Monday-11:15am--Leah's Light box

For those of you who have asked about the light box or photo box:

http://picasaweb.google.com/leahmcgregor/LightBox?feat=email#

This is the link to a Picasa album Leah made up to show step by step in detail how she put ours together. She did an excellent job!

Thanks so much, Leah! :):)

Sunday-11:45am

Leah and I were confabulating again yesterday. I drove over last night to see the writer's guide she had printed off and got to see how she has set up the lightbox in their now empty spare room downstairs.

The writer's guide will work perfectly for the bookcards--tada! I used to make my own slightly uneven guides with a sharpie and ruler. Obviously--don't know how to use Excel. These are awesome! So perfect and narrow. But I'm wondering about the people who need wider lines for their bookcards. Might have to make a set of writing guides for each bookcard? I'll think about it.

Leah took more pictures while we chatted last night. The lightbox works so well! She can get right over--a few inches away--and no shadows! Awesome! Some of you have asked about the lightbox and I will post pictures of how Leah put this one together. Way cheaper than buying one ready made. :)

We decided that on Monday we should go and return the first set of cards that were printed off by the female employee (white poinsettia). They were so curled for some unknown reason? We thought we could press them under heavy books. Tried for days. Flipped them. Nope! They are still curled. We can't sell those that way--look awful! The leaf print cards that the male employee printed for us are flat? We have searched all over for the receipt--no luck. So--we'll both go ready to fight our case. And I have pictures to prove we were there and how curled the poinsettia cards were from the get go, remember? Hehe!

And we are returning the catnip bubbles to Petco, too, while we're at it. Tired of getting ripped off, I guess.

Then on Tuesday Leah is going to hit the call centers. She hasn't heard anything back from the interviews but that will give it one more day and her networking hasn't turned up anything, either. As so many of you know--it is hard to find work these days. :(

Leah and I agreed on one size and type of rigid stayflat mailer to buy in bulk in September that will serve all our present needs. Even if they're sometimes larger than we actually need, we can use them for everything--hehe! I have been searching and searching online for the last several days and I think I have found the best deal AND free shipping, of course--tada! :):)

That is what I have the patience for that Leah doesn't--spending like 6 hours searching web sites and keeping running price comparison. We're starting out with a smaller quantity to begin with and I'm finally happy with the price. (Having limited funds is a great motivator--ROFL!) I'll order those in September.

Miss Karma kept me company while I searched websites. She was actually watching TV from the desk here.

Another gorgeous day in the 70's. Was in the 40's last night, I think. Got so chilly that I shut off the fan in the bedroom window and grabbed my new flowered quilt and threw it on top of the bed in the middle of the night. Ahhh! Snuggly!

Today I am washing clothes and staying home. Funny! I haven't been out of the apartment as often as I have here just recently--well--in the last four and a half years! I guess I finally have a good reason to use the "new-to-me"car with our papermaking over there and the Etsy paraphernalia. On good days--well, they're not very far away, either. And when they finally open up 32nd Ave (construction) all the way to West Fargo from here--nice! We'll have a direct, quicker route back and forth--no more freeway construction for us--ahhh!!! :):)

Maybe I'll even go sit on the porch and finally get back to Pillars today. I am not much use for anything else--hehe! Karma would love that.

Have a wonderful day!! :):)

Saturday-noon

Relaxed?

Odd way to sleep.

She was waiting for me to come back to work some more on crafts and boot her off the chair. Reminds me of toddlers when they fall asleep in the middle of something they're deeply involved in--one hand still gripping a toy or falling asleep sitting up with spoon in hand. :)

Leah stopped by with new party bubbles that actually worked. (Sorry to say but the Petco Catnip Bubbles wouldn't even make bubbles even after I added the glycerin, Leah. Unbelievable! I think we should return them.) So, of course, I had to entertain Miss Karma a few times.

