I Love/Hate Technology

     I really have a love/hate relationship between myself and my electronics.  Everything always sounds so simple – until I try to do it and discover it won’t do one of the steps I need to finish.  Or some such thing.  For instance.  My last cell phone was the Motorola Droid 3.  Had a little problem tho.  Within the 1st year, the darn thing died – just turned belly-up and worked no more.  One of the best parts of that whole deal was that I was at the Verizon store telling “the man” what was happening so he took it and was trying a few things when it totally gave up the ghost!  Ha.  Can you believe it?  That’s practically opposite of when you wait & wait to go to the Dr. for a problem and when you walk in the Dr’s office, the symptoms are gone.  But in this case I could say – here’s a phone having issues and then it died in his arms, er, hands.    I did try real hard to get them to let me upgrade to a different phone – I’d pay the difference in price, extend my contract, whatever they wanted,  but no dice. 

     Too late now to make this long story short, so the upshot was that they sent me a new phone free of charge.  “New phone” is kinda misleading tho because they don’t actually send you a “new” phone.  It’s a re-conditioned phone.   The same Droid 3 that I didn’t want.  Of course I was justified in my skepticism – the darn thing worked about 9 months before doing lots of weird stuff, like not always receiving calls and other “minor” problems.  At that point all I could do was wait impatiently for my contract to expire so I could get a new phone. 

     Listen, my Momma didn’t raise no dummy so I did a lot of internet research on cell phones.  I didn’t want to be caught again with my pants down &  a phone that was known for problems.  Lo & behold, if I could stand to wait an extra 2 weeks beyond my contract, I would be able to get the brand-spanking-new Samsung Galaxy S4.  It kinda sounds like a rocket ship with that name but actually every review I could find had nothing but the highest praise.  In fact it was the only phone to earn 5 stars from all reviewers.  The next closest phones in rankings (including the iphone) were at 4 1/2 stars.  No brainer.  This is the phone for me.  I love technology and like to be on the cutting edge.  (uh-huh).  Honestly, swear to God, it is an amazing phone in every way.  I’m totally in love with it.   Had a little problem tho.  After 2 weeks of ownership, it wouldn’t turn on.  Off to Verizon for some advice.  A little of this and a little of that and it was discovered that a new battery would get us up and running.  Whoo-who!  Verizon would send me a new battery and I’d return my bad battery to them.

   Had a little problem tho.  Over the weekend the darn thing wouldn’t turn on.  Hello?  Back to the Verizon store.  The manager is a real sweet gal and we’re getting to be good buds.  While she’s calling Verizon headquarters, we’re looking at each other’s pictures – she has a really cute niece & nephew who are in the bathtub with some pink foaming stuff on their heads.  I need to track some of that stuff down for my grandson.    I’m thinking it would be fun to play with outside.  Do you know it is called?   Anyway, headquarters said there must be something wrong with the phone itself even tho there have so far been no reports of any issues.   They sent a new phone over-night.  Yeah!  When I opened it, the packaging said “this may be a re-conditioned phone”.  SERIOUSLY?  But my new best friend Kyla, the Verizon store manager assured me that it is in fact a new phone. She moved all data, etc. and it’s been working just fine.  I love technology.

     Anyway, this phone does not do medical exams – yet, but it does some cool stuff.   Like follow eye movements to scroll down a page.  (you know how tired your finger gets from scrolling!)  It will read air-hand gestures instead of touching the screen.  Hopefully, it doesn’t read that one hand gesture (the naughty one).  And it takes amazing pictures.  Now if I could just figure out how to move them from my phone to my computer.  Sigh.  Could someone come over here and help me? I hate technology.

So there you have it.  And I had no idea I was going to write an essay on cell phones when I sat down here. 

We’ve had a lot of rain this past month which has been very discouraging to my gardening soul.  But, “wooden” you know, , I have a wood shop to fall back on as a way to pass the time and keep my mind off eating.  It’s important to get out of the house if you are dieting…..  So, after that long essay, I am hoping I can bring up a few photos that might be of interest. 

 

Just to prove that not everything ends up as sawdust----I made this flag on beadboard and added two beadboard stars.

This is where I put it, along with the ladder I made last year.

This is the stacked flag set made with 2x4’s.  I added a flag pole on the side and tied jute and some red ribbon.  (it needs a ball on top of the pole but I couldn’t find anything to use.)  I’m thinking the flag pole doesn’t add anything.  What do you think?

