Adventures of a fiber "addikt"

Quick and Cheap hummus

2011-06-19T16:23:00.002-04:00

I ran out of hummus the other day. Bummer. I love putting it on bread rather than another spread, it's low in fat and high in protein. Have you seen how expensive it can be? Are you kidding me? It's so cheap to make it's ridiculous and it takes about 5 minutes. Here's the recipe...

Plain hummus, add more spices or whatever you want for more flavor...

1 14 ounce can garbanzo beans
OR about 1 cup of dried beans that you've soaked overnight, drained, added 4 cups of water to, and cooked (bring to boil and then simmer for about 2 hours.) This gives you about 2 cups of cooked beans. Add about a cup or so of their cooking liquid. Dry beans are even cheaper than canned.
1/4 cup tahini. You'll find it in the peanut butter section. This is sesame seed paste.
2 TBSP flax oil. You can also use olive oil, grapeseed oil, or even canola, but flax is best.
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped, more if you'd like.
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin. I like more than that, I use about 2 1/4 tsp in mine.
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add garlic, red peppers,spices, or anything else you'd like to make the hummus more flavorful.

Enjoy!

Do it yourself cat tree

2011-05-31T19:51:00.000-04:00

I just had to post this, it was on the "Life with Cats" website. This was billed as a "college cat tree" but my husband pointed out that there was no beer cans involved so that couldn't be right!

Research paper: Banning Convenience Declawing

2011-05-02T20:16:00.000-04:00

I'd promised to post the research paper when it was finished and proofed. I ended up getting a 98% on the assignment and have now corrected the errors that took points off. I hope this paper does some good for the cats in this country. Thanks for your interest.

Banning convenience declawing
April, 2011

From the increasing popularity of pet spas and pet day care “camps” to the billions of dollars spent on premium food, toys, accessories, and treats, Americans show that devotion to their animals continues to grow. Most pet owners treat their animal companions as family members and would never purposely hurt or disfigure them. Yet some owners hurt and disfigure their cats by declawing them. Convenience declawing is done for such non-medical reasons as “we just got new furniture”, “we don’t want to take the time to train the cat”, or other reasons that have nothing to do with the welfare of the cat. This controversial surgery is considered as cruel, painful, and mutilating, though it is still performed by many vets in the United States. More humane vets educate clients about non-surgical alternatives rather than providing declawing. Official policy statements against declawing have been issued by numerous national and international animal welfare groups and veterinary medical associations. Pet owners are wise to question the ethical position of vets that offer elective declawing strictly for the convenience of an owner and not for medical reasons, as vets have pledged to alleviate animal suffering and not to cause it. There are a few medical reasons to declaw a cat such as an owner having a compromised immune system, or if a cat has injured a paw so severely that the claw and lower toe must be amputated. However, most declawing surgeries are requested to keep the cat from possibly clawing in the future. A ban on declawing for owner convenience should be supported because the procedure is cruel, mutilating, and painful for the cat, because there are non-surgical alternatives to keep the cat from scratching, because most medical and animal welfare organizations publicly oppose the procedure, and because there are already proposed and enacted laws in the US and abroad to prohibit the surgery unless it is medically necessary.

Owners are frequently told that declawing is a simple procedure and is easily done. But declawing is certainly not a simple and routine surgery such as spay and neuter. (Broder, 2003) “It seems there is a big difference between neutering to prevent unwanted animal births and performing a surgical mutilation for our own comfort.” (Ben Shaul, 1994) Declaw surgery is complicated and extremely painful and is often the cause of medical and behavioral complications. Declawing is so cruel that it is termed “inhumane” and an “unnecessary mutilation” in England, where it is banned. The entire toe is amputated up to the joint, including the claw, the bone, nerve, joint capsule, collateral ligaments, and all of the tendons. The surgery consists of “ten separate, painful amputations of the third phalanx up to the last joint of each toe”. In human terms, it would be having each finger cut off at the last joint. (Schelling, Technical Facts) The recovery is long and extremely painful, and the rate of complication is very high compared to other surgeries, fifty percent of the declawed cats had one or more complications immediately after surgery. (Feline Onychectomy at a Teaching Institution: A Retrospective Study of 163 cases, 1994) Using a laser rather than a knife does not change the level of pain or the result of the surgery, though some vets try to convince their clients otherwise. Vets that have spent upwards of forty-five thousand dollars for the laser machine frequently promote declawing in their practices. (Jan's Kitten Kids) Veterinary Doctor Nicholas Dodman said that partial digit amputation (declawing) is so horrible that it has been used as torture for prisoners of war. (Syufy, Declawing: Disclouse and Wait, 2011) The cat is designed to walk on the portion of the toes which are cut off during declawing. Removal of the last joint of the toe changes the animal’s balance and gait. This change of gait causes later arthritis and pain in the paws, shoulders, and spine.

In addition to the pain of amputation, the declawed cat is likely to exhibit behavioral problems that may lead to the animal’s surrender for euthanasia. Aggressive biting and litter box avoidance are common problems in declawed cats surrendered to shelters. While cats with claws are surrendered to shelters for human-related issues such as the owner moving and not being able to take the cat, declawed cats are surrendered for behavioral problems. Most declawed cats that entered shelters were euthanized because of litter box issues. Animal behaviorist Carole Wilborn quoted a study of a Delaware animal shelter that found “more than seventy-five percent of the cats turned in for avoiding their litter boxes had been declawed.” (Wilbourn) Other shelter studies report percentages of declawed cats euthanized for behavioral issues as higher, some as high as ninety percent. (Goldstein) Veterinary colleges do not even teach the ethics of declawing along with the surgical technique, nor do they teach the new vets the possibility that the surgery itself often leads to problems that end with euthanasia.

Scratching is a normal behavior that provides psychological comfort to the cat. “Vet students should learn the long term effects, along with why the cats need to scratch, along with their anatomy lesson.” (Syufy, Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: What Lies Ahead on the Declawing Front?, 2011) Cats relax through kneading with their claws extended. Claws additionally allow cats to climb and to fully stretch out their legs and back. Through scratching with their claws, cats also create a visual and scent identification mark, and condition their claws. (Swiderski, 2002) Scratching behaviors are instinctive to the cat. Humane alternatives to declawing surgery allow the clawed cat to enjoy these behaviors and still live in harmony with home furnishings. Nail trimming will lessen damage from scratching, synthetic feline facial pheromone sprays artificially mark territory and lessen the cat’s desire to mark with claws, and scratching posts and mats provided to the cat preserve furnishings. Behavior modification training and use of anti-scratching items also teach the cat where it may or may not scratch. In addition, easily applied plastic nail tips called “Soft Paws” protect all surfaces from the cat’s claws. Each or a combination of alternatives will eliminate the cat scratching on furnishings and other household items, solving the issue with little effort from the owner and without declawing.

A small percentage of declawing supporters say they would surrender their cats if they could not declaw them. Yet owners in countries which ban the procedure have millions of companion cats. The owners in non-declawing countries have no choice but to train their cat, provide alternative solutions such as “Soft paws” and scratching posts, or not adopt at all. Inconvenience of the owner for a time does not begin to compare to the pain and behavioral issues of the cat recovering from the amputation of its toes. The AVAR (Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights) notes that “some veterinarians have argued that some people would have their cats killed if declawing was not an option. We should not, however, allow ourselves to be taken 'emotional hostage' like this. If a person really would kill her or his cat in this case, it is reasonable to question the suitability of that person as a feline guardian, especially when there are millions of non-declawed cats living in harmony with people.” (Syufy, Are there any states in USA where declawing is illegal ? Which ones?, 2011)

Declawing is considered so cruel that numerous animal and veterinary groups have issued statements against the procedure, especially for non-medical reasons. The leading animal welfare organization is against declawing. “The ASPCA is strongly opposed to declawing cats for the convenience of their guardians. The only circumstance in which the procedure could be condoned would be if the health and safety of the guardian would be put at risk, as in the case of individuals with compromised immune systems or illnesses that cause them to be unusually susceptible to serious infections.” (ASPCA) Some other organizations that have issued similar public policy statements are: the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR), Cat Fancier’s Association (CFA), World Small Veterinary Association, Humane Society of the United States, American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (Sturges, 2005), and the American Humane Society. Even the public position statement of the American Veterinary Medical Association says that declawing should be “considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing provides a zoonotic risk for its owner(s).” (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2003)

Though the American Veterinary Medical Association says in their position statement that declawing should always be a last resort, (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2003) some member vets continue to declaw strictly for owner convenience. Departing from its own published position statements, the organization continues to fight efforts to ban convenience declawing. Declawing for non-medical reasons also contradicts the Veterinarian’s Oath in which the vet pledges to relieve animal suffering, not cause it. “I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.” (Journal of the American Veterinarian Medical Society, 2004) One vet commented, “As a profession, are we not giving a mixed message to the public in advocating companion animal health and welfare on the one hand and not abandoning such practices that are considered unethical by veterinarians and their clients in many other countries?” (Fox, 2006) The American Veterinary Medical Society has stated that it encourages educating clients about the actual procedure and what will actually happen to the cat. Unfortunately, many veterinarians do not fully educate owners about the procedure when promoting convenience declawing. Sadly, some owners also do not care to know what will happen to the cat. The only way to be sure that veterinarians are truly treating cats humanely is to ban convenience declawing.

Laws exist to protect animals in the United States from cruel living conditions, poor treatment, abuse, and neglect. Yet there has been no ban of declawing. While declawing is most commonplace in the United States and Canada, in many other countries declawing is either illegal or considered extremely inhumane and only performed under extreme circumstances. Declawing is banned in Europe, the British Isles, Bosnia, Slovenia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, and Israel. (Schelling, Outlawed Countries) Declawing is a money making procedure for the vets that provide it, and many of those vets have fought against a ban of the procedure. Pro-declawing vets say they want the decision to declaw to be between the vet and client, and not regulated. It seems that these vets are also motivated by loss of declawing as a source of income. Some pro-declawing vets use this reasoning, “Since destructive clawing behavior can sometimes lead owners to euthanize their cat, the procedure can be a lifesaver.” (Syufy, Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: First Declawing Ban in US - West Hollywood, CA, 2011) But shelter directors, volunteers, and other vets state that surrender and euthanasia is much more common for litter box avoidance issues seen in declawed cats than for scratching behavior in clawed cats. In countries that ban declawing, owners use alternative non-surgical methods to counter destructive clawing behavior, driving euthanasia for litter box avoidance to low rates.

The movement to ban declawing has been growing with support from vets, animal owners, and animal welfare organizations. In California, some cities in which have introduced legislation are: Santa Monica (Drug Week staff editors, 2009), San Diego, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, and West Hollywood. West Hollywood’s ban initially passed in 2003, was subsequently overturned, but upon appeal was upheld. As recently as last year, Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood, CA) “introduced legislation that will prohibit veterinarians from declawing cats in the State of California.” (Goldstein) Legislation has been introduced to ban the procedure in other states; some bills have also focused upon the illegality of landlords requiring that cat owners declaw their cats. Attorney Brian Pease said of the fight against the practice in Massachusetts: “There’s no way that a federal law or any other law would require cats to be declawed because it’s such a cruel procedure.” (Wilbourn) Grass roots efforts in small municipalities to pass a declawing ban help other areas to pass bills to ban the surgery in these other communities. Many individual communities banning the procedure will help the United States join the long list of countries that have humanely banned declawing.

It is estimated that 93.6 million cats live as household companions in the United States. From seventy-five to eighty percent of cat owners do not declaw their cats. Some vets continue to perform declawing surgery despite causing long lasting physical and behavioral problems that often lead to surrender and euthanasia of the animal. The United States lags behind the rest of the developed world by delaying banning this cruel procedure. Since humane and non-surgical alternatives to declawing are available, there is little reason to consider declawing a cat. Public outcry is becoming more vocal as laws are introduced to ban declawing surgery as cruel. Though slow, the movement to ban convenience declawing in the United States is gaining momentum. The humanity of a people is illustrated by how the least of the creatures in their care are treated. It is up to owners and care givers to protect and treat humanely the beautiful cats that have been living with people for thousands of years. “If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain

Works Cited

Feline Onychectomy at a Teaching Institution: A Retrospective Study of 163 cases. (1994, Jul-Aug). Vet Surg, 23(4), 274-80.

ASPCA. (n.d.). Position Statement on Declawing Cats. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from ASPCA: http://www.aspca.org/Sites/CMS/Layouts/PrintViewDisplay.aspx

Atwood-Harvey, D. (2005, December). Death or Declaw: Dealing with Moral Ambiguity in a Veterinary Hospital. Society and Animals, 13(4), 315-342.

Ben Shaul, D. (1994, August 28). Keep Claws on your Cat. The Jerusalem Post, p. 7.

Broder, J. M. (2003, January 25). In West Hollywood, a Cat's Right to Scratch May Become a Matter of Law. New York Times, p. 12.

Cloutier, S., Newberry, R. C., Cambridge, A. J., & Tobias, K. M. (2005). Behavioural signs of postoperative pain in cats following onychectomy or tenectomy surgery. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 325-334.

Drug Week staff editors. (2009, October 9). The Paw Project: Santa Monica Votes to Draft Ordinance on City-Wide Cat De-Claw Ban. Drug Week, p. 1832.

Eckstein, S. r. (2009, June 28). Declawing Cats Q&A: Positives, Negatives, and Alternatives. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Healthy Cats Guide, WebMD: http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/declawing-cats-positives-negatives-alternatives?.

Fox, M. W. (2006, February 15). Questions Ethics of Onychectomy in Cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, p. 602.

Goldstein, L. D. (n.d.). The Debate on Declaw Laws. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from Stray Pet Advocacy: http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/declaw_law.html

Hammett, D. E. (n.d.). Is Declawing Cruel? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from PetStation CatStation: http://petstation.com/declaw.html

Jan's Kitten Kids. (n.d.). Laser Declaw: Is it really better? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Jan's Kids: http://www.janskids.com/laser.html

Journal of the American Veterinarian Medical Society. (2004, June 1). Veterinarian's Oath Reaffirmed. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Journal of the American Veterinarian Medical Society: http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jun04/040601t.asp

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. (2003, April 15). AVMA position statement on the declawing of domestic cats. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from AVMA Online News Archives: http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/apr03/030415c.asp

Lee, J. D. (n.d.). Is Declawing Cats Cruel? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Dr. Justine Lee: http://www.drjustinelee.com/blog/cat-questions/85-is-declawing-cats-cruel

Mohd Idris, S. (2008, July 30). Enough of this Mutilation. New Straits Times (Malaysia), p. 23.

Nolen, R. S. (2006, February 1). California City's Ban on Declawing Struck Down - Court affirms. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 333-334.

Patrick, C. (n.d.). Declawing As Seen by a Shelter Volunteer. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/a/ucfeature7.htm

Prouts, L. G. (1998, March 17). The Declawing Issue. Washington Post, p. Z11.

Pukay, B. D. (1994, September 29). Training Cats not to Scratch a Better Alternative to Declawing. The Ottawa Citizen, p. B4.

Sacks, A. (2003, April 26). Kitty's Claws for Concern. Daily News (New York), pp. Now, 39.

Schelling, C. D. (n.d.). Home: Written by Veterinarian, Dr. Christianne Schelling. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/

Schelling, C. D. (n.d.). Outlawed Countries. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/htmls/outlawed.htm

Schelling, C. D. (n.d.). Technical Facts. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm

Singer, Z. (2001, August 10). Veterinarians seek ban on declawing of cats: Procedure should only be allowed 'where euthanasia is only alternative'. The Ottawa Citizen, p. A1/Front.

Sturges, L. (2005, January 29). For Cats' Health, Scratch This Surgery. Washington Post, p. A23.

Swiderski, J. D. (2002, November). Onychectomy and its Alternatives in the Feline Patient. Clinical Techniques in Small Animal Practice, 17(4), 158-161.

Syufy, F. (2011). Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: What Lies Ahead on the Declawing Front? Retrieved March 16, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/cs/declawing/a/nodeclaw_2.htm?p=1

Syufy, F. (2011). Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: First Declawing Ban in US - West Hollywood, CA. (The New York Times Company) Retrieved March 16, 2011, from About.Com Cats: http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/nodeclaw.htm?p=1

Syufy, F. (2011). Are there any states in USA where declawing is illegal ? Which ones? Retrieved April 11, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/f/uslaws.htm

Syufy, F. (2011). Declawing: Disclouse and Wait. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/disclose_wait.htm?p=1

The New Zealand Herald. (2003, May 9). West Hollywood Bans Cat Declawing. The New Zealand Herald, pp. News, World: Latest.

Wall Street Journal. (2007, June 29). Declawing and the Law. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from The Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsu.com/law/2007/06/29/declawing-the-law/tab/print

Wilbourn, C. (n.d.). Don't Declaw Cats! Retrieved March 15, 2011, from The Cat Therapist: http://www.thecattherapist.com/dont_declaw.htm

But where are you going to get your protein?!

2011-05-02T11:29:00.003-04:00

This question comes up all the time when I tell people that I'm not eating meat (and even more when I mention that I don't eat other animal things either)...where are you going to get your protein? Many people that ask do so with the look of supreme knowledge that vegetarians are going to somehow die of lack of protein, but that isn't even a vague issue. The National Cattlemen's Association and the United Poultry Farmers have worked long and hard to convince the American public that we need lots and lots of protein, (not to mention the promotion of the myth that we need animal sources of iron and calcium, not true, either) but it just isn't true. Too much protein has its own inherant health issues, but lets get back to how vegans get plenty.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends .5g of protein per kg for the average adult. To get your weight in kg, just divide the pounds by 2.2. So that means that my overweight self (I will admit to weighing a hefty 175 right now) needs only about 40 grams of protein a day to be perfectly healthy. The USDA's RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)says that we need .8g per kg. Of course, the USDA is pretty much run by factory farm giant corporations. But I'll figure that out for you anyway...for the same weight at .8grams per kg, I'd need 63.64 grams of protein a day. That's still well below what the meat folks would like you to believe, and what will cause heart and arterial disease as well.

So now that I know that I only need somewhere between 40-64 grams of protein a day, where is a vegan to get it? Easy! Here are some unexpected sources:

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten flour is 46 grams
1/2 cup textured vegetable protein(TVP), dry is 24. (Fake meat ingredient)
1 cup soybeans, cooked, boiled (edamame) is 22.07
1 cup wheat flour, whole grain is 16.41
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, shelled is 16.4
1/2 cup of whole almonds is 15.17
2 TBSP brewer's yeast is 14
1 cup wheat flour, white, all purpose is 12.91
1 cup yellow cornmeal is 9.91
1 cup cooked peas is 8.24
1/2 cup quinoa (keen-wa, a very yummy grain) is 8.14
1 1/2 TBSP Red Star nutritional yeast is 8
1/2 cup pinto beans, cooked is 7.7
1/2 cup kidney beans, cooked, 7.7
1 cup of SPINACH, cooked has 7.62
1/2 cup black beans, cooked 7.6
1/2 cup navy beans, cooked is 7.5
1/2 cup chickpeas/garbanzo beans, cooked is 7.3
1/2 cup vegetarian baked beans, canned is 6
1 cup of BROCCOLI, cooked, is 5.70
and 1 cup long-grain brown rice, cooked is 5.03

Source: USDA Nutrient Database via "Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Foods" by Alicia C. Simpson.

As you can see, the beans aren't even at the top of the list of power protein foods. If I have a cup of rice and some broccoli, I'm already over 1/4 the way to having enough protein. This also doesn't list the protein found in soy foods like soy yogurt and tofu. So please put to rest the myth that vegetarians and vegans don't get enough protein, it simply isn't true.

My Case Against Declawing Cats

2011-03-23T11:25:00.000-04:00

This is a persuasive essay assignment for my writing class this semester. Though it is not as long as a full-scale research paper (that's the next assignment), there is a lot of information in this essay that might be of interest if you're thinking about declawing your cat. I hope you don't, but here is some information to consider:

Declawing cats

Most people who adopt a pet intend to treat the animal with great love and care. Sometimes, through lack of information, or based upon having done so to another cat in the past, an owner will decide to have a cat declawed. The owner might not realize that prevailing thought about declawing cats has changed greatly over the years, or might not realize what the surgery actually does to the beloved pet. Declaw surgeries are still being performed in the United States despite the growing outcry of many veterinarians and cat lovers that the procedure is cruel and outdated. The ASPCA, Cat Fancier’s Association, World Small Animal Veterinary Association, Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR), American Humane Association, and the Humane Association of the USA have all issued position statements which oppose declawing cats for the convenience of their guardians. If each pet owner will not declaw his or her own cats and not patronize vets that perform the procedure, much needless suffering will be averted. Each owner who chooses to be humane will help declaw surgeries fall from favor and eventually stop altogether. The declawing of cats is a complex, painful, mutilating surgery causing frequent medical and behavioral complications; since there are humane and non-surgical alternatives to keep cats from damaging household goods with their claws, no caring owner should declaw his or her cat.

Many owners who opted for declaw surgery on their cats say later that they were not aware of what the procedure entailed (Syufy, 2011), nor were they counseled as to non-surgical alternatives to counter the cat’s natural instinct to scratch. Some veterinary offices tell their clients that declawing is a fairly simple, relatively painless and routine surgery for the cat. But this procedure actually consists of “amputating not just the claws, but the whole phalanx (up to the joint), including bones, ligaments, and tendons! To remove the claw, the bone, nerve, joint capsule, collateral ligaments, and the extensor and flexor tendons must all be amputated.” (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts) Dr. Schelling writes that the surgery is not at all simple but includes ten separate, painful amputations of the third phalanx up to the last joint of each toe. She compares the surgery to cutting off of a person’s fingers at the last joint of each finger. Sometimes clinic staff will deliberately misinform owners that declawing removes only the claws and is a minor surgery, but removal of the claws is not sufficient to declaw the cat, the bones must be removed to prevent the claw from growing back. (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts) Declawing is considered so inhumane that it has been banned entirely in a number of countries, (Christianne Schelling, Outlawed Countries) or is used only in cases of medical necessity such as a toe being injured so badly it must be amputated.

Laser declawing surgery is often promoted as painless by vets who have purchased the forty-five thousand dollar laser machine. Regardless of the method used for the surgery, the result and after effects are the same. The toes of the cat are still cut and mutilated. The laser burns the tissue and bone off rather than requiring the vet to do as much cutting by hand. Some people feel that the cost of the laser machine gives veterinarians a financial reason to promote declaw surgery even though they know of the painful aftermath. (Jan's Kitten Kids) A vet with the machine may suggest clients declaw at the same time as neutering the cat. This practice is a form of cross selling as the vet tries to recoup money invested in the equipment. Veterinarians who decline to mention the severity of the surgery also do not mention the severity of the recovery. Dr. Nicholas Dodman, DVM has written that “cats bounce off the walls in recovery cages because of the excruciating pain after declawing, as opposed to neutering surgery recoveries which are fairly peaceful.” He further says that partial digit amputation (declawing) is so horrible that it has been used as torture for prisoners of war. (Syufy, 2011)

The declawed cat now must deal with a very painful recovery. The rate of complication after declaw surgery is relatively high compared to other procedures. Direct complications can include excruciating pain, nerve damage, hemorrhage, bone chips that prevent healing, painful regrowth of deformed claws inside the paw which are not visible to the eye. Chronic back and joint pain is common as shoulder, leg and back muscles weaken because the cat was designed to walk on the toes which have been amputated. Abscesses can also form. (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts) . Studies quoted by Dr. Schelling and published in peer-reviewed veterinary journals note that “fifty percent of the cats had one or more complications immediately after surgery.” The studies also noted that many cats suffered a loss of balance because they could no longer maneuver well on their amputated stumps. (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts)

Even after its paws have healed, a declawed cat frequently has behavioral issues due to the surgery. Grooming is important for feline mental and physical health. A cat cannot groom fully without claws. The cat can learn to use its teeth more, but it cannot scratch and groom itself in the region of the head, mouth, neck, and ears. Anyone who has ever had an itch that cannot be scratched can sympathize with this dilemma! Scratching and stretching its claws are pleasurable activities which are also taken away from the cat. Any cat has a natural love of climbing that is impossible to switch off. Without claws, the cat will slip and fall, causing confusion and disbelief. The simple act of climbing up to a chair or window perch may now prove to be hazardous. A declawed cat must never be let outdoors. If the cat ever found itself lost or homeless, it would no longer be able to hunt and would die of starvation. A declawed cat will frequently resort to biting when confronted with even minor threats. The cat becomes very insecure with no claws with which to defend itself. All cats have an instinctive need to scratch in the litter box which is also frustrated by declawing. A high percentage of animals surrendered to shelters for behavioral reasons are there because of misuse of the litter box, not clawing. Of cats euthanized for behavioral reasons, seventy-five percent are declawed. (Jan's Kitten Kids) Declawing is also reported to have changed cats’ personalities, though the medical community does not recognize this side effect. (Christianne Schelling, Home: Written by Veterinarian, Dr. Christianne Schelling) Each person knows his or her own pet, personality change can be a very subjective observation. Just one frustration can cause behavioral issues in any cat, while the declawed cat has many challenges to overcome.

