Hope you've  had a good week and a great start to the weekend.  Things have been busy here.  Work, home, life!  I am working on a couple of crafty things that I will share later. 

Thought you might enjoy the pictures I took earlier this week for you.  I love the light and rays shining through.

Weekend Projects

Here are a few felted wool coasters I crocheted over the weekend.  I have about 10 done that need to be felted.  The ones pictured above turned out okay but I think I want to felt them a little more. I want them to be a little more dense. These will be donated to the church craft sale.  Wonder what the price should be for a set of 4?  What do you think?

The prayer shawl I told you about earlier is finished.  I am very pleased with it.  I hope the young lady who it is meant for will enjoy it.  I have been working on this little by little and am glad to have it done.  I feel like I can move on to other projects now without too much guilt.

I am going through my stuff looking for simple craft ideas that I can do and donate to church.  I bought several nice kitchen towels on clearance the other day and thought I could add some embellishments to them to give them a little flair.  I'm thinking about yo yos or crocheted flowers along the edge.  Do you have any suggestions?

Stay cool.

Summer Heat

It's hot!  Today we hit 100 degrees (again) and with the high humidity the heat index was 114.  This evening I took this picture as the sun was going down, around 7:30, and it was 94 degrees - still hot.  Tomorrow is suppose to be hotter.  I think they're calling for 103.  I can take the heat, it's the humidity that makes you miserable.  It was a good day to stay inside and do as little as possible.  I did get some housework done this morning and Grand Baby came by for a visit. I spent a good portion of the afternoon crafting and even took a nap. I finished a couple projects and  started a couple of new ones.  I'll take some pictures tomorrow and share. 

I hope it is cool where you are. If not, take it easy.

Wonder

Wonder what that's like?

I'm sitting here drinking a beer, (Pete's Wicked for those of you who might be wondering) eating chips, while dinner is cooking, going through the camera and run across these pictures from a couple of weeks ago.  I think to myself, "wonder what that's like?" 

Have you ever been on a hot air balloon ride?  Me neither.  Sometimes I think I would like to, but I would probably get sick.  That would not be fun. 

 

Wonder what it's like to be a speck in the sky?

That makes me think of  Dr. Suess', Horton Hears a Who.  I can hear them chanting, "boil that dust speck, boil that dust speck!"

"We're here, we're here, we're here!"

Thursday Note - For those of you who have asked, I only had 1 okay maybe 2 beers when I posted this.  I know there are folks out there who get it and can appreciate the Horton reference - right Auntie J?  I know my girls will. ;-)

Another Great Weekend

Great friends, good beer, and lots of laughs.

What more could a girl want?

Tomorrow I'm going back to the real world.

:-(

Hope your weekend was good. 

Have a wonderful Monday!

The view...

...outside my office window. 

This is what I get to see everyday when I look out my office window.  This construction has been going on now for probably close to a year.  It is interesting but very noisy.  There are alot of men yelling, horns blowing, jack hammers, concrete trucks, and banging.  It can be annoying sometimes but you get use to it.  Only a two lane street separates my building from this construction site. The next few pictures are what I see 2 maybe 3 times a week.  It is kind of funny but sometimes disgusting.

Yep, portable toilets swinging through the air. 

I can't say I've missed this while I've been on vacation this week.   The peace and quite I have had at home the past few days has been nice.  Today I am leaving for the island for a long weekend.  It is officially Girl's Weekend!  I'm going with a couple of girlfriends -  no children and no hubbies allowed.  It should be great.  The plan is to sit by the water, enjoy adult beverages, and do nothing.  I'm sure there will be a shopping trip sometime and a run to the grocery store but I think that is it. 

I hope you enjoy your weekend, I plan to.  Stay in touch and stay groovy!

Cat Thoughts

It always starts out simple. 

 Just barely hanging off the edge of the balcony,

just to see if anyone is paying attention.

I know the thoughts that go through her head.

(Pay attention to the cat - not the cob webs.)

"Is anybody looking? 

Do they see me? 

I don't think they're paying attention."

"Oh good, they see me. 

What a minute no one's screaming my name. 

No one is frightened I may fall. 

Look Ma, no hands!"

"This will surely get her attention and make her scream. 

I love it when she worries about me. 

 I love being the center of attention,

the center of the universe. 

I hold her whole world in my paw. 

How did she ever survive without me?

There,

 finally,

she screamed my name. 

Mission accomplished!

I can come down now."

CATS - you gotta love 'em

cause they make you.

Treasure Hunting

Today Hubby wanted to ride to a brew buddy's house to get a couple of kegs. I don't really understand the keggle and fermentor project ahead, but the main thing is we went to this buddy's house.  I remembered there was a discount store in this town that I have been wanting to go to for a while now and thought this would be the perfect reason to ride with Hubby.  Boy am I glad I went.  We went to the discount store first. You know those stores that carry discontinued items, overstock stuff and are usually pretty cluttered.  Sometimes you can find real treasures at those stores.  I hit the jackpot today!  

