It's the Constitution, Stupid...

There's been a lot of buzz about #MangoMussolini wanting to "defer" the election. But then again, today he tweeted that he wants it sooner. 

Here's the thing, folks: HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING about the date. Period. Full stop. End of sentence. This is what the Constitution (you know, that document he keeps trying to set flame to) says: Article II, Section 1: ‘The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.'

Back in April, 2020, the website Constitution Daily started speculating that, due to COVID-19, there might perhaps be a delay or postponement of the upcoming election. But before you start clutching your pearls, here's what they ultimately said:

What remains clear is that only the states and Congress have the power to delay that part of the election process. “Unlike the practice of some states that allow the Governor to postpone an election during emergencies, neither the Constitution nor Congress provides any similar power to the President or other federal officials to change this date outside of Congress’s regular legislative process,” the report says.

Congress also would have the power, by changing the appropriate statutes, to change the general election date and as well the dates electoral votes are received in Washington and counted in Congress. Such changes would require the consent of the House and the Senate and would be extraordinary since “the presidential election date has never been changed in response to an emergency,” the CRS concluded.

In essence, if we didn't change the election during the CIVIL WAR, there's not a snowball's chance in an Illinois August that we're changing it now. Even the Republicans are walking back (quickly) from that, with - gasp! - TEXAS saying, "Yeah...no. Election day is November 3, 2020." Even #MoscowMitch, TED CRUZ and #LeningradLindsey aren't budging on this one, though Cruz did kvetch about the "voter fraud" problem*.... Which isn't...

A professor of law and political science from University of California's Irvine School of Law (you will agree that this isn't exactly a schlock institution, ya think?) said, "Election fraud committed with absentee ballots is more prevalent than in-person viting but it is still rare," and he cites a dataabse created by News21, a national investigative reporting project that tracks cases of election fraud. The findings? Absentee ballot fraud comprised about 24% of reported prosecutions between 2000 and 2012 (twelve years). The number of cases? 491 - in a period where literally BILLIONS of votes were cast. 

Want a bit more irony? #MangoMussolini himself voted via absentee ballot in the 2018 midterm elections... 

Really. If the news media is going to publish every piece of manure that drips from his disgusting lips? At least have sense enough to do some basic research. 

The Garden...

Well, the wildflowers are in a riotous burst of color. And I've managed to harvest a couple of pods of poppy seeds. The Monarchs are looking a bit bedraggled, as you can see from this picture. Poor baby... I hope that the one caterpillar I saw is a survivor. My milkweed also looks a bit worse for the wear, too. 

OK, so I'm not liking the new Blogger interface... TWICE -- having to upload the same picture and now it just ate my text. Bah!!! So let's see how it reacts now; I'm just going to type what I wrote before, and see what the picture does. Hmmm. Not what I want it to do - I sort of thought that the text would wrap around the pictures. This isn't useful if it's not going to do that. Anyway, in this picture you can see the dill is even getting scraggly. I need to take the "weed whacking tool" and scrape out the weeds; without dislodging the wildflowers. Hubby still has a hard time telling one from the other. I'd love to get some Queen Anne's Lace in there - maybe next year. 

It appears that now, I have to figure out how to use the new interface; and it's going to mess up my process again. It used to be that the pictures kind of lead what I was writing about. I'd upload a bunch of them, write, and then insert them where they were supposed to go. But now??? Jeeze, Blogger!! Don't make it easy. Change for the sake of change is useless to me. Please pardon how wonky this will look till I figure it all out... 

Hubby's orchids are looking good - there's a beautiful cluster of the blossoms on one of the miniature phals. He's so excited! There's also a blossom on the wonky little butterwort plant we have near the orchids. It's supposed to keep away any "fruit flies" that come around; I haven't seen it do anything one way or the other, but it has tossed up a blossom, so there you go. He fusses over his orchids like a mother hen over her chicks, which is fine with me. We have two large cattleyas which I hope bloom soon. They're certainly throwing up the leaves! Now, let's show some blossoms, kids!

Crafting Away...

Today, I spent time in the sewing/yoga/music/office space... One day, it'll be a defined space, but then again, maybe that IS the definition. I still have to continue to organize and declutter in that space. It's taking a while. 

