Sunday, April 06, 2025

Sunday Stealing


1) What's the longest you've gone without sleep?

A. About 24 hours. This has happened twice - once in 2010 when my husband and I drove to Myrtle Beach and back in the same day, and again in 2014 when my husband caught his hand in the hay baler and had surgery until late into the night.

2) What was the highlight of your last week?

A. It wasn't a nice highlight, but I lost a cousin/friend in a motorcycle accident.

3) You have to give a 10-minute speech to a group of high school students. What's your topic?

A. I would talk about writing and communication.

4) What is the single best decision you've ever made in your life?

A. The best decision I ever made was to marry my husband. 

5) If you could ask a coworker, friend or family member a question and be guaranteed an honest answer, who would you choose and what would you ask?

A. I would talk to my father, but I will not reveal what I would ask.

6) Do you cook for yourself when you're home alone?

A. When I am home alone, I generally do not cook for myself and make do with whatever is handy. Sometimes when I am alone, I forget to eat. This was especially true when I was freelancing full time. I would get so into my work that I would lose track of time.

7) Do you most often access the internet from your computer, your phone, or your smart watch?

A. I access the internet mostly from a desktop computer. The phone also connects to the wifi but I am on the computer more.

8) Do you have more email addresses or phone numbers?

A. I have more email addresses than phone numbers. I have at least 9 email accounts.

9) What's the biggest source of anger in your life right now?

A. Myself.

10) Mondays make me feel like it's a chance to start anew.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday, April 05, 2025

Saturday 9: Heart Like a Truck




Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
 
1) In this week's song, Lainey Wilson longs to hit the open road. What do you yearn for this morning?

A. Peaceful resolution of a family matter.  

2) She says her heart runs on dreams and gasoline. What fuels you?

A. This is a hard question. My dreams and desires have been stomped on such much that I have mostly given up. I get up to take care of my husband and our home, and to try to be a good wife to him, so I guess my love for my fellow is what fuels me.

3) Lainey sings that her heart has been "drug through the mud." The correct past tense of "drag" is "dragged," but in parts of our country, "drug" is sometimes used. Can you think of any other grammatically incorrect song lyrics?

A. I can't get no satisfaction.

4) She tells us her truck could benefit from being dusted off and shined up. Could your vehicle use a little TLC?

A. My car could use a wash, yes.

5) Before making it big in country music, Lainey supported herself by doing odd jobs, including appearing as a Hannah Montana impersonator for kids' parties. What's the most unusual job you've held?

A. I don't know that any of my jobs were unusual. Being a news reporter is out of the 9-to-5 realm, but when I was working it wasn't an unusual job to have. In the future I think it won't exist as a job at all.
 
6) In addition to singing, Lainey has acted, appearing in 5 episodes of the series Yellowstone. Are you a fan of the show?

A. I watched a few episodes of season 1 of Yellowstone and found it too violent for me to handle.
 
7) She loves Southern comfort food like mac and cheese and biscuits and gravy. What's on the menu at your place this weekend?

A. Pork chops, if I can cook them so they are edible.
 
8) In 2022, when this song was on the charts, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Have you ever been to Scotland?

A. I have never been to Scotland in this lifetime. According to my mother, when I was about three, I started telling her about a castle in Scotland where I lived and died. It scared her so much she made me stop talking about it. Apparently, I was a scullery maid who met a violent end.
 
9) Random question – Let's pretend you're back in kindergarten. Which of these would young you prefer: a toy kitchen set, kid-sized gardening tools, or a mini trampoline?

A. I would prefer the kid-sized gardening tools. I used to enjoy gardening when I was young and my bones didn't hurt so much.

_______________


I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Thursday, April 03, 2025

Thursday Thirteen


Here are 13 historical events led by women that shaped history:

1. 1848 – The Seneca Falls Convention: The first women's rights convention in the U.S., organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. 

2. 1893 – New Zealand Grants Women the Right to Vote: The first self-governing country to do so.

3. 1903 – Marie Curie Wins the Nobel Prize: The first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, for her work in physics.

4. 1912 – The Founding of the Girl Scouts: Juliette Gordon Low established the Girl Scouts of America.

5. 1920 – The 19th Amendment in the U.S.: Women finally gained the right to vote after decades of activism.

6. 1932 – Amelia Earhart’s Solo Flight Across the Atlantic: She became the first woman to achieve this feat.

7. 1943 – The Women’s Army Corps is Created: Women officially joined the U.S. Army during WWII.

8. 1955 – Rosa Parks Sparks the Civil Rights Movement: Her refusal to give up her bus seat led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

9. 1963 – Equal Pay Act Signed in the U.S.: A major step toward closing the gender wage gap.

10. 1973 – Billie Jean King Wins the “Battle of the Sexes”: She defeated Bobby Riggs in a historic tennis match, proving women’s athletic prowess.

