Just a Plethora...

Wow, it's been just over a week since I posted last!  Don't know how that happened...

Let's see... What did we do?  

Oh!  I won $90 worth of T-Bone steaks from a radio program!!!  All I had to do was be the 33rd caller!!  If you ever listen to Van on WHO radio, he was hosting the Wheel of Meat this past week in honor of HyVee's 90th anniversary. 

Then of course, the next day, they gave away $900 worth of meat....  Meri tried for it but wasn't the 99th caller. Bummer.  She had her deep freeze ready.

I took Leon with me to pick up some free bricks from freecycle and we stopped by my favorite metal bridge and went for a walk.

As soon as he heard my cell phone picture snap, he spun around and insisted that I delete it.

Um of course I just did!...

As soon as I sent it to my FB messenger for safe keeping... ;)

Also last weekend, Robb and I bought a used minivan!  It's so purdy...  

A few quirks with it, but we're getting it to our car guy soon to iron out any tiny imperfections.

I can NOT tell you how much stuff I've hauled in it already!  I missed my old van SO much!

A friend of my sister-in-law, lives nearby and was cleaning out her late mother's house getting it ready to put on the market.  She had three boxes of sewing things that needed to go somewhere and offered it all to me.  It felt so good to feel NEW(to me) fabric!!  Ahhhhh

The pile of dirt that had been gifted to us last fall is now cleaned up and a big circle of bare ground underneath is all that's left.  With my new van, I hauled 4 garbage cans full of the remaining dirt over to Meri's new garden.  Her garden will take more than that...  So I checked with city hall to see if I could get some of the dirt they have stacked around the yard waste place.

They said SHURRRE!!!

Woohoo!  4 garbage cans full later and Meri still needs more.

sigh.  It'll be a bigger afternoon that I thought.

Meri has put me on a 2 week quarantine due to the wedding we attended so it's been quiet.  She mowed her own yard yesterday but I did some socially distancing dirt moving for her. 

I miss my girls...

On Friday, Meri invited Leon and I over for a "socially distant" pool party.

She was having one with her friends on Saturday also and wanted to break in the pools.

Leon had a blast and splashed around like he was training for the Olympics.

Reedus and Ellie watched enviously from the doorway.  Meri is talking about putting up a fence some day, so then they could come out during a pool party in the future...

Then unfortunately a bug or garbage from Leon's feet got in the water and he flipped out.

So we went home.  I made a net for Meri to clean out the pools before her party on Saturday.

A pool party is always a great time until someone tracks in grass...  or a bug hits.

We used to make these all the time for our above ground pools growing up.  Not too many people have wire hangers anymore, but I found one.  Probably from a dry cleaners.

Worked at a church cleaning with a couple other women this last Saturday morning.  A woman in our church had just been moved to hospice and we wanted to make sure the church was clean for a possible funeral/memorial service.  I climbed a very tall ladder and rigged up a big pole to clean at the very front of the sanctuary.  But something needed to be done to get those dead flies and way up high cobwebs.  And that's why God sent me to this church anyway.  To reach high places.  That's what Polly said anyway, years ago...

The woman passed away that very evening so our timing was good.  But the memorial service might not be for a couple months.  The family hasn't decided yet.

Then on Sunday afternoon, I took the time to clean out three of my 4 sewing machines/sergers.  SO much fuzz and lint under the sewing plates... It took probably ten qtips to clean it all out and a tweezers to pull out a few rogue pins that were inside my Janome...

And I figured out my problem with the white thread serger!  See the mess on the right?  Yeah - it's not supposed to be that way...  So now it's looking like on the left!

Do you know what the secret was?  I had in ball tip needles which work best on knits...  This is cotton...  So now I know...  I need more needles. of both kinds...

AND the last time I'd used the black thread serger, it was for some rolled hem work.  But I put in the 2nd needle again and tried it out before I remembered the rolled hem thingy.

It looks like of cool!  I took a picture of the settings to remember this if I ever make 40 table runners again.

Well, back to work.  Things have been busy.

