Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday, and High Hopes for the New Year to all from Linda, Creighton and the critters. Heat and water are restored. Today I bought one of the last four Christmas trees remaining in Spokane. Most of our tree decorations are still in Fort Bragg, and pickings were pretty slim today, but we're happy. My mother and Dakota are arriving tomorrow afternoon, so it's 16 hours and counting down. Still need to finish installing the carpet and moving furniture into the spare room.
Scheduled events for the week are:
1)The Great Meatloaf Cookoff (Home Ec)
2)Sock Golf (P.E.)
3)Baking dog biscuits (more Home Ec)
4)Making ornaments for my rather empty tree (Arts & Crafts)
5)Catapult construction (Engineering)
6)Lighting filings from defective mag plates (Science)
Hope to post pics of the final projects.

Linda

We'll had a few recent setbacks, and are struggling to get the house ready for the Family Visit in two days. The furnace quit two days ago; also, no hot water, and the three cords of wood are green and won't burn. Temp in the house is around 56 F. AND we still have to lay the carpet in the guest room for, yes, the Family Visit. So, if you really want to read a more interesting blog than this, check out and be sure to read days 14-19 of December. Her rant on the Michael's shopper is not to be missed. I wish she would move next door to me. I have lots of cheap wine (well, I do now, but I bet there's less by the end of the evening LOL), and I'm sure everything would be much funnier if she were here.
On a happy note, I have uploaded a few new images to my website.
Hope to upload a Christmas pic in the next couple of days, but just in case....wishing everyone a safe and joyful holiday season. May everything be dipped in chocolate and deep-fried.

Linda

Final GPS testing reports sent to France abut midnight...just in time for their 8am deadline. What a relief that's done. Sot it's back to normal routines today. C is pressing rubber, and I'm onto the wood project again. I bought a wheelbarrow (some assembly required) to haul the wood, but it didn't happen, and today the wheel barrow still looks like this

Yup, that's two jumbo jars of Jif on the microwave, rubber cement on the counter, and a Bedel Kraus box. Those, plus the dog, pretty much describe my Life.

And the wood pile now looks like this.

Here's Batman on his morning Cat Patrol.


Linda

This is my fashion statement of the week. It's GPS Testing Time, and I've hiked miles around this loop near the house the last ten days. The job sounded like a great idea when I signed up in October, but I had NO idea it would turn into THIS. Hope the next testing opportunity turns up say April or May. Two more days to go, and it's done, and then back to the rubber business. Hopefully handling the paycheck will bring some feeling back to my fingers.

I've quoted many times that "there are no bad climates, just inappropriate clothing". Well, if I put on any more layers, I'm not sure I could walk, and I haven't seen my feet all week LOL.

Hey Paula, thanks (sarcasism interjected here) thanks for the pics of Santa Cruz VBG...but truely, I wish you the best with your retreat. Lookin' forward to Dallas! Is it warm there????

Linda

Two cords of wood were delivered this morning. It's gonna be another a-haulin' and a-stackin' weekend. There are a lot of people selling wood up here, but I buy from Jake. He's thirteen. He buys woods rounds, then splits and sells them. His nine-year-old sister helps witht the stacking, and his grandfather drives them around to deliver the wood. I've bought a total of three cords. He says he has another 7 cords to sell this week. I have no idea how many more cords he's sold this winter, but I've got a pretty good idea that he's having a better month than I. I am so danged proud of him :-)

I uploaded some new images to my website. Plates should be here today or Monday. One is for making "To" and "From" Christmas tags. If you want something different for your packaging, you might like these. It's my token Christmas image, albeit a bit late in the season.

Linda

My felting successes. YAYYYYY!

Linda

THE FRONT PORCH
Yesterday was The Day the Kitchen Curtains were hung. They've been lying in the corner since July, waiting for C to get them up. He said that he didn't hang them because he wanted me to talk to him. I explained that it wasn't "talking" at all, but somewhere between bitching and nagging. At least now the endless "talking" will stop.

It's also been a week of continuing the Homestead Mode. The weather stays cold and snowy, so we've been a-splittin', and a-haulin' and a-stackin' skads of wood. Needless to say, we've also been a-burnin' wood at an alarming rate, so two more cords will be arriving next week. I feel obligated to bring home huge sacks of flour, salt, beans, and especially a BIG side o' bacon. Better get two slabs of the bacon.

We were hired by Magellan to do System Test on some GPS equipment. It's scheduled to begin tomorrow, and the weather couldn't be worse for being outside all day. Paula, can Zoey carry a key of Brandy yet? I think we're going to need it LOL.

Update on the felting. Success!! All but one of my projects felted properly. I've since made a couple more bowls, which I'm felting tonight. I'll post pics soon.

