Fun Clothes to Alter

This Muppet fur jacket came into my shop last week. I needed to make the sleeves shorter and narrower. It's easy to get inside to the seams, just undo the top stitched seam in the lining!

After cutting the fur, however, my pants looked like this! There are times I hate fur! There is no way to cut it without short pieces making a mess.

The same day, a clown came into the shop with a new outfit that needed altering. I shortened the skirt by 3 inches so that her petticoat would show, and made the sleeves end at the elbow with a ruffle. She has a lime green petticoat and lime green hair.

She came back with fabric for a new outfit. It should be fun to make. The dress int he photo has elephants on it. The new one will have cupcakes.

Things I Like

An interesting building I saw on Coventry Rd.  

My freshly painted house.

Thereby Hangs a Tail

I read a great book today by Spencer Quinn, called Thereby Hangs a Tail. It is the second book narrated by a lovable dog. Here are a few quotes: "We run a detective agency, me and Bernie, called the Little Detective Agency on account of Little being Bernie's last name. My name is Chet, pure and simple. Headquarters is our house on Mesquite Road.."

The story starts with Chet knowing beyond a doubt - "that this guy was the perp. I lunged forward and grabbed him by the pant leg. Case closed. The perp cried out in pain, a horrible, high-pitched sound that made me want to cover my ears. Too bad I can't do that, but no complaints - I'm happy the way I am (even if my ears don't match, something I found out about a while back but can't get into right now). The perp's noises went on and on and finally it hit me that maybe I had more than just his pan leg. That happened sometimes: my teeth are probably longer than yours and sharper too. What was that? Yes, the taste of blood. My mistake, but a very exciting on all the same."

The book is about a kidnapping, abduction, and murder. Another dog is involved.

One of my favorite parts involves Chet being offered a chew strip. "O probably didn't deserve another chew strip for a long, long while, like a day or two. At the same time, I felt this sudden breeze from behind me, surprisingly strong, and realized my tail was wagging."

My own dog is home from the kennel, where she stayed while the outside of the house was painted. I'm a bad Mommy. I brought her home and shortly after, left for work. She was not happy! Very soon, I came back to get my forgotten lunch and she really let me know how she felt. She scolded me and told me in no uncertain terms that she would be the best dog if only she could come along. She even grabbed my leg with both front paws as i left the second time. I'm a bad Mommy for not taking her to work





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Oh My

The day started out well. I picked a large bunch of flowers that were due to be covered with tarps. They made a nice display at work. The flowers to the right are Black-Eyed Susans and White Cone Flowers. I also picked Daisies and the little purple flower called Zebra Mallow (only one of those). This year's plant is all stem and few flowers. I didn't see it last year at all. I probably should have pruned it earlier in the year, but I just cut back what would interfere with painting.




Crochet is finished for the moment. The back of the vest is done. it's a little oddly shaped, but will have other pieces added, like two front pieces, and will look better then. I'm putting it aside to knit some socks. The pattern is from Cookie A. I didn't feel like designing anything right now. I still have a sweater pattern to finish.

This is what the back yard looked like this morning. There is a picnic table, as well as a patio table and tow chairs on the driveway. With only one car, I don't use that space. The patio table belongs on the porch. All the windows are covered, so that porch ceiling paint will not get on them. I can't use the back door at the moment. The downspout will be reconnected when that part of the painting is done. I'm hearing that they will be finished tomorrow if it doesn't rain. Then I'll be able to reclaim my dog.

The Oh My part
When I got to work, my laptop acted up again. The screen is so dark, I can hardly see it. It may re fixable, appearing to be a setting, but I've had a number of settings go wonky, and I've had enough. I bought a new laptop. I was able to get an inexpensive one, which will run QuickBooks, my bookkeeping program. I'm still setting it up, but once I get the backup restored I can work. There are a couple of other programs to install, but they can wait if needed. I knew the purchase was coming, but didn't need to have it fail and be unusable. Grrrrr!