Ahhhhhh.... 1/3 done

The success to great sewing is counter space.  I will never own another kitchen without a big dog leg on it again.  I seem to pick large projects to sew.  I think it's the 'are you nuts?' gene that controls my thought patterns.

I remember trying to cut out the first bedspread I'd ever made.  I had absolutely no counter space so I had to do it all on the floor.  It killed my back, neck and knees and I was sore for days.  Gee....that was before the whiplash from being rear ended and screwed up back from a fall in the driveway when the road was washed away.  I think if I had to do it on the floor again, I probably wouldn't be able to get up.  Hahahahahaha!

I didn't realize how much I rely on homemade templates until I looked at the counter and saw all the cut and marked up file folders.  These are just a couple.  I know I use them a lot when I hem garments.  It's so much easier on the eyes than trying to constantly read the numbers on a ruler or tape measure.  I measure once, mark the template and off I go.  I think I got that from quilting because I use a lot of templates (usually store bought) when working on a project.  I've been known to make a template out of a flimsy piece or paper, brochure or tag off the garment.  It all depends on if I'm to lazy to search out file folder pieces.  If I can put an iron to it without messing it up....it's perfect template material.

See the pink yardstick?  It's GREAT!  I got it from Wally World and love it.  I have a ruler to match.  It might be aluminum or some kind of cool plastic but it's light weight, thin, has big numbers and is easy to flop around.  Ya gotta check them out.  I think it was just under $4.

It took 5 days from start to finish to complete the dust ruffle.  I went through a ton of movies but yesterday I was just burned out on them.  What to do when that happens you ask......Put in Josh Groban.  He's not only a little cutie but his voice just relaxes all the tension out of me.  So there's Josh singing his heart out to me.

Here's the dust ruffle completed.  Yeah, I know, I put it on crooked so it's higher at the foot of the bed then the head.  That's okay because I just put it on for this picture.  I made it a skosh big so when I wash it and it shrinks it'll fit perfectly.  Right now it touches the floor a little to much.  After washing it, it should have a small gap between the carpet and bottom of the ruffle.

My mother-in-law would be so proud that I'm using her bedspread.  Here's a close up of her beautiful handiwork.  She was an artist with a crochet hook or knitting needle.

The best part is, the bedroom now smells like her room again.  Before I made the dust ruffle, I threw the bedspread on the bed just to have it out.  I've caught myself laying on the bed during times of stress or when I just felt lonely and sad.  I love the fact that I can smell and sense the essence of her.  It really settles me down.  Having her live here for so long really helped imprint her aura into the house.

I find it sad that I don't have that with mom and dad.  I have to do with memories and pictures because they never spent enough time here to imprint their aura on the house.  I think much of that was because dad once told me, "Your house is to big and cold.  It doesn't feel inviting.  I liked the house on Santa Fe best."   Oh well....that's water under the bridge.

I think I'm starting to get a bit sad here so I'll go meet D in the bedroom for our afternoon delight.  It's so nice being an empty nester.  Off to a world of romance I go.

Happy thoughts to all!

Stuff...

I was talking to one of my sisters the other day about how D doesn't appreciate how much I clean up after him.  I do it without thinking.  I believe I'm on auto pilot.  LOL!  Some days I just feel like I'm spinning my wheels.  Then other on other days,  I feel like I've accomplished a boat load of things.

Yesterday I was straightening up before tackling my sewing project, feeling pretty good about myself.  I turn around and here's Nisie sitting pretty as can be with my top beside her.  I shook my head and said, "I've got enough to do around here, I don't need to be picking up after you also.  LOL!"

Granted, if I'd hung up the top instead of putting it on the chair in my bedroom, she couldn't have knocked it onto the floor and gotten hold of it.  Pepper used to bring the clothes to me in her mouth.  She was so gentle she never made dents or holes in the garments.  Nisie on the other hand, tends to get her feet and head stuck in the garment.  Then she drags it around the house until  it falls off.  It's totally unintentional and rather funny to watch. 

I'm on an exercise kick these days.  As my mother-in-law used to say, "I can't seem to get out of my own way".  I've been feeling fat and frumpy but can't seem to get into the mind set to exercise.  It's so boring.....yawn.

