Planet Nilknarf

March 2013

Welcome to Planet Nilknarf

FEAST YOUR EYES on an exquisite rainbow of sumptuous eye candy! I would like to thank Janette Tansley for sharing her colourful, creative and imaginative compositions. Her iPod collection is truly amazing!!!

Janette bought her first iPod at least a year before I bought my MP3 player. Her first was a rich, bright pink colour and she named it Mama Apple. Mama Apple was soon followed by a lovely golden yellow one she named Dada Apple. With all those gorgeous colours out there it was easy to see why collecting these things can become so addictive. I think her collection is great and I really enjoy looking at the magnificent assortment of shades, shapes and sized available over the years. It's like her own little private museum. I just have the one MP3 player, a basic black one I call Black Diamond. We're not alone. Lots of people give names and personalities to their iPods and MP3 players. Black Diamond has been everywhere with me and has gotten so full I've had to delete some of the old songs to make room for a bunch of new ones. And I've probably got at least 20 videos and close to 700 pictures by now.

Another thing that adds to my listening pleasure is my Angry Birds speaker. I got that for my birthday last year. I was hoping to use it in my hotel room but it was really too big and I was concerned about my suitcase getting too heavy as I already had so many gifts to share at last year's National Carousel Association Convention in Michigan. This year's NCA Convention will be in Kansas. The tentative itinerary includes the following carousels: 1. 1901 Parker in Abilene, Kansas 2. 1908 Herschell Spillman in Topeka 3. KC Royals 2009 Carousel Works 4. KC Zoo 2007 Carousel Works 5. 1918 Illions, Worlds of Fun (formerly the Geauga Lake carousel!!!) 6. 1913 Parker 7. 1950 Parker 8. 1850 primitive Another big highlight of the 2013 convention will be the NCA archives!!! Kansas is not only the setting of The Wizard of Oz but the home of the archives and both the Abilene and Leavenworth Parker factories. I am also hoping to find better strategies so that I don;t become overstimulated and have embarrassing scenes in front of anyone like last time.

Carousel of the Month

This month we will be visiting the 2006 Carousel Works Endangered Species carousel at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, IL Here I am riding on a lion! I couldn't resist this adorable anteater and I knew Janette would love this ladybug!!

Diane Radewald took these pictures of Charles and Bette (left) and Paula (right)

Jo Summit rides a pink flamingo.

And, of course, Waddle and My Doll had a good time there too!

She is wearing a Groovy Girls outfit I bought at Turkeyville.

Carousel of Friendship
Latest Updates I am very happy to say that my display at the Boyd museum in Bobcaygeon was a huge success. I was absolutely thrilled to find out I sold the following quilt!!!

I would like to say a very special thank you to Joey Marshall for being a wonderful customer. She also bought several T-shirts and I am working on a commissioned piece for her. I am happy to say I've finally finished the third panel!

Part of me feels kind of embarrassed by the fact that this last panel took so darned long to complete!! Seriously, I started it way back just before Janette and I went to NORTH BAY!! Now that's a LONG time!! Therefore, I've resolved to commit myself to a schedule which means I will be working on Joey's project during the week and my quilts and other projects on weekends or when I've completed each next square. If the weekend isn't over when I've finished my latest quilt square it usually doesn't take that long to complete it before resuming Joey's next square. I realize this is an ongoing project and it could take at least another year or two and the sooner I get it completed the better. The one that I previously made for Aunt Jean took approximately two years and as usual I was multitasking several projects then too. Seriously, it's never a dull moment around here. I have so many projects on the go that I NEVER get bored.

