The Grass Is Greener.....

The grass must be greener on the other side of the fence. This (darn) rabbit arrived everyday at 6 am during school season. Mr. Bettis went wild. Barking and barking and barking. So when school was out, I (stupidly) thought, I will not put him out until 7 am. That way he misses the rabbit and he won't go on one of his barking rampages. Guess What? Apparently Mr. Rabbit has an alarm system that alerts him as to what time Mr. Bettis goes outside. He sauntered in our yard at 7 am. What is up with that? He nonchanantly nibbles on dandelion greens totally oblivious to Mr. Bettis and his antics. We have an entire yard of dandelion greens and this rabbit chooses to come here within 4 feet of Mr. Bettis who is in the fenced part of the yard.



Little Miss Gypsy (who weighs in at 9 pounds) chases Mr. Bettis (who officially weighs in at 124 pounds) up and down the steps and around the pool every morning. She yaps at him until he runs 3 laps. Then when he approaches her on the deck she yaps again. And he runs another 3 laps. This goes on for 15-20 minutes every day. She is his personal trainer. Mr. Bettis falls for this every day.
(I never said Mr. Bettis was very bright....LOL)




Mr. Bettis watching Mr. Rabbit or is it Mrs. Rabbit? Time will tell.

My dad called and said the Bear was on his way down as he just went through his yard. My parents live across the road. Sure enough, while I was on the phone with him, the dogs went crazy. Yep! There he was, running through our driveway and behind the neighbor's house.

The DH woke me up this morning to tell me there was a deer in the back yard. Mind you one of the neighbors has one of those plastic shooting deer things and I thought that was what he meant. After all, it was 5 am and I thought he was a bit groggy. Nope. It was a live doe munching away on the grass.



This is Mr. Bettis napping! On my furniture! Thank goodness I put a cover on it.




p.s. I believe we live in an animal sanctuary and as long as they don't move in the house, I'm okay with it.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our wedding anniversary.



The DH was out scouting yard sales and the local farmer's market. He came home with corn on the cob to roast on the grill.






He also scarfed up 4 antique chairs for $5 a piece. They're painted black but when chipped a bit of the paint one can see Oak wood. They will be gorgeous when stripped. I love antiques.
A great anniversary gift.










The child worked very hard this year in her AP classess and received straight "A's" on her report card. She deserved something for her hard work and she's been wanting a bike.
The DH found this while yard shopping and he grabbed it. An American Eagle bike for $25! It is in excellent condition. She was thrilled and promptly went out for a bike ride. Congrats Savannah!



Last but not least I recieved these in the mail from Wendy. I begged and I pleaded for her to make me a set and she did. The socks are a perfect fit on these. They are lightweight and portable. She also included two tea bags as a little gift (ya gotta love knitters).One for night and one for morning. Thank you Wendy. I really enjoy the flower power sock blockers.

(I will consider these to be my anniversary gift to self)


p.s. Thanks to all who offered their advice on the sun poison. Believe me, I tried it all :) and it was appreciated.

It's Dad's Day

This is a tribute to all those dads who stood up to the plate of "parenting."

I give tribute to the men who have been there throughout my life.

To my great-grandfather on my mom's side who cuddled me and told me jokes when I was just a wee one. He made a wooden doll's cradle for me that I still own.

To my granddaddy on my mom's side who told me what life was like when he sold newspapers at the age of 9 yrs for 5 cents on the street corner to help out with finances at home. The stories of WWII and the Great Depression when sugar and gas were rationed and times were tough. He sang songs of this beloved country to me. I remember most, the Betsy Ross song. He told stories of his grandmother who had 19 children and how they lived in the mountains of WVA. He had a gift/talent with carpentry and made me the most beautiful play cupboard and table with chairs for Christmas one year.

To my Pap-Pap on my dad's side who taught me the true value/meaning of life and to appreciate my heritage and the honor of family. He told of hard times when he was forced to mine coal at the age of 12 to help with homelife. He taught me to appreciate our Earth and said, "No man owns the earth and yet they go to war over possession of land. No man will ever actually own land. It belongs to the Great Spirit."

