Avast! Ya scurvy dogs...

Today is September the 19th and that means only one thing....it is Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arrrrgh n shit. So for today, you can refer to me by my pirate name, Dirty Anne Rackham. Again, arrrrgh, i say. Arrrgh. Arrrrrgh! *insert a cough* ARRRRRRRRRRGH! Ah, that was much better.

Two years ago, I had decided that me and my friends should all dress up as pirates for Halloween and set out upon Austin like a roving band of hooligans. This we did and good times where had by all. Sure, some rum was consumed and I did lose my sword once after falling down and then rolling through an enormous rosemary shrub. No harm done really and I smelled fabulous for the rest of the night! Thank goodness I don't act like Dirty Anne Rackham every day...or I'd be a part of a whole other group...yeah. I'll admit though that it was a lot of fun to don some flashy, swashbucklin' clothes and a pirat'ish/english/irish accent for a night faux pillaging.

My advice to you is to give it a try, you might like it! Here are some links to get you started....

get yer pirate name:

http://www.piratequiz.com/

study up! this site will ramp you up quick like:

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

respond to my blog and let us know what your pirate name is...we always like to see who's on the ship...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

pirate

The Birds

Yup. The birds. Remember the movie? The birds lost their flippin' minds and just wanted to kill, kill, KILL! Nobody suspects the birds. I mean, they weigh like....nothing and are mostly wee sized. They make chihuahuas look like heavy weights. Nobody ever suspects the damn birds.

So there I was, walking my precious little fella, Smoky Joe. We were sniffin' every tree trunk, not leaving a blade of grass pass by without inspection. Minding our own business mostly except to leak a little here or wiz a little there. Beautiful day it was here in NoDak. Winter will be here soon but today there is no need for doggy sweaters and boots. Just us and the tinkling of his tags and the clicking of his toenails on warm concrete.

Did I suspect the birds? NO. About a block away from home a bird was chasing another bird and the two of them zipped by my head so fast that I felt the breeze and heard "wooooof" in my ear. I winced and ducked in panic as they bulleted up into the tree canopy and out of sight. I was awash with a wave of chill. Smoky Joe and I scampered along and tried to play off the bird taunting. I wonder if any of the neighbors saw!

Nobody ever suspects the birds....

A Stitch in time...

Jack of all trades and master of none. This describes me very well. Curious, curious, curious always wondering, questioning, trying something new. I’ve always stated that I am rarely ever bored. There is always something to do, read, listen to, experience, learn, whatever! Even if that means keeping time with the muzak in the doctor’s office waiting room. I cannot even begin to approximate how many projects or hobbies that I’ve started and moved onto something else. My behavior at times has driven a few people in my life mad (myself included) but this is just who I am and I no longer apologize for it :-)

My new temptation is embroidery. Yep, as simple as that. I love the look of cheesy old dishcloths, western shirts and bowling shirts...how fun! So I researched some basic stitches and thought that I’d whip up some cutesy owl dishtowels for the kitchen. Purchased the patterns, some embroidery floss, needles, a wee hoop and an enormous dishtowel to practice my stitches on before I went and destroyed something else with crazy needlework! Thank you Thrify White Drugstore of Mandan, NoDak for carrying the oddest assortment of items within your walls to include an embroidery supply section tucked at the end of some forgotten aisle.

I got some easy instructions on the basics from Sublime Stitching of Austin, TX (p.s. go there for some awesome patterns-I bought 8 immediately!) and off I went practicing straight lines and curves with each stitch type. Ok I was over that after 1 minute and drew a little rocket pattern that was on one of the patterns that I had ordered. Stitched that. Eewww, fun! At this point I was laying in bed and didn’t feel like getting up to get a pencil and/or idea for a pattern so I decided to just lay down stitches freehand to practice and why not do a head. Yes, I thought, a head with a messed up face. Like somebody who takes to fightin’ and says WUT? a lot. This is when Billy Fred Cooper entered my life.

I was so pleased with Billy Fred that I had to give him some sisters to protect/fight with. Again, I was just freehand stitching them because this was practice, practice, practice. So yesterday afternoon born of my needle were Vesta Mae and Fancy. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with these 3 characters. I keep thinking of story lines for them. More importantly, HOW DID I GO THIS LONG IN LIFE WITHOUT PICKING UP AN EMBROIDERY NEEDLE? Now I just need to figure out some practical applications that I can sell in my Etsy shop!

Seriously, if you haven’t given it a try (or any new technique of arts & crafts for that matter) get some information, get some supplies and give it a whirl. It is a lot of fun!