I Made a New Friend

And she made me this picture.  I think the inspiration came from this cartoon man guy, whose name I forget.  But whose books I picked up at a yard sale in Pacifica this summer.  Clearly, it was meant to be. 

:D

Its been a while.

I am trying a new diet of sorts..  It's temporary, and will undo itself shortly..  But, meanwhile I have no energy to sew, garage sale, or even, *gasp* do a sweep by the G-Mart on the way home from work.

I'm feeling better this week though, and fortified by a nice dinner of chicken livers last night (plain, fried with salt, while Mr Snork hid in the other end of the house, pinching his nose), I think it's sew time. 

I wonder if I can pull it off before Halloween:

 I also like these two:

I wonder how speedy I can be.. 

I Have, and I Have Not.

As in, have you come here of your own free will,

and

Have you promised yourself to anyone else.

It was beautiful.  

Mr Snork and I would like to make it an annual affair.  Vow renewal same time next year, anyone?

Details to follow.  They're not for the weak and well planning types.

September was the Month of Wedding and Recovery.  October will the Month of Recap.   Had I made June, July and August be the Months of Planning and Preparation, the recovery period might have been shorter.   But that would have been no fun.  No fun at all.

- Mrs SnorkM

The Blue Elephant (Singer 338)

I picked her up, with manual and all extra parts at a yard sale for $8.  I was looking for a Singer 185, and asking everyone if they were selling an old sewing machine.  While Mr Snork rolled his eyes, and mumbled that if they were selling a machine, it would be on their lawn.

Naturally, as he was mumbling something to this effect at a sale in Pacifica few weeks back, the lady ran back into the house, talking about indeed having an old machine or two.  Her son/cashier, confided in me that it was the 'ugly blue/green from way back', and I probably wouldn't want it, as the Mr groaned.  "If it's ugly, she'll want it even more.  FML"

It turned out to be a Singer 338, complete with a plastic blue carrying case.  It's giant, very heavy, and generally elephant- like.  I stayed behind and petted its beautiful pastel blue enamel paint, lest someone think it's not taken as Mr Snork left to the ATM.   Not having any cash is usually a foolproof way not to buy stuff, but every once in a while, when I start petting inanimate objects, he just turns around and comes back with some money.  It's almost telepathic, and really, really endearing.  I wish I could pay him back in kind, but he just never gets excited about a screwdriver or a saw at a yard sale like that.   

Good thing I stayed, too, because two other ladies were hawk eyeing my new baby like crazy, and one asked if she could pet it also.  True story. 

The 338s were only made for a couple years, in the early 60's.  It uses cams for decorative stitches, and can even do double needle stitching.  Pretty fancy.  (I wonder if ever there arises a need for decorative stitches.)

I didn't need another machine, and I still want the 185.  But - for $8 - how do you walk away?? 

It's my very first "portable" machine, and I promptly unfolded it all at my dad's house, and imagined myself a travelling seamstress.  I mean.  It might be a little over a flight baggage allowance on most airlines, but it's such a pretty blue color.. 

It fired right up, the light and everything, and went to stitching like new.  All very, very pleasing. 

And, to crown the last yard sale of the day, while the Mr was off banking, there were these sterling earings in an old sewing box.  First I hunted down a matching pair..  and then I added them to the tab.  Total at check out: $8.25.  Win.

3 miles of treadmill on the screen

3 miles of treadmill.
You run one barely
Crawl the other two
..
3 more miles of treadmill on the screen.

Well, if we were to do 6 miles like we planned, in prepapration for the Turkey Trot 10k. (Warrior Dash has made me ambitious and delusional at once.). Its a nifty combo.

Instead, I messed with tension on Blue Elephant, ate half a loaf of bread, invented excuses, announced I was sleepy,..

And by the time Mr Snork delivered us to the gym at 10:30 pm it was a miracle I didn't stumble off at 2 mile mark, saying unladylike things.