He taught me to whittle with a pen knife and to have respect for others. His famous saying was, " A man is only as good as his word." A saying that I have applied to many people albeit man/woman in my own life.

To my own Dad. You taught me to laugh and have fun. You taught me discipline and manners. I remember you playing baseball and hide and seek with us. I remember you taking all of us to the drive-in theater, The County Fair, little bags of penny candy and the trip into town to see the Magician. You made me feel important by taking me to town at Christmas to help you get that special gift for mom. I was 7 yrs old at the time and mom was really surprised when she opened that new toaster and dress slip (well at least she acted surprised). In spite of the fact you knew it would never work, you still took me deer hunting after I begged to go. I chattered like a magpie (not a good thing for a hunter to have a chattering 8 yr old girl while deer hunting). I finally decided I would have more fun at the farmhouse helping mom-mom & pap-pap with the "Hunters' Dinner."

You read the newspaper funny paper to us every Sunday morning before going to church which helped mom. It kept us out of the kitchen while she cooked breakfast.

You taught me how to fly a kite and weed a garden ( I could do without the latter...ha-ha) There are so many wonderful memories; baling hay, making fudge (when mom wasn't home), snow ice cream, potato candy, sled riding, maintaining my bicycle tires/brakes/chain, teaching me to drive and not yelling when I ran the car through the brand new garage door. How to check the oil in a car (things a girl should know) and the ins and outs of building a house. I could go on and on. Your famous saying (and it is applied many times in my life), "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Thanks Dad, I Love You.

To my own husband who stepped up to the parenting plate to two little boys and then to our own two daughters. You worked two jobs and many long hours to feed, clothe and house this crew, we call a family. Sometimes it was difficult for you to find time to spend with us but somehow you managed.

You played ball and you taught them how to fly kites. You taught them to drive and you were very understanding through the eldest son's "need for speed." You went scouting (in sub zero temps to make "men" out of the boys.....LOL), fishing, band concerts, football games, baseball games, dance recitals, horse shows, church pageants, graduations etc., you managed to attend most of them.

Remember when you dug your good (rusted) saw out of the ground after a long, hard, snowy winter? You looked for that saw for months. The boys "borrowed" it to work on their tree house in the early fall and "forgot" to put it back. You weren't happy about the saw but you secretly told me, "at least they had fun." You never said much but you were sorry to see them "leave the nest when it was time for them to fly." You taught the boys to be "honest men" and the girls to be "independent women." You have supported them in everything they have accomplished and loved them along the way. Job Well Done!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY !!!!!!!

The 7 Day Itch

Remember in the former posts that I was going to get in the pool and have a nice swim and I was going to use suntan lotion? I planned to only be in the pool for 1/2 hour so I didn't bother with the lotion. After all, I tan. I never get a sunburn. Times have changed.
I have sun poison. Not just a little sun poison but A LOT! I am miserable. I burn. I sting. I ITCH! I should mention this is on my upper body. I spend my time sitting in front of the fan. I lay wet towels on it, I have lathered with baby oil and aloe vera and nothing seems to be working. I have even resorted to a concoction of yogurt and cornstarch. I have cut up t-shirts to eliminate sleeves, necks etc. I am now digging in the DH's shirt drawer for over sized loose shirts. The necessary garment (br*) has been eliminated. Desperate measures are in order at the moment.
I finally decided to start something new to take my mind from myself (any excuse will do). I started a wool sweater.

Unfortunately the more I knitted on it the more I thought of the I Love Lucy show where she gets a serious burn and then models a wool outfit. Makes my skin crawl. So I put that wool knitting WIP aside and decided a nice crochet doily would make me happy. I am almost finished with this and then it needs blocked.
I have to wonder though, why does every crochet doily have those teeny weeny picots on the final and very lo-o-o-ong crochet round?







