April 12, 2019 – I thought they were cookies . . .

         I save and reuse the empty plastic containers that you purchase baked goods in – pizzelle cookies and croissants – for my yo-yo ‘sausages’ that I described yesterday. 

         I have a cat that likes to play with things, I’ve already chased around on the floor, and under the couch the results of her feline play time.  I solved that problem with sealing up the yo-yos so she couldn’t do it again.

         I am taking a challenging calligraphy class – Copperplate Calligraphy – at the local Arts Council.  I go once a week for several weeks. It is more difficult than I thought it would be – like learning to write for the first time.  I feel like I am in first grade learning to write my alphabet again – a,b,c, etc.

         I came in from the class and my husband said,

         “I thought they were cookies sitting on the dining room table.”

         I smiled knowing different, but held my tongue knowing he must have been more than surprised. He continued,

         “The light wasn’t on and I was wondering why you had boxes of cookies on the dining room table figuring you must have been making them for a church thing.  I grabbed one and opened it and what do I find?  Those, those - things.”

         “Yo-yos”

         “What are they for?”

         “I am making a bedspread, I told you before.”

        

         “I was in the mood for some cookies.”

         I made a mental note to make some cookies this week for Mr. Sweet Tooth.

April 11, 2019 – Empty spool of thread

        There is something exciting about an empty spool of thread.  When You get down to the very last 30 inch strand that you lace through the eye of your needle you have made your own testament of “much accomplished”.  It is a moment that you reflect on how you have used up yards and yards of thread.

         Empty spools of thread will be often as I work on my yo-yo project.  I’ve already emptied a second spool and I am only on row eight rows in this project.

         During the month of January and February I pulled cotton shirts from my closet and my husband’s closet that no longer fit.  I washed them, then shredded them – that is took off the cuffs, collar and front button plackets.  Then cut up the under arm seam and around the shoulder seams in order to get smooth pieces to iron and then draw 3 inch circles.

         Those circles I cut out meticulously. Counted and stacked I tucked them away in zip lock bags.

         I needed about 4,600 of those circles to attempt at making a yo-yo bedspread.  I then prowled in thrift shops – always going after the XL or XXL shirts that were colors of my liking.  I’d purchase six shirts each trip and come home, wash and dry them and again – shred them to make circles.

         Each week I’d hunt at another thrift shop and do the same thing – purchase, wash, dry, shred, iron, make circles and cut them out - until I had about 50 different bags of yo-yo circles.

         Easily I found that long sleeve shirts netted more yo-yo circles than short sleeve.  And, looking for the most ‘bang-for-my-buck’ I went after the largest shirts.

         Then I marked and cut out circles from an old set of pillow cases and an old linen table cloth that had enough stains to warrant its destruction.

         Thus, I had accomplished the first goal – I had my 4,600 yo-yo circles.

         Next, I sewed one of each into a circle puff and tossed them on a table.  That is when I had the fun time of complementing each or contrasting each in a pleasing way to make a strand of 55 yo-yos.  Once I got the stripes or plaids or solids to coordinate in a pleasing way to me – one next to the other, I marked each bag with a number 1-55.  I stashed them in sequential order in shoeboxes. [Wonderful thing empty shoeboxes . . .]

         I then created five stacks - one each of 55 colors – sealing them in a zip lock bag, and putting the 1-55 colors in shoeboxes in a cupboard.  When I finish making yo-yo puff out of one bag, I reach for another.  I replenish my stock once I finish sewing them into round puffs.

         During down time – early morning drinking coffee and watching the news or evenings during the commercials – I made the yo-yos – one at a time – and I would string them up on a thread in the sequence that I did them – maintain the continuity of the pleasing contrasts.

         This created “sausages” of yo-yo’s ready to be sewn together.

         When I finished two “sausages”, I proceeded to sew them together.  I dropped the first color to the end and attached each sequential yo-yo to the side of the first 55-foot strand.  This started the creation of a pattern.  The next row – I dropped the first two and put them at the end.  As I continued in – I have a pattern that streams one color in a diagonal row.

