Much as I had intended, I only completed one of the sewing projects which I started a couple of months ago. On Saturday afternoon I did do some sewing on a nearly complete project, only to have a clog in my feed dog. Polyester twill tape is not nearly as nice to work with as cotton. I will probably end up having to cut a new piece. Then I will wait until the iron is hot enough to press the hem nice and tight before I sew it down. Hopefully that will do the trick. That completed, I can go back to finish the second of the two of these rolls which I cut out at the same time. I cannot give more details since one is a gift item. The other is for me.
I also dug through a yarn bin and selected a red wool for a triangular shawl pattern, just to do something with the yarn. I had originally selected that yarn for a scarf pattern, but thought it would be too itchy around someone's neck. People are no longer accustomed to wearing wool, and no longer require it for warmth. I am enjoying knitting a complex pattern again, although I have spent much time ripping and re-knitting. The count must be perfect, and I have forgotten how to rip with loads of yarn overs and psso's. It is a project which will need to be completed without the distraction of television. I will need to remain very faithful to my marker. I so envy the women who can chart the increases for such patterns. It requires more thought from me than I am willing to give.
On top of that I picked up a completed baptismal gown from Rose so that I can start a new batch for CUF. I am waiting for my new JoAnn flyer so that I can use a coupon for the fabric. The cutting will be no big deal, but a couple of us are not fond of the basting. I was hoping to modify the pattern to eliminate the basting, but Fr. Tom likes the current style. Once I have the fabric and have done the cutting, I can check to see if anyone is willing to serge the edges, and eliminate the need for the basting. The embroidered edge which Rose has done is very pretty, but that, too, requires someone with the machine capable of doing it. Mine lacks that capacity.
I tried two new bread recipes, Vermont Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread, and Wheat Pecan Bread, both recipes from King Arthur Flour. I was a bit shocked at the amount of sugars in the first bread. Way more than I prefer. I was also leery of the cinnamon. However, it is a very soft bread, and the cinnamon makes it smell like cinnamon rolls, so Arthur liked it. I liked the softness, too. Next time I think I will make it without the cinnamon, since I do not care for that flavor in sandwiches. Also, I will add the yeast just after the oatmeal soak cools down, before adding any flour. I made the wheat pecan loaf by hand instead of using a bread machine. I thought I would appreciate the protein from the nuts, but even chopped, they require too much chewing. I prefer my nuts in salads, brownies or cookies.
Gracie and I are off to the vet again this week. Her ear is infected, and then the vet will draw a urine sample to complete the testing recommended at our last visit. We need to know if she has kidney malfunction, or if she only had a urinary tract infection. We are spending more on vet bills than we like, but a new cat is not cheap, either, and Gracie's personality is quite entertaining.
Arthur and I ordered a whole slew of books two weeks ago. He ordered two from Fred's assignment list, while I ordered Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons, Taylor Marshall's Sword and Serpent, and Terry Beatley's What If We've Been Wrong?. Every time I buy a book Arthur says, "You've finished all of your other books, right?" No, I have not. I am working on them, however. I have made good progress on Chesterton's book on Aquinas, and another of our juvenile books on Jane Austen is my vision therapy reading. Perhaps when the vision therapy is done, I will be able to read as fast as he. On the other hand, his books are not interrupted by embroidery and knitting projects!
One of my absolute favorite products from Shaklee has returned again - Scour Off Paste, a.k.a. bubblegum paste, or the pink stuff, at our house. Wahoo! Shaklee had to look for a new manufacturer after the previous manufacturer retired. I go through tons of the paste since I use it on my stove top. Arthur also uses it to clean the fireplace glass.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Barbie Dolls
As I signed off of the computer last night, I realized that I had not said a word about my Christmas shopping experience, and the new Barbie.
Let me start with a disclaimer. I know that some parents do not wish for their children to play with Barbie dolls because they are too sexy. I recall a woman on the news some twenty years ago who had a doll made in more realistic proportions so that children would not feel pressured into having the "perfect" but impossible and unhealthy Barbie figure. In a video popular on Facebook a couple of years ago, a woman from Australia, if I remember correctly, took second-hand Barbie and Spice Girl dolls and repainted them with the most beautiful children's faces, and had her mother knit new jumpers for them, making them look like real children instead of dis-proportioned women. Her work was wonderful, and I would have been tickled pink to get hold of one of her remakes. Even more would I have loved to be able to do the same doll makeovers myself. But I love Barbie myself, from the beautiful hair, clothes and detailed accessories. At least until the hair is undone, and the clothes removed and never easily returned exactly to factory condition. On the sexiness, I think back to my days of playing with Barbie. Yes, we saw her as sexy, and we made our own sexy wedding dresses for her out of Kleenex. On the other hand, I had a little niece describe her as having "things like a mother", and that put a whole new perspective on Barbie. A child's environment does made a difference in attitude.
