Yes, we are back home in Kingston. Jerry is doing great. His hair is turning blonde again instead of snow white. His energy is returning. It is 7:30 and I just finished the dinner dishes. Jerry announced he was going out to work on his bulldozer. It has been quite a long time since he has felt good enough for that hard job. Some part broke on it, and EVERYTHING on a bulldozer is BIG and complicated and hard to get to, SO that means his knee has to be feeling very much better also! Praise God for that!
I interviewed two new girls for our store, and I hired them both yesterday. I believe they will both be great if I am there to help train them myself. I want to be sure they have plenty to keep them busy, and they KNOW the rules and regulations and tons of information required by Medicare/Medicaid. Both girls have great skills, and I am excited! And -- SO FAR -- not a tattoo in sight on either one of them. Our employees KNOW -- because I put it in writing -- how Jerry and I feel about tattoos. As far as we are concerned they belong in the underworld of gangs and drugs or in a bar or the Military or on Popeye -- not in a respectable place of business.
I am shocked EVERY SINGLE DAY at what walks into the doors of restaurants and grocery stores. Beautiful YOUNG girls with formerly flawless skin have tattoos covering their entire arms -- and their legs -- and their feet! It is truly the saddest thing. We saw a very young girl walking the "plank" as I call it to the Marina cafe a few weeks ago, and both her legs were covered with tattoos. She had on shorts, and I'm sure she was very proud of those tattoos. I wanted to CRY!
Look at this formerly very pretty young girl! I freak out over a tiny red spot on my cheek caused by blood vessels coming together and making a bump, and this lady has BLACK STARS all over her face! Who would hire her?
These people truly need something, and it ISN'T ink!
If YOU, dear reader, happen to be covered with tattoos -- or if you even have one tiny one -- and you are happy about it, that is wonderful. I'm just telling you how Jerry and I feel about them on our employees. YES, we are old fogies, but I think young fogies would be much more beautiful tattooless!
And HOW did I get off into all of that. Heaven only knows how my brain works.
Much more fun to talk about sewing or jewelry, huh?
You are probably wondering what "LIL" is. That would be Low Internet Land. It is a very distant relative of LOL! (-;
I better close before I get myself in deeper than I already am.
I just have one more thing to say:
GOD, PLEASE BLESS AMERICA!
We have a coterie of clowns running our government, and they could use an immediate injection of wisdom from above. They may not love you, God, but millions of Americans do, and I ask you to please bless America for all of us.
It just doesn't seem like Sunday because we didn't watch church yet. We decided to come home this morning -- back to the snail pace internet -- and watch the rerun of church tonight. After unpacking enough stuff to fill a small home, Jerry is snug as a bug in his office and I am snug as a bug in my sewing/quilt/jewelry room.
Yesterday was an all day long play day with Phylly. It was wonderful. We shopped at the fancy fabric store on one side of town and later went to Hancock's. In between we talked and laughed and sewed.
You will recall I was going to TRY to reproduce this darling Marfy pattern with my Sure-fit Designs Dress Kit:
With help from Rhonda and Phylly, I decided this was a wrap style in the front with the pink layer going all the way over to the other side seam. The white piece with the notch cut out of it was called a "panel" by Marfy, and I decided it was attached at the armhole, topstitched where shown, and open below that. The buttons may or may not have functioned.
There doesn't seem to be a zipper in the dress, so the lady must have slithered into it!
GET READY FOR A BIG LAUGH!
This is my FIRST muslin of this dress, and I used muslin. THANK GOODNESS, Marfy didn't use my colors or my pattern!
It looks like a giant street sign warning you to go another way or else you will fall off a cliff or something!
I kind of liked it though, and the fit was fine, of course, being SFD, but then I showed it to Jerry.
Jerry looked confused as though he didn't know if he should tell me what he REALLY thought or make something up.
He said, let me see that dress again.
I brought the picture to him.
He agreed with me that the pointy part was TOO BIG and he said the part that went up into my armhole was too LOW. He said the dress in the picture had the seam much straighter and higher up.
To me, the princess seam -- IF that is even what it was -- landed about the same place in her armhole, BUT it was much straighter going down her body.
