Fun!

Vernon and I actually went out to a social event last night!  Shocking, I know!  We went to a local wine bar to meet up with other members of a local steampunk group.  A grand time was had by all!

Still kicking!

Long time, no post.

Things have been a bit busy around here and blogging has taken a back burner.  But life is still rolling along here at Troll Bridge Acres.  Here's a quick update.
On the garden front: I've got lots of little seedlings up!  But I'm having germination problems with some of my peppers.  Seed that I just got last year so should still be good is having terrible germination this year.   I'm also struggling with aphids that have migrated from one of the houseplants onto my seedlings.  Grr!  I thought we had them under control on the houseplants but I guess not.   I was hoping to till at least part of the garden but it has been rainy here lately so it is still too wet. Maybe later this afternoon... we only got a little shower this morning and it is sunny and windy this afternoon.  But I'm not holding my breath- I was out a little bit ago and it's still pretty squishy.  But, I'm not complaining about the rain- we're finally out of drought conditions!!  I15 helped me clear off flower beds last weekend and we planted a wisteria vine to climb up the pergola on the deck- something a bit more permanent than the morning glories.
On the work front (paid job): Today is my one day off after a 6 day stretch.  It has been a really, really long week and I'm dealing with a pretty tough patient group right now so it has been really sapping my energy.  I've got 4 days to work and then I get a 4 day weekend with the alignment of my Friday comp day for working Saturday and my usual every-other Monday off.  I can't wait!
Chickens: The big girls are finally back into the swing of things and we're getting 6  or more eggs/day.  I'm going to have to see if I can sell a few at work since the fridge is quickly filling up!  The little girls are growing quickly and are at that awkward 'teenage' stage.  But they are healthy and appear happy.  I came down this morning to find them all snuggled up roosting on the stick I put in there for them.  I did change the wood chip bedding I had in the kennel for them.  The downstairs bath was getting a bit stinky!
Sewing: ugh.  I haven't had much time to spend at the machine.  I've got a blouse that I started weeks ago that still isn't finished.  I don't have much left to do but just can't seem to get it done.  I've got a jacket for I15 cut out and ready to start.  Next weekend I'm hoping to spend some quality time in the sewing room.  I've also got to do another baby quilt for work.  One of the social workers I work closely with is expecting in August.  I had hoped to have my business website up and running in April but I'm rapidly losing the month.
Zombie training:  I was doing really, really well until I slipped on wet grass and twisted my knee last weekend.  It hasn't so much been painful as much as it just feels unstable and like it wants to hyperextend when I run. It is getting better but I've taken the week off running because I don't want to injure it further and REALLY do some damage.  But, I'm registered for a 5K run/walk next Sunday afternoon, the Rehab Run, sponsored by the Physical Therapy department at the University.  Even if I have to walk it I'm going to do it.  And Justine and I are going to do the Mud Run in June and our big race is in July.    I'd really like to do the Color Run but our most local race is the same weekend as Run for Your Lives.   Oh well, maybe next year.
Family:  V has been busy writing so house stuff has slowed down.  But, he's continued to put up more ceilings in the basement on his off days.  It is so nice to be doing 'finishing' stuff!  Now that it is starting to warm up, I'll probably be doing some painting as well soon.  I think I'm going to be going through LOTS of primer in the basement.  The boys are charging along through the school year and Justine will be finished with her first year of college in mid May.  Hard to believe that it's just over a month away.  Wow! Where has time gone.

Well, now that I've wasted some time here, I've still got lots on my to-do list for today that I've been avoiding.  Back to work, although I'd really much rather just sit and enjoy the weather....

I'll try to work through my blog reading backlog sometime soon and will really try to post more often.

Time to relax?

Whew!  I made it through today's photo shoot. I didn't finish one blouse I was hoping to.  I made it as far as putting in the sleeves but knew that I would never get the collar and buttons on in time, considering I needed to pin and hem a skirt this morning after my model arrived.  Now, I've got a little breathing room until the next round.  I've got that shirt to finish, a coat cut out for I15 and a few more things in the offing.  Today was a ladies shoot, I didn't feel I had enough stuff done for the guys for them to turn out in the rain.  So more sewing is in the offing for me. I'm hoping for April or May for this one.
I also really, really need to step up the workouts if I'm to be zombie ready in July for our race.  Things have been totally hectic around here.  This week: Justine was home for Spring break, we celebrated K12 morphing into K13!  My baby is now officially a teenager.  EEK!  I15 finally got his learner's driving permit.  We had a band concert on Wednesday night, my brother had surgery on his knee and I've been sewing like mad and doing things like making goggles and hats.
But, it's also time to start little seeds.  Woo Hoo!  So that is on the agenda for tomorrow. I can hardly wait to get my hands in some dirt.  It's been raining all day.  Good for the moisture but not so hot for our photo shoot.

