Happy Easter!

When the going gets tough, the tough slide under the kids bed for a nap...Buddie was firmly wedged under there. Notice the "you don't see me, I'm invisible" look on his face? That would almost work if he didn't snore so loud he makes the bed shake!


We went to Stillwater for Easter to spend time with my side of the family. It has been a REALLY long time (shamefully long, I hate to say) since the boys and their cousins had a chance to get together. I have decided we have to make more of an effort to make sure they see each other at least once a month. They really had a good time.

Above are my nieces Amber (in yellow stripes), Heather (in pink stripes) and their cousin Sadie.
We are missing one boy in the above picture but it was a challenge to get them to even stand still for this long without breaking into a wrestling fest!

There was a little Easter egg hunt and as you can tell, Aurelius has figured out the basket game. He is my great nephew and cute as a button!

It was so nice to get back to Oklahoma, even if for a day. I am going to Tulsa next weekend for a girls weekend, so I will have to check out the yarn stores there. Cute hubby drove to Stillwater today so I had time to work on a baby sweater that I am trying out. We recently got lucky enough to have a new Wichita transplant find the yarn shop (Twist) after moving from Mississippi and over the course of 4 days, she knit the most amazing baby sweater from Baby Twist alpaca yarn! 4 days!!!! Holy ever lovin' smokes! She told me how much to cast on and gave me the basic instructions so I can test the pattern out. She is making up instructions for us in the shop since it is sure to get lots of requests! It is knit in the round, which I have never done, so once I get the required length on the body and both arms, she will show me the next step. This girl is an amazing knitter!! I'll post pictures of what I have done so far in the morning. I have been going into Twist on Tuesdays and Thusdays (and whenever else I'm needed) to help out with stocking, pricing and anything else Shelly needs. It lets me play with yarn and I can honestly say I've learned a LOT. For example, did you know that if you are not paying attention while winding a ball of yarn on the ball winder, you can launch it off the winder and a pretty good distance? Yep, ask me how I know that one.

The kids go back to school tomorrow. It has actually been really nice to have them at home. We didn't do to much for Spring break, but sometimes that is nice.

Tomorrow I am going to plant some rose bushes that I bought at Big Lots for $2.50! I bought several of them at that price. Most of them are climbing roses that I am going to plant along our back fences. It has been so warm and beautiful lately that I am getting really excited about getting gardens in order and planted.

Slobber!

They were having the KAWS fiber gathering at CityArts today and unfortunately I was unable to attend due to a schedule conflict (I was having my jewelry class). However I did get to see a couple of the vendors. The Yarn Barn (Lawrence, Kansas) was there with a couple wheel you could try out. One was a ladybug...OMG!!! I am completely in love with this little portable jewel! I can REALLY see adding one of these to my other wheels so I can have one that transports easily. It treadle like it was floating on air! If their other models treadle like that, I'm in BIG ($$$) trouble...

I did pick up some really neat dyed roving while there. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

After chainmaille class at CityArts, I went over to Twist to hang out and help a little. Shelly, the owner, has a wheel and is in the process of learning to spin. I taught her some of the basics and she caught on immediately. You should see her spin! She's a natural!!I've got a couple pictures of her spinning but I'll wait until I ask her if it OK to post them on my blog--I completely forgot to ask! I am seriously considering taking the spinning class offered at The Beadery this month in Newton. I love taking classes from as many instructors as possible. You learn something new each time. Never quit learning!!

YUIM!!!

Look what came in the mail today! KUMQUATS! They are approximately quarter to half dollar sized and I got 10 pounds of them to make jams and chutney. We may lose about a third of them to just plain munching. They are sooo good! You slice them in half to get the seeds out, then pop them in your mouth skin and all. Actually it is REALLY important to eat the skin too since the kumquat is really shockingly tart, then you get the really sweet flavor of the skin to soften it. I can tell you, they are addictive straight out of the box!!!

I will get all my canning supplies together tomorrow and spend Friday making jams. I might even have to order another box of these if the jams turn out well. The season ends April 15th, so I do have a little time. Ten pounds of kumquats sounds like a lot, but you use a lot of fruit when you are canning since the fruit tends to cook down....Holy smokes these little things are good. The link to the kumquat growers association is in one of my last posts....I'll post it again later...

It was such a beautiful day today! I went to Twist and took my spinning wheel so Shelly could have a try. She is a natural spinner! She is also starting to carry some roving from a Mulvane, Kansas sheep person. It really felt nice! If Shelly starts selling chocolate, it'll be a one stop addiction shop!

I'm legal!

