Challenge for New Year. Buy Made in USA

I borrowed this from a friend and you may have seen it, but I think we need reminded again!


I DIDN'T KNOW HALLMARK CARDS WERE MADE IN CHINA!That is also why I don't buy cards at Hallmark anymore, They are made in China and are more expensive! I buy them at Dollar Tree - 50 cents each and made in USA


I have been looking at the blenders available on the Internet. Kitchen Aid is MADE IN the US. Top of my list already...

Yesterday I was in Wal Mart looking for a wastebasket. I found some made in China for $6.99. I didn't want to pay that much so I asked the lady if they had any others. She took me to another department and they had some at 2.50 made in USA. They are just as good.

Same as a kitchen rug I needed. I had to look, but I found some made in the USA - what a concept! - and they were 3.00 cheaper.

We are being brainwashed to believe that everything that comes from China and Mexico is cheaper. Not so.

One Light Bulb at a Time...I was in Lowe's the other day and just out of curiosity, I looked at the hose attachments. They were all made in China.

The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA.

Start looking, people . . ...In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - most often, their job.

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is now marked "made in Mexico." I don't buy it anymore.

My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico... now I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Kroger . . . I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets.
I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy -- was an off-brand labeled, "Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared them: they were the same except for the price . . .the GE bulbs cost more than the Everyday Value brand, but the thing that surprised me the most was that that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - you guessed it - the USA at a company in Cleveland, Ohio.

It's Way past time to start finding and buying products you use every day that are made right here.

So, on to the next aisle: Bounce Dryer Sheets... yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand cost less, and was MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years, at almost half the price.

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies - you're sending the jobs there. (We should have awakened a decade ago....)

The gift of sharing

http://www.raptitude.com/  This is a web site I hope someone might see and check out.  This guy is really a writer and has such insight into what makes the world go around.  I find him very interesting to read from time to time.  I especially like this last posting about our riches.  Very eye opening.
So this is my gift to you today! 

Happy New Year

Get out of the box

I was looking back at my first year of blogging on this site.  Dec 2005!  Can't believe I have hung in there this long.  Lots of words typed and thoughts shared.  I found this cute little joke and wanted to resuscitate it and see if anyone gets it.

See if you can read this.  Don't try too hard as it is really very simple.

*MRDUCKIES
*MRNOTDUCKIES
*OSMRDUCKIES
*CMETBTWINGS
*YLBMRDUCKIES

This always quacks me up when I read it!!

Family trait!

This is my Great Grand Daughter, she loves her silly hat I gave her and insisted on wearing it to Walmart with her winter coat yesterday.

This is me taken about 3 weeks ago.  I think I see a family resemblance,  Just didn't have my hat on.  Dang!   Maybe there is a silly gene!

Here'ssss your sign

My sister and I have a new take on the well known "Here's your sign" made famous by Mr. Foxworthy.
A few weeks ago we went shopping and I bought all the fabric I needed to make my first quilted wall hanging from a pattern in a quilting magazine.  I finally got around to looking at the directions and sort of got a little lost, and didn't want to start cutting fabric till I was sure.  So my sister was at my house one day and I got the magazine out and asked her to help me figure it out.  She studied the page then turned the page over and there was the rest of the directions that made it all clear.  So Turn the Page!
Well yesterday she was making fudge and she called me because she had a 15 ounce can of canned milk and the receipt called for 6 oz.  How was she going to figure out the correct amount.  I had her get her measuring cup and look at the side of it for the ounces!  Then I said just Turn the Page!  And we cracked up. 
I have a feeling as we age we are going to have alot of these Turn the Page moments.  Thanks big sister!

