Hummingbird!

Coming into the house at lunchtime today, I was looking at the flowers and spotted something buzzing around. It was a hummingbird!




Well... that's what I thought, anyway... Nine-ah tells me it's a hummingbird moth, which explains why Greg kept saying it was a moth and Mark and I kept saying, but it acts like a hummingbird. There are two of them in my front flower bed. So, there you go... I learned something today!

Political Joke

One of my board members sent this to me and I thought it was too good to not share. I rarely share such things, and feel free to skip it if you've heard it, but it gave me a chuckle this morning...

Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush were in an airplane that crashed; and believe it or not, initially they all end up in heaven. The three are led to meet God who's sitting in regal splendor on a great white throne.
God addresses Al first. "Al, what do you believe in?"

Gore replies, "Well, I believe I won that election, but that it was your will that I did not serve. And I've come to understand that now."

God thinks for a second and says, "OK, very good. Come and sit at my left, Al."

God then addresses Bill. "Bill, what do you believe in?"

Clinton replies, "I believe in forgiveness. I've sinned, but I've never held a grudge against my fellow man, and I hope no grudges are held against me."

God thinks for a few seconds and says, "You are forgiven, my son. Come and sit at my right, Bill."

God then addresses Bush. "George, what do you believe in?"

Bush replies, "I believe you're in my chair."

Tea in Arlington Kansas

Today I went to one of my very favorite events - the fundraiser tea at the Methodist Church in Arlington, Kansas. This is the third year I've been and it's just wonderful. These five ladies who organize it do an amazing job.

They transform their church basement by bringing in dishes, furniture, pictures, and all manner of decorations. I'm always amazed by the work they do. Everything is beautiful.







These ladies also do a great job with food. It's tasty and very pretty - just like tea food is supposed to be.




They had new tablecloths this year, and the settings were more streamlined. I have liked all the ones I've been to, including this one, it was just a little different.










The program this afternoon was about aprons. Interestingly enough, the lady giving the talk was Susie Haver. I know Susie from way back - she used to be involved with the Brown Grand Theatre in Concordia, Kansas - and I interviewed her when I was with the radio station.

Since then I've bumped into her at various times at various things. I guess we move in some of the same circles. She's also a Kansas Explorer, so that's another connection.

She had a number of aprons as examples of various sorts, but this was one of my favorites - one that the lady on it was wearing a little skirt that you could lift and see her pantaloons.




Teresa (yellow shirt), Susan (black) and Jan (beige) and I went today. Peggy was supposed to go but couldn't at the last minute. I asked for a take away plate for her and took it over to her and Gary tonight. We chatted for awhile and it was an interesting talk.

Henna Tattoo

I did something last night I've never done before... got a henna tattoo. I'm not sure exactly why I wanted to do it, but I did. I went by a tent at the Kansas State Fair where this lady was doing them and thought about getting one. I decided to go ahead and do it and I've already had fun with it.




I picked out a design in a book and she did it by freehand on my palm. She embellished it a bit and changed it, making it even better than the one in the book.

It was a paste and very 3-D on my hand. The trick was that it had to dry for 15-30 minutes. I didn't really think about that - but I was basically incapacitated for awhile.




The wind was blowing about 900 miles an hour and I couldn't even pull my hair up because that took two hands.




She said it would start falling off by itself and it did. The instructions said that in two hours I could scrape off the dried paste.




It was interesting when some it was off and some was still on - you could start to see what it was going to look like.




Today it is a bit darker it seems to me. It's supposed to last for 2-3 weeks. I'll keep you posted on that. It's on my right hand, and I'm right handed, and an obsessive hand washer. So, we'll see how that goes. I hope I have some left in a few days.

A Full Day at the Fair

I took today off because I wanted to work at the Sebelius booth with Trish. I went out a bit before 11 this morning and just got in a little bit ago.

I worked the booth until 3 and then wandered around visiting with people I knew for awhile. Greg came and got me and we went and had lunch/dinner. We left the fairgrounds. Frankly, there's not much food there I want to eat - it's just not very good overall.

I decided to go back to the fairgrounds to go to the hypnotist show at 5 p.m. It's the first time I've been when they didn't have more people waiting to be in the show than there was room for. But, he invited others who wanted to come up to do so and there was a full roster.

