Alanna at The Bay

Some people will sleep anywhere. 

Puppy Delivery

I flew with the puppies to Calgary and overnighted at a motel ... went downtown to visit and left them in the hotel room in the kennel .. they did very well .. no noise at all ..

The next morning we flew to Toronto, then to Halifax, and on to St. John's .. a very long trip .. WestJet was great, took them off the plane on both stops and took them inside, watered them and then put them back on after the noisy baggage was taken care of.

When we arrived in St. John's we were met by a very thrilled Alanna and Paul who have renamed the baby "Gucci" and Monica who has named hers "Ryder".

Gucci is housetraining beautifully .. really happy and doesn't bark except if she sees something unusual, and then it's a quick PFFT to her and she stops ... loves her carrier and sleeps as soon as the car starts .. not at all fidgety, very cuddly and loves her fleece blankets, sleeping bags which I made, toys and pink bed .. we taught her to sit and she caught on after three tries ... met a Dogue de Bordeaux at the mall and wasn't too sure about him ... oh, and she's also learned to text.

Going East With Puppies

I am taking two Chihuahua puppies to Newfoundland, one for Alanna and the other for my friend Monica ... Alanna's is brown, she has named her Gucci, Monica called hers Ryder ... been busy making puppy blankets for Gucci  .. here are some pictures of the litter ...Ryder is lying in the back behind Gucci and her mother, little Chiclet the white one is eleven years old and so tiny ... Abbey is the girl with long legs, Bubbles is black and tan,  Seven is in the second picture, and sitting in the second last picture, Manny and Abbey are in the bed in the last photo.

Thundershirts

These shirts are to help dogs with issues ... Keeva is anxious and has OCD and barks when someone comes in or rings the bell, plus lunges at people and at cars or loud trucks, motorcycles .. Keilo barks at everything that goes past the house and isn't overly friendly to people .. stay tuned for updates .. Keeva's seems to be helping her slow down and not be so neurotic and rushing around, she is more restful ... we will know more tomorrow about Keilo's when she perches herself upstairs to watch people go past ... here we are in our new "underwear".

A wonderfully humorous review of the Thundershirt ..

And the Thundershirt website where you can see videos on the product and how it works.

This is what happens when we are listening to Eric Clapton without a Thundershirt ... we eat the binding off our non skid mat.

Kyro's Bath Day

Kyro adores going to see Ashleigh for his baths ... I started taking my dogs to the groomers at about 4 months so they have gotten used to it ... when he sees the spray bottle of cologne come out he runs and dances around, trying to get away .. it's a game for him so she has to chase him which makes it even more fun.

Decisions Can Be Mood Altering

Since last fall, my online sewing friend *Olga (name has been changed to protect the guilty, she will slap me for naming her that) has been looking for "The Perfect Sewing Machine" .. she has a Janome but was looking for something different .. the conversations of the last few months went something like this ..

Guess what?
What?
I'm going to look at machines.
Oh good. What are you looking for?
An embroidery machine .. I think.
Why?
Because I like the fancy stitches. I just don't know if I want to spend that much on a machine.
I see.
Maybe I don't need an embroidery machine.
You still dont have a sewing machine.
True.

So we discussed combo machines ... meanwhile I have a combo Singer that I hate .. we even discussed my sending it to her .. but if I didn't like it, I could not burden her with it .. we talked about used .. new .. combos .. straight stitch .. ones with decorative stitching .. ones with few, ones with many .. how many would she need? Is she going to start a business?

Are you there?
Yes.
I went to the Babylock dealer.
You did? What did you find?
Expensive.
Yes, they are expensive.
But they were nice.
Did you try them?
Yes. Look at this link. The straight stitch was nice. But I like the combo machines. Maybe I'll get a stand alone embroidery machine.
But you still won't have a sewing machine.

A few days later ..

I got a Singer.
You did?
Yes. I ordered it online.
How is it?
I hate it. It's awful. I'm sending it back. I blogged about how awful it is.

The Singer is returned and a week or so later ..

