Slow Stitching Sunday - DMC organization and some Sky, Sand & Sea crochet

DMC floss organization day!
The boxes of DMC floss that daughter #1 dug out of her storage had been resting patiently in my cross-stitch bag all week with today in mind.  These boxes were actually given to me by MY mother when she was right around my age now; I reached out to her to get a true gauge of how old these are...

Her reply:

In all guesstimated accuracies, I have to believe she had these in her 20s... and she's now 74, so... "vintage" sounds pretty accurate.  Then, a few years ago, knowing I hadn't touched these in quite some time, they were handed over to Cass since she was showing interest.  She started a project, barely visible in lower right of the first photo, and she says she has since misplaced the pattern.  
I have a couple of projects partially complete that are soaking the sink in an attempt to remove some unknown stain...

Naturally I'm hopeful for a solution since I'm motivated to complete it AND quite possibly gift it in about 8 months.  My assistant coach is pregnant.... with TWINS!  No knowledge on the genders yet, but... prepping multiple in both pink and blue sound like a great lil' project for the next few months.

Cass musta picked up this lil' gadget... 

I had never seen one before.  No paperwork.  But I figured it was probably a DMC floss winder, and sure enough... Google is your friend (and youtube!) --> YouTube tutorial found.
So... some an eclectic mix of mindless youtube videos is underway as I settle in to organize the containers.

And directly following, some Sky, Sand & Sea crocheting is my plan.

... along with a full afternoon of laundry.   LOL
Child #3, Candace -- gotta love her, right!??!
She's pulling a double-shift today at one of her jobs, and after working full-time days all week long, I'm perfectly fine tackling these piles... um.... this PILE.

Happy Sunday.

Linking up with:

Kathy's Quilt - Slow Stitching Sunday

Full summer days as an emtpy-nester! Gardening, grooming, and quilting

This is the first summer of true 'empty-nester' life.  Although child #3 still remains at home before heading off to school in the fall for Finance, she's working full-time at the bank literally makin' bank 🙌 .  Last summer was a bit similar, however since I was still coaching and she was still an active athlete heading into her Senior year, we had athletic events from time to time that filled the schedule.  

#3 heading to say bye to Dad before heading out, with beau 💓

 

Although a few more than a handful of years remain before retirement can hit, these summer days give a pretty good insight to what many say about retirement: "the days simply are full and fly by."  Pre-sunup to post-sundown lately, there hasn't been much downtime.  And trust me when I say: NO COMPLAINTS! The days have been filled willingly!  The weather played so nicely these past couple of days, so spending time outside with hubby, organizing and expanding the garden, was where you could find us.  Together.

Miracle Grow gets a bad rap on many gardening sites, however it's what we've used for years in the garden (any my houseplants).  The tomatoes, peppers and beans were 'fed;' Paul fertilized the corn with nitrogen; I watered and weeded the rows.  He then worked to relocate some huge heavy-tread rug/tarp/thingies away from the torn-down softball batting cage to a spot that has had a heavy growth of thistles.  Naturally, the hope is that the thistles will get choked out by the end of the season.

When moving tarps, we all know to look down nowadays! 🐍

I was faced with an Eastern Hognose last week when moving a tarp while mowing, and this little guy was who we spied under a tarp by the garlic.  It wasn't very big.  If he would have uncoiled, he may have been 10" long or so. 

Red-bellied snake - our best guess.

 

Then this morning, after chatting up this idea with Paul last night, shortly after 7-bells, the outside tasks took over.  A couple swipes were tilled up-n-down the previous batting cage spot, and then the area prepped for the plan to transplant a row of raspberries.

It's not much to look at yet, but let's check back in a year after these transplants have a chance to grow.

And yes, yes... yet again, this is NOT the ideal time to transplant raspberries, but we are patient and have additional plants up top in our overgrown location in which we can always 'borrow' a few more to fill any bare spots.

The red currants are nearing readiness, so I'll have to add that to Tuesday's todo list; maaaaybe Monday.

And theeeeennnnnnn there's Bella girl.
Bella will be turning 14 in August, and YES, that is how she sits!  

She was new to us two years ago when we rehomed her from an elderly gentleman needing assistance with her, and his family wasn't able to help out.   Never having had a German Shepard before, we had NO IDEA how much they shed 😱
She hadn't been brushed in a while, so the de-shedder was grabbed and outside we went.

The yard showed the Bella-snow aftermath

She has been slowing each year we've had her, and recently has shown signs of deafness.  She no longer responds to the normal speech of voices, but she'll alert when I break out my whistle.  The vet is surprised she's given us this last year because of her deteriorating back legs, but... we assist her and keep her as active as she allows herself to be.  Every now and then, a little hop-in-her-step will surprise us all.

