Working Wednesday - December 4, 2013

 
 Progress continues on the doodle shown here in rough form.









Slightly more color and detail.

Line work to bring out more details.





Hoping to finish

Thankful Tuesday - December 3, 2013

I always like to play around with shapes when preparing for detail projects. After being away from drawing and painting for a while, I find it best to 'practice' before jumping into the paint. Doodling gets me in the mood and allows me to practice motion control.

Little projects to improve techniques. Colored pencil, watercolor pencil, acrylics, pen and ink, watercolor. Mixed media.

Keep in mind that everything looks different in color. Will post the 'finished' doodle.

Today I am thankful for melting snow, old friends, new friends and family. For leftovers so I don't have to cook. For kitty-cats that curl up on your lap for a nap. For dancing flames in the wood stove.

A couple other sketches...

Sunday Rest Stop Ramble

Although the temperature was frigid watching the morning sky turning from gray to pink was worth the inconvenience of being cold for a spell.

Does anyone remember the commercial about "Uncle Harry" and the brand-name whipped cream? In a recent conversation an allusion to "Uncle Harry" was made and totally missed the mark. Perhaps it was an "age" thing, but it made me think on how ineffective a tool language is for communication.

We filter our conversations, don't we? We listen to tone, watch for facial expressions and body language. Movement. Circumstance. Audience. 'Cause - fess up. When you're with friends or people you have known for years certain phrases or words combined with actions (think rolling eyes) mean totally different things.

Wednesday Wackiness OR My Thanksgiving Post

'Twas the day before Thanksgiving and all about the land a peaceful snow was drifting slowly to the ground...

Knowing that this is the calm before the storm returns, we journeyed outside a bit longer than normal. Our morning walk echoed with constant crunch-crunch-crunch as booted feet broke through an inch-thick layer of crusted snow down to the underlying packing snow. Snow so full of water that boot sole impressions made now will remain etched upon the path until a lighter dusting covers them from sight.

Bear season was a record harvest. Made record due to the high frequency of garbage can/dumpster raids perpetrated during the Spring and Fall. One can hardly blame the bears. Leaving garbage outside when they are moving hunting grounds is tantamount to baiting in deer with a salt lick.  

Surely there are many who remember the old timers putting a salt lick up in a strategic location? Say... at the bottom of a valley that forms a "V" and opens into a small meadow. Remember taking part in group hunts for food in the winter? Sometimes you'd be the hunter. Sometimes you butchered. Sometimes you helped 'put it up'? And sometimes - you did it all yourself?

Anyway, raccoon tracks on the path remind us there are still predators in the area. Not safe quite yet to keep stinky garbage outside. OR bird food for that matter.

Speaking of bird food...

Do you feed your birds scraps in the Winter? Apples with peanut butter? Suet? Vegetable shavings? Well... Except potato peels, of course. not much will eat potato skins. if this was the 'old days' i would put them in a crock and let them ferment. That's what vodka's made from, right? Here is a link to Wiki that gives you all the details: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Vodka

Gives you a whole new perspective on potato skins doesn't it?

These birds are certainly enjoying their morning meal. Am calling this photo "Ginger Bird Surrounded".

Surrounded by what? There's a story in that I'm sure.

Until next time: Safe journey to all who travel. May you make many happy memories with those you love.

My toast for you as you raise a glass: Blessed be.

Saturday Storm

The predicted snowstorm has arrived. Wind driven pellets reducing visibility to one-tenth of a mile. Offer up good wishes and prayers for all who travel this night. Make sure this is an Over the river and through the woods  this year and not an Over the woods and through the river holiday season. Drive Safely. Appoint a Designated Driver. Be a True Friend.

Nope. That's not a picture of the storm. That's one of the many reasons this blog hasn't been updated.

This little green-eyed lamb is made of soft fleece. He and the rest of his clan will soon be making an appearance on Petunia Magpie: The Shop.

Thankful Tuesday - November 19, 2013

Have been waiting for two orders so I can start another project. Both orders arrived today. Yippee!!

Check out this morning worktable. Nice to be able to sit by the fire. Listening to the radio. Sipping a cup of coffee. Deciding which fabric and pattern to make first.

Seems like this whole month people have been posting on Facebook what they are thankful for. That and "tell # personal things about yourself".

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Christmas. New Year's Eve/Day. The Superbowl. Valentines. It's going to be a rough time for those who are alone (and some people are alone even when they're not.) Let's make a habit of being kind to one another.

With that said...