Karma thinks bubbles are absolutely, positively magical. She watches in amazement--almost a trance--and cries and cries for more. But she got spunkier as the bubble making went along--leaping and lunging and pouncing. These cheap party bubbles are fantastic! Tons of bubbles floating in the fan breeze. Good Grief! I will have soap film all over everything in my apartment--ROFL!

Leah and I moved the things under my bed. I have my table leaves under there and Leah shifted them way up to the head of the bed to make room. (Doesn't matter if they're hard to get to because I hardly have the room here to put them in the table in the first place.) We took out the big plastic container with leather scraps and put it in the now half empty hall closet.

Then--the exciting part! Leah carried the black boxes down here and we opened them each and snooped quickly...but I couldn't find my watercolor paper? (The mind is a terrible thing to lose!) Went back to the storage locker and--memory jogged--duh! I had paper inside the two cardboard display boards. Everything that was too big to fit in the black boxes, of course--duh! So Leah hauled those two down here, too.

I have lots of 140 lb watercolor paper, but only a couple of sheets of 90 lb--and those are hot pressed that I used for calligraphy projects. Have quite a bit of various textured large sheets--some printed papers I bought for the inside of the book covers--pastel paper--regular book cover sheets. Ahhh! :):):)

Now I know what I still need to buy for making journals and sketchbooks--80-90 lb. paper. And I will slowly go thru all my treasures and really see exactly what I have to work with. Hard to remember when some of this paper was purchased around 17 years ago. I always knew I'd have more time to play with watercolors one day--hehe! Just kept collecting good supplies. Same with the bookmaking supplies, etc, etc. I just kept taking night classes here and there over the years. My unexpected "retirement" came much sooner than I thought. Am I ever, ever glad, now, that I took all those introductory night classes and kept gathering up artist quality supplies over the years. :):)

Anyways, we were more concerned with what I actually already had here and seeing that the boxes and all actually fit under the bed without having to remove the table leaves--so that is where they are and I didn't take any pictures. Yet--hehe! I will as I snoop thru them--and possibly even reorganize them a little....? :)

I may make a trip over to Dagan and Leah's this weekend--to work on Etsy postings with Leah. :) When we get everything we want posted then we can get back to making the red Christmas paper--tada!

I slept in and got a late start today. Been up later at night again. That night owl in me always comes to the fore. It is still early in my day--hehe!

Was raining lightly when I started this blog and now it is sunny with blue skies and fluffy white clouds!? Perfect example of what we say up here...Don't like the weather? Wait a few minutes. :):)

Bye for now from Fargo!

Friday-11:15am

Not a lot going on up here. :)

I spent my time on the computer yesterday. I got partially caught up on posts and emails, etc. I comparison shopped online for the mailers. And finally wrote up the descriptions for the bookcards and emailed them to her so Leah can post them sometime soon. :)

Leah's out and about shopping and doing errands this morning. She's going to try to stop by quickly on her way home and help me switch some things I can't lift. Move stuff out from under my bed so that I can put the big black boxes (in my storage locker) back under my bed where they used to be. They hold larger paper--like I would need to make journals--tada!

Oh--I watched The Madness of King George--which was okay but nothing outstanding--to me, anyways. But there was this one line in it that cracked me up so much I wrote it down. They were talking about the king's lazy son--who was complaining that he was never given anything to do. "It takes character to endure the rigors of indolence." Maybe that's what I suffer--the rigors of forced indolence? ROFL!!

We had a sit-straight-up-in-bed cracker of a thunderstorm last night. Cooler air moved in again. Certainly hasn't been the usual hot and sticky summer and early fall that we normally have. Easier on the electric bills, tho. Not running the AC very often. But it is just a bit weird and feels strange.

Well, let's see...today I plan to work on crafts. And after Leah helps me get the boxes in here--I will be snooping thru those, that's for sure! It is always fun to kind of rediscover things you haven't seen for a long time. I never went thru the whole box of pretty paper when I picked the cover paper out for the rice paper journals for Haiying and Ann because I knew I wanted the oriental papers and they were near the top. Today--I want to really dig thru them all! Examine each piece! To the bottom of the box! What a joy! Imagining the journals and sketchbooks I could make and what talented people might do with them...turning them into unique works of art or a haven for their private thoughts or an inspirational collage or delicate botanical paintings or.....

