One of my favorite quotes has been: A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever & that is how I feel about all the beauty that surrounds each of us.Sometimes we get So hung up in just the Busyness of everyday life that some of the beauty slips by us unseen. And then you come up with : One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure - so IF that beauty slips by one of us and the next one of us captures the moment and lets that beauty inspire -what a treasure it becomes.

Today was such a wild day -so I needed to snitch a little beauty along the way for strength to persevere. I did get up early and get all of the chores accomplished and we grabbed breakfast and we took the trash down to the road as we left for DH's doctor visit. I also grabbed my embroidery machine to see IF we would make it to the city.I even "Hog-tied" her to the back of my seat with a belt so that she would not get jostled around on the trip.

 His doctor visit went well but his crazy body???? As soon as we arrived at the office and into the little room -all of his painful things - Stopped! Entirely! No pain -not even when she poked and prodded . I did tell her about it but that is not like seeing it for real. She said something is going on with his stomach , so she scheduled him for a CT scan on Monday. We were running a little late-as we had to wait for them to make the appointment with the hospital.

But as soon as we were out we hopped in the car and headed to Roanoke to where ALPINE Sewing is located . This was why I wanted a Janome -because I have seen their work and they are honest and kind and KNOWLEDGEABLE!!!!!!!!!! Instead of having to leave the machine this time -the main lady that I always see had it fixed in approximately an hour and we were back on our way-With my baby in tact. This time it was the bobbin case !!!! New case - works like a charm-now IF I can just get that booger lined back up and save the project??????  HOPE, HOPE< HOPE!

Time was slipping away because I had hoped we could come back through the mountains of Floyd where  The School House Fabrics is located. We also wanted to go that way because they were blasting on the Interstate and we did not want to get hung up in that backed up-re-routed traffic that holds you back for an hour.We do not have much Patience for being stuck in traffic so we took the country route and I did get to stop at the School House and I did find the perfect gray knit that I was looking for ! Yea- that was a fast trip in & out in about 20 minutes.

So, off once again and headed back to the Same town we had left the doctors from because I was hoping to pick up my meds , but was worried about the time because of my counseling session. We stopped at the clinic and they said I could not pick up my meds UNTIL Friday. I was disappointed and thought it would have been even worse IF we had made a special trip and wasted gas?????  But we were in the area -so that was not so bad and we do have to be back in town on Friday Anyway -so Hopefully I Might get my meds ??? After counseling we headed home - so we had driven all day long in ONE Big Round Circle and we were both pooped. DH has even gone to bed  - so you KNOW he is beat.  I am beginning to wonder IF anybody really knows before they reach "the Mature years" - how really challenging they can be?  You just do not have the energy that you had before. I know this is because IF we did not have bodies that we wear out -then we might just want to stay here forever . But -still - it is challenging. LOL

I am just thrilled to be home and all the chores are finished and bed is looking GOOD. Partly because the night BEFORE I know that we have an early morning appointment that I Just Can Not go to sleep???? I do not have any idea WHY-but it is a big ole pain in my "betoosia"! LOL
I do know IF I am still alive &kicking in the morning that I hope to prewash my knits to get them ready to "make some magic"! Yea! But first I will attempt to save my almost ruined project???? I will try for the last time to remove that monster thread nest and AIM for the right position. Hope,Hope, Hope! Time will definitely tell!

So, Love to all and to all a Good Night ----OR ---A Good Day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trouble ? Sometimes I just wonder how in the world I manage to get myself into so much trouble.
I thought I was making a good start because I got to the sewing room about lunch time and picked out the design I preferred and started working on it. The right stabilizer - the right topper and I pulled it nice and tight.
I was about half way into it -with my mind racing ahead to what I could do next to accomplish my goals-when that loud racket that the embroidery  machine has been making   stopped -and there was dead silence?

I think I was stunned -and then the project in the hoop started jumping and lurching up and down and back and forward & I hit the stop button. I peeked up under the project and I could see a big nest of thread , so I pulled out the kitchen knife I Used to use on the Brother machine -then pushed it up under to the tangle and gently sliced it loose.

Disappointment -disappointment. I carefully cleaned off the design by cutting one thread at a time and then restarted it -hoping - only to meet disappointment once again. I did try it one more time and the same thing,even through I took everything apart and cleaned down in the race . I did not want to turn it off and quit because then I would lose my place - so I took a break and worked on the computer for a while.  I did some much needed maintenance on the computers and am now eyeballing it one more time as it sits here beside me. I HATE to lose my place because that was to be my sister-in-laws shirt and I do not have any more fabric that I could cut out another front for it-dag gone it.

