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| From my walk to work yesterday... |
Remember how I mentioned that I'm a creature of routine? Well, this morning my routine is all out of whack. Normally, it's: Coffee, blog, dog, shower, breakfast. Today it's: Shower, housework, coffee, blog, and we'll see what happens next. If I'm lucky the dog won't want a walk.
The danger in shaking up the routine is that I'll forget something. I'll get halfway to work and think, "Crap! I forgot to eat breakfast!" (And as we saw a few days ago, no one wants that.)
I wish I were a more spontaneous, adaptable person, able to flit around like an industrious wood sprite and get everything done in any order.
I'm not giving myself enough credit for accomplishment, though, because we have kicked butt in the library. We are ready for business! The construction guys came in yesterday and rebuilt the dismantled bookshelf, and I re-shelved all the displaced nonfiction. We're also trialling new, electronic methods for having staff and faculty members sign up for magazines (which get circulated to their staff mailboxes) and reserving library space, so we spent time working on those systems. It's a year of big changes!
In the middle of the day I zipped over to borrow a seam ripper from the fashion teacher. I bought this amazing shirt at Selfridge's when I went there in June with my former boss. The only problem with it was the presence of a black brand label right on the chest -- roughly at the third row of bugs down, third bug from the right. That label had to go!
So I carefully teased out and snipped the stitches with the seam ripper and after some manipulation I got the label off. You can barely see a rectangular shadow or pucker where it used to be, but I think once I wash the shirt that will disappear.
In any case, as my grandmother would say, a galloping horse wouldn't notice.
The label said OBEY, and my boss joked that maybe we should leave it as a subliminal message for the kids in the library. But it was just too intrusive.
Remember the sprouting ginger root I planted? Well, this is what it looks like now. I would not call this a success. I'm not sure why it's growing in such an awkward way, with those ridiculously long leaves that get wound within each other and then die at the ends. Unless it shapes up it's going in the bin.
Cat in a corner..or a cornered cat?!
ReplyDeleteNice work on the shirt..that is not an easy job as the stitches are often small and tight.
Sad little ginger plant. Give it a chance?
Good job on the shirt. OBEY would have been very off-putting. I also love the shirt pattern. Are those crab lice?
ReplyDeleteThat's a very sad little ginger plant.
"To flit around like an industrious wood sprite" you need to wear a wood sprite costume with green tights and a pointy woodland hat. By the way, I just read in my men's fashion magazine that complete "OBEY" polo shirts in the limited edition bug design are now selling for upwards of £250 as long as they still have their machine embroidered logos.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Steve is contemplating binning a plant? It must have really failed to perform. Bad ginger. Silly ginger.
ReplyDeleteYou did an amazing job with the seam ripper. It is very hard to remove those labels without nicking the underlying threads. If you ever get tired of librarianing I am sure the sewing department would welcome you with open arms.
I want that polo
ReplyDeleteI have a workplace supplied overcoast, pure wool. But it has my workplace emblazoned on the coat and I think I checked it would take more than stitch ripper to remove it. And then, when would I really wear it.
ReplyDeleteI'd have removed the label, too, but not because it said Obey but because I hate clothing, especially shirts, with labels on them.
ReplyDeleteI am not your unpaid advertising.
Warranties be damned. I remove all labels and tags.
ReplyDeleteWait. Your school has a fashion teacher? I think you buried the lede here, man!
ReplyDelete"A galloping horse wouldn't notice." That is so great and I've never heard it before.
I should post a picture of the ginger that I rooted. It's looking pretty good. I think it likes where I put it.
I love that shirt! (of course)
ReplyDeleteI think the ginger leaves look like those long fingernails that people grow that end up all curly.
It looks like it might have the wrong soil acidity, some kind of nutritional deficiency. What conditions do ginger plants need?
