Jun 7, 2010

Marvelous Monday Update 6/7/10

MEMORIAL DAY RECAP
Did ya'll have a good Memorial Day holiday? The weather here was pretty good, a few light showers and a cold front went through. After that, gorgeous! Breezy, little humidity, and just the right temps. Ahhh. Now that's summer weather I can live with!

I went to see a parade in one of the small towns. Before the parade started, a fleet of World War II bi-planes flew overhead in formation. Then the REACT helicopter flew over twice, the first time really fast and the second time really slow and about 30ft off the ground. For those who don't know, a REACT helicopter flies seriously hurt people from accident sites to the appropriate hospital. Or, like in my Dad’s case when he had a heart attack, they flew him from here to another hospital that was better equipped to deal with his issues. (To hear him talk about it... it was an awesome ride... at $5K, it should be!) The parade itself was almost 2 hours long. I really wished I'd brought my camera. *sigh*

While watching the parade, I sat on a lawn chair and stitched. Yes, I stood and clapped as the veterans walked by. I am patriotic and respectful :) While stitching, I had a young woman (early 20's I'd say) walk up to me and asked to see what I was cross stitching. She *knew* what I was doing! Later at a BBQ, I had a 15-yr old girl ask to see my cross stitching. Two people in one day?? Up to that point, I'd never had *anyone* ask to see what I was doing, let alone KNOW what I was doing. How awesome is that?!?


GARDENING
Thanks to those of you who gave me suggestions as to what the yellow flower is in my garden. After looking up photos of the Sundrop and Buttercup, I'm thinking my flowers are Sundrops. Sundrop blossoms are more fuller and they close up in the evening, which mine do. The stamen looks like the Sundrop also. What do you think?

My Flowers

Sundrop

Buttercup


WEATHER
What crazy weather we've been having! First, it's unbearably hot and humid. Then it's rainy. Then it's nice. Follow that with severe storms and downpouring rain. In the same day the sun comes out while it's still raining! Here's a couple of shots of a HUGE rainbow that appeared.




GIVEAWAY
Robin over at Crafting with the Stitch Witch is hosting a giveaway. Be sure to read her "sappy sentiment" :)


THE TOILET
For about six months I've noticed that the toilet occassionally leaked a tiny bit of water into the bowl. So tiny that if you didn't look close enough, you might not have noticed. Sometimes it would. Sometimes it wouldn't. Yesterday morning, the tank wouldn't fill up so I ended up shutting off the water to the toilet to keep it from running... and running... and running.

It came down to doing one of two things: replacing the flapper tank ball, or replacing the entire guts of the tank. I opted for the fastest, easiest, and least expensive first -- flapper tank ball.

I've never really done any plumbing type work, so I was a bit nervous. I saw a video on YouTube where a 10 (11?) year old girl did it so I figured how hard could it be?

This isn't my tank (mine is too scary). I wanted to show what the inside of tank looks like. The flapper is to the bottom right. I set to work and less than 10 minutes later, I had the toilet repaired. I'll watch it over the next week to see if the "leak" comes back. If so, I may need to swap out all the guts.


CELESTE
Doesn't she look so happy?!! Little does she know she's going to the groomers at the end of the week. Bwahahahaha....

21 comments:

Emily in NC said...

Cool picture of the rainbow they are hard to get though, it is beautiful. Nice that you can fix your own toilet huh and not have to call a plumber. Yeah for you.

Berly said...

Those sundrops are so pretty! Hey, want to come fix my toilet for me?

Linda said...

Celeste is adorable. Happy little pup. I'm so glad the construction story had a happy ending. So many people think they can do things when they have no expertise. Too bad.
Summer??? It's already hit 100 here. I'm ready for fall already.

Nancy M said...

We had a pretty scary weather weekend. Sirens went off 2 times on Saturday night. My flowers are the Sundrops too, now that you show them side by side. Cheyenne got her first haircut here on Thursday, she's so cute now. And the toilet?? If I remember you had an older one.....if you pay for water, you may want to consider a whole new toilet that only used 1.5 gallon flush? Or whatever it is, it's lots lower than the older models and is quite a savings. Hmmm is someone married to a plumbing wholesaler???? LOL

Kristin said...

I definitely think those are Sundrops.

Hope the toilet is 100% fixed and you don't have to replace all the guts.

