Day 213 of 2026

We came home from our Big Adventure 

to new flowers in the garden.

 

Day 212 of 2026

I've started color number 5. 

(Photo taken 7-30-2026)

Computer issues prevented me from accessing my blog yesterday. 

Issues have been resolved. 

I'll begin posting One Big Adventure pictures tomorrow.

 

Day 211 of 2026

Painterly

 

Day 210 of 2026

We are on our way home but need to stop here 

for a very short layover. 

Do you know where I am?

Day 209 of 2026

We have a free day before we head back home. 

My plan was to drive north to see two houses I used to live in

 and drive by the schools I attended 

during my thirteen years of living in California. 

Ultimately, considering traffic and other time constraints, 

I decided I would be happy to just visit the closer of the two locations. 

It turned out to be a great decision. 

We had time to walk around the campuses at our leisure. 

My former home has a sale pending so the owner,

 who happened to be there, 

let us come inside and take a self-guided tour. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to reminisce

 and talk about her history there and mine. 

Above is my former high school campus. 

When I moved to Indiana during my sophomore year, 

I remembering being startled that the lockers at my new school

 were inside the building. 

I remember explaining that ours in California were outside 

and my classmates were just as startled as I had been.

Day 208 of 2026

At the end of the last day of Comic-con, 

we knew we would need some rest, 

so Little E got us tickets to see Hadestown: The Musical 

at a movie theater nearby. 

Fireball and I have not seen it on stage

 so it was all new for us. 

It was really good.

Day 207 of 2026

The panels are my favorite part of Comic-con. 

This one was called Eisner's New York 

highlighting the work of Will Eisner over his career.

It was fascinating.

Day 206 of 2026

If you've been following along for a while 

you may have guessed

 that we are at Comic-con again this year. 

Many people are dressed in character, 

but I rarely think to get a picture. 

I did get this picture of Fireball with TMNT Raphael.

Day 205 of 2026

Since my serger wasn't working just before our time away, 

I was not able to complete

 all the clothing items I wanted to complete. 

One item was another shirt for myself 

so I made sure to have everything cut 

and all my sewing supplies packed. 

This is what hotel room sewing looks like. 

I am hand sewing the shirt

 in hopes that I can still wear it here. 

As I sew past pins, they get pulled 

and temporarily stuck in the knee of my pants.

Day 204 of 2026

 

Fireball and I arrived in San Diego yesterday. 

Little E joined us late last night. 

This is the view from our hotel room. 

We'll be here all week.

Day 203 of 2026

 

I've finished four sweatshirt pillow covers for Little E.

Day 202 of 2026

The shirt came together better today. 

It's ready for buttonholes.

 

Day 201 of 2026

My day started out pretty bad. 

Can you see what's wrong with my machine here? 

After a new needle and several times rethreading, 

it's still not working properly. 

From there things only got worse. 

I found that the markings and some of the directions

 for the shirt I am making are incorrect. 

After a deep dive online, I found a post that explains

 what happened and how to fix it. 

Tomorrow's another day 

and I hope to power through and finish the shirt.

 

Day 200 of 2026

It's been a while since I've knitted anything. 

My hand has been giving me some pain 

so I thought it best to give it a break. 

Tonight I was able to get color number three finished. 

 

Day 199 of 2026

I want to make Fireball a shirt. 

I bought the pattern and the prescribed amount of fabric. 

I have begun laying out the pattern on the fabric

 according to the diagram. 

No matter how many times I measure the fabric 

and review the pattern layout, 

I keep coming up short. 

I suspect it is a pattern-writing error 

and will look into that at a later time. 

For now Fireball will be getting a short sleeved shirt.

 

Day 198 of 2026

I finished another sweatshirt pillow cover 

and then moved on this pouf 

which has been waiting for a zipper since last year. 

It has its zipper now and will be filled 

with small bits of threads and unusable fabric scraps. 

 

Day 197 of 2026

I only finished one sweatshirt pillow cover today, 

but I have a good idea how to tackle the other three now. 

I should get a good amount of sewing time tomorrow

 so we'll see how far I get.

 

Day 196 of 2026

Today I'm working on a new project 

which involves sweatshirts and zippers.

 

Day 195 of 2026

One of the things I love 

about this Matchy Matchy Sewing Club pattern

 is that right before you are to stitch 

the final edge of the bias facing down, 

it reminds you to add a label, if you are using one.

 

Day 194 of 2026

My main accomplishment for the day 

was assembling these four chairs. 

I am sure to have some sore hands tomorrow

 as some of the bolts were extremely stubborn. 

I was determined to get them done today though, 

so I did not have to begin the process again tomorrow.

 

Day 193 of 2026

I'm almost finished with my second Collage Gather Top. 

Tomorrow I'll finish the neck and hem

 and try to get a picture.

 

Day 192 of 2026

Done.

This is the Collage Gather Top by Matchy Matchy Sewing Club. 

I've already plotted out my second one.

 

Day 191 of 2026

I started this shirt yesterday afternoon and finished it up today

 with the exception of the hem. 

I will be doing a try-on tomorrow 

to decide what length I'd like to make it. 

There are a few changes I will probably make to the pattern 

before making the second top, but this wearable toile 

is definitely going to be wearable.

 

Day 190 of 2026

As we explored a new room today, 

GB#6 discovered the lightsaber. 

He was fascinated.

 

Day 189 of 2026

I am making something called a wearable toile. 

This means I am making a garment out of fabric

 that is not the "good" fabric 

I intend to use for the real garment. 

This allows me to make my pattern adjustments 

and try it out to see if I am happy with the fit 

without ruining my "good" fabric

 if the adjustments are not quite right. 

In theory, the wearable toile will be good enough to wear 

even if there are still small adjustments to make. 

My fabric for this trial garment is two 100% cotton 

Pottery Barn crib sheets I found at the thrift store.

 

Day 188 of 2026

The mailbox flowers are finally blooming. 

There will be more. 

This is one of my favorite plantings.

 

Day 187 of 2026

I have found a few notebooks and notepads that have notes and lists 

from previous trips I've taken. 

This one was from a trip to a quilt show almost ten years ago 

at which I took some classes.

 The part I like the most is at the very top. 

We were told to quilt the big designs first, then filler designs 

and then (my favorite part) grid where you forgot to fill. 

I did not have a problem with today's picture. 

Tomorrow I'll go back and see if I can get the others to work.

 

Day 186 of 2026

For the 4th we had a small family group over to celebrate. 

We tried some new recipes including this mocktail. 

It was a coconut and lime concoction which was just ok. 

Next time I could try to fix it, 

but I'm more likely to try a new one.

Today's throwback is from July 4, 2014. 

Just for fun I'm leaving the blast from the past photos here.

 

Day 185 of 2026

Each year a neighbor down the street does a huge fireworks show

 to celebrate Independence Day. 

This year he did it on today, the official observed date

 since the 4th is on Saturday. 

We usually walk close enough to enjoy it.

Today's throwback is from July 3, 2015. 

Just for fun I'm leaving the blast from the past photos here.

 

Day 184 of 2026

I tried to pick this little empty storage drawer up

 to remove it from the big room 

and it completely shattered. 

It's a good thing I had already decided

 that I didn't need it anymore.

Just for fun I'm going to leave the blast from the past pictures here. 

This one is from July 2, 2016. 

It was not picture of the day but an outtake 

from the photo shoot of this quilt that did make the blog that day.

Day 183 of 2026

The volunteer walnut tree next to our deck 

has started producing fruit for the first time

 after years of growing. 

I suspect it will be a mess below, 

but it has finally become a great source of shade 

so I'm not complaining...yet.