Linda

Whew, I've been gone for a long time. Since the last post, I've flown to 4 shows, and driven 4000 miles. I'd fully intended to blog along the road trip, but had such a nasty bout of flu that only really necessary stuff was accomplished. We got back home last Thursday evening, but had several upsets that I just didn't want to write about. C's friend has been evicted and all the pets are OK, and that's all I have to say about it. Now, on to Good Things.....We got the first snow last night. Here's the backyard this afternoon.

The pic was taken at 3pm.
We bought a cord of Tamarack to go with the misc. soft wood the previous owner left, and I'm perfecting the fire-building ability. "Grunt, Fire good". Got the house up to a balmy 67 degrees yesterday evening. C has put on his electrician hat to fix the thermosat. It's been broken since we moved here last April, but we're finally motivated to get the heat on in the house. It was a rather brisk 50 degrees in the living room when I got up this morning. Yikes!

Linda

Well, I'm back in an airport, again This time in Chicago, headed for Point Sunlight, England for a stamp show. Seems that the airport is the only place I'm captive and take the time to post...unfortunately I don't have an SD card slot or reader, so can never post pics....and then when I get home, I either don't get around to uploading, or just forget about it entirely, i.e., my bluegrass festival pics.
This week has been another whirlwind. C, the Batman and I drove to the Portland Art & Show last Saturday night. We hauled the Scotty along, and spent both nights in a campground along the Columbia River about 30 miles east of Portland -- much more fun than yet another over-priced hotel. The show was surprisingly good for us, although the low expenses made the difference. It was NOT as good as last year, and I think many of the vendors did not do as well as we did. I'd been very concerned as the co-ordinator had followed the current trend -- it had been a very good show with 30 vendors, so she upped it to 60 this year.
I signed up for a knitting class through the Spokane Parks & Rec. I have no idea how many weeks it runs. I figure someone will make some closing statements some week, or I'll just show up and the place wil be dark. I'm making a felted tote, and have a lovely pic of it that I took right here at the airport...but that was before I realized I had no way to get it on the PC. sigh.
They have a new intriguing toilet at the Almiralty Club. The "rotating condom" seat covers have facinated many of us for years, but over time, they have become mundane. Now, thanks to modern technology, something else to occupy our hours between flights. These toilets, swear to GOD, have an LED display that counts down to the Flush. How kewl is that? I have pics of it, but of, course, can't upload. When and if I ever think of it at home remains to be seen.
I'll bet back from England late Sunday night, then turn right around and fly to Salt Lake City for a GPS to-do, then back Wednesday night and leave for Chatanooga Friday morning, so don't know when I'll get back here.
Hugs,
Linda

Heidi sent me the pic from Mekka, so everyone can see some of my dearest friends from Germany, Heidi, her husband Friedel, and Doris.

Right off the bat, I must say that we're missing two others -- Andrea and Margaret. They couldn't make it to Mekka this year, and were sorely missed. Mark Kay and I will be looking for you next year, guys!! MK and I have been going to Mekka for at least 8 years, and we've got most of the procedure worked out, but 8 years ago it was a completely different story...fortunately, we were blessed with a group of ladies who showed up to help us, and over the years they have all come to be close friends that we cherish. They've helped with translation, brought us water, sodas and innumerable goodies, run erands when we forgot something, haul out butts around town, and even had my booth set up by the time I arrived. They've turned a Work Weekend into fun Girls' Weekend that we always anticipate with delight.
This year, Doris gifted me with a bundle of yarns. She dyed and spun the wool herself, and even knitted these socks.

Heidi brought us several bottles of wine, but it has already been turned into Linda cells. LOL
I feel SO special :-)

Linda

I was going to post a couple of pics from the Bluegrass Festival tonight, but I always first check for "comments" before I blog. I don't get many, so eagerly checked to see what comment someone had left me. Well, here it is...It's from Kely.

These articles are fantastic; the information you show us is interesting for everybody and is really good written. It’s just great!! Do you want to know something more? Read it...:Great investment opportunity at best western jaco beach, best western jaco beach resort ,beach front hotel jaco puntarenas. Visit us for more info at: http://www.jaco-bay.com/

They really roped me in. A Pox on you, Kely. Yup, just keeping checking your website. My check is in the mail...right along with the one to the guy that promises that my penis can be bigger. Of all the things I don't wish for my body, that's probably right at the top of the list.