A few pics here. I tried a new way to do the ties for my masks and I finally did my alpaca ones. The tie, which is binding tape, goes over my head and ties around the back of the neck. It's a bit fiddly - and I should have just split the binding tape length in half. One of these is shorter than the other, but they both work. It's going to take a bit of messing around to get it to fit correctly. But I like the idea of being able to untie ONE tie and take the whole thing off. 

Isn't that alpaca fabric fun? I just love it. I also finished a green-ish mask for Kid #2. It has regular ties. I asked my sister if BIL would like one, and she said, "pattern is too flashy." To me, this looks like a Grandpa tie. But what do I know? I ask you -- does that look FLASHY?? Hubby even raised an eyebrow at that. But who are we? I'd rather make a mask for someone who'll wear it. The Kid said he had some "old cotton shirts" and wants me to make masks out of them. This should be fun. Hopefully, they're not t-shirts. I hate sewing jersey!

I have about 10 more of the 3-pleat masks to do to add to the "Mask Fundraiser" pile. Got several of them pinned, and will do the rest of the sewing over the weekend. I also have to mail Kid #1's birthday gift to him soon. It's going to be late, but I think he's not home anyway - at least his GF's social media feed looks like that's the case. 

On the other hand, I did also get my Backpack Buddha order of Mayan masks. The masks are made by the indigenous people and the proceeds go to help the local community, which I like. They're well-made and reasonably priced though there's not much information on how to care for them. I can't imagine just tossing them in the wash, mostly due to the velcro on the ties. It's all recycled cotton, which is always good. And it's tightly woven, also good. These are certainly different, particularly in the way they attach to your head!

I'm not entirely sure how to keep them clean, but I'll figure that out. I like the nose piece on these. They did not fog my specs and they stay away from my mouth. I just can't handle the masks touching my mouth because it feels like I'm swallowing it. And the ties are velcro! One over the head, one behind the neck. I had no choice of colors; I have one that's "Navy tones" and this one is "tan tones." I'm fine with that. I love the Aztec pattern and while the black on the nose and under the chin might be a bit dark, I can't help but think these might be more comfortable overall. I like the ones that are more fitted, as  you can tell. And so do most people. 

Hubby wears one that's got a washable, changeable filter. We got one for Kid #2 for school (in case they're going back - still not sure...) and I have one. I just have a hard time with it -- I really think it's more for guys because I have a hard time keeping it on my head. The velcro (points for that) is all the way at the smallest size when I've tried to wrap it around the back of my head. And it slips off my hair. But it has its good points - fitted and the filter thingie is handy. 

The Long Sands tee is moving along. I'm almost at the point of knitting in the round. The drop stitch row went ok -- I did find that I didn't exactly do the "P1, YO" row correctly - I did a couple purls in a row in more than a few places. But I don't care. Really. If you get close enough to the hem of this shirt to notice that? You and I had better be married! Belive me, Hubby won't even notice. 

And I have a Knitting Story to tell you, sweeties... I was reading the pattern, kind of figuring out what was going on. I saw StSt (stockinette stitch) and it said "Knit all rows." I pondered that for a moment or 10...and then I looked it up. 

Stockinette stitch is clearly NOT "knit all rows." That's actually Garter Stitch. But the photo of the project definitely shows StSt as the body of the tee. I'm now confused and doubting myself. And I'm staying up wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too late... So I fire off a query to the designer about the whole thing and I toddle off to bed. 

At 4 a.m. (I swear...) I sit bolt upright in the bed and say, "You moron... When you're knitting in the round, StSt automatically happens by knitting every row. Think of every single Vanilla sock you've ever knit, stupid!"

Later that morning, checking my messages, I find a very sweet message from the designer explaining exactly that, only nicer. I reply back with my "before dawn epiphany" and the designer replies, "Can't even tell you how many times I've done that!" I love me some Quince & Co.!

Random Picture...

We've been trying to see a comet; and I think it's gone now. It's been too light (too much light pollution) or too cloudy. Tonight, Hubby points outside...I thought, "This is it."

It wasn't. But it was beautiful. The sunset would've been perfect if the houses across the street weren't there. Not like I want to get rid of my neighbors. 

Maybe I just want to live where there's lots of sky... That being said, this does remind me of the old adage: Red sky at morning, sailors take warning; Red sky at night, sailor's delight. 

