SPAM

I got this horrid SPAM from somebody advertising their webpage about making the most of the economy (or something like that) asking me to link to their page and write a blog about it.  This person found my private email address and wrote to me there.  I can't believe she did that.  (Or was it a he?)  I find this really annoying.  People looking up my email address instead of using the blog.  Can you imagine?  I tried to write back telling this person not to email me again, and the email address was set to nonresponse.  I thought blogger was supposed to protect us from this kind of SPAM.

Beginner Cross Stitch Kits from The Bold Sheep

I have been in the market for a beginner design for my 17 year old daughter.  It occurred to me to go to The Bold Sheep website (link in my sidebar) and see what they have.  The Bold Sheep is a British company, and although they have both patterns and kits for more experienced stitcher, the beginner patterns are all kits.  I understand European kits have a greater allotment of fabric than US kits, so I thought I would try this out for my daughter.  It is on 8 count Aida with bright colors and sooo cute!  Designs from the bold sheep are cute, fun, relatively easy, small and have a variety of charts for several different levels of stitcher.  

The price is in pounds and it looks relative expensive, with costly shipping added.  I hope she appreciates it!

British Cross Stitch Magazines

I have a vast collection of British cross stitch magazines.  Most of them are in storage in Wisconsin, which makes them impossible to access, since I live in Saint Louis.   My favorites are Cross Stitch Crazy and Cross Stitch Card Shop.  Some of the other British cross stitch magazines, such as Cross Stitcher, don't appeal to me.   If I want a big design, I don't want one that is stitched on Aida in whole stitches, with tons of backstitching just to define the edges.  That is why, for big designs, I prefer charts from, say, the US or France or Ireland, and I stitch them on hand-dyed linen.  I don't do kits, either.  There are a lot of references to kits in British magazines.  I don't understand kits.  I don't understand why all the threads are not already sorted and labeled in some kits (Dimensions kits would drive me crazy for this reason), or why the fabric pieces are always so skimpy and almost always white, or why they use boring brands of thread rather than hand-dyed thread, which I prefer.  I do like Cross Stitch Crazy and Card Shop because the designs in them are small.  I don't mind stitching something on Aida in entirely whole stitches with cheap thread if it's something small and quick, although small and quick for some of the designs in these magazines means up to 50 hours.   They do have "one nighters" which for me would take a week because I just can't sit down and stitch for four or five hours straight -- unless it's Monday and I have an iPod full of new podcasts I could listen to for hours on end.   If I could read and stitch at the same time, that would make me happy.  Okay, so I could (and do) download Audible.com books and listen to those.  That kind of multi-tasking would make me happy.

So back to the British cross stitch magazines.  They are fun to look at.  They are fun to read.  Sometimes I find nothing in them I would want to stitch, but there's a lot more in them than designs.  They are almost cross stitch gossip magazines.   They're very entertaining and fun.

I get my British cross stitch magazines from the racks at Barnes & Noble.  The only problem with buying them at Barnes & Noble is that oftentimes some idiot cheap stitcher will have already stolen the free gift out of the plastic wrapper.  It's not that I really want the free gift (I almost never use them), but it does take some of the fun out of it.   It's important to check that the free gift is still in there when buying the magazines sold in wrappers.  

Now I'm off to fantasize about stitching silly little designs in the latest issue of Cross Stitch Crazy.

My New Fish Tank!

I got a 10 gallon tank with all the paraphrenalia on Craigslist, and today I had a guy from a fish store come out and set it up for me.  He put in gravel, plants, a few guppies to condition the water, and chemicals (bacteria to speed up the process and decholorinizer).  He left me some other stuff, including fish food and chemicals, and pointed out that I had a device to clean the bottom of the tank.  He also left me a big bucket for water.   I am not thrilled about the guppies, and plan to return them to the store when I get the real fish for my tank.  These are very boring guppies.  I know where to get Moscow blue guppies (another ad on Craigslist) and I would like to get a couple for my tank.  The fish store says they take in guppies from time to time, so I would have a place to take all the babies if I get a male and female pair, or even two females who would probably already be pregnant.

