And on another front....we are battling fleas at our house. Jerry and Neko are both about 10 years old, and this is the first time we've ever had this problem. So, whenever I meet another pet owner, I ask about flea solutions. At yesterday's quilting class I met a woman who breeds dogs...so over the ironing board, I inquired about her take on fleas. She was very much against the Frontline/Revolution products. She mentioned 2 things that I'm going to pursue -- one is brewer's yeast plus garlic -- at least for Jerry. You feed it to them, and it's good for them, but the fleas hate it. The other is that she said to water your lawn...a lot. Soaking the lawn will kill larvae. This makes sense, because we've been so dry...and the problem did begin with the dryness. So -- I have a sprinkler going right now out in back. This is disappointing because Doug and I have always been big on NOT watering lawns -- just not wanting to waste the water on lawns that come back when it rains. But...I'm going crazy enough that I'll try it.

Here's a photo of the basic quilt block from yesterday's class. There are 20 of these and in the end I'll have a bed-sized quilt.

See the upper corner of the block? 5 little pieces in a square? Well, as I was sorting my fabric last night I counted those little squares and there were only 19...and I knew I needed 20. So, I searched all over, went back to the car, counted and recounted several times, then wrote Charlotte to see if she had found it. Then I went to bed all unsettled about my missing square.

Then this morning, with fresh eyes, I decided to hunt again. AND THEN I saw the finished block here -- the 20th square was here in the big block. Now -- there should be a name for that kind of incident...where the solution is there right in front of your face, but not recognizable. Is there a larger message here (other than regarding the state of my brain late at night)?