Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Two comment responses

1. No, I didn't see the Charlie Brown pony until I saw the screencap on Equestria Daily. But that kind of thing is what makes the episodes so fun to rewatch. (Right now, they seem to be back to re-running Season 1 in the afternoons. It's interesting to see how the expressions and level of background detail have changed.)

2. The eyes on my ponies....they are cut freehand from felt and then I just build up the layers using applique. I have a whole box of different colored Gutermann threads (it was a good deal at JoAnn's some years back) and I just use the appropriate color for each layer. Then, I sew the whites of the eyes down to the head with something like a whip stitch around the edges....and before I sew down the last bit, I carefully insert a bit of stuffing under the eye so it pops out just a little. (I learned that trick from a Margaret Hutchings toy book - she said it made the toy come more "alive" and I tend to agree). The eyelashes/eyeliner are done with six strands of floss in black, or, what is even better if you have it, perle cotton.

I usually make a drawing first (if it is a made-up pony) or find either "official" or fan-art that I like online (if it's a show-pony) so I have something to go by.

I use the expensive, all-wool felt; several years ago my birthday present to myself was an all-colors pack of this from Amazon. The all-wool felt stretches a bit better and seems to be thicker and less pill-y than the acrylic felt. 

(Treehugger's "eyebrows" are just scraps of the hair yarn stitched on using a big tapestry needle).

****

Well, today was a different day. Shortly after I got in to campus, a boil order was announced, and it turned out there was NO water pressure at all - so no drinking fountains (not that you should drink from them anyway during a boil order) and worse, no flushing in the bathrooms. (A colleague hung up signs warning people of this. On the men's room doors, he added "#1 is okay" so I don't know if urinals operate differently or if he was preserving the sensibility of us females...)

I taught my first class but then campus closed at 10. (Which is good: I was wondering what I would do if I needed to, ahem, do #1. I tend to be kind of....private....about such things)

Also, the flu shot clinic scheduled for while I was in class was extended and moved to the local Walgreen's (apparently, they brought in shot-givers from one of the larger branches somewhere else). So I decided: meh, even if I don't feel so well after the shot tomorrow, all I have to do is give an exam, so I'll be okay. So I went and got the shot (And yes, our insurance covered it 100%, which is nice).

It wasn't so very bad though the needle itself (or maybe the liquid in it) hurt going in . My arm is slightly sore now but nothing bad.

Then, I decided that I might as well go to Sherman and do the "big" grocery shopping I had thought of doing this weekend - because if I DID need a restroom, easier to use one in a store that has water - and also, I could grab lunch down there and avoid dirtying a couple more plates.

So I got Sachettini Pesto at the Panera (and yes, it is a little salty for me, and yes, I can tell because I'm now thirsty -  but I do have bottled water). And then I ran a few places.

At the Target, I decided that even though I am striving to economize, I deserved a small "fluster" for getting the flu shot.

Waterglobe Rarity! For some reason I really like these things - I also have a Princess Luna. (Rarity has tiny diamond-shaped glitter inside her that moves when you move her around.

And yeah, unlike some doll/toy collectors, I am part of the Unboxer Rebellion. There's a strain of doll collectors that are big into NRFB (never removed from box) because they believe that's how you keep the "investment value" of what you've bought.

My feeling is, if I want to invest (and I do), I'm going to put money aside to buy stocks or bonds. If I'm buying a toy, I want to be able to hold it and put it on my mantel and enjoy it - and not worry about being able to sell it for a lot of money twenty years from now. (And anyway: the Beanie Babies market collapsed suddenly some years back, and now people can't give the things away. So I think these kinds of  "collectibles" should ONLY be bought for the enjoyment of the purchasing owner and not with an eye on selling them in the future, eBay and stuff like that notwithstanding....)

I also picked up some good groceries - I think I'm gonna do chili again this weekend; the good grass-fed ground beef was on sale at the Kroger's. I figure the chili I make is all healthful, good-quality ingredients (lowfat beef, tomatoes, low-sodium pinto beans, spices) and I enjoy it, so there's nothing wrong with having it two weeks in a row. I was also able to get some new-crop sweet potatoes, so that will be a future meal. I also picked up some more cans of an excellent Eden Foods pizza sauce that is low in sodium and contains nothing that sets off my allergies (some sauces have celery), so some time soon I think I'll make a pizza again. And I got a bag of Anasazi beans, which are my favorite dry bean for doing as western-style beans, so once the chili is eaten, my next-weekend big-cooking will be a batch of beans.

It's supposed to finally cool down, so it feels right to be making things like chili and beans and soup....

2 comments:

Lynn said...

What I've learned from watching shows like American Pickers is that items sold as collectibles rarely go up much in value. The things that end up being worth a lot are the things that most people wear out and throw away so that there ends up being very few of them left and even fewer in good condition.

purlewe said...

Thanks so much for the info about the eyes. I have at least 4 minion hats to make and I really wanted to make the eyes real. So excited for the tips you gave me. THANK YOU!