I went to the tag office today to get my car inspected and get the new tag. It was actually not crowded and things went really fast. Both the inspecting officer and the clerk at the tag office itself were really nice. I was able to get the tag for the whole year instead of having to come back in April, so that was a relief. Actually they gave me the option of just getting the tag until the end of the month or doing it for the whole year. Just going ahead and doing the whole year seemed easier.

Am I the only one having problems adjusting to the lost hour of daylight savings? The change has really messed with my moods and my ability to keep my schedule straight! Usually time changes don't affect me, but this time I am acting like a ditz and just not pulling it together.

It is looking like it will be quite a beautiful day today--I may have to pull a chair outside to knit before I have to leave for my pottery class.

And a Happy Monday to you...

We got a new car today, but since it is dark outside, I'll wait to post pictures until tomorrow.

It is actually a used car, but new to us. It's a cute little red 2001 Dodge Neon. We were looking for something a little easier on gas since the car hubby has been driving sucks gas down like I suck down coffee in the morning: fast..and in great quantities. I drove to Enid to pick the car up, got all the way back to Kansas and realized they had forgotten to put the 30 day tag on. DAMN. The tag on the car had expired in January. So now I have to get up in the morning and go to the insurance agent to get a copy of the insurance for this car, then drive downtown to sit and get a tag. Hopefully I don't get stopped--they are really strict in my little town about things like that. I have my bill of sale, so that will show that I haven't been just driving around for the heck of it on an expired tag, but I am one of those people who are REALLY paranoid about breaking any laws.
And no, I do not speed. I am too paranoid about that too. The law of averages is just not stacked in my favor, so why push it?

The kicker is that the month our car tags are due is April (Car tags are done by the letter of your last name and assigned a month accordingly. Ours happens to be April). I will not be able to get April's tag until March 15th....it is the 11th tomorrow. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I will only be able to get a tag that expires in 15 days--then I will have to do the whole damn thing over again in April. ARGGGGGG! But then I guess I have to be there in April for the tag on the other vehicles, so WHATEVER...I'm just being cranky. It would have been so much easier to have had the 30 day tag...I didn't even think to look, so a smack to me too I guess.

One bright spot of the day is that I did get to hang out with my friend Lisa and eat at my favorite local restaurant, Next Door. They have a mushroom cheeseburger that will bring tears to your eyes! Forget chain restaurants, this local place is sooo much better than anything else in town. I go there every time I'm in Enid. Next Door has been around since my first visit to Enid with my boyfriend "at the time". Even funnier story is that I met Lisa accidentally because it turns out that BOTH of us were dating this guy at the same time. Since I was from another city, he figured we would never find out about each other. Guess what? We did. And we had a mutual friend that got a dialog going between us and we found out we had a lot more in common than the boyfriend. The boyfriend didn't work out, but we have been friends since 1983 because of him. Actually the boyfriend made a much better friend than boyfriend, so even that worked out in a way...Isn't it funny how things turn out? Lisa's family runs a couple auto related businesses there in Enid and Lisa can do just about anything auto related. Me? Not so much. Actually I didn't know how to put gas in a car until Lisa taught me. Lisa is also the one who taught me how to drive a standard. That alone is an endeavor worthy of sainthood. I know her dad, step-dad and brother just shake their head and wonder exactly what my purpose is--I can't change the oil in a car, bleed brakes, change out a fuel pump or anything like that.....But I adore them all. They have come to my rescue for more than one car related emergency. Enid is close to my heart, I wish I had the time to get back there more often.

Can you?

Hated the pattern, but I am completely in love with the Lorna's Laces yarn..I will definitely be going to The Beadery in Newton for more....It should be called knitter's crack...One skein and you are totally hooked and searching for ways to get more......The colorways are so pretty and the yarn works up really well (with the right pattern...say no more...). Unfortunately I have to miss the sock of the month class (it is a toe up sock)tomorrow, which makes me sad, but Candice will do one on one classes, so I'll be going in for some therapy--I mean a class---to learn this technique. Is that not GORGEOUS or what!!!!
Above is the beginning of the March sock at Twist (Peak Experience by Fiber Trends). I think I'm going to like this pattern a lot. It has a stitch I haven't used before, so I will be learning something new, but I don't think it will be anything that I can't handle. I'm using one of the Zircus colorways by Opal. I've never played with Opal yarn before but it seems really nice. My friend Cindy is probably really tired of the colorway though. Let me tell you a little story....

