Mood:  not sure

Good Monday morning! Remember last Monday last week when they were forecasting snow and cold winds?  And how it snowed and I brought out all my winter things and put away my flip flops?  Well, this week it's supposed to be sunny and mold with highs of around 19.  So now I'm putting away all my winter things and stashing away my boots and once again bringing out the tank tops and flip flops.  And next week I will reverse it all again because likely it will snow again.

I now have an unlined cashmere coat.  It's quite nice with a narrow silhouette, it ends just above the knees and I'm using wooden toggle buttons on it.  I'm going to make a tapered skirt with a kick pleat on the back.  The skirt will be longer than the hem of the coat.  Now I have to get some lining for it.  Len's has brown and taupe lining, either will do.

I was a kitty kat girl for Halloween.  I wore my kat ears while shopping downtown.  If you want to get people to stare at you, then wear kat ears.  Later in the day I wore my kat tail in addition to the ears. When I met Dave he was still in his Pinocchio make-up which he wore for the rest of the day.  I don't have any pictures of Dave in his full Pinocchio get up yet.

Tonight is the Discovery Channel show "Canada's Worst Drivers"  This year the show started in Kitchener, it the parking garage on Queen Street.  The host had his own bad driving moment, they showed him driving UP the exit helix ramp.  It's down only.  They introduced this year's crop of sucky drivers, including three hot chix with the brains of houseplants, a guy who look like the real life model for "Bubbles" from trailer park boys, a sociopath granny from Sault Ste Marie (who likely has had at least ten successful moose hunts, all using her car) and an assortment of nervous nellies.  They sent the bad drivers from the queen street lot to Guelph, sending these morons through the streets of Kitchener.  Two decided that Highway 7 between kitchener and Guelph was the perfect location for a race to see who got to the destination first.  The race included blowing through stop signs and red lights, passing on solid lines, passing on shoulders and peeling out from the stop line.  Fortunately their destination was the old Guelph jail, where these two were locked up for a while to pay for their highway transgressions.

Oh yes, That highway?  It's one of the narrowest and busiest in the area, connecting Guelph, population 150,000; Cambridge, population 175,000, Waterloo, population 160,000 and Kitchener, population 210,000-225,000.  It's a deadly road and one that should be taken seriously.  On one message board I frequent I titled the discussion thread "CWD4:Countdown to the CRASH of '08" 

And that is all for today.  Tomorrow I have a few links to some free patterns for making some adorable stuffed toys including the sweetest little kitty cats EVAR!  Later!

Posted by lincatz at 11:37 AM EST

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Mood:  lyrical

Good Monday Morning.  It's raining and it has turned quite cool.  The summer was nice while it lasted but now it's time for more seasonable weather.

My back porch is beginning to look and smell like a greenhouse.  I planted my marigold seeds on Thursday and by saturday morning they had all sprouted.  On Saturday I planted about a hundred and fifty other seeds of various types, including amaranthus, celosia, celosia "cockscomb", coleus, portulaca(sp?) ina addition to the 100 marigolds now sprouting.  Out in the veggie garden I planted seeds for snow peas, beets, carrots, radishes, mesclun greens, and some buttercrunch lettuce.  My spring onions are all coming close to harvest-ready and I have a few nice bunches of sorrel (wild spinach) ready to go.  My tulips buds have exploded into large flowers.  There are lilies shoots poking out of the ground.  One month ago it looked like winter might never end and the snow piles would last until june.  Now, there are only a few muddy remnants of mountains left in the mall parking lot.  Gardening has taken up a bit of my time these past few days, I love having a large inner city property, but the spring clean up can be quite daunting a task.

I will have room for chickens, however.  Don't laugh, the city is considering a bylaw to allow city dwellers with large enough properties to raise a few egg hens provided they are in a proper chicken coop with a proper fence.  This neighborhood is full of garden sheds that were converted from old chicken coops, so there were chickens here long ago.  I think it would be cool to have a chicken coop and whenever I need eggs for breakfast I just go out, reach under some old hen's butt and voilà!  one very fresh egg.

