I'm Back

I no longer work too much and sew too little, I now don't work at all and sew infrequently. Instead, I'm focused on going back and learning the skills of an average housewife before the proliferation of processed foods, knitting, birding, sewing, gardening, renovating our basement and I'm training to run the Vancouver Sun Run 10K on April 17. My days are very full. I also hope to play a lot of golf if it ever stops raining here on the west coast.

I parted ways with the barge company in April 2010 and have never looked back. I felt such a sense of relief when the job ended and realized then that I should have left a long time before I did. I always said I'd like to stop working at age 55 and that's exactly what happened. It's funny how things turn out and I have to say I'm enjoying the freedom. I don't understand people who fight retirement and miss their work. I guess it depends on how you see yourself. It does take a while to figure out who you are once you put away your work schtick and have to just be yourself.

The biggest change to my life since I last blogged is that I became a Nana. Our daughter Nicole and her husband Todd had a beautiful, healthy baby boy December 5. It's been so nice having a baby in the family again and it completely changes your outlook.

I'll enjoy every day I get to spend with John and am looking forward to taking him out for walks on the dykes, and doing whatever I can to help out by babysitting. Hopefully if things go as planned I can watch John when Nicole returns to work next year. Meanwhile, this summer while Nicole is off work, we plan to shop the farms and markets around Maple Ridge and do a lot of preserving and canning. Nicole is into healthy eating and now that I have lots of time, so am I.

I will be sharing my newly learned skills every week, whether it be cooking beans from dried, spending a day making soups to freeze, walking the dykes and spotting a new bird, figuring how to knock another minute off my running time, or mastering a new knitting technique. I seem to learn something new every week.

Cut it out

Since the weather hasn't been very nice here in Vancouver, I decided to have a cutting marathon and get rid of some fabrics that have been in the closet for too long. It took me 2 days to cut out Vogue 8379, Kwik Sew 3115 & Jalie 2559.

This is a long process as I first copy all pattern pieces on to parchment paper. This means I don't have to cut into my patterns just in case I'm making the wrong sizes. I have to transfer all the markings on to my parchment pieces and then use them to cut out the fabric. At the end of the process, the sewing room looks like it's been through a windstorm. I have all my cut pieces of fabric hanging from the railings and my patterns and copies are strewn over my sewing table. It took me another hour or so to organize the pieces and get everything back into it's proper envelope.

After all that, I managed to get the Kwik Sew yoga pants and top sewn. I've sewn both of these pieces before and this time went down a size in the pants and sewed a medium. I also shortened the legs by 1.5". They fit perfectly. I turned the flower print inside out so that the pants are plain, I used the print for the waistband and sewed the top with the print showing. I think they've ended up looking like a set of scrubs, but they're OK to wear around the house. I used a medium weight knit and while it was a perfect weight for the pants, it was too heavy for the top. I'll stick to lighter knits for the top. I hope to get the Vogue dress sewn by the weekend as we're heading to California for 3 weeks and I'd like a dress to take along.
I'm still not working (and not looking very hard). I'll start a serious job search when we get back from California. The weather's not looking great there and if it doesn't improve we may end up going to Arizona instead. We'd like to spend time around Lake Havasu and Parker. We have no firm plans other than the weekend of April 16-18 when our daughters are flying down to join us in San Francisco. We've booked ourselves into Petaluma for 4 nights but have made no reservations other than that.

5K still eludes me. I was at 4.75K yesterday so shouldn't have a problem getting to 5K this week. I've been getting a bit of ankle and knee pain afterwards and have been icing them, hopefully I won't have to stop my program to let them rest. They're just niggling little pains so I don't think it's anything serious.

Survivor disappointed me this week. My favourite, Rob, is gone. I'm switching my bets to J.T. on the heroes team now. I still can't stand Russell and hope I don't have to look at him for too many more weeks. Amazing Race was excellent as usual and I was sorry to see Steve and Allie gone. I liked them. I actually like all of the teams that are left this time. Malaysia looked nice and it was surprising to me to find out how multicultural it is. I did a bit of googling after the show and it's apparently a predominantly Muslim country. My knowledge of world geography and social studies is very poor. I've decided that after each episode of The Amazing Race, I'm going to google the countries they spent time in and find out a little about them. I have to admit, I would fail miserably if asked to find most of these countries on a map.

