Birthday friend

I interrupt the snow pictures to show and tell about a birthday gift.

Many years ago I went to a craft painters show in Las Vegas with my friend Marci and her husband Rich. Rich would plant himself at a slot machine and Marci and I would wander around the show.

I'm always afraid to buy too much at the beginning, thinking that I would run out of money before I reached the end of the isles. By the time we get to the end, I'm too tired to go back and get what I saw at the beginning. The best part though is that we had three days of the show in our five day trip!! Yay!! I bought stuff, and I bought stuff, and I bought stuff. So did Marci! Any way, I saw this wine bottle stopper and thought it was really cute. I like a few cute things, but not many. Didn't know what to do with it since I didn't know anyone at the time that drank wine ... I got to know someone better and better (NO not that good!) and found out that he drank wine. So here 5 years later, I painted it for his birthday, which is today - Happy 72nd Birthday Don!!! Long tell and short show, huh?



I took it to him yesterday and he really liked it. He told me that he had a bunch of fancy stoppers, but none like this. I didn't think so - only I can do crazy-fun things like this.

Hope everyone has a happy day, no special occasion needed!
Hugs

More snowy pictures ...

I just love freshly fallen snow. Not all snow is light and fluffy, sometimes it has a high water content and can be very heavy to shovel. I take my time no matter what kind of snow I'm given; no over exertion for me! In my time frame there is no rush either.

I love impressions in the snow and tire tracks makes me wonder what kind of vehicle, where are they going, and why are they going there? Silly, I know, but my curious mind asks none the less.



Then there are footprints. My own this time. One simple footprint shows the tread on your shoe or boot. The little bit of snow at the toe of the boot shows that I was moving forward, but not in a hurry. As a matter of fact, I was on my way to photograph the tire track. I also like to stomp the snow down and have gazillion impressions. It looks like lacework.


This poor old lady is sooo lonely! She would make beautiful tire tracks as her tires are almost new. The tires may have been on her for 3-4 years, but she is used mostly for our summer and fall camping. I always wanted to try winter camping, but this camper is just not made for it. Plus, I really can't see myself sitting in the snow freezing by butt of and calling it fun, and I know that is what would happen!! LOL


So now that I've mentioned camping, I'll sit here and long for late spring. Our first camping trip is usually always the weekend after Memorial Day, the closest weekend to my birthday. It can still be a bit cool, but at least I won't have to be bundled up like 'Nanook of the North'!

I have a few more light hearted picture to show you, then I'll quit boring you with snowy pictures! LOL

Hugs

A happy post - - - some snow!

Oh do I have a winter theme going on outside and that makes me very happy! It is not the usual amount, but it's great none the less.

I grabbed my camera when I went out to read the meter and feed the chickens. I know that every year everyone takes pictures of snow, but it is so wonderful to see, so I'm going to show you ... LOL.

Here is my wind spinner and a Lilac bush just covered. You can see the neighbor's trees in the background.



What looks like a pink tree in the center of the picture - it's another dead tree in my neighbors yard. This time I'm not worried - it's too far from my camper to hurt it! Oh yes, and a half dog. I didn't know she was there or I would have lined the picture up differently.


Even my clothes lines are frozen. That's OK as I'm not really using them at the moment!


I wish this batch of snow would last longer, but we are due for some warming temperatures and rain. But we did get about 6-8 inches and that is good.

I have some more pictures to show, but you will have to wait a day or two.

Hugs & smiles to you all.

and the snow is where ? ? ?

Not here that's for sure. It looks like early spring outside - bare and wet roads, damp and chilly and rain. I wonder if we are going to get any major snow this winter ... I hope so!

This was taken almost two years ago, January 29, 2008, and we had snow and lots of icicles!


This was taken on December 27, 2008! This is the kind of snow we are suppose to have.


Our nightly temperatures barely go into the lower 20's, and the daytime temps are up in the mid 40's. Yes, we could still get a huge snowstorm before it's all said and done, but the more time that passes ... the less I think so.

I was sooo happy when we finally got snow on December 30, 2009, but this is what is almost gone now - there isn't even enough to make slush anymore.


Yes, I'm griping. I want my snow. ... OK, I'm done - there's nothing I can do but hope and pray. Lots of prayer.

Next post I promise to be in a better mood.

Hugs

Oh my goodness ...

... another year shot to Hell!!! ...LOL!! No it was not that bad at all! Another year gone by with what seems like few changes, but there was stuff happening. I hit the magic age to collect Social Security. My room mate of 15 years moved out - boy, I miss him, but getting a craft studio in exchange. Many camping trips took place close to home to save money but still get out in the woods.

