Sunday, January 05, 2014

Sunday-9am

Good Morning!
We've had a few sunny, very-very-cold days up here.  It's 18 below this morning.  I thought I'd pop in this morning since tomorrow at this time I will be waiting for the senior bus to go to my yearly federal housing appointment.  I have a new girl and she didn't know to schedule me in the afternoon...so we'll see if I make it or not.  50-50 chance--LOL!  Mornings are not physically the best time of day for me...in many ways.  It's supposed to get down to 32 below tonight, so it will be friggin' cold in the morning, too--LOL!  Wish me luck.  There's not any break in the weather expected for a good while, so I want to just wear lots of layers and get this over with.  ;)
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I'm not done organizing yet in the living room art & craft area.  I was having trouble sleeping for the better part of the week and was so very tired--but couldn't seem to get to sleep until 2-3 am, regardless of how tired I was, and would still wake up in the morning.  (Reminded me of menopause--LOL!)  But I seem to be getting back on track now the last couple nights.  Whew!
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Yesterday I tried something I saw on a youtube video for putting together a book...  
...with just flat covers. 
Using coptic stitch to sew the inside pages together...
...and just kind of gluing the pages on to the covers.
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I decided to cover the back sides of the chipboard covers... 
...with some scrapbook paper.   
I sewed together the signatures with dental floss--which works pretty well (but caused a riff between Karma and I...especially because it smelled like mint).  
Then I just glued the first and last pages right on to the covers.  Not the sturdiest way to do this--could have run an inside cover piece of paper across the cover and first page--but I was tired.  I bought up a bunch of flat cover sets like this on sale at Joann's a few years back and I haven't known how I would actually make journals with them, so I just wanted to see if this would work.  I managed to get it glued together and placed it under heavy books for the night.
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This morning...  
...the book didn't look too bad.  I used business paper on the inside pages and this would be a writing journal. 
There's like 92 pages in it and it seems like it would hold together well enough for writing. 
Here's the front. 
Notice anything about the back cover? 
ROFL!!!
I didn't even notice until this morning that I glued the back on upside-down--LOL!
I'm still chuckling.
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Oh well, I will certainly still use it.  Might make more this way.  I also want to try punching holes through the covers to sew the covers on.  They're small books (if Karma wasn't sleeping on my lap I would get up and measure for you) and I always pictured them as a good size for little writing journals.  So, my unevenly glued, upside-down-covered practice run was successful.  I needed a creative break.  Now it's back to cleaning and organizing.  ;)
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Dagan and Leah stopped by briefly yesterday with the cord for the TV computer that finally arrived.  Guess what?  It didn't work--LOL!  I don't understand all the techie language, but apparently my TV doesn't seem to have an audio connection to this computer tower or something to that effect.  Since my old TV computer worked and it might just be the fan that went out, Dagan is going to see if he can fix that one.  Otherwise, I am stuck with the sound coming out of the computer tower and not my TV...but at least I have sound.  And they showed me where I can monkey with the sound level on the TV...to a degree, anyways...so that's a plus.  Well, it's still all working.  Just differently--LOL!  I needed it to be working tonight for the premiere of Downton Abbey!  ;) 
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I'm still definitely feeling off from lack of sleep and moving even slower than my normal snail pace.  I haven't been around to visit my blog family, either, for about a week.  Hopefully soon.
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All the while I am writing this Blogger is flashing up warnings to me that it isn't saving my post properly.  I learned the hard way years ago to always copy the entire post before I try to publish, so I will cross my fingers...save a copy...and try later if it comes to that.  Blogger must be feeling off, too, eh?  ;)
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Feels like it's a good year already, though.   
This winter I am especially grateful for heat. 
Been thinking about the American Indians and the pioneers a lot on these frigid days.
Talk about hardy survivors!
I'm just so grateful that I live in the era of central heating.
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I hope you are all finding this to be a good start to a year full of promise and opportunity.  :) :)  
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"O Great Spirit, I awake to another sun, grateful for gifts bestowed, granted one by one."
Twylah Nitsch
Seneca Medicine Woman 

18 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

good luck with the appt. tomorrow morning. i hope you can get it over with, too!

