Thursday, January 31, 2013

snow and sickness

Well, I didn't escape from the germs.  And we didn't escape the weather.  Yesterday I was home from work and the boys were home from school. I've got the crud (more acurately known as Influenza). The boys have a 2 hour delay this morning but are back in school after the winter storm of yesterday that left us with 4-5 inches of snow and bitterly cold temps.
I am feeling a bit better today.  Yesterday I slept until noon and then just lay around on the couch all afternoon.  My most ambitious activity was to throw some chicken into the crockpot for dinner.  This morning, I still feel like I've got a brick in my chest and still have a fever but have a bit more energy. Because I still have a fever I'm home again from work.  They get touchy about sick employees showing up at the hospital. But since I'm feeling a little better, maybe I'll be able to get to buttons and buttonholes later.  We'll see. I was feeling pretty good a while ago and thought I'd load the dishwasher. It wiped me out.
What bums me out is that I actually got the flu shot and still got sick.  We're required to get the shot at work but evidently they 'missed' this strain.

But, tomorrow I'm scheduled off (from working Saturday) so hopefully I'll feel better.  At least I can take the day without feeling guilty for leaving my co-workers in the lurch.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Roller coaster weather

What a wild ride we've been having and are still in for. Sunday was nasty with freezing rain.  An enforced day of stay-at-homeness.  Today, it was 57 when I got up at 5:30 this morning, breaking all sorts of warm weather records here.  This afternoon, it was already down to 38 with a winter storm moving in with 4-7 inches of snow predicted.  Yowza.  What a ride.
I'm still recovering from my eye appointment this afternoon.  I had my eyes dilated and it always seems like it takes me forever for them to return to normal. Everything is still a bit blurry so forgive me if I miss any typos.
I was really hoping to have photos of a new jacket to share.  I got the jacket shell finished Sunday, the lining on Monday (my day off) and last night I did some handwork and hemming on it as well as covering the 22 buttons that will go on it.  I had hoped to be able to do buttons and buttonholes this evening but unless my eyes recover more quickly I don't think i want to do much with sharp needles.
V has continued to struggle with upper respiratory infection and I15 came home from school yesterday (and was home today) with the stomach bug that has been going around. Hopefully they won't share their germs. We've had too many people off sick at work and i've got too much to do to be sick.

The hens have started picking up with egg laying after a long dry spell.  Today we had three eggs!  For most of the winter we've been getting only about 4 eggs/week.  in the last 4 days, with molting over and the days lengthening, we've already had 7.  A definite improvement- I'm geting tired of feeding them with not much to show for it.

Other than that, not much going on. I'll post jacket photos when I get it done.  I'm not sure V will let anyone else wear it.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

c-c-c-cold

It is definitely winter!  It was -2F this morning.  I think we hit a high of 7 or 8.  Pretty sad when I had to take the ice chipper to remove the frozen glob of chicken poo so I could close the pop door.
The sun was shining today so hopefully the greenhouse will survive.  My very-low-tech heating system seems to be working reasonably well but this is the coldest it has gotten so far.  The water in the heating buckets had a skim of ice on it yesterday (about as cold as today- about 14F for a high) but was not all frozen and it was actually fairly pleasant in there.
Now, I've got some hemming to do.

Monday, January 21, 2013

A busy weekend

I'm loving the extra day this weekend.  It has been busy here.  I've been busy sewing (a post here), doing laundry, general housework and a Sunday afternoon/evening trip to spend time with a few of my cousins.
The weather yesterday was less than perfect:
(don't you love point and shoot cameras!) but it had stopped snowing and the roads were clear by the time I headed home.  I was able to have dinner with my brother, sister-in-law and several of my cousins and/or spouses.  I'm the youngest of the cousins on Dad's side. The oldest cousin was also there and there is a 31 year difference in our ages.  Yowza!  My father, at 86, is only 5 years older than his oldest niece.  But it was a fun evening.
Tomorrow, it's back to work for a 5 day stretch.  I work on Saturday so there goes another day of sewing.  I also need to pull out me seeds and see if there is anything I need to order.  I think I'm pretty good for seeds but it's always best to be sure.  And I need to decide what my 1-new-thing will be for the garden this year.  Hmm... any suggestions?

Saturday, January 19, 2013

It may be...

It may be January.  This may be Iowa.  But look at what I harvested today!
Tonight's dinner salad courtesy of the greenhouse.

