The little things

I've been dealing with this cabinet since I moved in 10 years ago. It never had doors and for some reason I always thought that the vertical piece of wood was structural. It's not. In fact it's a royal pain in the neck to have to always work around it when you are looking for something. Once this dawned on me, I've been itching to take it out. How hard could it be?

 It's screwed in and it's easy to access the screws. Only problem is they aren't regular screws. Turns out they are square. And since I couldn't figure that out in spite of sticking my head in there, I decided to saw through it. 

 This worked fine, although I made a little bit of a mess of the sill. I'll have to touch that up with some stain and sanding.
When I was able to examine the screws more closely I could find the right head in my ratcheted hand-held screw driver. And of course once that little mystery was solved, the top of the slat came off easily.

And even though that board in the middle is such a small thing, I am so happy it's gone! 

The cabinet needed some serious cleaning though, as you can imagine. 

Everything was wiped down, organized and returned to it's rightful spot. 

It worked so well I'm going to do the same to the bottom cabinet with the pots and pans. Most of my pots and pans are wider than the opening and I'm forever twisting and turning them to get them out the cabinet doors. It will be so nice to just lift them out! 

This will be a more involved project though as that strut is kind of functional. If I just take it out the cabinet will look like it lost a tooth. So I'll have to make adjustments. Stay tuned...

And so, does it begin now?

Since the 2016 election, and maybe longer, I've been wondering which spark will ignite the fury. Was it Charlottesville? Was it the murder of a Saudi journalist at his embassy in Turkey? Would it be the more than one dozen pipe bombs mailed to the President's opponents by one of his deranged supporters? Or will it be this, the worst anti-Semitic attack on U.S. soil ever.

My mother and her mother were refugees in their own country during World War II, for the simple reason that my grandmother did not support the ruling party. Their stories of survival have been ingrained in me since childhood. I cannot fail to see the parallels between what they survived and our current political climate. And I am terrified.

At some point in my teenage years, I found the sentence in the Guinness Book of World Records, 1975 edition, that read,
                   "It has been calculated that in the 3,467 years since 1496 B.C. there have been only 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world." p. 380

I remember my shock. And here I am in 2018, wondering, in my 44 years of life on this planet, has there been a single year of peace throughout the world at all?

Democracy Now! interviewed Dr. David Glosser on Monday, October 29th, after the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct 27th. He eloquently spoke the words that express my own feelings. To see his interview, click here:
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/10/29/uncle_of_stephen_miller_pittsburgh_synagogue

The transcript is here:
DR. DAVID GLOSSER: Good morning. Before I begin, I’d like to express my condolences to my many friends and relatives in Pittsburgh, and specifically in the Squirrel Hill region, where they live.

We have now been subject to the consequences of our political leaders abandoning their moral responsibilities. The question has been asked: What happens when hate speech becomes legitimized and it becomes acceptable in our political discourse to condemn and vilify innocent people on the basis of race, religion, national origin or color? The answer has made itself very clear in the last few days, and in the last week with the pipe bomb attacks upon political opponents of Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump has made it his policy to vilify and dehumanize Hispanics, Muslims, nonwhites, calling them subhuman animals that are infesting our country like so many insects or rats. Make no mistake about it: This is the same kind of propaganda that is identical to the racist rants at Nazi Party rallies in Germany in the 1930s. Now Trump spews the same poisonous messages to his supporters and claims innocence when this inflammatory vitriol is sprayed over society. He claims innocence now that this political gasoline catches fire and people get hurt and killed.

I’m horrified by it. I’d love to say I was surprised, but I’m not. More shockingly, the Republican Congress has tolerated his vilification. Where have been their cries of outrage? They’re the so-called responsible people in our country, in positions of political leadership. Their silence has been deafening. I would say that this silence tends to legitimize the crazy conspiracy theories, the hate speech, the threats, the violent acts of the most noxious white nationalist elements of the American political spectrum.

Mr. Trump is even unashamed to tell us that among the chanting Nazis in Charlottesville, there were many fine people, drawing a false moral equivalency between those protesting against these kinds of actions and the Nazis themselves. Should we now be surprised that well-armed white nationalist bigots, isolated—isolated, friendless loners seeking validation for their empty lives, that they act out on their hate? I think not.

Now, Mr. Trump didn’t pull the trigger in the synagogue. He didn’t mail those bombs. But for the first time in 50 years, he’s made bigoted hate speech in America a legitimate tool of political manipulation. His endless barrage of excited hatred threats and lies has consequences, as we have seen. I regard Mr. Trump as a hopeless moral imbecile, indifferent to the deadly consequences of his inflammatory conduct.

But those politicians who know better still do not say much. They don’t stand up and loudly denounce his hate speech. They don’t denounce his lies. They’re hypocrites. They’re cowards. Their deafening silence condemns them more loudly than any courtroom ever could.

