I guess now this should be known as the year and a half blog!!! Oh well, the world goes on. Our little famiy has grown ... we now have a second grandson and another Scottie!! I will post some pictures soon ... do I promise ... better not as I am so slow to do some things!!!! What am I knitting?? SOCKS and lots of them!! I did decide to knit socks for the family. I have three pairs completed, one pair on needles and four pairs to start. I also have two vest for me on needles and two shawls for gifts on needles. I have been cross stitching on a Prairie Schooler sampler, July. I am to the bottom and hope to finish by July. Wait!! That would be Sunday!! Maybe finish in the next week or so!! I also want to stitch an ornament from this booklet for my summer tree. There are six choices and I just can't decide as they are all so sweet. I did retire last June after 37 years of work. I do miss some of the folks I worked with but I LOVE BEING RETIRED!!!! I stay totally busy and on the go about 99% of the time. My big project at the moment is hand painting my antique wicker living room set given to me by my grandmother when I started work. The wicker and a bed was all I had when I moved to an apartment to start work. I painted the brown wicker blue. Now I am painting the blue wicker brown!! And, it looks so good, so retro. I love it. I want to drive over to North Carolina to the fabric mills and look for material for new seat covers and pillows. Hopefully, Linz and I will do that in mid July. HOT HOT HOT in East Tennessee. Thank heavens we live in the woods (except I did loose a huge tree in the front yard which has changed all my front shade beds to semi shade flower beds ... which has been interesting) and it is a few degrees cooler than most areas. They are predicting 100* today. I am staying in and the Scottie boys are too!!

Back Again!!

Maybe this should just be a yearly blog ... one random post ...on one random subject!!

So, what are Fonzie and I up too? Well, we are still knitting. On the needles today I have a little beige and brown owl or owlet for a gift. Two little ones are finished. I have not made a toy in a while and I had forgotten all the extra handwork involved. But, hopefully this project will be totally finished tonight.

And then there are Bob's socks!! I am at the toe of one sock and the instep of the other. These should have been finished 5 years ago. He will wear them once and the yarn will dissolve when washed!!! Hopefully not. Why is it that it has taken me years (at least 5) to knit on these socks and I think I can knit everryone in the family socks for this Christmas??? That would be eight pairs or 16 socks!! I'm going to have to totally rethink this when I am in my right mind!!!!

Well, well, well ... it seems that Fonzie and I really did fall off the face of the earth!!

Man, we have just been so busy. So, what have we been up to? KNITTING!!! Yes, actually knitting and knitting and knitting. Since January 1, 2010 we have knitted several items. Two hats (although it is really one hat that I knitted twice as I didn't like its shape the first time around) and two scarves in January. For February knitting we have finished another scarf and almost finished a round blankie (that should have been finished in September).

Is anyone involved in Olympic Knitting?? I want to do that ... start a knitting project with the opening ceremony and finish the item by the closing. It can be an unfinished item or a new project. I wanted to knit a neck warmer but then I found a hat pattern. So, of course I am changing horses in the middle of the stream and of course, I do not have the correct size of needles. And I probably will need another skein of yarn (Debbie Bliss - gorgeous).

Why is it that I have 200+ knitting needles and not a one is the correct size I need for this hat. I keep several of my needles in candy tins. I'll have to take a snapshot to share. Anyway, it is fun looking at the tins and of course thinking about chocolate.

Which brings up the subject of Lent. What am I going to give up?? I'm still pondering but you can bet it is NOT chocolate!!

Zucchini

Now I know why I don't bake a lot ... look at all the dishes and this didn't even include the baking pans!! But, from one zucchini, I made 18 muffins and 2 small loaves of bread. OK, OK, I know there are only 16 muffins in the picture. Well, a cook has to taste you know! We have several good friends that have supplied us with fresh veggies. I thought I would return the favor with fresh bread.

So, what else have Fonzie and I been up to? Nothing really, just playing with floss and yarn. And taking walks. We are getting pretty good at climbing the hill in our subdivision. I thought I should really get some leg practice in as I will be at the Appalachian Fair for 2 weeks running around like a nutcake. You know, you hate to poop out on the second day there!

Something furry!

Something furry showed up at our house. Seems our neighbors are on vacation and this little fellow got lonesome. After several attempts to take him home we just gave up and let him stay. He took up residency on the living room window ledge. Talk about an upset Scottie dog!! I thought Fonzie was going to stroke out! How could we possible have another cat as we already have two. But in a few days Fonzie and Sammy are friends, sort of, and tolerate each other. Now, Tipper and Beamer are another story totally. They do not want a kitten hanging around ... at all!! But, since the little fellow lives next door, they might as well get use to him.
Have not knitted one stitch in a month! July seems to be my cross stitch month. I finished another little piece a few nights ago. I'll try to get a picture and post soon. I have now started on a dish towel which has four little squares with pictures in each. And, I bought all the stuff for the new Prairie Schooler July. So, I need to get busy!

Friends

I had a nice chat the other night with my good friend from high school. We talked for over an hour. Talking with us comes very easily. We met the first day of high school. My mom ask if I made any new friends. I replied, oh yes, there is this one girl with big brown eyes that talks all the time!!!! And today, x number of years later we still talk. And it is a wonder that she talks to me at all as I introduced her to her husband ... see photo!! This picture was taken in February of 1971 in my mom's living room. As memory serves, D and I plotted to have a Valentine party to lure the boys over!! Anyway, D got a special gift of jewelry that night from D. I was so tickled for her but secretly wished I had a boy friend that liked to buy jewelry. And do you know, he stills likes to buy her jewelry after all these years!! Yes, they really are a great couple and compliment each other nicely.

Blueberry Pickin'

Just real spare of the minute we decided to drive over to Greeneville and pick blueberries. It was warm but there was a nice breeze. We picked 4 gallons in 2 hours. Then we traveled on to The Farmer's Daughter for supper. When we got home we visited the neighbors that were home and took each family a bag of blueberries. This morning we had blueberry pancakes with blueberry topping. Talk about delicious.