Today I am thankful for:

• 'Unlimited talk/text' telephone plans
• Puppy dogs and kitty cats
• Family
• Friends
• A roof over my head
• Food in my belly (acorn squash with chestnuts, brown sugar and butter)
• Clean spring water to drink
• A waitress who remembers that I drink tea - not coffee (well - not their coffee)
• Hot coals in the wood stove
• Rug Doctor steam cleaners
• The ability to run without gasping for air or getting splints in my side (5 year, 9 month non-smoker)
• Someone who loves me (yes, Bandit counts!)

Peace

Allow Me To Introduce....

Hairatio Burrows, a young gentleman who fancies himself a subject matter expert (SME) on America.

As a child Hairatio would curl up for hours in a quiet corner of the manor. Sitting in a high-back wing chair with a pillow behind his back and his legs slung over the side. Sipping camomile tea from Grandma Poppleton's hand painted china. Nibbling carrot chips. Reading everything he possibly could about the founding of America. Dreaming of being an explorer like Lewis and Clark. Or an Algonquin chief. Better yet - an Algonquin warrior.

Hairatio likes the word: Algonquin. It resonates in every fiber of his soul. Perhaps that's why he is studying History at Lagomorpha University. Yes. History. With a capital 'H'.

Hairatio has a propensity for procrastination. (Much like yours truly.) He thinks he works best under pressure. We think that's just a hare-brained idea. What do you think?

It's Official

The "Petunia Magpie" domain has been purchased. Work continues on the site.

Also on today's calendar was photo editing. New photos will be uploaded when all are completed. So much work with at least three photos per item.

It's fun though. You know what they say. It's not like work if you're having fun.

Have been listening to a new-to-me singer on YouTube. Stumbled upon her doing research. The song posted here is called Magpie Waltz. What do you think of it?

After listening to it, I just had to listen to the sessions. Nice, eh?

Back to work for me. Tell someone you love them before you fall asleep tonight. It'll put a smile on your face. Sweet dreams.

p.s. (Growing up the standard good-night was: 'Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite." Our response was "If they bite me I'll bite them back". Evidently even children had to be tough in our house.)

Half-Way Through The Week

Thought about saving this for Friday Foolishness, but then the point would be lost.

Enjoy your evening!

Pink Cloud Sunrise

Had to share this awesome sunrise with you.

May your day be filled with beauty.

Thankful Thoughts - November 5, 2013

We were fortunate this past week to happen upon some bargains at the South Bradford Fruit Market. In their eagerness to put the season behind them, they slashed prices on their remaining stock. To the winter store of food that has been put up over the summer the following have been added:
 

• 4 giant heads of Cabbage (purchased for $1 each)
• 40+ Green Peppers ($4 for the lot)
• 2 Butternut Squash
• 2 Carnival Acorn Squash
• 4 Acorn Squash
• 5 Buttercup Squash
• 10 pounds of Potatoes ($4-5 ... can't remember)
• 10 pounds of Honey Crisp Apples ($1 a pound)

The squash were in a box - $7 for all of them. What great bargains.

PLUS...

Monday Morning Meandering - November 4, 2013

The weatherman predicted a low of 29 degrees F and a high of 39 degrees F for the day. It was a mere 22 degrees Fahrenheit when we went for a walk first thing this morning. You can see the fancy frost edging Mother Nature has decorated these leaves with.

Was grateful for having the presence of mind to take the time to don some long underwear prior to departure and for the wood stove to warm the ol' backside upon returning.


Looks like it's going to be a chilly start to the week. Hope y'all are keeping warm.

This week brings work on a "to-do" calendar of tasks so that the two Etsy shops, blogs and Facebook page can be managed more efficiently. Tasks for the calendar include editing or re-photographing product pictures for a more consistent look and feel to the site. Currently Petunia Magpie has at least three different backgrounds: 1) plain white, 2) Battenburg lace and 3) open filet stitch. While all three are white, backgrounds two and three are distracting and do nothing to enhance the look of the products.

What do you do to keep yourself on task?

As always - comments are welcome.

The Power of Positive Thought

 

 I've read a lot of self help books. At one point in this short life they were quite the rage. Who out there remembers "Be Here Now" from the 70s pop-culture? How about "I'm OK, You're OK"? Or even "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid To Ask)? Funny how memory is. I can almost see one of those stylized 70s asterisks on the cover of that book. Can you?


What all these books have in common is this: To be happy you have to think happy thoughts. Turn the obstacles in your path into opportunity.

These days there's all sorts of resources for positive inspiration. Take this page for example: Positive Inspirational Quotes. Keep in mind that it is on facebook. Nothing wrong with that in itself, mind you. If you look at facebook like it's just one giant billboard where you're hit with advertising everywhere you turn.



