I went shopping.

My son was discharged today, a couple of days ahead of plan. He's actually doing very well, pretty mobile, eating well. So after we drove home, stopped at McDonald's for some "real" food, dropped off his prescriptions, unloaded the car, and watched an episode NCIS I went back out and picked up a FedEx at the apartment office, went by Salvation Army, dropped off my carry bag to get repaired, picked up the prescriptions and stopped by JoAnn's. All in 2 hours, including NCIS and the drive from Royal Oak. Now, the $64M question. In that list, what stands out? Hmmmm? What did you see that you liked? Walgreens? Nah. Apartment office? Not hardly. Give up? Salvation Army? Yep!

When I was here a few weeks ago there was a nifty little Brother sewing machine there for $20. I talked myself out of it and regretted it. I went back to see if was, by any chance, still there. And no, it was not. But there was this, a Singer Merritt 8102. It runs smoothly, isn't too dirty, has the power cord and foot pedal and all my short shank attachments will fit it. A peek inside showed it wasn't very dirty and is more than adequately oiled (read: greasy). It was $9.99, worth it? I guess we'll see. I can't get it to make a stitch. I think it's threaded correctly. But I'm not sure I have the right bobbin in it. There was a plastic one in it, but I don't know if it's the right one. I found a threading guide and a bobbin insertion guide but not directions on bringing up the bobbin thread (though it looked "up") or what direction to put the needle in. I have it flat to the back, as my threading guide said to thread the needle front to back. But I have one real question. What are these? They are falling out of the foot pedal. A little shinier than the photo shows. Do they matter? Should I worry?

Back on the home front, we have borders. We didn't advertise room for rent and I suppose that's ok, since they are PAYING any rent. But they have moved in. We've taken it down a number of times, but if we leave the garage door open for even a few minutes Robin starts working on it again.

I feel really badly. She's found, in her opinion, the perfect spot. No cats can reach it. It's warm, no need to obsess about sitting on the eggs.
Oh, and one more photo. Sweet..... (from DC Cupcakes, as seen on TLC - tastes as good as it looks, um looked)