Thoughtful Thursday

"The question is not what you look at,

But what you see" . . . Henry David Thoreau

Hello Everyone,

I know that more than half the day is gone and it really is kind of late to post - but I felt a real need to post anyway. Not that what I have to say is all that important - It's just that Genghis has been such a good boy to keep posting when I unfortunately was super stressed and trying to make my granddaughters George Washington costume.

Thanks Genghis you rock.

Here it is May already (May, the Merry Month of May) and I am glad to see it arrive.

On the first I picked my self-care card that I will concentrate on for the month - and this months card is Nature. The wisdom on the back of the card - says - Take a Walk. Let the beauty of nature feed your soul.

Even though it was still a bit chilly here and the sky threatened rain - I pulled on my sweatshirt and headed out. A winter of limited activity is always hard on me and my Fibromyalgia; so while my walk was not long it was a start.

Today just a block or two - with plans to increase the distance as the days go on.

When I returned home - I got busy working on this years yard clean up. Last year Sir Knight and I kind of took a back seat to yard work - and while the house didn't look that bad - it isn't looking all that good.

During those cold winter months we drew up some cursory plans for changes we need to make to improve the curb appeal. We already have started with the removal of a few eye sores. Filling in the grass with dirt , planting some grass seed patch, and cleaning out all the leaves and trash that blows around the city; from under the bushes. Little baby steps - but it is starting to look better already. I'm hopping to have the front of the house in better shape by the end of day tomorrow.

"Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in nature"

. . . Seneca

Look what I received in the mail last week - another great ATC from my partner in the Blissful ATC Swap from April. Isn't that just the greatest card? I felt so special to receive not just the one necessary swap card - but an additional one - under separate cover. Thank you so much rose. It's awesome and I am touched by your generosity.

The Artsy Bag Challenge Card - is another story - Neither my partner or I have received our cards yet and we both mailed early. I never knew it would take nearly a month for mail to get around Australia. I know it will be great when it gets here - but I am an impatient soul.

Maybe the postman got eaten by a Croc or beaten up by a Kangaroo. :@

Heavens!

A couple of you expressed a desire to see the finished costume. So here is the pattern I used. See George hiding near the back.

Well I used material that I already had on hand - from auction purchases - to keep the cost down.

I love my granddaughter - but her mother knows nothing about taking care of things - so this will be a one time use item and probably be thrown in the trash afterward. But I digress.

Here is the whole outfit - The coat has split tails and does go down to past her knees. The pockets are fake and I didn't have real military style buttons - so again we used what we had.

The sleeves really gave me a run for my money so to speak - as I have never made anything in which I has to set in sleeves. All the Renaissance outfits I made for the grandsons; were sleeveless Jerkins (vest) with sleeves that where separate and tied on to the jerkin. There are a few boo-boo's that kind of puckered the sleeve fabric - but as time was running out and I felt it would just have to do.

This is a separate shot of the vest - The vest is a faux vest - made to tie on - kind of like some of the tuxedo type vests and was the easiest thing tho sew up. The dickey and collar that is sewn on to the vest - was the hardest for me to master. The dickey had a rounded neckline and the collar was straight - so I sewed and ripped out many times - before I took a ride to the local quilt shop and got some advise. You need to cut many little groves in the round neck of the dickey and spread it out flat to sew it on the collar. (If they want it flat why not just draw it flat in the pattern????)

For the britches - I played it smart and just bought a pair of jeans - cut them down and added a collar of fabric around the knee. (Not Mentioned anywhere in McCalls - but so much easier for me.)

We delivered the outfit yesterday and today was her class presentation. Don't know if her mom will remember to take a picture of her for us or not.

After sewing this outfit - all the yard work looks so easy peasy.

Hugs,

Penny

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin". . . William Shakesepeare

"In the beauty of nature, lies the spirit of hope" . . . unknown