Whatever Mother Nature wants to show me in the evening? I'll take it. There are a lot of things wrong with Illinois. But the one thing we do really well here in the collar counties is "sunrise and sunset."                                                                                                                     Right now, we're on the cusp of taking every gain we've made in the past 4 months and flushing it.  We're doing crap on our COVID rates as we speak, but this sky is saying something: night follows day as day follows night. 

The Key to...

not twisting 350 stitches on a circular needle is..... to start out FLAT.

I started my Long Sands Tee (Quince & Co.) (here is the Ravelry link) using their Sparrow yarn, which is linen. I love linen, but I don't like knitting with linen yarn. I'm using colorway Moon, which is a gorgeous pewter color. 

The top itself has THIRTEEN INCHES of positive ease - so let's just call it really "floaty." For the size I need, I had to cast on 350 stitches. They call for 32" circulars - which isn't nearly enough. I did what they said, and it didn't last long; I ended up frogging. Went to Betsy's in Lockport, and bought 40" circulars (the largest they had) and started over. 

But I have to tell you about the cast on method I used. There was virtually no way I was going to "wrap stitches" to "estimate" the tail. I found the "Two Ball Cast On." I am in love. In. Love. This isn't exactly the link, but it's close enough. I thought I'd saved it, but apparently not. 

And another new thing...It's just been a great learning experience so far... After the frogging, I reached out on the Hive Mind of Facebook, and learned that, for a large number of stitches on a circular needle, one trick is to knit 2-3 rows FLAT, and then join in a circle. You can see whether you're twisted after the 2-3 rows of flat knitting and you're way less likely to twist. 

Jazzed with that, I am! 

The next new thing I'm learning is drop stitch. I dislike drop stitch stuff intensely. Reminds me of runs in nylons, frankly. But this is basically a tiny drop stitch after a row (350 stitches, did I mention???) of k1, yo, k1... So it won't be obnoxious. 

The shirt has a cap sleeve, and honestly, I'd wear a tank under it. It'll be a nice shirt for actually 3 seasons. 

Closing in on 200...

Masks, that is. I've made the pleats smaller, so I can get 3 of them in. We're thinking about doing them as a church fundraiser, since our Rummage Sale (spring & fall) is likely kaput for 2020. 

I'm working on several for Kid #2, since it looks like in Illinois, we don't give a rat's rear end for teachers... put 'em in classrooms where you can't circulate the air, social distance, or even open a window. With 1200+ kids in the average high school, plus another few hundred in teachers, staff, and ancillary personnel in there? 

Yeah. Let's just open the schools. 

Ahem. I digress. 

Anyway, what we were thinking was that we could put the masks out, ask for a $10 donation per mask, and maybe make a bit of money that we've essentially lost with the lack of rummage sale profits. 

We'll see how that goes. I'm also doing another of the more "fancy" masks for myself, using an over-the-head kind of tie so that it only takes a bow in the back. We'll see how that works. I want to get that one done prior to my next yoga training. 

I used a "coffee filter" mask (that's what I call the procedural masks that loop over the ears) for the last weekend training, and it was kind of a pain in the ears... I prefer the ties. But I need something a bit lighter than the ones I made for myself that were lined with flannel. Much too hot for summer!

Got Smoothies...

Well, I went a little nuts with the smoothies this week. You think I have enough? 

In my defense, I now only have about half of the Mason jar left. Here's the recipe:


2 T. Maca Powder
2 scoops your favorite protein shake powder
1 c. coconut water
1 avocado, do the usual prep...
1 cucumber, peeled & chunked
2 stalks celery, trimmed and chunked
1 Granny Smith apple, quartered
2 carrots, chunked
1 head romaine, chunked
1 piece of ginger, about 2" or so
6 ice cubes
1 c. frozen berries
1 cup Siggi's Yogurt, your favorite flavor
Extra coconut water if needed

WASH YOUR PRODUCE.... Use Thieves Fruit & Veggie wash (no need to wash the frozen berries - but if you use fresh? Wash 'em! 

In a VitaMix or Bullet or whatever you have, ingredients in as follows: 
Coconut water
Powders
Granny Smith
Carrots
Celery
Romaine
Avocado
Ginger
Berries
Yogurt
Ice cubes

Notice you're putting the "harder" stuff at the bottom, which, in the VitaMix at least, is the preferred method. Whiz. Adjust for thickness: Add more coconut water if needed. Don't make it too thick - you're not supposed to chew your smoothies, and if you're using a regular blender, a chunky smoothie is the quickest way to burn up a blender. 

