Groovin'

I haven't figured out what he's listening to. I asked Tech Guy what he thought and he said it must be Yellow Submarine. I harvested this big and portly guy off the tree behind the condo. Usually our visits are slightly off-season for taking advantage of the fruit growing in the yard. I'm sure these figs.....one of Dear Ol' Dad's favorites.....will be just about perfect soon after we leave.

And speaking of DOD, I'm now in the process of planning a memorial celebration to be held in the early fall. While trying to come up with ideas, I remembered a collection of old 78 records he had stashed in the back closet, and thought it might be fun to select a few for playing on that day. Mr. G., who must have some psychic abilities although he would never fess up to it, recently purchased a new gadget that transfers records to CD's. How convenient.

While I was rummaging through the old records, I found this.

It's a children's book that belonged to my mother. It was published in 1918. Look what's inside:

Little records to go along with the story. I had no idea there were records back in that day, but Mr. G. says there were. Just for kicks I checked on eBay to see if anyone was selling one of these books, and I found one with a starting bid of $54.00. I would never think of parting with it though.

Further rummaging produced this:

My folks apparently made a record of me speaking nonsense when I was about 2-1/2. There are a few people in my life now who I'm sure, on occasion, don't think I've progressed very far......

Bagels at the Why Not

Mr. Gadget and I arrived in southern California on Saturday after an uneventful flight in our usual seats: 17A and B. JetBlue names its planes which I think is a nice personal touch. We were on Bada Bing Bada Blue. I always feel compelled to check out the name when we get off, although I don't keep a list like some people do. I wouldn't want to be accused of having a tracking fetish.

So yesterday morning Mr. G. and I were enjoying some coffee and a bagel in the neighborhood fast-food joint.

"I need to blog," I said. "I haven't blogged for a few days."

"Is there something you can take for that?" he asked.

I just waited a while for the feeling to pass, and then I got busy with some other things. Like shopping for groceries, and doing a little browsing through the Asian market on the corner. I picked up a couple of delicacies to go with the erstas I was planning to fix for dinner. If you're by any chance from Brooklyn where Mr. G. was born, you'd know that would be oysters. When we first met, he called me Marsher, but that didn't last long.

Mr. G. is a big fan of Kimchi. They make about 107 varieties of it at the market. It's a god-awful smelling, I mean well-seasoned cabbage slaw. Sometimes I encourage him to eat it in the garage.

And just in case you were wondering, there has been some knitting going on.

I'm making a tank top for Big City Girl. It's 100% cotton and I'm not really enjoying working with it as much as the wool yarns I've used recently. But for a summer tank top, I think the cotton is a good choice and it's machine-washable. That's also good, just in case it becomes a dust mop if you know what I mean....

So I hear that Tech Guy has become quite the neighborhood social butterfly in the short time we've been gone. He's met the new next door neighbors who we never see outside, and who have not been home when we've tried to deliver cookies. And he's continued our good relationship with the two chipmunks we had befriended. All it takes is some sunflower seeds. Mr. G., who affectionately calls them munks, worries that TG will go overboard with his hospitality. Not to worry, I told him. I've already given him a stern warning. After all, we wouldn't want them in the house running amunk.....

Almost airborne

Lorraine and I, and Mr. Gadget of course, are almost ready to take flight towards the west coast. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning, and as you might imagine, things are hectic here what with all the trip preps. In addition to packing and cleaning, I have to make sure Tech Guy has all of his instructions for minding the house while we're gone. You know, like making sure he rinses out the milk containers before putting them in the recycle bag....which may not go out to the curb til the week before we get home....heh...heh... I did tell him about a neat little trick for bringing the garbage can back up to the house, in hopes that he might take it out sometime before we get back 7 weeks from now. I told him if he puts it out on the correct side of the driveway, he could just roll his car window down, stick his arm out and give it a ride back up to the garage.

So Lorraine has been adopted by one of my friends in California. She'll be traveling out with us on the airplane which is cheating I know. I have no idea how long it would take her under her own power. Not to mention, she'd probably get pretty roughed up going over the Rockies and all. I hope she knows how lucky she is....