Food for my soul, I tell you! Food for my soul.

It is different making things for other people to use. Even when I am putting together cards for someone else--I wonder where they will travel and how the recipient will feel when they open the envelope. Hopefully they will smile.

I'd better get moving. Today is a good day. :):)

Thursday-11am

Karma's "Anything New" addiction. Notice how she thinks she's pushing her back end up against the towel with her back foot--ROFL!

Normally Karma never sits in my chair because I'm up and down. She just can't sleep restfully there because she's constantly getting booted off--disturbed.
But the towels--she couldn't resist. And they frustrated her because she couldn't paw them off and lay on top of them--hehe!

Well, we had to raise the price of our cards 25 cents and go up to $2.50. Leah discovered that we pay a fee to both Etsy and PayPal for each item--plus a percentage to each of them, also. We forgot all about paying for PayPal having only been buyers in the past--duh! It all adds up--especially on a small ticket item. We want to keep our cards reasonably priced, but I guess now we know why so many people sell their cards there for $3.00--hehe! Our handmade paper cards, bookcards, and larger cards will have to be more, but I'm talking about a regular size card. We just do not want to go over $2.50.

After all, this is obviously not a get-rich-quick scheme--ROFL! We are not going to be rolling in dough up here any time soon--hehe! We just want to make a little something to put back into supplies. Well--we are figuring things out as we go.

We're still trying to figure out postage rates, too. I even tried to research what other people were charging on Etsy and the fees were all over the place. I need to spend more time with that--and Leah is making a trip to the post office soon to check out the postage scale on rigid mailers for our card sets. I have been online a little searching for the best place to buy the cardboard mailers in bulk. Leah also posted more cards. I did post the Etsy link on all my blogs and email. So--we were busy yesterday, too. :)

There is never a worry about us buying up things in bulk if we don't sell much. We will always use up craft supplies and there is no problem with me using up mailing supplies (being the letter writer I am). I was already buying in bulk--just for myself--hehe! :)

[BTW--Iggy, we are absolutely delighted you received our early bird, first customer discount! More than happy! I know what a kind soul you are. Don't give it one single moment's thought, Mr. Intense. :):)]

We are having so much fun! Plus this is like a huge dose of creative inspiration for us. Once we get our sea legs on the Etsy ocean--hopefully we will be able to putter and play with more abandon than we ever could have without this additional outlet for our addiction! :):)

Anyways, after a couple of days R&R, I am ready to get a little something done today. Been open window weather. No rain yet. Looks like a very good day to putter! :):)

Wednesday-10am

Yesterday was one of the very, very rare days that I have ever met Caroline at the door in my robe. Yes--even with all my bad days and chronic fatigue and all the rest--I am a Midwestern Swede, ya know. One of those people who likes to tidy up before the cleaning lady comes--you betcha! I did still manage to kind of half make the bed and clear off my desk. I know--you sigh.

Anyways, my not getting dressed and gathering up the trash, etc--well, it threw Miss Karma off because she didn't have proper warning that Caroline was coming. And then Leah showed up briefly, too, while Caroline was still here. Karma had a very difficult time sleeping for several hours after they left. Was jerking awake to every little sound or movement. Cat insomnia--ROFL!!

I have several projects waiting for me--still--on the craft table. Not today. Maybe tomorrow?

The Big News!!

Yesterday Leah and I were absolutely thrilled!! Jumping around like kids at a party--well, figuratively--hehe! We had our first sale on Etsy already--tada!! From my new loyal blog friend, Intense Guy!! I'm serious, Iggy, you really don't know how much we appreciate it. You have a permanent place in our personal history now--whether you like it or not--hehe! That's why Leah was over here after her second interview--so that I could add a note and we could get your package in the mail right away before the post office closed. I hope you enjoy the handmade cards, I.G.! Thanks so very much! :):)

I still smile just writing about it. *big grin* So happy I don't give a titch about the pain--not a smidgen! Floating on air--well, figuratively--hehe!