Maggie, my p-i-t-a kitty love, decided that the bathroom sink was nice and comfortable since the heater vent is under the vanity. If it's not the bathroom sink, it's right on top of the heater vent in the craft room. She likes her heat!


And wonders of wonders for our 2009 winter - we finally got some decent measurable snow! In normal years we have 6-10 inches before Thanksgiving, this year we have had a couple of 2 inch snow storms (storms ??). By Christmas and New Years we have had as much as 4 feet. This year is very different.


I've done a lot of crafting, including putting a craft room into usable space. I'm still not completely done, but there is enough usable space for me to do some smaller crafts.




The cowl for my friend Dale - and he has used it when plowing snow, now that we have some, around the neighborhood! I lined it with a forest green flannel and he says that it really keeps the wind out when zooming around on the quad!


Making fun stuff, and I have plans for more chickens and other stuff!


... and REAL chickens! They seem to have settled in no matter how cold the weather is, and I get an egg a day from each chicken = 5 eggs. I'm selling some to pay for the feed, but I still have plenty left over for myself, eggs that is, not feed! Yes, that is a very real baby gate - they would all move into the house if I let them ... that is a definite "I don't think so!"


I could put a lot more pictures up, but I would bore you to death, and that is definitely not my intention! I want you to come back and visit ...

I hope your 2009 was good and not too affected by the whole financial thingy! I hope you all will have a much better 2010. I wish you peace and prosperity, love, happiness, and health.

Hugs

I am done ... ... ... ... almost

Well, I finally finished all the presents. There are only three left to wrap and that's it for this year! And all the beaded ornaments are wrapped and NO pictures taken. I was in such a hurry to get this done and over with that I totally forgot.

I took the hat to my friend Don, and he absolutely loved it. Double warmth for the head and quadruple warmth for the ears with the brim folded up! Can't get better than that if you HAVE to go out in the cold. I told Don that if he goes out in a snow storm that he'd better wear the red side out so we can find him in a snow bank - - - LOL

We had a bit of snow the other night, so we will have a white Christmas. Five inches is really not a white Christmas considering that we should have 2-3 feet! But white Christmas none-the-less!!

I have to make a batch of red cabbage for dinner; I will do that tomorrow so it has a chance to sort of 'steep'. It always tastes better the second day, so I now make it a day ahead.

All the best to all of you this Christmas!

Hugs

busy ... busy ... busy ...

I have been busy, very busy! There always has to be the last minute stuff no matter how well thought out Christmas gifts are. Time just seems to get away from me, all of us I suppose, and then there is one week left, and now only four days!!!!!

Making my beaded ornament covers is a lot of fun, and since I'm in a time crunch now, things seem to go faster. There isn't the time to agonize over what colors, which beads and what size ornament. This picture shows how I figure out what will go into an ornament, try this, try that and make sure I have enough of the 'fancy' beads to finish an ornament. If not, then change a row, change a dangle, or save the idea for another time. I seem to work better when I can see the supplies laid out whether I use that particular item or not. And that piece of blue in the bottom right of the picture is my ratty old flannel shirt ... LOL



This shows the lineup of some of my ornaments, some simple, some very simple and some take a bit of thought. None of them are hard to make - you just need to count beads, and count beads, and count beads. Then where to stick the needle is the next quest ... I love doing this king of work and time seems to fly when I do.



Here is the hat that I showed in an earlier post. Very warm, very thick and two layered so you can have whatever side and color you want shown to the world. I took the hat to my friend and he couldn't believe how thick and snug it was. He will be taking it with him up north for Christmas since it is a lot colder there.
Blue side --



Red side --


I will show some more gifts as I complete them.

Have the best Christmas ever, love and be loved.
Hugs

c.c.c cold!!!

Why is the word 'cold' so non-descriptive? You have to use so many adjectives to really describe a day like the one below. This was last Monday (12/7) about 10 a.m. I've been looking at this kind of temperature for a few days, and thought that I'd better catch it on camera, just for fun and maybe for posterity.



The temp has been below zero too, but there was no way I was bundling up like Nanook of the North just to go take a picture! Mmmm - NO!!! When I took this I was out getting wood for the stove so it wasn't hard to grab the camera on one of the trips into the house.



These two just did not care that the other was there. The four-legged creature is very cute and there are two more out of range of the camera, but they come to visit the chicken food. I have to charge out the back door banging away on a pot with a spoon to get them out of the yard! I don't like for any animal to go hungry, but I can't feed the wild ones or they will really become pests. This was the same day that the temp was really low - it was too cold to snow.

