My greatest creations, ever

These pix are from a few weeks ago (at friend Echo's fifth birthday party) but the kids haven't changed that much. Well, Maggie grew a few inches, probably in anticipation for her second birthday on -- gasp -- Wednesday! (Mom, your present arrived today, so you're covered!) I'm hoping to finish knitting a teddy bear in time to give it to her as a present -- might happen if I don't get any more chapters in the study I'm editing until Thursday... and the kids are perfect angels... and I (continue to) neglect my housework... and I take my knitting outside where it's approaching 70 degrees!! ... and put aside my 15 other artsy-crafty diversions....

Whatever else I manage to give her, my Maggie will get lots of kisses, and a cake, and quite possibly some daffodils that are ready to BLOOM in my front yard. Daffodils, on the first day of March... unthinkably eerie. Welcome nonetheless....

UFOs!!!

Right here in Magdalena -- a whole slew of UFOs!

Unfinished objects, that is. This isn't Roswell, after all. It's nothing more than my Olympic challenge: to, shall we say, resolve as many personal UFO mysteries as possible. I just finished Laz's black-and-white sweater (to be modeled and photographed soon), so now I get to face...

...the second mitten of Laz's mitten set, which I just finished knitting but (since I NEVER manage to obediently follow patterns) is DIFFERENT from the first one and so I'll have to go back and do some counting and reknitting and -- feh, it's almost spring (so it'd better fit next winter, if we ever see winter again):


...a nearly finished needle case to house all my double-pointed needles (it would be done except I miscalculated how wide the top of the foldover cover should be, and it doesn't quite work yet):


...another case for my straight needles (I need to resolve the problem above before sewing this one up):


...two pretty hummingbirds (no, not knitting-related, but I want to finish these!), awaiting beaks (what to use -- wire? carved wood? the pattern calls for dyed toothpicks but that just seems tacky) and embellishment with embroidery, beads, and other fancy stuff:


...and, the dog of the lot, a sheep that just isn't working (that pattern issue again):

Studio tour

Yesterday turned into a very productive day... my desperation to avoid work, coupled with my solemn promise to NOT avoid work by sewing or knitting or other craftiness, finally yielded a CLEAN loft. I haven't seen it this neat or clean since... before we moved in. Heh. So here's where I work, sew, gaze out the window, sleep, read, etc. -- I only get three to four waking hours up here every day, but it's usually enough to keep my spirit going.

Coming up the ladder into the loft: I created a new knitting nook by moving several months' worth of crap off this old chair (which will soon have a rainbow serape cover, which is now clean and drying). The north-facing window looks out on the Bear Mountains:


Turning toward the east, this door leads to a small balcony outside; the shelves hold some but not all of my insane fabric stash (not yet organized; that's the next project in Operation Anti-Clutter) as well as fabric dyes (this summer's new endeavor) and beads, and I also have my dresser and jewelry up here:


Here's my work desk, facing south, with a great view of the Magdalena Mountains and the big blue sky:


And I do my sewing in the (north)west corner at the foot of the bed, right under a skylight:


Next up (now that it's CLEAN!!!): I'll add some track lighting above the sewing area, continue decluttering and organizing by craft type, and finally start putting stuff on the walls. I noticed yesterday that I have none, but NONE of my photography up, and given that this is my main creative/inspirational space, that's a big gap. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home....

"Keeping your eyes closed is worse than being blind"

That's one of my all-time favorite lyrics, from Doc Pomus' "(There is Always) One More Time." Sung by B.B. King, of course. Johnny Adams does a slower soulful version that I like, too, but King's guitar riffs go straight through my bones.

