I’m prepared for battle & Aqua & Red Swap.

Ok so I came armed today. I have a new autumn floral arrangement I made last night & into which I slipped several branches of eucalyptus leaves (Google says that it repels the little devils). I also bought some spray that I have sprayed around & under my desk twice so far today. I think it is really for spraying on pets, but it was the only thing I found other than foggers at Wally World for fleas.

So let’s move on from my disgusting flea ridden thong baring co-workers & look at something fun. I mailed off my Aqua & Red Swap package last week. According to the lady at the post office it should be there in 4-7 days but it has a long ways to go so I am leaning toward the 7 day mark.



I am really happy with the way the bag came out. I got the pattern from this Japanese craft book (ISBN: 4391620715). If you haven’t seen this one, check it out. I love it! There are many more crafty little projects that I plan to make from this one.


Here is a before picture of the thrifted scarf that I used for the lining of the bag.

I wish that I could have gotten a better picture of that but they all looked terrible. Maybe when my partner receives it she can get a better picture of the inside.

Out damn spots OUT!

Or more appropriately fleas out damn fleas. Ok so that is bad enough because you are thinking goodness this girl has a flea infestation at her house. Oh but see you are wrong dear reader. I have not one flea at MY house. My co-worker on the other hand apparently has a serious flea problem at HER house, because I have had fleas jump onto my desk twice now when she has come to give me a phone message/fax/etc. Honestly don’t I endure enough by having to see the Thong Color of the Day when ever she is sitting/standing/bending over? Now I have to be infested by fleas because she can’t seem to get rid of them??? Really how bad is the flea problem your house that they are jumping from you onto my desk??? And why on God’s green Earth can’t you get ride of them? And why oh why won’t my boss do something about them, seeing as I have told her 4 times about this problem, along with the other person that this has also happened to? So help me if I get fleas in my house or on Puppy Dog someone is going to get an ass kicking!

Now who knows some hill jack, natural, sure fire, been used for 10 generations way of getting rid of/repelling the fleas from my desk area that doesn’t scream I am trying to rid my desk area of your filthily fleas you heathen???!!! UGH!!!!!


***** I should add that Puppy Dog is not lying in a pile of filth, but John was working in the attic that day & she spent the day lying at the foot of his ladder, in the middle of the blown in insulation that rains down every time he has to get in the attic. It’s the non fiberglass kind so I did make her move. I think she felt she could keep an eye on us both from there. Isn’t she a sweetie?

Send me your happy thoughts......Please.

Ok fellow bloggers I know this will be an odd post for most because I have not really blogged about our house “Problem”. It is a horrible horrible situation to be in, let me assure you. Without going into great detail because I just don’t think this is the place for it we have been given until Oct first to fix something that someone else did 16 years ago when the house we bought 2 ½ years ago was built or they are going to seek to have our home condemned. The biggest problem is that the Township we live in has been negligent for the last 16 years, allowed us to unknowingly purchase what apparently is an illegally built home (but permits were pulled so how is that?) using state licensed realtors on both sides of the transaction & are now coming after us for the problems that we didn't create. I might add that the home is perfectly safe, has been inspected 3 times, & has been lived in since 1990. Oh and the Township has been collecting residential taxes on it for as many years as well.

So anyway what I would like to ask is that you all send your prayers, good thoughts, Karma, and such our way for the next few weeks as we face this challenge. Today I acted on what we have been saving as our absolute last resort. We were advised by our attorney not to go down this road a couple months ago, but that was before we got this Oct 1st deadline & we are getting desperate for help. Our attorney I might add has not returned our phone calls in over a month, but was the only attorney out of the 9 that we have spoken to that was even willing to take our case. So send your positive waves our way, because I am afraid that we have a very long & challenging road ahead of us. Not that the last nine months haven’t been the worst I could have possibly imagined. So I put my faith in God that this was the right path to take & thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, etc as well.

So I leave you with a picture of me in another one of my costumes that was taken in our front yard in the Spring of 2005 when all was still right with the world & I didn’t hate our beautiful little piece of the country.

A “Kathy K” Mug sighting!

Ok this is definitely by the same person that painted my thrifted mugs. I wish this seller would have put a little more info in their listing though. How am I supposed to get more info on my mugs if they are so vague!? The nerve of some people! So anyway there are more out there than just my 3 by the mysterious “Kathy K”. Apparently there are more “lines” or “series” or whatever you want to call them. And according to this seller they are “collectible”!

