OMG--Something Went Right For A Change!

There is a sewing book called "10-15-20 Minutes to Sew" by Nancy Ziemann. She gives you lists of things you can accomplish in these shorts amounts of time, so that you can fit sewing into your busy schedule. Every time I have a few minutes and think I'll just zip up a seam or two, things just go to the devil--the machine knots up, I sew the wrong side to the right side and have to pick out the stitches, or the thread breaks on the serger (15 minutes just to rethread right there!). Why, seems just last week I had to remake the whole top of the dress I was trying to get into my suitcase--see "Shopping in My Attic". I offered to sew a dress for my granddaughter to wear for the doctor's wedding. Fancy dresses for little girls are so much fun--who can resist? But, time is getting short, and will this baby fit? At 9 am this morning, I decided to put together a trial dress, and headed to the attic to find a piece of fabric that I know she had seen, and had liked. Of course, it wasn't up there, it was down on the bed (mound) in the sewing room. I redrew the pattern and started cutting. Nothing went wrong! Everything went together perfectly, and at 1:15--VOILA! A Dress! I hope you like it Gracious.

Taking Too Much Time

I had two weeks of free days (Mondays to Fridays) this month to accomplish the things that needed to be done before we travel again, and one of the projects was a doll that will be given to it's new owner in August. I also need to make myself a suitable "mother of the groom" outfit. I pulled the fabric out of the attic, did a little experimentation on the pattern that I purchased while up in Burlington, and decided to wait on cutting the dress for the wedding. Sometimes it is better to mull a bit, especially when the amount of fabric is limited, and a mistake would mean total ruin. So, I moved on to the doll. This little baby took waaaay too many days. I always end up doing this--redesigning the whole thing, and then having to come up with tiny patterns for clothes to fit. At least if it is too tight, the lady will never complain! Yesterday was the big finish--gluing hair to her head. Today I took pictures, since she will be moving to a new home, and the pictures will be all that I have left to remember her by.

Now it is time to pack up and go on vacation. New Hampshire and Cape Cod beckon. The Cape is always so lovely--all those picket fences and tiny paned windows, just for us to look at and enjoy. We go to so many pretty places, and each one is unique. Cape Cod has been a part of my life since I was a girl--my family wisely returned every year for our vacation, and the tradition continues, meeting up with children and grandchildren. I confess to enjoy seeing it all over again through their eyes, and I am happy that they enjoy it as much as I do.

Gettin' It Done!

There is so much to be done this month, and I confess there are times when it just doesn't seem possible to work through it all. I have found that listing out the days with specific things to be done on each day makes it manageable, and I don't get overwhelmed trying to decide what to do first on the long, long list of "How I Spent My Summer Vacation".

I have many sewing projects--to which I keep adding--I know, I know--my own fault. The FITO (fly in the ointment) is the current heat wave. The sewing room isn't bad, since there is a door that opens on to a tiny balcony on the second floor (very charming when approaching up the street from the south), as well as two big windows. When there is a breeze, and they are all open, it is very comfortable. If it is very hot though, and the iron is turned on, it warms up in there, and it is hard to concentrate. I have wrung out a t-shirt, and worn that, with great success. Little secrets of survival...

People stop by our house all the time and leave things. All of our ex-children (again, there's the need for that word which will describe your now adult, originally children) have returned to live here at one time or another, leaving behind part or all of their worldly possessions, usually in our attic, usually to be reclaimed later on. It's how we get some of our best stuff. Soooo, enter MyTreasure (unbidden, I may add) with an old air conditioner is his arms, and pops the thing into the sewing room window. Yaaay! Now there is hope for finishing the list! Thank you, MyTreasure!

Shopping In My Attic

I ventured into one of our larger merchandise emporiums the other day on a quest for a pair of very fancy shoes to wear to the doctor's wedding. On my way to the shoe department, I passed the racks of colorful dresses, and I thought "Hmmm--bridal shower on Saturday, something pretty and summery (and cool) that doesn't look like it has been through the washing machine fifty times might be in order." I took care of job one-- got the shoes. Then I made a little reconnoiter through the dresses, and discovered why they are all still in the store, and on the markdown rack to boot. What an odd assortment! All crazy colors, and the worst thing for me--all too short. I am tall to start with, and when I sew for myself, I usually always add 2" to the hemline.

I went home and went up to the attic. It was then I realized that I should have gone there a couple of weeks ago, when I bought all those bargain fabrics at Joann's to make into shorts and capri pants. I scrounged around a bit, then came down with a couple of choices. I pulled out my patterns, and found something that looked like it would work, and started cutting. The only glitch was that I was working with a pattern that I hadn't tried before, and my body has decided that it wants to look matronly now, but the pattern was designed for a long distance runner. Luckily, there was plenty of fabric, and I redesigned the bodice, and made a second one. Anyhow, the dress is finished, and with some gold earrings and a necklace, I should do just fine on Saturday.

I confess that I like to shop. What I need to remember is that walking through the store should be considered browsing, just to see what we are wearing this year. Then, all I have to do is go up to my attic, and make a selection. After all, there is the bounty of more than 30 years of fabric collecting up there, and I ought to be able to find something to wear!

