So My House Nearly Burned Down--WARNING!

Yesterday I was rushing around getting ready for a Dr's apt so wasn't paying a lot of attention to my surroundings. As I came out of the dressing room into the bedroom I noticed smoke coming from near my embroidery machine--was it smoke? Was it steam from a cup of coffee? I went to investigate and good grief!!!

I have one of those wonderful lamps from Jo-Ann Fabrics that has a daylight and a large magnifying glass attached to it, perfect when I'm doing something on the machine. It sits next to the machine of course. My sewing room faces South and is very bright when the sun beams in during the day. In fact if I'm sewing I have to draw the blind behind the machine to keep from blinding myself. THAT is what happened. The sun was beaming in and reflecting off that huge magnifying glass and actually had burned 2 little holes in the cover I put over my machine--which I put over it to protect it from the sun.

I like the fact that the sun beams in because it heats the room which might be a bit cold to work in otherwise but wow, I never gave it a thought when I placed that lamp near the machine. Imagine if I had left already, my house might have burned. My expensive embroidery machine could have been toast. I'm horrified with the thought.

Luckily the magnifying glass can be removed so I took it off the stand and put it in a cupboard so that its handy when I want to use it but not burning holes in my stuff when I don't want to use it.

Lesson learned, I hope if anyone reading this has one of those magnifying glass/lamps you learn from what happened to mine and we can all avoid the awful consequences.

Kitchen's Done

Actually the guys were finished yesterday but I wanted to make my herb clock that I've dreamed up the day I bought the place. There's a couple little pieces of tile with herbs on them in the kitchen and so I thought, since I have this nickel colored clock I should embroider a clock with herbs in it. I searched around and the only design I could find that I liked in this larger than the usual embroidered clock was at Embroidery Library (www.emblibrary.com) Also it was the only clock design that was big enough to fit inside my clock. Unfortunately its bigger than my embroidery hoop so I spent 3 days working on how I was going to split the doggone design up and sew it out. I've only split a couple designs and really hesitate to do it for fear I'll screw it up. There are excellent directions in the Yahoo Group (MKEmbroidery) that our friend Sheila wrote for us, I highly suggest using her directions, they aren't complicated and long winded as some directions are. I also read the directions on Embroidery Library's project pages about hooping clocks and used parts of both directions. Anyway, that's neither here nor there, I finally got the nerve up to do it last night. This morning I took the clock apart, put the newly embroidered face in it and it turned out even better than I hoped. So here's the final kitchen with the new granite counters, new faucet, new sink and of course, the clock.

Counters Are Here!!!

What a mess, the guy called and told me to empty the cupboards because they didn't want to mess anything up when they came. So--I used plastic totes and my sewing cases and hauled the food and dishes out of the kitchen to the dining room. I even took the drawers out and hauled them over to the corner of the DR. I put the quilt over the table so I wouldn't scratch it with all the stuff. Keep in mind I haven't finished unpacking the stuff for the kitchen because I knew this day was coming. I may never unpack the rest of the stuff.....
THEN the destruction guy came. His job was to remove all the original counters.

Turns out the disposal needs to be replaced so he's bringing me a new one and will install it when he comes back. Meanwhile, Sears installer had screwed up the installation of the dishwasher, it was a little wonkey and this guy fixed that since he had to side mount the washer--it was top mounted before. Yaaay for him for fixing the messy installation. My impression of this whole company has gone up already.

After he got the counters and sink and disposal and junk out of the house, the granite guys came over. They had the granite, already cut and ready to install with them. I hid out in the back room because I heard them saying something about one piece was very big and they needed another person to help them get it into the house. Turns out they don't like carrying these big pieces of granite flat, they prefer to turn them on the side to carry in but because of the little galley kitchen, apparently it was a problem...but I was hiding out trying not to listen. This whole job started at 8:15 a.m. and ended around 4 p.m. Yaaay for them, they got it done. New sink is installed, the granite is in place and now for the back splashes. Yes, I had to get granite back splashes because the original tiles don't go down below the original backsplashes of course...and I really didn't want to get new tiles although in retrospect, I wonder if it would have been cheaper to get new kitchen tiles or even just wallpaper rather than granite back splashes. Oh well, too late to think of that now. So--here's the picture of what was done yesterday.
The messy spot on the right corner is where the kitchen garage thingy goes, I think they are going to put the backsplash on first and then reinstall that. (whoops, I just put the stuff back in the cupboard...guess it needs to come back out...)
Once these guys left the owner of the company came back over and remeasured everything for the backsplashes. Apparently the backsplashes are cut and polished but he makes sure that they will fit now that the counters are on since the new counters are probably a different height than the old ones. This morning they are fine-tuning them and will be bringing them over some time today.
Meanwhile, the owner told me the new faucet hasn't come in yet, it may be here today or tomorrow. Phooey! I really would like a finished sink--with faucets-- since its impossible to cook anything without a sink to toss crumbs in (so I found out last night when I fixed Biscuit's supper---he can't eat a TV dinner, after all.

The counters are beautiful. Here's a close-up...if you look into the depths of the granite you can see fabulous colors. One way you look you see shiny spots of silver and another way you see sapphire. WOW! So pretty!!

Next post will hopefully be the finished deal. I'm really glad I went with this granite company rather than with Lowes or Home Depot. The price was a little more but obviously worth it. I don't think they would have taken all the time to measure and re-measure and make absolutely sure things were right. I KNOW they wouldn't have repositioned my dishwasher so the door wasn't wonkey anymore.

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.