Trickle Effect

So I have started painting the kitchen area with a Parakeet Green, please don't cringe in horror, wait till you hear the rest of the colors, like the Gusto gold on a short wall that touches the Parakeet Green wall that will adjoin the Rage Red wall that will meet the Mocha Wall, otherwise known as the Kill yourself painting wall. Trust me, it will all look good but when I was teling my son about it, he had to hang up and get some Mexican Food. That comment caused me to recoil and readdress the color choices? Holy Amigo??? I can see it going that way but I am looking for a more Route 66 billboard color scheme. But rest assured, I pulled out the color cards again and until you see it, it sounds like a train wreck or Peewee Hermans playhouse. The red is a deep red that I have accent pillows the same color and I love it....also on an accent pillow, I just noticed I picked the same green and mustard?? So subconciously i must like it, or I would not be PAYING someone to paint it. I love red walls and this red is a safe bet when you put artwork on it, everycolor looks good with it, I saw it. So now the trickle effect, I hate and I mean hate picking window treatments....detest....I found a valance at Pennys that is called Khaki stripe and matches one panel in my carpeting, do I dare putting stripe on the window which will be a red wall and the stripe is shades of brown but would carry the floor to the wall???? If I put stripe on the three windows will it look like a circus, I hate stripes, but this may work, but my better judgement says not. I looked at roman shades and Holy buckets....$300 per window, my thinking is I am leaving the window plain no nothing I have blinds and I am loving the blinds more than ever?? This is the beginning what else will look like crap when you just painted to get away cheap!!!! Note to self: Nothing is cheap ....

Recovering

.Wow the weather sure took a turn, for the cool. I personally love cool weather. Not that I can wear sweater because I am a sweater. I am normally hot, not in the "she's hot" catagory but just plain old "open the window I'm hot" group. So this is a relief to me and it should be to those of you in the throngs of menopause. I think the heat makes more heat...
So I am painting, I have got the carpet I want the couch I want and have sucked all the color out of my living area. I have all browny earth tones and now for the color!!! I am in the thinking that Paint is cheap you can paint and cover a multitude of sins. I on the other hand do not like to paint, I love the outcome but only paint because I am too cheap to have someone else do it. I can paint, I can also ruin everything I own because, I am such a good painter I feel I don't have to cover stuff or tape things off and being that I am so proffessional, I don't understand why I haven't been hired. So I went to Sherwin Williams and bought the four color sample jugs of paint, now why I paid for them is beyond me. I think I thought I would do a sample painting on the wall to see if I like it? I never do samples, I do it, feet first jump in and paint, so I painted one wall with the sample paint, which I was informed is cheap paint and doesn't cover well....oh really .....I painted and they were right, damn them.. So I have this one wall that is two stories tall, the dreaded stairwell....I also need to paint the ceiling which requires covering stuff, or not. I also picked a red that will need a primer in grey and two coats and the tall two story wall is over the stairwell and no way will I do a balancing act on a ladder for that one. Maybe I don't need to paint afer all?? Maybe the squished bug carcass on the ceiling will dry and fall off. I actually thought my walls were clean till I started painting with the cheap paint and then you can see the smudges and dirt??? So I call a painter, a professional guy that I want to come and paint yesterday. Make note, people are all painting this time of year...So in comes the painter with his all white clothes, what is that all about?? why white, I would be multicolored because I am messy. He has his piece of paper and is looking around and asks me twice about the color and the ceiling and he looks around and he writes a little and then he does his preparing for slapping me in the head with the price....and I say give it to me straight, and he does and I gulp quietly i thought and then he says well that wall will require three coats, that one will require a tightrope act and the ceiling is probably going to take two coats to look nice and even and that wall over there,(the newly painted with crap paint wall) do you need that one painted, because I have a painters eye and it really needs to be evened out....I confess, I painted it and I used the sample...he chuckles a little and now it's confirmed he is dealing with an idiot. So all in all and after I think about it, the price seems high but it needs to be done, it is not just one color, it is four colors and the ceiling and the icky tall wall. So if you see me eating Ramen noodles for the next month you will understand why. and painting stinks...!!

I am back!!!

