Retirement Week One: Part Two

 So, our patio door was just about worn out, the glass was coming loose from the frame, and the sliding wheels were almost impossible to slide. 

SO about a month ago we got a bunch of estimates, and selected the Window Barn from over in Wellman to come and replace the door for us. They called on Wednesday night and said our door has arrived, can we come tomorrow? Yes you can! I cleared the area, emptied the cook book shelves and removed the old vertical blinds.

Two young fellas came and got the old one out in no time. It was a little chilly, about 40degrees.

The outside looking in.....

And in almost no time at all they had the new one in.

They spent some time making sure it was level and straight, I think they did a great job.

This new door slides with one finger! And we got the built in blinds, so I don't have those annoying old blinds anymore! I love this new door!

Those little blinds inside the door are pretty nifty-Keeps the sun out very well.

And while I had the shelves emptied, I sorted through the cook books, I'm sure Hubs doesn't need all of them!

I just needed one recipe out of one of the books, 

Or it might be this one...I'm not sure, but the rest are boxed up waiting for the annual garage sale day in June.

Then a Gal I hadn't heard from in YEARS gave me a call and asked if I could hem a prom dress....dang it I swore I wasn't going to sew for others, but I also hate seeing the girls at prom with ill fitting dresses, so I said OK.

It's a pretty dress and thank goodness it only needs about 3.5 inches taken off. But look how uneven the lining hems are!

The dress itself went along very well. I marked and serged off the correct amount then turned under a small hem.

It looks very good!, But that lining! I serged it off and started hemming it and it started to run, like panty hose runs. I about had a heart attack! I sewed the run together to keep it from going further, but it was not pretty!

In the end it looks great from the outside, but the inside.......I don't like it.

It looks like it's hanging OK, but that horrible lining fabric is giving me nightmares! Anyways, it's done and gone to its home and I think I can say NO next time!

It's been crazy weather-hot, then cold, then hot then freezing. Poor plants don't know weather to bloom or not.

I had to go to Target for some Easter candy for the kids, and while I was there I thought I'd pick up a few groceries too. 

Look at this tiny package of asparagus, $3.19!

I'll go over to my Aldi's.....Much better!

I ran over to the quilt shop in Amana to pick up the new All Iowa Shop Hop magazine.  Time to think about if we're going to go on a little road trip or not this year.

I also got a quilt top finished 

This cute dog panel has been on the shelf since last year. Time to get it going.

I made easy 4 patches to go with the panel 10 1/2" squares. 

The layout was messing with me, I struggle with controlled scrappy squares. 

But I got it done and added the borders, a little 20" black border and a 5" dog blue print border.

Pretty cute. It's pretty good sized, about 70" X 80". 

I'm thinking about sending it to the long armer.....kind of expensive, but really nice work....I dunno.

Oh and we got a new kitty!

Here's Iris, she just came out from under the bed in Bob's room.

Darling Daughter's Hubs said the cat had to go-she was so upset, my poor girl, she loves her pets so much,  I couldn't let the cat go to the pound, so she's happily settling in here. She's just a youngster and very curious. She loves to prowl around at night and pushes thing to the floor-like Q tips and hair brushes and stacks of fabric! Iris is a pretty little thing, and we already scheduled an appointment  before the appointment to get spayed.