Tuesday-10am

Okay--I'm dating myself here--hehe! Back when Leah was looking around for lamps she found me the upholstery screws I wanted. I wasn't even sure they made them any more.

The arms on my 12 year old cream colored chair (never buy anything that light again) have become so dirty. I have tried cleaning them with upholstery sprays and soaps--but I think I only succeeded in making them worse. One day it came to me. I remembered my Grandma Johnson and her furniture doilies and how she had these little button screws to hold them down. (They fascinated me as a child.) Back when the men combed their hair back with Brylcreem you really needed something on the back of an upholstered chair to try to save the chair fabric from that dark greasy spot. Doilies, towels--something! (Pillowcases really took a beating, too.) Funny the things a child remembers. :)

I assumed they might be found at a hardware store. Never assume. Leah finally found them at Michael's Craft Store!

I know this looks funny, but then funny has never bothered me. :) I took a couple of old rose colored hand towels and screwed them to the chair arms--tada!
At least I can take the towels off and wash them when they get dirty. Originally some pieces of square cream fabric came with the chair--but they fell off all the time. Guess I needed upholstery screws, eh? They didn't even cover the entire front of the arm of the chair, tho. Just laid over the middle of the arms.

What's puzzles me is that I wash my hands all the time. How did the chair arms get so dirty? Well, not that the entire chair hasn't gotten darn shabby looking over 12 years time, but the arms--gross! Must be oil from a person's hands and hand lotion and such?

Anyways--break in the weather! Got to open the place up again last night. Even the weathermen had been calling the air "steamy, soupy, and muggy" the past couple of days. Had been jungle weather again in Fargo--hehe! Humidity dropped and that makes a world of difference--even at 80 degrees. :)

There was no reading Pillars yesterday. Leah and I were still working all day and into the night on the Etsy shop--via cell phone (till my battery died), land line, texting, and emails. (I love technology!!)

Leah figured out how to get the icon picture up. We slowly worked out how we wanted to post descriptions of our cards but then the pictures wouldn't upload. Were too large. *sigh* Leah finally figured out how to set her camera to take smaller size pictures in the first place rather than try to resize them. (MBs? pixels? whatever--not the actual measurements of the picture.)

But then we had color problems (the brown looked greyish blue). *sigh* She figured out how to change some settings on her camera for color and fixed that problem. (I think Dagan was helping some, too?)

Finally last night the craft ball got rolling--hehe! Leah posted six cards! They each take a bit of time to post, that's for sure. Neither of us could go to bed. She kept posting and I kept waiting to see the next card! I know--we get like little kids. So exciting, tho! I think she quit about 1:30am? :):)

So--let me go get the link for you...

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7932084


I can't remember if you have to register as a buyer (free) to snoop around on Etsy or not? But--just a heads up--if you think you might ever possibly like to have your own shop--think carefully about what user name you want before you choose one because that is the one thing you can't ever change later. You'd have to restart a whole new account to change the user name like Leah did--and it was a bit of a hassle, not bad, but if she had known...

Well, that's the hoppin' news up here--hehe! Such fun!!!

Caroline comes today. She's back in class again and called to change her arrival time to around 3pm for this semester. Wow! I think this is her last semester!? How time flies!

Leah and I decided that, instead of papermaking tomorrow, we will get together and work on Etsy postings. I'm sure that came as no surprise--ROFL!

Today?

Me--I should add the Etsy link up in "My Other Web Spots" in the upper left hand corner of all my blogs. Oh and add it on to my email signature list of web addresses--hehe! I have some small projects lined up on the craft table (Etsy card detail work)...

