What a way to end a year and start another... I just bought a barely used, almost new, Baby Wolf loom. This makes 2 for me - but, I'm turning around and selling the older BW - only because I need to make some money to replace what I've spent on looms. I'm also selling my large Leclerc 45" floor loom. Both are 4 shaft looms. I hope they both sell and I can regain some of the $ I've spent recently. I am also looking for a better sewing machine. I've decided I really like sewing simple quilts and I want to try to make a go of that as well. In the autumn of 2012 I plan on trying to do some small, local craft shows and sell things I plan on making...
I'm also trying to find a name for my little crafty business. It's not easy - I've tried all sorts of names on Google to see if they are already taken. Of course, that's no guarantee just because they don't show up there....but hey, it's a start. I don't know that I'd register and all that, but I know that if I go to a craft show and don't have a tax card, I can get into trouble. I've tried this once before and no one checked on me. I've never really stuck with any one thing long enough to get good at selling it and making any money off it. We'll see if I can make a go of it this time.
I know I'm not a professional weaver - or seamstress/quilter for that matter. But I won't be trying for juried shows - just local craft shows in the local high schools, etc. I have a tendency to do my own thing while crafting - I break the rules, do what feels good, and try to make a good product. I keep it simple because that is what I'm good at - being too fussy doesn't work for me (a good example is the pinwheel quilt I made - thank goodness that is staying in the house because it is coming apart! I hated making that quilt!). If I can find charm packs for inexpensive prices, and I can find matching fabric for the sashing, I'll continue to make my small quilts (or put 2 charm packs together and make a larger quilt) and hopefully be able to sell some along the way too........ As for weaving, it will consist of things like scarves, towels, and shawls. I think that's what I'm good at and that's easy enough for me to do.
So cutting down to one loom makes sense, right? After all, I can only work on one thing at a time. I plan on devoting at least 4 hours a day to crafting so I hope I can stick to that - depends on how much my daughter might need me to babysit during the weeks coming up.
So no photos today....sorry. It's time to make dinner but I wanted to just post a bit to share my thoughts.
Oh, how about your opinion? Some of the names I'm thinking of are:
Hrt2Kre8
Hrt2cre8
Hrt2kr8
CottageKre8ions
Remember, I sew, quilt, weave, and I am hoping to sell blank cards with my photos on them.....
I don't know if I'm in love with any of them. I want something short, something I can make little tags and put them on my goods, labels for quilts, etc.....
When I was riding horses, my forum name was Heart2ride. I loved it. I do like hearts, and butterflies, but butterflies is too long....
Let me know what you think. Meanwhile, I"m going to continue to look around and think about it and maybe something will jump out at me...............
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Ah, Peace
Christmas is gone. It was a real challenge this year in some ways. Here is my very last project and gift to my cousin:
This is 8/2 Tencel, woven very loosely, in a Mobius scarf. Cousin Judee says she loves it. I'm SO freaking happy. I want to work with this fiber some more. Here is a link to Judee's blog - she got me into quilting. :-)
Christmas was good. We spent some of the day with our daughter, her partner and our grand daughter. She is SUCH a hoot!
Christmas was good. We spent some of the day with our daughter, her partner and our grand daughter. She is SUCH a hoot!
Baby Girl is learning to walk too. It's amazing - she's growing so fast! Love that little peanut.
Did I mention....I got an Ipad 2 for Christmas? Well, actually, before Christmas. I LOVE it - I can hardly stay off it during the day (and evening). I'm learning a lot about it, and I'm using it for all sorts of things. I even figured out how to download from our library! Whoohoo!
What I'm reading (not on the Ipad) is a book called EMT: BEYOND THE LIGHTS AND SIRENS, by Pat Ivey. She actually works in the hospital in town. I had to get this (and her other book) thru Interlibrary loans. I have this book almost finished. I like true stories. She's a good writer. The stories aren't too gruesome, they are short, and they are interesting (for me). As a kid, I used to read stories about Candy Stripers (not strippers). I guess medical stuff has always interested me. Good thing....I've had enough happen to me (and hubby) to keep me up on all the stuff that can happen!
I have not worked on much this week as far as crafts, but I am working on photographs (see my new header?). I am using a free program called Picnik but it seems to throw my computer into a tizzy and I can't get much done. I think I'm going to have to invest in a good software program to edit my photos....so if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. I'm planning on making some cards to send as thank you's and also to send as gifts.
I guess that's about all for tonight. I am really ready to get back to our regular routine - I'm going out of my mind with the hubster spending SO much time not working! Oye! lol
Take care of yourself.
Martha
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Insanity!
I cannot believe how behind I am. I just finished a gift for a family member that has to be mailed off (she reads my blog, so I can't post photos till afterward). It's in the wash as we speak. I sure hope she likes it.....
I can't wait till life gets back to normal ~~~ after the holidays.
Hubby had a bunch of blood work done, and it all came back absolutely normal....but he's still not feeling "right." Not sure what the deal is....wishing he felt more like himself. He's not bed-ridden or anything...just not himself.
I don't know what our Christmas plans are, and that's a bit frustrating....but life is a bit hectic not only for me right now, but for my daughter and her family, so I'm trying to be patient and see what the deal will be. Hubby wants to go see the movie War Horse on Christmas day but I'm not sure that I can....I think I'll end up doing a lot of crying, and I really don't want to cry on Christmas - I have a tough enough time holding it together on that day (and others). I don't like feeling vulnerable....
I did, however, get a Christmas gift early - and I love it. I'm feeling terribly guilty about getting it - it was quite expensive. But, I've enjoyed it a LOT and I think I will continue to use it regularly. Yep, I finally got my Ipad2. It's awesome. I almost got an Iphone (and secretly I hope I can still get one in the near future) but I just fell in love with playing with the Ipad2. So, that's what I got.....it has 3G but I think we'll probably cancel that as I can use the Wi fi wherever I go. 3G is fun in the car - I can still be online (internet), which I couldn't do if we cancelled the 3G. But I don't NEED that...... I love playing Scrabble on it although I'm not great at it - I do hope to improve my scores tho over time!
I only got a few small things for Hubby and I wish I could escape to get a couple of more things I've thought of. I don't know if he'll let me run out tomorrow by myself or not.....probably not. But I could always tell a fib and say I'm meeting someone.... I'm not too worried tho cuz there won't be anything under the tree for me since I already have my gift. He has his too - the new truck! Even tho we got the new truck to lower the payments.....he still LOVES his new truck. It's certainly pretty. LoL
It's 60 degrees today - it was a bit sunny this morning, but now it is overcast again. I have some great photos I took this morning but I haven't downloaded them yet. Another day.
Time for me to go see if the gift is done in the washer and pop it in the dryer.
I'll be back when I can --- if I'm not back before, Merry Christmas!
Martha
I can't wait till life gets back to normal ~~~ after the holidays.
Hubby had a bunch of blood work done, and it all came back absolutely normal....but he's still not feeling "right." Not sure what the deal is....wishing he felt more like himself. He's not bed-ridden or anything...just not himself.
I don't know what our Christmas plans are, and that's a bit frustrating....but life is a bit hectic not only for me right now, but for my daughter and her family, so I'm trying to be patient and see what the deal will be. Hubby wants to go see the movie War Horse on Christmas day but I'm not sure that I can....I think I'll end up doing a lot of crying, and I really don't want to cry on Christmas - I have a tough enough time holding it together on that day (and others). I don't like feeling vulnerable....
I did, however, get a Christmas gift early - and I love it. I'm feeling terribly guilty about getting it - it was quite expensive. But, I've enjoyed it a LOT and I think I will continue to use it regularly. Yep, I finally got my Ipad2. It's awesome. I almost got an Iphone (and secretly I hope I can still get one in the near future) but I just fell in love with playing with the Ipad2. So, that's what I got.....it has 3G but I think we'll probably cancel that as I can use the Wi fi wherever I go. 3G is fun in the car - I can still be online (internet), which I couldn't do if we cancelled the 3G. But I don't NEED that...... I love playing Scrabble on it although I'm not great at it - I do hope to improve my scores tho over time!
I only got a few small things for Hubby and I wish I could escape to get a couple of more things I've thought of. I don't know if he'll let me run out tomorrow by myself or not.....probably not. But I could always tell a fib and say I'm meeting someone.... I'm not too worried tho cuz there won't be anything under the tree for me since I already have my gift. He has his too - the new truck! Even tho we got the new truck to lower the payments.....he still LOVES his new truck. It's certainly pretty. LoL
It's 60 degrees today - it was a bit sunny this morning, but now it is overcast again. I have some great photos I took this morning but I haven't downloaded them yet. Another day.
Time for me to go see if the gift is done in the washer and pop it in the dryer.
I'll be back when I can --- if I'm not back before, Merry Christmas!
Martha
Friday, December 16, 2011
What the heck???
I've been MIA. I just haven't had the time or energy to post...and I miss it!
I have been going crazy the last couple of weeks trying to spend time with the couple of friends I have, volunteering with my Therapy Dog, getting weaving and sewing projects done for gifts that had a time crunch to be given in, and keeping up with everything else....and a hubby who has had some weird medical things going on that caused us to spend 4 hours on 2 different days at the hospital last week. Today we go to the dr to have a physical (him, not me) and hopefully find some answers to what the heck is happening.....
I'm exhausted. I need to make it thru today and tomorrow....tomorrow being my grand daughter's first birthday party.
Next week, we only have one commitment (well, as of right now) and that's to take the new truck back to the dealership - we had rain guards put on the front windows....and now, when you roll down the window, the sensor on the window things someone's finger is in the way....so it won't close. This is on both the driver and passenger side. What really ticked me off about this was the young lady that talks you into getting the "extras" on the vehicle -you know - the undercoating and the stuff they spray inside to keep spills off the upholstery, etc - she tried to tell me that she told us the rain guards on the windows are a bad idea, that she tells everyone that. That was an outright lie. Don't lie to me to cover your butt. These were installed improperly and it's screwing everything up. I see lots of other vehicles with the rain guards on them. No one else seems to have this issue! Taking them off will probably damage the truck.....and I'm sure it'll never be right once they do that. Tuesday is the day we find out.....cuz hubby insists the rain guards have to come off. Ok!
I pray the dr figures out that hubby's issues are from an inner ear thing, or something like that. We'll see. All I know is, we aren't walking out of there without some answers...........this doctor's office is not always on top of things....
