Wine Labels

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A couple months ago in this post, Trina left a comment about what I can do with my old empty wine bottles. I thought about it and then decided I didn't have the time or patience to do all that right now, so I did something else instead. I took photos! So much faster than trying to soak labels off.

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I'm still packing for our move to the new house. I stumbled upon this little saucer while I was going through a cabinet with a lot of old dishware. There was just this one, and no matching cup. Like many of the items in the cabinet, my Mom probably picked it up from a five and dime store in the 70s. What am I going to do with this odd piece?

It got more interesting when I happened to turn this saucer over and noticed what was printed on the bottom. Made in occupied Japan. Huh? I had never seen anything labeled like that before!

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Speaking of "made in" items, my Mom called me to let me know of a recent Fisher Price toy recall she heard on the news. Click here for list of toys recalled. The list is pretty long; it would have been helpful if there was also visual list too cuz sometimes you just don't remember what a toy is called but can recognize it by sight. Toys were recalled due to possible lead paint used on toys which were made in China. Mom called me because she must have seen Elmo being one of the characters, and she confused Elmo with Ojo, M's stuffed bear who is also bright orange colored. Ojo isn't from Fisher Price, he's from the Disney Store, and he's a stuffed bear, not a painted toy. So no worries there. I took a quick look at the recall list and it doesn't look like M has any of those toys. She has a Dora Lego set, but that isn't from Fisher Price I don't think. The scary thing is that I was considering getting M an Elmo Guitar, an item which might have been the on the recall list.

Anyhow, I was curious as to where Ojo was made. Made in China. Many of her stuffed "friends" are made in China (Koda bear, Stitch, Thumper, Pooh Bear, Roo). Then I thought about other items M has. Her hair clips are made in China. She has a large purple ball she likes to sit on, made in China. Her favorite Dora backpack is made in China. Her favorite purple shorts are made in Kenya. Ah ha! Her LEGO Quatro set is made in USA! Not everything is made in China.

Then I thought about some of my favorite items. Where were they made? Hmm... My favorite fountain pen is made in France. My favorite tea pot is made in England. My laptop is made in China. The circular knitting needles I am using to knit the Persephone Scarf you see below is made in Germany. Do I use anything that is made in USA? Hmm...

I've knitted a little over a foot here. I'm using Highland Silk yarn in Dusky Lavender color; it's spun in Peru. I love this yarn, and working with it now is so much better than in the winter because I don't have as many dry spots on my fingers for the yarn to catch on. I still haven't memorized the pattern, but it comes easy and I am getting better at spotting my cable crossing mistakes.

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Well, I finally finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Yay! Now I can get back to sleeping at a more "regular" time. I loved how this book didn't spend too much time getting warmed up at the beginning. You just jump right in. And it keeps going! And then it speeds up and it's sooooo hard to put the book down! I am happy with the ending. I thought the preantepenultimate chapter (not counting the epilogue) was the most interesting as everything is revealed there. However I thought some explanations (viz. the silver doe) was rushed. Loved what Mrs. Weasley did at the end, don't mess with Mom, lol.

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We have ambitious plans this weekend with regards to our new house. My MIL, who works at the post office, has tomorrow off (Saturday), so we are thinking of dropping M off early in the morning to spend the night with her grandparents. That way we can get loads of house stuff done on Saturday and Sunday before we go back to pick her up. Among the things we need to do:

- Shop for outlet cover plates. The FixIt Team is coming by to upgrade the electrical system in the entire house on Monday (and add a few new outlets in the kitchen & garage).

- Shop for shelf liner. I still need to line the rest of the shelves/drawers in the kitchen. I haven't even started thinking about the drawers in both our bathrooms, but they'll need shelf liner too.

- Shop for primer and paint stuff. We already have the paint prushes, trays, and painter's tape. We do need to remember to get some sort of plastic sheet for the floor. We need to do some painting in the master bedroom where we had a pocket door removed. The photo above shows what they've done. We need to do some "texturizing" to match the textured wall in the room, and then paint over it. Fun fun fun...

- Pick up more plastic storage bins.

- Pick up a vacuum.

- Remove the microwave/hood that is above the stove. This one will be a doozy. Plus it deosn't help that the whole thing is really gross with grease crud. Then we can install the new hood, sans microwave. I really don't like above-the-stove microwaves.

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I'm a little disappointed at having missed out on the Filatura di Crosa 501 offering on Elann. I've been so busy that I totally forgot about it. I've used this yarn before (for Marisa's blanket) and love it!!! Elann still has some 501 left, but not in the color I wanted to get. Boo hoo. Oh well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

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Love cats? V stumbled upon this great site containing cat photos with captions. Very amusing. Go check it out.
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