I only sold maybe six carousel horse ornaments there and a few more T-shirts but I made well over a thousand dollars. My first priority was to get out of debt!! I also had to buy some new material for future quilts and make my contribution to the carousel world. More about that much later. In the meantime, which quilt do you think I will complete first? I'm about even on my two latest projects:

I was hoping to get the same time for 2013 but that time slot was already taken. Just as well because I will have another installment of my work in May and June of 2014!!!! Hopefully by then there will be plenty of exciting new things to see and buy that weren't there before and both these quilts should be finished by then not to mention a few other ideas I have up my sleeve!! When these quilts are finished I want to work on a carousel Jungle Cats Quilt!!! I've already traced out the pictures of assorted lions, tigers, etc. and I have leopard print fabric to trim between each square. I also want to do what I call my Primer Whites quilt with carousel horses stitched entirely in white so that the emphasis is on the detail and texture of the stitching. Another dream of mine is Lilac Time, a quilt of horses all decorated with lilacs!! Another idea is my Calendar Quilt with horses decorated in flowers, gemstones and holiday themes for each month. And I have countless other ideas for various other themes and colour schemes!

The unfinished quilt was right there on the table along with the original drawings and a huge stack of plain horses for visitors to decorate!! Oh well, next year I am actually going to stay in town for the first week of the show and come in for a couple hours of each day to give a workshop so people will understand this concept. It's even explained in the middle square!!!

In the meantime, Lorraine has shared with me these following horses to become part of the next project: City Nights, Summer Love and Bath Time:

City Nights and Bath Time, at either end, were designed by Lorraine and Summer Love was designed by one of her students, complete with a burp, fart and a pile of steaming horse buns!! Why not? After all real horses burp, fart and poo!! And the other night I was watching Hello Dolly and this quote inspired me: Money is like manure; it's no good until you spread it around to encourage young things to grow. This year, being an odd-numbered year, is also when we can look forward to the next BIG QUILT SHOW at Heritage Village in Bobcaygeon!! This is why I've been working like a maniac hoping to get these quilts done. The show is usually the second week of September but I believe that the deadline for submissions is sometime in June!! More details to follow as they become available!! In the meantime I am in the process of making plans for this year's annual National Carousel Association Convention which will be taking place in Kansas!! You just KNEW that I'd submit to the carousel bug after all despite how knackered I felt on the way home from last year's Convention!!! I am thinking that it might actually be worth the extra money to stay an extra day and go home on the

following Monday so things won't be such a mad rush on the last day of the Convention. I want to be able to pace myself and have a bit more downtime and enjoy using the pool on the last night before I go home. That is if there IS a pool. If there's NO POOL or even worse NO BATHTUB I'm NOT GOING!!! The hell hole we stayed at in Denver had NEITHER and I felt like I was going to DIE!!!!! I desperately NEED my SOAKAGE TIME!!! At least my new Passport is on its way. This time I actually got my landlord to be my guarantor. Last time it was my in-laws. This way I didn't have to leave the house. I heard him working downstairs and thought to myself; A-hah! Rob goes to Italy every year and he's known us for at least two years so that saves me the long walk to Ted and Marnie's place. Having done that, I just had to hop on the bus to the Whitby Mall and head on down to the Passport Office. The place was a FREAKING ZOO!!! There had to be at least two or three NEWBORNS! I wouldn't have survived without my MP3 player!!! Babies and airline travel DON'T MIX! Why do so many people still want to drag them along? They can't appreciate or enjoy it and they're too young to remember the trip. All they do is annoy the other passengers with their screaming!! Yet despite this I didn't have any drama. And I felt less befuddled about my hair conundrum when I noticed that the young lady in front of me had brilliant florescent neon PINK hair!! I've been Purple since last June and have no intention of changing it anytime soon! I love having purple hair!! That was the day I also stopped at Curry's to get those black felt tip pens that I like and Fabricland to get more white broadcloth for future carousel quilts. Here is a closer look at the drawing I did and the quilt square I embroidered to celebrate the sale of my first quilt:

You could say he's blowing his own horn over this achievement!!! As you can see, my quilts represent many things. There are the horses and animals designed by the public, there are horses and animals from existing carousels and there are the ones I design myself. Each one tells a story, sometimes about the places I've been and people I've met, and sometimes about very special events that have taken place. Some also represent causes we'd like to raise funds for. As the years follow, the story continues to unwind. A real cause for celebration will be the day when construction starts on a REAL carousel where all our designs come to LIFE for ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages to enjoy riding!!!

