Home Again Home Again Jiggety Jig...

...Home Again Home Again I Feel Like a Pig!!

We're currently in Toronto awaiting our flight home so I'm taking advantage of FREE WI FI to write this post. I'm also drinking my bourbon with a THOUSAND ICE CUBES and loving every second of it.

Anyway I could post tons of pictures of the Changing of the Guard, The Thames, Buckingham Palace (but not The Queen! That bitch new we were coming and left the country! I kid you not!), and on and on. But if you want to see those things I'm sure the internet has much better photos than I'll ever be able to take.

So I'll bore you with these.







Hans the Orator at the Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park.

The only audience besides me was a homeless/drunk man and I don't think either of us fully appreciated Hans' latest diatribe about our current state of affairs.

Greenwich Mean Time.

Hans actually had me going for a minute when he told me the line was six inches 'off'!

I hate it when he does that to me!








The weather this weekend was stupendous!!! Completely cloudless sunny skies!

In London!!!!!!

No kidding.





While Hans went to check on where our 'ghost tour' was to take place, I finally broke down and stuck one foot in the fountain in Trafalgar Square. Then next day I wore a bandage across my instep where the flipflop was just digging in!

A trip to London wouldn't be complete without a trip to Harrod's.
I saw thin cotton shirts for 250 pounds! And I'm sure they were cheap. I laughed at one ugly dress that I wouldn't pay ten bucks for at K-Mart and it was around 300 pounds!!

There was one clothing area that was 'appointment only' and I saw a very bored man sitting there waiting for his high maintenance wife/mistress.

We ended up with a piece of carrot cake and a brownie, and ate half of it during our walk through Hyde Park.


After walking for hours we stumbled upon the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.

There's almost no signage and we were there forever before we figure it out!

If you really check this picture you can see that those bumps the kids are playing on are cement. Honestly! Cement with rushing water! I thought it looked horribly dangerous!

But once again I took advantage. This was day two of a lot of walking and my feet were killing me.

Hans joined in too.

Here's a pretty dog I saw in Hyde Park. When I asked the owner if it was a Pit Bull she said no.

She then said it was a Bull Mastiff and while the dog was friendly, the owner was not!

I'm still a little vague on the legality of some dog breeds in the UK and maybe she didn't want to be questioned!

Another dog near our hotel. I'm pretty sure it was a bully breed too.

I didn't ask!

Just up the block from our hotel was a very nice pub. We ate there at least three times.

This was Sunday (our last day) and we were so tired we never even bothered going back into London.

This is the burger that Hans had at the pub.

Double meat burger with cheese, sausage, and two eggs!!!! Along with chips!

This is why we really need to get home!! I never cook like this at the apartment.

Breakfast yesterday morning in our room.

The last of the Harrod's cakes, and coffee.

I see the Jack Daniels bottle made it into the picture but I saved it for later.

I finally got a picture of me in my Burda dress. It really did turn out nice and I hope I get to wear it again soon before I outgrow it!!

A quick update on our Germany/London trip. And my dress

It's been a very busy and hectic week and hasn't been made any easier with the constant fear of whether the volcanic cloud will decide to wreak her power over us.

We were lucky to be able to fly into Heathrow from Hamburg, Germany yesterday as the airports had been shut down the day before! It was a bit unsettling to see a normally busy place so very quiet.

Anyway we are currently in Leeds (Hans has business here) and will leave for London (by train) tomorrow so we can be totally irritating tourists for three days!



Once again I didn't account for the cooler weather that happens over here and I didn't pack enough warm clothes. Saturday's wedding started with a boat ride to the church and I had nothing dressy to put over my 'afternoon' dress. Luckily when we went to pick up Hans' tux we stumbled upon a used clothing store and just as I was ready to give up I found something that would work. Unfortunately it cost 50 euro!! Ouch. I don't even want to see my credit card bill.

It's a shame you can't see the dress (I didn't make it but I did get it on sale and it was a lot cheaper than the 'used' jacket).

My used jacket! Thank God we found it because it really was a chilly and windy day.

The red carpet treatment at the reception that evening.

This is the dress I made.

Hans in his tux. The store in Hamburg only had one shirt in his size.