Guess what? I GOT A BERNINA!!
Oh wow. How is it?
It's big.
Big?
Yes. I need a cabinet for it. It's high. I feel like I'm sewing in the air.

A few days later she was less than enamored with a sore back and arms .. back goes the Bernina sans cabinet ..

Are you there?
Yes, I'm here. *for I am always here*
I'm confused. I'm reading Pattern Review.
PR has lots of opinions.
People really like the Viking. I think I'll go see them though they are expensive. I know I didn't want a Brother but I'm going to revisit them.
Revisiting Brother? You didn't like them before.
I know. But I want to be sure. Look at this link. Isn't this great? It's the Brother QC1000.

So we discuss the QC1000 and two other Brothers .. The NX-450Q and the NX-650Q I called dealers here and found out about them .. In the meantime I had gotten a Kenmore .. after 30 days I returned it, it did not go over my thick seams but a great machine nonetheless .. I ended up getting the Juki TL98Q .. she almost got one too .. ALMOST! But she wants more fancy stitches .. I am just bland and boring .. only wanted straight stitch .. I almost had her wanting a Juki ... then there was Elna who she tried and really liked but she said it was round and "looked like something from outer space" (maybe I said that) ... but it did sew very well.

So there is no Bernina .. doesn't want another Janome ... there's Viking that was good and she found a nice dealer ... Babylock just wasn't fabulous .. thought about Juki but no dealer .. hesitant to order online citing "what if I dont like it?" ... yes there could be that problem. "I'm SO tired of this" ... ummm YOU'RE TIRED!!???

So this morning ..

Are you here? The Brother QC1000 was complicated and hard to thread and the dealer was SO not helpful. I am so confused. I dont want to get the wrong machine.
I'm sure you won't get the wrong machine.
Why not?
At this rate you won't get any machine. lol *so glad we both have a sense of humor*
Maybe I'll go to Sears and see the Kenmore.
The Kenmore won't go over heavy seams.
Well, I've decided not to get a Brother .. the dealer was awful.
So what does that leave?
I dont want another Janome.
Umm.

Note: Olga ended up ordering an Elna and it was NOT a good machine .. it went back within the first two weeks .. she gave it a fair try, it was NOT heavy duty .. so in the week following ...
Well I liked the Viking Sapphire 875 Quilt. Look at this link.
THE VIKING! YES!! I forgot about Viking. How did it sew?
Really nice. I liked it.
(Good. Progress. PLEASE buy something. PLEASE)
Does it have enough stitches?
Yes. Look at this link.
Ohh I see. *I know as much about Viking sewing machines as I do about Janome, but I have a Viking serger*
Ok so do you want it? And are you buying it?
I called about it. I am so nervous. I will call tomorrow. I don't want to make any mistakes!
Well guaranteed you aren't going to make any mistakes. You aren't DOING anything!!!!
TOMORROW? You mean we could change our minds?
Yes. Well I dont know. Maybe. Well probably not. I really like it.
We have been looking for a machine for months and you are going to wait? BUY IT ALREADY! Where are you? Are you gone?? You left while I was up in the air? I'm here waiting and you are GONE?? WHERE HAVE YOU GONE??? *I am getting severely distressed*

The next day Olga messages me I BOUGHT THE VIKING!!!
YOU DID?? *handclapping and standing ovation plus a little soft shoe for good measure, hands in air and all that. Dog looking at me like I've lost it*
YES!!
YESSS!!
I am so excited. Look at this link! Look at the stitches it does!! Oh I am excited!!!!
Gee, penguins too. Wow. I am excited too. *excited but extremely tired*.

So the decision is made finally .. the Viking is there.
What a relief. The hunt is over.

How will I stand the stagnant air?

Wow. I feel like I'm part owner. If only I lived close enough to try her Viking.

Bring on the refreshments. It's party time. May Olga and her Viking have a happy life together.

I came online after going out for a bit and said to the IM "are you here? Olga? Are you gone?" No answer. She's probably gone to bed. Exhausted. Wonder why ...

Now she wants a serger ...