Have a wonderful week!

Drowning in stitches, pools and tears

What a weekend...  You'd think I've more sewing projects done for the state fair...

I've made SOME progress...  The satin pants got hemmed and the waist band 90% in.  The kids chair that I gave to Leon years ago got washed and I used some of the memory foam mattress bits to beef it up a little.  It had lost it's shape.  And after Leon saw it, he sat on it sideways and I totally understood how it got that way.  

He doesn't get to sit on it again until after the fair.

The purple skirt got elastic and a hem in.  

A few of the items got washed.

The gold dress got the hem 25% in.  I have some hand stitching to do and the lining to hem.

On Saturday morning, Robb, MIL and myself attended the wedding shower of a nephew and his soon-to-be bride.  Saw lots of family and had a great time.  They had a donut wall...  I ate my weight in donuts and quiche.  The diet can weight...

We got home in time for me to dig back into my sewing.  I'm so glad Robb is supportive of my sewing habits!  At least for the moment.  I'm getting caught up on laundry this morning, so that might help even longer...

After church on Sunday, Meri asked me over to help her wash dishes that she'd gotten backed up on.  She had a laundry basket full of dishes that she pulled out of her room.  There was a blanket on top so her roommates wouldn't see that SHE was the reason they couldn't find their dishes.   I helped as much as I could in the 30 minutes that I had and got most of them done, but then had to hit the road.  But it was enough of a boost to keep her cleaning for the afternoon.  She moves out in a couple weeks.  

Leon had his last swimming lesson of the summer and we couldn't miss his chance to attempt to dive off the board this year!

Leon and his instructor having a pep talk as well as going over the check list of all the swimming things he passed this year.

As for the diving attempt, he didn't.. again...  

After a few false starts, he climbed off the diving board in tears.

Robb bribed him with $5 worth of Ro-Bucks (ask your kids what this is...) and he perked up and said, OK!  and headed for the board.  

His teacher went with him and ended up dropping him over the end.  KIND of like last year but with less drama.  It went a lot quicker.

Whew! 

Oh and he hated it.  Apparently water went into his nose.  We saw a lot of improvement since last year but that diving board still continues to flummox him.

A couple movies that I can give my kudos to this week...

1) Pihu - a 2 year old girl has to survive in an apartment after her mother dies and her father is out of town.  yikes...  Every mother's nightmare.  

2) Patrick - a young woman inherits a Pug dog from her grandmother and it totally throws her life into turmoil.  Sweet.

3) Saving Mr. Banks - The authoress of the book Mary Poppins travels to L.A. to work with Walt Disney to make the movie and it changed my mind about the movie Mary Poppins.  I was always offended by how Mary Poppins comes into their house and becomes the busy body that no one wants their kids to love more than themselves.  But this movie put it into a perspective that honestly made me sob for a bit.  Grab a kleenex before watching.  It was great.

Anywho...  enough of tears for me for a while!  I also started watching a Kevin James movie called The True Memoirs of an International Assassin.  Very funny so far!

Ok - back onto my other stuff that keeps me busy.  Have a great week!

Cooking up Independence

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of the July!!!  

Our fireworks display, aided by the pop cans we are too lazy to go redeem ourselves so we give them all to the town firework display fund, were postponed due to a horrific thunderstorm Wednesday evening.  The skies had cleared by the time it got dark, but no one knew how long that storm was going to last.  So we'll get the fireworks tonight.

I managed to get the yard mowed at top speed on Wednesday over lunch, as black clouds rolled into town. The yard looks it.  I guess it ALWAYS looks like I mowed at top speed.  and several days too late...  I'll ask for a hay baler for my birthday.

I made some lactose free yogurt for Meri.  OOHHH  it came out so creamy and good!  Mixed with a little rhubarb sauce or fruit, it's perfect!  I'm making more regular stuff now with some 1% milk that was about to expire.  I've figured out how to make lactose free milk, so the next batch after today will be done that way for Meri.