Ron Diamond is the hypnotist. He generally travels on the east coast, but this is his third year here. He's a blast. I hope the fair has him back.

Tonight there was a young man who was just hilarious. He suggested that he was a spy and when he cued him this guy would hear his phone ring and it would be his shoe but there wouldn't be an answer. This guy did that and kept going to the edge of the stage to get better signal. Then - the capper - he pulled the string taut, as if he were extending the antenna. It was hilarious. Diamond even broke down laughing and said he'd never seen that happen in all the years he's been doing this.

This young man was in the 5 and the 7:30 show today. We talked to him briefly afterwards. He was really a neat kid.

I had numerous other fair experiences, but I think I'll have to blog those tomorrow as I'm weary tonight. It's time for beddy-bye.

The Governor and More

This morning I went to the chamber breakfast to hear Governor Kathleen Sebelius speak. I always enjoy her. She has been a fabulous governor for us and I'm looking forward to another four years of her leadership. She is exceptional

I don't know if she has any desire for a career on the national level, but if you ever get a chance to vote for her, do.

Diana just joined the chamber and this was her first breakfast so we sat together. Jan Pauls was there, as was Mark Treaster. It's neat we have two democrats from our area in this very Republican state.



Bornholdt Plantland got an award this morning for being the small business spotlight. It was presented by Dick Westphal who I just adore. He is on my board and a really great guy. He's Diana's next door neighbor in downtown now, and across the street from me.

Bornholdt Plantland is a fourth generation business - Gary's grandfather started it and now his sons are involved in it. Interestingly enough, Diana's husband's business - Johnson Sheet Metal - is also a fourth generation business.

I also got to chat with Martha and Molly briefly, as well as Pat Potucek and Trish. Trish is Sebelius's local campaign person and I'm taking part of tomorrow off so I can work the governor's booth with her.

I had thought I might get back to the fair later today but I didn't. There just isn't enough time for me to get everything done I want to get done in life.

I still haven't been to the birthing booth, seen the chainsaw artist, or ridden the train. I can do without all of those with the possible exception of the train. I need to ride the train every year. Don't know why, I just do.

Tonight Teresa, Julie, Martha, Diana and I met at Diana's new store to clear the space and bless it. It was good to see everyone and also a good experience.

We have Creative Sisterhood Monday night so this was a preview. I'm looking forward to tea in Arlington on Sunday. Mark may be here this weekend. It will be good to see him.

Well, I'm overdue for some sleep. Never seems to be enough time for that either.

________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

quote

One has to live a life that creates a writer. ---Erno Paasilinna

Yoder Kansas Charter School and The Kansas State Fair

It has been a full day. I started at 8 this morning with a tour of Yoder Charter School. I was impressed and horrified, all at the same time.

Yoder is a small community a few miles from Hutchinson, and it is largely Amish. About ten years ago, many of the Amish pulled their children from the public school to a private school to avoid their children being exposed to various "influences" - like science.

The school administrator at the time came up with the idea to seek charter status to keep the school open. Basically, it boils down to three things - they do not teach evolution, they do not teach sex ed, and they have no DARE program. Other than that, it's pretty much the norm, although it's certainly interesting to see little boys in the traditional Amish clothing complete with suspenders.

However, the children are tested over all the standard things. But, the school leaves it up to the parents to teach what they want their children to know about sex, drugs and rock and roll. Wait... sex, drugs and science.
The school focuses on traditional values and subjects - they do the three R's.

I'm horrified that we're not teaching children science, but I'm impressed that the administrator came up with a way to save the school. And, did he ever. Children who live in that area are, of course, automatically admitted. But, aside from that, the school has a waiting list for people who want to put their kids in this school because of its values.

It also happens to have small classes. The K-2 are individual classes and then 3-4 grades are together, 5-6 and 7-8. They teach social studies for third grade one year, and for fourth grade the next. I guess that system works unless you happen to leave the school between years and you're now a 5th grader, but you only had 3rd grade studies, not 4th grade. I don't know. I guess it all works out.

After the tour I went over to Carriage Crossing for breakfast. When I left I couldn't help but notice there were multiple tractors parked in back of the building. I don't know if they were customers or employees.




Just as I turned back to the steering wheel, I glanced out the window the other direction and spotted an Amish buggy in the distance. The Amish don't want to have their photos taken, but it's OK to take pix of the buggies I believe.




