Saturday, November 29, 2014

Backwards

I thought I'd work backwards this time doing a bit of catching up.  I take photos all the time with blog and Facebook in mind, but I just don't seem to get to it!  But, I can type and mouse without pain now so I guess that's no longer an excuse.  :-)

So today The Magnificent Tramp agreed to wrestle with some acrylic and tools to cut an insert for my sewing table.  I was very proud of myself when I managed to measure and make a pattern for him to follow.  I lay the acrylic insert from the old Bernina 440 over the pattern and you can see how much larger the 710 is!  Wow.


After all the sawing, and sanding by both of us, we adjusted the table lift to the proper height and there we are!  Like it was meant.  :-)  A few rough spots and nicks but nothing that affects use.


The Tramp's first cut with the saw went a little awry and left an unintended notch.  Well look at that.  It turned out to be a perfect place to snake the power cord through.  Just the right size to stop the cord from slithering down to the floor when I unplug the machine.  Happy dance!


I had been using the machine with the table lift up a bit high and the Bernina table/platform attached to the machine.  Perfectly fine except it curves down in the front.  Everything kept slipping off onto the floor!  The scissors, the stilletto, the pencil, the ruler.  Sigh.  And if I didn't put it where it was in danger of slipping off, my scissors etc. were balancing on that thin bit of table.  I am so excited to be able to put my tools back where they belong!  No more catching-them-quick or fishing them back up off the floor and out of the wastebasket.  Yay!!  Life is good.


Yesterday I received goodness in the mail.  All the way from Australia!  Woot!  It's my SSCS swap giftie.  Love the owl ornament!  I have one Christmas tree with just birds on it.  How perfect!!  Now I have to be good and put the other gift under the tree.  Darn!


Thanksgiving was very pleasant.  No one is especially fond of turkey here so we decided to experiment with cornish game hens, which not only had I never cooked before, but didn't know are neither Cornish, nor gamebirds, nor necessarily hens.  Who knew?  I followed a how-to video on the America's Test Kitchen site and hoped for the best.  Not bad.  Not perfect, but a good first try.  We were so busy visiting and eating I forgot to take any photos at Thanksgiving dinner!  So here is a token photo of the same dinner tonight.  Only one more meal of leftovers in the fridge and no mountains of turkey to be creative with.  Yessss.


The Sailor Son was able to get away for a few days and join us.  Someone commented on his new hairstyle and The Tramp mentioned he looked like a throwback to Leave it to Beaver.


And so he does!  Happily he took it as a compliment.  :-)


My Thanksgiving cacti are blooming like crazy.  (I should really try for a better-than-phone photo.)


Our sweet Stardust is apparently getting the most out of Autumn too.


In between the very chilly days we had a couple of warm wet ones so The Viking got in some serious sandbox time.


He is also fascinated with the "storm trooper gun" his older cousins leave at our house.  He uses it as a camera and walks around with it plastered to his forehead saying "cheese" and clicking away at the trigger.  On this day a contractor was replacing a rotted post on the back porch steps and The Viking dragged a chair over to the door so he could watch and take pictures.  I can only wonder what the contractor thought.


The Viking's vocabulary grows by leaps and bounds and he talks incessantly.....even when he's eating.  Snap, Crackle, POP!


Colors are a big deal at the moment as well, so we've provided pencils, crayons, books and paper.  At the moment most things are colored blue or brown!


LOL  Mr. Funnyface and I had a game night and amazingly I won.  Twice!  Trivial Pursuit is not one of my strengths, but the original game cards have so many older American historical and cultural references The Tramp struggles a bit and it puts us on a much more level playing field.  :-)


Last weekend Mom had a table at the craft fair in her retirement community.  She had scarves and shawls, lap quilts, catnip quilts, and beaded Santa earrings--which sold instantly.  The little quilts with catnip in them are very popular too, and several more people have ordered them.


