Mom's black cotton /spandex slacks

Isn't Miss Rosie funny - I wonder if she is really saying her prayers? She is a real character who guards my sewing room . I have worked all day long & I am so bushed.Of course morning chores came first & then our breakfast, and afterwards cleaning up our mess. We humans are SO messy.

We were expecting DH's sister to show up & I had things I longed to complete , so I grabbed Honey Bear the pekingese & gave her a bath. She looked so dis-respectable . She was covered in dirt because she LOVES to go out with me & then her main joy is sliding back down the hill when we come back to the house. Sometimes just doing the hootchy-kootchy back & forth as she comes down-thus result is a belly so dirty that sometimes I cannot get it clean. But at least she smells better  & I was smart this time & locked the doggie-door before she could make a break for it - so she settled for rolling -over & over & over the floor. 

Then I moved on to the living room & slide DH across the room so I could have space to pull the furniture from one side to the middle so I could steam clean the hardwood floor. It always amazes me how beautiful it is when it is clean & it is really hard to keep clean when you have 7dogs -3 cats-& two human beings who go out in all of our mud.. I really Hate mud-but it seems that it certainly Loves us.

So , I scooted everything back & completed the other side & then everything back in place & did the center. It was so pretty that I kept the doggie-door locked for several hours today , just so I could enjoy it. LOL

Nobody had showed up yet - so I headed to my bedroom & started tearing it apart looking for a small jar I had misplaced. Of course that was when I discovered how bad the mice damage had been & it literally made me sick. They had even got in a metal cabinet & between the chewing damage & the mice droppings it was awful

It had almost got dark on me before I knew it & my back was complaining. Well, there are only two small spaces left & I hope to search them tomorrow afternoon. So I took a break & we snacked on some brownies I had made and a glass of milk. Yea, I know they are not great for our  health -but they certainly are comfort-food.I ran up & fed the stove for the second time today & that will only leave one time left tonight around 12ish.

I can tell my body is mad at me for putting it through too much today because every joint is screaming in pain. DH called his sis to see where they were & she told him that it was Saturday they were coming????????????? I knew it was too good to be true -because this would have been the first time for them to visit & I actually had things looking pretty good & a fresh pot of beans with cornbread & the brownies would have been for dessert.

My next move was to head to the sewing room & check out a project.

. HUM????????????? This is very strange - because this is a pair of slacks that I have bought the fabric from The School House & it is a piece of BLACK cotton knit with spandex . I was hoping to find out that since it has the spandex in it -maybe it will not wrinkle up all around my knees???? But as you can see - it definitely does not look BLACK to me ??????????????? Wonder how that happened?

Emmett's grey fleece

Each day is a new adventure. I did out door chores early this morning because we had to have our vehicle at the glass shop . It was a 3 hour wait -but - I got to do a lot of reading . LOL  I enjoyed that .  I am so thrilled to have a windshield that is not broken all the way across. It is quiet handsome. LOL I think our vehicle needs some kind of BIG SHIELD sticking up to protect my poor windshield.

Then we had to "Go back to DH's doctor's office to show them that he only got 6 of his pills & he is suppose to take one pill morning & afternoon for a month & that would be hard to pull off with only 6 pills? They called the drug store & straightened that out & we picked them up on our way home after my counseling session. I really needed that because the mishap with the rock brought out some more of the Post Tramatic Stress I am dealing with. I told her that I could not stop trembling for two hours after that happened & I was disappointed in myself because I was really trying to "handle it"!

I had a happy adventure after we arrived home. Our youngest son came up with his best friend , Bronson & Bronson busted up more of the firewood  for us. Emmett brought a black trash bag full of fleece blankets that he had traded some work for the blankets. They were a 5 x7 size I think. The man he got them off of had earned them cleaning up after a tractor trailer that had wrecked . He had tried to find someone to sew two of them together to make a big blanket . He said he had given many of them away trying to find somebody who would do that for him - Yet none of them had been returned .

It did not take me but a jiffy & it had turned two into ONE Big Blanket. I sewed him 5 big blankets & he told me to keep four of the small ones. I am tickled to death because I have wanted to experiment with using a double layer of fleece to make a "warmer" jacket than just using a single piece of fleece. I am so tickled ! As you can see they are a grey in color & I love that!

I could not  help but notice that I was so happy to be able to do something useful for someone else -who also shared with me. To me that was a WIN-WIN  situation!!!!!!!!! LOL

Well, my eyes are giving me a fit - so I better say Good Nite!
Smiles - Linda

My young hero

This is our young friend , James who comes & helps cut our firewood & anything that is hard & heavy. He rides his little blue machine & travels approximately 20 mile one way.He does it entirely from the goodness of his heart. I am so grateful to him for all that he does.