Linda

I'm in the Dusseldorf airport waiting for the flight home from the annual StempelMekka show in Hagen, Germany, It's 3am, and I have about four hours to entertain myself till the flight to Heathrow.I'm hoping to get a T-Mobile connection to upload when I get there. Alas, no photos to document the weekend :-( My camera SD card decided to be a non-participant this trip, and my download cable has gone to that Black Hole in the Sky to join the endless parade of wayward car keys and glasses that are the bane of my existence. I borrowed a camera to take a pic of some of my dearest German friends, and will upload it when it is emailed. The evening has been an adventure that I'm quite proud of. I successfully purchased tickets at the automat machines, made two train and one bus transfer to get here, and took part in several German conversations in which I truly believe I did not have that Deer in the Headlights look when people start speaking German to me. One was a begger boy on some nasty pharmaceutical (he got my handful of German Euros), a drunk needing a match, and a lovely older couple on their way to Sweden. Hurray! You noticed that I'm at the right airport before my flight leaves? -- two very important factors in my well-being that contribute mightily to the current low level of bitching and whining. I'll go on about the show later, but first I want to tell what a wonderful evening I was lucky to experience with Judikins Judy and Rob, Judy's folks, Chuck and Ieky (I'm VERY sorry about the spelling), Steven and Carol (LINK) the Mekka host, Wolfgang and his girlfriend, Barbara, and two more people that I hold near and dear, Marion and mein schatzschen, Lu :-). Marion always brings me a huge bag of of sinful Lindt chocolates, and Lu makes me feel like the most special person in the world. We just went out to dinner, but most of the time we all scatter after a show, so the chance to spend a relaxed and happy evening with good friends is a rare treat. It's a memory that I'll hold close for a long time. Of course, there were a few comical moments, so now it's time for Linda's Stupid Trick. I had to take a train from Hagen to Dusseldorf, and as the plane didn't leave until 7am, I was in no big hurry to get on the road. Fortunately around 11pm, several of us decided that a bit of wine (and chocolate) would be nice -- after all, we hadn't eaten for at least two hours. I had a couple of bottles in my suitcase (generously gifted by Heidi (more about Heidi, Doris and Friedl later) and wanted to share one...but the suitcase was in the trunk of Marion's car, so she left me have her car keys. I know that several of you have a general of idea of where this is going, but no, I didn't lose the keys. This is a NEW Trick. I couldn't get the truck open with the key, so I tried to pull the trunk release lever located under the dash...but her car doesn't have a trunk release lever, and I pulled the cover off the fuse box. I had to climb in and under the dash to get it installed again, and it took quite a long time to get it back on...mostly because I'd pulled it out in the dark and kept trying to shove the poor thing back in upside down. Anyway, Marion came out and opened the trunk, and was quite surprised to learn 1. she had a fuse box, and 2. where it was, so I guess this was a valuable experience for us both. She still gave me a ride to the train station.
So now I'm on my way home. I'm eager to have clean clothes and sleep in my own bed, but this weekend has passed much too quickly. It really is a long and hard ride to get to Mekka --Anxiety over flights, hauling suitcases from train to train, dealing with a foreign language, driving in a strange land with unintelligible signage, the list could continue... but every time I leave here I am counting the time until I can return. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity have experiences and share moments with such wonderful people, and they will be often in my thoughts until we can meet again. Oh dear, I'm getting weepy right here in the departure lounge. I miss you all so very much already :-(
I do want to talk specifically about Heidi, Doris and Friedl, but I think I'll save that part until I have the pic.
Bis bald.

Linda

I'm sitting in the O'Hare Admiralty Club waiting for my next connection on the way to StempelMekka in Germany. I always feel so special in here. There's a woman curled up in a chair near me, and she's kicked off her shoes and one sock has a BIG hole in it. This made me feel really good, which probably doesn't say much for my moral fibre, but this has been an unfortunately typical travel day for me...up at dark-thirty, grabbed everthing lined up at the door and was almost on my way, but was halted at the last moment by a ralphing Cosmos. Cleaned up the mess, swore a bit at the dog (who just stood there wagging his tail; HIS issue was over)...so of course I forgot my itinerary. Therefore, couldn't check my luggage all the way, and had to claim and re-check it in Seattle. Then there was some sort of security whoopsie at the airport and everyone had been evacuated from the "sterile area", so we all had to go through Security again. Just barely made the flight. Then I tried to board the wrong plane in Seattle. Yup, this is about "normal" for me. I'm amazed that I can dress myself. I'm convinced that some day I'll be found wandering some city's street lacking some vital garment.
I didn't find tie to post my pics of the Bluegrass festival, so they'll have to wait until I get home next week. it was a grand time. I took a mandolin and banjo workshops. The banjo and I are getting along fine, but this may be a love/hate sorta relationship with the mandolin. Creighton spent his days polishing the chrome on the Scotty and listening to the bands. I hadn't even noticed that the Scotty needed polishing, but it kept him occupied. He wasn't much of a Bluegrass fan previously, and I think we may have now lost him entirely. I think the Gospel Bluegrass pushed him right over the edge. "I'm using my Bible as a roadmap; Heaven is my last stop".
See ya here next week!

