I took some pictures - 2015

There's this little valley south of San Luis.  Hidden down a narrow road or three, it's shaded by oaks and maples. I might be able to find it again next year. So quiet and calm and relaxing.

USS Gravity Falls

A Work In Progress.

USS Gravity Falls, NCC-12600, is a battlecruiser, carrying nine type 10 phasers, 4 anti-proton cannons, 2 mass accelerator cannons and two photon torpedo launchers (for the moment), in a cruiser type hull.  Engines are low slung, mounted below the primary hull and close together.  This sacrifices some warp speed maneuvering, but compensates with a slightly higher acceleration curve.  The main impulse engine is mounted at the rear of the engineering hull with auxiliary units on the primary hull to assist in increasing the turn rate.  The shuttle bay is small, carrying four to six shuttles depending on the mission.  This vessels primary duty is to defend the core worlds (Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, Andoria, Alpha Centauri, and Axanar) within 15-20 light years of Sol.

Specifications as yet undetermined.

Other ships in this class are: 

USS Hill Valley              NCC-12601

USS Cabot Cove             NCC-12602

USS Mayberry                NCC-12603

USS Sunnydale               NCC-12604

USS Avalon                    NCC-12605

USS Watership Down    NCC-12606

USS Avonlea                  NCC-12607

USS Bayport                   NCC-12608

USS Godric's Hollow     NCC-12609

USS Lake Wobegon       NCC-12610

USS Malgundi                NCC-12611

USS Hogsmeade             NCC-12612

This class is named after fictional cities of Earth.

I Bought an Amazon Fire!

:

A few thoughts on the Amazon Fire:

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and recovered for the naps.

Like I needed another computing device, the night before Thanksgiving, Amazon put their Fire tablet on sale for $34.99.  So I told mom about it and she said to order her one.  I got one for myself too.  We did pay the $15 to not have ads, so Amazon got a few more bucks.  The tablets arrived yesterday.  And I was not expecting much.  How good could a computer that only costs 50 bucks (regular price) really be?

Opened the box, the Fire itself is in an orange heavy paper box that can be hung from a peg in a store.  Rip the strip off and pull out the tablet which is in a black paper holder so it all just slides out.  The tablet itself is in a clear plastic envelope and the charger (a small plug with USB cord) is below the tablet.  Right there, it's really easy to get into.

Took a (small) chance and pressed the power button, mine came with a 75% charge.  Takes a little while to boot up, and then it starts the simple setup process.  It asks if you want to setup it up for a child (in my case, no), if you want to connect it to your social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook and something I can't remember off hand...).  I skipped that too.  But I did setup my email on it.

After all that was done, it goes to a Home screen that is populated with apps for mail, browsing, the camera, and much more.  Because mine is attached to my Amazon account, it synced to my books and downloaded those for me.  No intervention on my part.  There are also sections for music, movies and more, like Netflix and YouTube.

Okay, what is it?  It's a 7 inch tablet (1024x600 resolution, but very clear) with a quad-core processor, 1GB of memory, 8GB of storage, wifi, bluetooth, 2PM front and VGA rear cameras, supports microSD cards up to 128GB (Wow!!), It also does a couple of really neat things.  First is that no matter how you hold it, the volume buttons are -always- up and down.  So even if I turn it upside down, the volume buttons orient themselves correctly.  The other thing is that it can import pictures from your digital camera.  All but the microSD card slot are on one side.

And yes, it comes with the Kindle software.

Bottom line:  If you are looking for a "first tablet," this is great.  It does everything you need.  For 50 dollars (to get rid of ads that only show on the lock screen is an extra $15), can't really go wrong with the Fire.  The processor is responsive, the sound is acceptable (it's not stereo) If you need more storage, a better camera, or a higher resolution screen, you should look elsewhere.  Tablets from other makers would be a better choice, like the Asus MeMO pad ME302, a Samsung model or even Amazon's own larger screened Fire models.

Thanksgiving Proclamation

From The Heritage Foundation

Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go. Washington

Moon Rise

Full Moon for tonight, rising over the Coast Range, southern San Luis Obispo county, CA.

How to rename files in Windows

How to rename files in Windows

You can rename files simply by right-clicking on the file and then selecting Rename.  The name of the file will be highlighted in blue and you can just typing a new file name, then press Enter to make it set.

You can also rename a file by clicking on the file, waiting a second, then clicking on the file name. (If you click on the icon of the folder or file, nothing will happen.)  The file name will then change to be highlighted in blue where you can just type the new file name and press Enter to set it.