I think I will try one more time and then if that is a failure I will load her up in the car , as DH has an early morning doctor visit and then we could take it Back to the machine doctor in the city after that. We both just felt too bad to try to make that trip this afternoon. So, maybe tomorrow?

It was a damp , dark , cloudy day-drizzled off and on  & normally the embroidery takes my mind off of the weather?

I had called the cell phone company because our service has steadily gone down hill & they wanted me to try out something called an extender and it came today. So, far - it has not worked either-it is sitting in there blinking it's lights saying it cannot connect and since that is suppose to be a hundred dollars I need to pack that booger back up and send it on its way too.

DH has felt bad today to , and he has slept most of the day .
Now it is getting late and I need to go tackle my evening chores and tell my critters all of my problems and "let them fix them for me"! LOL
Have a great day to all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cowboy & flowers for my day. This is Cowboy -my DH's cat & he is a big talker-worse than any child following you -yack-yack-yack! You ask him and he will give you an answer and sometimes it is much better than a "human" answer. LOL

The weather here was beautiful ,very warm and sometimes sunny and sometimes cloudy. Just enough for you to appreciate both. After I got all of my chores finished I made it to the sewing room. But, I was in danger of having "Sewers Block"??? I had finished all of my projects and could not decide which direction I wanted to head in now???? Well, I did not have the right fabric for what I wanted to tackle so I started plowing through my now dwindling stash to see what I could come up with???

I ended up finding a mauve colored double knit and the same color single knit  and I spent the after noon cutting out a pair of slacks from the double knit -and moved on to cutting out a tee shirt from the single knit. They will be for my Sister-in-law for Christmas. I have also already picked out the embroidery design to put on the tee shirt-Yea!

I had some scraps leftover and it was just enough to cut out a size 4 tee shirt and a size 4 shorts to make another outfit. They are not selling -but they will make excellent Christmas gifts for the grands and the greats. Plus - they are excellent practice for me.

I know it did not seem like a lot -but by the time you spend hours searching for embroidery designs and also checking out the knit fabrics online -time really does run off and leave you.

DH went to the building supply store and picked up bags of premix concrete that he will use to set new posts where the creek took our fence out the other day. He tried to find somebody to help him -but everybody is busy.
While he was out he bought the older son and his family the fixings for a cook out .He called me to see if he needed to come get me -but I was having too much fun having a couple hours to myself.

Just as dusk was coming I did take my walk & gather the eggs  and lock the chickens all up. Darn it - I just realized that I lost the pictures I had taken of the little hens . Drats- I will have to try again.

I hope you have had as lovely a day as I have!
Love to all!

Black slacks - yep , that is all I wanted to learn today -was how to make a pair of black slacks out of a Very Stretchy black piece of fabric. YEA - Right - I wanted a comforting day doing something I love that is useful-BUT- what did I get ? Another day with Drama in it and this time I cannot blame the Embroidery Machine. Nope - this time he is in the clear!Now, I DID get my blacks slacks-but also a few lessons on the side that I did not call for?

That little white thing in the back with the green handle is a lint roller-but I did not need it for lint - I needed it for Miss Rosie's white hairs. Yep- I made the mistake of turning my back and Miss Rosie "Showered" on it. The thicker hairs I could pick off -but those small ones were EVERYWHERE . They were even entwined into the fabric making it look like it was Sewn into it. So, I kept the lint roller busy for the duration of the project.

AAAAHHHH - the magic Pink bottle ??? It is filled with vinegar and I keep it in the bathroom and also one in the kitchen and they are in use constantly. This particular time I had read that using vinegar to spray on folds to "Set" a seam and make a more permanent fold. So, I decided to test it out and see how it behaves.

And of course I had to have some Unplanned drama. I was sewing down one of my last seams and I stopped and cut my thread and was easing the seam at the end of the legs  when all of a sudden the SEWING machine took off running like a wild colt!????? Then it quit as quickly as it had started. I had to finish one last seam and I was concentrating very hard because this stretchy fabric was giving me some challenges. I had just got every thing all lined up nice and neat and started down the final stretch of my foot hem when Mr. Sewing machine tried to run over my fingers-on its own . I squealed and jumped back out of the way???? This time I studied this evil machine & it's pranks and wondered what was going on?

