Category Archive: Life
This bear may be destined to become another ufo. He is layered and ready to quilt and the machine will not cooperate. Maybe I’m not supposed to be sewing. I got this machine back from the repair shop yesterday and took my other one in as it seized up. I will play with this machine again next week. Maybe it just needs a good Sabbath rest.Sox and errands
I’m really happy about how these three yarns worked together. As well, I ran out of the first two yarns and only have some of the toe yarn left.
It’s too bad, I didn’t remember to take a photo of my car before I emptied it. We sold our parrot nest boxes. The buyer insisted I deliver them which was about an hour each way. However, sometimes you do what you really don’t want to do. And I did want to get these boxes moved on. The car was so loaded that there was not enough room for anything else plus I could not see out the back or passenger side. I was unwilling to make 2 trips, so I stayed in the right lane and fortunately, though it was a long way, half of the roads were straight country roads.. I made it there without encountering much traffic. Then the buyer said to me ” I thought you had a truck” But he never asked me. People just make too many assumptions. However, that is one more job taken care of. Now I need to advertise some other items that we seem to be storing.
Use it or lose it
DH and I have really been pushing ourselves as we realize that we don’t have the stamina that we had when he was still working (now we have to work back up). We have all seen people who have just kept doing what they have always done and don’t slow down. Recently I saw where a 100 year woman ran another marathon. There are other examples we’ve all seen.
I’ve been asked how I get so much done. Push, Push, Push. Our bodies were made to move and when we don’t, they slow down.
My step goal is 10,000 steps per day. My doctor recommended knee surgery about 5 years ago. I asked her if there was anything I could do to avoid that and she said “walk”. So I walk. Yes, there are a few times when the knee is a bit uncomfortable, but I think the longer I can go without the surgery, the better. And the knee is never uncomfortable more than a few minutes.
We have added gardening to our activities and when it gets cold, we will go to the gym 3 times a week again (our insurance covers “silver sneakers). We also go to the gym once a week for senior “yoga” which is really just stretching exercises.
The other thing is we try to put only the best fuel in our mouths, which is why we grow as much food as we do. That is not to say, we do it all correctly. On occasion, we indulge in a bit of sugar. But most of the time, we are careful to eat food as grown, which also means no animal foods, extracted oils or processed food. And we eat a lot of our food raw. We do eat foods that contain oils such as raw nuts, and avocados, however, try not to have fractured foods. And I no longer worry about weight, though it could/should be less. I think being happy and content is worth a lot when it comes to our health.
I make *lists of what I want to accomplish each day and really try to get through them, but the only things that I must do each summer day are the steps and the hoop house watering. Other things that don’t get done, spill over into the next day. For instance, I had “pick lavender” one day, but I found the bending to be too much for one day, so it spilled over into several days, with one bush at a time.
And yes, we do hire the heavier work done. That is not worth killing ourselves and it gives a bit of money to someone who really needs it. As well, sometimes I make my list short so we can have a “vacation” day. And each week we observe a Sabbath day.
If you have other questions, just ask, as I don’t mind answering them.
*Lists are made by making an annual list, a monthly list, and a daily list. The daily list is altered mostly by the weather.
Burning a hole in the pocket
With a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket, I went to the Sew Fun infomercial that Quality Sewing sponsors.
These quilts were from two different books, one used embroidery designs and the other used jelly rolls.
Isn’t this a cute teapot cozy? It is simply a circle for the bottom with two rectangles and some elastic.
These baby bands are folded over elastic. Aren’t they sweet?
These are cute purses that stand open all the way. I did order this pattern as they were out of them.
And there was a pattern for this nice little clutch purse.
Are you wondering how I spent my gift?
There are three patterns in this book that I will be making. Then I also purchased this smock pattern which I think will make a cool summer top. I purchased a paper type ruler to bend my hems over and press so that I don’t burn my fingers. Remember the metal ones, we all had/have. This replaces that. To round that off, I “needed” some double eye needles for knitting projects as well as to thread through my serger ends. . As soon as I finish the bear quilt, I will be starting on one of these quilts.
A Day with Mary
When I get the chance to take a break and lie on my lawn chair, this is my view, which I love.
Today, Mary and I decided to make the “don’t shake the baby” purple hats for the hospital. I had a bolt of purple fleece, so we
cut and sewed the afternoon away while we caught up on each other’s news.
There is only this tack stitch left to do and then turn them right side out. We have 148 of them for the hospital. So later this week, I’ll finish them up and in September we will deliver them. What a great afternoon we had, catching up and doing a good deed at the same time.
Garden and shopping
I laid this fleece preparing to skirt it (take all the junk off it) when I realized, I need help determining how much to remove. It seems a bit matted to me. So I will wait until I find someone more knowledgeable to help me. There are three of these fleeces. By that time, I should have learned how to skirt them.
