More potholder sightings

Laura sent documentation of her potholders in action (that's a fine looking casserole!) as well as a posed portrait. Her snow angel is also the picture of the week to commemorate the recent snowfall and her upcoming visit, which is timed perfectly with the absolute coldest days of the year (according to the extended forecast) so far.



Austin was also treated to less than balmy conditions, but it didn't stop Lenore from dragging him along on her daily hikes up the hill to the library, around town and to the local used book store. Good thing he ate lots of salads, which will soon be documented here for any doubters (you know who you are).

A Rebel Yell

I almost forgot to post this picture of Xena "wearing" Lenore's potholders. She was listening to

Billy Idol on Lenore's iPod and was caught on camera giving a rebel yell. It sounded a lot like "Miiiiine!!!" Which is pretty much her attitude about everything in the house.

Go Bears!

The Monsters of the Midway are going to the Superbowl! Yay, woohoo, blah blah blah.

Really, I could give a rat's butt about football, but big brother (my big brother, not the George Orwell one) loves his Bears, so I made him a potholder, which Hoops would like to give him for Christmas. Plus, I have to admit, it was Odie's Chicago Bears baseball hat that prompted a fellow traveler to (jokingly) ask, "Hey, that guy's wearing a Chicago Bears hat, is that your brother?!" when we landed at Tampa Airport in December. Odie was working our flight and happened to glance up in time to see me framed in the tiny airplane window bouncing and waving like a kid. The lady next to me got caught up in the excitement (not that she had a choice) and waved too. I'm not sure why he pretended not to know me. (Kidding!) He also made sure he gave us a thumbs up from the tarmac when we were on the way home too, after very sneakily surprising me and Lenore with an upgrade to first class. Flippin' SWEET! I may make him TWO potholders! It pays to have a brother who's good with the laydeeeze, especially when said ladies are gate agents. Nuff said! Except he's fun to go out to eat with too, not only because the boy loves his food, but because waitresses tend to fall under his spell. It's just uncanny, mostly because I don't think he even knows he's doing it.

So, anyway, speaking of movies, I made these whilst watching A Love Song for Bobby Long. It was sort of a new pattern. Maybe I'll call it Bobby Long. Or not. Got any other ideas? You know the prize will be fantastic!



And speaking of prizes, the judging has commenced and final tallies are in for the prior naming contest. We (and by we I mean me and Hoops) could wimp out and say it was a three-way tie, but that would be anticlimactic, don't you think? But I do like all the entries, which were:

Ants on Acid Farm, by Cathy in Gulfport, FL

The Melting Pot(holder), by Lynda in Charleston, SC

Kaleidoscope (or Kaleidoscope Karisma), by Mom in
W. Dundee, IL

What I did was lay the names on the floor, and whichever one Hoops sat on was the winner. And the winner was...

Ants on Acid Farm!!
Her explanation was, "It looks like farm fields laid out to me but they are small, so the ants must have farmed those fields...and the multi color could only mean one thing...they were on acid."

Thank you all for playing, and remember, the decision of the judges is final, void where prohibited, objects in your mirror are almost always behind you.

Nobody Messes with the Ducky!

There are advantages to driving a cute car. I think people have an emotional response when they see a cute car get hurt -- kind of like seeing someone kick a puppy. It's just not tolerated! So when some jerk backed into my Mini in the parking lot and drove off, an outraged student who witnessed this crime against cuteness whipped out her notebook and wrote down the license plate number. Then she stomped into the security office and made a report. She was reported to have exclaimed, "Someone just backed into a cute little yellow Mini and drove off! He can't get away with that!" Would a big old ugly Chevy elicit such a response? I wonder. Anyway, I made her a potholder (yellow with white stripes to match my car) to thank her for sticking up for The Ducky (my friend Laurie said she always thinks of a rubber ducky when she sees my car...I like it!). I also bought my Samaritan a cafeteria voucher so she can have some between-class snacks or lunches on me.


Oh, and the police did track the guy down. Turns out he was picking up a van that the college had rented from Enterprise! What a dufus. So Enterprise will pay for the repair and you can bet I'm gonna insist on a damn good rental car while The Ducky is in the shop! Fortunately the damage wasn't too bad -- it's just a hassle. Also, even though I wasn't even in the car, this incident could cause me to lose my "super preferred" discount on my car insurance! I just can't get behind that! Here's a shot of the damages.

Ugly Betty, Pride & You Decide

Lenore suggested I name this one Ugly Betty, though I think she may have been commenting more on my color choices than paying tribute to the show's Golden Globe victory. I thought it best not to ask for clarification. The grey parts are made of recycled herringbone sock tops.


I kind of like the way this one turned out, but I don't know what to call it. Could this be another contest? You name it, you win it! I'll throw in Ugly Betty for good measure.


You could view this specimen as a political statement in favor of gay marriage and same-sex domesticity, or, ya know, just a colorful potholder. Either way, I think it is, as my youngest niece opined, "prity." (And she spells better than I do.)

AbFab!

Wayne is looking absolutely FABULOUS here sporting his herringbone Christmas potholder! No stranger to the spotlight, Wayne is used to being ogled and was the first to send his photo for everyone's viewing pleasure. Yes, he even beat out Lenore, who had the home-court advantage. Unfortunately, Xena hid Lenore's camera. I suspect Xena's holding it for ransom in hopes of scoring a new bendy straw (hours of fun!).

Speaking of fun, it snowed. Actually, it's not so fun, because it's damn cold out there. Freeze-your-nostrils-together kind of cold. Like snowflakes, no two potholders are the same. Here is a pinwheel pattern, which is as close to a snowflake as one can hope to get in this medium.

This entry showcases the three latest entries into the potholder portfolio. I'm listening to an NPR podcast about the tonal resonance of various kinds of woods, so it's possible I'll get distracted while typing and go off on a tangent about something irrelevant...





The orange and yellow one is a puzzle piece pattern. The middle one is another addition to the rock on color scheme, and the third one showcases the colors of the German flag, which commemorates the fact that my German class starts up next week, and I have not cracked my book since the final exam from my class two semesters ago. Ach du lieber!