Shouldn't Every Tuesday Be a Giving One?

I know through the holiday season it always seems like there is more need and likely there is, but it doesn't stop after the first of the year.  Frankly it pisses me off that a couple of the supermarkets locally only have  donation slips by the register at this time of year. The one I regularly shop at has them available ALL year long and I give weekly. Giving isn't just monetary, it's a kindness, a helping hand, a ride, an errand, generosity with a smile, a joke, a few words of sympathy or a hug. It doesn't have to be hard or costly and I swear, it'll will make you feel better, I promise. The ability to be able to give something is a blessing in itself, it would seem selfish to withhold such small gestures in times of need and truly irk the gods and goddesses of the world too! :-)

So, we had an uneventful Thanksgiving. Bundled up my Mom and took her out. She finished in under an hour and wanted to get back to her room at the health center. Sigh, while I didn't have leftovers I saved myself the aggravation that cooking a turkey  and all the fixings would have caused for such a short meal attention span. Plus the food was darn good at Larks this year in Medford.  Miss Mandy and the crew must have a small canine olympics because when we got home you could see she had tweeked her neck /back again. Bed rest and medications began. Yesterday was the first day she started to unkink, but it will take time.

For those that have been waiting, the Wiksten Kimono is DONE and yes, I like it quite a lot.



 My first run through is made of a fairly full bodied Japanese linen/cotton blend.



 Something drapier might have been nice too. The next one....
I loved the construction. It's pretty clever and easy and with the lining (fine dark brown linen), fully finished! Yeah!!! Instructions good. I do think the small shoulder slant and such make a bit of fitting difference and the sleeve is much more like a regular jacket than a kimono in volume.



I rather miss the traditional kimono sleeve. I might grade this out to be wider next go round.

The last of the cut skirts was finished too. I went down 3 sizes from my first go round and finally have a well fitting one.



The wool blend on this is soft and warm and quite comfortable. This proved to be the perfect Small Business Saturday outfit. (I wouldn't be caught dead out on Black Friday!) The kimono made it out for Thanksgiving too.

I wanted to share a perfectly weird and wonderful little thing a friend gave me. Isn't that so imaginative? You did catch the fox connection no doubt.



This is move week. My mom gets into her new apartment on Friday. I will be there early in the morning directing the movers. Oh joy....at least we have her in before December. It will be a long day.

Well, it was Mississippi after all........

The song for today, is one on my moving day playlist by Boston, a band near and dear to my heart!

Parting shot: The powder room escorts. It's like teens all going to the ladies room en mass...no smoking though!

The Shiny Bits

The great Clayfolk migration is taking place this weekend, and like many years past, I was there at the beginning! The show attracts thousands of folks, local and not so much, every year. I have to say, I found this years selections, well, rather underwhelming. One favorite artist that was listed as being there, wasn't, a decided lack of clever smalls perfect for gift giving, less interesting large pieces and certainly less innovation on shapes and glazes from past years. That is not to say the show was bereft of beautiful things, it wasn't, it simply wasn't as good as years past. Oh and while there was stunning black and white pottery artwork, I am never going to pay $90.00 for a coffee mug. I did however manage to find a few fun affordable pieces. In no particular order.









It's hard to believe that lovely mirror was only $150.00 in a walnut frame with a beautiful beveled mirror after seeing a $90.00 coffee mug!



Sorry, I'm beating this dead horse I know. There were a few other smalls which I can't show because they are gifts.

The little Red Breasted Nuthatch is the second in what appears to be the start of a new collection. I procured this awesome stained glass nuthatch several weeks ago.



In the glass department, I also retired the old green Kitchenaid electric tea kettle. It was getting spotty on shutting itself off and I had been waiting until the kitchen had been updated. I couldn't find either an orange or red kettle that pleased me so I went for pure flash!



Precious little has gotten out of the salon. Last week was an en endless trail of town trips for both myself and my Mom and Mandy who got her stitches out! This cute Cleo pinafore (Tilly and the Buttons), made it out and that is the Victoria Jones Waimea shirt underneath.



Heaps of stuff got cut too. I did things in 3's. Shirts, pants and these are skirts.



 Since this pic, two have been completed. The first one, a navy twill cotton is too big. I went back and cut the remaining two down to a size medium and the black linen fit much better. Only the brown melton wool is left to do.

I also cut out the Wiksten kimono and I am heading up to work on that this morning. I'll let you know how that turns out next post!

For anyone interested, here is some information on how to donate for victims of the Camp Fire. As we come into a time of thanks, it is also worth remembering that it is also a time of great need. If you can, give where ever your heart and need dictates. I always donate in honor of one of my companions on the other side of the bridge.

The song for this post...Supertramp...really! ;-)

Be safe, be kind.

