Hello again friends. Whew this has been a marathon week for us. Shopping for Thanksgiving dinner (still not finished), planning Christmas gifts, going to various school functions, having a much needed girls night out...I am exhausted.

I promised in my last post I would share some updates on my works in progress. Since the sun decided to peek for a few minutes I rushed outside to take some pictures. First of all we have my youngest daughter's granny rectangle blanket. She has picked the colors and picked the order of the colors to be crocheted in to the blanket. There are 8 colors in all. I have finally started on the second repeat of the colors. I think once I go through this repeat, the blanket will be twin bed size.

Here you can see the color sequence better. I wasn't sure about her choices in colors at first but I have been pleasantly surprised at how well they all fit together. 

 I love this pattern as it seems to work up so fast. Once I finish this blanket I have to start on the next granny rectangle for my oldest daughter. Her colors are very different and I am interested in seeing how well they work together.

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I am also participating in a ripple-a-long. Below is my ripple. I haven't worked on it as much but I feel I am making great headway. I am starting on my 8th color and the colors are completely random. I am closing my eyes and reaching into my scrap bin and pulling out the next color. I am also working 4 rows of a single color. It is wide enough to go across my full size bed. I LOVE this pattern. It is very soothing to count it up.

I also have some other things I have been doing here and there. I am trying to learn how to knit as I so desperately want to make a sweater for myself. (that would be an enormous accomplishment as my skills suck!!!!)  I also have some cotton yarn waiting to be turned into dish cloths and wash cloths. Oh and I have been asked to make a doggie sweater for a neighbor's teeny little puppy. She will be buying me the yarn and I will see what I can make for her. 

I also have big plans for next year's festival season. I want to make lots of crochet items to have my very own booth at the festivals next year and maybe create something truly spectacular to enter in the local fairs. But we will see how that all goes.

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Just a glimpse into my week. Thursday my daughter had a Veterans Day program at her school.

I sent in a picture of my brother seen on the screen (right side) since he is an active member of the military (one in many of the people in my family).

The Rainsboro 5th grade put on a very nice presentation and I took the picture below of them taking their bows. The white paper on the other side is a "thank you" to the veterans and the active service members.

Well my friends. I need to go do a laundry swap around and I think I will work a bit on my daughter's blanket. Until next time...Be Blessed.

Hi everyone! I haven't wrote in a little while but lots of things have been going on! I am still working on my ripple and both of my daughters' blankets.  More on my daughters' blankets than the ripple though because they just can't wait to get them!!!! The ripple I absolutely love but I must please my kids ;P

I have also had a few doctors appointments lately. I had a well visit and I had to have blood drawn to have my thyroid tested. The first test came back low so my doc sent me for a confirmation test. The confirmation test came back normal. I have been spared taking medication for it for now and have to have it re-checked in 3 months.

I also have had a skin thing beside my nose removed. It is like a mole or skin tag that was growing beside my nose. It had started out looking like a freckle but turned into a nice little ball beside my nose. Having it removed was another step into the new me. First teeth then the 2nd nose (as I called it). It has nearly healed now. The scab (icky I know) came off yesterday so I am left with a nice little pink scar there now.

I am also sick AGAIN! I keep catching the same head cold over and over again. I think it has to do with my allergies and the pollen in the air from the leaves falling. I usually get it one time during the fall and then I am good until I get a minor allergy attack in the spring. However, I have been running in and out of the weather up here and I think that makes the conditions worse.

Speaking of weather..today is probably the last absolutely gorgeous, sunny, near 70 degree day we will have and I am snuggled up on the couch with my computer, my 3rd glass of orange juice, loads of tissues and some tylenol cold medicine. I really want to go out and enjoy this nice day because I know that grey skies, super cold weather, and snow are right around the corner. According to the weather man and the farmers almanac we are due to have the worst winter we have ever had this year. They are talking of blizzards, loads of snow, ice, power outages. Not looking forward to that!!!!