Wilbur Jekyll and Wilbur Hyde

Last night I decided to dig out my Puff Purse Pattern.
As you can see it didn't turn out nearly as nice as it should have but it'll do.

I underlined the very thin and shifty (sounds kind of criminal doesn't it?) silk with some duck cloth. I also added interfacing to the body, but not the sides.

I didn't glue the frame to the bag. For one thing, my glue went bad, and I also knew I'd get it all over the place. Luckily this frame has holes in it for sewing so that's what I did.

In my infinite wisdom (insert sarcasm here), I decided to add a strap to convert it into a wristlet.

I didn't have any swivel hardware on hand so I just sewed the 1/2 inch strap into a seam. It's too clunky and does NOT look right, but too late now. At least I won't have to clutch it all evening long.







Here you can see how very petite it is!

Just the right size for a pretty kitty.

Chlorox is concerned that the intensity of the green in the purse might take away from the green in her eyes.

And the Countess will not be upstaged!








Today started out wonderfully.

Hans nor I had to work so I suggested a sojourn that included finding my mother a nice hanging basket for Mother's Day, and taking Wilbur to a boat launching sight on the river to see if he likes water.

The trip to the market was very successful and I bought the biggest, fullest (and most expensive), hanging moss basket full of petunias and verbena that I've ever seen. I could barely carry it out of the stalls and I actually called out "wide load" (to some people's amusement) while attempting to do so.


Hans and Wilbur waited outside very patiently for me as there was no room for a rambunctious pit bull (or a Big German Man for that matter) in the narrow isles of the mini greenhouse.

The aromas from nearby eateries convinced us to stop for lunch so we found a restaurant with outside seating and got a pizza. And for the record, let me say that until Wilbur came into our lives we have never received so much attention.


People came out of the woodwork to see him, pet him, exclaim over him, and just adore him. We heard stories of people who've adopted pitties and pitty mixes, and will never own another breed of dog in their life. The street musicians (whom I'd tipped earlier) stopped playing their instruments and begged to pet him. And of course one of them has a pitty/red bone mix (abandoned female breeder rescue) that he loves to death.

An older Indian gentleman was very enamored of Wilbur, whom he declared to be an almost twin to his nine year old pitty that he too, got from a shelter. He looked him over from head to tail and noted that while Wilbur is missing the white tip to his tail that would mark him as a pure pit bull, he still has the classic underbite that's a pit bull trait. He remarked a couple of times that he'd take Wilbur in an instant if he could.


We then headed off to the boat launch and Wilbur took to the water in a very good way. People feed ducks at this location so there was a lot of popcorn floating on the water. I only wish I'd had my camera with me to film him clumsily attempting to 'paw' the popcorn closer to him in order to eat it.

And then we got home, I went to the grocery store, and all hell broke loose.


Hans met me at the door with a myriad of complaints of how naughty Wilbur had been while I was gone, and then said I wouldn't be at all happy with what had occurred on the deck.

That's when I screamed, "Oh my God, my plant!" and ran for the back door.

I was greeted with complete carnage and I was furious (and not with the dog)!

Thank God Hans stopped Wilbur before he did too much damage because Wilbur was enthusiastically pruning the petunia to nothing when he was caught.


It looks a bit thinner but it'll be ok.

I took Wilbur out onto the deck later with his new peanut butter bone and he was a sweetie! He's always good for me.

I'm feeling a very deja vu moment about this situation.

Why is it that you can't leave men alone with the kids while you're gone?

Give a Dog a Bone (as long as the lady gets some fabric)

Wilbur arrived home early this morning from his 'Take your step-brother to work day'. Vet Tech Girl took him and Duncan to work with her last night for her 12 hour overnight shift at the vet clinic.

And what a time he had! He and Duncan shared a very large cage that allowed them to wrestle for hours, and then both of them (whether they wanted it or not!!) got a bath.


He was obviously tired so I didn't feel too horribly guilty for putting him in his crate so we could head out to the market district in search of a beef bone for him.


A couple of hundred bucks later we arrived home with a bone for Wilbur.


So how does a bone cost so much?


Actually the bone itself (and it's a nice meaty beef marrow bone covered in fat, and sinew, and blood) cost $4.26.