And NATURALLLLLY, there's been progress on Dawn's Early Light.  Ironically so, most of my active time on it truly has been at the break of dawn lately before the rest of the day unfolds.

Prepping HSTs doesn't require the machine, so while awaiting Candace to wake yesterday, the scrap bins were pretty much emptied of neutrals and reds.

I think this will be the last of the Cars fabric received from Nancy, a fellow quilting-blogger from years ago.

And now, with the day warming up, I came inside for some lunch, to upload this post and to catch the Indiana Fever while allowing myself to take a breather for a bit.

Still on the todo list (sometime in the near future):

 - transplant questionable plum tree

 - transplant volunteer pines to create a windbreak

 - keep tackling the wood pile

 - figure out a plan to net the blueberry patch

 - pick cherries (?)

 - finish the red/neutral HSTs for DEL

 - get rock-tumbler up-n-running

POV: putting the sun to bed on the mower last night

Happy GLORIOUS Saturday!

 

"Candace gets everything"

A new project is underway on the crochet hook -- Aran afghan throw - a free pattern courtesy of JoAnn fabrics.  It was in the running for my new project, along with Foolproof afghan and Bumpy Baby blanket.  I was leaning more towards the Bumpy Baby blanket, however when I asked Candace to help me pick out a yarn color, she couldn't decide.  In the end, she picked out three:  a dark brown, light brown (shown in picture), and a dark teal blue.  GORGEOUS colors!  So, due to the three colors, I thought the Aran pattern would work nicely switching out the colors.  And of course, Candace said..."Mom is making me a new blanket."

 

Ummmmm.........this picture taken just moments ago.  She "borrowed" the afghan from the couch last night to sleep with.  Stinker :D  As you can imagine, I'm one happy momma though.  

Today, the garden will be getting some much-needed attention.  But first, I'll spend some time with the Aran afghan before waking the house up.

Happy Friday everyone!

Little happinesses!

I LOVE my clothesline!  What a great energy saver; yummy 'out-doorsey' smelling clothes;  what's not to like?

{{Well, I suppose I could admit that I don't like having to re-wash some clothes that get some bird-droppings on them due to the few nests we have under the upper deck flooring, but still.....Psht!}}

 A small update on the bat-capades:

Candace put on her big girl panties the other night and grabbed the net to make sure the coast was clear before heading to bed.  LOL.  The reality... after 20 minutes of being upstairs, she came down by me, scared of the bat.  :)  Ah well... Paul wasn't home, so I didn't mind the security company. :)   No sign of it since my episode the other night.  :\

Monday morning zooming by already!  The girls have started summer school;  dropped them off at 8:00 for that.  I've been working non-stop on laundry since;  folding some older baskets that have been wrinkling up for the past few days (**sigh**) and keeping some fresh loads going in the washer and on the line.  So, finally... I'm CAUGHT UP!  

A little motivation was found at NINE O'CLOCK PM last night to clean girls' bedrooms and the loft.  LOL.  Nothing like summer motivation striking that late, huh?  BUT, we made a GREAT dent by 10:00;  all dirty clothes thrown into the hamper;  closets and drawers a little bit organized of what does/doesn't fit (THAT task will be continued today!!!!).  

The house has been tidied up enough to be presentable for my parents who will be rolling in in a couple of hours.  They'll be spending a few days with us to enjoy a couple of summer days with the girls and to watch them play some softball games.  

So now...

... Seven Shirts!  Yup.  I think I want to set that as my "to-finish" goal for today.  A couple more passes with the pantograph and that should do it.  Then, whip up some binding to mark it as a finish.   We'll see....

Happy MONDAY!

RWB scraps -- another Pineapple Blossom?

Nancy and I have exchanged a couple of emails with Pineapple Blossom as the topic.  It is SUCH an amazing pattern;  I think it's one of Bonnie's BEST scrappy designs!

Nancy has 1.5 days of school left----sooooo close!  I know that feeling all too well :)

I suggested that we tackle a Pineapple Blossom quilt for the month of June... I THINK she's game :)

What about any of you?  Want to try out this pattern (or make another one?) and join in the fun???

I've made THREE versions of this pattern already...

Red/Black/White

Red/White

Scrappy (just completed the top last week)

Knowing I had a box of RWB scraps from my 2010 BOM, I thought I'd take a peek this morning to see if anything would work, and let me tell you!  I think it was meant to be!

MOST of the scraps were already 2" strips, so I started to slowly press and trim and begin the first stages of organization.  BUT, I didn't want to get TOOOOO far;  I want to spend some time FB-skyping with Nancy when working on this baby :)  My plan:  similar to my Red/Black/White version, only it'll be Red/Blue/White :)

It's another gloomy, rainy day outside today.  Therefore, we're all trying to keep ourselves occupied with inside tasks.  Yesterday, I caught Candace working on her KnittingKnobby for a bit...