Linda

Home again, home again. Pets are alive and the house isn't burned down, so it's about as good as we dare hoped.
The storm was fun, but not as dramatic as we'd hoped. Took a few pics, but they just looked like a grey day, and didn't capture the wind/wave/rain sounds. It pretty much passed through by mid-morning, just leaving the pool a mess and the ocean bottom too stirred up for good snorkeling.
So it's time again for...Ta-Da...Pet Photos Day!!


"I am the alien canine Cosmos the Omnipotent sending a Vulcan mind-meld to the puny humans. I want left-overs. Lots of left-overs. No more of that nasty dried kibble...and also, round-the-clock petting, scratching and walkies. Pay no attention to the inferior rat dog below."

"Yeah, right, Goof Boy".
We're taking the Scotty camper on it's maiden voyage tomorrow afternoon. Just 30 miles north of Spokane to a Bluegrass Festival, but it's our first chance to explore the area since we moved here in March. I'm taking a couple of banjo and mandolin workshops. Hope to post some pics here when we get back.

Linda

This is going to be a long post, comprising most of the last week. It has a lot of pics, and I can't get the text to match up with the pics :-( And the web page is all in Dutch, so I'm a bit limited on using the web tools. We cashed in all my American frequent flyer miles and are down in Curacao. We planned a whole week of a whole lotta nuthin'. Brought guitar, crocheting, snorkel gear and a couple of trashy novels. We're staying at one of those "all inclusive" places, so you can just stumble downstairs anytime and there will be some sort of food available. Maybe not what's top on the list of cravings, but considering my aversion to cooking, I'm happy with whatever I find....AND, they clean up after us, too. What a bonus! Not many Americans down here. Mostly South Americans and Hollanders. Duh! We're 35 miles off the coast of Venezuela, and Curacao IS part of the Netherlands Antilles. Of course, everyone speaks Dutch, Spanish, the local dialect and English, leaving us, per usual, as the Anglophiles with only one language.
OK, it's a couple of parrots. Can't add much to that.

The town looks a lot like Amsterdam with humidity.


All the buildings are old stucco colonial construction that has been maintained/restored. The historical story is that a governor said the color white hurt his eyes, so all the buildings are brilliant colors of the rainbow. No mamby-pamby pastels for these folks.
Here's a shot of an alley with a way kewl 3-D relief. I guess it's cement. It doesn't appear to be molded, and I don't know how they shaped everything in situ, but it sure is pretty.


There's a water channel to the harbor that divides the town in half. They built a 600' pontoon bridge that spans the channel, and it swings open when ships pass through. It's about half way open here.


So each time a ship shows up, a long whistle blows to let everyone know that the bridge is going to open -- because they'll be stranded on one side or the other. But it's really a signal for the crowd to run like hell and either get on the bridge, or off it, before the gap gets too wide. One guy just came barreling along behind his family, pushing a baby stroller. As he got to the gap, he grabbed up the stroller and leapt to the other side. What a HOOT! This should be an Olympic event.
The hotel is right on the beach. Here's a view from our balcony.
We haven't told them yet that we have NO intention of leaving. Curacao is a mighty fine place, and I'm sure I could get used to living like this LOL
The hotel is right smack-dab in the middle of of a marine reserve, so we just wander outside and fall in the water to snorkel. Creighton has an Olympus waterproof digital camera, so we're having oodles of fun documenting the fish. Look out Jacque Cousteau. We just fill up the memory, run inside to download, and head out again (It would be nice to store to a memory card, but the bastards at Olympus designed the camera to use an expensive proprietary memory stick instead of a standard SD card). Paula and Teresa, I had to take the bracelets off. There are a BAZILLION little barracuda here that seem to find the bright and shinies facinating. They're probably harmless, but they really freak me out....and I've seen a few of their bigger relatives hanging around, so the jewelry had to go. Here are some pics of the less intemidating fish




...and one purple squid.

And just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.....


