Unwanted road trip

 So, what do you when your sewing machine starts beeping and flashing and sewing really slow and the tension is a total mess? If you have a normal sewing machine, I bet you just take it into the shop to be repaired. Well, my Bernina got to get packed in my van at the crack of dawn and go for a road trip to FT Hood, Texas to go visit the Bernina shop there. ***Next time we move I am going to make sure there is a Bernina dealer nearby. FT Hood is 3 hours away. All the other places seemed to be much further. Anyway, I bought my first 2 Berninas from Jerry, so it was kinda nostalgic to go back and visit again.

After him working on it all day long....and not being able to figure out what was wrong with it. He was on the phone with Bernina most of that time too...they decided my machine needs a new main computer because the shafts are out of sinc. See, the same little plastic piece keeps breaking inside my machine. This is the 4th time it has happened. Jerry says it is because the shafts keep pounding into it...whatever, the computers are still under warranty so they are being replaced. I love my 820. I do. But if you pay over $5,000 for a sewing machine, I bet you expect it to last for a long time. I do. Heck I have 2 little featherweights that are both over 60 years old and they sew perfectly with no drama at all. My New to me Gammill is basically just a motor on wheels, no computer frills at all and I love it much more than the babyloc I tired at the Bernina shop yesterday.

I think after my 820 kicks the can (which if they are already ((after only a year of ownership)) having to replace the computer inside, won't be too long down the road) I will just dumb down my machines. I have a dumb phone and I LOVE it. I ask my machines to do so much, and 9 times out of 10 my 820 can do anything and she does it beautifully, but when she is down, I don't have the skills to make her better. Oh well...that is just what I am thinking at the moment. I do have a wonderful little back up Bernina, so I am still working on my bags, never fear about that!

 I took Sam with me because he was as sick as a dog, so he slept in the back of the van while I drove and drove and drove.

 We lived in FT Hood for 5 years. While we were there I used to think it was so ugly and dried up and desolate. Well, It isn't now. After living in San Angelo I felt like the country mouse coming for a visit to the big city.

 I drove around my old neighborhood, and saw all my friends houses (Kerri, Vicki, Nicole, Jennifer, Molly, Sharon, Becky) and I saw all the fabulous new houses that were built while we were gone. This city is so much bigger than when we were there. We drove around base and watched the Apaches fly around and land. Sam Loved that. I really miss living on an Army base. Everyone was so nice. I mean the Air Force is nice enough, but there is such a wonderful humanity that goes hand in hand with the Army. There was also such intense emotion on that base. I could feel it, it is still lingering with me.

 Anyway, one thing was the same. These guys are still in business. Good for them.

 I bought an old wool Army blanket a couple weeks ago with the intention of making a bunch of bat finger puppets for Emma's Deaf fall festival. Well...I couldn't find the time to make them...and the wool from the blanket was quite thick to work with.  I need to alter the pattern some so I can turn them inside out without tearing off my fingernails. This was the only bat that was made.
 It is really cute...so is my Emma.

Speaking of Emma, she has really gotten quite tall. Not only is she quite tall, she is so very athletic. Some college basketball players came to her school earlier this week and she played with them and won this basketball, which she then had them all sign. She is so sweet.

OK, I am just waiting for a call from the kids school to go pick up one of my children...we have been stricken with the fall sickness, but maybe I can get some sewing in before they call.

Have a great day!