January 23, 2014 – My Little Country

I love to sew.

I don’t get to do it too often, but as of late, I have been sneaking into my craft room and stitching when I can. I love to sew, and yet it is the one craft that can drive me slap out of my own mind.

My latest project is a copycat of a tubular scarf/hat/balaclava/head wrap thing that I bought from Academy for an embarrassing amount of money, considering that it is 2 thin pieces of material. I thought that recreating it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

I was wrong.

I thought that sewing a dual sided tube wouldn’t propose much of a problem.

I was wrong.

I thought that what I paid for it at the store was way too much.

Actually, I have to say, it was the deal of a lifetime, considering the mental abuse I just caused myself.

There is an optical illusion…I forget its exact name, but it is an impossible creation. It looks similar to the infinity sign in shape, but its essentially a long, twisting tube that has no end nor beginning. Well, they SAID it was an impossible creation. I’m here to tell you that I made that thing out of fabric tonight. There was no logic, rhyme, nor reason to the various shapes that I turned out this evening. What was supposed to be a simple tube-like scarf turned into a pillow, then a giant headband that could have fit an elephant, and then the shape-thing that actually defied any current laws of physics. I’m pretty sure I just disproved several laws of physics, in fact. My seam ripper burst into flames after I tore out enough stitches to sew an entire closet full of garments.

Finally, I laid down the fabric, turned off my sewing machine, iced down the seam ripper, and slowly backed out of the craft room.

It’s one of those kind of days.

Sometimes, pictures are the best way to tell a story. I would like to share with you the progression of our farm house from when we moved in, back in 2008, to the current day. First, a story of our home.

This house wasn’t built on site. It was purchased from Kilgore College in the early 90s and moved to the current location. I heard that it cost around $32,000 for the house and the moving costs. From the little information we have gathered (that is, looking at a date stamp on the underside of a toilet tank lid), the house is from 1952. Of course, it could be older than that, but it sounds pretty good to me. Overall, the construction seems to be pretty good. Most of the walls are solid tongue-in-groove pine, which is great because I hate sheetrock. Unfortunately, the exterior was an absolute nightmare and there was no way for it to hold paint properly. The edges of the house had aluminum caps, which was where moisture would seep in and cause paint to fail, and thus peel. The roof was asphalt shingles and in bad condition. There wasn’t a scrap of insulation to be found. The A/C unit was on its very last legs…honestly, I can’t even say it had legs at all. In other words, it was just a worn out old house in need of repair, just like any other old house. I like to to think it was waiting for us.

I have loved this house, I have hated this house. I have cried over it, cussed it more than I should admit, cursed it, beat it, yelled at it, and wanted to put a match to it (don’t worry, State Farm, I would NOT do that!). Still, never have I not appreciated it. It’s our home, we have worked hard to get it where it is today, and I am proud to show it to you. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

It’s been a crazy 5+ years. Here’s to many more.

August 2008:

January 2009:

June 2009:

February 2010:

January 2011:

February 2011 (sick of the cold house):

July 2011:

April 2012:

October 2013:

I don’t think that I need to tell you that it looks different, yet again, only 3 months later. The painting/staining is still underway and it looks much better today. I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane with us!