There are revolving art displays in the big rotunda and "main" hallways.  Mom and another quilter have had a display of quilts up for two months.  Mom has so many wonderful quilts we were able to refresh her part of the display after the first month.  Lucky me, four of these quilts live at my house!  This hallway is so long (this is just a short bit of it) that the residents call it I40 (after the local Interstate highway 40).  The Viking loves all the long hallways and it's hard to discourage him from running as fast as he can!   From where I'm standing, the cafe, where I take him for lunch with Nanny and Papa, is behind me to the left, just past the library.  Outside the dining room and the cafe are "parking lots" for electric carts, wheelchairs, and rolling walkers.  The Viking is ever fascinated by all the wheels here!


ED's birthday (she was a Thanksgiving day baby!) was earlier this week and I made up a new Zip and Go bag for her.  With paw prints of course!


Four charity quilts were bound recently too.


Now my machine is properly in it's table I have a baby quilt to finish quilting.  Maybe tomorrow is the day!


Monday, November 17, 2014

Happenings

The feet have been x-rayed, examined, and scanned and proper orthotics ordered.  The elbow has been manipulated, x-rayed, and examined and shot full of cortisone.  Eyes get examined soon. So if I can just manage through the weeks of temporary orthotics, the wrist splint and counterforce brace, and patiently wait for new glasses I should be a new person!  I've also got a reworked desk (love that Tramp!) and a new mouse and keyboard. Love my Apple devices, but the one thing they are not, is ergonomic.  So I'm two fingers tapping away on the iPad which is possible with the splint.  (So is typing...sort of...but it won't make anyone feel sorry for me. ;-))

So. The recent happenings in pictures. 

Stardust asked to have a "fancy day," so it happened!


The state fair happened.  Crazy foods, ribbons and rides.





Halloween happened.  And birthdays for two cousins.  With "tricky" candles!







A new cousin happened (now to finish his quilt!)..


New sewing machine happened!


And some fun sewing. 



Leaves are happening.  And happening....and happening....


Fun days.  :-)


Especially when a great big fire truck unexpectedly stops and a suited-up firefighter hops out to give a delighted small boy a hat!!!



Saturday, November 15, 2014

Ouch

Grumble, grumble.  I have "computer elbow" from too much Apple Magic Mouse and neck pain from the need for new glasses.  Sigh.  So little computering is happening at the moment, until we work out some better ergonomics.  TTYS

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Kodak moments

The pillowcase I made last weekend was put to good use this week. The funny part is he didn't even see it!  He fell asleep as the car pulled in the driveway and I managed to slip him onto the pillow next to his "baby" without waking him up.  He mumbled a few words, turned his head to mirror the doll and that was it.  You know that I had to take a picture. 😊


The Kodak moments are frequent these days. His mother sent me this photo.  She left the room to get him a drink and came back to this!  He looks entirely too comfortable with her laptop. I love it!  No worries, he can't get past the login screen.  Yet.


So when I got him down for his nap the other day, it was time to start basting this quilt Mom and I have been working on. 


Wait a minute!  The floor is wet!  Dogs maybe?


Nope. My jacket is wet too. What the???


Oh @&$%#!  Rain water coming in around the ceiling fan. Arrrggghhhhh!  Not on the quilt at least.  Thank goodness for that!


On Friday The Viking and I dropped my bicycle off at the bike shop. Well!  He was sooooo excited. All those wheels!!  


And a train table. Yowza. I was in danger of having to spend the afternoon there. 😃



Today The Tramp and I spent a few minutes down at the pond feeding a bit of stale bread the turtles. Well it started with turtles.  Then the channel catfish showed up.  Wow. Voracious and aggressive.  Didn't bother the turtles too much though.  


Basting done!  Yay!  Yep. That's Bing, Dean and Frank on the TV.  The Tramp does his best to keep me amused while I prick my fingers. ☺️


Last up is this new photo of The Prince.  Love those bright eyes!