I wanted to let you know that it's time to order Christmas weaving orders. I know it's early and you're probably not even thinking about Christmas yet, but think of how great you'll feel to get a few gifts bought without 1) having to go to the store and 2) panicking because it's almost the day!
Here's how orders work:
1) send me a message either here at lesliestbutler@gmail.com
2) tell me what item(s) you want; colors, personality of person receiving gift, etc.
3) when I'm finished I'll let you know the final cost and you can send me a check, pay through paypal or give me cash if you're in the Hattiesburg area.
It's that easy.
What I make:
1) towels: 100% cotton kitchen towels are ~18x30 and the best towels you'll ever use. They are $20 a piece.
2) napkins: 100% cotton napkins are ~18x18 and sell for $12.50 a piece. If you want a custom size I can do that and will price according to cost of yarn +$10/hour
3) scarves: Many different options. Cost of yarn + $10/hour. Most scarves run between $50-$75. Sizes can be customized.
4) Shawls: Many different options. Cost of yarn + $10/hour. Most shawls run between $70-$100. Sizes can be customized.
5) placemats: Lots of options here in both yarn, design and size. Cost of yarn +$10/hour.
6) other items I can make are blankets, pillows, bags, yardage for that seamstress in the family.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Happily Typing Away
Today is a quiet day at the office. My new (and temporary) office mate is out of town. My office neighbor is also out of town. The other folks I work with are frantically finishing stuff for a deadline. I'm left down here to work on other stuff--lots to do--mostly it involves typing.
I have also been playing "Typer Shark" during my breaks in sections of the presentation. Not totally sure about the sense in that since I'm typing so much as it is, but there you go.
I didn't learn to type in any official capacity. My mom rented a typewriter for me when I was in high school--I think at the beginning of the summer before I started my senior year. It was an electronic one from Flatt's Stationers. She brought home a book that is used to teach elementary kids how to type and I sat down and plowed through that book in one day. She told me that if I learned and could pass her test that she'd buy me an electric typewriter of my very own. Little did she know that she would have to come through with that promise in less than a week. My favorite part of my typewriter was that it had its own correction tape built in with a fairly short memory so I could go back several words and correct. Many college papers were typed on that typewriter before computers became readily available.
But, my love of typewriters goes back much further than that. When I was a very small child, my mom had a manual typewriter and I was fascinated with how the arms swung up and smacked the page and voila a letter appeared. I loved trying to get the arms jammed together by typing too fast. You had to really work to get those letters to work...but there's nothing like typing along and hearing the "ding" of being at the end of the row. I miss that little ding. It felt like you'd accomplished something.
Another important typewriter in my days was the one I played on at Grandma M's house. We kids would sit in "Mike's room" where the typewriter was and type ourselves silly. She must have had fun times reading all our silly drivel. I started a novel on that one. The main character's name was Nina (after one of my favorite soap characters). I don't remember getting much further than the introduction. I'm sure there was lots of action and romance, though. I could also spend hours just copying text from the books that were in there. I found a literature book that someone had cut out the center of each page and glued pages together. I couldn't imagine a more horrible thing to have happen to a book.
And today I type lots and lots of words. Fairly quickly, too. I started on the "normal" level of TyperShark and it's too slow. So far, I'm doing fairly well. I just completed Level 5 and have a WPM of 64 and an accuracy of 99%. I can go faster, but would have had to choose the "hard" option and I didn't feel up to that first thing this morning. Maybe after lunch.
I have also been playing "Typer Shark" during my breaks in sections of the presentation. Not totally sure about the sense in that since I'm typing so much as it is, but there you go.
I didn't learn to type in any official capacity. My mom rented a typewriter for me when I was in high school--I think at the beginning of the summer before I started my senior year. It was an electronic one from Flatt's Stationers. She brought home a book that is used to teach elementary kids how to type and I sat down and plowed through that book in one day. She told me that if I learned and could pass her test that she'd buy me an electric typewriter of my very own. Little did she know that she would have to come through with that promise in less than a week. My favorite part of my typewriter was that it had its own correction tape built in with a fairly short memory so I could go back several words and correct. Many college papers were typed on that typewriter before computers became readily available.
But, my love of typewriters goes back much further than that. When I was a very small child, my mom had a manual typewriter and I was fascinated with how the arms swung up and smacked the page and voila a letter appeared. I loved trying to get the arms jammed together by typing too fast. You had to really work to get those letters to work...but there's nothing like typing along and hearing the "ding" of being at the end of the row. I miss that little ding. It felt like you'd accomplished something.
