Winter at My House

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Meet Berry Blossom

The photo above is Berry Blossom, it is my Renaissance Mini commercial embroidery machine. Usually I don’t name my machinery, but when I installed the software for this one, it asked for a name. In the embroidery business, at least in my understanding of it, they have several of these machines running side by side off one computer. If “somebody” breaks down, they’ll know which one it is. They probably assign numbers to theirs, but since I only have one I called her Berry Blossom so her initials would be the same as mine. Isn’t that silly? I suppose it is, but after some of the encounters that Berry Blossom and I have had, she should be grateful I haven’t used a few other names!

I have a love/hate relationship with this machine as many of us do with our computers. We love them when they are working well, but hate them when they give us trouble and Berry Blossom has certainly given me her fair share of both. However, many are the times when Operator Error has been found to be the real problem!!

For quite a few years I’ve had a sewing machine that also embroiders, it’s a nice hobby. I’ve enjoyed doing that but found it limiting as to what size project I could turn out. I had thought about getting a commercial machine, but had never seen one and didn’t think I could afford it. About four years ago I went to a Sewing/Embroidery Expo and saw a booth demonstrating this embroidery machine. It was amazing! You can do large beautiful designs with this machine and it was a workhorse. I was hooked.

The Expo lasted three days and I went all three days and asked all kinds of questions of the gentlemen who were doing the demonstrations. Mostly I was interested in support, because if you need repairs or have questions there needs to be somebody to ask. I don’t know anybody else who has one of these. They both assured me that help was available. They said that I could go to Texas for three days to learn everything or I could order a tech to come to the house to teach me one-on-one. None of it was cheap.

Finally on the last day I made my decision to go ahead and order one. Thanks to an inheritance from my mom, I was able to pay for it. She would have been so pleased to know that’s what I got!

Berry Blossom came a month later on my birthday. About a week or so later so did the tech I had requested who charged me $500 for an 8-hour training session. He did a good job showing me the machine and how to thread it. It has 12 needles that carry 12 different colored threads. Each thread has a path that includes about 19 hooks, loops and tensioners, etc. before it reaches the needle. He briefly went over the lubrication that needs to be done – the bobbin gets oiled every 4 sewing hours, the rails every week, the gears once a month and then you get inside…….on and on! He showed me how to install the hoops onto the arms, but I already knew how to hoop the fabric.

The main thing I needed was to learn the software……he didn’t know how to do any of that!! ACK!! So much for the 8 hour training. Well, I’m pretty used to hacking my way through software thanks to a bunch of it I’ve taught myself by trial and error, reading manuals and searching through online tutorials, so I’ve managed to get by. I had called the company on various occasions to get some help and things went along more or less smoothly. About a year later I called for support and found out that the “hardware” and the “software” parts of the business had parted company and now I’m kinda stuck here on my own! From time to time I do call my former technician to answer questions, he would be able to come here from Kentucky if I needed repairs and I also order some of my supplies from him. He got parted from the company when they split, so he is now independent. There is also a chat line that I’ve joined that has been helpful. And sometimes when in trouble…..I just cry!

From time to time, I think I might sell this one and get a new Pfaff (which didn’t exist at the time of my purchase!), that does all the same things. I would have as much support as I could need from a nearby shop that sells the machines, services them and sweet talks you through the problems. I would be part of the “in” crowd. I would make new friends with the same interests. I could go to an Expo and feel excited over the new attachments, ideas and projects. I could take free classes. It’s tempting……….

Since then I’ve been doing a modest amount of embroidery as gifts and for sale in a couple of shops. One is in the craft shop of a retirement community where I work and the other in a little boutique that’s inside the beauty shop I use. I haven’t “gone into business” as yet, I find it takes away the fun of a hobby when you HAVE to do it! But I’ve made a little money off of it and enjoy it when people like what I do. I sold several Christmas aprons for kids this past year and tote bags. I embroider baby blankets, bibs and dish towels and little shirts, etc.

The largest design I’ve done was this one, it was a robe for my grandson who was into tigers at the time. I usually run the machine at 700 stitches per minute. It can run quite a bit faster than that, it’s just not wise on certain designs. This design took over 3 hours to sew out. The first photo is of the tiger in progress. The “plastic” is a water-soluble topping that comes off when the embroidery is finished.


And here is the finished robe:

I’ll share a few other projects another time!

I Love Live Cams!

I get a lot of enjoyment from “live cams”!! For the uninitiated, they are cameras that someone puts in a place that they think is interesting. The resulting pictures are then put onto the Internet for the rest of us to look at to see what’s going on. Some are real-time, constantly playing, while others are stills that take a shot every half minute or so.