You may remember Ferna, my fern....the one I named after my grandmother--the one who taught me how to crochet. Ferna didn't fare too well when we traveled last time and I left her in the care of Tech Guy. I think he was busy with his ABC's..... So my neighbor, the one with kitties Henry and Clarence, and the bluebird couple nesting in her birdhouse, and the green thumb, has generously offered to do a little rehab. I'm almost embarrassed to take poor sad Ferna over there. People with shiny green thumbs don't understand those of us who occasionally abuse plants.

So I'd better sign off now and get back to my packing and cleaning and intermittent procrastinating. Oh, and a little bit of baking. Yesterday Tech Guy sent me a text message from work to ask if I might be willing to make some Snickers brownies for he and his office mates. And since I'm now a mom with text skills, I shot back a reply.

"Yes, if u prom to tk out the grbg."

High-tech mom

I'm still a long way from mastering all of the functions on my digital camera, and I continue to struggle with my new MP-3 player, but I am making headway on text-messaging. Apparently this is unusual for a mom of my age. Big City Girl went to visit a friend when she was in town recently, and she must have mentioned that she'd received a text message from me. "Your mom text-messages?" the friend asked incredulously, sort of in the same tone as if she had asked, "Your mom is a belly dancer?"

Although my texting skills are improving, I can't do the one-handed thing yet, where you hold the phone and type out messages with your thumb. My children are very happy that I've taken up this activity. They can deliver a message to me now, and they know it will take me a long time to type out all of the related questions I'd like to ask. And if I do ask a question and they deem it too delving, they'll just tell me they didn't get it because they had moved into an area with no service.....

So Kathie, a new blog reader, has correctly guessed that my latest project was accessory bags. Sorry Kathie, I don't have a prize for this little contest, but just dream one up and pretend I sent it to you! These bags are very easy to make, but take a small bit of engineering. The first step is to sew the zipper in. Then with right sides together, you sew around the three sides.....but you have to remember to open the zipper before you do this. I'm ashamed to admit that even after decades of sewing experience, I have forgotten this step....thereby making a simple sewing project into a several-hour event.

I've been pretty bummed out on my shopping trips around town lately. I've been looking for a skirt to take along on the trip. Since packing for China will take lots of mixing and matching in order to keep the luggage weight under 44 lbs. I figured a nice lightweight skirt would be good for dinners, and maybe the Chinese opera. I finally decided to go through my pattern stash and make myself one. This is an older pattern that I've made before. It's simple to sew with just two side seams and an elastic waist. I'll make it a little shorter than the one in the picture. The fabric has a small black and white checked background which didn't come out very well in the photo.

So Tech Guy had the unfortunate luck of getting a flat tire the other evening when he was out on one of his.....what I call "escapades." I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure he was on his way to see "Girl A" while possibly juggling "Girl B" and "Girl C" on his cell phone/text messages. Since I'm a mom with lots of wisdom (and all those gray hairs which have now been legally color-coated) I've warned him that this is not a good system, and that at some point the alphabet will turn on him. But I digress. Seems he wasn't too concerned about driving around with a useless spare, and when questioned about it said he really didn't have time to get it fixed.

Mr. Gadget, who was having a slow day in the home office, offered his rescue services. He's had lots of experience in this area. He took the sorry-looking thing down the street to the tire store where he found that, of course, it was too far gone for a fix seeing as how Tech Guy didn't realize it was flat and drove on it for a while. When Mr. G. got home he asked me if I wouldn't mind text-messaging TG. As it happened, we had been out of town on his last birthday.

"U have a new tire. Happy Birthday!"

Bag lady

Moving on from dolls to bags.......here's what I've been up to lately. This is one of many I've made from my own pattern. It's just basically a rectangle for the sides and strips for the bottom and ends, and more strips for the handles. It's lined with bright orange....and I forgot to take a picture.....so maybe I'll just go and do that now. Hold on a sec.

As you can see it's extremely garish, I mean quite festive. I put a patch pocket on the inside. I'm thinking I can use it to carry all of my Chinese souvenirs. That's because I won't need much space for them, since a person really doesn't have to go very far right here in the good ol' USA to find some of those....

Last week I made a bag for my cousin for her birthday. I'm pretty sure she's received it already, so there's probably no harm in posting a picture.

