Cooking a five-course dinner on a camp stove

It just hit me like a 10-lb. sack of potatoes. I've got too many pots simmering and not enough burners.  Dinner's gonna be late. Or, to put it another way, I've got too many darn projects underway and not enough remaining lifetime to get them all done.

There's Thelma.....who's now wearing pink undies because you just never know when someone might have a notion to look under a librarian's skirt. 

She almost got a head yesterday, but it was much too small and will be re-assigned to a witch at a later date.

There's the puffins--who just don't look right standing on a field of French knots.  Those must come out and be replaced by something more.....oh.... I-don't-know-yet.

And remember my pile o' rocks that awaits crocheted sweaters? And the niece quilt? And I need to start thinking about the old hotel craft fair in October and what I might make for that. They're probably hoping I'll come up with something fresh and innovative.

Did I really agree to make a ring bearer's pillow for Big City Girl's friend who's getting married next Spring?  And will I be able to finish reading a book (The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh) in time for the library book discussion later this month? I should also finish the organizing job I started in the Treehouse after Mr. Gadget so graciously offered me his two-drawer legal file cabinet. 

And still simmering are those crochet-covered hangers--my answer for all of my leftover sock yarn.

There's no time to knit a cat even if I wanted to.  Maybe the time has come for one of these:

Progress report

Here's the latest on Thelma.

After wrapping the wire armature with the leftover quilt batting, and tacking it down with basting threads, I wrapped again with strips of muslin.  I used a brush and white glue diluted with water to give her a pretty good once-over.

Then I used the same glue solution to apply small strips of white paper towels--sort of like a paper mache process.

Once everything is dry, I'll be ready to start the clay head, hands and feet.  That's the tricky part.  Thankfully, wet clay is forgiving.

But don't you agree that Thelma--even without a head, hands, feet and clothes--is sending a message that you should zip your lip?  It's amazing what a little bottom-plumping will do.

Cooking up stuff

The fabric I ordered arrived yesterday and now I'm anxious to get started on the quilt for my niece.

I will proceed more smartly (smartlier?) with my second quilt--rather than just jumping right in and doing a big ol' belly flop like I did with my first.  First of all, I will pre-wash the fabric so that my niece can wash it when she so chooses.  This is presuming that she will be better about taking care of her handmade gifts than Big City Girl--who just adds them to her dustmop collection.  (Oh, I hope BCG isn't reading this.  Hopefully she's too busy.  But if she is.....of course Mom's just kidding... in the interest of adding a little humor to the blog).

Thelma the librarian is still on the tweaking table.  I could clearly see that she didn't have quite the right body language.  She was leaning back too far, and this gave her the appearance of a laid-back librarian--definitely not "the look" I'm aiming for.  So I gave her a little more bottom padding so she'll be leaning slightly forward and getting right in the face of those naughty reading-room talkers.

And while I was plumping up Thel, I had an idea for a couple of characters I could make out of two empty Jack Daniel's bottles Mr. Gadget so kindly passed on to me.  Then I thought of a third character who would nicely complement the the first two, so I asked Mr. G. if he would mind drinking another bottle and he said he'd see what he could do.

And while I wait patiently for those cat-book authors to work on their pattern for my personal chef, I cooked up a couple of things yesterday.  The first was roasted red peppers--one of Mr. Gadget's favorites.

The second was apples with cinnamon and raisins in the little crockette.  It's delish over vanilla ice cream--and a very easy dessert I might add.  This, too, is a Mr. G. favorite.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked.

"I'm always nice to you, aren't I? I replied. "Besides, it's the least I can do to let you know how much I appreciate you drinking all that liquor to keep me  well stocked with dollmaking supplies."

Friday assortment

While I wait for the glue to dry on Thelma, I've been mentally planning her wardrobe and accessories.  If it wasn't for the annoying trips to the grocery store, and the cooking and vacuuming, I'd have her finished by now.

Big City Girl gave me a lovely handmade card for Mother's Day.

