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dooley's Blog
Super Loud Thunderstorm
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 9:11 pm We were shaken out of bed last night or I should say at 2 AM by a super loud clap of thunder and lightning that brightened the room like someone turned the lights on. It moved through quickly though for which we were thankful. Chance took offense at it and ran to the glass double doors and barked at it. She wanted it stopped right now! The extremely loud thunder only lasted maybe ten minutes but it rumbled and grumbled the rest of the night. I would say the rain that came with it amounted to four or more inches. We had to go down to College Station to the doctor this morning. The road was awash in water. All the creeks and rivers were over the banks and in some places the water was right up level with the highways. Anymore rain and it would have flowed over the road. We passed many stock tanks(ponds) that were over full and flooding out into pastures. The most of the rain had passed by the time we left home at 8:30am for our 10 am appointment. I drove carefully as the roads were wet and it was still drizzling in areas. The traffic was for the most part traveling at a reduced speed. We arrived in time and spent a good five minutes with the doctor. He took out the sponges and vacuumed out the crud and said continue the drops and come back in two weeks. As he was disappearing out the door I asked if the infection was cleared up. He turned and said, "for the most part. It's still a little red." They renewed the prescription and I made sure it was for the lower priced one. We have an appointment to go back in two weeks. We came home in about the same amount of time it took to drive down there. It wasn't rainy any more but there was a large amount of road crud splashing up from big trucks and cars passing going the opposite way. I'll have to remind dr to check our washer fluid because I used a fair amount of it. It's a bit cooler than I like it here and with the damp my knees keep saying, "Ouch!" but I'm sure summer is just around the corner. I wish though that I could find that corner. I need a map! I'm sure the plants, etc. enjoyed the storm a lot more than Chance and I did. Even dr with his hearing loss heard the thunder last night. Chance has been napping the day away. She had a busy night what with barking at the thunder and sitting by my side of the bed to make sure it didn't get me. I had to put my hand on her head so she knew I was still there or she whined about it. Dumb dog! I wasn't going anywhere in that storm. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 731 times
Not My Favorite Week!
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:28 pm Despite being in the 70's all week and no rain, it wasn't my favorite week at all. Monday was nice and sunny and warm and I went out and sat on the porch. I've been having some problems with an earache and the warmth made it feel better. I let Chance out on the porch with me. She was enjoying the sunshine, too. Another dog went past on the road and Chance thought she should bark at it. I told her "no bark." She didn't listen so I told she had to go back into the house and started after her to shoo her inside. She doubled back right in front of me and I tripped over her and fell flat on my face on the concrete porch. I think my nose tried to move to the back of my head and I'm sure if I look closely I'll find a dent in the concrete. I was afraid to get up and see what was broken. My nose was bleeding all over the place. I yelled and dr came to see what all the yelling and barking was about. He got cold compresses for my nose and helped me up. I got lucky or blessed because nothing was broken, not even my nose. It had a small scrape where my glasses pushed into it. My fingers on one hand were bruised where I tried to grab the porch post to keep from falling. But, no major damage. I was a bit shaky the rest of the day. The next day I didn't let Chance out with me. She was out on the back deck. Wednesday we went and did some major grocery shopping. Thursday, I broke down and called the doctor's office to see if I could get in anytime soon to get my ear looked at. Wouldn't you just know they could fit me in on Friday morning. I just love going to the doctor. We got up early Friday morning and went down to College Station to the doctor. We got there at 8:30. I waited until 9 to get in to see the doctor. That happens when they fit you in among other appointments. The doctor looked into my ear and said, "It's full of crud." He called and got me into see the ear doctor. The ear doctor was around the back of the building and across the street. I got lots of directions for getting there and though I had no idea where it was, I found it easy enough. After filling out tons of paperwork and getting my picture taken for their records I got in to see the doctor in less time than the family doctor. The ear doctor looked into my ear and said, "It's full of crud." He pulled out the trusty little vacuum cleaner and vacuumed my ear. It sounded just like a vacuum cleaner, too. Then, he looked again and I have an ear infection. Well, I knew that already. He put little sponges into my ear and squirted some ear drops in it and told me to come back in a week to get them taken out and let him check the ear again. Coming home we stopped to pick up the prescription for ear drops. We didn't pick it up. They wanted a hundred and thirty dollars for it. I didn't even put my hands on the bag to find out what it was. I just told her I didn't have a hundred and thirty dollars for ear drops, we needed to eat this week, too. So, the pharmacist faxed the doctor to see if there was something cheaper. It took all afternoon and finally we got some for closer to thirty dollars. So, we get to eat this week, too. We would have anyway because we did the shopping on Wednesday. After having put the drops in three times now and what the doctor put in, my ear has stopped hurting. But, I will finish the drops and go back on Friday to get the sponges taken out. It was a beautiful day on Friday, 76 degs and sunny. Today it was 72 degs and cloudy but it hasn't rained on us. Tomorrow starts another week with sunshine and 68 degrees. It's bound to be a better week than this one. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 482 times
