Doll Clothes

I bought one of my grandchildren an American Girl Doll for Christmas. I am not saying which one. I also bought several patterns to sew for it. I think sewing doll clothes is difficult, all those little hems and stuff. I think I better keep practicing. At least the doll doesn't grow so when I finally catch on I can keep on using the same patterns. My own daughters would drool over the American Girl catalogue but when they were little I couldn't afford to get them one. Now I wonder if it wasn't me that was drooling over the catalogue.

The Election is Coming

Well I stayed up last night not only for the debates but for all the commentary on them. This seems like it has been the longest election process ever and still they seem to be neck and neck. The only candidate who really bugs me in Sarah. McCain proved himself knowledgeable in the debate last night but I really question his judgement in picking Sarah. Republicans seem to have a bad record in vice presidential picks, like Dan Quail, Spiro Agnew, and Dick Cheney.

Chili Sauce

Last Saturday Hubby and I made lots of chili sauce. It's the only thing I still can. The recipe came from my grandmother and it is wonderful. Hubby runs the food processor while I peel the tomatoes and cut up the celery, onions, and peppers. Before the food processor we used to grind things. What a mess! After grinding everything you add the sugar, salt and vinegar (and the spice bag) and cook it down until you want to go to bed and then you decide it's thick enough. The recipe says 1 1/2 to 3 hours. I have never known it to take less than 6 hours. We use the chili sauce on hamburgers or mixed with hamburger to make Sloppy Joes. We also cook short ribs or brisket with it. One year I gave each kid one jar for Christmas. That wasn't their only gift.

Everyone is Busy

Sometimes I have a little trouble thinking of things that are interesting enough to put in my blog. Sometimes there are things that are interesting but too personal to put on the Internet. I notice that when I look at my favorite blogs some times they have lapses too. Mary from Shazam in the Kitchen, is really busy now that she has gone back to school. Gretel from Super G's Potpourri, is at a new high school teaching and is super busy. Our family book club has disbanded because Gretel and I are the only ones who can fit a book into our schedule. Oh well, we did go to a lovely baptism today for a great nephew, Joshua. He was beautiful and screamed justifiably when they immersed him.

Arnold the Clown

I know I keep writing about Arnold but he is a very funny cat. Lately, at night, he sleeps on my pillow which I can handle, except he likes to chew on my hair, which I can't handle. That also means his tail is in Hubby's face, which he has some trouble handling. Yesterday I was upstairs when Hubby called to say, "You have got to see this." Martha has rolled up tiny balls of yarn for the cats to play with. Somehow Arnold had the yarn wrapped several times around his tail. He would turn to get himself free but kept making the matter worse. As he was walking and turning, Fervor was chasing the moving yarn across the kitchen floor. Where could you get better entertainment?

A New Quilt

My nephew and godson, Michael, is getting married in June of next year. I have started on a quilt to give him and his bride as a wedding present. Michael's mother said they like bright colors and since I love purples, I picked out these colors in a Dresden Plate pattern. I have wanted to make this quilt pattern for a long time. It is a combination of piecing and applique. I already made out my Excel spreadsheet so I know I can have it done by the wedding.

All that rain over the weekend really eliminated a lot of the yellow jackets. It had been uncomfortable to sit out on the patio. We haven't been stung but having yellow jackets crawling up your arms is at the least unsettling. The humming bird feeder is now free for birds alone.

Family Blogs

Hubby's daughter decided to write a blog with her son. She is an art teacher in Baltimore. Gretel, my daughter is a Math teacher in Brooklyn and has a blog as well as my daughter, Mary, who is studying to be a math teacher in Nowhere Ohio. Not the same nowhere as the one the bridge went to. Now we just need to convince some of the other kids to have blogs. Jim's wife sometimes writes on a knitting blog http://inaugurationdayscarf.blogspot.com/. We need to get Bill to write a blog he is a former college teacher. Hubby has his blog Frenetic Felines listed here.
I added Laura Schlesinger's book to my book list because I read it. I don't recommend it.

Hurricanes

We are very glad that in Michigan, although we get cold, damp winters and hot humid summers, we don't get hurricanes. We occasionally get tornadoes but no earthquakes. Our lightning deaths are low, we have no volcanoes and few but small forest fires. We find ourselves horrified that people are willing to live with these risks. Once in visiting Texas people told us how awful it was to deal with snow while they were describing dust storms that sanded the paint off of cars and leveled the vegetation. In Detroit we really don't get the heavy snow or the bone chilling cold. I guess we all choose our poisons. The weather in Detroit isn't that bad.

Night Owl Arnold

We still have a problem with Arnold in the middle of the night, well around 3 to 4 in the morning. This is the time when Arnold becomes his most vocal. He also plays with the Venetian blinds and the screens. We keep the blinds up even though I am sure the neighbors think we are exhibitionists and we definitely need to do something by the time the leaves fall from the trees. But it is hard to stop Arnold from scratching at the screens which on our windows are on the inside. Hubby had a plan. He took our Vornado fan and cut long streamers of newsprint and taped them to the top of the fan. He placed the fan on the window seat facing the trouble spot. He has a switch which he keeps under his pillow. When Arnold scratches at the screen he flicks on the fan. It startles Arnold and he dashes away for at least an hour.

Netflix

Hubby and I signed up for the minimal Netflix, $5 a month for two movies maximum a month. That is plenty for us. We just watched King Kong. I felt my education was lacking because I hadn't seen it. It was fun. Mostly we watch movies that Hubby as seen and feels I should see. I am not a movie person. We have seen "The Queen" which was great. "Barefoot in the Park" - OK, "Planet of the Apes" -very interesting. "Hannah and her Sisters" - Pretty good. I thought "The Apartment" was dumb even if it won an award. I would guess that as the fall progresses we will watch more.

Arnold the Helper Cat

As I said earlier I am working on a cross stitch project that is done on 22 count cloth. My dentist is ordering magnifying glasses for me which snap on to my eyeglasses, but until they get here I am working under a magnifying glass to do the stitches. The directions take up 16 pages. I used the PC Stitch software and chose too many colors and I had trouble that the original drawing had shadows that I don't want in my needlework. After Christmas I will be able to explain more. At any rate I sit at a table in my craft room with 4 pages of directions taped together on one side of my magnifying glass stand while I work. Arnold then comes to help. The table is a little high for him to jump on but he likes to crawl up the back of my chair and over my shoulder to lie down in the middle of the directions. Yesterday as I worked he fell sound asleep, on my directions. I would lift up a paw or scoot him over every once in a while but that didn't disturb him at all. I also have the problem that he carries off any piece of floss that isn't tied down. Arnold is definitely MY cat and follows me where ever I go and stays with me all the while I sew.

A New Driveway

Last Wednesday we replaced the driveway. The one section was broken and sinking badly, the other sections were just broken. We really felt we were in danger of someone falling on it.

As you can see there were a lot of roots from the neighbor's poplar tree under the old driveway. I really hate poplar trees.