Do You Always Go with your first Instincts?

I walked into the pet store yesterday to exchange my puppies harness, and walked out with a new puppy. The local Pet Smart was hosting the Whiskers Cat and Canine Rescue Adoption Event. As soon as I saw this one I knew it was for us. I also knew my husband would just fall in love with her. So now she has a new home and name (Missy) and a big sister in Peaches. Of course just as I get one puppy house broke, what do I do, but get a new puppy. Missy is a 9 week old Retriever/Lab mix and is just so loving. She loves to be passed around by everyone in the family and she is giving Peaches every inch of what she receives.

X-mas Season

Ok, I know it may seem to early to have the big man's graphic's up, after all we don't have Mr. Turkey to dinner for four more days.

However,

it has been decided that we will make the 2,500 (one way) mile journey to the sunny state of California for the holiday season.

I am of mixed reaction,

I will love seeing my friends that I made when we lived there for seven years, but I will also miss home for the holidays. You know the one where I do not have to do anything but stay in my jammies all day if I want. (HAHAHA)

Also, my DH has decided that the drive would be too much for his bones,

(wait it is his family we need to see in California)

So it looks like just myself and the three youngest will go alone, of course one of those youngest will share in the driving with me, so that should help.

Postal Delivery

Today I received this

My New Friend and partner from across the Deep Blue Sea

She thought so much of me to send me things I could really use well. I can't wait to use the fabric. I have been thinking I needed more solid christmas fabric to combine with my old and come up with a new christmas project to work on.

I had told Vanessa that I would love to have something unique to her country and she more then came through with the book The Red Centre by Steve Parish. A collection of beautiful images celebrating Australia's Red Centre.

Friends Swap

( Peaches)

Once again I am entering into the Friends Swap hosted by Sew Prim Khris. This will be my second time participating and am looking forward to making a new friend.

I have still not been doing any thing in the sewing category, except for picking up fabric now and then, so I thought I would show everyone how I have really gone off the deep end.

Peaches is five months old and we got her at four. I am still trying to get her to understand that my house is not her toilet. She is just like one of the kids, she will do really well all day with her training and then just when you think she gets it, she will potty inside.

July 4th

I spent the weekend at my brother's place in Port Hope Michigan, for the Annual Antique Tractor Pull. We decided to campout in the backyard of the farm. Every year they have the wonderful Antique Tractor Pull, along with a flea market. This year they also had a quilt showing. It was very small, maybe 2 dozen in all, but they did have a quiting frame up and there was some hand quilting going on. I wish I had pictures to show, as most of the quilts were very old, but we were not allowed to use the camera in that area.

New Additions

I finally did some retail therapy.
And came home with all of the above. The top picture is of fabric that I bought for quilting, and the second picture is fabric that I bought for bags.
I have yet to work with it and was thinking of getting to it after cookie season, but that of course coincided with spring house cleaning and the kids school break, so it is still sitting in a pile waiting for me to make something fabulous with it.
I hope I am up to the challenge. HAHAHA

The Time Just Goes By Without Me......

Good

Better

Best

I have not been sewing lately, because I have been working on these little hats.

My Girl Scouts and I have been taking lessons on Knitting so that we may earn our Junior Bronze Award (the highest award you can achieve as a Junior Girl Scout). The first of three awards that you can achieve in your Girl Scout Career as you get older. I had read an article about another troop out West that had done this and so I put it to the girls and they agreed that this would be a great project. So since October 19th we have used our meetings to learn how to knit. Lately we have also been having Sit N Knit sessions at my home during the week. This helped the girls when they would get stuck or mess up.

The idea is that each girl makes twenty hats and we donate them to the local hospital nursery unit. Now this is a large project for 4th and 5th graders, so the Mom's and I have also been learning so that we can help the girls along the way and also make up the difference if a girl is short and if not then we will have more hats to donate.

The first two hats I had to make using the pattern of knit a row, purl a row, knit a row. I just couldn't get my hands to change the direction of the yarn to do it the way the pattern said too. I also figured if I was having trouble the girls would too, so this method seemed the way to go to start. As you can see my hats turned out OK (no holes).

After that I followed the pattern that was knit 2, purl 2, until you decreased to close the top. I got better and better and told the Mom's and Girls that they can switch to this method after they had made two hats the other way.

I have now made fourteen hats and figured out that I can make a row in 4 minutes, and a hat in 6 hours. Of course this means that I don't get time to be on the computer as much and I have to put any sewing on hold until this project is finished. I am hoping that we can deliver A nice assortment sometime in June.

It really does seem that time just keeps passing me by, but I know that I am making progress on these hats.