This is Charleston.

I’m very much a beginner at sewing, so I was amazed that I could accomplish a cute toy in one day. With the help of my mother-in-law, of course!

His bottom, which I had to sew shut by hand, is a little bunchy…

But I think he’s totally cute!

We made him from this McCall’s pattern:

It was a little confusing, because there were different pieces for doggy 1 and doggy 2, but they looked like the same dog to me.

Anyway, a dog got made end the end, and I feel like I’ve accomplished my “argg out of comfort zone” challenge for the month.

It’s time for another installment of funny/bizarre occurrences in the life of Bonney, my mother-in-law!

In this episode, Bonney relates a Sunday trip to the grocery store.

I went to the grocery store on Sunday. On my way out of the store I saw 2 loaves of bread from the store bakery on the ground. They were in cellophane bags and just sitting there. An older woman was standing by them and I started to stoop over to pick them up for her when she said “How about that” and she looked at me. I figured they must have fallen from someone’s cart and looked around the parking lot for someone loading their car. Nothing. So this lady says to me “Take one. If they’re here when I come out, I’m going to.” Instead, I picked them up and took them to the courtesy counter and handed them over.

The whole thing hit me on several different levels. Here was this very respectable looking woman very anxious to steal a loaf of bread.

I value my karma more than to risk it stealing a loaf of bread.

Last (and this is the part that makes me laugh) she told me to take ONE!! Like the other one would be waiting for her when her shopping was done.

Maybe this doesn’t sound so strange but it was!!

Thanks for sharing, Bonney!

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m a complete pushover for the Legend of Zelda games. Though each game that comes out seems to temporarily turn into my favorite one, this time I believe the Nintendo people have outdone themselves with their latest DS offering, Phantom Hourglass.

I had to wait for Christmas to get the game, because it was basically the only consumer product I’d really wanted last holiday season, and so it remained the only thing on my Amazon wish list for several long months. But worth the wait!

I’m a little too worn out from playing it all 3-day-weekend long to go into much detail, but Phantom Hourglass is a continuation of the Windwaker story, with its adorable cartoon-y design and seafaring theme. Interspersed with the gorgeous graphics are some wonderful “wooden” cut-out sequences, which have been my favorite moments in the game.

The play is challenging, but not overly so, making it a great traveling companion. And this is the first game I’ve played on the DS that made perfect use of the stylus. It’s almost Wii-like in its fluidity, only on a smaller scale. If you don’t have a DS, I would say that it’s worth getting one just for Phantom Hourglass.

OK, back to playing now.

Now that all of the dead snowmen have been cleared out of the Duane Reade store windows, it’s time for another pharmacy in New York to claim the title of Creepiest Window Display.

This is all wrong on a number of levels. First, the child-mannequin surrounded by empty prescription bottles and looking ponderous, as if she’s staring into the medicine cabinet and wondering if she should try the Vytorin next or the Levitra before she loses consciousness. The lab coat she’s wearing just makes me worry all the more about her.

Then, the decorative backdrop of warning labels whimsically blown up to giant size. I mean, who sells this? Perhaps pharmaceutical companies use it as a curtain during skit night at their conventions? That’s honestly my best guess.

My keen-eyed husband John is to thank for spotting this doozy of a window display, but I’ve noticed this locally-owned pharmacy’s window before—it’s always a bizarre tableau featuring the same girl mannequin in a slightly uncomfortable situation. They had her in bunny ears far into summer last year, for instance. I sure hope they keep pharma-girl up for a while too.