I recently got an account on TikTok (thatpetlady). I'm still trying to figure it out and I use it mostly for finding interesting videos, but this morning I did post a video of Amos purring.
I also recently joined Instagram. I had an account before that I never used, but when I re-downloaded the app on my phone I didn't remember my username or password... So I started a new account (that.pet.lady) and I posted a photo of Amos today.
Due to my delays in doing literally anything this past week, I didn't get the hatching incubator set up... I now have chicks hatching in the other incubator - with the egg turner still on. Yeah... So... As soon as they stop hatching and it looks like no other eggs are pipped, I'll take the chicks out to the barn brooder to join the three Dark Brahma chicks and the two other chicks from the last incubator hatch. These will be my last incubator hatched chicks for the year. There is one duck egg in there that's set to hatch next week, but I never bothered to candle or check any of these eggs... so who knows. As of last check it looks like there are five black chicks and two yellow chicks hatched and napping in there.
Tomorrow Ginger Bear and Blue Star have an appointment for their microchips. It sounds like Blue Star will be heading off to her new home on Sunday. Yay! I hope she does well off on her next adventure. The home sounds just perfect for her.
On Saturday I finally set up the sewing machine I got last year for my birthday. Part of me put it off because my mother in law was always the crafty one and the cutting board and roller tool that we presented to me at the same time kind of brought up some sadness and I just wasn't ready to take on the role yet. With a lot of help from #3 (she read the manual and got it all set up for me), I got through a couple different projects.
Project #1 - I took a shirt that was too small for #4, sewed the bottom together, cut and re-stitched part of the top, and made it into a cute little shopping bag.
Project #2 - Seeing what I did with the shirt, #3 brought me an old pair of jeans that didn't fir anymore. She just wanted the legs to make doll clothes from, so I cut the legs off, sewed the leg holes shut, and used a couple strips cut from the length of the pant leg to make a strap. Voila! Now it's a purse. I remember my mother making one when I was little - though she was never much of a crafter, I do recall her making a couple of this particular type of purse. I was much too small then to have helped, but I winged it and it turned out pretty nice.
Project #3 - Playing off the success of project #1 with the shirt, I took a dress that was too tight for #4 and I sewed the slip inside together at the bottom, then cut off the extra outer frill that hung down, leaving just enough to cover the slip. I used the part I cut off as a belt for it. Unfortunately, it doesn't look modified enough, so it literally just looks like a dress, while the other one is easier to recognize as a reusable bag. I think perhaps infant dresses would work better in the future than bigger sizes. I may end up giving this one to #4 and letting her use it for whatever. Might make an interesting overnight bag.
Project #4 - I used a scrap of pant leg in a rectangle, stuffed with scraps and a jingle bell, to make a cat toy. I gave it to the cats right away and it has already disappeared.
Project #5 - OK, so I didn't really use the sewing machine for this one, but #5 was sitting there with his Ninja Turtles figures and he asked if I could make them clothes. I took thick strips of fabric, cut a line in the middle and made little ponchos for the turtles. Some got belts to hold their ponchos and some didn't. Then #5 took a pair of scissors and cut some of them short in the front (to his liking). Still technically a project though... 100% scrap fabric from the pants!
I didn't take photos, but I'll try to remember to in the future. I kind of want to try more projects turning old clothes into bags. I took a shirt and made a pillow case a long time ago, but never found the proper stuffing to finish it. It's still in the closet. I wonder if I could find some stuffing if I stopped by a craft store...
I may have given the wrong impression, because Sunday night #5 came down the stairs (after bedtime) with the sleeve of his shirt in his hands. He'd used some scrap yarn to tie the wrist end shut and had stuffed the other sleeve (which he'd also cut off) in as stuffing and was asking for a jingle bell so he could make a cat toy too... I explained to him that we only use clothes that we can't wear anymore. Ones that are damaged or stained or otherwise not valuable enough to be passed on to someone else. We can't be cutting up the clothes we wear on a regular basis, and now he won't be able to wear one of his favorite shirts anymore... He was a little upset about that, but hey - a cat toy! Pretty awesome that he came up with the design on his own - it wasn't like the one I'd made. Way to be creative at five years old! This morning I helped him stuff it with a clean unpaired sock from the sock bag in the laundry cabinet. Ironically, the sock bag used to be a t-shirt that we made into a bag many years ago.
Looks like we're supposed to get rain tonight and tomorrow. It'll be nice to have a good storm. Might cool things down. It's been about 80-82 degrees in the house. Not bad under the ceiling fan, but it can get hot if we need to cook or work outside. Tony has assured me that tomorrow (his day off) he will muck the barn for me.