Welcome!

Welcome to my little ol' blog. I'll be upfront about it: I don't blog very often any more. If you found your way here because you read my book "Trailer Life," have a gander! But it's easier to keep up with me on Instagram or on my Facebook page. I have this long, drawn out theory on why I'm a terrible blogger, but that is a story for another day. Enjoy the ramblings of my life from the last 8 years or so.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Sewing Withdrawals that somehow turns into property development

Here is my sewing story: I decide to teach myself how to sew because... I don't remember why. My grandma M. sews some, and she showed me how to do some stuff; power machinery is always fun...so in 2004, I buy a sewing machine and attempt a quilt. I melt the poly batting and store it away. I attempt a simple wrap skirt out of heinously slippery fabric, and toss that unfinished project. But, I had part of a room for all this, and I attempted. A dress for Kacy that was supposed to be "quick and easy" that took me two full days. And was UGLY. U-G-L-Y. Then we decided that we didn't care for neighbors and the busyness of the town we were in and decided to move and build a house. Move into a fifth wheel trailer and campground for 14 months while we "developed" our property. I bought some heinously slippery fabric again, a flower-girl dress pattern, all for Kacy to be a pretty-princess for Halloween. Then I got pregnant with Ed, and SICK. No sewing the entire time I was pregnant. When Ed was about four months old we moved to our property (still in our trailer) and I attempt sewing again. The reason this time is because I am super picky about fashion. And modesty. And my daughter. So, the sewing began. I bought a serger. I loved my sewing adventures- I sewed on a TV tray while sitting on the edge of my bed. I cut everything out on my bed. There was much time spent packing and unpacking sewing supplies. Everything was going great. People got handmade clothes (whether they liked them or not...) and Kacy was cute at church. And I had a few skirts for myself. Then summer came, and with the heat came the realization that I can't iron at the same time the AC is on the trailer. It trips the breaker. And Ed became more mobile. And I was pregnant again (and SICK). And for SOME reason, being pregnant makes me very UNcreative. All my energy goes into taking naps. Its a syndrome, really. But here I am, looking at summer, my new baby, and my unfinished house and thinking "Man! I need to sew!" Because Kacy is as leggy as ever. And it's hard to find cotton dresses with sleeves. And because my SIL Jocelyn sews and has links on her blog to cool sewing sites. And because I have nothing else to do. (That last part is a joke...) I have a plan for my sewing, and we will see how it goes. When I make my first cute creation, or modify an existing outfit for Kacy, I will definitely post.
And if you have never developed property before, it goes like this. Clear some land (oh wait- that means renting a bulldozer. Buying a tractor. Dirty sweat.) Get well "witched" or "dowsed" and drilled. Put in pump, pipe, pressure tank, storage tank. Get water tested (oh do I have a horrid story about that day. Valentine's day. Pregnant with Ed. Deadline to get water to testing facility in town 1.5 hours away. Train wreck by refinery. Closed road. Trip to Denny's while train wreck is cleared. Get to facility at 4:59pm with one employee who had come back to get her purse. She accepts our water samples. Thankfully)... testing done and passed. Rent backhoe and dig huge trench for power lines. Get address from county (a 6 week process...) so we can GET electricity. Put up meter boxes/breakers. Get phone line in trench. Trenches were 600 feet and 350 feet long. Four feet wide and three feet deep. After we have all this done, we move out of the campground and onto our property and breathe a HUGE sigh of relief. Because now we are stepping up in life. No more campers. I can let the kids run around a bit. And we have a phone. Which means we have the Internet. Still going to the laundromat at this point (That gets taken care of later, hallelujah). We could have hired people to do all this, I suppose, but what's the fun in THAT? *** We hired a drilling rig to dig the well of course. We aren't that handy.

1 comment:

  1. Every time I read about your "trailer life" I am in awe and need to remind myself to be thankful for what I have. I know all your sacrifices will pay off big when you're kickin' back in your dream home. I hope you devote an entire room (or at least a desk) to your sewing! Good luck with your next project.

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