Rainy Day

We've had about 18 hours of straight rain, with about 12 hours more to go. Total rainfall in some areas has been 4" or more, although right here, it is just about 2".

My students asked me this morning, "Will they call off class?" "Why?" I asked. "Because it is raining!" Who ever heard to calling off class because it was raining?

Well, tonight on the news, I heard that one school district DID call off school because of the rain. This was a rural district whose buses had some low-lying back roads to travel, and areas that were underwater from floods last year--so I'll cut them a break and agree that it was necessary. They only lost less than an hour of school because of the rain.

When it rains like it did today, with the sky so dark at times it looked like night outside, I would have been all for the "call off class" recommendation. It was all I could do to keep myself and my students alike to stay away for the 12:30-1:45 class. So sleepy were we all studying vowel diagraphs that I had to devise something to wake them up. So we did a Total Physical Response activity--stand up, put one hand up if you hear OOOO sound, and two hands up if you hear the OW sound. That seemed to liven things up a little bit and made the time go a little bit faster. I must admit I was clock watching today, and was really glad when it got close to 1:45.

And of course, long snoozy naps were in order when I got home. Now, I'm needing to flog myself to get downstairs and tackle that basic black job! But blankets and remote controls sound so much more appealing on a very rainy dreary night!

No News is Bad News

The sewing room has been abandoned. No one has entered since Sunday night except the bug man who sprayed the basement Monday, and me who brought the trash cans up to be emptied for today's trash pick up. This means, the cassock still sits with no sleeves and no buttons or buttonholes.

Tuesday was a wash out. Little Girl M was home sick, and Mom needed a babysitter for her all afternoon. She wants Grandma or Mommy by her side when she is sick, so there was no use trying to sew and keep her happy. No sewing would have gotten done. Today was much the same, I had a physical therapy appointment that lasted til 3, then picked up the kids at 4, entertained them until 7:30 when mom came to get them. Now I'm cooling my heels til 8:45, trying to avoid crawling in bed, because I need to go measure some more actresses for one of the plays I'm costuming.

Doubt needs costumes by Oct. 13 for promo pictures. Having a deadline will make me get going on finishing SOMETHING. I need to get on the stick, November is coming toward me ever faster each day.

Basic Black

What your well dressed priest will be wearing this season

This pattern is quite authentic, down to the oversized pockets and 24 front buttons. It is also a very difficult pattern to find!

My next costuming gig will be all about basic black. Oh, there will be a splash of color here and there, such as Mass Vestments, but basically, I will be using most of the 20+ yards of BASIC BLACK fabric I purchased Friday to make the priest's outfit, and the habits for two nuns. This if for the play "Doubt: A Parable", starting in mid-November.

I investigated the real thing that priests' wear--these are called cassocks--I guess other ministers wear them also. I went to the store that sells them and saw the range of styles, details, fabrics, and PRICES that these things cost! The basic cotton one was a wrap-around, cost about $175. The Cadillac of cassocks was wool, made in Belguim, and cost $545! Dummy me, why am I not making these for real people instead of actors?

I tried to borrow one of these from my local parish priest. He said he hasn't owned one for a long time. He said, "Oh, I had one for a while, but then I got too fat for it, so I never bought another one." I guess we all have that problem, and it really would be a problem if you sunk $545 into a garment you outgrew! By the way, Father C, you aren't fat by any stretch of the imagination!

The design choices for this type of garment are simple, the devil is in the details. Should it be buttons or no buttons? If you choose no buttons, a lot of snaps and a belt are in order. So, I chose to make the 24 buttonholes and try to find the 24 buttons alike--this is not as easy as it seems. I've already looked on 3 stores button boards, and have come up empty. Most of them stock 12 or 15, but not 24 alike. I thought I scored the bonanzy at my last store I went to, they had more than 24 of the perfect size and style, and then when I went to count them out, THEY WERE NAVY BLUE, not black! Back to hunting again.

