Poppies

 Recently I came across a company that carried this wonderful crepe paper. Nothing like I have ever seen before. They also had some free patterns one of which was for making Sweet Pea flowers. I ordered a couple of colors and my sister also gave me some of her paper. So between the two types of papers, I fashioned the flowers. I was fascinated with the process and how beautiful these flowers were. My first attempts were by far not perfect. I needed to develop technique. I used to make paper flowers when I was a hippie back in the 70's, but nothing like this. They were the typical huge things that were perhaps 12 inches wide in crazy colors and I would give them out to people downtown proclaiming "Peace and Love to Everyone". Flower child.

Amazingly, I have not been able to find any books on the making of flowers. I am sure they are out there, but they are hidden from me. So here I am making my own patterns and trying to figure out my own techniques.

 I

1. I found that if I type in a flower on Google there is usually a link to images and it is a good reference to quite a few great views to what I am looking for. This is how I figured out how to make the poppy. I also never realized how many colors this flower comes in. 

  

This is my first attempt. The one in the middle was the first. You can see that the center of it is way too big. I also used glue to hold it in place. It is rather fragile. The petals however are a good size. The front one is much better when it comes to the center. I really have to find tendrills however to make this flower look more realistic. And I didn't have any brown paper so I used a green and will have to paint them brown in the end.

Making the  template for the petals was not as difficult as I had thought. I suppose it is because I have seen so many of these flowers in my life that guessing was easy. I will however, make a size a bit bigger also. but not much bigger.  And I want to also make the seed pod but that will take some work as color is important and it has that flat cap to it. And I can't find a good image for the leaf.



 

 Try as I might, I could not get a good picture of the design of the petal. . This is how the petal begins. I cut it out and delicately pull out the very top edge with my thumbnails. You can see the ridges. Then I put a slight bowl into the paper just below that. I make five of these.

 This is the end flower  with the painted centers now smaller. I found, after the second one, that using glue to fasten the center to the wire is not the correct way of doing it. If I just use the floral tape it is perfect and solid and much less messy. I made the last one is a very pale pink. They come in several pinks and yellows, oranges, and some are even variegated. And some petals are shaped differently.

Interesting, isn't it?

The car

I have spent the entire week in mental hell going over and over trying to put everything into perspective as to how I was going to handle this whole issue. It just doesn't make any sense. But George was insistent that I wait till I get the second opinion from his garage which he and I had been going to for over twenty years.

OK. Then I can get their assessment on paper and deal with the issue from there. Off I went a bit ago. They put the car on a lift so we could all three of us see for ourselves what the condition was.

Nothing. Nothing!!  It looked really healthy under there. Am I blind? What am I looking for? There were a couple of spots that were peeling but I was told that that was an outer coating and that the structure underneath was in great shape. The brake lines look new. The muffler was obviously new. I just saw no rust. And we were not dealing with just a mechanic here. This is Gerry, the man who owns the place and who's wife I have known in the fabric business forever. Just a really great man. He walked us through everything. I asked him that - if I needed to have him inspect this car today, would he do it, being an inspection station. He said yes, absolutely. He said his son might fix the air conditioner, as he is certified to do that. If not, I will take it to this other garage just up the street, another reputable place which George is very familiar with from experience. But there should not be a problem.

This car looks great. I can stop crying now. My faith in humanity is restored. I can finish knitting up the little "monster toy" for a newborn boy who has arrived this week. I no longer have to be afraid that, while on my way to somewhere out there, the bottom will fall out from under me. And my mother will be safe in the seat next to me.

I don't understand however. How could a garage paint such a blatantly bleak picture on something that obviously looks so good and charge me almost $60 for that opinion? And they call themselves "Mom's Garage"???

Remember This?

