My Exciting Life, and A Free Cat Printable Hang Tag

Now, dearies, if I put the tag first, I have absolutely no chance of having the post read. I have a 3-sheet set up on Etsy (or rather, will soon) - winged cats - three sheets to the wind...

Sadly, the intended post was forgotten, as soon as I set down at the keyboard. While I was getting dinner ready, I had a delightful post all written in my head. 

We are having chicken salad on rolls, strawberries, mashed potatoes, and black olives.

I remember when black olives were more popular - cans of them were available from small to jumbo - now it's typical to just see the large for sale. And the Broiled in Butter mushrooms - what happened to them? They were in jars. And the shoestring beets...

More old-fashioned names:

Albert, Alvin

Hortense

Mildred

Patricia, pronounced "Pah-TREE-cee-uh"

Penelope

Gab gab gab.

Sorry for losing that other, more INTERESTING post, but I've been in another dimension and it's really quite confusing to find myself back HERE.

The tag: Read about how to click it to save it for printing, over on the sidebar!

Seersucker-Stripes Easter "Ticket" Tag to Print

Here is just a single tag, to celebrate my new set of six tags that I have up at Etsy - "Tickets to the Easter Parade" - $3 for the high-resolution file you can print as many times as you like.

Read on the sidebar how to save these files - you have to click it a few times to get it to the right size.

I saw the "supermoon" both in the wee hours and then as it was setting in the west as the run rose. Yes, it was huge, and unlike a "harvest moon," as it set it looked white, not orange as they usually do. Just lovely.

Dearies, this is a good time to clean your pantries and to make sure you have an emergency food supply, as well. And as a reward for doing the pantry, bake yourselves a big dish of bread pudding and serve it with sliced strawberries and whipped cream for spring instead of the usual walnuts and whiskey sauce.

Am I the only one to remember when pickled walnuts were served in many homes and old-style restaurants?

______________

Don't forget that it's a good idea to make yourselves a "grab bag" in case of emergency. We never know what nature has in store - witness poor Japan! I have one made up and ready. Several, actually. Just grab them and take off. They have changes of clothes in them, and small amounts of many needed items, including sewing thread and needles, pencils, common drugs such as aspirin, rope, toiletries, knife, tin cup, seeds, and so on. Grab the bags, grab the emergency food (for pets, also), and take off, if the need arises.

Trio of Free Tags Up at Other Bloggie and Thinking About Old Names

Oh dear, "Snowball" (alley kitty) is hard to catch! Time to bring out the big guns - the TUNA!

Drop by the Tattered Stitches blogspot blog if you have time and get yourself the new trio of free "ticket" tags to print out - rustic Easter motifs - click on the right-sidebar where it says "Click for Printables" - just old-time designs, a hare, Easter bonnet, and basket of eggs...I like olden-time things...

I've been thinking of olden-time names lately. When you see these names, it's usually in the obituaries or the person is quite old...not always, but often...

Names that were once popular and now are out of favor - I do believe some will come back into style - at least I hope so. I just love the name Helen, for example. 

Agnes

Abner

Hubert

Dean

Bertha

Betsy

Francis and Frances

Clyde

Ethel

Clarence

Helen

Gertrude

Maude

Charity

Alphonse

Frederick

Hale

Opal

Pauline

Viv

Crazy Mix of Free Hang Tags, Lil' Rustic Ones

Here is a hodge-podge of a dozen small hang tags, different images and looks but all nice 'n' rustic.

Of course, I had to fit some kitties in...there is a new little tomcat hanging around - he's ever and ever so ugly - I swore off rescuing cats but honestly, he MUST be saved. Got a food bowl and a water dish set up in a bush he hangs around...my cats are fighting with him, and my poor little tiny cat who will never get any bigger could really get hurt, but what can I do? I can't leave an animal to starve or suffer, it ain't right. Maybe someone will adopt him if I tame him - but he's really, really homely and people want pretty cats. My cat Hadji has a face that could stop a clock...looks like a demented bat...yes, yes, I love him! Don't worry! The cats I have now are all "unadoptable" due to looks or behavior, or in the case of the dreaded Pot Holder Kitty (who can only be handled with potholders to protect from bites), BOTH.

Here is the LINK to use - this is, of course, a large file - use the link, don't use the image provided here because this image won't print the right size at all, tho' it looks like it would. Trust me, dearies, it won't.

CLICK THIS PHRASE RIGHT HERE FOR THE SENDSPACE LINK

Here's a look-see:

Free Tags for the Fourth of July and a Free Rant, Too.

New trio of free patriotic tags, about 2.75 x 4.125 inches or so - here's the LINK to click and then SAVE (not "open") - from sendspace.com, THE place to store large files to share.

