We have vegetables in garden !

Finally the tomatoes are showing up by the handfuls !

I was so excited to see baby cucumbers emerging at last.

Still waiting on the pepper plants to take off. They are filled out nicely and getting flowers.

Patio demolition update

What started off as simple little bit of yard work turned into more    sledgehammer swinging to break up the old patio that was damaged in the storm. It was a lot of hard work! We ended up with yet another pile of rubble to be hauled away this weekend.

Managed to take a few new pictures of our little garden. I am blooming with exciting news! Our cukes are flowering finally and starting to climb the make shift trellis! Yummy I can already taste the homemade refrigerator pickles !! They are my favorite summer goody!

Tomatoes are doing well and a few are as tall as 3ft which amazed me! There are lots of flowers on them but so far no fruitation. We will cross our fingers!

Finished clothespin bag.

Decided to share my finished product. It has become very useful

Columbines, Garden pics & Clothespin Keeper

I started off the day hanging a new clothesline. Needless to say I became frustrated with all the clothespins hitting the ground in between hanging up loads of wash. Decided I needed a bag to put them all in! I searched out patterns on the web but eventually just decided to go with my own ideas of what would work for me.

Just need to crochet alittle more and add a child size clothes hanger to keep it on the line while hanging laundry out. No more dropped pins! Yay!!

While outside I tried to capture some of the beautiful dark pink and cream columbine flowers in bloom.

When I look at these flowers they bring to mind whimsical, fairies, elves and little gnomes . Speaking of these there is a class offered next month at our library for making your own Fairy Garden. Of course I signed up to participate. I can't wait to start.

My cucumbers are growing nicely for the time being. I had to plant by seed this year as the garden centers were plum out of them the day I decided to try my had at a small garden. I am glad they have sprouted and begun to grow!

I have six tomato plants in the ground that are growing very tall quickly. Soon as the humidity set in this past week after all the rains they shot up. Only one plant had two small flowers so far.

This is my potted tomato plant. It is really doing well. Nice full leaves and has three flowers already. I had to stake this plant up as it was sprawling out over the pot. It is so bushy I can't get the cage to fit down in the pot correctly. I will have to monitor and adjust the stake as it grows taller and taller.
I'm very happy with this first time success of actually getting the plants to take off growing. I forgot to take a photo of the pitiful jalapeno pepper plants. After the bad storm last week that took out our tree, the poor pepper plants need TLC if they are going to make it. I also need to photo the radishes they are doing wonderful and I love the sight of their foliage!
 

Salute To Our Troops Night

Our weekly Thursday Family Fun Night @ Campbell Park.

Tonight there was a tribute to our troops and veterans at the Family Night in the Park. We welcomed the Wally Byam Caravan Club International Rally.

There was a beautiful flag ceremony which honored both the United States flag and the Canadian flag. National anthems for both countries were sung with great spirit!

The Caravan Rally officially starts this weekend so I hope to tour some of the AirStream motor homes parked at the fairgrounds. I spoke to a member while watching the performances tonight and she explained that they help sponsor the Wounded Warriors nonprofit organization, they travel all around the US and Canada. I think that would be an awesome way to spend the summer months and even my retirement  years. they seem like a great group of people that stand for a good cause! You can read more from their website HERE

Storm season has begun



We had a severe thunderstorm and very high winds blow over our only tree in the backyard. The mess it left behind is a headache, but at least no one was hurt and it missed our house.



Ruined our new panel of privacy fencing and a trash receptacle.



The tree completely covered our driveway and blocked the garage entrance. It took out the power lines that hang between the houses and pulled the conduit off the side of our house.

Plenty of family and neighbors came out to help us move the massive tree and dig out the stump. We were able to save a majority of fencing panels but the patio was not so lucky.

The stump was quite a hassle to dig out and left a huge hole.

Ready for frames

I have been missing in action the past couple weeks. Lately our winter season has just been lingering on and on with surprising freakish snow storms/ blizzard whiteouts. The day after it drizzles rain and melts the yucky white stuff to start all over again the next day. Ughhhh when will spring arrive?
I have stayed busy by doing jigsaw puzzles my second love next to crocheting. I had been putting it off because lil' mister walking tornado, my 2yr old, would have all the pieces scattered before they hit the table. :)
I took  pictures of these two completed, glued with Mod-Podge and ready to be framed.

