Big Boy Polar Bear

REMEMBER THIS CUTE LITTLE FURBALL


HE'S A DIFFERENT FIT NOW


Sometimes he doesn't fit in the frame
HERE'S HIS FRONT PART


THIS IS HIS BACK PART


HE KINDA GETS STUFFED UNDER THE FURNITURE


HE'S A TABLE SURFER


AND INSPECTOR


HE CLEANS THE OVEN VENTS FOR ME


HE'S A GOOD BIG BOY POLAR BEAR

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2:4-7

Bad Hair Day

"Here, let me take your pigtails out," I said at bedtime, as I grasped the band on one.

"No, I wanna leave 'em in.  I want my hair to be curly tomorrow."

Uh, okay.  I knew curly was actually going to be crimped mess, but I'm not one to argue with a 4-year-old who's exploring hair fashion.

I hadn't counted on the static electricity.

Interesting.

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.  II Timothy 2:9, 10

Uncle Son4's Gift

...had not a warm reception.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.  Isaiah 55:6

Is That Your Game Face?

I stopped in the new Goodwill store on Saturday, hoping to find an embroidery hoop, since our Wal*Mart stopped carrying them 2½ years ago (who knew?), and it's too cold to dig through barns looking for anything.  I found one at Goodwill.  Actually, I found three.  Okay, two of them had stuff in them, but even stuffed they cost the same or less than new and empty, so I snagged them all...and SugarPlum was happy as a pig in mud to carry home with her the stuffings.  Unbeknownst to her, I needed the hoops, so I can embroidery faces on animal puppet washcloths, but that's a task and report for another day, so forget that part.

I also found dresses I couldn't live without, tongs of just the sort Charles prefers for his smoking and barbecuing ventures, more sheets for weaving projects, and the find to end all finds: the game Guess What I Am.  I'd never seen it or heard of it before, but the cover looked intriguing, so I snatched it.  No, no, no, I paid for it.  I mean I grabbed that thing quickly, because I wasn't about to let any of the other...oh, maybe six...shoppers in the 6,000 s/f store beat me to it.

Mrs. Piecrust's Spelling Bee Bingo game just got shoved to second place.  Sorry all over myself, Mrs. Piecrust, but really, you enjoyed a year-plus reign as best supplier of games.

Over dinner...

Poppie:  What did you do today, SugarPlum?

SugarPlum:  We played games.

Nana:  SugarPlum was a kangaroo.

SugarPlum:  Well, Nana was a snake!

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.  For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Isaiah 55:10-12

Life's Good

The kicking and screaming ended last Friday.  No, this does not mean I'm going to create a FaceBook account.  Maybe I'll do that when I'm in my sixties.

I joined the cell phone world.

I took this plunge with Son3, without whose needs and desires my heels may have remained entrenched far beyond this day:  "You are?  Well, hold off a day or two, and let me scout-out family plans.  This may be the prompting I needed to get one, myself, and we could save you some money that way."

I had, after all, just a few days earlier, wondered to myself what would become of me, if I had a flat tire on this gravel road; not another soul with me in the vehicle, temperature in the 20s, and no shopping cart to aid me with the long walk home.  Hitch a ride on a cow?  I wonder if I should get a cell phone.  I made it to the blacktop that day on all four tires, but that stranded-thought had been simmering on a back burner and came to a boil with Son3's mention of getting a cell phone, himself.

An impromptu decision was made, when all manner of bits and pieces came together in a hastily held conversation with Charles on Friday, and when we landed in the third cell phone provider's storefront that afternoon, they confirmed that they could, indeed, provide service in our home, situated in the midst of You Live Where?.

"No, we don't want that.  Naw, we won't need this.  Huh-uh, we won't be doing that with them," were the repeated replies from both Son3 and me, as the representative offered various bells and whistles.  It was an hours-long process, but we did walk out with two phones, and I spent the evening and whole weekend getting acquainted with Cell World: What's this button?  How do I do that?  Where's my ___?  Did I just buy something?  C'mere quick!  I think I may have just accidentally bought something!  Quite an exercise in how'd I get this old and still be this stupid?