I had planned on getting SO many things done in the house during his month of vacation.....yep, he took the entire month of Dec off. But the first day he started with some issues, and I got committed to these things I've been doing, and now it's only a week till Christmas, and I feel all discombobulated! I need some recovery time!
Off I go...no photos today as I just don't have time. The sheets on the bed need to be changed, and the dr appt is at 10:00.....
Take care my friends.
Martha
I have been going crazy the last couple of weeks trying to spend time with the couple of friends I have, volunteering with my Therapy Dog, getting weaving and sewing projects done for gifts that had a time crunch to be given in, and keeping up with everything else....and a hubby who has had some weird medical things going on that caused us to spend 4 hours on 2 different days at the hospital last week. Today we go to the dr to have a physical (him, not me) and hopefully find some answers to what the heck is happening.....
I'm exhausted. I need to make it thru today and tomorrow....tomorrow being my grand daughter's first birthday party.
Next week, we only have one commitment (well, as of right now) and that's to take the new truck back to the dealership - we had rain guards put on the front windows....and now, when you roll down the window, the sensor on the window things someone's finger is in the way....so it won't close. This is on both the driver and passenger side. What really ticked me off about this was the young lady that talks you into getting the "extras" on the vehicle -you know - the undercoating and the stuff they spray inside to keep spills off the upholstery, etc - she tried to tell me that she told us the rain guards on the windows are a bad idea, that she tells everyone that. That was an outright lie. Don't lie to me to cover your butt. These were installed improperly and it's screwing everything up. I see lots of other vehicles with the rain guards on them. No one else seems to have this issue! Taking them off will probably damage the truck.....and I'm sure it'll never be right once they do that. Tuesday is the day we find out.....cuz hubby insists the rain guards have to come off. Ok!
I pray the dr figures out that hubby's issues are from an inner ear thing, or something like that. We'll see. All I know is, we aren't walking out of there without some answers...........this doctor's office is not always on top of things....
I had planned on getting SO many things done in the house during his month of vacation.....yep, he took the entire month of Dec off. But the first day he started with some issues, and I got committed to these things I've been doing, and now it's only a week till Christmas, and I feel all discombobulated! I need some recovery time!
Off I go...no photos today as I just don't have time. The sheets on the bed need to be changed, and the dr appt is at 10:00.....
Take care my friends.
Martha
Friday, December 2, 2011
Yum num num num num num
I'm not getting as much exercise as I should be getting to lose the weight I wanna lose. I need to be walking. Maybe in about 30 mins I'll mention to hubbster that I want to go for a walk. We are going to try to walk along the road and try not to get killed...narrow road, lots of traffic, 45 mph (crazy!) speed limit, no sidewalks (we live in the country after all.......). But it's a beautiful day and I wanna walk.
We had to take the new truck to the shop to get all the stuff done on it (as mentioned in yesterday's post) and we have to pick it up today, but not till 6 pm. I was hoping to go to town before that....oh well. I'll have to run my errands tomorrow I guess.
I did finish my labels on the little snowman quilty wall hangings and on the grand daughter's quilt. They came out really nicely and I'm going to make more, some for my wearable weaving. I love hand sewing (yes, I'm nuts), there is just something about those little tiny stitches that I love....it's fulfilling and rewarding to do it. Maybe in a past life I did a lot of hand-sewing? Dunno.
Now I need to get upstairs and iron the quilty snowman wall hangings, then I can figure out how to package them to send them out. I need more ink for my printer before I can print enough photos to make my Christmas cards. It would probably be cheaper to go to one of those sites where you upload a photo and get the cards printed out and sent to you, or if you put in the addresses they send them out directly for you. But I just like doing it myself. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment! I also have an item on the big loom I've been putting off finishing. I really NEED to get it done. I have a friend who's birthday is coming up and I want to make her something. I haven't decided if it's going to be towels, or a shawl.....hmmm.
Off I go!
Take care
Always
Martha
Thursday, December 1, 2011
It's Been A Good Week!
This has been a good week. I feel good about myself. I'm cutting back on eating, I've decided I really need to get a grip on that part of my life. I walked a lot yesterday, granted it was in a mall but hey, I got the exercise part in! I also got some shopping done.
Monday I went volunteering at the hospital again. When I left, I was putting Evan in the car, and I bent over to remove a stone from the tire, and saw a nail in there. It wasn't flat, so I drove home. Told hubby and he took it back to town to get it repaired. I guess I should have called him from town and told him and maybe had it done while I was there, but I had Evan and I didn't really want to hang around the car place with Evan with me. This is the third time the car had a trip to town today! The first trip was when we both drove in to drop the new truck off at the dealer for the "stuff" to be done to it - the undercoating, the protectant on the inside, the brake system (to pull the horse trailer in case we have to take the horses somewhere in an emergency) and the bed liner. The second trip was me with Evan. Just spoke to hubby - he's going to get an oil change while he's there, in addition to getting the nail pulled and the tire plugged. Hey, time to myself! :-)
Did I mention I made chocolate chip cookies at the beginning of the week? Yeah, I know, that's not going to help me get my weight down. I will NOT deny myself everything...I just can't or I'll be miserable. I CAN, however, eat better during meals and not eat a lot in between. Anyway, I made them from my favorite recipe (which I cannot remember where I got it from, I've had it so long on a recipe card - I think it's from a cookbook....), but I didn't add enough chocolate chips. I wanted a variety of chips - dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and semi-sweet. I tried to measure out how much one package would be. From now on, I'm adding twice as much - heck, what's the use in eating a chocolate chip cookie if there isn't enough chocolate in it????
I was pretty successful this week with getting some things done that I wanted to get done. I didn't have any motivation at the beginning of the week, but the last 2 days I did pretty well. I got some shopping done yesterday, as I mentioned before, mostly successful because I went alone! I also got my Snowman wall hangings done! Yay! I will put the photos up here. This is one complete panel, but I cut them up into individual squares. I only quilted one of them - I have a really difficult time quilting panels. I love putting them together, but I don't like quilting them - too time consuming to be constantly changing the thread colors! I'm lazy, what can I say??? The one I did quilt, I didn't like so much so I'm not sending it out, I'm keeping it for myself! :-)
I had a heck of a time uploading these and I can't seem to get blogger to let me put them where I want to. I didn't used to have this issue......I think if you double click, they will get bigger, but I'm not positive.
At any rate, some of them need ironing. It was a job figuring out how I could make them stiff enough to hang with just one hanger in the center of the back (that last photo is crooked - so tilt your head. lol. I have to sew the little ring in the back in the center - it's obviously off center!). I finally decided to use a heavy duty interfacing that I used (doubled) in the bottom of a purse I made. It's pretty stiff. I cut about an inch wide and the length of the interfacing and placed it about an inch from the top of the panel. I then used some sort of puffy, iron on interfacing for in between. I made the first two differently tho. The first one (where the snowman is quilted and not very well) I made with plain batting in between, so it doesn't stay stiff like the others. I ended up putting 2 little white rings on the back, and using a dowel to hang it. Just a few of the reasons why it's staying here and not getting sent to anyone!
The second one I ended up using iron on interfacing which is quite stiff, and it worked. I should have used that on them all, but then found the puffy, iron on interfacing and tried them. Because I didn't quilt them, they didn't need the puffy stuff, but I had quite a bit of it, it was already out, so I just cut away and kept using it on the following 4 panels. They came out ok, but as usual, I'm quite critical of myself and my sewing. Not many will get these this year, and I think the remaining panels will get used in a quilt.....
Now that these are mostly done (I have to sew a label on them), I started printing out the photo I'll be using on my Christmas cards....and don't you just know, I'm low on ink. So I'll have to get some ink before I print the rest. I need to get busy on those, as I'm going to be quite busy the next couple of weeks I think....more on that at another time.
I also updated my TDI (Therapy Dogs International) paperwork so I can continue to volunteer in 2012 with Evan! :-) I don't do much - just go to the hospital 2 or 3 times a month when I'm scheduled, but it's enough I think. I do want to start working on some tricks with him....
I have all my new calendars for next year. I found a little booklet one for my desk in Target for $1.00 (the bigger one was taking too much room), we got a free one in a newspaper or magazine, for the kitchen, and we found one in Target for $1.00 which is the desk blotter style which Hubby likes. So that's all set.
Hubby put together the granddaughter's ride on toy yesterday while I went on my shopping trip. He's such a good guy. It's really cute, but she's only a year old and the thing is motorized. Makes me nervous....but hey, it was her mommy's choice....we also got a little brown recliner chair for her and it's SO adorable! Granddaughter's birthday is Dec 21st, but party will be on the 17th. Then there's Christmas. So the chair is birthday and the ride on toy with other toys, is Christmas.
I have labels to put on the quilt for her too - the pretty, colorful one I made that her that won't match her room - but maybe her mommy and daddy will put it in the family room for her to snuggle in when they are in there. I also have to put the labels on the snowmen wall hangings. I'll do that in front of tv tonight. I tried that method of ironing muslin onto freezer paper and sending it thru my printer. I could only find a strip of muslin about 6 inches wide, so I did that - it didn't work really well. I guess the muslin needs to be 8.5 x 11 like the freezer paper for it to work better. I messed up one but the rest came out ok, thank goodness. Guess I need to buy some more muslin when it's on sale next time.
I get SO many sale ads, I sometimes feel overwhelmed. Maybe because it's Christmas season or something, but when I get in Hancocks and Joanns I get overwhelmed - and it doesn't help that I get them after the sale has started (and sometimes after it's ended!!!). For example, I got the Black Friday Hancock ad, this past Wednesday....let's see, that's 5 FIVE days late! So I missed a couple of good deals there.... sigh.
Ok, so this post is way long so I'll close for now. More later!
