robot•jumping•rope

First up, we have a Christmas dress for a very special little someone…

All of this work on wool felt is by hand, and the dress is completely lined with the cutest 60’s floral. Too bad my camera sucks at closeups or I’d show ya.

Next, a vintage black wool with rhinestone buttons.

Excellent condition (it must have been her “good” coat, for it has almost no wear) and fits me perfectly. (My only other winter coat was purchased the year I got married and the Artiste will no longer be seen with me when I wear it because it’s really looking threadbare - so it was time for a replacement.)

I don’t wear coats much because I’m always hot, even in winter (except my feet). But this was just too nice to pass up. It looks quite matronly in this photo but full length it has a lot of flare and swing and hits right above my knees.

And last but certainly not least, 6 pristine quilt blocks, hand-stitched in 20’s? 30’s? fabrics. I think this is churn dash.

To frame? Pillow? Just hold and ponder and touch lovingly? le sigh.

All in all a nice week for thrifting, yes indeedy.

And did you know there’s a Flickr for those of us who belong to the Sacred Church of the Secondhand? I may have to join.

I bought this sweater at my favorite thrift haunt for $2. It’s the softest cashmere but the moths had made lunch of several spots. Some thrifted yarn will salvage it, hopefully (and now my kids want owls on everything they own).

Speaking of embellishment, have you seen this?

Wondrous.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Heading to the Farm for a few days, as my mother is under the weather and needs help with some things. Hopefully back Thursday. Have a wonderful week.

(I should totally get some prize for “strangest post title ever” or something, yes?)

can’t wait for halloween!

thanks for all the positive input on my redesign.  It’s a personal challenge to learn a little CSS and I’m certainly not finished!  Still working on colors and the sidebar at the left really bugs me and I don’t know why.  Anyway, work in progress and all that.

In other news, the in-laws arrive this afternoon, so I’m busy removing the traces of my terrible housekeeping skills by wiping down door handles and attacking cobwebs.  They always arrive right about suppertime, and I always cook for them. Tonight we’re having steak soup, homemade honey wheat bread, romaine salad with pears, walnuts and buttermilk-blue cheese dressing, and apple pie. How’s that for seasonal cooking??

They want to see the Arabia while here, and also Powell Gardens, and of course we’ll do a lot of geocaching (which scares me, a little). Busy weekend ahead with senior citizens who have TONS of energy.

Hopefully the beautiful crisp weather will hold.

Happy Weekending lovelies ~ make it count!

- me

if this page looks screwy would you please let me know in the comment box:

what browser you use

what specifically looks weird (off-center, margins, text disappearing, header image cut off, etc)

thanks so much!

image removed because I AM APPARENTLY HIGHLY INSENSITIVE.

in-laws coming to town unexpectedly! yikes! lots to be done, including the rehab of this page (CSS how i hate thee).

just saying hi and I’m Still Here. My flickr stuff is gone for just a bit but will be back.

love all around and hope everyone is rocking the blogosphere in my absence.

me

small ripples here in robotland that need tending ~ nothing terrible, just time-consuming.

back Monday!

p.s. and remember, pumpkin hats are the pinnacle of fall fashion:

the most perfect camping weekend I have ever enjoyed. Beautiful weather, beautiful spot. We traveled to Knob Noster State Park, about 1.5 hours east of KC (right next to Whiteman AFB). The Artiste had hiked there but I’ve never been; it was quite nice. Small but lots of families and good facilities for car campers. The kids met some friends and biked all over the place, the baby kept trying to get lost in the woods, and we relaxed around the fire, experimenting with our new pie iron (the cherry pie recipe is really good). Several short hikes perfect for toddlers and young children rounded out our stay.

So refreshed and ready to tackle school and my laundry pile and the house repairs that await us.

Happy Monday!

So his entry for the KAC Youth Contest won 2nd prize (poetry division), which means he got a package in the mail yesterday containing a nifty medal and a book with his poem published inside. How cool is that? I’m all atingle with mama-pride over here.

You wanna read it, right?

I thought so.

The Moon smiles

by Thos. E. B.

Sometimes
The moon is like
A silver smile
Turned sideways.

I lie in my bed.
I look out the window.
I see the moon
Smiling at me.

