Thankful Tuesday

I am sitting here at 9:17 p.m., sipping on a cup of Chai Tea and thinking back on my day.

I feel very thankful today. I am thankful for my blogging friends and your kind comments. I am also thankful to Big and The Baby for always listening and understanding. I am blessed. I am very blessed.

I was up early to meet my friends Lisa and Heidi for a "sew in." We didn't get much sewing done! We did a lot of chatting and even more laughing. Heidi cooked a wonderful lunch consisting of Cordon Bleu, roasted potatoes, mixed vegetable and for desert - brownies with coffee icing.

We have decided to get together every other week and work on various projects. I am hoping to get some Christmas projects completed. I have a long, long list!

The laughter and friendship and sewing was just what I needed today. Big was at home with dinner on the stove - she did the dishes too! What more could I ask for?

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Melancoholy Monday

mel·an·chol·y [ méllən kòllee ]

*feeling or causing sadness: feeling or making somebody feel a thoughtful or gentle sadness

*pensive sadness: a thoughtful or gentle sadness

Today I am very melancholy. My Mother left at 11:00 a.m. today to visit my cousin Helga. We all know this will be the last time she or any of us see Helga. I don't think Helga is long for this world. In her last e-mail to me she said she is taking one step forward and three steps backward.

The last time I saw Helga was 4 years ago. We didn't have much alone time. I had hoped that we would be able to take some time to get to know each other as adults, form a close friendship.

We have never been very close. Mostly due to the thousands of miles between us.

I am sad that she is leaving this world so young. She is only a few months older than I am. She has a son who is a few years older than The Baby. Like me, he was a product of artificial insemination. Again, like me, she raised him for many years without the aid of a partner. Once more, like me, she found someone to share her life with and raise her son with. I feel sorry for her boyfriend of 20 years. He is a bit younger than her and I fear he will be lost without her.

I want to tell her Goodbye. I don't know how. Do I tell her now? Do I wait and hope I can say goodbye before she passes? What do I say?

For now, I think I will wait. For now, I will be melancholy.

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This and That Thursday

I've decided I need to wear a Depends Diaper. No, I am not incontinent (not yet anyway). I just don't like to take the time to pee. I get easily distracted and figure if I don't have to stop and pee, I can complete something.

Here is my morning so far. Start to vacuum the rug in the kitchen, realize I have to pee. Turn off the vacuum, go to the bathroom in the Master Bedroom to pee. While sitting there realize I have to clean the bathroom counter. Decide I will do that after peeing. Then I realize I need more toilet paper. Go to get that out of the linen closet and realize the towels are not organized the way I want them. Organize the towels and then have to stop and remember why I am standing in the linen closet. Remember the toilet paper, get it, go back to the bathroom and put it on the TP dispenser and start to clean the sink. I figure if I am cleaning the sink, I may as well do the shower and the toilet. While scrubbing the toilet, it comes to me that I should clean the bathroom in the hall also. I get my cleaning supplies and start to head to the other bathroom when I realize the closet door in the bedroom is open. I put down the cleaning supplies, go to the closet, open the door to make sure there isn't a cat sleeping in there and then get distracted by the messy closet. I then take what I think will be a few minutes to organize the closet. One and a half hours later, I have to pee again. Back to the bathroom. I see that the bathroom is nice and clean and congratulate myself and then remember I have to clean the hall bathroom. I get my supplies, clean that bathroom and then decide I am hungry. Two and a half hours have passed since my first urge to pee. I put the cleaning supplies away and head into the kitchen only to see the vacuum cleaner waiting for me!

So now you can see why I should have an Adult Diaper!

The Baby is dating a new boy. She is very excited and from what she tells me, he sounds like a nice boy. He took her to an expensive restaurant last night and they had Sushi. She must really like him, she is a vegetarian but she ate raw fish for him! He says he wants to take her to a movie soon. He is a Senior and is pursuing the same degree she is. So far, he has not tried to kiss her. I don't know if that makes him a good boy, a nerd or gay. I am hoping for a good boy!

The weather here has cooled off. I can actually have my morning coffee on the back porch again.

The Baby will be coming home the first weekend of September. I am looking forward to it. We thought we wouldn't see her until late September.