I've spent a lot of time at the pool.  Not IN the pool, but either working from under the shade or trying to read a book.  It's almost to a sad part and I'm not sure I want to read that part in public...

Remember Judy Blume, who wrote the Junie B. Jones books?  She wrote some books for the grown ups too!  It's about a plane crash in the 50s.  The last sentence I read at the pool yesterday was "the plane was headed to the ground sideways."  or something like that.  yeah...   I'll read the next chapter later at home.  with no one around.  

Tomorrow is Mom's birthday.

Yesterday morning, being the 4th and no where to go, I spent part of the morning organizing my sewing over the past year.  Not too many things state fair quality, but the seams are finished and I want to show it anyway.  I've got 10 tickets, let's use them!

Robb and I had a DUO call with Maddy and Matthew.  They're having a quiet 4th in Wisconsin and Maddy was making a fruit pizza in the shape of a flag.  She decided to create her OWN flag tho.

Isn't it just too adorable to eat?

Then we hustled and got the lunch going for Meri, Ryan, Jen, Leon, MIL and ourselves.  We served hamburgers, potato salad, lettuce salad and rhubarb dessert with ice cream.  Meri had to work later than she thought, so while we waited Ryan googled some Independence Day Trivia questions and quizzed us.  I'm probably not as smart as a fifth grader either...  I didn't do so good.

During lunch, Robb got a call from our nephew, who we'd invited up to lunch.  So a 4th of July big supper was planned also.  I didn't want to stretch the potato salad so we opted for lasagnas instead.

Meri already had other plans so after a rousing game of Mousetrap with her,Leon and myself, she had to leave.

 

While I got the china ready for the next fancy meal of the day, Robb picked up a few items we'd need for supper and then we got to work cooking again.  

I attempted to make some sourdough bread in the bread machine and then went to go lay down and veg for a little bit watching a comedy SPY off Hulu.  Got 10 minutes into it and Leon came to ask if I'd take him swimming.  I'll never tell him no for that.  Especially on a holiday!  He'd just been on a hike with his dad and Jen and mud was smeared all over his legs and arms.  I have NO idea where he'd been hiking, so he took a quick bath before we left for the pool.  

About that time, I realized that using the leftover whey for the sourdough needed to be rethought...  It was a soupy mess.  So before we went swimming, we ran to the only open store with french bread for sale.  THEN the pool.  

Got home in time to get the table set and the next rhubarb crisp in the oven before Josh and his girlfriend arrived.  She brought her dog along and our dogs pitched a fit.  KENNEL UP!

It was so fun getting caught up with their lives.  They both had spent the last semester "abroad" of sorts for college.  She in the Virgin islands and he in Hawaii.  

After supper, we played some Fibbage and just talked.  A nice ending to a nice day.  

What did you do on the 4th?

Ticket To Sew

Ryan invited one of his old friends to the house to help celebrate his birthday on Tuesday night.  We all, except Robb, played Ticket To Ride and of course I lost...  But not before I totally thwarted Ryan's attempt at a win.  

If you've never had your own son cuss you out on his birthday, you haven't lived.

Also on Tuesday was Leon's last swimming lesson.  He dunked several times and then attempted the board again.  Maybe next year...  I've got a 2 minute long video of him saying he'll do it, then backing out... again...

I've taken him swimming a couple times since and even jumped off the diving board myself to show him how easy it was.  The lifeguard, Jonny Five (our nickname for him), who is also a neighbor boy of ours, just looked on in shock, wondering whether he should jump in first so he can catch me I suppose.  

No one over the age of 50 has used the diving board before I guess...

  First time for me in probably 25 years...  I timidly stepped out to the end and forgot to jump very much so my "pencil" dive wasn't too impressive, in my mind.  

Leon yelled, "Yay!! You did the pencil like I wanted!"  

Did I???

I think I swallowed some water because my throat hurt for a while afterwards, but I tried to make it not seem so scary for Leon.  He watched from the rope.  It'll be another 25 years before I do it again and I'll probably have to be dropped off.

