New Buddy

Meet Dixie, my new Dyson. I'm not in the habit of naming appliances...well, except for Carol the cute little GPS and that was really BCG's doing......but somehow this one just seems like a Dixie. Her predecessor, who was nameless, fell into disrepair very conveniently right around Dump Day. Mr. G carted her off without me, since I was in Plymouth, which was just as well. I don't do good-byes well.

And speaking of Plymouth, I've made a little progress on the Plymouth sweater. I'm doing it on circular needles, just as I did the elderberry, since they're so much more compact and friend-friendly than the long straight ones. If I decide to take this project along for airplane knitting, I won't be poking my seatmate...which in all likelihood will be Mr. Gadget.

I will not be taking this one along all the way to China. I'm thinking instead of a small piece of embroidery for my ongoing Christmas tree skirt project. Everything I need will fit in a small sandwich bag I'm pretty sure.

Here's another one of my buddies. He comes around pretty regularly looking for a handout. I thought it might be nice to give him a chair so he wouldn't have to eat right off the ground.

Maybe he should really have a table with a little placemat and some utensils too, although I don't want to spoil him. Pretty soon he'd be bringing all of his buddies and then I'd have to call a caterer.

And still more on buddies, I'm making a fabric contribution to my friend Jane who is working on a sewing project with a group that supports dogs for the visually impaired.

They make and sell those neck bandana thingies for dogs, with the proceeds going to the training and care of the guide dogs. It's a very worthy cause, and it makes me feel good to see Jane so excited about being part of it. Even if I am a cat person....heh...heh....

So I guess that's about it for today. I have to get crackin' on a couple of witch dolls I promised for this weekend. I've been experimenting with some fabric paint to see if I can tint the witch skin a sort of pastel yet ghastly shade of green. It should work out fine as long as I don't get any in the pasta......

Birthday memories

Today is my sister's birthday. Sadly, she isn't here to celebrate with us. In 1975 she was killed by a drunk driver just before she turned 25. Not only was she a special sister, she was also a very talented artist. This is a self-portrait.

I've always been sorry that Tech Guy and Big City Girl never got to meet her. But it's amazing how much of her I see in BCG when she sits down at the table to draw--long brown hair hanging down, familiar hands, legs crossed. And Tech Guy's cartoons have so much of her style. Chalk it up to genetics I guess....

I was always the dependable kid--the one who followed the rules. My sister was the rebel. She embraced the hippy lifestyle of the 60's and always accused me of being too wholesome. In fact, she used to tell me I was just as wholesome as Wonder Bread. I hated that. I really wanted to be just a little bit like her. She tried on several occasions to lure me over to her world on the edge, but it never took.

I remember the night before her 18th birthday, I invited some friends over and we filled up her VW bug with balloons. Then I peeked out the window the next morning as she was leaving for school. That was about as outrageous as I ever got.

Our folks and I always looked forward to our birthdays because we would usually receive one of her very special handmade cards. Here's one of my favorites:

So tonight Mr. Gadget and I will go out for a sushi dinner, and we'll offer up a little toast--he with Japanese beer and me with Diet Coke. Happy birthday little sis! Give mom and dad a big hug for me. And don't be takin' 'em to any heavenly tattoo parlors!

Spec....tacular!

It was truly an amazing day yesterday. Mr. Gadget, who could just as easily be called Mr. "No-Good-Ever-Comes-From-Change," stepped out of his comfort zone and bought some new state-of-the-art glasses. The lady in the optometrist's office couldn't stop gushing about how handsome he looked in these new specs. As for me, well, I find it hard to even notice he's wearing glasses. They're quite different from his old ones which are now, apparently, very outdated.

I'm glad I don't feel the need to update mine. I only need glasses for reading and toe-nail clipping and things like that. I've managed to amass a collection of glasses from Costco and distribute them all over the house.

They satisfy my eyeglass needs very nicely.....unless I've forgotten where I've put them. I did buy one of those chain thingies a few months ago, but haven't gotten around to actually putting a pair of glasses on it yet. All things in good time.

