2011 July 02 — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Just Like Old Times

July 2, 2011 · by JudyL

Vince is home. That man cannot stay home . . he has to be going here, going there. Thankfully, we’re moving to another small town where there’s not a whole lot to do! This morning he had to get a haircut and though I was planning to fix breakfast, he wanted to go to McDonald’s after his haircut.

He was being nice nice taking me out to breakfast so I didn’t mess the kitchen up right off the bat. I had mentioned wanting to go upu to the Amish vegetable market if we had time so we drove up there.

I’m definitely going to miss that place!

We brought home corn, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches, yellow squash and eggplant. Tonight we’ll have corn, squash dressing, cucumbers in our salad — their veggies are so fresh and good!

After we got home from the Amish market, Vince decided he wanted to go to the grocery store for Gatorade. After we got home from there, he decided he needed to go to Wal-Mart for salt for the water softener and black hardware cloth to put over the old garden spot once he cuts the grass. He knows he’s pushing his luck . . he said “Tomorrow we probably won’t leave the house!” and I’m thinking . . I’ll believe it when I see it!

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 15 Comments

Digital Cameras

July 2, 2011 · by JudyL

Do you remember your first digital camera? I do! I had wanted a digital camera for so long and Vince just didn’t see the need for one. Even though I really wanted one, I could never have guessed how much use I would get out of a digital camera. Of all the “technological things” we have, including the cell phone, I use the digital camera more than everything else combined. The digital camera is my almost constant companion. 10 or 11 years ago, we were at a Sears store at Thanksgiving and they had a display of cameras and I talked Vince into getting one. It was pretty darned expensive considering it was about 3 megapixels. But, the worst part was . . I was so proud of my new camera and had stayed up late that night messing with it. Speck was a new puppy and chewed up the cord . . the very first night I had the camera. Of course, I had already run the battery down and had no way to charge it and had to order a new charging cable.

While at Sam’s yesterday, I was looking for a new pocket type digital camera. I’ve used Sony cameras for years and years but the ones I had all use the memory stick pro duo sticks which require an adapter on all our computers except the desktop. I’m so tired of having to have an adapter, and planned to get a new Sony that will use either the pro duo or the SD card. Sam’s was really low on cameras because so many people have been buying them either to replace cameras lost in the tornado or to document their damage but it got us to talking about the changes in digital cameras through the years.

Where would we be without our digital cameras? I can’t imagine paying for film, sending it off to get developed and waiting for it to come back, or even taking it to the one hour photo lab. Sometimes when I want one good picture, I’ll take 50 or more shots. And, where would our blogs be without digital cameras? Thankfully, we’ll probably never have to find out!

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 9 Comments

The Best Plans

July 2, 2011 · by JudyL

Sometimes even the best of plans just don’t work out as we expect. Yesterday I was so proud of myself thinking that Vince was going to say “Oh my goodness, this car is so hot! I see why you’re complaining about the air conditioner!”

Nope, the sun went behind the clouds about the time Vince’s plane arrived and while driving around, twice I had to turn the air conditioner down because I was cold.

While we were eating dinner, we were talking about the move, the house we want, the land and similar things. I was having such a hard time not telling him about the chocolate lab puppies. Here’s our conversation at the table.

Vince: I know it’s hard for you staying behind and taking care of all the things at home.
Me: Yes! And you owe me. I can’t decide if you can pay me back by getting me a 1967 Mustang fastback or a 6 burner gas stove.
Vince: Hmmmm
Me: There’s one more thing I want but I can’t tell you about it yet.
Vince: What?
Me: You’ll see!
Vince: When?
Me: You’ll see!
Vince: How much does it cost?
Me: Well . . it would normally cost about $250 but I think, if you agree, it will be free initially but there will be costs later.
Vince: A dachshund!
Me: No . . you’ll see later.
Vince: NO! No way! I don’t care how much or how little it costs! No way . . ever! Don’t even ask!
Me: You don’t even know what it is yet. How can you say that?
Vince: Yes . . it’s a chocolate lab. There are only two kinds of dogs you’ve ever had that you would have again — a dachshund or a chocolate lab.
Me: Will you just wait til you see them? There are 10 of them and they’re so cute!
Vince: Do you remember how much Chip dug and he chewed up everything? I’ll only consider it if we know for sure we’re getting 40 or 50 acres.
Me: Ok . . that’s all I’m asking! Look at the puppies. See what you think and if we’re getting the land, let’s get one.

Here’s a story from a couple of years ago about the chocolate lab we once had. That’s why Vince is so adamant about a chocolate lab but Vince acquired Chip when we got married so it wasn’t like he started out with him as a puppy. That makes a huge difference! We’ll see what happens . . tomorrow evening we go to see the puppies.

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 13 Comments

More Quilts Received

July 2, 2011 · by JudyL

More quilts have been received. I knew Vince would be tired when he arrived in Joplin yesterday so I scrapped the plan to try to deliver quilts and will do that next week when I go back with Chad. Going from the airport to Sam’s Club, we passed through an area I hadn’t seen before and saw different sights. There are still lots of portable/mobile units like a mobile AT&T store, a mobile pizza place, the mobile insurance adjusters are still out and about. The funny thing was a trailer that looks like it would be part of an 18 wheeler type trailer but it was all divided into “stalls” and it was where people could go to take showers.