Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found this little chipmunk on my walk the other day.   

Spring green is slow to come so I hope they have enough to eat.

I have not seen many yet this year so I don't know if the population is down.  I generally see quite a few.

It may been that some have decided to stay in their little warm homes for a little longer sensing that things have not warmed up a lot.

I finished this book this week.  Fireside by Susan Wiggs.  The title does not seem to match the story to me.

Bo Crutcher is a baseball player hitting his stride a bit later in life and has achieved a place on a pro ball team.  Just as things are turning around a call sends his life into a spin.  Heading to Texas to pick up a boy he has never met.  He knew he had a son but the mother had not allowed him to be involved.   Now she is in trouble and turns to Bo to help out.

Being a father is a huge learning curve.   He does his best and makes slow progress in gaining AJ's trust.

In the meantime he met a girl quite by chance as her life was spinning out of control.  Later, they meet again and she is able to help prepare him for his professional career and still be a Dad.

All works out in the end but the ups and downs are challenging.  A good book.

The hiccups with the sewing machine have been sorted out.  I can say the servicing as restored all the functions and it purrs!

These machines are real workhorses.  So despite being 50 years old it just keeps on sewing like a dream.   I will make sure that I oil it more regularly.

It was out of commission for a month with the back and forth visits.  I guess I needed time to design my tote and purchase the fabric so it all worked out.

You will see that I have already put it to good use on a Tote project.

Here's the bespoke tote I designed and sewed over the weekend.

I needed a bag to carry my camera, my purse and my everyday bag.

You can read about all the details in this post.

I have used a couple of times already and I am very happy with the result.

Of course, the color combo is perfect.

This is a small books as far as the size of books I normally have been reading.  True Believers by Linda Dorrell.

It was a quick read and very compelling story.  Set in the mid 1050's in the southern states it deals with racism, ignorance, and social expectations.  She is a single white woman of privilege who bucks the tradition when purchases a church with her inheritance.

She is led to ask a black man ,Otha Lee which she has known most of her life to work on the restoration project. He is a handyman, a bit of a farmer and a preacher.   He has no building to worship in so his congregation has been meeting under a large tree.  He agrees to take on the project and as luck would have it a younger man, Joseph has recently come to town looking for work. Perfect!  

They make a great team but the very hot summer makes progress slow.  The project is a success once Peggy, Otha Lee and Joseph address their pasts to reveal that this was the perfect project for them.  Excellent read.