Public Service Announcement:

Some of you have asked if I could record these epistles. Yes, I can and No, I can’t. In other words: Sometimes. But if you, dear reader, have a vision problem, you need something a bit more reliable than my vocal cords, and I think you very probably have it. I may be wrong, but…IF you use MS Word, there is something called Narrator you can use. I can’t begin to tell you how, but you can go here for information on how to set it up for a PC, and click here for a Mac.You should be able to hear either your own documents, or a page on the web. A great way to check what you’ve written for syntax, etc.
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Weather in the Tries:
It’s getting warmer —the highs will not only be above freezing this coming week, on Wednesday the high will be in the 50s!! The lows will get almost kissing close to freezing, but not quite. Such a tease.        

Dancing Sugar Plums:
I don’t know about you, but I always considered sugar-plums dancing through the kidlet’s heads to be, well, sugared plums. I have been shown the truth. There are no sugared plums in sugar-plums. Did Clement Clarke Moore lie to us? No. (phew. that’s a relief). I found a fascinating 22 minute program on YouTube, Tasting History: Victorian Sugar Plums.

I don’t know if Max Miller, who hosts Tasting History, is a trained chef or a trained historian, or both, or neither. Obviously, he loves history, at least he loves kitchen history, and cheffing. Should that be chefing? 

I really implore you to watch the video. You deserve a break today, besides this one, of course. Pour yourself a cuppa your favorite warm libation—tea, coffee, mulled wine—and sit back, relax, and enjoy this instructive video. The subject of sanity arises in the video—well, you’ll see what I mean when you watch it.

I strongly hope you will quell the urge to make your own, and just go out and buy them, instead.

Wee tiny small quilts:
When I moved back to the Tries from ABQ, I decided I wanted to spend my time on small quilts—table toppers, wall hangings, placemats, no more bed sized quilts. Wee quilts are easier, for the most part, to work on. And take up less space. 

Somewhere along the way, I was told about Lisa Flowers Ross. My wee memory, what’s left of it, tells me I was in correspondence with her father when writing Madame Dorian, Her Journey to the Oregon Country, and somehow quilting came up in one of our conversations. Or perhaps he was just evincing Fatherly Pride in his daughter, Lisa, and her accomplishments. It really doesn’t, at this point in the story, matter. I became a fan of her art and signed up for her newsletter. Be sure to watch the video on the opening page of her website (linked above), it’s about 23 minutes long.

Her last newsletter, had some wee tiny small quilts that were as big as the opening in an 8×10 matt—roughly 3.5” x 5.5” in the matts and frames I bought. I made two as ‘drafts’ before tackling the final ones. I don’t know how she does them, but I strongly suspicion there is very little actual sewing, that most of the pieces are fused. In looking closely at the picture she sent, it looks like the quilting is very minimal. So here are my first two:

Photos of the Week:
This is my first one, Snack Time (apologies for the pinked up white matte and the reflection.)

This is my second, Desert Sunset

from the desk of the sleepy chihuahua;
my human is really weird, but what else is new. it’s winter, it’s cold, and it’s dark. she lets her phone make noise early in the morning. then she lets me out for a few minutes and I go back to bed. does she/ no. she stays up which puts me in a terrible bind. my dogness says I should really be by her side to protect her, but it’s dark outside, and my body says it needs more sleep. I’m very glad she doesn’t get upset with me. now, I’m going back to sleep.

Earworm of the Week:

This isn’t really an earworm, but more of a parody, and I fear I will see it every time I think of the OP. When I Think of Trump, a Yiddish song on YouTube. Enjoy.

Now this is an earworm:
Burl Ives singing the first cover of Ghost Riders in the Sky, recorded 1949. This has been one of my favorite songs since I was a kid, a little kid. My three favorite songs as a kidlet were Ghost Riders in the Sky, Oh Buttermilk Skies by Hoagy Carmichael, I’m Just Wild About Animal Crackers by Mel Blanc.