Footle and Grok

I love using bags, and I like making bags, but the bags I normally make turn out horrible, and I never use them. That doesn’t stop me from trying.

I had a bunch of Christmas presents to sew, so I set up my sewing machine, ironing board, and cutting mat on my dining room table. Normally I try to sew in my office, but there isn’t room, and I always have to move the ironing board to use the sewing machine, etc. It’s frustrating.

By using the dining room table, I had an organized space to make some gifts. I decided that since I had everything set up, I would do a bunch of little crafts that I had been putting off because of the frustration.

When I finished all my projects, I had some Christmas scraps and a little bit of cotton batting left. I’m decluttering my craft supplies, so I either had to use these scraps or toss them. I didn’t want them taking of space for years to come.

At first, I was going to make a mini-quilt (the batting was 12″x18″), but I really had no use for such a thing. I went on Pinterest (someone told me that was a good place to find craft ideas) and found instructions for a cute bag that I thought I could do.

Now, what I said above was true. I make horrible bags. But I went into this project with zero expectations. I was going to attempt to make this simple bag, and if I failed, it wasn’t the end of the world because I was going to toss the scraps anyway.

Well, it didn’t turn out horrible. In fact, it’s the best bag I’ve ever made, and I can’t wait to use it in December. It’s almost the same shape as my everyday bag, so I know it will fit my wallet and book. And it makes me happy to have a decluttered craft room.

My dining room table is empty now, but the next time I want to sew something, I know how to do it stress-free. And who knows, maybe I’ll try making another bag in the future.

I wish you success in all your crafty pursuits.

I have been using Pinterest for about six weeks now. Do I think it’s worth it?

I never signed up for Pinterest because I spend too much time on Facebook, and I worried that I would get addicted to another social media site. Plus, my Google-Fu is strong, and I figured I could find what I wanted to learn without Pinterest.

However, I often found that there were links on Google that led to Pinterest, and I couldn’t see them. I tried to ignore those hits but wondered if I was missing something important.

I finally signed up for Pinterest to collect pictures of characters for a new book I was writing. I did get some good ideas but not many. For the first week or so, I was on it every night creating different boards. But after that, I only visited occasionally.

If you want craft ideas, Pinterest is great. I found some fun craft websites through various pins.

If you want exercise or weight loss advice, I’d stay far away from Pinterest. Almost all the pins that came up with those searches were both unhealthy and impossible. Plus, they all featured photos of impossibly skinny people, a red flag for any weight loss information.

So overall, I’m glad I signed up, and I’m glad I didn’t get sucked into a social media black hole. When I want to do something crafty, I’ll check it out, but otherwise, I’ll stick with Google.

Happy Red Planet Day!

We honor the planet Mars today because the Spacecraft Mariner 4 launched on November 28, 1964. This craft got within 6,188 miles of Mars, which was amazing for the time.

I have done posts on Mars before, but I never get tired of learning about this amazing planet. Someday humans will walk on Mars. It will be a major event in human history, and I can’t wait.

Rather than list a bunch of facts like I normally do, I want to share a cool NASA infographic about Mars. NASA has the best educational website on all things space. Celebrate Red Planet Day by visiting the NASA site and admiring Mars’ beauty. It’s a pretty good planet (after Earth).

Ever since I was a little kid, my family hung our outside Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving. My brother and I were out of school, and Dad had the day off from work, so it was ideal. Plus, Thanksgiving was over, and it was finally Christmastime.

A lot of people have already decorated their homes (and showed pictures on Facebook.) Usually, I’m not too fond of people ignoring Thanksgiving, but 2020 has been a tough year, so I’m okay with decorating early. But, let’s not make a habit of it.

This year, I in Arizona for Thanksgiving, so I’ll be helping Mom, Dad, and Aunt Patti hang their Christmas lights. When I was a kid, I never imagined that I would wrap Christmas lights around a tall palm tree, but the more, the merrier.

When do you put up your Christmas decorations? Is it the same time every year, or are you flexible? I’ll be decorating my house as soon as I get back to Washington.

Thanks to my cats, I have to change the way I decorate, but that will be a future post.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Being thankful is something that we should practice every day, but it’s good to have a reminder. Let’s celebrate Thanksgiving by being thankful for all that we have, all that we do, and all that we love. And let’s make an effort to be grateful all year long.