Now, it JUST SO HAPPENED that I had seen a video by Glenda Sparling just a few days earlier about princess seams and how to do them. Here is that video if you care to watch it. Notice the princess seam Glenda has her hand on. It does not curve into the armpit like mine does in the red and navy top.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,
I started over on my Sure-fit Designs remake.
I redrew the princess seam to be much straighter and higher up toward the shoulder. Phylly didn't think it looked normal. All the ones she has seen are more curved.
And that is true, of course. So I've decided to just call this a "Queen Seam". I really like it. It doesn't make your boob look so much like a water balloon about to burst.
Here is Muslin #2:
And I CAN HEAR YOU saying,
"JOY!, are you daft or what?"
"That isn't even a dress,
and it doesn't have buttons,
and it doesn't open with a flap!"
I knoooooooooooooooooooooow, but isn't it cute anyway?
Phylly thinks I should put buttons on it -- like in the Marfy pattern -- but I'm not sure. I asked Jerry, and he said that is stupid because they wouldn't unbutton anything.
So I pinned a couple on.
What do you think?
I have to finish putting a loop and button in the back, and then I can wear it. Maybe I should go do that now.
I would really rather go for a swing on the patio though.
BUT, WAIT
I just remembered that MG requested that I show her a picture of the whole quilt showing behind me in one of my videos.
That quilt is called "Oh, My Stars!"
I named it, and I quilted it, but I did NOT make it.
When I purchased my first longarm machine, I needed to do a LOT of quilting to get good at it. It takes me a year, at least, to make a quilt, so I knew I would never learn how to quilt good if I only quilted the quilts I made myself. Some of the ladies at the quilt sites I belonged to back then bought quilts from Ebay. I couldn't imagine that you could get a quilt that was made to my standards from Ebay, but was I ever WRONG about that!
I bought several quilt tops from Ebay. One of the most beautiful I've ever done is called Rose of Sharon. I gave it to my sister because she is in the ministry, and the moment I saw it on Ebay, I KNEW I had to buy it -- quilt it -- bind it -- and give it to her. She LOVES it! Let me see if I can find a pic of it real quick.
I have NEVER seen one even close to this beautiful applique on Ebay. Some guy had found it at an Estate sale or something.
Here it is. It is about 4' by 4' and is more awesome in real life. The applique is magnificent. The top and the applique were done by the Amish. The quilting was done by me. That is all I know about it.
And here is Oh My Stars. It is hanging on the wall in my Edmond sewing room.
I bought this quilt top from a lady on Ebay, and I wish she was still making quilt tops. As you have to know by now, I love bright colors, so I decided to buy this one to help improve my longarm quilting skills -- and it certainly did.
And now, I really have to go.
Have a MARVELOUS week. I go back to work tomorrow. That means I have to GET UP EARLY and I am officially UNretired.
Well, this is it. The Buttonhole Leveler I talked about yesterday. MG asked me what it was.
As it turned out, I had to take the buttonhole foot AND the sewing machine into the Bernina store today.
For a mere $175.00, they will service the machine and fix the feed dogs. It seems that after using the machines for so long, the feed dogs get scwooshed or something. Thankfully, I was able to return the $115.00 buttonhole foot since that wasn't the problem.
This was a really nice day. Phylly, Margaret and I went to lunch at TGIF. We now have our "own" table in the bar. The place was busy one day, and we had to sit up there. Ever since, we always go to that same table. The three of us could sit and talk all day long, but Phylly always has to go back to work.
I have started what I HOPE will turn out to be a really special project. I am trying to COPY that Marfy pattern I showed you a few days ago -- remember?
I am using my Sure-fit Designs Dress Kit to duplicate this style. I am making a BLOUSE -- not a dress. I worked on it all afternoon.
I wanted to call Glenda SO BADLY, but I made myself try to figure it out.
What I wasn't sure about was IF the white part is faced and top-stitched onto the pink part,
OR is there a seam down that princess line including the pointy parts,
OR do the buttons actually work and hold the thing together,
OR is it a wrap dress and the pink part goes all the way to the other side?