[Much like life these days. One big advertisement. Remember several years ago that futuristic movie where when a person walked along they would be identified by facial recognition programming and with every step they took they were bombarded with advertising? You wondered when that came out how people could stand seeing that flashing and hearing all that noise 24/7. Think about it. You would become desensitized to it. Is there anyone out there who doesn't think we as a people are being swayed by popular media and culture. Well...I challenge you to remember that movie the next time you walk down an aisle in Walmart.]

A friend posted this quote from their website (https://www.facebook.com/PositiveInspirationalQuotes) Always end the day with a positive thought. No matter how hard things were, tomorrow's a fresh opportunity to make it better.

Here's hoping that your tomorrow is better. Peace.

Thankful Thoughts - October 29, 2013

The wood stove was down to a few coals this morning when we rose to greet the day. We threw a few pieces of kindling on the coals plus some small pieces of cherry and left the door slightly ajar. By the time we had retrieved the newspaper and walked the perimeter it was a raging inferno. perhaps inferno is stretching it a bit, but a fire is a fire none-the-less.

No frost this morning to scrape off the windshield. Which means there are a few extra minutes I get to spend with you, dear reader.

Yesterday I received an email response from Ella Elephant's Auntie.

Sunday - A traditional day of rest

Pictured here is Bandit at just a few months old. What I often refer to as his teen-age years. Look at those ears. How could you not love that silly little face?

Today was officially 'old movie' Sunday. Saw Steven King's IT and John Carter. Horror and quasi- sci-fi (Edgar Rice Burroughs would be offended).

Now the only sound is the crackle and spit of the fire as it works its way through some sweet smelling cherry. Well, that and

Long Time No See

Will ya look at the size of those sunflowers! The largest one was over sixteen inches in diameter. They are in the process of drying, but I believe there will be a good ten pounds of seed when dry. The stalks were well over six feet high. Really beautiful.

Harvesting these beauties marks the end of the growing season here in Northwestern PA. The only thing left in the ground are the organic rutabagas. What a great year for those: one of the larger ones after topping off and clipping the root weighed six pounds. They are so sweet you can eat them just like candy (although my favorite way is in boiled dinner....yum).

Summer and Fall
are hard times for me to sit and be dedicated to writing. So many places to go. So much to see. So much to do. But we've had our first snow, so my traveling days have been abruptly curtailed. I'll be here until the wanderlust hits me again.

So far in the Tole You So shop on Etsy six items have been sold. Four hex signs and two trinket boxes. Had a major production problem with the Polyurethane that forced a re-painting of ALL the hex signs, a bird house and flower boxes. Note to self: CRAFT polyurethane serves the purpose and does not yellow. The shop is doing as well as expected based on the time and effort put into it.

Coming soon: ORNAMENTS!!!






Here's a shot of all four sunflowers showing their size about two months before they stopped growing. To keep them from falling over, they were bound together with twine. Their seed will be a feast for the birds on Thanksgiving Day.

Lucky birdies!










Shown here is a rutabaga - one of the smaller ones actually (we couldn't wait to eat one, so this was harvested a bit early). People always ask what they taste like. To me it's a cross between a carrot and a potato. Sweet like a carrot with the texture of a potato. Very good in boiled dinner. We harvested more than enough for the winter.

The Re-Branding Petunia Magpie

Confession time:
I've been known to take on too much. A common action for overachievers. Unfortunately - time and ability only stretch so far before burn-out occurs. Since June, I have been:

• Making hex signs and other painted objects.
• Making crochet animals and other fabric items.
• Updating two Etsy shops, two blogger blogs (although badly).
• Learning several new skills (C-Print Captioning, Marketing via Coursera, etc.)
• Working on Christmas projects.
• Living and playing.
• Working at a part-time job (yeah! gainful employment!)

With many items on my "to-do" list, some tasks inevitably fall through the cracks. That is exactly what has happened with the Petunia Magpie and Tole You So blogs.

Ella has found a forever home!

It's been a long time since an update. Months, actually. Much has happened.

Wednesday, 23 October 2013 is a Red Letter Day for Petunia Magpie. It marks the day of the first sale on Petunia Magpie at Etsy. Pictured is Ella Elephant. Our first sale!

Shipment was performed the day following receipt of payment for the order. The order is out for delivery today and hopefully the buyer will provide some feedback.
   
A little over four months after launch.

Thus far the effort has exceeded the return.

Lots of new items!

Petunia Magpie now has 69 items online!

Newly added are Donald the Debonair Dragon, Gandolf Giraffe,  and Horace Hedgehog. Check all the new listings here.

