It went where???

Ha, must have been referring to my brain!  I very carefully saved this page, with only the heading on it, so I would remember what I wanted to write about.  Oh yes, THAT worked well.  Didn’t even revisit it for two weeks or more and, really, you think I remember why the title?

It may have, in truth, been a commentary on things we forget.  We don’t really forget them, they are just lost in the many files in our brain.  Ever been in an office that had rows of filing cabinets?  Ever worked in one?  You know there is a system but it still pretty much requires a person to be in charge of just where files are, how to quickly access them.  We only have us, and as you know ‘us’ are busy with a multitude of things which probably is not recalling where every single item is filed away.

I have had those missing bits of information float to the surface in the middle of driving, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a dream.  My granddaughter can attest; we were headed to her school and in the middle of a totally unrelated conversation I yelled “Gloria Urias”.  This is not an epithet, but the name of a friend I competed against in the Miss Santa Cruz County contest in 1964.  She sang ‘On Wolverton Mountain’, I gave a speech, neither of us won.

The mind is a marvelous thing, even when it forgets where the data is stashed.  I’ve fretted over a website issue for hours, gone on to other things.  Worked on it in my dreams, continually looping the issue until it was solved, or just woke in the morning with an “Aha! Let’s try this!”.

You are wondering if I remember yet what my original intent for this piece was?  Heck no!  So we will just let it roll ? .

Still searching for a piece of fabric I know I had, cute little bears on it, the blue jeans one I think.  Fake denim look, ‘squares’ about inch or so, random bears.  Seen it?

The other day it was two shipping boxes I had snagged while shopping.  Store clerk was emptying them, they were a perfect one bear size, and I am totally into recycling when it comes to shipping boxes.  Brought them home, and then could not find them.  Well, you know where they went?  Onto the designated ‘shipping box’ shelf in the shed! However, I had forgotten that I had set up an area just for that purpose.  Organization only works when you remember you ‘had a plan’!

Enough of this, I need to work on a piece about snow before the weather changes!

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Happily this nice bovine is wearing a halter, and is interested in the grain she offers.  Unhappily he is NOT impressed with being attached to a tree, and manages to pull the short lead rope off.  Finally she is heading toward the gate with him following and I nip through the back, grabbing my leather gloves and down to unlock the gate.  She can crawl under, no way is THAT old black and white going to manage.  [If you remember Ada, she was much more nimble.]
I get down there, and the steer is already doing it’s own thing again, which means heading for the brush line minus it’s owner.  Well, crud, I’m still packing the warehouse key anyway, not the gate key, so at least she is not waiting on me. Back up the hill, exchange keys, make a brief potty stop as it looks like this could be an extended exercise session and back down the hill.  They are in the burn, just above the garden spot.  You don’t know about the burn? Ah, another day…

By the way, this old steer is growing as we watch him.  He has some serious weight to shove around.  So do I.  But he is beginning to make me feel almost….petite?  Okay that would be stretching it a mite!  The neighbor has him hooked now with two lead ropes, the ends around a tree and looped to on another.  He is NOT liking it one bit.  We try to shorten the lead so he has less room to throw his weight, and down I go on my backside.  Good soil down there, not too hard, but I’m sure glad I missed the fertilizer he’s been spreading AND took that potty break earlier.

He IS temporarily secure, so the neighbor backs her truck in the gate, and over to our ‘pine tree squeeze shoot’. Yeah, you know that is said tongue in cheek and hand rubbing the posterior.  Hurray! In the truck she finds a new tow rope; way longer than we need, bright yellow and looks too darn skinny but this has to work.

I mention that she’ll have a tale to share with the granddaughters and she laughs and says oh yes, they think she does nothing all day.  Plus whenever there is an animal issue, it is always on a day her husband is working. Of course, we know that!

As far as we know, no one was out taking videos, because this last bit getting Ada’s cousin transferred from pine trees to truck bumper was quite the effort.  With the lines strung rather like a block and tackle, it was a case of loosen here, tighten there, now unclip a line while quickly snugging up the main one.  Eventually, there he was, double fastened, looped and knotted and prayed over, with about five feet of lead behind the truck.

Well what do you know? He never even flinched when she started the truck, just placidly followed as she eased down the drive to the gate and through.  UNTIL, the edge of the paved road. He locked his knees, almost sat down.  I had new visions, of the rope breaking and a fridge full of steak and hamburger tumbling backward into the gate posts with more than enough force to flatten them.  Didn’t happen.  A bit of tire burning, low gear grumbling and he gave in….trotted off up the road behind the old truck and, so far, that is the last I saw of them.

This morning it was colder than a _______ (you fill in the blank, there will be a test later).  Subsequently of course the sun shone, right in the front window making any viewing that direction almost impossible.  I’m not talking about JUST the TV, either!  However, those new drapes work great and are easy to draw, so we did.

When I use my serger, it has to sit on the end of the dining room table because the sewing machines [two of them] occupy the only other logical options.  They are full time employees, unlike the serger who has totally random part time work.  I’ve closed the curtains so I can watch TV while using the serger.  After a bit of head scratching and too familiar pondering, I’ve remembered how to change the thread, all four spools.  Minor interruption when the youngest granddaughter requests my presence on Skype.  Back to the serger and two garments later, wow, I really got them done!  Clean up my mess, do a bit of hand embellishment on one of the two drapey shruggy cardigan deals [for our teenage granddaughter], and it is lunch time.

