Dea's Strings

Just stoping by

2010-07-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a few months since I have posted. I have been busy doing homework, taking care of the house, looking for a new job and just living. I can now mark a few thing off of my To-DO-List. It seems like life has been racing by the last few months.
I will be returning to work full time next week. Yes its been almost a year, but I finally found a job. I am so excited I can't wait to start and get back to life as we used to know it. I missed the days when I had an actual routine and not to mention, I can go to the grocery store and not have to count my penneys to make sure I don't spend more than we have this month. I will actually get to see the savings grow instead of shrink for the first time in almost a year. This is an awsome day.
We are anxiously waiting for the arrival of our second grandchild. Our oldest daughter Andrea is due any day with our first grandson Liam Alexander. He will be joining his older sister Haylee Marie in their new house here in Oregon.
Hope you all have a great 4th of July!
See Ya

Purpose for Small Area in Living Room

2010-01-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

Got some new furniture for my living room. I gave the bay window in my living room a purpose. I created a study/work area for school. Got a new cabinet desk from Cost Plus and found a new chair at TJ Max.

It opens to a file drawer and shelves and has a pull out desk area for my laptop and netbook. Then it closes up to look like a cabinet. The area goes from work and study and back to living room in a jiffy.

The sage green chair is gorgeous and matches with the dining room chair pads at the other end of the room. Not sure if I am done yet. Think I might like a small area rug under the desk.

2010-01-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

So here I sit, with the dogs (3 of them), Computin' away. It is one of those nights that my mind is runnin and runnin. Not getting anywhere, just runnin. It's after 1:00 AM and did I mention that the dogs are snoring. I have homework to get done, not in the mood for that.
Mentaly runnin down my list of things I got done today, since it is after midnight, I guess it would be yesterday. So here they are:
Cleaned the Kitchen (daily chore)
Washed load of laundry
Worked on homework
Went shopping with my Honey Bear
Ate leftovers for dinner
Worked on homework some more
Drank wine (2 glasses)
More Homework
Ended up on facebook (playing farmville)
Read favorite blogs
Don't I lead and exciting life..... Anyway feeling crazy, because I can't sleep. Ever since I haven't been working full time, my sleep patterns have gotten messed up. Not sure how to deal with this. I have always been a morning person, and now I haven't been sleeping on the same schedule and having trouble getting back.
Oh yea, almost forgot to tell ya all. Daughter #1 is have another baby. Hope it's a boy or twins (wouldn't that be fun, fun to watch her deal with them). He! He!
I know that sounds mean, but I think they could handle it. Besides it is time for twins in the family again.
Well it's been fun chatting, got to go do some homework.
See ya

Shopping Crazy

2009-12-29T22:53:00.000-08:00

I have just one question. Does shopping with someone make you crazy? I enjoy just wondering around looking and taking my time. I used to love shopping with my girls, but now that they are older, I feel frustrated when shopping with them. They drag you through the mall and light speed, shopping in stores and looking at things that I would never dream of wearing and don't want to know if they wear them. Oh, Yea! How about when they yell across Victoria Secret. Mom, try this on! Did I mention that it was two sizes too small. That little Santa suit with not enough fir in all the wrong places won't fit me. Those little stringy thing undies. That string will never be seen again. Not gunna happen. Nope!!!

Today I went to the grocery store and Costco with my husband, hate that too. I have a system at the grocery store. I start with the produce, then the bulk, then cheeses, meats and beer, and then I go to the dairy, breads and checkout. When shopping with my husband, we end up going all over the store and back and forth. I was so frustrated and forgot three things on my list. Aargh!!! He could have waited in the truck and I would have been done faster. It's snowing in Portland, Oregon and I may need that stuff. I hate to be stuck in the house and not have everthing that I want.

What if I have a craving for chocolate chip cookies and I have no chocolate chips. I am telling you, the cookies won't be the same without the chocolate chips. Grrrrr!

I am better now that I got that out of my system.
Hope you all have big plans for the New Year!
See Ya.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T21:30:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I have posted. There has been a lot going on. I started back to school, have been working part time and hoping to find a new job soon.
We had a great holiday so far. Spent Christmas eve with my side of the family and Christmas day with hubby's side of the family. My family is a little larger and a bit more busy, so a lot of stuff and sillyness happens. Christmas day is quieter and a little less silly, but still fun.

Here are the girls being silly and testing the new camera.

Hope you all had a peaceful holiday and lots of family fun.
See Ya

Painted the Kitchen

2009-10-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

Finally painted the kitchen. We remodeled the kitchen a year ago and finaly just got to the paint. I would have done it sooner, but there was a section of hand painted grape vines above the sink that my daughter and I painted several years ago. She and my husband did not want me to paint over so I did my best to paint around it and give a little artistic flare.

All we have left is the moulding around the floor and the laminate floor in the adjoining family room.
See Ya

Freaky Friday!!!

2009-10-09T20:08:00.001-07:00

OK, so I had a burst of energy this afternoon and decorated the front porch. We have a country front porch and I always have great ideas that never get done. Like making covers for the chair pads for the seasons and putting up lights.
Well at least I got the pumpkins out and plugged them in. We have this antique desk that I love. It is great for a place to put the grocery bags while searching for the front door key and "oh yea" decorations.

I replanted the pots with fall flowers and gave them some needed attention. The summer flowers died while we were on vacation. Our daughters forgot to water them in 90 degree weather. Yep they were pretty much gone.

I found the cute little wagon for half price today at the store. Love to get bargain's like that.

Here is a shot from the front yard. Looks better than it did, but could use some more sprucing up.

Oh yea, the cat even got some Halloween decorations. Hope he doesn't mind the spider in his bowl.

Just checking in with some spooky cheer.
see ya

Finished a couple of new projects

2009-10-01T20:16:00.001-07:00

Made a Halloween theme quilt. It was fun and is soft and warm to curl up and watch TV or read a book with. Every time I curl up with the quilt all the dogs think they need to curl up with me.

My second project was a wall hanging with some of the left over fabric and some I had in my stash. It came out pretty cute.

Hope you all have fun with your various projects.

See ya!

Cool Project

2009-09-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

My daughter made this picture board for a friends birthday. Sometimes I am suprised by the beauty of the projects that she does. This one came out realy nice.

Here she is holding the board.

A little closer view of the project.

Here I held it up against the wall so you could see it better. Her friend will love it. I want one too.

See ya

Precious children

2009-09-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

Just popped in to share a precious moment with you all.

A few evenings ago I was home with my grand daughter. We were sitting in my room watching TV and hanging out with the dogs. Haylee was laying and talking to Licorice and fell asleep. These are the pictures we treasure for years.
Sweet moments with tow of the dogs sleeping and Licorice watching over them. Got to love childern and our pets.
See ya

20 Things I Love About Fall

2009-09-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well now you've got me dreaming about the fall.
I love.....