Great, but where they find out that they are collectible!?
Darn vague Ebay seller! Cute mug though!

Just a little update post:

I haven’t gotten to work on my BBQ Dress at all this week. Pout pout. Instead I have to work on this.

Which I need to have finished for this Sat night. Nothing like waiting to the last second. Oh well what can, I say.

I do however have a sneak peek of my BBQ dress fabric & trims for you. It has been raining here since last Sat so my picture is a little dark, sorry.


Let’s see what else….Oh yes I received my Red & Orange swap box this week! I have pictures but they are still on the camera at home. I hope I can post them on Mon. along with the birthday gift pictures.

That sadly is about all I have for now. I am still trying to figure out to do for my tea towel designs, I have the Aqua & Red swap to finish up so I can mail it next week. Then I need to also be seriously thinking about my Coloriffic Oct Purple & Orange swap to be mailed between Sept 25th & Oct 5th. I have ideas, now to finds enough hours in the day to complete them.

The sun is actually out today so I have high hopes that will help push me out of my slump. That rain was getting to be a bit much, we already have the one huge figurative black cloud hanging over the house, 6 days of the really thing was pushing it!

So my plans for when I get off at 2pm this fine afternoon? Run in & out of the across town thrift store, in & out of Wally World, pick up two 50lb bags of laying mash, return the library books & pick up this gem: Pure Style living
I have been hearing a lot about it & as luck would have it my library actually has it! Maybe it will help me fix my life. What’s that you say, it’s not a miracle worker? Well a girl can dream, can't she?

Have a great weekend All!

Nebraska, Who knew?

I joined Wren’s Nest’s Tea Towel swap a while ago. I got my partner info & really have been trying to figure out what I am going to do for her. She is from Nebraska & likes to decorate in reds & yellows. That is as far as we have gotten in the “getting to know each other” dept. so far. She’s going to college full time & it sounds like she has a full house as well.

So I said to myself, “Self let’s learn something about Nebraska & go from there”. This is what I have learned about Nebraska:

Kool-Aid was created there in 1927 by Edwin Perkins.

The National Arbor Day Foundation has its headquarters in Nebraska City & was founded by J. Sterling Morton.

Also there is a huge list of actors & actresses from Nebraska, Johnny Carson, Marlon Brando.

Also President Ford is originally from Nebraska, he also has ties to SW MI. He attended the U of M & played football. Pretty neat, huh?

State motto: Eqality Before the Law
State slogan: Nebraska, possibilities….endless
State bird: Western Meadowlark
State aminal: White-tailed Deer
State Fish: Channel Catfish
State insect: Honeybee (this I thought was pretty cool because my name means Honeybee in Greek, just like Melissa does)
State flower: Goldenrod
State tree: Cottonwood
State fossil: Mammoth
State song: Beautiful Nebraska
The estimated population for the entire state of Nebraska for 2005 was 1,758,787!!! Ok let me tell you that the county that I grew up in, in FL, Palm Beach County, had an estimated population of 1,268,548 for 2005!!! The state of FL for 2005, 17,789,864!

Oh my goodness I love Nebraska already! I have a dream that if I ever win the lotto that I will buy at least 300 acres somewhere that is really pretty with hills & trees. I would plunk a modest 3 bedroom, at least 3 ½ bathroom house (I HATE sharing a bathroom), with gourmet kitchen & a studio, right in the center of those 300 acres. That way I do not have to even hear my neighbors much less see them. We had an issue with our last house in FL that we had to put up with the neighbor’s music thumping into our bedroom at all hours of the night, then on the other side, they had a child that was a screamer. Screamed all the time, I understand that kids make noise, but to stand at the fence & scream bloody murder every time hubby made a pass with the mower, is a bit much. Here in MI we have had to deal with the neighbor’s son setting up a BMX track & sex tent on our property & their dogs killing at least 4 of our chickens. We don’t seem to have the best luck with neighbors.

Ok so that is about it for now. Anyone have any suggestions for my tea towels? I am starting to get some ideas, but would love to hear your thoughts……

PS can I tell you how fun I had researching that? I love doing searches for things, even in school I enjoyed researching papers & project, the writing of said paper/project, not so much. Now if I could just find a job that paid me to find facts about random subjects that would be something. Hmmm……

Remains of the day, indeed!

