HAPPY EASTER!

This is the guardian angel cross J received when he was born.  It still holds a special place in my heart and reminds me, whenever I pass it, that our True Guardian suffered, died and rose to save us all. 

Wishing all of you a wonderful, blessed Easter!

MY PROTOTYPE "STITCHER'S POCKET POUCH"...

 

As you know, I am unable to do any hand stitching anymore, my tremors are way too bad most days to risk such a loss of blood at the end of a sewing needle, lol.  Even the pins that I use for machine sewing and quilting tend to be problematic, lol.  On a GOOD day, when I CAN sew, a few pins in a seam can be a three Band-Aid endeavor!   Since I am not about to give up sewing (my sanity) I obviously need to keep a supply of Band-Aids close at hand.  All sewists know that there are "tools" that need to be kept nearby, as they are used frequently.  Mine, however, seem to have grown feet and walked...and are not always found where I expect them to be!  Solution?  A "Stitcher's Pocket Pouch". 

Based on the chatelaines used by stitchers in the past, I wanted a small pouch that could hold not only my Band-Aids, but small scissors, my seam ripper, my favorite thimble (okay...I will admit it is lost at the moment...Grrr...see the need for a pouch?) and my sewing gauge.  You know...the little things that seem to crawl into the deep dark recesses under piles of fabric!

While sorting through my stash and moving less frequently used items to the new Expansion Sewing Room, I came across a box full of denim pockets.  Hmmmm......could these work for my pocket pouch?

I found my answer later that night in the middle of a very strange, completely disjointed dream....hanging around my neck!  Yup, it would work and I knew exactly how I was going to make it!  And it was Oh. So. Cute!  (A little aside:  Yes.  I do have the strangest, nonsensical dreams you can possibly imagine...usually centered around being late for school, not having my homework done, or spiders...BIG ones!.....yikes, I'm an arachnophobe!  Lately, though, sewing and quilting have wormed their way into my nightly scenarios.  Thank Goodness for some peaceful happy scenes!  I really do need to keep a pen and paper next to my bed because sometimes the designs are just amazing...and unfortunately gone by the next morning.)

And thus began the design of my "Stitcher's Pocket Pouch". 

When I first retired I attempted hand sewn English Paper Piecing in the form of 1" hexies.  I didn't have too many done before it became obvious that, as much as I ADORED hexies...they didn't adore me!  The pocket pouch in my dream had an adorable hexie flower on the front.  Okay, I had the hexies...could they be sewn on by machine?  The answer?  Yes.  It took a few starts and stops, but I managed to machine sew a hexie flower onto one of the pockets. 

Construction was then just a matter of adding two inside pockets in complementary fabric, attaching a zipper, gluing on a bit of ribbon to pretty it up and sewing the pockets together.  The hardware for the strap was stolen from two keychains in our junk drawer.  They were keys whose purpose was forgotten YEARS ago and the keychains would be much better used elsewhere!  Am I rationalizing, lol?  Probably, lol.  Shhhh....nobody will ever notice! 

A simple strap to hang around my neck and it was done. 

But I think my Stitcher's Pocket Pouch will have another purpose as well!  Next weekend my Dear Aunt, possibly Mom (depending on how Dad is doing) and I are going to a quilt show at the local 4H club.  I CAN. NOT. WAIT!  I really don't want to be encumbered by my handbag while oohing and aahing over all of the quilts, so I think I will leave my main handbag at my folks' house and just wear my "Stitcher's Pocket Pouch".  It is plenty big enough to hold my license, keys, money and camera...all I really need for a wonderful girl's day out admiring quilts!

THRIFT STORE SCORE!!!

Thrift store shopping...

Why, oh why did it take me almost 50 years to discover the THRILL of thrift store shopping???

Anyone who sews, quilts, crochets, knits...or does any kind of crafting...knows that supplies can be exorbitantly expensive; at times even prohibitive!  I had begun shopping garage sales in order to find supplies at a better price.  But, since I can't walk well and need to drive from house to house, it becomes really annoying to have to park, shop for a few minutes, drive to the next house a few doors down and park again...over and over and over.  My dear sweet hubby began taking me to the garage sales and dropping me off at each house, but that tied up our Saturdays and to get the really good bargains and selection you had to go early.  I felt horrible asking him to wake up early on a day off.  He works too hard not to have a day to sleep late!  Sometimes, even though I really wanted to "treasure hunt", it just wasn't worth the hassle.