Beetlebomb's Book Nook

This month's book reviews are The Highly Sensitive Person's Survival Guide by Ted Zeff, PhD and The Aspie Girl's Guide to Being Safe With Men by Debi Brown. As both a female with Asperger's Syndrome and a Highly Sensitive Person I knew that these were both books that I just HAD to check out. Highly Sensitive Persons, or HSP's for short actually make up 18 to 20 percent of the world's population. But we are still a minority in a world that exalts chaos and activity. The Highly Sensitive Person's Survival Guide is full of useful tips and strategies, most of which I've already been using for

years. It will tell you that it's okay to have ear plugs, sunglasses and an MP3 player/iPod wherever you go. I could never survive without any of these things and find it hard to imagine the long-lost world where I didn't need these things with me all the time. This book definitely acknowledges the fact that our world really HAS become a much noisier place in this past decade or two and that it's okay to be different and accept your sensitivities. HSP individuals create a need for balance and harmony in this world. We are the peace-makers. Our voices need to be heard among all this commotion. As soon as after we've allowed ourselves a little down time! ;) The Aspie Girl's Guide to Being Safe With Men is a book I wish existed years ago. Even though I've been happily married for over a decade now I went through a lot of crap in my dating relationships, to put it bluntly and honestly, not to mention that I was sexually molested by my school bus driver when I was eight years old. This book tries to put it to readers as simply and honestly as possible the difference between a good touch and a bad touch and how to establish boundaries and know when you are being taken advantage of. It explains why sexual feelings are so confusing and why it's so easy for us to be vulnerable. This book also tells us the importance of having a support system; safe people to talk to who will not judge you. I am blessed to have such friends I can talk to when I am worried; friends with whom I can be completely transparent. This book also mentions that most of us are emotionally immature compared to our neurotypical counterparts. Not in a mean way, but there's still no way of saying that without it hurting a bit. But it's okay to be different. We shouldn't have to feel any shame if everyone else is dating and pairing off left right and centre and we're just not ready yet. We should not feel pressured into dating for all the wrong reasons and we shouldn't feel pressured into trying to catch up with everyone else. It's okay to be your own person and live life at your own pace even if you do still feel like a kid compared to everyone else. It ends on kind of a downer note in my opinion though. It sort of says that the ultimate goal for everyone is to get married and raise a family. Okay, I'm okay with the getting married part but not everyone HAS to have kids. I certainly don't want them. It seems kind of hypocritical that the author would say this despite the fact that she is still single at age 34 and most women in her shoes are worried about their biological clocks running out. She probably says this because although it's not as likely for us it IS possible. It has been done. Aspie parents raising little Aspies of their own. Not that I have anything against it. There are lots of people out there who want and have kids who are excellent parents. But not everyone HAS to procreate and they shouldn't feel ashamed if they don't want to. However one good thing I must say in favor of this book is that it took great courage on the author's behalf to produce such a work. She wrote this book because it needed to be written. Until now no such guide existed to make life a little less confusing for those of us on the autism spectrum who face dating dilemmas and are vulnerable. This book was painful for her to write. She really had to step outside of her cofort zone to address certain issues. Therefore I must warn you that some of the things she writes about may trigger painful flashbacks. I know I've experienced my share of them. The good news is that there IS hope and healing!

My Favorite Things
Archie Comics and Mane & Tail Horse Shampoo Welcome to my relatively new column about my favorite things. Each month I will talk about two or three different topics. I've been reading Archie comics for as long as I can remember. I can't imagine a time in my life without them. Archie was created by cartoonist Bob Montana in the 1940's and started out as a radio show as well as comic books. I believe the Archie comic digests came out some time in the late 1970's, early

