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Monday, March 30, 2020

My keeping up the moral challenge

A sketch to start


 In the spirit of "Keeping up moral"

and practicing what I preach


I am going to try to keep up with pictures and

posting my progress on this project


Here is where everything starts

An Idea, 



Peacock on the velvet dress
That leads to a drawing

or in this case a drawing set down long ago


because I liked the way it looked but never used
Although That's not quite true either

I did use it on a dress

A dress I have yet to finish

but the peacock is done here

Nekkid block in it's frame

But I digress








This is typically how I start a project


I get all my thoughts in one place and start









Dress paper pattern
I like using the blank ends to dress pattern paper

because it tears away fairly easily

without distorting my sewing

I draw the pattern I want to use on it first with

pencil and then again with sharpie so I can see it

I pin it down and lay down stem stitch for an outline


Sorry sidways





 Then fill in what ever stay stitching I need

to keep the whole thing stable

While I stitch away











 Not too shabby for a nights work


If you want to know what bits and pieces

I am working with

just leave me a message here

or on FB And I will try to answer it









Friday, March 27, 2020

More thoughts-It gets better?

Yeah, life as we know it has gotten very simple and very complicated at the same time, so we are in a pattern of waiting. Waiting is hard on a human. Anticipation even worse. Then you throw in uncertainty in government and you get a witches brew of antsy unhappy people second guessing every decision and snapping at who's left at home.

I have said this before and it bears repeating, I am afraid of my government. Before even when I hated who was in charge and I knew they were wrong, there also seemed to be enough people out there who had our back, who would stand and be counted, who would be that voice of reason.
While yes, we have those voices out there now, there seems to be less of them, more muted this time, less strident.  The government, more unhinged and willing to throw the country away, remake it in their short-sighted, self-centered image, full stop.

The deluge of contradictory information coming out of the government and the media does not help anything. I worry now that saner heads will not prevail. That those with selfish agendas will lean toward those with religious agendas and create an evil, to potent to put down by simply voting it out. The fault lines this time are not as clear as north and south, they are muddy, sneaky and deep.

Those in charge talk but I am watching what they do and it is at odds with what they say.

And now we are all stuck in our homes and that same government is trying their damnedest to take what they can, while we are distracted. The DOJ wants to strip us of habeas corpus so they can throw who they want in a deep dark hole with no recourse. The senate is trying to fleece the taxpayer of hundreds of billions with no oversight, under the auspices of "relief" but the wording  blocks us from knowing, to whom they will give it

Local municipalities are begging the government for aid and being told, to fix it themselves, when the resources to do so, are still locked up under control of a wh unwilling to cede it. Its the equivalent of telling someone, to fix a bridge and then locking the tools in a shed.

It is no longer a case of could we/should we. It is a case of we can but we won't. It is become evil. Malevolent and if it was unconscionable before, it has become untenable now.

With us all stuck in our homes and Isolated. To the worriers amongst us who know, not only history in general but our own in particular, this is a very uncomfortable place to be.
To strident a call to action sounds crazy, like an over reaction, to those who still trust that the government has rules. To little and we are in the same uncomfortable place, only sharper because our conscience will not willingly let us be silent for long.

We know the government is taking advantage, we understand the stakes, we are trying to fix the bridge with out the tools, we simply don't know what else to do.

These were my thoughts last week, I didn't post them because I thought, wow, that's too dark.
Too depressing in a time when we are all, probably, at least leaning towards depression.
But do I feel any better this week? Well, good question. What has changed in a week.

The president has become, yet again an international embarrassment and a domestic impediment.
I am no more inclined to trust the government, than I was a week ago. The republicans are showing us, in vivid detail, the depth of their contempt for the average american. When they show you who they are, believe them. Key democrats are a glimmer of hope and have managed to pull an emergency bill out of the pork fat but how long will their spine last?

Several Governors are being the leaders that we need. Loudly proclaiming their willingness to do what is necessary, despite the financial consequences.  They are the soldiers on the ground for this battle. They are the ones we should listen to. "All politics are local" or so the saying goes. And since we have no help coming from the big G government, we must look to the little g. This makes the scope of all this a little more easy to comprehend, maybe.

I am still pessimistic but the fatality of it seems to have passed. Still locked in, same as everyone else.
Trying to look at things in a more, what I have, as opposed to what I haven't.

