New Orleans

 I'm in New Orleans with the girl scout troop in excessive heat with lots of walking. Most of the girls are having a great time.

We (me and another mom) drove us here in two cars. We left around 5am Wednesday morning and arrived a bit before 4pm. Thursday, we walked to our bus tour of the city, which was wonderful. We learned a lot and got to see the first levee breach area of Katrina back in 2005 and hear from a local first responder who was our tour guide. We walked to Jackson Square and had our packed lunch. Then popped into the church for some cool air. We walked to the next stop, New Orleans cooking school. I think this is my favorite activity. We ate while she cooked! Gumbo, jambalaya and pralines! 

Then it was a 25 minute walk (heat index in the 110+range and humid) back to the condo... with 48 stairs up to our level. No elevator!

Relaxed in the ac for a bit and I got a cool shower and change of clothes. Then it was 25 minute walk to the ghost tour to check in. A 2 hour walking tour around the French quarter, then the long walk home. Yes, 23k steps Thursday. My foot was killing me!

Friday we got a later start as there was lots of girls giggling into the night. We did the world war 2 museum, which was wonderful. Then on the way to Mardi gras world, we did a detour to Gus world famous chicken as the girls were hungry since some did not pack a lunch. I tried fried green tomatoes and has a bite of fried okra. I would do the tomatoes again, pass on the okra! Big thanks to Hailey for letting me try one from her meal! It was a hot walk but we made it in time before they closed. It is a must see! We got king cake and then wandered around the warehouse. 

We were able to reschedule the other 2 tours out a day and then cancel one with no fee. They were on the other side of town.  We are scheduled to do one ghost tour tonight at 5pm. I hope my feet can take it! I paid for the Uber for us back to the condo. Best $20 spent in my life for 2 cars. Also my first Uber! Another 30 minute walk would have killed me. 

Today we are paring the plan way down and probably only doing the French quarter for shopping at the market and the tour. We are dropping  the city walk. It is heat index in the triple digits again today. We drive home Sunday. 

Posting from my phone. Have a great weekend! I think I'm scheduling a foot pampering for Monday!

What I've been reading....

I just finished reading this one last night around midnight. It was really good once I got into it. 

I've also been listening to a series by Ellery Adams - Antiques & Collectibles Mystery Series on Audible. I think the first 3-4 are free with membership. This is the first one in the series.

 

A little progress...

 I have not been able to get my wedding ring off for years. It was starting to cut off circulation at night (sigh, trying to lose that 20 pounds is hard!) so I finally went to the firestation after work yesterday and had it removed. I had called a jeweler and they recommended going there as they are better qualified. I'll have them resize it for me after my finger gets back to 'normal'. I am travelling to New Orleans tomorrow with the girl scout troop for a few days, and with temps of mid 90's and the heat index I figured swelling would be worse, so I got it done. My advise - don't wait as long as I did! They had to try 2 jewelry cutters and then had to grind off some of the smaller cutter to get between the ring and skin. They did try the shoelace and Pam spray first, but that did not work. My finger is still tingling at the tip. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the divot from the ring to go away.

The borders are on the twin size quilt. I'll have to really work on this one next week to get it pinned and quilted before heading to Vermont.

Aidan's rose. This one has not opened up yet. Such a pretty color.

I probably won't post again for a week with the travel. I'll be packing some yarn and knitting needles for the 'off' times with the girls, if there are any.

Slow Sunday

 I gathered the eggs yesterday and didn't crack one this time! I tend to give them some mealworms when I go in their area to check for eggs. The girls were gobbling them up. They tend to come running when they hear the back slider move! These girls are Maple, Poppy who lays my green eggs, and DC or Daisy Chickalotta. Two Plymouth Rocks and an Easter Egger. We had to put up a strong fence for them last year after getting the dog. They have the back woods area of our lot - plenty of space to explore for bugs!

Emily rode yesterday in the very hot sun. I don't think they got on until close to 11:30 and it was hot, humid and full sun. Red faces and lots of water. The horse was getting a wash down after riding before being put back into his stall. This is Lance, who was a Racehorse at one time. 

Well, the garden is growing weeds wonderfully! We do have this surprise plant that started a few weeks ago outside the garden so we let it go to see what it would do. Well, it is taking over and going crazy! We are not really sure what it is, but it is huge. Imagine the size of a big leaf over a pumpkin or gourd, it is that size! There is another smaller one up the vine a bit as well. 