DJan said...

Blogger has been doing that to me, too. So far, so good, but yeah, it's off these days. I like that notebook, and you know it will still work with the back like that. Stay warm! I do hope you get that appointment behind you tomorrow. :-)

Beth said...

I hope all goes well with the appointment tomorrow morning.

Blogger is always messing with my mind!

Akannie said...

Same here with Blogger threatening to not save my post. LOL So far I have won every time. lol

Love the journals !! I should try making some of those...they would be a great gift for my sponsees, women trying to get and stay sober. They need to journal and I always advise to do so...something pretty might be more incentive!

You always inspire me, Rita-bean. Thanks for that. And be careful out there tomorrow...it's bad here too.

Anonymous said...

I love that book with the upside down back cover--it gives it character & personality!!

Dana said...

The book turned out great! I'd love to try something like that myself.

Best of luck at your appointment.

Serena Lewis said...

Blogger does that on occasion with me too. It usually only happens a couple of times throughout the composition of a post but I'm lucky I've never lost a post.

Good luck with your appointment. I would hate going out in those weather conditions. I'm suffering with a bad back this morning. Not sure if the horrid heat has aggravated it or maybe I turned the wrong way in bed. :(

I've made little mini-writing-journals that way before. I think it would work well as long as there aren't too many pages which could add extra weight or stress on the front and back pages. Too funny about the upside-down cover. Would dental floss be a better thing to use compared to standard cotton/sewing thread?

What rotten luck that the cord for the TV computer didn't work. Enjoy Downton Abbey. :)

Have a lovely and restful day. xo

Halle said...

Oh no you have to brave the elements tomorrow. What an awful day to go out. Mr. G has to work tomorrow as well. He's happy that his first job will keep him in the shop until at least noon...then he'll have to brave the elements for a little.

Halle said...

bah...forgot to say that I loved your little book! Call me quick draw with the publish button. :)

Deb J. in Utah said...

You make the coolest stuff...I hope you get your appointment taken care of and that everything goes smoothly. Be well and stay warm. Regards to Karma!

AliceKay said...

Beautiful, just awesomely (is that a word?) beautiful sunrise shots. :) I've heard how cold it's been out your way, and I'm grateful I don't have to live in those kinds of temps. Good luck getting to your appointment tomorrow. I hope all goes well.

My daughter bought a sound bar for her TV but the TV didn't have the right kind of connection it needed, so my son (who is really smart when it comes to electronic gadgets just as Dagan is) bought her some kind of converter and another wire and it works perfectly. I'm thinking of getting one for our TV because the sound isn't all that great on that thing.

We had ripping winds that blew snow all over the place Friday and yesterday, but it warmed up today and has rained some. The rain is supposed to change over to freezing rain and then over to snow later tonight. Then the bottom drops out of the thermometer again. Stay warm out there!

Anonymous said...

I had plans to watch Downton, but I got sucked into "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix. Highly addictive.

Darla said...

Your book making skills impress me. What a great journal, back page and all.

Stay warm and I hope the appt. goes well.

Darla

Intense Guy said...

I think once it hits about 10 F... you simply can't feel the difference in the cold - you just turn blue faster!!

Hope your appointment was made and is now over with!!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Damn you are talented, I don't think I would have the patience to make a book........I am not a very patient person, really I am not

Janie Junebug said...

I haven't watched DA yet. Don't tell me anything. I am in the TV room. Both dogs are asleep in front of the space heater.

Love,
Janie

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

I really like how your book turned out. It's beautiful!

I've also been getting the messages from Blogger. They are pink ones at the top of the post. I keep hitting "Dismiss" and then change over posting in HTML and trying to save the post. Usually that works. Not always...but most of the time.

Zue said...

You have such skill in the book making and binding arts:)
Sue xxx