I love hemming things. Frayed hems on jeans were de rigueur when I was in Jr. High. Then (probably because we grew quickly) came the era of adding 2" wide decorative trims to the hems of jeans. And then your's truly mutinied and began rolling her jeans up to expose her collection of argyle socks while proudly sporting her blue and white saddle shoes (which I kept polished). What a tool! My favorite alterations to perform are: 1.) shortening sleeves (love tailoring!) 2.) replacing zippers (esp. in trousers) 3.) hemming (coats! that tailoring thing again) 4.) pocket replacements As for the criticism thing, when you work in a trade that requires it you get used to it or you find another line of work. Criticism works best when it's delivered concisely and is restricted to the WORK. When it becomes nit-picky or personal it ceases to be effective. I have a mental switch that I flip "off" when the criticism over how I trim threads or fold the corners on things is brought up. Mostly because after 30+ yrs. I'm confident in my ability to perform those things efficiently and neatly. Some of my earlier employers were rightly withering in their criticism of my work... sloppy doesn't cut it in my trade. Attention to detail is the name of the game. No 70s here yesterday, Kathy. Another 6-8" of snow with a brief interlude of rain and then back to snow. Everything is looking clean and fresh now. And the Huge One had lots of fun snuffling through the powder. Litter pan use is on high and I've been mining at least 3 times/day, no sooner do I finish than another cat comes running to make a deposit in the fresh litter. :) We had a roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable medley for "comfort food" yesterday afternoon. I emerged from the Lab. only a few times, once to make the stuffing, and a few others to brush the top of the bird, and lastly to eat. The helpmeet was problem solving: a critical seatbelt buckle malfunction in his car, a careful scrutiny of a bookshelf that had developed the sags over time (now lives in his work area as it's beyond easy and attractive repair), and his first long look at the looming window casing project. I fear my keyboard is giving up the ghost slowly but surely. It will be time to go next door and see if the BIL has one he can spare. The shift keys are increasingly stubborn and the enter key is now on strike. V., I love calligraphy. I've never tried it before but it really looks as though it could be exhasperatingly fun. ;) How many envelopes did you have to address? I have to get rolling, busy day ahead for me full of not-so-meaningful work, including a dreadful seat recover for a customer who has been a complete PIA for nearly a year now. We can't finish the work if he doesn't call back with the final word on the how he plans to reattach the completely rebuilt seat frame for his stupid boat, since attaching the foam and stapling the cover in place means we have to know which set of bolts he plans to use...

Good morning all, Happy Autumn to everyone! Can you even believe it? Seems like yesterday it was spring and we were all planning all the summer festivities and here it is another summer gone. As Im looking out at the September gardens here I have to thank all my Idyll and Garden friends whove given me so much information and inspiration over the last four years. There never used to be this much interest in the fall gardens. Ive learned so much here not to mention making friends for life. One of my lifes many blessings. So speaking of friends, I so wish you all could have been here for the afternoon yesterday. We started in a bit of a rush because Dougs cars battery died at the grocery store and he was stuck there for the longest time and got home barely in time to mow the lawn. I was running late because he was running late and anyway I was just finishing getting my hair put up when Chelone arrived. Normally Id be in a froth to be running that late but, no worries, these friends just are so laid back and mellow, no problems. Everyone arrived within twenty minutes of each other and Les and Monique brought up my bargain urn which took several of us to decant from Les minivan. Here is a pic I love the egg and dart detailing around the rim. What a buy, $50. for this because the corner is broken off. Detailing on the sides Anyway, originally I was going to put this in the way back on a rock I have back there but Im thinking I want to keep this in the front of the house as its such a beautiful piece. After we got the urn out of the car we had a lovely, leisurely tour of the gardens. As Ive said before and Ill say again, there is nothing as enjoyable as sharing the gardens with other gardeners. The high points were the Charles Grimaldi and all the lovely fuchsias are putting on quite a show at the moment. I was able to get some ideas for the new shrub border and show everyone the new pieced, rock mowing strip I put in a month ago. While we were doing the garden touring Doug was making salad and opened some wine then caught up with us outside and brought us a beverage of choice. What a peach! After the tour we settled in on the patio for our al fresco dining event. We started with Dougs famous smoked salmon served with the diners choice of pickled ginger, sour cream with dill, capers or hot pepper jelly as a garnish. I dont know how he does it but it is seriously the best salmon Ive ever eaten. Saucy brought a lovely home made bean dip, and a brillian bruschetta, Yum, yum! Wendy made her splendid spinach/feta/lemon dip. (Recipes please ladies) and Les made his gustatory delight guacamole. So who needed dinner after those appetizers? Well, we persevered, took a short breather and did justice to the main course of a crisp, tossed salad, Chelone brought fresh tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, Doug prepared grilled, marinated zucchini and the piece de resistance supplied by Sue/Tom/Monique and Les, gigantic prawns, marinated in garlic, cilantro grilled to perfection. Monique took some pics of these brilliant edibles from the sea and I hope she shares them with you all today. They looked like little lobster tails on the platter. What a superb meal! Whoops, almost forgot the corn on the cob but maybe I was trying to because Im now the laughing stock of the group because I eat my corn one row at a time. So maybe Im a bit OCD. LOL After another breather to make room (yes indeed there were home made desserts as well) we had Moniques magnificent apple cake with warmed caramel/pecan sauce and Wendys wonderful chocolate org - sm. (She assures us that really is the name of this decadent dessert.) Ahhhhh.. I dont think I need to eat for at least two days now. LOL As I said hopefully Monique will post pics of the food selections. (However, she really could avoid posting that unfortunate photograph of me and Doug with our faces pressed into the screen door. ) OK Ill post this then read the Idylls as there are lots of comments I want to make. Deanne

