Political Ramblings

I'm very upset.  Our country is in trouble and I really don't care what side of the aisle one is on, we're in trouble.

While I'm not happy with the results of the election, I'm even more upset with the people - post election.  The tolerance that this country is known for is MIA (missing in action) and the least tolerant of the citizens appear to reside in the Democratic party, the winning political party.  Here's a for instance....

Because of my deep & abiding belief that this country, this "ship of state" being in dire distress, which is bad enough that it may cause the "ship of state" to sink, I've decided to fly our flag with the union down...  a clear sign of distress that any military person will recognize.  It isn't being done in protest and it is being done with the utmost respect for our country & our flag.  This country is in trouble and is in danger.  It is in danger from enemies, foreign and domestic.  It is in danger of going off a cliff to economic ruin.  It is in danger of being torn apart by political ideologues.  That is why I'm flying the flag with the union down.

Well, those who disagree, who believe that all is happy and well... that the Democrats in Congress and their Messiah, Barrack Hussein Obama, will lead them to the "Promised Land" of peace & prosperity... of "equality"...  to the "Promised Land" of Marx, who stated,

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."  

Here is Marx's quote in it's entirety...

     "In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly -- only then then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!

    I have dealt more at length with the "undiminished" proceeds of labor, on the one hand, and with "equal right" and "fair distribution", on the other, in order to show what a crime it is to attempt, on the one hand, to force on our Party again, as dogmas, ideas which in a certain period had some meaning but have now become obsolete verbal rubbish, while again perverting, on the other, the realistic outlook, which it cost so much effort to instill into the Party but which has now taken root in it, by means of ideological nonsense about right and other trash so common among the democrats and French socialists.

     Quite apart from the analysis so far given, it was in general a mistake to make a fuss about so-called distribution and put the principal stress on it.

     Any distribution whatever of the means of consumption is only a consequence of the distribution of the conditions of production themselves. The latter distribution, however, is a feature of the mode of production itself. The capitalist mode of production, for example, rests on the fact that the material conditions of production are in the hands of non-workers in the form of property in capital and land, while the masses are only owners of the personal condition of production, of labor power. If the elements of production are so distributed, then the present-day distribution of the means of consumption results automatically. If the material conditions of production are the co-operative property of the workers themselves, then there likewise results a distribution of the means of consumption different from the present one. Vulgar socialism (and from it in turn a section of the democrats) has taken over from the bourgeois economists the consideration and treatment of distribution as independent of the mode of production and hence the presentation of socialism as turning principally on distribution. After the real relation has long been made clear, why retrogress again?" 1

To me, that sure sounds like Obama's "redistribution of wealth"2.

It seems that the citizens of the greatest nation in the world have elected a Marxist to a 2nd term as President. This is something that many of us in this nation suspected. After all, he nationalized several companies in the auto industry.  To counter the argument that the nation doesn't own General Motors anymore, it does.  As of November 2012, the "American taxpayers still own a 26 percent stake in G.M., the company is finding it tough to change its image as “Government Motors.”" 3

That New York Times article was preceded by an article in the Wall Street Journal dated Sept 19, 2012 which stated, "The government's authority over GM today isn't concentrated in the 500 million shares it still owns, which amount to a hefty but not controlling 26.5% ownership stake..." 4

What other Marxist tendencies does the current fearless leader have?  Well, the basic principles of Marxism are:

1. materialist interpretation of history: how history is a product of struggles between the social classes such as the rich versus the middle class and the poor
2. critique of capitalism: an economic minority (rich) control and manipulate the economic majority (middle class & poor)
3. adovcacy of proletarian revolution: to overcome the challenges faced by a working class, they need to start a revolution and gain political power (support of the Occupy movement, the "War on Women", etc.)

Yep...  The descriptions fit...  We are now living with a Marxist occupying the White House.

Nice going....

My Military Men

At this time, so close to Veteran's Day, I want to thank and to acknowledge the sacrifices made by members of my family, who served in the armed forces during World War 2, Korea, and VietNam.

My Dad

GM3c George Miller Jr
US Navy World War II

My mom's youngest brother, my uncle

PVT Thomas E. Struhar
US ARMY WORLD WAR II, KOREA

My husband, Rob Summerhill

Weapons Training (Rob is closest to camera)

Many thanks to all of our men & women in uniform, past & present.  May God bless you all.

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Interesting Videos of Obama's Speeches

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge3aGJfDSg4  (redistribution of wealth)

http://youtu.be/IUfo-RxkXA8   (Obama on "Fairness")

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1. Marx, Karl (1875), Critique of the Gotha Program (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/ch01.htm) 
2. 
3. New York Times, November 12, 2012; Business Day (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html)
4. Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2012; Ed Whitacre: Time for 'Government Motors' to Hit the Road.  (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444165804578006330477733900.html)

Summerhill Stitchery

Summerhill Stitchery has been up & running now for over a year.  In that time, I've made some pretty good strides with the business.

For the first time ever, anywhere, I entered my crochet work in a State Fair.  All those years I did crochet in Maryland, I never made a Fair entry.  This year, I said, "Why not?"  Yeppers... We had an entry in the 2012 New Mexico State Fair.  After scanning the online Rules Booklet, I decided to enter four items.

The first was a double thread, blue ripple stitch afghan which met the size restrictions (60" x 84", excluding fringe). I am particularly proud of this particular afghan as it is very luxurious and very cozy.  On Zibbet.com, it was described as follows...