I'm Waiting
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 2:50 am I'm waiting but not patiently. It's been more than cold enough for me here this winter. I know it's been warmer than most of the country but you all should know by now that I'm not a cold weather person. So, I just looked at the 10 day forecast. Tomorrow will be 66 degs with mostly sun. I'll take that for sure. I might even be able to go outside without the cold to make my ears hurt. But starting on Tuesday we have temps in the 70's for five days and only rain on one of them. Hurrah!! There is rain for Wednesday but it will be 70 so I can take the rain. It calls for isolated showers so maybe they will isolate elsewhere. Then, it's back to the 60's and rain on Saturday and Sunday. Well, it's still January so I guess I can't expect 70's all of the time. Well, I can expect it but I don't always get what I expect. There are things we can do outside. There are things we can do inside, too. Maybe we can open the doors and let some warm inside, too. Chance will like it. She likes sun and warm, too. We've had rain for four days now and it's been cloudy and gloomy and cold. I guess you all feel sorry for me now, right! Probably not! I can handle that. I'm just waiting for summer. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 459 times
Frustrating Day!!!
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:01 am I think I want to go back and start today over. I woke up to bright sunshine and Chance wanting to be let outside. dr got up and let Chance out. I dragged myself to the bathroom and then got dressed. I came and turned on the computer. I never turn it on, dr does it after he lets Chance out. I usually just pull the covers over my head until I'm fully awake or Chance comes back to whine at the side of the bed. I went to the kitchen and make Zucchini raisin muffins for breakfast and a pot of Russian Caravan tea. When I got the muffins in the oven I came in and clicked on the internet symbol and started the connection for the dial up. It started to dial and then disconnected and said the line was busy. So, I went back to the kitchen. After getting the muffins and tea ready I came back and tried again. Same thing. Well, after about a dozen tries and restarting the computer and checking out all of the computer lines I called the internet server support line. I used my cell phone because you can't use the regular phone and the internet at the same time with dial up. Anyway, after an hour and twenty minutes with the tech support guy, I hung up on further along than when I started. He was in India and half the time I couldn't understand him and the other half he couldn't understand me. He said in an hour his supervisor would call. So, I waited for someone to call. My cell phone battery was beeping the last twenty minutes of the call so I plugged it in to recharge and discovered my cell phone must not recognize 1-800 numbers because the minutes were deducted from my cell phone. So, we made a trip to town and bought more cell phone minutes for the card. I could have done it on the phone but I was frustrated and shall I say a little miffed and wasn't thinking clearly. Anyway, no supervisor called so when we got back, I called the support number again. I got another guy and he ran through the same routine the first guy did but his English was a bit better. He finally after 30 minutes said it wasn't the server. It must be my modem and I should call the computer company and tell them to restart it. I hung up. I didn't even remember to tell him good bye!! I don't know about modems except you need one to get on the internet. I called my trusty computer person, namely number two son. He took me to the control panel, to systems, to Hardware and we uninstalled the modem. Then, we backed out of everything and restarted the computer. There was the modem back and when I clicked on the internet symbol and started the connection everything worked just fine. Number two son said this is the first thing those computer tech persons should have done. He said if I had called the company they would have done the same thing he did and charged me an exorbitant price. So, at 4:40 pm, after wasting a whole day with people who didn't know what they were doing or trying to figure out what to do next I am finally back on the internet. Next time I will call number two son first and see what he recommends. If he recommends I call the tech support people I will bash his head with something hard. I do need to call around here to people I now know and find someone here who knows computers and can give me reliable advice. If I know what is wrong and they can talk me through it, okay. But, I need to know where to take if if they can't do that. Number two son lives halfway across the country and number three son who talked me through some other stuff lives way up north. Tomorrow I will make some calls and see what I can find or where I can take it if I need more expert advice. I'm not a complete computer dunce and if I do something once, I can do it again. I have a book of notes on how to do things that the boys have talked me through. But, mostly I can only do surface things and I'm afraid to try to do anything that might fry everything. Now, I think I feel better. I can take a deep breath and breathe free again. dr can walk into the room without a frustrated computer user "hollering" about that "d" computer not doing what it's supposed to do. He knows even less and left to his own devices would have thrown it out on the trash pile. He was nice enough to buy me lunch and a new phone card so I made him supper. I also helped him order a didgeridoo from an online store. I can wait for Chance to hear him try to play it. I'll get out my earplugs now. dooley Last edited: Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:42 am This blog entry has been viewed 485 times
Do I talk too much?