Dan starts his new job today.  He was quite high strung yesterday!  We went to The Bay to buy a new work wardrobe and after we went through his closet and got rid of some of his old clothes.  His rugby style shirts that he wore in high school have been given the heave ho, some t's that are favourites but far too small are now gone, anything with a boy's size tag and not a men's size tag is gone, and a few things are being re-styled by his fashion and style guru.  Me.  I'm taking some long sleeve shirts with ripped cuffs and turning them into short sleeve shirts.  He has a good Business casual wardrobe now. 

I have a fashion complaint.  Most of what's in stores as far as clothes is okay, aside from too skinny jeans and the fad of wearing so many horizontal lines.  Anyone who complains about high waisted tops has simply not tried them on to see how good they really look.  My complaint involves shoes, specifically the ones that are available in most mall stores this spring.  We seemingly have only two choices.  Supper high stiletto hooker shoes, or absolutely flat no heel kiddie shoes.  Even last years wedge espadrille is this year sporting a seven inch hooker platform wedge.  We seemingly have two choices, bunions or shin splints.  All I want is nice two inch wedges or kitten heel shoes.  One happy note, there seems to be no more platform heel and sole flip flops! I know what I want, a nice kitten or wedge heel sandal. leather, in either a white or multi colour pink, turquoise, purple, that kind of idea with a bit of metallic detailing.  That would be fashionable, stylish, and go with plenty of things in my wardrobe.  I can find that idea either totally flat or with a seven inch heel and integrated platform interpretation.  

Things went far better in the fabric store.  I got the one fabric I wanted, some chocolate brown 8 oz twill for a nice pair of pants (or a nice skirt) and I got some retro-inspired print jersey and some nice pastel Pucci inspired stretch silk satin.  Yes, you read that correct, stretch silk satin.   Wow!  i want to make a halter style tunic with it or something that will take advantage of both the stretch and the gorgeous drape.  The knit is going to be a top similar to the other retro print one, with the high waist, a bit of drapery over an underbodice...I'll have to draw a picture! 

Finally, I went the the world's greatest bead store, Bead Bazaar and got more of those wonderful little moonstone butterflies.  I'm going to combine them with some clear AB crystals and a few pink crystals and some silver wires to make a net of butterflies and sparkles.  they are also having a bracelet contest and I think I will enter it.  Bracelets are NOT my strongest designs, so this will be a challenge!  There's a ten dollar spending limit, which will also be a challenge.  I have a couple ideas, both are concepts I've explored before, but I will need to vary them to fit into the constraints of the challenge.    It should be fun.  And different!

What else?  Not much.  I think this whole month has been spent with one of us or the other of us trying to shake off some type of virus.  I think we are all better now, at least I hope we are all better! 

And that's all for today.  I'll scan the sketches for the top i want to make and maybe for the pants, too.  i should also scan a couple sketches for what I'm looking for in shoes!  Later!

Posted by lincatz at 12:07 PM EDT

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Mood:  not sure

It's finally warmed up!  For two days we had warm temps and rain.  This means we also now have a puddle in the basement and a floor that goes squish squish squish when walked on.  Every year same bat time same bat channel! When the melt is over and the floor is dry, I think a little home improvement project is in order: finding the crack, reaming it out, filling it with special cement, and patching the wall.  Ripping out the carpet is probably a good idea, I'm not as much into toxic mold as I am other more friendly fungi, a nice thick resilient vinyl floor is probably more practical for the basement than thick carpet, especially when a river runs through it.

Dave and Dan both have a flu with cough, sore throat, fever, the whole nine yards. Dave stayed home yesterday and spent the day sleeping, barking and clearing his throat.  Today Dan is staying home.  So far Ben and I are flu free.