"The rewards of this unforgettable throw are twofold. Zigzags in shades of deep marine blue, ocean blue, and Caribbean blue combined with a lavish woven-in fringe offer soothing comfort and timeless elegance. This is a warm, luxurious throw worked in two strands of yarn. I can see someone sitting on the ocean's beach, wrapped in this watching the sunset with a Mai-Tai in hand." 

Ocean Swells Ripple Afghan, 3 Shades of Blue

The 2nd item I entered was a square afghan (measures 54" x 54") that was done for a woman in Virginia, who graciously allowed me to use it as a Fair entry.  My notes on this afghan during its construction were,

"It's one of those that looked like a great idea until you start working it. What a pain! For every row I stitch, 2 rows need to be torn out. Grrr.... The original thought was to offer this particular piece, in addition to the dark red, in green and blue. Nope... ain't happening! This is going to be the one & only!

The afghan is being worked in 2 strands of yarn. It will be quite warm when completed and it will be the proper size for a sofa throw. All yarn in this particular piece is USA made."

Double Thread, Southwestern Afghan

The woman for whom this afghan was made, purchased a different one.  This one is now available for sale on Zibbet.com.

The 3rd entry was a light & lacy neck scarf or muffler made with a high quality, German yarn - SMC Aventica in the shade called "Sunset".  I fell in love with the yarn when I spied it at a local store, Edgewood Yarns & Fibers.  It's a sweet yarn to work with and I'm planning on eventually buying enough of it to do a ruana.  It's a wool & acrylic blend.  I really, really like it.

Autumn Roses Scarf 

The final entry that I selected was done as I was walking out the door. Really...

Mesh Beret, 100% Acrylic

 LOL...  I've always heard that everything happens for a reason and I truly believe this more & more the longer I'm around.  Anyway, as I was going out the door, I realized I had forgotten my phone.  I'd left in on the table on which my crochet work is sorted.  Sitting there next to the phone was a mesh beret done in autumn colors.  I looked at it and thought, "Oh...  what the heck...  might as well make it four entries."  Snatching it up, out the door I went, heading to the Fairgrounds bright & early on a Wednesday morning to make my entries.

Entries could only be made on that one Wednesday and only between the hours of 8am and 3pm.

State Fair Tag

The entry process is pretty straightforward. One fills out a form, which requires a category number (available in the rules booklet) and a description, such as "ripple afghan," for each item. It also requires your name, address, etc. and an entry number.  The entry number is assigned at the Fairgrounds and comes on a two piece yellow tag, which also needs to be filled out with your name and some other stuff.

After the tag is attached to your entry, the entry taker tears off the tag stub, attaches it to the carbon copy of the official entry form, and gives them to you.  You are told the day that you can retrieve your entries and to bring the stubs or you will be unable to retrieve your items. When I got home, those stubs were prominently placed on the front of the refrigerator with a magnet that has a clamp! Did not want to lose those babies!

Competitors are not be present for the entry judging and no one notifies you if you win.  You have to go to the Fair sometime during its two week run & check for yourself to see if you did anything.

The first day of the Fair, I snuck in through a hole in the fence and ran to the Home Arts Building. I could not spend a lot of time there as Rob & I were leaving the next morning for a long weekend in Ventura, CA.  But, I wanted to know if I won anything!

Walking through the exhibits, an older woman started walking with me.  She chronically complained about none of her entries winning anything other than a 2nd or 3rd place ribbon.  "My afghans ALWAYS win!  My dolls ALWAYS win!" Sigh...  you get the idea.  I mentioned to her that I was a first time entry and I'd be absolutely DELIGHTED if I got a 4th place ribbon.  After all....  look at all the lovely work that was submitted!  Some of the work was so exceptional and even after all the years that I've been doing crochet, I fully expected to not do anything.

I had to search for the entries because most of them were bunched in with lots of other items.  The blue afghan was the first to be found....

Double Thread Blue Ripple Afghan

As you can see....  No ribbon.  That's fine because the ribbon went to an outstanding afghan, which I did not get a photo of. The brown, orange & white ripple afghan next to it in the picture above took a 4th place ribbon and the purple one above it took a 2nd place ribbon. Both were lovely!

The next entry to be stumbled upon was the Southwestern item. Again, no ribbon but that's OK.  The blue one to its right took something. I really liked the texture and design of that blue one.

Double Thread Multicolor Afghan

The hardest ones to find were the scarf & the beret.  I went through looking in each of the display cases, two & three times each.  Finally, I spied the scarf!  I thought they'd lost it!  I found it in a display case with crochet toys?  Oh well...  Whatever...  I found it and was absolutely delighted that it took a ribbon!  I was on cloud nine!  I got a ribbon and it was a 2nd place ribbon!  Wahoo!!!

Lacy Muffler - Autumn Roses

The last item to be found was the beret. When it was found, I did not see anything attached to it and mentioned that to the woman standing next to me.  She took a look and said, "Hon...  you got a blue ribbon."

What?  A blue ribbon???  I took a harder look and finally saw the ribbon hiding behind the entry tag! You can see in the picture how the ribbon is hiding.  I started blubbering I was so happy & proud of my entry!

Autumn Colors Mesh Beret

I could now go to CA and not wonder how my items did.

When I picked up the entries, I looked to see if there were any comments written on the backs of the tag and found, much to my delight, a comment on the beret's tag.  It was a very short comment but one which was very appreciated.  The comment was, "Great Job!".

Thank you to whomever wrote that short and sweet comment.

Please feel free to visit Summerhill Stitchery on Zibbet or on FaceBook to get more frequent updates!