Confessions of a One-Track Mind

I had to leave the laptop over at J's so she could deal with a virus that was keeping me off the internet. Smart friends are a good thing to have! All's well now!

The fence business is becoming annoying; the individuals who've come out to estimate are either dumb or unhelpful. Either they're claiming they can't measure because the yard needs mowed first, or they're telling me I need a survey, a site plan and a permit, or their estimates are twice my budget. Grr. Still very much a situation in progress.

In happier news, I have pillows! Thanks to thru_the_blinds and my trusty Target gift card, I now have FOUR new pillows: One firm, one extra firm and two feather. Lovely! Also a Sunbeam electric kettle, some page protectors and a bag of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Caramel with Sea Salt. Much squee!

I ran into Hancock Fabrics and actually for once came out with ONLY the item I went in there for, namely, a square of hot pink felt---I already had suitable thread. I have a vintage hot pink Nicole Miller bag that I'm very fond of, but the lining's seams were unravelling. I managed to sew one of them up---hopefully it will stay---but the other side was worse, and I needed something to patch it with. I considered ribbon, but it occurred to me that I wouldn't have to worry about hemming felt and wouldn't be restricted to a specific width.. It worked a treat. Fixed! So it should be good for a few more years, and I have leftover felt if anything else comes apart.

Speaking of sewing, I need some new living room curtains. The ones I have are ten years old---GK gave them to me before her move to MA, and they're staring to get pinholes from sunlight, in addition to being decidedly dusty. I need something that will unify an assortment of patterns. I have a mostly cranberry loveseat with matching ottoman, a wicker chair and ottoman with a striped pattern that includes cranberry, olive, goldenrod and rust, and now the new area rug (which isn't down yet) that's mostly light gold, with rust, slate blue and black.

I'm thinking goldenrod/soft gold for the curtains, especially since when I paint, eventually, I want a light golden yellow n three walls and something in an olive/Wedgewood green for the long accent wall. (I wouldn't rule old something with a stripe.) To complicate matters, I also think it would be nice to replace the drapes on the sliding glass doors at the same time. Either I need a lot (4-6) of sheets bought on clearance, or a really cheap bolt of something....

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J took me over to where my car is sitting forlornly so I could post a note saying "Not abandoned! Please do not tow!" Tomorrow, she's going to call AAA on my behalf and get them to put the donut on for me.

My check *should* be here on Tuesday, so I can go cash that and get a proper tire. (I hope my fav used tire place has the size I need, under $30 a plus.)

The amount of time I've been spending with J in recent months has been enlightening. I've found out things about her that I never suspected, and that goes both ways, because I'll say something and she'll be all "Really? I didn't know you liked that!"

So far, she's remarked that she never would've guessed I love classical music. I like pretty much everything except rap---just because I flaunted a taste for metal back in the 80s doesn't mean that's ALL I like. Or Harry Potter: I'd read the books before the movies started coming out. I adore salmon---I was talking about the best meal I ever ate---and how salmon is probably my favorite protein. Today she commented that she didn't know I had a thing for Clint Eastwood. Dad and I sat through his westerns, especially The Outlaw Josey Wales zillions of times, and For a Few Dollars More was one of the first DVDs I ever got, before I even had a DVD player of my own. And I watch football on TV, which astonished her.

She loves Roger Moore as Bond, while he's my least favorite (We watched Casino Royale and had a spirited discussion about Bonds.) I don't count George Lazenby or Peter Sellers. Dalton ranks just above Moore for me, while she detests him and ranks him last. When I pointed out that we'd seen Daniel Craig recently in The Golden Compass, she declared that she liked him better bearded. Wait til she sees him in chaps! At some point, I *AM* going to show her Cowboys and Aliens.

Things like that. It's been interesting; for the last couple decades, she was my friend's daughter, and now she's definitely a friend in her own right. And while there's a 10-year gap in our ages, she's the same age as Mb. It's not THAT much of a stretch.

