I've been fooling around with Listia

I've listed a few things & bid on a few. Everything is "free". It's a credit system.

Ruby ring

I'm excited! A couple of years ago, I went to a yard sale at the home of an antique dealer who has bragged about doing all kinds of tricks to hide flaws in his stock. (ie super glue in hairline cracks in glassware.) He had a bowl of costume jewelry for $.25. I found this ring, it fit & it didn't feel like costume to me, so I bought it.   I wore it off & on, but was afraid that the worn prongs would let the ruby fall out. Last month I took it to a local jeweler to see if it was worth fixing. He quoted me a price, but said that it would have to be completely redone & suggested that I might want to consider having the ruby reset in a different style. He also told me that if this ring were in new condition, it would sell for $1200.00. I took it home & told Charlie. He said that he would like to give me a new setting for Christmas.  I thought about it, made a very rough sketch of what I wanted & took it to the designer at the jewelry store. He refined my design & made a beautiful sketch of what he'll make.                                                                          

                                                                     Original ring.

Jeweler's sketch

Cat man do (love his kitties)

Charlie &, from left, Junior, Ashley & Pepper.

kitten

Our new kitten, Pepper in monster mode. Look at those big paws.

I'm ready to eat venison

1 week ago this was a beautiful bushy tomato plant with half a dozen fist sized green tomatoes. I give the deer corn & tortillas & this is the thanks I get? Yesterday I mixed up eggs, dried scotch bonnet & thai peppers & water & sprinkled it all over my plants. I dare the deer to come back for a snack!

2 baby quilts same pattern

These are 2 baby quilts that I made with the final version of the design that I dreamed up on our honeymoon. It's amazing how different they look with different fabrics.

Small town

I got to talk to Officer Tom of the Renovo police again last night. A drunk sideswiped my jeep at the grocery store. (Just a little paint off the bumper.) I didn't see it, but a store employee was waiting for me when I came out with my groceries. The young man denied it & I really don't think that he noticed as he was too busy smashing a grocery cart against the wall with the front of his truck. I might have let it go, but he pissed me off. He denied that it happened, said that it was his father's work truck, the scrape on the back of the truck had been there for a long time, he didn't even know where the papers were & if I wanted to do something about it, I should take his lic # & call the police. Then he hopped in the truck & drove off. I said to a bystander "He looks like a Coleman" Reply-"Yes, that's Steve Coleman" I did not mention alcohol to Officer Tom, but he said "He was probably drunk" & headed off to find the truck. I love living in a small town.

The wren babies have flown

On the soaker hose.

#3 ready to go.

I love his fuzzy ear tufts.

Look at that tiny tail!

Indigo buntings

Last night 6 or more Indigo buntings started coming to our feeders. I've never seen them close up before-beautiful. The colors change depending on the lighting & angles from a true indigo to dark turquoise with green flashes. Forgive the poor quality of the pics, please. They were taken through the window.

dreamed quilt

While on our honeymoon, I woke up at 3:00AM with a quilt design in my head & unable to go back to sleep until I had sketched it on a piece of hotel stationery. Last night, I started working with it in EQ6 This first one is close to the original. I liked it, but didn't love it, so I kept playing. My next Idea was to make 1 block instead of 2 blocks, set diagonal & use sashing. Better, but I wasn't sure that I wanted such a big center piece in the block. This is a little more like the first design. I like it.

I like this one, too. I may make both as I need to make 2 baby quilts.

I intend to use paper piecing for the triangles with the acute yellow triangles. Does anyone know a name for these blocks? or did I come up with a brand new block. (unlikely)

coincidence or cause & effect?

A week ago, a gas company did a seismic survey along our road. They are mapping for fracking.* It shook our house like an earthquake from 50+yards away. Lots of rain since then. Yesterday, there was a mudslide including trees. We don't normally get mudslides in this area. Coincidence? or did the seismic shaking loosen the ground enough to make it happen? *For those who are not familiar, fracking or hydraulic fracturing, is basically giving the earth a high powered enema to release gas.

new toy-stovetop smoker

I'm cooking again tonight with my new toy- a Nordic Ware stovetop kettle smoker. Last night I did a pork steak & tonight I'm doing chicken & a few Cremini mushrooms. I've wanted to buy a stove top smoker for about 6 months, but was too cheap ($60-100) On Saturday we went to Unkle Joe's Woodshed & they had one marked down from $69.99 to $35.00-my kind of price. I was afraid that it would fill the house with smoke, but it releases less smoke than a candle.

minor disaster-Bounce dryer bar

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try a Bounce dryer bar & it was working OK until today. I opened my dryer to discover that my down jacket had been partially eviserated through a 3" rip. What a mess!! The only sharp things in the dryer were the clips that hold the dryer bar onto the tub. There were no loose feathers in the washer, so I'm sure that the problem happened in the dryer.

This is the second minor disaster this week. Earlier in the week, Charlie stepped on a plastic bottle of mint green Minwax stain & finish that he had left on the floor in the middle of the living room. I managed to get some of it up, but we're going to have to put an accent rug over it.