Speaking of September, can you believe it is almost here? I am excited though since Big and I will be spending a week in D.C. I can't wait!

Big's Mom is doing Ok. She is eating more and feeling stronger. She has a couple of tests and some Doctor appointments next week. Still no idea what was wrong with her.

My Mom will be heading to England in less than a week. She will stay with my cousin Helga for 10 days. My cousin says she has good days and bad days. I think she is beginning to have more bad days. My heart breaks for her.

Well, I have written enough. I can't remember what I am supposed to be going to do, but I am sure it is something important! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

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What I am Working On

I thought I would show a couple of photos of what I have been working on. I have recently talked about my pinwheel quilt. Here is what I have accomplished so far.



I am not fond of this photo. I tried to capture all of the blocks. The lighting is bad. It is hard to see the flowers clearly. I am using the back of a plastic table cloth for a design wall and I can see the ugly flowers showing through! Note to self - purchase flannel for the design wall.



This photo is a little clearer, but still not great.

I am wondering if I should keep the blocks together like this or put a sashing. What do you think? There will be a 6 inch border with applique vines and flowers at the top right and bottom left corners. The border will be the same white on white fabric that is used in the blocks. Big thinks I should use sashing, I am not so sure.



This is a shawl that I have been knitting for about 7 months. I hope to get it finished by fall! I am very cold blooded and Big is hot blooded, so I need this. It is actually a very pretty olive green, the photo doesn't show the proper color.

The pattern says the shawl is "Easy," but I am not sure I would classify it that way. Once you get the stitches down, it is not hard, but it does take a lot of focus. I am sure a good knitter would see lots of mistakes!

I am hoping for a new camera for Christmas. I have dropped lots of hints. I would love to be able to take better photos. I need to take some time to learn a photo enhancing program on the computer also. What kind of camera do you all use? Do you use a photo enhancing program? If so, which one?

Hope you all had a great day!

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Thankful Tuesday

Today I am thankful.

Thank you to all of you who cheered me up yesterday and made me laugh. You helped me rememeber life is so full of wonderful things, it is silly to get hung up on the things that aggravate us. All of you who said I was missing Big were right. As crazy as she makes me, I don't like being without her. I am very thankful she will be home later today.

I am thankful for my Mom also. She also makes me crazy, but she is a good woman and I love her. I received a package from her yesterday. She enclosed 3 blouses for me, a pair of shoes for The Baby and 2 birthday cards for Big. One of the cards has money in it! She wants us to enjoy a nice dinner on her penny while we are in D.C.

Today, no matter what, I will do my best to be thankful. I hope you all do the same. Have a wonderful day!

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I'm Crabby Today (Beware of potty mouth words)

Do you ever wake up feeling like a rip roaring b---h? Well, I did this morning. As I lay in bed, I started to wonder why I would feel so crabby. I mean, I have a wonderful partner, a smart and beautiful daughter, a mom who drives me crazy (don't we all have one of those?) a good home and so much more. How could you be pissy when you have all that?

Perhaps the cat running across my head at 5:00 a.m. in the morning is a reason.

Perhaps I am crabby because I have just washed the same load of clothes for the 3rd time and now I am out of wash detergent!

Perhaps it is the Granny Square that I had been working so lovingly on, that was found on the kitchen floor with a row unraveled. Thanks a lot prison kitty!

Perhaps it is the fact that I had to make my own coffee (Big usually does it the night before and sets the timer!). This is enough to set me off no matter what kind of day is ahead of me.

Perhaps it was the fact that I had to lug two giant, heavy trash cans down the long driveway for the trash people to pick up. Or that the sky decided to break open and let out a downpour when I was at the bottom of the driveway!

Perhaps I am a bitch because I just realized how many calories were in a McDonald's Carmel Frappe. Honestly, I have become addicted to them and now you tell me they are fattening? Come on, I thought they were just coffee!

I decided to look at some blogs, thinking that would make me happy. It did the opposite. How the hell do these women wake up every morning that cheery and crafty? Honestly, were they up till three in the morning making that dress or another purse or re-doing some room in their house? Don't they have cats running across their head and a dog in the bed that snores as much as their partner? How do they get 5 million bazillion followers?

