Got the Blasted Drivers License

Got it! Went prepared with bills showing my address, passport, Social Security Card, SC drivers license, etc, etc....and registered to vote. Honestly, I told the guy I had never been in the Secretary of State office so often since I flunked the driving test when I was 20 (well---it wasn't my fault they asked me questions about rum runners (SC) and of course, I didn't know why you wouldn't have a smoke screen in the car, I thought it got cigarette smoke out of the car..turns out it blasts smoke out behind the car to divert anyone who might be following you There was something about brakes that made the car turn around on a dime which I thought would be handy, turned out it was the same sort of thing the smoke screen was. Who Knew?

Bonus was, I stopped at a cabinet-maker shop and he's making shelves for me for the sewing room cabinets that are the same price as the ones at Lowes and Home Depot that don't fit. Yaaay!

Got Out The Sewing Machine Today

Yes, I finally was forced to find the power plug and the foot pedal for the sewing/embroidery machine. Poor Biscuit has had to wear a coat the last 2 days when we went out. He really for the first time ever..didn't mind wearing it. I got him a cute down filled one from PetSmart and luckily the rain ran off it because we had to go out in the pouring down rain. I can stay under the umbrella but Biscuit doesn't realize that if he stays close to me he can stay dry. So out we went. Immediately I realized that his harness isn't going to work with the coat. The doggone coat needs a buttonhole in the middle of the back for his harness clip so we had to use the collar. It kind of doesn't matter, he is OK with the collar and doesn't pull when he walks so I wasn't worried about hurting his trachea (small dogs have that problem). But the lead kept getting caught under him and around him and under the coat...so he needs a buttonhole. I got the darn machine out and had to figure out how to get the buttonhole foot on, test one out, etc...and finally after fiddling with it for way too long got the job done.

Its supposed to clear up late this afternoon and hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow. Its cold here and I had to turn on the heat when we got home. Poor doggie's little feet were cold so I dried them with a towel. He's hunkered up on my bed now, sleeping on the down comforter.

I've decided to try Secretary of State once again today. Don't want the woman to forget me. Maybe she'll feel sorry for me or decide I'm a determined alien from SC and give me my drivers license. This is the most ridiculous thing I do believe I've ever done. I told her yesterday, Michigan was perfectly happy to give me a license 30 years ago...I'm the same person--just older. That didn't fly, of course. this time I'm taking my passport, a bill from Charter, a bank statement showing I opened an account in town (surely if the bank can trust me, Sec of State can) and of course, my Social Security Card. She told me NOT to bring my birth certificate because it shows my name spelled different.

Bright spot on the horizon, cabinet tops will be here sometime this week, they're being cut and polished right now!!!

Better Picture of the granite

Here's a much better picture of the volga blue granite along with the description:
Type: Granite
Surface: Polished
Color: Blue
Secondary Color: Black, Green, Large Blue Crystals
Origin: Ukraine
Description: When the light catches the large blue crystals (up to 1" in diameter), there is a brilliant blue reflection. Similar to Emerald Pearl.
silk fusion:

AND the Silk Fusion, this is what I found on the internet about the technique:
This unique method bonds silk fibres into a lustrous kind of "felt" which can be gossamer and transparent or thick and opaque as leather. Because the fibres are unspun, silk's rich lustre and texture are captured.

Update on Kitchen and ....

Boring everyone to death, I know. But I can't help it, I have to show off my beautiful house
Here's the latest pictures of the kitchen. All the appliances are in and if I do say so myself, Mike and I did an excellent job of picking appliances although Mike did make the comment he didn't know why I bought an electric range when I never cook

I love how the dishwasher just melts into the cabinets. I just have to learn to keep my fingers off the stainless.

Friday the countertop guy came and measured the counters. Here's a picture of the granite slab I bought, I found this on the internet, the color is Volga Blue. When you look at it from different angles you see bright blue highlights that look like they go deep into the granite. I love it. If you come to visit me and see me standing in my kitchen turning my head like an idiot, you'll know I'm looking deep into my countertops.....!

And I now have a bay window that a dog or cat can't jump on and sleep in. So that means I can actually make use of the deep windowsill. Yaaay! As I was unpacking I found the silk fusion my daughter Miki made me. She fused dogwood flowers into the silk and boy oh boy, sitting in the windowsill is where it was meant to be don't you think?

