Microwave, Oh Microwave

I know I mentioned some time ago about receiving my first microwave for Christmas about 1980 and not being able to sleep Christmas Eve because I wanted one so badly but wasn't sure I would get one.  Oh I loved that machine when it finally arrived at my house!!  (Dan had stored it at my friend Sue's house and when I called to retrieve it Christmas morning, her husband playfully disavowed all knowledge and hung up!) 

I know many people think microwaves are not real kitchen equipment, but I beg to differ.  Over the years, I'd say I've reheated thousands of cups of tea and coffee because I seem to drink a little, set my cup down for an hour or so and then want more, so for that reason alone a microwave is a necessity for me.  I have several microwave recipes that I've used for years, including one for coffee cake that was in the wonderful recipe book (hardbound!) that came with my first microwave.  When the kids were growing up, we had it many a Sunday morning before church because it cooks in only seven minutes and is totally yummy.  And then there are its reheating qualities.  Need I say more?

When we moved to the house before this one, Dan bought me a new microwave one Mother's Day. I had been longing for an over-the-range one so precious counter space could be freed up, and it did just that, to my joy.   

That first over-the-range microwave was moved to this house and then replaced about thirteen years ago when it wore out.  That one lasted until noon yesterday, when it died with a loud buzz.  REALLY loud. SCARY loud. Since we were in the middle of lunch and planning to use it to finish parts of said lunch, we came to the immediate conclusion that whatever plans we had for the afternoon were null and buying a new microwave was first up.  It was readily apparent that we could not function in our kitchen without one.

And here, let me say that our kitchen is no HGTV showroom.  Our cupboards are old and in need of redoing (I long for painted cupboards with bead board insets), and our appliances are, well, um, bisque, not stainless steel, black, or even white.  Yes, we are hopelessly lost in the eighties.  But I like it that way! Stainless steel appliances seem so cold and industrial, and when I've seen them in real kitchens, they have fingerprints on them.  I don't know about you, but I have better things to do than buff my appliances every day. And white? Too stark.  Black?  Too dark and dreary. So, bisque (lighter than the old almond) is perfect for me, even though I know its days are long past.

So, when we set off to purchase our new appliance, I told Dan sadly that this was probably going to be the start of a whole new set of appliances because I am not a fan of mismatched ones.  In our poorer days we had been there, done that, and hopefully we are long past those days.  You can imagine my delight when we found the microwave section of our local appliance store and there were actually two bisque models on display!  Yes! One was a newer model of the one we were replacing and it was even on sale for less than the cheaper model. Only one problem--we had to buy the display model because it was the last one.  

Oh, therein lay what turned out to be the source of our most frustrating installation ever.  The box for our new toy was missing along with the instructions, etc.  They made photocopies for us using ones from the new (white) one they would put on display, but important templates, including one that was part of the box were overlooked.  They were good enough to bring one set of missing instructions out to us but missed the template that was on the box.  One more trip by us to the dealer finally landed that template and we were in the hole-drilling business. (Wouldn't you think that top models of the same brand would mount the same way?  But no, a whole new bracket was needed, with new holes in the wall and cabinet above.  Can we say Swiss cheese?)

Let's just say that all did not go smoothly and let it go. But, finally, at nine o'clock last night, with help from Dan's friend Dennis for the final installation (those over-the-range microwaves are very heavy and awkward), we had liftoff. Dan retired to his recliner for a well deserved rest and I set about restoring order to my kitchen.  And here is our new microwave in all its glory.

Looks just right.  ♥

A Small Holiday Project

I hadn't done any machine embroidery since I did the aprons for a friend who works at a nearby shop back in November.  I know.  I had burned myself out coming up with projects for the quilt shop and I just couldn't even think embroidery until, well, until now.  And did I mention I retired from the quilt shop?  I did.  The flowers finally did me in and I never went back after my last day on January 2.  

Anyhoo, after I finished the runner I felt the call of my 830.  And it said hitch up the embroidery unit and do something!  I'd gotten an email from Gooseberry Patch featuring food and decorating for the Fourth, and one of the ideas was a table topper, which I initially thought was a coaster.  Anyway, it gave me an idea and I decided to run with it.  I brought up a design from a patriotic set from OESD, resized it to be four inches square and set about stitching it out.  And stitch I did. Or rather my machine did.  The entire top is solid stitches and it took just over a bobbin of thread!  And the bobbin on an 830 is, they say, 40% larger than a normal bobbin!  That's a whole lotta thread!

I wasn't sure what I'd end up with, and given the time it took to stitch out, I wasn't sure I'd want to do more than one, but as I used the coaster today, I think I'll do at least one more. 

I used a blue heather felt for the fabric and slid another piece under for a backing before the red border stitched. I think I might have liked white felt better, but it would get dirty faster.  My daughter Ann came up with the idea for these felt coasters some years ago.  They wash and seem impervious to assaults by little boys.  Oh, and they don't scratch the furniture.  ♥

Another Finish

Hooray!  I finished the table runner I've been working on last night.  Whew!  

