Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Crinkled Blouse
In honor of my dear friend, Zona, originally from Alaska and now in Oregon ...
If Zona asked, that means you silent readers out there must have had the same question, so, ...
meet the crinkled blouse!
Crinkled skirts were very popular in the hippie era. Then, they had a mild comeback in the 90s. They are still popular in hot climates. Crinkled blouses are not as common ... crinkled scarves, yes!
Maybe they originally were "created" by someone without electricity???
You just wash it, twist it and tie the long, twisted thing in a knot. Hang to dry (it needs to be in a hot place so it WILL dry!) and voila!
The night shot at "our" beach is thrown in for free 'cuz this posting needed something lovely! :-)
If Zona asked, that means you silent readers out there must have had the same question, so, ...
meet the crinkled blouse!
Crinkled skirts were very popular in the hippie era. Then, they had a mild comeback in the 90s. They are still popular in hot climates. Crinkled blouses are not as common ... crinkled scarves, yes!
Maybe they originally were "created" by someone without electricity???
You just wash it, twist it and tie the long, twisted thing in a knot. Hang to dry (it needs to be in a hot place so it WILL dry!) and voila!
The night shot at "our" beach is thrown in for free 'cuz this posting needed something lovely! :-)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Random Lusy and Soagi Happenings!
As I was sitting here, doing online chatting with Jeri, water started hitting my plants. And it's not raining! I'm at my desk in the "office" in the back of the house. It's an area that rarely has activity. Wellllllll, it's our driver, Soagi!!!! He's found a way to get the hose to reach way back here! Creeped me out for a second! I scared him back when I pulled back the curtain and waved to him! He jumped a bit and then gave me a huge grin! What a guy!
And on another note, what do you say ... in limited English ... to tell your maid that she shouldn't have ironed one blouse? Lusy -- who works so hard to get wrinkles out when she irons (but she'll NEVER be as good as Michel!) I'm not sure what went through her mind when I brought her a blouse from my closet, a blouse she'd just ironed and hung up, yesterday.
It's a "crinkle" blouse. So, I took it off of the hanger and told her that it needed to get wet again and then it needed to get really wrinkled! She soaked it and hung it out on the rack to dry ...
and then I did the unthinkable -- I took it off of the rack, twisted it all up, tied it in a knot, pinned it into a circle, and hung the rope-like thing back on the rack!
Lusy said, "Missus like wrinkles?"
Missus replied, "I know it seems crazy but I do like wrinkles on this blouse. It's called crinkle fabric and it's supposed to be really, really wrinkled!"
Lusy said nothing and Missus just smiled and walked away.
She'll see it tomorrow, after it's dried.
One thing's guaranteed -- it'll never make any sense to Lusy!
And on another note, what do you say ... in limited English ... to tell your maid that she shouldn't have ironed one blouse? Lusy -- who works so hard to get wrinkles out when she irons (but she'll NEVER be as good as Michel!) I'm not sure what went through her mind when I brought her a blouse from my closet, a blouse she'd just ironed and hung up, yesterday.
It's a "crinkle" blouse. So, I took it off of the hanger and told her that it needed to get wet again and then it needed to get really wrinkled! She soaked it and hung it out on the rack to dry ...
and then I did the unthinkable -- I took it off of the rack, twisted it all up, tied it in a knot, pinned it into a circle, and hung the rope-like thing back on the rack!
Lusy said, "Missus like wrinkles?"
Missus replied, "I know it seems crazy but I do like wrinkles on this blouse. It's called crinkle fabric and it's supposed to be really, really wrinkled!"
Lusy said nothing and Missus just smiled and walked away.
She'll see it tomorrow, after it's dried.
One thing's guaranteed -- it'll never make any sense to Lusy!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Life of Leisure
Well, today was our first day with our leased car and the driver we've hired (4th one we interviewed). His name is Soagi, he's an older guy who's very experienced, and he's really sweet and overly courteous and polite. He's really, really trying to please us in every way. I hope it doesn't drive me nuts!
So, I don't think I'm going to be able to do much of my own gardening ... this guy has taken over!
