Creatively - I have been sewing daily - working on customer orders and items for my Etsy shop (all of the bags you see have been listed and some are still available), client finishing (photos will be in a future post) and model stitching new cross stitch designs in the evenings. The creativity is keeping me in my happy place while I adjust to the move.
The sewing room is unpacked and mostly organized - still a work in progress - I have a sewing studio upstairs and a warehouse, cutting room, supply storage and shipping area in the basement. My new sewing room has a nice walk-in closet, of which I am taking full advantage - the shelving is great for supplies and bolts of fabrics/fusibles/stabilizers/batting (I also have additional shelving for these in the basement)...and I found a great new way to store my abundance of zippers by utilizing the clothing bars, loose leaf rings and binder clips - it works wonderfully! Plus, we now live near an IKEA (bonus!) and I finally have my first RÅSKOG Utility Cart, which I adore - I only *need* a few dozen more (a girl can dream).
I also made a trip to the local quilt shop in our new small town of Spring Hill called The Quilted Sunflower - and what a wonderful trip it was! The LQS is located on historic Main Street, which has a nice assortment of quaint shops (reminds me of a smaller Valley Junction). The owner is incredibly friendly and upbeat and made me feel at home immediately...and the shop has a lovely assortment of current fabrics, projects and ideas - it is definitely a positive and inspiring environment. I can't wait until things are a bit more settled here, so I can spend more time there - right now, I am still trying to find a balance.
Quite a few things have happened on the new house front...
We FINALLY have Internet service - who knew how much we would miss it...and it will make my job so much easier!
The new shades (upstairs) and shutter blinds (main floor) have at long last arrived and been installed - wow...having window treatments sure makes a difference - I am so happy with our choices - the shutter blinds are fabulous. I wanted classic window treatments without cords or cables that would be easy to operate and let in tons of light...and they are PERFECT.
I just *had to* to spruce up the front of the house, so I built a couple black rockers and added a couple of my quilted pillows...got a small matching table...and potted a bunch of geraniums (my favorite potted flower). I also planted quite a few perennials in the front flower beds - including: Lavender (my favorite perennial), Sedum, Bee Balm, Astilbe, and Carex - these are a great addition to what was already there - sorry - I don't have a photo to share in this post (look for one in the future).
Our backyard fence has been installed - and although a water leak in the new construction next door currently has our backyard a swamp (complete with frogs!) 😒, the dogs did get to enjoy it for a few weeks (the leak was fixed a couple days ago and hopefully it will start to dry out soon - fingers crossed)...the dogs can't run back there for a few more days, but the baby birds are sure enjoying the fence while they learn to fly...
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| Shutter blinds in the dining room.... |
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| House before porch decoration... |
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| Happy kids after running in the backyard... |
Stepping out of my comfort zone, I also decided to take an adult cooking class put on by the Spring Hill Recreation Commission. I enjoy cooking and really didn't need to take a class, but I thought it might help me meet a few people in the area. It was a Cajun cooking class - perfect for me - and we made Shrimp Étouffée. It was a full class of fifteen students, but only six work stations, so it wasn't everything I wanted it to be...but the dish turned out wonderful, I enjoyed a good dinner, and I got out of the house - so, I consider it a win. I may or may not take another class in the future (they teach one a month)...we'll see...
That's just a glimpse of what has been going on here...I'm starting to adjust to Kansas and find my way around. We did make a trip back to Iowa last weekend for a good friend's 50th birthday party - and that helped with my homesickness - I miss "my people" so much...but I know in time I will build some relationships here.
After months of craziness, we are finally taking a long overdue beach vacation next week...and I need it desperately! I am hoping a week out of the country in the sun and sand without an itinerary or cell phone service will refresh and replenish my spirit...
Saturday was a full day - I headed over to my mother-in-law's house at 9:00 AM for a twelve hour baking marathon. I sure didn't know what the day had in store when I left the house - I figured I would be over there for a few hours...but it turned into an entire day in the kitchen. My mother-in-law does TONS of baking every year for holiday gifts - she had called me earlier in the week and asked me to join her....when I arrived, she had over ten labor-intensive recipes ready to prepare. She had done some dough making throughout the week, so my first task was to cut over 100 sugar cookies and get them in the oven...it was a giant double batch and I was able to use every Christmas cookie cutter under the sun! While they were cooling, I rolled and shaped 75 candy cane cookies...baked them, then sprinkled the warm cookies with crushed peppermints sticks. I helped with the preparation of several of her famous candies, then it was time to frost and decorate all the sugar cookies - it seemed an endless task - I started out being all clever and decorating each one specially, but by the end of the day, I (admittedly) was just frosting and shaking sprinkles on each one. While I was doing the frosting, she was baking pumpkin bread and banana nut bread. By the time I left, we had made ten different candies, cookies, and breads - double batches of each...and we were both exhausted. After a very full day, we cleaned the kitchen and I packed up two small tins of treats to bring home...it was a lot of work, but very fun to spend the day baking with my mother-in-law. I hope you make time to do some holiday baking with family and/or friends...
