Here Comes the Bride....not yet

July 30, 2011-The bridal shower commenced. It was planned for the outdoors at my parent's beautiful landscaped yard but due to the oppressive heat and humidity we moved it indoors to the rec room.










Vet Girl had a blast. Games were planned by the Maid Of Honor and of course the TP wedding dress game was the finale.
Here she is (l to r) with her junior bridesmaid, Chem Girl (her sister) and a very dear friend Bio Girl.









It's very important to photograph the backs of the designer dresses :).












This pic clearly shows her excitement through the party.
The bridesmaids kicked in gear serving lemonade/ice tea, keeping food plentiful and presenting the gifts.
She received many useful gifts and appreciated all of them. Pics to come later.










Chem girl turned the bows into the traditional rehearsal bouquet.

Everyone had a good time. There was plenty of good food (although your's truly forgot to get pictures) so you'll have to take my word for it.

It's only a month till the Big Day and we're gearing up for the Celebration.

Mish mash

Chem girl decided she wanted to be a designer seamstress for a day. A trip to the local fabric store and she came home with fabric ready to cut and design. She doesn't like patterns and prefers to 'wing it' (like her mama ;).

She saw a shirt similar to this in a magazine for $50 and there's no way she was paying that price.

The back had a very wide elastic band on the purchased top. However our local fabric store doesn't carry anything wider than 2" elastic. In spite of that she made it work.

She saw this piece in the remnant stack and fell in love with it. Her finish work is quite impressive. It's a flimsy knit and those of you who sew know exactly what I'm talking about. Very fine sewing machine needle and a fabric that slips all over the place. She did a great job. Think it's time to have her sew for me ;).

*sigh*....while we were gone Mr. Bettis apparently needed to create his own entertainment so he dug out the placemats. They're housed on our baker's rack in the kitchen.

This is the third (or is it the fourth?) time he's dug these out. Guess I need to find another place for the mats. See the flip flops in the left hand corner? I'm shocked he didn't chew those all over the floor. Guess if we were gone just a wee bit longer they would have become this week's trash.
Tomorrow is our eldest daughter's (Vet girl)bridal shower and we're wrapping up the final touches. Sunday is the youngest daughter's (Chem girl) birthday celebration. Pictures and details to come later. It's a busy weekend.

What's on your weekend agenda?

Persevere

Persevere and get it done. George Allen, Sr.

It's finished! It's done! I stuck with it and I can't believe it's finished. Still needs a good blocking but I can't wait for my daughter to open it this Saturday at the shower.








Bridal shower favors in color. Twenty-five little candle cakes have been completed and boxed in little favor boxes. If you're on Ravelry check out the Tea Cake Light pattern. They are crocheted and only take 15 minutes from start to finish. I posted pattern changes on my Ravelry project page so check it out.

The shower and wedding are/have consumed a lot of my time here of late and I'm behind on a few birthdays. I'll catch up eventually ;)

Hot Popcorn

This was sent to my email inbox from several friends and I thought I would share. Says it all, don't ya think?

The Shawl that never ends...

Do you remember the Song That Never Ends?

Well I can't get it out of my head while knitting the 1400+ ruffle stitches in k1,p1 ribbing on this shawl. Only I'm singing the Shawl that never ends. The rows are tedious and I'm on a deadline, July 30th it must be finished, blocked and wrapped for the bridal shower.

In the meantime it's HOT as in 112F at 10 am this morning in the sun HOT :((. Patience is waning in the heat and humidity while trying to knit on the shawl that never ends.

Where's fall and winter when you need 'em?

Climb Every Mountain

Bear with me as I catch up on last weekend's activity. Our eldest son and his wife called and were heading on a trip.










MC, our granddaughter couldn't wait to get in the water. She splished and splashed having a grand time just as her father did when he was a child.











I won't bore you with too many pics (because I take wa-a-ay too many) but this huge rock formation was nestled in the evergreens. We enjoy nature and can't get enough of it. I often wonder what the Native Americans thought when they first encountered the mountains in all their glory. I could sit for hours in solitude pondering that thought while waiting and watching for wildlife.

My new favorite pic of DH. He's working hard to lose some weight. A bit difficult when one can't exercise due to medical issues but I'll give him a big round of applause for trying.

We were planning a camping trip for a weekend but after today we're going to scrap it and opt for another day out when God paints the landscape for fall.

Who am I?

This is not the original post but when I hopped over to Chan's post today and it got me to thinking about who I am.
I am a wife and mother. Nothing grated on my nerves anymore than for someone to ask, "what do you do?" and when told I'm a housewife the next response was usually a deliberate nod and a quiet, "oh. So you don't work out of the home?"
I have learned over the years to politely smile through clenched teeth and say, "no, I don't have time."It was tempting to laugh and say, 'oh no, I'm too busy watching soaps and eating bon-bons.' My day began at 5:30 am and ended at 11 pm as long as I wasn't nursing a sick kid.
I have admiration and respect for those who juggle a career and mom duties. I worked 5 days a week outside the home while raising 2 little boys as a single mom. When I remarried I still worked 5 days a week outside the home while sharing the raising of 2 little boys as well as housework, laundry and cooking.
Over time we discovered I was working to pay childcare and the DH was working 12-16 hour days. So I quit and became a full-time wife and mother. Please bear with me as I enlighten you of these full-time duties.
Laundry-washed then hung out on the clothesline vs the dryer (saves money)
Cooking- baking and cooking ALL 3 meals and snacks vs eating out (saves money)
Housework- means I don't hire out for help (saves money)
Sewing clothing vs buying (once again saving money) as well as last minute school/church pageant costumes
Planting and tending a garden then spending 6 weeks canning and freezing-saves money
Nurse- for skinned up knees, viruses and hospital/dr care
Referee- for sibling battles
Teacher-reading, counting and when they were old enough, homework (whether helping or nagging to get it done)
Supervisor-because our dear children couldn't grasp doing their chores without a supervisor in charge.
Chauffeur-running kids to ball practice, dance, piano/musical instrument lessons, 4-H, church, Bible school etc.
Banker-pay the bills

