Confusion at the supermarket....

There was a bit of confusion at the supermarket this morning. When I was ready to pay for my groceries, the cashier said, “Strip down facing me.”.

Making a mental note to complain to my congressman about Homeland Security running amok, I did just as she had instructed.

When the hysterical shrieking and security alarms finally subsided, I found out that she was referring to my credit card.

I have been asked to shop elsewhere in the future...

Wanna play with finger puppets?

I finally got around to watching all three episodes of The Hatfields and the McCoys Saturday night. We recorded if from a History Channel marathon last weekend. It was good but 6 hours of TV, even with forwarding through commercials, is a lot of TV in one sitting.

I seldom give TV my full attention unless something very compelling is on. Saturday was no exception, but instead of knitting, I did some hand sewing. I made finger puppets.



I didn't have a pattern but I did use some online images for inspiration. The cow and pig in the center of the bottom row were the first two. I decided to make the puppets a bit wider so that hubby or my sons could use these to entertain Colton.

You never know when a stage production might need immediate casting! The top row is supposed to be Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger. Colton got that which is all that mattered in my world.

I have a few more animals in mind and maybe a clown and a few people. Next I'll have to work on a screenplay. I'd hate to see these fine young actors languish in a toy box or lined up on the wrong side of a table runner as shown above.

Nap Time!

We have a bed upstairs that the grandson could use when he is here at nap time, but I'm not comfortable with him being upstairs and me/us being down here. I saw a pattern that someone posted on Pinterest for a long, envelope style cover sewn from a cute kid-friendly print and stuffed with pillows to make a sleep mat. Here is the link to those directions.

Being old enough to have experienced many *What! A! Great! Idea!* projects that have fallen flat after time and money has been expended, I decided to go fast, easy and cheap. All those things our mothers told us not too be when we were dating. Hehehe...

Anyway, Colton loves to reach into pillowcases and finger the corners of pillows as he is settling down to sleep. With that in mind, I decided to use premade pillowcases. I would have loved a kid print, but they seem to be sold only in complete sheet sets. I found packages of pillowcase pairs on clearance and bought them. We had three spare pillows at home so I only sewed three of them together.

I zigzagged the long sides with a fairly wide zigzag set at a narrow stitch length. I went over the seams twice.

Somewhat flatter pillows might be more practical, but these are easily removed between nap time visits. The case will be easy to wash. I might spring for satiny pillow protectors to make sliding them in and out even easier.

Yesterday was the big test...would Colton like this?

He took to it right away!

Bears in diapers approve of it too!

He wanted it on the couch, his usual nap place, which started out ok, but proved to be slippery and he landed on the floor, barely waking up. I rearranged the mat and he snuggled back onto it to resume a nice long rest.

Maybe I'll look for a 4th pillow while I'm out checking pillow protectors, then come home and add the fourth pillow case. If I nap on it, rest assured, no photos will be shared here!

My blog buddy Chatty Crone posts fun jokes and little stories on Fridays. I'm doing the same today with this joke about sex among the elderly:

Sunday Morning Sex

I will never hear church bells ringing again without smiling..

Upon hearing that her elderly grandfather had just passed away, Katie went straight to her grandparent's house to visit her 95 year-old grandmother and comfort her. When she asked how her grandfather had died, her grandmother replied, "He had a heart attack while we were making love on Sunday morning." Horrified, Katie told her grandmother that 2 people nearly 100 years old having sex would surely be asking for trouble.

"Oh no, my dear," replied granny. "Many years ago, realizing our advanced age, we figured out the best time to do it was when the church bells would start to ring. It was just the right rhythm. Nice and slow and even. Nothing too strenuous, simply in on the Ding and out on the Dong."

She paused to wipe away a tear, and continued, "He'd still be alive if the ice cream truck hadn't come along."

Thanks to my friend Linda for sharing this.

Thanks to my friend Deanna for passing this next bit along in an email.

This Is Rather Neat !!

After you type your first name a card comes up with "Sorry Sorry Sorry" on it. Just wait about 30 seconds. The words will turn white, then....... Trust me, you'll be surprised. There is nothing scary.  Watch the video from O.B. Tampons ...it is very creative.    Click here

Before I was sure what that link was about, I used another name other than my own. Next I used my own name, both worked. Then I used a nickname that a computer generated list probably wouldn't recognize. That worked too, but not in the same way. Have fun playing with this. Good job, O.B. Tampons marketing!