Take care of yourself, as always,
Martha
Monday I went volunteering at the hospital again. When I left, I was putting Evan in the car, and I bent over to remove a stone from the tire, and saw a nail in there. It wasn't flat, so I drove home. Told hubby and he took it back to town to get it repaired. I guess I should have called him from town and told him and maybe had it done while I was there, but I had Evan and I didn't really want to hang around the car place with Evan with me. This is the third time the car had a trip to town today! The first trip was when we both drove in to drop the new truck off at the dealer for the "stuff" to be done to it - the undercoating, the protectant on the inside, the brake system (to pull the horse trailer in case we have to take the horses somewhere in an emergency) and the bed liner. The second trip was me with Evan. Just spoke to hubby - he's going to get an oil change while he's there, in addition to getting the nail pulled and the tire plugged. Hey, time to myself! :-)
Did I mention I made chocolate chip cookies at the beginning of the week? Yeah, I know, that's not going to help me get my weight down. I will NOT deny myself everything...I just can't or I'll be miserable. I CAN, however, eat better during meals and not eat a lot in between. Anyway, I made them from my favorite recipe (which I cannot remember where I got it from, I've had it so long on a recipe card - I think it's from a cookbook....), but I didn't add enough chocolate chips. I wanted a variety of chips - dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and semi-sweet. I tried to measure out how much one package would be. From now on, I'm adding twice as much - heck, what's the use in eating a chocolate chip cookie if there isn't enough chocolate in it????
I was pretty successful this week with getting some things done that I wanted to get done. I didn't have any motivation at the beginning of the week, but the last 2 days I did pretty well. I got some shopping done yesterday, as I mentioned before, mostly successful because I went alone! I also got my Snowman wall hangings done! Yay! I will put the photos up here. This is one complete panel, but I cut them up into individual squares. I only quilted one of them - I have a really difficult time quilting panels. I love putting them together, but I don't like quilting them - too time consuming to be constantly changing the thread colors! I'm lazy, what can I say??? The one I did quilt, I didn't like so much so I'm not sending it out, I'm keeping it for myself! :-)
 |
| Quilted Snoman |
 |
| Snowman 2 |
 |
| Snowman 3 |
 |
| Snowman 4 |
 |
| Snowman 5 |
 |
| Snowman 6 |
I had a heck of a time uploading these and I can't seem to get blogger to let me put them where I want to. I didn't used to have this issue......I think if you double click, they will get bigger, but I'm not positive.
At any rate, some of them need ironing. It was a job figuring out how I could make them stiff enough to hang with just one hanger in the center of the back (that last photo is crooked - so tilt your head. lol. I have to sew the little ring in the back in the center - it's obviously off center!). I finally decided to use a heavy duty interfacing that I used (doubled) in the bottom of a purse I made. It's pretty stiff. I cut about an inch wide and the length of the interfacing and placed it about an inch from the top of the panel. I then used some sort of puffy, iron on interfacing for in between. I made the first two differently tho. The first one (where the snowman is quilted and not very well) I made with plain batting in between, so it doesn't stay stiff like the others. I ended up putting 2 little white rings on the back, and using a dowel to hang it. Just a few of the reasons why it's staying here and not getting sent to anyone!
The second one I ended up using iron on interfacing which is quite stiff, and it worked. I should have used that on them all, but then found the puffy, iron on interfacing and tried them. Because I didn't quilt them, they didn't need the puffy stuff, but I had quite a bit of it, it was already out, so I just cut away and kept using it on the following 4 panels. They came out ok, but as usual, I'm quite critical of myself and my sewing. Not many will get these this year, and I think the remaining panels will get used in a quilt.....
Now that these are mostly done (I have to sew a label on them), I started printing out the photo I'll be using on my Christmas cards....and don't you just know, I'm low on ink. So I'll have to get some ink before I print the rest. I need to get busy on those, as I'm going to be quite busy the next couple of weeks I think....more on that at another time.
I also updated my TDI (Therapy Dogs International) paperwork so I can continue to volunteer in 2012 with Evan! :-) I don't do much - just go to the hospital 2 or 3 times a month when I'm scheduled, but it's enough I think. I do want to start working on some tricks with him....
I have all my new calendars for next year. I found a little booklet one for my desk in Target for $1.00 (the bigger one was taking too much room), we got a free one in a newspaper or magazine, for the kitchen, and we found one in Target for $1.00 which is the desk blotter style which Hubby likes. So that's all set.
Hubby put together the granddaughter's ride on toy yesterday while I went on my shopping trip. He's such a good guy. It's really cute, but she's only a year old and the thing is motorized. Makes me nervous....but hey, it was her mommy's choice....we also got a little brown recliner chair for her and it's SO adorable! Granddaughter's birthday is Dec 21st, but party will be on the 17th. Then there's Christmas. So the chair is birthday and the ride on toy with other toys, is Christmas.
I have labels to put on the quilt for her too - the pretty, colorful one I made that her that won't match her room - but maybe her mommy and daddy will put it in the family room for her to snuggle in when they are in there. I also have to put the labels on the snowmen wall hangings. I'll do that in front of tv tonight. I tried that method of ironing muslin onto freezer paper and sending it thru my printer. I could only find a strip of muslin about 6 inches wide, so I did that - it didn't work really well. I guess the muslin needs to be 8.5 x 11 like the freezer paper for it to work better. I messed up one but the rest came out ok, thank goodness. Guess I need to buy some more muslin when it's on sale next time.
I get SO many sale ads, I sometimes feel overwhelmed. Maybe because it's Christmas season or something, but when I get in Hancocks and Joanns I get overwhelmed - and it doesn't help that I get them after the sale has started (and sometimes after it's ended!!!). For example, I got the Black Friday Hancock ad, this past Wednesday....let's see, that's 5 FIVE days late! So I missed a couple of good deals there.... sigh.
Ok, so this post is way long so I'll close for now. More later!
Take care of yourself, as always,
Martha
Friday, November 25, 2011
Giving Thanks, and Thanksgiving!
Hello my friends! I hope all of you had as wonderful a Thanksgiving day as I had. I was very lucky to have my daughter and her hubby, and the Grand Girl down for Thanksgiving. It's a bit of a trip - yeah, in the same state, but still, when you have a little one, you work full time, and you have so much of life going on, it's hard to pack everyone up and get to Grandma and Grandpa's house! I know, I've done it - always from another state - just as much work....and still not always easy. So I'm grateful they got to come.
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| Me and the Grand Girl! |
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| The hubby, daughter, son-in-law, and furry kids |
I really enjoyed having the Grand Girl. It had been a long time since I've seen her. She has lots more teeth, and she's almost walking! She can walk behind a little walking toy. It's SO cute!
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| Walking! |
We had a nice dinner. Chicken, dark and light meat, baked in the oven for 2 hours. We had Cranberry sauce, gravy, roasted sweet potatoes, potato salad (for the SIL), stuffing, broccoli, and desert - apple pie!
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| Apple Pie |
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| Thanksgiving Table |
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| First Thanksgiving Dinner! |
Hubby is going to take time off in December. We are going to clean out the office and paint it. Do some reorganizing. We also need to clean and reorganize our closet.....it's a mess. I have a bunch of clothes in there that don't fit anymore (wish it was that they are too big, but it's not...sigh).
For Christmas I think we are just going to buy some new things for the house. We really need a new t.v. stand. And the paint for the office. I don't know what else we will do. This is going to be a tight year for us - between the medical bills, property taxes, Christmas, putting up hay that will only last a few months, etc. it's been a bit tight.....I'd love an Ipad.....or a laptop (have I mentioned this a few times before? I keep hoping a little elf will tell Santa and magically something will appear under my tree - hey, a girl can dream, right???). But I'll settle for getting the house in a bit better order. I wish I could get the energy and do our basement...it's just so overwhelming. I have a hard time letting go of some stuff tho.
At any rate, thanks for letting me share my Thanksgiving with you all. I hope the coming holidays bring you all your wishes!
Always,
Martha
Monday, November 21, 2011
Ruffled Endless Scarf
Here is the Ruffled Endless Scarf I spoke of in my last post. It's actually really growing on me and I'm going to try it again, with some tweaks....
Here, it is wrapped twice around my neck. I was afraid it looked a bit like a collar on a clown, but I actually like it - it's kinda fun. :-)
The fringe is where the 2 ends are connected and where I tied the fringe together. Have I mentioned, I LOVE my new fringe twister???? YES!
Today was a lovely day. I spent it with a friend I always feel good about being around, and we chatted from 11:00 till 3:20! Amazing.
I need to spend some time cleaning the house tomorrow. Hoping the daughter, son-in-law, and grand baby come for Thanksgiving if all goes well.
Leave me comments on how you REALLY feel about this scarf. I'd really like to hear what you think - honest! Good or bad.
Here, it is wrapped twice around my neck. I was afraid it looked a bit like a collar on a clown, but I actually like it - it's kinda fun. :-)
Below, you can see the scarf with it in single form - just wrapped once around the neck. Sorry for the blurry photo - I had the camera set with the timer, and had it on the correct setting, but the photos all came out blurry...not sure what the issue is but maybe I need a different setting. I guess reading the manual would be good, but who has time? I'm busy creating! :-)
Today was a lovely day. I spent it with a friend I always feel good about being around, and we chatted from 11:00 till 3:20! Amazing.
I need to spend some time cleaning the house tomorrow. Hoping the daughter, son-in-law, and grand baby come for Thanksgiving if all goes well.
Leave me comments on how you REALLY feel about this scarf. I'd really like to hear what you think - honest! Good or bad.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Fun stuff
I just popped these in the oven. Instead of an entire muffin, these should come out just as muffin tops, the nice, slightly crispy top part of the muffin - the best part in MY opinion!
On another note, I have another new toy. This is a Lacis Fringe Twister. It is battery operated and I ordered it from Amazon. It came in just a couple of days. I had a scarf (see below) that I had made. I got to use the fringe twister today. There was a small learning curve, but that's because I haven't done a lot of fringe to begin with, then I added a toy that goes zoom! So I had to undo a couple of the fringes and re-twist them, but that's ok! They came out really nice and I'm pleased. This was a really good purchase!
Here is the scarf. I know, weird photo. It's sitting on an oil heater to dry the rest of the way. This was an experiment. I call it a ruffled never-ending scarf. It started out off the loom to be about 120 inches. It was VERY long. It is made out of 8/2 black cotton warp, and 8/2 gold cotton weft. I finished this scarf last week, but I let it sit for a week because to be honest, I was nervous about doing the gathering. Today, I decided I had to get brave and try it. Well, it went ok. See the solid looking gold stripes? That is where I gathered it. The outside solid gold is actually because I used gold warp there. The inside stripes are where I gathered the black warp threads in order to get the fringe.
I gathered, and gathered and gathered. It was quite the workout! When I was done, I was NOT happy! It kind of looked like a clown collar! Oh gosh..........
