Stacey at Your Sacred Calling has put into words what I have been struggling with.

Sew Long for Now!

Yesterday our bee hive was delivered. The General is so excited. He refers to himself as becoming a bee wrangler. LOL. It's nice to see him excited about this. I took Captain Chaos, who has not been so chaotic this week, to the doctor yesterday and he has strep. I found time to embroider four more shirts and hang out two loads of clothes. This morning I have already embroidered four more shirts. Captain Kitty has a violin recital tomorrow so I am trying to get caught up on things. I am hoping the General will mow this weekend so I can rake the yard and put some of the clippings in my compost bin. Yesterday I took the kitchen bucket up and emptied it. I ripped up some newspaper and mixed it in. We were going to put the garden in this weekend even though our area still has chance of frost until May 10, but with extra music lessons today and recital tomorrow we are going to wait until next weekend. We usually buy most of our plants already started so it shouldn't hamper growing season too much.

Sew Long for Now!

picture found at Allposter.com

Yesterday I embroidered four more shirts for a customer. I also hung out two loads of laundry. I did most of Captain Chaos' chores since he was sick. In the evening while cleaning up after supper I noticed the shadows through out the house and took some pictures to share. The above picture is of a pitcher sitting beside the kitchen sink. Isn't it beautiful with the shadow falling on it? Oh, and I looked down CC's throat-white splotches. Today he is feeling a bit better but we are going to the doctor. Strep maybe?

late afternoon sunlight streaming through a kitchen window.

afternoon sunlight peeking through the living room window.

Sew Long for Now!

The sun's come out today! It has been rainy for several days and I am so glad to see the sun. Yesterday I got a good amount of sewing done. I repaired a pair of jeans our daughter had ripped riding a bike and I embroidered four shirts. I also did the dreaded task of going to the grocery store. Today I hope to get some more shirts embroidered, some clothes hung out, and what ever else comes up. Captain Chaos is ill. He has had a fever and soar throat for three days. I made him do his lessons the first two, but the General said he could have a rest today and lay around all day.

I thought about writing something concerning my overwhelm when reading mommy blogs around the blogsphere. I can't it's too depressing. I just am not worldly savvy as other moms and I don't think I want to be. I read one mom's post about how after staying home for six years she feels unchallenged. Sigh, 13 years of being a mostly SAHW and I somehow never find time in my day to contemplate those type of deep thoughts. I seem to be always challenged. I am challenged to climb the mountain of laundry everyday. I am challenged to clear the mountain of dirt every day. I am challenged to find something to feed the family everyday, and not make the boring same things day in and day out. I am challenged on stretching our thin finances even further these days with the rocketing prices. Some days I have even more challenges then I want when I have to deal with a sick child. Sorry world that I don't have time to worry about whether CNN.com has been banned from China or not. I don't know how these women do all their home tasks and have enough time to keep on top of worldly finance, politics, religion, etc. It makes me feel guilty for not being able to.

Sew Long for Now!

Good morning!

I don't know about celebrating earth day as a one day holiday, but a reminder never hurt any one. We, here at our house believe God gives us the earth and all that's in it to be stewards of. We try very hard to be good stewards. We try to live eco friendly every day, not just one day a year. Some of the things we do here is of course grow our own veggies in the summer. We never use any chemicals when we do, we never have. Like last year this year we will have two plots in our yard. I would love to one day have some fruit trees and strawberry beds. Last year I found tons of wild strawberries growing in our yard and tried to cultivate them, but they didn't work so very well. We recycle. We have always recycled some paper and plastic, but a while back I found out our city takes even more types of paper and plastic and so we had to ask for another bin because I started to add more. This spring we started a compost bin. I have been wanting to do this for a while, but never made the time. My goal is to see how little garbage we can put out weekly for pick-up. Another project we are starting this week is bee keeping. We starting talking about having our own hives this past winter. Last year the honeybee population was so down where we live that it was hard to get pollination for our garden. God made a way for us to get started. A friend of the General's from work is a bee keeper and he offered to help us get going and gave us the info on how. We have friends at church who are bee keepers and sell honey for a living. I mentioned to them this past Sunday that we were going to start a hive, but it would probably be next spring before we could afford to buy all the gear. I got a call yesterday that this family is giving us a hive! I just cried because of the generosity! Thursday they are setting up the hive and the General's friend has already secured us bees! God is good. I wanted to get some chickens also, but that might be too many new projects in one year. We buy a lot of our clothes at the Goodwill, we also donate all our outgrown things to either friends who need them or the Goodwill. We buy a lot of our things second hand. My eliptical machine we bought used at a store in town that sells used sports equipment. One thing I have not done yet, but have been wanting to is bring my own bags to the grocery. Hopefully I will get some made soon. In the meantime I have a coupon for a free bag at Krogers and will redeem that today. We do not use convience foods very often. We usually cook from scratch here. We buy a lot of fresh foods so there is not a lot of packaging. I hang out our clothes when ever possible. It is not so hard to make these simple changes in your life. Go for it!