Preparing for that stuff is horrible as well. The hubby and I are planning on getting a kerosene heater or a propane heater in case the electricity goes out. We also need to get some charcoal for the grill and maybe a propane camping stove for cooking. Power outages are the times when I really wish we still had gas cook stove. I am also trying my best to stock up on sales so we will have food and beverages to get us through. I know I may sound like I am prepping for a natural disaster here but my mom was in a blizzard here in the 70s. She was stuck at work and stuck at a friends and trying to get my ailing grandfather to a place with electricity. Well the stories horrified me and I want to be prepared.

I think I am going to go for now friends. I will have some nice pictures for you soon of projects and my new face without my 2nd nose. Thank you all for being loyal readers and until we meet again...Be Blessed.

WIPs, New Books, and stuff

 Well Hello again my friends. I know I have been away for a while but I was waiting for some stuff I ordered to come in! I was also sick over the past weekend. But I can now give you a very full blog post! Ready to get started?

I have been crocheting alot here lately. I am doing a ripple along using the neat ripple pattern on Attic 24. I have been wanting to do a ripple every since I saw Lucy's. So I decided this was the time to do so.

I am doing 4 rows of a single color. Here I am 6 color changes into the blanket. That means about 24 rows in.

My next color is going to be this nice pale yellow.

And here is my big crocheted bag of yarn balls. These are just odds and ends left over from various projects from the past year. I am loving this pattern and since I am closing my eyes and choosing the next color, the colors will be completely random. I am hoping I will have enough odds and ends to make it to fit my bed.

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I have also taken my daughters to my little yarn shop and let them pick out eight whole skeins of yarn for their very own blankets. I have started on the youngest one's already. She picked out the colors and the order of the colors.  I am loving this giant granny rectangle pattern!

Ok so my pictures have gotten a little mixed up but oh well...Here are my oldest daughters yarn colors she picked out. From the top: Red Heart Super Saver 7oz # 0389 Hunter green, #0358 Lavender, #0672 Spring green, #0312 Black, #0390 Hot Red, #0341 Light Grey, #0324 Bright Yellow, and #0885 Delft Blue. This blanket will also be done as a Granny Rectangle.

Here you can see the two girl's color choices put together. The oldest's are on the bottom. My youngest daughters colors are as follows: #0512 Turqua, #0322 Pale yellow, #0363 Pale Green, #0656 Real Teal, #0724 Baby Pink, #0579 Pale Plum, #0672 Spring Green, and #0722 Pretty in Pink. It amazes me how different the girl's color choices are. The colors they chose definitely suit their individual personalities. 

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This morning my hubby called me from his job to ask me if I would come bring a spare key to his truck because he locked his keys in there. So I drove to his job and unlocked his doors and we decided to go to lunch together. We got food from the nearest fast food place and went to the park to eat. We love eating there because of all the resident ducks and geese. 

They love eating french fries or hush puppies or whatever else you may drop out of your car window.

This little brown one was my favorite. It was very chatty.

These people brought 4 loaves of bread to feed the flocks. It was amusing to watch them getting chased and goosed by the geese.

A view across the pond at the park.

Ducks swimming. I love that place.

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Sadly my garden is pretty much finished for the season. All that is left is a couple pumpkin plants, some lettuce, and some squash plants. BUT I am planning ahead. I knew I wanted to order another Square Foot Garden book as the one I have is the condensed version and since square foot gardening is the method I use. I also went to the library to learn more about some future garden plants i wanted to plant and checked out two books: The Vegetable Gardeners Bible by Edward C. Smith and Black and Decker Outdoor Home Vegetable Gardening Your Ultimate Guide. Both of these books were full of info I had to order them. So here they are, my very own copies. With the help of these books and some good reading and studying over the winter, I am sure to get even more bountiful harvests next year.