Not having a ball winder (YET!), I figured I could just improvise and use a size 13 needle and use it like a nostper....whatever that Scandinavian center pull ball making stick thingy is...so I start unwinding the skein around the needle..And winding...and winding....400+ yards doesn't seem like a very big wad of string--UNTIL YOU ARE WINDING IT AROUND A SIZE 13 NEEDLE WITH NO END IN SIGHT...

To make a looooooooooong story short, learn from me. It doesn't turn out good...When Cindy came over to sit and knit, she got to hold that @#$* needle so I could finish winding it onto the needle only to turn around and roll it into a ball--all 400+ ....If I could have picked up my camera and got a picture of Cindy's face without having to give serious consideration as to how to hold a camera and deflect a size 13 knitting needle that is being hurled towards my personal space, I would have captured the look on Cindy's face....priceless. For everything else, there's MasterCard--which is exactly what I will be using to get me a %$@* ball winder this week!!!

What's a post without a gratuitous cute animal picture. AWWWWWWW...

I should probably step away from the computer. I just ordered 10 pounds of kumquats to make jams and jellies...yes--10 POUNDS....I certainly better find a darn good canning recipe between now and the time they arrive! Actually I was just going to order 5 pounds, but for only a little more, I got the full 1/4 bushel...It's a good thing I LOVE to make jams and jellies. I had better get all my canning supplies ready so I can spend an entire day getting these puppies processed. Can you guess what everyone is going to get as part of their Easter goodies (except anyone allergic to citrus of course --- you can breathe easy Cindy. We love you so no kumquats for you....I'm definitely not going to knock off someone who puts up with all my "quirks").

Oh well! Good coffee and great friends to you and yours!

DUHHHHHHHHH

When the lightning strike of wisdom hits me, sometimes the flash blinds me....

The heel is turned...It took me a while to actually work through the instructions that said:

row 1: sl1 k17 sts, ssk, k1 turn

row 2: sl1, p5sts, p2tog, p1 turn

row 3: sl1, k6 sts, ssk, k1 turn

row 4: sl1, p7sts, p2tog, p1 turn

Continue in this manner until all stitches are consumed...

In my literal thinking, I was trying to do rows 1 through 4 over and over again (in this manner)...guess what? That was not even close...for those of you laughing your heads off, please remember some of us are literalistic...after frogging twice, I think my guardian angel finally had enough, because suddenly a blinding flash hit....after row 4, you :

sl 1, k8, ssk, k1 turn

sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1 turn

sl1, k10, ssl, k1 turn....and so on UNTIL ALL STITCHES ARE CONSUMED..

GEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ!

Busy-ness

This is a painting I am in the process of working on. The saying states "The love we give away is the only love we keep"--as you can see, it is only halfway done, but I wanted to share with you...

I realized it has been a while since I posted. Not that I have been idle, mind you, I just never seem to have the gumption to go and retrieve my camera and download the pictures of my endeavors when I am actually sitting at the computer...is THAT lazy or what...So you are getting a madcap windup of some of my projects. Below is a closeup of a portion of the painting I am working on. It is far from being finished though.
This weekend a friend and I went to CityArts for our chainmaille jewelry class. It is supposed to start at 10:30 a.m. By 10:20 the doors to the class were not opened and we were the only ones there, so Sue went down to have them open the door. Guess what? The teacher had the flu and we were the only ones whose phone # they could not find. Could they not have CALLED the instructor--he has all our phone numbers. I know he has mine, I gave it to him so his girlfriend could call me --I am teaching her how to knit. ARGGGG. At any rate, Sue and I went to Twist instead where I picked up some goodies. They had marked some Swallow casein needles down 40% and there was a magazine I had been eyeing also marked down 40%. Yep, SNAG!!! I had been at Twist yesterday to pick up my sock yarn for the February sock of the month (hell yes I'm 30 days behind...you expected less?)...Since the pattern and yarn for the March sock was announced Saturday, I picked up both the pattern and yarn. I am completely in love with the Opal Zircus yarn I picked up! Being a little OCD--even though Shelly said I should be able to get a pair from 1 ball, I got two. Half of the reason was I was afraid of running out and also since I had already slobbered on the two balls of the particular colorway I was grasping in my hands, I figured I should take it home. Maybe Shelly should have a sign that says "YOU SLOBBER ON IT, YOU BUY IT"...... I'd probably just have to give myself to her as an indentured servant if she does that though...
Above is a bad picture of a good haul.....and below is the sweater from the Northampton Knits book that I am working on in Rowan Plaid. I love this pattern and the yarn!!!
I am also working on a sock in Lorna's lace Shepherd Sport (Mixed Berries colorway), which I love--their sock pattern, not so much. I am at the heel turning and it says to do the first four rows, then repeat these until there are no stitches. I need to see if there is an errata for this pattern. After you do the first four rows (I'm doing the largest size), you go back to row 1. I finish knitting 17 stitches then there is enough to ssk but that is the end of the row--no room to k1 then turn....maybe it's just me...I have a sock pattern for the beginner sock in sport weight from Knitting Pure and Simple--I LOVE their patterns and I may have to follow it to get the heel turned.....
Other than that, I have been baking up a storm. I made English muffin bread this afternoon from a recipe in my Better Homes and Garden cookbook--and it turned out beautifully. I like to make the boys home style "Egg McMuffins" in the morning, but I hate the cost of store bought English muffins. I found this recipe and thought "why not"...It is soooooo easy and very foolproof! I have the recipe and pictures posted on my other blog, Animalhaus. I am going to start posting cooking and other stuff over there since I set up the second blog for that reason and then promptly ignored it...This blog will remain knitting, art and general craftiness (and animal antics of course..) but the other will have cooking and food related stuff.....I'll have the English muffin recipe posted by this afternoon over there...