Ok I just had to share this. It seems that there is a rash of people finding blog worthy notes post around as of late. This phenomenon even appears to have reached to our neighbors to the North! I would totally be on the floor if I saw this in the bathroom where I, or actually where I used to work. Now there are only 3 of us that use on bathroom on our side of the office, but when I worked with over 500 people now that would have been funny!

http://www.carolbrowne.com/

Have you seen these cups?

I bought these cups last week while thrifting. I think that they are really funky retro-y cute, but I figured that I would sell them on Ebay. I like to be able to include some background info when I sell things but I am coming up empty handed on these little cuties. I think that this is one of the very few times when the internet has let me down & I haven’t been able to find what I have been looking for. So if anyone knows anything about them or can point me somewhere I might not have looked yet I would greatly appreciate it!

Cowboy Action Shooting - CAS

After I mentioned that I am working on a new dress for a BBQ that a fellow CAS shooter puts on every year, I realized that I never really explained what that CAS is. Cowboy Action Shooting, which should probably be called Cowboy/Cowgirl because it is the fastest growing shooting sport amount both men & women was started back in the 1980’s. You can read all about the particulars here.

Basically it is a cross between re-enactment & a competitive shooting sport. Participants are required to dress appropriately for the years 1864-1900 & shoot original or reproduction firearms from that period that include 2 pistols, a rifle & shotgun. You don’t have to but most people join the international organization of SASS(Single Action Shooters Society).You pay a yearly due, get a monthly magazine & pick & register your alias. No two people can have the same alias & when you go to a shoot that is the name that you go by. For example my alias is “Lily Orleans Mason” & hubby is “Johnny Bayou”. I took forever to come up with my alias. John’s dad’s family is all from the New Orleans are so that was where his came from. I wanted this great meaning full name so I used my great aunt Lillian’s name. My mom says that I would have really liked her & that we are similar. Then my great great grandmother’s maiden name was Mason. I added the Orleans to go along with John’s, LA connection. Besides I like the whole southern belle idea. I grew up in South Florida which is a far cry from really being in the “south” but I liked the notion anyway.

So when you shoot you have to select the category you shoot in & each has different requirements. I am actually getting pretty good at mine. I shoot Ladies Duelist, which means that I have to shoot my pistols with only one hand. There are not as many women that shoot in this category locally so I usually place first at the local clubs, often because I am either the only one shooting it or one of two. Shhh don’t tell, hubby says I should tell that I was the only one shooting it. It sounds so nice that I came in first, even if it was out of a group of one!

So now on to the part that really attracted me to the sport. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the shooting part, but I am really passionate about the costuming part. I am really like for my costumes to be period correct, meaning that I want them to look like some thing that a lady from the mid to late 1800’s would have really worn. That means no zippers or Velcro. I have a pretty good collection of books on dress & jewelry from the era. I have also gotten a couple original fashion magazines from the time off Ebay. It is amazing to hold a magazine that someone from over 120 years ago actually used to design her own dress. Pretty cool huh? There are a lot of people that are not that into the costuming & that is fine too. That is one of the great things about the sport is that there is a little bit of something for everyone. Most of my costumes are appropriate for the years from 1870-1900. For shooting I mostly wear a split riding skirt outfit. In the late 1890’s women on the western frontier started wearing these skirts that were really like our modern gaucho pants with a front panel that buttoned on & made them look like a skirt. Up till this point most ladies rode sidesaddle that can be very dangerous. It was absolutely scandalous for women to wear pants & ride astride. This was a compromise, but still a little daring, but much safer. I love the embellishment possibilities that I have with the split skirt out fit. I have at least 4-5 more ideas that I would like to make from this pattern.

I do have a few dresses as well but that adds a little bit more difficulty when shooting. I have to make sure that I don’t trip over my hems. Then because I am so into making my costumes PC (period correct) I wear several petticoats & that can get heavy. It would have been not unheard of back in the 1800’s for a lady to have on a chemise, bloomers/drawers, corset & from 5-7 petticoats. Everyday! Then depending on the period, also a hoop petticoat or a bustle. I have several designs for dresses that I would also like to make, but at our local shoots there isn’t an opportunity to wear them. At the state & regional shoots there is always a banquet to wear your fancy dresses to, but this year we weren’t able to go to any of those. So when one of the guys that we shoot with sent us an invitation to the BBQ that he has every year I decided that I “needed” a new dress. Charlie Ringo, who has the BBQ dresses up cowboy but not everyone that is invited is a CAS shooter but most of the ones that are dress up. So for me it’s a good chance to wear a great dress that I can’t wear to local shoots.