Dan got his job contract.  He'll be working from end of April this year to end of May next.  He's getting a good salary and he's really looking forward to the job.  he's going to probably buy an XBox or a Wii with his first paycheck, likely the XBox because he has software to make games for that system.  He's also going to need a business casual wardrobe, so we'll be shopping for that together.  He has a fashion expert at home and he's decided to take full advantage of me.  I don't know if that's good or bad...  But it does mean I got to go shopping!  Now we are debating how much to charge him for rent.  I think a few hundred a month is good, so does Dave.

I mentioned the black lace and spandex top that used to be my favourite, etc...so yesterday I cut out and made a replacement.  Yay!  i now have one of my favourite items of clothing again.  It took about an hour and a half from beginning to end, and that included replacing the neck because i did it wrong the first time. 

It's Autism Awareness Day.  We are very aware of Autism, especially Asperger's. 

It also an anniversary for Dave and me.  April second was the day of a friend's birthday and we met at his 21 birthday party, the one I didn't want to go to because it was in the middle of the whole Paul debacle and disaster. Still sort of sad and mad over all that --too many people sticking their noises where they didn't belong...even all these years later I'm still mad and sad.   Whoever said time makes thing better and heals wounds was an idiot.  As The Dixie Chicks so succinctly said, I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down, and I'm still mad as hell etc.  As I said, that was the one bright spot in that whole miserable time, meeting Dave.  I was quite honest and told Dave I was just in a horrible pair of break ups and I needed rebound time.  We ended up dating after a year and a bit wait, and the rest, as they say, is history.  I think it would have been 25 or 26 years ago.  So today is the anniversary of when we met. 

And Happy Birthday to Randy Wilson because it's your birthday today, where ever you are Right now! We owe you a big one, don't we?

It's also Peanut Butter and Jelly day.  It is Children's Book day.  It's also nation reconciliation day.  I don't think so, not after quoting the Dixie Chicks!   Tomorrow is tweed Day, so get out you woollies and don't forget the anti itch cream.

There are new episodes of CSI on.  Wow.  Wasn't that amazing how Super Cop and his time warping Sunglasses of Justice shot all those bad guys before any of them had time to react?  It's like he was moving in real time and they were in slow motion.  He does that with explosions to, where he walks away in real time and the *whatever* blows up in slo-mo.  And they allow him to teleport, too!  That whole two part episode was obviously to bring Calliegh and Eric closer together, wasn't it?  And Elizabeth Berkley...former star of Showgirls, worst movie featuring boobies, she really makes the CarusoBot seem less wooden as an actor, doesn't she?  There's a difference between minimalism and the inability ot act, as these two so ably demonstrate.  Tonight New York ends the Second Life story line.  If they wanted it to be really like the on line cyber world of second life there should have been more giant walking and talking dicks.  And Furries.  And Furry dicks.  honestly, why do people waste their time on Second Life?  To prove they have no first life?

Here's a link to more free needlework patterns, including knitting, crochet and sewing.  It's the Coats yarn and thread website and there's plenty of patterns:  Click the pretty coloured letters here!   There are some really nice crochet clothing patterns.

And that's all for today! Dan is home and needs to do homework!  Later

Posted by lincatz at 12:16 PM EDT

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I have no strange animals or cuddly kittens today.  I do, however, have this link to a news story about the MYTHBUSTERS and how they are working on a special McGyver episode.  This is a watershed moment in pop-sci culture, the very moment when Geek culture collapses on itself in one gi-normous nerdgasm.

In less hyperbolic news, I finished the beach shirt I started yesterday after I left the computer.  I cut the patterns, cut the fabric and sewed it all together, except for the hems, in one afternoon.  I discovered a really cool way to attach the fronts, backs, and collar to the shoulder yoke in one piece, with two corners to turn.  The sleeves then went on in one long seam and then the side were another pair of long seams.  Then it was merely running all raw edges through the serger and voilà! A super nice beach shirt to wear over the bathing suit.  Nifty. The pattern I posted a while ago, I finally scaled it up from the graph paper size to actual wearable size.

