Category Archives: Carol’s Corner

Long Weekend and A Shopping Day

Good News! The TrailBoss (aka, Carol) has agreed to write another post. I hope to get her on a weekly schedule in the future.

Hello Blog Friends,

We are on our last day of our 4 day off schedule. Friday, 2/6 we went out for breakfast at the Calico County restaurant. The food and service were OK, but nothing to brag about. Jerry wrote a review on TripAdvisor. After breakfast, we went home and made our menu for the next several days then went shopping for groceries. Jerry took the car to be washed and I put most everything away. After that we sat back and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

IMG_2313Saturday was my day out. I had my nails and toes done, got a haircut (back to my really short style), then went to JoAnn’s Fabrics and then to the mall. Now, I was looking for a specific item at the mall. After Christmas, the only other time that I have been to the mall here, I went into a store named Fully Fabulous. They have a great selection of larger size clothes and accessories. The sign outside the store said that they had handbags for gun carrying ladies so I went in to see what they had. I was disappointed as they only had 2 left from Christmas and I didn’t like either of them. So I went back to see if they had received any since then. The answer was “no”. As I was walking back through the mall to get to the car, I saw a Kiosk in the center that had a selection of purses and wallets. I stopped to look and found 2 that were equipped with a back pocket for a gun, one blue and the other black. Well, I bought the blue one.

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Now you may be curious about why I would buy a purse with a gun pocket in it. My 38 Special Pink Lady fits perfectly in that back pocket. I do know how to use it and would not hesitate if I feel the need.

We both have a Concealed Handgun License (CHL). We spent February 2014 at Hidden Valley RV in San  Antonio, TX.  One evening, we were driving into town and Jerry was stopped for speeding. He showed the policy officer his Texas Drivers License and his CHL. The officer asked him if he was carrying his weapon. Jerry said no; the officer asked why not. If you have a CHL in Texas, there is no reason why you should not carry.

I made another purchase while I was wandering the mall, a ring with a 1 carat White Sapphire in a dancing setting. I had been saving some money that I got for Christmas so decided to buy this ring (it was on sale for 65% off retail.) The setting is very unique and I really like it. It fits perfectly on the middle finger of my left hand. What do you think??

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That night I crocheted a warm cap for Jerry while we watched Harry Potter in TV.

Yesterday was a Jesse Stone Marathon on Hallmark Movies and Mystery Channel. Love that man, Tom Selleck.

We are going to have a late lunch with some friends at The Plaza Tex-Mex restaurant. Tomorrow is back to work. The thread containers I ordered last week should be delivered on Wednesday. I am looking forward to taming my thread collection.

Happy crafting, Carol

Thank you Carol, for giving me a break. And thank you for that knitted cap.  The next time it gets cold around here, I can keep my ears warm.

Signature

Guest Writer Today

We have a guest blogger today. My wife Carol, aka TrailBoss, has agreed to write a post for today.

Hello Blog Friends.

Well, Jerry has been trying to get me involved in the blogging since he started it. He has completed the Blogging 101 course now and during that course he created a page for me—Carol’s Corner. So I guess it is time to start my blogging life. 🙂

I have been thinking about what to start with and have come up with a topic that I am sure many of you full-time quilters and sewers can relate to–how do you store ALL of that Thread???

My Li’l Sis, Donna, is coming to visit the end of February and I have asked her to take a storage box of my stuff to her house to keep for awhile. Therefore, I need to do some major rearranging in my Corner before she gets here. If you read J’s blog about Carol’s Corner you have an idea what my mess looks like at this time.

I have decided to start small. 😉 Below I have a picture of the amount of thread I have now. I have it all stored in a bottom drawer that I really need to use for something else.

Carols Threads

I currently keep it all in zip lock bags sort of by categories: embroidery threads (blues/greens/purples; reds/yellows/oranges; browns/beiges/tans; black & whites), hand threads, regular sewing threads, hand embroidery floss, pearl cottons. Well, you get the idea.

My question for y’all is:

What have you found to be the best way to store your threads, taking as little room as possible?

And yes, I know that I really need to thin the number I have and I plan to do that also. That’s really tough because I just might need one of them sometime. (sigh)

I would greatly appreciate some feedback from all of y’all, especially those of you who are RVers or live in small spaces. I have declared to myself that the next days we have off I will begin the major rearranging. However, as I said above I am now starting small.

I’m looking forward to hearing from y’all, thanks for stopping by.

Carol

Special thanks goes out to the TrailBoss. She gave my fingers a break. If you are not a quilter or sewer, please feel free to share this post with your friends who are. You can copy/paste this link http://waggintailsrv.com/2015/01/30/guest-writer-today/ for sharing.

Thanks for stopping by, y’all come back now.