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:04 pm I was looking at these blog stats at the top of this page and it says that I have made 280 blogs. That seems like an awful lot of blogs to me. So, do I talk too much or maybe make that type too much. It's the beginning of a new year, 2010. It's the beginning of a new year, 69 (that's years). So, I thought I would start by writing a blog here, if I can get my fingers to type. It seems to be cold here today, but I actually sat out on that long front porch in the sun and read my book this afternoon. The sun really felt nice. Of course, I have on a thermal shirt, a sweatshirt and a padded flannel shirt. Still, it was 41 actual temperature and maybe about 60 in the sun. I was thinking it was cold, but it's not zero or below like much of the country or even the world north of the equator is now. I lived in Wisconsin for about 40 years and in Illinois before that so it's not that I don't know about cold and snow. But, since 1989 I've lived in the Sun Belt. Hot in the summer but tolerable in the winter except for a few weeks. They might seem like short weeks but they are long weeks to me. I have never been a cold weather person. I like to sit by a fire with a mug of hot tea in the winter time. I have a mug of hot tea here but no fire to sit in front of without burning down the house. Heat coming out of a vent is not the same thing. Am I complaining about being cold? I think so. I apologize to the people who live where it's cold and don't have a fire or a cup of hot tea. We began the new year with my birthday. We ate breakfast at the Texas Burger. It has a good breakfast fairly reasonable. We went down to Huntsville and had lunch at the Chinese Buffet. It's a good place for lunch if I remember I don't have to try everything just because it's a buffet. I don't actually. I don't eat shrimp and those beady little eyes in the crayfish turn me off of them. Mudbugs some call them and I'd leave them in the mud myself. Do I owe an apology to the Cajun people now? We went and did a bit of shopping. After just having had gifts for Christmas I didn't need more things. But I'd been wanting a new travel mug for that mug of hot tea for when we go out and about during the day. That's the one thing I complain about Texas Burger. They don't serve hot tea. So, I bought a new travel mug. Then, I found a travel atlas. I like to check the atlas when people mention someplace and I don't know where it's located. I really need a good world atlas but haven't seen one of those here--yet. We came home and stopped and bought some bread. Here it is January 5th and I haven't made bread yet. What kind of way is that to start a new year? We didn't go to the farmer's market because it was just too cold and damp to sit outside. My knees don't like the cold. dr's shoulders don't like the cold either. It might be okay if it wasn't so damp. It rains a lot here and the ditch keeps full of water. So, we started this week by taking down Christmas. I thought when we moved from Arizona to Texas that I sorted out our Christmas stuff and only brought the special stuff. But, they have a thrift shop here that has all sorts of stuff and we stop there every time we go to town(which seems almost daily.) We never leave there empty handed. They do good work with the money. They help the homeless and give out food vouchers and clothing vouchers, etc. I buy a lot of material there. They get new remnants from fabric stores. Anyway, I filled several storage tubs with the Christmas stuff. I finished and went to make my mug of tea. There on the table were three Christmas bowls and a stack of Christmas serving plates. They went into the top of the cupboard. Then, there were the Christmas mugs. They got put into a box. Now, I'm done. Except for the little Father Christmas sitting there staring at me. So, he can just set there until next Christmas. Yesterday, I decided that I'd better get back to my sewing. One day before Christmas I was feeling extra ambitious I think. I cleared off the island table in the kitchen and cut out all kinds of aprons and tote bags and filled up a storage tub with things to sew. I only got it about half emptied because there was so many other things to do. I made a start yesterday. I sewed two garden aprons, a kitchen apron and a regular half apron. I should have stopped with one garden apron, a kitchen apron and the half apron. One of the garden aprons is really crooked. How did I manage that? I guess it must have been easy. You know what I do with things when they are giving me a hard time---into the corner. That corner has a lot of things I'm going to have to sort out one of these days. But, this apron didn't give me a hard time and it's a good apron, it's just a little crooked. It also has a puckered seam. I may just send it off somewhere. I do that once in awhile, too. dr told me after I finished an apron once that no one in their right mind would buy it. So, I gave it away and the person really liked it. Now, dr says I'm still jabbering away so I guess it's time to quit and go start some soup for supper. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 466 times
Can I Be Finished?
