Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Card

When I woke up yesterday morning, I found that Small T had made me a Get Well card.  :)  My Birdie sure makes me smile sometimes, even when I'm not feeling the best.  Thanks Birdie!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Happy Birthday!

 Yesterday was Small T's 17th birthday!  She's growing up so fast!
 Here's her spectacular turtle cake, all lit up with 17 candles.
And here's the cake, without candles.  A local woman baked this at Tianna's request.  She did a really good job and the cake tasted great!

My Nephew

My nephew, Dakota, is an Army Medic, deployed overseas.  He's the daddy of Little Miss E.  I am lucky enough to get to see photos of him in action pretty often.  I wanted to share this photo because it shows Dakota tending the ill or wounded people of the area where he's stationed.  Being an army medic has a lot of duties other than tending to our wounded soldiers.

The Last Week...

Even though I've been bored to death, there has been a lot going on in the last week.
 I joined all the turqua and cherry red granny squares together and then edged the blanket with a shell border.  There are 35 squares total with a one round turqua center and five rounds of cherry red yarn.  I used a size I crochet hook.  All of the yarn was out of my yarn stash, so this blanket ends up being a Stashbusting for Stashaholics project as well as something pretty for my household.  :)
The day after my surgery,  Mr. & Mrs. Friez brought by some lovely cupcakes for the family.  Let me tell you, they tasted fabulous!  Mrs. Friez is the school's Music teacher.  :)
I don't have a photo of it, but on Friday, my friend, Vicki, brought by dinner for the family - BBQ'd beef sandwiches, sloppy joe's, and poppy seed muffins.  Yum!
 Our Cherry Tree (in the back yard) is in full bloom.  Looks like I'll be making a lot of jelly and jams this summer!  Yay!  And I'll also have a lot of cherries to trade for other produce as well.
 I made these two "Colorful Coasters" using some cotton out of my yarn stash.  The pattern can be found by clicking here (just scroll down the page a bit once you get there).  This project is also a Stashbusting for Stashaholics project since the cotton came out of my stash.
 Last Saturday, I had a lot of visitors.  To my dismay, I didn't get photos of all of the visitors though.  First, my sister-in-law, her daughter and grandsons came down to visit.  These grandsons are my great-nephews Muffin Man and Blue Boy.  Remember them?  While they were here, my sister, Dea (in above photo with our mom) came walking around the corner of my house, holding her face, and dripping blood down her arm.  I opened the door, said..."We have blood" and everyone scattered to get "stuff"....washcloths, bandaids, neosporin, etc..  We have so much practice with blood that we're used to these type of injuries.  lol  Dea is a tough act, let me tell you, and she was afraid to look and see how bad the cut was, but it wasn't nearly as bad as we thought.  She was mowing the yard and something hit her in the face.  It busted her blood vessel and she's completely black and blue now, but it was only a tiny cut that bleed a LOT.  The front of her shirt was soaked and it had run all down her arm as well.  Anyway, she's good now.
 Later that afternoon, Dea brought her grandkids over for a visit.  Here's little Kinzie.  She was cuddled up in bed with me and we took about 20 "selfies".  lol
 And also, Mr. Kurryn, Kinzie's brother.  He's a pistol.  Let me tell you.  Such a sweet smile.  They live in Oklahoma, and will be heading back home asap.
 I started...
 And finished....the baby sized version of the Living Room Afghan Pattern.  You can find it here.  I used 2 whole skeins of I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby in the color Arctic Ice.  This is the Worsted Weight yarn.  I used a size I crochet hook.  This baby blanket will be one of three that I'm making for my niece, Z, who is expecting.
 I wanted to include this photo as we've had some beautiful skylines in the evening hours this past week.  This one was particularly colorful with the pink sky mixed in.
The next baby blanket I started was Beth's Little Star Afghan.  Click here for the pattern.  I'm using Hobby Lobby WW I Love This Yarn in the color Buttercup.  My niece is really interested in swaddling the baby and wants this star shaped blanket for the swaddling.  I am in love with the Buttercup color.  It's yummy!

Me...

This was taken last Wednesday, April 23rd.  The day after my surgery when I arrived back home.  My family had me propped up on the couch, surrounded by big fluffy pillows.  I'm not smiling here, but I was actually doing just fine.

Easter Visitors

On Easter Sunday, we had a couple of visitors that we've not seen since before Christmas.
 My great-niece, Little Miss E, and her mom, Rose.
Little Miss E will be three years old in July.  I can't believe she's going to be three already!

Bored...

All this resting is boring me to death, so I'm updating my blog today.  :)  Only 7 more weeks of recuperation left.  *sigh*

Monday, April 21, 2014

Be Back Soon...

I'm going to be on a vacation of sorts for a little while.  I'm having surgery in the morning at 7.  I have a 6 to 8 week recuperation period and as soon as I'm able, I'll be checking back in here.  :)  See you soon!

Saturday...

 Small T and I spent Saturday morning and most of the early afternoon at the softball girls Pulled Pork Luncheon and Bake Sale fundraisers.  I provided the in-town meal delivery service.
In the afternoon, I finished up the last batch of red and turqua granny squares for my blanket and then I started sewing them together.  :)  It feels good to be at this stage of the blanket now.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Reworking It...

