Finally a clutch I can appreciate

It was after 8 when I got up. I stood by the front door on one foot and finished yesterday’s puzzle. Then I sat down with a quart of water to read e-mail. At 9:10 I got dressed and went outside to water the plants. Then I grabbed my fanny pack and walked up the hill to Kelly’s house. I spent about an hour there. She trimmed my hair and showed me the couch cushions that she wants to cover. Two of her kids were at home sick. I walked home, picking up some flower pots that Linda left out for the trash. They still had dirt in them. I opened two windows and turned on a fan. I got out a sheet of directions for a snap/close pouch. I thought with the right fabric, it would make a good clutch for the ball. I assembled scraps from the dress I made. I had some shiny silver fabric from the Busan market. I covered it with scraps. It looked ok except for the seam lines. Then I found a bigger piece, big enough that I could make it in only two pieces. The silver had a 3 inch selvedge on it so I used that to add on either end of the lining for the contrast band. I took a break to have breakfast. I worked until almost 3. Then I walked out to the Chinese massage place. Mr. Lee Pong was not there. The clerk, who had done my massage last week, indicated a lady waiting to do the massage. But I looked at him and he guessed that I wanted him to do the massage. (In my experience, the men do a better job because their hands are stronger, which means they don’t need to use their elbows as much.) So he left me in the small room to change. Then I laid on the table and he massaged my back, arms, shoulders, hands, neck, head, and legs. I did not want to take the extra half hour for a foot massage. Then I walked back to base. I resumed working on the clutch. I had been trying to topstitch the contrasting band and the needle was gumming up which made it skip stitches. So I got a bottle of alcohol and soaked a cotton ball. I had to use it every few stitches to keep the needle clean. It was annoying to proceed one stitch at a time with the handwheel, but it was the only way to insure that every stitch formed. Myra called to talk about attending a function on a ship in Busan on Sunday.

All I wanted to do was take the tour which was earlier in the day. And I did not have my heart set on that. I figured the function would be just a lot of important people standing around, eating and drinking. Then then we would stand around listening to speeches in English and Korean. Not my cup of tea. Myra was busy re-making a dress for one of the other wives who had picked up her dress from the alterations person and it was ruined. God bless Myra. I slipped the metal parts into the clutch channels and then basted and sewed the side seams. I turned it right side out. I had cut it large enough for my phone, but somehow the seams were just thick enough that the phone would not go in I had a stretchy sequin band that I used to make a handle for the clutch. Then I got out my dress to see if it went. It was ok. Using a press cloth, I ironed my dress as best I could. The hem seemed odd somehow so I did not press it. I started taking it out, thinking I might shorten it just a little. I realized that the person who shortened it did not cut off the extra – she just rolled it up several times and sewed through it. It was not a consistent 3 inches from the original hem, so I took quite a bit out. I only stopped when I realized how late it was: 9:45. I took my evening supplements. I asked Chris to watch House with me. We had time for one episode. Then I sat down to write my blog post. When I was ready to post it, my computer started glitching. While it sorted itself out, I finished today's puzzle while standing on one foot. Then I posted and went to bed.