I Sewed a Stove

No, really.  We don't have room in our small house for a 3-D kitchen for LC to pretend cook on so I've been puzzling over how to make her one that doesn't take up much room and yesterday I did it.  I started with the measurements for a kids' placemat, traced the spoon rest outline, and went from there.  I found some gray/brown faux linen in the stash for the top and used a nice upholstery fabric for the back.  I dug out some red cotton plaid for the burner, rickrack for the coils, and a stack of buttons for the knob.  I sewed on a pinked circle of canvas for the knob backing and Durwood suggested putting in a grommet so that the knob turns.  (Very smart, that Durwood.)  I used some non-skid drawer liner for backing so it'll stay where she puts it when she's playing and found a package of wide bias binding in Mom's old stuff so I didn't have to buy a thing and now LC has a single-burner "stove."  Plus it's washable.

To warm up I made a canvas lining for the toiletries bag I made a few years back.  It's toile and that's not very stiff so the bag didn't hold its shape well.  It occurred to me that all I needed to do was make another one out of some white canvas, fold the seam allowances back where the zipper should be, and sew it along the existing zipper.  Voila!  Sturdier bag.  I also put some ties on LC's tepee so the leg spreaders stay in place better.  It was a sewing day.

I meant it to be a "do nothing" day but only managed to do nothing until about 2 o'clock when I couldn't stand it another minute and went downstairs to sew.  I think Durwood finally understands that spending hours downstairs sewing is just as relaxing to me as sitting watching football is to him.  Speaking of football, there was a flyover.  Two gorgeous fighter jets came screaming over just before the kickoff and I was lucky enough and smart enough to catch them as they came by.  I love that.  It's actually the only part of football games I like.  (I don't know how they let me live here among all these Cheeseheads, do you?)


This morning's sunrise was absolutely beautiful.  See?

October 12--Robert Fried, Alps, Gstaad, Switzerland.  Thea watched the people hiking on the alpine trail below her.  She could tell that they were Americans because they straggled along gawking around, stopping and starting, walking and waiting.  The next group to come into view were probably Swiss or maybe even German.  They were walking at an even pace and were even in step.  She wondered if they lined up in a particular order, measured the distance between each other, and then stepped out in cadence.  She thought that sort of life couldn't be relaxing, always needing to be sure that you were doing something correctly.  Swiss precision was great for making reliable clocks but she imagined that it played merry hell with spontaneity.

Hmm, stereotype much, Barbara?  Ah well, it was late and I'd done all that sewing and thinking.  That much thinking can't be good for a person's brain.  Oh, I made those potatoes and carrots in the packet in the oven again last night, only I added more carrots, more potatoes, and a little onion but no more coconut oil.  It was still delicious and we still made it all go away.  I think we may need to buy another bag of baby reds before the week is out.  Hey, it's payday.  I'm happy to be going to work on this dreary day.  Arrivederci!
--Barbara