Eyes opened today to:
-Another mining tragedy, entirely preventable yet inevitable because of, what else, corporate greed
-Another opportunity for oil companies to jack up their prices, surely setting up another record-breaking quarter for the industry and laying the groundwork for Bush&Co. to "bring democracy" to poor, downtrodden Nigeria (the US' fifth-largest oil supplier). Here's one view from China on the larger picture of oil in Africa... I'm becoming fascinated with prospects of the US and China having to somehow deal with each other as competition for oil (i.e. political domination over oil-producing nations) heats up. If the US goes ahead with its apparent plan to "tame" Iran, will China enter the fray to protect its own interests? If so, what fate might Walmart and its ilk then suffer? Oil wars and nukes and China, oh my!
-"Katrina Katrina, why'd you blow so hard" (to the tune of "Corrina Corrina") by T.J. Wheeler, performed live and scorching on WUMB
-Some great tips on how to counter arguments from nincompoops who believe the idea of global warming is a plot hatched by left-wing commie freaks

Today is a work day (thanks to the holiday, Marin is off from school and available to babysit my adorable little ankle-biters) but, having had one cup of coffee too many, I'm "multi-tasking" -- work a bit, blog a bit and, demonstrating the desperate depths of my obstinance to work, cleaning up my messy, messy loft. I've managed to refrain from more artistic pursuits so far, mainly because my first burst of cleaning energy has put the baskets of knitting, sewing, embellishing, etc. out of reach. For now.

Back to... oh, yeah, work.

Here's some REALLY broken sh&%....

I was shocked and appalled to open my email and see this headline:

Senate Rejects Wiretapping Probe

Our "democracy"? Feh. The Republicans have succeeded in making it a plutocracy. One of the Bush administration's most egregious offenses (in a LONG list) against the "democracy" they claim to uphold does not, according to the majority of our nation's senators, merit investigation.

You gotta f*%$ing be kidding me.

BUT that's not all -- here's more "good news" to further brighten my day:

Senator May Seek Tougher Law on Leaks
Patriot Act Moves Closer to Renewal
and, no surprise by now:
Cheney Shooting Case Is Closed in Texas

Here's some new fun for schoolkids and the zealots who love them:
Bible Guides Tour Museums to Counter Science
I mean, wow. Let's return the favor and gather together some scientists to "tour" their churches and Bible schools, shall we? And the name of one company: Biblically Correct Tours -- there's a ballsy claim. Do they do field trips to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib to "discuss," say, Leviticus? All in the name of education, you know.

What do the fundies have to say about the bird flu's confirmed spread to France and Egypt, soon after being confirmed in Germany and several African nations... oh, never mind, they always crow that it's God's punishment for sinners. So I guess we're all toast, eh?

But this trumps them all and, hell, could make it all irrelevant sooner rather than later:

Glacier Melt Could Signal Faster Rise in Ocean Levels

I'm so disgusted. I think I'll go stick my head right back in the sand, after I write my senators and representatives, for whatever the hell that's worth.

Speaking of broken...

It sucks being sick. It sucks more when the kids are sick, too. And the babysitter. And now the husband. But nothing sucks more than not being able to DO anything while sick -- no work (can't sit up, and upstairs is too far from the bathroom), no laundry, no KNITTING, for God's sake -- besides moan and shuffle to the bathroom and change 17 poopy diapers a day (haste being essential because the kids figured out how much fun it is to rip the diapers off and smear the poop all over the place) and grope around for the TV remote in desperate hope that it will be within easy reach (too much bending and, well, back to the bathroom for me, and did I mention the fast-growing pile of laundry on the kitchen floor?) because maybe something interesting will come on, for a change....

Yesterday was a bit better. Today is okay except for the stabbing back and shoulder pains (laundry is still out of the question), and only four poopy diapers so far. I've managed to knit a few inches of the neckband for Laz's sweater (a few inches of a five-stitch-wide band ain't much, but it's up the left front and heading towards the neck). Maggie and Antonio are still pretty sick, but Laz and I are coming back.

Last week, the kids and I went to a birthday party, and I'll post a few pictures later... gotta go lie down again.