You will forgive me if I feel the sudden urge to lie down.

Goodbye Mr. Kenmore .. Hello Mr. Juki Q

I determined on talking to a lady at another Sears store that Mr. Kenmore, as nice as he is, will never do what I want it to do .. my fabric is heavy and tho when I bought it the lady said "oh yes it will go through all those layers" and it does IF it's just sewing straight .. it balks at the start of a seam if it's the least bit high, or going over a join .. (hump jumper could be an aid but why do I want a gadget to make it go over seams when I want a machine to do it without help?) .. it sits and just poke poke pokes in the same hole .. I have to practically pull it to get it to come along over the hump and then of course the threads knot up .. then I have the issue of the noise in the machine that sounds like the needle is hitting something .. it doesn't appear to be but the sound is annoying .. I have tried changing needles, rethreading, winding a new bobbin, cleaning out the lint that wasn't there ...

On talking it over with my good husband we agreed that I am going to be frustrated beyond with this machine ... I had such a poor relationship with Mrs. Singer that he doesn't want to see me with another machine that doesn't work for me ... if I were doing just cottons for the rest of my life, yes this would be terrific ... it has good power and good control ... but I've had a daughter who has balked her whole life, I don't need a machine that does the same. :))) So Mr. Kenmore is being returned.

I called someone in management at Sears about Mr. Kenmore and turns out they have a 20% restocking fee if you don't buy on your Sears account ... so on my $500. machine it was $100. ... quite a loss on their product that did not perform for me .. what about customer satisfaction and wanting you to come back? I guess they don't value my business ... oh well, the feeling is mutual .. I don't value their machine .. I also do not value their "cussoma serbus" lady who was sure I had a Sears account and also a TORO ... well my Kenmore sounds like a Toro, does that work? And if you are so sure I have a Sears account connected to my phone number, then why are you charging me a 20% restocking fee? Find my account and credit it.

I packed up Mr. Kenmore with all it's appendages and manuals, plastic bobbins and feet, the walking foot and edge stitch foot ... had it sitting in the downstairs hallway ... DH said "I guess you didn't like him" .. actually I did like him .. he stitched great, he just won't go over big seams ... so he said, I guess he didn't perform well ... no, he didn't ... kinda like my ex I said .. he laughed .. yeah he said, should have taken him back during the 30 day warranty ... yeah I said, they would have charged me a restocking fee to restock something that didn't even work ... he looked at the box in the hallway and went into his office still laughing about the image of the ex sitting on a shelf in some warehouse ...

Husband said "what will you get next?" ... I had been to see the Viking Mega Quilter .. nice but really only a normal sewing machine ... I'd seen the Babylock as well and that was much the same and both ladies said "they are still home sewing machines, you may want to look at industrial" ... he said "why don't you go and look at that Juki then while you are out" .. I had sent him pictures of the Juki, so proud of myself that I had found something heavy duty .. I went to the site and copied and pasted all the info including the picture ... I had found the only Juki dealer .. I wish I had known about them when I got my Singer but I thought Juki was only in Japanese factories, I didn't think they sold to little people like me .. ah what a sheltered sewing world I lived in thanks to my mother ... seen everything possible in my career as a PI but didn't know about Juki home sewing ... what a tragedy .. well I was going to press on ... deliver Mr. Kenmore back to it's rightful shelf and wend my way to Sewing and Embroidery Warehouse, the only dealer in the province for Juki machines.

The previous day I had called and spoken with a very nice man at Sewing and Embroidery Warehouse who did not sew but knew machines inside and out .. they are into the embroidery business .. like bulk embroidery .. they have an embroidery machine that will do 8 garments at a time ... all those colors made me almost go into shock ... the $10,000 one in the showroom with 25 colors was enough for me ... I said "what happens if the thread knots?" .. I could see the Japanese technician man go pale ... probably wasn't a good question to ask.