The rest of our money was spent on all kinds of wonderfully necessary things, such as, a beautiful amethyst pendant purchased from a Russian jeweler for me (to make up for the knee pads that I got for my 50th birthday!), a Penguins T-shirt for Hans, anchovy stuffed olives for me, a deep fried fish sandwich and beer for lunch, and a piece of fabric from an OMG!!!!!!! fabric store that's not a JoAnn's!.

I tried so hard not to go in, I really did. I told Hans that I didn't need or want anymore fabric! We're moving onto the boat in June and how much sense would that make?

So we went in.

"Boy, they're not stupid", Hans noted, upon spying the Sports Illustrated magazines and a comfy chair situated ever so invitingly just inside the door. I told him to 'sit' and thank God he's as smart as Wilbur, because he did, and after assuring him I wouldn't buy a thing I set off to explore.

What a store!!!!!! I've never seen such a selection of fabrics and everyone there is so stinking friendly (they will never get a job at JoAnn's!). They have books, notions, and tons of fun covered buttons. And if there's something you want that they don't have (I don't know how that's possible) just tell them and they will do their best to get it for you. The layout of the store is almost hypnotizing, it's that nice. I was on the second floor when one of the ladies pointed out some Sunbrella fabric to me.




Isn't this cool? I never knew Sunbrella had prints.

I bought a one yard piece of 60 inch wide fabric for $15.00.

I'm going to make a big tote/beach bag from it.


Actually I should be making cushions etc... but I don't have enough time!










Here it is at its full size along with an exhausted pit bull.

Wilbur spent an hour and a half chewing and gnawing on his juicy beef bone. He would sometimes stop mid-chew to pant like an idiot before starting to chew anew. Since then he's been pretty much comatose, so much so that Chlorox walked into the room, sniffed him, and then left.

He never budged.






And I'm so thankful that we've found a new use for the Potty Patch.


It makes a lovely $79.00 place mat.


"Didn't Duncan pee on that yesterday?" Hans observed.


"Don't ask." I replied.

When I say no, I mean no! Absolutely not! No way!

So what the hell is this thing doing in our apartment?

It looks suspiciously like a dog crate.

Chlorox wants to know what all these accessories are doing here. She doesn't need chew toys, she doesn't have any front claws so she surely doesn't want a peti-cure, and when was the last time she chewed on a Kong?

She thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon of sewing (she writhed all over the fabric) but has no idea why I felt the need to make a great big cushion from my stash of fleece. With a camo theme no less!

I think she'll find out tomorrow when Wilbur moves into his new forever home.

And yes folks, that means that when Hans and I make our move aboard The Knotty Cat this June, we're not only going to take along an elderly cat, we're going to be joined by a pit bull rescue puppy!

Life with us is never boring!

The delicate process of naming a blog

I swear, I think picking out names for my kids was a hell of a lot easier than coming up with a name for our sailing blog.

I want the blog's name to reflect Hans' and my life aboard our boat.

And so far we can't seem to agree on anything.

'Dumb and Dumber' has already been taken.

'Hans and Laura's Excellent Adventure' might not be so Excellent, and once again it's been kinda sorta taken.


There are tons of nautical terms to choose from but we really need to be careful. We probably shouldn't refer to Davy Jones' Locker or things like the Poseidon Adventure.


I'm leaning toward "Seasickness" as we must really be sick to be doing this.


Hans isn't so sure, and I have to admit that this is where the difference in our personalities really shows up. I'm going for the humorous vein and in some cases Hans doesn't quite get it. We also wonder if we should use our boat's name which is The Knotty Cat.


This is the least of our worries right now but it's really working on my mind!!!


Any ideas anyone??


Anything?

A small amount of sewing and a BIG announcement

My evening gown is pretty much done except for the hemming (which I hate doing!). I actually put off inserting the invisible zipper for about four days because I was just sure I would either ruin it or I would find that the fit was wrong.

Well, it went in beautifully and the fit is pretty good. I'll post pictures after it's hemmed.

Now my Big News.

It seems that Hans and I are moving onto our boat this summer. Our goal, when we bought our Knotty Cat, was that we would eventually live on board but we just weren't sure about the timing. Hans has decided the time is now.