Been busy making items. Hope to hit the 100 item mark by the 1 month anniversary date. [I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. LOL]


The photo shown above is a new marketing stream I'm trying. It was titled "Pincushions, Purses and Pachyderms". Made for Local Arts and Crafts category of a free online classified site. In the last 2 days the ad has been viewed 27 times and garnered an invitation to a local craft show (which I will be attending).

Still no sales. Am not giving up yet.

Published a treasury today for the Etsylvanians Team. Hoping it gets the shop a little more visibility.

Petunia Magpie is up to ten (10) followers.

Status Report - Day 12

Here's how Petunia Magpie's second week is turning out with regard to the numbers:



According to Etsy:  
Views:                   116
Shop favorites:         7
Listing favorites:    20
Top 3 items:

• Owl Hat for Children
• Chocolate & Teal Purse
• Pincushion Flower

Google Analytics (put in place on day 3):
Views:                  268
Top 3 items:

• Penelope Pachyderm
• Yo-Yo Mama Beach Bag
• Blue Variegated Treasure Bag

As you can see, there's a bit of discrepancy between the statistical methods. There are some metrics that can be analyzed, but measurements at this stage in the game don't provide a lot of feedback. Right now I just use view-counts to see what Customer's are looking at in the shop. After the site has grown (and with time) I'll be looking at Landing Pages, Exit Pages and relating how specific events effect viewer responses.

The Blue Seashell Purse has been featured in a Treasury List. See it HERE.

For now, it's Friday and I'm busy "making".

Y'all have a great weekend!

Click here to get your weekend started early. 

Have I mentioned...

Have I mentioned that I have another Etsy shop? And another blog?

The other shop is Tole You So and so is the blog. The blog started out as a way for me to share my projects. Quilting and painting mostly. But it took over my life for a while. Or did my life take over the blog? Hard to say. It just didn't have a lot to do with painting, which is the type of products that I sell in the shop. Tole You So blog has little snippets from my life and you're always welcome to browse over and check it out if you're really bored. Some of the posts are just silly. For the most part so am I. The blog actually does better than the shop. Probably because I don't promote the shop as much as Petunia Magpie. Hardly at all in fact. It's had three sales.

Today after a scrumptious breakfast [read more about that here], I worked on the Tole You So blog for a while. I've been concentrating my energies on creating products to sell and neglecting other things. Am a bit OCD that way.

Completed three items today and will probably upload them tomorrow afternoon/evening. Shhhhh.... Don't tell anyone and act surprised when they magically appear.


Hard to believe Petunia Magpie has been in business for a week now. I missed one of my scheduled "To Do" items today. I intend to create one treasury list every Monday and promote it through all channels available. [Facebook, Etsy, Pinterest, this blog, the other blog, word of mouth, begging on the street corner.]

Hello. Is anybody out there? [name that tune] Rabbit Hunting. My apologies. New website, blog, "stuff".

My love caught me before work and brought me a bag of fresh picked and washed strawberries this morning. I found this one near the top. Could be imagining things, but to me this looks like a heart. Out of all the strawberries picked - he found this one and gave it to me. We're either madly in love or I'm just mad in the true sense of the word.

Breakfast this morning was a mixture of fresh watermelon, apple and ... wait for it ... strawberries. Ahhh. But that's WAY too healthy for me. So what happened next? I added three teaspoonfuls of Cool Whip to the mixture. Behold: it was good!

So fresh and appealing. Temptation was not resisted once the photo was taken. Didn't even have time to take two pictures before the spoon hit my mouth. Yummy! Just what the Doctor ordered after looking at the blue-sky sunshine-y day that this is shaping up to be. Patriotic too now that its up on the screen. I got a late breakfast this morning. Kept getting interrupted.

<--- LOOK! In the middle! Is that another strawberry heart? lol


I took another photo that you guys might be interested in even though small game season hasn't started yet. Doesn't that look like bunny ears?

Sure would be nice if some of you fellows would start hunting rabbits again. They are over-running this community. People are complaining about losing their fresh veggies. No one I know can afford that to happen.

Gosh. Had to light the citronella candle to fend off the little buggies. Such are the trials and tribulations of those who choose to work outside.

It's been a week since I last posted. Almost a month since I was posting regularly. So much has been happening in my life that it's hard to get a minute to sit down and follow one of my passions: writing to you. For those who read me on a regular basis: thanks for coming back. I promise to make this blog a priority and put it on the schedule for at least two posts a week. That's all I can commit to at this time.

Why? Well. A few different reasons.

First, I've been making things like crazy. Trying to build up an inventory so I can make some money. Lucky for me from working retail I know a few things that are fairly easy to make and sell well.