And so, what can we say? We have to take the actions that are most prudent, that are most—that are loudest, that are the most effective. That means getting out and voting. Vote your conscience.

On Sunday October 28th, my friend Erin and I went to see comedian Christopher Titus at the Helium club in Philadelphia. Our faces hurt from laughing so hard. The one take-home message I got was we need to come together. No real American can stand for this kind of hatred. This isn't us. We can agree to disagree... we cannot agree that it is okay to kill each other because we disagree. 

Buggy

 My niece is going to be a ladybug for Halloween. My sister requested this specific hat. I had to make it a little bigger because the hat is for a newborn, but I think I was successful.
Before I sent the hat off in the mail, I decided I wanted a picture. The butternut squash was the perfect model.

I also have three swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. They love them some fennel!

 At first I had them in a jar, but with three of them and how quickly they were eating I doubted there was enough room in there.

So I cleaned up one of the bee packages and it is the perfect way to raise butterflies.  

 Air circulates easily through the cage and I can see everything. I have three more, one I will give to a coworker who has two sons, and the other two I will give to another coworker whose wife runs a day care. Caterpillars can be purchased online and it would be great for the kids to see how this works.

All three went into cocoons within a day or two of each other. But only one has emerged and that was last weekend. When I looked up to see how long it takes for them to turn into butterflies it says it could be a little as two weeks or several months. I hope the other two emerge soon or it will be too cold to release them, and then what?  It is supposed to warm up again this week, so hopefully that will push them along. They sure are amazing. 

Lions, Whales, and Penguins, Oh my!

In August I splurged and bought a fantastic book: 

I already own the two previous books, Knit your own Cat and Knit your own Dog. I have since discovered that there is also Knit your own Farm! But as I have knitted nothing from the first two I think I should knit more from this latest investment before venturing forward. (Although I really want to knit the cow!) 

The first pattern I knitted was the Penguin. 

He was fun to knit. A little fussy, but He turned out fine - I think. 

The Lion? Oh boy - that was different. 

He's tricky. Not so much in the knitting but in assembling. It took me a whole day just to sew him up and stuff him right. That's other part they don't really talk about - how to stuff the animals. Where to add more stuffing etc. 

Here's Jacques babysitting both Lion and first Whale. Lion is not facing the camera as he doesn't have his face on yet. (I still had to embroider it!) 

The Whale pattern I purchased separately on Ravelry: 

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wasabi-7

 I've had my eye on this pattern for a while. $6 is expensive for a knitting pattern - I've paid less for a full sweater pattern! But since I kept thinking about this little guy I finally decided, well, he must be worth it! Above is my first Wasabi - he is about 5 inches long. I'm not sure I can give him up.

My second Wasabi is here:

and was knitted for little Miss Eleanor, a co worker's daughter. We had a baby shower on Monday for them and we were encouraged to bring our favorite, lesser known, children's books. I gave Hippopposites. But  I finally realized why I love this little whale, it reminds me of one of my favorite children's books: Burt Dow: Deep Water Man by Robert McClosky. I can't wait to make more - especially one each for my niece and nephew.

How I love Philadelphia...

My rain barrel arrived! 

That enormous blue monstrosity is 55 gallons of rain water storage! Free from the Philadelphia Water Department and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. All I had to do was attend a one hour "workshop." This was basically a presentation about how and why these two organizations have partnered to try to reduce the amount of storm water flowing into our extremely aging water infrastructure and what kinds of projects are available - heavily subsidized - to Philadelphia residents to help in the endeavor. The program is called Rain Check and you should definitely check it out! 

The program was amazing. Not only can one get a rain barrel, but there are many other projects we can invest in. Including this storm water tool:

 This is the one I think I'm going to add to my garden. It is the more economical alternative to the wooden box which does the same thing but costs $150 more, even if it is more handsome. If you click the link to the storm water tools, be sure to scroll down to the video which explains all that you receive - including the soil and plants! 

Other projects include: removal of cement back yards, "permeable pavers" for patios, and a rain garden. For rain gardens it must be at least 10 feet away from any basement. So if it is between two houses, neighbors can pool their rebates (up to $2000 each) into one project! 

Ever since I took the workshop in July I have been incredibly excited to receive my rain barrel. This is my former way of catching excess rain: 

             

A 5-gallon bucket to catch what runs off the roof. 

Well, the cats like the rain water better than tap water, so whaddyagonnado?

These are the kinds of programs, ventures, opportunities in Philadelphia that make me really truly love this city.

Next step? Painting the blue monstrosity! Stay tuned... I'm thinking ladybugs or snowflakes. Not sure which.

Happy Labor Day! Still catching up...

Fiber Fun Day! 