And while we're on the subject of fruit, I thought I'd share some pictures of some interesting fruit we observed on a cruise to Mexico. The food people onboard are always playing with food and then having a show-and-tell. Here is a collection of watermelons:

And speaking of playing with food, Tech Guy....when he was a younger version living at home...used to carve pictures in his American cheese whenever I'd make him a cheese sandwich. They were often quite intricate, and I would have taken pictures if I had known that the blog was in my future.

And speaking of cheese, it was the subject of one of Mr. Gadget's and my early dating conversations. In fact, I'm surprised he married me after I, very innocently, insulted him one evening by asking him if he knew what a cheese ball was.

So I guess now I should go cut up that cantaloupe before it starts wearing hats or jewelry or something. Hmmmm......where did I leave my glasses?

A haunting good time

I'm back, unscathed, from Plymouth and alive to tell the tale. But I have to say I'm fairly certain there are still a few pilgrims lurking around up there.

The adventure began on Friday evening, when eight women in two cars converged on Plymouth. We checked into the motel, and quickly headed off to dinner. I was pretty sure we would be a congenial group when the check was divided up in less than five minutes with a minimum of wimpering and calculating.

Saturday morning had been designated as "do-your-own-thing" time, so I walked around town, where I happened upon a yarn store. Imagine that. The shop ladies were very accommodating, and encouraged me to try on a lovely cardigan I had been admiring. I figured I'd buy the pattern and do the actual yarn-buying later, but it seems the pattern was only available with a yarn purchase.....so I picked out a nice Peruvian 100% wool in denim blue. At least I had my souvenir-buying out of the way, although I was very tempted by the pilgrim refrigerator magnets and the Mayflower salt and pepper shakers.

You may remember that the anticipated (?) highlight of our weekend was the ghost tour we had planned for Saturday evening, so at 7 p.m. we gathered in front of Plymouth Rock to meet Jan, our guide. She had conveniently parked her hearse nearby, so we had no problem finding her.

Jan gave us a short preview of the evening plans, and encouraged us to take lots of pictures because ghostly evidence often shows up on film or digital photography. She said we might end up capturing some orbs, or even some apparitions. And she mentioned that Shadow Man (possibly a ghostly curmudgeon) and Hannah might very well be lurking in the cemetery up on the hill. The story goes that Hannah is still looking for her husband who never returned from the sea. Her tombstone says she died of languishing.

Soon we set off in the direction of Burial Hill, with stops along the way so Jan could relate a tale or two about various hauntings. We trekked up North Street, where just about every old house is haunted according to her. Seems that ghosts don't like change, so when someone moves in and decides to renovate, all hell breaks loose. I guess they've been known to argue, slam doors and even move stuff around.

By the time we got to the cemetery, I'll admit I was starting to shake in my boots. It was dark and spooky, and some of the girls were beginning to see things on their cameras. Maybe I was just a little sorry I wasn't home with Mr. G. watching a Yankee game. I did end up with lots of orb photos though. Here's the brightest one of the bunch. It showed up on one of the old houses on North St. Maybe I should warn the new owners not to do too much tampering......

Now I'm wondering if there are orbs everywhere. Maybe even in my own house. Maybe I'll conduct a little experiment. Then again, maybe I should just get back to my regular daylight activities.

The tour concluded with a special visit to the Taylor-Trask Museum, purported to be one of Plymouth's most haunted places. It is best known for a pram that travels around the house by itself. Well, not really. The ghost of a young girl pushes it--sometimes up against the front door so visitors find it difficult to enter.

And there's an old typewriter that types by itself and an antique organ that plays without an organist. There's a saw displayed on an end table that was used to amputate the leg of a sea captain, and sometimes his screams can be heard coming from the second floor.