We watched the eclipse of the moon.  The moon was a sort of burnt sienna red.  Then the clouds rolled in and from there on the moon wasn't visible.  It was cool.  Actually...truth be told...it was freezing!  I won't say that I hate winter, but once again I will say...imagine how wonderful spring is going to feel when it finally arrives!

Speaking of spring, Dave got me some crocuses in small pots.  He always gets me a couple crocuses.  I place them in the kitchen window and watch them sprout, bloom, grow, then turn brown.  By the time all the leaves are brown and the bulbs are ready to plant it's spring.  It makes Feb. and March go a bit quicker.

And that's all for today, not much I know.  Later!

Posted by lincatz at 11:18 AM EST

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Mood:  cool

Good thing I stayed home...it poured rain all afternoon!  Dan came home soaked.  It's turned warm again, about 20 and humid.  Not bad at all, really.  I'm going to try to go out today to Downtown Kitchener.  Ben refuses to come with me, he can't handle the aggressive panhandlers. I don't enjoy being screamed at when i refuse to part with my hard earned money that some weirdo will use for crack or worse, but after a while you learn to tune it out. 

I should mention I'm now working on a CLEAN KEYBOARD!  It was so disgusting that the keys would stick to my fingers and i would pull them off...not quite, but they were a rather interesting shade of grey and pizza.  Now it's just boring beige.  NEW RULE!  No more wanking while staring at internet porn, got that whoever the hentai is in the family! 

In other not so disgusting news, I finished the sewing part of the lumberjack shirt.  Now all i need to do is add eyelets and snaps and then lace the suede through the eyelets.  Later today I will finish up the brown skirt.  I'm happy I'm binding the raw edged rather than serging them, the fabric makes a ton of fuzz as it's going through the serger knife and I don't enjoy wool fuzz settling in my lungs as much as i used when i was younger.

Oh yes...CSI...it seemed to mostly go nowhere, didn't it.  The whole point of the show was Grissom asking Sara to marry him...and we almost got a kiss from those two.  This episode seemed more about developing characters and interaction than it did about solving crimes or violence or anything else.  Which is okay, I suppose.  Has Catherine gotten anything from her fabulously wealthy mobster dad yet?  How about her mom?  Is her mom now the what's the word for head gangster?  big Carp? big fish?  Whatever? Since fish made up a plot element...why did only that one guy have chesticles, shouldn't every guy in the area been sporting a nice pair?  And that letter found on the scientist's computer that Catherine handed that guy...if it was found on the guy's computer, then there should not have been a signature in ink on the paper, especially if it had just been printed by the cops.   OOPS!

And that's all for today.  By Monday the New Burda patterns magazine will be up in english and there are some really nice pattern in it.  Every once in a while they put out an issue that's a real keeper, filled with things that can be made over and over or things that are fashion classics.  This one has a collection of classic cocktail party clothes, from formal to semi formal.  It's a perfect magazine to hold onto for those times when you need a cocktail dress that looks special and can be made quickly.  Most of the pieces look like they can be embellished and customized.  The other companies should have their newest pattern up by monday, I hope Vogue has nothing as atrocious as that Peter Pan Getaway getup from Sandra Betzina again!

Time to go do things!  Later!

Posted by lincatz at 11:54 AM EDT

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Mood:  mischievious

I really enjoyed Project Runway last night!  I'm happy I didn't have to make anything with umbrellas!  And I'm thrilled they didn't have to use leaves or grass clippings or whatever! 

So we're getting to know the cast of characters a bit better.  Vidal is what you would get if you took Jay, Santino and Keith and rolled them up into one person.  Kendra is probably the most talented.  I loved her plaid dress right from the first moment she picked her umbrellas. Those two are top three candidates, unless they completely screw up.    Megan is a keeper simply because of her constant "I can't sew!" whine.  She's on the verge of a nervous breakdown every time she approaches the machine.  And it's soooo funny! The 20U is such an easy machine to learn and to use.  It does only two stitches, straight and zig zag, and it has so few dials and controls.  I only wish they'd show more of the sewing machines...sewing machine pr0n...stripped to the gears!