Owners sometimes mention fear of the cat scratching household furnishings as a reason to declaw. However, there are many non-surgical alternatives to declawing that will protect household goods. Claws are fairly easily trimmed by the owner of even the most difficult cat with a bit of practice. Even claws of reluctant cats can be trimmed by an owner using a cat bag or enlisting a helper. Cats gain comfort from the act of scratching. Providing scratching posts and pads rubbed with catnip train the cat to scratch on the scratching post and not on the furniture. Multiple scratchers throughout the house give the cat acceptable places to scratch whenever the desire occurs. Double sided tape can be applied to furniture to train the cat not to touch an area, cats really hate the sticky feeling on their paws. Aluminum foil over a surface also discourages cats from scratching inappropriately. Cats climbing curtains can be immediately cured by using a loosely attached spring tension rod. The cat will climb it and the rod will fall down, often requiring only one effort to teach a cat not to climb or scratch the draperies. Another alternative is a product called “Soft Claws”. These are vinyl tips that are glued to the claws of the cat to protect furnishings. They are widely available, easy to apply, and stay on four to six weeks. Cat trees and gyms are fun alternatives, cats love to climb and scratch on them, leaving the furnishings in the house untouched. Sprays are also available to deter scratching, and squirt bottle training works well to prevent scratching inappropriate items. Dr. David E. Hammett, DVM said it well: “home furnishings are expensive, but a cat’s well-being is priceless.” (David E Hammett)

It is important for pet owners to educate themselves about the care and well-being of their pets, and to choose humane options for them. Owners that consider declawing a cat should be aware of the extent of this complex, major, mutilating surgery. They should be aware that declawing is denounced by most animal organizations and banned in many countries as inhumane. Owners should explore all the non-surgical alternative methods available to keep the cat from scratching furnishings. Owners should not believe a vet’s assurance that complications occur only occasionally or that the cat will recover and be able to walk just fine, since statistical and anecdotal evidence does not agree. Owners that say they have tried alternative measures to declawing and that declawing is being done so that the cat’s life may be saved often have not sought help or used sufficient effort to train the cat to change its behavior. If they lived in a country which bans declawing, owners would find ways to train the cat or provide alternative places to scratch. Polls have been publicized in which a small percentage of owners say they would surrender their cats if they could not declaw them, suggesting more euthanasia deaths of pets. But rather than creating more euthanasia deaths, those owners might not adopt a cat at all if they knew they were unable to declaw it, or would use alternative methods of training the cat if declaw surgery was unavailable. Inconvenience of the owner for a time does not begin to compare to the pain and behavioral issues of the cat recovering from the amputation of its toes. Cats grace the lives of the people around them with charm, beauty, intelligence, and companionship. It is up to cat owners to make the best, most humane, choices for their care. Scottish veterinarian James Herriot said, “I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs... [They] are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.”

Works Cited

ASPCA. (n.d.). Position Statement on Declawing Cats. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from ASPCA: http://www.aspca.org/Sites/CMS/Layouts/PrintViewDisplay.aspx

Christianne Schelling, D. (n.d.). Home: Written by Veterinarian, Dr. Christianne Schelling. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/

Christianne Schelling, D. (n.d.). Outlawed Countries. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/htmls/outlawed.htm

Christianne Schelling, D. (n.d.). Technical Facts. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm

Jan's Kitten Kids. (n.d.). Laser Declaw: Is it really better? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Jan's Kids: http://www.janskids.com/laser.html

Patrick, C. (n.d.). Declawing As Seen by a Shelter Volunteer. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/a/ucfeature7.htm

Syufy, F. (2011). Declawing: Disclouse and Wait. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/disclose_wait.htm?p=1

Stashing or hoarding?

2010-12-08T11:20:00.000-05:00

Today’s question is something that has been bothering me a lot this vacation. I am busy taking apart my sewing room shelves and carrying everything on them down to the basement for storage. I’m making a real guest room of my sewing room and reorganizing everything that was in both my sewing/guest room and my office/study area. I need a guest room for my children and grandchildren to have somewhere set up for when they come to visit rather than having to scramble to unfold the futon every time. My sewing machine will most likely end up in my office or against one wall in the guest room so I can use it, but the fabric stash will have to come up from storage one piece at a time.

So the question is: when you’re a hobbyist, where is the line between stashing and collecting fabric or yarn or hobby supplies and hoarding? Like many people, I watch the shows on hoarders and though my home is full and definitely qualifies for the title “cluttered’, there aren’t the piles of stuff heaped on every surface that make it impossible to use the rooms or to even walk through the house. The sewing room gets messy when I’m working on a project, but everything was put away on shelves and in bins beneath my cutting table besides a few things that were on the floor waiting to be put away properly. I’ve been told by other people I know that sew that my stash is very small compared to theirs.

Perhaps it’s the size of the storage you have available that dictates if it’s good or bad in terms of stash or hoarding? I have heard some very creative ways of hiding the stash from husbands, mine knows the full extent of my fabric and yarn so that isn't necessary with me.

Contents of one shelving unit stacked in the corner

I think of hoarders as:

1. Unable to throw away even their trash/garbage.

2. Unable to get rid of anything they’ve ever owned.

3. Shopping compulsively but rarely even using what they buy.

4. Creating an unsafe environment in the house through not being able to walk through the hallways and such.

5. Psychologically at need for the things to substitute for something else in their life or a traumatic experience that has not been dealt with as of yet.

I don’t think that I’m any of those things, though I do have extra stuff and clutter that I am slowly working through. I donate things to goodwill about 3 or 4 times a year so it's not that I can't get rid of anything. I was happy with my sewing room being full of wonderful fabric, but moving and going through it all is really difficult. My organizational skills need improvement.

My "Civil War" closet

So as I go through my fabric stash while taking it off the shelves to move the shelves to the basement, I see fabric that I have kept that I might not ever use, but I don't know if I will or not. At some point I will be finished with school (again) and have more time to sew. But what to do with it all now? I don’t want to just donate it to goodwill or throw it away when there is someone that might be able to make good use of it.

I realize that I might never live long enough to use up all of the dress sized pieces of fabric that I have purchased, especially since with being in school, my Civil War dress production has fallen to just a few a year, and I really don’t have the time to reenact, either. I have piles of beautiful cottons, wools, and silks, just waiting for me to turn them into beautiful gowns. Each year I sell the overage in my closet at a reenactor's consignment store so I have more room for the new ones I have created. They sell really well because they're made from really nice fabric and use period construction techniques, but I don't make a profit from selling them, I just get about what I have in them in terms of fabric cost. I enjoy making them, it's a lot of fun for me, and I figure any loss is entertainment value.

So, gentle readers, where is that line between stashing and hoarding, specifically fabric? I'd really love to know!

Enjoy your shopping. :)

2010-11-29T16:50:00.001-05:00

In honor of the greatest of all retail holidays, Christmas (or Xmas for us lazy typists) here is a bit of historical factual information for you...
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I. When was Jesus born?
A. Popular myth puts his birth on December 25th in the year 1 C.E.

B. The New Testament gives no date or year for Jesus’ birth. The earliest gospel – St. Mark’s, written about 65 CE – begins with the baptism of an adult Jesus. This suggests that the earliest Christians lacked interest in or knowledge of Jesus’ birthdate.

C. The year of Jesus birth was determined by Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian monk, “abbot of a Roman monastery. His calculation went as follows:

a. In the Roman, pre-Christian era, years were counted from ab urbe condita (“the founding of the City” [Rome]). Thus 1 AUC signifies the year Rome was founded, 5 AUC signifies the 5th year of Rome’s reign, etc.

b. Dionysius received a tradition that the Roman emperor Augustus reigned 43 years, and was followed by the emperor Tiberius.

c. Luke 3:1,23 indicates that when Jesus turned 30 years old, it was the 15th year of Tiberius reign.

d. If Jesus was 30 years old in Tiberius’ reign, then he lived 15 years under Augustus (placing Jesus birth in Augustus’ 28th year of reign).

e. Augustus took power in 727 AUC. Therefore, Dionysius put Jesus birth in 754 AUC.

f. However, Luke 1:5 places Jesus’ birth in the days of Herod, and Herod died in 750 AUC – four years before the year in which Dionysius places Jesus birth.

D. Joseph A. Fitzmyer – Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America, member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and former president of the Catholic Biblical Association – writing in the Catholic Church’s official commentary on the New Testament[1], writes about the date of Jesus’ birth, “Though the year [of Jesus birth is not reckoned with certainty, the birth did not occur in AD 1. The Christian era, supposed to have its starting point in the year of Jesus birth, is based on a miscalculation introduced ca. 533 by Dionysius Exiguus.”

E. The DePascha Computus, an anonymous document believed to have been written in North Africa around 243 CE, placed Jesus birth on March 28. Clement, a bishop of Alexandria (d. ca. 215 CE), thought Jesus was born on November 18. Based on historical records, Fitzmyer guesses that Jesus birth occurred on September 11, 3 BCE.

II. How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25?

A. Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.

B. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).

C. In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.[2]

D. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday.

E. Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia. As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc.

F. The Reverend Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.”[3] Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681.[4] However, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians.

G. Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets of the city. An eyewitness account reports, “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran… amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily.”[5]

H. As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18th and 19th centuries CE, rabbis of the ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd, pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in1836 to Pope Gregory XVI begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded, “It is not opportune to make any innovation.”[6] On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots across the country. In Warsaw 12 Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women were raped. Two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.
III. The Origins of Christmas Customs

A. The Origin of Christmas Tree
Just as early Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, so too worshippers of the Asheira cult and its offshoots were recruited by the Church sanctioning “Christmas Trees”.[7] Pagans had long worshipped trees in the forest, or brought them into their homes and decorated them, and this observance was adopted and painted with a Christian veneer by the Church.
B. The Origin of Mistletoe
Norse mythology recounts how the god Balder was killed using a mistletoe arrow by his rival god Hoder while fighting for the female Nanna. Druid rituals use mistletoe to poison their human sacrificial victim.[8] The Christian custom of “kissing under the mistletoe” is a later synthesis of the sexual license of Saturnalia with the Druidic sacrificial cult.[9]

C. The Origin of Christmas Presents
In pre-Christian Rome, the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia (in December) and Kalends (in January). Later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the general populace. The Catholic Church gave this custom a Christian flavor by re-rooting it in the supposed gift-giving of Saint Nicholas (see below).[10]
D. The Origin of Santa Claus

a. Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE and later became Bishop of Myra. He died in 345 CE on December 6th. He was only named a saint in the 19th century.

b. Nicholas was among the most senior bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and created the New Testament. The text they produced portrayed Jews as “the children of the devil”[11] who sentenced Jesus to death.

c. In 1087, a group of sailors who idolized Nicholas moved his bones from Turkey to a sanctuary in Bari, Italy. There Nicholas supplanted a female boon-giving deity called The Grandmother, or Pasqua Epiphania, who used to fill the children's stockings with her gifts. The Grandmother was ousted from her shrine at Bari, which became the center of the Nicholas cult. Members of this group gave each other gifts during a pageant they conducted annually on the anniversary of Nicholas’ death, December 6.

d. The Nicholas cult spread north until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans. These groups worshipped a pantheon led by Woden –their chief god and the father of Thor, Balder, and Tiw. Woden had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn. When Nicholas merged with Woden, he shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, mounted a flying horse, rescheduled his flight for December, and donned heavy winter clothing.

e. In a bid for pagan adherents in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church adopted the Nicholas cult and taught that he did (and they should) distribute gifts on December 25th instead of December 6th.

f. In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving (most famous his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History. The satire refers several times to the white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus.

g. Dr. Clement Moore, a professor at Union Seminary, read Knickerbocker History, and in 1822 he published a poem based on the character Santa Claus: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…” Moore innovated by portraying a Santa with eight reindeer who descended through chimneys.

h. The Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast almost completed the modern picture of Santa Claus. From 1862 through 1886, based on Moore’s poem, Nast drew more than 2,200 cartoon images of Santa for Harper’s Weekly. Before Nast, Saint Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome-like figure in a frock. Nast also gave Santa a home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of the good and bad children of the world. All Santa was missing was his red outfit.

i. In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa. Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face. The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red. And Santa was born – a blend of Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.

IV. The Christmas Challenge
· Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly. For millennia, pagans, Christians, and even Jews have been swept away in the season’s festivities, and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration’s intrinsic meaning, history, or origins.
· Christmas celebrates the birth of the Christian god who came to rescue mankind from the “curse of the Torah.” It is a 24-hour declaration that Judaism is no longer valid.
· Christmas is a lie. There is no Christian church with a tradition that Jesus was really born on December 25th.
· December 25 is a day on which Jews have been shamed, tortured, and murdered.

.Many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents, and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of the most depraved pagan rituals ever practiced on earth.

Many who are excitedly preparing for their Christmas celebrations would prefer not knowing about the holiday’s real significance. If they do know the history, they often object that their celebration has nothing to do with the holiday’s monstrous history and meaning. “We are just having fun.”

Imagine that between 1933-45, the Nazi regime celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday – April 20 – as a holiday. Imagine that they named the day, “Hitlerday,” and observed the day with feasting, drunkenness, gift-giving, and various pagan practices. Imagine that on that day, Jews were historically subject to perverse tortures and abuse, and that this continued for centuries.

Now, imagine that your great-great-great-grandchildren were about to celebrate Hitlerday. April 20th arrived. They had long forgotten about Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. They had never heard of gas chambers or death marches. They had purchased champagne and caviar, and were about to begin the party, when someone reminded them of the day’s real history and their ancestors’ agony. Imagine that they initially objected, “We aren’t celebrating the Holocaust; we’re just having a little Hitlerday party.” If you could travel forward in time and meet them; if you could say a few words to them, what would you advise them to do on Hitlerday?

On December 25, 1941, Julius Streicher, one of the most vicious of Hitler’s assistants, celebrated Christmas by penning the following editorial in his rabidly Antisemitic newspaper, Der Stuermer:

If one really wants to put an end to the continued prospering of this curse from heaven that is the Jewish blood, there is only one way to do it: to eradicate this people, this Satan’s son, root and branch.

It was an appropriate thought for the day. This Christmas, how will we celebrate?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Day , legal holiday in the U.S., first celebrated in early colonial times in New England. The actual origin, however, is probably the harvest festivals that are traditional in many parts of the world Festivals and Feasts. After the first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists in 1621, Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Native Americans. The Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock held their Thanksgiving in 1621 as a three day "thank you" celebration to the leaders of the Wampanoag Indian tribe and their families for teaching them the survival skills they needed to make it in the New World. It was their good fortune that the tradition of the Wampanoags was to treat any visitor to their homes with a share of whatever food the family had, even if supplies were low. It was also an amazing stroke of luck that one of the Wampanoag, Tisquantum or Squanto, had become close friends with a British explorer, John Weymouth, and had learned the Pilgrim's language in his travels to England with Weymouth.

After the first New England Thanksgiving the custom spread throughout the colonies, but each region chose its own date. In 1789 George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed November 26 a day of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving day continued to be celebrated in the United States on different days in different states until Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book, decided to do something about it. For more than 30 years she wrote letters to the governors and presidents asking them to make Thanksgiving Day a national holiday.

Finally, in 1863, President Lincoln issued a White House proclamation calling on the "whole American people" wherever they lived to unite "with one heart and one voice" in observing a special day of thanksgiving. Setting apart the last Thursday of November for the purpose, the President urged prayers in the churches and in the homes to "implore the interposition of the almighty had to heal the wounds of the nations and to restore it...to full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union." He also states that they express heartfelt thanks for the "blessing of fruitful fields and healthful skies."

In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt advanced Thanksgiving Day one week. However, since some states used the new date and others the old, it was changed again 2 years later. Thanksgiving Day is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

The first formal celebration of Thanksgiving in North America was held by an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who attempted to establish an English settlement on Baffin Island, after failing to discover a northern passage to the Orient in 1576. Canada established the second Monday in October as a national holiday, "a day of general thanksgiving," in 1957.

In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

Lets not forget too in all of the Pilgrim/Indian togetherness around this time of year how the Colonists and then the Americans massacred most of the natives, introduced diseases (sometimes purposefully) to kill off whole villages, and drove the few remaining to reservations to live lives of poverty and desparation, even after the Native Americans were good enough to teach them how to survive and prosper. Happy Thanksgiving.

Where's the tucker and other Gettysburg clothing

2010-11-24T10:58:00.000-05:00

Sammy, the nurse cat. All the time I was sick last night,
Sammy slept with me and stayed with me.
He even kept my place warm when I had to get up. :)

This is our only boy cat, Sammy. It's amazing to me how the cats knew when I was sick last week and he especially stayed with me and snuggled and made me feel better. He loves sleeping under the covers with me on cold winter nights, and spoons with me with his head on my pillow. He got tired of going with me to and from the bathroom all night when I was sick so he stayed in bed one time to wait for me to come back and I managed to get a picture of him.

Ball gown bodice.

This is a picture of an 1860's garment in the collection at the Gettysburg National Military Park. All of the items here are from the collection and are shown with permission. There is a ball gown bodice, a day bodice/blouse, and a skirt. The day bodice was more like a blouse that would be tucked into the skirt, and contained insets of red ribbon with cutword in both the day bodice and the skirt. The fabric is silk, the lining seems to be polished cotton, and the stays in the bodice seem to be wooden. I didn't want to take the bodice completely off of the carry board, but wanted to examine it. It's obviously lying on it's front side, which has only the bertha just as seen on the back. The bertha is one thickness of fabric with black ribbon attached by hand to the outside edge, there is an additional bias stripe of the fabric that is turned under and sewn right in the middle of the bertha to add interest.

Ball Gown bodice interior

This view shows the inside of the bodiice. There isn't any boning on the outsides of the opening, and there is only one line of piping on the outside, finished the usual 1860's way by cutting out the extra fabric, turning it under, and sewing it by hand. You'll notice that the sleeves are of the same silk fabric as the dress, and that there is no tucker.

Men's work shirt 1

This men's shirt might be a bit later than civil war, though I did not go look up the specifics of the individuall item. This shirt is made of a homespun type heavy cotton fabric (it would be very hot for the summer time!) but what I found most interesting is how the portion of the shirt that was intended to be tucked in was made of a different fabric. If the main fabric was expensive or the seamstress didn't have enough, adding this less expensive fabric to the bottom is a perfect way to save on fabric.

Mens work shirt inside back

This shows the bottom in the back with yet another fabric added to the bottom tail. The inside lining which goes from the neckline to about the waist is of the back bottom fabric. I love the ingenuity of the women in the era! Many original garments are pieced together when the sewists ran out of fabric. The buttons on the shirt are milk glass.

Mens shirt

This men's shirt was made of a cotton calico fabric which is very subdued. If I had seen this fabric in the fabric store, I might not have thought it was Civil War era. I am thinking this might have been a dressier shirt because of the size of the cuffs, and of course, civil war era cuff buttons are on the inside side of the wrist with the buttons up almost at the seam line where the cuffs are attached to the sleeve.

Pin cushion made of a piece of a linsey-woolsy overshot throw

This pin cushion is made from a piece of an overshot coverlet, the pattern is snowball, and the orange threads are wool whereas the background threads are linen. I loved weaving overshot when I had my loom up and running. It's done on a linen warp of threads of about half the weight of the pattern, two shuttles are used, one for the background (tabby) and one for the pattern threads.

This drawstring bag caught my interest.

The threads on the bag look to be shiny, I thought it looked like mercerized cotton but I don't believe that process had been patented until after the war. The bag is crocheted, but look at how tiny the thread and the stitches are...the bags that the sutlers have available at events are usually made of very thick threads with large stitching, not at all like the examples of extant bags that I've seen.

Rack of large textiles

While i had my camera in my hand I took some pictures around the collection storage room in Gettysburg. This is a textile rack. the textiles are lovingly stored rolled in acid free fabric and rolled so that the stitches in the fabric and in the embroidery are not stressed. There are coverlets, sheets, towels, quilts, and a few flags on the rack.

This is just one isle of artifact storage, on the right are the boxes of "relic material" and on the right are the oddly shaped items and items that have not been assigned a storage drawer yet in the other areas of the storage area. There are several aisles of boxes of relic and archaeological material that are presently being photographed to add digital images to the museum records. There's always something to do on my volunteer days, and while I have the larger project of the photographic records to do, sometimes there are interesting other projects that come up.

This is one section of the artillery projectile storage. Paul the curator has spent a lot of time and effort sorting and organizing and labeling the shelves. Many of them still need digital pictures taken and added to the record. I'm helping to get the images taken, and everything done to add them to the record. It's a big job but I enjoy what I'm doing every day that I'm able to come in.

Make new friends, and keep the old....

2010-11-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

Star of Bethlehem Quilt square done in Cross stitch on punched paper.

synchronicity (ˌsɪnkrəˈnɪsɪtɪ)

— n
an apparently meaningful coincidence in time of two or more similar or identical events that are causally unrelated

[C20: coined by Carl Jung from synchronic + -ity ]

Cow sampler made while commuting to Chicago every week.

This one is one of my favorites! When I first started flying, we went to great small towns that were in rural areas and I loved the cow theme. I enjoyed working on this one while sitting in my commuter apartment on reserve while I was based in Chicago.

I've always believed that people come into your life (or you into theirs) so that you can learn from them or teach them something important, sometimes within the same chance meeting. There are no insignificant coincidences in life. I treasure my old friends but a new friend has entered my life that made me realize that I have spent a lot of time away from doing stitchery. I've enjoyed knitting, spinning, sewing, quilting, and other pursuits of fibery things, but I have always enjoyed traditional counted cross stitch, especially samplers.

Maryland sampler made for an old boyfriend. He said:
"I don't want it, I'm not into that." That's why I have it.

I worked a few "country" themed items when I bought my first house and wanted it to be very warm and homey and to feel like a country place.

Country Sampler, love the cats!

I found this neat patriotic sampler in a book at a long
gone stitchery shop in Gettysburg in the late 80's.

I am thankful for new friends but I always cherish the old, we had a song in Girl Scouts that we used to sing all the time "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." and that is surely the truth. These samplers are like old friends, and my appreciation of the enjoyment I had while making them is brought to me by a new friend.

Southern Sampler

Mid-Atlantic Sampler

One of only two pieces finished since
moving to Maryland. I love this sampler. I finished it when I had just moved to Maryland full time and it will always remind me of going out and exploring to find stitchery shops and places to express myself creatively. It hangs in my upstairs hallway

Sun and Moon sampler

Primative house and tree sampler

Quilting sampler which brings together my love
of quilting patterns and stitchery

I used to live in Denver and work out of Chicago and then Baltimore, so I did a lot of stitching on the airplane while making my way to work each week. After I moved to Baltimore, I fell out of the habit of spending time stitching and stopped making cross stitch designs. I have given many away over the years and have a few unfinished ones packed away somewhere.

