Stonetalking with the Stonetalker

Dumb Law of the day 7 Dec 2009

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:20:00 GMT

This is even funnier after watching this link:

In Colorado, tags may be ripped off mattresses and pillows!

Christmas Wish List

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:31:21 GMT

I saw Santa in the shops this morning. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I told him I only wanted one thing.

I told him I wanted all your wishes to come true.

Sitting on Saturday

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:44:30 GMT

Good Grief! Has it really been so long since I've posted a daily update? I knew I was busy but sheesh...

Tarot: The next free One-Card-Draw is going to be held on Wednesday, 16 December. I'll be on the computer most of that day, so I'll run the draw for most of that day. Pimp me out to your friends, thanks!

Knitting: I've long been a fan of Jan Messant, but only yesterday found her book Knitted Gardens. I was captivated from the start, but when I saw that this book contained ideas for making the little patchwork gardens into coats, afghans and other items my heart went 'swoon' and my fingers went 'buy now!' Really looking forward to this coming (ha! like I don't have enough to be doing already!).

Crochet: The afghan for my daughter is coming along nicely. I'm doing it assembly line fashion, so I've made all the small rose petals, then all the larger rose petals, then all the leaves, and now I'm working on all the borders. When I get a block complete, I'll post a piccy.

Outside: The cold weather has arrived! We've had hard frosts, a few flurries of snow, and even the curly kale that was so vigilant is now surrendering to the season.

Cooking / Baking: I have a recipe for chocolate oat brownies. These are really scrumptious; a thick gooey oatmeal cookie with a layer of fudge-like chocolate, topped with an oatmeal crisp. Well, my brother has a passion for oatmeal cookies with cranberries in them, so I'm going to do a dry run on the oat brownie recipe, adding cranberries to the oatmeal base, using white chocolate rather than semi-sweet, adding a few pecan pieces to the chocolate for good measure. I'm drooling already.

Pondering: I'm launching a new identity in 2010. For years I've wondered what to call what I do. I hear my Medicine Elder even now; "The minute you put a label on something you limit it's possibilities." And I really do want to be open to all possibilities. I've tried on so many names for eBay stores and websites that my brain is numb. However, in a flippant comment to someone a couple of weeks ago, we both went, "OMG, that works!!" Not only does it work beautifully, but the dot com domain is open, and it is soooooooo me. I'm thrilled; I feel like I've finally come home. So, watch this space, because January is going to ring in some changes. I'm quietly thrilled with the way things are developing. Now if I can just have 36 hours in a day, 10 days in a week, but still only need my usual 7 hours of sleep, thank you...

Dumb Law of the Day 4 Dec '09

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:34:07 GMT

In Boulder, Colorado, it is against the law to place couches on outside porches.

OH MY

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:05:34 GMT

I don't normally clutter up my blogs with these sorts of things even if I 'do' do them out of curiosity. However, this one was just too daft -- and a bit too close to my reality -- not to share!

I'm particularly fond of 12, 11, 5, 4, and 2, but think they are all hilariously appropriate. Feel free to leave a comment and further tarnish my reputation for being even slightly 'normal'.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, stonetalker sent to me...

Twelve plants teaching

Eleven spirits thinking

Ten dogs a-channeling

Nine beads breadmaking

Eight totems a-painting

Seven crafts a-sungazing

Six oracles a-drumming

Five bo-o-o-ooks

Four stone circles

Three great danes

Two indigenous peoples

...and a komondorok in an aromatherapy.

Dumb Law of the Day 3 Dec '09

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:17:09 GMT

In Tombstone, Arizona, it is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling.

Any dentists looking for a good gig?

Dumb Law of the Day, 2 Dec '09

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:03:48 GMT

The law books in Arizona state that you may not have more than two dildos in a house.

(Is it just me, or do the syllables in that one make it even sound funny??)

Tarot Tuesday

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:31:10 GMT

In today's exercise, we are going to examine how we can use the Tarot to help us generate ideas and work towards obtaining what we want in our lives. This has nothing to do with spells; this is simple 'Laws of Attraction” to help us define what we want, and decide how to get it.