The ghosts were quiet for our visit which didn't disappoint me very much. When I got back to my motel room I fell asleep fairly quickly. Maybe it was all the walking, or maybe it was the last inning of yet another unexciting Yankee game I was watching on TV. Did I mention they're in the cellar? And you never know what sorts of ghostly, I mean ghastly, things could happen down there.......

No-Doll zones

Well, unfortunately, my latest Red Hat Lady didn't sell on eBay. And, unfortunately, I don't have someone waiting in the wings to scoop her up as I did with Lorraine. So she will join the other characters in the treehouse for now, and I'm sure she'll be stirring up trouble in no time. And speaking of that, just last week I read in our local newspaper of a Red Hat group in another Connecticut town that was banned from the Memorial Day parade. Seems they were too disruptive last year. I'm figuring the city fathers are just a big ol' bunch of curmudgeons.

I'm really pretty lucky that Mr. Gadget doesn't mind having my dolls around the house. He isn't without his limits though, so I've learned to respect certain no-doll zones.

For instance, Mr. G. wouldn't want to see something like this sleeping in his bed.

And he'd be pretty upset if he found one of my characters anywhere near his car.

And god forbid that one of them was sitting in his chair playing with his gadgets:

But even worse than that would be if he went to the cupboard and found it empty because a certain someone had been doing this:

So, tomorrow is another Dump Day here in our town and we have a never-ending supply of dumpables at our house. Since I'll be in Plymouth looking for ghosts, I'll have to miss it, but Mr. G. assures me he can handle the trip by himself. For his sake, I hope there isn't a line.

Any guesses?

Any guesses as to what kind of character I'm going to make next? This footwear is actually a nice bright sparkly purple, but not to worry. It won't be making an appearance on eBay. Here's another hint:

Yep, I'm sure the eyes gave it away. I've been asked to make a couple of witches for a special sale to take place at the senior shop where I occasionally sell stuff. Why yes, it is too early to be thinking about Halloween, but there are a few folks who like to stock up before the rush. Do you see the green hair? I think she's going to be a real babe.

Once in a while I make other kinds of dolls. Here's a Raggedy Ann I made a while back. She's been sitting around for a long time waiting for just the right ensemble.

You can also see that my dollmaking skills are far from perfect. Everything that gets covered with clothing can be slapped together any old way. Big uneven stitches are fine for attaching the arms to the body since they won't show on the finished doll. And a body that's a little lopsided can be easily hidden with just the right outfit. I've mostly found that works fairly well for me too.

Ladybug Lorraine didn't sell on eBay, but she has found a good home in spite of it. During the week she was up for bidding, I exchanged a few emails with a friend of mine in California. She has a granddaughter for whom she loves to buy things, and it seems that she's been doing some birthday gift shopping. She mentioned that she had found a cute rolling suitcase and matching backpack with ladybugs on them, since the little girl (soon to be 4) is a big ladybug fan. Well. I told her about the ladybug doll and she immediately wrote back to say that, if Lorraine didn't sell, she would buy her. So Lorraine is going west with me when I make my next trip out in late May. I like to think it was meant to be.

So now I must get ready for my big spooky weekend in Plymouth. That means I will pack a few things in a small bag, gather some reading material, make sure my camera batteries are all charged up, and prepare some food for the boys at home. I'm really gonna miss them........

Accidental gardener

I'm not what you'd call a gardener. But sometimes flowers grow in spite of me. Yesterday I noticed this small dot of purple in the middle of the backyard. I do believe it's a crocus, but I have no idea how it got there. It wasn't my doing. The only flowers I've had any success with are this variety:

I will mention that I'm listening to a very nice CD as I type called "Acoustic Garden." Maybe it will inspire me to plant something....or better yet, embroider something. No gardening gloves or fertilizer required.

It's just a real nasty day in the northeast, with rain and wind and all sorts of goodness. And even though it's Spring, some folks are saying, "Thank goodness it's not snow or we'd be having a blizzard." According to the newspaper, just such a thing happened 25 years ago on this date.