LOL!  Got'cha :)  I'm sure she'll pull it out again later.

She also spent some time working with Dad on the duck house...

Both Paul and I are SO thankful for the help that the girls give us around the house;  MOST of the time, they don't mind, either.  The duck house is finished and in its temporary location for now.  However, pics will have to come later;  I didn't take any last night, and am CERTAINLY not interested in heading out in the rain right now.

With a change in plans, I have the whole day to spend in my quilting room now.  We were supposed to head up to the farm to till up Father-in-Law's garden plot; he's even further behind that WE are! :(  However, with the weather...Paul called the trip off;  it's too wet.  Besides, I think he just wanted to stick around home and get some things done here.  He's mixed up a batch of donut dough (YUM!!!), and then he wants to head out fishing later.

Therefore, with lunch behind us (beer-cheese soup and sandwiches), I'm off to downstairs.  I think I'll work on Forever's quilting :)

Happy Sunday.

Hand-project Sunday

This morning, Cassie and I went shopping for clothes!!!! We BOTH needed some.  And even though I reallllllly didn't want to go, I knew we had to.  In the end, we each came away with two new pairs of pants and half a dozen tops.

Then......

I'm trying it again!!!

Remember when I attempted to crochet a rug for the first time?

Sure, as that post shows, the rug's life started out fine....but it didn't take long for it to start getting extremely wonky and wouldn't lay flat!  So I stopped and set it aside.

After watching some YouTube videos today, I'm trying it again.

{{Do you like my Green Bay Packer apparel too?  The 'comfy pants' are new today {even though you can't really see them}} :D

So far, so good.  

Now that dinner is finished (eggrolls--YUM!)), and the girls are taking showers, I plan to put my feet up with an evening of DH's choice of TV shows (football, probably), and I'll continue with the rug.

Paul was busy today too, making lefse.  I'm not a die-hard fan of it, but I certainly will enjoy a piece or two with some butter, cinnamon and sugar :)

Also, Candace and I enjoyed some PhotoBooth time!

I'd like to know what she's thinking in this picture!  Great shot for a caption contest.

A perfect image for the upcoming Halloween spookiness.  

Happy Sunday everyone!

Golly, this weekend flew by :(

OFF with her hair!

Yeah, yeah. It wasn't too long ago that Cassie had her hair cut to make a donation to Locks of Love. And lil' Candace begged and begged to have her hair cut. Recall at the time....MOM was NOT too keen on the idea. I LOVE her hair!

But after a week of school mornings and combing through her wind-blown-from-playing-outside hair snarls.....

When she begged once more this morning with tears in her eyes from the "gentle" hair brushing....I was PERFECTLY fine with her request.

My response: "Tonight Candace, okay?"

Her response: "Do you pwomise, Mom? Cuz you CAN'T break a pwomise!"

Me: "Promise!"

This is the FIRST time her hair has been cut, other than a lil' trim here-n-there, and of COURSE her bang cuts.....

She was nervous! Every time I grabbed another hair-tie, she thought I was grabbing the scissors to cut her hair, and she pulled away from me.

"I'm afwaid Mom..." she kept saying. {{She's trying so hard on those hard 'r-sounds'. She's ALMOST there!}}

I calmed her, as did her bigger sisters. And I asked her ONE FINAL TIME if she was SURE she wanted the shorter hair....

"YES MOM!!!!! Just DO it already!"

She BOLTED to the bathroom mirror once I made the complete cut across the pony-tail, squeeeeeling and giggggling! Caitlyn wasn't far behind her, either.

I had to convince her to sit still a bit longer so that I could trim up and even out the cuts.

And if she weren't a whole foot (and then some) shorter than Cassie, I would have a hard time telling the two of them apart from the back.

Sunday evening fishing trip

After ALLLLLLLL the sun Caitlyn had yesterday, once we left the water in the afternoon to pack up Ryan and Bethann to send them on their way home, Caitlyn went up to Paul and asked, "Can we go fishing?"

So, after a small nap on the couch, Paul took his girls back out on the water for an evening of fishing.

Candace stayed home with me, but Cassie and Caitlyn enjoyed some more "Dad-time."

And they put the sun to bed this time. Only one fish caught, but Caitlyn didn't seem to mind when they got back home at 10:30. She WAS pooped out though! Hardly able to keep her eyes open. After a quick bagel w/Nutella, she was ready to crash.

Yeah....and our girl Candace. That girl has some of the doosiest sayings at the doosiest times!

[Yesterday, swimming]...
Me: HOYT!!!!!
Hoyt: WHAT AUNT AMY? {{we're shouting because we're a good distance away from each other in the water}}
Me: I FOUND A WARM SPOT! {{Hoty had been saying that to everyone all day on Saturday}}
....and without missing a beat....
Candace: I JUST PEE'd THERE! {{Even though she was a good 100meters away}}

[Later, after everyone was finished tubing and we were ready to motor back to the dock]
Candace: Dad. I have to pee.
Dad: {Places Candace in the water........}
Dad: [Moments later].....are you done?
Candace: Yeah. I farted too, did you see the bubbles?