Jalie 2559

I've spent the past couple of months slowly working my way through Jalie 2559. This is a fitted, lined jacket with princess seams. I'm happy to say it's finished and hanging in my closet. I've already worn it a couple of times and I like it. I used a celery green linen that I've had in my stash for a couple of years. I bought it on sale and just put it away for a suitable project. As you can see in the picture, the sleeves were long, I've since shortened them by 1 1/2" so they look much better now.

This was a good project for me, I learned how to do a welt pocket, how to do a lining, and probably most importantly, how to stop when I'm frustrated, put it aside and work on something else. I also worked very hard on my hand stitching and if I may say so myself, my hem is a thing of beauty, sadly it's now hidden by the lining, but underneath that lining, is some mighty fine hand stitching. I'm not sure what to work on next. I have a quilt that's sandwiched and ready to be quilted. Maybe I'll get that done this week or...............

I've watched a few shows this week, first off Survivor, Tyson, what an idiot! I'm going with Rob to take the whole thing this time he's awesome. Amazing Race was good also. I used to love the Cowboys and am happy to see they didn't get eliminated, but man they need to smarten up as they made some dumb moves this week. I'm embarassed to admit I'm watching Celebrity Apprentice as I'm writing this. It's surprisingly good company when you're working on the computer. I don't have to give it a lot of attention and can look up when something sounds interesting but I'm not sure what they're thinking by making each episode 2 hours, yikes. That's a lot of time to commit to B & C list celebrities, not to mention Donald.

I still haven't found another job, admittedly I haven't really been looking very hard, but I have a good reason. We're leaving on a 3 week holiday to California April 9, so it's awkward timing to take on another contract. A company would really have to want me to put up with that. I'll put out some feelers next week and see if I can generate some interest. It's scary putting yourself out there again. I haven't had to go through the interview process in probably 20 years, I'm sure it'll be a humbling experience.

As no part of my life is too trivial to blog about, how do you like my new wallet? It's courtesy of the Amazing Agatha, isn't it cute? Agatha you're too good, thanks a bunch.

Madame Beryl

I finally bought a dress form. I chose one I bought from EBay called the Dress Fitter. She got to work immediately upstairs in my sewing room helping me out with a jacket I'm making from Jalie Pattern 2559 and has been very helpful as I was able to pin the sleeve cap, and hand sew the shoulder pads while the jacket was hanging on the form. She's been christened Madame Beryl, or M.B. and hasn't let me down yet. I feel very "Project Runway" now that I have my own form. It makes a big difference having the garment hang so that you can look at it from all angles.

I've spent most of this week working on Jalie 2559. It's what's sitting on M.B. in the picture above. It's a nice, fitted and lined jacket with princess seams and has been well reviewed on Pattern Review. I'm using a celery green linen that I've had in my stash for several years. This is my first attempt at a jacket and I've been going very slowly. Thankfully the customer service at Jalie is very good as I've had to put it to the test several times this week. I got lost with the welt pockets and also with a step in the lining process. I'm slowly but surely working my way through it and will hopefully have it done by next Sunday. It'll be my first review on Pattern Review.

My work situation changed last week. My contract with the company I had been with for 6 years ended suddenly, so I'm now at a loose end but hey, it couldn't have come at a better time, Spring is here, the weather is improving daily and I'll be able to work on my garden and should have lots of garden pictures in the months to come.

I've also been working up to running 5K and have come from not being able to run for 1 minute 8 weeks ago, to running 28 minutes without stopping. I'm quite amazed with myself. I had intended to run 5K by my 55th birthday yesterday, but haven't quite made it. It looks like that's another week or two away but definitely within range so I'm happy.