If you pick a name that has already been used in that folder (you can have multiple files with the same name, but they have to be in different folders), Windows will warn you and offer to change the name of the new file to end in (1) or whatever number.

This same procedure can be used to rename folders.  With Vista and newer, the files and folders will automatically move to alphabetical order.  If you don’t want to lose your place, instead of pressing Enter, just click on the next file and your highlight will stay there, instead of moving with the renamed folder.

List of KB's that can be removed re: Windows 10 and data tracking

These are the ones to look out for and stop from reinstalling by ritch-clicking and hiding them.

2952664

2976978

2977759

2990214

3012973

3021917

3022345

3035583

3044374

3050265

3068707

3068708

3075249

3080149

Remember kids:  Do Your Backups, no warranty expressed or implied, Object Are Closer Than They Appear.

Windows 10 upgrade prompt and tracking removal

You can do these by hand, go to Control Panel > Programs and Features > Installed Updates. Uninstall and reboot if needed. Check for updates, right click and hide of those KB's appear again.

To get rid of the upgrade to Windows 10 Prompt: (For Win:7/8/8.1)

KB's 3012973, 3021917, 2952664, 2976978, 3035583 (these update numbers, if found, uninstall, hide)
Also Windows Tracking:
http://thehackernews.com/2015/08/windows-spying-on-you.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/list-of-windows-7-telemetry-updates-to-avoid.379151/

KB's 3068708, 3022345, 3075249, 3080149, 3068707, 3050265, 2977759, 3044374

Use a Command Prompt in Admin mode to make quick work of these in the format of:
wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /quiet /norestart

Or use TomCoyote's batch file:  https://pastebin.com/fSuqyFWT win10.bat

Reboot the computer and then check for new updates, if any of the previous numbers found, you can hide them.
-----
BAT file below:

:: Name: win10.bat
:: Purpose: Remove unwanted Updates from Windows versions 7/8/8.1
:: Author: TomCoyoteWilson
:: Created: 9-2-2015
:: Warranty: None, use under your own risk
:: Place file in Root of C:
:: Right Click on the file and Choose "Run As Administrator"
::
:: remember to invoke from ELEVATED command prompt!
:: or start the batch with context menu "run as admin".
:: Credit to Peer and TheRock247UK for working on the Version Check with me
:: References: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/list-of-windows-7-telemetry-updates-to-avoid.379151/
::             http://thehackernews.com/2015/08/windows-spying-on-you.html
@ECHO OFF
REM  KB3012973 - Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro
REM  KB3021917 - Update to Windows 7 SP1 for performance improvements
REM  KB3035583 - GWX Update installs Get Windows 10 app in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1
REM  KB2952664 - Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7
REM  KB2976978 - Compatibility update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
REM  KB3022345 - Telemetry [Replaced by KB3068708]
REM  KB3068708 - Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
REM  KB2990214 - Update that enables you to upgrade from Windows 7 to a later version of Windows
REM  KB3075249 - Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
REM  KB3080149 - Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
REM  KB 3068707 - Customer experience telemetry points
REM  KB 3050265 - Windows Update service updated to accept upgrade to W10
REM  KB 2977759 - W10 Diagnostics Compatibility telemetry
REM  KB 3044374 - W8,8.1 Nagware for W10

ECHO "This first part is for removing the dreaded Win10"
ECHO "Update Icon if you are not wanting to upgrade to 10"
echo. &::
ECHO "The second part is for removing Windows Tracking"
pause
ECHO "Checking your OS Version first..."
echo. &::
setlocal
for /f "tokens=4-5 delims=. " %%i in ('ver') do set VERSION=%%i.%%j
if "%version%" == "6.3" goto :begin
if "%version%" == "6.2" goto :begin
if "%version%" == "6.1" goto :begin
if "%version%" == "6.0" goto :begin
if "%version%" == "10.0" goto :end
echo Version identification failed, now exiting
pause
exit

:begin
if "%version%" == "6.3" echo Windows Version 6.3 (8.1)
if "%version%" == "6.2" echo Windows Version 6.2 (8.0)
if "%version%" == "6.1" echo Windows Version 6.1 (7)
if "%version%" == "6.0" echo Windows Version 6.0 (Vista)
:begin2
ECHO "This will uninstall these updates if found"
ECHO "that control the Windows10 Upgrade Icon"
ECHO "3012973, 3021917, 2952664, KB 2976978, and/or KB 3035583"
echo. &::
set /P c=Are you sure you want to continue[Y/N]?
if /I "%c%" EQU "Y" goto :upgrade
if /I "%c%" EQU "N" goto :tracking
goto :begin2

