Show And Tell and More

Kelli has challenged each of us to share a childhood keepsake this week for Show and Tell. I am going to share a story of my wonderful doll. When I was quite young - probably around six years of age - my parents gave me a doll for Christmas. I really do not recall exactly what she looked like, but when I was ten I begged them for a bride doll. Isn't that a high priority for every fairy tale girl? My father was in medical school and my mother was making ends meet with teaching. Needless to say, there was not a lot of money. My very clever mother decided to take my "old" doll and have her made into a bride doll. She was given a new wig, a delightfully created bridal gown and placed under the Christmas tree. I never knew that it was the same doll until I was in my 30s. She was adored by me as a beautiful bride and I still delight in seeing her until this day. Her gown is a little worse for wear and the hair would be eligible for the bad hair day contest, but I am glad to have the opportunity to share her with each of you. I cannot imagine what the monetary value for her would be these days since I know that my years would make her an antique. I do know that there is no amount of money that would make me give her up.

Recently we have noticed that the cat's food seems to be disappearing faster than normal. To be honest, the cat should check in at 60 pounds at the rate it is going. We have been suspicious that there is something else lurking in the dark. The food, which is kept in a galvanized can with a tight lid, has been spilled all over. I figured that the cat must have super powers and so I secured it even tighter with a bungee cord over the lid. The cat must certainly be starving to go to all the trouble to get that lid off. All of a sudden the can was being rolled around and I would find myself searching for the entire can in order to fill the cats bowl. We knew that something else must be going on but were unable to catch whatever it was ...... until.....

Yep, that is one big raccoon who has decided that cat food is going to be his/her new diet. I don't think so. As you can see, this animal was really not intimidated whatsoever as evidenced by the fact that my daughter, upon seeing it, had a chance to still go in, get the camera and take flash photos of it. From the photo it appears that it has two colors of eyes. Is that possible in raccoons?

Monday was #3 son's 35th birthday. His older daughters wanted to help make a birthday cake for him and they came over here to bake it so it would be a surprise for him. As children, our sons favorite cakes were train cakes so we decided to make one of those. The girls did all the decorating and had a blast doing it. I have a feeling that it will be a greatly requested cake by the younger brothers in that family from now on.

I've started on my summer themed quilt for the Four Season's Quilt Swap. There are so many wonderful summer ideas running wild in my mind, but the thoughts of a Neapolitan ice cream cone are prevailing.

What do you think? Does this fabric just scream Neapolitan to you? There was a new technique in last months quilting magazine that I am going to be using. I'll share more later.

Our #2 son and his wife are in Hawaii for a week to celebrate their tenth anniversary and we are enjoying a few days with their four children. The kids are great and wonderful with finding ways to entertain each other. One toy that they so enjoy while they are at our house is Magne*tix. These are interesting shapes of rods, chains, balls and wheels that attach to each other by a magnet force. This is definitely the type of toy that would have attracted my attention as a youngster. I highly recommend it for any of you who have young (or older) children around.

Pattie is having a summer contest on her blog. She is going to make a quilt for the winner with some darling healthy eating fabrics. She does a beautiful job with her quilting. I had lunch with her on Monday and got to see some of the quilt squares that she has just finished from her sixteen week class. Be sure to check her blog out and enter her contest.

As I write this, my house is being filled with dust - again! We did a remodel last year to make our home more handicap accessible in case we had the need for either of our parents or for us in the years ahead. We put a whirlpool tub in the bath that was remodeled. It worked fine for five months and then started tripping the circuit. The Aqu*atic company sent a repairman out since it was under warranty. He determined that the tub was defective and needed to be replaced. However, the company says "No." They feel that the tub can be "repaired" AFTER it is removed. Of course the company policy is to NOT pay for the removal. We have been fighting with them since November and have finally resorted to an attorney (my brother) which just infuriates us to no end. To avoid an even longer delay in the use of the tub we are paying to have it removed and then pursue our actions afterwards. I cannot stand a company that will not back their products even with a warranty. After all, we did purchase the tub in good faith and would expect nothing less from them. We did not expect to pay full price for a "repaired" tub.

Since I will be busy watching the grandchildren this weekend, I am hoping that everyone else will have a great weekend as well.