Thursday thoughts

I was feeling smug, like we'd conquered the ants, and then I noticed a whole battalion doing laps around the kitchen window frame.

Sometimes I think it would be fun to have a little garden of some kind, even though I'm not home enough to give it regular care. But maybe a nice cactus garden would survive....and a giant pineapple growing out of the roof.

Tomorrow I'm going to have coffee with the nice friend who made me this apple pie tablecoth.On Saturday, Mr. Gadget and I will be attending the ladybug/dragonfly/tissue-paper-flower wedding in Bakersfield. The terrain will look quite different from the Block Island landscape where we attended a wedding two years ago.

But knowing my family, I'm sure there will be a few characters.

After I return to Connecticut at the end of next week, I'll be having my annual physical. Thankfully I've still got enough mileage left on the ol' odometer to avoid this unpleasant experience:

Our condo neighbors always act like they're happy to see us each time we arrive, but I think they're just being nice. During one of our visits, there was a fire at a condo unit just down the sidewalk.

Then, a couple of visits ago, there was a murder/suicide down the street at another unit. And just a few days ago there was an earthquake. We are a dynamic duo who really make things happen.....

And now I hear the Yankees have signed Pudge Rodriguez to help them race to the finish line. Of course, they didn't ask my opinion, but if they had I would have told them that what they really need is a pitcher, not a catcher. Or maybe a prayer.

And as for Obama and McCain.....well, I really don't get into politics on this blog.....but really.....can't they just get over it?

Stay tuned. Next time.....a pig tale.

Reunion: the cartoon

First of all, I should mention the earthquake. We had a 5.4 shaker this morning, and rest assured that Mr. Gadget and I are just fine. As a native Californian, I'm an earthquake veteran, but Mr. G--with his east coast roots--is still a little green.

You may remember in my last post I wrote about the people who send their moving vans out this way after seeing the nice weather at the Rose Parade on TV. An earthquake above a 4.0 is usually enough for them to tell those big rigs to make a big ol' U-turn.

Now, on to the reunion. It was a smashing success! And in the interest of all things fun and silly, here is my cartoon review:

I brought balloons in our school colors, and home-baked chocolate chip cookies. I think of cookie-baking as sort of my trademark. I've never been to a wedding, birthday, funeral or reunion where homemade cookies didn't add to the festiveness.....Janet brought her guitar and led a few of us in a singalong. That's what Janet has always done for as long as I can remember. Then someone, I think it was Kevin's brother (see more about Kevin below), appeared with a ukelele. The festiveness was beginning to overfloweth.

Kevin showed up wearing his high school track jersey. He's one of those people you love to hate because his high school clothes still fit.

Joe arrived with a high school flag--a recent find at a garage sale. He brought along a bleacher cushion too. I wonder if bleacher seats are more comfy these days, or if football stadiums are still decked out with those hard, cold, metal character-building ones...
Sara and Annette, my two friends from kindergarten, came loaded down with pictures. Sara pretended like she'd forgotten all about the times she won my marbles. I'll bet she still has them stashed somewhere in her closet.....in those cute little drawstring bags. Annette brought along a blue mimeographed copy of the Top 50 tunes of our day. You young'uns will have to google mimeograph. Us old'uns will never forget the mimeograph-fluid aroma that radiated from our essay tests......or even worse, from our math tests. Oh, the horror....
Molly brought her yearbook so we could all be reminded of what we looked like back in our senior year, and which ones of our teachers were hotties. She also volunteered her dear hubby to do our pre-party dinner accounting. Thanks again, Art!

Lucy and Joyce brought their scrapbooks. You just know they gave up precious shoe space in their luggage for these treasures.

And Mr. Gadget, having graduated from a high school far away and finding himself without mementos for the occasion, brought along a giant economy-sized box of cheddar goldfish. I tried to tell him that our mascot was the mighty falcon and not the wimpy goldfish, but he turned a deaf ear. (Please try to ignore that scrappy-looking neck and missing shoe. I'm a primitive artist....)

It was a wonderful weekend for sharing hugs and special memories, and for marveling at how smiles and personalites seemed to weather the years free of tarnish. What fun it was to be 17 again.....

Reunion gadfly on the job

This is the weekend of my high school reunion, and for weeks I've been scurrying around spreading the word. You can call me a certified gadfly.

