On Unexpected Illness:

So far, I have been able to blog here everyday since I started back in May. But my gall bladder started to act up again last night.

The doctor told me last time if it flares up again he wants it out. So if you don’t see me here for a few days, you’ll know what happened. They dragged me kicking and screaming off to the hospital to have it out.

On Working Without a Net:

Yesterday I sewed myself a mini or opera cape.















It is black cotton, 3/ 4 inch wide grosgrain ribbon for the tie, and 1/ 4 inch wide grosgrain ribbon and clear glass buttons for decoration.















I wasn’t careful with my scissors and cut a little where I shouldn’t have, so I added a strip of ribbon down the center back to hide the mistake and added a little bow and button there too, just for good measure.

I was going to make the mini cape shorter but with my elephant ear upper arms… (You know what I mean. The excess flesh on your upper arm that when you are done waving goodbye it keeps on waving long after the person is gone from sight.) Well, when I made it to come to mid upper arm it came to a bad place bringing attentions to the flab on my arms so I went with making it a little longer and hiding the ugly. So now it comes almost to the elbow.

Of course it doesn’t matter if I wear it with long sleeves but if I wear it over a gown or short sleeves I’m joke fodder for weeks.

The reason my sewing projects take a bit longer to accomplish is I rarely work with a pattern. And although I do have a dressmakers dummy it is not larger enough for my ample size at the moment. I wind up having to try the thing on any number of times, accidentally sticking pins into myself as I go. (It’s not the prickings that gets to me, it’s the blood stains.) Ha, ha.

Thankfully they don’t show as much on black. Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s true.

I also worked on my long, hooded, black velvet cloak/cape. It is getting a light gray lining and a matching muff. But I’ll post more about that at another date.

Yes, I know it is nearing the end of winter and you are asking yourself, why is she making it now? Because now the fabric is on sale to make room for all those colorful spring and summer prints I don‘t buy.

On Sewing Dress Up:

I got up early this morning and you found me with a mouth full of pins because I was sewing away for the last couple of hours.

I love to go thrift shopping then taking the clothing I find there and changing them into something new and different.

Last night I was watching the movie ‘Lemony Snicker’s - A Series of Unfortunate Events.’ I just love the clothing in that movie. So Victorian, yet twisted just a bit.















I woke with an idea for changing the sleeves on a extra large men’s black cotton shirt I have been reforming for myself. Fortunately the sleeves were over long and I could cut off the cuffs, slim the arms and hem it so it came a few inches down my hands with a button on the inside in the opening slit left from the old cuff. I had put in a few darts to slim it around the waist the other day.















Sorry, I didn’t think to take pictures before I started the project.

I’m thinking of adding removable puffs to the top of the sleeves in a complimentary fabric. Give it a ‘leg-o-mutton’ Victorian, puffed sleeve look when I want to. And I was going to change the collar but it stands up in a nice stiff way without scratching. So another blouse will get the ruffle collar I was thinking of making here.

I also want to make a mini cape. Just an over the shoulder thing with a ruffle hem coming to about half way between the shoulder and the elbow with a bow at the neck. I can use this to change the look of a few different tops.

I like making pieces that can be moved from one dress, top or skirt to another. I like mixing things up while also saving space in my closet. It also helps when I can get others to join me in making cemetery pictures. They don’t need to have a Victorian wardrobe just for an afternoon photo shoot. And with the use of a few pins or ties they can be used by almost anyone over their own clothing.

Add a puff to the sleeves on a blouse and a separate bustle or train over the waist of a skirt, that can be any length really, and you have a whole new look. I love the mix and match quality of black.

On A Home for Dreams:

I had an odd dream last night. I used to like dreaming. I still do in some ways. But since my son died it got a lot harder on me. At first it was the grief that would rush back when I awoke after a dream about him even though in the dream I knew he was dead.

Then after a few years, I had a dream about finding him again. In it his death was just a mistake. When I woke I had to give him up all over again. It took me days, no weeks to even start to get over it a second time. I was so devastated by that one dream I just didn’t want to dream again.

Of course I did dream again. I’d dream about solutions to problems. I’d dream about the places in my head that I was writing about in my stories. I’d dream about places I don’t think I’ve ever been in the flesh but I have visited all my life in dream time.

Most of my dreams are a collection of thoughts and experiences from the day before all scrambled into a new and interesting way. I like unscrambling them again in the morning like a puzzle only I can play with.

Some of my dreams are perfect worlds that leave me with a wonderful feeling of true beauty inside and out.

