Water heater woes

 This last part of June has has shown us some extreme weather. A few days of heavy rain causing flooding in our area and also in other areas in Kentucky...then ending up the month with days of temperatures in the upper 90's and high humidity...causing a dangerously high heat index.

It's been a good time to stay inside and catch up on household chores and also do some sewing.

I started piecing a hexagon quilt...mostly because I wanted some hand work to take to our sewing group meeting, instead of having to lug my machine in every time.

I am using a bundle of floral fabric strips. I may have to mix some solid colors in later. We'll see.

I must have hexagons on the brain because I also tried out some crochet hexagons at my Sunday needlework meeting. 

I made the white one to try out the pattern, but then when I made one with the purple yarn it started turning wavy at the edges. I need to try a different size needle or maybe try keeping the tension tighter.

I made a batch of soup. Strangely enough, it's Spam soup. 

I had some fried Spam in the freezer that I diced and mixed with onions, carrots, peppers, beans, and broccoli. It turned out pretty good.

When we had those rainy days I thought my air conditioner was on the fritz. I noticed it was getting warm in the house. I checked everything and found the outdoor fan unit wasn't working. 

I turned the system off, then back on after a few minutes and that seemed to fix the problem. Everything was up and running and cooling the house.

I noticed water in the basement but thought it was leaking in from so much rain.

Well, the next day I went down to do some laundry and I felt a draft of warm air.

The water heater was leaking from around the top pressure valve. That's where much of the water was coming from!

The Sasquatch turned off the water and the power. I called plumbers the next morning and they came out first thing.

The old water heater was from 2003 and had some parts replaced on 2019...so gave a lot of years of service.

Goodbye old relic!

The new one was a bit higher priced than I expected. The plumbers were polite and did a good job and cleaned up before they left.

While they were here, I pin basted this little quilt top. It's now next in line for quilting.

The Sasquatch is harvesting lots of those Husk Cherries!  They fall off the plant when they are ripe.

He has been trying different ways to use them.

He made this yummy upside-down cake with some of them, and brought it over to share.

It was good! He brought some sweetened whipped cream to go on top. 

He said if he made it again, he would increase the amount of husk cherries.

I hope he will remember to let me sample that one too!

Fresh vegetables, quilting

 I finished sewing together this small quilt top. I like the red and gold sashing with the little 9 patch corner stones.   

I have plenty of this fabric for a backing. It's about time to use it for something...the date on the selvedge is 2012!

I harvested a couple of things from the garden...beets and some very tiny carrots.

The Sasquatch unearthed a nice big batch of potatoes that he grew in grow bags. He just started them with small potatoes he had bought, and left on top of his refrigerator until they had sprouted.

He gave me a few, so I just roasted everything in the oven. It's true...vegetables from the garden are so much better than store bought.

The beets were especially sweet and tasty. I'll plant a larger amount of them next spring.

Here is something else the Sasquatch tried this year...Husk Cherries. A plant with berry-like fruits that have a dry husk around them.

The taste is sweet and a melon/citrus sort of flavor. Hard to describe. They are good to eat plain but the Sasquatch has also preserved some in a jar with a sweet syrup, and he's going to try running a batch in the dehydrator.

Another amazingly beautiful sunrise! 

Changing every minute as the sun comes up.  

A few turkeys have been coming up in the yard.  One is a big male and a couple of times I've seen him doing his big majestic tail feather display. Always too far away to get a good photo though.

 

I'd like to know what you think about this. The house across the street from me is facing the neighborhood over there and so my house faces into his back yard.

I've noticed he likes planting and growing things and this year he's added this makeshift green house.  It's basically a little pre-built shed with a clear plastic roof and plastic sheeting  on the back side.

This is how it looks from my driveway (and from my front window).

It's sort of weird and unfinished looking...not a thing of beauty. Sort of annoying.

Next door...more burning....

I could sneak over there and roast a hotdog on a stick...or maybe some s'mores!

Some sewing, lots of rain

 I pulled out this project I started years ago. It was originally a block-of-the-month quilt when I was a member of the Mt Washington Quilting Bees.

It was difficult for me and I fell behind quickly and then gave up with only eight blocks made. There would have been twenty four to make the finished quilt.

I have taken the blocks out once or twice since then, and decided I could just make a throw sized quilt with this arrangement. I cut out the side triangles.

Now I need to make more of the sashing and fill in the corners too. Trying to decide what fabric I should use.

I finished the quilting and binding on this small donation quilt...put together from blocks made by the Crazy Quilters group.

The back is white flannel. It's been difficult to keep it from getting covered with black cat hair while it's been at my house, but I know the flannel will make a nice cozy lap quilt for a nursing home resident.

At this month's Crazy Quilters meeting I decided to join in with the Sew Busy group and do the project they were working on - a log cabin mug rug.

Cute and colorful finished designs!  Except mine, I didn't get finished.

It's the top center one with the black cat fabric.  I'll finish at home and may make it a bit bigger too.

I wanted to show you this quilt that my friend, Linda (on the left) brought in for show-and-tell.

The amazing thing about it is that she made it all from dance costumes!

Working with those silky, lacy, sequined fabrics had to have been quite a challenge!

It will be so special to the young lady whose years of dance costumes are represented here. Quite a keepsake!

I finished this throw sized quilt that's not exactly a quilt.  The center is just a section of Laurel Burch fabric that looks like it's pieced.

I liked the colors and the cat images so much that I just sewed the blue border around it and quilted it.

On the back I used this IKEA fabric that's another favorite of mine. The yellows are so happy looking.

It's actually more of a canvas type upholstery fabric but it washed up fine in the washing machine and was easy to quilt through. It made the quilt nice and weighty.

I added binding around the edge so it is really a quilt...just without all the block piecing.