WhooHoo--Veggies in my Sink!

Look! I'm a farmer! There's a Harvest! I got to go out and bring in the crops! The beans are good, but I confess, there is nothing in the store that compares with a cucumber right off the vine. Unless, it's corn...Maybe another year, after we plow up the backyard.

Still Catching Up

Last weekend was a big family party at our house. It was the first time in more than a year that our whole crew has been together, and we had quite the celebration. The bride and groom were here and we feted them with a "Jack and Jill" shower. Showers used to be the exclusive domain of the ladies of the wedding, and it was a nice way to get to know the relatives and friends of the opposite side before the wedding day. I don't think it was the idea of the men to be included in these affairs, but somewhere along the way, some showers have become couples parties. The bride requested this, since she had not met a lot of our family, and they don't get into town that often. So, it turned into a giant family bbq, with serious food. The day was perfect--plenty of sun, not too hot, not too cold, the yard and the flowers looked great, and everyone came.

Man, were we tired when it was done! The lawn furniture is stowed back away, and most of the leftovers disposed of. I'm still washing linens and towels from the overnighters, and I'll need to remake the guest beds to be ready for the next group before they show up. I'm having trouble getting my thought patterns to move onto the next project--and I need to do that, since time seems to be flying by, and we are already pushing into the twenties of July. I confess that it is my pleasure to entertain the family, but I am happy that the next full blown party isn't until the "Big T" in November!

Congratulations and Best Wishes to the Bride and Groom!

My Love/Hate Relationship

I never enjoyed gardening. Something to do with dirt under my fingernails. I always had a spot right outside my kitchen window that was "my garden". For a number of years, I put in tomato plants and cucumbers, and few peppers, and we had summer veggies. By August the whole thing was pretty much a giant weed patch, but the tomatoes still grew and that was all that I cared about. Then the ground became depleted, and several large maples grew up on the other side of the fence along the driveway, and stole away the sunlight. Last summer was pretty sad, with practically no yield. I am pretty much a neglect gardener--stick the stuff in the dirt, and wish it well. Garden Fairy has done her best to turn me into a gardener, and this year it looks like she might have made some headway. I decided to put flowers in where the tomatoes had been, and move the veggies into tubs on the south side of the house where the sun still shines. GF brought plants from friends who were dividing things out of their gardens, and the two of us made a couple of nursery runs, and filled up the old space with flowers that wouldn't mind the shade. The weather was cooperative and dumped appropriately timed showers, so that there was water to get things started, and I stepped up my commitment to putting the sprinkler on more often, and lo and behold! A flower patch!


I have kept up with the tubs, since it is easy to keep the reservoirs filled, just by putting the hose into the little filler spout, and running the water until it comes out the drain holes. The plants seem to be ecstatic, including the very large basil. I'm going to have to make some pesto very soon. I'm just hoping that the giant doesn't find the top of the bean stalk, and decide to drop in for dinner--at least I know the beans will be fresh and delicious, and there will be fresh flowers on the table! I confess, I am proud of myself, and have even learned to like going out to the garden to pull a few weeds. Thank you, Garden Fairy. Maybe next year you'll learn to knit!

My Feathered Friends

Garden Fairy has at least ten bird feeders in her yard. She has all kinds of seeds that she puts into each one, and her yard is filled with birds, including quite a number of varieties that I do not have in my yard. Every winter I would put out one feeder and fill it (not too faithfully) with the generic stuff that they sell in our supermarket (ah--back to that again...) This winter I went with her to the "bird store" as she calls it, and picked up some other seeds, and had three feeders that were filled every day by MyTreasure. We have always had cardinals, and there was a little wren that came for the safflower seeds, and two different nuthatches that were regular visitors, plus the assorted sparrows, purple house finches and chickadees that seem to enjoy that supermarket seed.

I decided not to put seed out over the summer, since we are away so much. The cardinals are still out there doing their thing--they nest in our ewe hedge. I'm not sure where the doves have gone, since I don't hear them calling, and haven't seen much of the purple finches. I do have a pair of catbirds who use my bird bath, and the wren has been out there. About 4:45 am, though, while it is still dark, the place comes alive. With the screens on the windows, all that chirping just finds its way right into my sleep, and wakes me up. There are two dogwoods just below our bedroom window, and there was one bird the other morning that sat there for more than an hour doing that single burrripp! every five seconds. When your eyes are shut, and you are laying still, you can figure that stuff out with precision.

Our humidity has been very high, even though the nighttime temperatures cool down, but last night I got so tired of being in the damp I confess that I put the air conditioner on. The real benefit? No morning serenades! I also didn't hear the garbage guys, or those dedicated early morning walkers--fine residents of our neighborhood who pair up at 6 am to stay slim by using their Reeboks and their mouths, all at the same time. Maybe that way they burn more calories.

Standing in the driveway this morning we saw two male cardinals chasing each other. They were pretty determined, and went back and forth for quite a while--we couldn't tell which one was the interloper, or the winner, for that matter, but it was a pretty sight, and we enjoyed it. The female was up on the wire just taking it all in, same as us. Well, sing on little birdies! Just maybe you could start a little later in the day...