I'm Smokin'!!

 OKAY! I'm NOT smokin'.  This is the little lamp that I keep behind my sewing machines so that when I need more light I can just adjust it and wallah!  More light.

IT was not smokin' EITHER.

But while I was sewing, I smelled smoke!!









I looked up from my machine and I SAW smoke.  I was REAL quick to jump up and find out what was going on.  Just as quickly I said a prayer that it was NOT my machine!!

Nope.  The material I was sewing got bunched up behind the machine and piled up high enough to touch the bulb in the lamp.  See that little hole that looks like a cigarette burn?  THAT is what was smokin'.  Luckily it was in a spot close to the bottom of the fabric that is in the hem of the curtains.








We are HUGE Black Hawk fans...ALWAYS have been...forever.
Black Hawks, Cubs, Bears and Bulls.

When my daughter moved to her new home, my grandson asked me to make a valance for his bedroom windows.  He didn't want whole window curtains, just a topper.  I surprised him with a Black Hawk valance.  I have had the material for a LONG time.  Way before they won the last cup.  Good thing because I wanted more to make pillow cases or even a quilt but nope...couldn't find it anywhere.

He's a Cubs fan too.  I bought a lot of material before they took the series but haven't decided what to do with it yet.  I'm thinking I'll make another valance at least so he can switch with the seasons.




Today I am Thankful:

Yes, of course because I caught that little smokin' before it got tooooo big!  But there are other things I think about in this thought process.  Like the snow.  We have about 10 inches right now.  I HATE snow...absolutely.  But today I am thankful for snow because it's really water that goes back into the ground and allows the water cycle to continue.  So many of my blog friends suffered from a drought this year.  I am thankful to have enough water. And yes, this is also part of my motto to look for the good in everything.

Merry Christmas Week!!

IRW And A Bit Of Blogger Info

I have a habit.  I didn't set out to have it, but it just developed.  Around the first of the year I like to switch my look.  It's become an expectation of my friends and family.  I might decide to change my hair color...it's been about every hair color there is.  I definitely change the cut.  Do you know that some women I know have had the same style since the 70s?  I asked my daughter to give me the long layered look.  I can easily mousse and air diffuse and wallah...go.  That's where the IRW in the title comes in...In The Real World.

See that spot on my cheek?  It appeared about 3 years ago..about the size of a pin head and it's still growing.  My doc assures me it does not appear cancerous.  I had one about 30 years ago on my shoulder that I had removed just in case.  So  it's probably going to go to but I can't get into the dermatologist until May.  That's OK.

Don't you just love how Google mixes up your mind with changes to the Blogger platform and doesn't give you a clue on how to get where you want to go?  I wanted my new picture to appear in the "about me" gadget on my blog.  You used to go to design and change it there.  The blogger forum is totally useless in getting info.  So let me tell you where to find the fix, just in case you want to know before they switch it up again.

Go to your Dashboard. Click on the Settings link on the left. Go to User Settings.  See where it says User Profile and "edit" just below it?  Click there to switch your picture.

I have something else to share.  Those of you that quilt probably know this trick but when I read it on Chris Dodsley's Blog  it was one of those "why didn't I think of THAT" moments.  I am definitely going to use this technique when I quilt Laurie's quilt.

So this morning I am particularly grateful to the inventor of the internet.  I was introduced to it back in the mid 80s.  The first computer that I used at my job at that time was actually made in Gate's dorm room...really it was!!  I thought DOS was the best invention EVER!!  It made bookkeeping a dream. Look how far we have come.  Like everything it has it's drawbacks and dreadful users.  But I am so happy to be connected with the world through it from my little rural area in Northern Indiana.

Tell me just one thing you are grateful today...not family, home, or all the givens.
Much Love to all of my friends.