More bags

These bags are kind of addictive. But I do eat (thank you for the concern) and I do actually cook - quite often.

Teen suicides from Golden Gate Bridge

No explanation necessary:

Teen suicides from Golden Gate Bridge churn barrier debate - Marin Independent Journal

Box bags galore

I am probably going just a little overboard with the sewing right now but it's fun and I have the supplies. My daughter gave me a few of the bags she had made, sent me a link to a tutorial and I've been slaving away over a hot sewing machine ever since. It took me a couple of tries before I was really happy with what I was doing - that's where the second tutorial came in handy. I prefer assembly line sewing - several bags at the same time with the same color thread - something I learned a long time ago when I was still quilting.

So, here is most of what I've been working on the last week. Some of those are mine - the red sneaker fabric definitely is - some of them will be presents, some I can be talked out of. There will be more, I just ordered/bought plenty more fabric, and there will be a give away on the 9 month birthday of this blog in mid-October.

And, yes, I know I should have cropped the last picture a bit more but it shows the artichokes already growing, our backyard and a bit of the valley behind our yard. Today's a nice day!

We need more votes

Even though the votes are starting to go in the right direction, we need still more votes in favor of a barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The deadline for voting is August 25 - coming up very soon.

It's the number one suicide magnet in the world with a total of 1,300 deaths so far (officially) but most likely closer to 2,00 deaths. On average, 20 - 40 people jump from that bridge annually and 98% do not survive. And every year, the police who patrol the bridge prevent 60 - 80 people from jumping. The original design for the bridge included a suicide barrier but, for some reason, it wasn't built. The first death occurred within days of the bridge's opening. There are been several studies about the feasibility of a suicide barrier and, everytime this came to a vote, the barrier was voted down.

Here is the link to viewing the various proposed alternatives for a barrier:

https://www.commentmgr.com/projects/1181/docs/Alts-withLabels.pdf
This is a PDF file and it takes a while to load. Please be patient.

Here is where you get to vote and comment:

Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Deterrent Barrier

I've noticed that in the last few days these links have been very slow to load. Again, please be patient.

If you have a few more minutes, please consider signing the petition by the Whitmer family. They, too, lost a child:
Raise the Rails - Save a Life - The Petition Site
It has signatures from all over the world, some pretty exotic places.

And, please, consider forwarding this post and/or the links to as many of your friends as you can. And if those friends have the usual Bay Area response: Let 'em jump! or Those who want to kill themselves will do it anyway! - point them to this article:

The Urge to End It - Understanding Suicide - NYTimes.com
It gives three compelling examples that suicides often are impulsive and, yes, they can be stopped when the easy means are taken away.

Thank you!

My weekend projects

I feel like I (finally) got something done.

Sunday morning, I spent about an hour making soap and for the last few days, I've been working on a house shaped doll. My husband calls it a rocket ship but I know better.

The pattern is out of an Australian book, "Softies." Getting a hold of it took quite a bit of effort (mostly surfing the internet), but it was well worth it. Lots of cute patterns - more finished products to come.

For now, just this little doll. I went a little crazy with beads and buttons but it was fun. And, yes, that's the soap in the background of the first picture - rain, oceania, lime margarita, cherub and tranquil sleep.

Trip to Healdsburg

Healdsburg is a nice place to visit, close enough for a short day trip. We've visited regularly since we moved to California but hadn't been in over a year. Today was a good day for a visit- sunny, but not too hot. We usually just enjoy the drive through the countryside - we always take backroads - and wander around the square in town. It's lined with nice little shops, getting more upscale every year. The small stores are disappearing to be replaced by art galleries and fancier restaurants. Our favorite Thai place was gone, it's now "Bistro Ralph." Thankfully, the quilt store (an amazing amount of good fabric in a smallish place) and the old-fashioned candy store are still there.

The first 3 pictures were taken on the drive up. Chateau Boswell is a winery just South of Calistoga. I've passed by many, many times and have always been amused by the name. Finally, I took a picture. The next 2 pictures are self-explanatory, that's where Calistoga water comes from. The last two pictures are of our haul in the candy store and the quilt shop.

I need to figure out a different lay-out. There's gotta be a way to have pictures throughout the text and not just at the top. Soon!

Cautiously optimistic

Last night, I had an email from Dave Hull, the president of the BridgeRail Foundation. Good news! The votes are starting to go our way. Last time I heard, 75% of people who voted on the poll were against a suicide barrier of any kind. Now it's down to 62%. Definitely a step in the right direction.
BUT, we still need more votes.
All those emails we've been sending out pestering people we know are obviously starting to bring results. Too bad I don't know more people.
Just in case, anybody reading this would like to help:

Here is a link to see the various proposed designs:
https://www.commentmgr.com/projects/1181/docs/Alts-withLabels.pdf

And here is where you get to vote:
http://www.ggbsuicidebarrier.com/pcs.asp?link=https://www.commentmgr.com/PCS/PublicGUI/defaultcustom.aspx?pguid=f0983e84-375c-453b-89f9-bbe7827224d7

And here's a link to the homepage:
http://www.ggbsuicidebarrier.com/default.asp

And if you have another 5 minutes to spare, please sign the petition the Whitmer family started
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Raise-the-Rails-Save-A-Life
Their son Matthew disappeared in November 2007 and is believed to have jumped but no body has ever been found. Not unusual, the current under that bridge is very strong.

If you have friends you could contact and ask to vote as well, I'd be very grateful.