Then someone suggested I check out the local thrift stores and a nearby multi-storefront "church run" thrift shop in particular.  One trip and I was HOOKED!  I had been told the thrift shop was huge, but I never expected what I found...5 separate, HUGE storefronts.  The wares are divided into individual shops:  Furniture, Books, Clothing, Variety, and Thrift Outlet..the "thriftiest" of the thrift shops.  Every week a different color tag is on sale half off and the third Friday of every month EVERYTHING in the stores is 50% off (with some minor exceptions).  On that day the Outlet lowers prices to $.50 per item or the lower ticket price.  Amazing!

Today I had to go to my primary doctor's office, which happens to be fairly close to the thrift shop.  I started at the Thrift Outlet and then made my way to the Variety store.  In all honestly, I skipped 75 percent of each store as I honed in on the sewing and crafting areas.  As I walked past the "candle" aisle in the Variety store, I remembered that my mom has been looking all over for votive holders.  She had two navy blue "hobnail" style glass holders and was looking for something similar to add to her collection.  I made a quick detour down the aisle and was amazed to find a sealed set of two ocean blue "hobnail" glass votive holders and 4 blue candles... for just $3.50!  I snatched the box off of the shelf and held it tightly in my hot little hands!  My first treasure of the day!!  Finding something within the first 10 feet of the store should have been my cue to get a cart, but thankfully I could only spend money on what I could hold, lol.  I'm sure my husband and my bank account will be grateful.  I was in such a rush to deliver my find to mom and dad that I neglected to get a picture to show you.  But, believe me, they were LOVELY. 

Now for me, I got quite a lot of sewing notions:

• 7 Zippers for $.50 each
• 4 packages of Maxi Piping for $.25 each
• 2 packages of Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape one for $1.00 & one for $.50 (green labels were on sale)
• 2 Button Cards for $1.00 each
• 1 Travel Sewing Kit to keep in the car for emergencies for $.50

There were still so many notions I wanted to buy, especially novelty buttons, but I tried hard to be good.

In yarn I got:

• 5 Skeins of Acrylic Yarn.  These are all in my favorite colors.  There were so many others I wanted to buy, but I had to draw the line SOMEWHERE, lol. 

And my last item was a "just because I love it".  It is a valance...which is NOT how I will use it.  I fell absolutely head over heals in love with the lace and plan to use it on something really special someday.  It cost me $4.50...which I think is well worth such a beautiful find!

I have been staring at my treasures for close to an hour already and have yet to put any of them away.  So, do you think I have a problem? 

Yes?  I agree.  Hello, my name is "Lin" and I'm an addict...

So what thrifting scores have you had recently?  How often do you hit the shops for your "fix"?

MULTIPLE PROJECTS KEEP ME SANE, LOL.

 

Maybe it is from all of those years of "multitasking" while running my own business...or maybe it's just the way my brain works...but I find that "multitasking" extends to my crafting as well!

Throughout the day I tend to work on different things for "tiny bites of time", whether it be housework or crafts, usually for around 5 minutes or so of effort.  Then I sit myself back down in my rocker to rest, or in my bed under the electric blanket to ease my pain, or on the sofa to watch TV, or at my computer station to surf online.  When I am sufficiently rested and/or my pain has lessened a bit I grab a different project to work on.  I find that different types of crafts use different muscle groups and, since my abilities vary sometimes by the hour, varying my activities throughout the day depending on my capabilities keeps any one muscle group from being overtaxed.  Some days all I can do is watch TV or listen to audiobooks, but other days I can manage a bit of crafting.  As a result I always have multiple projects going.

The whole time I am working on one project I am planning out the next five, ten or fifteen creations I want to begin.  How I long for the days before I became ill when I could just go, go, go and knock out tons of things in one day.  Now I have a constant backlog in my own personal "buffer" as my body can't produce as fast as my mind can imagine, lol.  I've learned to sketch out ideas, or begin the first stages of a project, in order to keep my ideas from becoming lost in the black hole of my brain.  I know I will NEVER be able to accomplish all I would like, but I can still dream and create, even if the projects never reach fruition. 

Right now these are the items on my craft table...

Two I am pretty sure you will recognize, but hopefully my body will cooperate and I will have more progress made in the next several weeks to give you a peek at some finished projects! 

So what are YOU working on?

SUPPLIES FOR A SIMPLER LIFE...

This picture may be from the 16th, but the view is the same!  YUCK!

