Kenmore Sewing Machine

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

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I want to say about 10 years or so ago my partner and I were at Sears buying bags for our vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaners are with the microwaves and sewing machines, so while we were there, he decided I needed a sewing machine. I want to laugh because that sounded funny to me.

So he bought me this sewing machine and I used a piece of paper to check out what the patterns are that you could sew, but as far as me learning how to actually sew something, it was hopeless. The sewing machine basically just sat in the hallway closet until recently. I wrote a blog post about The Enchanted Cottage recently, and I shared some pictures of a Zafu cover and Zabuton that I made with the sewing machine.

I bought a box of 11 sewing machine feet from Wish, which you can see in the picture above next to the sewing machine, but here is a close up of those feet. They all fit my sewing machine with the exception of the 2nd from the left on the top row. That is a zipper foot, but the sewing machine came with a zipper foot so I didn’t really need this one.

Sewing machine feet

Now that I’ve made the Zafu and Zabuton, I’ve decided I wanted to make more things. My partner basically lives on the couch and he uses a bed sheet which I’m always seeing him adjust, so I would love to either cut up some of our old sheets that we never use to make him a fitted sheet, or buy some new fabric to make the fitted sheet. I also took an old dog shirt that never really fit our dog and took out the stitches so I can use as a template to make her some clothes from our old t-shirts. I can print some dog images on iron-on paper to decorate the shirts so they’re not plain. Of course I will start with our old t-shirts as practice, but I’d love to buy fleece or flannel fabric for winter clothing.

I figured while I’m learning to make clothing for the dog and fitted sheets, I might as well learn to make actual clothing that we can wear. They sell patterns at thrift stores that I can use to practice.

I attend YouTube University (heh a phrase my aunt used the other day) and I learn from watching videos. Today I learned how to make little bags with zippers and I also learned to make grocery bags for the store. I would love to learn to make wallets because my wallet is falling apart and my partner’s wallet is also falling apart. His wallet has a zipper on it and I would love if mine also had a zipper.

It took 10 years for me to get excited about using a sewing machine, but at least I got there. What’s funny is that I was excited about getting it until we actually got it and I realized I had no clue what I was doing, then I guess I rejected it. Well, that excitement has been renewed, and that’s good.

The Enchanted Cottage – Zen Mindfulness Meditation

On By Michel McDonaldIn Indigo1 Comment

Enchanted CottageAbout 4 years ago I received a friend request from a guy named Bruce. I didn’t know him, but he’s active in the gay community here in Bakersfield, which is how I believe he found me on Facebook since I am somewhat active on Facebook. He told me that he owned a metaphysical shop, and I’m sure he told me the name, but I didn’t remember.

 

Earlier this year in April I was walking on H St. to the post office, which is right at the corner of Brundage and H. I noticed this shop called The Enchanted Cottage, which I have literally walked or driven (as a passenger, I don’t drive) past a thousand times in the 17 years we’ve lived here. When I came home, it occurred to me that this might be the place Bruce told me about, so I got on Facebook and sent him a message asking him and he said “yes, this is the shop that my partner Stan and I own.” I walked there again to say hi and to see what the place was about, since I have literally been curious since he sent me that friend request. Yes, I’ve been looking for this shop for 4 years, and it was 2 blocks from my house this entire time.

I became curious because I saw a Facebook event for a Zen Mindfulness Meditation class, and so when I went over there, I asked them about it and he said it was that night. In fact, it’s every Wednesday night from 5:30 to 6:30 p. m. I’ve attended their weekly meditation ever since.