While James was working with the firewood we had to go to town to go get DH's meds. I always Hate to leave while James is there - Just in case he should get  hurt.  When I had called & talked to the drug store  on Sat. they had said that we had to come up with 260.73 out of our pocket Before DH could get Any of his meds. If we could not then he could not get his meds all year long -but - they would still take our payments to the insurance company  out of his check each month? How fair does that sound to you. It sounds like a legal way to steal to me.

The only solution I could come up with was to take the money that I had been saving to get my top teeth? So, we went to the drug store & paid that fee - only to discover that NONE of his pain meds  had even been called in??????????? It just seems that nothing ever seems to work out the way it should.

We had also gone by the doctor's office & picked up his cancer meds but when we got home with them Only one of them was  in the bag & the other one that they said HAD to be taken with it were not there? See why I find myself getting lost. Now, it will require more phone calls & more trips to town with gas that we are almost out of the money to pay for that.  Sometimes I just wish I could stick my head in the sand?

I want to find something creative to do , but I look at the embroidery machine & the 45.00 that it cost to get it unlocked & then be able to only do about 75 stitches & then it gets the thread jammed up again?

I look at the serger & the Janome sewing machine & wonder how bad they hate me today?I want to work on those two black & grey tee shirts that I cut out , but I have to embroider on them first & I cannot do that .

Well that is how my day has gone .
How is life treating you today! :-) 

Cory's b-day shirt

Today it was blue-blazing Cold - it was absolutely miserable outdoors doing chores.  I worked on making sure that everybody had some nice warn water this morning. . I carried more wood too. I started with a couple of armfuls & then I spotted DH's truck & it was just too good to pass up. I sweet-talked it into helping me. I put about half a load on the truck & backed it down to the stove.

Then I trotted in the house & fed us & cleaned up our mess just in time for the phone man to show up. He was a very nice young man who said that he & his wife had a horse farm with 60 horses of different breeds. I wondered how they kept them fed? It also made me miss my Princess-the appaloosa that I loved so much.
He  thinks he has the phones fixed. It was something that the office had done & I am suppose to call them tomorrow?
 I fixed us some broccoli quiche &  baked beans for supper , cleaned up the mess once again & headed to the sewing room, hoping it would not be like yesterday. I should have known better. I cut out a shirt for our son's birthday & used my new super dooper scissors that Jodi had given me. They are absolutely wonderful - so easy to maneuver. That part was great. The fabric I had purchased for 1.50 a yard from a little fabric store out in the country & I liked the color - a light tan. It has a little weight to it - so I think it will be ok for a tee shirt to wear with his lounge pants.

But this project turned into a 3 hour war between me & the serger & the sewing machine- they Both went nuts on me. I was so mad at them-it seemed like they were doing it for no good reason & these two I normally do not have a problem with. I ran every trouble shooter I could think of & reworked the tension a dozen times & just wanted to have a "hissy-fit". But then I remembered reading somewhere that a lady had said that she only used Maxi-thread in her serger & I had that - so I pulled it out & put it on & Yep- you guessed it  The Thread had been my problem with this project. ! Can you believe it??????

I am having a terrible time getting pictures of the shirts. They are normally large sizes & makes it hard to make them look good. This one does not have any embroidery on it like I would normally have on it thanks to that dumb embroidery machine being on the "fritz". All that trouble to get it fixed & then get maybe 75 stitches out of it before it locked up with the thread once again?

Well, at least I have a couple of gifts to celebrate Happy Birthday to our oldest son who turns 38 . :-)

Well, gotta go feed that woodstove  & all in bed. Here it is almost 3AM- see how hard it is for me to keep up .
love to All!!!!!!!!!!!

A Day I Don't Believe for Even Me???????????

We have to settle for pictures of my shy little boy - Bandit. Was it because I did not try - NOPE!  I tried every which way I could & I Hate our phone company & our electric company. Why ? You might ask-well let me tell you a story.

It was nice this morning & I did all the chores & was quiet proud that I got it accomplished in a reasonable amount of  time. All I had to do now was feed us & be on my way to projects I was dreaming of accomplishing . After all , I had almost a full day in front of me.

I did put a load of laundry in while I was studying what to tackle next. Well - our oldest son has a birthday this coming Monday & I had hopes of getting him a shirt made out of the black & white camo fabric . I wanted to embroider him a deer or something hunting related to the front of it. I decided that a light brown deer would really stand out on the dark black shades.