We have snow and warmer temps - all the way to 31 today! Our lows are now higher than our highs were at the beginning of the week! We were suppose to have snow all weekend, but I saw the sun today - briefly, but I saw it!! Hopefully we will get a lot more snow, there isn't enough yet for this time of year. As far as I'm concerned it can snow until we have 5-6 feet on the ground, because the weather will be warmer.

You all stay warm out there!
Hugs

Christmas gifts ...

I have been knitting! ... and knitting ... and knitting ...


These are 2 sets of fingerless gloves, easy. If you'd like my pattern let me know. The pink ones go to my niece that received the pink/green snake scarf last year. I'm trying to finish the green ones to send to my Mom, who is 82, in Denmark. She's not into the hot, screaming colors, but I thought she needed something bright ... and if she only wears them indoors - who cares! I thought they would be fun.



This cowl is for my friend who spends a lot of time on the quad. He plays in the snow and plows out driveways - the wind in your face gets very, very cold. I found this pattern on Ravelry, it's by Michael who also has a blog, This Boy Knits I think I searched for "cowls", but I'm not sure, on second thought, try searching for "Man Cowl" - the name of the pattern. Michael's pattern calls for 60 rounds for the main section, but I only did 40 rounds and it made it long enough to pull up and cover the lower face. It's a bit hard to see the design because I used "camo" yarn, but I think it's very nice and manly!



This is the beginning of a Double Layer Hat, where you start the hat at the top, knit down to the ribbing, then knit another hat to the top. Stuff one hat part into the other and you have a double layered hat. Extra warm. This is for another friend that likes to take walks in cold weather and I thought he needed something extra warm for his head.

Hopefully I will get all these done so I can move on to all (4) the beaded ornaments I need to make! I'll get it done, I just need to sit my fanny down and do it. Sounds familiar, huh?

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.
Hugs

I have crafty stuff to show ... !

I realize it's been 2 weeks since I promised some "crafty pics"... I got some for you!

I tried some chicken pin cushions -


The large girl is made with two 5 inch squares and is lightly stuffed, she's just an ornament for now. I sewed the back end closed with the machine, I will NOT do that again - I will do it by hand from now on, much easier! The two smaller girls are two 4 inch squares and was getting real fidgety to work on. This pattern also had two prairie points as tail feathers. WOW! that was tough even by hand and there was no way I was trying the machine. So the conclusion is: NO tail feathers and close the back opening by hand! But ... I love the chickens anyway!

I now move on to show you more of the studio with more of the stuff:


This is the top of the two plastic 7-drawer units that I have my driftwood, sand dollars, shells and some beads in. The stuff on top needs to be put away after I straighten and organize the drawers. There are several (3-4) containers of beads, findings, stringing materials, etc. that are not shown ... LOL ... they are in the studio, but not very organized, so not for viewing at the moment.

And here is my closet. Getting fuller by the day!


All this stuff is sitting on top of a legless chest of (4)drawers. There is NO room in the drawers for this stuff, so I just need to organize it as is. There are more containers filled with crochet cotton that are sort of just in the closet ... there is no organizing them, so they just sit there. One of the drawers is full of skein ends, leftover yarns and odd ball stuff. You can see all the knitting needles just sitting there ... and I find I need more needles. I am now into knitting in the round so sets of 4 or 5 dpn's (double pointed needles) are needed as well as circulars - can we say "Lots of money" for this? I can! and no, not yet. Someday when I'm rich, bwa ha ha ha ha!!!

And this will be my biggest challenge - the slow process of sorting fabric!


The six containers on the bottom two shelves are my very feeble attempt to sort fabric by colors. I say feeble as I have sooo many cartons of fabric that will NEVER, EVER fit into those teeny, tiny containers. There is a container for Christmas fabric which might fit everything, but well see as I continue to dig ... The little drawer unit, bottom left, will go somewhere else, I just don't know where yet ... and that space will be filled with more fabric containers!

The cutting table is covered with fabric pieces from remnant bins that I don't know what to do with yet, so you don't get a picture. I'm trying, I'm trying!!! At least I can scrape out a little clear space for small projects, but some of the bigger ones I want to do will just have to wait.

One last picture from my craft studio:


This is my darling Maggie. She is under the desk that has the serger on it, sharing space with another tote - lying on top of the heater vent! Sometimes I think she is really ditzy, but if I could, I would curl up and join her today - it is COLD.

Have a great (short) week, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Hugs