Sometimes it takes two tries...

Greetings and Dear Cynthia,

While my sister was visiting the other day, we took some time to run around town a little bit and get photos of road signs matching the names of people in our family... Here's mine, located within one mile of my house:

Here's my sisters, located about six miles away from my house:
You can tell that Heidi and I are from the same gene pool, because she commented about the fact that the sign was lacking an apostrophe. We know it is a "possessive," named for a person Heidi something, because there is a marker near the sign discussing that it is in memory of Heidi something...

In old news, I might have mentioned about the dress I had to sew twice... I was using a pattern that had sleeves, because I liked the line of the dress and the fact that it fit me pretty well without need of a zipper in the back...but I wanted something sleeveless, so I started messing around with altering the pattern. On the first go-round, I sort of got messed up and got to a point of no return on an armhole while trying to figure out alterations on the fly, and then I realized there was enough spare material to just start over again...so I did, and here's what I ended up with the second time around (son took the photo, and I did what I could to 1.) crop because it wasn't centered; 2.) straighten it because it was crooked: 3.) fix the blurriness, but some things just can't be fixed all the way... now there's a metaphor for life...), and I don't know what's going on with the odd coloring on my face but I blame my photo editing software:
It's very comfy, easy to wear, washable, yet dressy. I have fabric to make another two of them, and I'll give one to my sister, because she and I are shaped a lot alike...again, same gene pool.

Still working on the Harmony bag. The outside is finished; next step is to put the lining together, but it is not trivial, as I decided on the option having two zipped pockets inside... With all of the fleece plus 'peltex' plus interfacing in this thing, it is quite stiff, which is working out quite nicely:
So, we have things in the basement with the dehumidifier all squared away (got a replacement for FREE - my favorite price), so now we're developing issues in other areas. Here is our range:
The oven temp does not return to room ambient unless it is turned off at the breaker box or unplugged. It's sort of an inconvenient way to turn the range on and off, and the temperature setting is not reliable, as it is several hundred degrees F when the dial is in the "off" position, though whenever I must use the cooktop, I run downstairs and turn the breaker back on again (which is *way* easier than unplugging the thing). I hope it doesn't explode before next Tuesday, when the repairman will be here to fix it.

I guess that's it for now. I start classes again next week, though my schedule will be much less intense, and I already have half of the work done for the classes. In fact, I only must be on campus for two days next week, though it is still considered "full time," which primarily means that I 1.) must pay full tuition, and 2.) will be able to deduct a portion of my childcare expenses on our income taxes. Six weeks from today, I'll be done with classes altogether. Life is good!

Have a great Thursday!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)