After the rush ...

It was a good Christmas.  The general health of the family is not seriously bad ... the weather was good ... nice presents were exchanged ... and the food was delightful.  The two pairs of mittens and the scarf that I engaged upon to knit were completed ... and tonight I'll start a hat to match the scarf.

Among the presents that I received were three mint-condition copies of the English "Needlewoman and Needlecraft" magazine, c1945.  What an absolute treat!  The embroidery transfers are intact ... and it's fascinating to read how to make slippers, a leather handbag, lots of embroidery and things.  The rationing coupons are mentioned ... and everything is made with regard to economy.  A lovely pattern for an apron uses the best portions of material left from dresses that are worn out.

I also received an e-reader ... and I've fallen in love with it.  It's a Kobo Glo ... and I was given it several days before Christmas, because I was feeling so dejected and did not have anything to read.  I loved the gift so much that I bought one for each of my closest family members.  There are many free books ... and I'm currently re-reading The Count of Monte Cristo, a book that I love.

I hope that this Christmas Season finds you all enjoying the company of loved ones ... and that you feel blessed.

12/12/12

We should do something special, to mark this date, shouldn't we.

Back in the old days, I'd suggest visiting each other's blogs and leaving comments.

oh well.

Been a while ...

It's been a while since I wrote anything here ... and even longer since I wrote anything of note.  Indeed, as I roll my eyes, I wonder if I've ever written anything of note!

Speaking of which, my book, which I had thought was out of print, did a splendid business of sales this past summer.  Much to my surprise, I received a very decent royalty cheque a few weeks ago.  So, miracles never cease.

My mother has not been at all well these last several weeks.  The doctor is, thus far, mystified.  Tests are on-going ... and it's a great worry.  I'm terrified that she is going to fall down our stairs, in the house.  She has significant pain in one leg, accompanied by weakness.  So, when I know that she's going up or down stairs, I stand at the ready, at the bottom of the steps, to catch her. 

Christmas, you say?  Christmas is on the way?  Guess what my preparations, thus far, for the glorious season comprise.  One and a half hand-knit mittens (I'm trying to get two pairs knit) have been made ... and I've purchased a small amount of good cheese to have on hand.  For anyone who remembers anything about me, you know that cheese plays an important role in my life.  Less so since I discovered that I need to eat low-fat cheese most of the time, but old habits are hard to break.

And that's the end of this installment.  I deeply miss the sense of "togetherness" that was felt on Multiply ... but I'm thankful for those who are here. ((group hugs))

It's so quiet ...

I'm taking a mindfulness workshop ... I think it's been stretched over a period of nine or ten weeks, one day a week ... and I'm not sure if it is helping me in any way or not.

Mindfulness is being in the "present", being aware of things as they are ... and that's a really poor definition of it.  The workshop that I'm taking stems from Budhist teachings ... and that involves a lot of meditation.

Last week, one of our guided meditations had us exploring being a mountain.  I found it difficult, because all I wanted to do was giggle.  I've had other experiences ... one meditation had us focusing on a mild problem in our lives ... and during that mediation, I found that there were tears quietly streaming down my face.

I guess it's worth exploring, but I'd feel much better if all the meditative time was spent in prayer.

quiet, ain't it ...

I'm well and truly lost in the blogosphere.  I don't understand how to make things "private" in the settings, here (actually, I don't know if you can do that here at all), so I don't blog about any person or thing that I don't want made public.

That narrows it down a lot.

I appreciate the blogs of others.  I just seem to have lost my voice.

Brick cover up-date

If I can actually insert a photograph, it will show the stage that I've reached with the brick cover that I'm hooking.  Why would I want to cover a brick?  To use it as a doorstop.

And, of course, the picture is sideways.  I don't know how to correct it.

Henri 2, Paw de Deux

This is a brilliantly funny two minute video:

I'm trying ...

I'm trying to stay awake.  I figure it is the only hope that I have of being able to sleep tonight.

I'm so tired I could walk into a wall and just slide down and wouldn't feel a thing.

How do you ...

Upload a photograph from your computer to this site?  I see the little "insert image" button and I've clicked on it and followed the things that we are supposed to do, but the image download/upload is always "unsuccessful".  Hah!!!! I DID IT!!

My hair ...

My hair is longer than I thought it was.

I never wear it down, in public.  I always have it up.

But, I just washed it, so after having it in a towel for a little while, I now have it down, to finish the drying process. 

I just realized that it is past my waist, when I'm standing up!  How on earth did that happen?  I knew it was past my waist when I sit, but ... this is long!