Our third annual Fiber Fun Day happened on the Sunday after I came back from California. For the last three years a few good art friends get together and we do a lot of tie-dying and all kinds of things. It is a day to experiment, have fun, gossip, eat, and have some nice cocktails. I found a new pattern on ravelry.com for weightless produce bags: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/weightless-produce-bag They are fun to knit because they are so quick and they are perfect for purchasing produce. There will be a lot of people getting some of these for Christmas! I knitted four while I was in California for the express purpose of using them for Fiber Fun Day. I'm pretty happy with the result. 

Erin needed new pillow covers. 

Using Popsicle sticks, she folded the fabric for the above pillows. They look fabulous on her new futon!

I also bought some onesies for my niece that I wanted to dye. This was good planning because 1. She had already had a poop explosion on one and it was now, according to my sister, unwearable -  2. My sister was very unhappy because she loved these onesies, and 3. Jesmyn is outgrowing said onsies! 

I love these onesies too! So I had no problem making more. We used RIT clothing dye for most of our projects. Its reliable and easy to use. This year I found a lot of new colors at Joann's. It was super fun to experiment. 

The color on this one isn't showing well, it's a much more subtle gradient. A really gorgeous sunset. 

                         

The really fun onesie was this one. I wish I had made it for my nephew when he was little. It looked like a funny dinosaur when I was done unwinding all the ginko nuts. It still wasn't quite girly enough for me so I added the iron-on bees. Not sure it worked. 

                      

                    

But speaking of bees...

I found some amazing images at work. The Burpee Seed catalogue from 1885 is a treasure! The bee is from a different catalogue, but works quite well here I think. 

I picked up some white Tshirts for my nephew and dyed them to match the image. 

The giant bee: 

The American Grown Prizetaker Onion:

Peas:

The Small Sugar Pumpkin


The iron-on before:


Other iron-ons cut and ready.

I'm so thrilled with the results of all of these! My niece and nephew are going to be the coolest kids in school! 

Second August Update

I was in California. It was wonderful.
Yes it was hot. But it was dry!
The biggest focus was spending time with family.
My new niece and her energetic big brother to begin with.

As tradition dictates we met at El Cholo for the first evening. After Liam declared he was "nervous" but I assuaged that feeling with three trucks from the 99¢ Store, he sat beside me and proceeded to gobble most of the guacamole. Although a substantial portion landed on my blouse.
Two days later after story time at the local library we went to have lunch at California Grill (a local favorite). My nephew has his mind set on some things.

He ate a lot more of his burgers after I showed him how to dip them into the dipping sauce. Interesting how the dipping "skill" was already there for the french fries.

Every fry had to be dipped into each dipping sauce available on the table before it could be eaten.

 Other Liam antics included (but were not limited to): My fan.
As I am old an eccentric and don't really care what people think about said eccentricity anymore, I carry a fan with me during the summer months. In Philadelphia it is imperative on the close SEPTA platforms, in California it just keeps one from sweating when it is not necessary.

Liam wanted to "borrow" it. The minute he had it in his hands it became a "map," specifically a "map" to find the letter "O." How 'bout that? And sure enough he opened it and walked around  pretending to use it as guidance for the letter O on any signs in the playground. He is 3.

Every time we spent time together he asked for the "map." I finally decided he needed his own. I went to Daiso Japan (the Japanese Dollar Store) and they had blank fans I could decorate. 

Thank goodness Ann was well stocked with both rubber stamp alphabets and ink pads! I made Liam his own "map."
I went to say goodbye the evening before I left, as I was really leaving and saying goodbye,  Liam said, "wait! wait!" and ran away from us. When he returned he the "map" and tried to give it to me and told me I needed it. I asked him to keep it safe until I came back. He said, "OK." 


My niece? Oh, she's a cutie pie!

 Jesmyn is very calm and peaceful. She doesn't fuss much. But if you turn her to face you - she will talk your ear off. She really has alot to say! But mostly she is just interested in watching her big brother ricochet around the room. My nephew subscribes to Irish comedian, Tommy Tiernan's description of his middle child  "If reality doesn't meet the demands of his imagination he simply abandons it."

We already have the example of the "map," now witness the "snake-tail."

One thing I really wanted to do while in SoCal was to go to Artesia to the Indian Sari Fabric shops. Long story short, I struck gold. I bought four sari's - 6-7 yards of fabric each. Since I am not able to wear an actual sari, the fabric will be re-appropriated. Firstly by my nephew- who grabbed the gorgeous blue and turquoise piece (which both my sister and I agreed reminded us of something our godmother Nancy would wear), and ran around the house pretending the fabric was his "snake tail."

This went on for a good while, keeping him well entertained.

And one lets him, even though my sister wondered if the fabric wouldn't snag on anything? I didn't care. What a great gift to give him for memories. Not sure if he will remember - but I will.