Silvery white,
It shines in the night.
It lights up the town,
And peeks into my room.

sigh.

and little sister has to share the spotlight/post-space, of course, so here are her latest designs.

i would so wear either outfit - that scalloped sweater - those colors are GENIUS, I’m telling you. If I could really, truly sew I would make her designs for her to wear. Not kidding.

okay, that’s enough bragging on my progeny for now. We’re going here for a little party tonight with our friend Maria, and then I’m going to try to talk the Artiste into an impulsive camping getaway. This weather is just begging for hikes and a campfire and some hotdogs and beer and cozy sleeping bags and bug spray. Don’t you think so? I do.

be well my friends, and we’ll meet again Monday ~

yesterday I made a big dent in the laundry pile mountain downstairs. 4 supersized loads washed and line-dried, thank you very much, with a short break to finish up a necessity: since the squirrels ate my other one (or used it to make fluffy beds for their ratty little offspring), I had to make a new bag to hold my clothespins:

it’s nutty-looking, I know, like something you’d make at camp at 11 to hold letters from your best friend in Iowa, or something your grandma might use for her bobby pins and other nighttime sundries. I used up some old poly-blend gingham I have oodles of (hmmm…wonder why?) and some scraps from the scrap box.

and bias tape, how do we love thee?

I sort of used this pattern , but changed the top into a drawstring-type opening so I can remove the bag from the hanger and wash it. Changing to non-rusting plastic-coated wire at some point, too, just in case she gets left outside.

rough-edge appliqué is a hoot, though. I’ll definitelybe doing more of this:

And what wonderful outdoor-drying weather we’re having here in Kansas: hot, windy and wonderful for producing sun-scented loads of dry things in about 20 minutes! for FREE! this makes the frugal/recycling-crazy girl inside me do cartwheels. It has made a difference in our electric bill this summer, to be sure.

And thank heaven we live in a clothesline-friendly neighborhood. The retired couple next door reared 5 kids and she confided they often had 3 lines out at one time, and they were filled to capacity daily!  Of course, I try to be discreet and not hang out my undies for all to see, and I always pull in my retractable line, but still I feel a little like a country mouse in the city. And because he knows this, the Artiste likes to lean out the window and holler ‘Maw, you git that washin’ hung out yet?”

funny, funny little man.

this is the kind of thing he leaves for me in the morning:

of course, i didn’t notice it until 4p.m.

off to market this morning. I’m looking for butternut squash (and cooler weather!) so I can make this. Doesn’t that just sound divine for a chilly autumn evening? Seriously.

okay, ciao my lovelies and make it a nice Wednesday if you can. I know I’ll be giving it my best shot.

This beautiful old elm stands at the northwest corner of the yard on the Farm. Looking west you can see the pond where my brother and I used to spend hot summer afternoons waiting for sun perch and bullheads with our trusty cane poles. In winter we would skate around the edges; one of us walking the bank, the other “skating” the frozen perimeter (it rarely froze solid in the center). Once we both fell in and barely made it out of the icy shallows. We never told my mother.

Our weekend in the country was productive for my husband. He is helping his in-laws rehab the back family room, which until 2 weeks ago had a “60’s gold shag and crumbling plaster” theme. He painted and used his table saw and smoked his pipe and chatted companionably with my dad and accomplished a lot, for which my parents are very grateful (although my mom advised him to change his choice of tobacco because she found it too “woodsy”).

I, on the other hand, watched 6 straight episodes of Project Runway while eating apple pie and drinking coffee.
In other news:

• the Artiste is working on a new banner for me so I can shell out the cash to WordPress and customize things at long last. But I’m plumb out of creative ideas and the single one I had looks dippy. Plah.

• Our bathroom tub wall fell in and we replaced the greenboard last night; I’ll need to finish the tile today.

• The laundry is, and I know you think i’m joking but i am so not, halfway to the basement ceiling.

• I have a jillion emails to read and respond to.

• some nice lady named Goldie from the garage sale has my phone number and keeps calling me about my ruby red glass collection. Can’t decide whether to sell it and if i do for how much?

Good stuff:

she picked out fabric for a new dress (easy Burda pattern). There was just enough of this sweet soft corduroy left. wish me luck.

and it’s still summer here, at least for this week. Bring out those sundresses for one last go-round…

I swear I don’t know how that giant t.v. and xbox got in there…and there’s my knee! wow. photoshop ain’t loading today, so you get to see it ALL, my friends.

Have a terrific tuesday, lovelies!

edited by me 10/3 to correct my mother’s age!

tinkering with templates this weekend.  forgive the random views - new ideas are percolating at Robot headquarters!