Whew! I did the Portland Yarn Crawl for the second year.  Last year I did not make it to all of the stores, but this year I made it to all of the stores.  It took me, and a couple of friends, two days to make to all 18 stores, but it was fun to see all that Portland has to offer in the world of yarn. I definitely have a couple of new favorite yarn shops that I  plan to visit again.

I love to touch and feel all of the different fibers. The softness of bamboo, vibrant smoothness of the Cascade Pima cotton and the snugly soft feeling of the alpaca yarns make me want to just pile them us on the floor and roll around in them.  Somehow, I don't the shop owners would appreciate it if I actually did roll around in their yarn.

Somehow when it comes time to choose, commit or whatever you call it, I cant seem to make up my mind.  I find it so frustrating, I stand there holding the yarn, but just can't makeup my mind.  I get the yarn into my hands and my mind goes blank, for some reason I can't see what the yarn should become.  When I go to the store with a project in mind, I have trouble deciding on the yarn color to use.  I have been struggling with my knitting block for a few months now.  I was hoping the Portland Yarn Crawl would release my inner knitter again and I found several skeins of yarn to buy, but now I need to make something.

I started a cowl in a purple bamboo yarn that I hope will be scrumptious.  I will post some pictures soon.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, it's been a while.  Things have been happening. I have been busy knitting up a storm.  I am in the process of knitting a baby blanket for one of my daughters friends.  Yes, you know it, I did not finish it in time for the baby to be born.  He was born last Sunday.  Little baby Henry was born October 7th 2012.  I will be knitting like a crazy person for the next few weeks to finish.

Last weekend we went camping on the Oregon Coast and it was a beautiful weekend to be at the beach.  It was nice to be at the beach when the sun is shinning and wind is calm.  We enjoyed 5 days of walking on the beach with our dogs, Licorice and Junior.  Picking up sand dollars and watching the dogs chase the seaguls.  Knitting and relaxing by the camp fire was wonderful.

Back and Knitting

It been a while, but I have now finished my degree. I am finally a college graduate, boy does it feel good to be finished. I am not looking forward to the monthly payments that will be starting soon.
Since I am no longer doing homework, I have been having anxiety about what to do with myself. In the four weeks since I finished, I have been knitting like crazy. I have finished two infinity scarves, a chicken, a cupcake and attended the Portland Yarn crawl. My husband thinks I have gone crazy, he just does not understand that I have two years of lost time to make-up for.
Since finishing school, I have joined Raverly and started to catalog my projects as well as keep track of my needles and stash.

Just stoping by

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

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.

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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....

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!

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

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

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