With feet wetted and the urgings of every Cell World member we know, by Monday we were ready to return to the store and sheepishly admit we might want outgoing text service after all.

Over the weekend, I'd tangled myself more than once in the cord to the ear bud and experienced the oops, when it dropped out of my ear during a call.  I was finding the stuffing of all that paraphernalia into my purse, then wrestling with the mess as I removed it, was more than a small nuisance.  Brilliant they are, placing the rack of blueteeth (←because I say so, now hush) directly behind the representative's desk.  While he was making changes in our service, I was fingering bluetoothusses and beginning to ask questions.

With the scales quickly tipping in favor of a bluetoof, the rep asked, "Which phone did you choose?  I don't remember."

"The LD," I replied, as I reached into my purse to retrieve the mass of phone-and-wire.  We were walking toward the counter with my chosen bluetoof, and in the few steps that required, I heard a little noise from Son3, behind me, and simultaneously felt brain synapses firing.  "No wait.  That's not right.  LD is learning disabled.  That's me!  Life's Good.  The phone is an LG."

I'm fitted with a bluetoof now.  I'm a big girl.  Son2 exclaimed that he's proud of me for getting a cell phone, and I corrected: pleased with.  Even if I wasn't learning disabled in Cell World, I wouldn't want him to entertain pride, and I was quick to accidentally send him the same text twice, punctuating the expulsion of pride and prompting recognition of his mother's membership in Cell World Learning Disabled.

Admittedly, I'm pretty excited now about having a cell phone and sporting a fashion forward earring.  In spite of my LD condition, Life's Good.

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.  Jude 1:21

Willow's Doilies

Knowing I'm a photo hound, when I wrote about our furniture scarves, Willow sent me a photo of her own doilies:

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:9, 10

Willow's Yard Is Fluffy

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Psalm 51:6, 7

Examining Slack Belts

Barack Obama (1/18/09) — "Millions of Americans are losing their jobs and their homes."

AP (1/19/09) — "Standing in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, US president-elect Barack Obama called on Sunday for a new spirit of national sacrifice to overcome war and economic crisis."

"The American people are making a host of sacrifices in their individual lives.  We are going through an extraordinary crisis.  ...You've got parents who are cutting back on everything to make sure that their kids can still go to college.  You've got workers who are deciding to cut an entire day and entire day's worth of pay so that their fellow co-workers aren't laid off.  I think that across the board people are making adjustments, large and small, to accommodate the fact that we're in very difficult times right now."  [Barack Obama's second prime time live press conference; March 2009]

"When times are tough, you tighten your belts.  ...But you can put off buying the new curtains, even if it'd be nice to have. You know, that -- remodeling the bathroom, I mean, everything is working. You don't need it right now."  Remarks by the President in Town Hall Meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, 2/02/10 - The White House, Office of the Press Secretary

"Judicial Watch said the newly obtained 2,000 pages of documentation show Pelosi's military travel cost the U.S. Air Force $2,100,744.59 over two years – including $101,429.14 for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol."  Taxpayers pay $101,000 for Pelosi's in-flight 'food, booze' - World Net Daily

"But while penny-pinching Americans head to Sonic Drive-Ins for $1 everyday value meals or stay at home for cheap cube-steak dinners (sales of the inexpensive meat are up 10 percent), the White House serves up high-grade [$100/serving] Wagyu beef to congressional revelers.  ...The man who scolded Americans for wasting energy and turning their thermostats too high still hasn’t lowered his own.  'He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?' senior adviser David Axelrod snickered to the New York Times in January.  'He likes it warm.  You could grow orchids in there.'"  Cube-steak Americans vs. the Wagyu-beef White House - Michelle Malkin

"…Caroline Taylor, another Martha’s Vineyard realtor, estimated that the [Obama vacation] property would go for $35,000 to $50,000 a week."  Spendapalooza: The Obamas’ vacation at Martha’s Vineyard - Michelle Malkin

