Thursday, December 28, 2023

 It's not surprising that the crowd pictured listening to Nikki Haley in New Hampshire describe the purpose of the American Civil War as a way to keep government from impeding the rights of the people is overwhelmingly white:

" 'I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” Haley added. “I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. It was never meant to be all things to all people,” she added.'"

It's also not surprising that even that answer, that came more than 24 hours after she completely omitted slavery as a cause of the conflict, still didn't address slavery as a direct reason, nor is it entirely clear to me just what she means by "...the rights of the people."  Just which people in the 19th century were worried about government taking away rights and freedoms? Since slaves were demonstrably not free, nor did they have much in the way of "rights", any government interference must have weighed on all those poor Southerners who still claim a glorious past in the 21st century, a past lost to greedy Yankees (most commonly heard as damyankees). I have no doubt that Haley agrees with the idea that enslaved people gained valuable skills that enhanced their lives through the beneficence of their owners. She said as much earlier this year.

Then when people pointed out that she still was obfuscating, she added, "But the lessons of what the bigger issue with the Civil War is that let's not forget what came out of that, which is government's role, individual liberties, freedom for every single person, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do and be anything you want to be without anyone in government getting in our way.”

Now that statement is so loaded with slippery words and ideas that a reasonable person still needs more information and more clarity. Freedom to "do and be anything you want to.." is not even close to the reality and all those states below Mason and Dixon's line aren't even allowed to read freely, love freely, or plan their families freely. I have multiple experiences living in the South both as a child, as a military wife, as a mother of mixed race children. Nikki Haley is full of something but it isn't honesty or integrity.

 

Sunday, October 29, 2023


 Not that I am any kind of expert on the new fad of pet portraiture, but I don't think this qualifies as mosaic piecing. My understanding of that is that various tiny pieces go together to form a picture that depends on the persistence of vision, as Salvador Dali called it. This is usually but not always achieved with some sort of glue product whether it is iron on paper or some other type of non-sewing application. This is clearly hand pieced and appliqued.

My son's rescue dog is a miniature schnauzer. His flyaway hair was hard to show. I asked my son whether he wanted a small wallhanging or a throw pillow because at this point this can be either.    

The House Republicans picked a very odd duck for the new speaker. He is a Southern Baptist to the roots of his hair and believes entirely in the Bible. As one whose own grandmother, also a Southern Baptist, declared my marriage to a Japanese American an abomination and against biblical teachings, I worry that a new Savonarola will be leading that wing of the right. Then there are the other cultural biases associated with a biblical world view. It's always amusing to me that hard core biblical adherence has to require the suspension of logic and fact.

Saturday, October 14, 2023

 The continuing saga of how bad health care is here will soon be over for me. The practice manager for the internal medicine department of PennMed/Radnor called me on my birthday (how sweet) to tell me that there was no room for me at the inn, metaphorically speaking. A year ago, I changed doctors because I was still losing weight dramatically (yes, I did believe I would get better care). I saw one physician two times. During the first visit she ordered a full body scan. During the second visit she told me that nothing from the scan showed any reason for my continuing malaise and that I had lost even more weight. She also said I needed to take Fosamax to prevent fractures. I told her that my DEXA scan that had just been done did not indicate osteoporosis but she insisted. I told her that I didn't think it was a good idea as Fosamax can cause both femur fractures and necrotic jaw bones and that I had already had necrotic bone in my jaw from a very bad wisdom tooth extraction. She still insisted.

Of course I had a bad reaction even after one pill so I went to the patient portal to ask if I should continue to take the stupid pill. Her response was to address me in third person (who does that?) and to  tell me to take extra vitamin D, one of the suspected culprits in my ongoing physical deterioration. So I complained to her superior. All that got me was nothing, though in a chaotic conference call, I asked if I could change physicians and was told they would handle it.  No response until finally I got a letter from someone who said she had been assigned to be my liaison with the system. Two days later I asked this person a question through the portal and immediately got the response that she no longer worked there and I should simply call hospital information. So for 12 months I waited to see what would happen next. 

That twelve months ended at the very beginning of October at which point the physician's assistant for the doctor who was inattentive and incompetent contacted me to tell me that I needed a physical. I asked her who my physician would be and she said it was the same person I had complained about. I told her I wasn't willing to go back to that doctor who wouldn't listen and was enormously insulting. So that's when I got the call from the practice manager who told me that I didn't need to change doctors and that even if I did believe that I needed to, there was no one available. I then asked if that also applied to my husband who had switched physicians when I did. She couldn't believe that he would leave the doctor just because I was dissatisfied but that's how it goes with us after 54 years of marriage.

Now neither one of us, both cancer survivors, has a primary care doctor and no way to get one or at least no way to get one in a timely fashion. So much for what is touted as the best medical care in the area. Their stats probably look really good if they can get rid of all the dead wood like my husband and me. And that's what we will be without medical care. I don't think bad care is better than no care but I sure don't have a clue how to get good care.  


Tuesday, October 3, 2023


 The flimsies for the two crib quilts for the twin granddaughters of my current dentist are done and I will layer them today. As crib quilts they don't need a ton of elaborate quilting but they do need to hold together for washing so that is my guide.


These started as orphan blocks so it didn't take that long to make two 40x40 inch quilt tops. Other than the variety of animals there is no theme and doesn't need to be for a baby.

