I Finished Something

I told you I was feeling crafty today! I finally finished my clothes pin holder. I started it about a month ago and finished it a few minutes ago. I really like it. I wanted something colorful and fun. I think washing needs all the help it can get!

When I am finished with lunch, I will be making my second batch of blueberry jam! YUM! Then, if I have time, I will back in my sewing room to make a pillowcase for Big out of some "Olivia The Pig" material The Baby and I found. Big writes and illustrates children's books (nothing published - I can't get her to send anything in) and while reading children's books for research (and because she is a big kid) she found Olivia and fell in love. I was going to make the pillowcase for her birthday, but I couldn't keep the fabric a secret from her! I am not good at keeping secrets.

I have always wondered how crafty women/men got all the work done that they show in their blogs. I found the secret - NO HOUSEWORK!!

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Helga's gift (again)

I finished Helga's gift early this morning. I took a photo and sent it to Mrs. P right away. I hope she is laughing her ass off! When I was taking a last look at the pattern this morning, I realized the creator has a blog. I went there and sure enough, there was the patter - photo and all. So here it is. Remember, do not look if you think you might be offended. I was offended and I was making it. (Marg, it was a little hard to make) This is not the kind of thing I normally make, but I did it for my cousin. Sometimes we just gotta do what we gotta do.

Yesterday was spent cleaning our garage. We have lived in this house for just over a year and there were many unpacked boxes out there. I have about half of the garage done. It is hotter than Hades here (well, maybe not that hot) and I thought working in the garage would be better than working outside. It was, but it was still hot. I don't think I will finish the job today, I think I will sew! I am feeling very crafty today.

Tomorrow I will be hangning with my friend Lisa. There is a quilt show in Bridgeport and we will attend it. We will be having lunch at Panera, which is one of my all time favorite places. I love the Cheese and Broccoli soup in a bread bowl. Delicious!!



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No link

Sorry that the photo of Helga's gift didn't show up for everyone. Apparently Ravelry logged me out after a while. I am not sure how to get a photo for everyone to see. It is X-Rated and I don't want to offend anyone. Any ideas?

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Knitting for Helga

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I have read some of your blogs and it looks like a lot of fun was had celebrating Independence Day. We did a little yard work (Sunday is mowing day), had some BBQ chicken, macaroni salad and watermelon and then wrapped up the evening by watching fireworks on television. Why watch them on television you may ask. The fireworks in our town were held on the 3rd of July, not the 4th! Who does that? Really, what is the deal. Needless to say, I was a little upset that we missed the live show, but the TV fireworks weren't too bad.

Anyway, on to my knitting project for Helga. Helga is my cousin who lives in England. We found out last year that she has lung cancer. She underwent chemo and radiation, but it spread to her brain. She won't tell us how long she has to live - she is just taking every day and making the most of it. I am very proud of her for her attitude. She and her long time boyfriend will be on their way to Dubai in a week for, what she calls, the vacation of a lifetime.

Helga and I have never been very close. Much of the reason for this has been the miles and miles between us. When I was young, my Mother, Brother and I lived with Helga's family for a year while my Father was stationed in Korea. I saw her again when my Dad was stationed in Germany. She spent a week with my family about 6 years ago and we went to visit her about 3 years ago. Although we are not close, I feel very sad for her. I think of her often and try to e-mail every few days to let her know we are thinking of her.

So, on to the good part of the blog. While we were visiting Gt. Yarmouth, Big asked to use Helga's iron (Big irons everything). Helga pulled out her iron and ironing board, set it up and then watched Big begin to iron. She had a grin on her face the whole time. Let me explain why. Her ironing board cover has picture of a good looking, well built man on it. He has a towel wrapped around his middle. When his towel gets hot from the iron, it disappears and his manly bits show! Anyway, Big got busy with her ironing and when she picked her shirt up from the board, she got a big (and I mean, big) surprise! Helga was laughing so hard I am surprised she didn't pee herself. Of course, the rest of us had to run and see what was going on and then we were all laughing. So with that story in mind, when I saw this pattern, I immediately thought of her. Please be aware, this is an X-rated pattern, so don't look if you are sensitive to that type of thing! I hope this makes her laugh and takes her mind off all of the sadness she is dealing with right now.