This is a picture of my morning worktable. Two items ready to get photographed, photo edited, descriptions written and "social-media"-a'd. LOL Seriously - is there a word for that? One of the Etsy Teams is called Shameless Advertising. How appropriate is that!?!

After a bit of discussion, a lawn sale was suggested. My table and umbrella will be moving to the side yard by the driveway and a Yard Sale sign will be posted. Once the stock is ready for sale. Weather permitting. Probably only on Saturday and Sunday. Don't want to sit out there for too long.

By the mid-end of July I should have enough stock to make a showing of sorts and start attending local craft shows. There is a big one toward the end of Summer (before school starts again) a bit further away than I'd usually travel, but well attended. That will probably make or break me. I'll keep you updated.

I decided to open another shop on Etsy and separate out my painting and work with textiles. The shop opened last Monday and is already being well received. Fear not, I won't forget about ToleYouSo. The new shop is:

Click the picture to go to the shop. It is named  after my little sister - was her nickname. May she rest in peace. She was a lot of fun. One of those people that can make a friend in the first five minutes you meet her. She is on the telephone in almost every photograph I have of her. That girl sure could talk! Pretty girl too. With a sense of fashion and all-around good taste. She should have been an interior decorator for the rich and famous. She had impeccible taste. She passed from cancer back in 2000 at the ripe old age of forty.

Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure for all their good works.

In an effort to promote the products on that site I also have a Petunia Magpie Blog, Petunia Magpie Facebook page and Pinterest Petunia Magpie.

Folks interested in making money by selling products on Etsy may want to check out the blog. It  shares the history of the site, experiences and what works or doesn't work. Right now everything is in the start-up phase.

Time to get back to making products.

Click here for a Monday Memory. Petunia Magpie loved this show when she was little.

The trivia question "Is there anybody out there..." is Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.

First Week at Etsy

A full week at Etsy and the statistics are holding steady. There were seventy-five page views this first week and I hope to have at least the same (ideally double) for the next week. It's a lot of work though.

The plus side is that I now have six followers. These shop owners/individuals have a total of 2,306 followers. What that means is that every time I add something new to the shop, all the followers can see it in their item feeds. Great easy way to get a little more exposure.

There are now forty-three items online and several more "in the works". Looks like I'll be able to reach my goal of fifty items by the end of the week with no problem.

To all the Dads out there: Happy Father's Day!

The Best Laid Plans...

I had every intention of publishing a post EVERY day. But there just aren't enough hours in the day. Chores and family obligations kept me from blogging yesterday. My revised blogging plan will be a target of three posts per week. Sometimes more if I can squeeze it in. I hope y'all will bear with me.

It's been one of those days folks, so I'm just going to give you a status report and head on over to talk to Mr. Sandman.

There are now thirty one items in the Petunia Magpie shop. There have been fifty-seven views; two people have "favorited" the shop; fourteen items have been "favorited" and one of my products is in a treasury list. For five days those are okay statistics. As far as statistics go, those numbers are too low to even start to analyze. For now it's just nice to see that it's being visited on a daily basis.

Getting Social

Nowadays you hear people everywhere talk about "getting social". Most people have Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter accounts. Many people have blogs. Some pages are for fun or information or simply as a means of keeping up to date with what's going on all around us. All of these accounts are ways you can leverage your interactions with others to promote the sale of your product.

As one of the first steps to getting social, I spent the better part of today

Day Two

Yesterday after I published this blog, I went into Petunia Magpie's shop too look at the statistics and was shocked to see that a mere two hours after posting without really promoting anything there had been ten shop views and one person had added an item to their "favorites".

Today I want to make sure I talk a little about SEO tags and statistics.

First, a progress report.

The weather this morning has been rainy and cool enough for a sweater and warm fuzzy socks. I get my warm fuzzy socks from Mast General Store. Their buy three get one free promotion is always a fantastic bargain when you're in the market for a good pair of socks. The grey, gloomy day didn't slow me down. Once the dog was walked I got to work editing photographs and writing copy. Between 6:00 a.m.

Rainy Monday To-Do List

 

Lest you think I've forgotten all about this blog let me assure you: I have not. Simply been busy painting and "to-do"-ing.  This is my original take on the traditional Unicorn Hex sign. It measures sixteen inches in diameter and one-half inch thick. The white base layer is two coats of twenty-year exterior latex house paint. The design itself is painted with a mixture of acrylic and acrylic enamel. Some fine detail has been worked with Liquid Leaf "Classic Gold". A dual coat of clear varnish was applied to seal the design and protect the design from "the elements". Counting drying times this took about three days to complete. A bit long when the sale price is only $65. Not counting drying time there are a good eight hours into this design. That's less than $10 per hour. Hmmmm....

