Mittens From a Sweater

First effort here - don't laugh TOO loud !! 

Here's that purple sweater ... I've got one mitten done so used it as a pattern for the other one. The chalk works pretty well for tracing your hand and then tracing around the first mitten ... 

1) turn the sweater inside out
2) put your hand with the wrist about an inch up from the bottom hem of the sweater
3) spread your fingers a little so you'll have 'wiggle room' inside your mitten
4) draw with chalk around your hand
5) stitch it up - for this pair I used a straight stitch AND zigzag but think I'll try it without the zigzag next time ... 
6) cut your mitten out
7) turn it right side out and see what you think!
8) turn it inside out again and use the first mitten as a pattern for the other one

I made this pair bigger because it's for my daughter and her hands are bigger than mine. If they're too big for her all she has to do is turn them inside out and stitch inside the seam. I also used a lightweight sweater because she said she wanted lightweight mittens, like the light little knit gloves that are all over the place - but she wants mittens, not gloves!

And there you go. Simple. Quick. Mittens.

And it's on to the next project!

MY MOM DOUBLE DOG DARED ME!!! THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Mom sent me a forwarded e-mail of remembrances of times past - the 'good old days' as they are sometimes referred to by oldsters, 'ancient history' by younglings.

Her generation is a good twenty years before mine, and her mother's likewise twenty years before hers - nineteen teens through nineteen thirties through nineteen fifties and into now; keep that in mind. 

As I was reading through the text and looking at the photos, it dawned on me that almost all of these things were as familiar to me as they had been to my mother and my grandmother. 

Essentially, not all that much had changed over the three generations we encompass. 

Only a few of the references were 'before my time' and I had a pretty good idea what even those were all about. 

By contrast, I would wager that MY children would recognize a bare few of the photos or thoughts/feelings evoked, and those few only by hearsay or in reference to 'oldies'. 

When people say that EVERY generation has a completely different world to live in and cope with, they may be almost right on some counts - but when I can relate easily and naturally to so many of the same things that both my mother and grandmothers could ... and my children (now adults themselves with children of their own) haven't got the faintest idea of what any of it's about ... 

Well, that says something else, doesn't it? 

It's got me puzzling about it. 

The changes that have come about over the course of my children's lives DO seem to be leaping and bounding, so much so that the memory-making things of my own ... my mother's ... my grandmothers' ... time seem so far distant as to be over the horizon and beyond recall. 

Has the pace of life picked up so drastically that generational sharing of lifestyles has become impossible? 

Oh SUN ON A BEACH !!!

I can't get this concept to gel for me. 

What I want to know is how we have managed, in the course of ONE GENERATION, to have lost that continuity - and why.

The odd thing is that it doesn't seem a gradual loss but more of a sudden realization: HEY wait a gol-darn minute here what the bloody blue BLAZES has happened here anyhow?!? 

How is it that we three generations have maintained so much in common but THIS one is adrift by comparison? 

I have an overwhelming urge to chant 'Mea Culpa' because it must somehow be me. 

OH!

WHEW!

It's NOT just me. 

Granted, there are altogether too many traditions, thought processes, activities, memory-generating things that seem to have gone by the wayside. 

BUT when I stop to think more closely about the way things are NOW, I do realize that maybe just maybe all is not lost. 

Life is NOT the same now; it is, however, still OUR life, the one we've created to pick up where those old memory-makers leave off. 

While the highlights of my young life totally revolved around going to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, I have to try to remember that (back in the day) I wouldn't have been able to Skype my nephew halfway around the world.  My mom couldn't call me from wherever she happened to be and talk to me wherever I happened to be.  I wouldn't have been able to go shopping with my daughter from several hundred miles away.  As my grandchildren grow up, they'll be privy to the same electronics that their parents use with such skill - maybe one day my grand-daughter will be taking me shopping with HER ... via cell phone and data transfer so I can see what she's thinking about buying! 