Ask me how I know that...

Store in the Mason jar and however many extra containers you need. Use within 2 days. 

You can add any other fruit that you want; I'll often add a pear if I have it. But I like the Granny Smith for the snap. Always add veggies!!! If you just go with fruit, that's a LOT of sugar, even with using Siggi's (which has lots less sugar and a lot of protein). I don't add bananas -- too high in sugar for me. But if you use a banana, you don't necessarily need the yogurt. 

If you want, skip the coconut water and use almond or oat milk. 

I Broke the Dogs...

Or, the heat did. Well, I kinda broke Tippi. She wanted to go for a walk today, and Hubby said, "take her around the block." We made it 2 blocks. The humidity was awful. And she's recovering from a UTI, so I know the antibiotic knocked her for a loop - on top of giving her the runs. Poor baby... She came back in, drank about a gallon of water, and plopped over... Quinnie was behind my chair as always. 

Raisa, on the other hand, has now got the HVAC stuff figured out. She has found the kitchen AC vent and that's her spot. 


It is, of course, the most inconvenient spot, being right in front of the sink. 

Does she care?

Nope. 

Her butt is right by the vent. We call it her "Freezy butt seat." You should have seen her when we had to get the AC repaired. 

Thank goodness that day was in the 70s. She laid by the Freezy Butt Vent and there was no cold. She looked at me as if to say, "What the heck is this bamboozle???" 

Once the guy repaired it (we only needed a sploosh of freon), she was back at the Freezy Butt Vent and happy. She was mortally offended that, till he fixed it, she only had a fan to keep her cool. 

How Does My Garden Grow...

Well, pretty darned good in certain respects. My cherry tomatoes are coming along nicely; I usually buy Sweet 100s - very reliable. My romaine has bolted; I have one pot of parsley eaten to the nubs by the caterpillars. The kale and broccoli rabe have been eaten, I suspect, by Mama Woodchuck and her babies. She's living under the neighbor's tool shed. The neighbor keeps blocking the holes, and Mama just digs more. I suspect the neighbor should just give up, otherwise, the toolshed is going to fall into the huge hole Mama has dug...

My wildflowers are doing ok; the Brown-Eyed Susans are in bloom now. The rest of the garden is starting to fade, but it's time. 

I was quite skeptical when Hubby moved the tomatoes, parsley and lettuce to the deck. But he was right. Even though it's the north side of the house, it does get enough sun - and plenty of water with all the rain we've had. I have to tug the pansies away from the back door - they need to dry out a bit. They're a tad too soggy. 

It's so cool that the tomatoes are taller than I am. 

I can slice them up, and put them on pasta. A cool tomato on warm pasta or risotto is really quite yummy. Hubby says they taste spicy, but I don't think so. I think they're a bit sweeter this year. 

If the Beefsteak tomatoes come in, I'll be using those (and maybe some of my friend's Romas if she has extra) for a fresh batch of canned pizza sauce. 

The basil was really nice; I need to plant more of it next year. I don't have enough to do pesto, but I do have enough to add to a salad or to add to pasta sauce or pizza. My Rosemary, this year, is kind of slow. I have it in the same place as last year, but it's just not thriving. Not sure why. It's usually bigger by now. There's still enough to freeze, though. 

The Stormtroopers...

Apparently, the president of Chicago's police union wrote to Washington DC and asked for help. Not sure how the new Police Superintendent feels about that. But I am sure how the mayor feels. 


Having armed, unidentified "cops" in the street, just like they're doing in Portland, OR, is frightening. And unconstitutional, though that doesn't seem like it bothers anyone in DC lately. Can you smell the Constitution burning? 

There's a hot dog place called The Wiener's Circle. They're known for their "attitude." And lately, because of COVID-19, they've been doing business in a different fashion. You can call your order in, and then specify the "level of rudeness" you want. From basically just "Chicago rude" to F-bombs. 

It's a thing. 

This is their latest sign. In honor of the Stormtroopers. 

This is a swift fall toward authoritarianism, and martial law conveniently placed close to the 2020 election. It's also very bad theater for one madman. Who managed to conflate a test for dementia with a "genius" test. 