Jan has left the island!!!! But not for good, I have to go back, it was so much fun...why? First off, Kim from Happy Hands met me at Green Bay, she was on her way up to visit her parents and I talked her into coming with me...that is pretty darn spontaneous. We stayed at my Nephew Ricks at Cedar Point Inn, OMG, it is so nice and you can walk from the Ferry. I don't want to tell anyone about it because I want to stay there forever. So we get up there and have contacted a "Shampoohorns" from Ravelry previously and she said we should meet at Red Cup Coffee in town, 8am. Not a problem, I am up early until of course I have to get up. Needless to say, we and more like Kim didn't sleep well because some unnamed white dog slept with her, followed her, was under her feet, wouldn't let her out of his sight....what a little man whore. I'm Ok to sleep with till there is another chick in the room??? So we got up and met the whole island at the coffee shop. Let me say it was very interesting...we walked in and it was like walking into Mayville, with everyone just sitting around having their cup of "Joe" talking of their plans for the day, or politics or whatever they want to discuss, there are tables with people sitting and playing games. It was warm and I wanted to live there. We met Heidi and she introduced us to all of the Knitters/Spinners and town people, she gave me a wonderful embroidered tote with my shop logo on it...Thank you Heidi. I brought her roving from the mainland, we are now friends.
On the way up we stopped at Spin a new yarn shop in Sturgeon Bay, it was so nice and guess what I looked into a room and it was a vault...this yarn shop rocks, it locks the yarn up, in a vault!!! It had at sometime in it's history obviously been a bank. The owner was so nice and friendly and you have to stop if you go by!!!! We tried twice to stop at Apple Hollow but they were not open either time? Then we stopped at Red Sock in Fish Creek, another open airly wonderful shop, it was quiet when we stopped but it was also almost closing time. Both of these shops were friendly and beautiful, they had lots of nice yarns and fun things to look at. I got to spin lots!!!! I spun with beginners, that are doing so much better than I ever did when I first started. We visited a farm with sheep and horses and ducks. Iggy got to run with his cousin Coally a huge Siberian Husky that Iggy fell in love with and followed him all around and played, can a dog really become his Master??? Play Play Play.....so what was supposed to be a night up on the Island for Kim became a weekend, we had a great time.
Mellissa Etheredge is on GMA, is it me or is she looking more and more like David Crosby????

Partie deux

I forgot to tell you something. A few years ago, my eye caught something purple and shiny and that my friends was the end of it....a shiny pair of Signature needles.....then the best part.."stilletto" tips..oh yeah, the closest I will get to stillettos these days are these needles. So I forked over my weekly allowance and in my possesion was a short pair of purple stilletto tipped size 7 needles.....Well I never have used them....I know, but possesion is 9/10ths of the law and I had mine. I decided that I was going to make a silk wool, hand dyed by Happy Hands yarn cowl, entrelac, yeah, so I also know I have just the short needles I need for this....where did I put them, what place of honor are they at??? Oh here they are in the pencil cup with all my dbpts. Did I mention I like to do entrelac on straight needles, it's the prop and pick thing. I cast on and man these points are delicious, then as these beautiful needles with the golf tee end are knitting back and forth, I get a flash nightmare of childhood!!!! They are so slippery and heavy they are hard to keep in check. I imagine the horror when I was small and using 20 foot aluminum needles that would slip out leaving my stitches hanging in mid air.....same problem only with these short pretty needles???? I think I am getting carpal tunnel knitting with them and they are small, what is the weight on these babies??? and how much do the long ones weight???? So being that I am persistant and am determined to use these expensive boat anchors....I will have forearm muscles the size of my thighs by the time I get done. Then I imagine they will go back into the pencil cup by the couch.....for a few more years. This is just my opinion, these needles and I have a lot in common, cute but heavy!!!!

Washington Island

I am packing to go to Washington Island for the weekend. I will be leaving tomorrow, early, me and Iggy. My plan is to go and Spin, spin spin....create!!!! Kim is watching the shop, so stop in and bother her. Not sure how I did this, but I met a woman "Shampoohorns" from Ravelry that lives there. My nephew through my first marriage and not really blood, owns a Hotel and home on the Island, he has been there for years and I have never got up to see him. So my mission to visit with him and now Heidi!!! There is a coffee shop that all the locals go to almost everyday!!!! It's called the Red cup, and there are knitting groups that meet tomorrow morning, but they are also going to meet Friday if they can. Take two people, give them something in common (knitting/spinning) and you open up the World to new friends!!!! Give them a site like Ravelry and you have hundreds of chances to meet new people...kindred spirits!!! Our World is getting smaller and smaller.
Now, I always say we live what we perceive, this is my perception of and Island, any island....there is a ferry that runs to Washington Island all day and the cost right now is $50 round trip. My thinking is, Mondays, my days to go grocery shopping, well for the trip to the mainland...I better get everything I need, because if you forget the milk, that milk will cost you $100. So you need a list...Ok list made, oh and I need some nails from Menards and aspirin from Walgreens, so this is going to be one big trip...I am going to spend the whole day on the mainland... FACT...they have grocery stores , hardware and drugstores on the island...as a matter of fact there are people that have not left the island for years. WOW I say!!!! That is so cool, who knew. Last time I was there I didn't look for that stuff, I was picking rocks, which I was sure when I got on the ferry with my car that it would sink from all of the rocks I picked. That was the time I was going to bike around the island....yeah...that never happened either. I have always wanted to go to Sievers for something but never could afford it.....and I really don't want to make Willow furniture,(that's the class on this weekend) not that it isn't pretty but come on how much tonage can those little willow sticks hold, not to mention they look like good whippin sticks to me....!!! I will keep my arse far from those thank you very much. I am bringing my camera of course and hope to get some really good shots of everyone and everything!!!! I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight...

