Caps for Sale

Remember that book from childhood?  Caps for Sale was one of my favorites - along with What Shall I Put in the Hole That I Dig? As I got older I would read it to younger siblings (and anyone else within earshot) with much more ribald interpretation. I still giggle when I remember some of the things we put in that hole to see if it would grow a ------ tree!

In an attempt to generate some income I decided to make up some hats and put them in our shop.  Nothing fancy, just the kind of thing to break up the hot sun but not the bank.  I had a lot of batiks in my stash left over from a big quilt project so it was nice to use up odds and ends. The ones for the babies were a LOT of work and while I'll never recoup my investment of time, it does pay for the fabric and helps me downsize my stash. It also gives me something productive to sew and that, more than anything else, seems to soothe my ever present anxieties.   It comes with the added bonus of listening to books on tape while I work. I check out digital books from my local library so there is no end of things to explore. Right now I'm listening to The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume 3: Defender of the Realm, 1940‑1965.       

 I'm not a WWII aficionado but I'm fascinated with Churchill and completely in love with well written prose. No one writes like the English. I've been on a Jane Austen tear for about 3 weeks and find myself using expressions like, "My dear you must prepare yourself" when I tell my husband I have cleaned out the refrigerator and saved us all from death by salmonella and/or rotted food.

Sewing also helps me feel productive when when "PPP Down" is the only thing that  registers on my computer screen when I'm trying to find out why I'm off line ....AGAIN.  I have learned to reboot modems, re-initialize, delete setups and re-do them, and taken a ton of screenshots with dates to prove it all. I've learned you can't shame Verizon in to useful customer service or get an acknowledgement that it is THEIR problem. They are happy to have me pay for a repairman come out to my house to check their line. Inside the house - it's my problem and I'll pay for that. Outside? That's on you, Verizon.  My husband has an aversion to AT&T (his people invented the vendetta, you know) but I'm ready to pull the plug.  I'll just say, "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. You must allow me to tell you how much I abhor Verizon. My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever."  Frankly, I'd like to put Verizon in that "hole that I dig" and see if it grows a )#&*)@(*#&$  tree. Meanwhile, I plod along and take files on a flash drive to computers at work, or work on my iPad on a friend's wifi. (Comcast, in case you were wondering.) I'm just thankful my Bernina doesn't need an internet connection to work, but if it did I know Bernina would have some rockin' customer service!

Inklingo Good, Verizon Bad

I spent most of yesterday  beating the hell out of my Verizon modem (vintage 2006) trying to maintain an internet connection at home - to no avail.  Three phone calls and numerous gymnastics later I threw in the towel and  vowed online revenge at the store today (where I have a working internet connection).  Verizon offered me a new modem for $14.95 but  since I'm paying about $79 a month for long distance and not-working  internet I told them I wasn't interested in paying for ANYTHING else.  After yet another Verizon tech support FAIL  I called back and that same modem was now $69.95, but I "qualified" for a monthly rate reduction, getting the same services for $45.00 a month.  Seriously Verizon?  Don't you at least want to take me out to dinner first?

Back to last night - I gave up with Verizon and resumed some serious de-junking of my house.  We have house guests in 2 weeks and since we have not had anyone for about 5 years.....a lot of JUNK has accumulated in the guest room and elsewhere.  We are blessed and cursed with a large house - 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 2 floors, full basement.  WAY.TOO. MUCH. ROOM. FOR. JUNK.   And since I am married to the man who inspired the TV show Hoarders, it piles up like crazy. I have made more trips to Goodwill than I can tell you about (and more than my husband knows about....) and I'm not done yet.  The actual cleaning is still ahead of me, oy you could vanish in some of the dust.  Wish me luck.

The UP SIDE is that I actually WON SOMETHING!  I never win anything.   I have craved and coveted this Alabama Beauty block (I poached this one from a wonderful blog called Postcards From Panama).  Aren't the colors fabulous? The first time I saw it was on the Quilt Obsession blog by Cathi.  She uses Inklingo, and I always assumed it was some kind of computer program.  Cathi just owns piecing, she makes the most beautiful things and is extremely productive in her output.  I marveled at how she did all this  so I  checked out Inklingo for myself.  You won't believe this -  it's PDF files!  No software to buy! You need an inkjet printer and some freezer paper (butcher paper, where I come from) and the pattern PFD files.   It takes a little reading to wrap your head around the concept, but once it clicks in it all makes sense.

So I send huge blog love to  Cathi  and encourage you to do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to check out  Inklingo.   Poke around and download the freebies.  I won a gift certificate from Cathi's blog so I went ahead and got the pattern for the Alabama Beauty block. ( I  have loved it so long that it was a no brainer, although there are many patterns to choose from. )  I'm not being paid or persuaded in any way to promote this,  I just found something I really loved and BONUS - it will make my quilt piecing easier and more spectacular.  So what's not to love?  Verizon,  THAT is what's not to love.  I'm an Irishman married to a Sicilian for 22 years,  I can "do" vendetta with the best of 'em.  Vendetta and Verizon - they just go together. Stay tuned.