In a notebook, write down one of your personal goals. You might want to lose weight, or do better at your job; you might want to cultivate compassion or empathy; or maybe you're wanting to join an organization or team. Write down anything you are hoping to achieve, whether it is short-term or long-term.

Shuffle your Tarot cards, the whole deck, and draw one card randomly as in the previous lesson. Write down your observations on this card, using the probing questions from earlier weeks.

Now, let's pretend that this card was given to you by someone you hold in very high esteem. However, this person has a sore throat, so instead of communicating to you through words, they are using the image on your chosen Tarot card to communicate what they want to say to you.

Example
Let's say your goal was to have a more positive outlook on life. Your chosen card was the Five of Cups, as illustrated in the bottom left card here:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/golden-rider/
You see the figure looking dejected, with three cups spilled. Your mentor approaches, and says to you, “But you still have two cups standing upright, have you looked to see what is in them? Can you see the castle in the distance? There's a bridge to get you there, the trees are green and growing strong, there isn't even a cloud in the sky!”

So your goal to have a more positive outlook on life based on the 5 of Cups might inspire you to:
1)Start looking at what is there rather than what is lost,
2)Look for bridges and ways to get where you want to go,
3)Keep believing in your castles in the air,
4)Don't put storm clouds in your way when there are none
5)Wait for everything to grow and come to harvest in its own time.

In your notebook, write down what your mentor might be saying to you about reaching your goals, based on the images on the card that you have chosen. Now write just one thing that you are going to do today to bring yourself closer to that goal.

Dumb Law of the Day 1 Dec '09

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:22:27 GMT

In Arizona, hunting camels is prohibited.

Pimping a Poet

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:36:51 GMT

My friend ysabetwordsmith is hosting a poetry fish bowl on Tuesday, 1 December. This time the theme will be "cultures of the world." She'll be soliciting ideas for culture heroes, historic figures, ancient or modern societies, objects linked to a certain culture, winter holidays around the world, cultural practices, culture clashes, historic evolution of cultures, places associated with a given culture, and poetic forms linked to a culture in particular.

Tell your friends, and come by and feed the fish!

Dumb Law of the Day 30 Nov '09

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:35:56 GMT

Today's dumb law comes from Arizona, where donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.

o_0

sachets

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:09:45 GMT

I knit the following sachets for little gift bags this year. They're only grainy images from my phone camera, but at the moment it is the only camera I have...

The cream one is to hold a small piece of handmade stained glass for a friend of mine.

The gray one is the front of a largish sachet that would -- at a stretch -- hold a CD I think. I'm using it for gourmet tea bags. I think this would make a nice block for an afghan or something, provided all that sewing together wasn't off-putting!

I'll upload patterns in a separate post, once I figure out what I did (I never write down patterns as I'm creating them "laughs")!

Dumb Law of the Day, 24 Nov '09

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:29:56 GMT

In Mobile, Alabama, it is illegal to spit orange peels on the sidewalk.

o_0

Tuesday's Tarot

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:33:06 GMT

For this exercise, we are going to use the complete deck, rather than separating it. Gather all your Tarot cards (court cards, Major Arcana, Minor Arcana) back into one pile and shuffle the deck thoroughly. There is no right or wrong way to shuffle the cards; it is a matter of personal choice (even though some people will get caught up in a little ritual of shuffling, and that is okay too).

Keeping the cards face down, pull one card randomly from the deck. Again, doesn't matter if you shuffle, cut, and turn over the top card; or if you fan the cards out and draw one, or if you put the cards in an opaque bag and draw one! The choice is yours; as long as the card is an unknown random selection, we're good.

If your card is a trump card from the Major Arcana, imagine this is going to be a recurring theme for your day. Don't panic if the images on the card look frightening; if you pull the Tower it doesn't mean that you're going to fall out of a building!

If your card is a court card, imagine this is a person, type of person, or personality trait that you are going to encounter today. For example, the Queen of Coins might make you think of your Auntie Jean, who has a jar on the shelf where she puts all the pennies, rather than keeping them in her purse to spend.

If your card is one of the numbered cards, imagine this is a small incident that might occur during the day, an opportunity that may be presented to you. For example, if you drew the Three of Cups, you might think of some news you could receive that would make you dance for joy.

