Button Boards

I made three button boards this week.  The first one was kind of hard but then I figured out what I was doing wrong and the second two went together easily.  It was kind of fun too.  I've still got a lot of buttons so I may make some more. Have to scout around for suitable frames in second hand stores.  Think I'll keep my eyes peeled for buttons too.  They're mighty expensive to buy new. I've already posted one but I'll do it again so you can see my progression. 

I made a stop at the library this morning but they didn't have either of the books I was interested in. I have to remember to check the computer before I drive all the way over there. Much easier to see if a book is in or available.  They let you know if it's in the P.A. library, or Sequim or Forks. Then you can reserve it and they'll send you an email when it's arrived.  I love computers.

I  mailed off three books and had to fill up on gas.  Safeway was way too busy so I drove to another station.  The guy even offered to come out and pump it for me.  I said that was okay but he came out anyhow and stood there until it was done and then hung up the pump for me.  I wonder if he was hitting on me.  Ha ha  Yeah, I bet that was it.  He wanted me.  But then again...maybe not.  He was probably young enough to be my son and I think he was from India or one of those places across the water.

Hunter about died laughing at the dinner table tonight.  Him and Maddie were seated at the table and I came over and managed to dump over my glass of water with ice cubes all over the table and Maddie's plate with mashed potatoes on it.  Hunter couldn't stop laughing. I'll have to try and spill on his plate next time and see if he still thinks it's funny. 

I was awake every two hours last night.  Knew that would happen with the water I was downing all day hoping to avoid another leg cramp spasm.  I think I'll tape Dancing with the Stars, watch Mad Men that I taped last night, and then head off to bed to read for a while.

Happened to call my friend, Virginia, today as she's been having health issues and I wondered if she was on the mend.  She told me she had to go to the hospital last week after the aid car came to her house.  She said she would have had someone take her in a car had she known what a ONE MILE trip was going to cost her.  And it may have  been less than a mile.  $800!  This is what is wrong with our health system in this country.  What a Friggin! ripoff!  Makes me mad all over again and it isn't even my money.  She also pays a hefty amount for prescription insurance on top of her supplemental insurance and medicare.  I swear to God if I ever hit it big on one of my mega tickets, I'm helping all my friends pay for their medical.

3 years ago....

                               Marcella and Dad having lunch at Bayview in Port Townsend

My father died on this day three years ago.  Recalling certain dates because of personal events that took place is always a grim reminder that life passes quickly.  Just for the heck of it, I looked over various diary notations for April 30. I didn't always write in my diary with regularity so there wasn't much to read. Most interesting entry was "last day of work at the mill in 2002" and "went on the PT Homes Tour in 1977."  Gees, 35 years since I've done a homes tour. I'll have to think about doing it again.

I just tinkered around yesterday. Did a Leader blog written and made one small button board. Gonna try a second one this afternoon.  I also got in a half hour bike ride adn will try to repeat that today. Otherwise, I plan to work on my family history project and work at cleaning up computer files.  My photos are way out of control and I may never gain the upper hand again.  At least they're on my external hard drive but still...... they need a lot of work.

Came across some of old Rhody parades which I think I'll post on my Facebook page.  I thought I had already done that but perhaps not.  I also need to get to work on my music collection in Itunes.  My son helped me replace my tunes but now I have triple songs and need to delete two of them. That will take a while as there are close to 6000 songs listed.   Oh well...this is just the type of project that keeps me happily occupied.

Saw some pictures on Facebook of one of my half sisters in Pennsylvania.  They were at an event to remember her daughter that was murdered in February of 2004.  The body has never been recovered. What a horrible thing to have to live through.

                                       Pauline is pictured here with her daughter and two sons.

Well, I'm off to the post office to mail off three books. Think I'll make a quick run to the library as well.

My first button decoration

Thought I'd try to make a button board today. Started with my smallest frame so I could hopefully figure out how to put it together without killing my fingers pushing on the needle.  Kind of fun.

Better Today

Slept past 8 a.m. this morning and I needed it.  Didn't have any leg spasms last night and that elevated my mood immediately.  I went so far as to put an ice chest near my bed with an icepack in it if I was awakened with another cramp but happily, it didn't happen.  Ice pack melted during the night too so I guess it wouldn't have helped that much.  I haven't quite decided what to do about this situation.  I think I'll put it on the back burner and see if they continue to occur on a regular basis. Then I'll have to make a decision on whether or not seeing a doctor might help. I am definitely increasing my water intake irregardless.  If dehydration is the cause, at least I can rectify that with water sipping all day long.

