I can hear the sound of water dripping from the eaves outside...a late March/early April sound in February. And no snow in the foreseeable forecast either... 2024 is dealing out a different winter that's for sure.
Another week with more appointments...medical checkup for Tony and a hair cut for me. I think it was my second professional haircut in the last five years. Anyway, sadly I'm not impressed; in fact, have been doing a little trimming here and there to even things out. I gave the lady, a single working mom of two little kids, a large tip to make up for all the tips I've not given out for hair cuts in the meantime. And probably won't be for some time to come either. Any thoughts about tipping?
We finished the latest season of All Creatures Great and Small. Enjoyed it very much especially the respect and affection shown for all the animals in their care.
I've four more Crossroads blocks also stitched. I've enough now using/featuring reds. And brown is definitely a grounding colour...do you think? I might work more with that colour here and there.
Here is my latest jigsaw puzzle. I couldn't resist ordering another Peter Pauper Press one as they really are great puzzles. I like the pretty dog and the sweet cats in this one.
I have two more thrift store buys to share, one that astounded me and I think you will understand why when you see it. So ending this post with a little mystery. I just have to figure out how to photograph it, especially to do it justice. Have a wonderful weekend where ever you are in this wide world.
Happily sharing this post with Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Melva Loves Scraps and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.
25 comments :
I tip the lady that I have cut my hair because she does a good job 20% ---most times when eating out I tip 18%-20-% depending on the service. Sometimes if the service is horrible - slow service, never coming back to check on you overall they really don't give a damn and you can tell they could care less I have been known to leave no tip and hope they will learn to be more caring in their job. I really think tipping is for good service and if they do not give you good service why tip?
We love All Creatures Great and Small! I just saw that there will be two more seasons coming up, so happy to have that to look forward to. Your blue Courthouse Steps blocks are lovely - and I agree, blue is very calming. I've been sewing with lots of red this month, and it's completely the opposite - lots of energy! Enjoy that new puzzle!
Thrift shop goodies, down here our local one had riding jodpurs, in our daughter's small size, $6, one was a European brand, both would be maybe $100 or so new. One needed the leg reinforced patches sewn by machine, a few zig zag stitches had unravelled, the other the same knee pads, some hand stitching there, not for show dressage , but at the farm so good. Overnight courier.I am intrigued,by your other bargain !!! Hair cuts, to find a good hairdresser is like a pot of gold. Mine left and the new one gave me a lovely cut a few weeks ago.Hope yours will be okay next time if you go back to her.
I really like your blue courthouse steps, especially the way you have used the little pops of other colors to make the blues stand out. My daughter finds amazing things in thrift stores. I never do. 😊
Love your log cabin blocks! I really like the blues. You're getting so many crossroads blocks done. How big is your quilt going to be?? I love Pride and Prejudice! I've always enjoyed Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's romance.
Tipping? No, we dont do it here in New Zealand. Didnt realise it is part of Canadian culture, as well as USA though. What I loved about Mr Darcy was him climbing out out the water in the TV productopn, dripping wet and so handsome and desirable. That didn't happen in the book, of course.
We've been enjoying All Creatures. I read all the books when I was young. Yay for thrift store finds! I never know what to tip for haircuts (although now-a-days I go so rarely - and the place is inexpensive - that I tend to tip 20%).
The brown is a lovely grounding colour and perhaps a few more using that would be perfect.
We have been lucky enough to have lovely weather here the past week, but that will end on Sunday as a storm from Alberta is supposed to hit us bringing snow, not as much here in the south, but freezing rain is definitely a possibility before the snow hits.
God bless.
We don't tip here in Australia either, unless it is for very good service, say after a good restaurant meal. When I was in Hawaii and USA a few years ago, I felt intimidated to provide a tip whether I wanted to or not. Some places even calculated the bill with the added tip (10%) (25%) etc, and when you went to pay, you literally had to stare down the person at the cash register in order to not add a tip. I felt very uncomfortable. However, I was told that wages are so poor that service providers rely on tips to boost their poor wages. Either way, I left the USA glad that we don't have to experience it in Australia, or I suspect, in most parts of Europe - UK included. I don't have a favourite celebrity couple, but a TV couple I fell in love with was in the show 'Hart to Hart' - how many years is that going back!
Tips. A healthy tip is normal for me to give. It is about appreciation, even when service isn't all that great. What really bugs me, are folks acting like giving the minimum amount is a big deal, as if the server is trying to scam them out of money.
A favorite fictional couple, has to be the Thin Man's, William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Pretty blue log cabin blocks, and the crossroads blocks too. We don't do tipping in Mauritius or Norway. However, some may do at restaurants etc, but it's nowhere in the culture. Hairdresser, it's always a PITA to find a good one. I got tired of my hairdresser I had gone to for years and changed to a new one last year. I pay more than double, but I'm happy. Cute puzzle.
Such pretty blocks. I am particularly drawn to Crossroads. It looks like a fun block to work on. My sister was a hairdresser; she loved it . She appreciated it when she was given a tip. She always wanted the customer to be happy and would go out of the way to please them. I am sure your hair dresser appreciated it as well; it is so kind of you. I can not wait to see what you thrifted.
Ich freue mich immer wieder von Ihnen zu hören. Sie berichten immer so nett von sich, Ihren Hobbys und Ihren Leben. Ich bin Jahrgang 44 und versuche mich auch noch im Garten, mache Patchwork, stricke und haekel. Ich wohne im Norden Deutschlands. Danke für Ihre tollen Postings und alles Gute Ute
I tip my hair stylist at least 20%, and of course she is the most expensive one in the shop. But she is worth it to me because she "gets" me. Still, that doesn't stop me from taking my bad scissors and trimming away the odd piece or my bangs. She just laughs at me and fixes it when I see her!