ReplyDeleteI once really did have a bug shirt. Green. It became covered in flies every time I went out in it.
the ginger is not happy. the leaves are 'pig tailing'. google saye says it's a copper deficiency. another site says it's 'green wilt' bacterial wilt of edible ginger due to the water stress caused by the bacteria that block the vascular systems of the ginger stems. a known problem with commercial ginger root production, and occasionally it is seen in home growing. anyway, here's a site that tells you everything you need to know about growing edible ginger. https://www.thespruce.com/ginger-root-zingibar-officianale-guide-5192546
ReplyDeleteand you left breakfast off the new list. and you did housework before coffee?!
You'll settle down now that the library is ready and the school year gets going. I agree with Ellen Abbott, tho, I would never do any housework before breakfast. What were you thinking?
ReplyDeleteCute shirt, Steve!
Caffeine must come first (in our house it's a pot of English Breakfast tea). Then the day unfolds in its normal fashion. Those are the rules, Steve. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI love that shirt. I'm glad you got the label carefully removed.
That ginger does look like it is seriously languishing. I wonder how it can be saved. Good luck with it.
More and more I've been getting into routines. At one time it was "anything goes."
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job getting that label off. I had to really examine the photo to see where it was. If you hadn't given directions, I never would have seen it. I like that "buggy" shirt.
ReplyDeleteTHAT is one fabulous shirt!! I would buy that in a heart beat! Good job removing the "OBEY"- what were they thinking? Mormon?
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am a creature of routine too. If I divert from it, I always forget something. Love the shirt!
ReplyDeleteGood job on label removal. A clothing line that Jim likes always comes with an enormous label sewn on the back and it itches. I use teeny tiny pointed scissors more than the seam ripper. That ginger looks irretrievable.
ReplyDeleteWell done on removing the label! I like the beetle pattern and the colors.
ReplyDeleteYou should have been wearing that bug shirt, WITH the Obey label on it, when you began tending that ginger plant.
ReplyDeleteI do nothing before Coffee. What is wrong with you😒
ReplyDeleteCoffee first always, whether working or retired. :) The plant doesn't look too great but I would give it more time. I have issues throwing away a live plant. Great shirt!!
ReplyDeleteGZ: Well, I haven't thrown it out yet, but the clock is ticking!
ReplyDeleteMitchell: Lord, I HOPE they're not crabs!
YP: I always dress like that! This shirt didn't even have a machine-embroidered logo. It just had a crap tag sewn onto it. So I guess the value premium doesn't apply in my case anyway. :)
Caro: It was tricky and I was terrified of harming the fabric but it worked out OK! The ginger is still with us -- for now.
John: Selfridges! Maybe it's on sale by now!
Andrew: Well, it's not so bad to have the workplace on the coat. I have a jacket from the Iceland supermarket chain with ICELAND emblazoned across the back and I kind of like it.
Bob: Yeah, I agree when it comes to designer labels. I don't get that at all.
Ms Moon: Yes! One of the art teachers specializes in fashion and fabric design.
Bug: They DO look like that! The question is, WHY?
Tasker: You may be right. They're tropical plants so they probably need more heat than they're getting here, for one thing.
Ellen: THANK YOU for that information! The second possibility (bacterial) sounds very likely. Maybe the bacteria was already in the root when we bought it, from when it was farmed.
Ellen D: Ha! I never eat when I first get up. I have to move around an hour or two first. But I do usually have coffee RIGHT AWAY.
Robin: That is a good rule, and one I usually observe!
Red: Yeah, it's funny how routines become much more set as we get older.
Sharon: Thanks! I like it too. It's quite eye-catching!
Linda Sue: HA! They don't seem like Mormon bugs to me. :)
Michael: Well, that's the danger, isn't it? Routines are comforting but they also keep us on track!
Allison: Why do clothes companies do this?! It's so ridiculous.
Kelly: Glad you like it! People can definitely see me coming. :)
Catalyst: Can plants read? :)
Debby: It was temporary insanity, I swear.
Margaret: Maybe I will, though based on what Ellen said above I'm not sure about its prospects.
"A galloping horse wouldn't notice."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to remember this one!
-Kate
Well done with the shirt! And for kicking butt, too!
ReplyDelete