Content/Sidebar/Sidebar

Well I thought a little pin cushion project would be quick but it didn't really turn out that way. 

I've seen a number of posts lately showcasing lovely pin cushions.  My very own Nicki has a number of them (ignore her self-flagellation regarding sewing over pins.  She vows to do better).  I had none except for one of those magnetic dishes which, in my mind, doesn't classify as a cushion.  I decided I would make myself one. 

How hard could it be, anyway?

When I start out on little projects like this I always have this fantasy of cranking out a bunch of them and starting a little cottage industry.  About two hours in, wiping the sweat out of my eyes, I decide I am never, ever making another one again.

That simple little blanket stitch always flummoxes me to start with.  I have a couple of false starts before I finally get the hang of it again.  And I always wish my stitches were more even but no matter how careful I am, they never are.

I did some up with a pretty ingenious way of stuffing it – at least I thought so.  I cut a long strip of batting the same width as the height of the cushion.  Maybe a skosh wider.  Then I rolled it up, nice and tight and put it inside the felt covering and finished stitching it shut. 

I'm wondering if you are supposed to embellish these things BEFORE you stitch the covering compenents up.  It was kind of hard to get those felt flowers stiched on.

So this is my one and only home made pin cushion.  Although one of these would be kind of cute to make….

 

Are corner stores going extinct?  Slowly being pushed out by the super Wal-Marts and uber grocery stores (for crying out loud my Safeway carries Le Crueset)?   It seems to me that you just can't find smaller stores much any more.  Even liquor stores and bakeries (especially bakeries) seem to be a quaint relic from the past. 

When I was little my mother would hand me a dollar and have me run down to the little bakery around the corner to pick up four loaves of sandwich bread.  Yes I said four.  And just revealed that I am about 115 years old.

I would have to cut through the elementary school to get there.  I would always have to stop and play on the monkey bars first.  Maybe chat with Mr. Beeswax, the janitor (his real name was Mr. Billwax but everyone called him Mr. Beeswax) if he was there.   He was the janitor of the elementary school and watched four of us girls go through elementary school.  Nicki was in Jr. High when we moved here so he missed her formative years.  However, years after we had all grown and  the elementary school closed Nicki was walking into our grandparent's apartment complex when she heard someone ask "Are you one of the S(maiden name) girls?"  She said, yes indeed she was and he said "I thought so.  You walk just like the rest of them."

The little shopping center had a small grocery store, a bakery, an ice cream parlor, a barber shop and a bank.  A few other small shops that I can't quite remember.   Oh it had a donut shop/diner where you could get a burger and fries if you wanted.  Served in those little red plastic baskets lined with paper.  My younger sister Trish and I would love to go there for lunch and split an order of fries.  Once, when we a little short on cash, we packed our lunch and went in and sat at one of the tables and started to eat.  The owner came over and shooed us out when we explained we wouldn't be ordering anything.  It dumbfounded us that in order to eat there we had to actually buy the food from them.

The bakery later turned into a liquor store and remained a liquor store until a couple of years ago.  My dad used to buy his lottery tickets there.  He would always buy one ticket for every million dollars the jackpot was.  So if it was 15 million he would buy 15 tickets.  When he got sick I would go buy his tickets for him from the Chinese woman who owned the place.  She would always ask me how my father was doing and was quite relieved when he was able to get them himself again.

Once when I was in there I was standing in line behind a well dressed, young man who was probably in his mid-twenties. When he got to the head of the line she asked him how many he wanted and he said "two today, please." and she reached under the counter and handed him two cigarettes and he left.  When I got up to her she explained that he was trying to quit smoking and he would buy a pack and leave them with her and she would dole them out to him one or two at a time.

Do you think your Uber-Mart cashier would do that?

Every now and then my job – that thing that helps pay for groceries and embroidery floss - just takes over my  life.  At the beginning of the year I had a bit of a lull but now it is demanding all of my time and attention. 

Which means I tend to only blog (or do anything blog worthy) on the weekends.  That's why it's been kind of dull quiet around here. 

Compounding the issue is that I left my camera at my Dad's house.  I'm trying to dig up my old one and see if the batteries still work.  So who knows – maybe you'll get a picture or two this week but I can't promise anything.  I am of a notion that blogs need pictures (which also explains the totally random picture above.  Home Doctor AND cookbook??).

Rick and I are going to sneak out this afternoon and go to the movies.  We hardly ever go to the movies.  The last movie I saw in the theatre was the 2nd Pirate of the Carribean movie.  That's how long it has been.  We are going to see Prince Caspian this afternoon.

I loved the Chronicles of Narnia growing up (as did many of you, I bet) and RIck is indulging me by letting me pick out the movie.  Actually now that I think of it I think I got to pick out the last movie we went to.  And probably the one before that. 

Best of all the theater will be nice and cool.  And not work.