Black Spaghetti and .....

The boys had a friend spend the night a little while back, so to freak them out, I served black spaghetti. Yep--when it cooks it looks like worms. Their friend was so amused by it, he had to take pictures of his plate (with his cell phone camera...) to show HIS friends since nobody was going to believe there is such a thing as black spaghetti....I found it at SuperTarget (in their grocery section). It is colored with squid or octopus ink, but that also give it a faint fishy smell, so we may not be serving it again--but it was fun for one time. I could see serving this with Alfredo sauce and shrimp though--unfortunately my kids won't eat that...picky eaters....
I looked in my Better Homes and Gardens pink cookbook and found the absolute best recipe for both pizza crust and cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon rolls were REALLY good! Since I used my dough hook on my KitchenAide mixer, it all went together quickly. YUM! I was in a baking mood this week....
I had to post this one! I came upstairs and there was Charlie cat lovin' up on Cute Man. It looked like bedtime story time --except cute man was reading some engineering text about compressible fluid flow...yep--that would put me to sleep too. However, I had to grab my camera and as soon as Charlie cat saw THAT THING, I got THIS face.....
So of course I HAD to take the picture. If the cat had any pride left, it's shredded.....At the other end of the bed was Socks and Smokey. Socks is getting faster at getting the heck out of Dodge when he sees me with a camera--But he's not fast enough!! HaH!

Other than baking and harassing my animals, it has been a reasonably slow week. I'll post knitting pictures and some pictures of a painting I'm working on tomorrow. I'm trying to "make art" every day--one way or another. Some people make art on paper, some people make art through cooking ... it's all good!

One good spot: We got a call from an elderly couple about half a mile away --Cute man's flight bag had been stuffed in their bushes. The headsets were gone, but all the flight manuals and important papers were all there. I guess they didn't know what to do with them--so I am thankful they didn't just scatter them to the wind or throw them away. Those are pretty hard to replace. We did file a police report and were told there were 6 other people on our street that had reported something missing. Car doors stay locked....and outside lights stay on all night....

Good friends and great coffee to you and yours!

Rough beginning to the week

It has been a rough beginning to the week at Casa Davis.

On Sunday, our 17 year old dog, Kaysha died. One of the the boys is taking it pretty hard. They are 14 and have never known life when Kaysha wasn't there, so it will be hard. Hubby and I have had Kaysha since she was 6 weeks old....Jeremy was actually "sick" this morning. I figured he was still upset over Kaysha, plus he was running a slight fever, so I called him out sick from school this morning. It didn't help that he got up this morning and went to get Kaysha to carry her outside for her morning "duties". And there is really nothing I can say to make it hurt less, which is not a good feeling...

On Monday night, apparently someone decided to help themselves to our cars and took my husband's flight headsets. Two pairs. That'll be $200+ (luckily they were the pairs needing replacement, but still...). Crap! We had been pretty naive since we have never had anything stolen the entire time we have lived in this town. I guess it's the sign of the times. I hope whoever decided to steal them has nothing but misfortune from here on out. They are now cursed. Whatever happened to the rule of "If it's not yours, don't touch it?!"

Lesson learned on that one.

Damn it has been a bad week already. Please tell me it only goes up from here.....

Afterthought Saturday....