So I tried to ungather some of it. I started pulling it out so it wasn't quite so gathered. It is better. The scarf really shortened up a LOT. I'm glad I made it as long as I did!
I tried to decide how I wanted it to look - just a scarf with 2 ends hanging (with fringe, of course!), or would I sew one end to the side of the other end? Or, I could try weaving the fringe of one end into the other....but that takes a LOT of work, time, and it doesn't usually look very good (at least, when I do it).
I decided I would put the 2 ends, one on top of the other, with a twist in it. The fringe was all together. I took fringe from the top part (3 or 4 threads at a time) and the same amount from the bottom part. I knotted them so they would be attached.
Then I took the fringe twister, and put the 2 sections of fringe in, one in each fringe twister holder. Pushing the button up, the fringe twister twists the fringe one way, without the entire head of the fringe twister going around. When you have enough twist in the 2 sections, then you push the button down, and the head of the fringe twister goes round and round. It twists the 2 sections together, and viola! You have beautiful fringe! :-)
I love the concept. The scarf itself is too short to really wrap round my neck twice. It really is too tight and looks like a clown collar. If it just hangs, it's kind of pretty but not really what I was looking for. I dunno. Maybe someone will like it. I have some more experimenting to do. LoL
Well, my muffin tops are out of the oven. I will have to take a photo and maybe add it in later. They came out "ok." I dislike my oven immensely and will never ever buy one like it again. But that's another story for another day. They came out a bit overdone on the bottom (dark pan) and it's my fault, so next time, I'll lower the oven temp. I also had to make sure that I didn't leave them in as long as regular muffins, since they are so thin compared to a regular size muffin. These are chocolate chip, and anything chocolate is wonderful! lol. I'm seriously thinking about putting Nutella between them, and eating it that way....yeah, I'm bad! Ha!
More another day. Hope your life is going great for you and you're doing what you love to do.
Always,
Martha
Monday, November 14, 2011
Whoopie!
I made my first whoopie pies today. I have a recipe from my mother, that I copied onto a 3x5 card. I didn't keep the original. I should have....just in case.
At any rate, I made them. I had bought a whoopie pie baking pan and I thought, even if I don't make whoopie pies, I've wanted a pan that makes muffin tops. Do you know what muffin tops are? When you bake (or buy) a muffin, I always think that the best part is the somewhat crunchy top. I've been looking for a muffin top pan forever. When I saw the whoopie pie pan, I had to have it (from Bed, Bath and Beyond, and I had a coupon).
Well, I filled the pie pan too full - they all have big tops on them, and these little funny bottoms (which end up being the center of the pie when you put the filling in, and then squish two together to make the pie). I had leftover batter, so I made the rest on a cookie sheet. They at least came out flat. The ones in the baking pan wouldn't come out - so all the bottoms stuck! It's a non- stick pan. The recipe doesn't call for greasing the pan....but I think I might next time.
Along with the pan came a recipe for Whoopie pies. I didn't look at that recipe or compare with the original. I must do that.
I don't think the pies came out quite right.
And the filling - while it's good and what I remember, it really isn't healthy at all............3/4 cup of shortening and 2.5 cups of sugar, and you add flour to milk and cook it till thick - picture paste....yeah. But it tastes good - must be the vanilla and pinch of salt I added. LOL
At any rate, I think the newer recipes call for marshmallow fluff filling...might just try that next time.
The cakes came out.........ok. So next time I will try the newer recipe and see if it comes out better. I think I over-baked them too......that could be part of the problems I had.
I don't know why I make these things. They'll go bad before hubby and I can eat them. Sigh. But I love to bake. Not so much in my tiny kitchen, but I make do....
I got a bunch of yarn from a friend who was cleaning out her stash. I had to bring it home and put it on the porch. She likes to put smelly soap in with the yarns when she stores them, and the smell is making me cough up a lung. Ever since the heart attack in 2007, I am VERY sensitive to scents and I will hack and cough forever. I hope the airing out works.....I can't leave it on the porch for long - bugs, weather, etc. It's not a screened porch (and don't EVEN get me started on that!).
Anyway, I'm grateful for the yarns, and I could just picture myself making all kinds of cute scarves to sell with it. Nice................
Today it was 74 degrees. Good Lord, it's Nov 14th! It's not going to last tho. We really need to get the leaves up. The riding lawn mower is on it's last leg. The sweeper isn't doing much better and you do one pass and you have to go empty it. The walk behind blower won't start this year....dunno what's wrong with it and hubby is not a small engine repair guy. The leaf blowers are just not good enough....and take forever. And one is electric so you can't get far with it anyway! I keep trying to get hubby to buy (yeah, spend $$$) for a larger, better mower, and one that has the box on the back so it can mulch and dump and then we can dump the box in the corners. Yep, it would take a ton of dumping but hey, it can't be worse than what we are doing now.............did I mention we have 5.5 acres with over 100 oak trees? Yeah, and if we leave the leaves on the ground, it kills what little grass is out in the pastures (with all the trees)......
Anywho, that's about it for me. I'm off to make dinner...........chicken tonight. Just not sure what to have with it. Maybe baked potatoes...white and sweet and we'll share half of each...yep, I think that will work.
Martha
At any rate, I made them. I had bought a whoopie pie baking pan and I thought, even if I don't make whoopie pies, I've wanted a pan that makes muffin tops. Do you know what muffin tops are? When you bake (or buy) a muffin, I always think that the best part is the somewhat crunchy top. I've been looking for a muffin top pan forever. When I saw the whoopie pie pan, I had to have it (from Bed, Bath and Beyond, and I had a coupon).
Well, I filled the pie pan too full - they all have big tops on them, and these little funny bottoms (which end up being the center of the pie when you put the filling in, and then squish two together to make the pie). I had leftover batter, so I made the rest on a cookie sheet. They at least came out flat. The ones in the baking pan wouldn't come out - so all the bottoms stuck! It's a non- stick pan. The recipe doesn't call for greasing the pan....but I think I might next time.
Along with the pan came a recipe for Whoopie pies. I didn't look at that recipe or compare with the original. I must do that.
I don't think the pies came out quite right.
And the filling - while it's good and what I remember, it really isn't healthy at all............3/4 cup of shortening and 2.5 cups of sugar, and you add flour to milk and cook it till thick - picture paste....yeah. But it tastes good - must be the vanilla and pinch of salt I added. LOL
At any rate, I think the newer recipes call for marshmallow fluff filling...might just try that next time.
The cakes came out.........ok. So next time I will try the newer recipe and see if it comes out better. I think I over-baked them too......that could be part of the problems I had.
I don't know why I make these things. They'll go bad before hubby and I can eat them. Sigh. But I love to bake. Not so much in my tiny kitchen, but I make do....
I got a bunch of yarn from a friend who was cleaning out her stash. I had to bring it home and put it on the porch. She likes to put smelly soap in with the yarns when she stores them, and the smell is making me cough up a lung. Ever since the heart attack in 2007, I am VERY sensitive to scents and I will hack and cough forever. I hope the airing out works.....I can't leave it on the porch for long - bugs, weather, etc. It's not a screened porch (and don't EVEN get me started on that!).
Anyway, I'm grateful for the yarns, and I could just picture myself making all kinds of cute scarves to sell with it. Nice................
Today it was 74 degrees. Good Lord, it's Nov 14th! It's not going to last tho. We really need to get the leaves up. The riding lawn mower is on it's last leg. The sweeper isn't doing much better and you do one pass and you have to go empty it. The walk behind blower won't start this year....dunno what's wrong with it and hubby is not a small engine repair guy. The leaf blowers are just not good enough....and take forever. And one is electric so you can't get far with it anyway! I keep trying to get hubby to buy (yeah, spend $$$) for a larger, better mower, and one that has the box on the back so it can mulch and dump and then we can dump the box in the corners. Yep, it would take a ton of dumping but hey, it can't be worse than what we are doing now.............did I mention we have 5.5 acres with over 100 oak trees? Yeah, and if we leave the leaves on the ground, it kills what little grass is out in the pastures (with all the trees)......
Anywho, that's about it for me. I'm off to make dinner...........chicken tonight. Just not sure what to have with it. Maybe baked potatoes...white and sweet and we'll share half of each...yep, I think that will work.
Martha
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
WIPs
So I have a couple of projects in the works. One is a scarf that I'm trying out - I had an idea, and I went with it. Once again, my math was wrong (this is an on-going issue for me) and I ended up with waaaay too much yarn for the warp. Geesh. (rolling eyes here)
But, I got what I needed (and probably still too wide) on the loom. I tried black for the weft, and didn't like it. So I went with the gold.
So in one of my prior posts, I went on and on about what I want for Christmas.....and I'm really still not sure what I'm going to ask Santa for. But I have decided that if it's a techie gift, it'll have to be a laptop computer as opposed to a tablet or reader. Mostly because I have an old Ipod and I want to be able to download music and I can only download from Itunes (at least, I think that's all I can do with an Ipod). I can't do that from my desktop because of Hughesnet and their stupid bandwidth restrictions - oh sure, if I wanna get up at 3 a.m. I can do it...but that ain't gonna happen. Ha!
I may ask for some stuff to go with my loom.
But I don't know what I really want. I do know, money is tight and I can't ask for much. Well, I can ask....but then I'll feel guilty. There are lots of things I'd like to have - like a smart phone....so when I see something in a store, and I think it would be good for my grand baby, but I'm not sure mom and dad will like it, I could snap a pic, and email it to them.....and get approval ( or disapproval). But that's an extra expense every month. I could just carry my laptop with me and my camera, and at least then I could snap a photo and then go someplace to hook up online, then send it. Of course, the smart phone would be SO much more convenient. Sometimes, I really feel like I'm behind the times...........sigh.
Anyway, that's it for my WIPS - the weaving, the quilting, and the wishing...............
So long for now.
Martha
But, I got what I needed (and probably still too wide) on the loom. I tried black for the weft, and didn't like it. So I went with the gold.
I've got about twice this woven at this point. This is 8 inches wide...and I made it really long. I am hoping to be able to make this a ruffle scarf............we'll see how that works out....it may be too long but I'm gonna give it a shot! If it ends up too long and it doesn't work the way I see it in my mind, then I will cut it up and make something smaller out of the long scarf. :-)
The other project is for Christmas. I found these panels in a quilt shop last year when my cousin was here visiting from CA. I fell in love with these......but didn't have a chance to do anything with them last year. So this is a project I want to get done this year. The panels will get cut up and sewn and quilted and given as gifts.