1) A cool evening sitting on the front porch.
2) The beautiful leaves turning colors.
3) The smell in the air (you know every season has it own smell).
4) Coffee on the back patio in the morning. '
5) Fresh baked scones.
6) Pumpkin pie.
7) Lots of apples at the store.
8) Afternoons watching the neighbor kids walk up the hill home, excited about school.
9) Evening walks with my dog.
10) All the new shows on TV.
11) Love the fall flowers.
12) The stores have squash (my favorite vegtable).
13) All the ripe pumpkins in the pumpkin fields.
14) Watching my husband rake leaves into big piles.
15) The last trip to the beach before it gets stormy.
16) Pumpkin scented candles to light in the evening.
17) The kids go back to school & the neighborhood quiets down.
18) Time to quilt, knit and bead.
19) The smell of rain after a long dry spell.
20) Last of all HALLOWEEN!

The leaves haven't turned yet here in Clackamas, Oregon. I am waiting patiently.
Well I am off to go through my quilting box to see what I have. The fall makes me feel domestic and ready to curl-up under a quilt, next to the fire and read a good book.
See Ya

Anniversary at the Beach!

2009-08-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

On our way to the beach to relax in the sun and play in the surf. Licorice & Junior were to lazy to walk.

Hurry up, lets get rollin. We need some beach time.

Beautiful views and walks on the beach. The dogs had a great time chasing the birds and running in and out of the surf.

Everyone contributed to the sandcastle and had a great time hanging out on the beach.

Ok, so they had to sneak the beer into the shot somewhere.

Bought some crazy hats at the hat store in Long Beach. Silly guys wearing the hats and more beer.

Stole a kiss for my anniversary. We have been together for 24 years of fun and love. Here's to many more.
By the way, Hubbies sister and her husband had their 13th anniversary on the same day. Yes they got married on our 11th anniversary. Strange but cool to have someone to share our day with.

A few days of beautiful sunsets and long walks on the beach. We had a great time and lots of silly fun.

Day at the beach

2009-07-16T22:15:00.001-07:00

We had a girls day at the beach. Hubby was going to come along but woke up with a sore throat and decided to stay home. So just us girls made the day trip to the beach. We had a great time just hanging out and relaxing.

After sitting in the sand and digging, the three of them had wet butts. They thought it would be funny to save a picture of them looking at me while showing their wet butts. Gotta admit it is pretty cute and silly.

They decided to document their day with their names in the sand.

They are just adorable.

Our pretty toes in the water. The water was warm for Oregon beach water. It is usually so cold your toes go numb, but not this day, it was great for wading in the surf.

On the way home we stopped at Cooterville. We thought the sign was so funny, we had to stop and get a picture.
We had not done that for a while and had a great day together. We should do this more often.
See ya

Made tiny bit of progress....

2009-07-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

We did some re-arranging in the family room, but no progress on installing the laminate floor. The room looks better, but we need to get rid of our Oak corner unit. We hate to give it away. Would like to try and sell it. We had it custom made to fit the corner in our family room. Since we bought a new TV that is too big to fit, we need to find it a new loving home.
As for the kitchen, I have all but the last 5 tiles cut. I will be working on getting that finished, hopefully this week. Then it is on to the next project.
See ya soon.

Dust everywhere!

2009-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

It's been warm for a few days and we have enjoyed the windows open and the fresh air throughout the house. I started to look around and realized that there is a layer of dust everywhere except the kitchen (the one place that I am constantly wiping the counters). I feel like a terrible house keeper. Hopefully I can get to it this week and bring my house back to the clean and organized that makes me feel good.
I do wish that we could get this remodel project done. I have almost finished the kitchen. One last row of tile to go on the back splash and then it's grout. Then all we have left is to refinish the entry, install the laminate flooring in the family room and install the pendant lights over the cook top. I see the end, just can't seem to get there.
Outside we are putting in a patio, fire pit and storage shed. It always seems like there is so much to get done that I just can't keep up. I think the hubby is overwhelmed and needs to just step back and finish something.
On a happy note, we did clean the garage and have a garage sale. Sold a few things, took a lot to the Goodwill and a truck load to the dump. Still can't fit a car in there but it looks better.

Lazy summer days

2009-06-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here they come. Yep it's the lazy days of summer. The days when it is hot and the only thing we can do is sit on the patio with a glass of ice tea (ok, lemonade will work too) and a book. But Joey has a good idea too. Find a good soft spot and take a nap. Dosen't he look so peacful and sweet.

I hope you all find your place to sit and enjoy the lazy days of summer. They will be here before you know it.

See Ya

Secret Garden

2009-06-04T22:08:00.001-07:00

Have you ever seen a big open driveway that needs something. Well this one has a beautiful secret garden . There is a pond on one end and 3 entrances to the garden. This actually is the house I grew up in. My brother & sister in-law live there now and they created this wonderful hidden garden.

On one end there is a entrance with a wide spot for a small table and chairs and leads to the middle where you can make a decision to leave or go past the pond.

Here is another shot of the same entrance.

It is a nice middle of the driveway with beautiful and private spots to sit and just enjoy the moment.

Beautiful moments and places create moments that help you enjoy the peace and quiet. You can stroll through the garden and there are places that urge you to stop and enjoy the moment or views.

Hope you enjoyed the garden.

See Ya

Beauty in my backyard

2009-06-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share some of the beautiful blooms that are in my backyard, right now. I love flowers and planters full of flowers. The bright and beautiful blooms can almost always bring a smile to my face.

This rose was a birthday gift several years ago. It is a tree rose that we planted in a big planter.

This is an Exbury Azalea that we bought at the Rhododendron gardens annual sale, 4 or 5 years ago.

Here is a gorgeous pink miniature rose that I got as a gift for mothers day.

This old wheelbarrow was just sitting around for a couple of years and I finally got around to planting some flowers in it. I hope in a few weeks it will fill in and be overflowing with beauty.

And of course every yard needs a little bit of whimsy added. I got the Moose for Christmas a couple of years ago. There wasn't a place to store him so we decided to put him in the yard. We move him around so that he is watching from a different places and it's fun to see where he comes up next. We even plug him in during the summer and get all kinds of laughs from family and friends that are over during the summer. He also provides light in dark parts of the yard, when needed.

Well, those are my ideas for you all to try in your yards. Hope you enjoyed them.

See Ya

Back from the sick bed...

2009-06-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Well, sort of. I am not 100% yet, but I am working on it. Went to see the Doc and got some meds today. Hopefully within the next few days I will be back stirring it up in good ol Happy Valley. We had a busy weekend even though I was suffering from allergies and sinus problems. Attended a wedding and a family birthday.
Oh well we gotta do what we gotta do and I did.

