

She looked at me, surprised, and said no. I hadn’t been so embarrassed in a long time. The first time I even try to be a little forward, and she says no. She did ask me my name though, and why I would offer to buy a girl a drink if I didn’t even know her name. This lady caught me off guard. I couldn’t even believe I was having a conversation with a lady, and I was so comfortable with her. I felt like this moment was so normal. So I asked her name, and where she worked, and if I could buy her next drink.

At this, June laughed, and said yes, she would have a glass of red wine, the next time around. I hadn’t even noticed what she was drinking the whole time we were talking. I only noticed her lips moving and she was talking to me. She was only talking to me, and I don’t really even know what I said. It had been so long since I even tried to talk to a lady, I thought I had forgotten what to say. I must have made some kind of impression on her, I walked away from the night with her phone number and a promise of a phone call later on.

This alone was a lot for me. It had been five years since I talked to a lady about dating. I wanted to talk to this lady again. I did call her a few days later as I said I would. We went to the movies, out to dinner, on a few small dates. It was so much fun. I didn’t feel any obligation to have another date at the end of each time we spent together. June never made me feel like she required me to spend more time with her. But I wanted to. I wanted to see her more and more. She is a very independent lady, had been on her own for a long time. She also told me the story of her marriage, and I could understand why she wouldn’t want to get into another relationship.

I really do care for her. We had a date tonight to go to a play. I called her last night, and the phone just rang, so I left a message. June never returned my call, which I thought was sort of strange. I called her office and they said she never showed up on Thursday and also never called in. This scared me, from what I knew of June in this short time, it was so unlike her. I went over to her house and knocked on her door. No one answered, so I asked the neighbors if they had seen her. They told me the last time they had seen her was yesterday morning as she left for work.

I just thought this was so strange, and the more I thought, the more I thought I should call the authorities. I also looked up Laura’s number, and asked if she had heard from June. She said she had not, but that was not unusual, since they could go a few days without chatting. I called the police and they came to June’s house and asked me and the neighbors some question. They asked about June’s commute to work, about her friends, if she took drugs, or drank. They asked the usual imposing questions that they ask of everyone.

What I didn’t expect, was for me to be questioned like I was responsible for her disappearance. After they asked about June, they started in on me. We stood outside in the weather and I answered questions while they continued to ask. When Laura showed up, they also questioned her. We were both very upset about June being gone, and we were being questioned.

It was getting later and later, I was getting more and more worried about June. I just wish they would stop talking to me and start looking for June. I know so many people have said this before, and it sounds so dramatic, but June can be out there somewhere injured, needing help. Look, I finally said to the officer, why don’t you go look for June. Your not doing any good here , go find her!

Sir, you have to understand, if we don’t have our information, we don’t know where to look, or where to start. Its getting late, its getting dark, and your both tired and upset. Please don’t start yelling at the people that are supposed to help you. Now, I’m going to go ask some of the neighbors some questions, please stay here. I may need you to answer a few more questions.

I was getting more and more upset. Laura had started to cry, which seemed so out of character for her. She is a very strong person, and not one to show her personal emotions. How can one person have such an effect on people. Where the hell is June! I just wanted to scream at someone. Go find her! Its getting late. Its getting too late.