The way back machine

Long, long ago - in a land far, far away, we bought a house. It was a nice house, it was a big house, it was a cool house in the desert. Two giant air conditioners, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room AND breakfast room, large kitchen, living room, and a family room the size of Rhode Island.

The family room was so big we could have a sit down dinner party for 25 in just half of the room. . .

The family room was 25x42, with a jacuzzi in one end, a gigantic (so big you couldn't get it out the double sliding doors) work table with storage all around and a wall of cupboards, floor to ceiling. It was a nice house, it was a big house, it was a cool house in the desert.

The house looked small from the front - but it went back and back and back -the house took up almost a whole city lot . . .

And I planted roses in the front yard - oh how the roses grew in the desert . . .

We divided the family room into two parts - one for the kids to use for watching tv, playing board games, diddling around on the piano - kid stuff. The other half was my sewing studio - oh the glories. A sewing studio with a big stand up cutting table, more storage than anyone can even dream of - a window looking out on the back yard with bouganvilla blooming and and orchard of citrus trees. I sewed and sewed in that room - but that's another story.

bouganvilla - wonderful to look at - but watch out for those thorns . . .

kids in the orchard . . . by a grapefruit tree . . .

Rusty and his dog, Timothy Ann, in the orchard


Lori swings in the orchard - see, I told you they were nice kids . . .

And they never got put in jail - well maybe once, in the old Yuma, AZ territorial jail . . .

We moved into the house and the 4th of July, we had two teenagers and one almost-ready-to-be-a-teenager. Nice kids, helpful kids. Don had just lost his job and I spent the next 18 months supporting our family and this crazy house, with my crafts business - again - a story for another day - this is the story of our house, it was a nice house, it was a big house, it was a cool house in the desert. Or so we thought.

Sure they were nice kids - sometimes they got a little rowdy at parties (New Years Eve, playing games) . . .

And sometimes they got a little messy (streamers from New Years Eve)

And sometimes they painted their lips blue with frosting . . . but they were nice kids . . .

One week after we moved in the house had a heart attack - it just couldn't take those teenagers - at least that is the reason we gave - surely it wasn't the adults it was reacting to. We swept the floors, washed the windows, cleaned the walls - we were the nice people - surely our new house liked us. We don't know why the house didn't like the teenagers!

Well - that is for you to judge - why do you think our house had a heart attack? First it blew both of the 5 ton air conditioning units. Not both at the same time, mind you, one at a time - one week apart. Well, in a house that big, one AC unit is not enough, so we had several of hot weeks to live through.

Two of these babies . . .

First one unit was replaced, and not wanting to feel left out, the second unit decided to throw a fit and get some attention. Believe me, you give AC some attention when it is throwing a fitin the desert. This one starting by making a noise loud enough to wake the dead - then it smoked some and finally it just stopped. Call the AC man (they are very busy in July in the desert), order another new unit, wait for it to arrive, wait and wait for the installation and then wait for the cool air. Ahhhh, now to settle down in our pretty new house, cool as a cucumber, this is the sweet life. It was a nice house, it was a big house, it was a cool house in the desert.

Lots of ice in the freezer, cold drinks in the fridge, nice cold water in the water dispenser. What???? You say the ice has melted? The drinks are warm, and something is running out from under the fridge? No - no - no - tell me it isn't so. Well the twin built in, lovely, matching refrigerator and freezer wanted some attention, they didn't think it was fair that we gave all of our money to the big air conditioners that sat outdoors - they wanted us to spend some money on them, share the wealth - if there was any wealth - and remember - Don had no job - just odds and ends at this time while he searched for a job in a town with over 30% unemployment!!

Pretty, pretty matching fridge and freezer - and pretty, pretty daughter doing dishes . .