I took a couple of pictures of mopey little junior. He just didn't want to get out of bed on Sunday morning.

Dosen't he look pitiful?

Oh, the tuff life of a dog......

See Ya

Hi! from Happy Valley...

2009-05-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

Just popped in to say hi. I've been under the weather for the last few days so I haven't felt like doing anything but sleep. I am still exhausted and achey, so I am going back to bed to get some rest before I go to work for the week.
See Ya

Projects that we finished, I think....

2009-05-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

We created this patio a few years ago. It is one of our favorite places to hang out.

Just imagine yourself sitting there on Saturday morning drinking your coffee listening to the birds waking up and watching the dew drops drying on the rose petals.

Light the candles, sit with your sweet heart and listen to the frogs croak on a warm summers evening.

My favorite projects are creating my little planters filled with flowers. I think that the hardscape needs a little color and softening.

This is where I go to escape from all the kaios going on inside the house. The family room and kitchen are almost done. Just need to finish the backsplash and put the flooring down in the family room. Then we are done.

Projects to complete...

2009-05-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

I think sometimes that we get in too deep. We start the next project before we finish the ones we have. So here it is, the list that is nagging me.

1. finish the tile backsplash in the kitchen.
2. Paint the kitchen.
3. Install the laminate wood flooring in the family room.
4. Finish the new patio area.
5. clean the garage (you have no idea how bad it is).
6. Gravel the RV parking.
7. New bark dust for the yard.
8. Fix the lawn mower (the John Deer doesn't run like a deer).
9. Build a garden/storage shed.

So, now I have written it. That means that I (we) have to finish something. Right?

See Ya

Patio Project

2009-05-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

The long weekend is over and the hubby got some work done on the new patio. Here are some pictures of the progress.

Day one progress.

Day two.

Day three, the wall starts.

I can't wait to sit out ther with a glass of wine and roast some marshmellows.

Licorice helps.

2009-05-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Here I am, sitting here trying to type while Licorice keeps dropping her ball on my keyboard & waiting for me to throw it for her.
Well it has been a long week before the 3-day weekend. Hope we can get some time in on the new patio area. I will be nice to finally have the yard somewhat complete. Now that the kids have grown we don't need the trampoline and have decided to level the area and put in a fire pit. Some place where we can hang out and roast wienies and make smores right here at home. It will be like camping without even leaving the driveway. No long drives to the camp grounds and everything we need in the kitchen. We can have mini staycations all summer long. I will take pictures of the progress as we go.
Licorice finally gave up and is now sleeping with her paw on the ball. I guess she wants to be ready just in case I want to throw the ball.
See ya

Awhh.... To be Loved!

2009-05-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

After an evening of dinner on the table with candles and wine. Kind of Hallmark, don't ya think? I have forgiven him. We sat and talked and just spent time being together. No computers or TV. It was wonderful to just be together. After almost 24 years we can still just be. For me he makes room to take up space. An opening in our hearts for each other. In this day and age of technology, it is nice to have some nice music and wine. Just sit back and know that my baby loves me and I love him.
See ya

Men are amazing!

2009-05-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

My husband made a comment this last weekend that I have been thinking about for a couple of days. He told me that I was the only person that he knew that let the laundry pile up in the utility room. Since I am the only woman he has lived with other than his and my parents. I'm assuming that he is comparing me to our mothers. The mothers that were stay at home moms. Moms that's only job was to take care of the family (wonderful moms might I say) They took care of the home and all that was and lived in it. I have always had to work to help with the bills. If I hadn't worked we would never have been able to afford a house. We would still be living in a run down apartment.
Still, that comment hurt and made me feel inadequate. I think of all the plans I had when I was younger and how as life happened the dreams have either gone by the wayside or changed altogether. When I leave the house by 7:00 AM and return around 5:30 PM. My evenings are filled with cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning it again, doing our laundry and putting it away, cleaning bathrooms, grocery and gift shopping, and other things as they come up. We have 2 daughters, a grand daughter, 4 dogs and 3 cats. All of these need to be cared for in some form or another. There are days that I feel lost in kayos. I go to bed at night exhausted and aching.
I think that men today forget that the wives of today have careers and jobs as well as being home makers, we have a lot more on our plates than our mothers did. As far as I am concerned, we are Wonder Woman's. I don't want to say that our mothers who stayed at home had it easy, they had their hands full also. My mother took care of the pool, made sure that all the neighborhood children were looked after, took care of the home, had dinner on the table at 5:oo every night, planned vacations and camping trips.
When the day is done, I feel like I should be doing more. Why is that I feel guilty when the house is not perfect. They just point out that it is a mess and act like we are over reacting when they tell us.
Come on guys, you put the garbage out once a week (and need to be reminded), mow the lawn once a week 4-5 months out of the year, other yard work periodically and repair jobs as needed. Think maybe you should do a little more to help out? Then you have the nerve to have a mid life crisis. Are you kidding me! Get over it and do some laundry.
Sorry to complain, but I needed to tell someone how frustrated I am. Oh yea, did I tell you that I gave up on waiting for him to do the tile backsplash and I am doing it myself. Another thing for me to do, while he watches CSI, House and plays video games.
See ya

Back with progress on kitchen!

2009-05-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

Woo! hoo! Got 2 rows of the back splash tiles installed in the kitchen. Working on cutting the tiles around the receptacles and switches. then the last row needs to be cut to fit. Got interrupted by Mothers Day and my birthday. That is out of the way and now I can get back to it. Hopefully I will get it done this weekend. I will post pictures. It is going to look awesome.
By the way I didn't get the family room flooring done for my birthday. I still have 400+ square feet of mahogany laminate stacked in the family room. Been there since August. 2 1/2 months away from a year. Can you believe it?

See ya

Craze day!

2009-04-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever woke up to one of those days when you know you should stay in bed. That was yesterday. I think (I hope)it was PMS. I'm sure that my panties were too tight and squeezing the mean out of me. I could not help myself, everything hubby did irritated me. He made me breakfast and after that it was on. I complained because he was sitting in the couch watching TV instead of working in the yard. I complained because everywhere he went there were dirty dishes behind him to pick up.

I knew my claws were out all day, but I could not pull them back in. Why can't we be nice. Sometimes I feel like if I don't act like a b-t-hy little brat once in a while, he will take me for granted. I wish I could do yesterday over and be nice. I will be working on what I can do to make it better.
See ya

Totaly creeped out

2009-04-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

Watching The Fringe and totally creeped out. I should change the channel but I can't. I need to make sure they get rid of the monster. Enough of the creepy.