Kevin had told me that the Juki TL98Q would be more than suitable for my heavy fabric .. it was all metal .. had a metal side bobbin, it was industrial ... they have a real industrial single needle in the showroom .. it has a treadle but is electric .. he turned it on and said "you would not want this in your house. Your neighbors would complain" ... I said "it would be great. Then I couldn't hear my husband watching Tina Turner in the family room on surround sound" ... I nearly bought it thinking of my lining demise caused by UPS delivering Tina Turner ...

So he called in a little Japanese man who was the industrial machine repairman to set up this machine .. showed me all the parts and feet, it was rather humorous seeing this Japanese man threading the machine and telling me all about it ... just as good a demo as I have received from women, in fact better than some I've had ... so after he got it all set up he said here you try the needle threader ... it was a bit tricky so after a few tries I got it ... then I sewed on it ... what a great machine .. very fast at 1600 st/min... it goes through my fabric no problem .. he brought in some cut off seam material and it went over that hump ... it was heavy layers of denim .. there is a foot that they call a compensating foot, the 1/4" can be used as a guide but it's also on a spring so it will go up and over a heavy seam while the other side holds it in place ... it has a zipper foot so now I can do a boxy bag ... I like the fact that it only does straight stitching ... it cuts the thread either by a red button on the foot pedal (I thought that was to call 911 when I was speeding at 1600 st/min) or on the machine .. very neat ... has a knee lift for the presser foot (which I wouldn't put on because I have dogs under my table) .. the extended bed was a real bonus ... but the main thing I like is, it's simple .. it doesn't have any frills, it's manual, it has a job, to sew straight and does it well ...

Brought it home... I took it out of the box and set it up ... DH said "it's bland looking. It has no computer screen. Are you going to like that?" .. "yes", I said "its industrial. They are supposed to be bland. It's not computerized, it has tension, stitch length and it's all metal" .. he said "oh, that will be helpful. You won't be able to throw it far when you get frustrated" .. he being a builder knows quality and always buys quality tools citing "you get what you pay for" ...

He said "you look rather like a tailor sitting at that" ... "yes", I said "Elizabeth Tailor" ... he shook his head and left.

Cussama Serbus???

My new Kenmore sewing machine is making a nose when it sews .. it's like the needle is hitting the side of the foot on the way down, or something with the feed dogs isn't right ... I get this click click click sound every time the needle goes down .. I just got it two weeks ago!! I called the Sears toll free number and got someone who spoke some other language and didn't appear to know what I wanted ... asked me my name and said who is the account holder .. I said what account holder? I don't have a Sears account .. well we have someone listed at your phone number .. I said I can't help what you have, we don't have a Sears account ... she said "allow me to get my supervisor" ... I will allow you yes ... then she came back and asked my address .. phone number .. do I have another number .. no ... who is the account holder? I said I just want to ask a question about my sewing machine, I do not have an account .. you do not? NO! I do not .. you have to take it to the "serbus depot" ... SERBUS??? oh I see .. well where is that ... so she gave me three choices, none of which were near me (at Olympic time nothing is easy to get to) ... I said how long would I be without it? Probably about 2-3 weeks ... I said "2-3 WEEKS??" .... yes .. then she said do you want a technician to come out to see your TORO? My what?? Your TORO! ... I said I have a sewing machine!!! She said yes madam but now you are calling about your lawn mower? I said NO! you stupid *$#&*($@ .. it's a Kenmore sewing machine that right now sounds like a TORO!! .. oh she said .. would you like to participate in our customer satisfaction survey when this call is over? AGGHHHHHH! I said "SATISFACTION? You haven't GIVEN me any!" .. I hung up, nearly falling limp to the floor ... thought I might be able to get farther myself looking in my manual and there in the trouble shooting section it said "before taking your sewing machine into a store, please call 1-877-SEWING U .. terrific .. I called .. "hello this is Janome" .. Janome? Oh finally someone who speaks my language and knows sewing machines .. I told her about my walking foot which is when the problem started .. she asked for the part number .. I gave it to her .. she said there are two walking feet, it may not be the one for your machine .. it could be for the front loading bobbin kind .. well there is only one on the website .. she went to look and couldn't find mine .. said what site are you on? Sears.ca .. OHHH You're in CANADA!! Umm yes .. Vancouver .. home of the Winter Olympics ... bronze medals, skiing, O CANADA ... you get the idea .. oh well in that case .. try changing the needle to a Kenmore needle .. she thought it could be due to my Schmetz needle (and if I had a Janome I guess she'd have told me to use a Janome needle) well my Kenmore needles are color coded not number coded so I chose a pink one ... the noise has gone .. for now.

