Pushin' the pause button

Mr. Gadget and I are filled with glee,

because tomorrow we're heading out to sea.

It's supposed to snow,

so it's a good time to go!

We'll be back, but there's no guarantee.

Not that other gecko

I wasn't planning to make another gecko, but sometimes I just come across a fabric that announces to me--right there in the store for all to hear--"I must be a gecko!" The earlier gecko was a special order, but this one will sit on one of my craft-fair tables until someone--most likely a grandma--comes by and says, "I must have that gecko for my grandchild!" If that doesn't happen, I will give it to Tech Guy for Christmas. He loves reptilian things. And he's already got a cage and a food dish...

This gecko isn't quite finished. He still needs some beady eyes. Did you notice the hemostat? Just like surgeons use. These are monster 12-inchers. I already have some 5 and 7-inchers and they are very handy for stuffing things. These biggies are a recent acquisition, and it's all because a new tool store opened up in town.

Mr. Gadget saw an ad in the newspaper for the tool store grand-opening. There's an algebraic equation that goes something like this: Knitters' Heaven is to me as tool store is to Mr. Gadget. So off he went, leaving me happily at home, and he came back with a bag o' goodies.

"Look what I got for only $3.99," he said, holding up something unrecognizable.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a car steering wheel puller."

"What would you want one of those for?" I shot back.

"Well, I might need something like this, you know, in the future," he said.

"What are these little blue rubber bands for?" I asked.

"They're not rubber bands," he informed me. "They're an assortment of teflon o'rings I found for only $2.99.

"Yeah, but the package says they're tephlon. That's not how you spell teflon."

"That's cooking-pot teflon," he said. "This is tephlon and it's even better than that stuff." Was it my imagination, or was he starting to look a little sheepish?

"I did get you a little something for your craft work," he said. That's when he pulled out the big hemostat.

"Thank you!" I said. "Those will be very useful, especially for reptiles. And maybe even for picking stuff up off the floor as we get older. In fact, next time you go check to see if they have any 36-inchers."

Is the coffee ready?

I decided to make another morning lady. I found some beads at the dollar store that were just the right size for hair rollers. This will save Mr. Gadget from having to cut a small dowel into short pieces and then drilling through the middles. I just glued the end of the hairs to the roller, rolled it up and glued it right to her head....similar to what they do at the hair salon, although I haven't had that done in a long time and they may have changed things since then....

I've been busy in the Treehouse preparing for upcoming craft shows. The old hotel show over Columbus Day weekend turned out to be profitable. I sold six dolls and one painted cat, plus the half-dozen felted flowers I took along this year. I was happy to see that the flowers were well-received--especially since I have many more I'm hoping to sell. It was a nice show, and the organizer always does a great job arranging and displaying the arts and crafts around the hotel. By the way, here's an article that came out in one of the local papers a couple of weeks ago. It tells the story of the renovation efforts.

A few people have asked me about chef Vinny and when I will find out if he's made the cut for publication in Art Doll Quarterly. It's my understanding that no notification will be given. I'll just have to wait and check the magazine when it comes out next February. This is probably very wise of the editors and will save them from having to answer difficult questions, like What do you mean my Vinny wasn't good enough?

Meanwhile, the life-story writing group has lost some steam. Some of the members have dropped away. Maybe they just thought they wanted to write, but then it felt too much like school. On a positive note, one of the members, an elderly lady who came to this country long ago from Armenia, has entertained us with wonderful stories of her past, and I plan to record and transcribe some of them for her. My original idea was to record oral histories, so maybe this will be what I end up doing after all.

So the latest issue of Art Doll Quarterly arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and I read that the next art doll challenge is to create a shelf-sitter doll. Considering the amount of work I put into Vinny for the bottle-doll challenge, I may just let this one pass me by. Then again, it is intriguing. I guess I'll just wait and see if a bright idea bubbles up. I think I'm hearing a little fizzy sound already.

Tastes a little like chicken

Reading recipes is quite a challenge for Clem,

who's forgotten to ask his barber for an eyebrow trim.

