Sunday, August 23, 2015

Bright Minds, Bright Futures

Yesterday I had a little get together that grew. Initially two of my previous students asked if they could come by to say farewell before heading back to college. One is a rising junior at Harvard and one a rising sophomore at Harvey Mudd. I agreed quickly and planned to offer them some light refreshment since they were arriving around 11:30. Then my only AP student from last school year got in touch to tell me that she had passed her AP Lit exam and that she had a blast in her summer trip to Europe. I suggested that she come over at the same time as the other two young ladies since they all knew each other even if slightly and talking to students who are already done with the application process and have finished part of college can be revelatory. Since she had to return some books and travel guides to me she readily agreed. Then, out of the blue, a young man called asking for assistance in writing his application essays. I had never met him before but he knew at least two of the young women so I suggested that he come over for an initial meet and greet.

All of these young people are smart and engaged in their activities. No one can predict the future but these four are sensible and practical. They also love my peach pie--my son's tree had an abundant crop this summer.

Everyone starts something new on Monday. For two it is their senior year in high school and the other two are heading out to their colleges. I always wonder what their parents think about them wanting to spend time with me. It is a little odd but a delight in my life. I was tickled when one of the seniors asked one of the older girls how to survive the college application process. "Stick with Priscilla," she said.

I also was contacted by several of the English faculty at the high school last week. They had so much turmoil under the previous principal that I had resigned from my job of "reader" except for one teacher. That principal just disappeared two days before graduation in the spring and the most troublesome teacher left for other opportunities as well so the teachers wanted to know if I would go back to working with the whole floor of literature teachers rather than just one. Although my husband had reservations since he knows how frustrating it can be, I agreed. So I start anew on Monday as well.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Bad Air Day

Acres of the western US are burning right now with prevailing winds whipping the fires along and blowing the air into the Salt Lake valley. The air is so bad that the mountains are not visible, nor is the Capitol even though I am only across the small canyon of City Creek. Health advisories recommend staying indoors and even inside my eyes and throat burn.

Besides that I know two guys who are hot shot firefighters, a designation not an adjective. I always worry about their safety in the hot months. Some of the fires are natural disasters from lightning and some are human stupidity. Climate change has wreaked havoc on several areas of forest so the wood is even more likely to burn.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Very Time Consuming

I started adding the dogtooth border to the border pieces. At the rate I am going this will take about two weeks. I took 90 minutes to finish 10 "teeth". The plan is to have the dark red next to the muslin and have dark green on the outside edge. I wish I had cut the teeth a little shorter and a little less acutely but it looks all right. I can't change it at this point since I am trying to use up old fabric not purchase new fabric.

The new car will take some getting used to. This is the first car I have had with a camera view in reverse. My BMW had a back up signal but not a camera. There are all sorts of bells and whistles that I may never even turn on or access but the ride and steering are very smooth and powerful. I have to have all wheel drive, even in a sport coupe, because I live on a steep hill that is snowy and icy in the winter.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Center Section Princess Feather (Prince's Feather)/Christmas Cactus Finished

I did not take my sewing to San Francisco as I usually get too busy to get any work done, but I have been working steadily otherwise. The center section is about 46 inches square, similar in size to the feathered star quilt.

 It's easy to see that I like old-fashioned quilts more than any modern ones. So far I am abiding by my decision not to purchase any new fabric but we will see what happens when I move on to the border. I used to make Baltimore album style quilts frequently so I have many pieces in reds and greens and yellows. I also used to go way overboard in Christmas decorating so many of those fabrics have Christmas themes.

The outside border will be a lighter green background floral with a dogtooth border and some applique in the corners.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Yum, Yum

My husband and I made meatballs this morning. The recipe is from the cookbook "Buvette" from the eponymous restaurant and is just delicious. It is very involved with ground pork, ground veal, ground beef, ground mortadella, currants soaked and softened in sherry vinegar--you get the idea. The ingredient list is two columns long but the results are outstanding. The recipe also makes about ten dozen meatballs so we only need to make them occasionally since they freeze so nicely. Tonight we are going to have them with cut ziti and Swiss chard in a chicken broth. The greens vary--sometimes it's mustard greens, sometimes kale. Very delicious meal and after the meatballs are done the rest is super easy.

 Last night we had a cold cream of cauliflower soup with a nice salad of our own heirloom tomatoes mixed with goat cheese, toasted bread cubes, fresh nectarine, and fresh basil from our garden. Tonight it will probably just be arugula and tomatoes.

Friday, August 14, 2015

New Car

Went down to Lexus today and picked out a RC350. First time I ever got a car right off the lot. That's usually because I special order standard shift but that isn't an option for many cars any more hence today's purchase. Although my husband wanted me to get the Tesla, after the test drive I knew I wouldn't want the car. It's simply too big. Although my husband is probably disappointed that I didn't get the all computer car, I think I am going to like the Lexus. If you see an old woman driving a grey RC with red interior--that's me. I even got a reasonable trade on the BMW because it was special ordered to have a 6 speed standard transmission. At least the car dealer won't sue me for selling them a lemon.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Very Funny

I got my air ducts cleaned yesterday. Nine years ago we had new hardwood floors installed with wooden air vent covers on our first floor, the part that wasn't kitchen. The fellow who installed the floors didn't wait for the Varathane to dry completely so one of the wooden covers was stuck to the vent and had to be pried loose. Given that information and since we didn't have any ball playing dogs at the time we had the floors done, it came as a surprise, and a funny one to boot, when the technician stuck the long vacuum hose down the vent and came back up with not one but two tennis balls. Our current dog who loves balls was delighted and I was in equal parts appalled and tickled.