So my advice, if you are feeling helpless and claustrophobic is, do something. Even if you have a million and 10 backlog of old projects that need finishing. Start something new.
A new project always makes me feel better. It's full of possibilities. Pulling things out of your stash to coordinate, picking a pattern, working on it and that feeling of accomplishment, when it is done.

I challenge you all out there who read this, go do something new.
It doesn't have to be big, in fact start small. Do something that can be done in a day, a table runner, a pin cushion, a needle book.  Just give yourself a kick-start.
Then you can go do one of those many UFO's, you have laying around.
I want you to feel that "I have accomplished something" good feeling.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Life in the time of Corona Virus

It seems we are all headed to the same place for a time, confined to our domiciles in fear of the virus now sweeping our country. I am fortunate in that  live in a more rural area and getting out of the house for a walk and some fresh air is easy, peasy. I also have plenty of projects to keep me busy from quilting and other crafts to getting the garden ready and a spring clean (Oh no!) if absolutely necessary.

I understand being mewed up at home seems an untenable situation right about now but we have all sorts of newfangled things we can do and share, from our public libraries to virtual garden and museum tours. Social media has made it so much easier to share with family and friends and keep in touch.

So instead of struggling against our shackles and railing against the tyranny of A shelter in place order, we all take stock of what we have been putting off because we didn't have the time to do  it before.

 Maybe time to catch up on all those books I buy and never have enough time to read.
Or all the project books I collect and never seem to have enough time to do.
All the stash I accumulate and never seem to use.
All the movies we have to watch and never seem to get around to.
All the chores around the house that never seem to get done.
It seems I have a plethora of things to keep me occupied.

So why do I feel this urge to break out and run away?
It might be the little rebel in me that hates to follow the rules.
That chafes at the whole idea of a mandatory confinement.
Its that mental thing we do as humans in which it is fine for us to stay at home doing nothing but binge watch the newest tv show but the minute someone tell us "YOU MUST" we all revolt in a fit of "You aren't the boss of me!" like the 5 year old, we still sometimes are.

I'm a homebody at the best of times and spend much of my time in solitude, not speaking to anyone other than the cats. So this is not all that different than a normal day, for me. Other than the addition of my dear husband, who no longer needs me to take him to the bus every morning or be picked up at night. We spend our days in not dissimilar ways from before the virus came to town.

I think we are lucky in that. Those who's lives are busier with Children, friends and family may have a much harder time with the solitude of Quarantine.

We are all in the same boat here, piecing together the what and how from available information has become easier and at the same time difficult because of our media and social networks. not to mention the conflicting and erroneous information coming from the government who is supposed to have a handle o this and so very apparently does not.

I have no answers either, only suggestions. Listen to the experts the scientists and epidemiologists, they say this will get better if we all stay home and limit our interactions with others.
It may go against every doer and shaker out there but it is what has worked for china which is on the other side of this so far.

Introverts unite! Separately in your own homes!

Be well my friends

Monday, March 16, 2020

Brownie Spirit




She looks comfie enough to sleep on doesn't she?

I am getting better at swirlies too!

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Bugs,bugs, bugs





 Lady bugs more precisely


They re kind of in inchie territory

if you stuffed and mounted it











Next to embroidery scissors to see the scale









Upside down to see the bottom

I buttonhole stitched a small safety pin so I can wear it















Now there are two

there are technically three

but I gave one to my DD#2

She is my ladybug girl

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Slough Spirit

What is a "slough" you may ask?

Pronounced sloo,  it is a swamp or wetland or a side channel or inlet, or a natural channel that is only sporadically filled with water.

We have a lot of those  around here in high summer you can walk on them just fine

but throughout the winter and spring one can sink up to ones knees into them and not only loose your shoes but your pants if you are not careful!

We have been very, very wet around here this year.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Sprouting Spirit

Every March I start to get that feeling of potential in the air

Things eire beginning to pop up throughout the yard

and Spring is just around the corner

So in celebration of that  this spirit doll is sprouting

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Go Vote people!


A new Spirit doll I call her Voting Spirit

I am trying to stay as upbeat as possible, even though all the candidates I wanted to win, have all dropped out now.

*Sigh*

Maybe we will get a woman next time around

Who knows, maybe The next guy to win will set things right.

I have sopped saying "It can't get any worse"

because the universe seems to be taking that as a challenge .

















 there are a couple more inchies too




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