Citing the "failing New York Times".... (sorry, snark is now "off"), we have the Wall of Moms; the Wall of Dads. And now? The Wall of Vets. See the story here. Veterans have had it. After the beating of a Navy veteran who just wanted to talk to the "federales" -- they're now standing in front of the moms & dads. 

Now, given "white privilege" and all -- I get that many black moms are kind of upset about the idea of the Wall of Moms, given that they've been doing that for at least 2 generations. I hate the idea that we, as white women, are co-opting the thing they've been doing. 

I'm wondering how awful it sounds to just say, "But if we can get it noticed and change it, is that bad?" I don't know. I'd welcome discussion...

It will be interesting to follow up on the Portland story. The "cops" have now gassed the mayor, at which point #MangoMussolini crowed that he was "pathetic." 

Mirror, dude. Just look in a mirror. THAT is pathetic. 

Random Picture...

So I did something I'd been toying with; just something to "check off my list." I had my stylist put a few purple stripes in my hair. Jeeze - I'd forgotten that "hair dye" takes forever!! I was there for 2 hours! Now, as you can see, with short hair? I'm in and out. 

You can see the larger of the stripes in this picture. When it's really styled correctly, the purple is just under a "layer" of my silver/pewter (or whatever color you want to call it). 

I have to use a special colored-hair shampoo, which is kind of annoying, but I do want this to last. It's only semi-permanent anyway, but I'd like it not to fade at the first wash!

Anyway - it's something fun.I needed some fun. 

Sunday Soliloquies...

It's been a crazy weekend. 

Friday, I participated in a #BLM Black Lives Matter march at a busy intersection in town. Got catcalled once; old white guy on a motorcycle hollered at us "fat broad go home." Since the other protester with me was an older white lady like me and the third person at that corner was a black male, the two of us females just looked at each other and laughed. Could've been worse...

It was a peaceful march. No violence, no stopping traffic, everyone behaving. And lest you think that sounds condescending, I mean in light of looters setting our towns on their ears and putting us under curfew, and in light of increasing police violence. We were quite peaceful. Got lots of honks in solidarity, and a few head shakes. 


Maybe it's just my way of coping, but I just waved at everyone as if I actually EXPECTED them to agree with me. I held up my sign: Equal Justice Under Law... and it's not like I made that up; it's on the Supreme Court! I was interviewed and photographed and then trolled. Which made me laugh...

The article was on the online paper and some troll said, "What a bunch of unemployed losers and a dumpy Karen." Apparently, owning your own business makes you (me) a dumpy Karen... I'm figuring it's some guy named Bob in his mother's basement. 

I estimated about 300 people, but the newspaper said 100...I don't know. I'm not good at crowd-counting, but it looked like the old days when I participated in fancy dinners; I used to be good at eyeballing a crowd. But it was kind of hard to guess when we were spread around the area called "6 Corners" -- the confluence of three streets, resulting in 6 different intersections. This pic is where the majority of the folks stayed. It's the corner of Raynor and Ruby. My corner wasn't too busy, for which I was grateful. 

All but about 6 people (honestly, that I saw) had masks on. Social distancing was a bit tricky, which is why I escaped to the far corner. And stayed there. However, we had one person keel over, in that crowd in the pic above. And about 45 minutes before the march ended, a fellow protester said to me, "You ok? You're awfully red in the face." Well, that's my cue to leave. There was a nice breeze and we were in the shade, but what with the medications I take for my heart issues, sometimes processing heat is a problem. I waddled my rear end back (crossing ONLY with the proper lights, thank you very much) and got to my car. 

Which was in a situation of being triple-parked...So it was ok - I have A/C. I sat in the A/C, listened to about 20 minutes of a detective radio show on Sirius Radio Classics and finished off a bottle of water (I should have had another one or two). Then I was able to go. My friend walked with me; and we thanked the cops for being there. It takes about 2 seconds to say something nice. 

And yeah; on Wednesday, I'll be getting tested for COVID-19. The state health department recommends that if you've attended "large gatherings" to get yourself tested. Urgh. Not looking forward to getting a Q-tip shoved up to the back of my brain. 

I did that in January for that erzatz bronchitis they diagnosed me with. 

How My Garden Grows...

Well, we have CATERPILLARS!!! Swallowtails, to be sure, and they apparently prefer flat-leaf parsley. Of course our dill is only about 2" tall right now. There are about 5 or 6 of them. 