I'm still trying to get used to the whole thing and we have a lot to do to get ready. We've decided to keep our apartment for at least the first three months just in case one or both of us decide that this was one crazy idea! But why would anyone think this is a crazy idea?

This was last month when we went down to Annapolis to remove her winter shrink wrap. It's an expensive procedure but it was certainly the winter to have it done. Can you imagine fifty or so inches of snow sitting on top of your boat? I read about some boats sinking in their slips due this problem.

Hans is peeking out of the hole we cut through so we could get aboard.

This is what she looks like without her winter coat.

We have a small TV on board and we use a digital converter to access channels.

We normally use 'bunny ears' for reception but they've disappeared. Neither of us can remember what the hell we did with them but Hans McGuyver came up with this.

It looks like a still (wouldn't that be great?) or a strange science experiment but it's just a piece of cable (with the 'pin' in the center of the connection) taped to a metal piece on the converter. With the cable propped up on these water jugs we got great reception!

Here we are in the fall of last year.

We plan on heading north this June. I've always wanted to see Cape Cod, Nantucket, etc... and I recently bought 'Of Whales and Women' written by Frank Gilbreth (author of Cheaper by the Dozen). The Gilbreth's vacationed on Nantucket every summer (and if you ever read his books you know they lived in two lighthouses, now long gone) and Frank's descriptions and humor are wonderful.

He also wrote 'Innside Nantucket' (yes I have that one too!) and it's a humorous account of his brother and sister-in-law's attempt at running a bed and breakfast back in the 50's. The Inn has changed hands and is still in operation. I found it here.

This was Chlorox's reaction when we told her she'd be living on a boat.

We can't leave her behind and she's far too attached to me to even try to live with someone else.

This is Chlorox's 'contemplative' look.

She plans on writing a book about her adventures and she's going to use this picture on her book jacket.

Evening Gown Update and an Expert's Take on Fashion.

Even though the weather was beautiful (at least that's what I've been told) I never set foot out of the apartment today as I was busy working on the evening gown that I need to have this May for The Wedding of the Century (not mine! I will most likely be barefoot the day that happens!).

You should be able to click on these pictures for better details.

This is the bodice underlining for my dress. It's just a pricey sateen cotton muslin.

This is before I added boning to the seams.

I love 'sew in' boning because it's very user friendly.

I just place it into the vertical seams (minus the seam allowances at the above and below intersecting seams) and zig-zag it in place. You don't even realize you're sewing over it, it's that easy.

Here is the bodice with the boning in place.

I didn't worry about thread color as this piece of fabric will be sandwiched between the fashion fabric and the lining.

This dress has a midriff band.

I basted it to the interfaced muslin 'underlining, 'wrong side' of fashion fabric to 'right side' of muslin.

The actual lining, next to my body, will cover the raw edges of the underlining when all is said and done.

Sally Stitch, my slightly (very!) smug dress form (so what if her butt is smaller than mine!!!!) is modeling the bodice of my dress.

I still need to line and bind the bodice but here it is for now.

This is a such a bad picture (just don't tell Sally) but it's all I have at the moment.

Anyway, the dress still needs to be lined, the bodice still needs to be bound at the top, and actually the back center seam will end up getting ripped out. This is because I'm using an invisible zipper, and I use the Islander technique that calls for the the whole zipper seam to be open during the installation of the zipper!!!!

Go figure! But I've used this technique before and it actually works!!

I tried to put Hans to work at the end of the fitting process but what can I say.

I had the dress on, and all I asked was that he tell me if the seam allowances in the back would 'abutt' each other as this is where the zipper will be placed.

After a bit of monkeying around (really while I waited for him to make sure his online poker hand was stable) he assured me that everything was A-OK.

So, hoping that Hans knew what he was talking about I took the dress off, placed it on Sally Stitch, and proceeded to take pictures. During this time I was wearing nothing but my strapless bra, Victoria's Secret panties, and a pair of heels.

Okay, I realize it wasn't a pretty picture but when I was finally done Hans' remark was, "No wonder all the men who design fashion are gay otherwise they'd never get anything done."

I Thank God that man is nearsighted!!!

Mean Girls...

...Gone Old (or at Least Middle Aged).