Well, enough of that. I have a horribly long list of things I have to do, so I am off for now. Hey, you know what? I think my problem may be that my sugar is low! As soon as I sign off, I am going to finish that Ben & Jerry's. That should do the trick!

Hope you all have a better day that I am!

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Chicken Poop Sunday - Update

I found that cleaning chicken poop is a hard job - it is also a bit disgusting. Note to self: Don't let Big give the chickens meat products anymore!!

After laboring in the chicken coop (10 minutes) and having a shower, I realized I was hungry. Nothing I have at home looked good, so off I went to Kroger (local grocery store.) Below is a photo of what I purchased. I think I hit all the food groups. Potato chips = vegetable, Ben & Jerry = dairy, Cheese Curls = protein (that is probably really stretching it, I don't think there is any cheese in them) Please notice that I also purchased some granola. That is for breakfast in the morning so I can regulate my system after putting all of this crap in it.


Speaking of healthy eating - I saw something in the ice cream isle that really got me upset. Activia is making ice cream!!!! WTF!!! Really now people, if we want to eat ice cream and get fat and clog our arteries and our digestive systems, let us do it! I gave up cigarettes and hard liquor (not wine as we all know). Dude, let me have my bad for you but good tasting ice cream! On that note, I am off to eat my dairy product for the day.

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Chicken Poop Sunday

First, I would like to say hello and welcome to my Swap-Bot.com visitors. I hope you enjoy my blog and decide to come back often. You never know what you may find here!!

When I first decided to blog, I thought that I would like to have titles for every day of the week. I figured it would make coming up with something to blog about much easier. Big, The Baby and I tossed around some different titles for Sunday's blogs. Big and I thought Sexy Sunday would be good, but The Baby was grossed out by the title and thought others would find it offensive also! Go figure! We came up with "Chicken Poop Sunday" because no matter what, on Sunday the chicken poop is cleaned and the yard is mowed.

I have never blogged about this before because it has always been Big's job. Since she is gone, it is up to me! I don't really mind the chore, it won't take long. Big gave the girls some leftover chicken (I know - they are carnivores!) and their poop really stinks! I thought I would share this loveliness with all my blogger buddies. Avert your eyes if you are squeamish!




This is one of our Leghorns. We have three of them. They were the first to find a home with us.



They act like they never get food! The brown and grey chickens are Arancauna, they lay blue and green eggs. They are often called "Easter Egg Chickens" because of the different colored eggs. I can't remember the breed of the other two chickens. The Baby would remember.

I have decided I will not paint my "studio" today. I am in need of some sewing therapy and my pinwheels are calling my name! The walls will be there another day!

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

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Good Day

Today has been a good day. Big's Mom is out of the hospital. No one is really sure what was going on with her. She has some follow up Doctor visits, but they should all turn out fine. Her diet leaves a lot to be desired. She needs to up her calorie count and eat food that will "stick to her bones." I wish someone would tell me to eat more!!

I have been busting my ass in my studio and other than painting it and hanging things on the wall, it is finished. It was more work than I thought it would be, but isn't that the way all projects are? I am excited to get back to my sewing.

I finally found my way back to the pinwheel quilt I started a few months ago. I will post photos later. I am so in love with the pinwheels!

Hope you are having a great weekend. I am going to start mindlessly at the television for a while.

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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

As you know from yesterday's post, Big left this morning for about 5 days (bad) to see her Mother who is in the hospital. Since I am alone and sad, I decided I needed some shopping therapy (good and bad). $178.00 later, I had new goodies for the main bathroom. (Some of the ugly is that old, nasty faucet!! It is going to be changed soon!)



I have fallen in love with Napoleonic Bees. I first saw them on Between Naps on the Back Porch. She blogged about some silverware with Napoleonic Bees on them and when I saw them, it was love at first site. The silverware is only $180.00 (bad). Why does it seem that everything I fall in love with is expensive?

One evening when Big got home, she found her favorite dinner on the table and me acting nice (this is a change from normal). I sweetly suggested she should get another job so I could afford all of the things I cannot live without. Can you believe she spoke to me in sign language? It is rare that she uses her limited repertoire of sign language, but please believe, I understand what she means!!