80's. This was a very good marketing strategy because this is a less expensive format. Individual comic books can get quite pricey and the digests are collections of stories that may sometimes even be several years old. I can recall last summer chuckling over one where the students of Riverdale High were fighting over using the pay phone. This was obviously written in the days before cell-phones were ever even thought of. Besides collecting stories from the past, the comic digests are usually available at the checkout counter which is where impulse items are usually found. And they are a nice, compact size with a sturdy cardboard cover which makes them ideal for reading in the bathtub as opposed to regular-sized comic books. My idea of the perfect relaxing evening consists of reading my Archie digests in a luxurious, long, hot bath. It's not unusual for Janette to hear me laughing out loud when I'm reading in the tub during one of our hotel stays. Archie digests are a holiday tradition for us. I find them very entertaining during long bus rides or plane trips. Sometimes I'll read them coming home from Toronto on the Go Train. Sadly, they are getting harder to find around here. The drug store doesn't sell them as often as they used to. When I was a kid I enjoyed watching Archie cartoons on TV. I don't remember them very clearly but the DVD's my husband bought me for Valentine's Day have been refreshing my memory. There have also been Christian Archie comics. I used to get them occasionally from the Bible Book Nook back when I lived in Lindsay and they had several at the Alpha Flight coffee house where I used to hang out with my friends back in the late 1980's. Another thing I've really enjoyed are those Best OF treasuries. I've seen them advertised in the comic digests and for sale at the comic book stores but they can be quite expensive. At least I've had the good fortune of being able to borrow such books from the library. And don't forget the series that we've ordered in the mail over the years. When I was on my way to Philadelphia in 2009 I saved my first two issues of Archie Marries Veronica (and later Betty) on the plane. This series has since been made into several graphic novels that expand on the theme of what happens when Archie travels through time into two different universes, one where he sees what it's like to be married to Veronica and the other where he's married to Betty. The author mentions being inspired by Robert Frost's Poem The Road Less Traveled And of course I HAD to order the Archie Meets KISS series. I found it to be a very strange and convoluted story but delightful eye candy just the same. One thing I noticed about both subscriptions that worried me is that both times the SECOND issue came first!!! Both times I contacted the publisher to find out what was happening because I was worried that my first issue had been lost in the mail. But the answer was the same. The first issue usually takes six weeks to arrive due to the paperwork, etc.. However in the meantime the second one gets mailed out and it tends to arrive first. And the fun thing about these emails is that they are usually written in character so it's like receiving a personal reply from Archie himself even though he's just a fictional cartoon character. I started using Mane & Tail horse shampoo in the summer of 1995. I was visiting my friend Kim at her place down in Clifton Springs New York. She and her mother still had to work in the evenings. They had their own cleaning business and they would go around to various businesses, usually car dealerships, etc. and vacuum for them after they'd closed for the day. While they were out working I'd usually be watching TV. Most of the time it was a marathon of I Love Lucy reruns, but one evening I was watching the news and one of the top stories was about how Mane & Tail horse shampoo became approved for use on humans. A lady was talking about how she was grooming her horse with that stuff

and noticing how beautiful his mane and tail were so she tried it on herself. The news spread like WILDFIRE!!! (Yes, pun intended if you know that song!) and soon everyone was trying it. Even me! We went shopping at a local mall and I managed to find a nice big bottle of the stuff for about three or four dollars! Mane & Tail horse shampoo is highly concentrated. You only need a drop about the size of a dime and it makes an amazing lather. I love the way it makes my hair feel so thick and silky and since it is so concentrated that first bottle lasted me over two years!!! However when I tried to buy it in Toronto, the only place I saw it available was in the beauty supply store where they called it Lucky Kentucky and it was in a bottle only a third of the size for TWELVE dollars. This was sometime in the late 1990's so it seemed like a lot of money for such a small amount of shampoo then. I've been told I should try a tack shop where they sell horse supplies but could think of no such place in the big city. Mane & Tail horse shampoo came back into my life at the 2011 Royal Winter Fair. I checked out the kiosk where I'd bought my husband Bag Balm the year before. He needed it because his hands get so dry and cracked at work. Bag Balm was originally made for cows udders but it works great for this sort of thing. Anyway, that year that particular kiosk also had my Mane & Tail horse shampoo so I bought it! $12 per bottle, thank you very much. But it was as big as the bottle I remember bringing home from the States after my last visit with Kim. That bottle has lasted me from November of 2011 until just a couple days ago in February of 2913 and probably would have lasted me a lot longer if Dave didn't occasionally use some of it on his beard!