 

You know what they say though. It's not like work if you love what you're doing. Folks, I'm truly blessed to love what I'm doing.

Especially on a rainy Monday morning with a hot cup of coffee warming my hands pondering current projects.

 

What else have I been "to-do"-ing?

 

Current projects nearing completion are:

 

Wildflower Circle Cheese Box Lid (the bottom is basically plain)

 

Wine Gift Boxes

 

And.... (are you ready for this?)... an Etsy shop! Petunia Magpie. Named in memory of my sister Deborah. It's mostly purses, toys and quilts with a few clothing items thrown in for good measure. I'm also donating 10% of all sales to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure that helps fund cancer research.

 

Here's a link to the shop and to the shop blog where you can read more about what's going on over there. If you're a new entrepreneur you may find the "shop talk" interesting. It's a chronicle of selling items on Etsy. From the 'soft' opening day through the first year (and perhaps beyond) including what qualifies me, imho, to give advise on E-commerce and Customer Service. Short version of that: years of experience.

 

As always - would love to hear from y'all. 'Till next time...

 

Click here for a Monday Memory.

 

I DID IT!

I opened a new Etsy shop! I'm so excited!

Can you guess the shop's name?

Pet Peeve

Several years ago while living in North Carolina I was shocked to see a Basset Hound in the cab of a black pickup truck. Not that there's anything wrong with dogs being in a vehicle. The problem was the temperature. The outside temperature had already climbed to over eighty degrees. The owner of the truck had left the window cracked several inches to allow air to flow into the truck, but the poor Basset Hound was in obvious distress. When I looked at her she was panting and drooling at the same time. I had just pulled into the parking lot and had my trusty water bottle with me. I dug around in my car and located a paper plate to put water in/on for the dog & slid the plate in the window of the truck. It wasn't much but the dog lapped greedily at it. I was glad to be able to help at least that much. I waited about ten minutes for the owner to show up. When no one was forthcoming, I went inside the store (Lowes) and had Customer Service page the truck's owner. No one showed up, but the Customer Service person had announced "Will the owner of the pick-up truck with the Basset Hound please report to...." Lowes has the best employees! I gave it a few minutes and went back outside - the pickup was gone. However, I had placed a small flyer under the windshield of the truck letting them know that it was too hot to leave their dog that way. Not everyone knows how hot it gets inside a car on a hot Summer day -- even with the windows cracked temperatures can rise 40 degrees in the first 15-30 minutes. That can be fatal for a dog.

Folks, please pass along this information. Our pets are just like members of our families. Let's do what we can to educate others about the dangers of hot cars. You may even save a life!

Free Is Good: 4 Knitting Patterns

From KnitPicks: Four free knitting patterns. A cat, robin, bunny and frog! Here is the link... http://www.knitpicks.com/wpblog/happy-friday/?media=FCBKpost

Hope you have fun with it!

Free Is Good: Cookbooks

From Recipe.com: three free eBooks with mouthwatering recipes. Here are links to each of them.

The Ultimate Warm You Up Recipes
The Ultimate Tailgating Recipes 2012
The Ultimate Holiday Recipe Winners 2012

Hope you enjoy them!

Free is Good: Free Crafts Class TODAY ONLY

Craftsy is giving a free craft class today. There's several to choose from. I picked the Re-Piecing the Past: Civil War Blocks Then & Now class. Am grateful that it's online and I can watch it at my pace.Yippee!!! Free is good.

Free Is Good: Books

You can thank my cousin Leona for this one. Free digital books at BookBub. All you have to do is give them your email address. Not a bad deal at all. You can download reading apps from Amazon HERE.

Note: Amazon also has some free eBooks to download.

Thankful Thoughts - May 7, 2013

Today I'm thankful that Spring has sprung. In no uncertain terms. Seventy plus degree weather has had everyone out enjoying Mother Nature. This old lady has learned to appreciate the nice days when they appear. No regrets! Right?!

 The flowers to the left are called "Red Trillium". Trillium erectum according to Wikipedia. They are one of the constant spring flowers all along this Appalachian Mountain range.

Looks like we might get a frost in the next week. The apples and pears are just starting to bud. We lost the whole crop last year because of the frost. The year before (when I moved back home) was the most beautiful and full I have ever seen. Apples literally dripping off the trees. What an abundance! With the economy as it is it sure would be nice to see another bountiful harvest like that one.


