[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining again today, and it is so nice outside. I'm sure the farmers are going to be happy campers today! Bob will head out to the farm after lunch; they had a truck breakdown last night so imagine the farmer is fixing that this morning. I am in the process of trying to find Ernie a new farm home. He bit me again this morning and drew blood; I can't do this anymore. I feel bad because he is a "good" cat otherwise. I called the vet's office and she has a couple of nice farm places that give their cats shots, neuter them, and feed them, etc.

"Gma" -- It sounds like you have a busy day planned. I need to vacuum, but first need to find the brush attachment that "someone" didn't put back on the vacuum the last time "he" used it. It seems like the dust multiplies overnight around here.

My dishwasher is giving me fits again and the repairman is going to stop by this afternoon "if" he has time. Otherwise I will see him bright and early in the morning. I need to get a move on . . . have a nice day!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[QuilterInVA]

Good afternoon, ladies! The sun is shining! It's in the low 50s but supposed to be in the 70s the rest of the week. The trees are starting to change color.

I have my applique bee tonight and always look forward to it. I'm not to sure what I'm going to have for dinner - they want to go to Italian - but I'll probably have a salad. Thank heavens this group doesn't do the dessert thing.

The man at work who cooks brought me chicken cacciatore last week - enough for 4 servings so some of it now resides in my freezer. Today he brought me a big container of lasagna that has a lot of veggies in it, Italian sausage and his secret ingredient (pumpkin). I'm sure it'll be enough for 6 WW portions. Why is it when you are trying to lose weight, people decide to bring you food? I really appreciate it. The chicken dish was a Bobby Flay recipe and the lasagna was on the Food Network, need I say more?

Faye, don't your hands get tired from the knitting? You will laugh at this, I got a gift card from my friend for my birthday to the Dollar Store. Works for me because I'm always buying cards there and anything else that looks interesting.

Jean, That's too bad about Ernie. Does he just bite you out of the blue for no reason? I hope he gets a good home.

Hi, Maggie!

Have a good day.

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS
WOW it is in the 80's today. I go to weigh in tonight and don't feel like I have lost any thing but I have felt this way before and was surprised. I am having trouble with this site today. It only shows some of the letters I have typed in each word. I guess if ths contnues I will type it in my word program and then paste it from now on or awhile for this is a pain.

I did get my hour glass charm soldered on my bracelet. I do have a chart that tells what all the charms stand for. They are mostly silver with a few (4) gold ones which are a whistle that works, lips, star and banner with a small turquoise stone on it and it is engraved with FOCUS. I ordered most of my charms from Broderck on line.

I am leaving now for I am not thrilled to have to go back and add letters to each word I have typed.

Type at y'all later

[gma22]

Good morning to you all! Little cool this morning but it has been warming up nicely during the day. We actually had sunshine yesterday too.

Jackson called last night to thank us for his Halloween stuff he got yesterday. It was hilarious because he had his mouth full of candy and was trying to talk at the same time. Jack talked to him first and then handed me the phone and said he couldn't understand him. I figured out right away why. Jay said he had a mouthful of the little pumpkins that were in his felt frankenstein bucket. I guess he was pretty jazzed at all the stuff he got. I told Jay I bought exactly the same thing for Thomas and I did except for the differences in shirts.

I worked on Jackson's sweater all day yesterday inbetween cleaning house and I only have about 20 rows and the front will be done. I figure I can have it done by the end of the week no problem and have it all sewn up and done. I do have to press Thomas's pocket thingy and sew it back on. I took it off because I didn't like how it laid on the sweater so I am going to try pressing it and see how it does. Ruthie's sweater yarn should be here the end of the week so I can get started on it. I am still waiting for Joann to ship my yarn. That's why I quit using them. They take days to ship and then when you return stuff it takes weeks to get credit back. I didn't feel like going over to the store so I just ordered stuff online, which I probably shouldn't do. It isn't the products they sell more the fact their shipping stinks.

I'll tell you if it isn't one thing, it is another. I think I told you that about a week ago the light at the top of the stairs just fell down and was hanging by the wiring. Jack climbed up and found out that the area on the electrical box where the light screwed in had deteriorated so he got another box, brought it home and was going to replace it last night and discovered that instead of doing it properly by using what Jack calls a hanger that goes over the beam then the electrical box connects to it, they nailed the electrical box straight to the beam so he has to talk to one of the electricians about how to go about putting up a new box. He yelled down that we had a problem and I asked him what was it and he said the tray underneath the water heater was full of water and not draining out so I guess I am going to have to get a plumber in here and see what that is all about. We syphoned off as much water as we could out of the tray. I just wonder where it is plugging up at. This place needs to be imploded and started over! The joy of home ownership I guess.

Maggie: I have a charm bracelet and I need to get more charms for it. I also have a darling bracelet Kelly got me for Christmas one year that is sort of like the old baby bracelets from when we were born. This is silver and has two lines, one with Jackson's name and the other with Thomas's.

Susan: There are some days I can't do more than a couple rows and other days I can knit forever. I have found though that I am not sure I will ever be able to knit socks. The tiny needles really make my hands hurt. I have some sock yarn, but can't seem to get my hands to work well with the small needles. I would love to knit socks and buy some of the cool yarn you can make, but there is no sense in wasting more money if my hands can't handle doing socks. A gift card is a gift card is a gift card isn't it? Do you have a good dollar store where you live? Ours aren't all that great for the most part. They had one that was terrific, but it closed.