Should he put in some thyme?

And what about wine?

Dinner's at 5 and he's serving cork au vin.

Minding my p's and q's

I used to think chefs should always wear chef shoes....you know, those sensible shoes that a person could stand in all day and spill tomato sauce on without worry. But they're pretty boring. I'd much rather see a chef in more elegant footwear.....you know, something much more in line with haute cuisine.

You may be wondering about the big Costco olive oil bottle. It's empty and I couldn't bring myself to toss it in the recycle bin. I'm pondering doll possibilities. But not now. Later, after the hustle and bustle of fall craft shows is behind me.

On Sunday Mr. Gadget and I took a ride up to the old hotel to see how I was doing. I drove the new car, so there was no need to engage the HWG (happy wife gadget). I'm never in a hurry...and am continually mystified by why Mr. G's blood pressure is low and mine requires medication.

Anyway, a few of my dolls had sold, and several of the felted flowers too. While I was browsing I met Betsy--who was also browsing, and admiring my crafty creations. Come to find out, Betsy is one of my blog readers. Hi Betsy! She and I had a nice chat and I made sure she understood just how hard I work here in the Treehouse cranking out one-of-a-kind dolls and other crafty goodness. Is it time for my coffee break yet?

So now I'm hard at work on a few dolls for the Christmas show, and very soon I'll be getting my clay out to make a few ornaments. Here's my first attempt:

He needs considerable tweaking, but he'll be fine to hang on our tree--the final resting place for my vast collection of first attempts. For some reason this reminds me of the projects I made in my early school years and how graciously my mother wore her silly piece of Mother's Day jewelry, or displayed a misshapen clay ashtray prominently in our living room. Maybe I'll just call my collection of first attempts my summer camp projects.

Doo-dad dealybobs

Today I had a sobering thought. I know there'll come a time when I won't have to look any further than my mirror for a model of a witchy face with wrinkles, bags, age spots and annoying chin hairs.

I'd better call my dentist. I'm overdue. Maybe I can at least save my teeth.

Yesterday Mr. Gadget and I went to the office supply store where I got these neat little dealybobs.

They're about 2 inches square and should hold pretty near all of my doo-dads.

The reason for the trip was to exchange a small tape recorder Mr. Gadget bought me to use in my elder life-story writing workshop. There's an 80-year-old woman in the group who has some wonderful stories to tell, but she's just not up for writing them down, so I've offered to record and transcribe.

Mr. Gadget, who always lives up to his name, got me a fancy digital recorder with all sorts of bells and whistles, and an instruction book that was 145 pages long. I must say I was quite taken by the small size of the device, but when I heard about the how-to book I said, "Stop right there!"

So we took it back and exchanged it for a five-button version: play, stop, fast forward, rewind and pause. And it takes regular ol' cassette tapes. I'll use the 60-minute ones so at the end of an hour I can say, "Time's up....gotta go!" Some older folks have a way of losing track of time. I'd have a hard time sitting there all night like I used to do with my grandpa when he'd get going about his trip to Mexico.

Today we took a drive up to Knitters' Heaven. Mr. Gadget got a new car and wanted to take it for a spin. Yeah, I know. He gets a new car whether he needs one or not. He's a car guy. Just like me with yarn. I'm a yarn gal and I'll buy yarn whether I need it or not---which I did and I don't. But I discovered a feature on Mr. G's new car that I will call The Happy Wife Gadget. It's part of the cruise control and it keeps the car at a safe distance behind the car ahead. It's amazing. No more anxiety medication for me now that we have the HWG!

What ya cookin'?

Betty Sue loves to cook

but she hardly ever uses a recipe book.

She adds a pinch of salt

and a teaspoon of gestalt,

and calls everything gourmet gobbledegook.

Bling

There was a glamorous witch named Lenore

whose boots made her feet awfully sore.

They housed meddlesome thorns

and caused bunions and corns.

All was remedied with a trip to the pet store.