Here's how I got the gadfly job. I simply suggested sending an email out to a couple dozen classmates who were listed on a school website to see if I could stir up the troops. And since I suggested it, I figured I should offer to do it. Then there was mention of dinner at a restaurant...sort of a pre-party warm-up..... and I threw out the name of a place that had good food and a convenient location, and you guessed it. More work for the gadfly. I'm usually a rather meek person who likes to hover in the background, so this gadfly business is something new. It's just going to be a weekend thing though....

My high school had a short life compared to some of those with the ivy-covered walls. It was only in existence for 22 years. It was the newest one of three in our area, but it was on prime real estate and enrollment was declining....so it bit the dust.

While some of the classes have traditional reunions at fancy halls and restaurants, ours hasn't....except for one or two in the early years. But every summer, in a local city park, there's an all-class gathering that was started some years ago by a few alums. It's a nice venue, and since it's California the weather is never an issue. It's always wonderful here.....but please don't spread that around! We native Californians used to get annoyed every time there was a beautiful sunny day for the Rose Parade. It meant more moving vans would be heading west.

So I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends I haven't seen in almost 40 years. There's Jane. We used to cruise the local A & W on Friday nights, and we weren't just going for the root beer. And there's Lucy. She and I were on drill team together, and she remembers the windy night we carried paper parasols during a disastrous half-time performance. And Sara. We were neighbors and schoolmates since kindergarten and she won all my marbles more than once.

I know there's no time now for hair highlights, botox, a manicure, or wrinkle cream. So I guess I'll just go look in my closet for something to wear that's slimming, slighty sexy and youthful-looking, yet tasteful and sophisticated....with maybe just a hint of spandex....heh...heh....

Out of alignment

I haven't read my 2008 astrological forecast......I usually just read my daily horoscope to see if getting out of bed is worthwhile......but I'm pretty sure I'm in one of those retrogrades. It's entirely possible Saturn is transiting my House of Handiwork. First it was the red pest sweater with all of its issues. Then it was the Noro sock and the too-small needles....and did I mention the yarn was broken and re-joined mid-skein completely destroying the signature Noro blended look?

Now, on top of all that, my pig has le molde.

The instructions on the box of paper mache said it would cover anything, but apparently not. And since I certainly wasn't willing to let my hours of sculpting efforts (and delayed lunch) go to waste, I called on Mr. Gadget for a scientific opinion. He suggested a trip to Home Depot, where he was sure we could find some mold-resistant primer. The helpful person there (just like in the old days) suggested applying bleach and water first. By the way, I didn't dare let on, of course, that this was for a pig-construction project. It's now looking much better, and will soon be dry and ready for some sandpaper.....also from Home Depot. Who knew they were a craft store?I can only wonder what the mail lady must think of us when she comes up to deposit mail in our door slot. Today she was greeted by a paper pig sitting in a chair on the front porch and smelling of bleach. Last week it was the beady-eyed barkrat. We're lucky we even get mail.

So Mr. Gadget and I have been battling little black ants here in the condo. They haven't yet gotten the message to retreat, in spite of two treatments by a little man wearing a mask.

I've offered to package them up (I think a Snickers bar would lure them into one of those big Priority Mail envelopes) and send them to my cousin for the upcoming wedding....you know, to join in the fun with the ladybugs and dragonflies, but she politely declined. Seems not everyone on the wedding-planning committee has a sense of humor. So sad.....

So I guess until a solution is found, or a better battle plan, we'll try to co-exist with the ants. After all, we are here in sunny California with the nice afternoon sea breezes. What's a few ants in our cereal? In a couple of weeks we'll be back in hot, sticky Connecticut with bats in our bedroom......

Party cruise observations with totally random pictures

If you're looking for a profession with plenty of job security, become a tattoo artist.


Shaved heads are way cooler than balding heads.

How to shop for cruise clothes if you're a young woman: try on clothes, determine your size, buy two sizes smaller. For young men: ditto......ditto.....buy two sizes larger.The fashionably-savvy cruiser, both male and female, allows maximum underwear visibility....for example, a good six inches of either jockey or boxer shorts, and bra straps in contrasting colors to the two-sizes-too-small outer garment with between 2 and 4 bra hooks well-displayed.

There's no better way for a real, honest-to-goodness dyed-in-the-wool party cruiser to show off his true colors than to stand on a chair in the formal dining room and scream at the top of his lungs, during the main course, "Let's party!"


