Millinery

I've been working on a whole waggle of witches (waggle is to witches as gaggle is to geese...I'm pretty sure....) And because I don't want to be accused of overwitching I'm just going to show you a bunch of hats. Make that a haggle of hats. It's been a real scream decorating this year's crop. Old stale designs are easy to fall back on. It's much more difficult to come up with something new and hauntingly haute couture.

The purple flower looks a little like raffia, but it's really plastic--so durable for a witch who is reckless with her broom. I bought it in the big city when I was visiting Big City Girl.

This is one of my own designs. The stamens were store-bought at the same big-city place.

This is one of my own too, made from tulle I purchased at Joann's. Same stamens. The hatband and leaves (with embroidery) were made from wool felt.

Here's another plastic flower with the same orange tulle. I embroidered a spider on the collar. Those eyes might be just a little too beady. I was going for the maximum-scare effect.

Here's another flower design by moi. This witch is dressed-to-the-nines....well, except for the bunny slippers. I felt sorry for her. Those big-ol' witch boots gave her bunions. I love the button on her flower. Sometimes when I shop in the city with BCG I buy doo-dads with no plan in mind for how I'll use them. But it's great fun shopping for them, and they don't cost much. Plus, I don't need one of those big-city shopping bags to carry doo-dads home on the train.

I'll post pictures of the entire waggle soon. I'm thinking of having a bon voyage party for them before they ship out to the old hotel. Then I'll be ready to start my new Treehouse activity--oversantaclausing.

The alumni

One of the perks of being a member of the local senior center--and I really feel a little irreverent saying this--is that when another member "graduates" and moves on to join The Alumni Association, their family members, facing that monumental task of dispersing of the departed's worldly goods, often donate yarn and crafty things to the center.

And if these graduates had a real honest-to-goodness stash like I do, and their loved ones had to dig down through several archeological ages to unearth every last relic--all the better. These are the real treasures. If I were to graduate any time soon, poor Mr. Gadget would have to rent a semi.

Things are going well with the new writing group. Most of the people who came to the first meeting returned for the second. I think that's a good sign. It tickles me how people always tend to return to the same seats at these sorts of things. Maybe it's a carry-over from school days when we were all assigned seats so the teacher could keep chatty friends from sitting together, or to make attendance-taking easier. My mother-in-law, who attended church daily, always sat in the same spot in the same pew--and if someone else, God forbid, was sitting in her seat when she arrived, they were in for the glare. I wonder if she was just a creature of habit, or if she knew God was taking attendance. If the latter is true, I'm in big trouble.

So, I've decided to share my contest doll. The deadline is over, and I'm sure all of the submissions are now being reviewed. As I understand it, none of the dollmakers will be notified one way or the other if their creation has made the cut. It will either appear or not appear in the Spring 2012 issue of Art Doll Quarterly. I'm not sitting on pins and needles. It was a fun project and I enjoyed the process, and it was my first attempt at making a doll using a wire armature. I'll definitely do another.

Here's a close-up of his face. Vinny likes to cook, but he also likes the wine and occasionally takes a nip.

Here's Vinny in the early stages.

I hope he hasn't totally corrupted his shelf-mates at the magazine office. When I left him, his bottle was almost empty--but who knows? There may be an enabler in the crowd.

What's that buzzing sound?

I've been busy as a bee, buzzing and flitting and gadding about. I did get the kitchen floor vacuumed and mopped this morning. I had no choice really. It was crunching when I walked on it. I think little bits of everything fell off of my everything bagel. Maybe I should just buy plain ones....especially now that I'm so bee-busy and housework is such an inconvenient interruption.

I just finished painting a Halloween cat. He has 4 legs so he can stand on a shelf but only if he leans against something. I'll put a hook on his back so he'll also be able to hang around.

Here's the latest witch. The gluing-on of the hat and hair worked well. Not having to sew them on really saves time, and my arthritic finger is much happier. I'm not pleased with the cheeks but I'm probably stuck with these. I tried using one of those dabbers the stencilers use, but I think Q-tips and blush are still the best choice.

