Birthday Lights

I asked the husband what he wanted for his birthday, and he said he wanted to stay home and get some things done around here. I completely understand that sentiment. This time of year, especially, there is so much going on that there is no time to stop and look around.

We had a leisurely breakfast of bacon and eggs, after which each of us looked at our to-do lists and chose something. I cleaned up around the house and threw in a load of laundry, then went out to the garage to clean out the chicks’ brooder box and fill it with clean wood shavings. In another week or two, they will move out to the chicken coop. I watered the plants in the greenhouse. The husband worked outside and took a load of garbage to the dump. We reconvened over lunch.

We didn’t get the rain that was promised on Friday. Yesterday was cool and a bit blustery. After lunch, I went to my sewing room to look at patterns again. I don’t know where my head was on Friday, but I hadn’t read that Simplicity 9469 pattern properly at all. I completely missed the middle size. The finished sizing reads Small, 42-1/2", Medium 46-1/2", and Large 50-1/2". I went ahead and traced the Medium and we’ll see how that one fits.

I also got out the Varda dress pattern and traced that one, although I am starting with the top. (Lengthened, of course.) The Varda is a French dart dress. If the top fits well, I’ll go ahead and make a dress.

By then, it was time to get ready for the wedding. Dressing for something like this is when I get to see precisely where the holes are in my wardrobe. Even though Montana events are much more casual than elsewhere in the country, I had fashion rules drilled into me at a young age. (No white after Labor Day, etc.) Also, as the pianist, I feel it’s my responsibility to dress nicely. I have many basics: pencil skirts in navy and black, wide leg pants in navy and black, lots of cardigans, but I need some blouses to tie everything together. In the end, I settled on a black pencil skirt with a green printed Liz Claiborne blouse and black cardigan. Green was one of the bride’s wedding colors, so I felt that was a good choice.

Besides blouses, I could use a couple of nice dresses, too. If I ever get that ponte sheath dress pattern worked out, I’ll probably make that in several versions.

A cold front blew in just after the wedding and it did rain, hard, for a while. While I was gone, the husband installed new lights in my office:

When we built the house, we put three banks of fluorescent lights in here. A few years ago, we switched out the fluorescent bulbs for LED bulbs, but then the lights began randomly shutting off for a few minutes before coming back on. I suspect the LED bulbs were causing the ballasts to overheat. I lived with it for far longer than I should have. About a month ago, the husband told me to order new fixtures. I like these; hopefully, flies will not collect in them and the light is much softer. I might actually consider making some YouTube videos now.

So I got a present, but the husband got to stay home and cross a few things off his to-do list, and that was his present.