Good Morning, Everyone. The sun has gone away again and will be out of sight for most of the week according to the weather people. I do have to keep reminding myself that it is still winter.

Welcome, Gina, and thank you for noticing that comment I had intended to reject. I hit the wrong button. When I first started this blog I thought that the only comments I would reject were those that were abusive. I haven't had any of those but a number of very good and very nice bloggers I follow had. Recently I have noticed a number of comments that 1) don't really say anything about the contents of the post, 2) contain a link to another site and 3) are anonymous. I did check out the links and found they were selling things or services (usually of a sexual nature). So I have had to modify my rules a bit. I will not accept any anonymous comments. And I will not accept any comments linking to sites that sell anything. My blog is entirely non-commercial. If at any time I decide I want to sell something I will establish my presence on ebay, etsy, or amazon. I won't sell anything here. Also, I would rather not give even the slightest impression by posting such comments that I approve or endorse what ever is being sold.

I am glad you visited, Gina. I write about almost anything, as I said in my subtitle: things that interest, intrigue or irritate me, or that drive me absolutely bonkers. I do include my needlework enthusiasms, which include crochet, needlepoint, embroidery, cross-stitch and quilting and, most recently, tatting. In other words any fiber craft or art. If I don't do the particular craft or art myself I still enjoy seeing what others do with it. You never know--it may sit simmering on the back burner of my mind for quite a while before coming in a different guise as a project of my own.

Warren Mass posted an interesting column at the New American, that I found this morning. I did notice this past week that the news readers were providing contradictory data on consumer prices. One report said that consumer prices fell--to which we replied "Where???". The other said consumer prices rose which correlated more closely to what we had seen. Even though he gives the technical definition of inflation which isn't simply increased prices, he does a good job of showing how unfair it is to use a 'core' consumer price index (which excludes fuel and food) when talking about lower and fixed income consumers. We had noted before the discrepancy between official figures and the pain we felt at the gas pump and grocery check out.

The internet has been a bit sticky today and everything very slow to load. I think I will quit for now.