I know a few can relate to this so I will mention the PTA and extra curricular activity leaders who felt because I was a stay-at-home mom and housewife I had 'extra' time to make phone calls, bake goodies, run meetings etc. As the kids grew I opened a cottage industry making and selling teddy bears across the country.
Who am I now that the kids are grown? I'm still a housewife but now I can claim I am also a knitter and a spinner and I love my job(s).

Froggin'

Raised on a farm meant climbing trees and froggin' were a few of my summer pastimes. Barefeet and wading in the 'crick' lookin' for slimey green frogs was fun. All grown up means I don't go froggin' anymore. However that doesn't stop me from jumping the frog pond but it has a different meaning these days as in rip-it rip-it the knitting.
This luscious skein of neutral Malabrigo yarn was an almost finished scarf request. It hit the frog pond yesterday. The requestee had a change of mind so the yarn will now become something else for someone else or it just might become MINE! :D











I can't find the yarn label to this self-striping yarn. It was on the needles to become a pair of socks. I have issues with a single ply yarn used for socks. It doesn't have the strength (in my wee opinion) to wear well. I'm going to set it aside until I come up with another project idea.







A quick stop yesterday to our very tiny Jo-Ann Fabric store resulted in this lovely white sport yarn jumping in my shopping basket. It is so soft and I'm making a wee white sweater. Not for anyone in particular but just because I like the yarn. Isn't it fun to grab a yarn and make something just because? My favorite kind of knitting.

When all else fails...

Ever feel like you were part of a train wreck and you missed seeing the train coming because you were too busy looking on the other side of the tracks? Well apparently that's what I was doing instead of paying attention to my 'gut' instinct. Someday I'll learn.
Anyway on to more uplifting things in Life. Hubby tried to uplift my spirits so he purchased these two magazines for me. There are some fine hat patterns as well as a handsome man's cardigan pattern in knitsimple. Sometimes he can be a true Knight (I'll overlook him forgetting our anniversary last month)


Crocheting is not my forte but occasionally I enjoy being a hooker ;). I designed this hat upon request from Chem Girl DD. It's a hit!










In spite of recent events I take comfort in friends and our pets. Do we have too many pets? Probably in some peoples' eyes but I gotta tell ya, they make me laugh and they make me feel loved. Here's Mr. B on the loveseat and ya know what? I don't care. He's a mischievous rascal from time to time but I'll admit that his love never ends. So what if he's on the loveseat. The cover gets washed every couple of days and he's our dog and it's our furniture...hrmph!





Of course I will not overlook the spoiled one, Miss Gypsy. She is a Yorkie/maltese and may I just say, she has that Yorkie terrier personality down to a science. She's not as fond of the camera as Mr. Bettis who is not at all camera shy. It took a few tries to get this pic but she indulged her dear owner.
Think I'll go thru the stash and look for some yarn for DH a sweater. ssshhhh.....don't tell him ;)
Our weekend is rather quiet. What's on your weekend agenda?

Carry-on

We celebrated the nation's birthday with a picnic and fireworks. God Bless America!

I baked homemade strawberry cupcakes topped with a delicious strawberry buttercream frosting. The frosting recipe was my own experiment and it's received rave reviews from the daughters who were hovering over the icing bowl.
The major summer holiday of the U.S.A. is over and now we carry on for the next two months until our mountains are full of rich fall color and the temperatures are cooler. I could've sworn I heard katy-dids this morning...but ssshhhh....don't tell anyone, it's a sign that Fall is around the corner.

Getting ready for the cool days and nights that will soon be upon us, I'm stash busting an afghan. I have quite a few skeins of leftover wool from years past and it's time to use it. This is a simple double crochet ripple.

Occasionally I enjoy a crochet project that's mindless and yet creative and this one fills the bill.

I'm still knitting on the copycat shawl but those rows are getting might long.

What if anything do you cast on for Fall?

I am the Nation

On July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America was signed by 56 delegates. The famous preamble, includes the ideas and ideals that were principles of the Declaration. It is also an assertion of what is known as the "right of revolution": that is, people have certain rights, and when a government violates these rights, the people have the right to "alter or abolish" that government. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, and to the republic for which I stand, One Nation Under God, indivisble, with Liberty and Justice for All.
We said that pledge every single day in our schools. On this day I want to say God Bless the USA. May we as American citizens never forget the words of Thomas Jefferson: "A government big enough to give you everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have...."

Please take a moment and enjoy this video: I am the Nation