This is the ramblings of a woman who has, at one time or another, done about anything she wanted to. "If I don't know the right answer I will dazzle you with a line of b---s--- until you are pretty sure I am a genius on the subject. May teach you something in the process!"
loumercerwordsofwisdom.blogspot.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Day Before the Big Day
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, but today is not. Today is the day I have to take my dog Polly in to the vet and today is the day she will not come back. It is so sad when this time comes. She was Kenny's dog. He picked her out of all the puppies in the litter. She slept under the bed until Kenny passed and then she slept on the floor on his side of the bed.
She mourned Kenny for a very long time and never did quit watching for him to come home. She was never far from my side. If I was in the basement, so was she. If I went in the bathroom she lay on the floor outside the door, waiting. When I went to Kansas and left her home, she didn't eat. She lay under the buffet and waited. When the neighbors came in to check things, she growled at them, but did not move.
And how is loyalty like that rewarded? It is rewarded with a trip to the vet so she can go to the Rainbow Bridge and find Kenny. When she is too weak to get up the stairs without falling, when she growls at Daisy for no reason, it is time. I did not do this for my selfish reasons, I did it because she was not happy. I only wish that when I get in her shape that someone could take me by the hand and make me happy again.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Trying the woven blanket again!!
This is what the wrong side of the block looks like. Looks as good on the back as the front! I am so proud of myself that I could jump up and down. There are a couple mistakes in this one, so I am going to make another just like it only I will weave it right side out and it will be just PERFECT!
Whole blanket, wrong side. I sure hope when I hit the publish button that the pictures will be there.
Monday, November 16, 2009
The blanket unveiling at last!!!!
Since this is what is called an overshot pattern I throw 1 shot of blue wool in the pattern and then 1 shot of white 8/2 cotton in tabby. That is why there is so much white. This is actually the wrong side of the blanket. Let's go down farther and hope we have a right side! Before we leave I should tell you the name of this block is Lee's Surrender and the blanket consists of 4 blocks. Shown below is 1 block.
Here it is!! This is the right side. See how predominate the blue is in this picture? That means this is the right side. You know, I look at this and I am not sure which is the right side and which is the wrong side. I guess it really does not matter. Since I did not listen when Joanne was trying to tell me, I wove this whole blanket with the wrong side up unless , of course, the wrong side is the right side. By this time, I am so confused that I think I will have a tiny draught of something fermented and go to bed.
Unveiling of the Weaving!!
Sorry, Lou
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Loom in Action
This is the back of the loom all tightened to the proper tension and ready to be woven into something that will be a work of art, but something grandma and great grandpa did as a matter of course. Men were actually employed in the weaving profession a long time before us women settled on it as an outlet for our creativity.
This loom is 60" wide, which is a little wider than a lot of looms, but when I bought this from the lady who taught me to weave I had in mind that I would weave carpet for the whole house. That little projuect did not last long.
I would like to take a moment here to thank the lady who taught me to weave for doing such a good job. I think she retired from teaching after me. I don't know if she quit cause I was such a pain, she was just tired of teaching, or if it just worked out that way and my paranoia is kicking in here.
Any way, I would like to send a big thank you out to Marilyn H. here in Pueblo, Colorado for taking me under her wing. She is a true artist in every sense of the word and I have learned much at her knee. Well, not actually her knee, but you get the picture!
Now, here we come to the first few rows of the blanket. You should know that Joanne told me the pattern I was working on would need to be altered if I wanted this woven with the right side up, but I, in my haste blew that off and forged right ahead. So what you see here is actually the back side of the blanket! I really do need to learn to slow down and listen once in a while.
Friday, November 13, 2009
This is Friday the 13th
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Introduction to the Loom
Monday, November 9, 2009
Inkle Loom
This one (below) is the one I am currently working on and in all fairness I have been working on it for 3 or 4 months. The white band is what I use to keep it all the same width, or as close as I am going to get to something uniform. My teacher just shines with pride when she sees how screwed up I can actually get! I love that woman.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Gopher and the Dog
What I say was neither! I have had a small bit of a problem with either a gopher or mole throwing up little piles of dirt here and there in the yard. I was not alarmed as I figured when it got tired of looking it would leave. Besides that I had instructed Bret to go pee over there, because, according to the ancient legend, that would deter burrowing varmints in your yard. Has not worked yet, but you just never know!
I digress! The geese were in full battle regalia, stomping in circles, heads low and charging at the fence honking at the top of their lungs. On this side was Daisy, my dog that is a cross between a Weiner dog and a Jack Russell Terrier. Daisy had the top half of her body, to include her head and both front feet, engaged in digging the biggest hole I have ever seen a dog dig! I knew this was going to be good!
I went over and she was not interested in me at all, but rather, kept sniffing and digging. I got the shovel. After the first thrust I knew she was on the trail of the gopher/mole. There was the tunnel! I dug a little longer and Daisy kept sniffing and helping. Alas, I soon learned that I was tired of this game, so I gave up.
