50 Shades of Quiverfull

Many years ago, my father attended a Bill Gothard Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts, and he also bought some of the materials, including the Character Sketches, eventually owning two volumes. Some time later, some other family members attended one as well, and I remember them discussing the concept of submission: wives' submission to husbands and children's submission to parents. Questions discussed were: If a Christian young man is convicted that the Lord is calling him to be a minister, but his father is opposed to it, should he study to be a minister or submit to his father? And, if a Christian woman's husband wants her to work as a prostitute, should she submit to her husband? I found the discussion ridiculous, offensive and even downright dangerous. To even entertain the idea of submission to a human being above the will of God is idolatry. The Bible says, "We ought to obey God rather than men," Acts 5:29; "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," Exodus 20:3; and "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me," Matthew 10:37. To elevate the principle of submission to earthly authorities above the revealed will of God is a dangerous concept indeed and I question the validity of any ministry that would promote this concept. 
Fast forward 20 years (give or take a few) and the Character Sketches books were very popular amongst homeschoolers. And I was a homeschooler and somehow I came into possession of my father's Character Sketches books. However, after reading a couple of "sketches" in the books that drew erroneous conclusions from Bible stories that weren't at all warranted by the Bible narrative (indeed, I would conclude the opposite from the Bible story), I, once again had to call this ministry into question. Once more, these stories both were on the subject of submission to authority and I couldn't help but wonder why this ministry was so intent on robbing wives and children of their God-given autonomy and their ability to discover and follow God's will independent of their husbands and parents. I don't believe that's Biblical and that certainly was not a concept I wanted to teach my daughter. I've only kept those books out of respect for my father's memory. 
(For more on Bill Gothard and his ministry, go here).
That was all before I ever heard about the "Quiverfull Movement." The name comes from Psalm 127:5, but I'll quote verses 3-5 so you'll get the context: 
"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." 
"Quiverfull," unfortunately, is not quite the right name because it doesn't encompass everything that this movement stands for. Not only do its adherents abstain from using birth control (not even the rhythm method), but they also practice "patriarchy" or the kind of submission advocated by Bill Gothard's ministry. Indeed, the "poster children" for the Quiverfull Movement, the Duggars, have been associated with the Gothard ministry. 
Obviously, as a divorced career woman, with a university degree and only one child, I am not the "poster child" of the Quiverfull Movement. And, from my comments above, you can tell that it's not really something I'm supportive of. I'm not saying there's not some good in it, but overall, I think there's too much that's not good. Dare I venture to say that Gothard's less than stellar life is a result of his own erroneous teachings? And what really disturbs me is that this lifestyle is passing itself off as "Biblical family values" or "God's ideal for the Christian family." And some people that have left the movement have totally turned their backs on Jesus because they believed that lifestyle was actually what Jesus wanted for them. And if that were the case, then they didn't want Jesus anymore. I can't say that I blame them. I wouldn't either.
So, with prayer and some some study helps (concordance, commentaries, etc.), I want the Bible to show that the "Quiverfull Movement" is not really Biblical Christianity. I'm not saying that its adherents are not Christians, just that what they promote as Biblical is not necessarily so. 
1. Birth Control
The only reference I can think of that even remotely addresses the issue of birth control (or contraception) is Genesis 38:8-10. Here the man practicing "withdrawal" is condemned because of his disobedience, selfishness and greed. It's certainly not enough to build a case on for finding birth control sinful. (If you want more explanation on this particularly text, email me and I can send you what the Bible commentary says. This topic is too long and detailed to try to explain in this blog post). 
The verses found in Psalm 127, quoted above, are an observation, not a divine command. Quiverfull people need to remember that. Incidentally, I once had a Christian surgeon tell me that a "quiver full" is five arrows. I'm not sure where he got that tidbit from and I couldn't find anything in Strong's about that, nor in my other references, but it is interesting that he didn't say 7, or 10 or 12.
Now I'm going to quote Vyckie Garrison, a woman who left the Quiverfull movement, on the Quiverfull concept of Psalm 127:
That verse in Psalm 127 says, "Blessed is the MAN who has his quiver full of them."  And it goes on to say, "he shall not be ashamed, but will speak with the enemies in the gates." We were taught that in Bible times, the city gate was the place where male leaders made decisions regarding local government.
So this was about political domination. The whole point of having a quiver full of babies is to out-populate the "enemy" and to shoot those many arrows "straight into the heart of the enemy."  And by that, we meant that our children would grow up to be leaders in all the major institutions of our society. This was our plan for taking back America for God. So the children were like ammunition in God's holy war. (website no longer exists).
If that weren't so pitiful, it would be laughable. Talk about screwed up theology! Where is that found in the Bible? What I read in my Bible is that things are going to get worse and worse until the great final time of trouble, and then Jesus will come. I don't see the Scriptures supporting anything about "taking back America for God." Oh, unless you're talking about the Image to the Beast found in Revelation 13, the false revival. (If you want more information on this particular topic, go to Revelation Mystery).
Now, I firmly believe that children are a blessing, or at least should be, but these verses in no way imply that we should continue to reproduce indiscriminately. On the contrary, the word of the Lord says that, "if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (1 Timothy 5:8). In light of this text, having more children than one can comfortably provide for is reprehensible. Assuming that "the Lord will provide" is presumption, not faith.  
So let's jump back to Genesis 1:27,28: 
"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
I find it interesting that the Quiverfull people generally only quote, "Be frutful and multiply" to support their beliefs and don't continue with "and replenish the earth." Or "fill the earth" to use a modern translation. Here's a quote from my Bible commentary on this verse: "The divine commission has been understood by various commentators to indicate that the reproduction of human beings should not continue endlessly, but was to cease when the earth was filled with human beings and their animal subjects." (SDA Bible Commentary, volume 1, page 217). I remember being in Boston and New York City at the age of 16. I couldn't get over how many people there were on the sidewalks. Just walking down the sidewalk, it was hard not to bump into people. Like a living stream. And that was a lot of years ago. The population has just grown since then. It seems to me that this world is pretty full. The only places that aren't full are deserts and Canada's far north and I don't see the Quiverfull people rushing to fill them. Maybe I'm being a little too sarcastic, but human beings are probably about the only species whose population isn't naturally curbed once it reaches saturation point. 
1 Corinthians has this to say, "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (6:19,20). And, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (10:31). It is not glorifying to God or wise stewarship of a woman's strength to wear herself out with a perpetual round of pregnancy and lactation. 
Clearly then, I cannot belive that the Bible supports the kind of prolific breeding that the Quiverfull Movement endorses. 

