Chicken Monday: 11/29/10

Leroy and Henrietta are two gorgeous birds. Looking at Leroy's irridescent black-and-green tail feathers gives me the sudden urge to make a 1940s-style hat, complete with the little net veil. But I think he needs his plumage more than I do, and I don't exactly want to get my ass kicked by a rooster, so I'll leave them where they are.

As for Henrietta, her sleek, uniformly-packed feathers remind me of an exquisite hat Mom and I saw a couple years ago in a nearby antiques shop. It resembled a Moroccan fez, but had a much shorter crown (that is, it was only three or four inches tall at most)...and it was very, very carefully covered in painstakingly-applied pheasant and quail feathers so that the feathers swirled up from the brimless edge and around like a tornado until they ended at the top center. (Think 1950s-1960s pillbox hat, but a little taller and probably meant for special occasions. Or everyday glamour, drama, and fabulousness.) The feathers seemed to have been individually hand-sewn on, but the milliner covered the entire hat *very* closely with a nearly-invisible netting so they wouldn't accidentally get mussed, rumpled, or otherwise out of place.

Of course, it was a Size 20—two sizes too small for Mom, or Pixie, or me. But when I look at Henrietta's beautiful, nearly-waterproof, tightly packed feathers, I think of that little hat. And I beam with love for my little hen.

Mom's Pattern Vault: New Look 6169

Mom bought this pattern in the late 1980s or early 1990s. She's made the skirt part of the pattern for her a time or two, and originally made this jacket for herself...in the early '90s. But she got busy with other projects, and the unfinished jacket got lost in the closet under the stairs. Happily, though, she rediscovered it earlier this year and is altering and finishing it for me. Thanks, Mom! This is a Fashion WIN in the making.

(Black) Friday Kittehs: 11/26/10

Don't get me wrong—shopping *can* be a lot of fun. But the "tradition" associated with today is to participate with millions of strangers in a massive consumerist orgy, and I'm not (that) kinky. So today I'm staying home with Hobo Kitty and the other HKC cats, just enjoying a day off; later, I'm heading out to Mom's to eat, sew, and goof around. While Mom and I *do* eventually have to make a pre-holiday fabric store run to, we're in no hurry. Neither of us can imagine that Hancock Fabrics will have sold out of flannel by the time we get there. Red-and-green plaid silk taffeta? Maybe. But we're pretty confident on the fabric front.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2010!

From I Can Has Cheezburger? (of course!)

Hope everyone's having a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving. Let your belt out a few notches!

Some expressions just don't translate well.

Look what I found on Etsy for $5.75!

Many of my current students were toddlers when this Vogue pattern, designed by Oscar de la Renta, was published in 1995. And in our discussions of mass media and popular culture, I like to whip out old photos to show my students that no, that off-the-shoulder sweatshirt is not a new fad, and neither are the leggings you've been sporting all around campus. We then all have a good laugh.

However, this pattern seems to defy trends, and that's why it caught my eye. Had I seen it 15 years ago, when it was first released, I doubt that I would have liked it. My tastes back then were very trend-oriented and faddish; I was a junior in college, so that's not such a big surprise.

But check out the curvy little bracket-like side panels! And how the bracket design is echoed in both the lower and higher neckline options! They draw the eye toward the center of the body, making the wearer look thinner even if she's a size 18—the largest size in this version of the pattern. (Was it published in a Size 20-22-24 version? I don't know, but I'm going to find out.)

As you may have read on my sister's blog, our Mom has been dealing with a Vintage Vogue reproduction pattern that we now call The Dress from Hell. The final version was a smashing success, but it was a colossal pain in the ass. Mom made up three different prototypes of the bodice—it usually takes just one for her to get the hang of a pattern she's never sewn before—for a dress whose difficulty Vogue listed as Average. "Average?!? Says who, Christian Dior?!?" That's Mom, witty even in utter frustration. (Naturally, she's in no hurry to make Vogue 2401 again anytime soon.)

When Mom stopped by the house the other day, I handed her this pattern the moment she walked in the door. "Oooooh! Look at that waist detail!" she said.

"I know!" I replied. "At first glance, it didn't look like much, but then I went back and looked more closely, and then at the back of the envelope to see how it's put together."

"What's it rated?" she asked, looking at the back of the envelope.

"Average. Hmph! Average, my ass." She squinted through her trifocals at the smaller print, which is where all a pattern's dirty little secrets lie. "The French translation sounds a lot better, though: Moins facile."

"Actually," I said, "in French that means less easy."

"Less easy?" She raised one eyebrow.

