Calamity Kris

Calamity waited for Clara to finish closing up the cafe and they left together, deciding it was best the two women stay close to each other until they were sure everything was clear. Clara's ranch was on the way out of town and Calamity's was not much further. Calamity stayed on her mount and waited for Clara to open the door and was inside before continuing on to her place. It was quiet the further she rode out of town, almost eerily so. The normal evening animal sounds, like the coyote's crying or owl hooting were almost non-existent. I wonder why, she thought. When she reached her barn, she put up her horse Barron as quickly as she could and headed inside. There she made sure her pistols and shotgun were where she could easily reach them, just in case. She decided she would try to talk with Reverend Keller in the morning. She sat in her chair and drifted off to a fitful sleep.

Calamity Kris was at Clara's cafe helping her clean up after the meal. As soon as they were done, Calamity excitedly sat Clara down and told her about the wonderful gift from Reverend Keller. "Clara you won't believe what Reverend Keller gave me. Why it's more money than I've ever seen." Clara stared at Calamity wide eyed and asked "What are you going to do with it?" The smile ran away from Calamity's face as she looked down at the table. "I think I'm going to give it back. I wouldn't want Reverend Keller to do without just so I could stock my shop. That's not right." Clara nodded in agreement. "The towns folk, led by Rye, have done a wonderful job of rebuilding the shop so all I have to do is restock it", continued Calamity. "Have you said anything to Reverend Keller about this?", asked Clara. Calamity nodded no. Just then, both ladies caught sight of a shadow that moved outside the window. There was no reason for anyone to be walking along that side of the cafe as the sidewalk leads to the back door. Had someone been listening to their conversation, were they lying in wait or something else............

Uno and I took Lil' Jersey Jo and Smiley Ed out for Sushi after a match. We walked into the Sushi bar and asked for a table. The guy who went to seat us said "You Cowboy"? We nodded in the affirmative. He pulled a dusty, ratty old straw hat off the wall and said "I Cowboy Too". He turned the music up and the place lit up. We had people buying us Sushi and Saki, the house gave us a couple of rolls. We paid next to nothing for the whole evening and we left stuffed. When we went to the desk and paid for our bill, the guy behind the counter said "You come back again"!!! We promised we would.

Your experience is unfortunate. I love my Traeger. I wish I had more time to use it. Please let us know how the replacement works for you.

Make us three and four.

Doc Ward and Sheriff Cody made their way through the smouldering rubble of the storefront. Calamity Kris was working her way forward from the back of the store, sifting through the debris looking for as many things as possible that she could salvage. Calico Mary was helping her out as much as possible. Every time Calamity would pick up the remnants of a hat or a dress, she would show it to Calico and say "I could clean this part up and fix it, good as new again". Calico knew Calamity was just grasping at straws in hopes of recovering some of her losses. Calico would just sadly shake her head no and Calamity would move on to the next piece of merchandise, searching desperately for something good to come of this. Sheriff Cody stepped up, removing his hat said "Evening Miss Calamity. I sure am sorry about your shop. Did you happen to see anything? Can you tell me what you do know?" Calamity recounted the events of the later afternoon. "Well Sheriff, I had just finished some alterations for Lorelei and locked up the shop, just like I always do. I was running a little late in getting to Clara's cafe so I walked as briskly down the street as I could. I don't remember seeing anyone or anything unusual......" As Calamity's voice trailed off, she remembered seeing two men in the alley as she locked up. She had never seen them before. They didn't seem to be doing anything unusual........ or were they? They were just leaning on the building across the alley, about 30 feet back from the side door to the shop. Both were looking down so she couldn't see their faces. They were fairly large build with dark hair and beards. They were dirty as if they had just come off the trail. That was all she could remember. "Does that sound strange to you, Sheriff" she asked? Doc Ward asked if they looked like any of the men from the Barn Dance. Calamity shook her hear no, as she couldn't see their faces. She was standing near Calico Mary when the trouble started so she would have noticed the men. Unfortunately, with their heads down, she couldn't tell for sure if it was one of them. Sheriff Cody said thank you, both men tipped their hats, and walked out into the street. As they reached the middle of the street, Calamity Kris remembered something and ran out into the street to catch them before they walked away. "Wait Sheriff", she called. "I do remember something odd, the two men were standing in front of that barrel back there and one was talking to the other. He talked funny, like he had some kind of an accent, or something." Doc Ward and the Sheriff thanked her and made their way down the alley towards the barrel.

No wood frame around the windows. If I were to guess, the blinds are mounted into the concrete. They were part of the house when we purchased it so I don't know for sure. If I get a chance, I'll take a picture of the hole I started with, You can clearly see concrete under the drywall.

Bless you for doing that. I hope some day that young man is able to pay your kindness forward.

Calamity Kris and Clara Pierce had been friends for as long as either of them can remember. They grew up near each other and went to school together. When Clara's folks passed on, Clara became the owner of the cafe in town. A nice little cafe with good, warm food and friendly staff. At first, Calamity came over to help Clara run the place until Clara could handle things herself. After the mine closed outside of town and a lot of folks left, Calamity would come help Clara in exchange for a meal. It worked out well for both of them. This evening was no exception. Things in the dress shop had been slow and Calamity had bills to pay so she offered to help Clara in exchange for a hot meal. All was well until a woman came running down the street shouting "FIRE". Calamity Kris looked up and saw the front of her shop in flames. She dropped the dirty dished she was holding and ran out the door to the dress shop. The only thing Calamity could think of was saving the customers alterations. She had to save those clothes or she would be in a lot worse shape financially. She ran to the door on the side of the shop in the alley and opened it. The fire hadn't made it back that far yet so she had time to pull out as much as she could. Other folks from town ran over and started grabbing the items Calamity was pulling out of the shop and setting them aside, away from the flames. By then, a couple of men from the fire brigade came over and started throwing buckets of water on the fire through the broken front windows. Calamity was able to get most everything out of the back of the shop, including her prized sewing machine. Unfortunately, most of the stock from the front of the store was lost. After the fire was out, Mary, Lorelei and a few other folks came by to give their support to Calamity and offer their help. All she could do was stand in the doorway between the back and front of the shop numb. She had no idea what she could do now. Rebuild or move on? Where to go? How to pay the bills and clean all the customers clothes. She just hung her head and started to cry.

I have a couple of levels so I've got that part covered. There are ~14 windows in the house we will be adding valances to. Me with a hammer drill X 14 windows sounds like a match made in hell, which is why I was looking for an alternative. Since it sounds like the drill is the only choice, I will have to take it really slowly. My shoulder will not hold out for more than a couple at a time. Thanks,

Looks great, Mary!!! I knew you could do it!!!

I will look into that. Thanks,!!!!!

All of the windows in this house are unframed, as you see in the picture below, modeled by my lovely Zoe. The walls consist of sheetrock covering cinder block. I would like to hang curtain rods and valances to brighten up the rooms. Is there a way to hang the rods without drilling into the cinder block? I tried some Command hook and loop on the curtain rods but it wasn't strong enough to hold them to the wall. I have also tried the screws that came with the rods. That's how I discovered the cinder block. Would something like hot glue work? Any other ideas are welcome. Thanks!!

happen to have those, as well as a couple of other planets. Unfortunately, it's too windy here to hang them up.

Welcome back!!!!