Confessions of a Grandma

The past two Sundays have been iffy weather-wise, and with Mike not being up for adventure because of foot pain or the medication for foot pain, I have had to amuse myself.  If it is going to be rainy, out comes the sewing machine.  I put together another quilt top.  The top is the easy part, especially since this material has all those blocks built in so I cut big pieces.  Even here in FL, I am building up scrap piles of fabric.  I made a couple of fabric bins to organize a closet.        I did not bring too much of my card making/paper crafting supplies with me, but I was inspired by a project on The Paper Boutique to make this lap book out of file folders and patterned papers.  I plan to use it for my medical insurance and prescriptions and all kinds of relevant personal information that I like to have in one spot.   It folds up.  I still have to come up with some kind of closure.   ...

I am not an overly messy person.  I am far from a hoarder.  Here is my junk drawer:       Everyone has one somewhere in their house, right? This is my spare room closet where I keep some extra bedding and toys for the grand kids and a few other things that don't have definitive homes elsewhere:     I go through these areas that accumulate stuff every once in a while.  I never think that there is that much that is not being used before I start.   But then I can pull out a pile of stuff that is headed for the Goodwill store.  Honestly, I don't know where it comes from. 

I just gotta love having this pantry.  It would probably be much more practical at our regular house than at the winter house.  I do like my VT kitchen for its efficient work space, but storage is a bit tight.   We have plenty of shelving in the basement for after those trips to Costco, but a pantry in the kitchen is more convenient than having to run downstairs for that can of tomatoes. Well, I had to give up running down the stairs after the falling incident last July.  I am reduced to creeping down the stairs while  clinging to the railing.  If only I could learn to be that cautious! Before I took that tumble, I had been out in the front garden snapping a couple of pictures of lovely lavender in bloom.  My shoes were wet which I realized just a bit too late.  When I came in and headed down the stairs, I slid and went rolling noisily down.  What I didn't write about at the time (I don't think, but forgive me if I repeat myself...

I am done with the American Girl doll clothes for a while. I have a couple of patterns that I bought, but I have been adapting them to get a better variety. I have learned quite a bit about patterns and alterations through this exercise. I'm sure my grand daughter will appreciate it although I do expect she'll ask why I didn't make underwear. She's like that. Between sewing and my sanding duties on the deck, I managed to tidy up my two clothes closets. Up and down here are two shots of the closet I share with Mike. He uses a very small section, but he actually has more clothes now that he is retired since his work wardrobe was entirely jeans and tee shirts. There is little call for anything fancier in the antique motorcycle business. He had to buy "normal" clothes when we started doing some travelling. Mike will have to do some wardrobe sorting himself very soon. He has lost about sixteen pounds. I've lost a whopping three. There are some thi...