Monday, October 2, 2023

 Trump's NY trial opened today with Trump at the defense table although his presence was not requested or required. I don't doubt he wants his minions to see him "defending" himself even though the part of the trial that deals with guilt or innocence concluded when Engeron entered a summary judgment against Trump. All that is left in this trial is what punishment fits that crime.


But Trump being Trump he couldn't help using any available mike to insult the court, insult the people of NY, insult the judge, etc. But while he was in court being a jerk, Mike Kelly, his longest serving chief of staff, finally opened up about what it was really like for an honorable man like Kelly, a man whose own son was killed in combat, to work for a man who has no clue what sacrifice is.

The tales that Kelly tells should change some minds, but Trumpettes being who they are, they probably think Kelly has been bought and sold. Regardless, please read this fairly short article:


https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/politics/john-kelly-donald-trump-us-service-members-veterans/index.html

Friday, September 29, 2023

 The Apple Dumpling Gang is hard at work in Congress. Tomorrow will be a bigger debacle than other shutdowns and anyone who doesn't think they need the US government to work must already be in DC sitting in the Republican chairs. I have no sympathy whatsoever for the feckless and foolish whose egos are bigger than their brains.

The first flimsy for the new baby quilts is complete--a feathered star center and assorted animals on the border. The second flimsy is on its way but I only have the bottom border appliqued at this point. It has animals and insects as well. I think I mentioned before that I think of baby quilts as story starters and learning tools--Tell me a story about this bird. How many horses are on this side? What colors can you name?, etc. They don't have to be symmetrical and balanced; they only need to be interesting, not flammable, not too squishy, and big enough to cover but small enough to carry.

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

 Summary judgment was granted in the Trump family fraud case on many of the charges laid at their door. The Trumps are grifters and cons from the get go but what always ends up biting them in the butt is their penchant for saying stupid stuff publicly. So when James first laid out the charges, the Don, DJTJ, and Eric all went out to not only say proudly that they had done what was accused but that "everyone" did it. While that may be the case, it cost NY state a pile of money in unpaid taxes. Why anyone continues to believe that these folks are in any way, shape, or form intelligent escapes me. I sure hope someone points out that Letitia James built her case and did her homework, a word that without doubt is not in the Trump lexicon. The trial isn't over so no one knows what the end result will be, but summary judgment means that they owe a bucket load of cash which they do not have.

 

See, grifters and cons use your money, not theirs. When Trumps don't pay their taxes or cheat on their taxes, other New Yorkers have to dig deeper. For some reason, Trumpettes seem to think that's fine and keep sending him money which means they pay at least twice for the Trumps' chicanery. Now we can hope that they make even more reckless and feckless statements leading to more summary judgments. 

On a different matter entirely, but not quilts, if you are an older woman in SE PA, do not go to Aesthetic Dermatology and do not go to Dr. Jamie Altman. Dismissive, arrogant, and only focused on himself. Your skin only means money to him.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

 Other news for today is that I have started two new projects, which, because of the situation, is not only different from my usual routine but called for by circumstance. While I do like my dentist, just as I liked my dentist in Utah, mostly I like to make quilts so good excuses are needed. Added to that all other factors such as finally using more of the estate sale blocks and extras, trying out new ideas, and simply filling my time by making two quilts for my dentist's brand new twin granddaughters. That's pretty much all I know about the babies; I don't even know if they are identical or fraternal. The babies were born in the summer so they are still quite small and won't be using these quilts for a while if their parents are smart but no time like the present to get these done.

Since I am using orphan blocks from the estate sale, the colors are already more or less chosen and they are definitely not babyish. But what I do know about babies and small children and these girls in particular is that kids are messy--they pee and poop and throw up and throw food and everything else in between. Add to that these little girls' mother is a champion horse jumper and the girls will be hanging out at stables at least until they make their own choices and having darker colors and no white seems wise. I plan to up the cuteness factor by doing some applique on the outside borders like running horses and dogs and perhaps some other applique to add more colors than the blue, rust, and brown of the main blocks. 

No pictures yet but this should be a quick project even if it is doubled.

 A couple of days ago, CNN went to New Hampshire to interview Republican voters about their primary choices for President. Every person they talked to was for Trump and also for any Republican who ended up on the ballot, mostly because they all thought that Republicans would be better able to deal with economic issues. Ha, ha!

Perhaps CNN can visit again since the Republicans' prowess is on full display in the House. What economy? What, me worry? 

The fun and games continued today (9/23) when "...The House on Thursday has voted down a rule that would have advanced a Defense Department bill, another stumbling block for Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Republican leadership ahead of a looming government shutdown deadline."

These are the folks who always complain that Democrats ruined the military. Feckless and foolish seems to be the appropriate language. 

 


Saturday, September 16, 2023

 It is always disconcerting and disheartening to see another old quilting friend disappear. Martingale Publishing went out of business this week. While I have more quilting books than most people, I am always looking out for good design and fresh ideas. Since I am a hard-core traditional quilter that seems sort of odd but no one wants their work, whatever it is, to be dull and boring, banal and insipid.

If you are a Trumpette, please tell him that he cannot simply ignore the restrictions placed on his public utterances or claim that the First Amendment allows him to write or promote anything he wants without repercussions. I read all the articles dealing with his unhinged rantings but none of the articles ever indicate what a solution might be. Witnesses, grand jury members, and all of the judges and attorneys deserve to have safety ensured for their participation, regardless of what Orange Crush thinks. I don't think there is enough duct tape in the world to shut that ugly mouth but too many of Trump's acolytes are dangerous, and fully locked and loaded. If he goes to jail, do the Secret Service guys have to go too?