She and her sister (also my cousin..heh...heh..) are planning a road trip to a hot air balloon festival. I bought the fabric quite a long time ago. I was struck by the colors and the glitter...you probably can't see that, but it's sparkly. How convenient that my cousins made these plans so I could put the fabric to good use. This one has purple lining, but no pocket. I hope she doesn't get in a snit about that, but at least she won't be shopping for Chinese trinkets.

So now that the bags are finished, I have a new project I'm about to begin. Here's a little preview. Any guesses?

Check back in a day or two to see what I've come up with. I did buy some zippers today, but otherwise I'll just use up some scraps from my fabric stash.

So Friday I went to get my driver's license renewed. Here in Connecticut the DMV has become much more focused on customer service. They've set up a few locations for renewing your license with a minimum of hassle. I just drove a couple of miles up the road to the local AAA office where I found no line and a smiling clerk. After she took my picture, she very thoughtfully asked if I was OK with it. I told her I was pretty sure I could live with it for the next six years, especially since her camera was compassionate enough to somehow camouflage my sad hair in need of color.

I can only imagine this possible exchange if I were to be pulled over by the local police before my hair appointment on Wednesday:

"We really should write you a citation m'am, but we're only going to give you a warning this time," said the polite young officer.

"Why?" I asked. "What have I done?"

"It's the grey hair, m'am. You need to do something about that at your earliest convenience."

"I have an appointment," I tell him. "I hope Wednesday is soon enough."

"That's fine," he replies. "Sometimes with you older folks we see the grey hair and we know it's just a matter of time before you'll be driving with your turn signals on, or pulling out into traffic and slowing down. Sometimes you even hit the brakes for no apparent reason."

"Thanks for not giving me a ticket," I say.

"No problem, m'am. You have a nice day. And you might want to think about wearing a hat for a couple of days. Maybe keep a low profile, you know what I mean?"

New shoes

This morning Mr. Gadget and I went shopping for new sandals. After all, summer is coming and our feet will need some fresh air. I was quite taken with these, since they will go with so many outfits.....like jeans, jeans shorts and jeans capris. I'm a jeans kind of gal.

And it's with great regret that I must tell you that Dixie and I ended up parting ways. She was a very nice looking vacuum cleaner, but she was very finicky when it came to handling her duties on the heavier pile living room carpet. Mr. G. agreed to return her to the store, where I understand they took her back with no questions asked. They didn't even want to hear our complaints about Dixie, which makes me wonder if others have returned their Dixies too. So now I will have to rely on Betty the Bissell, who has been handling her upstairs vacuuming duties without a fuss. Wait til I tell her she has to work overtime.

So this morning I was fixing myself some breakfast while Mr. G, having just finished his exercise routine, was reading the newspaper. As I sat down at the table, he put the newspaper down and came over to join me, and we had the following chat:

"You really don't have to come over and sit with me," I said. "I know you're enjoying the newspaper."

"That's ok. The newspaper will be there when you're done."

"You're really a very nice guy."

"Are you going to write that in your blog?"

What can I say. It's a slow news day in blogdom.

Have a seat

I've managed to amass quite a collection of doll chairs over the years in an effort to provide my dolls with the best possible seating at craft fairs. Their comfort is my top priority. I usually set up a row of old wooden crates along the back of my craft table and put some of the dolls on those with their legs dangling over. Others sit in front of the crates in chairs. Still more sit on the front edge of the table. And if I've really been into a crafting frenzy, I set up a little shelf in front of the table. It's a veritable candy shop of characters.

The twig chair is a good one for a frog doll. It's woodsy in keeping with his native habitat. The red chair suits a Red Hat lady or a santa. Some folks have asked me if I would sell the chair along with its occupant, but I always say no....with a smile, of course, and maybe a suggestion as to where they could get one of their own. I've grown quite attached to my chairs.

This black spindly chair has been used to display a graduate doll, or sometimes a chef. It looks like one you might find in a library or a little cafe. I've also used it for a cat....maybe one in a checkered outfit with a smart-looking bowtie.

The white one works well for a bunny or a snowman. It's not quite as roomy as the other chairs, so sometimes it's hard to even see it once a doll sits down. I can relate.

And here's yet another twig chair. They're so cute I have a hard time passing them up. A cow doll has been known to sit in one and sometimes a witch. It's also a good choice for a leprechaun. I have quite a few more doll chairs; this is just a sampling. I keep wondering if one of these days I'll walk into the treehouse and find the characters playing musical chairs. But better that, I suppose, than a game of poker or, heaven forbid, a seance....