Two rare sightings of a species known as the well-behaved party animal.......

.....now, sadly, on the brink of extinction.

Support system

Everyone needs a good one, don't you think?

Have a great weekend! I'll be back soon with a few stories about my trip to the zoo, I mean my 3-day party cruise.....

Breaking News: Ant walks to New Guinea!

You're probably wondering what sort of a crazy tangent I'm headed off on now, right? This will make perfect sense after I explain. There's a big world map mounted on the wall directly behind my computer. There's also an ongoing battle we're having with little black ants. The pest people have sprayed twice, but a few hearty souls have managed to survive.....and I spotted one walking across the map (walking on water, actually) headed for New Guinea. I'm pretty sure he got there OK.

So Catalina has become quite a crafty place, and you know I had to check out this shop. There was yarn in the window. I didn't end up buying any yarn......right now I'm mad at yarn.......but I did find a kit for a cute little embroidered piece.

I'll put it in the queue, and maybe I'll get to it before I'm in the nursing home.

There were lots of crafty buildings too and most of them had foliage painted on them.

I liked this one with all of the palm trees......especially those growing out of the roof.... Have you ever noticed how resort areas always have plenty of props around town for tourist photo ops?I still like this one the best....of me and Lego Man at Disneyland.So I'd better fess up. Tomorrow Mr. Gadget and I will be leaving in the late afternoon on a 3-day party cruise. It was all his idea. When he called Carnival to inquire, there was one stateroom left and he grabbed it right up. So I'd better go crank up the washing machine and check the sunscreen supply. And maybe I can find my favorite party hat.

Hamming right along

After my morning walk.......during which I was sadly without my camera and could not snap a picture of what I can only describe as a curmudgeonmobile.....I decided I had plenty of time to root around in the pig project.

You can see how I patched it up with paper towels, foil and tape to create some body contouring. If I sound like I know what I'm doing, don't be fooled. I'm flying by the seat of my pants.

Next, I prepared the paper mache mixture. The box says it's fast mache, so I figured I wouldn't have much time to dilly-dally once I got to slathering it on and attempting to make something pig-like. Lunch time came and I told Mr. G to go ahead and eat without me, since I was elbow-deep in goo.

Slowly a pig body came into focus. A whimsical pig body. The more mache I added, the heavier it got, so I mounted it on a chicken broth can to take some of the load off. Now it needs a few days to dry, and then I'll try to remove some of his warts with fine sandpaper. He is earless for now. I'm still pondering that dilemma.

So while Mr. Gadget was eating his lunch and I was covered with goo, I happened to mention how concerned I am about where our civilized society seems to be headed.

Only in America would you see large numbers of people lined up, on the same day, outside buildings all over the land to: 1) attempt to get their money out of a failed bank, or 2) purchase the newest version of the IPhone.

And only in California would you see something like this.

Mr. Gadget and I are preparing to set sail for Catalina Island tomorrow morning. We're hopeful there will be no lines and no public indecency over there. We'll take our chances with the gangsters.

Hamming it up

I've decided to embark on my paper mache pig project....now that Mr. Gadget is satisfied with his new computer and has relinquished the packing materials.

I've had to improvise during the glue-drying process, to make sure the legs don't cave in. Mr. G would have used special clamps, levers and pulleys I'm sure, but I'm just a simple gal who loves nothing more than to scout around for my own kinda gadgety tools.....which work quite well, by the way. I haven't decided exactly what the next step will be, although I don't think it'll be ready for the mache right away. It might need some kind of filler material added--to get a nice plump pig. I certainly hope it resembles a pig when I'm done, but I'm not making any promises. It's all about whimsy here on this blog.

On Monday morning, Mr. G and I will be sailing a short ways across the sea to Catalina Island for an overnight stay. We're looking forward to it......well, except for this. It was on the front page of the newspaper this morning.

I do have fond memories of pre-gangster visits to Catalina. It's where my high school senior class went for Senior Ditch Day--a whole day of wearing Bermuda shorts and forgetting Trigonometry.

In those days, it took about two hours to get to the island on the big white steamship.

There was plenty of time to dance and cavort, and maybe flirt with a cute boy.....if the seas were calm and your stomach was cooperating. Now it takes just an hour to get to Catalina on a speedier boat with airplane seats and no dance floor. The old steamship isn't quite what she used to be. She hasn't aged gracefully.