Pretty Nature Angel is the title.

Lovely Goldens is the title.

Old Man Winter's Last Hoorah!

Woke up to find a nightmare come true! The snow is back!!!

Surrounding areas are losing power and the visibility is getting pretty bad. Hubby was just sent home from work (he drives concrete truck). How can we get 6-10inches of snow in April? Old Man Winter gets the last laugh!

Pondering an offer..

Today I visited a second hand shop. I saw lots of wonderful and unique items including handmade crochet cotton dishcloths. The owner saw I was admiring the work and told me how fast they were selling and the trouble she was having keeping the basket full. I made an off hand comment about enjoying making them for my kitchen. All the sudden she was offering me a proposition of being her supplier for the store soon since her current lady was retiring and she had no other replacements. I was caught off guard, but flattered at the same time. I don't even have an Etsy store, I just crochet for the delight in the eyes of the recipient. I told her I would need to think it over as I do work full time and am a full time mom of a 2yr old and 7yr old. My hubby says to go for it and if it's too much then she would need to continue her search. I'm just confused on making yet another commitment on top of the extra stuff I am participating in at work and Girl Scouts. Crochet to me is leisure fun, not meeting deadlines and filling orders.
Okay I just wanted to share some joy of the offer and rant of the decision making process. Open to opinions by the way.
Hope to post more this coming week on projects I'm working on, but need to wait for my days off. I'm running back to back 12hr shifts this weekend so no time for yarn fun. Hope it's sunny where ever you all are, it's beautiful here! Spring has finally sprung into gear.

Ipod pouch

My cousin requested an Ipod pouch with headphone pocket as part of her birthday present. Easy peasy to create, but stuck on embellishment? Any ideas? Flower? Heart? An iron on patch?

Easter family fun 2013

We had a very eventful and blessed Easter this year. The little ones really enjoyed the beautiful weather on Saturday. We took advantage of the sunshine outside most of the day. It was first time the swing set has gotten use this year. Lil man had so much fun taking his new Tonka trucks, crane  and backhoe he received at Christmas out to the sandbox. Hubby and I did a lot of cleaning up after our furry friend, Bella. The yard looks much better and no hidden landmines to mess the shoes. We discovered the burner on our grill needed replaced, but Hubby took care of that. We had our first grill out of the season and it was delish!!! So much fresh air and hard playing took place that lil man took a very long restful nap, which is a miracle in itself! We ended the evening dying Easter eggs and baking pretty cupcakes. The lil miss did a wonderful job frosting them with help from her big cousins.

 

I ended my long day working up a new bunny for my 11yr old niece. She declared she was too old for a basket as well. My younger cousin and new found crochet partner worked on her bunny too. She did a great job, getting the stitches in the round down pat very quickly.

My newest bunny created for my niece. I love this pattern shared here.



 

Play prop reveal

I was asked if I could make wildly crazy headbands that brought to mind Dr. Seuss characters for a play production  our agency is hosting. I took the challenge and used some creative idea with beautifully colored yarn. I am proud to say my prop has been seen in 4 shows between two towns and another 2 shows this weekend are scheduled.
Due to the HIPPA Laws I was not able to photo them being worn as I do not have permission to share peoples personal photos. I was able to hold up one of them backstage to take a snap shot. If a scene is photographed and published publically I will link to it, because seeing them together with the rest of the costume is adorable.

Another Hoppy friend

Soon all the youngsters around here will have a pocket size Hoppy friend.

Hippity Hoppity ta-dah!

With Easter around the corner I decided to spend alittle time today making a free pattern of this bunny rabbit.


Pattern can be found here ! Thank you for sharing such a cute pattern, Jeanette!

 

This was created for my cousin, who is soon to be 15 in a few weeks. Recently informed me that she was getting too old for a basket. She fell in love with him instantly! So much so that she became inspired to learn to crochet herself. I gave her a few pointers tonight even! I'm proud to say she left being able to complete a granny square!! Yay, I have planted seed to having another to spend hooky time with. 