Turquoise necklace

A necklace in the April 2012 edition of Bead and Button Magazine was the inspiration for my new necklace. The original necklace and ordering info for the pattern if you can't locate that issue of the magazine is here. With concern that the turquoise stones that I used might become a bit heavy, and not knowing how they compared to the size briolettes mentioned in the pattern, I wove a two chain repeat between them. That and not using two different colored seed beads were my only variations.

Here are the components

A close up of the beading in progress

And the finished necklace on yours truly

Sorry that last photo is a bit grainy. I'm blaming hubster since I took the other shots and he isn't standing here reading that I am blaming him.

Most of my beading projects are simple line bracelets strung on beading wire. Those are made to satisfy an urge to put certain colors together and to have a quick project. Sometimes when I have a labor intensive project of another sort going on, making a bracelet or a greeting card is a big boost. This was a nice balance for me, more complicated than a line bracelet but not as detailed and time consuming as some projects I've undertaken as shown here.

Now that I have beading supplies put away, I have no excuse not to tackle a few sewing projects that shouldn't take long. Stay tuned! 

Foiled again!

While at the cottage this weekend, waiting for a carpet cleaning company to arrive, I attempted to compose a post on my iPad using a download called Blogsy.

Photo from Practicalecommerce.com

If I try to post directly to Blogger from my iPad, all formatting is lost. The result is a run on paragraph and I have no luck with using photos or graphics.

I know that I used Blogsy once or twice with success, but as my kids used to say, I mis-remembered which button was the preview button and I lost what I had written. After an inward scream that used a few curse words, I went to the truck to read.

What?

Yep, I went to sit inside the truck. The miracle worker from Chem Dry had arrived and was working his magic on some very dirty carpeting. The sun had been out while I sat on the deck and attempted a post, but had gone into hiding when the post disappeared.  We had unseasonably cool weather the past few days. Not truly cold by winter standards, but definitely chilly for June. Add bouts of driving rain and winds and we had a weekend spent mostly indoors.

Photo from Google search of Chem Dry

I wanted to be out of the way of the carpet cleaner but I was cold sitting out on the deck. Bill was content with the temperature, but he isn't normal is always much warmer than I am. The poor man really hoped I would have hot flashes. Not to be mean, but just so we could be in agreement on windows, fans and furnaces. Anyway, off I went to the truck with my Kindle and finished a Miss Julia novel,  Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle.   Check out the series by Ann B. Ross here.

Author Ann B. Ross

The sun returned, the temps warmed up a bit, the Chem Dry man left after doing a great job and after an hour or so, we began putting the smaller pieces of furniture back in place.

We packed up to return home this evening and ran into a island resident on our way. I didn't get out of the truck to exchange pleasantries. His expression didn't look entirely welcoming.

His shell alone was at least a foot long. He isn't one of the world's cutest creatures, is he? But who am I to judge? If you had seen me with my hair pulled back (and none too clean) in a dirty sweat shirt (we washed everything before putting things back into place), you wouldn't have stopped to meet me either!

If you are successfully composing and posting from your iPad, please throw me a clue or two or six. If I find out you are holding out on me, I will have to send Tough Turtle to rough you up a bit and spill what you know. Given his speed, or lack thereof, you probably have a year before you need worry. Maybe I'll improve my Blogsy technique by then.

The Human Mind

A little Friday funny for everyone....

Analysis of this picture can tell us a lot about how different people think.

- For young men, it's a picture of a lady with a nice derrière but only the most observant will notice that she is crossing a street.

-  The really observant will notice that she is wearing a thong.

- For older men, she appears to be a respectable woman with a big ass on her way to work.

- The perverts among them will imagine her naked.

- Wiser men will ponder the  presence of mind of the photographer to take the shot in the face of such beauty and be grateful that they shared it.

- For half of the women, this is an ordinary woman who should not have left home dressed that way.

- The other half will think she is a slut but wonder where she bought that blouse.

- Older women will imagine the misery that the woman's curves will cause by the time she reaches 50.

- But only children, the extremely intelligent, and the celibate will notice that the taxi is being driven by a dog!