I cannot understand why they continue to give us to people in some foreign land who cannot communicate with us in our language .. we the ones who are calling! My best one was when they called to say I'd won a trip ... "You hab wunna tweep ta Meeko!!" And no matter how much you talk they keep on talking! "You name bin dwan to go to Meeko!!" WHAT THE **** MEEKO I said? WHERE IS MEEKO? He said "down da boda by Carifona" ... WHAT??? Where? I said you mean in the US? YIS YIS! In Unerta Stats ... ???UNERTA???? I said you mean I have to fly into the US? He said YIS YIS you won da tweep! U wee fry to Low Angilis!! I said I can't go to the US I am (and I gave some reason, which I will not declare here lest it be interpreted wrong .. in any case I said I could not go to Unerta) .. dead silence. He say "hoda rine prease. It take turty secun to prace you numa on a doona caw rist" ... yes doona caw me no moh!! Agggh.

Farewell To The Lining ... The Demise of The Manly Messenger

I am finding that patterns make no sense to me either yet my mom was an excellent seamstress and could even figure out McCalls ... I read and re read and have ended up discarding more patterns and partially completed projects .. I get so far and then I can't grasp it ... I used to make mohair bears by hand .. after a couple of tries at making other patterns, I designed my own .. again, very anal, it took me about a year ... I was making a messenger bag for B ... I did a tapestry outside and could not figure out how to get the flap on .. I tried three tutorials (forget the Butterick pattern, it was useless as was their customer support) ... well I decided to tackle the lining and maybe if I got all the parts done I could try to figure out how to put the flap on without sewing it onto the top of the bag ... well last week I posted this to my bag and sewing lists.

You have all been following with interest my long suffering relationship with the messenger .. from the poorly written Butterick to the tutorial on A Mingled Yarn to my questions and answers ... it has been a laborious journey ... the green patterned tapestry with gold striped lining which was to be the manly messenger for B has unfortunately met it's bitter end ... it lays lifeless on my sewing room table as I write ...

I sewed together the front, sides and base of the outer bag last week (yes, this has been months in the making) ... today I was sewing the lining ends (which have a pocket on each) and base together with the inner lining back (which has 2 pockets across, one higher, one lower) .. I lined up the end pocket with the back lining pocket which runs right across and basted them together (five times. Each time the canvas on the back of the lining shifted so I had a large ripple and had to undo and redo) ... there are so many layers and my pins were bending hand over fist ... I got the one lining end sewn onto the lining back and the pocket lined up reasonably well .. YES! PROGRESS ... however the other side did not, it was off by a good half inch (after all that *(&^^@# accurate measuring) ... I undid the serging and basting and attempted again (meanwhile it's gotten narrower because of having to serge over serging) ... I got it together and both sides are uneven .. the one pocket on the end is way down plus the one side is narrower ...

Note to self: Next time do patch pockets or pockets that stop before the edges ... fabric other than onionskin cotton is way too thick to travel over ...

Underneath my sewing table lies Keilo ... one 85 lb. female bullmastiff with a very thick, muscular brindle body ... I have a 125 lb male bullmastiff Kyro who would not care, would not move, would not cause any problem, does not care about a serger or machine running over his head, pays no attention to the doorbell at all .. UPS man came to the door delivering Tina Turner for my good husband (after seeing her concert the other night he realized she has great leg appeal for a 70 year old and ordered 3 DVD's) .. doorbell rang, dog shot up and was standing on the foot pedal barking ... off goes the serger ALONE !!!! ... she was frightened by the sudden noise (and probably my screaming) and quickly sprang off the serger pedal flinging it underneath the table, hitting her back on the table, still barking and inhaling like she does, racing to the hallway, oblivious to the mess she had made (thanks to DH ordering a set of legs and UPS with his bad timing delivery!) but not until my end piece which I was sewing to my back lining piece ended up something like / instead of | .. crooked as a dogs hind leg ... it also ran into the base so that looks like a dogs breakfast as well.