Birthday Stoner

Ok now I think I know why Iggy loves daycare, I think they get him stoned, put on a party hat and laugh their butts off!!!! Yesterday they had a birthday party for the Igster and you get this cute photo and a bag of treats. I looked at the picture and just cracked up. I had to go back in and ask them what they put in the Frosty Paws (doggy ice cream)??? I can't stop laughing at that photo. First of all how did they get him to sit still, let alone wear a hat. LOL This was just too funny not to share!!!! This photo was also before he had his bath, he is such a little dirtball!!! He looks like a cross between Yoda and those little furry ewoks??

Monday Monday

Oh what a Monday, it is such a stereo type Monday it is funny!!! It kind of began on Sunday. I had to take my mom to the Dr at 7:30am....? I thought it was kind of early but I remember thinking if we go early it will be over early, so jokes on me. I get up at 5:45, to get cleaned up and bring Iggy to daycare, call my mom to make sure she is up and of course she hasn't slept because she is so excited to go to the Dr. I get her ready by phone, drop Iggy off, suck down a cup of coffee, get gas, pick up my mom who is worried sick I won't find the right door to pick her up (they are doing remodeling at her complex) So she is walking down this long hall and I see her coming and it's pretty early so I flip a moon at her, now we are both laughing and tired. I get her in the car and off we go, we get to valet parking and I get a wheelchair because the dude is not in a hurry to help us with "Valet Parking". I go to the wrong floor, this is something we go to every 6 months, I know where to go, but not today, so we go to where we are supposed to go and I park mom and go to the desk and the woman is looking a tad bewildered...uhhhh you appt isn't till 9:30am. Seriously??? Yeah as a heart attack, but I will try to get you in as soon as the Dr gets in, but not too sure what I can do. So out comes the....bag of excuses and martyr crown..."Oh no, I sure wish you can get us in sooner, do you know how hard it is to get an 86 year old that can hardly walk up and out at 7am and she hasn't eaten and we drove very far and I feel so bad this is my fault....I could see she wanted to hand me a sign "Too bad stupid" So we went to the Deli for breakfast, I ordered a crepe and mom had a omelet croissant, and two coffees, mom bought and she thought she would get change from a 10??? Sticker shock. So we waited a while, I knit she ate slowly, the coffee was so strong neither of us could drink it. We were laughing at how dumb I was and I have no idea how I got 7 out of 9? It could have been worse. She got in to the Dr about 8 something so that was good and the good news is her breast cancer is gone for 5 years now!!! This was the last of the 6 month mammos. So off we went to begin another adventure at the valet parking, I give him my ticket, he gives me keys and says your car is right over there!!!! I guess I did a double take, thinking this IS valet parking, and I tipped him earlier , shame on me. So it's nice out I get the wheelchair with mom and start pushing her to the island in the middle and ram the feet into the concrete!!! Whew mom did you get whip lash??? I get to the car by dodging speed racers and damn these aren't my keys????? Back to dudly I go and get the right keys, get mom in the car and now we are both just laughing hysterically, could this day get any better?? Oh yeah....I take her home and go home throw a load of clothes in the washer and decide to go to Alterra to knit and have lunch. A few weeks back my son, DIL and I ate there and we went to the right out of the door, now me being the phobic about cigarette smoke went to the same spot and was sitting in the midst of a cloud of smoke? What the heck...I was in the undesignated smoking area I guess, not to mention this woman sitting next to me doing some paperwork and grunting and moaning like she was in labor???? I had to laugh, I had to move, then the topper, here comes Joe street artist with a saxophone and starts playing two feet from me!!!! I love sax and yes I spelled that right but not two feet from me in a cloud of smoke??? So I packed up my knitting and went home. I am sitting in the comfort of my home and I swear someone is sitting under my windows smoking a carton of cigarettes???? I keep looking to see where it is coming from and I think it's a ghost, some smoker died and is haunting me....So this is my Monday!!!! I took a nap and hope it will be less adventuresome from here on out!!!!

I have a problem with this?