I broke it again

...but I think I've fixed it. I've been trying to publish a new entry for over a week, to no avail, and since I've been working I haven't taken the time to mess around in Blogger's and my FTP settings. Cuz, you know, I need to WORK. And I've been doing that. Sometimes. When I'm not doing this (it's done except for the neckband, which will be black, and buttons):



or this (a quilt for our bed; center panel is done and now I need to figure out some borders):



or chasing the kids around, getting them outside in this constant 50+ degree sunshine (it's just EERIE, I say), or giving Miss Maggie a bath:



or making dinner, which I should do now (Elk roast). Oh, and working. Heh.

Better than chocolate

Two more *finished* projects (my mom made most of the scarf):


The hat fits perfectly (the second time around), and I just cast on some matching gloves. (If I lose my courage or my marbles trying to deal with all those fingers, they'll become mittens.)

I'm trying hard to take care of my UFOs (unfinished objects) before starting new projects, and in that vein I'm halfway up the second front panel of the jacket I started for Laz a few months ago:


The gloves/mittens will slow me down a bit, but I PROMISE not to cast on anything new until this jacket is finished. Oh, and I still have to finish that goofy legless sheep, and a friend is patiently awaiting her teal mohair scarf, and... yeah, no more new projects, and certainly no new yarn. I'd better finish quickly because yarn will certainly be going on sale soon, what with spring just around the corner. What am I saying -- winter never came, and I just don't think we'll get any cold or stormy weather here this year. ...I'm tempting fate on purpose here... bring it on, baby!! Mama's got enough wool for at least three more months of knitting!

My sewing UFOs are a different story entirely. Needless to say, I won't be buying any fabric for the next year, at least. Maybe for the rest of the decade.

Presidential Succession

Breaking news:
-For God's sake, Pat, just shut the hell up. If God consistently smote Bad Guys, you'd have been dust long, long ago.
-"I have no specific recollection of that organization." Oh, Sam. You've made Uncle Ronny so proud. And we're still stupid (or numbed) enough to just nod and say Okay, thanks, onto the next question.

And now onto our main feature. Tuesday's post got me thinking about the whole "impeach George and Dick, then what?" thing, so I did a bit of research and found out that... well, we won't be much better off impeaching George no matter how far down the list we go. This site made that much clear (to me, at least -- a completely impartial observer -- heh):

1. The Vice President: Richard Cheney
2. Speaker of the House: John Dennis Hastert (Ed. note: Roy Blunt currently leads the vote to take this spot permanently.)
3. President pro tempore of the Senate(1): Ted Stevens
4. Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice
5. Secretary of the Treasury: John Snow
6. Secretary of Defense: Donald H. Rumsfeld
7. Attorney General: Alberto Gonzales
8. Secretary of the Interior: Gale A. Norton
9. Secretary of Agriculture: Mike Johanns
10. Secretary of Commerce: Carlos Gutierrez(2)
11. Secretary of Labor: Elaine Chao(3)
12. Secretary of Health and Human Services: Mike Leavitt
13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Alphonso Jackson
14. Secretary of Transportation: Norman Yoshio Mineta
15. Secretary of Energy: Samuel Bodman
16. Secretary of Education: Margaret Spellings
17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Jim Nicholson
18. Secretary of Homeland Security(4): Michael Chertoff

NOTE: An official cannot succeed to the Presidency unless that person meets the Constitutional requirements (born in the US, of appropriate age, etc. -- Ed.).
1. The president pro tempore presides over the Senate when the vice president is absent. By tradition the position is held by the senior member of the majority party.
2. Carlos Gutierrez was born in Cuba and is ineligible.
3. Elaine Chao was born in Taiwan and is ineligible.
4. In late July 2005, the Senate passed a bill moving the Homeland Security secretary to number 8 on the list. The bill is awaiting House approval.

Oh yes, let's move Michael Chertoff up ten notches -- he proved SO competent at handling Hurricane Katrina. And Condi and Donald, right up there in the top ten, would define compassionate conservatism for all time, don't you think?

Don't get me wrong -- if we as a nation actually have the courage and conviction to move forward on impeachment, I'll be shouting hosannas from my rooftop. But I won't be holding my breath for much, if any, actual deviation from the Right-Wing Master Plan of Domination and Silencing All Opposition.