It's Karoke night, so we're holded up in the room. We gave it a try, but it was too painful, in any language. Sour notes still leak into the room, so I have the telly tuned to a Spanish weather channel while I write to you, dear readers. There are warnings for tropical storm Felix passing near here sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. The weather station shows video from Aruba, but since I don't know if Aruba is just over the horizon, or up in the northern Carribean, it doesn't do us much good. From the video, it looks like it just got very wet there. C and I are quite excited, as this will be our first tropical storm.
I'm hoping to find an Internet location tomorrow so I can upload this....so it won't be like the postcards that arrive a week after we return home.
...later in the night....Karoke is still going strong, and they're coming around to tape "X's" on our sliding glass door. Storm is due to hit here at 5am. This is SO exciting :-)) ...
Later still. The Karoke has degraded to a group participation discord, and the bar is about shut down. The employees are busy bees gathering up all chairs, tables, beach loungers, etc, and everything else that isn't tied down, and hauling all into the bowels of the hotel. Guitar is back in its case, and stashed in the closet. The laptops and everything electronic are in a dresser drawer, so I guess we're as ready as we're going to be. I wanted to set the alarm for 4am so we'd get up for the beginning, but C says we'll probably hear it coming!!

Linda

Home from Pennsauken. $-250 revenue, 6875 miles, 32 travel hours, 7 legs, 5 delayed flights, 1 missed connection, 1 mountain.

Nuf said about the weekend.

Linda

Geez, back in another airport, this time on my way to the Pennsauken show. Does it seem to you that I'm ALWAYS in airports? Sure feels that way to me. Since last posting, I've been down to Phoenix for the Art Unraveled show. All the ladies seemed to have a good time in the classes -- one of these years I'm going to treat myself to classes, also, but not this time. I got an AARP discount at the hotel, which included several drink coupons, so Paula and I shared them at the bar Saturday evening. It was nice to have a relaxing chat, as most of the time we're running in our out of the shows, with only time for "hi" and a hug. And Paula had spare breakfast coupons for me, so both ends of the day were covered. I thought it pleasantly wierd that AARP folks got the drinks but no breakfast, but that suited me better, anyway.
My Photoshop is on the fritz, and the cropping tool won't work, so I still haven't been able to post the felted bowl after Teresa got it to shrink. In the meantime, I've finished a display box for the booth, and started another Christmas present bowl. Pics in due time.
Otherwise it's been a mostly a mundane week of pressing and trimming rubber. We finally got one of the kitchen curtains up. It's taken two months, so I'd guess that project will be completed by Christmas if I keep up the current balance of whining/bitching.

Linda

I'm finally home from Novi, and already have next month's Pet Peeve on traveling. I don't understand why people deliberately crowd in boarding lines. Do they really think they're going to get there any faster? And what next? Thirteen items in the twelve items checkout line? What anarchy! ANARCHY, I tell you!! But the rest of that story next month...
None of you knew, or probably cared, that C and I been coveting a camper for a LONG time. After endless shopping, the stars aligned today, and we found the Perfect Camper right here in Spokane.

The GPS antenna on the top, and the Ashtech sign are in honor of the Z-12 receiver -- the finest GPS receiver ever made. Also, today we were hired back to Magellan as GPS consultants...so it was an auspicious day in two ways.
You'll notice the Christmas lights left by the previous owners. Leaving lights up all year appears to be a Spokane tradition. Some even turn them on every night. I kinda like the idea that every day is a celebration. Reminds me of an old Rosanne Barr skit where she says that if she gets to the end of the day and the kids are still alive, she's done OK. I can relate to that.

Linda

Well, I'm sitting in the Detroit airport after the Novi show. I had a chance to voluntarily give up my early morning seat in exchange for another free round-trip ticket (at current prices, this is quite a prize. Most tickets are in the $500-$600 bracket)...but I'm here for most of the day. Can't post the pic, but Teresa did magic with my crocketed bowl, and it's beautiful. I'll post the pic soon.

So that leaves us with just dialog. I've been wanting to start a Pet Peeve of the Month, and this seems like a good time to start it -- no pic and in an airport; not pissed yet, but it's probably just a matter of time....and I'll be here for HOURS. It could easily be PP of the Week, but my New Year's resolution this year was to be a nicer person, so I set a tighter limit. I actually kept the resolution for about 6 days before I seriously want to bitch-slap someone, but, I didn't whack her, so it doesn't count.

You'll find that most of my peeves have something to do with traveling ( airports, hotels, convention center personnel, the all-powerful, get-them-out-of-the-gene-pool, your-tax-dollars-at-work TSA security), and this month we're going to start with Airport Baggage Claim Ediquette (which I can't spell--sure doesn't *look* right, anyway). Wouldn't it be nice if everyone just stood back from the carousel and waited until they spotted their luggage, and THEN approached to take it. Crowding around while your luggage hasn't even been unloaded isn't going to make it arrive any sooner. And when I can see mine, but you're in the way, so I'm jogging along in the background looking for a break in the mass of people so I can grab my luggage, it makes me cranky. And let's discuss the rugrats that also line up at the carousel along with mom and dad. It doesn't take all of you to get the bag. Really. And they don't need to pat each bag with a sticky fingers benediction as it passes. You might they're cute, but I don't. Finally, I'm probably tired, and most certainly cranky, and I'm trying to lift a 50-pound bin off the carousel. I'll try to not doink you or the kiddies, but I might not try too hard. So, next time you're getting your luggage, please keep these thoughts in mind, because ya never know, it could be ME next to you. LOL
Wow, I feel better. How long until next month :-)

Linda

Looks like Batman tripped getting out of bed, and then didn't have the energy to get up. Ah, what a Dog's Life.