But, now that I've gotten through the first shoot, hopefully I'll have a little more time for blog reading.  I feel out of the loop because I've been bad about keeping up with all of you.

Dreaming...

If you're on Facebook and want to follow along with my sewing adventures. I've started a page for my fledgling business.   There isn't much there yet but I'll be posting new things soon.
You can check it out here.

Pssst

There is a photo of my wonderful hubby here.  He really is a gem.

I'm feeling better after two days under the weather so I've been sewing again.

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.

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.

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....

Crazy sewing weekend

Whew!  I've had a whirlwind weekend in the sewing room.  I did manage to get quite a bit done.  I got the binding machine stitched on Justine's quilt and am about half done hand stitching it.  I got Karl's vest completed. And today, I managed to cut out and nearly complete a fleece shirt for Ian.  All I've got left is to hand stitch down the collar facing.  I've got a photo of it here.  It's made from that ultra soft fleece.
So, I feel pretty good about the weekend.  And, I've finally made a decision.  I'm tired of second guessing myself and playing the maybe/someday/never scenarios in my head.  I'm going to finally take the plunge into starting my sewing business on the side.  I'm currently recruiting models and will be sewing up a storm with the plan to do a photo shoot in March and have the website go live in April.  So I'll probably be updating much more on my other blog that has been rather neglected.
This business will either succeed or fail but it won't do either if I don't at least try.  Besides my (not always willing) family I've got one other model volunteer already and I just sent out the notice today.  I spent a few minutes pulling out the patterns I want and looking through the fabric stash.  I'm excited again about this idea.
Justine will arrive home on Saturday.  I'm also excited about that.  She is also ready to come home.  She's in the middle of finals this week so send good thoughts her way.
I've got to go back to work tomorrow.  It has been such a busy few days here but even with all that I feel refreshed.  It was a great change of pace.

Hope you all have a great week.

Cold, rainy Sunday

It has been cold, damp and dank here.  Only into the upper 40's and rainy.  It's that cold, bone-chilling weather that makes you want to curl up with a warm quilt... or work on one!  While J17 has been working on her prom dress, I've been working on her Steampunk quilt.  I've got a post up over at Dreams of Empires complete with pictures.  Even V declared it pretty awesome.  Of course, he preceded that comment with "It turned out better than I thought it would".  Gee, Thanks.

Thinking and Rethinking

THINGS have been in the air lately.  I've been thinking (you thought you smelled something burning, didn't you!) and rethinking my plan to open a shop on Etsy.  I'm not sure if you have heard of the uproar that has been going on over there, but check it out. I'm pretty sure I can NOT buy into a system that doesn't play fair with it's sellers and seems to be rewriting the rules to cover their butts.  I finally gave up on reading the comments on the thread. I only made it through about page 30 (of currently 80+ and growing) of comments.  People are ANGRY!  I've heard of many artists who are closing out their shops and looking for a new venue and heard that Etsy has shut down shops for some more outspoken individuals.  For more of the backstory that Etsy doesn't want to tell you, check out Regretsy for some fun- they are often crude and irreverent but honest.  (There is more than one post there on this subject so I picked what I feel is the most telling for the link.)  Still, the whole mess has left me with enough of a bad taste in my mouth that I no longer want to use Etsy.  I'll be looking for a different venue for setting up a shop when I've got a few items made.
In other thinking of crafty type things... the fabric for J17's quilt arrived yesterday (along with a few 'extras').

Love it!  But I have a problem.  Since it is that lovely, rich, mahogany brown it has much more of a red tone than any of the other fabrics in my stash that I was hoping to use.  Hmm...  I'll have to put some thought into this one.  But look at this:

 eQuilter sent me a lovely handwritten thank you on my invoice- complete with a sticker!  Aww... how sweet.  And, 2% of the purchase price goes to charity.  Pretty cool!

Last night after dinner, the boys and I did a little work:

 We filled in the herb spiral.  Well... mostly filled in.  This is the base layer of soil from our pile that is mostly clay. I'm hoping for a nice rain to settle this and then I'll put some nice topsoil on the top before I plant.

My new little sage plant is waiting to take its place at the top of the spiral.

I'm still thinking...  I'll be back later this week....

Dreaming away

I've finally finished that shirt I was making for V and I've got a new post up at my other blog.  Things are getting moving slowly on my new (hopeful) business but every little bit helps. Now I've got to pick a new project.  Hmmm... a quilt or a brocade vest to add to the menswear collection.....

If I'm really going to do this thing, I still need to get an Etsy site up and also go through the paperwork to get a sales tax number and all that jazz.