The milkweed? We're still thinning it out. 

We ate romaine from the garden and I'm sorely, SORELY disappointed in the leaf lettuce and radishes. 

They went to seed pretty much immediately. And the radishes? I have one. ONE. Not happy. 

I might be able to get more romaine starts, because I only bought 4 of them. 

And today, after "church" (we had technical glitches, but it wasn't only us; many churches that are reopening cautiously seem to have overloaded the Internet), we decided it was time to trim our front yard maple. Here it is before the trim. We needed to trim the branches that were over the public sidewalk, and that one lower branch going to the left side of the picture...it was really a pain in the butt, and we should've done it a few years ago. The branch was way over into our neighbor's yard. 

I was in charge of lopping the branches into smaller pieces for the yard waste bins. Hubby did break out the chain saw, and of course, I'm nowhere near that thing...they scare me, honestly! 

This is the "after" version. We still have plenty of shade in the front yard, and I think this will actually help the flower gardens because it lets a bit more light into the space. I'm having one of those "two-takes" moments where I glance out the window and it's like, "Wait, something's missing..." But we'll get used to it, and so will the birds and squirrels!

So I showed you a picture of the poppies in full bloom. That was last week. This is them now. A sure and certain reminder that everything in life is fleeting. In yoga philosophy we do study some Buddhist writers. One of my favorites is Pema Chodron. She talks a lot about impermanence. Thich Nhat Hanh also talks about it, probably more in depth. 

The poppies: Enjoy them while they're in bloom, but don't mourn that they're fading. It's an "in the moment" thing -- be grateful they've bloomed. I'll have loads of seed pods for my friends.

And here's a bit of serendipity. I was hoping that the phlox would re-bloom in the pot. Sometimes, the ones you pot are often subject to the freeze in winter and they don't survive. But lookee!!! Pansies and phlox!! 

Honestly, I thought they were pink. Obviously....they're not! The pink ones haven't bloomed yet; they're in the bed with the brown-eyed Susans. Under the now-trimmed maple! So we shall see how they do now. 

I've taken allt he oriole feeders away from the hummingbird feeders. It took a few days, but the hummers are now coming back slowly. I think the orioles just bullied away or scared away the little guys. 

I had oranges sort of "strung" along toward where the feeders ended up; but I removed a couple sets of the oranges and we're back to just one feeder with fruit. 

The birds figured it out!

I've got buds on the tomatoes, but no fruit yet. And the kale is doing nicely; almost time to take a few of the young leaves, when they're tender and you can actually eat them in a salad rather than having to saute them in garlic and bacon fat. (But then again? Bacon fat? Not a bad thing.)

I'm not sure what the Broccoli Rabe is supposed to look like; I've gotta check that out. Otherwise, maybe I'm just growing weeds there?? With the way the garden is going this year, it could be anything. 

Knitting and More...

So my progress on the Breathe & Hope Shawl is moving forward. I'm on Section 6, and honestly? I'm not liking it. I know; it's all about the textures in this shawl. But I'm not liking THIS section of texture! 

It's knitted rows alternating with K1b rows; and there are ridges that I just don't like. Maybe I will -- it's an 8-row repeat that's to be done 8 times. That's a lot of rows. It's nearly 200 stitches at the end of this section. Then we repeat the section you see there with the vertical stripes. That section is interesting because that's where the Blueberry "solid" (which isn't quite solid, but so gently tonal that you barely notice it) really pops nicely. It gets rather buried in the other sections with that flaming flamingo pink. 

The close-up here shows the vertical stripes and a bit closer on the texture of Section 6. The bottom of this shot, the K1b is kind of brioche stitch; it's very squishy. I'd like to experiment with maybe a sock leg (start small, works for me) to see how that works out. It has a nice feel to it. 

And again -- this is on smaller needles. So maybe the whole thing will look and feel different when I do it again, using the proper needles. 

I went shopping. 

Consider that the only "shopping" I was intermittently doing was a random grocery or pharmacy run. But today, I went to Joann Fabric to pick up buttons. I'm not quite sure how all this jumped into my arms. Because I did sort of go to look at fabric for masks, and somehow found lots of it. 

I'm going to try a different mask patter with the two fabrics that have alpacas on them. And I bought the seam binding because it's a different method for the ties, too. Will show you progress pics. And the snowflake stuff? I couldn't resist. (A) because I like snowflakes, and (b) because it will annoy people... 

