When Your Toys Don't Work

Part of the frustration and busyness of the past week has been the result of technology failures.  We've had a series of problems with different items in the house.  And I just get so frustrated when my toys don't work.

First was our TV.  Our old one died so we replaced it.  I was amazed at how much better the picture was and for several days we just stared in amazement at the TV, weather it was showing a commercial, a news show or a National Geographic special, commenting on the great picture.  The TV also has some "smart" features including the ability to be operated by voice or by hand movements.  I went through the tutorials to "introduce" myself to "TV".  I never could get it to understand my hand gestures (tempting me to make another hand gesture that nice girls don't use). But we did seem to come to an understanding on the voice control.  It turned out to be a feature that has a lot of cool factor and little practicality so it went unused.  I guess Mr. T.V. was feeling left out because every so often in the middle of a show with no hands on any remote it would go into voice mode, mute the TV sound and demand that we use one of the voice commands.  A call to the store finally resulting in disabling that feature on the options menu.  So for now it seems that problem is solved.  Although it makes me wonder why we have features that we can't use....but there IS that GREAT picture.  That counts for a lot.

Then the embroidery function on my sewing machine had a hiccup.  The machine works great but it doesn't want to read any files from a USB stick or from a laptop.  This isn't something that I do often, but I had decided to work on the Craftsy class on Machine Embroidered Quilting and was actually making some progress when the machine decided that it didn't want to play nice with outside technologies. Finally after trying a variety of things for about an hour I called my local store who called tech support who said that it sounds like a loose connection but it needs to be checked by a technician.  So it's at the sewing machine doctor getting fixed.

And then....what really made me lose my blogging mojo was Blogger itself.  I wrote this nice post about my neighborhood and pets and social media but Blogger coughed somewhere in the middle of my composing and the entire post was lost in cyberspace somewhere.  The only part saved as a draft was a first sentence.  It was one of those posts that is difficult to recapture once you've put the thoughts down initially.  Maybe one day I'll try those thoughts again, but not just now.

So, to balance out the techy failures and provide a bit of eye candy - here are some successes of nature from our yard:

 

 

A "TV" Project Finish

We watch a bit too much TV but I've stopped feeling guilty about it.  It actually has several benefits that get little press. The husband and I watch together most of the time so it's a shared activity and it creates a sort of "down time" activity to close the day.  Not to mention that by evening I don't really feel like doing anything that takes muscle or brain power.

Many of the shows don't require a lot of attention to follow so over the past few months I've started doing some TV projects.  They make the endless commercials or silly zombie killings a bit easier to deal with.  Presently I'm knitting...but, more about that later.  (Turns out that I've spent a life time knitting backwards...a habit difficult to unlearn.)

I had another go at a rug made with tee shirt scraps.  The first one is pictured at This post.  I learned a lot from that one and modified a bit of my technique and came up with this one which I like a lot better:

This took an amazing amount of time to make even with my modifications.  But it was an easy project, no cost, and perfect for in front of the TV.

Knitting on the other hand....well, let's just say that I'm enjoying it, but presently time spent knitting is equal to time spent un-knitting.  I'm getting a lot of mileage out of a little bit of yarn.

Martin Clunes Teaches Me About Good Looks

We hear so much about inner and outer beauty and the relative value of each.  Our recent "Doc Martin" marathon gave me new perspective on appearance.  During the very first episodes of the series that we watched, I commented to my husband that Martin Clunes was particularly unattractive.(Hang with me here....be sure to read the rest of this comment before getting upset with that opinion, please.)  As you may know, he plays a doctor with a particularly sour personality and is frequently frowning.  On the rare occasion during the series when he was happy, usually when with Louisa, his love interest, he would smile briefly and you would get a glimpse of a totally transformed appearance.  Next we watched the Doc Martin movies, which although they have the same name, really are NOT the same story.  This character has a more normal range of emotions.  His brow is not constantly knit into a frown and he frequently smiles with both his mouth AND his eyes.  Suddenly Martin Clunes' looks were greatly improved!  He no longer looked unattractive.  You tended to focus on the positive  attributes of his appearance.  I'm convinced that the eyes were the key.  His smile included all parts of his face when playing this character.  So, my conclusion (besides admiring this actors ability to totally transform himself based on the character he is playing) is that looks are greatly improved by positive attitude.  A genuine smile is attractive on any face.  And a scowl is unattractive on any face.

So then, perhaps inner beauty is in fact reflected outwardly.  And a smile is a whole lot less expensive than cosmetics and surgery.  Thanks for the insight, Martin!

More Applause for British TV

A while back I wrote a post about British TV.  I just feel the need to give this art form another shout out. The husband and I are become more and more attracted to these shows.  We've followed several through Netflix and are always disappointed when the series is over.  The funny thing is, that after one or two episodes of a particular series, we are often lukewarm about it.  But they grow on us.  We find ourselves choosing the British series over other TV options.  The characters become so well developed over the series and the plots are very carefully laid out.  The filming appears to be done in authentic settings rather than on sets.  If they ARE sets, they are outstandingly done!  And the scenery is beautiful.  Although given my experience recently when visiting London, I DO wonder how they find such nice weather in which to film.  To date we have watched and thouroughly enjoyed:  Downton Abby;  Foyles' War; The Landgirls; and presently, Doc Martin.  We only have one season of Doc Martin left, so I"m open to any suggestions for our next show!

The Purpose of Food Shows

I have come to realize that food shows serve a beneficial purpose in my life.  They inspire me to cook more and eat better.  With just my husband and me at home, we often default to sandwiches, salads or quick cook options.  It's difficult to cook small amounts and we get tired of eating the same thing over and over.  But the cooking shows often show me new options or flavor combinations and since some of them are forced to prepare courses in a limited time, they are usually "quick to fix" ideas.  Now, granted, I"m not going to use quail eggs or goat meat but when I look at those things I consider ways I can create similar combinations out of more common ingredients.  It's not too lasting though.  Once we have taken a break from food TV we slide back into our old habits.  Our options are getting healthier all the time (more fruit, less sweets) but food group balance is a constant battle.....there's that word again!

British TV

My husband and I have been watching several British TV shows lately.  I'm struck by the difference in the art form of acting from what we see in this country.  I wonder if actors have the type of celebrity status that we afford them here.  I so appreciate how normal the actors on these shows look.  They don't have perfect, bright white teeth.  They don't all look perpetually young and they aren't all a size 2.  It adds an authenticity to their acting that can't be achieved by make up and costumes.  Faces -real faces - tell such stories in themselves.  I think this is why I'm attracted to sketches of faces, particularly old faces.  I have an Indian chief and an old German potter hanging in my home.  Both faces are deeply lined and wrinkled and I feel like the depiction of those faces speak volumes.

I will say that I have noticed a few actors in this country who I feel have interesting faces.  I don't think any of them would be called "pretty or handsome" yet their looks lend believability to their characters.  One is Morgan Freeman.  His face seems to get more and more interesting as the years go by.  Another is Frances Sternhagen.  I was reminded of both of these actors while watching The Dolphin Tale recently.

Wouldn't it be nice if acting could be see for the art that it is apart from physical appearance?  I'm sure there are a lot of people who can act but who weren't blessed with perfect hair or skin or body.  We don't seem to hold other artists to this standard as strictly as actors.  There are singers whose looks are less then perfect, although most of them DO get their teeth fixed for those close ups.  I don't think this will change anytime soon so I'll have to go on getting my fill of regular looking, but well performed acting from the BBC.