Fridays Pleasures

We worked on the wicker bells after the morning chores. It was difficult and we took a break to go and feed our neighbor's baby goats! This was a pleasure Marsel had never experienced and she thoroughly enjoyed it-so did the little goat! The little buck teasing was a bottle baby, too, a while ago and he still remembers the joy! David fearlessly took off like a fellow 'kid' and enjoyed the energy of all the young goats (50!).

Abigail was frightened last visit but held on to her stick to keep the Great Pyrenes at bay and she was quite the sheperdess this time!

Bruce took pictures of his family but I did manage to get one of him, too! Caleb got to stay for another day and so was able to enjoy the farm visit-his role as uncle has priority with him as you see!

We finished our bells in the afternoon-against all kinds of set backs we have a pair of bells for each of us! We had felt pretty confident of our basket weaving skill; progressing from beginner to advanced beginner kits but this one is labeled intermediate for a reason! It shields its story as it hangs on the door..........

The Motley Crew!

We had a great time of preparation-(it is so nice to share kitchen duties with another woman) table time, walks, ping pong,

football on tv (new one with a big screen.......)and a word game called Banagram...........which really separated the men from the boys!

Far away family felt close 'cuz they sent these.......!

Marsel brought me her socks that had been started but languished for a while....well, she thought she had brought them but pulled this out of her knitting bag instead! She forgot she had changed out the take-it-with-you project and consequently brought me the wrong one! Grrrrrr from both of us! I don't like knitting deferred! I will have to finish them when I visit her at Christmas!
Tomorrow we will be weaving bells from reeds................just you wait and see them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this day!

Sending a hug to family and friends who are read this!

Just Waiting!

While waiting for company to arrive............in a few days; I am entertaining/distracting myself with odd projects. I ripped out an old sweater that was beautiful but I ran out of yarn (it was the first wool to spin which I bought to make a sweater out of and didn't purchase enough) but as WoolEnough reminded me, you don't have to waste yarn! I ripped out the old fronts, back and one sleeve, reskeined and washed the wool and hung it out to dry! All ready for a less dense sweater than the fisherman knit one that it almost got to be!

Started a little project with some scrap yarn........a free pattern from the JoAnn Fabric Store site.
I started a new project 'cuz I finished David's sweater!

I am on the last 2 hours of Millie's quilt..........I am watching the last spool of thread cautiously!

This is on the design wall........it will be a gift. The first one I pieced so quickly that I knew it was going to have to be made again and I have even ordered some more Scripture panels to make 2 more. This is a great project to use up scraps on hand but I did have to purchase yardage for the backing which will result in some more seed remnant!

A Landscaping Transformation!

We put all the plants to good use and transformed the front yard into a hint of the tropical garden it will be! Added some small stones for the splash guard........

added some good , rich soil from out back in the old swamp area that we drained......

Added the new greenery plants we got Thursday and look! First half is done!

We did the same thing to the other side of the sidewalk and then added another stone island to the other 'front yard' and we have a very nicely balance front yard! Bill has seeded it and rolled it out and in 2 weeks we will have a nice green front lawn again! Yes, while Tom helps us with all the work, Bling does this----->

.......after all, it was chilly out and the window seat was in the sunshine!

So, what do you think?!

A bonus shot, this legless lizard hitchhiked up in a tractor bucket load of dirt! After its picture was taken, we took it back to the swampland! (I thought that a legless lizard was a dumb name for just another snake when I had read about them previously, but they really are different than a snake--not as sleek, or fast-the cooler temps really help to slow this guy down, too, which made him less frightening as his cousins!)

The sweater for David just needs its button bands............I think I will meet my deadline; I just have to spin up some more yarn to be able to do this! ( Think of the Miller's daughter!)

Landscaping Trip

A friend from church offered us all the plants she wanted weaned from her yard. Gardening quickly outgrows its parameters here! Bill provided the muscle for digging up and out and I potted them and hauled them to the truck. After a few hours work we had this-

and to think we almost didn't bring the truck! My little car wouldn't have done the same amount of work! We went to the beach (Daytona)as long as we were so close..........we are not being as good lately about our pledge to each other to get to the beach at least once a month. It was a good walk and very relaxing to be there.

I finished piecing the Mystery Christmas Quilt before we left.............now I have to finish the quilt on the frame so I can do this one! This is a good problem!

Vehicle time means knitting time......finished one sleeve and started the other. I will try to have this done in time for David's visit next week!

Bill has been brushing Bling every day to try to reduce the hairball problem this kitty has. I carded the brushings (an ounce) and added some wool (for a 50/50 blend ) to get just the right color.......I didn't even disturb his nap for the picture! I will spin up a nice fine weight yarn for a little pouch momento of this feline!

It is Florida Cold!

This is how Bill protected the banana tree from frost last night-it is a string of Christmas lights! It is fine this morning so it worked!

Bill had to get up several times in the night to run the sprinkler on the garden so that it wouldn't get any damage from the frost ! It also looks okay --so I think it was a good idea he got up to tend it! Though I did miss the fall he took in the dark........drat!

It hit 32 degrees for several hours......already up to 62 so we will recover from the nippies soon enough. Caleb (2 hours north of us) has had frost every morning this week; Matthew at 1 1/2 hours south) only yesterday and today. It is unusual for us this time of year to have cold so soon in the year!

An Award

"This blog invests and believes in ‘proximity’[meaning that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy].”

