Chiming in About the Economy

I've been trying to educate myself over the past week about the economic chaos that we're all experiencing. I don't understand the ins and outs of investments and banking and short selling and high finance. I know I'm not alone in my ignorance, and what's scary is that those who should be in the know apparently aren't either. I do know that for a long time I've been feeling badly for the ordinary people who are having their homes foreclosed, and those whose retirement investments are dripping away like the melting ice caps. The ordinary people like me who see the prices at the gas pumps and the grocery stores rising alarmingly, and the price of prescription drugs skyrocketing - even with health insurance coverage. It's been like watching a train wreck - seeing it coming and not being able to look away.

Like everyone else, I'll be watching to see what happens tomorrow and the days following, as far as what the government, i.e. Congress and the current administration, will do to pull a rabbit out of a hat and save the economy. There is a lot of criticism going on now from all quarters as to how we got into this mess and who is to blame. Greed, of course, and lack of oversight. Deregulation. I think it's just gotten too complicated and convoluted. Just like our Federal Tax System.

I shouldn't dwell on these issues, it just depresses me.

I've been working on some beading this week, yet another bracelet, and I like the way it's turning out, but I'm having a heck of a time getting the beading needle through the beads. I'm using a monofilament nylon thread, like a fishing line, specifically made for beading. The seed beads I'm using have small holes in them, and between constant tangling, the beads breaking, and the needle getting stuck, I can't wait to finish what I'm working on. Next time I plan to use another thread, which should help a lot. I hope so, because it hasn't been much fun, and it sure isn't relaxing.

PHOTOs: Top photo: First bracelet I made, posted earlier, now finished after attaching clasp. Bottom photo: The second bracelet I made, more beads than first. I named it Mardi Gras Hangover because of the mix of colors and beads. Reminiscent of the day after Mardi Gras in the streets of New Orleans. Click on photos to view in larger size.

Freedom Log House Tea

Yesterday my Red Hat group met at a tea room and gift shop called the Freedom Log House in Spring Grove, PA. It was quite a drive from Maryland, but worth it once we arrived. The food was delicious - all home made by the owner, Victoria, and served by her daughter, Amanda. The place itself was historic and charming, with many rooms filled with primitive arts for sale - many of them made by Victoria and Amanda. After our tea, Victoria came out and gave us a the history of the tea room, a large log house with 6 bedrooms, located right on the railroad line coming up from the south. It was amazing - during the civil war era, the building was used as a safe house for escaping slaves. One of the upstairs bedrooms has a place under the floorboards where the slaves would hide. In addition, there are 2 other secret rooms that were discovered by a previous owner, who told Victoria about living there as a child, and hiding from his Dad with his brother when they got themselves into trouble. Victoria talked for perhaps 30 minutes, giving her family history and the colorful history of the house itself. It was amazing and very interesting. This is the website: http://www.freedomloghouse.com/

I'm working on a third freeform peyote bracelet, and rethinking whether I want to continue with it using the stringing material I've started with. It's a nylon monofilament, and it's causing the beaded lengths to curl. I've received some good advice from a beading group on the web, and I'll make a decision today.

My art class ended last Friday, and there is a one week break before the next class starts for the fall quarter. I'm going to continue, using it as an ongoing lesson, as do several in the class. They have been taking the same class from this instructor for a few years. Everyone gets individual instruction on whatever they are working on - watercolor, oil, acrylic, pen and ink, pastel. Every class ends with a critique of all the work, and that is a very valuable aspect of the class. Last time I started a watercolor still life of a beautiful conch shell, and I'll continue with that in the next class. I was pleased with the start I got on it, and received some very positive comments from our instructor and the other students.

PHOTO: A pony dressed as The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz for the costume event at the 4-H Horse Show in Massachusetts. All the kids in their group dressed as characters from the show. It was very clever and cute. They won! The pony was adorable.

Carole's Turn

Howdy! I'm back, watching the news of impending Hurricane Ike and finishing off a nice glass of Chardonney. I spent the afternoon crafting with my friends at Carolyn's studio. While I finished beading a bracelet, Carolyn and Cathy worked on Photoshop, creating some great photos of Carolyn's new babies - her two Siamese kittens. Cathy is a master Photoshop artisan, and was teaching Carolyn how to use Photoshop. They came up with some gorgeous photos that Carolyn would like to use as note cards. Kittens are always cute, and the photos ended up looking like watercolored posters. Very creative. The kittens- Oliver and Roxanne, aka Ollie and Roxie - are adorable. They're about 3-4 months old and as cute as buttons. Sharon had to join us late, but wouldn't miss out on a chance for a 'Girlie-Girl Get-Together'. She has lots of irons in the fire right now, and we were just glad she was able to come at all!

