Sea Monsters Ahoy

Did you hear about the 'Sea Monster' found on a Chinese beach? It measures 55 feet long and weighs an estimated 4 1/2 tons -- see a photo here.

Moved boxes most of the day, and ripped up carpet from the sewing room. (The first few feet of it was wet -- the rest, thankfully, stayed dry. So the fabric loss was minimal.) Found another mousey embellishment -- but I didn't scream so loud this time. Maybe getting used to it? (Naahhh....)

This Really Happened...

So we've been clearing away the boxes in the basement sewing room. (See my last post for more.) I was happily finding a bunch of antique fabric scraps in the 'dry' pile. While picking those up, I noticed a fur embellishment on the floor: "hmmm, how did this get there! All the embellishments should have been cleared away."
     Held it for a minute, admiring the multi-colors. (Must have been tired.) All of a sudden, I realized the embellishment had a tail! 
     I dropped it pronto. Some yelling ensued, and friend Adam was recruited to Get Rid of It. Only afterwards did I wonder -- field mice, our usual visitors, have gray fur. Where did this parti-colored guy come from?
     I'm still shivering a little.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Watch the Swedish Chef make Popcorn with Shrimp -- the musical way!

Nice Ways to Use Your Paper and Fabric Scraps

Got fabric -- or paper -- scraps you just can't give up?

These crafts let you make beautiful topped jars or pencils...

Nice...

Or these layered fabric flowers:

More fabric craft ideas on this same link. Very purdy.

It's hot hot HOT here again. Libby and I have been weeding, and with Adam, schlepped boxes downstairs to start clearing out the sewing room. I was happily wandering through my fabric scraps when I suddenly realized that a furry embellishment I was holding...
      Wasn't an embellishment at all.

After Adam carted the dessicated mouse away (YUCK), we went and helped friends unload their moving truck. Life is full of boxes. Boxes, boxes, boxes...and Other Things.

Reading Into Finance

How are you going to learn more about your money, and using it wisely, if you don't take time to study and explore?
    The answer is, of course -- you won't.
This list of resources, "Good Stuff on the 'Net," is particularly helpful. (Thanks, Mdmproofing.)

I've also been enjoying a new column that started at the Miami Herald: "Money Matters" by Meg Green. Good, practical advice with a minimum of goofiness.


It's a hot/cooler/no, it's hot again!/raining/sunny Monday...and lots of work to do in the week ahead. I'll be in touch -- have a good week yerself.

Davy Plays

Husband did me proud during the June 16 concert in Pueblo. Here he is, playing the mandolin and looking serious:

Love the shirt...

Feedsacks...To Buy For!

As a kid, my mom wore skirts and blouses made from feedsacks, print cloth bags that originally came stuffed with flour, beans or -- my grandma's favorite -- feed for her chickens. One or two bags would make an outfit for a kid; three might be needed for Grandma, who was not exactly a lightweight.

I still have scraps of Grandma's feedsacks -- which came in a blizzard of prints, styles and colors -- in my own scrap bag. And, except for a short period in the mid-1980s, I'd not seen any manufacturers who were using cloth bags...except for the rice people, and that has stopped in recent years. (The flour sacks I noticed around 1985 or '86 were poor quality, and not that pretty.)


But that's all changed.

One of my students at a recent talk said she'd been getting Blue Bird flour sacks at her local King Soopers in Denver. (For you non-Westerners, that's the same as the Kroger chain.) Lo and behold, my local King Soopers stocks them, too! You can now buy 5 pound and 10 pound bags of Cortez Milling's Blue Bird flour, for little more than the flour in generic paper sacks. (Cortez mentions 20 pound sacks, but I haven't seen those at my local store.) And they're beautiful:

Some say that Blue Bird flour is the only kind to use if you want to make authentic Navajo fry bread: go here for the recipe, and more. The flour's excellent for biscuits, bread and cookies, too.

Good for Blue Bird! It's nice to see a company showing a green response, without making a big fuss about it. I intend to use my sacks for quilt backs, keeping the logo, and maybe a tea towel or two -- two other things Grandma made use of them for.

Subscribe to Agnes...Quick!

This girlie is the eternal optimist...and a little weird. She lives in a trailer park with her "gramma," a hard-working sort, generally shown in a bathrobe, who loves her newspaper and a cup of coffee. Agnes' friend Trout (yes, that's her name) keeps her on the balanced side -- so do her 'boyfriend' Bob, regular visits to the principal's office, and an interesting propensity to wear a cheetah costume at the drop of a hat.
   I love Agnes dearly. You can too, with a daily subscription to Tony Cochran's Agnes. Go here to subscribe... long live the optimists!