And the sewing I thought I would get to do today, didn’t happen because we needed potatoes. This is a 44′ row and I had dug just about half of it two weeks ago, but we ate all those potatoes and needed more. So I removed these red, white, and blue potatoes. Interestingly, I found the red potatoes to be the most prolific and robust.
Then we planted these bell peppers which were waiting for a spot in the hoop house. There is a double row of them. I hope they grow fast because it is already the first of July and I am late getting them a home.
This is where the tomatoes have gone. I’m going to have to coax them back down. There are tons of blossoms, some fruits, but no color yet. And today the sweet potatoes opened their first blossoms.
Then we needed to go shopping for a garden hose. Our back garden is on 3 levels and to make it easier to water, I want to leave a hose on each level and a lightweight hose to drag up and down the steps which we can then connect to the hose that goes down the row we want to water. (DH had trouble understanding that as well)
A trip to the feed store and a quick in and out at the grocery completed out day. I love going into the produce section and seeing all that food, thinking that I don’t need to buy any of it – well except for bananas and avocados. And I did need vinegar for cleaning. I have found vinegar and baking soda does a great job on toilets and vinegar cleans most everything else.
And that was the day, I was going to have just for sewing. But guess what, Mary is scheduled to come on Sunday and that will be a fun treat, though we haven’t decided on a project.
But for the next 24 hours, I’m entertaining Heavenly guests and listening to what they have to teach. Happy Sabbath and have a great weekend.
It’s not Friday?
I have been working all day trying to get everything done, thinking this was Friday. The laundry is done, bed has clean sheets, floors are mostly done, oven is cleaned, watering is done. I still have meals to prepare and a kitchen floor to clean. Does this mean I’ll actually get sewing time tomorrow. I won’t count on it, but would love it if I did.
Progress is very slow on these socks as ideally one has to sit down. I am nearly to the toe decrease and once there, the socks get done rapidly.
This little fellow and friend have visited us several times today. He is a black headed grosbeak and loves sunflower seeds. He tosses the other seeds overboard.
And look! This plant volunteered in the hoop house this year. It is right at the top and will be a delightful treat for these birds.
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Good Procrastination
These came in the mail today from my cousin. I’m guessing my aunt had started a quilt before she had her stroke and these are the result.
Remember the left over blocks with the sunbonnets my sister had made. These blocks are 1/2″ larger and the sunbonnet is definitely larger. I have 15 blocks left from my sister and there are 6 of these. The background is nearly the same. I’m thinking of sending these over to my sister to have her do the same applique she did on the other blocks and then there would be 21 blocks. I can do a quilt with 20 and have one left for a pillow. If I interspersed these with the other blocks, perhaps it won’t look like an accident. Now isn’t it good that I procrastinated?
The bear block that was so supposed to be so quick and easy, isn’t. First I had to make separate pattern pieces, then there was the “leading”. These are plastic strips that were made to go into the bias strip to press them. They come in different widths, so I used them to keep my seams all on the back side of the leading.
I changed how I’m going to make this quilt. So I placed the pattern under my light blue background, then sprayed each cutout piece with an adhesive, using the box to catch the overspray. They I laid the pieces in the proper place on the background.
This is what he looks like now. I’m still deciding if I want to applique before or after adding the batting and backing. The pattern maker suggests, I applique all three pieces together.
Garden report: The broccoli came out today. I think the cauliflower is a disaster as the weather was too hot at the wrong time. I need to decide on a winter crop that I want to put in that space and get it planted this week. I brought in a red and a green cabbage, some basil, and lettuce as well as the broccoli that still needed to be picked. There were also more raspberries and blueberries.
Super fresh food
This morning before the sun made our part of the world warm, I was able to get out to the garden and pick some food for breakfast and lunch. I wish photos could show how good these berries are.
For lunch I dug potatoes (the blue round items are blue potatoes) and onions, then picked some cabbage which turned into an excellent coleslaw. I had a red pepper which I added and dressed it with avocado/rice vinegar. We had the rest of it for dinner tonight.
No photo tonight because I uploaded the photos before I picked the beets, but tomorrow we will enjoy beets and greens for lunch. We are so enjoying the fresh foods.
Gardening seems to take much of the day, as it takes time to water and weed, and pick, but, I wanted to start something new and uncovered this pattern purchased more than 12 years ago. I have now made the pattern pieces and next session can cut out the parts to make the baby quilt.
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I know I said I wasn’t going to test any more quilts for a bit, but this is a Christmas wall hanging and just too cute to pass up. The border for this quilt is these small log cabin blocks – just 28 of them. I quit for the day