Tonight I went out to the fair. I went to see Ron Diamond's hypnotist show. He's always entertaining. This is the second time I've seen it this year.

Otherwise I just wandered around a bit. Things are a bit calmer during the week generally. I went to see if there was anyone at the democratic booth I knew, but there wasn't. I'm taking part of Friday off to work in the Governor's booth.

I also stopped by to see the spider bite mannequin guy again. He's getting more and more tags illustrating where people have been bitten by brown recluse spiders. I hope to never add one to it.




I thought I'd just share some fair scenes with you tonight... including Greg getting some taffy.

A Sheep in Sheep's Clothing

Tonight I was leaving the fair a little after 10 and noticed a sheep was being sheared. Greg had gone to shoot some other things, but I called him on the cell and said, "Hey, there's sheep shearing going on." He trotted right over. Why? Well, because neither of us know anything about sheep or shearing them. So, obviously, we needed to learn.




For the next hour to ninety minutes, we questioned this very nice lady, Carolyn, who was working to get the sheep ready for judging in the morning. Carolyn lives near Newton, so didn't have too far of a drive tonight, but it was after 11:30 when we left and she wasn't done cleaning up yet so I'm sure it was a late night for her.

Technically, the sheep belongs to her son, Aaron, but he's in college so mom is helping out. And it takes awhile to complete this process.

First is the shearing with a clipper that has 20 teeth, so you're less likely to cut the sheep. Professionals use ones that have 9 teeth and are flared, so they are quicker to use.




After shearing they "card" the sheep, which is somewhat like brushing out the hair that's left on it. The sheep really likes this. He was vocalizing his displeasure at the shearing, but when Carolyn and Larry, a neighbor farmer from Oklahoma who was helping out, were carding the sheep he was standing still and enjoying it.




After that, they did what's called "blocking," which meant they were doing a lot of hand trimming with these large scissors. The sheep's left side is where they stand when holding the sheep and the right side is what they consider the "show side" so they are paying very close attention to it.




This is a Dorset sheep, named for the place in England where they come from. This is a common domestic breed. When they are judged, they look for a variety of physical characteristics about the sheep.

And, lets just say that "all" the parts get sheared.




I was commenting that I knew some knitters who would love to have this wool. But, don't despair. I'm told this particular wool wouldn't be of any use because it's too short.




Last, he got his face groomed - sheared, carded and trimmed.




He was then covered, as were many of the other sheep already in the pens. While the irony that jumps to mind is that we're shearing their wool, and then giving them new "clothes," the reality is that it's just to keep them clean for the judging tomorrow. Because before the shearing, the sheep has to be bathed. And just like with a kid, you want it to last a little while.




In many of the livestock barns, people camp out to be with the animals. Some are more elaborate than others.

Spotted in Traffic

This begins a new, occasional, irregular series on the blog - things "Spotted in Traffic." Now, bear in mind, I live in a small city of 50,000 where "rush hour" means it takes about 12 minutes instead of 10 to go from one end of town to the other. And it's a very conservative red state. So, it's not going to be often I'll spot something in traffic worth sharing, but here's the first entry.

I was behind this driver on 11th street, waiting to turn onto K-61. It was all the more interesting because I'm slated to visit a school on Wednesday.

9-11

Tomorrow is the five year anniversary of 9/11 and the "remembrances" just won't stop. I use "remembrances" as a kind adjective because it often feels more like "celebrations" to me when I see FDNY shirts and hats as fashion statements. However, I'm sure those who have a personal connection with the tragedy do not feel it's a celebration at all. Regardless, I've had all I can take and we're not even to the day yet.

It was a horrible thing, but far more people have died in the wars we've started since then than died that day. Why don't we grieve for those civilians? Oh yeah, they're not Americans, so their lives don't matter. I keep forgetting that.

I don't dispute that 9-11 was a terrible thing and changed how we view the world, but lets move past it. Some of the widows are remarried and have children with their new husbands, which means they've been remarried for awhile now. In five years they have grieved, dated, married and had a baby. They've moved on. People should be allowed to move on. Please, let them move on. Let us all move on.

