Truck Driver's Daughter

I have no intention to insult or malign the skills of all professional truck drivers but I do have to tell you all that things are changing. I know and see the changes because I am the daughter of a truck driver who taught me how to drive.

Not so long ago the professional drivers in the cab of a semi were like the guardian angels of the highways. You could count on them to be the most polite and predictable drivers on the road. The situational awareness of those drivers was 10 times that of the average Joe or Jane in a car. The skills of those truck drivers kept us all safer and I, for one, greatly appreciated that.

Photo by Peter Mizsak on Unsplash

I understand there is currently a driver shortage. I, in my opinion, think this is leading to a greater percentage of truck drivers on the road without the experience that went a long way to making our road trips safer and therefore more enjoyable. 

I bring this up today because we have done 3 road trips since Jim retired. One was from Arizona to Northern California and 2 from Arizona to Southern California. Twice we were nearly run off the road! Both times we were passing a truck in the left lane in full view of the driver's mirrors and the truck came on over into the left lane. We were beside the trailer about half way along the length when these drivers made their move. The first time was the truck came just a bit over the lane line. Jim honked and he went back over immediately. The second time, with a narrow shoulder we were forced to be half on asphalt and half on dirt in the median. I was hoping for good protection from air bags at that point or hoping we didn't roll our pickup in the soft dirt of the median. I think watching that trailer come towards my side of the pickup added a few more gray hairs to my head that day! The driver finally saw us and moved back over. 

I have been driving for 50 years and have never had this happen to me before and have never seen it happen to anyone else around me on a road. We weren't driving recklessly. We weren't speeding. As I said before, a lane change had been signaled and done, we had a full view of the semi's mirrors, we should have been viewable by the drivers who did this to us. 

Please, if you are a new big rig driver, be careful. You have a long and well earned reputation to build on and uphold for your profession. We all need what you are hauling and we all need to be safe.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Summer Is Great for Dresses

I lived in the Phoenix area for about 5 years before moving away. Now I am living in the Valley of the Sun again and going through a summer here as a full time resident after 10 years away. Clothing and hydration can do a lot to keep you comfortable when it is 110F outside and the indoor thermostat needs to be at 78 or 80 to keep the bills affordable. A nice casual dress can take me from home to the grocery store and back again and maybe even out to dinner if  I refuse to cook and heat up the kitchen.

I find that when it really heats up during the summer the most comfortable clothes to wear are dresses. Do you feel the same way? What I look for are best boutique dresses. I look for short or maxi boutique dresses with a flowing skirt rather that something more fitted. For me lighter colors and fabrics like cotton or rayon work for me too. Interesting details are always a plus as well when I choose what to purchase and wear.

Check out the great summer boutique dresses I found to share with you below.

I don't think you can ever go wrong with a pretty floral print such as on the dress above. The tiered skirt is a detail I like a lot too.

The tied sleeve and the back yoke are the things I like best about this dress. The elastic waist detail will make the fit a bit more forgiving and comfortable. Comfort means a lot to me when choosing a dress. If the fit bugs me then it becomes a hanging closet decoration and we don't want to do that do we?

See the pin tucks on the bodice of this one? So cute, am I right?

Now for one that I think could work if you are attending something a little more special than a backyard barbecue. Check out the lovely lace!

So what do you think? Summer with no pants? Other ideas on how to thrive and enjoy life when it is over 100 outside? Please share in the comments because your comments make me so happy. (Well I guess you know that I mean the non spammy ones.)

The content in this post was sponsored (but I really do like the dresses I shared with you).

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

More Handmade from My Past

I guess when it comes to crafts I want to know a little about all of them. Over the years I have done embroidery, leatherwork, quilting, tatting, knitting, crocheting, tole or folk art painting, sewing clothes, a tiny bit of beading, and poured greenware in a ceramics shop. I don't really consider myself a master of any but am probably most skilled in crochet. I consider myself a life long learner and there are more skills to tackle in all of those I mentioned. This attitude is one of the biggest reasons I am never bored. There is always something to make or a book to read. Heaven would be doing both at the same time but I haven't been able to pull that off yet. 

There was a time (70's or 80's?) when crewel embroidery was very popular and of course I tried it. This technique, as I learned it, was a way to paint a picture with yarn. The instructions in the kit guided you on how to do specialty stitches to bring more details to your finished project. It is a bit hard to tell but the center of the flowers are fuzzy little puffs.so that is one of the things I learned how to do working on this project.

I am trying to figure out if I want to hang this in our new house. I am considering putting it over my computer table so I can see it every day. Jim and I share our office room. We each pretty much have half the room. His side has red, white and blue and Navy memorabilia so I guess a bit of softness and nature will be good on my side.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

An Overdue Visit

We are nearing the end of organizing in our new spaces. Jim has so much time on his hands he mopped the garage floor. I have been keeping quiet and not making any honey do demands on him so he can figure out how he wants to fill his days. 

