Don't take it Personally!

You know how when people are being dicks and they say DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY after they shit all over you? I hate that expression. Somewhere, sometime in the last 20 or 30 years or so it has become socially acceptable to say whatever mean thing you want, and as long as you follow up with ...Don't take it personally..., then somehow the dickish comment made is perfectly ok and you have no recourse..... because ohhhhhh nooooo.. you'd be "taking it personally". 

I checked out Urban Dictionary, here's their second definition of DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY. I knew I was right. Next time, I'm throwing punches!

don't take it personally

A phrase people use as a disclaimer to make an excuse to say or do something rude or mean to you to prevent you from having a poor self-image or so there won't be repercussions and make you feel they still like you even though they probably don't.

Wow- this made my day

Yesterday kind of sucked - nothing major, just the usual work crap that makes you feel like you are trapped and that you are wasting your life and that there is no way out.

Then I saw this - someone had posted it on Facebook - and I say RIGHT ON W. GIBSON, WHOEVER YOU ARE.....Isn't it just the BEST thing to see when you are feeling all prickly about your value and self esteem at work. I sort of felt like it was a message from above. 

Enjoy!

Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes. ~ W. Gibson

And sew on, and sew on, and sew on....

I finally got back to my sewing project at the farm. Before Thanksgiving I was working on curtains for the living room, and got all the sheers done, but ran out of time to finish the rest. Well, now I'm done and it's checked off the list. Woop woop!  While it was crashing down rain, and Kit was off getting his new farm tool (the "Rancher" by Honda!), I got busy getting 4 curtain panels finished! Here's a visual show and tell:

If you sew, you have to have a great iron. Sewing requires a LOT of pressing and pinning.
Four panels, finishing two sides each, top and bottoms each, adding grommets to all panels -
tedious but once it's done - it feels great!

Have a reliable machine! I've told you about this one before - never lets me down!

I used a fairly heavy linen fabric - it hangs really well with just the right amount of wrinkling.
It's also easy to sew.

This is the grommet portion of the show. I think each panel has 10 grommets -
that got old, but turned out really well.

Here is the first finished panel. I was going to hem to the floor but l liked the
way it puddled at the bottom so I hemmed them all extra long, and it looks quite cozy.

Two down, two to go!

Totally finished. Note: this is our old house where furniture goes to die, so
if you're judging me about the saggy couch - I can hear you and I say Shut Up!

And, at the end, I had extra linen, so I made a new cover for one of the pillows that I
think maybe came from Ikea. I just took the old cover apart and used it as a pattern
for the new one.

Here's the back. I even reused the exact same buttons. Pretty cute, but I'll have a little
surprise next week. I'm putting a little extra something on the pillow, but I'm not done yet.
It's going to be good though!

Hope you had a good weekend and that it was productive. More about Kit's new toy next week. It was just way too rainy to go outside and take pics of the thing that will make our lives easier this summer! 

For Valentines Day...

I think I'm going to go buy those really cheapy little kid valentines at a drug store (if they even still make those) - and I'm going to put one in every single person at works mailbox - and I'm going to say I LOVE YOU on all of them, and then not sign them......

And then I'm going to sit back and giggle at them when they think they have an anonymous work crusher. Hee hee. Can't wait.

OH MY GOD - AND THEN I SAW THIS

Crissy - this one's for you!

Thoughts on Figure Skating

We’ve been watching a LOT of Olympic coverage this past week. I love the Olympics. Can’t get enough. And, to my dismay, I can’t get Kit to sit down for any of the ice skating – ANY OF IT. I think I know why and I’m going to shoot the Olympic Committee and the Entire World of Figure Skating a letter including charts and graphs about how to bring skating into the modern world of sports.

Remember in the olden days when women tennis players used to run around in ridiculously long pleated cotton skirts? And now, how they wear super sporty clothes and sweat and grunt and basically run “athletically” all over the tennis court and kick-ass every second? Ya, awesome, I know.

And, remember, how in the olden days, lady swimmers wore wool swim costumes that were like draggy long dresses and how, now, miraculously, they wear super athletic sleek fast swimwear, and kick-ass all over the pool.