So the other day Mr. Gadget and I were sitting down having our lunch. We each make our own lunch--which is so important for saving a marriage during the retirement years. I usually have a sandwich, and he always has cereal--a mixture of two kinds--with fruit. Sometimes I have a salad or some leftovers, but Mr. G. always has cereal no matter what.

"I have something important to tell you," he said as we were about to sit down.

"Uh-oh," I said while bracing myself against the counter. "Is it good news or bad news?"

"It's neither really," he said. "But you might find it surprising."

"Ok, lay it on me."

"I'm thinking of changing one of my cereals," he told me with just a hint of sheepishness.

"No!" I exclaimed.

"Yep," he said. "I think I'll start having Cheerios with my Raisin Bran instead of Basic 4."

"You know, this is really going to shake up my grocery-shopping routine," I told him.

Living with Mr. Gadget reminds me of that line from Forest Gump. Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get, but it's pretty much always milk chocolate with a creamy nougat center.

Dizzy Knitter

This is my current knitting project--a scarf made with sock yarn. I was hoping to get a picture of it nicely draped to give you a sense of its true allure, but it can't be done. So you'll have to wait till I finish up that ball of yarn to see it in all its glory. Someone from my knitting group in California shared the pattern. It's super easy, but she didn't warn me to have Dramamine on hand. I'm making it with sock yarn I had in my stash. I'm pretty much over socks....or maybe I should say oversocked.

Yesterday was the first meeting of our new condo craft group. There were 7 of us--2 knitters, 1 crocheter, 1 photo-organizer, and 3 who just came to socialize. I'm not sure if it will take off, but we'll give it a few weeks.

During our conversation someone asked if anyone knew about the senior center in town and what kind of activities they offered. Various things were mentioned--cards, exercise, ceramics, knitting, etc. Then someone said, "Oh, I saw that they are going to have a life-story writing group starting up soon."

"Yes, and I'm going to lead it," I chimed in.

Well, they were all taken aback, as was I. Funny, eh? While I was at the senior knitting group on Wed. I checked to see if anyone had signed up, and so far I have 3 suckers...heh...heh....I'm sure we'll all have a lovely time, and I suppose I should think about putting a plan together for it.

This weekend will be a busy one. Big City Girl and Tech Guy are coming tonight. Tomorrow Mr. Gadget's older brother is coming to visit. He travels all the time, so I'm hoping he won't want to do any sightseeing. There's not much to see anyway. Well, I guess there's the old barn down the road and a couple of antique shops. I do happen to know there are football games on TV this weekend, and both men know how to operate the big-screen TV. I'll just plan to hang out in the Treehouse, but I'll leave my instructions for them just in case they forget something.....or drink too much wine.

The instructions

Here's the second of my two clay witches--now awaiting hair and other accountrements. She is also neckless, but alas! She has a chin. You'll have to look hard. She also has a mole on her nose. All witches should have moles. It says so in the instruction book.

And speaking of instruction books, the other day Mr. Gadget asked me if I'd like some instruction on how to operate the big-screen TV.

"After all," he said, "we've had it now for a couple of years and you might want to watch something when I'm not around."

So I went to get my blank notebook--the one I set aside and labeled How to Operate Things in the House for Dummies. Well, it wasn't totally blank. The first page has instructions on how to get into Mr. G's computer and retrieve all the important info in the event that he exercises himself to death.

"The first thing you should do is get some small stickers that you can write on," he said. "Label them #1, #2, and #3." Then he told me to stick them on the small remote, the silver remote, and the black remote respectively.

"Turn the TV on with #1, then the cable box with #2," he said. "But use the power button on the left, not the one on the right."

"You've got to be kidding!" I shouted. "Don't you think this is complicated?"

"No," he said.

"Tell you what," I told him in my most assertive voice. "If I kick the bucket before you do, I'll make things real simple for you. You don't even have to take notes. Just get a bulldozer."