Here's just one of the tags, you can right-click and save this one for web use, if you like - to print them, use the LINK.

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/q3kvq7

Rant:

Those poor folks in Japan - hope they can get more help soon. They are going to need OIL while they get their nuclear program back working. 

We out in West Texas would love to drill for lots more oil to help them out! Plenty of oil left here in the Permian Basin. But the Powers that Be kind of ignore us out here. Too busy manipulating the market and messing around with international politics to pay any attention to helping secure our American energy future by drilling in the LARGEST AMOUNT OF OIL AND GAS in the USA.

SPRING FORWARD in Time

Don't forget to set the clocks ahead one hour when you go to sleep tonight.

Now everyone who finally got used to "falling back" will have to adjust to this new time change. UGH!

Free St. Pats/Easter Tags and More Household Old-Time Lore: Cleaning Windows

Oh, most of ye are too young to remember a commercial featuring various stern housekeepers intoning, "I don't do windows!" Then the lady of the house found out Windex or somesuch concoction would clean them easily.

Windex is colored water with a bit of this-and-that thrown in. I say, "Throw it out."

Even old panes can become clear if you do these things, provided the panes are not etched. And etched panes would  be rare.

First clean your panes with a lot of water from the hose if outside, a dripping sponge if inside.

Go back and use a smidgen of laundry soap in warm water and go over them again, getting the corners especially. Rinse again.

Go over and rub smudges with 90+ percent alcohol poured on a paper towel.

Now get a soft cotton rag - NOT microfiber or knit - and rub the panes with cold water and a dollop of white vinegar added. Use a very, very wrung-out cloth - and go pane-by-pane. 

Get an old bunch of washclothes or a cut-up old towel, and as you clean the pane, go back over, rubbing with the cloth, buffing it dry.  

Here's your secret weapon for windows with smudges that will not clear: THE SIDE OF YOUR HAND. My son kindly helped me out by being my "hand model." This is as close as he will get to actually helping clean the windows.

RUB back and forth with your hand. Go up and down on the long sides of the pane. Keep wiping your hand on a dry piece of the old towel. Use that bent pinky  to get into the corners.

Don't rub blisters on yer hand, though, dearies.

For "hopeless" panes that you can tell did not come clean after the laundry-soap routine and that LOOK etched:

GET A FLAT RAZOR, as used for scraping paint off tiles and such, and use it to scrape the panes. Yep, scrape the crud right off the panes. You might see little lines of gunk as you scrape - it is working. Don't dig into your pane, though - keep the angle of attack very narrow. Then do the rest of the routine.

We are putting our house up for sale and there is a feeling in our town that panes are "etched" by our dust storms. All over town, horrible looking panes. It's not so. It's mineral deposits from our water. The razor blade treatment, combined with the final hand buff, got them perfectly clear. Neighbors are miffed. They don't WANT to do all that work. Ha.

Here's the link for a quartet of free tags, and a look-see at them. DO NOT save these tags shown here - USE THE LINK or they will not print out clear and right size. 

	http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/qee82q

A single web-ready image is provided, too, for decorating blogs. You can save and use it! Just RIGHT-CLICK it and save it. I like the old phone.

Ha! Five More to Come, Too

Told hubby after posting this morning that I thought there was going to be another big quake in Japan...and there was...and two more THERE to come. 

Also, I think those dead fish in California were forerunners of the quake. Something "cooking" in the ocean.

Remember my "giant whirlpool" prediction of several months ago? TRUE. Swirling off the coast of Japan.

I hope I am wrong and no more quakes are to come - two in Japan, 3 elsewhere by the bye..that's the vibe I receive...once something puts a kink in the waves that rule our lives - light, sound, and cyclic - it is like shaking a big tablecloth out - crumbs fly - we're the crumbs, dearies - waves propagate, rebound, and must disperse their energy. And we just hang on for dear life! 

For those who are chiding me for not being more into happy events and catching positive vibes, I don't choose what to feel or receive and I don't want to, either! And I do not think man's puny mind can influence cosmic events, anyway. But that's just me, the "Eyore" of Texas, five-time winner of the Ms. Gloomy Guts Award.

In happier news, my book will be a bestseller, VIBE RECEIVED.

Another Premonition Comes True

Yesterday at supper I felt very odd and told my husband that there was going to be a huge earthquake somewhere within a few hours.

He is used to my predictions and wanted to know how strongly I felt this premonition. I said I felt so very odd that I would bet the house on being right. And I also knew that it wasn't going to be in the U.S. this time.

And then the Japanese quake of 8.9 hit. Those poor people.

I am going to concentrate very hard on the book I am writing about having premonitions and encountering spirits. Instead of hiding it from many in my real life, worrying about it, and feeling guilty, I'm just going to at long last see if it can be used for good in some way. And I guess at this stage I don't care if the people I know call me "spooky."

