According To Plan

If all has gone according to plan this blog will publish from our Arizona home. It was a busy week in Montana with some not so great weather and some really wonderful fall weather even if it is November.

Monday I finished up the last of Katie’s quilts and managed a little other sewing. Emmi’s traveling crate needed a more comfortable pad so one was created.

In the last blog I wrote about how we often stay home for a week at a time. This wasn’t one of those weeks even if we had planned to stay home so as to have plenty of time for departure readiness! Tuesday we met Sarge and Sarah in Livingston for lunch at one of the Mexican restaurants–it was good, very good and it was great to see those two before we depart.

One more time I visited the offices of my optometrist to see if someone could possibly adjust my new glasses. The dang things hurt my ears, they hurt my nose and slide down my nose as if it were a ski slope! The young woman who helped me was the same person who wasn’t successful last time and she could not have been more accommodating! She even offered to help me choose different frames and to remake my glasses–amazing–but no time for that. So, she brought out the big guns–another optician from somewhere in the back that was supposedly the best at adjusting glasses. She was and my glasses don’t hurt and they stay up on my nose–hallelujah!

Wednesday we were to have traveled to Billings to have my hair cut and run a couple errands. The Cowboy woke up a bit under the weather so I went alone and shopped a bit. I enjoyed a fantastic lunch at a new to us restaurant in downtown Billings–Uberbrew, recommended by our friend John. Back home the mostly recovered Cowboy and Emmi were glad to see me.

Thursday morning had me traveling to town joining our friend Jeane for one last coffee before we depart. We had such a great time visiting–I miss my Montana friends when we are gone. Back home I started organizing and packing. The Cowboy fixed our wobbly mailbox post and puttered with small projects he always has ongoing.

At times I’ve referred to myself as the “cobbler’s child”–projects of mine seem to fall by the wayside sometimes. 😍While the Cowboy was trying to keep busy this week I reminded him shelves in our entry/mudroom/laundry room would be nice. We’ve only lived in this house 20 years, right??? To be fair, his planer died last year, we have a garage attic full of boards cut on our sawmill but those boards couldn’t be used until he either fixed the planer or bought another one. He fixed the planer–is there anything the man can’t do??

Friday was another really busy day but at least we stayed home. Lonn and the rest of his gang were coming for dinner and I was busy all day long! I smoked two tri-tips and the meat was so good! I made Pioneer Woman’s Au Gratin potatoes and while everyone raved about them, I wasn’t impressed. The ingredient portions were off. After an hour in the oven the potatoes were still swimming in cream and milk–I had to remove the hot casserole dish from the oven and pour off some of the liquid then turn up the oven temperature. That recipe needs some adjustment! It was good to see the kids and get our goodbye hugs! 

But the star of dinner was my Dutch apple pie! Made from scratch pie crust and using Louanne’s topping recipe that pie was so, so good!!

Another book I’ve read lately–November Road–by Lou Berney was one of those that while reading I almost forgot to cook–it was that good! 

And lastly, the quilts–

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Lora Lee, Lonn’s wife and our grandchildren Katie and Laci’s mother died in early 2014. She was a fabulous quilter and loved bright colors. She left behind lots of quilting fabrics and some completed and nearly completed tops. The “cowboy” quilt on the left is my favorite–more my color scheme than LoraLee’s. The middle quilt was to have been a large, queen size quilt and LoraLee was working on it when she died. I took the completed blocks and created a wall hanging. The quilt on the right was something I would have never attempted–way too many little triangles for me but it was a gorgeous quilt and big! I had to go to our local quilt shop and find some binding for it–my quilt fabric stash does not contain bright colors! I was able to use fabric from my stash for all the backings–a good use for it! 

Saturday was a busy day, very busy! We were up early and finally sat down about 5pm. All the vehicles were crammed into the garage, last minute packing, cleaning out the refrigerators, feeding us–the list went on and on but finally we were fairly confident we were ready to go. Now if Southwest Airlines just cooperates!