LOL.....I love kids!

So, it's almost 8:30 and the girls are all still sleeping. I have no intentions of waking them. Lights were finally turned out at 11:00 pm, and after all that sun. Nuh-uh. I'll be a nice (smart) mom and let them sleep it out. I'm still a bit beat; we all over-dosed on Vitamin-D yesterday for sure! And.....**sigh**....poor Paul. He'll be working in full sun again today.

Okay----cucumbers-to-pickles: here I come. Working on a few loads of laundry too. And then, hopefully shortly after lunchtime, we'll be on the road to my parent's for the funeral tomorrow. My sister will be heading 'home' too, so we'll be able to chat a bit and I'll hand over some jams containers to her.

Quilting will hopefully commence on Wednesday!

Happy Monday everyone.

Home again, home again....and PROUD of m'girls!

My traveling is over, for the most part; I've been back from class (2 hours away), and now I'm also back from my sister's house (5 hours away), where the girls ended their visit.

The weekend consisted of relaxing and swimming (pics on camera, still packed away), and making strawberry jam from strawberries I brought from our home garden. {{pictures from my camera}}
In addition to the big bowl of strawberries, I also took along four packages of frozen (chopped) rhubarb from last year, figuring we'd use some of it to make jam too.

In the end, we made 15 containers (2 cup/ea) of strawberry jam, and 19 containers of strawberry-rhubarb jam. I foresee another jam-making session because more strawberries are ready to be picked again, and in a few weeks, our raspberries will be EXPLODING on the vine. ;0) We'll be set for the year, SURELY, so I'll be gifting some more to my sister since she's a big fan.

The weekend ended with a 5K race I signed up for two weeks ago, right in my sister's town (well, over the bridge anyway in the neighboring town, 3 minutes away). Candace had crashed the night before around 8:00, so I shushed the other two to bed at 9:00 so that they would be able to come and "watch Mom run."

We were all up-n-at-'em well before the alarm clock sounded; ate breakfast and headed out. The morning was beautiful, and the turn out was AMAZING for the 5K Memorial run. (Ella Smetana's Memorial Run. The organizers were humbled. And the t-shirts were AMAZING!!!! In fact, my sister said that she was going to "register" just to get a shirt, ........., and when Cassie heard that, she gave me a longing look......puppy dog eyes......

Me: You want to run, don't you?
Cass: **shrug** yeah....
Me: Should I register you? I'll run/walk with you
Cass: Okay

Jen: (my sis wearing sandles) Okay. You do that. I'll take the other two and we'll just walk to see how far we get
Me: You sure?
Jen: Yup!

38:50 later-----Cassie and I crossed the finish line. I am SO happy for her!!!! This had been her first 5K!

So, THEN.....I got my phone from my car to call Jen in order to find out where they were.....No answer. Cass and I walked around Stephenson Island to find them, figuring they were off watching the festivities going on due to the race and holiday weekend. Well....it was still quite early in the morning, so nothing was really going on yet, so.....???

Finally, I said to Cass that we'd just walk the course backwards and maybe we'd see them on their way back from their "modified" course....

1:01:50 later, Jen, Caitlyn and Candace finished THEIR ENTIRE walk of the WHOLE race course! I COULDN"T believe it!!!! And neither could my sandle-wearing sister!

So, after the event, Jen went up to the organizer with a strange request to register Caitlyn and Candace "after-the-fact" because they had finished the race. NO PROBLEM :0)

{{Oh, and don't fret! Candace isn't pouting because she had to walk the whole race......she's pouting because the bouncy-castles weren't open yet and she wanted to play.}}

During the final steps of their race, my sister made me think of that race in a whole new way. She had said that the girls were asking questions all along of how long they'd walked, how long they have left, etc. At one point:
Caitlyn: We've walked one mile
Jen: How do you know?
Caitlyn: It's marked.
.....
Caitlyn: We've walked two miles
Jen: Yup.
Candace: How much is left?
Jen: About one mile.
Candace: How long is that?
Jen: 5280 feet
Candace: Oh my gosh!
Jen: Yeah, but we've already walked 10560 feet
Candace: **amazed face** How far have we walked when we're all done?
Jen: Ummm...that's too much math.

So when Jen recounted this with me....and I looked down to watch Candace's steps........a bit of awe hit me when I realized her steps are about a foot apart. That's a LOT of continuous steps for those little legs to have made! I'm still amazed they finished it!

So, all safe-n-sound now back home. The garden calls and the laundry calls. Time to start my day.

Happy Independence Day to all Americans!
Happy Monday to everyone else :0)