The one that has captured the most of my attention this week has been an Eagle Cam at the Blackwater Refuge in Maryland. I watched it last year as a couple of bald eagles added to their nest, laid eggs and proceeded to have their little family. It ended rather sadly with the remaining baby being taken from the nest due to a growth on it’s beak that required treatment if it were to be saved. The last article I read about the baby said it was doing well. I find that many times when dealing with nature, you get your heart broken!

But now it’s a new mating season and at this point, there are two eggs in the nest and a possible third one may arrive tomorrow. I find it fascinating to be able to observe these magnificent birds and their little chicks. If you’d like to join in the watch, click here and save it in your favorites or on your desktop so you can see what’s happening every day.

http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html

On the site you will also find an opportunity to read their blog that gives more information about the eagles and to view other pictures. It is interesting, give it a try!

P.S. Here is another site that has a real-time camera on a nest, it's more interesting than just the still shots in the above link. http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html

What is a Rusty Gazebo?

Thanks to all of you who left me comments, I appreciate you! Thanks to all of you who wrote me an email letting me know you are watching too. I have "lurkers" - how encouraging!

A few of you know about the gazebo, but for those who don't, or asked, here's the story of how I got my title for this blog.

Several years ago I was with a couple of sweet friends who are former co-workers. (Hi Kathy and Jill...it's been awhile!) We try to get together from time to time to catch up on each other's lives. Usually this involves breakfast or lunch, some shopping and on occasion, uncontrolled giggles. Never MY fault, it's just what happens when you hang out with this younger generation!
After our meal, we went to The Secret Garden, a wonderful outdoor shop that features various types of birdbaths, fountains, statuary and other unique objects for your home and garden. I had been there before and enjoyed bringing various friends to enjoy looking around. Here's the link if you are interested in a virtual tour: http://www.secretgardenwaynesville.com/

We walked around the grounds for a few moments pointing out cute little concrete animals, clever signs and bird feeders and then I saw it. It was wonderful, it was rusty and it was just for me. It was also enormous.

Most people think of a gazebo as a wooden structure with a solid top on it and seats in it. This was half a gazebo made of wrought iron and there wasn't any place on it that you couldn't see through and it had no seats. It was perfect. It was expensive. I bought it.

The owners of The Secret Garden, Bart and Debbie, are friendly and so hard-working. They personally took the gazebo apart, delivered it to my house and re-assembled it for me.

In the weeks that followed, I painted the gazebo white, put a couple of my old-fashioned metal lawn chairs and a wrought iron table in it. I hung four hanging baskets with red and white cascading petunias in them and sat back and just looked at it...from the swing on my deck. It was glorious.


At this point I must tell you that my favorite outdoor perch is my swing with a canopy over it. So, while nobody ever really sits in the gazebo for lack of shade, (unless you count the doves that sit on it's top or the bunny who sits under the chairs), it is my favorite thing to look at and dream on.

The beautiful paint job that I did failed and it truly is a rusty gazebo now! I would love to have it repainted and powder-coated by a professional, but that's not in the budget just yet.

The name just seemed to fit here as it is just fun thing to have, a bit of whimsy, not necessary, but hopefully a pleasant place to come and sit for a little bit!

As you can see by the photo of the gazebo in Winter, it's rather nondescript and plain. After the weather warms up and I get some pots planted and hung, it will be rather pretty there. My friend Pat thought so!



Welcome to The Rusty Gazebo!

At last, I am a Blogger

Giving in to pressure from others who seem to have so many interesting things to say, I've decided to find out if I have enough in me to make a blog worth the time it will take someone else to read. It's going beyond my comfort zone to expose my thoughts and feelings to more than one person at a time. Basically, I've always been a shy person. Some will believe that and some won't.

I still haven't decided whether or not to turn off the comments! (I hear myself saying "Big Chicken!" in my own head.) My greatest fear is that I will find out at last that I'm not all that worth listening to.

This summer I'll be 65. Aging never used to scare me, many of the most interesting people I've known in my whole life have been older folks. They fascinate me. Maybe that's why my job for the last 17 years has been in a retirement community. I truly enjoy older people. They can be so honest, so kind and so willing to share anything. Of course they never bothered to let us "youngsters" know about all the things that happen to one's body as we march along through the years! They can be discreet, too, keeping personal things just that, personal! Of course, there is the occasional octogenarian who is prone to what I call "organ recitals", but for the most part, they put on a smile and go their way trying to make sure I have a good day, too.

Besides my job, I enjoy several hobbies which I will try to share here without seeming to show off. If you would see the works of others that I see who share my interests, you'd know I'm woefully below their degree of expertise, but I enjoy what I do and am learning not to be so hard on myself. I'll also share some of my family, in a limited way as not to earn their scorn!

So here I am. Barb the Blogger. Hang onto your hats, it's going to be a bumpy ride!