Sweet heart of a husband

He's been bringing my goodies upstairs to me, and without complaint or doing so grudginly. For some odd reason I have lost the muscle control of my left thigh - I'm seeing the doctor in the morning about this. Anyway this is making it nigh impossible to navigate the stairs.

I'm not sure what caused it, I spent the better part of the day filling orders, I missed my dental appointment because I was so engrossed in filling orders, and I'm only an eighth of the way through the orders, but I'll get there most of them are fairly simple.

Life

I draw the line at letting a guy work on his bike in my kitchen, but I'll store a log in there any day of the week. A girl has to have priorities you know. After all wood has to cure properly and at a controlled rate if at all possible.

What your name means

Click here to see What your Name Means

This is what my name meant:

There are 22 letters in your name.
Those 22 letters total to 100
There are 7 vowels and 15 consonants in your name.

Your number is: 1

The characteristics of #1 are: Initiating action, pioneering, leading, independent, attaining, individual.

The expression or destiny for #1:
A number 1 Expression denotes the skilled executive with keen administrative capabilities. You must develop the capacity to be a fine leader, sales executive, or promoter. You have the tools to become an original person with a creative approach to problem solving, and a penchant for initiating action. Someone may have to follow behind you to handle the details, but you know how to get things going and make things happen. You have a good mind and the ability to use it for your advancement. Because of these factors, you have much potential for achievement and financial rewards. Frequently, this expression belongs to one running a business or striving to achieve a level of accomplishment on ones talents and efforts. You have little need for much supervision, preferring to act on your own with little restraint. You are both ambitious and determined. Self-confident and self-reliant must be yours, as you develop a strong unyielding will and the courage of your convictions.

Although you fear loneliness, you want to be left alone. You fear routine and being in a rut. You often jump the gun because you are afraid of being left behind.

The negative attributes of the 1 Expression are egotism and a self-centered approach to life. This is an aggressive number and if it is over-emphasized it is very hard to live with. You do not have to be overly aggressive to fulfill your destiny. The 1 has a natural instinct to dominate and to be the boss; adhering to the concept of being number One. Again, you do not have to dominate and destroy in order to lead and manage.

Your Soul Urge number is: 6

A Soul Urge number of 6 means:
With a number 6 Soul Urge, you would like to be appreciated for your ability to handle responsibility. Your home and family are likely to be a strong focus for you, perhaps the strongest focus of your life. Friendship, love, and affection are high on your list of priorities for a happy life. You have a lot of diplomatic tendencies in your makeup, as you a able to rectify and balance situations with an innate skill. You like working with people rather than by yourself. It is extremely important for you to have harmony in your environment at all times.

The positive side of the 6 Soul Urge produces a huge capacity for responsibility; you are always there and ready to assume more than your share of the load. If you possess positive 6 Soul Urges and express them, you are known for your generosity, understanding and deep sympathetic attitude. Strong 6 energy is very giving of love, affection, and emotional support. You may have the inclination to teach or serve your community in other idealistic ways. You have natural abilities to help people. You are also likely to have artistic and creative leanings.

If you have an over-supply of 6 energy in your makeup, you may express some of the negative traits common to this number. With such a strong sympathetic attitude, it is easy to become too emotional. Sometimes the desires to render help can be over done, and it can become interfering and an attitude that is too protective, rather than helpful. The person with too much 6 energy often finds that people tend to take advantage of this very giving spirit. You may tend to repress your own needs so that you can cater to the demands from others. At times, there may be a tendency in this, for becoming over-loaded with such demands, and as a result become resentful.

Your Inner Dream number is: 4

An Inner Dream number of 4 means:
You dream of being a very solid citizen that people can depend upon. You strive for organization and predictable order. You want to be recognized as a person with a plan and the discipline to make that plan work like clockwork

Me and Mom

Silk Bag - Partial

Now that the tomato bag is resolved I'll finish this bag. Silk thrums machine stitched. I have more embroidery to put on the surface, silk threads, and then I can attach it to the body of the bag. I may add some seed beads as well. Deciding on the style/type of strap or handle is always the biggest obstacle towards finsihing the bag.