Swing back to the present. I was looking for Baby Alive dolls for my two granddaughters for Christmas. After looking on line, I decided to stop at Walmart to see what they had on the shelves. (Now Walmart is a whole blog entry on its own. I far prefer Shopko, but I had already seen their sparse doll aisle.) Walmart had exactly what I needed, a mid-price Baby Alive in dolls with two different hair colors, one for each of the girls. Then I skipped over to the next aisle to get an idea for someone's birthday. All kinds of Barbies. Farm Barbie with plaid shirt, faded jeans and white hen. Teacher Barbie. Veterinarian Barbie. Camping Barbie. Farm animal veterinarian Barbie. Hair dresser Barbie. Dentist Barbie. Chef Barbie. Fahionista Barbie and Ken. So many choices! When the girls are at our house they like playing with the Stacie high chair which came with a kitchen Barbie, and the little dog which came with a dog walking Barbie, so I zeroed in on sets with kids (Stacy and Chelsea) and sets with animals. I rejected the set with a dog having puppies, which had been my first choice. The way the package showed the movements of the dog was too suggestive and crude, even though the dogs only came out of the stomach. The top on camping Barbie was too low cut for me, and the price for buying all of the separate figures to make a family too pricey. I finally picked a dog washing Barbie.
My shopping left me with some good feelings, and some negative feelings. First, I was very happy to see a young boy doll in the camping series, just as I love to see Ken, Stacie, and Chelsea. In the "olden days", Skipper, and then Stacie and Chelsea were described as Barbie's sisters, but they can just as easily be converted to her children with Ken as her husband rather than boyfriend. A young boy rounds out the family image. Second, I thought that over all, the clothes portrayals of Barbie as professional woman have become much more modest, loosing some of the sexiness that Barbie always represented. The down side was that the clothes seem to be very cheaply made, and they have lost much of the fine detailing which Barbie clothes and accessories used to have. Chalk it up to safety, or cheapened imports, I am not sure which to blame. At any rate, the clothes I saw looked like versions of the clothes we made as children, straight pieces with holes cut out for the arms, only now, with some serging around the edges instead of pinking! If you have vintage clothes, hang onto them! Their quality was so much better! Also, we had bendable Barbie with smooth legs and skin. The new bend-ables have visible joints such as were on the GI Joe doll of old. Very unsightly! My other complaint was that Barbie and company are now made in different sizes, some quite large, so that I could not tell if the Fashionista Barbie and Ken were in proportion to the Barbies in the other sets. That makes it hard to have purchases which fit together.
After a very long time in the doll aisle, I finally made my choices for our birthday gift. A bit disappointed, but on the other hand, I can't help but think that I will go back at some point and get the rock climbing Barbie for someone else, "just because". It would be a great keep-sake. Had I seen it earlier, it would have made a great surprise Christmas gift.
Let me start with a disclaimer. I know that some parents do not wish for their children to play with Barbie dolls because they are too sexy. I recall a woman on the news some twenty years ago who had a doll made in more realistic proportions so that children would not feel pressured into having the "perfect" but impossible and unhealthy Barbie figure. In a video popular on Facebook a couple of years ago, a woman from Australia, if I remember correctly, took second-hand Barbie and Spice Girl dolls and repainted them with the most beautiful children's faces, and had her mother knit new jumpers for them, making them look like real children instead of dis-proportioned women. Her work was wonderful, and I would have been tickled pink to get hold of one of her remakes. Even more would I have loved to be able to do the same doll makeovers myself. But I love Barbie myself, from the beautiful hair, clothes and detailed accessories. At least until the hair is undone, and the clothes removed and never easily returned exactly to factory condition. On the sexiness, I think back to my days of playing with Barbie. Yes, we saw her as sexy, and we made our own sexy wedding dresses for her out of Kleenex. On the other hand, I had a little niece describe her as having "things like a mother", and that put a whole new perspective on Barbie. A child's environment does made a difference in attitude.
Swing back to the present. I was looking for Baby Alive dolls for my two granddaughters for Christmas. After looking on line, I decided to stop at Walmart to see what they had on the shelves. (Now Walmart is a whole blog entry on its own. I far prefer Shopko, but I had already seen their sparse doll aisle.) Walmart had exactly what I needed, a mid-price Baby Alive in dolls with two different hair colors, one for each of the girls. Then I skipped over to the next aisle to get an idea for someone's birthday. All kinds of Barbies. Farm Barbie with plaid shirt, faded jeans and white hen. Teacher Barbie. Veterinarian Barbie. Camping Barbie. Farm animal veterinarian Barbie. Hair dresser Barbie. Dentist Barbie. Chef Barbie. Fahionista Barbie and Ken. So many choices! When the girls are at our house they like playing with the Stacie high chair which came with a kitchen Barbie, and the little dog which came with a dog walking Barbie, so I zeroed in on sets with kids (Stacy and Chelsea) and sets with animals. I rejected the set with a dog having puppies, which had been my first choice. The way the package showed the movements of the dog was too suggestive and crude, even though the dogs only came out of the stomach. The top on camping Barbie was too low cut for me, and the price for buying all of the separate figures to make a family too pricey. I finally picked a dog washing Barbie.