In order to accomplish this goal I would have to tackle that green shirt for me -the one that got stuck on the embroidery machine when it froze up?? Yes, I have it saved in the drawer right here! My first thought was Is there ANY way that I might get lucky enough to line up the project in the hoop with this Brother PE-700II embroidery machine????? Well, I was going to give it my best shot.

I found the design & the size that I needed & downloaded it into the machine . That part worked -yea!
The next problem was that the design showed up UPSIDE DOWN!  Hum? Warning , Warning?
I worked for two hours -using every trick I could think of  - then I pulled out the manual & read everything they had written (which did not include any information on downloading designs from the computer to your machine??) Well, another hour into the problem I sweet talked that design into standing upright in the position I was aiming for -(miracle)  It has a test button to mark off where you design will be sewn & I discovered I was a little off target, which did not surprise me one little bit. I was PREPARED!

After another sweet talking session I finagled it into the right position ! (Another miracle)  I checked it on the computer & I rechecked it on the machine & I let it plunge that needle down to see what would happen?
Miracle ! This has to be too good to be true for me -it is in the perfect place where it should be. I was delirious with joy , so I hit the on button & she roared to life - ONLY _ everything in the house went off. Yep, our electricity went off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (We are having terrible winds) I know I looked like a blown up toad frog , as my eyes bug out & my face turns blue!!!!!!!!!!!

No , he is not growing - he is Smiling - but his expression made me think of me!!!!!!!!!!
About the time I get over fit number 1 -the electricity comes back on? I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing but I go check & Sure Enough my hard earned design is no longer on the machine?????

Well, since I had found it once -maybe luck would be with me ? I check & find it on the computer once again -but EVERYTIME that I attempt to send it to the computer it goes back to being UPSIDE DOWN.After an hour of fighting with it I get the bright idea to pull out my flashdrive & see if I had saved a copy there? Yes, I do find the flashdrive & YES the design is on there.  So, I poke that booger into the computer & download that "puppy" onto the machine . YEA  again!

So, I work & work & thing & fuss and finally run that check to see if I am anywhere in the right position & discover that this makes the second time I have pulled  off a miracle for me. ;-)  Summoning my courage I hit that run button & heave a sigh of relief when the machine takes right off like it is suppose to -But- yep everything in the house goes off once again. (can you see the steam starting ?????)  I just cannot believe it- who in the world would ever be that cruel to me. As I hit the living room the electricity comes back on & everything roars to life -except for DH's television that he is attempting to watch an old western on. Does it come right back on - NO- it takes a half an hour to reprogram itself & now DH is not too  happy either because he misses the end of the story.  (I told him I was thinking about taking a  gun & going down to the road & shoot their transformer -maybe then someone would actually Fix something ???

of course I know what is facing me so I decide to take a break & eat an apple . I use DH's neato apple peeling tool that peels the apple & cuts it in slices -does all the work for you- only it does peel the apple - only it does not cut it into slices. (Is this a warning of some kind?????)

I decide I will put that crockpot of  lima bean soup on to heat while I go back to the dungeon(wellllll - it is starting to feel that way)

OK - back one more time & same deal all over again -another hour of time desperately hoping that things will go right this time before I do go shoot that transformer. OK -once again I get very lucky & am so happy. I actually get the eyeballs sewn on the birds I have been working on -only the white is just too pale & does not show up good-so I decide to use a brighter white . The first eyeballs start & I like what I am seeing -when all of a sudden the thread gets locked up in that take up lever & yep the thread is tied up !

Now I have written Brother & asked them IF this machine has some kind of mechanical flaw to it???? This is what they said:
Dear Brother Customer,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.  We apologize for any
inconvenience you have experienced.

There is not a defect in this machine.  Unfortunately, especially if you
are doing a lot of embroidery, thread can break and get caught in the
thread take up lever.  This is something that can happen in any
sewing/embroidery machine.  We are sorry that the Authorized Service
Center did not find this problem when you took it to them.

In the future, we would recommend that you clean the machine often of
any excess lint and thread.  If any issues occur, please contact our
Customer Service Department at 1-877-276-8437.  The hours of operation
are Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:45pm CST.  Someone will be happy to try
and assist you by phone.  We also have several Authorized Service
Centers that aren't in Danville and may be new ASC locations.  Please
check the link below for up to date ASC locations:

http://www.brother-usa.com/service/

You can also send the machine in to our in-house repair group for
repair.  You just need to contact our Customer Service Department for a
Return Authorization.

Again, we apologize for the trouble you have experienced. We hope this
information will be useful to you.  If we can be of further assistance,
please let us know.

