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?

Three more sleeps....

I haven't left blogland, just been busy. Elbow deep in cookie dough and knee deep in wrapping paper. Still finishing gifts and it appears there are three gifts that will be given on the needles. I hereby state ALL knitted gifts for next year will be finished by Dec 1st 2011. hrmph! (You may want to mark that on your calendar and remind me Dec 2nd 2011 when I'm moaning about unfinished gifts)
A finished hat gifted in the nick of time . This was for our granddaughter and her mom loved it. I also made some really cool crocheted food stuff and completely forgot to take pics.

Nine pans of homemade sweet rolls were also on my agenda. As if I didn't have enough to do.
Some down time was spent watching the daughters play Wii. The youngest is attempting to box.
Our eldest daughter having a grand time laughing at her sister's silly antics.

Time is running out and the big day will be over all too soon. As of this writing, the husband is complaining of a sore throat, chills etc. This blogger is in denial of her own scratchy throat and chills. Say it isn't so.........

Time......tick...tock

Time passes slowly around here.
I'm trying to get back into the swing of life. Not going quite as planned but I won't give up.
I had some starter dough in the fridge so I snagged some of it and made homemade bread. There's nothing like a cup of tea and a slice of warm homebaked bread slathered with butter. I sent pics to the college DD and she is drooling on her monitor....LOL
She has a list of home cookin' when she gets home, grilled chicken, Cherokee fried bread, cookies and the list grows by the day.





I've been staring at the spinning wheel trying to figure out how I could spin my mountain of fiber. Try spinning a right pedal wheel with the left leg....didn't go so well but I did manage to see what the fiber will look like when spun.

Tomorrow will be spent trying to clean out 'stuff'. Hopefully I'll get farther with that than the rest of the tasks I've undertaken.
In the meantime, I'm casting on projects. A sweater, shawl, socks, afghan etc. Pictures will come later.

El Cheapo

Frugal living continues around here. I use Vanilla creamer in my coffee. It costs $2.98 a container and I purchase one of those a week. (I drink a LOT of coffee) That's an expense that needs to be cut.

Cheap flavored creamer
1 cup of non-dairy powdered creamer
1 cup of 10X (confectioner's sugar)
1 1/4 tsp of vanilla

Put in jar with lid and shake until the vanilla is thoroughly mixed. I put it in an empty powdered creamer container and labeled it. The hubby doesn't like flavored creamer so it's mine, all mine:).






I need some sweetness.

I have had quite a few requests for my cheap kitchen scrubbies. Here's the history: I found the pattern on a knitting site. I faved it, or so I thought because now I can't locate it. (seriously, has anyone seen how many faves I have on there? no wonder I can't find it.....lol) So I will post my version of what I remember.

EL CHEAPO SCRUBBY

Red Heart worsted weight yarn (acrylic is wonderful for scrubbing )

Size US G crochet hook

Gauge: Doesn't matter

This is worked back and forth so DO NOT JOIN.

Row 1: Chain 7

Row 2: 2 single crochet in each of 6 chains across. Turn Chain 1

Row 3: 2 single crochet in each single crochet across. Turn and chain 1

Rows 4-6: Repeat Row 3

Do not cut yarn. Slip stitch along side to Row 1.

Hanging loop: Chain 24 (or how many you want to make the loop). Slip stitch in beginning of chain. Cut yarn and work in ends. YEAH! You now have an El Cheapo Scrubby.

When it is dirty just throw in the washer with your rags or towels and it's ready to scrub again.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I purchased this card to send to my dear friend, Anita. She's had a few ups and downs. I thought this would cheer her.

However, Mr. Bettis managed to grab this from the table while we were out.

He will be contacting his attorney here shortly so they can collaborate an appropriate apology to Anita..

This is the inside of the card, Anita:). No slobber on the inside though and the sentiment is truly meant.