Give me a minute

I am redesigning the page then an update...I will get it organized at work tonight and then add pictures Sunday night. Lots happening. LOTS of knitting getting done. SOME home improvements....you'll see, there will be lots to read...

Shawls and Sleighs, must be Snow Soon

This was Project One for Camp Loopy. Project Two can be cast on this Friday and must be gloves or mittens with a cable. I have chosen Rococo. I cannot for the life of me remeber how to do links so will study that later tonight and correct this issue, :). But that said, isn't she lovely?? She is Sedna




DH and I love to go to

Jordan's Furniture

and walk around their clearance room which is the size of a football field. We oftentimes find great things. This mirror is the top piece to a hallway bench and mirror set sans the bench. There is a tiny scratch in it, It is 3.5 feet or so by 4.5 feet high...or so. We plan to hang it in the entrance hallway and add a few coat hooks. (We didn't even know it is what it was,lol)

We went online and looked for some hooks and found this silly man. I love him!! He has two coat hooks and a hat hook. We got two to see how they will fit and all and make sure the coats hanging from them will not overburden the mirror. I would love to put two more but time will tell. But he just makes me smile.


Last December, we had to cancel our Christmas Open House due to inclement weather so being a New ENglander and always trying to outsmart the weather, we are having a Christmas in July Barbecue in a few weeks. I have always wanted a sleigh on my lawn and what better time to build one then in 90 degree heat? LOL...it is called a GIGANTIC SLEIGH
, likely because the reindeer meant to go with it are NINE FEET tall, lol. The sleigh will be 8 feet by 6 feet by 4 feet. We are making it extra sturdy so two people can sit in it for a picture. I ordered red pleather to upholster the seat. The plan will be to put it on the front lawn come holiday time and I wanted the upholstery to hold up. It was fun cutting it out, not so much sanding it and noqw I get to prime it. The exterior will be a deep red, interior a deep green and I think I have decided to make the runners black. DH keeps saying gold but I am thinking black.

it took a little time to get this first set of patterns taped to the board as it came in two piese, but once done and traced it was easy.

This was the first runner being cut.

The second all traced to be cut.

For scale, the sleigh sides took up nearly the entire sheet of plywood 8' x 4'.

There will be pictures of this process of building a sleigh. Strange things I do 'eh?

Hi Mom..

I Have Been Busy

Sometimes I wonder where all the time goes to. I don't spend a lot of it sleeping, should spend more of it at the gym, work a fair amount of it....then I post here and see my pictures of home, animals, family, WIPs and FOs and think ,"AH HA!! THAT is where it has all gone,"
My Sedna Shawl has been done for 10 days and I am just blocking her. Not ever being a shawl wearer, I am not sure what will become of the lovelies. I am determined to learn to wear them!! ANOTHER PROJECT,lol... Anyways, she is sport weight yarn which made some of the beading a little tough, but has bead along the top edge as well as the angled sides and throughout the crocheted edging. I like her very much.
Having three colors of one row a piece striping was a bit tangled at times, but it all worked out


She is still resting outside, I will bring her in shortly and let her nap on the guest bed til tomorrow.

Our Christmas Open House was cancelled due to weather this past December and I decided we would beat the snow and have a Christmas in July, much decorating and projects in the works. However, it seems much of my family has plans that weekend, :(, oh well, there will be quite a few folks, still, but I still have family members who have not seen my home. Another time...

But I had been holding off replanting the flower boxes til now. The rain knocked off a lot of the white blooms last night but they will be back. I wanted Christmas colors and think I achieved that quite nicely.



Here is the update on the Sunflower Shawl. the smaller version would stop here with three repeats of the center leaf panel but I am forging ahead for another if not two more repeats. The sunflower part is done so the sides are stockinette now and it will go quickly until the border. I love it though, the petals have amber beads and the leaves have green. The pattern does not call for beading but I am in a groove. DH thinks the beads going up the center leaf panel look like the riders in the peloton, lo.



OK just a quick update as it is a work night and I have laundry and cleaning to do yet. Oh I am also 65% done with my February 21 Lady and 95% done with Aestlight shawl, hoping both will done before the month's end. Just didn't want you all top think I have been slacking since the wedding. Off to trace patterns onto 4 x 8 foot sheets of plywood for the sleigh I will build for the next Gala..see you soon

Hi Mom, wish you could come, maybe we can figure it out.