My son, Joe, helped me "patiently" get back the songs that were showing in my Itunes Library but wouldn't play.  I'll never understand why that website is so difficult to handle.  Hunter thought he could find them for me a couple of days ago.  Him and Maddie were sitting in here and I was telling him about the two songs I had just purchased from Itunes and how they were there but the 1600+ others weren't.  When I clicked on one of my purchases (John Wait) they both burst out laughing.
"What?!"
"That's what you spent money on?"  (still laughing)
"He's good!", I insisted.
"Yeah, right!"  tee hee
Normally, both Hunter and Maddie are quite knowledgeable about songs, singers, and music of the 70's.  They do feel, however, that my definition of 'rock and roll' is way off base.  They couldn't believe, for example, that I said "Creedence Clearwater" was R&R.  They laughed.  I still don't understand why.

Another gray and overcast April morning. Weather report looks like it's gonna be more of the same all week.  My front and back lawns, at least, are looking green.  They're gonna need a definite trim once the rain eases for a few days.  Hunter?  You up for making some money?

Just looked over the tv lineup online and could find only two things of interest.  Masterpiece Theatre on PBS at 9 pm and Mad Men on AMC at 10 pm.  Sure am thankful I have my Pandora Music Channel to entertain me these days.  Am also looking over my movie collection and finding flicks that I enjoy watching again.  Like Beaches, which I watched yesterday. Love Bette Midler!  Today I might try Honeysuckle Rose with Willie Nelson.

Got some tulip photos from my cousin, Marlee, in Gig Harbor. Here's one of her shots and another I took in my yard this morning.

I spent yesterday sewing. Here's three of my latest that I decorated with buttons. Am going to make three button boards today.  At least I'm going to if my idea works that I'm thinking on. The purple tulip wall hanging has four little ornaments on it that were from an Easter tree craft.  The triangle house at the bottom has a little orange car button, and the middle hanging has a button in the middle of each flower. (click on to enlarge)

Well, I think I'll get on my bike while the rains have quit and see if I can't convince my legs to cooperate with my determination to exercise at least a little bit every day.  Gotta a little office work to attend to later this afternoon--two books to get ready for mailing (thank you Karen Enos Currie and Karen Widell Eberle) and a couple of birthday gifts to wrap and four birthday greetings to send out.  Really need to get started on a new Leader blog as well.  Have to figure out what to write on and that's a struggle somedays.

I think I need to put a cover on the sewing machine for a while and concentrate on my family history project.  Have one date on my activity calendar this week--lunch with friends at the casino on Thursday.  We'll be celebrating two birthdays--Mary Norton and Ruth Kvinsland.

Why computers are a good thing

I woke up at 2 a.m. with one HORRIBLE cramp in my upper inside leg.  A doozy that lasted five minutes and had me yelling out loud and plenty scared.  These are ten times worse than those calf cramps that come now and then, and I've probably experienced this particular cramp pain half a dozen times. You never forget them as they're worse than labor.

I attempted the usual....trying to walk, massage, and prayer.  When it finally eased enough to let me move, I was sweating to beat the band. Figured going back to bed wasn't going to work for me so I got up and turned on the computer.  I googled "upper inside leg cramps" and much to my surprise, I had a multiple list to choose from.  The one I picked was a website where other people logged in describing their pain and frustration about what to do about it.  As I read the dozens of entries, I was comforted as my fears were put into the exact same words I would use--over and over again.  Many were also thankful to see they weren't alone.

When I was in the middle of this attack, my first thought was that I've got to bite the bullet and start visiting doctors who can get to the bottom of this whole ordeal. I was sick and tired of not being able to do simple yard chores or walk around shopping.  I was a little surprised (yet not) that several people had been to doctors and had several tests--MRIs, Xrays, chiropractor adjustments, etc.  Nothing was ever verified and most of the time, the patient left with pain pills that didn't solve a thing or muscle relaxants which also didn't address the problem.