I finished a Freeform Peyote Bracelet this afternoon. I took liberties with it to put right some errors I had made, but the final bracelet is very colorful and pretty. I have named it 'Mardi Gras Hangover,' inspired by the wild mix of colors and various beads. I thought of what I imagine as the day after Mardi Gras, when the streets are awash in strands of multi-colored beads. You need to keep a sense of humor, you know.

On a more serious note, I have apparently eradicated my own bout with breast cancer, at least for now, but my older sister Carole is now battling an agressive kidney/urethral cancer, and will be starting chemotherapy on Tuesday of next week. She's had surgery to remove a kidney and the urether, as well as some scrapings on her bladder. This is the third cancer she has experienced. She's had lung cancer, then a year later breast cancer - both about 20 years ago - and now this. She has learned that with her chemo treatments, she will lose her hair, so I am sending her my wigs and more than 15 scarves that I used throughout my own bald experience.

Sigh ...

I'm very glad that I can help, but it's sad that our family is once again facing cancer. Our mother had breast cancer about 15+ years ago and only needed lumpectomy surgery to end her ordeal. Our younger sister Debbie lost her battle with breast cancer 5 years ago at age 50, only 20 months after her initial diagnosis. Carole had chemo for breast cancer, but that was many years ago, and things have changed a lot since then. She has confidence in her oncologist, which is key, and her daughter-in-law is going with her to her appointments to give her support and to translate medical jargon for her. Her husband and son are also being very supportive, along with her many friends and neighbors. Since she lives in Ohio and I'm here in Maryland, I'm glad her support system is close by and taking care of her.

PHOTO: Jim's fruit bowl, turned on his wood lathe. It's Box Elder wood and has gorgeous red markings throughout. It's 12 inches in diameter. What a gorgeous addition to our kitchen. Lucky me!

Back from Massachusetts

Jim and I arrived home to Finksburg tonight at 6:30, after spending the weekend at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, MA for the 4-H Horse Show. We drove up on Friday morning and arrived that evening. Saturday morning we surprised our granddaughter Madeleine as she was in line with her horse for the Fitting and Showmanship class. We had said we might be coming up, but with the hurricane Gustav weather forecast and the long trip, Maddy really didn't think we'd be there. She's 16 years old, and she's been riding and since she was about 6. In all that time, Jim and I have never seen her compete. Well, we finally did it - made the trip and spent the whole weekend watching the competitions - showing of the horses, games, and equitation judging- and loved it all. Maddy is amazing. She took ribbon after ribbon (7 in all) in various competitive events, and finally - for the second year in a row - she earned the title of Champion of the show! Out of all those wonderfully talented kids, she was on top. Hooray!!!

Maddy has her own horse, Cassie, and they have been together for about 5 years. Maddy is the only person who has trained her, and they are a great team. Maddy works at the barn with her many hours a week, in addition to school sports - soccer and track - and other activities, and maintains straight A's. I have no idea how she does it.

We experienced the wrath of Gustav starting Saturday afternoon and lasting all night. Thank goodness the competition was held inside. I have no idea how many inches of rain fell, but it was a deluge. Everyone looked like drowned rats, including us when we finally left to go back to our hotel. I felt badly for the kids, because they had to remain on the grounds to take care of their horses for the entire weekend. They weren't allowed to leave the grounds. Some slept in the barn stalls, some in horse trailers, some in cars. This is the first year that Bob, Maddy's Dad, didn't stay at the Fairgrounds. He went home and caught a few hours sleep in his own bed this year. Sunday the rain was gone and the day was perfect, even if full of mud and puddles.

Being in MA also gave us a great chance to spend time with the other family members and catch up on what's happening in their lives. Our granddaughter Hannah is now a sophomore at U Mass, having just started classes again this past week. This July she spent 3 weeks in Thailand with a group of students, learning about the culture and helping to plant a rice field. She became ill the day after returning to the U.S., and required hospitalization and surgery for an abdominal obstruction. Her case was so unusual that she needed to be ambulanced to a different hospital in Springfield, MA for surgery. It was an extremely harrowing experience resulting in a week's stay in hospital and a 9-inch incision from stem to stern, but she is healing well and looks as beautiful as ever. Thank God she didn't get sick when she was in Thailand, since it could have been far, far worse.

The cats were all glad to see us return, and have been voicing their complaints since we arrived. They have a cat sitter, but aren't allowed outside while we're away, and they hate it.

PHOTOS: I had an awful time trying to get pictures. Most all were blurry. 1) Maddy performing one of the commands during an Equitation Class. Can you believe her posture? She's wearing her brand new pink chaps, her first pair ever. 2) A closeup of Cassie. What a beautiful horse. 3) Proud Mom Cindy/Lee and Maddy, wearing her jean jacket prize with embroidered emblem for the 4-H Champion and holding the Champion ribbon.

Convention Over

It's the last night of the Republican convention. If only politicians would actually do what they claim they will in their speeches ...

We're leaving tomorrow for a trip to Massachusetts for the weekend. I'm not sure what we will run into as far as rain is concerned. Our granddaughter Maddy is going to perform in a horse show, I believe in barrel racing. I haven't seen that done before, so it should be interesting. She suggested we sleep in the barn with her, but I think we'll pass on that.

PHOTO: A poor photo of my first freeform peyote bracelet. Still without a clasp.

September Already

Hello! After more than a month, here I am again. Did you miss me? I'm sitting here listening to the Republican convention, trying not to wretch, and thought I'd use the time productively by posting a blog for the first time in more than a month. Well, let's see ... what have I been up to? As far as my cancer treatments are concerned, I've been on hold for a month while my Oncology office has been calling the insurance company daily, trying to get in touch with the doctor in charge of approving treatment at my insurance company's office. To bring you up to speed, I was supposed to receive a year of treatment of Herceptin. That treatment was supposed to consist of 12-months' worth of treatment, the first 3 months' worth were weekly, and the next 9 months' worth were to take place at 3-week intervals. The weekly treatments were of a lower dosage and the every-3-week treatments were stronger. With the stronger treatments, my heart valve function efficiency was affected. As a result, several times during the treatment I was put on a temporary hiatus until my heart function recovered. This in turn strung out my treatment longer than the 9-month time period, and my doctor's office was left trying to convince the insurance company that a calendar year and a year's worth of treatment are not the same thing.

I learned today that my insurance company's doctor has finally (!) approved 5 more treatments. Hooray!

We had a very dry August, with some surprisingly cool days and nights. I expect we'll be getting some rain by the weekend from hurricane Hanna coming up the coast. Jim and I may be going on a trip to Massachusetts this weekend, as if so, it will probably be pretty soggy. We're not sure about if we will make the trip or not.

So what else is new? Let's see - today 3 friends and I went to tea at Sweet Simplici-Tea Tea Room in Sykesville. It was wonderful. The tea, the baked goods, the presentation, the ambiance, the friendship, the Tea Room owners - everything was perfect. We all had a great time. It's such a nice place. We all love it.

I've been going to my watercolor classes every Friday and learning a lot. My assignments have been (1) paint a white painting, (powdered sugar doughnut on a white plate, next to a white coffee mug on a white doily, etc.) (2) paint the look of "old leather" in a still life of an old pair of shoes, (3) paint a still life of glass bottles. This week I'm supposed to paint a conch shell to learn blending of color. I've been improving and gaining confidence as I go along, but I'm still in awe of my fellow classmates who have been creating art much longer than I have.

I've also been getting together regularly with friends to craft. So far we've been decorating/embellishing birdhouses, making tile pendant jewelry out of bamboo tiles, and now I'm making freeform peyote beaded bracelets. I've completed one and almost completed the second one. Freeform peyote is very creative and unstructured. The beads are randomly woven and strung together with intertwining "bridges" of strands that either complement or accent the other colors. In addition to seed beads, there are larger beads and crystals added for additional visual emphasis. It's very interesting and fun to see where the beading will go. For myself, I have no preconceived idea as to what the final piece will look like, just a vague idea of the color palette I'll start with. My first one has a loose weave and a variety of colors. The second one I named Mardi Gras for its vibrancy and festive look. There are more beads on this one. I still need a clasp on the first bracelet and have about an inch more to bead on the second one.

Oh, I'm back in a routine volunteering every week at the library. Things are in a state of semi-organized chaos there because the whole department is being moved around. All the books are being moved to different shelves in all the rooms on our floor, so it's quite busy. I'm enjoying being there, and of course there is plenty to do.

Jim has been working every day on his wood turning lathe. He's turned out some beautiful bowls. The largest so far is a fruit bowl made of box elder. It has some beautiful red streaking throughout the grain that contrasts to the pale color of the natural wood. He's also turned some spalted birch, maple, and two from cherry. He's working on some poplar now. One of the bowls has a "natural edge," meaning the bark edge is visible. He's been doing quite a bit of reading and looking at videos to learn as much as he can about the process.

The tomatoes are ripening and delicious. Some of them are nearly as large as a plate. Delicious on Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches as well as just sliced as a side with dinner.

The kitties are doing fine. Paddle recovered well from having her tooth pulled, and has been more frisky of late. She's enjoyed going outside now more than she used to. Normally she's a little house plant, but now she wants to go outside with the boys and lounge around on the patio. Pong especially loves being outside. He pushes his curfew limit daily, but since he won't eat if he doesn't come in, it's a good "leash" on him.

I'd enjoy hearing from you if you're reading this blog. I think some have missed my daily posts, and I plan to continue with the blog when I have something of note to say. Comment below if you do as well.

PHOTO: A tangle of kitties. Ming Poo and Paddle enjoying a nap, legs and tails mixed together.