I still have not been able to get motivated to start something. I keep looking but don't seem to be able to find a project that moves me. I think maybe I need to work on the kitchen and finish painting and tiling the back splash. Hubby asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him I want the laminate floor in the family room done. I need to feel organized and in control. I hate the stuff stacked around and the dis-organization of the house. I think I will go crazy before we can put everything in its place.

Oh well. Another day and another project. I hope to get some of the tiles on the back splash this weekend.

Easter

2009-04-12T20:13:00.001-07:00

I just finished Crazy Aunt Pearl's book. Great story. I laughed, cried and cheered her on through out the whole book. My husband would look at me as if I were crazy at times. I just told him that he wouldn't understand. There were times that I was angry at her x, but sounds like she is much better off without him.

Well Easter is winding down now. The Girls have gone to bed and I am not far behind them. the three of us have early morning for work. The man unit works tomorrow night, so he will be staying up all night so he can sleep tomorrow.

For the last few months, I have been having a knitting dry spell. I haven't been able to get into any projects. I just can't find any projects that have drawn me to them. Hopefully I will find one soon. Well I'm off to get some sleep.

See Ya

Wow!

2009-04-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered where some people get attitude. The in laws have decided to go golfing and out to dinner by themselves for Easter. I guess we are officially the plague. I was brought up in a family that spends holidays together. Though the last 23 years we have spent every Easter with them and I am just wondering if there is something that we have done to upset them and now they do not want to come over on the holidays.
On another note the man unit has now bought a 50" TV and a surround sound system. We are doing our share to help the economy. I wish we could have put it in the savings instead of spending that much money on something that is not necessary right now.
I will continue to be bewildered with men and their idea of what is important. I do not have any toys that have ever cost that kind of money and if I did want something that expensive (quilting sewing machine)it is considered to be too expensive and not necessary. Oh well some day I will get my dream sewing machine.

See ya

Can't be mad at me...

2009-03-23T21:50:00.001-07:00

My hubby was being a grump this weekend and it reminded me of several years ago when we were first married. I had done something that made him mad at me (I was always in trouble for something)and he was giving me the silent treatment. So being my ornery self, I decided to strip and do the house work naked. After about 15 to 20 minutes of him trying to ignore me, he asked me why I was naked. I yelled "made you talk" and all he could do was laugh. I went and got dressed and every time he looked at me the rest of the day he would just crack up.

Throughout our 23 years of marriage, I have used silly antics to get through without a yelling match. One time he was complaining that the laundry wasn't done so I accidentally put one of the girls red socks in with his tidie whities. Oops. That is a bummer when you change into a uniform in the locker room at work.

Once he complained that I don't do anything for him. So I didn't. After a couple of weeks he started looking for his clothes and other things he had left laying around. When he couldn't find them, He asked what I had done with them. I told him to look in the room that was his (garage/back room. There was a huge pile of dirty clothes. He spent the next couple of days doing his own laundry. It took us a few years, but eventually, we figured it out and now we share the chores and have become a team.

Just to be fair, I have not always been the easiest to be with either, but only one of us can act like a child at a time. The other has to even it out until we get a chance to get even. I guess I got that from growing up with brothers.

Life has been fun so far and I hope there is many more years to come and we can keep working it out. So take note, there are other ways to work things out, you don't have to fight out loud. You don't have to yell and scream at each other. just let everything calm down while you plan the counter move. Just remember if it is something that you need to be serious about, take it serious and don't do anything that will hurt the other person. No mean hurtful things, just silly things that will make them think.

Funny Girls

2009-03-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

Wow! mom you will never guess who we saw at the Space Needle in Seattle. It's Gloria Victoria and her best friend Bloddy Mary. Can you believe it, haven't seen them in forever. Ha! Ha!
Sometimes my girls are so funny. That Alex is always doing silly things. They found the sun glasses in the gift shop and had to pose. I still crack-up every time I see the picture.

2009-03-01T22:35:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder why you are snapping and snipping at the people around you. Lately it seems that no matter what I do, everything irritates me. I just want to relax with peace and quite. I want my house finished and all put back together. I hate that the kitchen is all done except for the paint and tile backsplash. The floor in the ajoining family room is still just grey painted sub-flooring. I am so tired of cleaning around the pile of flooring and waiting for someone to just do it.
Everytime I bring it up, he has an excuse for not working on it. I would do it myself, but that would create a big fight. I hate the procrastination. I just want to get the stuff done and the house put back together. The undone is making me crabby and frustrated. Well I'm better now that I got to tell someone how I am feeling.
See ya

2009-02-26T19:03:00.001-08:00

Wow! February is almost over. We are almost into March and it looks like we may be going into it like a lion. Today was a chilly one in Happy Valley, Oregon and the weather man says tonight is going to be down around 27 degrees, Coooold. Andi is sick and stayed in bed all day, Alex is grumpy and hubby is at work. Somebody help me, I think I am going crazy.
Uh Oh, cranky pants is home and wants to go to the grocery store. Better go before she chews off one of my arms.
See ya

Tme fly's

2009-02-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

I can't beleive how the time flys by. We have been busy working on the house, celebrating holidays and loving the family. The 11th will be our oldest daughters 23rd birthday. It seems like just yeaterday she was born, and now she's going to be 23. I feel like I've grown older without realizing it. We have been working and trying to survive. Where did all the time go. It is amazing to see our daughters become beautiful young ladies. Here is the young ladies of our house. They sent this pictures to us from the Seattle Space needle last saturday. The one on the right is our Andrea. The one on the left is our Alexandra, the younger sister.

I'm so glad they are ours.

Its the season!

2008-12-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

It's the time of year that makes me crazy. I feel like screaming. I spend all my extra time working on projects/gifts for friends and family and then its all over in a flash. All this build up and poof. It seems like we spend all this money and no one is happy. This year it seems even more dreary with all of the economy woes. I don't understand how there is a problem. The stores are full of shoppers, just like always.
I feel so sad for all these people that are loosing their jobs and I worry about mine and my husbands. I have been saying my prayers and hoping that the work would pick up. I have worked hard that last few years and I love the people that I work with.
Hope you all have a great Christmas!
See ya

It me!

2008-11-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

Is it a plane, is it a jet, nope it's just me. I'm back to write something. Can you believe it. I would have been back but I had nothing to write. Just going to work and coming home. That is it.
I can't believe the presidential election is over. I thought it would never be over. This has been the craziest election I can remember. I hope the US gets through the next 4 years and the economy gets better.
My oldest daughter and granddaughter have moved in. My youngest daughter decided not to go back to Oregon State and stayed here to go to community college. This house is full again. Creates a lot of work for me, but I certainly do not feel alone.
I hope all settles down so we can relax again. I hate all this stress and turmoil in the world.
While all this has been going on, we are remodeling the kitchen and putting new floors in the family room. We started in August and are still at it. we have the tile backsplash and floors and the we are done.
See Ya soon

More puppies

2008-06-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the puppy we have started calling Tubby. He is a lot bigger than the other three and a piglet at feeding time.