I saw a Colonel on CBS Sunday morning who was at the Pentagon and almost died that day. He was saying he is not going to any of the events tomorrow that he just wants to move forward. Surely he is speaking what many of us are thinking. Please, let us move on. We have plenty of reminders every time we try to fly anywhere and they want to take our toothpaste away from us.

My biggest beef with airport "security" is that it's reactionary and all happenstance. No one cared about my toothpaste until a terrorist decided that would be a good way to make a bomb on board. No one cared about my shoes until someone tried to use their shoe to take a weapon on board. Is this a smart, well thought out plan? No, it's completely reactionary and that means it's useless. Either check everyone for everything or don't bother. And put a little thought into what people might do, as opposed to just reacting to the last thing someone did.

It gives the impression that terrorists are far smarter than the people who are supposed to be protecting us from them. We have thousands of people who are supposed to be protecting us and they don't come up with these ideas like putting a weapon in a shoe heel?

We are fast approaching the same number of American soldiers killed in the Iraqi war as were killed on 9-11. And that's not counting soldiers of other nations and civilians. Does that make it "right," somehow? That 2600 plus men and women, many of them very young, who signed up to serve their country were shipped out in a doomed war? Is it somehow good that those deaths in the attacks have been doubled by our choice? And, it was a choice. A choice made by the government. And the government was a choice made by the people. Not a choice I ever supported, but a choice nonetheless.

Don't email me and tell me how it's not your fault because you didn't vote. If you didn't vote, you voted for the winner - whoever that was. So, you voted for Bush. You voted for war. You voted for death - death of soldiers, death of civilians, death of people in flooded New Orleans streets - death. This is what you created with your vote, whether you went to the voting booth to cast it or not. This is what you get when you vote for someone who has no compassion - sending other people's children to die in war, Katrina victims dying on their rooftops while the President is on vacation, and constant lies to justify it all - from "we didn't know people were at the Convention Center" to "there are weapons of mass destruction."

To Bush's credit, he never lied about being a compassionate person. You wanted him anyway. Please, remember, this is what you get when you put someone without compassion into office - lots of people dying - many of them 19 year olds who signed on for the military to do something good, believing they were invincible as most 19 year olds do. I've heard the word "victim" way too many times in the last five years while we've been busy creating another generation of potential terrorists who hate Americans.

Just Friday, the Senate intelligence committee, Republican controlled by the way, reported that there was never a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. We're all acting like this is a big news flash when it was obvious that was the case from the get go. Bush wanted to go to war with Iraq and just did. He knew he couldn't get congress to agree to it on his personal vendetta agenda so he lied.

Why is it that lying about having sex with an intern where no one died is grounds for impeachment, but lying about weapons of mass destruction and killing thousands of people in the process is acceptable? I will take responsiblity for my votes - I voted for Clinton twice and I wish I could vote for him again. So, it's my fault that our president was getting head in the oval office. But, I wash my hands of the war and destruction the Bush administration has wrought on the world. I had no part of that. I don't hold anyone in congress responsible for voting to go to war, since they were lied to as well. But, those who blindly support the Bush administration's policies - they need to go.

Lets not be selective in who we remember that died as a result of 9-11. Lets not forget the first casualty in the Iraqi war - a woman and her child, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Blair Leaving

Experts say it won't be nearly a year before Tony Blair steps down. I cannot wait for this to happen. I'm betting he's trying to hold on until after the US elections, because when he leaves, Bush will have NO world support for his wars.

Americans seem to be slowly awakening from their deep oblivion, but anything that can hasten that is good in my book.

I've been enjoying seeing clips on the news of the British ditty sung to the tune of that little song we all sang as children. Only this time the words include "Bush and Blair, sitting in a tree, K-i-l-l-i-n-g." Isn't that the truth?

These allies will be split up when Blair doesn't have the power he has now. What a glorious day that will be.

Saturdays are for Fairs

Saturdays are for the Kansas State Fair in early September. But Saturdays are also for painting, which I did some of today. Finally. I've been ignoring the library, and today I got up there and did some work on it. There's still plenty to do but it has just been sitting there forever, with me doing nothing on it. But, I did get a little bit done in there today and hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow.

I'm doing a complicated painting technique in there - why, I'm not sure, since I'm going to put up shelves and cover it all up. But, there you go. Even I don't understand myself.