My shopping left me with some good feelings, and some negative feelings. First, I was very happy to see a young boy doll in the camping series, just as I love to see Ken, Stacie, and Chelsea. In the "olden days", Skipper, and then Stacie and Chelsea were described as Barbie's sisters, but they can just as easily be converted to her children with Ken as her husband rather than boyfriend. A young boy rounds out the family image. Second, I thought that over all, the clothes portrayals of Barbie as professional woman have become much more modest, loosing some of the sexiness that Barbie always represented. The down side was that the clothes seem to be very cheaply made, and they have lost much of the fine detailing which Barbie clothes and accessories used to have. Chalk it up to safety, or cheapened imports, I am not sure which to blame. At any rate, the clothes I saw looked like versions of the clothes we made as children, straight pieces with holes cut out for the arms, only now, with some serging around the edges instead of pinking! If you have vintage clothes, hang onto them! Their quality was so much better! Also, we had bendable Barbie with smooth legs and skin. The new bend-ables have visible joints such as were on the GI Joe doll of old. Very unsightly! My other complaint was that Barbie and company are now made in different sizes, some quite large, so that I could not tell if the Fashionista Barbie and Ken were in proportion to the Barbies in the other sets. That makes it hard to have purchases which fit together.
After a very long time in the doll aisle, I finally made my choices for our birthday gift. A bit disappointed, but on the other hand, I can't help but think that I will go back at some point and get the rock climbing Barbie for someone else, "just because". It would be a great keep-sake. Had I seen it earlier, it would have made a great surprise Christmas gift.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Hope for the Future of Christendom
I just finished reading Fingal's Quest (Madeleine Polland, Savio Books, San Jose, California, 1997). This is a reprint from Doubleday and Company, originally written in 1961. The setting is sixth century Ireland and France. A group of Irish monks, including St. Columban, head from Ireland to re-Christianize a France which has become Christian in name only after the barbarian invasions. Yes, sixth century, and Christian in name only within a few centuries of St. Martin of Tours. Christianity has waned in the past, just as it appears to be waning in Europe and the United States now. But the waning has been followed by waxing. Who knows but that in another fifty or hundred years, America will be re-evangelized by Christians from Africa and India, and perhaps even Russia. I found the book to be such a sign of great hope.
We had another Catholic United Financial meeting on Tuesday, and I came home feeling good about all of the things which we accomplished. In December we updated our by-laws lickety split. Yesterday, thanks to our treasurer's computerized report, we were also able to audit the books in record time. We also voted on a mission statement, planned our February meeting, and set our schedule for the rest of the year, cancelling all but three more meetings. I caught up with the pastoral associate and stewardship committee chair to discuss the MinisTree program, touched base with the custodial staff on hanging our charter and award plaques, and updated our schedule with the parish secretary. Lots of work done. Now, to re-type our by-laws, write some bulletin announcements, enter the rest of our information into the computer for our annual report and bake some goodies for our February meeting, and I can sit back and relax until it is time to do the newsletter. That, of course, will depend on how quickly we get our funds from the home office. I feel like there is hope for the future of our local council. I did not feel this good last fall!
Yesterday afternoon I was battling a very topsy-turvy stomach. I suspect Maja's little virus from the girls' visit this past week-end, although one can never tell. I went to bed early yesterday and slept much of the day today. Throughout the day today I ate saltines and English muffins, and drank only Shaklee Performance and Stomach Soothing Complex. I had a bit of Dinty Moore Beef Stew for dinner, but no leftover cake. Perhaps tomorrow.
We had another Catholic United Financial meeting on Tuesday, and I came home feeling good about all of the things which we accomplished. In December we updated our by-laws lickety split. Yesterday, thanks to our treasurer's computerized report, we were also able to audit the books in record time. We also voted on a mission statement, planned our February meeting, and set our schedule for the rest of the year, cancelling all but three more meetings. I caught up with the pastoral associate and stewardship committee chair to discuss the MinisTree program, touched base with the custodial staff on hanging our charter and award plaques, and updated our schedule with the parish secretary. Lots of work done. Now, to re-type our by-laws, write some bulletin announcements, enter the rest of our information into the computer for our annual report and bake some goodies for our February meeting, and I can sit back and relax until it is time to do the newsletter. That, of course, will depend on how quickly we get our funds from the home office. I feel like there is hope for the future of our local council. I did not feel this good last fall!
Yesterday afternoon I was battling a very topsy-turvy stomach. I suspect Maja's little virus from the girls' visit this past week-end, although one can never tell. I went to bed early yesterday and slept much of the day today. Throughout the day today I ate saltines and English muffins, and drank only Shaklee Performance and Stomach Soothing Complex. I had a bit of Dinty Moore Beef Stew for dinner, but no leftover cake. Perhaps tomorrow.
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