Moving a house

Saturday was a week ago Amber and I were at a yard sale down town and we saw people removing the roof from an old house there. This house has been down town for longer then I have been alive. I could remember seeing an old man sitting on the porch for years but for a couple years I haven't seen him anymore. I told Amber that they must either be tearing the house down or maybe getting it ready to move. I didn't think they would be removing the roof like they were just tearing it down.

Then Wednesday I was sitting there at work and saw these two police cars moving slowly up the street. I was wondering what was going on and then I saw half of the old house going by. I jumped up and grabbed my camera out of my purse to take pictures. Now these pictures are not in order.
This first picture is the half they moved on Thursday.
This is a close-up of that half as it passed right in front of my store. You can see the light fixture still hanging down.
This is the half they moved on Wednesday. By the time I got my camera to get a picture it was already past my store.
And here is part of the roof that they moved on Thursday.
I was sad to see this old house leaving from downtown. I wondered where they were taking it too. Then when I got our local paper on Thursday there was an article on the front page about it. You can read the article below. It seems this house was over 100 years old. The man who owned it had at one time had a grocery store downtown. I have heard people talk about that store before but don't remember it. The house needed a lot of work done to it, but the old man never did any to it and to look at him you would have thought he was dirt poor. But the article said he had a moderate fortune when he died in 2006 and since he was a bachelor it was split among his family and some other places. I am assuming they were charities or something. The paper also said the house was being taken to Whatley, which is only about 20 miles from here, and being restored by a couple. I am happy the house will be redone and it will probably be on more land then it was on downtown I'm sure.

I was taping this article into a book of mine and I wrote that it was beside the old post office and across from the old police station. It seems a lot of stuff has moved away from downtown in the past several years. Now the police station is still downtown. But they built a nice new one on the other end of town. The post office, however, built a new building about a mile or more from the old one.

When I was young I used to ride my bike to town and I could go to the post office, get an ice cream cone, go to the 5 & 10 cent store, go by the grocery store, and go see a movie if I wanted all right there in the downtown section. Now I can't do any of those things. All those places are gone. People have built new stores further out. Our town has grown over the years and there are many more businesses then when I was young, but they are spreading out to the Highway and along the Highway. I miss the things that were once downtown. The movie theater is still there but they don't show movies anymore. Sometimes they have plays and such there. I guess that is progress, but it is a sad progress sometimes. There are quite a few empty stores downtown now. I ride through there occasionally just to look. I really don't have much reason to go downtown anymore as there are no stores down there I need to go to. How sad is that?

Cleaning out my closet

Last Sunday I decided to clean out my closet some. Here is a picture of some of the stuff on my bed that I took out of my closet to organize. I tell people that I would rather spend my money on fabric then clothes so my closet is mostly filled with fabric, trims, and other sewing supplies.
This is part of the top shelf of before.
This is the other side of the top shelf before.
This is my tool box which is full of sewing tools and supplies!
Here is the side of my closet with my tool box in it after I reorganized it. Some people may say it doesn't look much different, but to me it is! Things are easier to get to now. I really need a sewing room with lots of shelves to put all this stuff on and then it would be even easier to get to stuff!
Here is the other side of my closet after I organized it. Notice my few clothes. Half of the are the scrubs I wear to work.
The totes under my clothes all have fabric in them. My clothes end about even with the door frame. There is about a two foot beyond my clothes to the right and there are totes stacked from floor up to the shelf there.
I found this beauty in my closet. It is my mother's portable typewriter. I remember my mama typing quite often on it when I was young.
I don't know exactly how old it is, but I would guess at least 35 or 40 years old. I just love it! It is in excellent condition and still in it's original case.

New Bag Made

I saw this great pattern for a bag over at Freda's Hive blog. I thought to myself that this would be a great purse for me. So I ordered the pattern. Nanette's bags looked so lovely and so easy to make. I figured I could make one in no time. Now you need to remember that I have no sewing room. I do all of my fabric cutting on my bed and then I have to bring this little table in my bedroom and put my machine on it to sew. That is why I don't like to do much machine sewing. It is such a pain in the neck moving everything around and I can only do this when hubby is working. So I got the pattern, then got my fabrics out and while hubby was working nights I cut out my bag and sewed it up. Well, let me tell you! That machine quilting just about got the better of me! I guess I just don't know how to do it right! It was a hot night here and by the time I got through with the machine quilting I thought I was going to have a melt down! So please don't look too close at my quilting! I think I must have been doing something wrong. Surely it shouldn't have been that hard!
Here is my finished bag.
I wanted to use this bag for a purse and I am but it is really a little big. I did box the bottom and I guess maybe I should go back and rip out the bottom and cut it off some, but I just don't know if I am up to it. I think I will just use it as it is for now and think about it. I might make a smaller purse later and then use this one as just a tote bag. I love the design and I love the colors I choose.

