Other Vintage Textiles

A couple of aprons found at a yard sale this summer. I actually picked up 4 for $3. The others were a child's apron (or a tiny woman's cocktail apron tho' the ties seem rather short for that)and a man's grilling apron, which I gave to boyfriend as part of his birthmas present (he's an x-mas baby). Need to get a picture of him in that. It's a funny apron.

All but the tiny one had stains, which I ended up cleaning with a clorox bleach pen. Freaked me out (but not in a nauseous way) to touch 'em and have 'em around with the stains and all, but since they were all in good shape I had no problem tossing them into the washing machine over and over. Probably shouldn't have, but I did because, as I said in the previous post, I think old should be used not just saved in some closet or drawer.

I like the santa apron because of all its pockets. I have worn it to the beach. Um, not with my bathing suit on - in regular beach combing garb. The pockets are perfect for holding all kinds of beach treasures. I kinda wish I could get away with wearing it out in public - as opposed to the beach combing public. I probably could, if I were daring enough.

The budweiser one is neat in a white trash sort of way. I like that it's unisexual.

I love this old blanket. It has many torn/worn missing squares. I'm not sure if mum made this or it's from another one of her aunts. It was probably made in the 60's or 70's. Most of the squares are so soft. I used to use this as a beach blanket but felt guilty about not returning it to mum's closet. Eventually I did return it but while cleaning out the closet this weekend I reclaimed it since it's just been wadded up with a number of unused blankets (see quilt in previous post).

I suppose this will become a beach/picnic blanket, too. It was also found during the closet clean out. This was the bedspread mum made me when I was a wee one in the 70's. She made my sissy a matching one. It's made out of some of our old clothing and other random pieces of fabric. I have no problem using and machine washing either of these blankets (I just won't wash 'em very much - kinda gross, but whatevah). I think they deserve to be held close and to be seen.

Fortune: Frequent conversations will fill your heart with joy.

Quilts & Nausea

I always thought it peculiar that Billy Bob Thornton has a fear of antiques. But now I think I understand it after feeling nauseous since putting this quilt on my sofa to get a good look at it. I can't shake that nauseous feeling. There aren't many stains on it. I'm thinking it's the bug factor that is making me feel ill. Are there live bugs in it? Dead bugs? Ick. I feel like my hands have been contaminated - the sofa, too.
Maybe I can shake the feeling if I think about what I like about the quilt. It is beautiful. Fabulous fabrics and colors. Made by a relative - one of mum's aunts? I wonder what she was thinking about while she stitched it. How long it took to make. Who she made it for. Where she got the fabrics from. It's actually a patchwork of (mostly) squares and rectangles covering another quilt.

See the yellow and blue stripes under the torn floral square? That's part of the quilt underneath. It's squares of that with squares of white and squares of a white and pink. I'm sure it was a unisex child's quilt. I also like the patches with the green skirted girls

Now the question is what to do about the quilt. It's not filthy looking, but does have some dirty looking areas and a number of torn/worn areas. Research tells me sometimes dead bugs or bleeding fabrics cause stains that look like old blood or rust. Maybe a gentle shaking out will do. A very gentle shaking.

I told mum I'd like to mend it because she should use an old quilt like this, right? Not stuff it into the back of the linen closet. Some of the squares are actually disintegrating, which stinks. I was thinking maybe I could just cover them with another square of fabric. Of course, I don't want to ruin a beautiful thing. But what good is it, really, if you can't use it?

Hmm...I'm getting that gagging, nauseous feeling again. I'm afraid there are all sorts of bugses between the layers of the quilt. So gross to think of that being anywhere near food or humans.

Mend or not?

Fortune: Ugh. Too nauseous to think of/find one...

The Challenge

The email I received:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm gonna run a half marathon
and so are you...

My response:

Roses are yellow
Skies are grey
You gotta be crazy
to run a half marathon before May

The half marathon is in early April.

We ran a half marathon in May 2006 - it poured rain all day and was only in the 50's.

Wet, cold and numb by the end of the race.

Do I want to run 13 miles in April? Can I run 13 miles in April? It could very well snow...

Fortune: You will have good luck and overcome many hardships.

From My Valentine

So glad he is mine...

Be Careful What You Wish For...

The rumor turned out to be true. Boss -yes, the annoying one- is transferring out of the office! In 2 weeks! Hooray! Hurrah!

Of course, it can't be utterly blissful news because of the flipside. Which is: we are getting a tough boss. Very good for business. And hopefully good for us employees and our clients. But coworker is concerned about new boss.

We are both familiar with new boss. I've worked with new boss via telephone. Coworker has actually trained a couple of new boss's employees (in new boss's old office). Hence, coworker has seen new boss in full on boss-mode. Coworker says new boss wasn't very nice to one staff member. Coworker has always been glad to leave new boss's office after a training session.