Good morning, friends.  It is a snowy, cold mess here in my part of Pennsylvania...but I couldn't be happier.  My Dad is home from the hospital!  My dad underwent lung surgery on Tuesday to remove a cancerous lesion.  At 80 years of age, he came through the surgery amazingly well and was released on Saturday evening.

I accompanied my mom and aunt down to the hospital every day, and I don't know if it was because of my increased stress, impending weather changes, or what, but my pain level was really high the entire week.  My neurologic issues were also raising their ugly heads!  I think DAD was walking better than I was!!  One day at lunch I couldn't keep my sandwich in my hand, nor pick it up when it dropped!  I took my crocheting with me but was unable to accomplish more than about half a dishcloth over the course of an entire week!  I just hurt too badly and was tremoring too badly to do much of anything constructive.

But, sitting there next to his bed for all of those hours (he slept a lot) gave me a really good chance to think.  A post on frugalliving@about.com not too long ago got me to thinking about what items in my life I could "make" instead of "buy".  Over the long term I really hope to make less of an impact in all aspects of my life.  So I began thinking of the things that I have made over a span of many years that can be utilized more routinely to both save money and lessen my footprint...AND I began planning things I can make into the future to achieve my goals! 

Here is what I have thought of so far...

Blankets and quilts to keep our heater turned down a little lower:  

"Solo Trip", made in the 1980s, is folded on our family room sofa to snuggle under

"Memories of Myrtle", made in 2012, is folded on our family room sofa to snuggle under

"Dorm Denim", made in 2006, is on our guest room bed.  It keeps me warm when I sleep in there to avoid waking Dear Hubby with my tossing, turning and moaning in pain. 

A "Ripple Afghan", made in 1981, for my then boyfriend (now hubby) sits on my Scrappy, Happy Place rocking chair to keep me warm while resting. 

I am currently working on a new queen sized quilt for the guest room (the denim quilt is only a twin).  It is VERY slow going as I only work on it for a short while at a time, but as long as I don't have a real "guest" any time soon it is not a problem.  The quilt will be made of 5" squares so I am going to need lots and LOTS of blocks to reach queen size!  I am hoping to have it finished by the end of 2013...maybe. 

Cleaning supplies to keep my house sparkling without all of the harmful chemicals:  (Note:  I still have a LOT of store bought cleaners to work my way through, but am changing over to homemade as things run out):

A freshly brewed bottle of citrus cleaner

Citrus cleaner ready to spray

Homemade laundry detergent.  Looks like it is time to make more!

Baking soda shampoo & apple cider vinegar rinse

Reusables to replace disposables of many household items:   

A handmade washcloth to use with liquid shower gel

A handmade Swiffer to use on my laminate and/or tile floors

A finished set of 3 washcloths for future use

My first handmade dishcloth to replace worn out store bought dishcloths and sponges

Things I am planning to make:  

I may actually attempt to crochet dishtowels as I am tired of buying towels that just push the water around and don't actually dry anything!  

I am also planning to crochet "soap sweaters" to hold all of our scraps of soap while showering.  The "soap sweaters" should also work well with sample sized soaps.   

I am planning to sew up more cloth napkins.  We have just started using cloth napkins and I need more.

I am planning to sew up reusable paper towels for "daily use" and some "disposable" paper towels (out of really worn material) to use with super "messy" jobs.  

I am planning to use some soft flannel to make hankies to replace boxes of tissues.   

ETA:  

I am planning to learn to make socks on my "sock loom".  

I am  planning to make an afghan for the guest room for extra warmth in bed.  

What have I missed?

These are all of the "handmade" substitutions I have been able to think of.  Any suggestions on items I have missed?  What are you "making" to lessen your footprint?

 

   

THE ONLY "GOOD" SNOW...

 

This is the view out of my Scrappy, Happy Place window this morning.  Anyone who has known me for any amount of time, knows that I HATE snow!  But I have to admit that I would consider this the only "good" kind of snow...beautifying the porch roof and greenery outside of my window, but leaving the sidewalks and streets intact.   (Please excuse the incorrect date on my picture, I have to read the instructions to figure out how to fix it, lol.)

I am expecting today to be a fairly relaxing day.  I do have my usual Sunday laundry to do, but I have stopped pushing myself to get it all done in one day.  If I need to, I can always finish the last load or two tomorrow morning.  

From a "fun" perspective I am hoping to ask J to screw four new drawer tracks into the armoir.  Then I can take my time sorting and storing fabrics into the drawers over the next several weeks.  

