rare august weather

stocking up the pantry again

Shhh! A rare weather occurrence:

We’re not havin’ a heat wave!

After 6 weeks of triple digit weather nearly every single day, it’s low humidity and sunshine for a few days.

Time to get those bare cupboards stocked up before the next blast starts. So, the sewing pile waits… 😲

Yes, July was the hottest month for the entire world, ever since recorded temps started being recorded.

That is not a record this writer wants to see broken any time soon.

On a more humorous note, for those brave souls dying to see that risqué card from friend Ali, amazon UK has it here.

Now, some photos from a pleasant walk to the grocery yesterday.

Submitted for both the WordPress Weekly Challenge and Ailsa’s Travel Theme.

 

details of a zest for sewing hands across the sea…

is it chocolate, deep and dark, rich and round enough to go without sweetening?

In addition to a love of chocolate ~ deep and dark, rich and round enough to go without sweetening ~ I have a zest for getting kindred spirits together.  And that’s what I’m doing today.

Sewing and crafting people all over the world seem to recognize each other in the friendliest manner, sharing a super glue of fabric, thread, and creativity.

I was talking with a delightful store owner in England (they have the best fabrics) and after we’d transacted our business and were chatting, I discovered they follow a store over here, and not just somewhere in the U.S. but in my state, less than 100 miles away. How coincidental is that!

As we both puzzled over how to pronounce the name of the small town where the U.S. store was located, I said I’d give them a call and find out. After locating and reading through their web site, I did just that.

And spoke to another warm and friendly person who answered all my questions, and was surprised to hear about the follower in England. We did a bit of information exchange, with hopes that both store owners would get in touch with each other.

As my new friend said, maybe they can give each other ideas, and talk about what they offer that the other one doesn’t, and share ideas that way.

Now it’s time for me to get outta the middle, give a brief sigh of satisfaction, and enjoy both stores.

What are the stores? Can’t say just now, but will post complete information soonest. 😉 😉

about that slice of 4-layer fudge cake . . .

You might see how little was eaten. And that was only because I was trying to decide what it was that made it so…. unappealing. Too sugary? Yes, but something more… Too artificial?? Definitely, but something else niggled. . .

Then it hit me like a dope slap: It did not taste like chocolate.

NOT TASTE LIKE CHOCOLATE, I hear you ask.  How could that be-e-e-e-e-e ? ? ?

So I looked at the ingredients… he-he-hee . . . and there were 2 listings for cocoa, definitely not as any main ingredient, from what I could tell. Well, I told meself, you kept tellin’ yourself you weren’t gonna like it, and you were right. How I wish I wasn’t.

😳

looks divine . . .

the fine print . . .

Edits: Need to re-do that ingredients piccie so you can see there’s no cocoa in that top line – sorry!

Here’s 2 others, from top to middle.

didn’t know the ingredient list would be so important, or would have opened more carefully. i think the top line reads: “Contents: Cake (sugar, enriched flour, “

 

then the next line picks up what’s in that enriched flour with “(wheat flour, niacin, etc.

Submitted with seconds to space for this week’s WordPress Challenge, Ailsa’s Travel Challenge, & the fab four’s 52 Week Challenge.

staying indoors, a.k.a. sunday sevens #24

Well, it’s been entirely too hot to mess about outdoors this week, so plenty of things got postponed.

But that made time for indoor activities, like sewing. (heh-heh!)

And also allows this to be submitted for Ailsa’s Travel Photo Challenge (vicarious travel, that is).

• Went to Washington, D.C. on Monday
• Ventured to South Africa & New Zealand, via England & California with fabrics
• The book is from Glasgow, Scotland, so won’t be “edited for Americans.” Yeah!
• And those peaches traveled across state lines, just for me to enjoy.

He-he-heh! Tad bit o’ stretchin’ the travel, eh?

If you’d like to find out what a “Sunday Seven” is, check out Natalie’s post over here.

