Confession: I Am a Potter Head

For our last day in Florida, we went to:

The lovely Mr. Easton posing before the Universal Studio globe.

Universal Studio's theme park.  Mostly because I wanted to see:

I am somewhat addicted.  I reread the books and/or watch the movies almost yearly.  I really, really wanted to taste:

Butterbeer!   I had two.  The resulting sugar high is probably why I'm still up at one in the morning blogging.  I know it's just cream soda with some creamy flavored foam on top, but it is so good.

The castle ride has to be the most awesome one in the park, and you get to see all kinds of cool stuff while moving through the ride line including the sorting hat,

 and walls of talking pictures.

The best part of the ride was flying over the quidditch field.  Never thought I'd get to do that. Flying down toward the lake was a close second.  It was so like the scene in one of the movies.   You honestly feel as though you are flying.  I actually moved my leg at one point 'cuz I thought it was going to hit something!  I dragged my husband on this ride twice.

Olivander's wand shop proved too tempting.  I am now the proud owner of what they tell me is an exact replica of Professor McGonagall's wand.

Too bad it's not real.  It would be so nice if it would do all my laundry when I get home.

I Finally Got the Signature Line to Work in My Blog!

I saw a post at Serendipity and Spice with some suggestions for spicing up your blog.  I've tried to do the signature line before without success.  I get to the part about making sure you save your original html code or you will mess everything up and panic. Melissa at Serendipity suggested going to Mylivesignature.com to create the signature which I did.  I copied the code I made there.  Then I could not figure out WHERE to put the code.  I finally emailed Melissa at Serendipity.  Here was her response:
 
"In your blogger dashboard (main page) go to Settings, then Posts and Comments.  On the right there will  be a box labeled Post Template.  Just insert the html code in this box.  Then your signature will automatically load every time you make a post."

I went to the dashboard, then to Settings.  There wasn't an exact "Posts and Comment."  Maybe I have an old version or something.  In any case, this is what I did.  I finally tried going to "Settings."  Then under that there is a tab for "Formatting."  At Formatting, I scrolled down to "Post Template."  I pasted it in there, saved the settings, and voila!  There it was.

I know there is a way to get it to be on the old posts, too. With my lack of knowledge in this area and fear of messing up everything,  I'm gonna stick with this. Here it is

Now if I can just figure out how to get the signature out of the little white box, I'll be all set.  It's a start!

Hair Clips for Ipod and Other Techie Wires

Traveling with my computer, two Kindles, an Ipod, and two cell phones means a lot of cords. I've been using this method to keep things from tangling for a while now.  It has worked particularly well while traveling.

Nice and neat.  Headphones, charging cords, and simple hair clips.  The clips work great.  They won't damage the cords, but firmly hold everything in place.  When you are using the cords, just leave the clip around the cord.   Give it a try.

I'm still enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.  Thought you might enjoy a few pics.

The sun setting on our first night

This White Ibis and I were hunting together.  I was so busy looking for
shells that I was next to this guy before I even realized it

Great Blue Heron.   He sat on the dock
oblivious to the passersby.

Gopher tortoise!  

Is this guy not the coolest?  He was just hangin'
out on the side of a building.  I think it is an  Black Anole.

Amazing how close you can get to the birds!  I think this is a
Snowy Egret.

My Front Load Washer Died, But I'm Not Too Unhappy About It

First, look where I am.  Yeah, in the air, on the way to Florida.  Left the twenty-somethings in charge of the house.  How cool is it that you can blog on top of clouds?  Way cool.

It

Back to the washer.  I had the front load washer for about seven years.  It died for the second time last week.  The first repair was so expensive, we knew the next time it broke we would just replace it.   I liked that our water bill dropped dramatically when we got the front loader, but otherwise I wasn't really happy with it.  I never had to wash my washing machine before getting the front loader.  I also didn't needed to leave the door open on a washer before.  I found out I needed to clean and air the machine the hard way--once the smell became awful!  I would have gotten another front load one, though, if the water-saving top loaders were not around. BUT they are!  Take a look at my new favorite appliance.

It's an LG with the largest tub possible.  My kids do their own laundry, and  even their "saved up forever" piles fit in.  Love that it saves water, fits more stuff than I ever dreamed possible aside from a laundry mat machine, and has a seemingly infinite number of settings to accommodate all situations.   Look at all those choices:

The part that I really love though, is that it plays music--literally.  Instead of that annoying, jarring buzzer to let you know the wash is finished, it plays a little ditty.  Okay, it does sound like a piece Mr. Rogers would have chosen for the kids, but it is so much better than a buzzer.

I've finally stopped staring at the laundry through the window.   But look at that glass top.  Who wouldn't want to stare in.  Is this what they mean when they say,  "Don't be showing your dirty laundry"?  If so, I apologize. 

The January Blocks are Finished!

I started them in February--not a good idea.  Fortunately Craftsy keeps the old lessons up.  These are FREE block of the month lessons.  I've been meaning to get back to quilting.  These lessons are just the kick in the butt encouragement I needed.  I wanted to work with these fabrics:

but these fabrics actually match something in my house:

Do not judge me on color choices.  I'm not color blind, I'm color confused.  If you have read my post on the ugliest quilt ever, you would understand that this is a step in the right direction.  Even with several books on choosing colors, I struggle with this.  I decided to do both colors. Who says I'm indecisive?

There are two blocks for each month.  January's block are "the asterisk" and "the wonky block."  This slashing of previous pieced fabric is new for me. I like it! Here are my yellow/orange:

The one on the right is cut to size.  The other looks a bit off because the
edges have only been tucked under.  Okay, so they are a bit off, too.
I go by the "if it can't be seen by a man riding by on horseback" rule.

These fabrics are much prettier close up:

(Maybe I should start buying fabric view from a distance.  I'm a sucker for juvenile, colorful fabric.)  

Here are the brown/blue blocks:

Excuse the edges.  These are obviously not cut down to size yet.

My goal for this month is to get the February block done IN February.  I'm pretty sure you can still join in the fun.  Check on Craftsy.  It's streaming across the bottom where they show all the videos.  It's the free one--that should be easy for all you professional shoppers to find.  Catching up with four block shouldn't be difficult.  

Do you sing your orders at the drive-through?

Check out Giorgio singing his Sonic order.  

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RzBpTSNLG8&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Not only funny, but an cool voice.

He has a few of his songs for sale on his Facebook page. You can get there here: 

www.theinterstatelife.com 

You can even use PayPal.  I know that 'cuz I bought them.  (And no, I don't know him, just appreciate a funny guy with a great voice and cheap songs;-})

Doesn't everyone keep their plastic ziploc bags in the sewing/craft room?

I was at the tail end of cleaning up my accumulation of patterns and such when I had an epiphany.  I was about to make my fourth trip downstairs to get another ziploc bag to hold bits and pieces of cut patterns, directions, or fabric when I decided a box of bags should be IN the sewing room.

Now, there's only one box of these bags in the house which was in the kitchen where other people keep them.  However, I only occasionally use them there to store leftovers.  For that I can just say, "Honey, run upstairs and get me a ziploc bag, will ya."  To the inevitable whining that will ensue about keeping the bags where normal people do, I intend to respond with, "I get enough exercise shopping for fabric and running it through the machine.  What are you trying to do kill me?  Isn't there some sport on television that you should be watching when we're finished cleaning up here?"  The sports line is what will do it.  This man has been known to watch curling even before Stephen Colbert made it hip--well, as hip as curling can be.