Hit the Floor Running

Today , bright and early, we began to set out the wares for a garage sale.  Marsel has decided that her 12 years of marriage called for some culling of goods!  marsel has been preparing for this for weeks, so we just had to haul it all out and arrange it.  That's all! 

What hard work and wonderful fun we shared!  (see David's new cast?!)

Today was also WorldWideSpin in Public Day, so I set up my wheel and spun and answered lots of questions.  Some had never seen such a thing and others enjoyed the reminder that there is still a vital spinning community alive and well.  It was gratifying to do my part!

The kids enjoyed rediscovering forgotten toys and said goodbye to some old favorites!

The men hauled all unsold goods to the local Goodwill when it was over-nothing returned to its former holding!  Work is much easier when it is shared!

A Trip to Connect

Can you see where we are headed?

On the way, we heard from Marsel that they were in the Urgent Care because David had an adventure first thing in the morning.   We are double glad that we were on the way!  Will be going to the orthopedic doc tomorrow for a permanent cast!  The fun never ends....

(David is going to be baptized on Sunday, which is the point of our trip to be able to share in the event; now he has to have a waterproof cast!)

Shhh! It's a Secret

I made some jewelry , a bracelet and necklace, for a friend's upcoming birthday and then when I saw a pattern on The Quilt Show for this little gift bag, I knew I needed to make it!  Ta Da! 

Bottom Up

I am knitting along on the sweater for Abigail.  I am designing it myself so it is satisfying and terrifying at the same time.  The palette yarn is a delight to work with, soft and pleasing in my hand.  I think it is shaping up.  I need to finish the second sleeve and then I can join them to the body and knit the round yoke....garter or stockinette?  I will probably try them both to see.

Splendid Sunset

There is no question, we have some incredible storms roll by us.  There is very little elevation disparity in Florida so you can see storms from very far away and the view is spactacular.  This is just one beauty we enjoyed last night.

A Mad Scientist!

We inherited Bill's parents' dining room set, it is from the 1940's, and it looks like it has been well loved and used.  I decided that the combination of age and our climate have been conspiring against its beauty and it's about time I did something about it! 

I saw this article about making your own beeswax polish and I knew my weapon was about to be wielded!

I knew there was some beeswax from my candle making days somewhere in the storage garage-yup, found it without too much trouble.  I needed Bill for the second ingredient-turpentine.  No go.  Do you realize it is really hard to find in the store anymore!  Second choice was some paint thinner-this was in the garage so I used it instead.  I melted the beeswax over a pan of water in the kitchen and went out to the sidewalk to mix my 'highly flammable' paint thinner to the melted beeswax.  No problem.  Now to wait for it to harden to a usable paste overnight. 

This morning, the paste looked just right!  Yeah!  I spread it on the table top, rubbing it in like waxing a car.  It smells so good and feels good on my hands, too.

I let it dry and then began buffing.  It took a LOT of elbow grease but wow, what a finish.  The wood no longer looks dried and stressed. Beautiful, silky smooth and the dining room smells wonderful, too!  It is nice to join the ranks of thousands who have used beeswax for their furniture and woodwork!  Now on to the 6 chairs, buffet and china cabinet.  (Note to self:   find Bill's electric buffer to save on my sore arm muscles!)

A Little Bit More of the Same

It seems to be the theme of week; dabbling all over the place but I finished coat one in the breezeway and what a boost to lose the primer white walls in there!  Hmm, the color doesn't show up at all.

 You will have to trust me, it is a greenish gray and just perfect for this room!

And talk about a boost-the red Haruni shawl is finished and ready for blocking!  When I soaked the red shawl before blocking, the red dye just wouldn't rinse out!  I put it in a pot and back on the stove to simmer for an hour.  Voila!  Problem solved.  I must not have simmered it enough in the yarn stage.  It maintained it deep scarlet red color and variations gratefully.

It is just the right weight, drape and feel for a shawl!  It is a comfortable 60" across, 32" down the spine.  I love the rounded corners, very flattering. 

I did a healthy repeat of Chart B to make the body of the shawl bigger and I am so glad I did-I wouldn't mind another one to knit right away! 

We had a beautiful sunshower this afternoon, no rainbow but 2/10" of rainfall sure makes all the outdoor critters sing!  (These two inside ones were grateful, too!)

And this is the triumph of my day-I cooked up some raspberries and made raspberry tea!  I have never learned to like tea even though I want to very much.  I just can't bear the taste.  But there is a local restaurant that serves this and I have acquired a taste for it and wanted some of my own!  I am so proud of this accomplishment.  Next time I make it, I will use frozen raspberry concentrate and not have to deal with all the sieving of the berries; thanks for the tip , daughter!  It is a delicious drink-I feel so southern, finally!

Eclectic Energy

I did a little bit of a lot of things today.  Sometimes it is nice to be scattered brained.......

I wanted to dye some more of the yarn I had so I can finish the red shawl.  I was pretty precise with the amount of dye I used last time and so I got this skein to be an  exact match .

I also started painting the breezeway/laundry room.  I missed you, Mom!  It is definitely more fun to tackle a project like this with a friend.  The ceiling in this room is at the 10' level so I had to really climb up the ladder to do the trim work.  I needed to concentrate on the wall in front of me and not think of the distance to the floor below me.  I am not a lover of heights, you know.  I did half of the room this afternoon and will work for the rest of the week to finish it.  It does look good which sure helps in the motivation arena!  (The color is called Sea Salt-it is a greenish gray color by Sherwin Williams, of course!)

