The Pink Chicken

Our local Ava Art Guild has a craft class taught by one of the members every month.  It is free.  October's was painting a gourd.  Suzy used polymer clay to make the chicken features then we painted them.  She was expecting us to paint realistic looking, but I'm not that talented.  She was surprised when she saw me painting mine pink.  LOL

My friend Marisol came with her kids too!

My new office

I have been busy rearranging and cleaning.  I am not tutoring down in my basement this year, I had a classroom and my office set up down there.  I never go down there anymore and I really needed an office for my Pampered Chef stuff.  We had set up the third bedroom as a guest room, but it was never used and just a waste of space.  I took the bed out, moved the book shelves to form a little library area, we put a love seat in there, and moved a small computer desk and my computers in there.  I am very happy with it!  It is my spot for work, doing devotions, reading, etc.

I told my husband that he needs to build me custom shelves for this room!  As you can see, I do not have enough room and I haven't even put all of my books in here yet!

I am having a Pampered Chef Fundraiser for the Harvey Victims.  The fundraiser is open until September 18.  20%-30% (depending on sales) of the sales will be donated to Feeding America who is providing water, food, and more to the victims.  If you would like to place an order you can use this link:  https://pamperedchef.com/go/PrayforTX2017  .

If you cannot help in a monetary way, be sure to pray!  I am having an event tied into this on FB, you can join in there.

Missy

What I've been up to

 Wednesday is the last day of homeschooling for me.  My student's grandmother is able to start homeschooling her full time again.  This is good, but I will miss teaching her and I know the cats will miss having a girl to play with.
I had been praying about what I wanted to do for a job.  I would need Mondays off in June and July to teach my sewing class for young ladies, the second Thursdays of the month off for my homemaker's club and quilt meetings.  I have ladies Bible Study on the second and fourth Fridays of the month.  Church on Sundays and Wednesday nights, not to mention a few Saturdays a month to spend with my husband.  I also need to clean my house and have time to quilt, however we still need money coming in.  We want to pay the house off before my husband retires and we just bought it a year ago.

I  went to my first Pampered Chef party after my husband and I had only been married about a year, 21 years ago.  We were in Rhode Island for a job interview for my husband, at a church. The ladies at the church invited me to a Pampered Chef party.  I had never heard of Pampered Chef, did not know how to cook, and had never been to a cooking party before.  I was in awe and still remember that party.  Over the years I have had a few Pampered Chef parties and thought, "I could do that and have a lot of fun!".  I just hosted a Pampered Chef party on Facebook, I live in Missouri and the consultant lived in Virginia.  I decided to become a consultant.  The hours fit perfectly into my schedule and how much money I make and how much I work depends on me.

I am really excited about this new business venture of mine!  I have my own website and a new email address and am open for business!  I am currently seeking women and men who want to host parties.  I can do catalog parties, Facebook parties, and house parties as far as Springfield MO.  I live in Ava, MO.  I can also do wedding showers and gift registries.  What a great way to start off a new marriage!

Here is my website:
https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/mshaymo

Here is my email address for my business:
mopcmissy@gmail.com

Please pray for my new business!
Missy

Proverbs 31:14-24
"  She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
  She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
  She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
  She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
  She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
  She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
  She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
  She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
  She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
  Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant."

Flooding and a Half Square Triangle Tip

Saturday I cleaned up my guest room which had become a type of storage room over the winter.  I decided to turn it into a TV room.  This is as far as I got before I realized that my basement was flooding.

We caught it before it got too bad, however my classroom area flooded.  I have been busy with clean up all week.  I live in Missouri.  A lot of people had it a lot worse than I did however.
It has not left me much time to sew.
Last week, I'm not sure how, but I got my bobbin stuck in my Singer 99.  I put it in crooked and it stuck fast before I could get it back out.  I did get it to lay flat.  I have not had a chance to try to fix it after I got it back home, I was at a sew day.  I will probably have to take the bobbin casing apart, sigh.

I was shown this tip for sewing half square triangles.  Instead of drawing a line, you can lay a post-it-note corner to corner and follow that line.

Don't forget about my Pampered Chef party.  You can join the party here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/429014410806681/?fref=nf

Or if you just want to order from my party, you can find the catalog and link here:
https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/joyfuljessica/guest-landing/9041891736731

You can always host your own party too and I will get credit also, if you host through my party consultant.  My party closes May 13.

Have a great day ya'll!
Please continue to pray for the flooded areas of Missouri.