A few thought it was sciatia-nerve related (I've thought that too) and a few had been diagnosed with some L3-L5? spinal problems.  What got even more interesting was that while some suggested heat pads, other felt ice helped them more. Also suggested was drinking more water, taking calcium, taking potassium & magnesium, drinking tonic water, stretching exercises, avoiding salt, and losing weight---there were just as many OTHER folks  suffering who were yoga enthusiasts, physically fit and active, drinking a ton of water as well as taking magnesium, were not overweight and watched their salt intake.

Their frustration at not being able to do basic household and yard chores was echoed throughout. They also commented on how hard it was getting in and out of cars. An area I deal with. Most of all, though, was their fear the pain would return and the frustration of not being able to find a solution to fix it.  While mine have mostly (not always) occurred while sleeping, many folks suffered in public and were unable to walk or fell down.  Horrors! That's all I need!

I remember this happening to my sister a year or two ago when she was exiting the back seat of a car. She got a horrible cramp in the top part of her back leg and was crying from pain.  I knew exactly what was going on with her as I'd experienced it myself---once while on the floor doing stretching exercises-- for crying out loud!

One gal said her symptoms improved with VitB complex. I'm going down to buy some today. I also intend to drink a lot more water than I do.  That will probably mean multiple trips to the bathroom during the night but so be it.  I think I'll make an effort to eat a banana daily too.  I sometimes let that go by the wayside. 

Course if this is spine or neck related, all the bananas and water drinking in the world won't fix a thing. You have to be careful reading some of these websites online as you can get all kinds of opinions. One woman thought people should be checked out for MS and Lupus.  That's probably one of the downsides of relying on computers to understand health issues.  You have to study and weed out the information by using your own common sense.  I use Dr. Google a lot but at least I'm at the point now where I don't think I've got everything I see online.  Ha!

I know my blogs may sound like I have everything under the sun but it helps me to write these things down.  If nothing else, if my kids find me dead one morning, they can refer back to whatever I was complaining about on recent blogs and say:  Oh yeah...she did say her back was killing her.  ha ha ha

Well, that's it for this gray April morning. I'm heading to the library in an hour and think I might pick up a movie at Red Box too.  Otherwise, it's sewing projects and family history project. And maybe....just maybe....some bike riding around the neighborhood.  I'll show these legs who's in charge around here!

Got my Derby Duck

Had to take Maddie to Swains to buy a piece of tubing for her clarinet so while I was waiting, I decided to buy a ticket for the duck derby on Mother's Day.  Looks like it's going to be at Lincoln Park (near me) instead of downtown in the bay.  Wonder if it will give others a better chance of winning. They have lots of nice prizes.  I'd love to win a Toyota car or truck but the $1000 & $500 from 7 Cedars Casino looks like a fun prize as well. I'd also like to win a $100 gift certificate from a nursery.  I buy a duck every year but haven't won anything yet. Maybe this will be the year.

I couldn't get in the mood for working outside but I did weedeat around the gate so it would open and close better and I fixed the latch on the gate as well.  Also squirted WD40 on the very loud and squeaky holding post that goes into the ground to hold the gate shut.

I didn't think Maddie's team would play ball as it was coming down pretty good when I took her over to the field but she gave me a thumbs up so I drove off.  Took Hunter (and Sammy) over to his house so he could pick up his electric scooter, clothes bag, and gift for the slumber/birthday party he was going to.  Came back home and after cleaning the kitchen, I got my jammies on and planned to send a couple emails before retiring to the recliner.  Am pretty sure I'm not going to stay up very late tonight. I never did take a nap and the yawning has begun.  That's usually a pretty good indication I'll be heading to bed. Funny how Friday nights used to be the highlight of my week.  Big party time... trips to happy hour, bingo, bar hopping, drinks and dancing, breakfast, home again in the early hours.  A million years ago.  I'm still on R&R, but now my trips are from the Refrigerator to the Recliner. Get it?  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Mary, bless her heart, sent me some pictures for my blog.  Her and Andy are flying to the San Juan Islands for their anniversary.  Here's some she took from the plane....

