Two Weeks to Go

The other day, Hannah heard Nathanael and Levi laughing, went to see what was so funny – and discovered Nathanael taking a picture of one of the little guinea pigs, who was sporting a pair of sunglasses on his small head. 

A quilting lady from Australia, in writing about her sewing room, remarked that her outlets were halfway up the wall, making it easier to plug things in, and keeping ‘billy lids’ from sticking sharp objects into them, too.  I had to look that up, though of course one could easily guess the meaning by context – ‘little kids’.

It’s always fun to look things up – because in so doing, one often learns other things unexpectedly.  Sho’ ’nuff, I done larnt me sumpthang else:  ‘Trouble and strife and billy lids’ is Australian slang for ‘wife and kids’.  heh

Tuesday, I took the Jeep back to Columbus Motors, since they hadn’t gotten it fixed last week.  As we drove home from church last Sunday, the gas gauge suddenly registered Empty, and the Check Engine light came on.  Yet we knew the tank was more than half full. 

Déjà vu, all over again.

All the courtesy vans were out, so they loaned me a used-but-nearly-new 2016 Jeep Cherokee.  Nice little vehicle, with only a little over 5,000 miles on it – but it seemed like a wimpy thing in comparison to the Commander.  Six cylinders compared to eight.

While waiting for the man to draw up the papers, I spotted a notice on the counter:  “We’re hiring!  Do you like to turn a wrench, but have had no training?  No worries!  We will train you as you work!” 

I wanted to point at it and say, “HEY!!!  There’s the problem, RIGHT THERE!!!”

But... probably the person who was politely helping me had not been the culprit who’d blundered in the garage.  Sooo... I was nice.

I headed off in the Cherokee, adjusting seat, seat belt, mirror, radio, air conditioner, vents, cruise control, etc.  I tried to move the steering wheel down, but I absolutely could not get the lever on the steering column to move.  But by sitting up as tall as possible and strrretching my neck, I could see over the top of the wheel, so I scowled and drove on, looking like a scowling, long-necked, li’l ol’ lady.

Wednesday, since I could do no more on the wedding clothes until I got the pattern from my niece Katie, I worked on Joanna’s Blossoms bag.  I ironed heavyweight fusible onto the outsides of each of six stand-alone pocket/dividers, and added some strips of fabric to a few of them to make them all uniform width.  It’s ready to put together – but I still didn’t know how I was going to do it, and hadn’t found any pattern or tutorial (and especially, no free one).  However, just this afternoon Victoria was showing me the wallet that came with her new ‘security’ purse, and it had a dividing zipped pocket in the center, put in exactly like I want to put pockets into the Blossoms bag.  So I snatched it and took a long, hard look at it. 

I can do that!  It won’t be as hard as I thought it would be. 

Thursday, I headed to town to pick up the pattern and to buy some tricot at The Fabric Shop, with which to alter the petticoats.  It’s not a quilt shop; rather, there’s a lot of specialty fabric, and the lady who owns it makes wedding attire.  I walked out of the house, climbed into the Cherokee – and found that Larry had forgotten to lower the wheel for me, as I’d asked him to.  I decided I would get that steering wheel lowered before backing out of the drive, so I set my jaw, got a good grip on the lever, and pushed with all my might and main.

Thirty seconds later, I was heading down the lane, steering wheel positioned right where I wanted it – with both thumbnails having been bent back at the halfway point in the process.

I, unlike my sweet mother, have never been inclined to suffer in silence.  Therefore, when I returned home, I sent Larry a text informing him of my thumbnail misadventures.

“I hope they get our Jeep done before I need to drive,” he responded, “or I’ll hafta lop my legs over the steering wheel.”

I promptly retorted, “My thumbnails!  You’re supposed to be all concerned about my THUMBNAILS, not your LEGS!”

That evening, I cut the skirt and lining for Mary’s dress, then cut skirt lining for Robin’s.  Robin’s dress was already finished, but I attached the lining to the waist seam and sewed it around the zipper without much trouble.  I sewed Mary’s skirt and lining at the same time, which is much easier.  The satin of the skirt is thin, the crinoline petticoats are stiff, and they show under the dresses.  I should’ve planned to line those skirts in the first place.  I did line the candlelighters’ dresses; at least those were done. 