Pretend that the card you drew is your daily prediction. Go through the observation exercise questions as we've done previously, and write down what you see about this card. Write your answers in a notebook, along with any thoughts you have as to how this might apply to your day.

At the end of the day, read back over your 'prediction'. What kind of day did you have? How did the comments you made prior to this day apply to how the day actually unfolded?

Daily Manna, The Moon's Day

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:28:01 GMT

Outside: Tee shirt weather again. Well, nearly. Got the dog blankets washed and hung out to dry for the week. I have a defiant tomato plant trying to send up a shoot, and a wayward blossom on the weigela.

Making: Herein lies a quandary. I'd spent the last few weeks of Summer cutting up old jeans into 4" squares, and cutting up themed fat quarters into 4" squares. I probably cut up more than 3,000 squares (easily, actually, because a fat quarter makes about 20 squares, and I've cut up somewhere in the region of 600 fat quarters... but that's beside the point), and I've got them all ready go to on a patchwork 'raggy' quilt for my daughter. I had thought I'd try to get this finished for her for Christmas; but that is only a month away! And I'm not very good with sewing, even if it is only X across two four inch squares then sew said squares into strips then strips into rows. So I decided to relax a bit, take my time, do it for her for her birthday in September.

So then she calls me today, would I make her a quilt for her bed as she got cold last night <head desk, head desk head desk>. Now my daughter is not expecting me to sew, because she knows I'm not skilled at sewing, it is something I am learning. She has asked me to crochet her an afghan, themed to match her bedroom, because she knows I can crochet awesome patchwork afghans. However, this means a trip out of town to buy the yarn, and I really didn't want to take on a new project until after I'd sorted out some clutter, and brought some organization into what I was doing at the moment.

I am confident that I could crochet her an awesome afghan between now and Christmas, as I've crocheted many afghans in the past and know my capabilities. I am not confident that I could finish sewing this quilt between now and Christmas, as I've never sewn a quilt. I've never really sewn ANYTHING previously! I kind of feel like I've got half the quilt already done with having all the squares cut out -- or have I? And then there is the sewing machine. I've had it -- Singer Touch N Sew (Touch N Cuss!) for about 6 years now (it was a hand-me-down) but I've only just mastered how to thread it and wind the bobbin this Autumn, and that was because I bought the manual from the Singer site. Am I setting myself up to fail? Should I just stick with what I know and crochet the afghan, or should I hold my breath and take the plunge into waters unknown and sew the quilt? C'mon guys, depending on you...

Regardless of which I choose, all other projects, like fabric inking, apron making (and I actually bought bias binding tape, too!), sachet knitting, Tarot bag making, cookie baking... they're all going to have to go back burner. But I think the kid is worth it...

Reading: Yeah, right, like I've got time to do that!

Cooking: Turkey burger and oatmeal. Not as strange as it sounds; it is what the albino dog eats. He's allergic to dog food, so I cook for him; turkey burger, fleshed out with some oatmeal, with a bit of diced veg and some garlic added to it. It's a Dr. Pitcairn recipe for delicate constitutions, and it seems to be working.

for miintikwa

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:02:54 GMT

Here you go, miintikwa , just for you hon...

Sorry it's so old and grainy...

Dumb Law of the Day 23 Nov '09

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:39:05 GMT

Once again from Alabama, boogers may not be flicked into the wind.

o_0

Dumb Law of the Day, 22 Nov '09

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:54:41 GMT

In Lee County, Alabama, it is illegal to sell peanuts on Wednesdays after sundown.

Saturn's Day

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:34:17 GMT

Outside: Tee shirt weather again. Week's worth of laundry blowing in the breeze. This weather is amazing; amazing. I hope we're not going to pay for it come February...

Inside: Still downsizing. I have found 3 afghans that need sewing together, and a drawer full of unfinished tapestry canvases (which I inherited, I might add; my lack of conviction isn't quite so bad as to have quite this much unfinished stuff lying around -- see below). I'll find time to put the afghans together and donate them somewhere, and my daughter has a home for the canvases with learning disabled people who love to do crafts. So that's another bit cleaned out and downsized. A lot of the stuff I'm downsizing was simply a great buy at a great time; porcelain angel heads when I was making beaded dolls, totem stones when I was working the market stall, that sort of thing; or stuff that someone was going to throw out and I rescued it to freecycle or donate to a thrift store or something. I have to be realistic about what I think I'll have time to do, and get rid of what I don't think I'll have time to do. End of story (again, see below).

