Spring Here and There

I spent most of the morning trying to get the lawn mower started (apologies to those who are suffering from late spring snowstorms for the spring-has-arrived-elsewhere-like-it-should-have-where-you-live reference).  After troubleshooting as much as I could (gas-check, spark plug ok-check, air filter ok-check, oil changed-check), I spent more of the morning trying to find a lawn mower repair service.  (note to self:  should have studied small engine repair).  [insert long, boring, time-wasting story here].

After finding a mower repair service and signing paperwork that said "oh it will cost you more than getting a tune-up for your truck and yes it's not even a riding lawn mower it's a push mower", the very nice repair guy said, "it's probably the ethanol in the gas. We'll tune it up but you should get some stabilizer." I think my eyebrows reached the middle of the top of my head.  "Oh yeah," he continued, "ethanol is great for the corn farmers but not for small engines. It's probably the diaphragm in the carburetor."  

Why didn't anyone tell me this??!!?? That I needed stabilizer for the gas because of the ethanol??!!??  I mean if some Nigerian prince's family can find me through Interpol to tell me that all I am the sole heir of $150 million euros and all I need to do is send my bank information, why can't someone send a friendly email to lawn mower owners saying, hey maybe try to put some stabilizer in the tank OK. 

Now I know and as soon as I get my lawn mower out of hock the repair place, I will apologize to its little small engine and promise to do better.  [Note to self:  should have been a small engine repair person and hedge fund manager]

Moving on.

Here is my Civil War block for this week: 
Fox and Geese.  A quick block to make this week and I just had to use red in the block after seeing all the unbelievable posts and articles about the quilt show in New York Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts.  What an amazing spring gift to the quilt world.

The closest I got to seeing the show was a behind the scenes look on Martha Stewart and reading all the blog posts about it.  I especially enjoyed a review of the show in the [London] Financial Times by my favorite British art historian Simon Schama.  [side note:  I am a huge fan of Simon Schama's books, BBC shows, & podcasts.  He has a wonderful way with words.].

Here's my favorite quote from the review:

"And that, in an age when all our fingers seem to do is race across a keyboard, a different kind of digital handiwork done with steadfast grace and exquisite vision can afford us a glimpse of heaven on earth." 
Simon Schama (from the Financial Times article March 29, 2011:  

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1942e71a-5a25-11e0-86d3-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1IOryo47l )