September to Remember

I'm glad the month of September is almost over! While it started wonderfully with guests Bob and Peggy from Ocala, it quickly went downhill over Labor Day weekend when our house was broken into. We were gone for just a couple of hours at dusk to attend the Balloon Glow in Colorado Springs' Memorial Park.

That was enough time for the burglars to steal our two new flat screen TVs, our friend's Kindles and new red suitcase, my laptop computer with all my images and editing software, 2 cameras (my new T2i with the smaller 18-55 lens was with me), Canon 70-300 IS zoom lens and accessories, binoculars and GPS, all of my jewelry including a diamond watch that had belonged to my mother, food (they preferred hamburger and sausage to rib eye steaks), wine and all the toilet paper in the house - even the roll on the spindle! All of our goodies were whisked away in our 2003 silver-grey Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. We had conveniently left all our keys hanging on hooks by the door into the garage.

The glass in our back door had been shot in, every closet, drawer and cabinet had been opened and routed through and bottles of collector wines from my cooler were all over the floor.

It felt strange - and a bit scary - the next morning when we left the house to watch the hot air balloons take off - but our friends came to see the festival and we were not going to disappoint!

The morning was beautiful. After the double launch of balloons, we went for a leisurely breakfast. The rest of the day was spent repairing the back door and changing all the locks. The garage door opener had to be disconnected as the remote was in the car. I started compiling the list of what was missing and tried to locate as many receipts as possible. We called ADT and made an appointment to have a security system installed.

Best Buy has been wonderful. Since we purchased many of the electronics there, they were able to print out a complete report of all of our purchases since I joined the Rewards Program in 2004. So far our homeowners insurance has been helpful - but we don't have a check yet.

Imagine our surprise when a couple of days after the break-in we heard about a bank robbery just south of the Springs in Security. Two men wearing skeleton masks and gloves robbed a bank at gun point and got away in a (wait for it!) ...2003 silver-grey Hyundai Santa-Fe SUV. By the time they read the license plate number, we already knew it was our car. The FBI was now on the look-out for the "Skeleton Bandits" and our famous get-away car.

They were arrested later in the week after abandoning our car on the west side of the Springs. That evening we were called by police detectives to bring a copy of our list of stolen items to an apartment in town - home of the main suspect's girlfriend. I recovered many of our items, including the smaller TV, 2 Kindles, 2 cameras, binoculars, not-so-new anymore red suitcase, about 80% of my jewelry - including my mother's watch and several items I hadn't discovered were missing yet (including some worthless foreign currency and, of all things, a box of wooden toothpicks).

I was a happy camper. At that time, we were hoping to get our car back in a couple of days.We started to relax and make plans for our annual winter migration south.

Despite the turmoil, we had a great visit with our friends. Peggy was affected by the altitude, but still enjoyed a train ride through the Royal Gorge and a trip to Cripple Creek and Victor to see the gold mining operation.

Here I am with Bob and Peggy mugging for the recovered Nikon camera in one of the tires from the HUGE trucks used in the mining operation.

What an amazing view across the open pit. Those little specks are the huge trucks. With the price of gold hovering around $2000 an ounce, they are doing quite well!

Remember that recovered Nikon camera? When I went to check some pictures Bill had taken, I discovered a 90 second video the burglars had taken of themselves at the apartment. Girlfriend (referred to as "video baby" by the guy behind the camera) was relaxing on the sofa - reading Peg's Kindle. A bottle of WalMart Sparkling Lemonade - straight out of our refrigerator - was sitting on the coffee table. The main suspect briefly appeared - wearing the same shirt we had seen in surveillance tapes from one of their other burglaries. The time stamp indicated the video was taken the day after our break-in. Detectives now have that disk and I decided it was not a good idea to post it here.

Since then we have a new fancy-dancy security and fire system monitored by ADT. It even has a temperature monitor so if the temperature in the house goes above 100 or below 45 degrees, we get a call.

One of the things we do each year before we leave for the winter is to have our 4 1/2 year-old, $7000 heating system completely gone over and checked out. This year was no exception. Even though the unit is less than 5 years old - it makes us feel better. $89 later we had a stamp of approval. The house was ready for winter!

We would have never given it a second thought except for the slight cold snap. I felt chilly and asked Bill to turn on the heat. It didn't come on. Long story short and TWO service calls later, they tell us the heater needs a $1500 part - but they don't recommend we fix what they now tell us is a bad system with no warranty, no guarantee. The new heating system (hot water baseboard heat and hot water) is over $6000.

They spent all day Friday installing it and guess what? It didn't work! We were left for the weekend with no heat and lukewarm water. I was fit to be tied!! Yesterday they were here again for the day and now we have heat and hot, hot water - but the heater leaks water, so here we sit yet another day waiting for service - and the unit still needs to be inspected. We WERE hoping to leave tomorrow - but that will probably get pushed ahead - again.

And what about our stolen car you ask? Well, the DA called and we won't get it back until AFTER the trial - which could be two years from now! ...Something about DNA evidence. Insurance?? Well, the car has been recovered, so they will not pay unless there is damage - but we don't know where the car is, what condition it's in or what might be in the car! Good thing we have another!

Have I whined enough??

Quilting up a storm!

I've been busy with my new machine.

This is the start of a new top I'm doing. It's a combination of star blocks and log cabin blocks. The log cabin blocks are fun - the star blocks are a bear.

Yesterday was the last of my long arm classes. Initially, I did not think I was going to like it - but yesterday I got to spend over an hour working on a small quilt I put together just to practice on - and it was really fun!

The machine was an APQS Millennium with stitch regulator - which keeps the stitches the same size as you move along, speeding up when you go faster and slowing down when you do. I hated it. In talking to my sister, she said she did not like the stitch regulator either - so I turned it OFF and found the machine MUCH easier to use. Once I relaxed my shoulders, and moved at a consistent speed, I found it was actually fun! I did a simple meander and almost finished the center during class. I'm going to try some patterns along the border - but may not get to it right away because... Today, my daughter and newest grandson arrive for a week and I can't wait!!

My new playmate.

Okay, okay, okay. I know I've been really bad about not blogging on a regular basis - but I've got some great excuses - really I do! First, we've had a miserable heat wave so we've not hiked as much as usual - some days we couldn't even sit outside. Second, I've been spending way too much time sewing and since I've been working on quilts that are gifts, I've not wanted to post pictures. Third, I have a new playmate.

This is my Janome Horizon Memorycraft 7700 QCP - and she's every bit as wonderful as her impressive name. I still love my original Janome - but she's a toy next to this sweet baby!

After selling some old gold jewelry (at ridiculous prices!)the hunt was on for a machine with a wider throat - the measurement from needle to base. My small Janome measures 6 1/2 inches. Most full size machines measure 8 to 10 inches. I even looked at mid-arm machines. Then I found my Horizon. The throat measures a full 11+ inches! My goal is to learn to machine quilt so I can save the money I'm now spending to send my quilts out to be done on a long arm. The cost runs $150-$225 for each quilt so I figure if I make 10 quilts - my new machine pays for its self.

This is the "Lucky Stars" quilt I made for Bill's granddaughter Sidney. I really enjoyed making this pattern and it was wonderful working with girl colors - since all my grandchildren are boys.

I thought this pattern for a French Braid sampler would be easy - but I was wrong. I enlarged the size of the quilt and putting it all together was much more difficult than it would have been otherwise. I do love the colors and had a really good time selecting the fabric for this one. Parts of this quilt come from states from Florida to Colorado. We may have eaten our way through Louisiana, but I quilt shopped my way through the other states! This quilt was a gift for Bill's grandson, Camron - Sidney's brother.

This close-up of the machine quilting shows the cool pattern - aptly named "Fireworks."

Even though we have three hummingbird feeders hanging around the patio - the birds still enjoy the organic sweet treats at our hanging baskets.

We've had a few Black-capped Grosbeaks at the feeders.

This House Finch family was comical. The new fledglings (the ones with the bad hair) would sit on, and even in, the feeders and yell for papa to feed them! He did.

Check out this cloud! It was right over our patio. We watched it swirl for about 20 minutes.

Bill's sister moved to a beautiful new home in Littleton - so we went to visit. The first time I walked by the dinning room table I noticed this silly centerpiece - it was all smashed down and lopsided. I thought it was really strange that she kept it on the table looking so sad -- until I noticed this scene a little later. Her one-eyed kitty used the centerpiece as a bed!

Happy Birthday Beth!

BEAR encounter!

The other day Bill and I went to the Upper Huerfano Valley, San Isabel National Forest for a picnic lunch with his daughter Laura, husband Tim, oldest son Kyle and Kyle's girlfriend Raeanne. This would have been our weekend to go camping, but with the severe fire restrictions, we decided that camping without a campfire would just not be the same.

As we were leaving - driving out the long, extremely bumpy dirt road away from the trail head and the camping sites, Tim stopped and ran back to our car and pointed out a huge bear in the woods. Bill wouldn't let me get out of the car, so Tim took my camera and tried to get a picture. With all the branches and underbrush, the camera did not focus and the pictures did not turn out. I was bummed. The bear was very close to where we camp - which is a little scary.

Driving down the road towards Gardner, we saw two more bears. This time they were in a clearing so I could get some decent pictures from the safety of the car.

The first one was cinnamon colored - not quite as big as the other one we'd seen - but big enough! (Note the ear tag.)

His companion was a large all brown bear.

Even though neither bear was black in color, they were both Black Bears.

By the time they wandered off and I finished taking pictures, several other cars had stopped behind us to take pictures too.

Another sight along the road - a large family of deer including this antlered male and adorable spotted fawn.

It was a great day!

Bill took me along for the maiden voyage of one of his new planes - a seaplane that he had just completed. He takes off from a lake located east of town at a Boy Scout campground. I was supposed to be taking pictures of the planes - but every once in a while something else captured my attention.

This picture of Song Sparrow shows its identifying characteristic - a central spot on his chest.

There were lots of Tree Swallows flying around - but it's a treat when one lands and lets me get a decent picture.

There are two main types of Bluebirds here in Colorado: Western Bluebirds with the rusty red chests and the more common Mountain Bluebirds.

There was a nest under the roof of the out-building and this youngster was trying out his wings.

On the way home we saw lots of Antelope including this large male and his lady friends.

Back home in our yard we have had an odd visitor. This is a common female House Finch - only she is almost all white. My initial thought is that she was an albino - but her eyes are not pink. I sent this picture to a local birder and he replied that she is leucistic - an abnormally pale bird with very faint markings.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: "Albinism is a genetic mutation that prevents the production of melanin in the body. Leucism is a genetic mutation that prevents melanin from being deposited normally on feathers." Both are quite rare. She has returned daily, but according to the experts, she may not be able to find a mate who will accept her and her odd coloring makes her an easier target for predators.

We haven't had many hummingbirds this year - yet. This one must be a new fledgling as she still has some baby fuzz.

More baby birds: Robins.

They come to shower in our pond almost every day. I don't blame them one bit as it has been exceptionally hot here - but every time I go to complain about our 90 degrees - I see that everywhere else has as hot or hotter temperatures and the added bonus of humidity. Our humidity still measures in the single digits most days.

This is the chimney on our neighbor's roof and we can see it from our patio. It makes a nice little house for a family of raccoons. We sat outside and amused ourselves watching them stretch and wiggle around until finally at dusk...


...one of them headed out and immediately came into our yard to get a drink at our birdbath. The others waited patiently for him to return.