Iman seems to be finding her rhythm as host, she sounded less stilted this week.  As I said, you don't measure up is far more appealing than the fashion victim line.  The two weirdoes designers who make up heatherette were guest judges.  I HATE HEATHERETTE!  hate it.  Pant with the asses hanging out is the least of their crimes against fashion.  On the other hand...without Heatherette the girls at Go Fug Yourself would not have anywhere near as much material to feature.  And finally...Brian Bailey in his wonderful Seventies Porn Star moustache.  I would laugh more if I didn't have this thing for guys with moustaches... I find those seventies porn star 'staches appealing for some odd reason... hope he never loses that moustache... My hubby has had a 'stache at various times over the past almost twenty five years and he's looked totally cute in it...

I thing next week's challenge will be to design an outfit for the moms of the kids in the day care or make up a story about the mom ...there were plenty of little kids...and I wonder if this is going to be like the dog challenge only using kids instead of dogs.  I hope they don't call kids a fashion accessory! Calling dog fashion's hottest accessory was in bad taste, dog aren't objects, they are living creatures, like amoeba or pond scum or insects and deserving of the same respect those three get.

On to other news.  Also on last night was the greatest movie ever made about my life but it wasn't exactly like my life but it had elements similar to my life...I'm talking about Pretty in Pink, of course.  She should have stuck with Ducky~!  Okay...I KNOW I'm projecting my life into the movie...just because my Blaine believed rumours and false hoods doesn't mean that the real Blaine and his slightly weird fashion designer friend didn't work out and live happily ever after because it was just a movie after all~~  but she still would have been better off with a Ducky kind of guy; even if Ducky did end up years later on Two and Half Men being upstaged by an eleven year old kid.  Still...in an odd coincidence the song by OMD from that movie was what woke me up this morning.

And also, while I was sketching some ideas I was in front of the television.  The New Music was on, but it wans't featuring anything new.  They were talking about the movie "Control" the story of Joy Division and they were talking about the band and the impact that three short years of JD had on the world of music.  They included an interview with one of he members of Joy Division, Peter Hook.  He's an old man now!  Old and round and grey!  That was really cool, in a time-keeps-marching-on way.  He also mentioned that he likes some of the bands that have continued the JD legacy, mentioning two bands I really enjoy, Arcade Fire and The Killers.  It was all quite a treat as Joy Division seems to be going through some type of revival these days, with documentaries, a movie of their lives, and other things.  Here's a whole Metafilter thread about Joy Division with plenty more,   The old guy...that was the best though...we are all getting older aren't we?  I think it would have been far more disturbing to see him looking like some poorly preserved relic of the punk era, a bit too skinny, a bit too young looking,  you know...creepy old guy trying to hard to hang onto his glory days of his youth.   I first heard JD shortly before Ian Curtis's death, in spite of what I told John.  Very bleak.  I still consider Love Will Tear Us Apart "our song" in regards to Paul.  Still one of my favourite bands.  And I don't consider also liking New Order to be any type of betrayal, so get over it!

Last television thing...Here's the funniest and truest thing I've read about CSI:Miami ~~ It's from a message board and I'm quoting: CSI: Miami needs to get rid of Caruso. Fast. Also, Speed's ghost should become a regular. And lose Ryan and Natalia. Basically the show should be Speed's ghost helping Delko and Calleigh solve crimes. That would be so much better than what we have now.   I hear ya, sister!  That would be the best thing on Television.  And our local newspaper TV review is such a moron he actually likes that awful Caveman show!  He's the only person anywhere who has had something positive to say other than "the worst show in the history of bad television."