So my neighbor across the street.....the one who is a gardener in the true sense of the word, and you can probably tell just which house is hers......sent me an email this morning. By the way, I think emailing your neighbors is similar to the good old days when neighbors used to talk across the back fence. It's the new modern version of neighborliness. Anyway, she wanted to report her excitement at seeing a bluebird in her yard. Just last weekend she and her hubby erected a bluebird house. Apparently, bluebirds like to nest in certain kinds of places, and a special house is their favorite. It's placed on a pole about 4 feet off the ground, and once a bluebird couple moves in and the female lays eggs, you can actually go out there and take a peek. They don't seem to mind.

I emailed back to tell her how excited I was too, and ask her to please keep me posted. I also mentioned that we were just having the usual birds around our house, but that two wild turkeys walked through our front yard yesterday morning headed for her place. To which she replied that yes, she had seen them, and one of the neighborhood dogs chased them up a tree.

I'm sure life can't get any more interesting than this. Well, I guess the buzzard couple could come back for a visit......

Perky Pincushion

Here are the results of the total body lift I gave my pincushion. I'm very pleased. It's amazing what a little collagen, botox and fiberfill will do. And while I had my forceps out (so handy for dollmaking) I also performed a little surgery. Seems the pincushion had swallowed most of my needles over the years.

I now have a lifetime supply of dollmaking, beading, embroidery, and all-purpose needles. I don't know how long ago I made this pincushion. I'm thinking it's been about 20 years. I do believe it will serve me for another 20 now, and maybe I can pass it on to BCG or TG.....whichever one follows in my crafty footsteps. Maybe it will be TG. When he saw the pincushion make-over, he said something like, "Oh, that's awesome!" Mr. Gadget, on the other hand, who might not even know which end of a needle to thread, said, "Do you think it might be time to look for a job?"

I now have two dolls up on eBay. Yesterday I decided to add my latest Red Hat Lady.

Unfortunately certain purples don't photograph well. After doing some editing, I was able to get the purple pretty close to the actual color, but the reds washed out. However, I think I came up with a brilliant solution for future red hat dolls. Since I have a nice selection of purple fabrics on hand, I'll photograph the fabric before I cut out a doll with eBay in mind. This doll looks much better in person, so she would be a good candidate for a craft fair sale.

So our long-time neighbors moved south yesterday to find warmer climates and less snow. They've had their house up for sale for about a month, but so far no takers. They don't seem too worried though because they've buried a statue of St. Joseph in their front yard. Well, I had no idea about this tradition, but they informed Mr. G and I that St. Joseph is the patron saint of real estate....or something like that....and this particular statue has a good track record. Apparently it has made the rounds. Here's the whole story if you're interested, and here's where you can order your own house-selling kit. Now I'm wondering if there are other saints for other issues. I have issues. And I also have a very big front yard.......

Elderberry

The elderberry sweater is all done, but not without a couple of issues. I'm happy with the fit, but not happy with the sleeves that got too long in the washing process. Yes, maybe I should have measured them when I spread it out on the floor to dry. For now they are roll-up sleeves. And then there is that crease at the bottom that forms when I sit. I wasn't expecting that. But it's very comfy and I'm generally happy with it. I'm sure a second washing with more attention given to the laying-out-for-drying process will help the sleeve issue. I am very happy with the neck edging--thank's to the other Marcia who suggested a reverse single crochet stitch. That's what I did all around the dustmop sweater for BCG, so I knew right away it would be a good solution for the neckline dilemma.

I did put ladybug Lorraine up on eBay today. I'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, I've cut out some witch dolls. Make that witch clothing; no body parts yet. I was only going to make a couple, but then I discovered some fun witch fabrics I bought a while back and I had sort of a cutting frenzy.

Then I remembered some mohair locks I picked up at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival last October with witch hair in mind. I'll make sure I work in good light so I don't mistakenly apply this under one of those red hats...heh....heh....

Then, of course, there is my boa collection. It's always nice for a gal to have a good selection of accessories to choose from when she's about to fly out the door.