I pulled the pants off of the machine and was easing those stitches out when the silly thing just took off one more time-I hollered for DH & he did not hear me - it kept on and I hollered for DH again- still he did not hear me over his tv -still the machine kept on so I hollered one more time -this time he heard me and came to see what I wanted. Just as he hit the door - IT STOPPED!  I knew it - now he would think I was some crazy lady when I told him it was sewing on its own. He looked at me quirky and as he turned his view to the machine - it took off all on its own -one more time! That time I was tickled because he would see for his own eyes. After it had its say -it quit and silence was in the room. So, what have you guys been up to?

But at least I completed my project and I did not get run over by a sewing machine -so I am happy.

It was a crazy day & just when I thought I could see light at the end of my tunnel- This stuff had to hit.

This was what our driveway turned into-this is water running Under our car and joining the creek which we normally drive through to get on that mail highway down there.

This is the next view to the right of the one above. Where those two trees are is suppose to be a fence-wonder where it disappeared to.

Here is a car on the main street slowly rolling through the water that has overrun the highway because a pipe on the other side of the road is stopped up.

If you can make out those hilly lines out there - that is DH's potato patch that we Just planted this week.

On top of thunder and lightening and hail and high winds -I still managed to make another pair of bloomers and I have improved my technique. Yea!

I hope you have had a wonderful day minus all of the excitement I have had.
Love to all!

O, it is truly a magical time of year-there is beauty just about everywhere you look . I managed to do all of the morning chores so we could get ready and take off to Roanoke to catch up with DH's sister and B-I-L . Eddie had to come all the way over here to have shots in his hips that hurt him so bad-it is a Veterans hospital.

 They were kind enough to take us out to eat with them and since the restaurant was not busy we spent the rest of the evening there just catching up with each family.Katherine had on one of the tee shirts I had made her and that made me SO happy.

 We were so blessed that we have air-conditioning in the car. It was 89 today . We came on back home and  DH dived into the television and I have run around like a nut re-doing all of the chores and making sure everybody has water. Whew!

This is my two beautiful flowers that have just started blooming  and you can tell it was almost dark as I HAD to have a picture of them-didn't want them to sneak away and me not appreciate them.  Dear B-I-L gave DH the rest of his birthday present and it was a lovely bird -house . Eddie makes the nicest bird houses. When we left them I asked DH, "WHY is it that YOU get all of the bird-houses - and not ME! LOL I will try and post that tomorrow.
So, another beautiful day has flown away . I have just read a funny tip - It says to read a book for ten minutes with your et
 turned on and the volume turned up. Then put the book down and watch tv for ten minutes . Do this for 3 times to help improve your memory!

So, love to all! catch you tomorrow!
Hugs, Linda

BLOOMERS! Yep-that is what I worked on today. You might remember the last time I attempted bloomers-but they defeated me -But - I have been known to have a few stubborn bones in my body -so I tackled my own challenge again.

I think I have learned that the fabric I experimented with the last time -I thought it was that silky stuff that you see they am made of in the store-but It did not have Hardly any stretch to it -so that got me in trouble right off the bat.

So, I waited until I had some very thin -a lot stretchy -knit. I do not really know what type of fabric it is because I got it for a dollar a yard when the Walmart got rid of their fabrics.

I had some white elastic to experiment with this go round and I had white thread on the serger so I decided to use that to be able to see what is going on.
I think I have the measurements about right -that is one nice thing -IF you get the measurements of your body about right -they sure can fit well enough to feel good.

I did sit and study a store bought pair and I just Could Not Figure Out -how in the world they had sewed it??? So, I finally gave up with that idea and just decided to sew the elastic on the wrong side of the pieces with the serger and then fold that down  - and top-stitch on the opposite side.

I can see I would have a LOT of "Customizing" to do IF I wanted them to look like store-bought. But I have to admit that it feels good to make something that you use every day of your life-and it also made me wonder How in the world did our ancestors manage 150 years ago? They could not just up and run to the fabric store for fabric and needles and threads? For some reason I had never wondered this before?

I am finding it amazing to create something in your own home and it leads a trail back in history and makes me appreciate how they managed . We never think about what would be "small" things to us -but they seem like REALLY BIG things back in history?If any of you have any knowledge of how they would manage this - please let me know?

Hugs, Linda