Kaboom!

Tim gave Walt an Atari Emulator for his birthday this spring and this brought back memories from 1981 .........
I haven’t always been a big fan of spending time playing computer games. As a “Type A” personality, I usually don’t give myself permission for this kind of activity. BUT in 1981 I became addicted to the Atari game, Kaboom! If you earned a score of 3,000 points or more, you could send your score to Activision and they would enroll you in the "elite" Bucket Brigade. With the technology available at the time -- you were required to take a picture of yourself with your TV screen displaying your score. The reward was a Bucket Brigade patch (ooooohhhhh!)
As soon as the guys went down for an afternoon nap I would pull out the paddles, insert the cassette and try to beat the 3,000 point goal. It took awhile but one afternoon I exceeded the score … but a new dilemma … how would I capture this event on film?!?!? The solution … I called my friend and neighbor, Barb over to help me out. She had to bring 3 pre-schoolers along and I’m sure once Bob learned of this crazy scheme, he would only shake his head in disbelief : ) Anyway, I did get my patch (wow!) but 25 years later I can't seem to find it. You’d think with everything I’ve saved in the attic I would have come across it by now. Nancy, a fellow Kaboom! addict, also earned a patch. I wonder if she still has hers?!?!?
Oh well, I’m off to a new game now .... Bejeweled 2. I’m addicted and thanks to a Mother’s Day gift from Brian, Michelle & Colin, I no longer have to play it online. I doubt that there’s a patch or any reward for the highest score but I can’t stop playing it.

The older I get the more I believe there needs to be more “play” in my day.

Slow But Sure

Well … back in ’99 I decided I wanted to change the landscape on the Siltez side of our property. The first owners had planted junipers and basically they were a breeding ground for weeds. The design was hard to maintain and not very pleasing to the eye. I wish I had taken a "before" picture to show the drastic change.
That summer Walt & Keith tore out the juniper while I was at a family reunion in California … they also cut the cable to our house. Actually, we did it again the next summer while rototilling … oops!
The summer of 2002 Walt put a brick path through the area. We got the idea while vacationing in Carmel. I love the houses and landscaping there. Another summer we added rock around the tree, moved perennials from the backyard and added groundcover.
Seems like we got behind with my surgery/recovery so this year I gave myself a deadline to add the finishing touches. Over Spring Break Mom and I picked out flowers and planted them, we added more rock and tidied things up. I am very pleased with the result … a nice color arrangement. Soon a new fence will go up giving it a clean, solid background.
Now it’s off to the backyard … major renovations coming … more pictures to follow!

Sticker Shock

Okay …. after window shopping at some trendy clothing stores I thought I could dust off the ol’ sewing machine and create a few of the new fashions and still have change in my wallet.
I stopped by the fabric store to look at patterns and found one that looked very similar to the ready-made ones on display. BUT I nearly gasped out loud … the pattern alone was $15.95! Yikes, when did this happen?!?!?! Even at 40-50% off, the pattern alone was an investment even before you selected the fabric and notions.
Years ago I used to sew nearly everything out of necessity but I think now a good bargain-hunter/coupon clipper can find some great deals on ready-made clothing for considerably less.
I realize for some this is a hobby and a pleasure where price is not always a consideration but it may take awhile before I head back over to the pattern counter … perhaps a 75% off sale would be enticing : )
Here’s a pattern from my old archives (1971) … hmmmmm … do I see a resemblence to some of today's fashions?!?!?

Project Complete …

After knitting stacks of dishcloths, scarves and an afghan I thought it was time to knit something more “home décor.” I enjoy projects small enough to take anywhere so when I found this pillow pattern in a Knit-It magazine over the holidays I thought I would give it a try.
A 12 x 16 pillow should have only taken a short time to complete but I am the queen of “un-knitting” …. If I see one mistake … I tear out row after row until it’s perfect. During this project I finally made a brave attempt to learn how to drop stitches and correct a mistake rows down without taking half of it apart. What a time saver!
This pillow is a perfect fit in our living room décor. I liked it so much – I bought yarn in a cranberry color. Happy knitting!

Scrapbooking 8x8 Style

I recently completed my first 8x8 album. I have been scrapbooking for nearly 7 years and have always used 12x12 albums for our family memories. After our SunRiver getaway I wanted to create a thank you gift for the owners of the house so I thought an 8x8 album would be a great idea. I loved creating the smaller layouts … it required a smaller scale print paper and embellishments … but it was fun to work with less layout “real estate.”
I think this is something I would try again for a special event or gift … a great keepsake. If you haven’t given it a try, I highly recommend it!