J is coming over after work to show us his poor, damaged car.  He and DGF were driving down the road last evening when a teen pulled out of a gas station right into the side of his car.  Apparently she forgot the last "left" of the "look left, right, and then left again" taught in driver's education.  Thankfully, no one was hurt...but J said the poor girl was absolutely hysterical.  While J called the police, the poor girl called her father.  The girl accepted full responsibility when questioned by the policeman and her dad gave J his name and number, hoping maybe they could settle without using his insurance.  Based on the areas of the car damaged in the crash, I think it is going to be WAY more money than her dad will want to pay cash.  But then again, with 5 drivers on his policy and several accidents, he said he is not eager to put in a claim and have his rates go even higher.  

I am just PRAYING they don't total J's car!  He has matured a lot since he moved out a few short months ago.  Back then he was talking of "when I get a new car" like it was something he was going to purchase immediately.  Now, after living on his own for a while, he understands the wisdom of "no car payments" and just told me two days ago that he hopes this car lasts a whole lot longer because he is going to keep it until it absolutely dies before he considers another car purchase.  I hope his hand is not forced too early!

If I feel up to it later today I may work on a few 5" squares for my guest room quilt.  Lunch and dinner will be leftovers from the fridge.  If my hands won't cooperate to sew I will try to start another crochet dishcloth.  If that doesn't work either...I will read!  I have a long list of activities I can do based on my daily condition.  Unless I am forced to go all the way down the list to TV, I should have no reason to be bored today.  TV in bed is always my LAST resort! At least the view outside is pretty if the TV selection is poor!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Comment #1 from Jackie was picked by the Random Generator.  Congrats Jackie!!!
Email me your address and I will get this out to you right away!

ENJOY!!!!!

MENDING...A NEW ADVENTURE!

About a month ago (I guess...my memory is not what it used to be) dear son J asked me to fix a rip in his work coat.  It was a nice, heavy coat by Dickies that he had bought on DEEP discount (I LOVE that the boy has learned so well!).  However, it had acquired a nasty, almost 4" long, thread frayed vertical rip transversing the hood seam.  Could I fix it?  (Sorry, I forgot to get pictures!  The "blogging" mindset has not yet fully taken hold and I often remember photos "after the fact"!)

I took it to up to my "Ellie" and attempted to sew the rip shut, folding the frayed edges under.  However, every time the needle pierced the material it frayed even more.  I kept expanding my sewing area hoping to find "fresh" material that held the stitches.  Finally, with a half inch wide area of stitching (see the area centered over the label?), I thought I had finally stabilized the fray.

J wore the coat for about a week and it became apparent that my "fix" was not going to hold.  J told me to fix it "anyway you can", it was only his work coat to wear into the freezers and he didn't care how it looked.

I pulled out my Liquid Stitch and cut a piece of thin white cotton a little bit bigger than the large frayed area.  I applied the glue liberally, added the cotton patch and watched as the glue soaked through the threads and the cotton.  After allowing it to dry for 24 hours I cut a piece of beige denim 1/2" bigger all around than the white cotton.  I applied Liquid Stitch to the whole back of the denim and glued it on top of the white cotton.

I then began my search for some type of heavy material that would match the coat well enough to make a nice looking patch.  The closest I could find was a piece of upholstery fabric for $1 at Calico Home.  It was CLOSE, but still not as close as I would like.  However, I was running out of stores to find a better match, and J DID need the coat for working in the freezer!

I had noticed during my handling of the coat that there were two interior pockets made of the outer material.  One would be perfect for the patch...but I was not going to destroy a pocket without J's say-so!  Crazy, I'm not, lol!  Fortunately he stopped by the house and I showed him the options.  Grabbing my seam ripper he attempted to remove the one pocket, but it was sewn down very security and he was getting frustrated, especially when a small rip appeared in the jacket!  I told him to use my "good" scissors and cut the pocket material as close to the seam as he could.  I knew I could carefully remove the remains of the pocket later. 

After gluing and folding over a 1/4" seam in the pocket material, I then folded over another 1/2" all the way around, pinned it in place and sewed two lines of stitching to hold the patch.  I'm happy with the results and if he can get another year or two out of the "work" jacket, I will be happy.  Oh... and I have NO idea why the picture is all faded out!  Yes, I'm a newbie, lol.

I then sat and removed three quarters of the inside pocket remnants, leaving just enough attached that I can teach him the "proper" way to rip a seam when he comes to pick up the coat.  I even added a tiny dab of Liquid Stitch to the slight hole made at the reinforced area of the pocket (see the little bit of white at the top right?)  A nice, warm, workable jacket saved and another journey in my frugal adventures begun.