Zen Mindfulness Meditation

The Zen Mindfulness Meditation class by Tracy is a full hour and she does 3 different meditation styles. Half of the hour is a guided meditation and if you’re new, she’ll explain what she does and answer questions before she begins, otherwise she’ll get right to it. She is very gentle and mindful of everyone’s feelings and she is a very good teacher. The 2nd part is a walking meditation. We walk outside when the weather doesn’t try to melt our skin, so when it’s too hot outside, we walk in the classroom, and I’m sure when the weather turns cold we will walk inside. The final part of the meditation which can be from 10-15 minutes is usually a silent meditation. At the end we take refuge in The Three Jewels which are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

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You might see people meditate on a round pillow, that is called a Zafu. They actually started selling those at the Enchanted Cottage a month or so ago and I put one on layaway and bought it with sales from my Etsy shop. I was lucky that I didn’t have to have it on layaway for too long.

When I bought my Zafu, I brought a blanket for the ground, because people who sit on a Zafu cushion to Meditate also have something called a Zabuton, which is a larger square pillow that you place under the Zafu. I paid $100 for the Zafu, I couldn’t afford to buy the Zabuton from a company. Unfortunately, a month after I bought the Zafu, it began to snag and some red thread started to come apart, which is not good. I don’t blame the Enchanted Cottage for it, but I let them know it was happening so they could complain to the people they bought it from. I didn’t ask for a refund or exchange, instead I removed the cover and we went to Beverly’s for some fabric so I could make a Zabuton and so I could make a cover for the Zafu. I actually tried to repair the Zafu, but failed miserably. I will try again another time.

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Not too long after that I decided I wanted to change the fabric, because I mainly just wanted the option to change it like you would change a pillowcase on your pillow, so this is the way it looks now.

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And yes, the bottom of the Zafu covers have elastic all the way around the bottom so it’s like a fitted sheet.

The meditation is $5 per week, and I usually set aside $20 a month for entertainment, and I figured this is a good use of that money. Why do I attend a weekly class when I can do it at home for free? Why do people go to church every Sunday when they can pray at home for free?

I am an Indigo, and one of the things I was told to do as an Indigo is meditate. I also get to get out of the house and say hi to people and I get to form friendships and I am learning more about myself as not only an Indigo, but also my psychic abilities. Yes, I am a psychic medium. My third eye is open, but I have no connection with my spirit guide, so I’m not a very good psychic medium, but that’s why I’m going to the Enchanted Cottage, to learn and connect. One of the things I need to do to help myself with this aspect of my life is to meditate. So that’s why I go there. Another reason is I have panic attacks, and this helps me. In fact, my doctor suggested meditation as opposed to medication, so this is basically doctor prescribed. Take 2 quartz and call me in the morning.

Weight Loss… AGAIN

On By Michel McDonaldIn WeightLeave a comment

noom coach

In January 2013 my partner and I were sitting in a Denny’s when I asked him to take a picture of me. I weighed myself that morning and I was 262lbs. We went to Food Maxx and bought a bunch of Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinners, and I got on my cell phone and bought the lifetime membership of Noom for $29.99, the best $30 I ever spent because that year I lost 70lbs.

It’s 2017 and literally all the weight has come back. March 9th I was 261lbs and I felt like I was back to where I started in 2013, and I’m sick of being overweight, so we talked about me going on another diet where I eat what I want to eat and he eats what he wants to eat and he doesn’t try to get me to eat anything that is detrimental to my weight loss journey.

On March 14th, I started using the Noom app again after we went to Food Maxx to buy Progresso soup for my lunches and Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinners for my dinners. I figured that the soup is only $1 a day and the WW SO’s are $2 a day, and then of course I’m eating a banana for breakfast with exactly 1 cup of cereal and almond milk.

By the time I started using the Noom app again on March 14th, I had already lost weight. I was down to 256lbs, which is the weight I logged as my starting weight. I’ve been weighing in every day on the Noom app instead of just weighing in once a week and today I was 249lbs. Noom estimated that I would be at my goal weight, which is 200lbs by September 26th, but with the weight I’ve already lost, it recalculated to September 3rd. I’m not in a hurry to lose weight because it took me a long time to gain the weight, I don’t expect to lose it immediately. It will happen when it happens.