Mother's Day....the review

I received this card in the mail today from Big City Girl. It was a day late, but that wasn't any big deal. She told me it was coming and I know she was busy getting the bunny cage cleaned and all the laundry done and the garbage carted out to the curb (3 floors down) in preparation for her big trip to Maui. Besides, I hear that BCBF's mom got hers late too. The best part is it's handmade....which, in my book, beats out the Hallmark variety 50 million to one.

Tech Guy gave me a bouquet of flowers and a very nice card...not handmade but containing a special handwritten message. He and Mr. Gadget took me out to the local diner for dinner, at my request. They would have gladly taken me to a fancier place, but I do enjoy the diner on occasion. It's close by, the menu is varied, and one can maintain some sort of reasonableness with one's portions. We ate most efficiently and returned home so I could resume my knitting.

So today I returned some library books and then swung by the fabric store, since it's right on the way home. Well sort of. I was thinking I might make myself a new tote bag. I've made several, including one when the kids were little on which I embroidered a mother duck and her ducklings and this saying: "God, grant me the patience to endure my blessings." I'm a big fan of Laurel Burch and own several things with her designs....mostly earrings.

And since I'm on the subject of cats, I thought I'd post a photo of this one. It was made many years ago by my sister out of paper mache.

You can see he's been in a cat fight or two. I don't think the local vet would be receptive to tending his wounds, so I'll try to patch him up myself one of these days. I should have taken a picture of his underside. She assembled him out of styrofoam packing pieces and then just sculpted away what wasn't a cat. I'm always amazed at how artists can do that. How do they know? In addition to fixing his tattered ears, I'll clean him up and maybe touch up the paint. I plan to keep him forever......along with my new stamps.

Tea party

I know it doesn't look like a tea party. It's just that I couldn't figure out what else to call it. The weather was so nice today, I decided to tea-dye some muslin out on the back deck. Well, it's really not tea. It's Rit fabric dye. And it's a lot easier to throw a package of tan Rit dye in a big bucket with hot water than a million tea bags.

I usually dye about 3 yards of fabric at a time, and I use one of my big plastic crates...the same ones I use to schlep all of my dolls to a craft fair. They rinse out nicely without staining. It only takes a few minutes to get a nice mellow color.

Here's the before and after. The dyed muslin works well for making dolls with a primitive look. I'm really burned out on dollmaking at the moment, but after I've returned from my next trip west I may try my hand at designing a larger witch doll. I made one a couple of years ago using a purchased pattern....well, it wasn't a witch til I tweaked it a bit. You might remember Wanda. She sold on eBay after a small bidding frenzy. I love a good frenzy, not to mention....a good pumpkin pie!

So Big City Girl and BCBF are winging their way to Maui as I type. They've rented a cute little Hawaiian cottage for a week in an area that's out of the way of all the touristy stuff. They will be meeting up with her college roommate who now lives in Maui and will in all likelihood be trying to encourage BCG to move there herself. Those warm trade winds and the leisurely pace will certainly make that tempting. But I'm pretty sure she'll be anxious to get back to the noise and traffic and crowded subways, and the occasional blizzards.....

I've been doing a little organizing in the treehouse today. I know there are knitters who keep their patterns in a notebook, with all the pertinent info on what yarn they used, needle sizes, and any special notes about the process. I'd like to be one of those people. I borrowed Mr. G's three-hole punch....such a handy gadget for organizing one's life.....and got busy. After I get the knitting patterns in order, I might just start on my recipes. And then maybe all those crafty ideas I've cut out of magazines. I'd better work quickly though. I wouldn't want the gadget police on my tail.

Friday mishmash

I have no real blog subject for today, so I give you a mishmash....a word I've always been fond of ever since I sent out some handmade Christmas cards with a slightly tipsy Santa and a greeting of "Cherry Mishmash." That was back in my single days, when I was struggling to rid myself of the dreadful wholesome image.

I'm making some progress on the Plymouth sweater. I don't think I mentioned it's a cardigan, and I'm finished with the back and almost half way up one of the fronts. I know knitters talk about how wonderful certain yarns are to knit with, and now I understand. For me, this is one of those. It's Berroco's Peruvia, a 100% wool, in Denim Blue. I'm finding it hard to put down.