Here is a close up of the back of the bag. Please don't look closely at the machine quilting. I'm afraid my lines aren't too straight! I don't know why these words are underling! I don't know what to do to stop it!
This is my favorite part! The button! I love cherry fabric! And this fabric made the perfect button!
This is one of the inside pockets. I made my pockets larger then Nannette did hers as I love pockets in my bags. I like all my stuff to be in pockets and be organized. Of course there are not enough pockets for everything, but I can put my papers and stuff that would get all messed up in my purse in these.
These are the pockets on the other side of the bag.
This little pocket looks funky, but it is in the side of the bag where the two sides join together. It holds my pens. I just hate for my pens to be loose in my purse! Is anyone else out there as crazy as I am about this? I know my best friend is reading this and rolling her eyes! She already thinks I am too nuts with some of my organization! But I love her anyway!
I have a couple more things to post about but that will have to wait till later as I have got to get to the grocery store!

I Won!

I was one of the winners of Carrie P. over at A Passion for Applique's birthday giveaway! My prize arrived in the mail today! Look at the great goodies I won!
This great heart pincushion!
The lovely Checkerboard Bouquet to applique'!
These beautiful charm fabrics!
And these lovely tan fabrics for the background on the applique!
It was so kind of Carrie to have such a great giveaway! Thank you Carrie for lovely goodies!

Selvage Giveaway!

Lissa over at ModaLissa is having a great giveaway! She is giving away selvage! Hop on over there and check it out!

Prom Dress for Sale

Does anyone know anyone who needs a larger size prom dress? I have had Amber's prom dress in my closet ever since she wore it to prom. It has only been worn that one time and I really need to get it out of my closet! I paid almost $300.00 for it and would be willing to part with it for $75.00 plus postage. It is a size 22. Amber only wore a size 18 but you always have to get a larger size in these kind of dresses.
Here is a picture of Amber wearing it. I have a larger professional picture of her in it that I can scan and post if anyone wants to see it.
This is a picture I took of the dress hanging on my door.
This is a close-up of the bodice.
If anyone knows anyone who would like this dress please let me know! I sure would appreciate it!

I've been told it has been a while since I last posted. My best friend mentioned yesterday that I had not posted in a while and wanted to know what was up with that! It's nice to know she reads my blog.

We did have a big event happen this past week. My son, Keith, who turned 15 in February, got his learners permit! So now everywhere I go Keith wants to drive me! Friday after I got off work he drove me to Wal-Mart. He had a little problem with the parking. He pulled into a space just fine, but he wanted to go straight on through into the next space so that he would have to back up when we went to leave. The problem was there was a shopping cart in the way so he pulled over to the next space. Well, they left the car totally crooked. I was trying to instruct him on how to back up and get the car straight, but it wasn't working very good. So he finally turned off the motor and said this would do! Can you tell from the photos that he is in 4 different parking spaces?! I just died laughing! We just left it that way since we weren't going to be in the store but a few minutes. Other then the parking he seems to be doing pretty good.
Keith did tell me that he likes driving with me in the passenger seat better then his dad or Amber because I don't yell at him! This made me feel good. I told him that I keep reminding myself that he is just learning to drive and to stay calm. There are times when I am pushing on my imaginary brake harder then he is on his real one!
This morning Amber and I went to a few yard sales. I found this really cute little girl vase. Isn't she just adorable? I only paid 50 cents for her and she is in excellent condition.
Here is a side view where you can see the vase part. I want to make a pincushion out of her. When I showed her to Tara, she asked me how I could make a pincushion out of something hard! I had to explain to her that I would put some batting and fabric in the pot part!
This is the piece of embroidery I have been working on. I know it looks kinda strange right now, but it will all come together once I finish it.
This is the original drawing that my brother, Keith, did with a pencil. I plan to do black in the lighter colored parts. I want to use it in a panel for the side of a purse. Well, that is my plans now. But who knows, that could change!
I sure hope it turns out like I want it to. Well, I have to go back out and check my laundry. It seems that's all I do on Saturday afternoons!