A Recurring Theme

 She is the very Mischief, a crooked girl who hopped from a crows egg hatched in a cuckoo's nest and ever afterwards walked contrarywise though the world.

 Patron Saint of Unintended Children, and people who come into our lives not intending to Stay. Also Foxes, Coyotes, Pigeons, Rats and Lost Shoes by the roadside.  

She is Mictecacihuatl, keeper of the Gates and Ways, Protector of displaced, discarded, dispirited and disenfranchised Peoples. Hers is all food eaten in secret, all forgotten truths and all hidden treasure.

Her Day is today, November 1st, Day of the Innocents.

Mysterious Object

Center stage, silver-flecked whiteness and nearly perfect roundness.

     mad·stone, noun

     Definition of MADSTONE, by Merriam-Webster

a stony concretion (as a hair ball taken from the stomach of a deer) supposed formerly in folklore and by some physicians to counteract the poisonous effects of the bite of an animal (as one affected with rabies)

Pretty sure it ain't that, but it's as good a story as any, considering I like stories. I didn't take it from a deer's stomach, just found it near the curb of a suburban Texas street while on an afternoon walkabout. Might be a marble or the gullet-stone of a moa. My friend the hoodoo dude has one too.

Made a Hat

...out of "Creepy-eyes Ted".


Ted's dead

 He'd been around since I was a wee small child in New Zealand, when my favorite colors were orange and yellow. He always had a bit of a staring problem, and according to Lily it was only getting worse (she had taken to covering him up with other toys)

right into your soul

 I was hoping to make use of his filling, but along with the urethane (couch) foam, there's chunks of styrofoam. Stiff rather than soft.


that's gross ted



So now he's my hat. Don't stare.

Recent Doings

A Great Idea

Clothespins to keep the three ends of a braid from entangling. Probably somebody thought of this already but it made me feel clever. It works best like in the picture, with one long and two short. Adjust as needed.

A Thing I Made for Myself

A vest from one of my old baby blankets, a very thin worn fleece(felt?)

lined with satin from a cut-down bridesmaid's dress from the 25cent rack at the resale shop. Sewn entirely by hand, because it was good for my soul. Might add front closures. Bonus points for not including the toilet in this picture. Also, Serious Face.

A Thing I Found

Cardboard backing for a trio of smoke detectors sealed in one of those nearly-impossible-to-open plastic packages. Faces with a beauty mark? Masks to be made.

Snowmelt Venture

"Quilts should be washed in melted snow to ensure their deceased makers rest peacefully in the hereafter"

Later in the day i added some ice sculptures. i feel like the Titanic!