Happy July 4th!!!

Happy July 4th!! A day, celebrated in the USA marking our Independence from the Mother land,lol. Yet, where do DH and I want to live , England or Ireland! Go figure, guess we return to our roots. This is the safe way to be this close to fireworks. Growing up in a firefighter family, we were not encouraged to attend firework displays. Too dangerous...but as an adult I have attended a few, but always looking out for the potential mishap. This year DH and I were home with the puppies and kitties. DS1 is married and spent the day with his wife and friends, DS2 is involved and spent the evening with friends and her family. Quiet time around here.

When we were purchasing the house in Dec 2007, the inspector had mentioned the fragility of the stairs leading to the cellar, yes I said cellar, there are certain spots I can stand upright but poor DH has to walk like a troll. A few weeks back GF of DS2 was vacuuming his room and came to tell me she broke the power. The circuit breaker for that area had flipped and no worries, I will go reset it. I almost went through one of the stairs. We have been nursing the whole stairway for some time and finally it is time to replace it and get the cellar cleaned up. While we did build new stairs that will be here long after any of us, the cleanup is still to happen, but I am confident August will be the time.

Here is the beginnings, three new stringers and the risers going up. DH does the figuring and cutting and I generally do the putting together after the stringers.



All risers in place, I thought I broke the screwgun, but it was actually a power driver, very loud but quite effective, lol

The skeletal system, apparently under the old staircase this is where the coal was stored to be put into the stove, we found lots of small pieces after ripping out the old structure.


Nickolas giving the new stairs a try, lol It is a field stone foundation home, primarily and is quite cool in the cellar so the dogs visited quite often.




Nickolas is getting quite big, he is within pounds of Oliver but not as tall. He is one solid little guy though. This is 3y 7m Oliver on left at 77 pounds and 1y 9m Nickolas on right at 74 pounds. They are still so cute, and Phineas is every one's favorite. Everyone has said they will steal him from us, lol. Right just try!!

There is lots of knitting going on. I finally joined a group to knit a project during the course of the Tour de France. I never watched this until becoming involved with DH who is a big cycling enthusiast though he has not been in the saddle for some time ....This is Sunflower Fields shawl(I will provide link later) by a Canadian designer. She is doing a series of TdF inspired shawls and I want to make them all. I am hoping to test knit one in the future. Her name is Natalie Servant, do look her up Ravelry. I am using Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Smaller Yellow Ant and am adding green and amber beads. When I knot I am constantly looking for places to add bling. Might be my age, might be I am easily distracted by shiny things..


This is Sedna's Shawl, my first project for Camp Loopy. Sheri thought it would be fun to run a three month camp. Premise being, one month to complete and post a picture of three projects, meeting certain criteria, and then at the end be rewarded with a special kit containing Wollmeise yarn. How can you not participate. Note, the presence of beads again. LOL...
DS2 GF celebrated her 22nd birthday on June 18 so we had a little party for her. Never has anyone requested vanilla cake with vanilla icing in this house before!! I actually made a scratch vanilla cake with raspberry filling and vanilla frosting with raspberry frosting for the little flowery parts. The gigantic sprinkles were too funny to not use, after removing the orange and yellow ones as DS2 is allergic to the dye.



The very cute couple. Note she has put the ribbons into her hair. DS2 is colorblind, completely, yet managed to wrap her gift in her favorite color, yellow...awwww

So, another house project ticked , knitting getting done, until next time..

Hi Mom!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Me and Dad and oldest brother Steven


My Dad has been gone 6 years now. The time has gone so quickly and I am sometimes saddened by the things he missed. The additions to his already large brood of grandchildren and subsequently the newer additions of great grandchildren. The blossoming of my sons into fine men. The wonderful women they have chosen to be partnered with and most recently married to. He would refer to them both as "cute little numbers". My Dad passed before we bought our home. I believe he would have loved the fact we have a three story barn, 1.5 acres of land and animals. We did not have pets growing up, there were many of us,lol. He would think it was wonderful I climb the ladders and paint the house and tile the bathroom we ripped out. He would have enjoyed the deck we built and loved that I cut the boards at 45 degree angles and predrilled the holes for the screws in each one.
Mark,Steven, Me, Donna and DA being held by Dad (first 5 of 11)

He would have beamed with pride when DS1 got first his Bachelor's and then his Masters degrees and clapped the loudest as his now wife followed with hers.