They will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. I was hoping that I would have new puppy parents lined up for them by now. I love raising sweet little babies, but I get bummed when they leave to their new homes. This is the last litter that we are going to raise, because I don't think it is good for the mom to have too many. We will be having her spayed as soon as her tummy shrinks back to normal.

Several of the people who have gotten them before have stayed in contact with me and that makes me feel better about them going to new homes. We interview and watch how they interact with the puppies before we will sell them. I want to make sure that they will be loved by their new families.

Will write again soon.

Puppies again

2008-05-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

The puppies are getting so big. They will be 6 weeks old on May 28Th. I hate this part because we play with them and treat them as part of the family and get attached to them. I love it when they go to good loving homes, but it makes me sad to see them go. This is our third and last batch of puppies. I am sure it will make it even harder to see them go.
They are all starting to have their own little personalities. The biggest one is a boy and he is the most adventuresome, the little short fuzzy is a girl and she is the feistiest, the other little girl is sweet and loves to cuddle and the smallest of them all is a boy and he is shy and timid. The little guy has us started to come up and let us pet him. We handle them from the time they are born, but let them grow and explore on their own. The now want to be out of their little area with us all the time. They were all sleeping on a pile with Alex on the couch this afternoon. It was so cute.

They got their first bath yesterday. The biggest one was the biggest baby. He yelped and fussed the most.

Oh yea, they smell so much better.

All wrapped up in a towel.

They will sleep anywhere.

They are so fun to watch and cuddle with. The Little fuzzy girl is such a cutie. When you pick her up she wiggles so much you have to be careful not to drop her.

Time to get dinner will write again soon.

Puppy update!

2008-05-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Check out these little cuties. Got love the rollie pollie little babies.

Our little guys are starting to growl and bark. They have started to come out of the crate and play. I miss having the girls around to play with them. Dave and I don't carry them around enough. Two of them don't want to be picked up at first. After holding and petting them they relax and go to sleep in your lap.

Alex was home from school and she got them out and they all fell asleep on her on the couch.

I seem to be having a problem uploading more pictures so I will try again later.

More B-day stuff

2008-05-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

Went to my brother's on my actual birthday and my mom made my favorite cake (chocolate with fudge frosting. Yummmm! They BBQ ed steak and had potato salad and green salad. Got a couple more presents.

This really cool lighted relaxation fountain

And a new photo printer.

I am glad to feel loved and cared for by my family. I can't wait to take some pictures and see how the printer works.

Later will write again soon

Barkin dogs update

2008-05-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a dog bark day. It seemed that all the dogs in the neighborhood were stirred up. Every little sound started one or the other and then all the dogs would follow-up with barking. The complaining neighbor was outside and must have enjoyed the noise.
The dog that lives in the yard behind us (just below the complainer) barked several times throughout the day. I heard the neighbor yell to shut the ----ing dog up. I enjoyed yelling back that "it's not my dog". He yelled: "Who's dog is it". I yelled: "take a walk around the neighborhood and find out for yourself". The dog behind us and the ones below us were doing most of the barking. Our dogs barked a few times. Since we were out there, they were immediately reprimanded and put in the house. I feel it is unfair to us to have to shut our dogs in all of the time. They should get to run and play in their back yard, just like the other dogs.

I hope the complainer realized that most of the barking is from yards other than ours. I do get frustrated when we let our dogs out and the dog behind us and the dogs below us run to the fence and start the barking. Then I feel bad because my dogs start barking back. I am not sure how to fix that problem because it is normal behavior for a dog to bark back at another dog.

I appreciate you putting up with my complaining. Will write again soon.

Early Birthday BBQ for Me

2008-05-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today my husband and daughters had a BBQ with the in-laws for my birthday . Here are some pictures of my presents.

Got some citronella candles for the patio.

And some table cloths and matching napkins with a gift card to Nordstroms. One of my favorite stores. It was definitely a very nice day. The BBQ was great and I enjoyed having the girls home for the day.

Will write again soon.

Mom's Birthday Present

2008-05-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

I made this necklace and earrings for my mom for her birthday. I don't remember what they called the large blue stones. The rest is silver and blue crystals. I chose them because they accented the blue in the large stones. I hope she likes it.

The puppies are starting to growl and bark. It is so cute when they let out a little bark or growl at each other. Now that their eyes are open the have started to try and follow their mom out of their crate. We are going to have to move them to and area in the dinning room where the are not on the carpet and they can get out and play.

Daughter #2 is home from college for the weekend. It is nice to have her here for a couple of days. It is amazing how busy things are around here when she is here. It has only been a month since we dropped her off at OSU and it seems like a long time.
We were waiting by the door waiting for her to get here last night. It will be a bummer tomorrow when she leaves to go back. Hubby's parents are coming over tomorrow to see her and visit for a while.

Gotta go, will write again soon.

Puppies

2008-04-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

Boy are they growing. Here are a couple of pictures that I took today. They are two weeks old today. I can't wait for them to be up and running around. Three of the four have white marks on their chest.

They are cute little butter balls. One of them is almost as big around as he is long.

Our Licorice is the best momma. She hears the smallest squeak and off she goes to check on her babies. She has attacked both the other dogs in the house. The second they think about getting close to the puppies, she jumps them.

That it for now. Will keep you all posted on the puppies.

The barking dogs

2008-04-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Well here I am, 2 days in a row. Got a letter from the county a week ago. It seems that one of the neighbors complained about our dogs barking too much. We live in a neighbourhood full of dogs. I can't believe that only my dogs bark. After talking to Dog Control, I found out that it is mostly during the day they are complaining about. It appears that he works from home and his wife works nights. I don't think it is our dogs. I work days and my hubby works nights. Our dogs are in their crates (in the house) while my husband is sleeping. If his wife is having trouble sleeping, she needs to sleep on someone else's porch.
We don't leave our dogs out very long. They usually just go out and do their business and come back in. I let them out around 6:00 AM, hubby lets them out for a short period in the afternoon before he leaves for work and I let them out 3 maybe 4 times in the evening. Once in a while they bark at a squirrel or bark back at one of the other barking dogs in the neighborhood.
For the last week , we have been keeping a dog log. We log when a dog barks in the neighborhood and for how long. Yes we keep track of when our dogs bark and what they are barking at as well. Wow! Now that we are paying attention, dogs bark quite often. These poor neighbors must be out of their minds with the frustration. It appears that the dogs below us bark quite alot. They have a doggie door and go in and out all day long while their doggie parents are gone at work. We bought a ultra sonic bark control device. When the dogs bark, it lets off a high pitched sound that only the dogs can hear. They stop barking and look at us and we say no bark. It seems to be working.
I have become phycotic about the whole thing and every time our dogs make a noise, I yell at them. I hope they are enjoying that. They will probably going to get so sick of hearing no bark, they will be sorry they complained.

