Minnie Ballerinni

Last night I got a costume out for Minnie that she wore when she was a few years younger and, I discovered, a few pounds lighter.  She has a ladybug costume that I just couldn't fix so that she was comfortable.  Ever since Minnie has lived with us, she has greeted the Tricks & Treaters in costume.  Last year she was a hot dog.

I just couldn't repeat the hot dog costume again so I got busy this morning with a new creation.  I dug through my stash and came up with satin and lace and grabbed that pattern I bought at the garage sale a few weeks ago.  And here's my little ballerina

LOL  Happy Halloween

Out and About

I'm posting early in the day today because I'm not sure I'll have the brain power to do this later.  I didn't get to sleep until about 2:30 this morning.  I have a bit of caffeine intolerance and I got into the Halloween candy yesterday.  I love those Mounds bars but I paid for it last night.  Anyway, I wanted to share some of the photos I took while on my walk yesterday.  People love to decorate their front doors/yards for the holidays and Halloween is no exception.  Here is what my small town has to offer:


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Pumpkin Tree.  I think I'd like one of these.

                                        

There were several variations of these. 

                                        

This one is especially attractive.

Dancing ghosts

This is my front-door ghost.  The shepherd hook works well for this.

Another ghost.  These were inflatables that are usually deflated.

This was really cute but the wind had blown down the tombstones

This is huge and when the wind is blowing, it's on the move!

This neighbor cleaned their yard and decorated at the same time.  However, the kids won't be able to get to the front door Monday night.

And, last but not least, my favorite:

I'll be working on Minnie's costume the rest of this week and will take pictures of the goblins that come to visit Monday night.  I hope we don't get too many..I would hate to lose all those Mounds bars.  LOL

A New Bear

I've been busy with family medical stuff this past week so haven't been posting as often as I would like.  Nothing serious, medically.  My sister who had the kidney problems two  weeks ago is on the mend but is going through dialysis treatment for the time being.   And there has been a few other things going on.  Needless to say, time to go out and about and getting down to some serious sewing has been in short supply.  But, I will share the new pair of bears I'm working on.  I only have one done and hope to get the other done soon.

First, I need to show you the beautiful cream-colored mink jacket that these bears are being made out of.

And, this is the little darling that came from this jacket.

In between I've been busy putting things away outside, picking up leaves, and  washing windows.  There's always something to do around here. 

Tonight we said goodbye to our neighbors who are leaving for AZ in the morning.  They won't be back until May.  Who am I going to call when I have computer and printer problems, Tammy?  Last year they left two weeks later and it snowed the day after they left.  I hope that doesn't happen again.  I will miss them.  Have a good winter in the sun you guys.

Not much happening this week so maybe I can get some extra projects done and/or started.  The local craft expo is on Nov. 6th and I have everything ready to go.  Maybe I should make a couple of extra wine bags since I have the time.  Good idea.  I'll let you know how that's going.

The Begining of the End

I bet the post title got your attention, huh?  Well, it's not as dire as it sounds.  It's feeling noticeably cooler these past few days which made me think that I should start putting away outdoor furniture and garden decor.  As I was washing windows and stashing things in the shed, I got to thinking how summer has finally ended and the fall season could end any day.  It's not uncommon to have snow in Minnesota late October or early November.  And I always feel a little sad when I see and hear flocks of geese flying south.  Like the geese, our neighbors will be leaving next week for their winter home in AZ.

Life is always full of beginnings and endings.  We begin new jobs or, in my case, we end a job as I did in May when I retired.  Then I began a new life as a retiree.  Yesterday I attended a wedding and listened to the priest talk about a new beginning for the young couple.  Today I attended church services at a new church that just started up.  Haven't decided if its the one for me but if it is, it's another beginning and an end to attending the other church.   When one door closes, another opens.  Really simple stuff.

Today starts the beginning of a new week.  Make the best of it.

It's All About Family

Today was set aside to get projects organized and possibly finished.  However, life doesn't go the way you like it to.  Last Friday my sister Joni  was taken to the hospital with kidney failure.  She's never been sick outside of a cold and the last time she was in the hospital was in 1965 when her youngest daughter was born.  Seems about a month ago she didn't feel well and thought she had the flu.  Then it became a bladder infection.  She didn't go to the doctor for treatment and to make a long story short, she was admitted  to the hospital with  serious life-threatening kidney infection.  I'm happy to report that she is slowly recovering but has lost 5% of her kidney function and will be on dialysis until her kidneys come back to at least 40%.  We've all been praying for her and hope she will have a full recovery.

Just a year ago, my other sister Shari had a life-threatening event that altered her life.  She contracted a staph infection from a small cut on her leg and ended up having her leg amputated.

