July 31- Can you believe that another month has come and almost gone.?

When I come into the sewing room I can see this big empty gap - kinda like the one in my mouth where I broke a tooth???? Of course it does make a nice drink holder??? LOL But I am here to "get something accomplished" and that is what I am going to do.:)

It has been raining here all day long-a nice Slow easy rain -the kind we really needed to be helpful to restore our fields and our gardens and ponds. It gives everything that nice clean smell and the temperatures are in the 60"s. So, that should make for excellent sleeping weather. :)

"See, I am making progress just in time for DH's "hungry " button to go off!

Humm???? Well at least it does have a purpose  - a project holder.! LOL  I am cutting them all out and then putting them in a plastic bag with Names on them-not like I did last year when I cut some out and did not put names on them(thinking I would remember- HA! Maybe for the two weeks I had been told -But - definitely not for four months that it turned out to be. !!!! I believe that is what you call "Live and Learn". LOL

I trotted off to feed us-so I pulled out all the tiny bits of leftovers for me and I fried a venison chopped steak for DH with some fried cucumbers!!!!!!!!!!!! You would have to laugh as I typed this in BECAUSE - all of a sudden I realize that I did not get to taste my share ! Where did they go to?? So, I pranced back in the kitchen and my share is still laying down on the counter ! Well, dag nab it!!! How can I say what I think about them when I did not remember to taste them. DDDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are not hot anymore , but I decide to give it a try. They are pretty tasty and I now understand why I have been told they remind you of oysters. It is not because they taste like oysters so much -but they leave that little after taste of oysters. So, I decide to experiment and I get a slice of bread and put a little mustard on and slap the cukes on it and - Yea - I really like that too?? That really leaves a lot of experiments to conduct-I see! LOL If only I had some cheese to try! :)

 DH went out the door for something and I took that opportunity to sew up one pair of the gloves I have invented. After I had sewn the first one and put in on my hand -there was always a funny tug from across the hand ?? I had really pondered on that last winter as I fixed them and here it was looking me in the face once again , because I had not overcome it! For some reason I decided to put it back up to the serger and take an inch off of the wrist area  and that made it a tad more secure and it felt comfortable now. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, even without my beloved embroidery machine - I am still making progress and this pleases me!  I still have a few more tee shirts to cut out  and then I will have to look for some designs. I am afraid that is going to hang me up , anyway because I have used most of the designs that I have collected and I have not seen many designs I like as I have been looking for other stuff. Probably one of my complications is the fact that it seems like a large majority if for the guys and to me that makes it a little more difficult.

Thanks for visiting with me ! I had fun sharing in this virtual world of sewing and creating and learning! :)

Friday flying by

Hello Dear Blog Family,
I hope each of you has had a wonderful day . If my days go any faster then I would not even have enough time to put my clothes on and then turn around to take them off again. Imagine - I would not have enough time to even wash those clothes or do any chores. I thought the older you get that you are suppose to be able to slow down some-but it seems to be the opposite''!

I did manage to get some good sleep last night and that was such a blessing. I was so tired that I thought I would just fall over. In my mind's eye this morning I was making plans in my head for the day , since I thought we would not have any running to do.Wrong. DH had plans that he needed to go to the social security office and that is an hour drive . O Man - I Hate road trips these days. I hate that dumb wreck that caused that problem for me. If only we could "wish away" bad experiences that would be so nice. :) But I know that we have to tackle these lessons along the way.

So we got ready and headed out for our hour drive. I love summer but on this ride it was very sad to see the once beautiful green fields now burnt up with heat and the brown earth and dead grass. We remarked how it seems that only the stick weeds are surviving and even they looked very wilted.

When we arrived  we learned that they had moved so we had to follow directions to the new office. It was so nice and clean looking. I thought it was strange that they had only been open for almost 2 weeks and already the bath room was out of order? That is something that you notice as you age , just in case you need it.We were really lucky to be seen so quickly  and on our way - back to home - if I had wings I would fly just like that saying "as the crow flies"! Yep , that would be me .:)

But no, our youngest son called us and wanted us to drop by because they had bought us a pack of fish that Neither of us had ever heard of. So, we dropped off to pick that up and say Hi! Our lovely daughter-in-law is now into her 5th month of pregnancy and is starting to show. She is so lovely with her black hair and sweet personality. . Emmett is still on his crutches trying hard to follow his doctor's orders to try to move around more. It sure does hurt to see any of your babies hurt-I tell them that they can get old and gray but they will always be my babies.

They have a family of pitt bull doggies and they really do good by them. My favorite one is named Elecsus and she is so sweet. She did come from a abusive home and when DH went over to the baby gate to pet her -she stood on her back feet -but accidentally scratched his arm . He said something in a loud voice to her-and she just dropped to the ground -huddling on the ground so pitifully, trembling. It really broke my heart . He asked our son why did she do that and they told him about her being beaten before they got her.

Meagan told us that Elecsus would sing to you. So she was peeking through the baby gate and they asked her to sing and it really did sound like a little song. She is such a sweet heart and I have no compassion for people who are abusive to animals. To me they have just come to earth to show pure love . You know - you can tell them all of your secrets and they do not tell anyone about them. They are always glad to see you . How much better than that can it be? Plus, it always upsets me to see dogs tied out . So many bad things can happen to them  like that  and they usually need water and food and shelter. But one little dog all by itself? They are pack animals by nature and they are like us wanting to be sociable. We need others in our life and so do they.