Good fiber read

 

 

 

 

Found this wonderful novel at a rummage and since it includes yarn topics throughout the pages I had to buy it. It was definitely a great read! I would love to be part of such a close group of ladies sharing their craft!

Crochet to the rescue

This weekend was too busy although a lot of fun. I don't know if I mentioned I am the leader to my daughter's Girl Scout troop. It is very rewarding to be able to spend time with her and the other 11 Daisy troops, but it can get hectic at event time. Our counsel hosted the National Girl Scout week pancake breakfast at the Elks lodge. The girls loved being waitresses for the customers. Afterwards we all went bowling. I never knew one game of 10 frames could take so long. We just ended our annual cookie sales, finally! Managing the ordering, finances, and often unorganized parents during this time can get stressful. This year leaders like myself are being rewarded for the extra stress with the chance to win a Kindle Fire!!  I'd love to think I could win, but my chances are no better than the next leaders lol! Finishing out the financial reports has made me long for my "creative time"! Just me sitting in my comfy chair, hot cup of French Vanilla coffee, my new soft yarn and bamboo hook!! What total bliss that would be...  maybe tonight after the munchkins are asleep, the laundry is done and the silence of the house creeps in.

There's no place like home.

Hello again!
 I have finally returned from our much anticipated trip to my  childhood hometown. It was a wonderful time seeing my granny and uncles. The little ones loved all the sites of such a busy town and were in awe of the large shopping malls. Their favorite places of course were kiddie approved fun! We started out shopping at the very huge shopping mall. They found the coveted  Build a Bear Workshop. Each made their very own special cuddle buddy, tucking a hand picked fabric heart inside before they were stitched up. Then it was off to the wash station to clean off the extra fluff.

 

 

Then it was time to celebrate my birthday by having my favorite pizza in the whole world, BLT,  only made by a Quad City Legend known as Happy Joe's Pizza. I didn't care which restaurant we went to enjoy one just that we had that pizza! We chose to make it worthwhile for the kiddos too and went to the one that offered an indoor playground & arcade, Jungle Bungle. It looked a little like this the whole time there, excuse the blurred little guy running he didn't even eat while there. I think he had  more fun for my big day than I did.

After resting and a much needed nap for my little ones we ventured out for another childhood favorite, ice cream at none other than Whitey's Ice Cream! The thickest malts in town.

 

 

I did some yarn shopping at three big craft stores all over town. My bounty was splendid!! I thank my wonderfully understanding husband for indulging in my "boring to the man" looky loo for hooky goodies!! He was so patient and helpful to carry it to the register!

 

 I have lots of crafty hooking ideas for my new yarn. I have started on another infinity scarf in the bright rainbow color on the bottom of the pile to the far right. I'm only four rows into it and loving the colors already. It's going to be perfect for Spring time chilly days yet to come. Currently we are suffering through yet another snowfall that started out very heavy. It's tapered down to a light snow now of a few inches. Just enough to spark the "Yuck effect" of slushy mess.

 

 

petal poodles

After a rough week of everything going bonkers around our home I found this gorgeous bouquet of carnations  created to look like happy poodles. 
I just went all wishy washy over them and wanted to share the joy. Hope you find them as cute as I do.

Few new patterns

First time to make a dishcloth on the diagonal.
Then I saw the prettiest Infinity scarf while surfing blogs! It was a beautiful deep red! I had to try to find a pattern to make some. Its getting very bitterly cold here this week so scarves are a must! I found a few tutorials on YouTube.com.
My daughter wanted my first creation to be hers!

Busy week of fun!

This week has flown by very quickly! We celebrated our 14 year anniversary. We treated ourselves to a day of shopping for odds and ends. I picked up a few new colors in cotton Peaches and Cream. Love the striping red white and blue idea for next dishcloth! Later on in the evening we had a wonderful dinner of prime rib!

After blizzard blues

Despite the cold weather my plants are thriving in their temporary warmer winter home at the kitchen windows.
This brightens the after blizzard blues!

Blizzard 2013

It was a lovely jaunt  to work this morning in the snowfall.