How To Not Sell a Cutting Mat on eBay

Before I bought that big Gingher mat, I looked around ebay.
I found one auction for a "very old" Fiskars mat which interested me enough to write the seller:

Perchance is this SO very old that it was made in Finland instead of Taiwan?

The seller replied... only to confirm whether I had really wanted to ask that question.

Hello and Good Morning,
Well, I just don’t know. It wasn’t a piece of info that I thought was pertinent to it's sale. Do you require this information? If so, I will unpackage the item and find out for you. I purchased this second hand a couple of years ago, so I do not know.

I said:

What, am I supposed to swear to buy it or something? I'm just SHOPPING here. Somebody asking you a question means they are interested. Yes, if it says "made in Finland" on it I will most likely want it.

Doesn't that seem like a big enough hint?  Don't you see money burning a hole in someone's pocket?

The seller replied:

Hello again,
I am sorry, I wasn't trying to be a smart a-- or something. I was just trying to get educated as to the meaning of where it was made. Please don’t take offense. Maybe I didn’t say it right.
I will get the mat down and check out where it was made. Can you inform me as to the differences?
Best Regards,

Um.

Does this lady not want to sell her item?  There were no other bids.
I notice she had to "get it down" in the second email rather than "unwrap" like the first-- the only continuous theme is the massive inconvenience I'm causing her.
Maybe she thinks I'll be so impatient that I'll bid anyway?

I ordered the Gingher.
Sometimes communication is just not happening, and it seems like any further words would be wasted.  Anyway blogging's more fun  :-) 

Bird Baths

Yes, I said they could go out and play in the rain if they wanted to.  Washington children can't be stuck indoors for six months out of the year, after all!

But... in the puddles?  ...with chickens.  Ooooookay.

Sometimes it's GOOD to be old  :-)

The Happy Place Tonight

My old cutting mat was twenty years old and showing it.  It was getting warped in the middle, and using it was like trying to cut on a hill!  On a whim, I asked DH to pick a new one up for me on his way home.  He brought a Fiskars 24×36 mat, and I received it with delight and left it in the sewing room all evening while I was busy making dinner.  By the time I got to really look at it, it had stunk up the whole room!  It smelled soooo bad! 

It went back to the store. 

Then I shopped online, and found a great deal on a Gingher mat that was half off, and thus only $5 more than the Fiskars one.  It's a CADILLAC of mats, made of poly instead of PVC, so there's no bad smell. 
So nice to have!  I'm really happy. 
Now even my cheapo rotary cutter seems slick and efficient!  Being so HUGE, there's less folding and repositioning, and that makes cutting jobs go faster!

Pillowcases

Bought new fabric /$4.50 yard, couldn't resist.  One yard of each, to make three pillowcases for daughters.

Next question, which for which?  I assume the horses for Karen.  Kitties for Victoria– but Andrea's not into birds, and Karen is.  Andrea likes horses.  Hm.  I'll let them decide!  I only get the fun part:  making!

Robin Hood 2010

My two cents.
The first chapter irritated me in so many different ways. I thought I was going to hate the whole thing. I hate it when they mess with classic stories. I've read all the different Robin Hood versions and a couple scholarly works too.
But after the first scene it started to grow on me. What-if alternate scenarios can be fun! Mostly we just like to watch Russell Crowe slashing a sword around enough to make excuses for the rest. Moar battle scenes!!

I enjoyed the whole movie because of the props, scenery, clothing and weapons which were all intensely 13c cool, and kept my eyeballs very much entertained. I wanted everything I saw.  Fur!  Leather!  Draped layers!

THIS is what I liked enough to make a blog post about. This crown just tickled me completely with its snazzy old gold excellence.  This is what a king's crown should look like. 

Not the king! Eww. That's way not what a king should look like. Let's lose the loser and coronate Russell Crowe.  

Flowers With My Phone Cam

I got a couple pics that are actually cool enough to be my wallpaper for a while  🙂

Most favorite fabrics quilt

I need a new quilt for my bed, and I decided I would make it out of only fabrics I LOVE, whether they really went together or not. I have a bunch of scraps of all different sizes, and some larger pieces, of these most-liked fabrics.

I worried for a while because I felt that a bed quilt should be a masterpiece! It should have a fancy pattern. I had to talk to myself for quite a while before I gave myself permission to start cutting another non-masterpiece. Had to use some reasoning: who's this quilt really for? :-)

The scraps won. I have a couple of scraps I totally heart, but not in large enough amounts to make into any sort of logical pattern. The only way to work them all in is randomly.

I've started making string squares. Gonna need quite a few for a queen size quilt.

