The New Year came in like a lion! We were on weather alert on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022 that an icy storm was to come in at 6 p.m. on Monday, January 2. They were not wrong! Schools started on Wednesday but were still getting the warning that this mess would be around until 6 p.m. on Thursday. Thursday schools in our area were 2 hours late. Basketball games were cancelled and had to find a time later to make up for the game. This ice is something else! With ice melt down doing its job, then it snows or else brings more ice on top of the first layer. I walked to the Clinic on Thursday morning and had problems finding places where there wasn’t any ice. The neighbor’s sidewalk was scooped but at the end of the sidewalk, there is an incline that has ice piled up at the end (curb on the street) that isn’t safe trying to get across this piled up ice. I ended up walking on the street and trying to find spots that weren’t icy. In other words, I shouldn’t have been out there at all!
The newspaper delivery guy doesn’t always just deliver newspapers! I made banana bars at 11 p.m. on Wednesday and had intended to make banana bread after the bars were done. Then I discovered that I was short sugar for the bread. I called Steve at about 4 a.m. to see if he had some. Yes, he would bring some down when he was in our area. With his sugar, I was able to get the breads done by 6:30 a.m.
Wednesday we went to Sioux City to pick up some parts (that hadn’t come in yet) and I went to a fabric store to get another yard of material for the back and the same for the front for a quilt for Bethany. I do know the way to get to the fabrics in this store—go past artificial flowers and picture frames, and the next department is fabrics. (When I go to get fabrics at WalMart, I have to remember that fabrics are in the “F” part of their store, which I still cannot just go right to it.)
I had taken along a yard of each of the fabrics (to make sure the colors were the same) and put them in a grocery bag from “Jeff’s”. As soon as I got to the fabrics, I let the clerk know that I had brought these two samples along to make sure I got the right colors. This clerk probably would have been better working in the part of the store that had Christmas items discounted as she certainly wasn’t a fabric clerk!
There was no one but her in this department so I asked if she would help me find the purple color. I don’t think she knew anything about fabrics but did come and located the right one. I told her I needed a yard which she started to measure out. I asked her if the “top” color was still there as I couldn’t find it. “Well, it probably is gone,” was her answer. Then I asked her if she had anything material that would work in the top as I couldn’t find the original material. “No, I don’t know what would go best,” was her answer. Then I looked up at the top shelf and found the right material for the front. She came and got it down and measured a yard of this. She went to her calculator to figure out what 40% of the original cost was, then handed me the material and sales slip and we were on the way to get checked out at the front of the store.
There was an older lady that had purchased a rather large item that the clerk was finding a bag to put it in, while she was getting the money she got back, back in her purse. The clerk had already checked out my material while the older lady was picking up her package. The clerk gave me a nickel back and handed me the sales slip. I asked her where my fabric was and she pointed to the bag from the grocery store that had the “sample” material in. I informed her that what was in that bag were samples that I had checked in with the person in the fabric part of the store. “Did that older lady picked up my package along with hers?” I asked. The clerk ran out of the store and chased the lady out in the parking lot to retrieve my material! I was glad I had checked in with the fabric clerk as to what was in “Jeff’s” bag even though it didn’t get to that!
The next day I went along again and went to the fabric store to get some “filler” for the quilt. It was on sale for 40% off which was a bargain as otherwise it was really expensive. Meanwhile Zachary is sitting in the car playing a game on the phone and madder then a hornet because it was taking me so long. The aisle I was checking out in had a person that was continuing taking items out of her bag while the check-out clerk was asking for the slip for each item she was putting up on the counter. I looked up and saw this was a “return” counter. There wasn’t another counter open at the time. Finally the person who was returning a lot of items, got her money back and left. I told the clerk that I probably was at the wrong counter, but she said that was okay as no other counter was open. When I returned to the car, of course he was upset that it took me that long. I told him about the exchanges and I don’t think he believed me. (Maybe he had lost a game that was bothering him!)
Anyway I got the lining home and on Friday I checked the instructions that were sent with the lining. It is 90 inches wide, is all new material with natural cotton (87.5%) and (12.5%) polypropylene and I could expect a 3% shrinkage. Pre-washing was not necessary. Once quilted, machine wash & then dry finished quilt in cold water. (This didn’t make sense!) OR, to preshrink, there were optional pre-wash directs. (1) Hand Wash mild detergent. Do not agitate or spin in washer. (2) Soak for 20 minutes, rinse several times. (3) Squeeze out water. Do not wring. Rolling in a towel helps. (4) Dry in a warm dryer or lay flat to air dry. I don’t like to think about it, but because the quilt material has already been washed, I will do the Optional Pre-wash way. It really is nice lining but I certainly didn’t expect all that went with it!
I have had little Butterball, also known as Teddy, (orphan kitty) having a good time while I have been working on this quilt. That kitten can climb stairs faster than I can walk them. I have to remember Nash’s poem—a kitten is a kitten until it becomes a cat! And, little Butterball is growing! Kittens don’t stay kittens long!
The S C Journal has run for three days a story about a mentally deranged man that Jan. 12, 2021 committed suicide called “police suicide” when he deliberately wanted to be shot by a police officer. The series tells of how his family tried to get him help but to no avail. They couldn’t get a court-ordered involuntary committal, which requires an application by two people to be filed in the clerk of court office, then a judge’s review and order. They filed an application before 4:30 p.m. but there was no judge so it had to sit overnight for an available judge to review it. The next day the family received a call at 1:46 p.m. from the clerk of courts office that a judge had approved the involuntary committal earlier that morning. It was too late as Michael Meredith had succumbed to Police suicide the day before.
The Police suicide was justified as Michael came after a police officer with a tire iron. While there are several ways to get help for the problem Michael was having, they aren’t always available. His family hopes for changes making it easier for people like Michael who are experiencing a mental health crisis to end up in a hospital rather than a morgue and that another officer isn’t forced to be an involuntary participant in another person’s suicidal plan. (It was a well written story that you can go to the Marcus Public Library to read if you don’t get the S C Journal.)
If we think we have problems, Washington D.C. has had theirs in the House of Representatives trying to find a speaker that couldn’t seem to get the necessary votes. After 15 voting times over four long days, Kevin McCarthy finally got the necessary votes enabling him to be Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 118th session of Congress. One of the first items on the agenda is that of repealing an $80 billion investment in the Internal Revenue Service that could make it possible for the agency to hire 86,852 full-time employees over a 10-year span. McCarthy stated, “we believe government should be to help you, not go after you.” With a speaker elected, the House finally was able to start swearing in newly-elected lawmakers who had been waiting all week for the chamber to formally open and the 2023-2024 session to begin.
Remember in your thoughts and prayers those who have lost loved ones to death and have had their lives changed, have health problems some of which are terminal, are trying to make ends meet even though they have a job, and be with those who are trying to shorten the distance between friends/family by building a bridge instead of a wall. If you have a roof over your head and are not living under a bridge or classified as “homeless”, count your blessings.