Lurking in the Bathroom and other business of life.

*********************
This is a very busy week. The Cal-Am Goat show is on Saturday at the Fairgrounds in Plymouth and I have two "Best In Show" baskets to put together. I drove down to Elk Grove, yesterday, to pick up one of the two gourds that will be part of the wining baskets for the show.

These gourds will be filled with goat related items and wrapped in cellophane with a big, pretty bow.
I want to thank Mary Jane for the beautiful gourd on the right with the faux turquoise inlay and Silvia, for the goat basket gourd. I'm overwhelmed at the generosity of my gourd group and the support  they give to our Goat show every year. Silvia is the President of the California Gourd Association, a talented and involved artist.
Mary Jane is one of the most talented members of our gourd group. She makes instruments, lamps and dolls out of gourds. She does amazing and beautiful work.
Thank you both for the donation of these lovely gourds.
*********************
When I was down in Elk Grove yesterday I had to go to Trader Joe's.

Which happens to be (Oh, my goodness!)  right next to .... HOME GOODS.

What an amazing marketing decision for this shopping center. I didn't know what to do first. Then , I came to my senses and went into Trader Joe's. I bought wine, bread, cashews, a couple of cards, artichokes, and because it was lunchtime.... I hope my sister and my cousin Suzi are reading this.... A SALAD. Yes, without you both telling me to eat more salad, I bought one. All by myself.

I ate all of it. It was actually very good, with its chicken, papaya, cabbage, carrot and a Thai Citrus dressing.
Not bad at all. I may have to buy this salad in bulk.

I topped the salad off with, of course, English Toffee.
After I sat in the shade of a tree in my car, and filled my body with SALAD, I spent a wonderful hour and a half of pure indulgence, in Home Goods. I bought some pillows, a big tin with a lid for the front porch and three planters for the  front yard. I will take some photos next week when I have the time to arrange everything.
I picked up some meds at Kaiser and drove back up to the hills.
**********************

This morning I was groping around in the bathroom. You know how it is. I was getting ready to throw some water on my face so I could go for a walk before it got too hot. It's suppose to reach the high 80's today.
I was ready to wash my face when I saw something move under the felted soap in the tray.
Mind you. The Prospector's gone to town for some hay. The dogs were asleep in the Living room and I'm just standing in front of the sink... WITHOUT MY GLASSES ON.
I see movement under the soap. I got this "hair on the back of your neck" feeling and reached for my glasses. Yes, the warm weather is waking them up. THEY'RE BACK!!

How such a small thing can illicit such fear in me I will never know. I'm not afraid of snakes, mice, rats or wild animals but this little creepy crawler sends me into fits of fear that use to be almost debilitating.
No one was here to help. I could have called my husband to come home and dispatch this "monster" but he would have killed it and laughed at me. I was on my own..... and I couldn't let it crawl away, disappearing into the recesses of my bathroom only to show up in my bed tonight.... COULD  I?
Well,I want you to know that I pulled myself together and did the right thing. I went and got a glass jar. I moved the soap holder and , thank God, it didn't bolt away or JUMP ON TOP OF ME. It just sat there.
I carefully inverted the jar over the spider and it didn't move. It just sat there. Maybe something was wrong. Maybe SHE? was having babies right there under my felted soap. A little nest found... I don't know.... but, I'm sorry. That's just not going to happen in my bathroom.
I moved the jar and she crawled onto the side of it. I was doing well, but shaking a bit. I quickly slid the lid on and flipped the jar over. Now, she was moving. She was not happy.

This is what I call a BIG spider. I categorized spiders into: small, medium and large. This was large. Well, not as in "Tarantula" large, but definitely,"house spider" large.
I took her outside. Laid the jar in a flower pot....

She didn't move so I shook the jar and out she came.... Into the big world of wonderful places to hide and good things to eat.
I told her that she could live in my garden for as long as she liked but she was not to come back into my house. I told her to spread the word.

Goodbye little ( well, not so little...) one. Live long and prosper.
*******************

I still have some places to tell you about on our trip to Reno, Nevada. I don't want to bore you with  a travel log but I do want to talk about the Keck Mining Museum at the University of Nevada, which was a wonderful place to visit.