Jerry Sig1

Friday Photo

Today’s assignment: develop a regular feature for your blog. The idea is to have a post that is regularly scheduled. Developing a regular feature builds expectation from readers.

Photography is one of my hobbies. I love to take pictures, especially of places we visit. I am sure I can keep you entertained with a weekly photo feature.

I’ve already posted a couple of photos in response to the The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge prompts Express Yourself and Serenity. I also posted a photo in response to the Blog Event assignment with a Weekly Pet Share.

Say hello to the 1st Friday Photo.

6:49 AMWe lived in Corpus Christi, TX for 20+ years. I may not be a water person, but I did enjoy the view. This photo was taken at 6:49AM on 10/26/11 off Ocean Drive near Poenisch Park. It reminds me of Genesis 1:3.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Carol’s Corner

Carol-WallerToday’s post is about my better side, the one who keeps me straight and is available to call 911 when I am climbing around on roofs. My wife Carol has been my better side for 47 years now. As I stated in my Who We Are page, I think I’ll keep her. Carol loves craft projects as long as they require the use of needle and thread. When we bought our first RV, we had one strict requirement.  we had to have space for Carol’s Corner.

100_0319Here we sit in our first home on wheels. May 4, 2011 we drove to Elk City, OK to complete the purchase of our 2008 Cedar Creek 38 foot fifth wheel. By the time we got it back to our house in Corpus Christi, TX we determined that this very uncomfortable couch would have to find a new home because that is where Carol’s Corner would go.

100_0485By October 2011, this is what the space looked like with the couch removed.

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Then the pieces came in. I am sure glad I practiced the principle of measure twice and cut once as I squeezed the carcass through that narrow RV door. Carol was on the inside steering the carcass. We only had a couple of inches to spare. Once it was in and turned, it was easy to lay it down to position it in the space where the ugly and awful couch once resided.

100_0491With the top in place, it is beginning to look like a decent work area. The top is from a standard 6 foot long folding table similar to what is available at Home Depot, Lowes, CostCo, Sam’s or where ever you prefer to shop. For a closer look, click here to see the table Home Depot sells. I removed all metal legs and frame from the table. So all that is left is the light weight top.

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Now Carol can begin to load up Carol’s Corner. Carol’s embroidery machine fits into the slot on the left when we travel and the roll out bins are turned around for travel so the drawers do not open.

IMG_0083We were in Blue Ridge, GA workamping at Windy Valley Llamas during the summer of 2012. Carol is deep in thought about the project she is working on. You can tell from this photo that we moved Carol’s Corner to the rear of the fifth wheel. It only made sense because it gave her a bit more floor space and much better natural lighting.

DSCN0041Carol’s Corner was doing just fine until on a whim, we decided to trade the Cedar Creek fifth wheel in on a 38 foot 2004 Winnebago motor home. The only way the deal could work is if we had space for Carol’s Corner. As you can see, the bedroom had this nice little sitting area. As with most RV furniture, we decided the uncomfortable chairs had to go. This is where Carol’s Corner would find a home.

We had fun squeezing the carcass into the motor home door. We did determine the magic number for RV doors is 28″. The 8 foot width of the motor home is the same as the 8 foot width of the fifth wheel. That made it easy for everything to fit just fine.

IMG_2117Carol is happy as a queen working away in Carol’s Corner. Her small ironing board is on the left, The red case on the left is her embroidery machine’s embroidery arm. She even has a scrap bag just to her right. Under the TV is her DVD player so she can catch her favorite movies while stitching away. On the right you can see her Ott light. It has seen better days. It got caught in the bedroom slide one day as we were setting up the motor home. Now we pay attention to where it is when we close everything up for travel. The crutches — we won’t go there.

IMG_2115When you have a sophisticated high-tech embroidery machine you always need a back up. She recently discovered that the feed dog on the embroidery machine will not come up to operate as it should. While in embroidery mode, the feed dog drops since the embroidery arm moves the fabric every which way. Carol’s backup machine also works well when she is going to a sewing class.

IMG_2196I know the one question you are thinking – “Where does Carol keep her fabric stash?” Well, the fabric stash is under the bed. To be a happy RVer, you must be use all available space where ever it is found. I have my tools outside in compartment under the motor home, Carol has her stash under the bed.

The only problem with Carol’s Corner is she cannot be working on projects while I am kicked back in my recliner writing blogs. We were together in the fifth wheel but in the motor home, we are in separate rooms. The other problem is if Carol wants to work on a project and I want to go to bed, I get the recliner while she sews away. It works for us

IMG_2110I am sure you can figure out what this is. We call it the birth of a new project. Carol’s Corner will be busy for a while.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Thanks for stopping by, y’all come back now.