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As an aside, I find it really interesting that the Quiverfull Movement is really big on following Genesis 1:28 (even though they tend to ignore the "replenish the earth" part), but they fail to acknowledge the next verse:

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." (Genesis 1:29). 
God's original and perfect diet for human beings is a whole food, plant-based diet, just what research is now demonstrating is healthiest for us. But I haven't heard of any Quiverfulls rushing to become vegans. 
Furthermore, Quiverfulls, as a general rule, also fail to keep the true Bible Sabbath, which was instituted at the end of creation week. You'll find it just in the next chapter:
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3).
Saturday is the true Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, the one enshrined in the heart of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20: 8-11. Now, though she was talking about the command to "be fruitful and multiply," I'm going to quote Nancy Campbell, because it is true about the Sabbath commandment, "We can find no place in Scripture where God rescinds this command." (link no longer exists).  Now back to the topic.

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2. Patriarchy
Let me start this topic by sharing something that the Apostle Peter said. This time I'm using the New International Version to make sure it's clear: "Just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 Peter 3:15,16). 
So here we have it that Scripture can be distorted to mean something it wasn't intended to mean. And Peter mentions specifically the writings of Paul, who writes some things that are hard to understand. I agree. And especially on the topic of patriarchy are Paul's writings hard to understand. 
There are many examples of women in leadership in both the old and new testaments: prophetesses, judge, deaconesses. It's not my purpose to cover this whole topic exhaustively in this post, but I do want to recommend to you the following link: Free Bible Commentary, Women in the Bible. The author is Bob Utley of the East Texas Baptist University. It's a very relevant treatment of this topic. He has since revised and rewritten his commentary, but here are his comments from the previous edition on  1 Timothy chapter 2:15:
The immediate context seems to emphasize that women as home-makers is the societal expectation of Paul's day, and for most societies, ancient and modern. Woman's salvation does not come from leadership in public worship or an unexpected cultural freedom.
In truth it does not come from expected social roles either, but through faith and it's fruits (cf. v. 15b). Salvation is in and through Christ. Godly women trust Him and do not seek to draw undue attention to themselves. However, in our culture the "undue attention" occurs when women are limited. As lost people would have been turned off by overative Christian women in the first century, today's lost people are turned off by a seeming Christian sexism and legalism...
Also from the previous edition, on the subject of Ephesians 5:23, we read:
Christ is depicted as the husband and the church as the bride (cf. Rev. 19:7, 21:2,9). Husbands need to act in their God-given leadership position just as Christ did. He gave Himself for the church. It is not a control issue, but a giving of self issue.
Male headship is a very controversial issue in our modern western society. This is for several reasons: (1) we do not understand servant leadership; (2) we do not like patriarchal societies because of our modern egalitarian emphasis on the worth of the individual; and (3) we are confused by the Bible's paradoxical way of asserting male headship in some passages and equality in others.
I can personally accept male headship as a result of the fall (cf. Gen. 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:12-14). I can also affirm it as a biblical concept in light of Jesus' leadership of the church (cf. Eph. 5:22-33). But what I find difficult to accept is a patriarchal mandate (i.e. male dominated societies) as God's revealed plan for every age and society (cf. Rom. 3:27; 1 Cor. 12:7.13; Gal. 3:28-29; Col 3:11). Does the mutuality so obvious in Gen. 1:27; 2:18 which was lost in Adam and Eve's rebellion (cf. Gen. 3:16), return in salvation? Is the curse of sin and subservience both dealt within Jesus' redemption? As the new age breaks into the lives of believers now, does also the restoration of complete fellowship with God as in Eden also begin now?
I would also like to make a hermeneutical point. As an interpreter of what I believe to be the self-revelation of the one true god and His Christ, I am surprised by the cultural aspect of Scripture...
The two issues which stand out to me to have obvious cultural aspects (1) male dominated societies (patriarchy) and (2) slavery. The NT never attempts to address the unfairness of these cultural pillars of the ancient world. Possibly because to do so would have meant the destruction of Christianity. Yet the gospel through time is abolishing both! God's truth never changes but societies do change. It is a grave mistake for us to attempt to turn first century Greco-Roman culture into God's will for all people in all places and of course the same is true for Israelite culture. Into each of them God revealed Himself in powerful and permanent ways. The real task is how to get the eternal absolutes out of its cultural husk...
One way to try to determine what is eternal and therefore binding on all believers in all periods and what is cultural, or personal preference is to see if the Bible (OT & NT) gives a uniform message or does it record a variety of opinions...
My fear is that I might let my denominational training, personality, culture and personal preferences silence or diminish revealed truth! My ultimate authority is God and His revelation (i.e. in His Son, and in a written record, the Bible). But I realize He revealed Himself to a specific period of history, to a particular culture and everything in that culture was not His will. Yet, God had to speak to people of that culture in terms and categories they could understand. The Bible then is a historical document. I dare not ignore its supernatural aspect or its cultural aspect. 
(Emphasis in italics in both quotes is mine). 
So yes, Paul's texts on this topic seem to be confusing and contradictory. But he lived in a patriarchal society and to violate all social and cultural norms in the name of freedom in Christ would have done more harm than good to the growth of the Christian church. We no longer live in a patriarchal society. Freedom is granted to all in Christ Jesus (cf. Gal. 3:28). So to continue with the model of partriachy will now do more harm than good. Indeed, it already has. Just google "quiverfull" and follow some of the links. Vyckie Garrison has this to say about her mentality while in the Quiverfull Movement: "I knew that as a woman, I was particularly susceptible to deception by Satan." Where is that in the Bible? How is that kind of attitude calculated to encourage and build up a Christian woman?
In conclusion, I want to share a few texts from Proverbs 31 NIV. This is the chapter that all good Quiverfull women aspire to. 
"She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sees that her trading is profitable.
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. 
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household." vv. 16,18,24,26,27.
That does not sound like a meek, submissive, dependent wife to me. That sounds like an independent, self-directed entrepeneurial woman who can make her own decisions, manage her own money and has confidence in herself. The woman God meant her to be!
Oh, in case you're wondering about my reference to 50 Shades of Grey in the title of this post: I believe that it is the patriarchal, controlling, dominating, misogynist mentality present in the Quiverfull Movement that sets women up for sadistic, manipulative, unhealthy relationships as portrayed in that book. (No, I did not read it, but I did read enough about it to know it disgusts me). 