Salt glaze miniature shelf

I love salt glaze pottery and have collected it for years. My daughter spotted an example of this project when we were walking through "The Stitching Post" which is a local stitchery shop and thought it would be perfect for me to do. I immediately bought the book and the frame and stitched the project which now sits in my kitchen with my miniature salt glaze items. Thanks, Jenn, I think of you whenever I look at this. :)

Welcome back to the mainland!

2010-11-10T11:39:00.004-05:00

I am absolutely overjoyed to report that Jenn, Michael, and the kids are now on the mainland! Though I will thoroughly miss Hawaii, the beauty, the food, and the places I got used to especially during the month I spent there during Aidan's birth and infancy and will miss having ready access to Fabric Mart and the Soap Factory, I am happy to report that they will be far closer now and not require a long airplane ride to see them! They now live in North Carolina, a whole lot closer to us than Hawaii! Weekend trips are a whole lot more doable than getting back and forth to Hawaii.

The family came up to visit and to take the kids to the National Apple Harvest Festival which is the first two weekends of October every year just north of Gettysburg in Arendtsville, PA. It's huge and lots of fun. It was crisp and sunny and a perfect day for going to the festival. Michael had to take the kids' wagon apart to get it into our van so Grandpa and Michael are putting it back together with Aidan's help. I haven't been to the apple festival since Jenn and Jon were about waist high, and I will say that I truly enjoyed it! A good time was had by all.

The festival has lots of arts and crafts and food and fun activities for the children. Here the boys are in a huge pile of hay that is designed for them to throw, jump in and enjoy.

Collin didn't understand right at first that you could throw and play with the hay, but he quickly figured it all out. (Ok, so I covered them both in hay a few times...it was so much fun!)

Not only was the hay fun to throw at your own brother, it was fun to throw at the other kids that were in the hay play area. They also had a disappointingly small petting zoo at the festival, though we'd gone to the larger one at Baugher's orchard the day before so the kids got to see the animals there out of cages and able to be touched and petted.

The kids also enjoyed the large historic steam engine and tractor displays near where we ate the lunch that we'd brought with us, and later in the day Aidan got to walk through the car show area with Dad and Grandpa while Mom and Grandma shared a pumpkin funnel cake with Collin.

Not only was the wagon a fantastic idea for putting the kids into when they got tired of walking (or we got tired of carrying them), but it also helped carry the lunches and diaper bag plus the few items of arts and crafts that we found while we were there.

The vendors are not supposed to sell anything commercially made though some do, the majority of the items available are hand crafted. We found a couple of hand painted signs and some cat related figurines while we were looking around. Since we were there to spend time with the boys, we didn't even look through half of the booths that were there.

You can get an idea of how many people were at the festival by looking at the crowd in the picture as Michael and Mark waited for Aidan take a pony ride. Collin liked sitting on top of the fence to watch.

The festival is so large that people have to park in one of two farmer's fields and take the busses the festival provides to the site of the festival. That in itself was an adventure for the boys!

By now, Collin's shoes were off, it was getting close to the end of our day as the boys were starting to get really tired.

There's Jenn with her cool sunglasses on right after loading Aidan onto his pony. The car show area is right behind her. We both wore tie-die that day because we know how much Michael loves it! (NOT!)

Aidan looks like he's not sure if he likes the pony ride or not in this last picture, but most of the time as he came around he looked happy. We were off to the car shortly thereafter and the kids both slept all the way home. It was fun! We hope to repeat this in the future as the kids get older.

Long time no see

2010-11-10T11:18:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know I haven't been blogging at all, and I apologize. I'm sure all of my blog followers have now deleted me because I haven't been posting. I do have an excuse, I have been in school. Starting the third week of August, I have been taking 9 credit hours and spending all of my time doing homework, studying, and trying to hold the rest of my life such as work and volunteering and activities together.

I haven't been sewing, knitting, or reenacting, I have put the rest of my life (besides work and the museum) on hold because my degree work is so important to me. In July and August, I took only two classes, but even then I realized that I needed to set up a study area so prior to Fall semester, I brought up a table and got my study desk set up. Here's Belle checking it out and making sure that everyone else knew that she was in charge by putting her scent all over the place.

Sam and Rose decided that the table was a good place to take a nap. I have spent many hours at that table and today I am studying for final exams (I'm on a study break now) so I thought I'd take a moment to blog.

Part of my strategy for my semester is to hit the studies really hard during the week so that I can spend time with hubby on the weekend. We happened upon this cat show at the Fairgrounds when coming home from taking some things to the dump. We decided spur of the moment to go in and we enjoyed seeing all of the cats. We walked through where the owners all have their cats and kittens in the other half of the room from the show area and we saw breeds we'd never seen except on tv or in our Cat Fancy magazine. (We still love and treasure our Moggy cats, no pure bred cats for us, our favorite breed is "rescued"!)

Prior to each judging the cats are brought out to the individual rings. The owners can just carry them all over the place without the cats being at all nervous, I suppose most of these animals have been shown all of their lives. We decided to watch one of the judging because the judge of the ring was so full of personality and had everyone laughing and enjoying his assessment of the cats in his division.

The show was mostly for pure bred cats, but there was a division for "housecats" and mixed breeds which I absolutely loved! Some shows even have agility courses for the cats to run, but this one did not.

Here's the judge playing with a Havana Brown cat using a feather. The judge was so much fun to watch, you could tell he was doing something he really enjoyed and the cats knew that he loved them, it was easy to tell. We stayed around for a little while watching the show and then went home to our own "champions".

One of the things I have done this semester has been to journal each week and I will try to carry that through and at least blog once a month. I usually forget to carry my camera when I go out, so I will have to be better about taking pictures to add to my blog. Thank you to my loyal followers, I'll really make an effort to get back on track.

One more house project finally finished.

2010-06-25T17:32:00.003-04:00

The latest nightmare, oops, I mean house project was to take the wall paper off the walls in my office. It was starting to come off the wall and looking a bit shabby so it needed to come down. Problem was, the people that owned the house had put wallpaper on the bottom of the wall and it was so very difficult to get off, besides the valuted ceilings being so darn high that it made it difficult to get it all down. I had to do a wall at a time so that I could move the furniture off the wall, strip, paint, and then replace the furniture. I ended up completely changing around the whole room and doing a lot of cleaning.

I had to stack my yarn stash drawers...but to the left of the drawer units is where the two colors I painted come together. The colors are pretty close so you can't really see the difference. I painted two walls with the darker and two with the lighter to try to do somewhat of a highlight.

What a totaly nightmare it was to move my desk. I had to take it all apart and I still have bins and bins of things to go through . It was worth it, though, I love the desk being over near the light of the window and now I can see what's going on out the door to the room and down the hall.

I had tons of photographs from the shelf on the stairway that ended up on shelves on the walls in the office. I staggered them so that the highest shelf was closer to where the cats can get on the high dresser. Belle is crazy and jumps onto things so I have to keep that in mind when I plan where to put things.

I made some half curtains to go over the window in front of the printer to keep a bit of the sunlight out of the room. It gets really hot in the mornings. The fabric was from my stash and I am pretty sure it was left over from Jenn's grandmother's home when she passed away. Sammy is sleeping on top of the printer. He looks so very uncomfortable but he still sleeps up there.

Two Historic Chicago Buildings

2010-06-25T09:45:00.007-04:00

I attended United's Purser Recurring training last week in Chicago. Our hotel was the Historic Palmer house, always a pleasure to be there. It was built and opened just 13 days before the great chicago fire of 1871, and of course, burned in the fire. Parker Palmer built it as a wedding gift to his bride, and of course, rebuilt the hotel after the fire. This is the gilt medallion on the ceiling (one of two) in the Empire Ballroom, where most of our meetings and presentations were located. This hotel was the first building put on the historic preservation list, it was also the first hotel with electric lighting, running water, elevators, and was rebuilt to be fireproof!

This is a detail from the ornate ceiling in the main lobby on the second floor. The lobby is absolutely beautiful and people were snapping pictures of it from all angles. The Hilton's website featuring the Palmer house does not do this beautiful place justice. The rooms are small as was the fashion of the time, but they are very comfortable and not too small.

The lighting fixtures are all original and have obviously been wired for electricity, they add to the beautiful surroundings in this magnificent place.

This is just one of the sides of the room in the Empire Ballroom. The Columbia College Percussion Ensamble was there and did a drumming presentation using galley equipment that was really fun. The mirrors along with the ebony wood and gold leaf was quite striking.

This is the lobby bar. There are comfy chairs scattered all about the lobby for people to lounge in and they are set up for conversation.

I absolutely was taken by the clock at the end of the lobby at the ceiling. It's actually carved into the marble of the ceiling, and it is absolutely beautiful.

Here's a close up of the clock which also shows more of the domes of the ceiling. The plaster work is raised and painted to accentuate the difference in colors from the background. I love this place!

We went to the Willis (used to be the Sears) tower and these pictures were taken from the windows of the room that we had dinner in.

All in all it was a great two days, we were delayed 2 hours getting home so I didn't get home until Midnight after being in the conference all day, but it was worth it. :)

The great closet adventure

2010-06-03T00:53:00.004-04:00

Now before you get to thinking that's a strange title, you'd have to know that Tuesday morning, while my husband was packing for his business trip and I was actually taking a few things out of the closet to donate to charity, our closet imploded. No kidding. It looked like one of those buildings that the demolition team puts explosives in and makes fall into itself. It looked like the thing had already been detonated...

I hung up one hanger, and all of a sudden the wire shelves which held the hangers fell off the wall on the right side, taking with it the huge amount of boxes that were on the top and all of the hanging clothing. Most of the shelf supports ripped out of the drywall since very few were attached to studs in the walls, and everything bent and was a mess. Since the first falling shelf went around the corner, it bent the wire rack supports on the left side in the back so nothing was worth saving, it all had to be removed. I had a huge list of things I had to get done that day but having everything from the closet in the middle of the floor took priority. I was not in a good mood, I was hot, exhausted, and needing to do other things but now I had to deal with this mess while hubby drove away to be gone all week. Didn't the universe understand that this is not a good time for this?

I spent most of Tuesday emptying the closet, putting the clothing on the bed and pulling out all the boxes and such that were stored in there on the shelves. The bedroom had a tiny path through it to reach the outside world, and the cats were very disrupted. We have a very tiny house so space to pile things does not exist, you have to put things on top of other things. The closet is only 67x59 inches square. Prior to the implosion, we had taken the door off to give us added usable space and had baskets on the left side of the doorway, and baskets of stuff under the hanging clothes on the right side. Some of them bent and the frames that held them couldn't hold up under the weight of the clothing as well as everything falling onto them. I decided that they were going to probably be replaced with the racking but didn't know yet what I wanted to replace it with.

A trip to Home Depot was in order after measuring the now empty closet. I didn't even have the motivation to spackle or paint in there, it was all I could do just to get the tape measure from wall to wall. I decided to go with modular units that would sit on the floor and be attached to the walls for stability. I spent about an hour calculating what I was going to need and trying to design a plan right there in the storage section of the store. Those boxes of units were horribly heavy which didn't make my mood any brighter... I had help putting them into the car, and when at home, I brought them into the house one at a time, one step at a time and built each half of a unit in the living room. I dragged them up the stairs and got only the corner installed before I was too exhausted to do any more. They were heavy and hard to handle for one person but I managed, thank goodness for Ibuprofin.

I slept for a few hours in the small area on the far side of the bed that I'd been able to clear the clothing off. The cats were all freaked out about the disruption and slept nearly right on top of me because all of their usual sleeping places were now covered in closet debris and they were nervous. I got up very early and built more of the closet sections, installed them, and attached the bars to hang clothes on. I hung up what clothing was going to be in the closet but removed the hangers from many items and stored them in the new shelf units that are now in there. The basket contents were refolded and I went through my clothes and got out two hefty bags of things to donate to charity, with more to come. I got hubby's things incorporated into the closet as well.

I'm not finished though, I'm going to add shelves on the wall above the hanging clothes to put baskets with small items in them such as purses and scarves, and I still have piles of things to rehome and recycle as well as a pile of hangers on the floor to organize and dispose of. But I can sleep in my bed tonight! YEAH!

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

2010-06-03T00:33:00.004-04:00

Our unit commander and his lovely wife welcomed our reenacting unit to their home for a Memorial Day cook out. The project that was planned was to make a false front of a building for the Battle of Hanover which is now held in August.

The historic battle preceeded the battle in Gettysburg and was actually a cavalry battle that was fought in the town. The reenactment is held in August to give a bit of time between the huge reenactment in Gettysburg on July 1-3ish every year and is held at a beautiful state park right outside of Hanover. The buildings are going to be as props for that battle.

Everyone got involved in doing something for the project, either working on it or supervising.

Just downhill from the barn yard where everyone was working is this beautiful field where Jim's two horses contentedly graze.

Pennsylvania is right over the ridge, their farm is just south of the Mason Dixon line.

The building was up and is just started to get painted here in this picture. It'll be taken apart for transport after it's finished and put back together on site. I believe there are a few other buildings in the planning stage as well.

Yup, there's Hanover right over the next hill and off just slightly to the Right.

The cookout was fantastic, great food, great turn out of about 25 people and great company. We stayed and enjoyed conversation for a long time and quite a few of our group camped out in their yard since the parade is so early in the morning the next morning.

The unit walked in the Hanover Memorial Day parade which is held in the morning so people can do both this one and the one in Gettysburg which is held in the afternoon. Gettysburg is about 30 minutes from Hanover. There were a great many veterans of various wars that were either walking (most in their old uniforms) or riding, and there was a huge motorcycle group of veterans. This gentleman had this trailer and I thought it was cute, it said "Polish Motorhome" on the back.

This Drum and Bugle/brass corp as well as the flag twirlers were all alumni and were from after high school age on up with many of them having served in many other Memorial Day parades.

This is the 16th PA marching in front of our small band of marchers. We host the Hanover Reenactment with them. They are a fairly new unit of just a few years.

We're a cavalry unit and our commander always says that he doesn't have to learn to march because he's normally riding his horse. Everyone is always trying to get pictures of him marching out of step and I noticed that he's actually in step in this picture.

And this one. You'll actually notice that pretty much everyone is out of step with each other in this picture.

There they go marching into the Cemetary where the parade ended and I finally got Jim being out of step with the rest of the unit. We'll let that go since it was such a great weekend and cookout.

May 22: Antiquing and Exploring

2010-05-23T13:14:00.004-04:00

We started out to go to an antique show to benefit a very small town in PA's historical society. We paid our money and entered a very small Church school to look at what was offered. Everything we saw was nicely displayed but the prices were so astronomical that we were nearly laughing at them! There were truly some nice pieces, but we were just looking for a few finds, some things to take with us reenacting and maybe something we liked for the house.

We left the school and stopped at another shop along the road which had things for sale like a clock for $45,000 so we quickly left and got a bite to eat. We then went to our favorite antique mall where Mark found this unusual copper kettle. It has cast iron handles and solder, we're not sure what it is or what era, but he liked it and it'll find a place in our home.

The cats liked it too, they gave everything a quick sniff while I was trying to photograph, especially Sammy. Here's another view. If you know what it is or anything about this type of thing, please don't hesitate to add a comment.

Thanks to a presentation by Nicky Hughes on Civil War era "stuff" at March's Conference on Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's, Mark was looking for a stoneware jug to bring with us on reenacting weekends, they were very common. He found this one dirt cheap and it came home with us. I was looking for other CW "stuff" to improve our impression in the direction of more accuracy for our dining "stuff".

I got all this blue willow ware (in the dishwasher and ready to clean up to put away for the next event) for $7.00. I was very happy! Many vendors at various places I'd looked had one plate of similar tableware for upwards of $50. and I was looking for run of the mill junk stuff that I knew I'd eventually find cheap. This type of tableware has been in use for 150 plus years...I wasn't looking for a collectable, but for usable stuff to take with us. I'm going to make some cloth carrying bags for it and just keep it in a basket.

This sweet picture has a black cat sitting on the sidewalk in front of the middle house. I knew I had just the place for it in the house, and it was less expensive than a meal at McDonald's so it came home with us too. I think it's a bit faded but it looks great in my dining room so I don't mind a bit.

Mark spent some time in the used books and found these two for me. The Historic Costume volume is from 1925 and outlines the clothing from the Civil War...how accurately I don't know yet but it'll be interesting to read. They're going to both be read cover to cover and go into my textile reference collection.

This is actually a mirror, it's very primitive, and will go into the room I'm using for my office when I get the walls stripped and repainted. I thought the cats were really cute, kind of on the young side, but our grandsons will most likely be staying in that room when they visit so it's perfect!

We found this hanging sign at a little orchard store in Biglerville way in the back room and thought it was perfect for our door. We then had dinner and headed back home, satisfied with our finds after a day spent enjoying each other's company and exploring. I'm very glad that not every antique store is outrageous with the items it offers for sale!

May 21: Edison and Morristown NP's

2010-05-23T11:11:00.012-04:00

We got up Friday morning before the crack of dawn to get on the road up to New Jersey. We were on our way to West Orange to Edison National Park. The drive was supposed to take a bit over 3 hours but there was a bad wreck that closed the Turnpike so it ended up taking close to 5 hours to get there. No matter, though, the museum director at Gettysburg had graciously asked the curator at Edison to host us in our visit. We met with her when we got there and she gave us some information on the enormity of the collection there and we talked a little about getting everything catalogued into ANCS and her staff and progress. Since we'd never been there, we then were off to explore the Laboratory unit of the Park. Here's Mark listening to the audio tour at the entry of the laboratory building. The door to the right of him is the door to the library shown next. The time clock to Mark's left had hands painted on at the time of the last time that Edison left the lab after he lay in repose after his death.
This is the library of the invention building. The Edison company had a huge complex of factories attached to this complex that were not under the National Park service, some were still standing (and very impressive) and some were torn down in the 1960's. Edison and his inventors used this library to think and draw up proposals, patents and plans. It has a projection booth right near the eagle, and little cubbies for the other inventors' desks, as well as a bed between the stacks on the first floor for Edison to take naps. Edison routinely worked 80 and more hours per week. The woodworking in the room was incredibly beautiful and as you can see, the engravings and pictures hanging were numerous and interesting. One of the hanging documents was the first ever academy award that went to Edison for inventing the motion picture. Amazing.
I had a hard time taking pictures here since the light coming in to the windows was so strong. This shows the large clock that was actually carved into the woodwork. Edison's large desk was right in front of it. The room was lit with the light bulbs you'd think of because of Edison's inventing them, it was an amazing room.

This statue which sat in the library was from the World's Fair (then called an Exposition) in Paris. He had a lot of exhibits and presentations there, and this showcased the light bulbs that were introduced by Edison in the 1890's. The original bulb actually burned out and had to be replaced (popular culture says it's still burning but it is not), but it took 75 years of use to do so. The statue was of beautiful white marble, and everything was wired with copper wires. All of the lighting fixtures were beautiful.
As we left the library we went past the storeroom of supplies for the inventors. It was caged off because it was a pass through to the machine shop part of the building, the fencing is original to the building. Everything was as Edison left it when he died. The storeroom had all kinds of interesting things in it, anything that an inventor might think he needed when trying out an idea. They lived in the era of all natural materials, and there were tusks, hooves, a tortoise shell, wool, metals, woods, anything you could imagine. Just looking at the sheer number of items here was nearly overwhelming.
This is another shot of the inventor's storeroom, just one of many areas that were truly amazing. The family gave the laboratory and buildings to the Park service early on so things were as they were left by people working there, including Edison. You'll see more of what I mean as we go through the buildings.
This is the machine shop. The machines are run by leather belts that come from pulleys in the ceilings. There were all kinds of machines for making and shaping and working with metals and other materials here. The desk in the foreground helped keep track of projects being worked on, all of the ledgers and records helped to figure out the cost of each invention and each manufactured good. The laboratory building employed sometimes 100 people at a time, and the factories next door employed many more. Women were also employed to help in the work.
More shots of the shop areas.
The leather belts are shown running on the ceiling via large pulleys from the big motors on the floor. There were no safety guards or anything of the sort, if you lost a limb or got hurt on the rapidly moving belts or machinery, it was because you weren't careful and you were on your own for medical care. The only thing the companies of that era were supposed to do for you if you died as the result of an accident was to give your tools to your spouse or next of kin.

Edison had a full time photography lab as well as photographers and many pictures from when the lab was operational were taken and have been preserved. This shot shows that the machine shop looks exactly the same as when it was operational, in fact, it looks like the workers are simply out on break, there are tools laying on the desks, and some items that were being worked on laying out just as they were.
On the third floor of the laboratory building is the recording studio (we didn't get any pictures, unfortunately) where Edison decided which music to record first on wax cylinders and then on records. The pianist played sheet music all day and when he heard something that he liked he would get musicians in to record it. We were delighted to get to listen to one of the original wax cylinders on an original Edison phonograph, the sound was vivid and crisp. The equipment to record was still there, as well as an extensive collection of victrolas, cones, and phonographs. The storage on this floor outside of the recording studio is in cabinets with glass panels, and also you can see into a fenced area where everything is on open shelves.
A look into the storage area in the Laboratory building. The array of items was incredible, just the phonograph collection housed a major part of the storage area.
More storage. There are 400,000 artifacts catalogued in the collection at Edison, including his home items. In addition there are 5,000,000 documents, including a vault in which are housed musical recordings, 50,000+ photographs (some are glass plate negatives) and laboratory paperwork, notebooks, and other paper documents. When they were cataloguing the enormous volume of materials, they found inventions that were previously unknown. They actually have a "marginist" who went through the books and notebooks looking for notes in the margins. The curatorial staff has 8 full time people as well as interns and seasonal employees to continue the work.

This plaque from the storage area up in the laboratory building mentions the numbers from the collection. I thought the Collection at Gettysburg and amount of work involved in cataloging and keeping up with it all was large until I saw this one, it's one of the largest in the Park Service.

This is the outside of the laboratory building. The factories are built to match, they're on the other side of the lab building. That's mark looking up at the building. There are other buildings on the property that are part of the park.

Here's the woodworking shop across from the lab complete with some of the items they were working on when the laboratory closed at Edison's death. There is also a Blacksmithing shop, and the "Black Maria" is the first Motion Picture Studio, it's right next to the entrance. They give tours with Rangers of that, but we had our tickets to go on the tour of Edison's home so we got underway to that nearby site.
In the woodworking shop, right by the door were blades and tools just as they were left, and we were looking at all the catalogue numbers upon each item. We have a great appreciation for the work that goes on in the curatorial side of the parks.

One of the buildings from the original site (called #11) was even shipped to the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, MI because the Menlo Park buildings where Edison invented the Lightbulb are displayed there. It wasn't needed anymore so it was sent back to West Orange, NJ...it's the most traveled building in the National Park Service. I'm pretty sure that building was the blacksmith shop.

Our next stop was the Glenmont Estate, the home and lands that Edison bought for his wife, Mina. The local garden club keep up the grounds and the greenhouse and potting shed. Mina loved plants and birdwatching, and this area, called, Llewellin Park, is an oasis in the hustle bustle of life in West Orange. The greenhouse is shown to the left of the garden out front. This is the sight that greets you at the parking area.

Another shot of the beautiful gardens on this wooded estate. Mark got a lot of pictures of the home and furnishings, nearly as Mina left them when she passed away. Edison's cars are even in the garage, though we didn't get any pictures of them...Mina and Thomas are buried on the property too.

Remember this is New Jersey, but it was 110 in this room of the greenhouse, hot enough for those desert plants to thrive. There was a room devoted to orchids and other plants that love a little bit cooler temperature, and there were citrus plants in another room.

This is a healthy looking jade tree...everything in the greenhouse was labeled and dated and it looked like the garden club lovingly cared for everything.

This late Victorian Home was red brick on the outside, and though beautiful, was not nearly as beautiful as the interior entry hall. It was sold to Edison completely furnished at a price of $250,000, which is about 4.5 million dollars in today's money. They did very well and probably got quite a bargain even by yesterdays' standards.

Each hand carved rosette in the staircase is different, this was the place to impress your callers. The stained glass panel is in a later photograph.

