Eddie's shirt finished.

This is my sweet Mocha who loves me and keeps all of my secrets and is one of my treasures. She is not to pleased with me for pulling the covers off of her to snap her picture. She is my little angel.

What is it about trying to get a picture of these finished projects from this camo knit. I point a camera at it and it almost disappears!After it gave me such a "fit" I think it should behave itself. It is so "testy" to sew . I got up this morning and since it was a little too cool I decided to tackle part of the sewing on it while I was nice and fresh and rested. It did not appreciate that one little bit.  I worked for an hour - just fighting with the collar band. From then on it was a battle. I am upset with it now because I do not like the cuff at all. They seem too small to me for a man's hand to pass through????? Plus, they just do not look good at all.

Now, look at this ! Same fabric , same time , same camera - yet it shows up nice. I must not be holding my nose  right????  Well, one down and several more to go.

Vinegar Tips:
Age Spots  (some call them liver spots).can be gotten rid of if you wipe them daily with onion juice and vinegar. 1 teaspoon onion juice and d2 teaspoons vinegar should be mixed together and applied with a soft cloth. Or, 1/2 a fresh onion can be dipped into a small dish of vinegar and then rubbed across the offending skin. In a few weeks the spot will begin to fade.

Itchy welts and hives , swellings, and blemishes can be eased by the application of a paste made from vinegar and cornstarch. Just pat it on and feel the itch being drawn out as the paste dries.

Luv/Hate Relationship

This is that Very Naughty camo knit fabric that is going to end up tormenting me for several more projects!I am beginning to wonder IF I will survive it.

I started  this project on the embroidery machine at about 12:30pm and here it is 6:47pm  Can you believe that! First it was the embroidery machine , well really it was the embroidery machine 95percent of the time-I guess the 5percent was the fabric .

Needless to say - I was not a happy camper. Plus, I was missing out on some of the most beautiful weather with lots of breezes that make it so perfect.

To make matters even worse - when the machine did that "Final" outline stitch - it did not hit the outline it should have done , but , literally went where ever it darn well pleased -but Occasionally hit a right spot! After spending HOURS and then having it act like that was just adding injury to insult! So I am hoping to finish it all up tomorrow.

DH was suppose to leave tomorrow to go to Eastern VA. to help his cousin put down a hardwood floor ,but he called him to say that Hurricane Irene had hit them and they had no electricity and the roads were closed by trees down and it was just a big mess So, he will wait to hear from him when they get their electricity back on.

Vinegar tips:
Corns and calluses will fall away,overnight, if you treat them with a vinegar compress. Simply tape 1/2 of a slice of stale bread(which has been soaked with apple cider vinegar) to the offending lump. By Morning the skin will look smooth and new.

Ladies can protect their skin from the ravages of the summer sun by applying a protection of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Mixed half and half, this combination helps prevent sunburn and chapping.

Irene Passing By Virginia

I am so grateful that we live far enough away from the coast that all we are receiving are some winds. I was almost ashamed that we had such a lovely day -knowing that others are in harm's way . It is very sad.

But I did not feel like wasting  the moments of time given to me , so I went to the sewing room and had my heart set on cutting out more projects. My aim is to get that nasty CUTTING finished .

My first job was to cut out a few of the pattern pieces that have flown the coop on me. I am using me "soil-control" that I like so much. It makes saving patterns a dream. It looks nice rolled back up and all ready for the next time.

I did get my walk in this afternoon. All of that nice breeze really stirred up all the wonderful out door smells. I stopped and tossed the guinea pigs some apples that I picked up. They really enjoy that.

I am halfway up my "hill" that starts my walk. I wish it was the last part of the walk so it would be easier to deal with it. Starting on a hill the very first thing is a challenge to me and DH has to stop several times going up - if he walks with me.

Cocoa and Bandit like exploring as we go along.. We even saw a single deer on our way up.

Mother and son sheep just looked up to see what we were doing in their field.

Their guardian , Yukon came to get a few pets on the head and to have his ears scratched.

Then it was back to the sewing room where I check out all of my work- 6 projects all cut and bagged -just ready for me to turn them into something useful.  I had the most awful fight with these projects. I had been using a Burda pattern and the sizes were not coming out right . So, I pulled out the Butterick pattern and laid one on top of the other and was Shocked at the difference in the sizes! It was a  good size Larger if you used the Butterick -so that meant that the Burda was a size smaller . I was starting to get a picture .I had not used the Butterick pattern in a couple of years because it was too large for the size and my kids could not use what I made with it- but Now that I was starting to understand according to things I had made for the kids - adults as well as "kid" I could see what to do.

I was surprised that I had six projects already cut out and I believe that I had ordered 10 yards of the camo knit. It normally takes approximately 2 yards or there about -but this fabric is 61 inches wide and that is helping me get a little more accomplished with it.

Vinegar tip:
Use a vinegar and water rinse to eliminate frizz from over-permed hair. It also brightens dark hair and adds sparkle to blond hair.

