Women Ran the Cities

This was a busy week. Ok, seriously, do I say that at the beginning of every stinking blog post? Next week I am going to say nothing what so ever happened.

But this week held some excitement.

We had some rain. Enough so that they had to tow the cars out of the park and ride. Which makes sense. The park and ride used to be a trailer park, but is now a parking lot because it flooded in the last big flood and had to be leveled. So, hmmmm. I guess when it starts raining hard Dave needs to park on the high end.

When we got to St. Charles the parking lot looked like this. We found Dave’s car, and then I drove over to the bridges and took pictures.

This is what it looks like on a nice day.

And here’s last Thursday.

Or this

Which was this

 

And this

Looked like this

So, we had a wee bit of rain.

Dave and I, being the smart folk we are, live on a hill, far away from flowing waters. We do, however, have a dry well. It filled up.

This is where most people put a sump pump. We also have a sump pump, only it is the manual model.

We got over a hundred gallons out of that baby. Beta couldn’t believe it.

So we survived, but there was a lot of damage elsewhere.

Wednesday, Cathy had a big day getting in a car accident. I relived old times over at the Ford collision center. She handled it like a pro.

Cora was by this week

My camera sucks as far as true color, but the fringe on the butterfly camo shirt was a more pinkish color than shows up here. She was a little shy around all of us, but we still love our diva girl.

Remember when????

On Saturday, Mary B and I went to Minneapolis and did the Women Run the Cities on Sunday AM. It was a beautiful day-started out cool (45) and warmed up a bit by the finish.

I finished in 1:25 at a 8:32 pace which I was so pleased with. But I was reading a little note in Facebook and I think the course may have been a quarter mile short. Still, I would have finished before 1:30, which was my goal. I had a bit of a screaming left hammie at mile 8, but finished strong.

There was a nice band at the end-a sister band (I thought she said sisters) named Redpath. They were really good.

I was having a little dance session while waiting for Mary to finish.

Mary had a serious case of bronchitis and neither she nor I were sure she would finish the course. But finish she did.

She had a Kleenex crisis and complained that no one on the course had Kleenex. I tried to explain that the water stations do not regularly have Kleenex on hand. Hence the name “water station”, not “Kleenex station”. 

We hung around a little bit and checked out the crowd.

It is a really fun event, and I might have stayed for the drawings, but we had to check out of our sweet hotel room.

That’s my knitting bag on the floor to the right of the window there. Yep. I actually was using the drop spindle on Saturday night. After 3 hours at the Mall of America. That’s my limit for the entire year.

Anyway, notice the little reading lamp on the head board

Sweet-so you don’t disturb the person in the other bed, or even the person next to you. I want one at home.

We drove home and I was a bit tired and sore, but nothing a bath and a little couch rest wouldn’t cure.

Oh and by the way, Dave never did get the fact I bought another sewing machine. Not sure how long he will live in the land of denial.

He did like the pillow I made him with said machine at the Bernina event.

Laura told me last week that she watched a documentary  about ancient Egyptians and how they rubbed lettuce on their heads to cure baldness. We didn’t have any lettuce, only spinach. Apparently that didn’t work.

Lastly, it is fall at work. Our tree is changing more and more. The days are getting cooler and shorter.

I love the fall, don’t you?

I think there are groups for people like me.

So, last week was rather eventful. Even for me.

Morgan was by during the week. She is getting quite grown up and walking.

And it wouldn’t be a blog featuring a baby without this

I was going to say Laura can sniff ‘em out for miles-but somehow that didn’t sound quite right.

But she can.

On Saturday, we had a nice sunrise-

I enjoyed it, and so did Le Chat

 

I was invited to an event on Saturday, which might be why I was up early. It was a Pine Needles Bernina 8 event-Cre-8-tive. On Friday, when I was telling Dave, he asked me “You’re not going to come home with another machine are you?”  Of course I wouldn’t buy another machine. I already have the 730, for crying out loud.

Do you see where this is going?

So, I went to my event and Marcia taught us how to make a pillow on the Bernina 830.

There were lots of them there.

And then, well, then she made me the offer I just couldn’t refuse.

Dang her! She knew that I didn’t buy a machine last year, and I have been buying one every year for the two years before that. It has just become tradition I buy a machine every fall. Usually  she wears me down at retreat where she can start on Friday and have the sale secured by Sunday noon-but since she only had a few hours on Saturday, she upped the ante-throwing in a Serger to boot-what could I do? What choice did I have? I was powerless-she’s like my kryptonite. And don’t even start about Suzie-all innocent in the background working up my financing-totally in on the whole evil plan.

So, I ended up with a new machine. And a new Serger Like I say, there have got to be groups for people like me. (I am not even going to start on the 2nd 40 dollar skein of Wollmeise that arrived in the mail today….)

I am in that place where I can’t believe I did that, and I can’t WAIT to freaking sew something!!!! The 830 is to die for. It’s the difference between driving my Corolla and driving grampa’s BMW-that’s what I’m talking about.

Sweet.

So, I technically own 4 Bernina’s right now, but I have to trade in the 730, so I’ll own three. I’ll line them up and take a group portrait when they all get settled in.

After I recovered, I spent the rest of the weekend spending time with my friend Barb, doing a little knit and gossip session, ran 8 miles, made a quiche, talked to an old friend from Alaska, and returned to work today.

Laura made a turtle quilt for Mary’s impending grandson #2

Is that not the cutest? I love it.

I got 3 quilts to do for the shop, and I have completed the heat and bond and cutting phase for #1.

It won’t be long to piece it, but the applique sewing will be a time suck. Blech. But it would be sweet if I had my new machine by then-oh baby. However,  I don’t think I’ll have it by the weekend. And I think this will be ready to sew by then.

This weekend is the Women Run the Cities, which should be a blast. Mary and I will be running for year #2!

So, there you go. My week. I still can’t believe I bought that machine. I tried to refuse-but look at these girls-

Resistance is futile (and don’t let those sweet innocent faces fool you)

I can’t wait for the Serger play day, 830 Mastery and some embroidery (I will finally finish the Blocks!) . Love you girls!

Oh, and Dave, um, I am coming home with a new machine…..

 

I almost forgot

I almost forgot to blog today. Maybe because there hasn’t been much new this week. The world seems to have slowed down a little.

Blane was the focus of most of the week. He is the next generation of melanoma in the family, and therefore was involved in that crazy, upside fun known as Mayo.

So he got the mole off, then had to go back to see the dermatologist and get his appointments, then back to see the surgeon, then set up the completion of the removal (the borders) and the node biopsy. All in all, I have been driving between Rochester and Winona an inordinate amount of time this week.

Here he is, all done and ready to go. All in all, it went pretty smoothly.

I am working on the checkerboard border for the Thimbleberries wall hanging.

I just stuck the top and bottom on the square-it won’t really be in the middle of the points like that. Just so you know.

I cut the sides off the other Thimbleberries and am ready for binding.

So is the cat

Even though she is trying hard to pretend she isn’t.

And that’s the week. Really. I started a surprise for a new baby coming-can say no more, and some mitts for a swap, ran 10 miles today and had an achy leg, picked up three shop quilts to do…um….that’s about it. Jack, the new guy, is settling in well, and is getting braver about being in the house, even though the other cats aren’t all that friendly yet. This one (pictured above) thinks she’s the queen and goes around putting everyone else in their place.

There are some plans for the weekend, a Pine Needles event, some knitting stuff. Should be good-and make for a more interesting blog post.

 

Fall (almost)

The weather finally settled down from unbearable heat  to pleasant temps. It feels like fall is beginning. Thank God, I hate that horrible humidity.

Last weekend, for some reason, the hillbillies lined up all their lawn chairs to face our house, like a little outdoor theater.

 

We wondered what the heck are they up to now. Notice how they have so thoughtfully put their trailer out to completely block our view from the downstairs? I guess they thought the trampoline wasn’t quite enough. To their credit, they were only cleaning the furniture and they put it back after a while. But for a time we thought we might have an audience.

Anyway, the trees are starting to change a little, so I took a picture of the first fall leaves out of my window.

If you look closely, they are a wee bit yellow.

There’s a closer look. I am mighty glad I have a window. Even if it is all tree most of the time. In the winter, we will have a grand view of the prison.

This weekend is Labor Day. On Saturday, I ran 6 miles (I just had to throw that in) and then we went to Dave’s sister’s (Barb and Tom) property in Wisconsin. It’s about an hour and a half from here, outside of Melrose WI.

Anyway, I guess that Mike’s daughter Kate (Dave’s niece) would like to have a super Meldefest 2011 next year on the 4th with everybody, which could add up to about 75 people, at least. No, more than that, now that I think of it. So Dave is supposed to create a Facebook group. I haven’t had much luck with that, but maybe the Meldes will embrace it.

Either way, Saturday we packed up the dogs and off we went.

We took Dave’s car, and have I posted that Dave got a new car? I am not sure I have, but here it is

With my big hip shadow! It’s a grand vehicle with a V8 gas guzzling engine. Fortunately, he only drives about a mile a day, so the car doesn’t get a lot of road time. But for this trip it was perfect.

The weather was very nice, a few puffy clouds.

For some reason, I didn’t take lovely WI landscape pictures, but every time we drive through WI, we always comment on how much prettier it is than MN. Sad but true. Of course, you can’t tell with these pictures, but WI is more hilly and has more trees and rivers than MN, which tends to be flat and full of corn. Like these pictures. Dang it. Not making my point at all.

But we arrived at the property and this is what we saw

Lovely trees in the sun.

Eventually they would like to put a house on this land and live there.

 

This is our relaxing spot around the smoky fire

A little closer

We are very comfortable.

Kate, the one standing, brought her two little children whom they are adopting from her husband’s daughter. Long story, however, very cute kids, and she is so patient with them.

All boy, Kylen is how you say it, but the spelling is another thing altogether.

Here’s our girl, whose name is also a K name, but do you think we could remember? Jeepers. I thought Dave knew since he saw her at the wedding in August, but no. (What was I thinking-Dave would remember a name?) Either way, we were quite jealous that she could fall asleep any old way and wished we could too. But then we’d probably be falling asleep all the time and conversation would be difficult.

She woke up and Tom took over. Don’t they both look really happy about it??

Beta had a good time, and this old dog that belongs to Tom’s parents had a good time too. (Wow, I don’t know this dog’s name either. We really fell down in the name dept.)

It’s very pretty and quiet there. And we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

When we left, we swung by Trempealeau and dropped off the Ginormous quilt to Lynnie.

I took this picture and the boys didn’t want to be in it, but you can’t tell how big it is, so I made them show themselves for scale.

 

I saw a bunch of other quilts Lynn’s mom did and really, I felt kinda bad because she was so attentive to detail and hand sewed everything. Not me. Although I did hand bind this. It came out nicely though, and Lynn was happy.

Blane brought over a new cat that we will be taking. His name is Jack and he is, as usual, socially inept and somewhat psychotic, thanks to his upbringing at the frat house.

He has been hiding in the cat box, but now he just hides behind the bed, or in the closet.

So I took him out and put him on the bed for a close up

He stayed on the bed until I left, approximately 63 seconds, then went into the closet. It’s gonna be a long time before this cat gets adjusted…..

So here’s Bodie (aka Yeltsin, really named Elvin) who isn’t exactly normal, but at least she doesn’t hide in the cat box.