Gout no doubt

I'm a gal who can walk and chew gum at the same time, but just barely. What I can't do is drive while telling you an interesting story. Neither can I add ingredients to a pot of stew and converse with Mr. Gadget simultaneously. And now I've discovered I'm not very good at writing blog posts while sewing and gluing and trying to remember to do the laundry. I always have good intentions. September promises to be a busy month, what with crafting in the Treehouse, the condo craft group starting up, and the senior center writing group that I've volunteered to lead. Maybe Mr. Gadget can do the laundry. I'd bribe him with another apple pie, but there's no time to bake.

Here's one of my witches-in-progress.


I'm trying something new with this one. Usually I sew the hair to the head (ouch!) and then sew the hat to the hairy head (double ouch!) This time I glued the hat to the bald head, and I'll glue the hair on just below the hat. I don't know how well it will work, but gluing is much easier than sewing with an arthritic finger....you know, that little finger problem I'm going to keep secret from my doctor when I go in for my physical later this month. You know, that doctor who finds reasons to send me to a variety pack of specialists all over town, thereby reducing my available crafting and blogging time even more.

I was going to put bunny slippers on this witch, but I've decided it wouldn't be nearly as whimsical as if I put them on one dressed to the nines in black evening wear. I'll be working on her next....if my finger holds out and my doctor doesn't call.

Hurricrafting

I'm happy to report no problems here from the hurricane. We were feeling rather smug all day Sunday, watching TV and playing with our appliances while many around us were losing power. But then, around 8:30, our comfy little world got dark and quiet. Mr.Gadget, who always plans ahead, had our gigantic supply of flashlights in good working order and strategically located around the condo. The power company's assessment, in the form of a generic recording, was that we could expect restoration on or before Saturday.

We both tried our best to settle in for the long haul, but by early Monday morning I was feeling the pangs of caffeine withdrawal. Mr. G, bless his heart, rescued me by firing up the grill and heating water for some tea and Taster's Choice. Around 10 a.m., as we sat in our recliners sipping hot beverages and wondering just how much Scrabble we could play, the power came back on.

The frightful weather was just the thing for working on frightful things....like a witch without a neck. Maybe I could learn how to scrunch down like she's doing to hide my neck. I'll bet the turkey feathers would tickle.

While pondering whether this poor witch could wear anything around her neck of a decorative nature, I started some new ornaments. This is just a trial run....wherein I just slap something together for later tweaking. That's not unlike my blog posts. My creative process is a mystery to me. No matter what I'm creating, the first version is usually one of those slapped-together thingies. Then, later, I go back and carve and delete and add a little here and there, and maybe throw in a pinch of salt. Then it's good to go. But of course, your opinion may differ.

These slapped-together Santas will require lots of tweaking. I may make them bigger. I will use a different shade of pink on their faces. I will give them eyebrows and maybe some nostrils. I will outfit them in red hats with a tiny bell on the tip.......unless I decide it's just easier to let them wear thimbles.

Preparedness

Mr. Gadget and I were all set to get outta town ahead of the hurricane, but then we decided to hunker down instead. I feel confident we're ready.

The deck chairs are safe and harmless inside the condo.

We've got batteries.

We've got a radio.

We've got yarn.

This should hold us for a week or so, don't you think?

Perusing

Today, while I've watched news about the approaching hurricane, I've been perusing my stock of doll fixins to see what I might be able to whip up for the old hotel craft show this fall. Whip up as in what can I make with a minimum of effort that will look well thought out, nicely color coordinated, and guaranteed to sell. I probably should have started earlier...

I have several witch hats awaiting accessorizing.

I have a nice stash of witch shoes.
Can't forget these.


I've got some interesting witch fabric. This one calls for a bone necklace.

The perusing is fun. So is making little piles of possibilities. And I definitely enjoy the character building. Soon I'll be throwing the factory switch to get things up and running.

So Tech Guy is coming over this evening to have dinner and do some laundry. I get the feeling he's not taking this hurricane business very seriously, and I have no intention of inviting him over to hang with us. The thought of two people in the house going through serious testosterone-laden electronic withdrawal is more than I want to experience. He can suffer through it in the privacy of his own apartment. But at least he'll have clean clothes.