I have both sides drawn off, and I will cut it out of something tomorrow morning. Wish I had that piece of bright green fabric that matches the green daisies. It is, of course, at the other house.
I finished what I am calling my MUMS blouse. Remember, Jerry said, "Do you always use the same pattern?"
I think it looks quite a bit different with the longer sleeve. The v-neck is a little different, although I wanted it to be the same. Plus, the print and the colors are different.
ANNNNNNNNNNNNNND, I did use the red buttons. It is no small miracle that I EVER got the buttonholes in the blouse. I have two old Bernina machines here, and the automatic buttonholers on BOTH machines decided to croak at the same exact time!
One would think I was fortunate to be at my Edmond home where there actually is a Bernina store 20 miles away, wouldn't one?
WELL, one would be WRONG!
I went to the store and I purchased what was supposed to be the right foot. Since the Bernina store is right up the street from our store, I called Phylly to see if she wanted to meet me for lunch at Johnnie's. While I was waiting in my car for her to arrive, I decided to OPEN THE BOX and compare the foot inside to the foot I had brought with me from my machine. TOTALLY DIFFERENT!
After lunch, I went BACK to the Bernina store. I returned WRONG FOOT #1 and purchased another foot that was guaranteed to be the right one. I wasn't going to be fooled twice -- no siree! -- so I got my foot out of my purse and compared it to the new foot the lady sold me. They looked pretty much the same, but the big eye on the top was different. She assured me that didn't matter.
I drove home to FINALLY put the five buttonholes into this blouse, and GUESS WHAT?! I found out I had purchased WRONG FOOT #2. I started to sew the buttonhole, and it sewed the first side practically the whole way across the sample I was using and never did switch. AARRGGHH! I was SO MAD!
I called the Bernina store. The service guy, Robert, answered the phone. I told him my problem. He informed me that the MACHINE and the FOOT have to be calibrated.
I asked him HOW I was supposed to do that.
He said, "You aren't!" "You have to bring both into the store."
Can you believe it?
ANYWAY, when I was in the store earlier today, the sales lady brought me this little plastic device that was $4. I immediately assumed that some clerk had priced the thing wrong, as EVERYTHING in a Bernina store is $100 plus! The buttonhole foot was $115. She assured me it really was only $4. So, I bought it.
THANK GOODNESS, that little $4 doohickey allowed me to finish the buttonholes on this blouse. They are a bit strange looking, but nobody but me will know. The buttons cover up the buttonholes.
Someone posted they like the green blouse the best.
So do I. I just love that bright green.
I am TRYING to show you the slit in the sleeve here.
It isn't very slitty, is it?
This is a two-piece SFD sleeve with a dart in it for the elbow.
Very comfortable.
OH!
I also changed the bust dart from a French Dart to a regular bust dart.
And that is it for today.
Jackie is QUITE INSULTED that I haven't put this laptop down and come outside to play with her.
It is hotter than a firecracker out there, but I will go throw the ball until one of us wilts.
I had such a LOVELY day that I was in the mood to make a video instead of typing a chapter in my Blog today.
We were supposed to leave this house today, but as it turns out we have to stay for another week due to Jerry's post op and removal of stitches in his knee.
The weather is pleasant today with sunshine after several cloudy days, and sunshine ALWAYS brightens my day. It seems to brighten everyone else's too because everywhere I went, people were smiling and friendly.
The young man at Sonic who brought my 1/2 price UNsweet Tea with EASY Peach -- the drink my husband always growls about and acts as though I have ordered some impossible mixture -- was in SUCH A GOOD MOOD, I almost offered him a job at my store. I think there was a 30 cent tip in the change I gave him for my $1 drink, and you would have thought I had given him a $20 bill. If he hadn't walked off when he did, I probably would have tried to find one.
Anyway, let me pop my video in here:
And here is the blouse that awaits buttonholes and buttons.
I better go make sure Jerry has gotten his dinner figured out.