Makin the treadmill smoke

Literally!  I think my treadmill that I bought in 2003 is about to poop out on me.  If I stay on it for over a mile or if I go to fast (like that will happen right?)  it starts to smell like the motor is going to burn up.  Guess one day it will.  So maybe that's my excuse to not go more than a mile at a time.  When it starts to smell funny I shut it down.  I hate to call the Sears repair man, as I know it will cost an arm and a leg to have it looked at.  Who knows it may last along time it I am careful.  Anyone have this problem with treadmills?  I paid about $800 for it, hoping that I got one to last forever.  And its not anyone has ever RUN on it. Heaven forbid!  But it has been moved a number of times and of course it has had its periods of hibernation, when it has been buried under coats and such.

Thought for the day:  If after 60 you don't wake up aching in every joint, you're probably dead.

My casting call

I think I mentioned that I have been reading Janet Evanovich's books, the Stephanie Plun series while I walk on the treadmill.  I know they are going to start the series on TV soon, or have they already and I missed it?  Anyway, as I read I have a picture in my mind of which actors should play the characters.  So I did a little copy/paste here of actual pictures of who will be who and tell you who I think they should have been.

This is Stephanie ( Katherine Heigle) and Lulu ( Sherri Shepard)
Now I think they should have used Sandra Bullock and Wanda Sykes (might be to skinny) or Niecy Nash should have played Lulu.  Actually Niecy would be a perfect match.

Then this is Debbie Reynolds playing Grandma Mazur,  She will prob be OK  but wouldn't Betty White have been perfect.  OR better yet if she were alive, Estelle Getty.  Now she would have been perfect.
As for the guys, I don't really have an opinion,  other than maybe a younger Tom Selleck for Morelli.

Oh, well that's my two cents worth.  Anyone have any other ideas?  Or maybe you really don't give a dang!  You old grouch YOU.
PS  I found a nugget of info.  Since Stephanie Plum smokes, they are using one of those electronic cigarettes since the actress doesn't smoke.  So if you watch the series you are one up on that trick.

Favorite songs take on new meaning!

CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE DISTURBED ~


* 1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

* 2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are ... ...

* 3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

* 4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

A borrowed story is twice as good when shared again.

Parable of the twins...


Once upon a time, there were twin babies that were conceived in the same womb; weeks passed and the twins developed into what they were suppose to be. As their awareness grew, they smiled and laughed for joy - "Isn't it great that we were conceived? Isn't it great that we are alive?! Together the twins explored their small world; finding their mother's cord that gave them life, they sang and leaped for joy again! "How great is our mother's love, that she shares her own life with us!" they sang...

As weeks stretched into months, the twins noticed however that each was changing, growing, getting bigger - "What does this mean?" said one. "I think it means our life in this world is drawing to an end" said the other.

"But I don't want to go, I want to stay here always!!!"

"We have no choice...but maybe there is a life after birth?" said the other. "How can that be?" responded the one." if we shed our life cord how is life possible without it? Besides, we have seen evidence that others have been here before us and none of them have returned to tell us there is life after birth! No, this is the end!!!"

And so they fell into deep despair, both thinking out loud, "If conception ends in birth, what is the purpose of life in the womb? It is meaningless. Maybe there is no mother after all..."

"But there has to be a mother," protested the other. "How else did we get here? How do we remain alive?

But the one could not be consoled, defeatedly whispering "Have you ever seen our Mother? Maybe she only lives in our minds. Maybe we made her up because the idea made us feel good..."

And so their last days in the small womb were filled with deep questioning, and fear.

But soon, the moment they had dreaded finally arrived... And when the twins passed from their small world into the unknown, they opened their eyes and cried -

for what they saw exceeded their greatest dreams...


~Author unknown~

Two days in a row!

I had forgotten how a little exercise can make you feel so much better.  Oh, and I put a Janet Evonivich book on the treadmill to read while I walk.  She is so silly it makes the time fly.  I know if I can walk and read at the same time I am probably not walking fast enough, but you get good at these things, sort of like mulit-tasking.

About a year ago this week we had that huge snow storm that dumped on us.  Hope we don't get one like that this year.  I remember using the snow blower on the deck!

