Out of the Ordinary August

I would have to say that this has been the most usual August I can remember. It's been jam packed with ups and downs and fun and the not so fun.

First, SR retired. And what a joyous day that was!! He wanted to take a little trip, so we drove up to Branson, as I've mentioned in a previous post. I came home with two vintage sewing machines and some fun stuff.

The following week I gave him a little family party to celebrate his freedom and all my children were here. It was the first time since Mother's Day that both my grandbabies were here.

I can't believe how fast these two have grown!

It was quite the day and we all enjoyed it immensely.

I got behind on my sewing due to the trip and the food poisoning I experienced as soon as we arrived home. Not fun, but I lived.  Then....my sewing machine died. This is what it looks like now....

 It wasn't worth saving, so we gave LMW a screw driver and let him go to work on it.

Then we made it into a warehouse and loading dock. He has had a lot of fun with this thing. (And don't be alarmed, I assure you it wasn't worth repairing and it couldn't be used as it was.)

My mother-in-law and her sister both gave me their vintage Kenmore machines, but there were a few little things that needed tweaking on them before I could really sew with them. So, SR and I went to the nearest Janome dealer and scoped out the stock. I was excited and a little sick when we came home with this bad girl...

I'm still not comfortable about spending that much money, but SR assures me it's worth it. We left MIL's machine to be tweaked, and just yesterday picked it up. It sews so sweetly that I used it as much as I did the Janome yesterday. I had a marathon sewing day to try to catch up.

So, it's the last day of August and September begins on the morrow. I hope it's a bit more relaxed than August was. It's been a whirl wind summer for me and that is highly unusual!

Up and Down, Here and There

It's been quite a ride the last week and a half....

Last Thursday, SR and I headed out for Branson, Missouri to browse the flea markets and just get away. We drove up through Greenbriar, which is a mecca for flea markets, but we decided to only stop a few places and we'd stop at others on the way back. Good call because I kept finding things I wanted and I didn't want my money to run out before we reached our destination!

Three days of walking through shops was hard on this old gal, but worth every bit of it. I came back Saturday with lots of treasures.

A quilt rack with shelf, vintage decorative items, a wonderful vintage rotary phone and some classic albums for my LeLe. I also bought two vintage sewing machines.

Aren't they beauties?!!! They work too! (Although they need some tweaking and cleaning) I paid less than $100.00 for the pair, and just today at the LQS, I saw machines similar to these displayed for $300.00 each.
SCORE!!

Saturday night, I realized I also brought home something I didn't plan on....food poisoning. Here it is Wednesday and I'm still dealing with it. Not fun. But it will pass eventually.

Today, my sweet mother in law sent me her 30+ year old Kenmore machine and cabinet. BE STILL MY HEART!!  She is so good to me! Look at that group of accessories that came with it. Two boxes full. Man Oh Man!!

The quilt in the lower left corner was made by SR's great grandmother.

The reason for my sudden interest in all these machines is that for one, my three year old Brother bit the dust. Just talked to the repair man and it is going to cost me more than half of what I paid for it to get it fixed. No thank you. I don't need it now. Yay me!! Second, my good friend Y has really been encouraging me to get an older machine because they are made so much better and work so well.

I'm still working to get my sewing room just like I want. It's almost there. I'm way behind on my sewing due to being away, being sick, and being without a machine. I have some catching up to do!!!

The Final Countdown!

Well folks, next week is my husband's last at work. He is RETIRING!! Woo Hoo. We can hardly wait. For 30+ years he has worked at the railroad in a neighboring city and had a 60 mile round trip drive five days a week.  Everyone keeps asking him what he's going to do with all his free time and he is insistent that he is going to ENJOY doing NOTHING!! And if I know my husband....and I do of course....I believe that! He's the most laid back, restful, piddling kinda guy I've ever known. Give him his remote and recliner and he's a happy camper.

He does plan to spend time taking LMW to the deer camp and other places that guys go.

LMW decided his "Tow Mater" needed a little body work. Future mechanic in the making???

And he says WE will be doing some traveling. As a matter of fact, the week after his retirement we are running up to Branson for a couple of days. We love to browse flea markets and antique stores and just drive through the winding highways of North Arkansas.

We will be able to run up and see our Little Klaire more often too.

In other news, I'm redoing my craft/sewing room and am excited about it all. It's going to take a little time due to the cost, but when it's finished, I think I'll have a wonderful set up. I can't wait!!!  Life is GOOD!!