Ah Netflix, I Love You

Who amongst you can resist a scene such as this, seen through the front door the other night?

Dusk, a full moon rising, silhouettes of trees? What is not to like? Some full moons seem larger, which I know is crazy, but that is how I see this one--gigantic!

I woke, this morning, to a pounding sound coming through the open windows. I thought, perhaps Bruce is fixing the bricks in the walkway? Parting the blinds and looking out front, no sign of him. Nor was there any sign out the side windows. Where is it coming from? Here is where it was coming from.

He was up early, whereas I was not, and the reason for that is I made a mistake last evening by turning on the Netflix around 7 in the evening. What's the problem with that? Well, if you watched the first season of Broadchurch, you'll understand. One episode, turned into two, which turned into three, and so on, and so on, until I'd watched the entire EIGHT episodes in one sitting, keeping me up hours, and hours, past my usual bedtime. Magnetic and compelling, this series is a must watch for the performances, storyline, scenery--you name it, it is all there. I thought I'd recognized the name from Matt and it's true, they watched it and had to wait week after week to see the episodes. With Netflix you won't have to do that! While cleaning the pool this morning, (yes, I'm feeling well enough), I thought how it was like reading a very good novel that you just know you should put aside for the night, but literally just can't.  Which is what I did one of the nights Bruce was out of town, read into the night, a novel that I later learned took the author ten years to write. Ten years!! "We are Not Ourselves" by Matthew Thomas, started slow and picked up steam as the pages went by. All 600 plus of them. I nearly quit early on because I cared nothing for the main character, but I got past that and was happy that I did.

Out the other day for some essentials I decided to stop at the Goodwill store on OBT. It was my lucky day as I was able to find five vases that would work for what I had in mind. The young lady rang them up and it was $4.30 and the next thing I knew it was $3.88. What gives? Senior discount she told me. Asking her what qualified as a senior she said 55 and up. I don't feel like a senior, but there you go. Here's what I did with the clear glass.

It helps that we have gobs of spray paint around the house for Bruce to use on the frames. My sister Lisa has been using spray paint for years--I am late to the party.

Interestingly enough, the vase in the middle has Europa 1986-1987 stamped in the bottom; before fooling around with the stamps, Europa was entirely unknown to me. Here's what I learned about that term, which doesn't seem to really fit. Bruce tells me that Spain used to use Europa on their stamps--so now you know.

Look what came in the mail yesterday?

I have no clue where the Southern Living subscription came from but it all looks right up my alley doesn't it? You can imagine what I thought about the blue door on the cover! The HGTV magazine is really better than the shows because it actually gives you ideas that you might want to use. In fact, that is where the sprayed vases idea came from.

I made a dress the other day using a retro pattern labeled Jiffy, as in you can make it in a jiffy. That, however, was not entirely true as it actually has some tailoring to it that takes time to get right. While working on it I recalled the A-line skirt I made in 8th grade Home Ec, my very first garment. Blue kettlecloth was the fabric. That is when I learned to make darts which were anything but easy the first go round. You sew into the garment to a point, leaving threads hanging to hand tie for a smoother finish.

This dress had some serious darts to contend with. Plus, in order to save money, patterns have multiple sizes on the same piece making cutting and marking somewhat difficult. I kept thinking if this were someones first garment they might just get discouraged and give up.

Did I tell you there is no such thing as vanity sizing when it comes to sewing patterns? I used size 10, and it fits perfectly. I actually began this post Saturday afternoon before leaving for Bill's house, and am just now finishing. I took the nearly complete dress with me to finish the hemming. Fallon called it my jelly bean dress--love that name! It does look very springy, that's for sure.

Finally, here is a hibiscus bloom from a plant Bruce brought back to life. The color is flat out gorgeous, isn't it?

If only the cut blooms lasted more than a day! Well, I'm off to the market--Bruce has been there for more than an hour and it's time I went to help. The weather should be lovely today so that is half the battle. We shall see how everything else plays out.