Sincerely,


Facsimile E-mail Support
Brother International Corporation, USA
faxsupp@brother.com

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public_s/index-usa.html

Well, time to take another break so I go check on that soup in the crockpot to see if it is hot enough to eat. I should have know better - for some reason it is just as cold as it was when I took it from the fridg.??? I wiggle the buttons just to make sure I turned it on -yes, I actually did so next I make sure it is plugged in & yes it is ?

So, I call Mr. Magic Fingers in to take a look at it. He repeats the same steps that I did & yep - it starts to heat!

So, I decide to run outdoors & complete my night chores. It is now BLUE - BLAZING COLD! It is horrible! I wrap up with double clothes & two scarves & it is still miserable. It is so cold that it takes my breath. I drop the treats to the guinea pigs & dump out everybody's almost frozen water bowls so they won't be so hard to deal with in the morning. I start up the hill to lock up the chickens & they all come running TOWARD me?? What in the world is going on - I give them grief all the way up to their house & then discover the wind has blown the tire & wooden prop that I use to keep the door open until they go to bed- shut on them & they cannot get in????????????? I prop it back open & tell them to hurry into their house. They seem very glad to do what I ask them for a change. Those little tail feathers are really whipping in the wind. As the last one enters I lock the door & step over & pick up an armful of small wood laying at their house. The wind & temperatures are really starting to hurt me now so I take off to the gate -only to be met by one lonely little hen. !!!!!!!!!!! I want to just say heck on her & head to the warn spot-but no - that would not be right . I circle back around their house & open the door & step back so she will not see me &  bang that door blows closed once again. O-Golly - Jeepers!!!!! If I were not so cold I would have a "wind-fit" . I grab it & hold onto it begging her to come on -and she finally does. She squeezes in with her flock members so their body heat will help all of them together -and I do not have to worry about something eating her.

Back to the wood stove & I put more wood in the stove & I learn a new lesson- Scarves that flop loose can get hung on the wood that you throw into the stove & almost catch fire & it is still hooked onto ME! Yipes!  O Glory Be - let me go to the house & HIDE somewhere. This bitter cold is so bad.

Yes, that dumb machine is still hung up - it did not fix itself ! I have taken the front off of it & can see the thread hung up down in there -but I cannot figure how to get to it? I do not want to break it because I would lose the chance to get to where the problem is.

Well, I guess my DS will not be getting a birthday surprise -unless - the surprise is that his Mom forgot his birthday for the first time in 39 years.

I sincerely hope that each of you have had a day like I"dreamed of" - not like the day I have lived through It feels like a whole day wasted. But , I guess that is the way that the cookie crumbles.  LOL

A Gift

A gift is something given from the heart with no expectations of anything in return.That is what I received in the mail from  my E-buddie,  all the way from Oregon~ I said we were almost as far away from each other as you could be in the good ole USA I on two opposite sides .

Her name is Jodi & she is also a pro at packaging things .I could not find one little inch free space in the little box. The bright red in the back is a toilet seat cover & I love it . I have been wanting to make some of them for a few years now.The little black square in the back is a REALLY neat potholder. Matter of fact I have never seen a heavy terry cloth potholder before . It is so nice and soft & flexible & she embroidered a cute little scarecrow .

On the left back is a pattern for a purse that you change out the covers to have you a new look for your purse without all the trouble of pulling everything out . Neat idea. The brown on the left is napkins & a checked hand towel. I saw a demonstration with a towel that looked exactly like that one & the gal had used something she called paint sticks. She painted a banner on it & made it look like a wrapped package.   They had a rubbing board with designs on it & you laid it under the front of your fabric & then rubbed the design you picked. It certainly did transform that fabric. 

She had also taken a black piece of fabric & then rubbed blue & copper flower designs on it & you would never have guessed it started out as just a plain piece of black cotton & she sewed it into an apron. The top was different from any I had seen . It made you think of a halter top but with a waist band sewed on & the bottom skirt part. 

O, check these out - aren't they just the cutest! I am thinking I see place-mats-maybe? What do you think?

The characters are so cute & they really pop from that black fabric

I am just so in love with this gift. They are some of my favorite colors  & I LOVE the way she embroidered the center insert . Up close that red pincushion looks real enough to make you want to pick it up & use it. The bobbins are so pretty too-but you know how it is -ANYTHING SEWING is a good thing~  The two green strings on the sides are to tie it up with -so basically it is a book that you can tie up. Now for the insides~

  There are pockets on both front & back of the inside of the "book" & the pages are made of heavy duty baggies~ How Neat is that! I am totally in love with it. Matter of fact I am so in love with it that I do not want to use it & get it dirty! LOL

I will definitely keep it around just to admire it for a while . It is made a lot like an idea I have been thinking about - the same basic design only shrink it down much smaller & have the plastic pages to store your flash drives in?  What do you think?