Hope you all have a wonderful day - I am off to clean house and then to more knitting! Hope to get Helga's gift in the mail in the next day or so.


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West Virginia is in Mourning

Early Monday morning the state's beloved Senator Byrd passed. He was 92 years old and was in good health until the last few months. Senator Byrd spent 51 years in the Senate, the longest time anyone has served. He lay in repose on the Senate floor in Washington D.C., and was then returned to Charleston, WV, Thursday for a final viewing by the people of this state. Thousands have passed by his casket.

Senator Byrd was well known as "The Prince of Pork." He never signed a bill without making sure that West Virginia got something out of it. It is because of him that we have wonderful roads, beautiful and plentiful state parks and more.

I am not a native West Virginian, but I have come to love this state and all that it offers, much of it due to Sen. Byrd. He will be missed.


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Home Improvement

Firstly, I want to thank all of you who wished me luck on the tarring of the drive way. I have learned many things while working on this job. Perhaps I should say re-learned. I know all of these things, yet somehow I seem to block them from my mind.

Here is a list of what I re-learned.

1.) You never buy enough "stuff" for the project
2.) It always takes longer to complete the project than you estimated
3.) It is always a good idea to read all of the instructions
4.) The money you saved by doing the job yourself does not cover the Dr. bills or the cost for the massive amounts of Ibuprofen you need to take
5.) It is probably not a good idea to work on the project with your "better half" They somehow quit being the "better" part of the whole and just piss you off.
6.) At the end of the project, although you are proud of yourself for a job well done, you realize you should have just hired a professional.

I know there are some of you working on (or have worked on) home improvement projects (Mrs. P, I know you are!!), any other home improvement wisdom to add to my list?



Some of this area was done yesterday. The dark part is the new protective coating. (I am sure you figured this out) I had to trim the grass at the edges, sweep it, blow it with the blowy thingie, wash it down, keep it damp and then put the black stuff on it. I also got black stuff on me, my clothes and my shoes! I washed off, the rest of the items are now my "tarring" clothes.



In this photo, I tried to show some more of what I accomplished today.



Here is some of what I have to do in the upcoming days. Yes, all the way down there! The driveway is downhill and therefore it is hard to see where the end is. Look for the road that runs perpendicular to my drive way.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

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A Gift From Lisa

I received a call on Monday morning from my friend Lisa wanting to know if I would be home later that day. She said she was coming to town and had a gift for me. Lisa is a sweetie and is always giving me little gifts. I told her I would be home in the afternoon and I would love to see her, gift or no gift. When she got here, she made me come out to her car and close my eyes. She opened her trunk and low and behold there was an old Free-Westinghouse sewing machine in her trunk! She said she saw it at an Estate sale and thought of me, so she picked it up.







I have done a little research on it and found out that it was made in the 30's or 40's. A Mr. Free had a sewing machine company and then joined Westinghouse and then eventually was bought out by Westinghouse. I plugged it in and it works! I have it in my guest room underneath a window that looks out to the front yard. I am so excited. Today I will spend some time cleaning it up and figuring out how to work it. My sewing room is in the basement (our basement is a livable space, not just an ugly basement!) and I am not always fond of going down there. Once I am there, I am fine, but getting there is hard. I don't like dark spaces and my sewing room has no window. So this machine is perfect! I just love it and I just love Lisa!



Monday night I made these flowers for The Baby. I got the instructions from Emily's Little World. I had a blast making them - only burned my fingers once. I cut some circles out of a synthetic material (old blouse I picked up at the thrift store for about 10 cents) and I singed the edges. There are about 5 - 7 layers in each one. I added some seed beads to the center. She wants to put them on a headband. If you remember from a previous post - she loves to wear things in her hair. I am sure I will be making more for her and some will probably end up on a shirt.

Here is another photo from the quilt show. If I remember correctly, there were 128 different blocks in it. I think it is really beautiful.



Hope everyone has a wonderful day. I am off to clean the driveway so we can lay a coat of stuff that looks like tar on it. Our winters are hard on the asphalt. This project will take many days - our driveway is probably about 500 feet long! Wish me luck.

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