Mary, Kurt’s sister, will sit at the guestbook.  Robin, Kurt’s cousin and Victoria’s best friend, will be the maid of honor.

Victoria got another beaded leaf done on her ringbearer’s pillow:

I took a little time out to keep Larry company while he ate supper.  I had already eaten, two-and-a-half hours earlier.  He gets home late... and there’s never any telling when that might be... so, when I get hungry, I make supper – and eat.  Good thing we have a microwave!

Larry happily plowed his way through Alaska salmon, rice with picanté sauce, a fresh-baked caramel apple tartlet, 12-grain bread, also fresh-baked, and orange jello. 

I offered him some vegetables, and he raised his eyebrows, pointed at the rice, and said, “Isn’t that vegetables?”

“No,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“But there are lots of peppers and onions and garlic and tomatoes in the picanté sauce!”

The caramel apple tartlets came from Omaha Steak Company, along with some steaks and gourmet franks purchased online using a gift card Kurt and Victoria gave us for our anniversary.  They were scrumptious.  They came four to a box, so there was one for Loren, too.

The Junior Editor of Kitemag is now following me on Instagram , it seems, since I posted pictures of kitesurfing.  This is what happens when you hashtag your pictures (which I did in order to organize them nicely) – and your account is not private!  Not private, because when you make an Instagram account with your laptop (as opposed to mobile devices), you don’t have the option to make it private.  That’s dumb of Instagram, isn’t it?  Oh, well; it doesn’t matter to me if some kitesurfer wants to see my kitesurfing shots.  He’s going to be surprised, though, when he discovers I’m no kitesurfer; I’m just a li’l ol’ gray-haired granny from Neebrasky who likes to take pictures.  Ha!

Friday, I went on working on wedding things.  I got my Jeep back from the dealership that afternoon, and I do believe they finally found the problem.  It was a small computer power module between the fuel pump and the main computer powertrain, one that makes the gas gauge on the dash work.  The service manager was trying to explain it to me, and couldn’t think of the proper terminology (or thought I wouldn’t understand it, if he used long words), and called it a ‘gizmo’. 

I put up one finger, nodded sagely, and said, “I knew it was a gizmo, all along!”

He was laughing as he handed me back my keys.

Wheeeeee!  I like my Jeep!  Thankfully, they didn’t charge us anything for this latest fix.  It was their mistake, after all.

That evening we were invited to Caleb and Maria’s house.  They had a full house, with siblings and parents and kids, and enough food for the Russian Army.  Caleb’s 23^rd birthday and their 3^rd anniversary were on the 13^th.  We gave them a couple of bags of Schwan’s frozen foods – Alaskan salmon, sirloin burgers, etc. (I forget what the ‘etc.’ was), plus a bag of frozen peaches from our peach tree.

They had so many cakes and sweets there that I felt queasy just looking at them all.  I can’t eat much of that kind of stuff; it isn’t fond of me.  But I found a bowl of fresh-cut pineapple and sliced strawberries, so I was happy.  They sent brownies, Oreo cake, pulled pork (cooked in a smoker), and buns home with us, and we had the pulled pork with our supper the next night.  Mmmmm...  I love pulled pork.

You can nearly always find Hester or Maria with the nieces and nephews:

After leaving their house, we stopped by Wal-Mart for plum-colored thread.  Nowadays, when I go to Wal-Mart for thread, I have the choice of Coats & Clark ... or Gütermann!  That’s new and different (or maybe it’s been a long time since I bought thread at Wal-Mart).  Of course Gütermann is more expensive.  But... well, I don’t know how much better it is, per se, but it’s just plain prettier, enough that I can tell it, especially when I topstitch.  I might be the only one who would ever notice... but it’s definitely a nicer thread.  Longer-stapled... nicer sheen... less lint...  Plus, it’s on cuter spools.  ;-)  Trouble is, the majority of their spools are smaller than Coats & Clark. 

I picked up three plum-colored spools of Gütermann...  moved over to the Coats & Clarks side of the rack... looked at the price... the yards on each spool... calculated... thought about what I have to sew... and then put the Gütermann back, and chose the Coats & Clarks.  Siggghhhhh...