Broom Lore

Dearies, don't forget, if you have trouble posting to your blog, try using the DRAFT version of Blogger. You get to it by using this addy:

http://draft.blogger.com

I find it a lot easier to use than the usual dashboard.

And now, more BROOM ADVICE. I'm a bit obsessed with brooms - just love 'em.

WHEN YOU GET A NEW BROOM - and of course we are speaking only of real broomstraw brooms - be sure to clip quite a few NEW, CLEAN straw pieces off the broom and store them in a jar or clean tin can. USE THEM as cake testers. They are the most reliable testers around, better than toothpicks by far. Just poke an end into the cake and see if it's done.

And don't forget to DAMPEN your broom with a mister before you sweep.

I have a new set of tags up - via tatteredstitches or in my Etsy shoppe. Jelly jars! More jelly jars! Here's just one of the six tags.

Free "Kitchen Jar" Tag for Your Homemade Goodies

The above is a free printable kitchen jar - click on it, let the larger image load, click again if a little "+" sign appears when you hover your mouse, and then RIGHT-CLICK to save.

Go on over to tatteredstitches.blogspot.com for the link to a TRIO of these tags in 3 different colors and sayings!

Thank'ee for dropping by.

Buy Next Year's Clothes NOW!

I used to dress "like a million bucks," as fellow hicks would say admiringly. And it was all done on a shoestring by shopping department store sales when the new seasonal fashions were coming in, and the "old" season (which was still happening) was being put on sale to make room for it.

I did that again yesterday. I went to several department stores and for NO MORE THAN $2.88 max per item, I bought three pair of capris in black and seven tops. Now, these are my "work clothes," just simple top-and-capris ensembles. Capris are sold year 'round here, and in summer, they are just about too hot to bear. So they are considered more "winter-wear" than summer-wear, in these weights.

I also bought 2 pairs of closed-toe shoes - the little cloth shoesies I love. I am completely paranoid about STINKING FEET and only wear cloth shoes to work, since I don't wear leather items, and the manmade fake leather materials are dreadfully likely to smell, despite the drifts of Odor-Eater Foot Powder I shake into every shoe. Puffs of "smoke" come out the first twenty steps or so, but it's better than stinking.

So, next year is pretty much taken care of, for under $50. And time enough before next fall to save up to buy a "trendy" piece of clothing or two. Here are two of the tops drying on the clothesline, and yes, I often buy the exact same top in several colors:

Heigh Ho, or Is That "Ho Hum"?

Bwa ha ha ha ha...more drivel.

How would YOU like to wake up at 3:58 a.m. each day, and have absurd thoughts jump out of YOUR mind?

I'm sharing the pain.

Okay, things that drove me crazy last night:

• Yield signs look different now. No more yellow with black writing. I liked those old signs. I don't like the weak-looking new silvery/coral-red signs. No wonder I run them.
• Stop lights - used to have a single bulb. Not a great idea...but the new LED ones tend to have some of the little bulbs out here, and it's always in a ROACH shape, have you noticed that? A ROACH shape! Of course, in that horrid ink-blot test, all I ever get to see are roaches. Roaches in petticoats, roaches with marshmallow forks, roaches aiming rifles.

Don't be afraid, dearies. I'm harmless. And poor roaches - do you recall that our family of American roaches is called blattidae? Flat, leaf-life, bladder-like. I always feel like a fool when I shriek and shake when I see them. I mean, look at the SIZE DIFFERENTIAL between the poor things and me.

Okay, something USEFUL to share - the idea of Order of Magnitude. This understanding will help you throughout your life. It should be taught to all children, too. ORDER OF MAGNITUDE - when you think something, think to yourself, DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?

For example, you are at the store. You are trying to count up, approximately, the cost of your purchase before you add something else to your cart. You have 8 items and none of them cost more than $3. Yet you flounder around, and come up with something like "The total right now is $48, approximately." BAD, BAD! And you put back that package of delightful Cheeze Krunchies, thinking you can't afford it! WRONG!

Use your ORDER OF MAGNITUDE knowledge! It does NOT make sense to think 8 items under 3 dollars each could make a total that big! Because even 8 x 3 is only $24! You're off by half as much again! NOT SENSIBLE. the MAGNITUDE is all wrong.

Well, that's a rotten example but I haven't had a full pot of coffee yet.

Have a lovely day, dearies, and if you can't do that, enjoy a nice sulk, as I usually do.

"The Faster I Go..." Plus Free Hang Tags

"...the behinder I get."

When spring is arriving, I get my own version of Spring Fever. Autumn really brings out the restlessness, but spring still sends me for a loop.