I have started a new sweater of my own design for Abigail.  It will be a cardigan with a round yoke, the bottom of the body and sleeves will be in a feather and fan stitch.  So far so good.  I am making this in KnitPicks palette yarn, fingering weight on 5 needles.  (This was the yarn spread all over the floor in yesterday's post.)

Look what is blooming in the pool area-the cardinal climber is so delicate and colorful! 

The morning glories are still doing their morning thing.

The mandavilla almost died after the excessive splashing it received in June when we had 'contests' for displacing the most water.  I never gave it a thought that our salt water pool water could be detrimental to the health of the plant but all the leaves fell off and that is a good sign it wasn't a happy plant!  Soon, it put out new growth and the vines are completely filled in again and new blooms are on their way.  Phew! 

The desert rose is on its second season of blooms.  I am having some 'gardening by kitten' in the pool area-
so far no damage has resulted but the mess is annoying.

A Visit

Proof!  Last time we took a trip to visit Caleb my knitting project got desecrated.  This time, I had thought I  put it up high enough so they couldn't get it but I was wrong!  I was prepared with the camera and so caught he in the act!  She wasn't sorry in the least!  These two really enjoy my fiber supplies. 

Caleb's other cat did a great imitation of innocence.  She made up for it later while I was spinning.

When I wasn't recouping my yarn trails, I did get to ply two skeins of the corriedale cross. 

This is going to go into the dye pot soon, but I haven't determined the exact project or colors yet.  It is nice to have it in the stash right now.

Bill won at the golf game for a change and it was nice to hear the tall tales from the course over dinner together.  It sure is a blessing to love to visit your grown children!

Labor of Love

                              
I spent some time in the sewing room making two purse inserts.  It is good to start and finish not only one but two projects in one day!  Can you guess which one is yours, Mom and Sharon?!

I also quilted on the the jelly roll quilt.  I love it when I can picture a design and make it work.  I like the contrast of all the straight lines of the piecing and the wonderful graphic lines of this pantograph pattern. 

This is getting to be a familira song with me........only four more rows of this shawl and not enough yarn.  At least I have spun and dyed this yarn so I know where to get some more!  I didn't take into account the extra rows I did on the first chart causing the edge pattern to be so much larger, too, of course! 
To be continued........

On the Frame

I added the borders to the top and have it loaded on the frame and just waiting for me to begin the quilting!

I wound off a skein of painted cotton warp according to the directions in the latest HandWoven magazine.  I now have to wait for my weft thread to arrive-chocolate brown tencel/cotton yarn.  PuffDaddy has no fear of the weaving process........I am much more tentative than he around my projects on the loom than I am in the sewing room. 

I finished the pair of these.....if only I could find two home schooling children who could use them!  I wonder....?

Earl Brings Some Waves

We took a trip to Daytona today.  Earl delivered some tropical breezes and high surf.  We had a great NY style pizza for lunch at a cute little shop that is right out of the history books.......the owner is quite a character-at 83, she still makes all the pizzas! 

Our walk along the beach is always very relaxing.  The waves were mesmerizing!
                             
We enjoyed watching the surfers even tho the riptide/swim at your own risk signs were up , there were still those that had to be in the water to enjoy the waves.  Here one of the pay-to-ride boats was giving a para-sailor a ride for their money! " No, Thank You!"  In case you think of asking me to go......

 We liked the shoreline.......(I had to set the camera on the piling at an angle so we look crooked in the picture-very funny results that I never could have gotten on purpose!)

This guy was eating his seafood lunch.....a little shell is in his mouth.

We crossed a little drawbridge on the way back to 'city'...

and had to wait for this to go under!  A paddle boat!

My haul from JoAnn Fabrics.  You will be seeing more of this in future projects! 

I ran out of a little bit of this fabric to complete the chair organizer so had to buy a bit more-so much for using up leftovers!  (Thanks , Suzanne!)

Around the House

The hurricane season hasn't brought any storms but it has brought a cooling of our 3 digit temps so that in the morning and evening we can open the window for these guys.  Nyki is instructing PuffDaddy about the sounds they are hearing.........

I finished the center portion of the jelly roll strip quilt.  I need to go to the fabric store for the borders and backing now!

My cardinal climber is blooming!  It is so delicate and pretty!  Thanks , Marsel, for the seeds!

I am knitting away on the Haruni shawl.....only one more repeat of this chart and I will be moving to the border.  The cats still highly favor the yarn and will nap on it the minute it is out of my hands. ( No stitches were lost in the filming of this picture!)

I saw a new pinwheel  dishcloth pattern on a friend's blog and she sent me this link.  It is a quick and easy variation of the one I do and I couldn't wait to give it a go.  I was using a half skein and ran out before the pattern was finished!  I ripped it out and reknit it with less stitches than the pattern called for but this time I had enough! I only cast on 15 stitches instead of 20, it is about 8" across.  This was a fun knit-thanks WoollyBits!

Doesn't this give a whole new meaning to the phrase, " Hanging out at the BBQ"?!  The cats appreciate the cooler temps, too, but mid-eighties and no humidity gives a perfect outdoor temperature to my way of thinking!

Southern Bound

I have stuffed my suitcase with all the essentials!  Yarn , fiber, quilting and books!  Oh, yes, a few articles of clothing , too!  This is proof of a great week in NY!  Thank you, Mom and Dad!  See you in Florida in a few months..... (My aunt was given a pile of mohair yarn and thought of me-she thought right!  I managed to fit all 28 skeins of brown and 12 skeins of a variety of other colors-talk about a mother lode! And I received two yarn kits from my Mom's neighbor and friend and managed to fit them in along with the new fiber from the alpaca farm-I am motivated if nothing else, and made it just under the 50lb weight limit!