We did come home and fix the new fish that they had bought for us.Swai is the name of them and I looked it up and they are an Asian catfish. We wanted to broil them since our grill got ripped off of the porch last year in a storm -so it is dead. They did say that these are for folks looking for a cheaper dish that is still good for you. There were several recipes to pick from and I kinda picked parts of all of them to come up with a way to fix them. They said to coat them with mayonnaise and lemon juice . I added some onion powder . After they had cooked for the first 5 minutes I pulled them out and flipped them and this time I added some olive oil and salt and pepper and a little lemon pepper and put them back in for 6 minutes. When I pulled them out they were perfect and we had some jasmine rice and fresh green beans. They were really good.

By then it was time to go out and do outdoor chores and settle everyone down for the night. The chickens are so funny. They are Araconna- sorry can't spell tonight- but they are called the Easter Egg chickens because they lay blue and green and pink colored eggs. I still have so much kid in me so I get to go see which color it will be today. There are several of them attempting to sit. I get so tickled at them as they pull the little eggs up under them and then settle them all in place as they sit down. Some of them are sitting in the nest boxs and they make me think of little old ladies with their girdles on. I peek in the door and they all fuss at me for intruding on their privacy. As they fuss at me sometimes they attempt to peek me into obedience and I always get SO tickled and I will pet them a few times and that makes them mad - so I really fussey - mess them  up. They are so mad by then and I am so happy as I laugh and they fuss. They are so pretty in all their different colors and some of them have the cutest little beards .

I love them dearly and I hate it when I have to fight the lice or mites that come to suck their blood. Seems that there is Always something to hurt a chicken. If that was not bad enough - there is always something that wants to eat them- from racoon's all the way up the food chain to us humans. -

I also have 5 silkies - they are so sweet too. Instead of feathers they are covered in something that looks like hair , so they are so soft. Last year I thought I was being smart because I took a metal  dog run and put it out in the yard with the softest green grass for them with water for them.They were under the shade trees and the cage was covered on top . We had to run to town for something and as we pulled into the driveway I was looking for the silkies. My heart just dropped and I asked DH If he was seeing what I was seeing? So, he looked and say yes- there was a great big chicken Hawk and it had reached through the metal bars and since he was a bird too -they did not have any fear of him. So, he had latched onto one of them and was eating her from outside. I know my heart broke and hit the ground . DH asked IF I wanted him to kill it and I said No, I knew that the hawks have to eat too-it was my fault for leaving them there. Needless to say I have those four left and they are in a building. !

Thanks for visiting with me  - there is still sewing in my future. If I could ever stay home that is. I even have that big ball of knit that I have washed. I pull it out of the dryer and put it on my bed Under the sheet - trying to protect it from my furbabies. Then at night I take it from my bed -Back to the dryer for protection. I did not realize when the embroidery machine checked into the machine hospital that life would really do its best to side -track me. When I walk into the sewing room and see that big empty space - I know that a member of my sewing army is missing . But I am having faith that this time it will come home much different. This young man who looked at it seemed Very Accomplished in his machine knowledge. I sure wish I was!
Love to all.  

My poor tired body - fun is just too much work :)

Yep, I have decided that fun really is just too much work. We rolled out of bed this morning and I was sore from yesterday's trip. Thank you very much - Mr. Fibromyalgia ! But, we did do a few chores and take off to pick up DH's sister and her hubby. They had traveled in to bring their car to a local dealer and it was to be a day's work.So, we all took off  on a road trip.We first traveled to a Government Surplus  store and just rambled around checking out the day's treasures. I ended up with a .50 container of the powdered cleaner and a 1.00 pillow to put back in the car for our pekingese to ride on in the car. I had to give his other pillow to one of the grandson's because he was riding on the hump of the backseat one day and I thought it looked SOOOO uncomfortable. Then poor Snowball was pouting about the pillow-he would lay his little head up on the little divider from where we lay the seat down. Maybe now they will both be happy.


Then we all took off and they bought us lunch. UMMMMM - it was soooo good. I got a big salad and cottage cheese  and then a whole plate of strawberries. Yummy - I adore strawberries. It was so hot when we came back outdoors - 96 on the bank outside.

By then it was time to head back so they could pick up their car, only we did stop at a fruit-stand and they bought us some peaches and a melon. . Now that we are home - those peaches are all gone! Fruit is just not safe around me.:) It is such a blessing to have family who are so generous. I am worried about them , both of them have health issues. He had some heart surgery last year and he looks so tired.

I am tired also .Too much fun I guess.!!! It is strange but when we know we are to do something special the next day - it is almost impossible to fall asleep and get the rest we need. Makes us feel so bad - so I am hoping for sleep tonight for all of us. :)

I hope you have had a very lovely day. I am going to crawl off somewhere and rest. :)Bye!  and love to all :)

Thursday evening coming down :)

HELLO Blog Family,

I hope all of you are enjoying good health and a blessed day.

