Sissy and I need a swear Jar!

Yes, this is Sissy and I and we need a bigger one!

It has been a week from hell in the shop!

If we could fill a gallon jar with bills, we may be able to travel the Mediterranean for a month.

Sissy is working on a five layer, no six with the outer cover wedding dress that weighs fifty pounds! (At least).

She also under bid it!  I am going to fix this Anne I swear!  I will put money in the jar!

It is covered in glitter and having sex over night as it just gets bigger and heavier.! There is glitter everywhere.

It gets worse as we have had five Brides now call that they are getting married June 6th!  Really June 6th. and you think that your dress should be altered now?

Where are people's brains? Who waits that long.  Sissy and I are booked solid, and we can take on no more work especially wedding gowns for June!

Then when you tell them kindly, they get nasty?  Yeah, that works. Not!

It gets better as we had a young, I mean very young Army Officer come in this morning with a dress Uniform that had to have a patch and braids put on the sleeves by today!  WTF?  You are an Officer and you need it today.  I just looked at her and she burst into tears,,,so I rolled, stopped what I was doing and charged her a premium!  (Anne, I want a drum roll from you!) This took two hours of my day, and I timed it so I will be upping my price more. (Thank you, Anne)

Military Uniforms are hard and they have to be exact. Do people not understand that what Sissy and I do is difficult? Especially Sissy! I also hate Military Uniforms as I have done way too many in my day for nothing.  But at the same time, I would do anything for a person in Uniform, be it Military, Police or Fireman, so why am I complaining!  Because I can!!!!!

I said very kindly, young lady I know from these bands that you just made Officer and this is not becoming of either an Officer or an enlisted Man.  Do better!  I was married to an enlisted Man and He had to be Johnny on the Spot all the time.  Officers should do better as you will be expected to be the leader. But I still did it and I hoped she learned her lesson.  I doubt it, but then my Husband served under some bad Officers. (Very, few but they are out there)

Military beware!

I have not started the Tribal work I have to do, and this is a week-long job, so I will not be taking any more work until Sissy gets back from Her trip to Charlston which will give me time to catch up.

I am making beef stroganoff for dinner tonight and then I am going to binge watch some Netflix, before I get up again and head to Sissy's for more Customer abuse.

All have a great day, or night, or life!

Hugs;

K

God is Good!

Pictures of the backyard so far

The clematis corner!
 

I did get two hours of weeding done yesterday morning and dead headed two rose bushes.

My yellow rose bushes are really producing, but the long-stemmed red rose bush is taking its time.

Having never had this type of rose before, I did not know how far to trim back last fall and I should have gone at least two to three feet shorter.  So, this fall I know.

I did get to Costco and then up to Sissy's where I did no sewing but sat like a slug.

Husb and I had a hot dog at Costco and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner on low carb bread.

I was quite the chef yesterday.

The side yard with my vegetable pots. Two basil, two cucumber, a beefsteak tomato and a Roma tomato.  We shall see.

I picked up a hosta at the garden center for a large pot at the garage, and also two more basil plants on the patio.

Can't get enough basil in my opinion and Sissy dislikes it? But then I despise Cilantro and she loves it!  Go figure?

Tonight I am making pizza for dinner and may make it at Sissi's. we shall see.

Our Car goes into the shop tonight for two days to have the water pump and timing chains replaced.  Expensive repair but better than a car payment.

Every Taurus we have owned has required this repair as it has aged.  She is 13 years old and things wear out.

Our patio sitting area leading to the cut garden where things are coming back! Yeah!
.

One more picture below.

The back fence leading to the driveway!

On Wednesday we have an arborist coming to give us a bid to take two trees down on the abandoned property.  May be too expensive, but then again, we shall see.

We finally have a plan for the side yard where only three hostas from last year made it.  But I am determined to try again.

I am meeting with a grade school/high school buddy this afternoon and she has five hostas to give me.  Yeah!

I plan to lay the heavy yard cloth down the path area tomorrow after I plant the hostas, and will order the crushed gravel to be delivered and set in the dead front yard on a tarp where we will wheelbarrow the stone into the area and then set pavers.  I just want this area done.