Yes.  It's different. 

The things I, as the current 'middle generation', have in common with my mother and children are not the same things I, as the 'youngling generation' had with my mother and grandmothers - but we're making our own connections, traditions, activities, memory-generating things as we go along. 

As I move along in the generational line, I had best be paying attention to preserving the concept, if not the specifics, of keeping a connection in place. 

It's a fascinating journey, moving along from youngling to middle to oldster.  It all blends as it rolls along.

Too TOO often the challenges and struggles of the journey seem to be overwhelming and I lose sight of those cherished others who are on this self-same journey WITH me. 

And to that I WILL say:  Mea Culpa

Our work and life schedules are all different these days.  Few of us have nine to five jobs with every weekend off; fewer indeed are the stay at home moms of times past; fewer yet are generational family gatherings where the whole clan gets together to catch up on what everyone else has been up to and to bond as a unit.  We can NOT change the way things are back to the way they used to be - but we CAN make the most of the resources we have at our command.

We may not have the luxury of being able to gather very often as a big group.  We DO have the luxury of being able to visit with one another at will.  Electronics, when work and life schedules keep us apart, can and will keep us connected.  LOL and OMG have become a part of our vocabulary that my grandmothers would NEVER have recognized in their day.  Were they around now, you can bet your bottom dollar they'd be on top of it, just as my mom is. 

Back in the day answering machines were either non-existent or rare.  If you wanted to talk to someone on the phone you had to catch them when they were at home. 

Now I can talk to or text people whenever I want, and leave messages on any number of their devices or electronic accounts; and the reverse likewise.  We may not be immediately available for our communications, but the messages get through.  We can go places and do things together whether we're in the same place at the same time or not. 

Family conferences have been enhanced by electronics.  You can be there even if you're not there. 

Heh heh ... we're all there even though none of us is all there. 

Sometimes I wish it could be more like the 'good old days' but then I do remember that THESE ARE GOOD DAYS TOO.  Traditions change and generations advance, but life is an ever-onward process; would we really want it any other way?  Nope.  And a good thing too because we really don't have much say in the matter! 

Refining Plan A - Electrical

Of my four daughters (by location they are GF, F, B, and TC) the one I most often brainstorm with is TC and it's always a joy, often provoking laughter as we wend our way toward solutions. 

On the topic of electrical ideas for the studio, she came up with a truly great solution to the question of how to light the front room (which will one day be the main studio work room) effectively and efficiently. 

The original light fixture is antique; while I love the aesthetics of it, it's not practical.  The same applies to the dining room. 

Given the need for good lighting, flexibility, and a desire to be able to spotlight different areas at different times (for showcasing a work and/or for various work stations) I was stymied.  Using lamps is only a stop-gap method of getting the effects I want. 

TC, bless her forever, suggested track lighting in an eight foot square. 

Now that's something I can get my head around. 

It serves the purpose, isn't 'invasive' in the sense of being an irreversible change to the 100 Year Old Home, and is something I'm fully capable of getting done my own self. 

The height of the old ceilings means the lighting isn't going to be the first thing you notice when you walk in.  It will be up high enough to not intrude on anyone's line of vision.  It won't, unlike the antique light fixture, hang down so far that it's in the way (low enough for some to bump their heads on).  And it's not pretty enough to detract attention from what is SUPPOSED to be the focus.  Namely (someday) works of art, either finished pieces or works in progress. 

As the dining room will be a secondary work room, it will have the same requirements; the same solution will work.  It's a smaller room so the tracks won't be as long, but the same principle is in play and the track lighting will definitely be a good move. 

I don't know what I'm going to do with the original hanging light fixtures; maybe when I get to the attic part of the studio projects I'll put them up there where I can put the center of the ceiling as high as I want so they'll hang up out of everyone's way while providing their own 100 year old beauty. 

Otherwise it's just a matter of adding more outlets and maybe another circuit or two, which is a cake-walk. 