On with the post. Big's Mother's hospital tests are coming out negative and although the doctor will not see her until the morning, it seems she had a flu bug. Hey, better safe than sorry. Perhaps Big will be able to come home early (good). I know that Big will enjoy having some time to visit with her Mother. She was planning a trip later in the year, but this works out too.

I found a wonderful package in the mail today (good). A swap partner of mine sent these goodies to me. I love the Laura Ashley cup and saucer. The Waverly napkins look like the shower curtain I have in the main bathroom. I am thinking of making a pillow out of napkins! They would look wonderful in my den. What do you think?



I purchased some shoes and other goodies for The Baby (good for her). She has had her eye on these Carlos Santana shoes. I was able to purchase them for $10.00! (sorry, you can see the kitchen counters in the background - I couldn't find better lighting for the photo!)



Well, that about sums it up. I have enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine, had a slice of pizza and am feeling mellow. Soon I will head off to bed with my little puppy companion and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow I will finish organizing/cleaning my studio. My next big project will be the main bathroom. I will install a new faucet, paint the sink cabinet, and lay a new tile floor. Then and only then will I put my Napoleonic Bees in their new home!

I hope you all have a really great weekend! I will be lonely, but busy.

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This and That Thursday

Well, there won't be too much to say today, or should I say tonight. It is after 11:00 p.m. and I am really tired. I have been working in my "studio" and it turned out to be a lot more work than I thought. I was excited to come across fabric I had forgotten about.

Big will be leaving early in the morning to see her Mother in Michigan. Her Mom has not been feeling well for a couple weeks. She had gone to the Doctor and had some blood work done and nothing was really found. She has been loosing weight and for her that is bad. She started out at 98 pounds and is not in the low 80's. So, her Doctor admitted her to the hospital today and is pumping her full of fluids and running more tests. Big should arrive there late tomorrow afternoon and will come back on Tuesday, if all goes well. I will be staying at home with all the animals! I will miss her a lot, but I know I will get a lot accomplished while she is gone.

Well, I am off for the night. I am sure I will blog more over the next few days!

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Chance of Flooding

Today's forecast calls for clouds, humidity, rain and a chance of flooding. Do you think I chose the appropriate pair of jeans for the day?



These are actually one of my favorite pairs of jeans. I don't wear them often because they are so short! Damn my long legs!

I am off to clean my "studio," might post photos of that later. It is currently pretty scary looking.

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Pincushion Challenge

Hi all! It is late and I have been busy, so this will be a short post. I wanted to show a photo of a pincushion I created for a "challenge" on Pins and Needles. The photos of the pincushions are to be posted today and tomorrow. Tuesday, those who participated get to vote on their favorite. There are some cute ones already. Can't wait to see all of them!! You should stop by and see them.




Hope you all had a great weekend. This morning, I spent a couple of hours cleaning chicken poop and replacing their litter. Whoopee - lots of fun!!

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Thrift Store Finds

As promised, I wanted to show you a few things I picked up last week at the thrift store and a garage sale. Not everything I purchased is shown here, just my favorites.

I don't really know when my love affair for dishes and other kitchen paraphernalia started. Perhaps it was when I was 15 and my Mother and German Grandmother purchased silver tableware for my hope (hopeless as my family called it) chest. The first items to enter my hope chest were silver coffee spoons and cake forks. That was the beginning of the end. (My mother still purchases tableware/kitchen items for me.)

I use Fiesta Ware as my everyday tableware. I love all of the different colors. I fell in love with Fiesta at my American Grandmother's house. She had a complete set to include serving dishes. I also have a set of Pfaltzgraff's Yorktown pattern. The Pfaltzgraff was my first "real" set of dishes.

My favorite set of china is my Spode Christmas pattern. My mother gave me 4 place settings for Christmas over 20 years ago. Almost every year my Mom adds to my collection! Two Christmases ago, she gave me a tea pot, creamer and sugar bowl. These are probably my favorite pieces of the Spode collection.

On to my finds!