DH and I have spent the entire day running errands. We had to make one trip to Roanoke , VA. and that took all of the morning . I was slick(I think??) I had gone online yesterday and found a new Brother Dealer -definitely not the one in our own state this time! I found one listed in N.C. that sounded nice. Probably because I just love the state of N.C. and its people. They always seem nice and very helpful to me.  When we used to have a little money we would pack up and go to the flea markets there and have so much fun. I used to tease DH that my heart was in N.C. and I wanted my money to go there too! LOL

So, when we got out of our appointment around noon we took off to N.C. It was a two and a half hour drive , which is still better than the dealer in VA. last year that was a three hour drive and If it had gotten fixed then - we would not half to be making the trip today.

I told them that there was something wrong with it when I got it  and after a couple of months attempting to compensate -thinking it was just me-that I gave up and took it to a VA. dealer , thinking that a dealer should be more knowable . I told them that the other dealer had it from August to December and how upset I was because I could not fix my Christmas presents. That is hard - when you have a dream. I gave her our information and a young man came out and checked it out. He said that it was in time -but he saw the big mess. He happened to run across the sticker that the other dealer had put on it that I had not seen. He kind of chuckled and said that they had several customers from that dealer.

They said that it would be fixed within two weeks. I want to get my hopes up -but I am afraid to after last years experience. So, I will just wait and see and not get my hopes up so I won't be so disappointed. Makes me think of Chris at DietCokeRocks when her machine had to go in the shop and you wait and wait and worry and not get good results. I wish I had a young brain so I could go to school and do it myself.

Boy, it was warm down there . The temperature on the banks said 96degrees - so we were plenty warm. Thank Goodness for air condition! Whoever invented that was a very smart person and I would love to hug their neck.

I noticed when we pulled in that they had a Babyloc sign out front and I had been secretly hoping that one of these days I might get one of those magic machines as they have the threader that uses AIR!  So, I asked them if they carried them . She said that he had discontinued them  and he checked and he had even sold the two used ones they had. I am just curious why they are not going to carry them??? Wonder if  they found defects in their performance????? 

WEll, I think I will just take my car-sick body and call it a night as soon as I can finish up my chores. We have to be up early in the morning to pick up DH's sister and hubby at the local car dealer where they are getting their car transmission worked on.  So, love to one and all and hope you have had a wonderful day!

Whoever said it had to be easy?

Yea, right - that must be some kind of urban legend ? And then, you have to factor in that human beings are always on different learning curves. Some of us know more and some of use know less-then some are consumed
with the passion for being creative and some are couch potatoes? We are just all human beings plodding along on this adventure together.And for me - it seems that I ALWAYS take the hard road. Everyone says that we usually remember the harder lessons better?That remains to be seen! :)

While I was pondering the mysteries of life , I thought I heard the break of thunder so I went out on the porch to "see-what-I-Could -see?" Hummm? First I look this way??????????????

And then I look that way?????? But what do my bewildered eyes see??

Yes, I found my thunder and it had company! LOL So now maybe I can get back to some of my More important events.

I had finished with prewashing all that lovely knit and pulled it out of the dryer onto my bed. Then I would pull out one of the pieces that I had precut and bring it in the sewing room and iron it , hoping to prevent any unwanted wrinkle that could lead me into never-never land.

While I was in the process of doing this I decide that I should test out that embroidery machine to see If it feels like playing well with me??? So, the answer is NO! It did lead me down the yellow brick road on the first design that I tested. It did complete the design but it had very loose floopy stitches-hum? this was a new experience to me . I know it is just trying to pull the threads over  my eyes.

So, I move onto the second design and Yep! that is where she shows her true colors. It sounds like an old timey wash machine and it creates the biggest thread nests I have ever seen -under the design - that was how I knew it was trying to catch me off guard . But I was sitting right here beside it and still it created that mess before I could ever say , "jack rabbit"! So, I'm miffed - and I get on the puter and check to see how about another Brother Dealer -But not the ONE that I went to last year! I am wondering IF  I would have any luck with a different one ??? The closest one to me is in another state  and it is a two hour drive. Well, that sounds better to me than the three hour drive lasts year!

So, I go back to the knits and think well, I can always cut out the  shirts and get them ready. So, I am being VERY careful this time.As I cut out each one I am putting it in a baggy with the name on it ! Not going to make the same mistake as I did last year! Live and learn and try to hang onto it. LOL

Well I did get three shirts all cut out and labeled so far. I am pooped , attempting to figure out these details of life is just so challenging for me.

I have got to go fix supper and I will have to go save my fabric that is under cover on my bed where I was hopefully protecting it from critter hairs.

Love to all and have a great adventure!

A lesson to ponder

After being stuck on making that night shirt for my friend and not being able to reach Mom on the phone , I was afraid to go ahead and make it. I just did not want to waste my effort until I find out if that is something she would love . I will have to do some investigation. LOL

SOOOOO, I decided to open my shipment of fabric that I had ordered months ago. Matter of fact SO long ago that I could not use the discount coupon that had come with my order-Darn! :)

So, I rolled some of it out on the cutting table . Yes, I LOVE the fabric - a nice soft jersey knit that will work so great for all of my family. We all love grey knits. But, my dilemma was that I First need to wash it to make sure it will not shrink after I make the projects??? But How? I knew I could not take it off the roll and stick it all in the washer because there is no way in the world that I could handle that amount of fabric- I know this because I had an awful time just pulling four yards out and sticking them in the dryer?????

