Saturday around the House

I decided to take some photos around the house today.  I planted some pansies and yellow mums last weekend and I finally just had a chance to take some photos of them.  I also took some photos of Teddy tonight in the candlelight on the front porch.   The photos are a little blurred but I still think he looks handsome!  Here are the photos:

One of my neighors "Booed" us.  This is the felt skull you put on your door so everyone knows you have been "booed".  We "booed" another neighbor.  Hope they liked all the goodies we put in the bag!

My garden fairy and bunny are watching over these cute little pansies.  

 My Mom gave me this lovely wire basket.  She bought it in Texas.  I thought it needed these little pansies.  I think it looks perfect!!

Pretty yellow mums in the black urns out front.

 This is the tussah silk yarn I am knitting a mystery knit along shawl.  Debbie Davis, the shop owner at the shop where I go dyed this.  I think it came out beautiful!

 My little angel on the front porch watches over us.  I love lighting the candles in the lanterns on our porch. 

Teddy joined John and I on the porch tonight.  

My little angel and bunny watching over my garden fairy.  I think they are helping her make my little flowers grow!

It was a gorgeous day here in Mint Hill.  I hope everyone had a great day!

The Weekend is Here!!!

I am so happy the weekend is here!!  I will be leaving work soon and heading on home.  John and I are going out for a bite to eat tonight and then the relaxing begins!

Tomorrow a.m. John will be walking in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk with his office.  Then in the afternoon, I'm headed over to the yarn shop to see how much the other ladies got done on the mystery knit along that I am participating in.  It is always fun to see what color yarn everyone is using and what theirs looks like. 

Sunday John and I are heading up to Black Mountain.  We are going for the day.  Should be a nice time.  Here is a photo off of google:

(photo via google.com)

I will be stopping and probably shopping at one of my favorite yarn shops-Black Mountain Yarn Shop:

I will probably make another apple crisp or an apple cake.  Teddy at almost the whole apple crisp that I made last weekend.  I was so mad at him!  I will probably read some more in The Cheesemaker's House.  I will knit of course too.  Just have a nice weekend with hubby. 

Everyone have a good one too!

My Daughter, Jenny.

(This is one of my favorite photos of Jenny.  This was on her wedding day in August of 2008).


Last night Jenny, our youngest daughter came over for dinner and we were working on a baby quilt for a friend of ours together.  The grandboys were not with her, they were home with their Dad.  While I was making dinner, we were chatting.  I realized how much I enjoying talking with her.  We were talking about our knitting, the quilt we were going to work on, the grandboys, the breast cancer walk she and John are going to walk on Saturday and just plain life.  I had to laugh to myself, after we were done with dinner Jenny got right up and started clearing the table just like when she was a little girl at home.  Then we headed upstairs and started looking at the fabric she bought and I started marking them with the template I had made and cutting them out.  We should have a really nice crazy quilt when we are done! 

After Jenny left I was thinking about all the things she has done in her life.  She had a rough time when she was 3 yrs. old-she was burned by a hot air vaporizer and spent 9 days in St. Barnabas Burn Unit in Livingston, NJ.  When she was 19 she was hit by a firetruck going 50-60 mph, her car was totaled but she came away with a laceration on her scalp about 1.5 inches long and a bruise on her collar bone from the seat belt.  She does have lingering back ache but who wouldn't being hit with a firetruck!  She was mighty lucky and definitely has a guardian angel protecting her!!!   She had 3 miscarriages before she delivered the 2 wonderful grandboys.  She is an artist, photographer, daughter, Mom, wife and sister.  She has chosen to stay home with the grandboys and waitress at night at Olive Garden so she can be with the boys during the day and raise them instead of someone else bringing them up.   In high school Jenny was a downhill ski racer and shalom skier.  Just thinking of how fast she went makes me cringe still to this day, but she loved it and earned the nickname Bullet from her Dad!!  Jenny and I took a course in Ceramics at Peters Valley one semester.  She took hers for college credits and I took it for fun.  Working on the potter's wheel with her and developing all our projects was a really fun thing for us to do together.  I taught her how to knit and to this day she is still knitting away making all sorts of things. 

I guess what I'm trying to say it was a nice night and it made me think of all the things she has done and accomplished in her life and how much I enjoy visiting with her.  It also made me realize that even though there have been some really unpleasant things in ones life you can either carry on or you can just be miserable.  Jenny has chosen to carry on and I am proud of her for that!  Love you Jen!