This the entry room for receiving guests. Edison did not hunt, but received various animal rugs and other items as gifts from callers and friends. The stairway and hallway were carved Mahogany and Oak, quite impressive and beautiful.
The library just as the former owner left it. The guy that built this house was caught embezzling funds and told to either leave the country with the clothes on his back or go to jail. This was his office and library, Edison left it just as it had been and never used the room.

This was another sitting room, the family and guests used this one.

This sun room was added to the house by Edison for Mina. She loved to bird watch and enjoy the beautiful plants. It was used quite a bit by the family.

This is the sitting room. There are several pianos in the home, Mina played very well, in fact, she was playing the piano at a to-do in Florida that Edison was attending, that is how they met. Thomas Edison was nearly deaf in his later years, he played poorly.

The portrait on the wall in the entry room was of Charles Edison, one of Thomas and Mina's children. He became Governor of New Jersey in his later years. He didn't have children, only one of the children did, so the Edison name died out with him. There are great grand children surviving, but they carry their grandmother's married name.
These beautiful stained glass panels are in the servant's end of the home. The Edisons employed many servants and the women servants lived up on the third floor of the home while the men lived in some of the other buildings on the property.

The dining room. This table intrigued me. It's set for 6 here, but it has 9 leaves and opens out to a large enough table to fill the entire room. Mina entertained but Thomas did not like socializing very much.
One of two tiffany lamps in the home. Mina actually wrote most of the script that the guides to the house use to take visitors through. She gave the home as it's seen to the park service upon her death in the late 1940's.
A projector for watching movies in the men's sitting room.

Back to the servant's part of the house, this is the laundry room, with laundry hanging just as it would be in the winter time. They had an area outdoors called the "laundry yard" where the clothing would be dried in the nicer weather.

There were three wash sinks in the laundry but no washing machine.

Here are the washing sinks.

I had to smile when I saw that their kitchen was painted, including trim, in the same colors that I'd done my own in this early spring. This is a shot of the kitchen.

This bedroom belonged to one of the children.

Detail of the beautiful stained glass panel in the entry hall of the house. I don't recall if it was installed by the Edisons or in the house prior to them buying it.

This is the upstairs family room. It is between the bedrooms on the second floor and is where Edison used to escape to when they had company to continue his thinking and his work of inventing.

The guest room upstairs. Henry Firestone was a frequent visitor, he and Thomas Edison were good friends.

Another beautiful stained glass panel in the home.

This picture hangs on the wall in the Men's sitting room. Both Thomas and Mina Edison were from Ohio, and as you can probably see, this picture is of Robert E Lee. We just had to get a picture of that.

A Shot of the home from the site of the graves in the back yard.

Our next stop was in nearby Morristown, New Jersey. This National Park was in commemeration of the winter that George Washington encamped his troops to spend the winter.

This is his headquarters building in the town of Morristown. The home in which he stayed is right behind where I'm standing to take the picture, unfortunately the home is under renovation and not open to the public. The home contains original furnishings and artifacts, but the headquarters has several displays of artifacts from the encampment and era, including a collection of paper documents (pamphlets, booklets, and other documents) dating from pre-revolution on up through the 1800's.

Washington learned quite a bit from his hard winter in Valley Forge, PA. He had the men build wooden huts that drained downhill and were built into the hills in the area. The winter of 1780 was the worst winter ever remembered and there was 4-6 feet of snow on the ground at times. He wanted to be close enough to Manhattan Island, where the British were camped to keep them from attacking but far enough away to rest and restock his troops. The huts housed men on three sides and had a stone wall built on the other side for a fireplace. We saw where the Maryland Line was housed as well as the other state Militias. They spent a hard and hungry winter there. The Visitors center there had a replica and there was a driving tour of the sites as well as some huts outdoors for us to tour.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we were on our way home. The weather was hot and we were tired and it took many hours caught in traffic to make it home. We enjoyed our day, and we'd definitely go back especially to Edison NP. Oh, and did I mention that we got 5 new stamps in our National Park Passports?

May 20, Finished the first wool dress

2010-05-23T11:05:00.004-04:00

Thursday night I made myself sit and finish the first wool dress of the wools I bought in March for making outfits for our cold weather reenactments. This dress and Paletot were made specifically for our Cedar Creek, VA reenactment in October. It's always cold then and along with my longer overcoat paletot should keep me a bit warmer than my cotton day dresses.

I think I might have mismeasured the skirt and it might be too long, I'll try it on again and make sure, right now I have some of my icky sutler hoops on my dress form so it's hard to tell without my crinoline. I do like the dress and jacket combination and I have wool in green and brown to make another suit. This wool was fairly easy to work with and I hope that will be the case with the other colors. In the meanwhile I have other projects to get moving on.

Weekend Adventures

2010-05-16T21:08:00.006-04:00

I've spent quite a lot of time sewing and working on my Civil War "to do" list lately while I've been off on my vacation time. This is a mourning bonnet I finished last week, finally, it seemed to take forever! This was quite a pain and I'll never cover another straw bonnet in my life, it's much easier to make the entire frame myself than deal with having to put the needles through the straw. I have other bonnet patterns in my sewing room to try and just need to get other projects done so that I can start on them. This bonnet has white and black flowers and trim as the mourning impression is for second mourning. The mourning dresses I was working on are now finished and I'm continuing to work on accessories like putting fringe on my parasol.

This is a work dress that I finished last week as well, putting on no trim is unlike me so it looks very plain, but it is a work dress so I'm going to try to leave it alone. The collar and cuffs on the dress would have been on each and every period original dress with the exception only of a ballgown. The laundered their cuffs and collars and just spot cleaned their dresses.

This is a shirt I made for Mark a couple of weeks ago, he wore it to our Ballestone Manor reenactment. He loves bright colors so I knew he'd love it. I ran out of fabric with one sleeve left to make so I had to piece it from scraps. It didn't show at all...quite like the Civil War seamstresses of old.

This is another shirt for Mark, I picked out bright fabric again because I knew he'd like it. The neckline is better on this one than the yellow, and it'll look great with his uniform.

The tunics below are for my two young grandsons. Boys wore dresses or tunics until they were between 3 and 4 years old and sometimes older if they had a lot of female siblings. They will also have drawers and petticoats made for them to go with their civil War era outfits and I'm planning on finding period toys for them to play with at reenactments so that they and their mom can talk to the spectators about them. It should be lots of fun.

Now this week is our vacation together, Mark's been working hard and been gone a lot since getting a job again in February. I had vacation days off as well so we were trying to figure out what we could do on a shoestring budget of pretty much no extra money. We decided to do a "Staycation" and just do things around the house and close by so we didn't have to stay anywhere overnight and pay for a pet sitter. We got a good start this weekend by going to Frederick, MD to drop off my sewing machine (which has been getting a lot of use) for repairs, it is inoperable right now.

After going to Frederick, we decided to make a couple of other stops and to enjoy the countryside. We drove out to Hagerstown (more later) and then went to Martinsburg, WV for a quick stop at Belle Boyd's childhood home, since I'd mentioned to Mark that Jenna had told me that Belle Boyd died and was buried in Wisconsin! Mark had seen this house when doing an install across the street years ago and had never visited. We named our first kitten after Belle, so we wanted to know more about here. She only lived here for a few years in her childhood but the home her father moved the family to after this one was torn down so this is the only home that survives. She was quite a colorful character and there are many relics in the house from this era as well as others...very interesting stop indeed.

On the way to Martinsburg from Frederick we stopped in Hagerstown at the ribbon store...I got a few rolls of grosgrain for dresses and plaids for bonnets... I always do well there but also had a coupon so I couldn't wait to get there. I was a little bit disappointed that there wasn't more plaid ribbon (I can't use the plaids they had that had gold on the edges, though it was beautiful). The ladies that worked there said they didn't make much and that it had already been picked over. I wish I'd driven up there earlier but what I got will be just great anyway!
Here's a better picture...now I have lots of brown for my green wool I bought for a dress, and green for the brown as well as a couple of others that I'm sure that I will find uses for everything. Some of the narrow plaid will get sewn to another piece to make it wide enough for bonnet use. Oh, and the entire bag cost just a bit more than breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

After a quiet night at home, we up and got ready to go out exploring again this morning. As soon as we made the bed it got occupied again...by 3 of the 4 fur children. They actually thought they'd be getting treats from us like we give them right before bed...no way...it's morning, kids...not time yet!

I'd downloaded the newest Park Passport stamp list from the Eastern National link and found that there were some new parks on the list now that we've never been to and much less every heard of. Our first stop was Greenbelt Park in Maryland, it is a beautiful oasis in the middle of crowded urban sprawl. We didn't get any pictures of it, it was woods and trails, and picnic and camping areas, and the ranger station was closed so we didn't get a stamp for our passports.

Next stop was Claude Moore Park which is a living history park in McLean, VA right next to the CIA headquarters. The park is a working farm with reenactors that actually work the farm with 18th century tools and techniques. They reenact the year 1771 and we were lucky enough to have stumbled upon a Market day in which there were various vendors and craftspeople with era (and just like Civil War reenactments, some not of the era) wares and displays. This was the potter, he actually does wood fired salt glazed and stoneware pottery.
He was working on his wheel and making all kinds of pots and pitchers, mugs and such. The pottery had had for sale was very beautiful and also reasonably priced.

This picture shows a craftsman using a lathe that is operated by his pushing a foot pedal down that is then attached to a rope that is wound around the item that he is turning. He then holds his chisel on the wood he's shaping to make chair legs, mugs, bowls, and other beautiful wool items. As you can see, the artisans and their children were also dressed in period clothing.

This picture shows some of the items that the wood worker made on his amazingly efficient lathe. I loved the wooden goblets but I didn't buy anything.

This reenactor was dressed as a Sailor, Seaman Merchant and had various items on the table that he'd picked up in his travels. All of the vendors and artists were very glad to talk to the spectators. It was lots of fun.
This is a rack that displays the various Flint lock muskets that the gunmaker had made. He was working a piece of wood for one while we were there. He already had the barrel in place and it was amazing to see him work.

I just loved the clothing that these two had on, but what got me were the red and green stockings on the man with his back to the camera. If you can see his hat feathers, he has a red one on the top on the same side as the red stocking and a green one on the same side as his green stocking. I don't know if it was significant or not and the two were deep in conversation so I didn't want to interrupt.

This was a shot of the clothing vendor. The majority of clothing they had was made of linen and the information from the farm said that they raised flax to spin into linen. They also had a bunch of reenactors spinning, doing needlework, and cooking up an onion skin dyebath for some wool yarns. They had soap making, papermaking, children's clothing (much of the lower end clothing was made by machine which, of course, was not period), cabinetry, a blacksmith, pottery, and toys.

Here's another shot of the clothing vendor and the women working in the stall. There were quite a few people buying their clothing. It was fun to look but I did notice that they had quite a bit of Civil War looking era things. Prices were very reasonable on everything. I got a couple of repro hair combs and a couple of hair pins and pheasant feathers that I can use for Civil War era dress at the Milliners booth.

They also had food available, chicken that was cooked on the spit as well as sausages cooked in this monster skillet and served on brown paper. Everything was done using period tools and techniques, however the beverages still had to be in plastic containers. I guess they had to make allowances for some things. We decided to wait and eat later, but the food looked and smelled delicious.

Though this park is privately operated, we got our National Park Passport Stamp there. Click on the link above for more information. It is really a fascinating place.

Our next stop after lunch was at the Manassas National Battlefield Park. This is where Thomas Jackson earned the nickname "Stonewall". We got there kind of late in the afternoon and had missed the demonstrations they'd done, but we'd been to this park many times already so were weren't too disappointed. Our Passport Stamp list had two additional stamps now at this site so we were on the hunt. We bought our year NP pass here as there was an admission fee and were on our way outdoors. This is the statue of Stonewall overlooking the area where his troops fought so bravely. There were two big battles on this land.

This farmhouse is where the reenactors were and the artillery and musket demonstrations were held but they had already finished prior to us getting there. We made our way to the Stone House after finding out that there was a stamp to be earned there. We had never been inside the House because it's open very limited days and hours.

This beautiful home is the Stone house. The battlefield is a grassy and beautiful island of unbuilt land in an area that is being developed by the minute. This house is a landmark in the area and had been mentioned in many diaries of the Civil War. Unfortunately as we were driving up and parking another couple let us know that the staff had closed the house at 4 and locked up so we got there just a moment after it closed. It felt like the movie "Vacation" when they drive for days and get to Wally world and it's closed. We don't live that far away, we'll come back another weekend for our stamp and the other one at this park that we're missing. :)

Hidden hook and eye tape (part 2)

2010-04-27T15:02:00.006-04:00

This is part 2 of the instructions on how to put the hidden hook and eye tape in your Civil War reproduction bodices. I had to get another bodice out and going because I realized you weren't going to be able to see the tape against the black wool I was working with before.

I already had this fabric and lining cut out, but from picking up the loose pieces to the finish of the entire bodice to the point of putting the piping on it, it took me just over an hour to do both sides with hook and eye tape, make the back, and to sew the three pieces together, not to mention taking pictures of the process! It used to take me that long to sew individual hooks and eyes on my dresses, and the hook and eye tape seems to stay closed more securely.

This is the left side bodice with the eyes already sewn in on both fabrics and the darts already sewn through the fashion fabric and lining If you put bones in your darts, you can do that now as well, or right before you put the piping on, either way. The whip stitching of the front to the back which has the eye tape on it took me less than 10 minutes.

I went to iron my fabric and found that Princess Grace had taken up residence on my ironing board. She's lying on my black wool dress pieces right now but graciously allowed me enough room to iron the bodice pieces so I could take pictures.

Did I mention how much I hate crappy Wal-Mart fabric? This fabric is unraveling as I look at it. I'd bought a bunch when I first started sewing, it's 100% cotton but the feel (the hand) of the fabric is horrible compared to decent quilting fabric. I'd long ago sold all the dresses I'd made with their fabric but I saw this piece in my stash and thought it would make an ok work dress but I'm not sure it's worth the aggrevation of having to work with it, it's distorting, doesn't tear well, unraveling, and just generally crappy. Ok, rant over. I know now to buy the best fabric I can afford and then I'm a happier seamstress.

Sammy is asleep as usual in his bed on my cutting table, I guess I was ranting quietly enough that he didn't wake up. He is presently snoring, which is my constant sound effect in my sewing room. Sometimes my calico, Rose O'Neil Greenhow Kitty sleeps up in one of the boxes of fabric on the shelves in back of the ironing board.

Sammy is grey so he fits right in with all the Civil War fabrics I have lying around.

I usually like to get the back ready between finishing the left and right sides of the bodice. I do a faux 3 piece back which is easier with my Bernina that has a movable needle position and a great edge stitching foot. The needle position can be changed so all I do put the edge stitching guide on the edge of the fabric fold and ride the edge of the folded over portion on my T-back and just move the needle over enough to sew it down nicely. Doing a false 3 piece back takes very little time and looks like I really pieced (and dealt with matching the plaid) the back when I didn't. I won't tell if you won't. I do know that certain body types don't do well without the give that the real 3 piece back provides, so having a fitting shell will show you what you need to do according to fit.

Ok, back to the right side of the bodice. Remember that you had three lines drawn on your lining fabric? Put the fashion fabric and the lining fabric together and sew down the stitching line. This is the line closest to the opening. Use tiny stitches because you'll be making holes in this line, the stitching will keep the holes from fraying as badly. I stitched my line and it didn't line up perfectly with the plaid on the front fashion fabric so I had to restitch it to help situate the pattern in the right place.

When you've stitched your line, fold the bodice on the fold line (the next line in, the middle line) and pin very close to the edge to keep your fold there. If the pins bother you, you can always baste it, but make sure you're really close to the fold, as you see here. Don't take the pins or the basting out until you've sewn on the piping or you'll lose the positioning of the fold and the center front. The center front will be approximately over the stitching line at this point, and it is where your hooks and eyes are going to be.

If you're doing trim on your bodice, remember that the center front is this line and not the fold of the bodice and take that into account or the trim will look like it's off by 1/2 inch. This also applies to applying your collar...best to find the center point of the dress (bodice plus back) and the center of your collar and then work towards the outsides when basting it on. Sorry, I know that's ahead of where we are now, but I wanted to make sure you were prepared.

Now you're going to match up the pattern (if any) on the two sides of the bodice on the fashion fabric. If you cut the bodice pieces correctly this will line up pretty close to perfectly and you can adjust a little bit to make it fit if things are off just a little. See, my pins are still attached at the fold line on the right (on your left here) side bodice.

Lie the right side over the left side, approximately getting the stitched line over where the eyes on your left side are. Match up the pattern on the fabric and put some horizontal pins into both halves. Remember because you're looking at the dress and not wearing it, your right is going to show on your left and your left on your right...you'll get used to it. Use a marker and mark the sides inside if it helps.

Now take some tailor's chalk or a fabric water erasable marker and mark lines at every eye. Don't just measure them, some of them might be a bit distorted by how you sewed them into your left side. Your marks should go through your stitching line to show you where you'll put your hooks. If you haven't pinned the sides together so that the lines are on your stitching line, that's fine, we'll adjust in a moment.

Here's a close up of my marks and the eyes that I'm matching up with. Take the horizontal pins out that were pinning both sides together, but leave in the pins that are holding your fold line.

Now the fun begins. You need an awl or something else to poke holds in your fabric. I got this one at Joann's (with a coupon, of course), but you can get them at craft, leatherwork, and other stores.

Coming from either side (usually I start from the front then enlarge the hole coming from the back) poke a hole at least large enough for your hooks on your hook side tape to come through, matching with the marks you drew, and trying to get your hole right into the middle of the stitching line.

This is the part that will make you nuts the first few times you do it, but I promise it gets easier as you make more dresses. The trick is to make the hole big enough but not too big, and to push the hook through both thicknesses of fabric. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries.

My marks were pretty far off the stitching line because I'd adjusted my fabric to get the pattern right on the front. It doesn't matter, just extend them along to where they need to be. The hook is going to be pointing out toward the opening of the bodice. It sometimes takes a couple of tries to get the hook through both thicknesses, and this horrible fabric was coming apart as I made the holes, but you get the idea.

Start at one end or the other and the moment you have a hook through, put a pin in to hold the tape in place. Then move along to the next mark and put the next hook in and immediately pin it in through the tape as close to the hook as you can. If you don't pin it securely, the hook is going to pop out of the fabric and then you're going to utter 4 letter sewing terms, especially if the one that popped out happens to be in between two that are still in place. Ask me how I know.

Remember, keep those pins in the center fold. This is when basting that fold shut can help if you want to, especially on your first attempt at this.

Here is my hook tape with all 11 of my hooks through, and the tape pinned into the underside of the right bodice. I started on the left making holes, and as I went, I pushed the heads of the pins all the way in to avoid them being in the way for the next hole.

Here are those hooks coming through shown from the outside. Again, the fold is still pinned on the outer edge. I can't say that enough. Ask me how I know THAT too!

The next step is to sew this tape in though both lining and fashion fabric. A lot of people I know do this by hand, if you do, try to get pretty close to the ends of the hooks. I do it by machine but it is very difficult and I've broken a lot of needles that way. Your zipper foot is probably the best way to get it sewn in, I try for the outside (away from the hook) edge to get tacked down, but it's hard when you get close to the hooks. Don't worry, do the best you can, the stitching is on the inside of the bodice and won't show. It isn't necessary to get in between the hooks, just sew a pretty straight line on the outer edge of the tape, they'll hold.

The reason you haven't sewn your darts in yet is so that you can open up the lining from the fashion fabric at this point (making sure that fold is still securely pinned).

Fold under the raw edge of fashion fabric and lining together and tuck the raw edge under the hook tape as far as you can leaving enough room on the edge against the lining to sew it down. I'm the only person I know that sews this by machine, but again, the edge stitch foot is great for this. If you can't get it by machine, just whip stitch it down, this finishes your raw edges, even if you have to do it by hand, it's quick.

Almost done! Now just put the fashion fabric and the lining back down together, keeping the pins in the fold still, and sew your darts. Sew your bodice pieces together and you're ready to put on your piping, and all your edges in the front are finished! When you go to apply your piping, hook up the bodice and make sure that the bottom and top are even from right to left (adjust by snipping off a little bodice on one side or placing the piping a little bit up or down to match). As soon as you have put your piping on the neck and waistlines you can take the pins out of the front edge and the fold will stay.

You're done with the front, no hooks and eyes to sew by hand! If you want buttons on your dress for decorative purposes just sew them to the right bodice outside on top of the hooks or wherever else you'll want them. Most originals had non-functional buttons if they even had buttons at all... The top edge of your bodice will be fastened by your broach between the two edges of your collar.

Good luck with your hook and eye tape, and if you have any questions please let me know. :)

Attaching hidden hook and eye tape (part one)

2010-04-27T09:47:00.011-04:00

This blog post is by request from my Civil War sewing friends. I am going to try to show you through pictures and narrative how to do the hidden hook and eye tape. I must give credit to Carolann Schmitt of Genteel Arts in Gettysburg, without whom I never would have been able to learn this, she teaches this technique in her bodice classes. Also credit goes to my friends in the classes I've taken with Genteel arts, especially Dee Bishop who has helped me learn when my brain wasn't getting the process.

I've been fortunate to live close enough to Gettysburg to have taken quite a few classes at Genteel Arts (they're on the web, definitely check them out), but I'm still learning and probably will be forever! This is a technique that gets easier the more you practice. I've seen plenty of original dresses with the tape installed as well.

Here my latest finished project. It's a cotton reproduction print about 1850's or so. With this hook and eye tape technique, you can cut the fabric so that the right and left sides are going to carry over your fabric pattern smoothly like in this large repeat floral print.

After you get your new pattern pieces made (below) the left side of the fabric will be cut out first on single thickness of fashion fabric , and the right then will be cut in conjunction with where the pattern is on the left. Just remember that the left side's seam line will be sitting at the same point as your center front line on the right bodice...pin your left piece down to another repeat that is the same as you have in your left and place your right bodice pattern piece accordingly so the pattern continues across. It's not difficult, I just don't have any cotton prints going right now to show you so you'll have to take my work on that. Don't worry, it'll make sense soon...just follow me and I'll explain.

I'm going to give you instructions for making your new pattern pieces and then the left side construction first since I'm making a bodice as I go for this and haven't gotten it all finished yet. Please leave comments if you have any questions, and I'll answer them as I can.

The first thing you have to do is to make yourself a pattern piece that is different for the right and left. Here's a picture of the Period Impressions bodice pattern piece which is the same for both sides, just to use as the basis for your own adjusted pattern. Now I'm not recommending this pattern manufacturer or any other, in fact, my fitting shell is made from the Past Patterns darted bodice but I couldn't find it this morning to use. Your favorite pattern is fine.

Take some pattern tracing paper and make 2 of these bodice pattern pieces, mark one left and one right, and make the right one about 2 or 3 inches wider than the purchased pattern piece you're using. Draw on your darts and your seam lines in the front edge onto both right and left. The seam line here is the second line in (I'm sure you knew that, but just in case). Don't cut either out of the paper quite yet.

This is my left side pattern piece. This is the fashion fabric side, you'd flip it over to cut your lining. I know it's hard to see, but the seam line is drawn in on the pattern piece, and the cutting line is 1/2 inch past the seam line. Mark your cutting line on your left side pattern piece only. Now, cut out your new left pattern piece and mark it well as being the left. Make sure you write yourself a note on the pattern piece that you have to flip it for the lining... Most of us use muslin for linings so I have mine correct for the left bodice for the fashion fabric and just cut the muslin on the same pattern side.

Still with me? Now it's time to make your right pattern piece.

This is my right piece. It's flipped to the fashion fabric side right now so it looks like the left, it isn't, promise. You've traced out your own right pattern piece, so now it's time to draw a line for your seam/fold line (same seam line as on your original bought pattern, a line 1/2 inch in for your center front, and one 1/2 inch to the other (out) side of your seam/fold line for your stitching line. You're going to have 3 lines each 1/2 inch from the other starting 1/2 inch in from the seam line on your pattern piece. Make sense so far?