Making: Having a blast designing knitted coasters, sachets, bay bootees (two of my friends are expecting their first grandchild early in the new year) and even tree ornaments. I've bought some sponge paint pads from the Dollar Store to use on the stamps. I think I'm going to have to theme my crafting days like I theme my journal days; Tuesday's journal is Tarot, maybe I should devote Tuesdays to working on my Tarot deck, Wednesdays to knitting, Thursdays to sewing... but would anything ever actually get done?? (Note to self: probably would get done, but take longer, but even that is an improvement on the UFO's that are in drawers and cupboards...)

Pondering: Launching a business identity with website, business cards, brochures, etc in the coming year for my crafts and readings. Am I being negative in thinking that while I probably won't get much actual income from the website, that for the most part it will be a good exposure tool?

Writing: No writing this weekend, unless you call writing knitting patterns writing, and I'm only writing them so I can publish a couple freebies to a knitting community next week. I am seriously considering dipping my toe into the fiction world though, and publishing snippets in my journal for critique. Where as I don't see myself as a novel writer, any writing is going to improve my skills as a writer on the whole, right (write!)?

Dumb Law of the Day, 21 Nov '09

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:08:27 GMT

In Alabama, it is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.

Help with Fabric

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:53:25 GMT

I must be absolutely nuts.

Not only am I attempting to sew, but I'm attempting to print onto fabric.

Does anyone have any simple ideas (as in a fifth grader could do it, because that is about where my skill lies at the moment) as to how to use a rubber stamp to print onto fabric, and make the stamp permanent, so it lasts through several washes?

Thanks...

Finally Friday

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:27:46 GMT

Tarot: Working on my deck has rather stalled due to holiday preparations. I'm still drooling over the Anna K tarot; might have to just invest in that after the season of festivities. I'm very interested to see all the Tarot crowdfunding coming across my friends pages. I'm thrilled more than I can express to see Tarot continuing to come out of the closet. This is indeed encouraging -- more on that in upcoming posts.

Outside: It's finally stopped raining! Last night was stunningly clear, and for the first time this year, I thought I sensed a good frost in the air. I awoke too late to check, though; by the time I was walking the dog all that was left of any potential frost was a beautiful blush on the grass. I think the last rose has bloomed for this year; the knockout roses are looking decidedly faded and droopy (another indication that we've had a frost....).

Cooking and Baking: It feels like a fudge weekend! And I've found a recipe for fondant icing I'd like to try. Might have to start a pot of beans too; nothing quite like good old British 'beans on toast' for cool weather comfort food!

Making: Good heavens, I'm spoiled for choice! I'm intricately enjoying designing gift bags. People keep asking for hats. I want to knit the dog a coat -- several coats, all decorated for the seasons. I want to put together a couple of patchwork afghans. I want to knit a sweater for my husband and a cardi-coat for myself. Anyone got a spare few weeks of time they could give to me?

Reading: Knit Kimonos by Vickie Square and Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner. I recommend both! The kimono book has some designs that are kind of 'out there' and others that are very inspiring (bearing in mind that as soon as I start to follow a patter, I end up adapting it and putting the original pattern away). Tarot for Writers is a very interesting read on how to use the Tarot to fire creativity and imagination. Included are writing prompts, exploration games, and brainstorming techniques. Many of the techniques are similar to the probing questions I use in the Tarot Tuesdays; why did I never think to apply them to fiction <palms face>?

Like I need more ideas for things to do!!

Dumb Law of the Day, 20 Nov '09

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:45:34 GMT

In Des Plains, IL, wheelbarrows with 'For Sale' signs may not be chained to trees.

Dumb Law of the Day 19 Nov '09

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00:23 GMT

In Indiana, it is illegal to sell cars on a Sunday.

Wednesday Wrap-Up

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:36:42 GMT

No summary today as I've probably blogged more today than I have ever blogged!