I am not an obsessed fan of CI. This woman here is the worlds most obsessed fan.   She's spent thousand in a world wide effort to keep Sara on CSI:Las Vegas  I like sara, I like the romance and if they get married and then send her off camera for the rest of the series then I could live with that.  it wouldn't be the first time...she could be like Maris on Frasier...remember Niles' invisible wife?  Or Norm from Cheers and his invisible wife. They don't need to kill her, just send her somewhere and keep her part of the show, just not on screen.

I'm working hard on the brown heather wool skirt.  I have to carefully pick off the appliqués when sewing seams and darts otherwise they are too bulky. The fabric responds well to pressing.  I'm going to need a lining for this as the weave is a bit loose.  And I'm going to need to use a binding on all the seam allowances.  The fabric is quite ravelly so a little extra care and attention will keep the thing from shredding while wearing.  It took about ten minutes to sew the entire yoke, including the invisible zipper.  Mr Anderson does a bang up job with invisible zippers!  Fast and flat without that bubble that you sometimes get. 

I'm also working on the plaid lumberjack shirt.  It will take little time to make.  I do one thing that maye seem odd and is not what pattern instruction say, but I find it works best for me.  I always interface and sew up the picky little things first, like cuffs, collars, those little sleeve chimney shaped vents...all the little things that can drive a person crazy.  I do them at the beginning while I'm still brimming with enthusiasm over a project, that way when I'm at the three quarter stage, when I'm starting to wonder "will this ever be done?" I'm simply sewing these to their correct places and I'm not bogged down in cuffs and turning collars.  It makes it easier for me. 

And one more odd little thing, I think I mentioned it long ago, and apparently it's still around.  It's called SporeWorks and it has everything you need for growing your own mushrooms.  Yummy!  How about a front yard filled with Torks?  Agricus Bitorquis grows like a weed around here, but not in the winter. They look like giant store mushrooms. Or perhaps some grifolas, or maybe some nice hericium?  Yummy!  Or perhaps a few Flammulinas?  Either the white or the brown ones!  Or maybe some nice mushroom fan would appreciate her very own Shittake log...keep it as a pet, water it frequently and occasionally harvest its fruit.  That would be a wonderful present for someone who loves fungi!

And that's all for today.  Now I must go and descale my dishwasher.  it's filled with lime scale and makes this horrible noise.  Later!

Posted by lincatz at 12:47 PM EDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Hello! We had a very nice weekend.  On Friday afternoon I took some black knit fabric that has been in my stash for a few weeks and made a really nice top with lace trim at the neckline and the cut away armholes are bound in bia cut black satin.  It took all of about two hours from start to finish, not counting half and hour hunting for the black satin.  I wore it on Sunday.  I also came up with a truly spiffy idea for some pink and brown border print.  I'm going to do a slash, gather and stitch idea, so I have something that looks like a ruffled skirt, but is made in one piece of fabric with only three seams.

Saturday we went to the market, this time the bread lady had two dozen loaves sitting there!  I bought three.  I spent the afternoon working on my painting, it's going quite well.  I close my eyes and i see various shades of rose pink.

Yesterday we went off the the Studio tour, the one my dad participates in every year.  For the past twenty years it's charmingly and consistently inconsistent.  Some art is good, some is fabulous and some is quite amateur.  In some cases one artist can have all three! The newest artist is a wood carver from Ghana, Africa.  he carves masks and statues of gods and goddesses.  His work is detailed and expressive. 

You know what I hate?  Going to the computer in the morning and seeing the thing didn't shut down properly, and the red hard drive light is glowing and not flashing.  I hate when I reset it and all I get is a long beep and three short beeps.  I hate that "windows is recovering from a serious melt down-delete everything?" message.  Fortunately I a brief time with the power off and the plug unplugged gave it a chance to rest and recover, then it came back fine and dandy.  I think that's the computer equivalent of a medically induced coma.