My day started yesterday at eight AM where I caught a flight from West Palm Beach, Florida (where I fell asleep on the plane and missed my complimentary pretzel) to my connecting flight in Atlanta, Georgia (where I went to a bar and made up for missing my free snack by sucking down two bourbons and some tortilla chips to the tune of $23.00), and finally landed in my Big City around 6:30 PM.

Hans was nice enough to meet me at the airport with pizza (cold) and beer (warm) but thanks to our hideous rush hour traffic, instead of heading for home, we had to go straight to Hans' band practice at a friend's house.

You see, Hans has some friends, who in my opinion, are going through multiple midlife crises and desperately want to be in a band.

And play music in a bar.

They know that way back in the day, Hans was in a punk rock band, and played music in bars, and therefor is their hero.

We arrived at Friend's quite large, what I refer to as cookie cutter, home in the 'burbs and I was given a seat on a couch (with my pizza and beer) in the cold basement (that's bigger than our apartment) where band practice was to commence.

Shortly thereafter, Friend's wife arrived and after a quick wave to all of us, disappeared upstairs.

By the way, something I've never understood is why people buy horrendously expensive homes where the main entry seems to be from the garage(?), and through the basement.

Band practice got underway, and thank God I brought a book, and thank God I could probably read through an earthquake because that's what it was like.

After awhile Friend's wife came downstairs, did not acknowledge me, listened for a few minutes, and then went back upstairs.

An hour and a few horrible cover songs later, another band member's wife arrived, via the aforementioned garage, and with a quick glance at me, shot straight up the stairs to where I'm assuming Friend's wife was waiting for her.

All I know is that after a horribly long day I had to sit through three long hours of loud music and bad pizza, and I just wanted to go home.


But band practice finally did come to an end and after Friend went upstairs to "See if I'm still married" he came back down and said to me, "You should have gone upstairs, the ladies are up there drinking wine."

Well c'mon! What was I supposed to say to that? The lady of the house knew I was there, the late arriving wife of one of the band members knew I was there, but did either one of them extend an invitation to me?

It reminded me of the time when I was little and my mom dragged me to the home of one of her friend's. Her friend's kids were playing outside and after being urged by my mother (who apparently never read 'The Lord of the Flies') to go outside and 'play' I went outside and got tortured. I mean how was I to know that touching the cow fence with a blade of grass would send a jolt of electricity through me?! This was after the little savages promised me it would be fun!

So, yeah, right, I was really going to go into uninvited territory and ask for abuse! I don't think so.

But just in case I was being overly sensitive (and for a 50th birthday present my body gave me the gift of a skipped period so I'm not sure if I have PMS or not) I didn't say anything to Hans until he mentioned it this morning. He thought it was odd that those women would completely ignore me and proceed to sit in comfort upstairs drinking wine, while I had to sit downstairs amid the cacophony of noise for three hours.

I may have grown up in a fixer-upper in a small swamp town, but I never would have treated someone this way. And then I was glad they didn't include me because I have a feeling they were upstairs 'husband bashing' and I don't need or want any part of that. "You know what?" I said to Hans, "When so-and-so's wife arrived, she never even went around the partition to say hi to him. Hell, he never even knew she was there. She came in and ran up those stairs like a jack rabbit."

So next weekend the band has a 'gig' in a tiny downtown bar and while I'm not looking forward to loud music in a small space with these two women at least I won't be stupid enough to touch any live wires with a blade of grass.


I only allow myself to be stupid once!!!!

Back to sewing

Thank God Hans is in Europe on business right now or I may never have found out that I'm going to need an evening gown for a wedding we're to attend! Yes, an evening gown!

Hans' cousin is tying the knot this May in Germany, and while I may not be multi-lingual like some people (all of Hans' family!), I do know what cutaway means, and when I saw cutaway on the 'printed completely in German' wedding invitation I suspected this was going to be quite the formal event.

"Don't worry, just wear a nice dress." This was from Hans who wore a long sleeved (and very wrinkled) t-shirt to his brother's formal 50th birthday party in Switzerland!

Anyway, Hans took advantage of his business trip and was able to visit family, and that's when someone (probably remembering the wrinkled t-shirt fiasco) drove home the fact that this is going to be a FORMAL AFFAIR!

