Post #27: UFO Report: A Blast From the Past (truly NOT my oldest UFO)!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here as life has a way of occasionally rearranging priorities. That's the way life is, and one must adapt as needed to the ever-changing demand and flow of things within and around and among us. And it is quite alright.

There are many groups and people these days who seem to pride themselves on being procrastinators. As a matter of fact, there was a quilting group I was in at one time with that name. ...smile... It's taken many years for my perspective to change on this, but one thing I truly do understand: I am NOT the procrastinator. 

So occasionally I change course, head in another direction, try something else for awhile. Well, maybe more than occasionally - And my former white-hot love is all-but-forgotten, tucked away in a box, under some papers of long-ago-misunderstood meaning... And I do mean long ago.

OK, let me back up here a bit, to help quantify just how old this bit of UFOdom really is. Hmmm, let me see...if I had done what I intended when I started this blog... (hehe...the best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-men---stay tuned---that's the title of another blog-post-in-progress that my-life's-gotten-temporarily-in-the-way-of---hee hee!) and posted one UFO (un-finished object/project) each day, then this blog would run for 27.4 years!!! Well, if you've been following my blog for awhile, then you may know that that is just a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeensy weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeensy bit shy of one-half of my entire time on this planet in this body of mine. That's a pretty darn good long time, don't you think?



So here it is, the UFO that I found the other day from sooooooooooooooo long ago, almost finished, but not quite. A bit dulled and stained around the edges. The kit manufacturer's copyright date in the bottom corner - that's the same year I bought the kit and did all of the work on this. Yes, I know that may seem weird to some of you. And no, I don't care. I actually am finding this quite amusing, and since I've made it my goal in the last few months to make someone laugh every day (& let me proudly state here that so far I have accomplished that goal each and every day henceforth), why can't I also be one of those who gets to be laughing? LOL. LOL. LOL. Finding laughter in creativity as well as peace....smile...

LOL.

In actuality, this UFO o' mine is 33 years old!!! That's the same age that my DH's daughter will be this year. Wow.  LOL.

Coming soon to a blog near you: 

My oldest UFO and my earliest craft projects, LOL.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl
                   

Post # 26: What year is this, and just who gets to decide for all of us, anyway???

I looked at the calendar today. Right there at the top, in big, bold numbers, there it is: 2013.

So that's what year it is, right?





NOT A CHANCE!


It seems, that someone, somewhere, somehow, for some unknown reason (at least unknown to me), has decided to change that.


It's not 2013 at all. Well, maybe I'm going a bit too far. It's still 2013 as far as the Gregorian calendar is concerned. I'll give you that. The question that baffles me is who (whom?) is it that resides in the mythical ivory tower in the faraway land making arbitrary decisions for all of us lowly consumers throughout the globe? Not following me yet? Then please, let me clarify. I believe that someone, somewhere, somehow, has decided to declare this year, 2013, at least unofficially, to be, pause..................wait, wait, wait for it, drum-roll please.......

The Year of the Owl

I honestly never planned to do this, but one day as I was out and about browsing in a store, I'm not even sure which one, maybe it was Home Goods or Joanne's or Ross - no matter...they all have pretty much the same made-in-China stuff-for-sale that the homogenizing of America, no...of the world, has brought to our society. But there I go, digressing into uncharted territory that is meant for another time and place - sorry about that. Well, anyway, for some reason I decided to get out my handy-dandy iPhone and snap a picture of this metal-owl-wall-sculpture-thingy. 

This is him, the owl who (or should I say hoo?) started it:

Being an artsy-crafty-type I will take photos of many things that interest me throughout the week, when it suits me. I even took a ton of photos of the ceilings and rafters in a Walmart garden center one day. Anyway, after I took that first owl photo, it was as though  all of the owls the world over sent out a call to reproduce everywhere! It's kind of like when you get a new car, or a new-to-you car, and all of a sudden every other car on the road is your same model. Or is it? Doesn't it just seem that way? Maybe with cars, but no, sir, not with these owls, I kid you not! The owls truly are all over the place. Owls ad nauseam!* 

*But for some reason I still think they're cute.

I did not search them out.

I came across all of these owls over a period of about 3 months.

Some were on the internet.

Some were knitted.

Some like to hang out as a group.*

*I especially like this photo! The saying that is embroidered on the pillow immediately brought to mind the very special, kind, creative, diverse, and talented, caring, and supportive group of fiber artists who put up with me on a fairly regular basis.

Some were hard.

Some were friendly.

Some were demure.

Some appeared lost.

Some are neglected. I saw this little fella again the other day and now he is passed out on his back; obviously the Florida sun is too much for him. Maybe he is allergic to mold?

These guys like to hang around...

and these, too.

In the picture below the bottom row had those Audubon Society birds that make the authentic sound of each species, the middle row had a mix of birds and animals, but the top row, that's the funny one. It had these little snap-top purses in animal shapes, just the cute kind of thing that little girls would be attracted to, and wouldn't you know it? All of the top row was full EXCEPT for the owls. Of those there was only one remaining. Sheesh! We are all so easily brainwashed...seasonally brainwashed, actually! For what will they come up with next year?



OK

I'll

shut up

you get the point.

But

isn't

it

mind-boggling

I honestly

never

went out of my way

to

search

for

the

owls.

They

just

keep

coming

and

won't

stop

until

next

season

when

the powers that be decide to
change our mind for us. ;-)

Isn't this amazing???

After all of this time I went into our hall bathroom to wash my hands and right there on the sink, right next to the soap dish, what did I see? An owl. No joke. I'd forgotten about this one. My lovely  Dear Hubby had given it to me as a gift a few years back, this little blue and white glass owl, less than 3" tall.