Sunday, September 3, 2023

On a purely personal note, I find Vivek Ramaswamy completely unattractive and I don't mean physically. He is a typical ego-driven candidate who finds out that his line of bull puckey isn't going well. So he backsteps without changing his statement, claims he was misunderstood, worries about context for his remarks. He insults women constantly and not just those with whom he disagrees. This guy shouldn't even be vice-president let alone president.

I finished the quilting today while watching a couple of episodes of  "The Great." I have read biographies of Catherine the Great but my husband has not. I doubt that anyone would describe this show as a true biography but certainly a fair amount of the events shown did happen. 

Happy Labor Day! We are not a country that celebrates work except for rewarding high income people with reduced taxes. Labor Day arose when labor started to have more power. Now even progressives suppress labor unions and we still reward high income people with lower taxes. We scorn people who do not work but we ignore the concerns of those who do work.These days that ignorance extends beyond the blue collar laborer to many in white collar jobs. There is something wrong with a country that celebrates Trump, a man who wouldn't know which end of the shovel did the work, but scoffs at low income people who hope for better lives. 

Friday, September 1, 2023

 Alabama's Attorney General, Steve Marshall, says he has the power to prosecute people who help Alabama women access abortion assistance, including just information, whether they live in Alabama or not. The state bird of Alabama is called the yellowhammer and the Yellowhammer Fund is set up to aid women in Alabama, who because of the draconian laws recently passed, are even having trouble getting contraception let alone abortion information or mifepristone.

I am now testing Marshall's assertion by asking people who disagree with him to contact the Yellowhammer Fund to do whatever they can to thwart his arrogance and insolence. I pretty much dare that jerk to indict me.

I am quite close to finishing the quilting on the new project. Should I do blue or some other color for the binding?

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

 Fani Willis gets my vote for Person of the Year. When the first of the 19 charged individuals asked for a speedy court date, as they are allowed to constitutionally, she agreed and checked the calendar and then assigned September 6th for Kenny Chesebro's trial. Then a few other defendants asked for a speedy trial at which point Willis said that if everyone was ready she was too. So today she said she would schedule the entire 19 member group for September 6. You go girl.

Geez, I hope Mr. Trump is ready because at this point Willis is not taking prisoners, she is taking names. Huzzah, huzzah, the south does rise again.

I am nearly done with the quilting on the new floral quilt. Then comes the binding and then comes the next project. I am thinking of making a collage quilt of my son's dog but I have no experience with that so I have to do some more research and some more investigation.

Saturday, August 26, 2023

 My husband and I were both amused and startled by DJT's mug shot. We laughed out loud because we thought he looked so stupid; that it was obvious that he thought he looked fierce when what he really looked like was idiotic. That's his natural state, of course; remember him climbing into the plane with toilet paper on his shoe? Why would he even mention that they didn't teach him about being booked on criminal charges at Wharton? Of course given the strange behavior of the entire Trump clan, perhaps they should have had a special seminar on criminality and the wages of sin or something. The Trump clan did not go to the graduate division of Wharton, but the undergraduate section and for DJT himself that was only for two years since he started at Fordham. He barely got a Wharton education at all so perhaps he missed some classes that he should have attended.

What startled us about the mug shot was that so many of his fans think he looks like a warrior or a champion. WTH are they talking about? And if you believe that Trump weighs anything like 215 pounds you need to have your eyes examined. Just look at the comparison photo of Trump and Lamar Jackson in the link below.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-lamar-jackson-6-2-215-lbs-donald-trump-s-viral-height-weight-measurements-nfl-fans-calling-bald-faced-lie

Thursday, August 24, 2023

 Both of my parents died relatively young and, as a consequence, there are many things about aging of which I am unaware. What is happening in my jaw is not a normal consequence of aging so I probably wouldn't have known about mandibular tori anyway. A mandibular torus is a bony protuberance behind your lower front teeth arising from the mandible. They are often a problem in pairs but what I have right now is one large torus and apparently a few small ones on the other side of the center. While they can be annoying and even painful, mine is not impeding chewing or talking or even bothering me if I leave it alone. What the hygienist and the dentist both found remarkable was how quickly the torus grew. I go to the dentist a minimum of three times a year and usually more often than that for one reason and another.

So I just saw my hygienist in April at which point I did not have any tori. No one seems to know what to expect except that the smaller ones will probably get bigger as well. Isn't getting old swell?

Saturday, August 19, 2023

Everyone is healthy and happy. I did warn the new parents not to put the quilt in the crib with the baby.
 

Friday, August 11, 2023

 


 

Today I completed the applique on the newest project. I started in April, took a detour to make my son's jacket, came back to the project and subsequently changed it. The flimsy is complete unless I decide to add embroidery details somewhere. Right now the proposed name is Abbondanza!.

I am still undecided about whether this needs some sort of pieced border after the floral applique. My brain tends to like and look for "frames".