Before you read this little rant, on further discussion with a family member I was told the In God we trust is along the edge of the coin, so if you have a magnifying glass, you can see it ...seriously...slowly but surely it will be eliminated and we won't even notice it gone. I wrote this before I knew.
I got a new gold coin dollar from a customer yesterday. I heard rumor that they were taking "In God we trust" off of it. Now I did not do the statistics, but, I am thinking this Country which was founded on religious freedom, has more Christian people, and by that I mean people that believe in God in some form or other. It is a personal thing I think but most people you talk to are aware of God and believe in HIm to some fashion. I also know there are atheist and non-believers..but, they are minimal and at a small ratio to Christians. So how can in a group of say 100 Christians,to 5 atheist, get words, that have been on our money since the beginning of money, changed???? Where do we fit into this picture. Is this what is important to those non believers? Is this a priority changing money and putting our tax dollars into a new gold coin that I do hope goes by the wayside like the Susan Anthony coin??? There are people out there hungry, in our Country, no jobs, no insurance and we are making NEW coins without God on them.....is this a big achievment for "these people" and by the way who are these people? Who made this decision? Why didn't I get to vote on this? I use money...Is there a room somewhere that Christians vs. Non Christians get together and fight over where God can be or not be? I do believe in God, in the same token if you don't , I don't care, it is your belief, if you ask me about God and my personal relationship with Him, I would tell you, if you don't ask I won't wad God up into a ball and shove Him down your throat. It goes that way for anything in life, it is not for me to force anyone, (unless it is spinning/knitting) to do anything they don't want to. It is a free Country but based off of Religious Freedom for us all, so if you don't have Religion...and you don't believe in God, then what's the big deal??? It's just a word to you, get over it!!!!! Besides there is no space in a cash register for your stupid gold dollar, which is the size of a quarter, for God's sake go feed someone that is hungry, help someone paint there house, lift someone up when they have fallen and shove this new dollar where the sun don't shine.
Can't we all just get along????

My babies Birthday!!!

Tomorrow is my baby Iggy's birthday. He will be one year old, I have had him since he was 8 weeks and he has been in the shop from that day forward. In his first year of life he chewed the special cable to my laptop $80.00, he destroyed a few skeins of yarn, $30ish, not too bad. He chewed my sons footstool from woodshop class in high school and he loves to steal your shoes. But he is priceless to me. Iggy and I want to thank all of you that have visited the shop and I had to run out for a potty stop with a puppy. Thanks for bearing with me when he pooped and cleared out the shop, when he had such bad gas during a class and bookclub, and how we all worked to potty train him and everyone helped to clean it up. He is so many friends/customers, adopted puppy, he gets hugs and rocking and he has loved every minute of it. Of course now he is harder to get him to sit in your lap, unless of course the table has food on it. He is getting better at listening, well he is a boy???? He has loved all of the toys you have brought for him and the snacks and pupperoni and bones. He has two girlfriends that he will follow anywhere, Thank you Chrissy and Hanna for all of the walks/runs/drags. He has his babysitter Suzy, whom he thinks he should go home with everytime she stops over. Today he got lots of cool doggy gifts and even got one in the mail!!! He is wearing his pirate kerchief and is passed out on the couch, snoring like an old man. Happy Birthday Iggy, you make me smile when we go for walks and your little butt wiggles with happiness. You finally can sleep with me and I love how you cuddle next to me in this cooler weather and I get good night kisses. You fill my life with enjoyment and you are too cute!!!! So tomorrow we will celebrate, it's the best excuse for a family get together don't you think!!!!!

So Busted!!!

I have a confession to make.....I like to sing. I am not good, but I am happy with myself and have cultivated this habit since being a child. I would take my sisters roll on deodorant bottle or Avon Topaz perfume bottle to use as a microphone. I can sing just about anything. Linda Ronstadt and I had a duet quite often, but I never hestitated to do air guitar to Aerosmith or Led Zepplin either. I have many talents, singing is not one of them. I please me....
We used to have a full length mirror on the back of my bedroom door and there I turned into Shirley Temple, "on the good ship lolipop...and so on..." I could tap dance and charm with the best of them and my audience was looking back at me. I would smile and so would they. But when I looked in the mirror, a jeweled tiara and evening gown was what I was wearing, long elbow length evening gloves, the most sought after accessory, my Barbie had them and I wanted them. My hair was fixed in a high bouffant, with a huge bow in it. I was a dreamer...I was a singer/movie star/ actress and Jan of all trades. Well my singing like I said was never too good, so to compensate I sing loud. Now I know a few of you are guilty of this little pleasure, singing in the car. Well I got so busted, my pants (yes my pants dialed someone) called a friend and I was singing loud to "Amy" from Pure Prarie League, loud as usual to myself and Iggy....I am so busted!!!! damn caller ID!!!!

Ideas brewing...