Herewith is my brief review of the week, sans too much hot air. Hopefully. 😉

May your weekend and coming week be blessed by beneficent breezes!

will these opposites work? (a.k.a., sunday sevens #23)

june looks more like july

Maybe I’m early this week, but it’s already Sunday in at least half the world. 😉

july?? must be southern hemisphere

If you’d like to participate in Sunday Sevens, no matter when your Sunday arrives, check out Nat’s post.

We pretty much make up our own rules, but her guidelines are over here.

Looking at these calendar illustrations reminded me of this week’s Photo Challenge, so they’re hereby submitted.

Below are 2 more opposites: My Shweshwe South African fabric (gifted by the lovely Anne over at The Compulsive Seamstress) coupled with a linen/cotton fabric called Papaya Passion, from Fabworks Online, in Dewsbury, U.K.

If you email them a message it might get answered by George, who was tremendous, answering all my questions about this fabric. Not to mention a couple other things.

my piece of ceedee pumpkin

photo from fabworks online page

I’ve been considering some options for pieces to include in an ensemble, in honor of the Shweshwe.  Anne brought it up to the U.K. after her vacation, then sent it on to me in the U.S. This piece is better traveled than I am.

So far  I’m thinking a very loose kimono-sleeved unlined almost duster & contrasting dress to wear together. So I’m planning a few of those in other fabrics, just to get in the mood.

What do you think about the combination? Too much, or not enough?? I’m hoping they’ll be in harmony with each other, and entering them in Ailsa’s travel challenge, too.

Also spent 2 lovely hours watching the last two episodes of Great British Sewing Bee. Only one more for this year .  .  . makes me sad.

can you make out that threading diagram? need a magnifying glass to decipher all 3 paths

Took not nearly as long as anticipated getting my old serger/overlocker (same thing, different names) re-threaded Yes. The dreaded re-threading.

You can see from the booklet how detailed the innards are.

I was almost finished overlocking every piece in that black kimono-sleeve jacket when it happened. A thread snapped. At that point all I could do was Step Away From The Machine.

😱

On another day the crisis got resolved,the last piece overlocked, but it started wonking out. This time I caught it real quick, discovered a notch that had come un-threaded, tweaked it back into place, and all was fine. Phew!

Now it’s on to the next crisis: having had to piece the 2 front sections, I get to piece them together, making them look like deliberate design “details.” Thank goodness this is a three-day weekend

Hope you’re enjoying yours!

tool kit – those long tweezers get lots o’use. whoever thinks sewing isn’t a form of engineering, refer ’em to me!

 

 

purity, headgear, & a bit o’craft (he-he!)

had forgotten about this 100% pure un-dyed wool hat crocheted last winter

Pure. v. (L. purus. …to separate, free, clear…)

1. Separate from all heterogeneous or extraneous matter…

2. Free from moral defilement…

3. Genuine, real, true, unadulterated…

American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster.

Is there such a thing as pure sewing? Knitting? Crocheting? Any craft?

Thought-provoking points to ponder, as many of us busily continue to sew, knit, crochet, and do other crafts.

Let’s look up craft . . .

Craft. n. (Sax. craft, art, cunning, power, force. . . The primary sense is, to strain or stretch. Hence, strength, skill, a crying out…)

1. Art, ability, dexterity, skill.

2. Cunning, art, or skill, in a bad sense…

3. Art… dexterity in a particular manual occupation; hence, the occupation or employment itself . . .

Hm. There are positive and negative connotations here, and a broiling weekend afternoon ain’t the time for heated debate.

Particularly as this is merely rhetorical musing with a motive of submission to not one, but two three photo challenges. (he-he!)

Possibly not the purist of motives.  😉   So let’s leave it at that, shall we?

Meanwhile, I might not be the only one with a huge pile of things to mend, sew, finish off, so-o-o .  .  .  .

Get out the ice cream (or hot toddies if you’re lucky enough to be freezing), and have a delightful weekend, everyone!

❤   ❤   ❤

Submitted to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge, &

52 Week Photo Challenge

Ailsa’s Travel Theme