Tomato Bag Again

The threads I used for stitching are wool threads, glass beads sewn down with a waxed cotton thread.

Oh yeah another important lesson learned, do all of your hand stitching first, then put the fringe onto the bag! I didn't tear up the fringe, but it was difficult pulling threads through for my french knots, because it was there.

The bag doesnt' look so bad now, it was pretty lifeless looking in the beginning, but there are better cuts of leather to work with, cuts that have more soul to them.

Tomato Pouch

So named because the recipient loves tomatoes and gardening, and because of the tomato green button.

I learned some valuble lessons, even on a scrap practice piece use good materials! I used commericial upholstery leather, yuck! What can I say I didn't know any better, but I do now. The piece is much nicer than when I started out.

I have a few beads to put on the flap, and maybe a few more french knots, and then I need to add the strap, which I still haven't figured out yet.

Radio Stations

If you know of anymore "different" radio stations let me know. I really enjoy the smaller stations, they have a strong hometown flair to them. Smaller stations are getting harder and harder to find, the big corporations are gobbling them up like bass eating minnows. The big canned stations don't do much for me. And unfortuantely I cannot figure out how to get some of the Iowa stations (especially public radio), that are online to play on my computer, though I have all of the right programs.

Oh well it's their loss I guess, though I'd really like to listen to the Wild Rose Cafe in my studio, and there's just not enough space in here for a real radio, I'm doing good to have space for my computer speakers!

Quill Sizes

Here's a close up with a ruler for a better evaluation of the quill sizes. The bulk of the quills are 1.5 to 2.0 inches in length, with a good chunk of longer fatter quills thrown into the mix, it's going to be a LOT of fun seperating these - NOT. I actually like the long thin ones that are more hair like, they are fun to play with.

What I notice about the quill color, and I'm getting much better at dyeing them, is many of them look blotchy, but when you put them together as a group they blend in and the blotchiness disappears altogether. Very interesting to say the least.

I'm using an alum premordant, I clean them with hot water and soap, lemon joy. I may need to use Dawn instead, the blotchiness may because I'm not getting enough dirt off of teh quill surface. I'm starting to think it's a lot like dyeing wool, the quills can handle more than you think, but there's a magical threshold between beauty and mush in a pot. I haven't been willing to push it too far to see what that threshold is, I've heard stories though, as the quills were expensive and the place I was getting them from went out of business.

Brain tan and quills

Quill work

I've decided to take the plunge and am going to start working with the quills. I'm hoping this week to get some greens and purples dyed up as I'll be renewing my indigo vat, probably on Monday.

I have two pieces of braintan, I"m not sure if it's deer or cow to be quite honest, one is smoked - the tan stuff, the other is not, the white piece. Anyway I'm wondering which piece might be a bit easier to work with for the first time. The white piece while quite thick is very soft and supple.

Latest Fascination X Post

Internet accessible radio! Here's a link to an interesting station KBRW AM/FM Barrow, Alaska. Click on the bouncing radio to listen live. Nothing like music from the top of the world huh!

Another station I like to listen to is KTNN AM 660 To listen live click on the Listen Live link on the left hand side of the screen.

I'm starting to collect a lot of radio stations, I'm still trying to figure out how to get them into Media Player, till then they are in my favorites folder.

I've also found a few with some celtic music, bluegrass, and mandoline music, oh and my dads current favorite southern gospel. I rotate them out depending on my mood that day. I also find Canadian radio to be a lot of fun CBC Newfoundland and Labrador My mom is from Newfoundland so it's nice to have the tie there, adn they play some pretty good Newfie jigs from time to time very reminescent of my childhood - mom was a pretty mean harmonica and accordian player.

Oh and I should also add CBC North This is for the far North Eastern part of Cananda.

The watering hole

This is the patch of water that we went fishing at today, I caught two large mouth bass, I was quite happy about that little feat.

