Two Can Be as Bad as One

 Three Dog Night had it right when they sang "It's the loneliest number since the number one." Just ask Cooper who looks like a pretty sad gate keeper up at my paddock. I knew he would be waiting all day Saturday for Nick to return, but I didn't expect the vigil to continue to all day yesterday and I am certainly hoping it will have ended by today.  He is eating well, drinking well and physically in fine shape, but those that don't think animals have feelings need to either get a few or pay close attention to the ones they do have. I can say without a doubt in my mind, they have friends, they have enemies, they love, they get angry with one another ( and make up too) and they grieve. I have no way of telling Cooper he's found a new home. To him, Nick is just gone.  If anything, paying extra attention to Coop has kept me from feeling too sad about Nick's departure.  Dandy has been a steady friend also, hanging with Cooper even though I know he would rather be back up on the hill in the shade of the trees

Nick did me proud though, he walked right into that strange trailer with Mary, made himself at home and said let's get moving onto new adventures. And off they went. I'm told he was a gentleman unloading and sensibly surveyed his new digs without drama or silliness. The end of a long chapter here with us. Onward Ho!

I did bury myself a bit in the sewing room. The Hazel dress by Victory Patterns was a total success. Color blocking in a classic and simple style.



 I had wanted a way to use this deep apple green linen since it came into Fabric of Vision, but it's a hard color to work into an adult wardrobe. This pattern was the perfect solution. The bottom shell is fully lined with a beautiful satin smooth muslin. If I had more of this creamy white fabric I'd be making myself a blouse with it, the hand is so smooth and soft, the weaving tight and firm. The cream bodice is a linen & hemp or cotton blend. It was very nice to work with also. Certainly held a press well.



 I'll be making one or two more of these in tunic length for the fall and winter. The fit is wonderful, not a single adjustment other than length needed. I didn't do the color blocked cuff, it was just too much for me and instead opted to do a simple cuff slit and add a touch of the apple green as detail.



Second up is an almost finished blouse. (That's sun making it look blotchy.) This is Butterick's 5365 another Connie Crawford pattern and quite nice right out of the envelope.



 I like that the collar and stand is sized smaller than many patterns. Nothing screams home made like a too big collar on a blouse.



The dart detailing from shoulder to bust area work to give the blouse a soft easy silhouette
and are quite pretty I think. My only adjustment will be to lengthen the sleeves on the next one. They ended up on the short side which usually is not the case for me.

The big cement pour happened Friday at high noon!



Not near as exciting as when the house foundation was done. Then they had six cement trucks loaded in a line down the driveway with a crew of 4 men (plus the drivers of each truck), and it took most of the day. Friday we had one truck, a meager 4 yards ordered and the driver.



 That meant I was pressed into slave labor. My job was to level off the footings while Gene and the very nice (and fun!) driver poured the next one.



 It took 45 minutes from the time the truck got into place until he left the property. Gene smoothed off all of the footings. This week the actual building begins.



 Okay, I want a cement truck in my barn right next to Bob and that little excavator! They are just so nifty.

If you don't have anything good to say, best not say anything at all. I have nothing to say about the Patriots game yesterday and the missed 22 yard field goal. Nothing.

Parting shot: Red Alert! Code Blue! Everyone to the kitchen STAT! An escaped Timmy!

New Chapters

Somewhere on my third or fourth outing on Nick, I realized I was going to be hitting an annual brick wall. Cooper was a green horse once long ago and had the benefit of two good years of daily riding from April to November. Over that two years, we parted ways a few times, had many discussions about acceptable trail behavior and grew together as rider and mount. He turned into my perfect partner and I like to think I'm his. Dandy had a fine start before he came to us and needed about 30 days of consistent riding to get into condition and beyond the skills he had come with. Nick as horse 3 in the herd is never going to get that kind of time here. I have more things other than riding that I like to do and truth be told, I like my two easy experienced trail horses. Isn't this what I worked so hard for? Yes, it is.  So it is not with a heavy heart that I tell you Nick is starting a new chapter in his life, one in which he gets the opportunity to be someones much loved "Cooper". When my occasional riding partner Mary saw Nick, she fell in love with him. When I mentioned I needed to move him along she thought that he would be a fine replacement for her much loved but ready for retirement horse, Woodrow. I thought she would be perfect to handle his gregarious and playful nature.



 Both her riding style and soft touch bode well for a blossoming partnership.  There are 4 happy souls in this deal. Everyone is getting just what they need and want at just the right time. Bonus is, I'll get to visit him since he won't be too far away. He leaves tomorrow and I know there are going to be tears, but not too many.

Since chapters is part of the subject of this post, here are two wonderful new additions to my small sewing library. The first is actually a weighty textbook for fashion design students and covers a wealth of topics taking you from basics to couture.



 I have coveted this book for a while but the price is out of this world.



After over a year a reasonably priced copy came up on eBay and Gene grabbed it for me. The second is all about inspiration.



 It's not going to tell you how to make something, but when you're scanning around for ideas to jazz something up, this is a go to for sure.



The horizontal pin tucks on the cuffs of my last San Diego top came right from this book.

Very little sewing has happened this week. Preparations for Nick's move and deck stuff have eaten into hobby time, but I did manage one lovely sleeveless duster from Connie Crawford's new Butterick pattern 5473.



This was a fun pattern to do and very nicely drafted. It is easy but does have a fair amount of finishing to the garment so it takes a little more time than you would think for a long vest.



The fun colored selvage provided a little detail between the bodice and lower portions



Finally after a week of grumbling and swearing, Gene has finished up the eight forms. The concrete company heads up this afternoon to pour those footings and we can get to the actual structure building next week. I'm sick of the ladder. Bringing groceries in yesterday was a real pain. I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend with no holidays or festivals. Maybe a reflective morning ride or two.

Parting shot: Purple Timmy, when green or orange Timmy just won't do!