This and That

I finally found the software disc for my new camera.  I got the camera for my birthday in July and promptly lost the software.  So, while I've been able to take pictures, I've had no way to get them off the camera.  I was afraid I was going to have to order another disc from the company, so was happy to find it yesterday in with the birthday cards.  Maybe I'll be able to start adding some new pictures to the blog.

My garden and greenhouse are doing well.  The outdoor temps have come down a bit, so the plants in the greenhouse are doing better.  I am getting green and hot peppers in the greenhouse.  I need to plant some more lettuce to last us into fall.  The corn is almost ready to eat and I have zucchini coming out my ears.  I baked four loaves of zucchini bread on Saturday - one to eat, one to share with work, and two for the freezer.  I need to make another couple batches.  The onion tops are just starting to bend, so they will be ready to pull shortly.  I think I'm going to chop and dehydrate them and store in jars or maybe just freeze some.  Already prepped onion is so handy to have.  We've had a couple of tomatoes, but there are lots of green ones that I'm not sure will actually ripen.  I'll have to try my mother's trick of laying them single layered in brown paper bags.  She was always able to get them to ripen that way.

My asthma has been bothering me some at nights and I finally decided my bedroom is too dusty.  I've been moving furniture and washing down baseboards and windows and giving everything a good dusting.  I couldn't believe how much dog hair was still under the bed, even though we haven't had a dog for a year.  Hopefully the room will be healthier, plus I got a start on the fall house cleaning. 

I bought a new book on french fashion clothing.  It basically is just pictures of the wardrobe a woman sewed for a doll over a period of several decades.  It has inspired me to get back into sewing some clothes for my dolls.  I pulled out a dress that was started and realized I needed some tiny black hooks.  I know I have a whole little tin of them somewhere, but couldn't find it.  I hunted through my sewing basket and my mom's doll-sewing basket with no luck.  I decided I needed to pull out the bins that contain both the supplies I had purchased myself, and the ones I filled with stuff from my mom's house.  I have three supply bins for the antique dolls.  Everything in them was mixed up and so I ended up sorting things into three groups:  cotton, linen and wool fabrics; silk, rayon, and velvet; and trims, including thread, buttons, snaps, hooks, fake flowers, laces, braids, hat straws, and leather for shoes.  I found some black hooks, also!  :)  Now when I need something I'll know which bin to pull and any more goodies I find while sorting through my house can go into the correct bin.  Some day I may get organized.  My goal is spend at least a few minutes each evening sewing on a dress.  My mother collected all those wonderful things and never used any of them to actually sew something.  There is no point having them unless I am using them.

My next big house project is to clean out and organize the family room.  It has become the repository of odds and ends and boxes from my mom's house and just stuff in general.  I am having knee surgery the end of September and need a place to put the exercise bike.  So the junk in the family room has to go. 

~Jane