I love the appliqued leaves in the middle, but there was a whole lotta blank space that I wasn't sure about quilting-wise.  I pondered what to do for several days and finally, yesterday morning, I decided to take the plunge and just meander quilt the whole thing.  As I put in on my Handi-Quilter, I kept telling myself that if I ruined it, to just consider the whole thing a learning experience.  :-) Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out although perhaps I should have used a lighter thread.  Maybe. Anyway, when I put it on the coffee table to photograph, I loved how it looked there, so I think I've found its home for fall!  ♥

Stitching Fun

Apparently a dark and cozy day was just what I needed to rev up my sewing mojo.  After doing some knitting and a sending a few messages back and forth with my friend Kathy, I decided to see about making a little wall hanging for the entry way instead of working on the table runner. 

I had a certain pattern in mind and amazingly enough, I found it!  There are lots of patterns and books in my sewing room and while I try to be organized, things are a bit, um, unorganized at the moment.  But maybe not as unorganized as I think, because in a matter of ten minutes I had the pattern and had found all the fabrics I needed.  I had a totally fun time tracing, cutting, ironing and stitching away.  The pieces are all backed with Steam-A-Seam and ironed on to the background.  I used stitch 1329 on my Bernina 830 to cover the edges and add detail.  

I just love the funkiness of it!  The pattern comes from the book Special Occasion Wall Hangings by Julie Bohringer of Patch Abilities.  The pattern called for the hanging to be thirty inches long, which of course was much too long for where I wanted it.  I made the red streamers a third shorter and I think it turned out just right.  Fun, fun, fun!  ♥

June Marches On

It's a dark and cold day here at the resort.  We even have the heat on!  I confess to sitting here in my jammies and robe while I contemplate what I'm going to do today.  Given the weather, it's safe to say I'll be spending the day inside.  Meanwhile, my sweetie is out in the woods helping some foresters try to determine what's wrong with their plantations.  (FYI:  plantations are what foresters call areas where they have planted trees.)  Hope he stays warm and dry!

I picked up my knitting again after a few weeks hiatus. I've made enough socks that I thought I knew what to do next without looking at the pattern.  Turns out, I was wrong.  I had to pull out several inches on the heel, but now I'm a few rows into the correct sequence.  I predict I'll be knitting on this cozy, indoor day.

On the scrapbooking front, I have completed seven pages in the last few days!  Yay for me!  Onward and upward: summer of 2002 coming right up.  :-)  I do have a problem though--when I finish this album, as in use all the pages that are in it, I will have used the last of my Creative Memories supplies and they went out of business.  I have checked locally and on the internet, but it seems albums had changed dramatically since I was last busily scrapbooking, and I don't care for the new styles. I hope to be able to get some from a new company that is supposedly taking Creative Memories place, but so far my attempts to meet up with the consultant haven't panned out.  I guess I need to try again.  There's always Ebay, but I don't shop there and really don't want to try although I may have to in the end.  

And in the sewing room?  I had to order some fabric for the center of the runner I'm working on, but it came a few days ago so I can get back to it. 

Looks like I have plenty of fun projects I can work on today.  Guess I'd better get in the shower and get started on this day!  ♥      

D-Day

For those of us born in the years following World War II, there's only one D-Day.  June 6, 1944.  And tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of that "Longest Day", the invasion of Europe by the allied forces against Hitler's Germany.  

As my faithful readers know, my dad was a member of the 101st Airborne Division.  Tonight will mark their anniversary as they boarded their planes and gliders to travel to France to drop by parachute behind enemy lines before the beach assault of the next morning.  Dad had turned twenty-one just a month before. Like many other soldiers of that war, he was a small-town boy raised during the depression.  He will sometimes comment that he was eighteen the first time he saw Spokane, the region's largest city.  Three years later he traveled the width of this country, sailed the Atlantic, spent months in England, and then jumped into France where he would fight for his life and his country.  

1944 -  Dad is the one standing.

I've heard him say more than once that no amount of money could get him to live those war days over again, and no amount of money would be worth what he learned through that time. 

He's ninety-one now.  Those amazing men of that era are passing from our midst daily.  We have been blessed by their sacrifice.  ♥

Landscaping Update

After many hours of work and very tired muscles, my sweetheart has almost finished the re-landscaping of our front yard.  Last weekend he purchased more little boxwood and planted them along the driveway.  He was working out of town most of this week, so yesterday was devoted to trying to finish up.

A trip to a landscaping store brought a trailer full of rock back. Shovel after shovel of it was placed in the appropriate places.

A side-note on the trailer: he bought it last summer to use when he cut firewood.  He'd contemplated buying one for years, but when we bought the new truck, it had a shorter box, thus had less wood-hauling capacity, so he made the plunge.  It has proved to be a very wise purchase.  He used it all hunting season to take the 4-wheeler, and then this spring it was a life saver when he took out the shrubs.  And now it proved it's worth again when it made unloading the rock much easier than from the box of the truck.  

But I digress.  Back to the yard.  It's looking so great!  

Now all we need is to add to the sprinkler system and plant grass.  We're almost there!  ♥