Oh my, I have a ton of ideas brewing for spinning. I want to do this and that and some of this and more of that. I spun up some of Kim Leach's Happy Hands dyed cashmere, merino roving. I spun it thread thin, plied it and put it in to soak. I prefer to soak my skeins overnight and when I went to pick it out, it sucked up all the water and was worsted weight poofy!!!!! It is beautiful, I had taken a photo of the Iris above and the colors matched to a T. It was weird too, when I went to attenuate the fiber it really could only be done from one end....I mean it did not want to be spun from the other end just the one end....never had it so strongly visible as with this roving. I am heading to Washington Island next Thursday for some R & R, no I am not going to Seivers, wish I was. I have a nephew that owns a hotel up there and I am taking Iggy, my camera and my wheel. Kicking back and relaxing, is my goal. No shopping, not a shopper, as long as I can get coffee, I will be fine. The shop will be open, so come on in.

Holy Cow

There are days when I wonder why I turn on the news!!!! Now that Senater, Joe Willso, is being called a racist, by calling Obama a Liar? Now how is that being racist?? I have called people liars, they were white females, does that make me racist. Even Jimmy Carter the president God said it was a racist remark? Did I miss the lead in? Did they bleep out the words before Liar? Why because he has not been able to accomplish anything he has set out to according to his campaign promises....it ain't that easy, is it?? On the other hand it was out of line, no doubt, but we can do that now, we have Kayne West stealing the show from an innocent Tayler Swift, is she saying it was racist??? He thought another Black performer deserved the award.....And hats off to Beyonce for being such a lady and trying to make it better for Taylor...When will this stop, when can we coexist in harmony....we never will if no one knows the rules??? I am Native American, not totally, but my mother used to tell us it was shameful and not to say it to anyone, it was nothing to be proud of?????" What? Are you kidding, I'm Indian and you think as a kid that wasn't the trump card? I wanted to wear cowboy hats, but I was the Indian with a gun, my theory was "I stole it from a Cowboy" Growing up we heard racist terms but didn't know where they came from. My parents weren't "racist" although they did use the word Liar on occasion and they certainly used it on me...."are you lying?" "did you lie?" You wouldn't lie about that would you?" I never thought of that as being racist, but then again, maybe I can't read peoples inside thoughts like, "you dirty filthy, little, white girl are you are lying to us?" maybe that would have changed things. Maybe it is a good thing that I can't read minds. I know racism exists don't get me wrong, I know sexism exist, I know agism exists, we need to get beyond these things. We are all on this Earth for the same reason, why is is such a hard thing? Why do we always have to look for trouble in a statement? Some deeper dark meaning. No wonder no one wants to initiate a conversation... I remember in one of those, "Diversity training classes" we were told we really should not ask someone, "how was your night?" It is none of your business, you are trying to delve into their personal life.....all I can say is "Holy Cow???" Come on people, what are the rules?

A Legend in my Life Stick Lady

My first encounter with Stick Lady, or I should say her home, was when I was a teenager. I know I wasn't old enough to drive but my friend Randy was and we packed his "67" Chevy and off we went. I think it was the farthest I ever went without my parents driving!! I lived in West Allis and this was in Fox Point, at the time you needed to pack a lunch. It had to be dark and I am sure it was in Fall and near Halloween, , and the stories that built up to the encounter had me scared yet curious. It was very dark, and there were no street lights where we were going, and it is down a steep hill and then we turned and stopped. Everyone got out, I didn't know we were getting out??? It was a pee break, so everyone picked "their" spot and I put my hand on the bumper and squatted very ladylike...if you can peeing outside and the car started moving away from me...."Hey!!!! I pulled my pants up with haste of "getting caught with yer pants down" and failed to notice the dried leaves I also swallowed up in the panties, eh not just a few leaves but a small branch, but there was no time to think about that I was in the car in a flash. We continued down a road along Lake Michigan, a heavy mist filled the air and I was doing the hootie coothie dance in my pants, leaves, stick and all. The headlight hit it, there it was the Stick Ladies house, surrounded by chain link fence with barbed wire swirling across the top. My eyes were stuck open, don't know what I was more concerned with the pants situation or what layed before me. There were statues of people made of "sticks" and concrete and cut out of her picket fence were silouettes of faces, all in the same roundish style. A light was lit above her garage "always" I was told, "she's waiting for her dead husband to return from the Lake"...creeeeeepppppyyyyyy. Well anyone living in the Milwaukee Metro Area and is my age and younger will probably know who I am talking about. Everyone that came into town, all my son's friend, my family...we all made pilgrimages to see Stick Lady. We never were invasive, just looking, just trying and hoping to get a glimpse of her...actually I would even go in daylight and believe me it was a whole different personna in the light, she was an Artist.
fast forward a few years ago, I was reading the paper and there was an article about Mary Nohl, known as the Witch Lady, we knew her as the Stick Lady. I was intrigued, I found out her name, .....she had a name.....I looked up her number, I think part of me wanted to talk to her, the mystery woman that I so hoped to put a face to...I got a woman and asked if I could talk to Mary. I was speaking to Mary's caretaker, but I need to talk to her...."I am sorry, Mary doesn't take phone calls ( from stalking weirdos is what she wanted to say)....well can I give her a message? " Yes, please tell her I have been going to her house for years, we never did anything but drive by, we never got out of the car and bothered her, I was ....I was just curious and I apologize for the people that did. I'm sorry if we bothered her, I never knew that she was an Artist, I am sorry!!!" Mary died a few months after that, but I had made my peace....I could look at her through different eyes now.
Today on my hunt for a Special birthday present for someone else....I found a book all about Mary!!!!!! I am thrilled, I own a piece of Stick Ladies History!!!!! She is a legend to me.....Thank you Mary!!! Oh and the stick and leave in my pants turned into a nasty rash, explain that one to a Dr.

