November 22, 2019
Dear Everyone:
A few months ago, I replaced the windows in my condominium.
That, of course, required replacing the window treatments, i.e.,
what covered the windows on the inside.
For the majority, white interior shutters were the best choice.
However, the kitchen window presented a problem.
There is a light fixture directly over the sink area, making it easier
to see what one is doing at the sink.
Unfortunately, that places the fixture right in front of the
window. This prevented us
from installing shutters over this window.
The nice saleslady who had come out to my place to consult, advise and
measure the windows also checked her portfolio of possible blinds.
In this case, the new windows would fill enough of the window
frame to make blinds another impossibility.
We finally agreed that I would use curtains, of some kind, and
left it there.
Once the windows were installed, I decided to use a spring-tension rod
which would hold curtains and would not require any kind of
installation. Almost at
once, I used the first “curtain”, actually a valance meant to go with
much larger drapes, that I found at a discount store.
It had the advantage of covering the window, thus blocking the
afternoon sun, and that was pretty much it.
In time, I picked up some printed cotton calico fabric and sewed
together a pair of curtains in a summer pattern of green leaves.
On the down side, the Homeowners Association (HOA) requires that
all window coverings be white on the outside.
Technically, the green leaves showed through the fabric.
On the up side, no one ever seemed to notice.
Certainly I never received a “CC&R letter” in the mail.
“CC&R” stands for “Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions”, which stands
for the rules governing the HOA.
A “CC&R letter” usually begins with, “As you are aware…” meaning
that you have broken some rule that you should know about as you
obviously read the entire 168-page document before you bought the place.
Last week, at a nearby sewing and craft store, among many other things,
I picked up a few yards of printed calico in an autumn theme as well as
a winter theme, plus a whole lot of plain white muslin.
Also another spring-tension rod and some curtain rings to go over
the rod.
This week, I measured the window, then measured fabric and cut pieces of
both the autumn and plain white muslin.
(“Muslin”, for those of you not conversant in sewing, is a cotton
fabric that comes in very handy for a whole lot of things.
Every sewing cabinet should have some muslin around, just in
case.)
In next to no time, I was sewing the printed fabric to the white fabric,
edge to edge and end to end.
Turn the whole thing right side out and presto!
Curtains that are autumn on the inside, facing the kitchen, and
white on the outside, facing the world in general.
I was nearly finished when I hit a snag, literally.
My sewing machine began beeping at me.
I figured that it was trying to tell me something and stopped
sewing. When I checked, the
bobbin thread was quite tangled.
This can only mean one thing:
Time to clean the inside of the sewing machine.
I won’t go into tiresome, and to some people incomprehensible,
detail. I consulted the
Owner’s Manual for instructions on how to remove the metal base and so
on. The Manual advised:
“The machine should be cleaned regularly.”
Well, of course. But that
sewing machine can sit in the back of the second bedroom for months at a
time before being pulled out for one project or another.
In fact, judging by the amount of red lint that came out when I
started brushing, the last time I used it was to make Christmas
Stockings for everyone some years go.
Of course, one can set a rule to always clean the machine at the end of,
or at the beginning of, each project, the way one always cleans the lint
filter in the clothes dryer.
But who wants to stop at the beginning of a project to clean the
machine? And who has the
energy when a project is finally finished?
At that point, cleaning up tends to consist of shoving everything
into a bag or box and shuffling it into the back bedroom as quickly as
possible.
Ironically, I’m meticulous about taking my automobile in for routine
maintenance every 7500 miles, or every six months.
Recently, my neighbor “Phoebe” had her car suddenly go dead in
the dedicated left turn of a very busy thoroughfare.
Naturally, she panicked.
Later, when she was regaling me with a confusedly detailed account, I
asked when was the last time she replaced the car’s battery.
She paused, then said, “You’ve never been married, have you?”
Not sure what that had to do with anything, I replied, “Not to my
knowledge.”
Well, it seems that her late husband had always taken care of all that.
And how long ago had he passed away?
About five years.
I suggested that she start taking care of these things herself, which
earned me a snort.
Apparently, I just don’t understand such things.
In the meantime, my lovely new curtains are hanging in the window.
The afternoon sun is attempting to blaze its way in, but only
creates a lovely golden backlight through the fabric.
Next up: Winter drapes.
And it’s time to start a box labelled, “Kitchen curtains”, to
store them when they’re not
in season.
Love, as always,
Pete
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