UNLESS...

... impeachment of King George and Big Dick doesn't happen till after the Dems take back the House in the November elections.

So there is hope. I feel much better now -- I think I'll go practice some hosannas...

More knitting

... or an excuse (like I need one) to post a cute kid picture. Maggie turns away from the camera most of the time, unlike her unabashedly photogenic big brother, so I usually have to jump out from behind chairs or trees or cars to get a decent shot of her (I shoulda been a papparazza). I made the little scarf for her with of yarn that I'd reluctantly passed over at Wal*Mart for the past six months (just $1 for the ball because it was solo), plus the rest of the fun fur from Johnnie's pink scarf:



Yes, it really is THAT pink. And the little hoodie -- isn't that elegant? I love how it hides the spaghetti/milk/salad dressing melange that Maggie seems to prefer over more traditional hair treatments.

That sheep from the previous post now has a full body and face and just needs legs, a tail, and ears. It's... chunky. But Maggie loves it already, so I won't fret the aesthetics. I managed to almost completely subvert the original pattern (albeit with a few trials and errors), which unfortunately just emboldens me to continue flouting established conventions.... Oh well. I'm being "creative."

Speaking of creative, here's a term that's new to me: unitary executive. I can't think of a better term to describe the tyranny of King George. But. If we impeach Dubya, that leaves us with Big Dick, who... would probably just come out and declare that he's the King now. So we gotta nail him, too, but how likely or possible is that? Last week, Daily KOS' attytood asked, "Could Congress impeach and remove Bush and Cheney at the same time? Doubtful, and if they tried, it would surely be viewed by the vast political middle as major overkill, regardless of the 'justice' involved.

"What's more, that would put House Speaker Dennis Hastert -- a man who seems to have little interest in the important job he holds now -- in the White House. Does anyone -- Hastert included -- want that?"

Sheesh. At least Tom DeLay is out of that picture. And that's enough of this nonsense for today -- it's back to knitting and child-tending for me.

Knitting update

Finally, here are pictures of my recent (past two months) knitting projects. First, my masterpiece, a cashmere lace scarf I made for my mom for Christmas:



Many thanks to Gail for all the help, and for the pattern (from her classic Stahman's shawls and scarves book). I had to start the dang thing three times, but once I figured out how to read the lace chart (from the bottom up, where the line starts at #1 -- duh), it went smoothly and was a nice challenge. The cashmere (from elann.com) was luscious to work with. If it hadn't sold out within a day of being offered, I'd have bought more to work with....

Next, three fun-fur projects -- the green and pink scarves were for Johnnie, and I made the blue one for myself yesterday:



The pink one uses fun fur and wool; the other two use fun fur and homespun, and I knit all three using two rows of one yarn, two rows of the other, repeated about 450 times (not really, but it's a lot of rows). I like the pseudo-lacy effect, and alternating the yarns rather than knitting them together makes the scarf less chunky and, well, furry.

Finally, I'm starting to branch out from wearables to playables, and am currently working on a little sheep from World of Knitted Toys:



Now, what's wrong with this picture? I spot at least five mistakes:
1. The wool isn't anywhere near the recommended DK weight -- it's chunky, to say the least.
2. Therefore, I'm using US size 10.5 rather than size 3 needles.
3. And they're double-pointed, not straight needles.
4. Because I decided I wanted to knit in the round rather than sew up all those dang seams.
5. So why am I even bothering to follow a pattern? Well, I like to pretend that I am. Actually, I'm adapting this pattern. Which could explain why I'm on my third attempt (the first time I didn't understand the pattern's terminology; the second time was my first try at adapting the gauge, and this time I switched to the DPNs).

I must comment on the DPNs: I HATED using double-pointed needles until I found these birch ones. They're very lightweight and easy to work with, unlike the metal ones that would clank awkwardly and slip right out of the stitches and just infuriate me. If you hate DPNs, try these -- they're mah-velous.

