Gift For Son

This weekend I have been at mom’s and it has been a fun weekend J Daughter came down from college also, just in time to inspect breakfast fixin’s

It’s great to see, too, that some things never change!

And Son’s gift is finally done! Woot! Daughter and I have been working on it, and it’s been on my WIP list for a year? But here it is:

Zombie Dice! It’s actually a fun game! Fairly quick, and if you have the sense of humor that leans in that direction, this is a game well worth purchasing. I found the game on the internet here, but we cannot afford a whole lot so I thought to make it, it was a bit more involved to make than I anticipated (because used only what we had), but the laughs generated are priceless, so well worth it J. 

Treadle Sewing Machine Belt Fix

I was on a forum boo hoo’in that I have a treadle sewing machine but have not been able to use it because the belt snapped. Being that my Great Aunt died at 96, I can understand that oiling, polishing and general upkeep of the sewing machine was not, had not, and should not, have been high on her priorities. Bless her, I certainly wish she were still here.

Great Aunt EW 2004

Well, it had been sitting for some time without any love. Completely my own fault! I decided it was high time to quit the boo hooin’ and start doin’! The first thing I wanted to do was see if I could make a belt instead of waiting for money to buy one.

What I did:

I had some leather lacing, I have no clue where, when, or why I had it, but I do and I figured that would be my best bet, because really, back in the day, they didn’t wait and wait and wait to fix something, without trying for themselves first.

This is all the info I know on it - if you can decipher it, PLEASE let me know too!

So I had the leather lacing, and I used the old belt to get an idea of the length I would need and cut the leather about 8 inches longer. Then I threaded the leather through all the little holes and guides and marked it where it felt there was enough tension.

Cut longer (by the way - that is not dust - it is from the leather lacing)

Do you see the two marks right above my thumb?

Then I took a deep breath and trimmed it, not straight across, but diagonally… and promptly dropped the leather…

Trimmed diagonally

So after rethreading the leather through all the holes again I realized I had not gotten my sewing needle ready… so had to set the leather strip down again, where gravity does what it always does, and it fell through the holes again. I left it this time and went and got my needle and thread, which was upholstery thread and a small needle. So small my metal needle threader didn’t fit. So I had to go get my eyes.

I think this is a jeweler's visor, a gift from a friend, it is wonderful and enables me to continue with crafts - THANK YOU MS K!

So needle is now threaded, leather is cut, I am ready to go. I rethread the leather through everything again, when it occurred to me that it might be better to thread from the top, at least then if I drop it all I have to do is guide the leather for the bottom fly wheel and not have to try to get my fingers through the small holes!

Go down through BOTH holes instead of down one and up through the other... It takes me a while but I do eventually catch on!

Got all ready to go when I remembered about the guide hole that guides the belt around the fly wheel… nope, I hadn’t threaded it. This is behind the wheel and in the back. I could not get under there to take the picture so I just angled the camera till I got it – I think I have the picture right side up!

Don't forget this, like I did!

Finally I sewed it together

I Pushed the needle through both pieces (realized I needed my thimble!) and then wrapped some, pushed it through again and wrapped some more, then pushed the needle through and tied it off.

I wasn't going for pretty - and blue shows up well for the picture!

It WORKED!!!

Please ignore the dirty floor...

Though I know in a bit it will start slipping, that’s ok, I need to go through and clean everything anyway (you learn a LOT when you take pictures!) and next time I will wet the leather and THEN sew it on – leather will shrink when it dries J

BUT THIS WORKS!!!!

PS: just a side note... treadle sewing machines and office chairs with wheels, DO NOT MIX! Wheee - I went wheeling backwards the first time!!! hehe

Pinterest & Aprons, Oh My!

I finally figured out what Pinterest is. My daughter had been sending me pictures through email of little things she thought I would like and said I should take a look at the site. I never did. Then the other day this post came through my Reader from Sew Many Ways (another blog that you should REALLY take a look at) and I felt like Charlie Brown, you know when the teacher talks and all you hear is “Wha wha wha wha”? (I didn't understand a word!) Then a friend was saying how she got most of her ideas for her upcoming wedding from Pinterest also. Sigh.

That’s just too much coincidence in one week, so I finally went.

And stayed.

For a FULL day.

Nothing got done. Dishes, laundry, dinner. Nothing. But I have so many ideas on projects that I will never finish can’t wait to start! Also, I can “Follow” my daughter’s “Board” to see what her “WeddingWishes” are.