One of my machines is a Kenmore, too, PM. It was a gift from a boyfriend and the only thing I use it for is making buttonholes. I oil it and clean it before using it as I don't haul it out very often. You can indeed knock a machine out of time by hitting a pin, but that's pretty unusual. Generally speaking, sewing machines are amazingly resilient and will suffer untold abuse without breaking down. The number one cause of failure is LACK OF OIL; coupled with accumulated fabric lint (which soaks up the residual oil robbing the moving parts of it) it can be really bad news. After that, the wrong needle is often used in a machine, or it's put in incorrectly (either will result in failure to pick up the bobbin thread, often mistaken for a timing issue). And then there is the often frustrating issue of properly tensioning the machine... which is covered in the manual and only takes some guts and some practice to master. In fact, when faced with a new hire, tension and proper needle installation are the first things I teach. To make sure the lesson is mastered I deliberatly monkey with the tension while the person is in the bathroom, lol. I do not sew over pins. I tend to use only a few anyway, but sewing over them is asking for trouble. You ruin the pins (they bend under the presser foot and are harder to use later), you can break them or your needle, and when broken they often fly away from the machine. Flying bits of broken metal near eyes is a fully avoidable risk, right up there with not putting your fingers directly in front of the needle. ;) "Safen up!". More warnings for black ice this morning. And I instantly thought of V.'s daughter when I saw the cancellations at O'Hare. I always wear my boots, a holdover from living in the "boonies" and driving home in all sorts of weather, often not passing another car for the entire 20 miles. Best to be prepared for a long, cold walk. I have not left the Compound ONCE since last Wednesday, though today may break the run. On my list of things to do this week is buy some greens for the decorations, and some wrapping paper and ribbon. We don't have our lists ready and they won't be long or particularly tough on our wallets. I VERY much want to see the decorations from Monique and Less!! I love varigated Holly and haven't seen it available in my usual haunts. I'm actually toying with the notion of planting a couple of them... what do you think, too flashy or pleasingly sparkley for a dark time of year? Tales of layers of pastry and butter made my mouth water. I could almost feel my hindquarters spreading across the seat of my chair as I read... . Back to watery gruel for me! I have to get a coat/two of pickling on one more piece of wood in preparation for the helpmeet's assault on the stairwell railing. I'd love to hear from ailing Eden about her present project and it's progression. You've crossed my mind periodically as I've plugged away on my own.

Sharon (canarybird), my inlaws met on Majorca. Ironically neither of them is from Spain. LOL She was a Dutch stewardess with KLM and he was an American physician traveling around Europe. So romantic (gagging sounds). LOL I have been here on and off for 8 1/2 years now! I think I was first directed here from a search about philodendrons, hence my user name. Then I slowly meandered to the cooking forum. I check in from time to time - something got me thinking about the group yesterday and I decided to log on. :) I have three wonderful children, ages nearly 6 (in two days!), 3, and 8 months. I am married to a teacher of economics and history and we live on the campus of a boys' boarding school in New York state, not that far from Stacy3. In my spare time LOL I love to sew, read, cook, and blog. I have a private blog for friends and family to keep up with the kids, and it's been a blast to keep it up in various forms since David was a mere tot. I have another blog that talks mostly about motherhood, childbirth and pregnancy called The Deranged Housewife, of which our very own Netla was gracious enough to "follow," putting me on the map that is Google Search. (Thank you, Netla!) (A native of Iceland, she has a wonderful blog with photos too, that I often look at ...just a quick plug there...LOL) I am a freelance writer/editor/sort of graphic designer and work from home when I can get assignments. Most of my work now is volunteering my graphic design "skills" (I use that term lightly sometimes LOL) for my son's school. I enjoy cooking not so much for the meal preparation but I love feeding people. I consider it such a wonderful blessing to have family or guests around my table to cook for. I overheard a woman at the store the other day talking about how she's going on a Mexican vacation over Christmas and is excited to not have to cook. I thought, you can keep your vacation because I'd rather cook for my friends and family! And now I must stop blathering on in order to prevent my infant son from eating the Persian rug...excuse me.