Judge Chutkan gave both prosecution and defense sides the written guidelines covering public outcry or public comment about the charges and the evidence in Trump's sedition trial. While there are still millions of people who idolize Trump, that does not mean he can say anything he wants or broadcast specific details in the evidence and charges. Despite that, I have no doubt Trump will say his freedom of speech has been trampled; but there is no unfettered ability to tell secrets or to spread lies nor has there ever been. The problem will arise, however, when Trump goes ahead and opens his mouth or uses his tiny hands to broadcast some grand jury information or the identity of one of the witnesses. Yes, he will be found in contempt of court but the barn door will already be open and harm could ensue. Chutkan warned Trump and his attorneys that..."the more inflammatory statements he makes connected to the case, the greater the urgency will be to move the case quickly to trial."

In other legal news, a special counsel will be appointed in the ongoing Hunter Biden case.


Tuesday, August 8, 2023

 Deny, delay, rinse and repeat. Trump's lawyers gained four days that they did not have on Monday. That's how Trump's instructions always work. It doesn't matter to Trump if others are harmed as long as he isn't. 

Deny, delay, rinse and repeat.

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Read John Avlon's explanation of the latest charges:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/opinions/indictment-trump-history-legal-charges-avlon/index.html


We, as a democratic republic, cannot survive any more time with Trump as POTUS. He was demonstrably bad the first time, but there will be no constraints now. For all that's holy, pay attention!

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

 

Every summer I add at least one tomato picture. This tomato is so funny looking I thought it might amuse folks. Unlike most of the country, our summer has been a little cooler than normal. I don't have any complaints about that but it has slowed the tomato production.


Friday, July 28, 2023


 Good heavens! Why am I not hearing any cries of, "Lock him up" from the Trump fans? After the new charges filed yesterday (7/27), it is obvious that the Dumpster committed far more egregious acts than Hillary. Fanatics can claim overreach all they want, but asking low level staffers to remove any video footage showing their chicanery which in turn led to their being included in the charges is far beyond Hillary's arrogant and stupid behavior. Of course the low level staffers are even more loyal to the dumpster fire than any of you folks so they are getting all the attention they deserve right now. I am glad they couldn't disable the camera as we might see the whole two stooges movie plus the dump at some point.

BTW, my son and daughter in-law were here last weekend and we went downtown to the Philadelphia Art Museum. We had given him his quilted jacket when he arrived but found that his assessment of the quilted clothing market was right on target. In the museum gift shops, many items of quilted clothing were on sale for what I considered to be outrageous prices. Very simple kimono style jackets were selling for anywhere from $1200 to $2300. These weren't that well made and the patterns were very simple with poor quality cotton fabric and no batting at all. It looked as though a $5 investment paid off big.

Making the jacket did take me away from my own quilt project but that was okay as my whole plan for construction disappeared in the interim. I intended to make it a center diamond with large triangular corners but when I put the two intended fabrics together, I didn't hear any singing so I decided to go with a much simpler plan.



Now I have to finish the last two corners and then decide if I add anything beyond that to contain all of the exuberance.

And another story about the problems caused by the imbalance in nature due to warming. We have a generator here, one that was installed by the very elderly woman who owned the house before us. Given the age and fragility of the very large trees in the neighborhood and in our yard, we have a maintenance contract on the equipment to assure us it will kick in when needed. An alarm got sent to the maintenance company a couple of days ago and the guy came out yesterday to investigate. It was ants--just regular garden ants, not carpenter ants, nesting in the box.  I didn't see the infestation but my husband did and he described it as incredible and other worldly. The maintenance fellow said that this summer has been notable for ant problems all over southern Pennsylvania, far more nests and far more damage. Since three trees on the street fell down in the last storm, the same storm when we were struck by lightning, having a generator is practically required. I loathe ants but I cannot say I expected this level of damage from them. 


Wednesday, July 5, 2023

 Edit:  I looked up the chances of a house being struck by lightning and for a single strike it is 1 in 200. If I have done the math correctly, three times in four years is exponentially higher. There is a 1 in 8M chance of that happening. Well I have always been unusually lucky.

The weather is weird everywhere but here in Pennsylvania I have a fairly unique problem. At least I think it must be unique although I have no idea how to research the data. We have been hit by lightning strikes on our house three times in the last four years or three times in the four years we have been here. Each time the strike has been pretty obvious, and each time the strike has taken out some piece of electronics, usually at a cost of around $1K to fix. 

The latest strike happened at 10:22 in the evening on Monday. The thunderstorm had been raging for a while and we could see the lightning strikes coming toward us and hear the rolling thunder. Multiple strikes in rapid succession and then "Bang!" This time it knocked out our air conditioning or at least some of our air conditioning since we have at least three different systems. This strike hit the main unit, the oldest, outside in our backyard. Since the lightning preceded the quick rise in temperature, we knew pretty quickly that our first floor kitchen, living, and dining room system was kaput. Luckily we were able to get a guy to come out to replace the zapped system.

Now I wonder if I have a lightning rod. Last year lightning  hit the phone and television systems and the year before it was a different air conditioning system. I guess we are lucky that our house is stone with a slate roof.

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

 This morning my husband and I finished the quilted jacket project. Yes, dear Reader, even though my son is over 40 I did indulge him. This was not my favorite job of the year but it is done.