This strip just seemed apropos to our basement quandaries:

(btw, for us vision-challenged types, click on it to read it in a bigger version.)

Or maybe this organizational post will do the trick. (Thanks, Piece O'Cake.)

I couldn't sleep until 3:30 a.m., but things are more cheerful today. Husband's e-mail is intact -- he'd been downloading it daily. He was just frustrated because he hadn't finished the forwarding addresses yet. He's speaking to me, which is a pleasure. And life goes on, doesn't it...

New Discoveries

An 'uncontacted' tribe in Brazil?
   Yes, according to this.

And the first documented carving of a mastodon in the Western Hemisphere?
   Take a look and see for yourself.

Kewl.
   At least I'm doing something useful while I can't sleep!

Earning Extra Money - Part Two

Obviously this subject is on many people's minds right now, what with uncertainties everywhere.

Get Rich Slowly has a post on this today -- with links to many other blogs. It will take a while to wade through, but if you're honestly looking to earn more money, it's worth it. Go here for the straight scoop.

Some things I've done for supplementary cash:
    (ooh, that sounds a little kinky!)

*sold apples (and trimmed apple trees)
*typed and/or edited term papers and vetted resumes
*dog-sat
*cleaned house
*given piano and voice lessons
*sat through survey sessions on cars, bath and cleaning products
*taken surveys online
*given rides to places
*acted as a Santa Claus girl in a mall
*been a member of online forums (financial and food) -- you're required to post weekly, in order to qualify for Amazon gift cards
*been part of Swagbucks...you should, too! It's very easy to do; just click on the Swagbucks graphic at right. (I'll get a little reward too, for guiding you there.)

Probably the oddest jobs were helping install lightning rods on the gymnasium roof of a university (during spring break one year in college), running a Children's Book Fair (also in college), and the weiner: 
     *Writing enclopedia definitions on quilting for Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Every little bit helps, doesn't it!

World Record Catfish

Have you ever seen such a monster? This beauty weighed in at 143 pounds...caught at a lake in North Carolina. Read all about it here.

and get out the hush puppy mix...fast!

Great Summertime Tips!

Some really good ones on this list...and while you're at it, take a minute to vote for Donna Freedman's tip. (It's the one on 6 reasons your garden hose is a good friend, about 2/3 down the page.) If you do that -- you may send her to the next Blogher conference for free! (Deadline to vote is June 26.)

Win A Silhouette!

I've been looking for something that will give me a cleaner look for stenciling, painting, and applique -- particularly for lettering. Now, thanks to Funky Junk Interiors, I've discovered the Silhouette, an electronic cutting machine that hooks up to your computer -- and does it all.
   Now thanks to Funky Junk, you can win your own Silhouette! Go here, and leave a comment -- the drawing ends June 27. Good luck to you.

A New Treasure Hoard Found!

Whoa...two million dollars-plus found wrapped inside telephone cables on their way to Venezuela. This Mexican grab netted boxes and boxes of folded U.S. currency.

Our weekend's been a lot more peaceful than the week preceding it. The usual chores and such, but the carpet and nastiness from downstairs is finally in the dumpster. The basement now looks stripped and deserted...but our friend Thommy can soon pour a new concrete overlay that will make it look much better.
   As soon as the walls are stripped out, that is. We found out Friday that mold is not the only problem we have to contend with -- the coating on the walls tested positive for aesbestos. (The house was built in 1968, after all.) That means at least $2000 more than planned to pull it all out and contain the area...but it will be Taken Care Of, and we can sell the house without having to worry about it.
   A couple thousand more, on top of the rest of the costs...maybe I should go looking for more telephone cables.

To-mayto, To-mah-to...

The best-tasting tomato ever, according to Dirt du Jour?
Better Boy.

Hmmm...would have given that honor to Beefsteak! Not that we can grow it; Early Girl or cherry-type tomoatoes are about all our 6,250-ft altitude can produce before cooler nights and frost shut the plants down.

Best Yard Sale Finds...Lots of Them!