Another important typewriter in my days was the one I played on at Grandma M's house. We kids would sit in "Mike's room" where the typewriter was and type ourselves silly. She must have had fun times reading all our silly drivel. I started a novel on that one. The main character's name was Nina (after one of my favorite soap characters). I don't remember getting much further than the introduction. I'm sure there was lots of action and romance, though. I could also spend hours just copying text from the books that were in there. I found a literature book that someone had cut out the center of each page and glued pages together. I couldn't imagine a more horrible thing to have happen to a book.
And today I type lots and lots of words. Fairly quickly, too. I started on the "normal" level of TyperShark and it's too slow. So far, I'm doing fairly well. I just completed Level 5 and have a WPM of 64 and an accuracy of 99%. I can go faster, but would have had to choose the "hard" option and I didn't feel up to that first thing this morning. Maybe after lunch.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Catching up with my life
This weekend I've spent quietly at home. I needed that as I've been going like crazy for the past couple of months. It's been nice to decide what I wanted to do and just do it and not worry about what else I have to do. Luxury, for sure.
Dissertation news: I will be defending my dissertation on August 25th. Until then I have to prepare my PowerPoint and practice my presentation. But, mostly I feel relaxed and ready to get that hurdle over with. I'm ready to be called "Dr. Butler." :)
General Health: Seems to be fine. I've had some stomach upsets the past few days. I think I've narrowed down the culprit, but it'll take a few days of testing to see. Not bad enough to go to the dr, but not comfortable for general happiness. David and I started Weight Watchers last week. We both lost 4 pounds today. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll continue to stick with it this time around!
Reading: I've been reading lots of good books, mostly romances. I tried picking up the 6th in the Quilter's Apprentice series by Jennifer Cheviarini. Just couldn't get into it. The writing in that series really went down after the first few. I won't be buying any others. I enjoyed Stefanie Sloane's new book "Angel in my Arms." I thought the characters were absolutely delightful. The writing was sometimes confusing, and I really think the book would have benefited from another editorial run-through, but I'll be reading her next book which comes out this week. I started "Mistress of the Art of Death" today and was hooked by about page 6. I was devastated to find out that Diana Norman, aka Ariana Franklin, passed away in January. I've enjoyed (very much so) every book I've ready by her. Otherwise, I've been reading lots of romances as I get through all the trying times I've been going through lately.
Grandma: Still missing her like crazy. I try to keep roses around me all the time because they always make me think of her. However, it's becoming expensive as they have to be thrown out after a few days. I keep thinking of new blog entries to do about her and there are just too many. I think I'll write her a book after this dissertation mess is over.
Dissertation news: I will be defending my dissertation on August 25th. Until then I have to prepare my PowerPoint and practice my presentation. But, mostly I feel relaxed and ready to get that hurdle over with. I'm ready to be called "Dr. Butler." :)
General Health: Seems to be fine. I've had some stomach upsets the past few days. I think I've narrowed down the culprit, but it'll take a few days of testing to see. Not bad enough to go to the dr, but not comfortable for general happiness. David and I started Weight Watchers last week. We both lost 4 pounds today. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll continue to stick with it this time around!
Reading: I've been reading lots of good books, mostly romances. I tried picking up the 6th in the Quilter's Apprentice series by Jennifer Cheviarini. Just couldn't get into it. The writing in that series really went down after the first few. I won't be buying any others. I enjoyed Stefanie Sloane's new book "Angel in my Arms." I thought the characters were absolutely delightful. The writing was sometimes confusing, and I really think the book would have benefited from another editorial run-through, but I'll be reading her next book which comes out this week. I started "Mistress of the Art of Death" today and was hooked by about page 6. I was devastated to find out that Diana Norman, aka Ariana Franklin, passed away in January. I've enjoyed (very much so) every book I've ready by her. Otherwise, I've been reading lots of romances as I get through all the trying times I've been going through lately.
Grandma: Still missing her like crazy. I try to keep roses around me all the time because they always make me think of her. However, it's becoming expensive as they have to be thrown out after a few days. I keep thinking of new blog entries to do about her and there are just too many. I think I'll write her a book after this dissertation mess is over.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Grandma's Hands
One thing that I never really realized was how much in motion Grandma was. Her hands particularly were always moving. Seeking out something to smooth, touch, or rub. I had this moment of realization upon seeing her last week and realizing how very very still her hands were and how very very wrong that image was to everything I'd ever known about her.