I adore Nick and Nora as a fictional couple, from the old Thin Man movies.
Can't wait to see your thrift finds!
oooh that jigsaw looks tricky - lots of white!
I never know how much to tip but have to say that it upsets me now that debit and credit machines only allow certain %. What if you don't want to tip because the service was awful...they no longer give you an option not to (at least not in a lot of places). I have learned that it's better in restaurants to pay in cash because every time you use your credit card (debit, I think, too) the establishment gets charged 3%. Now that profit margins are so very tight it often means the restaurant loses money. It's no wonder so many of them are going under. (I know this b'case #1 son is a chef and shares information).
I love your blues - not that it's my favourite colour or anything!
Pretty women, that is a nice couple.
I love your courthouse blocks.
Your post has generated a lot of interesting comments. I don't believe restaurant servers in America are paid minimum wage. Their tips are considered part of their compensation. We've tended to tip generously (higher than 20%) over the last year or so because we can afford it and people need the extra $$ these days. I believe if you add your tip to a credit card less might be paid to the worker due to the service fee charge. I have a great hair cut every 6 weeks or so. I'm hoping to spread out the weeks between one of these days. I can understand being frustrated with your finished hair cut. I spent 7 years trying various people and never finding someone I wanted to stick with. Since we moved years ago, I was thrilled with the first one I went to and haven't changed. Have fun with the new puzzle. Keep working on your blocks. They both look great.
I tip 20% for haircuts (every 8 weeks) and for decent restaurant service. It is indeed a weird winter - hardly any snow on the ground so far and it’s supposed to be 58 degrees later this week! We’ll see what March brings…. Your log cabin is looking great! Gladi Porsche
All your blocks are looking great! I'm with you...I just don't like to get my haircut. I'm not sure why? As for tipping...I tip on the generous side because it seems like everything costs more and I don't know how the younger folk make ends meet! Looking forward to your mystery reveal...
We enjoyed the original All Creatures series and we're enjoying the new one. I get my hair cut every two months and tip 20%. My husband overpays his barber and tells him to use it for a haircut for a kid whose family can't easily afford it. I have been avoiding thrift shops so will vicariously enjoy your latest finds.
Your courthouse steps and cross blocks are looking good. You've made good progress on both. Elizabeth and Darcy are one of my favorite fictional couples, that's a book I should reread this summer.
Oohhh. Tipping tipped a nerve, I think. I did a bit of research and it seems that tipping in USA is a topic fraught with danger. I have no desire to clutter up your lovely, peaceful, and kind blog with what I, and many others including a significant number of USA citizens have to say about what has become a ‘social norm’ to compensate businesses that avoid paying minimal wage. I did my fair stint of waitressing and housemaid jobs during college and I know how hard the work is. Imagine, too, cleaning up the vomit from your tutors after a weekend binge when working as a housemaid in their hostel! I come from a working class Irish background, and I can’t tell you how insulting it is to be in a job where those with more take it upon themselves to ‘compensate’ me because I’ve either gone above and beyond to earn a few dollars more, or to feel that my work is so less deserving of a decent wage, that I have to rely on the generosity of the people I am serving I order to keep a roof over my head, and food on the table.
In short, the USA system of tipping is archaic, classifying, and long past the due date of businesses paying their employees what they are worth.
And, just for the record, my hairdresser that I have been with for more than 10 years, runs a fantastic salon where she employs some wonderful apprentices. I show my appreciation by spending a wonderful afternoon in their company, complimenting them on their very real achievements in a 4 year apprenticeship. I pay my $250 every six weeks, willingly, for a professional job, professionally carried out. Some apprentices leave the salon, for a variety of reasons, and yet my hairdresser always lets them go on good terms, even though she has poured countless hours into their training, and in for want of a better word, pastoral care, of them while they are in the salon - and oftentimes afterwards when she takes them back when other opportunities have not materialised.
I like to ‘tip’ the entire salon with a couple of bottles of champagne and a big box of chocolates every Christmas. That’s showing my appreciation, in a material way, for all their hard work and goodwill.
Fair wages for a fair job is what I subscribe to, and a tip for extra care and attention where it is warranted. Get the wages right, is what I say, especially in a rich, developed country like the USA.
The new puzzle is a cute one! I just finished a puzzle last week, and have been debating with myself whether to start another or not.
Lovely blocks, especially the Courthouse ones. One of my favorite traditional block patterns.
Jocelyn, we have enjoyed All Creatures SO much! It is so well done…..excellent actors, beautiful countryside, sweet stories….what more could one ask? On Acorn we’ve watched all the Doc Martin shows at least twice and are now rewatching the Foyle’s War series. I’m amazed at how I forget the episodes after a year or so! I am so caught up in crossstitch and flosstube that I’ve let quilting fall by the wayside. I have a quilt from Pieces of the Past that I am slowly working on …..an autumn quilt. I have added a block or two this month, but the stitching has the real pull for me. Last night I was looking at the new patterns offered at Nashville this year on the Colorado Crossstitcher site. Have you watched Sheri’s flosstube? Hers was the first I ever saw and she drew me in completely. Now she has a crossstitch shop as well.
Here in central Texas we will have temperatures in the upper 80s today ahead of another cold front that will bring us down into the 50s. But our plum tree is blossoming and I fear we are in for an early summer! I love the changing of the seasons and I hate for it to happen too quickly! Take care!
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