I (and I'm proud of myself) didn't say, "I told you so!" and went straight to JoAnn's. Normally I rely on Hans, my fashion guru, to help me with these things but like I said, he's not here. Luckily I hit the jackpot and found a cute little gay guy to help me make a choice between the final two fabrics I liked. Here's a link to the pattern and with my past track record, I think we all know it's going to be a huge failure!

http://www.simplicity.com/p-5000-misses-special-occasion-dresses.aspx

Bad pictures of the fabric, but look who moved right in!

There's a distinctive border running down the edges of the fabric but I'm hoping that since I'm so short I'll be able get the skirt portion out of the middle part, and the bodice part from the deeper color edges.

Trying to see if the pattern pieces will fit was impossible.

I won't have a chance to get at this for a week or so and when I do a certain kitty is going to get locked in the bedroom.

I wanted to have some fun with this situation and wondered what people would think if we showed up with Hans wearing bib overalls minus a shirt, and I would be wearing a flour sack complete with binder twine belt.

Hans didn't think that would be a good idea.

The Conversation.

If one were to eavesdrop in our little apartment here in The Big City....

Me: Oh My God, To Kill a Mockingbird is on and it's one of my favorite movies, is it okay if we watch it?

Hans (intent on an Internet poker game): Uh-huh.

20 minutes later.

Me (all misty eyed): God, I love this movie and just look at Gregory Peck, isn't he wonderful?

Hans: Uh-huh. I can't believe this! Some bozo has put me all in and he has to know I have the winning hand.

Me: Did you ever see this movie?

Hans: What movie?

Me: To Kill a Mockingbird!!!!

Hans: Oh yeah.

Me (during the courtroom scene): Did you see that??? Did you see that??? Imagine treating people that way!!

Hans: Uh-huh.

Me: Did you ever read the book? I must have read it a million times.

Hans: Uh-huh. What's on now?

Me: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!!!!!!

Hans: It's still on?

Me: Hans!!! Where the hell have you been?

Hans: Well, I'm kind of involved in this poker game.

A few minutes later.

Me (jumping up from the futon): Oh shit! I forgot to pack a lunch for work tomorrow and we don't have anything to eat in the apartment!

Hans: Uh-huh. Oh, C'mon!!! Who goes all in with a three and ten unsuited?

Me (rooting through the refrigerator): Hey, here's the turkey breast you couldn't find this morning for your lunch!! Ha-Ha! I'm going to use it for a turkey, salami, and cheese sandwich for my lunch tomorrow!

Hans: You found the turkey breast? Can I have a piece of cheese?

Me (with a mouthful of the turkey breast that in my opinion smells funny): Yeah, but it smells funny, do you think it's ok?

Hans: It's fine.

Me (on the verge of swallowing the funny turkey breast): You think it's ok?

Hans: Sure, cheese doesn't go bad.

Me (shouting around half swallowed turkey breast): I'm talking about the turkey breast!

Hans: Oh, I wouldn't trust the turkey breast.

Me (spitting out what I hadn't swallowed): Hans! What the hell do you think I'm talking about?

Hans: The cheese.

Me: Oh God, I hope I don't get food poisoning! I have to work tomorrow!! I hope I've drank enough bourbon to kill the germs.

Hans (with a thoughtful look at his can of beer): Does alcohol kill germs? Because I never get sick.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to the living room.

Me: Here's the part where Boo Radley comes out of nowhere and stabs the bastard that was after Gregory Peck's kids!

Hans: What are we watching now?

Me: OH MY GOD!!!! TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!!!

Hans: It's still on? Because I don't remember this part.


And folks, you've just been treated to a typical evening in our little apartment here in The Big City.

And this happens pretty much every night.


Imagine how much fun we'll be in the nursing home.

Perhaps Nancy Drew can find my camera cord!

This is very frustrating! I know I had the damned thing on Thanksgiving Day because I took the apron pictures at our hotel. But what happened to it between there, and Toronto, and back home again, I have no idea!

Anyway we had a lovely Thanksgiving, and of course we ate too much but that's what going to the gym is for.

I'm not sure what the fix is for having way to much fun at a cocktail party though.

We arrived in Toronto Friday night just as the caterers were setting up for Baby Brother and Partner's party.