February Vacation 2015, Day 3

Today I got really discouraged. The plain and simple fact is I have TOO MUCH STUFF!. Much too much. There is so much stuff in the basement, that there's no room to move things around to clear out the sewing area and start working. Or to stack the renovation materials until I'm ready to use them. And trying to clear it out so that I can actually get the renovations done is kind of overwhelming. Especially when there's only me to do it. I'm trying to de-clutter, but it's the wrong time of year for a yard sale. And selling online means having to take pictures and post them and then wait for responses. Then wait for people to get around to come and pick up their items. A slow and tedious process. I've considered having a winter garage sale, but right now the snow is blowing horizontally, we're expecting 10-20 cm and it's -16C without the wind chill factor. Do you think anyone would come? Our drop boxes for both our local thrift store and Value Village are overflowing. And I'm not about to haul it all to the nearest Value Village an hour's drive away. I could call the collection crew for Value Village, but then I'd have to wait for them to show up. Also wrong time of year to leave much outside for them to pick up. 
So I've decided to lighten up on myself. This is supposed to be a vacation after all. And if I don't get the renovations done, that will just give me more time to save money to get the light fixtures moved and the extra for the flooring. :-) I don't want to go back to work more stressed and exhausted than I was before I started my vacation. 
But I didn't do nothing today. I got rid of these:

I had 5 of them. They're called strawberry jars, but I didn't grow strawberries in them. I liked to plant portulaca in them. But they're made of terra cotta and in order to preserve them, they should be stored inside over the winter. The first few years of these jars' lives, they were not stored inside and there is some deterioration, but I have stored them in my basement for the last 5 years. And there they stayed. And I finally decided that I don't want planters that I have to haul inside and find a place for every winter. And I also didn't want the hassle of trying to sell them when they are already starting to deteriorate. So I offered them on the facebook freecycle (i.e. to give away) group for my community. Wow did they go fast - posted them this morning and they were gone this afternoon. ! I had several people interested. I wonder if there would have been that much interest if I had been selling them instead of giving them away.  
And I did manage to clear enough space in the basement to move the DRIcore down there. Otherwise it would have been challenging getting the strawberry jars up past the DRIcore sitting in my entryway. However, I now have to squeeze between my hot water tank and my washing machine to get into my laundry room. But I have enough clean underwear that I can get by without doing laundry for awhile. LOL!
I also posted a vintage cream and sugar set to the facebook silent auction site and already have one bid on it. It's a toss up for me. I want to unload a lot of stuff, but I also want to make some money to pay for the renovations. So, some items I post for sale and some to give away. I still haven't given away the old microwave, the big blue desk or the stacks of cookbooks. I thought about dragging the desk out to the laneway and putting a "Free" sign on it. The desk is actually in the garage, but if I am able to make more room in the garage, I can move some basement stuff out there. Not that I want to keep that much of it, but one of my nephews moved to Alberta from Ontario. He's currently living with friends but hoping to get his own place sometime this year. So I'm saving some stuff for when he gets his own apartment. And he doesn't want the desk. Or the microwave. I have a newer microwave for him. I didn't ask him about the cookbooks, but they're mostly older and how many cookbooks does a young man need? If I haven't unloaded them by the next time he visits I will offer them to him. He will also get the Pavillion dinnerware if I'm not able to sell it. That's why I won't come down in my price. Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to spend a lot of money on it, so if someone isn't willing to give me a reasonable price for it, I just won't sell it. Or I'll keep it myself. The dinner plates are a really nice size, especially for a holiday dinner. No, on second thought I really don't want to keep it. It takes up too much room. I already have my Corelle for every day and I use my vintage dishes for good. Just how many dishes does one woman need?
I have a bunch of exercise videos to give away as well. A whole box. A few years ago someone posted to a freecycle email that she was giving away her VHS videos as her VCR had gone kaput. I still have a TV with a VCR that works, so I took all of her videos: drama, documentary and exercise. I've given some away, have watched some and will keep some. Jane Austen's Emma and Sense and Sensibility are among the ones I'm keeping. And I need to get rid of some, especially the exercise ones. I had great ideas when I brought them home, but found them just too high intensity for me. Among several I tried, there was one called Making Fitness Fun. It didn't. I'll use my Wii Fit for that.
Next week, if we have better weather, maybe I will just load up the truck and take a trip to Value Village. But I need to get more sorted out first to make the trip worthwhile. And I can't load up furniture by myself. 
When the lady came to get the strawberry jars, I put on my boots and coat and carried the last jar out for her, then went to get the mail. Look what I got in today's mail:

One of my great nephews is graduating from high school this year and has already been accepted into Western Michigan University. I plan to make this quilt for his graduation gift. I paid $7 for shipping this pattern which includes a couple of pieces of paper in a zip-loc bag, plus the receipt and the envelope it was mailed in. The postage was 69 cents. However, that $7 was a bargain compared to the $25.95 that one vendor wanted to charge me to ship to Canada. It's a pity the pattern wasn't downloadable so that I could have eliminated the shipping costs altogether. 
Finally, I did some cooking. I enjoy cooking but just haven't done much in awhile. I don't always make the time. There was a recipe for Rockin' Moroccan Stew circulating in the office. Everyone was talking about it. Everybody that tried it, liked it. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention since I'm the only vegetarian on our team and I didn't figure it would be a recipe that would suit my diet. Then one of my nursing colleagues told me that I'd like it, too, that there was no meat in it. So I found the recipe, bought what ingredients I needed and today tried it out. And it is very good. Next time I will probably cut the amount of chilli and curry powders in half. It was a little too hot for me, but quite tasty nevertheless. Of course, I substituted parsley for the cilantro. 

Lots of very healthy ingredients in this dish: kale, yams (I used yams, not sweet potatoes), chickpeas, sweet pepper, tomatoes. A nourishing, tasty and warming stew for eating on a blustery winter day. 
Tonight I think maybe I will watch Ben Hur, a two video set that was in those VHS videos I got. And continue with the Bobble Afghan. That is not a very rewarding pattern to work on. I can spend 2 or 3 hours an evening working on it and it still doesn't look like it's gotten any longer. It's still only about 21 inches long and it needs to be 45! I'll be so glad when it's finished. But next week the Mystery Afghan Crochet Along begins. And whether I'm finished the Bobble afghan or not, I will set it aside to "investigate the mystery."
On second thought, maybe I'll work on the crocheted Christmas tree skirt tonight instead, And probably watch something a little lighter than Ben Hur.
Right now it's time to feed the cats.

February Vacation 2015, Day 2

I'm exhausted and so the evening will probably be spent crocheting while watching The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie or maybe a movie. Before I get into why I am exhausted, I'll start at the beginning of the day. I spent a big part of the morning doing online shopping into what products I need and where to buy them. I was planning on buying the DRIcore (subflooring for basements) at Lowes because their price was the cheapest. However, their price had gone up since the last time I looked online, so I ended up deciding to go to Home Depot as their price is now the cheapest and it is a lot closer and easier to get to. I was going to do the "buy online, pick up in the store" thing, but do you have any idea what a bewildering array of corner bead they have? My ex had told me not to get the paper covered stuff as it's harder to work with. Yes, my ex-husband is my consultant of choice for all things construction-related. He spent many years working in construction before he got into truck driving. However, in spite of having numerous selections online, they were all the paper-covered variety. Different angles, different widths, different lengths, offset, even leg (corner bead has legs???). I tried calling my ex for advice, but he didn't answer. So I called the store and found out that they actually have the all metal corner bead in the store. And it's cheaper than the paper covered stuff. I also found out that the person at the contractor's desk knows less than my ex-husband. I'm going to tell him that if he ever decides he wants to retire from trucking, but still earn a little money, he should apply at Home Depot. He'd probably be more help than most people there. Since at least the corner bead that I wanted was not online, I decided to forget the "pay online, pick up in store" thing and just go direct to the store. 
But back to my morning - I also spent some time posting the dinnerware I'm trying to sell on another site, coordinated a pickup for the man who bought my silk plant and left a message for the man who is buying my dog kennel, both items I've sold online. The man came for the silk plant before noon. After that, I was just trying to organize myself to go to the city when my niece's husband called and asked if I wanted to go for lunch. Since I hadn't eaten yet, I agreed to meet him at Subway and leave for the city from there. 
As most of you probably are aware, Home Depot is huge. At least I've never been in a small one. And staff aren't always easy to find. Nor are they always knowledgeable and helpful. I did not want to use screws to attach the corner bead. I want to use nails. Nails are much quicker and since it will also have mud holding it in place, I do not need the extra security that a screw can provide. The first staff member I talked to thought that was just weird. I had really hoped that my ex could have come with me for this shopping trip, but unfortunately he won't be home until next week. I'm going to have to program his new cell phone number into my cell phone because I could have really used his advice and expertise. Yes, I know some people think it's just weird that I can rely on him so much. Well, I spent 20 years with the guy and I know he's not all bad. He's not good husband material, but he does know construction. 
I have decided that next time I have to buy corner bead or anything else that's longer than me, I will not pick it up first. Home Depot may have nice wide aisles, but it's still hard to maneuver around with 8' sections of corner bead. I was afraid I was going to impale someone. I actually tried to put one of my gloves on the end of the corner bead so that it woudn't hurt so much if I hit someone with it, but the glove refused to stay on. Oh no, as I'm typing this, I just realized something: because I had the number '8' as in 8 foot in my head regarding corner bead, I bought 8 sections when I needed to buy 9! Oh well, they've probably got it at my local building supply place. It might be a little more expensive, but not as expensive as driving all the way back to the city. 
So I got the nails, drywall mud, dust masks, tin snips to cut the corner bead, sandpaper (coarse to sand the already painted walls so that the mud and new paint will adhere and finer to sand the dried mud), a flooring instalation kit, a larger tapping block than the one that's in the kit, DRIcore levelling kits and anything else I don't remember. And the DRIcore, of course. 70 sheets of it, each weighing 7.5 lb. according to the DRIcore website. Home Depot rounds it up to 8 lb. Either way, I'm glad I didn't know the weight before I loaded and unloaded it. I did get help loading it on the truck at the store and jokingly asked my helper if he wanted to come home with me and help unload it. Back home, I had to unload it all myself. I decided to do it in two stages: first, get it all into the entryway, and second, take it down to the basement. I only got the first stage done. I decided to carry 7 panels at a time. That's 52.5 pounds each trip for 10 trips and a total of 525 pounds. And that's why I'm exhausted and the DRIcore is still sitting in my entryway. It can stay there for now. The cats can get through to the basement and I can squeeze through as well. And that's all that matters since no one else lives here. Somehow I didn't feel like I was carrying over 50 pounds each time. A 20 kg bag of kitty litter - that's 44 pounds - is about my limit, and I didn't think I was carrying as much as that. Which begs the question: which is heavier: 50 pounds of kitty litter or 50 pounds of DRIcore? Obviously, the form that weight comes in can make it seem heavier or lighter. When I checked online and found out that each panel weighs 7.5 lb, I was dumbfounded. I figured there had to be some mistake because I couldn't believe I was carrying that much. 
While I was carrying all those panels in, I had the door propped open and the cats decided to check out the weather. I try to keep them indoors after having to pay for vet bills a couple of times when neighbourhood cats tried to take a round out of my Mystery. After an eye injury and I realized that he could have lost his eye, I decided that was enough and I wasn't going to take those risks any more and started keeping them indoors all the time. Most of the time, they don't seem to mind too much, but the weather was quite nice, -3C, and with the door propped open, the temptation was too great for them to resist. Mystery had had enough before I even finished bringing in the DRicore, but Tinker went out shortly before I finished and stayed out for awhile after I was done. But it wasn't long before she was at the door waiting to come in. After spending all of the time in a heated house, even -3 can feel pretty cold. 
While I was sitting here typing this, the man buying my dog kennel called. He's one of those people who just calls numbers because they're on his call display. He didn't bother to see if I'd left him a voice mail first. And since he didn't recognize my number, he wanted to know who I was and why I was calling. I don't understand why people don't listen to their voice mail. And if someoned didn't leave them a message, then you don't need to call back. And if they did, you don't need to make a rude phone call demanding to know who the person is and why she called you because you already know since you were intelligent enough to listen to your voice mail first. I get that at work sometimes. People will just call and say, "Somebody from there called me." This in a building that has 50+ people working on any given day. And unfortunately, the receptionist often transfers it to our department. I don't really know why. Maybe she just figures that home care is the most likely department to have called someone. Or maybe the caller thinks it was probably home care that called them. But it could have been anyone and it is really annoying. What makes people so obsessive that they have to return the call to every number in their call display? I've often been tempted to ask them if they call back the telemarketers. I actually had one woman call our work number because it came up on her call display. So I asked her if whoever called left a voicemail, and if not, then it must not have been that important. She said haughtily that I should tell all my coworkers that they should at least leave a message that it was a wrong number. I refrained from telling her that maybe she needed to stop returning every call that came on her call display. 
Here's a shot of the DRIcore sitting in my entryway:

