A longarm is a sewing machine to quilt on a frame. The frame is usually 10-12 feet long, so need a whole room (or a garage, which I tried to talk my friend’s husband into donating his and remodeling it for me - didn’t work).
This is a small one. I want a BIG one with a computer to drive it.
I was thinking, the wife and I could turn our house into a paintball fort. That’s romantic, right? 
We just bought 9 Moscovy ducks (6 babies and 3 hens) and built a duck palace for them. We’ll probably lose a few to predators. Might even get duck eggs. So you might say we have refilled our nest.
They are very cute. We have had two semi-wild Muscovies (one is my avatar) who stay with us some of the time (they like it when we feed them) but they also go down-river from us and I think get even more attention.
My only fear other than predators is that we travel a fair bit. We will need to hire someone to come by twice a day to a) feed them; and b) shut them in at night in the palace and let them out in the AM. But, maybe they will find other places that are more hospitable, though the babies will learn that this is their home.
Well, after a week, the ducks found the river and refused to go into the palace to sleep. So they are now sleeping outdoors, on the river bank, but come visit us for meals. The little guys are growing. So now we just have to ask someone to feed them once a day. Easier for us though probably no eggs.
Our daughter applied to a university away from home…like she’s some kind of adult. That will give mom and dad an empty nest in September, at least on weekdays, holidays and summer. What do we do with all that time?
Pretty soon you’ll wonder why you’re short on time to do everything you want.
I’ve got about 20 years left before I can start really thinking about what I want to do. I guess I can fill my time with work. There’s plenty of that to go around.
How about catch up on last 20 years of sleep?!
We definitely don’t feel like we are busy anymore. But I do wonder how I had the energy to do all that I did back then!
I went back to school for a master’s degree and began a new career. And yes, I am old (per my screen name)!
Would you mind sharing what masters degree and what career?
I got my MSW in May 2019 (Stony Brook University, tiny MSW program in Manhattan) and have been working as fee-for-service psychotherapist at a community mental health clinic (lately all via Zoom from home) in Brooklyn, where I live. I graduated just before my 71st birthday.
That is terrific @oldmom4896.
I keep working but have been shifting a higher percentage of my time to pro bono work. The pro bono work has involved travel (to Egypt, South Africa, and next month to Dubai). I could choose pro bono projects closer to home, but this one really matched my skills.
But I also keep trying to learn new things in my work. Over the last few years, I’ve taken on a role as an advisor to startups. I offer them the opportunity to compensate me in cash or options. All but one has chosen options. With some probability, this will pay off. But, I will be fine if the advising/mentoring does not as I’m learning both about new businesses (using AI to do life insurance underwriting, converting CO2 into food and other products, tapping the medicinal properties of plants in an accessible, non-prescription manner, etc.). I’ve just taken on an advisory role to a small venture fund specializing in an industry I learned a lot about in my consulting.
Thanks for sharing. I’m a former teacher who frequently browses masters programs and imagines staring a new career, but the amount of choices can be overwhelming!