I received this award from a blogging friend, Lynne, and though she resides halfway around the world; we can share our love of knitting through just a few key strokes!

In keeping with the spirit of the award, I am to nominate eight bloggers who in turn 'pay it forward' to eight more.

First would be my daughter, Marsel, who started her blog to keep me connected because we live so far apart; and who helped me start my own blog.

Jessica, who like a daughter, keeps us connected , knows me and still loves me!

WoolEnough for her incredible humor and wit that graces her knitting adventures!

Deb of ColdFeetQuilter who lives in a climate so different from my own but loves so many of the same 'home arts' and excels at her quilting!

Autumn of CreativeLittleDaisy who shares of herself, even when she is hurting.........

Dori , who I found from one of my YahooChatGroups, and who is a fiber fanatic extraordinaire!

Nancy of Shepherdsvoice who shares the most incredible sheep pics-always spiced by her humor!

And finally, Ruthie, who has a gift with fabric and quilts the most amazing designs and regularly shares her stash dimensiions, Oh, my!!

Thank you to each of you for enlarging my day and connecting with me this new cyber way!

Check them out, and congratulate them for their efforts.

A Typical Day

We started out the week with a trip to Ocala to get the last purchase Bill made at the auction. This will get a 'do over' and then he will resell it!

I got a lot of knitting done on David's sweater! Working on a sleeve now; bottom stitches are on a holder because I am going to do the ribbing in a different color-a darker brown color. If I do have enough of this yarn it will stay the same but I have a plan if not!

Bill spent several hours doing this yesterday..............

so I could use this! I conquered a pile of fleece (the acrylic blanket kind-not the sheep kind!) from Marsel to make her, David and Abigail a blanket with sleeves-you have probably seen it advertised on tv-just in time for weather that requires a bit of snuggle in the evening! ( Thanks to Judy Stell for sharing her blanket with me so I could get some pattern dimensions!)

PS to Solitude

Here is the treasures Bill bought at the auction-a back hoe attachment for the tractor and a sprayer attachment.........for the tractor. Are we seeing a pattern here?!

Here are the pics for Karen's Kaleidescope quilt.........didn't she do an excellent job?!

This is a close-up of the block quilting......

I tried a new to me technique for the large blocks (16 1/2") for this quilt . I divided the block into workable passes for my short-arm quiting system (6" passes) and it became a very workable choice to get a long-arm look on our machines. This is the pattern.....

and for the border area I used a stencil and free motion to echo the block lines for a traditional quilt line- This is a bug picture for my grandchildren.

Oh, the sweater for David looks like this as of last night.....

and looks like this, this morning! No, I didn't put the order of the pics wrong. I had to rip out the whole thing. The drape of the sweater was way too stiff and when I got to the 'divide for sleeves' part I could see that it was too narrow--two strikes and it was out! Bill was teasing me for ripping it out; no, there was very little hesitation on my part to rip out 3 hours work--it just wasn't right and it can be. I think this is what separates the novices from the experts; not just experience but the fortitude to know that ripping out whether it is knitting (read about blog friend, Wool Enough) or in the quilting realm (read about ColdFeetQuilter, another blog friend) where it takes days to correct a mistake--a novice will quit and an expert will bite the bullet and make the corrections. This is a lesson that my Mom and time has taught me. It serves me well!

Solitude

Early this morning Bill left with his truck and trailer to go to an auction. He had an idea of what he was looking for and off he went! I will post his booty tomorrow!

I enjoyed a day of solitude!!!! I think this is one of my character traits that is hardest for my husband to accept about me. I enjoy being with people - don't get me wrong, but I do need times of solitude to recharge my batteries; talking a lot seems to zap my mental strength and so today I have restored myself for I spoke very few words.......a visit from my neighbor-an update on her goats and to drop off another quilt top for me to quilt-I mainly listened to her so that didn't require a lot of words; and an important phone call from my daughter-a doctor's report so I needed to listen here, too. See-when I expel less than a thousand words, I am recharged!

.......and finishing tons of projects adds to the energy!

I cleaned house, did morning chores and laundry and then washed my alpaca skeins of yarn so that the twist is set for knitting-I have the shawl pattern all picked out-more on that when I get started.

I blocked the second sock. See the happy pair!

I finished Karen's quilt-will hang it for your visual pleasure tomorrow and get a pic then I loaded Millie's quilt on the frame 'cuz it looked empty without anything on it! (And Peggy, it is not hand-quilting I am doing, but machine quilting on a frame-it is a short-arm machine and frame by Viking.

I sewed the blocks together for the first enlarged Christmas quilt.....will sew it together and add borders tomorrow. Cut out another quilt; a praise quilt from a panel that Marsel bought at the Quilt show (and that I ordered from on-line as soon as I got to her house cuz I regreted not buying one after all!) She has banned me from posting ahead of her so you will be seeing that in the future! I bought 2 panels-one for me and one for a gift for Christmas and I think I am going to buy more--the gift went together so nicely that I am not done--I picked a large print from my stash and added some ' looks like a solid' fat quarters to match and wow-it is good.

Made a quilt label for the GI quilt that several of us worked on together-I will sew it on tomorrow and get that in the mail on Monday.

I watched the shuttle launch-it is cloudy out but there was a break just big enough for me to see it! Amazing event every time.

Time to do some more knitting on a sweater for my grandson .....using my handspun wool for this...........and watch the Wizard of Oz on tv. Great end for a great day.

See how many words I have to blog with!