Bad Mood Morning

I just woke up in a bad mood this morning.  GP and I don't see eye to eye on our current transportation situation (9 vehicles and not one under 150,000 miles), I have been out of town so much that there is a list of chores a mile long, and I read a few emails before getting out of bed that set me off (not sure reading my messages before I get my first cup of coffee is a good idea).  I was running late, didn't have the right keys with me when I got to the barn....but paused, to hear the most amazing tune from the wind chimes.  Usually these chimes will strike one or two notes at a time and have a very clear sound...but today it was a symphony.  I looked around and thought there wasn't even much of a breeze stirring...then thought is this God/Mom telling me to take a moment and remember every thing I have to be thankful for?  It worked....much better mood now.  Having a great day at work and listening to a little Christmas music over my laptop.  Love this time of year, and I don't want to waste even one hour feeling like this guy.

This years Brenner Tree

Thanks to the "Emy, Gina, and Peggy" elves that helped me get our quilt guilds entry all done tonight. And thanks to Anthony, Alden, and Fletcher who got all our wire cut to size. The owls are ready to greet the crowds at this weekend's festival of trees.

What's missing?

About a mile and a half into our ride I tried to shift to an easier gear and heard a Zing......there went the chain! Got to get it fixed quick so we can bike the lights on Friday

Whoo is ready for Christmas

These guys will be going on the Brenners Festival of Trees entry for our quilt guild next week. And we are just two weeks from Thanksgiving.....so hard to believe 🍂

Coffee Woes

Right after I lost my job with Hanes I had a great idea, I needed to soften some butter quickly for baking and thought, the top of the Bunn coffee maker is nice and warm...well needless to say, too warm and melted butter went all down into the water chamber.  After running countless pots of vinegar through it I saw I was never going to get the rancid butter scum out of my coffee.  So, I swallowed hard and paid a ridiculous amount of money for a new one with a great caraffe (made more difficult by the financial predicament I was in).  I justified it by how quickly it would pay for itself if it kept me from buying the $3.50 Latte I was used to while working.  This model will keep coffee hot for hours...so GP can make coffee at 5am and its is still great at 7ish when I am ready for my first cup.  But alas, our machine is leaking and the good news is they will send us a new one...the bad, is I now live miles from the nearest McDonalds and we won't even discuss how far I am from Starbucks.  Luckily I am headed to quilting retreat this weekend so won't have to go without.....poor Go Postal, its instant for him.  I have packed up 6 different projects and plan to make a monster effor to finish most!  Pictures when I return!

Happy Halloween

Yadkin version of American Gothic by Grant Wood.  GP has more hair thankfully than the original.  Mom made me this dress in 1986 I think, at least I could still button it although it was much looser back then.  It was all the rage to wear a dress like this with our Justin Ropers back then.

Finally made the switch....

OK, my pink blackberry that has served me well was slowly dying.  So before I lost everything I decided to do some research.  Everything pointed to either an iphone or droid.  I have to admit, my first computer was an apple and with the recent passing of Steve Jobs this may have made me a little sentimental about having another apple in my life.  I went to Verizon fully expecting to have to order one...but they had two in stock, if I was willing to get the 32Mb version in white.  The white is cool, not everyone has one and GP gave me my first ipod in white.  I will need some time to get used to typing on the screen, it works with the heat from your fingers...no using your fingernails or a pencil etc.  But.....the camera can shoot from both sides, will make 1080p HD video, and has a flash that can be used as a flashlight (that was the first app I bought for .99, so when I have to get into the cabin at night I should be able to fend off any wild animals!)  And it is set up to work anywhere in the world, so in about a year we can use it to send photos/videos back from China!

Once I get comfortable using it, it will replace my ipod, my phone, my gps...and I can but a latte at Starbucks with their app.