Being Reminded

Nann's been busy catching up with blogs, and the comments she added to my last three postings reminded me that I haven't written anything for 2 months. What could possibly have distracted me (she wonders, facetiously)?

The week after I wrote my previous post, I was in Oregon again to move my mother here to Texas with me. The past two months have been a flurry of furnishing and getting her situated in her new Memory Care "apartment" (the facility is 2 miles from me), getting her Medicare insurance squared away, appointments with new doctors, three ER visits, two hospital admissions/discharges, and trying to get her to sleep at night! It's been intense, and I learned pretty quickly that I'd need to take mornings for myself and devote the 1-5 pm time slot to visiting and amusing her.

During her recent hospital stays I was reminded daily that the elastic on my mask was absolutely shot and needed replacing.

This "singer's mask" has seen constant duty for over 2 years. I was so very lucky to get some of the last elastic available in the marketplace back in Spring 2020. Within days of my purchase, there wasn't a piece of elastic to be bought for love nor money, unless you were willing to buy it in 100-yard cones.

After I rummaged through my mask-making project box (now being sorted through and redistributed, as making masks is no longer an ongoing project) for the last few pieces of this green elastic,

I wondered what it was I had stored in the lebkuchen tin that had been sitting on top of the project box.

Lebkuchen! How long had I been away from my stuff that I had forgotten I had lebkuchen at hand?!? A sweet reminder, indeed!

Nann's post was a nudge/reminder that I needed to get this last seam taken care of so I can clear the decks for the Magpie hugs coming my way for quilting. Everything's been starched and ironed, yet here it sits, unfinished for who knows what reason? Once I hit "Publish", I'll head into the studio and sew that last seam!

I've been sewing this together all Summer on a friend's Brother JX-2517, using a 1/2-pound cone of "left twist" cotton thread I picked up at Salvation Army during one of the 'furnish Mom's room' runs. A great find at $1.99! (I gave my friend my extra Brother 1500 in exchange so she wouldn't be machineless.)

She asked me to see if I could figure out the tension problem she'd been having for a long time. I did--the wrong bobbin was being used--but I wanted to use it for another long time to see if replacing the bobbin was the only thing it needed (apparently, it was). But every time I sit at it, I'm reminded that I can't find any of the accessories that came with it!

We're both pretty certain that she gave me everything she had for this machine, but I can't find hide nor hair of anything other than what was attached to the machine at the time. I carefully searched all over the house and garage yesterday, even opening drawers I knew I'd never have put a bag of accessories in. In the process I found a very nice multi-meter and a stash of batteries that needed checking, and the final reminder that I have way too many unfinished projects stashed about, and far too much crap just hanging around!