I was going to tell the yarn story first today, but 1)Paula beat me to it, and 2) in the meantime, Mary Kay was kind enough to send me a pic of my clothes abandoned in her dryer.

Yup, I'm sure it was a kind gesture...hey, wait a minute...was that a jab? OUCH! Yeah, it sure feels like a jab LOL
Anyway, back to the yarn story. I haven't been interested in yarn since about 25 years ago when I made 50 granny squares for an afgan, and then didn't have the temperment to deal with stitching all those wretched squares together. Too bad I didn't know 50 mice to gift with little afgans. Well, a couple of months ago Paula and Teresa, especially Teresa, innocently introduced me to felted knitting/crocheting, and unleashed to yarn money on my back. Thus far I've crocheted two bowls. Here's one before the felting .


It looked pretty much the same afterwards -- it got fuzzy, but didn't shrink...so it's too floppy. Ditto on bowl number two. Ya know what they say about people who keep repeating the same failed procudure and expect to get diferent results.... Teresa currently has bowl #2 to see if she can get it to shrink.
These were made with Walmart and Joann's wool, so no big loss...however, the Dallas Yarn Frenzy has me stocked with high dollar yarns to screw up. Teresa, I'm counting on you :-)

Paula already posted our pic, but mine doesn't chop off Teresa LOL. It's me, Mary Kay, Paula and Teresa.

Next time I need to remember to stuff a hank of yarn under my chin. Hell, I might just have to carry one all the time. :-)
Paul's already described our day on her blog http://www.blogger.com/www.paulabestsilver.com/blog, and it's much better than I could do. We all had a grand time, and came away with great, albeit pricey, treasures.

Linda

ACK! It's been over two weeks since I posted. Most has been traveling, but I've been home for several days, albeit totally emersed in pressing, packing for orders and upcoming shows. I have too many thing to post, so that it's turned into an emense Hydra that grows another head every day...so instead of abandoning the blog entirely in panic, I'm going to break it down into manageable (I hope) parts. Tonigt it's the story of Lost and Found.
At the music camp, I'd managed to lose my keys within hours of arrival. Considering my Key Handicap, it was no surprise (I'm much too old to change my behavior, so this is just going to be a way of Life for me), but still upsetting. Additional stress factors were 1)the poor guy blocked in by my car, 2)we were way up in the middle-of-mountains nowhere, 3)my mosquito repellent was still in the car. Bummer. After a couple of days, the loss was announced at dinner, so everyone could be on the lookout for them. The week progressed with no sign of the illusive keys. The departure day, I gave up and called my Roadside Assistance. Once they could figure out where I was, NO locksmith would go there (the spineless bastards). I'd have to be towed HOURS to a dealership and get the car re-keyed. I think sometimes one just has to give up all hope before the clouds part, cause this is what happened. I found the keys behind a tree stump behind my tent site, and there was Great Joy throughout the camp. The camp editor took my picture fondling the keys for the next newsletter, and I'll be forever known by all as the Ditz Who Lost Her Keys. Fortunately, I could cancel the tow truck guy, because he was still tring to find me on a map.
But the Curse continued....
While at the Grapevine show in Dallas, I washed my clothes at Mary Kay's house. I still had four more days traveling in California before returning home, including several business meetings. Well, I got back to California, but all but what I was wearing was still in Mary Kay's dryer :-( ...well, at least it was clean... I had to do some emergency shopping for business-type no-fun clothes. YUCK!! I'll be really glad to get my normal clothes back, cause I'm really getting tired of wearing the same stuff.
Well, I'm I'm not so Blog-challenged tonight. Soon I'll post the story of the yarn shopping frenzy (and pic!!) instigated by Paula and Teresa.
Linda

I've put on quite a few miles this week. We were driving back from Kansas and feeling a bit down because we were missing all July 4th activities, but we passed trhough Bozeman, Montana right as dusk and saw a fabulous fireworks show. Montana doesn't have the rigid verboten laws, and the town was alight with fireworks. We dropped into the valley and drove for at least 20 minutes with fireworks exploding in every direction. A wonderful experience. I guess Montanans believe that adults can play with matches, and if you blow yourself up it's your own fault. Ah, out comes the Libertarian.