:upgrade

echo uninstalling updates ...
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3012973 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (1/5)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3021917 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (2/5)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:2952664 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (3/5)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:2976978 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (4/5)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3035583 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (5/5)
echo. &::
goto :tracking

:tracking
ECHO "This will uninstall Windows Tracking updates"
ECHO "KB's 3068708, 3022345, 3075249, 3080149"
set /P c=Are you sure you want to continue[Y/N]?
if /I "%c%" EQU "Y" goto :removetrack
if /I "%c%" EQU "N" goto :end
goto :tracking

:removetrack
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3068708 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (1/8)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3022345 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (2/8)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3075249 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (3/8)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3080149 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (4/8)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3068707 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (5/8)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3050265 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (6/8)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:2977759 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (7/8)
start "title" /b /wait wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:3044374 /quiet /norestart
echo  - done. (8/8)

REM "All Done, Exiting"
goto :end2

:end
ECHO "I am here because you typed N (NO)"
pause
exit
:end2
ECHO "I am done with this batch file!"
echo ... COMPLETED (please remember to REBOOT,
echo ... Check for Updates and Hide the Following KB Updates)
echo ... 3012973 3021917 3035583 2952664 2976978 3022345
echo ... 3068708 2990214 3075249 3080149
echo ... 3068707, 3050265, 2977759, 3044374
echo  - done.
pause
exit

Job Search

My first job was working in an Orange Juice factory, but I got canned.
Couldn't concentrate .

Then I worked in the woods as a Lumberjack, but just couldn't hack it.
So they gave me the axe .  

After that, I tried being a Tailor, but wasn't suited for it.
Mainly because it was a sew-sew job.

Next, I tried working in a Muffler Factory.
But that was too exhausting.  

Then, tried being a Chef - figured it would add a little spice to my life.
Just didn't have the thyme.  

Next, I attempted being a Deli Worker.
Any way, I sliced it.... couldn't cut the mustard.  

My best job was a Musician.
Eventually found I wasn't noteworthy.

I studied a long time to become a Doctor.

Didn't have any patience.  

Next, was a job in a Shoe Factory.    

Tried hard but just didn't fit in.  

I became a Professional Fisherman,    

Discovered I couldn't live on my net income.  

Managed to get a good job working for a Pool Maintenance Company.
The work was just too draining.  

So then I got a job in a Workout Center.

They said I wasn't fit for the job.

After many years of trying to find steady work I finally got a job as a Historian.
Until I realized there was no future in it.

My last job was working in Starbucks.
Had to quit because it was the same old grind.    

SO, I TRIED   RETIREMENT    

AND I FOUND I'M PERFECT FOR THE JOB!  

My current earbug...

Thanks, inner 7 year old.....

Miles from Tomorrowland

*Whistling* Miles. Miles. From Tomorrowland. Miles. Miles. From Tomorrowland. Never could I go too far. Never could I fly too high. Its all inside of me Living out the dream With my family. I venture all the way
New places everyday. Oh, Yeah. We're gonna zip Gonna take a trip In a rocket ship. We're counting down. The engines on. The time is now to rocket. Rocket! Rocket... Rocket. Wow, oh. I'm hero to the core. And I'm going to explore. Way out. Wow, oh. No where is ever too far. I'm shooting to the stars. Way out! I'm shooting to the stars. Way out! Miles. Miles. From Tomorrowland. Miles. Miles. From Tomorrowland. Never could I go too fast. Never could I climb too high. Its all inside of me Living out the dream With my family. I venture all the way. I was right to save the day. Oh, Yeah. We're gonna zip Gonna take a tip In a rocket ship. We're counting down. The engines on. The time is now to rocket. Rocket. Rocket. Rocket. Wow, oh. I'm hero to the core. And I'm going to explore. Way out. Wow, oh. No where is ever too far. I'm shooting to the stars. *Anna solo* Wow, oh. I'm hero to the core. And I'm going to explore. Way out. Wow, oh. No where is ever too far. I'm shooting to the stars. Way out. Wow, oh. I'm hero to the core. And I'm going to explore. Way out. Wow, oh. No where is ever too far. I'm shooting to the stars. Way out. I'm shooting to the stars. Way out. I'm shooting to the stars. Way out. Miles. Miles. From Tomorrowland. Miles. Miles. From Tomorrowland.

Know the signs of AAADD:

AAADDKNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!
Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!
Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study,so I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter anddiscover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,I'll be looking for the remote,
but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on to the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:the car isn't washed
the bills aren't paid
there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
the flowers don't have enough water,
there is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....