Speaking of her mother, the other day, I made it home to snag a few things. Included in that was my favorite dressy dress, which I'd snagged the last time I wore it. A nasty half-inch snag on a nearly new dress (only worn 3-4 times)---but I recollected the trick Susie showed me to fix things like that. I rummaged in my sewing box and grabbed my needle-threader. From the back of the skirt, I found the snag and gently pushed the wire loop through the fabric at the center of the snag. I tucked the snag into the wire loop of the needle-threader, and carefully tugged it through to the back. Voila! The dress was fixed, has been laundered and is ready to wear.

I'm hoping for clear but not broiling weather for Monday so I can clean out my car. At some point this week, I need to take my cans in to recycle if I want any discretionary fund at all for next weekend. Coz I swear, I *am* going to see Contagion.

TTFN....

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I got two loads of laundry done---one of which was a giant comforter. The other was pillows, which I had to wrestle out of the washer, because they puffed up when wet. They're destined for the guest bed. Actually, I washed four pillows; they all started out limp and flat.

I'm happy to report that they're all now nice and soft. I slit open one end on each, extracted the filling, and spent the evening in fromt of the TV pulling it apart and restuffing them one at a time. Then I hand-stitched them back up, one after the other. Presto, four clean fluffy pillows for my guest

Bathrooms. Still need to do the bathrooms. Find the blender. make room for the blender. Clean out the fridge. And The Pile will be much reduced if I go through the Shred or Sort boxes.

Otherwise, I'm not going to fuss with it (The Pile) any more. Yes, there are some boxes to thrift, but at this point, that's pretty much ALL there is. GK is renting a minivan AND we're going thrifting Tuesday (and probably hooking up with BigRed while we're at it)---so why burn gas? We can schlep it in one load then. There's still plenty of room to walk around them.

Now that it's technically Wednesday, GK will be here the day after tomorrow!!!

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I spent the weekend house-sitting for the Cs. One thing about being over there, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I can always find something to read. For instance, AI had the latest copy of the Pyramid Collection catalog lying around...read through it and fell in love with their Coral Reef dress.

While I was in the neighborhood, I visited Hancock Fabrics+---no, I *didn't* buy any!---for some thread to match some green fabric I've been meaning to make a skirt from. And, thinking of that dress I was pining for, I browsed their pattern books.

This is the Pyramid dress I fell in love with:


and this is Simplicity #2947:



Not exactly the same, but close enough! I think the Simplicity version will be easier to sew, since it doesn't have the skirt fitted to the bottom of the bodice. (What?! It's about time I did something with the sewing machine I inherited!)

I also like that #2947 includes patterns for a pair of wide-legged pants and a shrug. Pants are the most difficult item to find, for me, at least, and a shrug will help move some items to year-round wear---or keep me from being chilled on the rare occasions when an establishment's A/C is too cold.

I have oodles of fabric I can make a trial run dress from. Which is a Good Thing, because Jiminy Christmas, the price of fabric, wtf?! And WHEN did the standard width go from 45" to 60"? I totally missed the memo on that!

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+ Originally, when I went in there, I had the ulterior motive of wanting to snag something cheap to make curtains with. The ones in the living room are 10 years old and look it, and I'm not overfond of the tab tops I have on the sliding glass doors.

I found an awesome cotton print I would have LOVED to grab to recover my ottoman and love seat and hide the fugly fish forever. However, enough to cover those two pieces---even at the ridiculously low Clearance price---would run me more than my biweekly tank of gas, bathroom tissue and assorted necessities and bills. No can do.

Said print had a brown background sprinkled with little ivory dots all over and punctuated with bigger dots in yellow, pink and green. Very Fiestaware! Hmm, maybe I could get just enough to make a tablecloth and some chair covers...?

It's true: When you have TIME, you have no MONEY. When you have money, you have no time.

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