Buffering

I'm back in the Treehouse and Mr. Gadget is back in his basement office, and we are luxuriating in our respective spaces--conveniently separated by the main-floor buffer zone. Somehow we always manage to leave the small, single-story two-bedroom Calcondo (sadly bufferless) just one day before I send Mr. G out on an extended hike. We get along famously for the most part, and I know I'm a lucky woman, but after several weeks of togetherness his nudginess begins to wear. The good thing about the Concondo is that when he shouts something up two flights, I just say, "What? I can't hear you. Let's talk at dinner."

The flight back was fine except for one small annoyance. No sooner had we sat ourselves down in seats 17A and B when the pilot announced we would be staying put for a while because of an earthquake on the east coast. Just to be safe, he said, the JFK control tower had been evacuated. An hour later we were in the air, which wasn't too bad all things considered.

So now that I'm back in the Treehouse, I've added my California strawberries to my Connecticut strawberries....
.....and my west-coast dishcloths to my east-coast ones....
....and the hearts are hangin' with the birds.

I may be making more of these in the days to come because we're expecting a hurricane. And no doubt the power will be out for a long time and I'll be forced to forego any kind of housework. I've never met a hurricane, although I was teased by one once. That was in south Texas. That's where they belong. Not here. We're blizzard people.

So if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why. I'll be here doing handwork by candle light and eating cold soup.....all the while trying to keep Mr. Gadget calm and reassured while he's in the throes of electronic withdrawal.

Scarfing it up

I finished the scarf I was knitting from the cotton boucle yarn I bought at the sidewalk sale. I was expecting the yarn to stripe, but it tweeded instead. I wanted it long enough to wrap a couple of times around my neck--thereby insuring that my turkey-like features would be well hidden. When all was said and done, it measured 74".

Mr. Gadget and I will be packing up soon for our return to the east. Incredibly, our departure date is one day before I was preparing to turn the whole place over to the ants. It's a little like when the kids were home from school for summer vacation. The day school started was always, miraculously, one day before I planned to put them up for adoption.

I have to say, we've made some progress in our war against the ants. Any kind of food, once opened, goes right into the fridge. And as soon as we're finished with a meal, I hop right up to clean and start the dishwasher. This is so against my nature. But the ants have driven me to it with their surprise attacks, devious tactics, and unwillingness to negotiate.

I'll have a lot on my agenda when I get back to Connecticut. There's the old hotel craft show to prepare for. I'm going to start up a ladies craft group at the condos and a writing group at the senior center. Then there's my physical. And I can't forget the dentist. And I should make an eye appointment because I know my doc will ask.....again.....if I've had them checked. Maybe it makes better sense just to stay here with the ants...

Doll delivery day

Yesterday Mr. Gadget chauffeured me 'n Vinny down the 405 to the Stampington magazine offices in Laguna Hills. Vinny, who finally told me his name and that I should never refer to him as Vincent, is the contest doll that has been stewing in my craft rooms for the last few months. While Vinny was in residence, it became quite clear that he's fond of vino. Good thing we didn't let him drive.

We arrived at the Stampington headquarters shortly after 10 a.m. and met with Jana, the managing editor of Art Doll Quarterly. She had graciously offered to give us a tour of their offices.
That's Jana on the left and me on the right.
She introduced us to many of the staff members--who were hard at work in their offices that all resembled the Treehouse when I'm in a creative frenzy. There were bits of this and that everywhere, stuff piled up on tables, thingies stuck to the wall, and even danglies on the doorknobs.
We peeked into the prop room. Putting a magazine together is a big production.

Before we left, I put Vinny on a shelf in the doll room. I suddenly felt a lot lighter knowing that someone else would be in charge of him for a while. He looked lonely, but soon he will have bunkmates. It reminded me of leaving a kid at summer camp. Thankfully, I didn't have to stay up till the wee hours labeling his clothes.

Saturday sniffles

Yep, I've got a cold. I guess I should feel grateful I didn't have it last weekend when we traveled up the Onion Highway for the big dessert, I mean seafood, buffet and the garlic and wine extravaganza. And it should be gone by the time we return to the Concondo in a little over a week. But still. A cold is a big annoyance.