"The word you'd use in French for average is moyen, or moyenne."

"HA! So moins facile does NOT mean average. It just means less easy."

"Right," I replied.

"Less easy than what? Brain surgery? Rocket science? Passing a camel through the eye of a needle!?"

Chicken Monday: 11/22/10

The chickens enjoy a rare treat: a scoop of dry cat food. Longtime readers will recall that the late, great Myrtle Mae (E&P's original guard chicken, may she rest in peace) loved cat food, too—and would peck the kitties out of the way if they tried to take hers away! :-) But nowadays, I try to feed the chickens mostly non-animal foods: cracked corn, oyster shells (for calcium, to make hard eggshells), steamed brown rice, stale bread, stale bran cereal, leftover biscuits and cornbread that are past their prime, melon rinds...the list goes on.

This afternoon, since Henrietta's eggs have been very thin-shelled since cold weather killed off most of the insects in her diet, the chickens are getting a new treat—cottage cheese. Yes, our yardbird friends LOVE cottage cheese, and the curds give them a big calcium boost, too.

Foreground to back: Henrietta, Leroy, and The Peeps. Still not yet sure whether "the kids" are hens or roosters, so until then they're waiting on names. (Shouldn't be much longer, though.)

Reflection in a puddle

Not really, but it sure could be. It's actually another photo I snapped while sitting in the car at the automatic car wash the other day. Seems I'm finding peace and beauty in a lot of unexpected places lately—these little epiphanies are small but very profound. (And I'm glad to have had handy a cell phone with a camera so I could share it with all of you!) So maybe the present moment, wherever one happens to be, really IS the perfect moment.

Friday Kittehs: 11/19/10

The defecation is really hitting the oscillation at Division II University, now that Fall Semester is nearing completion. (Nothing huge, don't worry; it's just the usual assorted clusters of randomly fornicating Mongolians.) But in general, though, we here at the Happy Kitten Cottage are very blessed, and doing pretty well...including the kittehs. Clark weighs in at 13 pounds these days; his super-glossy fur is proof he's been doubling up on the groceries since the cooler weather set in. That's Mama's snoozy, handsome boy!

Weird cloudy sky over sand dunes

No, not really. It's just suds on the rear window of my car, halfway through the Ultimate [sic] Car Wash at a local gas station. As I sat and waited for the wash to finish, it occurred to me that the suds on the window looked a little like some ominous pre-winter-storm-type clouds I'd seen many years ago in Michigan and Indiana.

Kitty breakfast on the front porch

Clockwise from upper right: Smokey, Kigi, Clark, Kamakura, Davy, Ernest, Martha Ann (aka Squirrel), and Stripeakura. A few of the usual suspects are missing from this photo, but they're sure to return before lunch.

Friday Kittehs: 11/12/10

The spirit of this old t-shirt appeals to Smokey, it seems. The hobbies are window shopping (watching fish in a bowl), nose dusting (no explanation needed for THAT one), macrame (turning an upholstered chair into rope-like shreds), and gardening (digging in a houseplant). Funny, but I always thought cats' hobbies included sleeping, eating, raising hell, sleeping, meowing pointlessly at 3am, and did I mention sleeping?

Omega Mu Gamma's "Band Wars"

A couple years ago, I was asked by a pair of former students to serve as faculty advisor to their sorority, Omega Mu Gamma (OMG). My students know that I'm a staunch non-conformist, so of course it would be an extremely diverse, strictly academics, multi-ethnic non-conformist sorority asking me to act as their advisor. At first I was very hesitant, but it's been a lot of fun. Tonight marks Omega Mu Gamma's second annual Band Wars fundraiser for local kids' charities. While I'm having fun judging the acts tonight, I'm also becoming even more deaf with each new band.

I'll add more obesrvations later—it's been a long, long day.

New sewing pattern

Here's some vintage pattern awesomeness I bought the other day on Etsy. While Pixie and I are much larger than a juniors' Size 13 (33" bust), Mom assures us it's not a big deal to enlarge the pattern. Hooray!

Iz mai birfdai.

From I Can Has Cheezburger?

Friday Kittehs: 11/5/10

The weather's finally turning cold here in Small Town, and Clark enjoys snoozing on the bed with Mama more than usual. It's chilly out there, but the fleece blanket Grandmommy made is so warm!

My Halloween costume

Mom did an excellent job, no? I'll post pictures of her 1950s costume after the Elvis impersonator party this weekend.

Chicken Monday: 11/1/10

Henrietta and Leroy watch dog butt very carefully from the safety of the chicken pen.