Not So Ginormous

This little guy is not so ginormous, but he's welcome here anytime!

Quack!

Crocheting Squirrels

  Since I don't have nearly enough hobbies, I thought I’d take up another one. Sweet Pea and I have decided that crocheting sounds like fun. And not necessarily because you cause can make useful things like mittens, slippers, sweaters, afghans and tea cozies, but because you can make completely useless things like cat sweaters, nose warmers, squirrels, turtles, cupcakes and so much more!

So, I set my sights on teaching myself. I got some books from the library and after staring at the pictures and reading and re-reading the instructions for about 20 minutes with yarn wrapped up around my fingers, my thumbs, my crochet hook and eventually my neck, shoulders, torso and legs, I gave up and signed us up for a class.

I may not be a genius, but let me tell you, after failing to make it past the very first step in the book - the step where you make the knot prior to doing any actual crocheting, I wasn't feeling real confident about my ability to work magic with the hook and the yarn.

So, early on a Saturday morning we set out for our class. And while I'd love to say the class was super helpful, that I loved it, and that I'm now a crochet expert, I can't quite do so. You see, the instructor never bothered to show up.

Sigh.

So, after getting my refund I got online and watched a few youtube videos. Literally within minutes I had a chain going and my first few rows of single crochet stitches. I felt much better.

I have a long way to go before those squirrels start magically forming out of hook and yarn (I mean, who doesn't want to make a crochet squirrel?) but I'm well on my way now.

I just know that my dear sweet grandmother is looking down on me from the ever-after, shaking her head in disgust and thinking about all of the doilies I tossed a year ago. But I stand fast - I have no regrets! And I have no intention of ever ever ever making a doily!

It's time to crochet a ginormous duck!

Quack!

Duck Dreams

Dreams can be so funny. I had a dream the other day where I was in this big room. It had tile floors and a big stone staircase.

And it was full of ducks.

And the poor ducks were cold - because they didn't have any feathers.

I spent the dream trying to track down someone who could turn the heat up so the ducks wouldn't be so cold.

And that my friends, is the kind of dreams that Ginormous Duck has. 
 
Quack!

Rambling, Nonsense and Occasional Posts of Interest

 Hey! It's my one year blogiversary! Last year on November 24th I posted my very first blog entry! It's now a year later and I haven't managed to say anything of much importance, but hey, it was fun getting there. I hope you stick around for another year of rambling, nonsense, and occasional posts of interest. Thanks for reading!

Have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow everyone!

Quack!

Looping, Swooping, Swirling, Crazy, Head-Circling Butterflies

 So, just what have I been up to lately you ask? Oh, nuthin'. Well, a little bit of stuff. Let's see. Halloween is coming up. The butterfly costume is coming along nicely. We have a brown dress covered in leaves and butterflies. I may add a few twigs now that I think of it. And we have several hair combs all decked out in butterflies - looping, swooping, swirling, crazy, head-circling butterflies. And some moss and bird nests for head wear and shoulder wear. I think this one is almost done.

And, what is today? Oh, it's Tuesday. And when do I need the other two costumes done by? Friday. What?!?!? Friday!?!?!? Yep, that's where I am. In the holy-crap-I-will-never-have-enough-time-to-finish-this phase. Who needs sleep?

I started the Pac Man and Blinky costumes Saturday, but didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I spent some time sprawled across the deck cutting out huge sheets of foam board with my utility knife, scoring them and piecing them together with duck tape (Quack! Here at Ginormous Duck it is duck tape, not duct tape!) and masking tape. I have Pac Man mostly done. It's awesome! And now, as I write this on Monday evening, I have Blinky mostly done. The pieces are cut out, taped together and looking great.

Now, when I say almost done, I mean the cutting and taping is almost done. Let's not forget that I need to come up with some sort of strap contraption so the kids can wear these things without having to hold them up with their heads or their widdle arms. And they still need painting. They are both just white foam board right now and need some paint - hopefully one coat will do it.

And, while I'd like to say I planned it this way, I have to admit it just sort of happened. But Snicker's Pac Man came out so that he will be able to sit down while wearing it. (Assuming he has a bench to sit on with a lot of room). And Doodlebug's, well, his is veritably ginormous so he'll be able to sit down inside it. Maybe I'll build a bench in there. There's certainly enough room.

Doodlebug's already had to have his re-engineered slightly. The first plan would have ended up with him in a massive costume, with only his hands sticking out the sides. Not his arms, but just his hands from the wrist down. That would make it very hard to do anything. Now, with the new plan, he can have more arm exposed if he chooses. Of course in both the Pac Man and the Blinky they won't be able to get their hands together which will make it hard to hold a trick or treat bag, but hey, we'll work around that somehow. There's plenty of time, right?

Quack!

Barbara Hindenburg Duck

This is Barbara Hindenburg Duck. Barbara being her first name, Hindenburg being her middle name and Duck being her last name of course. She's one of us here in the Ginormous Duck family.

And how did she come by this unusual and delightful name? Well, when the kids were much younger they were fans of Veggie Tales. Those wonderful cartoon vegetables that teach lessons on being good human beings, often through the retelling of bible stories. It's very kid-friendly and fun. Dave and the Giant Pickle was a favorite as was King George and his Ducky. And one of the best parts of the show was the "Silly Songs With Larry" segment where Larry the Cucumber sings some very silly song and is often interrupted by Archibald the Asparagus who is very proper and doesn't approve of the silliness.

Everybody wants a water buffalo, yours is fast, but mine is slow. Where do you get them I don't know but everybody wants a water buffalo-oooo.

Everybody wants a baby kangaroo, yours is pink, but mine is blue. Where do you get them I don't know . . .

Another of these songs was Larry the Cucumber professing his love for Soap Opera star Barbara Manatee.

Barbara Manatee, you are the one for me...

So, needless to say, this particular manatee struck me as a Barbara. Maybe it's the lips. (You can't seem them in the picture, but she has some nice pink lips.)

And Hindenburg adds a note of formality and soberness to this serious animal. And she is shaped rather like the hindenburg, don't you think? Oh the huge manatee!

Quack!

Ginormous is a Huge Word!

Ginormous is such a real word! It really is. And even if it isn't, it is to me. So there!

But lots of people know that it's a real word. Merriam Webster says so. 

According to this article, Merriam-Webster traces ginormous back to 1948, when it appeared in a British dictionary of military slang.

So it's been around for a long time. And everyone uses it:

From the movie "Elf":
Have you seen these toilets? They're GINORMOUS!

Even Simon Cowell once said: "I think it was the best performance of the night so far. Where with Crystal we're used to consistency, the difference with you from week to week has been ginormous. It was your stamp on the song . . ."

So it must be real!

Quack!

Inspiration

This here:

is part of where the inspiration for 'Ginormous Duck' came from. Snickers, my middle child, loves ducks! It all started on a trip to Disney a couple of years ago. There were lots of birds around - sea gulls, sparrows, pretty brown and black starling-sized things I never did identify and ducks. Little white-speckled, black-bodied, peeping ducks, big, scary, mean-looking ducks and, of course, lots of mallard ducks. The waddling, the quacking, the cute little feathered bodies. It was love at first site. He even got one to eat popcorn out of his hand.

Out of that trip came the need to own lots of plush ducks. He owns some that quack, some big and some small, some realistic and some not so much, but all of them are cute and cuddly. At one point he decided he wanted to have a "Ginormous Duck"! He never did get that duck (at least not yet - huge plush ducks are hard to come by) but since that time, it's been there - slowly burbling away in the back of my mind. This is it's first incarnation. We'll see where it goes from here.

Quack!