My next project from Sew4Home - their FULL tutorial here!

So if you are bored, or are struggling for ideas, request an invite (it only took about an hour to get the go ahead) and set aside a day and explore.

PS: I am not trying to, or getting paid to, endorse Pinterest or any of these sites. I am just excited to find another method of getting some very helpful ideas!

Seedlings

Last month a dear friend had brought me some heirloom seeds she had harvested from her garden last season, to include a seed tray! Well I planted them right away and was so excited as had tomatoes, eggplant, and a few other little sprouts pop up, and darn it if the mice didn’t find a way to get to them and had themselves a mighty fine dinner! I did manage to save the eggplant sprouts. Well, my friend knew right away that something had happened when I didn’t show her the progress made, and today she brought me some of her extra seedlings. She has also said her husband can bring a load of good lake dirt for the garden for when we are ready for it. Hehe, I wonder if he knows he has been “volunteered” J That’s ok. I “volunteered” my hubby to go and help him get it!!!

And she has been bringing me fresh eggs. NOTHING can compare to fresh eggs, I am officially spoiled!

I believe this garden will be extra special, as it was friendship that helped start it J

Oh!!! And mom will be coming to visit soon, I can’t wait to show her! 

Valentine Banner

Well, he got the little valentines notes, and I had worked on them for so long that I did not know what to do with them, I really did not want to throw them away. I had been seeing all over the internet little heart banners and such and decided to turn mine into one also!

All I did was chain-stitch and when I wanted to add a heart I used a triple crochet stitch, but the hearts were made from plastic canvas so I had to use a very small crochet needle. That was fun switching back and forth - I had the dropsies! Then on the second row used my favorite shell pattern (there are so many), but mine is basically *3dc in 1ch, sk 1ch, sc in next ch, sk 1ch,* over and over. That went much easier!

I think it turned out quite well.

Valentines Day

I made these for hubby... actually I have BEEN making these for hubby for about four - ish YEARS!!!! Finally finished them in time to be able to use them - WOOT!

So this is what is in his lunch today. He will probably think I forgot what today is, and to be honest we don't normally keep up with these, birthdays, or Christmas. There is just too much we NEED all the time to worry too much on these commercialized holidays! But sometimes just a little something can make all the difference in the world.

The shiny thing on the key is actually a gold heart shaped button.

The big heart and key was a pattern I found on the net http://www.freepatterns.com/detail.html?code=FP00180&cat_id=406  it's hiding in the bottom left corner! The rest of the hearts I just made on my own :)

The Weekend

Dear Daughter came home this weekend and we got to do a lot of crafting together. It was great :D It was also moms birthday - "Happy Birthday" Mom!!!!! We visited with her over the weekend too. It was a very nice visit, and gonna have to stay longer next time!

Now because the recipients haven't received their gifts yet, I can only show teasers of what we did. Once they get them I promise to show the whole thing.

 Daughter finding she really LIKES playing with the Dremel!

 Making one of three stamps for brother's gift.

 for my sister

 another for my sister...

 and another...

My sister is loved, cuz there is about five (?) more little bitties left to do.

I cant wait to show what we did, have been working on my sister's gift for a LONG time, and is way past due. The gift for Dear Son/Brother, is just way too fun... gonna have to make one for me!

My Favorite Dinnerware

A fellow blogger friend at "My Simple Life" had blogged about how one of her favorite cups had "mysteriously" gone missing, and then finding a replacement on ebay. I have been trying to do this myself, but evidently mine are hard to find! $50 per piece!!!! HAH and I complained when they were $15 for 2!!! But I love them, and they make me laugh, and really - wouldn't this make a fun table???

Bolded words are the links... I gotta play with this some more! The links didnt show at all before!!! I prolly should quit messing with the "advanced" settings and just go for the template...

Giraffe bowl and dinner plate

Hippo bowl and salad plate

The only complete set I have! Elephant bowl, dinner plate, and salad plate

Frog bowl and salad plate

Really, with these glasses, I think would make a wonderful "Tablescape". Sigh, I will get there eventually! Until then I will stay satisfied with having a nice "dessert" table :)

Antenna

I am very proud of my hubby! He made us a Double Bay Gray-Hoverman antenna from PVC, 1/2"x1/2" square wire mesh field fencing, 8 gauge copper wire, stainless steel screws, and a balun. (All of which we had lying around - yep even the balun!) He used plans from the internet, just Google "Gray-Hoverman Antenna" and you will get lots to choose from. And will wonders never cease, it WORKS!