I went to a road-side plant shop and bought 4 large potted plants/trees, ranging in price from $4 to $10! Crazy, huh? But this is the tropics so it's pretty hard to kill a plant, here! They kinda grow by accident, even, so the prices are low (even to expats!). You should have seen the car -- it was pretty tough for Soagi to see to drive 'cuz the jungle had moved indoors!
Soagi got another driver/friend to help him carry the plants from the car to the patio. I said my goodbyes to Soagi and told him that he could go home for the night. Long after I thought he was gone, I went out on the patio to adjust the location of the pots and put stones on top of the soil ... voila, Soagi appeared, hose in hand, and proceeded to water everything -- including the plants I bought in July! So, I showed him one that had me a bit concerned. The leaves were looking really dry. I don't think he needed the encouragement! 30 minutes later, he's now watered everything all around the house -- as far as the hose will reach, at least. The compound gardeners take care of everything that's planted in the ground but obviously Soagi doesn't think they're doing their job very well!
He said that he really enjoys taking care of plants. So, at least we have plant appreciation in common!
Poor Lusy -- she so enjoyed making Missus happy by taking good care of my plants. I don't think Soagi will let her touch them any more! I'll let them sort it out and I'll just watch from afar.
And there goes the one chore that I thought I'd be able to do, sometimes!! Alas ... I'm back to my life of leisure!
So, I don't think I'm going to be able to do much of my own gardening ... this guy has taken over!
I went to a road-side plant shop and bought 4 large potted plants/trees, ranging in price from $4 to $10! Crazy, huh? But this is the tropics so it's pretty hard to kill a plant, here! They kinda grow by accident, even, so the prices are low (even to expats!). You should have seen the car -- it was pretty tough for Soagi to see to drive 'cuz the jungle had moved indoors!
Soagi got another driver/friend to help him carry the plants from the car to the patio. I said my goodbyes to Soagi and told him that he could go home for the night. Long after I thought he was gone, I went out on the patio to adjust the location of the pots and put stones on top of the soil ... voila, Soagi appeared, hose in hand, and proceeded to water everything -- including the plants I bought in July! So, I showed him one that had me a bit concerned. The leaves were looking really dry. I don't think he needed the encouragement! 30 minutes later, he's now watered everything all around the house -- as far as the hose will reach, at least. The compound gardeners take care of everything that's planted in the ground but obviously Soagi doesn't think they're doing their job very well!
He said that he really enjoys taking care of plants. So, at least we have plant appreciation in common!
Poor Lusy -- she so enjoyed making Missus happy by taking good care of my plants. I don't think Soagi will let her touch them any more! I'll let them sort it out and I'll just watch from afar.
And there goes the one chore that I thought I'd be able to do, sometimes!! Alas ... I'm back to my life of leisure!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Our "Pack-it-all-in-to-6-days!" Time in Alaska!
Highlight of our whirlwind trip to Alaska -- fishing on the Little Su!Spending some time with Jim's family ...
The majority of these shots were taken at my sis and bro-in-law's place way up on the hillside overlooking Anchorage. Stunning!!!
Adorable Axel
He's such a cutie! I have to devote an entire blog posting to my nephew, Dave and Kath's little guy, Axel Joseph Poulin!
Our Garage Sale Heroes!
I didn't often remember to take time out to use my camera during the craziness of the garage sale. But here are a few shots. The whole sale stretched from here, in the neighbors' yard, through allllllll of BJ and Tena's yard and garage!
Our heroes include the people who let us make a mess of their yard and garage: BJ, happily at the end of the whole thing (sporting a "new" hat!), and Tena, just barely visible on the left side of the photo -- gazing at the mess at the beginning of the whole ordeal! And how could we have done anything without Becky and her boys, Chase and Nathan?!!! Nathan was our Lawn Gnome and camped overnight in the yard so that thieves would not be tempted!!! (Yes, Brad and Joey, he took over some of your clothing and decor -- you all have similar tastes!) Both guys loaded and unloaded massive amounts of stuff at our storage units and at the garage sale! Chase is the master-engineer of truck space utilization! We could not have done this without you all!! Thanks, also, to Suzie and her boys (not pictured!) and to Tena's neighbor guys (also not pictured!) Moral of the whole story -- never buy stuff or never move!!! ;-)
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