8/29/22
Valuable skills
8/22/22
A break in the heat
We're getting some rain and it's bringing down temps. Instead of 105*, it's 99, but it's below a hundred and the rain is causing everything to perk up a little. Trying to work outside yesterday at 10am was sweaty and the humidity was too high to find any comfort, so I came inside. They say, it's not the heat, it's the humidity.
I spent a couple days working on the new bedspread. We're loving it. It's such a good match to the room. Of course, within a couple minutes of making it, a dog walks across and it doesn't look like this anymore, but even rumpled, it looks really nice.
8/15/22
cleaning and prep
The fabric came for the new bedspread and we laid it out and we love it! Now to find the time to make a bedskirt, spread, shams, two accent pillows and reupholster the headboard. Fortunately, I have some time off next week and plan to get started then. Rob is making improvements in the closet. It's not a remodel, it's an update. And, that's fine for now.
I finished my shirt. It just needed buttons and holes. That took several hours. I started with the buttonholer that I've always called my fave and then I went to a different one and I ended up on the Bernini 930. It didn't make the prettiest buttonhole, but it did let me predict exactly where the buttonhole would be. With the old fashioned buttonhole attachments, I've forgotten how to do that and wasn't in the mood to find the manuals and figure it out again.
I also finished my latest apron, which only needed a buckle for the neck strap and I hemmed a shirt. I bought a shirt in Goodwill. Love the plaid, but when I wore it, it hung long...very long...minidress long. So, yesterday, I cut 3" from the hem and re-hemmed it. Came out perfect!
Right now, I'm celebrating green in the yard. We're in a slow season. There are things blooming but nothing is making a big show. That's fine. I see the fall plants starting to fill in and get ready for their turn. I can wait.
Everybody have a good day! Stay strong. Keep the love in your heart, and remember anger and love are not mutually exclusive.
Lane
8/8/22
In a sewing mood
I've been sewing more. I enjoy creating. Quilting, garments, upholstery, draperies, and bedspreads, I've made them all, some more successfully than others. This weekend, I worked on Syd's shirt and got it to the same point my shirt is; buttons and buttonholes. I had to order buttons for her shirt. I tried my button collection and JoAnns and finally had to order them from Amazon. Finally someone got the hint and they're selling buttons in packages smaller than 475...just kidding, but really, I don't need need 60 identical buttons and was able to get them in groups of 10. I also ordered the adjustable strap buckle to finish the apron and enough duck to make a bedspread, bedskirt, and shams. We found the fabric in JoAnn's, but they didn't have enough, so I ordered it. It was my first time ordering from them and it was easy and the shipping was free. And, it's a good thing, the store was empty. I don't know if they're planning to close that store or what, but they didn't have anything on my list that day.
Here's Syd's shirt. I like how it came out. The only awkward spot is the shoulders where the upside down birds touch the right side up birds. Nothing could be done about that. I ordered a dull navy blue button that I think will be perfect.
My shirt is at a stop because I don't like the buttons I picked for it, but I didn't order any more, so I guess I'm not that upset about them, just distracted.
Gardening is all about watering now. Weds and Sat, I can use a sprinkler, Thur and Sun, it's a hand held hose, watering the pots. There are a few flowers, but they're the end of several bloom cycles, so nothing to look at. When I walk around, I'm looking for new growth and survival, or wilt and a need for extra care. Even though there's shade cloth in the greenhouse, all the plants are on the floor where there's the most shade. It's brutal out there. Right now, I'm holding my own, but I've lost a couple of old fave plants because it's gotten too hot, no matter how much water I give them. I shudder to think of the water bill.
Here's another TX red star hibiscus. This year's flowers have been from a seedling that I grew. The parent plant didn't bloom this year. It got stepped on when we stained the fences and while it didn't kill it, it stunted it for this year. That's okay, there's always next year. These come back from the ground every year.
Last week, I wrote an email asking the company's business leaders to select my eventual replacement so I can start training them. My goal is to train them, pass my major responsibilities to them, and then focus on training other people on what I do until I retire. And, take it easier for heaven's sake. I complained to my boss that I was too busy and he has responded. This is my way of helping with that. Let someone else do half of it and let them start building their brand. Anyway, after I wrote it, I sat down and cried a little. This is the first step to passing off my job, and while it feels a little sad, I am not regretting it. My entire work life, I've looked forward to retirement. And, since it looks like I might be part of the last generation that gets to retire, I'm gonna look forward to it, even if I have to bag groceries for benefits for a few years.
Everybody have a good week! Find something you love to do and do the hell out of it!! I'm thinking about putting that on a t-shirt, but I can't remember where I got it from. I do not have time for a copyright infringement lawsuit this week.
Lane
8/1/22
Everything in its place
Hahahahaha! That'll never happen, but we did make good progress this weekend. Rob painted the bedroom and moving everything out of it started a chain reaction that had an impact all over the house. Well, maybe it was more moving things back into it that started the chain reaction. Anyway, I decided I was going to get rid of some clutter, a noble goal at any time. I was focused on the studio and my part of our bedroom. I brought in a big box to put junk in. Except the junk I found hardly filled any of that space. What I found was a lot of stuff that was in the wrong place. So, I filled my box and went to another room and put stuff away and gathered things that were in the wrong place and then went to another room and put stuff away and gathered more and did that until I took a small box back into the bedroom and put things away. This is going to sound weird, but it was magnificent and fulfilling!
And, our red bedroom is blue.
We bought the paint two years ago at the beginning of the pandemic when we thought we'd be home for weeks on end. But, then Rob was made necessary and went back to work right away and we didn't get around to painting the room. Now the pandemic is part of normal life he's sitting on a lot of PTO and decided to use some of it for this project.
I bought the house before Rob and I met and one of the first things I did was paint this room red. My friends were shocked and said that was so unlike me, but I loved it and it had been this way for 22 years, but in that time, we'd had the foundation repaired so there were cracks in the sheetrock and torn tape and someone before us had caulked a gap at the ceiling with about an inch of caulk to cover where the wall and the ceiling didn't touch. Rob fixed all of that. And as his final dance, he replaced all the plugs and switches and their covers from beige to white.
Before
There are two more walls in the living room that need similar repair and this made him confident enough that I think he's going to try to tackle those. That would be great!! Thousands of dollars saved by diy.
Me, I mostly stayed out of the way and ran any errands and did any chores for him I could while he painted. I offered to help paint, but he declined...when I help, I offer helpful suggestions. I think he decided he could live without that. 😀
I did some sewing and managed to finish my shirt, except the buttons and buttonholes.
Everybody have a good week. Find someone you love and give them a good hug. And, instead of pushing that thing that belongs in the other room under the bed, pick it up and take it to its actual resting place. You'll be glad you did.
Lane