I've been stitching more hearts. It's never too early to think about Valentine's Day. And speaking of that, this morning Mr. Gadget bought me a bouquet of flowers at the farmer's market....and then carried them all the way to the car. I offered to carry them...figuring he might feel a little silly. But he said no, that he was sufficiently secure in his manhood. I'm not sure, but he may have assumed he'd get some nice-guy points on the blog.

I finally finished the contest doll--thanks to Mr. Gadget and his gadgety goodness. His clamps held the hands in place on the glass bottle so I didn't have to stay up all night doing the same.

All appears to be secure now, and I've made arrangements to deliver the doll on Wednesday to the people who will judge. Mr. Gadget deserves some recognition for his engineering expertise. In addition to his clamping skills, he offered advice on how to prevent the entire assemblage from toppling over. I suppose I should make him an apple pie....and I'd better get some ice cream to go with it....considering the floral gift and all.

So now I must go and find some tissues and cough drops. Bah....humbug!

Mystery solved

I've always wondered where onions come from. Now I know.

The funny thing about following an onion truck is that before you see it you'd swear it was snowing....and not one of those light snows either. It's the heavy stuff. But then you notice the outside thermometer on your car says 92 degrees and there's just no way it could be snow. And for a few minutes you're mystified....until you pass the truck....and then you realize it's onions and you're digging through your purse to find some tissues to dry your tears.

Our weekend in NoCal was fun and very relaxing. We did a lot of eating, which is pretty much standard operating procedure when you've married into an Italian family. Friday night we attended a big whoop-de-doo seafood buffet--overlooking San Francisco bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. We couldn't see the bridge because of the fog, so we enjoyed the view of the entire span of the dessert table instead. On Saturday we partook of a picnic lunch, followed by a grilled steak dinner at the home of Mr. Gadget's youngest brother. He's quite the cook and subscribes to the culinary theory that garlic and wine improve any meal, and the more of each the better.

I hereby proclaim that the contest doll will be finished by the weekend. I'm getting tired of fiddling with it. I'm almost certain I've come up with a solution for the glue problem. Mr. Gadget--who lived up to his name today--purchased some small clamps at Home Depot so I can glue it, clamp it, and find something more interesting to do than sit and hold it together while it dries.

And speaking of interesting things to do, this afternoon I made some guacamole for Mr. Gadget. He's a big fan of guac (that's what I call it when I'm in Cali). I don't actually have a recipe. I just throw stuff in the food processor. Three ripe avocados, about 3/4 of a can of tomatoes with jalapenos (Del Monte I think), chopped garlic, lemon juice, chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, salt and plenty of pepper. I usually add some hot sauce to kick it up a notch or two.

Do you know what the best thing is about making Mr. G a big bowl of guac? He usually calls it dinner...

Only in Cali

So yesterday I was on my way to see my west-coast hairdresser for a west-coast haircut when I stopped for a red light. In my rear-view mirror I noticed the lady in the car behind me brushing her teeth....and I figured she must be doing a dry brush. Unless she had a bottle of water and a bucket in the passenger seat.Tomorrow Mr. Gadget and I are planning to drive to northern California to visit two of his brothers.
I'm sure there will be plenty of festiveness, lots of harking back to the old days, and maybe a little wine.
We'll be sure to brush our teeth before we leave.

Get the Raid!

Mr. Gadget and I took another walk on Saturday morning along the same wide, tree-lined sidewalk as last week. There were no surprise yarn sales this time but there was a menacing swarm of killer bees.It's my job to come up with new and different walking routes around the neighborhood. Today we took the clock walk--so named because one of the houses along the way has a large clock tower in the front yard. Maybe Cinderella lives there.

There are some beautiful gardens along the clock walk. It's easy to identify the homeowners who love to garden. They really deserve some recognition for their hard work and willingness to live with dirty fingernails and sore knees. I definitely think some prizes are in order.
Here's the latest on the contest doll project. The glue that's supposed to affix almost anything to almost anything else didn't live up to its promises. I was about to deem the project a disaster and throw it in the dumpster, but then I reconsidered and sent it back to the drawing board. With a little finagling and some input from Mr. Gadget with his physics skills, it might survive. Who knew it would come to matters of volume and mass and quantum theory? Another big challenge has been remembering to move it off the dining room table before dinner so it doesn't get splashed with spaghetti sauce. Although I suppose it would provide an interesting design element...