Well, I am off to fold laundry and am waiting for Sissy to come pick me up!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

God is good!

Kay

What happened to April?

 April passed in somewhat of a blur.  We had a very good time in Montana and then got home and well I lost my mojo.

It was a cold and very rainy month, and I did not want to cook or really do anything.  I did however work in Sissy's shop and got the basics done.

Our basement leaked twice, thankfully in the unfinished area and we have found the source and are starting repairs. As Gilda was famous for saying " it's always something".

WE ate out way too much and Sissy cooked for me quite a bit which was wonderful.

I finally snapped out of it last week and cooked for two days and made 16 freezer meals.

I had to stop an analyze why the eating out so much and it dawned on me that the 12 or so hours a week I put in at Sissy's shop was pulling at me.  Now I used to work 50 hour weeks and managed to cook, so where was the break down?  Well back east I took one weekend and cooked ahead for the month so all I really had to do was take something out of the freezer in the morning and we had dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes with very little clean up.

Working through the freezer from January to March really used up the meals I had prepped ahead.

I now know what to do and will be better in the future.

The weather finally broke last week and we have had glorious weather for the past three days.

On Friday of last week, Sissy and I were up early, and we went to the dump twice and then to the Garden Center and bought most of our plants.  Then out to a late lunch which also served as dinner, back to my house where we planted all of my pots.

Then to two more garden centers for things we still needed and I planted those. We were tired and sore and very dirty.

Onto Saturday, we went up to Sissy's and Dan mowed and trimmed and we worked on Sissy's pots.

Sissy had some wonderful news and she will share, so the plan was to go out to a fancy dinner...well we were all way to tired.  So, I heated a pan of stuffed cabbage rolls and went to bed.  Best cabbage rolls I have ever made.

Because the weather now gets way too hot to work in the yard by noon (soon to be 10 or 11), I am going to switch up my work hours and work in the yard and my house until noon and then go up and sew in the hot afternoons.  I will try this and see how it works.  My best hours of work come first thing in the morning, after my three cups of coffee.

So, it is now Monday morning, and I have set my budget for the month, am doing, laundry, and my morning chores are done!  Sissy is cooking tonight.  I have donned my gardening clothes and will do two hours of weeding and then must run to Costco for monthly items we need.  Then up to Sissy's to sew.

I will take pictures of our yard work so far and get them uploaded tomorrow.  Will definitely try to blog more often.

I read your blogs every day and sometimes comment but must do this early in the morning.

Now I am off to weed.

God is good!

Kay

Blessings at Easter

 Blessings at Easter to all of you!

It has been a busy time around here.

Sissy is at her oldest daughters and hubs, and I are taking off for Montana after Mass.

We are heading to Troy Montana to see Hubs older brother and our dear sister-in-law.

I have never been to Troy, and it will be a beautiful four-hour drive completely up the pan handle almost to Canada and then we drop down into Montana.

Sissy's shop is completely caught up except for wedding dresses, and it is clean and organized.  I cannot believe we finally got to status quo.  With my taking over the basis mending Sissy can concentrate on the dresses and the stress is off.

I really need to work on zippers when I get back and also prom dresses.  Need to build my confidence.

I have been helping little Sis with massive yard work to get her rental property on the market and I am very sore.

She is going to sell and I am so glad, as it is a stressor for her.

Sissy and I should both be back in town next Thursday!

Eat lots of chocolate and be kind to the Easter Bunny!

Hugs.

Kay

Wow, a busy life! Sissy's Internet is down!

I had no intention of even getting near my computer today, but Sissy's internet is down until at least Monday, so she asked me to reach out!  

Life has been crazy with company and so much work in Sissie's shop that we are a bit overwhelmed.

The weather has been warm but cold and today especially and I am so ready for spring.

I have no idea what we are having for dinner and Sissy will be here tonight as she has a program she wants to watch and she also has no TV.

WE have a busy weekend ahead, but at least we do not have to cook tomorrow night as Sissies middle daughter is throwing a barbecue to celebrate our birthdays.

Like can be crazy and hectic at times, but we are still here.

Hope all is well out there.

God is good!

Kay

Monday the ninth of March!