I used to have guppies and other live bearers in my 5 gallon tank when I was a kid.  I had fish since I was about 10.  I loved my fish.  I had one fancy guppy I called Golashes.  That fish seemed to live for an eternity.   I generally took very good care of my fish.  I had several types that were livebearers, and some that laid eggs.  I had a constant supply of fish.  They made me very happy.

Reading Kurt Vonnegut!

I got Slaughterhouse Five because I heard it was about the firebombing of Dresden.  I've had the book for a couple of weeks, but I just picked it up yesterday and I am amazed!   What a great author!  I haven't read any Kurt Vonnegut and now I am going to go to the library and get several more of his books.  Wow!

My son Mark has a tattoo of Kurt Vonnegut on his back.  My ex- used to read to them at night, and he read a lot of Vonnegut's books to my boys.   By the way, my boys have excellent vocabularies and are wonderful writers, and I attribute this at least partly to being read to every day!  No baby books for my boys.  We started reading novels to them when they were pretty young!

New Year's Resolutions

I have three very simple New Year's resolutions.  

1.  Eat healthy food.  I have been seeing a dietician at my endocrinologist's office (in case you don't know, I have insulin-dependent diabetes).  Last time I went, I had lost one pound.  Very disappointing.   The dietician put together a healthy diet for me.  It's hard to keep up with it, especially with all the fruit and vegetables.  I think I have managed the fruit, but I have neglected the vegetables.  I am also eating oatmeal, one of her recommendations.  I love my oatmeal and eat it nearly every day.  I do go through a lot of oatmeal!  Anyway, eating healthy means sticking to the diet she put together for me.  Sometimes I feel like I'm eating all day just to keep up, but supposedly it's going to help me lose weight.  I need to lose about 15 pounds.  Not much, but it's a struggle.

2.  Exercise.  I belong to a gym just two buildings away, and I haven't gone in a while.  I also have walked the dog a half mile in the past, but I'm just taking him down the street real quick right now.  It's been too cold to walk.   Today it seems to be a bit warmer, so I'm going to try to start again today.  Walking is key to losing weight and being healthy.  

3.  Write.  I have lots of ideas in my head, and my goal is to publish.  This takes discipline, which I don't have yet.  I want to write three pages a day.  Right now, I am thinking of some pet articles, to send to pet magazines.  I also want to write a novella about being a young musician (as I was) and also some science fiction.

That's it for my resolutions.  So far, I haven't done too well, but I keep working at it, and that's the key.

Update on the PayPal Account Compromise

Well, I just want to report that the situation with PayPal was resolved in only eight days, at which time PayPal put the money directly into my account.  They moved quickly, got the money back from the sellers, and prevented the goods from being mailed out.  Somebody in the automobile repair business was involved in this.  He (and I'm almost certain it's a he) bought body parts and even put the name of a auto repair business as one of the purchasers.  I think this guy was stupid.  He didn't get what he wanted, and very likely got a visit from the police!  

PayPal keeps their word!

Selling Silkweaver Cross-Stitch Fabric on Craigslist

Well, I accumulated too much fabric stash.  I had an entire cardboard file box full.  I decided I would sell each piece on Craigslist for $5.00.   Two women came out, one with her daughter, the other with her husband, who actually found the posting for her.  They each bought 14 pieces, and I've got a lot left, I'd say half a box.  My posting lasts for 30 days, and I might get more takers, but if I don't, I'll repost after the month is up.  If you are interested in purchasing some silkweaver fabric for cheap, send me an email and I'll send a description of what I've got.  

No worries, I have more stash of my own in another box!

Somebody compromised my PayPal Account!

