WIP & Completions!!!

I know you are tired of hearing about how many hours I work and how much I am not getting done. I decided to stop whining, aren't you glad? I gathered my recent finishes, to post on my blog, and realized that I HAVE been getting things accomplished.

I have 17 blocks of my "Realitively Neutral" quilt done. They are paper-pieced and I get about one done each weekend. This will be for my bed. MY BED, can you believe it? Of course I'll need to make a new dust ruffle and make ginormous to fit our CA King bed. Maybe by next "winter" it will be completed. I'm thinking seriously about quilting it with Baptist Fans, what do you think?
Next is the sweater I'm working on. My first attempt at a sweater, and my first attempt with circular needles. It's going ok, I'm just finishing my first skein of yarn, a worsted wool, Lion Brand, in the shade of "mushroom". I literally freeze at work so this will be appreciated. The circulars are a bit freaky, and one has come apart twice despite gluing with gorilla glue. Any other suggestions? I like the bamboo, it's more friendly on my aching hands!

I hadn't shown these before, I call these my "Arizona Socks". The color reminds me of our beautiful sunsets. They are SO comfy! The yarn is Blue Moon, sockweight.

The next pair was my first attempt at changing colors. Um, ok, probably won't do that again, lol. I MADE myself finish these last week before I could start on the sweater. I still have things to spruce up on them, ends to weave, etc., and they've not been washed or blocked. Wonder where I could get some of those sock forms, any ideas?

And for my attempt at humor..."Does this cabinet make my butt look big?" or "Can you see me now?" Mr. Lizard trying to hide today when the big humans disturbed his sun bath. If you click on the pictures you may see his lovely coloring. They don't hurt or bite..just look scarey!

Oh, and I'm sorry about the whining, you know how the kids are when they are tired? Doesn't change just cuz you get OLD.

PIF Received!!

A belated thanks to Leanne from The Stitching Post for her wonderful Pay It Forward "present". Look at this wonderful pin cushion and thread basket that she made for me! She even crocheted a nest to help the bird stay upright, it is SO cute.

I have pressed my gift into heavy service while making the latest Halloween costume, the bird holds the pins nice and upright, and the thread basket is very handy.

I'm very lucky to have received my PIF from Leanne, and am wondering, wondering WHAT I'll do for my folks! Mine will have to wait until after the holidays I'm guessing, the end of overtime and 10-hour days is nowhere in sight.

Have you all done yours? Got any left-over ideas? I'm in need, lol.

Reliving a Childhood Memory

I l-o-v-e making my children's Halloween costumes. Still.

The photo above was marked 10/85 making my oldest 3-1/2 and my then youngest 10 mo. My youngest was sporting a panel that was to be a Trick-or-Treat bag. She's wearing her fuzzy-footed sleeper to keep warm during those cold Ohio Autumn nights.

My oldest was a Smurf, they were all the rage then. She adored Smurfs. Had many stuffed toys depicting Smurfs and collected the little rubber figures and carried them everywhere (including the bathtub!).

I didn't have a pattern but had taken Stretch-n-Sew classes. I used a pants pattern to create white fake-fur pants that continued to flaps which covered her shoes. I used a SnS pattern to make the blue turtleneck and made a white fur hat to boot. (Complete with a jingle bell because I just couldn't resist.)

Oh goodness. My oldest is now 25 and wants Momma to make another costume. Mind you, she lives in Orlando and doesn't own a tape measure. "How big?" "Dunno, I'm skinny." She doesn't buy alot of clothes and asking her what size is just silly. I phoned her 2 younger sisters to get opinions.

This is what we're going for this time...Papa Smurf!

Same thing, this time in red. WOW! It's bright to sew on! And can you say messy? I bought a flannel pants pattern and made the pants (complete with tail!) and hat...hope my kiddo likes it!

Yeah, I know. The tail is obscene. Please remember this is the BACK of the costume. OH! I hope they have a cold snap in Orlando, she's gonna roast in fake-fur, hahahahaha! I left the shirt to her this time, that and the beard. Dh will take it to the Post Office first thing in the morning, party is next Saturday night.

Gotta love it.

Happy Anniversary!

A rare look at moi, look fast, it won't last long, lol.

Today we celebrate our 3rd Anniversary.

Dh proposed before we met. Huh?

He was in CA and I was in Ohio, and we met BECAUSE of the internet. How's that for justification? We were involved with a high school alumni bulletin board, and were both "on staff".

We began instant messaging, then phoning, pretty soon we agreed to meet. It was love at "Hello."