Daisy continued for a little while, but then she also wore out the chase. What did we learn from this? As I look out across my yard full of holes and the new piles of dirt appearing here and there, I think about Bill Murray. I don't remember the movie, might have been something like "Caddy Shack", but what I do remember is the devastation that followed his encounter with the gopher.
The golf course was all blown up, smoke hung in the air, Bill Murray was covered in dirt, and the little gopher poked his head up out of a hole and laughed! I am not going to fight a losing battle, and if Daisy wants to dig the whole yard up, then she can just dig away. I probably would like to xeriscape anyway!!
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Art of the Apology
I am a Democrat, born and bred. I have been known to support Republican candidates on more then one occasion, but for the most part I just support what ever or who ever I think is right and on the side of good. This has earned me the name in the family as "a flaming Liberal," but so be it. Back to my train of thought.
My friend is a Republican. Nothing wrong with that, just laying the groundwork for this missive. Republicans have the right to live also, (Hi Joe!) The problem arises when we talk politics, so I tend to avoid that at all costs. I change the subject, I walk away, just whatever it takes, but...
We live in a computerized world and in that world is the forwarded email! No need to even think, just click forward, forward, forward. Now I open most of my email because I think there may be a message in there somewhere. So when the health care debate came to the forefront, my mail box was filled with how Obama is getting ready to have all the old people euthanized, and me being an old person, should immediately write my senator and yada, yada, and you know the routine.
That part is not important, what is is the fact that I asked her not to send this stuff. I forwarded it back to her. I asked her not to, but she continued, so I blocked her and sent her a letter telling her why. I was truly offended.
Then came the apology: "Dear Lou, I am very, very sorry I offended you, but you need to know what the Democrats are trying to do. You need to know that ..." and she continued in that vein, explaining to me what I am to simple minded to understand.
So on to the art of the apology. People have feelings. People have thoughts. People just want to live. If you step on someones toes in your quest for the good life, apologize and back off. "I am sorry." "I am sorry I offended you." "I am sorry I pissed you off." Stop there at the period. Do not say, "I am sorry, but you know you are wrong!" "I am sorry, but you are stupid and need to be educated."
Just "I am sorry." That is if you are sorry. Sorry you hurt me, not sorry I am of a different belief. A heartfelt apology will go a long way toward building bridges. I am a very stubborn person and left a church I had attended for 15 years for the lack of an apology.
So just love each other, mend your bridges and try not to piss me off, cause I carry a grudge and you need to know that going in!!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Nancy's Forest
It is hard to beleive that next door to Nancy's house is a school! Her house is in a forest and there is no other word for where she lives.
This is a bird house that her husband, Ivan built for the little feathered creatures that flit about!
This has been a test to see how to put pictures on here and I think I got it, so get ready to learn lots of stuff!!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Snail Mail
Well those days are all in the past! Mother has since passed to her great reward, the child bearing days are well over around here, and the United States Post Office is slowly being replaced by the Fax Machine and the computer. Not to mention the telephone and the cell phone.
I look back on the changes that have transpired since I was a little girl traipsing the dirt roads around my home town of Nickerson, Kansas, and it is enough to turn my hair white!
We used to be on a party line on the phone. That meant that several families shared the line. If it rang 2 longs and a short, that meant the phone was for us. 2 shorts and 2 longs was for someone else. We could pick up the phone and "listen in", but we could and would very get her little fannies warmed for that! I am pretty sure the operator who connected the phone calls was not above listening, because she was very knowledgeable about the goings on around town. She actually reported to my mother that my older sister was pregnant and stirred up a real hornets nest there! Just doing what she thought was right (Like eavesdropping was right!).
The telephone came in one color; black. It had a crank on the side and that is how you got the operator, turn the crank. She would, in due time answer "Number please!" Usually we just said the name of who we wanted and she rang it through. She knew where everyone was at any given time of the day, or at least where she thought they should be.
We took a tour of the telephone company when I was in grade school, probably about the third grade. That was an eye opener! The whole phone office was probably 10 foot square. The operator set on a little stool in front of a board which had a bunch of holes in it with wires connecting the parties talking. The operator, who I always thought to be 8 feet tall, was actually a very short woman, but just as crabby in real life as she was on the phone.
Is life better now? Depends. I can pick up the phone and instantly talk to my son in Dallas, or fire him off an email and have an answer via his Blackberry within seconds. Sure takes a lot of the mystery out of life. Oh, yeah, and the privacy. I know there are people lurking out there who want to steal my identity and know all my dirty little secrets, but here is the bottom line for you to think about; how long will it be before we all have a computer chip and all we have to do is think about the kid in Dallas and we will be connected by thought? Scares me.
Gives new meaning to the term Big Brother is wataching you!!
Another year down the tubes!
Counting today, there are only 5 days left in this year. Momma nailed it when she said "When you are over the hill you pick up speed...