This morning I'm trying to enjoy the cool temps (another desperate measure with the sun poison). I glanced in the window and there was Miss Phoebe. I grabbed the camera. The only thing separating her from the little birdies is the window screen.




Mr. Bettis saw me with the camera. He jumped and carried on like a bad kid wanting his picture taken. I told him to "SIT". It took several times of me yelling the word "SIT" in order for him to actually obey. He cracks me up, I think his one eye is cross-eyed.
He received a treat because he actually sat when told. Yeah, I know it took several times to get him to sit but Mr. Bettis thinks life is a hoot!


p.s. A friend thought I should've been a bit more photogenic and post pictures of my new "designer clothing." LOL Not Happening!

Hot & Getting Hotter

It's hot here. Supposed to get to 100 degrees here. Factor the humidity level and the heat index will be over 110. Whew! On to other news.

This little bunny has been named, Mr. Bunny Foo. He arrives every morning at 6 am to disturb Mr. Bettis. He sits within feet of the fence and grazes on nice fresh clover. I swear this little rabbit does it on purpose. Mr. Bettis then finds it necessary to bark. And bark. And bark. Mind you, it is 6 am. Not-a-good-thing. I am an animal person, so rabbit stew is out of the question. I just wish Mr. Bettis would stop barking and let him graze. Mr. Bunny Foo is unfazed by Mr. Bettis. Smart Rabbit.


Did I mention that it is hot? The afghan is in hibernation. Too hot on my lap to knit. So I'm knitting on little projects. Thank goodness for socks. I have frogged this sock 3 times.
I guess swatching a gauge would have actually helped.





I ordered yarn 2 weeks ago. I received all 5 boxes of goodies. Yes 5. Yarn Goodies from all over the place.
Lo and behold another box arrived. Uh-oh! I don't remember ordering yarn from Webs. I opened the box and it was to die for, 9 skeins of Comfort yarn. In my color. I was in love.
Oh my gosh I thought, maybe I did order it. I was so busy ordering from everywhere that maybe I actually did order from Webs. (what does that tell you about my yarn ordering habit?)
I dug through the box. Nope. Not mine. Belonged to a knitter in NY. So I called Webs. They suggested I send it back. I stammered and asked if I could keep it. The sales lady laughed and said yes and they would give it to me at the sale price and deduct the shipping. Woo-Hoo! This stuff was mine. All mine. I did ask if they had enough to send to the poor knitter -in- waiting. She assured me there was plenty for the other knitter. So I have cast on for a sweater for self.


This is where the DD will be spending this afternoon. She has a half day of school today and tomorrow.

Startitis .....again

Here we go again. Another round of Startits has hit! This is a stash buster of Wool-Ease Worsted. I thought about 100% wool but then I cannot imagine hand washing an afghan.
There's a KAL on Ravelry and the link to the pattern is here.









Little Miss Aurora seems to think I am making this for her so she can sleep on it. Sad thing is? She will probably be found napping on this when it's finished. On second thought I will probably find her on while it's in progress.






This is Savannah's Dream sweater. She wanted a sweater made of all of her favorite colors. I dyed this yarn just for her and it will grow up to be the Apres Hoodie found in the Interweave Knits 2008 issue.




I have no idea what is up with me and shawls in the spring. But I just had to cast on for another shawl. One would think that I should finish a WIP first before casting on but.........the yarn and the needles were begging to be used. So another shawl is in progress. This is alpaca lace that I bought at Stitches East 2007. ( see? I really do use the stuff that I buy:)
This pattern is the Bee Fields.



Ta-Da! I will have you know I finally finished something. The Doghouse dishcloth which is a free pattern. This site has quite a few free patterns.
Once I cast off, I knew this entitled me to start something new. But did that mean finishing a dishcloth to start a laceweight shawl of epic porportions? Well of course it did!
(have I mentioned that I have very little knitting logic in my pea-purl-sized brain?)