I've been doing some strength exercises with weights in the evening because I hate my baggy wrinkled arms.  What I need though is some cardio and calorie burning.  Yesterday when I was at Wally World, I picked up a girlie basketball. When I got home, I took it to the backyard and started throwing hoops.  The shots I missed, I actually ran after the ball to catch it.  I must have looked like a pinwheel in the wind with arms and legs waiving all about in an uncoordinated attempt to control the ball.   LOL!

The most important thing is, 1/3 of my attempted throws made it in the basket. My heart was beating a mile a minute.  I actually broke a sweat and was enjoying myself while doing it.  However the absolute best thing is.........my ball is PINK!  Cool!

I remember as a kid how I hated basketball because I was so short everyone blocked my shots.  I also didn't seem to have the strength to throw the heavy ball through the hoop.  That surprises me because I could throw a baseball from outfield to any base or the pitcher without a bounce.  I was also good enough to always play shortstop and hit home runs.  That means I'm going to blame my shortfall in basketball skills on all those tall people of the world.  LOL!

I loved playing baseball into my late 20's on male and female teams.  Maybe in my golden years in the backyard by myself with no tall people around, I'll finally tackle the elusive skill of hoops.  Who knows....stranger things have been known to happen.

The Slow Child...

Sometimes I think if there were a competition between my sisters and myself for the slow child award I believe I'd win.  I'd get frustrated at times and complain to D how I just can't get things done as quickly as I used to.  I thought it was old age but now I see the problem.  It's not old age at all, it's the age of the doxie.

Yesterday I started to make the bed skirt for the guest room.  I got my measurements and headed to the kitchen to sew.  I sewed through Princess Diary I & II and got over half way through Paint Your Wagon when my back and neck decided that was enough for the day.

I actually made pretty good headway.  I got the body of the dust ruffle done and figured I'd finish it up today.

First thing this morning, I attempt to put the cover on the bed pushing dogs off several times.  Once it's firmly on the bed...again pushing the little beasts aside, I pin a couple of styles of pleats/ruffles on the coverlet.  This of course takes longer because as soon as I sit on the floor the dogs decide they need to play in my lap.

D comes in and we decide I'll do simple box pleats because they'll stay with the theme of straight angles on the crochet bedspread.  By this time the beasts have decided they're getting tired of me throwing them off my lap and head for the top of the bed.  My nice neat folded fabric is now spread out with dogs playing hide and seek above and under it.

The little monsters are now taking their morning nap because they've exhausted themselves with play.  I'll try and quietly sneak out to the kitchen and see if I can get the cutting part of the project done with a minimal amount of fuss.  Who knows....maybe I'll get the pleats ironed so I can sew them in. Stranger things have been known to happen.   Now.....where's that remote and handsome Clint Eastwood?

Girly Wimp...

Yesterday, as with the rest of Northern California was hot.  It's not so much the hot but the humidity that gets to me.  It was actually cooler (84) then the day before which was around 94 but the humidity gave it that 'in the oven' feel.  

It's hard to see in this picture but by 4:00 the wind had picked up.  We normally get monsoon style winds where it's actually tough for me to walk around outside.  These winds were great.  It was obvious it was going to be cool today because you could just feel that warm air with a touch of cool.  As the evening wore on it got colder and colder.

I took lots of pictures of the trees blowing but none of them would cooperate.  I felt like a boob outside trying to time the shutter to the sway of the tree.  I guess what I'm saying is, I'm just not good at photographing the wind.  LOL!

Yesterday I mentioned to D how I hated the large tools I had to use.  I told him I'd like smaller heads on the tools to make my gardening less tiring and more controllable.  I have a shovel with a small head that's wonderful.  D's shovel holds 3 times more dirt but who cares.  If I can't lift the darn thing...what use is it?  LOL!

He said he was going to Home Depot and would look to see if they had smaller tools.  I didn't pay much attention when he got home and disappeared into the garage.  I saw him in the garage with tools and pink paint.  This morning I found these perfectly scaled down tools he made for me.  

He bought the smallest hoe and rake he could find.  Then he took them apart and cut a tine off each side of the rake and narrowed the hoe for me.  For an added touch, he painted them pink to make them mine all mine.

I went outside this morning with the intention of doing a little gardening with my new tools.  It was just to darn cold.  I managed to water my newly planted Carnations but soon gave up because I kept getting my feet wet and cold.  The reason for this is because Nisie decided to help.  