So, Wednesday I go to my online banking site, and see that there are three PayPal deductions, totaling about $700.  I didn't buy anything with PayPal, let alone spend $700.  As PayPal put it, somebody compromised my PayPal account.  What a mess.  PayPal says that the stuff won't be shipped to this guy in Colorado (he bought stuff for a Chevy and a Pontiac and a Walmart gift card -- I have a Saab and don't shop at Walmart).  I have to wait 10 days for an investigation to finish before I get my money back.  In the meantime, my PayPal account is locked, and I had to go to the bank to prevent any further withdrawals from PayPal for the time being.  In addition, I had to cancel my debit card.  All this takes time.  In the meantime, I have to write checks or use my Chase Visa, which has a limit on it.   I think I will just get some cash at the bank and pay for everything with cash for a couple weeks.   I had to ask for my maintenance check early to cover the debits, but I need to pay my rent on the first, and I don't know if the investigation will be done by then.  I really need that money!

I got a spyware program which I ran, and discovered two viruses my virus program hadn't caught.  I've only had this hard drive for a few days, so somebody acted fast.   I am glad I got the spyware program (called Stopzilla).  I've also been going to every site I can think of where I have a password and am changing it.

This has all been a big hassle, but luckily it was caught in time.  This guy, whomever he is, is going to have some explaining to do to somebody.

Christmas Day & My New GPS

My kids gave me a GPS for Christmas, a Garmin.  I tried it out inside the building, but it doesn't work in there so I'll have to go out to the car with it.  It's pretty amazing.   If you select a few letters of a town, it fills in the rest for you.  I love it!

They all came over for Christmas Eve -- Camille, Mark, John and his partner Dan.  I made chicken soup with rice and t-bone steaks and mashed red potatoes.  I was going to make Viennese cookies but didn't have the time.  I'll probably make them today.  My house is still a mess with some of the dinner dishes still out and gift wrapping not completely picked up.  I have work to do before everyone comes over again today.  

Mark brought me a bouquet of white flowers and a bottle of wine.  I put the flowers in a red vase.  It's awfully nice to get flowers.  The wine was a Shiraz and it was very good.  

Mark, Camille and I watched It's a Wonderful Life before John and Dan got here from Wisconsin.  I recently bought a $29 DVD player and it works fine, and I got three Christmas movies to play on it.  Other than the Christmas movies I have Harvey and a Tai Chi DVD.  I need to get myself some more movies.  I was thinking City of Angels and Groundhog Day, two of my favorites.  I like movies that have some magic to them.  

Mark and his friend Sarah are moving into an apartment on the Upper East Side in a couple of weeks.  I bought Mark dishes and cuttlery for his new apartment and he loved them.  He said Sarah would also love them.  I also got him a framed poster of Van Gogh's painting of a cafe in Arles.  

John and Dan got a KitchenAid mixer.  John got this miniature video camera he'd asked for.  I forget what it is called.  It's smaller than an iPod.   

Camille got a stack of video games and guides, also clothes and books.  All the kids got books.  I gave Camille a photograph of Bob Dylan, and she'll hang that up in her bedroom at the other house.   Camille's birthday is the 27th and I have another large stash for her.  She really rakes it in around Christmas.  

So we had a good time.  And I got my GPS.

Sewing Dog Scarfs

I just got a sewing machine (paid $200 for it and the cabinet on craigslist) and the first thing I'm going to work on is a dog scarf.  My dog, Ace, has two scarfs.  One is your normal red bandana, and the other is tie-dyed.   I went to Jackman's and found some red Christmas fabric covered in little green bones (!) which I'm going to use for the scarf.  I am going to use the tie-dye scarf as a template because it is bigger, since the fabric I bought is thicker than the usual scarf fabric.  I am going to run a very narrow seam around the outside of the scarf to get rid of the selvages, and then I am going to tie it on Ace for the Christmas season!

My friend Carol (another anthropologist who has two border collies) was surprised Ace tolerated scarfs.  I love the look of dog scarfs.  They look great with his border-collie black and white fur.  I think he likes them.  He sits patiently while I tie them on.  He is such a good dog!