The Nester is having one of her linky parties -- this one on Best Garage Sale treasures. What fun to rummage through her links -- almost as good as finding the stuff yourself. Especially when I've been being an insurance office person all day. I've heard at least two thunderstorms go through, and wonder what the Servpro people left outside that might get rained on. (Hopefully not the wood. The metal shelving, who cares.)
    I'm especially envious of this blogger's magic finds...
Hmmm, what would mine be? Maybe the armload of blue flowware plates, $1 each. (Yes, 19th century blue flowware.) Or the chintz armchair, padded in what I am pretty sure is down, snagged for less than $20 at our local thrift shop's half-price sale. (It always happens the third Saturday of the month -- and tomorrow's the next one.)
    Or maybe it's the antique metal folding stepstool, old-fashioned red paint with a generous batch of paint drips, that was $5. I've also found bracelets, beads and a ton of paper napkins for literally nickels. I love garage sales!

The band last night was ok...we were jammed on a pretty small stage for eight people to stand on. I spent the evening with one hip braced against Husband's keyboard, trying desperately not to back up onto the guitar player! Some songs were wonderful, like "Taking Care of Business." Some were a struggle because we had difficulty hearing each other -- the sounds were echoing all over. Hot lights made it pretty sweaty, too. It was fun, but I agree with the time-honored saying: we shouldn't quit our day jobs.

Libby tells me that the Servpro people have been throwing out bags and assorted trash. They told her the moldy, mildewy carpet should be gone by tonight. Oh boo hoo...I wonder what's underneath. Will find out tonight.

It All Has to Happen On The Same Day

I"m a working stiff all day at our friends' insurance office this week. While I'm here, two Servpro guys (later, 5 total) are tearing out the main area of the basement...the carpet, the wallboard, everything. Then this afternoon, it's on (for me, at least) to the concert in Pueblo, which will last into the late hours of the night. Then it's a 1 1/2-hour drive home..and start over again tomorrow.
    Joyous, huh? At least the Servpro guys are actively working. It gets old, this patiently waiting business.

While I'm running around, consider this interesting post on keeping your head above water, even when you're struggling. Oops, my ride to Pueblo just showed up. I'll be back tomorrow...

A New Development

Ever heard the phrase "When it rains, it pours?"

Husband went to the doctor today...looks like he has appendicitis. He couldn't take the definitive test today, because he'd eaten. So -- tomorrow he takes the test. And if it's positive, he goes into surgery.

There's a big statewide school transportation conference a few hours drive south.  Husband was supposed to head there tonight, or early tomorrow. Oops.

One good thing about this -- thanks to his hospitalization back in September, our deductibles are still paid in full.
   Through the end of the month.
See God's hand in this? If it was going to happen, it might as well happen now.

A New Coffee Table - From Something Old

I am just wild for a new/old coffee table shown on The Lettered Cottage:
    made from a chicken coop! 

I actually have a coop to work with: someone else topped it with a pane of glass...then got tired and donated it to the local thrift shop. I snagged it, thinking I'd talk Husband into raising chickens. So far, that's not happening. So, the coffee table may be the way to go.
    Beautiful...

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A Weird Lightning Storm!

This is a strange one, among the Toronto skyscrapers...

Could you use some free iced tea?

print this coupon off for a free bottle!

Storage Ideas

Ever since our little disaster in the basement, storage has been on my mind. After all, if the walls have to be stripped and replaced, why not put in the cupboards I've been mentally visualizing down there for years?
    I'm thinking one whole wall of nothing but cupboards -- large ones that can hold big plastic storage bins. Or wire shelving for fat quarters and half-yard cuts. A stack of books. A pile of quilts.
    We have a fireplace down there, in a spacious area that could easily handle classes. I've always meant to teach there. If I can get everything left up in wall cupboards, it could really open up possibilities. Put down a rug, install a coffeepot and a bowl for chocolate, and it would be perfect. (We quilters have to think about sustenance.) 

    BHG.com has some excellent suggestions for using flea market-type items for storage. A furnace vent cover as magazine wall rack? Bedsprings that hold your glassware? Look here.
  

Weinergate Hits!

The best ten jokes...my favorite was that very silly man, Craig Ferguson. See what you think...poor old Congressman Weiner.

Or will it soon be ex-congressman?

Are You A Onesie...Or A Twosie?

If you're in a relationship...or a marriage, like yours truly and Husband, who have been married 29+ years...how do you handle your finances? Do you keep everything in the same pot - or do you divide income and bills up by person, or proclivity? Do you split the chores the same way?

Get Rich Slowly does some comparisons on this subject, based partly on an interview J.D. Roth and his wife Kris were quoted in Redbook.  J.D. and Kris split their accounts, then combine to pay the bills. They divide chores based on their interests and what they call the "laundry principle:" the person that has the least negative feelings about the chore is the one who does it. (J.D. hates the laundry; Kris doesn't mind doing it. Thus the name.)