Sew Long for Now!

The past two mornings the moon has been just awesome. About 5 a.m. the moon has been so big and orange. As I am driving along it gets to this point right before it drops below the horizon when it seems to sit on the mountains. At times like this when you see the handywork of our Lord I don't mind getting up at 2:30 a.m. every day.

Yesterday I put the invisible zipper in the prom dress and embroidered two shirts. Yeah I got everything I planned done. That maybe it for sewing until Monday. I have loads of other stuff I need to do, but I also need to do some family things also.

Sew Long for Now!

I took a picture of the box of finished aprons, but that picture is boring. This picture of the VMI bagpipes is more exciting! Don't they look handsome? Thirty aprons are embroidered and delivered. I started another set of patches for 4H yesterday, but didn't have time to finish them. Today I need to put an invisible zipper in and embroider two shirts. At least that's the plan for sewing. The housework plan is more extensive with cleaning and laundry that needs attention. The weather forcast is for a nice day so I am off the enjoy it.

Sew Long for Now!

This first picture is to make you smile. This is on my husband's table saw on our back porch. When I walked by it the other day all I could think was this is a man's version of a table center piece! Isn't it cute.
Here at Castle Verde I love green, inside and out. Most people know that almost every room in our home is a shade of green. Yesterday, as we were out and about, I breathed in the nice spring air and looking around noticed how green it was suddenly getting. The leaves are starting to appear. The air is at just that right stage at this time of year that the sky is that gorgeous shade of blue. This is a tree in our backyard. Isn't the sky lovely, isn't the tree beautiful!
This morning as I hung out laundry (with my gloves on because it got cold last night!) I was looking at the grass and noticing it turning green. I saw the sunshine and shadows from the line and thought what a beautiful scene. It's warmed up now. The day is progressing nice. I am getting housework done, lessons with the children are moving right along, my sewing machine is humming away beside me. Oh, it makes me joyful and thankful when I get to do the things I love. I am finishing up the aprons today. Next up is putting a new zipper in a prom dress for a young lady.

Sew Long for Now!

An embroidery I digitized and completed for a customer. I have been getting some sewing work done. Brrrr, it has gotten chilly again. I prefer 70 degrees and sunny!

Usually when I go to the grocery store I buy a lot of groceries at one time. Yesterday while Captain Kitty was at drama practice I dropped into a Krogers near where I was and picked up two items. One of those being six Roma tomatoes. I had a lot of change and had figured in my head approximately how much it would cost. One item was 69 cents and then 1 1/2 lbs of Romas at 1.79 a pound. I figured around $4. I had that much change. When the cashier finished ringing me up he said $7 and something. I did a double take. He ask if I had a Kroger card and I had forgot to give it to him so I handed it to him and he swiped it, but it didn't change my cost. I told him it was wrong. I said those Romas were 1.79 per pound. He told me I hadn't bought Romas I had bought vine ripe tomatoes the sticker said so. I being a some what knowledgable gardener laughed. I told him no they were Romas (different shape you know.) He (being about 18 and not seeming to know his tomatoes) told me I was wrong. I told him if I was wrong I didn't want those tomatoes. I spotted the produce manager and ask the cashier to double check with him. He took my bag of tomatoes over and spent a few minutes arguing with the produce manager. Like the produce manager nor myself knew what we were talking about, the sticker was the final say! It seems the produce manager won the debate and the guy had to come back over and change my price in the register. There is a moral to this, not just to show my knowledge of tomatoes. Always check your receipt when you go to the store. I buy lots of produce and it makes me wonder how many times I have been missed charged. One time I spent a long time in line because I bought zucchini and the young man (another young guy cashier) couldn't figure out what code to put in. He kept asking me what they were. He didn't know and he couldn't find zucchini on his list. I suggested he look under squash. Sure enough they were listed under squash-zucchini. It also makes me a little sad that young people don't know vegetables. Maybe it's just here, I do live in a sort of large city.

Sew Long for Now!