The other project is for Christmas. I found these panels in a quilt shop last year when my cousin was here visiting from CA. I fell in love with these......but didn't have a chance to do anything with them last year. So this is a project I want to get done this year. The panels will get cut up and sewn and quilted and given as gifts.
I've only gotten as far as pulling them out of the closet.....but they are out in the open where they can call my name. This way, I'll have to get to them!
My calendar is suddenly filling up. I went for a long time with nothing on it....empty dates for an entire month or more. July, August, September and October were not good months for me, in more ways than one. But I have lots of dates on November and it feels pretty good. Now I'm thinking.....uh oh, maybe I'm making too many dates and not getting the stuff done that I NEED to be getting done! LoL If it's not one thing, it's another.
I went today to have my mammogram. I was not looking forward to it - because the tech that used to do them, was not a very nice person. She was harsh, and rough. And she didn't care that you had tears coming out of your eyes and couldn't breath because she had to squish you. Well, they have a wonderful, young new tech, and she's an angel. She is VERY sweet. And caring. It makes all the difference in the world.
My calendar is suddenly filling up. I went for a long time with nothing on it....empty dates for an entire month or more. July, August, September and October were not good months for me, in more ways than one. But I have lots of dates on November and it feels pretty good. Now I'm thinking.....uh oh, maybe I'm making too many dates and not getting the stuff done that I NEED to be getting done! LoL If it's not one thing, it's another.
I went today to have my mammogram. I was not looking forward to it - because the tech that used to do them, was not a very nice person. She was harsh, and rough. And she didn't care that you had tears coming out of your eyes and couldn't breath because she had to squish you. Well, they have a wonderful, young new tech, and she's an angel. She is VERY sweet. And caring. It makes all the difference in the world.
So in one of my prior posts, I went on and on about what I want for Christmas.....and I'm really still not sure what I'm going to ask Santa for. But I have decided that if it's a techie gift, it'll have to be a laptop computer as opposed to a tablet or reader. Mostly because I have an old Ipod and I want to be able to download music and I can only download from Itunes (at least, I think that's all I can do with an Ipod). I can't do that from my desktop because of Hughesnet and their stupid bandwidth restrictions - oh sure, if I wanna get up at 3 a.m. I can do it...but that ain't gonna happen. Ha!
I may ask for some stuff to go with my loom.
But I don't know what I really want. I do know, money is tight and I can't ask for much. Well, I can ask....but then I'll feel guilty. There are lots of things I'd like to have - like a smart phone....so when I see something in a store, and I think it would be good for my grand baby, but I'm not sure mom and dad will like it, I could snap a pic, and email it to them.....and get approval ( or disapproval). But that's an extra expense every month. I could just carry my laptop with me and my camera, and at least then I could snap a photo and then go someplace to hook up online, then send it. Of course, the smart phone would be SO much more convenient. Sometimes, I really feel like I'm behind the times...........sigh.
Anyway, that's it for my WIPS - the weaving, the quilting, and the wishing...............
So long for now.
Martha
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Log Cabin Update
Here is the log cabin scarf/table runner.
Cotton yarn. Sugar and Cream. Denim (light and dark). Turned out pretty well I think. It's not as soft as I'd like, I think I used a smaller reed than I should have. I used an 8 but I think a 6 would have been better. I don't have a 6. I have a 5 I'm borrowing. But that was way too loose....
Anyway, I like it. It's a gift.
I don't have anything new on the Baby Wolf - yet. We went to Joanns today (big sale) and I bought 3 giant skeins of boucle (like the yarn I used on the shawl/mobius scarf). The colors are beautiful and I can hardly wait to use it. When the smaller skeins go on sale, I'm going to buy more in other colors. The larger skeins are limited as far as color.
I also bought 3 yards of black fabric to go with some Moda Charm Squares Reindeer Games that I bought the other day. I am going to make a Christmas quilt for the house. Hubby thought I was making it to give away. Nope. Not this one.
I also have some Christmas panels upstairs that I'd forgotten about. I bought them last year when my cousin was here and we visited a quilt shop in Charlottesville. Well, I am going to cut them out and stitch them up for wall hangings to give as gifts this year. I have lots of fabric I can use as backing upstairs....so I didn't buy anymore fabric for the backing for those. I spent enough money today.
I also bought 2 spools of quilting thread (100% cotton) in black and red while there, to use on the Christmas projects. They were the only things not on sale, but I had 2, 40% coupons to use on those.
I also had a 25% off coupon to use for the total sale.
All in all, I saved $27 with the coupons and sales. I thought I made out REAL well. :-)
I haven't quite decided what the next weaving project will be. Towels? Scarves with the boucle'? I just don't know! lol So for now, I'm at a stand still till something comes to me and I decide what I want to work on.
Meanwhile, I have a warp on the big loom and I am procrastinating about weaving on it. I shouldn't be...but I am! Bad me..............
I am also still debating on whether to sell the big loom, and buy a smaller loom. Sigh. So many decisions!
I did a lot of running around yesterday. I was beat last night. Today, we went and got hay really early, brought it home, unloaded it and stacked in the barn (it was only 20 bales).
We changed our clothes and left again, went to town to the library. It wasn't open yet so we had to waste some time. Hubby was hungry so we went to Subway and he got a breakfast sub. Then we looked at some ads and decided to go to the city after the library.
We went to Toys R Us and I could NOT decide on what I wanted to get. So we left empty handed. This is the third time in a row that I've gone there and left without anything!
We also went to Penny's to return a sweater I'd bought yesterday but didn't like very much once I tried it on.
Then we went to Joanns.
Then we stopped at Wendys to eat lunch.
Then we stopped at Giant to get carrots for the horses (they sell 5 lb bags for just under $3.00). Yes, the horses are spoiled.
Then we came home. Dear hubby went out and swept up leaves with the tractor and leaf sweeper. Lots of work.
I hung out on the computer but the dogs were starved for my attention, so I gave up and sat on the recliner and they both landed on me and snuggled. Awwww....needy little brats! LoL. No, not really. I love my dogs. But they ARE needy!
I made dinner. It was good.
Now, I'm back on the computer.
So there it is. My last couple of days...busy, running here and there and shopping and spending too much money. Sigh.
What is on your wish list for Christmas?
I can't decide. I want an Ipad. Dear daughter says no, you don't. WHY???? I want one badly. I would settle for a Kindle Fire e-reader, but I don't really want one. I don't buy many books, but I do get them from the library. I do think it would be nice to have just a small thing to hold for reading, but I'd probably miss my books. The Kindle Fire has internet access too.
I'd settle for a laptop computer. I could still download books (I think?) and I could download music if I went somewhere I could download stuff for free. See, I have Hughesnet, and they charge for bandwidth usage....if I download ONE single You Tube video, I go over the bandwidth. What a crock it is. This is SUCH a ripoff. None of my friends have this restriction with their internet services. It pisses me off. Really. We didn't have this restriction till dear hubby decided to upgrade. When he called, they came out with a new dish that looked exactly like the old one, and got put in the exact same place as the old one. And yep they made him sign a new contract. DRATS! So now, I can't watch anything, I can't see videos my friends put on FB, I can't download music - unless I do it between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Yep, not gonna find me doing that!
So yeah, a laptop would be nice too. But, all of these things are expensive and I don't want to really ask for one because it has been a tight year, and next year isn't going to be any better.
I need to make lots of scarves to sell at craft shows and fiber shows. Lots of them. So I can make some money. Then I can get what I want. Of course, winning the lottery would be even better. Since that hasn't happened yet, I guess earning it would be the next best thing. LoL.
Ok, enough whining. I'm outta here.
Over and out.
Martha
Anyway, I like it. It's a gift.
I don't have anything new on the Baby Wolf - yet. We went to Joanns today (big sale) and I bought 3 giant skeins of boucle (like the yarn I used on the shawl/mobius scarf). The colors are beautiful and I can hardly wait to use it. When the smaller skeins go on sale, I'm going to buy more in other colors. The larger skeins are limited as far as color.
I also bought 3 yards of black fabric to go with some Moda Charm Squares Reindeer Games that I bought the other day. I am going to make a Christmas quilt for the house. Hubby thought I was making it to give away. Nope. Not this one.
I also have some Christmas panels upstairs that I'd forgotten about. I bought them last year when my cousin was here and we visited a quilt shop in Charlottesville. Well, I am going to cut them out and stitch them up for wall hangings to give as gifts this year. I have lots of fabric I can use as backing upstairs....so I didn't buy anymore fabric for the backing for those. I spent enough money today.
I also bought 2 spools of quilting thread (100% cotton) in black and red while there, to use on the Christmas projects. They were the only things not on sale, but I had 2, 40% coupons to use on those.
I also had a 25% off coupon to use for the total sale.
All in all, I saved $27 with the coupons and sales. I thought I made out REAL well. :-)
I haven't quite decided what the next weaving project will be. Towels? Scarves with the boucle'? I just don't know! lol So for now, I'm at a stand still till something comes to me and I decide what I want to work on.
Meanwhile, I have a warp on the big loom and I am procrastinating about weaving on it. I shouldn't be...but I am! Bad me..............
I am also still debating on whether to sell the big loom, and buy a smaller loom. Sigh. So many decisions!
I did a lot of running around yesterday. I was beat last night. Today, we went and got hay really early, brought it home, unloaded it and stacked in the barn (it was only 20 bales).
We changed our clothes and left again, went to town to the library. It wasn't open yet so we had to waste some time. Hubby was hungry so we went to Subway and he got a breakfast sub. Then we looked at some ads and decided to go to the city after the library.
We went to Toys R Us and I could NOT decide on what I wanted to get. So we left empty handed. This is the third time in a row that I've gone there and left without anything!
We also went to Penny's to return a sweater I'd bought yesterday but didn't like very much once I tried it on.
Then we went to Joanns.
Then we stopped at Wendys to eat lunch.
Then we stopped at Giant to get carrots for the horses (they sell 5 lb bags for just under $3.00). Yes, the horses are spoiled.
Then we came home. Dear hubby went out and swept up leaves with the tractor and leaf sweeper. Lots of work.
I hung out on the computer but the dogs were starved for my attention, so I gave up and sat on the recliner and they both landed on me and snuggled. Awwww....needy little brats! LoL. No, not really. I love my dogs. But they ARE needy!