I have a Planet Fitness membership, but the car has been making a strange noise lately and we can’t afford to take it in to the shop right now so I’m not getting to the gym. I’d like to ride the $250 tricycle that I bought just after I broke my leg last year, but my partner won’t let me because he thinks I’ll break the other leg, or an arm, or whatever, because let’s face it, I don’t have a good track record for not hurting myself lol. I’m clumsy. I’ve been clumsy since I was a child. I used to walk towards the hallway, but instead of going through the doorway, I walked right into the wall. My right eye is a little crossed, so I see 2 of everything. My mother called me Mr. Magoo lol.

Anyway, I won’t bore you anymore. I’m going to continue on this weight loss journey again and if I blog about it, then I blog about it, but I don’t expect that I will.

Terraria Android Cloud Issues Solved

On By Michel McDonaldIn Android, Games, GoogleLeave a comment

Terraria

I have a little addiction to a silly video game called Terraria. I found out about this game when I got my PS4 for Christmas in 2015 while playing Minecraft. It said Also try Terraria on the Minecraft logo, so I found it in the PlayStation store and bought it. I didn’t love it immediately because I wasn’t sure how to play it, and I kept getting killed at night and it was frustrating to keep burying myself whenever the zombies came out at night, much like Minecraft lol. But once I started to play it more, I became addicted and eventually over time I bought the PC version and the Android version.

I have it installed on my Nook HD+, but recently I decided to install it on my cell phone so that I could play it anywhere. I uploaded my world to the cloud from my Nook so I could use some of the items I had gotten before on my phone. I created a new world, because it’s always fun to start over and build a new house, even though I build the same exact house every time lol. Anyway, I uploaded the world a couple more times and eventually it wouldn’t allow me to access the cloud. Every time I would click the cloud save, the game would freeze up for about 10 seconds before crashing. I’m sure anyone would understand just how frustrating that can be. I tried accessing the cloud worlds from my Nook, but no go. I even installed the game on my old android phone and still couldn’t access the cloud worlds.

My only alternative was to go to Google Play for help. Their help sent me to my email app to send an email to them. I got an email to sign up on their website so I can submit a ticket, which I did late on Friday. Today is Monday and I finally got a reply. They sent me a link to a fix, which I didn’t read right away, but they sent me the link again and I read it and apparently when you save your game to the cloud, your worlds and characters go directly to your Google Drive into a folder called Terraria. I had no idea lol. I didn’t have any special world that I needed anything from. Everything was basically just backup, so I deleted all the files and went to the game and it took a minute, but it cleared up the issue and now I am able to use the cloud again.

Here’s a little cheat tip. If you back up your world on the cloud, then access the back up, then go into one of your bags and grab things, like for example ore, you can exit out and go back into the cloud world and it will still be there as if you never touched it. Use this tip only if you must. Don’t use this tip if you think it might ruin the game for you. I actually did that so that I could duplicate the hearts so I could get the max amount of hit points without having to search for more hearts. I know it’s bad, but I just can’t stand dying so fast, but now I have to deal with the Eye of Cthulhu before I’m ready, so that’s on me.

Anyway, I hope you found this cloud fix and my cheat tip useful.

Play PC Games with an Xbox One controller

On By Michel McDonaldIn EverQuest, Games, MinecraftLeave a comment

XpadderMinecraft

Ok so I’ve been struggling for years with PC games and not being able to play them with a game controller. I think that’s why I love my PlayStation 4 so much, because it has a game controller. I bought a game controller many years ago, I think back when I still had Windows 98, and never could figure out how to get it to work. It didn’t work with any of the games I had, and the program it came with didn’t seem to help.

I played EverQuest with a keyboard for 6 or 7 years and got used to it because I didn’t have much of a choice. I hated that I couldn’t use a game controller, but I learned to live with the arrows for moving my character and pressing the Q button to auto attack, I for inventory, and many more buttons and button combinations.

Last year I bought Minecraft after I bought my Xbox One game controller since I figured it would work since Microsoft now owns Minecraft, but apparently that doesn’t matter since it didn’t work. It actually started to piss me off that I wasn’t able to play a simple game with a simple game controller. It’s like why don’t these things go together like Peanut butter and Jelly, or Macaroni and Cheese for crying out loud? You would think they would automatically just work, right? Microsoft Windows… Microsoft owns Xbox and Minecraft… Hello?