I have mentioned that i contribute to a fashion column, and one huge thing we deal with every day is knock offs, counterfeits and fakes.  Knock offs are okay, such as what you find at places like H&M or Suzy Shier.  Not everyone can afford 300$ for a shirt, and with H&M you get most of the style in a cheaper fabric with slightly different construction. For a fad item that will be out in a couple moths, it makes sense.  What I take issue with is fakes and counterfeits.  That plastic Chanel bag isn't fooling anyone.  So in this spirit I present the worth1000 photoshop collections of fake it , if other items were faked the same way designer items are faked. I like the replica rolex at the top...that's what it comes down to, isn't it?

So today Ben and I are going to the school so Ben can get something signed and then we stick the signed something in an envelope and then after a few eeks the something will be returned and then we can get another bunch of papers that need to be filled in and signed...ah yes, welcome to the bureaucracy.

And that's all for today!  Later!

Posted by lincatz at 11:48 AM EDT

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Mood:  bright

My Dad is doing well, thanks for asking. He's now restless and wants to get out of bed, but it's still too uncomfortable.  He'll need to wait a few more weeks before riding motorcycles, horses or see-saws.

I got some yarn.  it was on sale.  It's pink with silver threads and grey with silver threads.  I want to make a candy pink sparkling sweater for cold dreary winter days, something cheerful and bright. The yarn is "gatsby" by Katia yarns and a picture is here I m using the very top two on the left, the pink and silver.  As a ruffled accent for the front and neck of the sweater I'm using this yarn in pink and silver, Sevilla, a satin ribbon type yarn

It's almost time for our annual trek to Sauble Beach!  Yay!  Time to haul out the flip flops sunscreen and bug spray!  Yay!  Because it's labour day weekend we get two extra days for the price of seven! Yay!  We miss sand festival and the car show.  BOOO!  Oh well! I enjoy the annual trip to the beach, get away from everything, no timetables or schedules except, morning: walk on beach and gather shells, afternoon: swim at beach, evening: watch sunset over the beach, night: campfire!  We're going with Dan's girlfriend's parents they have the cottage beside the one we have.  It's usually quite fun and we do some things as separate families; I do enjoy hiking through swamps more than they do.  Nothing is more fun that dip-netting for little swamp critters that live in the water.

Do you need an idea?  How about a revolutionary inflatable book?  or a Computerized illuminating concept? Or and Automatic aquatic appliance?  Find all your ideas through the use of this handy dandy little IDEA GENERATOR! And you too can come up with an idea as brilliant as a luxurious morphing sound system.  Now I'm off to make my jewel encrusted, glitter furniture!

So did you hear that Phil Rizzuto died?  That's sad.  Back in the day when Blue Jays games were only broadcast once a week and cost 15$ a month to watch Dave and I watched Yankees games on the buffalo fox station before fox existed.  He made the games fun and interesting, he certainly was no talking head with little to say.  And not just his holy cow...but everything he said.  He had tons of stories and none were boring.  Too bad most baseball people on TV are all bland clones of each other with nothing unique to add.  (except Pat Tabler when he once said "Is that a real word?  I've been accused of using malaproperties!")  Anyways, he was cool.

I'm not a fan of wood chips, a neighbour tore out all his grass and replaced it with red wood chips.  In very hot weather you can smell the chips heating up; it's a slightly nauseating smell, and if you touch them, they get quite hot.  I wonder if they will ever get hot enough to spontaneously combust, like these wood chips did?  It's a good thing no one was playing in the park at the time.  So they are planning to replace the wood chips with soft, easy for kids to fall on and not hurt themselves gravel!

And that's all for today.  I know, another light day.  Maybe after the warmth of summer has passed.  Or whatever...Later!

Posted by lincatz at 10:22 AM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 15 August 2007 12:32 PM EDT

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It's freaking HOT!  Yesterday was 32 with an almost 38 humidex, and today is supposed to be hotter still.  I have everything closed up and the AC turned on.  There hasn't been a lot of heat this year, it's been quite pleasant.