My friend Cindy and I decided to take advantage of the sock of the month class at the Newton Beadery on Saturday. As you can see, my the flash on my camera decided to put out more than it's fair share of effort--I'm sure the girls are still seeing spots! I REALLY need to remember to turn off the flash when there are light walls to bounce off of. Did I mention that it is usually painful driving past me at night for the same reason---gotta love them bright lights.....
I found some really addictive Lorna's Lace to knit with--I really like the colorway. I'm not really feeling the love for the afterthought heel, but I am not completely jumping ship on the idea yet. I actually will make this sock with a standard heel and a pretty easy pattern then go back and get some worsted weight yarn to make the first pair of afterthought --and in a light color so I can actually see what I am doing. Why did I pick a dark color when I knew I would be picking up stitches (which I am not too experienced with..) and doing a provisional stitch with waste yarn? I have no defense--I think I partied with the STUPID monster the night before--because I was feeling pretty dense as I was trying to figure out if this was a "live" stitch or not...

Here is but a small selection of the yarn Julie has at the shop. If I had turned around, there was a whole other wall of yarn--but as you can see--even my camera was having focus issues after I played with the waste yarn and tried to pick up stitches. I did discover that I am a compassionate knitter--I tried to bring every dead stitch within a mile radius of my needle to life and I stuggled to only pick up the "live stitches"....

Julie is having all kinds of really neat classes in the coming months, so it is definitely worth checking out the shop blog and signing up. She will be at the Wichita Women's fair, as will Shelly from Twist, so check them both out.

After Cindy and I took the class, we headed to Enid, Oklahoma to take my van to a friend's brother's shop...(try saying that three times)..Remember the van that seems to want to just shuck off parts at the drop of the hat? Well, I had taken it to the mechanic here in town and they were going to do the sway bar, front left axil, and the water pump (when this car decides it wants to go to the shop, it REALLY makes it worth it...) to the tune of $900. That crunch you just heard was our budget going off the cliff...Thursday the mechanic calls me to tell me he can't replace the water pump without replacing the timing cover it is attached to. Go figure, it has a crack in it...and you have to lift the engine to do the replacement...Did someone take my van out to a party without me knowing?!!

Wanna know how much the grand total was going to be? Go ahead--ASK. You know you want to.....

$1900.00 +

Are you breathing yet...that was my same response...So I freaked and called my friend Lisa in Enid. Her brother (he is a mechanic) said he'd do it for quite a bit less so Cindy and I took it to him Saturday. And yes, when I count blessing, I include my friend Lisa and her family. They have been our car angels for more times then they probably want to remember...I did let the garage here in town do the sway bar and axil, since that seemed important to have those cooperate when I'm barreling down the road at 70 m.p.h. but the rest is getting done in Enid.

It was really nice to visit Enid--even if we did get there late. Next time I am hoping to go up earlier in the day so I can show Cindy around. I don't think they have any yarn shops in Enid. Darn.

Alls well that ends well. and excuse any mispelled words, spell check is not working on blogger today... again.

What a difference a day makes....

The sweet face you see above is what I woke up to yesterday after the kids and cute man went off to school/work. Yep, that's hubby's pillow she has her head on. She was sooooo darn cute. I think she knew that though.....
It was 65 degrees yesterday! It was unbelievable. However, instead of playing outside, I felt the strong urge to make homemade bread. Since I have a 525 watt Kitchen aide (thanks to my wonderful mom in law who spoils me) it was a really easy task. I really like the recipe I found in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook for white bread. I used local honey from a guy down the street instead of sugar and really thought that highlighted the taste. It was fabulous! I am going to have to do this more often. The bread was firm and very tasty with an excellent crust. I put real butter on the top to keep the crust soft as it was cooling down........
And since I was still in the baking mood--I made chocolate chip cookies from the recipe off the Gold Medal Organic flour bag. Holy smokes they were GOOD. It wasn't all baking yesterday. I did get in some knitting. I have been working slowly on this Noro Kuyreon scarf for quite some time and thought it was high time to make some progress. I am not feeling the love for the yarn yet, but everyone tells me it softens up after handwashing, so I'm taking the leap of faith.

What a difference a day makes....Yesterday it was 65* and sunny. This morning at 4:30, I awoke to the sounds of our roof getting pelted with this........

HAIL! This picture was taken at 7:30 so a lot of it had gone away, but there was quite a hail storm last night. Being in Kansas, I associate hail with TORNADOES, so I didn't get to go back to sleep for the rest of the morning. Thankfully this is as big as the hail got and no tornado....something tells me this is going to be a rough spring as far as weather goes. It is 35*F right now--that's quite a drop from yesterday....