This and That and Happy October 1st!!!

(Photo via pinterest.com)


I haven't been posting very regularly on here.  I need to fix that situation!  I have just been so busy and at the end of a day I am pretty tired. 

I have been knitting alot.  I was working on a Mystery Knit Along called Watership Down.  It has been very challenging for me.  I never have read charts, I have never done lace knitting or knitted with lace weight yarn before and I have never knitted with beads.  I think now I have accomplished all of these things, but the project is going to be put aside for a new one that starts today.  It is another Mystery Knit Along called Morticia by Boo Knits.  It is not as long as the first one I was doing, this is 4 weeks long.  Every Tuesday I will be getting a clue and will be knitting this shawl.  This project has 1,000 beads in it!!  It should look really beautiful when I get done!  The shop I go to is owned by Debbie Davis and she dyed the yarn for me.  It is just gorgeous!!  Next time I will post a picture of it.  Debbie is so talented!!  I have also been knitting a baby blanket for a co-worker and his wife.  They are expecting in November.  That is coming along really nicely too!

I have been reading too!  I have gotten more books read this year than I did last year at this time.  I also listen to books on audible.  Right now I am reading The Cheesemaker's House and listening to A Place at the Table.  I really like both books.  I will be looking for a Halloween Mystery type book soon to read too.  Get in the spirit of the holiday so to speak!

I've got all my mums planted in the window boxes on the front porch along with ornamental kale.  They look so pretty!  I also planted 2 big yellow mums in the black urns out front at the bottom of the stairs going to the front porch.  I will take pictures soon of that too!  I need to plant my lettuce in the Winter Garden soon.  It is all ready to go, I just need time to do that.

Sorry no pictures this time, but soon there will be alot of them!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Fall/Autumn.  I am enjoying the weather immensely and I hope you are too!

Happy Weekend!!

Well the weekend is finally here!  What an extra long week I seemed to have.  Well it really wasn't anymore than the 5 days but they seemed exceptionally long!  We don't have any plans really for the weekend and that is just fine with us!  We were going to go to Wrightsville Beach, but changed our minds.  We will do that soon though.  The lawn is going to be aerated, fertilized, seeded, overseeded, etc. tomorrow.  I hope the grass takes well in the backyard.  The Builder had originally seeded and strawed the backyard (the front and sides are sod) but 4 days after they did that we had torrential rains and the seed pretty much washed away.  We want to put a patio in sometime and while the grass wouldn't need to be in that area, we really need grass in alot of the other areas. 

I think I will get my black urns out and buy some mums for them.  They will go at the bottom of the steps on the front porch.  I think the shiny black urns will look great against the flat stone on the steps!  I have already put my Autumn wreath on my front door.  The summer one just didn't look right there anymore.  I might yank the plants out of the flower boxes too, they are getting leggy and need to be replaced.  I might put some pumpkins or ornamental kale in them.  We moved into the new house in November so this will be the first Fall we have had. 

The weather is suppose to be just awesome, so I will spend some time out on the front porch knitting and reading too.  I will need to get a good walk in too.  Maybe John and I will venture over to the Greenway and get a good walk in there. 

What ever you have planned for this weekend, I hope everyone has a great one!!

I Won, I Won!!I

Last week I saw on FB that Miss Babs from Miss Babs Yarn was having a giveaway.  She had some flowers that were growing where she lived and she wrote some things about them.  I left a comment and I was picked as a winner of a skein of Yummy Sock Yarn in any color I chose!!! Well I won, I won!!!  I picked Lost Dreams.  Here is what I was sent:

Isn't this color just gorgeous!!  I also won a patter called Miss Winkle, which is a shawl pattern and very pretty I might add!  There was a stitch marker also included in my package and a sample of another blue yarn, which was really beautiful too!  Miss Babs is wonderful and thank you again for chosing me!!!

TGIF and Happy Labor Day Weekend!!!

(Photo via google.com)

I have been waiting for a 3-day weekend to come along and here it is!!!  I am so glad it is Friday and the start of a long weekend.  Work has been crazy busy and my home life has been too!  I plan on seeing the grandboys and my girls, knitting, reading, walking and just plain relaxing!  I am looking forward to really not having much on the schedule.  I need this weekend to rest up and do some "me" things!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and those of you traveling be safe!!