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:39 am Today, we went and mailed packages. I just used big brown bubble envelopes and I had eight of them. It cost more than I thought they should but they are mailed. Will they get there in time for Christmas? I don't know. I just know I finished sewing last night and mailed them this morning. My family knows that sometimes I am slow at getting things done but I think I am finished this time. I have one more thing to mail but I'm not at all worried about getting it there for Christmas. So, it will get mailed when it gets mailed. So, am I finished. I still have one and one half sock monkeys to do. I have all the machine sewing done on the first one so I can take all the pieces parts to the farmer's market with me tomorrow and work on it there. Then, maybe I can do the other one tomorrow night and finish it on Saturday morning. It's been cold or raining since Thanksgiving so we haven't been able to set up at the farmer's market. No one in their right mind would stop anyway in the cold and rain. Yesterday when we stopped at the thrift shop I bought more material. As I was wandering around after, I found this green board on legs. I stopped and thought about it and bought it. They didn't want too much for it. We brought it home and I lettered it to say, "Pea Pickin' Aprons." 
We will set it out by the side of the street where people going past can see it. When we were at the Christmas Party for the Writer's Guild on Tuesday night some people said, "Oh, we saw those aprons there but we didn't know it was you!" Now they know it, we shall see if they stop to look. I'm hoping some other people will stop and buy something. It's supposed to be sunny and 65 degs. I don't think that's too cold to stop and walk around outside. So, some things are done. I have things bought for Christmas dinner and I actually bought dr a present. Of course, he saw me checking out and wanted to know what I was buying. He approved so I can wrap it up knowing he won't be taking it back. Maybe one day next week we will go shopping again and I can find something else. I still don't have cookies made but we don't need cookies and if I don't get them done it will not be a great loss. So, I'm going to relax and go at a slower pace now until Christmas. I do want to go to the Second Hand Book Store but that too can be done anytime. So, can I be finished, please? dooley Last edited: Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:44 am This blog entry has been viewed 427 times
What shall I do today?