I also made (but forgot to photograph) a funny little frog for Maggie from Family Circle Easy Toys. It came out very cute, and even though I managed to follow the pattern perfectly, I've already come up with a few changes (make I-cords for arms and legs instead of sewing them up, and try knitting body in the round... yeah, I hate seams!). I'll probably make more animals before getting back to wearables... it's hard to think about making warm clothes when every day here has been about 60 degrees and sunny.

**ducks flying objects from soggy and frigid regions of the nation**

What is this "should"?

Happy new year to everyone! We're in the second or third week of dry, mild weather here (it's 64 degrees out now), which is lovely but I'm actually ready to trade it in with all of you getting hammered with one storm after another. All that wet weather coming off the Pacific just goes up and over New Mexico lately, and although I love being able to take the kids outside to play, I can't help but get nervous when I glance at my dry-to-the-bone garden beds and at the mountains and plains thick with dry brush. So send us your rain, and I'll send you our sunshine.

What I should be doing:
-editing (that would be work, which I can hardly face after a few weeks off, not that I'm ever terribly enthused to drop my projects and puttering for mundane work...)
-cleaning the loft
-cleaning the rest of the house, too
-finishing the post-xmas taking down of lights, etc., and hauling all the holiday stuff out to the shed
-dragging the denuded tree out to the garden to mulch the kale and chard
-cleaning up the yard and remulching the garden beds that the chickens keep digging up
-folding laundry
-washing and hanging the remaining three loads of laundry
-sorting through two weeks' mail and paying the bills
-gathering clutter to give away or toss (and actually following through for a change)
-organizing the kitchen shelves, which have slipped into chaos

Given such a daunting list, of course, I am avoiding all of it. I could say that I'm honoring my new year's resolution to stop chastising myself for not being neater, more organized, more efficient and productive... but no. I'm just slacking off and messing around, reading blogs and catching up on news...

The bad news: I just heard that all but one of the 13 miners in did die in the West Virginia mine explosion. What sorrow for their families and friends. I remember the Depression-era coal-mining ballads my dad used to sing us when we were kids, songs he no doubt learned from the miners in his extended family, and there are no happy lyrics there because it was and is and will always be a dirty, tough, perilous occupation. One theme in many of these songs was the exploitation of poor men by the wealthy mine owners who all too often sacrificed safety to increase their profits. Sadly, the story remains unchanged after all these decades: The mine where these men died had been cited 21 times last year for unsafe conditions, specifically the build-up of dangerous and combustible gasses -- the exact conditions that killed a dozen men in these first days of 2006.

The good news (depends on your perspective, of course -- I'm dancing on my dining room table over this): Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff has not only been nabbed at last but is turning states' evidence and could bring down a LOT of other scumbags, too. Among his more egregious acts: bilking Native American tribes out of tens of millions of dollars. Typical Republican reverse-Robin-Hoodism at its very worst -- if you've ever set foot on a typical reservation, you have no trouble imagining the magnitude of this particular sin. "I hope I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty," Abramoff moaned during his court appearance yesterday. Yeah, good luck with that, Jack.

Post-Christmas Bliss

We had a very nice Christmas, and although I didn't make half the gifts I'd hoped to, I did get two of the three most important ones (a cashmere lace scarf for my mom, a bright pink wool/fun fur scarf for Johnnie) finished. The third scarf, for our magnificently competent and warm-hearted babysitter Marin, just was not working and I'll have to rethink it. (Or choose a new pattern, since part of the reason it failed was that I kept deviating from the pattern I'd originally chosen, which is always my downfall in knitting, quilting, and life in general....)

I feel like I did well by everyone -- I didn't go overboard at all, just chose gifts I felt they'd really enjoy, and they did. Mom loves the scarf, and Dad loves the maps, trip guides, and satellite image of New Mexico (not just for their visual impact but because they'll just enhance his back-roads motorcycling). My dear husband put me to shame (unintentionally) by giving me a computerized sewing/embroidery machine, one that means serious business (so I'd better start making stuff to sell!). My mom gave us a really cool, convenient composter (serious gardeners, you understand the cool of this), and my dad gave me some amazing astronomy software. (It's especially great since I can actually SEE stars and planets and comets and satellites here!)

