Elf on the Shelf

Pin It Is anyone else caught up in the Elf on the Shelf trend? I think they are adorable especially when they are doing something naughty. For example:

Here is our Elf getting into the Voyager Gin and Pacifique Absinthe, again. Naughty Elf.

Vogue New Book

Pin It My son's school puts on a Octoberfest type carnival every year at this time. It is called The Everett Sausage Fest. As part of the vendors, they have a rummage sale that has all the typical stuff including books. On Friday as I was walking my Mother-In-Law around the Fest, we stopped in the rummage sale and I noticed a lot of sewing books in some boxes under one of the tables. I went through them and accumulated quite a pile. Including............... drum roll ................... The 1952 Vogue New Book for Better Sewing! And here is the best part, for $2! I looked it up and there are no current copies for sale on Ebay. The only copies I found were on Amazon for $298. Oh, and I already have a copy, so I can easily and guilt free sell this new copy.

Less Than 10

Pin It I officially have less than 10 lbs left to lose to get to my goal weight. Yay! Okay, full disclosure. It is 9.8 lbs, which is only .2 lbs less than 10 lbs. But it is still LESS than 10 lbs. So it totally counts! LOL

One Year Absence

Pin It So, it has been a whole year since I posted. I have been sewing. I just haven't been blogging. I lost my blogging mojo last year when I lost my really cool job at my company and had to go back to my old job. I'll be honest. I was very angry for a very long time about it. I'm mostly over it now. But I still struggle because my current job is very physically demanding and I'm not getting any younger. Enough whining, on to the sewing.

I made what was supposed to be a twin size quilt for my Hubby. In the picture below, I am standing on a 18" tall stool with my arms outstretched as far as I can.

I have two more quilts that are at the quilters right now. I will post pictures when I get them back and get the binding on.

I bought a new sewing machine too. A Bernina 830. I got a great deal on it because it was a used machine with about 100 hours on it. Someone traded it in because they wanted to upgrade to the 830 LE (limited edition). It has been quite the learning experience to go from a 1962 Singer 401A to a machine that is 50 years newer with all the bells and whistles. I still use my 401A when I go to my quilt group. It is a much lighter machine to lug around than my 830. But I am getting spoiled by my 830. How did I ever live without the needle down function?

B-17, B-25 and Spitfires

Pin It Ruben and I went to a free fly day today at the Everett Heritage Flight Museum. We went because a WWII era Spitfire was scheduled to fly and it was a gorgeous summer day today. We got lucky because there wasn't just one Spitfire, there were two. Plus a Messerschmitt, a B-17, and a B-25 were all flying today.

B-17 nose art.

The Messerschmitt taxis out first, followed by the two Spitfires, and finally the B-17. The B-25 is in the background. It took off later.

This video is the Messerschmitt and the two Spitfires as they do a flyby.The Messerschmitt landed soon after this because it was running a little too hot.

We paid $8, a bargain, for both of us to crawl through the B-17. I was surprised that it was so cheap to tour it. Plus, all the money goes towards keeping the airplane fly worthy. So all around it was a win win.

Bombs in the bomb bay.

Can you imagine how scary it would have been to have to traverse the bomb bay walkway to the rear gunners if the bomb bay doors were open? The walkway is barely wider than my feet. And I don't have big man clodhopper feet or combat boots on.

Here is an authentic WWII gunner. LOL. Doesn't he look vicious?

The B-17 starting up. You can't really see, but there is a 87 year old man in the glass in the nose. His kids bought him the ride. He was in WWII, but wasn't on B-17's. His kids were so excited for him to be able to ride up front on a B-17 it almost choked me up. The cost of the flights were crazy expensive. In the $300-500 range. Too rich for me.

If you are ever in the greater Seattle area, or are planning a trip, check out the schedule for the Heritage Flight Museum. The free flight days are just that, free. You can pay to get into the museum, but you don't have to. Very fun way to spend a couple of hours.

I Love the Library

Pin It We live close to the main branch of the Everett Public Library. It is a comfortable biking distance from our house so we visit quite often.

Check out the cool bike rack they have in front of the library.

The original library was founded by the Everett Women's Book Club. The original building that you see on Hoyt and Everett Ave was opened to the public in October 1934.

The library was remodeled in 1991 and a portion of the old building was restored and turned into a coffee shop. The other portion is the lobby, book return, and check-out desks.

This is a view of the new part of the library. Pretty spectacular, huh?

Which brings us to my favorite part of the library. The Quick Picks section. I pick out books one of two ways. One is I research an author, put a hold on a book, and go pick it up from the hold shelf later. Another feature I love because I can do this from home and the librarians will find the book for me and I just have to pick it up. Easy, simple, fast. The second way is the library has a quick pick section of popular or recommended books. I can browse, read the backs and pick out 4-8 books at a time.

This is actually a vintage related post though. I'm getting to that part. So, Ruben and I go to the library the other day for his math tutoring lesson. In the lobby they have a table of books the library is discarding and selling. I see these....

Four huge volumes of Ladies Home Journals for the years of 1945, 1948, 1949, and 1951. Attractively bound and only $3 each. I almost squealed with delight right there in the library, but I didn't dare. I have been reading 1945 and will post picture of some of the goodies inside later.

Pacific Distillery

Pin It A couple of weeks ago we went down to my Brother-in-law's business, Pacific Distillery, to help bottle a batch of gin.

Pacific Distillery is one of a handful of micro-distilleries in Washington State. They make small batch, hand crafted Gin and Absinthe using all organic ingredients. How do I know the ingredients are organic? Because we grow some of the Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium & pontica) in our yard. The name of the Gin is Voyager Gin and the Absinthe is Pacifique Absinthe.

Pictures taken with my phone. Display of all the herbs used for the Absinthe and Gin.

Herbs used in Pacifique Absinthe:
Grand Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
Roman Wormwood (Artemisia pontica)
Green Anise (Pimpinella anisum)
Florence Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare/azoricum)
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
Angelica (Angelica archangelica)
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)

Herbs used in Voyager Gin:
Lemon Peel (Citrus limon)
Cassia (Cinnamomum cassia)
Angelica (Angelica archangelica)
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)
Orris (Iris germanica)
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
Orange Peel (Citrus sinensis)
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)
Juniper (Juniperus communis)
Green Anise (Pimpinella anisum)

I'm not a great expert on the gin or absinthe because I don't drink. I have tasted the Gin and it has a nice flavor without being too pine tasting. Most gins I have had in the past taste a little too much like liquid christmas tree for my taste. Voyager has a very mild pine flavor with other flavors layered in it. You don't even have to put a lime in a Voyager gin and tonic to make it palatable.

This is the alembic that he distills his liquors in. Cool looking, huh?

My job during the Voyager Gin bottling was to put the plastic foil caps on the top of the bottle after it was filled, corked, and labeled.

The plastic foil caps get heated and shrunk to the top of the bottle next.

If you live in Washington State, you can buy Voyager Gin or Pacifique Absinthe from most Liquor Stores. If your local store doesn't currently carry it, ask about it, they can order it. If you live outside Washington State, there are some mail order companies that you can buy from. Here is a link to some Online retailers that carry both liquors.

If you try either one, let me know what you think.