BUT--not sure I will actually be physically able to. I've been trying to be good--but have been overdoing it with the sitting in the same chairs way too long, etc--for three days. My body is complaining--loudly--despite the usual morning pain pill. Even had to split writing this blog up into a couple of half hour sessions. Okay! Okay! I will just take it easy today--huff! :(

Leah--she has two different interviews today. Thinking positive!! She said she will be posting more items, too, when she can.

So I will have to come over here to the computer and take quick peeks off and on to see what she's posted--but I might not get to anything else online today besides the blog. One of those days.

But I am grinning from ear to ear! :):)

Monday-10am

This is where I spent the weekend--hehe! On the one end of the table we had all the assorted size envelopes.

The big white thing is the light box or photo box that Leah put together. The stack of books in the middle of the table is hopefully flattening the slightly curved cards I had printed at Office Max and the grey roundish object on the right is a postal scale.
Here's the light box--tada! Has three clip on lamps with daylight or white bulbs for accurate color and so that we get light from all sides and don't get shadows. Those are bookmarks inside--BTW.

The box itself is a large "clear" plastic tub covered with a white sheet. You probably know them--kind of whitish and not "clear-clear". What's really cool--for storage and portability--Leah can put everything right in the tub and put the cover on and everything is all together in one place--nice!

That's a sheet of black posterboard lining the tub/box. Leah has a white sheet of posterboard, also, so we can pick what background looks better for different products. They fell down and slid out, of course. So Leah bought a package of these velcro stickers--so now the sheets don't move and are interchangeable--tada! She's so clever!

While we worked both days Dagan played Halo...tuned us out...

...totally in his own world. So strange how he can be playing a video game with his half-brother, Nathan, in New York--and be talking to him at the same time.

When he noticed the flash--I got a kind of blank, preoccupied quick glace. Gamers do not exactly welcome interruptions, eh?

Last night Leah and I actually spent the majority of the time on the laptop--filling out all the forms, etc.

By the time I left (I think I got home before midnight this time--can't remember) we had a shop opened, but no product. Leah was having trouble loading the icon picture. She'll continue on with that today.

But--we are "FargoFamilyCrafts". I'll put a link up when we have some product listed and pictures uploaded. Was a busy weekend. :):)

Today--I seriously might not make it out of my nightgown--hehe! Tired, sore, but very happy. Hotter out. 80's and stickier. Had to close up and put the AC on yesterday. A good day to stay cool indoors and veg out, I guess. I need to rest up as tomorrow is Caroline and Wednesday is papermaking day. No Sacred Circle as they forgot they had a picnic thing to go to. We'll try again for the following week. No problem. Oh--and Leah now has two interviews tomorrow! Awesome! Think positive, right? :)

That's it from Fargo for now. Just going to hobble on over to my chair and reeelax! :):)

Sunday-11:30am

Leah--striking a silly "waiting" pose at Office Max.

We got a late start yesterday. Dagan and Leah were watching Dexter (season three) the night before and couldn't stop watching! I know how that goes--hehe! They kept thinking "just one more episode" and they finished the last episode at 7am! Ahhh! Our Dexter is so addicting!

Then Leah wanted to search for some cheap lamps with white light or daylight bulbs for the photo box she was making. (Sorry--forgot to take pictures at their place last night--will get some today--going back.) So she went around town shopping before coming over here (since I don't last long walking).

When she got here we jumped PitaPaseo. But it was taking a long time for her to charge enough to turn over. We were sitting in Leah's car for quite a while. A nice young man came over with some kind of charger box and asked if we wanted to try that? Yes! And he plugged it into the wall and hooked it up and poof--Pita started instantly! Awesome! Thanks to the kind man in 307!! So we headed over to Office Max and I left Pita running in the parking lot while we were shopping.

It took a lot longer at Office Max than we expected. (Pita got fully charged I think--hehe!) I had the CDs Office Max made of my paintings in card format--but they had not put the leaf painting in the format! (And we paid for these!) In fact, it took the young lady a long time to even find the leaf painting at all, but she finally did. Whew! We finally got the cards printed up and cut for us--on heavier card stock than we used last time.