"Imagine the outrage if any Republican President went on vacation during a recession and spent $4,000 a night on accommodations.  On ABC’s Good Morning America Wednesday, correspondent Yunji de Nies seemed to suggest that President Obama’s family will be spending such an amount renting expensive living space at an estate house in Hawaii for a two-week Christmas vacation.  De Nies: 'Christmas trees here aren't cheap – neither is staying in this $8.9 million house, which runs $4,000 a night.  The Obamas rented this one and the two next door for family and friends.  When you spend that kind of money, people pay attention to detail.' ...This conspicuous consumption might feel like a slap in the face to financially struggling Americans who are trying to have their own merry little Christmases.  Oh well.  Let them eat marked-down fruitcake."  Mele Kalikimaka at $4000 a day - Pundette & Pundit

"The First Lady was photographed last night in Hawaii wearing $635 per pair designer shoes by Maison Martin Margiela.  ...A woman lucky enough to have a job in this economy and working for the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would have to work 88 hours (without taxes taken out) to make enough to pay for Michelle Obama's shoes.  If she can get them on sale, they would only set her back $445 for 62 hours work."  What Recession? - Free Republic

"How about Michelle Obama’s ridiculously pricey purse?  She was spotted in Moscow carrying a designer VBH black alligator handbag that has been estimated by some to be worth 'only' $875, while others say it is top of the line and could cost a high of $6,000.  The manufacturer says she has the expensive clutch, the White House, doing more damage control, says it's the cheaper $875 purse."  UPDATE: Michelle's $6,000 Purse - Frugal Café Blog Zone

The Obama's went with a Rainbow Play System which Obama himself called 'the Rolls Royce of swingsets', specifically the model is Supersized Monster Castle Package IV with a Double Bubble on the Penthouse, which retails for $14,799 plus $1500 install, not including the surface it sits on.  Taxpayer* money well spent in a down economy.  What, don't your children have a penthouse on their swingset?  (*There is no official word yet on who paid for this swing set.)  A Playground You Can Believe In - News Busters

"In the wake of the movie [An Inconvenient Truth, aka A Pack of Lies] winning an Oscar last month, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research reported that Gore’s Nashville mansion consumed more than 20 times the electricity than the national average.  Last August, the Gore mansion burned more than twice the electricity in a single month as the average American family uses in an entire year.  Gore’s heated pool house alone uses more than $500 in electricity every month."  Al Gore's Inconvenient Electric Bill - Steven Milloy

"Does anyone else quite see the issue of volunteering at a food bank and dealing with underprivileged people while wearing a pair of designer $540 sneakers? I am not saying that Michelle Obama needed to dress down and wear a contrived outfit from Good Will, but the image and message sent by the First Lady wearing a pair of over-priced designer Lanvin sneakers while people are going hungry and her husband President Barack Obama tells us we are in the worst economy since The Great Depression kind of presents a disconnect to the people and a 'Let them eat cake' mentality."  Let Them Wear Keds - Scared Monkeys



Lest we become bogged down or infuriated or (for those who haven't been paying attention) startled or quite saddened by the facts, here's a little comedy relief:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:9

Clay Pot

A Norfolk Island pine tree was recently gifted to us, and the only pots at W*M in the frosty months are clay — not a living room fit — but I bought the clay, determined I could do something to cause it to blend.

Enter tablecloth fabric scraps and Mod Podge.

"Are you ever going to do anything with that clay pot?" came the eventual query yesterday.

So I did.

I don't know what happens to wet or damp decoupage (do you?), but I've a sneaking suspicion it ain't pretty, so I'm keeping a liner inside the pot.

Too obviously, the dish extends beyond its perch, but those media cases are sorely in need of attention anyway, having acquired water stains and the telltale signs of one too few coats of paint atop pine knots.  So now we need to rethink and revamp the tops of the cases.

Is it any wonder we still don't have a new bath mat?  If I finish it and flop it on the floor, shall we discover we need new flooring?