The other thing that is interesting is the pocket. On the more expensive cassocks, they have a very deep side slit pocket. On this pattern, not only do they have a very deep pocket, but they have a pass through, so the guy can reach into his pants pocket as well as the cassock pocket. I always wondered where they carried their handkerchiefs and note pads. Now I know.

As I said before, finding the pattern for this garment was difficult. I needed to make one for a January show, and I had to hunt in the back of the pattern drawers for this pattern. I actually had to shop at least 3 stores before I found one in stock. Then, when I unwrapped the pattern, it was missing some very vital pieces, they wrapped up two sheets of the same thing, and left out a very important piece! I had to improvise big time to overcome that problem.

Keep this one in the drawers, Butterick, you are always my 'GO TO' pattern company to find costume patterns that I need. I'm noticing that your books are getting thinner, please hang in there and keep producing good patterns, true sizing, and other good stuff!

I'll show the finished product once I get the fancy sleeves installed (very deep cuff, more storage options!), and the 24 buttons sewed on!

P is for Pirate

Pirates peeking out of the "attic windows" design of the quilt

Lots of pirates to spark the imagination

I've been working on this quilt this week, and finally finished it this morning. This is a pirate theme quilt, which is using the patch pattern of "attic windows". I used log cabin patches around each pirate picture, because they needed to be made bigger to look out each window. The border is a coordinate border print, and the backing is an all-over pirate pattern in beige, with lots of pirate ships on it.

This will be fore some little boy grandchild, I'm not sure which one right now. I am starting on a star block quilt for the little girl grandchild, I attempted to figure out how to make the star blocks today, and failed miserably. I'll try again another day!

I love doing these patches and blocks, and hope the kids enjoy them when they get them. I've got big plans for more quilts, hope my enthusiasm holds out until they are finished.

Luke, I am your Father....

Heavy breathing heard, light sabers flashing, dark scenery surrounding, and the evil one walks in on young Luke to begin the fight. Through many encounters, Luke prevails, and finally he finds out something very troubling about his past, when Darth Vader reveals.....

Luke, I am your father!

My little 5 year old grandson, one of the M & M's, loves superheros. You name it, from Superman to Spiderman, to Optimus Prime to Indiana Jones (and Grandma cannot begin to name them all!), he is in a fantasy world when he plays, being one of the superheros, or animating his Lego Superhero figures into an imaginary war in which good prevails over evil. He so far hasn't done a complete smack down of his sister as his opponent (only over who will be first to get a toy, or do some task with Mommy or Grandma). But the other afternoon, I heard him smacking down something in the other room while I was finishing up the supper dishes.

It was smacking against the wall, down the hallway, and I couldn't imagine what he could be playing with. It bumped and thumped, and sounded like he was playing football with something. Then to my horror, I realized what it was!

My very difficult to make, took 3 days to complete, and very fragile bonnet for one of the sisters in Doubt! He was punching it, kicking it, smacking it down good and about to win the fight!

Needless to say, Grandma came to Sister Aloysious' rescue in a nano-second, with a very surprised reaction from little boy M as to why I came unglued when I saw her being kicked down the hall! She was a little bit bent out of shape, but luckily I wired the brim up pretty well so that it could be reshaped if it did get bent.

Later, he came to me and said, "Grandma, you hurt my feelings when you TALKED LOUD to me". Yes, I did talk loud, and chastised the little darling for messing with my costumes. Sometimes they need a little scare from Grandma to know where she draws the line in the sand!

I thought about it later, wondering why he had ever thought to "fight" my bonnet lady. Come to think of it, the hat does somehow look a little like Darth Vader. I think it scared him, and he thought he had to fight it to save us all. Poor little guy, he was just protecting us, and he got in trouble for doing it.

I'm sorry, Little Boy M, but in the future, leave my costume pieces alone, OK?

TGIF

Yes, I am saying that more and more these days! Each week seems to fly by with work and after hours activities and grandkids on Wednesdays, but by Friday, I'm really saying TGIF!

A decision was made over a year ago by our college administration, in the midst of the crazy high gas prices, that we would hold most classes on a two day schedule rather than a three day schedule. This meant classes would meet only on Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday, but never Mon, Wed, Friday. So, even though it makes some of our classes harder to plan for and deal with, we do have Fridays off! To this I say HOORAY!