At any rate, I am hoping to get to my pottery class this afternoon. I have decided I have been away from pottery long enough. I used to do hand building and worked on the wheel a long time ago, so I am looking forward to getting back on the wheel. Once you get centering the ball of clay on the wheel mastered, it becomes quite calming.

Well. I hope the weather is cooperating in your corner of the world.

Good coffee and great friends to you and yours!

And the theme for today is....

Sometimes we all need a soft place to rest....sometimes you just have to wrestle it to the ground before you can rest on it, but in the end, it's all good. Smokey makes a great paper weight, don't you think?
Life's short, play fetch first....
And last but not least...

Where the HELL did the snow come from?!

OK, so that's not a good theme unless you are Rip Van Winkle, but when I laid back down this morning after getting everyone out the door, it was windy but THERE WAS NO SNOW. Mind you, Sunday was over fifty degrees and so was Monday....WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? Oh well. This is Kansas. Stranger things have happened.

I would have had a picture of a really neat hat I have been working on to share with you today..REALLY I would......But after getting 5 inches into the brim that looked a bit small to begin with (but continuing on anyway with it) I decided to actually look at the sizing. I was dead on as far as gauge. My needle size was right. The brim was looking great...but something was really off. Note to self: You can do everything right on target, but if you forget to READ THE SIZE THE PATTERN IS WRITTEN FOR the knitting gods will laugh. You know the KNITTING GODS, they are first cousins to THE GAUGE GODS--whom you taunt regularly....with BAAAAAAAD results...Damn (which is a word I have been falling back on regularly this month while holding yarn and needles..). It was written for a child large/adult small. Let's just say that's NOT me (even in hat sizes) and leave it at that. Now I will seek assistance from the "play with the numbers until it fits your honkin' big head" gods.

Oh Well...which is in the same catagory of "OH HELL!" which seems to be my theme for the week...I guess January is curse word month for me....sorry. I probably should put down the pointy sticks....

LOL!

Good coffee and great friends to you and yours anyway!

When it Rains...

This has been a rough week in our house as far as getting cars and animals to actually cooperate. My van has to go to the shop in the morning and cute man's van started acting up tonight. Yep. This is going to make the finances game a challenge this month! I guess this is going to be a great "opportunity" for me to practice creative budgeting.

However, I am completely stocked for yarn. I can breathe easy there (in case you were worrying about me being in a yarn poor house). Actually, I am probably stocked for yarn until the end of 2008!The same goes for fabric for quilting. I have been looking through the incredible pattern library on Ravelry--it is mind boggling! I am so glad I got my invite! If you haven't joined Ravelry, you must go and check it out. It took about a week from when I signed up until I got my invite, but the wait was worth it. I was looking for a hat pattern today using worsted weight yarn. Ravelry lets you look for just that description--and I found more than I could even imagine. Some are free and some are for sale. It is mind boggling...OK, I'll stop.

Great Movie Alert:
A friend and I went to see "P.S. I Love You"----it was REALLY good. It is definitely a chick flick and I am going to go see it again. I usually am not one to see anything twice. I won't blow it for you, but the two of the men (the lead actor and the one that is introduced later) have Irish accents that will make you melt in your seat.......Oh, and there is a completely awesome gratuitous flash of a really good looking tush. LOL. That's all I'll say about that 'cause I'm a married woman, you know...
It is a really touching movie. Bring tissues, but do go to see it.

Monday on Tuesday

This was not a good morning.

I went downstairs to see if school had been cancelled for the boys because of ice (it hadn't) and came across our 17 year old dog who has apparently decided the carpet is a much better place to go than outside.

Not amused.

So, at 7 a.m. I am standing there shampooing the carpet with Oxy Clean (my other love). Did I mention it was 7 FREAKING O' CLOCK IN THE MORNING?! To say I like mornings is a bad joke. To say I like cleaning up after a dog at 7 FREAKING o' clock in the morning....let's just not go there.

And then, in honor of my efforts--right in front of me, mind you, SHE SQUATS AGAIN. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!

I WAS NOT FREAKING AMUSED.

Yes, she is 17 years old and pretty darn senile, but COME ON! ARGGGGGGGG!


So that was how my morning began. Hopefully yours went much better.

Interesting Architecture

This is the building that Staci and I saw at the top of the hill in Winfield, Kansas.
It is a very solid and striking building that overlooks the highway. As it turns out, it is a mausoleum at a cemetery. The detailing is stunning.
Just look at these beautiful copper doors.
As strange as it sounds, it was very peaceful and beautiful. Staci and I walked among the headstones reading them. It occurred to me that in reality, all of these markers were once people who existed much like us.