I am trying to figure out when and how to reopen my Etsy shop. The time keeps getting pushed back as he comes up with ideas for all the trips he wants to take. We are considering trips to Utah and Hawaii. After that I hope I can stay home for awhile and get my shop stocked for a good fall and holiday selling season. I have so many hats, shawls, scarves and more already made that I need to get to new homes. Wish me luck from the sales goddess.

We have made one retirement trip already to southern California. Now I remember why I don't want to live there again, traffic! 

My mother recently joined the ranks of the fully vaccinated. Jim and I got our shots months ago. With all of us having been jabbed we felt safe taking a short road trip to visit my mother. She will be 87 this summer and it has been more that a year since I have been to her home. 

Our visit was about 3 days which is plenty long since having company upsets her routines and wears her out even though she loves having family come to see her. When I look around her house I always see things I have made. I am sharing pictures below of a few of them. Some of these items were make more that 30 years ago. Yes I am that old and have been crocheting and occasionally quilting much longer that that. 

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Basement Drama and Etsy Shopping

Well it's been about a week now and we are still not back to normal. In a way that is okay but this time isn't normal anyway since I am preparing for our move. In case you missed my previous post explaining what happened here is a link.

To say the least the lever of service has been hit and miss. Some of it I just shake my head and tell myself "Whatever." First of all someone was supposed to come by last Saturday to check on the fans and dehumidifiers and he never showed up. When the owner of the business showed up Monday afternoon I told him about that and got an apology which was nice but I didn't like spending my whole day waiting! Another issue was in the laundry room. The washer and dryer were moved to get up the wet carpet that was in there. The guy who did that (who was also the no show on Saturday) trashed to dryer vent hose. I discovered this doing laundry on Sunday when the laundry room got up to 80 degrees with lint floating in the air. That has been fixed with another apology.

A lot of the furniture and bedding from the basement has been whisked away to be sanitized and returned. It was supposed to be returned yesterday or today. One could hope for once they might overachieve and return it on Thursday but oh no here I am again waiting for them to show up with my things on Friday. There is one other puzzler about this service that gave me another head shaking "Whatever." You see not all my carpet was wet with the sewage flood so small tables beside beds farthest from the bathroom did not get wet at all but the were taken to be sanitized. However the waste baskets in the bathroom and the laundry room definitely sat on those floors and were wet on the bottoms have been left behind. I don't get it and don't want to. I just want this to be over. 

Because we are moving the property owner has decided to do the carpet replacement after we have moved out. The basement floors are now bare concrete. We don't really use it except when guests come to visit so I am okay with that. 

Jim is getting excited about being nearly done with his working life. He wants to take some kind of vacation right after we get done with our move to our retirement home. I suppose I should let him get it out of his system. You see he has severe wanderlust and I am a happy homebody. We meet in the middle on when and where to travel and I do enjoy our trips even though I would just as gladly never go anywhere. After that I will be reopening my Etsy shop and that will feel so good!

Speaking of Etsy I found some  great Mother's Day things there today.

Check these out...…

I like the look of banners but I never seem to have one to hang up at the right time or in such a pretty place like this one.

Yes I was vaccinated this year and hope all of you are or will be too!

Finally the card my youngest child would send me if she knew it existed. 

PS for your shopping convenience the pictures are clickable links. 

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

An Unpleasant Surprise!

Jim is actually retiring on April 30th. We will be moving then. To have moving day go smoothly I plan to pack as much as possible as early as possible. With that in mind this morning I headed to the basement to clear out a guest bathroom and two guest bedrooms. Entering one of the bedrooms in sock covered feet I felt wet carpet. Looking further it seemed as if the Jack and Jill bathroom toilet had exploded! The tile floor and the small rugs on the floor..... well you can imagine. I am definitely not putting any pictures in this post for your sake and mine. You're welcome. 

There is another drain down there in a utility room and it was backed up too. That sent water into the laundry room too. The plumbers have come and gone. The drains are doing their job now. Since we rent the landlord has a disaster company coming for clean up which starts with getting the basement dry and moving out furniture so that carpeting can be replaced.

I don't know how long the recovery will take. I guess I will change my timeline for getting ready for moving day.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Springtime Products Found on Etsy

If  I can get myself past the depressing muddiness of melting snow  I think spring is one of the best seasons. I love watching for all the baby animals. So far on trips between Jackson and Salt Lake I have only seen baby cows. I do know that in the wild places all around there are baby moose, elk, deer, bison, and so many more born or soon to be born. The world is changing from winter white to the glorious to eyes new fresh green. Flowers, both cultivated and wild will be appearing soon and adding their colors to the green. 

Window shopping this morning on Etsy I found some things to share with you that show the joy and colors of this lovely time of year.

If you are interested in any of my finds clicking on the picture will take you to the Etsy shop to learn more. No affiliate links today. Just sharing some lovely things!

Back with more soon! In the meantime stay safe, stay healthy and stay cozy!