I don't often include pictures of myself because I am the one usually taking the pictures. The General took this picture Friday when we went to VMI to pick up our eldest son. This was right after the parade. Our son plays the tuba in the VMI band. He just learned this year. He wanted to learn the bagpipes and has a chanter, I forgot to ask him how that was going. He took guitar lessons growing up and taught himself to play the base guitar. I hear he played the clarinet for a while in the band. All my children have a musical gene. It skipped me, but my grandparents were very good musicians. I have encouraged them in learning music. Even if they never do anything with it I think music is a great skill to have and enjoy.

The weekend has been nice. Friday and Saturday the weather was good. I got oodles done. Friday I embroidered three burp clothes for a lady, and four more aprons besides the trip up to Lexington. Saturday with all my guys here they helped me build a compost bin and I hung out laundry. The wind was blowing nicely and it was a perfect day to hang out clothes. They dried rather quickly. That is the first time I have used the clothes line since last fall. Today the weather has gotten chillier and they are calling for flurries in some parts.

I have been reading Patty's postings about being in the moment over at Morning Ramble and it hit me while hanging out laundry on Saturday that some time (most of the time) I am always hurrying around. I work a part-time job 7 days a week/365 days a year, I sew for people out of our home, I homeschool our children, I take care of all the indoor housework, gardening, and finances of our home. I do this for lots of reasons. My husband works a very physically demanding job and up until December of 08 he worked two physically demanding jobs. He had to give one up because he has now been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. I do whatever I can to make his life easier and I want to do that. It's just that at times I feel overwhelmed. So, back to the clothes line. As I was standing there hanging clothes, feeling the warm breeze, and watching the guys putting up my compost bin it occurred to me that I could rush off and go do one of the thousands of tasks that needed my attention or I could stop a minute and watch them. Take a minute to walk up the hill and join in. I could enjoy the moment of having my two sons and husband together. Something that doesn't happen all the time these days since our oldest is growing up. I did. It didn't take hours out of my day and I still was able to come down to the sewing room and work on projects after. It made me think I need to do that more. I guess I need to pay attention more. Pay attention to the people around me. Stop a minute. I thought back and realized over the past several years how many times I spoke to my children while doing a task. I have a bad habit of thinking that I have to always be working with my hands. I guess it is from growing up with the saying, "idle hands are the devils workshop" drilled into me. I still think they can be, but sometimes especially when your children hit those teen years they need your to stop and just be with them more than doing for them. Sigh...will I ever learn things in time before it's too late.

Sew Long for Now!

I feel so much better these days. I have changed my sleeping pattern so I get 7-8 straight hours of sleep each night. I have changed my eating pattern so I can eat more raw and healthy foods. The only thing I was struggling with was getting exercise. Yesterday I made myself find time for a 20 minute walk. Last night the General took my to a local store that sells used and new fitness equipment. I found a used elyptical machine for a reasonable price and we brought it home. We live in a fairly small home so it will be in the way at times, but our health is worth the sacrifice of home beautiful. This morning I began learning to use it. I made it five minutes. Five minutes and I was out of breath and my body felt wobbly. I am going to give it another five minutes this afternoon and work my way into 20 minutes of straight use. I feel so much better because I have actually been getting some of the sewing done that is piling up. The picture is of the aprons I am embroidering for a local church. They have a full time kitchen there and wanted 30 aprons embroidered. I am slowly getting through the pile. I also finished digitizing both the designs I was working on and one will be sewn out this weekend on the finished product. I have also found time to work on my bag. It is almost complete. I need to rip the bottom off and re-work it, but it is nice to see it coming along.

Life seems nice right now. I have been smelling honeysuckle as I work. I love the smell of honeysuckle. Last night while delivering papers I caught the scent of wild onions and newly mowed grass. I love smells. I don't know why. They trigger memories in me. Well, off to sew and then to VMI this afternoon to watch the parade and pick up our son for the weekend.

Sew Long for Now!

I chose a picture with a view from my parents back porch. It is so much more inspiring than a picture of what I have been working on, a computer screen. I have been digitizing two designs this week. I am so excited the first one sewed out with only a slight change needing to be made. The second I will sew out later. I am afraid I am still working on the patches. Sigh...I just can't get them the way I want them. I also haven't got to the pocketbook again, either.

On the bright side, lessons have been completed every day and I finally got my kitchen floor washed this morning. I feel I have accomplished something. In just a little while the General will be home so I must be off to finish things so I can be available for him when he gets here!

Sew Long for Now!