Ok so finally today I searched and found Xpadder. It was $10 and I just happened to have $20 in PayPal, so I used that to buy it. I’m broke and that $10 could’ve been a couple items for groceries, but that lasts 5 minutes, this lasts a lifetime. Then again so does the food, am I right?

So you will notice in the image above that I had to make the up arrow down and the down arrow up, and the reason is simple. If I use the right stick to look up, my screen looks at the ground and if I use the right stick to look down, you get the sky. I also bought the Windows 10 version of Minecraft (before I bought it from Mojang) and it looks at the sky if you use the right stick to look up. I don’t know why it doesn’t work right in one but not the other.

XpadderEQ

Here is Xpadder for EverQuest. I’m not sure if these buttons will work for me yet. The Alt 2-4 are the spell gems and I is inventory, Q for auto attack. Ctrl X I believe is camping and Ctrl S is sit/stand. I forget what C is lol. The left stick moves my character and the right stick actually controls the cursor/mouse. I will change Ctrl X to the space bar for jumping since I probably jump more often than I camp out of the game lol. I tried running around in the Plane of Knowledge, and it was a bit tricky because I’m not used to it, but I can see me starting to play EverQuest again now that I can play it with a game controller. And any time I need to change a button to something else, I can just put EQ in windowed mode and change it, then go back to the game. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I feel like Xpadder was well worth the $10 I paid. Sometimes I regret things I buy, but I do not regret this at all. It’s wonderful.

Crocheted C2C Graphigans on Etsy

On By Michel McDonaldIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

​I have these wonderful crocheted graphigan blankets ready to make, if you can wait 4-6 weeks for delivery. I brought the price of the blankets down as well as the price of shipping. I’ve already made a Betty Boop blanket and it came out beautifully and it gave me the experience I needed to make and sell them on Etsy.

DC & Marvel – https://www.etsy.com/listing/494818922/handmade-dc-marvel-character-queen-size

Disney – https://www.etsy.com/listing/495024252/handmade-disney-character-queen-size

Christian Praying Hands – https://www.etsy.com/listing/495024918/handmade-christian-queen-size-crocheted

Trailer, Rainbow Heart and Betty Boop – https://www.etsy.com/listing/495173314/handmade-trailer-rainbow-heart-betty

I’m not sorry…

On By Michel McDonaldIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’m a lifelong Democrat, and my life partner of going on 23 years is a lifelong Republican. I guess that’s something that we just didn’t discuss for the first couple years of our relationship. I mean I knew he hated Bill Clinton, I didn’t know it was because he had to as a requirement to remain a Republican.

For the last 8 years of our relationship I’ve had to hear him talk trash about Barack Obama over the phone to all his friends and family, and trust me when I say it was for at least 3 or 4 phone calls daily for 8 long years. Not to mention having to hear him bash Obama to complete strangers standing in line at restaurants, concerts, movies, or even at the bank. Anywhere! Everywhere! We had a friend who was a movie star who basically cut ties with us because he was sending her emails bashing Obama.

I’m going to miss Obama, but I’m not going to miss the Obama bashing, and believe me when I say it’s still going strong because he can’t bash Donald Trump, so who else can he bash? There aren’t any other democrats in the news. Trump is the only thing in the news that I’m aware of.

So tonight was the Grammy awards and I told him it was on and he said “I’m not watching it because they’re all being mean to Trump.”

Awww! Does someone have butt hurt feelings?

I never said one thing about Bush for 8 years. I sat there listening to all his lies about weapons of mass destruction and I didn’t say one word. I had to listen to how much hatred you had for Obama for 8 years and I didn’t say one word. Trump is going to make a lot of mistakes and you are so butt hurt that you don’t want to hear one word from me, and I’ll try to keep my mouth shut, but don’t ask for my sympathy when you didn’t show me one ounce of sympathy for what you did to me.