My exquisite tastes run beyond my wallet.

Home again, I tossed the last load of clothes into the dryer, then finished putting the lining into Robin’s skirt.  And that was all I had steam for that night.  I turned off a gazillion lights, two machines, the coffee mug warmer, the space heater, and the iron, blew out a couple of candles, and headed for the feathers.

“The rest of the laboring man is sweet,” quoth Solomon.  I once wondered, at about age 5 or 6, If the ‘rest’ of him is sweet, was the ‘first part’ of him sour? 

Saturday afternoon, Ruth brought back Mary’s dress, having done the final adjustments on it, and then I put in the zipper.  Victoria took it to her Sunday, and we were relieved to know it fits.

It was a beautiful autumn day Saturday, sunny and 78°.  The Nebraska Huskers were playing the Hoosiers in Indiana.  The Huskers have won all six games so far – and they didn’t lose this one.  They won 27-22, and now rank 8^th in the AP poll.

I had enough fabric for one more skirt lining, so I cut it out, sewed it together, and gave it to Katie the next day after church.

I kept my sewing machine and serger humming all day.  When the skirt lining was together, I extended Emma’s cancan to the right length, cutting off the elastic at the waist, adding a wide piece of tricot, then putting a new piece of elastic back on.  She tried it on last night after church, and it looks cute as can be with her dress, but I need to make the elastic tighter.  I thought her waist was 25.  It’s not; it’s only 22 ½.  I cut the elastic at 24.  It overlaps half an inch.  But it’s soft, and I figured it would stretch enough to be comfortable.  I sewed it into the tricot I added to the top, stretching it as I went.

It stretched, all right.

When I was done, it measured... 26.

Bah, humbug.  I’m telling you, I prefer quilting!

I’m going to try redoing the bridesmaids’ cancans the same way.  If they don’t look right, or the girls don’t like them, we’ll do something else.  Postpone the wedding, maybe?  Ha!

Victoria’s last day at Super Saver was Saturday – she didn’t want to be working until 11:00 p.m. after they are married and in their own home.  She’ll now be able to pick up more hours at Earl May Gardening Center, which is the job she really likes. 

Yesterday morning, as usual, I was ready for church by a quarter ’til nine.  We try to leave at about 9:30 a.m.  I sat down at the kitchen table with my laptop to answer a few emails.  Larry and Victoria were puttering along, getting ready, themselves.  From my vantage point, I could hear Larry’s music issuing forth from the bedroom – the Old Fashioned Revival Hour singing In The Sweet By and By.  I could hear Victoria’s music, too, floating down the stairs – it was the girl’s group she’s in, singing Beautiful Valley of Eden.  The combination sounded sort of like a bad version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. 

As it was exactly two weeks until the wedding, my nephew Robert, our minister, read the wedding announcement.  And Brett, Kurt’s little brother, cried.  He’s losing his big brother, you know, one of his most favoritest brothers in the whole wide world!

At least Kurt and Victoria’s house will only be about 15 blocks west and 8 blocks east of Kurt’s parents’ house.  I expect Brett will get to see his brother quite often, after all.  :-)

Loren stopped in earlier today so I could reorder his Reminisce magazine for him online.  I think he feels toward his computer like Calvin, of the Calvin & Hobbes fame, felt toward his bicycle.  :-D

I went to town this afternoon to get more lining at The Fabric Shop – and discovered there was only one yard.  Bah, humbug!  But the lady who owns the store is ordering another bolt, and it will be here Thursday.

Only two weeks minus one day until the wedding!  Why is the world spinning so fast??

Oh, good grief.  As if it wasn’t bad enough that I’ve been getting interrupted for the last few hours by cats having fussing, feuding fights and skirmishes with uninvited neighbor cats, now I hear a big, loud commotion right beside the front porch, dash out the front door scolding and clapping my hands – and a couple of young opossums go scurrying and waddling off, arguing and disputing as they go.  They’ve now stopped under the front bumper of Victoria’s Touareg to continue the brawl. 

Aarrgghh, animals!

Ah, well.  Here’s a cute one – Caleb and Maria’s boxer, Sadie.  She’s a nice dog; I like her.

,,,>^..^<,,,       Sarah Lynn       ,,,>^..^<,,,