Confessions of a Grandma

The morning's snow and sleet has changed to a steady rain.  The air is cold and damp.  I am planning on attending the library poetry workshop tonight.  It is a fantastic opportunity, led by a retired English professor and poet from the University of Vermont.  Still, it's cold and damp.  It's going to take some effort to get bundled up and force myself out of the warm and cozy house after supper. I believe I was missing my sewing machine.  I spent a few hours yesterday making a shoe hanger for my closet and a jewelry pillow to hang on the door. I didn't do any sewing all winter, but I did do some beading. It's curious that I can arrive in Florida and have everything unpacked and put away within a matter of hours, but in my own home it has taken me two and a half days to get everything put away. Well, I have to admit it's easier when you are dealing with an empty closet.  I did do some shopping in Florida--living the Florida lifestyle at Beall's....

Margaret, Margaret, Margaret, why, why, why did you have to write about flat butts ???  For two weeks now I have done nothing but notice the flat derrieres of women of a certain age and beyond.  This, of course, includes myself.  I notice saggy pants just ahead of me in the line at the grocery store.  Right away I have to check my own rear in the window reflection.  Oh, no!  Another pair of pants for the donate bag.  I cannot leave my house without trying on, checking out and then changing at least three times.  One thing for sure is that going out in sweat pants--well, unless you consider a soggy diaper the height of chic--just don't go there. Then of course there are the bodacious booties of the college girls and younger women with personal trainers and life long gym memberships sashaying around in their skinny jeans and jeggings.  My envy seems lecherous and unseemly.  I should revel in my mature body and the life journ...

Linda, in A Slower Pace post, mentioned the need for changes in make-up as we age.  This is something I have been thinking about.  I've given up (finally!) the hopeless quest to find that magical product that will erase wrinkles and age spots, returning my visage to a former youthful glow.  Looking young is for young people.  The thing is, I never was much of a make-up user--a dash on of mascara and maybe a dusting of powder or a tinted moisturizer.  Now, if I don't feather on some eyebrows it looks exactly like I have none, but mascara just serves to emphasize my sparse eyelashes.  I think I'm better off without it.  I can definitely see that I need a little lipstick, but I cannot seem to remember to put it on. Then, of course, there is all the information about changing clothing styles as we age. This seems harder to do than the make-up thing--probably because I would have to actually have a style before I could change it. I rea...

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...

I have been sewing away and finished some American Girl doll outfits and a couple of aprons over the past few days. I am not by nature a very mechanically inclined sort of person. I like to sew, but I have been known to put off the taking apart of my machine to give it it’s life-giving elixir. If I spend an afternoon in my sewing area, Mike is bound to ask about the last time I gave the sewing machine a good oiling. Now, I hear his voice in my head, so I try to be better about that maintenance responsibility. Whenever I expose the guts of the machinery, I am totally surprised by the amount of lint that accumulates so I’m telling myself I have to get more committed to the care of feeding of an old machine that has served me well. I learned the hard way with an old car that machines really do require oil to keep running. During the gas shortage back in the ‘70’s the lines for gas were always so long that I never felt I could ask to have the oil checked and hold other people up. Unfortu...

I finished (and have worn) this silk blouse. The sleeves were a trial, but if one is on backwards, they both are on backwards--so I'm able to say they were meant to be that way. I also, for the first time, played around with adjusting the pattern to get a better fit, and that seems to have been successful. Mike, who never really comments one way or the other on what I may wear, said, "That looks like it was made for your body." I guess it's kind of hard to see that from a picture of a blouse hanging on a hanger though. With the left over material, I made this simple top--the kind I've had about a hundred of over the years. It fits my body like a bag, but that's okay. I put some beading on it to give it just a little oomph. I bought a bunch of new material today. I'm tired of making doll clothes. I'm ready to start making a few things for myself again. I bought material with patterns...really ready to step out of my comfort zone!

Yesterday I watched the Oprah show. It was all about shoe and handbag makeovers--you know how the "right" shoes and bags can make you look ten years younger and ten pounds thinner. Apparently the "right" shoes always have high heels and pointy toes. Needless to say, I would be in dire need of a shoe makeover since I foolishly and unfashionably insist in being able to walk once I put my shoes on. I like shoes and I can't say I never put on heels, or even that I've never worn a sexy pair of stilettos, but generally I like walking and I prefer being pain free. Besides, sexy and fashionable are every bit as much "in the eye of the beholder" as beauty. I've seen pictures of Chinese women with their "lily feet" and somebody once thought that was the epitome of feminine beauty--but it sure wasn't pretty. I'll just stay unhobbled at this point in my life.

This dress fought me every step of the way. You rip what you sew. I keep remembering that even the experienced sewers make mistakes--boy do I cling to that now! Ripping out a seam is one thing, but ripping the lining fabric when you don't have extra... The zipper came out nicely, though. My next challenge is definitely fitting and minor pattern alterations. I wouldn't have known this had I not gone to that sewing group, but the shoulder line on this pattern needs to be sloped to fit my shoulders. This will do for the amount of times I'll wear it. Mike asked if he was meant to take me out to dinner now that I have a dress. Only now do I find out we haven't been out to eat lately because I didn't have appropriate clothing. Funny man.

I went to a meeting of a sewing group a week or so ago. I am a dilettante. There were some serious sewers there with projects far beyond the making of simple market bags. I did learn some things, I have to say, and I just may go to the next meeting. If I'm brave, I'll bring some of my completed projects for critique. I think I can take it. I inserted this zipper, which has taken me forever to learn how to do and have it come out straight. Part of the problem is confidence. I tell myself I can't do zippers and so I can't. One of the big pluses of the meeting was hearing experienced women laugh about making mistakes, and making them over and over again. That helped a lot.

My grand daughter is very fussy about her clothes, as I may have mentioned before. Apparently her small town elementary school is an internationally famous training ground for the future generation of fashion police. As an aside, Kristen was always fussy about her clothes although her choices were not necessarily ruled by the "cool" standard, except as she knew it for herself. One weekend she spent the entire time wearing red rubber boots, turquoise bathing trunks that belonged to Mike, tightly tied around her waist, and a pink tank top. She was two and quite adorable, actually. There are some pictures that she'll fork over her allowance to keep off the Internet someday. Anyway, this season she seems to have gone for a combination of hip-hop, biker chick, and flower child--bling, boots and vests, patterns. The boots are what slay me. Of course, it is time honored tradition to be outfitted with new shoes at the start of a new school year. Back in the days that are now som...