Sewing Adventures

A bit of a creating bug coupled with some things we needed, and it's been one adventure after another around here! Let's start with the easy... a skirt!

This used to be a vintage dress, but the top was funky and I never wore it. Also, it was just a tad too short, which is why I originally added the lace on the bottom, but it just wasn't a comfortable length and draped strangely. Since it was high-waisted, I just cut it at the waist, added a t-shirt band from an old t-shirt (that used to be red, then faded in the sun to the exact color I needed... how strange is that?) and this is now the most comfortable skirt that I own. The fabric is vintage, a beautiful well-loved cotton blend that doesn't wrinkle, breathes well, and makes for a very nice grab-and-go skirt.

Next up was a dust ruffle for my bed. My bed looked lonely and strange without a bottom layer, so I began looking around for one to buy. Finally found a store here that sold what I wanted, but only in twin and double size, not queen. It can't be too hard to make my own, I thought! And it wasn't.

(Now that I actually have this picture up here, I realize you can't really see the print of the fabric. Oh well... click to enlarge, but I think you get the idea :)

I've had this old green-flowered sheet for ages. It's a favorite one that I picked up from a thrift store - vintage, I think, as it has no tags. I've used it for many things - a curtain, a tablecloth, a couch cover, and even as a sheet, since that was its original purpose. Now it has new life as a dust ruffle. :) I cut the twin-sized sheet into three long sections and sewed them end to end, salvaging the folded over 'top' for another project. Then, I was going to ruffle it up and attach to a middle piece, but when I took my bed apart to measure, I realized I could just pin it to the box springs. So that's what I did. :) Minimal sewing, it works just as well, and it will be easier to take apart and use the material for something else. As with most things, I'm sure this is just a temporary solution and it won't be long before I change my mind again. 

Last of all, for this blog post at least, was something much more difficult. In fact, this was something that pushed my skills and our poor little sewing machine to the max! That something was a window screen - two window screens in fact, and more in the queue for when I have time. 

Those of you who have been to Africa or other countries who do their windows similarly know how the windows can be a bit challenging. Of course, we have bars on all the windows for safety reasons. Also, the windows don't generally slide up and down. Rather, they open out and all the hardware for latching, locking, and propping the windows is between the window and the bars. This makes installing screens rather difficult, because the screen needs to be removable so you can still access the window. 

There are lots of solutions, but the 'easiest' solution is having someone custom make the screens for you. Generally these are a wooden frame you can pull out of the window with real screen material tacked on... and since window sizes vary so much (no standardized windows... everything is custom made) and lumber is so expensive (not a lot of trees around here, if you haven't noticed!) this gets rather costly. 

After spending two summers here, we know well the choice that has to be made - either you keep your window shut to the cool night breezes or you open the window and endure the mosquitoes. And while mosquitoes can be endured, I suppose, I don't really want to risk getting malaria. Other bugs don't really bother me, but I have a healthy fear of mosquitoes. :) I'll be honest, though - a lot of nights last summer, it was so hot that I just didn't care and opened my window! 

So my brother had the idea of making our own screens. This way we could keep the cost down, get it done in a timely manner, and be able to open at least our bedroom windows this summer without letting in the bugs. We looked at several options, and decided on what would be a) the cheapest and b) the easiest. 

Basically, we went with a tent window. Four outer strips of canvas sewn into a frame with a zipper all the way around, then screen in the middle. We were having problems finding screen, in fact, the only 'screen' we found had holes so large that the only thing it would keep out was anything larger than a fly. Not mosquito-proof, in other words. So we went with awning material, believe it or not! Once everything was sewn up, with little snaps at the top to roll and stow the screen, we screwed it to the wall with four grommets, stretching as much as we could. Then a layer of contact cement all the way around ensures there are no little holes where a stray mosquito might find his way through.

A little campy, no? But it's really not that bad. During the day, I snap up the screen, and with the curtains, the only thing you can see of it is the canvas strip at the bottom, which strangely enough, matched my wall paint. Everything gets zipped up at night, but then you can't see it anyway. Now I can have my window open all night long, and never have to worry about a mosquito!