Drat says I ... well, I actually didn't say drat but the language I emitted are four letter words my mother doesn't realize that I know ...

I was torn between what to do and explored my options ....
a) I could put the wider end on an re serge it to match the other one since it wouldn't affect things much, I'd just do the other sides narrower (so it will fit a pencil thin laptop in case my dear friend ever gets one. Also perfect if he only wants to take a knitting pattern, a half skein of mohair yarn with a set of Namaste needles .. bottle of water? HA! Not a chance ) ..
b) Follow Barbara's advice and realize that not all things are meant to be completed .. if they aren't working out, put them aside and move on .. life is too short to waste time crying over spilled pins ...
c) Make loincloths for B to sell in the lifestyle community he is into .... however the canvas could cause some chafing ....

I think some things are purely for the sake of humor and for the mutual enjoyment of fellow bag makers who have possibly gone this road before.

A week ago Wednesday ..... The Memorial was held for The Lining ... it was a closed trash can ... remains were laid to rest in the round file and carried to the curb the next morning by one laughing husband, for cremation by the City ... attended by Mr. Husky, Mrs. Singer and The Headpins .. Lining is survived by partner The Outer Tapestry Bag and three dogs who were fighting for the spoils to be made into stuffed toys which I felt would be irreverent and disrespectful to the memory of The Lining ... Outer Tapestry Bag is open to having a new partner but is vehement that it must not have end pockets ... it has been a week and The Outer Tapestry is ready to start looking for a new partner.

Celebration of it's short life was held over the next several days .... donations may be made to a fabric store of one's choice but only after two hours are spent perusing and fondling the goods ... strong refreshments will be served along with a multitude of assorted sweets and pastries, cakes, fudge included, to help us all forget The Lining's demise ... the pain was quick and he did not suffer ... a blessing .. even my daughter who celebrated her 20th birthday from afar on Sunday got all her friends together and partied on till the wee hours ... she said it was in memory of The Lining but I begged to differ which was met with gales of laughter from her and her girlfriend ...

We press on ....

Going East??

Alanna has been on the east coast for six weeks ... she went to visit her best friend Jenn and my mother ... the last time we were there was May 2007 .. this is Newfoundland in May ... lots of ice .. we have become thin skinned living on the Pacific Coast for five years .. the poor child doesn't even have a coat on because "we have to look hot" .. hot? For who?? Is there anyone here besides the ice? And that boat??? That boat even has a cover!!! You look blue! And your language is the same ..

Good bye Newfoundland ...
Jenn has horses .. Rudy is a five year old Newfoundland Pony and Twister is the brown one .. these girls are big on horses .. Rudy is very affectionate and lays his head on your neck and licks it, Alanna says. Awww.

An example of social suicide .. wearing barn clothes in the drug store .. for a kid who has a kinship with Christian Audiger I thought this was most uncharacteristic ... and what are you doing with garland on your neck?? Oh right. No one knows you.

Jenn has changed .... a lot ....

On my cell phone last week I received this photo from the east coasters ... because the quality is fuzzy I had to ask "what is it?" .. the reply was "we made a helmet and glasses out of tinfoil" ... tinfoil?? Yes ... why? "small town. We make our own fun" .. yes, I can see that.

Last night she said they were going into town .. said I have a picture for you .. this came over the airwaves .. I said "where are you? In the CAR?" .. Yes! DRIVING!! Driving? Like that? Yes. The other night's was a dry run .. this is the real deal .. and you expect to apply to school in that? Oh yes. And we are going to see Grandma like this too .. Oh?? I'm sure it will be a hoot in the retirement home .. go girls :)