One Emptied and One Filled!

This is our 'second' property that has been recently sold--there are two more trailers and a garage and several sheds on these 3 acres.  This is the only home that has been occupied in the last decade.  It is a place of many happy memories for all of us.  It was where Bill's parents spent their winters and we visited them every Spring break.  When his Dad passed away and his Mom wasn't well, my parents began to come south for the winter and made arrangements to stay here.  It was a wonderful transition that lasted for almost 20 years.  Bill's parents bequeathed it to Bill.  We have loved this home for 40 years.

How pretty the sun lights it up at sunset each evening...

The old grapefruit tree died but the boys still like to climb it.  Bill will be cutting it down and I will make some bowls out of it, you can be sure of that!  We couldn't have emptied this home today just ourselves, if we had two weeks to do it--these guy were the game changer--they lifted furniture and loaded the trucks and hauled the loads from here to our house, which is only two miles away.  

I have so many boxes just like this to go through!  I will show you the filled portable garage tomorrow--I was too tired when we came in at the end of the day to remember a photo!

I will show you the beautiful Cassia blooms from the tree out front, at the yellow house, the train house;  we add you to the flood of memories we have.  It is time to let you go and make memories for another family.
 

Curtains And Panels

 Recipe for some finishing touches:  do a series of measuring and match so you can cut some cool border print fabric into appropriate size chunks, do a bunch of pressing and straight stitching then,

 press it again!  It is beginning to get exciting now.  We made two sections of two panels each for each window-both are very long!  Mom and I work well as a team;  she even learned how to use the serger for the hems!

 Once you hang them onto their spacious rods, you have a very spiffy new valance that fits the wonderful new dining room!  I will give you a picture of the other window and the kitchen window next time!

 The last tile went up on the ceiling Friday morning and now the furniture is back in place.

 Everything is so wonderfully clean and shiny;  it is very inviting.

 Even the little bedroom looks bright and comfy!  It has been a month since they arrived and the house has been in 'remodel' mode the whole time but Mom and Dad are ready for some down time!

 After a nap, I made some lavender and rice hand warmers!  It is just chilly enough in the mornings to appreciate this extra perk!  It is a fun and easy gift, too.

My King Orchid is going to do her thing again!  I am very excited to see the blooms plump more and more every day!

While we were creating curtains, Bill was at work increasing the number of solar panels from 7 to 10.  He has two more to put up at a later time.  We are trying to get the pool temp up for my sister's visit next week!

He is a good Jack-of-all-trades kind of guy!

Hard and Soft Work

 The winter of remodeling continues in my parent's home.  We are pulling up the carpet in the back bedrooms-one room at a time so we have space to pile everything while we work!

 The floor is in great shape underneath this time, so that is good.

 But we are not going to miss the smelly old carpeting in the least.

 The guys spent an hour pulling old staples and pounding in nails to get it ready for the new flooring.  To be continued!

 I finally finished spinning the four ounces of angora!

 Then I wound it onto my yarn winder-397 yards of utter tactile delight!

 This yarn will be gracing the cuffs of fingerless mitts1

 I wound the skein.

 Can you see how soft it is?

And I labeled it because I am old enough to know how well I remember details like this!

 I snuck a bit of work on the new cowl.......

 when I was supposed to be working on this!  So I guilted myself into another two rows which means 2 hours of knitting!

 But this morning, I finished the cowl instead!

 It is out of the softest yarn called Effervesce by Yarn Bee at Hobby Lobby.

I used 1 1/2 skeins (224 yards per skein)  The pattern is from Drops Design 98-1.  If you find it on Ravelry, you will also find that it has been knit by a Russian woman and while I couldn't follow her pattern, I could pick up enough of her alterations to realize that the worsted yarn is knit two strands on number 15 needles.  The pattern unfolds right under the needles, just in a loftier and bigger pattern than the original.  It is perfect.  This is for my sister-in-law who requested it especially!  It will be in the mail on Monday!