...VEGAN MOULES À LA MARINIÈRE - I...

...we all had a whole day off for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday...so there's a new (fairly time consuming - HA!) recipe post over at The Vegan Version...

...it's VEGAN MOULES À LA MARINIÈRE - I or Fresh Mussels Stemed Open in Wine and Flavorings...

...it was really good...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...a Wisp Tee...

...y'all probably already know that my souvenir of choice is a tee-shirt...I didn't realize this about myself for many many years...but I have quite the collection of tees...

...at Wisp last weekend we did buy Scout a souvenir tee-shirt...but I wanted just the Wisp logo...we asked at all three gift shops if they had one...and the only shirt with just the logo was a hooded sweatshirt...it was very nice...but I just don't wear hooded sweatshirts all that often...

...so I gathered my supplies for another freezer paper stenciled tee shirt...a pink long sleeved tee...some freezer paper...an exacto knife...an iron...and some fabric paint...the little blue dots are there so that I know which side of the 'insides' of the letters are up...

...ironed on the stencil...and spounced on some paint...

...pulled off the stencil...

...et voilà...a souvenir tee-shirt...

~Have a lovely weekend!

...How to Mend a Torn Fleece...

...something terrible has happened to Scout's brand new fleece pullover...

...and we honestly don't know what happened to it...I noticed it when I took it out of the dryer...I think this was the first time we had washed this pullover...and it is machine washable and dryable according to it's tag...I kinda wanted to blame Jack...as the tears are consistent with his puppy-chewing...but he has not chewed anything in years...so it hardly seems likely that he did it...so then I thought maybe the dryer...but again...we've never had any clothes come out of the dryer torn...so it's a mystery...

....but Scout was very upset...and rightly so...he LOVED this pullover...and it was a gift from a dear friend...

...so we gathered a few supplies...just scissors...some fusible bonding web - the real secret ingredient - as we needed something that would hold the tear together - be very light and not stiff like most patching material...and some interfacing...as the fusible bonding is sticky on both sides you'll need some light fabric for the side that will touch your iron...you could probably also use a really light cotton...

...I just turned the pullover inside out and laid it face down on the ironing board...I matched up the edges of the tears as best as I could and placed the fusible web and interfacing over the tears and ironed it lightly...

...that worked well and it's very light and flexible...

...a little bit of the white fusible web is visible from the other side though...

...so I turned it back inside out and coloured the bonding/interfacing with a black Sharpie...

...now it doesn't show as much...happily the pullover is wearable once again...and it's now 'hand wash only'...

~Have a lovely day!

...Christmas...continued...

...y'all probably already know that we were unable to make the trek (albeit a much shorter trek than the one from North Daktoa) south to North Carolina the week after Christmas due to the weather...

...so...sadly, we missed the family gala...

...I packed up our gifties last week when it bacame clear that we wouldn't be able to try for another trip until after Easter...and then yesterday...we got a little return package full of Christmas goodies in the mail...

...that little teapot is not a teapot at all...but a sweet little candle holder...with a pretty little cardinal...interestingly the State Bird of both North Carolina and West Viriginia...

...and the box was the perfect size to pack away my Christmas dishes...I'm still finding little Christmas doo-dads around the house...I have a little collection of them in the laundry room that I still need to put in the bins...

...also in the package are these old books from my sweet sister...

...I do love old books...

...the front pages of this old French grammar book are missing so I can't tell when it was printed...but I love the writing and drawings throughout...

...it's a French grammar book...in French...not a book to teach people how to speak French...

...and I love these detailed doodles in the back...

~Have a lovely day!

...how to alter a boned bodice dress...

...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...Scout's girlfriend wants to wear this dress to the 'Snowball'...isn't that the cutest name ever...it's s semi formal dance at the high school...but the dress is a little too...er...ummmm...busty...if you know what I mean...

...so we set about altering it...

...on the inside seam...open the seam on both of the center boned seams...these bones are a flexible plastic...

...there's a little bit of padding too...just move that out of the way...or do like I did and snip the threads holding it in place and take it completely out...I'll put it back later...but it's sort of in the way to keep moving it around...

...this will reveal the seam that goes up the center bust...pull it through the opening in the lining...

...open this seam carefully with a seam ripper...I know the pad is still there...but save yourself a little trouble and go ahead and snip it now...

...trim the seam...see the pad is gone now...

...sew your new seam...

...just merge your new seam into the old one at the top and bottom...