I just turned my head for something.  Caught sight of the laundry room curtains.  I don't like them.  Uh-oh.

So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  1 Corinthians 1:7-9

Poser - 1 Trick

Why is the same caricature of a nearly-nekked, chubby woman plastered all over the web?


The only ad I've seen even a fraction as much would be a pop-up by Netflix, which does manage to sneak past my blocker at times.  Is it just me, or is that nekked woman everywhere?

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.  Provers 17:28

Snowy

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.  Proverbs 16:3

It's a Tablecloth

But there were a few bumps and a lump along the way to becoming a tablecoth. 


Twice I had to stop sewing, because the fat cat planted his weighty self upon the project.


I wish I'd stopped sewing when I ran out of bobbin thread.  Twice.  And top thread.  Once.  I daresay I topstitched the equivalent of two entire rows in you think you're stitching but you're not mode.

That top thread disappearance was a real nail-biter, because I saw a trip to Wal*Mart standing between me and a new tablecloth.  When and why did I buy a spool of peanut butter colored thread in the first place, and why — as my search of the thread stash revealed — had I bought second?  Providential, I'd say.


It's a tablecloth now.

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.  I John 5:20

Bath Mat

A bath mat seemed the perfect next project for my peg loom.

I grabbed a fatigued bath towel and used my handy
razor thingiflopper to remove the bound ends.


This would have been a snap, except there's apparently
a dull spot in the thingiflopper, so it wasn't entirely severing the strips.

But it was providing a straight line for scissor cuts.
Okay, we'll go with that.


Enter the WOW scissors.


I indelibly penned MOM on them, so no one else would use them and threatened all with bodily harm, if they did.  Okay, not the bodily harm part, but you can be sure my eyes were pokin' out and my voice stern, when I said MINE!  DON'T TOUCH!

One of the clown kids noticed turning them upside-down
produced WOW, thus their name.

Yeah, Wow, don't touch my scissors.


Then I began machine-piecing strips of bath towel, which is what I should have done with the strips of fabric for the first rug, instead of using the splice-and-slip method.  That's not what it's called, but it suits me, so I'll call it that.  That method of joining strips created quite a number of ragtag tails which had to be slipped and stitched into the woven rug, when it came off the loom.  I'd do better this time.

I placed one strip atop another at right angles.


Then I stitched diagonally from corner to corner.



Trimmed the seam to about a quarter inch.

Next, I marched myself (and a long stream of terry towel strips) to the living room and pegged the loom.  I made up that pegged the loom thing, but it makes me sound like I know all manner of weaving terms, so I like it.  I poked pegs in holes to the desired width of my bath mat, warped them with cotton yarn, and wove the rug while talking on the phone with Little Loo, who when I was finished weaving, had to listen to me whine about the rug not being as big as I'd wanted.

Loo and I ended our conversation, I unraveled the rug, and I marched back to the kitchen to repeat the entire stripping process with a second towel.

Wove the stinky little bath mat a second time, now twice the depth (not pictured here).
________________________________________________
Now I'll let you in on a little blogging secret: this post has been sitting in draft form for several days, and the bath mat has been languishing in a basket in the living room, still attached to the loom pegs.  Just sure that tomorrow I was going to tie it off and put it into use — several tomorrows in a row — I'm deciding today that it may just be The Bath Mat That Almost Was.  My excuse is about feeling the need to knit, then feeling the need to make a pieced tablecloth for the dining table, then meeting the need to tend some unexpected issues, which as I type are the causes of a bath mat tied to wooden pegs, a half-knitted baby blanket, and a would-be tablecloth in a heap in the middle of the kitchen table, waiting to be topstitched.  They have a name for this and prescribe pills.  I call it normal life, multi-tasking, no chance for boredom, flat-out wonderful.  Keep your stinkin' pills.  I'm having a great time.

Photos of bath mat, tablecloth, and perhaps even baby blanket forthcoming...Lord willing, and I don't get lost in a jigsaw puzzle.  ºÜº

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.  III John 1:4