Gastropods

Here at the Calcondo,

in addition to ants,

we have snails.

When Tech Guy was a little guy--

and before the tech part--

he found them fascinating.

He took some home to Connecticut

to keep as pets.

But they were slightly out of their element,

and they didn't care much for cat food.

Or snow.

So whenever I see a snail crossing a sidewalk

or climbing up a wall,

I take a picture and email it to Tech Guy--

for old time's sake.

Remember my old friend, Sara Dipity?

I ran into her again.

It was just after I photographed the snail.

I had stopped at the craft store for embroidery thread,

and I found a book with a pattern for this:

A stuffed fabric snail.

I'm going to make one--

right after I get my gazillion other projects finished.

The book is Crafting Tilda's Friends

by Tone Finnanger.

I think I'll name him Snail Male.

Will exercise for yarn

Yesterday Mr. Gadget and I took a walk around the neighborhood as we often do when we're at the Calcondo. There are lots of good places to walk with a minimum of hills....which is my kind of walk. We took a new route this time and set off down a street with wide sidewalks, lots of shade trees, and big expensive condo developments on both sides.

We were just a short ways down the street when something caught my eye and I slowed to a stop.

"What's that up ahead?" I asked Mr. G. "Is that a mirage?"

"We must check this out," I told him in no uncertain terms.

"Would you like me to take your picture by the sign?" he asked. Somehow, Mr. G. has gotten the mistaken impression that I like having my picture taken. I kept my camera safely in my pocket until the next photo op.

We were making progress.

Once inside the small garage that was part of a collection of commercial buildings that clearly seemed out of place among the condos, I discovered a lady surrounded by tables full of yarn, all marked down 50 and 60%.

I bought some festive hand-dyed cotton boucle. I had no choice really. When the yarn gods accost you on the sidewalk during a pleasant Saturday morning walk, there's no alternative.

After we returned home, I made sure Mr. G was comfortably settled on the couch with a beer and a car show on TV, and I returned to the sale for some leisurely shopping, you know, the kind you can only do without a man-in-tow.
This time I had doll embellishments in mind. As I was checking out, the lady told me she'd be there again in a couple of weeks with more and different yarn. I'm sorry I'll have to miss it. We'll be driving north that weekend. I guess it's just as well. Mr. G graciously offers me crafty space in his suitcase, and it's likely he might be considering charging me rent.

AWOL

I'm a bad blogger. I've been playing hooky. Although I did do a blog post a few days ago....only to have half of it deleted before I could publish. In an attempt to fix the wonky spacing issue, I ventured into the land of HTML. I should never have crossed its borders. I don't even have a passport to go there.

I've been very busy during my hookiness. My first priority has been to finish the contest doll so I can deliver it in a timely manner to the people who will judge. Here's a little more info about the contest. It's not really a contest. Art Doll Quarterly magazine has issued a challenge to its readers to create a doll using a bottle, and all entries deemed worthy will be published in the Spring 2012 issue.

I brought my doll along with me to California because the PWWJ are located not too far from the Calcondo and saving the one-way mailing fee seemed like a good idea. I emailed the folks at the magazine to see if they were agreeable to my hand-delivering the doll and they responded that yes, that would certainly be fine, and if schedules permitted someone would give me a tour of their offices. This sounded like a fine offer because these are the people who produce all of the Somerset magazines and I can only imagine the amazing craftiness that is housed there.

My bottle-doll creation is more of an assembly than just a doll. It has some parts that need to be affixed with glue--the proper kind of glue for non-failing stickability. I've selected tomorrow as gluing day and I've instructed Mr. Gadget to have Margueritas at-the-ready in case there's a disaster.

Here is one of the assembly components.


It's a carrot. I don't know if you've ever tried to paint a carrot, but it's not easy. It must be done in stages because there's no way to hang it up to dry.

