Olivia The Pig Purse

A few weeks back, I made a Star baby quilt for someone who is about to pop. That baby has a three year old sister, named, Olivia. My niece also has that name, so I have Olivia the Pig fabric in my stash. I decided to make a small purse for her and fill it with some fun girly items.

 This is a largish stuffed bear who is modeling my purse so well.

Pattern called for piping, I used faux piping instead.

 This was a new-to-me sewing pattern that went together fairly fast once I decided to sit down and just sew.


I want to eventually write sewing patterns so this was a great lesson on what to do and what not to do. I find some pattern makers choke at a difficult part - they can't find the words to describe what they are doing, they can't get clear photos.

I'm left trying to figure how to get from step K to P with nothing of use in-between. That lesson is to re-make the dang thing, take even more photos, and get help to figure out the words.

Her pattern was short without excess wordiness chatter - which I like.
Her site is slow and filled with ads, so it can be slow going to navigate the pattern.

Finished Star quilt

I added some Bubbles, a Tiara, Stickers and some cool Sunglasses for Big Sister.
The quilt is rolled up next to the purse.

 And here is Mr. Bear reclining on the lovely flannel quilt.

 This is my most awesome African Violet. Pink, edged in lime green ruffles.

Happy Mail

Happy mail indeed.
I received this valentine from a newish japanese friend who recently held a valentine party in her town. She mailed it on the 19th of February and I received it on the 26th. It's seems to be about 6-10 days in transit. ( It was only four days from Oahu!).

Writing To The World

Our J-5 might be painted Cruiser Orange

I started working full time again - in management. If my poor blog  has been relegated to the back burner, just think about my sewing. Well, actually, I am sewing --weird stuff. Like the luggage compartment for our J-5 Cub. That's our little airplane project. This plane will enable us to fly in the winter months in Oregon and not cost near as much as the big round engine of the Stearman biplane.

This last weekend I attended the Quilt Expo here in Portland with Pencil Girl and then came home to hubby's request of affixing the luggage compartment into the frame of the J-5.
It needed snaps and grommets - not a tall order, but impressive to hubby. Kinda like a Ta-Da! wave your magic wand moment.

I'm also commuting. Something I have NOT done in over thirty years.
In an attempt to stay calm and read the stop and goes for what they are, my mind has started up on some pretty random thoughts.

I haven't talked about Postcrossing on this blog before.  Crafty Tokyo Mama introduced me to this modern version of penpals last Spring. I've now sent 43 postcards out and received 40.

Postcrossing involves you registering on their site. You will be given names and addresses to send postcards to. When those people receive your card, they register it on the site. Meanwhile, random people in random countries are sending you postcards.

I wasn't sure I would like the randomness of it all but now I just love it. It's thrilling to see how long a postcard to the Ukraine can take. It's astounding that every one writes near-perfect English with near-perfect penmanship. More amazingly, I'm re-learning how to write legibly!

I received one postcard from China with a complete tiny story written on her card.
Other people have looked at my profile and included airplane stamps, drawings, sewing related, or flower related.

The other night, I found Writing To The World on facebook. A 5 year old from the UK is writing to someone in every UN country. It's too amazing. Here's his letter to someone in Guatemala. Go take a peek. He's written to almost 200 countries.

On Wednesdays, Thursday & Fridays, I go out into the field for (what we call) stand-ups. I often go in early which means?
Yes, you guessed it, I get to come home early. One of those bright spots!

Spoonflower Fabric

I was lounging around the internet over the labor day weekend looking for cool fabric doodahs when I stumbled across a cool sale at Spoonflower; a free fat quarter of fabric for $1.00 shipping. It arrived today.
I've been on Spoonflower before so this showed up in my favorites and promptly was ordered.

Spoonflower is an online site where you can design your own fabric. Tres cool. Except they don't tell you how easy it is to get sucked into the website and before you know it you have spent bucko dollars on a really cool print - designed by you.

I didn't design this jetliner print but I love the soft blue and the alternating 2" squares. You can choose to have your design printed on cotton, knits, canvas - I believe  there are about ten different fabric weights you can have Spoonflower print your design onto. Really cool service and a quality product.

There is a two-week  rural carrier count starting on Monday, September 17th (through Sept. 29).
I have written about this before. How your rural mail carrier gets paid? 
 and this post: and Letter Writing.

I am asking you to write a letter during those two weeks, maybe even two! The USPS is not doing a city carrier count, it is only the rural carriers. Even if you don't know whether your carrier is a city or rural mail delivery person, write anyway. It's a good habit. Not only that, it totally makes my day to get a letter or small care package in my mailbox.

• Write to your nieces or nephews ( I have little candygrams ready for carrier pick-up for next week on my kitchen counter). I  gave out some good ideas on my post here.
•  Go look at the USPS website and see how many FREE priority products there are ( I just ordered 12 different supplies. Flat-rate boxes, the Padded Flat-rate envelope, the shoe box, the bigger priority box and the newer Regional rate boxes.) I recently used the regional rate B box to send $40 of groceries to my son for $5.40. Way to go mom!
  The Priority shipping supplies are free to order and free to get.
  Each package counts for a better paycheck for your carrier.
• You can print Priority postage at the PO website, saving yourself some money as well as getting tracking for free.  Free carrier pickup at your front-door.
• When's the last time you wrote a thank you letter?
• This would be a good time to order yourself some treats as received packages help your carrier counts too. I need to re-order my vitamins (amazon.com).
• Sign up online for a free catalog or magazine. Many magazines give you the first issue free.
• Write to me.
  Last Spring I sent off about a half-dozen letters with a favorite tea bag enclosed. The quick note inside said, " Have a cup of tea with me". My friends liked these. Some smiles were heard.

