Waiting, Waiting, Waiting..... (Sung to the theme from Rawhide)

Since I have to wait for the delivery man with my clay order (that may or may not come today), I figured it was a good time to do some updating. For the record, I'm keeping the 'Rainy Day' background, at least for now. I've grown to like the looks of it - and, I enjoy a soft, gentle, day long rain that creates lots of mud puddles for little kids to splash through. Oh, alright, big kids, too.

There's a kiln full of greenware ready to bisque tomorrow - lots of work that I'm claiming for myself so you can finally see something different in my Etsy mini in the sidebar. Wouldn't that be nice? ;-)

So, would you like a sample of what I listen to? This was sent to me by a good friend some time ago and I'm always amazed at the engineering that went into it. Thanks RJ!!

Understand that I have no idea who this belongs to, but if I've offended anyone or made a faux pas by posting this here, I'll take it down with no complaints.

I can't share it on Facebook, so I'll just link back to it from there. But in the meantime, have a listen for yourself and enjoy! (Boy, do I hope this works.)

Music Extraodinaire

A New Look?

I'm trying out the new updated Blogger interface with some of the more interesting layouts and templates for this dusty, boring blog. So, if you think it looks a bit different from day to day - well, it just might be.

So, what do you think? I love the rainy day background - but, that might be because it's been raining and storming for the last few days. The kitties are pacing constantly and want attention - does that mean there's more brewing? I would bet it does.

Pictures of the road trip aren't uploaded yet, but I'll get to that in the next few days - it was wonderful! And, I'll leave it at that for now. Except for the fact that there are a couple places that just won't be the same.....

Not quite ready to charge back into work just yet, but hopefully very soon - I'm still a bit weary, but that seems to lessen each day.

That's all for now - see you soon.

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour."

~Unknown~

Road Trip!!!

It's been almost forever, it seems, that my creative drive has allowed me to sit down and do some writing - that drive has been waning steadily for the last several months and I've finally figured out what part of the problem was.

My birthday road trip did not materialize (for several reasons, but they were valid) - I haven't taken anything resembling a vacation for years and my 'Oomph!!' is just gone. And the untimely and expensive kiln repair this summer didn't help matters any.

I have finished work that needs to be photographed and listed/delivered or shipped to shops, glazed bisque waiting to be high-fired, more clay ready to turn into wonderful work, handmade jewelry components to put together, several baskets/boxes/containers of beads and findings that will ultimately become stitch markers and other 'jewelry' for hand workers, piles and bags of fiber that's ready to spin, spun singles anxious to be plied, completed yarns that need to be washed and finished, knitted hats, scarves and handwarmers anxious to have all those loose ends woven in - but, I'm putting that all aside for the weekend.

Why? Because we're going on a weekend road trip! Yes - really!

I've put the finishing touches on all the produce that has found it's way into my kitchen with just two small batches of pickles that can be finished off this morning. A couple loads of laundry are waiting and some 'groceries' need to be gotten for our wonderful neighbor Dan who will be tending to the furkids and then it's time to get ready to leave in the morning.

Am I excited? You bet! It's been 4 years since I started my 'retirement' and I'm ready to go! So ready, in fact, that I'm forgoing a trip to the annual 3-day, very much looked forward to 'Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival'.

And, hopefully, once we're home and re-energized, I can do something about the lack of a good banner and try to finish redesigning this blog! LOL

Be well, everyone and remember -

We are all weird. Some are just better at hiding it.

"Under Construction!!"

Please excuse the mess while I make a few changes!!

I'm having a bit of a challenge with the new banner, but I WILL overcome the difficulties and conquer the darned thing!

Later!

Wow! Dusty in here isn't it?

Oh boy - look at all the cobwebs! Excuse me while I do a little housekeeping. Gotta get all those dust bunnies in the corner, too. And the film on the windows - let some light in. It's such a sunny day, but it's kind of dim right now.

There, that oughta do it - LOOK! I can see out the windows now - and, there's a floor underneath all that dust.

Whew! Glad that's done.

It's been almost a year since I left the college, choosing retirement so I could live a life less 'stressful'. Many things have happened along the way - lots of bad, but lots of good to balance the scale. Life does go on, no matter what.

My grandson, Grady, is growing like the proverbial weed. He's a joy to his parents, but especially to me. Even of temperament, handsome and now with two teeth, has the most beautiful smile one could ever behold.

I've opened shop on Etsy (you can see my mini-Etsy off the bottom left). I had intended it for a showcase for my work, but so far haven't gotten much of the good stuff up. BUT, (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) it is serving a purpose, if for no other reason than to create a following and introduce me to the world of supporters of handmade.

Like any good craftsman or artist, I have stashes for many different media (you know - just in case...) but, I've run out of room! I did have some help, though, it's not all my fault! There was one big-time enabler that had a hand in all of this. I just love enablers, don't you? (BWEG) Maybe because it takes one to know one?

A long, long time ago (back in the dark ages) I did a lot of beadwork - and sewing - and lots of other things. I've knitted for years and love spinning my own yarn. I also dearly love working with clay and anything else that 'makes' something.

Some time ago, an insurance adjustor made me get rid of many of my supplies due to smoke damage after a house fire. (I really needed to redo the kitchen, but I don't recommend this method for redesigning/redecorating/rebuilding/reconstruction.) Among those supplies were several tins of buttons - her rational was that because many of them were plastic, the smoke would have penetrated and they would be unusable, thus rendering them 'not economically recoverable'.