She's been allowed in the yard with me the last three days and has decided she loves water.  The first day she looked like a soaked rat.  She was so wet it actually took her 45 minutes to dry out.  She just can't quite get it in her head she can't catch the water coming out of the hose.

I tried to explain to her that's a big dog trick and dachshunds don't like water. She looked at me like I was speaking another language.  Okay..okay...I was but you get the point.

I've turned on the pellet stove and am now trying to decide if I want to haul out the sewing machine and start the bed ruffle for the guest room or work in my closet getting it ready for it's demolition.  Hmmmm....so much to do....so little time.  LOL!

Deer-o-deer

I really....really....really want a vegetable garden this year.  I approached D last week to see if I could sweet talk him into putting up a fence to keep the deer (as an added bonus rabbits) out.

I came outside yesterday and this is what I saw.  He took the old trampoline pieces we had and added them to the fence where my garden will be.  I'm not the least bit thrilled about looking at this beast from the backyard but it will certainly keep the deer at bay.  I'm thinking this year I'll plant the beans and peas on that wall so they can climb up the fencing.  I was also playing with the thought of planting some grapes and training them to grow up the fencing.  That however will take years and years.

If I could find some big fruit trees maybe I could continue what I did with the apple, cherry, peach and lemon trees and turn them into tall epelier plantings.  I love the thought of something that will come back year after year and eventually hide the upper fencing completely.

Got any fruit or vegetable vine ideas?  I don't think I want wisteria, jasmine, morning glory, etc.  I like the idea of picking something eatable off the fence.

Mean, Clean and Natures Machine.

MEAN:  I've been so tired of constantly moving the goofy wood child gates I finally broke down and bought a new fancy one.  I love the one at Nana's house but knew D would hate the short height.  It was just right for me but I know he wouldn't open and close it if he had to bend down to do the task.

I spent a week researching the little beasts and decided this was the style I wanted.  The only problem is, nobody shows or describes the handle and how it opens and closes.  S has the best one where it just raises to unlatch the door. No pushing buttons, no lifting the gate.  Simple and straight to the point.  I did it with one finger.

I loved the look of this one because it pulled the wrought iron of the backyard fence and the black of the fireplace inserts and family room furniture together. The best part is, it's 36" high. That makes D very happy.

The down side is, you have to squeeze the lever and slide the little button with your finger at the same time while lifting the gate up so the bottom dohickie releases.  I've got D figuring a way to have the upper latch permanently open so there's no squeezing and pinching involved.  The bottom latch is sufficient to keep the door closed and the dogs in.

CLEAN:  I attacked a little more weeding yesterday.  I learned my lesson with the sun dress.  This time I had on my $8 pink rubber thongs (footwear not underwear) I bought at WalMart, my hot pink short shorts (which D loves but I don't wear in public) and pink/gray top.  

Okay, the shoes (which are fantastic...you've got to go to Wally World and get some) and shorts were great.  Unfortunately, every time I would bend over, the girls would fall out of the top.  That of course was annoying and made me angry, while D never seems to mind when I have the occasional wardrobe malfunction.

I kept hearing my mother-in-law's voice telling me to trim the Pelargoniums. I'd cut back a little and could hear her telling me to cut more.  She had a green thumb and the most beautiful Pelargoniums and Geraniums I'd ever seen.  I remember her hacking the poor little things back to nothing.  I was trying to stick with removing the old dead branches but in my mind I could see and hear her telling me to cut, cut, cut.  So I did and they look beautiful already.

I was surprised to see my Carnations had survived yet a second year of life.  I think I'll pick up 3 more pots to fill the empty spot between them.  My Cala Lilies are starting to pop up out of the dirt too.  I planted them last year and was wondering if they'd survived my brown thumb. 

NATURES MACHINE:  S once asked me why I always woke up in such a good mood.  I was lying in bed this morning looking out the window at 5:45 and this was my view.  I'm laying down taking this picture.  How can anyone possibly not respect Mother Nature and her Beauty Machine?  This is what I wake to and appreciate it every day I'm honored with the privilege of taking another breath.

The Oye Factor.