I made dinner. It was good.
Now, I'm back on the computer.
So there it is. My last couple of days...busy, running here and there and shopping and spending too much money. Sigh.
What is on your wish list for Christmas?
I can't decide. I want an Ipad. Dear daughter says no, you don't. WHY???? I want one badly. I would settle for a Kindle Fire e-reader, but I don't really want one. I don't buy many books, but I do get them from the library. I do think it would be nice to have just a small thing to hold for reading, but I'd probably miss my books. The Kindle Fire has internet access too.
I'd settle for a laptop computer. I could still download books (I think?) and I could download music if I went somewhere I could download stuff for free. See, I have Hughesnet, and they charge for bandwidth usage....if I download ONE single You Tube video, I go over the bandwidth. What a crock it is. This is SUCH a ripoff. None of my friends have this restriction with their internet services. It pisses me off. Really. We didn't have this restriction till dear hubby decided to upgrade. When he called, they came out with a new dish that looked exactly like the old one, and got put in the exact same place as the old one. And yep they made him sign a new contract. DRATS! So now, I can't watch anything, I can't see videos my friends put on FB, I can't download music - unless I do it between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Yep, not gonna find me doing that!
So yeah, a laptop would be nice too. But, all of these things are expensive and I don't want to really ask for one because it has been a tight year, and next year isn't going to be any better.
I need to make lots of scarves to sell at craft shows and fiber shows. Lots of them. So I can make some money. Then I can get what I want. Of course, winning the lottery would be even better. Since that hasn't happened yet, I guess earning it would be the next best thing. LoL.
Ok, enough whining. I'm outta here.
Over and out.
Martha
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
A new project
I've started a new project. It is a scarf made of cotton. It's narrow compared to what I've been doing lately!
I started threading the reed, and decided that I needed a reed where the dents are closer together so got the 8 dent out. Perfect!
Then I looked in my pattern book and I wanted to try log cabin - which I've never done before. (there are a LOT of patterns I have not done before - I'm big on plain weave!).
I thought I had everything threaded right.....but I didn't.
I had to unthread about half the heddles and take them out of the reed. I re-threaded like the pattern actually SAYS it it is supposed to be....which I missed the first time.
So while dinner was cooking I rethreaded. I did it correctly!
Then I had to figure out the weaving issue. One line of each color...hmmm. I got it figured out and it's coming out REAL nice. :-)
I'm using dark and light denim cotton from Peaches and Cream. It looks nice.
I want to try to make a scarf a day for 30 days. We'll see how that goes. LOL
No pics. This scarf might be a gift, and I don't want the giftee to see it! Maybe a tease when it gets done....
My car is in the shop. The Check Engine light came on while I was driving. Turned around, came back home, and took the pickup which stinks! Whew.
Hubby took the car in and I went and picked him up. Of course there is a part that needs replaced. The car is only 18 months old. 26,000 miles. Geesh. They just don't make them like they used to. Sometimes I wish life were MUCH simpler.
So I'm off for now. Gonna go watch a couple of shows we taped. Then we'll watch Dancing with the Stars and 19 Kids and Counting, and The Little Couple (finale is tonight - geesh, it seems it just started!!!). Yeah, um, can you tell I'm a reality show freak?
More later!
Martha
I started threading the reed, and decided that I needed a reed where the dents are closer together so got the 8 dent out. Perfect!
Then I looked in my pattern book and I wanted to try log cabin - which I've never done before. (there are a LOT of patterns I have not done before - I'm big on plain weave!).
I thought I had everything threaded right.....but I didn't.
I had to unthread about half the heddles and take them out of the reed. I re-threaded like the pattern actually SAYS it it is supposed to be....which I missed the first time.
So while dinner was cooking I rethreaded. I did it correctly!
Then I had to figure out the weaving issue. One line of each color...hmmm. I got it figured out and it's coming out REAL nice. :-)
I'm using dark and light denim cotton from Peaches and Cream. It looks nice.
I want to try to make a scarf a day for 30 days. We'll see how that goes. LOL
No pics. This scarf might be a gift, and I don't want the giftee to see it! Maybe a tease when it gets done....
My car is in the shop. The Check Engine light came on while I was driving. Turned around, came back home, and took the pickup which stinks! Whew.
Hubby took the car in and I went and picked him up. Of course there is a part that needs replaced. The car is only 18 months old. 26,000 miles. Geesh. They just don't make them like they used to. Sometimes I wish life were MUCH simpler.
So I'm off for now. Gonna go watch a couple of shows we taped. Then we'll watch Dancing with the Stars and 19 Kids and Counting, and The Little Couple (finale is tonight - geesh, it seems it just started!!!). Yeah, um, can you tell I'm a reality show freak?
More later!
Martha
Monday, October 31, 2011
Extra Large Cowl
I made an extra large cowl......it wasn't my plan. I had started out with writing out the plan for what size I wanted, and how many ends I'd have, how wide and how long. Got that all down on paper.
Then I started winding the yarn. The yarn spoke to me and I ended up with something twice as wide as I'd planned on.
That's ok. I go with my gut when I'm weaving. I'm not a very structured person....in anything I do. So this was fun.
I wound my warp. I tried several different yarns in the weft. I ended up using the same yarn as the warp and I'm really glad I did. I LOVE this piece.
I probably should have worn a contrasting shirt in the photos so it's easier to see. Oh well.....
The warp was 120" long. I tied it on and left 29" at the front end before weaving. This is so that I can weave the front end, into the back end when I get done weaving the actual body of the fabric.
One slight problem with that.....the loom is not 29" from the front beam to the beater bar, which is the space I need to weave back in. But I didn't THINK about that before I started.....
Everything works out for a reason. The opening that is toward my waist, is larger than the opening near my neck. That works - if the opening near my waist was NOT as wide as it is, it would not FIT me down there and I'd have a LOT of fabric up around my neck - and I don't have much of a neck....
So the fact that I could not weave in all 21" of warp into the body actually worked out for the best. The fringe is all braided (6 hours) and then done in a trellis braid. I love the fringe..........
The color is off in this photo because I was in the sun, and squinting. But I can put the fringe part in the front of my body, and wear this as a hood. There is plenty of fabric and it covers well.
This is also large enough for me to wear over a thin coat. Not that I have a thin coat that matches.....
I do love this tho, and it will remain MINE!
Today I have a lot to do. I have laundry, and I need to bathe Gabbi, brush her out, blow dry her, clip her nails and do her anals (ew). I need to brush Evan out as he's blowing coat everywhere! His nails will get done also. I am hoping that I receive a schedule for volunteering at the hospital with him for November....we need to get back to that.
I'm hoping to get another project warped on the Baby Wolf today, and I need to get photos taken of my Nilus Leclerc as I'm going to sell her. I really like the Baby Wolf much better. I'd like to get a Mighty Wolf (36" weaving width) as the Baby Wolf is only 26". I'd also like a Wolf Pup eventually - for the narrower projects. We'll see..........one thing at a time. Get the Leclerc sold, and I can hopefully get a MW to replace her.
Off to get on with my day. Gonna be a busy one to get everything done that I want to get done!
Then I started winding the yarn. The yarn spoke to me and I ended up with something twice as wide as I'd planned on.
That's ok. I go with my gut when I'm weaving. I'm not a very structured person....in anything I do. So this was fun.I wound my warp. I tried several different yarns in the weft. I ended up using the same yarn as the warp and I'm really glad I did. I LOVE this piece.
I probably should have worn a contrasting shirt in the photos so it's easier to see. Oh well.....
The warp was 120" long. I tied it on and left 29" at the front end before weaving. This is so that I can weave the front end, into the back end when I get done weaving the actual body of the fabric.
One slight problem with that.....the loom is not 29" from the front beam to the beater bar, which is the space I need to weave back in. But I didn't THINK about that before I started.....
Everything works out for a reason. The opening that is toward my waist, is larger than the opening near my neck. That works - if the opening near my waist was NOT as wide as it is, it would not FIT me down there and I'd have a LOT of fabric up around my neck - and I don't have much of a neck....
So the fact that I could not weave in all 21" of warp into the body actually worked out for the best. The fringe is all braided (6 hours) and then done in a trellis braid. I love the fringe..........
The color is off in this photo because I was in the sun, and squinting. But I can put the fringe part in the front of my body, and wear this as a hood. There is plenty of fabric and it covers well.
This is also large enough for me to wear over a thin coat. Not that I have a thin coat that matches.....
I do love this tho, and it will remain MINE!
Today I have a lot to do. I have laundry, and I need to bathe Gabbi, brush her out, blow dry her, clip her nails and do her anals (ew). I need to brush Evan out as he's blowing coat everywhere! His nails will get done also. I am hoping that I receive a schedule for volunteering at the hospital with him for November....we need to get back to that.
I'm hoping to get another project warped on the Baby Wolf today, and I need to get photos taken of my Nilus Leclerc as I'm going to sell her. I really like the Baby Wolf much better. I'd like to get a Mighty Wolf (36" weaving width) as the Baby Wolf is only 26". I'd also like a Wolf Pup eventually - for the narrower projects. We'll see..........one thing at a time. Get the Leclerc sold, and I can hopefully get a MW to replace her.
Off to get on with my day. Gonna be a busy one to get everything done that I want to get done!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Life, in general
Life the last week has been a bit......rough. I started not feeling well on Tuesday. I awoke with a stuffy head, headache, ears ringing, and a tummy thing. I have IBS which seems to rear it's ugliness now and then....sometimes for no apparent reason. At least, not that I can figure.
I finally took some aspirin (thank you dear hubby) and felt better - somewhat.
Weds I was ok, still having trouble with tummy.
Thursday I thought my tummy troubles were over...I won't go into detail.
Friday I felt pretty good - good spirits, tummy wasn't upset......yeah, that was short lived.
Saturday I got up and felt horrible. I had another headache and ears ringing really loudly - like I'd gotten drunk and gone to a concert and stood in front of the speakers. That didn't happen...I don't lead that interesting a life!
I spent a lot of time in the bathroom on Saturday. Ugh. I slept a lot too. I just felt drained and horrible and sleep let me not feel it.
Today (Sunday) didn't start out great, but it's not as bad as Saturday was. Thank God. I've been able to eat a bland diet of crackers, plain broth, a bit of mashed potatoes, and some plain toast. I'm afraid of over-loading my poor worn out system.....but I'm hungry.