Ensure soft radiant skin and prevent blemishes by conditioning the skin while sleeping with a covering of strawberries and vinegar. Mash 3 large strawberries into 1/4 cup vinegar and let it sit for 2 hours. Then strain the vinegar through a cloth. Pat the strawberry flavored vinegar onto the face and neck. Wash off in the morning. Skin will sooon be free of pimples and blackheads.

By for now and Happy Trails To You

Just Peeking In To See What You are UP To? :)

You remember that old saying about Curiosity ? ???????? I have been curious about hurricane Irene. I had thought we all might just make it through the year without any hurricanes and that would just suite me fine -I do not even live in the path , yep I am keeping all those folks in my prayers.

This is my precious little Cocoa and she went for a walk with me this afternoon. All, but one went with us for a walk and Cocoa can just run circles around ALL of them. We call her the little Tennessee -Walker ( a horse with a high step )

This walk was the high point of my day because me and a piece of fabric had a war! It is that green camo knit and it came on a roll and when I did that first shirt I knew it was on the roll twisted and that make  my shirt want to run crooked. So I washed it in hot water and dried it in the clothes dryer . Then I tugged it all loose and ATTEMPTED to put it back on the roll straight!

You did notice that I said attempted. It was a nightmare and I spent 4 hours cutting out TWO shirts! POOH! I was hoping to get everything cut out of that roll because I have discovered that I do not enjoy cutting out my projects - so I prefer to get all the cutting finished first and then things run much more smoothly for me.

But, it did not work out that way !

Last night I noticed our furbabies were itching- so I went looking for a tote to mix up their dip in  and found an empty one. DH took one look at it and asked me where in the world had I had that pretty tote hidden? I laughed and told him that by now I usually have that tote full of Christmas presents and it is empty - so I am that far behind. POOH - again!

Vinegar Tips:

Asthma can be relieved by combining the advantages of accupressure with the benefits of apple cider vinegar. Use a wide rubberband to hold gauze pads, which have been soaked in vinegar, to the inside of the wrists.

Heavily soiled hands can be cleaned while giving them a soothing treatment. Simply scrub with cornmeal, moistened with apple cider vinegar. Then rinse in cool water and pay dry.

You can banish dandruff and make hair shiny and healthy if you rinse after every shampoo with: one-half cup apple cider vinegar mixed  into two cup of warm water.

Love to all and stay safe.

Keeping an Eye on hurricane Irene.

My little mums have survived one night and one day - Yea! I did not even let the chickens out today because I knew what they would do and it would not be Pretty!  I cannot wait until the plants take off. One reason I wanted to get them now is because of the hurricane, Irene. She is not suppose to rip through our neighborhood, but there is suppose to be lots of rain and rain is what these little darlings will hope for.

I had watered the plants on the front porch this morning , but by lunch time they were already wilted. I got to eat another one of my beautiful Yellow pepper sandwiches today and it was so Yummy. Then for lunch was another cucumber salad. I am about out of the cucumbers and it has been so much fun to enjoy them. Another YUM!

O, we stopped in Wal-mart and the young lady at the cash registrars had on an apron just like the one I had been looking for . All of the regular ones Hurt my neck because of my fibromyalgia. So, I asked her where she got her lovely apron ? To which she replied , "I made it myself" If you would like I could make you one because I am taking orders and she slipped her business card in my purse. 

Little Bear kept me company on my morning walk, but it was raining this afternoon so we did not walk.

Vinegar tips::A full head of healthy, richly colored hair can be ensured well into old age. You need only to start each day with a glass of water to which has been added 4 teaspoons each of apple cider vinegar, black strap molasses  and  honey.

Apple cider vinegar is helpful in melting away excess pounds. Simply drink a glass of warm water, with a single teaspoon of apple cider vinegar stirred in, before each meal. It moderates the over -robust appetite and melts away fat.

Now whether vinegar actually burns up fatty calories , reins in the over -lusty inclination for partaking of provisions or simple fills one up with tart vinegar-water, the results are the same. You eat less and the pounds melt away.

I hope everyone stays safe. ! Linda

Flower Bed

This was my project today. It does not look like much right now,  but before I took this picture there were Heaps of flowers that had already showed themselves with beauty and then fell over - plop!

It had been bothering my ever since last week but after being so busy I had not had enough time to do anything about it. So, I asked myself why it was bothering me so badly today??

I do not know exactly why? But, I proceeded to give all of the "heaps" - a hair cut - OR - should I say a flower -cut?? It did not take long for me to be dripping wet with sweat .DH had wanted to go to town to get him some bread so I decided  I would check out my "hidden stash of money" and see if I could treat myself to some flowers to add some color to my bed and also uplift my spirits.

Little Bear and Honey Bear -both , thought that was a good idea. As I was headed to the shower I scared DH because my face was blood - red . I forget to watch out for things like that.