So there you have it! In all, one window screen takes about 3 hours for me to do alone (not quite 3 hours if Sam is here to help me measure, trim, etc), and costs about 17 US dollars. Not too bad! And with the cost that low and the way it is now glued in, we would probably just leave this in the house should we lease another place to live. We could easily make new screens for our new house, which will probably have different sized windows anyway. :)

The Dogs

I can't begin to tell you how amusing these three are. They each have their own little personality quirks... I just love them. :) And, they take their job of guarding us pretty seriously, so they are worth what it costs to feed them. They have sort of adopted me as their mother, and their favorite place to be is in my bedroom, scattered and snoring around my bed (they would probably be IN my bed if I let them). Where once I had one shadow, I now have three. :)

Winter's End

These are busy days, as we bid goodbye to our delightful winter and buckle in for another long summer. It's already hot, folks. Today I got a little sunburn on my cheeks, just walking around the market and visiting my ladies. It's time to start taking two showers a day, I think. :)

In preparation for the summer, my brother came up with the brilliant idea of sewing some screens to fit in our windows. We have a bit of a unique window situation, as all the windows here have hardware (locks and latches and stands) directly on the window, and you must first reach through the bars to access the window. Putting a screen in over this means you can't open, lock, or adjust your window, so the screens must be removeable, or at least easily moved and put back, without compromising and leaving even an inch of open space. You can be assured that if there is an inch open, the mosquitoes will find that inch, at least if it is me they are trying to get to on the other side of the window. So he thought, "What if we made our screens like on a tent? They can be a 'frame' of canvas which we will tack up to the wall, then a light mesh screen which zips all the way around." Brilliant idea, no?

And wouldn't you know but it worked! Well, we bought the supplies, measured for my window, sewed everything up, and all that is left to do is to tack it up and glue around the edges, sealing all the gaps. I can't wait... it will be so nice to have a screen in the window this year, even if it is a little 'campy' looking. And all this for about $17 a window and a couple hours of sewing. Not too shabby.

All our guests are gone, or at least, by tomorrow morning they will be. It will just be back to the four of us, the four Hammetts with their three dogs. What a motley crew they are. It's odd being back to just us. I find myself having to pare down when I am cooking, but I usually still end up with way too much food. We're back to laundry once a week, having more than enough towels, and bathrooms staying cleaner longer (with those three aforementioned dogs, we still have to sweep at least once a day). But it's sad to have the house so quiet, to have no extras to play games with in the evenings, to have no movie-watching buddies. :(

And it is definitely sad to have this lovely winter come to an end. I'm really not quite ready for summer yet, so I wouldn't complain if it fluctuated some over the coming days to give us a few more cool ones.

Let not your heart be troubled:

ye believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father's house are many mansions:

if it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again, 

and receive you unto myself;

that where I am, there ye may be also.

And whither I go ye know, 

and the way ye know.

Living in Dust

The dust is taking over this house, this country.

Everywhere we go, it is dirty, dry, and dusty. Everywhere you turn, there are little miniature dust storms and dust funnels - some large, some small, all... dusty. We leave our house for two days and come back to a layer of dust on everything that makes it seems like we have been away for months. You wipe down the kitchen cupboards and come back two hours later to find everything covered in a layer of, you guessed it, DUST!

The dogs chase each other around the yard, and we hurry to close windows because soon our whole yard is engulfed in a cloud of dust. Our car is perpetually dirty from driving on the parched roads, and every night I scrub the dirt out from under my fingernails. I'm not doing strenuous labor in the dirt, mind you, just every day living, and yet the dirt gets into everything.

I look at pictures from January and I marvel at just how green and alive everything is, though at the time, we compared it to other green places we know and mourned its brownness. Now everything truly is brown. The only green that exists is in trees with deep roots to water sources or lawns that are being watered by people.

I don't think I have ever in my life gone so long without seeing precipitation. Living in Pennsylvania there is always some sort of precipitation falling - snow, rain... rarely do they go more than a couple weeks without something. I was in Thailand during the rainy season, and in Africa always during rainy season or in a rainy part of the country. But now, I am here in the desert. The days are steadily warming more and more, indicating that summer is once again just around the corner. But the rains? They won't come until October, although we may get an odd shower in September.

"There shall be showers of blessing." Isn't that what the song says? "Precious reviving again. Over the hills and the valleys, sound of abundance of rain!"

The Pans

Why should I resay what has already been said? Especially since I put most of it together, anyway? ;)

Go here to read and watch some videos of our trip to the pans in Central Botswana.

Slowly, but surely, I am checking things off my list of things to do while living in Africa. Why pass up the opportunities when they are so close? Next up, I'd really like to work in a trip to the Kalahari (obsessed with Namibia) and still need to visit the Okavango Delta. It really helps when we have so many guests that we want to show our Africa - it forces us to plan and go on these trips and not just get bogged down with daily life. So, who wants to go to Namibia with me? Rebekah? ;)