Friday, July 31, 2009

Fabulous Fiction Friday!


Patterns in the Sand by Sandy Goldenbaum; While My Pretty One Knits byAnne Canadeo; Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton; By Hook or By Crook by Betty Hechtman; The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil; and Dropped Dead Stitch by Maggie Sefton.
I'm currently reading the Patterns in the Sand...I'm about 3/4 of the way through...a little long and could have been told in less time but still a good read. Also reading a book on my iphone which I downloaded the whole series called Midnight Awakening which are really, really, really good vampire books!:)

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Happy DOT!

Waiting...and looking....

Fuji spent a lot of this evening sitting in the window waiting for her Daddy to get home....she started this at his usual time he gets home from work and kept it up until I closed the blinds for the night. Guess I should let her talk to him on the phone!:)
Happy Dogs on Thursday!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Santa Fe, NM....

Made James a homemade cherry cobbler last night for dessert...it turned out soooo yummy. Even Jimmy tried it, he said it was too sweet...yes strange child of mine!:)

James getting his pictures and photo equipment ready for his trip!

He left at 4:30 this morning to head to Santa Fe, NM for his Alternative Photographic International Symposium. He also gets to see and stay with his brother while he's there. Thursday is his sign in day, "5 prints in 5 minutes" presentation (that's what he's getting ready in the above pic), then a print exchange and a reception. Friday is different speakers in the field, presentations, demos, a tradeshow and marketplace. Saturday is at a different location but more of the same. Sunday he drives all day to get home...yeah! We've never been apart this long and am not really keen on being so, especially if you know how close we are to each other. Going to be texting, calling (thank God for cell phones) and skyping at night!:) Jimmy had made a cool banner for James to see when he got up this morning and he took it with him to look at!


I'm going to make some strawberry jam today, work on a birthday present :) and take a long nap since I've been up since 3:30am, then to take Jimmy to swim team practice where I'll go to Sagebrush Cafe and get a yummy tea while I wait in the horrible heat for him!:)




Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Perk Place!


Jimmy and I had a nice time yesterday. We ran a few errands, found him a really cool water gun for homeschool park day and went to this fabulous coffee shop, Perk Place. What's really cool is that its not too far from our house. Jimmy ordered a small decaf carmel, chocolate frappacino and I ordered a black ice tea with peach flavoring. I ordered a large tea and man do I mean large...it had to have been at least 32 oz....lasted a long time. Jimmy raved and oohed and aahhed over his yummy drink and had it gone by the time we drove home. The shop has a wonderful, comfy area that would be perfect to hang out with some friends and knit a bit too. We chilled on the couch for a bit too. Came home vacuumed/washed the car....cooled off from doing that...spun a bit and took Jimmy to swim team practice. Today is laundry and packing for James' NM trip....have already looked up yarn stores for him to visit...not that he'll have time for that with his conference but just in case he has a free moment. Jimmy has already requested a NM magnet or keyring too!:)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Bigger is Better!



I've said many times...I have the best hubby in the world...and I do. He's been seeing me spin and ply and take off the bobbins and do it all over again and has mentioned I needed bigger bobbins to hold more yarn. Of course I agreed....well yesterday he was going to do something about that. He spent all day designing and making me a bigger flyer and eight bigger bobbins! So cool! They're huge compared to the ones that come with my Julia! Louet doesn't even make a bigger flyer for my model???? He hasn't clear coated it yet because he knows how impatient I am and that I wanted to get to playing with it....when he gets back from NM he can do that! Guess what I'll be doing today...you got it...plying!:)

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Sand Dollar...

The other day when Jimmy and I went to the waterpark with Nicole I bought some more superwash merino from her. Jimmy saw this colorway on her etsy site and loved it and wants me to make some fingerless mitts out of it for him. Such pretty browns with a touch of blue. She gave me the pretty pink/purple to play with. Her colors are sooo awesome!

Jimmy and I went to the movies yesterday with my mom and saw G Force. It was a really cute Disney movie but the theatre was so packed with kids under five whining and fussing. Jimmy kept hushing this one little bratty boy that was sitting next to us. My favorite part of the movie was the part you see in the commercial of the mice saying "poop in his hand!" I'm easily entertained!:)

I'm still knitting on the Landscape shawl, knitting a washcloth, monkey socks are still traveling in my purse and cast on a new scarf (drop stitch scarf)...crocheting washcloths for the etsy store...spinning for the Tour de Fleece. My hand has been giving me lots of problems and have been in a lot of pain from it that I'm not getting much done. Can only spin/knit for a little bit before I'm about crying...advil helps when I remember to take it!

