Getting Our Craft On

As you know, The Baby was home for the weekend. She usually has a lot of studying to do, so I don't get to spend too much time with her, but it is still nice to have her here. On Saturday afternoon, we decided to get crafty. We are all big Halloween lovers.

One year, Big spent a couple weeks turning a big doll into a creepy, flesh chewing, monster. I will have to find a photo and post it. At our last home, we were known as the "Captain's family" and "The Halloween People." We spent days decorating the inside and the outside of the house. Big and The Baby would dress up and hand out candy. Some times little kids would not come to the front door, so I would take candy to them.

Anyway, back to the crafts. The Baby and I had a lot of fun. Everything we used came from the Dollar Tree or the thrift shop. I like to craft on the cheap!




This is a wreath I made. I love the skull! I used some red glitter glue in his eye, it makes it look like blood.



This is The Baby's wreath. She used spiders and spider webbing. The spiders all have a touch of purple glitter.



You know The Baby loves her hair decorations. She made a couple clips with bugs.



The Baby spray painted some thrift shop candle sticks and some ceramic pumpkins and then used glitter glue on the pumpkins.



I made this last week. I am part of a Halloween Tote bag swap and this was what I sent my partner. I have had the fabric for about 3 years and never knew what to do with it. I have about 5 yards of it. I always thought I would use it as a border since it is just rows of the same patterns. I think the tote came out cute! What do you think?

Well, I am off to get some work done. It is a cool fall day, a bit rainy, but I think that will fade as the day goes on. The leaves are beginning to change colors and I love to see that. I will post some photos soon. Hope you are having a great day!

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Getting my Cook on

Last night for dinner, I made these. They are Mushroom and Swiss Sliders with Spicy fry sauce. I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman. They are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I heated one up for lunch today and it was still moist and tender. If you have never tried a Pioneer Woman recipe, you just must. She is a great writer and a great cook. By the way - the photo is hers, but mine looked just like it!

Tonight we are having Grilled Salmon with Pineapple Salsa. Big is not excited about any type of fish, so I have to put a good sauce on it before she will eat it. I also made a Tiramisu Bundt Cake. Yummmmmmm.

What is on your plate?

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I've Been To The Desert On A Horse With No Name

Remember that song? I bet it gets stuck in your head today!

Hello again my bloggie friends, I have missed you! I haven't been on a horse or in the desert, but I have been busy. I have found that if I blog in the morning, my day gets started to late. If I blog at night, my brain doesn't function. So what is a girl to do? I have also found that after a week or so of not blogging, it is hard to get back to it. I am back now though, so here is what I have been up to.

I steam cleaned Big's "Woman Cave," which is her creative space, game space and hide from me when I am pissed space. The carpet looked good, but smelled worse than when it was not clean. We had a hot water heater leak when we first moved here and the carpet in that room got wet and when it dried it smelled bad. I guess wetting it again made it smell worse. We ended up pulling up the carpet, removing the tack boards, scraping the carpet pad off the floor and then bleaching the floor. I figured I may as well paint the room, so I did that also! That project took about 4 days!

We went to Washington, D.C. for Big's conference and enjoyed ourselves. We drove into the city and went to the Smithsonian Natural Museum of History. It was a wonderful day (other than getting lost). We ate $8.00 hot dogs and had a $5.00 cookie! We got really lost going in and out of the city. Our directions sucked! Big's level of communication went down about 4 notches. She would tell me to turn after I had already gone straight! My level of frustration went up about 4 notches, so you can imagine the scene! We finally made it to the hotel - Big actually survived the trip! The hotel was great, we had a nice suite with a little kitchen. A nice breakfast was included as well as a dinner. I have never stayed at a hotel with dinner service! We chose to not eat dinner there and tried out some of the restaurants that were close. It was so nice to not have to plan and make dinner. There was a mall with about 200 shops right across the street from out hotel. I spent some time there! I also did hand work and read. It was so refreshing!

This week I have been very crafty. I will post some photos later. I am off to walk the dog (she has her little legs crossed). Then I will pressure wash part of the driveway and seal it. Remember when I started that project? I hope to finish it soon.

I will be going to get The Baby tomorrow. She is in need of some rest and some Momma love! I am more than happy to give it to her! We will be making some Halloween decorations. I LOVE me some Halloween decorating!

Hope you have a great day - I missed you all!

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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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