Meanwhile, we went shopping in the main store, too. Checked out all the packing materials that they have available to us for mailing. Bought just a few photo mailers, envelopes, and I got some more business paper for the insides of the bookcards. Linen! Nice!
Since our CDs weren't rewritable, in order to keep the information that was so hard to figure out for the leaf painting format, we had to buy a jump drive. So we put both of them on it. Now they are stored on the jump drive instead of a CD. Aren't these little memory things cute? Amazing what information they can hold in such tiny contraptions. Made me think about when computers took up huge air-cooled rooms with false floors for all the zillion wires to run underneath them. Now that's progress! And only $9.99--hehe!

After we finished with Office Max I followed Leah on a new route to their place. Nice! A way to avoid the freeway since they are doing construction on 94--and one that is simple enough for even me to remember--ROFL!! :):)

Leah and I worked on the Etsy shop stuff while Dagan played Halo. We got a lot done and quite a bit figured out on how we want to do things. I am going back this afternoon and we will continue. :)

I got home at 1:30am--to a lonesome, playful Karma--hehe! Latest I have been up for some time--yawn! yawn! yawn! It always takes me a while to unwind, tho. I am not one of those people who can walk in the house and go right to bed--even when I worked the night shift till dawn. Takes me an hour or two. Last night it was two. But I slept like the dead--for me--hehe! Only got up once in seven hours! :)

I brought home the business paper and part of the box of white envelopes.

Leah got out her jewelry she made, too, last night. Started taking pictures of those pieces after I left last night. (She sends them to me on the computer--Picasa album.) Leah's light box is going to work so well! She researched that online, too. Don't you just love technology!! :):):)

Since we are going to be a "cooperative" shop we want to add Ariel, too. Then Ariel could make one of her wood burned boxes once in a while if she wants to and she had made jewelry before, too. Me, too. Anyways, I think she has to check with Ariel to be sure.

Oh--and before I forget again. Thanks so much to Intense Guy for the blogger award he gave me! You can find it here.

http://intenseguy.blogspot.com/2009/08/award.html

I have never gotten an award before. *blush-blush-grin-grin* Thanks, Iggy!

And now it's off to another busy but exhilarating day! :):)

Saturday-9:45am

Karma started crying and wanting me to get "you know what" out from under the dresser. It disappeared several days ago--again. She kept insisting until I finally went and got the yardstick.

I tried and tried to find it where she was under that side of the dresser--no plastic tube? So I finally go over to the other side and that's where I found it. Apparently she wasn't actually looking at it while she was begging--she was remembering where it went--hehe!

Wrong end.
There were still those few morsels left in the tube. She flipped it around...

...and tried to reach them. Didn't work.

So she tried the other arm--ROFL!

She quickly resorted to rolling the tube around to get them down to the open end of the tube. I guess she really likes to work for her treats, eh? Enjoys the challenge. :)

Yesterday I basically spent the day on the computer. First catching up on emails and posts and such--and then snooping thru Etsy comparing prices on cards.

Leah and I were chatting on the phone and emailing--discussing the ins and outs of starting an Etsy shop. Leah wants to get started on setting it up with product this weekend. She's been working on her light box for taking the pictures and sending me examples.

So the plan for today is that she will come over, we will go shopping (Office Max to check out shipping costs), and then over to her place. At some point in there if it's not raining we will jump PitaPaseo and get her back in running order, too. We will pick out photos and take any additional pictures needed--write up a shop statement and descriptions of the products--figure out shipping costs--and on it goes--hehe! We'll both be listed as sellers on the shop.

Right now--well, Leah has some cards to sell to start out with. Oh--and I think she still has some jewelry, too? Me--I have a few leftover Christmas cards and I am thinking I can part with just a few of my bookcards. Maybe two from handmade paper and the two I made from the embossed green paper with the bugs on it. I can't bear to part with any of my very first watercolor journals I made--but now I can feel free to make some more!