He is SO GROUCHY today. I know it has to be horrible to go through all the chemo, and doctor appointments, and the knee surgery, and now the pain pills; BUT, I don't see why he wants to take it out on me??? Oh, wait! It's because he LOVES me the most. I keep forgetting that! (-;
Honestly, I am really spoiled in that he is almost ALWAYS in a good mood. That just makes it so much more shocking when he is really grumpy. This too shall pass, of course, but for now, I'm hiding out as much as possible.
We had a bit of a scare, but honestly, I wasn't scared. So many scriptures ran over and over in my mind, and somehow, I just knew this wasn't going to be a bad thing.
WHAT am I talking about????
When I went to pick Jerry up yesterday -- after he woke up from his knee surgery -- the nurse called me over to show me a bunch of papers and give me all kinds of directions. She handed me one sheet that said, "Have patient go see his PCP right away about a 6 mm nodule in his lung that showed up in his chest x-ray."
Most of you know that Jerry, my husband, just went through 6 chemo therapy treatments for cancer, so we didn't just throw the paper in the trash. I called Jerry's cancer doctor -- who is the NICEST doctor in the whole wide world -- and his nurse told me to drop off the chest x-ray at their office. I did that this morning.
It is now almost dinner time, and we just got a call from the doctor. He said it was nothing to worry about. He said it has shown up on all of Jerry's prior x-rays and scans -- which are numerous -- and whatever "it" is did not soak up any of the dye that would indicate it is cancer. The doctor said it is probably calcification and has been there for a very long time.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I am doing a happy dance -- praising God that Jerry is healed and is going to live to be an old man that loves living with an old lady -- who makes her clothes and her jewelry -- and her dog.
And speaking of making my clothes, I finally wore my bright green daisy blouse for the first time today. I went into the den to kiss Jerry goodbye before I went to get his drugs and deliver the chest x-ray to his doctor, and he did a double take, and said, "WOW!"
I said, "Wow, what?"
He said, "You really look nice in that blouse. I like that a lot on you!"
So ANOTHER HAPPY DANCE!
And here I am in my bright green daisy shirt, made with my Sure-fit Designs Dress Kit:
This one is to show you the notch in the sleeve.
For some reason, I really like that.
I am cutting out another daisy print right now. This time, it is black, red and gray. I figured since Jerry likes it so much, I might as well make another one.
Time to go make supper. Jerry is on crutches, but is doing fine. He has pain pills and has to take an aspirin every day for 30 days. I get to take the bandages off tomorrow and we will see what they have done to him. He had a torn maniscus (sp?).
Be back real soon, and MIGHT make another video as we found out we have to stay another 10 days because Jerry has to go back to the doctor to get stitches out and be counseled about physical therapy.
Good afternoon friends. Trust all of you are having a lovely day as we are here with a break in the heat. A truck will be here shortly to cut down a dead tree and trim some other trees in our front yard, so I can't stay long.
I made a video per request by one of my readers about Sure-fit Designs™ tank tops, and I also show you a fantastic product you may not know about.
The rest of the video is just me blabbing about my new knit top, but I wanted one more time to ENJOY having internet that FLIES through the air with the greatest of speed! I will only have that for a few more days.
Here it is:
Guess What!?
Tonight is the night we FINALLY found an open spot on the calendar of our friends, Robert and Deanna. If you don't like a lot of talking and laughing at the table next to you, don't go to Louie's on the lake tonight!
I better get ready to supervise tree-chopping-down to be sure the guys don't chop down the wrong tree!
Hugs, Joy
Friday, July 11, 2014
Good Friday Evening!
It is just Jackie and me right now. She is finally dry after her drenching via the hose because she decided to try to dig to China in the back yard.
She had dirt from one end to the other.
Her face looked like she had been eating it in between sessions of rubbing it onto her hair like a mask!
I started to put her paws into her water dish as I usually do, but she always acts like I am about to drown her.
The hose was right next to us, so I turned on the faucet and let her have it.
MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, she LOVED it!
Other than that, I spent the day WAITING for "The 3 Nines" to call and fix my computer. Isn't that a weird name for computer techs? I call them "The 9 Nerds".
Actually, the man that finally got on my commputer via the internet was called an "engineer". Haven't heard that one before for a computer-fix-it-guy.