Golly, jeepers - it was very hot to be digging and carrying on.   Now I did get lucky and I found the mums for .98 each- Yea!

Now , these little guys are certainly small , but I have high hopes for them. I actually have two large ones that had managed to come back each year for about ten years now- SO - I am begging these to do the same thing.: )

Today I took my evening walk and when I got to the top of the hill I very ungraciously plopped to the ground and I came up with the bright idea that I was going to tackle "sit-ups". I have not done them since high school and I know I need them more now than I did then. I did cheat a little because I was on an incline, which I am sure helped me. Two of my furbabies were with me and they did not know what to think. I put my arms behind my head and squared myself ready to TRY to get up one time - when- all of a sudden - PLOP- Little Bear had come flying to me and sat on my head! I was so startled and then when I realized what had happened and why I could not raise up from the ground - I almost cried with laughter!!!!!!! 

After I caught my wind - did some praying - I did actually raise my body up . It was so hard - but to me it is so important. I managed to pull off ten of them before rolling to my side and having a laughing good time.

Vinegar Tip For the Day:The most marvelous tonic for the feet is to walk back and forth in ankle deep bath water to which 1/2 cup vinegar has been added. Do this for 5 minutes , first thing in the morning, and for 5 minutes before retiring in the evening. Hot, aching feet will feel cooled and soothed.

If troubled by the itching and peeling of athlete's foot, soak socks or hose in vinegar water. Mix 1 part vinegar with 5 parts water and soak for 30 minutes before washing as usual.

Love to all.

Katherine a re-check on her back.

Poor little Honey-Bear said all she had to do today was sleep and guard one of  the food bowls.I wish I could have traded places with her today. My sister-in-law had to come back to VA. to see the doctor who did her back surgery-they took X-rays  as she is not doing as good as she was . We went down to meet them and they took us out to eat.

Our brother-in-law's Sister had gone to the same hospital because she had a heart-attack while in the hospital visiting with my sister-in-law. I know that sounds like a lot of "in-laws" ,but to make it short and sweet they all had health issues and were being re-checked.

They took us to The Golden Corral and in All of our eyes that is the one best place to eat in Virginia. I ate my fill of strawberries-a whole plate full. I LOVE strawberries. DH and his sister and brother-in-law made plans to leave this Thursday to go to Eastern Va. to visit with their cousins. DH is suppose to put down a couple of hardwood floors while he is there. I could not go because of my critters - but with this car-sick stuff it would be miserable for me and for them. I will have so much fun at home. I have a list a mile long , but you know how that is-there is only 24 hours in a day and my motor is not as fast as it used to be. I let that bother me a lot here lately. So, I will just take it one minute at a time.

More vinegar tips: To relieve the pain of a sore throat caused by a cold, mix together 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. Take 1 tablespoon every 4 hours . May be taken more often if needed.

Ease the discomfort of a sore throat and speed healing by sipping occasionally on a syrup made of 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup of water , 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 3 tablespoons honey.

A vinegar gargle can ease the pain of a sore throat. Just gargle with a glass of warm water to whicha tablespoon of apple cider vinegar has been added. Repeat as needed.Repeat as needed. This also acts as a great mouthwash.

Soothe a dry night cough by sprinkling the pillowcase with apple cider vinegar.

A small amount of vinegar, taken every day , keeps the urinary tract nice and acidy. This is useful to reduce the likelihood of getting a kidney or bladder infection.

To chase away a cold, soak an eight-inch square of brown paper (cut from a paper grocery bag) in apple cider vinegar. When the paper is saturated , sprinkle it with pepper and bind to the chest with cloth strips. pepper side of the paper next to the skin. After 20 minutes, remove the aper and wash the chest, being careful not to become chilled.

Well, I better drag myself out the door and do the evening chores. Maybe that will help ease the car-sick stomach.
Love to All.

This Morning

I walked out on the front porch and took in all of the beauty beside the house. All of this lovely green and growing is slowly turning into yellows of all shades as the leaves fall through the skies. And the grass in the distance is looking very tired - like it is looking forward to its Winter nap. I will miss it so very terribly. I love this season -even though I have fought with the carpenter bees most of the Summer. I have won a few battles-but lost a lot of them.Then I had that battle with the yellow jackets and I definitely lost that battle-which DH won for me that night. O , and the lovely little mosquitoes who tried to keep me company on my afternoon walks -the song of buzzzzzzzzzzzzz  whispered in your ear. It's a good think I have long hair because twirling that braid over my head around and around worked as a very nice repellent! : )

I have seen 3 snakes this Summer -one which DH killed , one that got away from him and one that I actually touched in my dove house . Have you ever seen a small snake  make a coil and then shimmy its  body as it buries under some sawdust on the floor? Quiet amazing.

Then came the cucumbers that grew so fast that I could not keep up with them. By the time I saw them as babies-two or three days later they were monsters, and this was the first time ever since we moved here that cucumbers have ever grown here , they always fell over dead- so I am still in shock-happy shock I  might add.

