Thimbles and more

My mom taught me to sew early. She had been trained in tailoring and had done some millinery professionally and she made many of her clothes and mine. By the time I got to my seventh-grade home economics course, I knew more than the teacher who seemed to be two pages ahead of us in the textbook.

With all Mom's training, however, I never learned to handsew using a thimble. I liked them. I coveted Mom's, a sterling sliver one in her silver flatware pattern which is with my stuff -- can we all say it together by now? -- stored in Vermont. Also -- it only fits my little finger. As I've begun doing more embroidery/chainstitch/running stitching I've been getting tired of puncturing my fingers. I thereby began to accumulate thimbles.

The blue traditional is a little large, but I have big fingers (Steve says they are tiny… I love being with a guy with huge hands). The fancy gold one fits over the finger tip, however it is both heavy and I have big fingers. The flowered leather is nifty, I like it. But it is that two part leather (it used to be one whole with two sections until I cut it apart) that I have been using most. The fingertip part is too small and too bulky, but the tube that is half elastic is just right to push the needle through the fabric [please remind me that from now on, I want to sew on only the top two layers of fabric and to not sew those first to the heavy bottom layer while I still have hand stitching to do]. (OMG, the age spots! That you don't see because I'm vain and Photoshopped them.)

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Tomato Ranch 2010 edition.

We bought the tomato plants from the Marin Master Gardeners this year. Eight varieties (I'd promised that I would only buy five, but oh well) that are good in cooler coastal weather. I'm planting them today, eight days after buying. Thankfully we had three rainy days right after we bought them. Today I took down the celery hedge and dug the holes for the tomatoes new home, placed three of them and the cages, watered and then had to give up because it was so warm. Those tomatoes are going to love it there -- it is a hot pocket with not as much wind as the old Tomato Ranch and much easier access to water. The zucchini's will go above the old ranch as there is now a transplanted plum tree shading their old spot, but still lots of space for zucchinis and a winter squash.