Just not the same

Ed and I are canning salsa again today, should be the last batch of the season....yippee.....but it really isn't the same without my sister here!!! She is funny and busy and keeps one step ahead of me with the jars hot and ready, the tomatoes cut and the peppers and onion (she HATES onions!!) chopped and ready to go. I can hear the "pop" "pop" "pop" as the jars seal...isn't that a cool sound, to me it says "you done good!"

I have another finish to post but can't post a pic until it is received. I don't think "she" reads my blog but she knows others who do and I don't want the surprise spoiled on accident. It will go out in Monday's mail. Man I wish I could be a mouse in a corner, she has no idea this is coming. It will be delivered to her place of work, which is where it is meant to be used as well...all of that will make sense when the picture is posted and the story told....Maybe by Friday, we'll see.

OK, while sewing today (salsa takes 45 minutes to process...plenty enough time for a quick trip to MCM between each of the 7 canner loads) I needed to get my trusty tape measure out and my trusty bodkin as well. I knew right where they were, just turn my sewing chair and pull out the drawer and yep...right there, top drawer ~ on the left. These are not my 2 most used sewing items, I would say my pins, scissors, rulers, rotary cutters and mats are used most every time I sew-those are the items that should be where they belong each time I need them...but that isn't always so. Now...why would my tape and bodkin be the 2 things that ALWAYS get put back the very second I am finished using them??? I have no answer to that but that is the way it is. Without fail my tape and bodkin are right there....I don't think I have ever misplaced either one of them. Just an interesting thought I had while sewing.

While sewing the binding on said "secret project" I sewed over a pin, which snapped the machine needle in two, the sharp end popped up and hit the lens of my reading glasses. I just sat there soaking in all that could have meant. I wear soft contacts so had I not been wearing my reading glasses I would have gotten that sharp needle stuck in my contact, in my eye or at the very least on my eyelid. It was a very vivid reminder to me not to sew over the pins, which I do on a regular basis. I must quit doing that. Earlier in the year while teaching my granddaughter to sew I was very strict about her stopping the machine about an inch away from the next pin until she had better control over the foot pedal and then let her sew up to ½ inch away. Ladies, we never know when this might happen...accidents are just that: accidents, which means that we have no idea when something might happen. I gotta be more careful, that is all there is to it.

AND THEN....I went to replace the machine needle and couldn't find a new one....grrrrr....grrrrrr. hunt hunt hunt (obviously THOSE aren't in the right place!) so hunt some more!! Not one machine needle could be found (I know I have some, I just purchased them!!!)~~~dang nab-it! Ah, but wait....let me just look in this other drawer...oh baby!! The mother-lode (literally) of pins and needles of all sorts!!! When in need, when in doubt look in Momma's sewing stuff!!! And I was back in action...and able to finish the hanging sleeve I was working on.

I have been invited to attend a quilt camp in November. Ed is encouraging me to go since I did not go to the camp I usually attend in January and will not be attending next January either. I am giving this some serious thought, I would love to have some uninterupted time to sew. This is a no rules, no classes, no schedules kinda camp....just the kind I like!!! I just might even take an extra vacation day and go up a day early just to be alone.

To those who have inquired: Ed is doing really well. He is getting stronger and has upped his walking to 5 days a wk. He is actually walking further than he has in a long time. I am so proud of him for pushing himself to gain back as much as he can. And no, he is still not driving MY new car. LOL LOL Thanks for asking!!!

OK, 10 minutes before the canner is done...better go heat up more jars, I have a feeling I am going to be up all night and will smell salsa in my sleep!