Michael’s “Knit Quick” knitting machine

On By Michel McDonaldIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve been crocheting since I basically taught myself with leaflets in 1988 when I turned 18. I prefer to crochet because knitting never clicked with me. I’ve wanted to learn, but instead I bought round knitting looms to make hats and scarves.

My Aunt gave me a $100 gift card for Christmas, and I’ve been watching videos from Margaret Olander “Sheepishly Sharing” on YouTube about the Addi Express knitting machine. She did a review of this knitting machine and she gave it 2 thumbs up, meaning it was a good machine. So I used my gift card to buy it with a 50% of coupon.

Unfortunatly, not all yarn is compatible. It will drop tons of stitches with red heart yarn. The yarn has to be soft like the Caron Simply Soft. Margaret says she prefers Vanna’s Choice. I would love to try Caron Cakes to make a scarf.

Another unfortunate thing is that it doesn’t make very big hats. Depending on the length, you can make preemie, newborn and baby hats. Here are some preemie hats I made with and without pom poms.

Scarves are a good width, you can make them any length you want. Here is a scarf I made.

Anyway, my plan was to use all the yarn I have to make hats for the homeless, but I’m guessing there aren’t too many homeless babies out there, so I’ll just make scarves since they only take an hour and 30 minutes to make, then I guess I’ll just make the hats with actual knitting needles.

Teddy bear C2C crochet baby blanket

On By Michel McDonaldIn Uncategorized5 Comments

My previous post was about a Betty Boop blanket I crocheted for my aunt, this it’s a baby blanket I made for My cousins son who is 5 years old. I honestly didn’t think he would use it for anything but like sleeping, so My mind wasn’t anywhere like a Linus blanket.

So he opened it on Christmas and he said “Oh, it’s a blanket.”  My aunt warned me that he’s 5 and he already has a blanket that he carries everywhere and nothing will ever replace it. That’s not what I was hoping for. I just wanted to make him a blanket, that’s all.

So later that night he was playing with his new video game in his parents room and I brought his blanket to him and he paused the game and said “I like your blanket, but I already have a mommy blanket that I use so I will probably use your blanket when I sleep in bed.”

LMAO I looked at him like hey no problem. My intention wasn’t to give him a Linus blanket, I just wanted to make him a blanket. How he uses it is really up to him, and it was cute and funny how he explained to me that he was basically going to use, but only on his terms.

I think he’s the cutest little thing and I hope to be able to watch him grow up, which it’s nearly impossible since I live so far away, but I’ll try.

Betty Boop C2C crochet blanket

On By Michel McDonaldIn Uncategorized18 Comments

In September and October I was crocheting a blanket made out of squares with many colors each with a black background. I was making this for my aunt for Christmas.

I was watching a video on YouTube and came across one from The Crochet Crowd that was teaching how to make C2C crochet, which stands for corner to corner. I thought it seemed interesting because you could make a blanket with pictures. I then thought hmmm… I wonder if they have a Betty Boop pattern, and I found one from http://www.TwoMagicPixels.com.

I started making this blanket right away. I had some white, but not enough, then found out the new yarn isn’t the same shade of white or texture, and I had trouble finding the right shade of skin for Betty, so I made a piece up to a certain point, then when I bought white I just started over fresh, and it took me a month to make this blanket.

I had to buy different brands because one brand didn’t have the same color for the skin, so the skin and the black, white and red are all different textures.

My Aunt loved it. I was hoping to make her a couch blanket because she takes a daily nap on the couch, like a ritual, but it’s way too big and heavy for a couch nap lol. It would probably be way too warm and she’s probably have to take it off after 5 minutes lol. Her bed is king size, the blanket is queen size, so that’s not good, but hey, I tried right?

Anyway, so yeah I learned a new pattern and gave an awesome gift.

Here is an example of how it’s crocheted along with the pattern next to it. It’s literally worked from corner to corner.