So I hope that explains a little what I am talking about when I talk about SASS, CAS or costuming. Some people are involved in Civil War, Renaissance Wars, Renn Faires, Victorian Teas, etc, this is a little like those only there is the competition of shooting thrown in, which some people take more seriously than others. The thing that we really enjoy about being involved in CAS is the people. When we when to our first shoot in Indian Town, Fl only as spectators in our sneakers, T-shirt & shorts we were overwhelmed by how friendly everyone was. Then after the match we had people handing us $1000’s of dollars of their own guns to try. If you have never been to another shooting sport you wouldn’t know but this never happens. People at most, but not all, shooting sports are very serious & not very friendly. This was unbelievable to be greeted like that. Just incase you are interested I would completely recommend checking out the pictures at The Carolina Belles & Truly Victorian sites. There are some gorgeous examples of costuming on both. Also if you ever get a chance to check out a shoot I say go. It’s not for everyone but if only to see a bunch of adults dressed up like it’s 1800 something, it’s a hoot. I would also add make sure that you take eye & ear protection because the most important rule for a CAS shoot is saftly. This is not a irresponsible gun toting hillbilly sport we all take safety very very seriously & it is priority number one with everyone. Priority number two? Having fun!

A little of this & a little of that…..

I am just not as clever as Autum to come up with a food analogy for my post. So that’s as good as it gets. Although I am sure I will think of the perfect one about 10 minutes after I post this.

Speaking of food, my Friendship Bread post did not attract the reaction I expected! Goodness now I am concerned that I might poison anyone who eats it or at the very least give them a wicked case of gas (Thanks Beki , yeah tmi) Hey, on the other hand that might be a good thing, “Local pervert dies from poisoned coffee cake served at office. News at 11:00”. Hmmm Or even better yet “Local corrupt Building inspector dies from Friendship bread that was left at Township off, No great loss. News at 11:00” Ha! I can amuse myself so easily.

So I found about a ba-gillion (hey it’s a word, look it up) recipe variations for using the friendship bread starter on the internet. Which is good because if we don’t get sick from it, it might be fun to see how many I can get through before totally forgetting about it & having to pitch it. In case anyone is interested (based on the responses I am guessing not) here is the link to one of the sites that had the most recipe here. I am thinking that maybe I should write a cookbook on it. Surely if there are cookbooks for this & this the world needs a cookbook for 101 ways to use Friendship Bread starter, right?

So onto the hair front, I think that I have my new fall 2006 do picked out, thanks to the fabulous home renovation diva, LLA , who mentioned that Sandra Bullock had a new short do. Really? I love her! So after a trusty Google search I found this. Complete with instruction from cutting to styling. Yippy! I probably will not end up with this exact cut though. I take in a picture of something I like & my stylist (sounds fancy huh?) & I tweak it. I’ll have to let you know what we come up with. I am sure that John will be bummed as he is a long hair kind of guy, but like I tell that is because you don’t have to deal with it.

So next I had the brilliant idea of making a new Victorian dress for the annual BBQ that a fellow cowboy shooter puts on every year. I wore my red, navy & white dress last year & that was a big hit. Not everyone is a cowboy shooter or dresses up so you get a lot of oh’s & auh’s. Also this dress is much fancier than anything I wear to local shoots.

So here is what I am thinking, once I get Miz Gina’s approval that is, the skirt will be from this pattern, probably view B & the bodice from this one I haven’t completely decided on the neckline yet, but I am thinking ¾ sleeves with ruffles at the cuff. So on to the fabric I have four yards of this that I will use for the overskirt (apron looking part, for non costumers) & the front & back of the bodice. Then I have a tan/gold fabric the same color as the mums that I think I will use for the underskirt & the sleeves of the bodice. I also have a bluish purple the same as the darker background color on the mums that I am thinking I will use for alternating ruffles with the tan on the bottom of the skirt & on the sleeves. I know that I have more tan than blue so I think that will be the best use of those. Also I have a neat tassel fringe in that perfectly matches the bluish purple that I want to use on the over skirt. It will really show up against the tan of the underskirt. It’s similar to this only no bead. My only concern is that it will blend in with the overskirt. I will sew it to the hem like in the drawing but I would like for it to stand out. . I do have tan/gold ribbon that I might be able to do something with. Hmmmm….. Oh, did I mention that the BBQ is on at the end of the month. Yeah, nothing like coming up with a great idea at the second.