Anyway, got back home and immediately repacked and headed for California for Music Camp. Spent an awesome (Yup, it really was AWESOME) week in the Coast Mountains completely emersed in music. I'm socially challenged outside of my little comfort zone, so it was difficult being dropped in with 129 strangers, but it was certainly worth the effort. My banjo picking has improved (Hey Steve, I got the book because of you and the shrew...and thanks for the HTML code. I'll be trying it in a minute), and I have a slight grasp of the mandolin. If any of you have any interest in folk/bluegrass/blues, you should take a look at California Coast Music Camp...and if you're in the Bay area and even remotely thinking about the guitar, check out classes by Carol Maccomb Carol McComb at Gryphon Strings in Palo Alto. It is a unique opportunity to become one with your guitar, and Carol is one of the few gems that sparkle in the urban sprawl of Silicon Valley.

I'm now down in Fresno spending a few days with my mother and the boys. No WiFi at the retirement house, so I'm at Starbucks. I'll be leaving Thursday morning for the Grapevine show. MaryKay, Paula, Theresa and I are yarn shopping, then off to the show. Hope to see some of you there.

Linda

Creighton and I are road tripping to Kansas to visit his family and celebrate his folks' 50th wedding anniversary. Geez, I can't imagine being with anyone for 50 years (well, maybe George Clooney would have a chance -- I'd just stand him in the corner and look at him LOL). Fortunately, the pressure is off now, as a 50-year commitment is unlikely for me unless it includes an interim visit to the taxidermist.

I still haven't mastered mobile uploads, so we're going into the Archive. Today we present an old pic of Tigger in a relaxed moment.



I've decided to learn to play the banjo. I recently read that Steven van der Meer, www.meerimage.com/blog is learning the banjo, and since he is my third non-related friend to play one, I took it as a Message From God that I, too, must go forth and do the same, despite the adage "Play a Banjo; Go to Jail". I got the Mel Bay book "You Can Teach Yourself the Banjo", so we'll just see if ol' Mel knows what he's talking about.

BTW, I am incapable of writing the code so Steven's web site is a hot link. I'm close, but no cigar. If anyone would send me that line of code, I'd really appreciate it.

Linda

Hmmmm, Ten days since I last posted. Sure doesn't seen like that long ago. I'm now legally driving, so it's hasta la vista to public transportation. I had to take both the written test AND the driving test -- the first one since I was 17. YIKES! My tester lady was SCARY!! I think that driving testers fall into the same group as property tax collectors. The image of Dudley Dowright's Snidly Whiplash comes to mind. I wonder if those types of jobs just natually appeal to certain personality groups, or they become like that because of the job. Sounds like a potential Sociality Masters' Thesis to me. LOL
In celebration, we called the rest of the day Free Time, and spent it roaming around Spokane. We found this "antique" store stuffed with reproduction cast iron lawn ornaments. This one looks like the animals trying to escape....


I'd like to have a pair of the lions in my driveway.


And this gazebo would look mighty fine in the yard...but this month I think I'll pay the phone bill instead.
Then we had lunch here. Great burger; lousy fries.

and finished the afternoon with a really stupid movie. I won't say which is is...but I thought that John Travolta couldn't be in a dog of a movie. Well, I'm wrong again. It was worth $3.50 for the mindless entertainment (and believe me, I do have shallow taste when it coments to movies/books), but not $8 for an evening ticket.
Off to Orlando in the morning.

Linda

I'm back from Collinsville. It was a good show, but the trip had a few hiccups. MaryKay (StampCamp) was going to haul me around, but she was ill and I ended up on public transportation again. She's better now, and I'm safely home, so no whining...but the night tour of East St. Louis bus and train routes is definately right off the list.
I didn't take any pics, so I'm digging into the archive of stuff that I thought amusing.



This one is a baggage cart taken at the Denver airport.

-Linda

Finally, my Woody Guthrie Memorial pic...
I don't want to say that Springfield was slow...but on Sunday I arranged all my coins in chronological order :-(
I never intended this to be a pet blog, but you've gotta see Kona, Zana's (Stamp Zia) new puppy. Zana brought her to the show. She's SO cute -- very calm for a terrier puppy. She was delighted to be picked up, but raised no ruckus in the booth. Hope to see her at many more shows.


I'm doing some GPS training tomorrow, and heading for Collinsville Friday morning, so won't be back here until next week.