I know new boss is going to be an asset. Work will get done. Questions will get answered. There will be communication. There will be listening. Instuction will be given without a bunch of gibberish and nonsense thrown in. There won't be ignorance. Oh my gosh - I can't wait for that!

Will the dress code become more strict? Will time off be harder to take? Will a big fuss be made if you need to adjust your schedule for an appointment? Or are ten minutes late? Will we be unable to use the "bonus time off" we are given!? Those are the little things I'm worried about.

When I heard the rumors that boss might be transferring, I started to think what it would be like to have a "normal" person as a boss. I wondered how I'd feel if new boss was all the things I wanted personality wise, but was a demanding micro-manager. I dunno. I decided I would rather have the non-ignorant, non-phoney boss. I don't mind working hard at all, but I don't won't to lose the bonus time off we get either because of a boss who feels it's necessary to always crack the whip.

*Why is the spellcheck in Blogger not working? It's been this way for about a week now.

Fortune: Your secret desire to completely change your life will manifest.

(gulp)

Oh My Aching Caucus

Today I participated in my first caucus. I vote for Maine switching to a primary.

Caucus started at 5pm. Sign in was between 4:30 and 5pm.

I was there for 2 hours and 15 minutes. The worst part was waiting to sign in.

4:45pm: One line for registered Democrats. The other for voters who need to register or who are registered Independents. How I wish I remembered what I was registered as. I figure Independent, so I get in the longer, slower moving line.

5:25pm: Someone working the caucus asks the numerous people in line if we know where the nearest copy place is as they ran out of forms. There is also talk among those in line that some folks have been asked to leave. I’m hoping they are talking about people that showed up after 5pm.

5:45pm: There are rumors that those of us still waiting in line (both lines) will not be able to partake in the caucus because it should have started by now. Everyone in line starts grumbling. Turns out not to be true, although folks are wondering why the police have shown up.

6:10pm: It’s my turn! I give my name and find I am already registered as a Democrat. I’m not too bummed about the long wait in the wrong line because I would have been waiting in the gym for the caucus to start anyhow. I’m told to fill out my paperwork in the gym because things are about to start.

6:15pm: I enter the gym and have no idea what to do. A woman is speaking on behalf of Clinton. I can’t understand what she is saying because I am behind the podium. Someone working the caucus notifies us the caucus will start as soon as the last voter is signed in and registered, which should be shortly. Someone begins to speak on behalf of Obama, but I can’t really hear what he is saying because a.) I’m still standing behind the podium and b.) I'm too busy wondering how the hell this caucus stuff works.

6:30pm: I see someone I know who also has no idea how the caucus works. We’re both voting Obama. We move to the Obama section.

6:35pm: The voting is about to begin. They tell us to hold up our form when they call our candidate's name. Delegates will be assigned based on the number of votes per candidate. They start with Edwards then Kucinich - only a handful of votes each. Now Obama. Um. No one working the caucus seems to have a good method for counting the votes. The crowd starts yelling, “count by row.” A caucus worker says, “Count by vote?” No, count by row. They figure counting by row does make sense. They count Clinton votes last.

6:50pm: We are told 550 voters showed up. Edwards 4. Kucinich 7. Neither has the required 15% to get delegates. Ten of the eleven move over to the Obama camp. Clinton has 200 something votes. Obama 300 something votes. Hooray!

6:55pm: It is chaos as voters who do not wish to volunteer to go to the Democratic National Convention in May leave. Voters must turn in their forms. Some caucus workers are only collecting Hillary forms. I find the Obama collector and hurry home to catch 60 Minutes. Yes, in part to catch Obama, but mostly to see the guy who’s in favor of getting rid of the penny. Let's vote on it! But not as a caucus.

7:05pm: Post caucus cocktail.

Fortune: Avoid senseless contradictions with others.

An Employee Walks into an Office

Kinda like one of those a-guy-walks-into-a-bar stories. Only not funny.

I walk into the office and boss is talking to a client. Blah, blah, blah.

After client leaves boss says, "I told them they should smoke across the street because their smoking is bothering other people."

I say, "Sounds like a good idea."

Boss says, "If they smoke across the street they can just throw the butts into the river."

Assuming she is being sarcastic I respond, "Yeah. We can put up a sign telling them to toss them in the river."

Boss says, "We can't put that on a sign. Blah, blah, incoherent nonsense...but if they were to do it at least we wouldn't have to look at those disgusting ashtrays anymore."

Oh. Um. Apparently boss is unaware of a thing called pollution.
Boss seriously thought it would be a good thing if people threw the butts in the river because ashtrays are gross, stinky eyesores.

Loser.

Should I realize a human being who has no idea how to recycle paper, plastic, cans, cartridges, etc. could care less about littering and pollution?

Fortune: The greatest danger could be your boss's stupidity.