Of dogs and roses

This morning I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast. It was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. And if you don't believe me just ask our dog, Lizzie.

Notice the partial wooden spoon? It was a whole wooden spoon, covered with gravy, when I set it out for her to lick! Who knew that gravy made a spoon so irresistible?!

After breakfast, I headed off to a quilting class. Fabulous fusible flowers with Mindy Bula. This was my second time taking one of her classes. The first time I made a hydrangea bouquet. This time it was a rose. Didn't it turn out so nice!

So, if you ever see her teaching in your area, sign up to study and create and sew with her! You will have lots of fun.

MIA

It seems that I have abandoned my little blog!
Sorry about that. Life just showed up and consumed me.

Firstly, I was called away on a family emergency.
Then, just as I was getting home, an opportunity to go to the Houston International Quilt Festival just fell into my lap. Now that does not happen everyday. So, of course, I said yes, and then I was off on a two week whirlwind of an adventure. I had a lot of fun. And I have some stories to tell you.

But, not today. I am behind and bogged down on every front! But soon. Very very soon.

TTFN

A Momumental Crisis

Tomorrow is my guy's 25th high school reunion. And we are going. So, obviously hair must be addressed. I called my usual hairdresser, who has been cutting my hair since the late 80s. And wouldn't you know it, she was completely booked. She has been on vacation and is trying to catch up. So, with a heavy heart, I drove my shaggy head down to the salon of a stranger.

She was not the source of this crisis. The cut is a-okay.

Then, today I decided that I had better tackle the shock of gray at my temples. I surely do not want to be the only gray-headed spouse at this reunion!

I prefer to use Clairol Colorspa in the shade of medium cocoa, but apparently this color has been phased out.

Great.

Since I was being forced to make a change I decided to just try the one on sale. Revlon Colorsilk #40, medium ash brown.

I have medium brown hair.

Warm cocoa is medium brown.

This had a picture of medium brown.

Easy right.

WRONG!

I didn't notice the problem at first. But when I looked in the mirror after my 20 minutes was up, my hair was black with dark purple at the skin!! BLACK with DARK PURPLE!! I nearly had a heart attack on the spot.

And then I started praying. And shampooing. A lot.

I'm pretty sure I cried as I pictured my new life on solitary confinement. No church. No quilt group. No board meetings. No Mary Mashuta class next weekend. No Sarah Palin lecture the weekend after that. No dinner parties. No lunch with LB. And, definitely NO high school reunion.

This was looking very, very bad.

But, the Lord must have heard me! My hair is definitely darker than I like it, but it is not black.

And, more importantly, it is NOT PURPLE!!

Hallelujah!! My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior ransomed me. (Feel free to sing along with me!)

So, if you have medium brown hair with a shock of gray at your temples...do NOT try Revlon Colorsilk #40, medium ash brown. It is just not worth the stress.

Two Time Offender

Here's the thing: I am a first born. If you are a first born, or married to one, or raising one, you know what that means. Dependable, responsible, organized. All good things, right? Right.

But, occasionally (very very occasionally, hardly ever really, barely worth mentioning) we do something dumb. And when we do, it BUGS us. Because we are first borns, and we definitely do NOT do dumb.

And, as it happens, I have done two dumb somethings in the last week! That's right, two. What is happening to me!! I may need an intervention, or a support group, or medication, or.......something.

First of all, I watered the chickens. That's it, I just filled up their trough. FOR 6 HOURS!! With the water hose at somewhere near maximum flow! Aargh! Lucky for me, my guy discovered it when he went out to close the hens in for the night. Otherwise, our house may have just floated off the side of the hill in the middle of the night.
I was not a happy girl. And when the water bill comes next month.....

So, this week I am house-sitting for my bff who is on vacation. And, she has this great sewing room. And cable TV. On the coast. I love it here!
I brought several projects with me and I have been working away on them. This morning I wanted to shake out a quilt top and get rid of all of the loose threads. But not in the house, that would be too messy. A first born would never do that!
So, I walked out the front door to shake it out. And the door closed behind me. And it was locked. And so were all of the other doors. And all of the windows. Except one. The highest one in the whole house. It was on the second story, above a VERY slope-y walkway. I had no keys, no phone, no shoes, and no dog. But, I did have a really great Halloween quilt top to keep me warm if I didn't make it back in by nightfall.
Off to the neighbor's house I went. Her name was Phyllis and she was quite elderly and suspicious of the crazy, barefoot lady, covered in loose threads and claiming to be locked out of her neighbor's house. But, she did let me use her phone (while I stood on her front stoop). And, she called out to another elderly person who was out for a stroll. With his cane. Then she filled him in on the whole situation. And, then... she suggested we call the police! (Not the police, anything but that!!) Fortunately for me, the man (whose name was Bob) found me to be trustworthy enough to dismiss the idea of calling the cops. (Thank goodness. Could you imagine the horror of a barefoot first born explaining her 2nd dumb event of the week to the cops!! No thank you!).

Well, I had gotten a hold of my guy, and yes, he could come and help me out in an hour and a half. So, Bob and I walked back to the house to assess my options. First of all he insisted that I look for a spare key under all of the pots on the porch, under the mat and above the spider-infested door frame.
Sadly, there was no key. But on a positive note, it took most of the hour and a half to look under all of those pots! Then, we walked all around the house trying the doors and windows. And, eventually Bob came to the same conclusion I had. I was locked out.
"Well", he said, "I am taking my morning stroll. But you come on over and have a cup of coffee with Josie. She'll be glad to have a visitor". So there I was, having coffee with a new friend, in her living room with the MOST amazing view of the bay. We talked politics, motherhood, dogs, Turkey (the country not the animal), the Cuban missile crisis, more politics, crazy cultural norms of foreign countries, travel plans and dreams, pre-retirement careers....

Before long my guy had arrived with a big tall ladder. And he sure was chipper for a guy who had to leave work and drive 1/2 an hour (one way) to climb through a very high window on a precariously positioned ladder.
"Thanks for not being mad, Honey. You know I am a first born, and I don't usually do stupid stuff like this," I joked.
"I know. But this is your second offense this week."
"What?! What was my other offense?"
"The chicken water".
"Oh, yeah." Grumble, grumble, groan.
"And now you owe me. Big-time." Smile, smile, smile.

Pray for me, friends. I need it!