My mother has spoken.. She feels its better for me to express my milk and give it to the baby. The main reason is that I would be able to leave the child someplace (her place..) while i go for my errands, work appointments or events.. I tried that yesterday.. (yes.. I was supposed to be confined to the house to...
Grant me this: I work fast. Meet the newest member of the family: my 1924 Singer 66 "red eye" treadle sewing machine! This little beauty was being sold by a young Parsons grad named Tomoko who lives right around the corner from me in a four-story walk-up - fortunately on one of the lower floors! She'd bought the machine at an...
Dear Hearts and Gentle Lurkers, I have a new obsession: treadle sewing machines. I just checked this machine out this morning. It is ONE BLOCK FROM MY APARTMENT. I found it on Craigslist. The serial number dates it from 1924. The seller was asking $250 but will take $200. Yes? No? The hand wheel turns smoothly as does the treadle. It...
Today was a day to not let life just happen. I ditched the "I should do this" and "I should do that" to spend the afternoon enjoying a bike ride with hubby and some friends. A leisurely ride through southern Minnesota with a quick stop in Wabasha before crossing the river into Wisconsin. We enjoyed a great food and service and...
Friends, it is good to be home. Oh, not Manhattan (though that's nice too) - I mean here with you at Male Pattern Boldness! Let's face it: my life as a blogging male home sewist is a lot more glamorous than my real life, where - I can conceal it no longer - I am actually Gertie's book agent. By the...
Hello, dear readers. Just wanted to let you know that I survived leaving my firstborn, daughter Annie, at college this week so she can begin her college career and life away from home. We set her up in her dorm room, met her roommate, and then said good-byes that were quick and heartfelt. Got in the car and drove to a...
Hello, dear readers. Just wanted to let you know that I survived leaving my firstborn, daughter Annie, at college this week so she can begin her college career and life away from home. We set her up in her dorm room, met her roommate, and then said good-byes that were quick and heartfelt. Got in the car and drove to a...
So I was searching around wondering how I was going to begin discussing what I think is a very important topic when I happened to scroll down the page and noticed that the are exactly 613 folks who follow this blog. Now, if you're Jewish or even if you're not, you know that in Judaism, 613 is a very significant number....
You make fruit salad, right? Or you can eat it monkey style...? Or if life hands you a rotten banana, make banana bread - right? Photos courtesy of Tiny and her train ride. (I've got plenty more where those came from - try ten shots)....
Do you remember my quilt made from charm squares ? Well, when I asked for input on how I should proceed, I also received a most generous offer from my sweet friend, Nicolette . Amazingly, she also had purchased the exact charm pack years ago and said she could send me some of hers so that I could make my quilt...
Remember that scene from Fiddler on the Roof where Tevya's eldest daughter gets married and he and Golda sing about how quickly she went from being their little girl to a grown woman? I'm experiencing a little of that myself these days. I've been furiously (and I mean furiously) rushing around trying to finish all manner of projects and assignments before...
Friends, one of the joys of blogging is that no matter what kind of disasters befall you, you can always turn it into material for your blog. Barring the type of catastrophe that sends you to the other side - and I don't mean Europe - a capable writer can spin any setback into a life-affirming tale of courage over...
There's a new member of the HZC family that I want to introduce to you: This is Hartley . He is an 11 month old Vizsla and he is responsible for the return of joy into our home. Since he has taken up residence with us, he has been doing all the things a sweet puppy should do. Like rolling in...
Please excuse the poor quality of my mobile phone photos Wonderful friends come to visit bearing yummy peanut butter cupcakes... .... and the on-site oppy provides some vintage gems... Now I just need to work on breaking out of here!...
{Credit where it is due - I'm hijacking Ellie of petalplum and her Slow Project here} When I wrote about my attraction to the Slow Food movement a few weeks ago, I came away with a sense of cognitive dissonance. I pay plenty of lip service to the slow life - slow food , slow cloth , slow fashion , slow...
Readers, I apologize. In my quest for ever-larger readership, I have succumbed to the temptation of using provocative blog entry titles to draw those who may be finding us here via key word entries in random search engines. Don't be thrown off by titles like I Lived in Sin, or Temptations of Burlesque Girls . It's still the same old blog...
Laceknitting is an indulgence for me that I do not treat myself to very often. Thisis due in part to the challenges of lace knitting and the concentration I liketo devote to it that I am often lacking lately. But I enjoy it so very much andhave for some time. I wrote the below back in 2007 and it has inspired...
Once I finished up with teaching camp, I thought I’d take off the rest of the summer and hang out with the kids. After all, it’s Miss L’s last summer before Kindergarten and maybe the last year I have all three kids home for the break. That plan zipped right out the door the day [...]...
Nothing going on here on the sewing front. A bit of knitting, still. We're buying a house here in Florida (found out our offer was accepted this weekend), so this is a very exciting time, even though there is no sewing machine around yet. :-)...
Increasingly I am asked how I learned to sew and what advice I would give beginners. Since I only started a year ago this is easy - it's all very fresh in my mind! So here, in no particular order, is my entirely subjective, highly biased top ten tips list: 1. Start off with a good machine. I can't imagine anything...
Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Chutneys & More by Ashley English. Lark Books (April 6, 2010) I was originally drawn to this series of books because of the groovy retro styling of the covers. And the fact that I have chooks and [...]...
So my homegirl had her GRAND OPENING of her CAKE Shop. Yea and Yummy at the same time. I love her cup cakes and cakes. The Girl's Got skills. Bite of Your Life is a wonderful shop and Liz and suga mama are going places.... Ahhhhhhhhh I can't wait for more great things from them. Oh these are one of my...
Because I have been looking for a pale pink filing/ dairy crate for a month and have turned up bupkiss. Have been to Joanns, Stables, Wal Mart, Target, Container Store and PB Kids. Grrr. I rode my bike to work today. It’s taken me well over a month to work my nerve up. It was a [...]...
I'll skip the morning niceties today and cut to the chase: in my heart of hearts I long to dress like this - a Twenties dandy aboard the Ile de France en route to, I don't know, Capri or something. I'd settle for Genoa. Friends, barring a large inheritance from a mysterious millionaire mogul, I will never dress that way, let's...
Sometimes, when the nap was too short, the thermometer too hot, and even when it's the last thing an exhausted mama thinks she wants to do ... ... the best thing to do is to pack up a few essentials......
Friends, today's entry is not about hats. But it could be. I wouldn't call myself a pack rat - you've seen my apartment, well, at least most of my living room. I'm no Edie Beale but I definitely have the collectors gene. Over the years I've collected coins (as a boy; now I don't know what to do with them), LPs...
It's been a busy few months at chez Betty Jo. This morning I rounded off all those days and nights spent writing up Business Plans and Financial Projections in one quick hand over of a bulky file full of my ideas for the future. So now I wait. Luckily I had a fantastic day at Design Made Trade, chatting and discovering...
It has been said before that I don't elaborate on things gone wrong. So, I just thought I'd share. I mentioned to JB that we were going to have to do something about the washer soon. I was getting tired of my white tees coming out stained. And I was quite irritated when my brand new orange tank come out of...
Hello. My name is Susan aka Knitters Despite....errrr I mean Delight. I am a bad blogger. Why have I forsaken my beloved blog? Well, work has been crazy in addition to a lot of other time consuming things going on in my life recently. I will share one bit of news........drum roll please... I am in escrow and will be buying...
Squint hard - don't I look like Troy Donahue? Harder, harder! Despite temperatures in the triple digits yesterday, I completed my cabana set. Now all I need is the cabana. Despite the worst directions for attaching a shirt yoke facing ever, I managed to stitch this up pretty fast. I used a few vintage buttons on the front... And added the...
I saw this posted over at View From the Hamster Wheel. I think it will be a big help to me when I'm trying to decide what really needs to be done that day and in which order should it be done. The Mayonnaise Jar and the Coffee When things in...
Happy Fathers Day to the daddy in our house. He got a nice sleep in A mug from Lucy that she made at pre-school A bookmark and card made by Charlotte...
I headed off to the country today with Mr X and Moo Moo in tow, to celebrate my mums birthday Gypsy the mini shetland It was cold and windy and wet.......
I did it! The crumb coating worked like magic. Today's work on icing and decorating the cake was another two and a half hours, which adds up to six and a...
It's only a few days left before the Eid celebration, and I'm down to the last two of this year's order. I am recording them for future reference. I had so...
My three love a good party and this morning the bribe for good behaviour during church was the party we were going to afterwards! And it worked......plus a bag full of...
This Sunday are tons of accessories to finish that vintage look. Enjoy!...
Vanessa from V and Co. shares a tutorial on her blog showing how to make colorful bowtie pasta for a child’s play kitchen out of scrap fabrics. These are sooo cute! And...
The rain is pounding against the windows of the bus and because there aren't any window seals, it's pouring down the inside of the vehicle and soaking everything within a five-foot...
That's how I'm feeling — upside down. Don't you think Chili is illustrating that perfectly? ;-) I miss talking to my son. I miss knowing that he's going through all sorts...
Sometimes ,I make a garment that I think is just the “cat’s meow” after I try it on,a few minute after it comes f the sewing machine. Truth is ,I should...
Like? I do. This is Lila Tueller’s Bohemian Bag. The fabrics are all from Anna Marie Horner’s Garden Party line. This was a 2-day project, mainly because you have to wash...
Here is the latest picture of my sewing room. As you may notice, I've made an addition. When my sewing room was highlighted on The Blue Gardenia blog, I mentioned that...
Just a few pics to quickly update you on my Doll Quilt Swap 9 quilt-and then its back to work for me! Here it is with all the pieces fused down...
In October I made up New Look 6802 & really liked how it came out. I promptly pulled out another another knit to make it in, and then ended up packing...
OK so admittedly it was back in August (I've been a TERRIBLE blogger) but back in August my guy & I visited my fave Aussie city for a few days. Four...
This is the cushion cover front I made at Sewjourn. A gorgeous wool felt background and wool scrap circles and this is the arty wobbly shot that is meant to distract...
By now you're very aware that I have been busily sewing for the Living Smart Festival which is on next Sunday at Speers Point Park. Today (Sunday) we are experiencing gale...
I know that everyone is looking for a new garment but somehow I never manage to sew my first day of vacation. Today I actually spent a considerable amount of time...