As long as the weather holds I'll be outside catching up on painting projects. Quilting is on hold for the time being, but I'll be posting about a couple past projects. Namely a Blue Jean Quilt made from used blue jeans. Took a bit of planning for that one. Will also show some other past projects (hobo bag, stuffed baby toys, etc). In the meantime hope y'all have a great evening. Give thanks for the Sun (Son?) tomorrow morning when you wake. Another day of living!

Friday Foolishness - May 3, 2013

Here's a little poem to remind you to enjoy life.

 

 

Dust If You Must

by Anonymous

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

Unemployment and the Sequester

A Customer Service rep asked me what I did for a living the other day. I told him that I was currently unemployed and having trouble finding work. He said "Oh. You're pretending to look for work." Unfortunately, that seems to be the popular point of view these days. At least with business people who are currently employed and who have obviously never been unemployed before. Let alone in this economy.

Here's a clue folks: No one ever got rich on unemployment. It's considerably less than working wages. Since the beginning of April unemployment benefit payments have been reduced 10.7 percent. Ouch.

As someone over fifty living in rural USA -- finding a job is a daunting task. There just aren't any jobs out there unless you have an engineering degree or can drive a truck. I don't have that degree and because of my disability can't drive a truck. I refuse to go further into debt to get another piece of paper so that I can get a job that won't pay me enough to live other than paycheck-to-paycheck. Where's the sense in that?

Employers complain about not being able to find suitable personnel. They want experienced workers but don't want to pay for that experience. For years now employers have 'doubled-up' job duties calling it catchy names like "streamlining" and "consolidation". Employers seem to be more concerned with their bottom line than their employees (imho).

Employees are consistently doing more for less money. Job seekers take entry level positions and devalue themselves just so they can work again. Who can afford to live on minimum wage? While discussing the current economy I remarked that I couldn't pay my bills on minimum wage, a doctor told me "Most of the girls that work here work two jobs. You could always do that." WTF!!! Where is this mindset coming from? Is everyone out for themselves these days? Would the doctor work two jobs if he was only being paid minimum wage? It's a long way from college and Daddy palming you a few hundred on his way out the door and real world America where most of us wonder where we're going to be living six months down the road. Way too many of us are a paycheck (or unemployment check) away from the poorhouse.

When I was last in the workforce [2012] I was making the same wage as way back in 1994. $13.50 per hour. What a joke. AND with noticeably fewer benefits. I understand that the cost of health care has gone up, but so have corporate profits. The old adage "The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer." has hit home for all of us here in the USA.

This isn't the country I grew up in. I want my country back. It's not a matter of political party. I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat or Libertarian. I just want an end to this bickering and finger-pointing. Get some work done for crying out loud. Work together. That's what I miss. The common courtesy of setting aside disagreements and finding a solution that works -- without all the pork belly stuffing that goes on.

Can I get an Amen? How 'bout a Hallelujah?

If y'all know of any good jobs in the Bradford, PA area contact me. I really need to get back to work.

Current Live Ins Part Three: Third time's the charm?

Perhaps you have already read how BootZee the Cat and Bandit the German Shepherd came to live  in their forever home. If not, you should know that BootZee was one of three cats abandoned by a woman because "my boyfriend doesn't like them".

BootZee is a gray cat with a white bib, belly and gloves. Yep. A tuxedo cat. His "brothers" (what do you call cats who are raised together but are obviously from different ancestry anyway?) were a black and white tuxedo cat and one that looks like a Maine Coon. All three were neutered and their front claws had been removed.

Abandoned. Poor kitties.



We started setting food out for them the winter they were abandoned and 'adopted' an injured BootZee that very same spring (2012).

BootZee's brothers would come around from time to time throughout the summer. They would meow at the back door and be rewarded with food and water. As the summer progressed they came less frequently. The black and white cat stopped coming around in late summer. The tiger/maine coon kept right on coming. From time to time when the weather turned wet and cold I would bring tiger cat into the house. I tried to get him to stay, but he broke through two screens to get out. Not sure if the dog freaked him out or he had just turned semi-wild. He just didn't seem to want to stay.

Summer turned to fall and the days started getting brisk. With winter fast approaching the neighborhood was all abuzz about trying to find a good home for both cats. The McKean County SPCA, a no-kill shelter, agreed to take them in if they could be caught. One neighbor was interested and was considering adopting the tiger/maine. None of us had seen the black and white and assumed that someone had "adopted" it. Or...the unspeakable had happened. We won't speak of that.

But tiger cat kept coming to the back door. Hungry. Perhaps lonely too. Keep in mind that these cats were abandoned in winter. Their former owner had subsequently moved away, but at some point in time probably really loved these cats. They aren't young kittens even if I do refer to them that way. They are probably between 4-6 years old. Raised inside. With no claws. Someone else was feeding them. Knowing the neighborhood several someones were probably feeding them.

