Henny Penny - the SKY is Falling!!!!!!!

Wow - what a storm last night!!!!   The lightening was UNBELIEVABLE. I have seen some storms before, but this one beat them all hands down. The sheet lightening literally lit up the sky so it was like the middle of the day and then the streaks of lightening were spectacular. I tried to get some pictures, but wasn't successful or as successful as I would like. We have a sheltered front door and I was trying to stand on the front step to get pictures, but the rain drove me inside. And the winds - well I was expecting my roof to start leaking at any minute as shingles were ripped off!!!!   However after checking it this morning - it seems to have weathered the storm just fine.

And guess what - I am supposed to be getting a new roof TODAY!!!!!!   Although with the size and shape of the roof - it will take them TWO days to put the new shingles on.

See what I mean. And look at the condition of that roof - I'm surprised it hasn't been leaking!!!!!

Here's the situation on the closet organization. Here is a picture of the closet.....

See - nice organizers and lots of hanging space for long coats

And the short hang on this side

And what was in the closet?????

M's stuff

My stuff (and M confiscated a few items from my pile) - Hey - I wasn't wearing it anyway - she might as well. 

DH's stuff - OK - so he keeps his shoes in the closet!

Miscellaneous stuff

M did a decent job of cleaning the closet out (she had to wipe it down), but today we are going to have a lesson on proper cleaning. Then we can start to put stuff back BUT not BEFORE we have culled. Out of that pile of my stuff - I think I wear one or two jackets. The rest - well why keep it??????  DH is away until the weekend so his part will have to wait - oh won't he be surprised when he comes home!!!!!   A new roof and having to sort through his stuff!!!!   Although he doesn't have much stuff (compared to the rest of us), he tends to hand onto what he has - we have to cure that!!!!!

I am realizing that this post is just an odd assortment of stuff. I do want to post the pictures of what I bought in Europe and I will do that in a separate post.

Yesterday I talked about my friend Liz who was doing that crazy bike ride. Well SHE MADE IT!!!!!!   It took her 88 hours 10 minutes to ride 1,230 KM through the Brittany area of France which is HILLY. She is a strong person both mentally and physically and barring a major injury - I knew she would make it. WAY TO GO Liz. This was to "celebrate" her 50th birthday. I told you she was crazy!!!!!   When talking to Marian yesterday - and after she had read my blog - I solved a mystery for her. There is such a thing as the Paris-Brest pastry and she never knew why it was called that. Now she knows - I didn't know such a thing existed. But have a look at the SIZE of them.

Paris Brest pastry - are they all that big??????

Now keep in mind - if you had just ridden 1,230 in 88 hours - I think you deserve to eat the WHOLE thing!!!!!



paris brest... the pastry

Definition: [pa-ree-BREHST] A delightful French dessert said to have been created by a pastry chef in honor of a bicycle race between Paris and Brest. It consists of a baked almond-topped choux pastry ring (patterned after a bicycle tire) that is split and filled with a praline-flavored buttercream. Source: foodnetwork.com

It reminds me so much of our European breakfasts - croissants and pastries. I thought - crap - this doesn't bode well for the weight, but I didn't gain a pound on the trip!!!!!   Must have been all that walking!!!!!!

Now on the cleaning kick - I have mentioned that my dishwasher (a Maytag) has NOT been performing as I think it should. So much grit in the glasses - tried CLR - no success. Even tried to take it apart to find someplace inside that was accumulating junk. Couldn't find a thing and I even had ONE screw left over, but still seems to work. Yesterday while running around doing errands I stopped at the Maytag store to have a chat with them. Hmmmmmm ----   according to Leo - EVERYONE should be experiencing the same problem - it is calcium build up. Apparently removal of phosphates from dish washing detergents is a big deal, but of course - I never pay attention to stuff like that. Now I am not sure if my problem is 100% related to this issue - I don't have films or spotting, just grit. According to Leo - I need to CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN the dishwasher. After getting the info from him, I stopped at the grocery store and bought TWO huge containers of vinegar. I poured one liter of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher and letting it sit for 24 hours. Then I will run the dishwasher empty, then another 1 liter of vinegar for 24 hours and then run the dishwasher empty again. Apparently I should be doing this on a regular basis!!!!!  (well not TWO applications of vinegar, but I should let the vinegar sit there every month or so to clean the calcium build up) Well I have run CLR through, but never let it sit there, but that was his recommendation and no need for expensive CLR - just plain old cheap vinegar. Let's see what happens - in the meantime - I have to do dishes by hand!!!!!!

See - I told you this blog was about stuff - but IMPORTANT stuff.


I got my charity quilt quilted. It is pretty cute.

Charity quilt

Charity quilt

This was a challenge which I thought was a brilliant idea to get the guild to make charity quilts. We were each given three meters of fabric - I got a border print, the yellow splash and the big matching print that I used on the border. I just added strips to make it look like a scene on the beach. I am happy with it and now it is quilted and I put the binding on this morning. Yes - I will hand stitch the binding - I just like them that way!!!!!

I have another charity quilt to do today and then one more tomorrow. Still have a couple more charity quilts and if I could get them out of the way FIRST before I start customer stuff - that would be grand. I actually really enjoyed quilting yesterday.

Guess what just got delivered to the driveway???????

My shingles and the bin!!!!!!   Yeah - getting a new roof today!!!

And in case you are wondering why I waited - well I was away and since this is a lot of money - I wanted to be here to make sure they do what they are supposed to do!!!!!   Not that I am a roofer, but I did my research!!!


Had to teach a class last night. Miranda Bag - part one of two parts. There were 6 people in the class and we had a great time!!!!!   They were good students. Hmmmmm - those new sewing machines look nice!!!!!   WAIT - I just need a new bobbin winder on my machine!!!!

I also got all my 2011 "books I've read" into the data base. I am so excited - can't wait to finish the book I am reading so I can enter it into the database using the ISBN number!!!!!!

Oh yes - have a look at this picture which someone posted on Facebook. I think it is priceless.

 I thought of Carol as soon as I saw it!!!!! And not because she drives in the wrong lane, but always yelling at those who do drive in the wrong lane!!!!

To bring some more quilting into today's blog - I saw these patterns on Moda web site and I LOVE THEM.

Cool table runner

Christmas Advent calendar quilt

Check out this web site to see more super ideas.......  and I believe the "recipes" (aka patterns) are right there for you.

Moda Bakeshop - Christmas ideas

Well I see my list of things to do is staring at me and I have to get started on the day.

Have a great day!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!