A white and pink variegated old garden rose

Two pink damask roses with gold centers

A white alba rose with a pale green "button" eye in the center.

A dark mauve moss rose with a yellow center

Even in such a bleak year, old garden roses bloom and reinvigorate heart and soul. These roses didn't bloom at all last year after getting transplanted the previous August. They are all the more beautiful and lovable becuase you have to wait for them, and becuase you know their bloomtime is brief.

A sightly cleaner Singer treadle sewing machine with a dirty flannel rag and many dirty cotton swabs.

A Singer sewing machine with its front plate open to show the missing bobbin case.

So, I have a bit of a start on getting the treadle machine working. Gertie-- yes, her name is Gertie--seems to be in good shape mechanically. Mostly dirty, not rusted. She was made in 1906. She needs a belt, and her bobbin case is missing. But I may have her up and running before summer break.

Two different white linen chemises and one linen underpetticoat hanging on a laundry line in the yard.

This is your laundry day on historically inspired handsewing . . .

White cotton chemisette "false blouse" with black velvet trim around the neck on a dress form

A sundress in sky blue with oranges and springs of orange blossoms printed on the fabric on a dressform.

Two sewing projects done. The first is a chemisette based on an 1840's pattern. The trim is a bad idea, but it looks cool. Hand sewn.
I blame the collapse of a much loved craft store for the sundress. The fabric was REALLY on sale. Machine sewn. Sometimes you just want to finish a project fast.

Thank you so much!!

Help finding a manual would be lovely! I just got started looking into the serial number and model and everything this morning.

That's good to hear! I'm looking forward to learning all about it and how to get it back to running again. I didn't do much research before deciding to do this.

The new definition of antisemitism is transforming America – and serving a Christian nationalist plan Redefining antisemitism in the law was never about Jewish safety. It is about consolidating authoritarian power under the veneer of minority protection

trying not to be bitter about an alternative reality where the guardian published this years ago instead of smearing Corbyn www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Hand sewing a felled seam. White linen fabric. A garden wagon and soil with new grass in the background. The sun is bright.

An h model Singer treadel machine from 1919 that's a bit dirty and missing it's drive belt.

A small tray with a cup of tea, a pitcher with milk,and a tea pot covered by a crocheted tea cozy with a pink flower.

Having a cosy, remove myself from the systems that are killing us kind of weekend. Working on historical sewing. Found an antique treadle sewing machine at a thrift store. I plan to get it working myself so I'll understand fixing it. And I'm enjoying tea from a favorite small business and sunshine.

Dressform with 18th century style stays in white and pannier hip hoops made out of white fabric with small gold stars.

So the world is making it hard to get things done. But I did manage this this week.
I finished the panniers I need to go with my stays. So now I'm ready to make the 18th century style dress I want for an event later this spring. Now I just have to be brave enough to try making the dress.

A not quite angel length chemise dress with lace trim and a blue sash.

18th century powered and pomaded hair, but with blue powder.

Back view of the hair.

Finally finished (sort of) the dress. And I'm on my way to the spring fairy ball.
In hindsight, the blue hair powder was not worth it on dark hair. Would have looked awesome if my hair were lighter. Maybe I'll try it again one day when I'm fully gray.

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"So, if there are supposed to be checks and balances, why aren't they checking and balancing?"

Out of the mouth of babies, people.

Out-of-context student incident of the day:
A middle school student has mixed Axe body spray with water in a bottle and is calling it "holy water."
He is spritzing his classmates in the hall, declaring, "Begone demons!"

A circular disk of ice i removed from the top of my mother's birdbath.

Maudlin winter mornings. Thinking a lot about the etymology and current connotations of "maudlin" vs. "bedlam." And what that says about how we see mental and emotional struggles and breakdowns in terms of gender. Because I've been sad so long this winter that all I can do is analyze the saddness.

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"He wants a slurpee . . . As any guy would."

ProPublica’s Supreme Connections Database Updated With New Alito, Thomas Filings Our database of the Supreme Court justices’ financial connections now includes Samuel Alito’s deferred 2023 filing and eight previously missing disclosures from Clarence Thomas dating back to the 1990s.

Our Supreme Connections database tracks who’s paid the Supreme Court justices, reimbursed their travel expenses or given them gifts.

We just added Justice Samuel Alito’s 2023 filing and newly uncovered Justice Clarence Thomas filings from the 1990s.

Bonus Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"Do you think death makes us stupider?"

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"I'm going to use my girl power! PEW PEW BOOM!!!!!"

Unite Against Book Bans We should trust individuals to make their own decisions. Raise your voice for everyone's freedom to read. #UniteAgainstBookBans

Free people, read freely.
Free countries don't ban books.
Build home libraries of banned books.
uniteagainstbookbans.org

Eldritch creatures inhabit a burning alien temple. Drawing, with colour.

They knew it was actual evil. It never pretended to be anything other than that. And... they chose it.

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"Not that chair. That chair has a weird musty aura."

A white linen dress with a blue sash on a dress form. It only has one unfinished sleeve.

So this is what I've been working on for the last two weeks. So far, I've been sewing it entirely by hand. I had to break down and buy a dress form in order to figure out the sleeves, which are still very much a work in progress.

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"Who stole the internet?!?!"

Poem from Mary Oliver that carries poignant, layered meaning these days:

Why do people keep asking to see
God's identity papers
when the darkness opening into morning
is more than enough?
Certainly any god might turn away in disgust.

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"I didn't win or lose. I am the average player of the game of life."

Word of day is ‘unasinous’ (17th century): united in stupidity.

A riff on ‘unanimous’: which comes from the Latin for ‘one mind’. ‘Unasinous’ means ‘one ass’.

kyle_maclachlan Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn't recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision. What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to. Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I'd ever met. David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath. While the world has lost a remarkable artist, l've lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own. I can see him now, standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and big hug and that Great Plains honk of a voice. We'd talk coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laugh. His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other. I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he's gone. David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.

This is a beautiful tribute.

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"That's okay. I take EVERYTHING as a compliment."

Out-of-context student quote of the day:
"It's not his fault. He's a dumpster cat from Florida."

I don’t think that coming up with lists of “good” authors helps anyone. on a very basic level: you have no way of knowing if that’s true about anyone.