The white buttons are for the crocheted "head bands" for those who have to use elastic behind their ears. Got feedback from the one I did and it needs to be a bit longer. I was just out of buttons. 

I also bought muslin (lower left) and some 50% off yellow gingham (lower right) for the insides of the masks. Or ties, maybe - we'll see. 

Tomorrow is "back to sewing" day as well as "get your butt in gear on your online classes" day. 

It's going to be a busy Monday!

Random Picture...

I have a haircut on the 12th and I can't wait. But I also can't wait for a pedicure. I may have to drag out my Dr. Who blue again... I love that color. 

I usually bring my own polish; I prefer to do that and I only go to the same salon each time. Before COVID, I had all the colors planned out (yeah, go ahead...tease away). But now I'm behind on my schedule. I haven't heard yet whether I can go do the pedicure, but I can afford to wait a few weeks. 

I'd rather get my hair cut first. It was doing really, really well, because Sarah cut it extra short, but now? It's just out of control. 

Much like my garden. 

Interested in online yoga classes taught by certified yoga teachers you can trust? Join us at our Facebook page here

or at the studio here: www.just-breatheyoga.com 

Classes taught by teachers trained at the best yoga school in the Midwest; $10 donation suggested. PayPal accepted. Questions? Call (815) 546-2770 for more information. 

Memorial Day Musings...

Y'all know the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day, right? On Memorial Day, we celebrate the members of the military who gave their lives in service of our country. On Veteran's Day, we thank active duty and retired military. 

It is NOT a day for fireworks, in spite of what you'd say if you were sitting next to me...there are a few dipsticks who are setting off boomers. Luckily, we have the house closed up, A/C running, and the fans going. The sounds are muffled and the dogs are quiet. So far. 

It's kind of an oxymoron to say "Happy Memorial Day" when it's actually a day to mourn those who are no longer with us. It's important to pay attention to that kind of stuff. 

COVID-19...

And it's also important to pay attention to things like social distancing, masks, and keeping down the number of people in groups. Because this virus is ugly. And mean. And a shape-shifter. You can be a carrier - ever heard of Typhoid Mary? She was an Irish cook who spread typhoid fever across a city. But never had a single symptom herself. 

Don't be Typhoid Mary. I mean, for the love of heaven: You wear a mask for a 45-minute trip to the grocery store. It's not like you're totally sealed in PPE for a 12-hour shift. Get over yourself and grow up. 

I tried something new with the masks, but I only did it on one mask. A "floating" nose wire. As you can see, I encased my pipe cleaner in the fabric I'd usually sew in place. Technically, I could've left the short sides open - so you could replace the wire. But I sewed it up. 


These are masks - not heirlooms. Meant to be worn, washed, worn, and eventually tossed. I can live with that. And this "floating nose wire" busted a needle... Jeeze. So I changed it and went on with life. As you can see, the bottom part isn't sewn into the body of the mask. I think that (a) this is lots less fabric on the inside of the mask; and (b) it will enable a better way to adjust the nose wire to fit the person who's getting the mask. We'll see how she likes it. It's a prototype. 

I've been asked to sew masks for my church; for walk-ins at the point where we're allowed to let people come back to the building. 

My 2 cents? That COVIDIOT in the White House can't "order" the governors to open up the churches. It's a tiny little thing called the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. 

It's an issue that conservatives screamed bloody murder about when President Obama was trying to enact legislation around the ACA... States Rights. The rights of the states to do certain things with no input by the Federal government. 

But apparently, that only matters when the black guy is in the White House. 


Not when the Mango Mussolini is trying to tear our country apart. 

So. My church is obeying our Bishop. And we're looking at maybe...MAYBE.... late June or early July. If the state moves past Phase 3. We're just going into Phase 3 and the thing is, we could backslide if people aren't careful. 

If you gather in large groups (see: beaches), fail to observe social distancing, and whine and cry about wearing a mask? COVID-19 can surge back. (See 1918 Flu Epidemic)

These 4 are going to Colorado, to Kid #1. Notice the "snowflake" patch? He requested that on each of the masks. Because he's tired of petulant morons telling him that he's a "snowflake" for wearing a mask. 