The weather has been wonderful: sunny, mid-60s, generally calm -- dry, though, which always gets people here nervous. "Grass needs good snow cover to come back in spring," say the ranchers. And everyone knows a good rancher tends his grass first and foremost.

I need to upload new pictures -- shame on me, I took absolutely none on Christmas morning -- but first I have to retrieve laundry and tend to Lazarus' deepening cough. Time to brew some Osha and put eucalyptus oil in the tea kettle on top of the woodstove.

Afternoon bliss

It's a cold but sunny afternoon here in New Mexico, and I'm up in my loft listening to WUMB, reading cool Weblogs, playing with Photoshop... God do I love the kids' naptime. Laz stayed home from school today, which made my usually calm Monday morning more frenetic than I'd like -- it really sucks (for them and for me) when they can't go outside to play. So naptime came a bit early today....

I've finally finished a few languishing quilting projects: three small hangings, done mainly for practice (piecing and especially machine quilting). I definitely like the first one ("Maize") best; the colors in the "Santuario" one don't quite work for me (I think it's the adobe -- too yellowy-orange), and I should have stipple-quilted the adobe and used a different motif for the sky; and the red in "Balloon" seems overpowering. Oh well; I did get a bit better with each one, and they'll cover up some blank wall space!



I'm also putting the binding on Maggie's flannel quilt now -- handsewing that final edge is such a tedious process -- and am ready to start something new. Maybe I'll have some time this afternoon to play around with fabrics, though I suppose I should choose the purpose first, fabrics second. The knitting also continues, with another sweater for Lazarus underway:



I have a few other things on the needles but will probably focus on holiday projects for the next few weeks. Oh, and I have more lights to put up -- I would just put more up every day if we didn't run out, I love them that much -- and might start decorating indoors, too. I'm a holiday nut, I know.

Here comes Santa Claus...

Just a few random notes from America's Outback:

-Thanksgiving was quiet and lovely, with a nice dinner of turkey breast and the usual fixin's, a nappish afternoon, and knitting circle in the evening. I got kudos for Laz's mohair sweater, now finished (pictures forthcoming), a two-color (gasp!) sweater I just started for him, and another project I've finally figured out after three false starts. Laz says he wants a blue hat, so I'll get on that soon since he only has one that fits and it doesn't match his coat (gasp!)....
-Antonio promptly came down with a stomach virus and was out of commission for a few days. Laz and Maggie seem to have had some version of it last week -- it's been constant replays of Carrie around here lately. Nuff said. I was playing the nurse-hero (albeit an occasionally snappish one) and, since pride always goeth before a fall, now I've fallen ill. Now who will clean the toilet and air out the bathroom three times a day?!? Blecchh.
-Just before I got sick, I managed to pack up and remove FOUR big blue boxes of stuff from the house. Project Anti-Clutter will resume shortly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Happy" Thanksgiving -- yeah, right. I'm just gonna hang out up here for a few days till the "festivities" are over. They might "pardon" the turkeys in some places, but we're pretty far from civilization here and I'm not gonna take my chances. I'll give thanks -- for my butt not being in the oven, that's what I'm giving thanks for today.

Our "Lady Turkey" (as Lazarus calls her) is up on the roof today, no doubt sensing that it's the best place for her these days. The "Boy Turkey," who's at least 25 pounds, couldn't fly a foot off the ground if his life depended on it, but lucky for him we're only making dinner for the four of us. If we get an elk next month on our hunt, he might just make it through Christmas, too...