I let him in. He cried. He scratched at the door. He scratched at the window. After three days of rain and cold, the temperature was finally nice so out he went.

This went on for about three weeks.  He would come around. I'd let him in. He's meow and scratch until I gave in and let him out. One day he showed up right before a patch of nasty weather. I decided to stick it out and let him meow/scratch.

I named him "Tigger-Tiger". He's a funny little cat. He'll lay down on his back on the floor right in front of me and want me to scratch his belly. He just loves to have his belly scratched. His fur is softer and fuller than BootZees. He doesn't meow like he did when he first came here. But he does want to go back outside. He scratches at the windows and doors from time to time. He would escape in a heartbeat if he could (you always have to look for him when opening outside doors). He seeks me out when he wants petted or scratched. Is much more social than BootZee.

BootZee and Tigger-Tiger play and love on each other all the time. You can tell that they are friends.  You'll often find them stretched out next to each other on the bed.

Both cats are growing accustomed to Bandit. Tigger-Tiger even lets him sniff his butt from time to time (hey - it's what they do) and sometimes will hop up on the bed if Bandit is already there. Bandit has a good heart and tries his best to lay still when that happens. He teases Bandit mercilessly. As a matter of fact, one of his first days here Tigger-Tiger climbed into Bandit's crate and took a nap. Poor Bandit didn't know what to do about that!

BootZee isn't quite so fond of the dog. It took months for him to even tolerate the dog being in the same room. He bats Bandit's nose with his front paws every chance he gets. Sometimes he even goes out of the way to do it (truth). BootZee was caught in the act of sniffing a sleeping Bandit a couple days ago so perhaps a truce is being negotiated. Rather odd too. BootZee had absolutely no problem with Bear-the-Wonder-Dog. He would even curl up next to him to nap.

Well. That's the story of my "Current Live Ins".

Thankful Tuesday on a Wednesday

This stormy sky was above us as we took our evening stroll yesterday. Rather a stark beauty. Brightness in the midst of darkness. A reminder that even in the darkest of days some light can be found if we only look for it. Sometimes we just need to be reminded to open our eyes and look around us.

Several of the trails we hike are alongside some boggy marshland. Yesterday in this particular location we watched as two box turtles dove into the murky water. Of course, the camera was still in its case at that point. Will have the camera ready next time. This is near the area that has beaver sign all around. What's beaver sign?

When you see several trees with wood chips at their base you can be fairly certain that it was caused by a beaver. The only beaver we've seen has been a carcass. We know there is one though because of all the fresh cuttings.

Isn't this just the prettiest little flower. Tiny little things less than a half inch in diameter. No idea what they are. Definitely the prettiest thing we saw on our stroll.




Today I'm thankful for cameras that let us share the world around us, puppy dogs that fetch and friendly cats. May your day be filled with beauty!

Looking for Inspiration?

Sometimes it's just fun to see what others are making. Check out this blog tour. Day one showcased some new-to-me designers and beautiful original blocks. This is day two and links to blogs in the industry are filling my head and sketchbook with all sorts of ideas.

Let them inspire you too! [Click on the picture to go to their site OR click HERE.]

Oh yeah...did I mention they are giving away prizes every day?

Random Thoughts about NOTHING

Caffine. Hate to admit it but I'm addicted. I nag my other half about drinking Coke with all the caffine and high fructose corn syrup. It's not so much the high fructose that scares me - it's the potential GMO corn ingredient. Plus, can four cans of any kind of soda a day be good for you? 
Yet I drink coffee.  I drink sweet tea with processed sugar... the kind of tea you only drink before 5 p.m. or you'll be awake until 2 a.m. Hot non-herbal tea when we dine out. Cola from time to time when I need the sugar; Pepsi if I'm lucky. Yes. There is a difference in taste. I prefer Pepsi. It has nothing to do with them sponsoring Jeff Gordon. (Have you seen this funny video?)

NPRs "The Salt" has an entire week dedicated to coffee. Check it out here .

*****

The neighbors on two sides mowed their lawns. Guess they thought that since the borough mowed it was time to have at it. You can imagine what it looks like after being cold enough to frost for three days in a row. Meanwhile, those of us who waited to mow are seeing lush green and hoping the rain stops before it needs bailed.

*****

Why is it that the cats always lay on my freshly made bed? Is it the cotton sheet tossed over the spread so their hair doesn't get on the bedding? Cats sure do make nice foot warmers! Not as nice as Corn Bags though.

 *****

Hope you have a great week. Here's a song to get your heart pumping: Manic Monday