We had gone through some life challenges and he said it was a sign of the wisdom we had gained. Once again, challenges seem to surround us at every turn, yet that is what makes life interesting, isn't it? That is life.

I am still seeing owls at every turn as well.

My iPhone is again filling up with silly photos of silly owls; no- silly made-in-China-owl-like products is more like it, but I think I've had enough of the owls for now. 


OK, maybe not...

I forgot to mention that I recently purchased the Owl Obsession afghan pattern from the Ravelry website: (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owl-obsession) and plan on making at least a few of the owls to use in one of my 10ThousandProjects.

Then, I realized I'd really been affected when one night I was in bed watching television and DH was already asleep. I didn't want to turn on the light and wake him, but I wanted to crochet, so I decided to do some wire crochet, which, depending on what you are doing, can be fairly easy to manipulate in the dark. I started making a small ring shape with the idea of making a flower, but then it began to evolve into what I thought may look like little eyeglasses, then they looked like eyes, and then I changed colors, and before I knew it, it was becoming...yes, you guessed it...an owl. I never planned for this to turn out like an owl...it just happened. So here it is, another UFO, which will be completed at the proper time, though even I do not know when that might be.

Maybe instead of the afghan being called Owl Obsession,

that should be my name instead!

It's weird, because I really am not that into it; it's just that I am completely astounded (& almost nauseated) by the overwhelming, over-doing of this kind of thing. I just need to stay home (and off of the internet, too), in my little chair with my little crochet hook and my little knitting needles and my micro-jigsaw and my sewing machine and most of all, my fine, fine, fibery friends, which I have barely yet touched on in this blog, for fear that once I begin to write about my admiration for them and how they inspire me, I may never have time to create fiber art again.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl

Post #23: A dog, a tent and some pillows on Pinterest

     A while back a friend of mine turned me on to the sights, delights, and sometimes frights of Pinterest. Well, I sometimes hesitate to call her a friend, (just kidding), at least in those moments when it seems I can get nothing done because I've wasted half of a perfectly good afternoon doing absolutely nothing but perusing those very same sights, delights, and yes, even the frights, on whichever electronic doodad my hands and eyes seem to be attached to at that particular moment, provided, of course, that they are not full of fiber and beads and wire and whatnot.
     But a tirade about the ins and outs, woes and fros of the internet universe are not what I came here to share, so let me, albeit finally, get right to it. This is really about one of my 10ThousandProjects. What I stumbled upon on one of those afternoons was something that I subsequently did "Pin" to a board so I could reference it later. It was something that I am sure brought about one of those "V-8 smack-in-the-forehead moments" to many because it is soooooo simple I can hardly believe I've never thought of this myself.

     DH and I have no little ones running around, except four-legged little Alice, so the sleepover cushion idea shown in the picture was not my thing, but I could imagine how comfy they might be if you folded them to fit your needs,  to sit on the floor and lean back against the sofa, for instance. We could use these for extra floor seating while watching TV or sitting around with friends, knitting and relaxing.

     In case you are new to this blog, now's your chance to Meet Alice. 

Oh, did I mention that she likes to burrow? 

     Yes, she's in there. Under there. The truth is, we are one or two Ragg Quilts short for all the rooms in our house, so we have to keep moving them around to accommodate her. She's a riot, a regular riot, kind of like Alice Kramden from "The Honeymooners," although we're not too crazy about Ralph Kramden, because all he did was scream at everybody all the time, but that's a whole other subject; but my Alice, yes, she is a riot.  If her quilt is not on the couch at the appointed moment she will dig at the cushions to get underneath them. The only problem is the cushions are fully attached, so I am always alert and somehow manage to bring her a "blankie" right when she needs it. 

     Well, back to the pillows. So, a month or two or three go by, I really don't know how long since I saw the pillows-sewn-together-on-Pinterest. I'm still in my cleaning out phase which began in the forced winter fibernation of 2012, and I'm reaching into the back of the guest bedroom closet, waaaay in the back, all the way to the right, under and behind the clothes hanging there, faaaar out of sight, barely within reach of the pads of my fingertips, so much so that I have to go get a broom to assist or risk knocking all of the clothes off their hangers, and then, finally, (yes!), with a stretch, there, I've got it...it's a small black suitcase, and it is FULL and fully zipped up. 

     Wow! Just what was inside? This thing is pretty heavy for its size. Maybe there was something really special in here, some long-lost treasure I had forgotten about, or maybe just something small...like maybe a winning lottery ticket! Yeah, that's the ticket! (Well, a girl can dream, can't she)? Well, as it turned out, I had hit the jackpot, a HUGE jackpot, in fact! I had just hit the Pillowcase Bonanza! I must say it was really strange to find these at this time, after seeing the pillows-sewn-together-on-Pinterest so recently, since the pillowcases had been packed in that suitcase for a period of time that exceeded 6 years and had survived many moves during that time without ever once being opened. 

     So, I got out all of the pillowcases, washed and dried them, chose the ones I wanted to use, sewed them together (easiest project ever!), filled all five pillowcases with five pillows, respectively, and folded the whole thing up in the corner of the living room where it sat for a while.

   One day I was in the room designated as my "office" when Alice came in and couldn't find a place to park herself near her "mommy" so I got up to get her a quilt. Well, you know the rest...no sooner did I bring it into my office than she took permanent possession of what I now refer to as the "Pillow-Tent." This simple, silly little project turned out to be like the "Castro Convertible" of dog beds. As long as I leave it folded over itself, she now has a daybed if she lays on top, and for those times when she wants it a little darker to get a better nap, she climbs right in between the two layers of pillows. If Fido was Queen of the Pillows, then surely Alice does reign supreme as Queen of the Tents, don't you think? 

Alice is in there, comfy as can be. She's just happy to be near her mommy.

See, there she is.

The Convertible Pillow-Tent works double-duty.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl