Countdown & Catch up...

Wow, where do I begin?

This themed wedding has taken over my life! I'm either sewing, or picking out seams, or ironing, or tracing patterns out onto curtains, or tying ribbons onto crystals, or working on music, or, or, or...

And right now, I can't sleep!! The brain just won't shut off!! Is it the full moon? Are my periods coming? Who knows!! It's 2:46 a.m., and I'm wide awake. Can't do much with Dave sleeping, so I'm finally here catching up here. It's quiet, but also productive. Heaven forbid I sit and do nothing!! LOL

So the sewing is almost done. I've made some extra pieces for guests. Okay, so I've made lots of extras for guests! Along with buying from ebay. I can't do fancy bodices I've discovered. Need a professional grommet setter.... but those I can and have bought from ebay. Then I've made skirts to go with them. And have made some chemises, and bought some.

I couldn't find a decent men's pattern for a poets shirt, BUT I had a decent shirt that I wanted to copy, took it apart, and created my own pattern. Damned if the shirts didn't turn out okay!! And I even had to learn how to do a collar on the things!! Man, my one semester and a half of Home Ec has certainly come in handy!! How many years ago was that?????????

I've even learned how to do the button hole stitch. Not well, but that is my sewing machine's fault. It doesn't like to go backwards to do the stitch properly. I've had that thing apart and cleaned more times than I can to think, and there is just something wrong with the feeder teeth on it. Oh well, don't do reverse often anyway. At least forward is still working! The machine is over 30 yrs old, and this is the most it has been used in years!! Poor thing! I just hope it holds out for a few more things...

Deb S came down the weekend of the 11th, and I was a bridzilla! Made her work, would have made her work more, but Street Wheelers weekend was on... LOL But we got some curtains finished. And here is how THAT went.... first I found a design that I liked. Then copied it onto a plastic sheet, then put that on an overhead projector that I borrowed from work, traced it out onto paper that was taped to the wall, then took the paper to the dining room table, traced the much larger design onto inexpensive 2nd hand store tab top curtains with tracing paper, then went over the design with black felt pens. Got all that? We managed to get done a celtic high cross, 2 matching curtains with medieval style horses, and a gothic unicorn done, with at least one more design to put onto material, but at least it's traced out in black felt pen, ready to go! These will all become "walls" to the sun shade tents that will be set up in the front yard.

Then we also tied ribbons thru crystals - these will be hung from trees - a girl's got to have sparkly things ya know!! I've been collecting crystals for years now. You know those really tacky chandeliers that are brass colored with crystals hanging from them? Ya, well, you can sometimes find them cheap at garage sales, for like $5. The crystals got taken off, the tacky brass got thrown out. Which left me with lots and lots of crystals... knew I was going to use them someday!!

I even made myself a really amazing dress!! Out of a $4, 2nd hand burgandy queen sized duvet cover, which was in really great shape. Took out the zipper, undid the stitching, and proceeded to cut out the pattern. A real one this time!! Altho I did change a few things on it!! Like, no zipper. I made it larger than I required, sewed in D-rings into the back seams, and viola, it has lacing in the back!! It has those really long sleeves and a back hem that drags. But I also wanted to show white inside sleeves, but not wear a chemise or tunic under it. So I created sleeves out of a white sheet, and once I stitched them up with the machine, I hand stitched them to the inside of the dress sleeve to the trim that goes around the bicep area of my arm. Hard to explain, but looks cool. Yes, yes, pictures will be coming!! And it only took me 4 weeks to do!

And the yard.... bought tons of dirt, tons of plants, and just as everything is blooming.... we get hail. Oh wait! Let's hail the next week too! Aaahhh, not done yet!! Let's hail one more week!! Just for good measure! Sheesh!! But I just checked the 2 week forcast from the weather channel, it looks like we'll be dying from the heat by time the wedding is on. Oh joy! NOT! Now I have to go out and trim my poor plants, clean off all the dead stuff, fertize the poor things, and hope they come back, all pretty! Thank goodness we have a covered deck - you should have seen me scrambling to get all my pots under cover!

And because of the hail and horendous winds ...... one of the main suppliers of our famous Taber Corn got totally wiped out. Which was going to be one of the foods for our meal. Hope Safeway has a ton of corn! Who knows! Maybe it will just be burgers we'll be serving!

The music... between what I had (which was lots, believe me!), and iTunes... I have cds burned to play Friday and Saturday, with a combo set for Sunday and Monday in the front yard. Going to put the speakers from the stereo downstairs up into the rumpus room windows, and play out the windows. How's that for ambiance? And this stereo is great... I can put like 20 cds in it, and let it run....

The deck will be playing my iPod... have it all timed out to play certain music at a certain time. The back kitchen door will have a cd player playing back there, with either really Renaissance music, or the Gregorian chant thing happening, or a mixture of both. It will only play 1 cd at a time.. haven't quiet got that figured out yet.

Dave hasn't got off easy either! All the windows of the house have been cleaned, inside and out. He gave the deck a new coat of paint. He's trying to get electricity onto the deck, with a plug in and lights. The plug in works, the lights... not so much. He's going to talk to his electrician buddy tomorrow to find out what the problem is. He's screwed in 6 flag poles (the smaller cheaper ones that you can get from Canadian Tire) onto the front of the house. And figured out a way to hang the flags I've bought from them, so that we will have medieval style flags hanging on the front of the house. I know, overboard, right? LOL But it's the party that I'm planning - the wedding itself is taken care of. Sorta. Still have to pin down the exact wording... Oh, and he's been doing the daily cooking and cleaning while I've been sewing, sewing, sewing!! Poor man. He must really love me!!

Oh, and then I bought this really cool bubble machine! You should see this thing! It freaking takes 8 AA batteries, but man, does it blow bubbles!! You can't help but giggle when this thing is going and you see bubbles just pouring out of it and floating skywards!!

I've ordered the cake from Wal-mart. Hey, it's just a slab cake, decorated up with the theme. Haven't quite got that down pat either... waiting for a plastic castle front to come in to be put onto the cake. Ya, pictures!!

I have the next 3 weeks off from work. 2 weeks before the wedding (well, not quite now), and 1 week after - to collapse or have a heart attack or something like that. Oh, wait, honeymoon. Ya, probably will take a few days, once everything is settled and put away, to go back to the place where Dave proposed. A much needed time of peace and quiet. And no sewing machine!!

So I think I have got you guys up to speed. I really must finish the sewing, and find my inside of the house once again. Right now it is covered, room to room, with all sorts of sewing "stuff' - material, trims, patterns, etc. I be thinking I really shouldn't leave it that way, not with guests arriving later next week!! Really should tidy up, put things away, pull out my medieval accessories... yep, it's on one my to-do lists!!

TTFN!