2008-04-28T20:53:00.001-07:00

We've been busy here in our little world. Our youngest daughter is now off to college. We dropped her off the first of April. She is loving it so far. She calls me most every night to say good night. She said, she's been telling us goodnight all her life and it doesn't seem right not to. So, she calls about 9:00 PM and says good night.

Boy, do I feel the empty nest blues. This big old house is so quiet, I hate it. It seems worst when hubby is at work. He works 12 hour shifts 3 days one week and 4 days the next. I find myself turning on all the lights and TVs, so there is noise. I finally finished all of the little projects that I told myself, I would do before I started back to knitting, beading or quilting. I have also found out that sattelight TV has nothing to watch, even when we pay over $50 a month. We have over 200 channels, and most of them are paid programming. What is up with that? Watching paint dry is more entertaining that the "sell me something" garbage on TV.

I have some happy news. My dog Licorice had 4 puppies on the 16th. They ae so cute. I am amazed at how fast they grow. I almost 2 weeks they have doubled in size. I could hold one of them in my hand, when they were first born. Now, their little bellies fit in my hand. The fatest one is my favorite. It startes eating first and the whole time, the puppies tail is sticking up and wagging back and forth. Hubbys says that it is pumping the milk in with it.

This picture was taken on the 17th. I will get some more pictures as they grow. They are now starting to open their eyes and are such cute little squeaky things. It is going to be hard to let them go in 8 weeks.

Thats it for now. Will write again soon.

2008-01-09T00:15:00.000-08:00

It is late and I cant sleep. I hate this! In the afternoon I feel sleepy, but when I get home, I am wide awake until late. When I finally do get to sleep, I don't want to wake up. So I end up rushing in the morning. Oh well...

Well I haven't done much of anything lately. Just going to work and doing the house chores. I haven't been feeling well. Have a Dr appointment tomorrow. We will see if the hormones are all out of whack or what. Maybe that is part of the sleep problem. I hope they have some answers for me. I hate the mood swings and other stuff. Well I should quit winning and try to get some sleep. See ya all later....

2008 Wow!

2008-01-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

Well the holidays have come and gone. The year is new and we all have a fresh start. I hope this year is a healthy and prosperous year for all. Time to start getting ready for a great year and planning for all the holidays of 2008. Hope you all have a great 2008.

Insanity 2007 begins!

2007-12-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time again. Here I am planning the cooking, baking and gift giving. When do the men get to do this. I am the ultimate list maker and planner and then it seems to all change before I can get the stuff done. Just one year it would be fun to watch my husband plan it all and then maybe I would be appreciated a little more. I'm sure he appreciates all I do, but when I'm trying to get all this done and planned and he asks if I'm done with the shopping yet, I just want to say nope and guess who's finishing it. You are!
OK, I'm over the whining now. I need to get going and start my holiday baking and planning. We are hosting the family Xmas eve dinner this year. So there is lots to plan and do. I need to go out in the rain and wind and get more wrapping paper for presents.
I also have a birthday party to plan for my daughter. Right in the middle of Christmas insanity, we have a birthday to do. What we we thinking 19 years ago when we did that. Well I'm off to get this stuff started. Happy Holidays to all!

Knitting Again

2007-11-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of my little pumpkin head wearing the hat I just finished for Hubby. I have finally accomplished something. I love these quick and easy short projects. I tried to get him to pose with it on and he was off to his computer in a flash. Hiding from the camera.

Here is project #2!!! I have finished another one. Can you believe it. This is the scarf I made for Grand baby Haylee. She is so cute in it. I tried to get her to pose and she kept taking it off. I have some more of the purple and plan on making her a hat to match. Right after I make her mommy a hat and scarf. I bought some Bernat Alpaca in Wheat and Natural. I can't wait to get started.

Well, I'm off to knit.

Frustrated Mom

2007-11-05T22:53:00.000-08:00

There are times when being a parent is difficult. My 18 (almost 19) year old daughter was out with her friends Friday night. I'm OK with her spending the night with friends, but she needs to be home at by decent time on Saturday morning (with my car). Saturday is the day that I get the grocery shopping for the week ahead, done. It is very frustrating when I have to reschedule my day around her disregard for my time. I prefer to get my shopping done early so I can get back, clean house and get my chores done before to late in the day. I guess she doesn't understand that I have worked 40 hours and spent 10 traveling to and from my weekday job. Saturday is my home workday. I try to get things done so I can have Sunday to relax and refocus, before it starts all over again. Someday she will have her own family and home that she has to take care of. Maybe then she will look back and get it once and for all.
After all that frustration, she tells me she got a speeding ticket on Saturday morning. I just give up. I have been on her case about slowing down. I made her drive with her permit for 2 years, because she refused to listen to me about her driving. Well now guess what, she will have to pay her own ticket and cover the difference in the car insurance. Her only other option will be to get her own insurance and car or not drive. I am tempted to buy her a bike and bus pass for Christmas.
She is driving me crazy. I worry every time she leaves the driveway. I feel like she doesn't pay close enough attention, drives too fast and has no clue where she is. She calls me and give me streets and will ask how to get home. I don't remember feeling this way with our older daughter. I wish she would just be careful.
HOW DO I KEEP MY SANITY!!!

Back Again

2007-10-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

At the prom having fun! Aren't they a silly bunch.

Finally got some of the pictures off of my camera. Thought I would post a few so you all could see my beautiful daughter at the prom. Daughter #2 is the one on the left, her best friend since 1st grade is the second one and Mr prom and the young lady on the right are friends since middle school. They all decided they did not want to go with dates, so they went as a group and had lots of fun.

The truck is fixed!!!

2007-09-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Finally after 3 weeks and $$$ later, the truck is working. It starts like a champ and is running good. The mechanic found where a wire had been partially pulled loose, from the wiring harness, under the dash. He thinks it had been that way for a long time, possibly when the alarm was installed several years ago. It just hadn't gotten bad enough to cause a problem until recently.

Now for something fun. I made this necklace, bracelet and earrings to go with an outfit I wore to a party last night. Lately I have been on a beading binge. I love to hold them and roll them around in my hand. It is fun to create something beautiful out of them.

Well I should get going and get ready for work tomorrow. The weekend mode is over.

Still no truck.......