We all have a finite amount of time on this Earth. It is up to us to make it matter and to leave this place better than when we were here.
This is a view from the front of the front of the building. Unfortunately the camera could not capture how truly beautiful it was and the fact that it is overlooking the highway which is a couple hundred feet down a hill and across a river.

While we were there, we saw several headstones that just had a soldier's name, a state name, and their rank. No other info such as when the men were born or died. I was telling another friend about this and she said these were soldiers that died there and all the information they had about them was what was on the headstone. Most of them were from other states if this is correct. My thoughts were that these men's families never knew what became of them after they left. That makes me a little sad. They were all from the 1800's. I said a prayer for them. Can you imagine how hard that would be?

And the Gauge God laughs....

The alternate title to today's blogs was going to be " Who ME? I don't need no stinking gauge check....." but you can see how well that worked out. When you laugh in the face of the gauge gods, prepare to eat egg.... This was a pattern off Ravelry's "mitten a month along" group that I've joined. It was supposed to fit a woman's medium hand at 5 stitches to the inch. I am a tight knitter anyway and my hand is nowhere near a medium woman's, but I figured I could bluff it.

NOT!

It came out to be 6 stitches to the inch (and possibly 7 in places where I was thinking of my son and his girlfriend not getting along right now Iowa...). It looks more like a woman's small or a child's large. I will be a trooper and finish the pair anyway since this is the first pair I have ever knit and then knit the next pair on a needle size up (or even 2) with bulky weight or heavy worsted weight yarn (this is worsted Cascade--it was suggested as an alternative to the yarn in the pattern) to make it fit my hand. These will be completed then given to charity. I didn't do the color stripes like the original pattern because I decided I am going to need a little more practice carrying yarns. The orange and black is for the Oklahoma State Cowboys! Go Pokes!! I grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma --home of Oklahoma State University. Hubby did too, and his degree is from OSU. both of us graduated from the high school there and that's actually where we first met....My parents and siblings live there too.

And yes, my stitch holder is too honkin' big for this project...

I got my Ravelry invite a couple days ago. After logging in, I was simply amazed!!! Talk about seeing the light! There are communities for everything; knit alongs, patterns for any kind of project you can imagine (free and for sale) and that is just the start. It is like coming out of the cave!! I LOVE RAVELRY!!! AMAZING!! I am still figuring it out though because it looks like there are many layers and things you can do. Hopefully I will be able to figure out Flicker and get my pictures loaded of projects. There is even a spinning community on it and I'm loving it!

L-O-V-E it!!!

A friend and I did a little road trip to Arkansas City and Winfield, Kansas this weekend. It was great to get out of town. Staci and I always have a good time when we go anywhere--mainly because both of us like to take detours if we see something strange. I will show you the classic case in point in my post later tonight. We saw a really neat building high on a hill overlooking the highway and instead of just saying "Wow-that looks cool" we took the side road off the highway to investigate....you'll see later. Just a little tease to keep you coming back!

Best Laid Plans...

I am SUPPOSED to be in Tulsa (Oklahoma) Thursday for an informal workshop with Louisa Harding at Loops.

However, my car has decided that tie rods are optional and did not consult the wheel base. I could just cry. I was REALLY looking forward to going! I had a reserved spot a long time ago. Renting a car was an option, but an expensive one, so I just finished calling Loops and leaving a message that I can't be there. They have a waiting list, so hopefully they can slide someone in and it doesn't cause a problem. I was really looking forward to seeing Louisa and shopping at Loops.

On the plus side, I worked off some of that frustration (not all of it mind you) by getting more stuff organized around the house. I am hoping that the house will be organized, decorated and ready for guests by the end of February.

To ease the disappointment, I will probably go stalk (oops--I mean VISIT) Shelly at Twist and Mary at Heritage Hut on Thursday. I'll have hubby's car so I'm sticking to local haunts...We may seriously have to consider getting a new car for traveling this summer! Our current cars are great for in town and short trips, but they have well over 150,000 miles on each of them. However, the Plymouth Voyager hubby drives didn't have to have it's engine replaced until it went well over 400,000 miles. The mechanic could not believe. It isn't pretty, but it is a well built van. My newer van has had a couple issues, but not anything that was factory related so I can't complain. I would love to have a hybrid or at least one that leaves a lighter footprint on the gas situation.