                                                                 Queen Anne Hill

                                                               Leaving Seattle

                                                                   Fort Worden

                                                                  Port Townsend

Computer surfing

I'm not getting much accomplished this morning.  I did make a quick Safeway run and mailed off a couple of books at the post office substation at the neighborhood grocery.  Sure be glad when they're finished installing new gas pumps.  The parking lot is a nightmare.  Always a ton of business at that little corner store. They have a drive-through coffee window, a deli to sit down and eat, hot food in the store (chicken wings and such), a post office, and lotto numbers, along with groceries and beer.  Their parking lot is beat up and difficult to maneuver around and it always irritates me that they don't take some of their money to fix it up.

Just went out to get the mail and got two of my more expensive monthly bills so I'm not especially happy right now.  My tinnitis (which had lessened a bit these past days) is back ringing and annoying the hell out of me.  I probably need a nap.  I went to bed halfway early last night,(9:30) and started reading this book called 'By Sanction of the Victim.'  It's out of print but the Interlibrary loan Service found me a copy out of San Jose.  It was nominated for a Pulitzer in '76 and has to be one of the most horrific books I've ever read.  Along the lines of Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood.' 

I had to skim over some parts just so I could get through it and I ended up staying awake until midnight finishing it.  This morning I decided to do some research about the author as I knew the book was based on a true story.  Wikepedia had a thorough coverage of it....search Syliva Likens.

Yesterday I forced myself to work outside for a couple of hours.  It was very slow going for me as it was one of those days where every joint hurt like hell.  I kept thinking if I just plowed on through that eventually my body would accept the fact it was going to be working.  She never did catch on but I managed to get done one corner of the yard that I wanted to work on---the bird feeding corner.

I've got seven bird feeders here and four in the front counting the two hummingbird feeders. I guess that's enough.  Had to scour out the bird baths with bleach as they were extra yucky.  Am hoping I can talk Hunter into cutting my lawn today or this weekend.   I might even cut it myself if he can get the mower started for me.

Otherwise, all I need to do out there is fix up the large pots with fresh dirt and flowers.  Need to fix my back gate too. It's getting harder to close as it needs weedeating in that area and a better latch.  I should go out there now and just do a bit but I'm too tired.

Watched Doc on PBS last night. That was the only thing I could find of interest.  It only runs for 45 mintues and every time it ends, I'm sad.  That's one good show!

Well, guess I'll open up the two bills that arrived and see how much I'm investing in cable and utilities this month.  I wish I was rich.

Happy Anniversary A&M!

Happy 4th to Andy and Mary (even though I forgot until I read it on Facebook) BAD MAMA!

I kept waking up every couple of hours last night or maybe I should say this morning... 3, 5, 7...just rolled over and went back to dream some more. Stupid dreams.  Odd the people who are showing up. Anyhow, I woke up again at 7:40 and thought...uh oh, Jen will be here in a minute with the dog; I'd best open the curtains so she knows I'm up and doesn't put him in the backyard.

Too late. He was standing on the porch peeking in the vertical blinds on the sliding glass door wondering what in the hell am I doing out here?!  I let him in and proceeded to walk through the house doing my wake up chores.  I threw my bed pillows on the floor to make up the bed and he must have thought they were there for his benefit as he plopped down on one and rolled all over it upside down. Guess I'll change the pillow cases now.  He sleeps with Jenni and Wayne (and often bed hops going to Hunter and Maddie as well) but I don't like anything in my bed except books.  ha ha

Another gray day.  I may venture out in the back anyhow and start playing around with those pots. Especially now that I have a stool to sit on.  Yesterday I spent a few hours at the sewing machine appliquing various little quilt squares.  Ran to the library and picked up a few videos on birds.  Made me wish I had a lot of trees in the backyard but I'll make do with the three little ones I have.

Might head over to Walmart and pick up a couple of bird feeder stake poles or whatever you call them.  I've got two in the front but think I need a couple tall ones in the back too.

Mary:  When you get a minute could you call and explain to me again where my music is on Itunes?
I know we transferred about 300 to my Ipod touch but when I go to Itunes online, my library shows 1600+ songs but most of them can't be located when I click on them to play.  I went to my exterior hard drive box and they don't seem to be there either. 

Itunes is so difficult to understand. I especially don't get how I can have it in three places (counting my old computer) and none of them will play.  Well, maybe my old computer will. I did transfer some songs from there to my Ipod Shuffle when you and Andy were here.  I don't actually play the songs much but I do want to know they're available to me if I want to play them. And since I bought two online yesterday, I'd like to be able to burn a couple of CDs for the car.  Perhaps you can't do this over the phone but maybe you can give me an idea of where to look.