So what have I been up too?  Well alterations and sewing and cooking and yard work!  Busy as usual.

The pick is of my dear Sissy and her Granddaughter in the suit I altered for her that has been hanging in the shop for three years and I was tired of looking at it!  I could never wear this color, but Sissy can and she looks wonderful!  She is going to be out of town the week of St. Patrick's, so I made her wear it to church yesterday!

Of course, the little charmer next to her is no slouch.  WE dress her like she stepped out of a band box!

The weather was glorious this weekend and I worked in the yard most of Saturday and am paying the price.  I am once again very, very sore.  So sore, it hurts to go "potty" (TMI)!  Second day out and I can still barely move!

I wanted to finish the last garden bed on Sunday and my body rebelled, but I did manage to wipe down the Freddie Krueger stairs to the basement (think old ugly Berber carpet) of the two pounds of cat hair lining the treads.  I could have knit a sweater, and it was disgusting.

Today the weather has turned nasty cold and very windy.  They are right, as "March roars in like a lion and (hopefully) out like a lamb"!

I also managed to make a double batch of date cookies last week for friends and they loved them.  One more one-pound package of dates out of the freezer.

I am continuing to whittle down, and this is taking a long time.  Tonight, we are having chicken cutlets with pesto and pasta.  I have two more servings of pesto from last summer's batch and hope to have twice as much next year.

Husb mowed the back yard and trimmed on Saturday, and it looks so good.  I just sit out there and stare for time at what a job it was and wonderful it turned out.  However, we still have a long way to go with other sections of the lawn.

Now I am off to get a second load of laundry done and some ironing (oh joy)!  As they say, housework is never done!

Have a great day!

God is good!

Kay

 

March First! Can you believe it!

 I have a very busy Gal the past two weeks.  Helping Sissy in the shop four mornings a week has taken up a lot of my leisure time, but I am really enjoying it and learning a lot!

Sissy is completely caught up on all of the mending in the shop and can now just concentrate on Wedding Dresses, of which she has nine in the shop as I type.  The pressure is off and I can tell it is helping her immensely.  It is also helping me fill my time.

I have been working on ceremonial clothes for the Nez Perce Indians, and it has been really fun as I love creative work.

These next two pictures are of Men's shirts done with appliques.

I have many more to make but this is a long-term project that may or may not pan out.

Front of shirt

Rear of shirt.

Then I have completed six ribbon skirts which I did not take very good pictures of, but they turned out beautifully.

These were so much fun to make, and I have so many other ideas, but must meet with a Woman from the tribe to run the ideas past her.

In the meantime, I usually have at least a pile of mending a day and it keeps me hopping.

Tomorrow, I have a fancy ball gown to take the sleeves out of and make a set of long sleeves out of chiffon and a complicated motorcycle outfit that needs work.

I also have some alterations to do for myself.

I altered a Kelly-Green suit for Sissy, and it turned out beautifully, she will wear this next Sunday to Church.

She will take a picture when she wears it to show you!

It has only been hanging in the shop for two years and I got tired of looking at it! She rarely gets anything done for herself.

There are certain things that I cannot do and Sissy loves to put things off, so with my hounding her we have cleared things up.  I want it in and out in a week, and I know the fast turnaround time will help the business to thrive.

Hubby and I also have a had busy nighttime schedules with Lent and charitable endeavors.

At least I did not have to cook three nights this week!

We went to charitable chili cook off that my Lil Sis entered and she won the people's choice award for her white chicken chili.  All of the chilis that I tried were very good, but way to spicey for me and I paid a price for our healthy donation!

Hopefully this week we can slow down some.

I have closed my budget for February and did quite well in the freezer eat down and the grocery spending but still have a long way to go.  Eating out was another disaster but will continue to try and stay out of the Restaurants.

I am going to continue the pantry freezer challenge this month and more than likely into April.

At this point I see our actual grocery budget is going to run around $500.00 per month but we shall see.

I have a ton of ironing to do, and I must go do something with my hair and put my face on.

Hot dogs with coleslaw for dinner tonight!

Now I am off to get some things done.

Happy March everyone!

God is good.

Kay