Maggie's new sweater and hat

I finished these a few weeks ago but just got around to doing up the pictures:



The sweater is big on her, and that's okay because it wears like a sweater dress now and it'll still fit her next year. I'm done knitting for Maggie this season, since my mom made her two beautiful sweaters recently and the sweater-coat she made last year still fits nicely. Now I'm working on a mohair sweater for Lazarus (using mohair from the local fiber processor, just like the alpaca-wool-soy silk I used for Maggie's sweater above), and I'm about to dive into two-color knitting on another sweater for Laz. I'm also planning a few holiday gift projects but I won't write about those here because, well, you know.

The comforts of home

We're back from our camping/deer hunting trip -- no carcasses in tow -- and it feels so dang good to be home. It was a good trip, with perfect daytime weather (nights hit about 30 degrees, though, which makes my cold-hating butt near-miserable). Laz and Maggie did really, really well, and Lucy is an awesome camp dog. As always, Antonio was an amazing outdoorsman. I even did okay, after three cups of strong coffee each morning. I don't sleep well in the great outdoors, no matter what the weather, so mornings can be a bit dicey for me (always have been -- just ask my mom and dad what I was like on our family camping trips), and having to take care of two toddlers with few conveniences on hand hardly helped. But we did well, and although our area seemed completely and strangely devoid of wildlife and thus a terrible hunting ground, it was a good trip.

Here are some highlights -- Laz and Maggie in their play tent:



And these are from our very best day (according to Lazarus, and I'd have to agree), when I took the kids for a wonderful hike in the deep forest:



I really look forward to camping with them again, though not till next summer when the days are longer and the nights warmer, and one or both kids are out of diapers....

The final highlight of the trip: I got a flat tire on the way home (I drove the kids in the 4Runner; Antonio took his truck and went home by a different route), and changed it by myself, in the fast-closing dusk, with two tired, boogery, poopy, hungry kids on hand. I was just finishing up when a state policeman pulled up to see if we were okay. Yay me.

Further proof that our nation's "leaders" are running amuck

I think we're back online... which is great, because I have some seriously pent-up ranting energy. Let's start with this:

Labor Dept. Is Rebuked Over Pact With Wal-Mart
(The New York Times, Nov. 1, 2005)

The upshot: Wal-Mart made a "deal" with the US Labor Department: Wal-Mart breaks the law, and the Feds give them two weeks' notice before coming to investigate AND ten days AFTER finding violations to impose fines and citations. Oh, and Wal-Mart lawyers write up the deal, the Feds wave it through, and no one has done anything wrong whatsoever because that's the Republican Way.

The Labor Department's inspector general does have a problem with this: his report (according to the NYT article) "criticized department officials for letting Wal-Mart lawyers write substantial parts of the settlement and for leaving the department's own legal division out of the settlement process."

"The report said that in granting Wal-Mart the 15-day notice, the Wage and Hour Division violated its own handbook. It added that agreeing to let Wal-Mart jointly develop news releases about the settlement with the department violated Labor Department policies."

I know, our "leaders" long ago erased the line between corporate and civil control of our nation... but they at least tried to hide that fact. Now they don't even seem to give a shit what anyone else thinks -- either they're arrogant beyond (our humble) belief, or they believe they're right. The Right, right? Gah.

Cloud art

I wrote a scintillating entry yesterday about daily life, inspirations, revelations -- then my laptop froze (I've been telling myself to get it fixed for eight months now) and I lost it. The upshot (with updates, because you want the very latest):

Knitting: We had our first knitting group session of the season last night, and it was a great three or so hours of knitting, self-revelation, and ranting about, what else, the Madness of King George. I'm working on a luscious cabled pullover for Maggie from local wool/alpaca soy silk, and an "all weather" pullover for Lazarus from old Irish homespun yarn that I'm trying to soften and strengthen with Lansinoh left over from Maggie's first weeks (applying the beeswax principle from sewing -- it's a stretch, I know). So here's what's on the needles now:


Quilting: I'm finally making good progress on Maggie's quilt, and just have the color blocks and borders left to quilt. Thanks to this book, I finally "get" how to do mitred corners on bindings, so that should go easily. I'd love to finish this by early next week because two jobs are coming in and I won't be able to "play" for the next two weeks or so.