My third sister Judy is a breast cancer survivor as am I.  Obviously, we've all inherited the survivor gene in our DNA.  Not a bad gene to have.

The point being that you never know what life is going to throw at you.  I figured out that when you make plans, God laughs.  Since I retired, I don't make as many scheduled plans as I use to.  Each day brings me new challenges and smiles.   And I embrace every day that I can be with my family.  Love you Shari, Joni and Judy.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Yesterday was garage sale day in town.  Actually sales started Friday afternoon but my friend called me later that night to tell me about this sale that had tons of fabric, craft supplies, yarns, craft magazines and books.  My heart started to pound when I heard that so I was up at the crack of dawn and boogied down to that sale.  It wasn't quite light out yet but the garage was open.  I started piling stuff up, bypassing the stuff outside of the garage because it was too dark to go through that.  Anyway, it was fun and here is what I got.

A box of remnants for $5.00 and a couple of larger pieces of fabric for backings at $1 a piece.  The books and patterns were a quarter.  I need to make an apron to wear for the upcoming craft sale so found a couple of patterns that should work.  Then there was a pattern for doggy costumes.  Minnie is in need of a new outfit for Halloween.  As for that box of remnants, what was I thinking?  It was worth the $5 but my fabric cupboard is full of remnants.   Time to think scrappy big time.

I went back later in the afternoon and made an offer on these storage drawers.

There are only 3 pictured here but I actually got 7 of them for $5.  They were full of odds & ends which I sorted through and bagged up for the thrift store.  These three are holding all the sewing threads and the others I haven't designated a spot for yet.  They are in the bear den waiting for stuff.

That was all I purchased at the garage sales.  I went to many and mostly visited with folks I haven't seen since I retired in May.  It was a fun day.  I'm planning on meeting a friend this week to learn some blogging tricks so you may see some changes in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned.

Out and About

Yesterday my friend Sandy called me in the morning and asked what I had planned for the day.  When you're retired, your day can be pretty flexible unless there are appointments to be  kept.  But yesterday was one of those days that I could say I had nothing I had to do that I couldn't do tomorrow.  She had the day off from her job and suggested we go out for lunch and visit some thrift stores we haven't been to.

First we had lunch, of course.  You can't do important shopping without feeding the body so we stopped at Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine for a delicious lunch and getting caught up.  Then we headed over to Home to Home Thrift Store.  It doesn't even look like a thrift store.  It's arranged so beautifully and the displays are as good as any retail store.  I found some quality quilting fabric which, believe it or not, was displayed on a hanger.

Next, we headed to LeSueur where we found  Treasures in Town on Main Street across from the theater.  Again, that was a quality thrift store.  I found these wonderful little tieras to give as part of a Christmas gift for one of the great grandchildren.  She loves anything princess related. 

It was a wonderful afternoon enjoying the scenery around the countryside and spending time with my friend.  The harvest is beginning, the temps are warm and it just feels good to be alive.

I'm at a high level of frustration today as I'm trying to jazz this blog up a bit but can't seem to do what I want. I'm spending a lot of time at the computer and getting nothing accomplished.   If anyone out there has any advice, please post a comment.  Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. 

Have a great day, everyone. 

Weekend activities

Spent the weekend celebrating #38's birthday.  If you don't know who #38 is, go to "About Me" and it will explain.  Anyway, Friday was his day so I promised to devote all my attention to whatever he wanted to do.  First we went garage saling.  The last thing I need is more stuff and the last thing he needs is more tools but he found a box of odds and ends with screwdrivers that he had to have and I ended up with a thread spool holder which mounts on the wall.  It holds 60 spools and I only paid $5 for it so I couldn't pass it up.  I sorted out all my quilting thread and found I have too much brown and not enough ecru.  That's what happens when you don't have it organized by color.  We had dinner (lunch) at the Pizza Ranch in LeSueur then came home and picked up black walnuts in the backyard.  I crawled around on my hands and knees  because it seemed easier than bending over.  We ended up with 18 pails full.  My back still hurts. 
We ended the day with supper at the Little Dandy. 

Saturday I cleaned house and did some sewing.  Finished two bears for a woman whose husband died this spring in a drowning accident.  I made the bears out of his favorite lounging pants.

One pair was Minnesota Wild and the other was Nascar.  He had two children so these will be a sweet memory for them.

Today we had #38's children, sister and nephew for dinner as a continuation of his birthday.  Everybody brought something so it turned into a feast.  And the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  We spent most of the afternoon out on the patio.  I had to take a picture of the birthday cake his daughter brought.

That deer head is made from plastic and sat on the cake as if it were mounted on the wall.  Too cute.
So, that was the weekend.   I always enjoy time with the family.  And, I hope #38 has many more birthdays we can celebrate together.