On the budget side, I almost ordered one of Elizabeth Zimmerman's books at Amazon.com since I have been really wanting to see what all the buzz is about (I know, I am a late bloomer). I got as far as the checkout and thought about our public library. Guess what? They have not only one, but two copies of this book. Tomorrow I am going to head over there and pick it up so I can look at it and decide if I want to play with it. I am so glad I checked there first! One more budget stretcher. I have actually been pleasantly surprised at the books our library has. I found Crazy Aunt Purl's book last week and absolutely love it! She is hilarious. And the patterns she includes in the book are great too. I actually got her magic scarf pattern from her website and have used it as my "little black dress" scarf pattern. It's easy and chic and everyone loves the way it looks. Plus it can utilize any yarn you little heart desires.

And on the same subject of budget, I love the Internet! I have two skeins of Brown Sheep Company's Wildfoote sock yarn and wanted a pattern that specifically used that yarn. Brown Sheep has a pattern specifically for it on their website. It features a diagonal rib, so this will be a perfect pattern for me after I finish the sock I'm working on. My goal this month is to knit 2 pairs of socks. I may have to knock that down to one pair and then set a higher goal for February.

I am contemplating taking a hand quilting class in February at one of our local quilt shops. I had put my quilt stuff in the guest bedroom and haven't had a chance to really get anything done, but I am going to make myself do at least one quilt related piece at least once a week. I took a hand applique class this summer and really enjoyed it. At one time I knew how to hand quilt, but it has been so long that I need to take a refresher. Hand quilting and hand applique are a lot like knitting and spinning--they are relaxing and you can easily lose track of time. They are great stress relievers.

Well, I probably ought to get thing ready for tomorrow. Hubby has to leave the house before 7:00 a.m which means I am dropping the kids off at school. I don't do mornings, remember? And it is supposed to snow. I'm going to be really pushing it to be human!

Well, have a great night and try to stay warm wherever you are.

New Projects

Ok--I have to fess up. The Kool Aid dyed sock has been frogged. I've taken on a new love...I got about 7" into the Kool Aid dyed sock and realized I had ladders running up the sides. That is the first time I've done that so at first I thought I could just ignore it and continue on. I couldn't. I frogged it and then decided I wanted something a bit spicier. So, not being one who lacks for sock yarn, I pulled the Jitterbug out of the closet. I had been holding off on using it because it was just soooo fun to look at and hold. (I will know who has read this post by the wary stare I will now receive from you). I LOVE the Jitterbug! It is so wonderful to work with and the color is incredible!!!

My newest project is to strip and refinish this wheel given to me by Dawn. She was in the process of painting it green but decided she didn't have the space for one more wheel, so graciously gave it to me. I am going to strip it down to the wood and just stain and seal it. Dawn did say she was having problems keeping it running so if Hubby can't work his magic, it will at least be a pretty decorative piece.

I am trying to behave this year and pay special attention to our finances and actually building some kind of savings. We, like many Americans, are a little behind when it comes to having funds for an emergency. Why? A little spending here and there...and here...and there. With me no longer working I thought the budget would take a big hit, but I have been please to find that we are actually running a little ahead of where we normally are. Why? I am making myself write down everything I really think we have to have and then make myself look to see if we have anything in the house that could work instead. Case in point: Our entryway needed a table. I had looked at several tall tables that could work, but was not feeling the love for parting with $100+ that all of them cost. That's a lot of sock yarn we're talking about ( a girl has to have her priorities you know) ! After looking around the house, I remembered we have a sewing machine table (sans the machine) that would work perfectly. It does. I have a mirror to put above it and things to put on it--I might have to spring for an small area rug--but you can be I will be scanning the sales. I am trying to make more meals at home and actually use up leftovers. I am horrid about not using meat and stuff in the fridge that could make perfectly good meals. So I end up tossing them in the long run--money down the drain. On days we have leftovers, I add a great dessert or some homemade cookies to add a little splash....We have saved quite a

bit of money since I have quit by simply not eating out as much as we did when both of us were coming home from work and too tired to cook.

Now if I can just stay off Amazon.com!

What do you do to extend the budget?

Saturday Morning, Coffee and Yarn. GOOD STUFF!

I actually made it to Saturday knitting again this week. And here's the proof for those of you who know me and are saying "Rhonda up before noon?! NO WAY!" I was up, but I can tell you I had a hard time communicating. Just ask the ladies who were there! I will name everyone and link to their blogs later.



And the thought for the day: Find a friend and give them a big hug! (Disclaimer: It helps if you actually know or have introduced yourself to the person you intend to hug. "Stranger hugs" tend to catch people off guard, and you might just discover by accident who screams for police when alarmed...)

Great friends and good coffee to you and yours!!