Next, cut out a cloth book project, which included a trip to the warehouse for the lightweight batting to put in it.  Not going to draw a map, but make a note that one goes out the back door, and behind most sheds etc. to access the warehouse.  Nice spot of warm sunshine, smell of coffee from the coffee roaster down the road, birds singing… .  batting is not there, of course, because…it is already inside!  Well, heck.  Just found it and resume measuring and cutting when there is knocking at the door.  Our gate is locked and we heard no vehicles.

Sure enough, a lady from a few corners up the road is there, apologizing for her cow being in our yard.  “There’s a cow in the yard?” I dumbly ask.  “Yes, I was driving by and well there he was.”

Well, my gosh, who knew?  The cow is a well-grown steer, and isn’t in the yard but out grazing on our drain field.  With the curtain closed in front we never saw movement, and [remember] had only been out behind the buildings.  She had to duck under our driveway gate to get up to the house and alert us she would be traipsing back and forth trying to corral her vagrant bovine.

Nice gal, know her through her grandkids, so of course I offer to help. If nothing else make sure the steer stays out front and does not come up between the sheds where it can run amuck in board piles, through the carport etc. Visions of “Ada the Ayrshire” on a bad day flicker through my mind.  But, the sun is shining, and I need the exercise.  Right……

Now, fast forward until December because it was that long before I got back to this project.  Bear orders and family time took precedence.  With the last order shipped and a great book on tape started, what else can I sew?  I listen to a lot of books on tape or CD but ONLY when I am using the sewing machine.  Ah, yes, dig out that armful of fabric and measure it again.  Measure the window opening and framing, maybe twice to make sure.  Figure out how much I will need for the hems and how long the loops will need to be. One more time before cutting the fabric, although I seem to have it in excess.

I used the rotary cutter to cut the strips for the loops, which reminded me I need to get a new blade for it soon.  Used some Heat ‘n’ Bond to help stiffen them just a bit in addition to the tri-fold and stitch.  Got to the end of my book and to Christmas.  Many hours were spent enjoying family, not worrying about the curtains!

Finished the fabric construction between Christmas and New Years, and scheduled with myself to attack the rod replacement Monday of the New Year. Sunday was removal of the Christmas tree, and random decorations. Yes you are now up to the present, seeing it all in color again!  Monday; move a trunk, move the TV, remove the old curtains.  Not so bad but how is that rod held up there?  Did I nail it when I installed it decades ago?  Oh thank heavens, no, there are screws.  By the way, BOTH of my cordless drills have dead batteries, grumble.  Plug the Craftsman in, it should charge up while I am still removing things, fighting with cobwebs etc.  A medium flat bladed screwdriver with a good grip, a step stool and a solid chair bring me luck with the brackets and soon the old is out the door.  Windows and TV have not been hit in the process.  Dust again, with rag and shop vac.

Definitely time to ponder again, because this new rod is solid.  It slides through the brackets, and I do not have ten feet of open space past either end.  End brackets first, then slide the middle bracket on the rod and position/fasten it once the ends are both back in their brackets.  There is enough movement available to put the curtain on afterward, and place the finial caps firmly in place.

Had company today.  All because of a post on Facebook.  Uhuh, who knew?  This is the way it played out, began, or like they say on TV shows “X number of hours earlier”.

I posted yesterday that I had completed a project, to replace our living room drapes including the curtain rod.  Multiply 6 months times 4 weeks times 7 days times 24 hours to get the approximate starting point.   Fade out to black and white [only it was full summer then, with sunshine & colors, not foggy grey].

I gazed at our living room drapes, and the 12″ curtain rod with the broken cord that no longer worked.  Wandered out back, got my measuring tape, came back in and pondered. Measured, went out back, looked at boards, poles, pipe.  Pondered.  Looked in my fabric warehouse, poked a roll of brown ‘home decorating’ fabric, shook it out to get an idea of the yardage. Hmph.

Thought about it for a couple days.  Mind, I wasn’t just sitting while I thought about it.  I was in the middle of a huge bear order, and enjoying both the presence of our teenage granddaughter and the arrival of our newest grandchild.

Thinking drew me back to a 10′ length of galvanized pipe [aka conduit] over an inch in diameter.  I cleaned it up and spray painted it flat black, several coats actually.  Measured it again.  Dug through my boxes of inherited and collected hardware.  Decided I needed at least three shelf brackets with the curlicues on the bottom to run the pipe through and allow for a shelf on top. Considered items I might re-purpose.  Nothing ‘jumped out’ so I stopped by the hardware store in town. Three black wrought iron look brackets that only needed an 1/8th inch removed from the tip of the bottom curlicue.  Little hacksaw work, spot of touch up and they are good.  Hm, that pipe is open of course and I have no finials for it.  Adding something to the ends would serve two-fold with less chance of fabric loops sliding off the end, or the end coming out of the bracket, or insects taking up residence.  The bright blue cap off the bleach jug fit perfectly, so two of them surrendered to the flat black paint.

Here’s hoping that 2012 will be a wonderful year for everyone with good health, good fortune, and good friends (and family).

This will be a work in progress, ALWAYS!  First as we learn a new program and secondly as we change our minds.  With four of us, who knows what may appear.