I fell in love with the patterns on both sets dishes. Both patterns are made by Taylor, Smith and Taylor. The company was originally from West Virginia and that bit of history makes them more special to me. I believe they date to the 30's. I have yet to find the name of either pattern, so if anyone recognizes them, let me know. I found a book that has the patterns of Taylor, Smith and Taylor in it and I am going to see if the library can order it for me.







My next find is my favorite. It is a sock darner made by Hungerford. It is a heavy plastic and is marked "For Light Material" on the red side and "For Dark Material" on the cream side. I almost passed this up - my first thought was that it was a fishing bobber (I think that is what those things are called). I looked at is closer, realized it was a darner, saw the $.49 price tag and knew it had to come home with me. I researched the darner and saw that someone had one just like it for sale for $20.00. I am not able to find much history on it and I don't really know if it is worth $20.00 or not, I love it and think it will go well in my sewing room!





I went to some of the Garage Sales in town this morning and was able to snag some goodies. I will post about them later in the week. My friend Lisa and I will be going to more sales tomorrow and I want to combine all of my finds in one post.

Hope you all are having a great Thursday.

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Busy, Busy, Busy

I am off to see an old friend of mine. We met when we lived in Morgantown, WV. She has a daughter who is a year younger than The Baby and they got to be good friends and so did Bettina and I. We are the type of friends who don't talk often, but when we do, it is as if we talk every day. Her life is a bit stressful right now, her daughter will be a Freshman at WVU this year and will live on campus. So even though they will be in the same city, it will create a different relationship. Bettina also has a pre-teen son and an almost pre-teen son. Can you imagine the testosterone in that house? Her husband is often out of town and he is not able to help out much. On top of that her mother-in-law came to live with them and they just added about 800 square foot to their house to accommodate her. Along with the square footage, they added a substantial amount of debt!! I look forward to chatting with her and catching up on what is happening in her life.

I am excited about this weekend. The county I live in is going to be a part of a 3 county garage sale. My understanding is that you park and walk from sale to sale. Last year, out city alone had over 800 sellers. I imagine it will be crazy and I can't wait to be a part of it. I will head out early tomorrow (the 1st day) then I will go again with my crazy friend Lisa on Friday. Don't know that I will find much, but I will enjoy the hunt. Wish me luck!

I told you that I would post about my last garage sale finds, and as you can tell, I haven't. I have decided to wait until tomorrow and link it up to a few other sites. I may even have some other goodies to show you!

Well, off to get ready. Hope you have a great day!

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Back to "Normal"

Thing are getting back to some semblance of "normal." Big went back to work today (I am not sure if she will make it the entire day or not), The Baby is back in school and the dog, the three cats, the bird and the 8 chickens and I are here with a long day of chores ahead of us. I have a list of "To Do's" that is so long, all I want to do is run away from it! My plan is to go slow and tick one thing off at a time.

Today I will:

1.) Vacuum
2.) Sweep/Mop (My Mom bought me a shark - so I don't really hate mopping as much)
3.) Laundry
4.) Plan a menu for 2 weeks
5.) Plan a grocery list
6.) Pay bills
7.) Put new handles on the kitchen cabinets
8.) Some sort of crafting (I want this to be #1, but I will be good and do chores first)

The Baby called this morning to say hello and let me know what is going on in her life. As she is telling me what her daily plan is, I can hear that she has labored breathing. She is like Big and easily gets upper respiratory infections, so I begin to worry. I didn't want to interrupt her, so I let her talk and I continue to get more concerned about the breathing. She finally stopped talking for a moment (we both talk a lot - I blame it on my Mom!) and I asked her why she was breathing so heavy. She had one of these in her hands -



She was busy cleaning the grease spots off the wall in the kitchen! Ahh...she is a chip off the old Mom block!

Well, I am off to get my list started. I just remembered, I get to hang with the Quilty Ladies and my Guild tonight. I am feeling more a part of the group, so I hope the meeting will go well. Have to go find a red, white and blue fat quarter for trading!

Have a wonderful day!

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Sunday Blues

The Baby is back at school. We got up early, left on time and got to the school on time. Luckily, a friend of hers had to arrive at school early also and he was able to help us unpack! Climbing 2 flights of stairs about 5 times gets a bit tiring when you are old! The Baby and her friend would run up and down the stairs while having a conversation! Ah, youth.

