Happy Day of Thanks!

Hay Harvest by Camille Pissarro 1901

"Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace,

the celebration of work and the simple life...

a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry

of the turn of the seasons,

the beauty of seedtime and harvest,

the ripe product of the year -

and the deep, deep connection

of all these things with God."

~Ray Stannard Baker

Snowman....... Sacramento Style

Snow in the Sacramento area is a VERY rare thing. Instead of heading to the mountains, I decided to make a Feltman. Actually, he is missing a body so a more accurate term might be Felthead. :-)

I cut out this little guy and added some eyeshadow for the cheeks, beads, sequins, buttons, and rick-rack. I then hand stitched everything together with "invisible thread." I lost count of the exact number of attempts it took for these middle-aged eyes to thread a needle with "invisible" thread. Let's just say....... it was quite a few. Despite the needle threading difficulties, I find hand sewing very relaxing.

The photo doesn't do this fellow much justice, but I think you get the general idea.  Holding the project up with one hand and taking the photo with the other was almost as tricky as walking and chewing gum. I made a little pocket at the top so I can run a small dowel through and attach a ribbon for hanging. I am happy with my prototype, although I may change the mouth on any future versions. Since he was my first, I am leaving him just the way he is!

Patience is a Virtue

Patience is also a necessity when you own a computer! Do you ever feel as if your computer has a mind of its own? I've felt that way recently. It seems that right when I'm at a crucial point, my computer totally freezes. Since it happens without warning, I have no time to exit the program, much less save my work. I can handle the usual "my computer is frozen, Ctrl - Alt - Del, end task, back in business." Unfortunately, my most recent experiences have been, "my computer is completely frozen, tried every trick I know (minus the use of a hammer) - NOTHING WORKS, unable to shut-down properly, resort to turning it off while the programs are running." Then..... patiently waiting to try the entire process again.

While sitting and waiting patiently this morning, I was reminded of an Ellen Degeneres skit from her Here and Now special. Anybody who knows me will attest to my silly sense of humor, so this is right up my alley. Prior to the quote below, Ellen was talking about the fact that our society has become far too rushed and impatient. 

"Yes, we're lazy. Yet we also can't seem to sit still. So we've started making things like Go-Gurt. That's yogurt for people on the go. Let me ask you, was there a big mobility problem with yogurt before? How time-consuming was it, really? [pretending to be on the phone:] "Hello?...Oh, hi, Tom...oh, I've been dying to see that movie...Umm, no...I just opened up some yogurt...Yeah, I'm in for the night...No, not even later-it's the kind with fruit on the bottom. Well, have fun. Thanks anyway." :-)

I guess I could break down and buy a new computer, but there is no guarantee that the new one will be trouble free. Instead, I've decided to use these moments as lessons in patience. Hey.... the next time I'm waiting on my computer, I'll grab a good ol' fashioned container of yogurt. No Go-Gurt needed for this girl.