2007-09-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well, they replaced the ignition and the explorer will start one time, but not the next. The mechanic is pulling his hair out. This is the first time he has run into this problem. He refuses to give up, I am glad that he is not charging for diagnostic time. So far we have replaced the fuel pump and ignition, I can't imagine what will be next. I am beginning to hate cars. I just want it to start all the time. Funny thing is once it is started the truck runs great.
Enough depressing car news, I have been working on some bead work. As soon as I get new batteries for my camera, I will post some pictures. I made a turquoise and fresh water pearl necklace and a red jasper necklace, bracelet and earrings. It was relaxing to spend the weekend just playing with my beads. See ya later.....

Still in the shop!

2007-09-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

They have had it for a week and the wrong part was delivered on Friday. Too late to reorder until Tuesday. Won't get the part until Wednesday. Three weeks and lots of $'s later, we might see the truck this next week. It better run like new. In the last year we have put new brakes, rebuilt transmission, replaced radiator, fuel pump and ignition on the truck. Hopefully it will be good for another 100,000 at least. We plan on getting a new car in the near future and giving it to our daughter. I want to make sure it is dependable and safe. It may be 13 years old, but it is in good shape and should last a few more years. Enough about that...
Today, I spent a few hours beading a necklace for my mom. Hopefully she likes what I came up with for her. At least I got something done that was fun. I plan on beading a rope for my niece. She picked out some gray and black sead beads that she wanted put into a spiral rope. She has a glass parrot bead that she wants to hang from it. I am going to try to start on that one tomorrow, after I plan dinner for hubby. Three day week ends are great. I get caught up around the house enough, so that I can do other things that are fun.
He has been working lots of hours and finally has a day off tomorrow. Thought I would BBQ some steak and fix up some pasta salad and black beans for dinner and then whip up a chocolate cake with fudge frosting for desert. I have been craving the cake myself, may as well get it out of my system so I don't eat more than I should. Since he works 6PM to 6AM, he will be sleeping all day, so I will have the kitchen to myself. No one to look over my shoulder and tell me how to cook (I hate that).
Well it is late and I need to get up early to cook some breakfast for hubby when he gets home in the AM.

Cars again!

2007-08-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

We now have one of the two of the trucks running. One of the explorers is home and running well. The other was home for about 3 days and went back to the shop. Now the ignition seems to be acting up. In the last couple of weeks the truck has been at the repair shop more than home. I hope when it comes home, it runs good for a long while. It has had over $3000 worth of repairs in the last year. I wish we could just go buy a new car, but I refuse to have a car payment until we sell the house.
We are downsizing to a house that is easier to keep up with. I hate the large 4 bedroom. We don't need 4 bedrooms for two of us. the kids are out on their own or off at school. I would rather have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with a big kitchen and great room set-up. This 4 bedroom 2.5 bath with kitchen, family room, formal dining and living room. I think if we only have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a great room kitchen set-up. I will be getting rid of 4 rooms that I do not have clean. Oh Yea!!! More time to knit, bead or quilt. That's what I am talking about. The house is almost ready to put up for sale. Just need to refinish the hardwood entry and install moulding that we took out to replace floors. Hopefully it sells quick and we find our dream home and we never do the move thing again.

Fords argh!!!

2007-08-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

We have 3 of them and they all have problems. I just want something that I don't have to work on, take to the shop or whatever. I want them to start when I turn the key, go when I put them in drive and get me there and home again. Is it too much to ask? It isn't like we don't take care of them. They get regular oil changes and tune-up as needed. I don't need a sports car, I just need it to be dependable, presentable and no dents. I hate it when the girls call and the car won't start. I just want something that has a warranty, that way someone else gets to figure out what is wrong. Well I guess I am done whining now. Sorry to have brothered all with my woes.

Bummer Day.....

2007-08-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

I had to take my little truck to the dealer to get it checked out. It is running bad and hard to start. They told me the intake manifold seals are bad to the tune of several hundred $$$$ to repair. While waiting for them to get done checking and scheduling a time for it to go back and get done. My daughter called me to tell me that the other car would not start and she was stuck at the store with the granddaughter until I could get there. I got there and could not get it to start either. After several attempts and time on the phone with my brother who works on trucks. We figured out it was the fuel pump. Another one of them several hundred $$$ to fixes. I brought them home and went back to get the truck to the shop. I finally got home around 7:00 PM and had dinner around 9:00 PM. I left work at 10:00 AM planning on getting back there around noon and ended up being gone all day. I hope they are not mad at me.
I thought my day couldn't get any worse. I checked my email and found that a friend had died on Monday. It got worse. He will be missed by all that knew him. What a bummer of an ending to a bad day. Bummed to the max.

Just stopped by...

2007-06-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it been over a month since I have updated my blog. Boy, do I have a lot to tell ya. We moved our oldest daughter and granddaughter to their new apartment and stored their furniture in our living room for a month until we had dry days and time when hubby was available to get the furniture to her place. We just have a couple of things left and all is done.
We haven't been able to work on the few things we need to get done on our house with all the extra furniture in the way, you could hardly move, let alone paint a room or anything. We now have a normal living room again.
We had the upstairs recarpeted. That was an experience. We stayed up all night and moved all the furniture from 4 bedrooms downstairs into the garage and living and dining rooms. Then we moved our king size matress to the family room.
We pulled out all of the carpet and threw into the back of our truck. We finished at 5AM and fell asleep on the matress in the family room. The carpet guys arrived about 10AM and started to work. It took them about 5 hours. My Hubby slept through the whole thing. All the pounding and banging and he never even stopped snoring once.
It seems like we are never going to get this house ready to sell. We still need to paint the molding and install the molding in the formal living/dining room after the new floor install. We need to clean and organize the garage and the shop. We need to touch-up around the ceiling where our daughters got paint on the ceiling when painting their rooms. The toughest thing has been finding the right color of paint to match the ceiling. Well its been great to catch up again.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

2007-05-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life has been busy. We are getting ready to sell our house, so I have been busy helping hubby fix the little stuff. I have painted all of the rooms except the family room (the biggest). I am having trouble deciding what to do. We have a big brick fireplace that is done in brown tones. I think that some shade of purple would look awesome, but my daughter thinks I should paint a dark chocolate brown. My husband does not want to paint at all. He says it looks good as it is, boring white dove.
I hope the house sells quick so we can find something smaller. Since the girls are getting older and moving on, we don't need all this space for two people, a cat and a couple of dogs. My oldest has moved out and my youngest is graduating from high school in a couple of weeks. She is off to culinary school this fall and won't be home much. I would like to get moved and settled into a new house before she start school in the fall.
Well I better get going and paint something before hubby comes looking for me and finds out that I am on the computer.