Category: Choices | Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:45 pm Choices or decisions! I'm not too good at making either. I never have been very good at it and if I can get someone to make it for me, well and good. Today is my day off. I don't know day off from what because I can have any day off that I choose to take. Today is December 6th. Isn't the month just flying past? Is anyone ready for Christmas? I decided that since I've taken up sewing everyone will get homemade gifts this year. With the postage it won't save money but homemade is nicer than buying the quality merchandise that they sell these days. I have 5 tote bags made for the family. I have about a dozen items to finish. I think I have them all cut out. Nope! I just remembered one. Darn!! Now, I will have to clean off the island table, again. It is filled up with Christmas dishes and cups that required washing after unpacking them from their year long storage. I washed them before I packed them but they still need washing before using them. Go figure! I have cookie books cluttering up the space too. I can't figure out which cookies I want to make. I have those tins to fill but maybe a couple of weeks to get that done so they can wait a few days. I hauled the Christmas tree out on Friday and dr put it together. I sort of thought of going out in the woods here to look for one but with the deer hunters and wild pigs that is not such a great idea. We always had a "real" tree when the boys were growing up but now have resorted to a tree that comes in a box with lights already attached. It sat there until last evening when I decided to put garland on it. Now, it's mostly decorated. I say mostly because there are still some ornaments in the box and maybe as I walk by one or two might get added here and there. A couple of bears made it under the tree already. The little bears are clamoring for their tree. I'm going to scale down the size of that this year or I'm going to try to scale it down. I think too many small bears made the trip to Texas. A lot too many big bears made the trip, too. I don't know how that happened since I know we gave away about a dozen bags to the police and fire departments and the thrift shops. I've started on the Christmas cards. In fact, four of them are already in the mail. Now, I have a few that might make it into the mail tomorrow. Then, I have quite a few left. I was hoping to say I have them about done. My problem is my dad. He's been gone now for about twenty years but he's still giving advice and I'm still following it. He said over and over during his lifetime. "If they can't be bothered to write a note or include a letter why bother sending a card." So, all of my cards include a short note or a long letter. The problem is to decide just who merits a short note and who gets a long letter. I guess letters go to the ones I don't write to on a regular basis or talk to regularly all year. Some are friends that I write only occasionally. But, it always takes me too much time to get the cards done. I used to do them on Thanksgiving weekend or at least start them but I guess I've fallen down on that lately. Let me see, cards, cookies, small bears, presents, keeping the table cleaned off. Have I forgotten anything. Oh, that pile of cedar branches and the pine cones left on the front porch. I should do something with those and I sort of want to try to make a fan out of some of them. What should I do with it? Then, there is the Christmas party for the Writer's Guild on the 15th. I need to make rolls and ambrosia for it. That can be done that day though so it can wait. Now, that doesn't say that we won't go and do some Christmas shopping either. How can I make a Christmas tote or apron or whatever for dr when he lives here in the same house.? He has already bought presents for me but he orders things from the almost daily catalogs that come in the mail. Oh, I almost forgot the dollhouse that our neighbor bought for two little girls. dr is refurbishing it and I have to think about decor and furniture. I found a pattern for making a sofa, chair and beds. No tables though. I will watch the thrift shop to see if anything shows up there. I have a small table but it's still too big for a dollhouse. Maybe that's what I should do with today. Get out that pattern and see how difficult it will be to make those things. After all today is December 6th and time is going past at a faster rate than I move these days. I will soon be 69 and will have caught up to dr again. One of these days I will have to think about taking a day off. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 458 times
Rain, rain and more rain
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 3:59 am Remember back around August when I was wishing it would rain. Well, I take back all of those wishes. We have had more rain during October and November than I remember ever having when we lived in Arizona. I know the difference. In Arizona everything was brown. Here everything is green and soggy. This week, it rained 5 out of the 7 days. Not a gentle rain that soaks into the ground though. Nope, it's a steady down pour that stands in puddles and makes everything soggy and muddy. Our road is dirt and it gets slippery muddy when it rains a lot. I slid around a corner today. I didn't go into the ditch because at that point there wasn't a ditch to slide into. I guess the upside of the rain is that I got a lot of sewing done this week. I cut some more stuff out today so my tub of waiting projects is full again. Some of that will be Christmas presents. I still have quite a lot of that to get done. We didn't go to the farmer's market yesterday or today because of the rain but will go on Tuesday and Wednesday this week instead of Friday and Saturday. Or maybe we will go on Saturday. Depends on how much produce Rick has to sell. One of the cloudy days this week we went to the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana. We've been having fruitcake from there over the years but had never been there. We had lunch there as we had a coupon from the Sunday paper. They do have a nice lunch. Just sandwich, soup and salad but it was good. We didn't buy a fruitcake. I can't eat it because it's too sugary. All that candied fruit just isn't in my diet. We did, however, go across the street to the Russell Stover candy factory and outlet store. Chocolate is on my diet. Isn't it on eveyone's diet? I had to get the sugar free kind and dr says it has to last until Christmas, sort of like an advent calendar. He got a box of bloopers that's much bigger than my box. I wonder if it will last him until Christmas. We bought a Whitman Sampler for his mom. It's in a tin box. I have been gathering things to send to her. I want to get her a sparkly Christmas ornament that she can pin on her window drapery. I send her one every year but I don't know if she saves them or not as she doesn't have much space. I think I will make her a tote bag that she can hang on her bed to keep small things in where she can reach them. Books or magazines maybe. If you know of anyone who wants a little rain let me know and I will see about sending it their way. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 403 times
I've been keeping myself so busy!