Very cool that 2 people approached you about your cross stitch.

Anonymous said...

Meari it looks like to me you have Sundrops. I enjoyed your update and can sympathize with you about the toilet. We have installed flappers and guts. As I read I thought she is going to do it herself. Go Meari!

Tina

Sandy P said...

You give all us women a good name, I'm proud of you![From the patriotic to the toilet fix]I used your first picture of the rainbow as my desktop pic, it's beautiful. Love your yellow buttercup flowers too. Yes Celeste looks very happy but I bet she's very hot in this weather with all that fur. Hugs Sandy

Donna said...

I think Sundrops also. We have Buttercups here and they don't look exactly like yours.
Hopefully the toilet is fixed. Fingers are crossed.
Glad someone knew what you were doing when you were stitching. Even though I didn't stitch while I was in the hospital, one of the nurses was helping get some things and she saw my stitching in the bag and sighed. She says she never has time to stitch anymore. I told her if they kept me long, she could come and "help" me and stitch along with me!

Carol said...

It's nice to hear that two young people actually know what cross stitching is, Meari! Perhaps it's making a comeback? I've been trying to teach my 23 year old niece to stitch long distance! She lives four hours away so I sent her a packet of stuff, instructions, supplies, etc. I'll be anxious to see how she's progressed when I see her in July!

Great job on your toilet fix!

Awww...little Celeste is so sweet--what a darling face. Make sure you show us a photo after she is groomed, okay?

Debra said...

that is so neat that they knew what you were doing. After seeing the different pictures of the flowers I am going to say Sundrop. The rainbow picture is amazing! Way to go on fixing your toilet. Oh my the picture of Celeste is too funny. Thanks for the giggle.

MaryT said...

Really cool pictures. Now you're a plumber;) As well as a stitcher, really nice that 2 people asked about your stitching.

Anonymous said...

Glad it all turned out ok Meari!! How neat that 2 people knew you were cross stitching!!! When I stitch in public, if anyone does ask, they usually don't have a clue. But Sunday evening, my 10-yo nephew who was camping with us, saw my Guardian Angel project and asked me if I'd teach him how to do it! He said it looked "complicated." LOL!!! So, I guess I'll be teaching him how to cross stitch! I tried to teach his big sister when she was about that age, but she lost interest really quickly. But who knows??

Pam K. :o)

Mel said...

The flowers are just lovely!
Celeste is too cute.

Hope the toilet fix is all you need.

Carolyn NC said...

Sounds like a good weekend! Congrats on the toilet repair! Love the pic of Celeste....poor baby!

Anonymous said...

Yes, people are interested. When my son was playing basketball in a gym of 100 kids K - 2nd grade, many stopped by to see the sleeping cat & dog pic I was stitching. Think stitching would help a lot of people relax. Crafts have helped me cope with anxiety since childhood... more calm.

Chris

Kathy said...

PS I LOVE the photo of Celeste.

Kathy said...

Fabulous photo of the rainbow. Glad you had a nice Memorial Day. I decided to skip the parades this year. When I was a teen I marched in parades every weekend all summer long so I figure I have seen and been to enough parades to last a lifetime. LOL

Cynthia said...

Leaky toilet tip...to see if it is still leaking water from the tank to bowl...when you know you are not gonna need to flush for a few hours (while headed to work, maybe) drop some food coloring into tank. If it is in the bowl later... Yup, still leaking.

Shelleen said...

I was a month behind on reading your blog and all caught up now. What a story with the doors. too bad you just couldn't do it yourself but it seemed to work out well with contractor #2. Your fabric bobbins are cute and great stitching on ABC's. I won't tell the dog he is going to the groomers, I promise :-)

stitcherw said...

Great shot of the rainbow, and Celeste looks so cute. Hopefully she didn't mind the grooming and is feeling cooler now with a bit less fur. So glad your doors were finally straightend out, they look wonderful. Congrats too on figuring out how to fix the toilet, I hope that totally takes care of the problem. There is nothing more irritating than a dripping leak or running water, especially when you're trying to sleep and you can hear it.
Sue

Sunshine said...

LOL!!! Meari. You are so FUNNY!!!
Yes, Celeste looks very HAPPY! Poor thing, Mommy scheming behind her back, and blogging about it! LOL :)
Have a Great Day!