Here she sits, barely recognizable, in the harbor at Ensenada, Mexico, providing a home for seals and a little adventure for scavengers.

So Mr. G and I will be heading out to Costco in a few minutes. He seems to think we need a nice, new carry-on bag for our mini-cruise. I tried to convince him that I have two Trader Joe shopping bags with sturdy handles that would work just fine, but he won't hear of it.....

The necessities

The other day, as I was walking my usual two circles around the condo complex, it struck me that there are only a few things in life that are true necessities.

Oh, and maybe a little food.

A place to rest.

Orderliness.

American Idol

Art

Wheels.

The rest is just frills, isn't it?

A few more birds

I've been taking a little break from craftiness this week, knitting in particular. The red pest continues to harass me with it's refusal to cooperate in the joining of the button bands. Seems to me it would have been easier to just knit the whole thing in one piece, rather than two pieces in need of joining....and then right away seeming intent on a divorce. So I'm having a short cooling-off period.

In the meantime, I've been using silliness as blog filler. I've been walking each day, around the condo complex, for exercise....and it's amazing what's out there in the neighborhood that deserves reporting. As I was walking this morning, more silliness occurred to me, so if you've had enough, just skip tomorrow's post altogether.

While working on my cleaning out the clutter project here in the condo, I came across some placemats I appliqued a while ago for dear ol' dad.

This is one of four. I made them during my machine-applique phase, which was soon after I purchased a new sewing machine that is now quite elderly--but continues, fortunately, to be recognized by the folks who service it. During that particular crafty phase, I made banners, and decorated sweatshirts, aprons, placemats, and tote bags. A doll-making friend noticed my creative frenzy, I mean my sewing efforts, and invited me to share a table with her at a craft fair. Well......customers new and old clamored for her dolls, and I sold one measly sweatshirt. That's when my doll-making phase began.

Remember the birds I made a couple of weeks ago?

I really intended to put legs on them, but couldn't quite get the hang of it. It may have been my choice of wire, or my ineptness with needle-nosed pliers. But the muse must have heard my frustration because just the other day I came across this. Isn't it cute? And such nice legs. I'm going to print out the directions and make some after I've returned to my treehouse fabric stash.

Thanks for the comments on uses for the roasting pan. My friend Claudia of lurkdom emailed and suggested I use it to make spaghetti sauce. She must think I'm Italian or something. I'm strictly a sauce-outta-the-jar gal. And other Marcia says there are fiber lovers everywhere who would clamor (have I over-used clamor yet?) for a pot like that to dye wool.

Mr. Gadget agreed that we should plug it in, and sure enough, it got hot. So maybe I'll keep it afterall. If I use it for nothing else, I could probably crank it up to 150 degrees or so and enjoy a nice foot soak....

Adoptive homes sought

Look what followed me home yesterday. I guess he must have known I have a soft spot for strays.

Good thing he was nice to the mail lady. I won't be keeping him though, since Mr. Gadget says he has to go, even though no pet-sitter would be needed when we leave for months at a time. Mr. G is all about me cleaning out clutter, which is what I've been up to the last couple of days. This is at the top of his nag list:

It's an old roaster oven that belonged to my grandmother. I'm having a hard time parting with it. I don't remember what she used it for, other than the Thanksgiving turkey. Mostly I remember it sitting on a table in her kitchen. She was into dressmaking and tailoring, and cooking not so much.She was quite the fashion plate in her day. Here she is, holding my mother....a mini-vision of fashion-platedness herself.

I have no idea if the roaster still works. I've been afraid to plug it in and see. The firemen have much more important things to do than to come to my house and put out a burning roasting pan. They might ask me some embarrassing questions, like "where's the chicken?"

If I was a gardening woman, I'd have a little fun like my relatives did when they installed a new toilet and planted the old one full of nasturtiums in their front yard. (Those things are hard to get rid of too.) I'd find a nice sunny spot and plant my roaster full of petunias. Or, I'd put it in the house on top of my other grandma's old sewing machine and fill it up with colorful fabric chickens.

And remember the sunflower? The one that stood proudly in defiance of the curmudgeonly rules? Well, I must be psychic. Here it is on Sunday.

And here it isn't on Monday.

Looks like a clean break to me, most likely a knife or some garden clippers. Mr. Gadget and I debated the possibilities over lunch today, and we both agree....this was definitely not the work of a barkrat....