Sneak Peak

Sneak Peak at my newest custom work.  This is just part of the custom order for 2 triangular hammocks and a square 12" hammock.

I had such a blast making this set, and I have extra squares waiting to be made into hammocks.  Giggles.  Now, if I just sew them together, I will have more stock for my Etsy store.

If you look closely and rotate one of the triangles, you can see that the triangles are actually a square hammock cut into two.  Even though all of the hammocks were made with the same fabrics, I thought, by cutting a hammock into 2 to make the triangles that would provide some additional linking of the set of hammocks.  Ahhhh.  Well, maybe, I also did it that way because it was easy.

It looks like I'm going to have some delightful photos of the lucky hamster who is enjoying this hammock set.  So, stay tuned.

Daytime and Rats

Sam says, "Seriously, I'm try to snooze here."

I just read an interesting article from Popular Science about how rats exposed to lots of light become depressed.  Rather, they prefer darkness.

This is a bit of a no brainer to me, but I have to think about how my current rat room is set up.  They have a night light on all night for my benefit.  Poor little guys.

Oh, and I have one criticism of the article.  It is my understanding and experience that rats are NOT nocturnal, but rather crepuscular.  They prefer dawn and evening hours and prefer to sleep during the night and daytime.  I definitely see my guys more active during those hours, but they seem to party all night, too.  (Indeed, last night they knocked over their litter box.  sigh.)  And, Doc snoozes in the afternoon as i frequently spend some time with him during the morning hours.  He eagerly waits for me to take him out for his morning romp, but if I bother him in the afternoon, I get the Doc's patented evil eye.

Regardless of whether rats are nocturnal or crepuscular, if they develop depression when exposed to more light than darkness, that's something to consider for pet rat owners.

The New Belt for the Singer 66 Works

Woot.

The new belt installed without a hitch, and the machine just feels more sturdy.  I'm very happy.  

And, as you can see, I am sewing again.

Snapped the 66 belt

During the move, my Singer 66's belt snapped.  The snapped one is on the right.

According to the owner of the  most awesome sewing machine repair store, Stitch in Time, my original belt was a temporary belt.  It is more flexible and is what someone would buy if they weren't sure what would fit. The new, intact belt is essentially "original" for my Singer 66.   Since my machine is from the 1920s, I find it a bit odd to speak of "original" item when it's obvious that the item is brand spanking new.

I'd thought that I should have detached the belt when I moved, but Paul, the store's owner,  attributed the breakage to the weakness of the belt itself.

Anyways, I just wanted to mention how awesome this sewing machine repair / vacuum / home decorating store is.  By the way, the branch of the store that I frequent is a bit of a quilting / fabric store, too.  They could easily ask me to bring in my machine so that their on site (the other branch of the store) sewing machine repair guy could repair my machine.  But, instead, they have always helped me, step by step, repair my machines myself.  Their customer service is SUPERB.

So, I should be sewing today.  If not, I shall have to unpack my modern Janome to get some sewing done.

We Moved

Wow.

Moving is tiring.

We've moved to a lovely new place farther into the countryside which is just delightful.

Today is just my second day back at work, and I still feel like I am spending all of my time unpacking.

Anyways, here's Bittle enjoying her patio.  

Easter Bunny 2013

This darling rabbit stood just feet from us on Easter.  Bittle, our dog, really wanted to play chase the rabbit.  But, she absolutely loves rats, but rabbits are for hunting.  The rabbit safely hopped away before Bittle got anywhere near her.