Then I remembered the half a loaf of bread. Dammit.
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I Want Puppy

I get to borrow Henry from one of our customers a few times a week. He naps in my lap while I ignore everything work related.

It's a pretty good system. Sometimes we read emails and take walks around waiting room together. And pose for pictures a lot.

After he leaves I have to remind myself for the millionth time that
I spend about 1 weekend a month at home,
some airlines now charge full tickets for puppies,
puppies do not like being stuck in my two bedroom apartment full of sewing machines 9-6, every day
Small puppies like Henry might object being left at camp as bear bait

Insert giant theatric sigh.
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Barbara Jean's Pretty Pink Quilt

Saturday was Pacifica's annual city wide summer sweep charity organized garage sale day.  We happened to be in Pacifica.  WIN!

It is noteworthy that, unlike Southern Californians who like to start at 6 am and other disturbing hours, non of these started befroe 8, and there were only a couple of those.  Mr Snork and I (OK, I) were overly zealous with our 7 am start.  So, we had breakfast, and he gave me a quick pep talk about how we don't need a n y thing.   Hours of fun ensued, all within a few mile radius and an ocean background.

  There was even an episode involving llamas.    LLAMAS.  (they weren't for sale)

It was the home stretch, Mr Snork could see our house (well, my dad’s), and smell the chicken sandwich and a nap.. But there were two more garage sales on the block between him and the house. The first had a camp stove that we considered, but then decided we didn’t want to pay $10 for, because we might actually want a fancier one, with dual fuel options and a middle burner. This is important, we cook a lot while camping.


The last one had a sewing machine, but a plastic one, so I wasn’t interested, a giant old paper cutter that briefly intrigued me until I drew a mental parallel between it and old French guillotines. It even had a wooden platform. I decided to hold out till a newer one, with a sliding blade falls into my lap.

And, The Quilt. I picked it up, and the stern grandmotherly lady was quick to say it’s got a hole in it, her dog got to it. This was true, there was a hole. But there was also some pretty rose shaped top stitching. And it was pink. She couldn't remember if her mom or grandmother made it, then settled on an aunt called Barbara Jean.  I looked around some more, getting the most out of my last sale of the day, found nothing, and came back to the quilt. Jesse wimpered something about ending his life if he didn’t get a sandwich right then.

I asked the lady what she wanted for the quilt, and in the background, I heard the sound of Jesse melting down.  She said, “The one with the big HOLE in it”? as if she didn't have it there for sale, and I was shopping her purse for her personal effects.  Since she had no other quilts, torn or otherwise, I said yes, and traced one of the stitched roses with my finger. (Jesse maintains that she didn’t have it out there for sale at all, it was accidentally brought out with the laundry and if she did, it was c l e a r l y meant to line a dog kennel. Which only made it worse, because, c l e a r l y, the quilt needed to be saved.)

“You want to FIX it!”, the lady said with the inflection one might say, “You’re want to PEE on it!”. And, “you are a sewer” that sounded a lot like, “You smell like eggs”.  Followed by some muttering about me petting the quilt lovingly.  She also said I could have it for a buck – coincidentally, the exact amount, to the last quarter, left in Mr Snork’s pockets, who, by the way, behaved atrociously, suggested I inspect the quilt for dog poop, and asked the lady if she was also selling rope. (The quilt didn’t smell funny. It was freshly washed, and smelled like lavender Tide. My favorite.)

And, anyway, it proved my point that she WAS selling it. If she wasn’t, I’d gotten it for free. Even though I’m not really a sewer, I just like to pretend - after careful examination, its been determined only 4 squares can’t be salvaged, and will have to be replaced – I can swing that.

In Mr Snork’s defense, I had, just earlier gotten a quilt, with no holes, and a matching pillow sham, for $2. But we won’t talk about that.  I also have a bit of an obession with "saving" things from their current environment, particularly, if they are under $3.  And, a slight disconnect between the number of projects I take on and the amount of time I dedicate to them.  But, look at the stitching! -

I mean, what do dogs know about pretty rose stitching?