Mom,DS1 Ben and Dad (ben's Jr High Grad, 12years old)

He would think it an honor DS2 picked as an emblem on his High school ring the firefighter insignia for his Pa. He would be there next January when DS2 walks the stage and receives his bachelor degree.

Dad and DS2 Shamus 2 years old

And he would have come for every Christmas Open House and event we have held.
I comfort myself knowing he likely attended all those events, watching from above, taking time out from his pool game to say ,"That's my family"...

I have many fathers in my life, husband, ex husband, father in law, brothers, nephews, brothers in law and I wish them all a beautiful day. Happy Father's Day.

Hi Mom..

It Is Mania and Mini

So, the vicious cycle of destashing and then ordering yarn has happened...but in my defense the yarn acquired is for long standing projects so no guilt. Still have less yarn in the house than a month ago. The February Lady is moving along, every so often I make a mistake and have to remove a row or two but it is an easy knit.
I will wind my yarn for the Camp Loopy Project 1 assignment tomorrow and bring the yarn to work in hopes of starting it after midnight.

I will post pictures in the next post.
So since I have been gone I thought I would post some pictures of house things that have happened.
We found an area of softness in the main bathroom floor last April and had to investigate,April 2010. We ended up gutting the entire bathroom right down to the 111 year old framing, replacing plumbing, wall studs and putting in a new bathroom. The cast iro n tub was removed and replaced with a walk in shower. i agreed to this, suggested it, with the caveat that we have a master bathroom downstairs.The master bedroom has a nursery sized walk in closet on the other side of the bathroom/laundry room and we will break through the wall and have a large master bathlaundry room in time. I am hoping we start this fall as it has been 14 months since I have had a tub and I am a soaker...
We went through three layers of flooring and many wall and found this wallpaper which would appear to be one of the originals in the room. It was quite Victorian and I was almost sad to rip the walls down and end it's existence in the house.



We put up beadboard on the walls and vinyl/laminate "wood" floor.

The new fixtures are a color called cashmere and the walls are green. The tiles are multicolor beiges/greys with green accents. It was a project doing the tiling as the grout dried quickly and it took a long time for us to remove as much as we humanly could. I am pleased with the results but the glass shower doors are impossible to clean. I cannot get through the soap residue on them. I have tried EVERYTHING so if you have a suggestion I would love to hear. :)

This bathroom is in the center of the house and has no windows so hung pictures I took while in Ireland.
DS2 took over the huge room that was DS1 when he moved. DS1 wanted a blue room which he got and DS2 never asks for anything so when he went away for a weekend I commandeered his room and gave him a wall of argyle. he loves plaids and argyles...I still have to finish painting the trim in the room which is soon to happen. Much painting to finish now that the gala has happened.






This is the gingerbread going up on the porch. it is tedious work and I am hoping it is done this year so another project can be marked done.Not sure why the font has changed, lol. (Imay have fixed it)Still have dentil to paint and hang, lots actually.
The porch ceiling(the font has changed back)is blue. As is and was the norm.DDIL told us actually that it is to trick the bees into thinking it is the sky and they will not gather.
Hmm, the gingerbread picture has disappeared...


Just realized I have not gone into Artemus' issues, I shall next ppost as the kitties have an appointment this week and maybe there will be updates.
But I love these pictures of the pups.
New coats for all this winter, Nickolas will need another, larger this winter but the other two are set.


This is actually the property belonging with the mansion where DS1 had some wedding pictures done. Dh and I took the dogs out last fall to romp and here they are being "good boys" waiting for a treat. They will sit on command but I taught them,"what do good dogs do?" and then they sit. It is funny to see people's reactions.
It is late, I am tired, long busy day tomorrow, Silly font has gone awry again. Gym, food shopping, haircut(now that 24inches are gone I have to have upkeep, lordy) Wind yarn and work. I am hoping DH will get out in yard and cut some tall grass to cut down on the ticks...
Our beloved yellow Beetle died, it needs a new engine and since it is a turbo it is not cost effective. She still sits in the driveway but doesn't run. So we purchased another little bit of a car. It is a 2008 Mini Cooper S, so silly, smaller inside than the Beetle, but still fun. And it matched my new Dr. Martens so we had to buy it.






So til next time, thanks for stopping by. I welcome comments so I know I am not talking to myself :)
Hy Mom...