...Every year... Seriously, the folks who disbelieve climate change need their heads examined. Today, we had another drenching rain, flooded roads, downed trees and a building in town partially collapsed. I took some pics afterward, and thought that the ripples on the bird bath were particularly interesting. Maybe not. But what the heck. I was waiting for the indigo bunting to come back to the feeder, but by the time the bird came back, the temperature had dropped about 8 degrees and my camera lens fogged up... 
But hey - no climate change here... We wrapped Tippi in a blanket and she was happier during a pretty intense thunderstorm. Quinn spent most of it in her "cave" - a little freaked out but not too bad.
And I was sitting there, on the one day I decided to put a sheet mask on my face.... waiting to hear if the tornado sirens were going to break out in song and shuttle us down to the basement... because, of course. The one day I decide to pamper myself, the pampering is cut short with the prospect of having to haul three dogs downstairs to the basement in quick order -- three dogs who don't get along in the first place. That could've been fun. Not.
I'm currently sitting here munching on raisins - supposed to be golden, but they're not looking like they usually do. Anyway, raisins are supposed to help you sleep. Hopefully that's true, because I have been having trouble sleeping. Many folks have said the same thing; it's the long shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic which is messing with all of us. The best thing, though, is that I've gotten a lot done.
I delivered 50 masks to the local hospital. And...a set of 8 ties that we had set aside for more masks. Which I didn't realize till I'd gotten home to sew said masks. Jeeze... Anyway, dropped those off. I have a small stash of these (2-pleat, flat masks) at home and I'll be starting on some more for the hospital in the next week. We'll be wearing masks for a while so I may as well use up the fabric I was given. I'm also making more of the fitted ones; I have 4 to send out to Colorado, and 4 to make for our vicar and her wife. Then, I think, a break. At least 3 or 4 days of no sewing. Give me and the machine a rest.
We've used 11 spools of thread so far. Hubby has cut material till he can do it in his sleep, and finally he's using the fabric scissors! He was using scissors that he has at his desk, and I was having trouble with some of the ties that he was cutting (we're not using bias tape, but some of the fabric, which makes really nice ties). And so on this most recent batch, I handed him a lovely pair of Gingher shears, and the cutting has gone much more smoothly. I'm doing a couple special requests with interfacing for a 3-layer set of masks, and good scissors really do make the difference.
I've been using thread that we bought when we did a lot of dog rescues, and were making our own leashes to have in the car. The thread is a sturdy cotton, an off-white. I tried to use up some of the thread I had from long-ago sewing projects, but it seems my vintage machine is persnickety. It likes certain tensions and as I mixed up the threads (say a color on the top and white in bobbin), the tension went all wonky. So it's back to plain white thread. I have 6 more full spools. After that, I'm going to have to go shop for new stuff.
Today, I had a near tragedy -- well, "tragedy" --- because I was in the middle of sewing a fitted mask, which is a bit fiddlier than the flat ones. And it requires a lot of top stitching. And I was almost out of thread on that particular spool. This is what I had left after finishing the top stitching... In knitting, we'd call this "yarn chicken," and I don't know if this is a thing in sewing. But I am hereby calling it "thread chicken."
And I won that round.
The Breathe & Hope Shawl...
It's coming along. I'm on the 4th section and there are, I believe, 8 sections. Zipping along with very little problem. I think I don't like the switching of needles. I'm not sure how it's going to block out, though on the pattern, the example shows a great deal of drape. Mind you, even though I'm using sock yarn, as suggested, I notice some slight difference in thickness of the yarns; the base color is a tad finer than the accent color. That may be making the difference you see in that middle blue section. But then - I changed the needles and am using smaller than called for. You have to have 2 sizes between them, so I'm using size 3 and size 5. The pattern calls for size 4 and size 6. I have no idea where all my size 6 circulars are.
Though I suspect they're in WIPs somewhere. Luckily for me, I can't go out and just pick up another set. Because sure as you can imagine, I'll find ALL of them.
I also whipped out one of these for my friend. We've been trying to figure out how to retrofit her mask. The clinic she works in won't let them wear home-made masks, which is fine. But the one she has is one with elastic around the ears and as you can imagine, her ears are raw. Technically, it's crocheted, and it took me all of 10 minutes. I did it in 100% cotton (same stuff for face cloths). That way, if she has to "sterilize" it, she can use hot water. The buttons are out of my button tin. But I realize that I don't have a good stash of that size. So I don't know if I'll be able to make a quantity of these.
I do have a stash of baby buttons for sweaters, but I'm not touching those! Besides, they're "character" buttons - teddy bears, flowers, etc. And they wouldn't stand up to heavy washing anyway. I'll skim through the button bin again and see what I can come up with. They have to be at least 3/4" wide.
Anyway, if you can't sew, but you can crochet, these are ridiculously easy to do. Do yourself a favor, if you know front line medical workers -- or anyone who has to wear a mask - and whip up a few of these. Here's a Ravelry link for the free pattern.... Ear Guard.
Nature in Bloom...
Took a couple more shots of the garden; we've got birds, we've got flowers. We've got milkweed. ALL. OF. THE. MILKWEED. Seriously, we counted 65 plants growing and so we plucked that back to about 30. And then more sprouted! Even this little guy in a crack in the sidewalk. If that's not an exercise in persistence, I don't know what is. 
My lily of the valley are so beautiful! I do have to thin them out. I think that Kid #2 is going to get some for the shady side of his yard. I've never had the opportunity to smell them - I understand their scent is lovely, but my allergies have been nuts lately. The lilacs are done; I think they keeled over prematurely because they got beaten with the incredibly heavy rain storms we've had in quick succession.
The Icelandic Poppy is starting to bud. I love the parchment-like blossoms, and the creamy-pale-pink of this variety is always a welcome sight in my garden. I can't even remember how long ago I bought it. Surely, at least 15-20 years ago. 
And then there are the birds. Oh my... Today, I got the blue jay on the shepherd's hook - back view only, sorry. And I was wondering what was chomping on the orange in the oriole feeder. It hadn't been the orioles. They hadn't quite figured out how to nibble at the oranges, so I put more in the holders on the larger feeder. Turns out it was a visitor I haven't seen in a lot of years:
A red-bellied woodpecker... Normally, they suck down the suet. And I had just put fresh suet out there, with mealworms no less. But - he decided that the orange was what he wanted. Suits me.
As long as he stays off my house.
Random Picture...
This is the Cassaday mansion. Well, that's what the local historical society is calling it. It's on blocks because it was moved from its original location over and down 3 blocks. Because the city wanted to put a gas station there. Because that's more important than historical buildings. There was a kerfuffle that I documented about this house. It finally ended with the house being purchased and moved. It's not settled yet, and I have no idea what they're going to do with it. Preliminary plans seem to be another museum, this one housing records of African American history in our area. I'm looking forward to seeing what it will be like when they get it done.
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