PEACE OF MIND

Plumber Jeff called Monday morning and said he had time to finish winterizing the farmhouse. It's been cold (though nothing like the Midwest), and the forecast is for even colder next week. An appointment was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 30). 

So, we left town around 7:30 and arrived at the farm before 9:00 with Jeff coming in soon after. It was a pretty day there. The fields are covered with just a little snow, and at 25 degrees, the pine trees and vegetation were nicely frosted and sparkling in the sunlight. The upper part of the grade is still icy, but the roads on top and our lane were passable. It just isn't a time of year that we like to travel to the remote upper country.

Dining room -- boxes of kitchen stuff and maybe food

Which brings us to the work at hand -- winterizing the plumbing. Mike had already shut the water off and drained the pipes, but Jeff worked more than an hour to provide further protection. He pumped six more gallons of water out of the pipes and then pumped antifreeze through the system, including the toilets, refrigerator, and dishwasher. Mike took notes on the reverse procedure, but from now on we plan to have the system professionally winterized. We agreed it was worth the price for peace of mind.

Living room -- new couch

Upstairs hallway -- note floor

Our stuff is in boxes in most every room. On our last trip, Mike was overwhelmed by the thought of unpacking and putting everything away, so we invited daughter Hallie to come and help me. She said she would love to, so when all danger of frost is past and we have turned on the water, we will begin the process of settling in. I’ll need to do some preliminary work before we can unpack in earnest – beds made and food on hand. I look forward to it, but first we have to get through winter.

Lots to do before we can sleep here

I was finally able to access my “farm” sewing machine and brought it back to town for more appropriate storage. I also located some fabric and bits of trim for mini doll clothes. It felt good to putter in the vintage sewing room once again.

We were back in town before lunch. KW

 

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER . . .

In March 2011, I posted about this little booklet, Doll Dresses (here), published by American Thread Co. (Star Book No. 161) in the late ‘50s. Each pattern contained changes for different doll sizes, among them 8” Ginny, 10” Jill, 11.5” Barbie, etc. Crochet patterns for dolls were scarce at that time, and my mid-century little girl imagination was totally captivated. I wanted to learn to crochet, and Mother taught me.

Among the items I made from the little booklet were several muu muus for my extensive family of diminutive dolls. Muu muus were popular in the late ‘50s as we welcomed Hawaii as our 50^th state. The crocheted muu muu was a simple pattern – lots of practice with single, double, and treble crochet.

In the comments of the post from 2011, Chris asked to see the actual muu muus. Well, I didn’t know where they were, and sometimes it’s difficult to take the trip down memory lane that happens when I look through my old stuff. When I open that little suitcase filled to the brim with doll clothes, now old and soiled, I wonder what I should with it. How can I preserve it? Why should I preserve it? And yet, these are the things that are truly mine.

Well, I eventually found the muu muus – and several other items that I made from the little book. Then I couldn’t find the little book. But the other day, I pulled a book from the shelf and Doll Dresses came out with it. I was so happy because I had just been thinking again about that muu muu pattern. I’m making tiny clothes for a mini American Girl doll, and I think she’d like a muu muu, if I can make the pattern work.

I like to crochet for the diminutive dolls. It certainly takes longer than sewing, but on the other hand, bulky seams are eliminated. After all, it doesn't really take all that long. Thread must be worked tightly, something I didn’t understand as a child. KW

ANOTHER ARTICLE ON RECYCLING

"Milk does a body good," right?

Much of my childhood training is still with me. I still believe in the benefits of drinking milk, though my children have moved beyond it. My point here is not whether to drink milk but the fact that my household of two collects at least two one-gallon milk cartons per week. Separated for recycling, our plastics seem to mount up in a hurry. My community has already ceased to recycle plastics and cans, and I’m reading that other nearby rural communities are dropping recycling altogether – you know, what with China refusing to deal with it any longer. We now carry our plastics and cans to the recycle chute at the transfer station in a neighboring community, and my fear is that these items go into mainstream garbage anyway. I’d just as soon be done with that clutter in our garage IF this is the case.

So, I called the transfer station and asked if they still accept plastics for recycling. “Yes. Why do you ask?” queried the man, and I was surprised that he would wonder. Aren’t other citizens concerned about the future of recycling? Then he answered his own question. “Oh, you’ve been reading about China.” He went on to say that the transfer station still accepts plastics for recycling and would always accept them because it’s just a matter of finding a new market. However, the cost would increase, he added. After that, another article in our local newspaper reported that plastics recycling might indeed go away.

This morning I tried to reduce the clutter in the garage by separating our cardboard from the cans and plastics, and Mike dropped the cardboard and magazines into neighborhood recycling bins on his way to visit a care center. It’s not as easy to get rid of the plastics and cans.

Our neighboring city, Lewiston, provides lidded bins to its citizens who wish to recycle. On a recent windy day, after bins had been set curbside for pick up, the lids blew open and recyclables were strewn over neighborhoods, into the pond on the golf course, etc. Apparently it was a widespread problem. Assuming clean-up occurred, I suppose a lot of it was contaminated and went into the garbage. KW