WI Sheep and Wool Festival

Wow, it seems sometimes that is has been so long since I saw some of my old fiber friends, when in fact it is once a year for some. That seemed like a riddle, Suzy sells sea shells at the seashore.
I used to see them more often, or it seems. As I walked the aisles of the Festival, and it was on Sunday, I could not help but notice one thing in common. Sour pusses!! Being a vendor at shows myself, I realize after three days of heat, flies, and more, that you become exhausted. I also realize that it is MY job to invite people into my booth to see my wares, not to sit, reading a book, head down, knitting and not making the valuable eye contact, or a smile. I also know that most three day shows or even two day shows, that Sunday is the slow day!!! It has been that way from the get go, so Sunday is the day to kick it in gear.
I was hearing groans of how it was a slow show and slow this and I have one thing to say, the booths that were doing great were being social!!!! Smiling for goodness sake invite me to shop with a smile???? It is free. I found myself not even going into booths that the vendor was distracted with their computers, or books. If they don't care about their stuff, I guess neither did I..Now if I walked by and they smiled and looked like they were inviting me I would go in!! So Vendors, don't sit looking disgusted or socially disconnected, get out there and invite people to see what you have, be proud of your stuff. This is your job....right??? If you have the flu, you are exempt from this rule, but I don't think 1/3rd of the vendors had the flu...just my thinking

PS. The vendors that were doing great were vendors that have come to Sheep in the City, I think we have a winning group of vendors!!!!

Remembering 9/11

I remember where I was....I remember the fear that I felt, I was sitting in a room that was a powder keg and wanted to be home. I was starting our breakfast at work, it was my day to cook. A TV that was normally hidden from supervision was sitting on the table from a Monday night football game party. I turned it on for noise and as I turned it on, they announced that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers, it chilled me in an instant? This was no accident, how can anyone miss the towers? It was not foggy??? I called and reported the news on the walkie talkies, and as I did, I watched in horror as the second plane hit the second tower. It shook my inner soul, we were at war!!! We were being invaded, we Americans, strong and proud, were being attacked, I want to go home. I was in a lunchroom that sat atop grainmills in the brewery, we were always at risk of explosion, it was a powder keg all the time and today was no different, I wanted to go to my family. I wanted to see their faces and know they were OK. I sat with other brewery workers as we alerted others to the news, a dark cloud hung over us as we went through our daily routines. The flag wavers all came out in full force and America was stirred up!!!! Almost 3,000 innocent people, went to work, like I did and died in a terrible attack, they were not in a war zone, they went to Starbucks bought a coffee, carried their briefcases and purses and rushed into work, talking on their phones, talking to thier friends, there was no gunshot, there was no warning, there was no war. So many of us have forgotten what happened, how it happened, people jumping to their deaths, the sound of them hitting the roof, like rain. How we all were shaken off of our foundations. Our memories are short, we are now going about our business and put it behind us....we need to support our men and woman keeping us safe from another terrorist attack!!! My heart goes out to all of the families of the victims, I also want to remember all of the Americans that rushed to help after the attack, that left their families to go search and rescue victims. Ordinary people from all over America, that wanted to help!!!!! You gotta love our Spirit, I am proud to be an American.