Well, I guess I'll run my errands now and get it over with.  My morning coffee has given me heartburn the last two mornings so I wonder if I'm going to be off the brew for a while.  Or at least down to one cup instead of two.  Can different brands of coffee affect you I wonder?

Gramma's Got a Scanner

We had a little bit of excitement in the neighborhood yesterday. It was raining when I expected the kids home so I decided to drive over to the bus stop and pick them up.  It's hit or miss if I find them, though. Sometimes Maddie goes to a friend's house or one or the other will decide to not take the bus. Yesterday was one of those where I missed them.  Anyhow, as I was backing out of the garage, I noticed a police car at the end of the street kind of half blocking the road with lights on. He was standing outside the car and watched me closely.  Hmmmm...

When I returned to the house, he watched me pull into the garage again.  Wasn't long before the kids came in, eyes wide, and wondering what was happening.  They were questioned as to where they were going and they pointed to Gramma's house two houses down.  He told them to hurry along and stay inside.  Hunter remembered that "Gramma had a scanner" so we turned it on so we could tune in.  Just your run-of-the-mill fugitive climbing fences and running through the trees trying to avoid the cops.  Still, it was kind of fun while it lasted.

And now ....  on to my regular life... yes, it's just the same ole stuff....

I baked a batch of blackberry muffins and made a tour of Goodwill and Serenity House.  Goodwill was a little more interesting than usual; they must have just got in a load of merchandise.  I picked up this rhino for a spot under my houseplants in the living room.  A silly purchase, I suppose, but it was only a dollar and I thought he was cute.

At Serenity House, I spotted this shower chair outside in the rain and thought it might be the ideal height and size to use in the yard for sitting down to weed and do flower planting.

It was a little higher in price than usual Serenity House items are and I asked the manager if she would lower the price a little.  She said no which of course, irked me considering how much money I spend at that place.  But oh well, I guess the world doesn't revolve around me, after all.  Jenni laughed when she saw it. Asked me why I didn't just use the portable potty they have up in their garage attic (I insisted they keep it for me after dad died as I figured I might need it myself someday).

She thought using a toilet in the yard would be hilarious and she about wet her pants laughing over it.

That got us talking about other bathroom stories.

She said:  I still remember the morning I picked you up to take you to the hospital for your colonosocopy.  I thought it was so appropriate that you were dressed from head to toe in brown!

My toilets here are the modern water saving type and one thing I hate about them is that they get plugged up all the time.  Especially in rainy weather.  I've got a plunger by both toilets and they get called into service a lot.  Hunter commented that Gramma Kathy is going to get a toilet that is built to be clog free.  He insists, however, that he'll prove that wrong.

I never did get outside to work in the dirt yesterday, but I did transplant a house plant.  From the looks of the weather today, I think it will be another day of sewing inside.  I got three different applique projects cut out and ironed and today I'll sew the pieces down and try to arrange in a wall hanging.  I wish I could figure out what to do with all these masterpieces I'm accumulating. I'm thinking of just mailing them off to various friends and making them take them whether they like it or not.  I bet I've got well over a dozen to unload.

 A couple of days ago, Hunter wanted to use my ladder to see if there were any balls in the eave over the garage. Much to his surprise, there were several along with a lot of badminton birdies.  Also in the mix was this red thingie.  He was afraid to touch it. At first I thought it was a bunch of radishes that had gone to seed.  Very gross. It was an old red koosh ball type toy of Maddie's.  It went to the trash bin.

 

Library just sent me an email that a book I wanted has come in.  I love that you can order most anything if it's not in their catalog. They open in an hour so I'll go up and browse around for a bit. Look over the Leader, and see if I can find a couple movies too.

Oh swell!  There's that stupid commerical AGAIN of the guy who suffered from shingles.  I'm really sick and tired of hearing that.  Obviously, the drug company pushing that shot has money to burn for tv scare ads.  And those shots aren't cheap either!  Most commericals get under my skin early but every now and then, one comes along that I find myself watching repeatedly.  Like the Subaru ad of the father handing over the car keys to his teenage daughter for the first time and how he's looking in the car window giving her last minute instructions and seeing her as a five-year-old.  I'm betting a lot of parents identify with that scenerio.

