Thanksgiving

The cooking was fun, the eating was really great, and the nap afterwards was just right. This weekend is rearranging the studio spaces weekend..... it will take more than one weekend... but this is a start. But for now, I think I will sink back into tryptophan trance. Or carbohydrate coma. Or whatever. Zzzzzzzzz.

St Timothy's Craft Fair

Had Fun. Made a little money. Made a new friend. Saw old friends. Bought Christmas presents. Good day all around!

STUFFIES

So here are some of the things I have been working on so hard this past few weeks. There are more, but my camera is behind my stitching. Which is okay. They came in lots of colors, and some sizes.... I have a craft show this weekend... aftyer that, things slow a little, but not really until after Christmas do I get a real break.

The Squirrels are Fat!

I think perhaps it is going to be a very hard winter. The animals seem to know when to pile on the weight, and this year they are definitely looking rotund. Spherical. Positively obese.

If you look closely, you can see the sleet that is on the fur of the well insulated and cheeky sciurid that is boldly coming into the house to look for treats. Yes, sleet in October in northern Virginia. Not really a normal sort of occurrence. Must be more of that global warming stuff, yeah. I feel a little like Sabina in Thorton Wilder's Skin of Our Teeth.... well, maybe not so much. But just a little. Brrr.

Cold Last Night!

Ugh

I have a migraine and a sore throat.... I am going back to bed.

A Gift Indeed!

I was having trouble visualizing the pieces for this skirt for my daughter.... she simply drew a picture, we hadn't a pattern, and I wanted to make it for this weekend's event. I was working on a couple more projects simultaneously, so felt a bit overwhelmed. As I was talking with a couple of the ladies where I work, who are amazingly talented, I said (facetiously) and you can have this done for me by next Friday, right? Mahtaub, a lovely woman from Iran, looked seriously at the pile of fabrics, then at me, and said, yes! Skipping many details, 6 days later she presented me with this finished skirt, exactly what Meghan drew, and after squeals of glee and big hugs, I showed it all around where I work. Before she left, I asked (not for the first time) what I could pay her, and her reply was that it was a gift, that for her friends, those she loves, she makes things! Makes things! What an understatement! I am still reeling from the generosity of this amazing friend I have made. I am very fortunate, very fortunate indeed.

The coat, somewhat anticlimactically, has been an ongoing project for some weeks, patterned after a couple of Pictish carvings on stones in Scotland. The coats there were short, I wanted mine long, and I added the collar for sheer pleasure and warmth, but the bones are there. It is all hand sewn, a lovely soft purple wool, lined in a navy silk. I will be warm at all my winter medieval events this year!

Muppets Treasure Island - Shiver my timbers

It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Week of the Full Moon!

I know, I know, they say it doesn't have any bearing, but really, you know it does. This week there have been an aweful lot of strange things, and strange people. At work, in the neighborhood, on the news. Throw back your head and howl, friends, the moon was full.

In other news, the cats are totally unbothered by it all. The squirrels too seem totally unconcerned, and both are lounging around, making themselves at home.

9/11 tribute

Budweiser made this, and I understand it only aired once. It is very powerful.

Put It Behind Us?

I will never forget.

When I read the two editorials suggesting we should move on, should put 9/11 behind us, I was sickened. This isn't like any other attack that has occured, it isn't like any other war we have ever fought, not like any other enemy we have ever faced. How do you defeat hatred? Kill an idea?

Instead of pretending 9/11 didn't happen, or was not important, or is no longer relevant, I will remember the men and women who died that bright September day in Washington, in Shanksville, and in New York. I will remember the earlier victims of terrorism, and those who have given their lives in this sad and desperate war. I will NEVER forget.