And don't you just love a good before and after picture? I'm almost reluctant to show you all my sad little pincushion. It's one I made many, many years ago when I was into my needlepoint phase. You can't actually see the needlepoint, but be patient......

I'm going to give it a make-over. But don't expect anything like a Jenny Craig kind of thing. I'll be doing some plumping up. It could probably use a few collagen treatments and maybe a little botox. In a few days it should be looking much more sturdy, shall we say.....

And on that note, I'm going to get my walking shoes on and get out in the great outdoors. I'd walk on the treadmill, but Mr. G. has just finished his one-hour workout on it, and I'm thinking I might enjoy some fresh air.....

Easter April Fools

Since Tech Guy is living here with us now, I decided it might be nice to prepare a little Easter basket for him. Well, of course I will tell him it's from the Easter Bunny, but he'll probably figure out that it's not really....especially when he tries to bite into one of these candy treats and finds out it's not a food product. Heh...heh..... I think he'll forgive me, though, when he finds out there is peanut butter crunch ice cream in the freezer.

And speaking of Tech Guy, he came up with a great idea for the ladybug wing embellishment challenge.

She's all finished now except for my signing and dating her. I resisted that step for a long time until my artsy craftsy friends insisted that it was an important part of my creation and I darn well better do it. I usually sign the dolls on the back of the head, or somewhere where it's fairly well hidden. In the case of Lorraine, I'll see if I can sign on the back of her wing. I'm glad she has a friend now. It's always nice to fly off into the world with a buddy.

While I was looking for just the right shade of embroidery thread for the flight path of little buddy, I remembered that I haven't been very organized, although my disorganization is very colorful I think.

I used to do cross stitch embroidery and it's probably not hard to understand why I usually had to buy new thread. I'll be much better organized in my next life.

So the elderberry sweater is stretched out on the living room floor drying on several towels after a nice bath. The weather is still cold here in New England, so I'm hoping it will dry before summer sets in and I have to put it away without a test run. In the meantime, I've picked up the yarn and needles for the second sock of a striped pair I started some time ago. No Second Sock Syndrome here, but there will definitely be Summer Sock Storage.

Travels

Here is a preview of ladybug Lorraine, still in progress. I'm happy with the ready-made polka dots. I did find some fabric for her wings and they are done, but not yet attached. I'm trying to decide on some sort of bead embellishment.....and hoping I have just the right ones on hand. Yesterday, when I swung by the fabric store for just a couple of things, I ended up buying fabric for more dolls.

Now that the crafty stuff is out of the way, I can move on to the travel suspense. No.....trip #1 is not a trip to the gastro doc for a colonoscopy. It's not even a trip to the endo guy for a root canal. This is much scarier. I'll be accompanying some friends to Plymouth, Massachusetts for a weekend that will include some shopping, some eating, some museum visits, and this. The friend who has planned this spooky little adventure has also arranged a special visit for our group to the Taylor-Trask Museum where a baby carriage has been known to travel from room to room. And there have also been reports of close encounters with spirits. I'll give a full blog report......that is, if I live through it.

Trip #2 will take place in June, and should not be as scary. Unless, of course, Mr. G and I end up at one of those authentic restaurants with delicacies of unknown origin. I've already got a prescription, just in case.

So right after I did the post on our pleasant weekend trip to the dump (yes, I know....our travel itineraries are quite varied), I remembered a funny story about Dear O' Dad. Back in his healthier days, when he was living in the condo, he decided to get rid of an old sleeper sofa. Since Frugal was his middle name, he didn't want to pay someone to haul it away, and he certainly didn't want to anger the curmudgeons by putting it out on the curb. I didn't learn about this till much later, but it seems he took it apart piece-by-piece, bagged the pieces up, and put them in the dumpster one-at-a-time over many weeks.