Of course our kids needed cold drinks and we needed ice in the desert - so off to get a new fridge and freezer. No, that one won't fit - this one will, but there is not a matching freezer - oh the trauma of finding something pretty to keep your food cold. The original fridge had no freezer compartment - where did they find one that was all fridge? Finally they are purchased, the wonderful boys from the appliance store bring them out on their truck and hook them up - oh wait - they don't hook up the water to the automatic ice maker. Oh well, Rusty and Don can do that - long copper tubes - lots of grunting and sweating - and finally automatic ice maker is hooked up and making ice.

See how the new fridge doesn't fit the space from the old fridge, it's a bit too short, but I'll fix that by putting a basket on top of it - ohh ooops - someone is drinking from the carton of milk, does her mother know she does this?

Ahhhh, now to settle down in our pretty new house, cool as a cucumber, with ice and cold drinks and a watermelon chilling, this is the sweet life. And I leave you with these sweet thoughts, a cold drink and a dream of life with three wonderful kids in a wonderful house - oh yeah RIGHT! Wonderful kids, true, but what is that house up to next? I think this is all you can take at one time - I know it is all I can take - so - to be continued . . .

Rotary cutter blades

Here's some great money saving tips that I got from one of my yahoo quilt groups. Thanks Sue and Larriane. There are a couple places to buy rotary cutting blades for really good prices. You can shop online at both places, and Harbor Freight has local stores in many towns. These prices are just for the BLADES - not the whole cutter - though you can buy the entire cutter at the second place for pretty good prices, if you need a new cutter.

First one is Harbor Freight, for 45mm blades - they come in packages of 2, for $1.49. They are called carpet cutter blades, but ladies have been using them for some time in their quilt rotary cutters and find no difference, well, except for the price.




Another source, with bigger packages of blades, is South Star Supplies - they have a larger selection. Harbor Freigh only has the 45 mm ones. Depending on size - you get 10 blades to a pack for $17.95 from South Star. Again - that wonderful price.

I didn't calculate shipping, but if you have a Harbor Freight nearby you could stop in. Even with shipping the cost has got to be a lot cheaper than we have been paying.

Growing up in Alaska

When I was six we moved from California to Alaska - from electric lights, cars, gas stations, swimming holes at the creek, washing machines - - to living on a small fishing boat, spending winters with the boat frozen in the bay, hunting for and fishing for our food, bears on the beaches, bathing in a big galvanized tub, washing clothes by hand, baking our own bread (well, our mother did that) and skiffs to row around the bay.

Things were very different in Alaska than they had been in California - much more primitive. But our parents were adventurous and so off we went. A family of five and the adventures we had in the 1950s, before Alaska was a state. Come along on our adventures - http://walkingtoalaska.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoy your visit.

Baseball game

Saturday night we went to the Bellingham Bells Baseball Game with Ben's family and some friends. The kids had a grand time. Especially when "Cluck" the mascot came by.

Ben and his friend Dillon - high five chicken!!

Catch "Cluck"

Cluck was even invited to sit on the quilt . . . Dillon is just to the left of Cluck's head - Ben is behind the little girl . . .

Have a seat Chicken!

There was good food to eat . . .

And cold drinks . . .

Just chillin' with mommy . . .

Singing . . .

Dillon rolled up in a quilt . . .

It was a good ballgame . . .

Another Hollyhock Garden

Here is the pretty candy pink house with hollyhocks that I promised you in the last post . . .

Holyhocks - Hollyhocks - Hollyhocks

On Friday nights we like to take a picnic and go down to the Alaska Ferry Terminal and watch them finish loading the cars and then watch as the ferry departs. Last Friday we decided to drive up on the hillside by the bay to get a better view. The view was fantastic - but I didn't take any photos of the water because the sun was reflecting so brightly.

As we drove up and down a few of the streets we saw the most beautiful flower gardens - and one I just had to stop at and get pictures - the most amazing garden of hollyhocks I'd ever seen. You could not even see the house for all the flowers. The sun was behind the flowers and they seemed to glow.

I'll let you wander through the gardens . . . enjoy . . .

A few streets over we came across another hollyhock garden - I'll tell you about that one later.