Pet Gala

 Got word that this years monetary donations at the Gala were the most so far. That is good because that means more money for scholarships for low income people to be able to get the training and have better jobs.  For all the crap we went through it was worth it just for this.  Thanks PJ for being a great dog to wear the outfit.

It is Almost that Time

 I got a new yard today, turning it into Fall.  Grass is pretty much dead due to no rain, flowers got froze the other night and it is almost Halloween.  My outfit is a simple orange straight dress and my sweater is in the way.  Charlotte must have visited overnight cos there is a huge spider web over my house.  My costume for Halloween is done but I have not seen it yet.  What are you going as?

PS:  Mary thanks for stopping by one of my other fav ex-employees.  Eleanor I hope you made it safely.

October the month of Halloween

 I got some decorations and a new rug and will get more as the month goes on. I also understand my yard is getting a do over and oh my model texted me a picture of my Halloween costume so far, too cute.

 

Why yes that is a spider on my headband and it glitters, love it.

Pet Gala

 So I did not go to the Pet Gala. My dresser had two nightmares about me going and decided to just play it safe and leave me at home. Probably best, one was a dog ripped me to shreds and the other I got stolen, so.  I have seen the video and pictures and sure wish I could have gone but....

Piper Jo was the fan fav and she took to her dress like she had always worn clothes. All in all my dresser had a good time and dinner was good and she got her chocolate cake.  

More Outfits for September 22

 I do love these sweaters and my dresser loves to make them, imagine crocheting with those little metal crochet hooks and thread used for doilies, but she has a ton of patterns all written and good thing I will never grow.

 

I do love my orange clothes best.  

Dress Rehearsal

 Well took the outfit for the Pet Gala today and no dog. Really some people are just rude.  SO at least we had a dry run through.  Each dog gets music to strut their stuff by and walk the 16 feet or so turn and go back.  Dinner will be afterwards.  I hope the outfit fits since we did not get any fittings cos they live 30 minutes away, so do I.  The whole thing has soured me on this and I do not care anymore.  The outfit is done and I will go and finish it, but.... I am really peeved over the way the parents are not cooperating.  I am not responsible for how the dog acts since she does not wear clothes. I did my part and the rest is on them.

Some people.....

My First Birthday

 I had my first birthday on the 17th.  Of course we had a celebration there was cake.  Well a crocheted cake but it had lots of fiber, hahaha.  I got a new outfit with a crown and a sign and well it was a great day.  OH look there are gifts and there is LightBulb my kitty. 

My outfit the week before was kind of sedate and my dresser is trying to find some shoes to better match my outfits, i think she said something about spray painting some of the shoes she has.  I really need some brown shoes cos she made the cutest brown sweater/dress/beret outfit but what color do i wear with them?

 I got a new rug and afghan for September.  

Last week the dog outfit was coming along, just need to sew on the sequins and the dress rehearsal is Saturday, I am not going but there will be lots of pictures.  

 

 

RIP Queen Elizabeth

 Sitting here with my coffee watching the procession for the final event of the Queen's funeral.  While the whole thought of a Monarchy disgusts me, I admire the Queen.  Can you imagine at the age of 10 finding out someday you will be Queen and then at age 25 that actually comes about.  She has been the Queen all of my life and it will be strange not to see her on the news or hear about her.  She was a strong woman, and in her 96 years she was never allowed to live a normal life.  No matter how you feel about the Monarchy she was a woman little girls should have looked up to.  She saw a lot in her life and had a lot to deal with. She was strong but had that fun side to her which showed everyone once in a while.  When 9/11 hit here she grieved with us.  

I know blue was her fav color but I always thought she looked best in her yellow suit.  Her style was simple but elegant and I never saw her without her pocketbook.  I recently found out she did knit and crochet and hope she actually had time to sit and zone out her world and just relax and enjoy the craft.  

RIP Queen Elizabeth you have deserved the rest.

House Finch

 

Interesting House Finch Facts! 

1. The House Finch was originally a bird of the western United States and Mexico. In 1940 a small number of finches were turned loose on Long Island, New York, after failed attempts to sell them as cage birds (“Hollywood finches”). They quickly started breeding and spread across almost all of the eastern United States and southern Canada within the next 50 years.

2. House Finches were introduced to Oahu from San Francisco sometime before 1870. They had become abundant on all the major Hawaiian Islands by 1901.

3. The red of a male House Finch comes from pigments contained in its food during molt (birds can’t make bright red or yellow colors directly). So the more pigment in the food, the redder the male. This is why people sometimes see orange or yellowish male House Finches. Females prefer to mate with the reddest male they can find, perhaps raising the chances they get a capable mate who can do his part in feeding the nestlings.