Then allow an inch and a half to 2 inches more and draw your cutting line, then cut out your new pattern piece and label it accordingly as the right side. I believe my fitting shell's cutting line is about 1.5 inches past my stitching line, the amount isn't that important, you're going to turn it under and finish it anyway. The center front line will match up with the pattern on the fabric where you've cut your left side stitching/seam line. I'll go more into the workings of the right side in the next blog post.

Here are my two marked linings lined up for you to see (and the right piece is sitting on the right, left is on the left like you'd cut the lining). I've drawn the lines on the lining pieces for you to see as well. Now use the cutting lines on your pattern to cut out your lining and your fabric, being sure to get the fashion fabric's pattern across the bodice to match up if there is one using the method above. I'm working on 3 dresses right now but none of them have a definite pattern on them to illustrate how to match it up, I do apologize, and if you need me to I will do a separate blog post for that. Just leave me a comment if so.

I don't usually draw the lines on my linings, I simply cut a 1/4 inch slit into the top and bottom on the lines and press them to make my fold and stitching lines. I make tiny cuts for my darts too, because I know how long they're supposed to be when sewn for myself. (I don't sew for other people).

Here is my left side lining. I've pressed the seam allowance (1/2 inch) toward the inside. So press yours into the inside of the garment. Go ahead and do the same pressing of 1/2 inch for your seam allowance on the fashion fabric, keeping in mind that you're pressing to the inside but it'll be in the opposite direction from the lining. I'm only telling you this because I've made this mistake.

You'll want to measure and cut your hook and eye tape so that the top hook/eye is no closer to the top of your bodice than 1.5 inches, and the bottom hook/eye is not any closer to the bottom than 1.5 to 2 inches. The top you'll need room if you're going to wear a broach, and the bottom you'll have your waistband and you're also leaving room to finish the bodice with your piping. I use 11 hooks and eyes, that's just me, I'm short waisted. I'm using silver hooks here but the only original hook and eye tape I've actually seen on garments was black painted hooks with black hooks and eyes. It's not going to show and I'm not entering any dress competitions with so I'm ok with using what I can get. I cut both of my tapes at this time and put the hook side aside for now.

Pin the eye side of your tape down to the inside of the pressed down seam allowance on the left bodice lining like pictured above. Put the hook tape right at the edge but in just a touch...the eyes will stick out over the edge. Sew the hook and eye tape through the seam allowance and the lining piece, using your zipper foot or whatever foot works best for you. You can do this by hand if you'd rather but it's quick on the machine. You just need to catch the tape on the edge away from the eyes, you don't need to get right up against the eyes. Trust me, you'll break needles on this one if you're too close. You can see my stitching at the far left side of the tape, it's just at the outer edge of the tape.

Now place the fashion fabric on top of the lining with the hook tape inside. Match up your edges and pin. Adjust the pressed seam line if necessary so that it lines up with your lining, pin.

Don't be tempted to sew your darts yet, you'll do that when you're done with the hook/eye tape.

You'll want your fashion fabric to stick out ever so slightly over your lining or at very least be flush with it, again making sure that the seam allowance has been pressed or pinned into the inside of the sandwich. Now you'll whip stitch the two layers together by hand, making sure you put your thread through the eyes as you get to them. Sorry, those that hate hand sewing, but honestly it goes really fast and is easy. :) Use a thread that matches your fashion fabric, it's not going to show on the inside anyway. Now go ahead and do your darts on the left side. You've finished the left side, and we're ready to start with the right...

Yipee, finally finished!

2010-04-06T18:51:00.003-04:00

Sorry, I've been bad about posting pictures of my finished dresses here. I mostly post on facebook but I know that not everyone is on there. So here are the ones I've finished lately.

This first one is made of silk taffeta with black velvet ribbon trim. It has sleeve jockeys and pagota sleeves, and I made a new set of undersleetes for the dress. I always make new collars and cuffs for my dresses, thus this is a new collar as well. It has covered buttons in black down the front. I will wear a black velvet ribbon belt with it.

This dress drove me nuts while I was working on it. I have a lot of knife pleated trim on the sleeves and bottom of the dress, it took a lot of extra fabric and time but I think it came out well.

I just finished this bonnet last night using Miller's Milinary's pattern for a low brim bonnet. I used brown silk dupioni (yes, I know they didn't use dupioni but it's what I had in the stash. The flowers are silk, and it's unlined like the majority of originals I've seen. I really loved the pattern and will definitely use it again.

Side view of the new bonnet showing the green ribbon I used to trim the bonnet as well as for decorative ties. I used feathers on one side. It was hard to decide how to trim this, I think it took more time to trim it than to make it. I pinned and repinned trim options on before sewing. It goes with the dress at the bottom of the page and a few others in my closet.

This is my black silk mourning dress. I used the same black velvet ribbon to trim this dress that I used on the red and green dress. I have ordered more ribbon so that I can put some trim on the skirt. It has black cotton hem facings, black hem tape on the bottom, and of course, new collars and cuffs. I didn't put a wide "weeping cuff" on this dress since I won't be needing to wipe my nose on the cuffs. I'm making a mourning dress out of light weight wool now since I won't want to wear this silk taffeta out in bad weather or it'll get ruined.

This is my cotton outdoors dress that Mark picked out the fabric for. It's a reproduction print of an 1850's ish print. It's simple with a little bit of grosgrain ribbon trim and I probably won't put anything else on the bodice but I will as usual add a belt.

Pagan Origins of Easter

2010-04-04T03:05:00.002-04:00

For you History buffs out there: from the Center for religious tolerance.

Origins of the name "Easter":
The name "Easter" originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE.) a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: "eastre." Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

Aphrodite from ancient Cyprus
Ashtoreth from ancient Israel
Astarte from ancient Greece
Demeter from Mycenae
Hathor from ancient Egypt
Ishtar from Assyria
Kali, from India
Ostara a Norse Goddess of fertility.

An alternative explanation has been suggested. The name given by the Frankish church to Jesus' resurrection festival included the Latin word "alba" which means "white." (This was a reference to the white robes that were worn during the festival.) "Alba" also has a second meaning: "sunrise." When the name of the festival was translated into German, the "sunrise" meaning was selected in error. This became "ostern" in German. Ostern has been proposed as the origin of the word "Easter". 2

There are two popular beliefs about the origin of the English word "Sunday." It is derived from the name of the Scandinavian sun Goddess Sunna (a.k.a. Sunne, Frau Sonne). 5,6
It is derived from "Sol," the Roman God of the Sun." Their phrase "Dies Solis" means "day of the Sun." The Christian saint Jerome (d. 420) commented "If it is called the day of the sun by the pagans, we willingly accept this name, for on this day the Light of the world arose, on this day the Sun of Justice shone forth." 7

Pagan origins of Easter:
Many, perhaps most, Pagan religions in the Mediterranean area had a major seasonal day of religious celebration at or following the Spring Equinox. Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess, had a consort, Attis, who was believed to have been born via a virgin birth. Attis was believed to have died and been resurrected each year during the period MAR-22 to MAR-25.

Gerald L. Berry, author of "Religions of the World," wrote:

"About 200 B.C. mystery cults began to appear in Rome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele cult centered on Vatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis (the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name). He was a god of ever-reviving vegetation. Born of a virgin, he died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection." 3

Wherever Christian worship of Jesus and Pagan worship of Attis were active in the same geographical area in ancient times, Christians:

"... used to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on the same date; and pagans and Christians used to quarrel bitterly about which of their gods was the true prototype and which the imitation."

Many religious historians and liberal theologians believe that the death and resurrection legends were first associated with Attis, many centuries before the birth of Jesus. They were simply grafted onto stories of Jesus' life in order to make Christian theology more acceptable to Pagans. Others suggest that many of the events in Jesus' life that were recorded in the gospels were lifted from the life of Krishna, the second person of the Hindu Trinity. Ancient Christians had an alternative explanation; they claimed that Satan had created counterfeit deities in advance of the coming of Christ in order to confuse humanity. 4 Modern-day Christians generally regard the Attis legend as being a Pagan myth of little value with no connection to Jesus. They regard Jesus' death and resurrection account as being true, and unrelated to the earlier tradition.

Wiccans and other modern-day Neopagans continue to celebrate the Spring Equinox as one of their 8 yearly Sabbats (holy days of celebration). Near the Mediterranean, this is a time of sprouting of the summer's crop; farther north, it is the time for seeding. Their rituals at the Spring Equinox are related primarily to the fertility of the crops and to the balance of the day and night times. In those places where Wiccans can safely celebrate the Sabbat out of doors without threat of religious persecution, they often incorporate a bonfire into their rituals, jumping over the dying embers is believed to assure fertility of people and crops.

References used in the above essay:
Larry Boemler "Asherah and Easter," Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. 18, Number 3, 1992-May/June reprinted at: http://www.worldmissions.org/Clipper/Holidays/EasterAndAsherah.htm
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Q & A Set 15, "Why do we celebrate a festival called Easter?" at: http://www.wels.net/sab/text/qa/qa15.html
Gerald L. Berry, "Religions of the World," Barns & Noble, (1956).
J Farrar & S. Farrar, "Eight Sabbats for Witches," Phoenix, Custer, WA, (1988).
"Sunna," TeenWitch at: http://www.teenwitch.com
"Dies Solis and other Latin Names for the Days of the Week," Logo Files, at:
http://www.logofiles.com/
"Sunday Observance," Latin Mass News, at: http://www.unavoceca.org/

Conference 2010

2010-03-08T12:03:00.005-05:00

These pictures come from the "Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's" conference this past weekend in Camp Hill, Pa. I am not posting any photographs of the originals on my blog yet...these are just of some of the many activities we enjoyed. This first one is a pre-conference workshop with Lynnette Miller of Miller's Millinary on making Coronets. It was lots of fun and an opportunity to meet new people. There were lots of different options on what to do and what to put on it and they were very easy once you decided what you were going to do with the design.

After the workshop and before eating dinner, I went back to my room and worked to finish my coronet. I'd picked out flowers to put on this one, thinking it would be nice to brighten up a silk day dress I'm planning on wearing to a tea in May. The dress is burgundy and dark green with black trim and highlights.

Coronets were very popular during the 1860's and later. Lynnette showed us multiple period CDV's of women wearing them with day dresses. They were an indoor item, to be worn when receiving morning visitors or at a dinner or such that wasn't quite fancy enough to wear a ball headdress with. This is a $10 gold coin from a little later to show the coronet. They sometimes had hairnets attached and sometimes not.

The next day I took an artificial flower class from Martha McCain. She does the Museum reproduction patterns for Simplicity (for more information click here ). The class was very busy, we really had to work hard with guidance from Martha, her husband, and another helper, to get all three flowers done by the end, but there they are. They're all made out of highly starched fabric, dyed, goffed (a form of spot ironing with special tools for the purpose) wired, and glued using 1860's techniques and tools. Some dresses of the era had many of these attached, as did headpieces and bonnets...a very time consuming project for the seamstress! This is something I enjoyed doing, but would be difficult to make at home without all the right equipment. Still, it was a fantastic workshop and I learned a lot!

While we were in the Friday night sessions I managed to work on another, less floral Coronet. I'd bought the kit at the Marketplace earlier in the day. This one is done with stars and pearl beads and a bit of purple ribbon on it. It'll get more use than the completely floral one. I think it turned out beautifully.

Our sessions included many items that were fascinating from Period Ribbons to Texas, to Musical composers, and much more. One on Saturday had the Wildcat Regiment Brass band that did a presentation of historical music and information about Regimental bands in the 1860s. Mark took a picture of the slide because we were surprised to see the Maryland seal on the original sheet music of the "Bonnie Blue Flag". The band was also one of the two groups that played at the ball that night. They were great!

After our sessions, everyone went back to their rooms to change and get ready for the dinner and the ball in the main ballroom. As you can see there were all manner of ball gowns and day dresses, Regency and Late Victorian eras were also represented as well as some modern dresses. The dinner was delicious, the company was enjoyable, and the Ball was fantastic. Mark won a doorprize that was a gift certificate from Corner Clothiers (Cara of Corner Clothiers has made all of his civilian clothing) for a Cravat or tie so he got a new tie for the outfit which looked very nice with his vest. I won a gift certificate from Miller's Millinery and got a head piece (hard to see in the pictures) that I wore to the ball.

Unfortunately I have yet to make a silk ballgown that I'm happy with so I chose to wear this day dress, one of only maybe two that I own that fit right now. I can see that I'm going to have to get sewing this year and get some lighter colored dresses (and a ball gown) made and also get some of this excess weight off myself so my other dresses fit.

These are couples lined up awaiting the Grand March to begin the ball. During the Grand March, everyone gets to see everyone else that is present, which is wonderful for checking out all the dresses, fabric, trim, and such, and saying hi to friends. This ball room was very nice and it was big enough to accomodate the number of dancers.

Mark snapped this picture of Angela and Maggie in their beautiful ballgowns. These young ladies are two of my very favorite people. :) Maggie and Angela have been in several sewing classes I've taken in Gettysburg with Carolann Schmitt and I've really enjoyed socializing outside of classes as well. Unfortunately I had to miss the ball gown bodice class that was taught in November but I'm hoping to get taking classes again this year.

Some scenes from the dancing. Civil War era dancing is very easy, and it frequently has you changing partners and dancing with other people. It was a way for the people of that era to socialize and to meet and flirt with other people in a safe and chaperoned setting. We've always enjoyed the caller of this dance and have danced with him before through www.CivilWarDance.com .

THE NATIONAL PARKS: My Parks

2010-03-07T13:51:00.001-05:00

Interesting Letter

2010-01-19T18:30:00.003-05:00

As tomorrow, January 19, 2010 is the 202 anniversary of the birth of Robert E. Lee, I thought it fitting to share the following with you:

August 9, 1960
Dear Dr. Scott:
Respecting your August 1 inquiry calling attention to my often expressed admiration for General Robert E. Lee, I would say, first, that we need to understand that at the time of the War Between the States the issue of Secession had remained unresolved for more than 70 years. Men of probity, character, public standing and unquestioned loyalty, both North and South, had disagreed over this issue as a matter of principle from the day our Constitution was adopted.
General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation.. He believed unswervingly in the Constitutional validity of his cause which until 1865 was still an arguable question in America; he was thoughtful yet demanding of his officers and men, forbearing with captured enemies but ingenious, unrelenting and personally courageous in battle, and never disheartened by a reverse or obstacle. Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his belief in God. Taken altogether, he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history.
From deep conviction I simply say this: a nation of men of Lee’s caliber would be unconquerable in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the degree that present-day American youth will strive to emulate his rare qualities, including his devotion to this land as revealed in his painstaking efforts to help heal the nation’s wounds once the bitter struggle was over, we, in our own time of danger in a divided world, will be strengthened and our love of freedom sustained.
Such are the reasons that I proudly display the picture of this great American on my office wall.
Sincerely,
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Update from Ravelry

2010-01-07T10:49:00.003-05:00

Australian knitters and crocheters are celebrating a government decision to revoke the ban on bringing knitting needles and crochet hooks on planes. This change in heart came after more than 200 knitters and crocheters, many of them Ravelry members, flooded the government with submissions to a review of Aviation Transport Security Regulations in 2009, and align Australian standards with those in the United States, Israel, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Singapore.
Ice picks and meat cleavers, however, are still banned from cabin baggage.

If in doubt, check the TSA website or your airline. Ask specifically about the type of needles you're thinking about bringing. :)

Moving into the new year

2009-12-31T21:43:00.004-05:00

2009 has been the year of the challenge...it's challenged me to retain a positive outlook even when things weren't so positive. Somehow I've survived the stress and look forward to a better 2010. I'm thankful for all I have and all the good things in my life, but it has definitely been a tough one, that 2009. I'm not one to complain about much usually, I really believe that you create your own reality by either believing in yourself and keeping positive (or, not)...but so many things made 2009 a year that I'm glad I don't have to repeat that I'm especially happy about the soon to emerge 2010. I'm hoping that it will be a new and better year than the outgoing one.

In 2009 health was a bit challenging, twice in the spring I was down with a nasty version of the flu within 6 weeks, and numerous times this year I was in bed with the debilitating recurring (and without warning) vertigo that I've been dealing with for a couple of years now, and that no medications seem to help. Thank goodness there was time off without pay available from work, or I'd be facing even more challenging issues with my company. I kept having digestive issues as well and had a heck of a challenge with my weight because I never felt "right" in my gut and didn't know what to eat, or what not to. After an attack of what I thought was IBS a week before, I had a horrible attack of what turned out to be Gall Stones the first part of July that necessitated surgery to remove the Gall Bladder. Again, I was out of work for several weeks to get better, but I'm thankful that it's out because my abdominal pain is significantly better than before.

I'm thankful for my job, and though it can be stressful it's still a job that I enjoy. I found in 2009 that I can't fly as much as I'd like to be able to in order to make enough money because of my ears/vertigo issues are aggrevated by the pressure changes...but I still am happy to be working and to be doing what I want to do. My own business didn't do so well in 2009 due to the economy and if I didn't have my "real" job to fall back on, I would have less positive things to say in this paragraph. The economy has challenged many businesses, and though I'm very happy to have survived 2009 in a small business situation where many others have not, it's been very tough, very challenging, and I had many sleepless nights worrying about the debt load and many other awake nights cursing the banking industry. And then more financial challenge was piled on...but that story is for hubby's blog and not for mine. It's become a time to combine our efforts to make it through the bills each month, but we're surviving and will continue to do so...that's the positivity talking.

I am thankful for my dear husband's support when I was both sick and well, his listening to me whining and trying to help, and his understanding when I needed him to be there for me, and his "getting it" when I wanted to sit and knit after a particularly stressful or tiring day. He's my best friend and my support network and he is even a helpmate when I'm looking for a new project to work on, he's learned all about my hobbies and is so incredible, I'm truly blessed to have him in my life. I'm also thankful for sewing and knitting because without it I'm not sure I'd have had the stress relief that I needed in order to get through 2009. I made quite a number of pairs of socks and a couple of Civil War dresses but it's only a fraction of the projects I would like to do, time is always the issue. I always have a knitting project in my purse or in the car... There is a tee shirt available at Cafe Press that says "I knit so I don't kill people" and I understand...I wouldn't hurt anyone, but I knit so that I can get past the stressors in life.

There were many other positives in this challenging year. We welcomed a new Grandson, Collin, into the family this year, and we celebrated the first Grandson, Aidan's second birthday here with us in Maryland in November, and we are very thankful for our Hawaiian extended family. We were able to visit Jenn and Michael and the kids in August...another thing to be thankful for is the flight benefits that I have...even though we got bumped and couldn't get home for an extra day or two. We're thankful that we added to the family and didn't lose anyone in the big extended family that we're part of, and in fact, we're looking forward to expanding our family as our son in Japan gets married in April, and our son that lives in North Carolina is back in touch as well. We are very thankful for all of our family.

We also welcomed a new family member into our home in September, our newest furry purry angel, Sammy. He is now a big part of our family. We also are thankful that all of our furry angels are healthy, even the tiny cat we rescued out of the cold and snow last December. She was covered by fleas, ticks, and starving to death, with only a couple of teeth she couldn't find enough to eat out in the woods where she was abandoned. She is now healthy and doing fine.

We enjoyed the Conference in March and got to see old friends and make new ones, we both reconnected with people that we hadn't had contact with for years on Facebook. We got to see some new National Parks in April on our short vacation and had Jenn and Aidan come visit when we got home. During 2009 we spent time with treasured friends during the year, we became closer to some friends and unfortunately some others became busy with other things and we seemed to not be as close to them. We began to volunteer at a National Park and it feels so good to help out and to get the opportunity to see and study and experience things in an area in which we have great interest. We are thankful for those opportunities in 2009 that we will continue on into 2010.

2009 is nearly done. Thank goodness. Bring on 2010!

Some background on our holiday celebrations

2009-12-24T09:54:00.004-05:00

I've been long interested in the historical beginnings and backgrounds of holidays, and Christmas is one of those that was adopted from earlier traditions. Here's an interesting article that explains just some of the earlier traditions that we base today's celebrations upon. The italicised comments are my own.

From the Article: Winter Solstice: The Unconquered Sun

At the Winter Solstice, we celebrate Children's Day to honour our children and to bring warmth, light and cheerfulness into the dark time of the year. Holidays such as this have their origin as "holy days". They are the way human beings mark the sacred times in the yearly cycle of life. (Many Church holidays were adopted from earlier holy days because it was easier to change the practices of the people than to eradicate them totally).

In the northern latitudes, midwinter's day has been an important time for celebration throughout the ages. On this shortest day of the year, the sun is at its lowest and weakest, a pivot point from which the light will grow stronger and brighter. This is the turning point of the year. The romans called it Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.

The Roman midwinter holiday, Saturnalia, was both a gigantic fair and a festival of the home. Riotous merry-making took place, and the halls of houses were decked with boughs of laurel and evergreen trees. Lamps were kept burning to ward off the spirits of darkness. Schools were closed, the army rested, and no criminals were executed. Friends visited one another, bringing good-luck gifts of fruit, cakes, candles, dolls, jewellery, and incense. Temples were decorated with evergreens symbolizing life's continuity, and processions of people with masked or blackened faces and fantastic hats danced through the streets.

The custom of mummers visiting their neighbours in costume, which is still alive in Newfoundland, is descended from these masked processions.

Roman masters feasted with slaves, who were given the freedom to do and say what they liked (the medieval custom of all the inhabitants of the manor, including servants and lords alike, sitting down together for a great Christmas feast, came from this tradition). A Mock King was appointed to take charge of the revels (the Lord of Misrule of medieval Christmas festivities had his origin here). (The iconic Father Christmas is most likely descended from this tradition).

In pagan Scandinavia the winter festival was the yule (or juul). Great yule logs were burned, and people drank mead around the bonfires listening to minstrel-poets singing ancient legends. It was believed that the yule log had the magical effect of helping the sun to shine more brightly.
Mistletoe, which was sacred because it mysteriously grew on the most sacred tree, the oak, was ceremoniously cut and a spray given to each family, to be hung in the doorways as good luck. The celtic Druids also regarded mistletoe as sacred. Druid priests cut it from the tree on which it grew with a golden sickle and handed it to the people, calling it All-Heal. To hang it over a doorway or in a room was to offer goodwill to visitors. Kissing under the mistletoe was a pledge of friendship. Mistletoe is still forbidden in most Christian churches because of its Pagan associations, but it has continued to have a special place in home celebrations.

In the third century various dates, from December to April, were celebrated by Christians as Christmas. January 6 was the most favoured day because it was thought to be Jesus' baptismal day (in the Greek Orthodox Church this continues to be the day to celebrate Christmas). Around 350, (kind of fascinating that Christmas was adopted so long after his death. Historical information says that the census was in APRIL and that the birth of Jesus was not in December at all). December 25 was adopted in Rome and gradually almost the entire Christian Church agreed to that date, which coincided with Winter Solstice, the Yule and the Saturnalia. The merry side of Saturnalia was adopted to the observance of Christmas. By 1100 Christmas was the peak celebration of the year for all of Europe. During the 16th century, under the influence of the Reformation, many of the old customs were suppressed and the Church forbade processions, colourful ceremonies, and plays.

In 1647 in England, Parliament passed a law abolishing Christmas altogether. When Charles II came to the throne, many of the customs were revived, but the feasting and merrymaking were now more worldly than religious.

Here in Nova Scotia outdoor coloured lights play an important part in the local celebration of the mid-winter season. With the day turning to darkness so early in the North, it is cheering to look out into the cold and dark at lights sparkling and glittering in the crisp air.

Our celebration of Children's Day is inspired not only by the pagan celebrations of mid-winter but arises also out of the Japanese holidays of Boy's Day and Doll's Day, which are two separate days in the spring, when boys and girls of a certain age are presented to the temple and honoured with special gifts. The Shambhala Children's Shrine is modeled after the display of ancestral dolls traditional in homes on Doll's Day.

Our sangha is our village, our clan, our family. Our children belong to all of us, and are bright reminders of the future of Buddhism. We celebrate them and the Great Eastern Sun together at the darkest time of the year, with open-hearth parties and cheerful festivities.