Here in Connecticut, people have been known to dispose of unwanted furniture this way too, or even undesirable spouses. Sometimes they've even been known to rent woodchippers. In fact, it's not unusual for women I know to plan a little out-of-state trip somewhere when Spring arrives and their husbands gets a hankerin' to do a little yard clean-up. Good thing Mr. G isn't that ambitious.......

It's always something!

So yesterday, when I was already downtown visiting the library, I decided I might as well visit the party store where I buy styrofoam cups for the family's traveling coffee needs. Well.....it seems that the makers of these cups would be well advised to take some direction from our efficient city workers. Now I must go back to the party store and exchange the lids for the 16-oz. variety......or the cups for the 15-7/8 oz. ones. The only reason I'm not totally ticked off about this is that there's a yarn store nearby.....heh....heh....

And speaking of yarn, tomorrow is Mr. Gadget and my 26th wedding anniversary, and I've already told him that I'm sure it's not a year for gold or silver or platinum....or anything like that. I'm pretty sure it's yarn. So maybe I'll plan my trek for the return of the styrofoam tomorrow so I can swing by the yarn store for a little anniversary present. After all, I'll be doing Mr. G a favor by taking that "husband gift dilemma" challenge right off of his shoulders.....

So today I got right down to business and redesigned the red hat pattern. I'm thinking of starting a new company called Patterns for Dummies. I plan to be my biggest customer. I love the purple dragonfly fabric too. There will definitely be a red hat lady made from this piece somewhere down the line. Let's see....I think I remember where I put the pattern.

The ladybug......she's Lorraine by the way.....is coming along nicely. I'm not sure what I'll use for the wings, but I think some shade of yellow would work well. I might have to stop by the fabric store on the way back from the yarn store tomorrow to find just the right yellow.....

In my next post, I'll tell you about a couple of exciting trips I've got coming up. Trip #1 is at the end of this month and not too far from home. Trip #2 is to a far-away place. There is a very good chance that I might die of fright on Trip #1, which really makes me wish these excursions were the other way around.

Stay tuned for more details.......

Ladybugs

So today I'm working on a ladybug doll. You may remember the first one I made and the unsuccessful search I undertook to find ladybug fabric. I finally ended up sponge painting the spots on plain red fabric.

It was right after I finished her......not more than 5 minutes I'm pretty sure.....that all the local fabric stores starting carrying ladybug fabric. Good thing I bought some and put it away in my stash because now I find that there will soon be ladybugs in the garden and I like to be known as a crafter for all seasons.

Luella the Red Hat lady sold on eBay yesterday and will soon be flitting off to Colorado for lots of Rocky Mountain fun. I do have another Red Hat lady underway, but I'm not happy with her hat, so I'll be doing some re-hatting......again. I would not have this problem if I was smart and used the same hat pattern each time, but I'm not nearly that organized. I just assume any paper circle sitting on my sewing table is a red hat pattern, and it isn't always. I think I've come up with a good solution to this dilemma though. I'll make a hat pattern out of RED construction paper and that way there'll never again be any doubt.

So the trip to the dump on Saturday was actually very pleasant, as those things go.

There was no line, so no need for me to entertain Mr. G with funny jokes. Good thing too, since I didn't have any....There were plenty of cheerful workers, and they took the chair out of the car for us, so no bandaids were necessary. Mr. G and I were so taken aback by this efficient display of city government at work, that we can hardly wait for the next dump date when we can get rid of recliner #2.....which is now causing Mr. G to get agitated and even curse.

And for my final blog tidbit for today, this morning I went to the library. I must say it is also an efficiently run city operation, except for those loud librarians who continue to be one of my pet peeves. Maybe I expect too much, after all they're much younger than I am and have no memory of librarians of yore. Anyway, I was remarking to Mr. G that the automated check out stations have gotten so popular now that I had to wait in line. To which he said, "I would always go to the counter and have a real librarian check out my books. After all, we pay taxes for that service."

"I like the idea of checking out my books in private," I told him. "Just in case I want to check out something like Knitting in the Nude. He just smiled and replied, well......it's probably best if I not share that on the blog......