I also spent the afternoon trying to figure out what to work on tomorrow. Phylly sent me some pattern numbers that she had. I then went through my OKC stash and found one that resembled those. It is a New Look pattern for a knit top. I "Palmer/Pletsched" one of the styles, and then I made a muslin. The fit is pretty good. It will need a tuck in the front neck, but that is it. Phylly can use the same muslin in the morning as our measurements are very close. I know it doesn't LOOK like it, but that is because she is about 5 inches shorter than I am.
Hopefully, I will think to take some pics tomorrow, and maybe a video. Phylly is coming over tonight after she gets her grandkids to bed. It will be 10 PM but, at least, she will already be here in the morning, and we can start in our jammies. We are meeting Margaret for lunch at a "new to us" restaurant.
Here is the pattern I am working with. I am making VIEW E. I think Phylly wants to do VIEW A.
Here is the muslin where you can see the lovely V-Blob at my neck. Yes, I am holding my arms forward to hold the cell phone, BUT the V is there whether I do that or not. Very common issue I have.
I HAD to do an FBA in this.
I tried it without one, but it was a GLARING necessity. I moved it into a French dart, but it appears I need to lift the point a bit.
Of course, according to Peggy Sagers, as long as that dart tip is anywhere within a 6 inch radius of your apex, it is fine. I prefer my darts pointing in the right direction, and so does Phylly.
It is really hard to get a dart right the first time in knit fabric. The knit hangs and takes the dart with it.
This is what we will be working on tomorrow.
Our goal is to have a FINISHED knit top by the time Phylly has to leave, which I hope isn't the usual 2:00.
Wishing all a WONDERFABULOUS weekend. It is supposed to get above 100 degrees here. Glad we are playing inside!
Another day fading into the darkness, and I'm not sure I accomplished much today.
My daughter did come over to see Jackie -- and Jackie thinks my daughter IS a dog and goes insane when she sees her -- but I managed to tear her away from Jackie long enough to go have lunch with me. We had a long, fun talk about her vacation.
My daugter -- (PLEASE don't tell her I said this) -- is a lot like me. She has to ACT OUT what she talks about. She had me laughing so hard at the little restaurant we were in, I could hardly eat my food.
Do you know how difficult it is to laugh so hard you are crying and eat fried rice at the same time!?
For those who asked about the ruffle jacket pattern, it is Simplicity 1542, Sew Stylish.
Here is a picture of the pattern cover.
The jacket with the ruffle is in blue on the girl in the lower left corner.
The other styles are really cute too. I might try the red one now that I have the fit fixed.
I don't mind wearing a jacket if the fit is right, and I have never had that luxury in RTW.
Well, ANOTHER Silhouette pattern and the pants I made with it are in the trash. That was a disaster of a pattern. I successfully made the Silhouette yoga pant pattern and a woven blouse (with lots of correction), but I sure haven't had any successes since. Someone will FOR SURE disagree with me -- but the "finished measurements" written on the back of the envelope are not right. Instead of ADDING to them, I should have been SUBTRACTING.
NEXT will be a knit top I make with Phylly on Saturday. I will probably use my SFD pattern because I KNOW IT WILL FIT!
Jackie is in bed for the night. I think I will force myself to go do some sit-ups. I am hoping to be able to squeeze at least ten of them out of this wide-waisted body without throwing my back into a spasm. I have gained a few pounds back, so I MUST get back on my DESM diet right away. If I let it go any further, it will be so much harder! I am still jumping on my little trampoline. And if the music is on -- which
BY THE WAY
Do any of you know how to upload songs from your own personal CD to your Iphone. I tried for over 2 hours to do that this morning, and I never could accomplish it. I'm sure it is very easy. I dragged and dropped and went to Itunes and put the CD in and out and in and out and in and out ..... My Iphone is years old, but it has Itunes on it. SURELY, a CD can be put into it. It is on my computer already.
And as I started to say, IF the music is on -- I am dancing, and THAT is really good exercise!
I WOULD take Jackie for a walk down the street and back, BUT Jackie walks like she is DRUNK.