Oh and I can't talk about my garden without a few pictures. I have brought all of my container plants indoors and pulled :( all of my summer plants out of my garden. Here we are looking East to West. Bed #3 is in the foreground. It has a zucchini plant and some lettuce left.

And here is a shot from West to East. Bed 1 has some onions I will overwinter and bed 2 has pumpkin plants and squash in it. I am always sad to see gardening season go. But I know in late January or early February I will start more little seedlings in my home to put in my beds when the time is right.

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On a family note. My youngest daughter was nominated as Queen of her class to represent the class at the annual Halloween Carnival. She was in a sort of pageant against the other 5th grade class' Queens. Here she is all dressed up in her outfit for the evening.

Here she is again giving me a goofy smile. People had to vote as they entered the carnival and my daughter was two votes shy of winning. However, one of her friends won and her dad and I had gotten her her very own tiara you know..just in case.

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Well my friends I have taken up enough of your time. I am going to leave you with some fall pictures from an outing with my hubby a few days ago.

Aren't the views spectacular?

Until next time. Be Blessed.

My Garden :( Crochet TA-DAH:)

Hello my friends. Things seem to be calming down a bit here. I have set forth rules for myself and my family in order to keep on top of things.  We do what we have to do before we do what we want to do. That means we do our household chores, homework, couponing chores before we are allowed to do the things we like such as crocheting, having friends over, playing. It has been working so well! My house stays clean (most of the time) and I am able to sit back and relax and crochet, read, watch tv whatever I want to do. 

To me it is a win win situation

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We have been having some terrific weather here in Ohio lately. There is a certain briskness in the air in fall that makes me excited for the weather changes. I love the smell of the leaves and the colors are absolutely superb! (Maybe I need to take a road trip and show everyone what I mean) Unfortunately, fall means the end to my garden!

Bed #1 here is looking really sad. My cucumbers succumbed to the light frost we had a week or so ago. However, my tomatoes are still producing as is my jalapeno and bell pepper plants. I also have some chives doing really well in this bed!

Bed #2 has some fall crops in it. Before it was full of corn, beans, zucchini. Now I have some squash, pumpkins (both of which I planted late and I'm not sure they will produce before the first hard frost). I also have some red onion growing there that I will leave in the ground over the winter. Hopefully the onion will come back again in the spring and give me a nice early crop of red onions.

Bed #3 looks a mess right now. My cantaloupe and watermelon vines are hanging in there and have tons of fruits on them. My broccoli is STILL producing it heart out!  

Here is some nice bright green leafy lettuce I planted for the fall. It is growing so well! I have been enjoying many salads from it!

I have some herbs I have grown over the summer as well. My basil did wonderfully this year. I am still learning to cook with fresh herbs and have been super happy with this basil.

My sage is on my back deck in a pot. As a matter of fact I think I will grow all of my herbs in pots on my back deck next year so I can have easy access to them.

Here I have some spearmint in a pot on my back deck.

I also have lavender.

I have some rosemary as well. I think I will harvest a lot of my herbs early one morning and dry them. I bought some really cute herb jars at the dollar store to put my dried herbs in.

It makes me sad to think of winter coming. I absolutely love to grow my own food! I have already planned out my garden for next spring!!!!! I am certain I will tweak it as the winter months progress and spring arrives. I just can wait to get in there and plant some more!!!

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Are you ready for a TA DAH moment? I was up one night watching the movie "The Shining" and surfing you tube and I found a nice little tutorial on shawl making. For some reason I thought shawl making would be an extremely difficult task BUT when I saw the tutorial I knew I HAD to make one!

So I ran into my living room where stash bookcase is grabbed 5 soft squishy skeins of Lion Brand's Hometown USA yarn in the colorway of Washington Denim and a size N-9.00 mm hook. I ran back into my bedroom, snuggled under my blanket and began making my shawl. Hometown USA yarn is a category 6 Super Bulky yarn. It is sooooo soft! It worked up really fast (in total maybe 6 hours give or take)

and 

I Came up with

THIS

TA DAH my very own shawl! Oh how I wanted to make one for so long. Perfect for the quick little trips outdoors during the colder months to fetch the mail, walk the dogs, talk to a friend. 

