Hooks and Fonts and Software!

Three entire months have gone by and I’m just getting back to my blog! I look at blogs all over the Internet and 90% of them seem to write something every day. I must be one of the 10% who blog when they can!

Someone once said: Life is what happens when you’re busy doing other things. I’ve been exceedingly busy over those three months.

My partner, Paul has had another serious operation and my small Tanning Salon had to open in January so the local snowbirds could tan before going on their vacations all over the southern hemisphere. In addition to reading prolifically, I’ve been cleaning house and rediscovering some of my other loves.

Crochet for one.

There was a time when I crocheted things to feed my young and growing family. I worked at it constantly only taking breaks to cook, clean and make sure my children were amused or busy or happy overall. Most of the time they were self contained and never bored. They usually had some project they were working on alone or together.

I remember crocheting large laundry baskets out of hemp twine. As two or three of them sold the demand for them grew and my fingers suffered greatly. I had calluses of unbelievable dimensions. I would also sit up nights to finish projects with my feet on a space heater to keep warm. Some folks might find that hard to believe in this century that not everyone lived in a house with central heating and hot and cold running water. But, even today I’m sure if you look hard enough you can still find a few who do. I used to dream of crocheting a cozy for the house, like you see on some teapots.

In any case through a lot of hard and deliberate work things got better as time moved along. My crochet arts went to projects that didn’t injure me bodily to any extent. I made Afghans, sweaters, hats, tablecloths and pillows. One year I made some of the toys my children received from Santa. I also made some pocket dolls they could give to their teachers and bus drivers. Adults like to have toys too!

It’s amazing what you collect over the years when you crochet, knit, embroider, sew etc. and even more amazing that you keep as much of it as you can. You end up with a multitude of yarns ends that you have no idea where you bought it or when. You have reference books, magazines (you never part with them) and patterns galore. None of which is organized but live in tubs, bags and boxes.

You promise yourself you’ll go through it all one day. Thirty years later you find that “day” isn’t going to arrive and if it did, the day would need 168 hours in it and a small helpful crew!

Having spent the last eight months assisting my partner back to healthy recovery I did a lot of reading between times. Recently I got the wool urge and returned to crochet. My speed was a bit off but after a few days it came back; maybe not as strong as it was but enough to satisfy me.

Then I decided to teach it to beginners. So I sat down and wrote a proposal and curriculum for the program. I’ll send it off to the local women’s group soon and see if they want to run it. If not, someone else will.

I’ve joined several online groups. Ravelry, and a few others. Then I realized there’s software out there to assist in the creation of patterns. You can sell and/or give away your original patterns. The major problem is, all the software I’ve encountered, purchased and ran demos on are all structured for knitters. Some of them say they’re for crochet as well but in my explorations of them I cannot see how. Unless they think filet crochet is the only kind of crochet; which it isn’t!

After having little or no success with software I did find some crochet fonts. Now that was a real find! Even if the software doesn’t deliver you can certainly buy the fonts and do your patterns with your word processor, the old fashioned way.

I bought StitchinCrochet from MyFonts.com and so far I’m pleased with them. They cost all of $4.50. Excellent value!

Also, if you get Open Office they work wonderfully with it, and you can produce a PDF document for your pattern with graphs. What more do you need? Well, the pictures you took as you went and maybe a list of the stitches you used and all the things any pattern might include. But the point is, Open Office is FREE!

MyFonts.com also has fonts for other fiber arts as well.

It’s a shame really because out there in cyber land is a programmer who could write a nice program for crochet artists so they could make their patterns all in one place. If I ever get his or her name, I’ll let you know!

Until next time, Stay Well

The Reason For The Season

It's been a busy month for everyone I know and sometimes with all the extra things one does this month, some of the regular things take second place. As a result, I'm behind in many chores and projects. I'm sure I'm not alone.

My blog has certainly suffered. It has some glitches that need repairing and I've just not had the time to sit down and study up on how to fix them properly. In addition, it will likely be the new year before I learn how to use the amazon associates programs properly.

I've had a running battle with Quickbooks this year but after meeting with a real accountant, I think she's got me on the right path with that. Hopefully! Now all I have to do is get the work done and all will be well.

This month, I enjoyed two days with my daughter. That was not only a pleasant surprise but a very comfortable one and we've decided to make time for one another much more in the coming years.

We've never had a rift or anything dramatic, it's just we both get incrediably busy with a miraid of other things and fall behind on what is really important. I suppose that's a big club on its own. We just didn't want to join it.

I think it's wonderful how a big storm will slow everyone down because whether they know it or not, most of us need slowing down. I know full well how dangerous bad storms can be. They usually have some very negative affects, but it's the positive I want to focus on. If you're snowed in, you get time to tidy up and get better organized.

Many of my friends have gone completely mad with Christmas shopping in an attempt to give presents galore to their children. Many have gone into overkill mode. As a result, they're worn to a frazzle and broke. They might stay broke well into the new year until the bills get paid up. It certainly kills the entire theme of Christmas in my mind.