I awoke Saturday morning with a nauseous headache and no memory of putting on my pajamas, let alone removing my contacts.

Hans remembers leaving the party to go lie down but has no idea how he ended up in his WalMart sweatsuit!

Just in case you wondered, we weren't driving, we stayed with our hosts!

I have pictures on my camera and I'm assuming that I took most of them. I know I took the pictures of the very pretty, tall blond, because she was carrying a really cool, pink suede purse. Believe me, if Hans had taken those pictures the purse wouldn't have been the focal point. I also think I gave her Nicole's website info because she said she likes to make purses too. Only I couldn't for the life of me remember how to spell Nicole's name so I wrote You Sew Girl on a sticky note.

At least I hope that's what I wrote!

The morning after the party Baby Brother offered to take me to the fabric district and I was thrilled, but I also knew that even if I was able to get dressed there was no way I could survive a subway trip. But after a dry bagel, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a late morning, early afternoon nap I was ready to go.

We ended up at Designer Fabrics on Queen Street but as it was getting late this was the only store we visited.

That's ok though, I really don't need more fabric, and I just like to pick up a piece here and there on our travels.

Designer Fabrics had a large selection at what I thought were very reasonable prices. It's too bad I'm not into wool because they had some beautiful selections along with soft stretchy spandexy stuff that would be perfect for fitted shirts.

I bought a gun metal gray piece (7/8 yard) of soft buttery suede-like fabric for $6.99. I want to make a purse like the the tall blond was carrying, that I mentioned above. Actually it looks very similar to the Day Bag. I also bought 2 yards of grass-green colored fabric with bright slashes of Japanese like symbols all over it for $7.99/yard.

If I ever get a hold of a camera cord I'll post pictures.

So since I can't show you my pictures, I'll leave you with the one that I stole from Baby Brother. He took it of me when we were in Trier, Germany visiting the family castle.

It's me, on the future jacket of a geriatric Nancy Drew book called, The Case of the Missing Camera Cord."

From the expression on my face, someone had better watch out!

When harmless fun backfires!

Way back when Hans and I first met, and became an old couple in love (we're now an older couple in love), he gave me a very cute stuffed lion.

This is because Hans is a Leo.

I, on the other hand, am a Pisces but I've yet to give Hans a cute stuffed fish.

Anyway our stuffed animal menagerie has grown over the past five years and now includes lions, bears, reindeer, a beaver, and most recently a draft horse(??), and their stable/den/cave is atop our bed.

The last person up is responsible for making the bed, and I'm embarrassed to admit that this is a Hans thing. Before I met Hans, making the bed was at the bottom of my to do list.

Somewhere along the line 'the animals' (sometimes called animules) have ended up in creative positions on Hans' stepmother's quilt, that adorns our bed.

Sometimes they are in a huddle, or toeing the line as if in a parade. One day I came home to find the tiniest teddy bear sailing a boat (yes, in the middle of the bed!) while the other creatures gazed on in wonder.

Hans was shocked to come home after the boat sailing episode to find all the animals , except for the tiny bear, in a tight circle. The tiny bear was a couple of feet away and, obviously not invited into the inner sanctum.

I knew exactly what Hans was talking about when he rushed into the kitchen and asked, "What's going on?"

"Are you talking about the tiny bear?" I asked as I continued with our dinner preparations.

"You know I am!" He seemed a little upset, and the poor guy hadn't even taken his coat off yet.

So I had to set him straight. "Well it seems that Tiny Bear is a bit of a braggart and the other animals didn't appreciate him going on and on about his sailing adventures. He's in time out!"


Hans has been out of town this week and is due back shortly (this would explain the glut of old movies I've been watching!). And it would also seem the animules have been taking full advantage.

Look at this!!! Vodka, beer, wine, champagne!!!!

Absolutely shocking!

This cute guy was the first lion Hans gave me and this is how he shows his appreciation.

Nose first in a Stella Artois glass.

Hmmm, is that The Countess von Chlorox?

It sure is! She may be live and not stuffed, but she is an animal, and a party is a party!

"This is more fun than pooping on the floor!" the Countess laughs with delight!

Oh yeah? You just wait until the big lion gets home!