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:16 am When we moved here to Texas I quit working and after a while I was bored and didn't have anything to do. There is a local farmer's market in town that is small and they were looking for people to come and sell yard sale stuff to make more bodies in hopes of attracting more attention. So, dr and I started taking stuff we found at yard sales and stuff that somehow got moved with us. After a little bit we decided we needed to sell something that had a little to do with food so dr started selling honey and barbecue sauce and I started making aprons and tote bags. The honey and barbecue sauce didn't do very well so he went back to the yard sale stuff. I started making tote bags. I line them all and they could be reversed if people wanted the plain side on the outside. But, I generally use a print on the outside and a solid inside. After saying that I have to tell you that I've made three or four with the plain side out. Men would rather have a plain bag but don't mind a plaid or innocuous print inside. I make them in all sizes from 12"x12" to really big 18"x18". Our neighbor had me make him one that was 24"x24"x12". It's huge. It has padded over the shoulder straps. He takes it to the warehouse store and fills it with the things he buys so he only has one bag to carry. He enjoys the look on the clerks faces when he hauls out his bag. Until last week he has always been able to handle it. But, last week the stuff ended up really heavy. He said he bet he had over 100 lbs in that bag and he was glad the man who filled it accompanied him to his truck or he would never have gotten it out of the shopping cart. When he got home he used his two wheel dolly to haul it out of the truck and into the house. I asked if he didn't think about unloading some of it and he said, "No, because he had me make the bag so he wouldn't have to make more than one trip to the house with his stuff." We enjoyed a good laugh about it and he laughed along with us. I like making people happy. I started making regular half aprons and kitchen bib aprons. They are of lightweight material and some have pockets and some don't. Then one of the farmers wanted an apron with one big pocket to pick his peas and okra. And with a little imput here and there one developed with velcro at the bottom so they can empty it easily at the end of the rows. It will hold enough to fill a five gallon bucket. I had to recall them last week. One of them was saying it worked really well but when it rained and things were wet the water soaked through the back and make his jeans wet. So, I bought some vinyl tablecloths at the thrift store and recalled the aprons and lined the back with the vinyl and that fixed the problem. I still have a couple floating around but haven't seen the guys to tell them to bring them back for fixing. Then, a friend and I decided that if the men had a farm apron then the ladies needed a garden apron. So, with a little discussion I came up with a bib apron with three pockets in the middle for gardening tools, gloves, etc. There is a big pocket at the bottom that buttons. It holds what the lady picks from her yard or garden be it produce, flowers, herbs, etc. Then, up at the top there is two pockets sewn one on top of the other for kleenex, cell phones or notebook. Whatever the lady needs outside with her. Add in barbecue aprons with big pockets to hold sauces, tools and spices and kids play aprons and I have a rather long list of things to sell. Now, they've begun asking if I have anything for the holidays. I did have two and sold one of them today. So, I can see that this week I will be working on aprons and totes with a Christmas theme. I also need to make some more of the ladies garden aprons and I only have about a dozen totes left. We're working on getting the paperwork done to make it a proper business with all the legal stuff involved. That should be set up by the end of the year. It will be called "Pea Pickin' Aprons." We are getting business cards made and some labels to sew in the seam that says "Pea Pickin' Aprons", Madisonville, Texas. What started out as a way to help attract customers has evolved into something much more involved. Now, people come and look and we discuss what they want and what sort of material I have. I can tell them the colors and they let me choose the prints. If they don't like it, I can hang it in the stand and try again but so far I haven't had to do that. I'm making aprons and tote bags for family Christmas presents and I've sent Texas tote bags to all of my sisters. Last week, I only sewed four tote bags because I just had to do some work in the yard and the house needed a bit of clean up. We went grocery shopping a couple of different days. I guess I am not bored and looking for something to do now. I find it a bit difficult to find time to get everything done. dr says, "You are retired. Do it at your pace. Don't rush it!" I do like sewing and creating new styles. It should do rather well between now and Christmas if I can keep up the amount of stuff in the stand. The farmer was going to close after Christmas but says on nice sunny Fridays and Saturdays we can set up but he doesn't want to sit out in below freezing weather. I can't see doing that myself but on a sunny warm day, why not? dooley This blog entry has been viewed 454 times
