Have you been worried about me?

Well, don't be. I survived the spiders the other day. I found that if I wait to mow around the trees until the heat of the day.... about 95 degrees with extra high humidity ~ that the spiders are hiding somewhere else. I only happened upon one creepy-crawly while on the mower.... and good for me, I kept my spider-be-gone stick with me the whole time. The monster didn't see what hit him!

Tomorrow we are having the big August birthday party bash at our home. We are celebrating Trinity's 5th birthday, Tyler's 2nd birthday (a great-nephew), Annie's 17th (one of our older son's girlfriend), Russell's 30 something birthday (a brother-in-law), and my Mom's 'I had better now say' birthday. There will be 30+ people here for hamburgers, hot dogs & all the fixin's.... along with a Spiderman Cake & homemade ice cream. We will have 8 go karts running.... one of them is Trinity's present from us ~ and our pool is cleaned & ready for splashing.... it is a small above ground & splashing is about all you can do in it ~ but it is all good!

Look for pictures of the fun Monday! I can't wait to see Trinity's eyes when he sees his new kart. Tony built it from the frame up! (he is my wonderfully, handsome, talented husband) I also can't wait to give my Mom her present.... but I still can't tell you what it is because she might read this too!!!!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!

It is time for me to whine.........

You must all know to begin with that I really LOVE my husband. He is a loving & hard working man. He often works too much taking on more so I can do what I enjoy..... hooking, punching, stitching, auctions ~ you get the idea. :) He works 40 hours a week with an hour commute each way - each day...... working nights too. He then feels that many of the chores around the house are his responsibility ~ mainly yard work & car upkeep. On top of that..... he is building a shop for his remote control hobby, working on my studio, fixing the pump in the pump house (for our well), putting in a new heat pump in our home, and finishing off our basement...... plus so much more! Meanwhile, I am a stay-at-home Mom. I keep the house fairly clean, cook a few meals, do the shopping & make sure the bills are paid on time. I am not saying I don't do work.... but I don't feel that I do as much as my wonderful husband. This is not why I am whining today!

I am whining because I told my hubby that I was going to mow the yard this week.... and I am! We have just over 5 acres..... that is all mowed. It is a chore, but that is still not why I am whining. We have a bunch of trees ~ and it is a pain in the wazoo going around each one..... but that is still now why I am whining! The grass is long & our old mower will probably be a booger and get bogged down.... but that is still not why I am whining!

I am whining because of all the creep crawly SPIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are everywhere ~ casing webs of wire cables from tree to tree! Can ya tell? I hate spiders! Sure, they keep the flies down..... but they give me the heebie geebies! There are too many out there to count! I tried to get a few pics to share with you.... not very good ones, but you can get the idea! These spiders are about an inch in diameter ~ just for their bodies! You know they are even bigger with their creepy legs expanded! I got goose bumps just taking the pics.... and I was using the zoom to the max so I didn't have to get very close to them! So, you know that as I am mowing the yard I am going to get entangled in their webs and the monsters are going to crawl on me! (I am getting goose bumps just writing this!)

My hubby told me to just take a stick and walk around the yard weaving between the trees to knock down the webs. I am sure that I will look like a wanna-be witch with a wand to the passer-bys. Can you see it now? Cast away your webs & be gone for the day my dearies..... you are not needed to be seen in the daylight as the good witch trims the lawn. LOL







Wish me luck! Hopefully I won't finish with a hair-do of webs & spiders! (still have goose bumps!)

My mind is twirling with creative thoughts....

Where to begin??? Hummm, what fun it is to ponder and oodle of hooking, punching, and stitching.... and wool dyeing. I have all this free time during the day and a million and one directions I want to take. As many of you know, I am in some wonderful Ebay groups. Two of them have a launch set for September 1st (BLESTB and AB4B). My Mom has a birthday soon too. Now, I have the joy of coming up with some things to offer with the groups and something special to make my dear ol' Mom. (that was ol' not old..... just in case she sees this! LOL) So, for the next few weeks I will get to play with threads and wool....... what will come of it? Only time will tell. Here is a rug that I did manage to finish yesterday. It might make its way to Ebay soon, but it will be nice to live with it ~ for just a few days anyway.



I am proud of myself.... most of the wool used for this one I dyed myself. :)

What do I do??????

Today is my little boys first day of school. Now, I am finding myself sitting here wondering what to do ~ where to start ~ what needs to be done ~ what do I want??????



Surprisingly, I am not in tears about Trinity growing up & entering into his 'scholastic' years ~ I thought for sure a box of tissues would be with me all day. So I guess it could be worse. LOL I dropped him off and took pictures (probably too many). He is so excited. Because we live in the country, he doesn't get many chances to play with others his size. He is really looking forward to making new friends and seeing them everyday. I can't wait for the bus to drop him off and for him to tell me everything that happened today. Do you think he will remember?

Ok..... maybe I will start with some house cleaning, move on to some rug hooking, and maybe even take a nap. :)

Trinity's 1st Dentist visit!

Today Trinity went to the dentist for the very first time! This is my little boy.... who is growing up too fast! He is 4 almost 5 and about to start kindergarten. (school starts this Thursday!) He was so good for his visit today ~ and luckily no cavities!! He was all smiles for the rest of the day.... well, truth be told, he is usually all smiles anyway. Here he is showing off his pearly whites.....



I did have a chance to dye some of the wool from the auction today. Now, don't laugh at my results! :) I am still learning about this whole dye thing. The books I have read discuss dyeing all these different swatches with different quantities of dye. Well, I am very unorganized and more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gal. I know that I could never get the same color twice if I tried.... but I do love to see what stirs up in the dye pot! Two of the batches I did today, I had forgotten to add the vinegar until the dye bath had been dumped out. Oops! I put the wool back in the pot with more water & the vinegar to simmer some more. What came out was this really cool sort of tie-dyed type of wool. Of course, I don't know what rug any of this wool will be used in ~ but it is great fun to see what happens!





In the next few days I will have a rug & some other hand-dids to show off....... just have to get a little extra time to do some finishing on them. :) Until next time..... many smiles to you!!!!!!

You just gotta love a good ol' auction!

I hit the jackpot yesterday at a local auction. The sale bid advertised some handmade wool rugs..... so, of course, I had to go see. They turned out to be large, latch hooked area rugs..... not exactly what I had in mind. BUT, to my delight.... there were two boxes of wool yardage grouped in the bed linen area. I stayed at the auction for hours waiting for my chance to nab these! I just knew I had to have them. The colors might not be perfect ~ but that is what dye if for! I was able to grab these boxes for pennies on the dollar ~ where wool is involved anyway. I was so stoked about it too. So, I ran home & threw them in the wash & hung them on the line to dry. Afterwards, I weighed them.... these is almost 10 pounds of wool here. Yes, I am just tickled-pink about my find!!!



You know, while waiting for these two boxes of woolly delights ~ I had to bid on a few other things too. I came home with a hand crocheted table cloth & some darling cross-stitched ornies (one for every month). I am looking forward to next weekend for another auction!!! :)