After I "ooohed" and "aaahhed," I mentioned that it was a great design for embroidery.  She said she had that in mind when she made it because she knows I like French knots.  Well, maybe not that many French knots.

Yesterday I took some books back to the library and I noticed something interesting on the new book shelf.

I think this one is my favorite. 

It reminds me of Henry, a regular visitor to our yard at the old house.  I'm not planning to knit a cat anytime soon, but I do like the idea of having a cat that doesn't need food or the use of a litter box. Also, one that wouldn't come into your bedroom at 5:30 a.m. and lick the door moldings with its sandpaper tongue to wake you out of a sound sleep and let you know it's time for breakfast.

I wonder, though, if these authors would consider working up a pattern for a personal chef?  One that could whip up delicious Italian and French delicacies and dreamy desserts.  Maybe I'll send them a note.

The Princess and the Pea

 The food quilt is finally finished.

Big City Girl has hand-lettered a quilt label.

It awaits embroidery.

So, technically, it isn't finished.

I'm pleased with it, warts and all.

In fact, I'm so pleased with it....

I've started collecting fabric for another.

It will be a gift for my niece.

It will be smaller.

A twin size.

Thelma the librarian is moving slowly.

(The picture reminds me of the fairy tale;

she's sitting on the square with peas).

Wrapping and gluing takes time.

She'll be picking up speed soon.

And speaking of speed....

I came up with a clever saying yesterday.

Mr. Gadget, aka Frank, started

nudging me about getting something

done that I had been procrastinating about.

"Not to worry," I said.

"It will get done in good time.

I don't move at the speed of Frank."

Legal action

This morning Mr. Gadget and I took a stroll around the neighborhood.

The weather has been wonderful lately.

Just what you'd order if you had an "in" with the weatherman.

Many of the residents have their spring gardens planted.

There's lots of color.

Geraniums and azaleas.

Iris.

Some of this and some of that.

Yellow pansies

Purple salvia

No purple salvia you say?

That's because Mr. Gadget cut them down.

He said he was going out to weed the garden.

"But you cut down the purple salvia!" I exclaimed.

"They were weeds!" he exclaimed right back.

So I did the only thing I could do to keep him out of the garden.

I got a restraining order.

It's a wrap

It's been a busy week with the Calicuz's visit, followed by the arrival of Big City Girl for the Mother's Day weekend.  But I did manage to squeeze in some time for crafty stuff.  I got a start on the new librarian project.

Oh, what to name a librarian!  Such a dilemma.  I think she'll be Thelma.  But I'll have to wait till she's finished to see if that's my final answer.  Not just anyone can be a Thelma.

I started out by putting together a wire armature....just like with Vinny.  I never have to be too careful with this part because the mummification always covers it up nicely.  Then I started the wrapping process.  You may remember I had some batting left over from the food quilt.  I asked BCG for her opinion and she thought Thel needed a lower bosom.  I'll be working on that.  I'll also give her slightly more ample hips.  I left the arm and leg wires long on purpose.  They'll be easy to snip off when I get a better sense of proportion.

I've been thinking about how I will dress her.  Maybe a tailored blouse and a simple skirt--both in muted colors.  I realized, too, that sometimes libraries can be drafty places, so she should have a sweater. I'll knit her a cardigan and hope she'll turn out to be about the same size as an 18-inch doll.  I'll tuck a little hanky in the cuff.  I've noticed it's a popular accessory among elder ladies.

And dare I say I can now see the finish line on the food quilt?  I have just a few more basting threads to remove.  I did a nice job on the binding--considering I didn't know what I was doing-- and that should make up for all the warts I left in it as design elements.







Happy Mother's Day!

Love those left-overs!

Today I decided to do the final machine quilting on my food quilt.  Some projects go quickly; others take half a lifetime.

While I was stitching it dawned on me that the excess batting (I'll be trimming this off) will work well for adding bulk to my librarian.  I'm happy when I have supplies handy and don't have to go scrounging through my craft closet. It's like that happy feeling I get when I remember there are leftovers in the fridge and I don't have to cook dinner.