Thought for the day: From a church bulletin;  Weight Watchers will meet at 7PM at the First Presbyterian Church.  Please use large double door at the side entrance......... huh?

Dusted off the treadmill

So last pm I did a bunch of rearranging.  Seems I managed to stack a bunch of my weaving stuff behind the treadmill (in its folded up position) which is next to my big loom.  I got everything neatly stacked on the other side of the loom. I actually did have to dust it off.  Don't think I have used it since last winter. That is sad. I actually did 1/2 mile this morning.  Feel terrific.  This may be the elixir of life,  LOL.  I am thinking of calling this area my studio, sounds good huh?  See we have a family room joined open to the eat in kitchen, (This is where we live) so the living room never gets used except for the one end that is sort of a dining room, since the house has no dining room. I have converted the far end of the room into my "studio", little by little moving more stuff there and hanging some of my stuff on the wall. No one needs a formal living room anymore anyway! Now if I could just sell that big sofa, I could move my sewing machine in there.

I like.

Thought for the day:  Instead of complaining that a rose is full of thorns, be happy that a thorn bush has roses....a proverb

Dead in the water

Please don't tell me I am getting the Christmas/winter Blahs already!  I said DON'T TELL ME THAT!
Maybe I can blame it on the little head cold I had a week or so ago.  Then maybe not.  I always get this way in Dec.  I think I will pull up my big girl panties and make a conscious decision to NOT let it all get me down this year.  Yes, that is what I will do.  Maybe if I move a few things so I can unfold my treadmill and start hopping on it every morning for a few minutes that will perk me up.  Don't really have anything to be feeling bad about.  I just hate to see all the leaves gone off the trees.

Maybe I could just hibernate for about 6 weeks and wake up to a new year, heck make that 12 weeks!

Giving from the heart or Random act of kindness!

We have heard many stories of love and caring that have come out of the tornado in Joplin May 22nd. Sometimes when a story is told it touches someones heart and they feel they need to do something.  My sister and her daughter heard such a story from a lady recently.  I will retell it as best I can.  This guy 86 years old lived in a rented home in Joplin,  when the tornado hit he was in the shower.  He had time to grab his boxer shorts and hang onto his bath towel.  When it was over, the only wall left was the one next to his tub.  A lady and her husband and son were on a mission of their own to find her father who had gone to the hospital for his dialysis and after many detours found out finally that he had headed back home safely.  They saw this elderly man on the corner with hardly any cloths and stopped to offer to take him somewhere.  He said he had no one, no family at all.  So they took him home.  Over the summer he lived in their camper in the back yard and has recently been relocated into an apartment. 

When my sister and her daughter heard this story they wanted to do something for this guy that they never met.  Being quilters they knew what that would be.  So they combined all their flannel fabric and started cutting blocks.  They did random blocks that turned out beautiful and backed it with a smooth piece of fabric that looks like lining to a sleeping bag.  It will be a cozy quilt. 

Yesterday my sister and I went to Joplin to shop and delivered the quilt to the lady that rescued this man and she was so happy to get it and knew he would love it.  She promised to send a picture of him with his quilt soon.  So here is a pic of my sister with the quilt, front and back.

This is rather long, but I think very important!!

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high

gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods --

Merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This

year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine

concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift

giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes

there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in

a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates

from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some

health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned

detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a

book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down

the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift

receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or

driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift

certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about

a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this

isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town

Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or

motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a

local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is

struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin

their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery

and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave

your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at

your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese

lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about

fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to

burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that

China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about

US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow

their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our

communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

The last rose of summer

Hubby cut these roses yesterday after it stopped raining.  They are from a rose bush that belonged to my sister, Marge, who passed away 4 years ago.  I have move it 4 times now, even across country, and it still thrives.  We got about 5 1/2 inches of rain in 2 days.  Most of it slow rain and soaked in good.  Will be good to go into winter with the moisture.