Why is the PO doing a count so soon after last years? Well, the rural carriers have been working without a contract for close to two years now. Some contract language has changed. The PO Mgmt.'s depressing media blitz that mail volume is down and they have run out of money is not true. Mail volume continues to rise with the exception of first class which is holding steady.
The PO is mandated by a 2006 law to pre-fund retirement benefits for people who haven't even gotten hired yet. These payments are going into the General fund where they are used for ???
The PO has over-payed these benefits but congressional peoples aren't close to fixing this little problem.  Meanwhile, rural carriers are perceived by mgmt. to have it too easy and they are looking for ways to make rural carriers do more in less hours. Where have I heard that before?

So - How Does My Rural Mail Carrier Get Paid?

My little post about Mail Count and the IMPORTANCE of mailing letters right now (thru the end of September) has generated a good question.
How does a Rural Mail Carrier get paid?

The rural carrier gets paid an evaluated salary.
The Post Office periodically conducts mail counts where everything a rural carrier does is counted.
From time spent sorting in the office, to route maintenance, to the number of letters, flats (manila envelope) and packages.
Everything is counted.
My mailbox is part of a group of mailboxes. The carrier gets a few minutes to 'fill' our row of 36 boxes. He gets minutes for each single box on the route and a slightly lesser rate for a group. The miles driven on the route play into this as well. Dismounting from the vehicle gets counted and only certain dismounts are allowed. Generally speaking, a carrier is not paid to get out of his vehicle to bring your parcel to your door. An average number of parcel dismounts is calculated and this goes into the formula.
The annual salary is formatted from this formula.

So on Mondays when mail volume is heaviest (sun. & mon. mail), a carrier may work an 11 hour day. Their route may only be evaluated as an 8-hr day. On Thursdays when mail volume might be less and a carrier gets back to the office before 8 hrs - well- he still gets paid for an 8-hr day because that is what his route is evaluated as. During the summer, the carriers generally get  back well within the evaluated time. During Christmas, the carriers generally get back long after the evaluated time. Essentially, this evaluated time is a salary.

If mail volume drops, then the route may get re-evaluated and the route will either be added onto or the salary is cut.
Things you don't think about go into this formula. Like counting steps. My carrier says it's a bit like black magic.
If someone decides to use a PO Box instead of street delivery, the number of boxes falls as well as mail volume. Letter-sized mail is all route-sorted on the big machines and sent out to carriers which is faster than carriers sorting their own mail. Over the years, as in all industries, carriers have been asked to do more within those evaluated route hours. The average carrier brings mail to over 500 customers - each and every day.

Whether you live far out in the wilds with no neighbors or a close-knit rural community, you get mail every day but Sunday. This is actually mandated  by Congress -over two hundred years ago, that every American have access to mail delivery.

Over the last century, the population has moved closer to big cities as opposed to living way the heck out there. A concern of mine is the number of people who choose to live in isolated spots not having access to the real world - of computers, of Amazon.com, of smart phones. This causes them to drive more to get the goods they need as well as make the rural lifestyle more expensive to maintain. They are getting left  behind.
But these are the people who, by working two or three jobs, maintain that simpler lifestyle. Usually one of the jobs involves mail-order/internet driven businesses. Without  mail delivery, these part-time jobs would go away. I, myself, in addition to working a job, have a part-time hobby business that brings in extra. I rely on UPS and the USPS to get goods to my customers quickly and efficiently.

The thing is, in many rural communities, the only jobs with benefits are government jobs - either with the city, the schools or the post office. The post office is one of the last blue collar jobs that pays a family wage, has benefits and you don't have to dress up or have a college degree. Benefits are the million dollar question for families. How do you afford them?

Despite what the USPS is saying in their big ad campaigns, package volume has increased,  and bulk mail (gotta love it or hate it) has increased. The only category that has dropped is First-class mail. E-mail, texting and on-line bill paying are directly responsible for this.

I value the service my mail carrier does for me. I know his wife has diabetes. He needs the benefits and the paycheck to pay his property taxes. I am all for writing a few more letters this week, sending some extra care packages out and doing what I can to keep my carrier. I don't want his route to be added onto.

So - send a letter.  It will cost you 44 cents. What in the world can you even buy for 44 cents?
Send a postcard. Send a thank-you note. I just sent off some ebay & Etsy items today as well as a care package for my daughter. I have a friend who committed to send me a letter each day of this two-week count.
She's writing a serial installment story. Each letter ends with a cliff hanger. It's very entertaining.

Adsense Ads and Blogs and writing a journal

Okay - I admit to being fascinated by the whole Blogger Adsense thing.
This is where you get paid when people click on one of the ads. An advertising thing.

I could get paid for writing really rambling blogs about nothing of consequence.

Every time I post, ads immediately pop up over on the sidebar pertaining to what I just wrote.

I just wrote about my son's pet ferret and, of course, I was also thinking of making ferret gifts for Christmas (COMING UP!). I look over at the sidebar after posting - and  there are three ads for ferret gifts.
I clicked on one - and there was $0.35 in my account. Amazing. (disclaimer: Blogger says I cannot click on my own ads. They say they will pull my blog if I do so (in an effort to get paid more).
But - I was interested in the ad - I found a photo of something I could make out of polar fleece for Miss Luna to play in or sleep in. A great gift idea.

Really - there is a secondary fascination with the ads I see and those ads that my friends see.  They are completely different.

I believe the ads are based on the cookies on YOUR computer plus the hyperlinks I throw in plus the tag words.
Totally fascinating.

For now.