She wants to be RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME -- then to the right of me -- then back in front and over to the left -- then fast -- then slow -- and the whole time she has her nose pasted to the ground sniffing every square inch of it!
I spend the whole time hollering at Jackie to MOVE or SLOW DOWN or COME ON and hope I don't trip over her and break my neck!
Come to think of it, I think I'll look for some dog-training videos to watch before I go to bed.
I bought another Silhouette Pattern thinking it would somehow -- for once -- magically turn out. I could have tweaked my Sure-fit Designs pants pattern, but I figured my measurements had probably changed again, and Peggy says her patterns ALWAYS fit.
I did not realize the extreme clown-like shape of these pants at the time I held the pattern piece up in front of my body to show you the turquoise fabric with the white dot. LOOK at the pattern piece in the video. It is ONE HALF of either the front or back of the pant -- but it just about covers my entire body!!! That SHOULD have been a clue, but I didn't notice it. After all, I had measured me and added the recommended amount according to the directions, so I just assumed it would be right.
I wish I had thought to take a pic of the pant when I first tried it on. I would have had to hold it up with both hands, however, or it would have fallen straight to the floor! It was HUGE! Honestly, I could have gotten BOTH of my legs from the mid thigh down into the pants EASILY. I later took an inch off each side of the hip and several inches off the leg, and they are still too big for me.
It was a "muslin", but it would have been cute. If I keep on taking them in, I am going to sew the pockets shut!
I made you a little video because I got my new camera cord today. I have the Silhouette pattern in my hand.
And by the way,
It is a HONG KONG finish that I did on the seams inside the jacket. I don't know where the words hide in my brain when I need to grab them!
Here is the white jacket.
I took a still picture to be sure one side of the front wasn't longer than the other side because it appeared to be that way in the video.
This jacket is still too baggy in the back, but I have to wait for Saturday so Phylly can help me fix it. Perhaps it could use a good pressing.
A tad more tweaking, and I think it will be wearable. The fabric is a stretch denim.
I'm thinking of sewing some hooks and eyes down the front so I can join it. Maybe not. Having a sliver of your chubby self showing is supposed to be slimming.
A quick HELLO and some pics of Phylly's AMAZING jeans.
I have made jeans several times, and I know how hard it is to get all that topstitching perfect. Phylly ripped it out in places over and over, but she never gave up. The jeans are so cute and fit so well.
Check out those pocket flaps. Better pic below.
VERY HARD to do because you aren't sure if the pockets are too high or too low or too close to center or too far away. So much to consider before permanently attaching the flaps.
Phylly learned that us people who have flat backsides are supposed to put pocket flaps on our jeans.
Mine may have to remain flapless.
Remember that lace top she is wearing?
I made it with my Sure-fit Designs kit. I gave it to her because after I wore it for a short time, it started scratching my neck.
I have INSANELY sensitive skin.
I was standing next to my husband's desk this morning. I lifted up my tee shirt over my bra -- then I flipped the top of my bra down -- then I pulled a piece of tape off his tape spool -- then I started rubbing the tape inside my bra.
I didn't even think about Jerry watching what I was doing. After all, I could sit on his lap as naked as a Jay Bird, and he would say, "You are blocking my view!"
I was just minding my own business taping whatever sharp object was poking my boob when Jerry said, "WHAT is your problem, Joy!?"
I cracked up laughing at the thought of what I must have looked like!
I told him something was poking my boob and I was trying to get it off my bra but it was too small to see -- NOT my boob -- the sharp object!
And here is the front of Phylly's new jeans.
PERFECT top-stitching.
I can't tell you the pattern. It is a combination of Jennifer Stern, Angela Wolf and Sure-fit Designs.
Phylly is coming over this Saturday, and we are going to have a PLAY DAY!
We are both so excited. We are breaking for lunch to meet Margaret at some "new to us" restaurant. Margaret is allergic to sewing, but she does eat.
Actually, I have been trying all day to get into my sewing boxes to find a project for us to work together on. Phylly wants us to do the same thing so we can work together -- maybe a new tee shirt.
