Jun 7, 2011

To Comment or Not To Comment

Will blogger let you? THAT is the question.


This is a known issue with blogger, and "probably" the development team is working on it. I found the following information to aid us blogheads in leaving comments.

1. Before attempting to log in, uncheck the "Remember Me" checkbox.

2. Make sure you're running the latest version of your browser. If not, upgrade it.

3. Make sure you have cleared both your COOKIES and CACHE. Directions to do this can be found here: Cookies - Clearing cache and cookies. Once you have done this, shut down the browser. Open it again, and check that the cookies and cache are indeed empty. This is important because the problem seems to be corrupt cookies and cache files. (I think Evalina may have done this and it worked for her.)

4. If the cookies and cache are empty, go to www.blogger.com. Press CTRL+F5 before trying to login.

5. If that doesn't work, try logging into Gmail first, then go to www.blogger.com and try again.

6. If that STILL doesn't work (Is anyone finding this rid-ic-u-lous?!?), try going to http://www2.blogger.com/home.

7. If that doesn't work, try going to draft.blogger.com.

8. If you use IE8 or IE9, try pressing the compatibility button (at the end of the address bar) when you're on the blog page.

9. If all of the above fail, try installing another browser (ie. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc) to see if that works. I've heard through the grapevine this has worked for some. For me, this won't work as I use several computers in different locations. I surely am NOT going to install a new browser on each one.

10. You may also want to change your Comments setting from Embed Comments to Pop-Up or Full-Screen until the issue is fixed. To do this go to: Settings --> Comments --> Comment Form Placement --> Select Pop-Up Window (or Full Screen) --> Save Settings. This worked for Niina.

11. I've found that I can leave "anonymous" comments on blogs even if I can't sign in and leave them the normal way. This only works if the blog owner allows anonymous comments. Just be sure to sign your name in the comment box, lol.

Jun 6, 2011

Marvelous Monday Update 6/6/11

HEALTH
When I was in the throws of the shelving project, I noticed a rash on the inside of my forearm. At the time, I thought maybe I had gotten into something while digging for tools and stuff for the building project... or had a reaction to the saw dust. Me with my sensitive skin, and all. Then it spread to my other arm. Then areas on my hip developed the rash. Itched and burned like crazy. I wanted to dig and dig some more gouge out the areas with my nails so bad! It would wake me up in the middle of the night, too. Apparently, I have hives... again. :( I had them last year on my stomach and neck. So, I'm back to taking benedryl at night, and putting hydrocortizone cream during the day along with taking an antihistimine such as claritin.


SCHOOL
The first week of school has kept me on my toes! I had to read 3 chapters, an article, write an essay, write a post and participate in the online discussion, AND take a quiz. I was thrilled to learn, that after taking the quiz, it automatically gets graded and you learn the score right away. How cool is that?! There were a few questions I guessed at -- deductive reasoning, ya know? With that said, I got 100% on my first quiz. Talk about a happy camper!


GARDENING
My hostas and columbine sure have enjoyed the weather we've been having lately. The hostas are huge!


The weather turned HOT and HUMID over the weekend. At least it wasn't raining. I took advantage of my down time (i.e. not doing school work) and got the rest of my garden in. I also was able to get my planters done.


TREASURE HUNTING
I've been remiss on sharing my latest adventures in treasure hunting! I've found some cool-to-me things lately.

First up is this grapevine sugar bowl handcrafted in...

Germany!


I was amazed at the price -- only 29cents!


Next up is another addition to my porcelain doll collection.

Only $1.99! Not sure why she was priced so inexpensively since others were priced from $5.99-$9.99, but I wasn't about to argue. She has a great expression on her face, and a little tuelle underskirt.

I found a tote bag in great condition for the low, low price of $1.99! I figure I can use it to tote around my stitching. Or -- When I go siteseeing, I can put all my "stuff" in there, including my ginormous camera.

It's big enough that I can use it for my school stuff, if I decide to go to the library to study. It even has pockets inside to hold all the little do-dads we think we need, lol.

It's a sad thing when I see stitched projects end up in 2nd hand stores. Don't people realize how much work goes into these things? This little kitty had a price tag of 29cents...

I just *had* to rescue him!



STITCHY STUFF
I worked quite a bit on Blossom last week. She finally has a face! Isn't she pretty?


I've agreed to do a private exchange with a bloggy buddy, so Blossom will be put on the back burner for a while. I've picked out the fabric for the exchange and worked out what design I'm going to use. That's all I'm sayin!