Kid #1 wields a welding torch and handles large pieces of plate steel. Not someone you want to annoy. Or call a "snowflake." He's got an awesome sense of humor and will, quite deftly, insult you if needed and you won't notice...I wonder where he got that skill from. Oh wait. No I don't wonder. That's my kid. 

I'm going to be sewing the plainer masks (like those I showed you in the last blog entry) for church. So far, we have guidelines that limit us to 10 people - which we're having to grapple with in terms of "walk-ins." Same thing I'm dealing with in regard to when my yoga studio finally opens. 

Anyhow, these babies are going to our vicar and her wife. She wants ties; but her spouse doesn't. So I've made one set without any ties (the ones on the left) and she can string the elastic to fit. 

I'm giving myself a break from sewing for about a week. I'm just saying that, of course; I'll probably be back to sewing masks in a few days. It just feels like I need a week off from the machine. And the material. And the production sewing. 

I'm not cut out (see what I did there??) to just sew and sew and sew the same thing over and over again. That's why I could probably never have an Etsy shop. Unless it was something like this: "I'll make you a mask. You get what I send you." 

Breathe & Hope Shawl...

Well, I got some good news. I was worried because of the puckering of this shawl. But it seems like that's normal. Blocking will fix it. 

I'm on Section 4 - there are 10 sections. And this one is taking me a few days. It's a 4-row repeat and I've got 7 more repeats to go. It's coming along. 

And now that I know that the wavy parts will even out, I'm happier. I can see myself doing this one again a couple of times. I'd like to finish this one, see how it goes and perhaps do another one for Christmas. 

It's not going to be a small one; it'll be a snuggly size. And it's sock yarn, so it's going to be warm, but not too bulky. 

I'd like to do a grey one - grey as the base. But I'm not sure what the contrast would be. Cream would be lovely, you think? Or a speckle of some sort with lots of colors? I'll have to puddle around at my LYS's website to see what I can find. 

But not now. This one has to be done first. 

Pictures From Today...

Today, Hubby and I went out. We haven't been "out" as in "anywhere together in public" since the shelter-in-place orders. It's just that we believe in obeying the rules... But we went out today to the I & M Canal trail. We wanted to go somewhere to take pictures, but it looked like a storm was moving in...it actually didn't, but that's ok.

It was hot & humid; I did have my mask for the few times I encountered someone else, but golly, it was steamy! And yeah, I know, that's a complaint. But I'm still going to wear it in public. 
There was a duck. The canal was quite high. He was having fun. He had some pals. 


There were some flowers. I'm not sure what they are, but they were along the bank of the canal. Anyone know what they are? 

They were pretty. 

There was a robin. He was right next to us, so sorry - it's a little blurry. I had the telephoto lens on and if I'd had sense, I'd have used my phone's camera. But I didn't want to scare him off. 


Apparently, he wasn't scared -- he was hungry. He actually stood there till we passed, then hopped over to the mud and grabbed a worm. Circle of life, I guess! 

And then there was the old lock. This dates way back - like to the late 1800s. 

The bridge is, of course, a new addition; it's part of the trail. The canal used to have a tow-path and there were mules hauling the barges. The Canal Trail is amazing. Our section in Lockport is in the history section of that town. 

With the water as high as it's been, the lock area was really roiling. I took some video; I love the sound of moving water in the first place; the area where we first walked, it was just small "rapids" but here? It was moving... 

I noticed the debris; the water line at one point was incredibly high. 

For the shot on the left, I was straddling a tree. Hubby wasn't happy... I was definitely challenging my own balance! 

But look at the stones... Imagine if they could talk. What stories would they tell? Would we want to listen? 

Because it is very true: those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. 

And right now? With COVID-19 on the rampage? We have to study history (see the 1918 Flu Epidemic again) and be sure to not be in a rush to "get back to normal." Because normal now isn't what it was. And it shouldn't be. 

Random Picture...

Before we walked, I was knitting (see above)... And Tippi wanted belly rubs. Hmmmm. Knit or belly rub??? One of my friends said, "Can't you use her as a foot rest?"

I answered: Nope. Her Majesty has needs...and right now she needs a belly rub. 

Since I've been home, she's been very happy to push her agenda on me. And I've been happy to oblige. I think a lot of our pets are going to have some problems when (or if) we get back to regular work habits. Lucky for me, I'm scheduled to be out of the office "for the near future" so the dogs will be happy.