So I think that is about it. Hope everyone has a great weekend & with nay luck I might have something thrifted or sewn to share next week!

Friendship Bread – A blessing or a curse?

We ate dinner at our adoptive parents/neighbor’s house about a week ago. Sha had this zip loc bag, of what can’t only be described as cream colored snot on her counter. So of course I had to ask, “What the heck is that?!”. “Starter for Friendship Bread”. She had made some for dessert & it is really good. Kind of tastes like a sour dough spice cake. Because I expressed an interest, my own little baggie of cream colored snot arrived last night.

If you are not familiar with this type of bread it is similar to sour dough starter. You get instructions for smooshing it around for the first few days, then you add to it, smoosh it a few more days, then you are supposed to give away baggies of the starter to 3 friends, keep some for you & then make bread out of what’s left. The problem is that I work in an office of 5 total people & I am the only one that cooks at all! So I have been searching the net for different recipes that use this starter. That way I will have enough different versions to make bread every 10 days. We will eat them, hubby can take it to work, I can bring a made bread to work but I will probably need to use all the extra starter myself instead of giving it away. So I need to find enough recipes to make it interesting enough to keep up with.

Here is basically the same recipe that I have.* There are a few variations here that I will be printing off but I would like to hear about others experiences with this type of thing.


*Oh sure now you post links, Blogger!

Hair, oh Hair, how should I cut thee?

Ok so we are into September all already. How did that happen? Where in the world did the summer go? Fall is right around the corner.

For me that usually mean a hair cut. I am the worst about getting my hear cut, I put it off & forget until I can hardly stand it anymore because it is so frazzeled & knotty on the ends. I have board straight baby fine hair, but a lot of pieces of it hair, which is the only good thing it has going for it. Since moving to MI, I find that in the winter my hair is nothing but a huge ball of static & if I don’t get it cut shorter in the winter it will stay in a some form of a pony tail until spring. I have to blow dry it in the mornings or risk it freezing to my head on the way to the car so I figure that I might as well do something with it at the same time. I have a hair appointment on Monday & I have not even begun to think about what I will have her do.

So when I saw LLA’s comment on Autum’s blog about the “Hair Nazi” (I am still waiting to find out what that is all about) it hit me I need to figure out what fall cut will be this year before Monday! I always try to keep it at least long enough to pull most of it back for the days I run late or Sat mornings when I just am not going to do anything with it. As long as I can tuck it behind my ears for the most part I am happy. I can’t stand hair in my eyes. I wish I could! I say a blip about Jessica Simpson the other day on the smut news & she had the cutest bob cut, but I think that I would rip the hair from my head trying to deal with those bangs.

So I ask my blogging friends how in the world should I get my hair cut this year? I am open to pretty much anything & with any luck I will remember to schedule an appointment before I leave to have it cut in 4-6 weeks for maintenance instead of waiting until say Feb!

Here are a couple pictures to give you an idea of where it is at now. It’s sad that the only pictures I have access to at this moment we are dress up like a couple of loons! Oh well wait till Sat morning & we’ll look like this again!

Ok so Blogger is fighting with me & will not let me post pictures. Sooooo. My hair is about 1/3 of the way down my back at the moment & you can look at pictures here or here if you really want to see them. UGH!

More swaps & some cuteness…….

Yippy Yippy! Lori received her box from me for the Coloriffic Swaporama US Red & Orange Sept Swap. From what she said she was thrill. Yeah! I was crossing my fingers that she would like it. I haven’t received mine yet (it won’t come from Lori) but I am sure that it will arrive soon. Tues was the last day to mail them out.

I am on to my next swaps. I kind of went swap crazy. I received my partners for the Coloriffic Swaporama (the original international one) Oct Swap, which will be Purple & Orange, but not necessarily Halloween colors, Red & Aqua Swap & the Tea Towel Swap that Wren’s Nest organized. I am peeking at my partner’s blogs to learn more about them. The Tea Towel swap isn’t secret I got her name & she got mine so that is kind of cool because it will give us a chance to learn about each other a little easier.

Other than that I have to share this picture for Selena. This was the only baby that our hens hatched out this past spring, but how cute is that.




Then one more cute thing. This just cracks me up! I hate to eat or smell mushrooms, but they are so cute!