Quote of the Month

My bro, as we taste-tested the fizzy Green Tea drink packets Aunt B sent us for Christmas:

“I’m not gonna lie—this is the most unappetizing color I’ve ever seen.”

To be sure, I daren’t tell you what the mixture looked like when properly stirred up, but it tasted a lot better—very good in fact!—so it was all right in the end. And it was nice to know we were drinking a vitamin C drink without artificial whatsits in it! We can just close our eyes and pretend it’s an attractive color, wot? ;-)

Getting ready to share our crazy Christmas Mad Libs soon!

God bless, Gentle Readers, and have a blessed New Year!
~“Tom”~

Prayers

I have a few prayer requests to any who care to think of us.

My grandma called this morning to tell us that my Aunt Donna died of a heart-attack. She was in her early to mid-fifties, and no, she didn't know the Lord. She'd been dealing with some major health issues, and this wasn't her first heart-attack...but all that's nothing compared to what she's suffering now. Please pray for my Uncle David, Donna's son Joe and his family, that God would comfort them during this loss, and that through this He would bring them to a saving knowledge of Him.

Shortly after that bomb dropped, another one exploded. Mom got a call from the assistant headmaster at the school she teaches music at, and long-story-short, he'd made some changes to the upcoming concert (this Thursday) that pretty much smashed all Mom's hard work to smithereens. Thankfully that situation has been resolved—the guy made some more changes that make a lot more sense, so that fire's put out. But Mom could really use some clear guidance from the Lord as to whether she's supposed to go back next year. It's been more headache than ministry, from what I've heard (and observed).

Your prayers are appreciated.

However, we did receive some good news from Aunt B (Mom's sister) this afternoon. She's been trying to sell her house and has been running into some rather head-banging problems, but today she was all excited because the house is now in escrow! *Confetti* So that was one bright spot in this rather lousy day in the life of Tom Wild Rose. :-P

Natasha of Day by Day tagged any of her readers who wished to answer these questions. And since I can never resist one of these....

1. Have you ever consumed an ant? Yes, actually, as a kid. Not on purpose, mind you; it just got in my mouth somehow. Ugh!
   
2. Do you (or did you) bite your fingernails? Again, as a kid. Even when I bit too far and got down to the cuticles. Ouch! Finally grew out of that, thank God, somewhere in my teens and forced myself to use the nail-clippers. And never looked back.
   
3. Pens or pencils? Pencils, because if I screw up I can erase it!
   
4. Least favorite color? This One! And This...And this....
   
5. Ever had a near-death experience? Not that I recall. Had some nasty food poisoning last year that left me unable to keep anything down but mint tea for two days straight (not the ideal way to lose eight pounds!)...but it wasn't *actually* life-threatening.
   
6. Name three blogs/websites that you've discovered recently (and provide links): Vixen Vintage—this girl wears vintage clothes every day and looks smashing! Hee.
   

Joopy and Smith Gems—the Etsy store of a lady in Hong Kong who carries lots of gemstone cabochons...some of which—Lord willing—I hope to get for the interchangeable pendant I've designed....
Rapunzel's Resource—a blog mainly of hairstyle tutorials. She has some loverly ones on her site!

7. What's your middle name? Ruth.
   
8. Favorite movie line? I have three, actually, that come to mind:

ARAGORN: What do you fear, my lady?

ÉOWYN: A cage. To be kept behind bars until use and old age accept them, and all chance for valor has gone beyond recall or desire.

~The Two Towers

CLIFF SECORD: Well, you can stick that blowtorch in my ear, and we'll call it the end of a perfect day.

~The Rocketeer

BETH MARCH: Why does everyone want to go away? I love being home—but I don't like being left behind.

~Little Women

Fun, fun. :-) Now to answer my own questions:

1. Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt? Frozen Yogurt! :-D It's softer, and therefore easier to eat (for me, anyway). Plus it's so smooth and creamy...>drool<
2. How many siblings do you have? My brother, Peter—otherwise known as Will Scarlet...and not just because he likes red. ;-)
3. What is your favorite hobby? Besides daydreaming? :-P I think embroidery and modeling things out of clay are pretty high on the list (need to do more of those...). Next would be crochet and beadwork.
4. Did you have a different hair color/texture as a kid, or has it always been the same? My hair was tow-white as a kid, gradually turning golden ash-blonde as I got older. It's always been really fine, but THANK GOD it doesn't tangle nearly so badly as it did when I was little! OY!
5. Do you like to go places, or are you more of a homebody? Like Natasha said, I'm kind of both. I like to get out and go places and see new things (or even revisit old favorite spots), but I don't have any great all-fired ambition to get out of the house and go be on my own...alone...without my family....
6. What is your favorite main dish? Either manicotti, fettuccine Alfredo, meat lover's pizza (with olives!), or my Famous Minestrone. I declare, I should have been born Italian. :-D
7. Do you wear jewelry? If so, describe your favorite piece(s): Usually just to town or church, or for special occasions—any time I want to be a bit more “dressed up.” Right now my favorite items are:
   ~ A pair of silver-toned ball-post earstuds. They're like the classic pearl studs you see in old movies and such, only more durable! And they'll go everywhere from grocery shopping to a wedding party, depending on what they're worn with.
   ~ My hinged bail. Not a piece of jewelry per se, but it allows me to switch out one pendant for another, thus eliminating the need for multiple chains. 'Course, I have a pendant in the works (assembled by Laurie and Avo C. of Laurie Sarah Designs) that will have interchangeable stones (Lord willing everything works out all right). I like versatility in my jewelry, can you tell? ;-)
8. When was the last time you went to the movies, and what did you see? Last year, just before Father's Day. We saw Toy Story 3. Not as good as 2, definitely scarier in parts than 1 (still recovering from the Dump/Incinerator scene—eek), and the humor was a little more crude in parts than either (that crack about the “Lincoln-logs” in the sandbox was totally unnecessary), but pretty good, all told. I loved how they resolved/ended the whole thing, even though it was a bit sad.

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~

Well, as a reader of Bramblewood Fashion, I have been tagged to answer her eight questions. Yay! And if I understand the rules, I get to write my own eight questions, and then you, Gentle Readers, get to answer them.

1. What's/was your favorite subject in School? Art, Creative Writing and Home Economics were my favorite subjects. In high school Mom set up a pattern making and -alteration class, and it's been such a wonderful skill to know.2. What music genre is your favorite? That which is commonly called “Classical” but is actually Baroque/Romantic (Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethovan, stuff like that). I also like Renaissance and old Medieval-type folk music. And we mustn't forget Irish jigs and reels!
3. You can go anywhere in the United States, where do you go? Hmmm...for starters, we'll head down to Lassen Park and Crater Lake, stop off in a little town in California called Grass Valley (and the surrounding area), then head back up the California coast, stop in Mendocino to visit Aunt B and y cousin (assuming she's gotten moved in by the time we can afford this trip, LOL). Just visit some places we've been before but weren't able to enjoy as much as we would have liked due to time constraints and what-not.

'Course, it'd be fun to see the San Diego Zoo, Monterey Aquarium, Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns—places like that, that we've talked about but never been able to get to. Oh, and Yosemite. Maybe Yellowstone, too.
4. Favorite ice-cream flavor? Mint-Chocolate-chip, Pistachio or Death By Chocolate. If we were talking frozen yogurt, now, there'd be a whole slew of other flavors....
5. Dogs or cats? Cats. They clean up after themselves, keep themselves clean, and they purr. And they don't bark at every stinkin' thing. Not that I hate dogs, mind you; they just tend to be more hassle. :-P
6. What's your favorite artist {painter}? E.B. Leighton and John William Waterhouse. Their paintings are so lifelike! (Mind you, Waterhouse's subject matter isn't always G-rated, but that's why they invented Photoshop, wot?)
7. Favorite Bible verse? “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are My servant.' I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:9-10
8. Favorite Starbucks drink? Do they serve hot cocoa?

I actually don't go to Starbucks, as I'm not a coffee-drinker. :-P

So here are my eight questions for any of my readers who wish to answer...on your blog, if you please. Otherwise the comment box gets to be a mile long! ;-)

1. Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt?
2. How many siblings do you have?
3. What is your favorite hobby?
4. Did you have a different hair color/texture as a kid, or has it always been the same?
5. Do you like to go places, or are you more of a homebody?
6. What is your favorite main dish?
7. Do you wear jewelry? If so, describe your favorite piece(s):
8. When was the last time you went to the movies, and what did you see?

Have fun! ^_^

I worked on that dress mock-up (Butterick 4827) last week and actually got it put together! Well, minus the left sleeve. The part that goes under the arm got cut short somehow, so I left off the whole sleeve. Observations:

• Plain, fitted sleeves just don't work for me. I can't lift my arms even level with my shoulders without the thing tugging. So that option is OUT for any garment. Which is a bit frustrating, as I had a pink underdress in the planning stages that I wanted that kind of sleeve for.
• As per usual, the front princess seams are about an inch too high.
• This pattern has the opposite problem of Simplicity 9891—the princess seams in the latter were too far in, whereas on this pattern they're too far out. Oy, can we find a happy medium here?? ;-)
• Mom said there was a lot of excess fabric in the back seam when she pinned it to fit me comfortably (well, as comfortably as possible when it's too tight across the front because the seams are in the wrong place, LOL).
• The neck is at a PERFECT height—not too low, not too high. A bit wide, but that's fixable. I seldom find a commercial pattern with the neck in just the right place, so this is a big deal.
• I am definitely cutting off at least 8” from the hem. What genius ever though hems dragging on the floor (and about a foot behind) was a good idea?!

