Santanas

Gusty winds; I feel well enoug to go back to work tomorrow but will I *ever* get to sleep? Just as I drift off, another wind-mob snarls around the yard and threatens to tear down the fence.

-- R

Ladybug

Usually I grab my blue-jacketed New York Times as I dash to the car on the way to the office. Today, however, I'm recovering from a virus that has me coughing a lot and sounding RAHther froggish. So I didn't collect the paper until nearly noon, and discovered a lovely warm day. (Sorry, those of you are in the cold; this *is* California.) I picked up the paper and there was a ladybug on the wrapper! I gently moved it to my gardenia bush, sorely infested with scale (nasty hard-shelled buglets that, like aphis, suck the sap from plants where they live). The bug walked slowly up to the topmost leaf, tried to take another step, then turned around and walked back. Sometimes it would stop and flex its wings, which must be damp -- first the right wing would come out, but the left would stay firmly put; then closed, then the other wing, but never both. I expect when it can unfurl both wings it will fly away, but I can hope it will stay and attack the scale

I'm sure we'll have some more nasty days, and heaven knows the whole state needs RAIN, but for today, some sun is nice. (I watched AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH recently so I *am* trying to think of ways to personlly stop contributing to the CO2 problem. I already use casual carpool and busses for my commute, but I may have to give up casual carpool since it requires me to drive to the pickup point. Taking the bus both way adds $3.75*20 or so each month to my expenses -- a lot on a nonprofit paycheck. Can I afford to, in effect, donate $75 a month to the future?)

-- Rachel Holmen

Farewell, Gaston

Gaston le Bon arrived at my friend Carla's a couple of months back, a tiny kitten probably only a few weeks old; nobody knew where its mother was. Carla and various friends gave him tiny bottles of kitten formula, then he graduated to actual food, and he was growing up quite playful and handsome.

Sadly, he was hit and killed by a car today.

Au revoir, dear kitten. -- Rachel

More patterns

Dos de Tejas (literally, two from Texas) is one of several mother-and-son pattern companies. Here's their terrific Tresillo skirt. The Spectrum Dress is nice, too, and so's the Texas Two Step shirt that has a freestanding back yoke -- almost like a short cape -- which offers a wonderful chance for embellishment.


And then there's the Park Bench Pattern Company, which offers wonderful "trunk shows" and where the designer brings actual sample clothes for you to try on right in her booth before you buy her patterns. I'm particularly fond of the Williamsburg, the Woodstock skirt (all straight seams lead to a FABulous swingy long skirt), the Chesapeake Bay jacket, Golden Gate Park, and the wonderful Santa Fe jacket -- stunning in red velvet with dark trim. The designer builds her clothes for real people, not just for those who are tall and slender. -- Rachel Holmen

La Fred, a terrific designer of women's clothing

La Fred (a woman named Fred Bloebaum) lives here in Oakland, and I was lucky enough some years ago to run into her stunning "Athena blouse" pattern at Stone Mountain and Daughter fabric. The Athena blouse has a square armhole, which gives an interesting detail to the blouse. Other patterns I've liked are the Thalia pants and the Cassandra skirt. Her website is www.lafred.com.

-- Rachel Holmen

Sometimes music hits like a sledgehammer

Bob Franke came to my notice when one of his songs, called For Real, hit me like a sledgehammer between the eyes. And then it offered healing.

Some of his songs are wonderfully joyous, especially The Great Storm is Over; some are just funny (like Boomerang Pancakes), all speak from his heart to the listener's.

So when I got email today from Bob about a new song, I clicked the link, and now I'm sharing it with you -- see the vodpod ribbon on the right.

-- Rachel Holmen

Dickens Fair 2008

So much fun! Two friends and I went, and we had a ball. We took BART to Glen Park station and then caught a free shuttle, so no traffic or parking worries. We ate fabulous meat pies, drank mulled cider, bought among us a hat, some pirate socks, a hooded scarf, some beads, a stick puppet, and some fudge. We were tempted by corsets, jewelry, candles, fans, shawls, and yet more hats. Here's one of the vendors we visited -- she makes porcelain angel figures of everything from armadillos to zebras (including giraffes, dogs, and elephants); Queen Victoria and her handsome escort; and my two friends hamming it up under a Christmas tree. We may have to go back next weekend.

You can get a $5 discount just by showing your BART ticket; or buy online tickets at http://www.dickensfair.com/tickets.htm. (I'd definitely recommend buying tickets in advance, since there was a bit of a wait otherwise.)

-- Rachel

Craftswomen

I made my contributions to the economy today: earrings from Dotty Calabrese (Just For Fun), a rag rug in a cheerful red for my bedroom (Margaret Thompson, Monterey Fiber and Design), a fragile but beautiful pottery bowl from "Forms In Clay" (Lyn Swan), some bookmarks made of interesting textured paper (Marie Kelzer Designs dot com), and a tiny upholstery fabric purse and a blue silk flower from Jennifer Shors. This was the second weekend of the Women's Building Craft Show, one that I always try to attend. It's held at Fort Mason in San Francisco; I lucked out today and found a good free parking place. (This probably offset the small traffic accident that had delayed me, when a white pickup backed into the front of my tiny Honda Civic.) -- Rachel Holmen

VodPod lets you collect your favorite YouTube videos

Vodpod lets you store videos online; so far I have collected two (see at right). Vodpod dot com. But it wouldn't let me link a favorite flash video, I guess because it's not on YouTube: Love, Love, Kiwi (click on the "flash anim." icon).

