hand eye crafts

Oh, no no no no no.  Uh-uh.   I have tried a whole lot of Dr Pepper products, except Peeps.  I don't do Peeps.  Candy, beans, Tic Tacs, Jack Links, even Dr Pepper cake.  Most of them weren't great, but let's not kid ourselves --- I'll try this. For me, the best Dr Pepper comestible remains  and the best Dr Pepper-adjacent product is Gone now, but I bought many, many a tube...

A couple more cars on the purple train started yesterday: My therapist gave me these today as a late birthday gift.  (We've been "together" so long that we joke we could switch chairs in the office and get just as much done.)  I don't know why that one rose stem bent on me.  Maybe as I tried to get everything in the vase?  At any rate, they're so pretty and so much appreciated. I got myself a new crock pot (or slow cooker these days, evidently) the other day.  It's a little guy, 'cause I'm sure not cooking for crowds anymore.  The one that I had to replace was a wedding gift, I think, so I can't complain about it lasting 40 years.  This is the new one: On the bottom of its carton was this: Ohhhhkay...  I'm well past reproducing, and please, Fates, let me be done with cancer.  The warning, though, is due to chemicals you might be exposed to.  It isn't clear where the chemicals are, though.  The paint?  The heating case?  Th...

Did y'all have to chew on these in elementary school? One of those days each year when routine went by the wayside?  If memory serves, they tasted awful, and chewing for as long as we were supposed to seemed impossible. Then we judged one another based on how many purple spots were on our teeth.  (We were SO cruel.) I'm kind of surprised they're still around.  We all got a new toothbrush at the end of the day.  Really, really out of the ordinary for us in the 60s. Some exciting news from tonight.  I polished my nails! First time since my fall.  The left hand dealt with my right hand easily, but the reverse was not true.  These two dang fingers are still making fine motor work tricky.  But I got it done.  Success!!

Today has felt like a sick day.  I've just sort of shlumped on the couch, no energy, listlessly scrolling through I did learn some things. For instance, pigeons can sit: It is true and clear that I over-anthropomorphize animals.  Looking at this, I "hear" the pigeon saying, "Nope.  Not in the mood for Central Park.  You can't make me, you can't make me." Still on avian topics: Cassowary eggs are bright green.  And big, it would seem.  The evolutionary purpose of green eggs* escapes me.  They can't be easily hidden.  Then again, cassowaries are considered the most dangerous birds, so maybe they aren't worried about predators. *So in the book title, are only the eggs green, or are the eggs and  the ham green?

Jesse Jackson gave a speech at Alabama when I was in grad school.   I think it was a campaign stop as he ran for president.  The room was packed;  I got there early enough to claim a chair.  The scene is crystal clear in my memory.  Jackson was bigger than I expected, in a lot of ways.  His speech was electrifying.  I don't remember the exact topics he covered, but I remember the hair on my arms standing up again and again.  He led the "I Am Somebody" chant.  One of the work-study students from the Sociology department was also there, and he and I walked back to ten Hoor Hall, talking about what we'd just seen.  I have a lot of memories from Tuscaloosa --- this is one of the clearest. Looking at this picture takes me back to how that building smelled, the department's office (oooh --- I had my own mail cubby!)  I can hear Don Muir whistling as he walked the hall where all the offices were.  Very good memories.

Am I right? This is where not having any place to be (a job, for instance) sometimes pays off.  I can't caulk or weatherstrip to keep stupid out, but my house can protect me from some of it.  As long as I don't watch too much television. I clear-cut a WHOLE lot of collage stuff last night.  Which means I don't really have a whole lot left to work on.  Knitting is still such a slow go.  Reading it is, therefore.  One novel ( The   Golem   and   The   Jinni),  and two non-fiction ( Code   Talker  and The   Horse   God   Built)

I like this so much, I'm sure I've shared it before. It's the picture on the left for me.  I'm imagining all the little bee grunts...

A twinnie.  If you don't have one already, getcha one.  They tell good stories, often punctuated by pretty pictures.  They grow things and love animals and marry good people.  They make things, and share them, e.g. Look at that snappy red zipper! And your twinnie will make you fabulous cards. And everything will arrive in a hand-crafted bag/envelope. 🩷

I have never been more glad to leave an age behind than 65.  Frankly, 2025 kinda wasn't a good year for me all around.  Still, the couple of times I've had to fill "66" in on forms today has been strange. This is a face I showed you a while back You know I can't stop with the "Make my pet human" button. This app is killing me.  In, you know, a good way. Shout-out to my fellow "12ers" (well, some of them): Lincoln, of course Charles Darwin (They were actually born on the same day, same year.  There's a wonderful book about them: Angels and   Ages) Christina Ricci Taylor Dearden (IYKYK) Bill Russell (HERO) Josh Brolin Michael McDonald (A favorite voice) Hope y'all have a good Friday the 13th.

