Texas Lady

It’s taking shape!  Yesterday they called and told me my EG was ready to be picked up so, of course, that was one of the first things I did today.  So happy to have it back.  Pictures are panoramics of my sewing room as it looks tonight, and the design I did on the 3rd blanket today when I got the machine back.  Only one more blanket to go in this box.  I’ll have to prestitch the design before I stitch the final design on the blanket itself.  Since I downloaded the designs and had to recolor them all, I have to make sure I’ve chosen the right colors before I do the final stitch out.  (Usually if I mess up a blanket the dogs get an extra one but I prefer not to have to start over.)  Hopefully I’ll get that done tomorrow so the box can be put in the mail soon.  I got an email this morning saying the clips for the table skirts are in the mail (via USPS and no estimate on when they’re due to arrive) so soon that will get wrapped up as well.

In the morning Jolie will have to be at the vet by 7:30 to have her dental appointment and vaccinations.  When I pick her up I’ll take Bandit for his vaccinations and that will make 4 dogs of the 7 that will be all done for this year.  They get a little expensive this time of year.  The two last week cost $561 and I’m expecting the same or more this week due to Jolie’s health issues.  We may have to do pre-anesthesia labwork, and if Susan (vet) deems her health to be compromised Jolie may not be able to be put to sleep.  We’ll know more tomorrow after Susan sees her.  I have my fingers crossed because Jolie’s breath is pretty bad so I know she needs the dental care.

Since I’ll be up early and have most of the day free waiting for the vet’s office to call about Jolie that will give me ample opportunity to sew and that’s exactly what I intend to do.  I’ll have to carve out some time to make a cake for Ronnie to take to work since I didn’t get it done today.  I’ve been cooking a lot more since I retired so Ronnie has had more good lunches (which he shares at work) and more desserts to take for the entire crew.  Yesterday one of the guys said he’s loving me being retired.  LOL  So am I!!!!!!!!!!

The last table just arrived!  Yay!  Now I won’t have to sit on the floor to cut out fabric.  Just waiting for my sewing machine to come back from the shop.  The burgundy skirts for the tables haven’t even been taken out of the boxes yet.  The next burst of energy I get will work for that.

Update: Oh, hell!  I needed to order the clips for the tablecloths separately!  I thought they came with the table skirts!  Well, they’re ordered now, dammit!

This morning I had an appointment with the hairdresser for a cut.  Enjoyed it immensely and the time spent with my friend who has done my hair for almost 20 years.  We caught up on kids, grandkids, and the latest in the world.  Very pleasant.  Since it was still early I decided to come home and work on my current project, which is 4 blankets for a friend in rescue.  Had them all hemmed, just needed to embroider them then get them in the mail.  Got each one embroidered with a name, then started doing a test sew of a new design I’d bought before I put it on the new blanket and had to rip it out and do it again.  As it happened it was a good thing I did it that way because my brand-new sewing machine froze up and had to go to the shop before I finished the test design.  It would have been a disaster if it’d been on the good fabric.  That was close!  The top picture is the design I was sewing out which is done except for the last dark color; could have been so much worse!!!!!  It’s a picture of pit bull dogs in al their majesty, beautiful animals!.

The 2nd photo is of my new sewing chair which is head and shoulders above the old chair.  I think it will work out just great.

The last photo shows the work I’ve been doing in the sewing room remodel and organization.  I still have one more table ordered which is due to be delivered on Monday and will help pull the entire room together.  I’ve also ordered a new desktop computer which is due to arrive at the end of the month, which will help me match thread and fabric colors better.  Until the new PC gets here we’re on our own with current programs.  The last touch will be table skirts for all the tables in the room that will match in a burgundy color.  Hopefully before long it’ll look more than respectable in there and to be functional, too.

I don’t have any new photos because life has been hectic since I started feeling better.  I had so much to catch up on to add to the new sewing room redecorating.

Gypsy had to be at the vet at 7:30 this morning so they could sedate her to clean her teeth.  I ran errands and worked in my sewing room until time to pick her up and take Mimi in so she could get her yearly vaccinations.  All is well and taken care of and Gypsy vaccinated, too.  New appointments made for next week for Jolie’s dental cleaning and 3 more dogs need vaccinations.  Never ending process around here sometimes.

I did go to Staples this morning and got my Evolution threading training materials copied and laminated as suggested by my dealer.  While I was there I bought a chair for my sewing room and Ronnie put it together for me tonight.  (I love my husband!)  Finally today, 10 days after I ordered the new cutting table they sent me the shipping notice.  This after I’ve sent them 3 emails over the past 4 or 5 days.  Now it’s due to be delivered on Monday.  I bought from someone who was $30 cheaper instead of the ones I bought from last time.  Guess I’ve learned a lesson now…..money isn’t the whole thing.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s follow-up visit and have more errands to run.  I started 4 more blankets today (a gift for a friend) so I hope to get some of the embroidery done on them tomorrow, too.  I’d like to get them in the mail by Friday.  I’ll try to get some new photos in the sewing room.  It looks so different but more professional, I think.  I’m going to like it so much better than the former room.  Now that I have this new bigger sewing/embroidery/quilting machine the old furniture just didn’t work anymore.  I’m ending up with less clutter and better organization, too.  I really like being able to have everything within reach.  It started out that way last time but the more I bought the more cluttered it got and the harder it was to organize.  This is going to be so much better and less stressful……….works for me.

There is nothing in it yet but it’s out of the box and constructed.  We went out to dinner (was craving a Margarita) and

didn’t even start putting it together until about 10 P.M..  Finished about 1 A.M. and dragged all the packaging to the garage; that’s as far as we got before we caved.  It’s 3:30 A.M. now and I’m preparing for bed (Ronnie and the dogs are already unconscious).

I think my cold is slightly better today.  Still gripy and sedentary with no motivation but the house is about to fall in around me so I’ve got to make an effort tomorrow to do some big time cleaning.  Ronnie worked on the fence and cut grass in the back yard today, and when Ronnie is in the yard so are the dogs.  Big dogs (with big feet) can track in crap faster than my vacuum will pick it up!  Disgusting!  I had to put socks on my feet so I wouldn’t feel the grit.  I am too tired to vacuum tonight even if it’s yucky.  Today was the first time I’ve even been out of my nightgown in a couple of days.  I hate being sick and/or unproductive but my OCD is calling me loudly, so it’s just going to have to be done.

When you retire, what the hell good is TGIF?  I see everyone on Facebook posting about TGIF stuff (and it’s cute stuff normally) and feel like I’ve lost that reason for a weekday lift.  Now every day is Friday or Saturday or Sunday, or whatever I want it to be.  Kind of depressing until I realize that I AM IN CONTROL.  Cool!  TGIF, everybody!  I think I’ll have another one on Monday or Wednesday.  LOLLLLLLLL

My new armoire has arrived, delivered one day late and still in the box.  Ronnie was so exhausted when he got home last night he didn’t even want to open the box, and since I now have his cold I didn’t care either.  He is supposed to have the entire weekend off so good things are likely to happen in my sewing room.  Can’t wait!!!!!!!!  I’d like to actually get in there and be able to sew.  I have so many projects planned and have ordered some new supplies so I can do free motion quilting (FMQ) which is done on a sewing machine.  I’ve decided to quilt the monkey quilt that way but I have to learn it first.  I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to do it and it suggests learning on test quilt blocks.  Since I don’t really have a cutting table until the new one arrives, my hands are tied right now.  If it lasts much longer I’ll find myself sitting in the floor (OMG with 7 dogs!) cutting out fabric.  I used to do that when I was a child but my back and hips and knees were much younger then and it was simple to get up and down.  Now I have to get on the floor every day in order to do Jolie’s breathing treatment in her crate, so I remember how.  It just takes more time and effort (and sometimes a few grunts and groans or a yelp or two).

I have ordered the cutting table but haven’t heard a word about when it’s due.  There’s no way to track it on their website so I guess I’ll resort to emailing them…..dammit!

Today I moved the small table to the other side of the room to take advantage of the space immediately in front of the bookcases that won’t be utilized for anything else.  I set up the Babylock Ellisimo Gold (hereafter EG) on the big table, reorganized some container contents and did a general cleanup.  My new furnishings are due to begin arriving Wednesday (armoire) so change is not likely for a bit.  Once the storage cabinet arrives (and constructed) I hope to do away with some more containers; I already emptied two today (a lot of junk went into the trash; some things got rearranged/redistributed).  I’m looking forward to having storage in my sewing room, full-sized drawers and doors that will help organize and hide the clutter.  It’s hard to look neat when everything is packed into crates.  And I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a neatness nut.  LOL

No, not robbery thankfully.  I just passed down my sewing furniture (so many in my family sew) and ordered another big table and a storage armoire for myself.  My new Babylock is way too big for the old sewing table I’d had for three years.  I’ve been shopping online for a new one but couldn’t find anything (in my price range anyway) that would work for my room size and machine size…..soooooo it was time to make some more changes.  It’ll be a week or more before the new stuff gets here so more than likely I won’t be doing a lot of sewing during that time.  If I need something though I can rearrange things temporarily and still manage.

I seem to have a scratchy throat tonight and didn’t sleep well last night, which resulted in a low energy level most of the day.  We had some company a couple of times and I did a little cleaning but really didn’t accomplish much at all.  Ronnie was the same way so it wasn’t just me.  Weird.  We’re getting ready to hit the hay and hopefully both of us will feel more chipper tomorrow.

I lived through them, obviously.  They did the right side on Monday and it’s already stopped hurting at all.  Left side was this morning so I’m still achy and tired, partly because of the anesthesia.  Hopefully I will sleep well tonight and feel like a new person tomorrow……there’s always hope.  I haven’t slept well all week and have had weird dreams; I think all of it was the stress of the procedures.  I know I’m a big girl now, but my subconscious doesn’t.

Since I’ve been in hospital mode all week I haven’t accomplished a whole lot except to lay around and complain (I did apologize though and explained why I was bitchy, which worked miracles to get me back in Ronnie’s good graces LOL).  I don’t expect to accomplish a whole lot tomorrow either but I’ve been fooled before.  Usually after a couple of days the effects of the procedure really take hold and the pain just disappears like it was never there.  I can already turn my head either way without pain or stiffness.  Halleluia!  I had begun to exercise before this came up so I need to get back in that mode again for me and for the dogs.