In other, sewing, news, Leon commissioned me to make him a pair of white pants to go along with his Link (from Zelda) costume.  I had him try on a pair of PJ bottoms that fit well and asked him if he liked how they fit.  

So I used that as a general pattern.  He is loving them and that evening would only respond to you if you addressed him as Link.

 And Meri was actually home that night!  We never see her unless other plans fall through.  

With Maddy, she'd at least pencil us in.

Hopefully I'll have a couple more entries for the state fair done by the weekend.  Working on a cool hooded tunic right now.  If this goes well, I'll make myself another one without sleeves.  More on that another day.

Have a great one!

AND He's IN!

Ryan and I took the boy to his swimming lesson yesterday.  He PROMISED us that he wouldn't chicken out for the diving board again...  So he got acclimated by floating around in the deep end, and because these lessons were during open pool time, he saw people he knew and would like to know.  He got a bit distracted...  

No, you can NOT just play on the rope!  Obey your teacher!

And then for the big moment...  he got on the diving board and our cameras were ready.  There was not enough video room on my camera to record the whole thing.  

So I only got a small video of it and decided on pics for the rest.  

It took forever...  

click for a larger pic.

His teacher ended up having to drop him off the edge of the board.

She is SO patient with him!

He has promised us that he'll do it himself today, so we'll see... and have our cameras ready.

Paddling Furiously

Leon started swimming lessons yesterday!  He loves it!  His teacher, probably not as much.

He can be exasperating.  

"I don't want to dunk ALL the way... but I want to show you how I can get to the rope!"

sigh...  I had to yell over a few times for him to obey his teacher.

And since Duke is going to be a Wisconsinite within a matter of weeks, I took him to Petco to get a makeover.  They shampooed him twice, blow dried his hair, brushed him out, brushed his teeth, clipped his nails, cleaned his ears and gave him a cutesie little bow tie when he was done.  All for only $34!  The best $34 I ever spent...  

They said he was just perfect in every way and was the best behaved dog they have had in a LONG time!

And that's why Maddy and Matthew want him rather than any of the other dogs.

Isn't he handsome??!

When we got home with him, Reedus was sniffing him all over and growling as if we'd replaced Duke with a lookalike that smells nice.  I had to put Reedus in the garage kennel for fear of having a dog fight on our hands.  All Reedus induced.  Duke was just standing there looking confused.

Duke: "Calm down Son! It's ME!!!"

Anyway, while I was waiting for Duke to get dolled up, I checked out Walmart's fabric section.  They had just marked down a ton of their fabric and I found lots of stuff for 50 cents a yard!  PERFECT for trying out a pattern and some are just right for a few projects I have in mind for the fair...

  I'll show you some pics of the fabric tomorrow.  It's all the way upstairs.

I also returned two of the dressmaking dummies and as of last night I was down to five left.  I posted a pic to my sewing group and 4 people said that I could make arrangements with them to drop them off.  oops...  I only knew of 3 of you...  So I woke up at 1:30 and agonized in my head to remember what costumes I had on the deck for Meri's party and how many that was, subtracting the ones I returned to Diane.

It wasn't five dummies left, it should be six...  oh dear... Where could the sixth one be?  So after laying in bed frantically trying to think for 45 minutes, I got up and went downstairs for a mannequin hunt.  

Could someone have taken one?!  Who?!  Who would want one, of the people that have come into our house, in the last few weeks?...  

I found it in the dark, in my pajamas.  It had been tucked behind one of the doors that was covered with Meri memories, mere inches from the mannequins in the picture.  Whew!  Those things are expensive and I didn't relish the thought of having to buy a replacement!  But then I was keyed up and stayed awake for another half hour or so.  dang.

Today could be a long day if I let it.

My Oldest Friend

It's swim time.....  After Leon was there yesterday for over 30 minutes, I sent a FB message to a neighbor with a kid his age and she came up within another half hour so Leon was thrilled when he read their message to me.  YAY!!!  I overheard him talking to another little kid that he knows from school, "He's like my oldest friend.  I met him a couple years ago."