-- Rachel Holmen

Blogging from Highway 99 -- the IHoP in Tulare

My departure from the Los Angeles area was somewhat delayed, so when I finally got going at 2:15 pm, I figured I'd better drive till dark before I made any stops. Somebody called as I drove through Delano, but my headset for my cellphone is in the trunk, so I let the call go to voicemail. Turns out I am missing the annual highlight of my quilt guild: our annual show and tell evening. Sigh. I hope somebody gets some good pictures.

But I bought gas for $1.899, the lowest I've paid in MONTHS, and then I found an IHoP -- I love their Swedish pancakes -- and they have wifi!!!!!

So here's a photo of the weird clouds overhead at the Tejon Pass (Tejon is pronounced TAY hone, rhymes with pay phone). There's a storm coming, and I'm glad I won't be in those hills when it hits.

-- Rachel

Another photo of Mom

Another photo of my mom, taken when she was 84. -- Rachel

Marion Ethelyn Patton Holmen, Oct. 1920-Nov. 2008

Marion E. Holmen, age 88, of Hermosa Beach, California,
died on Saturday, November 15, 2008 after living with
Alzheimer's for over 20 years.

Marion was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, on October 16, 1920.
She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Milton; their
daughter Rachel, of Berkeley; their son Bruce of West Hills;
their daughter Joyce, of Sherman Oaks, and their son Scott,
of Silverdale, Washington. In addition, she is survived by
her sister Ardis Read, of Sacramento; her brother Roscoe
Patton, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and her sister Beverly
McAlpine, of Thatcher, Arizona. She was preceded in death
by her sister Lorraine Whitaker, of Riverside, California.

She earned BS and MS degrees in Chemistry from the
University of Arizona, where she was Phi Beta Kappa and
where she and Milton met. During World War II she taught
chemistry at the University of Arizona then worked for
Polaroid in Boston. Following this, she worked as Director
of the Religious Education program at the UU Church in Santa
Monica. While raising four active children she found time
to chair the PTA, go square dancing, learn how to sail, and
travel the US visiting family, friends, and national parks.
Her leadership style was inclusive, and self-effacing. She
was artistic, creative, warm, shy and outgoing at the same
time, devoted to her husband and family, always inquisitive,
and generous with her time and affection.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday,
November 22, at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church,
1260 18th St., Santa Monica, www.uusm.org.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Building Fund of the UU
Community Church, or to the Alzheimer's Association at
www.ALZ.org/CaliforniaSouthland (phone 323-930-6246).

Turkey Preparation for Thanksgiving (or any other time)

A repeat of an old post: mapleleafreh.blogspot.com/search?q=turkey


"The Only Way to Cook a Turkey", by a man whose other publications include THE LEFT-HANDED TENNIS PLAYER.

-- Rachel

It looked like all of Marin County was burning

I was out in Lafayette last night, quilting, and when I drove west through the tunnel, I was stunned to see what looked like most of southern Marin County on fire.

After listening to the radio for awhile, I learned that Angel Island was on fire. The whole island's only about 250 acres, so I'm worried it will all burn. There is a campground on the site, and wild deer (the original deer arrived by swimming across the bay from the mainland), and presumably a lot of other wildlife, so a big fire would be devastating.

Here's the shaky picture I got from my trusty Minolta camera, shot from near the highway 24 tunnel:

Wire-and-gem jewelry

My friend at work, Jodi-Lee, creates beautiful necklaces. She's been kind enough to show me her technique. Her website is http://www.brideslament.net/

I particularly like her amethyst creations, and she's done stunning work with pearls and copper.

Gas Prices, Berkeley, CA Aug. 29, 2008

Need a humor break?

When you need a humor break, plug some headphones into your PC and go to this link:
Not Much dot Com archives

and listen to Part C where Bil Lepp talks about his neighbor and his friend Skeeter, from the archives online for the NPR show "Whad'Ya Know?" with host Michael Feldman (who always SOUNDS to me like Bob Newhart).

Lepp's own website is Buck-Dog dot com.

-- R

Kumihimo (Japanese braiding)

The Oakland Museum recently held a "textiles day" with live demonstrations. I took photos of smocking and kumihimo until my camera battery ran out. This elaborate loom, worked in a way I had never seen before, was quite impressive. If you'd like the fullsize originals emailed to you (they're about a megabyte apiece for four pictures), please email me.

After I first posted this, Michael Hattori emailed and said that he's the braider in my photos (and that I had a typo on the site, now corrected). His "loom" is called a takadai and the pattern he wove, Kikkogumi. He is part of a kumihimo listserve on Yahoo Groups. The other braiding demonstrators at the museum were Richard Sutherland and Anne Rock. -- Rachel Holmen

Sixties Light Show

My friend Linda was one of those 60s pioneers who performed light shows on screens behind rock bands. Here she is with her gear, at the end of a sixties party held at a friend's home. The two sets of platters hold different colored liquids; light shining through them was then reflected onto a screen -- last night just a sheet -- from the back, for the audience to enjoy.

-- Rachel Holmen

Baby Mittens

I'm through with the knitting on two thumbless baby mittens. I just need to find some nice ribbon to thread through the wrist eyelets so the mittens have some hope of staying ON the child who will wear them.