Michio Kaku and teleportation

I have discovered Michio Kaku, a Japanese-American physicist from New York.  Professor Kaku talks about such things as teleportation, parallel universes, and mind reading.  The only difference between Kaku's discussion of these things and mysticism or the paranormal is that his views are based upon physics.  For example, Kaku says we have already teleported small particles, and we will soon be teleporting to the space station and to the moon.  It will be centuries, he thinks, before we are able to teleport an entire human being (he uses Captain Kirk as an example).  We humans have just too many cells.  But he says Star Trek takes place in the 24th century, "so we have plenty of time."  He also thinks that if we were contacted by aliens, that it would be a matter of national security and the common folk should not know because it would be too disruptive.   He believes in SETI, that it should be expanded and supported, pointing out that lots of private funds matched by government funds are now pouring into SETI.  He says that our universe is like a membrane, a bubble, and that he thinks black holes have a white hole on the other side where energy and matter are spewed out into a parallel universe.  

I think Kaku is fascinating.  I want to get his latest book (Physics of the Impossible), but I am going to wait until I have an Audible credit to get it for free.

Phyllis Dintenfass's Beading

I went to lunch with Phyllis Dintenfass and a number of her friends yesterday.  In case you don't know, Phyllis is a preeminant beader.  She has an article in a magazine this month showcasing her beadwork.  I am trying to find out which magazine it is so I can buy it.  While we were at lunch, I bought a pair of Christmas wreath earrings from her, and they are beautiful enough (an not specific enough -- except they are green) to wear all year round.   She also had an amazing necklace with matching earrings and I am determined to buy them.  Only problem is they are $375 for the set, and I didn't get enough from the furniture sale to cover the cost.  So I have written Phyllis and proposed that I pay for them over time.  I wish I had a picture to show you.  The set is amazing.

Craft Materials in Storage

I have a lot of crafting materials in my storage unit.  One of the reasons I came up here to Appleton, in addition to selling the furniture, was to dig out my craft materials and take them back to Saint Louis.  I really want to find the box containing my cross stitch patterns.  There should also be some beading materials in there.  I will have to dig around in the boxes to find this stuff, probably someplace past the books to the back of the unit.  Hopefully I will be able to get to these things.  

Selling the Furniture in Appleton, WI

I am currently in Appleton to sell the furniture in my storage unit.  It is snowing.  There is snow all over my car and on the ground.  I don't have a scraper for my car (I intended to get one but coulen't find one before leaving Saint Louis).  I am wondering if the sale is going to happen anyway.  I am wondering if the agent is going to cancel.  I am wondering if the buyers are going to come out despite the snow.  I really need this to happen.  The money I will get will go mostly to my boys.  I need $2000 after the agent's commission, some to help with John's MacBook and some for Mark to help him move to a new apartment in NY.   I am hoping for a little beyond that to make getting through the month a bit easier.

I paid off all my bills except Amazon.com and a credit card with a big debt on it.  The credit card is going down, and I can pay off Amazon as it comes due.  Everything else is paid off.  I sure hope we can get this done in the snow.

Singing "Woodstock" with my Daughter

We were on our way back from rehab.  My daughter is 16 and has a drug problem.  Her drugs of choice are LSD and pot.   We put her in rehab after she got kicked out of her third high school.  She is currently not in school -- she will take the GED and depend on her excellent exam scores to get into college.  So we were driving back, and I had my iPod connected to the tape deck, and she was fooling around with it.  "May I play some songs?" she asked.  "Sure," I said.  She put on Bob Dylan.  "Everyone Must Get Stoned."  I asked, "Isn't this a little contradictory, playing this Dylan song on the way back from rehab."  "Oh, it's not really about drugs," she said.  "It's political."  I hadn't listened to the words to this song in years, so I sat quietly for a while while the song played out.  "You're right.  How did you know that?"  "It's obvious.  How about some Neil Young?"  She played a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song.  It was "Woodstock."  "Joni Mitchell wrote this, did you know that?"  'No."  "Well she did."  We sat for a moment until the lyrics began, and then both of us started to sing at the top of our lungs.  We sang our hearts out.  "I came across a child of God, he was walking along the road..."  I couldn't believe we were sitting in the car singing to my favorite songs.  I never expected this from my daughter who is 39 years younger than I am.   I guess I did something right.