Mermaid

Did you ever want to be a Mermaid? Swimming freely and not having to hold your breath....beautiful long hair trailing behind you? I am not a swimmer...I actually am not a water person, maybe that is why I enjoy the freedom of mermaids. Swimming the oceans and finding pearls and gems and talking to the fish. Now this is MY perception, funny how when we perceive a situation or life, we have little or no clue how they really live. In all actuallity, and if a Mermaid were real, she would probably be saying, "Are you kidding me, this salt water makes my hair frizzy?" "When I hold my breath it causes me to bloat?" "Does this seaweed make me look fat?" "I wish I had legs, so I could shave them." LIfe always looks better when someone else is looking at it....I am living a great life, I am doing what lots of people wish they could. I am running my own business and a business I love, I get to play with fiber and meet new people each day. I live above where I work and my life is filled with friends, family and Iggy. I have "enough". I am so fortunate....but, downside is, I own a business, I have bookwork and bills to pay and deadlines to meet. I work at bringing in the newest, yet quality yarns, fibers, and patterns." I have hours to keep, I have to keep everyone interested and new and fresh ideas. Sometimes it gets to be a lot...the bookwork part is especially aweful, but in this peabrain I have ways to do it to make me get it done....If I do 1/2 hour of bookwork, I can play with this really fun fiber for the rest of the day!!!! It works for me...so the reward system is a great thing, even if you are you own boss....I can trick myself. So if you work you get to play!!! and we all know how I love to play!!! Creative process, I envision something, like a Mermaid and then I elaborate on it and put it together in my head and feel it in my hands, the kiss of death for me is putting it to paper....never ever have I designed or drawn out something I want to create. It goes from head to hand. I used to feel like I was missing a step when I found out artists, draw it out, sketch it, big nono for me, it is an creative killer. I can write it down, like a shorthand note to me -spin mermaid- that is enough. So I did....

Fonics

When I was a child I believed every adult, especially my parents. When an adult told me something I took it very literally, word for word, like "mom what are we having for supper?" mom " Scalloped potatoes". turning to my brother,"we're having Indian potatoes tonight?" my mom looking at me like I was an alien, said "Indian potatoes?" yeah there scalped!!!
For breakfast I got Great fruit, I didn't know why they called it great, it was sour, but I thought for years it was great fruit! The worst one was Philidelphia, I think I stopped saying Philidelthia, 6 years ago? I never read the word I was saying what I heard. My brother says Kinny garden, which my mom also says. Sliced cooked carrots were Pirate gold dubloons. So you can see I have had a creative mind since very small. I was the pretender, pretend this and that and pretend was what we all did, not having small children around, I wonder if they pretend anymore. When we had teaparties we would pretend to have a teacup and pretend to be drinking something out of it. My Barbie doll house consisted of a step stool on it's side which was the kitchen and a rolled up rug for a couch. Looked good to me!!! I did have a wood horse in the backyard with leather ears and a rope tail with upholstery tack eyes, my dad made him for me. We could get 4 kids on that horse and I traveled the West on it.. I remember I hated the reigns because they were made of rough rope that left slivers. I had cowboy hats and guns and holsters. I could do tricks like Annie Oakly and Zorro combined. I really had a Zorro hat that was straw and had a hidden mask inside that folded down over your eyes. It was black and had bias tape around the edge that I happened to pull a thread and it all came off, so if you got close to the edge it was a little picky. It had a cord that hung down and you could wear the hat on your back and it would choke you. I remember my dad would sit in the red rocker and some cowboy show was coming on, we had lots of them, I would get my holster on and my hat and climb up into his lap with my hat on. He would gently remove my hat that was cutting his face and lay it down my back and tie his bandana hankie around my neck, just like the cowboys had. He would pat everything smooth and together we would watch our black and white TV. There I would be riding a real horse and fighting the bad guys and was safe in the arms of my dad. I miss that safe spot he always had for me, he was gentle and loving and never ever discouraged me from being me. He encouraged me to do whatever I wanted, don't be afraid, stand up for what you believe and be creative!!! He encouraged play, because he himself loved to play!!! He was an inventor and was always building something, I was always right there beside him. I wasn't tall enough to use the bandsaw so he put a metal milk crate down and there I would cut guns out of wood. His words of caution were, "if you touch that saw you will lose a finger!!!" Ok??? I still have all fingers? I thank my dad for the ability to do what I want and be who I am. He never doubted me, or questioned my motives, he supported me 100% and reassured me. I think I made him proud, there are days when I am working on something that I feel him very close to me....I miss him!!!

Chasing Chippy's

What a wonderful day it has been, I got a skein of Art Yarn done that has been bouncing around in my brain for some time now and I am completely smitten with it. Mermaid is the name and it has wonderful colors and silks and shells and netting. We are on a new discovery, chippies, Iggy has discovered a zillion chippies in the Village here!! They have also discovered him, and are teasing him and even calling him...chirp chirp chirp....Remember when I said some bird was on the deck one night really late and making lots of noise? Well I found out what it was. Today I was in the house and I heard it, loud and it was right outside my door? It was a squirrel, I have never heard this sound out of squirrel, it was a cawing sound, and I watched it as it was making this sound about 4 feet away from me. I have no idea what it was intending to do but drive me crazy. Hope you all enjoyed your Holiday weekend I sure did.

