Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Posted on March 19, 2012 by treshabarger

Tyler Rose Garden on the Texas Capitol grounds

Before

Here is the Tyler Rose Garden on the grounds of the Texas Capitol. I love walking by.

As you may or may not know, it’s rose bush trimming time in these here parts, right around Valentine’s Day on up to the end of February.

After

Here’s the rose garden after it’s been “trimmed,” a gardening version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It looks as if someone just took a chainsaw and walked up and down the rows. (I’m pretty sure that’s not how it’s done, it just looks that way.) They cut it back like this every year and every year the rose bushes grow and bloom wonderfully.

Lipogram, No S

Posted on March 16, 2012 by treshabarger

A lipogram is a piece of work that intentionally leaves out a letter. I left out the letter “e” from my first lipogram. I wrote another one and “s” was the letter I didn’t include this time. Here we go . . .

My cat, Nike, definitely preferred the night time to be active, totally contrary to my internal clock. I commonly arrived at the office bleary-eyed, trying to explain to everyone that the feline creature that owned me quartered no mercy. Only one week ago, I arrived limping, to the amazement of everyone in my cube farm. In the middle of the night Nike decided to play with my feet, which were hanging over the edge of the bed, and playfully punctured my big toe on each foot, rendering me bilaterally, partially, and I hoped, only temporarily handicapped. My office mate took one look at me. I mouthed “Nike.” He nodded and went back to work. I limped over to my chair, carefully lowered myself into it and began my work day.

(Making sense in a lipogram isn’t so easy.)

Each Day’s End

Posted on March 15, 2012 by treshabarger

I change the calendar from January to March
having let February pass without notice.
That leap day didn’t help me catch up to anything.

Each day’s end surprises me and I wonder,
Why do I have pens that don’t write?

Each Day’s End by tresha barger

How To Shop For Fabric

Posted on March 14, 2012 by treshabarger

Some time ago I talked the editor of my local chapter of the American Sewing Guild into letting me submit columns for the quarterly newsletter.

I named the column “Thread Tales.” (A cute sewing/writing pun, I thought.) For those of you who are not a member of the Austin chapter of the ASG, here is my upcoming column.

Thread Tales: How to Shop For Fabric

(1) Clean out the trunk of your car (or the back of the SUV or the hatchback, whichever is appropriate) so that you have room for your purchases.

(2) Load the fabric shop addresses and phone numbers into your smart phone or GPS.

(3) Start out with a full tank of gas and an empty bladder.

(4) Pick up your best fabric-shopping friend.

(5) Have an envelope with your cash in it for the shopping trip. It’s very important to stick to a budget.

(6) Have two credit cards with available balances to use after you spend all of your cash.

(7) Be ready with made up stories you will tell people in the checkout line as to what project you are buying the fabric for. Fabric does not need a project in order to be bought, but some people just don’t understand this concept. Pay no attention to them; they are amateurs.

(8) Buy fabric.

(9) Eat lunch and bring the bags of your new fabric into the restaurant so you and your friend can swoon over each other’s purchases even though you were right next to each other when you bought the fabric.

(10) Buy more fabric after lunch.

(11) Buy enough fabric so that you have enough to fill up your washing machine when you get home. There is nothing worse than coming home to a house with nothing that needs washing and not having enough new fabric to warrant using the washing machine. (We are, after all, very ecologically aware.) Under no circumstances should you accost your husband and say, “Take off all of your clothes!” He will get the wrong idea and you will not get to wash your fabric right away. Those of you who do not wash fabric before using it can skip this step.

(12) Add the new fabric to your collection. It is beautiful just sitting on the shelf.

(13) Schedule your next day to shop for fabric.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast

Posted on March 13, 2012 by treshabarger

Here is my beloved yellow Lady Banks rose bush. Unfortunately, the drought has taken its toll and much of the bush died. We have received a notable amount of rain in early 2012, but it was too late for many plants. And we are still in a drought.

I already posted a photo for this Weekly Photo Challenge subject, but sometimes there are multiple photos I want to use, so I did.