Some of the patchwork is from that estate sale back in Utah and some is just from experimenting with ideas that never quite made it into a quilt for whatever reason, including that cute bunny. Then I cut up a few pairs of old jeans for collar, cuffs, and sleeve bottoms. I lined those with quilting cotton in a funny print (hogs on motorcycles) to make everything a little less stiff

Monday, June 12, 2023

 


 

I thought my front garden was done with surprises this year but we have yet another amaryllis blooming. This one is the bright red one from the year before last but it is barely out of the ground the stem is so short. There are two huge red blooms that look as though they are just lying on the ground because there is virtually no stem. I did nick the bulb earlier in the spring, long before anything came through the dirt, when I was replanting my dahlia corms. I didn't think I had done much to it but clearly the stem is far shorter than usual so I must have done more than I expected.  

I added this  photo this morning to show how short these stems are. The flowers are normal size though.

Monday, June 5, 2023

 I have written about my cats before but today's cat experience was a step beyond. Two of my three cats are very old, with one being 19 or thereabouts and the other 17 or somewhere close to that. The lack of specificity is that both of them were rescues of a sort. The older of the two, mostly Siamese but not pure, was taken in by a nurse when he was just a kitten. The nurse's sister had sort of bullied her to take the cat so even though she was allergic and wasn't supposed to have pets in her apartment, she adopted him for a while. She took reasonable care of him, getting him to the vet and having him neutered and such, but the whole "no pets" prohibition meant that he lived in her closet when she left the apartment. When she found out that the house that we had moved into was literally crawling with mice (I swear there were so many they earned their own zip code), she convinced me that he would help take care of the vermin, so I somewhat reluctantly took him in and we have enjoyed his company ever since. He was a pretty good mouser and soon we had no issues at all.

Well as life happens, my elderly cat has developed some health issues, the most dangerous being deteriorating kidneys and some thyroid problems. His kidneys have only recently advanced to an even more dangerous level so he had to begin hydrotherapy, consisting of having a subcutaneous drip of  ringer's lactate once a week. Poor Tom is supposed to undergo this treatment every week until he dies but we live a fair distance away from the veterinary office so they offered to teach me how to administer the infusion. As a quilter I have poked myself with a needle more often than I care to say but I had never attempted to stick a hypodermic needle in anyone for any reason. Luckily Tom is just a sweetheart, never a scratcher or biter or even much of a complainer, and my first try was just right. Now I just have to do this every Monday for the duration. If this had been my youngest cat who will turn 12 this fall, I probably would have told the vet to take care of the cat herself since I have no doubt that someone, feline or human, would be losing some blood poking Max with a hypodermic.

But speaking of Max--he is a Maine Coon Cat and he is quite large. Unfortunately when he was weighed six months ago he was overweight and the vet warned me that if this kept up he would probably develop Type II diabetes. Naturally I didn't want that to happen but the vet seemed very casual about getting him to lose weight. All she said was just to feed him less and more on the wet food side than the dry. Given how persistent and insistent cats are about wanting to eat, that didn't seem like much of a plan to me unless I simply locked him in the basement. So I went online to find out what cat food had the least calories. Turns out that Max already liked to eat the one that led that list--Friskie's Senior Stew. I had not given Max this food as the whole meal in the past, but I began to do so after his weigh-in, sometimes even adding a little water to the stew to cut the calories even more. He would get just a tiny bit of kibble to round out his meal and he certainly seemed to be thriving.

So when we went back to the vet last Friday, Max had lost 2.5 pounds but the vet didn't believe it. It is notoriously difficult to get cats to diet so she thought he might have some dread affliction which a blood test would reveal. The good news is that he really did lose all that weight, going from 21+ pounds to just a hair over 19, right about where he should be. Of course Max likes the new food so much he isn't going to want to switch back. The vet was quite impressed and told me to keep up the good work. 


Friday, May 26, 2023

 We can probably all agree that the US has gotten a little crazy no matter which side of the political fence one embraces. Most of my "professional" life was spent helping students understand language and words, training them to be able to be expressive without having to resort to either threats or violence. Many of you may also know that I have a very dim view of the notion that parents can teach their children better than any teacher can. A case in point is happening in Florida, where else? 

One mother of a young student in Florida demanded that the Amanda Gorman inaugural poem be removed from her child's classroom because it violated her own ideas. My question after reading the latest news this morning is how would she know? Read what she admitted to:

 

From Politico 5/26--

Salinas added that she is Christian, has Jewish friends and enjoys watching the Israeli Netflix series Fauda.

She also revealed that she only read snippets of the books that she sought to ban at the education center. The books include The ABCs of Black History, poetry by Langston Hughes and books on Cuba, all of which she has criticized for “indirect hate messages”, references to critical race theory and gender indoctrination.

“They have to read for me because I’m not an expert,” Salinas told JTA. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.”

 

So she wants the poem removed even though she did not read it and apparently cannot read it. She also says she is involved in her children's education but what she clearly should be involved in is her own education. I don't believe that she needs to espouse my own political beliefs or ideas but she should at least understand the point of language, words, poetry, etc. She admitted to congregating with the Proud Boys and sharing antisemitic tropes as well. 

If you have never seen "Gentleman's Agreement" with Gregory Peck you might want to check it out to see what saying nonsense like, "I watch Israeli tv so I can't be antisemitic" is not just ridiculous but insulting.



Thursday, May 25, 2023

 Peonies are among my favorite flowers so moving back east where they are more common made getting some new ones imperative as well. We had brought a few from Utah as our small yard there did not have grass but we did have all sorts of flowers. Peonies pretty much need a change of seasons or at least that's my understanding, and we have singles, and doubles, and colors ranging from white to burgundy and moving through all the pink or pinkish colors on the way there. At least those were the colors up until this year. 