I've let it grow for a few reasons, including the money that I'm saving from having a shorter style that requires trimming and what-not every few weeks.

Goodness.  What a boring blog.  First pork chops and now this.

We're having ...

We're having pork chops for supper tonight.  I got them at a health food store yesterday ... from Wooly Mountain Farm ... I think they came from a heritage type pig and they were pasture-fed.

I don't know if there will be any discernable difference in their taste, but I'll let you know.

*sigh* Such is life, that I'm blogging about pork chops ...

Sometimes ...

Sometimes, with all the junk that life can throw at us, it's the little things that can elevate a day.

I have just made the perfect cup of tea.  Darjeeling.  Skim milk. Steeped a perfect five minutes.  It tastes so good ... the temperature is a perfect not-too-hot-not-too-cool ...

And suddenly the edge of other things is not quite as sharp.

I might just make it through this day.

I don't want to lose any of you ...

I don't have many friends on Multiply/wherever it is that I find myself ... and I hardly ever blog.  In fact, you can't call anything that I've recently posted as a "blog", just random words.  (Except for the encounter with the spider ... that was a true explosion of something else ...)

My main reason for signing in on any of these sites is to keep in touch with the rest of you.  I care about my friends and want to know how you are.

I don't want us to lose each other ...

New project ...

I went back to the rug hooking shop yesterday and couldn't decide on a design for a rug. (I'm still not back to my old self, in terms of designing rugs/mats myself.)

At the last moment, though, I spotted a kit. It's for a different style of hooking, using cut strips of fabric (a more primitive method, in some circles) ... and it's the neatest thing! It's a brick cover; you put it over a brick and use it as a doorstop!

So, I'll try to do the different type of hooking and show you my progress. I think the idea of it (brick cover) is really neat.

*sigh* I can't get Blogger to successfully grab the picture of the design from my computer.  It's on my Multiply blog ... and I've downloaded Picasa and can't figure out how to work it. Argh.

How to be consistent (not)

While we are all trying to get our feet wet in this exploration of blogging sites, I guess it would make the most sense to write the same blog on each site.  (Well, copy and paste the same blog, as it were ...)

I still go faithfully to Multiply (not in the Biblical sense), each day ... although I don't write very often.

I stumble my way to Xanga ... and I still find it friendlier than Blogger ...

And then I find my way here.  I really don't understand Blogger at all, but some of you are here and I don't want to lose you.

So what does this bring, for today?  Well, no mention of my hair style troubles, as expressed on Xanga yesterday.  Something less than my continual whine that "I can't understand Blogger!!"

It's just me, hoping that this will post ... and that we can find a way to make this all work.

Thank you Kerry!

I had to go into the old Blogger set-up.  I couldn't find an edit profile section in this new Blogger arrangement.  But I did it and now, hopefully, Anne Boleyn is in place.  Thank you!!

To quote the Beatles ... Help!

This will be a long list of blog entries ... but for the first one, can anyone tell me how to get a picture for my "pet" identity put in this thing?  See??  I can't even ask the question in a clear and concise manner ...

and ...

I can't figure out how to put a picture up for my profile ...

I am so stupid

I'm so excited to have the three of you here, who have "followed" me.

So ... I clicked on one of you, to follow you, and it seemed to be going well ... and then I realized that the page was asking me if I wanted to follow my own blog, instead of the person I was trying to follow.

I really am stupid ...

doing it all over again

I've managed to follow two people, thus far.  I have no idea how I did it ... and now I'm trying to follow others and I can't remember what to do.

The only thing that is encouraging me is that I remember how totally lost I felt when I started with Y360 and with Multiply.  I suppose that if I give this place a chance, I'll find my way.

But it doesn't feel like a community or a family, yet.  And I miss that.

Haven't a clue ...

I don't know how to follow people here .... I'm not sure if I'm reading the most recent blogs or the first blogs ...

sigh.

I guess the idea is to experiment and see what happens.  I wonder if I hit the wrong combination of keys if the entire internet will disappear?  It certainly seems possible.

Awkward ...

I remember when I started on Yahoo 360 ... and then on Multiply.  Both voyages began with the same sense of confusion:  I had absolutely no idea how to navigate the site(s) and didn't know where I was going.

So at lease I'm consistent.  I have no idea how to find comments, if there are any, here on Blogger.  I have no idea how to do a lot of things here ...

But I guess I'll learn.

The main thing is that we don't lose contact with each other!

Lost in Space ...

I don't have a clue how to work this site.  I had forgotten that I had set this up years ago!