The Empty Best Buy

I went to Best Buy this evening, to get car chargers for my phone and iPod, and when I walked in I was shocked to see only one person there.  All the cashiers were milling around, and the greeters had nothing to do.  (I am surprised they didn't all converge on me.)  As I entered, I exclaimed, "This place is really empty!"  I guess I shouldn't be so shocked given the state of the economy, but one would think Best Buy would be really busy three weeks before Christmas.  It was a very strange experience.

I haven't been around for a while...

...but I'm going to start posting about crafts again.  There are still quite a few people visiting this website despite the fact that I haven't been posting.  I think it's very worthwhile to continue this blog.

I am currently getting ready for my cleaning crew to come.  My friend John Andrisan calls it "pre-cleaning."  I don't know anyone who doesn't pre-clean before their ladies come.  

I bought a sewing machine.  I went on craigslist and advertised that I was looking for one, preferably one with a cabinet.  For $200 I got the sewing machine (a Kenmore) complete with a cool real-wood cabinet that looks like a piece of furniture.

What am I going to sew?  Well, I got a wool sweater at Salvation Army and shrunk it down.  I am then going to make a stuffed animal (well, they say "plush").  I am using a book called Plushorama for the design.  (It's available on Amazon.com.)   I like the kitty-cat made out of felted wool with felt features.  I am even going to make use of the area with two stripes on the sweater, putting the stripes down across the lower body of the cat.  It is so cute!  The subtitle of the books says something about "immature adults"!  These stuffed animals are really crazy, and some of them are purposefully ugly or scary!  It's such a cool book, and I really like the idea of shrinking/felting the sweater for the fabric.

Ace and Me in my Office/Art Room (with insulin pump)

I took this picture of myself today in my office/art room. I put the camera on my office chair and as soon as I sat down, Ace came over to get petted. This is how it often is for me! As soon as I sit down, there are a couple of dogs competing for my attention.

The bulge under my shirt (my border collie shirt) is my insulin pump. I've had it on now since Friday (it is Monday). It has been pumping saline -- sort of a dry (or salty) run, as the case may be. Tomorrow I go in for the final step: to get insulin in the pump. I can hardly wait.

More Border Collie Cross Stitch

My dogs are an important part of my life. They take me out of myself and force me to pay attention to and take care of another life. This is especially true of Ace. Tonight I took Ace to dog agility class. He does well, better than I do. It requires concentration on the dog and on my actions. We are working toward becoming a team, learning about each other and the equipment.

The cross stitch pattern here is called "Next to Go." Probably sheep dog trials. Border collies are called collies or sheep dogs overseas. I love this pattern.

I misinterpreted the relationships

I wrote yesterday about two of my friends dumping me because they said I was too "needy." I have been thinking about this, and I think I am making some progress in understanding it.

I can't relate to the "needy" thing. It just doesn't fit. I have thought about it a lot, and I don't feel in my gut that it's right. Then what is right?

I think I misinterpreted the relationships. I thought we were closer than we were. I thought they enjoyed talking to me. I certainly enjoyed talking to them. But I seem to have been too intense. They felt that I was demanding more from them than they could give. This would have been the case if we were interpreting the relationship differently. In face to face relationships when this happens, the one with the less intense feelings withdraws, perhaps feeling a bit stifled by the other person. I have been there and done that.

Breaking up with friends is a bit like breaking up with lovers. It hurts like heck.

Changes, Transformations, Metamorphoses

I have been going through a lot of changes recently. My interests are becoming broader and I am thinking about new things. I have joined some new groups. I have ordered new books. I have some new blogs and spend more time writing.