Hey, figure skating, what in the hell is the matter with you? Why are you still playing dress up? What’s with all the sparkles, make-up, puffy hair styles and all that nonsense. Can’t skating still pack all the punch with women looking great in athletic wear, not clothes and make-up meant for Drag Queens. (Sorry Drag Queens – I know you look good !!!-Seriously!) Can’t ice dancing still be ice dancing without the distraction of the caked on make-up and the completely embarrassing men’s costumes.  Most gay men that I know would never be caught dead in those lame outfits, they have much better style than that. Oh, right…… no gays in skating (per Putin!) Righhhhhhhht. I mean those completely not gay male ice dancers – again – can’t they wear athletic gear, and skip the huge collars, the flow-y sleeves, the long v-necks with super sparkles!

I get that every sport has their “schtick”; the boarders are all about baggy and ear bud-dy  and all laid back, the short track skaters are all super sleek hoodie with zipper dudes, the jumpers have their flying suits with the giant Mickey Mouse gloves – but all of the clothes still fall under the category of “sporting gear”. They aren’t getting their outfits at David’s Bridal, and they aren’t tarted up with layers of make-up.  It’s 2014 – I think it’s time for change. Ditch the sparkles people – I think the skaters would be taken WAY more seriously as the athletes they are. Have you seen what they can do, the jumps, the spins – the throwing – they are awesome, but it’s super hard to get past the Mabelline to see action.

What really brought it home for me was when that little Russian Yulia Lipnitskaya, of the Gumby Lipnitskaya’s, skated her ass off out there, and beat the sparkly pants off everyone without a stitch of make-up on. See, unnecessary. And she won by A LOT. Just wait though, by the next Olympics four years from now, she’ll be fully indoctrinated and show up looking like Ru Paul ( or how do you say in Russian – Ru-ski Paul?).

Guess what time it is????

It's time to start thinking about seeds, glorious seeds!

I just placed my first seed order for this years garden. Normally I save seeds from the season, but I'm still a little low on some this year so I have to stock up. I ordered from Seed Savers this time around, but I'm also a big fan of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and Heirloom Seeds - all good, and all have slightly different seeds so it's fun to look at everyone's offerings each year. Heirloom Seeds was my first favorite, but their website is kind of bad and it's hard to see what you're getting, so you have to be "in the know" about which varietals you like. After 6 years of growing, I have figured out pretty well what works and doesn't work in my garden, and how sometimes things might be really fun to grow, but if you don't like to eat them, it's just a waste of time. And some things grow so quickly that if you aren't there to harvest at the exact right time, they will pass you right on by. That happened to me with Bok Choy - that stuff takes no time to grow and no time to go past it's prime. And radishes, those little mothers grow very fast in our wet cool climate.

Last year I had a little problem with the slugs. It's pretty freaking upsetting when those little bastards eat your seedlings - they will cut them right off at the stems and devour an entire garden bed before you even know what happened. I lost all my beets except one last year to the slugs. I wonder, if over time, they just get used to the slug bait. They might. This year I hope to be ready for them, but for any of you growers out there, it's a risky business. You win some and you lose some. Slugs = my nemesis (nemeses?)

For now, this is what I've ordered for restock. I still need to get potatoes (which are really easy and fun to grow), I have perennial artichokes and asparagus so don't need those, but I still need to add a few more beans, the peas, and Savoy cabbage - which is my favorite. 

Spinach, 2 kinds of swiss chard

Yellow onion, radish, shallots

Oak leaf lettuce, Marveille de Quartre Saison, butter lettuce

Cucumber, leeks, freckle lettuce

Celery, lemon cukes, pickling cukes

Red cabbage, green cabbage, cauliflower

Beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts

Red beets, golden beets, Chioggia beets

Kale, arugula, french climbing beans

Carrots

So, now I have to get out there and start preparing the beds. The kale and things like that can go in around NOW - which of course they wont because c'mon - who are we kidding - but soon. Really. Time's a wastin'!