Do me a favorForward this message to everyone you know,
because I don't remember who the hell I've sent it to.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

Outside My Outside

Through The Fence Edition:

Small collection of favorite audio links

KFI 640 AM Los Angeles

                http://www.iheart.com/live/177/?autoplay=true

WLBE 790 AM Leesburg, FL, 50’s – 60’s - 70’s

                http://www.my790am.com/ (player autoruns on page in Chrome and Firefox)

KVEC 920 AM San Luis Obispo

                http://v6.player.abacast.net/1038

KNX 1070 AM Los Angeles

                http://betaplayer.radio.com/player/knx-1070-newsradio

WGCH 1490 AM, Greenwich, Connecticut, talk and news

                http://player.warpradio.com/WGCH-AM/index.html

BBC World Service Newsday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_world_service

Martini in the Morning, lounge jazz

                http://player.radioloyalty.com/station/3131.html

Radio Le Mans, auto racing

                http://radiolemans.0157.org/audioplayer.html

San Luis and Monterey county CalFire live audio

                http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/14671/web

San Luis City Fire, EMS, and CalFire live audio

                http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/9807/web

Fan Created Star Trek and Science Fiction:...

...
A very short and not very comprehensive list of of fan produced Star Trek-based shows, and the occasional original series production.

Star Trek Farragut
http://www.starshipfarragut.com/
US based production, also does an animated series.

Star Trek: Hidden Frontiers (HF Productions)
http://www.hiddenfrontier.net/
Also home to ST Odyssey, Helena, Henglaar, and original product Frontier Guard, https://www.youtube.com/user/FrontierGuard
Seven seasons of STHF, two seasons of STO and STH, Audio only Henglaar, MD (he's a Tellerite).
Strongly recommended.

Star Trek: Intrepid
http://www.starshipintrepid.net/
UK based crew.

Star Trek New Voyages / Phase II
http://www.startrekphase2.de/en/index.php
Fourth and Fifth seasons of Star Trek.

Star Trek Unity
http://www.startrekunity.com/
Pre-TOS are.

Project Potemkin
http://www.potemkinpictures.com/
Aging ship, oddball crew, vodka on the desk in the ready room.
Short (under 10-15 minute) episodes, with occasional full length episodes.

Star Trek Phoenix
http://www.stphoenix.com/
Very nice production values, one episode.

Star Trek Dark Armada
http://www.darkarmada.nl/
An interesting take on Star Trek from Europe.

Darker Projects
http://darkerprojects.com/
Not just Star Trek.  Doctor Who, Orginal sci-fi and horror. Audio only, downloadable MP3 files.
Very good and strongly recommended.

Astronomy Photos

No fog yet, so I can see the Moon, Regulus, Jupiter and Venus very clearly tonight.  Thought I'd get a few pictures of this remarkable event overhead.

"New" Computer

Monday I was given a "new to me" computer.  It's an Acer Aspire One D250-1962.  I replaced the RAM to go from 1GB to 2GB (mostly because I could), and created a new user account then deleted the old ones.  Installed AVG 2015 and Malwarebytes on it and ran scans.  Then ran ADW Cleaner on it.  All good.

It's a single core, hyper-threaded Atom N270 at 1.6ghz.
It has 2GB of memory, and a 160GB hard drive.
It runs XP Home (Yes, I know... Maybe some flavor of Linux will be installed later. For this mission, an Internet Radio with streaming video abilities, I'm nto too worried.
It even has GMA950 video.

Best of all....

It's PINK!

With little red plastic jewels at the hinges.

So, I named it Hello Kitty.  Hey, if I'm going to go with this, I might as well go all the way.

It's a nice little machine for light duty.  Three USB ports, VGA out, wireless, and has an SD card reader.

Of course, if I find someone that can use a little machine, I'll throw Mint or Ubuntu on it and they can have a small computer that fits just about anywhere.

For the moment, welcome to The Family, Hello-Kitty.

New Fabric

I did get some!

Going to make quilts for my cousin, her other two sons (the middle kid already has a quilt) and I'll even make one for her husband.  I'm sure I can find a theme for a bunch of science fiction and fantasy readers.  Right?  I think these will do just fine.

The classic ship is my favorite.

This just screams "I'm from the late 1960's!"

Red, red, red.

Yeah, I know, not Star Trek as such, but chemistry is fun too.

And who doesn't love a mini-skirt?

All the departments, in a pattern.

2015 Central Coast Quilt Run

The quilt run this year went from Ventura to Paso Robles and out to Morro Bay.  We did not go to Ventura, the last couple of years, it's just too far for a short visit.  The store there is very nice, I bought some rocket / 50's space fabric there about three years ago when we were passing through from visiting family in the LA area.