The DRIcore website says to use either a jigsaw or a circular saw. I was going to opt for the jigsaw since it's lighter weight, but asked at the store (and confirmed with my ex) and was told that the circular saw would be better because it would give a more stable cut. So I think I will get a new blade. I actually have two circular saws that I bought at auction sales - one has a rechargeable battery and the other one has a plug. I'm not sure which one I'll use yet as I have never used either. But back to the DRIcore: the black plastic side goes down against the concrete. It's not solid to allow for air circulation and evaporation of any moisture. You'll notice that there's a defect in the plastic on the top left one. It's an opening which will leave the wood exposed to moisture from below. That one will have to go back. I haven't looked at all of them yet to see if there are any more defects. That can wait until I start installing. On the right you can see the space where I can squeeze through to the basement. 
Regarding the actual flooring, I originally intended to install laminate, but when I did more research I found that laminate is not advised for basements, particularly ones that get damp. And mine does. So I decided on a floating vinyl floor. I don't want to use adhesive, so will buy "click and lock" vinyl planks or tiles. I called one place that had advertised some reasonable prices but found out it was for ones that had to be glued down. So, the flooring will end up costing me more than I had originally planned on. It doesn't look like I will be moving my light fixtures at this time. Unless I cover some more "on call" for the other nurses. 
And still no buyer for my dinnerware. I've had some interest but no one committed to buy. And really I'd like it out of my living room. 
And I saw Thumper twice today. He was around in the side yard in the morning and he was still there (or there again) when I got home from the city today. But I probably haven't told you about Thumper and Bambi. I'm not sure if it was the first or second winter I lived here that I noticed deer tracks in the snow around my property. And I found out deer like mountain ash berries. There had been a lot of snow cover that year so she probably wasn't getting good grazing outside of town, so she (small prints, so I assume it's female) had obviously been helping herself to the good eats at Laura's place. I have a Mountain Ash in the front yard. I occasionally see her prints during the winter, but I've never seen her. This winter (actually I think it was late fall, but we already had snow on the ground), I saw a rabbit/hare crossing the road in front of my place and head up my driveway. I was on my way home from work and turned into the driveway with care so I didn't hit him, and he hopped off into the side yard. He has made himself very much at home at my place as I see rabbit trails all over my property and lots of droppings (when they're not covered with snow) in the side yard. The deer has also been in the side yard, so this time I figure they're feasting on the crabapples from the tree there. Naturally, with both a deer and a rabbit, they became Bambi and Thumper. If they were actually pets, I probably would have come up with more original names, but these are wild creatures and will stay wild. And while I appreciate having them enjoy my yard, I have no intention of making pets of them, so it's not like I'm ever going to be calling them by name to their faces. However, since they seem to be so much at home in my yard, especially Thumper, I'm beginning to wonder about the advisability of my plans to plant a vegetable garden this year. And if Thumper turns out to be a girl bunny, I could end up with a whole bunch of Thumpers living in my yard. Maybe I should plant two gardens: one for Thumper and one for me. 
Now I'm off to Walton's Mountain, or maybe Walnut Grove.

February Vacation 2015, Day 1

First day of vacation is coming to a close. Yes, it's another "staycation" because going south may be in my dreams, but its not in my budget. Trying to work on renovating the sewing area in my basement. Previous owners finished the seams and the corners in the drywall with wood. It doesn't look bad, but it's not how I want it. I've got most of the wood stripped in the sewing area (the rest of the basement will have to wait for another time as that's not in my budget either). Some of it is not coming off very easily. Tomorrow will probably be shopping day: corner bead, nails, drywall mud, tape, mud spreaders (putty knives?), sand paper and maybe the subflooring. Still mulling over whether or not I can afford to have the light fixtures moved. There are four wall fixtures, only 2 of which are in the sewing area, but I want to move all 4 to the ceiling so that I can use the wall space for hanging quilting projects in progress. With the boards and the light fixtures on the wall, I really didn't have much room for my design wall. So, I want to remedy that, but the electrician's estimate was $587 plus tax. That's with me buying the light fixtures, which I've already done. I've also been trying to de-clutter, but you'd never know that from looking at my living room. Most of the stuff from the sewing room is now in my living room. And as part of de-cluttering, I've been trying to sell/give away stuff that I no longer want or need. If I can raise enough money, then I'll get the light fixtures moved. So, I've been posting things online and having to take pictures of the items in order to do so. Currently trying to unload a set of Princess House Pavillion dinnerware. Because it's MLM (multi-level marketing), it costs a lot more than it's worth: a lot of money for made in China stoneware. And like all stoneware, it chips fairly easily. And it's big and clunky. I never really liked it all that well. I bought it during the dying days of my marriage and think I was just trying to fill the emotional holes with "stuff." Anyway, the dinnerware (service for 12 plus a number of serving pieces - 2 good sized boxes of it) is now sitting in my living room, along with a dozen Christmas chargers (as in large plates to use under your dinner plate) and two stacks of cookbooks that I'm trying to find a new home for. 
Back to the sewing room, or maybe I should call it "crafting studio," since it's also got my crocheting and acrylic painting supplies in it... It all started with selling the snow tires that I still had from my Ford Escape. Enough money to give me a little "nest egg" to start the renovations. In particular, the flooring. It gets very cold down there and the floor is just concrete. Getting something down to give it a little insulation, not to mention aesthetics, will be a blessing. I won't have to wear a jacket and gloves like I sometimes did while computing when I had my office down there. And I did some extra "on call" for work to help pay for the flooring. But then I decided I might as well do the drywall and painting before I do the flooring. That's not going to be too expensive. But then I figured I ought to get the lighting fixtures moved first so that I can patch any holes left in the wall when the fixtures are moved since I would already be working on the drywall (wallboard, gyprock or whatever other English-speaking countries call it). So, really I ought to get the fixtures moved... Now, if only I can sell that dinnerware. I've also got an older stove that should be sold. Selling those items will go a long ways to paying for the electrician.
And then finally, I will put shelving in, so that I can store and organize my crafting stuff. It's not going to be cheap when all is said and done, but considering how much of my non-working time is spent in my crafting studio, it will be worth it. 

