Monthly Archives: January 2014

Where Does the Time Go?

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It’s been twelve days since I last posted. Here we are, almost to the end of January. The swift passage of time seems impossible and unbelievable. Where have I been? What have I been doing? My friend, who is the Jazzman’s closest cousin’s wife (did you follow that?), is running for the Ohio State House of Representatives in District 58, and she asked me to be her campaign treasurer. I’ve been very busy with those duties. Then, coincidentally, she needed her website built. That’s one of the hats I wear in my other life—website administration. My son agreed to take … Continue reading →

Dolly and Me

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I was never a doll girl—at least, to the best of my memory. There were dolls in my childhood life, but they were never something I couldn’t live without or something that I spent time playing with. I’d rather play with this toy where you had a square green plastic plate with holes in it, a whole bunch of flowers (I especially remember the daffodils, which we didn’t have in Florida), and a planting tool with which you pushed the base of the flowers into the holes in the green square. I wish I could remember the name of that … Continue reading →

A Pretty Top for a Pretty Girl

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When Butterick 5954 was released last fall, I ordered it as soon as it went on ClubBMV sale. In fact, I ordered two (one in each size) so I could make one for a friend. And that friend is … DearGrandDaughter. For Christmas, Ridley had asked for a Christmas party dress for one of her American Girl dolls. As I was nosing through my stash, I saw a lovely purple velour knit in a sort of paisley print. I believe I bought the fabric from fashionfabricsclub.com about 12 years ago. Simultaneously, I saw a pattern on eBay for pants, skirt, … Continue reading →

Fleece: an antidote for sub-freezing temps

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If you’ve read the newpapers or watched television or opened up Weather.Com in the recent week, you know that—along with the rest of the northern and eastern half of the Continental United States—we have been quaking in our long underwear. My son recently moved into a new-to-him, old-in-the-world-of-insulation house and has asked me for insulated drapes for windows. As he was moving in and getting settled, he decided to paint a few of the rooms that were the most color-challenged. The Jazzman helped out, and the project involved taking Miss Ridley to the paint store and asking her what colors … Continue reading →

Letting it speak to you

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As I reviewed the photos I took in May on our tour of the Burgundy and Champagne regions of France, Paris and Giverny, I realized I had a number of flower photos that I really loved. I started toying with ideas of how best to display them. I love looking at the pictures in the Houzz.com email newsletter and browsing Pinterest decorating ideas. At some point I saw a photo of white frames with white mats in a single horizontal line and thought these might be just what I wanted. I browsed several dozen sites searching just the right frame, … Continue reading →

Starting the Year Off Warmly

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Recently I saw an ArtYarns post on Facebook that screamed “touch me.” Really, just look at that thing of beauty. To look at it is to want it around one’s neck. Before fully researching the pattern, I started dreaming about yarns. On a visit to my LYS, The Flaming Ice Cube, my friend Melinda pointed out a merino/tussah silk yarn in a sorta variegated/hand-painted teal that had some lighter streaks in it. This is my color! I quickly purchased it, then went home to find the pattern. Oops. The pattern was only available from Mont-Tricot Yarns in Sutton, Quebec, Canada, … Continue reading →