         Yes, this is tedious, yes this is slow – but then, most things that take time are well worth the effort - like good cooking.

         How long is this going to take?  I don’t actually care. I find it my relaxing “down time” project – in the dusk of the morning – before brick laying or in the settling in of darkness in the evenings when I am tired from the brick laying.

         It will get done when it gets done – I just know that I have all the yo-yo circles ready and waiting for this project.

         Currently I am sewing on row nine - here is a picture of a portion of the yo-yo project where you can see the diagonal design. 

Good sewing to you.

        

        

April 2, 2019 – It is only one brick at a time

         I have been busy supervising tree cutters, men using a Bobcat to excavate the current crushed stone driveway, and directing men with dump trucks full of sand or fill dirt and a 10-pallet load of Belgrade bricks on where they should be dumped or unloaded.

         What am I doing?

         It has been my dream for the last 20 years to have a brick driveway at this home and I am going to have my dream.

         Now, hold onto your seats – I am going to do it myself.  Yes, you heard me – little old me is going to lay one brick at a time to accomplish this dream.

         First, I had to have trees taken down that were endangering my home and another one on the back patio that was dropping slippery persimmons in the fall.  I’d slipped and fallen one too many times in the last dozen years on dropped fruit.  Trust me – more slippery than a banana peel.

         I let the volunteer persimmon tree grow and bear fruit because the local “critters” would come at night and munch on the frosted dropped fruit.  I like nature, I like to catch a glimpse of critters eating in the wild, even if it is on my back patio.  But, having stepped and slipped on squashed persimmons one too many times – it was no longer good for my health to keep the tree.

         Then, we left a little tree grow at the end of our driveway.  But, that too became large and inconvenient in tucking in the cars.  Then it started to drop limbs that were larger than a man’s arm and I had to make the call.  I wanted to tuck the cars in on a brick driveway and the tree had to go. It was taken down two weeks ago.

         We live in the country . . .  most everyone has a gravel driveway that requires additional crushed stone or leveling or both on a yearly basis. We are no different.  We’ve done that for 20 years.  This year, year 21, I am changing my course of action.  Multiplying the cost of the crushed stone deliveries by 20 years would have paid for my brick driveway.  I don’t want to order another load of crushed stone or mess with it again.

         The driveway is about 115 feet long – YUP – long driveway. Starts out as ample car width and then fans out to fit two cars amply at the end near the house.

         Crushed stone doesn’t do much for your good shoes – scuffs them up and don’t even think about wearing heels.  When I do wear heels, I wear flat shoes and put on my heels when I arrive at my destination.  I am sick of it.  I’ve ruined more good shoes than I can even count. I’ve had enough. 

         I am rectifying the situation.

         After I had the problem trees taken down, I hired a man with a Bobcat to scarf out the majority of the crushed stone to get the driveway leveled off and into a hard surface.

         I ordered bricks from a Belgrade distributor and the bricks arrived yesterday afternoon.

         And, one of my girlfriend’s husband, Don, is a retired stone mason.  I called and asked if he would consider showing me how to cut a brick.  I’d purchased a stone chisel and sadly I’d purchased the wrong type of stone hammer. [I fixed that yesterday by returning the wrong one and getting the right one.]

         Don brought his brick hammer and gave me a brick cutting lesson.  The lesson was less than 30 seconds long.  He took a brick, tapped it with the chisel tip of his brick hammer across the width, then at the side, across the other width side and then gently tapped the chisel end of the brick all done as he held the brick in one hand out away from his feet.  Tap, tap, tap – less than 20 taps and the brick broke into two perfect halves right before my eyes.  WOW. He didn’t even use the chisel – just tapped it with his brick hammer.

         It was MAGIC – it took him less than a minute to accomplish it and I was “jazzed” – I am excited.  Now that I have seen it done – live and in person – even I feel I can accomplish this task.

         I repeat:  It has been my dream to have a brick driveway and I am going to have my dream.

         I hope you follow me along my journey.

         Beginning pictures of the driveway below.  View out to the street.

        

        View from street toward house.