Thursday, October 25, 2018

AUTUMN BEAUTY versus AUTUMN WOES


Maple tree -- unknown variety
Autumn is beautiful in the Pacific Northwest, but it’s also difficult in that it’s not quite chilly enough to be cold nor warm enough to be warm. My house is 66 right now, and that’s below my comfort level but not cold enough to turn on the heat. I’m wearing two sweatshirts right now and my hands are cold. I cope by baking or by visiting my sewing room and turning on the space heater. We’ve had a few morning fires in the little wood stove, and in the evenings we cover up while we watch TV. The forecast calls for a change in the weather – rain and cooler temps. Frankly, I look forward to it.

Euonymus (Burning Bush)
I started warming the bed with the electric blanket last week. Mike said his side wasn’t getting warm enough, so I set the dial to 5, thinking that was the highest setting. It still wasn’t warm enough for him, so I decided a new electric blanket was in order. Shopping Amazon, I selected one with 20 heat settings – much better than our 5. I pressed “submit order” – and then I got to thinking about those 20 settings. In previous years, we’ve only needed 5, but was I sure we didn’t have more? So, I checked our blanket, and sure enough – it has 20 settings, too! I quickly cancelled the order and now we’re fully enjoying the adjustments we’ve had all along.
 


Here’s my doll Molly in her new outfit from the sew-along project. The top is repurposed from a Walmart tank top, and her stretch capris are made of the stretch fabric from the mystery box. And that’s that for that fabric. In fact, I had to make the waistband of a different stretch fabric because there wasn’t enough. KW




 

4 comments:

Chris said...

Those trees are beautiful! Dan says it's some kind of ornamental maple, but without a closer look at a leaf he can't tell for certain. And that doll outfit?? It's adorable!!

Marge R (mer) said...

Kathy - just discovered through an email about a comment you left on my blog that you have a blog - DUH! A lot of emails I just delete and don't read. I used to be on Blogger too when I was doing a lot of paper crafting and then started doing more doll sewing, so decided to try a new blog provider. Actually think Blogger was easier/has more options though.
Gorgeous photos and fun to see Molly in her sweet outfit here too!

Kathy said...

Hi Marge! Thanks for coming by.

Our daughter started this blog for us ten years ago when we began to spend more time on the homestead. It's mostly an online journal covering whatever is going in our lives as well as some old-time family history / fiction. My husband is very active and adventurous. I'm a homebody with a sewing room -- and dolls.

I've enjoyed seeing your creative work for the dolls. Do visit again -- anytime.

Kathy said...

Hi Chris!
Thanks for Dan's efforts in identifying the little red maple for us. It's a pretty one in an awkward place.

Molly's outfit -- Working with knits hasn't been easy for me. Several efforts have been tossed because I used the wrong fabric. I've tried to be philosophical about that and realize the failures are a part of the learning experience and not a waste of time.