This is exciting! Like when Leah and I were trying to get her set up selling crafts in town at the little craft fairs a few years ago. I am good at support--things like online research for supplies, inventory, labeling, etc. I couldn't physically sit in a chair and sell like that for the day anymore--no way. Leah youngest sister, Ariel, would come and help out. I did make a few things to sell, too, of course. We make a good team!

Now we will have an outlet for those creative urges that just plain aren't practical--hehe! Like me needing any more watercolor journals--ROFL! And Leah loves to make handmade paper and cards but she doesn't need many and is not a letter writer. We just love the process, you know? It is such a joy and so satisfying. Extra fun when we can make things together! :) :)

Well--keeps us out of trouble, anyways, right? hehe!

Oh--and I dug out the CDs from Office Max back when we printed up my paintings--the poinsettias and the leaves. I am going to check today into printing up some more. I have no fears of having any cards going unused with the way I write letters--hehe! For all the years before I started making bookcards I'd use those little legal pads and fold the pages of the letter up inside of the cards. Which I still do, of course, when I am out of bookcards--or to put a letter inside of a birthday card or Christmas card or any handamde cards I have.

Anyways--can't tell I'm not excited, eh? I'm blabbering! Got to get moving here. Big day! :):)

Friday-9:15am

Looks like it might be another dark and cloudy day today, too.

The sun tried to peek out a few times yesterday.
But then the dark clouds would roll through again.

We had rain off and on.

I am so far behind again on emails, etc. I will try to start catching up today. :)

Good news! Leah has an interview this morning and another one on Tuesday morning for jobs! I think they might be at call centers--not the best jobs--but a job is a job, right? I pray she has a new job soon! :):)

Thursday-8:30am

I get a new daily picture from National Geographic on Google. I got this picture a couple days ago and it just makes me giggle every time I see it. :):)

This is Karma's usual reaction to me taking pictures of her while she watches her CatTV. I am even using a zoom and haven't even left my chair...
...but she hears the camera and is immediately annoyed.

Rarely bothers her at any other time. Well, she can be a bit moody sometimes--but she often almost poses for the camera when she's on the floor, etc. Her spying/CatTV time at the window, tho--very private time for her. Cameras? She wants none of it! Totally exasperated with me and my inability to understand her needs after all these years. I feign human ignorance. She becomes totally disgusted with me if I persist and she won't talk to me for hours...unless I have treats or bubbles, of course.

Glad one of us is not naturally ill-tempered--hehe!

Well, yesterday was a bad day for me. IBS is one of the unpredictable side effects I have from Fibromyalgia. I know--too much information--sorry! Things have been better since I got the bentyl pills from my doctor, but changing my diet recently and adding other pills for arthritis, etc, has made life more unpredictable again. Not nearly as bad as it used to be, tho.

Anyways, we postponed the papermaking and Sacred Circle. Will try again next Wednesday. Didn't feel well all day. Dark day. Didn't even read. Watched my boy Dexter most of the day, tho! Love that show! It sprinkled off and on. Was a quiet day here and I was in bed fairly early.

We'll see how today goes? I really don't honestly have much of a clue for the first couple of hours because I wake up feeling rather horrible in general every morning. But today might be a really decent day, right? chuckle! :):)

Wednesday-9:15am

I wondered what had captured Karma's attention so much that she didn't care if I came up behind her with the camera?

Kids squealing...water rushing?
Funny how fast kids appear--hehe!

They raced their bikes back and forth thru the water spray. Too bad it wasn't actually a hot day for them. They should have done this when it was 95 degrees and humid out there--hehe!

I have never seen the fire department (saw the truck leave) come and release water here before. Was a five minute thrill for the kids and absolutely fascinating for Miss Karma--hehe!

I have the local news on Twitter and last night I saw something interesting. They said several dozen coyotes may be roaming the FM area in town here. They're afraid of people and haven't caused any problems--yet. Well, I say, keep your pets inside!