11. 1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor Becomes the First Female U.S. Supreme Court Justice: A landmark moment for women in law.

12. 2016 – Hillary Clinton Becomes the First Woman Nominated for U.S. President by a Major Party: A milestone in American politics.

13. 2021 – Kamala Harris Becomes the First Female U.S. Vice President: Breaking barriers in leadership.


_________________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 901st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Wednesday, April 02, 2025

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

Last night, I learned that the husband of my old best friend Brenda, who passed away in 2021, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Alleghany, an adjacent county.

Willie was a distant cousin of mine. We shared a set of great-great grandparents. I just saw him last week at a talk about the history of Carvins Cove.

His older sister, Monty, died in 2016 when she was hit by a vehicle in Floyd County. She was my friend and cousin too. She was a writer, and we talked shop often, even occasionally challenging one another via email to write or work on projects.

I never was able to properly mourn his wife Brenda's death, because of Covid and the family had a private ceremony. And now her husband has gone in a shocking and horrible way.

He is survived by a son who lives out of state.

I wrote several articles about Willie when I worked for the newspaper. He and Brenda were important members of the Town of Fincastle, the county seat. He served as the town mayor for a while, and Willie and Brenda were instrumental in keeping the Christmas lights going in the town for many years. They were pillars of the community.


Here is an article I wrote about Willie in 2009:

Willie Simmons


***

A gift to a sister has given wood turner Willie Simmons of Fincastle a new and useful implement to add to his creations of bowls, pepper mills, and other products.

The master craftsman in February came across a "bunch of this colored wood" through a friend in Pennsylvania. The wood, scraps from a gunsmith, have become fun and colorful handles under Simmons' skillful hands.

He added a decorative handle to a seam ripper and gave it to his sister, Monty Leitch, who took it with her to a sewing class. "A lot of people saw it and wanted one," Simmons said. He went to Walmart and bought all of the seam rippers he could find in order to create more.

Since then, the product has been a big hit with local sewing enthusiasts - so much so that one of them wrote the item up for Threads magazine, "the crown jewel" of sewing magazines, as Simmons called it. 

The seam rippers will be a featured "great gift" in an article scheduled to appear in the November magazine. Simmons is expecting to receive many orders on his website (wpswoodturning.com) when the article comes out.

Seam rippers as sold in stores are small and easily lost; the handles that Simmons places on the product make the seam ripper less likely to become another victim of the junk drawer gremlins. The handle also makes the product easier to manipulate and appears to be particularly helpful to those with arthritis or other hand ailments that may impede use. Additionally, the handle is reusable and metallic "ripper" part can be replaced if it becomes dull with use.

"I'm tickled to death" with the way the handles have worked out, Simmons said. "I've hit on something people can use."

The wooden handles come in pink, blue, purple, orange, camouflage, red and other colors as the wood becomes available. Because the wood is nearly 400 miles away and of a limited supply, these products may be limited not only in color but also in availability, Simmons said. The limited supply also means he cannot create special orders.

The colored wood also makes decorative handles for ice cream scoopers and make up brushes. The interesting colors are eye-catching, and these products are selling well at craft shows and in Simmons' shop.

As a craftsman, Simmons said he likes for his items to do more than sit on a shelf. "I don't make art work," he said, though some of his pieces are as decorative and lovely as they are useful. "I like stuff being used."

He has been a wood turner wood for over 25 years, and woodworker for more than 30. He became interested in working with wood when he was helping his father with his furniture and antique repair shop, which was located at the same site as Simmons' woodworking shop. 

For the last 20 years, Simmons has honed his craft and sold his work at various arts and crafts shows. Many of the festivals he attends are out of state or in northern Virginia.

Simmons last year began creating walking sticks as a special order for a Charlottesville businessman who, after adding his own touches, sells them to Orvis. The walking sticks, which are made of tiger maple wood, can be purchased from the mail order company's online catalogue. "I'm very pleased with the work I have done" on the sticks, Simmons said. "I think they are gorgeous."

The sticks sell online for $279.00. Simmons has some sticks for sale at his shop, though they are not exactly like the ones available through Orvis. They have different finishes or have not been stained. Supplies are limited, he said.

The sticks he sells frequently have "ambrosia streaks" in them, and the sticks online do not have those markings. Ambrosia streaks are created when a beetle that attacks maple trees leaves its byproduct in the wood. The stain leaves unique streaks, Simmons explained. It's a desirable thing in the wood.

He has also been experimenting with the walking stick designs and has created a two-part walking stick that may also be used as a cane. 

Simmons will have his wood working shop open during Botetourt's Open Studios, which takes place October 26 and 27. His work is for sale anytime he is at his shop.

Tuesday, April 01, 2025

This is a Tractor