More excitement

 White Women Answer the Call, a huge zoom call,  well over 100K participants, broke zoom and with $million+ donations crashed the donation function. Then thousands of women, including me, were directed to YouTube, where an array of women, Senator Gillibrand, many Congress women, entertainers like Pink, the co-founder of Indivisible, Megan Rapinoe, and so many more. Many hundreds of individual donors responded.

These are exciting times. I've been texting friends to encourage them to vote blue. Some no reply, some wildly enthusiastic.

Some of the organizations across the US working on the Harris election 

This is just the beginning. My current sales pitch is that I want to live to see a black woman in the White House.  And for me, it's now or never!

Dear blogistas, join me, donate, talk to friends, groups you feel you can speak with, whatever is your style. Help protect us all from Project 2025.

Meanwhile, here's the grand call for all women of any group Sunday evening.

Updated: so oversubscribed it's been moved to Monday.

Just fyi: Inauguration Day 2025 falls on Martin Luther King Day. Auspicious.

Meanwhile, happy day everyone, check this 

mobilize.us

National link to local activists 

Misfits of various kinds and how they're beautiful

Blogger is doing some upgrades, with the result that it published a half written post instead of scheduling it for Friday.  I've now retrieved it, completed it and here we go. I wondered how I was getting comments on a post I was still writing! Anyway I think  we're now rebobulated. 

Here's Thursday's outfit, just because. It's the eighteenth century design skirt I showed you when I made it. Unbleached muslin. With the hand painted top. Just wearing what pleases me, because I can.

One good side to having to wear a school uniform for seven long years --  for the rest of your life there's the unfailing pleasure of choosing your outfit every day. Even if it's t-shirt and shorts.

Here's Wednesday's comic relief. The gist: I had the water heater replaced three weeks ago at the condo, handed a  check to Joe, the nice plumber. As of yesterday it still had not been presented. No lost in the mail scenario possible, so..I called.

Office: Good morning, XCX plumbing

Me: I gave Joe a check for $2000, date etc, not yet presented

Office: but key this ur Keith if

Me: excuse me, I can't hear, could you repeat?

Office right over me: URBKEURBKEURBKE

Me: can you please speak into the phone, a bit more slowly?

Office: Is.this.better. can.you. hear.now?

Me: thank you so much, yes

Office: urbkevisiburythis

Me: what?

Office: I  will notify them Uribeheheheurble and they'll $_-$-#call you

Me: They need to find and present the check, it's $2000 out of your income stream.  I don't need a call. (No point in mentioning I've had many days of float on a substantial amount, and I don't assume she grasps the concept of the float)

Office:  crickets, dial tone..

No thank you for being thoughtful enough to alert us, no goodbye. However, first thing  Thursday morning the check clears. Now maybe the permit paperwork will get here. Sigh. Results matter, but a decent phone system would help.  Also manners makyth man. And woman.

Update: check cleared, permit paperwork arrived Thursday. The permits alone, one for plumbing, one for electrical, cost $200. Five minutes work by the inspector. I think I should get into the permitting business.

Today was one of those days where the groceries haven't arrived yet and what to have for lunch. 

The last of the spinach, steamed, the baby Bella mushrooms from the freezer, sauteed, in olive oil, butter and curry leaves, little omelette, mini naan for the lovely juices from the mushrooms. This naan has funny expression, I think he's trolling me. 

Onward. Misfits, last week's packaging out for pickup, very responsible marketing on their part, to take away their specialty packaging

Replaced by this week's order.

I'm enjoying stone fruit this year, evidently a good year. Pluots and nectarines here along with the usual gala apples without which mornings are incomplete. Dessert after lunch will be a piece of whatever fruit is ripest.

Tuna for tuna salad, broccoli to keep up with green vegetables, and a lovely fat little chicken for many meals. I roast then go from there, all kinds of ideas. In this weather, chicken salad sounds good. Especially since mayo is now a staple around here.

This food, organic, interesting, is a big part of feeling well, I believe. Good ingredients, and it's interesting to cook and eat all these colors, just as well, really, since cooking is always there to do.

Here's a great list, showing me I'm living in the lap of luxury

And to all cat people

Happy day everyone, purr with pleasure! Chat with a cat.

Buds and meetings

Early Wednesday morning, out to visit the few flowers  out yet, and rearrange the little bouquet.

And spot the little stem of the potatoes starting to emerge.

The rest of the morning was about online meetings about getting Harris elected, and now that black women, latinas and lgbtq+ groups have organized zoom meetings, Wednesday evening signed up for White Women for Harris. I have to get online early, because they'll fill fast. 

I did get in -- signed in half an hour early and was still about 150th in line. 

The event was very capably run by organizers from different regions, of SURJ, Showing Up For Racial Justice.

4,000 capacity, filled, raised about $150, 000, signed up hundreds of new volunteers.

Couple of screenshots, with links, cut and paste, to take part and/or donate 

Totally inclusive, signed throughout, every speaker described herself, race and appearance for the vision impaired, good captioning for hearing assistance.

It was a rush, such youth and energy, and understanding of our responsibility as powerful voters with white privilege. 