I'm going to have to read up on the birds some more. There are dozens of them swooping and flying across the street over the scotch broom patch.  Must be play time or they're looking for food. I should stand by the window with my camera as my hummingbird often zooms around this time too.

Okay, that does it for this Wednesday morning.  Think I'll zip over to YouTube and see what I can find to post.  Hmmm...this was cool..

Where'd that sun go?

I spent yesterday on various household tasks. Today I was going to spend a little time in the yard as I have a big bag of dirt I'm anxious to start playing with.  Surprised to see how gray and overcast it is as I thought that was on schedule for tomorrow.  Doesn't really matter that much, though; if I decide to work outside, I'll just put on my rainhat and gloves.  I wish I could afford to hire a gardener. At least for the weeding needed here and there.  I like to weed and pretty things up but if my back or legs are not in the mood then getting down close to the ground for any length of time is a painful effort. One way or the other, though, the job will get done--even if I have to do it 10-minute periods at a time.

I want to use some of the dirt to fix up my round of pots in the lower yard.  They need some fresh soil and that area needs a lot of cosmetic work.

I can see a  lot of rearranging coming on just looking at these pictures.  My rearranging gene thrives outside as well as in the house.  I may not have a green thumb but I can move rocks and yard decorations with a flourish.  And my tulips along the fence finally came up too.

Hmmmm.. book to put on my reading list I think. Just watched a segment on the Today Show about Madeleine Albright's latest book called 'Prague Winter.'  Sounds like just the type of book I'd like.

Happy Belated Birthday (yesterday) to cousin Dale over in Sequim.


Second day in a row I've watched a police car drive down the street slowly.  This is right after I watched a couple of teenage boys with hooded sweatshirts and backpacks walking down the road.  I assume they live on the other side of the woods and are on their way to the alternative school a half mile or so from here.  Still...you never know if maybe they weren't sleeping in the woods all night.
Yeah, Gladys Kravitz is alive and well on this street!  ha ha

After I wrote a little piece on this 1930's child star for my PT Leader blog, I became email pals with his daughter, who lives in Pennsylvania.  She wants to read my autobiography that I wrote a few years ago so I'm going to the print shop today to have another book printed.  I'm reading her dad's book now (The boy who looked like Shirley Temple)  Am enjoying it too. Easy reading that flows along nicely and holds your interest.

I cut out a lot of applique pieces yesterday and will start ironing them onto fabric this afternoon. I've got three different patterns I'm working on....my triangle house village, some tulips, and a third with purple flowers.  I also invested in some decorative buttons at Joanne's (talk about expensive!) and I'll add them to some of the designs.  Also hope to try and make a couple of button boards this week. Need to stop by Goodwill and Serenity House to see what I can find in the way of old frames.

And with that, I think I'll get myself prettied up and on the road.  It's 9 a.m. and I like to do my errands early. Here's a song by Lacy J. Dalton and other female song writers that was performed on Austin City Limits several years ago.  I think I have this video tape in my collection. Always loved Lacy J.'s voice.  That woman with the short blond hair and beige jacket is Gail Davies, who used to be my neighbor in Port Townsend when she was a kid.  Others on stage include Emmylou Harris and Roseanne Cash.

The Paper Mill --Revisited

Posted a short piece on my Leader blog today about the mill in Port Townsend.  Nothing earth shattering but I'm sure it will aggravate some.  If so, then my job here is done.  I grew up in a mill town. So did my dad and my kids.  Fond memories.  Well, maybe not so much for dad.  He always told me to go find work somewhere else.  But I didn't.  And I liked my job fine.  Stayed put for over 23 years.

I've got a ton of mill pictures on my Facebook page and here are a few....

 These next photos are of the office building going up. I spent many years in this building.

Flea market, Costco & home again

A friend sent me this video via Facebook. I thought it was pretty good.  The second video was sent by Les Walden. It was interesting as well.







Jenni had to make a Costco run into Sequim so I decided to tag along instead of driving into Port Townsend.  Her and Hunter brought me some "prizes" he had won yesterday at the school carnival. I was thrilled.  A flower pot, bird house, bird seed, coffee, a watering can, a porch deco that blows in the wind, and a box of tea.  I bought a big bag of dirt at Costco and will start playing around fixing up my outdoor pot area next week.

I finished zigzagging my village wall hanging yesterday. It looks a lot better and I think I'll try to make some more using different house and tree shapes.

We made a side trip to a flea market in my old neighborhood and I found a couple of old buttons, another minature toilet for my collection, and a small bathroom sink.  Ran into my cousin, Dale, and his wife Joyce, who were looking over this guys coin collection.  He also had a postcard collection and I spent a little time going through it.  Would have bought more from him as he had some old ones but they were a little high.  I spent $18 as it was on just the two I did purchase.  Both were Chetzemoka Park.  I love them!

I've tried and tried to read the names on this postcard and the date but outside of 'Gertrude' and 'Ben', I'm not real sure of the writing. The person it's addressed to might be Bryl Collivers.  The date says 199 and the last number is missing.  Two-cent stamps were in place in 1917.

On the way home from Costco, Hunter wanted to stop at a pawn shop downtown as they had some old pennies he was interested in buying.  He's going to have a good collection someday. 

Well, gotta search for button projects now.

Another note.....Two people wrote they thought the name was Beryl H. Oliver and the date was 1919. My daughter also showed me how it was 1919 on the postcard.  Now I'm going to research Beryl.

Maddie's Mad

When Jenni dropped off the dog this morning, Maddie led him to the front door. As she handed over his leash, she said:  "Can you believe it?!  I am so mad!  They voted off Colton on Idol. Grrrrr!!"

"Oh, I know," I told her. "I thought the way the judges were carrying on, he was probably going to win."

I'm off American Idol now.  And not because of Colton.  I'm too old to appreciate his kind of music.  Phil Phillips would have been my choice to win.  The judges were grating on my nerves. Randy's basic comment is "Dude Dude."  Steven Tyler has whatever opinion the other two have and his vocabulary seems quite limited as well.  Jennifer Lopez, of course, sees herself as the one who knows the business and is the spokesman for the team. Her delight in being on camera irritates me and I usually fast-forward through all of them. Same goes for the judges on 'Dancing with the Stars.' I like teh host, Tom Bergeron, but the rest of them are pure show-offs.

I quit watching 'TheVoice' for about the same reason.  The judges were okay (except Christina Aguilera) but the songs being performed were often so screechy and AWFUL that I wondered why anyone thought that was worth listening to.  And the get-ups they dress all these performers in makes it look like a freak circus.

Gimme the days of 'Amateur Hour' when Ted Mack said a few words of intro and let it go at that.  Or Dick Clark on the early days of Bandstand when a handful of teens would listen to a song and say stuff like "I'll give it a 75% 'cause you can dance to it."  Now, that was good TV!

I decided to zigzap applique around my houses and trees today. I think it looks better. I bought this applique presser foot at the sewing store last week. It's completely open so you can see where the material is to make your turns. Amazes me sometimes how little I know about sewing notions.

Kris Logue gave me some tips on using buttons so I'm going to search online for projects. I especially liked her idea of doing quilt wall hangings and using buttons as accents for a 3-D look.  While digging around in my  button jars, I came across a little baggie of beaded safety pins. Decided my gramma feet needed some sprucing up. Yeah, I feel much sexier now. 

Well, gotta write a quick letter to my sister in prison.  And how many people can write that in a blog?!  hee hee  Actually, the letters are kind of hard to write sometimes because you can't include newspaper clippings or even pictures. Can't send any gifts of any kind; not even stamps.  But mail is mail so she'll have to be contented hearing about my ever so interesting life in front of  the computer, sewing machine, and television set.

Not much planned for the weekend although I'm  thinking about traveling into Port Townsend so I can attend the open house at the research center.  Depends on how my legs are feeling.  Sigh.....when did my activity schedule come down to how body parts are operating?!

Here's a video with Tom Waits. Love his voice...

And here's the latest T-mobile ad.  Part of my daughter's job involves working on the upcoming ads.
She isn't involved in the production or filming but other technical details....

Here I am again

Well, I almost made it all day long without blogging.  I puttered around at the sewing machine today.  Started off by rearranging the sewing area as it still wasn't working the way I wanted it to.  I  like it now. I face the TV and my ironing board is back up in the corner. I had bought one of those little ironing boards and tried using it on table tops but it just wasn't cutting it.

I wanted to try and make that triangle village using the pattern Janie sent me. I haven't sewn the border around it yet but I'll do that tomorrow.

