Feeling USEFUL

(Be prepared- I've been shut away from all human companionship since 6:30 and as a result, I am feeling....chatty.)

I have been lamenting the paucity of tasteful sun-dresses this season. Despite the fact that they are supposed to be very "in," it is incredibly difficult to find a dress that is neither skanky nor frumpy. Anything I have found that looks cute initially tend to end up being waaaay too short/tight or just plain transparent.

In order to solve my problem I've resorted to desperate measures. I'm FINALLY teaching myself to sew. This is a skill I've been wishing for as long as I can remember, but never had the time or the patience or the plain ol' will to practice. So. On Monday I pulled the sewing machine out of the basement, dug the box of fabric out from its cob-webby dungeon, and took over the kitchen table. I started off just cutting up pieces of old fabric and sewing them back together. I probably did that for 3 hours that day, just trying to get the feel of the machine and getting closer and closer to perfectly straight seams.

My mother and I went out to the fabric store, where we picked up several patterns. One is a very simple, straight sleeveless dress. The other is slightly more complicated, and involves a full, swirly skirt. I had such a good time picking outfabrics (blue tropical print for one and brown/cream Eiffel Towers and Poodles for the other. ;o))

I've been too scared to cut into my lovely fabrics yet, so I spent most of yesterday and today making an apron which I started last November. I've been feeling a great sense of accomplishment ever since I finished it. It's a little large for anyone but Patrick (here seen modeling said apron) despite the fact that the pattern said "SMALL," but it is well-made and my seams are very neat and straight.

Sewing isn't all I did today. After getting home from my work-out with my mother, and before changing out of my grubby work-out clothes, I had a serious job to attend to.

We have 4 gorgeous rose bushes on the side of our house, one of which reverted to its pre-hybrid self and went wild this year.
It has been producing myriad brilliant pink blooms, and seems to want to climb up the side of our house. My (self-chosen) job has been taking care of the roses, pruning and dead-heading them whenever they need it. I was doing my rounds last night when I discovered that in the last week my darling roses had been taken over by a fungus, which was spreading black splotches across all the leaves, which would then fall off at the slightest touch.

Having diagnosed the problem with the help of my trusty garden manual, I turned into a rose-doctor this afternoon. I removed the diseased limbs ( I love saying that) and CLEANED the bed....literally. All the mulch, leaves, and old flowers left and the entire area, including the bushes themselves, got a soaking of anti-fungal Sol-U-Mel. My brothers were none to pleased with this process, as they were drafted into service and had to clean up after my ministrations. (This included picking little pieces of moldy, centipede-ridden mulch out of the grass. Sorry boys.)
My poor little rose bushes are considerably smaller now than they were when I set out this morning, but they should at least survive to bloom again.