Linda

I'm in Springfield, and still no pics posted. I lost my driving license in Texas, so spent my few hours at home Thursday trying to get a new one. No luck. So I flew ito Boston this morning and had to make my way to Springfield on public transportation. It would have been a fun adventure if I hadn't been dragging 150 pounds of luggage along with me, but I'm here and booth is set up, so can't complain.
I DID get Cosmos to the vet. He got the stitches removed, and said goodbye to his plastic collar. He's a very happy boy again.
By the time I get my Pampa pic posted it will be a bit anti-climatic. It's a small town, but I spotted a sign for the Woody Guthrie Memorial Center. As an old-timey guitar player, I was pretty danged excited, had to make a visit. It was closed the days I was there, but I peered throug the windows and left lots of nose prints. Woody lived there in the 1930"s during his teen years, and worked at a soda shop which was later converted into this memorial center. Pic will go up on Tuesday.
Hope to see some of you at the show tomorrow.

Linda

Here I am in Pampas, TX. Didn't hear from any of you, so I guess there aren't any stampers here. No surprise; there's not much...and flat enough to see the curvature of the earth. I took a couple of pics, but don't know how to do a mobile upload, so they'll have to wait until I get home. I went through Denver this trip. It's always bit of a bump and jiggle because of the mountain thermals, and this time I was in a 16-seat, two-prop plane going through thunderclouds -- way too much of an E ticket ride for me. Two times some sort of beeping alarm sound came from the cockpit (kinda like a school fire alarm), and once there was continuous blaring sound, similar to an evacuation alarm. Whatever they were, I was very glad to be back on terra firma. I fly 100,000+ miles a year, and I still have a panic attack every time the slightest perceived "irregularity" occurs.
I have a few new images this week that I'll post on the www.lost-coast-designs.com New Images page.

Linda

I'm back from Puyullap. It ws my first drive across Washington. I suppose that eventually it will become more mundane, but it was a beautiful and varied drive that surprised me. It started with rolling hills of pine trees west of Spokane, then endless plains through the middle of the state, then sorta like high desert, then across the Columbia River and up past forests and lakes across the Snoqualmie Pass. I intended to take pics on the drive back, but it poured rain most of the trip, and besides, I was like the mule heading for the barn, and focused on getting back home. I'm sure I'll be back again.
I'm glad to say that Cosmos is much better. Here he is expressing displeasure over his fine "elizibethan collar" (LOL),

but he has discovered the joy of pills buried in bits of hot dog. His little brother, Batman

pays VERY close attention to the hot dog bits, and when one (containing the pain pill for an 80 lb. dog) bounced off Cosmos' nose, he grabbed it up like the little snake that he is. He spent most of the day sleeping it off on the couch.
I'm back to wearing my GPS hat. I'll be doing some training in Pampa, Texas next week, so if anyone is near there and wants to get together next Monday evening, beam me an email.
Thanks for the get-well posts. I read them to Cosmos, and he thought they were mighty fine.

Linda

OK, I'm ready to try posting a pic. Today we feature Cosmos Moose because he's had a rough day, and could use some Happy Thoughts sent his way. We have a temporary roommate who unexpectedly brought his dog along -- part pittbull, need I say more? :-( and there was some disagreement over butt sniffing, and poor Cosmos ended up on the short end of the stick. He's happily medicated tonight, but is going to have a few uncomfortable days...and the other dog will be spending the rest of his visit in doggie jail....AND Creighton will be staying home with Cosmos this weekend, so I'll be at Puyullap by myself. Will someone please come by and say Hi?? Ok, enough whining. Hopefully, here's Cosmos on a happier day. See how he's guarding my bins for a stamp show? Such a good dog. VBG

Well, the test page worked, but I can't delete it, so I've forever documented my PC insecurity and lack of dedication to task. I hope God loves a procrastinator. The epiphany was leaving my M-F job of 13 years and moving to Spokane, Washington. It was a hard decision to make, but it feels like we're starting a brand new stage of life....so it seemed a perfect time to start a blog.
This week we've been frantically pressing rubber for the St. Paul, MN and Puyullap, WA shows, and intermittantly painting the living room. I'll be at Puyullap this weekend with my booth and Stamp Camp, and MaryKay (Stamp Camp) will run my booth at St. Paul. Please stop by and say Hi if you're coming to Puyullap, and check in with MaryKay if you're at the St. Paul show. She might like a break or a bit of conversation.
Soon I'll be posting pics of the Lost Coast Design team, the critters, and whatever else I find amusing/intriguing.
Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

This is my test page. I've been wanting to start a Lost Coasters Review blog for AGES, but other things always seemed more urgent, so it got shoved off to the back burner...and besides that, I kinda felt that I needed some monumentous event to launch my blog. Well, that time is about here, and I want to be sure that I have a clue of what I'm doing, so here goes....WELCOME TO THE LOST COASTERS REVIEW!!