I decided I was just going to chill out and do nothing yesterday.  I put a movie in the DVD player, turned up the volume and headed for the kitchen to make meatballs for the spaghetti we were having for dinner.  I looked out the family room windows and all of the sudden couldn't stand looking at these weeds.  I hit pause on the remote control and headed for the great outdoors.

It was a nice 84 degrees with no breeze.  It was muggy and hit me like a wall when I opened the door to go out.  I looked like a movie starlet posing for a picture in my white and black sun dress and holding a shovel. 

I was a vision of class and taste.  No doubt about it.  Not many people dressed to garden.  I put the shovel to the ground aiming at one of the biggest weeds.  I stomped my sandaled foot down and it went deep into the moist dirt.  The air was absolutely quiet with only the sound of the birds singing.  The shovel entering the ground was quiet with the exception of the loud, "OYE.....OOPH!" that escaped my lips.

All of the sudden my body morphed into a little old yiddish grandma.  My back went stiff, my neck kinked the wrong direction and the sounds I emitted made an octogenarian sound like a teenager.  The sweat that hit my skin made a hot flash feel like a warm spring shower.

Ahhhhh....there's nothing like a little gardening to bring me thumping back to earth reminding me that I am no longer a size 3, strong fit woman of 20 again. It took much longer than expected to tame the dreaded weeds.  The vision of my reclaiming two planted areas of the yard immediately dissipated in my brain.  Suddenly gaining control of just the one area was sufficient.

This morning before it gets hot, I'll head out and get another tiny portion of the yard weeded.  This time with shovel in hand, I'll be prepared for the distinctly disgusting noises my lungs and muscles will make.  Yep, summer is upon us and I've graduated to the next phase of gardening.

Kids, Dogs &....

Everybody, I'd like you to meet Sean. He's my unofficial grandchild. He's the product of Marge and Patrick. S and P have been best friends since junior high. He's like a second son to me. He and S would switch from being the 'good son' to the 'bad son'. Never were they both allowed to be the good son. One always had to be on top.

P's dad wasn't in the picture while he grew up so D took that position. He has two older brothers but they'd beat the crap out of him rather than help him. It's an odd sort of family unit.

Margie has known P since they were kids. She's has the kindest heart of anyone I know. I think she was born in the wrong generation. She reminds me of my mother in law in many ways. In the 12+ years I've known her, I've never seen her mad or heard her swear. She's soft spoken and an absolute love.

Sean turned 1 last week so yesterday I went to his party. I had to represent the family because everyone else had to work. That's how weekends are around here. Patrick didn't want toys for Sean because he has so many. I told him we were going to be the cash grandparents. We felt savings was more important than another toy.

Marge got very emotional when she opened our card telling Sean we'd opened a college brokerage account for him. In the future in lieu of gifts, we are going to add a little to the account. S has decided he'll also skip the toy buying and being a good uncle will also add funds to the account. I wish I had been smart when I was young and done something so simple for our kids. Instead we didn't start until they were older so they'd didn't have the advantage of a long term investment for college.

Well, mousing season is upon us. Pepper used to take care of the little beasts for me. She was a better mouser then the cat we owned.

Looks like the Bear is going to finally take over for Pepper. Apparently there's a mouse under the bar somewhere and she can hear it. She'll sit staring at the corner where the fireplace meets the bar and just stare waiting for the mouse to appear.

With her advanced age (13) she does get tired after about 45 minutes and lays down. Still her head is up and her nose pointed the direction of the sound. I'm absolutely astounded at how long she will sit without moving or making a noise. Talk about patience.

I had a rush job on some Zoobies yesterday morning. It was crunch time trying to get them done before going to the party. I made it and was home with 1/2 hour to spare in meeting the customer.

I'm hoping to put some time aside to update paws blog. I've got 6 new Zoobies to take pics of and post. Although I feel like I've been working like the energizer bunny lately and am thinking of throwing in a movie and just fiddle farting around today. I think I'll take advantage of the quiet time before D comes home from work. Wow...that was a quick decision to make. LOL!

Easy day....

Not much going on the past few days.  I'm feeling like the personal storms are over and I can take a deep breath for awhile.

I went into the office this morning and told D, "I'd like to say after all my hard work cleaning last week, the kitchen and family rooms are messes.  To that I'd like to add, all messes are mine!"