4. House Finches feed their nestlings exclusively plant foods, a fairly rare occurrence in the bird world. Many birds that are vegetarians as adults still find animal foods to keep their fast-growing young supplied with protein.

5. The oldest known House Finch was a female, and at least 11 years, 7 months old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in New York in 1985, the same state where she had been banded in 1973.

 

This year momma finch hatched 9 eggs and the yard is full of these beautiful little birds.  This was her 3rd year of a nest on my front porch.  It is so much fun to watch.  

 

 

 

 

Pet Gala

 So the top is done for the gala outfit for Piper Jo, next comes the skirt.

My double just sent texted me a picture of my hat, wow, hope I do not topple over. I can not wait to see my dress.

D27 and D36

 From RRP:

D27: Home for the Fall!

In late July, D27 sent a postcard from just inside Manitoba: the farthest north that any of our Decorah eagles have traveled. She started her fall migration on August 10, traveling 79.1 miles SSW to an unnamed lake 58 miles ENE of Sachiago Lake. After several short hops of 30 or so miles, she flew 145 miles south between August 16 and August 18, and an incredible 338 miles between August 19 and August 22! She flew within 3.9 miles of her natal nest on August 29th and is currently hanging out in the Postville area, about 18 miles south. Since January 1 of this year, she has traveled an incredible 3,190 miles. That is a lot of wind beneath her wings!

While looking at D27's map, I got curious about her daylight length profile. We know that daylight length pulls a lot of strings in a bird’s body, and we also know that D27’s daylight length changes quite a bit with the seasons and her latitude.

- Between November 15, 2021 through February 1, 2022, D27 experienced less than 10 hours of daylight per day.

- D27 was above the 50th parallel from June 1 though August 19. She averaged 16 hours and 13 minutes of daylight while she was there: an increase of 39% over her solar minimum. Her solar maximum occurred on June 23, when she experienced 16 hours and 55 minutes of day.

- D27 did not experience true night from June 1 through August 9. Between August 9 and August 19, true night went from 1 minute, 3 seconds to 3 minutes, 33 seconds.

Changes in latitude might mean changes in attitude, but they also mean changes in daylight length! Between August 12 and August 22, D27 lost over an hour of daylight as she moved from the 54th parallel to the 45th parallel. The days will remain shorter in Decorah until the fall equinox on Thursday, September 22.

D36: The Iowa Staycation Continues!

How is D36 doing? Our little homebody is continuing his Iowa staycation, wandering back and forth between the Turkey River and Ten-Mile Creek. Do subadult male eagles travel less than their female counterparts? It’s tough to say. I checked D36’s logs and he’s traveled 2096 miles so far this year: quite a bit less than older half-sibling D27! However, he traveled more miles overall in his first two years compared to hers.

- From September 1, 2020 to September 1, 2022, D36 traveled about 7,950 miles.

- From September 1, 2017 to September 1, 2019, D27 traveled about 7,830 miles. She’s flown an incredible 19,199 miles since we started tracking her on August 9 of 2017: far more than I’ve flown in my lifetime! We'll see if D36 catches up.

Holiday Already

 So here we are school has barely started and we have a day off.  It is just weird everyone trying to get back to normal when we may never get back to normal.

Oh well I have things to look forward, my birthday is the 17th and I have a new outfit and I think I spied a cake somewhere and a new cupcake recipe to share cupcakes with everyone.  My outfit this week is kind of a weird yarn but it is crinkly and I love it.  It is a bit chilly in my classroom so I asked for a sweater and got this cool shrug, it is just right.  Look at those clear shoes, they are fun, people think I do not have shoes on.  HAHAHA

I spied my muslin sample for my gala dress being made today, I need to find the perfect orange shoes for it.  Now to see what my hat will look like, can't wait to see it.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Hot Dogs and Buns

 When I was in HS I made my own clothes, you could get cotton fabric 5 yards for a dollar, patterns were about a dollar and thread and zipper and you had a new dress for about $5.  Fabric came in 36" and 45" width and the pattern had yardage for both widths.  Today buying fabric and patterns are a lot like buying hot dogs and buns.  Why they do not make the same number of hot dogs and buns in a package is beyond me.

Now fabric is 42" wide instead of 44/45" as the pattern states.  So when are patterns going to come into the new fabric width size?  I have got to the point where I buy an extra yard of fabric and hope I have enough.  That adds more money to the project and they wonder why people are not making their own clothes anymore.  Well many do not want the extra cost of $10-$15 a yard for just cotton and hoping they have enough or do the math to try and figure out how much more they need.  Because we all know that cotton shrinks a lot and you never get the true yardage you paid for after you wash it.

I will continue to make my own clothes because I get the fit I want and need and I get to pick something that does not make me look like an old lady or a 20 year old.  Hey pattern designers get with the program and fix the pattern yardages to match the fabric width.