Felting Class Feb. 7th!

Looking for something to do on a cold February Saturday? Need a new scarf to brighten up your winter wardrobe? More importantly, just want to have fun while learning something for a few hours?

I'll be teaching a felted scarf class next Saturday, February 7th at the Fine Line Creative Art Center in St. Charles. The class runs from 10:00 to 4:oo and you will come out with a finished scarf of your own design. Click here to sign up for the class.

For those of you in Chicago who haven't been to the Fine Line and think it is too far, give it a try. It is a wonderful center with fun people and the feel of a retreat. And.... if you drive via I-90, you will go right past Ikea. I've found that Saturday evenings at Ikea are great for shopping--not crowded at all.

Here are a few samples of the types of the scarves that I'll be teaching:

Come on out and join the fun!

Seriously, WTF?!?!?

I promise, the next post will be fiber-related (I actually have lots to show) But, as a long time Chicagoan and Illinois girl, I can't pass this up. Between his relentless assertions of innocence and his latest press jaunt, this situation is really on my last nerve..

Time for some comic relief. Like Blagojevich, my family hails from the former Yugoslavia (he is Serbian, whereas I'm a Croatian/Slovenian mix). As you might recall from the 1990s, the groups don't generally get along all that well.

Every week, I recieve this Slovenian newspaper with all sorts of news of Slovenian-Americans and news from abroad. Many advertisements for all things Slovenian (polka CDs, recipe books travel groups etc.) And potica. Potica (pronounced po-TEET-sa) is this wonderful nutroll coffee cake known throughout Slovenia and Croatia that is pretty labor intensive to make.

So I was thrilled to find a bakery in Colorado that has mail order potica--Rocky Mountain Potica. Proclaiming that they have the "Best potica this side of Ljubljana", they carry many versions of the coffee cake-- some traditional, some contemporary and some just plain funny.

Take their "Blagojevich Totally Nuts Potica". I love the description:

"For the true nut lover, because IT DOESN'T GET ANY NUTTIER THAN THIS. This Potica is 'BLEEPING GOLDEN'"

I have to order some of this!

My Baloney has a First Name.......

So, I'm back home for a few days trying to catch up on everything and happened to look at the stat counter on this blog. I fully expected there to be no traffic, since I haven't written in over a week and have not been active online at all. To my suprise, there have been a lot of hits so far this month. Any where are they coming from? A blog called Bacon Talk! Hello to all you Bacon Talk readers!

Bacon Talk features all sorts of tidbits regarding bacon and happened to link to this earlier entry of mine. I love the fact that the entry linking my blog is listed under "Bacon Culture". I also love the fact that all of the entries are authored by "His Baconness". Further investigation led me to realize that the blog is sponsored by Oscar Meyer. I have to say, they are being really saavy by being subtle and not making the blog too brand specific, which would ruin the fun of the site.

I love how all sorts of companies are in on social marketing. So who exactly are you, Sir Baconness--out yourself! If anything like my old organization, I'm guessing you are a 20-something with a sly sense of humor. Either a relatively new internal hire or part of an outsourced marketing firm--I'm not sure which.

Am I right?

"If it's not your ass, it's your elbow"

The quote is complements of my 83-year-old Aunt Helen. She's one of the funniest people I know and the person I want to be when I grow up.

The quote perfectly sums up the past few days that seem like weeks. Or maybe it's weeks that seem like months. I'm kind of losing track.

A series of parental health problems, doctors visits and an unexpected hospital stay. I've been in the same clothes for the past four days. This morning I ended up borrowing a pair of my mom's underwear (that one is just wrong on so may levels--I shoulda gone commando, but I'm running on scant sleep)

There is nothing easy about facing long term care for a parent. At least I'm from a large family to share the burden/emotion/whatever. Fringe benefit of being Catholic (cue "Every Sperm is Sacred" from Monty Python...)

An unrelated fringe benefit is that I'm getting a helluva lot of knitting done.