Times are hard. There have been a lot more robberies and break-ins. People up here are so trusting--haven't been locking their doors! Hey--I'm from Minneapolis--mine is always locked. Thieves are entering unlocked houses and cars--any time--day or night! A guy took a shot at some young man in his house at 1:30am night before last. Most of the time people are home when they break in! The police keep telling people to lock their homes and cars. I have to admit, I am kind of surprised they don't!

I read and read. I'm three quarters of the way thru Pillars--no Dexter--do you believe it?! You know I couldn't stop reading if I didn't even pop my boy Dexter into the DVD player--ROFL!

Today--have to jump PitaPaseo and we have papermaking and Sacred Circle. So, I have to get moving here. Have a great day!

Tuesday-9:30am

Some days I just can't stop looking at the sky.

Spent most of the day on the porch reading...

...and watching for rain which never came.

Karma parks herself between my feet on the ottoman. When I took these pictures she was giving herself a long, leisurely bath.

I need a pillow and my lap desk with the wooden top to hold books for me as I can't hold them with the bum arm.

Karma slept at lot while I read, of course.

I am halfway through Pillars! Had a terrible time stopping for breaks. Talk about a test of patience--hehe!

I was going to make a quick trip over to Dagan and Leah's yesterday but when I went out the car was dead again. :( I have figured out why now, tho. I haven't driven cars where you can remove the key if it is in the wrong spot. You can remove the key in this one while it is on accessory!! Others may have known this, but I didn't have a clue and they are right next to each other. I didn't think it was even possible, so it never crossed my mind. If the key came out I thought it was where it should be, you know? I know it's an older car--what is it a 92 or 93? But I've had older cars than this one and you couldn't do that. ??? Oh well--Leah will come over and jump her again today or tomorrow. But at least now it won't happen again!! Duh! Feel pretty dumb--but the mystery is solved.

Tomorrow is papermaking day and we plan on doing a Sacred Circle after dinner. :)

Meanwhile--another gorgeous day in the 70's to read on the porch! So very nice to have the place open and all the fresh air again--ahhh!! :):)

I will be reading a bit less of Pillars, tho, very soon. Dexter season three is coming from Netflix!! In fact, I think the first two DVDs are supposed to arrive today and another one tomorrow. I'll be alternating between modern evil and Medieval evil--ROFL! I hope the horrible priests and earls get theirs in the end the way Dexter takes care of his mass murderers (so satisfying in such a sick way). *sinister chuckling and hand rubbing*

Monday-9am

Not much happening up here in Fargo. I think I am going to be reading during my good hours for quite some time. Well, I'll still be making paper with Leah on Wednesdays, so maybe I am due an arts & crafts break at home for a while. It won't last that long anyways. I get restless, as you know--chuckle! :)

There are young kids who run in the hallways and squeal. Karma runs over by the door to listen--but not too close, as you can see.

If she actually saw that door opening--she'd be right under the bed as quick as a whistle!

I guess it is like her CatTV on the KID channel with no picture. Does that make it KID radio? :):)

Sunday-7:45am

Barbara Carpenter's trilogy arrived yesterday!

It will be a while until I can actually read them since I have Pillars and World to read first--both around 1,000 pages--but these are near the top of my TBR (to be read) stack. I know I'll enjoy them because I'm re-reading the first one, Starlight. :) :)

Thanks for mailing them so quickly, Barbara! You have gorgeous handwriting, BTW!!

I hope it is not bad luck to mention this but Barbara asked if she could enter Baby Girl in a poetry contest for me. I wasn't sure what to do, but Dagan and Leah thought I should say yes. So regardless of what happens, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Barbara. I don't think anybody could receive a better vote of confidence. I am still amazed by your generosity. I sure hope I can at least place--be worthy of your good graces. :):)

Silly--but it makes me nervous to talk about it. Like I might jinx it or I sound pompous, you know? So that's all I'll say about it. Thanks so much, Barbara!

The day turned dark quickly yesterday--rained off and on. Still dark and rainy. Good sleeping weather , tho! I'm crawling along in Pillars--reading in my timed sessions--hehe! Good day for reading, too. Later....:):)