 

With flag pole

 

      Without

 

This is where I put it.

 

Don’t ask me why I made 3 of these because I only want one.  There’s just no explaining my thought processes.  I wonder how well they will sell in December at the Old Crow Mercantile?

This shelf, tables & stool are some of the things that will be at the Old Crow Mercantile.  These are currently unpainted because I think it’s just annoying to get out the paint & brushes for one or 2 projects and then have to clean everything to put away.  I’ll do a painting week later.

                       

            By the way, I left the broom in the picture as proof that I do sweep the shop now & then.  Even if it doesn’t look like it here. 

        

Then I moved on to birdhouses.  These are my own and not to sell.  Not all were made this week but I did make them all.  Including the white what-cha-deely that I put the mustard house on.  The old porch post came to me via Mrs. Yellow Farmhouse. 

        

    

    

    

So that’s what I’ve been doing instead of gardening – or sewing.  Now we’ve had about a week with no rain so my heavy soil is beginning to dry enough to work with.  And just for a little eye candy, this is who stayed overnight with us last weekend – grandson Henry.  Age 2.  Not terrible 2.

Photos were taken by my Samsung Galaxy S4 phone.  I love technology!

 

Take a “Look”

Every quilter I know has a look.  Like clothing designers have a look or an artist has a look.  Some might even say that quilters ARE artists.  AMEN, SISTERS!  Wait a minute – wouldn’t gardeners also be artists?  AMEN, SISTERS!   What about woodcrafters?  AMEN, SISTERS!  Homemakers?  (Nah.  How to be creative with dust???)

Back to the “look”.  My look has evolved and yet has never strayed very from my beginning.  I could say that my eyes are so sensitive to color that I cannot deal with the bright ones.  Or I could just say I like “dull”.  More precisely muted colors and even more specifically the antique reproductions from the civil war era.  I love the quirky, off-beat tones and the unusual little patterns in them.  And with the antique-look fabric it’s best to use the old classic quilt block patterns.  And partly because Jo Morton started us down the miniature trail and partly because I already have too many bed sized quilts that don’t see the light of day – I love making miniatures.  All of that is part of the explanation of why I need to collect small bits of the “really good stuff” that is really too awesome to cut into and yet needs to be admired.  SO.O.O.O……I filled a wagon with “some” of my “look”. 

Looky See:

Well, it’s just handy to have my toy wagon that I can take with me from room to room when I feel the need. 

Actually, I filled the wagon because I needed to clean my sewing cave (as Karen would say) because the Loose Threads were coming to my house for a sew-sew day.  We were naturally planning to sew some mini-blocks which we could then turn into “Uncle Frank’s Socks”.  Truly.  That’s the name of it.  It’s double 4-patches set on point which then sort of resemble argyle socks.  It’s an old pattern – but it’s classic.  It should end up looking like this:    

But, before we get it finished, we had to do this:

 

 

 

 And before we got to sew, my sewing room looked like this:

 

And before it looked like this, I had to build this cabinet with wire basket storage for my cutting table like this:

  

And BTW, before I did that, I had to build a couple of these handy-dandy portable ironing boards.  One as a gift and one of course for myself:  

So, back to Loose Threads day, we started about 9:30 (in the morning) and wrapped it all up about 6:00 (in the evening).  In-between those times, we had a wonderful brunch provided by our own Threads  version of Julia Childs, Ms. Karen (not the Mrs. Farmhouse Karen).  The menu was Peaches & Cream French Toast with Sugared Bacon-Wrapped Smokies and I contributed Hot Apple Pie but Without the Crust, Sorta.  (I made it up but it was dang tasty if I do say so myself..)  We really need to work harder to get Karen to write a cookbook – or an entertaining book.  She has served an annual Christmas brunch to a good-size group of neighbor ladies for about the past 30 years.  AND, she has kept the menus and recipes from each year.  AND, Karen is a great cook.  AND a good friend.  Let’s hear it for Karen!!!  Yeah!!

OK, let’s get back to me shall we?  Well, not me exactly.  Loose Threads business, namely, show & tell.  Whoo-hoo!  First up is JT with a finished quilt made from a kit bought several years ago.  The border fabric is all about coffee and the pattern had something about coffee or latte’s in the title.  (we can’t exactly remember.  You know?) 