Yesterday I took an old denim skirt and a pair of jeans and remade them into a new skirt.  The skirt, from the thrift was one of those really short ripped hem American Eagle skirts where the old booty hung out a bit too much...but it had rhinestone and nailhead trim...and the jeans were old worn out ones of Dave's with pant legs that were still good... I put the two together and voilà!  New jean skirt that covers everything.   I made it with the help of Mr Anderson, and I finished it in less than an hour.  I gave Mr Anderson a nice chisel pointed 16 denim needle and he didn't complain once, not even when i asked him to sew eight layers of denim.  He wasn't thrilled with the thick gold top stitch thread, but no machine likes thick yellow top stitch thread.

The rest of the day was spent trying to stay cool.  Today I need to go for some groceries, but I don't want to go out in the heat!  SOmone call the WAAAAmbulance!

Tomorrow's lughanasd or first harvest, a pagan holiday.  Since no one can pronounce or spell it, it's shortened down to "civic holiday" or long weekend in august. Sometimes it's also known as Lammas, but that's for wimps who can't wrap either their tongues or keyboards around....that other one! It's the start of the harvest season.  Let's go get some fresh corn on the cob!

Now it's off to cut out some bathing suit fabric.  I have a ton of pink spandex and clear elastic...so I want to make a few bathing suits.  One basic one-piecer, a skirted tankini, and maybe a fancier one piece.  I have enough for at least ten or more suits!  And I have some embellishments to go with it.  Later! 

Posted by lincatz at 11:23 AM EDT

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Mood:  loud

No entry yesterday because One: Dan doesn't have a job assignment this week and he's working on a computer game for a contest and there's a tight deadline and Two:  the limited time I had I spent watching the half hour special "Star Wars Robot Chicken" over the interweb.  That was freaking hilarious! One of the best Robot Chickens ever.  It started with the mad doctor dressed like Palpatine and the chicken on the side of a volcano and then doctor turns the chicken into Darth Chicken, and then from there it turns really strange.  I'm trying to find it but it seems to be gone. Oh well.  It was great fun!

I got the pictures from my brother.  I don't think a single picture that's 5MB is a good thing to put on a blog, do you?  They turned out quite nice.  When I saw Steve on Monday his youngest was hoping we would go canoing again.  He was a bit disappointed that we didn't.  (so was I!)

Did I mention I got to fabricland?  I did.  I got a few lengths of fabric and I'm busy cutting and sewing.  Mr Anderson makes quick work of elastic waist skirts.  He makes quick work of almost everything.  I'm really mastering the whole speed issue.  I had to do a bit of specialty stitching on my old kenmore and it was turtle slow.  I'm making a nice boho skirt for Dan's girlfriend.  For me, I now have four pairs of shorts cut and in various stages on construction.

Today is the last full day of school ever! for Ben.  He's all done high school.  Now we have to call the jobtrack people and get him set up in the job training life skills program.  Now it gets kind of scary, he's got to go out and get a job and make money and all that.   And he's still just a kid who likes to play with legos and k'nex.  Scary.

So what else is going one?  Not much that's exciting to write about.  Cutting patterns is exciting for me, but boring for everyone else.  I'm playing with crotches, yes you read that right, especially the curves and how the crotch fork relates to the body and how to prevent the dreaded "camel toe"  The first pants pattern I made had a terrible case of camel toe, now I know that I had far too much fabric in the seam allowance and in the crotch curve.  I also now know how to add the secret action crotch gusset that allows for maximum movement.  It's an extra diamond shaped wedge inserted right at the...but I'm not telling...it's a secret!

A kit  to knit a Viking Helmet for a new born baby.  There are two new babies in the neighborhood.  I can hear then crying at the same times everyday.  I'm happy my youngest is going to his last day of high school.  He sleeps through the night, doesn't wear diapers and doesn't spill all his food on the floor.  Most of the time.

And that's all for today.  See you tomorrow when i will write about all the exciting ways to change a throat plate and feed dog mechanism.

Posted by lincatz at 10:59 AM EDT

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