Parting shot: Sleeping in, every morning, the bums! ;-)

Kitchen Proper Painting Completed

Whew, just in time for the holidays. That doesn't mean all the painting is done. I still have upper cabinets to do on the built in storage area across from the kitchen and down the back hallway. I'm paying someone to do that last bank of upper cabinets in the oil paint, mostly because they need to be done solely while standing on a ladder. No way, let some younger bones handle it. Without more fanfare here is the completed kitchen.









We are both loving the Cinnamon Sugar color. Not taupe, not grey but something in-between.

And all the vintage Midwinter Wild Oats dinnerware has arrived.





 I am quite smitten with the pattern, better in person and it all has a weighty solid feel.

For a Mom update, she is still holding in a remission period of sorts. Kidney function much improved with the nephrostomy tube. We're holding on the radiation. Feeling well although her blood counts are borderline low. She has had a couple of transfusions in the past month or so.  Her new apartment in the residential living area will be ready the 28th of this month, the move on the 29th and I have worked out a cat compromise. I refuse to pull the two kitties from their settled in new home. They are doing GREAT! But on the home front I have a barn cat who no longer works the barn and is more or less living in our basement. Now that's great for keeping mice out, but really, from feral to sweetness she has become an indoor kitty. Hating to be thrown out in the morning and called back in for the evenings in anything but the best weather. I am taking her to my Mom. If she goes down hill, I will always take Miss Priss back easily enough. It's not perfect but it offers a little something for both old lady and cat.

As slow as the sewing salon has been, a couple of makes have been completed. The first was my favorite shirt pattern in a yarn dyed soft brushed cotton plaid.





I love this shirt. I bought this same fabric in a couple of different color ways/plaids and will make them up for winter wear. The fabric is not flannel heavy but it is softer thicker fabric than the usual cotton. Henry Glass yarn dyes.

The second was a new make, The Waimea Ranch Shirt by Victoria Jones.





It has a shaped yoke, one piece from back to front and was a bit fussy. The shirt itself...meh! I don't like the overly long sleeve, nor the double breast pockets. I tried them and just not a fan. The shoulder fit is good as is the sleeve fit but the waist shaping will have to be adjusted up for my short waisted frame. I just can't explain why one shirt feels good and another doesn't, but there you go. The fit is good on me, I just don't like it as much as the Hey June Cheyenne shirt pattern.

Trying new things is fun and kimono patterns are everywhere. I jumped on the bandwagon with another pattern that sewists are raving about. The Wiksten Kimono Jacket.



It is bound to make it to the next pattern cutting session. I need to cut out some new pants too. Most of my old ones are too big.

And this MaCall's Cosplay pattern is also another addition. I loved the vest lines and the hood.



 Oh yes, I basically bought the pattern for that hood. Gotta hide my pointy ears after all. ;-)

But kidding aside what another horrible week. Shootings, firings and again, California burns.
This is what decline looks like. Historians will be able to look back and see the start of it all. We can now see the time line of climate change and we will be able to trace the fall of our democracy to somewhere around November 8, 2016.  The new house might be able to save something, but really, what will it take to change such a tenacious culture of hate? I have no idea.

For this November day, I'm handing over a ballad.  The Edmund Fitzgerald sunk on November 10, 1975 and I remember it. For anyone interested The Andrea Gail went down on October 28, 1991 in a no name storm that lasted 3 days. I've grown up with a rich maritime history living in Massachusetts for 38 years. "They that go down to the sea in ships" Psalm 107.23 I love ballads BTW, not enough of them are being written and certainly there are stories that are ballad worthy.

Be safe. Be kind.

Parting shot: Where the cool kids go to get warm.

Todays the Day! VOTE

Grab some friends, or neighbors or folks you just know might need a ride, and go VOTE.
At the very least it gives you bona fide bitching rights for the next 2 years. My ballot hit the mail the day after it arrived in my little hot hand. Oregon is one of the three vote by mail only states. Washington and Colorado are the other two. (I do miss going to polling places as I did when I lived elsewhere), but voting by mail is a cinch. Imagine the problems that would be avoided if the nation was all vote by mail? Georgia and North Dakota, I'm looking at you, but there are others....sadly.

I know it won't be easy for some to vote but really, our nation should be able to count on you for at least a couple of hours once every two years. Your one vote is as important as the next, regardless of income bracket, color, religion and sexual orientation. Plus, I just want to see the country stick it to the mango Mussolini. We are better than this asshat, so lets prove it and get some folks into congress that will do their jobs and be the checks and balances we have so sorely needed these last 20 months.

I'm leaving you with a spot of Alice Cooper today. The first rock concert I ever attended was a Cooper concert, in 1972 with Blue Oyster Cult. It was loud, very very loud.

Parting shot. Waiting for election results!