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Posted on April 29, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Super Sammy Slug of Santa Cruz

I wouldn’t want to have to call him for help, because that would be a mouthful, but, I have to say, he looks very willing to help if asked. Or even if not asked.

“Super Sammy” the Super Slug is heading to California right now. He’s going to be a graduation gift for someone who is will be attending the University of California Santa Cruz. Their mascot is a banana slug. Their mascot’s name is also Sammy, but not “Super Sammy”, although I’m sure he is super in his own right.

I’m going to try to get some more slugs up in my Etsy shop soon, and then I think I’ll take a break from custom-made toys while I get our Ruffing’s web site reorganized. I need to edit some art doll photos and work out the blog migration over on that site. I’ll still have the “name your own” option on the soft dolls and toys, so everyone can still get some customization, which is fun for gifts or just because.

Posted on April 27, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Baby peaches

We were out in the yard this evening, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Baby peaches! My newly-planted little peach tree already has several tiny peaches on it. How exciting. Of course, those will have to be snacks for some small woodland creature, because that narrow branch will never support full-grown peaches. Still, every exciting.

The iris are in bloom as well. I need to divide my iris bed so we will have more blooms. Iris blooms become more scarce as the plants become overcrowded. That can be a fall project.

I’ve been working on some Lucy dolls that have been waiting a long while for their appliquéd details, and I’ve got a Super Slug almost done. My Viking Platinum sewing machine is working sometimes, and sometimes not. It seems to calm down after I turn it on and off a couple of times, or leave it to rest for a while. Still, I’d like to resolve this as soon as possible. I’ve surpassed my limit on patience with this six-month repair ordeal.

I found a small, but amusing-to-me distraction in a desktop aquarium. I know everyone probably has seen these before, but I wanted one after I saw them years ago. Apparently, no one around me wanted one however. They keep asking me if the toilet is running when the fish tank noise comes on. Whatever. I think it’s fun.

Thank you, to my new subscribers. I’ve appreciated your kind comments. I hope you will enjoy my blog. Thanks for joining us on our Ruffing’s Facebook page too. Now that I have a new, working sewing machine that does some decorative things, I hope to have more projects to show soon. I certainly have some projects I need to get up online. Always lots to do.

Posted on April 26, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

We had a visitor last night

Around 8pm last night, I was sitting out on the front porch, cooling off in the nice breeze we were having, when my neighbor across the street yelled over to me, “Do you know there’s a tornado right behind your house?!”

No, I didn’t. I went to the end of the porch, and saw a huge dark cloud over the trees, but I didn’t see a tornado. Then the funnel part veered out from behind the trees and I heard the girl across the street screaming, “It’s coming right at us!” It was over the duck pond at that point, just down the hill, and heading up between our neighbors’ house and ours, casually meandering from side to side.

I quickly got inside. We rounded up the kitties, and we sat on the bathroom floors. It was quiet except for some sirens going by outside. The lights only went out for a few seconds.

Later on the news, I saw it had taken down the over 100 year old tree in front of the town hall, smashing some of the wrought-iron gate. There were reports of shopping carts flying through the air in the plaza across the street from there.

It looked like a a long, skinny finger, but it still managed to pluck this gigantic tree right out of the ground. The tree was about 6 feet in diameter, and 65 feet tall. Such a shame, but thankfully no one was hurt.

Our neighborhood was fine. I talked to a neighbor this morning. He had been taking someone home in the rain, and when he turned around, he saw the tornado was right over his house. Apparently, it had come across the lake, over the duck pond, and then split in two, with one part veering away from us. Then the whole thing headed east, where it removed someone’s garage, only 10 feet from their home, without touching their house.

One of our kitties is still following me up and down the hall today. I think he wants to be ready, if anything else is coming, but it’s been a lovely day today. The ducks were just fine too. They showed up this morning, a little muddy, but no worse for the wear.

Posted on April 22, 2010January 9, 2019 by Elizabeth Ruffing

Return of the Platinum 775

I made a great discovery yesterday. I unscrewed my presser foot ankle from my Viking Sarah sewing machine, and screwed it onto my new Kenmore 19233…and it fit! That means I can use all those Viking presser feet I’ve collected, on the Kenmore, which is a relief, since I’ve invested a lot in presser feet so far. And who wants to have two sets of everything anyway? Update: I also found out you can buy a spare Viking Accessory Ankle , if you want to leave your Viking ankle on your original machine.

Well, guess who came home today? My Viking Platinum 775, which has been MIA for almost six months now, showed up with the UPS man. I couldn’t help making a mental note of the “Keeping the World Sewing” logo on the side of the box. That hasn’t quite been my experience with it.

I was afraid to open the box, feeling sure there was going to still be something on it that didn’t work, after coming back from the second repairman, who is also the original seller, all the way from California. I turned it on, and it did a few basic stitches, sewing forwards instead of backwards, like it is supposed to. It had been sewing everything backwards before. Then I selected some more intricate, decorative stitches, and it still sewed the same few basic stitches! No decorative anything. No alphabet. The needle up/down button was still broken too. I wanted to cry.

I came back later, after typing a draft of a letter I thought I’d send but didn’t, and miraculously, it was willing to sew all the stitches on its menu. Perhaps it needed to warm up first. I stitched a sampler and it did fine. The needle up/down button was still broken, and the grit behind the panel was still there, things that I noticed after it came back from the first repairman.

The buttons and the panel had not been replaced, as the first repairman had told me they needed to be. Yet, here is the machine, sewing with those original parts. I did have to wait another 2 1/2 months for a different part to come from Viking though.

I’m not sure what to do about the remaining repairs that need to be done. I think the second repairman may have just missed my note about the additional repairs, since I had to write a second time in regard to them, after I got the machine back from the first repairman. But, I would have to ship the machine back to California for him to fix those things. I have no one I trust to go to here in North Carolina. I have to say, I’ve had a problem with everyone I contacted so far who is officially connected with the Viking company. Each of those people made insinuations about the seller of the machine, saying he must be doing something underhanded, but really, he’s been honorable so far, as far as I can tell. And he didn’t charge me anything. He honored his own warranty, even though the Viking company would not honor the warranty on their machine. I just had to pay to ship the machine to him.

On a brighter note, I made this red fleece “Hug Me! Slug” with my new Kenmore sewing machine. He’s on his way to the west coast to cheer up someone who has lost a dear friend. It’s nice to have a project to do that means something to someone else. That makes me feel good. I hope the new sewing machine and I will be great friends.