I envisioned her sitting on the couch when company came over (I was a small child at the time, playing and sitting on the floor listening to their conversation. It was summer and hot). I looked over at Grandma and in her lap she held her hands together, but there was kleenex or handkerchief in her hands and she was fiddling with it. I remember trying to mimic what her hands were doing but without the necessary prop I knew I just looked dumb, so I went back to my playing.
In the picture above, Grandma is holding her hands just like I remembered from that day long ago. After that first image of me sitting there watching her hands, I had the image of this picture which I look at often. I love the happiness that's on everyone's faces here. We look truly content (It was taken during Christmastime 2006). If you look closely you'll see that Grandma has her hands in her lap, Alyssa's are just the same. Elizabeth is hugging my arm, which is another image I have of Grandma's hands.
The number of times she reached out to hold my hand is countless in my mind. But there I am, holding on tightly because she never held hands loosely. If you have pictures of Grandma, go back and look at them. She's almost always holding onto someone's hand. At minimum she's touching them.
I truly think this is one of the reasons that so many people felt loved by Grandma. She always wanted you to know that she cared about you, and she showed it through her touch.
In the picture above, Grandma is holding her hands just like I remembered from that day long ago. After that first image of me sitting there watching her hands, I had the image of this picture which I look at often. I love the happiness that's on everyone's faces here. We look truly content (It was taken during Christmastime 2006). If you look closely you'll see that Grandma has her hands in her lap, Alyssa's are just the same. Elizabeth is hugging my arm, which is another image I have of Grandma's hands.
The number of times she reached out to hold my hand is countless in my mind. But there I am, holding on tightly because she never held hands loosely. If you have pictures of Grandma, go back and look at them. She's almost always holding onto someone's hand. At minimum she's touching them.
I truly think this is one of the reasons that so many people felt loved by Grandma. She always wanted you to know that she cared about you, and she showed it through her touch.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Grandma Liked Her Wine
...but shhh! Don't tell anyone that she did. She would take a little glass at night (probably no more than a couple of ounces) because it helped her sleep better.
I would bring her a few bottles when I came to see her. She really liked the sweet fruit wines. At this place in Ohio in Amish country where we visited, we would get blackberry and cherry wines, which were her favorites. Once, when we brought her over some blackberry wine she said, "oh could you open it for me." And so David opened the bottle and showed her where he was going to put it in the refridgerator. She said, "I'd better have a taste first."
So, she grabbed the bottle from David, carefully guided it to her lips and took a slug--not a dainty sip, not a taste, a full-out slug--of that wine, probably 3-4 seconds worth of a drink. When she was finished she said, "Mmmm...that's good." She handed the bottle to David and walked back into the living room.
I would bring her a few bottles when I came to see her. She really liked the sweet fruit wines. At this place in Ohio in Amish country where we visited, we would get blackberry and cherry wines, which were her favorites. Once, when we brought her over some blackberry wine she said, "oh could you open it for me." And so David opened the bottle and showed her where he was going to put it in the refridgerator. She said, "I'd better have a taste first."
So, she grabbed the bottle from David, carefully guided it to her lips and took a slug--not a dainty sip, not a taste, a full-out slug--of that wine, probably 3-4 seconds worth of a drink. When she was finished she said, "Mmmm...that's good." She handed the bottle to David and walked back into the living room.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
2 of my favorite memories of Grandma
1. No matter how hot it was outside or inside, or how much work she'd been doing, he skin was always cool to the touch. I thought she was "refreshing."
2. Her favorite lotion smelled like roses. I always think of Grandma when I smell roses.
2. Her favorite lotion smelled like roses. I always think of Grandma when I smell roses.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Memories of Grandma
I've spent the morning going through my blog and picking out entries that I thought were interesting snippets of life and love of Grandma T. Not all are directly related to her, but there's a connection that I feel there that I wanted to pull together. I have 20 single spaced pages.
I don't have a lot of experience with people dying, and especially not with people I care deeply about. I honestly feel like I'm without an anchor. Grandma T was such an important person to me that I wanted everything I did to make her happy or proud...and now that she's not here to talk to and hear stories about me I feel adrift...at a loss...and very very sad. I'm not exactly sure how to deal with this loss. And it's really very scary.
I don't have a lot of experience with people dying, and especially not with people I care deeply about. I honestly feel like I'm without an anchor. Grandma T was such an important person to me that I wanted everything I did to make her happy or proud...and now that she's not here to talk to and hear stories about me I feel adrift...at a loss...and very very sad. I'm not exactly sure how to deal with this loss. And it's really very scary.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Luella
Here's to my sweet Grandma. I can't think of the words to say how much you have meant to me my entire life!!!
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