Mainly I've been practicing for the special music at church this Sunday, and for the concert at the school Mom teaches at, which is the following Thursday. Not just recorder, either—tone-chimes, too. I know it sounds like fun, but it's hard work, too. But the music is getting familiar enough that it's pretty easy to play now. God helping us, we should do pretty well.

(And if it sounds like a big commitment, it's more so for Mom and Peter—the orchestra they're in has a concert the Friday after the school concert!)

What crazy, schizophrenic weather we've had of late! It's STILL cold and cloudy most of the time, and yesterday it would be partly sunny one minute, then snowingthe next! And the hail...Oh. My. Word! Some of it got up to an inch in diameter—I though the skylights would break in! (They didn't.) I don't think I've ever seen hail that big. And the weird thing about it was, it was cone-shaped! My crazy brother went out in that mess—while it was still hailing trolls and oliphaunts—and fetched one to show me. Fascinating. I dubbed it “popcorn snow,” but Peter declared it was “corn-snow on steroids”!

Oh yeah, and then it snowed afterwards. It melted by the end of the day, but for a while everything was pretty white.

Quote of the week:

PETER: What would be the opposite of color-blind—where you start seeing all different colors?

ME: Psychedelic. :-P

PETER: Well, yes, besides that.

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~

Yes, I'm still alive.

No, I haven't gotten any pictures taken. Stupid cloudy weather....

Yes, I was ticked off when it snowed the other day.

No, I did not fly off the handle about it...although I was a bit sulky until it melted. >Sheepish<

Yes, I am SOOOOOOO loving the sunshine we've had ALL DAY today!!! PTL! :-D

OK, enough of that. :-P

Other things that have happened since my last entry:

~My brother actually ate the homemade chili I made for supper the other night! And for lunch the day after that...and the day after that...although I suspect it's still not his favorite dish, LOL (Bro normally hates chili).

~I've made two new necklaces to sell! With matching earrings. (Wow, me, diligent? What a concept! :-P Totally the Lord.)

~We've been re-arranging the workroom where Peter has his media-transfer equipment and computers and stuff, and Mom has her music, and she and I have out sewing. The new arrangement is going to be sooo nice—much “more open,” as Bro put it, and a better use of the space.

~I realized the other day that I have exactly eight long-sleeved blouses (“seven for each day of the week, and one for wash-day”) in my closet. While I do have a few more in the planning stages, methinks I'll call it good and move on to my Summer stuff—yay!

...Starting with that infernal blue blouse I almost trashed last year....

(Actually, it fits pretty well now; it just needs looser sleeve-bindings and perhaps a snap realignment.)

~The boys from down the street (and their dad) came over a couple times to help us clean up the yard, and boy, does it look good! Mom's hired the older boy to mow the lawn once a week this Summer, so we can concentrate on other projects...like building a bigger fenced-in yard for the kitties. ^_^

~I think I've bought more stuff online this week than I usually do in a month! Fun stuff, though—some new chains to play with use in my designs (plus one for a necklace of Mom's that I started LAST YEAR), two bottles of desperately needed silver polish, a copy of a book we used to have called So What's the Difference? About the different cults and “religions,” a secret item I can't mention in case the person it's for happens to read this post, ;-)....

~Please don't laugh~

and an exact duplicate of a little porcelain-headed bear Mom gave me when I was four or five...which I promptly broke while throwing it in the air and trying to catch. Lesson learned: Porcelain and brick hearths don't mix. I've been looking for another one ever since, off-and-on....

So yeah, seeing one on eBay the other night for under $7 made for one happy little wench over here. :-D

Quotes of the Week:

“Snow in April is abominable—like a slap in the face when you were expecting a kiss.”

~Anne Shirley-Blythe, Anne of Ingleside.

“North Idaho? Oh, yeah, they're kinda like Montana. They have three seasons: June, July and Winter.”

~Old friend of one of the elders at church

My brother's opinion of Superman (Christopher Reeve version):

“You have to remember that this is about as hard Sci-Fi as the inside of a Twinkie.”

Proof that either great minds really do think alike...or else goofiness is contagious:

FRIEND: (descending a steep staircase in an old farmhouse) These scares stair me—oh, wait....

~A while later~

ME: (descending a steep stairway outside a building) These scares are stairy.

MOM: They sure are—

ME: Oh brother; I just said, “These scares are stairy”!

Hmmm...perhaps I ought to have a separate section just for Quotables....

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~