I Really Couldn't Think Of A Witty Title

Our offices at work are moved and since I was knee deep into overtime, I only worked a couple of hours this morning and then I took off up the northshore for a much needed head clearing road trip. I'm not quite sure what it is about driving up to just south of Grand Marais but no matter how stressed I am, I usually feel better by the time I get home. Could it be the frequent stops at quilt shops or the healing power of Lake Superior? Well, I didn't bring any lake water home with me but I did find some fabric.

Amidst the insanity of my work life over these past two weeks, I did manage to terminally break my sewing machine. After doing some investigating online, I discovered that it was a common problem that keeps occuring with the model I had. After learning that it would be $70 to have it looked at, I said screw it.

This is what I settled on.














It has stuff












Tonight, I made my first automatic buttonhole. I felt like such a virgin. I needed a cigerette afterwards.

After my last machine died, I cleaned up my sewing area and took all my fabric out to the garage and put it into rubbermaid bins. I wasn't sure if I would get another machine. Yeah, that idea lasted 12 hours tops.

On my way back through Two Harbors, I stopped at their Friends of the Library booksale. Boy! Those little old ladies really give you the hard sell to become a friend of the library. They were pushing it on everyone and when I told them that I was from Duluth, they said that it didn't matter. I then told them I was a friend of the Duluth library. They said that didn't matter either. I then gave her my best stepford wife smile and told her I had all the friends I needed. Bless her heart, she really needs to get a job selling used cars. I'm sure she would be very successful.

It's funny because I love going to library booksales but I rarely end up being one of those people that take out bags and boxes of books. (I sometimes wonder if they're not just loading up on kindling for the winter.) I might find a couple things but it usually ends up being that I donate far more books than I purchase which is fine by me. This time, however, I was absolutely amazed. I found a ton of cooking and entertaining booklets from the fifties that are a total hoot to read. I'm going to have to scan in some images this weekend because they are indescribable.

I also found a government issued booklet from 1948 that has recipes for "hard times". It mentions the economic conditions of the day (very much like today!) and how so many countries were starving. It then proceeds to recipes heavy on the meat and light on the grain so that we could send our grain to other countries. "Remember," it intones, "Eat meat for your country! Eat meat...for democracy!"

It makes me want to go out and punch a cow. For America!!!