Since I use vintage buttons as embellishment for my knitting needle jars and some of my felted work like hats, handbags and the like, I needed buttons - not any ordinary buttons, but vintage shoe buttons, sew-through mother of pearl buttons, colorful plastic buttons. The kind of buttons one can only find in those buttons boxes handed down from grandma to mom to daughter. I was at a loss - and, I did a lot of whining about it! One of my family decided to haunt the auctions and garage sales and thrift stores and anywhere there was a jar or box or tin or bag of buttons, picked them up and brought them home.

I was sorting buttons in my sleep! I didn't need ALL those buttons, so since Etsy also allows vintage items and especially supplies, I decided to list them there and give all the ones I don't need/can't use new homes.

I've also discovered that I can no longer work with wool - I've always had a mild allergy to it - I could spin it or knit it - I just couldn't wear it. However, it seems that the condition has become full-blown. What to do with all those lovely wool fibers and yarns that I had plans for? What else? Etsy!!

Next will come the beading supplies that I no longer need or want, and then the fabrics that will never see the light of day as a finished project, and then the technical magazines and books that need to go somewhere besides my bookcase(s).

I can't believe how well this is working - I won't bother with eBay - the fees are too high and I don't really want to do the auction thing. I'll still do some of my shopping on eBay, but for selling purposes, Etsy is where I'm going to stay. It's easy, affordable and I've met some wonderful people - not only as customers, but as sellers as well.

Well, there's my bit of self-promotion for today. I have to go - stuff to list since I have all the pictures ready to go. (The camera is another story for another day.)

Remember -

Life is a work of art,
Created by the one who lives it.

Here's a little something I found in the garden the other day - yes, he's real:


See you soon!

Grandma Lori

Newsflash!!! Poor, Neglected Blog Adopts Pet!

adopt your own virtual pet!

Meet Winston - I'm not sure just how to get him to a sidebar, but once I do, that's where he'll live. Isn't he cute?

This poor blog has been so neglected for almost 2 months. I should be ashamed of myself - bad blogger!!! No excuses - I just need to do it!

I've been doing some more digging into my family's history and stumbled on a Yahoo! group for Norwegian Genealogy (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorwegianGenealogy) - of course, I subscribed to it right away. I may actually be able to help one or two of the other members with some of MY family's information - we may even be distantly related.

FYI - For those family members reading this - I'm sending out invitations to a group I've set up for our own purposes - Steien_Adams at Yahoo! Watch for them in your inbox over the week-end.

We've become scattered and because there are so many of us, this seemed like a good way to keep in touch. You can use it as a bulletin board or to post information on family history you'd like to share with others. Memberships will need to be approved to keep out spammers, but to use it you'll need to subscribe to it.

OK, so I'm on a roll today. Got some Christmas shopping done and I'm actually getting work completed to put online (etsy.com) in the next few days. Now, I need to order some shipping materials from USPS - nice that most of what I need can be ordered online and delivered right to my door with no charge incurred. I can even print shipping labels and pay for postage and request them to be picked up at my door. A person could get spoiled!

I'll also be listing some of my pottery reference books on eBay soon - I have duplicates of a couple and most of the others, I really don't need, so they might just as well have new homes.

That's all for today, folks - gotta get some more work done. I'll send a link once I get all this stuff up online.

For now, stay warm - weather's changing and we're in for a winter storm watch tonight.

Take care,

Lori

It's Official! (yes, I'm trying this again...)

Yesterday was the first day of the month - the first of many yet to come - I received my first real pension check yesterday. It must be real - I must really - after all these months - be retired. I had no idea how good retirement would feel.

So, today after finishing another batch of apple butter (made really, really slow so it's a deep, rich brown, thick and just a little tart) and a small batch of salsa with the last of all those tomatoes I put in this year, I checked my email one last time so I could get on with evening commitments and found my long-awaited invitation to 'Ravelry' - www.ravelry.com - it's a forum for knitting-crochet-fiber people that is by invitation only. I had submitted my interest back in July - last week I was still down about 8,000 and some on the waiting list. Of course, I just had to get right to business and get my 'account' set up.

OK, so I get to checking out the groups and forums and discussions and everything else offered and what do I find, but this wonderful blog - http://www.goodyarnkarma.blogspot.com/ - well, wouldn't you know - I found some yarn that I could maybe trade for some of this sock yarn that seems to have found it's way into my stash.

Did you ever notice how you find one site that really appeals to you, then you click on a link to another and find something else that really interests you, but you see another link to click on and by the time you've spent a couple of hours clicking on those links, you have no idea what you were looking at or for in the first place. I'm retraining myself to NOT click on those extra links. So far, I'm flunking. I'm headed back to Ravelry now so I can finish setting up my account, which I started to do about an hour ago and haven't finished yet, because I've been clicking on those damn links and gotten everywhere but where I need to go. (Wait!! Did I just see a white rabbit hop by?)

It's late again - more tomorrow - there's another huge pot of apples on the stove that needs attention. The last of the apple butter for this year - and, no more salsa or tomato sauce!!!!!

Happiness doesn't come from having things, it comes from having things you can find! :)