Yep, I haven't picked up after myself.  The tax stuff kinda broad sided me.  Although by mess I mean, the family room needs dusting and vacuuming and I need to fold the lap blankets and pick up my socks.  I figure it's a 15 minute job which includes as mom would put it, "running a foot race with the vacuum cleaner".

The kitchen counter has a few stacks of papers that need to be either shredded or filed.  They're 2009 tax goodies I just haven't felt like putting away.  Oh yeah, there's a pan in the sink along with 3 glasses, silverware and a bowl.  I'm thinking if I get off my butt that could be another 15 to 20 minutes worth of work.

We're going to S & S's tonight for dinner and I need to make a macaroni salad.  While I'm doing that I'll straighten the kitchen.  That should kill two birds with one stone.

On the positive side however, I got caught up on PAW's filing, balanced two checking accounts and played with the dogs yesterday.

Okay, I admit I did some embroidery work but that's more like fun then work so it doesn't count.

I did put in a tough morning today, soaking in a nice hot bathtub around 8:00.  Oh my, the things I do to look gorgeous.

Well, I'll head out to the kitchen now and start the macaroni salad.  Luckily my mother taught me to multi-task while cooking.  I'm always cleaning up behind myself while things are on the stove or in the oven.  Unlike my husband who has a heart of gold when it comes to making meals but when he departs the kitchen it looks like an atomic bomb went off.  

Here's a lunch bag I embroidered for Colleen's birthday.  It's one of my favorite floral designs.  I was surprised at how pretty it turned out.  There is a booboo however, and it taught me a lesson about sizing.  

I thought I'd make this design a little larger.  I was really pushing the dimensions and how it hooped.  Anyway, the floral part sewed out perfectly with a minimal amount of fuss but the Colleen shifted to the right a bit so the 'n' ended up in the fold of the design frame.  It's actually centered within the design as it is but I wanted the entire word in the white zone.  If I'd made the design a bit smaller the hoop wouldn't have been under so much pressure resulting in the design shift.  I just consider myself lucky it happened on the name and didn't mess up the flowers.

I also completed a lunch bag for Andi.  I made her design a skosh smaller and didn't have a bit of trouble with the sew out.  I forgot to take a picture of the bag.  I have to get myself into the habit of taking pictures of everything I complete.  DUH!

While finishing up the tax info for D, I decided to clean some of the files out making room in the filing cabinet so he could have a drawer to himself.  I'm hoping he'll keep his desk cleaner if he has drawer space.

Anyway, he'd just brought the garbage cans up from the road so I decided I'd do some shredding.  This is a huge recycling bin and that's two hours worth of shredding.  Which is about half of what I did.  I decided I'd better quit filling the bin or we wouldn't have room for garbage when Sunday came around.

This doesn't look like much but it's an additional 2 hours of shredding which resulted in filling 2 more huge black bags of paperwork.  Shannon and Will's visit put a bug in me to clean out the files.  I've done select files here and there each year but couldn't believe how much I'd saved.  I ran into bills I didn't remember we'd ever had a contract with.  We've had 4 cell companies over the years and 2 pager companies.  I didn't remember that!  LOL!

I got another jury duty summons last week.  I'm on their 'favorite' list I think. Anyway, I found old summons in the file.  I've been called for municipal 4 times since 2000.  I always get a federal summons a couple months later.  I'm averaging two summons every 2 years.  You can't convince me it's 'Random'.  If that's the case I'm the luckiest/unluckiest woman in the world!  I ought to be in Vegas winning tons of money.  LOL!

We paid $4,750.70 for our first Mac.  It came with 32 mg ram.  I remember a year later wrestling with the decision to spend $150 more to bring it up to 64 mg.  Boy how things have changed in the computer world.  Being hooked to the internet wasn't even a dream back in 1992.  The internet....what was that? Hahaha!

I think the oldest thing I found was stuff from 1990.  If you'd bet me that I had files over 5 years old, I would have taken it.  (And lost)  I've come to the conclusion, it's the files in my desk drawers I constantly clean out and shred. The filing cabinets just quietly stand there and collect this stuff.  Sure, everything is in nice neat orderly folders but it's still there.