Speaking of birthdays, I turned 55 yesterday and had a wonderful day. My husband,took our daughters, son in law (who shares the same birthday) and myself out for dinner to a local Vancouver restaurant called The Cannery. It's been a fixture in Vancouver for many, many years and is right on the waterfront. Sadly it's only going to be open for another week and then will close permanently. It's on land that belongs to the Port of Vancouver and is being shut down as it's right in the middle of a secured area. It's a great old place with good sea food, great service and spectacular views. We're all quite sad that this was our last time there.

I received some amazing gifts,as you can see above and below. First off a fabulous pink, plastic poodle watering can. The picture doesn't do the colour justice. It's a vibrant pink and has googley eyes. Totally tacky and I love it. Then my darling, beautiful, fantastic daughters gave me a Tiffany heart bracelet with Mom engraved on the heart. I've wanted one for a long time and couldn't have been more surprised to be given one. Todd, my son in law, took a beautiful picture of both girls together and gave it to me framed. What a great guy he is and a very good photographer.





Oh and one more thought, now that I'm officially 55 I'll be on the lookout for 55+ discounts at restaurants and golf courses woohoo!!

Finished Amy Butler Duvet Cover

What a great week it was, first off the weather here in Vancouver was spectacular all week. We had no rain, it was sunny and warm in fact bulbs are starting to pop up here in the garden.

Work went well, I billed 38 hours, worked only 4 days and managed to walk the dogs every day after work. I got lots of little picky things done, still cleared nothing from my to do list however (next week I'll get that cleared up). Business remains good, volumes are way better than this time last year. We must be doing something right.

I finished a couple of projects, first and foremost, the Amy Butler duvet cover is done and on the bed. Do you like it? I can't say I love it, but I do like it. It's going to inspire me to do some work in the bedroom and change up my decor and accessories. We've been very slow to get our bedroom looking good. The rest of the house looks great but the bedroom needs some love, so to speak. Stay tuned.


I also managed to finish my Jalie top. I found a buckle that's a perfect size at Fabricana. I would have preferred a wooden buckle but wasn't able to find one. I'll have to go around the thrift shops looking for an old belt with a good buckle I can use. I'm happy with the way the top turned out however, and will probably even wear it. I'll definitely make it again, probably a couple more times. I have some nice knits I ordered from fabric.com waiting for me at our trailer in Lacey, WA. We're planning to head down there next weekend. In addition to the fabric I have some books and sewing accessories waiting that I ordered on the internet.

I've finished the first week of my running program. I want to run 5K by my 55th birthday on March 20. I'm getting ready for week 2. I took my toy poodle Jackie to the vet to make sure that she's good to run with me. They said it'll be OK as long as I don't take her over 3K. That's a bit of a bummer, but I'll figure out how to run her for 3K, get her home and continue on myself. However that's quite a few weeks away. I'm still at the point where I'm walking more than I'm jogging. I feel a little bit of pain in my right knee. I may have to buy some proper running shoes instead of the all purpose gym shoes I've been wearing.

Viewing was great this week. 24 is back! I wasn't disappointed and who knew that Rene would turn out to be as brutal as Jack. What a great couple they'd make. I'm also following Launch my Line. It'll do until Project Runway gets going here in Canada in early February. We're always a few weeks behind the US viewing. I think so far LML is credible, they've made good choices in who they take out. I'm not sure about the model part however, there seems to be a pool of models that gets used and they don't get to keep their models week after week. This makes fitting very difficult as the measurements they're given seldom seem to be close the the models real measurements.

Next week, I doubt I'll get much sewing done as we'll be away in Lacey for the weekend, but I should have finished week 2 of my running program.

Jalie 2921

I had a good week at work and was able to clean up lots of loose ends. I attended 1 meeting and a productive one at that. I got nothing crossed off my to do list (eek)but did bill 35.5 hours. Not bad for 4 days work.

