Those Seven Little Words

I have learned that when the husband utters these seven little words, I need to be prepared.

“I have a sewing project for you.”

WHAT. NOW.

“I need some gaiters to cover my boots when I’m cutting rebar on the job so the sparks won’t make holes in my pants. They need to be fire resistant.”

Um.

In theory, this would not be a difficult project. Gaiters are just rectangular-ish pieces of fabric that wrap around his boots and cinch at the top. The issue is making them fire resistant.

“It would be nice if they had leather on the front.”

I’m sure it would, but I don’t have a sewing machine (yet) capable of sewing Kevlar or leather. Truly, people, the fact that I have all these machines is not entirely my fault. The husband keeps bringing me these projects for which I need additional horsepower. And a workshop.

I spent an hour or so researching fire-resistant fabrics and then I did what any smart seamstress would do: I did a Google search to see if fire-resistant gaiters were already being made. Why should I reinvent the wheel? Lo and behold, a company called Dragonwear makes some. Even better, one of their dealers is the company in town owned by our fire chief and his wife. Our fire chief’s wife checked on availability for me and she is going order some—in size 2XL to fit the husband’s size 14 boots:

Those are his muck boots next to mine (I wear a size 8). He has a pair of waterproof gaiters for his mucks and they barely wrap all the way around. The boy has big feet. His fire boots had to be special ordered.

I am keeping my eye out for an industrial machine capable of sewing leather, because it’s just a matter of time.

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I had to make an unexpected trip to the dentist yesterday morning. Sunday night, while eating a bowl of chicken soup—soup!—I bit down on something hard. Thinking it was a chicken bone, I spit it out, only to discover it was the crown from my bottom left molar. I had no idea it was loose. Thankfully, I did not have any pain. It was just uncomfortable. I called the dentist’s emergency number and she called me back a bit later and said they would get me in first thing yesterday morning. It took about 10 minutes for them to clean it and cement it back on. I am glad it was an easy fix.

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We are under another winter storm warning this morning. It’s annoying for the husband because he would like to be out working, not plowing, but it is February and we need the moisture. (I feel like I have been saying that every winter for the past decade.) This winter weather has been tough on DD#1 out in Seattle; if she can’t see clients, she has no billable hours, and the clinic is pressuring the OTs to plan on working weekends to make up the time. She texted me last night that snow days were more fun when she was in school and not relying on the income. (Not that we had many snow days here in Montana.) Fortunately, she and her boyfriend were able to get out of Seattle proper and make it over to the Olympic peninsula where his parents live. If they have to sit out Snowmageddon, that’s a much better place to do it than in the city.

Spokane is getting hammered, too. My kids have a good bit of experience driving in lousy conditions and we always make sure they have good snow tires on their vehicles. When DD#1 was in OT school in Spokane, she was the designated carpool driver because she was the only person who was capable of getting everyone to school safely.

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I’ve been working on the rose gold vinyl Bramble Bag some more. I’ve reached the point in that project where the end is in sight and that is providing a lot of momentum to keep going. It also looks really nice.

I’ve been meaning to post a picture of these cute little canning jars I picked up at a Goodwill when we were traveling last week:

I haven’t seen new ones of this style in stores, although several of the canning jar companies are bringing back some of the older designs. These would have been great for my lemon curd. Next time.