If you don't be quite

I'm going to use you as bait!!! I'm guilty of saying this several times today - to someone elses child no less. I have no idea who the guy is, but he's a world class bastard in my book, he dumped his kid off on us while we were fishing. He finally came back and got him some four hours later. It would appear that he was more interested in walking the beach area and talking on his cell phone the whole time to impress the children over there - all the while his kid was driving me nuts talking a gazillion miles a minute. Hence the above statement.

I told my husband from now on whenever we are out fishing, hiking or camping if someone asks to watch their kid for a few minutes - supposedly so he could go change into his swim trunks but he didn't come back for a very long time - that we will do so but only with a $75.00 non refundable deposit, and my professional babysitting charges are 75.00 an hour - after all I was a professional nanny on the east coast for five years working for Americas finest blue bloods.

I've got this guy pegged as either a drug dealer or child predator - based on his behaviour and the need to hang out with all of the other "childern" on the beach. The beach was a good clip cattey cornered from where we were at so you couldn't hear the casual conversation. But it was obvious that he was not interested in his own child.

I was pissed because I wanted to fish in peace and quite and do some watercolors and some drawings. I didn't have babysitting on my plate today, and I think it's damned rude to just pawn your child off onto other people, especially when you don't know them.

Of Fish and Men

We just got back from fishing, it was horrible tonight nothing was biting and the lakes were packed with people wishing that they were biting. I did catch one croppie, that I threw back as it was a bit smallish. Unforunately that lake we were fishing at is in a public park and closes at 10:30 pm, and the fish were definately biting there.

So we will get up very early in the morning, when the sheltie alarm goes off, and try fishing again, when most folks are still in bed/camp sleeping. A few of the places that we'd go that close early in the evening open at sunrise, which is around 5:15 am right now. So if I'm going to get any sleep I'd best be going to bed.

Day Lilies

I think this is a day lily. I'm utterly confused as in Abundant Harvest, on page 301, the author describes the day lily as having no spots on it's petals, then shows a picture of a flower with spots on it's petals and the caption reads "day lilies".

If these are indeed day lilies I plan to munch on them and enjoy them!!!

Places I've Been

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Dog Days of Summer

I gave both dogs a bath tonight. The next time I bathe the sheltie I'll have to take her picture she looks like a drowned rat every single time, and a pathetically cute one at that! J- and I groomed her a little bit ago, I saved the clean down undercoat for spinning, I'll spin it in with some icelandic and knit a scarf for J- with it, since he requested this.

I will have to groom her in a couple of weeks though in order to have enough fluff to do this. It's a lovely grey color that'll blend in with my icelandic beautifully. Once spun up I think I'll dye it with indigo and then overdye with osage orange for a drop dead gorgeous heathered green color. One xmas present down and several more to go!

She looks and smells really nice now, too bad it's so hot out this will last a day or two at the most - the smelling nice.

Collage

I have this narrow drawer that I decided to create into a shrine of sorts. In it I am putting my mothers slippers and her curlers, amongst other things. I really love the knob on the top of the drawer, so I'm planning to play it up somehow.

Mom was a world class scavenger, she told everyone she was a crow. Dad likened her more to a racoon, but she definately had an affliction for anything shiny. I'll have to go to the attic and get her antique bottle collection, that she found in the field behind their house, so I can include the bottles in the box.

She also liked pretty things, though you'd have never known it about her, too rough and tumble. You were more apt to find her on a lake somewhere fishing or hunting than at any prissy social function. So somehow I'll combine found objects, that she gave me along the way, and other items I have found with this piece. Unfortunately this is the only drawer I have like this, it came with printing blocks in it that I bought at a yard sale. I guess I purchased the drawer just for the blocks.

Humidity

I will admit it I have succombed! I turned the central air on about five minutes ago, it is SOOOOOooooooo humid here it's beyond belief, and the wind stopped. I really feel for those who don't have air conditioning. I'll probably turn it off on Wednesday as a cold front will move in late Tuesday night.

My studio while it is very cool, is growing mildew at a breakneck pace and I can't have that, on a multitude of levels.