Tag: life

Changing Seasons

October 31, 2026

The calendar shows it’s supposed to be fall. Outside, leaves are turning colors. Days are getting shorter. The time change happens this weekend. I think the weather is the only one that hasn’t gotten the memo that it’s fall. I’m past ready for hot chocolate, cozy sweaters and crisp mornings!

After a busy summer and early fall, I’ve become a homebody while waiting for the next episode of “This Life in Retirement” to load. Since retiring 4 years ago, I’ve knocked 6 bucket trip list locations off my list, pitched a read to a dog program to 3 different school districts, gone back to work part-time and left said job 18 months later when one district said yes to our weekly READ program. Sweet little school close to home, but they were unable to meet the READ program requirements for the following school year. A former colleague connected me with district number 3. We’re now in our second school year of a READ program with them. Life is good. FYI – life as a therapy dog mom means 45-50 visits with Sadie per year, which equates to about 200 hours of volunteer time.

With the READ program in place, therapy dog visit opportunities no longer automatically outrank all other activities. Shocker, right? Of course, we still like to make special visits from time-to-time, but I no longer feel a sense of FOMO if I don’t check the group opportunities calendar for a couple of weeks. Same goes with planning travel. I do my best to work around existing commitments (including therapy dog visits), but if a bucket list trip needs to happen a particular week (or two), we’ll go that week.

Indicators are that I’m about to enter my quilting and travel (sometimes together) era. My involvement with the quilt guild has increased ever since I chaired one of the quilt show subcommittees. New teaching and tech editing opportunities have come my way. Nora’s going with me to the Myrtle Beach Quilt Party, so I may have found a new quilty travel buddy. Hubs and I have revised our joint travel wish list and are planning our upcoming trips. Sadie & I have decided to take full advantage of my America the Beautiful national park pass by visiting all of the local spots.

Mid-day walk with Sadie at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area – Paces Mill location.

Learning another vintage machine

August 22, 2026
Kenmore 158.13512 sewing machine from mid-late 1970’s.

Kenmore sewing machines prior the mid-1980s are highly desirable to some vintage sewing machine enthusiasts. My MIL has a cabinet model from the 1960’s that still runs today. The machine pictured above is a low-shank center needle model with a vertical (front-loading) bobbin.

Gladys (named for her former owner) arrived yesterday with instructions to use her in kid’s sewing classes or pass her along to a deserving student. In her previous life, she’d also served as a “practice” machine for an aspiring sewing machine technician. She came with a basic zigzag foot, straight stitch needleplate insert and a power supply/foot pedal. I added some extra generic feet and a couple of plastic class 15 bobbins from my stash. The scant 1/4″ foot from the Featherweight Shop is indeed a scant 1/4″ on this machine.

Like Carmella (my Singer 301A), the more I sew on Gladys, the smoother and quieter she sews. We spent the afternoon getting acquainted. I understand why VSM enthusiasts like vintage Kenmore machines. Overall, she seems to be in good shape – but definitely benefitted from sewing machine oil chased by Tri-Flow in a few spots. Knowledge gained from working on my FW and 301A served me well with Gladys. Her needle no longer goes up & down when winding a bobbin and I adjusted her foot pedal to improve the sewing speed range.

Verdict: Gladys sews absolutely beautiful stitches. She’s easy to operate, but not exactly portable – easily weighing 25-30 pounds. She’ll do best in a cabinet or on a solid surface with a Sew Steady extension table.. I’ll print out the manual and put it in a plastic 3 prong pocket folder. Combined with the extra feet, bobbins and LED bulb, I’ve reached my maximum spend on a machine that will be passed along.

And just like that – a new school year is underway!

August 4, 2026

Publix was quiet this morning as I did my grocery shopping. Seeing the school bus at the traffic light was a reminder to go the back way to my dentist’s office. Only adult patients were in the waiting room when I checked in for my dentist appointment. I returned home, walked Sadie and spoke with C’s mom to see if she would be coming today to sew on her quilt binding. C. doesn’t start school until Wednesday and she’s still quilting her quilt.

Five years ago, I greeted hundreds of elementary school bus riders as they exited the big yellow limousines excited to begin a new school year. Little did I know that year would turn out to be my final year as a public school teacher. I joined my husband in early retirement the following May. The first couple of back-to-school seasons after leaving my job were hard, but now it’s just another day. I always enjoy the first day of school photos posted by friends on social media. It’s an exciting time and I fully understand the enormous amount of work that the school staff does to begin a new school year.

Life is still influenced by the school calendar – only multiple school district and private school calendars nowadays! Therapy dog visits cover 3-4 different school districts and CraftLAB students all attend different private schools. A long-time therapy dog friend reminded me the beauty of volunteering in retirement is that I should plan travel for when it works best for me. Standing weekly visits are important, but it shouldn’t be the reason I pass on a quilt retreat or other trip I really want to take. He’s 100% correct. And I planned two trips for fall semester without looking at the Fulton County Schools calendar! As it turns out, one trip will be before participants in the READ program are fully vetted with all permission slips signed. Election Day falls during the other trip, so our visit wouldn’t happen anyway due to a teacher workday instead of a regular school day. It’s a big election cycle for Georgia, so I’ll make sure to cast my vote during the early voting period.

Photo by Vitaliy Haiduk on Pexels.com