Bits and Pieces

My vacation was short but sweet.  The Smoky Mountains are amazing!  I wish I could have stayed a few days longer just to relax.  (Why is it I never get much relaxation on vacations?) We were in Gatlinburg, TN to support my niece in a National Dance competition.  Her team earned a Platinum rating and took first place in their age category.

 

DN was happier about the win than this photograph indicates, but I was trying to

get a candid picture.  That's not so easy to do since DN is really quite a ham.  She strikes a rather affected pose every time someone points a camera in her direction.  I prefer children in their natural, chaotic state.

My newest favorite animal is the sea dragon.  They are so cute!  Thousands of years of evolution and this is what they came up with!  This little guy lives at Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg.

My newest favorite notion is the iron caddy.  Often, fabric needs to be ironed after preshrinking.  This iron caddy give more usable ironing board space for the entire width of the fabric because the iron is not stored on the board.  It yields an extra 6 inches.

I'm working on the shorts over which I agonized ad nauseum and my newest favorite shorts pattern is Burda 8087.     I'll make them a little shorter than shown.  We've had three heat official heat waves already and I'm more comfortable in shorts when the temperature goes above 90º.