Mary Oliver

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?"









Sunday, November 27, 2011

Crafting Craziness!

I did some shopping yesterday, but other than going to Jo-Ann's Fabrics, my shopping was done at a few small, local businesses, just as I had hoped. I'd love to share my finds, but since most of the giftees read my blog (sometimes), I'll have to keep silent about them.


The Jo-Ann's Fabrics visit was to stockpile some fleece for more blankets, again, for gifting, so I can't say much about that either. I did buy a glue gun at 50% off, as I'm planning on making a rosemary wreath for the kitchen. I have a glue gun somewhere, but it has gone missing so I bought another one. As soon as I make the wreath, I'll photograph and post it. I thought I'd start it right away, but even the non-mall shopping made me so tired I had to come home and take a two hour nap. What's up with that? I don't know if it's the stress of spending money or the overstimulation.



While I was out, I took a break at a bookstore and fell in love with the Interweave Knits Weekend Hats book. I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy it (read, whoops, I already ordered it); after all, it'll help me with my Christmas gifting, right?



I've actually started wrapping presents, which is unusual for me. But since I decided that I'm not buying wrapping paper, I wanted to make sure I had time to accumulate some paper bags and other assorted recycled paper options, like old maps and newspaper comics. I'm afraid I'll forget what I've gotten once I've wrapped it, so I may make a Christmas journal, although I doubt it'll be as fancy as Earthchick's. I'm thinking a bit more basic.I found this twig arch at the thrift store for $1; I took the silk flowers off it and jammed in rosemary sprigs from our yard. I thought I'd have to hot glue them, but it actually worked better just shoving them in the twigs. Our kitchen has a nice smell to it now.I took a few pictures to give you an idea of the crafting ADD going on around here. This is the Thermis cowl I finished; in the process of getting the buttons sewn on. (by the way, I love this pattern!) It's a Christmas gift for someone.This bowl of cranberries was used to make a few more strings for the bird tree outside. The red fabric is a piece cut from one of the fleece blankets (another gift), and the knit project is the beginning of a Jane Richmond's Mustard Scarf (which looks more like a cowl to me, but tomato, tomahto, as they say). I'm using my special skein of Jared Flood's Tweed yarn. So yummy, this yarn. Bonus points since it's from the stash!
I bought this magazine from Jo-Ann's; it's a UK issue that's filled with quick and fun ideas. It even came with an envelope containing three buttons, fabric squares, and embroidery floss!Finally, here are the two potholders I knit for Larissa's potholder KAL. Mine aren't as intricate as some folks' were, but as one of the KAL-ers pointed out to me, it isn't a competition. They go in the mail to her tomorrow.




Speaking of tomorrow, it's back to work for me, which is probably a good thing, since it encouraged me to clean up all this crafting stuff! Now I'm going to sit on the couch, watch a movie, and knit! Hope you have a happy week!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Small Business Saturday

I think you could combine these, don't you think?

photo by Connie Hanna

Friday, November 25, 2011

Black Friday

I don't understand the decision retailers made to open up on Thanksgiving. Of course, I don't understand the Black Friday concept much either. As a matter of fact, about twenty years ago I gave it a whirl; after all, so many people told me how much fun they had doing it, so I thought maybe I was missing out on an adventure. Nope. Once was enough for me. I ended up stressed, tired, and headachy, not necessarily in that order.

So how am I using my Black Friday time? I put on some Christmas music and cleaned the floors in the kitchen, sunroom, both bathrooms, and the living room. I dusted the cobwebs off of the ceilings, washed some clothes, and now I'm going to sit down and knit awhile.

What are you doing today?

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!


My wish is that we are all thankful more often.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Food for the Birds






I'm in the enviable position of being at loose ends. My gifted class finished this past Saturday, so I don't have anything hanging over me, and since the first term just ended at school, I'm caught up on everything there too. Plus it's a short week, thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday! I have absolutely no plans to shop over the weekend and we're not traveling anywhere; as a matter of fact, both Stephanie and Melissa are going to visit Meredith for Thanksgiving, so we won't even have anyone staying with us. Therefore, I'm planning on doing a lot of knitting, reading, and napping.








Melissa and I spent a little time on the deck yesterday stringing cranberries for the tree in our side yard; what I call the bird feeder tree. I love doing these types of things, as it reminds me of the days when the girls were little and we put out "food for the birds", as Meredith called it.






We used to smear bagels with peanut butter and bird seed, and cut oranges in half, hole punch the skins, and use yarn to hang them up. So much fun, such nice memories. I'm going to miss them on Thanksgiving day. But at least they'll be here for Christmas. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy the family that will be with me.




Hope your loved ones are with you on Thanksgiving.

A Beachy Christmas Tree

I know it's early, but my mom gave me this beautiful Christmas tree yesterday! I may have to keep it up all year, much to the chagrin of my husband!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Leaves & News!

Still loving the color of fall around here. This picture was taken on Sunday; Steve and I took a walk through East Beach, an upscale neighborhood two miles down the road from us.



I photographed this gorgeous ginko tree on Tuesday. The burst of color caught my eye as I was driving past it and I made a u-turn so I could stop and take a picture.






The tree is in a cemetary not too far from our house; the color was simply amazing.







Exciting! I was featured on this blog today!