I finally made it back in the house and wanted to do something creative with sewing. One part of me wanted to cut out another shirt ,but after all those lessons on this quirky fabric I did not feel I was up to it yet- SO- I took a couple of strips of leftover fabric from DH's shirt and I used my rotary to try to get a nice even strip. I then sewed all the pieces together to make one strip . I had got this idea somewhere that I cannot remember-but I started to wrap the strips into a coil and use a zigzag stitch to sew them into a solid circle. After I made a couple of strips it wanted to curl up and be unco-operative with me. It was bad enough attempting to make it behave itself, but then the sewing machine thought it would join in the fun and ever trip around as the needle went down into the fabric -when it came back up it would tie the thread into knots and then I had to figure out how to untie it???? Thus , making this lesson  a failing grade for me this day.

I really wanted to figure this out and turn all of my scraps into a fake braided rug. How nice it would be to not waste any scraps at all.  : (

So, I gave up that idea and fed DH his supper . He asked for "Pancakes " for supper. I thought I was the only weird one in the family. I fixed him his pancakes and me fresh blue- berry waffles . I did use real blue-berries and whole wheat bread in mine -hoping that maybe I could eek out a little bit of something in there good for me.Yea, yea - I know , I hear you snickering already.

I did go for a longer afternoon walk. DH had quit using the path that was in the woods a long time ago, so I found my way to the original path which should have been over grown years ago-but it was not . It was the path that my Mom and I used when I was a little girl to walk back in the forest to go see my Uncle.He had been in the army at one time and when he came home he had moved back into their parents house-but he went to sleep with a cigarette and burned the house down accidentally. Then he built a little cabin on the house site and the same thing happened, Then he built his last cabin way back in the woods as far away as he could get from people. He lived off of the land and he walked out once a week to go to the local little country store.

O, I almost forgot to do my next Vinegar Tip:
Memory can be greatly improved by drinking a glass of warm water before each meal, with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar stirred in.

That's it for tonight , gang.
Love to all!

A Beautiful Way to Start the Week

It has been such a magnificent day . Everywhere I look I see beauty all around and I feel like I have to appreciate each day with its beauty because they are slipping  away from me -pointing their view towards Old Man Winter. Every soft tender breeze seems to stroke my cheeks as I walk. I wish that it did not have to go away again.

I realize that each season has its own blessings that they share with us. When I was young I used to hear people talk about "getting stuck in their ways" , but I did not think I would ever find myself in that  life-style. I always looked forward to learning everything new that came my way  and I was Always enjoying each new step.

Aaaa - HHHHHAH! But then time passes by and as you age you start to see a different picture & I wish that a lot of things did not have to change. Yes, I could see myself -becoming Happy in that " Stuck"!
For instance I no longer move my furniture around each month because it just seems to "work better" this way I no longer chase the "dustbunnies" as much as I did when I was younger - with problems with my eyes - the dustbunnies no longer show up as easiely anymore , so why should I work so hard to chase them -especially when the older joints are glad to let them slide.  But, that is just life and the lessons we learn. : )

These are my peppers on the front porch and they are the first yellow ones that I have ever grown. I have been watching they grow all summer . Now that it is almost harvest time I cannot decide what I want to do with them?They are so beautiful to me that I do not want to cut their beautiful flesh.

Today I got to clean Half of my living room and I dusted a small bookcase of my favorite books.Of course that is such a challenge for me because each one as I lifted it out was like meeting a old friend and I wanted to take time to visit with each of them - knowing if I did that I would not get anything accomplished. So, I made a deal with them- I would take ONE book and share parts of its knowledge with my blog family. After all, who can ever have enough knowledge. : )

The information in this book is about vinegar. It says the way to stay helathy and alert, well into old age is to combine 1 teaspoon  to a full glass of water and drink it down.
The way to stay healthy well into old age is to combine 1 teaspoon of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of honey and a full glass of water. Take this
The most pleasant way to take a daily dose of vinegar is to add a small dollop of clover honey to a tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of olive oil. Mix together and drizzle this healthy dressing over a small bowl of greens. tonic .
Another salad dressing can be made from 1/4  cup corn oil, and 1/8 cup honey. Mix well .
Memory can be greatly improved by drinking a glass of warm water before each meal, with a teaspoon of cider vinegar stirred in.

One of the things that I have not discovered is the difference between store bought   vinegar and the healthy vinegar from the health food stores. I know it has something to do with the way it is processed . So, if anybody knows I would love to find out because it seems that we humans have a real talent for taking something good for us and turning it into something Not.

Well, I need to start to figure out what my next sewing project will be??? That is the only negative result from completing a project. Then you have to "regroup" and figure out the next step.