After almost a month of not sleeping and a major melt down for me I had to give in and change my routine drastically. I began last Thursday going to bed at 6:30 P.M. It was so heavenly to sleep for 8 straight hours. I hadn't done that for a year. It may take a while to get used to this new schedule and so I hope to get back to getting more sewing done. I haven't been able to lately because of exhaustion. On Friday we spent the day up in the mountains for the General's birthday. Spring is playing peek a boo with us here.

Sew Long for Now!

I am still working on the patches. The last try didn't do what I wanted. After a visit to my favorite sewing store I decided to trim around the outline and then put a thin line of seam sealant. Next I put a thin line of satin stitch and then I am going around it with a wider line of satin stitch. I am watching it sew now and waiting to see the result. The only down side I see to this method is the seam sealant really gunks up your needle.

I spent a little time working on my bag that I started months ago. I trimmed all the pockets with bias made from the lining material. I sewed the inside pockets on one side and sewed dividers to make more pockets of different sizes. I have one pocket to put on the opposite side of the lining and one for the outside of the bag. I need to work on some digitizing and maybe then I can at least sew on those pockets tonight.

Sew Long for Now!

Patches revisted. I tried a different method with the patches to minimize the thread hairs. I sewed the patch outline on the material and cut away stabilizer. Next, I took this out of the hoop and cut as close as possible to the stitch line. I set up my hoop with sticky back stabilizer and then sewed the outline of the patches on it. I next placed the cut out parts of the patches within the border of the outline stitch on the sticky back stabilizer. I started the machine and it began to sew. It has cut down on the threads sticking out of the satin stitch, but there are still some. I am going to try sewing the satin border a second time around and see what happens.

Sew Long for Now!

Yesterday saw no sewing here. Today I made an effort to work on these patches for 4H. They ended up to be more of a challenge than I thought. I am having a hard time with thread hairs. You know those tiny hairs that stick out after you sew around the edges. I tried burning them off with a stencil burner, that did not work. I am trying to trim them off, it doesn't look so good. I am thinking that I may have to either put no fray on after trimming the shape, before sewing the finished edge. Maybe I will have to put wonder under or something similar on the fabric before using? What does that Dyson commercial say about thousands of prototypes before he got the vaccum to work? Off to try more things.

Sew Long for Now!

Another successful day! I actually got something done. I went to Joann's and got material to make patches for the 4H, material to make a bag for a lady, and yarn to work on a crochet project I want to finish. I also embroidered a shirt for a lady! Tomorrow I hope to work on those 30 patches I need to do.

Sew Long for Now!

Poster from Allposters.com

I am tired, but happily reporting that I found time to hem three pairs of jeans for our youngest son today! That mending pile is going down!

Sew Long for Now!

I knew this past week would not find me with any more spare time. I didn't get a lot of sewing done, so that was not what kept me busy. My weeks seem to be filled with working part-time, lessons with the children, housekeeping, and running errands. I really want to find time to fit in sewing, but lately it just isn't happening. I did spend time on Friday working on that mending pile. I repaired two pair of long johns, a skirt, and a shirt. On Saturday the General worked on repairing a stool to my vanity. My vanity is over 60's year old. We were given it 19 years ago. Sometime in the last 10 years the stool broke and it has never been fixed. While he had it apart I recovered the top because the padded seat's material had ripped. I have never done much home dec type sewing. I didn't even have to sew this. Don't ever look at the bottom of that seat! It looks nice on the top, but what I did to the bottom, let's just say I am not an upholsterer. I covered the seat in a tone on tone beige home dec fabric some one gave me. I like the look of it and I think I may replace the curtain in our bedroom with that material since it looks so nice. I have lots of left over fabric. I really want to work on finishing the mending pile this week. I also want to finish my new bag that I have never finished. I would like to make some new napkins for our use. I would like to make some bags to take shopping so I could cut down on my use of plastic. I need to finish embroidering 30 patches for 4H. I may have to embroidery a shirt for some one. Let's see if I can get myself in gear this week. Being up at 12:27 and unable to sleep is not going to bode well for the upcoming week!

Sew Long for Now!

*Poster from Allposters.com

Another week has gone by. I completed the pants. I made curtains to match the above room. Princess Capt. Kitty wanted a new room for her birthday. Lime green walls, aqua blue trim and lavendar curtains. It actually doesn't look too bad in real life. We found that great bedspread at Walmart that had all the colors she wanted in it. We finally finished our FPU class, so now I may have a bit more time in my days. (ROFLOL) I got none of the mending pile done. We did start cleaning the laundry room and basement yesterday. There was a leak and a pipe had to be fixed so it did not all get finished. The weather is lovely today and when The General comes home we will go outside and spend some time!

Sew Long for Now!