I found "The Knitter's Bible - Knitted Accessories" by Claire Compton for $3.00!  Can you believe it, a great knitting book for 3 bucks.  Then I spotted mill end runs of Lion Brand Home Spun for $4.99 for 3 skein packs.  Get out - 3 skeins of Home Spun for $4.99.  So what if they're mill ends and all purple - I can't pass that up.  There were only 5 packs and I had to get them all.  That's 15 skeins of Home Spun for $25!  Of course this will be donated to the church for prayer shawls.  Then one of the best finds of the day - Vanna's Choice yarns, the BIG skeins, 340 yards for $2.99.  Am I crazy?!?!  Yes, I had to have it.  Big skeins of Vanna's Choice for $2.99!  It was almost too much for me to take.  I got one of each color they had in stock.  I wanted to buy it all but knew I had already blown my budget.  I couldn't pass it up.  Think of all the money I saved!!!

Oh yeah, and Hubby got his kegs.  He is as excited as I am over our treasures.  Needless to say we had a good day!

One of those weeks...

I'm exhausted.  This has been a long week even with the holiday Monday.  Work has been tough this past week (or past several months) with a lot of challenges.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job (most days) and am thankful for it.  It just seems that here lately we are faced with more stressful, challenging, frustrating days.  I try so hard not to write about work here because it's not fun, it's just part of life.  But if you will forgive me this time I need to say something about work.

Have you ever paid attention to that little quote in the top right corner of my blog page?  Do you see it, the one from Aristotle about how to avoid criticism?  Now read the one from me.  All of that is there because of the attitude (not sure that's the right word) I have about work and maybe life in general.  I tend to draw a lot of criticism at work, don't know why really, but I have my guesses.  I tend to be opinionated, vocal, and maybe a little bitchy.  I stand my ground and don't like being pushed around.  I can fuss and cuss with the best of them to be sure my point is heard.  I believe right is right and wrong is wrong.  I believe when you are at work you should work.  I don't like laziness or excuses.   Some folks, maybe a lot of folks, don't like that about me.  When I read the Aristotle quote a while back I thought EUREKA, that's it!  That's the quote that sums up things for me at work.  I'm criticised because I say what I believe, am a good, productive employee, and I want to be the best I can possibly be. I expect the same of others and my work place.  Is it a bad thing to have high expectations of those around you?

Good news!  I've decided to take the coming week off.  I am so excited.  I typically don't take a week of vacation during the summer months, but I need a break.  I think it will do me some good.  I have some things around the house that need to be done and I think there may be trip to the island in the works. 

Thank you for letting me vent.  I feel better now. Enjoy your day.  Don't let those around you make you crazy.

Happy 4th - Peach Ice Cream

Happy 4th of July. 

Hope you are celebrating and enjoying the day. 

Last night we had Hubby's whole family over for hotdogs and all the fixings.  It is always fun to have the crowd over and spend time together.  As an extra treat I made homemade fresh peach ice cream.  The recipe is so simple and delicious, I thought I would share.

10 Really Ripe Peaches - peeled, pitted and chopped

1 cup sugar

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups of whole milk (or more if needed)

Puree peaches with sugar and heavy cream in blender.  (My blender was full of peaches, I added the sugar and as much cream as I could then pureed.  I added the left over cream to the mix.)

In a gallon ice cream freezer container mix together the peach mixture, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla.  Pour in the milk to the fill line on the container.

Follow your ice cream maker's instruction to freeze the ice cream.  ENJOY!!!

I actually had about a dozen peaches and once the blender was full I used the extra as garnish.  A slice of peach on top of the ice cream was perfect.

This was a real crowd pleaser at our house and I think it may be the new favorite. 

Tag Quiz

One of my newest blog buddies, Emily, at Longstockings tagged me this week with a quiz that Heather, over at Implausible Yarn tagged her with.  I thought it would be fun to share.

Q. What's your staple meal? (i.e. What meal do you cook most often when you can't be bothered to be adventurous?)

A.  Spaghetti!  I know that sounds crazy, but it is.  I always have noodles and sauce in the pantry.  We are big pasta eaters in our house so this is the one that I know I can get done quick and will satisfy everybody. 

Q. What do you want to be when you grow up?

A.  Shop owner.  I have always wanted to own my very own little shop.  What type of shop varies as my interests vary.  It has always been a dream and it will happen some day - when I grow up.
 
Q. What book are you reading at the moment, if any?

A.  Nothing.  I am not a big reader.  I love craft magazines and knitting and crochet books.  But reading is just not my thing.  I feel like it takes time away from other things I enjoy more. 
 
Q. How do you relax?

A.  At work when I am stressed I take a break and read through my favorite blogs.  At home I knit or crochet.  Sometimes I just sit on the back deck and drink a beer (or several).  And then there are those times when I knit and drink beer!  Sometimes if this goes on too long I have to pull stitches out the next day. ;-) These are some of the ways I let my mind go to another place and rest.  Sometimes you just have to shut down and re-boot.

Q. What color are the interior walls of your home?

A.  Beige.  I like beige, it's neutral, so whatever else I throw in the room always matches.

Q. What is your guiltiest pleasure?

A.  Taking a day off of work when I know everyone else is out of the house for the day.  I love having the house all to myself.  I have absolute control of the TV remote and can watch all the cartoons I want while knitting away.  Not much else gets done and I can do exactly what I want to not what I have to.

Q. What time is bedtime and getting up?

A.  Work days - up at 4:45AM, bed by 10:00PM.  Weekends - up no later than 6:30AM and try hard to stay up past 10:00PM.

Q. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)? 

A.  Too much!  I love, love, love reading blogs.  I check blogs everyday, several times a day. Bordering on becoming an obsession.

Now, time to pass the fun on!

Life on Coyote Hill

Greedy for Color

Dona Maria