O, I did learn something today. DH had worn the shirt made from the rayon and cotton jersey fabric -ever since yesterday when I gave it to him . He wore it outside and said that our younger son was right - it was a hot shirt out in the sun.  ; (   Well Shoot. I will need to stick that in my memory bank.  Rayon mixed with any kind of jersey is a NO - NO! I need to stick with cotton jersey.

love to all!

Well Bust My Britches!

This was suppose to be a surprise for DH -but I think it ended up being a surprise on me! I don't know what in the world influences my camera ,except for the fact that sometimes It Loves its subjects and sometimes it does not. This has to be one of those "NOT"!

I have been working on this for the past week , in between playing with the dolls. DH's shoulders are very narrow and anything I use on a store bought pattern just falls off of him so I sat down and drew out a new pattern -more to his body structure. I really narrowed the shoulders and I went with a V-neck line because he is Always pulling on the regular neckline and stretching his shirts out of shape.

When I saw this picture was a flunk- I ran to get my camera and do it again - only to discover that since I had given it to him and it was on him and he was gone to play "guns" with his brother and his grandson. So, I will try to catch my shirt again - once it comes to a rest somewhere. LOL

I am curious to find out what he thinks of the shirt after he gets it "broke in! I can already tell that I will have to lengthen it because his tummy is peeking out . But , it is a good experiment for the first shot at it. : )

It has been a beautiful day-I hate to see it leave. I have got a lot of work caught up , although it does not look like it. Somethings are the hardest to keep up with and they tend to be the things that "others" never notice.

I had a wonderful salad today-actually two of them, because I went to the garden and over the last 2 days all of my cucumber vines have fallen over dead-so I grabbed the cucumbers (now that I could see them) and I grabbed a few tomatoes (their plants are dead too) and I intended to enjoy these last feasts -YUM! I also have a scrub apple tree that they used to graft a crab apple tree onto. I never could keep the tree up straight -it continually fell over -so then the crab apple took off growing and the other apple part went the other way.So I have crab apples and also some kind of little scrubby apples -BUT - the scrubby apple is SOOOO good. So I grabbed 3 and diced them up in the salad and it is the best salad I have ever sank my choppers into!

And by next month I will tackle the crap apples and turn it into the most beautiful RED jelly ! YUM!

I hope you all have had a wonderful day!   : )

Rosie was on guard duty today-see how alert she is ?

It was one of those "run" days. We had to go to town and then to the Goodwill for DH to hunt him a pair of pants-since he has outgrown his again. LOL  Next to the drug store for his meds and finally to the feed store .It was an absolutely a perfectly lovely day.

Then we came home and had something to eat. I had a cucumber  salad and DH had chili beans. He accompanied me on my walk right at dusk.He had to stop every little while because of his arthritis

While he came to the house I unloaded the feed by myself. It is just way easier than working with him. He likes to throw "husbands fits" and I enjoy the peace and quiet. : )

Got all of the evening chores completed and came in and sliced me a nectarine and DH a peach that we got at the fruit - stand. These were Really delicious. I was half afraid to buy them because last year they were all terrible -rotten inside and you could not tell until you had cut them open. Then you have no money to buy more and you do not have any fruit either.

I have been working on that camo Vneck tee shirt and am making progress.Maybe by tomorrow I can complete it and have something to show and celebrate. : )

Happy Week-end to you ! : )

Keeping An Eye On Me

Yep, Cocoa has been keeping an eye on me today -I think she knows I am miserable. I felt so bad that I could only do the basics . On one side of my mouth I have an infected tooth . My doctor even gave me antibiotics -hoping to tide me over until the dentist could see me, but after going back on them last night  it is not working this time. I even gave in and took pain pills today and that didn't even help.

On the other side  is my jaw and  TMJ which has been excruciating. With everything hurting so bad  I just did not have the heart to tackle anything, because I figured I would just ruin it because of lack of concentration.

But I sincerely  hope that you had a wonderful time. I did stop and visit with DietCokeRocks and had to smile when she said she had lost time this week. LOL  I thought that was my thing to do. LOL

Love to All

Thursday Dolly Shirt

Well, this is funny -this is the first time that the picture does not do justice. LOL That heart embroidery is done in a pretty bright green metallic thread .

I had got to some detail to accomplish the shirt,like working the neckband and putting the sleeves in and then it came time to try it on and ??????? The neck would not go over the head - just like when I started that poncho shirt. LOL  I REALLY did not want to trash this little shirt (shoot , if I had enough of that knit I would make me a shirt! LOL)

So I stood there and pondered my alternatives????? A smile came across my face and I took my scissors and sliced down the back of the shirt and then serged all of the edges nice and smooth . Then I sewed a velco patch at the back neckline and like magic I now had a shirt that would be easy to take on and off and all of my effort would not go to waste! YEA!

