Blame It On Microsoft...........Partly, At Least

Ever since the summer of 2005 our automated circulation, cataloging, web opac system at the library and the computers we use for it have worked very well.  No problems to speak of. Suddenly last Saturday I discovered that the WebOpac program wasn't working. The webopac.exe file had gone missing. Strange.  In reinstalling it I found that Avast Anti-Virus was blocking it. Easy enough to fix...just uninstall Avast and install AVG in it's place. It should all be good now, right?? Well, it would have been except I couldn't enter the license and activation numbers. After fiddling with it on Monday and Thursday, calling tech support, only to find out they wanted five years worth of maintenance fees to bring us "up to date", I finally solved the problem yesterday, Saturday.  MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER had to be set as the default browser!!!!  A week's worth of frustration!!! All that stress and aggravation because of Avast, Microsoft and the automation software company who wrote the software to only use Internet Explorer.......and didn't say so in the instructions.

This weekend is our local annual celebration.  The parade was this afternoon and I opted out.  De-papered string blocks instead.  Hubby went to watch and came back and said it was a long, drawn-out, tedious affair.  So I guess my intuition was telling me it was better to stay home where it's cool and out of the wind to get something done instead of being downtown getting a good sunburn.

This coming Thursday is the last Story Time for the summer at the library. I've had fun planning crafts and picking out books, making posters, etc.  I really thought we would have better attendance than we did, since there are quite a few kids in the right age group in town. We started out with five kids each of the first two weeks and this past week were down to two.  I don't have much hope for this last one. If parents won't see that their kids get to the library it doesn't happen.  It's a good thing I enjoyed the getting ready part.

Hope everyone's enjoyed their weekend and that you all have a good week ahead.

I'm A Little Slow With This

This is what we made at our July Quilt Club meeting:

Mine is a nice centerpiece for my table. Some members were going to make more for a set of placemats.

Can you believe the crazy stuff on the news any more?  A civilian airliner shot down. What's the point in that? Tens of thousands of Central American minors illegally flooding over the southern border, with 100,000 expected by years end. What kind of parents would turn their children, some only 8 or 9, over to a coyote or a drug cartel to smuggle through Mexico and into the U.S.? Are they so naive as to believe that those kids will be safe? That most of the U.S. will welcome them with open arms? Sometimes I think ignorance really would be bliss and avoiding the news on TV, newspapers and the Internet might be the best course.

Heading back to my sewing room to hide from all the craziness.......

I Was Saving These.....

...for Show 'n Tell at my quilt group meeting before I posted here.

This is a donation quilt that was started at last month's meeting.  We each received a pre-cut kit made by one of the members. When we return the finished product to go to charity we get another kit that we can make up and keep if we choose. I thought it turned out pretty....the binding just MADE the whole quilt. I hope some little girl will love it.

This one was started with one block made at the May meeting. Same deal, bring back the finished product and get a surprise. I had the top finished by the June meeting and got it quilted and bound in time for the July meeting. It will be donated as a Quilts of Valor quilt when I get a couple more quilts made.  You just get more bang for your buck if you have at least three quilts to mail at once.  One at a time gets pretty pricey.

This one will be staying at my house.  It's the Jamestown Landing pattern by Bonnie Hunter.  The very first time I saw a picture of it I knew I had to make it. The pattern was first published in an Australian quilting magazine and I tracked it down and bought a copy.  The pattern is also in Bonnie's book, String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It! available to buy on her website.  I found the layout diagram in the magazine to be most helpful in putting it together.

Happy quilting everyone!

Last Day of the Long Weekend

Well, not so long since I had to work on Saturday.  A peaceful 4th of July weekend at any rate...some work, some yummy food I don't usually make, a little sewing, a nice long phone conversation with a cousin I don't see very often. When I got up this morning I wasn't sure what I'd do today. The quilt I thought I would finish binding got done yesterday after work and I finished the book I was reading later in the evening, so here's this mess...

It will be a Quilts of Valor quilt someday.  Kind of a Jelly-Roll Race quilt, but not quite. I used the strip calculator at Jo's Country Junction to figure out how many strips to cut and I'm using her directions for putting it together in the size I want not the size a jelly-roll race quilt gives you. The colors are supposed to be reminiscent of camo...browns, tans and greens...we'll see.

Now, brace yourselves for cute grandchildren pictures...don't say I didn't warn you!!!  LOL




















Our little firecrackers in their 4th of July outfits. I really like Holden's shirt..."I (heart) chicks with sparklers".  He's gonna be a heart breaker some day.

It's The 4th of July!!

Have a happy and safe one.

Do you have any fun plans for today?  I'm just making potato salad, fried chicken, and pound cake with strawberries and ice cream for supper tonight. This afternoon I intend to work on quilt bindings. Hope to get at least one small quilt bound and maybe another slightly larger one. Last night someone to the east of our house shot off about a weeks wages worth of fireworks. Really pretty ones, but can you say BOOM?!? Some of the ones I've heard this past week have made me wonder if somebody wasn't trying their hand at making their own fireworks.

Enjoy your long weekend everyone.