So yesterday I went on a little shopping trip in an effort to find a few items of clothing to fill in my wardrobe for the upcoming China trip. I was disappointed in the mall selections, although I did find one of those visor hats.....such a nice invention for those of us with plenty of head insulation. Mr. G. doesn't want to hear about it.

I will say that the shopping trip would have been totally unnecessary if I was just one of those gals who could maintain some sort of regular weight. A couple of years ago I lost 45 lbs. and got down to my goal, and I think I was there for about 10 minutes. Then there was a cruise, and the holidays, and.....well.....a few of those pounds found me.

The other day I was feeling rather depressed about it all so I took a trip over to Barnes and Noble in search of a new diet book I had read about on someone's blog. I figured maybe a new slant on the old problem would help. It was a good thing they were out of the book because I really knew there were no new slants, and it would have eventually ended up in the basement bookcase collecting dust with the others.

On the short ride home I was listening to the radio and happened to hear one of the radio psychologists tell a caller that the secret to weight loss is really very simple: East less; move more. For some reason, this struck me. Was it possible I've been making the whole diet thing too complicated? I decided right then and there to give this revolutionary new weight-loss program a try. Since then, I've been having smaller servings of everything and I'm taking short walks around the neighborhood in the evenings. My clothes are a little looser and I feel better. Maybe I should write a book. Nope. It would never sell. Too short.

So while I'm waiting for the eat-less-move-more results, I decided to work on a little sewing project yesterday. I made something for my cousin for her birthday. It's cute and whimsical, and I hope it will be useful. I put it in the mail today. A picture will be forthcoming after I know she's received it. I wouldn't want to spill the beans.

The Family Memoirs

I've always been a letter-writer.....well, that is until my good friend Barbara moved to Arizona not long ago and took up email. She and I were the last of a dying breed. While I will admit to having given up, at some point, the handwritten letter in favor of the much faster word-processing version, Barbara always wrote longhand, usually on a steno pad, on occasional Thursdays (before she vacuumed) when her boss, the optometrist, was out of the office.

My mom and dad were letter-writers too. Along with newsy items about their activities, they would sometimes include interesting stuff.....like an article from the newspaper on child-rearing, a favorite recipe, and sometimes a birthday check. While I always kept the enclosures, I rarely kept the letters. Maybe I had a few clutter-free tendencies even then. My dad, on the other hand, kept all of my letters. To him they were not clutter, and he had the brilliant foresight to know that someday I might like to have them.

Many years ago, when he was healthy and doing crafty things himself, he custom-made two boxes and shipped many of my letters back to me. The one above (the earliest in the collection) is from 1966, when my sister and I traveled to Europe on a student tour. The trip began with a flight to Washington, D.C. where we spent a few days before flying on to London. I wrote that we were having a marvelous time, and I enclosed the airline lunch menu. Kinda makes me hark back to the good ol' days.....

At some point I decided to embark on a family memoirs project, whereby I would re-read the letters, beginning in 1981 when Mr. G. and I married, and move forward. Along the way I would highlight a few items in many of them, and later re-type these newsy tidbits in chronological order, year-by-year. While I was never one to keep accurate baby books for TG and BCG wherein I should have recorded their first steps and lost teeth, I wrote it all in letters to my folks.

A few have asked why I didn't just scan the letters. Aside from that itself being a big project, it would also result in way too many pages, not to mention there are probably a few things better left unwritten. Once the whole thing has been saved on a disk of some kind and published....one for each kid should they at some point in their lives want to look back (like, I can only hope and pray, when they have teenagers for instance)....... I will shred the whole pile.

I know I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm a person who likes to track things. Little did I know, until I started this blog, just how much of a tracker I am. And just so you know, it doesn't stop here. I kept notes on an inside-the-desk calendar for a couple of years while Mr. G and I were dating.....movies we saw, restaurants we ate at, concerts, trips and all sorts of stuff. Needless to say, much of this will most certainly qualify as "better left unwritten"...heh....heh.....