THEN he got stung by a bee and spent the next 15 minutes screaming his head off.  The staff there did their best to quiet him down and put ointment on the invisible spot of puncture.  He got a free bottle of water out of it too!  The neighbor had a pharmacy in her bag and he got some Motrin too.  Whew!

I'm doubting they'll come to the pool with us any time soon.

Also yesterday, I lost half a BIG filling on one tooth.  My tongue has been playing with the edges ever since.  So I got in at the dentist this morning and a couple thousand dollars later, I've still got an edge for my tongue to play with but promise of more work to do in the coming weeks.  Apparently I've got some gum disease issues in a few areas of my gums.  Yuck.  Robb said they always say that. But I don't know.  I don't typically hear that.  However it's been years since I've been to a dentist.  So who knows?  AND I need to floss better. 

And Meri started a full time during the summer job at a day care.  She may get her tubes tied next weekend because her weekdays are totally full...

So there is the news around here this week.  

The Pressures On

I found a float toy!!  And he loves it.  

Got him in the pool during the last half of my lunch break yesterday and I worked at the swimming pool for over an hour while he mingled.

He mostly watched a different grandma give her grandson a swimming lesson and now he's ALL about putting his face under the water.  Well, for starters, in the bath tub today.  

"WHY are you sputtering?!"

We've got him signed up for swimming lessons starting next week.

As I took Ryan to work yesterday, this happened...  sigh.  Can't drive anywhere in the afternoon without that happening...  and I HAD worn him out with the swimming.

We headed to church where we prepared for a supper and then VBS (Vacation Bible School).  Can you guess what our story was last night?  

Yikes, that was one tall dude! I may have measured him a few inches taller than he actually was.

It's happened in more modern days too...

THEN we had a visitor who showed us all about modern day heros.

One of the dads.

After that, each of the kids attempted to take down our very own Goliath.

 Granted, it was just a head in the tree.

 But check out Emma's jump!

They had a blast.  Now if we can just have tonight be just as awesome...  

Under pressure now...

Swimming Pool Apocalypse and movie review

So...  I started watching this movie Bokeh a day or so ago.  The deaths in the paradise that is Sainte Marie island, finally calmed down and I needed something different.  Wow, was this different!

Let's just say that the money they spent on casting extras didn't break the bank.  I spent an additional twenty minutes in bed so I could finish it.  And needless to say, I was disappointed in how it ended.  

So my day is bleh so far.  Actually wishing some sort of mysterious apocalypse would happen and there were only be a few left here that I could share my life with.  I've read/seen "My Side of the Mountain" and "Swiss Family Robinson" enough times to know what to do in case of an emergency such as this.

PLUS I've seen ALL the seasons of The Walking Dead!  The scenario in THIS movie would be a cake walk, because duh!  No Zombies!!!

There were parts that reminded me JUST a little of "Night of the Comet", but without the valley girl talk.  Probably an improvement...   And it was based in Iceland so the scenery was gorgeous.

Maybe I just need some Me time... huh?  Not really an apocalypse event, but just some time to have some quiet with minimal responsibility.

Leon and I went to the pool last night.  I was waiting 45 minutes for a phone call that didn't happen until I called my co-worker because Leon really wanted me in the water with him and he was tired of talking to the lifeguard.  Got the call done and joined him for a little while until the melt down, and by that, I mean the time when I announce that we need to get home.  

This was him two summers ago.

Same style of meltdown, but additional tactics which includes bargaining for just ten more minutes.  

He has the makings of a lawyer.

I won.

I didn't say he was GOOD at it yet...

In case of a mysterious apocalypse in which everyone but my loved ones and I disappear, after we hit the stores, we'll be at the pool.  Until it needs cleaning of course...

Exit pool right

 Talk about a great weekend!

Go ahead.

Friday night, I lounged.  Saturday, after some errands, I sewed.  A lot.  I got some items done on the wedding dress and except for a zipper, all it needs now is another fitting, a hem, a ton of handstitching and some WonderUnder fusible webbing.  At least that's what I want to try to attach the lace bits to the skirt.  I've tried Elmer's glue, seam glue and spit.  But except for the spit, the chiffon just gets to stiff.  Can't have that.  And spit doesn't work at all.