The Unconquered Sun first appeared as an article by Janet Shotwell in The Karma Dzong Banner (Vol III, No 11, December 1991, Halifax, Nova Scotia).

(I wonder if the militant Christians that want to abolish the practice of saying "Happy Holidays" realize that their own holiday is a variation and product of other Holidays itself? I hope that people of all faiths will educate themselves on the basis for their own holidays in history, and will learn tolerance and respect for everyone's traditions. I will continue to say "Happy Holidays" with respect and appreciation for all beliefs and customs that celebrate their own holiday or variant at this time of year. Happy Holidays to everyone!)

Enjoying a snow day

2009-12-19T15:38:00.002-05:00

Poor weather rarely works in my favor. Usually it just means that I have to get up really early to dig out and drive at a snails pace to the airport even if the flight has no prayer of getting out...they won't cancel until they try to get a window in which to take off and then the cancel. By then it's difficult to make it back home. But last night, the schedulers got smart and decided to cancel the last 2 arrivals into most east coast airport to prevent planes from being stuck in the predicted big storm. My flight was supposed to be this morning at 6 so the crew desk called me to say it had been cancelled so I could stay home. Woohoo!
It started snowing late last night, and this is how it looked this morning after the guys had been out shoveling for awhile, 4 or 5 inches on the ground I think.

The roads were slick but passable and it was indeed beautiful especially because I didn't have to go out in it. It has continued to snow all day, sometimes incredibly heavy with beautiful big puffy flakes. At one point I took our Tabby, Belle out on her harness on the deck because she really wanted to get into it, it took her about 2 minutes to decide that she would rather be indoors in the warm house.

At about 3:30pm I took a yardstick outside and measured the snow on a bench on our back deck. It came up to 13 1/2 inches, though I think it possible that some snow has dropped off the sides of the bench and it might be slightly deeper on the ground.

This picture was of the same area at 3:30pm...notice how much more snow was on the ground then than this morning. It's snowing pretty heavily so we'll see how much we end up with. By the way, the airport is closed now, and I hear that an airplane ran off the runway trying to take off earlier today. I'm very glad that my airline decided to cancel the flights rather than to try to fly in the poor weather conditions. Now to see what happens with the snow continuing...I'm eligible for reassignment tomorrow but I doubt I could get there with the roads so bad.

Woo hoo, more FO's!

2009-12-17T17:01:00.002-05:00

I've been in my favorite knitting spot on the sofa quite a bit since we came home from Thanksgiving. I love sitting there with the cat children and being cozy, knitting, watching TV, and spending time with my dear hubby. Here I'm just starting the second mitten to my cat mitten pair with the help of Gracie, the only one of the kids that wasn't asleep at the time.

And here they are, newly finished and modeled by Rosie and Sammy. I absolutely loved working on these fun patterns by Jorid Linvik! If you're interested they are available on the web or via Ravalry. I did them in Worsted Weight Lamb's Pride Superwash, though I probably will do any future pairs in Sport weight. I did them on 5US circulars.

I absolutely love the paw prints and the fish bones on the palm sides of the mittens. :) 2 color (Fair Isle) knitting is so easy and so fun and interesting, and now I even have a great pair of mittens that are perfectly suited to wear with my uniform coat!

I finished these socks last week too, these are the September 2008 Socks That Rock project. The pattern is called Cloning Anenome Rib and the color way is Tide Pooling. They were fun and easy and I absolutely love the colors! Now I'm off to work on other unfinished projects in my project basket. Knit on!

1st Md Cav Officer Frock Coat

2009-12-17T16:34:00.004-05:00

This dress uniform frock coat is attributed to have belonged to Lt. Bonn of the 1st Maryland Cavalry, CSA and has recently been acquired by the Museum Collection at Gettysburg NMP. The collection has very few Confederate Cavalry items so this is a very nice addition. The frock coat has not yet gone on exhibit, and the white of the storage box has brightened some of the pictures here, I do apologize. The coat is double breasted with 7 evenly spaced Maryland Buttons on the front on each lapel. Faintly yellow piping in the sleeve trim, the neckline, and the opening overlap shows in these pictures.

The reason these pictures are on my blog for your study is that this coat belonged to a member of the historical unit which we represent when we reenact, thus the interest on my part, besides my general interest in history, the Civil War, textiles, construction of period garments, and material culture.
I have enhanced the photographs of the jacket for clarity and lighting so the colors aren't coming out consistant, it's just due to making it lighter or darker to show detail. The cloth is the "Maryland Blue" Kersey Cloth, or British Army Cloth...thin and very well made. I've noticed that most of the "reenacting" uniforms have much heavier cloth than in the originals, both Confederate and Union. Notice also that the sleeve and rank trim is very subdued, almost to the point of being purposely darkened, though I have no information on whether or not that has indeed been done. The yellow piping might either have been light colored by design, or faded over the years. I haven't done any research yet on the properties of the yellow dyes used for wool in that era.
This is a close up of the lining of the coat, it's silk, and you can see from these shots that it has seen some wear, it is not attached on the bottom, the wool and the silk have been hemmed separately as was done in garments of the era.
This is another close up of the lining showing the cloth without the shine of reflected flash.
This is a close up of the sleeve braid. It's a single thickness of soutache braid and has been sewn on the outside of the sleeve before the jacket was put together.
The coat has Maryland buttons on the body of the coat and they have been darkened with either lacquer or some such substance. I haven't done any research to see why the buttons have been darkened, one volunteer told the curator that there was a practice popular at the time called "Japaning" which was to cover the buttons or item with a clear to lightish brown lacquer much like the lacquered bento boxes in Japaneese restaraunts have. So far we can't find any mention of this practice in the books we have on hand. This shot of the coat shows the inside buttons.
The sleeve buttons are small Federal buttons, 3 to a sleeve. They, too, have been darkened.
Notice the silk lining has worn from use in the neckline. His collar rank designation is evident here as well as an added loop for hanging the jacket.

This incredible artifact is going to be on display in the Gallery in Gettysburg at the Visitor's center after conservation.

You know you're a knitter when...

2009-11-29T19:24:00.003-05:00

*You ask strangers to feel their sweaters, or get uncomfortably close to them to see the stitch pattern.
*You can’t do ANY work on the computer until you’ve read the Yarn Harolet Blog, and the knitting pattern of the day and checked to see if there's anything new on Ravelry.
*You don’t go ANYWHERE without your knitting bag, even if it’s the grocery store.(even though you ALWAYS have a sock you're working tucked away in your purse just in case you have to wait somewhere).
*You literally dream about knitting.
*You can somehow manage to include the words, “yarn,” “needles,” or “knitting” into EVERY conversation.
*The family no longer freaks out when you bring your knitting out in public because their just so used to it that it’s not strange any more.
*The husband asks if you want to visit yarn stores that you're near when you're traveling, knowing that you probably had it on your mind anyway.
*The people I get email from with have learned to put “knitting” in the topic box of an e-mail so that I’ll open it up ASAP!

Home again

2009-11-29T12:00:00.002-05:00

I really enjoy long drives when my hubby is driving, and truly look forward to driving vacations with him. I tend to get a lot of knitting done and it's fun listening to the radio, singing along, talking to my honey, and knitting at the same time. It would take a month of knitting at home to get all the things worked on that I do in one trip, and it certainly makes the time go by a lot faster. This is a shot pretty near the beginning of the trip home of the projects on the needles. The rest of the pictures I took after returning home.

This sock is the 2008 September Socks that Rock club entry, Cloning Anenome Rib. I finished it Friday at Nanny's. I actually cast on and did about 2 inches of the cuff of the second sock while in the car on the way back. I absolutely love these colors. It's an easy cable pattern every 4 rows on the leg, and easily memorized, I don't even have to look at the pattern anymore.

This one is the 2009 September kit entry, Knetted. I finished this one in the car yesterday, cast on the second sock, and got the ribbing portion at the top of the cuff finished. Establishing the pattern after that involves a lot of counting and looking down at the pattern and I do get a bit queasy in the car if I look down at a pattern too much. I decided to wait and leave this one for home. The colors on this one are so beautiful and subdued, perfect for the autumn and winter. This one is an ankle length slouchy cuffed sock, and I didn't think I was going to like it at first when the kit came, but it seems to be growing on me.

This is the Cat mitten that I bought at the yarn shop in Davenport along with this yarn. I finished it down to the weaving of the top which I was able to do in the car. The thumb needs to be done but that is another project for home, as it'll involve looking at the pattern too much for me to do in the car without getting queasy. We went back to the yarn shop on Friday where I got green yarns for the fisherman's friend mittens which are by the same designer. I normally don't use anything as heavy as this Worsted weight yarn but it's working out quite nicely in this project. It's making a very warm and soft mitten. I also got some Helen's lace yarn for a shawl that's in my Ravelry Queue and a beautiful hand painted sport weight for one of the cowls I've been wanting to make. It was a very fibery trip as well as being wonderful to see family and of course, the fantastic Thanksgiving feast!

Turkey Day Fun

2009-11-29T11:37:00.004-05:00

Everyone in the family that had to (and was able to) come got to Nanny's and Poppa's on Wednesday. Thursday was a group effort at making everything come together for the delicious Thanksgiving Turkey feast. Here are some random shots from around the "Flock".

Poppa was talking on the phone to one of the family that couldn't make it (Jenn), there were several that were unable to be at this annual reunion, they were definitely missed. Thankfully the absences were all temporary and we all hope to see the missing family next year. We even had an unexpected phone call from one of the family that had been missing the last two years...a very nice gift on Thanksgiving.

The "kids" are all grown up now!

On Wednesday Mark had taken me over to a small local yarn shop. I'd picked up this mitten pattern as well as the yarn to make it with, and as if I didn't have enough projects going already, I found the time to sit and knit when we were all talking and socializing or watching TV. I had never worked on anything with 2 circular needles, one of the ladies at the shop had given me a lesson on how to do it, it's actually quite easy. I also love to do Fair Isle knitting (2 color) so this is a perfect project for me.This is the start of the mitten on Thanksgiving morning. I did get a bit more done that evening after the older "kids" (actually young adults) went to a local Casino with Mark as the Designated Driver.

Over the river and through the woods

2009-11-25T10:08:00.003-05:00

...to Grandmother's (and Grandfather's) house we go. Belle and Rose were none too happy about the prospect of us being gone, even though they thoroughly love the cat/house sitter. They reminded us that we should bring home some of Nanny's famous turkey from the Thanksgiving feast. I look forward to the knitting time in the car on the way to the annual family reunion and this year was no different.

Being the incredibly knitting and fiber tolerant (even enabling) husband that he is, Mark rented a car that had a built in yarn ball holder. How perfect is that!? I made quite a comfortable "nest" in the front seat and knitted my heart out until darkness fell, and even knitted a little bit by the light in the car. Perfect!

After working on the two sock projects I brought (with some other things to knit, too, in case my attention span warrented a change of projects) for about 4 or so hours, this is how they looked right about Pittsburgh. The left one is the 2008 Socks That Rock September kit, and the right is the 2009 September kit. I'm switching off trying to get both pairs finished before I get home. Yeah Right. These are both the first of the pairs.

And this is how they looked when we got to Nanny and Poppa's house. Much closer to being finished but not quite to the point of making my toe decreases. That's ok...we're going to go do some errands this morning which means more time in the car to work. I'll get the advil ready, I knitted so long yesterday that my fingers are speaking in tongues.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving full of food, fun, and family. :)

Project update

2009-11-02T17:51:00.003-05:00

After 3 weeks of pretty dedicated knitting, I finished the scarf made from Mrs. Montague's lace pattern designed for Queen Elizabeth I. Knit picks markets this pattern as part of the 3 pattern set called "Elizabeth I", this one is called "Dainty Bess". I blocked the scarf before bed last night and it was ready to unpin this evening. I used Cream colored Gems Fingering weight Superwash Merino yarn from www.KendigCottage.com. It was an easy pattern with a great yarn to work with, soft natural wool fiber, and even machine washable and dryable since I'm planning on using this scarf frequently. This scarf was motivated by Franklin Habit's lace knitting class that I attended, see the earlier blog post.

This is a picture of a few sections of the Shetland Style rectangular shawl I am spinning the yarn from the dyed fiber I bought at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival we went to a little over a week ago. The pattern is from the book: Victorian Lace Today, it's "Miss Lambert's Shetland pattern for a shawl" and is an 8 row repeat, every other row is purling so it's simple. It's difficult to visualize before blocking but I'm loving it so far. I've spun another bobbin of singles for the next skein of yarn for the project, I'm working on the next bobbin for the 2 ply yarn now. It'll probably take another small skein as well, so I'm continuing to spin. Spinning has gotten me enthusiastic about doing even more spinning and working through a little bit of my fiber stash.

I also got out all my wheels and cleaned and oiled the wood on them and checked to make sure they were all in good working order. I will try to get some more spinning done between finishing up some unfinished knitting projects that I'd like to have in the "finished" column prior to the end of the year.

The end of an era, last flight the last United 737

2009-10-30T19:09:00.004-04:00

The last of the fleet of United Airlines 737's flew it's last flight on October 28th. I always considered myself a "Guppy Girl" and I loved the 737 airplanes. They were cozy and comfortable and it was a more intimate group of passengers, not like having 200 passengers with 4 flight attendants today on the 757...the 737 had 120 with 3 flight attendants, sometimes 4.

It's the end of an era, that's for sure. Here are some vintage photographs as well as some modern ones, and some Boeing 737 Facts:

■ The entire 737 family is the best-selling commercial jet in
history, with orders of more than 6,000 aircraft over the years.
■ The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged the
737 as the most-produced large commercial jet airplane in
aviation history.

**The first picture here is of the final day in the life of flight 737 which started early in the morning at Dulles International Airport (IAD).
■ More than 541 operators fly 737s to more than 1,200 cities in
190 countries.
■ With more than 4,100 airplanes in service, the 737 represents
more than a quarter of the total worldwide fleet of large
commercial jets flying today.

■ ** Flight 737 on the ramp in Chicago after flying from Dulles. It was then bound for Denver...then San Francisco and then Los Angeles...on it's way to the aircraft graveyard in Victorville, California.

-On average, approximately 1,250 737s are in the air at all times;
one takes off or lands every 4.6 seconds.
■ The 737 fleet has carried more than 12 billion passengers.
■ Since its commercial revenue service history began in 1968,
the 737 fleet has flown more than 75 billion miles – equivalent
to approximately 403 roundtrips from the Earth to the Sun.

**When I began to fly for United, this was the paint job they had...I will always hold this paint as my favorite although I also really like the newest blue paint job.
■ Once the 737-200 was in service, that model quickly proved
to be the overwhelming favorite of the flying public, and the
737-100 was discontinued after production of 30 airplanes.
■ About 50 gallons of paint are used to paint an average 737.
Once the paint is dry, it weighs approximately 250 pounds.
The Boeing 737 as Part of United’s History

*** The paint job was from the 70's and early 80's.
■ It is estimated that the 737-300 and 737-500 for United flew
a combined 6.3 million flights and carried a total of more than
418 million passengers. Altogether, the 737s carried a total of
more than 700 million passengers for United.
■ The 737 is nicknamed by many United pilots the “guppy”.
Accounts of the origin vary, but most agree that it was due
to the squat appearance of the plane compared with its
contemporaries. Originally conceived as a five-across
Economy cabin similar to the DC-9, Boeing widened the
fuselage to make room for six-across in economy but
left the length and wingspan the same, giving it a slightly
pudgy look.

***Earliest paint job after delivery
■ United introduced its first B737-222 into revenue service
on April 28, 1968, adding the B737-300s in 1986 and the
B737-500s in 1990. The 737 fleet totaled more than 220
aircraft at one point.

First United B737 Flight vs. Last United B737 Flight
First Flight Last Flight
April 28, 1968 *October 28, 2009
Model Number 737-200* 737-300
Span 93 feet* 94 feet 9 inches
Length 93 feet 9 inches *109 feet 7 inches
Gross Weight 111,000 pounds *130,000 pounds
Cruising Speed 580 mph *500 mph
Range 1,150 miles *1,820 miles
Ceiling 35,000 feet *37,000 feet
Power Two 14,000-pound-thrust* Two 20,000-pound-thrust
P&W JT8D-7 engines *CFM 56-3 engines
Accommodation 6 crew (3 pilots, 3 flight 6 crew (2 pilots, 4 flight
attendants) and up to attendants) and up to
107 customers 120 customers

United Airlines Flight 737 Facts
■ United received delivery of this aircraft on August 11, 1988, and as of October 28, 2009,
it has flown approximately 60,846 hours and performed 33,836 flights.
■ Of the 33,836 flights, 52% (17,595) occurred at United’s hubs at Chicago O’Hare, Denver,
San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington Dulles):

■ Approximately 3,034,783 customers have flown with us on this aircraft – an average of 394
people per day.
■ It has used approximately 54,488,955 gallons of fuel.
■ This aircraft has had three different paint schemes over the years and three different
seating configurations:

8 United First® seats/120 United Economy® seats
- 8 United First® seats/126 United Economy® seats
- 8 United First® seats/46 Economy Plus® seats/112 United Economy® seats

A Genteel Era of Flying: Reminiscing With Sara Dornacker, Flight Attendant on First B737

Departure From DCAMemories of a First Flight

I was a “stewardess” – as we were called then -- on June 6, 1968, which was the first day that the B737 launched out of Washington National Airport. I remember it vividly, as the date coincided with the introduction of the first Jean Louis designed uniform -- the "mod" style with the kepi hat and short mini-dress.
It was extremely exciting to step on board a brand new jet. I had been on the line for nine monthsI was trained on DC-6s, DC-8s, 727s, Viscounts, and the Caravelle, which was French-made, very comfortable and fast.

The 737 was brand new, and the launch customer was United. Boeing took a lot of pains to ensure passengers had a comfortable experience. I liked it because it had a small first class cabin; the airplane was very comfortable.
It was different from previous aircraft, where the galleys were side-facing in the back of the airplane. And the 737 innovated brewed coffee! On the prop planes at the time, the DC-6s and Viscount, they boarded containers of hot coffee and iced water.

The galley was a real innovation, with one in front and one in back. One of the things to watch out for was on takeoff, we had to make sure the restraining bar on the carrier was in the full up position, or the carrier would slide out. It happened to me on my first flight -- a rack of coffee cups fell out and crashed into the galley on takeoff. It was one of those first flight gaffes you always remember. I never forgot to fasten that restraining bar again!

One of the things that made the 737 superior to previous aircraft was that it had air vents over each passenger service unit, so you could direct the flow of cold, air conditioned air toward yourself or away.

The Heyday of Business Travel

1968 was a time of great prosperity. Business was thriving, and customers were very eager to talk business -- whether they were making Johnson's wax, or auto parts in Youngstown, Ohio, they were mostly sales people flying to sell their products and were really enthusiastic about flying and doing business. They loved United, because we catered to that kind of customer.
My routes were from DCA to Atlanta, Asheville, Huntsville. The aerospace industry was developing, and Huntsville was big for military and defense contractors. I also flew to Ft. Wayne, Rochester, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Lincoln. In those smaller, regional airports, people still came out to the airports to look at the new jet. They used to have observations decks in small airports, where people could watch takeoffs and landings. In Lincoln and Ft. Wayne, people would line up just to watch the airplane land.

Luminaries on Board
Roger Mudd, senior CBS news correspondent, was on the first flight, sitting in the last row of first class. On other 737 flights, there were several repeat customers I enjoyed visiting with. Shirley Povich, father of Maury, who for decades was the sports editor of the Washington Post, was a passenger on one of the flights and invited me to visit his offices at the Washington Post to sign my copy of his book. He even showed me around the newsroom. A couple times we flew Ben Bradlee, and once he sat across the aisle from Frank Mankiewicz, movie producer, coming back from a social function in New York. I was dying to eavesdrop! I've been a political junkie from an early age. We also flew George Foreman and Red Skelton.

Raining in the Galley
The company and Boeing were so responsive to flight attendant feedback about the aircraft. The first winter was brutal, because with galley servicing trucks pulling up to door 1R at the front and an open door on 1L, the winter breezes came through when they put the galley units on board. It was chilly and rained inside the galley, near the entryway to the main cabin door. So they quickly realized that this was a serious safety hazard and bought rubber mats for the floor of the aircraft to prevent people from slipping. We were allowed to wear our coats during galley loading, because it was chilly. The company was really eager for our feedback on how the new aircraft was going over and how the service was being received.

More Innovations
The 737 was the first aircraft with window shades that moved up and down. The DC-6s had cloth curtains, and since the flight attendants didn't have separate serving garments, we put wraps over our uniforms that were striped in the same fabric and stripe as the window curtains. It was very stylish in the 50s for a housewife to wear an apron matching the curtains in her kitchen.
Tray tables were introduced with the 737, which was a great advance. They were built into the seat backs for all but the front two rows, where we had to plug in the tray tables. It was a much greater improvement over the old DC-6s that didn't have any tray tables. We had to distribute pillows to customers to balance the food trays.

A Bittersweet Goodbye
I am sad to see the B737 go. It represents a year that was very important in my life. That was the first year I voted. I was active in the campaign. In fact, I met President Johnson and Hubert H. Humphrey that year. I worked with Humphrey's campaign in the final weeks of October and flew on a United 727 charter with him. I was thrilled to be asked, being that my parents lived in Minnesota. The last time I had a conversation with Humphrey, before he died, it was on a 737. Like a good politician, he claimed to remember me from the charters! And I have the pictures to prove it.

Top Ten NWA Pilot Excuses

2009-10-28T19:14:00.000-04:00

Top Ten Northwest Airlines Pilot Excuses

10. "Bunch of fat guys seated on right side of plane made us vector east"
9. "We get paid by the hour"
8. "MapQuest always takes you the long way,
7. "Tired of that show-off Sullenberger getting all the attention"
6. "You try steering one of those airplanes after eight or nine cocktails"
5. "Wanted to catch end of in-flight movie"
4. "Activating autopilot and making occasional P.A. announcements is exhausting"
3. "According to our map, we only missed target by half-an-inch"
2. "For a change, decided to send luggage to the right city and lose the passengers"
1. "Thought we saw Balloon Boy"

Couldn't resist passing this along. :)

Just like riding a bike!

2009-10-25T20:16:00.002-04:00

I haven't spun any yarn in so long, I wondered if I had forgotten how. I guess it's like riding a bike, once I started again, it came back to me immediately and began to feel natural again. The fiber I bought at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival just spoke to me and I was glad to get started spinning it up. The reds are actually darker and more red/less pink than in the picture here. I bought a pound of this roving, it's Merino Wool, Alpaca, and Mohair (from the Angora goat-it's what makes the yarn have a hairy halo about it). It's so very soft and I just had to have some when I saw it. I used to do a lot of hand dyed rovings, both space dyed and processed like this one that has been extruded from the carding machine in stripes. I don't want to have to dye and deal with a lot of fleeces to get a nice colorway so I was glad to have found it. I was even more happy with the results once I began to spin it.

If you're not a spinner and you're wondering why I'd go to the trouble of spinning my own yarn, I'll try to explain...it's because it feels so good, it's therapeutic, it's creative, and it's a way to really get exactly what you want for your project. It's also nice to know that nobody anywhere will have the same project in the same yarn as you will. A good quality yarn for the project I'm spinning for would cost me far more than the unspun fiber I've purchased for this project. Spinning is also very relaxing and rhythmic...and I do it in front of the TV in the living room so I get to spend time with the family and watch the shows I enjoy, but I get the added plus of yarn for knitting that I've completed while most people just watch TV. There is a tee shirt out (on cafe press) that says "I knit so I don't kill people" and spinning is just as therapeutic as knitting...the creative outlet is a very important aspect of good mental health for me. :)

I am also a great believer in the value of my time and effort. If I spend the time working on a project, I'm not going to use crappy yarn on it, my time is more important to me than that. I use "good" yarn on all my knitting, I use only natural fibers because I want my projects to be beautiful and to last forever, to be passed on and to be enjoyed by someone else after I've checked out. I do use a lot of commercial yarns, but again, only natural fibers. With hand spun yarns, I love the way the slight irregularities of hand spun yarn add interest, character, and beauty to a finished project.

