Phase 10

Tonight was game night.  Isaac chose Phase 10.  That game usually starts with vigor but soon draggs on and on.  And actually we don't usually finish the entire game.  What usually happens is that when Doug is ahead he decides it is getting late and quits - therefore ending the game while he in the lead.  It is true - ask anyone in the family.

Anyway tonight that wasn't going to happen.  Isaac was on a streak and was in the lead.  I think he was 3 hands ahead of us when he got to his Phase 10 hand.  So Doug and I desperately ganged up on him using every SKIP card we had to slow his progress.  And any progress for him would mean he finished the game.  Sure enough we held him off and moved another Phase closer to him.  Then another.  A little frustration could be sensed coming from Isaac.  Then a little more than frustration.  I would say a lot of frustration and a little anger as Doug and I slowly played our Phases and moved closer and closer to Isaac.  And as you probably can guess - pretty soon we were all 3 going for our Phase 10. 

Yes, we had tied things up.  This was the match to really end the game.  The winner of this round would be the real champion.  What would happen?  Well I actually ended up playing my Phase 10 hand first.  I had a set of 5 and a set of 3 - but could not use all my cards.  Pretty soon Isaac also played his Phase 10 hand.  But he couldn't use all of his cards either.  And after a few more minutes Doug was able to play his Phase 10 hand.  Can you believe it?  A 3-way tie.  Never happened before.  Probably won't happen again that same way.  (If you talk to Doug he'll probably try to claim the "ultimate" victory - but don't fall for that.)

THIS IS MY SECOND POSTING FOR THE DAY - SO READ ON.

Bar Stools

I haven't been sitting around doing nothing.  I have been busy.  I can finally blog about my Bar Stools project. 

The story begins before I went to high school.  My mom bought 3 olive green naugahyde bar stools for the house on 36th Drive.  They took a beating - we used them a lot.  Then years later when she moved to Utah and we bought that house the bar stools stayed with the house. 

I covered them once with a neutral color.  When we moved here the bar stools remained in the storage shed at the old house.  When we got our storage room built here we emptied the old shed and brought the contents over here.  And what should appear?  Bar stools.

They were in pretty rough shape.  So I decided to recover them again.  Only this time I completely re-did them.  I painted the foot bars, I put new cushions on the chairs, I re-stained the wood legs, and I stapled new covers on the bottom of the bar stools. 

Behold the entire project:

Start Bar Stools Project

 

Tear Down 

Mashed Seat pad

 

One stripped - one waiting 

 

New cording

Pinned Bar Stool seat cover 

 

 Sewing the cover

Finished Bar Stool cover

All stripped, legs on front sanded, back 2 are stained.

Also foot bars sanded and newly painted a shiny black.

Cover on Bar Stool. 

 

 Cuts in material allow for pulling the cover tightly around legs.

 Foot applying pressure and using power stapler to secure material.

No stapled fingers or toes - that is a plus.

Old paper on bottom of Bar Stools.

 New cover looking pretty good.

Completed Bar Stools project.

They look pretty good. 

 

Really Happy

We have had a wonderful few days of rain.  It has been overcast and we have had rain in various parts of the valley.  But what made me really happy is that we had a cool day yesterday.  It only got to 98.  That alone makes me smile.  Today it should only get to 90.  Where's my jacket?  But with rainy days and temperatures with only 2 digits I am hoping we have turned the corner.  Maybe we are starting to leave summer behind and move into fall.  That, my friends, would make me really happy!

Vacuum

Remember my post about the Goodwill Clearance Center?  I said I had purchased something that I would describe later.  Be seated for the tale.

I mentioned that there were tons of bins.  I found myself usually alone picking through a particular bin.  The masses knew the routine of old bins out after 2 hours and new ones in.  So they targeted the new bins.  Well while I was making my way around the room I happened on a bin with vacuums in it.  I saw a small Eureka Mighty Mite vacuum.  I immediately wanted it. 

May I explain my immediate desire for the vacuum.  This ward we has done 3 house cleanings in the past 4 - 6 months.  I think it may becoming a trend.  But all 3 of those cleanings included Karen (Checkets) Smith.  She used to clean houses for a job so she is well equipped.  She always came with her standard cleaning supplies.  That included a Eureka Mighty Mite vacuum.  This vacuum was very light weight, it was small, it was great for any material - chunky even.  We always used it and it was great.  We always used it during our cleanings.

So this one that I saw was dusty and dirty and looked beat up.  But I picked it up and gave it a thorough inspection. 

Inspection:
1.  Cord was firmly attached and wrapped onto the body of vacuum.  It had no nicks or cracks either. 
2.  The body of the vacuum, although nasty dirty, was complete.  There weren't any cracks. The front hatch that housed the dirt collection bag worked great.
3.  The tube was attached.  It was nasty dirty too.  But it seemed in good enough shape.  The attaching mechanism was still working.

4.  When I removed the tube to check it out there was grass and weed ends sticking out of the vacuum collection compartment.  The vacuum had a bag in it so it had been used and was turned in full of debris.  To me that was a good sign.

5.  The wheels on the vacuum were intact and unbroken.
6.  The on/off button still seemed to work.
7.  I took the vacuum to a plug and (drum roll please) it had suction!

The vacuum passed said inspection - I wanted to buy that vacuum.  I mean what if Karen Smith doesn't come to a house cleaning with me?  Right?  Anyway, I went back to the bin to see if there were any attachments that might be from this vacuum or another one that would fit.  Just as I got to the bin what do you think occured?  Yep, the bin collectors came and without fanfare removed all the bins that had hardware and household items.  Yikes!  I took a quick look just in front of the collectors but found nothing.

Anyway, when I went to check out I paid 7.99 for the vacuum.  Not a bad deal.  I cleaned it up.  It was gross!  Got some bags for it.  And now it looks like this:   

I have already used my Eureka Mighty Mite vacuum  a couple times.  I do need to find a good end for using it on a flat floor or carpet.  But other than that - it is a keeper!

A first

 I had a first today.  I roasted hatch chilis.  Why did I do that?  I got a box of produce that included the chilis.  So to prevent wasting my money AND wasting the food it was required that I perform a first. I ran into a problem right away.  Most advice said to roast them outside on the BBQ grill (I still don't have one of those) or in the oven (I didn't want to heat up the house).  So I pulled out our 2-burner camp stove and fired up the burners.  I got out my 2 cast iron skillets and put them on the flame.  Then I put the chilis into the pans and let the roasting begin.  It was not a hard thing to do.  But it was outside and I was dripping sweat while doing it.  The good thing is that when the chilis had cooled off I managed to peel the skins off and cut up the chilis and freeze up some baggies of green chilis for future use.  So I would say that my first at roasting chilis was a success!

Roasted and cooled chili

 

Another view

 

 

Roasted and peeled chilis

Stem and seeds had to be removed as well.

And I didn't even mention carrots!

Using Carrots

If any of you read my posts you know that I have an abundance of carrots at my house. 

Thanks again, Doug. 

So I have been using carrots as much as possible. 

I shredded some carrots and put in a gravy/sauce. 

Then today I made Chicken Noodle Soup - using carrots. 

 The carrots are actually my favorite thing when I make soups or stews. 

Crazy thing is that today I also made  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

the noodles too. 

I'm pretty proud of that. 

They tasted so good! 

 

So now my 5 pound bag of carrots

 - thanks once more, Doug -

is down to probably 4.6 pounds. 

We're racing through! 

 NOT!!

It seems I may spend a few months using carrots in my meals.