I had to stop and run out for more of the little bottles of metallic paint I'm sponging on in there. I think I overbought - at least I hope I don't need as much as I purchased. I'll take it back if I don't need it but with Hobby Lobby closed tomorrow my options were limited.

When I got home I was torn between working more in the studio and going back out to the fair. Guess which won out? That jar of pickles was not from my library.

What really prompted me to head out to the fair was using Greg's pass since he wasn't using it today, and seeing Ron Diamond, the hypnotist. His show is always funny. There was a guy in it tonight that I think did it last year too. Anyway, it was fun.

After the hypnotist I went over to domestic arts to look around. There were less than a half dozen entries in the Governor's cookie jar contest and considerably fewer canned goods. But I think the number of needlework entries has gone up. I could be wrong, but it seems like there's more of that.

The cooking things continue to decline and I hate to see that. There are a few contests sponsored by companies where there's actual money to be won and those seem to be generating a significant amount of entries.

I don't know what to think about our society. We obviously love to watch people cook, otherwise the Food Network wouldn't be on. But, apparently, few of us can actually cook. Maybe I've been approaching the tea all wrong. I should sell tickets for people to watch me cook instead of to eat the food.

But, there was lots of needlework from crochet to cross stitch to knitting. And, of course, the quilts.

As I was looking at knitting I wondered if Andrea had submitted anything and then I spotted it, complete with ribbon on it. Congratulations, Andrea!




They have a whole section just for people like me - a Christmas area. You gotta love it. There were some beautiful pieces. Leah should enter some of her cross stitch stuff. I am so honored to have some pieces she made for me, including some Christmas ornaments and an incredible stocking she did.

I really treasure those things that people make for me. I'm already thinking about how fun it will be unpack all the Christmas things and enjoy the memories of them. A month from now I'll be getting serious about getting going on that.

Tomorrow I'm not going to the fair. I hope I'm motivated enough to get more done in the library. Goodness knows there is plenty in my world to do. As always.

Where Has Patsy Been

This is a fun little toy. There are a few states I'm not sure if I've visited or not, so I left them off the map. I'll be able to update it soon as I'll be traveling to Washington and Oregon next month. At the moment it says I've been to 35 states. I think I've also been to West Virginia, but I'm just not sure. Obviously, I need to go. And to Wisconsin, which I think I would really love. Just hasn't worked out yet. One of these days...



create your own visited states map

Politicians, Pumpkins and Pillsbury

The Kansas State Fair opened in Hutchinson today. I went out for a couple of hours tonight, just to look around a bit. I enjoy the fair, and it's especially fun during an election year.

I ran into a ton of people I knew, including Robert and Marcella from Ellinwood. That was an unexpected treat. I was chatting with John Doll, who's running for congress, and who I wrote about on the blog previously, when I ran into them.

I went over to John's booth later, and got to meet his wife, who is just delightful.




Jan Pauls was working the democrat's booth. It was good to see her. I visited with her a little bit but there were a lot of people stopping by so I didn't want to monopolize her time.

I also visited with Sue Darby who was working the HCC booth. It was really good to talk with her.

I also stopped by the Governor's booth to see what her schedule is for the fair. I know she's going to be there tomorrow for a debate, but don't know if she will be sticking around much after that - hopefully so.

Of course, there was the usual assortment of fun stuff at the fair - including a giant pumpkin weighing 680.5 pounds.

I just love the fair where you see everything agricultural thing you can imagine. That's something I love about the Kansas State Fair - it still honors its roots. Those that do are few and far between now.

But, you can look at sorghum varieties, champion tomatoes and rye seed. It's all a bit of Americana and I love it all. Just in case you weren't able to visit tonight, I thought I'd share some pix so you can enjoy it nonetheless.



















There are also scarecrows of various sorts - some of them quite inventive. I'm not sure where the Pillsbury Doughboy fits in, but when you see a giant Pillsbury Doughboy you have to take his photo. It's a rule.













And, there's something new this year - a big cut out where they are tracking brown recluse spider bites of people who stop by the booth and talk about having been bitten. I'll have to tell Diana to go get her spot logged. My hope is to take some photos every time I'm out to see how his tag collection grows. This is the tally of just this one day, although they are putting the ones from the back of the body on the front of the model as well. What I've learned is that your legs are in great danger.