We usually talk and laugh so much, the day is gone before we get the pattern ready, never mind the garment sewn.
We don't care though. We get to sew together, and that is what makes us happy.
Here is a close-up of those fabulous pockets. See the belt loops too. I am SO IMPRESSED. Hope she wears them Saturday so I can see them in person.
Our friends have a hard time figuring out WHAT town we are in as we have two homes 150 miles apart, so I am announcing that we have ARRIVED in Edmond. We will be here about two weeks.
I will be meeting my friends, Phylly and Margaret for lunch tomorrow.
SPEAKING of Phylly, I forgot to show you her new jeans. She spent weeks making them, but they turned out SO NICE! All that top-stitching on jeans is tedious! She used pink thread for hers, and I am so jealous! You DO KNOW I love pink, right???
Ler me see if I can get some pics from my phone to show you of her new jeans..... Well, CRUMB! I evidently downloaded them to my computer at the OTHER house. All my "trash" emails have flown off to never-neverland, so I can't show you. Mabye I can get Phylly to send them to me again.
Jerry and I hope to get to see our friends, Robert and Deanna this trip. They stay so busy helping neighbors and friends and their church, it takes an Act of Congress to get to see them!
Our plants here were wilted with a lot of yellow leaves and cried out for a drink the second I walked in the door!
Keeping plants alive in two homes is really hard to do. I have a tiny herb "garden" at the house we just left. Although I watered all the potted plants on the patio, including the herbs, really good yesterday, they will be dry as a bone by tomorrow. We won't be there to water them, so we will have to pray God keeps them alive long enough for us to get back to water them. We hate to ask neighbors to go water our plants because they never ask us to do anything for them. Plus, they are ALL moving! It is like living on a Monopoly board! I can think of only one home in our addition that isn't For Sale, and it used to be. I think the owners just gave up and decided to keep it.
OH! There are the "barn people". I call them that because they live in our former neighbor's metal barn. Our former neighbors -- also the developers -- PROMISED us that would NEVER happen. They actually GUFFAWED at my mention of it and told me I was just trying to FIND something to worry about! They promised there would be regulations and each purchaser of acreage would have to build a home at least 2,000 square feet and it had to be a brick home -- NO metal homes!
When you live near a lake, you see all kinds of property.
One person could have a 5,000 square foot mansion on a lawn that looks like a golf course, and the person next door could have a small trailer with broken windows and doors -- a huge wood pile, couch, toilet, rusty car, rusty truck, dogs, cats, chickens and a goat ALL in the knee high weeds and grass that almost covers a sign nailed to a board that says "We Fix Lawnmowers" -- and INSIDE the lovely trailer is a big screen TV that the people watch at night while chain-smoking cigarettes we bought for them with their welfare checks.
Anyway, Jerry and I did not want to live in a place like that. Since we were the FIRST buyers in this 40-acre addition, we asked about all of those things. We specifically said we didn't want to live next to poeple who put up a metal barn, put rooms inside and called it a "house"! Promises were made, but none were kept. We have had a real hard time not being bitter about the "barn people". It isn't their fault, of course, but still -- they live in a metal barn -- and they are our next-door neighbors.
Not only that, we were promised there would be no lots smaller than 5 acres + or - a bit. Our concern there was that someone would buy 5 acres -- chop it up into 50 lots and put trailers on it. The people who sold this "barn house" chopped that part of the land off their 5 acres, so it is about 2 acres, and the original 5 acres is about 3 now.
PLEASE don't think I don't like trailers or mobile homes. We lived in one for years, BUT it was in an area where that was all that was in the addition.
And ALL OF THAT to say, the "barn people" are not moving. Maybe all the other people are moving because they don't like the "barn house" either.
Jackie is at the Beauty Shop having a bath. The back yard here has a different kind of dirt than our other house has. Our other house has a very sandy yellow dirt, and it doesn't stick to Jackie's paws. HERE, we have Oklahoma red clay, and when it gets wet, it sticks to everything it touches. Therefore, I want to keep her inside here so she will be very nice-smelling and shnuggable!
I better get. Trust all my blogger friends are having a blessed, relaxing Sunday.
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