That points me to the thought of cutting sections off , like about a yard and a halt -and that way I could maneuver  them much better.?:) So, that takes me back to the time that I had cut off enough for some projects and the fabric shrank up too much to have for the size project I was working on???? I managed to save my hide because I have other younger sizes to make for and that was what I did.

So, this time , I decided that I would cut the sections big enough for the larger sizes  - and that way after I wash and dry them -IF they are too small - I will cut the smaller projects out of them . Then I left Half of the roll in one long section and I am planning that I could use the long one for the large projects and use the precut sections for the smaller projects???? (Sound complicated?) LOL

I was using my "handi-dandi" tool to cut the sections and that makes it soooo much easier and saves those expensive rotary blades!Now that I have them cut in sections I carry them off to the wash machine and come back to see what else I can get in trouble with???

This is the clock that hangs over the cutting table and I REALLY LOVE it - when it runs???? The trouble is that it EATS battery like I do brownies when I am around them! Very bad for the clock and for me. !  One if the features that it has is those nice big numbers show up really good And they also glow at night! How cool is that????

But many years ago , about 18 - my almost son-in-law gave me a clock that he had and I loved it too. It hung in the living room all these years UNTIL last year my oldest son made me a wall clock for Christmas! I mean how many of us  humans get to have a clock that our children make for us! So the older clock got demounted
to the kitchen. I knew it would take some getting use to -trying to teach myself to just "look-up" and I was always forgetting!

Finally one day I remembered and then noticed the clock was not running ??? Why not ??/ Well shoot - someone had unplugged it????

So, I got the wild idea that I should just retire the battery eating monster and put my beloved clock in the sewing room so I would have a clock that runs and also get to admire my "antiquey"  clock. I had to get the stool to climb up on the cutting table -which decided to do the hoochy -choochy with my hundred and eighty pounds . It is just a simple piece of thin plywood and it really thought I had lost my mind. But I Had to get up there to see how to put the clock on the screw. It took me a while to pull that off and by then the sweat was pouring off of me - mainly from FEAR~I really did not want to go bouncing around like a rubber ball! I Hate pain too much for that! So, I finally arrived back on the ground in one large piece and stood to admire my handiwork!

Now that I had it UP there I happened to remember that it also has a light inside -but I was no where near pressing my luck to crawl back up there and take it down to open the panels to see if there was even a light bulb in there! LOL I decided to just admire it like it is for a long while. I was surprised to see that it had a date of manufacture on it -August of 75! I still think that is just too cool! LOL

Then I picked up the other clock and tried to stick it up on the top shelf of the closet , but it would not fit and i almost lost my grip on it . Now that would have broke my heart because I REALLY do like that clock . Maybe one of these days I will inherit a battery factory and then I would be able to operate it! LOL

By now I hear the wash machine slow to a halt and I am thinking how It is almost time for me to have my fabric now finished and I can carry forward with my battle plan! YEA! I now transfer all of it over to the dryer and go back to get all my "army of creative machinery" ready for the tasks that lay ahead of them -when I hear a car in the driveway???

YEP, there goes the evening of sewing . I did sneak off while everyone was taking a cigarette break and take the animals fresh water and lock the chickens up so Mr. Raccoon could not have any chicken dinner. As I was changing the water on the guinea pigs I noticed that two were dead -just from the heat. They all pile together and with the heat as bad as it was -it was just too much -even though I had a big fan on them. I really hate to lose any . It is not suppose to be quiet so hot this next week , instead of 95 -down to 85 ?? I hope that is right and that it will help with the heat .

I hope each has had the gift of a precious day and may we write the chapters of our life on them.

Saturday was hot

It was so hot here today and it was amazing to watch the temperature just continue to rise throughout the day.
I got lucky and managed to get all of my outdoor chores fairly early-just kinda kept an eye out to make sure all the animals had plenty of water, but some of the animals were unhappy. Our building where we house the doves and pigeons and parakeets and cockatiels  was so hot. I had all the doors open and the one fan running and it was still rough.I wish I had another fan .

DH fixed us fried green tomatoes and eggs for breakfast.I was so grateful and while he did that I straightened up in the house and ran the vacuum cleaner and went on the front porch and watered all the plants, including my beautiful big pot that is so full of the cucumbers plants . I discovered that white flies are trying to take over the cucumbers and I really do not want them too. I went back at dusk and took the water hose to the backs of the leaves were the boogers were enjoying their supper. I kept wishing I knew where the spray bottle was at that I used last year to kill the squash bugs and saved some of my squash plants. I saw I have two big cucumbers on the porch and I need to figure out what to do with them tomorrow.

Tomorrow is suppose to be hot again. They announced on the tv that it would be 112 in Richmond tomorrow and Richmond is where my DH was taken to back in 72 when he was caught in an explosion at this workplace -as they had the only burn center in the state at that time. It was also the first time that I  had ever been further than 30 miles away from our home. He was in the hospital for four long months and I stayed the whole time. That summer they had those kind of temperatures and I thought I would croak. I found an empty spot in a nurse's dorm and it did not have air conditioning . I would get up and go stand in the shower to get wet and then lay back down at night -just trying to survive.Then with all the concrete and the massive buildings -it was like a pressure cooker - so my heart goes out to anybody that is forced to survive these kind of temperatures.

I forgot to call my older son today to check to see how he is because he runs heavy equipment and I am worried about him. I have wanted to make him some of those bands that have the beads in them that swell when you put them in water and they wear them around their necks to help ease the heat. I just have not been able to come up with the money to buy them? Darn Money!