This is a bobbin of singles or a single ply spun from the roving on my Ashland Joy spinning wheel against the backdrop of the ball of fiber. As you can see, the reds are much subdued after spinning, and the yarn is beginning to have a lot of interest and color contrasts in it, exactly what I'd hoped for. I've never spun this light weight of a yarn before, and it's actually much easier for me than trying to spin sport or worsted weight. I'm hoping for a fingering to lace weight once I've added the second ply to the first.

I made the second bobbin of singles today, and I was so excited to ply them together and see what the finished yarn will look like. This is the bobbin of two plied yarn on my Louet S-75 which is my workhorse for plying. It has more uptake so while I decided to use another wheel for the singles which I wanted to keep very thin, I always go back to my favorite S-75 for ease in spinning and I love the monster 4 ounce bobbins. I also have a skein winder mounted on this wheel so I made a skein of the yarn so I can set the spin on it before I use it.

This is the skeined yarn that I will be using for my project. It turned out to be 16-17 wpi and this skein weighs 3.7 ounces and contains about 309.17 yards, less than half of what I'll need to complete the project I'm going to use the yarn for. It's a little thicker than the lace weight called for in the pattern by diameter but not by weight, so I'm guessing I got the calculations wrong on the number of yards I made. I will need another skein and perhaps more, but I do have enough to get started on the project (after I finish some of the "on the needles" projects I'm in the middle of).

The project this is being spun for is this rectangular shawl. It's called "Miss Lambert's Shetland Pattern for a Shawl" and the pattern is in the "Victorian Lace Today" book. I've seen other examples of this shawl on Ravelry done in thicker yarn and I think it's going to be really nice regardless of the actual weight of the handspun. And the best of all is that nobody will have exactly the same yarn as I do!

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival adventure

2009-10-24T20:03:00.009-04:00

After getting home at midnight last night from work, we slept in this morning and got up to find a dreary and overcast day outside with intermittent rain showers. However, it was the weekend of the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville, Virginia. I'd never been to this event even though Jenn had told me about it years ago, so I wanted to go and check this festival out. I was sorry I hadn't been able to go to Rhinebeck, but I thought I wouldn't spend as much going to this fairly local festival than a big one like NY.

We headed out to the west towards the Shenandoah mountains and though the leaves were now past their peak color, they were still beautiful. Because of the overcast, it was hard to get a photograph that showed how pretty it was despite the weather.

We began to see the hills and mountains as we continued to drive West and then South.

The Potomac river goes under the highway as you approach Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The rivers in the area are the Potomac and the Shenandoah and at their confluence sits the very quaint and historic town of Harper's Ferry, which is a National Park. It's full of history, and though I won't bore you with the history of the area, it's also a crossing of the Appalacian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine, and the C & O trail which goes from Georgetown to Cumberland.

The River runs along the right side of the road along the way back into Virginia. It's beautiful along this road, but treacherous in the wintertime.

Another River shot. The river has many rocks in it and flows slowly in some places. It's a great place to go canoeing, kayaking, and rafting in the summer months.

We arrived in Berryville and the festival in a torrential downpour but there were many other cars parked at the Festival so we knew there were other hardy fiber lovers there before us. The Llama barn was set up to allow kids to walk the llamas through a course. Llamas are very smart and also very sweet. Many people get them to be companion animals to their sheep and alpacas, they've got a sweet dog personality.

There were other Llamas and Alpacas in the barn being sold or exhibited. There was a lot of fiber available for sale, but I've got plenty of Llama and Alpaca at home to spin, should the mood strike. :) There was also a rabbit barn and one for sheep too.

There were a few barns with vendors, as well as a few vendors out in the outside area. Here are a couple of shots of the vendor barns.

I did not succumb to my great love of raw fleeces and did not buy any fleece today, I certainly have enough of various breeds of fleece to spin back at home. But I still had to touch and pet the fleeces and look at the breeds and prices of them all. They did have a judging here and some of the fleeces were absolutely yummy!

I felt so badly for these nice Angora goats that had to be standing in this tiny pen in the rain, their locks of fiber were a muddy and wet mess. I think they were for sale, and their owner had mohair yarn and fiber for sale in her tent right next to the goats.

We drove back into Maryland and I saw many other places were the leaves were beautiful. It continued to be rainy, but the sky began to get just a little bit brighter as we then made our way to do an errand in Gettysburg, PA.

We drove over the bridge again into West Virginia for a short time and again over the river. I kept busy along the way with a few things I spent my month's allowance on at the festival.

I got this neat spindle from the Serendipitous Ewe's booth. It's Jade that has been carved into a flower and it's just the right weight to spin this lovely roving that I got at another vendor's booth. The roving is made of Merino, Mohair and a small amount of Alpaca. I'm spinning it very fine, hoping to make something laceweight, perhaps to do a lace shawl. The mohair is blooming out from the singles already so it has a slightly fuzzy look. It's turning out pretty soft despite spinning it so finely.

Of course, I was also knitting along the way. This is the one of the socks I worked on for awhile on the way back from the festival. It's a bit of a challenge to spindle my roving in the car, so I went back and forth between knitting and spinning.

This sock yarn was an "Ewepsie" oopsie dyeing mistake from the Serendipitous Ewe. I thought it was really neat. The colorway is called "Secret Garden" and it's fingering weight so I could use it for a lace project or a pair of socks. Right now it's going into my stash.

Ok, I probably need a 12 step program to break my addiction to sock yarn, but I really liked this one that I got from Y2 Knit. It's called "Crazy Zauberball" and they had several colorways that I thought were fantastic but this is the one I chose. I also got a "K2tog" and a "ssk" oval magnet for my car from Y2 knit.

Here's a better picture of the flower petals carved on the whorl of the new spindle. It was really inexpensive compared to similar spindles I've seen in the past at other festivals, and that added to why I loved it so much!

We continued to make our way through Maryland and then into Pennsylvania and it was beautiful as usual as we drove into Gettysburg. I do volunteer work at the Museum in the Visitor's Center at the National Park, but I don't get out into the park itself very much.

Here's a monument along Taneytown Road. As you can see it was still overcast and dreary. Considering how many people died on these lands, it's pretty fitting to have it be dark and overcast.

The statue on top of the dome is the Pennsylvania monument which is one of the biggest monuments (and a beautiful one) on the battlefield.

A view from the road toward the high water mark.

This is the high water mark/bloody angle and there were plenty of people up there walking up where Pickett's charge had been. We were on the way to pick up some clothing for Mark that we didn't get to the shop in time to get.

I was very glad to find these apples because I wanted to make applesauce tomorrow. These are Jonogolds, a hybrid of the Jonathan apples that are my very favorites for sauce and pies. We got them at the festival. The orchard owner said that Jonathans and MacIntoshes (also a favorite) grow further north and don't do as well in Virginia.

I got out my Ashford Joy to spin some more of the fiber that I got today, and Belle decided that she needed to supervise.

It's really hard to spin with a cat on your lap trying to grab the fiber as you draft. I'm lucky that she has a very short attention span.

Here's some of the fiber spun on the wheel, still in singles. I have enough to do a full shawl and I'm planning on doing a two ply in lace to fingering weight. So far it's reading mostly red with brown, blue, and white undertones.

This is the other sock that I had with me to work on and I got an inch or two done. It's called Cloning Anemone Rib and it's the Socks that rock kit from September 2008. I love the colors!

The socks that wouldn't go away

2009-10-18T21:08:00.003-04:00

OH MY GAWD these socks drove me crazy and no matter how I seemed to knit on them they never seemed to get any closer to being finished! I started them in February and have finished many pairs since but since I wasn't enjoying the pattern (Wheat socks, a free pattern on the internet) I kept putting them off and putting them aside. I kept toting them to work and trying to take a few stitches here, maybe a row there, and eventually I got the first one finished. I forced myself to cast on for the second sock, and eventually I got to the heel flap, then the heel, and kept on until I finally got the second sock finished today. I'm having a quiet weekend so I had time to work on them with minimal distractions, but of course, I have gotten nothing else done all day. But here they are, and I will wear them proudly knowing that I will never make another with this pattern! :)

Some favorite things

2009-10-13T15:09:00.002-04:00

This morning a package arrived from my favorite Bison ranchers and fiber guys with an entire pound of yummy bison down. It's packaged up so pretty in one ounce packages...2 of them are already winging their way to a new home with a nice lady in Western Australia. I have spun and knit with bison down and it's so wonderfully airy and soft as well as being warm. I stock Bison yarns and Bison/Silk and Bison/Bamboo yarns that are to die for as well! I know that this nice stuff is going to be finding new homes very quickly, it's hard to keep it in stock. I thought the bags looked so pretty that I wanted to share them with you'all.

I decided this morning that it was close enough to Halloween to change the clothing on our resident Goose. She oversees the kids walking to and from school in the morning in our neighborhood. My friend Diane gave her to us to put on our step, and she has many changes of clothing for different occasions. They're big up in the North, but I haven't seen many of them here in Maryland. I think she's fun, and I keep wanting to get to the sewing room to make her both a Hawaiian outfit and a Civil War dress and Bonnet. Maybe the next time I cut out a 1860's dress, I'll cut one out for her too.

This is the first 100 rows on the "Dainty Bess" lace scarf that I've been working on while at home on days off. It's not a travel appropriate project since I have to have the chart out to do the pattern rows. It's not at all difficult, just takes a little concentration, but it works well while watching TV. It's obviously not blocked, and lace always looks like a used kleenex before it's blocked. I just love the pattern, and blocking it will open up all the holes in the pattern and make it seem more lacy. It's about 20% finished. Sorry, Jenn, it's not for you, but I do remember doing a lace alpaca/angora scarf for you a few years ago. :)

Our newest furry child, Sammy, has slowly begun to venture down the stairs, but he is still as skittish as ever. If there is even a small noise, he scurries up the stairs to the bedroom and hides, then sometimes comes back down in a little while. He's gotten braver in some ways, he's a lot more snuggly at night lately, and a couple of times in the past few days I've awakened to the sound of Sammy snoring close to my ear...with his head on my pillow. How he gets up there without waking me up, I have no idea. He still hasn't figured out how to be good friends with the other cats, though he's trying very hard but they don't seem to play. At least he's awake on and off during the day, he used to be hibernating under the bed from about 9am to about 8pm every day.

Belle says "pleased to see you again" to Sammy in a typical cat manner.

Bad news, Good news!

2009-10-11T14:22:00.003-04:00

The bad news is that my honey has been sick. We were supposed to go to a picnic yesterday for work that had been on the calendar for quite awhile. We'd RSVP'd long ago and unfortunately with him hacking and coughing and feeling crummy we had to decline. The good news is that my friend Loraine who was planning on being in Maryland for a week or so starting last Friday called me to ask if I wanted to go to a lace knitting class in Delaware with her yesterday. Since I couldn't go to the picnic, I told her I'd go and boy, am I glad that I did! Here's a picture of Loraine at the class.

The class was taught by Franklin Habit, who I've never heard of prior to Loraine's invitation, but I surely know of him now! He is a very gifted knitter, historian, and teacher, as well as having written a book of knitting themed cartoons called "It Itches". Loraine got me a copy of his book and he graciously signed it for me. Loraine knew that since the class was going to present the history of lace knitting (as well as knitted lace, they are not the same thing) and the knitting styles of Orenburg, Shetland, and Estonian lace, I'd be hooked and want to go. Being a history nut, I really enjoyed everything. He explained the differences in styles, construction, and development. He is a contributor to Knitty's online magazine about historical knitting, and has posted re-done patterns for Victorian and Pre-Victorian projects.

Prior to starting the history part of the class, Franklin got us all started with a simple rosebud motif (not shown here, I did the motif and then ripped it out so I could start the larger scarf pattern shown here), and did some question and answer on the various stitches and explained charting and reading charts. Then while he was talking we were able to work at our own pace on whatever we wanted. I began the scarf and got to about row 15 on it, but I haven't decided if I'm going to rip it out and start again now that I have the hang of doing the slipped edging. I will probably do the entire scarf project at some point, he had one that he'd made and it was esquisite, with an added knitted edging all along the sides and ends. Franklin had quite a few pieces of knitted lace he'd made to show and pass around, and it's gotten me enthusiastic again about doing this very interesting (and not very difficult) type of knitting. I've actually learned some of the lace stitches that he demonstrated in class through my Socks that Rock club socks. Many of them are lacy and without knowing what I was doing, I ended up expanding my knitting through them. I'd made a lace shawl and a lace scarf in the past, they weren't all that nicely done...but I think my knitting skills are better now so I am looking forward to trying again.

When we got home, I pulled out some of the lace patterns I had already at home and found one that was mentioned in the class from Queen Elizabeth I's knitted silk stockings and I think I may do that as a scarf for practice. It's from Mrs. Montague's pattern, she was the Queen's silk woman, and I can't wait to try the pattern, it looks pretty easy.

This is Franklin as he was signing his book for me. Add this great class to the time in the car on the way there and back to chat with Loraine, as visiting a great knit shop (though I didn't buy any yarn) made it a great day. :) Now to get knitting and finish a couple of projects and get them off the needles so I can get some lace going! :)

Pictures for my Non Facebook Friends

2009-09-30T16:58:00.005-04:00

I'm posting some pictures that my friends and family that are on facebook have already seen because I know many of my blog readers are not on facebook. Here's a great shot of Jenn and Aidan last weekend when they were out hiking.

Aidan is just generally being cute in this picture. They were out hiking in the mountains on Oahu and the scenery is just breathtaking.

I absolutely love this one of Aidan and Milo out hiking on the trail. I printed this one out as a picture to hang on the bulletin board in my office. To me, this looks like a painting.

Here's a rare picture of Gracie. When she sees the focusing light of the camera she immediately closes her eyes which makes her even more difficult to photograph than she is normally.

This is a good one of our sweetest girl, Rosie. She's sitting on the nightstand by the bed waiting to see if it's time for treats yet. (No, it's not) This is her usual spot when she's waiting for our nightly ritual of giving the cats treats. I thought this was a very cute picture of her.

Rosie is our acrobat and here she is on the thin top of the headboard. Sammy is looking up at her wondering what she's doing. Usually it's Belle that is up here on the headboard, and in the middle of the night it can get rather annoying, especially when Belle jumps down right on top of me.

Sammy is venturing out from under the bed now. He's even made it into the hallway and down the stairs into the basement when he has Rosie to go with him. Gracie still growls and is scary to him, and Belle is sometimes ok with him and sometimes hisses at him. He has such a timid personality that he hasn't been down in the living room to sit with everyone yet. Every day is a little better, though, so in time he might be able to venture out on his own a bit more. :)

Finished a pair of socks, starting another

2009-09-29T08:38:00.004-04:00

I finally finished another pair of socks that were on the needles the other day...these are the May installment of the Socks that rock Club. I love the colors as I'm definitely a purple and blue lover. The pattern is called Fraggle Squiggle Rock. Rosie was sleeping next to me on the sofa when I finished off the socks so she got to hold them for me to take the photograph. She stretched and put her paw on one of them and looked so peaceful. :)

I cheated on this one and borrowed a picture from another person that had finished the July Socks that Rock sock. The picture doesn't do the colors justice, they are bright yellows, reds and greens, the colors of summer veggies on the vine! I'm a few rows into the first cuff and making progress in between doing everything else. Unfortunately while I was sick my eyes seemed to be off somehow and it strained them to do too much knitting so I haven't gotten all that much done. Still, this is probably going to be a quick pattern once I get past the cables on the cuff.

This is the yarn for the September sock, and I will say that I really love it for the fall. I haven't even begun to think about starting that pair yet. I also still have mittens on the needles of my own handspun and I would like to have them finished by winter.

We are doing well with Sammy our newest cat and he's venturing out a little bit, he is awake only during the evening and early morning hours so we don't get to socialize with him much yet.

Still, he's pretty much made friends with Rosie, a little bit with Belle, and we think that Gracie might not ever come around, she is still growling and being unhappy whenever he tries to say hello to her. I'm off to do orders so I can knit later. :)

Around the place

2009-09-25T10:42:00.002-04:00

I went to the doc yesterday, have a sinus infection and ear infection and I'm miserable. I'm on antibiotics now and nasal spray and the antibiotics make me feel yucky as well. I'm trying to get business things done and even finish the last of a pair of socks I'm working on but honestly don't feel like doing anything but complaining. The other day before Sammy came into our lives, we fed the squirrels and chipmunks on our deck and there was only a screen between the little creatures and the cats, I think the chipmunk they were watching is possibly the bravest creature in the world! It's taken me a long time to get a picture of the three girls together, but notice that Gracie isn't next to Belle, that just doesn't happen, Belle still growls and hisses at Grace.

Belle and Rose love sleeping in the corner of our sectional sofa. I have a high intensity light on a long arm that comes over the top and it gives off heat so they often nap in the corner. This is a rare shot of them napping together. They don't snuggle with each other much now that they're grown up and no longer kittens.

Belle has now adopted Rosie's nap spot so lately when they're not together, Belle is curled up in the corner. She really loves being there when I'm sitting right next to her doing some knitting. I have so many projects on the needles right now, I'd love the motivation to get more done but so far I just have used it as a way to relax and take another nap. Maybe when the meds kick in I'll be more motivated.

Sammy, our new buddy, seems to be my husband's new bestest friend. Mark spent a lot of time 2 nights ago lying on the floor in the bathroom where we had the new cat talking to him and getting him to be comfortable. Mark got Sammy onto the bed and comfortable with being there and we actually had him on the bed or the body pillow at the foot of the bed for the entire night. Our little girl, Grace spent the night in the room but she is frightened of Sammy so she didn't sleep right with me for long. She's my puppy-cat and usually sleeps on a pillow right by my side. Hopefully everyone will see that they can get along, just like when we introduced Rosie and then Grace.

We'd bought a toy for Rosie but Rosie didn't really like it that much. As you can see, Sammy really likes this, and not only plays with it, sleeps with his paws around it and even licks the cover on it. Yes, it has catnip inside. :)

Long time no post

2009-09-23T11:47:00.004-04:00

I do know that it's been over a month since I blogged, mostly I put things on Facebook and the blogging has taken a backseat to that. We have a new furry child so I guess it's time to catch up a little bit.

Sorry, though, blogging world. We got back from visiting the kids and grandkids in Hawaii and after the obligatory recovery period from the time change, I've hit the ground running as it were in terms of working. I've been working a lot and then adding to it volunteering in Gettysburg (doing a lot of computer work for the museum collection folks) a day a week. Then add to that the various things that I do like play Hatchlings on Facebook and Knit, cooking and shopping, and spending time with my dear husband and the furry children, there just isn't much time left.

Last night one of our neighbors came over and was agitated because while she was out walking her dog they came across a cat in a carrier abandoned near a drainage area that was wooded...the food was left too, it was obviously a dump. Our neighbor couldn't keep the cat and the cat was terrified after the dog tried to get into the carrier to get it...so she called me to see if I knew what she should do. She brought the cat in it's carrier, and the food back to her house, but couldn't keep it since the dog was agressive.

I immediately called the vet...I couldn't take a chance on it having anything contageous to our girls...and took the cat right in the carrier over to the office. The doc said that it is a boy, overweight (the food was terrible cheap dry kibble-full of additives and fillers) and didn't have feline aids or leukemia. It hadn't been out long, no ear mites or fleas, I'm sure it hadn't been able to even get up the courage to come out of his carrier by the time my friend found him. He has a heart murmur which the doctor said isn't really needing treatment, just to watch him for signs of heart distress. I think that he'll do better when we get him on proper nutrition and get some of the excess weight off him too. No more double big mac's with supersized fries for this guy. We have him in seclusion in the large bathroom for now, we'll let him chill and then deal with introducing him to his new sisters slowly. The three girls have been hanging out near the door to where he is.

We discussed names all evening last night and finally decided upon Sam or Sammy. He just isn't a tough and strong male type at least not yet, so a lot of the strong male names just don't work. Other good ones are already taken and we wanted a good one for him to grow into. Runner up name was "Lucky" because he was very lucky to have Jennie walking Bella right when she did so he found a good home.

I've been home sick so far this week with vertigo and a cold or something that has blocked my ears so I can't fly. Maybe the timing was just right. More pictures when he gets confident enough to come out of hiding for awhile.

And now introducing Collin

2009-08-16T12:09:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here at my daughter's dining room table looking out the sliders at clouds rolling in at daybreak. We're in paradise, we spent all day Friday getting here and had a great day yesterday enjoying the kids, the grandkids, and just being here in general. We loaded up Aidan in the car and drove to Wailua to go to the weekly farmer's market there at the site of the Old Sugar Mill. We walked all around picking out veggies and fruit for us to share and went into a couple of the businesses there. I love the Soap Factory and the Sugar Mill store that has great Wailua coffee.
Aidan also got a chance to go to the playground beside his house and play with Grandpa. Notice the matching yellow hats! He enjoyed his time outside and enjoys Grandpa. He's absolutely talking up a storm, when we came over a rise in the road going to Wailua, the whole beach and ocean was visible and he began saying "Beach" and "Ocean" and "Boat". He loves to go to the beach, and we plan on taking him there one of the days that we're visiting.
The Sugar mill had large concrete pools of lilypads that had fish in them. Aidan really enjoyed looking for the fish under the leaves.
He was really concentrating on finding them, they were very small kind of the size of guppies. He was so good as he never stuck his hand into the water or splashed or anything, he just wanted to see the fish, not to disturb them.
Here is the new grandson, Collin. He's 5 weeks old now and is a little guy. Aidan is so adorable with him, when Collin cries, Aidan tells him "it's ok" and tries to pat him and comfort him, and he even showed Collin his new tractor and bus that we brought him from home. They're both beautiful kids, but you might say that I'm not exactly impartial!

Inside a flight attendant's not so glam life (CNN)

2009-07-30T10:56:00.004-04:00

Thought I'd share this with my blogging friends...I couldn't get the CNN picture to transfer to my blog so I inserted one of our soon to be parked forever planes.

(CNN) -- As you encounter flights that leave you frustrated, hungry and tired this summer vacation season, chances are the person who greets you with a smile when you come on board could be feeling the same way. A flight attendant's duty can last up to 14.5 hours on domestic routes.

The glamour has long faded from the job of a flight attendant, but the occupation still captures the imagination of a public fascinated by the constant travel and work above the clouds.
Still, many people know little about the realities of a flight attendant's life, changed by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the efforts of a troubled airline industry to stay afloat and the recent economic downturn.

"When my mom was a stewardess in the 1950s, they wore white gloves and they learned to serve lobster thermidor table-side," said Rene Foss, a flight attendant for 25 years and the spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants.

"Instead of wearing white gloves, I'm wearing rubber gloves; and instead of learning to serve lobster thermidor, I'm learning to put handcuffs on passengers."

The chance to see the world while offering an important service still lures many men and women to the job, and the flight attendants who spoke with CNN said they enjoy what they do. But they also described work that can be draining and sometimes given little respect. Read how flight attendants deal with screaming babies, difficult passengers

Many flights are now full as airlines park planes to save money, leaving passengers spread over fewer aircraft in the system. At the same time, layoffs, furloughs and other cost-cutting measures mean fewer flight attendants taking care of more people on board. See flight attendants' biggest pet peeves »

Meanwhile, pay cuts are forcing many to work more hours to offset the difference.
"I made more money in 1998 than I make today," said Kim Kaswinkel, a flight attendant for 22 years who holds a legislative committee chair position at the Association of Flight Attendants.

Flying realities
• About 99,000 flight attendants work in the United States
• Their mean annual wage is $39,840 (Note from Vicki: I haven't made anywhere near that much since the bankruptsies of 2003. I think this is old information from long ago but most people I know don't make this much at all!)
• The Atlanta area has the highest concentration of workers in this occupation
• Major airlines are required by law to provide flight attendants for the safety and security of the traveling public
• Flight attendants must be certified by the FAA Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The days can be long -- up to 14 hours of duty time on domestic routes and even longer on international trips -- and the layovers short, sometimes shorter than the workdays.