Anyway, she is in her apartment. It is not as small as she remembered it. She only saw it once prior to moving in. It is actually rather cute. The one bad thing is that it is pretty dirty! I helped her get her kitchen items put up after the cabinets had a good cleaning. There was a lot more cleaning to do, but I wanted to let her get the "feel" of the place before she had training.

I am not sure when we will see her again. She will have to find out what her schedule is, hopefully it won't be too far away.

Big and I are going to Washington, D.C. in September. She has training and I will be tagging along. I find D.C. to be a very interesting place and have not seen very much of it. If anyone has any ideas of places to go, let me know. We have done most of the big sites. We would like to see more of the Smithsonian.

Well, I better get off the computer and get my sleepy self to bed! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

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This and That Thursday

Wow, it is 10:15 p.m. and I am just now able to get my Thursday post done. I know that in some places it is already Friday, so, sorry.

Big is not feeling well today. Actually, she has not felt well for a few days. She finally went to see the Doctor today and found out that she has an infection in her lungs and "junk" (medical term used by her Doctor) up her nose. She is on an antibiotic and steroids. She has COPD and asthma and is prone to get upper respiratory infections often. It has been a good while since she has been sick and I hope she is better soon. She is a bad patient!

The Baby finally ended it with her boyfriend. Of course, that could change tomorrow, but for now it is over. Her heart is broken and I wish I could fix it. But this is something I can't fix and she will have to figure it out by herself. I know that all of you Moms know how I feel. I feel very helpless. She knows that I am here for her and that is all I can do.

We have had some major rain storms here today. We are currently under a flash flood warning. I think warning is worse that watch. I can never remember. I would probably still be trying to figure it out as the house was floating down the river. Luckily, we live high on a hill and don't really have much of a worry of flooding.

I was recently a participant in a pot holder swap. I showed a photo of the pot holder I sent her. I got my package from her yesterday and boy was it great! Tina spoiled me and I loved every minute of it.

Here is a photo of all of my goodies. There are two pot holders, a large hot pad, some candles, some lovely tea, two dish towels, 2 magnets, a neat little chap stick holder/key chain, some note cards, a pencil and a puzzle book. Oh my God, don't let me forget to mention the candy! Have you ever had Nips? I have never tried them before but they will be on my list now.



Don't you just love these magnets?



This will end up on my key chain tomorrow. I always have chapped lips in the winter and this will be handy!



We take The Baby back to school on Sunday. I am going to miss her so much. Enough said about that.

Well, it is almost 11:00 p.m. now and my eyes are beginning to cross. I am off to bed, I hope you all had a good Thursday. Tomorrow, I am going to post about some great Thrift Shop/Garage Sale items I found. I am so excited about them!

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Where has the time gone?

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. There have been a few things going on that have kept me away from Blogland, but mostly I think I just needed a break.

My car decided it also needed a break and after a $400.00 vacation, she has now come home. The Baby was driving it home from work and it decided to die on her. Luckily it started right back up and she was able to make it home, but it freaked her out. She was unable to miss any work (she would have lost a $1,000 stipend for school), so Big took the week off and we took her to and from work. Big's car is a stick and The Baby can't drive it. Big and I mostly laid around, watched movies, read books and magazines and were generally lazy. It was really nice!

This is The Baby's last week home before heading back to school. She is both excited and sad. She is gathering all of her "stuff" and putting it in the extra room. The piles keep growing! We will take her back on Sunday and help her get her room situated. She will be living in an apartment style dorm and is excited about having a separate living area!

I haven't gotten much done in the "crafty" realm. I have lots of plans and ideas, but that is as far as it has gotten. I did complete a pot holder for a swap I was participating in. It is a twist on a log cabin pattern. I had fun making it and will be making a couple for myself. I had forgotten to take a photo, so this photo was provided by my partner, Tina. Thanks Tina!!



The Baby and I did a Dollar Tree run yesterday and on the way home we stopped at a yard sale. I picked up some neat dishes (I need them like I need a hole in the head) and a couple other things. I will post photos later. I am trying to search for more info. on the dishes. So far all I know is they were made in West Virginia, so that is cool.

Off to get another cup of coffee! Hope you all have a great day!


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