Then I had an awful time today coming up with a supper. Everything that I wanted to fix - of course I did not have the ingredients. But , finally as I was combing thru recipes  I ran across a sweet and sour recipe that I had saved. It called for tofu and I had a pack in the freezer that I had caught on sale!  After I got it all together it was really good - probably the best sweet and sour recipe that I have ever had luck with .I had hoped that I would sew today , but spent most of the day just attempting to keep my head above the waters of life.At least we got us fed.

I was still pondering about making the night shirt for my friend's daughter who is in her last year of college? I even attempted to call her , but got no answer on her home phone and I Hate to call her cell phone because she uses it for work.

Then I got to talk to another dear friend that I had not spoke to in MONTHS. We used to get together and can and make things  and just hang out . I have missed her a lot. It was nice to know that she is still kicking. She is one of those gals who has worked so hard all of her life. Her husband had told her when they first got married that IF she wanted anything in this life then she was going to have to work for it , because he was not going to give it to her. (a real gem:) (NOT!)

I really hate to get this unsettled feeling when I am having trouble sorting through projects and attempting to think which one will be next????? I was attempting to use fabric out of my stash, but it is getting a mixture of left overs . I have one box that has some grey knit in it that I had caught on sale for 1.97 a yard. I am beginning to think I might have to pop that in the wash and get it prewashed and see if it shrinks?

Decisions, decisions, decisions???? I should do a test sew of a pattern to see IF that dumb machine is going to make a miss. That might be the first thing to do because with no machine that works then I cannot accessorize my creations and I just cannot have that. When I feel in love with the machine embroidery - I fell hard. I believe it is like a marriage - to death do us part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Well, thanks to you guys for letting me think it out - I think those two jobs would help ease me along and figure out what path to take next. So, Thank You so very much! :)

I hope you all have had a wonderful day and made many good memories.
Bye for now

O Golly - our week is almost gone?

I really hate to see another week just fly right on by. My goals of sewing each day seen to get sidetracked by life. I guess the goal is to learn from it and still strive toward my goals. 

We managed to get "up and atom" nice and early because a bill collector rang our chimes nice and early. It must be nice to be so important that businesses call you first thing in the morning . It breaks my heart that I do not have the money to pay them -but might as well use them as an alarm clock and get some use out of them. :)

We took off to the mill for our critter feed and this time I got a bag of whole wheat flour and a bag of biscuit mix.  Then we went back by DH's doctor's office and dropped off the cd with his bone scan on it. I wish they would allow us to just wait and see what the doctor thinks, but that is not the way doctors do things. When you are dealing with cancer -it seems that the "wheels of medicine" grind awfully slow. 

Then we stopped and got gas and picked up 40.00 of groceries so this was our "spending spree " for the day. That is one reason I HaTE to come to town - if you stay home you usually do not spend money ??? EXcept for the electricity ! That is bad enough. Well , come to think of it - we also pay our real estate taxes each month so I think you could break that down into so much per day to be able to keep our homes. And, so much per day to keep our telephones . Gosh, now that I have thought about it - I might get depressed.

Maybe not as depressed as who ever owned a older model truck that we saw on our way to the mill. He had lost control and went barreling down the mountain -hit the side of a bank and rolled his truck in the ditch. It was really banged up and they were using shovels to get up all the trash on the highway and throw it back on his truck. I sure hope he was not hurt.

The ride home was through pretty scenery of farms and hay fields , but it was HOT in his truck. I wonder how long it will be before DH attempts to install air conditioning in his truck? The last time we were heading to the store to get what he needed was the day two years ago that those kids hit us head on. I keep discovering results from that wreck and it has been almost two years - like yesterday at the hospital we were walking out and they have the most beautiful sun-rooms and I was letting my eyes follow the design of the architecture only to discover that it was hurting to look up and when I looked back down I had the design plastered in my eyeballs??? It was a very strange experience. I had noticed when we went to stores that I cannot raise my head over a certain height without a lot of pain. I noticed this when it first happened , but thought it would go away -but I guess it is one of those things that you have to live with.

Hubby and I got home and went to unload the feed. I turned to look and it had started raining so I took off around the building to grab a tarp I had so I could throw it over the feed and flour . It was stuck on a wire - so I tugged and fussed with it -only to discover that it had quit raining -UNTL - I walked back to the truck and then it started pouring down and then I had to go after it again and covered up the truck bed. I was beginning to think that Mother Nature was having some fun with me. :)

I had intended to go sew, but I saw that some of my furbabies needed a bath and if I just try to pick them up and give a bath - by the time I do that they all hide. At least I did get two of them ! Then I got side-tracked working on one of our aquariums. It just looked terrible for some reason so I took the filter off and cleaned it and then had to work on the dirty glass. It took some work, I guess maybe I just love too many things. But the aquariums have always had a soothing affect on me. Something about the soothing water and watching the fish swim - when I cannot swim , LOL !

So, my day got away from me again. I think when I was younger I just moved faster and got more accomplished  ??? But to me now - each day is a gift - a little like each of you are gifts too."_  

My , how Thursdays get away!