Sewing Machines can drive you to drink
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:26 pm Sewing machines can drive you to crazy sometimes. I was sewing along on a farm apron and sewed the last tie and only had about a six inch piece of velcro to finish it. So, what did the sewing machine do? It fell apart. They couldn't repair it at the shop. They would have had to send it somewhere and it would have cost an arm and a leg. So, no thanks! The sewing machine had served it's time. I sewed a lot of teddy bears, quilts and other things on it. We let it retire. We bought a new sewing machine. The lady at the store went all through the parts and showed me how every thing worked and I thought "I can do this." We brought it home. I plugged it in and got out the instruction book. dr insists I read instructions!! I sat down and read through the instruction book. I've been sewing most of my lifetime and all sewing machines work the same. Right! I wound the bobbin and threaded the machine and got a piece of material and put it under the presser foot, stepped on the treadle. It sewed just fine, right! Nope! It didn't sew at all. The feed dogs wouldn't feed the material through. So, out came the instruction book. dr came and read the instructions and I checked it and it didn't work. Why? I re-threaded the bobbin and the machine and it worked just fine. I did it the same way as the first time so why didn't it work the first time? This morning it was making a clacking noise when I sewed. It's not supposed to make a clacking noise. So, out came the instruction book. It said if the machine makes noise it needs the feed dogs and bobbin area cleaned. So, I took it apart and cleaned it. There was nothing much there and it didn't matter because when I started to sew the noise was still there. I re-threaded everything. It didn't work this time. The clacking noise was still there. I thought maybe the switch that lowers the feed dogs might have gotten bumped. I took off the part that makes the sewing table and took out the little storage drawer and checked the switch. Nope, the switch was right where it was supposed to be. I switched it off and back on and tried it and it worked just fine. No clacking noise. Put everything back together, started to sew. Clacking noise is back. Took it all apart again. Tried it and it worked just fine. So, I put the things back on one at a time. When I put the little storage drawer back the noise started up again. The little storage drawer is for the extra parts they give you for when you need a different presser foot or quilting guide or some such thing. I dumped the parts on the table, put the drawer back in the machine. I tried it and WOW! It worked just fine. I put the extra parts elsewhere. Now, those extra parts were in that drawer all week so why did it just start it's clacking today? I did a bit of sewing and finished a garden apron but needed to make a button hole. Now, with various sewing machines over the years I must have made at least a thousand button holes. I know how to make button holes and it's sure easy with a handy dandy button hole attachment. But, you don't have to use the attachment. The attachment is for if you want to make 103 buttonholes and have them all the same size and looking quite wonderful. I only wanted to make one buttonhole. In the instruction book, it gave directions for one button hole. I took a piece of scrap material and tried it and it made a good buttonhole. So, I put the apron in the machine and lowered the presser foot and sewed. Did it make a wonderful buttonhole. Nope! It sewed a zigzagged line clear across the material but didn't stop when I told it to go back. So, out came the instruction book. I may just wear that instruction book out one of these days. I wonder how much they charge for a new one? I read the instructions and I was doing it the same way so why wouldn't it make the second buttonhole. Went back and read about making the automatic buttonholes. Wow! There is a reset switch that you have to turn to do another buttonhole. But, where did it say that in the instruction book. Not under the instructions for one buttonhole. You had to read all the instructions for making their automatic fancy 103 buttonholes to find it. I only wanted to make one buttonhole so I read the instructions for making one buttonhole. Sewing machines are a wonderful invention. They can save you lots of time to read the instruction book. They can also drive you to drink. It's a good thing I keep a pitcher of tea in the refrigerator. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 696 times
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