Our First Stocking Free Day!

 Today was the first day since the stocking season started... where we have not had to do a stocking.  ( Technically...  I had to replace buttons on someone's stocking that they sent back.)  So What do we do with out New found time...

Running in Muscatine comes to mind.    Muscatine is great!  Not only does it get us out of our normal little Iowa Shire, it also allows us to run/bike on a clear path with very little snow and ice. Add in the sun glittering on the river and it has everything we need to recharge our batteries... Mostly.

So after a 7 mile run.  ( Yes!  7 miles!   Cheryl has not be able to run 7 miles for a very long time.)  we did the usual stuff...  Get drinks, hit the HyVee,  And enjoy a warm and cozy ride in the Subie. You have to find peace in the little things.

Back home, we finished up and sent out the rogue stockings and set up a moment to explore a few of our new found hobbies we have been thinking about while the stocking season raged.    Cheryl has been thinking about Candy Cane Horses!

Of course, I had to sew on the button eyes.  But Cheryl whipped these guys up in no time!   I'm not sure what she has planned for them, but I do know that I will not be eating any peppermint Candy any time soon.  

We already delivered a little holiday cheer to several of the people on our list.   Glen, our favorite Casey's Cashier;  Brenda, our old Cat sitter and favorite dog owner; Terresa, the Parks and Rec lady who enjoys my chalk art and gives us gallons of Free Honey!   We even managed to get the UPS guy as he dropped in today unexpectedly.  ( Cheryl was expecting him on Friday, but a package arrived to us that she did not order....)  It all worked out.  And the Blondies are not going to go stale in their package after all...

As for me,  I  have been working on my "Free Hand Embroidery"   Last year, when the thread at JoAnn Fabrics went on sale,  I gathered up a bunch of colors thinking I would dust off my Embroidery foot machine and give it an artistic whirl.   A year later:   No Embroidery projects to brag about!  This year,  I wanted to change that. 

Now you may be saying:"  Why free hand embroidery when you have an expensive Brother PE 770 machine at your disposal?"   A fair question!  I have labored under the idea that I could simply use the Embroidery Machine to do the stitching easy enough.  I would like to think I am a Master at its operations.    The problem is the computer is not very smart.   You have to program it to do whatever design it does not already have in its pathetic library.  ( It has 6 fonts, which I use for name embroidery...  the other stuff is pretty lame.)  

Now, you could easily enough, find a design you like on the internet.   And for $3,  you could purchase, download, and plug it into the machine to easily embroidery on whatever fabric you want. But who has 3 bucks?   To spend on a design you may not like after 5 minutes... Or never use again after the first time?  Seems like a waste to me.   Not to mention that I think there is a loss of artistic flair when you simply plug in a machine to do your bidding.  ( Not really,  I still want a CNC router and a Glowforge...) Besides... I'm a "Hands-on" kind of guy...

So...   let's get that Embroidery foot on and make some magic!  Well, at least I can try.  

After a few hours of fooling around,  I think that I made a discovery.   One:  I should try to keep things simple in the beginning.  

Perhaps I should not have started
with a Koi...

Two:   I really think that there is a knack that can only be learned through trial and error and time behind the Machine.  Well that is not very ground breaking... Doesn't most everything else in life follow that pattern.   I guess practice makes perfect.  Or at least,  "Somewhat presentable"  I still think I have a long way to go.  And I will definitely require more colors of thread in the future. 

Well,  this was just to help me unwind and see what I could do.   I think it accomplished that after all.  For the remainder of the evening,  I will be enjoying  some "Tom And Jerrys"  while eating Baby Swiss Cheese and Wheat thin Crackers.  ( On the New Sheep Skin Rug)  And to help celebrate the Holiday Season just a little more...  

You simply HAVE to add in the Spiced Rum to the Drink...  to make it Official.   I learned later that we are supposed to add a Shot of Brandy to is as well.. for the full experience!   No wonder drinking "ABOUT 12  Tom and Yerries"  was a thing back in the day for Swedes.  ( It is from a song:  "Let's go Nuts at Christmas!"  Mom used to play it all the time on the way to our school..  and the singer sounded like my Grandpa Allen.) 

Hope everyone else is having a fine day.   A warm Tom and Jerry will certainly make my Swedish blood warm and cozy, I'm sure.    Thanks for stopping in!