It seems like my friends are changing too. In the last few days, two of my friends have dumped me. They were internet friends. We were a trio, the three of us. They said I was too "needy," but I don't see it, and I don't even feel there's anything to deny. I mean, I can't find neediness anywhere in me. And I've looked.

All I feel is transformation. I feel very different than I did a few weeks ago. I think I am going in a good direction. I don't understand why anyone would reject me now, unless they don't like who I am becoming. Maybe we have gone in different directions. How that can be interpreted as neediness, I don't know. It may just be an excuse to end the relationship.

Tough love for relatives who ask for money?

What do you do when a relative asks for money?

I have a friend who loaded a brother-in-law $300,000. He went into bankruptcy and never paid it back. The money was part of their retirement savings. They have jumped through legal hoops and there is little hope.

I know somebody who mortgaged their house to pay for a daughter's legal fees. She was a pharmacist and was doing drugs. She was on probation for manslaughter. She had shot and killed her boyfriend who was abusing her. When she got caught on the drug charge, she had to serve time for both crimes. The family eventually went into tough-love mode. They had given her everything they could give, and finally had to let her fall.

I just had a relative ask me for money. We didn't talk for 13 years...since the last time she asked me for money. I have been talking to her again for a few months, and she asked for money again. I feel terrible about saying no. I told her we couldn't afford it, that we have two children in college and a third in a private high school. I am afraid that the next time she asks for money, she will not talk to me again for another 13 years.

If I had a lot of money, I would give it to her, so she would never hurt for money again. I would buy her a house and set up a trust fund, and put her children through college. Right now I am putting my children through college and saving for retirement. I feel just terrible saying no. I feel terrible because I have so much more than she has.

I have a soldier...

"You can support the troops but not the president."
Rep Tom Delay (R-TX), when Clinton sent troops to Bosnia.

I have a soldier from Soldiers' Angels. I am a Democrat and I don't feel great about the War in Iraq. I dislike Bush immensely, especially his so-called values, which I don't share. Yet I have a soldier I am supporting who is now in Iraq. I am enjoying it immensely. I hope he is too.

As Tom Delay said, you can support the troops -- even if you aren't a Republican, even if you don't agree with the war, even if you are a conscientious objector, or a vegetarian, and even if Ayn Rand isn't your favorite author. You can support the troops if you are a Clinton Democrat.

During the Vietnam War, when I was a teenager and young adult, I supported the troops. I was staunchly anti-war, but I couldn't figure out why people didn't support the troops. They weren't at fault for the war. They deserved a good welcome. I had good feelings for the guys in green. I have deep reverence when I visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., something everyone should do.

Even if you're slightly left of center, like I am, go to Soldiers Angels and get yourself a soldier. It is very rewarding.

Another View of Ace!

This is Ace a few minutes ago, looking up at me endearingly. He just got back from agility class and he's exhausted. Thursday or Friday we are going back to Peabody Manor for pet therapy. I think I get as much out of it as the people he visits.

I have some new border collie cross stitch patterns to share. More later.

Green Tree Frog from Ross Originals

My friend Chrissy, who inspired the frogging post below, has an online shop called CraftBooksGalore. She's got cross stitch patterns and a lot of other stuff. My favorite is a booklet that teaches you how to make some great thongs for bare feet. I'm going to buy that one.

In the meantime (as long as we are talking about frogging) here is Chrissy's favorite FROG pattern. It's from Ross Originals, which is an Australian cross stitch company. Not all of their patterns are available in the US, and some are downright difficult to find. I was hunting for a couple of the Egyptian patterns and they are only available overseas, for example. Luckily, Green Tree Frog is available at 1-2-3 Stitch.

Updating my Blog!