I picked up the bear paw quilt last night while watching the NHL game on tv. Sadly, the Panthers lost and are down in the series 1-3. I am almost done with the feather on this little baby quilt. I decided to stop at a local quilt store yesterday and see if they had needle minders. They had one, so I got it to try it out. It is pretty handy, when I remember to put the needle on there! Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Progress....

 I gathered the eggs this morning and managed to crack one of them! Sigh, I'll use it up in dinner tonight. A green egg and 2 brown ones. It will be a homemade Chinese night - I'm going to try Moo Goo Gai Pan, Emily will make veggie fried rice and I also got the things to try a beef and broccoli. We will see how it comes out. ***Edited - the beef and broccoli has been added to the rotation. I opted not to do the Moo Goo that night.  I am tempted to make egg drop soup as well, but think that will be too much food. 

The baby chicks sure are growing fast. They have feathers coming in and the tail feathers are starting to grow as well. Eggnog is on top of the water with the Reds on either side of Blackberry. They tend to fly out when we open the top of the cage!

I got some sewing time in and cut out the sashing and cornerstones and got this all sewn together. I pulled from that magic box of fabrics I ordered last fall and found a cream for an inner border and a blue dotted print for the outer border. I'm thinking 2.5 inches and then 3.5 inches for the borders. 

Maybe I'll be able to cut and sew the borders on tonight after dinner? We will see. I'll have to search and see if I have a backing that will work. I believe it will end up about 66x84 for a twin size quilt. We will see if I can get it quilted this weekend. Linking up to the RSC on Saturday.

A little trip to the beach....

 We had a quick trip over to Cocoa Beach this week and stayed at a new place near the Pier. Grandma's room overlooking the beach had a nice balcony view.

We watched a few cruise ships head out Monday late afternoon.

A sunrise on the beach with Emily on Tuesday.

Grandma and the kids in the surf on Tuesday. By the way... she is turning 80 in August and was out riding the waves on the boogie board! 

Unfortunately, Greg was sick Tuesday and Wednesday. He is happy to be home in his own space while feeling puny. No one else got the stomach bug, thank goodness. Grandma did make things interesting after a morning at the beach and stumbled on the last step off the beach walkway, coming up with the beach stuff and took a spill. Aidan was right there and got her up and to their room and cleaned up and bandaged. The kids swapped and Emily stayed with her the second night. She is ok, but got some good open wounds on her elbow and knee. Did not stop her from playing Domino's Tuesday night and then taking the kids to Ron Jon's around 9:30 that night! It is a ritual - if you go to Coco, you must visit Ron Jons surf shop.

No stitching, but beach reading of an actual book did happen by 4 of us. Aidan finished one of his summer reading books. Emily and I hung around the pool in the shade Tuesday afternoon and she finished up her book last night. I am about half way through mine. I had extra trips up to the room to check on the hubby. We also had games of Dominos each night - Aidan was the overall winner of the 12 games winning half of them! Em and I each won 3. 

12 Scrap jar blocks completed....

 Now to get them into a top! I was able to make the brown 16 patch block and the last three blocks were set into their jars this afternoon. Teal, light blue and brown were added to the mix. Linking up Saturday to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This one will be a quilt donation to the homeless shelter in Vermont. They asked for a twin size.

The girls have grown a lot in 2 weeks. Eggnog is a lot bigger than the other 3 already! She is the one in front on the left, then blackberry, Ivy and Buttercup. The two on the left are Easter Eggers - a cross breed with a known blue egg layer. The other two are Rhode Island Reds. They will lay large brown eggs. We will wait and see what color and size eggs the other two lay in another 4-5 months. We currently have one Easter Egger -  Poppy who lays pretty large green eggs. The other two laying are Plymouths who lay large brown eggs. They are Maple and DC or Daisy Chickalotta.

Time to prep the Egg roll in a bowl for dinner. I'm using mild Italian sausage and need to shred the cabbage. I think I'll add some carrot to it as well... got to get some veggies into the boys. They liked the prosciutto wrapped asparagus that went with the steak on the grill and the roasted potato and onion last night. I think Friday will be Stromboli with pepperoni and black olives.