Until next time,

May 31, 2011

Tuesday Tidbits 5/31/11

is ALMOST here!
Where did May go?
Why does time fly by so fast when you're an adult,
and so slow when you're a kid?


WEATHER
Wow, we've had another crazy time with the weather. Temps were down to 39F early last week. Yesterday, they were a stiffling 92F! Also, news reports of at least four, if not five tornadoes touched down in the city just 35 miles west of me last week. Luckily, only minor damage was done. Minor in comparison to what happened in Joplin, MO. My heart goes out to all those people. :(


SCHOOL
Another semester of school started this week. Last week, I got a head start on the assignments: 3 chapters of reading, a 300-word essay, and a quiz. How fun is that?!? Actually, it's not bad -- I'm really enjoying reading the textbook. It gives "real life" stories as examples which keeps it interesting. I have even more positive news... Since the online link to the class wasn't open yet, I couldn't figure out where the "web chapters" were so I emailed the instructor late one night. By the time I got up the next morning, I had two responses from him, including links to the web chapters! I'm thinking I'm going to enjoy this class even though it's a lot of work.


STITCHY STUFF
All last week, I worked on the snowman ornament for the exchange I'm involved in. I think it's really cute! I can't show pics of the ornie itself, but I will show the embellishments I used on it.


I found them when I was digging through my stash. Look how *tiny* they are! Aren't they cute? (For those outside the U.S., the coin is a dime which the smallest of our currency.)

After not working on her for almost a month, I was able to put in a few stitches on Blossom Splendor last night. Here's what she looks like now:

Other WIP photos can be seen HERE.


HOMESTEAD CHRONICLES
It's been a while, hasn't it? Lack of time has kept me from doing anything around the house. My "to-do" list gets longer and longer! Since I had an extended weekend due to the Memorial Day holiday, I decided I wanted to get a small project out of the way. I've been wanting to put shelves into a recessed area of the basement stairwell since almost the time I moved to The Homstead 3½ years ago. (Remember Moving Day?)

Unfortunately, I forgot to take the "before" photos like I normally do. The entire stairwell was re-painted before the "custom" shelving was built and installed. Before I painted, the walls were covered with what I'm guessing is a 1950's green and it was grungy from years decades of neglect. I acquired an "oops" gallon of lighter green paint with Kilz already mixed in. It sure brightened up the area!

(Photo clickable for larger image)

One of the previous owners "installed" a piece of brown paneling to cover a hole in the ceiling of the stairwell. As you can see, I painted it to blend in with the rest of the walls. Mucho better!

No job ever -- EVER -- goes as one plans. See what happens when you try to drill into plaster covered metal corner and then brick? Yeah, the fireplace is right behind *that* wall. :(


I repaired the mishap and the project continued. Had to re-think how to attach the shelving since drilling into brick isn't the easiest thing to do. Ended up using angle brackets, and attaching them to the back wall of the cubby area. Perfect!


I couldn't get a good photo due to the small space, but this gives you an idea of what I did. Each of the shelves has a front "lip" so that whatever is put on them can't be accidentally pushed forward (and down the stairs).

Taking into consideration the cubby area is not "square", and that I used "oops" paint and "scrap" budget lumber, I think they turned out awesome! And the space is used much more efficiently.

Until next time,

May 28, 2011

To Germany Unscathed

The postal system must've been on high speed delivery! I received news that my partner in Germany received the mailart I stitched for her. Here's what I sent Judith:

(Clickable for larger photo.)

Does it look familiar? It should! It's very similar to the one I made for my Mom. :) I call it Asian Mailart #2, lol.


Designs from book "A Cross Stitcher's Oriental Odyssey" by Joan Elliott
Fabric: 18ct Antique White Aida
Fibers: DMC
Embellishments: Pink fabric lining, Asian coin, and snaps

May 23, 2011

Marvelous Monday Update 5/23/11

CELESTE
Doggie breath. Bleah. I had read that spearmint is supposed to help with that. While at the store, I saw these in the pet section:


They have spearmint in them. What dog doesn't love treats, right? Wrong.

Celeste: *sniff, sniff* (walks away)

Me: *thinks* (puts it on the floor, and walks away)

A few hours later, she hadn't touched it.

Me: *thinks to myself,* "I'll "trick" her."

Me: *crumbles the cookie and mixes it with her food* Feeling like the naughty scientist, rubbing his hands together.