We decided to go up to the Sunshine Coast for the weekend and were leaving late on Friday morning. This gave me time to cut out Jalie 2921 before we left. I'm using a knit I bought last year from either fabric.com or gorgeous fabrics. I had planned to use it to make a Vogue wrap dress but when I received the fabric it wasn't what I expected. In fact I thought it was horrible. It has now been relegated to my muslin pile. I'm anxious to see what it will look like as a top, it actually may not be too bad in such a small amount. This pattern has only 3 pieces if you make the sleeveless version and so it only took me half an hour or so to copy the pieces onto parchment paper, another 45 minutes and I had my pieces cut out and ready to go with me to the coast.

I have a really cheap Europro machine up there that I bought at Costco. It works fine, sews a good stitch but so far I've only used it for piecing when I bring quilt projects up with me, I've never tried the stretch stitches so this will be a first. Oh yes and I only have quilting needles with me, no knit needles. It's really hard to think of everything you need to bring.


It only took me a few hours to get the top to this state. What a great pattern and very clever. You end up pulling the whole shirt out of the ties on the neckline. I've never sewn anything like it. Jalie makes very clever patterns.


I just need to stop at Fabricana and get a buckle to put around the ties, hem the arms and bottom and it's done. It might even be wearable. That would just be a big bonus.

We had a good time up on the coast. The weather was much better than expected, we even woke up to sunshine on Saturday. We ended up going into Sechelt and having lunch at the Lighthouse pub. It was nice and the view was fabulous. I should have taken a picture. The picture at the top is from our deck on Saturday morning.

I haven't watched much TV this week. I'm looking forward to 24 starting on Sunday. That's TV I don't miss.

Next week I'll get back to my duvet cover, I just find it really hard working with long lengths of fabric.

Simplicity 5201

As I thought, I've spent my week immersed in spreadsheets at size 8 font. The good news I think we've put December and 2009 to rest (at least until the auditors make their appearance) and it turns out it was a good year!! I attended one meeting, crossed off 2 of the 3 items on my to do list, and billed 38 hours.

I read one book, Adrian Mole The Prostrate Years. This turned out to be Bob's least favourite of the Adrian series but I had to disagree. Adrian's family isn't really any more flawed than most and at the end of it all, I came to see that Adrian is loved and I think Adrian is starting to see that too. I found it charming and touching while I think Bob found it sad (probably the subject matter). This is the first book I've read on paper for months. I continue to do all of my reading on my IPhone via ereader.

I went fabric shopping on Friday. I had to find backing for the Amy Butler duvet cover. I realized I'd made a big mistake by not buying the backing at the same time as I bought all the other fabric. I was going to need 8 metres of fabric that ideally would match one of the foundation pieces and the chances of me finding that after 1 year were slim. I walked into Fabricana and of course made a b-line to the Amy Butler section (I'm way too cheap to actually buy her fabric but I usually like the other fabrics they put with it). Imagine how thrilled I was to find bolts with several of the foundation fabrics, one of which was what I would have picked if I'd had my choice of any. It had just enough on the bolt for what I need. That was a lucky break.

I've been wanting to make a sewing smock for some time. I usually sew in a pair of my yoga pants and at the end of a session they're covered in threads which are a bugger to get off. I figure if I wear a cotton smock on top it'll save my pants from looking like a big thready mess. I found Simplicity pattern 5201 at Fabricana and a wonderful retro looking cotton fabric with a Jacobean look that I just fell in love with. Was able to whip up the smock in a day and I'm quite happy with the results. Very "Little House on the Prairie". Has awesome pockets that can hold my cell phone, plus anything I've picked up and haven't put away yet.

Television was good this week. I didn't spend too much time viewing but new episodes of Dragon's Den are back on TV, unfortunately the first one contained Mike Holmes (I'm done with him) and Jeanne Bekker (whoever she is). I hope CBC goes back to just the Dragons as that show is just fine the way it is.

I checked out Republic of Doyle. Filmed in one of the Atlantic provinces it's not too bad. The scenery is wonderful, so different from the West coast. I'm quite taken by all the colourful houses. It looks so good there, but I can't imagine if people on the Sunshine Coast started doing that. It would look tacky as hell.

This week, I hope to finish the duvet cover. We'll see.