Friday, now let me see, what will I be doing with my day?

Well, I have a physical therapy session to try to conquer back pain that has been hampering me for quite some time. That's at 9:30. But after that, it is time to play.

HMMMM--maybe I'd better get going on gathering some costumes for the two plays that are now only 1 month away!

HMMMM-that might require a trip to the fabric store--oh, darn!

HMMMM--my theatre friends have invited me to see a production tonight, so I'd better save some energy for a late night out.

HMMMM--what will happen to that overflowing laundry basket if I don't pay attention to it? It's getting a little cool for summer shorts, which is all that is left in the drawers.

So, the possibilities are endless, but the time is not. It's 6:10 a.m. and I've already gotten the laundry going, maybe I'll get it all done after all.

To all of you out there, Happy Friday!

Life on a College Campus

My age puts me in a strange category. I was right between June Cleaver and Betty Friedan! Too young to really embrace the "happy housewife wearing pearls and high heels to do the laundry", and too old to burn my bra in public.

I went to college in the early 60's, carrying the indoctrination in my mind that I got in high school, you either were going to be a nun or a wife and mother, and become one or the other by age 20. I messed up on the nun thing by turning chicken 1 week before my date to receive my veil, and changing life's path before I actually entered the convent doors. So I found a great fellow, we got engaged, and I was a married woman by age 20. We used to say you went to college to get your MRS degree--for many of this age, it was very true.

So, by all this talk, you know I'm a fairly conservative person, not given to dabble in the excesses of the late 60's and early 70's. College protests on campus were not happening when I went to college, and by the time they actually were happening, I was home with 2 kids, a husband, a house and was more interested to keep peace between the kids than protests on college campuses.

I always wondered what it was like on college campuses in those days, when unrest and freedom of speech against injustices took precidence over attending class. My younger siblings were of the age to attend college during these times, but as far as I know, they didn't participate in any riots or things like that. Maybe they were just keeping that quiet, not to scare the parents or older sister. But, it was the 70's after all!

Now the community college where I work is nothing like Berkley or Kent State, but today, I envisioned myself in such a situation somewhat akin to what people might have experienced when attending college in the 70's. A gathering of faculty members and students, participating in exercising free speech, with the caveat that all speech is protected in this country. We celebrated "Banned Book Week" on our campus today, and a gathering of folks read and listened to selections from a number of banned books--some banned for a while in our country, some in other repressive societies. This was a VERY mild experience in comparison to bra or flag burning of the 70's, or National Guard troops coming in to repress student protests. No burning of anything, no police presence, just a group of people on a college campus reading things that would have not been open to be read in past days.

The importance of freedom of speech is something that I wonder if some people get. If they don't like what they hear, they scream, yell, name call, draw up petitions to have it banned, write hateful editorials, send disgusting emails. Yes, they have freedom to do this, but they want others freedoms to be repressed to suit them. I hear more stories of my immigrant students, who lived in societies where these freedoms were not open to them. They see our country as a beacon of hope for the freedom they so desperately seek.

Even with our flaws, our country is something that many in the world see as a more desirable place to live than where they were born. Many see the only opportunity for themselves is to sacrifice their home and sometimes family to come to the United States for a chance for a better life.

I just hope they find that better life. And we citizens of this country, we'd better not take our freedom for granted, because it is something that many in the world do not have.

By the way, I read from a favorite book called "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. This is a juvenile fiction book that was banned because of some of the themes written in it as it described a utopian society, designed to be a non-competitive, non-stressful, bland society, in which every person has a certain role, determined by a great unknown body of wisdom figures. Jealousy, lust, greed have all been bred out of these citizens, or removed from their psyches by medication. You think it is a perfect world until the dark underbody of the society is revealed to a wise young thinker. His actions determine the future of the whole society--it is a very compelling and interesting book. Several other of my favorites were read--Fahrenheit 451, The Kite Runner, Native Son. Thanks to Professor DF, who made this all possible. I'm really glad I participated!