Write your post here.Painted Silk Scarves

 

 

    For the last month or so I have been working hard (okay, having great fun) learning to paint with dyes on scarves.  I saw beautiful painted silk scarves while I was in Alexandria, VA.  I love silk and thought they would be great for bandanna scarf stoma covers.  So I set out to learn how to make them, practicing on thin, soft cotton.  Well, I really think that when God gives us desire and ambition he really should give us a speck of talent….which he definitely forgot to do for me!  But the fabric store is doing well with all the practice fabric I am wasting. :-)

    I have gotten a lot of books, dyes, paints, stretchers and other supplies and have been experimenting.  You can not use dye to paint like with regular fabric paints because it “bleeds” and runs all over the fabric which is part of the beauty of it.  That is great when you want a tie-dyed effect but not if you want a flower or other designs.

   I have tried all sorts of things including embroidery with and without the painting; so I am not limiting it to just dyeing.  And not just silk.  I have found that a polyester works even better and  my favorite is the soft cotton I was able to get.  It washes nicely, is very soft and does not have static like silk sometimes does.  I am also trying to come up with a design that does not tie in the back.

   I am hoping that some of you will give me ideas for the scarves and ways to close them other than the Velcro that I use when requested.  Also I could make them like the “ascot” stoma covers which are gathered on a band at the top.  That is folded over so it doesn’t show which makes it look like an ascot scarf.  It closes with Velcro in the back.

    Okay, everyone;  I will be waiting to hear from you…..even if you don’t have any ideas and just want to comment. And even if your comment is for me to give the whole thing up!! :-(

 

 

   While we, along with several other family members, were in Virginia visiting our son for Thanksgiving week end our grandson decided to take us all out to have a huge hamburger.  How huge?  15 lbs!!!  9 lbs. was actual hamburger and then there was 2 heads of lettuce, 8 tomatoes and I don’t remember how much cheese.  The bun had to be made special, of course, and it took 2 hours to make the hamburger.  

    In the first picture you can see my little granddaughter in the background probably thinking “Is that really a sandwich??”  The second picture is one of my husband getting ready to take a bite after our group had eaten their fill.          I can’t remember the name of the hamburger place but they advertise that if you can eat the whole thing they will give it to you free.  The waiter was talking to us and said that there was one person that did eat all the meat, but other than that, most groups can’t even finish it.

     I liked it when I first saw it because it looks like a wonderful veggie sandwich but once it was cut it does not appeal to me at all…….maybe because I don’t like meat.  

    This big hamburger made me think of all the eating contests you hear about.  Now just what is the point of stuffing yourself with 9 lbs. of hamburger or how ever many hot dogs one guy can eat, or whatever else the “contest” requires???  I can’t figure it out.  There are starving people all over the world; and we have a contest to see how much the human stomach can hold at one time!!!  I can’t understand why you would be proud of how much you can eat.

       I have always had a problem with eating too much so I am proud when I DON’T eat….which, of course, is not very often!  So I would never, never  ever even consider entering an ice cream eating contest.  Chances are too good that I would win (I have had so much practice at eating ice-cream!) and then I would be soooo embarrassed!!....no matter what the prize was.  Lol  

   You really can’t hide ice-cream you know…. The only place you can put it is in the freezer or eat it. And when I eat it I carry it around for all to see….around my hips, tummy and any other place it can find!    Oh well, in this instance the kids had fun and I enjoyed my wonderful veggie burger!!     

   Yesterday we came down to Virginia to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with our son and his family.  On the way, my husband was listening to one of his favorite radio talk shows.  The host asked people to call in and give a list of four people they would like to invite to Thanksgiving dinner…..people living or dead.  He gave everyone plenty of time to think about it before he started taking calls.    

  I have been trying to download a little cartoon picture that a friend of mine posted on Facebook.  Since I can't seem to make it work, I will just post the words.

So true!  Please remember to say a prayer for all of them.

Nancy

  

 

 

        

It has been so hot here look what happened.  The ice cream truck melted!!

    I am on vacation this week with 11 members of my family.  My husband and I are the oldest, of course, and the most reserved, but the others sure get noisy at times!!  Not to worry though because I was sure to pack my ear plugs and they put us in the upstairs bedroom the furthest away from the recreation room.  Smart grandchildren I have!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!!

  This week we went to a "Lavender Farm."  I was thinking maybe it would be a farm of little lavender houses like you see in fairy tales but it was an actual lavender flower farm.  Rows and rows of beautiful flowers, a nice gift shop where everything was lavender or smelled of lavender and a distillery where oil was extracted from the plants. When I first saw the distillery I thought it was going to be something we could sample.....I have been to a lot of wineries!!  But no, it was just oil.

   To see the place, learn a little about the flowers, how they use them and how they get the oils would have been nice, but....holy cow!! I thought that woman would never shut up.  I stood out in the field (thank goodness for a nearby tree) until my knee started hurting, then I moved to a stone bench (thank goodness for the tent over it) until I thought my back had turned to stone........and still she talked on and on and on.  How much can there be to tell about lavender, you say?? From what I could tell it you could probably get a college degree in it.  Well, when she finally stopped she said she could tell us a lot more but would leave it for another day. (thank goodness)  I had heard way more then I will ever need, or care to know, about lavender!  

   Then we went to see a nearby lake and on to lunch at an out-of-the-way (deserted place) with no indoor seats (no indoor potties, either) so we had to eat outside.  (thank goodness for a nice breeze and large umbrellas) 

  From all my "thank goodness for"  references, I guess you can tell I am not an outside person.  But if you are interested in learning all about lavender, a farm is a good place to go, especially the one we went to....I can get you the name of the lecturer we had if you are interested.  :-)

   But to balance off my opinion: my husband and the two women we took with us thought it was great.

      Yesterday my husband and I had lunch on the Philadelphia Belle.  I have always wanted to go on a paddle boat......but they didn't actually use it.   :-(   We went with our "Travels with Karl" group and they gave us our own private dinning room right by the paddle wheel.  It was turning but only for effect! 

    The cruise was very nice but I would have enjoyed it more if they had had a guided tour of the sites we were seeing.  But actually none of these kinds of cruises that I have been on have ever had that....and they never have a suggestion box!!

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Since I assumed that no one was reading my blog, I decided to cancel it.  So I called Vista Print and they said that would not be a problem.  But when we got to the part about why I was canceling I told her it was because I didn't have any followers.  She must have felt sorry for me because she asked if  I would keep the blog if they would give it to me free.  Free is good. How could I refuse that offer?  So even though my words may be drifting out there in the wide open spaces of the internet (some may think that is the best place for them) I will keep posting.