I WON! I WON! I WON!!!!

 I won the Powerball!!!  Yup, I sure did!

Four bucks.

 So that leaves me $6 in the hole. I spent $10. 

Actually it should be $16 in the hole, because I spent $10 on Wednesday's drawing too. 

That's why I don't gamble!

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I thought that I would post a little bit about my weaving. Here is my newest rug off the big barn loom. I just love the cheerful colors as they undulate through the rug.  This is a nice long 82 inch runner rug, that's almost 7 ft long.  It just looks so "farmhousey" to me. 

The youngest granddaughter was over when I was unrolling it. She was quite excited because she helped weave on portions of it. She helps me pick out the next color and wind it up on the shuttles. I hope all of my grandchildren will have fond memories of helping me weave.  It is something that I cherish, and hope to pass it on. Maybe one of them will someday want my looms and weave themselves?  Or maybe my sewing machines and do some quilting?  or spinning? or sockmachine knitting?

I even let her help me cut it off.... carefully! Then we fold over the header portion twice and sew it down nice and securely for a good triple thick flat hem. I don't care for the tied knots or fringe tassels on some woven rugs. I will do them if a customer asks, but the folded and sewn hems last a lot longer. The tied knot ones get quite beat up after a while from playing or chewing by pets, foot traffic, or laundry.

Littlest Claire helped me roll it up

 to stack it up by the sewing machine 

so I can sew the hems.

When sewing the hems, I use my grandmother's old Singer 99-24 with the crinkle finish and the bentwood dome case. The serial number on this machine dates it back to 1941.This hard-working machine can plow through all three layers of the woven header fabric. It has sewn many things over the years, including my grandfather's heavy mining work clothes, my aunt's frilly tulle and crinoline prom dresses, and so many heavy huge quilts then I could ever imagine!  I was blessed for her to give it to me all those years ago.

I set the rug out on the front porch for a cute photo op in front of our rocking chairs. But honestly, the rug is far too nice to be designated as an outside rug. It sure looks cute on the gray porch boards with the white rockers set next to it.  That is why I am calling it a Farmhouse Rug. 

I always try to take close up photos when I list the rugs in my Etsy Shop so they can be seen up close as well as from far away.  I helps to see the texture and color of the fabrics and the warp threads. 

When I'm done sewing the hems,

I add my cute little personalized tags to the corner.

In case anybody is curious, I list them in my Etsy store for sale. Here is the link to this particular rug:

Wisconsin Countryside Farmhouse Rug

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Yesterday, I had said that it was dark and damp and cold. What a perfect day to open up a jar of my home canned tomatoes. I take the first scoop out with a spoon and eat it raw right out of the jar!  It tastes like "summer" and it is such a great reward for all the work of planting, growing, watering, harvesting and canning them up. 

The rest of it (and a second jar too)  went into a scrumptious pot of chili. Just the thing to warm you from the inside out.  I like to make a big pot and freeze the rest in smaller containers. It's easy to pull one out for a quick lunch in the middle of winter. 

Last night was dark and stormy in Wisconsin. The high winds wreaked havoc in other parts of the state with power outages and downed trees. We were fortunate not to have any of that here. Instead, we curled up in front of the TV last night down in the She Shed. I did some quilting for a while, and later we turned on some HGTV shows and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Woke up this morning at 6:15. Really hard to convince myself it was only 5:15.

Tried to roll over and go back to sleep. Didn't work. 

It goofed Binney up too. She wanted to get outside at 6:30. She doesn't care that the clock says it's only 5:30.  Her bladder says it's 6:30 and time to get outside! Our last sheltie, Finnegan, had a clock in his stomach that told him when it was time to eat.  He HATED the "fall back" part daylight savings time. We had to start adjusting him in 15 minute increments the week before to acclimate him to the new time.  We weren't fooling him though, he would come and stare at us at HIS 5:00 dinnertime. He didn't care if the clock said 4:00.  It was quite a challenge.  LOL

This is what I think about 

Daylight Savings Time!

We will adjust, but it sure seems to be an awful crazy process. 

Steve is wandering around the house this morning, looking for something to do. I better get this proofread and posted, so I can go help him with whatever he is going to get himself into this morning.