This quilt is very, very far from perfect.  In fact, it's far-removed from a good job even.  But somewhere I read recently that a quilter should not be too critical of her first quilt.  It's more important to just get it done and move on.  I like that philosophy.  I'm also glad it's a busy quilt so the mistakes, hopefully, won't be too obvious.  It did have several things to teach me--most importantly that measurements must be precise when cutting and lining up the squares for sewing.  This will go a long way towards helping me create my next quilt without warts.

So I'm looking forward to the coming week because one of my Cali-cousins is coming for a visit.  She and I spent lots of time together growing up, but as adults we've only been able to grab a quick get-together every few years.  We share lots of memories and I'm sure there will be plenty of harking back.  Several months ago, Mr. Gadget's older brother came for a weekend and the two guys got to reminiscing (there may have been some wine involved) and telling stories about their elder family members.  From the sounds of it, there was quite a plethora of peculiar people. Oh, the dolls I could make!  But I was sorry afterwards that I hadn't turned on my tape recorder and preserved it for posterity.  Maybe I'll do that while my cuz is here.  We've got plenty of quirky family characters of our own.  In fact, I'd better buy a few extra blank tapes.

Quiet please....

Here's a rough sketch of my next clay character.  Unless, of course, I change my mind.

She's an old-fashioned librarian--one who knows how to keep order in the library, and often with just a stern look. When I was a kid, librarians were very different from the ones we have today.  If you talked, or even dared to whisper, she would give you "the eye" and a good talking-to, and she might even threaten to eject you from the library. I liked those days.  Libraries were peaceful places where you could sit and read a book or have a quiet browse. The sound of a ringing cell phone could have only meant an alien ship had landed.

I envision a librarian seated on a small stack of books.  She'll wear librarian clothes--nothing too colorful or flashy to detract from the hush.  And she'll wear sensible librarian shoes.  Of course, it goes without saying, there will be no cleavage.

To get started I'll make a wire armature, but I'm feeling confident about that step after my successful venture with Vinny. After that, I'll bulk her up a bit (mine will be an ample librarian) with aluminum foil and batting.  I'll just patch her together as I go.  She probably won't resemble the sketch too closely when I'm finished.  For reasons I don't understand, handmade dolls seem to take on a personality of their own somewhere during the process.

So, are you up for a trip to the library?  Come along then.  And don't forget your library card.  There's sure to be a tongue-lashing if you do.

Puffin stitchin'

Here's a picture of the cruise embroidery I showed you in an earlier post.  I've made a little progress.



I copied the picture from some notecards and enlarged it.  Then I taped it to my light box (cleverly created for me by Mr. Gadget from his stash of manly stuff), and traced the little puffies onto fabric.  Next I took the color copy to the craft store and picked out embroidery floss to match.  When I'm finished with the puffin stitchin' I'll do the ground they're standing on--which will involve lots and lots of French knots.  I like doing French knots.  I didn't always.  There's a knack to them.  Once you get the knack you can really cruise.  That's stitchin' talk.

I was trying to think back to when I first started embroidering.  I think it actually started with needlepoint.  Then I moved on to cross-stitch.  Both of those activities required a chart, and that was fun for a while but all that looking back and forth finally got to me.

When Tech Guy and Big City Girl were toddlers I enjoyed sewing for them.  One of my favorite patterns was a pair of overalls with a little bib front.  The bib practically called out for some stitchin' so I made many and used iron-on transfers.  The only one I can still remember is a giraffe on roller skates.

So now that I've finished the bawdy one--better known as Betty with Bunnies in polite society--I've been giving thought to a new clay project.  I have an idea and I'm going to sketch something up. Here's a little hint.  It's a whimsical character from my past.  If the drawing looks halfway decent, I'll share it here and you can follow my progress.  

Wow!  Look how much I've written today.  I'm feeling a little drowsy.  Where's that deck chair? 

Weekend wisdom

"Life may not be the party we hoped for,

but while we're here we should dance."

- Author unknown-

The Internet cafe ate my blog

Or so it seems.  I did write a post....honest....but when I got home and checked the blog it wasn't there.  Then, if that wasn't disappointing enough, I tried to post again and found that Blogger had changed things and my browser was no longer compatible.  And being the non-tech person that I am, I did the only thing I could think of.  I had a good cry.  Well, maybe not, because, after all, there are much bigger things to cry about and bloggy incompatibility is such a petty little thing in the great scheme of things.  I'm sure the new-fangled system will end up being easier to use than the old one that, truthfully, was becoming more and more of a pain.  It's just that I've always been one to furnish my ruts and stay forever.

So, moving on.  Our cruise was very nice, and a welcomed diversion for Mr. Gadget and I.  Here are a few pictures:

The seas were calm all the way across the Atlantic.

First stop was Ponta Delgada, the Azores (Portugal).

A little cruise embroidery.



Bus on display at the Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow.

Polperro--a small fishing village outside of Falmouth.

UFO's?  Fat birds?  Some kind of nests?  Nope.  Mistletoe.

A rather annoying couple from our bus.  She wore a knee brace.  See it?  This, they believed, permitted them to have the front seat on the bus and the first spot in line for all attractions.  I especially liked her sturdy walking shoes.  Mr. Gadget, who never likes to stand in line for anything, has vowed to get me one of these magical braces before our next trip.

Well, then.  Now that I know how painless this new, technologically-advanced Blogger can be, I'll be back real soon.  Mr. Gadget's pictures are much better than mine.  I'll share a few of those next time.

Shipping out

Mr. Gadget and I will be hitting the high seas on Saturday. Well, I hope they won't be real high, but we do have our Dramamine packed, just in case. I thought you might like to see a map of our itinerary...you know, so you can follow along with us. Won't that be fun?

What? You say you can't read it? Well maybe you need to put on your glasses. Still no luck? I guess I'll have to explain then. We're leaving from the little brown mouse and sailing 5 days to the tiny flower pot. Then we sail 3 more days to the itty bitty green ball of yarn. The next day it's the thimble and the day after that the mini bottle of red seed beads. After the beads, we'll be heading to the tiny Tabasco sauce, and finally ending up at the turtle....from which we'll fly home.

What an exciting trip, eh? You're confused you say? How could anyone want to go to those tiny little objects you're wondering? So, I guess I should give you a legend of some kind. OK. If you insist.

Mouse is Ft. Lauderdale; flower pot is the Azores; yarn is Dublin; thimble is Glasgow; red beads are Falmouth, Tabasco is LaHarve, France (for bus trip to Paris); and turtle is Southampton.

I plan to blog enroute, but pictures will have to wait till I get home. If you like, check out this website on Sat. between 4 and 5 pm Eastern time and you can watch our ship (Grand Princess) sail out of the harbor. I may, or may not, be waving my bright red scarf.

I'll be back here soon, but now I gotta run. I have to go sit on my suitcase.

A little ramble

Do you ever get on the internet and go for a little techno-joyride? You know, like when there's nothing special you're looking for, so you just head off in some random direction and you end up somewhere interesting....and that leads you somewhere else.....and that leads you to another somewhere else. That happened to me a couple of days ago.

On my ramble I discovered a wonderful dollmaker who is all about whimsy. While browsing through the patterns she has for sale, I happened upon one for some charming little birds. And as luck would have it, she was offering that pattern for free. So right away I sent off my email request, and very soon it landed in my in box.

This is just the pattern for scraps and doodads and little bits of bright threads and crazy yarns. I pulled out a few pieces from my fabric stash that I thought would make fanciful little bird bodies.

I love it when I find something fun to make that uses up leftovers. Kinda like mystery stew.

I can hardly wait to start in on some bird-building, but unfortunately it will have to wait until Mr. Gadget and I get back. I'll tell you where we're headed in my next post. And if you're thinking Brooklyn.....fuggetaboutit...

Fuggetaboutit!