I can't tell if the house smells better. Like the TV commercial says, I am pretty much nose blind to the familiar smells of my house unless I have been out for a long time or gone for a while. If nothing else a lot of coal dust was eliminated by the cleaning. My house is natural gas fuel now but was originally a coal burning furnace and only some of the ducts are new from when we had the whole furnace replaced. I know the ducts are cleaner though.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Don't Get Me Started

For many years I have been complaining about pretty much everything. The issue to me isn't simply that I don't like the way the world runs but that so few people do the job they are hired for correctly. When I first moved here to Utah, I went through what was a pretty convoluted process to get a driver's license. Having moved multiple times I was prepared to take a written exam. I was prepared to take a driving test as well since California required it the few times I moved there. For the record I have moved 29 times in my life and in most ways think I am pretty adjustable if not completely copacetic. So when at the end of a 90 minute process the state employee handed me my license and my name was misspelled I was reasonable. "My name is spelled wrong," said I. "No it's not," said he. Really? My name isn't even oddly spelled like the man in Sacramento who added a number 3 to his name Brown so that it read Bro3wn. Don't even ask what happened to my son with the new system in place.

Anyway, a week ago I scheduled a duct cleaning for tomorrow. Apparently the person I spoke to didn't even tell the person who is supposed to come until this afternoon. At least that was his story when he called to reschedule from 10 am to 2 pm tomorrow. Who knows which of these people is speaking the truth? At this point I curse both of them. I will probably be cursing more vehemently after the duct cleaning. 
 
 


Saturday, August 8, 2015

Opposites Attract (Updated)

My husband and I just got back from four days in San Francisco. I wanted to at least ride in a Tesla (though not drive one if it had to be in San Francisco) and my husband was keen to do so as well and he was even willing to drive in the city. Well, he liked the car and I didn't. Besides the fact that it is enormous, compared to my 3-series BMW it was like driving in a stretch limo without the luxury. Seriously, I know that they don't send out the super tricked out models for test drives but this was like being in an old '57 Bel Air including the smooth bench seat in the back. Husband is still super enthusiastic, wants me to buy it like Monday but I am not at all convinced. It will be my car after all and it just didn't appeal to me for any number of reasons. So I am going to arrange a test drive of a couple of different Lexus models.

Then husband left his wallet at TSA in Oakland. This is the second time in a row that he has left something important at TSA in Oakland. Last trip it was his cell phone. Of course it is a little harder for men since you aren't supposed to have anything in your pockets so the wallet has to go somewhere that is foreign to you in many ways. I was waiting for him past security and I called the only credit card he has to report it lost since even if the wallet is recovered who knows what has happened since he last had it. He has always sworn that he doesn't need any credit cards--he has been perfectly content having me sign for everything. I can't even say that his memory has gotten worse since we have a thirty year old photo of him wearing a T-shirt that reads "No more memory available at this time."

Update: The good news is that his wallet showed up at the checkpoint during our flight. The bad news is that we don't really know what is left in it or where it has been.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Very Bad Day

You know those days that as the hours pass, you wish you had stayed in bed? First, my husband came home from his outdoor excursion weekend to be here for his birthday. He was pretty restless sleeping from all his muscle aches and abrasions so I woke up about 2:30 am. I left him in bed and came downstairs where it smelled as if something had died in my air conditioning/heating vents. I knew I had to call someone but my heating contractor doesn't answer the phone until 8 so I drank my coffee and read the newspaper for a while. Then my husband got up, drank his coffee, and we took the dogs on their morning walk. It was raining outside so we didn't stay out that long and when we got back home we got ready to go to the gym, part of our daily routine. As soon as darling husband stepped outside he landed in a big dog poop and then he stepped backward, cursing the dog by name, and landed in the afterthought dog poop. The gym was more or less the same as always except the roof was leaking worse than usual. This is one of the facilities built for the Winter Olympics and the roof has always leaked.

Well when we got home my husband looked down at the puddle on the floor and then up at the leak in our own roof. Swell. Now I have to call a roofer as well when the sun finally rises. The roof is only ten years old but what can you do? Finally at 8 am I call the plumber/heating contractor. Luckily they have had a cancellation so they will be at our house in an hour. We don't have a regular roofer so we look on HomeAdvisor and get a recommendation. That fellow calls and says he will be here in 90 minutes. The plumber was on time but couldn't find anything in the system to explain the smell and they don't do duct cleaning so he recommended someone. The roofer didn't show and didn't show and we were about to give up on him when the doorbell rang. No explanation for the delay but he was very nice, very friendly, even fixed something that he noticed while he was on the roof that he didn't charge for while also fighting yellowjackets in the rain. So all the flashing is sealed, the loose siding shingles are tacked up, the yellowjackets are dead and I am moving on to cooking roast chicken for the birthday dinner. I am exhausted and I haven't done a lick of sewing today but the day is still young. I always figure things can't get much worse on days like today but sometimes even that feels like I am tempting fate.