It's all go. And it's all good. I'll live to see a black woman in the White  House yet. 

In Sanskrit Kamala means Lotus. And we're working to make it mean POTUS.  Corny but oh well.

Franklin Habit, fiber artist and cartoonist has donated this image to use. He asks that it not be used for items to sell, and that his name be left on. Free gift! The reference is to an inopportune statement by the GOP VP candidate.

Meanwhile Gary's home. He stopped in last evening for a minute, just to let me know. He's looking a bit thinner and frailer but he's got a friend staying to help the first few days.

And I'm weaving, to keep calm 

Happy day everyone, keep calm and campaign, if you're in campaign territory. Cheer us on if you're not.

More just sayin', then fiberarts

 

Back to now 

Gary's expected home in a day or two, meanwhile a friend is watering his garden 

And we're finally seeing monarchs on the butterfly bushes 

Here's my outfit, ready for the Tuesday Knitting Group, first outing for the linen tunic, tucked in because it works better with this skirt, which yes, does match that curtain. 

That's the rest of the fabric earning its keep as a portiere until I make it into something. I mean, I'm not wearing a curtain.

Tuesday Knitting Group was select and fun, here's a sweater being knitted sideways, clever pattern

Talk ranged over trips to Portugal, birth order, the Duggar family, sock knitting, yarn spun for crochet not knitting, heatwaves, spf umbrellas from Australia, animals not improving knitting, Indian embroidery, fireflies,  goldwork and I may be getting more gold thread from a participant's grandmother, also beads, freecycling and other exciting subjects.

Textiles and Tea was rigid heddle weaving with Betty Davenport, who literally wrote the book on rigid heddle weaving.

The heddle is that comb-like  thing resting across the loom. Also a bigger one at the back, threaded for action.

Here are pictures of the pickup stick in action,manipulating the threads to create interesting weave patterns.

Those little inset shapes she learned from Guatemalan weavers, working on back strap looms

and this is a piece she wove as part of her Certificate of Excellence submission.

Near the top is a page of comments I screenshot so you can see the name of a famous Peruvian weaver she's worked with, and a reference to the Cusco textile center.

She weaves fabric to make clothes on her rigid heddle loom, with knitted finishing bands.  I'm hoping Joanne and Caro will stop in with comments, because they've done a whole lot more with rigid heddle weaving than your humble blogger.

They're probably familiar with her books, too.

So, lovely day, full of interesting events and people, I hope yours is too. Happy day, everyone.

Just sayin'

 

• She's pronounced comma-la.  Respect. If you're a Brit, try KAHmala.  

Don't be like the Beeb radio folk, who never once pronounced Obama's first name correctly. I had an online run in with one of the culprits, who got all huffy. I pointed out I'd respected her enough to spell her (Arabic, unfamiliar) name correctly. She went all quiet then. Anyway let's do our best.

Today's a new week, writing this on Monday, and I'm heartened by the massive support for Kamala's candidacy. Sunday night 44,000 black women including all black women Members of Congress, and every state Dem organization represented, met on Zoom.

They had set it up to accommodate 1,000, it filled instantly, they conferred with Zoom management, who opened it up, till they reached 44,000.

Over the course of their strategy discussions, they fund-raised. By the close of the meeting they'd raised $1 million.

Edit: in less than 24 hours, via Act Blue, $90 million raised. About $27 million is from small donors. The numbers keep rising so when you read this it may be under the total.

As of mid afternoon Monday 

It's not just dollars, it's a strong indicator of grass roots support. And it's the most ever raised in the first day of a presidential candidacy. Black women rule!

This is being called a strong swift pivot. Speaking of which, Taylor Swift is in talks with swifties about coming out for Harris for President. She's on all the state ballots, Kamala, not Taylor, and, according to Marc Elias, there are no legal grounds to contest it.

And many heavy hitters, including some traitors to Joe, have come out in support. The traitors are still going to be primaried, in case they think there's any kumbaya coming their way.  

But there's serious support from people who matter, governors, state Dem organizations, trade unions,  presidents -- Biden and Clinton, note the missing name, many members of Congress, and political people with leverage. 

So let's hope billionaire bullies don't interfere with her nomination, holding my breath till she's on the platform accepting it. 

Nikki Barnes, Florida Dem organizer,  reported Monday morning that enough delegates are now pledging to her to secure the nomination. Meanwhile I'm all in for Kamala. And I know how to say her name.

Until further notice, this blog is negative -free. No comments casting doubt will appear here. The time is too short, the stakes are too high. Thank you for respecting this moment in history.

Meanwhile I walked in the lovely cool cloudy weather.  The jewelweed is out 

At the pond I watched a little turtle swimming about, then a frog shouted and jumped in, startling Yertle, who dived down into the mud. 

In this picture there's a practically invisible turtle on the opposite bank.

And on the way home, a flicker family flew across my path, with young keeping up. Too fast for me and this phone  to picture.

Further on, near the concrete rabbit now buried in foliage, was a baby rabbit who let me get close before dashing away, white tail bobbing.

Happy day everyone, catch your breath, sometimes big things move fast.