Misc

Again, I don't know why this blog has become a place of confessions, but so be it. Last week I stopped by the pet store to pick up some food for Peanut. Since I was running around getting ready for the nasty weather we were supposed to get, yet again, the weekend I was on a mission. I rushed in, grabbed the bag of dog food and up the counter I went. As the clerk was ringing up the sale, I happened to notice the shape of the food on the back of the bag ... wait! It's a different shape than what I had at home.

Rewinding back to the last bag I picked up ... I noticed when I opened it that "they had changed the shape of the food." I just shrugged and thought it was "new and improved" ya know? Didn't give it a second thought. And Peanut really liked the new shape ... he was eating this food better than the "old" stuff. :D

Fast forward to this new bag ... there were two yellow bags of food, different brands. I assumed I hat picked up the different brands last time and asked the clerk to wait a minute. Picked up the other bag and looked on the back ... lo and behold that shape was the same as the other bag. I even OPENED the damn bag to make sure the picture on the back of the bag was the same as what was IN the bag! LOL At this point I must've looked at the clerk with the totally puzzled expression on my face and she said, "Do you think it's possible you picked up cat food by mistake last time?" Oh My Freakin' God! Are you serious? I picked up the bag of cat food to look at the picture on the back and sure enough ... Peanut had been eating cat food for a month! Poor guy. I thought his voice sounded different lately ... hopefully, I caught the mistake before he starts meowing.

Next time I'm going to be more conscious of picking up the right bag when I'm on my "mission."

Winter Storm 2010!

Anticipating "a bit" of snow the last weekend of the month, I ran all my errands and stocked up with groceries ahead of time. We don't get snow around here very often. Lots of us actually get excited about the prospect of snow. For the most part, we get to enjoy it for a few days and then it's gone. The fluffy white stuff began to fall during the night Friday and day broke with a beautiful white covering. Bob and I had a fire going by 9am and we prepared to enjoy the day from inside.

Between watching shows we recorded on the DVR, surfing the net, knitting (that would be me) and just lounging around the day disappeared quickly. I did get my fat butt in the kitchen sometime during the afternoon to make chocolate chip cookies (that's a must do when it snows!) and a chicken broccoli casserole for dinner. Boy you should've been around to enjoy that combination of aromas in the kitchen. Chicken simmering, onions sauteing and cookies baking! Whew! I shouldn't tell you I actually had to crack open the window, should I? Honestly, those wonderful little personal summers had a small bit to do with the window thing too. :) I was just glad Bob didn't pop into the kitchen to see a window open in 20 some odd degree weather. I think he'd have had a stroke! Anyhoo, here's some shots of our snow storm:


Poor Peanut ... all day he'd ask to go out only to stand at the door and look out when it was opened. A couple of times he'd actually walk out for a foot or two and turn around to come back in. It was if he was saying, "Aw hell, I don't have to go that bad! I'll just wait a while." Needless to say, eventually he had to brave the elements. He didn't like it either. He'd stand there and look at the steps, tentatively put a foot out and turn around to try another avenue when it sunk instead of finding firm ground. We started opening the garage door for him and that worked better. Sunday morning when he and Bob went out to get the paper Peanut found a lone pine needle sticking straight up in the snow to cock his leg on. Crazy dog. He's not looking forward to the next snow, that's for sure.

January "Morgan" photos

Another confession: (Note: didn't intend this blog becoming my place for confessions but it seems to be happening on its own - interesting.) Well crap, now I've forgotten what the damn confession was! UGH! Ya gotta love these freakin' menopausal hormones - or lack thereof. So, where was I? I don't remember so I guess I'll just talk about something else until I remember - or wait, maybe another cup of coffee will help the "rewinding" process ... hang on. OK, second cup of java in hand ... well sitting beside me. Sip - still rewinding ...

Anyway, spent some wonderful time with "Poot" as she is so fondly called by most of her loved ones. I've slipped a time or two but still have issues calling her "Poot." (Her loving daddy started calling her that early on because ... well I think you can guess. For some odd reason it stuck.) I, on the other hand, prefer to call her my little pumpkin pie. I know I've said it before, but she has the most beautiful smile on the face of the earth. It just lights up my heart! How could it not? Look!!

Here she is eating her first "cookie." She liked it but didn't quite know what to make of it. I love how she takes it out of her mouth and looks at it ...


Look at that face! :)


I know I've also said she is the most loving baby in the world ... but she IS! LOL I was so excited to actually capture how she "attacks" you when giving love. Needless to say, she loves her mama!

See? Isn't it one of the sweetest things you've EVER seen? What a little love bug.

BATH TIME!

Morgan LOVES her bath! And part of her bath time routine is her beloved duckies. She has three and love to corral them all. If one is missing she frantically looks around until it's found.


... and I LOVE this one of her sticking out her tongue to catch the water running off of her head. Too cute!!

Alas, after a very long day of fun she was all tuckered out. I got a little cuddling time in before I had to head home:


until next time ...

(and no, I never did remember my confession ... sigh)

OMG! SOCKS!!!!!

I have wanted to make socks for forEVER!!! I did make a practice pair last winter. The ended up as decent slipper socks and that was ok, but I really wanted to make "real" socks! Don't ask me why. I don't know! But as Regina and I were leaving KnitWits early in January (yeah, don't ask me what I was doing in there either - certainly didn't "need" any yarn) Kelly happened to mention a sock class was starting in a week or two. And yes, Regina and I signed right up!! On the way out I thought, "uh oh, better call Fran and see if she wants us to sign her up before we leave." (They only take 6 in a class and the classes fill up quickly.) Yes, Fran wanted to take the class too. Started to leave again and thought, "Hmmm, wonder if Liz would be interested." Honestly, I really didn't think she would but figured I'd let her make that choice. Driving into the parking lot for the first class, she was still saying we "talked her into taking it."

Are you getting a picture? FOUR of us from S&B made up the class. We actually felt sorry for the other two ... until we met them. Rachel and Katrina fit right in with out obnoxiousness and silliness. And just let me start by saying that Kelly (our teacher) is a freakin' saint - in more ways than one! Who knew learning to knit socks could be that much fun? Who knew? LOL No really, we did a LOT of LOLing! Our class was on Tuesday nights and so it KnitWits sit and knit night. When we first arrived and saw they had put our table at the back of the store we figured they knew us better than we thought! :D We got a bit of flack upon leaving from a few of the knitters telling us we were having way too much fun "back there" to actually learn anything! But after three classes (and one extra trip up there in between classes) most of us had one completed sock!!! How cool is that?


Here is Kelly ... our teacher, saint, savior, etc. I'm telling you this woman has more patience than Job!


The bug has bitten. Regina and Liz have already started their second pair. I'm dying to cast on my next pair but have some deadline projects to complete first. Confession: I did order some more sock yarn yesterday though. :) I forgot to mention ... before we could get outta there from the last class, Fran had us signed up for another one! I'll be surprised if they don't lock the doors when they see us coming next time! :) Here's my completed pair!

January Knitting ...

It seemed I hadn't accomplish much in the way of knitting for the month of January ... but in retrospect, I guess I really did. My MAJOR accomplishment was finishing the "Flannelghan" for my dad's birthday. I actually started it back in the fall and quickly lost interest. I have to confess it got rather boring - all stockinette in those strips (which curled furiously)! Another confession: I had originally planned to give it to him for Christmas. When we decided not to exchange gifts it gave me another couple of weeks to get it finished! Although it wasn't one of my more enjoyable projects I am happy with the finished product. It's very thick and pretty soft.


Yet another striped scarf from my stash for a January birthday gift:


And a scarf and hat set for my niece who turned FIVE!! I still have to get a photo of her wearing it.


And I made a smaller hat for Morgan from this yarn as well ... now THIS is the photo of the month!! :D

Isn't she the cat's meow? Just makes you wanna squeeze those cheeks doesn't it?

I think that's all for my general January knitting ... but I did manage to complete something else very special the first week of February that started in January ... I'll share in a bit. :)

tata for now,
QB

Meet Zachary

Zachary is my newest nephew, coming into the world about 2-1/2 weeks early weighing only 5 lbs. 2 oz and 17" long. He's home doing well now and is over 6-1/2 pounds. I got my hands on him last weekend and man let me tell you he is small. I'm not sure I've ever held a baby that little. He is, honestly, about the size of a baby doll. And he looks just like his daddy.

"It's Complicated"

OK, this is seriously up at the top of my list for favorite movies!! The story makes for plenty of hilarious scenes and I laughed throughout most of it. The entire cast is just awesome and I loved how everyone in the theater was so into the movie. There was lots of laughter, clapping and commenting. Maybe the reason I loved that so much was because I didn't feel as obnoxious laughing so hard since the rest of the audience joined right in. I really wanted to go see it again while it was in the theater but time got away from me and it didn't happen. This will definitely be one of the movies I buy as soon as it's out on DVD. I want to own it and watch it over and over. It's up there in my top 5 pick - right along with My Cousin Vinny and both Fockers movies. :)

Scarves, scarves and MORE scarves!!

Scarves seem to be multiplying around this house. How does that happen? And believe it or not, I still don't have enough - neither does Cari she informed me. I guess that's a good thing huh? I am thoroughly enjoying the fact that now Heidi is addicted to knitting as well. She and her neighbor, Rachel, got their first sticker shot at one of our local yarn shops yesterday. When you're used to Walmart and lots of Michael's yarns, real yarn in a real yarn shop can knock you back a bit ... until you get used to it that is. I can remember freaking out discovering I would need two balls or hanks of a particular fiber priced at $15 a piece for a scarf. These days I don't even blink an eye at spending $30 for beautiful, soft, unique yarn for a scarf. The day ended well for them though. When I knew I was meeting them, I quickly did a de-stashing of lots of yarn I knew I'd probably never use. Some of it was given to me, some leftover from previous projects, some purchased on clearance that I've already used on a project and am unlikely to use again, etc. They were on the receiving end of two kitchen trash bags about 2/3 full. It will be exciting for me to see what they create with their new loot!

OK, on to the scarves I've done recently ... I've become addicted to the fun, stash busting, striped scarves:

Next came the awesome Twisted Drop Stitch scarves that work up incredible fast. Wonderful for those quick gifts!

There were at least two more I can think of that were already gone when I finally managed to take the time to photograph my projects. This next one is a "ruffle" scarf I designed for Cari. She saw one very similar to this in Target and fell in love. You know I wouldn't buy it. I just HAD to make it myself. After researching pattern after pattern after pattern and still coming up dry, I decided to take bits and pieces from several patterns and design my own. I'm pretty happy with the end result.

This next one, thankfully, turned out beautiful but it was a PITA to work with this yarn. Even though I hate chenille, when I saw these beautifully felted chenille scarves at KnitWits I fell in love. So much so that I walked away with not one, but TWO hanks of the stuff. Had to get the purple for Cari and I picked out some really wild, bold colors for myself. I have to say I really didn't enjoy working with the damn yarn - cussed the entire time I think. But the end result was worth it (I guess). Cari LOVED it! It's a shame when something is so soft it makes baby alpaca not feel soft. (Simple 2x2 rib pattern.)


I discovered this JMU purple Misti Alpaca Chunky at KnitWits while searching for yarn for Cari's roommate, Jocelyn. Needless to say, I simply had to get enough for two of them. I couldn't make Jocelyn one and not Cari! I used the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf pattern.

Remember Eli the Elephant I made for Morgan? Well I had enough yarn left over for a scarf and since emerald green is one of Heidi's favorite colors, I thought that would be a good project for it. This scarf, too, is done using the One Row pattern from Yarn Harlot.


... and now for a couple of beanies. This cute little pink one is for Morgan and the camo one for her Dad.


I think that's all for now. There's still a few pics on my camera that I'll eventually get around to. First I have to concentrate all my efforts on finishing Dad's Flannelghan for his birthday next week. And I still have a couple of bookmarks and candle bracelets to do too. So, I'm off to create ...

QB

Merry Christmas!

Another year bites the dust. I know I say this every year, but I don't know where the days, weeks and months go so fast. And every year I swear I'm going to simplify so I can enjoy the season more. And every year it seems I do manage to eliminate something but either it isn't enough or I manage to fill that slot with something else, because it always comes way too fast.

This year I did quite a bit of knitting and beading for gifts - oh and a bit of sewing too! Now that I have a grand baby I seem to find even more projects to fill my time. Making quite a few of the fabric books was one of my projects. I think I made about seven of them this year. Once I got the hang of it, they went pretty quickly. The girls (Heidi and Cari) both got several scarves in addition to quite a few quick "Drop Stitch" scarves I managed to crank out for some other gifts. Ribbon bookmarks and candle bracelets were also big on my list this year. (Note to self: make a list of who you gave them to this year so you don't duplicate them next year!)

I didn't get much baking done this year (not that I need it anyway) and believe it or not, we really didn't have that many parties to attend either. Like I said, I just don't know where the days went! Our tree wasn't even "dressed" until December 15 this year. That is WAY late for me. Needless to say, it's still up and lit - I'm still enjoying it. As Cari and I were trimming it, we ended up leaving it very simple this year. It has lights, beads (need new ones next year - the blue just doesn't show up well), poinsettias and pine cones on it. When we stood back to survey it, we both looked at each other and said, "I think that's it. It looks good like it is." So, the only ornament on my tree this year is my "Grandmas First Christmas." I picked it up during our S&B Outerbanks trip in March of this year.

(Sigh ...) but the time is quickly approaching to take everything down and get back to "normal" whatever that is. I'm still enjoying my time with Cari so most of my "normal" stuff must wait until she goes back on the 10th. Then I'll get back to business. Hopefully I'll have some new Morgan photos to share next time I'm back. (We haven't seen her for Christmas yet - they've all been sick. :( Hopefully, Saturday we'll get to see her.)

until then,
QB signing off ...

Christmas Books

Getting those Christmas stories out in December ranks right up there with my Christmas music! I love listening to my favorite Christmas tunes while doing just about anything getting ready for the holidays. The only time I'm not listening to Christmas music or reading a Christmas story is when I'm watching Christmas movies! Love them too!! In fact, it's December 30 and I still have a few on my DVR I haven't watched yet. If they're new ones (to me) I'll make time to watch them. If not, I'll probably delete and move on. This year I loved "The Ultimate Gift" and "The Three Gifts" on the Hallmark Channel. And, oh my, what's not to love about Drew Fuller ("The Ultimate Gift")? wiping drool off my chin ... LOL

I try to pick up a couple of new Christmas novels along with one or two new Christmas albums each year too. This year I found:

"The Perfect Christmas" by Debbie Macomber
"Mrs. Miracle" by Debbie Macomber
"Angel Lane" by Sheila Roberts

I enjoyed all three book and will definitely keep them in my collection. I had finished "Mrs. Miracle" a couple of days before receiving the email from Debbie Macomber excited about the new movie on Hallmark! I immediately went to my TV to find and record it. Cari and I watched it Monday night and it was really cute. As always, I find myself a bit disappointed in movies made from books I've read (especially when it's still fresh in my mind), but I still enjoyed it. "Angel Lane" by Sheila Roberts was a delightful surprise. As I've bitched about in the past, I've gotten burned picking up authors I've never heard of, much less read. I took a chance on this one and was really glad I did. I was immediately drawn into the story and lives of such wonderful characters. I thoroughly enjoyed their wit, compassion, laughter and fears. I will be picking up more of Sheila's works.

I haven't decided what's next. Will have to let you know ...

until then,
Love and Laughter,
QB