Here's a couple of close ups.  So much to look at in that fabric!

We finally got that rain we missed out on in April. 

Days of rain with heavy downpour sometimes.

See that tallest tree branch in the middle of the photo below?

That's a hawk sitting there through the pouring rain.

Here he is zoomed in a bit.

Looks like he would be miserable but I guess it's a good viewpoint to watch for prey in any weather.

Lovely springtime

 

Derby Day was early this year... it was May the 2nd.

So the pool was opened after Derby Day this time.

That's okay because the water is too cold for swimming. The pool men got everything up and running and put some starter chemicals in it.

A couple days later I noticed a leak at the pump. I called and they came out and found they had left an outlet not tightened down well.  Glad there is no major problem!

Here's a look at the area next door from my upper deck.

Puss is getting brave when we walk back in the field and taking some short forays over there to look around.

I should be pulling weeds but it's so pleasant to sit on the back porch in the evening instead.

At least I was being productive and got the binding sewn down on this donation quilt.

This racoon wandered up to see if anything interesting was going on.

Sometimes I work on my crochet project while sitting out there too.

It's getting close to being finished. Usually I only work on it at my twice-monthly knit and crochet group at the library.

I need to decide what my next project will be when this is finished.

A cute bunny, a sun rise, a birthday

There is nothing cuter than a little baby bunny!

But why is it in my hand?

Because my vicious killer cat came slinking into the house one evening with the little bunny in her mouth.

It took me a few seconds to realize she had something and right about then she dropped it in the floor.

I grabbed it up, happy to see it was alive. It didn't seem to be hurt too badly.

I had no idea where she caught it and it seemed too young to be away from it's mother.

I stood holding it for a few minutes trying to think of options.

Then, the little thing formed it's mouth into an "O", and let out several long squeals.

That was a bit hair-raising, so I decided to just turn her loose in the flower bushes by the back porch.    Sorry, poor little bunny!

There was a beautiful sunrise one morning.

  

The Soil Conservation agency had their annual tree give-away down at the county fairgrounds. 

They had lots of choices but I chose mostly Tulip Poplars and also got a few pine trees.

I'm planting them in my back field...after The Sasquatch kindly dug some nice big holes.

The trees are small but had a nicely developed root system.  I like the shape of their leaves.

So far the deer haven't bothered them!

My sister had a birthday brunch to celebrate my brother's birthday. They had biscuits and gravy and her husband made omelets to order...with lots of choices for fillings.

I took over some cooked bacon and this cake.

It's pistachio and coconut.  I think I've seen a similar recipe called a Watergate Cake.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pistachio-and-coconut-cake/

I so rarely bake anything I'm clumsy at it now. I overcooked the cake just a bit and the edges were dry.

I made extra frosting to coat the entire cake (and hide those dry edges) and used a lot more pistachios than called for.  They all liked it and didn't mind dividing up the leftovers to keep.

It was a nice meal and nice to gather with family members.

April, but where are the showers?

 So far this month we haven't had many of those April showers which the old saying refers to.

Some really lovely spring days though, and things are blooming!

Sitting in my TV watching recliner I can see my dogwood, full of blooms and lit up by the evening sun.

Iris are putting on a big display.

They aren't my favorite flower but they are dependable...and deer never seem to bother them.

Usually a freshly blooming peony will bring on heavy rains, leaving the blooms waterlogged and wilted.

Not this time, though.

Of course birds are building nests at this time of year. Unfortunately one pair of expectant parents have decided to build a nest behind a piece of loose flashing.

They keep flying back and forth bringing more and more nesting material. As they stuff more in the opening it makes the flashing pull away from the house even more.

I'll wait until the babies have flown from the nest and find someone to fasten the flashing back down. Someone with a tall ladder!

Our library has a reading challenge each spring. Read five books within the three month time frame and receive a coffee mug or a tote bag.

I chose a tote bag. Always handy and has a zipper top.

Here pictured with my tote bag are the reading selections for my two book clubs.

The non-fiction one, "Everything is Tuberculosis" is interesting. Information and history of the disease and different cures that were tried. Even though it is curable, it is still a problem in some parts of the world.

The book for my other club is "The Midnight Library". The main character, who is depressed and suicidal, is given a chance to temporarily experience lives in which she had made different choices.

That's something we have probably all wondered about on occasion.

Here is my report on the activities next door. 

Removing more of the brush close to the property line. Still well on their side though.

Other than that it's been quiet over there.

More of the same

 You are probably tired of me reporting on the changes going on at the property next door to me. Sorry! It's just such a major event for me.

The logging company worked cutting and clearing trees for about 2 weeks.

Truck loads of giant sections of the trees were hauled away...one after another.

Burning going on off to the side of my back field.

When they finished, they disassembled their set-up and loaded equipment on trailers and left

Walmart has a big display of packaged plant starts. Irresistible when one is so anxious for the spring growing season. I bought two snowball viburnums.

These look healthy...already with some green leaves. Maybe I'll pick up one more.

One morning, early, while it was still dark, I glanced out the front window and saw a man up on the telephone pole. I only noticed because I could see the bright light of the head lamp he was wearing.

That was weird. Then I found that I had no internet. Hmm.

I waited a few hours to see if it would come back. Nothing.

I called Spectrum (three lengthy calls...one in which they wrongly told me i needed a new modem) and they couldn't come out and check for the problem for 2 days.

Meanwhile no internet and no television (I only have streaming...no antenna or cable).

So it turns out that they had just disconnected my service because of "noise in the line".

Sheesh! It seems like they could have had someone here to repair the problem instead of disconnecting.

It took the service man a while to figure everything out. Everything is in working order now.

It makes me realize that I'm so dependent on this technology!