saturday's sky & macro monday

late in posting my saturday sky.



there is a saying around here, if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute, it'll change. in this case, it took about 20:



i've also heard it said there is no other place in the world where you can look further and see more of nothing than the Texas panhandle. i think these pictures are a testimony to that fact.

saturday was a crazy day. my bro-in-law's mother passed away about 2weeks ago. so this saturday, hubby, myself and the kidlets went with them to her town to help with cleaning her home. well, hubby helped, i went to my grandpa's (lives in the same town). oh man, he is looking so fragile lately. i can hardly take it. it just breaks my heart. i love him so much and seeing him age this way is reallly really difficult. oh yuk, i don't want to talk about this anymore

are you on ravelry yet? i've actually been a member for a while, but just started really looking into it over the past 2 weeks.... wow. i'm in love with this place! so i've been involved in the "ravelympics". i'm doing the WIPs wrestling. challenging myself to get some of my wips completed! 2 done so far and making progress on the next one!
DONE:

fidgety scarf for my dad in moda dea tweedle dee sahara sz 11 needles

DONE:
hush hush project for E


so, i'm learning a little bit with my camera. so i've decided i'm going to start posting "macro monday". you are most welcome to join me. i'm going to get a button made for it. maybe tonight.


this is a wildflower i saw while hiking in the wasatche mts of utah.

boxing

years ago, i attempted to make a felted backpack for E. it didn't work. i put it away in a box. well, we're trying to get the garage somewhat cleaned out and i came across a 'crochet' box during the weekend. i didn't want to just throw it all out... so i stared at the backpack for a bit trying to decide what to do. then i remembered a pair of fingerless mitts i had seen somewhere that someone made out of an old felted sweater.
a-ha! perfect.
so a little cuff as trial...



with a litle surface crochet E
and a cool button for closing:

another project years in the making:



this is hemp flowers necklace (ravelry) by norah gaughan from interweave crochet fall 2005. with a few minor changes. some of the assembly had already been done. not sure what my plan was when i started doing it, because some of the rings/flowers were not in the right place. so i just took the remaining pieces and placed them where i thought they looked best and most similar to the original pattern.
started in oct 2005. finished july 2008
hook: C
unknown gifted wool from elizabeth.
i'm pretty sure it was some sort of a yarn swap...but it was almost 3 years ago...
out of one box and into another. this little baby is on it's way to NYC, where it is a slightly belated bday gift! (okay, 3ish years! lol )good thing she loves me

monday??

what? how is it monday already?

today is my anniversary. 13 years. wow. amazing. how lucky i am. i don't know what i did. everyday i thank God for the life he has given me with my husband and 4 kidlets. everyday.
okay, enough mushy.



satuday night was great fun. we took the kidlets to see Texas. this was their first time to see it - so the lightning storm and all the gunfire had them jumping out of their seats! it was pretty funny.

there was a scene where a new family came to settle... the girls in the family got off the wagon with needles and yarn! but the funny part about this- i didn't notice... my 5yo did! (okay, so he'll be 6 tomorrow--- i've got one more day!) they sat it down to do a little dance number.



as for fiber stuff: i skirted my new fleece. although now i'm wondering how i'm going to scour this one. i've always used my washing machine to soak/spin. but now i have a front loading machine. i'm going to have to do it all in my kitchen sink. it's going to take forever! ugh...



here it is all cleaned and rolled - ready for washing.

around my house

the sky above the Texas Panhandle today



kinda gloomy, but nice enough for the birds!

did a bit of cleaning around the house. hubby pulled out the vaccuum... poor sally!
she hates it!



hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

back on monday!

smell this

if you could smell the deliciousness from my kitchen right now...
mmmmmm. you'd be so jealous!



but no need. you can make your very own batch of peanut butter perfection:
shauna of glutenfreegirl has the best recipe for peanut butter cookies on this planet. they are flourless. so the peanut butter is not all diluted and dried-up tasting. just rich and delicious.

another FO!



are you proud or what!?!
this is the "mind's eye hat" from shannon okey's spin to knit. i kool-aid dyed the corriedale ages ago. i spun about half of it last weekend and made this hat. it was supposed to have been for me. *sigh. it looks much better on the girl. this style of hat is just not right. i definitely need more of a bucket-type. some sort of a brim. boohooo. it's just such a beautiful blue with a teeny hint of pink just every wee bit.

shocking

so, what's a girl to do when she spends an entire week of fun filled days on vacation? coming home and returning to the daily routine can be a bit drab...
so - brighten it up!


i took the girl to the salon and let her add a highlight.



this was her first time to get foiled and heated. she was pretty funny.

i've been really busy on some secret stuff. i wish i could show it all off and tell you all about it, because i'm very excited.

i'm not even sure yet how far it all will go, but let's just say: i've got a collection of patterns i've been working on. that'll have to do for now.

i've been spinning a lot lately. i've got several pounds of this camel colored superwash. i'm spinning it to a worsted weight and plan to make someone a sweater from it. and that's about as far as i can go with that, too.

man, i'm just no fun today.

here is a bit of the motherlode all spun up



isn't it just gorgeous!?! i'm so in love with this colorway - i don't know what it is going to be, but i'm pretty sure it's going to be mine! not giving this one away...

oh, and a picture of E with her hair done



no, your screen is not out of whack - her hair is hot pink.
i know, it's shocking!

stop the presses!

i'm updating - again!

wait... i'm updating - again - with a photo!

wait... i'm updating - again - with a photo - of an FO!



because everyone needs a scarf in the middle of the summer! it's a gift for my sherry. i don't remember when she asked me for a baby blue scarf... or wait - i don't think she ever did? she asked for a baby blue coffee cup cozy. which i did and didn't take pics of. i think i just found this yarn and liked it for a scarf for her. it's a joann's sensations yarn - that i can't find the label for and it's not on the site.. but it's really really soft. wool/cotton blend maybe? the pattern is fidget. i love it! i added an extra button to the inside of it to help with the rolling and keep it closed a little better for her NYC winters.

today is my J's bday. 11 years old - i just can't believe it.

and.... we're back!

whew! the family had crazy fun in utah this past week!
there are SOOO many pictures (ummm 1700 - is that excessive?)! i'm trying to decide which to post - it's not easy!

we left late in the day (J had to have a cast change on his arm) and then drove about 10 hrs and stayed the night in monticello, ut. then finished the drive the next day around lunch. leaving the rest of the day to play at "Boondocks". loads of fun. especially the laser tag and bumper boats!



this is the 'holding room' where everyone gets vested and learns how the controls work before being released into the game room - where i was having too much fun shooting and running from my children to remember to take pictures.

drove to the wasatch mountains park where we camped for several days.
hiked around



and did some High Country River Rafting - which i have no pictures of, because i didn't have the forethought to pick up one of those waterproof disposables. but trust me, it was beautiful and we had a blast. V fell out, hubby tossed X out, E and J jumped out! and our wonderful guide thought it very funny to turn our raft so that everytime we would hit a little bump, the water came in... all over me! we were all soaked. it was great!

i got to do a little shopping at Heindselman's (no website) in downtown Provo and picked up a great souvenir.



Lorna's Laces, 'motherlode' roving and a 3" schacht hi-lo spindle
i also picked up a ball of lime green, sugar'Ncream and a Ghook. i made E a carrier for her water bottle. they boys' coul all fit theirs in pockets. "no fair" that she had to actually carry hers!

the ladies there were lovely and the gentleman was a hit with the kids - he did magic tricks and pulled various items from their ears! it's so wonderful to find a lys that is kid-friendly!! they all got quite the kick out of my Texan accent - all the while i was laughing at theirs, too. so funny how we can sound so different just a few states away.

the next day we visited the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum. it was pretty fun, too. the kids had a good time looking at all the different animal specimens and doing a scavenger hunt. you just don't realize how big a moose is until you're standing next to one! and no, it was not on any kind of platform - crazy!



we also visited the Museum of Ancient Life. yeah, the moose was big - but this turtle!!!



then, we ate at the brick oven. oh.my.gosh. the absolute best pizza i've ever had!



oh, and they make their own rootbeer! which, we bought a 2 liter of, so i'm still enjoying it :D

next up: train ride


the pictures i'm not showing you of this, is me knitting, X sleeping, and everyone else about to jump the railing to get off. pretty cool for the kids for the first 10 minutes to get to ride on a real train.... and then it lost it's magic. so that left 80 minutes of total boredom in 105 degree heat. i'll just say we were glad for it to be over. happy to have had the experience to ride a train, which they will probably never want to do again. not knocking the Heber Valley RailRoad, by any means. they have a murder mystery and polar express event that i'm sure is quite fun....

and then, the spark that started this whole escapade:
the stadium of fire



yes, that's him. glenn beck himself. while listening on april 1st, he made the announcement that he would be the mc for this event and had 1,000 tickets to sell. one of the largest fireworks displays in the nation, the blue man group, glenn beck live.... sounds great, but the real sell:



Miley Cyrus!!
we got lucky and scored 6 tickets! so we sat (or stood and danced)



along with 73,494 other people and enjoyed the show. -- that number does not include the thousands of military family members that were on the field. the whole shibang was broadcast live all over the world on the Armed Forces Network. several local wives were able to see their husbands via satelite (proveded by Beck). it was fabulous. and the fireworks - amazing

next day, went to the Hogle Zoo
isn't this little red panda just precious!?!


and the Living Planet Aquarium



the aquarium was pretty small. but still had lots of really cool saltwater tanks and everyone got to touch stingrays.



turns out, it's a "preview". a ninety-thousand sq ft park is being built. the preview helps to fund it. so that's good enough reason to pay the entrance fee (which wasn't bad, by the way) and see all that we did.

we then drove and stayed the night in moab. i woke up fairly early while everyone else slept. i made some coffee and went outside to spin in the cool of the morning. this is where i sat



this was my view



went to the arches park and walked and climbed around a bit there



and of course, made sand angels



saw the arches



and then, drove home.