There is one thing that I have enjoyed with this project-  I can use it to "test out" a different techniques -something that I had meant to try , but never got around to it. By being small - I also do not  have to take as much time to RIP my boo-boos out. LOL  Also I have got to try my hand at making patterns and it makes me even more appreciative of the people who create these patterns. Of course that also lead me to appreciate the people who create the fabrics that we play with.  So, as I break all the elements down it seems like a miracle that we all contribute to our creations. It makes me think of that old saying about it takes a community to raise a child and in this case the "child" is our creations. : )

We had another perfectly Beautiful day, not too hot and not to cool. DH took our son back to the doctor who did the surgery on his back for a re-check today. The doctor told him not to lose patience with his pain level because the disc had been on that nerve for 14 months and IT was still mad at him! I thought to myself that nerve should be mad at the doctors who would not help him.

I hope you have had a perfect day also! They sure are sweet! : )

Dolly slacks

This was a perfectly beautiful day and as usual it just went too fast. By the time I did all the outside chores and came in and fed us, cleaned up the dishes ,ran a laundry and then DH and I went to Wal-mart to pick up a few things which totally 110.00. Ouch. At least I will eat about a week. Yum! Blueberries and strawberries and I even treated myself to a small container of that Greek Yogurt that has been all over the tv. I kept wondering what they could do differently to yogurt ? Well I was wrong -it was SOOOOo much better  than regular yogurt. It made you think of cottage cheese and the blueberries in there you could really know they were real blueberries because they were plump and yummy.

Then we got back to the house and fixed us each one of those small pizzas and DH fixed popcorn. That meant I had about an hour to work on my dolly project. I did get her a pair of slacks made and was hoping to make her a poncho shirt like I have but the serger and I got into a disagreement and it won for a long time, but then I took the lead and got to sew decorator thread around the poncho . My next difficulty was trying to get her head through the top . I cut it small and she would not fit, so I kept trying and the last time when I could get her head through the hole - it was now TOO large and just fell off of her shoulders. POO! That silky brown that she is holding was the fabric I attempted to use and the serger REALLY did not like to sew it .I thought for sure when I got it serged all the way around that my troubles were over. Another lesson tackled.

Shoot, I'm out of time . At least half of the project is good. Maybe tomorrow will help me with the shirt. She might not get a poncho shirt after all? : )

Dolly jacket

Ok, I decided that she might enjoy a little light weight jacket to play around in.. I think she is cute now. One down and one more to go and I think I have an idea for that one too.

I have never made doll clothes before and I kept wishing I had more talent and more ideas! I still think this project is educational because I noticed that as I draw out the patterns - from all that Lynne has taught me - I do realize that there are parts to the pattern that I would not have known about if not for her. I believe that every little scrap of knowledge that we can gain helps us grow and improve and hopefully Save our Brains! LOL

It has been down right Cool here for me today. Just the weather that DH loves. He was even sweating while I wrapped up in a light weight fleece blanket  while we watched tv and had lunch today. LOL

I had a wonderful surprise today. My e-sister from Tenn. sent me a surprise gifts. She had created chocolate covered almonds and they were just out of this world.I was craving something sweet anyway and they really hit the target! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dolly O Dolly!

Well I can tell you that I am learning lessons AGAIN! Here is one of my charges. I think she is cute ! I got up early to get my work completed so I could start to work, but then breakfast showed its face. ????? Why do we Have to eat. Just imagine the side affects - no more dirty dishes  and more time to do something else-if only to read a book or catch up on all of our blogging friends.

But you know how it is - life just gets in the way-so I did not get started on this till after noon.  I had studied the project for a while and then started on the "bloomers" that every modest little doll should have -even though I know that just about ANY little girl will try to pull her bloomers off -as soon as they can. I worked till 4 when DH came asking for food.  But by then I had tested this project and decided that the doll is a lot smarter than me.

The first pair of bloomers was wrong because  I had not noticed that white part, so I did some changes and the second one was much better , But by now I am Pooped again.

I even hopped over to the v-neck tee shirt that I am working on for DH , but of course I was too tired and made a boo-boo of it. I will probably rip that out tomorrow. I guess we all try to push and pull too much into every day

SOOOOO - Happy Trails!

I get to play with dolls again

Well, Rosie just lives to adore her fabrics. LOL  It is a new day and I am sorry I did not post last night , but it was the Sewing Guild  and after such an exciting afternoon I was just "Too Pooped to Pop"! There was so much going on. They had a silent auction with such a variety of things to drool over. Several pieces of fabrics , many different patterns , many nice books and even an embroidery machine like one of mine . We even had a dinner and the food was fantastic.

It was also the evening of our ugly fabric challenge. My tummy was doing flip-flops. Nobody could figure out what mine was ??? Until after the voting when we each gave our story of the journey of our project. THEN everybody loved mine because it was so useful. O Well - DH was tickled to death that his new seat covers came home to him. LOL I was hoping to see what somebody turned the piece of fabric into that I had donated, but who ever it was did not show.

Lynne had turned her "Really Ugly Fabric" into a lovely light weight jacket and had accented the busy checked design with a solid color around the neck and inside and really made it "POP"! I could hardly believe how nice it was now!  Just goes to show you that there are really great "fiber artists "out there .

