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No Thank You

Ten Things That Turn Me Away from Your Content Anger Issues: I watched one maker on Youtube who had what seemed like interesting pro-craft content, but they presented everything with so much annoyance and even rage over their craft, their supplies, where they sell, the competition, and basically everything involved in their business that after a couple videos the content proved too toxic for me to keep watching. If you're that angry about what you do for a living, you should really try something else. Assumptions: Making statements about something you claim are facts but have no substantiation and are actually your assumptions tell me you're not a research person. Alas, I am. Copyright Dodging: Any content that violates or skirts by the skin of its teeth copyright in any way, shape or form is not my cup of tea, thanks. Come up with something original instead of stealing from other makers, please. Dissing the Disabled: Lots of people have problems with folks w...
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Planning to Keep Quilting

My gears are definitely whirling this week. If I don't make an effort to quilt something (other than my calendar project) I'll probably stop altogether and get completely caught up in crochet, so it's time to plan some quilting projects. At the quilt show last year I bought some fabrics that I haven't yet used, like this bundle of dragon/castle/treasure themed novelty prints that I'd like to turn into a tote (maybe for the calendar project.) I planned to start quilting by machine this year, but I haven't yet worked up the nerve to try a fully machine-quilted project. Same with this arty motivational novelty print bundle. Actually this one I might save for the calendar project, too. Then there is this panel yardage scrap with flamingos. I have to do something fun with this. I'm still struggling with the necessary step of giving up hand-quilting. My arthritis is flaring up so constantly it's always uncomfortable for me to hand stitch, an...
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Basket Bottom

After rehabbing basket #2 from the pair I thrifted, I really didn't have a lot to do to it. The sides are nice and I like the airiness of the woven material, as I plan to use it as another project basket. The bottom was the problem, as it was not entirely solid but woven loosely with big gaps. I took a ball of sage green yarn from my scrap bin and crocheted a flat circle in single stitches to serve as a bottom liner. I didn't use a pattern, but just increased in the round for fifteen rows until it was the right size. As with the first basket I then sewed the bottom liner to the basket with big stitches so I can remove and launder it in the future if it gets soiled. Now I can put small items like stitch markers in the basket and not worry about them slipping through the gaps in the slats.
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Writing for Pleasure

I don't know if it's the general happiness of 2026 (compared to last year, anyway), spring about to arrive or just pure intellectual restlessness, but lately I've been missing writing for pleasure. Everything I do in that department is for income, and there's nothing wrong with that, either. One must pay the bills. It's just that I've always enjoyed writing stories for the sake of just writing stories. I have an archive of close to a thousand of them that I've never published. When I get like this I think about Frank, a guy I knew back in the day when I was writing for NY. We met online and I enjoyed talking shop with him so much we were becoming friends. He had a novel planned and it sounded really good, and I intended to help him on his way to publication once he did write it because he was very talented. Then suddenly, just after Hurricane Katrina, he drowned in a boating accident. I have not written anything outside what I do for the day j...
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Day Off

Last week my guy and I spent my Friday off going out and about; our first stop was to walk one of our favorite parks. Squirrels were everwyhere, and it was wonderfully cool. It also gave me time to think about some things. I'm so busy at home I hardly ever have the chance to do that anymore. We then walked across the street to check out this thrift store, also one of our favorites. I did not buy anything! Ha. I would like to donate some clothes to a local thift, however, and the church store we usually go to is overflowing with donations at the moment. These folks have more room, and support a regional hospital, so I'll make the trip. We stopped for some coffee, and sat outside to enjoy the weather. It was very busy in the Villages that day, so we got to people watch. Our last visit was to the Russell Stover outlet store (and yes, I did fall off the wagon and bought a little sugarfree candy. I'm only human!)
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The Patch

Last week I suddenly got very tired and dispirited. The weather turned rainy and cold. I've been working a lot, and my days are much busier now that I have another 200 lbs. man to care for and feed. I've had to overhaul the first part of my first big work project because my first go was tired and dispirited (I wonder why?) My guy wanted to go out on Friday with me, which meant swapping my work days and working on Sunday. Since I've started taking weekends off I really like that two-day break from the day job. I decided to double up on Thursday and do all my work to free me up for Friday. It took most of the day, and all of the last dregs of my creativity, but then suddenly I realized I'd earned myself a three-day weekend. Then my guy called me out to look at the sky. Rainbows have different meanings to different people, whether they're religious or political or what have you. I just like them because they're rare and lovely. This one appearing ove...
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A Soluble Solution

I like exercise and adjusting my diet to control my diabetes. It's brought my A1C down over four points, and it's improved my mood and helped me sleep better. That said, I still have very bad food cravings at night. I don't know why, it's just the worst time of day for me, especially with junk foods. This is the reason why I prefer to stay busy after dinner. I also drink sparkling mineral water with no carbs or calories or stress relief lavender tea with a little stevia to keep me from snacking. I've never found anything that eliminates those cravings, however, until I watched this video. I already eat oatmeal three or four times a week to help with my high cholesterol, and it does fill me up. The high fiber drink Mei recommends with rolled oats and flaxseed (about 5:11 into the video) is one I thought wouldn't work for me at night. I tried it anyway, and to my shock after drinking it my cravings went away entirely, and didn't come back. If...
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