Look What I'm Wearing

Jeans! And my favorite red tennis shoes. It's chilly and raining here today; and while I know I will look back on this in January and be appalled that I even thought this, let alone said it out loud, right now these cooler temps feel wonderful.

Hello, September

Oh September, why must you creep up on us so quickly? Only yesterday I was counting the days till May, and in the blink of an eye the summer is for all intents and purposes over. I realize we have a lot of great weather left to enjoy, but there's something about school starting, even when you don't have a child in school, that makes it feel like summer is finished, just like that.

Although I sound like a sad-sack, I actually really enjoy September. Cool nights, warm days. The smells, the light, the sounds. The quality of the air is just different somehow. It's a great time for starting fresh: getting organized, dejunking, deep cleaning, and thinking about the upcoming holidays. Ah, maybe that's what makes me feel just a bit melancholy. September means winter is that much closer.

Oh well. Without the crummy weather, we wouldn't enjoy the great weather. Right? Right! (Do you like how I'm giving myself a pep talk here?) And every climate has its good and bad points. Take, for example, our fellow citizens in the South, who are dealing right this minute with Gustav. January, February, and March are wonderful months, but right now they're wondering if their homes will be standing when they return to them.

So I'm going to stop the negativity and focus on the positives. For one thing, there's lots of great weather to come. Secondly, the fall season is one of my favorites. And while it doesn't sound like it, I actually do like many things about winter. (I just wish we had less of it.) And then there's Christmas. I love Christmas.

Speaking of which, I hate to submit a photo-less post, so here's something I made awhile back with an eye towards the holidays. It's from the book Holiday Knits, which I bought because I'm a sucker for beautiful photography. Isn't this cover adorable?

This stocking cap is one of many great projects in the book. I made it in the smallest size, which means it won't fit anyone living in this house, so maybe I will have to use it for decor. Isn't it sweet?

Weekend Recap

It was a relaxing weekend, with no out-of-town travel. Starting out, the weather was oppressive, with high heat and humidity, and we didn't want to be outside. But Saturday afternoon a cold front came through, and by Sunday the air was sunny, warm and dry. My favorite kind of weather. Last night we had the windows open for sleeping and I was actually a little chilly.

On Saturday Jeff's parents came over for dinner. We had a feast of grilled chicken strips, corn on the cob (delish!), fresh tomatoes, green beans, and new potatoes, all of which were purchased at the farmers market. We should make it a point to eat this way every day and not just when our relatives with dietary restrictions come to visit. :-)

Other things we accomplished over the weekend were pruning some shrubs and doing some long overdue weeding in the shrub beds (me) and edging the grass by the road (Jeff). We also took a 45 minute walk (together). Ah, the life of an empty-nester.

Today is the first day of classes for Our Boy. We are hoping he has a successful second year in college. His living arrangements have changed (off campus as opposed to on campus) and I don't know how this will affect his study habits, if at all. We are hoping for the best, of course. Time will tell.

I didn't take any pictures this weekend, so here are some favorite shots from summers past...

{first camping trip: age 7 months. i am to blame for the bad haircut.}

{at the beach: 18 months}

{Lake Michigan: 18 months. our boy loved, loved, loved the water.}

{camping again, age 3. it was great when i could pick out his clothes. so cute and matchy-matchy! but he put on his own shoes. can you tell? they're on the wrong feet.}

{at a friend's cabin: age 5}

Ta-Da!

Tanglewood Bag

I have been a crafting fool of late. Not sure what's up with that. It would seem I'd be more crafty in the winter months and less so in the summer, but this summer's been a productive one for me in that regard.

Anyway, I wanted to share a preview of a bag I started this weekend and (almost) finished. I just need to get a button for the closure. It's the Tanglewood Bag from Posie Gets Cozy. Such a sweet little bag, too. The perfect size. I could see making a few of these in different color combinations. This color combination definitely says summer to me.

Extreme Procrastination

I made this quilt top back in the early '90's (which explains the unfortunate color choices) when my friend Sue and I took a quilting class. This thing has been folded up in my sewing closet for about 17 years, waiting to be made into a quilt sandwich. I finally got around to it this weekend, et voila: my first attempt at free-motion quilting.

I have to say, this was much harder than I thought it would be. In free-motion quilting, you drop your feed dogs (the little saw-tooth things that move your fabric through the machine) and instead you move the fabric around with your hands. It takes awhile to get the hang of it; and while I'm not totally there, I do think I got better the longer I did it.

Anyway! It's finished. And while it's really not my style, and I definitely would not choose pink and dusty blue if I was making it today, it feels great to have it done. It will come in handy for covering up while watching a movie, or should a baby happen to drop by and need a blanket to lay on, I am ready.

Progress

We are do-it-yourselfers, but there are a few things we don't attempt ourselves, one of which is drywall finishing. It's sort of an art form. Done well, everything flows seamlessly and you don't notice it. Done poorly, it mocks you for as long as you own the place: a nail pop here, a bulging seam there. Gah! That would drive me (and my equally anal retentive husband) crazy.

So there's nothing like having the number of a good drywaller at your fingertips. I was so happy that I was able to get in touch with the guy who originally finished the drywall in our basement (eight years ago this month) and he agreed to come out and have a look at our ceiling problem. (Drywall finishing is a second job for him. He has a full-time job doing something else, so he only does a limited amount of this kind of work.)

He came out last night and started the job. Within about an hour and a half, he had this patch on it, and says that in two more visits of about an hour each, the job will be complete. And like a true artist, he started telling us how it wouldn't be perfect, that you would be able to tell, just a little, that it had been patched. (Because of it being textured, there is no way to fix it without there being a little overlap of the texture, so I suppose it will look a little bit different around the edges.) I told him to shut his mouth; it was going to be lovely. Okay, I didn't really say that. But I know it's going to be fine. He's just being humble.


Looks like we have some more ceiling painting to do this winter.