I'll have some more plain toast before bed.
Tonight we watch the season finale of "Against the Wall" - two hours that starts at 8 a.m. Then I'll get to lay in my flannel sheets ( I LOVE flannel) and I'll sleep once again.
Praying that tomorrow I feel much better. I need to try to figure out what set this off. I did start eating salads at the beginning of the week, but who knows if that was it, or what happened.
I have my follow-up doctor appointment on Tuesday. That could also be the issue - I don't feel nervous, but that's how my IBS works - if I don't feel nervous about something, it flairs up and reminds me I can't hide from myself. I'll find out on Tuesday what the next five years of follow-up will consist of.
I know this wasn't an exciting post. I don't have any photos that are new. The leaves are turning, Fall is here, not that it gets that colorful here in this part of VA....not like PA, or NY, or New England. But it's pretty enough.
I did start a new warp on the loom. I can't wait to get working on it, but I just didn't have the energy the last 2 days.
Praying this week is all good.................and in November, I can finally get back to volunteering with my dog!
I finally took some aspirin (thank you dear hubby) and felt better - somewhat.
Weds I was ok, still having trouble with tummy.
Thursday I thought my tummy troubles were over...I won't go into detail.
Friday I felt pretty good - good spirits, tummy wasn't upset......yeah, that was short lived.
Saturday I got up and felt horrible. I had another headache and ears ringing really loudly - like I'd gotten drunk and gone to a concert and stood in front of the speakers. That didn't happen...I don't lead that interesting a life!
I spent a lot of time in the bathroom on Saturday. Ugh. I slept a lot too. I just felt drained and horrible and sleep let me not feel it.
Today (Sunday) didn't start out great, but it's not as bad as Saturday was. Thank God. I've been able to eat a bland diet of crackers, plain broth, a bit of mashed potatoes, and some plain toast. I'm afraid of over-loading my poor worn out system.....but I'm hungry.
I'll have some more plain toast before bed.
Tonight we watch the season finale of "Against the Wall" - two hours that starts at 8 a.m. Then I'll get to lay in my flannel sheets ( I LOVE flannel) and I'll sleep once again.
Praying that tomorrow I feel much better. I need to try to figure out what set this off. I did start eating salads at the beginning of the week, but who knows if that was it, or what happened.
I have my follow-up doctor appointment on Tuesday. That could also be the issue - I don't feel nervous, but that's how my IBS works - if I don't feel nervous about something, it flairs up and reminds me I can't hide from myself. I'll find out on Tuesday what the next five years of follow-up will consist of.
I know this wasn't an exciting post. I don't have any photos that are new. The leaves are turning, Fall is here, not that it gets that colorful here in this part of VA....not like PA, or NY, or New England. But it's pretty enough.
I did start a new warp on the loom. I can't wait to get working on it, but I just didn't have the energy the last 2 days.
Praying this week is all good.................and in November, I can finally get back to volunteering with my dog!
Monday, October 17, 2011
I've been busy!
I have been busy - I made 2 more baby quilts. The first one I love the Moda squares, but I made it too big. The second one I don't love (the Moda squares) but, I found some fabric in my stash and I thought it went pretty well, so I had fun quilting it. And it's smaller, much better for baby right now.
Above is the first baby quilt that is too large. But I LOVE the colors. :-) It'll come in handy one day....I hope! Meanwhile, dear daughter wanted a smaller one for baby....
I like the above quilt because it's smaller. This is my first attempt at stitch in the ditch with a darning foot - boy was it tricky!
I also wove a scarf, Saori style, with wool - which I don't usually wear. This is so wild and out there, and it's not that itchy. lol. It's pretty wide - wide enough to throw over your head if you have to.
This was fun to make. I have many ideas for the next one - it won't be wool, and it won't be as wide, and it won't be as long, but not much shorter than this either. Then there will be another wide one I think....just to play with the way it hangs, etc. Someone showed me a scarf that also had a hood attached. I liked that idea also.
Today I've been busy also. The horse vet came at 9 this morning for Fall shots (boosters). Before he even arrived, I was able to chat on IM with my friend in Australia. It was really great to chat with her. Good ole Facebook chat. Ha ha.
After the horse vet, I came in and got Gabbi and Evan outside to groom them. Evan got a good brushing - some day his undercoat is going to get spun and woven into something - when I learn to spin! Gabbi needed a hair cut and it doesn't look too awful. She hates going to the groomer. Last time, I picked her up and she was panting and shaking and was clinging to my arm all the way home. I felt awful. Neither of us likes me doing it, but at least she doesn't stress as much as at the groomer! Besides, I save myself $50 every time I do it......so that's incentive enough for me.
Evan is never too happy about Leo taking over the dog beds during the day, but he did sit there and pose like the diva he is! lol. At night, Leo gets kicked outta the room because he attacks feet and sleeps on the bed.
When I got Evan, he was allowed to sleep on the bed. But he always pushed his legs against me at night - very uncomfortable. When we got Gabbi a year later, we tried to let them both sleep on the bed. Dear Hubby would wake up during the night, and Gabbi would be snuggled under the blankets, underneath HIM. We were both afraid he'd squish her! Eventually, they both were told they had to sleep on the floor. Sometimes ya just gotta be tough. Yes, we have a king size bed. No, it wasn't enough room - and really too dangerous for Gabbi.
The other thing she would do is jump off the bed and she already has badly luxating patellas on her back legs. If you don't know what this is, here is a link. We had steps we bought to put at the foot of the bed, and she'd use them to get ON the bed, but she would jump off. So, in order to save our sanity and her legs, they get to sleep in those 4 dogs beds, that reside under a shelf in a cutout in the wall. Above them is the shelf that holds the tv. It boils down to the fact that I need my sleep and when I don't have it.....I'm not a happy person!
I was supposed to go upstairs and unweave something I started about 6 weeks ago on the large loom, but I haven't had the motivation to go do it. I also need to wind a warp for another scarf, and I have towels I want to get started (Christmas is coming!). I know that's going to be a LONG warp and was planning on doing it on Lulu (the big loom) but there is a really LONG blue 5/2 warp on there (the one that needs to be unwoven and something new started with it). I'm just having an issue with exactly what I want to do with the blue warp - I'm NOT taking it off and wasting it! Cotton is too expensive!!! I had a plan when I put it on....it's just that I don't like what it is, so gotta change it. I have some ideas so when I decide, I can get moving on that.
I've actually found something interesting. I like using my large loom - but it's a lotta work to actually weave on it. I love HOW it weaves and I love that I can put a long warp (which for me has been up to 15 yards) and it's not hard, and I can get up close to thread the heddles. I like the way my Baby Wolf weaves tho - it's so EASY. I'm not crazy about some of how it's put together tho.....it's not as heavy duty, and I've had issues with the tension because my dowel on the front wasn't tied on evenly. I think my ties are waaaaayyyyy too long, but I'm afraid of cutting them. I think the wise idea will be to get some texsolve cord, and I can try that without damaging my current ties. The BW is so easy to weave on tho.....not so easy to thread (it's the older model that the back beam doesn't come off). I think I just need to keep working with the BW and get used to it.
OK, well, I've not been blogging for awhile and now, I've dumped everything in one blog. Prolly not the wisest decision. Oh well. I was in the mood to do this today. Believe it or not, I actually have more to talk about, but I think that's it for today.
Have a wonderful day!
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| Front of too large baby quilt |
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| Back of too large baby quilt |
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| Free motion quilting - gone wild! |
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| Front of smaller quilt |
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| Back of smaller quilt (it's actually green) |
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| More free motion gone wild quilting! |
I also wove a scarf, Saori style, with wool - which I don't usually wear. This is so wild and out there, and it's not that itchy. lol. It's pretty wide - wide enough to throw over your head if you have to.
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| Saori Mobius scarf |
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| Long enough to wrap around me twice and throw up over my head! |
Today I've been busy also. The horse vet came at 9 this morning for Fall shots (boosters). Before he even arrived, I was able to chat on IM with my friend in Australia. It was really great to chat with her. Good ole Facebook chat. Ha ha.
After the horse vet, I came in and got Gabbi and Evan outside to groom them. Evan got a good brushing - some day his undercoat is going to get spun and woven into something - when I learn to spin! Gabbi needed a hair cut and it doesn't look too awful. She hates going to the groomer. Last time, I picked her up and she was panting and shaking and was clinging to my arm all the way home. I felt awful. Neither of us likes me doing it, but at least she doesn't stress as much as at the groomer! Besides, I save myself $50 every time I do it......so that's incentive enough for me.
 |
| Gabbi on the left, Evan in front, and Leo in back. |
When I got Evan, he was allowed to sleep on the bed. But he always pushed his legs against me at night - very uncomfortable. When we got Gabbi a year later, we tried to let them both sleep on the bed. Dear Hubby would wake up during the night, and Gabbi would be snuggled under the blankets, underneath HIM. We were both afraid he'd squish her! Eventually, they both were told they had to sleep on the floor. Sometimes ya just gotta be tough. Yes, we have a king size bed. No, it wasn't enough room - and really too dangerous for Gabbi.
The other thing she would do is jump off the bed and she already has badly luxating patellas on her back legs. If you don't know what this is, here is a link. We had steps we bought to put at the foot of the bed, and she'd use them to get ON the bed, but she would jump off. So, in order to save our sanity and her legs, they get to sleep in those 4 dogs beds, that reside under a shelf in a cutout in the wall. Above them is the shelf that holds the tv. It boils down to the fact that I need my sleep and when I don't have it.....I'm not a happy person!
I was supposed to go upstairs and unweave something I started about 6 weeks ago on the large loom, but I haven't had the motivation to go do it. I also need to wind a warp for another scarf, and I have towels I want to get started (Christmas is coming!). I know that's going to be a LONG warp and was planning on doing it on Lulu (the big loom) but there is a really LONG blue 5/2 warp on there (the one that needs to be unwoven and something new started with it). I'm just having an issue with exactly what I want to do with the blue warp - I'm NOT taking it off and wasting it! Cotton is too expensive!!! I had a plan when I put it on....it's just that I don't like what it is, so gotta change it. I have some ideas so when I decide, I can get moving on that.