I guess there's a lot to be said for being poor. You have to dream up ways to give someone a present when you have little or no money to spend. So you resort to gift cards offering to shovel the driveway, wash the dishes or clean the car or any other chore the recipient might need done.

Crafy folks can usually make a nice scarf, or hat or typeset and frame a favourite poem for those they love. Presents like that for me, have much more meaning and come from the heart fired by thought.

At times I've questioned people about this overspending spree and I get answers such as:

"I love doing it and watch their faces light up.
I love to shop.
I love to see what they think of what I bought them."

You'll notice, it's all about "I" with little thought for "them".

I know when they read this, I'll get more justification as to why they do it. Or, they'll tell me, this isn't what they meant! But one reason I do think they do it is because the expectation is, that they will. They've been trained to do it over time and as a consequence, they train their children to do it too. Hopefully, they'll see the nuances for themselves one day and change it.

One happy family I know has sat down and agreed that only 10% of gifts can be purchased. Each year they have to invent, dream up and create gifts to give one another. That makes sense to me, and certainly works without damaging the family budget.

Big business won't like it. This is the time of year when they sell like mad to those manic shoppers. It's a sad thing that some people wait for seasonal occasions to give someone a present.

In the midst of this madness, there is the reason for Christmas itself. It's the birthday of Jesus Christ born some 2000 years ago depending on the calendar you follow. Organized religions, sects, and cults have made much of this event  on a world scale and follow the principles of christianity to a fault. Having a conscience for your actions is, to me, a good thing. Who knows what horrors might surface without them.

With all of the above said, I have to share with you this poem. It used to be printed annually in a paper called: The Eastern Shore Sandpiper. It was written by one of the owners of that paper. Not by myself. The message in it is well worth repeating.

Who Is Santa Claus

If we all believed in Santa Claus,

how sad our Christmas would be,

we'd see no decorations,

no gifts beneath the tree.

We'd all sit back and wait for him,

to do what must be done,

to fill all stockings generously,

and be off on his magic run.

Yes -they say there is no Santa Claus,

no reindeer, no gift-laden sleigh,

that listening for hooves on the rooftops,

is a spoof, a farce and a nay.

Still -there hasn't been a Christmas Eve,

in two thousand years or more,

when Santa has failed in his mission,

to stop at every door.

God comes in many disguises,

and Santa is one -you see,

he lives through the heart of the giver,

he lives through you and through me.

So open your heart to his spirit,

it's your turn to bring him to town,

and that bearded, overweight,  prowler,

will be your love dressed up as a clown.

Copyright to The Eastern Shore SANDPIPER

To conclude, I wish all who read my blog the very best of the season and may the new year bring you joy. Stay Well!

Where To, From Here?

How time does fly by when you’re busy with all sorts of things. I finished my NANO project for now. I’ll let that story simmer on the back burner for now so I can get on to some things that have been ignored of late.

I started a VideoJug page but need to finish that and I’ve collected copious notes for other stories I want to work on this winter. But first and foremost I have to get my bookkeeping up to date and that is a week of steady work from the looks of things. So, I’ll just have to focus on it until it’s DONE!

It’s amazing how writers will procrastinate. I do it constantly. It’s quite likely that many loads of laundry and many dishes and many, many dustings in my house would not get done at all if I didn’t use those chores to keep from doing the things I know I should be doing. I certainly can’t be alone in this attitude.

I know my blog is suffering. Mostly it suffers because I just do not understand the monetization principles for adsense or amazon. I probably have enough of their information to understand it, but like many other things; they’re on the back burner too. I will eventually get to them.

I have managed to do a bit of work on WDC which I’m glad of. I’ve done over 100 reviews of items on that site now over six months so I’m happy with that progress. There are many writers there who have done hundreds more than myself, but then they’ve been on the site longer than I have.

Writing.com is a fun site for writers. You can write, enter contests, get items reviewed by your peers and stay up to date with WEEKLY newsletters. How can any one complain about that eh! Plus they have a chat box for people to meet and greet and discuss just about anything that’s on their minds. I usually go there to extend my procrastination inclinations. What a sorry person I’m turning into.

I have to note that I enjoyed NANOWRIMO. It gets your typing skills right up there and your mind in gear for the tasks at hand. They have all sorts of other things they do of course. One is to support younger writers and they make libraries in other countries and they help writers get and stay on track to some degree. So, no one can argue with that. They also have emails so writers can stay in touch with one another. I have to say while I made about six or seven posts in the forums, no one… yeah, not one single solitary person directed one single comment to me personally. So, while that might bother many people, I just kept on writing my story and then, laid back or did other things. I guess I’m too used to the friendly atmosphere of WDC where everyone makes sure everyone is included in things so no one feels left out.

