Very Large Sunflower

The two pieces got connected last weekend.  Mike adhered pressure treated two by four lumber around the edge of the giant 8 foot by 8 foot mural.  Metal strips were screwed across the center to lend support to the connection point.  The barn quilt is very heavy.

Which leads to the news that the tractor - which will definitely be needed to launch this giant thing in the air to secure it to the side of the shed -  is once again out of service.  A part which is key to running the hydraulics has broken.  This part, replaced seven months ago, was only warrantied by the service center for six months.  A call has been placed with a picture of the broken part.  One ponders how something can last for 17 years and the new part last for only 7 months.  The tractor will have to be loaded onto a trailer and hauled 106 miles to the service center (it is winter...ugh!).  The entire engine has to be dropped to replace this part; hence the $5K bill we paid seven months ago.  We are hoping the service agent will be empathetic, kind, fair, and considerate of this incident.

Meanwhile, a big snow storm is predicted for next week.  And we have no snow blower.

Here is the lovely sunflower barn quilt.  Not quite finished yet, I will be painting a 2x4" green edge to slap on the side of the whole thing, making a nice edge and frame for the final touch.

Here is the cloth quilt Mom made in 1998.  She swore alot while making this quilt!!  I think the mural is a pretty good rendition! 

Tracks

They come in the night.  One would never know they were here if it was not winter.  Their tracks left in the snow. 

This track probably from an owl.  Did it see the mouse?  Hear it?  Did it get the mouse?  A hard hit.  Wings brushing the snow as it launched upward.  Predator in the night.

And found yesterday, a track close to home.  These tracks near the deer watering hole.  We leave a heater on in the horse tank for the deer.  They hang out around here, nibbling on sage brush, waiting out the winter, meandering up and down the road.  Predator in the night.  This one, a mountain lion.  Cougar.  Cat.  Here kitty kitty kitty.  This discovery is a bit different than finding the print of an owl.  The predator is close by.  Hunter of deer.  Hunter of dogs.  Hunter of man.  Time to start packing the pistol.  Soon to be placed, the game camera.  I want to see this cat!! Elusive and frightening, they stalk you from behind and you won't even know they are back there!

Teaching

Big smart class learning to install car seats!  It’s been a great week!

A Happy Birthday Family Celebration

Around the table Mike made, we eat and laugh, remember and look ahead under a ceiling that has seen so many Kinzer family meals. What a night to remember!!

Gifts are Not Always Wrapped

Filling up my Starbuck coffee mug - I bought myself the coffee mug that you can fill up for free every day of January - the man behind the counter called me by name.  Now I realize this is kind of a Starbucks thing, but not at this Starbucks.  No one ever remembers names.  They rarely see the same person ever again.  We are, after all, a tourist town.  So I asked him how he knows me (no longer shy am I to admit I have no clue who is talking to me!) and I hear his story.

It is a long life-story.  The essence of which includes a wife and kids, a job with real estate that had no benefits, and two bouts with cancer, one took his kidney.  He told me you can work 20 hours at Starbucks and get full medical, dental, and vision insurance.  Wow.  When I commented that perhaps this was something I should consider, he quickly and firmly stated, "No! You love your job!"

And that was my gift from Jonathon.  A random reminder of how wonderful it is to have a position of power, an opportunity to lead staff members to find their heart-singing skills, to have wondrous flexibility, to command an emergency incident, to know how to reduce risk in this wonderful community, to prevent bad things every day that no one realizes or recognizes.  That's the thing about prevention - if you are looking for a Hero Badge, it ain't comin'!!  But still, the rewards are fulfilling!

So, there are many presents to be opened.  Daily.  They don't come wrapped often, but you might have to look harder than during the holidays.

Which brings up my number one favorite-blog-follower celebrates his birthday tomorrow!  Happy Birthday, Dear Dad!!  May your gifts be abundant!!

The Easy Part, Finished

Mike and I thought the hard part of "building" a barn quilt would be the layout and painting.  As we ponder next steps, clearly, it will be the hanging of the barn quilt which will present the biggest challenges. 

Where to hang it?  It must be visible from the road.  How to hang it?  That means it must hang on the shed.  Which side?  And how it the world does one mount a 200 pound "sign" on the side of a metal shed?  One can imagine the discussions between the quilt-builder and the quilt-hanger....."I don't want any screws going through my quilt!"  "How is it going to hang up there then?" And on an on.....

There will be a green 2"x4" frame mounted vertically on the side of the 8' x 8' barn quilt when it is completed.  Next step, prime and paint edging. 

Happy New Year 2020!

Ah, the page turns to a new year and those of us old enough to ponder, remember thinking years ago that 2020 seemed like a date out of a science fiction movie.  And here we are.  The world has not come to an end - as many of those before us feared.  Many still do, of course.  I have come to realize this may have much more to do with age than it does with party-affiliation.....

Anyway, we are now into a new decade and if you turn off the television and radio, step away from your electronics and breath a bit, you can feel some peace and calm.  Because when one drills right down to the problem of fears of world destruction, it is us!  We fret and fear and create the angst that drives us to lay awake in bed at night, surrounded by blackness and the fear we have brewed up in our minds.  It is so easy to do. 

Make a New Years Resolution to work on those changes you can change.  Can you change what is happening in Washington DC?  Most likely not.  Can you change something in your community.  You bet!  These little organic home-town changes are the ones that matter.  I would offer up that we fret and focus on national-level changes because we don't have the time or commitment to make local change.  Here are just a few ideas: quit using plastic grocery bags, recycle often, give blood, donate an organ (Mom donated her kidney at 69!), find an old single person and offer to help them, cook a meal for a family, drive less and walk more - look for change at a local level.  You can make a difference!!

This is the monthly report I created to share with our organization on what we are doing in the Prevention Bureau.  You might enjoy clicking through the pages Click Here to see Prevention Report

The barn quilt is one coat of paint away from completion.  In this picture, you will see the two 4'x8' boards, opposing each other.  They will be reversed when finished to connect together and become one, giant 8 foot by 8 foot sunflower.  The quilt block is pictured below from the quilt Mom made for me in 1998.  What a fun winter project this has been!  Should I add the stars in the bright yellow petals?  Looking for your vote!