...replace the padding...by stitching it by hand to the top of the seam and just tacking it in a couple of place along the seam...seam pressed open of course...just like it was attached when you took it out...these little pads had a clear right and left side too so make sure they go back in the right way...

...ok...now we're done with the visible external seam...it's time to deal with the inside lining seams...since we took about an inch out of the seam we'll need to shorten the boning...just pull it out of the seam...

...and snip off a little bit...

...then stitch one side of the boning in place...

...pin the boned seam in place and stitch neatly by hand...

...and you'll all done...

...an inside view...

...and the finished less busty bodice...

...what have you been sewing lately?...

~Have a lovely day!...

...the Wisp Project...

...of course I took some knitting with me for the 3 hour drive up and back to Wisp...

...and I chose a super easy slipper pattern that I've had in my queue for a long time...the Non-Felted Slippers by Yuko Nakamura...

...plenty easy even for this easily car-sick knitter...very little 'looking' involved...I used some hot pink Caron from my stash and some red dishcloth cotton also from stash for the yarn...just held the two strands together throughout...so my slippers are the same colours all over...

...they turned out super cute too!

...I think I'll be making a few more pairs of these...

...they'll make perfect little gifties...

...what-cha knittin'?...

~Have a lovely day!

...the Wisp Weekend...

...this will (of course) be a very picture heavy post...

...we gathered at the Church at 4:00 to load the vans with hopes of being on the road at 4:30...

...we were pretty close to that time as we headed out into the rain and fog...it has been very very mild here for January...and the highs are predicted to be in the 50's at Wisp...not really very good skiing weather...but we're going to roll with it...

...we're greeted at Wisp by some lingering Christmas decorations...but I love lighted trees...and maybe they leave them this way year-round...

...our first view of the slopes behind the lodge...

...Welcome to Wisp...

...the rental department employees were kind enough to stay late and get all of our gear for us...

...Scout chose to try snowboarding this year...

...after we got our gear all stowed in our lockers...it was time for devotions...our Youth Director did an awesome job with the devotions on 'Choices'...starting with Eve's choice in the garden...then Peter's choice to deny Christ on Saturday...and finally ending up with Christ's choice to die on the cross on Sunday...it was pretty awesome...and it gave these teenagers a lot to think about...(adults too!)...

...we went to bed to the sounds of the slopes being groomed...

...I think these machines ran most of the night up and down the mountain...amazing...

...Saturday morning found us on the slopes bright and early as we already had all our gear...there was a competition...and they were setting up a slalom course...

...There were a couple of events going on too...Subaru's Master the Mountain...and the NASTAR - ski race...so it was pretty busy even though the weather and ski contitions were not that great...

...on the lift...

...the tips of my skis...

...looking back toward the lodge...

...I tried several times to get a photo of the 'targeted' trash bins that you could aim for from the lift...but I never managed to get the camera out of my pocket in time...I'm sure you can imagine it though...it was cute...

...lots of nice slow green trails...that's where I mostly stayed...

...there was a very melty pond at the top...probably used for ice skating in colder weather...

...Wisps...HA!...of fog not blowing snow like we used to always see in ND...

...the view from the trail...

...and of the trail...

...Scout having a lesson on his snowboard...

...getting his snow-legs...

...learning the all important skill of stopping...

...the melting snow seen through the trees...I'm sure the resort owners are not happy with this weather...

...during the afternoon...we got a text that one of our Youth was going to attempt the black diamond run...so everyone hurried out of the lodge in whatever state of dress they were in...because this was an event NOT to be missed...and remember that it's probably about 60 degrees...there's snow yes...but it's quite warm out...

...shortly we saw him coming down the hill...giving us a thumbs up...

...and I love this sweet picture of his sister running to give him a congratulatory hug!...

...and then he was overjoyed to see the video his Mom took on her iPhone...quite an accomplishment!...

...it wasn't long before things started to cool off and it got dark...but don't worry...the skiing doesn't stop when it gets dark...

...all of the runs are well lit...

...here I am skiing down Possum...camera in hand...

...and a goofy photo of me...the kind you get when you hand your camera to a stranger and ask them to take a crooked out of focus picture for you...☺

...everyone was pretty tired at devotions and went to bed quietly afterwards...

...only to wake up sore and pack for the trip home on Sunday...

...so we all said goodbye...

...to Wisp for this year...it was a lot of fun!...

...how was your weekend?...

~Have a lovely week!