The next day...

Would you believe the stinkin' dog ate ALL her food except for the cookie parts?! Not to be disuaded, I tried it again. Again, she ate all the food and no cookie. I was complaining to a friend, who told me to throw them out in the yard for the birds. I put two in the bird feeder, and threw two in the yard. A week later, the ones in the yard were still there when I mowed. Here it is two weeks later and the cookies are *still* in the bird feeder, untouched. My conclusion??? They must be some baaddddd cookies!


SCHOOL
While it's unofficial, I found out my final grade for my Investment class is going to be an "A".
I earned 97% in the class. Now, I can say I only have TWO more classes before graduation! I'll be graduating in November. Yay!


WORK
Job #2 has had financial issues since I started working for them last July. It's owned by two brothers. One hand doesn't talk to the other, so to speak. The financial problems have become more serious in the last two weeks. Suffice it to say, we (and by "we", I mean the employees) don't know when/if we're going to get paid from week to week. Last week (after not getting paid on Wed), I went in on Friday for 30 minutes before leaving because I refused to work an entire day when I didn't get paid from the week before. Two hours later, the secretary texted me to come get my check and cash it before there's no cash left. I ended up working a couple more hours to take care of payroll related issues -- I need the money, but I've had it up to HERE with not knowing whether we're going to get paid, and the bosses not letting the employees know that payroll will be late, etc.


STITCHY STUFF
Last week I wrote about how flower frogs (or scissor frogs, as we like to call them) are used by stitchers to store their scissor collection. As I mentioned, I have a small one on my end table that I keep scissors, seam ripper, and needle puller in. It's perfect since it doesn't take up much space. Due to it being small, though, I have to display my other pairs of scissors another way. Behold...

This hangs in my craft room,
formerly known as "the scary room".





P.S. If anyone is interested, I have another scissor frog on my stash-for-sale blog.





As I've mentioned before, I'm participating in a mailart exchange. I received my mailart early! Before I present the darling envelope, I have a story to tell.

When I went to the PO, I went to the counter first because I had to get some postage amounts for some packages I'll be sending out. I did that, and then went to get my mail out of the box. I was so excited by the fact I got mailart (and had a package being held behind the counter), that I left my keys in my PO box door. On my way back to the counter, I thought "Where the heck did I leave my keys?!". I asked the clerk if I had left my keys there. He said, "No." So, I gave him the card and said I had a package. He looks at me and says, "Did you leave them in the box door?" Duh! He told me to go get my keys, and he'd meet me at the side door to give me my package. The nice guy that he is, he didn't even laugh. As he handed me my package, he said to me, "That's what happens when you get old and senile!" He's older than me! LOL

Without further adieu, here's what Betty in Nevada sent me:


I thought it was really cool how Betty had the sunflower theme going on. :) She included a recipe for a cheese ball topped with sunflower seeds. It has bleu cheese in it, and since I'm not a fan I'll probably try a different cheese ball recipe and put the sunflower seeds on it. I do like how the tortilla chips makes the ball into a sunflower, though. Very cool idea. See the pink and brown bits in the upper right corner? Those are chocolate covered sunflower seeds! Of course, I *had* to try those right away. Yummo! I had to chuckle a bit at the sunflower seed packet... I *almost* bought some over the weekend. Glad I didn't.

Thank you, Betty. Everything was great :)


A couple of weeks ago, I showed my Rabbit Heart finish. Over the weekend, I made it into a scissor fob.

Rabbit Heart
by Alexandrina (Matrioska Biscornu)
Fabric: 22ct Hand-Dyed Purple Hardanger
Fiber: Anchor 112
Stitching Time: 3½ Hrs
Finishing Time: 1½ Hrs
Embellishments: Runched Ribbon

I also finished the mailart for the exchange I'm involved in, but no pics until it arrives at its new home. I also started the snowman ornament for another exchange.


TREASURE HUNTING
After the incident at J2 on Friday, I needed some retail therapy, so I visited the thrift stores in town. I found a few things...

Over a yard of pretty pink trim for 99c. I think this will be great for a pinkeep or a box finish.
Set of stamped pillow cases for $3. I'm not a huge fan of stamped projects, but the quality of the pillow cases is awesome, and I loved the trim. Plus, you can't buy a nice set of pillow cases in the box stores for $3!

Until next time,


(P.S. A big "thanks" goes out to Karen, who sent me both my siggie avatars.)