These next 2 quilts were made by JT’s mother who is I believe well into her 80’s.  A terrific lady who in fact does a lot of sewing and handwork with a great sense of humor.  I want to grow up to be like her.

This next quilt was also made by JT.   Glad someone gets something finished!  I don’t recall the name of this one either – hey, I didn’t make it, I shouldn’t have to know it’s name.  I know my own name.  Usually.  Well.  It’s a great quilt that has an unusual feature.  The flower stems are raw edges and sewn with 1 seam down the middle so they fray.  Very cool JT.

Neecie brought a top to show because it would probably be quilted & given away before our meeting.  It’s for her granddaughter who is 3 (or maybe she’s 4.  could be 5.  I don’t think she’s 6.  Let’s just say she’s not a baby anymore, ok?)  It’s really a wonderful quilt and I am positive any young girl would love it.  It’s just not “my” look, nor is it Neecie’s “look”.  Always harder to work on something you don’t love and I know that Neecie has started and stopped working on this several times.  But it is really cute.  Don’t you agree?  I know it is a Buggy Barn pattern.

I only had wood stuff to show and I think I’ve already shown all that to you.  (lucky you!!  LOL) 

OK, I’m stalling.  I have a lot of things I should be doing and I can’t concentrate very well so I thought I’d write here.  My hubs & I are leaving tomorrow for Minneapolis and the Univ. of Minnesota.  On Monday morning I will have surgery #3 on my leg that broke in 2008.  While I don’t know all of the things that can go wrong, I do know quite a few of them.  And most of them were bad.  To say I’m nervous is an understatement.  But when I get back home I’m just positive I will be on the right road to recovery.  And on the bright side, I already own my own canes, crutches, walker and shower stool.  Threw away the compression socks.  Damm.  Bet they give me new ones!!  Do they come in plaid?  (I don’t look good in stripes)

 

Mud Pies and why I hate them….

I’ve been debating if I should write about harvest because why would anyone be interested?  But like I’ve said before, it’s my blog and if it makes me feel better, why not? 

Farming is so different from other occupations.  We don’t “do” farming like someone might “do” mechanical work.  We “live” farming.  It’s always here staring us in the face.  You can do all the things right with the seed choices, the fertilizers and chemicals needed, the cultivation and a hundred other things and in the end we still are at the mercy of Mother Nature.  Harvest is the time that a year’s worth of work is realized.  Payday if you will.

Here in the Valley, we grow a very large  percentage of the beet sugar grown in the U.S.  It’s a very big deal in terms of our area economy as well as for individuals.  If you ever buy Crystal Sugar, it might have come from our farm.

Once beet harvest starts in October it continues 24 hours a day until done.  EXCEPT, when we get temps below freezing or when the ground temp is above 50-some degrees.  Then we have to wait until those conditions change.  OR, when we’ve had too much rain for the equipment to move.  In the past week, we’ve had over 3” of rain. 

We are working today – I helped move equipment to a field that “might” have less mud.  But let me show a few pics taken before the last 1” of rain….

Approach to the field: 

Water stands in various parts of the fields:

  

 

On the left is the tractor that lifts the beets from the ground putting them into the truck which is pulled by a large 4-wheel drive tractor.  The truck would be stuck in minutes without the tractor towing:

 

 

Being pulled out of the field……

Onto the road……..

We’re on the road and being un-hooked from the tractor.

 

The county does it’s best to clean the roads for everyone’s safety:

And our almost- perfect Baxter.  You cannot imagine how he struggles with harvest.  He very badly wants to be with Mr.... Farmer.  But look at all that mud.  Do you think Mrs.... Picket Fence will be upset if I run thru all that?????????  (yes, I WAS!!)  Maybe he’ll be perfect tomorrow.

I am so over all that farming in the  mud story, aren’t you?  I have a couple things I’m working on but I can only show you one today.  I was out in my woodshop and look what I found:

It’s a primitive candle box that I made as a surface on which to mount this punch needle embroidery project. 

What I will show you in a day or 2 is the Wool Garden sample that I made for Mrs.... Farmhouse over at Farmhouse Woolens.  I’ll post the finished picture plus a tutorial on how to finish it.

I’d best go check on the farm progress.  It’s been quiet so that should mean it’s moving along.