I started with an oblong piece of muslin, sewed sky material across the top (folded the bottom part of the sky under first) and put a row of rocks and grass at the bottom. Click to enlarge.  There were only five pattern pieces and I used transfer paper to iron them on. Cut and ironed on tree trunks first. I also added a rabbit on the right. Wanted a cow or horse but couldn't find any material in my stash.  Yesterday's blog shows the one from the magazine.

Went outside to take pictures of my tulips this morning. Sent them to Walgreens for prints and have them taped up in the kitchen now.  So pretty.

I returned library books and brought home a few more. They were having a bag sale (fill up for $2) so I packed home four or five extras.  Noticed a police car at a house two down so naturally, I opened my window to see if I could hear anything.  A widow lives there but she has a lot of adult kids coming and going and I suspect they cause her a lot of grief.  There's been a history of disturbance. This time the cop was arguing with the punk because he was smoking pot and driving under the influence, among other things.  I got into it with him a couple of days ago. 

There was a "friend" visiting and he left his very large dog in his very small car parked in the street and the dog barked for an hour.  I went out there to complain and the punk said "it's alright; my friend is leaving in just a bit."  I should have told him "NO! It's not alright."  Stupid ass.

My little tree out front is doing much better now that Hunter and I pruned it down some. I think it's going to be fine.

Rain, rain, rain.  I guess I'll close the curtain, retire to my recliner, pick up my crochet hook, and play the granny game.  I started a counted cross stitch yesterday too.  A white duck with a scarf on her head.

Just watched American Idol that I taped last night. Another show I'm losing interest in. Why can't those kids sing pretty songs?  Why must they all screech and carry on like they have gas pains?  They even take songs I know and ruin them.  Sigh....  

Later in the day

Had lunch with Mary Norton and stopped at Safeway to buy a couple ingredients for enchilladas. Now I don't feel like cooking, though, so I'll fix them tomorrow instead.  I puttered around most of the afternoon. Sorted through my button collection as I want to mount some of them for display.  Discovered my collection, however, is kind of boring so I went down to Serenity House to see if they had any laying around.  They didn't.  I'll keep hunting.

I always seem to find something that interests me when I go there. Today it was two sacks of quilt batting for a dollar a piece (love that price!) and this cute little metal bicycle.

I'm not sure what that side car is supposed to hold.  I also picked up this beautiful bowl with lilac   tulips on it. Everything was half price, apparently, as my total bill was under $10.  I may use the bowl as a gift but I'm going to leave it sitting out for now so I can admire it.

As I looked through my supply of old magazines and patterns, I came across several pages of craft ideas you can have kids make.  I absolutely refuse to throw them out but I would like to give them to anybody who might like them.  I'd even pay postage.    I made another wall hanging with the red hearts I had appliqued a while back. Now I have to figure out who I can give it to.

My sister sent me a picture she saw in a magazine for an applique wall hanging. I love it so much, I immediately made templates for it and will start on it tomorrow. I won't add the dogs, though.

I went downtown to get a picture of the cruise ship that's in town. Found a good spot at the top of the stairs that lead down to First Street.  Another guy was taking pictures for his Facebook page.Truck driver whose territory is PT, Sequim, Joyce, PA, Quilcene. He told me that the black speck on my lens when I zoom is a piece of dirt on the inside. He took his camera apart to vacuum it but I'm not about to try that.  Here's the two pictures I took.

Sad to hear Dick Clark is gone.  Like a part of my teenage years disappearing.  I chuckle whenever I remember that Mary Gaboury (in sincere earnest) wanted to invite Dick Clark to one of our class reunions.  She was convinced he would show up.  We never did try but I wish we had.

And in case I don't blog tomorrow...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SHARON SOFIE IN PORTLAND! Our history goes back to first grade.  After graduation we lived together in Port Angeles and Portland. Ironic how we both ended up in those two towns after all these years.



It's 5:30 pm and the rain has been coming down for over an hour.  Maybe I can talk myself into staying off the computer tomorrow morning and get straight into sewing.  I often use my blog as an excuse to get out of other work.   Since I wrote twice today, I intend to not write tomorrow. We'll see how successful I am.

Oh...and shame shame on the Secret Service.  That REALLY ticks me off!  Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!