And while I wait for the paint to dry I've been cutting out felt hearts. I still had red felt left over from the ladybug project and the recent strawberry harvest. I'm probably going a little overboard on all the crafty projects lately, but I gotta say......I've hardly noticed the ants.

The birthday edition

It's party time here at the Calcondo. Just Mr. Gadget, the ants and me celebrating my birthday. The day's festivities got off to a rousing start with a breakfast burrito at Denny's. Later, we'll go to our favorite sushi restaurant where between 5 and 6 p.m. they have half-price rolls. I'm a cheap date.

Actually, I won't officially be a year older till later this evening. I was hopeful that maybe the clock would go backwards just this once and I would no longer be a senior citizen, but that's not happening and I'm plodding one year further into elderhood.

So have you heard about Carmageddon? Most certainly if you live on the west coast--especially around the L.A. area. Those highway people are closing the 405 freeway (between west L.A. and the San Fernando valley) for the weekend for bridge work. This is one of the most-traveled freeways in the country, so it's bound to be a real cartastrophe. JetBlue will be helping out with $4 flights ($5 for extra leg room) from Long Beach to Burbank--flight time 20 minutes. All seats have now sold out. Mr. Gadget and I plan to stay put and enjoy the action on TV from the comfort of our sofa.

I'm still working on my contest doll, although mostly I've been brainstorming on how to finish it. I decided to change a couple of things--to add more whimsy. In the meantime I've been doing some crochet.

This is a miniature version of the pattern I used for the felted flowers. I couldn't find a good green thread for the leaves, so I crocheted them out of off-white and painted them. I added a few beads and sewed them to a small barrette backing. I might also use them for doll embellishments. Grandma would be proud to see how well I navigate with my tiny metal crochet hook.

So now I'm thinking I should do a little preparing for Carmageddon. I'll pack in some bottled water, a few blankets and a kerosene lamp....just in case. And a few Twinkies.

Garden magic

Was I ever surprised when I went outside this morning and discovered strawberries growing on my fig tree. Maybe with some luck, or a little green-thumb magic, I'll be able to get my sad little lemon tree to produce avocados. Or better yet, twenty-dollar bills.

There's not much new here at the Calcondo. Mr. Gadget and I went for a long walk on the beach yesterday morning. That's one of those favorite activities of dating couples.......long, romantic walks on the beach. Mr. G and I remember those days. Yesterday, when we got back to the car I was sweaty and had a strained big toe. So much for romance.

I've been having trouble getting my blogging mojo going. Maybe it's the feng shui. Maybe it's the misalignment of my planets. Or maybe it's because I'm a right-handed person trying to function on the left coast. Whatever the matter is, I'm sure it will all be resolved soon. Maybe I'll try some stewed prunes.

Cali-craftiness

Mr. Gadget and I arrived at the Calcondo on Sunday and have been settling in. He's been checking out the electronic gadgets to make sure they're all up and running, and I've been recuperating from jet lag. It's a tough job.

Soon after arriving we took a walk around the complex to stretch our legs and see what's new, and I found this bit of craftiness parked at the curb. So clever, don't you think? My grandma could have crocheted this in a jiffy with her eyes closed. Not me. I'd need a pattern and plenty of tutoring.

Another thing we like to do is catch up on the condo news. This is done by collecting 4 months worth of weekly newsletters from the floor in front of the front-door mail slot and putting them in date order. We hate to get ahead of ourselves. We're always amused by the antics of the folks who runs our homeowners association.

These folks are much like a pot of homemade soup. You throw all of the ingredients in the pot, heat it and stir it for a while, and then put it in the fridge for a cooling off period after which you use your skimming tool to remove most of the top layer--the one that causes clogged arteries and high blood pressure. I find this recipe very unappealing. Maybe I'll donate my soup pot to the thrift shop just to be safe.

One newsletter tidbit that did catch my eye was the notice for a newly-formed knit and crochet group. This sounds more like my cup o' tea. Maybe someone there will have the pattern for the crocheted seat cover. I wonder if it could be tweaked to fit my beach chair?