Seige perilous

I have never been a big fan of Galahads, I always thought he was a bit of a goody goody. Lancelot was such a muffin, Arthur way to cerebral and not with it enough on true human nature. I was kinda fond of Gawain and Trystan , Gawain because he was so damn loyal and a consummate ladies man. Trystan because growing up that was my Grandfathers favorite story to tell me. All his adventures and romantic foibles.
But I digress,
I am no Galahad, there is very little pure and virtuous about me, but I have sat with the noblest of intentions , working most diligently on my said “quest”.
The empty seat is my sewing chair. It was picked out of someone’s trash many many years ago, and has served me well, it has been my seat of peril.
41.5 yards of 3 inch lace
11 yards of rose brocade
7 yards of taffeta
9.75 yards of small trim
6 yards of large trim
13 yards of black satin
9.5 yards of boning
6 spools of thread
5 packages of #9 needles
3 bottles of fray check
36 hook and eye
12 eyelets
1 package of ribbon
…
…
…
It left my house today.
Can I get a YIPPPEEE!?

And on a quick note, I would like to give a HUGE HUG of thanks to Missharley for her technical support and unswerving moral support through my perilous nights. Thank you Radiant one…I mean that from the very depths of my heart, you rock and sew!

Playing Hooky

I have snuck off for a few minutes while company makes a fire, and my tea brews.
I played hooky from sewing today. Didn’t look at it, didn’t think about it, nothing.
We had a ball here at Camp Huwannahockaluggee, it has been company central. (yeah I know, who invited all these people??? don’t they know I have only 5 days left???!!) The nephews showed up on thursday and have set up tents in the woods. The 15 year old is in HEAVEN! the Grandparents showed up on Friday.
I want you to imagine this, 70+ year old Grandma tried on the corset for me so I could do some alterations, Pop walked in and goggled, his lecherous comment is rather scaring so I shant put it here, but lets just say it was “priceless”, and leave it at that shall we?
Thanks for sharing in the laughter and frustration of the wedding bliss, I will be back again after the wedding with some photo’s.
Until then
I leave you with some snaps from my day out of the sewing gulag…

How’s the wedding coming?

In case you were wondering….
The bride came for a fitting again today, I met her at the door with a shovel and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk in the back yard…
She said “No.”
..
….
RATS!

Small things with great Love

I have been so blessed in recent years, and so grateful for the place and the peace that I have found.
It is no small thing to recognize where you are at in the great scheme of things. To learn life’s lessons are not always about win or lose, due or die. To learn that you do what you can from where you are, right now.
It has been a miracle to me, to see what the difference is and what the difference makes. To use my perceptions to focus on manifesting the good and the changes I want to see in this world. To learn to love with out attachments, to except that I am living my life for me, and if I give it my best, then it is THE BEST!
The Labyrinth of life shop has brought me such a sense of connectedness. I have even taken to trying to sell other pieces of my art locally to raise money for charities, if my bills are met, and food is on the table, I am profoundly better off than others! Even on days when this is no small feat, I still have the love of friends and family which sustains me.
I received an email from a good friend I have known for over 20 years asking for a donation to a dear and meaningful charity in her life. Her mother has been an active participant since it’s inception, and recently they have had a run of needs.
COAR ( which you can visit their site by clicking on the name) has been helping kids since the 1980’s, and recent bad weather has destroyed some roofs and buildings.
So I have added more items to my shop and at the end of June I will be sending a check to them to help with the restoration. If you have the funds please consider helping, if you don’t, please consider emailing information to folks who might be able to help. We have the tool of communication at our finger tips, if we can use it to make a difference in one child’s life, shouldn’t we at least try?
Thank you so much..
We can do no GREAT things only small things with Great LOVE.
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The Butterfly Effect:
The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the ocurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different. Of course the butterfly cannot literally cause a tornado (this however seems to be a common misinterpretation of the butterfly effect by laypersons). The kinetic energy in a tornado is enormously larger than the energy in the turbulence of a butterfly. The kinetic energy of a tornado is ultimately provided by the sun and the butterfly can only influence certain details of weather events in an uncontrollable, chaotic manner, but e.g. not the general ability of the atmosphere to form tornadoes.

Worth a laugh

My son is 15, he is 170 lbs and 6′3″. He is a well mannered , mostly well behaved kid. He follows the house rules, and has had no disciplinary actions at school all year. Don’t get me wrong, he has moments, when he is a moody hormone ridden adolescent that make me want to pull my hair out, however for 90% of the time he is a great kid.
Today was teachers conferences, so he and I went to meet with his teachers as he has been failing Spanish all year.
Mr. Spanish teacher was a middle aged man on the portly side who was pleasant and helpful. Seems my bright baby boy does NONE of his home work. Homework is a third of his grade, and quizzes,are another third and are taken straight from the homework notebook …( can you see where this is going? ) and test make up the last 3rd. So junior gets A’s on the tests and F’s on everything else.
~groan~
So guess who gets to be the homework police? Joy ~ Rapture
Then we go meet ALL the other teachers…
History is a adorable 20 something brunette who looks eerily like his last girlfriend, he’s getting A’s in History.
Math is a Drop dead gorgeous 20-something brunette, he is getting B’s in Algebra.
English is a Barbie doll blonde , who might be 5 foot tall. She is really pretty and perky in that cheerleader kind of way. He’s getting an A in English.
SO…
Some one needs to explain to me HOW he is only screwing up with the portly spanish teacher? I mean really, Hormones should be frying his brain with the other three!? right? or am I missing something completely here?
I didn’t get to meet the science teacher as she has just left for Maternity leave, but with out a doubt she probably as beautiful as the other 3 I met.
We didn’t have gorgeous teachers when I was growing up, they were all matrons or really obese spinsters.
Color me confused…

Confessions of a friend

I have this deep dark confession to make.
Okay maybe it’s not that dark or deep, but it’s one of those things that when I tell people, they look at me like I have lost a nut~or a brain cell .
I hate weddings.
Yep.
Loathe and despise them. Now I know that it’s odd for a woman who made her living for years taking wedding pictures to confess to this, but in actuality it was taking photo’s that brought me to this place.
Marriage to me, is an important Life altering process. Like choosing to have children, it’s not something to be entered into lightly. It is a HUGE step, even if you have lived with someone for years, there is something on a deeper level about the commitment and the ties that become more visible with your signature on this contract.
Wether you make this union binding through a civil ceremony or a religious one, it is something profound and has meaning and value. You can ascribe your own definitions to this, but it is there.
So why do I hate weddings?
Marriage is a between two people. It is about them, their lives, their future , their choices, but weddings seldom are.
Weddings are family dynamics, other peoples influences, wants needs and desires which get cast onto the couple.
Does this make sense?
My good friend whose wedding I am struggling with has been married once before, she has 3 kids from a previous marriage and has 1 child with the man she has lived with for 5 years.
This should be a piece of cake…right?
Nope.
MIL wants this..FIL wants That, Mama wants this, grandma won’t come unless this, One child feels left out, one child wants to be left out…
I am sitting watching in horror as the events begin to stack up and stress out two people who started off with something simple and sweet, and now have a monkey on their back that has appeared because they want everyone to be happy. This is their day, and everyone else is pissing in it, so that it will conform to there well meaning intentions.
I have a crying bride to be, who keeps changing her wedding dress as her stress levels go off the Richter scale.
Do you know what I say?
Nothing
nada
zip.
I put on tunes and cut my hands with scissors trying to cut out patterns, I hug her profusely, and I listen.
Because I hate weddings, and what they do to couples.
So this is what’s playing in the background tonight as I finish up the first dress..