There you have it, fabrics I ♥love♥

Using the twelve squares I have so far, here's the idea of how it will look!

For the back, I'm gonna alternate big squares of my favorite tones of pink and black floral. Don't know if I'll have enough pink, so that might have to be modified. I have plenty of different kinds of black floral, so I might have to add green or blue squares to the pink in a nice pattern.

Spiral Cups, and You Know I Love Spirals

Went to free swap, and gave away stuff and got cool stuff.  Love it!!!
At the end I volunteered to take some leftovers down to the thrift shop.  There, I made sure to be really, really careful about what I dropped off, so I wouldn't accidentally donate off any of my INCOMING junk!
In fact I parked away from the dropoff door, and set everything outside the van then went over it to double-check, and then carried it over bit by bit  🙂
These came with me and found a home in my cupboard. 
They are the adorablest things!  They are so cute!  I just love them!
Here they are with the spiral plates I already had (which were only 96c each at Walmart!) and don't they look good together?

The Pitfalls of Life

The carpet was supposed to be installed today.  The installer called and said he had a tooth pulled yesterday and wishes he could just go home.  Can they come tomorrow instead?

Oh sure, what am I going to say? 
"NO, you have to come to my house anyway and just suffer while you work." 

These are the samples we had brought home to choose between.  One's called GOOD HOPE and the other is PITFALL.
Um….??
What genius in Marketing came up with that one?  Here's our new product line, what do you think?  Yeah, looks good, what shall we call it?  How about PITFALL! 
We went with Pitfall because it’s thicker and heavier.  The color we're getting is that barfy greenish color right in the middle where GOOD HOPE overlaps.
Definitely had to use brains to pick that color, not heart.
The sample on the floor in front of them is what I would install if I was using emotions to pick carpeting  🙂
The sample is going under my sewing machine to warm my heart and feet! 

Sewing Buddies

THIS is the ultimate sewing room accessory.  Sewing boys!

 Here's Dave's quilt going together:

And done.  Dave said, "It works!!"
It's always a grand moment when a quilt is tested and functions as designed  :-)

A Shiny New WP Install

Have I mentioned I'm taking a break from college classes?  And everything else, until further notice, in order to have more of my thoughts and energy on the kids and house where it belongs, and that's been a great relief so far.

But it doesn't hurt to mess with a brand shiny new WordPress install just a little bit.  I made a WP 3.0.1 website and... wow.  It's pretty.  It's pretty cool, it's pretty useful.  The default theme is SLICK.  The options are vastly better... the media insertion and gallery insertion is a lot easier.

WordPress is a neat deal.  It's the website of the fyoocher!  Anybody can do this, for $4 a month hosting and the cost of a domain, with the appearance all customized to their liking, and able to edit it themselves! 

Forgiveness

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Cinderella's Punkin

We got only ONE pumpkin on ONE vine this year, and no zucchini-- what kind of a garden?? and just a couple acorn squash.  It’s better than no pumpkins like we had last year despite my best efforts  :-)
I remember a few years ago, a pumpkin plant tried to take over the entire back yard, producing vines miles long with dozens of lil' punkins.  I thinned off all but four or five of them and then only ended up making pies out of one.

So just ONE is a perfect harvest for me  🙂

While dealing with this hard-shelled repository of pie filling, I couldn't stop thinking of an illustration I recalled from childhood, from an old fairy-tale book. 

These things generally make better pies than they do modes of transportation. 

Pies are in the oven right now and starting to smell goooood!

Prince of Persia Dolls

I loved that movie!  It's the first DVD I've liked enough to buy this year. 

Look, Tonner's come out with Dastan and Tamina dolls!!  $200 each, hey, what's that old saying about being able to tell the men from the boys by the price of their toys?  That must apply to girls too!

http://www.tonnercollectibles.com/ppersia.htm

No, I'm not buying them  :-)

Roamans Comes Out With a Design I Like

And suddenly I'm (more) inspired to put some gussets into a skirt right now. 

Cinderella With Pictures by Ruth Ives

I remember that name because my sister had the Wonder Book Sleeping Beauty with pictures by the same artist.  I used to LOVE looking at them when I was little!

Imagine how tickled I was to stumble across this! This lady has kindly reproduced the whole story plus the gorgeous illustrations.

http://bjtanke.com/Cinderella%201954/index.htm

Hope the link works… that’s a space between Cinderella and 1954  🙂

Blue Boy

Blue boy in blue togs. 

Blue boy in red togs. 

The Bismarck II

The keel was laid, on my kitchen floor, at 1:30 pm. 

Work proceeded according to historical documentation. 

Ready for launch by 4:55, and battle shortly thereafter. 

But when exactly am I supposed to get in there to make dinner?