I started this digger almost a year ago (it’s nice to have a record of the things you make, but it’s not so nice to see just how long you can procrastinate) and it should be in the shop later today.  It’s funny how my tastes have changed in a year. I wanted to rip up all the patchwork and start again, but then it would have sat around another year I’m sure.  A lot of the scraps came from my first big sewing project (and my first big post). I think it’s time I cleaned out my scrap box and made a quilt. Or an army of patchwork diggers.

*My site was a little messed up this past week–if you couldn’t leave a comment or find a post I’m sorry. My genius of a husband fixed it all, so comment away.

My Nana is 105 years old.  There is no way to sum up someone who is 105 years old, even if you have only been in their life for 30.  Nana was already really old when I was growing up, but still took care of me often.  She wasn’t one to complain about being old–it probably wasn’t until last year she even thought of herself as old and because of that attitude she takes no medications, isn’t wheelchair bound, has no arthritis, and just last month moved into assisted living.  But that is only the medical side of things.  She also writes a poem everyday, likes to stay up late, plays a mean hand of gin (she always beat me, but I was 9), believes you can heal yourself by the force of your will power and six vegetable on your dinner plate every night, gave her grandkids iceberg lettuce sprinkled with sugar for dessert, never learned how to drive (from the front seat), climbed trees when she was 80, calls a cell phone a “little phone,” and many other strange and wonderful things.  In the 1920’s she worked for the Real Silk hosiery company selling stockings (and other unmentionables I’m sure).  She worked her way up in the company until she was the secretary to the bossman, then, I think because of an ultimatum from my grandfather, came back to the midwest and got married.  This hosiery mending kit was a little treasure I found in her sewing tin my mom gave me.  You keep it in your purse and those little match-like things magically stop the run in your delicate silk stockings until you can get back home and mend them.  I think it is absolutely fantastic. I’m so excited to get to use this pretty tin and pass it on when I turn 100.

It’s a little late for halloween pictures, but I had to take these after halloween.  The costumes were made in the eleventh hour and there was just no time for pictures, plus it was weirdly hot here so wearing wool wasn’t really that fun.  I used the Purl Bee pattern for the bunny hat and just changed the ears to make a cat and dog.  The kitty tail I just made up as I went along and as I went along I noticed I didn’t have any velcro, so I had to steal some off a bag. I used wool felt for the doggie and mostly fleece for the kitty and though the wool is wonderful and natural the fleece actually worked better.  It was a little harder to sew, but stands up better to kid life.  These hats are great for dress up, but I think next time I would use some elastic instead of the ribbon ties, or nothing (because really they’ll stay on just fine). Otherwise you’ll be tying and untying and freaking out that someone is going to strangle themselves.  This was actually the first time I made my kid’s costumes–I do think halloween should be a homemade holiday, but it can be a royal pain in the butt when your children want to be something different every other day.  Somehow my 3 year old decided what everyone should be and stuck with it for a week (I was to be a fairy and I did make the wings, but wire hangers are a lot harder to bend then you would think and I looked like a smashed fairy).  So even though they hardly wore the costumes on halloween, they are getting plenty of use these days.

Tell the great thrift store gods what you need and you will receive (sometimes). I said I needed more color in my life and shazzam! A bunch of bright, awesome prints in the bargain fabric bin at my local thrift store. A buck a piece, not bad seeing as the management likes to jack the price up whenever her little heart desires. Sometimes they’re $4 a piece, sometimes they’re tagged with outrageous prices, and it’s always the same shit. But I’m very happy with what I gots, now I just have to figure out what I’m going to do with it.

So we went to Morocco. It was our honeymoon–five years late, but our honeymoon nonetheless and now that we have two little kids I think the time to ourselves was much more appreciated. And thanks to my wonderful in-laws we were able to get away for a whole week.  We spent a few days in Marrakesh in a very simple riad, which was nice because Marrakesh is a crazy, frantic place.

We were dodging mopeds and surviving the hard sell, but also eating some damn fine food and drinking mint tea all over the place.

We took a bus to the coast to a town called Essaouria, where we had the best meal of all. Right on the ocean in a little shack, we pointed to fish we wanted and they slapped it on the grill.  I really have no business eating seafood in a land locked state, I now realize. I ate piles of shrimp and sardines and washed them all down with a fanta (why can’t I get an orange fanta in the US? what the hell? and why is it so good?).

We had an amazing time and there is too much to show here (but there are a few more pictures on flickr).  It made me realize I need a lot more color in my life and I need to get to the ocean more often.

One more picture, because who else is going to get excited about huge piles of yarn straight out of the dye vat?