Patt with Two T's

Back when I was young and frilly, I wrote down poems some thought were silly, But persist I did and to some degree, my friends learned more about the real me. Now we're heading to another year, so I've decided to put aside my fears  To write in rhyme when the feeling hits, and find pictures that might even fit. I'm glad to see this year end, with promises of one to commend; 2012 was just all right, though I reached some goals-- looking in hindsight. I did my art almost everyday--knit and weave and with beads did play; Two open studios this year for us, though chairing twice was too much fuss. New CoCA goals this year we'll set, and some new members I know we'll get More shows we'll do to strut our stuff till everyone feels they've sold enough. Some things came to an end this year, like my tenants left and my condo's clear.  That's not good news-- meant much to be done, I worked on it without much fun.  New f...

 I know I'm not the only one who dislikes the holidays, so don't give me any crap about my attitude.     What I hate is trying to get anywhere in December--all the roads are clogged with people who seem to only drive once a year and that's to the mall.  Speaking of the mall--the stores start trying to sell presents as soon as HALLOWEEN is over!  They don't even wait for Thanksgiving any longer.  And how about making their employees work all night so they're ready for the crowds at midnight?!   That's the holiday spirit.  And not everyone wants to hear Christmas carols on every radio station and in every store.  Enough already.  Stop presuming we're all Christians celebrating one holiday.  What I DO like are the decorated houses!  I think it reminds me of my childhood when we'd all climb into the car and travel around looking at them.  I saw a great one on Eaton in San Carlos last week.  I imagine their electric bil...

 After many months of work to get ready--both in creating, which I love, and organizing as coordinator, which I don't love so much--Open Studios as come and gone.  I opted to do OS at home this time and invited Connie Andrews to join me.  Connie does mixed media, which works well with what I do since we don't conflict, plus we like each other's work.   We set up the room downstairs and moved some furniture around to highlight my weaving on the large loom and allow for movement within and around what we make and do.    This is one of the blankets being warped onto the loom.   I don't use this one as often as the upstairs 4-harness loom, but have been making small blankets lately, so it's a better choice for wider weaves.   I used my new earring display Annette's son made--love how the earrings show on here:   The display is now at Savvy Skirts with 90 pairs on it, including the 18 pairs of clip-ons.  I wouldn't be heartbroke...

 The condo is finally finished--the new giant refrigerator arrived last week.  Everything looks pristine, if you like white and beige.  It killed me to paint everything white and buy beige carpets, but tenants (and maybe most people other than my artist friends) like neutral colors.  It reminds me of when I worked in the Women's Tailored department at Nordstrom's in 1990, and a woman came in to buy a gray suit and wanted a white button-down shirt with it.  I kept trying to sell her a colorful scarf to add to the ensemble....I could never understand or relate to being so colorless.   I took new pictures of the condo when I was there and have had a couple of responses from Craigslist, so here's hoping I find a great tenant soon. I'm still looking for someone to buy the microwave that didn't fit here...  I used to love sitting out here reading on sunny days.  The trees have really grown, so it's a beautiful setting and fairly private con...

 I had the most remarkable experience recently and was prompted to write about it.  Once upon a time, we bought items and if they weren't satisfactory, we could return them and get a store credit or even get our money back.  But lately it seems (as in the case of my microwave from Pacific Sales via Best Buy which was too large for the condo even though I'd been told they were a standard size), many companies do not honor or stand behind their merchandise.  They didn't even explain I wasn't buying from Best Buy, so when I tried to return it to another BB, they said I had to go to Pacific Sales.  Then they told me I had to return it to the store where I actually bought it, and they told me they would not accept it because that was their policy.  No, I wasn't told about that either when I bought it. Oh, this is the perfect chance to tell my why-I-no-longer-recommend-or-buy-any-appliances-from-Sears story.  We bought a new refrigerator from them several y...

 My friend who was visiting from out of town and I went to the Strawflower shopping center for yogurt, had not even passed the woman's  place of business when she burst out of her door and said hello then continued past us.  She asked if Ingrid--blondish, blue-eyed Swede--was my daughter.  Oh, she (Ingrid) just turned 64 on Thurs.  I was so stunned by the question, I couldn't even answer.  Anyway, I went into the bathroom at Brazzleberry, and when I came out, the "business woman" was walking in the door saying, "Oh there she is."  Came up to me:   A:  Will you do my a favor?  P(me):  What's that?  A:  Take me off that list.  P. Okay.   A:  I don't know any of those people; I don't know if they come into my shop or not and if they're members of that group.  And YOU JUST WALKED RIGHT BY AND DIDN'T EVEN COME IN!  I don't need this--I'm in this alone here.  P:  Okay, fine. ...

  I am so good about posting when we travel, but as soon as we get home, I find many other things to do instead.  I weave, I knit, I make jewelry, but mostly I am addicted to these damn computer games!  I spend hours playing, and now that I have an iPhone...more games!  I know I'm not alone because I find others just like me and now we can play against each other.  I make no apologies and refuse to feel guilty about my addiction--it's better than many others and sucks time, which is mine to suck.   I took this picture this morning just outside the back stairs from the window:  Yesterday when gardening, I came upon the buzzing garbage can and immediately got Matthew the bee master outside to inspect it.  Apparently our bees swarmed once again, but this time found a home for their queen inside the can, where the lid had a very slight opening.   Matthew got a box and dumped the majority of the bees into it, put several small air holes in it ...

Forgot to mention how the bathroom in Kuching had a window between it and the bedroom...with a see-through shutter that didn't close more than what you can see in this picture.  Talk about togetherness....together for 24 hours a day and no privacy even in the toilet!    We landed in Singapore for our last two nights. I was a bit anxious because some reviews of this hotel that came out after I booked it were less than favorable. We took the MRT—rapid transit from the airport into Chinatown and then walked to our hotel. It actually was a fun adventure to do that, even though the bags loaded one on the other were heavy to pull. We had to change trains twice, but Matthew had it all figured out, so that wasn't difficult. At times it was crowded, but still we made it without incident and only got a little lost finding the hotel by missing the street and walking an extra 2 blocks. In the meantime, we were forced to walk through the shopping stalls that lined the s...