Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Projects..........!

We finished piecing the quilt for the charity , Quilts for Valor. Thanks to the hands in NY, GA and FL.

Mom and I are moving along with our tablerunners.......hers is the top one. As soon as I get thread for her quilt that is on my frame , I can get to the tablerunners and the soldier quilt; I have a backlog! What joy!

My interim knitting project; another bowl to be felted.
I finished drumcarding all my alpaca wool-now to a spinning marathon.
Guys are near the end of the roof work.


The house got a hug today-it has to be wrapped completely in this barrier plastic so that we can stucco it. ( Can't stucco onto the plywood)Peek-a- boo, Bill!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Cat by a Hot Tin Roof!

My socks are finished-I have a pair of soft, lacy camillia socks.
All the beauty bushes are in full berry color-Bill mows around whole areas of these bushes-the birds love them come winter!

My neighbor has new babies in her nursery pen again....these cuties are triplets! (Boer goats) These guys are really little-5lbs so they are getting supplemental bottles-I love to be the doting aunt and share with the feeding times! Mom and I get to babysit on Wednesday so you will get a pic of them at bottle soon.
Half of the roof is done now! See the ridge vent , too! The vent pipes will be painted to match later on, too.
The roof line from the back of the house.
Bill's idea of construction humor. Yes, it is just a rubber snake but I almost put a chip in the slab when I picked up the crowbar to kill it!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

A Day to Play

We took a day off today and went for a boat ride!

My parents have never been boating in Florida so it was about time! Here they are on board with the Palatka bridge in the background; we had just finished a great lunch at Corky Bells restaurant.
This gator smiled for my camera shot-we saw quite a few along Dunns Creek today. Yes, he is sunning himself on a log.

The water level is still up from all the rain from tropical storm Fay-about 4 feet deeper which means that the creek was about 40 feet wider than usual as well as deeper, the lake was a lot deeper and many of the docks were underwater. Very interesting to see the changes. The area where we launch the boat is under water, too.......we had to use a different dock so I didn't ruin my sneakers!
I finished spinning 2 skeins of the alpaca fiber. So far I have about 600 yards of fine yarn. This will be a shawl when I am done carding, spinning, dyeing and knitting it..........this will be dyed something in the red family......

Friday, September 26, 2008

What Can Brown do For You?!

I have some finished roof on the garage! Isn't it pretty?! It is called cocoa brown-for this chocolate lover, it is the perfect color!


My Dad got into the construction mode and cleaned up the yard today. He pulled nails from usable boards and loaded up the junk to haul away. I have a front yard again! Thanks, Dad!


Mom and I finished up all the requirements on my quilt; storage sack, label, hanging sleeve, no loose threads and no cat hair! It is all ready to go to the quilt show next week. I am feeling a bit nervous but not regretting the decision to enter it...................yet! Thanks for the help, Mom!


Look at the new blooms on Mom and Dad's cactus-we have never seen such a bloom-it looks like a big starfish! All the buds are big and hollow--it is a work of art! Do you know what kind of cactus this is? We don't!




Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ready to Roof

Finished up some of the roof prep work; put the entry peak back on;
framed the garage door opening.
The guys had their roof work inspected this morning so now they can start to put the metal roofing on! The delivery came this morning bringing the sheets on site.
Also, the partitions went up for the spare bedroom, closets, master bedroom and bathroom-it is good to see it go from paper to full size! (looking from the bedroom toward the front of the house)
I am spinning up the alpaca that I have carded; I am on the second bobbin-yarn coming soon!
Turned the heel on the second sock-heading for the third corner of this last lap now.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Just Look!

OOPS!

While putting the new porch rafters in where they have to cut into the old roof........a board got dropped and it almost came through the livingroom ceiling........hazards of the job. It didn't come through all the way and gratefully it will be easy to fix!
Yeah, right-here is a totally staged 'work' picture of me . I am holding the nail gun, though!
This is Bill really at work-we need tons of those hurricane straps though after watching on tv the devastation that hurricanes brings, I am not so sure they will stop a strong hurricane from doing its best... or worst!

The windows and doors were delivered today!
It is so exciting to see the daily progress-can you feel my yahoo's!


The plywood is on the front porch roof and the tar paper is on most of the rest of the roof-inspection tomorrow and then the metal roof can be installed!

Mom and Dad are here for a visit for a few weeks. Mom brought down a completed top that I am going to quilt for her.
(It looks blue in the pic but it is light and medium lavender- really pretty! )
Today we had a field trip to the new JoAnns in Daytona Beach. This is the fabric purchase for a mystery tablerunner Mom, Marsel and I are going to do.
We had so much fun with the mystery tote bag that we wanted to do another group project!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Camillia Sock


I finished one of my Camillia socks........started on the second. It goes much faster now that the pattern is in my head. The sock is a bit tighter than I usually make for myself but it will do. I do love the accent of the browns with the red. I think I am going to try another batch of sock yarn dyeing with this color combination. If you look closely , you can see the buds on the camillia bush, it will be blooming in another month or so.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Rest for the Weary

Bill got the mowing in this morning and then the rains began. He gave up working outside and slept in his easy chair this afternoon....isn't that what happens the minute golf comes on tv?!

I did some cleaning outside this morning and discovered this under the chair cushion when I brought them in from the rain........... When the rain hit, I went in and sewed! It wasn't a hard decision! I finished the mystery tote that Mom, Marsel and I have been doing. I will look forward to the next challenge we can share.
Bill ran to the store earlier and came home with this.........he had tried to buy me a rose and they were out. Instead of coming home empty-handed, he brought me this! Oh, it is love.
I lumped with a book on the couch the rest of the evening........Saturdays are nice days.

It's Coming Along!

Tried to post yesterday but Blogger wasn't up and working right and wouldn't let me post!
Bill got to experience a garage with real floor..........been a long time coming.

The men finished the back of the breezeway roof.........

I washed the rest of the alpaca wool then dried it in the basket I made several years ago in a class at my spinning guild. Isn't it just beautiful?
A lot of work went on in the front of the house, too. Bill had to remove all the wood covering the frame of the entry roof so it could be removed to be added back after the veranda roof is on.

The front posts are up and the roof beams are in place; even a few rafters have been set. The work is done for the weekend.
This is the star of my kitchen window-it is in full African Violet bloom!

PLANS AND REVISIONS

I knit the sleeve (top up) and realized that I would prefer the sleeve line up with the same color of the body. See how the shading of the  ...