End of the Spear: Movie Review

Based on actual events, this movie tells the story of the murder of 5 missionaries in the Ecuadorian jungle in 1956 and what happens afterwards.
Honestly, I just sat through all 111 minutes of this movie. It ranks right up there with One Million Years BC, The Adding Machine and Marooned as stupidest movies of all time, movies that you watch to the end waiting for them to actually get interesting. It never happens. I think this movie really missed the whole point. It was a bunch of disjointed scenes, some of which were entirely in native dialogue. I do not speak Waodani, so had to just assume what was going on. It wasn't until I'd watched the whole thing that I decided to turn on the English subtitles and see if it actually translated the dialogue. It did, for the most part. Seriously, I would have thought that if it were necessary to turn on the subtitles to understand the majority of the dialogue in the movie, it would have either been automatic or somehow indicated that during the opening credits. However, even English subtitles couldn't redeem this movie. It really went nowhere. The characters were flat and boring. Such a story of tragedy and triumph should have moved me, but I was only "moved" to turn it off and do something more worthwhile. I also feel that the use of "intense sequences of violence" was deplorable (I fast forwarded those scenes) and they really would have been unnecessary to the plot, if there was one.
I would think that the missionaries this movie was about, who died to bring the message of salvation to the Waodanis, would be deeply disappointed that the name of Jesus was not even mentioned in this movie. I know I was. But even if this movie wasn't meant to be about salvation, it doesn't even pass as entertainment.
The only good thing about this movie was the popcorn I ate.

Mystery Crochet Along, Fabric Diet and Home Renovations

I have decided to have a fabric diet this year. That means not buying any more fabric, just using what I've got. Of course, I will probably need to buy some batting, backing, & binding. When I'm buying fabric for a new project, I often neglect to buy what I need for binding and backing. And of course, I really don't have room to store a large supply of batting, so that is purchased on an as-needed basis. And I will have to buy fabric for the graduation quilt for my great nephew, Jordon. Otherwise, I'm going to try and drastically reduce my fabric purchases this year. The reason for this is that I really need to get some renovations/repairs done on my home that have to be a financial priority. My bathtub hot water tap was running continuously (not just dripping), so I got that repaired this week. Soffit, fascia and eavestroughing will hopefully get done this year (I'm waiting for the estimate to see if I can actually afford it). And I really want to get the sewing room in the basement done. I had the electrician in to give an estimate for moving the lighting fixtures from the wall to the ceiling. Ceiling fixtures are more efficient and walls are for hanging flannelette sheets for design walls. I won't get that estimate until some time next week.Then there's going to be some drywall repair. The previous owners finished the joints with strips of wood instead of drywall tape and mud. And the floors are just bare concrete. So I want to put in some proper flooring, which should make a substantial difference in how warm it is down there. And I need to put up some shelving to store all my fabric, etc. So, I've got my work cut out for me. Once my sewing/crafting area is done, it will be so much more pleasant to work down there. It will be warm and organized. 
But staying on a fabric diet is not easy. Fabric is my drug of choice. I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember this song:

"When I'm feeling low and blue, all I gotta do is look at you. You can make me feel good, yes, you can." That's how I feel about fabric. Except that I feel even better when I actually buy the fabric. So I've already cheated on my "diet." I placed an order this week with Keepsake Quilting. Have you tried them out? Their clearance prices are really clearance prices and kind of hard to resist. And of course, I ordered the Jinny Beyer 2015 BOM quilt kit from Craftsy, but that quilt is part of this year's planned quilts. It's going to be for one of my sisters who turned 60 this past year. I have 4 major quilt projects planned for 2015: that BOM, a swoon quilt for the sister that turned 65 last year, finish the pixel quilt for the sister that turned 50 (yes I'm a year behind in getting these quilts done, but better late than never) and Jordon's graduation quilt. In case you're wondering, I have 5 sisters altogether plus my brother's widow, who is like a sister. 
And honestly, I wasn't planning on any big yarn purchases this year either. I already have so many WIPs and UFOs. Except that there's this really yummy colour of Red Heart Super Saver called Blacklight that I've fallen in love with. I have a great weakness for variegated yarns. And I love loud colours, the louder the better. And set off by black - how much better can you get? You can have a look at this yarn here: Red Heart Super Saver Economy. I just have to figure out a project for it...
Last night on facebook, I thought I had found it. The Crochet Crowd shared a post about a Mystery Afghan Crochet Along (there's also a Knit Along for you knitters) sponsored by Yarnspirations.  I've considered joining a Mystery Quilt Challenge, but just haven't had the opportunity to do it yet. I've also been wanting to join one of The Crochet Crowd's crocheting challenges. So, I get mystery, challenge and crocheting: exciting! You can order the kit in a choice of 9 different colourways, and get 15% off to boot, or you can choose your own yarn. So I was going to choose my own yarn and use Blacklight as my main colour. I would need 5 balls of Blacklight. Unfortunately, my local Walmart only had 2 balls and they weren't even the same dye lot. <sigh> On to Plan B. I spent half of my lunch hour trying to decide what Plan B was, and ended up with this:

Nothing at all like Blacklight, but you notice I used some variegated yarn anyway. I like this colour family. I considered various other options, but this one just kept calling to me. Stay tuned and I will post as it progresses. The challenge doesn't start until February 10th, which hopefully will give me a chance to get this done:

(Why is it that the picture on my viewfinder looks better before I take a picture than after? Maybe it's time for a new camera???). I have a new great niece or nephew due in February. I have the Scrappy Shine quilt if it's a girl, but I need something in case it's a boy. Initially, I was going to make a boy's quilt, but then I remembered this afghan. I started it 7 or 8 years ago and figured maybe it was time to get it finished. Unfortunately, it does not work up very quickly. The yarn (Bernat Baby Coordinates) is not a pleasant yarn to work with. It has one shiny white strand in with the blue that tends to separte from the rest of the yarn. It's also a pretty dense pattern, so requires a lot of "hooking" to get much length finished. It's kind of discouraging spending on evening crocheting, only to have added an inch or two to the length. So I'm sort of hoping that the baby is a girl. LOL!
Meanwhile, I've fiddled around taking selfies of me with my new yarn. 

Seriously, I'm not much good at taking selfies. I usually end up with a glazed eye look, like in this one:

This is actually mild compared to some selfies I've taken. 

The nice thing about digital cameras is that you can see the final result - and delete if so desired - without having to pay to get the film developed. 

The Ultimate Quilt Challenge

On my last trip to the city, I picked up this book at a thrift store:

Beyond Charm Quilts: The Ultimate Challenge

Here's a picture of the actual book since one didn't come with the Amazon link:

On the back of the book, it says:

The rules are simple:

1. Prepare or purchase a charm packet of 60 to 120 fabric squares (4" or larger) in a gradated spectrum.
2. Create as many quilts as possible using the charm squares and additional fabrics of your choice.
3.  Make sure that quilt pieces cut from the charm squares are identical in shape and size, and that every charm fabric is included in each quilt.

Now I thought that sounded like a fun challenge, so I'm throwing it out to my fellow quilters if you want to join me in this adventure. If you want the book, you can follow the link above to purchase it on Amazon. This will take you to the Canadian site, but if you're outside of Canada, this will at least give you the details of the book so you can look for it elsewhere. Here's the link to the book on the US site where the lowest price is 1 cent (don't know how long that will last), plus some new ones for only $7.50: Beyond Charm Quilts. However, I don't think the book is necessary in order to join this challenge

I just wanted to clarify #3 in the rules above as it's rather vague. What it means is all of the pieces of fabric for one quilt must be the same size and shape, but you can use a different size and shape for each quilt. And you must use a piece of each fabric in each quilt. For example, I have a 100 fabric charm square pack. I will use a 1 inch square of each charm fabric in one quilt (plus whatever additional fabrics I want to add). In another quilt, I might use a 1-1/2" triangle of each of the 100 fabrics. I hope that makes sense.

What I did to make it work for me was draw a 5 inch square on some graph paper and then started dividing it up into shapes. My goal was to not have any unused scraps.

Now I'm going to be honest about this book: most of the quilts the authors made up are mini quilts which used some incredibly small pieces of fabric, including some 1/8" seams and appliqueing tiny scraps. I'm a very practical person. I like what I create to have a useful purpose. As both my mother and my daughter did paintings, I don't have much need for quilted wallhangings. Mug rugs, placemats, potholders and even doll quilts need to be able to stand up to laundering. Tiny applique and 1/8" seams are not likely to survive repeated washings. So I personally don't see much value in producing a bunch of mini quilts just to meet a challenge if they're not going to have an actual purpose. And I really don't like working with tiny pieces of fabric. I determined to maintain a 1/4" seam throughout and have no piece narrower than 1/2" finished size. Rather than the 18 or 21 quilts produced by the authors, my goal was a more modest 7 quilts. And when I divided up my 5" square, I actually ended up with 8 different shapes. Without compromising the 1/4" seams and minimum 1/2" finished width, I could probably subdivide even further and come up with 11 or 12 quilts, but I doubt I will. As I said, I don't like working with tiny pieces and I want to enjoy this process. If you decide to come along on this adventure, you can interpret it however you choose. (Just an observation: the authors showed diagrams of how they divided up their charms, which had 18 and 21 pieces, totalling 39, but the book only has a gallery of 36 quilts. I'm not sure what became of the other 3). 

Now for the fabric: a "gradated spectrum," rule #1 said. That means varying shades from light to dark of all colours of the rainbow. And I realized that I had the perfect charm pack in my stash: a 100 charm pack of Benartex Fossil Fern. Here they are arranged by colour and gradation:

If you're interested in taking up this challenge and would also like to use this charm pack, Craftsy currently has it on sale for $19.98. Here's the link to Craftsy:

Shop Quilting Supplies Now!
The authors of Beyond Charm Quilts said that they took 3 years to complete the challenge, so it's not going to be a quick project. But it should be fun. And I'm hoping some of you will join me in the adventure. If you do want to join, maybe I can set up a flickr page where we can share all of our projects. Let me know.
Happy quilting!