Not much makes me happier than feeling independent with a brain full of chemicals induced by exercise

It appears that I went for a bike ride today. But that's not Kevin in the trailer.
 
It's groceries! And more of them than I thought I would be able to get home from the store.
 
 
I admit to limiting myself to 1 gallon of milk instead of my usual 2 and only 2 boxes of Coke instead of anywhere up to 6 that I would usually get when at the store with a car but I still think that I got quite a bit of stuff into the trailer and to our house by only my own muscle power.
 
And doesn't it figure that the way to the grocery store is all downhill while the ride home is all uphill.

Andy's is not pink with flowers on it

 

While Andy didn't want a blue kayak, we are "function over form" people (and he didn't want to wait 9 weeks to order the orange or army green version.)

We've been out twice in our kayaks and it's been a good time. Andy tried sitting in the back seat with Kevin in the front but the front portion of the boat was out of the water. The boat stays flat when Andy rides in the front/middle with Kevin in the back so I think he'll stick with that from now on. Now he's on the hunt for an appropriate fishing rod holder that mounts effectively to his kayak. I suspect that once he finds that, I'll never see him again except for those rare occasions when he feels the need for a shower with real soap.

Sewing With Dianne

Hello and welcome to today's show. On this exciting episode, Dianne will display how NOT to sew a simple pair of shorts for her son.



What could be easier than sewing a pair of 4-panel shorts with an elastic waistband? A no-sew fleece scarf, perhaps? Not much, that's for sure! But stay tuned as we learn the many disasters lurking within the pattern, fabric and bobbin just waiting for their chance to spring loose!

At this time the producers of this program would like to state a warning that viewers with weak hearts may be susceptible to holy outbursts ("Oh my Goodness!", "My Word!" and such) when viewing these graphic images.

Behold Exhibit A. The ungathered gathering of the elastic waistband. In Dianne's defense, it was her first time ever sewing an elastic waistband. But still.


Exhibit B. This is a prime example of how not to sew a hem. Nowhere in the instructions does the pattern call for pleats and yet Dianne creatively added approximately 5 (one of them might be a wayward dart) to the hem of this garment.


Exhibit C. It's hard to see what's going on here what with all of the wrinkles at the top of the shorts, but look lower, near the hem. The arc above the hem was a simple mistake of catching the fabric from underneath when finishing off the inside edge with a zig-zag stitch. Proper patience and perseverance were displayed during the ripping out of the seam but people! The twill! It does not forgive!


Thanks for joining us for today's episode of "Sewing With Dianne." Tune in next time when will be heard such comments as, "How do you make a button hole there?" and "You want me to do *what* with the crotch seam?" Don't miss the fun!

It's pink with flowers on it

Andy and I tried to give each other kayaks for Christmas. Unfortunately, not many stores have much of a selection of kayaks during the winter so we ended up waiting until there were more available to test at least by sitting in before making our decision of what to buy.

Today I got my kayak! The model I chose is women-specific, which is not what I planned, but it worked out for various reasons. I had my choice between turquoise blue, lime green and hot pink. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the hot pink so that's what I went with. Look at it!



When we got it home I wanted to practice taking it off the car rack all by myself. I had a moment of concern here, but it turned out well.
 
Kevin was very helpful as I tried to regain my balance.
 
Kevin knows how to max and relax.
 
Andy was going to get a tandem so he could take Kevin along but I think we can see here that it'll be just as easy (and cheaper) to strap Kevin to the bow of my boat.