Missy

Pampered Chef

I am having an online Pampered Chef party and would like to invite you to attend.  Pampered Chef is a great gift for Mother's Day, for all the mothers in your life and yourself.
I love Pampered Chef, it is good quality that lasts a long time!
I scrolled through my phone looking for pictures of stuff that I have used and taken pictures of previously (my basement flooded this weekend, so there was no time for cooking or pictures!)
Here is apicture of a set of plates I bought. (Disclaimer, the dishes might not still be sold today, they are old.  Check out the part for new products.)  Perfect for lava cakes or any snack, dessert, or appetizer.

 My pizza stone makes the best pizzas.  They can be used for a lot of stuff, not just pizzas.

 Dessert bowls.  They are the perfect size for me, whether it is ice cream, yogurt, or cereal.

 Here is my messy counter when I bake!  I use my measuring bowl a lot, my favorite partt is that it has a lid, which is perfect for pancake batter and frosting.

I also use my chopper for easy cutting of veggies and my scoopers are always used for scooping cupcake batter, cookie batter, and pancake batter.

Even if you might not want to buy something, go ahead and join the party, we will be offering recipes and cooking tips.  You can join in here:  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/429014410806681/

If you just want to order and skip the party, you can go here to order and look at the catalog:

https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/joyfuljessica/guest-landing/9041891736731

Hope to see you there!

Missy

Rose Gardens and Cats (Foliage and Feline Fridays)

Life is like our plants.  I planted rose bushes last year.  This one did okay last summer, but the bunnies kept eating it.  I thought it was dead after the winter.  Then I saw a small sprout trying to make it.  I had tried to protect my roses last year by putting weed blocker down, however I did not give it a chance to grow because I had chocked it off from life:  air, sun, and water.  God wants us to bloom,  if we hide away, how can we grow.  We need water - God's Word, sunshine - God's Son, and air - the Holy Spirit.  We can't smother our Christian life and not grow in God's love.

The rose bush on the left did die, the bunnies ate it so much, it had no chance.  I found a replacement on clearance for $3, it is a climber.  I'm hoping to keep the rabbits out this summer.  The middle rose is doing good though.  We had a frost last month and my roses did not fare well.  I planted a lemon grass plant on the other side of the white trellis, I'm hoping to keep the bugs away.  The blue pot has catnip, once the catnip gets bigger I will plant some around the rest of the garden.  I also planted marigolds in the beds, I hear Japanese beetles hate them.

My other rose garden only has two plants.  I bought these three years ago, when we moved to MO and kept them in containers until I bought my house.  They are more established, they had to be pruned way back after that last frost.  They have buds, hopefully they will bloom soon.

This blue planter has mint, I need to plant mint around the whole yard to keep the bugs away.  I bought these marigolds at the farmer's market and they are doing so much better than the ones we got at Walmart in the other rose beds.  One day I want a gazebo in the middle of my rose garden, it will just take time.  I have only been in my house for a year.

I see all of these beautiful gardens around town, yet I barely have any leaves.  I had to buy the two bushes on the left, this spring to replace the two that died.  I opened the weed blocker around the bushes, I learned from my mistake.  The middle one is a climber rose, thought I could train it across the fence by my basement, maybe put a trellis behind it also.  Not to mention it was on clearance for $3.  The one on the right is a miniature rose from last year.  I was told to add banana peels to my roses.  I already added some yesterday, will add more as we eat more bananas.  My student's grandmother said she will give us some coffee grounds, we don't like coffee, but gardens do!

I also cleaned up my deck.  I had this lattice my neighbor gave me, I decided to put it on the deck to keep the cats contained.  It worked, until Pippi realized that I I did not have enough lattice for the front of the deck.  Chris also needs to make a gate.  Yesterday she ran out the door straight to the hole that was not blocked by chairs I put to block the front.  Crazy cat.

It is a great spot for us to do homeschooling in the afternoons.

I moved my hammock out here, we have wide overhangs to stick it under when it rains.

My favorite spot to sit with my husband in the evenings.  The cats sit in the window meowing at us to let them out.

I am making this spot into my herb garden.  I have added a couple of more pots.  I just need to buy the herbs.  I want sweet basil, cilantro, oregano, thyme, and more.  I want to paint the deck a dark blue.

This is what I have been doing the past couple of weeks.  It started raining Wednesday and is supposed to continue all weekend.

What is the weather like in your neck of the woods?  I welcome any gardening tips also.

Missy

Blessedly Busy!

I have been busy, but in a fun way!  We had church Easter morning and evening.

I borrowed a vintage hat to wear with my old Easter dress, to make it fresh again.