And , last but not least check out this chargeable scissors!!!!!!!!!!!! I had my doubts but I went ahead & charged it over night for the 12 hours it called for . They are manufactured by Black& Decker & I do have faith in them . I was VERY CURIOUS to get my paws on them  this morning for a "test drive" .Would you believe they work like a charm! They just purr though fabric like a knife though melted butter! I was totally amazed! They are  very light weight &  easy to handle & are  wonderful for my painful hands! Talk about a winner! 

There is no way I could ever repay her - but I can certainly appreciate her kindness & generosity  & thank her for a grand education!!!!!!!!!!!

Aren't friends just so great! 

Debbie's shirt

What a pleasant  surprise this morning after a little rest- this shirt that I had thought I had sewn the neckband on backwards was on right  & all I had to do was adjust it on the hanger! LOL What a treat. I have also learned that it is Very difficult to photograph a XXL & up size shirts . The pictures just do not do them justice .

DH had to get up early this morning to take our youngest son to the hospital where they inserted needles into his spine& it always leaves him in so much pain-not counting the pain of the injections.

I had been outdoors almost 3 hours doing all of my morning chores & also now working with the wood stove. I had filled it full & that took most of our woodpile, except for some that our young friend , James had cut up for us. So, I knew I needed to start learning these things to be able to take care of myself. He had left his little truck on the pasture side of the fence so I went for my morning walk & came back to it. It was sitting in a hollow . I walked all around it & then walked over to the 3 different ways to get out of the hollow. Two of them scared the hogwash out of me & the last one was the one that I decided to go for , as I had to decide on ONE.

I slide in the seat & turned the key & she kinda grunted at me -as if telling me that it was too cold this morning & she just was "not in the mood" to fool with me. So, I sat there for a few minutes pondering ????????????
As I calmed myself it came to me that DH used to say IF he would just turn the key a few times that would send the juice to the fuel pump & give it a chance to spritz some fuel to the motor-so that was what I did & I got a longer grunt. I knew I should not keep cranking & run down the battery, so I sat for another minute& then remembered when I had my Nissan truck that I had to gently pat the gas ONE time. Any more & it would be flooded . SO, I did that & she finally rumbled to life. I had to sit there a few minutes because if you attempt to drive her - she will always die & you have to repeat the whole process.

So we were finally ready for our trip UP the hill & around the trees -back down into the hollow. There is one place along the hollow that scares me because it is washed out & I have to be very careful to straddle it . My last 100 feet of the journey is down into another hollow where the wood pile was located. I was too scared to go on the path that DH takes because it makes the truck tip over . I stayed in the hollow & was lucky that the wood was on both sides of the hollow . I only had to move a couple of pieces so I could get through & turn around -then I started loading the pieces that I could lift. I learned FAST that I could not lift the big logs & believe me my shoulders are letting me know about the ones that I did pick. So, I rolled the big ones around to were I could find the smaller ones . I decided any that were over 12 inches diameter I could not work with. Finally I had a truck load & I made the return trip home. My next obstacle was turning the truck around & BACKING through the gate & into position in the little shed where the stove resides. I am not a good "backer"-never have been & after not driving for 4 years I was very rusty. I went slow & PRACTICED backing using the truck mirrors.(something I have never been able to do). I would go slow & then stop & study the situation & take stock of my progress. FINALLY I had reached my destination - WITHOUT having a disaster. I was tickled.

I now know why DH always has such rough hands  when working with wood. It seemed to soak the moisture out of my hands & I even had gloves on. I bet it took me about an hour to unload the truck & take the wood in the shed & stack it for tonight. .

I came back out & it Hit me that I needed to clean out the vents on the stove  . There are 6 of them - & you take a rod & run it through them from outdoors through the stove into the fire box. .We have a new metal brush to do that with - but neither of us can push it through - so we have a homemade rod with a handle & a small pulley on the end of it that we push though - IF WE ARE LUCKY. It is HARD work. I had been heaving & begging a& pleading with it for a while when DH pulled up in the yard. I was down to my last hole & not making much progress with it, maybe because I was not POOPED!!
With his help we got it accomplished & I was tired & cold & hungry . This heat issue is going to give me trouble - I need a battle plan. Maybe I can "dream - up" a solution.

So, I feel like I have accomplished a LOT today when you include the breakfast & clean up & another load of laundry accomplished & hanging out on the clothes line.
I have got to get ready for our sewing guild meeting after while . Lynne picks me up & I  appreciate her so very much. I am glad that she does not mind driving - I am such a lucky bird to have a friend like that. :-)
Love to all
linda