The two original light fixtures I want to keep are the ones in the morning room and the kitchen.  I'll have to rewire them so they're up to code of course, but I want to keep and use them as they are so much a part of the rooms they are in. 

While I'm putting in track lighting I may as well give what will be the new kitchen the same treatment and be done with it.  My bedroom can have all the lamps I want. 

Having better than adequate lighting, during the long dark of Dakota Winters, makes an incredible difference.  Using energy efficient bulbs makes you feel okay about it. 

One thing about using wiring that exceeds industry standards is that I don't have to worry about overload. 

That too shows that I'm proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Plan B Has Been Bumped to Plan C By My Daughter !!

Since Plans B and C are still shrouded in mystery for the time being, I'm just going to say that brainstorming with my daughter is great fun, and highly productive. 

Usually the brainstorming we've done has been about test answers for her college classes; as she is almost finished with that it's a good thing we've found another outlet. 

Letter To Sister and Daughters

Okay, here's the deal. Some of you will understand, some of you will roll your eyes and say, "Oh MOM!" Just so you know up front that I do realize...

Here's what happened:

First Page:

It's time for me to pay the property taxes on the Studio so I went up to the courthouse to do that. It was more than I had thought so I had to go to my bank and hope there was enough money in my other account to make up the difference. Turns out I needn't have bothered as the money was already there in the account it needed to be in; almost the exact amount I needed for the taxes had been added to that account and I DID NOT DO IT.

I almost hit the floor on my knees then and there, let me tell you. Relief and gratitude vied for the upper hand; neither won. I'm still kind of in shock. The tax money did not have to come out of my budget at ALL.

Second Page:

I finally got the little S10 pickup paid for so Mary and I went to Harvey to see if we could at least test the battery to see if it was maybe going to be all right once it got charged (otherwise I'd have to buy a new battery). I had talked to the guy I bought it from so we could get the keys; he was out of town and he said the keys were locked in his house so we were just going to check it over as best we could without them. We got there, checked the battery, put cables on it to charge it, and it seemed to be hopeful that it would work. When I checked inside one last time, for no logical reason, the KEYS WERE HANGING IN THE IGNITION. However it did not start when I tried it. At least it didn't until I tried pushing the clutch in, LOL.

Since the tires needed air we went looking for a can of air, just enough to get that one tire up so I could drive it to a gas station to finish filling it. We found no can of air, but Mary's eagle eye spied a portable air tank (on sale for fifteen bucks). A quick stop at the gas station got her car's tank filled and the air tank filled as well.

Back we went to the S10, got air into the low tire, stopped back at the gas station to top off the others, and headed out to the farm to finish charging the battery with their charger. Meanwhile, BIL Brian was coaching us via phone.

We took the S10 for a test drive on the back country roads, drove down a prairie trail, and took it across a field or two (checking the 4WD which works great) and it performed just fine.

Side note: I was running on empty myself from having gotten two hours of rest the day before and three hours that morning.  Mary fed me good stuff and a lot of it.  Kudos to her and Brian, again and again and again !!!

Page Three:

When I was at the courthouse one of my favorite people, whom I call Texas, said she had just mailed me a letter to see if she could buy my Studio. I told her I'd sell her the house instead, so we'll see what happens with that.

Anyway, my point is that God is GOOD; I credit Him with having gotten the tax money into the right account (and no I did not request it to go into that account - all deposits go through my OTHER account) just when I needed it; I credit Him with making the timing of me getting the S10 at EXACTLY the time my car seems to have gone kerplooey once and for all; I credit Him with having Mary's eye land on that air tank and not just pass over it; I credit Him with Texas being just at the time and place where I would run into her.

Taken separately, maybe coincidence explains it; taken together, the past couple of days, to me, renew my faith.

When Someone says "Be still and know that I am God" listening and obeying is a good thing to do.

Just sayin' ...

Love you, Remember the Rules (safety, respect, kindness)

SheMom