My mother has been complaining for two months that my air conditioning is not working and I have kept putting it off. Finally I made an appointment this week and I dropped it off at "Mom's Garage" just down the street a couple of blocks. Two weeks ago I had brought it to Advanced Eurosport where I bought the car to see if it was just a matter of putting in some freeon (sp?). But they told me that the generator was not working and I would need to have that fixed as they didn't do that there. So last night I dropped it off and put my phone by my bed as I knew they would call me with their diagnosis sometime before I usually get up this morning. The man who owns the garage had told me it would cost between $300 and $600 to fix when I talked to him yesterday. . OK. We will deal with that.

The news ended up rather bleak. He called about 9:30. He told me that he could not do anything with the car as the repairs would cost more than the car was worth. Aside from the issues with the air conditioner, the whole structure of the front of the car and the floor boards of the car are badly rusted. It happens with a car that has as low mileage as my car has with its age. When it sits for years it rusts. He made it clear that this car should never have passed inspection when I bought it. When you buy a car from a small dealership and they say they will take care of the inspection, it should raise a flag.  How was I to know? I told Eurosport that I needed a dependable car to drive my elderly mother around. I just assumed that they would be reputable in their recommending a safe automobile for us.

Mechanically, the little thing runs really well. I get good mileage, it runs smooth, I have no problems. It's too bad. I have until October to decide what to do. I don't know. It is a trust thing. I don't know.

Heights

When did this happen to me?  I have not always been afraid of heights. Golly, I have flown myself over the mountain area in New Hampshire in a two seater plane. It was thrilling. I didn't even have to think about it. I climbed the ladder and got into the cockpit. And away we went. That was when~~ in the late 80's.

Now I can't even climb onto a one step stool. I can hear you all laughing. Go ahead. I will put cotton in my ears. I am sure somewhere I have some silk batting I can use.

It is just after ten o'clock in the morning. Yes, I am up early. I have to frost yet another cake. How many chocolate cakes have I made since my return to New Hampshire? Oh and one cake I made in three colors. Pink, green and blue. Quite beautiful, it was.

The light has burned out in the entrance way. I just replaced that six months ago. It's not like I have that light on all the time. OK. This is the morning I change the bulb. Where are the men when you need them. I took out the dining chair. It took me less time to take out the new bulb than it did to just get up on the damn chair. My heart was pounding so hard you would think I was having a heart attack. (where is that silk batting).

So I make it up on the chair and unscrew the little thing there and remove the cover. Wow. Rather dirty. I should wash it. ~~~~~ I decide against it. I don't have that great of a relationship with heights. Only once... I can't do this again. I- I - I just can't. Now I have to get down from this chair. It was easier getting down.

I am going to put the chair back when I stop.  One of the kitchen bulbs has been burnt out for weeks. Not good when most of the work I do with my sewing is done at night. Is it too difficult for someone to come up with a light bulb that lasts longer than my life span??

I stood there for awhile looking up at the stupid thing. I made a cup of coffee and convinced myself that I can do this. I took out another bulb and stood in front of the chair. It occurred to me that the chair is higher in the kitchen than in the hallway. Or am I loosing my mind. Non. That chair was shorter in the hallway. I took the last sip of coffee I made five minute ago and stepped up (got it) to the task.

Only this time, I couldn't figure out how to get down. I have the support of the back of the chair and my sweet little task table in the middle of the kitchen. George and I had this made for us when we used to go up into the Adirondaks years ago..

I am standing there and panicking. Then for one short moment I am thinking "Just fess up and get the B-jeesus down". And I took advantage of that tiny moment and got down off the chair.

Now I have light and telling you all that yes, it is possible to do something that totally frightens you, even when it is so dumb that locking it onto your blog labels you for the rest of your life.

And how is your day going?

PS:  I often see Jody type these words in her blog and they have this line through them. I always wondered how she achieved these. And why would anyone want to strike through a word unless you don't want anyone to see that the word doesn't belong there. Why not just delete the word. So, despite that I wonder what the reason behind the doing of this, I still retained an envy that I could not figure out how to do this. I could write a whole book with every word stricken out. Another words, I've written a book but - don't read it!

Just now, while looking for the spell check, I found the little icon for the task. So Jody, again you continue to shower me with gifts. Beautiful.