Five years ago, right after some yahoo poisoned my coonhound making us choose to leave the house we had just moved into, I saw that there were some new varieties that included yellow peonies. I had a sort of yellow tree peony in Utah but it wasn't even that yellow. These new plants that were a combination of herbaceous and tree peonies were far more interesting to me so I ordered three plants and put them in the ground.

There was no luck for four years. The first year here I thought it might be because I had planted them too late for spring bloom so I left them. After another year of no blooms (the third year by now), I decided to try moving them again so that fall I lifted them higher. Aargh! Still no blooms so I waited until fall again and lifted all of them one inch higher, discovering in the process that one had "calved" so now I had four plants to deal with. Well that did the trick, or at least 3/4 of the trick. Three of the four plants are not only blooming but in such abundance and so magnificently that for the past ten days my husband and I have been standing in awe just looking at them.

As I wrote, they are not the only peony plants we have and where they are planted now they alternate with some enormous double peonies in burgundy. I had my husband take photos of those and of the current amaryllis blooming in a front bed. That's right, folks, against all odds, I have yet another amaryllis (mostly known as a Christmas gift flower that blooms once inside and then gets tossed), blooming and this time with five flowers on one stalk and another three flowered stalk following behind. The burgundy peonies are 9 inches across and the yellow ones are slightly smaller at about 7 inches. Each plant except one has at least ten blooms and that one will have to be lifted higher again in September. At my advanced age I was never entirely sure I would live long enough to see these flowers which I hope isn't some sort of omen for what happens next.

 



    


In the functional part of the garden, we now have some small green tomatoes, we have tons of asparagus and lots of mesclun, some collard greens and soon some green beans. The newest element in our food garden will be strawberries. We had a pretty steep hill section next to a sidewalk which made the seriously angled slope mowing hard. Even though my husband is even older than I am, he insists on doing his own mowing still but that was too much for him so he skimmed off the grass, added compost and good soil, and planted 75 strawberries. He got 25 June bearing and 50 ever bearing and right now they are all living up to those descriptions. In front of those, I planted about 100 potato starts of three different varieties. Most people seem to be unaware that home grown potatoes are so different from store potatoes that they might as well be a different food altogether. It's always too much for the two of us but overplanting is the only way I know to be sure that I have enough for any meal. Our neighbors do like the distribution of excess though some are getting a wee too proprietary about it for me, now asking when the tomatoes (or whatever) will be ready. I am happy to share, but if they act as though they already own the fruits of my labor they may be surprised.

If there are more typos than usual here, I apologize. I am getting used to a new laptop whose keyboard is bigger and more complicated.

Sunday, May 14, 2023

 Happy Mother's Day. I know  it is an American tradition but it's nice in a world that doesn't really value mothers. I have one son visiting now and we are having porchetta sandwiches for dinner with Italian veggies.

My other son is coming in July with his wife. He actually made a request this week for me to make him a bomber jacket with classic quilt blocks. We'll see.

Friday, May 12, 2023

 I have sort of completed the center section of the current project. The last photo was at the halfway point. The biggest reason I qualify my statement with that pesky "sort of" is that this section then needs an ogee type scroll around the floral center and then it will be appliqued to the triangle corner sections. That means the only part of the scroll line that has to be marked is the interior line. 

Anyway, here it is:


The diagonal orientation is the correct alignment. I am thinking of using the cornflower blue fabric for the scroll line. The outer corners are the same fabric, or they will be once I cut them, but that wasn't my original plan. Once I saw how the original small floral fabric looked I thought that the contrast was not very pleasing. It's hard to explain why but my reaction to the wrong fabric is usually pretty clear--some fabrics sing and some fabrics croak.

Trump is so dumb that he has made public defamatory statements again about E. Jean Carroll. I don't know what will happen because of that but I certainly hope his fine increases.


Wednesday, May 10, 2023

 Now that the verdict is in and digested, Trump is complaining that he never had a chance to defend himself in court. Forget the part about his lawyer, Tacopina of the tight suits, telling him that it would not be a good idea for him to testify. Forget about the part where Trump went off to play golf, what else, instead of making himself available for questioning. 

I have three adult children--very adult at this point. Trump's behavior and statements remind me of my children when they were around three years old. All the experts always told new parents to watch out for the terrible twos but with my sons it was the truly awful threes. That's what Trump acts like. 

I am making very good progress on the new project with the center section completely done at this point. This is not going to be a bed sized quilt, more of a large wall hanging. I have been getting rid of the blue ink and embroidering details on that center. It's easier for me to do the embroidery when the piece is smaller so I am adding veins and details. I am also adding some small embroidery details around some of the pieces that are pale in color to make them stand out better against the cream colored Kona cotton background. Pictures will be coming soon.

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

 "Oh Frabjous Day!" It took the NY jury less than 3 hours to not only find Trump guilty of sexual battery and defamation but they also worked out the appropriate fines for those charges. Unfortunately, Trump does not have to sign up for the sexual offenders registry, but he will have to pay about $5 million dollars for the two counts (3M for the defamation and 2M for the sexual battery).

Once again I point a finger at those who voted for that crude, rude, and disgusting man. You Trumpettes knew the man was all of those things but you voted for him anyway. Trump has to make a public statement refuting his defamatory statements. What are you Trumpettes going to do for your own culpability?

Friday, May 5, 2023

 Trump, by the latest news reports is still in Doonbeg, Ireland, but he says he is coming back to defend himself in his rape and defamation trial. Somebody should have told him that the trial closed already. Just another instance of Trump trying to take advantage of news and media, not the law, to dominate the airwaves. If you or I claimed that we were too busy playing golf to come to court, the court would have noted that as a point against us. In Trump's case, the judge apparently said that Trump has until Sunday to agree to testify.


Oh, come on. We live in a country that is supposed to be equal for all, for bad and good people and for uncomfortable and happy times. Trump had ample opportunity to come to court. He isn't above the law but if he gets this freebie, he might just be above the law. None of us can do what Trump does and get away with it, not that any of us who didn't vote for Trump would. The news media keeps using the excuse that Trump is running for office but that should be more reason to hold him to account rather than less. Even if you like Trump you should not applaud this latest move because the repercussions are too bad to even contemplate.

Next time you get in trouble with the law, leave the country and see what happens. Even Trumpettes know why this is wrong, but it's unlikely that they will complain. Some of them apparently think Trump is the second coming. If that isn't simply delusional I don't know what is.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

 There is a show in NYC featuring quilts from The Folk Art Museum. Dates, times, photos below.

https://apnews.com/article/quilt-exhibit-folk-art-museum-4f236fad74a0d131baa7a21f347179f0

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

 Here is the first picture of the new project. This piece of fabric is cut larger than necessary to allow for distortion by the applique process or any design changes that occur to me. Right now the plan is for the center to be about 38 inches square but set on point. Clearly this is another "spring" quilt with all the nice flowers and colors but this is just the center section. Eventually it will be a diamond shape in the center with some sort of design next and then corners that include more flowers and fancy birds in each space. So even though this looks square right now, just imagine any one of the "corners" pointing upward and you will get a better sense of what the orientation will be.

It is neither entirely symmetrical nor a mirror image but each section is substantially the same if not identical. There will be plenty of space for nice quilting but the finished project will be closer to a twin size than a bed size or a wall quilt.

Interesting developments all over the place politically and journalistically. I never saw either Tucker Carlson or Don Lemon do their shows although like most people I did see snippets when I read the news. The nicest thing I can say about either man is that he wasn't Walter Cronkite or any other real journalist and I won't miss them even in the limited exposure I have had. We don't need personalities, we need information, so a pox on both their houses.


Sunday, April 23, 2023

 Seven years ago I made a quilt inspired by Kretsinger's Paradise Garden quilt from the 30s. Several other women made similar quilts around the same time, one upping each other. While I do like those quilts, they also have  elements that don't appeal to me so even my first redo wasn't a redo but a reimagine. I gave that quilt to a friend when I left Utah and it still hangs in her house. For that one I took the center section, changed the orientation slightly and put the new quarter sections in the corners. You can check out that quilt on this blog from 6/05/2016 or look for it under the name a reader suggested: Spring.

My new project keeps the floral medallion in the center but moves some of the flowers around and changes others to flowers I like better. I plan to make this more or less round group of flowers into a center diamond configuration and then make four corners to frame that. I am planning something between the center and the corners but I haven't quite worked out what that something will be. This is going to be a long term project but I will post pictures during the construction although I don't have any yet.

Monday, April 10, 2023

 The new quilt is done. The baby isn't due until July, plus babies really should not sleep with soft bedding such as quilts before they are 12 months old so there isn't any rush. One of our sons is coming for Mother's Day so I will just give it to him to take to Utah. The new parents do live in Alaska but I don't doubt that there will be a visit to Utah at some point.

When I started this project I was calling it Unchain My Heart but I decided that wasn't appropriate for a baby gift since the song is about breaking up a romance so I just called it Hearts Full Of Joy. I am glad I finally used those old hearts and I got to use some whites and off-whites for the background. This was fun and easy and brings a smile to my face.


Saturday, April 1, 2023


 Earlier I wrote about working with some pre-cut hearts to make my latest quilt project. This, too, will be a baby gift quilt. Years ago when my youngest son was in college, a few of his friends moved in with us. Our house at that time was a 100 plus year old white elephant with 11 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, and 5 fireplaces. Five of the bedrooms were on the third floor, an area that we never really used before the boys moved in so  it wasn't as if anyone got displaced or disturbed. I was pretty strict with them about some things such as noise and they were completely responsible for their own spaces. 

Now more than twenty years later, one of those young men is married and expecting his first child sometime in late spring or early summer. In the colder months in Alaska where he lives now he works as a heli-ski and back country tour guide and in the warmer months if he needs work he does construction for his father-in-law. So this little quilt will end up in Alaska.

The picture above shows the little quilt in its current state, so not finished. 



Thursday, March 30, 2023

 One of the most striking parts about getting older is how different life is now. It is not just that my husband and I are both septuagenarians, but that ideas that we grew up taking for granted don't seem to be as universal as we both once thought. A case in point arose this week when the battery on my Lexus quit. I recognized that it was the battery as did my husband. Now for us, the solution was relatively simple because we do have jumper cables. All we needed was a willing neighbor with a running car. Well we thought that was all we needed. The first neighbor my husband tried is the other side of the stable duplex, a man only a few years younger than we are. Turns out he didn't even know how to open the hood/bonnet of his car. I mean seriously. Then my husband knocked on the next neighbor's door, a younger (about 45) fellow with two big suv's though only the Range Rover was at home. This guy didn't know where the battery was located--seriously. It is a British car but that only provides hints about the reliability of the electric components.

We do have a new battery now and some more insight into our neighbors. I know the Car Shield commercials say that now the owner needs to be a rocket scientist and own more than a wrench and a screwdriver, but jumping a battery still works the same way it always did. And everyone's battery will eventually die.


Monday, March 20, 2023

 March 17 wasn't just St. Patrick's Day, it was Match Day for medical schools around the country. My young friend, a girl when I first met her and began tutoring her in writing, is now a poised young woman graduating from medical school this spring. She got matched with UCSF in pediatrics, a real prize for her. I have helped dozens of young people in the past 30 years and I have maintained contact with many of them so there are already doctors and lawyers and engineers who have ties to me somehow, but this young woman has reached her primary goal of becoming a doctor despite everything stacked against her.

She was born in the US but to a mother who barely speaks English and consequently has only had very low paying jobs since emigrating from Vietnam. My young friend respected her mother and wanted to fulfill her dreams. Too many of us take our "gifts" lightly or give up too easily when the going gets tough. My friend is a shining example of hope and dreams and work all coming together.

Another of my former tutees has written a book. Part of his acknowledgments in the book is to me as he always swears that I am the reason he has achieved so much, including meeting his wife. While I think that is a tad overblown, I am nevertheless delighted that my avocation has improved the lives and vocations of so many young people. Sometimes I feel as though I am a waste of oxygen but this week feels good. 



Tuesday, March 14, 2023

 I did start a new project. About 15 years ago I bought some pre-cut fabric shapes from Keepsake Quilting. One batch of pre-cuts was sort of 30's style fabrics in blades for a Dresden plate quilt which I made and one batch was just a variety of fabrics in medium sized hearts. I never did anything with the hearts largely because they were mostly very old-fashioned prints in sort of odd colors that I couldn't get enthusiastic about. But I decided after I finished the silly little Catch A Falling Star quilt that I should do something with these goods.

So I have been making a single Irish Chain with alternating heart blocks. Since I only had 18 hearts and three of those were such ugly fabric I couldn't bear to put them on anything, I have augmented with other fabrics and the Irish Chain parts are from the augmented fabrics but all mixed together rather than a "green" block or a "yellow" block. I have also pulled out a stack of white or cream background fabrics for the block bases from my copious stash of pieces that were left over from other quilts over my 40 plus years of quilting. That means that this will be a true scrap quilt although some of my scraps are quite big so strictly speaking they aren't scraps, merely leftovers. I am hand-sewing this and having a very good time doing so. The center section is 40 inches square, not that it is finished yet, which allows for some more creative ideas for some sort of border or multiple borders.

I also got one of those Body-Rite back "appliances". I tweaked my back shoveling snow last year and I have been babying myself for a while but I thought I might try this ergonomic device since I don't have much to lose either way. I really have no idea how this works since it doesn't impede movement and the weights are only a total of three pounds, but even after only two days wearing it while I cut pieces, and press, and sit and sew my lumbar spine feels much better. I suppose it could be a mechanical version of the placebo effect but I am just happy that I am not whimpering in pain.

 

Monday, March 13, 2023

 Once again I have completed a quilt that will never be a prize winner but nevertheless delighted my husband, partly because he thinks one of the elements on the quilt is me.

I combined three old patterns and eliminated some of the extraneous design elements that I thought were too busy. So this uses Folk Art Wedding, Angels, and Postcards from the Edge designs but not in the way they were intended. I call it Catch a Falling Star after the old Perry Como song.


The  gardening angel (not sure why it  is called that but I didn't pick the name) has a big round head and very little hair just like me in real life.


Thursday, February 23, 2023

 Everyone knows that there is never a shortage of morons around, however one defines morons. So right now there are two easily defined moronic women from Georgia who seem to be quite happy in revealing their lack of common sense let alone intelligence or understanding. Marjorie Taylor Greene (although I believe she is soon to be just Marjorie Taylor since her husband filed for divorce) is always ready to show what a bad education she endured in addition to causing incredulity at the lack of any comprehension of the Constitution in all remarks she broadcasts, whether those are garbled ideas from some online forum or responses to questions. Emily Kohrs, who served as the foreperson of the special grand jury questioning the "stop the steal" endeavors of Trump and company, is from the other side of the political spectrum as far as anyone can tell, but she doesn't stand above MTG in her inanity and inappropriate remarks.

After the shenanigans they each got up to this week with MTG not only advocating what would amount to a civil disruption of US structure and governance (her divorce to separate red from blue states not her divorce from her own husband) but also demanding that states be prohibited from allowing newly arrived transplants to vote in any and all elections. "Idiotic" doesn't begin to describe how poorly these ideas were presented let alone how unconstitutional they both are, but MTG was not alone in proving that Georgia schools are clearly falling down on the job because Emily Kohrs has been on her own "I can say anything dumber than you can" tour of various newsrooms to add what can only be headaches to Fani Willis' job in investigating and possibly charging those who tried to overturn a duly certified election.

Can we please bring back civics education? Of course if the same morons who taught these women are in the classroom nothing will change and if some of the people who have been filmed disrupting school board meetings in Georgia are given the chance to write the curriculum, things can only get worse.