I think many thoughts. Yes, myriad thoughts. As my late brother used to ask me, his voice dripping with sarcasm (and boy would he also go after my fondness for cliches like that last one), "Does it hurt?"

Yes, well, it DOES hurt to think, sometimes! It's like someone jabbing my mind with a very large hatpin! Ow! A large, rusty hatpin!

I will be unable to sleep, or awaken from peaceful snoozing, thinking, "I remember that!" and remember something of the past. Sometimes people speak of their lives passing before their eyes, in a terrible situation. I have that happen, sans the terrible part.

And it's very vivid. Here are some things that have been nibbling at my mind:

• Dinner theaters are basically dead, yet people made little livelihoods at this when I was young.
• Wig shops, clustering in dead downtowns, gone.
  
• Ballrooms - dead even before I was born, but I remember seeing the crumbling buildings and faded signs of once-grand ballrooms in the South.
• Paper drives at school, when papers were still worth reading and editors were both intelligent and brave. Where are the journalists?
• A gift of a "Sunday knife" for the gentlemen - featuring maybe a fancy, mother-of-pearl handle or elegant chasing along the blade. Just about every young man I knew had a 2-shot Derringer or equivalent tucked in his boot. Back when our populace could go around armed to the teeth and yet no one was killing anyone or doing "home invasions."
• Popsicles being a respected treat during the summer. Just frozen Kool-Aid. Now, people are pouting and spending $7 or more for this-or-that snotty specialty frozen item.

Ha. Wow, I sound like a twisted old hag, which I no doubt am. Actually, I have a very sunny outlook, for a twisted old hag. And I despise many aspects of the past and look back over the years with amazement (and cringing) at how absurd people were in so many ways:

• Like women with their nasty hairdos that they'd swathe in netting or a piece of satin at night, and wear, without washing, for at least a week.
• You know how I was musing about people being armed and yet non-violent, basically? Hmm...let's take another look at that sanitized view of the past. A look at how many men would make obscene phone calls and torment women and girls, because they could.
• Oh, those journalists I miss? Funny how they missed pointing out - at least just pointing out for cryin' out loud - evil, such as subjugation of the weak, and the making sure certain groups were kept weak!
  
• Lumps of hair or fake hair - what the heck is that called? - stuck under teased hair to make it look fuller.
• "Switches" wound around inadequate buns to make them fatter.
• STOCKINGS and PANTYHOSE.
• Little girls who were not allowed to wear shorts or pants, and kneeling in the hallway while some perverted principal made sure the skirts weren't more than an inch above their knobby little knees.
• GLOVES and hats and VEILS for women to be "respectable" enough to go out among the men of the world. This really hurt poor women, too, who didn't have these things or enough of them.
  
• Cancer being something no one would mention, and the person stricken with it was ostracized and blamed.
  
• Dogs tied up outside a very common sight. And drowning puppies and kittens a constant and karma-ruining event. Not that vets are doing much better now at bringing reasonable-priced spaying to the world.
  

Which brings me to this, since my mind wanders constantly: I think really bad karma, from years past, is sloshing all over the globe. Slosh, slosh. It's scary.

Oh, the free tags. I hope you just scrolled down and didn't bother reading all that tosh I wrote. HA. USE THIS LINK. DO NOT SAVE THE EXAMPLE TAGS! DOWNLOAD THE RIGHT TAGS from my pro account!

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/4rf3gp

Here's a look-see, ver' useful, ver' plain tags they are.

Using "Next Blog" Feature in Blogger!

Okay dearies, in the past, when I clicked on "Next Blog," which is located up on the top "Navigation Bar" or "Nav Bar" on these blogspot blogs, I had some unpleasant surprises. But that was years ago.

Evidently Google has made it so the next blog you get will feature the things that were on the blog you were on -- If you were on a sewing blog and clicked "Next Blog," it would likely be another sewing blog.

This poor blog seems to end up with sports blogs, somehow. I can't even catch a ball (but have frequently been beaned by them), so how it goes from tags to sports is a mystery. But over at the new blog where I'm collaborating with a wonderful cross-stitch designer, I went to paper blog after paper blog and then crocheting blogs, sewing blogs, embroidery, etc. Fun! http://www.tatteredstitches.blogspot.com

Just keep clicking that Next Blog link! Oh my, what a potential time-waster, but also, it could lead to a lot of creativity!

Hang Tag Chocolate Bunnies Trio for Ye

Easter is April 24th.

Click on the link to get to the actual downloadable tags! More free bunny tags are over on a new collaboration blog, www.tatteredstitches.blogspot.com! And CROSS-STITCH free charts, too!

There are 3 different bunnies on hangtags, about 2 x 3.25 inches. Don't just save the sample above - get the trio and it will print out right size and resolution. Safely download from my pro sendspace.com account!

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/j9xiky