Here is ours!!!

This thing is WAY up there, so I zoomed in as best I could. but you can kinda sort of see the fencing... maybe? 

All I can say is though, it works beautifully, and the stations are approximately 60 miles away! Good job Hubby!


PS - don't ask me what a "balun" is - all I know it is an electrical doohickey that helps with the process... and THATS after looking it up!!!!

Old Friends

This must be the week for old friends. I got to hear (briefly) from a childhood friend, and a friend who "disappeared" right before Thanksgiving.

My Childhood friend, who has been my friend since we were 14? 15? somewhere in there! Ok, WELL over 20 years! She contacted me through email, it is always great to hear from her. And, yes, I am still alive Missy :D Somehow, we have to find a way to get together for longer than an hour every other year! I know the odds are slim, and will stay satisfied with the emails back and forth, but its always nice to dream!

Now my friend who disappeared, well she lives clear across the country, so there is not a chance of being able to see her! She fell off the radar when she had computer problems, but she is back! Woot!

Do you have an old friend you haven't heard from? Friends are the family you get to CHOOSE ;) take a moment and try to reach out, you just might make someones day so much brighter! I know mine is :)

Love you Missy and MMIMO.

Just a "Happy"...

From daughters last visit

But you really need to zoom in...

Issues

One of the many side effects of my "issues" is that I am slowly going blind. Many days I cannot see well at all simply because of glare, sometimes my eyes are not able to adjust to any glare and so the world turns a painful white. This has caused quite a few unintentional adventures and new challenges for me.

For instance… have you ever tried to eat in the dark? One evening we ate a rice dish, and of course, my eyes weren’t doing too good so I had my eye covers on. It took FOREVER for me to be able to eat! I couldn’t figure out exactly how much food I had on my fork! So some bites I had NO food on the fork at all (it would fall off – you try to stab rice!) or I would have too much! A challenge I did not anticipate, though I did get the hang of it after a while. It didn’t occur to me till later… get a bowl! Duh.

We have lived in this house for over 15 years, I feel I know my way around the property pretty good. I go outside to hang clothes on the laundry line, blind, and stumble. Then realized when I stumbled I had gotten totally turned around and wasn’t sure exactly where I was! Normally that’s not too big of a deal; except, we have a lot of cactus in our yard. Sigh. Thankfully, I am still able to cheat a little and peaked around my eye covers so as to orient myself. I figured that bit of pain was a LOT better than the lingering pain of cactus needles that I would not be able to see to get out, and hubby wouldn’t be home for several hours yet!

But I will not always be able to “cheat” and so am taking these learning experiences to heart, and do my best to alleviate what I can NOW. I am grateful for this time TO learn, and it not be a sudden life changing experience. I refuse to quit doing what I normally do, hang laundry outside, EAT, clean, wash dishes, pick out my own clothes, haha, pour my own tea! (Whole other issues there!) Key words in there are “what I normally do”. I am just learning a “new normal”.

I have a feeling that “puffy paint” is going to be my new friend. Did you know most microwaves have smooth touch screen controls? I never paid any attention to it, till I had to warm up my coffee. I KNOW how the keypad is arranged, but I still need to orient myself as to WHERE I am in relation to the keys! Puffy paint outlining the buttons will help. Also, getting canned pumpkin pie filling instead of pineapple chunks is quite a big difference when wanting a nice tangy snack. So I had to come up with some quick pumpkin pie filling recipes! A little puffy paint on the cans would have helped tremendously.

And so, with that said, I am off to the cupboards to figure out a marking system…

Back

Hello Blogland

I truly have not intentionally ignored my own blog. Between problems with the internet, (chewed through cords seems to affect the quality of connection… who knew?) and health issues, well needless to say, I haven’t got much done!

I was going to wait for my daughter to come home for a visit to post more to my blog, but I would still have the same issues once she is gone. So with a little tweaking here and there so that I can see what I am typing, and after several attempts, actually get the subject of the pictures that I am trying to take into the view finder!

SO, am back, for better or worse. I won’t be posting daily, but it shouldn’t be once a month either! Haha, at least that’s the plan…