Dear Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad Hello! How are things in heaven? I miss you very much. Perhaps I always will. Nobody ever completely stops grieving and there are some times that are harder than others. Some nights when it's hard to go to sleep and I think about all the memories I have. It is no wonder you are so often in my dreams. I miss being able to phone and tell you what's new. I even miss your phone calls and feel guilty about the times I would get annoyed because it seemed like you were phoning too often. I am so sorry. I feel guilty about a lot of things that came between us in the past. All the fights and arguments we used to have about anything and everything! Being a parent is so hard. It's no wonder I used to have the occasional nightmare about you disowning me and I would wake up crying. Even though there were times we didn't always get along I will always be grateful for your unconditional love. Perhaps I miss you the most when I return from my carousel conventions. I miss being able to phone and tell you all about all the wonderful things I've seen and done and I miss venting about the drama and unpleasant side of travel too. Dave doesn't understand or share my appreciation of this part of my life. In fact sometimes I feel like I he resents this sort of thing. It's nothing personal. I probably like carousels better than people in general. As a Christian it is my duty to love others but I must confess sometimes I feel like other people are just something to be endured. It's just so hard to relate to most of them. At least I am lucky to have several good friends I can count on but it's hard to meet anyone new. At least around here. And it's been difficult to make plans with anyone for one reason or another. At least I had a nice visit with Wendy a couple weeks ago and we did some artwork together when I was there. But the weather has been kind of crappy lately. I tend to be kind of paranoid when it comes to ice. I already had to postpone my previous visit with Wendy one day when I made it as far as Gibb street and slipped on the first driveway after I'd just crossed the street. I know how treacherous Gibb street can be from previous experience so I just turned around and went home. I felt really bad because we were looking forward to spending tie together but at least I was true to my word and made it back the

following week. And I was supposed to go out with Melody a couple weeks ago to have a coffee at Tim Horton's but the weather called for FREEZING RAIN! It never did come that day but I stayed in the house terrified that I would be caught in it if I did venture out. Besides, it's just as well. Last time I spoke to her on the phone she told me that SABRINA was PREGNANT!! I know it's nothing personal but I find it ind of hard to be happy for anyone about this sort of thing. For once I want to hear good news from people that's NOT about losing weight or having a baby. And I have! Lorraine tells me that she now has a place where she can go horseback riding again. I guess Moses died in August of 2011 and until recently she hadn't been riding since the loss f her own horse. I am very grateful to Lorraine, Jan and Tina, as well as my in-laws, for their help with my art exhibit in Bobcaygeon. Where would I be without them? I still have the big quilt show to look forward to in the fall and I will have another two-month exhibit at the same gallery in May and June of 2014. Lorraine has suggested I stay in Bobcaygeon for a few extra days at the start of my exhibit so I can demonstrate to people how my art table works. Next year I'd like to have a reception on opening night. It'll be even bigger and better than the last show. In the meantime I have a table at Armour Heights on May 11th. I am hoping I can get Cherry to come with me so I don't have to deal with that awful bus ride. I HATE York Mills Station. That place has painful memories for me. At least I know my way around better than I did last year but I'm afraid the journey home still involves having to negotiate with the bus diver to let me off between stops, something they really don't like to do, and having to walk alone late at night, especially dragging a huge suitcase. If I can't get anyone to help me I may have to turn it down. Anyway, not much else is new lately. Janette is hoping she can come over in March, possibly the 23rd. I want to get some new doll clothes made by then. I found the two little red-and-white unicorn appliques you set aside for me. First I found one by itself in a little bag with embroidery thread in one of my drawers of that plastic craft cabinet and then the other night I was tearing the place apart looking for a specific piece of fabric for another project. I never did find the fabric but I found those two little unicorns along with the Mushroom Book!! I knew I'd seen it around the house but I was afraid it had been lost for good. I was also amazed at how it was quite full. I've had that book since I was little. It's all full of poems and messages from friends and family through the years. More about that another time. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I had to fix the elastic on my sleep mask. I needed a break from my embroidery projects anyway so one thing led to another not only I put that first little unicorn to use right away so it wouldn't get lost but I ended up creating quite the fashion statement!

