Doing The Same Thing, Expecting A Different Result

Good Morning Idgie!

I woke up the other morning and decided it was time to shake the cobb webs out and get myself busy with a project.  I went to put  some music on and Idgie was sitting on my CD case, giving me a look.   It just tickled me so much for some reason I had to grab my camera.

Idgie's personality reminds me of the main character in one of my daughter's favorite books.

"Skippyjohn Jones"

I love this book series.

The main character is a Siamese Kitten who believes he is a Chihuahua.

I "Want" This

My bath mat has seen it's final day.  

The last time I washed it I knew we were probably in  need of a new bathmat.  The rubber matting on the bottom was starting to dry-rot and fall off... not a "good" sign.

However, the big clue was after someone took the first indoor shower and we couldn't get the mat to move.  It was stuck to the floor!

Sew...

I remembered something I had see in my "Soul Momma" book and decided that I wanted to give it a go.

The "old" me... would have compulsively run out to the store and bought a new rug.

The "new" me said...

Debbie, remember we are trying to make more intentional purchases and only when "necessary".  We can make a "new" re purposed bathmat out of old towels and old sheets.

A Gift

 

This is one of my favorite sewing accessories.

It was a gift from my brother and sister-in-law.  They gave it to me several years ago on one of their treasured visits to the states.  John & Rou-yu live in Saipan (Saipan is one of the 14 islands that make up the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands... just in case you didn't already know that) and they don't get our way very often.  When they do come, they come bearing wonderful gifts and then we are spoiled further by a delicious authentic home prepared Chinese dinner with extended family.  It is wonderful.  She will not let me help her prepare the meal.  However the last couple times she cooked for us, she DID allow me to stand over her shoulder to watch and pick up on some of her culinary secrets.

Sewing Preparation

I crank the stereo up and begin to pin the towel strips to the pre-cut fabric.

Once I had all the pieces pined and cut, I went outside and watered the flowers, container plants and cut down and trimmed  back a lot of the things in the vegetable & perennial  gardens.

I felt great...

I was ready to whip a bathmat together.

I start to sew...

clunk, clunk, snap....

I thread the needle again and start sewing... again.

Then clunk, clunk, snap..

Tension

   

I checked my tension and gave it a few adjustments...

I start to sew ...

clunkitie, clunkitie, clunk it went.

Now one of the reasons I love my old machine here is because of the nice quiet steady hum it makes... 

not

 the annoying, empty clunkitie sound the newer machines make... 

with all those fancy plastic pieces. 

  

The clunkitie sound turned into the nice ...

whirrrrrr....

Unfortunately, this is not a "good" thing... it actually signifies that the thread has once again snapped.

Ugggghhhhh... 

Sew...

Once again I place the thread through ...

The Eye of the Needle

Wow!
I kept this up all day until my daughter got home from school.
I think it took me close to five hours to get only 2 strips sewn on.

After homework, dinner and bedtime rituals...
I went back into my studio and got right back into it... I was getting a little better progress but still clunking along.  By this time I was fully aware that I had the "wrong" needle in the machine.
 I didn't have any Ball Point Needles, I had broken the last one several months ago.

I didn't care,
I WANTED to finish this bathmat.

Now get this...
I woke up the next morning, got my kid up and off to school and guess what I did.
No, I didn't go get a new needle.
I went to my computer, put on my Pandora
Levon Helm Radio Station and ...
I went right back to it...




Clunk, Clunk, Snap

I can chuckle now... 

But I can tell ya... there was no chuckling going on in my body... 

until I had a thought.

I thought of a video I watched a while back on the TED website.

Then I looked down, saw the round hole and then I saw the big square peg I was holding in my hand.

What in the world was I doing?

TED - Ideas Worth Spreading 

Getting Perspective

I needed some sanity.  

I pulled out the yarn I had been using to make wash cloths and began making one for my daughter.  She had asked for one a couple days prior to that.

No sooner than I had started knitting this song began to play...

This got more than a chuckle...

this one got a belly laugh and even a note worthy snort.

... Want?

Too dag on funny!

Mary's Washcloth

Just a few loose ends!

Sage & A Prayer

A little something I picked up at an Inter-tribal Pow wow a while back.  The sage that is...

not the shell.

Sage is the difference between cleaning my house and "cleansing" my house.

"Country Roads"

My Maternal Great-Great Grandparents

After my constant questioning of my grandmother about this photo of of her grandmother, my Great-Great Grandmother.  "Meema" gave me a book that belonged to her.  She said it was her all time favorite book.

 

This is actually a children's book.

This took family secrets to a whole new level for me.

If you have not ever read this book, I highly recommend it.  

Especially if you are related to me.

Wanna see what my "Meema" gave me for a wedding gift?

There is no box large enough to hold the gift she gave me that day~

Can anyone tell...

I had another recent visit from my baby brother?

A little tid bit of information that I neglected to throw out there when I blabbity bloged last week.

My brother's cancer is back...

No surprise there, unfortunately the lack of surprise doesn't make it hurt any less.

Now he is MIA.

My head knows what I "need" to do... it is just taking my heart a little longer to catch up.

Back to Sanity on a Scain

I love how our lives are inter-connected.  

Everything has a place and a purpose.  

I don't believe in coincidence.

I was able to spend time with a phenomenal woman over the past couple days.  I had not seen her in such a very long time.  I was able to share time with her beautiful children and husband on the beach.  And a wonderful morning coffee time.  It felt as if we picked up just where we had left off ...

minus the few extra white hairs, extra baggage, and years of memories to catch up on. 

She opened her arms,  her heart and her understanding to me.

I am glad to see that some things will never change!

I love ya "Care Bear"!

Thanks for reminded me that it's more than OK to be ME!

Keep On Keeping On!