So I needed to take a break from sewing and Leon needed to get out of the house and do something fun.  So I took him to the pool.  

He had a great time and talked me into getting in.  Granted, it takes me 30 minutes to get into a pool just to my waist...  I'm a weenie and the pool isn't a bath...  

When I finally got IN, I tried to show him how to float on his back and/or dunk.  He was having none of it.   Even with my showing him how easy it was.  He thought that if I was floating on my back, he could jump on as a passenger.  Um, nope.

But then the adult swim whistle blew and we went and got a treat.  A lifeguard came up to me as we're buying the candy and said that my nose was bleeding... REALLY??!  So I got a mess of paper towels along with the candy.  Leon said my neck was orange.  It went away with a swipe of paper towel.  I must have looked like an Oompa Loompa to him as he thought it was funny.  I'm just wondering how many people saw me with blood dripping before we went to the canteen...  

Here I thought it was water.

 Oh well.

Leon has no fear now of asking the pool staff for toys or to turn on the mushroom.  He impressed the snooty people sitting next to us on the lounge chairs with his bravery.  But they were still snooty.

Meri was just getting off work, so I begged her to come up and visit with us.  Reluctantly she did.  And unfortunately for me she did.  She put Leon up to things...

And he was game.

What a turkey!  Thankfully he missed the camera AND my book but got me all wet again.

Meri came to sit with me after Leon made a friend and we watched him for a bit.  He went up to the dad of some total strangers and started tickling him on his back.  Meri and I watched with our mouths open... and then while laughing tried to call Leon off.  He gave the guy a hug around the back of his neck, then came over, like "Wha???"

Oh man.  I guess that was our queue to leave.

Made and Missed Opportunities

 Here is a bit of my sewing from last Saturday.  I know it's hard to make out just what this is...  BUT, this is the overblouse for the dress.  I intentionally left a large swath of fabric on the bottom that I will cut around and be able to gradually merge down onto the grecian skirt.  

I need to move the skirt up the satin bodice about a half inch too.  

But I've got a list of things to do and will get to it as time allows.  

As for the rest of the photos...  I picked up a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume last weekend and Leon loves it!  I didn't know why the brown strips of cloth were on each sleeve and assumed the turtles liked fringe.  Leon knew what to do with them though...  

Last night, Meri and I attempted to take Leon swimming at 7pm and unfortunately the swimming lessons have begun...  The pool closes to the public at 7.  There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth stemming from that so I took Meri home.  And Leon too.  

We dug out the water balloons and since they were the old fashioned kind 

and I didn't have the proper tools to make a hundred in a minute, I made them ten.

And after Leon threw the last one at me, 

I realized ten was exactly the right number.

Robb's Dopp kit got waxed and thrown in the dryer this morning.  It's going to be pretty slick!  I just need to attach the handle.  That Highschool Musical pillow case is toast though with wax bits inside now.  Probably a good thing.  The kids were with Robb when he saw that set of queen-sized sheets on sale for $5 and bought it for me for Mother's Day one year.  Ryan said that he wanted to live with me after the divorce.  BUT no divorce and the sheets were actually used!  All that's left of that set now are the pillow cases.  And NOT even those anymore!!!

And this is Leon's project that he did for Ryan for Father's Day this coming weekend.  I bought a cool framed photo at the Salvation Army for a pittance.  Took the print out and flipped it over.  Leon painted his masterpiece and after it was completely dried this morning, I put it back in the frame.  This photo was still when it was drying.  It looks so nice in the gold frame!  I'll show you after Sunday.  I wrote a small label on it so he'd know when, for what and by whom it was made.  Leon DID write his name on it also... Just not his age.

Anyway, that's what's going on around here...  My sister won't come for her visit until tomorrow afternoon instead so the house was clean for no good reason.

Sorry she'll have missed it...