Chili Cookoff

Sunday we headed up to Truckee which is 91 miles northeast of Sacramento for the Third Annual Chili Cook off put on by the Truckee Sunrise Rotary Club.  For $10 we had unlimited tasting of the 15 entrants which included restaurants, non-profits and individuals.  We tasted a wide variety of chili including Italian chili which tasted like spaghetti sauce, vegan chili which had great flavor but was more of a soup or my winning choice, white bean chili with pork.

With water in hand we sampled all the different chilies,  resampled a few and we picked our winners.

Surprising to me my favorite was the white chili by Plumpjack Squaw Valley Inn.

Hagen chose Old Farts Makin' Chili.  They actually had one of the only chili's I thought had some kick and even offered jalapenos on the side for a little more zing.

Jim's pick was the chili from Sugar Bowl Ski Resort.

After we had our fill of chili and voted for our favorites we found a spot on the grass in the shade to listen to the music.

The Deckheads were on hand to provide some musical entertainment.  They played a mix of country and oldies.

                                                                    The man child chillin".

Even Smokey the Bear stopped by to visit the crowd.

We didn't stay to find out who the official judges picked as winners or who won the People's Choice but I will continue to check their website and keep you posted.

Sauvignon Blanc Day

Today is Sauvignon Blanc Day.

Enjoy a glass or two!

Sakaki Done

My Sakaki shawl is done.  I love how it turned out.

Now I just need to wait until it gets a little cooler to wear my beautiful shawl. It is finally in the 90's here.

#1 son took the pictures.  Yes, happy dance, he is now in California for the summer.

I'll keep you posted on our escapades.

The Countdown Begins

In seven days this amazing juggler of mandarin oranges will arrive for the summer.

ROC Challenge

Through Shespeaks I have become involved in the ROC Challenge.  I was sent two full size samples of ROC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream to try for the next two months at no cost to me.  Every night for the past  4 weeks I have been applying the night cream after washing my face.

My daily skin regimen is fairly simple.  In the morning I wash my face with face wash purchased from the local drugstore followed by a daily face moisturizer with a spf of 15.  In the evening I use the same face wash which I have now followed with the ROC Deep Wrinkle Night Cream.



Four Weeks Ago - May 9



June 6

So far I have not seen much difference but I am continuing the challenge.

When I'm Not Knitting.....

I'm working on a quilt for Kelsey.  She fell in love with a quilt in the June 2010 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting called Dancing Dots.  We looked at other fabric choices but she really wanted  the quilt as it is pictured.  After a long search I was able to find the majority of fabric online and locally with just a few changes. 

And so the piecing and appliqueing began.

I need 72 of these.

72 of these.

72 of these.

72 of these.

And a mere 144 of these.  This square is a piece of cake because it is all done on the sewing machine.  All other squares needed to be hand appliqued.

Did I mention this was for her birthday.  Of course that was in September. 

The appliqueing continues.

Moving On

When doing a mystery KAL you take the good with the bad.  You like the designer's previous patterns so you hope the mystery is similiar to her other designs.  As you take this leap of faith you do so with the understanding that the finished design might not be to your liking.  As I worked the thrid clue for the Liz Abinante Mystery KAL I started to wonder if this shawl was going to be something I liked.  I decided to stop knitting and wait until clue # 4 came out and see what others would knit.  And I came to the decision I needed to find something else to do with this beautiful Temptation yarn by Abstract Fiber.

I am now knitting Rosemary Hill's Sakaki shawl  where $5.00 from the purchase of the pattern goes to Doctors without Borders.

I really like how it is turning out.  I am also adding beads.

This shawl is a much better fit for me.