Sorry I've not updated my blog for a few days. I've been really busy with my diabetes blog, getting ready for Blogathon and blogging for 24 hours starting at 8:00 yesterday morning (August 6) to 8:00 this morning (August 7). If you'd like to see what I did for the Blogathon (besides raising $85 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) go to Sweet as Candice: My life with type 1 diabetes. It was a wonderful experience for me and one I am going to repeat next year. I am already thinking of ideas. I would highly recommend getting involved and blogging for the charity of your choice!

What's Wrong with Technorati?

For the past couple of days, the Technorati icon on my blogs has been missing. In addition, I can't get the information about the links to my blogs at their website. I wonder if they are having problems. That would be a drag, because it's really fun going to Technorati to find out who has linked to my blogs. I don't think it's a complete list of links -- I think it's just the links for people who are members of Technorati. But it's a great service and I hope they come back up soon. I'd really like to ping them that I've updated my blogs.

Cross Stitchers and Frogs

It's funny. When you ask a cross stitcher what their favorite animal is, you get almost predictable answers. My friend Val is a squirrel. I am a groundhog. And my friend Chrissy is a frog. Val accumulates stuff (she squirrels it away). I pile stuff up on the floor (ground-hog). And Chrissy, well she frogs! It's all about stash and stitching.

In honor of my friend Chrissy, I'm doing a post on cross stitch frogs. Chrissy loves frogs. So do Val and Roxi. So these frogs are for all of them.

If you are reading this and you are not a cross stitcher, you may not know the significance of the frog. To us, the term "frog" means not only a tailless amphibian with webbed feet, but also the sound "ribbit ribbit," meaning that your stitching must be ripped out and restitched. To the cross stitcher, the frog can connote hours of painful picking away at floss, trying to get it free from delicate fabric without tearing anything.

We cross stitchers regularly accuse each other of sicking a frog on us, of someone letting their frog out to invade every other cross stitcher's life, or the frog coming for a visit. Nobody wants that kind of frog. The tailless amphibian, however, is beloved.

In Greece, 400 BCE, a chorus of frogs sings loudly in one of Aristophanes' plays. Aristophanes' frogs say "brekekekex, ko-ax, ko-ax" not "ribbit ribbit." Much use they are. (I actually did read The Frogs when I was on my Greek plays kick.)

I have adopted a couple of soldiers in Iraq, and when I send them packages, I send along a Beanie Baby to give to an Iraqi child. I recently acquired some Beanie Baby frogs -- lively pink ones -- and then I got to wondering if there are frogs in Iraq. I suppose there are some by the rivers, but would the children who live in dry, dusty villages know what frogs are? And if so, what if frogs are taboo. I know nothing of Islam. If dogs are despised, could frogs be far behind? I decided I was thinking too deeply about this, and the frogs are going to Iraq.

Okay, reading the web I learned that there are indeed frogs in Iraq. They come out when it rains. But clearly, to call somebody a "Frog" is a negative thing in Iraq.

I once had a cassette tape of frogs. I bought it because I thought it would be relaxing. Then I went to Zimbabwe and took a lot of tapes with me, including the frog tape. When I played it in the car, my Zimbabwean colleagues were incredulous. They couldn't believe somebody would actually have a tape of frogs. I am sure it proved to them just how far away from nature we Americans are. Or how ridiculous.

To the cross stitcher, frog is a noun and a verb. "To frog" is to remove stitches, and when one does that, one is "frogging." We all hate frogging.

La Sylphide Toquee Revisited

On January 17, 2005 I posted a entry in this blog about La Sylphide Toquee, a French cross stitch designer. La Syphide Toquee has an adorable web site, with what looks like cute little winged bugs floating around. It's a little difficult to traverse for me, not speaking French, but I figured it out. There seem to be a free pattern and several new designs added since January. The free pattern is called Ethique Coeur & Ame.

I have picked out two more designs to share here. These designs are special because of their delicacy. The design on the left is Bienvenue Mouton. On the right is The Village.

A couple of weeks ago someone named Agnes posted a comment here. She claimed to be the "Crazy Sylph" herself!