Valentine's Day was just a few days later so Dave gave me this lovely box of chocolates. As usual, he was grumbling about me keeping the box. At least I put it to good use. It was just a plain red satin heart, but I had this sequin carousel horse applique kicking around in my jewelry box. I don't even remember where it came from. I used a needle and thread to stitch the lace around the edge of the box but I used glue to keep everything else in place. Actually what I am going to do is take it to the next National Carousel Association convention filled with some of my favorite candies from the bulk food store and contribute it to their raffle/auction. There is a picture of Flintstone Horse glued to the inside of the lid. I want to start a tradition by having whoever wins this box to bring it back next year with their favorite kind of local candy and a picture of their favorite horse from their community's carousel. Well, that's about all for now. I realize this month's Planet Nilknarf is a little late and not very long. Probably because there hasn't really been much news. I spend most of my days working on my craft projects and I have several exciting things up my sleeve that I shan't be sharing until NEXT month. Hugs, Margaret

Lucky Penny Ice Breaker

You know how this goes. I randomly select a couple of coins, look at the year each one was made and then I talk about significant things that happened that year, in my life or otherwise. Especially during a season when there's not much news. 2005 was the year I went to Pittsburgh. It was my second carousel convention since I'd been married and my sixth altogether. My first one was Ohio in 1991. Then there was New England in 1992, Binghamton in 1993 and Denver in 1994. I couldn't afford to go to anymore carousel conventions during the time I lived in Toronto but after Dave and I were married and I quit my job I made it to the 2003 convention which was in Binghamton so it was my second time there. I forget why I didn't make it to the 2004 convention. Probably because I couldn't afford it.

2005 was the last one I went to for two years and I didn't have the Traveling Dolls yet. I remember I had neglected to make shuttle bus arrangements so the airport shuttle could only take me as far as downtown and he almost took off with my backpack!! I'm glad I was able to flag him down before he got too far away!! Pittsburgh may not be all that big but it is very convoluted; lots of long winding streets trailing off endlessly in all directions. I am glad it was a direct route on the bus I took from downtown to the hotel where I was staying and the people on the bus were all very nice and new their way around the city well. Another thing that stands out about this trip was that at the last minute I almost didn't get to go. I had some horrendous drama at the airport. I'd reserved a table at Roundabout Faire so I could sell a bunch of my hand-embroidered carousel T-shirts at the convention but the customs officials wouldn't let me bring them across and tried to send me home. I had to phone my husband but he wasn't answering the phone. And he was sitting right nest to it. He didn't think I'd have any reason to phone. So I had to phone my mom to get my in-laws phone number and my father-in-law ended up having to bring Dave to the airport with my purple bag for me to put my regular clothes in so I could send the suitcase back with them and take a later flight. Of course this cost extra oney but at least I made it there after all. That year we visited six different carousels: Del Grossos's, Idlewild, Conneaut Lake, Albion, Kennywood and the Erie Zoo. Here I am on one of my favorite horses at Idlewild:

I think it was also one of the last times I ever wore shorts in public!!! You can read more about this trip here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/8512715/2005-Pitsburgh-Convention 2008 was the year I started this publication. It was just after my second Geneva Autism Symposium and it was only about eight pages long. You can read that first issue here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7848361/Planet-NIlknarf-November-2008-Issue Boy have we ever come a long way since then. It was the year I went to the NCA convention in Memphis. The highlight that year was the Over-the-

Jumps ride in Little Rock, Arkansas. BEST RIDE EVER!!!!

You can read ore about this convention here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7838445/2008-NCA-Convention

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