Last Sunday Mr. Gadget and I drove to Brooklyn to visit Big City Girl and take her to lunch for her birthday. Since parking is sometimes difficult on her street, we suggested she choose a restaurant that was within walking distance. She gave us 3 choices--steak place, Thai, or Mexican--and we all voted for Margueritas.

Much of NYC is safe for pedestrians nowadays, but BCG's neighborhood is an exception. You take your life in your hands when you go out her front door.

That's because there are lots of Polish bakeries. They lurk on every street corner--just waiting for you to let your guard down.

If you're not careful and you walk too close to the door, they'll suck you right in.

There oughta be a law, but even if there was one you know those policemen aren't going to shut down the donut dealers.

After lunch we walked back to BCG's apartment along streets lined with houses...in order to lessen our chances of being mugged by sweetness. Once inside I presented her with my very special birthday gift. I wrapped it in this:

It's the further-felted bowl. It snuggly nested a collection of embroidery supplies. Big City Girl had expressed an interest in learning to stitch. I can only imagine this being akin to a father who loves to fish being asked by his son to buy him a tackle box. I gave her a short tutorial on some of the basic stitches before we left for home. I can only hope she grows to love it. Maybe she'll even become an addict. That would be good because then I won't worry about her. I'll know she's home stitching and safe from the dangers that lurk around every corner.

Cuppa somethin'

A few days ago I went to visit an elder friend who I stop in to see occasionally. I usually take her a few things that I know she'll enjoy. These usually include homemade cookies and sometimes I take her a big bottle of Vodka (the latter compliments of Mr. Gadget.) She suffers from a variety of aches and pains and finds that a little nip of Vodka (or possibly a double shot) after dinner takes the edge off--so much better, she says, than pills, and there's no need to have a doctor write a prescription.

The day before I went to see her she called to ask me to bring my crocheted snake so she could see it....and she also requested that I check the internet to see if I could find a pattern for a crocheted toilet paper roll cover. She said her bathroom needed a little accessorizing and she had a friend who would crochet it for her.

I was happy to comply, and I did find several patterns that fit the category, but most were just too froo-froo. I know that's not a word, but you probably know what I mean. Just too many lacey little picot stitches and whatnot. I did find this one though and I was immediately struck by the whimsy. I decided I had to give it a try. If it didn't work out, or she didn't like it, I'd just put it in Mr. Gadget's basement bathroom and call it a cuppa tea--Mr. G's beverage-of-choice, or maybe I'd stitch some big white French knots on top and call it hot chocolate with marshmallows.


My friend was very pleased with the cover and with my efforts, but I think Mr. Gadget was a little disappointed. I'm sure he was hoping it would be decorating his bathroom. Don't tell him this, but I'm going to make another one just for him. It should be finished in time for his birthday. Maybe I'll throw in a homemade apple pie too. I hope he knows just how lucky he is to have a wife who crochets and can bake too. Maybe he'll take me on another cruise....

Snake fact sheet

Mouthless snakes will not bite.

Some snakes--especially ones of this species--will sit outside on a rock forever if you let them.

Don't believe everything you read in herpatology books.

Many snakes are nothing but a big bunch of fluff.

Some snakes make excellent pets.

They'll cushion your head nicely if you want to nap in front of the TV.

They'll even keep your annoying neighbors off your deck.

Hmmmm.......maybe I need a snake of my own.

Rocks in my head

I picked up this rock the other day when Mr. Gadget and I went to check out a new walking path in town.

I had in mind making another one of these:

Nice round rocks are not easy to find, unless you live near a river. At a beach not far from the Calcondo there are millions of them, but they're at the bottom of a steep hill. The climb back up is difficult, especially with a big bag o' rocks.

But the longer I look at this newly-found rock, the more I realize it's really more of a potato.

If only I'd gathered more of them I could've made a nice stew.

See that green felt the veggies are sitting on? I'm going to make jeweled doll slippers out of it. Whenever I'm in a fabric store, I keep my eyes out for a whimsical flannel print for another one of these:

Last week I found just the thing. I got enough to make two.