The planets align

Sometimes I think of my family members as planets in a solar system, each orbiting the sun at a different speed, with some of us circling pretty far out, and others slightly off-kilter. And once in a blue moon, our paths coincide. That happened yesterday for about 30 minutes. It was just enough time for me to snap a quick picture and to deliver, automatic-rifle style, advice I'd been saving up for BCG. Next weekend she and BCBF will be flying to Maui for a weeks' vacation, and I thought she needed a brief tutorial on the current rules of flying. Had she only stayed longer, I could have given her the unabridged version. I think she's on to me.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at a craft show in a nearby town. I think I mentioned I sometimes sell a few dolls at a senior shop there. Twice a year they have a show. Norma, the lady who runs the shop, is a great promoter of my dolls, and she had requested the two witches. Here is Trudy's sidekick. It's hard to see the green tint to her skin. I figured I'd go easy on the green to see how it came out. Next time I'll do it slightly darker. I diluted some green craft paint with water and used a sponge brush on the fabric before I cut out the pieces. Instead of the usual boots, I gave her a pair of shoes painted on to feet made of fishnet print fabric. I added a fabric yo-yo (one of those gathered-up circle thingies) with a pearl button sewn on in the center. The witches didn't sell yesterday, but I'm not worried. Norma is always on the job.

You probably can't tell from this photo that I'm well on my way to winning an ugly war on clutter. A few weeks ago we had some company, and in preparation for their arrival I bulldozed, I mean picked up a few things in the family room. The tidy appearance delighted me so much that I made a commitment to keep it that way. Well, you can see I've slipped a little. This is the end table next to where I sit in the evenings with Mr. Gadget to watch Jeopardy and maybe a baseball game or Antiques Roadshow. Sometimes I've been known to sit down in the afternoon with a cup of coffee and some knitting. You can also see my very own remote, given to me a few years back by Mr. G. I only use it when I'm watching TV alone though. He's Master of the Remote in our house. I always fail miserably in my wifely commercial-muting duties.

And the Plymouth sweater is coming along nicely, although I did have to do a little frogging. It wasn't because of my knitting abilities though. It was my shoddy math skills. And it wasn't even algebra. I think it was more like third grade math. At one time in my life I entertained thoughts of becoming an elementary school teacher, but I decided against it when I realized I'd have to teach long division and those word problems where one train is going 30 mph and another one 45 and when will they meet. I'm clueless. But I bet I could have made a really neat crocheted solar system though.....

Trudy

Here's Trudy, the first of two witch dolls I've been working on. I wasn't going to name her, but then "Trudy" popped into my head. My good friend Claudia, who reads this blog but is herself blogless, may remember that name from our school days together. I hope word doesn't get back to the Trudy of our youth that I've named a witch after her. At least she's a good witch.

And remember that cute little chipmunk who was eating so nicely on my back deck? Well, here's a little visitor on my front porch who had no invitation.

I've been tempted by some delectable gourmet delights myself on occasion, but I have to say I've never eaten anything upside down.

This picture gives a good view of my neighbor's house--the neighbor with the green thumb. She reports that some uninvited visitors have been spotted in her yard too. She and her husband put up a bluebird house in their side yard, and don't you know.....a house wren started moving in. Then, the bluebirds arrived and I don't know what happened next. I'll have to get an update. I've heard stories about how hard it can be to convince inappropriate tenants to vacate a place.

I had a bit of a fright yesterday when it appeared that Dixie and I might be having some compatibility issues. She threatened to have a sitdown strike on the living room carpet. I coaxed and prodded to no avail. Mr. G talked to her sternly and finally had to call the Dyson people . Seems she's got a really strong sucker, which wasn't taking well to the thick carpet. Luckily Mr. Gadget found a gadget in his toolbox and removed something-er-other from her underside and now she has a better attitude. She's picking up stuff that's probably been down in the carpet for a decade or two. So now I've learned that when someone says something "really sucks" it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Yesterday, around noon, I got a call from Big City Girl who was walking around the city on her lunch break. She said she might come up to visit this weekend. She and BCBF (big city boy friend) have been invited to a party nearby. It will be nice to see her, since the last time we saw her was at the big city birthday celebration.

Well, she's not positive they're coming, but she's pretty sure. And if they do come, she's not sure when they'll arrive, but it'll be late in the day. And they may or may not eat with us, and they probably won't be staying over here at the house. But things could change. Maybe. Actually, very little has changed......