My New Machine

Emergency back-up for when the power goes out.

Colleen Explains It All

To the people upset by the phrase "Black Lives Matter" and counter with "All Lives Matter." In theory all lives do matter but as long as there is racism and bigotry in this county white lives matter more than black lives. Maybe you would not get so upset if you thought of the "Black Lives Matter" slogan as a shortened version of the phrase "Black Lives Matter Just As Much As White Lives"......or....maybe you could stop pretending that you don't know what "Black Lives Matter" means and just shut the hell up.

Enough

I woke-up this morning to the news that 5 police officers were assassinated in Dallas, TX during what had been a peaceful protest rally against police violence. All I could do was cry. When is enough, enough? Stop the violence. Stop the hatred. Stop the political bullshit. This country is in serious trouble. It's time we all start showing each other the respect we each deserve just for being fellow human beings. So stop. Just stop. Please, stop.

The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History

Theodore Roosevelt's interest in natural history began at eight years old when he saw a dead harbor seal in the window of a grocery store near his home. The animal so fascinated him that he ran home to get a notebook and a ruler so he could measure the animal and write about its appearance. At twelve he donated a snowy owl he had stuffed to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

This book is not only a history of Roosevelt's work as a museum naturalist but a short history of the creation of the field of natural history in this country and an introduction to the other naturalists who influenced, worked with, or were rivals of Roosevelt. Engrossing story written by a modern naturalist whose insights adds much to the story.

Happy Birthday Frida Kahlo

"Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair" (1940)

 

 

The song lyrics at the top of the frame are from an Mexican folk song and translated say, “Look, if I loved you it was because of your hair. Now that you are without hair, I don’t love you anymore.”

July 5th: The Day After Independence Day

For those of you across the pond, now I understand why some of you may not be that  thrilled with our holiday.

Happy Independence Day!

Crime Blotters

Blotter: a book used in a police station for writing down information about people or events
- Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary

I've just discovered that The Denver Post publishes crime blotters for Denver and its surrounding counties.   Let's see what small crimes have been happening in the area.

1. Adams County: Man wakes up the whole neighborhood

2. Arapahoe County: Drunken man's pants abandoned him

3. Aurora County: Road rage suspect breaks out baseball bat 

4. Denver County: Angry defendant breaks door handle

5. Douglas County: Teenagers follow, harass woman at home improvement store

6. South Jeffco (Jefferson County): Thieves fail to steal camper

 After reading them all, I see Arapahoe and Douglas Counties have the most creative one sentence descriptions of each reported incident. My favorites are "Suspicious man turns out to be extra shady" and "Creepy kids in Lowe's."

Life Is A Lot Like Jazz

It's best when you improvise.
-George Gershwin , American composer


I have two OLFA self-healing cutting mats used for sewing (one 24" by 36" and one 18" by 36") and I just found out they should be cleaned. The way you do it is by placing the mats in a bathtub and adding  one gallon of cool water to 1/4 cup of white vinegar and soaking them 15-20 minutes.  Then you squirt some dish soap on a mushroom brush and gently scrub to remove any fibers that have gotten into the cut marks. Having fabric fibers in the cut lines prevents the mats from repairing themselves.  Also the mats need moisture to work correctly so soaking them extends their life.

This sounded pretty simple to me until I tried to put the mats in each one of the three bathtubs I have in my house.  The mats are too big and could not be laid flat so I had to improvise.  I asked my husband to make me a frame out of pieces of lumber so I could line it with a plastic garbage bag and he came up with this:

I like the way he used hand weights to keep the boards from shifting.  I then filled the tiny swimming pool with water and vinegar and slid the mats in.  After 20 minutes I removed the weight and the piece of wood from the top side of the pool and let the water drain.  Then I picked up my mushroom brush, squirted on some dish soap and scrubbed the mats clean.   I rinsed each one with the garden hose and wiped them dry with some old bath towels.  The mats are in better shape than before their bath but some of the cuts didn't heal and I think that is because I haven't been rotating the mats enough and I waited too long before giving them a vinegar bath and a mushroom brush scrub.  Now that I know cleaning them extends their life, I will be doing so regularly.

I've Been Coloring Again

A bit of the top feathers were cut off because I could not get the whole page into the scanner.  From Animal Kingdom:Color Me, Draw Me by Millie Marotta.