Quite exciting to hear on Dr. Gemma's podcast, CogKnitive, to hear her mentioning my soaps and wanting me to be a vendor at the fiber retreat in October. Very cool! Shocked me to hear my name mentioned on a podcast! Yeah!

Today I've gotta clean bathrooms, change beds, etc.....hope you all have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Dogs on Thursdays...DOT!

Lucky Dog....

Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you don't and you may even decide you need one!Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy... Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.
Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box..It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease....in fact; she was just sure it was fatal.She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him! The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body f felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.He had covered her with his love. Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
Remember....live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us.If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.


I was emailed this the other day and thought what a great way to spread it would be on a dogs on Thursday post. I don't know who Lucky is but I'm sure there are tons of Lucky's out there. It's been researched how animals are beneficial for healing and longer life. That is one reason there are therapy dogs out there that visit hospitals and assisted living facilities. The unconditional love of an animal is one of God's greatest gifts!
Give your dog/cat/critter a hug today and visit all the wonderful DOT sites!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Drytown Waterpark!

Yesterday afternoon Jimmy and I met up with some friends at Drytown Waterpark. We spent about four hours there. It was so packed and busy but we had a great time. I even went on all the slides! Long lines but so worth it! Of course Jimmy and I got stuck on the big blue one and it whipped us around and made us go backwards down the thing...aaahhhh!:) The rest of the time Nicole, Juanita and I lounged in the lazy river while all the kids went on the slides. I really think I need one of these in my backyard. So Honey, if you see me out on the backhoe you know what I'm up too!!!:)

Nicole and I took a few pics before we put all our stuff in the locker so were nice and dry in the photos. The bad thing is Juanita wasn't there yet to be in the pics with the rest of the kids. The above picture has Nicole (FreckleFaceFibers) and her son Simon...her daughter Lily was with Juanita and her granddaughter. Juanita's son Dan and girlfriend, Julian also came. We were all so tired afterwards that we were walking very slowly to the cars! I thought I'd be a lot more burnt today but the 50 spf held up well...lips were quite chapped though! Jimmy is already asking when are we going again?


Monday, July 20, 2009

Prayers...

My prayer life has been really full lately....one of my very dear bloggy buddies, Jen, husband's cancer has returned after being cancer free for two years, to make matters even worse for that family, her mother in law just passed away. Just found out today that she is planning to move back to FL. I haven't even gotten to go visit her or meet her in person, which is very upsetting to me. She really helped me last year when I was going through my medical problems. A high school friend, Tim, is at UCLA with a brain tumor, they find out the biopsy result on the 27th. One of my friends daughter is in the hospital for thyroid problems. Another really good friend who's been battling breast cancer this past year has been told there is something else in her breast and is having the scare of finding out what it is. My knitting friend, Sarah's husband is having a procedure done on his back this week. My friend Natalie has been home with the flu, my aunt has been sick, my grandma hurt her back, my grandma's friend is in the hospital dealing with complications from his diabetes, and my mom has had the flu...I feel like I'm forgetting something...

If you are a praying person please lift them all up...


Today I'm going out to lunch with an old high school buddy of mine...should be fun catching up and hanging out. Went to my knitting meeting yesterday and had a great time. It's always so much fun seeing what everyone is working on, touching all the different fibers, and chatting away! So looking forward to the Cogknitive Retreat in October...fun hearing Dr. Gemma talk about it and the vendors who are going to be there...going to be loads of fun! Was such a busy weekend that I went to bed early last night so didn't get more soaps made...probably tomorrow night. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!


Saturday, July 18, 2009

Fabulous Fibers!!

Ooooh I love getting birthday money....I've had so much fun buying some fiber lately without feeling guilty on doing so!:)
The above fiber is from Nicole at FreckleFaceFibers...its called Creamberry Tart (50% Bombyx, 50% Merino..4oz.) Just love the pinks and it is sooooo silky soft!

This is also a FreckleFaceFiber called Cerese (50% alpaca, 30% merino, 20% silk...3.8oz.)
We met at Sagebrush Coffee shop and had a great time...Sarah and I drooled over Nicole's bag of yummy fibers and Sarah and Nicole bought some soap from me. This place has the best summer tea ever! I had a pomegranate green tea...but last night I stopped by their and had a black tea with peach which is now my favorite and also went back to get another before heading home! Soooooo good and refreshing in this 112 degree desert weather!


I found fiberphiles through twittering with Sarah (limejuicy)...and these lovely fibers found their way to my home! Above is called Pacifica and it is a superwash merino top in these dynamic blues!

This one is a superwash merino top in the colorway Parfait....such vibrant colors and love, love the deep pinks/magenta.


This is another superwash merino top in the colorway Vineyard...loved the colors plus its the name of my church!
I have no idea what I'll make with any of these yet..do have quite a few patterns on Ravelry in my queue! I haven't made anything with my handspun yet but I just love spinning these gorgeous rovings! So addicting!
Went yesterday to buy some more oils for my soapmaking....the cold process making of soap takes three weeks to cure after it is made...sooooo in three weeks there will be quite a few new fragrances added to the etsy shop....cafe vienna (coffee)...cucumber melon...more cinnamon spice because I'm almost out of it and a few other surprises! Would love to hear your suggestions!


Thursday, July 16, 2009

Happy DOT!

Can you guess which movie we went to see yesterday?


You guessed it...Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!
It was really good but a lot of important things were left out....ug!


Fuji was ready to go as you can see, but no dogs are allowed at the movie theatre!

She'll have to wait and watch it when it comes out on dvd...she'll be more comfy on her spot on the couch anyways!:)
Happy Dogs on Thursday!


Monday, July 13, 2009

Tooooo Cute....

Isn't this the cutest plant! My aunt got me this for my birthday...I just love it!
Then on the card envelope she had the cute chihuahua magnet and Dawn keyring!
Also got some $$$$ from her, my parents and my grandma's! Also got a couple of cute dresses from them too. Had a really great birthday week!:) Went to the Fiber Collective meet yesterday and had a blast. My good friend, Nicole (frecklefacefibers) was there and it was so nice to chat and spend time with her and the rest of the group! Dr. Gemma of Cogknitive was talking about the fiber retreat which was exciting...Oct. 10 can't wait!!! Sarah and I were stalking the fiberphile etsy shop and drooling over yarns and roving...of course when I got home the urge to buy it came over me and ordered a couple of rovings that I couldn't live without....so vibrant and scrumptious, can't wait for it to come! Couple more days till the Harry Potter movie...whoohooo, James is even going to take the day off so we can go see it, yeah!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Hugs & Kisses

This is my Grandma that turned 90 on July 8 this year!

She is the one that taught me to crochet so for her birthday wanted to design and make her something special for her ninetieth!


This design is called Wrapped in Hugs and Kisses because there are X's and O's within the pattern repeats. I crocheted it out of Caron Simply Soft so she can put it in the washer and dryer and be able to really use it. She said it was perfect because she likes something on her shoulders! She also had to show me the perfect blouse she is going to wear it with to church!:)

This pic was to show more of the stitch pattern!




Saturday, July 11, 2009

Grad School Buddies...

My friend, Mary Jane, came over to visit me yesterday. Her and I went to school together when we were getting our Masters. We had so many late night, all day study sessions, which included lots of coffee, frosted animal cookies and red licorice! I haven't seen her in a while and it was so good to see her. She is a breast cancer survivor and a true inspiration! She made it over to my house yesterday just as I was making my oatmeal butterscotch cookies so we had a lovely chat over cookies and green tea!

She brought me this adorable bag which will be a terrific project bag for my knitting and this cute little plaque. It's therapy angels!!! The one angel is the therapist taking notes and the other is the patient on the couch...too cute. She picked this up at St. Andrew's Abbey which is a Benedictine monastery in the high desert of Southern California.
After our visit I took Jimmy to swim team practice and while he was there I went and visited with my Grandma...post of her opening and wearing her gift tomorrow!:)



Friday, July 10, 2009

Fiber Goodies...


Yesterday as I was leaving to go get my haircut the mailman delivered me a package....saw who it was from and immediately ripped it open. It was from my niece, Lila, and my bil/sil! Lila painted me a picture for my birthday and they bought me this awesome yarn. It's Farmhouse Silk Blend, dk weight in the colorway, Magenta (which is like my favorite color)! It's 34% silk, 33% cotton, and 33% American Grown Lamb's Wool. Gorgeous...350 yds.... I've got to find a very special pattern for this...any ideas????


I'm in a charity group on Ravelry that knits/cro's chemo hats...a lady contacted the moderator and asked her if she knew anyone who spins and would like some raw alpaca fiber...she thought of me and had the lady contact me and she sent me this awesome alpaca fiber! I'll need to process it and then card it before I use it. So with some of my birthday money I'm going to get some hand carders to card it with. Then I can knit some warm, lovely hats with it!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Dogs on Thursdays...DOT!

I love this pic of Fuji....I took it with my cell phone and have it as my wallpaper so whenever I turn on my phone I see this sweet "kiss me" face!


Such a sweetie! She was actually catching some rays from the skylight in my bathroom!
Have a wonderful day and Happy DOT!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me...
Going to celebrate on Sunday with my family...it's also my Grandma's birthday today too and she's turning the big 90!
Jimmy made me an awesome card...before I opened it, it had math equations..have no idea how to do them! Then on the inside I had to draw envelope #1 and it had stuff inside and told me to go to envelope #2 where he had some awesome drawings and stuff! Very cool and creative! James bought me a beautiful card and some money to go fiber shopping with....he's also going to make me a yummy dinner tonight!

Fuji helping with the ribbons!

My guys got me these beautiful earrings! So pretty and already put them in!
I've had a lot of wonderful emails, rav posts, and facebook posts....love them all and makes me smile really big! Thanks a bunch for making my day special!



Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Tour de Fleece

Bought this roving from Crown Mountain Farms to spin for the Tour de Fleece.
Tour de Fleece is a spin along to coincide with the Tour de France...they spin, we spin!
It starts Saturday July 4th and runs until Sunday July 26th, 2009.
Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 4th through Sunday July 26th. Days of rest: Monday July 13th, Monday July 20th. (Just like the actual tour)
Spin something challenging Wednesday July 22nd. (The Tour’s densest mountain stage with 5 mountain passes)

After separating the ounces into manageable quantities this is what I spun last night after swim team practice. It's so soft and smooshy!

Here's the quick banner/ravatar thing I quickly put together this morning to show my team spirit with the CogKNITive group...Team CogSPINtive! Should be fun...Limejuicy and I were stalking an etsy store yesterday waiting for the lady to stock some fabulous colors of roving...we twittered back and forth and both scored some awesome stuff! I just love all these internet social avenues that are out there! Great way to stay connected!



Monday, July 6, 2009

TN Birthday Wishes...

Received an awesome package in the mail on Friday....early birthday wishes from my TN buddy, Dawn! Of course I'm way to impatient to wait to open it on my actual birthday...sooooo dug right in!:) I'm sure she knew I wouldn't be able to wait!:)

...Look at these totally adorable stitch markers she sent me....sunflowers my favorite but look at the little Fuji dog one's...so glad the close up pic showed them up so good because they are just toooooo cute!

Along with the stitch markers she sent a magnetic notepad, cool pens, yummy herbal tea variety, some cool lime cotton to knit a dishcloth with, an adorable cupcake pincushion that she made me (which means a lot to me knowing how much fibro pain she's in) and some scrumptious superwash merino roving which is about 4 oz. The roving is soooo soft and smooshy, can't wait to try it but yet scared because its so pretty I don't want to mess it up spinning it wrong!:) I haven't worked with this kind yet so super excited!
Thank you so much Dawn, you're the best and I love it all so much! Big hugs!!!



Sunday, July 5, 2009

Beer Chicken...

Made some yummy beer butt chicken for dinner last night....it was the best chicken I've ever tasted, sooooo tender, juicy. We started eating it as James was carving it up, barely made it to the table!:) Like a bunch of carnivorous dinosaurs standing around him picking at it as he cut it up!:) After dinner we went outside and watched all the fireworks around us. From our house we can see the City of Palmdale's, City of Lancaster's and Edwards Air Force Base fireworks. Not counting the tons of people around shooting off fireworks. Fuji was fine with it until Jimmy started playing with little poppers and these scared her. While we were sitting outside a huge owl landed near our trees, but shortly took off! Very cool and was glad Fuji was in the house!:) Had such a nice, relaxing time!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!


Happy 4th of July!
Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend here in the US!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Happy DOT!

Jimmy recorded Fuji playing with him with his Nerf! He's even got her retrieving the bullets! He has to shut his playroom door because she'll go in there and nudge his guns around the room trying to play with them!!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Spinning Wheel!

Jimmy made me this cool lego creation yesterday...it's a spinning wheel!
He even made me the the lazy kate on the side! How awesome is this!

Front view of it and then below is my actual wheel!
As you can tell I'm starting to ply some of the stuff I've been working on!:)
Haven't had much time to sit and spin...maybe I'll make a point of it today!



As I was hula hooping on the Wii yesterday...Jimmy started laughing at me (so NO Jen you can't hire him to videotape):) and said "wow Mom, you really like to spin..." We had the biggest laugh out of that...get it... I'm spinning the hula hoop...I like to spin yarn....ha ha!!
All pictures photographed by Jimmy Wolfe! Yes, he wants the credit!!!:)