Thanks ever so much to my wonderful, talented, hard working hubby for his handiwork!  I'm lovin' it!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Another skirt

I've got photos up of Justine's walking skirt over at my other blog here.  There is new fabric in the wash and hope to cut out my next project.  Actually, I've got three cuts washing and several projects in the offing.  I'm planning a matching bolero for my skirt, another matching skirt and jacket set, a man's frock coat and a duster.  Those are the big projects I've got fabric for. I've also got several vests in the planning stages (both for men and women).
Justine heads back to school on Friday.  We've had a lovely time with her home and I'll be a bit sad to have her leave again. But, she will be back in March for spring break and then for the summer again in mid May.
It's also about time to start making my garden list and I really, really need to get my exercise schedule back on track.  It seems have been more difficult to keep on track with Justine home. Plus there seems to have been lots of extra chaos the past few weeks.  I definitely need to work on my scheduling.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Taking a risk

Yeah... I'm taking a huge risk.  I posted photos of myself wearing my new skirt.  You can see how much I really need to get into shape before July.  Eeek.  They're over at my other blog.

Brrr....

It is a chilly 6F outside this morning.  Brrr...  Chilly isn't really the right word- it's COLD!  After a spate of single digit temps a couple of weeks ago the greenhouse is looking pretty pathetic.  I think I may still have a few things out there that have survived- chard, kale and spinach- but they aren't really growing.  Still, when it warms up again they should take off quickly. But I guess I had salad from the greenhouse for Christmas so I can't complain too much.
It's about time to start looking at the seed catalogs and begin dreaming of the 2013 garden. It's still a bit early to plant even the early stuff but I'm hopeful for the coming year.  I need to decide what my new plant of the year will be.  Hmm... what to plant, what to plant?

I've been busy sewing this weekend.  I'll soon have photos to post.  I finally finished the long skirt with a bustle for me that I started over New Year's and on Saturday I whipped up a walking skirt for Justine that just needs hemmed.   I think maybe next I'll work on a jacket.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Today is my day off so I need to get busy if I'm going to get anything done.  I've got so much on my plate right now that I have to be careful how I juggle or I'm going to drop something.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

A great day

It was a wonderful day today after a not so hot week.  The week was hectic and we got some news that I'm not ready to share here yet...  It's not really my news to share although it effects me.  Anyway, things are settling down nicely now.
But today was a lovely day for me. I got to spend most of the day sewing and then we had family game night.  We ended up playing Ticket to Ride and had lots and lots of fun.  We had trouble at first deciding what game to play but this was a new game that we haven't played yet and it was one that all five of us could play together.
It was a great day. I love family night!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

A little diversion

We hosted a tea party today.  Quite the lovely time.  A bunch of Justine's friends came over so I could get their measurements. They have all agreed to model for me for the business. Now I've just got to get sewing.  We're planning to do a photo shoot in March when young people are on spring break so I've got to get hopping on sewing.  At least they all gave me ideas of what they would like to model. Of course, they may not entirely get their wishes since I am the designer and seamstress.  But at least I've got some ideas.  And one guy said he was talking to some other of his friends about doing this and they may want to actually buy things.  Eeek....

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2013 word of the year

I've been pondering my goals for the year.  I've managed to boil it all down to one word:

CHALLENGE

This is the year I hope to really challenge myself.  
First, this is the year that Justine and I will do Run for Your Lives- the 5K obstacle course complete with zombies- so it will be a challenge for me to get into good enough shape to be successful at this.
Then, I've got the challenge to complete a number of items in time for a March photo shoot and for an April launch of my new business.  I'll be spending quite a bit of quality time with my sewing machine in the next few months.
There is always the challenge of maintaining the garden, made more complicated this year by trying to find a new balance between gardening, sewing, training for a 5K and all the rest of the things I do.  I feel that will be the major challenge of the year... finding balance.  I will need to learn to be much more cautious with how I spend my time.  But I do realize that I also need to have some down-time in there, as well as family time (which I will not give up!).

So, 2013 will be an interesting year.  I hope I'm up to it. I'll be relying on all of you to keep me in line and on track.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy 2013

The New Year slipped in quietly around here... about the time the One Ring was destroyed.  We had family movie night with The Return of the King.  We went to see The Hobbit on Friday and watched the other two movies over the weekend.  I can't think of a better way to finish the year than in the company of those you love.
I still need to get myself together and post a few of the goals for the new year.  But a quick preview: they involve a lot of pushing myself to new limits.

My wish for myself and for all of you:


May 2013 be the year when you finally become who you wish to be.


Happy New Year!