Sorry, no pictures or anything pretty to look at . My day just got away from me because we left early this morning for DH to go to the hospital for a bone scan. They had a terrible time finding a vein for them to insert the   radioactive dye . He Hates needles so much and he is a very difficult patient to work with. :) They told us to come back in 2 1/2 hours and by the time we got home and he worked on a flat tire on his truck and I did laundry and what ever else got in my way and then we were off again.

You know how it is in hospitals - hurry up and wait! So, I took some reading material with me. After his treatment finished we walked down to the cafeteria and he got a serving of spaghetti. Something in there smelled so bad that it almost took my breath so I just got a little half pint of milk and a piece of cake.

By the time we returned home and he went to work on that flat tire again - it was pretty miserable because he had to throw what I always call a "Doug-Fit"  and there was about 3 of them. I tried to just keep occupied . I had a recipe one time that had to do with couscous and some veggies and of course I cannot find it. I looked high and low and was so disappointed. I had saved that thing for years and now I cannot lay my hands on it???

I have been thinking of my next sewing project -maybe for one of my friends -daughter. I think I had figured out the size and I thought maybe a night shirt? Then I could not decide IF she even wore them  and while I was mulling that over I just got stumped???? I am still "stumped".

So tomorrow we have to go to the mill and we have to take DH's  bone scan to his doctor which is on our way to the mill. We hope to do that early in the morning when it will be the coolest -as his truck does not have any air except for the one that blows through the windowssssss!

I hope you all have had a lovely day full of new adventures.

Bow Wow and HoHoHO!

What a lovely Wednesday ! DH had to take DS back to the doctor today for his second check - up since the back surgery and he is not bouncing back at all. Still using his crutches to get around and to keep himself from falling. It is not looking so good .

SOOOO - while the cat's away - the Mouse  will play! LOL  I was like a kid set loose in a candy store  - I could not decide what I wanted to do . I "wanted" to it all, but I knew I could not pull that off in a few hours so I settled for cleaning the flood with my steam cleaner . I absolutely love this tool! It makes the hardwood floors just shine.

Then I curled up and caught up on some magazines. For Christmas my Tenn. buddy had given me subscriptions for two magazines and I Adore them. What a wonderful gift !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I headed to the sewing room and debated what to tackle??? I could not find the one piece of fabric that I thought I had -then another piece of fabric did not have as much as I had thought! O Shoot! So, I decided to wrap a few Christmas presents. Up until this year I always stashed the presents as I acquired them and then I had a terrible time wrapping them all in time for Christmas. SOO, this year I am being smarter and wrapping them as I finish a few . That gets two jobs off of me  !. the wrapping  and 2. cleans up my space so I am make more  :)

I put the doggie shirt and the doggie pants together as one set. My DH came in and I showed him . His sister has a little dog named Buttons and I had embroidered the design as close to the colors of Buttons that I could. DH asked was I going to write Buttons name on it and I told him that had been my plan -UNTIL- the embroidery machine messed up and I was afraid to embroider on it and maybe ruin it . So- he suggested to add some real buttons to the shirt. I loved that idea and sewed Button's on the doggie's eyes because I hated the eyes the way they were . Then I sewed green buttons under her feet as grass. It now has a whimsical touch.  Sometimes those DH do come in handy. :)

 Well , Shoot! The buttons do not show up and I have already wrapped them !!!

Miss Rosie thought going thru the buttons was a good idea. Round and round she goes -where she stops- nobody knows! LOL

See, I REALLY have been HOHOHO-ing!

What a beautiful Tuesday!

What a beautiful day. I went outdoors and did all my morning chores and visited with all my animals. Then in to feed DH , he ate oatmeal and I ate cantaloupe with some whole wheat biscuits and we were both happy. We had been enjoying fried green tomatoes this past week, but we are out temporarily.

I came in the sewing room -kinda dreading facing a pair of slacks that had whipped me last night.That was the FIRST time for me - of cutting out all the pieces  and sewing them together RIGHT! I was ecstatic . I was heading down the home-stretch  just knowing I was going to complete this project and enjoy it.


I was working on put the waist- band around and thought I had it finished until I shook it all out?????
Where I had started at the beginning and got about half way around - I had run out of bobbin thread?
So, I just put it up and let it claim the victory that time-but today is a new day and I pulled it out and 
started again. I started by pinning the band AGAIN! 


I was ready to Saddle -up when I heard the most gosh awful noise and I went to the door to look out.

This was what I saw! Talk about ferocious! I could barely hand onto the door long enough to take 
the picture.

 I checked on the right side of the porch and you can barely see the muddy water running down 
in front of DH's shop.That was a LOT of rain and they are calling for more?

This is my little cucumber patch and it looks so much better now that it had a bath. It has been 
giving me one cucumber a day . There to the left side is a pot of watermelons that I am 
hoping over! LOL

This is my pot of nasturtiums and rose moss. I love the moss just because it is so beautiful and I love the 
nasturtiums because of their sweet blooms and because you can put them in salads . They taste a lot like black pepper.

After all the commotion of the thunder and lightening and winds I came by in to catch up on the blog 
and the electricity went off! Grr! I started again and the electricity went off. Same thing Again and it went 
off AGAIN! After two more times - I gave up and said what can I do that does not require
electricity and I thought of the slacks in the drawer. 


