Doors!

Look what my mom bought me for Christmas! (Yes, I went back and took pictures.) :)
There's a pair and they measure 6'7" tall and are 2 feet wide. Perfect for my dining room. I'll have to find hinges since there's only half of each one there, and I need a door knob.

It's not going to hurt a bit when I scrape off the painting in the lower panel.

I'm getting excited about tearing up the front of my house and living in a construction zone. Until then I'll just keep collecting bits and pieces.

Thanks Mom!

Rest in pieces

We awoke this morning to find that our beloved coffee maker had expired sometime during the night.

Dear Black & Decker VersaBrew,

You have been a good and loyal friend for the last four years. When we moved into this house you were just a youngster. You brewed your first pot in this house. You have given us coffee daily, sometimes twice, without complaint. You have tolerated my less than stellar cleaning schedule and even survived your wild leap out of my soapy hands which landed you in the floor.

I knew you were feeling badly when you began to groan when asked for a pot of coffee. You began to chug and your desire to retire was coming across loud and clear.

Sadly, your replacement is not of your model. I suppose you have been upgraded by a new and flashier version of your very nifty self.

Rest in pieces my friend. You will be missed.

Voting, baby showers, and tacky SILs

I voted today. Did you? I hope everyone that is able went and made their choice known. If you didn't, I don't want to hear any complaining. You had your chance.

We're home from the pinkest "NO PINK!" baby shower I've ever seen. Here is a picture of part of her goodies. Lots of pink.

I have to tell you a funny that happened at the shower.

Back history: My SIL doesn't like me because I'm the second wife. Her loyalties remain with the first wife and that's fine with me. The first wife and I get along fine, especially now that the girls are grown and we're going to be grandmas.

At the shower my SIL leaned over and asked me what I brought for the shower and I told her a handmade quilt. She told me I was supposed to buy something from the registry and not bring some little arts and crafts project I'd thrown together. I was good and ignored the jab. I asked her what she brought and she told me a crocheted baby blanket. (I'm not sure why a handmade quilt is arts and crafts, but a crocheted blanket isn't.)

Anyway, about half-way through the gift opening she whispered that I still had time to run to Wal-Mart and pick something up so I wouldn't be embarrassed and to get some hair dye while I was there. (Cheap shots are her specialty. She knows I'm going natural and at this point gray hair is in.)

SD opened the quilt and loved it. She opened the crocheted blanket and loved it. She laid them aside and continued opening gifts. SIL's granddaughter went over and picked up the blanket and the next thing we know there isn't a blanket, instead there's a pile of yarn. The little darling had found a string and started pulling on it and unraveled the whole thing.

I leaned over and very nicely told her she still had time to run to Wal-Mart and I was really sorry, but she must be so embarrassed to have her gift unraveled like that.

She left the shower and went to Wal-Mart. I was gone before she got back, but heard she thinks I told her granddaughter to unravel the blanket.

Sometimes being tacky sure can bite you in the butt. LOL!

In other news, I managed to dislocate my shoulder on Saturday while attempting to keep a box of dishes from landing on my FIL's head. No good deed goes unpunished in this family. I put off going to the doctor thinking it would get better and today I decided I had to go. The doctor told me I was a tough old broad and I have to assume that was a compliment. Otherwise, I might have to go back and poke him in the nose. Anyway, everything is back in place and hurts worse than when it was out.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

Finished at last!

Here's the front.
The back with it's little label. Okay, so it's not little, but it's still cute.
I finished it on Thursday. I really hope the recipient likes it and more than anything I want her to let the kiddo use it. I'd love to see it in four or five years with the binding worn plumb off and faded from repeated washing.

Okay, I've got to go pack and finish up some laundry. For some reason DH thinks he needs socks for this trip. Men!

Thankful Thursday

I remembered!

This Thursday I'm thankful that I'm finally finished with the baby quilt. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I'm also thankful that this is the last trip to NM until December.

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby

My baby sister is 24 years old today.

From a little squirt that would laugh at the drop of a hat...
to a bigger little squirt with curls. Would ya' look at those curls!
Now she's all grown up, going to culinary school and working in a fancy restaurant 1800 miles away.
Duck confit, anyone?
She's miles away and I miss the little squirt.

Happy Birthday, from you meanest big sister. I love you.

How flat thou art

Eastern New Mexico has it's own special beauty.
You can see for absolutely miles.
On a good day on the way to Roswell, you can see the Capitan mountains. They're still a long, long way away.
A little bit of that New Mexico sunset everyone seems to love.
See how different the dirt color is compared to Oklahoma. Really it's just sand and will be gone and replaced in the next big wind.
This is peanut farming country. I love to see the peanut trailers lined up.
You don't see many trees around here.
This old building is on the way to Roswell.
Flat, flat, flat.
This is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line. I can remember when it was just the Santa Fe and they still used a caboose on the trains.
This is also dairy country. Every where you look there's a dairy, sucking up what little water there is. There are enough dairies to support a cheese plant.
Dry, dry, dry. The average yearly precipitation is 17.17 inches.I've lived in Oklahoma almost four years and daily I'm reminded of how blessed I am to have this opportunity. I love the trees, the water, and the landscape. Every bit of it in sharp contrast to what I lived with for 14 years.

Would I ever move back to NM? Not willingly. I really think it's a nice place to be from and a visit every now and again isn't too bad, but Oklahoma is my home now.