A day or two after I finished J's mending my mom brought over her robe.  Once again, sorry no pictures!  The zipper and part of the collar had come unsewn.  Mom had attempted to hand stitch it back together (don't ask me why when I gave her my "first" sewing machine a few years ago), but with the first washing her mending failed.  A zipper gets too much pulling and stressing for hand stitching to be very permanent.

So,  while mom sat in my rocker and we talked, I mended her robe.  It only took about 10 minutes.  It would have gone a lot quicker had I not been having a bad "tremor" day, but it was only about six inches of sewing so I could soldier through...stopping every few stitches to try to get control of my hands.  Another article of clothing saved and yet another mending experience to add to my repetoir!

A BODY AND SOUL NEED REST...

 

Sometimes life can get hectic, stressful, exhausting and downright NUTS!  That is how things have been around here lately and tonight I have reached a point where I need to forget all of the "need to's", "have to's", "shoulda's", "coulda's" and "woulda's"....and just concentrate on resting and restoring.  I need some time to simply "BE".

In the past 3 weeks, along with my daily chronic pain, fatigue and neurologic issues, I have undergone 3 MRIs, had 3 doctor appointments, accompanied my dad to his cardiologist appointment and echocardiogram, had a growth removed from my back, suffered a horrendous bout of either food poisoning or a viral GI bug last night...with way too much time spent kneeling before or sitting upon the throne, kept tabs on my dear brother-in-law who was undergoing a medical procedure today, and tonight have tended to my dear hubby who is also not feeling well.  We were supposed to be visiting dear brother-in-law at the hospital today, but as we are both feeling under the weather we thought it best to stay home. 

On Tuesday the first man I ever loved will enter the hospital to have yet another cancer removed from his lung.  Barring any contagious illness that I wouldn't want to pass on to my dad, I will be going with my mom to the hospital for the five days until he is discharged...again only if I am completely well.  At 80 years of age, with two totally different types of cancer, and in the immediate post surgical period from lung surgery Dad CERTAINLY doesn't need what we have had!

In the midst of all of this I have also been gathering copies of my most recent records to forward to my lawyer in preparation for my Social Security Disability Hearing in May.

There comes a point where you just have to cry "Uncle"!

So tonight, after tucking my dear, sweet, long-suffering hubby into bed, I brewed myself a piping hot mug of Earl Grey tea,

found the Nature with Tchaikovsky CD on my MP3 player,

snuggled myself into my favorite "Wooby" sweater

and started this post.

Outside the wind is howling, but in My Scrappy Happy Place the birds tweet and oceans roar in perfect harmony with the soothing strains of Tchaikovsky; while Earl Grey and Wooby warm me inside and out.

With a sigh of contentment I close my eyes and lose myself in the peace of knowing that I already have it all...and with the Lord and my loving family at my side I can handle anything. 

6 MONTH BLOGIVERSARY! and a GIVEAWAY!

I can't quite believe that it has been six months since I typed my very first post...with quite a bit of trepidation, I might add!  There have been a lot of ups and downs through the past six months, but I have weathered them well and have tried hard to live the peaceful, fulfilled, creative life I want... in spite of them! 

So, in celebration I am giving away a little something...a small zippered pouch...one of my very FIRST crafty endeavors after retirement.

If you would like a chance to own it, please leave a comment with suggestions on making my blog more engaging, enriching or enjoyable, -OR- suggestions on what items I should craft for Etsy, -OR-both!  Just remember, my blogging and crafting are both dependent on a very limited, sometimes very uncooperative body, lol.

I will try to use a random number generator to pick a winner...but if I can't figure it out (remember I'm not real computer savy!) I will just put numbers in a bowl and pull one out!  I will pick the new owner on March 17th.

Have a great day!  Oh, and please keep your fingers crossed tightly for me...I'm heading off now to an MRI in the high field (read SMALL) machine.  Given my claustrophobia I am NOT looking forward to the procedure, but hopefully a good dose of Ativan will keep me from freaking out!

RESULTS:  It is 1:04 AM on  3/17/13 and the winner is comment #1.  Congratulations, Jackie!  Please email me your address and I will get this out to you right away.   Oh, and I guess I forgot to change the time on my camera when we "sprang forward"...but I don't know why the date is wrong!  I thought I had the AM and PM correct, but apparently not, lol.  Electronics and I just don't see eye to eye!  Grrrrrrrrr........

TRYING TO SIMPLIFY...

