If It is Not One Thing....

is sure has been another for me this year. Good grief is what I have to say! Picking up my prescription yesterday afternoon for my latest problem, I remembered that I'd already taken a steroid dose pack this year for the fluid in my ear. Enough already! Not to mention two bouts with cdiff. 😂

Before I get into that, let's talk about Halloween, shall we? Not really much to say here except that we had six trick or treaters, which is about par for the course. Our first one was Ellie from across the street with her little one. They stopped by before heading to her parent's neighborhood, Southern Oaks, which is where all of the kids go. I'm thinking because the houses are bigger, the kids think the candy is better. Not so fast....we give out chocolates too and have loads left to prove it.

Cute as a little button isn't she? We had several other toddlers as well, which made me wonder if I took our kids out when they were so young...

Look who is loving his blanket? He's lying right next to my desk as I type.

This is what we call his mole position because darn if he doesn't look like one from above when he is chilling like this.

The weather. Goodness, it is still very warm. Although the air conditioner was off for a week, it is back on now because, well frankly, it is just too warm without it. That said, the mornings are ideal for a bike ride, a little bit chilly, but comfortable enough. I am really in love with this plant that blooms both pink and white; the name, of course, escapes me. The buds are fantastic too.

Such fat buds that reveal such a lovely flower, somewhat like a hibiscus in shape and size. Perhaps it is in the same family?

Now here is someone with either great imagination, or boldness...take your pick.

For years you could not even see this house because the front yard was filled with lush plantings which have now given way to succulents. Because I had my zoom lens I could not get the whole front of this house, but believe me, there is more to see on this one.

Can we all just breathe a sigh of relief that election day is almost here? Oh my goodness has this been miserable, particularly if you live in a "battleground" state like we do. The commercials and phone calls are endless!! It seems to me that there are two easy take-aways from this misery. No one should be able to begin running for office until January of the calendar year of the election. Secondly, vote in the primary folks! So darn important.

Did you watch any of the World Series games? Gosh were they good, and although I was rooting for Cleveland because of the player who went to our high school, a Cubs win was great as well. Anyway, while I was watching the game on Tuesday night, I felt some weird tingling in my scalp at the base of my skull. I rubbed it a bit, wondering if I felt a rash, however, Bruce inspected it, saying he saw nothing. Good, or so I thought.

Wednesday morning I decided to go to the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild meeting with a plan to join the group. While getting ready I thought I noticed a rash on the inside of my left arm. The good news is that there was no itching. The meeting was so inspirational! Sharleen, our fearless leader at Days for Girls, is also the charity coordinator for the guild and this years big project was for a local charity that works with victims of sexual abuse, as well as their families. Called The House Next Door, the director was in attendance to both explain their mission, as well as pick up the quilts made by the guild. All 96 of them!

Above they are getting ready to start a runway show of them all. Imagining the time and creativity that went into all those quilts is staggering. Then too, there was the exciting accounting of the quilts for the Pulse tragedy. Here is a little video put together by the Orlando Police Department when they received theirs. The annual Pride parade was rescheduled for November 12th due to the disruption from Hurricane Matthew, and one of the ladies told us that there will be a float with quilts from the guild. Lots of other news in this vein, but suffice it to say that it has been quite the undertaking for the members. At last count there were nearly 1,800 quilts made! Apparently, although that number sounds huge, the more they give away, the more people want them.

There is also a show and tell time for the members; here are a couple of them, including one more for Pulse.

I told you quilters can be crazy creative! Here's one that has what is called improv piecing.

So that is a big improv quilt, and others make small wall hanging type quilts, like this one from a woman who lives nearby and is crazy talented. This is really about 11x14 inches in size.

She claims it is easy, and until I try it, I can't make an argument otherwise, can I?

Maureen had a bunch of clothes she wanted me to take, for either myself, or Goodwill. Bringing them home that afternoon, following the meeting, I decided to just try them on and get it over with. While unzipping my dress I felt rash on my lower back. Great. Bruce was home and able to check it out for me. Not so great. As the day progressed, it appeared other places.

Because I was so inspired by the meeting, I just had to fiddle with my fabrics a little, so I tried making a block called an Economy block. Using some of the estate sale fabric for practice I made two different combinations; a dark center, and a light center. Which one is your favorite?

There is a neat story connected to the fabrics above, well the print ones anyway. I bought them one Saturday at a sale on nearby Overlake, coming home with a bike basket full of fabric. You may recall that, and then again, maybe not. 😀 About two weeks ago I saw they were having another sale, so I pulled up on my bike just in time to hear an amazing conversation between the daughter of the deceased woman, and a stranger at the sale. The daughter explained all of the Disney memorabilia by saying her Mom was a seamstress for the Diamond Horseshoe Review, one of the first shows at Disney World. It filled my heart with joy hearing the stranger exclaim that she was one of the original dancers in that show! Not just that, but she fondly remembered the Mother, who apparently was an amazing seamstress. You can't make this stuff up, can you?

The tick bite I got back in early October was a source of worry to some, however, I tried taking it in stride, never once looking up Lyme disease because it seemed so unlikely. Still does, BUT when I finally researched it on Wednesday night, turns out a rash can occur up to 30 days post bite. Hmmm...

Both Dr. Parillo and I think it is still highly unlikely, however, after examining me yesterday he ordered a blood test just to be safe, rather than sorry. In the meantime, I can either see the rash, or feel it, from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. No itching which is good, mainly a stinging sensation. I began the dose pack this morning and we'll see where it goes from here. The blood test will take about a week.

Finally, for the first time in all of my voting life I have a sense of who the candidates are. No, I don't mean the Presidential candidates, but say, the Soil and Water Conservation candidates. Thanks to the League of Women Voters website, I now know that according to the Florida Bar all of the judges should be retained. That sort of information that I'd never bothered to learn before. Should you too, want to know more, and you live in Orange County here is their impartial website. 

Was it coincidental that my blocks are red, white and blue???? Subconscious maybe?

Informed voter for a change,

Gail