Divorce is eminent

I finally figured out what my laptop and my marriages have in common....frustration!!! You don't know what is wrong and keep trying to fix it.....You think you are doing everything right and it still isn't working.....you walk away and go back after some deep breaths and it still is screwed up. You talk nice and try to appease it and to no avail. Then you problem solve, starting with the basics and you go through it all and still end up empty handed!!!! I narrowed it down to the fact that since I got my lap top back from Mac, it is not seeing my wireless (airport) that is a mac term...so today after driving back from Necedah,WI and after a sleepless night, I went to Apple and they seem to have fixed it, for now....or there will be a divorce, just like the rest of them...
I had a great night up at my Brother and SIL cottage, we sat by the fire and enjoyed their new deck and ate burgers and the mosquitos ate me, just me, they just love ME!!!! My bro has two little Shipperkes (Skipperkees), they are about 4 years old and very intolerable of anything, they are socially disfunctional but are darned cute, so they have gotten away with this for four long years. They bark alot and they wake my SIL up two times a night, this to me is unacceptable unless they are puppies or are sick, which they are neither but she has done this and Iggy, my mom and I all got sucked into this ritual last night. It went something like this.
We went to bed about 9ish we, and I say we as humans were all tired, the dogs were apparantly not....
As if on cue the fighting began, Iggy wanted to sleep with my brother and Cheryl and their dogs were not sure about that, so my mom who was sleeping on the pullout couch, was getting all of this trampolene action and no one was in bed with me, for a minute, then Riley came into my bed and Maggie was snarling at Iggy and Iggy was on my brothers head (he is totally in love with Scott) and then there was the trading of places and the barking and finally after what seemed like hours it got quiet.....I tossed and turned and 1:30am, Cheryl has to take her two dogs outside, well Iggy will never pass up a chance to water some grass so he had to go out and the house is up again. This went on two more times at 5:30 I gave up and stayed up, I made coffee and have not slept yet....If I hear one peep out of some certain white Westie tonight he will be coyote bait!!!! My mom was exhausted and has slept three hours when I got her home. It will be one to remember, and it is kind of funny but just one night of it....Iggy does not know that growling and gnashing of teeth is not puppy play, maybe that is why he is all scabbed up???? I am trying to stay awake till at least 9:30.....zzzzzzzzzzz

Identity crisis

I was reading an article about young kids "nowadays" having such problems growing up and the hardships they endure, with peer pressure and blah blah blah. I think we all had something growing up that caused us to question ourselves. It may have been the cheerleaders, the dorks, the brainiacs. We all had some struggle as kids. When I was a kid, the color of my skin was my albatross. I had freckles, mostly on my arms, not too many on my face but I would study these little brown spots and wonder how they came to be. Now in perspective, you have to realize if I have idle time on my hands I can become quite dangerous, so bear with me on this one. So at one point I took a pen and did connect the dots on my arms and came home from school like that and was not met with the same joy I got out of doing it. Then I must have been thinking out loud, why I had freckles and some idiot adult told me that I was standing too close behind a cow and it was "shit spray" and it didn't wash off, ha ha ha ha ha...well this sent me into a scrubbing frenzy, I wanted those spots gone. My mom didn't have freckles she had nice tan skin, my dad was the carrier, my mom would tell me they will fade when I got older.....dad's didn't??? So my next prognosis was I was black and white, that sent my mom into a third degree questioning of "where the hell did you get that Idea?" Well come on, look at a freckle it looks like an African American color on a white backround, did she not see that? I envied porcelain skinned girls, there smooth complextion, flawless and all one color like milk. Then, we went to the drive in theater. In those days, we wore pajamas to go and dad made a brown grocery bag of popcorn and the grease would seep through the bag and mom would complain dad used too much buttah!!! They had playgrounds under the screens and all the kids in their pajamas would go up there and play till the movie started. I was up there, and playing on the swings was a little brown girl, her skin was smooth and flawless and dark. I was intrigued...I wanted to get close so I struck up a conversation, but my intentions were to touch her smooth brown skin. I remember her sitting on a pipe fence and me doing aerobics and contortions around her until I did it.....I licked her....I admit it, I actually licked her, totally expecting to taste milk chocolate on my tongue. I made it look like an accident if you can believe that, but mission accomplished and with great disappointment. I think I almost cried, I went back to the car and told my mom and dad about the chocolate girl that wasn't really chocolate....can you just imagine my parents sitting in the front seat almost afraid to ask "how did you know that?" because they didn't ask, but my mom informed me that, that was a little "colored girl" aaahhhhh so now I was part colored??? No you are not part colored you are freckled. but freckles are colored? What if all of those freckles moved together?? Then would I be colored? JAN, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU HAVE FRECKLES!!!! DAMN FRECKLES, LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE FRECKLES....DORIS DAY HAS FRECKLES!!!! Doris Day has freckles??????? How come I can't see them?
You know there are days when I am bored and looking at those freckles that didn't fade and still want to connect the dots!!!! Sometime I'll tell you about all the hickies I made on my arms, bored again?