Good morning friends!  Sorry I have not been here to visit in so long.  Another bad stretch physically, but the storm is hitting today so I can expect things to level out pain-wise once it gets here.  In fact, the wind is picking up and the ground is beginning to look wet.  Sure hope we just get rain and not the snow that people were talking about for the past few days.  I will have to look up our local weather online, crossing my fingers the whole time that the snowstorm will skirt around us!

Even though I haven't been able to "craft" much recently due to my uncooperative body, I have still been working on simplifying our lives.  I want to make less of an impact in everything I do...whether it is less of a financial impact on our monetary status or less of an impact on the earth with our reusables vs. disposables challenge.  SLOWLY I am turning away from disposables and stocking my home with reusables.

This is a new washcloth pattern for me, so I will use it for a week to make sure it is serviceable.  Then I will slowly crochet another three washcloths to put in my Etsy store.  I have finished one set of washcloths so far.  Fortunately when the shakes, twitches and tremors preclude many other activities, the whole arm motion of crocheting is still possible...at least for a little while until my daily pain kicks in.  

I am also turning away from purchased items to homemade items, such as cleaners, food, mixes, etc.  I really like this citrus cleaner!  It works well, smells good and is EASY to make.  Simply drop pith free (or as pith free as you can make them) orange peels into plain white vinegar and let it sit for two weeks.  I shake the jar whenever I happen to think of it.  After two weeks I remove the peels and transfer some of the completed orange cleaner into my spray bottle.

From a savings standpoint I have not done too well.  I stole $120 from my envelopes in order to pay the painter a down-payment when I signed the contract.  Had I planned better, I would have asked dear hubby to take money out of our savings account for the down-payment in addition to the final payment.  But, the man was here and I was ready to sign the contract and get started.  I didn't want to waste the time mailing him the paperwork and check.  So now I am $120 short in my envelopes and two weeks behind on my deposits!  Not good.  BUT, saving anything is a step in the right direction and paying cash for the painting, or any home improvement, is rare for us! So I guess it is "all good".

As far as the expansion of my sewing room...it is coming along.  Thanks to the help of my dear folks and hubby we have made progress.  We have gotten the ceiling light replaced (thanks, Dad).  Dear hubby found this light online at Lowes.  It uses three 100 watt bulbs.  The light generated by this fixture is just WONDERFUL!  I wish my whole house was this bright!

We have moved in a chair and table.  We are going to buy a more comfy chair, but the table will stay.

We have also decided that two small "suitcase type" folding tables will suffice for my basting table.  That way I can have dear hubby fold them up and hide them behind the door when not in use.  We already have one table and will look for another the next time we are in Sam's.

With some help I have gotten one side of the armoir filled with my crochet/knitting supplies, all sorted and put away nicely.  I do not have enough drawers to load up the other side with material yet.  That will come as we have money to buy the drawers and/or shelves.

I found some cute "free" labels online to make everything more organized.  Of course I have a large bin marked "Misc." in which I have stored quite a few skeins of "unknown" yarn.  Does anyone know a way to distinguish types of yarn? 

We did move all of the big totes (mostly batting, but some tapestry pieces also) from my closet into the expansion room closet.  I don't go to them except maybe once per project, so they don't need to take up space in my main room.  I also moved into the expansion room closet my two piece sewing machine carrier, a free duffel bag that I will use to transport material and/or supplies to classes or on vacation and a new free rolling suitcase that will also be used to transport material and/or supplies.  The hard cover for my "Ellie" has found a new home too!  We added one extra shelf (so far) on which to store my miscellaneous quilts. 

All of my craft books have been placed on the bookshelf and all of my disability hearing paperwork has found a "temporary" home on the bookshelf and in the center drawer of the cabinet.  My disability hearing is now supposed to be in May, so hopefully I will be approved for SSDI and then I can pack all of the paperwork into a box and find a spot in the basement to store it for a couple of years.  I am thinking probably seven years, but I will check with my lawyer.   

The black shelf on top of the cabinet will hold our TV, cable box and DVD player.  Right now it is holding a briefcase filled with page separators and another binder to finish consolidating my medical records.  Someday I will get to it, but right now I am just burned out.  Punching holes in the pages gives me pain and I am just sick and tired of looking at records that document how "sick and tired" I really am!  For a little while at least I would like to play "ostrich" and stick my head in the sand, pretending I am just a "normal" housewife.  The pretense doesn't last long though...

Off to rest in my rocker and maybe read a magazine...