The Brick and I have combined our accounts from day one. We both felt strongly that our money -- like our life -- was to be treated as a whole. (The Bible's reference to the 'two being one flesh' wasn't meant to be taken lightly.) We have three major accounts: the home account (with a secondary emergency account), a 'Cindy Brick' account used for the business, and a third 'Brickworks' account used for temporary holding.
    We also keep a secondary savings that gradually accumulates money for long-term expenses like home/auto insurance and property taxes, things like that. (Ten percent of everything I earn goes into that account - which seems to accumulate juuuust enough for these once-a-year bills.)
     Also, a small amount is pulled monthly for Husband's 401K (matched partly by his employer), and a small amount goes to my account - same reason. (No matching, though, darn it.)
     The secondary savings contains a sub-account that we for vacations and Big Dreams.

This 'sub-this-and-that' accounting method works great for us. I think it's most effective, though, because we trust each other. (Judge Judy is littered with the corpses of bank accounts based on people who weren't worth trusting.) We also have a general 'rule' that anything more than $40 (actually, closer to $100) isn't purchased except by mutual consent. Husband has been buying junk silver lately, and I'll purchase a quilt now and then that doesn't follow this 'rule,' but otherwise, we stick pretty close to it.
    One thing really helps: saving up gradually for vacations or once-a-year expenses. It's especially good for snagging vacation bargains -- when that steal suddenly arrives (and just as quickly disappears), we've got the money to buy it now.

The chores, now -- that's a whole different story.





'

Freezer Cooking That Might Actually Work!

The queen of A Turtle's Life spent an afternoon turning groceries into forty-six (count 'em, 46!) meals for her family! And she did it on an insanely small budget.
   Take a look at her story. I'm thinking this might be smart to do for the next few weeks, since I've got zip time to make meals. And it's getting hot and sticky, anyways. Hmmm....

It's A New Week - Whew

Good news.  The plumber is actually fixing the pipe that caused all the problems downstairs! (Bad pipe. baaaad pipe...)
   The 'jet engines' downstairs are actually doing some good -- it's a bit drier, and doesn't smell as bad. It's still not fun, schlepping the quilts, upstairs, but I don't feel so much like I'm wading through swampland.
   

Now later...
     The plumber finished his job (thanks, Keith) and showed me the offending pipe -- our troubles were all caused by a three-inch bulged out slit. Go figure.
    Back to washing sheets, putting away boxes...and life. It's going to be a crazy week. Husband has been playing in a band formed by his bus driver friends, and I've been singing in it, as well. We're slated to play for the annual Transportation shindig down in Pueblo on the 16th...that means two practices this week, and probably two more before the 16th.
     Add Bible Study and Worship Team to the mix, and four nights of this week are already spoken for. We'll get through the next few weeks -- including the time the downstairs wallboard and carpet start getting ripped out and hauled away -- but it's going to be weird.

Zoom!

The world record for the longest car jump just got beat -- in a very impressive way. Take a look at it here.

P.S. It Is Worse

Took a long look at the downstairs basement, accompanied by the Servpro guy. The water damage is more extensive than I'd thought. Now, instead of saying that a company will clean the fabrics, he's saying I should do an inventory, because the fabric will be "unusuable," due to potential mold issues. They're going to put a large storage container in the driveway, box up the fabric, and put it in there as the main area is cleared out.
    There's a heck of a lot of wet fabric down there. Plus some other things. Trying not to get too blue about all this. At least so far, I haven't found a wet quilt -- only a few patchwork blocks, which can be easily cleaned.
    More to come. (sigh) The plumber arrives tomorrow to fix the pipe -- only then can the Servpro guys start pulling down the moldy wallboard. In the meantime, my thirsty garden waits...

Bad...But It Could Be Worse

I'm collecting garbage cans...time to start picking up the garbage downstairs in the basement. The fabrics are starting to smell now, and the cardboard boxes are something awful. Musty, musty, musty...I'm wearing a mask, and promised Husband not to stay down there too long.

Another priority: getting the teaching quilts into the storage room, where they can live during this repair period. (The quilts from clients were staying upstairs, even before this, so I could work on them now and then.) So far, the quilts all seem fine. If not, I'll wash them -- being a professional restorer sure is coming in handy right now!

You may not hear from me for a day...but you know what I'm doing. Sigh. Hope yours is going better.