The winner of the contest was a lady who made one of the most fantastic draft dodgers I have ever seen. She turned it into a lady doll all decked out with jewelry and the dodge part was her really nice long legs that were wearing her granddaughters shoes - size 3. I wish you could have seen her - she was really the
Bomb?" It could not have been any better! I had not thought of making a draft dodger (one of those creations that you stick against your doors to keep the cold winds out.)That might be very interesting????

But after all that excitement I stopped and picked up two of the dolls that whoever wants to dress up for the children who need toys for Christmas. I picked up two red-heads because I am a red-head. LOL (Really red and silver now! LOL)

I have never sewed doll clothes before - so this might get interesting? That was the two pieces of fabric that I picked up because it was just 1.50 for both of them.

I hope you have had as much fun as I have had!  I guess I would say," another day-another adventure'! LOL

Don't You Wish You Were A Cat Sometimes?

The ability to just lay around in a sewing room, testing out every piece of fabric you could stick your body to and the keen knowledge of every little space that you patrol?Plus, you have the enjoyment of laying on the seat in the window where you can watch all the birds fly in and out all day long-isn't that a neat movie.

But today I could not enjoy watching it with Miss Rosie. Instead I had to call DH's doctor and get him an appointment. He kept saying his back was killing him and he had slept all weekend long except for the brief time that he was not moaning in pain. He was just miserable and it was time to go have it checked out.

He has a wonderful lady doctor and she has the "best" nurses on the planet. He always starts to "pick" on them and they are so sweet to him and we all end up laughing. They ran a urine test and was surprised that he had blood in his urine and also sugar???? I had been warning him about too many sweets - but what average person does not love sweets??

They took a look at his medicine and discovered a new one they did not know about. It was a steroid that the cancer doctor had put him on and neither of us even remembered it??? Probably because the name on the bottle we did not recognize . It turned out that he had a nurse practitioner and it was her name .

She said that it was the steroids that were raising his sugar ???? So , she was trying to contact him to see if DH was suppose to stay on the steroids for very long -if so they would have to do something with his sugar and if not then hopefully his body would right itself??? So, we just have to wait and see what will play out. You always hear about some medicines that do not "Play well" with others and this must be one of those cases.

It made me think back to when I was the one So weak I couldn't stand and I slept all the time before they found out what it was. I have been so blessed that I keep mine in control with diet and exercise.I HATE pills!

I did manage to sew the front and back of that camo shirt I have started. Then I sewed the front piece and was in the attempt to figure out how to lay the V neckband in place ???? You notice I said ATTEMPT! LOL

Something killed one of my guinea pigs last night and I have set a live trap tonight -hoping - to catch the booger! I REALLY HATE when somebody gets killed! I guess I have just been lucky for the past two years having the guinea pigs outdoors in a big corral , so they can run and play and dig tunnels and do what ever their little guinea pig hearts desire. It seems that something Always has to ruin it !

I hope you guys have had a great day. It was Too Beautiful this afternoon when I took my walk. Sometimes the beauty is just almost more than I can stand. And - last night as I was heading to bed I opened my window and listened to all the crickets and jar -flys and I could not help but think , the people in the cities never get to hear all of this.

Tracing a pattern for DH and modifing the Neck

What a busy day. By the time I went out and did morning chores , came back in for breakfast, and as I was almost finishing my meal DH wanted me to wrap two birthday presents for our son. I can often see how two parents come in very handy because I had the tee shirt and lounge pants and I wrapped a tool set and a little multi-function tool made like a pair of pliers , but it had little doo-dads all over it . So, I felt tickled that we covered all bases. LOL

They were all sitting out on the front porch and DH handed him his gifts one by one and you could see that he appreciated them so very much. That was one thing that I always admired about him as a kid growing up -anything you did for him - just tickled him to death. (not like some kids that you could never please)

I had also fixed a project last night for my granddaughter that lives in the next house. She is 15 and I had written and asked her IF she was still wearing flip-flops and she answered yes and gave me her size. I had stopped at a Dollar Store and found a purple pair for a dollar. Purple is her favorite color. Then I rummaged through my treasures and found some multicolored yarn with pinks and purples and whites. You single crochet all around the strap and then I made 6 crocheted little circles and sewed them on each shoe. I Plum forgot to take a picture , but they turned out just as cute as they could be. Made me wish I could wear flip-flops , but that toe piece always rubs sores between my toes. I walked up the hill and laid them on her porch. I wish I could have been a little bug on the wall to see what she really thought????

We came on home and I had a salad and DH had tomato sandwiches and I did enough house work that you can walk through the house and then I hot-footed it into the sewing room.