So, I got them out and started pinning them AGAIN. But, it did not seem quiet as bad as i thought
it would be -because I only had Half of them to pin. LOL I am hoping this will work as a set  -wear 
these with the yellow shirt with the little doggie and I put a doggie at the end of the legs to hopefully
tie them together. :)

 Remember a couple of months ago when I had that dumb infected tooth??? Well, it is back to 
torment me again. This time on the opposite side. I really HATE bad teeth and I really HATE not having
the money to just go get it fixed! I put a clove of garlic on it last night and it set me on fire and also my
lips! Whew -but it  helped ease the pain. Maybe because the fire in my mouth caught my tooth off 
guard ????? You  know - kinda like letting a car run over your toe -might have the same effect??? :)


Thank you so much for visiting with me and hope you have had a perfect day! :)

The Doggie Battle

Some projects are such a battle that you wonder if you are going to win the war? This one was that way for me-Anything that a embroidery machine could do to cause misery - this one did that  and it lasted all day until the two of us called it draw: it was still in one piece and I kinda had my project in one piece. So, we both came out winners! :) This design was from Embroidery Library and the only way I could get it to come out at all was to delete several of the layers of stitches that were suppose to be built up to show shades and highlights. But, for the machine -it was a nightmare. Every dirty trick in the book was the game that my BrotherPE-700II played on me . So, it was with great relief that we both compromised and this was the result.

We have had beautiful weather on this first day of the week. We also had a storm go around us and I was glad it did because from the thunder you would have thought there was a  monster coming through! I am so grateful that I have another gift completed. It seems like I do a lot of sewing, but my projects are still far away from being completed and it is now only 5 months until the big day!

We now have a entire fresh slate to write our adventures on this coming week. A whole brand new week - What will you write? :)

Another battle won with this Brother! :)

OK, what a day ! Miss Rosie has even tried to urge me to LEAVE the sewing room -so she can have some peace and quiet!

That dumb Brother PE-700ii embroidery machine has driven ME TOTALLY nuts! I was already kinda over the edge , but with days like these ????? I had started on a shirt and the design came from Embroidery Library. It was a dog for someone in the family and it pulled every trick in the book. It broke threads -the threads got hung on its path - it screamed at me that a safety device had been enacted???? I was ready to pull my hair . I had to keep taking it apart to get those thread nests unhung and then I tore it down and took the vacuum cleaner to it . Then when I got it to move a little at a time I started deleting steps so that I was hoping to salvage this project.:(

To save some of my sanity I decided to torment Miss Rosie and she was not too impressed. I tied a piece of scrap cloth around her and she got so mad at me and she just fell over in disgust! LOL

Just when I was about to give up the idea of any more torment -she rolled over acting all innocent and when I went to go by her - Yea! she stuck those "DAGGERS" that she has in my behind! So, I decided she had won the war for today.

So, I stepped outside to get some fresh air and all of a sudden I smelled one of the sweetest aroma's that had ever captured my senses. I looked up and I looked down and all around . Next I relied on my nose to lead me to this intoxicating scent and this was what I found.

It was one of my Asiatic lilies and I wish you could smell this beautiful creation! I mean the fragrence a good 10 feet away.

But this is one flower that you will definitely not have to stick your nose in the flower! I wish I had them all around the house! I would be drunk with intoxicating odors! LOL

Thursday shirt and shorts project with the fish that did not want to co-operate

Hello, my dear blog family!

I sincerely hope that your day is a perfect one for each of you.It is nice and hot here . The temperature is 90 at 4pm in the afternoon. I have retired to the sanctuary of my sewing room and although it is always the hottest room in the summer and the coldest room in the winter time I have a small air conditioner that a neighbor gave me! Thank goodness for wonderful people who love to share with you! She is a nurse and  she was one of my classmates -a lifetime ago. I can remember her wanting to be a nurse way back to grade school and then her next step was being a "candy striper" who worked at the local hospital after school. She was an amazing gal and I do wish more of us could be like her in finding our way.

Well, let's just say that I am attempting to find my way this afternoon and I decided to start with the shirt to ease me into my goal. I love the colors of the shirt and the design  and shirts do not Hate me like pants do! :)So, here I have sewn the shoulders together and moving on up to the neck band.

I have marked 4 equal spots on  both the neck line and also on the neck band and then pinned them together . I have sewn the neck band together in the circle and also with a zig zag to hold it together until it is married together with the body. This little extra step REALLY saves the day for me because it enables me to match all the parts up equally. :)

The next step for me is to zig zag around the neckband and neckline. I used to NEVER be able to get both parts to line up correctly and stay put while I attempted to fly around that neck! One tip that works for me is that I position the neckband down  first and then lay the body of the shirts neck on top and for some reason it just does better for me.

Now I will take it to the serger to clean up the lines and make it look so much neater, but if you do not have a serger you can delete this step entirely.:)

I hope you can see the difference it makes.Next to top stitch around the neckband. Let's see IF I can get a picture to show you the difference in the look although it is a step you definitely do not have to do. I almost gave up on the idea because of my "drunk -sewing" -where I could not keep the machine sewing in a nice straight line.I really -really do try hard to pull this one off - just for my sake. :)See , it just looks so much cleaner and no threads going wild. :)

Next I top stitch around the neck band to make it look even nicer.

This is my neckline before I top-stitch it and I hope the picture will be clear so you can see the difference of when I top-stitch it.

My next step is to the fact that Miss Rosie wants some lunch in her bowl that my girlfriend mail to her yesterday.Miss Rosie loves getting gifts and also a sample of food!