Some of my dreams seem to have messages for me for the future. They are different and stick with me until I figure them out. Later something will happen and I’ll have a moment of clarity where the dream will suddenly make sense. I’ll find myself saying, ‘I dreamed about this.’ or ‘Now I get it.’

The trouble is the dreams that don’t fit into any of these categories but still haunt my waking mind. They are not solutions, visiting, stories, puzzles, perfection, or messages. They just seem to be odd dreams not connected to me at all but more like they are looking for a place to rest, a home. Am I dreaming in someone else’s dream while they sleep? That was the kind of dream I had last night. Am I a home for lost dreams?

Carnivorous Plant Terrariums:

Well the carnivorous plants are doing well in there new homes. I managed to get a large matching Cookie/Apothecary jar from my local Target store. The jars stand over a foot high, 35 cm, with the lid on and have a nice 7 1/ 2 inch, 19 cm, across opening. They are very reasonably priced, and there are smaller sizes for the less adventuresome. Small stones, Peat moss, plants, water to top of stones. The white in the jars are thermometers so I can keep them comfy.















In this one I have a Sundew on the left, two pitcher plants in the center of the picture, and a Butterwort on the right.















And in the other are my Venus Flytraps.















I also got a Cryptanthus bivittatus or ‘Pink Star’ this year. She is not a carnivorous plant but with those nice sharp saw tooth edges to her stiff leaves I could pass her up. She is just a bit dangerous too. In the day time they are all on the window sill, with their lids cocked open a bit so they can feed.

Well February is almost over and it is time to get those seeds for the garden. I know that there is still snow on the ground but if we are going to start the seedlings we will have to get started soon. The end of May will be coming faster then we believe it will at the moment. And the little seedlings with be going in the garden by then.

On The Tea Party:

The dolls had their own Tea Party in their house. I don’t know what they wrote on their thankfulness lists but they all seemed to have a nice time and were smiling when it was over.















Mountain Man joined me for the Thankfulness Tea Party yesterday. We went with a Raspberries and Cheese theme in the foods this year. We had cheese and crackers, raspberry jam, cookies and cream filled chocolates along with our tea. I even had berry flavored tea but Mountain Man stuck with his favorite orange pekoe.














I also set out a plate of pretty Victorian scrap pictures to decorate the pages of our Thankfulness books as we went along.















I dressed the table with my nicest hand made lace table cloth and we set the table with a few things from the china cabinet and some paper doilies. I put on harp music this year and lit the candles.

I dressed in my black skirt with the new overskirt and a white blouse. And we spent the next few hours nibbling and writing sharing the plate of scrap pictures and the glue stick. It was a lovely afternoon of thankfulness and watching the snow come down outside of the window.

















I won’t share all of it with you as some of it was quite personal but I will share a few things from my list. Besides the obvious Friends, Pets and Family that is.

Candle light to warm a cold dark room.
Books both to read and to learn from.
A naked tree against a gray winter sky.
People who understand.
My creativeness.
Stone walls.
Special times with the ones I love.
Blustery days with my arms thrown wide, riding the wind.
Friends around the world.
A smile when you least expect it.
Writing a new story.
Kindness.
Black nail polish.

My heart and soul are now refilled again.

_________________________

The Epitaph Contest will be back next week.

On Thankfulness Tea Party:

Hi Everybody,

Today is the first annual Internet Thankfulness Tea Party.

I hope that everyone had the time to collect some goodies to eat, pen and paper, and a good attitude. If you are expecting guests, that they arrive in good time and that they are happy and healthy.

I’ll be interested in hearing what others have added to their parties to make it special to them. Did you listen to rock music or have pizza rolls? Did you indulge in chocolate latti or had a mixed drink instead of tea? Did you dress up or dress down? Was it a personal alone time experience or a family get together with the kids?

But mostly I’m interested in hearing some of the things you are thankful for.

Some lists will be long and others short. Some full of family and friends and others the names of the cats. But I know that each list with be as individual as the maker and just as special.

My lists have varied over the years. The one after my son died had little on it but the word ‘tears.’ But through it all I have found something, no matter how small, to be thankful for.

It is a good thing to take stock of the good things in your life. It gives you perspective and fills the places in your heart that are running low on positive energy. It gives you hope and lightens the soul in hard times.

If you have a hard time getting your list started, look around at the party you have created for yourself and list the things you added to make it special for you. I hope your list is full of wonderful things that mean a lot to you. And to start with I’m thankful for you my dear readers. You have taken a little idea I had to help me through the last long days of winter and expanded on it, embraced it, and made it you own. Feel free to do it again whenever you feel the need of it.

Have a happy Thankfulness Tea Party day, everyone.

Sincerely, Lady Euphoria Deathwatch