Thank you for reading my blog. It is always my hope that my readership will grow, but I value each one of you who has stuck with me all these years. I hope you are thankful that you get my little bit of weirdness in your email every day.

I have many Thanksgiving memes saved, so I’d like to share a few of my favorites. Enjoy and smile!

Thanksgiving dinner can have up to 4,500 calories if you include appetizers, drinks, and desserts, which most people do. It’s a little lower for me since I’m not too fond of most Thanksgiving side dishes. However, I do overindulge with appetizers and dessert (more Cool Whip, please), so it might be a wash.

Perhaps we can take a lesson from our grandparents and learn how to eat a leaner Thanksgiving meal. Nope. They couldn’t help you. While it’s true that people in the 1960s ate up to 44% fewer calories in an average meal, they went all out when it came to Thanksgiving.

This isn’t much of a surprise since many of the side dishes found on the table at Thanksgiving are handed down through the generations, so your grandparents were passing the yams and mash potatoes as eagerly as we do. The only difference was that once the leftovers were gone, they went back to their skinner lifestyle.

And I think that’s the important lesson. If you want to overindulge on Thanksgiving, go for it. Pour gravy over the entire plate. But once Thanksgiving is over, have a salad occasionally or get your fancy coffee grande, not venti. The calories we eat on one day don’t matter; it’s the monthly or yearly total that tips the scales, so save the stuffing for the holiday.

If I could eat only one Thanksgiving side dish, I would choose cranberry sauce. Not some fancy homemade whole berry sauce either. I would choose the jellied cranberry sauce that comes in a can. Slide it onto a small platter and enjoy.

If you make homemade cranberry sauce, you can bring it to any event with your head held high. If you are going to bring the canned version, you might consider sprucing it up.

I think more people like canned cranberry sauce than admit to it. I base this on the fact that the platter is always empty when I host Thanksgiving dinner, and I didn’t eat it all (although I could have if others hadn’t done so first.) If you want to add a flare to this perfect dish, consider these three garnishes from Real Simple Magazine.

• Sugared Rosemary: Dip rosemary sprigs in water, then sprinkle with sugar. Let dry on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Arrange on top of sliced cranberry sauce.
• Candied Ginger: arrange strips of candied ginger on top of sliced cranberry sauce.
• Orange and Thyme: Combine orange zest and thyme leaves on a cutting board and coarsely chop. Use the mixture as a garnish for the sliced cranberry sauce.

I’m not a fan of most of the Thanksgiving meal dishes, but I gobble up turkey white meat. Like a lot of people, I love it as leftovers. I’m not alone in this enjoyment since 44 million turkeys are consumed at Thanksgiving. 

Beyond being tasty, turkeys are fascinating, both as animals and as consumables (a very popular one.) I hope you will share some of these fun facts from the University of Illinois Extension as you enjoy your light or dark meat this Thursday.

Gobble up these turkey facts

• Hens are usually sold as whole birds, while toms are processed into various turkey products
• The average weight of a Thanksgiving turkey is fifteen pounds
• A fifteen-pound turkey has about 70% white meat and 30% dark meat
• Turkeys lived almost ten million years ago
• Baby turkeys are called poults and are tan and brown
• Male turkeys gobble. Female turkeys make a clicking noise
• Turkeys can see in color but do not see well at night
• Wild turkeys sleep in trees
• June is National Turkey Lover’s Month
• Turkey has more protein than chicken
• Turkeys have 3,500 feathers when fully grown
• Turkey eggs hatch in 28 days
• Turkeys are dinosaurs

My dear friend, Carolyn, gave me this prayer for my birthday. I framed it with paper and hung it on my refrigerator with two banana slug magnets (they are really strong.) I like this so much I wanted to share it with you. Have a strong day filled with vision.

The first reason is that they are extinct, and we are eating their descendants.

The second reason is that when they were alive, Tyrannosaurus Rex could bite with 8,000 pounds of force, enough to crush a car. When hunting an animal, they would bite down and pull back, thus shredding bone and muscle. 

Imagine what they could do with your lovely roasted turkey.