Flight attendants say they often battle hunger as airlines eliminate meals for passengers on shorter flights, which also means fewer food options for them. "There are days, specifically domestically, you go 7, 8, 9 hours and have not gotten anything to eat because there's no food on the airplane; and when they're trying to turn these airplanes around quickly, there's no time to run off and get food," Kaswinkel said.
She carries protein bars and apples with her to help fend off hunger.

Flight attendants fly 70 to 100 hours a month, but they're only paid when a plane's engines are running, Foss said. So they receive no compensation for one of the hardest parts of their job: the boarding process.

It's now more aggravating than ever as passengers bring more carry-on bags to avoid paying fees for checked luggage, sometimes resulting in confrontations and delays when there is no space to accommodate them. Kaswinkel called the carry-on situation "out of control."

Don't Miss
How flight attendants deal with life on board

Frustrated passengers often take it out on the crew and sometimes each other. As she tries to enforce rules and resolve conflicts, Foss said she sometimes feels like a police officer, a baby sitter and a referee.

Flight attendants say they try to create a friendly atmosphere, but sometimes get little response. "A lot of passengers complain that flight attendants don't smile, but I can't tell you how many times I've stood at the boarding door with a smile on my face greeting people and they will just ignore me," said Heather Poole, a flight attendant for 14 years who writes for the travel Web site Gadling.com.

'Cart toe'
Seniority determines many aspects of a flight attendant's life, including what routes they fly and whether they work in economy, business or first class. Surprisingly, some flight attendants consider economy easier even though they serve many more passengers. Coach usually requires only a drink service, while flight attendants in the other cabins work almost nonstop serving meals and drinks.

Shoes wear out quickly at this pace. Poole, who mostly works in business class, says she buys a new pair every three months. A particular problem is "cart toe," leather that wears out on the nose of the shoe where she pushes the brakes on the carts that hold drinks and meals.

There are many tales of strange passengers. Foss recalled waiting on the tarmac to take off from Tokyo, Japan, when a woman suddenly took off all her clothes and began running up and down the aisles. The plane had to return to the gate, where police were waiting to remove her.
Kaswinkel is amazed that people still try to smoke on planes and recalled a recent incident in which a passenger offered her $5 to not write her a warning after she caught her sneaking a cigarette in the lavatory.

Poole still remembers the passenger who removed a fire extinguisher from the plane to take as a souvenir.

With all the travel they do, you might wonder how flight attendants choose to spend their vacations. Some continue to fly even in their free time, while others cherish "staycations" or find ways to globe-trot without getting on a plane. Poole was a frequent traveler until she got married and had a child. Now that her son is 3, she's ready to start jetting off with him on vacation.

Foss considers it a joy to sleep in the same bed for a few nights, but also likes train travel.
Kaswinkel's ideal vacation after being away from home for 16 to 18 days a month is also staying put. But that's not fun for her family, so she does travel occasionally during her time off.
"We enjoy cruising the most because I can relax and do nothing by the pool with a frozen drink, while they go tour the destination ports of call. It's a great compromise," Kaswinkel said.

The new guy

2009-07-19T10:31:00.003-04:00

Some of my friends and family are not on facebook and don't get to see the pictures I post there so I'm repeating the posting of these pictures for my blog readers. I do apologize if you've seen them before. This is Collin after he came home from the hospital. His mom says that he doesn't like to be swaddled too much and likes to have his arms out, unlike his big brother who would wake up and cry if he wasn't swaddled tightly enough or if he managed to get his arm out of the blankets in the first few weeks.

Aidan was patting Collin and trying to calm him when he was waking up and getting ready to cry to be fed. These pictures were taken in the hospital when Collin was only hours old...he was born about 2am on the 10th of July.

Aidan is looking up at his dad who is taking the pictures. He looks like he's really trying hard to figure out this little one that is moving all around and making funny noises.

Hello, little brother! Nice to meet you!

Here's a nice one of Jenn holding both of the boys. Aidan is a snuggler but there is still plenty of room on mom's lap (and dad's) for both of the babies.

Taking a day off to go to Union Mills

2009-07-19T08:34:00.004-04:00

I took a day off from painting and cleaning in the bedroom yesterday to relax, recover, and then in the afternoon, join our Reenactment unit at our annual reenactment at the Union Mills Homestead. This is a picture of the restored grist mill at Union Mills which was built by two Shriver brothers in the 1700's. This is a park now that offers tours and does events such as our Civil War weekend, corn roast, pancake breakfasts, microbrew festival, and flower market, to name a few, and there are two Shrivers of the family living across the street in two private Victorian homes that are quite beautiful as well. Shriver is a family with deep roots in the Maryland countryside, and one of the descendants of this branch of the family (another branch is that of the Shriver house museum in Gettysburg) is in our Group.

The home has also been restored and is part of the tours are offered by the group that runs the property. They have a gift shop that sells the stone ground flours and cornmeals that are made right in the grist mill. I buy all my cornmeal here and it really makes a difference in the taste of the cornbread, it's so different than commercially produced meals and flours. Union Mills is on the way from my house to Gettysburg so it's convenient to stop for supplies on the way to my volunteer job.

This is another shot of the Shriver home. Much of the original grounds are still part of the park and we thoroughly enjoy camping and doing our event here. Both Confederate and Federal forces camped on this property on the way to the battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

I'm wasn't able to dress in my corset for the event because the incisions on my abdomen are still healing, so I drove up in modern clothing with projects to work on in hand. I sat with some of our unit members and chatted while I worked on putting the binding on the quilts I'd made for the grandbabies. There were several new units participating in the event this year and it was nice to see new faces among the familiar ones. I always enjoy the opportunity to socialize with people I don't get to see nearly enough. The weather was cool for this time of year and quite comfortable, getting even a little bit chilly by the time we had a pot-luck dinner together. By dinner time, I was exhausted and sore and ready to go home. Unfortunately I didn't sleep well because I'm still learning what to eat and not to eat without a Gall Bladder. lol

These are the two baby quilts that I got finished between Union Mills and some time spent at home last night while watching TV. I finished the last one this morning early when I couldn't sleep and went ahead and got up. I had pieced these last year when I found out that my daughter was pregnant again and then they sat for many months before I machine quilted them last week. I did traditional blocks (this one is called Churn Dash or Monkey Wrench) with Hawai'ian fabrics since the boys were both born in Hawai'i. The backings are the same fabric as the sashing that's touching the blocks so they're easy to tell apart. I'd made nightgowns from the backing fabrics so it looks strange to me to see those same fabrics on the back of the quilts!

The two quilts have wool batts inside them that I had made from some Romney fleeces that I'd bought at one of the Sheep and Wool festivals. There's nothing like natural fiber wool batts with natural cotton fiber fabrics, they really breathe and are so comfortable. They're soft and snuggly and definitely just waiting for the boys to use, and the wool batts aren't too warm for them to use in Hawai'i. We use the wool batt quilt I made for our bed most of the year, only changing it out in the hottest part of the summer. I am guessing the Aidan will decide which one he likes best and the other one will be for Collin when he's just a little bit older and is more able to snuggle up in it.

We can helps you, Mom?

2009-07-17T06:08:00.003-04:00

I am very happy to report that I'm beginning to come out of the tired and feeling sore phase of my post surgery time. I know I still have some recovering time to go but my Doctor said that I'm right on track so I'm happy about that. My dear husband has been great in helping with things around the house while I've been on the mend. The cats have been helping out whenever they can, too.
Our reenacting group sent some beautiful flowers for me last week when I'd just gotten out of the hospital. I've really enjoyed them, and as you can see, they were a real hit with the youngest girls. Rosie especially thought they looked very delicious and she started to try nibbling on the small purple flowers. Of course, I stopped her as I wasn't sure if they were entirely healthy for her.
Pretty soon Belle found out what Rosie was looking at and came for a sniff of her own. She loved smelling all the flowers and spent quite a bit of time with each flower, as if she was deciding what each one was as she studiously sniffed it. The girls were so adorable with them. Of course, I had to move them to the top of my TV cabinet so that the cats wouldn't decide to eat them, but that was ok, I could still see and enjoy them.
After getting the OK from the Doctor, we started to slowly and carefully paint the bedroom and after 2 days only have about 1/3 finished. We already had the paint and it certainly needed to be done and now was a good time since we're both home right now. We've lived here over 10 years and the room is still the very drab off white builder's sprayed on paint, the new very light blue walls with white trim is certainly brightening up the entire room! We began the work of prepping and putting out the tarps, and Belle decided that she'd like to help too. Actually all three were around quite a bit of the time while we were painting but they kept out of the way which was very appreciated. Belle got a little bit of paint on her tail during walking around and exploring and Gracie managed to get her whiskers and some of each side of her fur in the wet paint. I trimmed her fur but her whiskers will have to wear off. The girls were very well behaved while they watched and tried to find ways to help. Of course, all the furniture got moved so they were very curious about the whole process.
Rosie decided to take a well deserved nap with our frog shoe cleaner that sits inside the front door. It's been quite warm so the cats have been stretching out on the floors a lot like this. Rose was probably tired from trying to help do the painting, and from looking at herself in the mirror from my vanity area while it was down on the floor.
All of our children living at home have paws. :)

Welcome Collin, and my view from the sofa

2009-07-11T20:06:00.003-04:00

Before I tell you why I've been absent from blogging lately I wanted to introduce our newest Grandson, Collin Joel Lightner who was born yesterday morning at about 8 Eastern Time (2am in Hawaii). Mom and baby are doing fine, and Dad and big brother Aidan are as well. Our daughter Jenn should be discharged with the new baby today. :) Collin, not surprisingly, looks like his big brother did with a head of blonde hair (it's a tiny bit darker) and as a proud grandmother, I'll have to say that I think he's perfect! But then again, Aidan is perfect too...what a wonderful gift at a challenging time.

Besides the good news, I've been kind of hunkering down and not blogging very much. When I don't have good things to report or cool pictures to share, I tend to keep my posts to a minimum. I don't like being negative, but we've had a kind of challenging couple of weeks here. On Monday the 29th, my husband's division at work was pretty much all let go. The sudden job loss drove us into shock, then sadness, then the realization that we had to completely cut costs in every way and save every cent that we could because in this economy there is no telling how long we'll need to survive and we were not in any way prepared. I picked up as many trips for July as I possibly could because we need to make expenses and also make sure there is money going to savings to last us through until we're on our feet again. Unfortunately I had to call and cancell all my sewing classes, and any other unnecessary expenditures, as well as trips (I'd planned to go be with my daughter when the baby was due), and we also sat down and made up a realistic budget that didn't have any room for anything but necessities, and won't for some time to come.

The previous weekend our reenacting unit had our annual fund raising weekend encampment at the Civil War Wax Museum in Gettysburg. We went Friday evening and helped put up our tents and had some good conversations with our friends...but as I sit I began to start having some symptoms of what I thought was IBS. It was horrible but we made it home, and the symptoms got bearable by about 3am. Needless to say I didn't go to the weekend encampment, I was still feeling horrible. Then Monday the job news hit while I was off not feeling well. I was able to work my trips on the following Thursday and Friday and looked forward to the weekend.

On the 4th of July we had dinner with some dear friends and I got to feeling badly again, but this time after we got home I couldn't get on top of the pain. I was up all night, never being able to find a comfortable position to lie or stand or anything. About 5:30AM I woke Mark up to take me to the ER. Long story short, they did some tests, and quickly admitted me and removed my very nasty, infected and full of stones Gall Bladder. I was in the hospital a couple of days, and I'm very lucky that it hadn't ruptured. I'm home now, recovering, taking it very easy and trying to rest. Some days are better than others, and it's challenging to try to learn to eat without it, all trial and error. Needless to say, I haven't been able to fly all of the trips I picked up for July, timing certainly wasn't in our favor. I'll try to go back to flying as soon as I can, but it's going to be at least a couple-few weeks. I don't have any sick time to speak of saved up so it's all without pay. But somehow we'll be ok. We have to.

So that's why I haven't been around much...it's not very comfortable for me to be negative or to complain, so now that you know...it's on to bigger and better things!

Wish my dad was able to participate in this

2009-07-04T12:55:00.003-04:00

(My dad is the second from the Right, tail gunner on the B17G)

United Salutes WWII Vets Traveling on 'Honor Flight'

Over a two week period, United employees at O'Hare (ORD) and Reagan National (DCA) have had the occasion to salute veterans of World War II traveling on "Honor Flights" to visit the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.

Honor Flight is a non-profit organization that was formed to provide free flights for World War II vets to the memorial. According to Judy Lemmons, director of public relations for Honor Flight, "Sixty-five years ago the guns fell silent. For the millions who survive, there was no homecoming, they just came home, went back to work and went on with their lives. They never received the thanks they so richly deserved -- until now. The Honor Flight Network is committed to those who survived to get them to see THEIR memorial in our nation's capital. It is to their service and sacrifice it was dedicated. We honor them as we witness their humble, arthritic hands over their hearts as they salute the flag for which they so willingly served so many years ago."

Two recent flights have made connections at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where the vets were welcomed with police and fire honor guards as well as a standing ovation from customers in the gate area. O'Hare employees from Customer Service, Ramp, Flight Operations and Onboard Service were also on hand to personally recognize and thank all the veterans making the trip to the nation's capital.

Likewise, the veterans were greeted at Washington Reagan by a cheering crowd and United employees. "When we are aware an 'Honor Flight' is inbound, we put together a team to welcome and escort them. These vets served for us and we will do all we can to recognize that service," stated Ed Dolphin, DCA general manager.

Honor Flight Network chapters have several additional trips to the memorial scheduled this year, and we are working with them to continue United's recognition of the veterans making the journey.

For more information on the Honor Flight Network, please visit

www.honorflight.org.

8 Ways to Annoy a Flight Attendant

2009-06-23T21:15:00.002-04:00

A dear friend sent me this as an email and i had to pass it along...

1. Bring your pet on the plane and then act like an animal.
Over the years, I've seen a pet on a passenger's lap, a pet tucked into a seatback pocket, and a pet loose in the aisle (I nearly hit one with my beverage cart). All of this is against federal regulations. People tell me how well-behaved their pet is, but they can't follow the rules themselves! Your pet must stay in its carrier while you're on the plane. Yes, even if you've paid a "pet-in-cabin" fee.
2. Shove your bag into the first bin you see and then walk to your seat in the back of the plane.
You think you're clever, I know. You expect to grab your bag on your way out of the plane, but you're selfishly inconveniencing others. I can't lie and say we flight attendants don't take some small satisfaction when we tell you, "We couldn't identify the bag's owner, so we sent it to cargo." It's a security issue, for real. Carry-ons need to stay near their owners! So don't look so shocked when we say, "The signs will direct you to baggage claim. You can pick up your bag there."
3. Think that because you're on an airplane you're off-duty as a parent.
Stop expecting us to have spare diapers, formula, medicine, toys, playing cards, or batteries for DVD players or Game Boys. It's an airplane, not a 7-11. Take your kid to the restroom before you board. Leave the dry cereal and Legos at home and bring snacks and toys for your kids that won't make a horrible mess.
4. Drag on an oversize bag that's too heavy for you to lift by yourself.
I won't be compensated for any injuries I might sustain if I heft your bag into the overhead compartment for you. (And other passengers shouldn't have to step up and take the risk either.) The guideline is simple: You pack it, you stack it. Try this at home as a test (and this is to you ladies, especially): After you've packed your bag, put on the shoes you plan to wear on the plane and see if you can lift your bag and place it on top of your refrigerator. You can't? Pay the fee and check the bag.
5. Gripe that you haven't been seated in a roomy exit-row seat.
The exit rows weren't created as a reward for people who are tall, overweight, or just plain nice. They were designed to help passengers get out of the plane in an emergency. The people seated in an exit row must be able to see and speak clearly, open the emergency door, and help others. I prefer to see uniformed military, firefighters, law-enforcement officers, or off-duty pilots and flight attendants sitting in those seats. While the gate agent may assign exit-row seats first, the flight attendant makes the final determination about who gets to sit in them. And the quality of our choices is one of the frequent concerns of Federal Aviation Administration officials when they audit airlines for safety practices. So please don't complain. I'm just doing my job.
6. Act like you don't know the meaning of the words "under the seat in front of you."
Someday I will be muttering "under the seat in front of you" in the old-age home for flight attendants. What is it that you don't understand? To be clear, items should not be stowed behind your calves, under your feet like a footstool, in the open seat next to you, or in your lap. It's under the seat in front of you. And it applies to everything you carry on board. Items stored carelessly can trip others, or dislodge during takeoff and get lost, or inconvenience others. And while I'm on the topic: Please don't wrap your purse (or umbrella strap) around your ankle to keep from forgetting it. What will happen in an emergency, when every second counts and there's no time to disentangle yourself from your precious bag? Will you drag it ball-and-chain-style down the aisle of a burning plane?
7. Whine about the high price of flying.
When I hear people complain about coach airfares, I know they're not keeping up with the news. Fares have rarely been cheaper. In recent years, it's not uncommon for you to be able to cross the continent for under $130 each way, with a maximum of one layover. It's a bargain! At that price, you're barely paying for the fuel to get your body there—never mind the cost of shipping your 50 pounds of gear. You're already on the gravy plane. People point to first class ticket holders and want to know why they don't get the same treatment. Wake up folks: You're getting a great deal. If you want even more, pay more!

8. The seatbelt sign on during flight....this is actually number one.....Passengers that think that the seatbelt sign doesn't apply to them, they will get up during turbulence with the chance of falling and injuring others as well as the defiance of "Nothing can happen to me attitude" Its a fine-able FAA LAW that all Passengers be in their seats, belts fastened when the seatbelt sign is on ....NO exceptions ( even if you paid allot for your ticket, it doesn't apply to breaking the Law and disrespecting the Flight crew members ...if you can't abide by these simply rules....seek other means other than air travel...because all airlines are Governed by the FAA...PERIOD.

Two more projects finished

2009-06-10T09:57:00.005-04:00

I cleaned and organized my sewing room last week and re-found some projects that were in the "started" phase...there were 2 dresses for me, 1 to sell, and a shirt for DH. The most recently started projects were the 2 dresses, and they were cut out over a year ago! Since I needed a dress that was a little bit looser for the next event and knew they'd been cut out off my older and a tiny bit larger fitting shell, I decided to get at least one of them finished. This one had a problem spot on the skirt (I have no idea how that happened, either!), but it turned out nicely afterall. I'll wear it with probably a navy blue belt (since the twill tape at the bottom is navy and there are blue flowers in the fabric) and a straw bonnet trimmed in blue. I also made not just one but 2 sets of collar and cuffs so I just have to sew the second set onto one of my older dresses, and I'm set for our weekend in Gettysburg at the end of the month. I don't have any Red (I know, this is more burgundy) dresses, and this one actually has a lattice work of lines and flowers within the lines...you can see where the flowers are in this picture. So many of my dresses are dark colors and I am really glad I got this one finished to supplement the more somber ones. Now I'm thinking about working on the next one...oh for more hours in each day!
...Last night I finally finished my March of 2009 kit from Socks that Rock. It took knitting many hours, and my hands ache this morning, but I really wanted to get them done. I was waiting for DH to get home, I had the time so I just kept at it. The sock pattern is called "Rogue Roses" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee www.yarnharlot.com , and the pattern had cables which scared me initially. There is an error I made on the right sock, but I didn't have the heart to rip back 25 rows to the point where it started since they're going to be in shoes anyhow when I wear them. They're not a colorway or yarn I would have chosen, but the color certainly does go well with the Rose pattern, and it allowed me to step out of my color and pattern box. I'm happy and proud that I managed to finish them after putting it off and getting over being intimidated to the point of ignoring them for awhile...well, since late March! Now I'm on to the May kit, and some other unfinished socks that are in my knitting basket.

Rainy days are meant for napping

2009-06-05T14:03:00.002-04:00

I spent most of yesterday moving around furniture and rearranging and organizing my sewing room. It was way too crowded in there and I thought over ways to make more floor space so that it wasn't so difficult to walk around and so I could vacuum. This morning I'm a bit sore. It's raining again, a cold and damp day that is good for staying close to home and doing quiet things. I was knitting and Belle climbed on the sofa right next to me and promptly fell asleep on her cat blanket. It looked like a good idea to me, so I laid down next to her for a little while to snooze.

I awoke for the phone to find that the othe two cats had also decided that the sofa was a good place to nap this afternoon! Here's Rosie who loves to lie upside down and all stretched out. She was sleeping right behind me and I didn't even know that she'd come up close by.

Gracie's favorite place to sleep is on the back of the sofa in front of the front window. She and Belle still don't get along well so that way she can see where Belle is and what everyone is doing. If Belle isn't on the sofa, Gracie often will come lie right next to me and snuggle.

This is the first sock of a pair I'm working on from the March Socks that Rock Club entry...It's called Rogue Roses. The second sock of this pair is what I'm presently spending time with.

When I saw this pattern, I simply couldn't resist! This is an Alligator Scarf from Morehouse Merino. They have the most absolutely adorable scarves on their website to knit. I've only gotten to the first repeat of 12 for the body and it's slow going because of the bumps, but I'm loving it, he's so cute! Now that the sewing room is usable again, I might have to spend time finishing some pending sewing projects too. Never a moment lost...

WARNING about Fabric Club online

2009-06-04T10:45:00.003-04:00

I'm working in my sewing room today, cleaning and organizing my stash. I unrolled a piece of fleece I bought last year and hadn't taken out of it's bag yet from www.fabricclub.com and it has a gigantic hole cut out of the center of it. Lucky I wasn't making a blanket or something that required all the 5 yards I purchased. Nothing was mentioned in the website listing about that fabric having a flaw. That is only one of the reasons why I will NEVER shop with Fabric Club again.

Let me back up. FabricClub is a bolt end internet store that sells some designer fabrics in small pieces, sometimes they have larger yardage available. I'd been shopping with them for quite some time, and had spent literally hundreds and hundreds of dollars (actually over a thousand easily) on fabrics. I got to know the owner (Rick) through calls and emails. Some fabrics were ok (none were great) and some were damaged or had stitched up cuts in the fabric, I was willing to work around that for the price. But a year ago I had the ultimate bad experience.

I ordered well over $100 worth of fabric from them. I paid via paypal just as I'd done before. I've never been able to use my "club discount" but that's another story entirely. I didn't think much about the order and got busy with other things. It was summer, I belive it was before August but I'm too lazy to look it up. By the end of September I realized that I hadn't gotten my order. By this time it was too late to make a claim via paypal (my fault) as that has to be done within 30 days. I emailed and called Fabricclub and eventually they got a box out to me, the tracking information showed up on my paypal transaction. The receipt in the box showed that this was box 1 of 2 and that over $56.00 of fabric was not in that box.

I waited and waited for the second box. I wrote. I asked for tracking information. Excuses for not having it or having to look for it were given each time. They ship priority mail, so there should be tracking information. My mail lady knows me well so she would have seen the box if it were at the post office. I wrote again. I called. I spoke to Barbara, I'm guessing Rick's wife. She said no problem, a refund would be issued if they couldn't find the fabric or the tracking information. I told her I'd rather have the fabric but that I'd look for a refund. After 2 weeks and now no responses to my emails, I sent them a paypal invoice for the amount on the fabric that was not in the box. Nothing. I sent reminders 2 or 3 times, nothing.

Still to this day I have not gotten a refund nor the fabric from FabricClub. Since they put the tracking information on box #1 into paypal, they effectively said they sent the order, and paypal won't do anything about it even though only half was sent. I write to them periodically and I never receive an answer. If the box was lost it would be able to track, unless it wasn't sent at all. Honestly, to keep my business, wouldn't you think it would be worth the $56 or $57 dollars that they should refund me? I mean I've spent probably over a thousand dollars with them in the past. I'm a business owner too...There have been a very few boxes of mine that the post office lost and I give the tracking information to the customers and have refunded the people if the package was lost.

This hole in the fabric just makes me fume on top of losing the money.

So it is not lightly that I advise you NOT to shop with www.fabricclub.com. Don't put yourself in a position to have your money taken and not get any customer service. :(