But, we did go to Creation Station in Buellton, on Friday, even though they are not a member of the run.  They should be.  However, the run has some rules and probably some personalities that I'm not able to fathom.  Anyway, visiting Dawn and Patrick is well within the 30 mile drive for a great store with something always going on.  I bought five fat quarters (take a 1/2 yard of fabric and cut that in half instead of cutting a 1/4 yard) of Star Trek fabric.

Then we drove up to Orcutt and stopped at Old Town Quilt Shop.  I didn't stay long, about 30 seconds.  Woman at the door said hi to mom, gushed over how cute her great-grandson is and then turned away when I walked in the door.  I like Maxine and her shop, so hopefully this was just an off day for the woman. But it made me not feel welcome.  I didn't even go to the classroom to see what they had setup there.  No pictures.

Then we came home.  That was enough driving for one day.

Saturday, we started off by going to Quiltin' Cousins, in Pismo beach.  Which is an awesome little store.  Shawn and her mom and the people there are always full on into whatever they do.  This year, it was "Strippers."  Now, if you know quilting at all, the act of taking cut lengths of fabric and sewing them together to form long pieces.  They can be anywhere from an inch to 4 inches wide (or more) and 3 to 6 (or more) feet long.  Thus making strips.  So, yes, I am a stripper.

Stripper Poles!

I liked this one best, the red "hair" sets it off.

Must check out every nook and cranny at Quiltin' Cousins. Something hiding everywhere!

The Hills of Pismo Beach.

After Pismo, we them drove up to San Luis Obispo to Betty's Fabrics.  Not sure why we didn't stop at the Santa Maria store, but it never occurred to me to make that one.  Big, brightly lighted store with lots of projects on the walls and the ceiling.  I always like the fabric stars.

Fabric stars!

Just waiting for someone to take them home.

The great grandson is picking out his own fabric.

Kangaroo!

Betty's in SLO on Carmel.

Then up over the Grade to Atascadero.  First stop was Sew Fun.  The ladies stamping the "passports" were fun.  But it seems the same quilts hanging in previous years were still up.  And, yes, I do know how much work it is to make a quilt.  I took more pictures outside than in.

Oak trees!

I went back to the car for this one too.  Even though it was 87F out.

Next up was Quilter's Cupboard.  A nice little shop, crammed full of stuff and the projects change from year to year which is very nice.  They even have a little goodie bar, small cookies, nuts, M&M's, and other little treats.  I didn't have any, we just had lunch.  But I did want a cookie.  Mom picked up more fabric there.  In the back of the store was a nice lady taking donations for a senior dog rescue in Creston.  She had some cute dog pictures in her binder.  I really want to go out there and see if anyone clicks.  I think we have room for one more dog.

More strips.

Blue and yellow are always a winner.

Choices.  Lots of choices.

BEES!

Flag of the Quilt Run.

After Atascadero, we then went up to Paso Robles to The Quiltery.  A small shop, but has lots of neat stuff and nice people.  Plus, they have a long arm sewing machine setup.  Also while there, I saw my first Alfa 4C in person.  They also said they had SIX finishers, people that had completed the entire run.  Excellent.  Maybe next year I can do that too if I'm feeling well enough for a change.

Alfa Romeo 4C, It's much bigger than I thought it would be, seems very wide. But, it's Italian.

Feathers.

Long arm sewing machine.

Featherweight in yellow.

WELCOME.

Looking south on the railroad tracks in Paso Robles.

Our last stop was in Morro Bay at The Cotton Ball.  The first store was in town right on one of the main streets.  Then they moved to a two-story building that was very nice.  I think it was a home at one point.  Now, they are way up Main Street, north of 41 in a little building.  It felt crowded, I just went in while mom and GGS looked around.  I really enjoyed the fog after the heat of being inland.  And the drive out 41 was really nice.  You can see the power plant and Morro Rock from here too.

The power plant and the Rock.

Fat quarters.

More fat quarters and balloons.

An old car.

Then we came home.

Not sure I'm looking forward to next year.  Seems there was a lot of pull back from last year, less events, less new quilts, less projects, and people seemed less enthusiastic about the whole thing.  I missed getting a hot dog at The Cotton Ball, seeing Elvis at Quiltin' Cousins, and the welcoming feeling that used to be at all the places, not just my favorites.  I don't think we even got one pattern this year.  "Oh, you can just print them online."  Um, no.  That's too much like work.

Just felt like something was missing this year.

Maybe it was me, not feeling well this weekend.

Maybe it was something else.