Finally (I know, you're sick of it, I'll be finished soon). I had this horrible shoe shelf/cupboard in the closet. The hanger rod was attached to it and it would have been handy if I had a hundred pair of shoes but the downfall of the thing is, only shoes can go on it and every time I touched a pair of shoes on it, the whole mess of shoes fell on the floor. It had to go QUICK! So I went to Target and found a closet cupboard that I thought would work. None of them were the right height but 2, one stacked on the other, would work. Unfortunately they were too heavy for me to put into the cart so I asked Mike to go with me the next day to get them and son of a gun, someone bought one while I had my back turned. Luckily Amanda went with us and she figured out that if I bought the one I wanted and then bought a shorter one, turned the shorter one on its side, I'd have the proper height! duh! It worked. We got the 2 and Mike came over and installed for me. It comes with backs for every other cubby and Mike thought I'd probably drop something behind the thing and then wouldn't be able to get whatever it was out and of course, he is right. So luckily Amanda had thrown a couple blue pull out fabric boxes in the basket. They work great. I'm going back for 2 more to fill the other 2 open cubbys, the cubbys with shoes in them are safe, there's no way a shoe will fall behind the thing since it pretty much sits flush with the back of the closet. It's wonderful. My neighbor looked at it and immediately said she needs one for her closet....no I didn't offer Mike, I'm not finished with him yet.

So that's the latest updates. Hope I didn't bore you too much. Next will be the counter tops and then I'm pretty much finished spending.

Guest Bathroom is ready

Today my neighbor and I went to my favorite store, she admitted she had never been there before. Pier One!!! Love that store. I was looking for a bathmat to match my fishy shower curtain and towels. Well, I found the perfect mat, it had sea shells on it. Then the manager knew he had a sucker in tow and showed me a package of real sea shells. To make it even more perfect, I had bought a set of seashell cup, soap holder and waste basket just the other day at Lowes and have a candy dish I bought for someone one year for Christmas and never sent to her and although I can't find my phone, I have found that silly dish so sea shells went into the dish when I got home. The fish bowl with soap in it is a bowl we bought one time with a beta fish in it. The fish died but I really wanted the bowl which is why we bought him (although I did feel bad when he died). I collected a bunch of hand made soap at one time thinking I was going to knit soap on a rope thingys to sell at the Mill in SC but never did because I loved the soap in the fish bowl.

I also wanted to get a cushion for my wicker chair that used to be on my screened in porch but now is in my living room and I thought a nice reddish color would be good to sort of offset all the brown. I didn't realize I had so much brown furniture until I got here. Anyway, Pier One had a sale on cushions. I got a brown set for the chair thats in the bedroom and red for the living room chair. Also got a pillow that has reds and browns in it. So I'm all set, 1 bathroom and 1 living room finished!

Still haven't found the phone although I did find the fish shower curtain that I embroidered quite a few years ago. Still love it and even though the shower has glass doors, who says I can't have a shower curtain on it as well? What do you think?

New House Shaping Up

Today I took it easy after working hard to find all my stuff. Still can't find phone and comforter for bed but maybe tomorrow. I tried to just open boxes today and look in them for the missing stuff but no luck.

I got a new electric range today. One more appliance is coming and then the new countertops. Here's what I have so far, a fridge, range and microwave. Dishwasher comes next week. Here's my kitchen so far:
And my living room and dining room is coming together. I need curtains on the 2 corner windows in the living room and want to change the curtains in the dining room but they're OK for now, I'm not sure what I want to do with that bay window. Initially I thought I wanted drapes but now I'm thinking maybe not.



Forgot to put up a picture of my garage, this is after I've unpacked what seems like a ton of boxes, keep in mind this is a 2 car garage.

Traverse City and Area

Today I have to go register the dog at the County Treasurer's. Hopefully my GPS will find the place. Then I'm off to search for curtain rods and curtains for my new house.

Tomorrow the fridge and microwave arrive. My son says I should be able to move once they're there since I never cook with a stove anyway NOT moving yet Mike, I want my bed and some furniture to sit on first.

Yesterday we went to Cedar, MI which is really right up the road about 20 miles. Inish Knits Yarn - Needles - Spinning Wheels - Patterns and Books - Open Knitting and Spinning Nights - 9031 S. Kasson - Cedar, Michigan 49621

I really was interested in the quilt shop too because my friend Sammie just showed me a crazy quilt that is done in the hoop on the embroidery machine. Doggone her, I don't need another hobby I'm thinking I could make a wall hanging instead
of a full quilt but who knows what this will lead to. (not going there).
Who can resist that hummingbird?

Meanwhile, I'm dreaming of the day my sewing machine comes and I can make my first project, a herb clock for the kitchen.