She is such a  riot- you NEVER know what she will pull next. The reason she is in the plastic bag is that I had the pockets to the shorts that will match this shirt  stored in there to "protect" them from cat hair! She decided that it would not pass inspection with a cat hair somewhere! She was just soooo funny working her way in the plastic bag -going round and round and round until she was satisfied.

Here is one of the steps that I REALLY do not enjoy. I dislike this as much as I do cutting the project out.  Maybe it is because in my eyes I feel that you REALLY do have to have a nice clean -even hem  if you are going to have a project you enjoy. Hummm - well there is the other option - of putting a lettuce hem and I love , love them on my pj's that I did the other day. I also have a few shirts that I have done that way and I throughly enjoy them.

This is the finished project and it is like a 3xxx in store-bought shirts.

I think the design is cute and I  love fish and blue water - (See Chris - I love blue too!)

Well, the day is ending and I am quiet proud of myself that I got something accomplished . I have considered listing them on the blog for sale, but I am not sure what their quality is. I mean I try really hard to get it right-but it seems that I ALWAYS make at least one mistake.

Thank you for spending time with me and Rosie, my friends!And , may Joy fill your day!
:)

Machines Hate Me!

I t has been another very warm day and I am so tired. I did manage to pull off this project. They are the shorts to match the shirt from yesterday and they are a size 22. The nice thing about working on projects in a row is that I start to remember some of the places I get hung up .

I ran out to do some chores before it got dark and as I went to gather the eggs there was a snake in their nests and about scared me to death. I love animals , but  I still have not over my fear of snakes -yet. I keep striving , but will just have to wait and see. A friend mentioned snake tongs and I have been considering that-just do not have the money. Sometimes I hate that stuff -or maybe the lack of that stuff.

 The design is cute on blue or yellow and I like all of those colors. Well, I better go do some dishes and get squared away. Love to all and have a wonderful week-end.

Wednesday and another fight with that Fish!

Hello , hello!
This was another lesson for me with That fish! Since I had already completed the one on the yellow shirt front yesterday - today I went to war with the shorts that will make up this set! I knew that the pants ALWAYS give me a fit - ALWAYS -with no conscience! I had sewn the pockets on and was studying what I had done wrong and all of a sudden that fibromyalgia fog jumped right on my poor brain and I was lost ! It is horrible. Nothing makes any sense -but the confusion and fear and disappointment that consumes you.

After an hour of confusion and it was time to feed DH. I think getting away from it for a while helped to ease the pain.I finally figured out that I was right all the time and I did not have to do any "Ripping" out so far! Yea!
At least now I know which is the front and which is the back so I can work the design on to match with the top.
I lay it out and hoop it up and catch my breath and hope for the best.

Well, it is hard to see in the picture but only half of it sewed out - like the first attempt on the yellow shirt! The part under the eel's neck did not sew and the top part of his head did not sew. SO, I do not know IF this means that there is something wrong with the machine - OR - if there is something wrong with the design????

BUT- I pull out a needle and the thread that I used on the eel to start with and I attempt to fill in what was not sewn. I am still thinking about that thimble that I need. (I think Chris from DietCokeRocks -give excellent advice! :)

So, this is how it turned out - at least good enough to match with the other design on the shirt. :)I think I will call it quits for now - while I think I am ahead!

I did get a cucumber off of the porch and a tomato today - that was a treat!Thank you so very much for visiting with me and I hope you have had a beautiful -perfect day!
Love to all

Tuesday with rain falling.

How about that ? After our fields looking like they are all burnt up and the temperatures being in the 90's-we had rain start here on Sunday night with a slow easy trinkle of of rain and it has gone on like this ever since. Our garden and flowers really appreciate it. It is not a drenching rain and when I pull greens for the guinea pigs , the layer of dirt under the top layer is still bone dry. That amazes me.

I am sorry I did not post yesterday , but I was just too pooped after I did my Monday chores and went to town and came back.I still am not quiet up to par , but I am hoping that by doing something more simple - Like trying to figure out what kind of design I can use on my pants project and kind of hoping I can figure out how to link a shirt with the pants????

As I have complained about before- design hunting can be daunting!Up till now I have had really good luck because when I am searching for a design with a particular person in mind - a lot of the time I will run across other designs that suit somebody else in the family and that really helps. I am disappointed in how hard it is sometimes and here lately I wish I knew how to digitize my own designs? But between my brain and money - well , you know how it is.:)

I have decided to make one set of slacks and a long sleeve top - AND- one set of shorts and a short sleeve top . So here I am taking my short sleeve pattern and drawing it out to become a long sleeve version.

I heard the most angry sound of thunder and I stepped out on the porch to see where it was coming from and I snapped this picture of DH playing with his tractor and a few of my plants on the porch. :)

Even Mr. Snowball did not like the sound of that storm. So, we headed back into the sewing room.:)

O RATS! Can you tell that the snaky, wormy or eel  part of the design has not sewn completely! Times like this I want to shoot it. So, I took my needle and thread and started to fill in the design.Sure makes me think of Chris from Diet Coke Rocks -when she told me to use a thimble!!!!

Here is what my needle and thread turned it in to. I think it will pass.  That is my accomplishment for the day..I hope everyone is safe and happy and had a wonderful day. :)