I've actually found something interesting. I like using my large loom - but it's a lotta work to actually weave on it. I love HOW it weaves and I love that I can put a long warp (which for me has been up to 15 yards) and it's not hard, and I can get up close to thread the heddles. I like the way my Baby Wolf weaves tho - it's so EASY. I'm not crazy about some of how it's put together tho.....it's not as heavy duty, and I've had issues with the tension because my dowel on the front wasn't tied on evenly. I think my ties are waaaaayyyyy too long, but I'm afraid of cutting them. I think the wise idea will be to get some texsolve cord, and I can try that without damaging my current ties. The BW is so easy to weave on tho.....not so easy to thread (it's the older model that the back beam doesn't come off). I think I just need to keep working with the BW and get used to it.
OK, well, I've not been blogging for awhile and now, I've dumped everything in one blog. Prolly not the wisest decision. Oh well. I was in the mood to do this today. Believe it or not, I actually have more to talk about, but I think that's it for today.
Have a wonderful day!
Monday, October 10, 2011
October
I can't believe it's almost the middle of October already. It's crazy how fast this month always seems to go for me. Sigh...I love October. I can't really tell you why - I guess because the weather cools off (I dislike hot weather), the leaves turn colors (but not as great as they do up North) and I just overall enjoy this season of change. Of course, this season of change leads to the shorter daylight, longer darkness days, and naked trees, and colder weather. When I'm in this house, I'm not usually warm in winter weather. But I do enjoy winter weather - if I can be warm, and even if I'm out in it. Yeah, I'm weird. I once told DH that I'd go back to Upstate New York in a heartbeat, if we had the opportunity.....but our birthplace has not had great job opportunity for a long time, and taxes are higher in NY than they are here in VA.
At any rate.....I'm trying to pull myself back into the good place I like to be, even if DH sometimes thinks it's a bit of a place of denial for me. So what, as long as I'm happy and I'm not hurting anyone else????!!!!!! LOL
We went to the Apple Harvest Festival at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria VA on Saturday. I would have stayed the entire afternoon, listening to music, sitting in chairs (that we brought in the car, but DH refused to bring them out and sit them in the seating area near the music), just people watching and relaxing in the beautiful weather. It did get a little warm for me tho - mid 70s - yeah, again, I know, I'm weird. I love the 60s - music, weather, etc. LOL. Anyway, we walked around, then I wanted to sit so we did find a picnic table that had some empty space at it, and DH went to get us some food (after hitting the porta-potty).
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| THE ENTRANCE |
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| THE BAND |
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| THE FOOD |
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| THE ENTRANCE |
| |
| FOOT BRIDGE |
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| THE WATER |
The water is so clear and beautiful. The creek is really shallow. It was in the 70s (F) and people were standing in it. It's just a lovely place. Very nice and peaceful - even with a lot of people there! Well, at least I think so.....again, I'm weird.
We didn't buy any apples - they weren't that great a deal, they weren't that great looking, and we don't use a lot of apples. But, we did get a jar of their applesauce which is yummy!
I wonder if anyone can tell me why I spent a bunch of time trying to put a label on my photos in Photobucket, and when I download the photos, they show the label (writing ON the photograph) but when I add the photos, the writing disappears???? I really need a really GOOD photo program that doesn't cost $100 + ! Any advice?
So this is my try at getting back to a normal me. I hope it worked. Enjoy the photos. It was a lovely day. We have had some wonderful weather. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and the next 2 days after that, but then another stretch of awesome Fall weather and I just LOVE it - well, except for my allergies. I have NO idea why I'm suffering so much this year....a bit tired of it as it's difficult to enjoy the weather and being out when I'm sniffling, gagging and choking. Well, there went THAT good mood, eh? Sorry.
Martha
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Hello there....
I know I've been MIA. I apologize. I guess I'm feeling like I'm not very dependable. The last month has been stressful for me. I had been having some symptoms of things not quite being right. Mentioning them to my dr. about 6 months ago, she kinda blew me off. Then another symptom happened, and I got right in for an appointment since this latest symptom isn't really normal for a post-menopausal woman. That appointment led to a gyn appointment, which then led to an oncology gyn appointment. Pre-cancerous cells were found. The dr. explained that "pre-cancer" and "stage 1 cancer" aren't that far apart..... The surgery was scheduled but it would take 3 weeks. Pre-op prep was not going to be fun, and I spent all day Sunday between bed and the bathroom....
We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am on Monday. We live just over an hour and a half from the hospital. That meant we had to arise at 2:45 am, leave by 3:45 to get there on time. We had to include pit stops for me in case....
We got there, waited around a bit, and then were all in a group, led upstairs to the pre-surgery center. I started to get slightly panicked but my DH was there with me all the way, keeping me calm. I knew he would have a long wait so felt bad for him too.
The pre-surgery parts are scary for me, but once I was asleep, I had no idea what was going on - and I didn't want to either.
Waking up was no fun. It was extremely painful. The nurse was male, and he was speaking really loudly to me, but very quietly to the lady next to me. I felt badly for all the noise I was making (I'm a moaner) but I just couldn't help it.
I was sent to the "short stay" ward. OMG, this was the worst hospital experience I ever had. I was in a lot of pain, I had to keep calling for assistance, I was tethered to the bed by the cuffs on my legs to keep from getting blood clots, by the catheter (ick) and by the IV. My hand was killing me with the IV in it. My belly was sore. But the worst pain was coming from the gas they had blown up my insides with. They gotta move all the other organs out of the way. OMG. It was insane. I was so distended. Then, as the anesthesia wore off, my right shoulder (yes, shoulder) was killing me. I thought someone had broken my shoulder or collarbone. I was in terrible pain. Nothing helped it. Not the meds, not walking, not anything. It continued to get worse and worse. The nurse didn't know what else to do with me. I did not sleep - not one wink during the night. That didn't help my mood any!
I was so grateful the next day when the drs started showing up. They said there are nerves near the diaphragm that also affect the right shoulder. Well, with all of my organs being out of place from the gas, I guess I was one of the "lucky" ones that got to have a LOT of pain from this side affect. OUCH! I could not wait to get out of there and called my DH and asked him to be there by noon. I was dressed and ready to get the heck out of there. I won't go into the details of the mess I think that ward is in. It was just awful tho.
I was much better being home. I slept really hard the first night. Drugs are great for that. So was my exhaustion. But then came the next couple of days. The gas was still causing me issues. I was still exhausted. My belly tender.
Yesterday, Friday, my darling daughter and grand daughter came to visit. It was SO great seeing them. The sad part was, I couldn't hold my grand daughter - can't pick up anything over 10 lbs and actually anything under that feels heavy too. The baby wanted to come to me so badly, and believe me when I say, it was next to impossible not to give in to her. Luckily, DH was around (although had lots of work to do) and he spent a good amount of time interacting with Baby. And she soaked it up too! :-)
It was so great to have my family around me. Thank you Dear Daughter and Dear Granddaughter and Dear Husband for being there for me this week. I love you all dearly.
I have some photos but will save them for another day. I get to go out today for a ride to the library. If I'm feeling up to it, and DH wants to, I'm hoping to go from town, to the city, to Panera. They have a new bread out and I wanna try it. :-)
I will be getting a few crafting things together to try to get some things done. I don't think I'll be weaving for at least a couple of weeks. I don't want to strain anything. But I can sew, and do a few other easy things.
I'm back, and will try to get back to blogging more often again.
Always,
Martha
We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am on Monday. We live just over an hour and a half from the hospital. That meant we had to arise at 2:45 am, leave by 3:45 to get there on time. We had to include pit stops for me in case....
We got there, waited around a bit, and then were all in a group, led upstairs to the pre-surgery center. I started to get slightly panicked but my DH was there with me all the way, keeping me calm. I knew he would have a long wait so felt bad for him too.
The pre-surgery parts are scary for me, but once I was asleep, I had no idea what was going on - and I didn't want to either.
Waking up was no fun. It was extremely painful. The nurse was male, and he was speaking really loudly to me, but very quietly to the lady next to me. I felt badly for all the noise I was making (I'm a moaner) but I just couldn't help it.
I was sent to the "short stay" ward. OMG, this was the worst hospital experience I ever had. I was in a lot of pain, I had to keep calling for assistance, I was tethered to the bed by the cuffs on my legs to keep from getting blood clots, by the catheter (ick) and by the IV. My hand was killing me with the IV in it. My belly was sore. But the worst pain was coming from the gas they had blown up my insides with. They gotta move all the other organs out of the way. OMG. It was insane. I was so distended. Then, as the anesthesia wore off, my right shoulder (yes, shoulder) was killing me. I thought someone had broken my shoulder or collarbone. I was in terrible pain. Nothing helped it. Not the meds, not walking, not anything. It continued to get worse and worse. The nurse didn't know what else to do with me. I did not sleep - not one wink during the night. That didn't help my mood any!
I was so grateful the next day when the drs started showing up. They said there are nerves near the diaphragm that also affect the right shoulder. Well, with all of my organs being out of place from the gas, I guess I was one of the "lucky" ones that got to have a LOT of pain from this side affect. OUCH! I could not wait to get out of there and called my DH and asked him to be there by noon. I was dressed and ready to get the heck out of there. I won't go into the details of the mess I think that ward is in. It was just awful tho.
I was much better being home. I slept really hard the first night. Drugs are great for that. So was my exhaustion. But then came the next couple of days. The gas was still causing me issues. I was still exhausted. My belly tender.
Yesterday, Friday, my darling daughter and grand daughter came to visit. It was SO great seeing them. The sad part was, I couldn't hold my grand daughter - can't pick up anything over 10 lbs and actually anything under that feels heavy too. The baby wanted to come to me so badly, and believe me when I say, it was next to impossible not to give in to her. Luckily, DH was around (although had lots of work to do) and he spent a good amount of time interacting with Baby. And she soaked it up too! :-)
It was so great to have my family around me. Thank you Dear Daughter and Dear Granddaughter and Dear Husband for being there for me this week. I love you all dearly.
I have some photos but will save them for another day. I get to go out today for a ride to the library. If I'm feeling up to it, and DH wants to, I'm hoping to go from town, to the city, to Panera. They have a new bread out and I wanna try it. :-)
I will be getting a few crafting things together to try to get some things done. I don't think I'll be weaving for at least a couple of weeks. I don't want to strain anything. But I can sew, and do a few other easy things.
I'm back, and will try to get back to blogging more often again.
Always,
Martha
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