Jean: I noticed when we went shopping on Saturday that the cotton has yet to be picked as well as the beans. It is cool when the cotton is picked because it is like driving down the road with snow. The cotton comes out of the cages and lines up on the side of the road and looks like we have gotten snow. The beans are looking a little poor so I imagine they will be out of the field soon. I saw that they grew a field of corn for the maze this year. They have one right outside the back gate of the base. They added some of those moonwalk things and other stuff to it this year.

Well girls, I want to get back to knitting. I have to get on the treadmill this morning and get myself some breakfast too. Have a wonderful day today and remember to Oh, ps, a friend's facebook posted this article and I think this looks kind of fun.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/di...ewanted=1&_r=2

Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning ladies. The sun is out but it's only 52 degrees so I don't think its getting in the 70s today. Dumb weather man.

We went to our favorite Pizzaria last night and it was a noisy nightmare. There was a baby shower, a church group, and a socker team and their parents. I must say the restaurant handled it very well as far as getting the food out with so many at once. Only the shower had made a reservation! Anyway I had a small house salad with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 slice of thin crust pizza with mushrooms and anchovies. So I think I did pretty well. The bee was a lot of fun and we talked about our Christmas party.

Faye, it seems like to you need to redo the plumbing in your house. You're right, the joys of owning a home. I saw in the paper today that they are building a retirement/assisted living community for 300 where I live. Depending on what the cost is, I might take a look and sell my house. The one next door sold for $197,200 and had to have a ton of repairs. Mine will be all done up so I might be able to get more. I just really love my house but I know at some point I'm going to need assistance and no stairs - if I live long enough that is. Considering we paid $73,500 in 1989 that's a good return! I know what you mean about the cotton. They grow it in NC, about 90 minutes from here, and it does look like snow.

Maggie, your bracelet must be very lovely. Sorry about your problems yesterday.

Good morning, Jean!

Have a great day.

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! It's a gloomy day in my neighborhood but so far no rain. I'm waiting for the dishwasher guy to get here. Usually he comes first thing at 8 so I made sure I was up, dressed, and had my face on. Also am waiting for the vets office to call. I need to go to the grocery store -- hate waiting for things to happen!

Susan -- What a nice coworker to share food with you! Perhaps he thinks that living alone you don't cook meals for yourself. Ernie has never bitten anyone else but me. He does a sneak attack, bite, and then runs under the couch. When I get close to the couch he takes off for the basement. He knows he's been naughty. To get rid of him makes me sad because otherwise he is a good cat.

Maggie -- I wonder why you are having trouble typing here. It's working fine for me right now -- can't say that I've ever had a problem unless the site is down. Are you able to solder your own charms? I should get my charm bracelet out and see what I have. Bob started it for me before we were married and I haven't worn it for years.

"Gma" -- I hope you don't need a new water heater. Thank you for sharing the article as I've never heard of bento boxes. That mom must have a lot of time and creative talents. I wonder if her daughter will ever outgrow needing to eat something she recognizes.

I need to make my grocery list so I can be ready to leave whenever. Have a nice day!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS
It is going to be another warm day here in the heartland. Supposed to be up in the high 70’s. Life is good. A friend of ours has a little girl that just turned 5 today. I made her a little yellow box with a beveled clear glass lid. Her mother said that is her very most favorite BD present. Well she has a little sister who is just two and asked me to make her one. I told her I would when she turned 5. She is so excited that I will make her one when she is 5, not realizing how long away that is. She is such a “bash on regardless” kinda kid right now that If I gave her one now someone would surely get hurt. I will not forget to make that child a box. I may just make it now and save it for her. The little boxes are just 2 inch cubes. I ate a small piece of pizza at the pot luck last Sunday and it was the very best pizza I had ever eaten and asked the “bringer of it” where she got it. Jill said “I made it!” Well was I astounded. She makes them and sells them at the bowling alley that she and her husband own here in town. Now when we have pizza for sure we will get one there from her. OH, BTW I showed a gain at WW last evening after all and am not even going to try to figure it out. I had a good week and It will show eventually.

DONNA FAYE Electrical and water woes. Not a good combo. Hope you get it all figured out and fixed soon. Bracelets, I now have 33 charms on mine and will add 1 more when it comes. All my charms have a weight loss meaning to them. You knit away girlfriend…I find it so neat that you do that for those younguns. What a neat web page. She is so creative and what fun food she makes. Thanks for sharing.

SUSAN An uproar of children voices at the pizza place. What fun they have. You did so good with your food choices for sure. You are back on for the ride. So you are thinking about assisted living. It really does sound like a good plan for you to consider.

JEAN I know you will miss your cat but I don’t blame you one bit for finding him another home. I can’t abide a biting animal. Are you going to get a little kitten to train now that you are retired. They are so fun to see grow up. Our little guys are growing gangbusters. I do solder my charms onto my bracelet for I have some silver solder especially just for that. I imagine your bracelet is gold isn’t it?. Back when it was purchased gold wasn’t so stinking high in price. Gold charms now are very expensive where the nice silver ones are within reason. I purchased the little gold whistle I have on my bracelet years ago when I used my overtime money to go to the Gold Market on 7th and Hill in LA CA to buy charms and chains. That whistle (which works) cost me $40 back then and now it sells for $900. I paid a dollar an inch for chains and now the price has skyrocketed. I could get a nice 30 inch box chain for 30 bucks and now you can’t touch one for anywhere near that. Upstairs in the cage they also sold precious gems like diamonds, lots of loose diamonds. I wonder if the Gold Market is even still there. A lot of what I had purchased there, I no longer have, for I had some melted down into other things and some have been stolen from me.

Everyone have a wonderful day. Type at y’all later.