Gardening: My little helpers have at least much fun as I do:


My autumn flurry of housework-avoidance-inspired gardening is on hold at the moment while a cold front descends and brings soaking rains and fog (but not frost, thankfully) to our fair village. I still have bundles of bulbs to plant, along with some new perennials (I'm making a fiery orange garden out front), and now the soil will be moist and diggable rather than dry and concrete-like. Note to self: pick up another big bucket of horse manure from Omar. I'm not so bullish (heh) on the chicken poop now that I've done some reading about that avian flu stuff. At first I thought, we're so isolated, it'll never come here. Then, as I watched the sparrows flit in and out of the chicken coop grabbing for food, I realized it would take just one infected bird migrating here to get it all started. Nice thought. But waterfowl are the primary carriers, not sparrows (as far as I can tell), so we might be okay here, and I guess we won't be tripping down to the Bosque del Apache this winter to see the visiting cranes, geese, ducks and other waterfowl. Anyhoo, I'm switching from chicken poop to horse poop, just to be safe. (See what I meant about scintillating?)

And what would a good blog entry be without a political rant? So I want to know, who the f%#& is Harriet Miers? There are so many judges, DAs, AGs, etc. out there who have spent decades working their butts off to build respectable careers and qualifications, and none of them seem to fit W's criteria? About all I've heard from this person so far is that she thinks Dubya is one of the most brilliant men she's ever known. But there's info out there -- many thanks to Catherine (via the divine Cecily), for compiling the following:

She was Bush's personal lawyer in Texas. She worked as counsel for his 1994 gubernatorial campaign. When he won, he appointed her to head the Lottery Commission.

She also proved indispensable in a carrying out a delicate assignment in 1998, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. During Bush's re-election campaign for governor, she was put in charge of squelching rumors about Bush's dubious National Guard service. His campaign "actually paid Miers $19,000 to run an internal preemptive probe of the potential scandal."

When Bush became President, he made her staff secretary in the White House, then deputy chief of staff, then White House counsel.

Even the National Review online acknowledged her lack of qualifications for the job. "Being a Bush loyalist and friend is not a qualification for the Supreme Court," its editorial states. "She may have been the best pick from within Bush's inner circle. It seems impossible to maintain that she was the best pick from any larger field."

...you can bet that she'll be a down-the-line conservative on social issues. One clue dates back to 1993 when Miers, as president of the Texas Bar Association, tried to get the American Bar Association "to reconsider its pro-abortion rights stance," as Anne Gearan of AP reports.

Another clue: She served on the board of directors of Prison Exodus Ministries in Dallas, which describes itself as a place "where ex-offenders learn how faith in Christ is the first step from captivity to freedom."

And you can bet that she'll toe the corporate line. She has represented Microsoft, Walt Disney, and SunGuard. She has spoken at conferences of the American Tort Reform Association, the business group that has been one of the prime movers against anti-corporate lawsuits. And she was a trustee of the Southwestern Legal Foundation, which is now the Center for American and International Law. The center appears to be in the pocket of Big Oil. Advisory board members on its Institute for Energy Law include several ExxonMobil executives, as well as representatives of Amerada Hess, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Hunt, Marathon, Occidental, Shell, and Texaco. According to the group exxonsecrets.org, the "Center for American and International Law has received $177,450 from ExxonMobil since 1998."

So that's who Harriet Miers is.

Just another mountain of proof that the man is an insane zealot living in a bubble of privilege and ignorance. This cronyism crap is why the Katrina aftermath was so atrocious, and it scares me to think of the consequences on such a keystone institution as the Supreme Court. I keep waiting for Sandra Day O'Connor to step up and say, "Wait just a damn a minute -- this is NOT what I intended, so I'm going to stick around for a few more years until someone can come up with a qualified candidate." Come on, Sandy, step up to the plate. Please? Retirement can wait, can't it?