I need one of two things to happen each year.  Either I consciously attack the filing cabinets (which I was disciplined enough to do each January when I was working) or I need Will & Shannon to visit each January and describe W's mother's paper hoarding nightmare.  Yep...that works for me!

Today should be an easy day.  Hopefully, it'll be the Bears last vet appointment for awhile.  There are only two doctor appointments on the horizon.  Me on May 1st and D on  May 19th then nothing until July.  Yahoo!!!!!!!!  I love my doctors but will definitely not miss seeing them for several months.  Yep, I'm thinkin' healthy...healthy...healthy for the rest of the year!

Time to get ready for the vet then off to Wally World for much needed items. Now....where'd I put that list?

It's Gonna be a Great Day!

It's gonna be a great day!  The good news is....I have a clean bill of health.  The bad news is....I see the surgeon in 3 months and he's moved me to having mammograms every 6 months.  Oh well, it's a little price to pay to have the honor of breathing.  LOL!

I've been completely exhausted the past several weeks.  D has taken to snoring so loud I've actually considered sleeping in the guest room.  I think that would have a negative affect on such a long marriage so I took matters into my own hands.  I stopped at Home Depot yesterday thinking I'd buy a pair of ear plugs. Well...in the good old box store fashion they only have jumbo size packaging.  I figure with this purchase I could sleep 40 days and 40 nights soundly.  LOL!

Actually I've decided to give D the orange ear plugs and I'll keep the purple ones.  That way I can tell if he's steeling from my stash.  I think 40 ear plugs should get me through a few nights of restful sleep.

They worked FANTASTIC!  D has 4 levels of snoring.  Softly more like medium breathing.  Light snore, medium snore and a 10 like in earthquake fashion. He's been keeping pretty steady with the 10.  You know...where he'll actually snort and wake himself up.

Last night I just woke up to go potty.  I went to bed at 8 last night because I was so tired.  I woke up at 6, closed my eyes for a minute and the next thing I knew it was 7:45.  I woke up refreshed with no jet lag.

I am as relaxed and satisfied as Nuttie in this picture.  Talk about a dog's life. Yep, if you come back as a canine in the household of one of our family members, this is the stress you endure on a day to day basis.

I cleaned earlier this week and have been trying to follow D around and pick up after him so everything doesn't get built up again.  It was so great this morning walking into the kitchen and seeing this.  Look....even the counter in the laundry room is clean!  Yahoo!

Remember the bags and bags of pellets I posted a few weeks back?  You can barely see the last of the stacks hidden behind the couch.  I think there are about 15 bags left stacked there.

Well, one more appointment for the Bear next week.  She got her stitches out last Wednesday.  We sent her mammary samples out for biopsy.  Added more meds to her daily diet, just in case and tacked on another $300 to her bill.  That brings her cost for the past couple of weeks to a little over $2,000.  I can't complain much though. Even though she just turned 13, she's never sick and the only medical expenses she's incurred in the 10 years we've owned her have been regular check ups and shots.

Yep, for an old bird she's been pretty cost effective.  

One of the two huge holes in the roof of her mouth has healed perfectly.  The other one is still a little iffy.  If we're lucky, it'll heal and we won't have to put her through another surgery. 

It's been a real easy morning.  I gave the entry hall floor a lick and a promise. I'm usually really anal about streaks but this morning decided I really didn't care.  So the streaks are staying.

I'm having a pudgy body, wrinkle faced day.  But on the upside, I'm also having a good hair and eyebrow day.  Isn't it funny how our bodies change from day to day?  Maybe they don't and it's just our frame of mind.

I looked at my eyebrows this morning and thanked mom for giving me her shape.  Unfortunately I got dad's spotty thin hair that forms them.  Both Caca and I have the problem that if you pluck the wrong one, you end up with a bald spot.  Nobody touches my eyebrows.  They're like gold to me.  LOL!  

I remember as a teen looking at mom's eyebrows and envying the great shape and thickness.  I see old pictures of her and those beautiful brows.  She had great legs too!  I got her legs.  Thanks mom!  They're shapely and when I wear socks they look like an athletes legs.  I've decided to start some light weight lifting (I have ugly arms out of shape arms) and walking.  I'm not in bad shape but can certainly do better.  

I'm thinking of buying a new basketball so I can shoot hoops in the backyard. That ought to bring up a funny picture in your minds.  Hahahaha!