It's interesting how algorithms work.  I shouldn't be surprised that lots of animal-related things show up on my Instagram feed.  This made me chuckle: Honestly, I know what a chicken saddle is, but, also honestly, it has been a minute since I've thought about one.  (First thing that inevitably comes to mind is "Who/What is small enough to ride a chicken?"  "How do you put on the bridle and the reins?") Those of you who might have gone a little naughty with the phrase "ride a chicken?"  Here's your pay-off. The fact that there are two names for this is tremendous.  Personally, I prefer "mating saddle."  "Chicken apron" is something that mama chickens in children's books wear.  Like so: So, you put the mating saddle on your hen because you have a rooster who might overmate. (Why do I find this so funny?  I'm having to stop periodically while typing this to giggle.) So you, as the chicken farmer, have to know 1) wh...

I have been goofing around with an AI app.  (Don't tell my son.  He'll LAUNCH headlong into a tirade.)  Still, one of the prompts available to me was "Turn my pet into a human."  Here, firstly, is my pet Tap.* Asking that he be turned into a human resulted in this. This thoroughly delights me, in no small part because it's sort of reminiscent of my daughter.  Also, there's a smattering of freckles across the nose.  I do like freckles. *This is another AI: "Pencil sketch."

 I, like many I suppose, am just kind of hanging around until the Super Bowl starts.  I did have a visitor a bit ago: "Mother, I have arisen from my nap.  It is time for you to brush me back into good-looking-ness." (I did.) Although we are often told that a journey is more important than a destination, sometimes the reverse is true.  Take, for example, the recent trip I took through animals' reproduction behavior.  (And NO, it doesn't matter why.)  You, dear reader, may wish not to learn what I have learned.  If you don't, scroll down the picture of a pier and a calm sea to resume your sure footing. Those of you still here are required to know that male ducks have corkscrew-shaped penises.  I assume many of you already did.  And have possibly searched for a photograph of said phalluses.  No judgment here. What I arrived at after my trip through animal reproductive behavior, much  better than what it took to get me there, was this: ...

I don't understand why criminals confess their crimes to their cellmates.  (Other, I suppose, than trying to sound big and bad.)  Cellmates go to the police.  Come on: watch a crime TV show, or a documentary, even. Has anyone ever seen "Dreary" used in a weather outlook before?  "I'd love to come to your pizza party, but the weather's due to be 'dreary' that day." How do you dress for "dreary?" Have any of you ever seen an animal capture your mood and personality PER.  FECT.  LY? Do you know about We Love Poppets on Etsy?  I've bought several prints to give as gifts, and gotten a few of the wee little sculptures for myself.  Here are the latest two to arrive: No, not Garth Brooks Poppet.  That is the Little Witch of Winter, and this is knitting Poppet, "Gathering in the Wool."  You can't quite see the delicate little needles, but they're wonderful. Did you know there's a new  protest hat  making the rounds (ha ...

Does the guy come with the wig? 'Cause I may have a little room on my Amazon card... Excruciatingly boring around here.  My visit to the car dealership went well;  all that needed to be done was putting a patch on one tire.  It was the back passenger tire, and for the last several months, it would lose air at random.  As in, I'd get the warning on my dashboard, put air in it, and then drive for however long without a problem.  Weird.  It never even looked that flat. Did you know that velvet is manufactured to catch light?  I didn't;  just found that out, and I think it's fascinating. (I know this looks like satin, but it's velvet.) Since I'm all caught up on "The Pitt," my TV time is now spent on "Broadchurch." Olivia Colman has never let me down.  (Thank you, crush on Hugh Laurie, for getting me to watch "The Night Manager" --- that's how I found out about her.)   David Tennant is all kinds of charming, even playing stern chara...

I forgot to talk about Friday, everything was kind of stirred up by the weather.  Still, it was another day to meet at The Arch to protest.  There was also a crowd at the UGA student center's plaza. It was also a day of economic boycott.  Not that I do a whole lot of spending anyway, but I did not spend any Friday or Saturday.  Nothing so far today, either. The snow is gone, save for those areas in front of the house that take forever to thaw.  It's super-cold still, though, and I have an 8 AM appointment for my car's scheduled check-up.  I usually take knitting along to help pass the time.  Tomorrow, it will be a book.  Not a great picture of my guy, so here: