welcome little one~

*joy*

Reed Douglas was born to Douglas and Ashlie 

on

December twenty fifth, two thousand fourteen

seven pounds and ten ounces

nineteen and one half inches

at eight fifty seven am

he was greeted by his big sister Iris Grace

~*~ 

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday shelden & abbey!!!

christmas pictures of our birthday girl & her loves

thanks much to our neighbor sandy for the use of her beautiful barn

kissy faces :)

*love*

~be still my heart~

love our little christmas pixie !

oh that little face :) always so full of joy this little one is~

our little nose wrinkler :)

they all thought the falling snow was the best fun!

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

 birthday wishes to our grandson shelden

merry christmas to you and yours

~*~

gobble gobble gobble...

a very happy thanksgiving to you & yours

~*~

in the house, on the needles & around the hill...

in the house was this little one for her very first overnight

we roasted marshmallows & hotdogs

nibbled on popcorn and m&m's 

and watched charlie brown thanksgiving

the next morning

the cousins & auntie joined us for

pancakes with chocolate chips & holiday bazaar shopping

oh those little faces  :)

on the needles

in the making is the softest ever little cocoon

waiting for the arrival of the newest little

due december 26th

baby alpaca

my make-do yarn swift when the hubs isn't home

yarn winder found at the flea market for $2.00!

and on the hill in november we are blessed with beautiful sunsets

what's making you happy?

~*~

it's that time....

we are having a beautiful fall here in ohio but

the dipping temps are a reminder that winter is just around the corner

our primary heat source is wood & while i love the coziness of a fire,

it is messy & loads of work for the hubs

we've had the same log carrier for 10 years

it serves the purpose of carrying in logs,

but it doesn't contain the mess

and wood is messy

soooo, i started searching online for something more efficient

i found several options but all expensive...$60 & up for a canvas bag plus shipping

i had an idea....

i used duck cloth & dowel,

 broke 5 needles & spent the better part of a day

making a pattern

but....

i only spent $6.00 on fabric,( joanns had a 60%off coupon) $2.00 on dowel & $5.00 to replace needles

the thread i had : )

it is exactly what i had in mind!

~*~

two post in one week???

i attribute it to over an indulgence of halloween treats :)

i've been reading about natural silver cleaners & since i'm out of my tube o chemicals

i thought i would give one of the mixtures a try...

hideous i know

i used this recipe....http://cleanmyspace.com/the-besk-kept-silver-cleaning-secret-ever/

the ingredients are vinegar, baking soda, salt, hot (boiling) water & foil

this is the result

the two knives on the right are uncleaned as is the fork on the right

big difference!

side by side

all in all this solution worked well!

i used a microfiber cloth as it suggest but still had a slight filmy look 

so after drying with the microfiber cloth, i used a jewelers cloth & that produced a nice shine

one other note....

as soon as the solution cooled down, it no longer worked :(

my daughter babs gifted the hubs & i with the coffee spoons for our anniversary

every morning i'm reminded of her sweetness :)

the teacup was a gift from my bestie...it's my absolute favorite!

everything taste better out of a pretty cup don't you agree?

tea anyone?

has it been a month?

yes, it' has been a month since my last post!

sheesh, rather than getting better with this blogging business

i am getting worse :(

i have been getting some wip's off the needles while not blogging

and that's always a good thing!

i've also (while not blogging)  cast on several projects & frogged others

i'm working on socks for the hubs...

i don't remember when i started?

did i enter the info on ravelry?

clearly i'm struggling with technology & the ability to keep things up to date...

my ravelry project page is no exception

the pattern is the hubband sock

# 2 addi's, magic loop, toe up

malabrigo in #858 arbol 

beautiful yarn but maybe not a great choice for durability on socks...we'll see

happy halloween!

~*~

p.s.  i did enter info onto my ravelry page...sept 3rd was the start date

almost two months ago , hmmmmmmm

welcome fall~

we are enjoying fall in every little nook & cranny

the sunflower field is in full bloom & bee's are buzzing

both food & drink fill the air with pumpkin spice everything

 my knitting has a fall look about it too :)

fall is quickly taking over our back yard & woods

what does fall look like in your little corner of the world?

~*~

from the 1930's to present day~

the hubs & i went to a household auction last summer

& scored this 1930's dresser for $14.50

it's steel & except for a few blemishes on the paint,

it is in great condition!

 

it has all the original hardware including the rolling casters

during the remodel of our kitchen, we replaced our portable dishwasher with a built it

while we love the new dishwasher,

we were now short a work surface!

we looked at different options & decided on this...

after lots of stripping, sanding, cussing....yep, lots of cussing

we now have just what we were looking for!

not only a great work surface, but extra storage

and when you have a little kitchen, you're always looking

for ways to increase storage...cause ya know, i need a place for all those kitchen gadgets!

the hubs made a cutting board surface from the cutout of the sink area

of our butcher block counter top

it's perfect!

hello fall hello sock wearing season!

ta dah!!!!

oh happy day, a finished project!

loved this pattern & yarn

details...

pattern: diamond rib socks

yarn: malabrigo sock gifted by the lovely ellen

needles: addi turbo #2

it's fall here in ohio which means

leaves & temperatures start falling

&

it's pumpkin EVERYTHING!

a festival of some sort every weekend

next weekend is the wool gathering...my favorite fall festival

wool gathering

there's yarn...soooooo much yarn

fiber, spindles,wheels,patterns, jewelry,

cows, goats, alpaca's llama's, border collies,sheep

crafts for the littles, food for all, demonstrations,

even a barrel ride!

really, what more could one want?

do you have a favorite fall festival?

off & on the needles~

off the needles....yeah!!!!! :)

ravelry notes: lala shawl

this was a fun knit & i'm anxious for cooler weather to wrap myself up

thanks to andi from the wonderful blog "my sisters knitter" & andigal on ravelry for recommending this pattern 

i purchased the yarn while vacationing on lake erie

it will always remind me of riding around put in bay on a golf cart with the hubs

 falling off bicycles

 & camping in the rain!

we haven't been camping or on bicycles since 

ha!

my on the needle project began with this fun package that arrived in the mail

from ellen on ravelry and the author of the sweet blog the ellen report 

madeline tosh sock yarn, dark AND milk chocolate & two lip balms

i enjoyed a piece of the chocolate everyday till they were just a memory :)

what a sweet treat~

the lip balms remain my favorite! 

thanks ellen  xoxo

the mad tosh yarn is yummy as are all mad tosh yarns

i chose the diamond rib pattern from designer Kate Lore aka Knittergal on Ravelry

it's the perfect combination of yarn & pattern

i love when that happens!

 a fun pattern & very well written~

because i spend more time knitting than painting my toe nails

i cropped my toes right out of the picture....

i couldn't figure out how to fix the the wrinkly feet 

that's whats going on in my little corner of the world

what's going on with you?

have you finished a project, started a new one, painted your toe nails?

~*~

vacation memories~

folly beach ,south carolina

2014

dirt, seed, water & voila!

this is our first year with our raised beds

the hubs has plans for two more by fall

the bed on the left was mowed down by rabbits

the hub replanted & fenced the bed

i see eggplant parmesan in our future :)

 

i canned 7 pints of green beans yesterday

and we have many more to pick :)

tomatoes glorious tomatoes

the hubs can hardly wait! :) 

and the kale is plentiful :)

if you look closely, you can see a little itty bitty broccoli  :)

cabbage.....sour kraut or cooked cabbage with bacon hmmmmm :)

the beds haven't been without difficulties

in the first few weeks the rabbits ate the swiss chard & beets to the ground!

the hubs put up fence and problem solved until....

the deer moved in & reached over the fence and ate our beans!

he put a wire around the entire exterior and again, problem solved until...

the bugs moved in!  they started with the kale & ate their way to the beans

we mixed up some pepper garlic spray and as you can see

everything is thriving

until something else finds our garden of eatin'

one battle at a time :)

~*~