About a month ago, Small T gave me back the curly scarf I knitted for her and asked me to shorten it up as it was just way too long for her little frame.  I was putting it off and putting it off and finally I decided to work on it today.
 So I ripped it apart and started rolling it back up into a "ball" again.
 I used 10 stitches per "row" instead of just 6 to make it shorter.
After I finished it, Small T was "kind enough" to be my crazy model....stuck out tongue and all.  She did tell me that she'll have to wait until next winter to wear it now since I took so long to fix it.  She's a cheeky girl, right?  lol  By the way...she's wearing her new glasses that we picked up today.  She's having problems with her eyes again and as of today, she can't wear her contacts for two months so that her eyes can heal.  Oh boy.  She's not a glasses kind of girl.  I guess she'll learn though.

Scarves

During the winter, I made a couple of earflap hats for my sister and niece.  I had some leftover yarn from them, so I decided to make them some scarves too.  I had previously started the gray scarf but then I quit half way through.  I picked it back up Tuesday and set out to get them done.  I finished them both up today.
The red scarf is made with Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Claret.  The gray scarf is made with Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Charcoal.  I mixed the two yarns together for the fringe.  I used a size N crochet hook and my pattern for the Simple Super Long Scarf, which you can find here.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Slouchy Hat

Last night, I whipped out a Slouchy Hat that one of Small T's classmates ordered.  She wanted gray, so I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn in Gray Heather.  This takes about 2/3 of a skein.  I used a size J hook since this girl is like me, and has a big head.  If you are interested in how I make these, click here.

Bow Holder - Stashbusting for Stashaholics project

Monday, while we were traveling, I started a Bow Holder for Small T's cheerleading hair bows.  I finished it when we got home.  I used the pattern for the Large Flower Hair Bow Holder on the Knot Your Nana's Crochet blog.  You can find the pattern by clicking here.  The yarn I used is just some basic Red Heart Super Saver out of my stash.  The color is Carrot.  The ribbon is also out of my sewing supplies.

Monday....

 I woke up to an eye turning black.  I still don't know how it happened.
And snow.  It had been in the 80's all the week before and now we're back to cold temps and snow.  Crazy.

Prom

This past Saturday was Prom here in town.
Here are a few photos of Small T and her date, Colton.
 Looking good!
 Up close.
 This is the only photo that shows her corsage.  She designed it herself.  It's a lily and the wire of the corsage wraps around her arm like a snake.  Cool.
 I can't believe he picked her up.  He just had ACL repair surgery and has a brace on under his britches.
 Their arrival at Grand March.
 Colton is taking good care of Tianna's little gold evening bag.  lol
 A snap chat from Small T.  lol
 Rachel and Austin.
The edgiest couple there.
Remember when I took Small T and Rachel to get their prom dresses?  She looks fab!
My nephew, Awan, and his date, Sami Jo.  They looked great!

Bunnies - Stashbusting for Stashaholics projects

During the past couple of weeks, I've spent every spare moment crocheting bunny parts.
 I accumulated a large bag of parts by the time I was done.
Last Friday, I stayed up extra late and finished sewing all the bunnies together.  Then I delivered them to their new owner the next day.
I used the pattern for the Auntie Burrows Rabbit out of a magazine I own.  The person who ordered these chose to use the Red Heart Super Saver yarn in the colors Amethyst, Royal, Shocking Pink and Carrot.  I had all of the yarn in my stash except for the Royal color.  So, 3 of the 4 bunnies are Stashbusting for Stashaholics projects.  :)

Art

I'm not very good at art, but I love it.  I never show my attempts at art to anyone either.  Until now.  I thought I would show some of my latest attempts.  I did these at school last week while subbing.
 This is Op Art Lines.
 This is another example of Op Art Lines.
 I borrowed a few colored markers from the art room and drew this little housing unit.  Nothing grand.  Just drawing.
And the art teacher let me borrow a new book she bought.  It has a lot of good doodling ideas in it.

Art Room Door

I've been subbing at school a lot lately and last week, I was able to see the Art Room door that Small T is painting.
It's not finished yet, but I love it.  She's doing a good job.  I'm proud of her.

A Sea Of Yellow

Last week, the Dandelions arrived.  My yard is a sea of yellow.  Oh boy.

Salon Visit

  Big Daddy gave me a day at the salon last Wednesday.  It was a day of pampering and making myself feel good before I go in for surgery.  After all, I want my nails and hair to look fabulous, especially when I'm feeling like crud.
Mandy gave me a mani/pedi.  Let me tell you, she gives a great pedicure.  Wow!  My feet still feel great.  My toenails are painted a lovely soft shade of sparkly purple.  :)  My fingernails are nicely manicured and the nails are back to being short, which is how I like them.  No polish though.  Hospital said no.  Not even any clear sparkle, which is what I love.  Drat.
Then, Jessica started on my hair.  Small T had left instructions for her to cover my gray.  So she matched my hair color exactly and did just that.
And I had an orange cast to my hair.  I forgot that I was a redhead as a baby.  Apparently it's coming back to haunt me.  Just kidding.  My baby curl are coming back though.  At the base of my neck.  I hate them.  They won't be tamed, no matter what I do.
So, back to the orange tint, Small T called and made arrangements for me to go back and get it taken care of.  So this was me, the next day.  I'm looking good, right?  lol  I'm squinting in the sunshine outside the building.
And this is what I ended up with.  Me.  My usual.  Until the bleached out blond days of Summer.

Sky

We've had a lot of interesting skies over the past few weeks and I've taken a few photos them.  I wish the photos would have really captured the uniqueness of the skies, but I think they did ok with getting it.  At least you can get the gist of it.  I think it's amazing to see the holes in the clouds with the sun rays pouring through.