We lived apart the first 6 months of our marriage while I settled things in the midwest. It was what we needed to do to make it work. And it did. And it was hard work.

I moved to CA and found a great job for a small community television station while he finished up working for a medical device company. We then moved to AZ to begin a home together of our own.

Be still my heart. Looking at him still gives me butterflies.

Life is good. Love is better. I am truely happy.

Exploring...Like Columbus?

In "honor" of Columbus, we went exploring. Well, sort of. (all photos "clickable")

We have a State Park pass this year, and want to explore the various campgrounds - but time is scarce as hen's teeth. Tomorrow, we observe Columbus Day, which allowed us to take a mini-vacation to Picacho Peak State Park. It's just a stone's throw away from home.

We are accustomed to camping in dense redwood forests back in California, or woods with lakes back in Ohio. Here at Picacho, the largest things are the Saguaro Cacti with a small Palo Verde tree stuck here and there. Luckily, many sites have small structures over the picnic table where we chased the shade with our lawn chairs.

So the pic above was our campsite, our humble abode in the center. The weather was AWESOME, in the 80's. Cool nights made me wishing I had more than my thin hooded sweatshirt. Next week it will be back in the 90's for sure, but the break was appreciated, and well-timed.

I am "cacti crazy". My dd#3 said she was too, "But then she got over it." I am fascinated by the repetition and form, color, size...all so yummy. Gimme TEXTURE! Oh, and it's a definate, "Look-but-don't touch" activity. This photo is definately worth clicking on!

This is what happens when they get old and tired. It takes anywhere from 75 to 100 years for a saguaro to grow an arm. They often live 150 years, and are our state's symbol of sort, if not even officially! Even in death, there is life, look above this old tired one..and you see a new baby.

Here is another, that's been sitting longer than the one above. In the one above, the outer coating is still there. Here, it's reedy skeleton remains. You can see termite "glue" at the break, it's feeding yet another sector of our world's population!

Just how long can garbage survive? Figure pop-top cans became popular in the 60's, probably dominating the industry by the 70's. If I wasn't so scared of what would have been IN this can I would have taken it back to the garbage myself. You've got to be really careful out here because of scorpions, tarantulas, etc.

Thanks for coming along on my exploration, what did you do this weekend?

Friday Flashback - Happy Birthday Wish(es)

Happy Birthday to 2 important people in my life. My *ahem* younger sister turns 43 today. Happy Birthday baby sister, love you.

As tradition will have it, I will call her and sing Happy Birthday. Just something silly we all do for(or is that "to") each other. I would imagine it's rather grueling to sit and listen to my warbling on the other end of the line, lol.

The second birthday is of my childhood friend Lee. Lee and I attended "Junior High" (as it was called back-in-the-day!) together, 7-9th grade. I've moved 20 or so times since then (and 4 times before then!), but we managed to stay in touch, albeit briefly, over the years. Christmas cards almost every year and I "almost" never fail to send her a birthday card. Does she need to know that since it's my baby sister's same b'day that it's impossible for me to forget? lol

Lee was a voracious reader in school. She read all those big, fat books. I read the smaller ones, and nearly not as many. Lee always sat behind me in classes, alphabetically, her name was always right behind mine. I was the Ba, she the Bu. No comment. She was fond of a tweed jumper, a navy blouse, navy opaques and hushpuppy tie-ups. She had a very wonderful family, and parents I adored, I'd stop on the way to school to pick her up, as we continued to walk the 2 blocks to school. Her father loved to tease, and I always knew that's what father's were supposed to be like. Her huge family ate at a long table, and always had laughter and love just briming. I was struggling with family issues at that time, and her place just gave me a huge sense of normalcy. We were in band together, hung around with the same few friends and chose the same pattern for our Spring Formal dress (by mistake!). We would sing in the hallway at school and had chosen Winnie The Pooh nicknames for our close group. I have no idea who was who, sorry. We were in the Flint Junior Symphony together. We'd skate on her frozen back yard ice rink...w0nderful memories.

My mouth got me in trouble more than once, can you imagine I got in trouble for talking? Humpf! Once while chatting to Lee, Mr. Mobley grabbed me and my desk (in one piece) and slid me out into the hall so he could conduct his class. I cried. I was mortified. I likely ever uttered a word in his class again. That's my style.

She's still my best friend, in my mind. She must be a wonderful mother and wife. I could imagine myself sharing many a cup of coffee at the kitchen table, if we were neighbors.

Love you Lee, wherever you are. Thanks for being a HUGE part of my life.

Aren't flashbacks fun? *sigh*