I felt the earthquake Sat night just before 11 pm.  Was just dozing up and then heard this weird sound in the attic like the wind was blowing real hard, and heard the sewing machine at the other end of the room vibrate like it was sitting on a washing machine in the spin cycle.  I got up and looked out the window and there was no wind.  Also no more sound or vibrations.  Just as I got in bed, my daughter sent a text message that they had been shook with an earthquake!  Well I hadn't figured that out yet, but I finally realized that what I felt was an earthquake.  See here in the Midwest we don't feel them like some folks out west do.  The next day on the news found out it was a 5.6 quake about 150 miles away so thats why we felt it and alot of folks in Ok. had damage.

Thought for the day: We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing.


~Oliver Wendell Holmes~

Love those giggles

On my recent trip to Iowa I taped this little 30 seconds video of my friends grandson getting his toe nails painted by Grandma.  I just love to hear toddlers giggle!

Why I can't go to Target anymore!

RETIRED HUSBAND



After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target.

Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.

Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target:

Dear Ms. Cliff,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras:

1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.
2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute
intervals.
3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.
6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.
8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.
9.. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the ' Mission Impossible' theme.
12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.
13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least:

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of the clerks passed out.

These options just showed up on my computer.

Got my Iowa FIX!

I went to Van Buren County, Iowa, last Saturday.  Intended to stay 3 nites but the weather was wonderful and I was enjoying myself I ended up staying one more day.  This is the old Manning Hotel B&B that I stayed at one nite.  My room was right above the T in Hotel.  Was a good experience.

Of course the room was a small bedroom with this antique furniture and bathroom, complete with creaky floors and an all night light shining in thru the door transom.  No TV, phone, frig, or dryer. Working at the hotel coffee shop when I was about 15 was one of my very first jobs.  So I thought I should spend one night there.  After that I stayed with friends.

This is the Bentonsport bridge on the Des Moines River.  As you can see the river was very low.  We were looking for steel spikes that loosen up from the old timbers that are visible only when the water is low.  There used to be a dam across the river many years ago.  The guy is Bill Printy who is a black smith and makes beautiful things from the spikes.

This is Betty Printy "whipping" up a challis for a church that needed to be done ASAP.  She is the partner of Iron and Lace.  The lace being the queen anne's lace flower that is fired into her pottery. She and I go back to our growing up years in that area.   http://ironandlace.com/index.htm  Her website if anyone wants to learn more about the area.

This is April, their daughter (who I happened to help deliver 30 years ago)  I got to work with her to pick up some skills of wrapping warp on a huge 60 inch loom.

This was one of the best things about the trip.  I got to have a REAL pork tenderloin sandwich as only VB County can make.  It was awesome!!
I have more pictures to share but that's it for now.

Thought for the day:  It is good to have an end to journey toward: but it is the journey that matters, in the end.... Ursula K LeGuin

Reincarnation

REINCARNATION



by Wally McRae


What is reincarnation? The Cowpoke asked his friend

His pal replied it happens when your life has reached its end

They comb your hair and wash your neck and clean your fingernails

And lay you in a padded box away from life's travails

And the box then goes in a hole that's been dug in the ground

And reincarnation starts in when your're planted neath the mound

Then clods melt down, just like the box, and you who is inside

And then you're just beginning on your transformation ride

Meanwhile the grass will grow upon your rendered mound

And soon upon your lonely grave a single flower is found

And then a horse will wonder by and graze upon flower

That once was you and now become your vegetated bower

The posie that the horse done eat along with his other feed

Makes bone and fat and muscle essential to the steed

But some is left that he can't use and so it passes thru

And finally lays upon the ground this thing that once was you

And say by chance I wanders by, and sees this on the ground

And I ponders and wonders at this object that I've found

And I thinks of reincarnation and life and death and such

And I come away concluding you ain't changed all that much.