One Problem I have had with DH's tee shirts is that he Always pulls at the neck in the front. He does it to store-bought too. He just cannot stand to have anything touch his throat and I remembered I had a pattern for a V-neck shirt. I pulled it out and found all the pieces and pulled out my soil control and laid it on top of the pattern and went to tracing it. Then I remembered that DH has very narrow shoulders - so I copied off the bend of the under arm piece and marked it back -taking an inch off of it so It will turn out more narrow.

But now it is looking like rain and almost dark so I will have to put it up and go out and do chores. I would Hate for me to Melt in the rain. : )

Happy Trails to you! :)

Tomorrow is birthday son : )

He turns a whole 28 years young. But , I guess with all of the back pain and later surgeries that he probably feels older than that. I am so hoping that this last surgery he had might help. It is so terrible to see one of your children in pain (no matter what age they are) and not be able to do anything about it.

This makes the third try for him this shirt. I finally had to retrace the size xl once again. I knew the size large I had already made two of would be too small because they were tight on me and he is larger than me when you consider his broad shoulders.But that will help me in the long run because that will be two more shirts for my Christmas list ,Yea!

So, I will call this a Very Successful day because even a bad day sewing is better than a good day doing almost anything else!

Well, I better get hopping as I promised DH pancakes for Supper????? Yep-that's what I said! : )

Cowboy Welcoming You In!

We both say , Welcome, Welcome!

There  has not been to much accomplished today. I did get morning chores completed a little early so I had time to make fresh biscuits this morning. I had fresh tomatoes with mine and DH had eggs and tomatoes wih his. It was such  a treat to have home-grown tomatoes! But - it lead to the discovery that our tomato plants are dieing. They are loaded with tomatoes , but I don't know IF they will live long enough for them to get ripe enough to can them? Darn It! I had such high hopes! You k now how it is with "those Best Laid Plans" - they most certainly do Often Go Astray!

I picked the cucumbers . I had been very impatiently waiting for these to use in a new recipe called Sun Cucumbers. I knew I had all the ingredients , but when I had already cut the cukes and loaded everything in the jar - for some reason my alum had disappeared! # 2 DARN IT!

One of our grandsons stopped by to pick up some worms to go fishing with tomorrow. He has just started a new job working for the Foundry and it is very Hard work! The pay is good for our neck of the woods. Eleven dollars an hour- wish I could earn that much. He has one toddler and they are expecting another soon. They will need every penny they can get , with things as expensive as they are.

I finally got to get my act together to make that larger size tee shirt. I pulled out the next size larger and looked at it thinking it did not look like it was any larger than the first one I made, so I laid it out to the master pattern and IT was the same size. SHOOT! How did I manage that???????? Well, it certainly was not hard for me -so I cut some more of the soil control and laid it on top of the main pattern and traced it again!. Finally I got to cut it out!

So really I am making progress, even if it is slow. I have the qualities of the turtle - Slow and steady -wins the race! (Or at least I hope so) Maybe tomorrow will show more progress??? : )

O, I did wake up this morning with a creak in my neck and it is so painful to try to turn my head! This is only the third one I have ever had in my lifetime, and if I have any say in the matter - I Hope it is the last one! LOL

Work With Me, Little Plant!

It was a totally beautiful day with lots of sunshine and warm weather. I worked outside all of the morning,  I also worked with the "critters" -cleaning cages and that was a lot of work in the  heat , even though I do have a fan on all of them that are in the building.

DH worked on his truck because he called the "young friend" that we have that helped us cut firewood all winter. He made the trip on his new little moped and then he let DH take a spin on it. Maybe that will satisfy his curiosity.?

We made the trip to town and when we returned home I worked on something to feed us. It did not turn out to be much of a success. That zucchini recipe did not turn out good. I had cooked that dish for an hour yesterday and also an hour this afternoon and the squash was still so  hard it was almost impossible to eat them. DH said it was where they were Too large.

Then I proceeded to ruin the stuffed peppers. I had bought canned mackeral to stuff them with , but when I took it out of the can to remove the bones I tasted it and it was Terrible. I don't know how they are killing our mackeral - but -it is HORRIBLE!  It really upset me to ruin food that should have been so good . I checked the label on the can and it said ; made in China. I don't know IF that means anything , buy this is the second store I have tested the mackeral at and they are both terrible. They Double the price and make the food uneatable!

This is one of my pots of White cucumbers. This is the first time I have ever tried them. I do think they are pretty and it was a fun experiment. : )

This is our lovely Unicon -the donkey. He was keeping an eye on me on the porch snapping pictures. He is just a big pet.

This is some of my "porch garden " .I have been madly in love with this plant as I watched it grow . I had forgotten what it was until these little green balls appeared. I was overjoyed until I fought with that vine day before yesterdan and broke the support I had worked so hard on and my little plant came tumbling down. I really wanted to cry and I could  not even bear to touch it until this morning when  I tugged it over to a support post and tied it back up once again. This time I will have to "pull the porch roof " down to hurt my plant.

We had a good rain and when I checked on it this afternoon - it looks a lot more "perky", so I am HOPING it will feel good enough to work with me! : )