I’ll attack the NANO challenge again next year but hopefully I’ll be more prepared. I did enjoy using Scrivener which is well known to Mac users but not at all to Windows users. So, it was great to use their beta version for my purposes. As a consequence of using Scrivener, I began to understand how to use some other programs I’d purchased in 2009 that while expensive I had little or no idea how to use. Using Scrivener helped me understand how to use them, so hopefully over the next six months I’ll be able to explore DramaticaPro and PowerWriter and several others. None of these will write your story for you, but they all help to get it clear in your mind. There’s also similar programs for script writers which seems to have taken off at rocket speed the last year or two.

Everyone I know is getting ready for Christmas and I’m not one iota ready for any of it except that I have accepted a dinner invitation. So, I don’t have to buy a turkey or cook anything.. WHOOPEE!!! No one has asked me what I want for Christmas, but I guess I want software. There’s still a few programs I’d like to have so I might get lucky that way.

Also with a bit of luck, I might get some Christmas cards addressed and off to people. I sure hope so. Computers are supposed to save us time, money and energy but I think since I got my first computer in 1990, I’ve been running short of time, money and never mind my energy. But, enthusiasm is supposed to keep your soul young. So, hopefully that will work for me.

Stay Well.

NANOWRIMO and Scrivener and Tanning Salons!

I'm well pleased with myself this morning because a few nights ago I finished my NANO project. The last 1067 words were stumping me. I didn't know where to add another chapter or to extend one already created. So, I did both in a way. Luckily I still have a week to go before Nov. 30th! So I can keep right on typing if I want to.
When I was reading through correcting spelling and taking "ly" and "s" off some words, I realized I had no animals in my story. If it was a city setting that wouldn't have been a problem, but out here on the Eastern Shore it seemed to border on impossible.
So, to knock off that final 1000 plus words I wrote a dog into my story. It meant going through certain parts of it to make it work but, before I knew it I had my thousand words and then some. So, I was pretty happy with that.
NANOWRIMO is an annual event. This was my first experience with it and their site is almost daunting for the uninitiated. But, I roamed through it every time I needed a break from some of my characters and tried to get comfortable with it. You can have a look at it by visiting: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node
It seems that some people use emails for messages. Personally, I use emails as letters. So, I was getting quite a few emails from people in my regional area which were in most cases, messages. I didn't know any of them and they were, or seemed to be arranging write-ins all over the province. I of course could not go to any of them because I live too far off from all of them. I also doubted I would get much writing done in those venues.
I really like the peace and quiet of home when thoughts can go uninterrupted for hours if necessary. And, being on a limited income tossed a spanner into long drives with only social purposes in mind.
Many of the participants had done NANO before. So, they had a fair idea of what to expect, but being new to this experience I was completely unsure and I still am

Scrivener

In addition, I was using a beta version of Scrivener. Now APPLE users have had the benefits of Scrivener for some time, but it's only recently that this powerful program became available to the WINDOWS user.
And, I'm really glad it has done. What a sweet program. It keeps you organized. Completely organized especially in the composition of a novel or story of any length. Scrivener offered the beta to NANO participants on trial with a percent off next month if you decide to buy it. I shall be buying it.
I usually write in WORD and then move it over, but I started this draft in blog so I might as well finish it.
When I did reach my 50,000 + words for NANO I felt pooped. So, when that happens to a writer, it's best to go do dishes or some other activity until your body catches up with your mind or vice versa. I've had some great ideas since but not for that project. So, I might get some other things completed and then return to it.

TANNING SALONS

In today's paper the NS government has decided to pass some legislation on tanning beds which will make it an offense to sell tanning services to anyone under 19 year so age. I have a small tanning salon that is about ten years old now and I've never sold tanning services to anyone under eighteen without their mother's coming to see me and me seeing their mother, sign the permission card. Now the government has decided to be "mother" instead of those who do the job already.
In the ten years I've been in business I've never once had a representative of government inform me of ANY legislation in regard to the services I sell. They do take the registration fees I pay to be in business and they're certainly not above accepting my HST reports annually.
Now, out of the blue, they have rules. Not only rules, but "legislation"! It is my sincere hope that all tanning salons in the province of Nova Scotia will get copies of these new rules and all the legislation covering tanning salons. I may have to wait a while for them, but I don't mind.
It comes down to who you want to believe. In certain parts of the world, (like Australia) the ozone layer that protects people's skins from the sun is damaged. So, children MUST wear hats to protect them. Australians of course are not vitamin D deficient as people are in certain parts of North America. You get very depressed if you are vitamin D deficient and your physical well being can be damaged and at risk for all sorts of things.
Certainly the overuse of ANYTHING is harmful. In my salon, people do not over-tan. I just don't allow it. I do know that some salons are not as vigilant, and allow some people to tan twice or three times a day! Can you imagine what THAT would do to your skin?!?!
Tanning is a cosmetic product and should be used and sold as such. At Ticker's it always has been. I'm not advertising because most of my clients come back annually. Ninety percent of them are adults, so NOT selling tans to teens will not effect my business one iota.
I guess the point of my rant is, that in ten years I've never heard anything from the provincial government on or about tanning. Now, out of the blue they've made decisions regarding it and not one tanning salon owner was participant in those rules or legislation. I guess that tells me everything I need to know.
Stay Well, until next time.