It is so thick, warm, soft oh so soft! I love it. 

I know I will get a lot of use out of it since it is fall now and winter is right around the corner.

(Speaking of winter...I heard the weatherman say this could be our WORST winter on record!!! I was thinking even WORSE than the BLIZZARD that occurred in the 1970's that my mom talks about being stuck in? Makes me shiver)

Ahh but I am going to savor these nice fall days with the beautiful leaves, birds singing as they dutiful prepare for winter, squirrels gathering their supplies!

And so my friends.....I will leave you with this picture! A true testament of fall

Are you ready?

Do you really wanna see it?

Okay here you go!

The three youngest of my kiddos doing the proper fall activity! (The eldest was in her room *sigh* pre-teens)

Until we meet again...Be Blessed

WIPs n stuff

Hello mellow fellow! Okay that is what I say to my kids all the time when they say "Hey Mom". They always look at me like I am from another planet but I think I am pretty darn funny!

Anywho I have been super excited lately because I think I have finally convinced my children that cleaning their messes up after they are finished doing whatever is better than leaving it for me or waiting until it gets out of control. That means that my mommy duties don't take all day anymore. I just have to do a couple loads of laundry each day and vacuum and dust when needed. This also means I have more free time to do things I like to do.

I have been doing a lot of crocheting lately! I finally decided what I was going to make with the wonderful Stylecraft Special DK yarn I ordered from Deramores so long ago. The pattern is called Vibrant Granny Triangles Throw!

I am using these colors: 1082 Bluebell; 1023 Raspberry; 1034 Sherbet; 1435 Bright Pink; 1020 Lemon; and 1256 Jaffa.

Here is my progress so far! I love the pattern but I don't really like the join as you go pattern. I would rather join after I make all of the triangles.

I am also making granny squares out of Caron Simply Soft yarn.  I am using #0017 Lemon, #0009 Garnet, #9710 Country Blue, and #9607 Limelight. I have four granny squares using all 4 colors and the others will just be plain. I think I will join them using white yarn and using a single crochet join!

This one isn't a WIP yet. My daughters want some fingerless gloves and these are the colors out of my stash yarn they have chosen. Both are Red Heart Super Saver. The (#0358) lavender is for DD#1 and the (#0722) Pretty n Pink is for DD#2. I will def post an update on them as soon as I get them started.

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My couponing has become like a part time job! I spend no less than 20 hours a week clipping, organizing, and typing up the coupons that I have. I have found that if I keep a working list of the coupons, what they are for, the expiration date, the amount, whether they double or not, and the quantity of the coupon I have I can more easily look at my list to see if I have a coupon for the items on sale in the papers.

Speaking of papers...This is what I am up against.

 You see that pile of newspapers? Those are the papers I do my comparisons with. I compare with 3 drug stores, Walmart, Kmart,Kroger, Community Markets, Pamida...ok well you guys get the point right. I still haven't typed up the coupons from a couple weeks ago because there were SIX inserts then and TONS of coupons. But I am sure I will have it finished by tomorrow or Monday!

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Here is a picture of the messiest room in my home! I have to do at least 2 loads of laundry per day just to keep up with my family. Today I have done 2 loads and I still have the mountain of towels in front of my washer and the color clothes in the basket plus a comforter. That is just 2 days worth of laundry!!!!!

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Ok I am going to leave you guys with a scrumptious picture. My wonderful hubby made cookies. Now granted they are from a tub of cookie dough but he does them so well and it keeps my sweet tooth at bay. I think these chocolate chip cookies are my favorites only next to White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut cookies.

Okay friends. I think I have taken enough of your time. I hope your day has been as wonderful as mine has. Hope to hear from you soon!

Be Blessed.