Thursday last week was my Homemaker's Club and we discussed gardening tips.  Our secretary is ill, so I filled in for her.  I wrote my first article for the paper, it comes out tomorrow!  I can't wait to see my name in print!  Tuesday we had our Spring Fling when the clubs in three counties get together.  It was a lot of fun but a long day!

 Here are some things I picked up at the raffle at the TOGA a couple of weeks ago.

We also had quilt guild last Thursday.  We learned how to make the rope bowls that are so popular on Instagram right now.  I asked for this class.  One of the ladies held my rope taut for me as I twisted.

 I loved this tip of using the machine to hold my rope down.

It has been a slow process since I can only use two fingers on my left hand and it starts too ache after a while.  However, I have progress!

 My machine is set up in the living room.  I hope to finish it tomorrow since it is my day off.

We also planted marigolds in my rose gardens, I'm hoping it will help keep the bugs away from them.  Some of my rose bushes did not make it through the winter.  I am very sad.  I have an area in my yard I am trying to build up a rose garden.  If anyone has a good suggestion on a book on roses I would appreciate it.  Here is the area I am slowly building up, remember I just bought my house last year.  They fenced in the back yard a few yards away from the house, there is about 25-30 feet here to surround with roses.  I want to build a white gazebo here one day.

Missy

Feline Friday and Machine Update

Almost every morning Muffin crawls under the covers to go back to sleep (he gets up with my husband).  The cats wake my husband up early but know it will not do them any good to try to get me up.  I always wake up around seven, even on my days off.  They wake up my husband between 5:30 and 6:00.

Pippi has a basket she likes to sleep in, so when I brought home my new papasan chair, she thought it was a new basket for her!

Check out the link below to see a video showing how the presser bar works.  I can't seem to get my videos to work this week.

https://youtu.be/nf2A30pO3HY



 I got my machine fixed.  I cleaned the inside with goop and then oiled it with sewing machine oil.  I let it sit overnight and then had my husband loosen the nut on top for me.  I thought you would be interested to see how the presser bar lifts up and down.  I got it stuck by tightening it too much.

This picture is missing the lever, but thought you might like to see the inside.

Do you fix your own machines or have someone else do it?  That is one thing I like about the vintage machines, they are usually pretty easy to fix.  I call my Singer 16 my Big Old Lady, she is 126 years old.  She was born in 1891.

Here is an update on my wall.  I promise that it is not a load bearing wall.  There is even wire mesh on the ceiling, it is in the way of getting the big board off the ceiling.  Such a pain.

I'll be having a giveaway next week, be sure to check back.

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

A "Grey" Day

We have been trying to get this half wall torn down for five months, I've wanted it torn down since we bought the house in April. We thought it would be a quick one day thing, like on TV. 

 Unfortunately, when we started tearing down the wall, we found that it was laced with metal webbing and hooked into the ceiling with metal bars.  Those took a while to take down since we did not want to tear down the other wall, ceiling, or floor.  Then before we could knock down the drywall (which I had fun doing), DH had to move the light switch and plug, which he had never done before.
Now he needs to figure out how to remove the thick board across the ceiling and across the floor.

We did pull out two of those boards that you see on the left.  I also kicked one of the nails sticking up, wearing only socks.  It hurt, but I'm glad it did not break the skin or I would have had to get a tetanus shot!

Did I mention I have a group of ladies, my homemaker's group, coming to my house next week?  Not to mention a baby shower cake to make on Friday for a baby shower I'm helping to host. Ladies Bible study on Friday.   I'm not sure when I'm supposed to have time to clean since I work on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

I was hoping to finish my quilt so I could show and tell it Thursday at the homemaker's group and quilt guild that evening, but my sewing machine broke yesterday.  The part that lifts the presser bar that is connected to the foot, snapped loose last night.

I took the face plate off and proceeded to clean the inside.  It was nasty.  You have to remember that this machine is 126 years old.  That is a lot of gunk build up.

This is the lever that lifts the presser foot up and down.

The presser bar is the one with the spring on the left.  It is stuck and will not move.

I oiled everything down and am going to have my husband try to loosen the top nut on the presser bar. Hopefully if he can loosen it, it will become unstuck.  I think what happened is that when I put the "new" hopping foot on it(I found it in my stash), I had to tighten the presser bar a lot.  I must have tightened it too much and caused too much pressure inside or something.  If I can't fix it, I will have to take it to the Northeast TX T.O.G.A. in April and have someone help me fix it.

I declared yesterday a "grey" day!  LOL

Have a great day ya'll!
Missy