Needles of some sort....

2007-04-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say if it gets done with a needle (of some sort) and thread, then I like to do it. I enjoy knitting, beading and quilting the most. I used to also embroider, cross stitch, crochet and macrame. But the hobbies were taking over and I could not store all the stuff and keep-up. When you have 15 projects going at one time, it becomes overwhelming and projects get fuzzy. I had to scale down and take control.

A couple of years ago, I took all my cross stitch books and half done projects to the Goodwill and vowed not to buy any more. I got rid of my crochet thread and needles and kept my embroidery thread. You can always use that stuff on quilts.

The embroidery thread has come in handy a couple of times. My daughters used some of it when they were into the friendship bracelets and I have used it on crazy quilts and for decorative stitches and around other things on quilts. It always amazes me to find out how many ways some things can be used. My husband even used my embroidery thread for tying together chicken legs for the rotisserie. I'll bet you haven't heard that one before.

I also came to the conclusion that I could put beads on my knitting and I could add beads to my quilts. So the projects kind of came together and I could add all my favorite things together. The beads can also make jewelry when you need something special to go with that hot new dress you bought (and hid until the next night out with honey).

So I decided the hobby had to somehow be useful. Quilts give you something beautiful for your bed or can be hung on the wall as art. Beads can be used for jewelry, added to quilts and added to knitting. Knitting can make all kinds of things. So now I am guilt free and only take up one room in the house.

Quilts

2007-04-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

I am having so much fun with my new camera. I have been taking pictures like a crazy photographer. Here are some of the quilts that I have made in the last couple of years.

This pattern I got out of a book. It's been a while so I don't remember the author/designer. I added my own expression at the top.

This one my daughter batiked the material in her senior art class and embellished it with beads. She had a lot of fun with it.

This one I designed after reading a book on feng shui.
I was inspired by Oriental restaurants and how they have fish tanks in the lobbies and what the water and fish in the tank symbolize. The black fish is to ward off evil and the gold fish are to bring wealth to the house. The water is embellished with blue beads. The fish are stitched around with embroidery thread to secure them.

Below is a close up so that you can see the beads and stitching.

Are You Kidding Me!

2007-04-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this bag for my daughter and she just told me that she wants it bigger. It is not wide enough. So I guess I will be starting over. All that work and she is going to make me start over. Aaargh!!!! Once I get to this point in making a bag, I hate to start over. This is the part that is relaxing. Just knit, knit, knit..... So I guess I will take it out and start over.
I'm typing my blog with the help of Licorice. She is laying on the back of my chair with her head on my shoulder. Do you think she can actually read what I'm typing? I swear she can. If she could talk, I bet she would say get over it and tear it out. Okay Okay, I'm pouting but I will take it out. Better get going so I can take it out and start over....

Spring has sprung!

2007-04-02T19:14:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help myself, I was out in the yard and had to take some pictures of the flowers. Can you believe it. They are blooming. I thought spring would never come. I love to watch the things I have planted in previous years appear out of the dirt.

The primroses are vibrant and beautiful. Now just how do we keep the slugs away. They will feast on them if we don't do something to stop them.

I even found a couple of the dwarf iris. These are so pretty in their pale shade of yellow.

I took a close-up of the bloom on the rosemary. This is the first one I have gotten to survive the winter. The last couple froze and died.

I couldn't help myself I had to take a picture of our little guy Junior (5 months old last week). Isn't he a charming little fellow next to the tulips and daffodils. I tried to take him for a walk today and he would have nothing to do with being on the leash. If I wanted him to move I had to drag him or carry him. The little guy was scared to be out of his yard.

Here is Licorice (Juniors mom) my sweet baby girl. She is waiting for me to throw her ball. As usual ,She is ready to play and full of bounce. Next time, I will get pictures of Mr Wedgy (her older boy, 1-1/2 years old) and Roofus (their daddy). Well, I've got to go and get my chores done and help hubby with diner.

Finished Projects & New Camera

2007-03-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here it is Saturday night and I'm already in bed with my laptop and camera. I've had a dull headache all day and just decided to give up for the night. The house is clean enough for now and most of the laundry is washed, folded and put away. Hubby & daughter are at work, so its just me and the pups. Time to relax.

I got a new camera today. My mom and dad helped me buy it as an early B-day present (awsome gift). These are the first pictures I have taken. Hopefully after some practice I will get better.

Just a couple of the projects I have finished recently. The black and green bag is for my niece Kassy and the pink & black bag is for my niece Dakota. Hope they like them....

I got yarn!

2007-03-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday evening and I got yarn. I got enough to make 2 pair of socks, just in case I get done with my first pair and have to start another pair right away. I also got 2 books on making socks. One that tells me how to measure for socks and another that has the instructions for making socks on circular needles. I just need to get some needles. I am not sure what ones I need 16" or 24" length or size #2 or #3. I also did not realize how much $ we spend for our hobbies. I always feel guilty when I get home and add it up, but the finished project is so rewarding.

Well, I should get going. Licorice my dog is standing with her front feet on one side of the laptop and her back feet on the other. She thinks it is time to play with her. It is a bit difficult to type when she is trying to distract me. I am having trouble seeing through her and she is just too cute to ignore any more. I will go and get her one of her treats (scooby snack as she calls them).
See ya later...

To Do

2007-03-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

I read my horoscope today and It says it is time to start a project. You know one of those that I have been thinking about for a while. I'm sure it's not cleaning the garage, so it must be knitting socks. I will just swing by "All About Yarn" and get some sock yarn and maybe a new set of needles while I'm on my way to the grocery store.
I'm sure that Licorice would love to go for a ride. She is my best pal. she follows me everywhere and sleeps on my lap while I knit.
Well better get going so I can get back and make some food for hubby to take to work tonight. Those 12 hour shifts are long and requires a bit of extra food to get him through. Maybe I can figure out how to get a picture on here. If not I will have daughter #2 help.

Getting started

2007-03-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally gone and done it! I'm blogging! I'm blogging! I've been planning on starting a blog for quite a while. I love to write and have decided to start one about my hobbies and life. I do not have pictures at this time. I will. Hopefully sooner than later.
I started knitting about 15 years ago. With some help from a friends mother, I started a sweater and never finished. I finally gave it away to someone that would finish it. Then... About a year ago, my daughter Alex, saw a felted bag she just had to have, but she did not like the colors. I bought the pattern, looked up a few things on the web and was off with needles in hand. I finished that bag and made another one for my other daughter Andi. It's grew from there. Their friends wanted one and then my nieces all had to have one (4 of them). Several bags later I am still knitting and would like to try my hand at knitting socks.
I have recently been reading some of the web rings about knitting and decided to start my own blog. So here it is. I'm blogging!